With Patient Zero's body, I hauled away rocks that blocked the entrance to the building.

I was simultaneously controlling another Spore Carrier to do the same, albeit with great difficulty, as it was hard to control them both simultaneously.

Though it would be good practice so I wasn't going to stop, besides, it sped up my efforts to excavate the building and see if anything inside was destroyed or if a lot of the research was still intact.

Even then, if there was not anything salvageable in the building, I could still use the structure, whether it be as a sort of shelter for my Spore Creatures, or as storage, it didn't matter.

Once it hit morning, however, I stopped my efforts and retreated back to the Garden.

During the day, I assume most of the other inhabitants of Big MT would begin waking and wandering out from their homes.

I certainly didn't want to run into any Lobotimes armed with the advanced weaponry the Big MT had in droves.

Plasma Weapons would melt through my Carriers, and even firearms that propel physical ammunition would still be dangerous to my Carriers.

So, for now, I'd wait at the Gardens, where my Spore Creatures would be safe and able to more readily defend themselves.

Once I got Patient Zero and the other Spore Carrier back to the Gardens, I switched back over to the Vault.

The Mage was once again hungry and out of food, so he asked to go hunting once again, and I agreed.

Letting him go, I once again followed him, watching as he cast some sort of spell and turned around, heading in the other direction.

I assumed it was some sort of tracking spell, but my guess was that it was the clairvoyance spell that most players found to be incredibly useless and a waste of time.

That was in the game, what else could the spell do in reality?

The spell was meant to lead you to your objectives, but in the game that was only for the Quests, it seems its use broadened significantly in reality, allowing for the tracking of animals, and who knows what else it would be able to track.

Once he returned to the vault, this time with some Mole Rats, he decided to eat with the Myconoids, talking with them and hearing their stories.

I didn't know exactly what they were talking about due to the Mycnoid's form of communication, but I could at least get a glimpse from the Elf's responses.

The Mycnoids were telling stories about an Underkingdom of sorts, a Kingdom of Mycnoids, and were going over what sounded like Legends, Fables, Gods, and all sorts of other things.

Soon enough the Elf finished his meal and left the rest to the Myconoids who decomposed the remains of the carcass, causing mushrooms to sprout out from the ground where the carcass was moments ago.

Speaking of which, most of the cavern was covered in mushrooms now, as well as some grass and my own Spore Plants.

There were even some mushrooms that seemed they would grow to be as large or larger than a person, and after asking the Mycnoids, I learned those Mushrooms were called 'Giant Mushrooms,' something that I found to be quite obvious, but I digress.

Apparently, the Mycnoids and other underworld races used Giant Mushrooms as housing, and for the wood-like material they are made of.

So, not only did I have yet another reason to keep the Myconoids around, I wondered how much I could sell the Mushroom Wood.

With wood being somewhat scarce in the Mojave Desert, I saw an easy way in which I could get rich or at least somewhat rich.

But that's not what I wanted to focus on at the moment.

Taking control of a Carrier, I walked on all fours to the Elf who was sitting with the Myconoids.

Once he noticed me, I began carving away at the dirt with a claw, quickly writing down a sentence.

"You want me...leave?" The Elf asked, confused.

I shook the Carrier's head and continued.

"You want me to go to this...Westside? To sell mushrooms?" The Elf asked, bewildered.

I nodded and continued.

"We can't sit around forever, due to your hooded robe no one should be able to discover your...unique features, and if someone attacks you, you'll easily be able to defend yourself, I also want you to visit the fort in Free Side to see if the Followers of the Apocalypse are there yet. We'll need the caps for many things, including arming and equipping you, repairing the vault, and completing my tasks," I wrote.

"And what do I do after I find these...Followers?" The Elf asked.

"I want you to ask for the date, and offer a trade of caps for any Medical Fungi the Myconoids produce, if we can get on the good side of the Followers, we will save ourselves a lot of headaches in the future," I replied.

"I see...do you have any other orders for me?" He asked, with his hand on his chin in contemplation.

"Return before nightfall, and be aware of your surroundings, you'll more than likely be robbed at some point while you are there, also make sure to prevent anyone from following you back here, if our location is compromised before we are ready, we are doomed, do you understand?"

"Yes, Spirit, I shall endeavor to complete the tasks you have given me," He smiled.

Nodding, I took control of another Carrier, and with its help, began gathering a wide variety of mushrooms, and put them all in a duffle bag that was hanging around in the vault.

I also tried to see if we could get a Pipboy to work on him, but for some reason, we couldn't get it to turn on.

Once the duffle bag was filled with enough fungi of varying uses, such as medical, or consumable, I sent him on his way, having a Carrier start following him from afar, but not before informing him what he should charge for the Fungi, deciding to make them all somewhat cheap, with all of the consumable fungi not surpassing five caps in individual price, while informing him to see how much the Followers would offer for the Fungi that could be used for Medicine.

I desperately wanted to find out the date and time, due to this being a real world, New Vegas was bound to look different to some degree than the game, so I wouldn't be able to piece together a rough date unless there was some radical change, such as the City being in ruins, or there being no organization at all.

Plus, if I was dealing with the Followers that were seen during the events of the game, they could use all the supplies and help they need, plus, in no small part, I was hoping that Arcade Gannon was still there.

I already made a list of possible recruits, and Arcade Gannon was on that list, not only due to his intelligence and training, but also because he is an Enclave Remanant, and the key to getting a squad of heavily experienced Enclave Veterans who, just so happened to have a bunker in the same mountains I called home.

Sure, some of them may be more inclined to through me into an incinerator, but I hoped their time in the Wasteland had taught them differently.

Sure, I had no doubt that they'd attack me if I just openly approached them, so I needed to use a proxy, one that just so happened to look human enough to not be shot on sight.

This is where the Elf came in, though his ears and staggering height would cause a bit of problems, his appearance would be much better than my Spore Carriers, who looked like complete monsters.

As always, I had so much to do, and so little time or ways to accomplish these tasks.

---

[Ailwin Ianrona's POV]

At the behest of the Natural Spirit, I headed East, towards a place it called 'West side,' apparently a community of survivors, so that I could sell...mushrooms, and meet a group called 'The Followers of the Apocalypse.'

Even from the Vault, I could see what looked to be giant towers in the distance, and the Spirit informed me that it was what remained of a once grand city, and was now called New Vegas.

The Spirit said the city was like a beacon of light at night, and I could only imagine.

Following the blue trail formed by my Clairvoyance spell, I headed east.