Checking my map one last time, I hummed to myself. I was going in the correct direction. Navigating vast desert expanses with little in the way of recognizable landmarks was nothing new to me, but in an unfamiliar environment it never hurts to be safe.

"Sensei, the electric core's at just fifteen percent," Arona informed. "Would you like for me to charge it?"

Glancing at the Shittim Chest's power reserves, I shook my head. All that heavy fighting, and especially the Goliath's attack, did a number on Arona's energy, as the gauge measured barely above thirty percent. It wasn't likely that Kaiser would have another trump card, since the Director was apparently desperate enough to deploy a prototype, but I wanted to save on crucial resources wherever I was able. "Not yet."

"{Nostalgic beeping}."

"Now that it's quiet and it's just us, yeah. Sure feels that way, don't it?" I replied as I clunked along the dusty earth as fast as my armor's outdated servomotors would allow. The dusty road, a good gun, ED-E trailing behind. Biggest difference was that I didn't usually go exploring in full Power Armor or with an energy weapon-based loadout. Oh, I guess we're also missing Johnny Guitar, because if the radio was on then there was more than a good chance that that goddamned song would be playing.

My only regret was that I didn't have the time to do some proper prospecting - several Kaiser-built fortifications looked like they'd yield good salvage.

Maybe I'll take Shiroko for some prospecting later.

With that, my thoughts strayed to the Foreclosure Task Force.

We needed to neutralize a Kaiser outpost situated near the hangar, since we ran the risk of being flanked if we ignored it. Most of the FTF wasn't keen on splitting up, but surprisingly, Hoshino was the one who suggested they stay behind while I go ahead.

I wasn't especially concerned for their safety, as I knew they'd be fine in battle - give them enough ammo and each other and they'll outlast whatever you pit them against. This was even truer now that Ayane regained connection, since we're presumably a good distance away from whatever jammers Kaiser was using. Those students were a tenacious lot, both physically and emotionally, and for that they had my respect.

Rather, my lingering thoughts were on Hoshino's last words to me before we split up.

"If you're going to do it, try to be quick about it, okay?" she whispered to me before rushing off to join her underclassmen.

I hummed to myself as I pondered her words. If my assumption was correct, then Hoshino knew exactly what I wanted to do, and so made the suggestion to split up under the pretense of "covering" me. Realistically, our combined firepower would have been more than enough to bowl through whatever came our way, so her true intentions were easy to ascertain.

She didn't want her classmates to watch me commit murder.

Well, I'm not gonna complain, I thought, shrugging. It saved me the trouble of manufacturing a way to keep the students away for a bit while I took care of business.

ED-E's western tune blared as the robot bobbled warningly, and my compass updated with several red blips in the direction. I slowed my pace as, sure enough, a razor wire fence spanning a wide area that was maybe a bit smaller than Camp McCarran came into view. Patrolling its perimeter were standard PMC infantry consisting of student conscripts and automata wielding various small arms.

However, standing out among the guards was a large bipedal robot around ten feet tall - in contrast with the Goliath, this robot had a tri-barrel minigun attached to only one arm while its other three-digit hand remained free. Perched atop each of its shoulders were two rocket salvos.

"A Power Loader!" Arona warned quietly. "Watch for rockets!"

I nodded in response. Thankfully, it didn't look like this robot carried the Goliath's main armament, so at least I didn't have to worry about contending with more mini Mini Nukes.

All in all, this force was formidable - more than was necessary for a simple outpost, which meant they were assigned here to protect something… or someone. I had more than enough firepower to take them out - the issue was with the other perimeter guards, who were sure to come running in response to the threat.

Fortunately, I fully expected an ambush, so I took the liberties of calling in my own help.

"Arona, status on the Fox?"

"I can't reach her. Probably since we're in jammer range again," Arona replied. "But we gave her the signal, so…"

"...She should be here any moment now," I finished for her. Some commotion should make it easier for her to find us as well - as Shiroko demonstrated, those animal ears of theirs weren't just for show. "Well, might as well get started. ED-E, try to trim down the little guys. I'm going for the big one."

With ED-E's affirming beep, we both split up. ED-E hovered to the infantry and began peppering them with laser fire, while I decided to press my close quarters advantage as I made a beeline toward the Power Loader.

The infantry opened fire on ED-E, but I couldn't spare them any further attention as the Power Loader raised its minigun arm at me. The outer layer of my armor was buffeted under the stream of incoming bullets, but wasn't enough to trigger Arona's energy shielding. Perhaps realizing its current attacks were ineffective, one of the Power Loader's salvos swiveled toward me and lit up, preparing to fire its payload. Now that I was in suitable range, without stopping my sprint I quickly withdrew a Proton Throwing Axe from my hip and chucked it at the robot's left leg. The axe lodged itself into the Power Loader's comparatively lightly-armored leg, causing the robot to lose control of the limb and tip to one side. Its aim sabotaged, the Power Loader's rockets fired uselessly into the sky.

Once I reached the robot, I used my momentum to bowl into my opponent at full speed, the massive force from the [Super Slam!] causing the robot to topple to the ground. Now straddling the robot, I delivered several powerful punches to where I thought its eyes were likely to be, each [Piercing Strike] causing its chassis to crack more and more. I continued for several seconds until the robot, unable to use its large minigun in such close quarters, instead wound its left arm back for a retaliatory punch. I raised my arms to block the blow, but the force behind the punch staggered me enough that I was forced backward off the robot.

With its assailant forced back, the Power Loader attempted to stand, only to find its limb unresponsive due to the Proton Throwing Axe embedded in its leg. The robot reached down and, with its free hand, wrenched the offending item from its leg like how one would remove a splinter. Though its leg was damaged, without the EMP effect the robot was able to successfully regain its balance… only to receive another throwing axe to its face, the powered axe shattering its frontal chassis and overloading the circuitry beneath. The robot slowly slumped over, and I quickly retrieved both of my throwing axes. Not willing to take chances, I hacked away at the downed robot with one of my axes, just to make sure it didn't pull any Ghost Person bullshit and revive itself or something.

The students might not approve of it, but hey. Kicking 'em while they're down is a surefire way to make sure something that should be dead doesn't come after you later. Take it from me, as someone who refused to stay dead when he was due.

The deed done, I got up, intent on helping ED-E, who had downed a good portion of his enemies but was struggling with the rest. It was then I caught sight of the additional patrols heading our way - much quicker than I had anticipated. This would not be as much of a problem were it not for the fact that among the reinforcements were three Power Loaders. With this development, ED-E and I would be forced to retreat and play it defensively.

Or at least that would've been the plan, were it not for the fact that the Power Loader leading the reinforcements became engulfed in an explosion eerily similar to the Crusader tank's from my first day in the city.

Following the shot's source, I saw, to my relief and immense confusion, that that was exactly the case.

Perched on a Crusader emblazoned with the emblem of the Helmet Gang was Wakamo, who seethed with barely-contained fury. Leaping from the tank in a herculean, outrage-fueled frenzy that put even the most chemmed-out Fiends to shame, she landed on the distant damaged Power Loader, strapped a bundle of dynamite to its chassis, then kicked off of it before landing on her feet a safe distance away. She then spun on her feet to face me and made a heart gesture with her hands as the resounding boom from the Power Loader's destruction echoed across the desert.

Though I was still processing Wakamo's physically impossible feat of acrobatism, I nevertheless managed an appreciative wave in response.

Following Wakamo's opening attack, a gaggle of Helmet Gangsters who rode atop the two other Crusaders present hopped off the vehicles and spread out as they began to engage both the enemies that had ED-E pinned down and the approaching reinforcements. The gangsters were as patchwork a fighting force as usual - however, despite their lack of discipline, it became clear from their morale and attack patterns that there was someone leading them. Someone skilled - respected even.

"Yo! You're Sensei, right?" As if on cue, the hatch to one of the Crusaders opened, and out climbed a red-haired gangster, who addressed me with a mix of curiosity and cockiness. "Today's your lucky day - dunno why the Fox is interested in helping you, but we're here to help you out-"

The gangster leader caught herself and squinted as she got a better look at me. "What the…" she said as she… blushed? "Dude! That is one SICK helmet! Where the hell did you get something like that?!"

"Thanks…?" I replied, caught off guard by her sudden change in demeanor. "I made it-"

"You made that?! No freakin' way!" she shouted in disbelief, before she composed herself and cleared her throat. "Maybe we didn't make a good first impression on you, Sensei. Howsabout joining the Helmet Gang? We already got Faust, so imagine what we can do with the power of all our helmets combined!" she proclaimed, holding up an authoritative fist, causing some nearby gangsters to shout in agreement.

Hifumi's… helmet? Is this girl okay?

"U-um, please stay focused, Rabu-san!" Hifumi said as she clambered out of the tank hatch, nearly losing her balance as the tank they stood on took a shot at one of the Power Loaders. Our eyes briefly met, and relief shone in her eyes. She excitedly raised her hand to wave before she restrained herself, remembering that we were supposed to pretend not to know each other. "A-and for the last time, I didn't join!"

Rabu opened her mouth to respond… before her eyes widened as something caught her attention. "Oh, crap. Get down!" Rabu grabbed Hifumi by the arm and dove off the Crusader, taking the startled Trinity student with her. Not a second later, a barrage of missiles from a Power Loader crashed into the vehicle they previously stood on, devastating the vehicle and turning it into a flaming pile of scrap metal.

Standing up from the ground, Rabu snarled in annoyance, clutching her pump-action shotgun. "Oh, now it's on! Faust, you're with me!"

"Sure!" Hifumi turned to me briefly and gave me a nod before setting out to support Rabu and Wakamo.

Recognizing the biggest immediate threats, the enemy attempted to focus their attention on Wakamo and the two remaining Crusaders. After trying unsuccessfully to nab the agile Wakamo with a missile salvo, one of the Power Loaders instead directed its next barrage at one of the Crusaders.

Seeing this, Hifumi quickly reacted, taking off her backpack and hurriedly rummaged through its contents. Once she found what she needed, she tossed a hexagonal disk, which landed in front of the Crusader being targeted.

An anti-missile system or energy barricade? I thought, becoming very interested in the piece of tech Hifumi just tossed.

My hopes were quickly dashed as, to my incredible disappointment, the disk materialized… a life-sized Radchicken which proceeded to dance in place as colorful concert lights encircled the creature.

"Peroro-sama, it's your time to shine!" Hifumi shouted encouragingly.

…

What is this.

Given how eye-catching that Radchicken was, the only logical explanation was that this was supposed to be a decoy of sorts. But there was no way any sane person, much less an advanced combat robot, would fall for such an obvious decoy.

Which made it all the more infuriatingly head-scratching when the missile barrage that was homing in on the Crusader made nearly a ninety-degree turn and altered its course to hit the Radchicken instead. Not only that, but nearly every enemy abandoned the targets they were occupied with to gang up on the Radchicken. Our allies, mysteriously unaffected, quickly took advantage, as Wakamo pilfered an enemy RPG and used it to severely damage another Power Loader, which Rabu then finished off with what looked like a fire bomb. By the time the Radchicken decoy wilted and dematerialized along with its lightshow accompaniment, Wakamo's forces had already gained an upper hand and pressed the attack further.

Rabu whistled at the sight of the dancing Radchicken meeting its untimely end. "Using a widely-beloved icon like Peroro as a sacrificial lamb against a dangerous killer robot…" Rabu mused before she jovially smacked Hifumi on the back hard enough to make the Trinity student nearly fall over. "That is freaking heartless! I don't care what you say, Faust - you're clearly fit to be one of us!"

"N-no!" Hifumi wailed in protest. "You've got it all wrong!"

Either that Power Loader's targeting parameters were faulty, or that Radchicken was doing some manner of mindfuckery like Kayoko does. I was leaning more toward the latter, given that even the PMC students were not immune to the effect. Now, however, was not the time to test hypotheses.

Taking that as a sign that they had things under control, I began to head to the now-unguarded razor wire fence. ED-E, unburdened by enemy fire now that our help had the enemy's attention, joined me. He teetered in the air slightly from the damage he sustained during the skirmish but was already working on repairing himself, if the metallic scraping noises I heard from his chassis were any indication.

Reaching behind by back, I withdrew a metal rod which resembled the handles of the throwing axes from earlier. The Protonic Inversal Axe lit up with an electric whine, the violet hardlight contrasting with the fleeting light of sunset. I grunted in slight effort as I used the axe to hack away at the razor wire fence, the reinforced metal on the fence eventually yielding to the hardlight blade. Once I had a gap large enough to fit into, I climbed through the fence sideways, raising an eyebrow when I brushed against the edges of the gap I made, feeling a slight tingle.

The fence is electrified too? Cute.

Once I was on the other side, ED-E put some juice into his miniature plasma thrusters, which, in tandem with the antigravity module, was more than powerful enough to propel him over the fence. With both of us accounted for, we made our way into the small base. However, upon looking around, the place was seemingly deserted.

"Sensei! In the sky!" Arona said. "See that Pave Low?"

"Pave Low?" I repeated the new term.

ED-E beeped and faced a certain direction, and following his gaze, I recognized the sight of an armored helicopter heading north - away from our current location.

"Is it him?" I asked.

"Hard to tell. But those helicopters aren't designed for combat. They're more for ex…" Arona trailed off, as if struggling with a newly-learned word. "Exful…"

"Exfiltration?"

"Yes, that's the word!" Arona said.

Huh. So if that vehicle is designed for exfiltration, that meant they likely had high-value personnel to extract in anticipation of Kaiser losing the territory to us.

"Looks like we didn't make it after all," Arona continued sadly. "But at least we're winning, right? Should only be a matter of time until comms are cleared, so we can just take it easy and wait for everyone to finish up!"

"ED-E, keep watch," I said, deactivating the Protonic Inversal Axe and stowing it.

"{Affirmative beeping}."

"Eh? Sensei?"

Retrieving the Tesla-Beaton Prototype, I ejected the electron charge pack loaded in the weapon and replaced it with a max charged pack.

"Sensei, what are you doing?"

Quickly navigating my Power Helmet interface, I accessed the auto-medic functionality. There, I cycled through the options until I found what I needed. "Catching a flight."

"I don't see any aircraft around here…"

"Think literally."

Recognizing my play on words, Arona replied, "But how?" Her hologram popped up, and she pointed at the rapidly fleeing Pave Low, which was on the verge of becoming a dot on the horizon. "There's no way you can hit it from this far away!"

Normally, she'd be right. Even if I had my anti-materiel rifle with me, there was no guarantee that I'd be able to consistently down an armored target from this range. But since the longest-ranged weapon I currently had was the Tesla-Beaton Prototype, I had to make do.

There were a few hiccups with this plan, however.

Attempting to fire a Tesla Cannon at a moving target from this distance wasn't entirely unreasonable, but basic physics predicted that the Tesla-Beaton's damage output would greatly depreciate over such a long distance. The Enclave didn't leave me any operating instructions for this weapon, but this distance more than surpassed the effective range of a normal Tesla Cannon, if the Brotherhood of Steel's specs were to be believed. Because of that, I couldn't count on the Prototype's anti-vehicular properties in this scenario - I needed to hit my target in a weak point to take it out.

Furthermore, the weapon itself was becoming worn down. As a prototype, it was never meant to undergo such extensive use, and using a max charge pack would only serve to exacerbate the issue. Without an opportunity for field maintenance, I predicted that I had a few more shots until the weapon's firepower started to diminish.

Lastly, hitting such a pinpoint target using a shoulder-mounted weapon would take a considerable amount of skill and luck. I had confidence in my skill with [Energy Weapons], and as for [Luck]... well. My track record at casinos spoke for itself, but I owed it to Lady Luck to try and minimize the chance of failure in as many ways as I could.

I stopped scrolling once I found what I was looking for.

Steady.

Normally this is a system that is designed to administer Stimpaks and painkillers, not unlike the Stealth Suit Mk II, but with some modification I was able to rig it to administer other chems in addition to Med-X. I made it a point to try not to use chems while I was here, but we were alone and Arona couldn't exactly use chems anyway, so there was little chance of her picking up any nasty habits from watching me.

"Steady? What's that do?"

"You'll see," I said as I began messing with the chem injector's properties.

"I-is that supposed to be injected?" Arona asked, paling as she saw the list of active ingredients.

"Nope."

"Sensei-" she began to protest.

"Relax. That's why I'm diluting it," I interrupted, but Arona still looked nonplussed. Intravenous usage had several advantages over other routes such as inhalation, such advantages being more immediate effect and increased bioavailability, at the cost of increased risk of addiction, overdosing, and toxicity. However, being an experienced [Chemist], I had long since ascertained the enzymatic capacities of my liver, especially in consideration of the augmentations made to my heart, making these drawbacks more or less negligible.

Once I reached a dosage that was optimal, I confirmed the selection, and promptly felt a pinprick on my right arm. The chem entered my bloodstream, and my world altered. My breathing smoothened and my heart rate stabilized. I became acutely aware of my body's voluntary and involuntary movements, down to every last skeletal muscle fiber, allowing me to control every minute movement with pinpoint accuracy. With this, calculating the ideal trajectory to hit my target, then actually carrying it out would be a cinch.

I sighed. I wasn't proud of it, but I had missed this feeling. Alcohol and chems were just about the only things that kept me alive in the hells that were the Sierra Madre and the Divide. After that, I retained the unhealthy habit of defaulting to chem usage whenever the going got rough.

Everyone has their vices. The only variable is how long one can keep them buried.

With a quick command, my Power Armor opened from behind, allowing me to exit the suit. The Power Armor's outdated, imprecise servomotors would only hinder me in a situation in which I needed to line up the perfect shot.

Hoisting the Tesla Cannon over my shoulder, I took aim at the dot on the horizon.

"Charting course for Site 75E; ETA four hours." The automaton pilot paused. "Sir, did we-"

"Shut it." Leaning back in the rather uncomfortable seat, the PMC Director sighed irritably and wondered where exactly they had gone wrong.

Everything was set in place. Abydos' authority was suppressed and Kaiser effectively controlled nearly their entire district, with no one left to resist except one ragtag group of children. They were persistent, but given their isolation from the rest of the city it was only a matter of time until they caved. His associate from Gematria assured him as much, even informing him of a plan to ensnare the vice president in a contract, leaving Abydos student council's claim to its territory null and void. Kaiser would finally be legally allowed to seize and appropriate the school building to suit its purposes.

So what happened?

All evidence suggested that Sensei was the catalyst - from the moment he became involved, he'd proven to be nothing but an infuriating thorn in Kaiser's side. Starting with helping the students fend off the fodder that the Director had hired, then culminating in the mounting of a full-on attack on multiple vital installations in the desert. The Director remained hopeful that their numerical advantage would be enough to at least drive the interlopers off, but ultimately he was forced to retreat as their losses skyrocketed. Not even the prototype was enough to tip the scales, even though various simulations projected that that thing should have been able to easily dispatch scores of students.

The Director clenched a fist.

Worthless. All those children who masqueraded as gangsters were absolutely worthless. And those traitorous wretches from Gehenna turned out to be more trouble than they were worth. Some fixers they turned out to be - from the moment they were defeated by Sensei, they had apparently seen fit to abandon their contract and bite the hand that fed them.

It just didn't make sense. Kaiser, recognizing the potential in what were effectively renewable pawns, had conscripted many students of their own and outfitted them with the best gear money could buy. Yet even with vehicular support, they still found themselves outmatched by a ragtag group of children of magnitudes smaller size. Even with training, students were capricious in nature, but Abydos was able to rally together with Gehenna's Prefect Team and go toe-to-toe with impossible odds. What was the missing variable here?

Again, all signs pointed to Sensei. An outsider who, by all rights, had no business being near a battlefield, yet he threw caution to the wind and chose to fight alongside his students personally.

It was preposterous, being able to bolster a fighting force simply by being present. But it happened - and that was the most infuriating part of all.

What made that bastard so special?!

"Damn him…" the Director growled.

The Director wasn't certain where Sensei had gotten incriminating evidence against Kaiser. But the salient issue was that this made it difficult to leverage Abydos' debt against them as recompense for the attacks on the Abydos Desert. Worse, since the Director didn't know which shell companies could be linked back to Kaiser, framing the companies as scapegoats to take the fall for the rest of the corporation was impossible. Unless they opted to completely wipe the slate clean and found new front organizations… but that would amount to billions of yen and years of market manipulation down the drain.

The easy way out was not feasible and damage control was off the table. The Director briefly considered trying to alter the debt or the interest rate anyway since it was possible that Sensei was lying, but like that man said, he couldn't take that risk. The Director had spent far too long building up his career to get to where he was now only to get caught up in a scandal that'd surely get him sent back to square one.

He shuddered. The Director found that the mere mental image of Sensei was enough to make him uncomfortable.

After all, just what kind of madman threatens to turn someone into a toaster?!

…Certainly not one who the Director was comfortable with dealing with, at any rate. He wasn't sure what it was about how Sensei said it, but the Director got the distinct impression that Sensei was absolutely serious.

Leaning back into his seat, he sighed in irritation. It was setback after setback. At least now he could head back to base to request some real firepower to take back the desert. A battalion or two should do the trick. Now that Gematria had sold Kaiser the schematics to build their own Goliath mechs, that opened up options for ground operations… though they still had to get around the issue of the Goliath's prohibitive construction and operation costs. Cutting-edge firepower didn't come cheap.

Oh, and couldn't forget the extra artillery and shipments of armor-piercing ordnance. That insufferable snake hadn't made things easier for the PMC - having to tailor their defenses in the Abydos desert to combat one massive target left the PMC susceptible to infiltration by small, coordinated groups, as Sensei and his students demonstrated. In hindsight, it was a wonder that all the commotion in the desert hadn't stirred Binah from… whatever the hell it did underground.

But Binah, for now, was off their current list of worries. The Director could only hope that the snake made Sensei and those Abydos children regret ever setting foot in Kaiser's land.

The Director had already begun articulating a petition to Kaiser's president for additional funding when the aircraft shook. Turbulence at this altitude?

The aircraft lurched, nearly propelling the Director out of his seat, prompting him to carefully get up and make his way toward the cockpit.

"What in blazes is going on in there?!" the Director demanded, reaching over grab the pilot's seat for support, only to retract his hand in from the pain as a strong electrical current surged through his circuits. Once he recovered, he discovered to his dismay that the pilot was slumped forward in its seat, incapacitated from the electrical current, while the console in front of the robot was depowered. Had they been struck by lightning?!

Without its pilot, the helicopter began to list to the side, throwing off the Director as he attempted to manipulate the controls to steady the aircraft.

The vehicle lurched once more, more violently this time. The PMC Director didn't even have an opportunity to brace himself for the impact as he was thrown against the wall.

Not bad, if I do say so myself, I thought, suiting up then slinging the Tesla-Beaton Prototype over my back to join poor Sprtel-Wood. I had to admit, sniping with a Tesla Cannon wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but needs must when the devil drives.

Dusk had fallen along with the aircraft. As I strode to the crash site I found myself wondering what I'd find. A flaming wreckage? A nondescript pile of scrap metal? A severed head?

…No, he probably survived that, I surmised, tempering my expectations.

After all, unlike the mass-produced automatons that Kaiser deployed, Kivotos' sentient robots possessed a resilience I theorized was nearly on par with that of students. That banker that I shot during the heist should've ended up with a lot more than just a few scrapes from a pulse slug at near point-blank range, but at least the EMP effect was consistent. While the Director wasn't exactly a TV-head like the banker, the fact that he was capable of complex conversation pointed to a common element of sapience. I wasn't sure where such durability had come from, but it made about as much sense as everything else in this city.

No matter. The end result would be the same. He was a robot, I had a Proton Axe, and I was feeling awfully like Butcher Pete. Just with more literal chopping.

"{Informative beeping}."

True to ED-E's word, we were approaching what seemed to be the crash site, marked with a compass indicator.

The landmark wasn't difficult to make out, owing to the small fires that had sporadically lit around the place. The wreckage itself was fairly recognizable - while not quite in one piece, the aircraft had not exploded or fallen apart completely during its crash. It seemed the damage I had dealt to the Pave Low itself was in fact minimal, so it was likely that the Prototype's electrical output was sufficient to overload the vehicle's (or the operator's) systems and cause them to lose control.

But first things first…

Activating a command on my HUD's control center, a compartment on my lower back slid open. I gingerly retrieved the Shittim Chest from its hiding place next to the electric core and held it out to ED-E.

"ED-E, {Open Inventory}."

With a compliant beep, the robot rotated to face me. His faceplate slid open, revealing an area more or less large enough to fit an object - or, in this case, a tablet - inside.

"Sensei?" Arona asked confusedly.

"Good work today, Arona. You were a huge help."

"Thanks? But what does that have to do with-" When I placed the Shittim Chest in ED-E, Arona began to protest. "U-um, Sensei? What are you doing?"

Not answering her question, I lightheartedly responded, "You must be tired after all that. I've really been putting you through your paces, huh?"

"N-no, Sensei! It's fine! I really don't mind!" Arona insisted, beginning to sound antsy. "So could you please…"

"Go and take a break. Sleep, listen to music, slack off, whatever. I don't mind." With that, I closed ED-E's faceplate. "I'll take it from here."

"But we can do all that together!" Arona exclaimed, worry and slight hurt becoming evident in her tone. "I can't just leave you here! It could be dangerous!"

"It'll be alright. I have some business I need to take care of alone, is all." I nodded at ED-E as I addressed him. "Standard patrol subroutine, but stay in earshot. I'll holler if I need anything."

With a beep and a vertical bob of his body, ED-E floated off, taking his unwilling passenger with him.

"Sensei! Wait! Sensei!" Arona shouted, progressively becoming quieter until I could hear her no more. After all, 'out of earshot' meant different things for Arona and I than it did for an Eyebot. This was vital in ensuring whatever transpired in this crash site would stay between ED-E and me.

A brief kernel of doubt welled up in me before I dismissed it. Sure, she could always hack him, but hacking a Pip-Boy is a hell of a lot different than hacking a sentient creature, especially one that she knows I like. She wouldn't do it; she was an AI, but she was a good person - better than most I'd met in my travels.

Including myself.

Like clockwork, a pang of guilt struck me.

After everything she'd done to help me, I was sending her away despite her wishes to stay. Arona, who scarcely asked for more than a pat on the head or some praise for her efforts. Someone who made it clear to me when I met her that residing in the Shittim Chest alone was a very lonely prospect.

It made me feel like a world-class heel. A damned fink, even - as Benny would have so eloquently put it.

The blue whale icon on my Power Helmet HUD grayed out, signifying my connection to the Chest had faltered, and for the first time since I acquired the Shittim Chest, I was well and truly alone.

…Not to mention vulnerable. Even in cases where I needed privacy, I kept the Shittim Chest close by, just enough for its barrier functionality to protect me. However, now that I found myself without it, I gradually began to feel an anxious edge creep into me - a similar feeling to the ones I experienced when exploring hazardous areas in the Wasteland. I was far from helpless and I knew this - I had my instincts, gear, and experience to fall back on precisely for situations like these. But this didn't detract from the fact that this was the first time I had ever been in full Power Armor and felt naked.

Seemed that I relied on Arona more than I liked to admit.

But I couldn't back out now. Arona had protected me for the lion's share of my time in Kivotos, so it was time for me to protect her in turn. If that meant keeping her from seeing my idea of Wasteland justice, so be it.

By now, the last traces of sunset had all but fled the sky, leaving the sky illuminated by naught but the mysterious haloes. There, I stalked the ruins of the Pave Low, searching for any possible survivors. Faintly, the characteristic sound of metal scraping against metal caught my attention.

…There. That didn't take long.

I lumbered over to the source, and found what I was looking for.

Kaiser's PMC Director didn't look like he was having a swell time. From where he lay on his back, I could tell that his coat was ripped in numerous places, and there were several scratches on his…face? Faceplate? Frame? Hell if I know, I'm no synth doctor. The lower half of his body was pinned by a very large, heavy piece of debris. He was leveraging both of his stout robotic arms to try and move the metal off of him, but due to his awkward positioning, his injuries, or perhaps a combination of both, he was making little headway.

His efforts ceased when he caught the sight of me looming over him. He stared at me dumbly like a Radstag in the headlights.

"Howdy."

Shrieking fearfully, he immediately redoubled his efforts to free himself. His efforts briefly bore fruit as the debris slid slightly, but not quite enough to dislodge himself.

"You need help there?" I offered, seeing his predicament.

The Director confusedly paused and looked up at me, searching my Power Helmet for any explanation for my contradictory behavior. Perhaps realizing it's best not to look a gift Brahmin in the mouth, he replied, "Y-yes."

Upon hearing his reply, I reached down and grasped the edges of the debris. With a grunt, I heaved the detritus to the side, where it loudly collided against the dirt, caking both of us in sand.

"There you go," I said, dusting off my hands then letting them rest at my sides.

The Director shakily got to his feet. He looked at me up and down and, without a word, began to limp away as fast as he could in the direction opposite of me.

"Got places to be, huh?" I said, frowning as I noticed his gait. Like I said, I'm no synth doctor, but even I could tell that while his leg was intact, it was apparently damaged. With the equivalent of a crippled leg, there was no way he would be able to escape any pursuer larger than a Radroach.

Plus, he was going in the wrong direction - or at least, that wasn't the direction his flight was heading. Did he really want to get away that badly?

Sighing in faux hurt, I withdrew one Proton Throwing Axe and powered it up. Queuing up V.A.T.S. and selecting my target of interest, I chucked the axe and watched with vindication as the axe embedded itself right in the Director's crippled leg. The Director crumpled onto the ground, writhing and screaming as the localized EMP worked its magic.

I looked around unceremoniously.

"Nowhere to be seen. Oh, but when everybody's watching, there you are. Damned showoff," I mirthfully remarked even though I knew full well that the Stranger couldn't hear me. Probably.

On one hand, it was disappointing that the Stranger hadn't shown up and blown this guy's synth brains out. Hell, if that happened I couldn't be held responsible for the murder even if a witness were present.

On the other hand, I now had firsthand confirmation that this synth asshole feels pain.

…Good.

A ghastly smile that would surely have traumatized any students who saw it crept onto my face as I approached the Director. I ungently wrenched the axe from his sparking leg, sparing him from the EMP effect for now.

"Y-you…" the Director coughed out once he recovered enough to speak. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"Soon-to-be spare parts?" I helpfully said.

Coming to the realization that I had every intention of making good on my promise to use his innards for parts for a household appliance, he quickly exclaimed, "Y-you win! We admit defeat! Kaiser will cease operations in this area, you have my word!"

I tilted my head calmly. "Of course you will. Your corporation was going to do that with or without your say so. Problem is…" I seized him by the neck and effortlessly tossed him to the side, where he forcefully landed onto some detritus from the crash. "You should have left when I fucking told you to. And more importantly, you hurt Fuuka. So I'm going to show you how we deal with scumbags like you where I'm from."

Realizing he was getting nowhere fast, he fearfully chose to appeal to a different kind of authority. "You… You think the General Student Council will allow this?! They-"

"I don't give a rat's ass about what the GSC thinks," I said, knowing that I was playing up the menacing persona just a tad. While it was true that the General Student Council's opinions mattered little to me, the public's opinion was a different matter entirely.

After I attended my first meeting with Abydos, I did a bit of digging as I searched for solutions to their problem. Murder in this city was treated with all the gravity one would expect of a place where non-accidental fatalities were all but eradicated. As such, killing someone of this person's standing would surely demolish my reputation and might even incur the public to call for my arrest, notwithstanding the station I currently held. But with nobody else in sight…

Well, I imagined it'd be quite easy to chalk up a death to an unfortunate accident, especially in a place like this.

"What kind of teacher…" he choked out, then shook his head frantically. "No… you're no teacher. What in the world are you?"

I didn't dignify him with a response, instead choosing to drive my boot into his side, sending him rolling several feet as he cried out in pain.

"It's one of the worst feelings in the world, you know," I quietly said, my attention no longer entirely on the robot in front of me. "Being powerless, helpless, completely at the mercy of someone else, and not being able to do a damned thing about it. I would know, I've been there myself." Pulling myself out of the ugly remnants of the past and refocusing on the present, I continued. "Funny thing is, that's exactly what you've been putting these students through. The circumstances may not be the same, but it all boils down to the same principle - stepping on somebody you think is beneath you."

I looked him in the eye or what I thought were his eyes. "...It doesn't feel good being on the receiving end, now does it?"

"B-but i-if you do this, how are you any different?!" he attempted to argue in a last ditch effort to save his own skin.

I rolled my eyes. This argument, huh?

"I'm not different." I flashed a toothy grin. "Well, not entirely. After all…"

"Had the situations been reversed, had you been the one who won this day, you'd have no issues with having those students grovel at your feet, begging for mercy. You're so used to being on top of the world. It's high time someone brought you back down to earth, made you realize your actions have consequences."

It was then I had a funny little idea.

"So I'll share with you what was said to me when I was in your position. Fair play and all that jazz, you dig?" I quipped, shaking my head amusedly when I found myself imitating Mr. House's late protege. Might as well turn the hamminess up a notch while I'm at it, right?

His desperate gaze followed my every move as I retrieved the Protonic Inversal Axe.

"From where you're kneeling this must seem like an 18-carat run of bad luck."

The Protonic Inversal Axe lit up with an electric whine.

"Wait!" he pleaded.

"Truth is…"

Using both hands I held the axe up over my head, poised to chop at his neck like an executioner of old.

"No…!" He vainly attempted to use a hand to shield himself from the incoming blow.

"...The game was rigged from the start."

"NOOOOOOO!" the Director screamed, before something behind me caught his eye.

The blade descended.

"Hey… HEY, YOU!" he screeched. "Stop him! You can't allow something like this to happen right under your nose, can you?!"

The Protonic Inversal Axe's blade stopped mere inches from the Director's neck, allowing for the faintest trace of static to arc off the blade and onto his neck, causing him to recoil.

Boredly, I took a glance at his supposed savior, expecting this to be a ploy to buy time. My eyes widened once I saw Hoshino standing several feet from us, watching the scene pensively.

Seeing that I had stopped, the Director pressed further hopefully.

"Y-yes, that's right! You're still an authority figure in this district; do something about this madman!"

Sneering derisively, I reared back a leg and drove my boot right into his face, sending him rolling on the ground as he cried out in pain. "Blow it out your ass. Whatever happened to this being 'your territory'? Only now once you're getting your shit kicked in, you respect her authority? You. opportunistic. PIECE. OF. SHIT!" I punctuated each word with successively heavier kicks to his face. On the last hit something metallic crunched and hopefully broke under my boot, giving me some degree of perverse satisfaction.

"Sensei…" Hoshino somberly started.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, angling my head to face the new arrival as I lowered my weapon.

I must have come off as colder than I intended, since Hoshino winced for the briefest of moments before her expression settled. "Wanted to check on you, since I figured you'd get attacked on the way here. Didn't realize you had Faust on speed dial this whole time." She attempted to crack a small smile at the last part but gave up when she figured I wasn't in much of a smiling mood myself.

"And the others?"

"I sent them back to regroup with your students from Schale."

My gaze shifted away from her and I kneaded the handle of my axe absently, my target momentarily forgotten. "I see. Good choice."

The only sounds for a few seconds were the petering embers around us and the whimpers of the Director.

"...Are you going to try to stop me, Hoshino?" I asked neutrally.

"No," she replied firmly, only sparing the Director one look of disdain before she looked back at me. "Truth be told, I've been considering doing what you're doing for a long time now. Would be kind of a hypocrite if I tried to stop you, right?"

"W-what?!" Upon realizing that his supposed savior wasn't as softhearted as he thought, he said, "How dare-"

I jabbed the axe at his face, and sure enough he clammed up right quick.

"But let me ask you this," Hoshino said. "Is he worth it?"

Taking one look at the quivering Director, I said, "Nope. But isn't that the point? Useless wastes of space like this one need to be forcefully removed or they'll spread like a tumor. Believe me; you're better off without him."

Hoshino considered my words, then sighed resignedly. "Alright. I was just making sure you weren't gonna do something you'll regret."

"Regret?" I scoffed, pointing my axe at the robot in question. "Hoshino, my only regret is that I don't have a Hoover Dam to throw this fucker off of."

Despite her not knowing what Hoover Dam is, it seemed she got the gist of what I was saying well enough. However, even though she saw that my mind was made up, she made no move to leave or even look away from the scene.

Now, I'd psychoanalyzed my fair share of people in the past, but even I found it difficult to ascertain how she felt about what I was doing. There was but one thing I knew for certain - after all, I knew that look in her eyes better than anyone. She knew very well what I was about to get up to. She'd seen death before, after all. Probably not much, but that was still a hell of a lot more trauma than the average student was exposed to.

"You don't have to stay here, you know. I'll regroup with you guys after I'm done here," I said sympathetically, to which she didn't reply.

Was it because she wanted to see this thing through to the end? Perhaps she was watching my back to make sure nothing got the drop on me while I was occupied. Or maybe she wanted to witness the sight of Kaiser's PMC Director getting his just desserts. A more cynical side of me even entertained the idea that she simply wanted to see for herself the kind of person I truly am.

Regardless, if she chose to stay, that was her prerogative. She had an inkling of an idea of how life was back home anyway, so I saw little need in pretending around her, at least for now.

Taking out my throwing axe, I wheeled around and tossed it at the injured synth who was attempting to sneak away while I was distracted. After plodding over and retrieving the weapon, I stomped down on his back to pin him down. Since my first attempt didn't quite make the cut, I readied my axe to try again, this time without the theatrics.

"Oh, no…" Hoshino whispered.

What is it this time? Groaning, I looked to see what Hoshino's issue was. It was them I caught a glimpse of a small flying object.

Ayane's drone.

Oh. That's not good.

If her drone found us, then that must mean…

"...Sensei?"

Hoshino and I watched as the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force arrived on the scene, joined by some unexpected additions. Ayane had apparently joined the group in-person, wielding her handgun as she eyed the situation cautiously. Fuuka was also present, and seemed almost fully recovered from her injury thanks to the Prefect Team's aid. Nonomi, however, was conspicuously absent.

"Why are you guys here?" Hoshino asked, mirroring my thoughts. "I told you to stay with the others!"

"We knew you were going to Sensei's location, so we wanted to come along," Shiroko replied. "You're difficult to track, but with Ayane here, it was a bit easier."

Ayane laughed nervously under Hoshino's pointed gaze.

"Sorry I'm late!" Nonomi announced as she arrived, her arms wrestling with an unwilling Eyebot. "ED-E-kun's being real feisty all of a sudden…"

It seemed that the students had encountered ED-E along the way and brought him along. However…

"Yowch!" Serika yelped as a stray laser from the struggling Eyebot grazed the top of her head, narrowly missing her ears and singing her hair slightly. "Nonomi-senpai, can't you keep him under control?!"

"I-I'm trying!" a distressed Nonomi exclaimed as she attempted to hug the robot close to her chest to prevent him from fleeing. Turns out, an antigravity module and plasma thrusters make a robot exceedingly difficult to forcefully keep down, even for someone who lugs around a minigun 24/7. I'd imagine the lasers and electrical zapper didn't make it any easier. "Why is he being like this? He was so friendly earlier…!"

"That…" I tiredly began, already feeling a headache forming due to the situation becoming much more complicated than it needed to be, "...is because I gave him instructions to stay away. Since you forced him along, of course he's going to fight back."

"{Apologetic beeping}." Needless to say, he did not look happy about his forced arrival.

"It's alright, too late for that. Stand down."

The Eyebot relaxed, and Nonomi carefully released him. However, ED-E's presence wasn't the one I was dreading - it was his passenger.

As if on cue, the whale icon on my HUD pulsed and once again became a lively shade of blue as the bar refilled, signifying my reconnection to the Shittim Chest. An angry-looking Arona popped into view.

"Sensei!" Arona chastised, frowning deeply. "How could you just send me away like…that…" she trailed off as she registered our surroundings and the tense atmosphere. "What's going on…?"

It wasn't just Arona. Everyone's eyes eventually fell on the same place - namely, the pinned PMC Director, with my axe at his throat. Now that I thought about it, this situation didn't exactly paint me in a good light.

The group's reactions were immediate, and, despite the fact that I expected something like this, confusing.

"Hold on… You're not thinking of…" Ayane paused. "That, are you?"

"I mean…" Serika bit her lip pensively. "Sure, this guy's a scumbag, and I'm glad we gave him a good kick in the head, but he doesn't deserve…"

Even though she didn't have a stake in Abydos' troubles, or because she didn't have one, Fuuka uncomfortably chimed in, "Um, Sensei? We've already won, so could you put away the axe?" She shrunk as I looked at her, then feebly added, "...Please?"

My grip on the axe loosened, then tightened again as the Director squirmed under my boot.

To think that I was once in these students' shoes, with Graham about to execute Salt-Upon-Wounds. It's not an easy thing, reasoning with a person who was dead set on retribution. The irony was not lost on me.

Shiroko carefully began to approach me, eschewing all words except one. "...Sensei?"

But I wasn't like Graham - I wasn't searching for absolution or a new lease on life or whatever. Neither was I like Daniel - I wouldn't lose sleep over mercilessly tearing an enemy apart.

No. If anything, I would sleep better at night knowing that this city would be rid of one of the parasites infesting it. Hoshino probably figured this out, and thus she didn't even try and reason with me - she knew it'd take more than an idealistic [Speech] to make me stay my hand.

However, there was one thing that gave me pause. It wasn't their words, or their guns, or the law.

It was their eyes, in which there was a flurry of various emotions - fear, anger, anticipation. But most prominent of all was worry. Worry for me and, perhaps most surprising of all, worry for the robot beneath my boot.

Their reactions were utterly confusing to me because despite everything this robot had put them through, these students didn't want to see him dead.

From the perspective of a Wastelander, this was unthinkable. Foolishly naive. Childish. One might even argue for stupid. I opted for a mix of these sentiments.

And yet…

I found such naivete, such innocence, to be a beautiful thing - something absolutely worth protecting.

Something clicked. I recalled once having the notion that I'd rather take another bullet to the head rather than let this place become another Wasteland - and I finally understood why.

These students have never had to fear their lives being taken, nor did they have to take one in turn. They were free of the endless cycle of hate and retribution that plagued pre-War mankind and carried on into the Wasteland. Countless times throughout history has man attempted to overcome this vicious cycle, only to be frustrated because just like war itself, human nature never changes.

I am no exception to this. I am a Wastelander, born and bred - and a product of the absolute worst the Wasteland has to offer. From rising from the grave, to braving the Mojave Wasteland, nearly being broken by the Sierra Madre, having my sense of self being twisted and warped in the Big Empty, being reforged by the relentless storms of the Divide. Just as I shaped the Wasteland, the Wasteland shaped me in turn. I could accommodate change easily enough, as I'd gone this long in Kivotos without murdering something. But deep down I'm set in my ways, and nothing, not in the Wasteland or Kivotos, could change who I am deep down.

Ever since I emerged from that grave, it's been kill or be killed, an eye for an eye. That, as I learned firsthand, was the unforgiving "law" of the Wasteland, and it was one I lived by and fully expected to die by.

But this wasn't the Wasteland.

And though the Wasteland would forever be a part of me, that didn't mean I had to bring the Wasteland to these students.

As I felt my resolve falter, I turned to Abydos' vice president.

She shook her head only once. And even though the student herself said nothing, her eyes seemed to plead with me.

'They don't need to see this.'

I agreed. They didn't need to see this. Any of this. And I found myself wondering what the hell I was doing here, masquerading as a teacher for these nigh-immortal creatures who scarcely even knew what death is.

The Wasteland doesn't belong here.

Feeling an almost imperceptible touch against my shoulder, I realized Shiroko had placed her hand there.

"It's okay," she said, never having been much for fancy speeches.

I had no idea what exactly was "okay", but I found that I didn't need to know. She was there, she was alive and well, and that was good enough for me.

They… we were okay.

Removing my boot from the Director's back, I lowered my axe and let it hang by my side limply.

"Leave, and never come back."

The Director looked up at me, then at my weapon. He began to get up, his movements unsure, as if expecting me to lash out at any given time. Once he had almost completely risen, I pointed my weapon at him again.

"But let me spell things out for you, loud and clear," I hissed, my sudden threat startling him and causing him to fall on his ass. "I have no gods, no masters. If the GSC objects to how I do things, that's too bad. They can't stop me. No one can. So, please. Trust me when I say that if you cross my students again, I will personally burn you and your pathetic corporation to the ground, then salt the earth over your ashes."

No one dared speak in the moments that followed. Once I was sure my words had sunk in, I jabbed the axe forward again, causing him to recoil.

"Got it?"

As his ability to speak had apparently fled, he frantically nodded as if his life depended on it.

"Go."

This time, he didn't spare any time as he scrambled to his feet and practically hopped away as fast as his undamaged leg would allow. Once he was at a distance he deemed safe, he turned back to our group, mustering the courage to speak.

"This… this isn't over!" he hollered, in a last ditch attempt to save face.

Groaning in frustration, I reached for a gun to motivate him to leave quicker, but Shiroko understood my intent and acted accordingly. She raised her rifle and fired at the ground around the Director's feet, making him do a little jig before he hurriedly stumbled away, finally out of sight.

With that, our group was alone, though the tense atmosphere lingered somewhat as my company, Hoshino especially, released the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

Paying this no mind, I depowered my axe and clunked over to a pile of debris. I then leaned back and let myself fall onto the debris with a crash, startling my current company as I sat on the world's most uncomfortable chair.

Steady has worn off, my HUD notified me as the last of the drug faded from my system. Maybe it was just the crash from the chem being fully metabolized, but I was left with a profuse feeling of emptiness that I felt in more ways than one. It made me realize how exhausted I was. Not physically, since I'd crawled my way out of worse scuffles, but mentally. All this time spent pretending to be something that I'm not. It made me wonder just how long I could keep my true nature from them.

I knew it. This teacher gig just isn't meant for me.

Sighing, I entertained the idea that I should've taken the Psycho instead. Then maybe I would've killed that bastard. But then again, Psycho is a lot less subtle than Steady - even with the helmet, these students would be able to tell I'm chemmed out of my mind.

Shiroko lowered herself down onto a more smooth piece of debris and sat down next to me.

"Sensei."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Turning to her incredulously, I asked "What for?"

Shiroko smiled. It was a perfectly normal smile, but on her usually stoic face, combined with the atmosphere, it was somewhat jarring, a fact that did not escape her classmates.

"Shiroko-senpai? What are you so happy about?" Serika remarked cautiously. "You're kinda giving me the creeps."

"He called us his students," Shiroko answered.

"We were already his students, though," Nonomi said perplexedly.

Shiroko insistently shook her head, this time addressing me. "That was the first time you've ever called us your students."

"Huh," Hoshino said thoughtfully.

Ayane blinked as she replayed my words in her head. "He did say that, didn't he?"

"I was kinda distracted by the whole 'burn you and your corporation to the ground' bit to really think about it, but yeah, he did say something like that," Serika remarked.

I didn't quite believe it myself. The whole "Sensei" business was still weird and would never not be weird. To top it all off, I was just grappling with what had to be the worst case of imposter syndrome known to man. So why on earth would I say something like that?

There was only one explanation that made sense.

"My tongue must've slipped."

A period of silence. And then…

"Pfft." Serika barely held back her laughter.

"Uhe~" Hoshino remarked, a smug smile worming its way onto her face. "Lookit you, Sensei. You keep this up and you'll seriously give Serika-chan competition for the title of biggest tsundere in Abydos."

Serika went from snickering to becoming red-faced in the span of a second. "Hey!"

The strained atmosphere dissipated as the group collectively giggled.

Fuuka smiled in relief. "Thank goodness everything's okay. It was getting a little scary in here, if I'm being honest…"

"It's okay, Fuuka-chan! Sensei just likes to scare people. You know he would never actually hurt anyone!" Nonomi nodded fervently, though I was unsure whether she actually believed this or was just trying to reassure Fuuka or even herself.

Hoshino and I briefly shared a look upon hearing this.

"Right…" The vice president of Abydos nervously laughed.

"Ugh…" Serika moaned in exhaustion as she collapsed onto a heap of junk next to Shiroko and me. "Everything hurts…"

A noncommittal series of agreement among the students present echoed her statement. Everyone took a moment to sit and have a break. Now that the fires had died down completely, several students turned on their cell phone flashlights for illumination while I switched on my Power Helmet headlamp.

It was only after we had all settled down that I realized just how much our team had been pushed. Shiroko's right arm was wrapped in bandages and before she collapsed Serika walked with a slight limp. And though she looked fully healed by now, Fuuka still looked a bit unsteady on her feet as she passed around snacks to the team.

"How's your head?" I asked, just loud enough to grab her attention.

"I'm feeling much better already," Fuuka replied. "Thank you for your concern, Sensei."

"Sorry for dragging you along," I said, frowning ruefully. "I should've taken you at your word when you said you're not meant for fighting."

"Oh no, please don't worry about it!" Fuuka adamantly responded. "This is barely worse than what happens at the school daily."

"Daily?" Shiroko echoed.

"I'm afraid so."

"How is anyone from Gehenna still alive?" Serika asked bluntly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Fuuka flatly replied.

…Better bring the big guns when I visit Gehenna, I reminded myself. Goes to show how even someone as strong as Hina would be pushed to her limit keeping literal demons in line at that academy.

"So…" Serika started from where she lay sprawled out. "Did we win?"

Ayane adjusted her glasses as she consulted her portable terminal, which I'd recently learned was called a laptop. "According to Ako-san, the bulk of Kaiser's forces are retreating. They're in the process of rounding up stragglers, and with Problem Solver 68 and Schale assisting, they should be finished in short order, even without our help." Ayane looked up with a relieved smile. "It may be presumptuous of me to say, but congratulations on our victory, everyone!"

"Yay…" Hoshino half-heartedly cheered, yawning. "Can't wait to go into a coma when we get back."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but same," Serika lamented. "I might even have to call in at the ramen shop tomorrow. There goes my paycheck for the rest of the week…"

Listening to Serika's money troubles made me think back on the times I subsisted on the caps I made from deliveries with the Mojave Express. Before I came back down to earth and realized what I was doing, I had already reached over and begun scratching behind Serika's animal ears. The way those ears twitched and reacted to stimuli reminded me of little Rexie-poo's ears, to the point where I couldn't help but scratch them.

"H-hey!" she complained. "Those metal fingers are rough!"

"Sorry," I said, retracting my hand.

"T-that doesn't mean you should stop…"

"You're giving me mixed messages here."

"You could always switch to me, Sensei," Shiroko offered, nudging Serika out of the way and supplanting her head in her junior's place. "Unlike Serika, I'm appreciative."

"Hey! What did you just say?!"

"Truth hurts."

Despite her exhausted state, Serika somehow found the energy to push back against Shiroko to vie for ear-scratching supremacy.

"Grr… Move! I was here first!"

"Doesn't matter. I have seniority, so back off."

"I'll show you seniority!" Serika yelled as she grappled with Shiroko while Nonomi watched with an amused smile.

Sighing as my brief respite was ruined by the pair's feud, I shifted away from them slightly. "By the way, Ayane, any luck with the sensors?"

"I was just checking that, actually," she replied. "From the looks of it, four of them are set up and transmitting already, while the others have yet to be activated. Still, impressive that Hifumi-san already managed to activate four by herself."

"Yeah. She's reliable, that one," I said, choosing to keep Wakamo and the Helmet Gang's involvement a secret for the time being. "And the readings?"

"More rudimentary than expected, but sufficient enough to give us a wide range of surveillance over the Abydos Desert."

I nodded. "Rudimentary is good - more complicated devices tend to break easier and require more time to repair."

"I'm inclined to agree. We can't exactly spare funds hiring third parties for repairs, so it's for the best." Ayane pushed up her glasses, continuing. "Also, I'm picking up a lot of motion around the perimeter, but for the most part they seem to be getting farther and farther."

"Kaiser?"

"I'm not certain. We didn't install an IFF into this system, after all. But given the frequency and distribution of the movements, I'd say it's likely."

Exhaling satisfactorily, I leaned back again. All that time Ayane and I spent on repurposing and recalibrating broken weather equipment from the school's storage to use for surveillance wasn't for naught. Furthermore, it was reassuring to know that the Foreclosure Task Force would be able to monitor their own territory once Kaiser fully evacuated, since they sure as hell didn't have the manpower to patrol this entire area personally. With this, Ayane would be able to remotely pick up on encroaching threats and coordinate the team to respond accordingly.

Out of the corner of my eye, my compass updated with a single non-hostile blip. It was possible that it was just Hifumi or Hina approaching us, but I stood up cautiously anyway.

Noticing as well, Hoshino's brow furrowed. "Someone's coming."

When the new arrival came into the illumination of my headlamp, Shiroko and Serika stopped horsing around and stood with the rest of the group. I drew the MF Hyperbreeder Alpha while the rest of the team, following my lead, also drew their weapons.

A single undamaged Kaiser automaton walked toward us. Though it was unarmed, I wasn't about to take any chances - it wasn't uncommon for robots in the Wasteland to self-destruct when they found they couldn't win a fight.

"Hello, Sensei of Schale," an unfamiliar voice greeted. "May we speak?"

Recognizing the voice instantly, Hoshino scowled. "What do you want, Black Suit?"

Black Suit? So this was the adult Hoshino warned me about. Judging automaton's lack of attire, I presumed this wasn't Black Suit's real body and he was merely using this one as a medium of communication.

"You know him?" Shiroko asked, to which her senior didn't reply.

"Ah, we meet again, Horus of Dawn," the automaton's hollow voice greeted, the odd name causing Hoshino's scowl to deepen. "I don't suppose you've given any thought as to our contract, have you?"

Horus of Dawn?

Only one thing came to mind – the collapsible ballistic shield that Hoshino carried around with her. Was he talking about her? Couldn't be a nickname of endearment, given Hoshino didn't seem like she wanted anything to do with this guy.

Huh. I didn't think much about the name of the shield when I first saw it, but where the hell did a name like that come from?

"Contract?" Nonomi asked. "Senpai, what is he talking about?"

"Another time, Nonomi," Hoshino replied tersely, before turning back to the automaton. "We're done, Black Suit. I never signed."

"I see," Black Suit replied, even sounding the slightest bit disappointed. "Though I can't say I'm surprised. You and your entourage's actions of late more or less have given me your answer." The automaton gave a slight shrug. "Nevertheless, I would like to speak with Sensei alone… and in-person."

That piqued my interest. Even knowing that I spearheaded the assault against Kaiser's entire PMC, this man wanted to speak in-person?

"Anything you can say to Sensei in-person, you can say right here," Shiroko said, frowning suspiciously.

"I believe I addressed Sensei, not you, wolf god."

Wolf god? Horus? What the hell is this guy on about?

Shiroko shuddered at the name, tightening her grip on her rifle. Before she could do anything rash, I held out a hand before her, causing her to stay her fire.

"And why would I agree to that?" I asked. "We've already won here."

"You are correct. Thanks to your actions, Kaiser's foothold in the desert has been all but demolished. And while I can't say I had as much of a stake in their operations here, I won't deny that your interference in Abydos has caused me some degree of frustration," Black Suit admitted. "However, I see this as an opportunity for a unique learning experience. A… sharing of perspectives. What say you, Sensei?"

"So, what? You just want to talk? Is that it?"

"Precisely."

"If we can't talk here, where do you have in mind?"

Not answering my question directly, he replied, "The Abydos Desert is vast. And though Kaiser oversaw the construction of most of the fortifications here, some were built at my behest." The automaton extended a hand. "I will lead you to one such location. Kaiser has almost entirely evacuated from the area, so we shouldn't encounter any interruptions along the way."

"…So, lemme get this straight," I said, crossing my arms. "You want me to just follow you, alone, in the dead of night, to an unknown location?" I snorted. "You're out of your mind."

"You have my word as a fellow adult that no harm will come to you if you accept."

Yeah, and 'fellow adults' were usually the ones who plotted to kill me regularly back home. You couldn't cook up a more obvious trap if you tried.

But on the flip side, my first meeting with Caesar was much similar - under the promise of safety, he permitted me unperturbed access to the Fort, where I learned about the Legion's inner workings, their philosophies, and Caesar's ambitions from the man himself…

…As well as the layout of the camp and guard positions, which proved infinitely useful for when I later infiltrated the Fort and took down enough of Caesar's soldiers to give Boone a clear shot at the space between his eyes.

But that's beside the point.

In exchange for having me work for him, Caesar offered me both his favor and Benny's head on a silver platter if I so desired it. While Caesar's favor was useful for a while, Benny, and more importantly, the Platinum Chip were much more tantalizing rewards in the long run. Ultimately, these incentives won out against my better judgment and I ended up accepting Caesar's offer. I recalled being pleasantly surprised to find that he kept his word.

The only question was, was what this person was offering worth the risk of going to meet with him alone?

"What's in it for me?" I slowly asked, causing everyone in the group to look at me flabbergasted.

"Sensei, you're not really thinking of accepting, are you…?" Nonomi asked.

"Hey, I know I called you a creep before, but I take it back; you have nothing on this guy," Serika said. "Seriously, this has 'suspicious' written all over it!"

"By now, I'm sure Horus has told you about my ties with Kaiser," Black Suit said, pointedly ignoring the protesting students. "In the spirit of business confidentiality, I am limited in what I may divulge, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have if I am able."

"Answers, huh? Is that all?"

"Indeed," Black Suit said, before knowingly adding, "Incidentally, it might be of interest to you that the Goliath prototype you faced earlier was built using specifications provided by me."

Several students gasped, and while I made efforts not to exhibit any outward reaction, I instantly became several times more wary around this person than I was around any robot or student I had come across so far.

Kaiser's army, in hindsight, wasn't anything special. They had a lot of vehicles and well-equipped infantry, but these strengths were ultimately outmatched in the face of properly motivated students. The biggest threat they presented was the Goliath, and though we dispatched it quickly enough with teamwork and some [Friendly Help], the fact that it was able to incapacitate three students with a single attack that wasn't even aimed at them spoke for itself. Now that I knew the existence of the Goliath wasn't a machination of Kaiser, but rather of Black Suit, my stance regarding his offer jumped from ambivalence to interest. As I was openly involved in a feud with Kaiser, it'd be remiss of me to dismiss his offer now, and he knew it - that's why he chose to mention the Goliath.

It irritated me to admit it, but this man knew a thing or two about persuasive [Speech].

"And if I say no?" I asked, testing the waters.

"Then we go our separate ways. Since this is your victory, I will depart from this place, and you may return to your students and to Schale." The automaton tilted its head, as if knowing my answer already. "But are you really satisfied with just that?"

I wasn't.

The Director was a pushover - people with an inflated sense of self-importance like him who showed all their cards from the get-go were easy to work around. It's people who manipulate from the shadows, never showing their full hand, like Black Suit, that one has to watch out for. As this person was working with Kaiser, it was reasonable to assume that his reach extended far beyond just Abydos district. Thus, it behooved me to learn as much as I could about him before he slinked back into the shadows.

Worst case scenario, he was looking for a chance to be rid of me without student interference. On the flip side, he was giving me an opportunity to do the same to him.

"Face-to-face, no guards. I see anything suspicious, and I'm out of there."

"But of course," he said, chuckling at some joke that only he was privy to.

"Sensei?!" Fuuka exclaimed, reflecting the general sentiment of the group.

"Also, I'm taking ED-E with me."

"The robot?" The automaton questioned. "...Why?"

"He's seen things and been places most people around here can't even comprehend. He's just as much of an adult as us," I argued. "That's my condition."

"Hmm…" Black Suit hummed ponderingly. "Very well."

"I'm going too," Hoshino said, clearly on edge.

"You are not, Horus." This time, Black Suit was adamant in his refusal. "So long as you have no intention of accepting our arrangement, I'm afraid you are not welcome to join Sensei and me."

"If you think I'm just going to let you-"

"Hoshino."

The student quickly turned to me. "Sensei, you can't trust a word this guy says. Adults like him-"

"Hoshino," I said again, and though she couldn't see it, I smiled mirthfully. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"I…" Hoshino paused, and despite herself, found herself holding back giggles. "Yeah. Guess you're right."

Seeing Hoshino give her approval, Shiroko stepped forward. "Come back safe," she said, then addressed ED-E. "Watch his back for us, okay?"

"{Affirmative beeping}."

Shiroko didn't know, but ED-E's presence was the only reason I was doing something this reckless to begin with; I wouldn't have accepted a proposal so obviously not geared in my favor if I didn't have somebody that could sense an ambush coming a mile away while I'm distracted.

I performed a quick check at my equipment, grimacing. The electric core was at seven percent. If this was a trap, I'd be forced to reroute power from the Shittim Chest to either fight my way through or make a break for it. If push came to shove, I could always just rig the core to explode with the power it had left then abandon the suit, denying Black Suit or Kaiser the opportunity to reverse engineer the technology.

With that in mind, I decided to put a contingency into place.

"Serika, is the ramen shop still open?" I asked.

"Huh?" The student blinked in confusion at the odd ill-timed question. "Yeah, should be open for a few more hours. Why?"

"It's been a long day, and there's not many places to eat at this hour," I answered cheerily, further confusing her. "Oh, and Shiroko? If you don't hear from me within two hours, go ahead and get the takeout, alright? Don't let me keep you."

The seemingly out-of-place sentence evoked a look of comprehension and wry smiles from the Abydos crew, and absolute bewilderment from Fuuka and ED-E. Little did they know that an innocuous term like takeout translated to sending a hit squad in Shiroko's dictionary.

"I see. I understand completely, Sensei," Shiroko said all too eagerly. "Enjoy your adult talk, then."

"And I'm coming with you this time, Sensei!" Arona suddenly piped up, obviously still indignant about earlier. "This is non-negotiable!"

Arona's tone suggested I was going to hear it from her later on. In spite of this, I couldn't help but smile.

Somehow, this felt right.

We found ourselves at a medium-sized facility which bore no windows nor identifiers on the outside. The facility seemed to terminate abruptly, leading me to guess that the rest of the place extended underground.

"I've labeled the unmarked area, Sensei. Guess this place really isn't on the map, huh?" Arona informed, to which I wordlessly agreed. If Black Suit was to be believed, there were facilities here that were not built for Kaiser, so it made sense that one of said facilities wouldn't be marked on one of Kaiser's maps.

A metallic door in the front of the facility slid open in a manner which reminded me of smaller Vault doors, and without a word the automaton stepped through, beckoning me to follow.

Wordlessly, I checked my comms, only to hear static. I lost connection with Ayane and the rest of the group - probably a result of the same kind of jamming technology employed by Kaiser was at work here. I knew I could trust Ayane to track my comms, but now that the trail was cold it'd probably take them longer to find me if things went south.

Not a peep from ED-E though, so that was a good sign.

Looking around at the facility's interior, I judged it to be some kind of laboratory. Several TV-faced robots clad in white lab coats and personal protective equipment flitted to and fro as they operated instruments whose function eluded my initial understanding. The robots seemed to pay me no mind, and so I ignored them and focused on the winding corridors I was led through, with eyes scanning the floor, walls, and ceilings for traps.

The robot leading me stopped before an unassuming pair of black double doors. The automaton jolted as control was relinquished back to it. The automaton said nothing as it turned around and stiffly walked away, disappearing down a corridor.

Testing the doorknob and finding it to be unlocked, I carefully stepped into a medium-sized office while ED-E floated behind me. The room was dimly lit, the only light being whatever light trickled in through a set of glass blinds behind the lone figure in the room.

As for the lone figure…

I'd seen and killed plenty of abominations of nature in my time, but I can safely say that I'd never seen anything quite like the person in front of me.

The seated man, a non-robotic humanoid, was clad in, as Hoshino's nickname for him adequately described, an immaculate black suit. However, that wasn't the uncanny part - rather, it was that the man had barely any human facial features to speak of. The "skin" on his face was a smooth ebon black surface littered with white cracks, terminating in a glowing crevice of a right eye, and a jagged, glowing white line formed some vague approximation of a mouth. An ebony miasma emanated from said cracks and the top of his head in a manner that reminded me of the Sierra Madre's Ghost People. Black gloves obfuscated his hands from sight, but the barest glimpse of his wrists hinted that the man's entire body was of consistent appearance with his craggy visage.

"Ah, welcome, Sensei of Schale," he said, his mouth barely moving as he spoke. "Forgive my associates' cold reception; after all, we were not expecting to host anyone of your import. I'd offer you a beverage, but given your attire, I don't believe you'd be inclined to accept-"

The man's eerie voice slowed to a crawl along with the world as I activated V.A.T.S., where I took advantage of the slowing of time to more thoroughly analyze the situation and plan my next move.

The man carried no firearms, and he had no places to hide anything larger than a switchblade (which wouldn't be of concern to begin with). As far as I could tell, that suit of his wasn't altered in any way that'd grant protection against any type of damage, let alone energy weapons. A brief scan of the room revealed that we were alone as well; no cloaked enemies nor turrets.

No guards, no weapons, no armor, and on top of that, no halo. Any student could just barge in here and shoot his head off, yet he invited me here knowing that I'm more dangerous than most students. Just what was this man playing at?

Unsettled by this, I deactivated V.A.T.S. and Black Suit resumed speaking, unaware that I'd just memorized every detail of this room and his person, and figured out the most efficient way to kill him - all in the span of a second.

"-and speaking of attire… A powered exoskeleton, is it? It's quite different compared to the ones created here. I'm curious as to what other marvels of engineering you have up your sleeve," Black Suit commented amiably then paused, giving me an opportunity to speak. How gracious of him.

Millions of questions all wrestled for the chance of being the first to be asked. Eventually, I settled on one.

"What the hell are you?"

"An adult, like yourself," he answered, (perhaps deliberately) missing the point of the question. "Though the Academy City's namesake may suggest otherwise, I guarantee that the city nonetheless hosts many adults like ourselves." His smile deepened. "Then again, I suppose 'like ourselves' is a tad misleading, in our unique cases. Wouldn't you agree, Sensei of Schale?"

Deciding that getting an answer about his exact species wasn't important at the moment, I changed my line of questioning.

"Okay, who the hell are you?"

"I believe Horus called me Black Suit, correct? That'll suffice; I'll admit I've grown quite fond of the epithet." Black Suit gestured to me cordially. "And what about yourself?"

"You know who I am. Cut to the chase."

"Ah, but do I?" Black Suit tilted his head, his eerie smile never leaving his features. "I am aware you are serving as Schale's Sensei, but something tells me you don't quite see yourself in that light just yet. Am I correct?"

Seeing as he insisted on anonymity, I had no problem with playing along. "If we're going by titles, then you can just call me a courier."

"A courier?" Black Suit mused. "Fascinating. Do you, perchance, have a package to deliver, Courier? Or perhaps a message?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah. The message goes like this." Clambering forward, I leaned over his desk and leveled an armored hand onto it, causing the piece of furniture to creak in protest. "You have one minute to give me a good reason as to why I shouldn't blast your sorry ass to the moon."

"How crass." Black Suit's simplistic mouth morphed into a frown. "I was hoping we could have a productive discussion between two adults, as opposed to the violence Kivotos' inhabitants seem to value."

"Your mistake is in your assumption that I'm not violent as well," I replied with a devious grin. "By the way, you have forty seconds left."

To his credit, if Black Suit was distressed by my unsubtle threat, he didn't show it. "You wish for a reason? Very well." Black Suit gestured one arm toward me emphatically. "You are a seeker."

"What?"

"A seeker. One who is not simply content with accepting things as they are. One who, inadvertently or not, seeks the truth behind not only your surroundings, but the world." Black Suit rested his palms on his desk as he confidently stated, "You are like us."

My grin ebbed away and morphed into a scowl. "I'm nothing like you."

It was only after I said this that I realized that he said 'us'. There were more like him?

"On a superficial level, that much cannot be denied," Black Suit agreed. "However, I believe you'll find that our motivations are not so different."

"How about you fill me in as to why, then?"

"Why, merely your acceptance of my invitation has shown me. As you said yourself, you had no reason to accept my invitation, yet here you are."

"Wouldn't it make sense for me to want to meet the one pulling the strings? Threaten you into releasing the students from their debt?"

"Perhaps that was part of your intent," he replied, humming thoughtfully. "However, if that was your primary goal, you wouldn't have allowed the PMC director to escape. A person who, thanks to his standing within Kaiser Corporation, would have made an excellent hostage."

"You have control over the debt as well," I pointed out.

"I do," Black Suit admitted. "However, my… partnership… with Kaiser is just that. A partnership. While I have sway over the debt, do you really think Kaiser would be so willing to relinquish their foothold over one of Kivotos' largest territories simply because I asked?"

Rather than concede his point, I stayed silent.

"You have nothing to gain from accepting my invitation to come alone for what very may well have been a trap. And despite your assurances of physical violence, you've proven yourself more than reasonable, given our discussion just now."

I frowned irritably. "If you want this to turn violent, I can oblige."

Black Suit shrugged slightly. "I certainly can't stop you, were you to do so. As you can see, I have no extraordinary abilities of my own, physical or otherwise," he said. "That being said, I don't believe you are the type of person who would attack someone else without hearing them out first."

"You don't know the first thing about me."

"No. But I'd like to."

"Why?"

"Let's just say I find you interesting and leave it at that for now," Black Suit said cryptically, his words predictably doing nothing to help put me at ease. "In any case, since you upheld your end of our agreement and have come alone…" Black Suit briefly glanced at ED-E, "…for the most part… I have dismissed the guards stationed here. Consider this a gesture of good faith; I do not wish to fight you, Courier."

I still didn't quite believe it. For all I knew, this man could take twenty students in a fight and not break a sweat, which would explain why he's so at ease. But I wasn't going to complain about him ditching his backup. For the time being I was intent on making the most of his so-called "good faith" to try and get as much info out of him as I could.

"Let's say you have a point about this seeker nonsense. Where are you going with this?"

"For the sake of discussion, allow me to answer your question with a question of my own: have you noticed anything… amiss since arriving in Kivotos, Courier?"

"Amiss?"

He nodded. "I am not referring to cultural minutiae or the like. Such mundane concepts will always vary from place to place. Rather, I'm referring to anomalous happenings that seem to deviate from the physical laws of the universe. From… common sense, you might say."

Common sense, eh? In the Academy City, a more apt question would've been what didn't violate common sense. I considered the time I'd spent in this world thus far, from the moment I woke up in Rin's office to now.

Bipedal, sapient dogs and cats with humanlike vocal chords.

TV-heads and other sapient robots with near-student durability.

The Academy City's tremendously skewed gender demographic.

Students' possession of evolutionarily redundant animal-like traits such as cat ears or fox tails, or even ones that openly resemble demonic traits, like Iori's tail or Hina's wings.

The Shittim Chest.

The Sanctum Tower.

My eyes strayed toward my left forearm, where, under the power gauntlet, was my Pip-Boy, which contained yet another infuriating mystery that I was nowhere near solving. Tucked away in a hidden compartment in my Pip-Boy was the only possession I carried from the moment I arrived that I did not have in the Wasteland.

The Adult Card.

It was not common knowledge, but there existed a few redundant compartments in a Pip-Boy which could be used to store items. These spaces were small, but they were of sufficient enough size for a resourceful person to [Sneak] in some spare rounds, a tin of Mentats, or perhaps even a switchblade - I'd snuck very small weapons into casinos and the Fort using this exact method. Whoever, or whatever, planted that card within my Pip-Boy had to have had either an intimate knowledge of Vault-Tec's technology, or had been watching me thoroughly enough to know that the Pip-Boy glove can double as emergency storage. Neither possibility was particularly reassuring.

The card wasn't a weapon or a piece of apparel, I knew that much; curiously enough, the card was automatically assigned under the "Aid" tab in the Pip-Boy interface, like a stim or combat-enhancing chem.

But that led to the burning question: if this thing is supposed to aid me, how do I use it?

Despite the card's resemblance to Nonomi's credit card, it was apparent that it did not work the same way. Taking it to Sora, who used credit cards on a daily basis, was one of my first actions in trying to decipher its use. But she had no advice for me regarding its actual use beyond recognizing what the object is. Even Arona, who had data on most things in Kivotos, didn't know how to use it.

But perhaps the most salient mystery of all was in this city's majority inhabitants.

The students. More specifically, their haloes, which granted every student here regardless of strength the ability to take explosive .50MG rounds to the face while unarmored and not turn into a red paste.

One goes deeper down the Radrabbit hole when one considers the inexplicable quirks that certain students seemed to possess.

Serika's ability to enhance her weapon handling speed and attack strength. Kayoko's uncanny power to inspire fear in opponents over a wide area. Ako's ability to boost a person's stopping power. Fuuka's food with miraculous regenerative properties that may or may not be attributed to chems. Hifumi's inexplicably effective Radchicken decoy. Wakamo's piercing flower-like attack and her impossible acrobatic feats. Hina's reload bypass ability and her violet maelstrom of destruction.

Taking all of these things into account, it was obvious there were a few things wrong with Kivotos and its residents. Up until now, I was able to tolerate these occurrences as facets of the city's logic-defying existence, but upon encountering the possibility that there existed an explanation…

I was immensely intrigued, but Black Suit didn't need to know that. Otherwise he stood to gain a powerful bargaining chip.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," I evasively replied, my voice neutral. "What does it matter?"

"Come now, no need to be coy. As an outsider myself, I too am immensely intrigued in this place and its inner workings." Black Suit broke what was probably eye contact in favor of looking at nothing in particular. His tone took on something resembling reverence, but not quite. "Kivotos is a place of Mystery and intrigue. Hidden beneath the surface is a treasure trove of ancient knowledge, just waiting for someone to rediscover it. While the city's current inhabitants may take this for granted, it is up to those with the correct drive, ergo, adults like us, to capitalize on the opportunity."

"Ancient knowledge? Current inhabitants?" I asked, unable to settle on a single line of questioning.

He nodded. "Kivotos' inhabitants are not the first to occupy this land. And this land's former occupants have left behind hints. Various pieces of technology. These comprise the focus of much of our research - alongside Mystics."

"Mystics? You mean, like… magic?" I asked, feeling out of my element for the umpteenth time. Sure, there were inexplicable things in the Wasteland, like the Mysterious Stranger and that kid living under the 188 Trading Post, but these were special cases whose existences I could more or less handwave as aberrations of science.

The man hummed. "A gross oversimplification, but not entirely wrong." Black Suit tilted his head. "Well? I trust this is a sufficient enough reason for you to stay your enmity, Courier? We are well past the point of one minute, after all."

I weighed my options. As far as ED-E and I could tell, Black Suit was telling the truth about his guards. Thus, I decided that I didn't lose anything simply by talking to him, so long as I stayed vigilant.

"I'll play your game. For now. Since you seem to love the sound of your own voice, how about you start talking?"

Taking my sarcastic remark in stride, Black Suit spoke, "In due time, my good Courier. But first… please. Have a seat."

In front of his desk was a lone cushioned seat. Warily checking underneath the chair's cushion and its periphery for explosives and finding none, I took a seat at the proffered chair. The chair, obviously not designed to accommodate the weight, groaned precariously under the load but otherwise held.

"Tell me more about these…" I pondered the new term for a moment. "… Mystics."

The man clasped his hands together in a businesslike fashion and smiled.