Chapter 673 - Familial Confrontation

...

Afton suddenly starts chuckling, holding his face in exasperation, "You know, I've already had this talk with Christine when I rescued her." he says, causing Zach to quieten down at the name of his lost 'niece', "I've heard your arguments before from her, not to mention my own experience with the Brotherhood and the Codex! You think I haven't thought this through? I'm not stupid, dad!"

"I'm not saying you are, Afton, maybe just misguided... I know you probably think you're doing the right thing, but this isn't the right way. I don't want this." he pauses, "Your mother wouldn't want this." he continues, gesturing around at all the technology in use around them.

Afton sighs, "Look, can we just agree to disagree? You won't be convincing me, and I probably won't be convincing you... Besides, there are other things more important than this that I'd like to talk about."

...

"Fine, but I'm not dropping this, Afton." Zach growls, mind still racing to find something to convince Afton to stop while he was ahead.

Afton nods, "Before I show you around, there's someone I'd like you to meet." he says while leading Zachary back into the Think Tank and up into the Sink where Josie was waiting.

They enter the room but pause when they spot a visibly pregnant Josie, standing next to Alfred in just her panties and a tank top, all while chewing on a ketchup-covered pickle...

...

They stare at one another for a moment, Josie continuing to slowly chew on her snack, at least, until she realises who Afton's guest was.

*Cruunch... Cruuunch...*

"EEEeek!" she yelps, dashing towards the bedroom to get properly dressed for her first-no, second meeting with her father-in-law.

Afton glances at Zachary and grimaces at his father's disbelieving expression, finally coughing into his hand to get his attention. "Ahem!... Er, sorry about that, I probably should've let her know that you were coming."

"Who was that?" Zach asks after composing himself.

"She's... My wife." he quietly replies, hoping Josie hadn't made a bad impression on the man.

...

Zachary covers his face with a large hand, trying to hide the amused grin that'd made its way onto his face, "You know, she kind of reminds me of your mother... Pickle'nd all." he chuckles.

Josie reenters the room now wearing trousers, sheepishly looking at the duo as Afton tries to get the image of his mother mimicking Josie. "Afton, is this...?"

He nods, "Yeah, Josie Parker, meet Zachary Parker. My dad."

"H-hello!" Josie sheepishly greets with mock confidence, extending her hand towards Zach.

The man reciprocates and envelopes her hand with his own, giving a light shake and a small nod, "So, this is the woman who'd captured my son's heart? This is quite the pickle..." he trails off, with a small smile on his deformed face.

...

Afton and Josie look at one another before breaking into laughter. The dad jokes were back, or, grandad jokes?

Three hours later :

After that, they all get comfortable, the duo regaling Zachary with stories of how they met, and the adventures they'd been on together. Zach recounted some of his own stories with Verna, how they met, her time while pregnant with Afton, and the weird habits she formed from it... But eventually, the atmosphere got serious as Josie mentions the Battle of Hoover Dam.

...

"Battle of Hoover Dam?" Zach questions, causing the duo to suddenly go silent.

Afton rubs the back of his head after sending an accusing glance at Josie, "Ah, well... She was referring to the second battle... The first was the NCR against the Legion, ah, you know, those Sportswear wearing freaks that worship the Romans?" he nods after Zach affirms that he remembers them.

"The NCR barely came out on top with some tricky tactics, securing the Mojave for the NCR... The second battle though, included the NCR, Legion, New Vegas... And us, Bulwark." he explains.

"So you've already started waging war?" Zach asks with a regretful look.

Afton gives a nod, "We had no choice. The NCR was bound to lose, and I wasn't about to let a bunch of slaving, raping, ass holes claim the region... Not to mention, my revenge against the NCR hadn't quite finished at that point." he states.

"New Vegas, controlled by Mr House, was it?" Zach asks, not all that familiar with the place. He continues at Afton's nod, "What was Bulwark's role in the battle?"

"Ah, well... I won't go into details, but we wiped out the NCR and Legion, claiming the Dam for New Vegas."

...

"For New Vegas?"

Afton nods, "I've made an agreement with Mr House, he has the appearance of owning the Mojave, but it's Bulwark who truly controls the region."

Zach shakes his head, "I don't care about that... I just want to know why you are working with that... Thing! Mr House is reported to have existed from even before the great war! Meaning he's either a sentient and malicious AI, or he's somehow immortal! Do I even have to tell you what the problem here is?" he angrily asks at Afton's nonchalant expression.

Afton just shrugs while rolling his wrist disinterestedly. "Yada, yada, Codex, yada... What's your point?"

"My point!? My point is that you're working with an incredibly dangerous individual, who could spell the end of human civilisation as we know it!" he exclaims and jabs a finger towards Afton's face, "The Brotherhood has committed evils in the past, but we never attempted to subjugate land!"

Afton sighs and slumps in his chair, "This again? I thought we were over this? Leave the politics and enjoy your time with your family... You're going to be a grandad for god sake!"

Zach growls under his breath, but before he does anything he'd regret, he stands and marches out of the room, leaving the Sink and Think Tank as Afton and Josie watch.

"Glados, could you... 'Lead', my father to some accommodation... Try not to make it look too blatant, I wouldn't want him to feel restricted... Ah, don't let him leave Big Mt though, that'd probably go down badly." he states.

"Affirmative."

He looks back at a somewhat heartbroken Josie, who seems to have taken his father's anger towards himself as a rejection of her.. He sighs and begins consoling her, explaining that that wasn't the case at all.