Chapter 459 - Pool Side Vacation

At another part of Big Mt was Tamia who was currently looking after Carlos. The young boy had been distraught at the state of his mother and recently discovered grandfather, Tamia had spent a couple hours now trying to calm the child, but nothing seemed to work.

To be honest, she was considering just ditching him with the others so she could get some rest... Despite avoiding any injuries, she was still pretty exhausted after the whole ordeal at the Fort... It's not every day you waltz into the enemy base, kidnap their leader and kill most of their troops.​​

The other problem with the boy was his rather rude attitude towards women... The Legion indoctrination was easy to see in him, yet in his panicked state it seemed lesser than what it was. She had of course met the child when she first entered the Fort. He was amongst the group of children who were talking smack at her and Josie.

"Hey, look at that." she says, pointing at the large pack of Cyberdogs that were sprinting somewhere.

Carlos raises his head and stares at them, his eyes widening at the peculiar sight... Cyberdogs were usually only used in the NCR military from what he had heard... Yet there were so many of them before him.

A couple even approaches the duo, the dogs look intensely at them as if expecting a treat. Tamia raises a brow but pulls out some beef jerky from her bag, handing it to Carlos for the kid to feed. Unbeknownst to them however, the Cyberdogs were actually scanning both of them for Glados.

Tamia watches as the boy feeds the dogs and wonders when she'd be able to rest. She still had to process the things Caesar had revealed. She didn't think he had been lying, but she wasn't sure if she wanted it to be true or false... Knowing that she had a family somewhere was comforting in a way, more than when she was wandering around the wasteland solely bent on revenge.

She looks back at Carlos and lightly taps his shoulder, "Come on, we should find where our beds are... I'm tired as hell." she mutters.

"*Bzztch!* Your designated room is over in the dormitories, meat bag." a Glados controlled drone states from above them.

"Meat bag?" Tamia asks, wondering if she should take offense. It wasn't the first time she'd been called that today either.

"Indeed, meat bag. You are being made of flesh wrapped in a skintight bag, the only interesting part of you is your brain, which I have observed to not be the best amongst your kind." Glados explains.

...

Tamia just shakes her head, deciding not to think about it, "Whatever, just take us to the dorms."

Elsewhere :

Boone, Josie, Anja, and Veronica were having the time of their lives... They were all currently resting on sun loungers next to a large pool, Josie had had her leg stitched, wrapped up, and pumped with pain killers while the others had the various light scratches they'd received patched up.

All of them had been provided with bathing suits, bikinis and shorts... Except for Anja of course who was given a full-body bathing suit... Nobody wanted to see the body of a ghoul...

"If I knew Afton had a place like this I'd have begged him to take me here a lot sooner." Veronica mutters as she sips an ice-cold cocktail. "Do you guys think Karl's gonna be alright? I know Afton's robot-girl-AI-thing said he would, but I'm still worried.

"H-he will, with all the technology here I think it would be easier to list what they couldn't do..." Anja says, admiring what Afton had 'built' here.

Boone tries not to think about Karl's state and releases a long pent up sigh, as a soldier this situation is one he'd found himself in more often than he'd wish, the fate of his comrades is up to fate and the expertise of those operating on them. The fact that he can't do anything to help just makes it all the more bitter.

Instead, he watches the various women in what looked like maid outfits walk around the place, attending to various jobs that needed doing... One stands nearby to fix them up drinks or to help them with any problem they may have. There was something that stood out to him however, "I recognise these women... They're part of the group we rescued from the Legion..."

"Hmm, you think they like working here?" Josie asks, still slightly delirious from the large amount of pain killers she'd been given.

Veronica shrugs, "I don't know... Let's ask one," she raises a hand at the nearest maid, "Excuse me?"

"Y-yes, w-what can I do for you?" the maid stutters out awkwardly.

"How is it working here? I mean, I know it's probably better than being stuck in that camp, but what about the rest of the Mojave?"

The maid's voice is caught in her throat when she's about to retort that the camp provided more freedom than this, and was potentially less dangerous... She had learned her lesson however, even now she could feel the glowing orange eyes glaring at her back, Shani knew she'd be on the chopping block of she tried to escape again...

She'd attempted to leave twice now, apparently she'd been given three strikes... She really didn't want to see what would happen if she made a third attempt. Shani gives a forced smile to Veronica, slightly too toothy to be a sincere one, "N-no, it's great here! We get fed amazing food, we have amazing housing, and we are s-safer than we ever have been!" she lists off.

Veronica grins back at her, not noticing that Shani's smile didn't reach her eyes, she turns back to Josie, "See? Afton's got shit handled here, I might even take a dip in the pool once I finished my drink." she grins.

"Ah... Veronica c-could you..." Anja attempts to ask but hesitates.

"Yeah?"

"C-could you teach me how to swim?" the ghoul asks, having never gotten the chance before.

Veronica beams, "Sure! Come on, first you gotta kick your legs like a madman!" she exclaims while dragging Anja into the pool, not even taking notice of the gross texture of Anja's hand.

Shani just sighs as this all occurs, these people were ignorant to the atrocities that were being committed here... She wondered if they'd ever find out, and if they did, if they would do something to stop it. She shakes these thoughts from her head and turns to the only male of the group, "Is that all you need, sir?"