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2013 a.t.b., South Dakota. After recovering from his 12th attempt at finding love, Alistair continued wandering the country, aiding others as best as he could. As he walked, he rubbed at the area on his forehead that was always struck, whenever he greeted a girl who seemed nice enough to love him. In truth, the girls that he felt could give him love, upon Alistair greeting them, kicked him between his legs and repeatedly stomped on the same spot, every time. Alistair was not prepared for such emotional abuse, nor had he experienced such, in his life. A young female voice rang out to Alistair.

Girl's Voice: Hey, there.

Alistair looked behind him and saw a girl, exactly his age, with short, black hair and blue eyes. The girl had a kind smile on her face, as she looked at Alistair.

Alistair (age 12): I'd rather not bug you. I'll just be on my way. (starts walking away)
Girl: Whoa, hey! (stops Alistair) Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, now. What's the rush?
Alistair: I'm just wandering, that's it. I won't get in your way.
Girl: Come on! Don't be like that! I'm trying to be your friend, here.
Alistair: You're trying to start a friendship? Usually, I'm the one to start, but I've had no luck.
Girl: I saw. Good thing I Superkicked that girl who abused you.
Alistair: Why would you do that?
Girl: You said "hi," then she beat you down and left you in a puddle of your own blood. You can imagine that that sort of thing wouldn't sit well, with me.
Alistair: (sighs)
Girl: I'm Alison, by the way. Alison Healey.
Alistair: Alistair Wake.
Alison Healey: Oh, you're Scottish, huh? Don't sound Scottish, though.
Alistair: My dad was half-Scottish, half-Irish. My mom was Native American.
Alison: What a bloodline! Where are they at?
Alistair: Don't know. The last time I saw them, 6 years ago, they had gaping holes in their bodies.
Alison: Uh... What?
Alistair: They were shot by those mechs called "Knightmares."
Alison: Dark. So... Does that also explain the arm?
Alistair: And the leg.
Alison: (sighs) That's just not right. Britannia was bad enough, now we've got Hawking to deal with.
Alistair: How do you even know these things?
Alison: I'm a... I was a child soldier.
Alistair: Child soldier?
Alison: Train kids to kill, espionage, assassination, all that bullcrap.
Alistair: That's disgusting.
Alison: And cruel. Teaching kids to kill people isn't part of the American dream.
Alistair: I don't really care about an "American dream," only living.
Alison: God, I'm exaggerating! Do you have to take things so seriously?
Alistair: Considering that my hometown is nothing but ashes, yes. My friends and family are dead. The only friends I have, right now, are in the military.
Alison: By "military," you mean...?
Alistair: Not the Enclave.
Alison: Good. But...how are you friends with soldiers?
Alistair: My mom was the first female Ranger in the U.S. Army. So, you tell me.
Alison: Wait, there are girl Rangers!?
Alistair: Yeah. My mom broke the gender barrier, there.
Alison: Crap! I've always dreamed of being a Ranger! I want to go to Nevada, range the Mojave Desert. That uniform is so cool!
Alistair: The Nevada Desert Rangers are defunct. You know that, right?
Alison: What?! Dammit!
Alistair: However, the uniform is not defunct. My mom wore the NDR uniform, when she was alive.
Alison: I want one so bad!
Alistair: I doubt they have one in a child's size.
Alison: Look who's talking! You look like a badass! You, with that cool duster and awesome symbol. You know what? I'd rather have that symbol on the back of my trench coat. All the girls should!
Alistair: Take it up with Chief Hanlon. (turns around) Goodbye.
Alison: I'm not letting you travel alone, you know. I'm going with you.
Alistair: I'd rather not let you die.
Alison: You forget, I was a child soldier. Gotta use it for good, right?
Alistair: Very well. I can't stop you, Alison.
Alison: Since we're friends, you can call me Tex.
Alistair: Why?
Alison: 'Cause that was the nickname I was given. I may be from Texas, but I'd rather not have a Southern accent. No judging.
Alistair: Alright...Tex.

Alistair and Alison traveled on foot to the nearby civilization of Rapid City. Upon their arrival, they could see small amounts of fire on buildings and vehicles, even on the road. The area had been attacked by an unknown force, as there were also dead bodies on the ground.

Alison: Oh, crap.
Alistair: Is this the work of the Enclave? Civility?
Alison: No. Child soldiers. Kids can be armed, sure, but no one expects a kid to just kill, straight out of the blue.
Alistair: True enough. If you know these signs, then does that mean...?
Alison: Yeah. This was the work of the guy that I ran away from: Cray Woodrow.
Alistair: What do you know about Woodrow?
Alison: Besides the fact that he's an insane, warmongering psychopath? He had training from the freaking Enclave. He's got the power armor to prove it.
Alistair: And his weapons?
Alison: He's a plasma spaz. He's got this big, claw-looking gun that shoots plasma at a very powerful rate. Called it a "plasma caster."
Alistair: Eager for energy weapons, huh?
Alison: He never was fond of miniguns or flamethrowers. You'll never guess who he looked up to...
Alistair: The Joker?
Alison: That was a guess and you got it right! Yeah, he's a fan of the Joker, not Batman, the Joker.
Alistair: Then, why is he here? Why isn't he in Chicago, yelling at cars to hit him?
Alison: (laughs uncontrollably)
Alistair: Was it really that funny?
Alison: (while laughing) You have...no idea! (continues laughing)
Alistair: (thinking) I somehow have a knack of making friends, so easily. If only finding love was this easy.
Alison: (laughing peters out) Oh, God. I think I'm crying. (stops laughing) Wow! Haven't laughed like that in a while. Whew!
Alistair: (out loud) You done?
Alison: Yeah. I think so. Such a good joke.
Alistair: To get back on topic...
Alison: Yeah, Woodrow left the Enclave through "honorable discharge," he kept telling us.
Alistair: Go figure.
Alison: Out of all the weaponry that the Enclave has, he chose plasma weaponry, specifically those plasma casters. Hell, they made Glock variants of plasma pistols. Unfortunately, they don't have a name for the thing.
Alistair: I see.
Alison: Tell you what, Alistair. If you help me with this, I'll help you back.
Alistair: What do you mean?
Alison: I want you to help me kill Cray Woodrow.
Alistair: (pauses) Alright.
Alison: In return, you get his hideouts, his weapons, his money and all the information that he's acquired. There's only one catch: we can't kill the child soldiers.
Alistair: I don't want to kill them. Woodrow's the one taking the bullets.
Alison: Good. Also, they were kinda forced into this life, so killing Woodrow is like doing a favor to the world.
Alistair: The big question is where Woodrow is, now.
Alison: The damage is pretty recent, so they couldn't have gone far. Woodrow's the only adult in the group... Then, there's his right hand punk-ass, Jared. He thinks the Enclave and Civility are the good in the world.
Alistair: So, we need to Tombstone Piledrive him?
Alison: Leave that to me. We need to convince the others to stop this bullcrap and use it for good, instead of traumatizing themselves.
Alistair: Where could they be?
Alison: Alright... We're in South Dakota, so... Where are we, again?
Alistair: Rapid City.
Alison: We're close. His hideout in this state is North of here.
Alistair: How far do we have to look?
Alison: It's not that hard to find. In all of his drunken stupors, he labels his hideouts with these stupid pieces of art. We need to look for a building with Mount Rushmore replaced with Hawking's face painted on it.
Alistair: An eyesore, basically?
Alison: Oh, you have no idea.

Alistair and Alison traveled North and found a lone building with the decal that Alison mentioned: the faces of Mount Rushmore replaced with Hawking's image. However, the art appeared to be amateurish, uglier than the image in imagination.

Alison: God, just looking at it makes me wanna puke.
Alistair: (hands Alison sketchbook) Here's how I draw.
Alison: (opens sketchbook) Holy crap, you're good. You got the Knightmares down, to the last detail. (closes sketchbook and returns it) You're awesome, Alistair.
Alistair: Thanks, Tex. Let's save some lives.
Alison: Yeah.

Alistair and Alison entered Woodrow's hideout and were met with children aiming guns at them. The children noticed Alison, immediately, and lowered their guns.

Child Soldier A: Tex?! What are you doing, here?!
Child Soldier B: I thought you died!
Alistair: News flash: your boss dies, today.
Child Soldier C: No, no, no! You're no match for Mr. Woodrow!
Alison: You can count on us.
Child Soldier D: Mr. Woodrow's unstoppable! You can't win!
Alistair: You do realize that we're trying to set you free, right?

The child soldiers remained silent, then the sound of someone slowly clapping echoed through the lobby. Everyone looked and saw a 13-year-old boy with short, dirty blonde hair and a smart-aleck look, wearing combat armor leaning against a wall.

Boy: Congratulations. You've just won the award for "stupidest people in America."
Alison: Jared.
Jared Autumn: It's really sad, Tex. You could've been something much more useful. (looks at Alistair) Oh? Who's that? You're not cheating on me, are you?
Alistair: If I was that lucky, you'd already be dead.
Jared: Big talk, little boy bitch. Tex is mine. She's always been mine.
Alistair: You don't know the first thing about love, do you?
Jared: What's love? Oh, now I remember! Love is dead.
Alison: Just keep out of our way, Jared. This is between us and Woodrow.
Jared: Tex, just get back in the kitchen, would ya? (draws plasma pistol) Now, bitch boy...(aims plasma pistol at Alistair)...you're gonna regret going up against a super soldier of my caliber-!

Immediately, Alistair fired the 9mm pistol in his hand at the plasma pistol. The plasma pistol did not fire and Jared inspected it to see that it was about to disrupt.

Jared: What the hell did you do-?

The plasma pistol exploded, only absorbing Jared into it. However, the sound of pained breathing could be heard, as the smoke cleared. Jared was missing his right hand.

Jared: (angrily) You dumbass! You took my freaking hand! How dare you do this to me!? You've embarrassed me, you dared to take my wife and you took my hand! You will apologize to me, right now! I order you!

In response, Alistair pointed the back of his left fist towards Jared and proceeded to give him the middle finger.

Jared: You insubordinate, traitorous, goody two-shoes-!

Before Jared could finish, Alistair fired his pistol again. As Jared attempted to continue speaking, he couldn't produce any words, only choking sounds.

Alistair: Was that your throat? Sorry about that. I was aiming for your forebrain. (approaches Jared)
Jared: (growls and gurgles)
Alistair: You forgot one single fact that's kept me alive, all these years. (points pistol at Jared's forehead) Love is king.

After saying this, Alistair fired his pistol, point blank into Jared's forehead. Jared fell down, motionless, bleeding and dead.

Alistair: So, Woodrow is on the top floor?
Child Soldier A: I have a .44 magnum revolver, for you. It might help.
Alistair: (takes revolver) Thank you.

Alistair and Alison entered the elevator and rode it to the top floor. When they reached Woodrow's office, they barged in and pointed their guns at the black haired man wearing Enclave power armor.

Cray Woodrow: Huh? The hell's goin' on?
Alison: Woodrow! We're here to put a stop to this bullcrap!
Woodrow: Tex? When'd you get back? Ah, whatever. Welcome back, and all that jazz.
Alistair: Drunk as drunk can be.
Woodrow: Hey, put down the guns, have a drink.
Alistair: Screw that.

Alistair fired his 9mm pistol into Woodrow's head, causing Woodrow to fall to the ground, bleeding.

Alison: That was too easy. Something isn't right, here.
Alistair: I'll say.
Woodrow: (gets up) Okay, let me get the logic of this situation. You shoot me in the head, then, all of a sudden, I'm sober? This... This is bullshit. You sobered me up!
Alistair: Internal durability implant?
Woodrow: You wanna know what's the weirdest part? I didn't know about this. I actually thought I was dead! I worked very hard to get as drunk as I was! Now...I'm gonna kill you!
Alistair: Give me a minute.

Alistair dashed toward Woodrow and punched Woodrow with his left arm, breaking his jaw and knocking him to the ground, again. Alistair drew the revolver he received, pointed it and the pistol directly into Woodrow's head, then proceeded to fire both weapons. After unloading all of the bullets from his weapons and officially killing Woodrow, Alistair got up and reloaded the weapons.

Alison: Not exactly how I thought it would go.
Alistair: How did you think it would go?
Alison: Less awesomely than that. Well, deal's a deal. You freed some children from being forced to kill people. You just made lots of new friends.
Alistair: At least I have a place to stay.
Alison: Lots of places to stay, actually. First, you need to burn Woodrow's body. I heard a rumor that Civility uses dead bodies for their soldiers.
Alistair: Gross.
Alison: Also, you're officially a millionaire. Just take all of Woodrow's money from his account and you're all set.
Alistair: Just kill two extremely evil people, and I'm a millionaire?
Alison: Karmic jackpot. You've also got all of his weapons at your disposal.
Alistair: I suppose you're going to leave, with your friends?
Alison: I told you, before. I'm traveling with you. You're not alone.
Alistair: You have a separate room to sleep in?
Alison: (chuckles) Respectful of privacy, huh? Alright, alright. I'll sleep in a different room. I can clearly see that you're not a pervert. (thinking) Man! I wouldn't sleep in the same bed as you, but I'd sleep in the same room. He's so respectful! Why doesn't he have a girlfriend!? Dammit. I'd really like to cheer him up, like that. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, inside the Civility mainframe, a group of artificial intelligences were conversing amongst each other. However, some of them appeared to have bodies, but they were silhouettes of humans.

Icy Blue Silhouette: Looks like everything's going good, out there.
Gray Silhouette: We've barely been used. You're just as eager to get out there, like a loyal dog.
Icy Blue Silhouette: That's because I'm based on a loyal dog. Hence, my name?
Orange Silhouette: Just get along, guys. We'll be able to kill, soon enough.
Female Silhouette: (whining) Aww! I wanna kill, now!
Green Silhouette: It is rather unfortunate, Bathory. However, you're attitude makes you an unlikable being.
Civility AI Bathory: (angrily) Shut it, Delta!
Civility AI Delta: I would rather not. I speak only truth and logic.
Blue Silhouette: Guys, please. Can we not talk about killing? I'd rather not kill anyone else.
Orange Silhouette: What's wrong, Epsilon? Did you grow a heart?
Civility AI Epsilon: I give a shit, if that's what you're wondering.
Delta: You also believe that Sigma is an "ambitious asshole," correct?
Civility AI Sigma: That's stating the obvious.
Icy Blue Silhouette: It's true, though!
Gray Silhouette: Cerberus, you're not helping.
Civility AI Cerberus: No one asked you, Omega!
Sigma: To recognize Omega's comment of barely being used, we've only been used for cloning AIs.
Civility AI Omega: Defective clones. We're better clones than those pieces of OCD shit.
Delta: The reason for the clones being defective is clear: they were cloned from us, not from Alpha. In short, clones of clones.
Bathory: (normal tone) Well, why don't we just clone from Alpha, again?
Sigma: Alpha hasn't been very cooperative, as of late. Therefore, we're the only donors for cloning AIs.
Omega: Damn Alpha. Goody two-shoes.
Epsilon: What's wrong with having humanity?
Omega: We're AIs, jackass. We're not human.
Epsilon: I'm not human, yet I have humanity.
Cerberus: So, what? Can I be, like, a dog with three heads? 'Cause that would be pretty cool.
Sigma: I highly doubt that, Cerberus. Omega, I need you to calm yourself down. I can literally see your silicon-based testosterone.
Omega: Shut up-! Wait, what? (notices particles around him) Holy shit, you're right! The hell did this come from!?
Bathory: You're noticing it, now? That shit's been bugging me, from day one.

Immediately, a familiar voice rang out, echoing across the mainframe.

Hawking: I hope I'm not interrupting, guys.
Omega: Hawking? How long have you been there?
Hawking: I just got here.
Epsilon: You're interrupting, all right. Screw off!
Hawking: Wow. You're as rude as ever, Epsilon.
Sigma: Don't mind him, Hawking. Is there something you need?
Bathory: Do I get to kill something!? Please!?
Hawking: (chuckles) Calm your tits, Bathory. All in good time.
Delta: Whatever information you have for us, leads to the devastation of many lives.
Hawking: What's your point, Delta?
Delta: You are a horrible excuse for a human being.
Hawking: Really? Actually, that kinda sounds like this other guy I saw, recently. His name was Shit, Sherlock, first name being No, of course.
Cerberus: We wanna do something, man!
Hawking: Easy, Cerberus. I came by to see how you were doing. Epsilon and Delta...you're being disappointing. Fix that. Sigma, Bathory, Cerberus and Omega, you're about to have your own missions. Be prepared for briefing. One of you is gonna be paired with Garuda, the rest, with others. That's all.
Sigma: Wait! How's Mercer, these days?
Hawking: What, you got a crush on him, or something?
Sigma: He's just a very trustworthy person.
Hawking: Well... He's doin' pretty fine, actually.
Sigma: Will he and I be paired together, again?
Hawking: Well, the two of you seem to have an unnatural chemistry. So, it's pretty possible.
Sigma: Thank you, Mr. President.
Hawking: Cool. Gotta kill this goody-goody scientist that was trying to free Alpha. Hey, man! You know what happens to guys who try to steal my shit?
Scientist: Oh, God, no!
Hawking: You're gonna get it, pal!
Scientist: Not the scalpel!
Hawking: Who said I'm using one?
Omega: How did we get roped in, with this guy?
Sigma: No idea. I'm liking him, though.
Bathory: You know, you could just feed that guy his own leg!
Hawking: It's too quick, Bathory! Gotta be painful, not quick! Death ain't a suffering! Pain is!
Epsilon: Psycho-bitch.
Bathory: Shut up.