The House Never Dies 5 - (Fallout x Xover, RobertHouse!SI)
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Lydia Erikson, former Major of the Enclave and... leader of a group of traitors.
This was not how she envisioned this year to turn into, but she had to admit the fault didn't lie only in her hands. Her superiors had been particularly uneasy to work around her from the very beginning, but ever since she started to stress the lack of meritocracy within the officers' selection, her positions had found more opponents than supporters. And soon those warranted her 'trial in absentia' while she was in mission.
Her return to base saw her Vertibird crashing, an experience that truly left her very displeased in taking any flights to move around places. Still, her Powersuit was capable of withstanding the crash, and helped her handle a bunch of hunters dispatched by the very organization she came from. It was absurd how things came to her like this, but as she stumbled on a group of officers that had deserted to find her, and then took over a group of scientists running away from the main base.
Their journey to the south was difficult, and they had to stop to find supplies along the way, but their hard work led them to Shady Sands and... to the discovery that a form of pre-War governance already existed. Even Lydia, who already had started to grown disillusioned with the Enclave's words, was finding it difficult to accept that such a thing was possible. Actually, she would have still stuck to this if there had not been a 'pre-War figure' assisting them.
Robert E. House was a name she had heard before, but Lydia was stunned to learn the man found a way to be... immortal? She wasn't fully sure, but the scientists that had run with them knew him and they found his presence after decades to be 'expectable for a man of his genius'.
It felt hollow, it felt flat. Yet Lydia knew better than reject a way out of trouble. There had been no issues from the Enclave, and she had been wondering if House had truly done something to deal with them, but didn't ask out of genuine oddness around the man's Securitron. It was as if he was there, yet not... but more. There was more to it, but she couldn't pinpoint what made her so uneasy around the man.
Hell, he had done more than enough to prove himself a good samaritan in setting up Shady Sands, provide them with resources and... giving them a place where to stay. All in all, Lydia's own unease was less about a lack of trust, but something a bit more perplexing that was tied to her own past.
It had been a few months since they arrived in Shady Sands that she decided to open up on this very question.
"Mr. House, a word please."
"Sure thing, Ms. Erikson. How may I help you?"
Tensing up, Lydia looked around to the other people. Most of those soldiers from the Enclave that joined her had slowly united with the local militia, while the scientists have worked to set up a proto-factory for RobCo in the city, being paid directly by House to 'return doing their pre-war businesses'. It was just her and the Securitron that would check on a daily basis to chat about the past and, never once Lydia had thought of telling House to leave her alone. And now, she could finally ask the very question that had nagged at her since she was very young.
"Frederick Erikson. Are you familiar with that name?"
"Oh, your grandfather or father?"
Lydia offered a surprised look. "You knew my grandfather?"
"Senator Erikson was a man I shared a bottle of Whiskey with before he got tangled with the wrong crowd. One of the co-founder of the Enclave in California- Alas, he was also the least willing of the candidates since he wanted the Enclave to be a little 'democratic' place rather than a starting point for New Americanism. Still, he is not the one you're looking me to answer about- what about your father?"
"He died when I was fourteen," Lydia explained tensely. "I was told he had a sudden heart attack, but I know for a thing that he was hardly stressed to suffer from any heart-related problem. And they told me that it was a genetic condition."
"Well, if that's the case, then please use... this," House paused as the Securitron revealed a plastic-packed syringe to be used. "A tiny blood sample please, and then put the vial in the glowing green spot in the right upper 'chin'."
Lydia eyed the syringe, slowly retrieving it as she complied with the request. It was a normal syringe, but she was still nervous as she went through with the process. Once she was done getting some blood, she stuck the vial in the right opening and saw the red liquid drained within the blood. A strange 'buzzing' came from within the Securitron, and Lydia was mesmerized by the sight.
"Do all Securitron have this feature?"
"Not all of them. This is a 'Command Unit' so it has various features from the other variants. The one we are using is from a Medical-type Securitron," House hummed quietly, sounding distracted as he looked into the data he was receiving from the Securitron. "Now, good news is... you have no genetic predisposition to sudden heart attacks. I would need a more in-depth scan to say you're fully free of genetic diseases, but right now anything involving heart attacks or blood-related problems... are not a thing with you, Ms. Erikson."
Relief washed over Lydia, but she knew already what the 'bad news' was: her father was assassinated but... why? He wasn't in politics, and he had concluded his time in the military early after Lydia's mother passed away.
"Can I ask for something else?"
"Do tell."
"I need any document on my father. Anything that the Enclave may have had on him. You could hack their computers and-"
"Already done that months ago," House interrupted, sounding smug and causing the blonde to roll her eyes at this. "I will send you the documents on your terminal. I have not read all of the paperwork, especially about those of individuals that I have no connection with. So... there might me data I am unfamiliar with, and that may contain some unpleasant news."
A warning, and one she ignored as she nodded and waited for the files to arrive.
Lydia soon had the documentation and she found herself growing more displeased of the organization she believed and fought for, but also glad that she left when she could. Indoctrination had been something that she had been told about a lot from those in Shady Sands that knew of the Enclave, but the way the official documents confirmed in an effort to create a loyalist officer corps of 'yesmen' truly disgusted Lydia.
The reason this tied up to her father was due to him finding this data beforehand and trying to get a petition started to have the matter investigated. He failed to realize it wasn't a limited conspiracy, but an official plan from the higher-ups. Hence why his 'sudden passing' and why Lydia had been under heavy scrutiny from the get-go. This shed light on so many questions she had while growing up, and ultimately made her decision to leave and depart from what she knew the best choice she could have taken.
It didn't make it any less upsetting - she had been lied upon, she had been working with her own father's murderers, and now... what was she supposed to do now?
Taking a path for revenge felt wrong now that she felt that the Enclave had been handled by House somehow, and settling in Shady Sands didn't feel like a good choice for her. So, rather than cast herself to a specific path, Lydia took off to enjoy the rest of the day, distracting herself with movies (from House), eating food (created from House's plants and beef), and then resting on a comfy bed (tailored by House's robotic plant behind furniture-production).
As a day turned into a week, and then into another month, Lydia found herself further driven to accept working for the one individual that she knew could give her a purpose in life... without making it weird. Or trying to use her in a horrid manner.
"And why should I hire you?" House's Securitron inquired, and Lydia held back a smile as she had readied herself for this very moment. Asking to the old workers of Mr. House, she learned the man followed a rather stiff and formal mannerism when addressing a 'job interview'.
Having never had to face such a challenge before as the job-application in the Enclave required not any 'interview from employees', she took notes from the scientists on how they 'used to deal with this': and the training was quite unfair at times due to the sudden temper tantrums, or weird questions about 'what she saw herself doing in ten years' - was Pre-War America really that strict in regards to jobs? Turns out there is a bit of truth in that exaggerated exercise as she was soon finding out.
"Because your robots would enjoy having a live human soldier to help them learn," Lydia replied strongly. "While you can run endless simulations, it will pale in comparison to have a live subject that can provide scanning and data that could cut corners and provide a more human-like product."
...
"Fair point, I thought you would have gone for 'security', which would have damned you. But still, I have a single request. What is your feeling about... having Deathclaws around?"
Lydia's smile fell instantly. "W-What?" She knew what a Deathclaw was and had rightfully decided to keep away from any of those. This question caught her off-guard, but House wasn't done talking.
"There is an artificially-built nest of Deathclaws near my base of operations. They are being domesticated as we speak through some careful genetic manipulation to render them more docile and... I may have adopted one."
...
"What?"
Right as she say that, House turned and gestured to someone far from the camera and it soon came to him, giving him a hug. A Deathclaw, a teen Deathclaw, and one that turned to look at her with curious intelligent eyes and-
"Mama?"
Her heart sank at the feminine question. What? WHAT?!
"Apologies. Rascal here is not accustomed to the word 'woman' as she had been browsing into parenting books and... Ms. Erikson?"
"I-I am hired if I say yes?"
He nodded and- Lydia held back a squeal at the adorable grin on the murderous lizard-girl.
"Then yes."
"Welcome aboard then, Ms. Erikson."
This was proving to be a better decision than she would have liked but... she could only hope the Lil' Deathclaw was as adorable as she appeared and sounded from the Securitron's screen.
AN
Lydia's POV! And House gets someone in the bunker with him - a grill! And one that can break him if he allows her to. Still, it's time to give Rascal a mother (and maybe a sibling, who knows).