Part 37: Behind the Curtains

Update 37: Behind the Curtains



The search for future led us to the Shi's throne room, which seemed like a logical place to ask since the Shi were supposedly the only people in the region who had access to fuel.



"I am Luke. I'd like to see the Emperor and talk about some fuel."

"Well, we do not let just anyone who walks in here see the Emperor…"

"…alright, what do you want me to do first?"

"This is what I require of you: there is a small military base north of here, called Navarro. There are numerous vertibirds there. We need plans and blueprints to manufacture some of our own. Fetch those and you will be on your way to seeing the Emperor."

"And if I were to hypothetically have a copy of those plans in my pocket right now, who would I hypothetically give them to?"

"That would be Dr. Wong, who is not, I believe, hypothetical."

"Ohh, the spleen guy. Why didn't you just say that?"



"Hey Doc, Ken Lee said to give these to you."

"Eaten any good organs lately?"

"Just some kidneys, but don't worry. This time I asked first where they came from."

"Anybody else notice he not say what the answer was?"



"As long as that's the last thing. I haven't heard anything good about the Hubologists, but ever since I let them use that machine on me most of my coin flips come up heads."



The Hubologists, as it turns out made their home in an underground complex underneath an impressively battered space shuttle.



They really didn't go out of their way to make me not want to kill them, but they did give me an idea of how to get a chance to talk to their leader.



Pretending to be interested in joining and excited about meeting celebrities… whatever those were… was enough to get me through the forcefield and into the complex proper. The real question was going to be getting out.



Intriguingly, not all of the people in the complex seemed to be Hubologists. Crocket was a hired science expert, since the Hubologists weren't so good at the whole science thing.



"Wait, go back to that last thing. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure. $10,000 up front, no bartering. Daddy needs some new equipment."

"No problem. Here's $20,000 and two sets."

"$20…$20,000!? Are you nuts?"

"No… I'm just thinking of it as a very short term loan."

"Oh? Ohhhh."

Hardening power armor increases the damage resistances by 10% on all forms of damage and adds points to damage absorption for everything except for explosive damage. It's well worth doing if you actually want to keep your companions around as every little bit helps.



After that we went to find the "celebrities." I wasn't impressed, since it looked like they'd be gecko meat in a couple days anywhere outside of a town.



"Wait, why did you add that last part?"

"Any similarities between us and people…"

"Wait a second, I think I've seen you before. What movies were you in?"

"We were in the movie business in New Reno. We made hundreds of films, many of them classics, like 'Top Bun,' 'Frisky Business,' and 'Days of Rubber.' That's what makes us celebrities."

"I thought so. I think it was the clothes that threw me off."

"Uh… yeah, so how do I join? I want to meet the great AHS-9."

"Well, it's very simple. We just give you this informational holodisc."

"You sit through a short movie…"

"And then you go talk to AHS-7!"

"Easy, isn't it?"



"Well, that makes things absolutely clear."

"We gonna burn this place from the inside out, like a really hot pepper?"

"Oh yes."



"Enburgled? Enburgled?! THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD!"



I don't know what the story was with AHS-9, but the fact that I had to put a bullet through both of his eyes before he stopped moving was truly disturbing. I'm not entirely certain he was human, but I didn't stop to do an autopsy.



After that things get a bit hazy, but I did end up with my $20,000 back somehow, and the first few visitors to the Hubologist compound from the Shi reportedly had nightmares about what they saw inside.



For some reason I recall that the guards by the force field just let us walk past. AHS-7 might have had an eye on taking over for his boss.



The guards around the space shuttle were a bit less forgiving, and just as bad at realizing that they were horribly outgunned when they decided to take potshots at three guys in power armor and a super mutant.



On the plus side, they did have a shiny new automatic shotgun to replace Cassidy's combat shotgun, although he said the thing kicked like a mule in heat.



"Yes, please. Although if you want me to go back and kill some more Hubologists we can talk price."

"You have proven yourself to be a friend to the Shi. I believe I can trust you with our secrets. In the back room, you will find the forcefield to the large computer has been turned off. Enter this password."

"Wait, The Emperor is a COMPUTER?"



"I guess if that works for you… do the people know?"

"The people believe, and that is what matters. Besides, our people have a long history of not seeing their Emperors."



Another level! More points into Small Guns and we're topping Speech off at 120% since that should be enough to have a good chance of making that final check.



The Emperor computer was the familiar mainframe type we'd seen at Vault 13 and the Sierra Army Depot. Given what had happened with Skynet, there was every chance that the Shi might someday have a computer Emperor that would talk back to them.



I took the time to read through the information on the hard drive. I wasn't sure where they were going with the radiation resistant plants, but I thought then that it might revolutionize their food production.



Their genetic program has dealt with the FEV virus or one of its offshoots and had been a spectacular enough failure, including a melting scientist, that they'd decided to focus on plants instead.



As for the chemical and fuel information… well, I could find the command to send it over to the tanker, and that was good enough for me.




The rest of their science was pretty impressive as well, and it looked like before long the Brotherhood of Steel was going to have another advanced civilization to deal with. But, that seemed like their problem rather than mine.



We left quickly and quietly after that, before anybody had a chance to look at the fuel transfer logs, and headed into the belly of the ship. Hunting for the door to the nav computer we came across one poor bastard in a Vault Suit who'd managed to die in here. I couldn't read the number… 17, perhaps, but it's a bit fuzzy with age.



Whoever had designed the tanker and installed the FOB lock was helpful enough to include a sign telling me where I was supposed to put it, which I actually appreciated after some of the machines I'd had to deal with.

You get a couple of thousand experience for just opening this door, on top of the 3500 we got earlier from stealing the FOB. At this point they're handing it out just to make sure you're not caught short.



After that it was a simple matter to slip the NavComp parts we'd found in Vault 13 into the computer...




And then we were ready to go. I did a quick status check before hitting the big green 'Go' button.

"Hey Captain, are mooring lines important?"

"I've never thought so, no."

"Then screw it! Let's go!"

Fallout Wiki Tanker Video



Late in the night, we reached the Tanker and climbed down the gangway to stand at the entrance to the oil rig.

"Listen, guys… we need to talk."