Silath's Journal: Day 5 - October 23, 2281

Ran across the Crimson Caravan HQ on my way back from where I had exited the sewers. Stopped inside to trade with a man named Blake, grabbed some medical supplies (Can never have too many stimpacks and hydra), ammunition, and some upgraded recoil springs for my service rifle.
After that I headed back to the H&H building, managed to hack into the terminal this time around; some journals by an 'Anthony House' detailing him wrestling for control of the business with his more savy brother. There was a 'Lucky 38 Override' command, but it didn't seem to do anything.
Found the gun runners station too; traded with the vendertron. Swapped my N99 for a 20 guage combat shotgun. The N99 served me well, but I'm thinking the combat shotgun will be real nice for those situations where I get swarmed by ghouls, rats, or both. Used the reloading bench there to make some more 5.56 AP and some 20 guage magnum rounds.

Headed into Freeside, on the way to get into the strip. Soon as I got into freeside though a sandstorm like you wouldn't believe came rolling in. Louder than a grenade blast, rads and sand scouring at you. Not pleasent. I had to run for cover into the nearest building, which turned out to be Mick and Ralphs. Seemed pleasant enough guys; we chatted a little bit while they played caravan. Seemed like the building was gonna fall down.
Mick said these storms came through from time to time, but with no real regularity. Sometimes you'd get two or three in a month, and sometimes they'd go half a year without seeing one. After about an hour, the storm quit blowing so hard and it just started raining. The rain cleared the dust out of the air but left the streets a muddy mess. First time I've seen rain in the mojave. It was nice. Wasn't even radioactive!

Checked out the Old Mormon Fort, met an interesting ghoul named Beatrix Russel. She seemed to have some real experience, though being a ghoul I guess she's been around long enough. Also talked with a doctor goes by Arcade Gannon; strange name. But he seemed very intelligent; it was nice to meet someone else interested in science and technology.
Arcade directed me to see Julie Farkas, however, and I did so. Apparently the Old Mormon Fort is in the hands of a group by the name of the Followers of the Apocolpyse. I vaguely recalled the name, but nothing specific. Seems they do their best to help people out and rediscover and share pre-war tech; admirable goals.
Gotta admit I took a liking to Julie, even if the ideals of the Followers are naive, they're admirable; I've got a feeling it's not easy to stay benevolent in a place like the mojave.

In any case, whether it was just her charm or I was feeling soft... or the idea of a discount on medical supplies, I agreed to help the Followers out with a few things. She wanted me to work out deals with the Atomic Wrangler casino, and the Crimson Caravan.
She also asked that I help out two addicts, Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff. I guess before they got addicted to chems and alcohol they were quite the handymen. When I went to Jacob Hoff he said he was being supplied by a man named Dixon, who I found shortly thereafter.
Dixon wasn't too interested in helping me get Hoff back on his feet, though. Real bastard he was; when I mentioned it wasn't good for business to get your customers killed, he said he WANTED them to die. Liked seeing them waste away and was all too happy to help... all just because they were part of the NCR. Fucker.
So... he wanted 300 caps to quite supplying. Now, I don't have anything against drugs per se, if people want to use them it's their right. On the other hand, this guy Dixon was doing it out of pure malevolence. He was little better than those gang members roaming the wastes... I put a round of buckshot in his head, and when his bodyguard took offence to that I put a few in him, too.

With his supplier out of the picture, Hoff was somewhat more willing to get help. He said he wanted 10 cases of fixer, which was pretty rediculous; I've been reading some of those medical journals I keep stumbling upon, and it seems to me that a combo of buffout, fixer, and pyscho should get him clean. The steroids from the buffout will keep his vital's from giving out, while the pyscho will amplify the effects of the fixer. It will be painful but a lot faster.
I have the buffout and fixer, but pyscho is a problem; nobody in Freeside had any, which means I'm gonna have to head out and find some.

After dealing with Hoff, I stopped by the Atomic Wrangler; this one was a lot easier to deal with. All they wanted was some people from the Followers to fix up their alcohhol stills, get em running cleaner and better. In return, the Followers get some chemical supplies and pure alcohol for disinfectant. Julie took little convincing to agree to the deal.
Bill Ronte was surprisingly easy to get to agree to cleaning up too, once I told him Dixon was dead. I failed to mention how, and Ronte didn't ask. A pack of fixer, bottle of whiskey, and agreement to head to the Fort for treatment was all it took.

I still wanted to head into the strip for a clean bed and decent meal, though, so I headed further into Freeside till I got to the gates. An older fella named 'Old Ben' (Go figure) stopped me and told me to make sure to check with the securitron guards before trying to get inside. We chatted for a few minutes, he was surprisingly forthcoming about his past. Apparently he's been a jack of all trades. Interesting guy.
After the securitron verified I had a decent amount of caps to spend on the strip (2000!) it let me through. Soon as I walked through the gates, though, none other than Victor accosted me. Told me to go see Mr. House in the Lucky 38.
Didn't seem like a great idea to put that off, so I went to see him. The inside of the Lucky 38 was ubelievable; in near pristine Pre-war condition. Amazing.

Mr. House decided to see me on a giant monitor, though; no in-person contact for him. Although, from what I've gathered of what he said, I've got a feeling he's probably like one of those robobrains... just a brain in a containment system. Fucking creepy. No other way he could have survived since pre-war times. Just imagine what he's seen...
In any case, House wanted me to recover a 'Platinum Chip' from a guy named Benny. At first I wasn't too keen on this... until I learned that Benny was the one who popped me in the head, and that it was to get at the platinum chip I had been contracted to carry.
Way I see it, I get to kill two birds with one stone, and make 1000 caps in the process; I get to fulfill the contract I originally got from House (Even though I can't remember taking the contract, damned amnesia, but a contract's a contract) AND I get to kill the son of a bitch Benny, who decided to kill me for no better fact than I was carrying something and he wanted it.

As an added bonus, House gave me a suite in his hotel; I've never seen such a nice room. Although I guess I could have and just wouldn't remember... anyway, I got my wish of sleeping in a real bed with clean sheets. There was even a bathroom with clean water, and I washed myself and my equipment in it.
It's still pretty early, only about 5:30 in the afternoon, but I'm gonna take the oppurtunity to get plenty of sleep and still wake up early. Tomorrows plans are: figure out how to get the chip from Benny, finish my contract with House, and then go try to find some pyscho to help out Hoff.