The House Never Dies 8 - (Fallout x Xover, RobertHouse!SI)
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Edward House was born on March 5th 2106.
He was a little bundle of joy that inherited his mother's blond hair, and my sharp eyes. I have to admit that, out of all troublesome matters I had to face in recent years, dealing with the birth of my first biological child, tend to my newly-made wife's fragile state after that tense month and then deal with parenthood was... the most excruciatingly tough situation I had ever faced.
Not only now as a father, but also as a bearer of a legacy that could really influence my future children. I saw this circumstance, the mere holding of my child as Rascal seemed to understand that little Eddie was her little sibling, as an awakening point for me.
I played it so cautious up to this point. I tried to play it so safe that, as I went back to check my stockpiles, I knew that we- no, I had enough to get things done better. And so I started to do as such while splitting half of my attention tending to both Lydia and our baby: I reached out for the Eastern Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Western Chapter was to be dealt with lengthy diplomatic talks as they knew of me, but they were in a good enough shape to not be in desperate need of what I could offer.
The same couldn't be said about the group once led by Elizabeth Taggerdy. The Scorchbeasts that the Enclave had unleashed upon the Appalachian Mountains had torn apart all sorts of human settlements, forcing the Brotherhood of Steel within that area to split and find shelter away from former civilization.
They still relied on radios, and getting hold of their signal was relatively easy. They were even more at ease with the idea of me taking care of the Scorchbeasts, a task that I left to some automated Vertibirds that were armed with anti-tank cannons. The mutated bats could be tough bastards, but high-velocity 75mm HE shells can do a lot to solve their existence and bring them to ashes. Securitrons were then dispatched to handle the rest of the Scorched. Anti-radiation methods were employed to then cleanse the area, and construction efforts were enforced to rebuild the destroyed settlements.
It came without much of a shock that the newly-reunited Eastern Chapter of the Brotherhood allowed me to change their 'organization' in the way they saw it. A group of elders would persist, and their order was welcome to stay - what I didn't intend to see was for a dictatorship to subvert common democracy.
While elections were untenable as of yet, at least not like how those were conducted in California, I aided the civilians to create a provisional governorship and other local administrations within the lines of the old US where it was possible.
Speaking of California, the creation of the 'Greater State of California' allowed for the former US State to grow in size within the established borders before the Great War - Baja and slices of British Columbia were soon integrated upon further scouting, cleansing and integration.
By 2109, California was the closest thing to a functional democratic state. Science regarding Ghouls and other creatures had led me to develop some counters to stabilize the maddening ferality of those mutations, allowing for those entities to be included as citizens wherever it was possible.
At this stage of my big plan to 'give my children a safe land to enjoy', I had told Lydia what I was up to. And she was most surprised by the extent of my plans. I expected her to be upset or something, perhaps not seeing my point or even thinking I was up to expand a tyranny, but she was actually happy with the details I had settled for all the land I planned to recover.
By 2111, Mexico was mostly secured, with splinter cliques formed by the Popular Mexican Army and the Directorio of Ciudad de Mexico agreeing to submit upon discovering the extent of my might and benevolence as I took care of the Ghoulified Sinaloa Cartel and other monstrous factions within their land.
In 2112 the Institute consolidated their supply lanes with the Brotherhood of Steel in the Appalachian Mountains and had taken over sections of Northern Canada. Their application of experimental technocratic governance created examples and models that were soon implemented in other areas of the States. At the same time, the Brotherhood Sect expanded in various southern states, finalizing the process of reclaiming most of the North American Eastern Coast.
But it was in 2113 that two events came to be: the first one led to the second one, and the former of the two is the reformation of the United States of America. I had decided that it was time to shed away the last formality of my control, allowing for the Presidency to be enshrined within a non-democratic notion as the President was to become the one element in the Republic meant to act as the watchdog of rights and freedoms.
New Vegas had been turned into the new capital of the country, with a modernized, bigger and yet still a copy of the White House built near a top hill that I had owned even before the Great War. I didn't move in it just yet, but it was expected to be where the power would truly be and the home for my family would ultimately be.
The New Capitol Hill wasn't spared of this investment, expanding to include a wider range of representatives, but also limits on mandates, age, and other elements that had been neglected to be added as part of the Constitution. Speaking of the constitution, the Bill of Rights was expanded with some attentive additions to the amendments to avoid any 'misunderstandings' and deny some loopholes that could reopen some of the oldest wounds within American Society.
Congress and Senate were to be constituted within the ensuing two years - and the plan was to persist even as the second event, a bit of a reaction that was expected but nonetheless worthy of some eyes rolling since it was the Enclave deciding to make one last stand.
The Chicago base was one of their best-defended bases in America and as the Enclave had been kicked around deep into that specific area of former States, the 'President' declared war upon the 'Invading Pseudo-Communists'. A very funny way to say that a single land tax, a doubled pension, and cheaper prices for products were to be seen as communist elements.
Despite the proclamation of war being usually a sign of worry in the Fallout World, I wasn't that scared since... I had my army, and it was a ruthless one. I didn't need men and women to die against a bunch of failing roleplaying patriots. Not when my Securitrons, my automated vehicles and the rest of the war machine yearning to test out its full combat capacity.
And the 'War for America', which lasted for roughly a year, ended with a complete slaughter of what was left of the Enclave's harcore leadership, with the rest of the prisoners given the choice to serve prison or be re-educated into democracy.
But that wasn't what truly stood out to me as the most monumental event of that year.
"D-Dad, look!"
"Yeah, Papa!"
Both Eddie and Rascal were wheeling around with their bikes. Eddie had once been a tricycle, but the boy, now 7, was now proudly riding a normal bicycle without any help. Rascal was still work in progress since her tail created an issue on balancing her body with the vehicle, but the big happy Deathclaw loved the tricycle and tended to play with it far more than her little brother.
"I am looking, kids," I exclaimed, my smile widening as I took pictures with my camera, while Lydia happily sat nearby with a recorder, one of her hands nursing her returning pregnant belly as she was closing in on getting a new member to the family. "Still, be careful to not trip got it."
"Okie, Papa!" Rascal said, and yet she started to do some tricks and stumbled on herself. "Owie!"
I saw Lydia tense up instinctively at the sight but Rascal shook her head, smiled and got back to it. My wife sighed in relief and I moved up to sit beside her.
"Worry not, they are smart cookies."
"Never. Mistakes can happen," She sharply proclaimed, yet smiled as she leaned to land a kiss on my cheek, well aware I was weak to those even now. "And I hope you are ready for the upcoming hurdles, Mr. President."
I rolled my eyes at the name, knowing that I should have followed my drunken dreams and become the God-Emperor of Mankind. But well, you win some and you lose some...
And with America mostly reunited, it was time to lift up the rest of the citizens.
AN
Next time will be a different POV that will explore the differences of those that lived for a generation or so under House and those that have just recently been integrated in the New USA.