Snowflake in the Sand
Chapter 30
Midnight Science Fiction Feature! Part 3
Winter yawned as the light switch screamed at her "WAKE UP! There, you owe me girl" the specialist gave her a thumbs up as she cracked her back. "Why is it so dark?" she asked as she looked around. "Probably because the sun already set" Muggy replied as he finished destroying whatever piece of metal Six had given him, Winter nodded as she placed her hands on the Sink central unit "Might I be of service Sir?"
"Not really just trying to see if I could spot Six on the map. There he is and almost at his destination too. I'm heading out, don't suppose you have something to make the vault suit more efficient" there was a pause as the Sink searched on its data banks for anything resembling what she asked "Not really Sir, from what I am reading customizable Vault Suits are a thing from the other side of the country. But if its more protection that you want I do have scientist scrubs for, it would seem that some still have blood from Little Yangtze"
At the raised eyebrow it got the machine elaborated further "A concentration camp here in Big MT and from what Doctor Mobius wrote it would seem that the first time it opened it had approximately three entire train-loads of prisoners where placed in the facility"
Winter's eyes widened "What did they do there and what was their crime?" she knew the answer, this was a military facility but she hoped that there was more to the story, more than just the brutality of war. The sink did not seem to care about her state of mind "Oh the Think Thank referred to them as a "Human Farm" for their experiments, I believe that most of them where Chinese soldiers from the Great War but some Chinse-American and communist sympathizers where relocated for unspecified reasons". Guinea pigs for their experiments, it was wrong oh so wrong. A slow, painful and inhumane death, it made her sick but the worst part was that as she looked at her PipBoy she realized that she had been there already.
"The ghouls there… they are what remains of the prisoners… oh no" Winter said as she looked down at her PipBoy, it was relatively close to the dome if she ran there she could free them or if it came to it, put them to rest, and then head to X-2. It was her duty, not even as a huntress or a specialist but as a good person to free them from this hell "I won't be needing that outfit, just help me repair my axe and add some plasma rounds" the machine quickly did as it was told and even added some laser rounds. "These where stored by Master Six, I think he has no use for them, would you mind taking them as they serve no purpose here"
Winter nodded as she stored everything in the one pouch that the vault suit offered and headed to the elevator, her reflection made her stop for a second. Her skin was paler, but it was not like it was bad it was just the original way it looked back in Atlas. Her eyes still bags underneath but her eyes seemed to shine a bit more, she looked down at her hand and let out sigh "I was infected and I didn't even know it, but what was that about the anomaly? Guess it wasn't important if he didn't elaborate more on it"
With that bit of information put on standby, she moved towards Little Yangtze with cold determination. As she got closer to the concentration camp, she spotted bits and pieces of her specialist outfit on the ground. The ghouls that had tried to kill her many hours before laid headless on the sand "I never thought I would say this but poor bastards" she muttered as she looked at their bodies slightly closer, numbers where written on their backs. Deprived even of their names, that was no way to live.
As she looked around, she spotted the wooden stairs that she almost died on made her shiver, but now she was not under the huge stress of… dying, Winter saw where the stairs lead more clearly. A watchtower no doubt used by the guards that looked over the prisoners, if there was a way of liberating the poor ghouls it was inside that watchtower. Ignoring her own blood as she walked towards the watchtower a metallic shine caught her attention, overlooking the main concentration camp the balcony of the watchtower had destroyed machinery lying all around it, Winter picked it up and frowned "A failed collar" she recognized them, her stay at the Sierra Madre had made her painfully familiar with the collar. It made her angry but it seemed oddly fitting to know that Elijah had gotten the idea from this place, Winter knew he had been here all because of one weapon. The LAER was sitting close to her, the insignia of the brotherhood of steel on it.
She had seen the weapon that Elijah used as they fled the underground vault, a weapon similar to the one that was now in her hand. The weapon felt right on her hands, as she looked down the sights she realized something "Not bad" she muttered as she placed the weapon on her back. She wondered how much firepower it really packed but she knew that sooner or later she would have to change to a more powerful version of her current weapon.
And she liked the irony of using the weapon of one of the most villainous people in the wasteland for good. The inside of the cabin had more or less the same thing, more prototypes to perfect the collar that would eventually find its way onto her neck. But the lone terminal had more info on the collars and how to open the doors to little Yangtze. Mentions of a Courier made her pause but after re-reading the small paragraph she realized that it was another person, maybe he was around here in the big MT? The last entry also detailed how Elijah thought he was being controlled and how he had to flee in a hurry.
Winter smiled as she remembered the bald girl that had made it possible for her to be here, but she had reminisced long enough it was time to do what she came here to finish. So with the information no safely on her PipBoy she walked towards the gates, the lights making the eyes of the long imprisoned ghouls glow in the dark. Studying her and waiting for any chance to attack, a glare made them growl at her.
"You don't even understand me do you?" she asked the horde of glowing eyes, Winter heard nothing back. Not an insult on another language that she didn't understand or a plea for help in English, only cold primal hatred towards her. They were too far gone so with a sad sigh she opened the gates to the camp. The ghouls running to her in hatred as their heads exploded one by one, the violent display of fireworks and gore lasted two minutes. Winter counted it in her head, she looked away many times and even took some steps back, but she remained there to be a witness to the end of the victims of the Big MT.
When the explosions finally stopped she walked inside the facility and as she looked around she realized that it was finally empty, not a soul remained. Winter smiled without feeling happy, it was all a circle once again. Everything went back to the old world, Elijah had used the technology from here to enslave people to do his biding and now one of his victims had come to end the source, if she was more like Elijah would she had thought about taking the technology here for herself?
"But I am not like him am I?" she said as she walked towards X-2, the night had brought with it a different side to the facilities as the many machines began their patrol, one protectron even approached Winter but it lowered its weapon after it scanned her "Pet-of-important-lobotomite, you may proceed" Winter glared at the machine. "Pet… if anything he is my pet" she grumbled annoyed but not all that angry, it was nice of the brains to save her some trouble. There was some humanity left in the jars it would seem, but it was not like she was clear just yet. A lobotomite ran towards her with a proton axe in hand, using her advanced LAER she fired at the head of the brainless man.
To her surprise it crippled it instantly, making her grin "Oh I like you" she said as she crouched and began to fire from a safe distance at her assailant, three shots was all it took to down him. Giving it a twirl she looked to see if there was anyone nearby, when there was no one close she did a pose she had seen some NCR ranger do. It looked cool but she lacked the long duster so that it could blow in the wind, laughing a bit she resumed her walk enjoying the sound of the wind and the doctors broadcasting their insane ideas.
It was fun she realized, discovering new places, setting sins from the past right and just being free from everything; she was not a specialist, not a Schnee just another soul wondering the sands. But she knew that this was not meant to last, she was not Six. He lived for this; she was sure that the moment that he set foot in Remnant, he would wonder towards danger and piss off a few grim in the process, for her part she would go back to her life. Atlas needed her, Weiss needed her and even if she would never say out loud she needed it, she refused to be a slave to her name and the company.
The big MT broadcast changed, as more music from before the war started to play. Melancholic was how she would describe the song, doctor Dala was kind enough to say the name of the song before they went back to fighting off screen "Begin Again"
Vera Keyes's song, it seemed fitting for her mood. The possibility of never going back was present on her mind; could she begin again? And when she got home, could she carry on like nothing happened? It was silly, here she was in the only place that could send her back and she was depressing herself by just thinking. A large explosion took her out of her thought s as a large Sentry Bot rolled towards her "Alert, area compromised by Robo-Scorpions. Proceed with caution, rogue machines have also being spotted"
Winter looked at the horizon and shuddered at the amount of yellow "Any ideas where to go to lay low for a while?" the Sentry Bot processed the question, the noise of his movements loud enough to make Winter cover her ears "Higgs Village, enemies avoid it. Proceed with caution"
"Understood dismissed, head for repairs soldier" she said, following her comment with a small salute, to her surprise the machine saluted her back as it moved towards the main factory. Higgs Village was marked on her map, Six was already there. If the inventions of Doctor Mobius avoided the place, it would be good to go there while the robo-scorpion army searched for them.
With her detour decided, Winter ran towards the compound. Lobotomites where the only ones that slowed her down, but as she reached a large hill she was delighted to see that no other threat was close. Resting for a bit at the top of the hill, she noticed a duffle bag at the top of the hill adjacent to her. Curiosity got the better of her and she set out to explore it, the bag had nothing-remarkable; some canned dog food and many magazines with 12.7mm ammo. A couple of holotapes caught her attention, names that didn't make sense "Twisted Hairs" and "Dry Wells" the ones that where still legible. The most interesting one to her was the one-labeled "Christine".
Killing to birds with one stone, she walked towards Higgs Village while listening to the audio log, the duffle bag now on her back. The conversation didn't make much sense to her. The talk about ideology and flags seemed to be what this courier was interested in, rather than the marbles of technology that the Big MT had to offer "… America still sleeps" he had said. His voice deep, tired but with a cold focus that made her frown.
"I will find a way to reshape history, cut the throat of America, let it finally die. Make something new… just like HE did back at the Divide" where the last words as the voice log finished, it all went back to that hellhole.
The wound in the world that housed the last remains of Six's home and from the looks of it, great shame to both the NCR and Legion. Opening the door to Higgs village, she walked the dark corridors with her mind focused on nothing but walking and minding her surroundings. Arriving at the heart of the village, she spotted some blood splattered everywhere, Six's blood she assumed he did say he fought a deathclaw. Preparing herself to fight the wounded creature, she looked for the creature of legend, she had heard some many tales of them and she briefly wondered if it was even worth hiding from the roboscorpions if a fierce beast was inside one of the houses.
A growl caught her attention, making her jump and point at the noise, to her surprise a creature smaller than the cyber-dogs limped towards her; his snout bloodied and its leg injured. Winter lowered her weapon and stared at it "This is… disappointing" she said as she clicked her tongue, a giant rat wondered close to the Deathclaw, the creature as if annoyed by Winter's comment slapped the creature making it explode into a shower of blood and guts, covering Winter head to toe in rat blood.
"…you little pest" Winter said as she growled at the creature, her mood worsened when the creature seemed to laugh at her, annoyed she thought about fighting the creature but there was something about the creature that made her laugh "You're smart aren't you?" There was no verbal response but the creature seemed to glare at her as she talked to it, reaching for the canned dog food, the creature eyed her with suspicion. Winter simply shook the can to show that it was not a weapon, she opened it and placed it near him.
"Come on, I am not like Six. I won't hurt you I promise" Winter said, as the creature walked towards sniffing the food. Hungry and tired Stripe finally gave in and limped towards the source of food, Winter stared fascinated at the small things greedily swallowing most of it in one bite "You're really hungry aren't you? Here I was saving this for me, but I can manage" Sugar bombs where next on the menu for Stripe, the creature finally satisfied gave Winter a long stare sniffing her, feeling bold Winter raised her hand and made sure that the creature could see that she was trying to pet him.
Stripe allowed it, his creation after all was a bizarre attempt at a dangerous companion pet. Winter giggled as she felt the scales of the most dangerous apex predator in the wasteland "What your name boy? Do you have one?" Stripe tilted its head towards the abandoned dog house that he had been using, Gabe no longer needing it.
"I see… Stripe huh? Come on stripe let me help you, this is going to taste bad but is going to be good for you" Winter said as she grabbed the remains of the rat and injected it with a stimpak.
Now fully healed and satisfied the creature had made up its mind, now standing tall he rubbed its head against her leg making winter smile "Aww, fine. I was never one for pets but you are the exception. Come along boy, we have an antenna to attack"
That made Stripe happy, as the word attack was something that was not alien to him.
"Hey Winter what took youHOLY SHI…" Six said as he jumped back staring with terrified eyes as Winter walked into the sink. "Now, don't swear close to the baby" Winter chastised him as she looked him up and down "That outfit is strange"
"STRANGE?! The deathclaw that is glaring daggers at me is strange! That thing tried to kill me!" Six said as he stood behind her, Winter rolled her eyes "He is a little angel that has been taking care of me, he protected me. Like a good boy, who's my good boy?" she said as she gave him pats on the head. Six looked with stupefied horror as the deathclaw grinned at him, happy about getting the attention of Winter.
Six paused for a second, his not present brain trying to process the situation "I… what even…" Winter chuckled as she gave him a hug "Don't worry you're still my favorite, here the transmitter array that the brains wanted. It's a little bit heavy" Winter commented as Six shook his head focusing on the mission "Right, I guess your new pet doesn't matter. I'll speak to the brains, seems like we finally have what we need to take the fight to Mobius"
"That sounds like fun" a feminine voice said from nowhere making Winter jump in surprise, looking around she expected Six to have rescued another girl or incorporate another AI to the Sink but Six pointed at his suit "She likes to talk, a lot… but man she's really something else. We ran through all the test that the facility could give us and we aced them all, didn't we sweetheart?" Six asked as Winter heard what sounded like a giggle from the suit "They were no match for us, that and we used a stealth boy"
Winter stared at the suit with a more inquisitive look "It's a stealth suit… that talks, fascinating I suppose that she was the price on X-13" Six gave it at pat "Yup, but there was something even better in the Big MT. This halo is the real deal, the auto-doc is going to install them on my head. Took a bit of a detour while walking back here"
The Auto-Doc grumbled "Is not a halo, its name is an Atomic-valence tri-radii-oscillator. And it will heal you while you take damage, I would say that is more than just a real deal as you say"
Six chuckled as he took off his helmet and prepared for the operation "Be right back, make sure that your new buddy doesn't eat Muggy" Six commented as the doors of the Auto-Doc closed. Winter walked Stripe to the storage part of the Sink, using a discarded large pillow she set it up for Stripe "Rest here boy, you just be tired"
The Deathclaw snorted but went to sleep anyways, content on his new environment. Winter heard the door of the Auto-Doc open as Six exited the machine, blue light emanating from him. "Now you really look like you came out of a movie, the adventures of the space pirate would be quite a fitting title" she said as Six smiled at her. "Feels good, damn good. With this, I bet I can take on Mobius on a one on one fight. I will go speak to the brains, then we can get out of here or better yet search for things to help you get back home"
Winter gave him a nod "X-2 had no terminals that I could find, so we're back to zero on that front. I don't feel all that sad or worried, you got here from the Mojave somehow, there has to be a way" Six placed a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, there's a way I know it, Mobius might have the answer too don't forget that" Six said as he made his way to the elevator.
As the doors closed, Winter moved towards the Sink Central Intelligence "Can you download data from holotapes? Information about the day they were recorded and so on?" she asked as the machine came to life.
"I believe so Sir, I might be able to do just that. Just connect your PipBoy to my console if you would be so kind" the machine replied, Winter nodded as she followed his instructions. "Done Sir, all information about the recording can be seen on the screen next to me, is there anything else that I can help you with?" Winter shook her head as she stared at the data "Nothing, thank you" the recording that she had found, the one with the other courier, it was recorded a couple of months before she arrived on Earth. And that date was so far away now, this Courier whoever he was might have died or he might have achieved his goal, pulling America out of its coma and into its grave. But she didn't have all the clues, the only one that did was this mysterious man, the Twisted Hairs was her only lead.
The doors of the elevator opened as Six walked inside with a pensive look "Mobius is next it would seem, but I don't like this Winter… not one bit, the brains are acting odd. Well more than usual and what's worse is that they don't even know what the things we collected for them do other than letting us enter Mobius place" Winter raised an eyebrow. "They don't know? But they made them" she said as Six shrugged.
"There's something wrong here. And the way they spoke, it was as if I was letting something out of its cage. They barely listened to me, they only care about Mobius and then their plan after"
An uneasy feeling came over them as they planned their next move "Sadly, there's only way to find out… and that's to fight the other evil scientist" Winter said as Six looked for something in their safe "Yes, come here. The bounty hunters duster goes nicely with the Vault Suit and thank to Sarah we managed to make it so that it's better against energy weapons. I think this is not a sneaking mission so sadly baby you go to go" Six said as he began to remove the Sneaking Outfit. "Was it something I said?" the suit asked sadly as Six gave it a small pat of assurance, Winter smiled at the absurdity of it. Now dressed in the dessert ranger outfit and with both revolver by his side, the Courier nodded at Winter "We leave when you're ready"
Taking a page out of his book, Winter prepared the Advanced LAER and the axe on her back "Lead the way, I will watch your back"
A small smile was shared between them before they walked towards the elevator, their walk to the Forbidden Zone was met with resistance from the Robo-Scorpion army every step of the way. Winter took cover behind some rocks as the machines shot at her and Six, their tails firing a never ending stream off laser fire "Pulse grenade!" Six yelled from behind as the machines fell to pieces, the rest swiftly destroyed by Winter's quick shot "VATS is one hell of a thing huh?"
Winter shrugged "it has its uses, I don't like to rely on it too much might become dependent" she said as they quickly looted the destroyed robots for ammo and parts. "I see it, the Forbidden Zone is just around the corner a couple more of Robo-scorpions and we're there" Six yelled as he shot at the machines, distracting them so that Winter could flank them, their fight ended quickly as the last of the Robo-Scorpions exploded.
"Now we just connect this here like Klein said and… bingo, the doors should open now" Six said as Winter pressed the button, the doors opened slowly as Mobius broadcasted across the entire Big MT "Turn back now! Or face the might of MY FULL EVIL GENIUS POWER!"
Winter prepared her LAER and Six reloaded his revolvers, the darkness of the facility made them nervous not one of Mobius constructs tried to stop them from reaching the center of the Forbidden Zone. Six swallowed as he stared at the large hangar like building "Oh no"
"Now here's something to keep you away!" Mobius said over the speaker, as smoke machines signal the arrival of something big. The ground split in half as a giant platform rose from the depths of the Forbidden Zone, Winter gasped as a giant pincer destroyed the railings around it. A Giant Roboscorpion finally stood in all its glory, to their surprise the giant machine roared at them as its tail began to glow
"RUN!"
A blinding light was released as the machine fired the largest laser that the Wasteland had seen since the end of the war was launched towards them, their PipBoy's Geiger counter began to tick at an alarming rate "Winter! There are some turrets around us try to activate them!"
"What about you!" Winter asked as Six began to fire at the big machine, the bullets bouncing off its exoskeleton "Distraction, but hurry up. I don't think I will do much" the courier commented as he changed weapons to the Plasma Caster. Winter nodded as she ran towards one of the control points, Six barely had time to avoid being reduced to ash as he hid behind the destroyed rubble.
Winter fired up the terminal, looking for anything that might give them the edge. The turrets where easy enough to find, the problem was that the machine simply swatted the one closest to it as if annoyed by it "There has to be something here to help" Winter muttered as she felt her fingers tremble as she typed inquires into the computer "Emergency shutdown" an entry said. Winter read quickly, her eyes looking for the main control room, it was on the other side of the room.
"SIX!"
"WHAT?!"
"Distract it!"
That was easier said than done Six thought with a chuckle as he ran out of its hiding place and out into the open once again, the roboscorpion smashing the last of the turrets. Six gritted his teeth as he fired the Plasma Caster with everything he had, the legs feeling the effect of the onslaught the machine turned its massive body towards the courier, snapping its pincers in dramatic fashion.
Out of ammo for the caster and knowing damn well that the revolvers where not going to much Six gambled and took out his saturnite fist, it glowed with fire as Six used every single bit of strength in his body to take care of the giant machine in one single strike. Screaming he landed one massive blow on the machine, smoke coming out of the punch, Six stood still as he watched his handiwork.
A single scratch on the paint of the Robo-Scorpion
"Wow that was pathetic" Six as he laughed, the machine did not found it so amusing. Using its tail to swat him away like a parasite, Six was launched towards the wall his back making a horrible noise, Six thanked the heavens that it was artificial because it snapped back into place on its own "Easy there big fella" Six said as the Robo-Scorpion stalked towards him his tail fully charged. "You know even if I died here, it would still be pretty funny" The machine didn't respond as the lights started to fade, the legs gave out and the lights shut off.
"One punch was all it took" six said as he did a finger gun motion towards Winter on the other side of the room, Winter fell to the ground as she allowed herself to feel relief "There's no way… no way that his stupid password was scorpion" she said as the door to the laboratory was opened. It took them some time and some Radaways to recover but their final battle laid before them "You know I am actually a little nervous now, he might have lasers coming out of him" Six commented as he finished using the last of the Radways they had.
"Or he pilots a giant mech suit" Winter said as their imagination began to run wild, Six with ideas from the comics he had read and Winter with movies and books. So when they entered the lab they where surprised to see a lone brain in a jar. Moving from side to side, the brain appeared to read scribbled formulas on the ground muttering to itself and then moving to a terminal to write down his thoughts.
"Doctor Mobius?" Six asked as the machine stopped what I was doing to turn to look at them "Who said that, oh hello! Nice to meet you, I am Doctor Mobius would you care for a mentant?" Winter narrowed her eyes, but Six tentatively opened his palms towards the Robo-Brain "Here you go! Mentants mmm so yummy, I love them always good for a new scientific discovery. So what brings you to my laboratorie young man… oh and your girlfriend, sorry I didn't see you there, this old monitor of mine has begun to fail recently"
Winter gave him a small nervous smile "No problem, you are… different than what we were expecting" Six nodded as Mobius brought a claw to his metaphorical chin "Ah interesting, that would mean that you had preexisting notions of me. Ideas and theories on how and why I should act the way that I do, tell me about your theories please"
Six chuckled "You do NOT sound like the man who was threatening the Think Thank" the doctor seemed to be embarrassed by that comment "Oh I was probably tripping hard on psycho when that happened, I am not usually violent person. But I needed to hype myself up to do it, the Think Thank… they need to be contained" Winter and Six shared a look "Why? Are they dangerous?" Mobius seemed to have a hard time remembering the reason "They are not bad people… oh but they are far too inquisitive for their on good. They would prod and test on everything that they come across like they always do, they have too much power"
Six swallowed "Oh… and we just enabled them to leave, coming here was not the best idea huh?" Mobius paused "Not necessarily, your arrival at Big MT was the one thing that changed everything. It lifted the veil on their eyes, they had visitors before sure, but you where the one that showed them that there was something bigger than their little world and a wasteland. Your brain survived the extraction, there was an anomaly… a wrinkle that allowed them to see that they could leave the Big MT" Six touched the two scars on his head as Mobius continued with his explanation.
"Your body is the vessel they need to leave and they will use make no mistake, when you return the pacification field is going to be inactive all that remains is for them to kill you and place themselves in you. All those technologies you collected have made your body their vessel and now that you're here in the forbidden zone, your sonic emitter has already attuned to the las piece of the puzzle"
Winter swallowed "So… the literal masters of the Big MT are the ones we have to fight?" Mobius turned away from them, confused "I don't know… maybe, after all this years I have tried to keep them in the loop. Keep them here" Winter narrowed her eyes as it all finally clicked "They don't know… because you lobotomized them, they have been here doing the same things over and over again, a snake biting its tail"
Ouroboros.
"Lobotomizing is such a harsh word, but yes. If not for my intervention they would have left long ago to do their cruel experiments, so I did that to them… and then to myself I rather not remember… this loop that we're in is for the best"
Winter tilted her head "But now that we're here and they know, isn't the loop broken?" there as a pause as the brain seemed to realize that he had fucked up "Oh then that means that I fail… oh well not all calculations can be precise you know"
Six a little lost on all that explanation, remembered something crucial as he scratched the back of his head "Wait a moment! Where's my brain?!" he yelled as the realization hit him like a truck, Winter made an O face as she remembered that Six was literally brainless at the moment "Oh, it's right there. Seems content here, but you should talk to it. It would be easier to defeat Klein with your brain inside your body again"
"Right, thanks Mobius. If I ever find a screen that can replace your missing… monitor, I will come back to install it on you" Six said as he ate the mentat and walked towards the place where his brain was. Winter walked towards the scientist "Mobius, a question if you don't mind" the doctor stared at her with his full attention, his screens focusing on her white hair. "Oh I love questions, please. Do ask" Winter felt her hands shake as she prepared herself for the big plan. "Mobius, teleportation… is it available at the Big MT?"
"Why yes! Klein had a project, he worked on it with eight if I am not mistaken" right that she knew, Six got here because of their project. Now came the tricky part "And… is the possibility of… traveling between dimensions a possibility"
Mobius seemed to pause at that "In theory yes, but it would be at random. Without something to link the two worlds, precise jumps between them would be impossible"
Dust, she had one round of dust. Locked away in the lucky thirty eight, her last link to home "Like a mineral?"
"Yes! Something like that, but the power needed to even turn it on would be astronomical, the entire output of… well something big!" Winter felt her eyes widen as an idea made its way onto her mind "Like the entirety of Hoover Dam?" Mobius gave her a look "Sure… we can go with that I guess?"
Now came the moment of truth "And could you build it?"
Silence greeted her, Mobius screen didn't flicker once as it stared at her "If I had the original documents, the blueprints that they used for the teleporter. I could eventually do something like that"
Winter felt tears spill from her eyes, her smile refused to fade no matter how hard she tried "Thank you… thank you so much"
"No worries dear, but if you somehow managed to convince either Klein or 8 to help the process would go even faster. But for that you and your friend over there would have to be the smoothest tongue devils of all time"
Winter grinned as she stared at Six, who failed at opening the container of his brain. "That man right there? My boyfriend? He can sell time to a clock… we got this"
"Please just open maaan, this is some bullshit" Six said as he tried to use his brute force to open the valve, Winter walked next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder "I think is voice commanded Six" the Courier blinked as he coughed into his fist and grumbled "Sure sure, I was just waiting for you. Open"
Green light illuminated the room as a brain rose in a similar fashion to the RoboScorpion in the other room "Well, well. Look who finally dragged themselves in out of the Wasteland. And where have we been hmm? Crawling through pits of radioactive muck again?" the brain said as Six stared at it "Are you… my brain?"
"Ah, lovely you figured that out have we? Would you like a cookie?" the brain said, his tone sarcastic and bitter towards… well himself, Winter leaned against the wall. It was better if she did not get involved "Actually, yes. I would love a cookie" Six said with a grin.
Bubbles erupted from the tank "I… ugh.. is this really what I have to look forward to?" Six chuckled "Come on cut me some slack is not like you meet your brain everyday"
The brain seemed to be offended as more bubbles made themselves know "Well believe the opposite equally true. Good lord have you even bathed at all since they pulled me out of you?" Six hit the side of the tank with a finger "This tank doesn't look all that springtime fresh too me"
"IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SITUATION! The tank is not biological" the brain yelled, Six simply nodded "If you say so, come on man. You're my brain, you have to be more respectful"
"Oh and what if I don't? What exactly will you do if I don't? will you NOT put me back in that cranial donjon you call head? Heavens forbid!" Winter hid her snort in time so that neither of them (he?) could hear. "Don't be a dick brain, but you know the thing that makes me very curious is how the hell did Mobius got a hold of you in the first place"
The brain hummed as it remembered "Well after the think thank extracted me from your skull they started to biker and forgot all about us, Dr. Mobius saw this as an opportunity to gain some leverage and spirited me away to his dome" Six raised an eyebrow at him "Wow… that's a very big coincidence"
"Hardly. Dr. Mobius keeps a close optical sensor on what the Think Tank so as soon as he saw an opportunity he took it" Six nodded "Huh well that answers that I guess" the brain snorted somehow "Good… I answered the babies questions"
Six rolled his eyes "Again, why are you such a dick" Winter was sure that if it could the brain would have glared "Well that's a fine way to refer to talk to someone. Me! A, quote, Dick, unquote. As if I am the one responsible on how you carry on gadding about the Wastes! I'm not the one that makes us clamber around tetanus infested ancient vaults or go charging off to New Vegas on missions of ill conceived revenge!" Six tilted his head "But you are…"
The brain did not stop talking, having to take a lot off his chest "Oh and have we forgotten who got us shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave? Do you think I enjoyed that little moment?"
"Come oooon" Six said as he smiled at his brain "That was fun… hell, this is fun! But if it helps you I didn't know that it caused you so much distress"-"FUN?! Oh but I am glad that you care… maybe next time you hear me telling you that charging a Nightkin with a penknife is a bad idea… you'll listen" Six grinned at that "Would you look at that, you already want to be reunited with me"
There was a pause and Winter could feel the disdain rolling of the small "I wont lie to you, that idea does NOT sound appealing, like… at all. Look at it from my perspective, here I have peace, quiet and safety if you ignore the odd rogue scorpion. But in your head I've got poison, radiation, grisly injuries and biological functions" the brain said with a shudder. "Do you know how much more you can get done when you're not constantly looking for places to urinate? It's quite a lot, I can tell you"
Six scratched its chin "But what about the cool breeze on your cheek, the smell of food" there was a sideways glance towards Winter "Love?" that got a small blush out her, the brain simply refused this argument with cold fact and logic "Trust me, you only feel that way because of all the hormones and the other parts of your body that by a miracle have not gotten scooped out or worse" Six looked at Winter for help but she simply shrugged. "But… wouldn't it be possible that you feel that way because you don't have all those hormones and organs? There is something missing in me and there's something missing with you"
The brain hummed "You know… I know you're manipulating me but you're right so now we're at an impasse. I don't wat to go back to you, the last time I checked you knew you were going to die and instead of telling anyone… but I do miss being ambulatory, the incredible sights being is one of them. We have seen many things, haven't we? Jason Bright and his ghouls launching into space, Helios One back online and… Winter on the balcony of the lucky thirty-eight, but is it really worth it with all the danger?"
"Oh I am sure it is, once we're back together we might even become more synchronized and don't worry, I understand you better now" Six said as the brain let out a sigh "Well I suppose you have convinced me long enough, I will meet you back at the Sink… partner"
Six chuckled as he watched the brain go down the drain literally "Yeah, we're going to kick Klein's metallic ass" Winter walked up to him as she saw him stare at Doctor Mobius and then back to the map "You have a plan don't you? Want to fill me in on it?" there was a pause as Six grabbed one of the books in advanced science that Mobius kept on his dusty shelf.
"It depends… can you teach me on how to act smart in under an hour?"
"Ah the Lobotomite returns! OUR lobotomite" Klein said as he glared down at the approaching figure. Six nodded, tugging his new outfit a bit the scientist scrubs highly uncomfortable to him but he would manage "Has Dr. Mobius been denominatored into scrap metal and voice module parts as we hoped?"
Six glared "I found my brain Klein, now you and I are going to settle things" the peaceful aura of the Think Tank changed from blue to red as all the doctor stood by their leader. Their inquisitive eyes curiously staring at the one creature that would defy them "I recommend watching your tone with me, lobotomite. So now "your" brain, hand it over. Or we'll extract it again"
Six grinned "I am not handing anything over… you and I we need to talk some things" Klein seemed offended by that. "And what could we possible have to speak about, you have the brain we need and we have the technology all you must do is surrender" There was a heavy sigh as Klein looked haunted "With it we can finally leave, I cannot tell you how boring this place gets, chopping up the landscape and everything in it. And we have so many to ask your brain first. About this Mojave place… a fertile testing ground for our experiments"
Six laughed, a deep laugh that caught the doctor off guard "I don't think you understood Klein… you think I am the Lobotomite? No, for my skull houses none other than THE BRAIN OF MOBIUS!"
There was a pause as the geniuses of the old world took a metaphorical step back in fear, Klein was the first to react "That is the most insane thing I have ever heard. There is no way that Mobius would… condescend to step inside you. Besides there is no way that such a thing could be accomplished it's unpossible"
Six paused for a bit, as if thinking. But he wasn't he was listnening.
From the other side of the room Winter whispered into the PipBoy her answer, Muggy hung from Six's back transmitting the information back to him "NOTHING is unpossible for science! Mesons, lasers, atoms, brainwaves… all of those fancy terms are at MY COMMAND! Muahhahah"
Winter frowned as the Think Tank remained quiet, but all her worries disappeared as Klein began to shake "You speak the truth and the decibel variation in your voice… it is Mobius! How dare you breach the think tank? And what do you even want here?!"
Six coughed "As muggy wheeled away unnoticed, not free to posture Six pointed at Klein "He… er, I, offer you a deal. Stay HERE stay PUT and I'll let you live" Six said with a glare. The doctor glared "That's no deal at all! There's a whole world beyond the crater… filled with ideas and possibilities" the doctors looked sad as it dawned of them.
Ouroboros.
The cycle continued, their lives a meaningless charade. Six could feel it and he knew that was not life "I will permit this"
"Come again?"
"I will permit you to do ALL that you want but for ME!" Six said as he placed his thumb on his chest, Klein flew close to his face "Partner with you? My foe and rival? My foremost critic?" Six simply nodded Klein returned to his colleagues, as they all remained mute in quiet shock. They had succeeded in a way "I have this strange feeling… that I would like that. How odd" Klein looked at Six this time not as a pest but as an equal "Very well partner, the think thank is at your service as long as you don't destroy us"
Six smiled, aa genuine smile towards all the doctors "Don't worry I wont and in time we can even make new facilities for you to explore" this got the doctor exited "However, the fist step we have to take" Six stopped for dramatics as everyone looked at him in anticipation. "Is to conquer teleportation, this Mojave that the Lobotomite spoke of is our new priority! Then we move on to NEW worlds" the brains all moved to their stations excitement cursing through their bio-gel for the first time in a long while "We already have the technologies! Soon all of this Mo-jai-be will be ours!"
Six nodded "Then I will leave you too it, when you have something send me a message through the Sink" as he returned to the Sink, Winter launched herself at him wrapping him into a hug "Master of Speech, you're my hero" Six hugged back as they returned to the many Ai's that celebrated their victory. Stripe walked next to Winter growling at Six, the courier glared back but kneeled throwing raw meat it's way "Here, Big Horner. Consider this an apology you freak"
Stripe did not stop his glaring but he did accept the meat and allowed Six to give him a small pat on his scaly back. As the sun rose, illuminating Big MT. The facilities all returning to their routines, Six could not help but smile. Old World Blues was a phrase he had not heard off since he was a child in the vault but now as he looked at the horizon and the countless possibilities that where at the disposal of mankind again, he felt hope. New world hope he would have said out loud if Winter was not standing next to him, her hope placed in something different and yet it was closer than ever.
"Easy there Rex, don't leave me behind" Sarah said as she walked behind her dog. Six was missing again and even if Cass and Boone assured her that their great leader was not that much of a dumbass to get himself killed near Goodsprings, Sarah wanted proof that he was fine. He was family to her, her only family in fact but she really hated how he seemed to disappear from the face of the earth every few days.
Rex whined as he picked up the scent of his new master "Nipton? No, not Nipton huh? close to it then, ok boy lead the way" the pale blond adjusted her hat as she thanked the heavens that Six had left her enough caps to buy an outfit that resembled Cass's and kept her from cooking alive under the sun, but she would rather be in the lucky thirty-eight.
Rex stopped as he arrived at what looked like to be a crashed satellite "What on earth is this?" Sarah said as she moved the bits and pieces of it, there was a lot of blood on it. Some chems too but she did not know how this all went back to Six "Is there anythings else…" a blinding flash of light stopped her as from the heavens a small deathclaw landed on her. Sarah screamed bloody murder but found herself hugged by a very familiar man "Hahaha Sarah! Oh man I missed you" Six squeezed the life out of her.
"Six there's a fucking Deathclaw next to Winter! REX DON'T LICK THE DEATH LIZARD!"
A/N: Happy 25th birthday Fallout! And happy 30th chapter to this story. I'm having a blast writing this story, thank you so much for being here and making this experience so fun!
Now comes what many have been asking for, the mighty Brotherhood of steel is next. If you excuse I will celebrate the fallout anniversary the way Todd (not) intended. Another FNV run with many many many mods. See you soon!