It should come as no surprise the Courser is dead by my own hands.
Nick and I found him at the nearby Greentech Genetics, waging a one-man war against a squadron of military-styled mercenaries who apparently call themselves “Gunners”. Not that it matters. They’re all dead now.
As I approached the Courser he managed to hear my footsteps. With a gun in my face, I told him I needed what was inside his head and he was about to meet his friend Kellogg. That must have spooked him, because instead of shooting he attempted to use an old military Stealthboy to escape. But not before I tackled him to the ground and forced my combat knife deep into his neck.
When he stopped moving, I ripped the whole damn thing off his shoulders and placed the gruesome prize in my rucksack. I know that chip is somewhere in his brain, but frankly I don’t feel like performing surgery out in the wild. I also stripped him of his superior armor, even though it is a bit too black-trenchcoat-over-black-clothes for my taste.
Turns out the Courser was there to track down a synth who escaped The Institute, only to be captured and sold by these Gunners as a slave. So naturally, I executed the slavers and freed the synth. But the synth was terrified of me, and refused to leave until I was gone. Given what she just witnessed me do, I can’t say I blame her.
I am no hero. I’m just a bigger monster than these other monsters.
This was confirmed by the screams of Dr. Amari when I plunked the head onto her desk in Goodneighbor.
“What the hell is that thing?!”
“It’s a courser. Or more accurately, it’s a courser head. I need you to get the chip out of its brain so I can decode it and get into The Institute.”
“Are you insane?! How did you even track down a courser, let alone kill it?”
“I’m…I’m not entirely sure. My memory is still a bit…untrustworthy, since the last time I saw you.”
“Yes. Yes I worried if there were going to be lasting side effects of such an unprecedented procedure. But you were quite insistent!”
Nick interrupted, “If we could just get back to the decapitated head in the middle of the room…”
Dr. Amari agreed to help me recover as much as possible but said it would take time. So I bought us a room at the Hotel Rexford and told Nick I was going out for a drink. I expected he might warn me, or tell me to be careful, but he never did. He knows me too well for that now. I can see it in his eyes when he thinks I’m not looking. The look of a man who is in way over his head but doesn’t know how to leave.
I made my way over the The Third Rail, a bar in what used to be State Station. Before The Day happened and turned my world into…this.
The bouncer is a ghoul in a nice suit. The bartender is a robot wearing a bowler hat. But the singer, yes the singer, is a stunning older woman in a sequined red dress.
She asks if I liked the song when she steps off the stage and sits at the stool next to mine. I guess I was starring a bit more obviously than I intended.
“I’m sorry, I just haven’t heard live music in a very long time.”
“That’s okay handsome. I love a captive audience. And you have the look of someone who could use it.”
I buy us a few rounds and we get to talking. She quickly evades any questions I have about her life, but is also polite enough to return the favor. Every time she calls me “handsome” I squirm a little too obviously on my stool.
During the evening she gives my left hand a sly look and says to me, “I may be wrong, but if I’m not mistaken that’s a wedding band.”
“It is. My husband gave it to me less than a year before he died. Before our child was kidnapped right out of his arms.”
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry to hear that. This wasteland takes everything it can.”
Whitechapel Charlie continues to pour drinks. Magnolia and I continue to drink them, the alcohol making us feel warm and safe. When her next set starts, she asks if I have any special requests. So I ask for Billy Holiday. She sings “The Very Thought of You”. Just for me.
For the first time I can remember since I woke up in that Vault, I feel tears stream down my face. Her voice is so beautiful, and she is so kind. She is the first person in this awful world who hasn’t asked me for anything upon first meeting them.
“What’s the matter, handsome? Didn’t like the song?”
“No, I loved it. A little too much, maybe.”
A long silence between us hangs heavy. Many of the patrons have already called it a night.
“Do–Do you want to get out of here? Maybe go for a walk?”
“Sure handsome. Let me get my coat.”