dear_mun | a lone wanderer... uh, wanders in

I don't know if I want to ask.

You sure? It's a pretty good one. Full of daring and danger and breaking into someone's computer along the way.

... okay, you win. Now I gotta ask.

Okay. Might wanna sit down, this could take awhile.

So I roll up into town -- this place called Megaton, used to have a bomb in the center of it in a clear violation of common sense? -- trying to figure out which way my dad went. Only place I'm hearing about is this... bar, I guess, so that's where I go. Thing is, I meet this ghoul -- uh, Gob's his name -- when I walk in, says his boss treats him like shit, and I'm already getting a bad feeling about all this. Find the guy, though, Moriarty, like something out of a book. Says he'll tell me which way my dad went if I scrounge up enough caps, and offers me a job to do it, I mean, all I gotta do is take out someone and get paid. Only problem is, that someone's just trying to get away from him in the first place, and... yeah, the guy's probably scummier than the bottom of the Potomac. Just to make sure I'm not just seeing things, I manage to get into the backroom while he's out front and guess the password to his computer. Turns out the asshole'd been keeping tabs on everybody in town. Not just for the bar, too. Everybody.

But not anymore.

Edited 2014-09-15 23:11 (UTC)

Gob! I know a Gob. Really sweet guy? Kinda skittish?

[... she doesn't ask what the Potomac is, though. Ahahaha.]

And... then the whole town chases you out. [Y'know. Rounding off the story.]

Kinda futzes with the radio a lot? Yep, that's him.

And...yeah, that's how that went. Sniper almost got me, believe it or not, but I hopped down to Minefield -- the name's fitting, for the record -- to help out with a research project, and by the time I got back, the dust settled pretty nicely after all.

I didn't see him mess with a radio too much, but there wasn't really one around. It probably would've made him feel better. Poor guy, he was new here, and so scared...

Well... Y'know... Sometimes, places don't take too well to business owners getting killed, even if they're mean. [A pause.] Sometimes, they'll thank you. But uh, you... It takes, uh, practice to really know for sure which way they're going.

I was fresh out the vault and he looked more scared than me, and that's saying something.

Yeah, who knew? [Shrug.] I'd like to think that with hindsight, I'd know better... but honestly? Dunno. Might end up doing the same thing either way.

He's such a sweetheart. [Elle you kind of said that already.] I wish I wasn't out in the Mojave and three years later, I can't do anything... I don't think I'd do what you did, it's not really -- my style, I guess you could say? But...

Well, I can't blame you, really, is what I mean.

What's the Mojave like? Probably less irradiated than the Capital for starters, I'm guessing? I mean, I'd like to hope so. Somewhere's gotta be less irradiated than here.

Thanks. I think? Is this the kind of thing you thank someone for? Bah, whatever. You know what I mean, right?

Hot. And dry. Desert, y'know. You're definitely right, though, the Mojave's a lot less irradiated than everywhere around it, from what I hear. It didn't get hit as hard. Would've, but. [... with an awkward shuffle, as always when she's talking obliquely about House:] It had someone looking out for it.

[Elle smiles.] Yeah, I get it. You're welcome.

Now that's a run of good luck right there. Honestly, I'm not sure how many people were looking out for this hunk of junk 'til... I don't know, the Brotherhood turned up, I'd guess. [Well. And Dad. But...we don't talk about Dad.] And that can't have been too long ago.

Edited 2014-09-28 05:21 (UTC)

The Mojave's home of luck. That's where New Vegas is, y'know?

[Elle perks up.] The Brotherhood? Protecting people?

Oh, shit, you mean you got casinos? Like, that people can actually go in?

Uh, yeah. There was some schism thing that went down not too long ago, so you got two basic groups, the Outcasts who wanna take your energy weapons away, and the... I guess main branch, who're camping out across from D.C. taking on the super mutant hordes. They even got a radio station up set up, you can hear it for miles now. I... might've had something to do with that last part.

Oh, sure. We've got four of 'em, and one that's closed off. I~... actually live in that one. [Elle doesn't normally boast about this, but, D.C.? Out in Gob's region? She's far enough removed that talking about House is less of a problem.] The Atomic Wrangler's outside the New Vegas Strip, but on the Strip proper, you've got the Tops, Gomorrah, and the Ultra-Luxe. -- Oh! No, we've got five that're open, but one of them's not in Vegas at all, it's way south in Primm. That's the Vikki and Vance Casino.

Ohhhhh. I think I've heard one of my friends talk about this. The Outcasts sound a lot more like the Mojave chapter, honestly...

[Low whistle] Nice. Does the stuff in your's work even though it's closed? Or is everything turned off and you're just crashing in it? [Always important to ask, knowing the state of things around here.] Sounds like a lotta caps, if you play your cards right. [Eh? Eh? :D?]

Huh. Now that you mention it, yeah, a lot of them mention not liking the new direction our main chapter's been going in. If you can get close enough to one of them without them shooting at you, anyway. Which hasn't happened to me yet, but man, they're prickly.

I'm pretty sure the slot machines could work with a little bit of coaxing, yeah. I haven't really tried, though. Not much point in betting against the house when you're the house, right? [Elle cracks a grin, both for Miranda's terrible pun (not like she hasn't heard THAT one before, but she's not going to say as much; good gambling puns take some practice, and it's not like Elle can say she's any good at them herself), as well as at her own. She's going to hope it's enough to dodge the question she doesn't want to answer.]

The Mojave chapter came out of California, I think. They're... pretty isolated. Really isolated. I, um, tried to talk them out of it, with a friend, but... They're -- pretty set in their ways. [aka listening was not their strong suit]

Hah, yeah. That'd be like, what, picking your own pocket? Be pretty funny if you could lose to yourself, I mean, either way you'd come out a winner, right?

Yikes. Who else hangs out over there? Is it just them, stuck in their bunker, and everyone else just moving on without them?

Pretty much. It'd be silly, but it'd take all the fun out of it. And the point.

Yeah, that's... pretty much it. We're closer to NCR country out here, and for a while we were dealing with both them and Caesar's Legion, but for the most part we're only half-civilized but wholly independent. Lots of little groups looking out for their own, that kind of thing. Vegas is the mixing pot, but even it's got its natives, you know? But Freeside alone's got several groups operating out of the same space.

That's... damn, that sounds like civilization to me. I mean, out here, at best you'll find people up in the towns, like the Underworld or Rivet City or Megaton or whatever, and in between you've got bunches of raiders and super mutants if you're lucky, or slavers if they're not. It's like... it feels like something's starting up, but nothing's really gelling together yet.

I guess that makes sense. D.C. must've been hit pretty hard. It'd take them -- you, I guess -- longer to get back on your feet. The Mojave just went through a kind of war, with the NCR and the Legion fighting over the territory and everybody in-between having to pick sides or just trying to stay out of the way. It's more like we were trying to figure out who we were, what stands we wanted to make, instead of trying to make sure we even had legs to stand on.

Oh, so the Brotherhood and the-- other folks, they got less important, what with hiding in their bunker and all, and then these newer guys have showed up and they're trying to run the show in their place? Well, were, sounds like.

I don't think the Brotherhood ever really had a hold in the Mojave. I don't know how they could, with how xenophobic they are. The NCR and the Brotherhood used to be on good terms back in California, I hear, but that was a long, long time ago. They've been fighting pretty viciously. I don't know anything about the Brotherhood in California, but the Mojave chapter's pretty small, especially after they lost HELIOS One to the NCR.

But, yeah, that's pretty much it. The NCR and the Legion were both trying to expand, and they found Hoover Dam and they both decided they wanted it.

Edited 2014-09-28 22:56 (UTC)

The dam works?! Like, it was working when everybody got there? Oh, or did the Brotherhood fix it up while they were around, and then the other two stumbled across it and played keep away? And what's HELIOS One? 'Cause that sure sounds like a power station to me.

Edited 2014-09-28 23:04 (UTC)

I don't think it was working when they first found it. The NCR had to fix it up and get it working again, if I remember right. Once they left the area, it was a pain and a half to find and train people to keep it up, let me tell you.

Yeah, it's [mostly] a power station. Power was the name of the game in the fight for the Mojave -- not just political power, but literally, power. Energy. Lake Mead didn't just mean clean, fresh water -- did you know that caps are backed in water, by the way? So that just adds to how important it is. The Dam meant electricity.

No, no, you don't have to tell me about the water thing, trust me, I know how important that stuff is. Most everything out here's still too full of rads to drink. Uh. Well. We're working on that, anyway. [QUICK subject change.] And let me guess, that electricity's what keeps Vegas up and running, so who'd ever end up with the Dam, they'd have the city, too?

[Luckily, Elle doesn't think much of it and just keeps going.] Got it in one. Except there was already somebody sitting in Vegas, unwilling to give it up, but ready to make business. I guess it was like... He was playing chess, while the NCR and Legion were at war.

And now all those guys got kicked out and nobody's in charge? Well, I mean, there's probably gotta be somebody, but you said independent before, so I figure....

[This is a very wide, very nervous, very sheepish grin.] Me. I guess. If they had to pick someone. But that's for, um, that's only for... emergencies... Stuff...

Aha! So that's how you ended up with a casino for free! Perks of the office, that about right?

[That smile is definitely strained now. She wouldn't exactly say that she's living in the Lucky 38 for free. More like, she's already paid the price. ... made someone else pay the price for her -- No, stop it.] Something like that, I guess.

[...Wait, that's not a joking around smile at all! But, since she lacks mindreading powers...] Oh. It's complicated. [a w k w a r d.] Don't worry 'bout it.

Edited 2014-09-28 23:35 (UTC)

Yeah, I... don't really want to talk about it. [At least she's not afraid of saying that. That's a boundary she's willing to put down without question.] I'm sorry. It's not a terribly exciting story, anyway. [Just upsetting. For Elle, at least.]

Edited (WHOOPS) 2014-09-28 23:36 (UTC)

[tumbleweeds of awkward silence. But then she brightens up a bit.] So what's an exciting one, then? I mean, there's a whole desert out there, you've gotta have one, right? [operation subject change is go.]

[god bless] Oh, I've got plenty. Oodles of them, even. It just depends on what kind you wanna hear.

Craziest thing that happened to you on the Strip? Or any city type place, if nothing much happened there.

Generally, if you piss off an entire town, that may be something worth regretting. What the hell did you do, kid?

Killed a bartender. He wanted me to track down one of his girls for leaving, so I don't feel too shaken up about it.

...Maybe a little. Not much, though.

Edited (i will stop editing someday) 2014-09-15 21:36 (UTC)

a lone wanderer... uh, wanders in

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