Disclaimer – I don't own Fallout 3 or any of its extensive insane or confusing content.
Chapter Nine
The duo walked in silence for a short while before Marisa couldn't help herself. After all, she'd thought she was traveling with your average mercenary with a bloated ego, lots of know-how, and a stunning vocabulary.
But, as it turns out, she's been traveling with a famous, as he referred to himself, Contractor. She'd been asking him questions on and on and on.
"Who're the Enclave?"
"Are they like the Brotherhood?"
"What's the difference between the two?"
"What was that stuff they were wearing?"
"How'd you get so famous?"
"How did you tame Mozart?"
"Was it hard?"
"How old are you?"
"Who were the Assassins?"
"How much of this stuff is true?"
Kylar let out an aggravated sigh. "If I answer you, will you be quiet?"
Marisa nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Okay, now answer!" She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting for answers.
Kylar stopped walking, and ran a hand through his brown hair. "The Enclave claim to be the remnants of the U.S government, and they, with the exception of myself, have the most advanced technology in the Wasteland."
"The Brotherhood and the Enclave are similar, but very different too. The Brotherhood also claim to belong to the U.S government, but claim to be the military. They formed the Brotherhood of Steel, and are dedicated towards finding and preserving all technology."
"Well, at least that's what the Brotherhood out West is. When they reached the Wasteland, this sect of the Brotherhood decided that the Super Mutants were too much of a threat, and needed to be stopped. They've spent a long time here in D.C."
"Both of the two are forces to be reckoned with, and they wear the best armor around. It's called Power Armor, but the Enclave have more advanced weapons and gadgets."
At this point, Kylar sat down on a nearby bench, and pulled out some food. "Want some?" He asked. Marisa just nodded, and the two ate while Kylar continued his story.
"Fame? Well, that's easy. All you need is a lot of time out here in the wastes, and if you're not careful, like me, your name gets around."
"Well, what about Mozart? If he's really an F-Critter, how'd you tame him?" Marisa asked through a mouthful of Punga Fruit.
Kylar chuckled, and involuntarily brushed the scar on his right hand, a bone white scar that went from the spherical bone in your wrist to the knuckle of his index finger. "All I'll say is that it took a lot of patience, four Yao Gaui steaks, and lots of Med-X."
"As for my age, well, that's none of your damned business, is it?"
Marisa feigned a shocked expression, but it disappeared as soon as she took another bite of the fruit.
"A lot of the stuff you hear it true, but take it with a grain of salt. In backwater areas, and even in cities, the truth gets mixed with what people want to be true."
Marisa pointed her finger in the air, swallowed the fruit in her mouth, and a triumphant grin broke out over her face. "You're avoiding a question!" She exclaimed.
"Tell me about the Assassins." She said, folding her hands patiently.
Kylar jumped to his feet and started walking away. "Never ask me about that again." He muttered darkly.
******
The pair walked in an uncomfortable silence for quite a while, and upon reaching G.N.R, the two walked wearily inside. Kylar told Marisa she could rest while he talked with Three Dogg.
He walked up to the recording studio, but was stopped by a Knight. "You can't go in there." He explained. "He's on air."
Kylar sighed, and stood waiting. The knights here had gotten word that Kylar was in the area, and were thunderstruck to know that he'd been there without their knowledge.
Through the door, he could hear Three Dogg preaching.
"—ildren! And how are we this fine irradiated morning? Well, however fine you may or may not be, I've got big news! You all know that dog of a mercenary Kylar Whitlock. He came by a while back, maybe a few days ago."
Kylar liked and hated Three Dogg for that. He just gave away where he was, but didn't include whether or not he'd had time to leave.
"Anyways, there's more to it than just a friend visiting. You all know about Miss One-Oh-One, and how she's searching for her long-lost daddy. Well, as it turns out, she's hired this Grey Stranger to help her find him! How about that for co-"
The broadcast was interrupted by Kylar walking into the room. He knew very well that he was endangering himself, and Marisa by giving away their location, but he didn't have a choice.
"Do not speak of my doings without my consent Hound. Or my wrath will be terrible." Kylar growled, less Kylar than some other man, long dead.
********
The old man just stared silently at Kylar, wondering what to do. He couldn't kill him, he'd never been a murderer. He couldn't turn him loose, that was for sure. He'd seen many kinds of people, and Kylar had the look of a tortured soul.
"What're you running from?" He asked. "I heard some gunshots a while ago, and it isn't safe for a young'un like yourself to wander the Wastes alone."
Kylar was still lying on the table, staring up at the ceiling. "I wasn't alone."
"Oh?" the Old man asked. "Really? Who were you traveling with?"
Kylar tried to smile, but failed miserably. His head lolled to one side. "He..wasn't real."
This confused the Old man. "He wasn't real?"
"I'm..what do you call it.." Kylar trailed off there, trying to remember what Occam had told him.
"Having a morning case of Schizophrenia?"
"Schizophrenia. I have schizophrenia."
He gaped at the younger man, and started laughing. "Well, damn! Most Wastelanders don't know Insanity from the Flu, but you know what you got. Who's your friend?" He asked, looking around the room.
"He died." Kylar said miserably.
The old man stopped laughing immediately. "I'm sorry." He said. "Really, having somebody die is a great loss. But, if he's not real, how did he die?"
Now, Kylar didn't know this either. But, in Kylar's sub-conscious, a bullet matched with a person equals death, or a serious injury. Seeing Farell shot through the heart, or near it, had effectively killed him, and banished him to the farthest corners of his consciousness.
"I don't know."
********
Three Dogg jumped, and shut off the recording. "Damnit Kylar! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He let out a deep breath, and shook his head. "Now, why are you scaring my children like this?"
"Because, you're endangering my employer, not to mention myself. Now shut your mouth, before I have to." He said slowly.
Three Dogg was about to say something, but thought better of it, and shook his head.
"Fine, fine. I'll stop talking about where you've been, and what you're doing. "Happy?" He asked.
"Very. And so should you." Kylar said, reaching for some Brahmin jerky. "The entire Wasteland just got your recording."
It took a moment for Three Dogg to realize what Kylar'd just said, but when he did, he jumped into the air. "You did it, my baby's back on the air!" he cried happily.
He kept spouting things like, 'The good fight can be fought again,' and all that crap. But he remembered something, and stopped his rant. "What did you do to the girl." He asked in a low voice.
"Her?" He asked, gesturing towards the door. Marisa stood there, silently watching with a smirk on her face. "She hired me."
"Surprise." She said sweetly. "Now pay up. Where's my dad?"
Three Dogg looked back and forth between the two. Now, he could've given the girl wrong directions, or make her do another errand. But, unfortunately, she was working with Kylar, and he didn't like to be double-crossed.
But Three Dogg wasn't that kind of guy..
"Alright, alright, relax. I was about to tell you. Now, your dad come in here a fe-" he started to explain, but Marisa cut him off.
"I don't want your life story. Where, is, my, dad?" She said, fingering her sniper rifle.
Three Dogg laughed nervously, and raised his hands. "Hey, hey, relax! Long story short,"
"Better be damn short." Marisa threatened.
"Your dad left here to go to Rivet City." He said quickly. "Alright?"
Kylar's face fell. "Damn." He muttered.
Marisa turned to him, concerned. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"I'm not exactly welcome in Rivet City at the moment." He said, raising his shoulders slightly, with the barest hint of a smile.
"Why the fuck not?" She asked.
"Well, I've been called a lot of things. Gray Stranger," He glared pointedly at Three Dogg. "Jackass, Wanderer, Theif, Gun-For-Hire, Merce-"
He would've gone on, but Marisa interrupted him. "Theif?" She cried. "A thief!? Well, fuck!" She shouted. "Now what do we do?"
Kylar turned to Three Dogg and asked him the date.
"Oh, I'd say November…fourteenth? Fifteenth? I don't know, around there." He said with a wave of his hand.
Kylar clapped a hand against his knee, and stoop up. "Right. Instead of going straight to Rivet, we'll make a detour. We go to my Home, which is on the way, actually, and wait there for a few days. By the time we leave, and the time it takes to get there, nobody'll be mad at me." He said happily looking around the room.
"Well, besides Madison." He said, tilting his head to the side. "Now! Let's get some sleep Marisa. We're spending the day here, and I want out before another Behemoth finds it's way here." He walked out of the room, found a bed, and slept.
Neither Marisa, Three Dogg, or the Brotherhood Knight at the door could tell if he was joking.
Alright people, here's a long awaited chapter. It's 4:20 right now, (Heheheh) and I had inspiration, so I'm happy to get this chapter out. This story is my current main concern.
Peace.
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