Cerberus is still a threat, but this particular thrust of his… Its? Army has been ended on the banks of the Arkensas River. Tomorrow, we press on and destroy their campsite and begin destroying out the tendrils of Cerberus's flesh that have extended this far from Los with the aid of
Brain's trained super mutant hunting giant mole rats, while AA-equipped sentry bots from the Denver Defence Network keep the cazadors off us. All around Cerberus's territory the peoples I've brought together are starting to engage Cerberus's forces in what I
hope are overwhelming numbers; Guerra and Santa Anna working their way up from the south, Texas in the east and Warden in the north.

...The Fallout universe is a
strange place.
Caesar's Legion aren't helping, and that's why the NCR army has stopped on their side of the Colorado River. Our planned offensive into Legion territory won't be happening for a while, and… Mr Sallow wasn't willing to make a pact that would see him joining in our crusade himself. There are a few Speculatores keeping an eye on us to make sure that we don't swing around and attack him from the east -which we will of course, but not until after Los is a burning hole in the ground filled with roasted Cerberus- but he's otherwise avoiding the whole mess. I imagine that he's hoping that we'll weaken each other so much that he'll have time to regroup and retrench.
And
of course everyone is out for themselves. Priorities in the Wasteland, huh?
What's actually going to happen is that the result of Centurion Paullus's rampage everyone in both Mexico and New Mexico hates the Legion except President Vialla and I already turned him. Which means that this campaign will serve to unify-.
"Hey Krono!"
Neatly summarised, even if I
barely understood a word of it... But who will we be meeting
today, I wonder?
I tense up as the hulking form of a
C-22 Humanoid Robot appears out of the darkness, then immediately relax again as I see the LED visor showing three pink hearts mounted on the front of its head.
"Good evening, Doki."

...Wait,
what.
Even in the madness of the Wasteland,
Doki Doki is an… Odd one. The result of an inexplicable series of upgrades made to a pre-War personal computer by the robotic juggernaut
ARGOS, Doki Doki is a fully sentient pre-War Japanese dating simulator who rules the area of eastern Colorado around Robot city. Virtually the entire population of her lands are robots, some who were parts of the Denver Defence Network before the war and the others just… Just sort of wandered here because of ARGOS's beacon and the lack of any contrary orders. Once they arrive Doki loads a portion of her program into them, and…

...I revise my former statement: the Fallout universe is a very,
very strange place...
I'm just glad that weird love polyhedron she was trying to set up between herself, ARGOS,
ODYSSEUS and
WARDEN is done with. I'm not completely sure that WARDEN understands what he
won, but…
It gets pretty
strange in Robot City, is what I'm saying.
Ah, Krono, like any
other Paul, you are a master of
understatement...
The heart on the left is replaced with a waving hand, while the heart on the right is replaced by a winking eye. It's a strange thing to see on an eight foot tall war robot.
"Not yet, but it's going to get better!"
...Oh,
dear. Krono, perhaps you should start
running now? I think she's decided you're the next
player.
Okay, as far as I know Doki is largely indifferent to human suffering and death. Her thoughts revolve entirely around romantic relationships, which means that she prefers humans to the sterile asexual super mutants, but she's got a city full of robots with personalities derived from dating sim characters to play around with so she doesn't appear to feel the need to reach out to gather more toys.
"Oh? Who's the lucky man/woman/other?" Actually… "Have you found a female talking deathclaw? I heard rumours that-."
...Is that an
actual character in a game, or just a meme? Because I would not be surprised if it
were...
"No! But I was talking to Commander Carlton Alwyn-" The man in charge of the Sky Walkers' forces in this area. "-earlier and he told me that you're SINGLE!"
Oh shit.
Too late to
run now, Krono.
"Doki, it's not-."
"And that you haven't even dated!"
To be fair, this
is a Paul. When he's on a
mission, relationships seem to fall by the wayside... Except when they
stumble into them.
"I've… Been busy. There've been quite a lot of wars-."
"You're a chief!" Wink eye becomes a crown. "You've done more for your tribe than any chief before you!" Waving hand becomes a 1st place medal. "Your whole tribe want you get married!"
...And you plan to find him a woman worthy of him? Oh,
dear...
"A… Few… People have… Mentioned something along those lines?"
I mean, I lost my virginity to Mesmerelda, a clinically insane raider who thought that she was a magician. And she was killed and eaten by an actual magician. It's not as if I was strongly attached to her or anything, but…
...You mean... You
actually stuck your dick in crazy?
The robot lunges forward, all three emoticons replaced by smiling faces with hearts in their eyes!
"But that's okay! Because Doki Doki-"

Watch out, she's going for a Glomp!
Doki Doki. / Doki Doki. / Doki Doki. / Doki Doki. / Doki Doki. / Doki Doki.
I look around cautiously as I hear the other robots from the Robot City contingent echo her declaration.

...Okay, your ribs are safe.
"-is here to help!"
THUD.
...I'm guessing that is
not the sound of him head-desking the nearest solid object...
"Okay? Do you..? Want to introduce me to some people?"
THUD.
Oh, I suspect she's got that handled... In
spades.
I'm guessing that sound is the lucky ladies being brought over now...
I nod. Alright, I'm sure that I can survive a few dating minigames-
THUD.
I don't know... What if she decides the
perfect test is Dance-Dance Revolution?
Brilliant lights shine from the riverbank, provoking shouts of alarm from the encampment!
THUD.
"ARGOS HAS ARRIVED AT DESTINATION."
Not a
subtle fellow, is he?
Thirty metres tall. Thirty metres wide. Sixty five metres long, not including the tail. Missile pods, anti-missile lasers, Gatling lasers, armour that would put a main battle tank to shame, six giant legs and a 'face' made up of a smiling speaker grill and a couple of armoured cameras.
"PRISONERS READY FOR RETURN."
...At least he's got a friendly grin?
"Ah, pr-?" I turn back to Doki. "Prisoners?"
The three emoticons now show a pair of interlocked rings, a ball and chain and a simple depiction of a map.
She doesn't do things by
halves, does she?
"PRISONERS of LOVE! ARGOS just needed to have his capture protocols edited a little!"
Oh no.
I
hope none of them are
too badly injured by his approach?
"All PRISONERS of LOVE have been selected for maximum compatibility based on available data!"
Oh no.
"Which wasn't very much!" Three question mark emoticons. "But I'm confident that at least one will be a good match!" Three green ticks.
...Amazed she didn't display a slot machine reel for a second, landing on Hearts... Maybe she's saving
that for later.
"How..?" I glance at the huge robot standing on the shoreline. Huge and powerful, but not all that fast and not at all subtle. "How exactly did ARGOS capture them?"
"Satellite guided bondage missiles!"

...
Wat. Though, you know,
if they could be adapted for use against enemy leaders...
…
I'm going to have a great many people to apologise to after this, aren't I?
Weeks. Krono. Weeks of apologising. Better get some comfy
kneepads for all the kowtowing...
"And... What happens to unsuccessful applicants?"
"They come back in the sequel to sabotage your relationship out of jealousy! No harem route here!"
Spoilsport. Wouldn't you
want his clearly-superior genetics spread far and wide?
"Okay. So, if this a-"
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Argus turns and through a slot in the outside of one of ARGOS's hull-mounted prisoner detainment pods I get a glimpse of the enraged face of General Veronica Guerra, daughter of President Dante Guerra.
"Krooo
noooo! You got some '
splainin' to dooooo!"
I mean… She's not incompatible with me. Or it didn't seem like she was in the meeting we were both in where we didn't exchange two words.
"-contest of some sort, where is it taking place?"
Let's just hope it's
quick. You
were in the middle of something,
right?