Deal the Cards

*A news broadcast appears on most tv's across the U.S. A reporter says,* "Good evening, and welcome to the late night news. A broadcast for you to hear everything you need to learn now that your children aren't around to hear the horrors of the world. Earlier today, Rob-Co Industries announced a new line of security bots! Better than the Protectron, better than the top 'o the line Securitron and even better than the deadly Assaultron! We currently don't know the name of the newest bots, but we do know some basic statistics. Yet again another joint operation with General Atomics, the newest line of security bots are much more agile, have vast melee and firearms knowledge, have the most advanced precision and logistical tactics modules, and they even have a personality module! Probably some sick bastard out there that’ll try to run a sexbot program or something. Anyways, we were supposed to have Rob-Co’s CEO come in for an interview, but Robert House is an awfully busy man. He did send us an email though, in which he had explained his newest project has a lot of work to do and won't be completed for a few years. However, he has a prototype that will be functional within the month. Though it’s not for sale, it will be publicly tested and demonstrated. But, when the bots are finished, let's talk about the future price. According to House, he expects they’ll most likely be priced within the millions. Top notch security, especially when it’s Rob-Co grade, will obviously be pretty pricey, but we all know it’s worth the cost if it came from the visionary mind of Robert House. In other news, there is no other news! But, if you all must have something tonight, I’ll say this. Russia has recently shown unprovoked hostility and has shut down all trade with any and all countries. The current leader has seemed to have taken up the idea of isolationism and has terminated all contact with all nations except for the United States and Great Britain. Why this has happened is unknown. But hey, maybe the Slavs are realizing just how ruined the world is and they are hoping to survive on their own. That concludes this nightly broadcast. Upcoming is a brand new episode of ‘The Adventures of the Silver Shroud!’. Stay tuned for that, if you're interested.”

(Post-war, unknown location)

*Two Enclave soldiers were exploring a sealed bunker that was hidden in the ruins of southern California. One of them was recently promoted to officer, but they remind close friends. At random, the lower ranked soldier asked,* “Why is it always us being sent out to places like this? Can’t high command send Squad Zeta or something?”, *the officer answered,* “Squad Zeta’s been tasked with finding the Vault. We’re unfortunately the only other available people qualified for this job. We won’t stay long, alright? We find whatever’s locked away in here, we notify House, then we get the fuck out.”. *They continued to explore, soon finding a working elevator. The officer said,* “Power’s still on. I knew this place was a Rob-Co facility, but I didn’t think it’d have a reactor.”. *Out of nowhere, a few wastelanders appeared and were about to ask the soldiers for help. The officer turned around after hearing the movement and said,* “Stay back, I won’t hesitate to fire.”, *one of the wastelanders replied,* “We… We just need some help… Water, food, maybe some Rad-Away?”. *The officer didn’t reply, they simply stared. The wastelander continued,* “None of us are sick, I promise.”. *This time, the officer replied,* “No rad poisoning or Cloud sickness?”, “We haven't gone anywhere near the southeastern areas. We’ve got poisoning every now and then, but we treated it with herbal remedies, only thing we can afford…”. *The officer thought to themselves, before reading their gun. The wastelanders freaked out and were about to run away, but the flash and glow of plasma soon bathed the room in a dim, neon green light. The screaming stopped as the unfortunate wastelanders melted into goo. The soldier asked,* “You mentioned something about a vault, right?”, “Not just any vault… Nobody knows who built it, nobody knows where it is. Not even Vault-Tec or the Enclave have records of it. Hell, we didn’t know about it until that detective girl reported something weird. Issue is, whatever’s in that vault won’t be making anyone rich. Vincent’s taking claim of it all, said he’ll bring down anyone who gets in his way. But I wouldn’t think about it if I were you. Probably a whole lotta fuss over nothing, I doubt the vault even actually exists.”. *The soldier asks,* “You got promoted. Is that gonna change how we hang out?”, “No, it won’t change anything. I’m working for the promotions to make more money, then I split the money between us. Not climbing the ranks ‘cuz I want to, I’m climbing the ranks for you and so you don’t have to. The Enclave is a group that’s nice to be in, but not fun to actually be a part of.”. *The soldier seemed surprised to hear that. Unfortunately, the moment started to get awkward,* “Oh… Thanks, I guess…?”. *The officer spoke with a rather hastily tone,* “Not too far ahead should be the entrance to the chamber that’s below this place. Quicker we get this done, quicker we’ll have enough caps to enjoy a decent meal when we get back to Vegas.”. *The two soldiers eventually arrived at the chamber. Inside were rows and rows of incomplete humanoid robots. The officer said,* “Well, that’s not weird at all… Makes me wonder what House was planning to do with all of that.”, *the soldier walked up to a nearby terminal and checked it out. They called out to the officer, who had wandered off exploring,* “Hey, you might wanna come and see this… There’s nearly as many files on here as there are robots… I… What the hell have we found?!”. *The officer replied,* “We found House’s wild card, that’s what we’ve done… And I gotta feeling we should just leave, and never speak of this to anyone…”, “But, what about the money?”, “Forget the money, we can’t let anyone know this exists. God knows what destruction can be caused with this many prototype robots. When we get back to Vegas, we can tell the Courier. He’s trustworthy, he won't tell anyone about it. If we’re lucky, we’ll still get paid, the mission will be written up as a dead end, and we’ll move on.”, “You sure this is a good idea?”. *The officer looked at the soldier with a sincere look and said,* “I’ve gotten away with crimes worse than this, don’t worry. I had actually committed a war crime a few years back and Damien is none the wiser.”. *The two soldiers quickly leave the facility, hoping to re-bury what they’ve dug up…*