Chapter 563 - Morino Til Mornin.

"John Cena? Who is that?" asks the superhero, thoroughly confused.

Afton shrugs and waves it off, "Nevermind... What're you guys doing here anyway? I thought you'd still be training, Juan..."​​

The man blushes slightly, "Ah, well... G-Glados asked me to look after Anja for a bit a couple days ago and..." he trails off, obviously too embarrassed to admit it.

"You hit it off, huh?" he chuckles.

Juan and Anja nods, "Y-You how it is with my condition... Even without that, Anja is pretty great..." he mutters, both his and somehow Anja's face furiously blushing.

Afton just idly nods his head, "Alright, as long as you two are cool... Oh, yeah, Juan you better kick up your training. Thing's are going to get very interesting, very soon." he states before leaving, continuing on his walk.

Juan glances to Anja after Afton leaves, "He is strange, isn't he?..."

Anja smiles but slaps his arm, "Maybe, but he's still our leader. Respect is still due, regardless of how casual he acts."

Juan shrug, "Alright, alright... Say, it's kinda hot, you wanna get some ice cream?"

Elsewhere :

Orion Moreno, former Enclave heavy weapons trooper, and current homeless vagrant that continues to slowly walk through the desert. He adjusts his glasses and brushes some of his aged silver hair out of his tanned face as he searches ahead for his destination...

He'd been walking for days since the NCR finally threw him out of his house, and the bag on his back carrying all his valuables was feeling like an anvil at this moment. He squints and a hand attempted to stifle the sun but gives a dim smile as he finally spots the walls of Novac.

"Finally! Thought I'd die of dehydration before I reached this damned place!" he mutters to himself, the sight of Novac unconsciously increases the strength in his strides. "This place better be worth it Daisy!"

An hour or two later he finally arrives at Novac, but as soon as he approaches the gate he's frozen in place as many high-tech looking auto-turrets spring out of the walls, all pointing directly at him.

"You there! Don't move or your own safety!" a guard stop the wall shouts, looking as if this was a common occurrence.

"You fuckin' think!?" Morino exclaims, not daring to move an inch... This place looked more fortified than the old Enclave oil rig, he wasn't a robotics expert either, so he'd do nothing that could potentially set those things off.

"What business do you have here, stranger!?"

"I'm here to see Daisy Whitman!" he shouts, continuing to stand stock-still.

The guard looks surprised at his words but nods regardless, "Stay there, I'll go get her!" he says before running off.

"You could at least deactivate the tur-..."

...

"Fuck sake." he grumbles, continuing to mimic a statue.

Ten minutes later and Daisy finally reaches the wall, looking surprised to see Morino just standing there as if frozen midstep. "Orion? What're you doing there?" she asks.

Morino looks confused at this, "Whaddya mean!? You invited me here!" he shouts.

Daisy shakes her head, "No, I mean what are you doing standing there like a street performer?"

...

"You think I'm gonna move with those guns pointed at me!? Deactivate them for gods sake!" he retorts.

...

"Hahahaha!" Daisy laughs, slapping her thigh a couple times at Morino's troubled look. "You think our defences are too stupid to differentiate between neutral and hostile!? Stop fooling around!" she turns towards a nearby guardsman, "Open the gate, he's an old friend."

The gate quickly opens and Morino steps inside and is greeted by not only Daisy, but by Arcade Gannon as well?

"Hey kid, didn't think you'd be around here too... What, those hippies at the FOA not doing it for ya' anymore?" he states.

He shakes his head, "For your information, that isn't why I left... But, it's still good to see you again, even if you're as grumpy as ever."

Morino slaps him heavily on the shoulder, "I gotta right to be grumpy! Those NCR bastards kicked me outta my own house! Fuckers!" he grouses.

"Huh, sounds like something they'd do... They haven't exactly been the most peaceful group these days." Arcade mutters, "You heard from the others? Johnson or Henry?"

Morino shakes his head, "Nah... Heard some rumours about Johnson but I ain't opening that can'o worms... As for the Doc? No idea... Heard he's still roaming around like an egg-head, doing egg-head things for egg-head people." he shrugs, "Now, why don't you tell me a bit about this town? This ain't like the Novac I remember, and those symbols remind of something I heard over the radio."

"Mmhm, you heard of Bulwark already then?" Arcade questions and Morino nods with a scoff.

"Who hasn't these days? I ain't never seen anyone give the NCR as many problems as those fuckers have... It's fuckin' hilarious!" he laughs.

Arcade idly nods, "Yeah, well, this place is technically owned by them... They provide protection, supplies, even research materials for me. Really, the mystery gets more ridiculous the more you try looking into it... We don't receive visitors, yet our supplies are constantly getting restocked..." Arcade leans closer, "If I had to guess, I'd say Bulwark has some teleportation technology they aren't willing to speak about."

Morino's brows reach his hairline, "Teleportation? You sure? That's some future-tech-shit that the Enclave could only dream of..." he conspiratorily whispers.

Arcade quickly nods, "Yeah, but that's only the tip of the iceberg with these guys..."

...

Both men almost jump outta their skin as Daisy approaches behind them, "Howdy Orion, never thought I'd actually see your ugly face greet my town." she jokes.

"Yeah, well, never woulda come if I still had a home... Look, my feet have got blisters ontop of their blisters, can we sit down someplace and have a drink?" Morino groans.

Daisy shrugs, "Well, I suppose we can show you to your new house, we'll figure out what work you can do once you've settled in." she explains as she begins leading the man on a tour through the town.