Voodoo - Doctor's Visit

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Fawkes got Ellen the holotape recording from Miss Agatha, and a set of her written sheet music besides. Bahorel's, ah... philosophical... work came a little bit after that. They're really all that Ellen came to the Bar for this time around, so it's time to go back to the House of Franklin and give the good doctor his-

Well. They're all Ellen came to the Bar for. Ellen wasn't the only one who came through that door, though.

Time to find Voodoo and see what his situation is.

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

A quick eyeroll from Voodoo. "Three guesses, first two don't count."

He spreads his arms in a really? expression. "Relax, old man. I don't know what's on your conscience, but whatever it is, we ain't gonna hurt you over it. Jeezus."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Dr. D considers this for a minute before saying, "When I last saw Redding, NCR and the Brotherhood were at war. Can I assume that particular state of hostility doesn't apply here, given the circumstances?"

Ellen glances towards Kang, whose armored shoulders lift briefly in a shrug. She turns back to the doctor and says, "Unless Elder Lyons receives orders from the High Elder in California to the contrary, we have no interest in pursuing that war here. Although I'm curious, now, as to what brings a doctor all the way to Philadelphia from California."

D sighs and looks to Theodosia. "Theo, this may take awhile. Do you suppose you could take the more fidgety members of this delegation on a tour of the building or something? This office really isn't built for all these people and the robots, and I don't think I'm getting out of this without answering some questions."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo looks to his group. "Follow her," he says, nodding to Theodosia. "I'll fill you guys in on whatever you need to know later."

Amidst murmured acknowledgements and some shuffling about, they file out of the makeshift office until it's just Dr. D, Voodoo, and Ellen.

"You got my attention," Voodoo says, crossing his arms. "So long's you're not the rambling type."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Dr. D nods, and from somewhere in the back of his office, manages to dredge up a pair of what might have been Eames chairs. "Sit if you like," he says. "I'll try not to ramble. It is something of a long story, I'll warn you of that. I suppose I should start by saying that Philadelphia was not where I intended to end up when I left California- actually I should start by saying I was never part of the war with the Brotherhood in the first place- and that, catchy as my local name may be, my name is actually Clifford Skridlow. I think you can see why I'm not using it."

[boston_bruiser]

The only Clifford Voodoo knows is the big red dog, but cross-universe children's literature references aside, he wouldn't want to be stuck with that name, either.

He takes the seat offered, letting his carbine hang by its sling between his legs as he leans forward, hands cupped around the receiver. "I can make some pretty good guesses," he says, "but go on."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Clifford nods. "My original intention was to travel with several of my fellow Followers to the Great Lakes region, preferably Illinois. We were hoping to make contact with whatever remained of civilization in the greater Chicago area- there had been rumors of other travelers going that way for years, and frankly it seemed less likely to end up with us dead, enslaved, or forcibly converted to weird tribal ideologies than trying to make inroads into Utah."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo glances to Ellen and shrugs. "Some things never change."

He turns back to Doctor D. "So what happened? You get lost?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Cli- oh, let's be nice and call him the name he wants to use- Dr. D sighs, but nods. "Something like that. There were about ten of us when the journey began, and we only lost poor Cruzatte somewhere in the wilds east of Caesar's lands. Stepped on some form of old world ordnance that hadn't lost its bite yet. We buried the parts we could find and wound up in an argument during the funerary rites over our course to Chicago, and the group split. It turns out that neither I nor Shields were actually particularly good at land navigation. I sincerely hope everyone else was."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shrugs. "Seems straightforward enough. But what made you wanna leave in the first place? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you make it sound like Redding didn't see a lot of fighting."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You're not Brotherhood, are you," says Dr. D flatly.

Ellen shakes her head. "He's a friend of mine and a close ally."

"Ah. Well. Redding is the site of a major vein of gold, which was the basis of NCR's currency for years. Note the use of the word 'was'. They've been running on paper money backed solely by the full faith and credit of the NCR government ever since the Brotherhood collapsed the gold mines."

[boston_bruiser]

"Do me a favor and spell it out-"

-crap, they don't have Barney in this universe.

"-well, okay. So you left because the economy went to shit?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I left because the Followers of the Apocalypse- unlike the Brotherhood of Steel- would prefer to pursue the path of restoring human knowledge and culture to as much of the world as possible, instead of concentrating old world technology and science in the hands of a few armored monastic isolationists," says Dr. D. "No offense, Paladin."

"None taken," Ellen murmurs mildly.

"And I left because, frankly, if NCR and the Brotherhood insisted on continuing their war, I didn't like our chances of continued operation in Redding- or anywhere else in the northern NCR. None of us did. Better to aim for somewhere out of harm's reach and start over."

"But not Utah," Ellen says."

"Are you kidding? Utah's riddled from ass to teakettle with more tribes than I have bones," says Dr. D. "Even the civilized ones are a nightmare to deal with if you're not a trained linguist. The New Canaanites and some of the trading companies deal with the less horrific ones, but they're armed to the teeth the whole time. I hate to say it, but it'd be a step up if Caesar and his Legion were to annex the area, frankly."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo makes a note of the post-classical Latin pronunciation, but not much beyond that for now. What's another post-apocalyptic warlord?

"And Nevada was out of the picture, too? Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona...the whole region's just that fucked, huh?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, for-" Dr. D leans back in his chair and eyes the ceiling. "Franklin, give me strength. Yes. Yes, it is, indeed, that fucked. The Legion controls virtually all of Arizona and a significant portion of Nevada. Caesar claims all land east of the Colorado River, and he's pushing to overrun the Mojave just as soon as he can take Hoover Dam out of NCR hands. Probably plans on razing New Vegas to the ground, knowing his track record to date."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shares a glance with Ellen, and leans forward more. This is starting to sound more and more like no ordinary warlord.

"So. Caesar. His Legion. Tell me about them."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Caesar is what happens when a man who really ought to know better takes it into his head that he, and he personally, can improve upon the failures of an outdated cultural model and use it to impose a vision of a wildly reactionary past on humanity in the name of surviving the future," says Dr. D. "Beginning with teaching squabbling tribals the doctrines of total war, cultural purging, and forced assimilation of the neighbors. I don't know how familiar with really old world history you are, but the man's turned the remains of eighty-six tribes into a grotesque parody of ancient Roman civilization in which all the free men are in the military, all the captured men are either enslaved or slaughtered, and all the women are used for soldiers' wives or concubines, assuming they're not priestesses of Mars or something like that."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo's quiet for a bit, rubbing his chin as he looks to the floor.

After what is probably a couple of seconds but feels like longer, he grunts, stands, and looks to Ellen.

"I'll talk to you later. Got an idea."

He nods to Dr. D. "Thanks for your time, Doc."

There are only so many places in the building for a tour group to go, and Voodoo finds the rest of the group walking through the archives, with Theodosia giving what seems to be a standard tour monologue.

"Hector, Al, Josepha, Kate." He waves them over. "Bring it in. Sorry, Theo - it'll be quick, promise."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods to Voodoo and turns her attention to Dr. D. "I think," she says, "that this may be a good time for me to clarify a few things of my own..."

The door closes behind Voodoo.

Theodosia breaks off her lecture mid-sentence when Voodoo arrives. "Of course, sir," she says, and does a very commendable curtsey. "I'll be here when you're done."

[boston_bruiser]

He nods, and waits until the four of them are front and center before he starts.

"Here's the plan. Originally, I was going to take you guys to D.C., try and figure out what to do from there."

He looks at each of them in turn, making sure of their attention before he utters the next sentence.

"Plan's changed. We've got an enemy, and a war."

"Some asshole named Caesar, out west," he continues. "Looking to conquer the whole region, and trying to conscript every able-bodied male into his Legion and enslaving the rest to do it. World seems like it'd be a better place with him gone. We're gonna try to do just that."

"I've never bullshitted you guys before. Ain't about to start now. I ain't got but a slight clue what's between D.C. and there, and only a vague idea of what's waiting for us in New Vegas. We move fast and we'll get there in two months at best. Lot can happen in two months. Could be we all die. Shit happens. Any of you want to back out and go your own way, now or in D.C., I'm okay with that. But once we start out for Vegas? We're committed."

A beat.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but - questions?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

They look at each other for a while. Eventually:

"I'll be honest," says Hector, "after what happened with the Weeds, any chance to bust some slaver heads is a good chance. Whoever they are."

"Seconded," murmurs Josepha. Kate just nods.

Al raises one hand. "Question," he says. "Are we still going to DC and then heading west, or are we just going to leave from here?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Still going to D.C.," Voodoo says. "Hopefully, we can get some training in with the Brotherhood guys, maybe even get some supplies and equipment. You guys are good, but if we wanna survive, we're gonna need to get used to working as a unit. That means range time, training exercises, you name it."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right," says Al. "I can live with that. It's not like I had much else going for me anyway."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Gotta run it by Paladin 101 first. She might have to run it by her superiors. I'll let you know what happens. That's all for now."

With that, he turns and walks back to where he hopes Dr. D and Ellen are still talking.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

They are. Although D is looking more than a little confused, and seems visibly relieved when Voodoo enters the room. "Thank you, Paladin," he says, "but I think that's enough for the moment- welcome back, sir, I hope all is well?"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Everything's fine. Just gonna need to talk to the Paladin here. Nothing serious."

He looks to Ellen. "I need some favors. The four people I brought with me? I need them trained and equipped - properly trained and equipped. What's the Brotherhood got to spare?"