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Corazon kicks open the door and storms in, giving the distinct impression that she'll tear the head off anyone who gets within arm's reach. "God-fuckin'-dammit!" she growls. "I am the biggest sucker on the face of the Earth."

She storms right to the Bar and drags herself onto a stool. "I want a shot of...no, a glass of...fuck it, gimmie a bottle of tequila and a glass. Por favor."

The Bar obliges. Corazon promptly opens the bottle, pours herself some booze, and slams it back.

If you want to talk to her, it might be healthiest to give her a few minutes first.

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Yes, probably. Which is why Ellen is over here with the dog.

This doesn't look good.

It takes several minutes for Corazon to dial down from seething to merely brooding. Perhaps the most obvious outward manifestation of this change is that she's now nursing her drinks instead of knocking them back. Maybe it's safe to approach now?

It will have to do. Ellen lets go of Dogmeat's collar and .... okay, she's just gonna settle down at the next stool over rather than raise her voice or anything.

Also, apparently, she's not gonna get notifs, so word of warning on that front.

It's a while before Corazon notices Ellen, and when she does, she double takes. "Oh! Um...how long have you been sitting there?"

Ellen wiggles one hand in midair. "Little bit," she says. "Not long."

Which is absolutely true; she was sitting somewhere else before that.

"Didn't want to disturb you."

Corazon's a bit confused by that. "I was only drinking, it's not like I couldn't be..." She pauses as she recalls the mood she was in when she made her entrance not ten minutes ago. "On second thought - I totally understand."

Ellen nods. "Looked like it was a long day," she says. "Or something, anyway."

What happened? goes unsaid, at least for the moment. It's not like Corazon can't tell the question's in the air, after all.

"I found Benny," Corazon says. "You know, the asshole who shot me. And then I lost him, because I let him sucker me." She drinks down the rest of her glass of tequila and pours herself some more.

Ellen winces. "Ouch," she says. "I'm- kind of surprised he's still alive, actually...."

Not that Corazon is a particularly violent person, from what she's seen, but this man shot her in the head. The only reason Colonel Autumn walked out of the Rotunda alive was because Ellen was too sick of him to take further steps- that, and she knew the soldiers in the next room would finish the job.

Corazon groans. "He wouldn't be if I'd just killed him when he offered to explain everything instead of taking him up on it," she says. Then, after a moment's thought: "Well, maybe not right then. They don't let you carry guns in there and Benny was surrounded by four bodyguards. But I should've done it later, when we met in private."

Ellen nods. "I wish I had those electric shock knuckles Mr. - Gene-" She grimaces at having slipped up. "That he gave me. They're from his world and they're designed to hide until you need to knock someone out at close range... so what happened then?"

"Well, like I said, he told me he'd explain everything. He offered to comp me the Presidential suite. Now, I thought if he wanted to kill me he could just have his guards gun me down, so I decided to listen to what he had to say.

"He told me that the thing I was delivering - the thing he stole - was a special chip that could be used to upgrade House's army of Securitrons," Corazon says. "Basically, he had this whole plan to get rid of House and take over the Strip for himself, and he was wondering if I'd help him out."

"I'm guessing you said no," Ellen says after some thought. "It doesn't seem like your style."

"I told him it'd take at least two more severe head injuries for that to seem like a good idea," Corazon confirms. She slugs some tequila. "Benny said if I ever changed my mind, I could always find him on the casino floor. Then he left. And about five seconds later, two of his bodyguards burst into the room," she grumbles. "Fortunately I was behind the bar and I ducked in time."

"Oh boy." Ellen grimaces. "You probably don't have any idea where he's gone now, huh."

Corazon shakes her head. "Mr. House might know. But I'm not exactly hot to go back and tell him about my astounding act of stupidity."

Ellen has to think about this for a bit. "You know," she says, "I don't think I remember you mentioning meeting him in the first place...."

"Oh. Um, well, one of his Securitrons came up to me when I got off the monorail, and he invited me into the Lucky 38. See, he was my client on that delivery I was making. He knew I was after Benny and decided to recruit me. He's...kinda creepy, actually."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ellen says. "The client part, I mean... creepy how?"

"Well, he's in a computer," Corazon says. "Or at least he talks to me through one. And he has this one Securitron who's programmed to be like his old girlfriend. She giggles and says things about taking care of Mr. House's 'needs.'" Corazon looks a little green around the gills, and washes her unpleasant feelings down with more tequila.

"..... eeeeeeew."

"The Lucky 38 is creepy, too. I mean, it's a casino. It's supposed to be full of people. But the place is deserted. Even when I'm with my posse it feels like a tomb."

"I'd say I know the feeling, but most of the buildings I've been to that should've been full of people weren't empty so much as crawling with greenskins," Ellen says. "You've got people, now?"

(Of course she recognizes the term 'posse'. She's seen Westerns.)

"Oh, for a while now. There's Boone, who used to be an NCR sniper, and Veronica, who used to be a Scribe in the Brotherhood of Steel. Or maybe still is. I'm not totally sure. And of course there's ED-E, although he's a robot."

Ellen smiles a little and rubs at one shoulder. "I'd say to tell her I said hi," she murmurs, "but that'd just raise questions... how has the robot been, anyway? He's not- he hasn't acted up, has he?"

It was, after all, an Enclave 'bot once. Lord only knows what might be lurking in there.

"Well, you know how he plays a little Western tune sometimes? It got stuck on a loop. Veronica fixed it. But he hasn't gone berserk and shot up a bunch of people or anything like that."

That gets a nod. "That- that's probably a good sign," Ellen says. "If he had any Enclave code left, he'd- you'd know, by now. You'd know."

"Well, Veronica's seen some Enclave tech before, and she says that most of the hardware is original, but they replaced the memory core and processors. Which is the best way to go, apparently, because the Enclave has a habit of putting ambush programs in those eyebots."

"Never got close to one for long enough to check the insides out," Ellen admits. "I usually just shot them down."

"Hey, there's lots of good spare parts in those. I mean, other eyebots. Not ED-E. He's keeping all his parts."

Corazon is obviously a bit fond of that robot.

"Oh, I know," Ellen says. "I- I know. The Scribes love them. I just- before this, I didn't know, or it didn't matter. Easier to fit Mr. Gutsy parts to Wadsworth, if he needed spare pieces."

"He's kind of a curiosity. Nobody's seen the Enclave out West for a long time," Corazon says. "So most folks aren't exactly afraid of him."

"That's good to know," Ellen says. "That they're not- not a problem, I mean. Not any more."

It would be hideous beyond belief to find out that three years and three thousand miles away, after all that at Adams, the Enclave was still hurting people.

"Yeah, no more Enclave. We gotta worry about Caesar's Legion instead."

Sorry to ruin your happy moment, Ellen.

Given that her area is still infested with greenskins, and chem-addled raiders, and someone is still taking slaves even though Paradise Falls was cast down, Ellen is all too aware that there's more to fear than the Enclave. It's a question of whittling the bad guys down.

"If I could help, I would," Ellen says. "I don't- I don't think I'm supposed to go into the future, though. Except the usual way."

Corazon waves dismissively. "Nah, nah, you've done enough. More than enough," she says. "I think between the two of 'em, Mr. House and the NCR can keep the Legion out."

Ellen nods. "I hope so," she says. "I really do."

Corazon's mostly hoping that because the alternative is too horrible to consider.

"It'll give us an edge if I can find that chip for Mr. House," Corazon says. "He can beef up the Securitrons a little."

"As long as there's enough of them," Ellen says. "Robots are pretty useful that way, but if they're not as tough as sentrybots they may not last long."

"There's lots of them," Corazon says. "Only enough to protect New Vegas - not the whole Mojave - but it's a key position. If the robots can hold the city the NCR can concentrate on Hoover Dam."

Ellen nods. "Which is important," she says. "Especially in an environment like yours."

She's thinking more in terms of the water than the electric power. it happens when you're from somewhere like the Capital Wasteland.

"'Course, the NCR can't booby-trap Boulder Springs again," Corazon muses aloud, "so I don't know what they're gonna do this time."

"Hopefully they have a plan," Ellen says. "I mean, wouldn't they? Some kind of contingency, at the very least? The Brotherhood usually does, from what I've seen so far...."

"New Vegas scuttlebut is kinda discouraging on that account, to be honest."

"Oh dear." Ellen winces. "Um. I don't.... I'll keep my fingers crossed, all right?"

Corazon pours herself more tequila. "Any good vibes you can send our way."

"Of course," Ellen says. "Just because I live on the other side of the continent from you doesn't mean I don't worry."

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