Chapter 16: A Perfect World

Chapter 16 - A Perfect World

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As they are detained by the guards of Eastwood, the man with the large black top hat gazes at them uneasily. After a tense silence, Ben glances around and reaches into his coat pocket, prompting the guards to aim their guns at him, while Six and Rebecca shift to more strategic positions.

"Choose your next move very carefully, burnbag."

The man with the large black top hat warns menacingly.

"What are you doing?"

Twig asks in a panic.

"Are you trying to get us killed?"

Scar exclaims.

Ben pauses, then retrieves a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He takes one out, stows the pack, and the man with the large black top hat watches, intrigued.

"Everyone just needs to calm down."

Ben says as he lights the cigarette in his mouth.

"If they were going to shoot us, it would've happened by now."

The man with the large black top hat smiles, signaling all the town guards to lower their weapons. Meanwhile, Six tries to calm his agitated little gun gremlin before she acts rashly.

"You've got some nerve, son."

the man acknowledges.

"Now, who are you? What are you all doing in my town?"

Twig and Scarlett exchange glances, unsure who should speak, but Six steps forward.

"We're actually just looking for work, sir!"

"You slavers? Caesar's Legion?"

He probes.

Scarlett shakes her head vigorously.

"No, no..."

She insists and Twig stammers in agreement.

"Oh no, not at all! Far from it, sir!"

"Really?"

The man with the large black top hat presses.

"Prove it."

"Uh... Um..."

Both Scar and Twig were at a loss for words.

Ben looks at them as if they're idiots, then gives Rebecca a knowing look.

"Fuck! The... the thing, the paper. The paper."

She mutters taking out the bounty note from her inventory.

She realized the guards were cautious, aiming their guns at her.

"Hey, hey. Cool it, chooms."

The man in the large black top hat rolled his eyes, as she rudely gave everyone the bird, and sighed with impatience.

"Listen up, you idiots! I'm just trying to present the bounty of one of my chooms."

Rebecca approached one of the guards, who eyed her suspiciously and accepted the bounty note from her hand, only pissing her off.

"I'll take that."

He scrutinized the note and passed it to his superior.

"This is worth your attention."

Scarlett remained silent as the top-hatted man studied the note, then shot a quick look at Scar. She brushed her hair aside, revealing her face against the wind. The man blinked at the likeness, surveyed the group, and cracked a half-smile, pocketing the note.

"Well, now... isn't this interesting?"

He approached Twig, examining his face closely, then clasped his cheeks, chuckling eerily, gave him a playful slap, and tipped his hat.

"I'm Touch Conners, mayor of Eastwood—the only town in the Mojave free of slavery."

Twig chuckled with relief, and Mayor Conners shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you! Hahaha..."

Conners playfully tapped his nose.

"Boop! We're glad to have you youngsters here!"

Twig and Conners shared a laugh, Scarlett pursed her lips, Ben glanced over with a cigarette in hand, and Six was comforting Rebecca with a kiss.

Conners was introducing the group to the town.

"You see, Twig, I was born a slave myself. I got away, and found a plot of land to call my own after I killed that worthless sack of shit who claimed it first."

"Heh..."

Twig responded as Conners continued.

"Other slaves found their way here, and in time, we built Eastwood. And we keep it free."

All the while, Conners caresses and touches Twig uncomfortably, to the point of hurting him once or twice.

"Every person here, is a free man, and I aim to keep it that way."

I m-mean w-well, that's good!

Twig commented.

"Well, yeah it's good! Hahaha..."

Conners patted Twig's cheeks again.

"It's real good!"

"So what did you say brings you this way again? You lookin' for work, is it?"

"Actually, I'm lookin' for Larry. Is he around?"

Ben asked.

Conners's expression changed into disappointment.

"Yeah. Larry's here. I don't care for him much myself, but uh, y'know, I don't say no to someone who brings business to town if you know what I mean, hehe..."

"You can find him over by the general store."

"Thank you."

Ben quickly left.

Conners turned to Twig.

"So, work!"

"Yeah, I mean, well, he's got--"

They were soon interrupted as a guard approached Conners

"Sir, we've got reports of geckos near the brahmin."

Conners like usual pets the guard then turned to Twig

"If you'll excuse me, matters demand my urgent attention. You, enjoy your day."

Conners walked away taking out a pistol.

"Uhh, okay. No, I'm sure I will! Isn't that right, Scarr..."

He looks around and finds Scar isn't there. It turns out Scarlett has run off to play Caravan with a bunch of gamblers.

"Give it to her, come on, I got two caps on this."

A Gambler spoke playing against her.

"Six, Rebecca?"

Twig turned to find himself alone; Six and Rebecca had followed Mayor Conners to assist in exterminating geckos.

"So, why did you youngsters decide to help us? I appreciate it, but..."

"Mayor Conners, it's regrettable to say that the moment Scar leaves town, her former master will launch a Mini Nuke at Eastwood, eradicating the town from the Mohave."

Six disclosed to Conners.

"That's a grave accusation, son. Do you have proof?"

"Larry will attempt to sell Scar back, but when he fails—and he will. Leon Swallow will resort to nuking the town to coerce her return. Thus, I suggest evacuating the townsfolk for at least twenty-four hours after our departure."

"If I'm mistaken, you lose only a day. But if I'm correct, please relocate your people to Goodsprings."

Conners mulled over the information.

"Son, even if our settlement is nuked, we risk losing people on the journey, and there's no assurance that Goodsprings will accept my people, given its fortified and heavily armed state."

"No worries there; my family erected those defenses, and we hold sway over the settlement. Moreover, the mayor we appointed prefers not to govern, so she'll gladly cede the role to you. Trudy is content running her bar and being the town's maternal figure."

"That's quite the proposition. But I sense you're trustworthy."

Conners, as was his habit, began stroking Six's face, eliciting a jealous growl from Rebecca for the affection shown to her man.

"Alright. We'll organize a freedom celebration outside, taking all our valuables and pretending to escape from slavery once more. Yet, we still confront the problem of insufficient provisions for the journey."

Six promptly handed over the bag he was carrying, unveiling the numerous containers within.

"Mayor Conners, these containers are filled with sufficient provisions, medicine, and ammunition for your travels."

"Very well, Six. I'll instruct my people to begin the evacuation."

He was on his way back when a system notification halted him.

Ding!

Vault Builder:

Allows user to build and staff their own vault within a settlement.

Ding!

Upon accessing the skill screen, Six decided to continue enhancing his REPAIR skill to 81 and proceeding to Perks. He chose Hand Loader: When using Guns, you are twice as likely to recover cases and hulls. You also have all hand-load recipes unlocked at any reloading benches.

-Back to Eastwood-

A ghoul was selling Jet to passersby and Ben walked up to the seller.

"It's the best of the best! If you're looking for that extra boost in stamina and I know you are, little lady. You've come to the right place! Hahaha..."

Ben holds the pipe of Jet the ghoul drug dealer was selling.

"Still trying to sell this crap, huh Larry?

"Well, well, well. If it ain't Benjie. Haha..."

Twig, was wandering around town greeting random people...

"Hey..."

"Hey! Nice weather, right?"

"Hey, how ya guys doin'?"

"Hi!"

A mysterious stranger holding a box totters by.

"Hi!"

"Hey, what's up?"

The stranger's hat gets blown to the ground and Twig immediately picks it up, dusts it off, and puts it back on his head.

"Now you owe me! Hahaha..."

"Hi, guys! I'm just looking for my friend...?"

The stranger glances at him and walks away. Meanwhile, Twig takes notice of a Nuka-Cola sign at a general store, and walks in looking around. An old man sat in a rocking chair, smoking a cigar. There are various weapons and junk on the walls. But Twig soon feasts his eyes on three Nuka-Colas on top of a shelf above the old man.

"How much?"

Twig points at the three Nuka-Cola bottles.

Level: 6

NAME: Six XI

GENDER: MALE

STRENGTH: 10

PERCEPTION: 10

ENDURANCE: 10

CHARISMA: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 10

AGILITY: 10

LUCK: 10

BARTER: 42

ENERGY WEAPONS: 27

EXPLOSIVES: 30

GUNS: 100

LOCKPICK: 27

MEDICINE: 27

MELEE WEAPONS: 27

REPAIR: 81

SCIENCE: 42

SNEAK: 30

SPEECH: 27

SURVIVAL: 27

UNARMED: 30