Chapter 51: Putting Down The Beast

Chapter 51: Putting Down The Beast

When things get really, really bad, sometimes you just have to take stock of the things that are going right. For instance: yes, I'm still stuck in a Pre War hellhole. I'm still thousands of miles from the Mojave and my friends, with no visible way back. I still have a bomb collar strapped to my neck, and I'm still being bossed around by a murderous psychopath.

But on the plus side? I can breathe. And fuck me, I'll take it.

I hadn't really been able to appreciate that fact earlier, what with all the other things on my mind. But now that I had a quiet moment to myself in the lobby of the Sierra Madre, I was able to notice something very important: I could neither taste nor smell anything even resembling Cloud.

The air tasted like... well, air. It was recycled, stale air that had probably been pushed through the same filters for the last 200 years, like the air in the Lucky 38, sure... but it was still air. It was clean enough to breathe without worry.

Another bonus: there weren't any Ghost People here. That fact I had noticed... but it was really hammered home when I was standing all by myself in the lobby: the silence was positively deafening. I don't think I've ever been in a place THIS quiet. Back in the world, there are always sounds from animals, mutated insects, raiders or whoever. Hell, even in the Lucky 38, there was a constant thrumming noise vibrating slightly through the whole tower.

I started walking toward the closest marker - the one in the Cantina Madrid - and each footfall on the hard-tile floor echoed and bounced off every surface. It didn't sound like I was walking. It sounded like I was pounding on metal pots with a mallet.

"Fuckin' hell..." I said aloud, to try and drown out the sound. "That's gonna drive me bonkers before too long!"

"Hurry up and deal with the FEV reject," Elijah's voice blurted out over the speakers as soon as I opened the doors. "He's of no use to us. It looks like he's in the kitchens... there must be a back entrance somewhere." There was a crackle and a pop, and Elijah's voice disappeared.

The inside of the Cantina Madrid reminded me of some of the restaurants I'd been to on the Strip - except it was empty. There was a podium with "Cantina Madrid" written in large, gold plated letters and some kind of fancy script behind it. Beyond the podium were row upon row of empty circular tables filling the room. On the far end of the large room was a bar, backlit in orange.

I've been in plenty of abandoned buildings and derelict ruins before... but for some reason, the more of the Sierra Madre I saw, the more I got thoroughly creeped out. The Cantina Madrid was especially bad, but - initially, at least - I couldn't quite explain why.

Maybe it was the fact that even buildings that had been abandoned by humans for years, decades, or even centuries always seemed to have something living in it. Usually it was just a colony of radroaches or some giant mantises, maybe a colony of radscorpions. Occasionally, you'd find a cluster of feral ghouls that had taken up residence. But so far, everything I'd seen of the Sierra Madre's interior was empty room after empty room, with absolutely no signs of life at all - not even radroaches.

There was something else unnerving - everything around here was entirely too clean. There was no dust. No cobwebs. Not even ancient footprints in the carpets. All the tables in the Cantina Madrid were all set. Even the chairs were still in place, positioned perfectly. Nothing was dirty. Sure, there were a few signs of wear and tear - a crack in the wall here, a few broken or missing ceramic tiles there - but aside from that, the Sierra Madre looked almost brand new.

And that's when it hit me: since entering the Sierra Madre, I hadn't seen a single skeleton. There were absolutely no bodies anywhere. I hadn't seen any outside in the Villa either, but that at least made a certain amount of sense. With all the Ghost People around, and all the radroaches I'd seen outside, there was plenty of explanation as to where any bodies on the outside might have gone... but here?

Inside the Sierra Madre, there were no signs of life, and there were no signs of death. For some reason, that notion made my skin crawl.

So, if there was no signs of life... what the fuck was making that noise?

"This is turning into that stupid horror story only two sentences long... how did that go again? 'The last man on Earth sat alone in his room. There was a knock on the door,' or something like that?" I shook it off, and headed deeper into the Cantina Madrid, and with every step the noise got louder and louder. It was... somebody speaking. No, wait... two people sp-

Wait. I know what this is. There were two voices: Dog and God were both speaking - which in itself was odd enough - and it was like they were finishing each others sentences... run on sentences. As soon as I got to the kitchen door in the back, I could hear the voices more distinctly, and could actually make out what the two of them were saying... and the longer they spoke, the more desperate and pleading God's words seemed to sound - and the more angry and in control Dog sounded.

"... going to make casino burn, no more being..."

"... back in the cage! Stop what you're doing, we can..."

"... can hear you now. Not much longer, not..."

"... listening to me! Tired of being your minder, tired..."

"... of putting Dog to sleep. He wakes up in cage, hungry... Dog wants..."

"... to protect you! I always wanted to protect you, the reason I have to take control is..."

"... Master. Master set me free, Dog needs to..."

"... listen to me - if you do this, we both..."

"... die. Dog wants to die. Don't care any more. Tired of you. Tired of place. Master will..."

"... help us... Please. Let me help us... If you don't, then you're..."

"... going to make casino burn, no more being..."

I listened at the door to the kitchen while I tried to find some way in. It was like an endless cycle of the two of them talking to one another. Dog sounded more in control... whenever God spoke, it was like he was straining just to speak.

Of course, none of this could really distract me from a simple fact: yes, I was at the kitchen door, and I could quite clearly hear him inside talking to himself, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to open the door. That may seem a bit daft, and proof that I have indeed gone insane. However: there was no door handle. This wasn't even like the metal doors I'd seen before that slid into the ground and opened with a giant hatch wheel and hydraulic pistons. It was just a flat metal door, devoid of any visible way of opening it, or any features at all other than a small plaque which read "Cantina Madrid kitchens."

"Alright... so how the fuck do I get in here?" I said out loud, inspecting the door once again - maybe I missed something? There was a crackle and a pop from above me - it seems the dead man walking had more to say.

"Damn!" Elijah said over the speaker. "Not only has that idiot smashed all the cameras in the kitchen, but he's opened the gas valves as well! A single spark - or he sets off his collar - the whole casino's going to burn, us along with him! The door is hermetically sealed due to the gas leak, but I should be able to override the lock from here... but only once. It won't open again until you turn off the gas valves. Get in there and deal with that idiot, before he kills us all!"

The door clicked and hissed, sliding outwards slowly. I slipped into a short hallway covered in stainless steel, and immediately felt lightheaded. Right. Okay. Gas. Flammable gas. Gotta do this qui-

Thud.

Silence. Dog and God had stopped talking as soon as the door slammed shut behind me. That was either very good, or very bad. Either way, I had to be quick. There was a large pipe running from the ceiling to the floor, with a gas valve right in front of me about halfway down the hallway. The cloud of gas escaping it was so thick, it was like I was watching heat rising off pavement in the middle of the day. I held my breath, trying to listen for any change in noises from the other room... and slowly turned the valve until it closed completely.

"Hnnhh..." I heard Dog growl from the other room. While he spoke, I hunkered down close to the ground. Hopefully, I'd be able to sneak around him and turn all the gas valves off... The kitchen was fairly large, with more stainless steel kitchen surfaces, stainless steel cabinets, and stainless steel everything else. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or the massive amount of gas in the room screwing with my head, or the fact that I was practically kissing the floor I was so low - whatever the reason, I couldn't see the Nightkin anywhere in the room.

But I could hear him.

"And now I can."

"Wait, what?" I said, stopping in my tracks. "You're gonna have to run that by me again. I mean... isn't Dog... uh... isn't he gone now?" God looked up from his spot on the floor, and shook his head.

"No, he's not gone. Not entirely. He's just... asleep. Deep inside, and away from... everything. One day, when he's ready, I'll... let him out. When we... understand each other."

"So... he actually went to sleep?" I asked him. God nodded his head. "Well, fuck. I thought that was just a metaphor. And you're sure he's not going to come out and try to kill us anymore?"

"Of course not," God grumbled. "I can tell... he's not going to return anymore unless I decide to let him out."

"So, does that mean you're going to let go of the bomb collar detonator?"

God looked down at his right hand, and just... stared at it for a few minutes. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he stared down at the vomit-stained hunk of metal. Slowly and steadily, he got up from his spot on the floor and tossed the detonator away, onto the counter between the two of us. It skidded and spun to a halt, leaving a thin trail of sick in its wake.

"Oh, that's wonderful." I said, picking up the detonator with a grimace. Ugh, it was all slimy. Not quite as bad as the feel of Cloud, though, so there was that. I turned it around in my hands, wiping away any flecks of vomit too thick to see through. "So, how the fuck do I reset this thing?"

"Reset?" God asked, raising the brow over his one good eye. "Why do you -" I tapped the side of my own bomb collar with my thumb before he could finish.

"Because of this. Until I figure out a way to get this thing off, I'm still working for that fucking old man. He's gonna be a dead man when I get my hands on him... But right now, I'm just glad whatever's in the floor is messing with the signal."

"Something in the floor?" God asked. I nodded, continuing to study the detonator.

"When I turned on the casino's power, he flat out said that he would've blown all our collars once we got inside if he could - but he can't. Something about the floor interfering with the signal, I don't know, I'm still trying to work it out in my head... I figure if I can reset the signal, it might take the collar off the network - make Elijah think the collar's been destroyed." That was true enough... No sense telling him this is what Elijah actually sent me in here to do.

"Underneath the light, next to the latch," God spoke up, leaning over the counter toward me. "There should be a small pin switch. Find something small and sharp, like a needle. Press it and hold for ten seconds."

"Well, that seems simple enough," I said, taking out one of my stimpacks and using the needle to reset the pin switches - first on his... and then on my own (after I found a surface reflective enough to use as a mirror). "So. What now? You gonna get out of here?"

"No... at least... not yet. I'm still..." God grunted, and rolled one of his shoulders. "I've never been completely used to moving around in this body. I need some time to rest and... recuperate after fighting with Dog for so long... I'll find my own way out. Eventually."

"So, you're seriously going to be alright then?" God nodded.

"Yes. Things here... are... under control." God looked me straight in the eye, and his expression turned to stone. "Go. Find the one that dragged us here... and end him."

When I left the Cantina Madrid and entered the lobby, I was suddenly hit by a familiar and wholly unwelcome sensation: there was a faint hint of something in the air that was stinging at my eyes, nose, and mouth. Was that? No... no, it couldn't be. This place was closed up. It couldn't be Cloud...

Could it?

That's about when I heard an odd sound: it was muffled by the weird acoustics, but it was a shuffling noise... a sound like heavy boots scratching against tiles. I was definitely no longer alone anymore.

Put those two together, and whatever it meant, it couldn't be good. I started running toward the noise, to try and find out what was going on. As I ran, another unwelcome sound graced my ears: Elijah's voice over the speakers.

"You've gotten one of the floors re-established, good... good." Elijah coughed several times, and then continued as if nothing was wrong. "Accessing the music archives now... only two more to go. Oh, what's this?" By that point, I'd rounded the final corner, and was face to face with exactly what 'this' is - there were a pair of Ghost People in the lobby.

Right, break's over.

I pulled the spear off my back in a flash. It felt almost like instinct now. A pair of green eyes darted one way, and then the next; a spear started hurtling through the air directly at me. Either it went wide or I was quick enough to duck out of the way. I jammed my spear into its shoulder, grabbed it by the wrist, and pulled. There was a squelching sound, followed by a pop, and its arm was ripped messily free of its socket. I twirled the spear around in my hand, and sliced its head off for good measure before it collapsed to the ground.

"Oh..." I heard Elijah over the speakers as I moved, trying to get in a good position to engage the second Ghost Person. "It seems the Casino has uninvited guests... the Villa inhabitants were pounding at the doors - and now it seems they have found a way inside..."

"Old news, old man!" I shouted, my eyes never leaving the other Ghost Person in the room; it was lugging around one of those Gas Bombs, but it hadn't thrown it. Yet. It was just staring at me... "Fuck off if you're not going to help!"

"Hmm... let's see... yes, here. Something to help you deal with them."

There was a sound like a thunder crack in the middle of the room. halfway up the stairs; the Ghost Person stopped looking at me, and its attention was now focused completely on the scribble of blue cubes hovering in the air above the stairs and trying to take shape. The light shifted into focus with an electric fizzle, and suddenly another hologram of Vera Keyes was standing on the stairs.

Well, that's useful as a distraction if nothing else. I dropped the spear and pulled out the revolver under my arm - the Ghost Person was still staring up at the hologram, all its attention completely focused on the ghostly image of Vera.

And here I was with a clear shot at the gas bomb it was holding. Unfortunately... I didn't really get a chance to fire. In the half a second it took me to line up the shot, the hologram switched from blue to yellow, brining its hands up to its forehead, and then the hologram switched to red. As I started to squeeze the trigger, a laser burst out of Vera Keyes' eyes.

The laser sliced through the air, hit the Ghost Person in the middle of its chest, and kept going until it blasted a small hole in the tile floor behind it. The Ghost Person glowed red hot, and dissolved from the inside out, collapsing into a pile of smoking ash on the floor. I don't know how, but somehow the gas bomb was completely unaffected by the disintegrating Ghost Person; it wobbled in place for a second or two, and then collapsed on its side, hitting the ground with a loud metal clang.

The lobby fell silent as Vera switched from red to blue once again. I looked around, and tried to take stock of the situation; there weren't any more Ghost People, but I finally saw how they'd got in. The front doors - which looked about 4 inches thick - were wrenched open, but not all the way. It looked like the doors had been bent inwards, but only after having been weakened by chunks of door that had been sliced and carved out. No points for figuring out how that had been done.

"Damn," I said, walking up to the opening, letting out a low whistle. "What a thing to miss." I looked out, and down the stairs, toward the Villa below. I couldn't really see the Villa, because beyond the stairs was this giant miasma of Cloud obscuring everything. I did see a few Ghost People on the stairs, but they were a long way off and didn't notice me.

I ran my fingers along the edge of the opening in the door. The amount of damage that had been done... I could only assume there were still more Ghost People that were already inside that I just hadn't seen. I suppose it was just a matter of time before I ran into them.

"I'm seeing more of the Villa inhabitants on the CCTV's around the casino..." I heard Elijah's voice over the speakers, confirming what I was thinking. "Deal with them - and don't try and leave yourself, or I'll let the collar do its work. You still have work to do." The speakers crackled and fell silent.

I took one last look outside the shattered and warped front door... and then turned back into the casino.

"Fuck... this day just won't end."