The water hummed a melancholic tone as Charles stood in the shower.
The blood from his wounds was washed clean, and Charles felt slightly refreshed. Yet in his mind, it was as if he were crumbling. If he fell apart, then New Vegas would crumble along with House's dream. For that reason, he had to keep moving forward, despite the delays, even though he felt that the problems were House's fault.
Once he finished his shower, he dried himself with a towel and opened his drawer to get his regular clothes and place his old white gloves clothes back in the drawer. His jacket pocket was quite wet from the damp note he had placed there, but he still wore it. He dressed up, retrieved his weapons, and took the hotel keys from his white glove suit pocket, placing them in his pants pocket.
Charles then opened the toilet tank, retrieved the wet "Cannibalism" note, and placed it back in his pocket, intending to dispose of it in the furnace of the Atomic Wrangler.
Once he was done with everything in his room, Charles unlocked the door and headed out to the casino floor, where he saw Heck's guard, Dan.
Marjorie was talking to Dan, and when Charles approached them, he said to Marjorie, "Here's the key to the room."
Marjorie nodded as Charles handed her the key, but then Dan said, "Marjorie told me that you were the one to talk about Heck's son. So, what's the situation?" His voice was gruff.
"Yeah, we can't find him here. As for the money Heck held, you can take all of it," Charles replied.
"You serious?" Dan's voice remained gruff.
"Yeah, just make sure you keep this situation on the low. If somebody asks you about it, don't make too much noise. Now, Marjorie, give him his money," said Charles, his tone stern.
They waited in silence as Marjorie asked one of the guards to give Heck's guard the money. Once the guard returned and handed over the money, Marjorie said, "Well, he's gone and hopefully he keeps his mouth shut about this, considering the money we gave him. Anyways, anything else you need from me, sir?"
"Nah, I'm just gonna get a drink at the Wrangler. Just don't fuckup."
Charles left the Ultra-Luxe, his footsteps echoing as he exited.
Once close to the Atomic Wrangler, he saw people protesting with signs that read "Stop the breach." Charles knew this would happen with their movements into Benver, even if they had liberated it from the Iron Gang. The borders between New Vegas-controlled areas and Freeside, not under House's rule, had been established. Charles was somewhat relieved when he saw the protestors, noting that they were not your average Freeside residents but mostly people who seemed well-off.
Once he got into the Wrangler, Charles saw Joseph with Karl. Ignoring James at the counter, Charles approached them and said, "Joseph, you look like shit. Are you fine?" His tone was sympathetic.
"Yup, just got out of that Benver town. Everything hurts like hell," Joseph replied playfully while stretching.
"Yeah, but fucking hell wish we had better medical services to offer ourselves in New Vegas but anyways onto business. The White Gloves told me that you instructed them to treat Walter with the utmost respect."
"Yeah, I called them about that. Walter visited me when I was awake and told me he wanted to go to the Ultra-Luxe. I obliged and called Marjorie, told her to give him a good time."
"Well, Walter just fucking shot Heck Gunderson, all because you said to give him a good time," Charles said angrily.
"You seriously blaming me, Charles? Look, Heck helped us, so all I said was to give him a good time. That's it," Joseph responded seriously.
Then Karl interjected while smoking a cigarrate, "Look, guys, we're talking a bit too loud. Everybody's looking at us. I'll tell James to give us our regular table."
Karl walked over to James, who was busy with customers, and asked for the regular table, which was in a private room.
Charles noticed the curious eyes of onlookers. When Karl led the way to the room, Charles and Joseph followed.
Karl unlocked the door to their regular table, adorned with paintings of New Vegas on the walls.
Once they sat down, Charles asked, "Well, before we get into all of that, do you guys know where Ron is?"
"We talked to him for a bit after his little show. He said he was tired and was going to sleep," Karl replied.
"Alright, now let's continue. Look, Joseph, I understand where you're coming from, but just be careful how you word things. When you said 'let him have a good time,' Marjorie interpreted it as 'treat him with the utmost respect.' You know how the White Gloves are about respect. They weren't like that when they were the Human Keepers, but still, be very specific next time because, to me, those two phrases are vastly different."
"Charles, when that accident happened in Vault 21 that killed both mine and Karl's parents and then you and House came along the Vault Overseer wouldn't have it and trusted that his team was going to win that game against those other dwellers who supported the vault's integration into New Vegas. When he lost because you guys hit at a 19 and they had a 20, the Overseer decided to give us up because he trusted us with you after his defeat, even if the dwellers of the Vault objected. So what I'm saying is, Charles, you have to trust me in my decisions. Alright? Even if I made what you consider a wrong call, a lot of other people agreed with it, just like the people in Vault 21. You have to keep trusting me because I could make another right call or a great call in the future."
"Alright, settle down there, Joseph. I understand where you're coming from, and I hope you learn from your mistake. This doesn't make me lose trust in you, and I'm glad you continue to trust in me. Now that I'm done with that line of reasoning I want to ask if you guys know where that Freeside agent who was with us at Benver is?"
"That guy? I looked him up in Iris's files. Bit of a misanthrope. He's a sergeant for the Freeside Security Agency. Nobody really talks to him, and his previous squad also died from the Freeside Terror Group. He's a ruthless bastard, especially towards the Red Terror Group. He once shot and killed a group of them while they were surrendering. His name was Theodore James, I believe," Karl said calmly while smoking.
"Got it. Well, I guess he wouldn't like those protestors outside the agency. Probably supporters or collaborators for the terror group bastards. Anyways, give me the whole rundown on Freeside now," said Charles.
"Well, besides Theodore, we've got NCR troops garrisoned in Benver, which you probably already know, and Colonel Moore is leading them."
"Colonel Moore? Wasn't she stationed at Hoover Dam?"
"Yeah, but they moved her to New Vegas after Iris fixed the issue at Helios One."
"Any problems with the businesses after our victory at Benver?" asked Charles.
"The Van Graffs and Gun Runners' businesses seem to be fine. In fact, they're probably doing better with all the violence going on in outer Freeside especially with those Housephobic people as they term them that recently came into the scene just yesterday to harass us saying they're the true legacy of House and that House now is just AI and you the fake Charles House, heard rumors of their district also its not that impressive just small bits of tech even the Freeside Terror group district at Rattabol but its just rumors and it's not a far ladder since Rattabol is pretty developed anyways Inner Freeside seems mostly safe except for those damn protestors which could be anybody and I was on the Strip about a day ago. The White Gloves called me in about some drunk ladies in the Ultra-Luxe fountain. They didn't care about the Securitrons, so they had to bring me in. The ladies immediately stopped when they saw my illustrious self, of course. Anyways, enough with the boasting. House told me that we need to meet Colonel Moore at the NCR embassy tomorrow. Since you guys are already here, I might as well tell you now."
"Alright, since that's tomorrow, might as well get drunk from my celebratory return, right guys? Anyways, what do you want to drink and eat? I'll tell James."
"Give me a gecko steak and the absinthe," said Karl.
"And you, Charles?" asked Joseph.
"Yeah, Brahmin steak and I need something strong, or else I won't feel shit. So give me the whiskey."
"And I'll take the same as you, Charles. Now, time to get fucked up," said Joseph.