Chapter 118: Rumours

Chapter 118: Rumours

Fuck me, I need a smoke.

The silence in the bunker was deafening. Or was that the dull heavy thrum of some unseen generator, deeper in the bowels of this complex? I already found out that this place was quite a lot bigger than just the hangar... and that made me wonder just how "minor" this refueling station actually was before the war.

If Captain Kreger was to be believed, there were a quintet of virtual reality pods almost directly below my feet; after we figured out the details in regards to their part of the attack, the five of them went downstairs of "shake out the cobwebs." Even Orion admitted he was out of practice. Arcade went down with them, offering to help set up the simulations and make sure everything was running correctly.

So there I was, leaning against the parked vertibird in the empty hangar, staring at the row of immobile suits of power in the stasis fields. I reached into my duster for my cigs, and flipped open the - damn. Almost out. Didn't I get a new pack the other day? I started to reach for one - and then paused when I noticed something rather peculiar.

I was holding the packet of smokes with my cybernetic hand, and it was completely still. Steady as a rock. But my left hand? It couldn't stop shaking. I mean, it was a subtle sort of tremble in my fingers, to be sure. It could have been shaking a whole lot worse. But it was still noticeable. To me, at least.

"I've gotta hand it to you," Arcade's voice echoed through the cavernous chamber, pulling me away from my thoughts. "I don't think I've ever seen that before." He emerged from around the other side of the vertibird, and joined me in leaning against it. I let my left hand fall, and grabbed a smoke with mouth.

"Seen what?" I asked. I offered him the pack, but he waved it off.

"I've never seen anyone ever talk Orion out of something when he had his heart set on it before," Arcade said. I pulled out Benny's lighter, flipping it open with a click. "Maybe he doesn't hate the NCR as much as he says he does..."

"No," I lit the smoke, and snapped the lighter shut. "I'm pretty sure he hates them exactly as much as he thinks he does." Arcade shook his head, and exhaled sharply out of his nose, staring intently at the sets of power armor.

"Out of curiosity... did you mean it?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion, gesturing for him to continue. "Your plan. Beating back both the Legion and NCR at Hoover Dam. Is that really what you plan to do?" I nodded, plucking the cigarette from my mouth and exhaling.

"Yeah. I meant it. The only way Vegas is ever going to have a shot at independence is if we show everyone that Vegas can beat back all comers - Legion, NCR, or anybody else who wants a piece. Only way that's gonna happen is a big show of force. I just hope I can set everything up and get all the pieces in place before the Legion decides to finally cross the Colorado..." I laughed nervously, and put the smoke back.

"You know, Boone's probably going to have a problem with that. Going up against the NCR, I mean. Legion, he'd be fine with killing, but I don't think there's any way you'd get him to support any opposition to the NCR. You know that, right?" Arcade asked. I shrugged, trying to ignore that nervous tingle in my gut.

"I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Yeah, because putting things like that off to the last minute worked so well last time," Arcade shot back at me. Did he really...?

"Seriously?" I said, snorting some smoke out of my nose. "You're seriously going to give me shit about that? You're the one who said I was right to keep the secret from Veronica. And that was after I got my ass beat, no less."

"Yeah, well... Boone frightens me more than Veronica," Arcade admitted. It was finally my turn to stare at someone like they'd lost their mind.

"So, I've been meaning to ask," I said, trying desperately to change the subject. "I can't help but notice that there are six energy cell whatsits, and six sets of power armor contained within for the five Remnants." I plucked the cigarette from my mouth, snorting out a dirty great cloud of smoke from my nostrils, and pointed at all the armor with the cig between my two fingers. "Who's the last one for?"

"Me," Arcade said after a moments hesitation.

"You?" I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Arcade coughed nervously - or was he coughing from the cigarette smoke?

"Well. To be fair, the power armor belonged to my father. When they recovered his body from his final mission, they brought the armor as well. The Captain always said that if the Remnants ever suited up again, then I was welcome to join them."

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" I asked, taking a long draw from the smoke. Arcade nodded.

"I've had power armor training since I was tall enough to wear it. 15, before you ask," Arcade sighed again. "Never did like wearing that armor, to be honest. The Tesla Armor always reminded me of my father... and not in the good way. It was always a case of 'your father died valiantly in combat, a heroes death... wearing this armor.' It always made me feel uncomfortable, I guess."

"Wait, back up," I cleared my throat and held up both hands. "I know that this is important, but... did you say Tesla Armor?" Arcade nodded.

"Yeah. It was an experimental mark that my father was testing, and then he ended up keeping it after the oil rig exploded," Arcade pointed at the armor. "Those lighted disks and bulbs all over the armor are Tesla coils. What did you think they were?"

I stared at the armor for a few minutes... and then busted up laughing.

"I'm sorry," I finally said, pausing for breath. "I know I shouldn't... but I... it's just... what is it with mad scientists and their fetish for Tesla coils?"

"Beats me," Arcade said.

"Okay, so..." I finally calmed down enough to properly speak again. "What are you gonna do? You gonna take them up on their offer and ride in on a vertibird, guns blazing?"

"I..." Arcade stammered out, going back to staring at the armor. I dropped the mostly finished smoke, and crushed it beneath my boot. "I don't know. Maybe. I owe them a lot..."

"But do you owe them this?" Arcade looked over at me, a bit shocked, so I just kept going. "If you ask me, putting you in that armor is a massive waste of your talents. You're not a soldier. You're a doctor. You're meant to heal, not harm."

"That..." Arcade shook his head, clearly still confused. "That's the absolute last thing I expected you to say."

"Yeah, well," I coughed, grabbing the packet of smokes again. "I'm not a doctor. All I really know how to do is hurt people."

"Actually, I meant..." Arcade paused when I snapped my lighter shut. "All day, when we've been recruiting them, you seemed to put a whole lot of value in loyalty to the past. What's changed since then?"

"Nothing's changed, man," I grabbed the smoke with my left hand, and puffed out a pair of smoke rings. "You may have been born at Navarro, but you're your own man. They have their story. You have yours. You don't have to be tied down to a fate where you don't belong." Arcade stared at me for a long time after I finished.

"You alright?" He asked, finally.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Arcade pointed down, and I realized he wasn't staring at me. He was staring at my hand, trembling just enough to be noticeable. Especially with the cancer stick between my fingers dropping ash off the end in great lumps. "Ah." I put the smoke back in my mouth, and closed my left hand into a fist. That... sort of did the trick. "I dunno. I just... I think the madness may be finally gettin' to me a bit, man."

"What madness is that?"

"Well... just think about everything we've already done, and everything we still have left to do. Not to mention, we're still gonna have to find some way of dealing with that invisible Enclave super soldier running around. And staring down Moreno wasn't exactly the most soothing thing in the world, either..." I laughed nervously, snorting out a few puffs of smoke. "It's entirely possible that everything is finally starting to catch up to me."

"So, what are you going to do?" Arcade asked, mimicking my question from a moment ago. I smiled over at him.

"Keep going. Keep running. Can't be caught if I don't stop. I'm sure that holds just as true when it comes to indistinct anthropomorphizations of unclear feelings of dread and madness." Arcade shook his head and laughed.

"Fortis Fortuna adjuvat," Arcade muttered. He looked over at me, saw that I didn't understand what he said, and clarified: "You'll be fine."

It was very dark when we finally got back to Vegas. Or, more accurately, the sun was down. The city lights were just as bright and shining as ever, with crowds of people going about their business, completely unaware of all the things that have been going on lately... and unaware of all the things still yet to happen. I was fully aware, and that's why I was busy carrying all of that equipment I'd picked up at Mick & Ralph's earlier today up to the penthouse.

While I was carrying my third load of machinery and spare parts upstairs, I ran into Boone. He'd just stepped out the elevator in full kit with his sniper rifle slung across his back, and he clearly was on his way out. Most hilarious of all, however: he was still wearing his sunglasses.

"Hey Boone," I said with a smile. He nodded curtly.

"Hey. Busy?" Boone asked, looking at the giant sack of metal slung over my back.

"Not terribly. Just working on a little science project. What's up?"

"Been keeping an eye on Freeside from the balconies upstairs," Boone pointed over his shoulder at the elevator. "Saw something earlier that got me worried."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, setting the huge bag of metal on the ground with a thud; I may have been using the cybernetic arm to lift it, but it was still resting on my shoulder. "What'd you see?"

"Thought I saw crimson." Boone said, flat as he said anything else. Immediately, I tensed up.

"Crimson? You... you mean, Legion crimson? Here?" Boone shook his head.

"Thought it was, at first. But it's probably just a gang. Lot of red clothing. Hats. Shirts. Bandanas." I thought about that for a minute, and a connection was made.

"What, like Bloods?" I asked. "I didn't think any of them left the Boneyard outskirts. You're saying you saw some in Freeside?" Boone nodded.

"If it wasn't Bloods, it's a gang with the same colors."

But listen carefully to the sound

Of your loneliness

Like a heartbeat, drives you mad

In the stillness of remembering

What you had...

And what you lost...

And what you had...

And what you lost...

"Veronica?" I asked, looking around, as ED-E buzzed along overhead. "You in here?" I scanned this side of the bar, but didn't see her. From around the bend, I heard a clattering of glass, and rushed to the sound. Sure enough, a figure hooded in a brown robe was slumped face-down on the bar, surrounded by empty glasses.

"Mnnf..." Veronica muttered, waving a hand feebly, knocking over a (mostly) empty bottle next to her. Well, that was good, at least. She wasn't completely insensate.

"Aw, fuck. V?" I asked, cautiously approaching her. "You awake?" I grabbed her by the shoulder, and practically peeled her off the bar. I wasn't expecting the sight that greeted me when I did. Tears were streaming in great rivers down her face, her eyes were red, and even mucus was... it was bad. This wasn't the kind of sexy, single-tear-down-the-cheek crying you'd get in old world holotapes. She must have been bawling her eyes out for quite some time.

"Sh'..." Veronica slurred, looking up at me with bloodshot eyes. "Sh's g'ne... th- th're all..." She sniffed loudly, pawing at the bar fruitlessly. "Th're all g'ne..."

"Alright, V, c'mon. You've had enough..." I grabbed her by the shoulders in a feeble attempt to wrest her from the barstool. It didn't work. As has been proven many times before, she is quite robust and immovable when she wants to be.

"Don' ya see?" Veronica rolled her head around, in an uncoordinated attempt at shaking it. "Th're all g'ne..."

"Nobody's gone, Veronica," I said, still unable to move her. Emily came over to Veronica's other side to try and help, but if I couldn't lift V... well...

"Cass... Chr'stine...'lijah... th're all... th're..." Veronica started sobbing, and buried her face in her sleeves. "Ev'n th' Broth'rhood... fuck, th'y sen' pe'ple t'kill us..." Oh no. She's hit the depression stage, hasn't she?

"Veronica," I spun her around in the barstool to face me. "No, stop this nonsense talk right now. None of that is your fault-"

"But it... 'tis... don' ya see?" Veronica grabbed me by the collar, and flailed weakly against my left shoulder before her fingers eventually found purchase against my shirt. "All've'm are jus'... fuck... I drove 'em all... th' only thing tha's..." Veronica leaned forward, practically headbutting me in the middle of the chest, and started sobbing once again. "S'me! Oh, god, s'me! It's... s'always been me! Ah'm th' only... An' th're all gone!"

I sighed, gingerly patting the top of Veronica's head as she clung tightly to my torso. What else was I gonna do?

"V, c'mon. Stop beating yourself up." I tried desperately to peel her off me. "You're just drunk, and blaming yourself for shit that's not your-"

"Ev'ry'ne's... th're all... ev'ry'ne s'leavin'..." Veronica squeaked out between bouts of blubbering. "Ev'n yer gonna... I tried't... an' yer gonna..." Okay, that's enough. I gripped her robe with my cybernetic arm and lifted with all my strength; she sat up and she looked at me, her gaze completely unfocused.

"Veronica, get this idea out of your head right now," I said, as firmly as I could. "Nobody is going to leave. I'm not gonna leave. I promise. I'm your friend. No matter what happens, I'll be here to help you out." Veronica blinked at me blearily. "I promise you, V. You can count on me. I'm your friend. No matter what happens, you can always count on me. Now, c'mon. Get up." I stepped to the side, and nodded to Emily to try and help again. "You're stronger than this. I know you're stronger than this."

Veronica nodded slowly, and started to get up off the barstool... but immediately slipped. She clutched at both of us and very nearly threatened to bring us down with her. But I held firm, and picked her up, attempting to plant her back on her feet.

"I... I jus..." Veronica sniffed again, and muttered something incoherent. Finally, she stopped crying long enough to look up at me and say, perfectly clear: "I miss her."

"I know you do," I said, unsure who exactly she was talking about. But, probably best to reassure her right now, and forget the questions.

"D'you... d'y'think... Chr'stine still..." Veronica sniffed. Okay, yeah. Now I get it.

"Yes she does," I said with a nod. "I know she does." Emily looked over at me questioningly, and I shook my head. I mouthed out 'Don't ask,' and she seemed to get the message.

"Ah miss'r..." Veronica said again, unable to properly enunciate anymore. "Ah miss'r so much..." She hung her head and sniffed.

"Friend_Courier," ED-E bobbed down from the ceiling. "I believe I can be of assistance carrying Steel_Veronica." I nodded at him, and the small eyebot bobbed down lower, so that the top of his chassis was right below her head.

"Nnf..." Veronica looked at ED-E blearily. "H'lo, lil' beep'r."

"Hello!" ED-E said happily, pressing his speaker against her; Emily and I practically poured Veronica onto the spherical eyebot, and she drunkenly clung to the floating metal ball. "I will carry Steel_Veronica all the way to her sleeping quarters downstairs."

"Don't worry, Shea," Emily said, keeping both hands on Veronica to make sure she didn't fall off ED-E. "I'll help her get downstairs, and make sure she's alright."

"Mnfuhh..." Veronica mumbled as ED-E buzzed over to the elevator with her draped on top. Soon, the three of them were around the corner and out of sight. The elevator dinged, and I was left all alone with the music still playing over the speakers. I sighed, and shook my head.

"Fuck," I said, moving back to the bar. I grabbed the nearest bottle - some vodka - and a shot glass, poured myself a shot, and knocked it back in one go.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened to the suite, and I stepped out. This has been a long day. I was very tired, and I hoped that I could end the day without any more surprises.

"OY!" A female voice rang out through the suite, and a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the collar. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged off by Cass into the kitchen. "C'mere, I gotta talk to you."

"Cass, what-" The next thing I knew, she slammed me up against the wall, pinning me in place. Part of me was a bit worried, wondering what I'd done - and then, she pressed her lips against mine, and all thoughts existed my head.

Oh my!

"There..." Cass whispered huskily when she eventually broke off the kiss. She nipped at my lower lip one last time before finally pulling back completely, smiling at me with a small lick of her lips. "Got you back."

"Got... me... what?" I was... having... can't... word... properly!

"That was fer catchin' me off guard when you came back from the Big Empty. Now we're even," Cass said with a wink. She grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it away from the dining table. "Now, c'mon, have a seat. We gotta talk." She knocked away another chair with her foot, and flopped down.

"Uh... talk?" I asked curiously. Cass nodded.

"Look, I'd... I wanna think I'm smart enough to learn from my mistakes, y'know? So I'm gonna try an'..." Cass scratched the back of her head, and her hat fell down over her face. "I don't wanna make th' same mistakes twice. I didn't lay down any ground rules with V, an' that was a mistake..." She pushed her hat back up with her thumb, and nodded at me with the most serious expression I'd ever seen on her. "So, we're gonna sit down here, an' -"

"Cass," I said, unable to hold back laughter. I smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to... I get it."

"You do?" She asked curiously.

"We've already talked about this, all the times you talked to me about Veronica," I said, still smiling. "You just want a bit of fun, and I totally get that. I'm cool."

"You... are?" She said, even more confused that before. I nodded.

"Cass... I like you for who you are. I will never ask you to be anything you're not, and I'm not going to try 'claim' you, like some dudes" or ladies "might. It's not my place." I lifted my hand off her shoulder, and gently caressed her cheek, brushing a few errant strands of hair over her ear. She reached up to touch my hand, and that's when I realized - that was my cybernetic hand, wasn't it? Wasn't she freaked out by that the other day? Cautiously, I pulled it away and rested it on her knee. "I'm down for a bit of fun with you, for as long as you want. Doesn't need to get any more complicated than that."

"Well, shit... I had this whole spiel prepared, an'..." Cass chuckled, and shook her head. "I thought for sure this was gonna take a lot longer." I screwed up my face, trying my damndest not to laugh. So, I just got up out of the chair, and offered her a hand.

"You know, I could make the obvious joke. But I won't, because I'm better than that." Cass snorted, grabbed my hand, and stood up.

"Oh, c'mon, no yer not," she said with a smile. I wrapped my arms around her waist and drew her in close. She smiled, brushing her lips against mine in something that was almost, but not quite entirely unlike a kiss.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not. But that joke's way too easy."