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Chapter 11: Blood Machines

>The elevator moves quietly and without so much as a hiccup, further increasing your amazement on how well the inside of this casino was preserved.

>The majority of buildings you've been to in the wasteland had their elevators collapsed and crushed into heaps of unusable scrap.

>This place was different, well preserved, but still worn a bit from time.

>The majority of the damage seemed from bullets and energy weapons though.

>Even as you stand in the slowly descending elevator, you can see a few laser blast marks on the back wall of it.

>Perhaps someone was here before you.

>Was it that one guy? Elijah? You don't know or care, you just needed that force field generator.

>Gracie holds your arm desperately as the lights grow dimmer and dimmer as you descend.

>When at last the doors of the elevator open with a unsettlingly pleasant *DING* a few things greet you.

>Darkness.

>The odd sickening sound of static with indecipherable voices intermittent.

>More bullet holes and laser marks.

>And layers of blood red dust.

>This place was so far down that the dust had been settling for decades, maybe centuries, leaving it piled up like sickening snow.

>"Anon, I don't know about this" Gracie whines softly, tightening her grip on your arm.

>So far no threats could be seen, just...dark.

>"We'll be fine Gracie, it doesn't look like anything has been down here for a while" you say, flicking on your pip-boys light.

>The blood snow shows no signs of disturbances at all, like the freshly fallen snow of the north.

>If there was anything lurking here, it would either have to be able to fly in the pitch black darkness or somehow not leave footprints.

>Both were impossible of course.

>Sure cazadores plagued the wasteland, but they couldn't fly by night, they relied on their vision.

>Even so, you put an arm around Gracie, pulling her forwards so she isn't dragging behind you, rather right next to you.

>"Look" you say pointing at the gridded walkway that you both are walking along, "nothing has walked here for years, we're perfec-"

>A loud "Voosh" noise cuts off your sentence and makes you look up to see...

>A something to make you eat your words.

>A shimmering yellow person who is oddly transparent stares at you.

>You go to grab your rifle only to have Gracie stop you.

>"No! Don’t! It’s trying to see if you're a threat" she whispers to you.

>Staring at the shimmering man, you feel helpless with Gracie stopping you, but eventually it turns blue and begins wanking off.

>"What is that?" you ask, hand still slowly moving to your gun.

>"It's a hologram, a holographic security hologram" Gracie says, still keeping a paw on your hand, keeping your gun at bay.

>"They don't rest, the don’t stop, they can't be killed" she says with a frown, trying to put you between her and it.

>You study it for a moment, watching it as it looks around, all the while noticing others walking around.

>"I get it, they recognize me as security" you say finally, walking forwards into one of the holograms fields of view.

>It turns yellow for a moment, then goes back to a placid blue color.

>"What? Why? The Big Empty computers said they attack any and all intruders" Grace Whines, shrinking behind you further.

>You tap your new helmet with a finger.

>"I’m wearing Sierra Madre security armor, albeit with a jacket, but I think they see me as someone authorized to be here" you say confidently, leading Gracie through the mobs of holograms.

>"What? Why don't they shoot at me then?" she whimpers, scooching closer to you.

>This makes you pause, but as the various holograms blaze yellow then back to blue it hits you.

>"They don't register you as human Gracie, so you aren't a threat, I guess" you say as one walk right through you, leaving your body with the odd feeling of white noise.

>Bolstered by that, Gracie lets go of you and waves her paws in front of one of the holograms, which doesn't react at all.

>"Soooooo you mean I’m DOUBLE sneaky?" she says with a happy grin.

>You continue walking through the vault, countless stairwells, inches of dust being kicked up, yet you have no problem breathing now.

>"What do you mean double sneaky?" you ask with a smile as you jump over that looks like a gap in the walkway that was melted by some kind of plasma blast.

>"Well, I can go invisible PLUS they don't even register me! So double sneaky!" Gracie says grabbing your arm again.

>Snekdog logic you guess.

>"Whatever works for us Gracie, for once nothing is trying to kill us" you say with a sigh, pulling your arm from Gracie's grip, only to put it around her waist.

>She giggles slightly as you pull her next to you.

>"Ohhh the big bad Boomer as a soft spot that isn't for guns?" she teases, her long tongue flicking your helmets visor as the blue lights of the holograms dance around you.

>"Only for you" you say calmly.

>You want to pull off your helmet and kiss her, but would it set off the holograms? Not a thing you were willing to risk.

>As you traverse deeper into the vault, you notice less and less dust around your feet.

>How deep was this place to escape that sickening blood-red cloud?.

>Plus it seemed you had sheer luck on your side this time, wearing armor the hologram recognized and didn't instantly try to kill was a definite benefit.

>Could you have avoided the shattered femur in vault 11 by dressing up like the residents? Doubtful.

>How about the ambushes from the legions leftovers? Yea, but only to be attacked by the NCR.

>No one likes the legion after all.

>But none of that matters as you intertwine your fingers with Gracie's padded paws.

>"Let’s go Gracie" you say with calm confidence, leading her further to your goal.

>Well, your shared goal.

>Once this vehicle was built, you could travel anywhere safely, get supplies, transport supplies, and do bounties.

>The possibilities were endless.

>You note how her paw and your hand disappear in her stealth field.

>A nervous tick? If it was, it wasn't one you had seen before.

>But maybe that's because you hadn't held hands like this before, it was always her grabbing your arm for safety.

>Now it was you leading your mate through to safety, to a goal where you could go anywhere.

>The static is still heard from speakers, hologram flow past you and Gracie like rigid ghosts, while providing you with a little bit of light to compliment your Pip-boy light.

>The stale air hangs heavy as you traverse through the vault, getting deeper and deeper.

>Was that guy right? Would the force field generators be here?

>Gracie whimpers besides you, the light from you pip boy glinting in her eyes as she looks around at the ruins.

>"How far down does this go Anon? I want to get back to Sister and Pip" she whimpers softly as a hologram silently walks past, flickering occasionally.

>"I don't know Gracie, but I’ve lost too much to give up now" you say confidently, squeezing her paw gently.

>You look at her and smile, but realize she can’t even see you face behind the helmet visor.

>"Its ok, we're ok" you say finally.

>It should be a touching moment, but you walk straight into a closed door, which makes Gracie let go of your hand and burst out laughing.

>"AHAAAHAHAHA! You walked into a door!" She giggles, pressing a paw to her face and she laughs at you.

>You shake your head to get rid of the slight buzzing some hitting it, sure you had on a helmet, but still walking full force into something will rattle someone.

>"Yea yea, very funny. Why didn't you warn me?" you say as you press the button to open the door.

>"I thought it would be fuuuu-" she starts to say, but stops, her mouth open and her voice trailing off.

>Blue flickering light illuminates her, as she stares at what's beyond the door.

>You look in and see what she's amazed by.

>It's a huge room, filled with generators that occasionally throw off bolts of blinding blue electricity.

>Turrets line the walls, and in the center is the vault itself, the "safe room" from Elijah’s notes.

>Speechless, you look in awe at the sight.

>"We found it Anon?" Gracie asks quietly.

>You take her paw into your hand, and step forwards .

>"We found it"

>Slowly, the two of you walk along the catwalks; she stares at the generators, you watch the turrets.

>Would they decide to mow you down? Did they even work anymore? Maybe to both questions.

>"Should we split up Anon? Just to look around here? We might find something useful" Gracie says with a smile.

>You nod quietly and feel her paw slip from your hand as she walks away, looking left and right for whatever would catch her eye.

>The force field generator would probably be attached to one of those generators, at least that's what you think.

>As such, you look at one and begin following wires to where ever.

>One would lead you to it right?

>You search in vain, following cable that lead to nowhere but walls or turrets, which point their gun barrels at your face with no hesitation.

>No mercy from machines huh?

>"Hey Non! I found a something!" you hear Gracie call out from behind some additional pylons.

>You follow the sound of her voice and find her crouched next to a cube which glows blue, that is plugging into the wall.

>Cables run into it and it hums slightly, looking more like some sort of alien tech than something made by a human.

>But the more you look at it, the more you know, this is what you were after

>"What is this thing Anon, it's pretty!" Gracie says, poking it cautiously.

>You're actually dumbfounded for a moment as you look at her and it.

>She found it by sheer chance, while you tried to use logic.

>Hm, maybe you should let her take the lead a bit more often.

>"Gracie, this is what we came here for" you say, kneeling down to inspect the cube.

>You see a few cables lead off of it to a nearby door, which had a glowing blue wall of light blocking it.

>Easy way to test this theory out .

>Kneeling next to it, you carefully pluck one of the cables leading to the door out of the cube and watch as the force field vanishes.

>Gracie's eyes widen at that and she looks at you.

>"You mean we found it?! We can get out of here and go home!?" she says, excitement filling her voice "We can go back to grilled bark scorpion and barrel cactus fruit?!"

>You nod as you carefully unplug each cable from this cube, which is no larger than a lunch box.

>Did humans really make this? You turn it over and see a note stuck to it that had been in between the wall and the cube.

>The paper says "Packing invoice" on it in large letters.

>Shipper: Moonie Inc.

>Receiver: Big MT.

>"Gracie what's Moonie Inc.?" you ask, staring at the invoice.

>"How should I know Anon?" Gracie says, draping herself over you while looking at the still glowing box in your hands.

>"You seem to know about all the weird tech here Gracie" you say as you stash the box away for safekeeping.

>Gracie nuzzles against you in the pale blue light of the arcing generators.

>"Now we can go find sister and go home?" She says as her tail wraps around you.

>You rub the side of her muzzle and then stand up.

>"Let's call Pip and your sister" you say clicking through your Pip-boy menu.

>Sure enough, a function you had never used was there, the "communicator" section.

>You mash the button for your one and only contact, and wait for a second before Pip's voice echoes through.

>"Boomer? Everything ok?"

>You nod and mentally facepalm upon realizing he can't see you.

>"Yea we're good, we found what we are looking for, find your vertibirds yet?" you say calmly as you put an arm around Gracie.

>Feeling her pressed against you was amazing, and you can only imagine how it will feel when you don't have this heavy armor on.

>"We found them on the outside terrace, sending you the way point".

>He hangs up, and within seconds a marker on your Pip-boy appears, showing you where to go.

>Getting out of these depths will be easier than getting into them was.

>After all nothing was after you, you had a marker of where to go, and you could just follow your footprints in the blood red dust back.

>With Gracie hugging your arm and nuzzling against you, you both leave the vault.

>Sure, you could explore the main "safe room", but for what? Nothing was in there that you want.

>"Let's get out of this pit" you say to Gracie, reaching over with your free hand to rub between her ears, earning a satisfied hissing bark sound.

>Honestly you have no idea how else to describe the noise, but it was cute either way.

>"Ok 'Non! Let’s go!"

>Together, the two of you retrace your footsteps out of this forsaken darkened pit.

>This place was someone's grave, and you had no desire to make it yours as well.

>Death had already tried to claim you here, and you didn't want to give it a second chance.

>As such, you and Gracie walk together, through the darkness and holograms

>Blood red duct scatters at your feet and holographic memories of the old world walk past, looking for a threat that may never come.

>This place could have been your doom, instead it was a pathway to your deliverance; another stepping stone to you dominating the wasteland .

>The Courier had done it before you, shaped that path of history through sheer anger and thirst for revenge.

>You didn't want to change history, you just wanted to live; not survive like everyone else.

>Truly have all you needed, and all you wanted.

>Right now, as Gracie hugs your arm happily, you knew you had found part of it.

>A mate, a partner, a love; someone who you could share your life with.

>Everything else would come in time.

>At last, you find your way back to the lobby of this mythical casino.

>The clouds, which at one point had nearly choked the life out of you, were a welcome sight in comparison to the collapsed scaffolding and inches of bloody snow.

>The constant static is replaced by the ragged breathing of the things that called this place home.

>You walk through the lobby, noticing for the first time the skeletons of people from long ago.

>Like a ghost through a battlefield, you walk with Gracie, carefully avoiding the fallen dead.

>Leave them where they lie, no point in trying to deal with them or get rid of them.

>Towards the way point Pip sent you, with your mate by your side, through a place few would ever walk through.

>Before long, you find a door, a portal from the casino to the outside world; returning you to the collapsed buildings that were the legendary Sierra Madre.

>The asphyxiating cloud has settled, allowing you to see the sunlight once again.

>For once you greet that big fat ball of cancer instead of scorn it and its unbearable heat.

>Before you is a helipad, with 2 vertibirds parked, beaten up by time, but still looking in decent condition.

>Pip and Amber sit, looking over the one that looks in better condition.

>Fewer rust patches, a bit of corrosion from the cloud because it was above the main bulk of the cloud.

>"Sister! You found your whirly birds!" Gracie cries, letting go of you to run to her sister.

>You watch as Gracie pounces on the much bigger Snekdog in a binding hug.

>Pip sits in the cockpit, looking at his pipboy then pushing buttons in the vertibird .

>The look on his face concerns you heavily.

>You walk forward to him and sit next to him in the co-pilot seat of the aircraft.

>"What's wrong?" you ask calmly, looking over the buttons and switches and circuit breakers.

>"I followed the start-up checklist but it won’t turn over" he says, clearly frustrated, looking from his pip-boy to the buttons.

>As you look it all over, you see so many familiar switches and buttons.

>You are...were a Boomer.

>Every boomer had trained for untold hours in flight simulators.

>You were no different.

>As you looked at every popped circuit breaker and every warning light, you knew automatically what was wrong.

>"The dust has settled in the engines, you keep restarting the startup checklist...You need to keep doing the final 5 steps to get the dust out" you say calmly, pointing at his pip-boy.

>"How do you know that?!" you hear over your shoulder.

>Amber stands behind you, with Gracie hanging off her.

>"I've been trained to fly a ton of stuff" you say calmly as Pip begin cycling the final few steps.

>Before long a mechanical "Cough" can be heard from the engines and a big cloud of the dust flies out.

>Ambers eyes grow wide at that sound and Pip smiles in satisfaction.

>You step out of the beaten up vertibird and leave pip to do his thing.

>"Good call Boomer" Pip says, restarting the cycle once more, earning a louder cough .

>Gracie now pounces on you in a happy hug.

>"YAY! Let’s get out of here!" she says, nuzzling against you.

>You pull off your helmet, allowing you to breathe the "fresh air".

>She nuzzles close, pressing the fur and scales of her cheek against yours as you smile.

>Too long had you missed out of these sensations, denying them to yourself like some arbitrary rule.

>"Thou shalt not touch the Snekdog".

>That was the self-imposed rule, even though you wanted to snuggles her.

>Now it doesn't matter though, as you hold her close.

>But that fuzzy bliss is distorted when you feel something beneath your feet.

>A rumble.

>A methodical, rhythmic rumble.

>Like footsteps, big BIG footsteps.

>The rumbles slowly get more intense along with deep roaring; or was it screaming?

>"Pip! Get that thing going!" Amber cries as he restarts the startup cycle once more, clearing centuries of dust bit by bit.

>"TRYING" He yells.

>Better to have 2 going at once right?

>You jump into the more beaten up of the vertibirds and begin the start-up sequence, remembering it like a far off dream, guided by muscle memory.

>This one sputters as the rumbles grow louder and louder.

>"What IS that?!" you hear Amber say over your start up attempts.

>No time to focus on that, just enough time to get this fucker going, even as you see Pip abandon the other vertibird and prepare his weapon.

>The rumbles, the footsteps, the screams, and the new threat keep getting louder and closer.

>"BOOMER WE NEED YOU HERE" You hear Pip call.

>For a moment, you peek out of the cockpit of the aged vertibird; what greets you is something you haven't seen before.

>Different from the "ghosts", this thing is easily 3 stories tall and bright red, stomping loudly.

>"Holy FUCK its Bigger than a behemoth!" Pip shouts, firing away at the thing.

>"What the fuck is a Behemoth!?" you call out, flipping switches and trying to start the engines.

>"Picture this thing but smaller and green" Pip says, jumping out of the way of a tossed boulder, then shooting at it with his gun.

>It occasionally freezes for a moment, no, less than a moment as the shots from the compliance regulator hit it.

>You recognize the silenced shots from Gracie’s gun as she shoots at it and it roars angrily.

>"BOOMER!" Amber calls out, as a fist slams into the raised concrete.

>"ONE SEC!" you yell as you flick one last switch, causing the vertibird to roar to life; even if just for a moment.

>This vertibird was too damaged to fly, at least not for long, but it would serve as a good ram .

>You flick the autopilot switch and jump out as the damaged vertibird roars to life and flies forwards like a bat out of hell, smashing into the face of the red monster

>As you roll from it on the helipad, you hear a loud explosion and a deeper pained roaring from the thing.

>"How is it still standing?!" You hear Pip call out in disbelief .

>You look up from you position in the ground and see the behemoth, covered in deep gouges from the props and 3rd degree burns covering its face and torso.

>Yet still roaring and trying to crush you and your friends.

>It was time then.

>You are an engine of war, you always have been.

>And you lived for the gunfire from your weapon.

>And this gun in your hands was the proof of humanities devotion to warfare as you open fire, each shot tearing chunks of flesh from the frenzied behemoth.

>The blue cubic projectiles melt the things skin and the 308 rounds tear through the open wounds.

>"Gracie! what kind of venom do you have?!" you barely hear over the roar of your gun, the fire you were born for.

>War is in your blood, you were born to kill these savages.

>You smile as you watch each shot vaporize and tear away flesh from this monster before you.

>To survive a direct hit from a vertibird and all your gunfire; this thing, whatever it was, was a threat to everything if it ever left the Sierra Madre.

>"Uhmmmm... I think the thing said I have Z-12 class venom?" you hear Gracie call out as her small caliber gun shoots at this undying monster.

>"Give it to me!" Amber calls.

>You don't have time to look as you reload and begin firing anew, aiming at the shoulders of this monster, only to see it regenerating quickly.

>The shots from your gun, the craters in the flesh of this thing; they all quickly heal, so do the gashes from the vertibird collision.

>"Here sister!" you hear from behind you as you jump to the side, dodging a crushing fist from the blood red behemoth.

>a large amount of blood splatters the helipad, which cracks beneath your feet.

>What was going on? You don't know, nor have time to care as you unload another magazine into it.

>Regeneration would have a limit, at least you hoped it would.

>A fist smashes the ground next to you into gravel as you jump out if the way once more.

>Pip's shots from the compliance regulator slow its movements, allowing you to draw its ire but dodge it.

>Keep shooting, keep trying, otherwise you wouldn't escape, Gracie wouldn't escape and find her other sisters.

>You promised it to her.

>"BOOMER! Cease Fire!" you hear Pip call as a fuzzy blur runs past you.

>Reluctantly you do, as Amber runs to the edge of the Terrance and jumps off, sinking her hatchet deep into the chest of the red monstrosity.

>It screams loudly and tries to grab Amber, only to have her push off from it with her foot paws and flip backwards, then land gracefully on the helipad once again.

>The monster stumbles, grasping at his heart with a confused look.

>Was it confusion? Was it pain? Was it alarmed? You don't know.

>But it collapses backwards, kicking up a cloud of dust with a pitiful whine.

>If it hadn't been trying to kill you, you would feel sorry for it as it moans sadly, grabbing its chest.

>The world would never end with a bang, but with a whimper.

>Even this thing that tried to kill you and your friends, large as a building, laid on the ground crying and trying to stop the pain as venom spread through it.

>"What does Z-12 venom mean" you ask, looking away from the sight of a giant writhing in pain.

>"Her venom is one of the deadliest, you’re lucky she never bit you Boomer" says Amber, panting heavily and kneeling on the ground where she landed.

>Thoughts flashback to when you met Gracie.

>She played dead rather than bite or attack you.

>Her odd and sometimes annoying instinct saved your life then....

>You push that aside for another time though.

>"Well then, at least this thing is dead, can we get this other vertibird going?" you say, stowing your gun, satisfied with its performance.

>She wasn't pretty, but she did damage.

>Pip gets back into the cockpit of the remaining vertibird and continues trying to kick on the engines.

>Gracie pounces on you in excitement .

>"Oh Man Anon! You were so cool! Dodging that monsters fists and still shooting it!" she says nuzzling against you once more.

>"What was it that you and Amber did with your venom?" you ask, pulling her into a hug.

>She snuggles into your chest and the vertibird sputters to life.

>"Sister coated her hatchet with my venom, it's REALLLL potent" She says looking up at you, mismatched eyes glistening in the sunlight.

>Her venom killed that thing; that survived being hit with a vertibird, in less than a minute.

>"You're saying that your venom is strong enough to kill anything?" you say, looking down at her in disbelief "And you chose to play dead instead when you met me??"

>She shrugs and flicks her long tongue against your face.

>"It's a habit, but I’m glad I had it when I met you" she says happily.

>you smile and hug her close.

>"I’m glad too"

>"Hey uh, Boomer" you hear from behind you.

>Your hug breaks and you look at Pip, who sits behind the flight controls of the vertibird.

>"You said you can fly? Wanna take over for me here?" he says with a pained smile.

>He wanted to fly it, you could see it on his face; but he realized you were a better pilot.

>"Sure Pip, but I need a co-pilot" you say walking over to the vertibird.

>He slides over to the co-pilot seat and buckles in as you sit down in the pilot chair.

>"Engines on"

>"Temperatures good"

>You look over the systems one last time.

>"Good to go" you say finally.

>Carefully, you pull the yoke towards you, lifting the vertibird off the ground, scattering dust everywhere.

>"Heading is North by northeast, fly us home boomer" Pip says from his seat beside you.

>Gracie and Amber sit behind you, as you pilot the vertibird over the Sierra Madre grounds.

>You don't even look down at it as you fly above it.

>Letting go of the anger you felt towards this place, was for the best.

>Because of the loss of your eye, you knew you never could.

>Gracie hums happily with your helmet in her lap as you steer the vertibird, leaving the most dangerous place you had ever been behind .

>But as you flew away from it, to the glowing spotlights of New Vegas.

>You knew you would never really need to forgive it, it was a place after all.

>You got what you needed, you paid the price.

>And you were alive, and you now had a love, a mate, a woman who wanted only you.

>Thinking about it, your eye was a small price to pay for the love it brought you.

>And that's all that mattered.