Cole was still adjusting to the perks granted to him as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pitt. He had a syndicate-issued home paid largely by the funds gathered by the various unions and more, he had the constant ear of anyone worth anything in the city.
Unlike many of the public housing units organized throughout the city, Cole had an entire floor to himself. Granted, many rooms were dedicated to the former members of James's staff. There were even major sections specifically reserved just for Marie and for her caretaker, these were minor concerns when one compares them to the true benefits of the office.
The collection accrued by James Young's tenure was now at Cole Harper's disposal. Shelves upon shelves of books, alcohol, drugs and more were neatly organized in various bins, tool boxes, compartments and more. Cole had never seen such opulence concentrated in a single area that wasn't intending to sell all of the goods.
Cole found himself marveling at the various trinkets during his rare moments of spare time. What good is all this material wealth when you do nothing with it? Cole found himself asking while holding some of the weapons that were neatly organized. The kinds of equipment found in James Young's office could stock a platoon of mercenaries for at least a year.
Cole spent much time thinking of how best to apportion these materials so he could make room for things he truly wanted to include in the office. Such were the thoughts that consumed Cole Harper's time when he was not drafting policies and directing unions to act around the city.
All of these things were noted by little Marie who essentially had free reign of the hotel for as long as she could remember. Marie knew that Midea had told her not to interrupt this new man because he was technically the new homeowner and that Marie, James and Midea may have to leave soon. Even so, Marie could not help but feel like a stranger was walking in and out of her home with reckless abandon and worse, no one seemed to do a thing about it.
"You just have to get used to it, Marie." Midea said once trying to soothe her.
"But I don't want to. James isn't getting used to it!" Marie responded. Midea thought hard about how best to explain the circumstances to the child.
"Well, he's out trying to find a new home for you." She offered, hoping it would satisfy the young girl's reckless thoughts.
"Well, he should be here making this man leave our home!" Marie proclaimed. "I know he's the bad man that took James' job!" Midea could not help herself but to laugh at the display of righteous fury from the young girl. For better or for worse, she was really just imitating James when he got frustrated with some of the obstinate members of the Council. She knew that the girl missed James but just like him, Marie never said so when James was actually around! In this way, the two are far too much alike. Midea watched softly. She could only continue doing the little chores caring for Marie as she wondered what would become of them in the new era. She looked outside the window where she used to enjoy watching the city stir peacefully after Ashur's fall. Instead, the city was far more active and the most noticeable of them were often the vertibirds whizzing above the skyline and the power armor knights with gleaming suits of power armor shuffling through the winter days.
James has been gone for nearly three months now. What does he intend to do? Midea found herself wondering more and more. She was not alone. Virtually every person in the city was waiting to see if the Lone Wanderer would act to change the course of the city or if he would do what he always does and find somewhere new to stay for a while.
On a particularly warm morning, Midea was folding Marie's clothes as she always did when she noticed more activity from the office elevator than usual. The footsteps were different. There were no light clumps from shoes but instead the stomps and clanks of armor.
"Mr. Harper." a gravelly voice caught Midea's attention. She could not help but be interested in the conversation.
"Good morning, Elder Maxson. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Cole's voice responded. Midea pressed herself against the door to hear better.
"No pleasure today I'm afraid." the gravelly voice, whom Midea now recognized as Maxson, spoke gravely. "Two Initiates were stabbed and injured critically today on a work crew. I would appreciate your assistance in seeing whoever committed this crime be brought to justice."
"What kind of justice are you interested in, Elder?"
"Attacks on Brotherhood personnel cannot be tolerated. I would like to put them into militia and patrol duty to give them a taste of the kind of work we do."
"I'm sorry, the Pitt does not engage in that kind of punishment without good cause and a committee. I cannot sanction transferring the well-being of my citizens to your military command." Harper replied.
"The lack of discipline comes from civilians' poor understanding of the dangers of the Wasteland. We offer protection, we offer you labor and you attack us in return? Please see sense, Mr. Harper. I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement."
"Well," Harper seemed to take his time pondering things. Midea noticed Harper had a tendency to be swayed by aggressive arguments; this was not the first time Maxson had gotten his way with Cole Harper in charge. "I cannot sanction the Brotherhood punishing the average citizen. How about we grant Brotherhood agents emergency powers to engage in citizens' arrests."
"You know, that might just work, Mr. Harper." Maxson replied. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement."
With that, the Brotherhood procession marched away and officer Harper continued with his idea as if he had not signed off on a major policy concession. Midea shook her head and continued with her chores. She may not have approved of Officer Harper but what else could she do but simply wait out his term and hope for the best?
It had not even been a day when someone else visited Officer Harper in the officer.
"What in the world were you thinking?!" a furious voice roared just a second after Midea heard the ding! from the elevator.
"Chief Kim, I did not summon you." Officer Harper tried to be authoritative and reassert his lost control from the sudden entrance.
"Mr. Harper, do not attempt to play council politics with or I will have to remind you that the Vanguard exists outside the purview of your station." the loud voice that Midea now recognized to be Reina's overpowered Harper's attempts at appearing tough.
"You're right, Chief Kim. What can I do for you?"
"Did you or did you not grant the Brotherhood authority to perform citizens' arrests?" Reina asked. From the tone in her voice, Midea was picturing Reina having Harper by his collar and shaking him as she asked.
"Yes!" he replied. "I was told that two of their personnel was stabbed and they needed the power to get justice! I just gave them that power."
"By going over our heads, Cole!" Reina retorted. "I know you were never one for politicking but there's a reason that the Vanguard exists. We are the security and law enforcement branch and you've been signing away more and more of our duties."
"I mean, by that metric aren't I doing you a favor and giving you less work?" Cole sneered. "Most people would be happy with that."
"Most people are not the ones who make sure the balance between the unions are balanced, Cole!" Reina was always someone quick to anger but she seemed far more frustrated with this than Midea had ever heard. "We towed the line between the various interests so the Council didn't have to and now you've just given the Brotherhood the opening they needed to interfere with Council politics."
"Oh," The single word was all he could muster. It seemed the realization came to him all at once because the two did not speak for some time. Marie had lost interest by this point and returned to reading an old copy of La Fantoma! "What do I do? Can I just take it back?"
"You can't just take it back! Once you've given away the power you can't just undo it without making some enemies. Come on, Cole. You've wanted this job for so long, how come you couldn't learn some of these things before you got it?"
Cole had no excuse nor a retort.
"Be careful with who comes to your office, Cole. Everyone in the damn city now knows that if they want something from you, they can just get it from you and not wait for a vote from the Council."
"I- I understand." Cole stammered. He seemed to step away from his desk and walk towards the break room from the sound of his footsteps. A different set approached Marie's room and threw the double doors open. Normally, Marie would rush straight to Marie for hugs and greetings but this time she sighed in frustration and leapt onto the sofa.
"Shoes off the sofa." Midea said absent-mindedly as she sewed a patch onto one of Marie's overalls. The girl had grown again and needed some new clothes. Midea frowned before turning her attention to Reina who had her legs lifted slightly in the air to comply with Midea's order.
"I don't get why he would just let this happen." she grumbled with her face in a throw pillow.
"I can't hear you when you grumble into a pillow." Midea replied. Reina repeated herself but quickly understood that she was meant to sit facing the older woman. She also took her shoes off and placed them to the side by a planter. "You seem to misunderstand the whole point of the system that James and the founders established, Reina." Midea smiled. Reina always hated the history lessons and stopped listening but that made Midea want to repeat them all the more.
"You're in a very important position in the city. You need to know what happened 10 years ago."
"That was forever ago." Reina retorted. Midea frowned.
"I wish you would act your age, you're already 24 and the leader of the Vanguard. Shape up!" Midea scolded.
"Come on, Midea." Reina shot back. "This is the only place I can really relax and be myself. I didn't want to be the Chief. I only got it because of the James…" Midea watched the young woman carefully.
"Don't do that." Midea chided. Reina flitted her eyes over.
"Do what?"
"Sell yourself short, child." Midea continued. "You know that last Chief wanted to retire. Most of the veterans did. James recommended you from the many people there but don't ever forget you were the best qualified."
"There were older people."
"And you were still the best choice."
"Mm." Reina groaned in response.
"Mmhmm." Midea hummed, mostly to get the last word in. "Any luck finding Theodore?"
"No." Reina groaned. "It's been days but no one I talked to knows where he's been."
"It's no surprise. If Theodore doesn't want to be found, there's no way you'll be able to in just a few days' time."
"You know him back during the Revolution, Auntie Midea," Reina began. "Don't you know of any of his old hiding spots?" Midea thought hard about it. She put down the overalls and turned to face Reina to better concentrate on the conversation.
"Nowhere he would want to be now." she explained. "Theodore is an eccentric man, you know this. You will him when he wants to be found. For now, the best you can do is indulge his silly game and make a big noise of your attempts to find him."
"Not like I have a choice," Reina huffed. "Maya is the quiet one, I'm the one loud one. Everyone knows." Midea smiled. She remembered when James and a patrol had brought the twins in. They had gotten lost while fleeing a band of raiders in the tunnel. Half starved and diseased from the escape and the illnesses they acquired while wandering the tunnel system, James immediately ordered the band of children be treated and cared for. This was just in the first year after Ashur's fall so resources were scarce and medics were stretched thin.
It was the first time James revealed that he had medical training. He recognized the sicknesses and took the proper measures needed to care for them. He was mostly successful. The twins recovered and most of the other children did but one of the children did not survive his bout with the mystery disease. Worse, subsequent patrol teams could not locate the childrens' parents.
With nowhere to go, James took them into his camp and trained them as he did with many of the others in his faction. They grew attached to the fighters within his camp and had a brotherly repertoire with James. When James first became the Chief Executive Officer four years ago, most people retired from their official duties, confident in the peace they had earned. James didn't have the heart to ask them to stay in the fight. The twins were the first to continue forward with James and the three haven't looked back since.
"You've grown into a fine young woman if you ask me." Midea cooed, which confused Reina because she was just complaining about how useless some of the Council were. "Things may seem difficult now. They are but these two will pass. This city and the people here are strong. We've proven that time and time again. Not just with James but before him too. Whatever happens with the Brotherhood, we will survive as we always have. It may not be perfect or ideal or even good, but we will make things work." Midea smiled at Reina as she finished speaking, then she turned to Marie and noticed that the young girl had fallen asleep reading again.
"How are you so sure of yourself, Auntie Midea?" Reina wondered aloud. "If anything, I see more reasons to be unsure and uncertain." Her voice dropped off as if afraid to continue voicing her thoughts.
"I am sure because there are people like you and your sister working to protect us." Midea smiled. "With people like you around, I can hardly bring myself to be afraid of hapless men like Cole Harper!" she chuckled and moved her hand to prevent herself from laughing too hard. Meanwhile, Reina's tears bubbled in her eyes and she rushed to hug Midea in her rickety rocking chair.
"Midea!"
"Reina! The chair! The chair!"
CRACK!
With the mess cleaned up and the remains of the chair disposed off, Midea saw off Reina as she used to do when Reina visited James' office. Even though everything mostly looked the same, it felt completely different. The presence of a man like Cole Harper was enough to change it for Reina. She knew Cole was a man who meant well. Since his appointment to the court, his proposals always came from the perspective of trying new things to improve the economy or for the workers. But he's also a fundamentally indecisive man. By the time he makes up his mind, it's too late because someone else has made the decision for him.
Reina bit her thumb as the stressful thoughts returned to her mind. She stepped out of the elevator as soon as the metal doors wheeled open. She waved goodbye to Earl, the doorman and stepped back outside where night had since overtaken day. It was warming up and so Reina only wore her coat over the shoulders rather than slip her arms into the sleeves.
Waiting outside was Mei and Kip, bickering as they tended to.
"Chief." Mei greeted Reina first.
"Chief! Good evening!" Kip enthusiastically followed but after a noticeably gap.
"Pay attention, Kip!" she scolded but there was no energy in it. She was in no mood to scold Kip to shape up.
"Did you talk to Mr. Harper about the Vanguard's concerns?" Mei asked, shifting the topic. Reina turned to Mei and gestured for the pair to follow her as Reina walked.
"I did. But there was nothing to do except warn him against such unilateral action."
"It seems like a flaw if the CEO can override the Council in practice like this."
"It was always fine under James. The Council can convene to veto this move but with the current deadlock, I wouldn't hope too much for it." Reina replied.
"What do we do then?" Kip asked, uncharacteristically interested in the conversation.
"Back to square one really. We need to find Theodore and we need to find ways to build up a stockpile to counter the Brotherhood if we need it." Reina opined. "But we'll talk about that later. I'm starving. Suggestions?"
"Oo oo! Let's go to Chen's!" Kip suggested excited.
"We always get dumplings on night patrols!" Mei countered. "If it's three people let's at least go for chicken!"
"Yes!" Kip agreed. "We can go to Dogmeat General!"
"Can we pick a place with a better name…?" Mei groaned. Reina could only laugh as she led to motley crew.
"If you two keep fighting, we'll be at this forever!" Reina smiled. "Today'll be my treat, let's go to a brahmin place."
"Steak!" Kip cheered.
"Thank you, Chief!" Mei echoed.
With the offer, the three officers marched down the road, being the main sources of noise just outside of the hotel. Only other people in the square were Brotherhood personnel changing the nightlife in the area. What used to be an open square for night market food stalls and pop up stores was replaced by military personnel drilling, patrolling and even the occasional vertibird dropping off supplies. Without the noise coming from the three Vanguard, one might be forgiven in thinking that this part of the city had not yet been reclaimed as some of the livelier parts of the city.
