hotmtlnovel Chapter 76: Change in Management
Chapter 76: Change in Management
Chapter 76: Change in Management
[[ERROR::Program-RadioNV::Status:OffAir]]
[[STRING Not Found!]]
[[ACTOR RefID:MrNVai-001264c5 Not Found!]]
[[nv1-sys - Address F00023943 base at F0002248b, DateStamp 1110.2281]]
[[Beginning dump of physical memory...]]
[[Physical memory dump complete.]]
[[Contact SysAdmin-HOUSE for further assistance]]
"This is big, huh?" Yes Man said while I was working behind him. "A very big moment!" I locked the massive conduit of wires into the exposed circuitry on his back and stepped back, patting the dust off my hands.
The two of us were standing in the Penthouse, in front of House's giant monitor, and all around us were the disabled remains of the Securitrons that I'd cannibalized for parts. I didn't quite understand the specifics of it, but apparently Yes Man needed a physical hardline connection as well as the Platinum Chip if he wanted to take over the 38's mainframe.
But even with Yes Man's direction, I'm more suited to mechanical repairs, not electrical engineering, so the whole setup looked incredibly slap-dash. There were dozens of wires all surrounding the giant conduit connecting Yes Man to the console, and over two-dozen other wires spliced into the system.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" I asked, looking over everything we'd done.
"I have no idea!" Yes Man was as cheerful as ever. "But Benny seemed to think it was a good plan, and I am physically incapable of saying otherwise!" I sighed heavily, shaking my head.
"You're not filling me with an overabundance of confidence here."
"Oh, I am sorry about that!" Yes Man said, his voice never really losing that tone of excited exuberance. "Here, let me try and make it up to you! I'll just take that Platinum Chip off your hands, and upload myself to the mainframe!" He held out a claw in an almost pleading gesture. I reached into one of my pockets with a sigh, pulling out the Platinum Chip. I stared at it, twirling it around my fingers...
"I hope you know what you're doing." I said, handing over the Platinum Chip. I hope I know what I'm doing, too.
"Thanks!" Yes Man clutched it between two of his claw fingers, and rolled over to the console under the massive monitors. "Here goes! Wish me luck!" The robot slipped the chip into one of the slots on the console; all the monitors, which had been completely black, started to boot up. Lines of code appeared on every one of the monitors except the big one in the middle.
A loud mechanical hum reverberated throughout the whole penthouse. It grew and grew in volume and intensity... and then the lights began to dim and flicker. The console - and the port where I'd connected the conduit to Yes Man's internals - sparked like mad.
"Gosh darn it!" Yes Man said seconds before another burst of sparks exploded off his back. The robot wobbled unsteadily on the single wheel... and then collapsed, crashing to the floor. Involuntarily, I backed up. There was a series of loud pops from the ceiling, a massive clunk, and the lights seemingly burnt out.
Silence reigned for several minutes.
"Yes Man?" I asked, walking slowly to the collapsed robot. I rapped the metal casing several times, to see if I could get a response. And, as it happened, I did... just not where I was expecting.
"Wow!" I heard Yes Man's voice coming through the speakers. As he spoke, the lights started to slowly turn back on. "Mr. House certainly had quite a set-up here!" Yes Man's smiling face winked into life on the large main monitor. The other monitors and all the consoles surrounding it also turned on, humming into life with row after row of glowing lights. There was a whirring sound from the main central console, and the Platinum Chip ejected itself from the slot. I took it almost without thinking.
"So, it worked, then?" I asked, looking up at the giant smiling face.
"It certainly did!" Yes Man sounded pleased... then again, he always sounded pleased. "From here, I can access Mr. House's databanks and view telemetry on every Securitron on the network! Let's see... according to this status log, all the Securitrons under Caesar's Fort are on standby, and the Mark II OS upgrade has been installed correctly! They're all set to go once we boost my transmitting power and bring them online with the network! That's pretty nifty, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's great," I sighed again, rubbing my forehead. The helmet may have stopped the bullet that tried to take my head off, but there was still a massive ringing in my skull. Not the worst hangover I've ever had, but... "Look, you have fun in there. I know there's still work to be done, but right now... I'm not interested in any of it. So, you go over House's data, or... whatever it is you need to do in there. Get comfy, make yourself at home, whatever. I'm gonna get some rest."
"Don't hurry on my account!" Yes Man said from the big monitor as I walked up the stairs and back to the elevator. "I'm the one with the flexible schedule!"
"Right, I'll talk to you later." I waved over my shoulder, and then scrolled through the functions on my Pip Boy. By the time I stepped into the elevator, I found what I was looking for: ED-E's radio frequency.
"Hey, buddy? Can you hear me?" I said into the wrist computer. There was a series of happy sounding beeps from the other end. "Excellent! I'm sounding the all clear. I don't know if you can transmit what I'm saying to everyone else - I mean, I think you can, since you're able to play back those recordings of Whitley - but let them know it's safe to come back to the 38." ED-E beeped in the affirmative over the Pip Boy's radio.
"Great," I stepped out of the elevator and back into the suite; after barely a single step, I started unbuckling the straps on my armor. "Now... where the fuck's the ice?"
"Sheason?" I heard a voice from the hallway, seconds after the elevator dinged. "You in here?" It sounded like Veronica.
"In here!" I called out from my spot on the couch. One by one, everyone filed into the room - except for ED-E. The robot buzzed into the room through the window I'd left open, beeping happily.
"Shea, wha-" Cass was the first in the room, and the first to talk, but as soon as she saw me, sprawled out on the couch (holding a bag full of ice to my head in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other) she seemed at a loss for words. She just stood there for a minute, looking at me with a head turned sideways, trying to work out what I was doing - and why all my gear was discarded and scattered all over the room.
"You alright, man?" Boone said, raising an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. I nodded, giving a thumbs up with the hand holding the beer.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Had a great Friday afternoon, really exciting! Just got... a little..." I grimaced, sitting up and adjusting the ice pack. "You know, shot in the head." I set the beer on the floor, reached into my back pocket, and pulled out the smashed bullet, tossing it Boone's way.
"What, again?" Veronica asked incredulously, sitting down on one of the half-dozen easy chairs opposite the couch. I shrugged.
"What can I say, shit finds my face," I chuckled, grabbing the beer again.
"Alright Boss, I got a question." Raul said, leaning in behind me on the back of the couch. "If you were gonna go after House, why did you send us all away?"
"Yeah," Cass found her voice, sitting on the arm of Veronica's chair. "I mean, c'mon man! Y'know we've got yer back, an' we're all plenty good inna firefight! Y'should've told us what y'were doin, we could've helped. Like th' Silver Rush, remember?" I just shook my head.
"There was no time, sorry." Everyone except Veronica looked confused. Well... I suppose ED-E didn't look confused either, but that's likely because he didn't have a face. I guess Veronica must not have explained things to them as thoroughly as I'd expected.
"What do you mean, there was no time?" Arcade asked.
"Do you know how many security cameras and microphones are in this place? House has been recording everything we've done since arriving here," I said, looking around at everyone; I made a conscious effort not to stare at Cass, but even so... I'm sure my eyes darted in her direction briefly. "The only way my assault on House was even going to have a slim chance of succeeding was if I took him by surprise." I took another swig of beer, emptying the bottle. "If I took too long trying to plan the thing with all of you, House would've caught on. Besides," I shrugged. "There was hardly any room to maneuver upstairs. If you guys came along, we'd have been tripping over each other before even getting out of the elevator."
"You still haven't answered my question, Boss," Raul said, finally settling down on the other end of the couch. I shrugged.
"Just wanted to make sure you guys had a head start, just in case things went sideways." I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"You mean in case you fucked up," Boone said, leaning up against the wall.
"Spoken like a man who's never had to fight someone in Powered Armor..." She muttered. Veronica knocked back the last of the soda and tossed the empty bottle into the sink. "All right. You made your case." She chuckled and rubbed her temple. "You know, it's funny. I honestly thought you were going to take much longer, getting around to driving me back home."
"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised. Veronica nodded.
"Yeah. I was kind of..." Veronica paused, grimacing and tilting her head to the side. "...counting on it, actually. You know. So I could mentally prepare for the trip."
"Mentally prepare?" I asked. "What do you mean? Do I even want to know?" Veronica shrugged.
"There's a reason I haven't been back to the Hidden Valley bunker complex in a while. As much as I love them, and as much as I want to make sure they stay safe, they're still my family... And it's a very rare family indeed that's able to get along with one another."
"Well, hell, we're not going now," I said. "If tomorrow is too soon, and you really do need time to prepare, we -" Veronica held up her hand, shaking her head.
"No, no, it's fine. It's... fine. I just..." Veronica sighed again. "This has been a weird couple of weeks, you know?" I smiled at that, chuckling to myself.
"Sister, you don't know the half of it. I know exactly what that feels like. Hell, for a while there I kept asking myself 'when the fuck did my life get so weird?' But the more I think about it, I know exactly when my life got so weird." Veronica raised an eyebrow.
"And when was that?" She asked. I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out the Platinum Chip.
"When I got shot in the head - the first time - because of this fuckin' weirdness magnet." I smirked, rolling the Chip around my fingers a few times before putting it away. "Getting shot in the head is turning into a hobby of mine. I don't like it."
"So, that seriously happened?" Veronica asked. "You seriously got shot in the head again?" I shook my head. "How are you not dead?" I shrugged.
"Well, I was wearing a helmet this time. Might have something to do with it..."
A couple hours later, I was up in the Lucky 38's revolving restaurant, just below House's penthouse. Wait, no. It wasn't House's anymore. It was mine. I'd been so busy earlier that I suppose the situation hadn't really sunk in until now: with House out of the way and Yes Man installed in the Lucky 38's mainframe... that meant this whole casino was mine.
As nice as the view from the presidential suite's balcony was, this was better - and I didn't even have to move to change the scenery, the floor rotated on it's own. I was sitting in one of the booths, my feet propped up on the table, and my hands laced behind my head as I watched the scenery roll below me. The sun was hanging low on the horizon, but wasn't going to sink completely for another half hour or so. For the moment, it was merely turning the sky into a dazzling mixture of brilliant hues, the orange and purple lights reflecting off the scattered clouds in the sky.
This felt like the perfect place to relax... and to be alone with my thoughts. Because that's what I really needed right now: some time alone to collect myself.
"Was wonderin' where you'd snuck off too."
Of course.
I turned to the sound and saw Cass looking over at me. Her hat was nowhere to be found, and her hair was untied, hanging loose around her smiling face. She was behind the bar, almost like she was ready to tend it; her elbows were resting against the countertop, her fingers were laced together, and her chin was resting on her fingers.
"Hey, Cass," I said, getting up from my seat and making my way toward her. "You looking for a drink?" I asked as I sat down on one of the stools across the bar from her. She chuckled, reached beneath the counter, and set down a pair of glasses next to a bottle of Irish whiskey so old, the label had faded away completely.
"You know me, I'm always lookin' fer a drink," She smirked, pouring the glasses for us both. "What 'bout you? You lookin' t'wet yer whistle too?"
"Actually, no," I said, taking hold of one of the glasses. "I came up here for some peace and quiet. Get some time alone, just me and my thoughts, you know?"
"Oh, go- sorry." Cass blushed (or had she already had something to drink?) and looked rather sheepish. She downed her entire glass of whiskey in one gulp and poured herself another. "Y'know, I can leave -" I held up a hand and shook my head.
"Don't worry about it, you're fine. It's just been... bit of a day. You know?" Cass nodded.
"Yeah, I'll bet. One helluva Friday." She knocked back another gulp - much more reserved this time. "So, how'd the gatling laser work out for ya?" I started to take a drink, but stopped midway, looking at Cass with a furrowed brow.
"How'd you know I used the 9700?" I asked. Cass smiled wide.
"Cuz, I saw it in the common room, discarded on th' pool table. Looked pretty spent, too," She finished off her glass, but didn't pour herself another.
"Shit, I completely forgot I'd left it there," I said honestly. I'd just dumped all my armor, weapons and ammo the first chance I'd gotten, not really caring where I left them. "I should probably move it later, I don't want it to scratch the cloth."
"Yeah, good pool table like that's hard t'come by. It work, though?" I shrugged, sipping my glass of whiskey, trying to make the burn last as long as possible.
"Ehh... s'alright. Seemed more powerful than a standard gatling laser, but the charge on it is pitiful. I probably only got 90 shots out of it, at most. Maybe it had something to do with the beams being green or something, I dunno. Whatever the case, it ripped through the Securitrons like they were made out of tinfoil." Cass shrugged, leaning further against the bar.
"Sounds like t'worked well 'nuff. Yer still here." She held her glass aloft, in front of my face; I got the message, and toasted her glass with my own. "I still say yer a moron fer sendin' us all away. I bet we could've helped keep y'from gettin' shot in th' head again," As if to illustrate her point, Cass poked me hard, pressing her finger deep into the middle of my forehead. I just sighed, staring into my nearly empty glass.
"Cass, you know why I sent you away, don't you?" I looked up at her, making sure to look her straight in the eyes. "The penthouse was way too narrow and enclosed. There was hardly any room for me to maneuver up there, much less half-a-dozen armed and armored people. I just... Somebody would've gotten hurt."
"Well, you got hurt your own self. Don't think I haven't noticed that laser burn on yer leg," She pointed down, smirking at me all the while. Damn, I was rather hoping she had missed that.
"One of you guys could've gotten hurt, smartass," I sighed, and shook my head, downing the last of my drink. "You're my friends... there's absolutely no sense taking any unnecessary risks. And I'm certainly not going to ask any of you to do anything I wouldn't do myself."
"Well, that's very noble've you, Shea," Cass said. "S'also really really stupid."
"Yeah, well..." I reached for the bottle. "I tend to do stupid things when I put..." The people I love, I didn't say. "...the people I care about in danger." Comprehension finally dawned on Cass' face. She cleared her throat, and quickly tried to change the subject.
"So... uh... what..." Cass coughed again. "What exactly were you thinkin' about? You know, b'fore I came up here with the hooch?"
"Stuff... still trying to chew over the events of today in my head. Thinking about the future. Like... what we can do with the 38, now House is gone." Cass raised an eyebrow.
"What we can do with th' 38?" She repeated. "What're you talkin' 'bout?"
"Well... look around," I said, motioning with my hands to our surroundings. "This place still has a casino. The restaurant still revolves, and it's still mostly stocked. It still has rooms. Who knows what else is downstairs - I'm sure I'll find out, next time I talk to Yes Man. Hell, there's even robotic housekeeping, if the bathrooms are any indication."
"What're you gettin' at, man?" Cass asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"I think... with a bit of work, we could re-open the Lucky 38 for business. Make it an actual casino again, make it like it was before the bombs - no, wait:" I snapped my fingers. "Better. Definitely not soon, and probably not for a couple months... I mean, there's other things to worry about in the immediate future."
"Like Hoover Dam?" Cass asked, completely deadpan. I nodded.
"Exactly. But once all that is sorted..." I smirked, grabbing the bottle of whiskey. "What do you say? Think we can do it?"
"Honestly? I think ye've completely lost yer marbles." Cass grabbed me by the hands with both of hers and flashed me the biggest, widest grin I've ever seen. "Count me in."