When It All Falls Apart

by CallMeWisteria

When the conspiracy began to take shape in the late 2060s, the faces, names, companies, contractors, and entities behind it all thought they had until the turn of the century to implement their plans. As it turned out, they were a little more than twenty years off when it all fell apart. Series of one-shots zooming in on ten of the biggest players with a stake in a nuclear war – on

9. IX – RobCo Industries

Thou art the best o' the cutthroats.

Of all the establishments in the equally beloved and notorious city of Las Vegas, the Lucky 38 Resort and Casino seemed to become all the more celebrious by the month.

That was especially true, by all accounts, when its proprietor was present.

Well used to attention, Robert Edwin House easily greeted some of his casino's patrons, and stopped every so often to speak with a few of his colleagues and investors. Never far from him, his girlfriend of nearly thirty years, Jane Blanchard, smiled and shook hands the same as ever, before returning to clutching her sleek purse in front of her chest. Looking around them as they walked, being drawn from table to table, she found it all the more natural to slip back into the routine, though the tension in her posture did not relent. Taking a sharp look around, she sighed. The floor of the casino was brimming with people, many of whom did not take notice of her or even Robert. Floor managers with their weapons concealed under their sleek formal wear milled effortlessly throughout. The security team stood stoically at the entrance to the building, checking IDs and scanning them, occasionally answering questions about the Securitron robots present within and outside the establishment with their carefully scripted answers. Primly dressed waiters and waitresses delivered fine food and drink to clients, while the bartender on shift well demonstrated the mixing of some of the rarer drinks available with just enough bravado to keep even those not drinking themselves enthralled. Under the silvery, carmine, and white lights, it almost felt like sunset indoors.

The sounds of chatter, laughter, and the ambience all around them only heightened that feeling.

It was, in many ways, quite near perfect.

"It's great to see you back in town, Henrietta. I take it the flight from Boston was a pleasant one?"

"More or less so, though I imagine it wouldn't have been if I had the misfortune of having to fly economy and board last, given how many people got gate checked. The forty five minute delay at Logan was less than welcome, too, but I am certainly glad to return to somewhere I'm more appreciated, even if only for a few meetings. Bradberton, unfortunately, has been a headache to deal with, but I do what I can."

"As my head of PR, I would expect no less from you. Although, I'll admit, Bradberton can be intentionally…disagreeable."

"How he has managed to build such a successful business doing so is beyond me. But where are my manners? It's good to see you and Miss Blanchard, as always."

Jane smiled tightly at the woman with whom she sat down across from when Robert did so first.

"Lovely to see you doing well, Missus Karrol," She said, offering the same tight smile to the woman's husband when he joined them. "And you, as well, Dr. Grey. I'm sure being able to work closer to your wife than before, even for a short while, is a welcome reprieve from constantly being apart. Tell me, is your…passion project in Weston progressing well? Being a little less than twenty miles from Boston, I understand there was something of a dispute over the water source for your project?"

"Regrettably, yes, there was," He said with an almost exaggerated sigh. "But the dispute has been resolved. The Weston Water Treatment Plant will provide water to Greygarden, and we are back on track to finish it by the start of October. I'm sure it was an easy decision for them to make, once they were reminded of my position as one of RobCo's most senior engineers."

"Why in the world they would reject taking even a small part in such a project when it is reinvigorating interest in their town is far beyond my comprehension," Robert said, looking vaguely amused as he lit a cigarette. "The autonomous greenhouse is noteworthy enough on its own, chief among the reasons why certainly being your precise and detailed programming of its 'Supervisors' to have advanced cognition processors and voices reflecting your favourite television characters – something the brass at General Atomics seemed unsure of being within their paygrade for the Mister Handy Units in question – and the self sufficiency, completely renewable design, and diverse selection of plants for agriculture and beauty."

"All true. Yet, I must confess," Dr. Grey said with a chuckle. "I did import some rather rare flowers from South America to be grown in one small section of the greenhouse for purely aesthetic purposes, although I like to think there is some level of conservation being done there. That said, my frivolities aside, I can't deny my affection for some of our great country's native flowers. The Aquilegia vulgaris is absolutely gorgeous when pruned correctly, although its lay name is rather…tainted."

"Yes, it's the Common Columbine," Jane frowned, easing a little when Robert took her nearest hand under the table with his free hand. "Seeing as I left that damned Colorado town nearly the first chance I got, I don't like to dwell on it or its stained legacy. I hope you haven't forgotten, Dr. Grey."

"I…my apologies, Miss Blanchard," He said, pausing to clear his throat. "Well. I hear you're making a return to the screen. Your last film was in 2070 with Cooper Howard, was it not?"

"It was, and unfortunately my working relationship with him cost me quite a few opportunities when he was discovered to be a communist a few years back," Jane said, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "It was absurd, and an awful attack on my character. But yes. I'm going to be one of the leads in an upcoming film inspired by a tragic case from around a century ago, about a girl named Anneliese Michel. I can't reveal too many of the details, but, as I'm sure you could have surmised if you have any familiarity with her case, I'm cast as her fervently religious mother, who – as well as her father and several priests – went on to be set on trial for her death following nearly seventy exorcisms."

"Seventy exorcisms?" Henrietta exclaimed, paling at the thought. "Quite the intense role, then, to play the girl's mother, but I suspect you'll pull it off quite well. Harkening back to your early days as a starlet in the mid to late forties? I do recall how excellently you played the vampire Carmilla in the film adaptation of the eponymous novel bearing her name. It's been a while since you've played a darker character. I look forward to seeing it, though you'll always be Carmilla to me."

"As Jane's first breakthrough role, I'm sure that's true for many," Robert said, pride in his face and voice as he took a draw on his cigarette, a smile crossing his lips when he shared a brief look with her. "I remember seeing it on opening night. RobCo had been just sinking its teeth into the software and robotics industries, and I had gone to see it right after touring a factory about a half hour outside of Los Angeles, having fostered an interest in the novel that inspired it and, more generally, the Victorian Gothics in literature while I was at university. I had expected it to be quite good, for which I was not disappointed. I had not expected its leading lady to sit down beside me after the theatre went dark. I'm grateful to this day that she did."

"Considering the two of you have been seeing each other for almost thirty years, now, and produced two children, I think that's more than apparent," Dr. Grey said, winking at them across the table after accepting a glass of wine brought to him, raising it in a half toast as his wife accepted a martini. "But, to the state of Greygarden, I couldn't be more pleased with how it is coming together. For all the money we've poured into it, I have a sneaking suspicion it will pay off significantly the moment it's up and running. It's unlike what anyone has ever seen before – an entire, small farm managed and worked entirely by robots, and an effective collaboration between those of us at RobCo and those at General Atomics. It could end up being as successful a collaboration as our work with Vault-Tec has been."

Robert chuckled. "Vault-Tec's sales went up significantly after it became public that each and every Vault Dweller would receive a Pip-Boy 2000 or 3000 should the worst come to pass. Hard to believe that deal was finalised back in March of '68 and announced that summer. Nearly a decade hence, and they're certainly reaping the success of that mutual endeavour as much as we are."

"The 3000 Mark Vs are the ones we've distributed to the least number of Vaults thus far, haven't they been? If I recall correctly, Nash's latest sales reports showed them distributed to only Vault 4, Vault 31, Vault 32, and Vault 33," Henrietta said, glancing at her mobile phone when its screen lit up to indicate her receiving a message. "I personally like how smooth and sleek they look. They're among our slimmest models, and the stainless steel finish is absolutely gorgeous. Then again, I can't tolerate anything in my home being anything less than perfectly neat and matching, so, of course, I prefer the one that matches with everything in my home."

"Our home," Dr. Grey said with an affectionate roll of his eyes. "My sister Anna calls it 'clinical,' but she lives in a hippie, boho nightmare of a home, so I'll take your militant coordination over her lack of real doors any day. Can you even believe she had most of her perfectly good doors ripped out and replaced by just an array of increasingly garish beads and wood panelling everywhere bar the front door and the other out to the back porch? Madness. But, if I had to choose my favourite among our Pip-Boys and I wasn't taking your styling into account, I would lean towards our standard 3000s."

"My personal preference is for our 3000 Mark IVs, but more people than I expected are interested in the limited stock of all of our models," Robert remarked, pausing to take a draw on his cigarette. "The one that surprised me the most was the affinity some of the public have for the 2000 Mark VIs. My own surprise aside, however, I'm pleased that sales continue to rise, and I suspect, because of that and the Pip-Boy being on the Unified Operation System, we'll finally surpass the Microsoft Windows OS and the Macintosh OS in the near future."

"Give it another decade, and it'll just be RobCo versus Microsoft," Dr. Grey said with a jovial laugh. "Most especially when you take into account the fact the only product using the Macintosh OS that most people use anymore are those cellular telephones half the country refuse to give up on."

"The things people will hold onto despite there being much better options out there never cease to amuse me," Robert said, tapping some ash off of his cigarette. "More amusing to me, however, is the fact Vault-Tec's very own Bud Askins offered me nearly three million dollars for a single Pip-Boy 1.0 a few weeks ago. I told him no, of course. I can't believe he would think one is worth so little."

"The vanity of man knows no bounds, and, as for Bud, you need look only as far as his licence plates. 'JST ASKIN.' I have to agree with what I recall you telling me Julia Masters called it. Tacky. There's no other word for it," Henrietta said with a roll of her eyes, lightly swirling and taking a long sip on her martini. "Bradberton, I suspect, would be just as openly vain, if he were at all communicative these days in any manner other than complaint or through his zealously loyal executive assistant. Frankly, I can't help but wonder if he is having his own employees submit complaints about the similarities between standard Protectrons and 'Galactrons' or standard assaultrons and 'Novatrons' at our joint exhibit. I sincerely doubt the teenagers who see the shows of those robots fighting each other and the 'Space Sentry' robots give a damn. They simply want to see the carnage, and, truthfully, I'm with them on that matter."

"I can't speak for that end of the clientele, but I can say Luke and Charlie enjoyed seeing them when they went to take a look at the outcome of the exhibit for us," Jane said, sharing a brief but knowing look with Robert. "Seeing as we were needed elsewhere."

"You often are," Henrietta said, half raising an eyebrow. "I heard Luciano was recently promoted within the Army Corps Of Engineers. Is that right?"

"It is," Jane replied with a smug smile. "Luke works like no other. He certainly got that from his father. As for what he's taken after from me, I'm sure it doesn't hurt his career that he can be quite charming when need be."

"And Charlie will be finishing his undergraduate degree in business management and political studies at Stanford in the spring," Robert went on. "He has applied to Harvard – and a few others, of course – for his MBA, and I, for one, like his odds of being accepted."

"I'm sure they're quite good," Dr. Grey said, whispering something to his wife that caused her to lightly elbow him in the arm. "I hope it was not too presumptuous of us to do so, but, having heard the good word about your sons' lives, Henrietta and I have taken the liberty of covering the tabs for both of your sons this evening. I think they've more than earnt an opportunity to enjoy themselves."

"Why, how thoughtful of you," Jane said, standing up when she saw Robert stubbing out his cigarette. "I'm sure they'll quite appreciate it."

"And a clever step as always, Henrietta," Robert said, amusement on the edge of his voice and the edges of his eyes. "Is this a belated birthday present for me, then?"

"Seeing as your birthday was yesterday and I was still in Massachusetts, you can call it that," She said, leaning forward with a smirk that caused Jane to stiffen and grab his nearest arm the moment he stood up. "Is the board meeting still on for 19:30?"

"It is, though, for now," Robert said, turning to Jane and offering her his hand, which she took quickly. "I have yet to show Jane the completed renovations of our penthouse, and far be it from me to be an inattentive companion."

With a small smile he was sure to show only to her, Robert Edwin House suavely walked with his leading lady, hands entwined, towards the lifts. He raised an eyebrow only to laugh a little when he saw the younger of their two sons, apparently, awkwardly flirting with one of the women at a roulette wheel. Scanning his ID badge, he stepped into the lift with Jane no more than a few seconds after the sleek doors parted. When they shut again, and the lift began its ascent to the penthouse with them alone aboard, Jane felt some of her tension melt away upon Robert pressing a soft, affectionate kiss atop her head, and letting his hand fall from her hand to wrapping around her waist, drawing her a little closer to him. The elevator bell ringing out upon reaching the penthouse, Jane let out a sigh of relief to find they were still alone and no one was awaiting them. About to say something, she fell quiet when they stepped out of the lift; the view was the same and spectacular as always, helped by the fading, early evening sunlight beaming in from outside, but the first thing to catch her eyes after were the light fixtures, and then the furnishings. Smoky reds, lantern lights, polished marble, and a wonderful mix of neutrals from black and white and beige and grey to orange and yellow and red. Turning to Robert, she tightly embraced him, soon after kissing him, something he happily returned, reaching up to tread his fingers through her long, wavy, gorgeous black hair that showed only a few signs of silvery greys. He wrapped an arm around her once more when they broke their kiss and, for a time, they simply took in the view.

The buzzing of his mobile in his pocket startling him, Robert let her go only to turn it to silent before slipping it back into his pocket. Pressing a button on the wall beside them, he drew the window shades up about halfway from the ground; letting plenty of light still in but not an excess of it. Taking her hand back in his with a gentlemanly flourish, the pair began to walk through the penthouse. Perfectly patient and happy to see her smile so brightly at the sight of their residence, Robert watched as Jane soaked in every little piece of the penthouse, her hand still tightly entwined with his. Making their way down the stairs to the first level, Jane brushed her free hand over the back of the chairs and over the tabletops, her fingers occasionally lingering on them. An idle Mister Handy unit was left upon its charger in the kitchen; the computer array and large monitor of Robert's home office were spacious and seamlessly sectioned off from the rest of the penthouse while remaining accessible. When they began up the stairs again, Jane leaned over and up to kiss Robert on the cheek, something he gladly accepted. She let out a short gasp when he let go of her hands and opened the door to their bedroom. The first thing she noticed was the art on the walls, the next being the snow globes resting on top of the dresser and one on the bedside table. Stepping towards them, she delicately took the one on the bedside table in her hands when she sat down on the edge of their bed, looking back to Robert when she set it down, blushing a little.

It was beautiful.

Everything was beautiful.

Everything was damn near perfect.

"I don't think I'll ever be quite able to describe how happy it made me when you gave me this particular snow globe," Jane said with a light laugh. "I hadn't expected you to find something so…arguably mundane as us going ice skating worth commemorating, especially not when I had just told you a few weeks before that I was pregnant with Luke."

"I've never been fooled by the public face you do so well," He replied, stepping over towards her. "You let that side of you slide, for the first time when it was not the two of us alone, the day I took you skating for the first time. It seemed only fitting."

"And I still love it," Jane said, smiling when he quirked an eyebrow. "And you, of course, sugar. Don't pretend you don't know that. You know as well as I do you're the smartest, most wonderful man there ever was."

"The latter of which I save for you alone," Robert replied, taking her hands in his. "I've spent twenty nine years by your side thus far, and I fully intend to spend at least twenty nine more."

"I'm happy to hear it," Jane said, squeezing his hands, though her face soon fell. "Are the…lawsuits Anthony is trying to lodge against you, Carolina, and Roseanne going alright for you? They're unfounded, of course, but…"

"His anger and jealousy about me and my sisters finally getting our rightful inheritance after nearly sixty years is only proving his instability," Robert assured her. "No court in the state will take him seriously once the case is in front of them, if we don't outlast him monetarily before then. It certainly helps Carolina is a lawyer herself, and who is more credible? A lawyer like her, a neurologist like Roseanne, and the head of one of the most successful companies in the United States like me or an increasingly paranoid schizophrenic like Anthony? Once the police and social services are able to enter the factory safely and get him out of his office for a 5150, I'm sure all of his petitions against me will be dismissed. My brother is a nuisance, and nothing more. I've dealt with far worse."

Jane nodded. "Yes, but, still," She hesitated. "The fact he has locked down an entire factory with his employees still trapped inside…this could turn fatal at any time, and the last thing I want is for him to use this, if he ever is let out of a psychiatric ward once he's able to be detained, as a 'justification' to himself for going after us."

"For which we would still be perfectly safe," Robert said, sitting down beside her, still reassuringly holding onto her hands. "We have some of the best protection in the world, and the money to back it up. You needn't worry, Jane."

"I'll do my best not to," She said, a hint of a smile returning when he gently tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. "But you know how he scares me. I can only imagine how horrified your parents would have been to see what he's become. And, as for us…I hope they know we are nothing like him, nor are Carolina and Roseanne, and, certainly, nor are our boys. If they were here…I'm sure they would love them as much as we do. I wish I could have known them."

"I think you might want to have known them even more than I do, but I understand. It's an uncomfortable feeling, and so I try not to dwell on it. Much the same with how hard it is to believe Charlie is already twenty one and Luke is almost twenty four," He sighed. "I don't like Luke going back into active duty soon with the state of the War, but I try to keep reminding myself this is what he wants and, at the very least, is positive press for myself and RobCo. Although, I'm sure, that gets no easier for you. I'm loathe to admit it, but I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with him putting his life in danger."

"It truly doesn't ease. The blessing and curse of being a parent," Jane said, closing her eyes for a moment. "We've spent their entire lives ensuring they grew up much happier and easily than we did and having to let him go into danger aches worse each time. It makes me sick hearing of something on the news that could be on the heels of us learning we've lost him."

"I cannot shake that fear myself, but we did give them everything we had to live without," Robert said, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. "We gave them the stable home you never had and we still do, and we gave them the financial stability I never had and still do. I'll never deny that the way Charlene raised me, Carolina, and Roseanne drove me to the hard work that led to my and RobCo's success, but worrying about money and being in the lower middle class as a child was more difficult than I realised then."

"For all her faults, Ceci did everything she could for you and your sisters, and, later, even me. I'm still left incredulous at the fact she took up the mantle of raising the three of you after your parents passed when she was herself your eldest cousin yet only twenty one, then," Jane shook her head. "Her being Charlie's namesake and him now being the same age she was when she took in you and your sisters…I'm relieved he will never have to go through what she did. I know, of course, she was partially financially supported by your aunt and uncle, but they and her brother lived halfway across the world. I can't imagine how isolated she was."

"Until Luke and Charlie were born, I certainly didn't truly appreciate the sacrifices she made for me and my sisters," Robert said, pausing for a few seconds. "She gave up any and all hopes and dreams she had in the opera and for finding love and having a family of her own to care for us, and she did what she could to shield me and my sisters from the drama over my father's will. Her willingness to tell me about my parents, as well…in a way, I do think I got to know Mary and Edwin, even though they never got to see me become the man I am now."

"I'm certain they would be proud if they were able to still be here as she is," Jane said, gently resting a hand on his nearest shoulder. "Do you…" She fell unusually quiet. "Do you think she might be right about where the world may be headed? I understand her fears, but, even with what we know, the future she speaks of is terrible, and…"

"Whether she is or isn't, we have a plan for what to do," Robert calmly reminded her. "As we always do. Far be it from me to leave any stone unturned."

"You never do," Jane said with a faint laugh. "And she's a better coach in preparing for playing a fervently religious mother than I could have ever asked for. Her little mannerisms – making the sign of the cross and saying 'Kyrie Eleison' to herself whenever the War is mentioned on the news, for instance – have helped me in developing my role in the film more than she'll ever know. The things she says too…"

"I know. Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if she has some level of understanding of some of our…contacts in the business world, though the defence contracting world in particular, that she feels she cannot say," Robert said, taking his mobile out to check the time before setting it aside. "Some of it, I suppose, she could glean from the surface, what she said to Roseanne the other day being a perfect example of it. 'God, please humiliate the world and bring us deliverance this day from our deceits and hubris and excesses and worships of false idols,' she said. What unnerved me, however, was what she said to me on the phone last night."

"It unnerved me too," Jane said, briefly frowning. "And it did make me wonder if she sees more than we think. 'The price for the lies they keep pushing on us will be paid with lives in every generation alive right now, because no will be able to escape if we give in to the worst excesses and cruelty of humanity and escalate this War to and past the breaking point.' With what you told me about Vault-Tec shortly after that meeting in '67, I really do worry. Much as I dislike who and what Cooper Howard has become, I can't say I like his wife much better than I do him, knowing what I do about her."

"What she, Askins, and the other Vault-Tec executives present at that meeting proposed, regrettably, only confirmed what I already knew," Robert said, wrapping a comforting arm tightly around her. "As you well know, I had come to find, two years prior to that meeting, with mathematical certainty that a nuclear exchange is inevitable. I sincerely doubt Vault-Tec will be the ones to instigate that exchange, however. My understanding is their target date is 2100, and, from my most recent calculations, the event is likely to take place around February of next year or, at the very latest, the end of 2080."

Jane tensed. "Is everything we need, apart from a full guarantee of our sons being able to be safe with us, set in motion?"

"It is," Robert assured her. "My defences and overall countermeasures to disable and push back any and all incoming nuclear warheads are officially online and armed, as well as my contingencies to destroy any that could, in a worst case scenario, get through. I check the calculations weekly, and, as for us…well, I've scanned your brain and saved updates of your neurocomputational matrix ever since we began seeing each other. I think I've scanned and saved your neurocomputational matrix almost as many times as I've done my own."

"And we'll be able to be together forever," Jane said, briefly closing her eyes when she rested her head on his shoulder. "The most brilliant man of our times and his favourite, only girl. Taking care of each other's needs, companionship…people may talk and think you're mad for never marrying me on account of your fear of marriage bringing bad luck – and how could you not believe that with what happened to your parents so soon after they, despite having two children before you, got married a year after your birth? – but they'll never know nor need to know we have something even more special."

"That we do," Robert said, lightly kissing her. "We have the supercomputer arrays ready, are prepared to go into cryogenic sealing, and, once the Platinum Chip is manufactured and delivered, all we'll have left to do is ensure our sons' safety. We're almost there, and ahead of schedule."

Jane looked up at him with a content smile. "Is the Chip almost ready for manufacturing and printing?"

"It is, and the latest it will be sent off is the end of August. It should be printed – perfectly so – and delivered by hand to me by the end of October," He replied with a chuckle. "I'll confess to being something of a perfectionist, and I very much am about this. When the worst happens, the Platinum Chip is what will ensure my Securitrons will be able to restore order to Vegas."

"I know it will be," Jane said, pausing when her phone began ringing in her skirt pocket. "Damn it," She said, lightly teasing. "You're going to be late to your meeting if you stay here too much longer, Robert."

"And your mother will be cross with me if I don't let you answer that call," He replied with the same lightly teasing tone, standing up and sweeping up his own mobile. "I'll see you later tonight, Jane," He said, giving her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Answering the call a few seconds after he left their bedroom, Jane tiredly laid down, though she soon began laughing at her mother's teasing about her hesitation to answer. Looking between the clock on the wall and the time displayed on his mobile, Robert scanned his ID and waited for the lift to arrive. When it did, he swiftly stepped in and waited for it to descend to the eighth floor of the Lucky 38 and its large conference room; one of the few levels of the building, alongside the penthouse on the twentieth, held under strict, secure access. Curt impatience ticking back into him, the whispers of a frown crossed his face when the screen of his mobile lit up, receiving one message and, quick on its heels, another. He let out a tired sigh upon seeing one of the people whom had sent him a message, annoyed further when he read their message. I'd like to speak as soon as possible about the fantastic collaboration of our two companies, alongside our CEO here at Vault-Tec, the brilliant Laura Thomas. Warmest regards as always – Bud Askins. Marking the message as read, he flicked to the other messages, a miniscule amount of annoyance departing from him upon finding them to be of substance. He paused on one of them. Tell Charlie I have something I need to give him before his deployment again. It's been blessed, Robby. He's going to need it – Charlene Constance Lynch. The bell of the lift ringing out before the opening of the doors, Robert shut the screen of his mobile off again and promptly exited the lift, trying to not think about the last message. Wasting no time in heading to the conference room, he calmly took his seat at the head of the table, observing those already present and those entering after him with a look of true neutrality that could not betray his thoughts.

Sat to his left with her cheeks still faintly ruddy from having drinks with her husband, his head of PR, Henrietta Karrol nevertheless maintained her keen eyes for even the slightest hint of a secret in their colleagues. Dr. Edward Grey, her husband, sat beside her, paging through a few files set before him and glancing up briefly only to observe those joining them. The VP of sales, Lucas Nash, was next to him, and made no attempt to hide his good mood. Taking his seat quickly beside Nash upon his entrance, Robert hid his amusement at how frassled his HR manager, Daniel Knevett, looked for being only a minute late. No more than a few seconds after him, his former head of security, Carl Rook, took his seat across from Knevett, his suit and tie alone hinting at the newfound pride and confidence he had developed in replacing Leonard Steeple as REPCONN Aerospace's VP and CEO. Dr. Dorothea Dias, leading the organic brain robotics project with General Atomics, sat down next to him only a moment later, with Dr. Jeannette Higgins, leading assaultron developments, and Mark Kurchfield, manager of sales and services for the northeastern coast of the United States, taking their places next to her and each other at nearly the same time. The last to arrive and looking rather annoyed, Dr. Clara Song, one of the company's best researchers based in Appalachia, shut the door behind herself and sat down beside Kurchfield and to the right of Robert, fixing a tight smile to her face when her colleagues all acknowledged her and each other before falling quiet.

"The year is looking quite good for us thus far," Robert said, breaking the silence as he leaned slightly forward. "Though it would be much more ideal for our COO and CFO to be present, there is not much to be done about them both being indisposed for family troubles and business trips respectively. That said," He turned his gaze to Knevett and Rook. "Seeing as REPCONN Aerospace will officially be a subsidiary of RobCo come the first of September, I assume you're both working longer than normal hours to ensure the changes in leadership and security are smooth?"

"We are," Rook said, a glib note to his voice. "The security updates and upgrades are almost entirely implemented, now, and all employees at the company headquarters are compliant with and used to carrying and scanning their ID badges for access to every part of the building necessary for them to do their jobs. As for the rest, I'll leave that to Dan."

"Absolutely," Knevett said, briefly clearing his throat. "We had an issue at the Test Site about three weeks ago, wherein a now-fired custodian used a 'stealth boy,' as they're colloquially referred to, that had been part of shipment of them inadvertently sent there. The custodian was fired after groping several female employees using one, as well as engaging in…other forms of sexual harassment. In light of that, an email was sent out to all of the staff at the Test Site to inform them of his firing, and to direct them to thoroughly read REPCONN's sexual harassment and workplace behaviour policies."

Robert wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yes, unfortunately that appears necessary. I saw the notice you sent me on the matter, and it was nothing short of disturbing."

"It was, hence the swift firing," Knevett said. "Those working at the Test Site were also, although as with the previous I'm baffled by the fact this had to be said, informed that, while it is not explicitly stated in the employee handbook, unauthorised use of military hardware against fellow employees is grounds for immediate termination. The legal department at REPCONN as well as ours here at RobCo have helped the women assaulted file police reports, and the former employee has since been arrested and detained without incident."

"I suppose that's the best outcome we could have had," Dr. Dorothea Dias let out a frustrated sigh. "I assume that – apart from that incident – things at REPCONN are going well? Certainly, I'd hope, at their headquarters and by their senior staff."

"And you'd be absolutely correct in that assumption, Dr. Dias," Knevett replied. "The changes in leadership within the company have been going well, with REPCONN's General Manager having been and remaining instrumental in that transition," He turned back to Robert. "CFO Julia Masters is keeping the company and many of our more classified endeavours running beyond her purview as you anticipated, which has kept things running smoothly as well, and, of course, the former CEO and Vice President has been officially ousted from the company and his access to the company headquarters in Henderson revoked."

"Good riddance," Henrietta said, turning up her nose in irritation. "I was anticipating a potential PR nightmare should Steeple need to be removed from that building and his old office by force. I understand that could very well have become necessary, but I am glad it did not. That news has certainly saved me from a nasty headache."

"I couldn't agree more, Missus Karrol," Rook said with a short, mirthless laugh. "Steeple was holding REPCONN back. Now it's to become a subsidiary of RobCo and led – to be truthful – mostly by Masters, I have no doubt we'll be able to surpass the primary competition at ArcJet Systems and SpaceX for the Mars Shot."

"Wonderful," Dr. Clara Song said, frowning. "Is everything perfect on that front while the rest of us have real issues to face on the day to day that have nothing to do with a former and embittered employee or a fired and detained sex offender?"

"Unfortunately, Dr. Song, that is not the case, although I'm not quite sure I would call Steeple a mere embittered former employee, considering the nature of…" Rook nervously replied, looking between her and Robert. "To be concise, I have been in close contact with the best of the best in REPCONN's IT department, a Missus Sara Wang, who has noticed some suspicious activity on the servers at the company headquarters. It seems someone or, more likely, several people are leaking insider information to a third party. Wang believes the data is being sent to Poseidon Energy, but the evidence is scant. Colonel Moretti insists there is no problem, even after having looked at it himself, but I am unconvinced."

"Is that in response to the information Dr. Xuan Duong retrieved about Poseidon's cancelled 'Project SEMELE,' seeing as those of you at REPCONN finally produced a working prototype of what that project had sought to do?" Dr. Grey took a moment to think when Rook nodded. "I doubt Poseidon would be the only ones interested in the Quantum Plasma Modulation Matter Injection Rifle, so anticipate the outcome of that investigation to reveal a different recipient. I would be unsurprised if that information is going directly to the DIA or CIA's leadership to bypass any possible Department Of Defence objections out of the Pentagon, or a forced discussion with the Joint Chiefs."

"For use as a secret but potent weapon by our great country's espionage agents?" Rook looked up at him in surprise. "You may be on to something. It would certainly explain Moretti's attitude towards the…situation. I'll have to tell Missus Wang to keep that in mind."

"I trust you will," Robert said, appraising the lot of them before turning to Dr. Dias. "Have there been any positive developments out of the 'robobrain' project?"

"General Atomics' scientists and engineers have mostly solved the issues with the size and mobility issues of the robot," She reported. "Dr. Bertram Riggs with General Atomics has made some successful strides in improving the design of the robot, and have been able to scale it down significantly as needed, although of late many of the candidates for the programme have needed to be terminated due to their being of low intelligence, mentally diseased, and/or in, generally speaking, poor brain health, something which has made making the process of wiping the brains in question more difficult. Bert, thankfully, has not let that deter him or the team."

"That's nevertheless troubling," Dr. Song mildly noted.

"It is," Dias agreed. "However, despite those setbacks, we've finally had an uptick in highly intelligent and physically healthy experimental subjects in the last few weeks, although the rate of memory and personality retention has been higher than we'd like. Because of that, and given the vast majority of the test subjects were taken from military and civilian prisons with some even being taken from death row, we are still working to make the resulting robots…less psychopathic. On a more amusing note, however, I am sure you will all enjoy knowing Vault-Tec's Bud Askins is intending to download his consciousness to a smaller scale version of the robobrain, should the worst happen, for use in his unholy trinity of Vaults. In essence, he would become a 'Brain-On-A-Roomba,' an image I find rather satisfying and ironic considering the man's vanity. It also makes our lives easier in the sense of not having to fuss with wiping the brain of memory and personality – he, or, at least, his mind will remain intact."

"It is an amusing thought," Dr. Jeannette Higgins said, laughing with the rest of them present before she raised an eyebrow. "But, to the serious side of things, you say the average robobrain demonstrates traits of psychopathy? Dorothea, are you serious?"

"I am," Dias replied. "Though the brains are supposed to be devoid of a personality after being processed, the success rate of doing so continues to be abysmal, and we've had to destroy several of our experimental models due to the resilience of the human brain to the erasure of personality and memory and the resulting persistence of the personality of the person whose brain we harvested. Those of nonviolent and sane individuals are troubling at the moment, too; for about a third of those individuals and specifically those whom we actively attempted to retain parts of the individual's personality, mind, and memory, we've observed repetitive, delusional behaviour and a growing, distorted perception worsened by a severance from reality."

"I suspected that might happen. Continue pushing the team to work out those issues as soon as possible," Robert said with a brief frown. "My understanding is assaultron production has been increased to meet the needs of the military," He looked between Dr. Higgins and Lucas Nash. "I presume, then, the mechanical and software updates have been smoothly implemented, Dr. Higgins, and sales increasing, Mister Nash?"

"Absolutely," Dr. Jeannette Higgins said. "As the lead engineer on the entire assaultron line, I'm pleased to report all of our developmental delays from the last year have been more than made up for by the success we've had since then."

"As she said," Nash agreed. "Assaultron sales to the US military are higher than they've ever been. Sales of our other products, too, have been rising. All Pip-Boy models we keep in limited stock bi-monthly are continuing to sell incredibly well, and the kickback we're receiving for those Vault-Tec are distributing to their Vaults is equally high."

"Sales and satisfaction with all of our products in the northeast are also high," Mark Kurchfield, the region's manager of sales and services added. "By and large, I would say we are, on the income side of things, in one of the best positions we've ever been in."

"Fantastic," Robert glanced at Dr. Song. "What is the status of work in Appalachia?"

"Less smooth than that of Dr. Grey's in Weston, and much less glamourous. It's quite the opposite, and the last thing we need is the media attention he and his 'Greygarden' are getting," She replied, looking disdainful at the thought. "I'm less than thrilled with the research centre's director, under whom I work directly. As I'm more than sure you share that sentiment and that it is the reason you called for me to come to this meeting instead of him, I will further take that as a sign of your acknowledgement of either his ineptitude, my superiority as an individual and intellectual, or both."

"Dr. Song –" Henrietta began, her voice almost scolding.

"With all due respect, Missus Karrol, I not only have a good ten years on you but a PhD I earnt at merely nineteen. I have spent the nearly forty years since then working on not only research but compiling the history of robotics since the 1950s. I know quite well what I am speaking on," She turned back to Robert, her hands tightly clasped together and her lips in a thin line. "As I was saying, Mister House, I have a great number of concerns for not only our work in Appalachia overall but the security of it."

Robert raised an eyebrow. "Please continue, Dr. Song."

"I have a rather large file and a few holotapes of information I brought with on the matter for you to take a look at later, but, for now, the short of it is this," Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Our 'director' is taking my precious time and research capacities away from me and my team and redirecting a great deal of it towards giving tours of the facility to children of the Pioneer, Girl, and Boy Scouts. Tours of a facility – as you and everyone else here are well aware – where we do things little children definitely don't need to know about, including things our competitors might want access to, hence those projects in particular not being public knowledge."

"Jesus, is he really running the facility that way?" Rook exclaimed, unnerved when she curtly nodded. "I hate to ask, but what has he tried to justify this with? I'm sure you've raised the matter with him."

"I have, and it has come down to the fact he believes, as my direct superior, he is smarter than me and knows how I should do my job even in research despite having no experience in robotics himself," She said, her irritation plain on her face and in her voice. "Some of what we do requires a security clearance from the Federal Government, and I'm sorry to report that I've had to fight to keep those endeavours out of his damned tours. He also is under the delusion that it's fine to show children all the secret technology we have because they and their parents or guardians have to sign NDAs."

Robert frowned. "He hadn't reported that to any of us. I'd like to make clear – I am not calling you a liar, Dr. Song. I very much believe you. I am simply disturbed this is the first time I'm hearing of it."

"As you should be," Dr. Song said, a hint of vindication seeping into her countenance. "I have to fight with him nearly every day to prevent the tours from bringing children into the basement of the facility, but I have no doubt in my mind that some of my colleagues are not as strong willed and have bent to his demands when I am doing my job and not giving tours to children."

Dr. Grey shifted uneasily. "That's where some of the top secret, classified research is being conducted for the military, isn't it?"

"It is, and I read the script one of my colleagues is forced to read to the children he brings down there," Dr. Song said, taking a few files out of her bag at her feet. "Allow me to read this drivel, and then we'll decide if our dear director in Appalachia deserves to be replaced or not. The script dictates, in one section – 'I should begin by saying that hurting people is a very bad thing, and you should never do it. And we certainly never do it.' My colleague, understandably, left a few notes in that part of the script, which, as follows, includes 'even though it may sound like we're doing so down here, but, sometimes, a company needs to take drastic measures to innovate and keep lucrative government contracts.'"

Silence. Dr. Song set down the papers with a firm scowl on her face. The rest of her colleagues looked nervously between each other.

"I'll be sending his notice of contract termination by the end of next week," Robert finally said. "That is, in fact, concerning and warranting a response, Dr. Song. Considering parts General Chase's 'Liberty Prime' are being manufactured there," He said pointedly. "The last thing we need is for there to be any open risk of espionage, corporate or otherwise."

Dr. Song tried to hide a vindicated smirk. "A project I am more than eager to be back to work on."

"And one going slower than anticipated," Dr. Dias said, pursing her lips. "General Atomics are pulling back some of their resources to focus on the robobrain research, which is all well and good. But, as you've mentioned it, I'll express this simple concern," She glanced at Robert. "We can afford for slow work to be made on most things, but we are contracted by the Army and Air Force to deliver a working version of Prime within the next year, and that is on the revised deadline, not the original."

Robert raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're unconvinced that will be feasible?"

"I'm very much unconvinced it will be feasible. We can pull as many resources from every other department, but every single one of you in this room knows the stakes of this contract and the taut wires we have to be careful not to cross with it," Dr. Dias shook her head. "The problem with Liberty Prime is simple and the same as it has been: its power distribution is difficult to maintain, and, thus far, all tests have ended in it shorting out or, in the worst incident, completely blowing out its memory core."

Knevett sighed. "Well, that certainly adds context to the…colourful language I've seen from those working on the project in the complaints they keep lodging against each other. I swear, this is going to eat everyone who works on it alive."

"True, though we should be able to easily offset some of what General Atomics is pulling back," Kurchfield said, looking to Nash. "Do the numbers of our overall revenue indicate that?"

"You'll have to ask our CFO when he returns from London, but, from what I see on the sales end, yes."

"Whether we can offset it or not isn't the issue," Henrietta said, sharpness creeping into her voice. "If General Atomics think they can slack off, we can't come in and immediately cover the difference."

"I have to agree," Robert said, the room falling silent again at his words. "I'll speak to General Atomics' leadership personally, but, if that proves unsatisfactory, I'll defer to General Chase. It's more than apparent who has done the most work on this project and, temperamental or not, it's not going to be General Atomics' success, but ours."

"Provided we get it to work," Dr. Grey said, sharing a worried look with Dr. Higgins. "I haven't looked at anything to do with Liberty Prime in ages, and, while I'd usually say any improvement is good, it's a bad omen for the power distribution to be so difficult this far into the project."

"True, although General Chase knows as well as we do that this project was unprecedented to begin with and has been temperamental from the start," Dr. Higgins paused a moment in thought. "If power distribution proves to be the primary issue, we may have to start looking to expand the team. We already have some of the best nuclear engineers in the world on the project, but we may very well need to find more."

"Before or after General Atomics restore funding to fifty fifty between them and us?" Henrietta relaxed a little when she indicated the latter. "Good. They can't shirk their responsibility to delivering on a major government contract any more than we can."

"They won't. I'll ensure it," Robert cast an appraising, critical look over them. "Well. As for the rest of you," He pointedly began. "I trust there are no other…serious issues or, as Dr. Song informed us, lapses in judgement I should be made aware of?"

"At the moment, none in HR for RobCo or REPCONN," Knevett reported.

"Nor in sales," Nash added.

"As Nash says," Kurchfield agreed. "That is true in my specific purview of the northeast, and I'm sure his numbers are accurate across the board."

"The issues we're facing in the 'robobrain' joint project with General Atomics are resolvable," Dr. Dias said. "It should not face too many further setbacks after we resolve the…personality issues."

"Media coverage of the company and our endeavours are some of the best they've ever been despite the complaints about our exhibit at Nuka World," Henrietta Karrol said. "I have no reason to believe they will not remain so."

"The Weston Project should be complete by October," Dr. Grey said proudly. "With the dispute resolved."

"Our general military robotics work, and the assaultron in particular, remain a stable and mutually beneficial collaboration," Dr. Higgins stated.

"And the transition at REPCONN is going smoothly now Steeple is out of the company. With regards to the investigation into a potential leak, it is under control between myself, Missus Wang, and a few trusted members of the security team," Rook said, glancing over his colleagues. "I believe that is everything."

Robert stayed silent in consideration before, finally, nodding.

"Understood. With that, you're adjourned, though, Dr. Song, please bring me the files you brought with. I'd like to be as specific as possible in dismissing the Appalachian research director from his position."

Her lips twitched upwards in almost sinister smile when she stood up and took the files and holotapes out of her bag as the rest of their colleagues departed, some of them still speaking amongst themselves.

"It would be my pleasure," She said when she handed the files to him. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Mister House. I very much intend to."

He raised an eyebrow at her demeanour, even more so upon seeing her more than satisfied gait as she left the room, but said nothing more. Beginning to take a first glance through the file, he only paused upon his mobile buzzing. He smiled when he opened it and read the message and pushed the file and holotapes aside.

Luke is telling the story of the mob shootout five years ago at the Ultra Luxe, having gotten more than a few people interested after telling how you acquired the Lucky 38 back in '65. Our sweet Charlie is still clumsily flirting with girls, slipping in how you own the 38, but I think some of them are seeing through him the way you saw through me. Let me know when you're coming back down, sugar, and don't keep me waiting too long.

Robert smiled to himself, quickly typing out a reply to Jane; the former starlet he had fallen for and the mother of his children almost ever since.

I'll be there to join you soon. The meeting went well enough, though there are a couple of troubling matters I have to address. I will save those for tomorrow. I know this will likely be one of if not the last time we see Luke until he comes back from his upcoming deployment, and for that reason on its own we ought to make the best of the time we have with him and Charlie. I love you dearly, Jane. Do not forget it.

The message sent, he stood up, dropping his mobile into his pocket and sweeping up the file and holotapes to put away until the morrow.

"Come what may," Robert said, taking a few seconds to look out the window before leaving and locking the doors to the conference room. "The House always wins."