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Overboss

Recording by Scribe Ellison

It was late afternoon, dinnertime, when I left the market. The setting sun stabbed my eyes and I could feel a headache massing behind the effect of all the chems.

Luckily Fizztop Mountain was very visible and I stumped towards it wobbling on the medical brace on my foot. I wanted that thing off and soon because it was scary knowing I couldn't run. If the raiders just hanging out here decided to come at me… but they didn't. I got some stares from behind masks and facepaint but nothing more. Maybe Gage ordered them to give the new overboss a chance.

The mountain was big, not a skyscraper but imposing and it cast a long shadow across the park. A fake mountain with a giant bottle leaning against it, all made of crumbling fiberglass. Through the holes where the fake stone had fallen in I could see darkness and bits of the steel structure the mountain was built on. Something stank, the distant charnel smell of bodies hauled not quite far enough away.

Looking up I could see what must be the restaurant, a curving balcony coming off the side of the fake mountain. And there was the elevator, I just about walked into the cables because I was walking while looking up. I hit the button to bring the lift down. An even more rickety raider-built platform than others I've seen, but once off the ground I was safe from being mobbed. And there was a glimpse of a spectacular view before the lift reached the top and I had to turn to look into the restaurant.

Overboss Colter had not been a tidy occupant. There was trash on the floor and leftover food on plates on the long buffet counter where, before the war, people would have sat to eat. The commercials on TV had mentioned five-star dining but this place had booths and couches and looked more like a gimmick place where you could watch the chefs make your food or something. No diners were here now, just Gage, still in his yellow armor, sitting at the counter with a gun in pieces in front of him. He heard the elevator arrive and stood up to face me.

"You look like the Gauntlet chewed you up and spit you out but seeing as you're the only one to ever walk out I guess I can't complain. Welcome home, boss! These digs're yours now. Hope you like the look. Colter had some peculiar tastes."

Gage gestured around to the prewar abstract art on the walls and several human animatronics, plastic human shapes set out like statues with weapons and clothes draped over them. I muttered, "Peculiar is right. What's with the mannequins?"

"Fuck if I know. Colter hauled them up here from all over the park, used to put clothes on 'em and leave them at the edge to see if anybody took potshots." Gage gestured off the edge of the balcony and added, "But the view is somethin', huh?"

I turned, and it really was. The market was below, the center of the park and a sludgy pond, and beyond the front gates empty land went on forever.

"It's all yours, boss. Everything you see is under your control now."

I turned away from the edge and sat on a stool at the counter, glad to get the weight off my ankle, and looked up at Gage. "I still don't get it, why put me in charge? Talk to me, Gage, tell me what I've gotten myself into."

And Gage was happy to oblige. He slouched back on his stool and said, "You may have noticed that our former Overboss, Colter, was a real asshole. And that's me being nice. Ended up being poison for this whole operation. Way I see it, surviving the Gauntlet means you've got what it takes."

"You helped me in the Gauntlet." I pointed out.

"Yeah, I did. Look, I'll be honest with you, this operation needed someone to take the reins and it sure as shit ain't gonna be me. Hell, there's already some blamin' me for supporting Colter all this time. My talents are best put to use helping a new Overboss get all this shit under control, you get me?"

Even my chem-addled brain could read that. I raised an eyebrow. "So, are you just going to paint the bullseye directly on my back or what?"

Gage chuckled. "Ain't gonna lie, that's part of the reason you won't see me stepping up and running things. But I'm telling you, it ain't gonna be that bad. I can fix what's gone wrong here, but I need your help."

Behind Gage was a set of double doors, standing open to a large indoor room. Maybe open to air it out; an unpleasant smell of male sweat and distant rot seeped out on the air. The lights weren't on but I could see more animatronic dummies standing creepily in the darkness. How did Colter sleep at night? I shook off the moment of distraction and asked Gage, "What did go wrong?"

He smiled, gestured out at the view again, "Nuka-world. That was the dream. Huge, built like a goddamn fortress. You run this, the world is yours..."

And I thought how different the size of the world can be depending where you're looking from.

"We had a good start on it, Colter and me. Hell of a lot of work went into getting the Disciples, the Operators and the Pack to work together, but we got here. 'Bout a year ago we push in through the front gate, take over Nuka-town, get these traders under our thumb. But then, well, Colter got lazy. He was content to sit on his ass up here, never put in the effort to finish taking the rest of the park. Gangs got restless, started pissing each other off. It was… is… a real mess."

As he spoke Gage turned back to finish oiling and cleaning his gun and I absently started emptying the pouches of my gun harness, counting bullets, "You held this place for a year? Impressive."

"Yeah, but it ain't gonna keep much longer. It was little shit at first. Heated tempers, arguments, the occasional shooting. Got worse over time though. Gangs started staking out as much territory as they could, all being on top of each other like this. Started looking for excuses to turn on each other. If somethin' ain't done soon to settle things down it's gonna reach a point there ain't no comin' back from."

"And you think I can do that."

"Yeah, I've heard about you. In charge of the Minutemen, ain't'tcha? You took those has-beens and pulled half the Commonwealth together and now you're sittin' pretty right on top with those saps followin' your every order. So I know you got ambition. So, you in?"

I had a sudden coughing fit to cover—I'm not sure what. Laughter maybe, or unwise words like 'you've clearly never met the Minutemen.' Because the only time anyone follows my every order is when there's no time to discuss at length what the orders should be.

My attention was again caught by the creepy animatronics in Colter's back room. I swear one of them was smiling. Colter had put a hat on that one. And a tan trenchcoat.

It was definitely smiling.

Suddenly the world was a much better place.

It had only been a moment. I turned back to Gage, "Yes. I'm in—but I'm hurt and I need to sleep off all the jet the doctor gave me. I want to know everything about the gangs, and what you want to do to take the rest of the park, but—tomorrow?"

"Right. Sensible." Gage sounded relieved and quickly put his gun back together. "I'll come back in the morning—well, morning raider time which means early afternoon—and we'll get started. The plumbing's good up here and the water in the faucets is clean. Both elevators lock. I warned the gangs off you but someone might get frisky."

"Thanks." I said, sloppily happy and probably smiling a very strange smile. The head-clearing chem Mackenzie gave me was definitely wearing off. "Bring me a map of Nuka-world if you can. Need to know what we have to work with."

Gage arched his visible eyebrow, surprised, and did a little salute as he stepped onto the elevator. "You got it, boss. I look forward to working with you."