Chapter 13: Among the Garden's of Eden

"So, they finally reached California." Rodger said. "I've been there once. It's a NCR utopia over there."

"I'm pretty sure 'utopia' doesn't fit in the same sentence as 'NCR'" Courtney replied.

"Growing up in the NCR can't be so bad." Jr. joined in. "I mean, it must be a hell of a lot safer than what we're doing." The group had continued walking through the desert, listening to the old man ramble on about some legend. "But, why didn't you talk more about the I-15?" Jr. questioned.

"The I-15 is purely NCR territory." The old man answered. "Well, that's not completely true. The Long 15 is controlled by the NCR, but they didn't make camps along the whole interstate. It was mostly old buildings, rocks and a long stretch of highway. But, it wasn't worth talking about, considering that rarely anything happened on the I-15."

"So, the journey was pretty bland?" Courtney asked.

"Pretty much. It was a good old fashion pre-war road trip. Only, this time, with more radiation." The old man said.

"My fucking feet hurt." Kelly interrupted. "Can't we take a rest?" They had been walking for hours and didn't have any indication on which direction they were heading.

"Where? Right under the blazing sun and out in the open?" Jr. mocked. "That doesn't particularly sound like a good idea now, does it?" Kelly looked around their surroundings.

"What about that?" She pointed to her right. Off in the distance was what appeared to be an old pit stop for trucks, corroded by over twenty decades of laying dormant with no one to fix it.

"That seems good." Rodger said. "I'm gonna have to agree with the raider. I can't stand much longer out in the sun. How are you able to wear a full cloak in this heat?" He asked the old man.

"Heh. The Wasteland forces one to adapt to its environments, even before this place was a wasteland." The old man replied. "If human's are good at one thing, it's adapting to even the harshest of circumstances."

"So, we gonna rest in the pit stop or no?" Kelly asked.

"Yes. I believe we should take a rest and gather our energy." The old man said. The group strayed off the path and headed toward the rundown pit stop.

"So, California." Jr. said. "What happened?"

"Patience, Jr." The old man said. "I'm getting to that part." The old man continued the story of The Prodigy.

The gang had finally reached California and Micheal was more than happy to have reached his goal. But, there was no time for celebration. They needed to find Arroyo, but all they had was a leather map of what Arroyo looks like. Or, what it presumably used to look like. Micheal had no idea what awaited them in California, but, from his past experiences, it was bound to be a whole myriad of problems and very little solutions. The only person that could actually direct Micheal was Phyllis and he hasn't been to California in a long time. The Prodigy parked the car on the side of the road and looked at the cow-hide map that Goris gave to him back in Nebraska.

"Okay." Micheal said. "Do you know where Arroyo is, Phyllis?"

"I do not." Phyllis admitted. "Last I heard it was a once a major city in the Wasteland, but all communications and road raps to Arroyo were lost years ago. No one knows exactly where Arroyo is."

"Oh gee, a missing city." Bonnie snarkily said. "How about we go find Atlantis next?"

"The hell's Atlantis?" Phyllis asked.

"It's an ancient city that presumably sunk to the bottom of the ocean centuries ago, way before the war." Micheal explained. "Look, we need to find this place. It has to be real."

"Mikey, I've been with you for awhile now and I've said this before." Bonnie said. "Arroyo is just some made up land birth from a supposed 'god among men'. It isn't actually real."

"That's what they said about the Enclave, but they sure as hell were real." Jenkins said through the massive hole he made in the back.

"We've come too far to lose hope now." Micheal said. "And we certainly can't exactly turn tail now anyway." Micheal put the car in drive, put his foot on the pedal and drove back onto the road. "Where to, Ranger?"

"Hm." Phyllis pondered for a second. "The closest cities I can think of right now are the Boneyard, the Hub, Junktown and Necropolis. Take your pick."

"We are not going to Necropolis." Bonnie said. "We don't need to go through another ghoul infested city."

"I don't really want to go to some place called 'the Boneyard'. So, that just leaves the Hub and Junktown." Micheal said. "What's closer?"

"The Hub would be the closest city." Phyllis said.

"The Hub it is then." Micheal said. The gang hit the road, following Phyllis' directions toward the Hub. Eventually, the road stopped and the gang were forced to drive on the desert sand for miles. That wasn't particularly good, considering that the tires weren't full of air and they were not suitable for driving over such coarse terrain. After about forty-five minutes of navigating through the desert and running over random radscorions, they eventually made it to a rather large, decent looking settlement. This was the Hub, a massive trading settlement in the Western Wasteland. What the city was called before is unknown, but the city remained untouched during the war. So, naturally, someone founded the Hub there and people started moving in. In it's early days, around the time of the Vault Dweller, the Hub was a place full of crooks and gangs. But, ever since the place joined the New California Republic, there was significantly less violence. However, some of the gangs that originated from the Hub spread out into further territory, like the Powder Gangers in the Mojave. There were still a few raider gangs here and there, but the settlement remained mostly peaceful for decades.

"Here it is. The Hub." Phyllis announced. "You're gonna want to drive more to the front entrance further up. Most of the traveling caravans are up there." Micheal did as he was instructed and drove to the front entrance. He parked the car just on the outskirts of town and pondered on what to do.

"What should we do here?" Micheal asked.

"See if anyone knows anything about the location of Arroyo. I'll head out. Who's coming with?" Phyllis said.

"I'll join." Jenkins said. "I'm tired of just sitting in this trunk."

"I'll come along as well." Bonnie said. "You stay in the car, Micheal. We'll take care of this." She ordered. The trio exited the car and walked down the main road, leaving both Micheal and Dogmeat with the Highwayman. "Think he'll be okay?" Bonnie asked.

"He'll be fine." Jenkins assured. "That kid definitely has more than enough to defend himself." The trio were about to step into the town, but were stopped by an NCR guard patrolling the area.

"Hold it." The man ordered. "Name and rank, soldier."

"Ranger Phyllis, NCR ranger's." Phyllis said.

"What business do you have in the Hub, ranger?" The guard asked.

"Looking for critical information among the locals." Phyllis answered.

"What is the information you're looking for?" The guard questioned.

"That's classified. This is purely ranger business." Phyllis said.

"Noted." The man said, writing his answers in a little notepad. "Why do you have a Brotherhood guy with you?" He asked.

"He's not Brotherhood. He's just wearing some salvaged armor." Phyllis lied.

"I see." The man bought it. "Alright. It all checks out. Go on ahead." The guard moved out of the way and the trio strolled on into the Hub.

"Alright. Big town, three of us." Phyllis stated. "I say we split up. Cover more ground."

"I'm fine with that." Bonnie said.

"Whatever can get us out of here quicker." Jenkins also agreed.

"Alright. We'll meet back here in an hour." Phyllis said. "Try and see if you guys can get anything." The trio separated and went to different parts of the Hub. Meanwhile, Micheal was sitting on the hood of the car with Dogmeat laying besides him.

"Know any tricks, boy?" Micheal asked his mutt to which Dogmeat responded by yawning. The young vault dweller didn't have much to do, so he decided to take out the black book he collected and start actually looking at the pages. Of course, there was the page with the Shishkebab, but there were also notes, drawings of landscapes, even more blueprints and even detailed instructions on how to grow wheat and other crops. A couple pages were particularly interesting because they had detailed blueprints on how to upgrade a car. Specifically, for the example vehicle, a Highwayman. Now that's extremely lucky. Micheal flipped through a couple more pages and saw something disturbing: a page full of drawings and scribbles of something, or someone. What was particularly freaky was that the number '25' was scribbled all over the last few pages. He didn't write those; someone else had to draw them. This concerned the young vault dweller deeply. An hour passes by and, as they were told to do, the trio in the Hub had rendezvous back at the front entrance.

"You guys had any luck?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope. Got people laughing and throwing things at me, though." Jenkins replied.

"Shit. I didn't get nothing either." Phyllis said. The crew pondered on what to do. "We may be able to find some records in the New California Republic." The ranger suggested.

"So, you're plan is to take a vault dweller, a mercenary and a Brotherhood Paladin into the heart of the NCR?" Bonnie said.

"...Yeah." Phyllis confirmed. "We don't have to take Jenkins in, but I have to enter."

"I'll wait in the car when that happens." Jenkins said. "Just make sure we stay far enough away, so they don't see me."

"I don't drive the car. You're gonna have to confide in Micheal." Phyllis replied. "Speaking of which, I think we should get back to the car." The other two agreed and they walked back up the main path and toward their automobile. However, they weren't met with the same thing as before. During this time, Micheal took it upon himself to upgrade the car. It now had new tires, the rear-view mirrors were replaced, armor plating on the windshield, a spare tire in the trunk, and some handles for Jenkins to grab onto instead of digging his fingers into the roof. Micheal was busy putting the finishing touches on the car, so he hadn't noticed his allies returning. He didn't have his combat armor, but instead was dawning nothing but his tattered vault jumpsuit.

"Oh hey!" Micheal said, finally noticing his companions. "You're back."

"You did all this in an hour?" Phyllis questioned.

"Yeah. Time flies when you're upgrading a car." Micheal joked. "So, we got anything?"

"Nope. Ain't got shit." Bonnie said while hopping back into her seat.

"We should go to the New California Republic." Phyllis said. "We might have better luck there." The group hopped back in the car and hit the road. These new tires were a major upgrade from the other ones because now it can drive in the sand. They were on the path for a little while, but traveling in a metal car under the blazing California sun caused some real problems.

"Fucking. Out of everything you could fix, you didn't fix the air conditioner." Bonnie said, taking off her leather coat from the heat and started fanning herself.

"I couldn't really." Micheal said. "The AC's completely busted. I'm gonna have to replace it." Bonnie groaned in response.

"Why're you complaining? You're not in riot armor and a duster." Phyllis said to the mercenary. Dogmeat had his tongue out and panted, indicating he too was hot. "How're you doing, Jenkins?" The ranger called out.

"It's hot, but not as bad as being cooked alive." Jenkins responded.

"Mikey, aren't you hot or something?" Bonnie asked.

"Not really. I'm fine." Micheal said, the heat not bothering him at all.

"How are you not cooking? It's like a fucking furnace in this bitch." She said.

"I'm actually kinda cold come to think of it." Micheal said.

"How are you cold?" Bonnie questioned.

"I don't know. I've been pretty cold this entire time." The Prodigy admitted. "Ever since I left the vault, really."

"What?" Bonnie was confused.

"Look, feel my hand." Micheal took his right, tattooed hand off the wheel and presented it to Bonnie. She touched the palm of his hand and was surprised that they were ice cold. In fact, her hand actually cooled down just by it being close to him. He was like a human ice cube.

"What in the fuck?" She said. "Phyllis, feel this shit. This kids ice cold." The ranger removed his glove and put his hand on Micheal's. He was also surprised to feel his ice cold skin.

"Good lord. He's like a freezer." The ranger commented. The cool air radiating off Micheal was so good that even the dog decided to join in. Dogmeat climbed over the armrest and onto Micheal's lap, making driving a lot more difficult. Chaos ensued as Bonnie and Phyllis tried to get Dogmeat off and Micheal trying not crash. He ended up just slamming on the brakes, stopping the car to a grinding halt and drifted in the sand. Micheal pushed Dogmeat off of him, put him back in the backseat and composed himself.

"You need to better train that dog." Bonnie remarked. Micheal ignored her statement and pushed onward. Due to the limited amount of road left in California, Micheal had to trust Phyllis with directions. Unfortunately, his directions led the drive to take a turn through the mountains. The mountains were particularly dangerous because of just how small the paths were, being that they were made for travelers and caravan's, not for car's. Phyllis argued that the mountain paths were more safe because of giant scorpion and raider packs on the flat land, but the mountain path wasn't exactly a smart way around them either. What could've been a two hour drive with a few scrapes and scratches turned into an six hour drive on a very steep mountain path. Either way, they eventually got to the NCR. Micheal parked the car just a few miles off the outskirts of the New California Republic. Everyone stood outside the car, thinking about what to do next.

"Anyone mind telling me any information about this place before we go rushing in head first this time?" Micheal said.

"The New California Republic (NCR) is a federal presidential republic that founded in New California in 2189 from the community once known as Shady Sands." Phyllis explained. "The NCR strives to support a myriad of old world traditions and values, such as democracy, personal liberty, and the rule of the law. All of this, as well as try to bring peace among the people of the Wasteland." He was about to continue, but Bonnie cut him off.

"But, just like those bastards before us, the NCR seek to emulate, continue their expansion that has created challenges with territorial control, loyalty, and corruption that hinders its goals." She said, earning a glare from Phyllis under his helmet. "You want a taste of old world politics? Look no further than the NCR."

"Yeah, I know all that. You've all explained it to me at least three times now." Micheal said. "But, how're we suppose to go about this? It's not like we can just stroll on in and act like we own the place."

"Well, we're gonna need to do something about Jenkins." Bonnie said. "The NCR don't take kindly to the Brotherhood ever since that war they had a couple years back." She lit a cigarette and began to smoke. "When was that again? Late 2250's/early 2260's?"

"We're gonna need to disguise him." Phyllis stated. "But, how are we suppose to disguise a guy in power armor?" Everyone pondered on what they could do. Micheal, being the crafty little vault dweller that he is, eventually came up with a plan. After about an hour of scavenging any sort of metal in the surrounding area, welding and bickering, Micheal had created plates of armor out of scrap metal around Jenkins T-51 suit, completely hiding anything relating to the Brotherhood. Instead of a Brotherhood Paladin, Jenkins was now a random guy in a junk suit of T-51b power armor.

"This is completely disrespectful to both me and the Brotherhood." Jenkins said, hating what was done to his precious suit.

"It's either this or be shot down by a myriad of Anti-Material Rifle's, chambered in .50 and has a velocity of three-thousand feet per second. And that's the average .50 round." Micheal said.

"How do you know all this?" Jenkins asked.

"I had some time to study Phyllis' gun when we were separated." Micheal explained. "Either way, this is our best solution."

Jenkins sighed in defeat. "Sir. Yes, sir." He lazily said.

"I think it's an improvement." Bonnie mocked from the side.

"We all ready? It's getting dark." Phyllis said. The sun was on the verge of setting in the West, encapsulating the sky in a red horizon and dark clouds. The group had finished their preparations, got back in the car and drove to the front entrance the New California Republic. Everyone had different felling about the Republic; Micheal had some idea what the Republic was, but didn't have enough evidence to make a justifiable claim, Phyllis' was happy to have finally returned home after so long, Bonnie was not excited to step so far into NCR territory, let alone the NCR's capital city, Jenkins was not gonna let his guard down for a single second, and Dogmeat was just Dogmeat. What's there to say about man's best friend except that they're with you every step of the way?

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Bonnie asked.

"It's a little too late to second guess ourselves now." Phyllis replied. "Park in there." The ranger pointed toward a makeshift car port, it was pretty much a scrap metal held up by four wooden posts and fenced off on three sides. Micheal drove the car into the car port and parked it inside. After the car finally turned off, the group all step out of the car and were met by an NCR guard in combat armor with the symbol of the two bears painted on the chest plate.

"Nice car. You got a permit for that?" The guard said.

"Permit? Why would we need a permit for the car?" Micheal asked.

"As of three weeks ago, President Kimball issued the new law that all motorized vehicles and transport must have a permit to be able to drive among NCR territory." The guard explained. "You do have a permit, don't you?" No one responded to the guard. The guard sighed. "If you wish to not have the NCR repossess your station wagon, you'll need to sign some paperwork. Which one of you is the owner of this car?"

"That would be me." Micheal answered.

"If you agree to sign, I'll take you to where you need to sign the paperwork and we can all get this sorted out." The guard said.

"Micheal, it's best just to do the paperwork." Phyllis said. "We don't want to try anything we'll regret." Micheal, not wanting to get into further trouble, agreed to sign the paperwork.

"Alright. I'll go sign the papers, you guys should head inside to see if we can get any answers." Micheal told his team. "I pray that this will be quick." Micheal, Dogmeat and the guard got in the car and drove to a nearby building, leaving the others to themselves. The others did what they came here to do and went to go find the location of Arroyo. They walked past some sand-crete walls, sand-crete being provided by the instructions in the G.E.C.K. the people from Vault 15 used, with barbed wire on the top connected to a brick building, this was the prison just outside the capitol. The took a right onto a concrete road and passed some sand-crete buildings with some drunks stumbling out of what appeared to be a saloon. They walked up to an entrance that led to NCR downtown. There was a guard outside who asked for identification, but Phyllis quickly gave him his rank and badge number as per standard procedure. The guard rolled their eyes and gave the traditional NCR welcome speech.

"Welcome to the NCR. If you have any weapons, please keep them holstered. If you have any issues to discuss, please write them down and place it in the box just over to the right. We'll get back to you as soon as we can." They pulled a lever and the front doors opened. "Welcome to the NCR. An organized world is a better world." Bonnie rolled her eyes at the motto. It didn't appear as if the guard was ecstatic to give that speech for the millionth time. None the less, the group walked through the gate and into the NCR capitol city.

Meanwhile, Micheal and Dogmeat were taken to a sandstone building just around the corner of the entrance. He parked the Highwayman along side two other working vehicles: a rusty pickup truck and a "Lone Wanderer" motorcycle that's been decorated with bright paint and various happy colors. Thing looks as if it ran through a candy store and a circus all in one go. They all got out of the car and Micheal looked around.

"I take it you guys don't usually get working vehicles around here." Micheal said.

"Nope. These are pretty much the only cars we've got, so this law is pretty stupid in my opinion." The guard said. "None the less, you still need to sign the paperwork." They entered the sandstone building and were met with this sort of office waiting room. There were a few chairs, a couch,some magazines, a desk with a receptionist, a coffee table and a few other people in the room signing the papers. There was a cheery woman dressed in drag, bright, frizzy ocean blue hair, heavy use of red lipstick and in some sort of vault jumpsuit that's been converted into a frizzy skirt and a Pip-Boy 3000 painted white. She honestly looked more like a clown. To combat her was a male ghoul in overalls and goggles sitting off to the side.

"Oh dear lord." Micheal said under his breath. The guard walked over the the counter, grabbed a clipboard and a pen and handed it to Micheal.

"Here. Sign these papers and we'll arrange a meeting for you." The guard said. "Until then, please sit here and fill out the documentation." The guard left the building to go continue his duties elsewhere. The receptionist behind the desk paid no mind to Micheal, but kept all her attention on some old world magazine. Micheal sat down on the couch, right across from the ghoul. Dogmeat sat down at his owners side on the floor and The Prodigy was about to sign the papers, but found that his pen was out of ink.

"Hey." He called out to the ghoul. "Can I borrow your pen? Mine has no ink."

"Huh? Oh. Sure. I'm just about done anyway." The ghoul said in his raspy voice that all ghouls seem to have. He handed the pen to Micheal.

"Thanks." Micheal thanked the ghoul, but he also earned the attention of someone else in the room.

"Well, my, my." The cheery woman said out loud. "Are you a vault dweller?" Micheal looked up from his paper.

"Uh, yeah. Vault 25." Micheal answered.

"25? That's certainly a jump from my number." She laughed at her statement. The ghoul just watched the conversation out of boredom.

"Oh yeah? Where you from?" Micheal asked.

"Well, my cheery self is from none other than Vault 55." She said. "My name's Bloom."

"Micheal. Micheal Becker. This is my dog, Dogmeat." Micheal said.

"And where might this 'Vault 25' be exactly?" Bloom asked.

"Kansas." Micheal bluntly said, earning the attention of the ghoul.

"Kansas? That far?" The ghoul said.

"Yeah. Had to come by car." Micheal responded, still signing the documents.

"And what car might that be, honey?" Bloom asked.

"A Chrysalis Highwayman." Micheal said.

"A Highwayman? Shit. That's top of the line right there." The ghoul said. "Name's Toby, by the way."

"Nice to meet you both." Micheal said. The room fell into a silence for a few seconds.

"So why's a Kansas boy like you doing all the way out in California?" Toby broke the silence. Micheal hesitated to answer, but decided not telling the whole truth could be a good choice.

"I'm looking for a city." Micheal answered.

"Well, what city you talking about?" Toby asked. "There's the Boneyard, San Francisco, New Reno, Vault City."

"Vault City?" Micheal said, cutting him off.

"Don't tell me you don't know what Vault City is." Toby said, to which Micheal didn't respond. "Vault City is a massive community built right outside of Vault 8 from it's residents. They have cloning technology in there, but they're super isolated. If you ain't a vault dweller, you're just as good as dirt to them." He scoffed. "Heard tale that the Chosen One went there about forty-something years ago." This peaked Micheal's interest.

"Did he now? And where might this 'Vault City' be exactly?" Micheal asked.

"Somewhere further North. I've seen it a couple times when I do a fly-by." Toby answered.

"A fly-by? Do you have a flying vehicle?" Micheal questioned.

"Yep. An old cargo plane I used to fly before the war." Toby said. "I know my dashing looks may deceive some people, but I'm over two-hundred years old and a military vet to boot. It took me over two-hundred years to get that bird flying again, but I eventually did it. That's the whole reason why I'm here. I ain't letting the NCR get their hands on it."

"Why does the NCR want to expand so much anyway? Seems to me that'll only lead to even more trouble and they already control most of the West coast." Micheal said.

"The NCR are just like old world politicians - greedy, stingy, ignorant, and down right petty." Toby replied. "They want to 'bring social order back to the Wasteland', but they haven't even gone to the East coast, places like D.C. or Boston. Really seems like they have no idea what's really out there."

Bloom joined the controversial conversation. "At least it's much more entertaining than what's going on at home." She said. "Vault-Tec decided it'd be funny to remove all entertainment tapes from Vault 55. We had to put on shows, dance, and even so far as to write whole books just to entertain ourselves. That's how I learned to fix up that old bike, I was bored out of my mind." She looked over to Micheal. "What about you? What's your vault's experiment?"

"I.." Micheal remembered what his companions told him back in Sioux, but he decided to get some real answers. "I don't know what you're talking about." That's was semi-true.

"You know. Vault-Tec made the vaults experiments and tested on the people inside." Bloom said. "Everyone knows that." Micheal didn't respond, he was processing the information she gave him. Bloom stared at him, waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one, she soon realized the truth. "You don't know, do you?" She asked, fully aware of the answer.

"I think it's best if we just leave him alone for now." Toby inferred. "Don't worry, kid. You don't have to talk about it. I mean, being a ghoul ain't so hard." Micheal ignored that statement, thinking nothing of it at first. Becker froze in place, but eventually just went back to signing the papers. But, he couldn't shake the thought of what was really going behind those steel walls he's been calling home. Meanwhile, the trio of companions were skulking around the New California Republic.

The capitol city has been improved and expanded upon since 2241, the year the Chosen One came to town. Instead of just a mere town, the NCR capitol had been expanded into a full fledged city with stores, housing, office buildings, almost everything a city would need to survive. The place was almost as big as Vegas at this point, but lacked in the flashy neon lights and gambling. Like it or not, this place is one of the most safest places in the Wasteland, if you can handle all the strip-searching and extreme procedures all citizens must follow. Some people who particularly have a disdain for the NCR have nicknamed it's capitol city "Oceania" based on the totalitarian city in the book '1984' by George Orwell, but that's besides the point. It's a wonder who even found that book and actually bothered to read it, let alone a copy that hasn't been burnt to ashes by nuclear Armageddon.

"This place is fucking massive." Bonnie commented, tired from the excessive amount of walking they have done. She sat down on a nearby bench and rubbed her aching feet.

"It's impressive what the NCR has accomplished." Phyllis blew his own horn. "Nothing like anyone else could've done."

"You guys had a G.E.C.K. - that isn't really fair to say you all could've done all this without it." Jenkins shot the ranger off his high horse.

"Can we not start an argument, please." Bonnie said. "We're kinda on a mission here."

"We've been asking the locals and we've come up with nothing." Jenkins stated. "I think we should ask someone that's higher up on the social ladder."

Bonnie scoffed. "And who exactly would we asked, huh? We just gonna march into Kimball's office and strip him down for answers?"

"We could do that." Phyllis said. The other two looked at him as if he made a stupid joke. "We could arrange a meeting with President Kimball."

"I was joking, Phyllis." Bonnie said.

"But, we could do that. All we need to do is go to city hall, sign some paperwork, wait a little while and we'll be able to talk to him." The ranger replied.

"I think it's worth a shot." Jenkins said. "We've been getting nothing so far."

Bonnie stared at the two of them as if they were crazy. "Fine." She regrettably obliged. "Let's go talk to Kimball."

She stood up, stretched and mentally prepared herself for what was to come. The trio back-tracked through the city and reached city hall. The building was a large, sandstone complex with foliage outside and a stone statue of what is presumably the Vault Dweller from Vault 13. The area was lit up by street lamps for night had finally fallen among the New Californian desert. Outside the front door of city hall were two guard dressed in pre-war police outfits wielding batons and pistols. As they approached the entrance, one of the guards stopped them and asked for identification. Phyllis gave his name, rank and social number and told them Bonnie and Jenkins were his entourage. The guards looked at each other and let the trio pass. They stepped inside and were met with a receptionist behind a desk typing on a functioning terminal. She noticed the trio walk in and greeted them.

"Hello!" She said. "How may I help you three?"

"Ranger Phyllis. These two are my associates from out East." Phyllis replied. "We would like to arrange a meeting with President Kimball on urgent matters." The receptionist looked surprised at the request and hesitated to answer at first.

"Uhhh.. I do apologize, but Mr. Kimball is quite busy. I can set an appointment for another time if you like?" The receptionist replied.

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Phyllis said. "We just need to ask a question is all."

"I...I can see what I can do, but I doubt Mr. Kimball is accepting visitors at this hour." The receptionist said. "Please wait here. I'll be back in a second." She stood up and left her desk to go speak with the main man himself. She went through the door and down the hall, coming to the front of the president's door. She knocked on the wooden door.

"Mr. Kimball." She called out. "I have someone who wishes to speak with you."

"Not right now, Doris. I'm busy." Kimball called out in response.

"It's, uh, a Mr. Phyllis." The receptionist said.

"Phyllis? As in Ranger Phyllis?" He asked.

"Yes sir." She confirmed.

"Oh good lord." The President said in annoyance. "Send him in. Might as well get this over with." The receptionist went back to the trio at the front and allowed them to speak with Kimball. Phyllis thanked her and entered the other room with the others. They approached Kimball's office and knocked on the door. Kimball allowed them to enter and prepped himself for whatever Phyllis was gonna say this time. The trio entered and were met with an office with some books on shelves, a nice red rug, an NCR flag on the wall, and a grouchy looking middle-aged man behind a desk. He was in a clean black suit and tie with a two-headed bear pin on his collar, like how an old world President would wear an American flag pin. This was President Aaron Kimball of the NCR, and he didn't seem like was in the best of moods.

"Sir!" Phyllis blurted at the sight of him and saluted in a heartbeat.

"At ease, ranger." Kimball lazily ordered. Phyllis eased himself and stood upright. "I thought you were out East, Phyllis." Kimball said as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"I was, sir. But, I believe I have accomplished my mission." Phyllis said.

Kimball took a swig of his drink. "What was your mission again exactly?" He asked.

"I was to travel beyond Legion territory and locate anything that could give us an advantage over Caesar." Phyllis replied. "I believe I have found what we need."

Kimball looked at the other two in the office with them. "And... are these two what you found?" He asked.

"No. Well, yes, but they aren't what I'm talking about." Phyllis corrected. "I found someone with an incredible intelligence and remarkable engineering skills. He could give us the push we need to break the stalemate."

"Uh huh. And where exactly is this person?" Kimball questioned, pouring another glass of whiskey.

"Well, he's currently filling out paperwork for his car." Phyllis answered. "But, it's incredibly important that you meet with him."

"Hey!" Bonnie interrupted. "We're here for another reason." She reminded the ranger.

"Right. Mr. Kimball, sir, that person I mentioned is currently looking for the missing city of Arroyo. Is there any information you can give us about the location of the city?" Phyllis asked. Kimball stared at him and burst out laughing. He couldn't help but laugh at such a bizarre request. The trio only stared at him in displease.

Mr. Kimball eventually composed himself. "Take a seat, Phyllis." He said. Phyllis obliged and sat in the chair in front of the desk. Kimball opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a whole stack of documents and files, dropping it on his desk and making some of the papers fly out of the stack and onto the floor. "You see this, Phyllis? This is all the requests, notices and orders I've been given about our current situation in New California." He said. "Not only that, but I also have many more documents about whats going on at Hoover Dam. Do you understand why I'm showing you this?" Phyllis didn't respond. "It's because there's a lot more pressing matters at hand than a 'legendary city that disappeared twenty-something years ago'." The President harshly explained. "Now, I'm not one to be particularly harsh to men in uniform, but..." He made sure Phyllis was listening. "Let's just say... you are not the embodiment of what a ranger should be."

"Sir, I.. I don't understand.." Phyllis stuttered.

"Oh, I think it's perfectly understandable." Kimball said as he leaned back in his chair. "You see, there's been a lot of issues that have popped up during the course of your career. An NCR Ranger is suppose to be one of the deadliest people in the Wasteland, but you... I can safely say that you need a bit more training before you're sent out into the field."

"Sir, if I've been losing my touch, I can-" Phyllis tried to speak, but was cut off.

"That's just it. You never had a touch." Kimball said. "I have had to sift through piles of paperwork to fix your damage all because you can't learn." Phyllis didn't know what to say. "You come to me with the most asinine requests and solutions, but they are the most bizarre plans I've ever heard and none of them would ever have worked to begin with. You have no structure to you at all." Kimball put his hand to his temple. "Look, I'm trying to keep you in line. But... You're a fine soldier, but a mediocre ranger. And I don't think I can keep letting go about the things you do." The room fell into an awkward silence. No one wanted to speak up, so it was a life saver when someone came knocking on the door. "Come in!" Kimball yelled out. The door opened and in came Micheal and Dogmeat.

"Oh. Hey guys." Micheal greeted his companions. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No. Nothing at all, boy." Kimball said. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Micheal Becker. I'm here because I need a Mr. Kimball's signature on my car." Micheal answered.

"Ah, Christ.. Alright, bring it here." Kimball said. Micheal handed him the document and Kimball started signing everything that needed to be filled out. While he was signing, Micheal picked up a piece of paper on the floor, looked at it, picked up a pen and started to draw on it. He looked over to his companions who seemed to be uncomfortable.

"What'd I miss?" Micheal asked.

"You know these people?" Kimball asked.

"Yeah. I've been traveling with them." Micheal answered. "Phyllis wanted to bring me here for some reason." Kimball looked up from the paperwork and stared at the ranger with disappointed in his eyes.

"Phyllis. You can't be serious." Kimball said. Phyllis didn't respond. Kimball sighed and went back to signing the paper. "Alright. That should about cover it." He said as he handed the paper back to Micheal.

"Thank you." Micheal thanked.

"Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have important business to attend to. So, I believe this meeting is adjured." He looked to Phyllis. "As for you, Phyllis. When you're all done with this wild goose chase, I want you to report to Hoover Dam and stay there until it is secured. Understood?"

"..Yes, sir." Phyllis replied.

"Good. Now, if you'll all kindly leave my office." Kimball said. The gang obliged and left Kimball with his piles of documents and files. Once they exited, Kimball noticed a piece of paper on his desk. It was an old blueprint drawing for the NCR Ranger armor, but it appears to have been drawn on. "Oh for god's sake." He said as he picked up the paper. As he was about to put it back into the pile, he took a good look at the drawing. The drawing was the NCR Ranger armor, but it appeared to have additional tubes to the gas filter and an antenna connected to a flashlight on the right side of the helmet. There were also additional pouches and a bandolier. But, the most noticeable difference were the shoulder plates and armored knee-guards on the armor. It looked more advanced than the traditional NCR riot armor. Kimball stared at the drawing and pondered for awhile. With business appearing to be finished with the NCR, the gang returned to the Highwayman. They all sat in the car, with exception of Jenkins, and discussed on what to do next.

"So, you guys got nothing." Micheal said, summarizing what they have told him.

"Nada. Sorry man." Bonnie said.

"Well, we need to go somewhere." Becker said. "We can't just give up now... What about you, Phyllis. Got anything?"

"Huh? Oh." Phyllis said, coming out of his trance-like state. "Um... I don't know."

"You alright?" Micheal asked, concerned for his companion.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Phyllis replied. "Let's just find this damn place and get it over with." The car fell silent.

"...Someone told of a place called 'Vault City'. Maybe we can go there?" Micheal suggested.

"Vault City?..." Bonnie said. "We might be able to get in. You're a vault dweller and Phyllis is NCR, so we might have a chance."

"Does anyone know where Vault City is?" The Prodigy asked.

"Yeah.' Phyllis said. "We should head out." No one argued with that. Micheal put the Highwayman in drive and the hit the road once more to the North. After about three hours on non-stop driving, the crew passed by a ghost-town that apparently was the once mutant and human community of Broken Hills. They decided to stop in the town and set up camp among the abandoned brick buildings. Bonnie and Phyllis set up the fire, Jenkins was busy removing the metal disguise from his power armor and Micheal was sitting on the concrete road, next to his canine companion, reading his black book.

"Anything interesting in that little book of yours?" Bonnie jokingly said. "You seem oddly attached to it."

"This things full of shit." Micheal replied. "Upgrades, blueprints, strange drawings. I don't know what to make of it."

Bonnie sat down at the campfire. "Drawings?" She said.

"Yeah. Some drawings of some guy, or at least what I can make out of it." Micheal said. "What freaks me out is the number '25' written all over the last few pages."

"25? Isn't that your number?" Bonnie questioned.

"Yep. And either this was an extreme case of luck, or someone left it for me to find." Micheal replied. "I can't make heads or tails of it." The two fell silent. Phyllis sat down next to them and Jenkins eventually joined. After awhile of sitting around the campfire, the crew fell asleep among the ruins. All, except Micheal. He was sitting in the Highwayman, thinking to himself. He decided to take a quick little drive to ease his mind. As of late, he's been getting more questions than answers. But, the big question remained stuck to him: what did Vault-Tec do with his vault? He understood that the company wasn't what he was told it was, despite it being a hard pill to swallow, but he was more worried of what was happening to his home. Was the vaccine the experiment? Was the vats breaking suppose to happen? A whirlwind of questions circled in his mind, none of which having a decisive answer. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he wasn't really looking where he was going.

"I think you're overthinking an obvious answer, Mikey." The voice had returned.

"What are you talking about?" Micheal asked.

"The vaccine was made only fifteen years ago, while the vault was sealed for over two-hundred." The voice said. "But, here's food for thought. There was only one Pip-Boy in the vault and only one gun as well. Both of which were given to the overseer."

"What are you implying?" Micheal questioned the voice.

"You know exactly what I'm implying." The voice said. "It's the overseer's fault. He had all that power and it was his decision to jam you with needles. It was always his fault. He made you like this and it's his fault for the vats breaking."

"We can't just jump to conclusions." Micheal argued. "Yes, he was the one who put the vaccine in me, but that doesn't mean any of this is anybody's fault."

"When will you stop playing denial and accept the facts that that bastard doesn't care about his people. He only cares about his power." The voice said. "If all the dweller's left, he'd be a sad little man with no one to shine his shoes. He would end up shooting himself."

"Enough!" Micheal barked. "I'm sick and tired of you trying to mess with my head. Just..don't say anything for awhile."

"Fine...But I'd watch out for that rock you're about to hit." The voice said. Micheal shot up and saw a strange rock arch with a massive hole in the center and a broken pillar in front of it. He panicked and slammed on the brakes, but he was too late. Fortunately, he was able to steer the car to go through the massive hole. Unfortunately, he didn't come out the other side. Both him and the car had just vanished into thin air. Rest assured, this strange archway was no ordinary rock.

Morning had risen and the gang had awoken to the new day. Bonnie fluttered her eyes open and was greeted by the metal ceiling of the building they slept in. She sat up in her makeshift bed and noticed that she was the only one in the building. The rest must've woken up early and got to work. She stood up on her feet, grabbed her gun and exited the building. She looked around and saw both Jenkins and Phyllis looking out into the Wasteland desert and Dogmeat sniffing the road. What she also noticed that both Micheal and the Highwayman weren't present. She walked over to Phyllis and Jenkins to see what was happening.

"What's going on? Where's the car?" She asked.

"Don't know." Phyllis answered. "Have you seen Micheal?"

"No. I haven't seen him since last night." Bonnie replied.

"We all went to bed before him." Jenkins said.

"You don't think he took the car and left, do you?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't want to believe it, but that's what it looks like." Phyllis said. "But, why would he just leave us like that. He had to have had reason."

"Damn. Just when I thought he was alright." Bonnie said. "Maybe he was kidnapped, or something?" Just then, Dogmeat started barking. The trio looked at what he was barking at and saw the Highwayman slowly driving down the street. The group were relieved to have found that their vault dweller hadn't just abandoned them. As the car got closer to them, they noticed that the front bumper was covered in fresh blood and there were scorch marks along the chassis, appearing to have come from a laser weapon. The car stopped next to them and the gang saw Micheal in the driver's seat. He had blood splatters all across his body and face, but he was uncaring of the matter. His eyes were staring blankly into nothing like he was in a trance. His hands were loose on the steering wheel and he seemed to be in his own world. Bonnie leaned into the passenger side window. "Mikey? You all right?" She said, but to no response from the young vault dweller. Bonnie poked her employer and he jumped and shrieked in response, snapping him out of his trance. Bonnie recoiled in surprise of Micheal's reaction. Once The Prodigy finally composed himself, he greeted his companions.

"Hey..Hey guys." He weakly said. He took a deep breath through his nose. "What's up?"

"What happened to you?" Jenkins asked.

"I, uh, I...Nothing." Micheal responded as he wiped his face with his hands. "Lets just...Are we ready to head out?" He asked.

"Uh, we should be." Phyllis said. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Um...I-I don't know. I don't think so." Micheal replied, appearing confused as what had transpired when he left. "I honestly have no idea."

"You didn't sleep." Bonnie concluded. "When was the last time you slept?"

Micheal thought of an answer. "Two..Three days. I think." He honestly didn't know the last time he slept.

"Jesus Christ." Bonnie expressed. "Get in the back. I'll drive." She ordered.

"No! No, I'm fine. I can drive." Micheal retaliated.

"Micheal, I think it's best for you if you get some rest." Jenkins said. "We'll get to our destination." Micheal stayed in the drivers seat for a bit longer, but eventually obliged and laid in the back seat. Bonnie got into the drivers seat and Phyllis in the front passengers. Dogmeat jumped in back with Micheal, but laid on the car floor to give his master some room. Jenkins was about to jump back into the trunk, but noticed something in it. He picked up the strange item and was surprised to discover it was a power armor helmet. But, it wasn't just any power armor helmet; it was an X-01 advanced powered infantry combat armor helmet, the same kind of helmet the Enclave wore back in 2241. Jenkins was flabbergasted to have found such an advanced helmet, especially since it was technically Micheal who found it, but he decided not to bring the subject up to the group and hid it in the trunk because of the Brotherhood's golden rule of: the preservation and collection of all technology. He hopped back up into the trunk and they were ready to head out.

Micheal fell asleep a few minutes into the drive, dreaming about god knows what. Phyllis gave Bonnie the directions to Vault City and, after about two hours of driving and narily avoiding a couple of raider camps and vermin nests, they made it to the outskirts of the courtyard of the legendary and narcissistic Wasteland utopia of Vault City. As they drove through the sand-crete entrance in the barbed-wire fence with turrets on pillars surrounding the fence on all sides, they had entered the courtyard. They drove slowly through the brick street and surrounded them were buildings cobbled together from wood, sheet metal and just about anything one could find in the sand; an oblivious person could easily mistake the courtyard of Vault City for Junktown. However, what should have been a community of residents and unorganized people was instead a ghost town filled with only the sound of Brahmin that have escaped their pens. Phyllis woke up Micheal in the backseat and they eventually arrived at the entrance to Down town Vault City. In front of the gated entrance were two sand-crete buildings, two fully-grown trees and two NCR guards in salvaged T-45 power armor with miniguns standing out front. Bonnie stopped the car and the guards took notice of both the car and the massive Brotherhood Paladin in the back. They revved up their miniguns, ready to shoot down the Paladin, but ceased when they saw an NCR Ranger step out of the car.

"Sir!" The guards said as they saluted the ranger. Phyllis would usually respond by saluting back, but wasn't in the mood for such things as of now.

"At ease." Phyllis ordered. "Me and my associates would like entrance into Vault City."

"No can do, sir." One of the guards ordered. "Vault City is officially closed off until further notice." The others stepped out of the car to see what the holdup was.

"Closed off? Why?" Phyllis questioned. Just before the guards could answer, an explosion was heard behind the walls and voices rang out.

"DOWN WITH THE COUNCIL! DOWN WITH THE FIRST CITIZEN!" One voice screamed out behind the wall.

"The citizens of the courtyard had recently grown tired of the way Vault City has been treating them." One guard said. "So, they broke into the city and began an uprising against the council. Until this situation is resolved, no one is allowed in or out of Vault City. I'm sorry, sir."

"Shit." Phyllis bluntly said. "Do we know how long until the situation is resolved?"

"No sir." The other guard answered. "We've sent in troops to deal with the problem, but that was forty-eight hours ago."

"Damn...Alright." Phyllis said with his head down. "Keep up the good work." He left the guards and returned to his team. "We can't get in." He told them.

"What?! Why?!" Micheal interrogated.

"It would appear that there's currently a revolution going on in Vault City." Phyllis explained. "I suggest we try to find another place."

"What other place?! Where in god's name could we possibly go?!' Micheal was irritated to have traveled so far, only to be stopped dead in his tracks.

"We'll find another place." Phyllis assured. "I remember hearing tale of The Chosen One stopping in the Den. Maybe we can try there."

"Just how far is that?" Jenkins asked.

"Should be a couple hours West of here." Phyllis answered. He got back in the car and so did Bonnie. Jenkins hopped back into the trunk and Micheal soon joined in the back. They drove West toward the Den. The ride was silent, most of the group not talking. Phyllis and Bonnie shared a few conversations, but Micheal remained completely quiet in the backseat.

They passed the farming community of Modoc, which was mostly full of hillbillies, and made it to the Den in just two hours. The Den was once a frontier town back in it's early days, having no form of any law enforcement of regulations. This led to a Darwinian struggle where only the strongest survived. The towns economy once relied on the New Californian drug trade and used to be the location of the Slave's Guild back in 2241. Now, most of the raiders and slavers are gone from the Den and have been replace by actual laws and taxes. This ultimately transformed the Den's economy, which focuses more on manufacturing and farming, rather than drugs or slaves. Even though the Den has all these new laws and regulations, it is not associated with the NCR by any means. But, it did once hold a Brotherhood outpost before the NCR-Brotherhood war. The Den is divided into two districts, the West and the East side. The gang entered through the West side, where the main entrance was.

As they drove through the streets of the Den, they decided to stop somewhere to get something real to eat, instead of two-hundred year old canned food and mutant bug meat. They drove to the East side of town, passing a bunch of settlers wandering the streets, some old bar, the empty brick building where the Slave's Guild used to be, the town's graveyard and a massive, gothic church. Bonnie parked the car on the side of the road, right next to old building, and everyone exited the vehicle. The group went to the entrance of the building next to them and discovered it to be a hole in the wall diner. There was an old, broken neon sign next to the front door that appeared to have once lit up the words "Mom' Diner'. They went inside and found the place to be pretty full, considering it only had five tables in total. There was an old dispenser of some kind in the corner and a lady cutting food next to it. There was a jukebox in the back blasting some tracks on a radio station. The walls were dark gray with patches of decay on them, obviously showing how little the owner care about the decor. There were also some waiters working in place. One of the waiters came up to the group.

"Hi! Welcome to Gwen's Diner." The waiter greeted. "How may I help you?"

"I thought it was Mom's Diner. Or, that's what the sign says outside." Bonnie said.

"Yeah. We need to replace that sign." The waiter said. "The original owner of this diner unfortunately died decades ago, but the diner still lives on. Now, how may I assist you all?"

"We'll take a table, please." Phyllis said. "Three seats. Considering our metal associate's condition." He was referring to Jenkins and his power armor.

"Hmm. All right. We do have a free table in the back." The waiter said. "If you'll please follow me." The waiter led the group to one of the tables in the back and sat them down. Dogmeat sat on the floor next to Micheal in his seat and Jenkins had to stand due to his armor. "Can I start you all off with some drinks?" The waiter asked.

"You guys have alcohol?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes! Considering that's what most people drink nowadays." The waiter responded.

"Then, I'll take a whiskey." Bonnie requested. Phyllis requested the same and Micheal requested a Nuka-Cola and some water for Dogmeat. Jenkins just requested some water and that was it. With their drinks ordered, the waiter left the group to themselves.

"So, anyone got any ideas where to start?" Phyllis asked.

"No clue. I've never been this far West." Bonnie said as she kicked her feet up on the table.

"Negative. I've never gone this far out of Midwestern territory." Jenkins said. "This is all unknown land for me."

As the group discussed on what to do next, Micheal was in his own world. He closely listened to the sounds around him: chattering, silverware, old wood creek, but all that noise was soon manifested into background noise for the young vault dweller. The only noise that Micheal focused on and soon turned into the only noise he could hear was the song playing on the jukebox. The song in question was Its All Over But The Crying by The Ink Spots. As the song encapsulated Becker's mind, it sent him into a trance. The song reminded him of a simpler time, a time before all this. The song reminded him of how he would sit in class, listening to Mr. Garland's teaching something he already knew; how he would go to the gymnasium of the vault and cheer his friend, Alice, on at her volleyball games, even though he wasn't really into sports; how he would help his older sister with her homework; how he used to help his mother cook and his father fix the radio; how he would play games of chess with Toddsworth. It all felt like a distant dream now. A dream that needs to be fixed. He was so close, but so far from it all. And worst of all: he had a rabid voice in his head, ready to spring out and attack. He wanted to go home, but home seemed nonexistent now. It all seemed nonexistent.

"Hey, Mikey." Bonnie lightly smacked Becker's shoulder and snapped him out of his trance once again. "You all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Micheal responded. "Just...thinking is all."

"Okay...Where're our drinks?" Bonnie asked. Micheal dug into his pouches to try and find something, but, when he pulled his hand out, he accidentally knocked something out of his pouch. The item made a clang sound as it hit the wooden floor and Micheal found that the item he dropped was that Vault 13 canteen he found in the car back in Lincoln City. He bent down to pick it up, but it was snatched up by someone else before he could grab it. Micheal quickly took out his revolver, stood up and aimed it at whoever took his property. The issue immediately grabbed the attention of his companions and saw their vault dweller pointing his gun at what appeared to be a pre-teen girl with big goggles dressed in some old farmer coat, overalls and dirty boots. She was shorter than Micheal, but big enough to be a little thief.

"Woah! Calm yourself, Mr." The girl said with a sly smile on her face. "I'm just trying to be a friendly fellow and return your stuff." She took notice of what she had picked up. "Hey! Ain't this a Vault 13 canteen?" She asked.

"Yeah. And it's mine." Micheal said, grabbing the flask from her hands.

"Rude. I'm just asking 'cause you don't really see them anymore." She said. "A pretty rare find. I remember my grandpa, Old Vic we used to call him, used to tell me stories of how he used to trade Vault 13 canteens back when he was still a trader."

"Yeah, that's great kid." Micheal said as he sat back down.

"Says he even used to trade with The Chosen One's village." The girl said. "I think he called it 'Arroyo'." Upon hearing that name, Micheal nearly jumped out of his seat again, bent down to the girls level and grabbed her shoulders.

"What did he tell you?" Micheal asked, staring daggers into the girls eyes. Once the girl told him the stories her grandpa told her, Micheal bolted out of the diner with his companions following suite. They all jumped back into the Highwayman, Micheal driving of course, and stepped on the gas toward the location they were told. The car sped out of the Den and back out into the Wasteland toward the Northwest.

"You couldn't have waited until we ordered?" Bonnie said.

"No time to stop. We're so close." Micheal shot back.

"How can you be sure that girl was telling the truth?" Phyllis asked from the backseat.

"I can't, but it's the best chance we got." Micheal said. "It's either this or waste our time looking under every rock in California."

Micheal drove hard and drove fast, reaching so far as the top speed the Highwayman can go. Dust clouds followed in the wake of the car and anyone who dared to stand in their way was instantly mowed down in their prime without a second thought. They say that "no one can stop a Highwayman", and for the most part that was true. But, if a Highwayman is being driven by a determined man on a mission, then you'd better not dare to stand in their way. What should've been at least an hour of driving, took about nearly half that time going sixty with a nuclear powered engine. After going through mounds of sand, Micheal slammed on the brakes and drifted the car to make a quick stop. The car halted right in front of a massive canyon in the ground that spanned for mile upon miles, making it nearly impossible to go around. On the other side of the canyon was a massive Mesa mountain. But, there was nothing else.

"Let me see that map." Micheal said. Bonnie handed him the leather map and he analyzed it again. There was a massive canyon, but there was also a bridge connecting the two sides and tents and farmland on the other side as well. However, this was far from what was actually in front of them. They all stepped out of the car and stood in front of the canyon, looking all around to see if this was all there was. They all stared off into the canyon and the massive mountain wall on the other side where a city should've been.

"Is this it?" Phyllis asked. "Is this all there is?"

"No. No, this can't be it." Micheal refused to believe the truth. "There's gotta be something we're missing." He checked the map over and over again to try and find anything.

"What did I say?" Bonnie said. "What did I fucking say? Arroyo isn't real."

"B-But the stories. What about The Chosen One? Everything?" Micheal was frantic.

"None of its real, Mikey. It's best just to let it go." Bonnie said.

"I hate to believe it, but..." Phyllis joined. "There's nothing."

"It's just sand and rock for miles." Jenkins said.

"There has to be something. Anything!" Micheal said.

"Mikey." Bonnie said, putting her hand on The Prodigy's shoulder. "There's nothing." She shook her head and went back to the car.

"Bonnie. Bonnie!" Micheal called out to her, but she ignored him. He looked over to Phyllis, who was staring at him. "Phyllis. You believe the stories, right? It has to be real." Micheal said, but the ranger ignored his plea's and turned around, back to the car.

"Micheal." Jenkins said to him. "It's over."

Micheal was speechless as first. "No. No, it ain't over. We just have to look harder. M-Maybe it's not this canyon." He tried to plead and make up excuses, but the effort was wasted. The Paladin walked away from the young vault dweller, leaving him to his pitiful disbelief. Micheal looked down to his canine companion. "Boy, we've been through a lot. You've gotta stay by me with this." He tried to plead to his dog, but Dogmeat lowered his tail and walked away from his master. Micheal could only watch as all of his companions had lost all hope.

He looked back to the canyon and tried to keep believing, but the reality of the situation was starting to sink in. He failed. He was The Prodigy, the only one left to save his people and repair his home, but...he failed. He wasted everyone's time, effort and so many resources, only to find that it was all in vein. All the injuries, the murder, the near death experiences, all of it meant nothing in the end. He would have to start from square one again, but he had no idea where to start. Micheal was doomed to fail from the beginning. He wanted to cry, but all that sadness eventually turned into anger. He lashed out, kicking, screaming, cursing the world for all it has done to him only to give him failure. His companions watched, knowing that feeling of grief and anger all too well. They pitied the young boy; how he had come so far to reach so little. It would've broken anybody. Micheal gave one last good kick to the sand and collapsed to his knees, staring blankly at the mountain wall. The world had wanted Micheal to give up, and that's he would've done. But, Micheal is keen to notice details.

"So, what do we do now?" Jenkins asked.

"I don't know." Bonnie answered. "I really can't tell you."

"I have to go back to the NCR and I bet you'll have to go back to the Brotherhood." Phyllis said.

"What about Mikey?" Bonnie asked.

Phyllis sighed. "I don't know. He'll have to decide for himself." They all looked over to Micheal and saw him standing up with his arms stretched out and on the edge of the cliff.

"Mikey? Micheal, what are you doing?!" Bonnie urgently asked, but Micheal ignored her. The companions all stood upright in panic at what Micheal was about to do. Micheal extended his leg out in front of him and was ready to take the final step. "Mikey!" Bonnie screamed. All his companions ran out to grab Micheal, but they were too late; he took that final step.

But, he didn't fall. As his companions halted themselves where Micheal once stood, they watched in awe as The Prodigy hovered above the canyon. They looked down and noticed what Micheal had noticed: sand and dirt floating on nothing. They looked back up to Micheal and watched in tense silence as he walked across the canyon with nothing supporting him. It was as if god himself kept Micheal from falling down and held him in the air. After a few tense seconds, Micheal made it to the other side of the canyon. He looked back to his friends, all speechless as to what they had just watched. Micheal knelt down, picked up a fist full of sand and threw it into the canyon, revealing what they hadn't seen: an invisible bridge. Micheal moved his hand across the air and eventually found what felt like a switch, but he couldn't see it. He flicked the switch and the once invisible bridge made a static sound and revealed itself. It was a steel bridge with concrete supports and emitters all across the supports. It wasn't the work of god; it was some form of advanced stealth technology that made the bridge invisible.

"...Invisible bridge." Micheal said. "Interesting." He could finally stop holding his breath. His companions were reluctant at first, but eventually walked across the bridge and joined Micheal on the other side.

"Jesus, kid." Bonnie said. "You nearly gave us a heart attack." Micheal smirked in response.

"Well, we're on the other side." Phyllis said. "Now what?"

"Now...I'm not so sure I can trust anything." Micheal said. He looked up to the sky to think, but noticed something else. It was just close to noon, but none of the rocks that were sticking out on the mountain were making any shadows. In fact, there were no shadows on the mountain. He picked up a rock and threw it at the mountain. The rock went through the mountain wall and left behind a static image where stone used to be, but it quickly went back to normal. "That ain't a real mountain." Micheal claimed. The gang got closer to the mountain wall and watched Micheal carefully. Becker slowly rose his hand and put it up to the wall. His hand went through and soon Micheal went through the wall completely. Dogmeat followed his master, but the others were hesitant to go through. Eventually, they all mustered up the courage and followed Micheal. They walked through the other side and met Micheal and Dogmeat.

"This is some of the most advanced technology I've ever seen." Jenkins remarked. They all looked to Micheal and noticed he was staring at something in front of him.

"What'd you find?" Bonnie asked as she joined Micheal at his side. She looked over and saw what Micheal was looking at, and she too fell silent in amazement. Jenkins and Phyllis joined quickly and they fell into the same trance as well. In front of them was a massive city with breathtaking architecture. The roads spanned as far as the eye could see and the buildings could be compared to the likes of Rome. Was this Heaven? It appeared to be, but that's what anyone would've said if they saw it. No, this place was the one place they thought they would never find. They did it. They found it. They found Arroyo.