Johan's been looking at Courrier differently, and Mint would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same way. After the revelation back at that cabin in Patch, Mint wondered, was Courrier ever a Faunus, or did he just have a Faunus head? And it looks like he knew that they suspected him too.
"Courrier… about what you said back in Patch…" Johan started, eyes narrowing at the back of Courrier's head as he worked away on that clunky terminal attached to the tower.
"I exclusively collect Faunus heads," Courrier said instantly, without a beat or hint of hesitation in his tone, "That might sound racist but you think about how it would feel to be a Faunus with a human head."
"That's… morbid," Mint grimaced, Johan did too, "Where'd you get the heads anyways? You don't-" "No, I don't kill random people for their heads."
Mint sighed out in relief, Johan coughed, "The people were already dead to begin with," Courrier shrugged, "I found them on the ground and cut off their heads, since they're dead, they can't really complain now can they?"
"So that's it? You just go around and desecrate the corpses of our Faunus brothers and sisters?" Mint snapped, "How do I know that you were a Faunus originally huh?! If you are one that is…"
Courrier looked unimpressed, "I'd show you if I can, Mint, but my original head might as well be fertilizer by now," he scoffed, "I only take the heads that I think would work on my current torso, I leave the ones with more noticeable traits alone."
"Is that supposed to be better?!"
"No, but for your information, I take body parts from humans too, just not heads. Arms, legs, torsos, they're fair game, but I want to keep my Faunus identity via the head."
"But why the head specifically?"
"They're the most noticeable part of a Faunus," Courrier turned around and looked at Mint, scrutinizing him under his gaze, "When a human sees a Faunus and tries to guess what species of Faunus they are, they focus on the head, then the neck, and then whatever exposed skin a Faunus has."
Courrier then scoffed, "Most Faunus don't walk around naked for people to figure out which kind they are, Mint, besides, this makes it much easier for myself."
"But-" "Hey Courrier! You have any idea on how to cook these things?" A Vacuan runs up to Courrier, his clothes covered in sand and the occasional fleck of dust, in held a handful of the Barrel Cactus Fruits that Courrier introduced to them, "We did as you told by cutting the thing open and scooping out the flesh inside but boy, was it an acquired taste."
Courrier chuckled, "It is, isn't it?" he grabbed a fruit from the man's hand and took a bite out of it, "Really bitter, quite dry, but they're easy to grow so you might have to get used to it."
"Yeah, I figured," the man shoved the rest of the fruits into his pockets, "Are all the crops really bitter? The 'Xander Roots' taste like battery acid," he gagged, "I'll get the chefs to make a meal out of these things, can't eat them raw and bitter forever right? At least I hope so."
"I can share a couple of recipes," Courrier reached into his duster and pulled out a large book, "Some of the ingredients are really specific so I'll come with to give pointers, just lead the way."
Mint watched as Courrier expertly escaped the conversation, whoever that guy that just ran up to him was, that shit was too convenient to be random. It must've been planned or something… Mint was torn, and he's sure that Johan was too. Courrier is a good leader, all of his plans worked so far, and nothing bad happened to them during them. Mint shook his head, Courrier saved their lives! He can't be a bad person…
Meanwhile, Johan already accepted the fact that Courrier did, in fact, have a collection of Faunus heads that he swaps out from time to time. She did not have the same doubt that Mint did, probably because she didn't care. As long as Courrier does right by the White Fang and the Faunus, then it didn't matter what race he was.
Something was off about Courrier, bar the fact that he was basically an unexplainable creature made up of different body parts from other people of course. Mint narrowed his eyes at Courrier's back, something was off…
Lying comes off as naturally as breathing to the Courier, each word just rolls of the tongue with no hesitation. Works well when you're trying to sweet talk someone, or convince them of something. Heck, he scammed ghouls out of their possessions back in America. Mojave ghouls? Not so much. But ghouls from the Northeast side of the country? Too easy, all he needed was some make-up and a growly voice to make it work, hell he probably didn't need the latter at all!
The ghouls in the East coast are a lot smoother than the ones in California or the Mojave, so all he needed to say was that he got a fake nose and they just believed him just like that! Some ghouls do have different eyes though, their sclera might be a different colour like black instead of the usual white but he kept his shades on at all times so no one really noticed.
He's been slowly integrating the Mojave plant life into Vacuo, first was the barrel cactus, then the coyote tobacco, and then the broc flowers and since those compliment the xander roots he planted them together. Soon, he'll be able to manufacture Stimpaks… or Bitter Drink since he still has the recipe seared into his artificial brain by Ulysses.
The water chip worked fine enough, so were the solar panels. He picked up some broken ones in HELIOS One during his path of revenge to Benny, and was about to use them in Nellis before he realized that getting some hands-on experience with fixing a solar panel without using other parts might be valuable, so he kept the broken panel parts around for god knows how long at this point. Though it's good to see them in use again, if not in HELIOS then in Vacuo.
The water chip functioned just fine without a Vault-Tec system monitoring it's every move. But it did work slower than it would've been if it was installed in a Vault. The Courier visited Necropolis during his many travels through California and the ghouls there managed just fine with their own water chip. Vacuo city has a major water purity problem, Remnant might have water purification systems, sure, but all the other kingdoms don't need them at all, so Vacuo was shafted by proxy.
The ones that do exist are being held by the big-wigs up in Atlas, charging exorbitant fees, practically making sure that the Vacuans can't afford it. Vacuo didn't have a formal government, which means no formal treasury; normally the government would buy the purifier for the people but since there is none. They were forced to resort to other means. No government means no large sum of money to be used for things, the people have to come together and pool their own money before letting someone or a group of someone's use it for their intended purpose, and you know how that normally pans out.
It's like the concept of charity in the Mojave, you donate money to something and there would be a fifty-fifty chance of it either being stolen by the ones making the charity or stolen by passing raiders.
"Courrier! We just spotted an Atlas bullhead flying over Vacuo!" a woman ran up to him, she had a reddish-brown hair colour with an odd silver streak, she was also dressed like a Gomorrah stripper, "They landed just outside the walls!"
Some people nearby heard this and began murmuring, soon enough, a small group of armed Vacuans ran past the Courier, with the one leading the charge nodding at the man. He followed the group, and so did the stripper woman. Climbing the stairs and ladders to the top of the wall, the Courier peered down to see a bullhead parked in the distance while a man with black hair and a white suit sauntered out; he looked disgusted as the wind blew sand into his suit. Huh, must be one of those Atlas big-wigs.
The man and his companion, a man in a black suit this time, stopped in front of Vacuo city's entrance, a large door connected to the walls separating the city from the desert outside, the man's companion then handed him a loudspeaker, he coughed, cleared his throat, and began speaking into the it.
"My name is Clark Chester White! I am a representative for the Schnee Dust Company!" the Vacuans grimaced at the mention, with some of them narrowing their eyes and readying their rifles, the Courier stopped them, wanting to hear what the man has to say.
"What do you want?" the Courier yelled back from atop the wall, the Vacuans were hidden underneath the waist-high cover that lined the edges of the wall. So was the stripper woman, no, seriously though, why was she dressed like a stripper in the desert as the desert sun beat down on everybody's skin? Did she want skin cancer or something?
White sneered ever so slightly, his henchman then handed him a Scroll, "On behalf of Jacques Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, we would like to offer a partnership with Vacuo city and the New Vacuan Republic!"
"Hell no!" the Courier yelled back, "You Atlesians done fucked up our land enough! Especially you, Schnee Dust Company!" he spat.
"I assure you, Courrier, that our terms will be most beneficial for both your city and for our company!"
"Hmm," the Courier made a show of rubbing his chin all thoughtfully, "What are your demands?"
"Lift the trade restriction on Anima and Mistral!" White closed the Scroll and handed it back to his henchman, "And we'll provide you with some workers from the Schnee Dust Company!"
"He means slaves," one of the Vacuans, a Faunus, hissed out quietly.
"I know that, I have a plan to save these people, just trust in the process," the Courier whispered back before turning to White, "We accept your conditions! The trade ban will be lifted only after the workers arrive in Vacuo!"
White sneered, openly this time, "We can't have that! How do we know you'll hold up your end of the bargain?"
"You don't! But what other choice do you have, really?"
"Tch," White clicked his tongue, "Fine! The workers will arrive where I'm standing next thing in the morning! If we don't see those ships sailing between Anima and Vacuo then we'll make you surely regret ever messing with the Schnee Dust Company!"
The representatives got out as quickly as they came, one of the Vacuans turned to the Courier and asks, "Are we really going to do what they asked?" he scowled.
"Ha! Hell no!" the Courier laughed, "Once the workers arrive, we'll keep them in Vacuo while keeping the trade restriction up," he clenched his fist, "That'll show them that Vacuo is not a place where they can make demands and expect us to follow through!"
"Isn't that reckless?" the stripper girl asked, "Going to war with the Schnees, I mean."
"Oh please, what are they going to do? Ask daddy Atlas to go fight their battles for them?" he turned to the transmission tower, "Don't forget, we hold the power now, attacking Vacuo means losing the global signal until another CCT is built, and we all know Atlas wouldn't risk it."
The Courier then turned to the Vacuans, "Crisis averted! Vacuo might not be ready for war yet but we have a bargaining chip!" he pointed towards the transmission tower, "To any of you who worry that Atlas will come down on Vacuo and try to destroy the city, don't be! They wouldn't dare to destroy the transmission tower!"
Weiss overhears a conversation between her father and one of his workers, a man named White, as they argued. Apparently, Vacuo had imposed a complete and total trade ban with Mistral, which cut into her father's profits no doubt.
"Courrier said that he agreed with our terms," White said, Weiss doubled back at the mention, what was Mr. Courrier doing in Vacuo? "We send him workers and he'll lift the ban."
"Workers? Our workers?" her father raised an eyebrow, "Will this be a temporary or a permanent decision?" he scowled, "I don't like Vacuo getting the upper hand on things like this."
"After they made that transmission tower, every kingdom's been bending hand over foot to please the Vacuans," her father stood up, pacing around the room, "They have the advantage in almost every negotiation made…"
"We'll discuss the contracts of the workers once they get to Vacuo," White smirked, "Courrier seemed like an… opportunistic man. Surely he wouldn't overlook a once in a lifetime chance like this."
"Gods damn it," her father sighed, "First the Dust embargo on Atlas… now a complete trade ban between Mistral and Vacuo?!" he sat down and leaned back on his chair, "Do you know how many subsidiaries we have in Mistral? Vacuo is- was Mistral's number one customer…" he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Schnee goods go through Mistral and then to Vacuo… a trade ban between the two countries means that the Company has to spend more on transport! We might as well burn Lien at that point!"
"Yes, that is very worrying."
"We need to- Weiss?" She stiffened, "Have you been listening in?"
She shook her head, "N- no, father."
"Hm," he huffed, White made his way out of the office, "Have you forgot your manners while you were away?"
"No, father. I'm sorry."
"You should be."
It's official! Vacuo city is now mostly comprised of NVR (New Vacuan Republic) members. Theodore must be seething in that Academy of his.
The Courier's calling the shots now, it's Vegas 2.0 but without the gambling or the cannibals!
The distance between Atlas and Vacuo is quite far, not to mention they have to cross through the Grimm continent to get there as well. So Mistral is an important part of trading between Vacuo and Atlas.
On land travel is less dangerous than on sea, since there's no big-ass water Grimm that can swallow a cargo boat whole.
Anima is relatively close to Vacuo, as said before, only a short boat trip away. So the Courier's trade embargo with Mistral completely fucks up Atlas too, basically preventing them from trading with Vacuo by proxy.
Atlas can reach Vacuo through Vale but Vale's currently under six foot of rubble right now. Thanks to the Courier's intervention though, the city might be back up and running faster than canon, although the CCT tower might be completely fucked since the Courier threw a mini-nuke at it lol.
Thanks for reading!