Note: Steve is playing through The Lonesome Road; the last piece of Fallout: New Vegas DLC. The following is the on-going journal for his character as he plays through to the end.
Day 4 - February 7th, 2083
10:36 AM - I'm still alive. Last night was hell, filled with pain, nightmares, and broken sleep. The sun was already starting to rise when I was finally able to sleep, and I only got a few hours worth. But I feel better. Refreshed. And my wounds are tended to and cleaned.
I'm going to continue. I've decided that. Thought about it last night, and it's really the only thing for me to do. It's my -choice-. I could end it right here -- I've got plenty of bullets. I only need one for me. But that's a cowards way out. Not for me. Not ever.
I could turn back, but there are two things preventing me from doing that. The first is that I still don't know what Ulysses has planned. He needed ED-E for something, and that makes me worry. I'm the only one who can stop him if he does indeed need stopping. The other reason is personal.
I want my friend back.
I stood up and gazed out over what lie before me. The Divide.
That graffiti...it made me smile. Let it all end, indeed. I intend to do just that. Only it will end -my- way.
I walked for a long time, thinking about everything that's happened and everything that I've learned. It's clear that Ulysses hates me for what happened. I could understand that. But it was an accident. All of it. I needed to make him see that, if I could.
Finally, I reached the place. His building. His temple. I didn't even pause. I walked right in. It's not like I cared anymore, anyway. There were robots inside. Sentrybots. I used that new gun I found. I'd never turned a robot into dust before. It certainly surprised me when it happened. The Arc Wielder is certainly useful against mechanical enemies.
I soon found a computer, and I hacked into it. Scanned the logs. Found a control for bot pods. Bot pods...storage for robots. For -eyebots-. Could it be?
I quickly scanned the records. Three pods. One was occupied. I smashed the key to open it and rushed into the room.
ED-E...
He was fine. We talked a bit -- he was upset about being controlled like that, having that override make him fly to Ulysses. And he was grateful that I'd come for him.
I had my companion back. Now it was time to end this. We'd confront Ulysses. Both of us together.
And there he was. Waiting for me. He was surprised I'd retrieved ED-E. And he finally revealed his plan...
When I carried that package through The Divide...that detonator...I destroyed The Divide. I destroyed his home. And now...he intended to destroy mine.
The Mojave...
All those people...so many lives. My friends in Goodsprings. In Primm. The NCR. The Brotherhood. They would all die. He aimed every warhead in the room at them all.
I was having none of that.
And so we fought. Courier vs Courier. And he was my equal. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it out of that room alive. But it was filled with warheads. And I still had the laser detonator I'd found in Hopeville.
I limped away from Ulysses, bleeding, letting him chase me. And when he got close to one of those warheads...I blew it up. And him with it.
It was done...I barely escaped with my life, but it was done. All that was left was to stop the launch of missiles. To shut down the control panel and save the Mojave.
I walked up to the panel...and looked at the controls in horror. It was encoded. The override was disabled. I needed ED-E to...
And then he played a recording. It was from his past. It was what -they- wanted to do to him, those experiments...hacking military computers. Doing so fried their circuits. Blew them up. Killed them.
Computers just like the one in front of me right now.
So that was my choice...let the countdown continue, or save the Mojave at the cost of ED-E's life.
I couldn't ask him to do that. I wouldn't.
But what could I do?
I looked down at the control panel, narrowing my eyes. Well...if the missiles were going to launch, I could at least send them where I wanted them to go. The Mojave wouldn't be dying today. The NCR wouldn't be dying today. My home wouldn't be dying today.
But the Legion would be. Caesar would be.
I changed the coordinates, aiming every last missile at the Caesar's Legion camps. They would all die. They...the men that wandered the wasteland and crucified anyone who didn't bow to their cause. I would send hell to them.
I'll live with that.
I hit the button with my fist....
The journal ends here. The following video was included with this final entry, with a note:
I can't even try to explain what happened that day, after I pressed that button. So instead, I will show you. Perhaps seeing it will achieve what I think Ulysses wanted so long ago...maybe, since war never changes...it will help men change instead. It helped me.
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