The trio was led by House through the city, visiting many different establishments, shops, and even the few rebuilt icons of Pre-War Vegas. House had recreated many things, such as the Bellagio Hotel, complete with its iconic fountains (Which were occasionally drank from by the populace as a free source of water), the Ferris Wheel, and even the Luxor Hotel... Though, this version was equipped with many defence systems that'd destroy any bombardment from above...
Rose was extremely happy with the Arcades House had built, and the trio had spent two hours simply enjoying themselves inside... Eventually, though, it was time to visit Josie, who'd become the Head of Security for New Vegas.
To reach her they end up having to enter the Lucky 38, where Tamia's office had been set up. House knocks on her door a couple times before receiving the 'Ok' to enter. As soon as the door enters Rose runs through, cheering as she throws herself at Tamia, accidentally throwing a stack of papers to the floor as she does so.
"Auntie!"
"Wha-Rose! You can't just go jumping at people!" Tamai grouses while reluctantly hugging the girl in her arms.
"But I missed you!"
...
"I missed you too..." Tamia says with a sigh, looking up and spotting Afton and Josie at the door.
"Er, hi... Thought it'd be good to give you a visit, you know, see how you're doing." Afton sheepishly says while scratching the back of his head. Walking over to help pick up the scattered papers that Rose had knocked over.
Josie steps up and gives Tamia a hug, though, Afton could tell there was some tension between the two... "How are you doing?"
Tamia shrugs, "Good, but busy mostly. No thanks to you, Afton." she states.
"What did I do now?" he audibly mutters.
She shakes her head, "It's not what you did, it's what you haven't done! More and more refugee's keep fleeing from the Enclave, Brotherhood conflict. I'll ask the same thing I did two years ago, why not just wipe them out and take control yourself!?"
He stands and deposits the paperback on her desk, "I'll give the same reason I gave last time as well then. If I got rid of both factions, I'd be responsible for taking care of the people who live there... That'd be a logistical nightmare! And it'd likely break into civil wars and rebellions not long after... I can't be aware of everything and present everywhere." he states.
House finally enters the room, having been waiting for Tamia to air her grievances to Afton, "Did I not offer you a solution to this? Wage war yourself, and hand the maintenance to me... I'll bring the region's glory back, much the same as I have with the Mojave." he offers.
Afton has to force his scowl down, knowing exactly what sort of game House was playing. "We both know that would take far more resources than you currently have at your disposal, House. The Mojave has only just become stable enough to lower our security measures... How many years would it take for you to deal with the whole of New California after the Enclave is wiped out? Long enough to cause mass starvation and homelessness I reckon." he states.
Josie decides to butt into the conversation, "Guys, can we not talk about business for one day? The is the first time we've taken Rose here, it'd be a shame if she never wanted to come back."
"But this place is cool Mamma!" Rose exclaims from Tamia's lap.
"Shh, Rose, I'm trying to make a point here."
Tamia shakes her head, "Whatever... Since you're here though, you should probably know that the Enclave has started using Pulse Weaponry against the Brotherhood... I doubt the war will last much longer considering..."
Afton shrugs, "Not. My. Problem." he says in a sing-song tone.
"Not your problem. But a problem for the rest of us." a raspy voice states from the corner of the room.
"Wah!" Josie, Afton, and funnily enough, House, all jump in surprise at the sudden appearance of the voice.
Ulysses steps out from the corner and Rose laughs at her parents for being scared of her uncle.
"When did you get here?" Afton asks.
Ulysses grins behind his mask, "I was always here, you just never noticed..."
"Creepy bast-*Ahem*, Basket case." Josie flowers from the side, never having liked Ulysses in the first place.
"I know it is now my place to say this. But you need to make your stance known, Afton. The people follow Sol, and Sol follows Bulwark. As far as they know, you do not care for the plight of the people living under the conflict... I have witnessed many refugee's begging for Bulwark to save their homes..." he trails off.
Afton shakes his head, "Why should we get involved in a conflict we have no involvement in?"
Ulysses eyes him, "Bulwark was built to preserve technology and protect the innocent... Or was I mistaken? Both the Brotherhood and Enclave have started using more dangerous types of technology, the battle forcing their inner beasts to come forth... The war was started to gain resources, but is now solely to prevent each side's own annihilation."
...
Afton stands there silently, chewing his lip as he tries to think over everything... There were many things to consider, resources, the tech each side might have, his former connections with the Brotherhood, the Enclave's intentions... But all of that quickly faded away when presented with one thing.
"Daddy? Why won't you save them?" Rose suddenly asks from Tamia's lap with moist eyes. The three-year-old somehow summing up everything in a single question.
In the end, they were right... He didn't want to use Bulwark's resources to muscle in on a war that'd soon end... He wanted to finish off whoever was left standing, but, that would lead to many dead civilians... All of which probably could have been avoided if he'd taken action sooner.
In the end, what father could say no to his daughter?
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It doesn't take long after Afton's meeting with House and Tamia for him to make preparations for his intervention in the Enclave, Brotherhood war.
He was currently waiting in the newly made control room that was created atop the Think Tank. It's here where he could simultaneously control literally everything, from the teleportation satellites, orbital lasers, and troop patrols, to the light switches inside each and every Bulwark home.
Of course, due to this place being incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands, there had been many security blocks to prevent people from gaining access to it... The first of which required Afton's flesh shaped into a key, the lock would take DNA samples from many parts of the object simultaneously before confirming their authenticity and freshness.
Obviously, this was almost impossible to unlock without Afton's plant arms... Rose might be able to do it in the future once she gets better with her abilities, but that's only if her DNA is similar enough to his own to bypass the lock.
Other than that, there were many other obstacles, including Glados who keeps an everpresent eye on the control room itself.
High-tech control room aside, Afton was observing the many, many monitors being transmitted from various locations around the Mojave, New California, and other parts of North America, included areas in which the Institute is most active.
He ignores most of the screens simply depicting empty streets and buildings, instead focussing on the battlefield where the largest conflict of the war between the Enclave and Brotherhood was occurring.
Releasing a sigh, takes a glance at the monitor which showed Josie and Rose who were visiting Jacobstown, Marcus, and the rest of the mutants... Why were they visiting such a place? Well, both he and Josie thought it'd be a good idea to expose her to many different types of people... Rose may one day be in charge of Bulwark, so they had to make sure she wouldn't discriminate against anyone... Not even Supermutants.
Of course, he didn't trust the Nightkin, even after their schizophrenia was mostly healed, so he'd sent a small army of Ultimo-Bots to keep tabs on them.
Shaking his head, he looks back to the battle, "I promised Rose to save the innocents affected by this war... And I intend to keep my word." he quietly states.
"Glados, power up the Orbital Lasers and have them at the ready... Mark each and every Enclave base and Brotherhood fortification... Try to avoid places that also contain civilians.
"Affirmative."
He slowly nods to himself and chews his lip anxiously... These weapons were created to fight off the impending Alien invasion that Shani supposedly saw... Yet now he was about to annihilate two major factions with them.
"Have House ready to secure the major positions after the enemy troops are wiped out... Also, make sure that those care packages land where they're supposed to, and aren't stolen by bandits in the meantime.
"Affirmative... Orbital Bombardment, ready. Proceed?"
"Pro-cee... Wait, what's that?" Afton suddenly asks, focussing on a monitor which showed something being launched down from the sky... It didn't look to be landing anywhere important, only an average-sized village just outside the Mojave...
Fortunately for the people occupying the village, the object was falling close enough to the Mojave borders that the anti-air fortification could pick it up.
A few missiles are launched and fly towards it, easily destroying the thing and creating a big plume of smoke from the explosion.
...
Only, smoke wasn't the only thing released once the object was destroyed... From the plume of smoke, a thick green gas quickly started descending from the sky, straight towards the village. It was falling so fast that Afton wondered if it was just dense powdered metal...
It quickly reaches the village and envelopes it, the surveillance inside the village allowing him to see the effects of the gas on its occupants...
He was expecting everyone to start mutating into monsters, or turning into zombies... Or even going into an enraged state and start killing each other... But none of this happens, the only noticeable thing is when the villagers start randomly falling over unconscious... No... Judging by how still they were, the villagers had simply just slumped over dead.
"Father, more objects incoming." Glados states, allowing Afton to now see the many, many similar objects falling on almost every populated location, from the West Coast to the East Coast.
"Glados! Begin evacuation procedures! Get everyone in Bulwark to the bunkers, and warn House! Now!" he shouts, turning his attention towards where Josie and Rose were.
Jacobstown hadn't been hit yet, but it was only a matter of time. He quickly has the Ultimo-Bots retrieve the duo from the Jacobstown mansion and take them outside so the teleportation relays can pick them up.
He watches as Josie and Rose are taken outside and begin to wait to be taken away... Another object begins falling towards Jacobstown, but Afton was sure he'd be able to get his wife and daughter out before it hits... The satellite locks on and... Doesn't work...
"What!?" he exclaims, while grabbing the monitor, "Glados! What the fuck is holding it!?"
"There is some sort of obstruction of the wavelengths responsible for transporting material... Any attempts to teleport will result in the person's insides becoming outsides... I am sorry, father."
Afton pales as the anti-air turrets target the object over, destroying it and unleashing the gas, which rapidly begins falling towards Rose and Josie. He can't do anything but watch as they are enveloped in the green gas, a look of absolute despair decorating his face.
"FUUCK! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! FUCK!" he shouts while slamming his fist on a nearby desk, easily demolishing it.
"Father, the battlefield." Glados warns, as many more objects begin falling on the Enclave, Brotherhood battlefield, along with every other populated location in America... Or maybe even the rest of the world.
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