[b]"The King", New Vegas[/b]

The King listened intently as Caesar took hold of the conversation. It was unsurprising that Lucius attacked the podium with a clear head. The Legion--and the rest of the west--had been fertilized by the Treaty of Goodsprings. It was in the interest of no one except perhaps the NCR to disintegrate it. Even then, they'd be foolish to invoke the wrath of everyone who valued peace. It was funny, that -- a group of nations that had managed to co-exist for a decade could just as easily bare their teeth and spill blood at a moment's notice.

James Kimball grabbed hold of the conversation. True to what Robert had predicted, he was going to try to egotistically force everyone's attention upon the NCR. Still, it didn't take a genius like Mr. House to predict that; within a matter of minutes, it had already happened. The King looked cautiously ambivalent at first as the NCR president passed around his proposed maps -- The King was very highly aware that it was foolish for anyone to assume that the Legion would give up even the slightest bit of Arizona's heartland.

It was once Kimball revealed that the NCR's invasion and attack on Caesar's Legion had begun that The King's tired eyes widened and something akin to a weak gasp escaped his lips. Predictably, the situation was not as notoriously black-and-white as the president made it sound. Lucius assured the lot that the Legion were not daft -- they would not dare try to take on the NCR in sheer brute force.

The King waited until the mayhem finally found silence and a window of opportunity. He opened his mouth as if to speak and then stopped. He looked at the securitron stationed next to the table with confusion. The securitron suddenly jolted in place, as if some sort of data had been transferred to it, and then beckoned The King to follow him. 

"Excuse me." The King obliged, following the securitron to the waiting room of the Gourmand. He spoke to the securitron--who had its back turned to the group--for close to ten minutes. He slowly returned to the table, seemingly shaken-up. His steps had lost the confidence that they had stomped in with at the very beginning of the convention. He dropped into his chair and took a deep breath.

"Mr. House will not tolerate acts of violence by the NCR," The King said almost shakily. He very well realized that he was letting out the vocal equivalent of dropping a warhead through his carefully constructed statements. [i]'Tell them exactly what I am saying to you now. Word-for-word,'[/i] resonated House's voice as he recalled the conversation he had in the past ten minutes. "If the New California Republic eagerly looks to erase the mutual coexistence of the Goodsprings Treaty, then it is declaring its intentions moving forward and painting itself as a greedy warmonger. The Free Economic Zone of the Mojave is predicated on the freedom to carve out one's existence without of fear of being stepped upon by a salivating regime. 

The King took another deep breath. "If you, President James Kimball, declare open war on Caesar's Legion and invade the lands surrounding the Mojave Desert, Robert House will take that as an affront to peace in the west as a whole and the forces of the F.Z.M will retaliate. If you move forward, you will be endangering your own citizens who eagerly run onto our soil despite your weak attempts to keep them home. If you follow through, you will be pitting your soldiers against thousands of Mark-II securitrons in addition to the Legion forces and whomever else desires to keep the west from being rolled over by your regime."

Finally, the King placed his final words of the speech. "So, if I were you, President Kimball...I would choose your next actions very carefully...The F.Z.M values preserving balance in the region far more highly than pandering to the average NCR citizen. You [i]do[/i] not want the collective efforts of the west to point in your direction." At that, the King picked up his hat, set it back on his head, and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath. He had recited House's chosen words for him [i]immaculately[/i]. It terrified him. He hadn't even begun to consider whether or not he actually agreed with or believed in the speech he had given. House had spoken directly through his lips, like a god-damned puppet. The King gave a slight nod toward Lucius before he looked down at the table. [i]What in god's name am I doing, Robert?[/i]