Fallout, Second Life

"I'd say you are fucking crazy, that's what I'd say." Baxter said with a dry laugh. "This place is a shithole. What do I care about Chicago?"

"It is still your home. Where you lived, where you grew up, where you went to school, where you-" Adam began slowly, taking a few steps forward, closer to Baxter before he was cut off.

"Lost my home?" He added with an annoyed tone. "This city is not where I grew up, it's a ghost town, full of the dead and bad memories. I owe this city nothing."

"If that were true you wouldn't have come back here. You said that you heard Ray's broadcast about my actions. You had to be pretty damn close to Chicago to have heard it."

"It was just a coincidence. Don't push your luck, boy." Baxter said, indignantly.

"So you are fine with watching the survivors all die? To watch them get drowned in a sea of FEV, allowing Chicago to become a city of Super Mutants?"

"Wait, what are you talking about, Mr. Bax- Mr. Adam…?" Mr. Cantellie said slowly, fixing his way of addressing Adam partway through if only to avoid the confusion of mixing up the two men. The cat was out of the bag now, Mr. Cantelli would have to be let in on the plan now too. Everything was unraveling before him so he just had to make the best use of the situation.

"There is a group here, Baxter, called the Seekers of Salvation. We call them the Cult of Pestilence. They are trying to use FEV to make super humans. And in the pursuit of that they are kidnapping people and experimenting on them."

"They are what?!" Mr. Cantelli said far more indignantly than Adam had expected.

"You telling me, there are remnants of that cult dedicated to The Master?" Baxter asked, suspiciously.

"Yes." Mira spoke up. "We confirmed it ourselves. We saw their pens where they kept their experiments, and saw their vat of FEV. It's a very real problem." Mr. Cantelli looked over at Mira, shocked, while Baxter seemed lost in thought.

"Don't trust him, kid." Salvatore warned. "He's a backstabbing snake."

"He also kidnapped you. If I may be so bold as to point out." Deccanus added from the side. One of the few with his gun still ready to shoot everyone in the room if they gave him a reason.

"I do hate super mutants." Baxter admitted aloud after a moment. "But we are a mercenary company. We don't work for free." Baxter said as his gaze fell onto Adam again, ignoring everyone else.

"I can pay you, or work something out. If you need the incentive to be a good person." Adam said, with a bit of a bite to the comment, but not too much of one so he didn't antagonize him.

Baxter turned to look at his group. Most of them looked impartial though the man in the balaclava looked a bit annoyed at the idea but also said nothing. The one who spoke up was the woman with the red hair, Karey.

"Oh just accept it boss, we need work anyway, and Leo over there is itching to kill something. Besides, your mini me has a point. This is Chicago." She said to him, Baxter frowned and then sighed.

"Fine, fine, we can work something out." He said as he scratched his head. Adam nodded slowly.

"I will be talking to War soon, to see if he can help in one final confrontation. A savage thrust into the heart of cult territory to eliminate their leaders. If you are board… That's the plan."

"Bold." Baxter said as he sized Adam up. He remained quiet for a few more moments as he seemed to be examining Adam however after a few moments he looked off to the side, seemingly having lost interest.

"Alright, you make sure we are properly compensated and you can consider the Baxter Brigade hired. Now get out." He said, waving the entire group out, clearly done with the conversation.

"Thank you, Baxter." Adam said to him, politely.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, just go." Baxter said dismissively.

Adam obliged and left through the hole first followed out by everyone else a few moments later.

"Are you alright? They did you no harm?" Deccanus asked, slightly worried.

"I am fine, Deccanus. Though I may need to rest my head for a bit." Adam said as he rubbed the spot where something hard hit the back of his head.

"We were seriously worried." Mira added. "When we realized you were not on time for the meetup we started to search, grabbed Eve and.." Mira continued as she then looked to Mr. Cantelli who looked lost in thought. "Well he was the one who gave us the lead." She said with a small motion to Mr. Cantelli.

"When I heard you had been kidnapped, handsome, well let's just say that I was prepared to dig more than one grave for my enemies today~" Eve said with a mixture of deathly seriousness and lighthearted playfulness.

"I still can't believe you want to work with him, kid." Salvatore said with a hint of disgust. "I mean I know he's you but… It's just…" Salvatore began but fumbled partway through, unable to put his thoughts into words, clearly still reeling from learning Adam was a clone of Baxter, a man he clearly had a deep history with.

"Mr. Baxter." Mr. Cantelli said after a long time of silence, the group now more than far enough away from the warehouse so Baxter was unable to hear even the smallest bit of the conversation. "I feel as though you have been keeping many things from me." He said, his tone speaking wonders to the fact he was very much not pleased.

"I'm sorry." Adam said to him. "I just… don't go around telling people I am a clone."

"That I understand… not that you are that man's clone but at least that you are one. However you were planning on attacking Pestilence and you were not about to tell me?" He asked, still serious and cold.

"Well I didn't know what you would do with that information… In addition we didn't know who was a sleeper planted by the cult." Adam admitted softly.

"I see…" Mr. Cantelii said back. "Well I will see about rounding up some out of town help for your daring plan." He said succinctly. However there was an undertone that was hard to place in his words. A sense of finality? A sense of distance? He could not say for certain. But clearly this revelation had affected Mr. Cantelli's perception of Adam, and not in a good way.

On one hand this was not the worst outcome. Mr. Cantelli had been trying to get closer to Adam. To be his friend. Adam was not particularly fond of being friends with a known mob boss. So this reaction from Mr. Cantelli was a good means to keep a sense of distance. However on the other it did make him feel bad. He had kept things from Mr. Cantelli. Moreso the attack on the Cult, the fact he is a clone was his secret to keep. However it did feel like he undermined his trust a bit. A dangerous prospect when he is the underground king of Midway. In another situation Adam might not have cared, feeling like this was getting two birds with one stone, but Mr. Cantelli put his life on the line to save him. If nothing else that earned Adam's respect.

In addition to the strange way Mr. Cantelli was clearly feeling, Salvatore was not much different. He too was keeping some distance from Adam, seeming awkward in his own way.

As it turned out, finding Adam Baxter, the real Adam Baxter, might have been more of a curse than a blessing. Now he would just have to handle the fallout.