Chapter 23

She had Arcade wait for her by the road as she ventured forward to Nelson alone. And Arcade didn't lie. They fired various rounds of explosives at her. She barely dodged them, fiercely hoping they did not emit radiation. The hearing in her right ear turned to an ever-present ringing, but otherwise, she made it to the gate, unscathed.

The conversation with their head of security was tense, but eventually, the woman relented and let her inside to speak to Pearl, leader of the Boomers.

Despite the bombs and the tense confrontation at the front gate, Pearl was excited to welcome a newcomer into their fold. She had always feared that the Boomers would die off, isolated from the rest of the world. Given Pearl's welcoming demeanor, she was glad that she was the first one that had made it past their volley of bombs. Someone else could have easily rallied the Boomers to their cause, and she definitely needed them.

There was a small catch, and it wasn't unreasonable. She had to prove her friendliness, willingness to get involved in the Boomer community. So after retrieving Arcade, she first went to work with their doctor, healing some of their injured. Arcade was thoroughly ecstatic being inside Nelson.

She did some other chores, taking care of a particular ant problem, listening to Boomer history. It was actually fascinating to learn that they came from a vault. And Mother Pearl was easy to please, making them honorary Boomers for their help. Arcade was even more excited about the leather flight jacket they presented him.

Then, she was left asking Pearl the pressing question. "There's a war coming to Hoover Dam. Would you help me?"

Mother Pearl smiled. "Anything for you."

Something about the exchange troubled Arcade, and he approached her that evening. "I hope helping you means fighting for the independence of New Vegas."

She blinked at him. "The independence?" she repeated. "How would we achieve that when there's the NCR and the Legion?"

"In my opinion, the Mojave is better off without both of them. But we have power—the Boomers are on our side. Let the NCR and the Legion fight it out at the Dam. When they're weakened, the people of Freeside can rise up to claim New Vegas as theirs."

"The Boomers are only one ally," she pointed out. "And I don't expect them to leave the safety of Nelson when they have howitzers."

"Then get more allies. There's the Great Khans. I could even… talk to a few friends. We can do this."

She continued to blink at his inspiring words. Yes Man's suggestions came back to her, and she saw the outcome of Arcade's proposed battle plan before her. With a securitron army, they could win the freedom of New Vegas and the Mojave.

"Okay," she said, nodding slowly. "I think I know another thing that can help us. We need to go back to the Strip."

Arcade nodded, his gaze severe. "We will leave in the morning."

Their journey back to New Vegas filled her with a sickening anticipation. Her chest burned with this empowerment. The future Arcade had painted could be achieved. It was realistic. But, just as realistic, was its defeat. So many uncertainties could crumble that dream. But the important part was that they were trying, and the liberating sense of even having that choice was exhilarating. Gone were the days of the oppressive slave collar.

In this freedom, she thought of visiting Novac and searching for Carla and the Boone family, to rally them to her cause. She missed the support of their friendship. But she doubted the Boones had even stayed in Novac, and she didn't have the time to search for them.

Once they were at New Vegas, she and Arcade bickered over where to stay. Arcade preferred the Vault 21 hotel, and although she did too, she couldn't bear the thought of seeing Sarah again. The prospect of it filled her with a heavy sense of guilt.

"I have to visit the Lucky 38. We can meet up at the Ultra Luxe in an hour."

Arcade was confused by this. "Why the Ultra Luxe?"

She remembered that Caesar wanted them as allies, so she thought she could likewise use them for herself. "Because we could use the support of the Strip Families."

Arcade seemed dubious. "The Families only perpetuate the exploitation and the poverty of Freeside."

"It's like with the Atomic Wrangler. Once we are in a position of more power, we can pick and choose our own allies."

Arcade looked as if he didn't agree but argued no further. "I'm going to need a suit."

They parted ways.

Yes Man was at the Lucky 38 waiting for her. He inserted his operating system into the Lucky 38 mainframe and then, he was able to discover the true purpose of the Platinum Chip.

He took her on an elevator ride to give her a demonstration. What she saw gave her confidence in Arcade's plan.

She discussed potential allies with Yes Man who informed her that the Great Khans were taking up residence in Red Rock Canyon. She would probably need to dispatch the Legionnaire diplomat there to sway their leader, Papa Khan.

After an hour, she changed into the borrowed dress she still had from Sarah and made her way to the Ultra Luxe where Arcade was waiting with an uncomfortable smile.

"I'm terrible at gambling," he confided as she joined him at the Blackjack table. "I think too much about everything."

She didn't look at him as she responded. "It's not about intelligence. It's about luck." Her eyes shifted around the casino for some faction leader or other prominent individual she could appeal to. It was hard to tell the differences in rank when they all wore face masks.

"Here, here," the dealer cried, agreeing with her words before dealing out the next hand of cards.

She continued searching, barely attentive to the soft complaints Arcade issued. After successfully winning one hand, Arcade's complaints lessened. He began shifting his attention to the other patrons of the casino, commenting on their level of attractiveness. He was more complimenting of men, which didn't surprise her. He'd been mildly flirtatious with the doctor at Nelson.

But as Arcade helped himself to more scotch, the comments became bolder. "Now, he is a looker. You can tell how strong he is by how the buttons on his shirt seem to stretch tightly across his chest." He sipped his tumbler of golden liquid. "I bet he's amazing in bed. He has that steely gaze of someone who would be quite dominant. It's pretty sexy."

She turned to see the object of Arcade's affections, curious about the specimen Arcade was so attracted to. But the laugh died on her lips when she saw this glorious man. "That's my husband."

Arcade, too inebriated to notice her apprehension, took another sip. "Lucky," he muttered darkly.