Nevada Survival: a tale from the Mojave Wasteland.

... How did I end up here?

It was supposed to be a simple job: take that package, deliver it to New Vegas, get paid. but it looks like fate has decided otherwise. I can't recall how it happened exactly, but here I am, waking up at night in the middle of nowhere, kneeling with my feet and my hands tied, next to what will become my own grave.

???: "Guess who's waking up over here?"

I look up to see those who brought me here; Two men wearing leather jackets and bandanas, probably raiders, led by a third man in a checkered suit.

???: "Time to cash out." he says, as he takes a hit from his cigarette, then drops it and puts it out with his foot. He steps towards me.

???: "Would you get it over with?" Asks the raider on his right, with a bored and impatient look on his face.

The man in the suit stops and raises a finger.

???: "Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face, but I ain't a fink, dig?"

He then reaches for a pocket inside his coat and takes out... The platinum chip. The very item I was supposed to deliver.

???: "You've made your last delivery, kid."

At this point, I cannot tell if his expression of sadness is genuine or not. The look of fascination on the other raider's face who can't wait to see me die, however, is.

???: "Sorry you got twisted up in this scene." He says, as he puts the platinum chip back in his coat and takes out something else.

It is a finely decorated pistol, its silver engravings glinting with the faint light of a nearby campfire. I've already known for a little while what is going to happen, but I still refuse to admit it.

???: "From where you're kneeling, it must seem like an eighteen-carat run of bad luck."

He punctuates that sentence by pointing his gun at me.

That's it, he's going to do it.

???: "But, Truth is... The game was rigged from the start."

A second that feels like an lifetime passes, as if I was desperately trying to cling on to these last instants of my life. And then, the last thing I see is a flash coming from the gun's barrel.

The light in front of me is still there, but there's something between us, something that's spinning, it's... A ceiling fan? How did I get here, and why am I -

... I am still alive?

My thoughts are still very confused, and my whole body feels numb, as I hardly manage to sit up. It is then that I realise that I am not alone in this room.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/12qvmwnt8y65srd/ScreenShot30.bmp

The man says he's called Doc Mitchell, tells me he patched me and saved me from the bullet lodged in my head. Because of my current state as an alive person, I tend to believe him.

He then gives me a small medical checkup, to see if I'm good to go. Turns out, I am. He leads me to the exit and hands me the things I had on me before I arrived here, as well as an old vault suit. Not exactly the best in Wasteland fashion, but that will do fine for now. He also recommends me to pay a visit to Sunny Smiles at the Prospector Saloon, so I can learn how to survive for myself. And so, once clothed and equipped, I head out.

So... This is Goodsprings.

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I sit there, thinking for a moment on what to do next. My thoughts are still confused at this point, So I think going to see Sunny Smiles couldn't hurt. That would give me some time to become reacquainted with the wasteland out there.

As I am walking down the path, I see in the corner of my eye some robot rolling around. I heard it's the one who dug me out of my grave. However, I don't pay any further attention to it and head to the Prospector Saloon.

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Once inside, I am welcome by some girl accompanied by a dog. Turns out she is -how convenient- Sunny Smiles. She heard about me and is willing to help. She then leads the way to the back exit to the saloon. Once outside, she hands me a rifle and tells me to try to shoot a few bottles sitting on a fence.

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The exercise proves to be pretty easy, and the bottles oppose no resistance. This is why Sunny proposes me to step it up a notch and head out there for some gecko hunting; There are a lot of these around, and they are preventing the townspeople from accessing the nearby water reserves.

We soon arrive at the first water reserve, our advance being covered by a ridge. Once we get close enough, Sunny tells me to try to take them out without getting noticed. I slowly get out of cover and notice one of the geckos.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0g7xo6khd4zwj1/ScreenShot52.bmp

I adjust my aim, and open fire.

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The gecko drops dead, and a second one runs up to his deceased companion, only to suffer the same fate. Strangely, this feels too easy for me, as if using such a weapon for me was this intuitive, this... Natural.

This water reserve being cleared, we head for the second, our rifles at the ready. The three geckos there quickly meet their demise because of our combined fire. As we were about to head out for the third reserve, something caught my attention.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9sraf8cshkt8x0d/ScreenShot56.bmp

I'm taking this.

We shortly after arrive to the third reserve, just in time to help out some woman who found herself assaulted by a couple more geckos, which we manage to quickly dispatch. As a thanks, she hands me a couple of water bottles, and Sunny in turn gives me a few caps for a job well done.

As for the next part of my training, Sunny asks me to bring a couple of plants, found around Goodsprings. Nothing too hard, I guess. I walk back to Goodsprings and head to the school, where I am supposed to find a Xander root as needed.

The opposition I encountered there was... Minimal.

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Once the bugs there squashed and a Xander root collected, I make my way towards the Goodsprings Cemetary, Where I'm supposed to find a Broc flower, the second ingredient we need. However, as I am walking up the slope towards the graveyard, I have some strange feeling of Déjà-vu...

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I encounter a few bloatflies up there, which cease being a threat, as little as it is, with a few swings from my shovel. Once I am done with these pests, I rest for a few seconds and take a look at the landscape. I can see in the distance a large town, with a huge tower overshadowing it all.

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That's New Vegas. That's where I was supposed to go... Well, without the platinum chip, it's pointless now. I turn around to head back, only to see this.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pw4g78y8w6ha4ot/ScreenShot67.bmp

... That's where I was that night. That night when I've been shot in the head. I kneel down near the edge and notice in the corner of my eye a few cigarette butts on the ground... These were the smokes the man in the checkered suit was smoking. I pick one up and examine it, as I consider whether or not I should pursue that guy and have my revenge. I am still undecided for now.

I stand up, absentmindedly putting the cigarette butt in my pocket, and head back where Sunny is waiting for me, almost forgetting to take the Broc Flower on my way out. I walk back down the slope and follow the road, sipping from one of my water bottles in the meantime.

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Sunny is waiting for me by the campfire and seems to be satisfied with what I brought her. She then shows me how to make something called "Healing Powder" using these two ingredients. Nothing too difficult, it just consists of grinding down the two ingredients and heating them up a bit.

Once we're done with this, we walk back to the Prospector Saloon. We arrive inside just in time to see the end of some argument between a man and the Saloon's owner.

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After a few moments, the man angrily leaves, almost shoving me out of the way. I then have a little chat with the owner -Her name's Trudy- and I get to understand the situation a bit; There's a man called Ringo hiding out in town right now, and there are a group of guys, escaped convicts calling themselves the "Powder Gangers" who want him dead. The town itself hasn't taken a definite stance on this issue, and for now, the situation is pretty much in a dead end. I decide not to ask about the problem further for now, and order a Gecko Steak. Costs half of my morning's pay, but I learn I get a little discount here as thanks for saving that woman back at the water reserve.

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So here I am, after having a nice meal, and I finally have some time to sit down and think for a bit. Things have been kind of blurry for me until now, but I'm starting to get better. I take out the cigarette butt and the note From the Mojave Express I had on me and put them down on the table.

So ... What do I do now? This town has helped me put me back on my feet, and it now needs some help itself. However, I have some other problems to deal with myself. First, the Platinum Chip. I reread the note, and it says that the penalty for failure to deliver could be up to having mercenary squads sent my way. I can't tell if these are empty threats. Second, that guy in the checkered suit. He didn't hesitated to put a bullet in my head, even though he already had what he wanted. I... Don't know how I feel about this yet...

But then again, I could just forget about all of this and try to start a new life, doing whatever...

I need to think about this for a moment.