Curious & Curiouser

Chapter Three

⠀ ⠀Spending time around NCR posts made the courier's head ache. Maybe it was the scrutinizing gaze of every soldier that walked past, or maybe it was the sheer amount of off-duty drunken soldiers that were stumbling about. Either way, Courier could find no comfort in the gated posts. She wondered if this paranoia was warranted, wondered if her old self had bad blood with the Republic. The thought gave her half a mind to keep her head down, worried someone mind recognize her. But her pride was hard to overcome, and she refused to appear anything other than confident. Besides, NCR wouldn't attack her immediately and without warning. Right? The courier liked her odds.
⠀ ⠀After she quickly delivered the news of Nipton to the first sergeant she came across, the courier and ED-E quickly left. Hopefully the dog-headed man would be pleased, and hopefully the NCR wouldn't find out she had deliberately been a messenger for their biggest enemy.
———
⠀ ⠀Dinky the Dinosaur was the most incredible sight that Courier had ever seen. At least, that she could remember. It wasn't because the repurposed snipers nest was exceptionally beautiful or impressive, but instead because her feet were aching and her blisters were being to develop blisters of their own. There had been little rest to be found between the Mojave Outpost and Novac. Various gang members seemed to lurk around every corner; it almost began to feel like the courier couldn't even blink without some thug trying to steal either her possessions or her life. And yet, despite all the attempts at taking her possessions and her life, the courier still remained victorious. Although, ED-E was definitely a deciding factor in most of the skirmishes.
⠀ ⠀"Why hello there!" The lady at the desk greeted with a smile that was far too big to be genuine.
⠀ ⠀The lady seemed far too happy. Nobody in the wasteland was that excited, especially when regarding a blood-soaked stranger. Or was she a stranger? For a moment, the Courier wondered if Jeannie May had known the courier before all this.
⠀ ⠀"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The couriers head tilted to the side; her eyes traced Jeannie Mays face for any sign of familiarity.
⠀ ⠀"No, I guess I got ahead of myself. I'm Jeannie May Crawford. I take care of folks around here, so long as they aren't troublemakers."
⠀ ⠀The courier tried to hide her slight disappointment to see Jeannie May was yet another stranger. But maybe, it was for the best. There was something unsettling about the desk clerk, and Courier couldn't convince herself it was simply paranoia. Amnesia seemed to be a breeding ground for paranoid thoughts, the courier was beginning to recognize a pattern.
⠀ ⠀The word 'troublemaker' hung in the air for a second. It almost felt like an indirect threat to the courier. 'You look like trouble, and I don't like it, but I need business. So pay or leave.' That's what the courier could read between the lines of what the woman had wanted to say, but the courier ignored all that was said and all that was intended. She wasn't here to look for trouble, but trouble would surely find her anyways.
⠀ ⠀"I'm looking for a man in a checkered coat. Has anyone like that passed through here?"
⠀ ⠀"Well, he might've been wearing a fancy outfit, but he wasn't no gentleman to me!"
⠀ ⠀As Jeannie May began to complain about the piss-poor attitude she'd received from the man, Courier resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Was this woman always so talkative? Or was the couriers face just so welcoming that Jeannie May felt the urge to spill her guts?
⠀ ⠀After listening to Jeannie May's town gossip, and haggling the price of a room, Courier finally found herself in a room of her own. Four walls, a solid roof, a locked door, and a bed. It was more than the courier had hoped for; even ED-E beeped happily as he saw the relief wash over her face.
⠀ ⠀"We should stick around here for a few days," the courier mindlessly spoke to the eyebot as she began to unlace her boots, "Help the towns people out with the ghoul problem, ya know? Earn a few caps, and rest my feet a little. Then, we can start back on looking for the man who shot me."
⠀ ⠀ED-E made a sound that the courier could only assume was an agreement. After the courier had stripped off her blood-caked armor and her grimy under garments, she found herself in a shower. The water pressure was sporadic, and the water itself was likely laced with at least some level of radiation, but wiping the weeks filth off felt incredible. It had been her first shower since she had woke up in Goodsprings, and the Lord only knows how long it had been before that since she had a proper shower. By the time Courier had redressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, she felt better than she could ever remember. But, as much as the soft bed was screaming her name, the Courier needed to ask around about the towns problems.
⠀ ⠀"What even is a ghoul?" The courier asked her robot companion as she snacked on some maize and a bottle of water.
⠀ ⠀In response, ED-E played a few different sound tracks. The first few were each varying inhumane groans and yells, and the next was voiced by some unfamiliar man; the man mentioned that ghouls were irradiated humans, and the courier shrugged and nodded.
⠀ ⠀"So kinda human but not human? Got it." She rubbed at the fresh bullet wound on her scalp, "Not remembering stuff gets annoying."
⠀ ⠀ED-E beeped sadly and shook slightly. Courier smiled a little, and gave the eyebot a little pat. For a robot, ED-E seemed to hold more humanity than many humans that the courier had come across in the few days since her revival.
⠀ ⠀"Alright, ED-E," the courier got to her feet and stretched, "Let's go see what heads we're gonna be busting."
⠀ ⠀ED-E perked up immediately; his familiar 'fighting tune' began to play as he bopped around in the air around her. The courier couldn't help but laugh at the robots excitement for violence; or maybe the bot was just feeding off of her own thirst for another fight.