The suite upstairs is empty, ready for them. She takes them for a tour round the tower, delighting in Annie’s obvious excitement. She keeps casting sidelong looks at Benny, and he really isn’t sure what she wants until they reach the control room.
Yes Man’s face is on a huge monitor, and outside stretches the whole of the Mojave. Benny doesn’t know where to look first. This could have all been his, and his alone.
“Yes Man,” Kate says. “You said you’d always do what I wanted, right?”
“Anything, Katie,” the robot’s voice says from the computer, and Benny feels that same prickle he felt outside.
“I want you to listen to whatever Benny says from now on. And Annie,” she adds, “but, er, you’re allowed to use discretion in granting Annie’s requests. She’s three.”
Yes Man sounds suspicious when he says, “what about Benny?”
“Treat him exactly as you would me. Please.”
When she looks at him, her face is entirely impassive. And Benny knows exactly what he’s got to do.
What he was always going to do.
*
At two in the morning, Benny wakes up. He checks on Annie, and locks her door tight. He smoothes out his suit and dresses carefully, slicking back his hair and shining his shoes. He looks in the mirror. There he is. Back where he belongs.
He cleans Maria thoroughly. He loads her with devotion and care, and kisses the barrel before he presses it, cold, to the scar on Kate’s head.
She’s awake in an instant, and he gags her. He binds her hands. She’s naked, but he doesn’t stop to preserve her modesty. He’s rough he throws her in the elevator, keeping his gun trained on his head.
“This time,” he tells her, “I’m gonna keep shooting until there’s nothing left to get back up.”
Her stare is baleful and angry, but not surprised. She never takes her eyes off him, not even when he drags her out into the penthouse, and casts her in front of Yes Man’s monitors.
“What are you doing?” the robot exclaims, and Securitrons swarm round him.
“Stop!” Benny commands. They stop. “You’re listening to me now, dig?”
Yes Man doesn’t say anything, but the Securitrons stopped. He knows this is for real, because Kate doesn’t fuck around. She’s all or nothing. It’s not a trick. He’s in charge.
He cocks the gun and presses it to her scar again. She’s kneeling in front of him, gagged and bound, the mother of his child. The kid he shot in Goodsprings. The bitch who seduced him in The Tops and forced his hand, getting him caught by the Legion. The woman who let him go, who chased him, who saved him time after time. The courier who doesn’t love him, because he fucked up her head and left her for dead.
Where The Apple Fell 1d/1
Yes Man’s face is on a huge monitor, and outside stretches the whole of the Mojave. Benny doesn’t know where to look first. This could have all been his, and his alone.
“Yes Man,” Kate says. “You said you’d always do what I wanted, right?”
“Anything, Katie,” the robot’s voice says from the computer, and Benny feels that same prickle he felt outside.
“I want you to listen to whatever Benny says from now on. And Annie,” she adds, “but, er, you’re allowed to use discretion in granting Annie’s requests. She’s three.”
Yes Man sounds suspicious when he says, “what about Benny?”
“Treat him exactly as you would me. Please.”
When she looks at him, her face is entirely impassive. And Benny knows exactly what he’s got to do.
What he was always going to do.
*
At two in the morning, Benny wakes up. He checks on Annie, and locks her door tight. He smoothes out his suit and dresses carefully, slicking back his hair and shining his shoes. He looks in the mirror. There he is. Back where he belongs.
He cleans Maria thoroughly. He loads her with devotion and care, and kisses the barrel before he presses it, cold, to the scar on Kate’s head.
She’s awake in an instant, and he gags her. He binds her hands. She’s naked, but he doesn’t stop to preserve her modesty. He’s rough he throws her in the elevator, keeping his gun trained on his head.
“This time,” he tells her, “I’m gonna keep shooting until there’s nothing left to get back up.”
Her stare is baleful and angry, but not surprised. She never takes her eyes off him, not even when he drags her out into the penthouse, and casts her in front of Yes Man’s monitors.
“What are you doing?” the robot exclaims, and Securitrons swarm round him.
“Stop!” Benny commands. They stop. “You’re listening to me now, dig?”
Yes Man doesn’t say anything, but the Securitrons stopped. He knows this is for real, because Kate doesn’t fuck around. She’s all or nothing. It’s not a trick. He’s in charge.
He cocks the gun and presses it to her scar again. She’s kneeling in front of him, gagged and bound, the mother of his child. The kid he shot in Goodsprings. The bitch who seduced him in The Tops and forced his hand, getting him caught by the Legion. The woman who let him go, who chased him, who saved him time after time. The courier who doesn’t love him, because he fucked up her head and left her for dead.
Can’t change the past, she said.
Benny thinks different.
He steps back, and pulls the trigger.
*