Chapter 6

B) Don't warn her about Arthur Maxson

"Never mind…forget it."

The Lone Wanderer didn't see a point in warning Sarah. All it would do was create more tension between the two as it was and they both needed a clear head for what lay ahead. With that she made her way towards Rivet City, since she promised Amata she would.

xxx

(Recording Start)

"Scout Report 30. I overheard the Caravaneers talking about a Vault 101. That sounds promising. Will make my way there instead of Megaton. Maybe I can find more of this mysterious Enclave killer. Will keep my cover as a Courier. This will hopefully be enough to gain entrance to the lower levels of the Vault.

(Recording End)

xxx

"It feels like a lifetime ago since I was just a normal girl. Courier. Doesn't sound like a bad job. What do you think?" Katherine asked the Lone Wanderer.

"It sure beats sitting around" the woman responded with a smile. Ever since the NCR took over Hoover Dam, things have been looking up. Sure there still lots of problems to fix and the endless bureaucratic process of the NCR was an annoyance, but people could really feel it. Like this cloak of tension was finally lifted from the land. Katherine did not know what to do with herself afterwards and figured it was best to accept the role she impersonated all this time.

"You know I got this strange message. Some guy is looking for the Courier we found. He's said to meet him in the Divide or something like that. Maybe I should check it out. What could possibly go wrong anyway?"

xxx

The Wanderer awoke in her room. The lights were off and the only light source was the green light from her computer. She forgot to turn it off again. Damn. With a yawn she sat on the edge of her bed and checked her Pip-boy for the time. 04:21 a.m. Way too early to get up. She lay down on her pillow again and looked at the palms of her hands. Her skin was all rough from carrying weapons and repairing things. It amazed her time and time again that a few years ago she was laying in this same bed and her biggest concerns were what kinds of grades she would get in class or what kind of job she would be getting. It seemed so trivial now that she thought about it. In a way she wanted her old life back, but the guilt in the back of her head was a constant factor that she could not ignore. That little voice that said that she was the only person who could go around and fix things. But there was only one person in the world who could fix her.

With a heavy sigh she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

xxx

The alarm on her Pip-boy woke her up from a dreamless night. Stretching herself she stood up and went to wash up in the Vault bathroom before having diner in her room. There were a few things she wanted to get done today. Like fixing and cleaning her weapons and modifying her Power Armor, but to her surprise her computer send out a beep, indicating that there was a message of utmost importance in her mailbox. Opening the message she started to read.

"Hi there,

hope you don't do anything important right now, but there is this girl here in my office and she said that it was really important that she spoke with you. Could you come up to my office please?"

-Amata

Strange. She didn't expect anyone today, but Amata rarely send important messages to her mailbox so she better check it out. The route to the office was not very long and after a few minutes she found herself standing in front of a pretty blonde woman.

"She said that she came a long way to meet you and she would not take no for an answer." Amata said sheepishly.

"Hello, my name is-"

"Yes, you're the Lone Wanderer" the woman quickly responded and shook her hand enthusiastically.

Great. Another fan.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this but can we talk?" she glanced at Amata and added "Preferably in private, no offense."

"Alright, if you insist, but you have to excuse me, I don't have too much time."

"That's not a problem, I'm not here to waste your time. Trust me."

Something rubbed her wrong about this woman. She could've sworn that she knew her. She just couldn't figure it out.

Back in her room the woman sat down on the couch in the living area and the Lone Wanderer closed the door behind them.

"Alright miss…?"

"My name is Katherine."

A sharp pain spiked through her head and she closed her eyes in agony. Pictures of places and people flooded her mind, but it was all blurry and muddy, but she could clearly make out situations with her and this woman…this Katherine.

"Is something wrong? she asked concerned. "You looked like you were in pain for a moment."

"I'm fine…Katherine. Thank you."

It was strange looking back at the woman she could've sworn that they had a past. She somehow knew that there was a big ugly scar under the hat she wore.

"Call me crazy, but can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure I guess." Katherine answered suspiciously.

"When did you get that scar on your head? Did it heal properly?"

Taken back by this question Katherine broke character for a moment and stood up, clearly upset.

"How do you know about my scar? You shouldn't be able to see it with my hat on!"

"Relax. It's just, when I look at you I feel as though I know you, I just can't place you in my memories."

Katherine took off her hat and indeed a big scar was right on the right side of her head. The scar tissue looked well-healed.

"I got it where I'm from. Some asshole decided that robbing me wasn't enough. Courier jobs suck, trust me, it's not worth the pain-in the ass.

The Lone Wanderer smiled at this and said "This looks like more than a pain-in-the-ass if you ask me."

"No shit, at least I didn't end up like a babbling retard or something. Thank fuck for that. Anyway, from what I gathered you're doing a pretty dangerous job too right? The people make you out to be some kind of angel or some shit."

"Yeah, I never asked for this. They did not exactly mention it in the job description."

"And you really did all the stuff they mention on the radio? It's hard to imagine one person doing all of that, surely you must have a group of specialists helping you out…"

"No, it's all true. Well except that Messiah crap, but the rest of it, true."

"Kinda hard to believe that a person is capable of all this."

"Sure it is, but I can't die that's why I'm so good at this." the Wanderer said, grinning at Katherine.

"Sure you can't. And I'm and undercover spy." Katherine responded humor clear in her voice.

"What is it you wanted to talk about anyway?"

"Ah yes, you see-"

A loud beep came from her computer and she apologized to Katherine. Another important message from Amata. It seemed like she wouldn't get much work done today.

"Hi,

You must come up immediately. Something has happened at the Citadel. I can't say any more. Please, hurry!"

-Amata

Like the wind the Lone Wanderer ran up to the office with a confused Katherine in tow. Entering the office, Amata spoke to a member of the Lyon's Pride.

"Ah there she is." Amata said and pointed Knight Captain Dusk towards the Wanderer.

"Sarah has been captured by Arthur Maxson and his followers. A fight is about to break out between his followers and the Elders. He insists that we should join forces with the West Chapter and stop fighting what he calls "our true destiny". It looks really bad. Since you're pretty much independent from the rest of the soldiers I'm asking you to free her. I'm afraid he's going to kill her if she doesn't comply."

The Wanderer frantically thought about her decision. What to do, what to do? She could free Sarah and let Arthur Maxson take over the Brotherhood or she could try to reason with the man and at worst try to kill him. The latter would be more difficult given the state the Citadel was in right now.

Attempt to rescue Sarah (Chapter 7)

Do not attempt to rescue Sarah (Chapter 8)