Nova spoke, “What is this?”. The Courier wasn’t sure how to explain, “I don’t know the science behind it. It’s a synthetic human body, almost identical to a normal person except for what's in the head. There’s not really a need for a brain, so advanced tech from Big M.T did the trick. The tech allows you to reside in and control that new body.”. Nova was a bit embarrassed to say her next thought, “Why do I look so… Attractive?”, Courier responded, “Must be something you chose. Like I said, I don’t know the science behind all this. How does it feel? Having any trouble getting used to it?”, “It’s… Different. But I think I got it.”. The Courier grabbed a knife out of a nearby bag and handed it to Nova, “It’s a titanium-vanadium-Divide steel alloy, practically unbreakable, stays pretty sharp. It’s great for what you do, so I bet you’ll enjoy it more than I did.”. Nova grabbed the weapon, “You got any guns to spare? You have a whole arsenal you gathered.”, the Courier pushed a nearby button, a wall slid up revealing a room full of guns, “I got revolvers, pistols, rifles, heavy weapons, a few fatman’s, automatics . . .”, the Courier kept rambling on about all the guns he has. Nova spied a revolver, “How about that one?”, the Courier looked at it and grabbed it, “You want this? Not a bad choice. Custom .50 cal receiver, sturdy frame, requires a strong hand to fight against the recoil though.”, he handed the gun to Nova. She grabbed it, aimed it at a wall and fired. A photonic barrier was revealed when the bullet hit it, the Courier said, “I prefer to test out the guns right here too, though I learned my lesson after a few bullet holes in the wall. Enclave grade Photonic Resonance Barrier.”. Nova didn’t care about science, “Amazing, good for the Enclave.”, she thought to herself for a few seconds, then looked at the Courier with a slight smile. The Courier spoke, “What?”, Nova pushed the Courier down onto a bed, the Courier spoke again, “Oh, Nova…”
—
Brandon was busy filling out papers, “Dornan hated people that did this job? Damn, no wonder why.”. A soldier was nearby and said, “Remember when that one recruit came to Navarro? Said he didn’t have power armor. Oh boy, did Dornan not like that. ‘Paper shuffling jackasses’, I was laughing my ass off at my post because the fucking idiot pissed him off so much. Johnson said it was inspiring to him, like how the hell is an Enclave sergeant about to rip a civilian in half inspiring?”. Brandon laughed, “He was just one of those people. Navarro got all sorts of crazy shit. Though Vegas is just as crazy.”. Arcade walked up to Brandon, “I was told I’m to report to you?”, Brandon turned around and said, “Ah, Arcade! Senior’s boy, right?”. Arcade asked, “You knew my father?”, “Did I know him? Ha! We were damn good friends, brothers in arms! Senior was one helluva officer. It’s a shame he died, between the memory of Senior and the command of Arch Dornan, everybody at Navarro had the will to defend the base. We fought hard against the NCR, showed no mercy against those bastards. Though in the end, most of us didn’t get out alive. A respectable death for the most who lost their life defending Navarro, better to burn out than to fade away…”. Arcade said, “Peace to the fallen.”, Brandon agreed, “Aye, peace to the fallen. Sit down boy, have a drink. So, decide to follow in your old man’s footsteps?”, “I did. After the Courier convinced me to fight in the second battle for Hoover Dam, I wanted to fight in the Enclave again. When you guys came along, I saw my chance and signed up along with the other former Remnants.”, Brandon replied, “It’s a good thing you did, mate. The Enclave needs all the people we can get. East and West coast remnants were only a few hundred together.”. Brandon and Arcade chatted for a while longer with a few other soldiers, Arcade walked away and was caught by Kreger, “You alright Arcade?”, “Yeah, I’m fine. I think… My brain feels weird, as if it forgot something. And being back in the Enclave, thinking about my father, and the Courier becoming a leader of the Enclave? I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what to do.”, Kreger tried to make Arcade feel better, “Calm down, boy. You’ll be fine. Go take a nap or something, you look like you need a rest.”
—
The Courier spoke, “That was way better than a drunk night at Gomorrah.”. Nova replied, “I told you I could do more, be more… Wanna do this again some other time?”. The Courier got up and got dressed, “Definitely again another time. And we’re late. Get dressed, meet me outside.”. Nova hurried and found her way outside. At first she didn’t see the Courier, then found him waving her to come over to a tent. Brandon began, “Alright, now that everybody’s here, let's get started. We got two jobs. Number one, we go to Repcon HQ and retrieve the Q-35 plasma prototype. Then, we’ll drop at Hidden Valley for a combo neutralization/takeover job. Everybody understands?”, his team answers, “Yes Sir!”. The squad makes quick work of the Repcon mission, then arrives at Hidden Valley. Brandon speaks, “Alright, the BoS still operate here. Ace, Nova, you two go in under cover. Locate and grab the tech, then make your way to the elder’s room and clear out the guards quietly. Tie up the Elder and stand by. Hit the button on this remote to give us the signal to breach.”. The Courier and Nova did as instructed, they found and took the tech. They find their way to the elder’s room, Nova distracts Nolan long enough for the Courier to take out the two guards. Nova ties up Nolan, the Courier signals the team outside. The Courier told Nova to stay put while he walked away. Nova looked at Nolan and showed a slight grin, “Hi, my name’s Nova. And you're going to wish you never met me.”. She took out her knife and started to harm the elder where she knew it’d hurt most. He screamed out in pain, begging Nova to stop. She obviously didn’t. “You’re a psychopath”, he said. Nova laughed, “Tell me something I don’t know.”, she stabbed him in the throat. Like many others, by now Nolan couldn't breath, he was choking on his own blood. His wounds were too severe to survive. The chair and floor was covered in the lost blood of the elder. The Courier walked in and immediately said, “Ugh, can’t help yourself can you?”, Nova pulled out her revolver and shot Nolan in the head, “This asshole was gonna die anyway, thought I’d do it myself.”. Brandon walked in and applauded Nova, “Holy shit, you don't play around! Always make it painful when you face a BoS member. Let’s head back to Vegas, I’ll send another team over here to clean up and take it over as an Enclave bunker.”
When the team made it back to Vegas, the Courier went to the Lucky 38 and up to the suite, Nova followed as usual. The Courier seemed concerned about something, looking through files and mail. Nova walked up to him and asked, “What's wrong?”, “Arcade. I don’t know where he is. He was supposed to be on that mission with us.”. Nova hated hearing Arcade’s name being spoken, she replied, “Don’t worry about him. How about you focus on other things, hmm?”. Nova kissed him, “Relax, forget about work. Work on a project or spend some time with me…”. The Courier gave in, “If you say so. I did some research on what exactly is about you with the new body. Turns out being a human doesn’t restrict you from being the destructive A.I you are. If you place your hand on any technology, you should be able to access it and do whatever you want.”, Nova was surprised, “Really? That’s awesome!”, she walked over to a terminal and put her hand on the top of it. Text seemed to type itself on the screen, a few seconds later Mr. House could be heard screaming about something. Nova and the Courier laughed, “He’s really gonna hate you doing that all the time.”.
—
A man wrapped in bandages walked to the Vegas front gate, he was stopped by a soldier, “Stay back! The strip is for Enclave person- Uh, oh… I-it’s y-you… I uh… J-just… Just go.”, the man answered, “Thank you.”. He walked through the gates, some soldiers turned to see who he was and immediately began to back up out of his path, Brandon spotted him and greeted him. “Well if it isn’t the Burned Man himself. What brings you to Vegas, Graham?”, Graham was about to reply, when he got interrupted by an unnamed man that tried to kill him. Graham turned around, pulled out his .45 and shot the man in the chest. He slowed down, but kept moving, Graham shot him again, and 2 more times after that. The man fell to the floor by Graham’s feet, Graham looked up at Brandon and said, “Sorry about that, there’s always one straggler here and there that still wants my head.”, Graham shot the slowly dying man in the head while still looking at Brandon, “Can’t take any risks. Anyways, I figured I’d come see how the Mojave has changed since I last saw it. I spent the last 3 years in Zion.”, Brandom said, “I’m sure you knew the way it was, but look at it now! Certainly a sight to behold, isn’t it?”. Graham replied, “In a way, I suppose it is.”
—
The Courier was speaking with House, “I bet you're glad I didn’t kill you.”, House replied, “Even though you chose yourself, you soon realized how wrong you were. You silenced me instead of killing me in case you changed your mind. And here we are now, Vegas is at it’s best, the Mojave will soon be a thriving land and so will all of America in years to come. And the best part is, we are in control of it all, we own it all. They way it was supposed to be from the start.”. Nova came into the penthouse and was greeted by Victor, “Well aren't you a pretty lady?”, Nova replied, “Don’t ever call me that again.”, she went down the stairs and to the Courier, she said, “Some soldiers found a woman passed out drunk near the front gate. She was identified as NCR and is about to be disposed of. The only words she said was something about you and the past.”. The Courier made his way out of the lucky 38 and to the mysterious female, He recognized her, “Cass?”, “Ace? Wh- where the hell am I?”, “You’re at the Vegas Strip. You got drunk and passed out near the front gate. Have you heard from anyone else?”, Cass looked at the Courier with a pitiful expression, “Most are dead, I think. Raul and Lily might be at Jacobstown, but everyone else I’m certain is gone.”. The Courier was saddened by the news, “Well, you’re obviously safe. How’d you get here?”, Cass tried to remember, “I don’t know. One second I was busy drowning my sorrows in whisky, the next I got in a bar fight with 3 guys, then I ended up here. Who’s the new friend there?”, Nova answered, “I’m Nova, Ace’s assistant and bodyguard.”, “Pfft, you certainly look the part.”. Suddenly, Graham found the Courier and joined the party, Cass noticed and immediately started to tremble with fear, “What the f-fuck is h-he doing here?”, the Courier answered, “Graham, meet Cass. Cass, meet Graham. Otherwise known as-”, Cass interrupted, “Joshua Graham, the Burned Man, the first co-founding legate of the Legion.”. Graham was interested, “Ah, seems you know me well.”, “I know Caesar set you on fire and tossed you into the Grand Canyon, I know Caesar sent dozens of assassins to finish you off and none of them came back, I know the stories of your holy crusade in Zion against the White Legs. Everybody knows who you are, everybody fears you. Even the bravest of men, even NCR veteran rangers stayed clear of you.”, Graham gave a slight chuckle, “I expect nothing less, I simply won’t bow to anyone. Those who think they can best me or control me are mistaken.”
Suddenly, a sick person bursts through the front gate with 3 other people. A nearby soldier did a quick scan, then gave orders to 2 other soldiers. They open fired on 2 of the civilians, and directed the other 2 to a nearby medical bay. The Courier asked Brandon, “Why were two of them killed, but the other two tended to?”, Brandon replied, “The two they killed were Sick. The other two were Pure’s. Only pure blooded Americans are cared for in the Enclave and the rest are terminated.”, “Can’t they be treated?”, “Nope, the Sick are either affected by the Cloud or have a hefty case of rad poisoning. We can’t go around wasting lots of Radaway on everyone, we gotta save it for those who actually need it. Same with Stims and Med-X, stockpile it as much as possible for soldiers and Enclave citizens.”. Arcade walked up and asked the Courier, ‘Hey, mind if we talk?”, he looked at Nova, “In private?”. Nova scowled and hovered her hand over where her knife was kept, just in case. Arcade and the Courier walked away, the Courier asked, “Do you still remember anything?”, Arcade replied, “Sorta. I still obviously remember you, but a lot else is just gone.”, “Good, keep acting natural and stay off her radar. The moment you seem out of place, you’ll lose your head.”. The Courier walked back to the group and spoke to Brandon, “Find a team to place Arcade in, he prefers medium field work if possible.”, Brandon asked, “Why didn’t the boy come tell me himself?”, “He’s afraid of Nova.”. Nova smirked, Brandon laughed, “Who isn’t? She’s a devil!”.
—
The Courier and Nova went to Canyon Wreckage to see Ulysses. The Courier and Ulysses got caught up on what they’ve been doing since the Battle of the Silo. Nova sat down somewhere nearby, she looked around and analyzed the area. History happened here. 4 years ago, the Courier and Ulysses had launched atomic missiles against the Legion and NCR, as well as most of the western coast of the United States. Time passed, the day tuned to night. The Mojave was dark, plenty of nearly unseeable dangers lurked around. The Courier decided to settle in Ulysses’ camp for the night. It got quiet soon after. The Courier sat down, pulled out a notebook and wrote in it for a few minutes. Nova snuggled up to the Courier, he put the notebook down and held her. Ulysses looked at the two, then looked back to the Mojave. All 3 soon fell asleep.
The Platinum Chip waited safely in the Courier’s pocket, waiting to be used again. But there was nothing it could possibly be used for. Everything was done, there was no need for the chip. But House was always a man 5 steps ahead, there must be something else he intended the chip for…