The Last Thing You Never See

They would figure things out. Both men had been through a considerable amount - with and without one another - and surely they were smart enough to be able to scrape by until the bad evened back out into the good. It did look, from at least an outside perspective, that things were getting better at least. That was a start.

It was never an overly pleasant experience. Before it had been the Legion… and the raiders and even other people. Now that the Legion threat had been mostly nullified it didn’t mean there were any less of the rest, and Arcade… well, he definitely had his own share of shit luck too. His past now being somewhat commonplace knowledge definitely didn’t help matters, and while he had moments when he could be devastatingly effective in a fight he was still just one man.

“I’ll keep that in mind. I know of a few areas near to formerly Legion occupied areas that might be good ones to check out, if the first idea doesn’t quite pan out.” A pause, humming softly under his breath. “I’d still prefer to work when I have the opportunity for it. It isn’t as if the Followers currently has a plethora of extra hands helping out after all.”

Having a support system was always better than not though, even if things got bad- especially if things got bad! Boone appreciated the people who were there for him, for Arcade, for Manny. It was always ALWAYS good. Besides…things WERE definitely improving.

Boone knew he would be disgusted with himself, and fearful of people’s opinions of his past got out to the world. Everyone knowing Arcade’s ties, or at least quite a few people knowing- it wasn’t good. The poor guy had to deal with private things being out in the public. How awful. He would fight anyone who gave Arcade shit over it though.

Dahl had wronged Pandora… in fact so excessively many of the bandits on this border world were former members, and prisoners - abandoned to die. Atlas had wronged Pandora - though they were indeed gone now, and many of those who had not been able to escape had made their own lives, scratched out in sand and blood. But Hyperion had become a level in and of itself, something that was a threat to all, and it… wasn’t good.

Hal had seen a lot and done a lot in the entirety of his life. He wasn’t necessarily a good person - nor would he ever claim to be - but it would be a blatant lie for anyone to ever claim the man was a force of evil too. No - he was who he was, how he was, and that was that.

“Yeah, guess they do.” Things happened sometimes. Most of the time things were not necessarily good things either, not down here. “How much further we gotta go?” A pause. “Not that I’m rushin’ or anythin’, but we’ve been travelin’ a fair bit already.” He couldn’t remember it taking this long the last time.

Hyperion persisted long after the others had gone, and that was what made them so much worse. No matter how many times Hyperion was beaten back they seemed determined to keep showing up- Handsome Jack at the helm, guiding them to destroy all life on the planet in the name of making their utopia. It was horrific really, and had scarred the planet and the people far more than any others had.

Boone could say much the same- he’d done plenty of horrible things for Atlas, all in the name of doing his job. He wasn’t a great person, but he did his best anyways. Hal seemed to be doing what he could, and he wasn’t being intentionally malicious so it was fine.

Given how Hyperion’s leader was on a genocidal path seeking to wipe out the planet and all its inhabitants, including the ones who’d done no harm? Oh yeah, it absolutely made sense just why so many people had issues when it came down to them. Hal would never fault them for that.

It kinda seemed to come with the territory to some degree - whether it was something genuine or a bluff could be another story entirely. In the marauder’s case it was pretty real, however it could be a whole lot worse than what it was - at the very least the man wasn’t deliberately malicious, and his sort of assholery could even be amusing and fun.

“Many.” Of course the bandit had caught that one - so there had been some. Of course a perfect paradise was a little too difficult for even the most hopeful to believe, and Hal… he was not a blind man by any means of the word. “Guess if things were handled fast it would keep from goin’ too outta control.”

Too many companies had wronged Pandora, but Hyperion was the loudest and most aggressive about it. People were afraid, and people were angry. Everyone had lost people, and while people accepted it when it was wildlife or bandits…it was different when it was Hyperion.

People who weren’t naturally cruel or prone to harsh words adapted a shell to suit the nature of the planet. Of course, Boone could see through those who were just acting tough to avoid trouble. Hal didn’t seem to be one of those people- but he struck him as someone who wasn’t entirely cruel.

It was how it was. There were horrors everywhere, no matter where a person went, and it was up to them just how they managed to survive it all. Hyperion was just one faction and sure, they weren’t exactly great by a remote long shot, but they were nothing compared to some of the other ones out there. Even Dahl had been pretty shitty too.

At the very least it could’ve been far worse - Hal was an asshole, sure… he made no bones about that. That said he really wasn’t the outright hostile sort of person, despite being a surly bastard, and was probably reasonably on the milder side of things given how people on Pandora tended to be. He just… had a skewed sense of humor at best.

“I suppose you say so.” Not even a deliberate insult towards Dalton - he didn’t know the woman well enough yet to properly agree or disagree. “Ain’t lookin’ like this place is much the worse for wear, for any incidents that happened.” Not a bad thing right there - they must’ve been handled swiftly enough.

Boone would never claim there were no other monsters out there. Atlas had ruined so many lives, he was aware of that. Dahl had ruined plenty too- but Hyperion got a special place in the heart of Pandora. All things considered, it made sense didn’t it?

Most people on Pandora were assholes, it was just kind of how they worked. That was the nature of the planet- but some assholes were slightly more friendly than others. Or at least, slightly more benevolent. He tolerated Hal’s sort, and understood people like him to an extent at the very least.

It could be much worse. Sure, Pandora was absolutely dangerous…. but it was just one border world. There were others out there that was just as bad, if not worse, and that wasn’t even scratching the surface as to just how awful some of the varying factions within the universe could be. Hell - Hal heard about Atlas and Dahl; he’d rather face Hyperion again all things considering.

Mutual benefit was always for the best - there was so much that could be gained, and so little lost.

While the marauder would’ve laughed until he wheezed about being called benevolent - he wasn’t - he definitely wasn’t being deliberately monstrous or cruel. He was just an asshole… it was what it was, came with the territory, and thankfully for once he wasn’t finding himself landing in incidental trouble for it.

All the better, right?

“That could be a lil’ dangerous, I guess.” A shrug there. Maybe it wasn’t his business just how Dalton ran things, but… “Sometimes the dangerous ones ain’t the ones y’expect. Seen it before - never a fun time right there.” Not even close, and he shook his head a little bit for it.

He was sure that there were worse places, more dangerous places. He thought of the rumors of the deeps of Promethea, of places deeper and darker still. There were horrors out there, man was just one of them. Still, he would suppose he agreed there- Hyperion was the least of the evils, wasn’t it? He really didn’t know how deep it went with them.

In Dalton’s eyes there really wasn’t much of a loss to either side.

His words were pretty tame, for the most part. Boone didn’t mind, and he would have been amused at the man’s humor. One could be an asshole and still be relatively benevolent- you could mean well while being awful. Hell, you could do good while treating others with disrespect. It happened sometimes.

Without a doubt they were a group that definitely stood out compared to many of the locals. Though that wasn’t a fair assessment either - Pandora was a dangerous planet, where both the natural wildlife, plant-life, and in some cases the planet itself were adamantly trying to kill you. Of course people had adapted to how they could best survive.

Perhaps it would be just enough to actually make things work. Both groups would absolutely benefit from one another.

Le’s face it between those two alone most anyone who knew them should probably be mostly immune to snark by this point. Thankfully in this case it definitely hadn’t been the malicious sort to come from Hal - he wasn’t genuinely trying to get a rise out of the guard, but he couldn’t help but to mess around at least a little bit either.

“Mmm… probably helps who she picks’n chooses t’stay here too.” If she turned people away… hell, the marauder didn’t know. He had never proclaimed any want or interest to be a sort of leader type - kinda wasn’t his style right there. He was too solitary for that, probably… something like that.

Pandora was a dangerous place, and some people were better adapted to it than others. Still, it was easy to tell who was slightly less adapted, and Boone preferred it. People who had learned Pandora, but hadn’t lived on it tended towards being just a bit more predictable than those who had been left behind by Dahl after all.

He was sure it would help them both out really, they had a lot to gain from one another.

He was absolutely immune to snark by then, unflinching in the face of it. Hal couldn’t harm or bother him through it, and he at least knew as well that the man wasn’t trying to be cruel, he was just being sassy. He knew cruel sarcasm when he heard it, and Hal was pretty damn benevolent.