Fallout 4: AR

7. The Third Rail

MacCready led me to the side of the Old State House and the former subway entrance beneath the building. Another neon sign proclaimed "The Third Rail" in the entrance. He was moving with purpose and I had to stretch my legs to catch up with him. We breezed past the well dressed but obvious bouncer, another Ghoul who ignored MacCready, but greeted my approach with, "Hancock says newcomers are welcome in the Third Rail. Go on in."

"Thank you!" I tossed over my shoulder as I strove to keep up. I barely had time to register the patchy tiling, the curved tunnel, and the stairs leading down to what was obviously an old subway station-turned-bar. Clever. A beautiful woman in a sequined red dress was singing in one corner, and there were several other patrons scattered about on various bits of scrounged furniture ranging from couches to old diner booths. MacCready had claimed a small two-seater table in the back corner, and I hastened to join him, not quite trusting the good intentions of the other patrons. He was sitting with his back to the wall, and I scraped the other chair around to be next to him, against the other side of the corner, rather than have my back exposed. His perpetual frown deepened slightly when I first rearranged the chair, but when he saw my precautions, he nodded.

"So, this is obviously a bar." I began. "Do they serve food here, too?" My stomach had been nagging at me for hours, the not-apples I ate this morning having worn off quite some time ago.

"If you want to call it that," he said, digging into his pocket. "Here," and a handful of bottlecaps poured into my cupped palms. "Go get us a couple of beers and whatever's on the menu."

I looked at the pile of bottlecaps, then back up at MacCready. "I thought I was the boss here," I said, tentatively testing my authority. Act like it, huh? I didn't really want to go. While my panic attack had departed, hopefully permanently, the last thing I wanted was to push my stability with too many stimuli. My hopes were dashed when he shook his head firmly.

"Sorry, Boss! It's 'you point, I shoot' not 'you point, I fetch drinks'." He ostentatiously leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head, a mocking grin teasing across his features. "I'm paying, so you can fetch and carry this time. Go get the beer and some food. Hell, get us a job if you can." His voice was challenging, adding, "We could both use the caps."

I sighed. All right, you can do this. You're armed; you're wearing a bloodstained jacket for godsakes, no one is going to mess with you. Closing my fingers around the pile of caps, I made my way over to the bar, trying to move with a confidence I didn't entirely feel. Behind the bar was another robot. This one, however, didn't even come close to looking humanoid. A roundish silver body was held aloft with a small rocket propulsion system, three large metallic arms moved swiftly and decisively to mix drinks, take payment, and generally keep business moving swiftly. A small Union Jack was painted on the front, and a dark brown derby hat sat perfectly balanced on top of its... head? As I bellied up to the bar, three extendable eyes turned to face me. "What'll it be?" Of course he has a British cockney accent.

"This your place?" I asked, trying to start off on the right foot. All three eye lenses widened and narrowed in unison at my question.

"What? Nah, gov'. This place is Hancock's. Old Charlie just keeps the floor clean and the drinks dirty. So you buyin' or what?"

"Uhh, I'll have two beers and two of whatever is for dinner." So Hancock owns this place. Guess he's pretty powerful... better stay on his good side as much as I can. "Oh, and can I get a glass of water?" I know MacCready said to get two beers but I wasn't much for alcohol, being a serious lightweight on that front. I figured I could do with water and let the sniper have both beers. Maybe it would mellow him out a bit. "And if you happen to know of any, umm, jobs that need doing...?" I hazarded. What the hell, why not? Charlie the robot bartender went still for a moment, then swung into action.