It had been over a year since Haylee had left the Followers; it was all Scrap could do to contain his excitement as she appeared on the balcony above him. Unburdened by his pack as it rested on the floor beside him, Scrap waved frantically toward his estranged friend from the bottom of the stairs. He wanted her to see him. Haylee wasn't like the other humans. She and Joolie worked to help everyone, no matter what, they united people in common pursuits, they didn't care for petty squabbles of faction or background.

They reminded him of Master.

"Help me! Help me, I'm falling!!"

Scrap was pulled from his thoughts by a small voice near the other humans. Without bothering to cinch his satchel closed, Scrap shoulder his treasure trove and leapt the few remaining stairs between him and the penthouse proper. Large strides from powerful legs made sure the Nightkin had closed the distance before anyone could react. Scooping the infant from the floor gingerly, Scrap cooed to the discarded bottle cap as he took a seat away from the wasteful human.

“God damn, we’re heading up there?” Ellie grunts, craning her neck to look up at the massive tower right on the other side of the wall, “How the fuck did a place like that manage to stay standing after the Great War? You’d think a place with as many people as this place was supposed to have would have been a prime target…” she continues, pretty much talking to herself as her and her companion tailed after the big ass robot.

"Whats wrong? Scared of heights?" Rebecca quipped.

“Heights? Fuck no, I grew up in a building taller than that and in nowhere near as good of shape… I’m just surprised it’s so… Intact… y’know? Working lights… And hell, even the shape of that fucking thing makes it look like you just throw a rock at the middle and the top’s gonna tumble.”

"Like a gift from the heavens.. Wish some of the buildings back home looked like this." Rebecca continued.

Ellie glances over her and releases a barking laugh, “You should come visit MY home sometime, now THAT’S impressive. Something build by the people of TODAY, not some fucking light display some bastard scavenged from the old world and claimed his own.

“Tthere’s the Lucky 38! Home of good ‘ol Mr. House himself! He heard that y’all was askin’ about them mag rails, and thought ya’d be interested in a little business proposition.” The robot replied in the annoying accent.
“Yea, we are interested.. Thanks for bringing us here.” Rebecca said before Ellie could even react and looks over at her “So.. ready to see what Mr. Money bags has to offer us? ”

“What the fuck kind of job could someone that swanky have for us?” She asks as they pass through the gate, glancing around nervously at the giant robots flanking the street. “For all we know this could be some plot to fuck with our heads before putting some lead in them.”

“Ellie” Rebecca interrupted. “I promise that you won’t catch a bullet in your head from this guy. If anything IM going to be the one to put a bullet in you... then I can 'carefully' remove it”
“Sorry partner, I can’t go talkin’ about that out here, yer gonna have to take that up with Mr. House and his acquaintances yerself. Ya don’ gotta worry about getting lead in yer noggin though… Although that may be a good idea… seein’ as that last partner that came in here after gettin’ some lead pulled out actually did alotta good.” The robot replied, chuckling, as they approached the flashing stairs leading up to the doors at the base of the tower

Ellie glares over at Rebecca as they step up to the doors, “If they start shooting, you get to play meatshield.” She grumbles, “Don’t worry, I’ll put you back together.” She says with a sarcastic smile before the robot cut in.

“I’m sorry partners, but if you wouldn’t mind continuin’ yer conversation in the elevator, could’ja head on inside? The party is getting’ ready to start any time now. Mr. House is waitin’ for ya” it said, gesturing towards the door

"Like I havn't taken enough bullets already" Rebecca said before heading inside and calling the elevator down "A party huh... I dont like this at all.." She said as the doors open and steps in "Come on butter cup.. Lets go."

With a sigh, Ellie stepped in behind her and waited for the doors to close before slipping her rifle off of her shoulder “I don’t like this… how the fuck did that Mr. House guy find out about us?” she grumbles as she presses the butt of it against her shoulder. You could never be too cautious… She’d learned that through plenty of experience… “And why does nobody know anything about this fucker? No matter who I asked, nobody’s seen his face… I guess he never leaves this tower… For all they know he’s just some brain in a jar…”

“I dont know.. The whole thing feels wrong. Police robots, that.. cowboy robot. Never leaves this tower.. Whole thing is screaming no to me..” Rebecca replied as the elevator finally came to a stop

“Well, if they’re planning something, we’ll be ready…” She grumbles as she lifts the gun and aims it at the door.

As the doors slowly slide open… She was expecting some kind of super robot army waiting to unload on them… Not some a bunch of wannabe cowboys, a guy who looks like he had never seen anything technological in his life, -insert the descriptions of the characters who have no appearance posted- And…

“What… the fuck is that?” she hisses ot Rebecca as she watches the giant purple… THING go down the stairs into the main room… The Pitt had never had a super mutant problem like the west or D.C. had… “It looks like a fucking trog stuffed with buffout..” she mutters as she steps out, doing a sweep of the room with her rifle. She had no idea what the fuck was going on… Some were drinking… some were fighting… and the one thing that really stood out to her... was how the room reeked of piss...

Rebeca gazed up at the 38. Breath taken away. Of course she had seen taller buildings, but this one, somehow managed to go untouched by the old war. "Whats wrong? Scared of heights?" Listening to the ramblings of her pain in the ass she responded "You would think so..." It took a moment, but she regained her self and looked down at the robot that she didnt like. "Like a gift from the heavens.. Wish some of the buildings back home looked like this."

“Heights? Fuck no, I grew up in a building taller than that and in nowhere near as good of shape… I’m just surprised it’s so… Intact… y’know? Working lights… And hell, even the shape of that fucking thing makes it look like you just throw a rock at the middle and the top’s gonna tumble.”Ellie added about the tower.

“Yea? How about I give you a rock and lets see what happens?” She could help but chuckle at the mental image of Ellie trying to knock the top off with a rock. Her little day dream was short lived as Ellie commented.

“You should come visit MY home sometime, now THAT’S impressive. Something build by the people of TODAY, not some fucking light display some bastard scavenged from the old world and claimed his own.” That comment bugged her abit. For all she knew, Ellie could have been including her in there. Shrugging it off with a shake of the head, she heard the robot starting to talk again.

“Tthere’s the Lucky 38! Home of good ‘ol Mr. House himself! He heard that y’all was askin’ about them mag rails, and thought ya’d be interested in a little business proposition.” Her eye twitched for a second. She found the accent of the robot not only annoying, but half brained. As if he wasnt saying words right.

“Yea, we are interested.. Thanks for bringing us here.” With a swift blink, she looked to Ellie. “So.. ready to see what Mr. Money bags has to offer us?”

She quickly found her self listening to Ellie go off on some kind of rant.

“What the fuck kind of job could someone that swanky have for us?” She asks as they pass through the gate, glancing around nervously at the giant robots flanking the street. “For all we know this could be some plot to fuck with our heads before putting some lead in them.”

“Ellie” She interrupted. “I promise that you wont catch a bullet in you're head from this guy. If anything IM going to be the one to put a bullet in you... then I can 'carefully' remove it” She laughed, walking up the steps with the robot and Pain.

Listening to the robot, one thing really stuck in her mind after everything it had said.

“Although that may be a good idea… seein’ as that last partner that came in here after gettin’ some lead pulled out actually did alotta good.”

She cringed at the laugh that followed after the tincan said that. It made her wonder what had happened before, and what kind of 'good' was done.

Rolling her eyes, she nodded to the robot that told them to head inside. "Like I havn't taken enough bullets already" Heading inside, and stright for the elevator, Rebecca called it down. She stood infront of the doors and looked to Ellie. "A party huh... I dont like this at all.." The doors of the elevator dinged open and she stepped inside, "Come on butter cup.. Lets go."

Once inside the elevator, the doors shut and she watched Ellie slide her rifle off her shoulder. “I don’t like this… how the fuck did that Mr. House guy find out about us?” She shrugged at Ellie's words and pulled her pistol out. Holding it at her side, the steel box started gliding up the tower.

“And why does nobody know anything about this fucker? No matter who I asked, nobody’s seen his face… I guess he never leaves this tower… For all they know he’s just some brain in a jar…”

Another good qustion from Ellie. Pulling the hammer back on her pistol, she sighed. “I dont know.. The whole thing feels wrong. Police robots, that.. cowboy robot. Never leaves this tower.. Whole thing is screaming no to me..” The elevator came to a gental stop, and the steel doors slid open.

With a chuckle, her grip on the handgun tightened. The doors opened up, and she expected the worst. Raiders, robots, slavers. Anything except what she saw. Just people, hanging around. About to let her guard down. She heard Ellie hissing.

“What… the fuck is that?” She heard rom Ellie.

Looking in that direction, she saw a massive purple body moving down the stairs. She blinked a few times and walked out of the elevator, gun still drawn. She followed the thing with her eyes and after a few moments, took a step back. "I dont even... Looked more like a shrimp.." she mumbles, knowing Ellie wouldnt know what she was talking about.Now she just stood in the main room, looking around like an idiot, wondering who the people around her where. "What smells like piss?" Taking a few sniffs of the room she blurted out "What smells like piss!?"

MS-00 piloted his Vertibird towards what appeared to be an old amusement park. Stationed beside an underpass, it appeared to be a fairly large trade center. Just after he started lowering his altitude, he heard a metallic clank, a sound he recognized as a bullet of small caliber ricocheting off of the hull.

Going into defensive mode, he brought the helicopter's Laser Gatling online and opened fire on them. When he had counted four kills and could no longer see any enemies, he flew towards the dead bodies and began landing, intending on salvaging anything of worth from their corpses. When he was about one hundred feet from the ground, however, a man in a Merc Charmer outfit stepped out from behind a large rock formation and fired a rocket at the ship. The Vertibird responded to the attack by smoking profusely and spinning, losing altitude too quickly.

After it slammed into the ground, Zero found himself trapped beneath a piece of the windshield. He managed to move his laser cutter around to cut it approximately in half, and lifted the half on top of him out of the way with his claw. He then reactivated his bottom engine and lifted himself off of the ground.

Status check: minor armor damage, negligible structural damage, no damage to critical systems his subroutines told him as he made his way outside to assess the damage to the craft. The man in the Merc outfit must not have liked the idea, as he opened fire on the robot with a 9mm pistol. Zero flew back behind the edge of the bird's loading ramp and aimed his laser emitter at about head height. When the man ran around the corner, Zero activated his targeting computer and locked onto the man's head. At a distance of less than 10 feet, however, the targeting computer wasn't much needed. After four shots, Zero had burned a hole through to his brain and the man collapsed. Zero returned to normal operating mode and began his salvage operation on the bodies of the dead men, storing their gear in the damaged storage crates in the back of the helicopter.

Twenty three point four minutes later, a human in leather armor, leading several other humans and carrying an assault rifle walked up to him as he placed the rocket launcher on top of the other salvaged items in the crate. “Uh, robot? What happened here? Are there any survivors? We've got a doctor.” he said in a southern wasteland drawl.

“These gentleman attacked my Vertibird when they saw me attempt to land. They were too hostile to attempt negotiations and I was forced to kill them. I do not need attention, however, as my systems were only slightly damaged by the crash.”

“Wait,” he said, “So what you're telling me, Mr. Robot, is that you were the pilot and owner of this craft? I didn't know their were any robots around anymore that could keep something this complex functioning.”

“First,” responded Zero. “My serial number is MS dash zero zero, but I prefer to be called Mr. Zero, or just Zero if you prefer that. Secondly, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only robot capable of such repairs that you'll ever meet. And thirdly, keeping a Vertibird in good repair isn't the limit of my abilities, but it is necessary in order to travel to new areas for trade purposes.”

“So, uh, Mr. Zero, you're a mechanic and a trader, and apparently a pilot and decent fighter. If that's the case, I may know of a job a buddy of mine could use some help on, fixin' up some defenses. There'd be plenty of caps in it for you, if you could help us out.”

Zero ran a quick calculation of what it would cost to repair the ship, given that their was a decent supply of salvage in the area. His calculations weren't promising, though. The average cost of repairs, as badly damaged as the Vertibird was, came to 10,427 caps. He knew that the goods he had on board weren't worth even half that. “Very well.” he said, “I will need caps, and access to salvage in order to repair my vessel. I will go and make repairs to your equipment. Don't expect my services to come cheap, though.”

“Well, fer what we'd be needin' 'em fer, I wouldn't expect it.”

–-------

A tall robot rolled up to the front of the gate at the entrance to Primm, a cowboy's face on its screen. “Halt” said an armored man on the other side of a shining blue field which the robot couldn't get through. “State yer biznes in Primm.”

“Howdy there,” said the Securitron, “I've come all the way from New Vegas because I heard you had a robot here that could fix or build anything, even pre-war tech. Now judgin' by this here energy field you've got protectin' the city, I recon I've come to the right place. I need to talk to him if'n you'd allow it.”

“Well, I guess there wouldn' be any harm in letting ya in. But don't try anything funny, ya here?. We've got enough turrets to take you down 'fer you could even draw your gun.” Then man reached over and flipped a large switch, and the field faded. “Welcome to Primm.”

“Well, thank ya, sir. Any idea where I could find the man I'm looking for?”

“Well, I believe he's over near the Vicki and Vance, installing a reactor sos' we don't have to keep buyin' power from the dam. Here's a map of tha town.” He handed the robot a brochure with a carefully copied map drawn on it.

“Thankin' ya kindly, sir.” said the robot as it rolled away, the force-field being reactivated behind it.

When it got to the Vicki and Vance Casino, it looked around, and heard noise coming from beside a nearby Mohave Express building. It rolled over to where it heard the noise and saw a human and a robot arguing over how to properly connect an old nuclear engine from a car.

“No, no, no,” said the hovering robot. “If you connect it like that, it will burn out half the power regulators I just finished building. I don't mind rebuilding them, but your boss would probably make you pay for it.”

“Yeah, I guess he would. I guess we need to expand the system a bit to handle all of the power we're trying to pull from it. We can't even get up above 50% without tripping a safety.”

“I know that, but it's better to have partial power to all of the buildings than full power to a few of them. At partial, at least the turrets will still function.”

“True enough. I'll get to work on finding the stuff to expand the system while you finish up here, ok?”

“Very well,” said MS-00, connecting a large copper wire.

“Excuse me,” said the cowboy robot, “but I've been sent by Mr. House to find you. I assume you're the robotic mechanic we've been hearin' stories about.”

“That most likely true,” said Zero. “I assume this Mr. House has a job for me?”

“Why, yes he does. I can't give you the specifics, but he's come across some pre-war tech that he wishes to have reconditioned. He thought you might be able to help.”

“Well, while I don't mind helping, assuming the caps are good, I'm currently under contract to finish routing power throughout this town. Unless you can convince my employer to release me from that contract, I can't in good conscience go with you until the job is done. And at the rate things are going, it could be several weeks.”

“Oh, well, if that's the case, I'm sure I can convince them to loan you to us.” After Zero had given the robot, who still hadn't mentioned its name, the name and location of his employer, it left, and returned a few minutes later. “I've managed to convince him to let you come with us for as long as we need your help.” it said upon returning.

“I assume you didn't resort to violence? I didn't hear any gunfire.”

“Oh, no, I ain't no rustler. I merely offered him a loan of ten thousand caps to fix this place up, payable one year from now, with a very low interest rate. He was more than happy to accept, as money troubles is one of the reasons he hasn't done this before, and its the reason it's taking so long now. I guess he figured that he could risk losing his best mechanic for a month or two in order to get this place up and running a good bit faster.”

“Well, in that case, lead on.” said Zero.

–-

Zero exited the elevator in a room surrounded completely in glass. Interesting he thought, I haven't heard of a room like this existing after the war. Mr. House must be very well off. “Well, here ya go, pardner. I'll be downstairs if ya need me.” said the single-wheeled robot as Zero left the elevator, and with that, closed the elevator door and left.

"Yep. Henri, or Del. Either one works." Del repsonded to Dallas' introduction, offering a gloved hand to shake as he opened his own beer with the corner of the table. It would probably leave a scratch on the wood, but he wasn't in the mood to pay it much mind. He took a long pull on the piss-warm hootch, but savored the flavor as it went down. Yep. He'd definitely need to take some supplies for the road before he left the building. "Loo' like folk here ain' neva' met no Cajun in they life."

Then the elevator came up yet again, and Del's eyes shot over to the doors as the opened. Two more women, wastelanders, and packing some serious heat. Hell, the brunette was carrying more firepower than just about anyone in the room right now aside from the retard that played a prank with the grenade. He heard them both ask at about the same time...

"What smells like piss?"

"Dat'd be our NCR boy 'ere." He responded in as polite a tone as he could manage, jabbing a thumb over at Sabin before he took another pull on his beer. "Fella in de glasses decided t'rownin' g'nades'd be fuckin' hilarious. Den our Nigh'kin friend got up here...s'prised the po' kid. Jus' how many folk'd Tenpenny hire fo' dis job, eh?"

Poe quickly stashed his plasma defender, but kept the baseball bat slung over his shoulder. This many people clumped together in a tight, enclosed space was just asking for trouble. He approached Castillo and Hayley where they were seated, making a point of not hearing Sabin's last insult. They would have more than a thousand miles, back and forth three times, for Poe to kill him. Poe was not a patient man, but the innumerable possibilities of horrible fates that could befall the young man kept Poe happy and hale enough to quench the smoldering embers of animosity and rancor that told him to kill the boy and then blow his corpse into charnel.

"Hello again little ember." Poe nodded to Hayley, his smile lazy and subdued as he twirled his bat off his shoulder and planted its head on the tile floor, leaning on it like a cane as he addressed the pair. "You look like you've lost a few inches. Maybe this time around you won't set off as many of my pressure plates." His head swayed as his gaze drifted to Castillo. "In case our mutual accomplice hasn't already told you - I am Poe. Assuming there hasn't been an abrupt change of plans, I'm supposed to be the security and supply expert for our little group of motes and pebbles." His gaze veered back to Hayley. "I wasn't able to procure a Pipboy on the way here - but I managed to get my hands on the one our least favorite hanger-on is wearing." He nodded in Dallas' direction. "Redundancy would be nice though. Do you know if anybody else is going to have one?"

Plotting revenge in his head was the sweetest feeling, he decided. Everything in him wanted vengeance for the injustices shown to him by that dirty wastelander. He had decided that the mutant wasn't his enemy, but he was still edgy around him. And still a bit afraid, too, but he'd never admit that. Besides, it had all been that scumbags fault for playing his stupid little joke in the first place. And how dare he suggest that Sabin was fighting for nothing? He'd get his revenge, and he was willing to bet that ample opportunities would present themselves across their journey. Still savoring the imagined images in his head, he heard the elevator clang open.

Sabin looked to the two figures that were spit out by the elevator, looking them up and down. They were both women, he concluded. Of course, growing up with the NCR, he was used to humans of both genders being treated equally, so that didn't alter his opinion much on them. They looked decently armed, and he decided that they could handle themselves in a firefight. Sabin's face reddened as they both asked about the smell of piss that was obvious throughout the room. They wouldn't expect him now that he had changed, right? He didn't want even more people to think of him as a foolish child. When Del decided to take it onto himself to inform them of his accident, he stared upon him indignantly, his mouth open in anger. "Hey! What the hell're you talking 'bout? Must be the mutant that's showin' off that smell, but it sure as hell ain't me!"

As the robot entered through the elevator, Sabin raised his eyebrows. First a mutant, and now some kind of...robot? Where the hell were all these... things coming from? And how would they assist in this expedition? He didn't freak out just as much as he did when he'd seen the mutant, but he was definitely quite startled by this contraption too. Sure it couldn't be sentient, it was a barking pile of metal for Pete's sake! He continued to stare open-mouthed, trying to come onto a conclusion about the strange bot.

"Fella in de glasses decided t'rownin' g'nades'd be fuckin' hilarious. Den our Nigh'kin friend got up here...s'prised the po' kid. Jus' how many folk'd Tenpenny hire fo' dis job, eh?"

What the fuck is it with this place? Can ANYBODY fucking speak without sounding like they're Jet cookers with a mouthful of ingredients? It took a moment for Ellie to be able to understand what the fuck that guy had said... something about throwing grenades... a "Nie-kin..." whatever the fuck that was.... And some fuck named Tenpenny...

"Hey! What the hell're you talking 'bout? Must be the mutant that's showin' off that smell, but it sure as hell ain't me!" Yelled the guy that was apparently the accused as to the piss smell.

"Can it piss pants, do you really wanna piss off that.." she glances over at the purple creature again, still more than a bit nervous about it, "... thing... It looks like it'd tear your arms off and beat you to death with them. SHe said before turning back to the guy who sounded like he was chewing on brahmin shit.

"Who the hell is Tenpenny? We were grabbed by one of those ugly-ass bots and sent up here for some big wig named 'House'." She says, scanning the room, the butt of her rifle still on her shoulder, but the barrel aimed at the ground as she looks over the man who had addressed her. "Which one of you is that?"

Her pistol was slid back into its holster as she listened to one man explain the piss smell. Glancing over she looked at the rather young looking NCR trooper that was suppose to be the reason behind the smell. Pulling the hood off her head, she couldn't stop a grin from showing as Sabin passed the blame of the smell onto that strange mutant that had run off. "Well.. when you gotta go.. you gotta go right?" She said with a shrug. Walking away from the elevator, leaving Ellie to do her own thing for a while, she walked up to Sabin, still holding that same grin. "What's you're name?"She asked him, giving his outfit a quick one over.

"...It looks like it'd tear your arms off and beat you to death with them..." She nodded to her self as Ellie said that behind her. "If only I could be so lucky.." She mumbled, glancing over in the last direction she saw the mutant go. "Never seen anything like that before.. Are there a lot of them around here?" She asked anyone that might have been listening. It wasn't the biggest mutant she had ever seen before, but this so called Nie-kin was the first one of its kind that she had seen on her travels.

Ellie still seemed to be on guard with her weapon drawn. "Yea... we came to see a Mr. House.." Glancing back at the NCR boy she smiled. "You have any idea which one of these people are Mr. House? Creepy cowboy robot grabbed us and sent us up here, saying MR. House wanted to see us... Know anything about him?" Yes she asked the boy a lot of questions, but she figured if a soldier didn't know, then it wasn't likely that some washed up cowboy that had a hard time pronouncing words would know who she was looking for.

The indignant expression remained plastered on Sabin's face, still irritated about the entire affair. Why couldn't these damn wastelanders just give him a break and forget about the entire thing? He hadn't peed all day, and with a giant damned mutant squeezing you it's not easy to hold something like that in! He sure as hell wouldn't allow for more people to learn of his blunder, perhaps he could salvage his reputation with the few people that had just arrived. It was pretty obvious that they already thought it was him, but he'd make sure they knew it wasn't! "Like I said, it was the barking mutant that pissed all over! Bet its god damned radiated bladder can't hold any o' that in for more than twen'y minutes!" Sabin yelled a bit louder than he meant to, his eyebrows arching downwards in anger as he flung both his arms in the direction of the creature. He was glad when the woman walked over to him, he could use it as a way to change the subject. "Private Sabin Sharp of the NCR at your service, ma'am!" he would respond rather proudly to her question, his head held high. He'd execute a salute followed by a little bow afterwards, too. If there was anything that could distract him from current events, it was his position among the NCR.

Hearing her question about the mutant, Sabin took it upon himself to answer her. "There sure ain't a lot er' those mutants around here, thanks to the efforts of the NCR! They're all bloodthirsy, murdering beasts devoid of emotion an' ready to rip a man in half with jus' its bare hands. All of 'em are the same, includin' this abomination standin' over yonder." he would say, pointing off to where the mutant had gone. "'e may be hidin' it now, but just you wait, once it gets hungry it won' hesitate to eat one of us, so we gotta be ready." Afterwards, he added under his breath, "...Unless it's that dirt crusted scum eating wastelander with his damned grenades..." Mutants were mutants, Sabin thought, and in the end they'd all be enemies to mankind, no matter how much you tried to justify them.

"Don't know nothin' more than anyone else about this House bloke, all I know that he's some barking mysterious rich fella who apparently lives up 'ere somewhere." afterwards, he added in a whisper, "'eard he's evil, drinks the blood of unsuspecting folks so that 'e doesn' age, lives forever. Best be careful aroun' 'im once he makes his appearance."

"Tenpenny's de one hirin' us, soun's like. House runs dis territory, prob'ly jus' providin' de meetin' place an' de supply caps." Del said in answe to the women's questions, but just as quickly the kid went and opened his mouth too. He thought about cuffing him upside the head, but he was too comfortable in his seat to move right now. "It's half an' half. Second Gen'ation Supah Mutants be dumb as hell an' crazy violen', yeah. First Gen'ation 'bout mellow out afta' nine'y year o'so. Dey de ones dat talk to ya an' be nice-like." Then he turned his head over toward Scrap and cleared his throat a bit.

"Nigh'kin be...eh...lil' crazy. Dem Stealthboys dey use mess wit' their brains an' such. Schitzophrenia an' such. Hear ol' Marcus got some cure fo' it now, though. Dis one seem harmless."

"It okay. little cap. Scrap will find use for you. Humans love caps, you see soon."
...
"No, shhh. That human dumb. That human waste caps. Scrap know better. Scrap find you use."

Scrap huddled around his new friend near the back of the penthouse, comforting the abandoned bottle cap and trying his best to ignore the numerous humans nearby.

Scrap. Scrap, we know you hear them.
They're talking about you.
They're plotting against you.

Scrap tried his best to ignore the Junk and their prodding as he continued to soothe the bottle cap.
"Yes...Scrap will...Scrap will find you home little cap. You see...you...see..."

The human turns the others against you.
Let us help you, Scrap. Let us out.
Let us hurt.

Lassoing the rope cinch around his sack quickly, Scrap silenced the voices once again though their words echoed still. Raising to his feet and pocketing the young cap, Scrap bellowed as he swiftly made for the others. "You lie, Tiny Man! Scrap not hurt! Scrap work!" As his raged boiled, his sentences grew shorter and his steps quicker. Before either of them knew it, Scrap was within spitting distance of the soldier and the stranger beside him. A new pair of eyes burned his skin as she looked him up and down.

Furious, Scrap hovered his large head mere inches from the man's face and inhaled deeply. Burrowing his gaze into the small man's, Scrap barked a threat with the few remaining words he could muster. "No lie. Have your scent."

Seething to himself, Scrap snatched the Teddy Bear from the man's arms and moved swiftly toward another human who didn't know better than to brandish their weapon in pleasant company. Stopping much shorter than he had with the man, his rage subsiding, Scrap held the bear toward Ellie insistently. "You take this. Weapon is not toys."

Dallas quickly slid his knife back into it's sheath, and took another swig of beer. 'This is shit beer...' Dallas muttered quietly. He didn't really care though, he was somewhat thirsty. He took another swig and watched the Super mutant take the bottle cap, scurrying away like a mouse. Dallas didn't care, honestly. He didn't mind Scrap taking his bottle cap when he could've just taken it for himself. Dallas looked back to his beer and took another swig of his terrible beer. 'Still not as good as scotch...' He said to himself, looking at the beer bottle. Dallas held his beer bottle in his hand, looking around the room. He noticed the two new girls come in. Finally, Dallas was getting tired of just men through out the place. He took another swig of his beer and waited for more to come.

Ellie couldn't help curiously watching the big purple... thing... the Nie-kin.... What the hell was a Nie-Kin? Was it an affliction around here like the Trog was in the Pitt? The Trogs still seemed mostly human though... This thing was MASSIVE... Although it seemed slightly unstable, seeing to baby a single cap as if it were the most important thing in the world. The only thing she could truly figure out about it... Was that she should do her damndest NOT to piss it off, and that having it as a friend would be a very, very good idea.

As she studied the Nie-Kin, she caught snippets of the conversation around her... Piss pants giving his name that she would never remember, and "Piss pants" would be so much easier to remember... That same guy further insulting the Nie-kin, showing her that he wasn't the sharpest scalpel, and if there was ever any precision work he needed to be far, FAR away... But he MIGHT make a good meat shield... So maybe she could tolerate the smell of piss to let him fulfill that purpose... But the way he was going on about the Nie-kin she decides to stay away from him for now.

Then the guy who sounded like he was chompin on jet ingredients started his barely intelligible talk... Stealthboys being pretty much the only thing she cared about from it... Something about the Nie-kin going insane from the use of them... So the Nie-kin were sneaks? Even more reason to stay on his good side... And that view was reinforced as the Nie-kin starts raging and storms over to Piss pants, tearing a teddy bear from his arms before stomping over towards her.

She, was nowhere near proud enough to even try to deny the jolt of fear that shot through her as she watched the massive creature stomping over to her, teeth bared... She didn't realize that the snarl was their default expression yet... It took every bit of her self control not to start firing. She doubted her rifle would succeed in doing anything more than pissing it off further.

So she just stands there, statue still, fighting the urge to run as it looms over her, keeping her rifle lowered so as not to aggravate it even further... And when it stopped she finally released the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in, and her eyes drifted to the teddy bear.

It's.... it's.... giving me a teddy bear? this massive monster is giving me a teddy bear?

She couldn't wrap her mind around the absurdity of the situation she found herself in... And she cracked a little as she reached out to take the teddy bear, her other hand slinging the rifle up on her shoulder as she laughs audibly, nearly hysteric.

"A teddy bear?" She laughs as she grabs it, "Thank you big guy, I know weapons aren't toys" She says, nodding as the laughter starts to fade, "Sorry, just didn't know what to expect up here... For all we knew this Mr. House person thought we were asking too many questions and planned to put a bullet in our skulls. Can't be too careful." she says as she tucks it under her arm and holds out a hand, doing her damndest to be as polite as humanly possible with the mutant. "The name's Ellie big..." she pauses, looking it over.... Did it even have a gender? Well... it looked masculine so might as well take a shot and hope it doesn't decide to tear her arm off, "...guy... What's yours?"

Rebecca squinted one eye as Sabin raised his voice when he tried to defend his dignity, his piss soaked dignity. Clearly he didnt like people thinking he had pissed him self, but she understood sometimes a soldier has to piss on them selfs from time to time. “Now that you mention it...” She started to say, giving Sabin a wink. “Ever sense the mutant left, the piss smell went away too. Guess it really was the mutant” Really, she had no idea if it had been him, or the mutant, but the way he acted told her it was really him.

She pulled her self together when learning his rank. Oh how she hated being a boot licker rank. But that was life. But Sabin didnt seem to mind. Maybe things where different in the NCR. She saluted him none the less and gave a short giggle at his bow. “Nice to meet you privet. Names Rebecca.”

She listened to him explain the situation about the mutants around here. Having never seen one before she was bound to beleave damn near anything that was said about them. “So the NCR hunts mutants too? My my.. such hero's!” she exclaimed. But weather she was really impressed would be hard to determine “Really that strong and unstable..? Well I guess its a good thing we got such a strong NRC soldier with us then right?” With a smile, she finally heard something she wanted. Somthing about the House.

"Don't know nothin' more than anyone else about this House bloke, all I know that he's some barking mysterious rich fella who apparently lives up 'ere somewhere." afterwards, he added in a whisper, "'eard he's evil, drinks the blood of unsuspecting folks so that 'e doesn' age, lives forever. Best be careful aroun' 'im once he makes his appearance."

Of course she didn’t be-leave House drank the blood of other people.. But one thing she knew. He had to be rich to have a place like this one. “Really?” She whispered back to him. “You.. Your not gonna let him drink our blood right?” A fake hint of fear slowing in her voice.

Despite what Del had said about the mutants, and the different generations of mutants. It wouldnt change what she really thought of them. She was taught by the end of the day, a mutant is still a mutant. They couldn’t and wouldn't help people in anyway shape or form. So the best mutant was a dead mutant.

Though no sooner she thought that, did the ugly thing run up to them. Fast, strong, and.. dumb? This isn't a good combination.. She thought to her self. But before she could really do or say anything to the beast, he had yelled some threats, and taken... a.. teddy bear? from Sabin. Dumbfound she looked at Sabin and blinked a few times with a semi hard swallow.

Sabin smile broadened as the woman seemingly believed his story, glad that another person wouldn't think he was a barking child. When she introduced herself, Sabin responded politely, "Nice to meet you, ma'am!" He swelled up even higher with pride as the woman admired the NCR as heroes, saying that she was glad to have one along. "Just doing my job, ma'am." Sabin said, saluting once again. The compliments made Sabin almost forget about the accident, too caught up in his pride to feel embarrassed over his mistake.

Of course, his superstitious implications that House was some kind of blood sucker was obviously foolish nonsense, though naive Sabin seemed to truly believe them. He looked as if he were just about to burst with pride as the woman asked him if he was going to protect them from blood sucking Mr. House. "Of course ma'am, I'll do everything in my powers t' make sure that no citizens will be harmed from no blood suckin' beast. He won't touch ya." He swallowed the fake fear without question. He would keep everyone safe, it was the last thing he did.

When the mutant approached him once again and thrust its face only inches from his, he breathed in the probably acrid scent of the mutant's breath. He squeaked in terror again, but he couldn't freak out again, his reputation was on the line. Instead he stood strong, staring fearfully into the mutant's eyes but not faltering. Sabin was just about to crack when the creature finally grabbed the teddy bear from his arms. He hadn't even realized he was still carrying the thing, he must of picked it up on accident and forgot about it. Sabin, of course, didn't catch a word that the mutant had said, too engulfed in his own fear. As the mutant finally backed off, he took a breath, realizing that he had been holding his breath. Phew, that sure was a close one, he'd been seconds away from getting his head bit off; again! He'd have to be much more careful around the mutant, he obviously would turn on them sooner or later.

"Elee..." As he had with Stalking Bear, Scrap rattled around the name in his mouth, the human's pleasant demeanor a nice change of pace from the others he had met today. Indeed, Scrap noticed he liked this human already, some animal magnetism though he didn't quite know what. Lifting his paw of a hand to hers, Scrap touched his palm against the human's outstretched hand, a trick Joolie had taught him when greeting incoming shipments when she was busy with patients after one too many couriers left with a broken wrist.

His mood noticeably more jovial than before, Scrap's words found him once more. "Raauuugh, Elee. My name Scrap. You call me Scrap. Scrap here to work. Scrap on best behaviour. Scrap not hurt no one. Not listen to Tiny Man. Scrap work with Junk. Scrap fix anything! What Elee do? Why Elee here?" Adjusting his pack to a more comfortable position, Scrap eyed the human expectantly.

Zero watched the humans with interest. Well, most of them were human. Certainly, the Supermutant was genetically diverse enough from the rest of them that he was a different species? That would be an interesting study, to see how different their genomes were, though I doubt I would be able to salvage the proper equipment. Building it would take to long and would cost too much, though. He filed the idea away for later use. Perhaps one day he'd find someone rich enough to afford to do a proper genetic study of the various sapient and near-sapient lifeforms throughout the world. The medical uses of such a study would be immense, given that many of them seem to have particularly useful talents. Perhaps a superior radiation-resistance or radiation-removal drug could be reverse engineered from the ghouls or Supermutants?
After watching what was apparently some form of human mating ritual involving deceit about urinary incontinence and false bravado, not to mention an ample dose of stupidity, he saw the Supermutant frighten the man and, surprisingly, talk some sense into him. I suppose that's even more evidence that a being should be treated as an individual first and a member of a certain species later. There are few Supermutants that would have had the time or patience for philosophy, even on such a level.
He floated over to the Supermutant, intending on furthering his understanding of how he was different from his fellow Supermutants, when he heard the large man tell a human woman beside him that he fixed things. Zero was intrigued. A mechanic, among a race that wasn't known for their intellect? Even more intriguing.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt your discussion, Scrap, Elee," he rotated his body slightly downward in a type of bow or nod to each one, "but I couldn't help but overhear." He turned one of his eyes towards the large man. "You say you are a mechanic? That's wonderful. Judging by the behavior of the others here, it seems we are the expedition's maintenance staff."

Once the mutant left with the teddy bear and walked over to talk with Ellie, she felt a pain in her chest. What her eyes saw, was indeed a teddy bear. Finally the pain got to be to much and she started to cough. Just as quickly as she started to cough, it turned into laughter. Boy did she feel safe with an NCR trooper that had to carry around a teddy bear. Rebecca tried to take deep breaths between laughs, but it wasnt working out. The terror filled squeak that escaped Sabin was fresh in her mind. After about a minuet of laughing, she calmed down and looked at her new NCR hero, . A look of shame for laughing spread across her face. She looked down at the floor, and managed to get a look at the troopers pants.

It wasnt hard to keep a straight face when acting scared of House. It was easy to fill Sabin with a sense of well being. The way he swallowed her words was something else. Of course being from the easy she knew next to nothing about the NCR, or its people.“No need to call me ma'am.. Makes me feel older then I really am.” A soft smile tried to erase the ashamed look while she tried to avoid having him ask why she was laughing “Now I feel safe” She said to him. “Stood you're ground to a blood thirst, rip you in half mutant like that..” She took a very small step closer and added “Promise to be that fearless when ever House shows up?”

In the background she was listening, or trying to listen, to find out what Ellie and the mutant had started talking about. Noticing how friendly Ellie was with the thing, she only felt abit of disgust. You mutant loving... You must have been sad when the trog vanished.." She thought about Ellie. Someday she would need to learn that mutants couldn't be friends.

Ellie couldn't help grinning, partially out of nervous fear. It was as if she was standing on a buried power mine... Unsure if it was a pulse or plasma mine... And for all she knew it could explode any second and fuck her day up. As the Nie-kin pressed his palm against hers she felt horribly small and insignificant... But she keeps a strong face and grips one of his sausage fingers and shakes hands with him. As he starts questioning her, the smile falters for a moment before it returns,

"Well, my companion" She gestures over to Rebecca, pausing for a moment before shouting over "Who if she's gonna start sucking soldier dick needs to take it to another room! We already got in you don't need to try to get the caps anymore!" Once she's done taunting her companion she turns back to Scrap, "We're from out east, just roaming our way cross country. When we got here to New Vegas we heard about this mission for the Mag rails and started asking around... and then some psycho cowboy securitron found us and brought us here... And as for what I do, I'm a doctor.." She says, shifting the teddy a bit in her arms, not quite sure what to do with it. "So, Scrap.... Where're you from? I've.. uhm... Never seen one of you before... That guy over there said you're a... Nie-kin?"