Chapter 17: Boundaries

Anacosta Crossing Station:

Ellie enters the station, in an attempt to escape from her pursuers. As she enters the station's platform, the mercenary notices a couple of NCR soldiers combing the area…

"Damn…" she muttered as she stares at her hidden blades, contemplating whether she should eliminate these soldiers

After a short while, the mercenary shakes her head as she mutters to herself "No…"

Slowly walking down an old escalator, the mercenary notices a NCR soldier, who was in front of the bottom of the escalator, changes his course and heads straight to where she was.

The mercenary quickly jumps over to the side of the escalator as the NCR soldier shines his flashlight on her position, missing her by mere seconds. Despite getting to the ground level without any injuries, her landing caused a bit of rubble to collapse, creating a bit of noise.

"What's that?" the NCR soldier said as he goes to investigate the source of the sound

With adrenaline pumping into her veins, the mercenary quickly hides under the escalator as the NCR soldier emerges from the left. As he checks the left and right sides, the mercenary dashes to her right.

Just as she left, the soldier turns around and shines his flashlight on where she was just mere seconds ago.

Hoping to avoid the rest of the soldiers, the mercenary jumps into the train tracks and proceeds deeper into the tunnels…

45 minutes later:

After trekking the tunnels for some time, including a few encounters with feral ghouls, the mercenary decides to find a place to rest her weary body.

"I've been getting tired so easily…" she muttered "Doesn't feel normal…"

Upon saying this, the sound of footsteps can be heard from a notable distance. Sensing danger, the mercenary quickly goes against the wall, preparing herself for a fight.

As she waits for the source of the footsteps to come closer, her head is suddenly assaulted by a sharp pain.

"The fuck!?" she muttered as she attempts to search for something useful in her bag "Mentats… Mentats…"

Unfortunately, her bag had no mentats and she was, once again forced to endure her latest episode.

A short while later, the pain subsided as the mercenary leans on the wall of the tunnel, trying to catch her breath.

Just then, the source of the footsteps reveals itself to be the mysterious man.

"You…!" Ellie uttered with her eyes wide open

"Nice to see you again…" the man said with the same sinister smile

Acting fast, the mercenary draws her rifle and aims it at the man, who simply stood there, still maintaining his sinister smile

"So you're gonna shoot me?" he taunted "I wonder if you have the guts to do so…"

"Shut up!" the mercenary shouted as she fires her rifle but misses

"You missed by a mile" the man said "Come on. You and me know how capable you really are…"

"What do you mean?"

"Think Ellie! You've shed a lot of blood without hesitation for months now! All because you discover a few things about the NCR, you suddenly go soft?"

"What makes you think you know me, bitch!" the mercenary protested

The man gave a sinister smile as he says "An excellent question, Ellie… But I'm not the subject right now… We're talking about you"

The mercenary didn't reply, she simply aimed her rifle at the man, trying to keep it steady but her shaking hands and legs seem to be making it difficult.

After a few minutes of silence, the man begins to slowly walk towards the mercenary. Feeling threatened, the mercenary attempts to fire but her hands refuse to listen to her.

"What!?" she shouted as she tries to pull the trigger "Come on! Come on! Come ON! Come ON! WHY CAN'T I SHOOT!?"

"What's wrong, Ellie?" the man taunted as he closes the distance between him and the mercenary "Why can't you pull the trigger? What's stopping you?"

"SH-SHUT UP!" the mercenary shouted as she fires a shot but, once again, misses

"Disappointing…" the man said "Maybe you just need a little 'motivation'…"

Upon saying that, the man lunges at the mercenary.

A struggle ensues as the man attempts to lock his hands upon the mercenary's throat.

"COME ON, ELLIE!" the man shouted "YOU HAD THE GALL TO CLAIM YOURSELF TO BE ONE OF US!?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" the mercenary shouted

As the two individuals struggle, Ellie notices traces of blood dripping down from the man's head, eyes and mouth… It was almost as if she was being attacked by a ghost…

"PROVE YOUR CLAIM, ELEANOR!" the man shouted "PROVE IT!"

As the man manages to lock his hands upon the mercenary's throat, Ellie suddenly felt weird, almost as if a switch inside her head was flipped. After letting out a loud cry, the mercenary manages to free her right hand and lands a punch upon the man's cheek. The force was enough to send the man tumbling to the left.

Not yet finished, the mercenary lunges upon the man. Grabbing a tire iron from the ground, the mercenary relentlessly smashed the object upon the man's face, all the while screaming as she smashes the tire iron upon the man.

After several swings, the mercenary finally calms down. With the danger gone, the mercenary attempts to catch her breath and compose herself.

As she was about to compose herself, an ominous tone echoes throughout the tunnel…

"Nice work, Ellie…"

Looking behind her, the mercenary sees the man, alive and well…

"N-No way…" she uttered "H-How did you…?"

"You're a killer, Ellie" the man said "You're one of us, remember? All you need to know is who to kill next… That simple and today's exercise just reminded you of that fact"

Looking at the body of the person she had just killed, the mercenary was mortified as she realized the body had changed… The face was hardly recognizable but the armor the dead man wore was unmistakable…

"I-I killed a NCR trooper…" she muttered

"Right you are…" the man said with a sinister smile "Isn't it great?"

"No…No…" the mercenary muttered over and over again as she covers both her ears "No…No…No…"

"Why are you so distressed from killing a NCR soldier?" the man taunted "You didn't have any qualms in killing them before all this… Why start now? Don't you hate the NCR? Don't you hate how much they manipulate the common people to their own ends? Don't you hate their 'Holier than thou attitude'? Or is the entire invasion itself the one that you hate? Tell me, Ellie, why do you hesitate to end the life of a dog who's working for the enemy?"

"I-I-I…" the mercenary uttered "I-I'm no killer!"

"Don't deny reality, Ellie… It's not healthy…" the man said as he begins to laugh maniacally

As the mercenary tries to makes sense of what she had just seen and done, she begins to see visions once again… Unfamiliar locations, events, people, sounds and many more… It was too much for the mercenary to bear… It was almost apparent that she could not stay conscious for long…

With her vision waning, the mercenary collapses into the cold subway tunnel floor… With everything going dark, her last sight was that of a figure slowly walking towards her…

"Enemy forces dead ahead!"

"Return fire! Return fire!"

The mercenary suddenly gains consciousness and finds herself wearing the unfamiliar power armor she had seen in previous visions. This time, she and several other men, wearing power armor and armed with plasma weapons, are attacking an enemy squad, armed with a variety of conventional weapons, just a few meters away.

After running out of ammo, the mercenary ditches her plasma rifle and makes a mad dash towards the enemy squad. The bullets just bounce off thanks to the mercenary's armor.

Eventually, she reaches the enemy squad and immediately grabs one enemy soldier by the head and throws him like a football. She, and several others, proceeds to crush the remaining enemy forces.

Minutes later, the enemy force was destroyed; the mercenary catches a glimpse of her enemy. The uniform was different but she could not mistake the insignia that was painted on the armor… It was a two-headed bear…

"NCR…" Ellie thought "I don't remember fighting the NCR while wearing power armor…"

Just as the mercenary was trying to make sense of what she is seeing, a radio transmission echoes throughout her ears.

"Goliath is down!" a male voice said "I repeat, Goliath is down! All available forces are to converge on Dr. Steiner's Lab at once!"

The mercenary then hears herself saying "Let's move" in an almost emotionless tone… Which was even stranger as the mercenary was never this emotionless before…

As Ellie and her squad prepare to converge on the lab, another NCR squad breaks through the wall. A NCR trooper, armed with a rocket launcher, fires a shot and manages to land a direct hit on the mercenary. The rocket heavily damaged the mercenary's power armor. Removing her helmet, the mercenary charges towards the NCR squad which only took less than 2 minutes.

Upon reaching the doomed squad, the mercenary effortlessly crushes the men. Despite being shot several times, with a few shots hitting her cheeks, the mercenary hardly flinched and her wounds regenerated almost instantaneously.

"Wh-What kind of monster is this!?" a NCR trooper said after seeing Ellie's injuries heal before him…

"One mind, one body…" Ellie uttered before she crushes the NCR trooper

Some time later, the mercenary finds herself standing in front of a large steel door. It was only her now… Her other comrades were either gunned down or headed elsewhere…

With a blank expression, the mercenary opens the steel door and enters the lab, being blinded by a bright light…

Some time later:

The mercenary opens here eyes and finds that she is inside some sort of maintenance room…

"Where…am I…?" she weakly uttered

"A service room in Central Station…"

Turning to her right, the mercenary finds the hooded figure, who helped her at Girdershade.

"You…" she said, still feeling groggy

"I found you about to pass out in the tunnels…" the figure replied "Not a good place to take a nap, am I right?"

"Y-Yeah…" the mercenary replied

"Tell me" the figure said after a brief period of silence "Do you think the NCR is evil?"

Taken aback from the question, the mercenary responded with a "Huh?"

"You were kind of talking to yourself back there…" the man replied "Saying stuff like why you're hesitating to kill NCR folk and such"

"I…uh…" the mercenary muttered, trying to find the words to say

"Listen…" the figure said "… A lot of people in the NCR may be heartless pricks but there are some good people in there too…"

"But how do you explain the invasion?" the mercenary refuted

The figure immediately replied "So if I were to tell you that the Brotherhood of Steel's mission is to take advanced pre-War tech from anyone by any means necessary, including violence, would you still consider the Brotherhood to be 'all good'?"

The mercenary couldn't reply… The man had a point…

"It's not the nation itself…" he said "But the leaders… There's a problem in the leadership"

"Problem?" the mercenary wondered

"There's a group of greedy bitches who are controlling the NCR from the shadows…" the figure answered

"Who are they?" the mercenary asked

"Sorry" the figure said nodding his head "…Can't tell you. Anyway, you should focus on clearing that head of yours…"

"The NCR has caused so much misery upon the people…" the mercenary muttered

"And so did your little Rebellion…" the figure responded "But I'm not saying you guys are wrong. In war, there will always be casualties…"

"What?" the mercenary said, not understanding the meaning of the man's words

"I've read this in a couple of pre-War books my father left behind…" the figure answered "'War never changes'… That's the underlying line in most of those books… So long as there's a war going on, both sides will always contribute to the death and destruction of the land and its people… So it's not unusual that the Sons of Liberty have also caused their own share of death and misery… Sometimes even the leaders, themselves, are the cause of the war… But the soldiers and civilians are the ones who always pay for the actions done by these leaders…"

"You have a point…" the mercenary said

"You're still young" the figure said "When you get to my age, maybe you'll understand… For now, just fight for what you believe is right"

"What I believe is right?" the mercenary wondered

"In the end, its how you hold true to your ideals that matter" the figure answered "I believe that a true warrior listens to both orders and his heart… Because what kind of warrior mindlessly fights just because someone said so, am I right? Aren't you fighting because you believe in the Sons of Liberty's cause?"

"R-Right…" the mercenary nervously said

"Get some rest" the figure said as he points to a sack, in front of him "I found a couple of mentats. I think you need em more than I do"

"Th-Thank you…" the mercenary said as she goes into deep thought

"Anyway" the man said "I've got a previous engagement and I'm running late so we'll part from here…"

"Wait" the mercenary said "Do you know the Lone Wanderer?"

The hooded figure turns to Ellie as he says "Who doesn't?"

The mercenary followed up with the question "Do you know where he is?"

"Why do you want to find him?" the figure asked

"I need advice, I guess…" the mercenary said "I've heard a lot of great stories about him… So many people praise him for his actions… And… And… I want to learn form him…"

The figure was silent for a while before saying "Try the Brotherhood of Steel. The Wanderer was a prominent member of the Brotherhood. Elder Sarah Lyons may know where he is"

"The Elder?" the mercenary uttered "… How did you know that?"

"'Insider information'…" the figure answered "I have ways of getting information around here…"

"How sure are you that she'll tell me the truth if I ask her?" the mercenary wondered

"If she refuses to help you" the figure said as he nears the door "Tell her 'where is your pride?'"

The mercenary was silent for a while before asking "Are you a member of the Brotherhood? Or rather, are you the Lone Wanderer?"

The figure stops as he turns around and says "I will neither confirm nor deny that… But what I will say is that I'm trying to guide this wasteland"

"Guide?" the mercenary wondered "To where?"

"That is a story for another time…" the figure said "Let's leave it as I'm also trying to fight for a better world… I have a feeling that we'll meet again…"

After the hooded figure left, Ellie reaches for the sack and find 5 packs of mentats. After taking some mentats and resting for another 30 minutes, the mercenary resumes her trek to Underworld… This time, she hardly encountered much trouble, save for a couple of feral ghouls…

Underworld:

6:30pm:

After a few days of being separated from her friends, the mercenary finally reaches the ghoul city. Although, she immediately noticed something was wrong since parts of the museum's wall was lined up with graffiti.

"Get out smoothskins! Fuck the Sons of Liberty!" were some of the words that were hastily sprayed on the wall.

"Did something happen…?" the mercenary wondered as she opened the museum door.

Almost immediately, she is greeted by an array of gun muzzles.

Raising her hand, the mercenary confusingly uttered as she raises both hands "I… surrender…?"

"Ellie?"

"Damn it, Vyse" the mercenary said as she puts her hands down "First time I see you in days and you greet me with a gun"

"Sorry, my bad" the knight sergeant said

"Well… Looks like you're fully healed…" the mercenary said "Good to see that you're back on your feet"

"Well its thanks to Dr. Barrows and Dallas…" Vyse replied

"That's great" the mercenary said with a smile "Anyway, what's with the jumpy atmosphere?"

"Well…" Vyse said "… While you were gone, a lot of shit went down…"

"What do you mean?" the mercenary asked

"Better that I show you…" the knight sergeant replied

Underworld, interior:

Upon opening the double doors, the mercenary quickly caught a whiff of smoke, burnt corpses and lead…

The interior was in ruins… Some places were on fire, the floor was littered with bodies of ghouls, bullet holes can be seen in the walls and so many injured ghouls stumble in the main hall…

"What the fuck…" the mercenary said "What happened here?"

Vyse didn't utter a word but his face shows how distraught he was…

"Ellie?"

"James" the mercenary said "… And Audrey"

"Good to see that you're alive and well!" the Paladin said "Didn't expect Underworld to look like this, huh?"

"Y-Yeah…" the mercenary nervously responded

"Vyse, I think she needs to see him" the Paladin suggested

"Yeah…" the knight sergeant replied "I'm taking her to him now"

"Who's 'him'?" the mercenary wondered

"You'll find out soon enough…" the Paladin answered

Chop shop:

As Ellie enters the room, she immediately notices someone lying on the hospital bed, it was Coby and he was badly hurt… Half of his face was bandaged, including his left eye, his right arm was in a cast, its seemed that he had broken his right arm somehow, and left arm was full of bandages, covering numerous gunshot wounds.

"Coby!?" the mercenary said "What happened?"

"Ellie?" Dallas said as she turns around "Don't… He needs to recover…"

"I-I'm fine…" Coby said while trying to hold back the pain "Good to see you, kid…"

"What happened, Coby?" the mercenary asked

"Shit went full circle…" Coby answered "A lot of the residents revolted, violently and tried to kill us…"

Marco then steps up and says "We tried to resolve the issue peacefully but…"

"… They started firing their weapons and… well I think you can see what happened next…" Dallas continued

"Oh God…" the mercenary muttered "Why did they revolt?"

"Fear…" Dr. Barrows said "Many of the ghouls that revolted were showing signs of going feral… They were driven by fear or worse, they're beginning to exhibit the characteristics of a feral…"

"Doctor… How's the cure?" the mercenary asked

"I found something interesting but no cure as of yet…" the Doctor said "But for now, we must quell this revolt… Even now, those ghouls are planning their next attack…"

"Where are they?" the mercenary asked

"They're in another part of the museum, the part where the ferals reside…" the Doctor answered

"Who's behind this?" the mercenary asked

"Crowley…" the Doctor answered