[Video: fan animation of Benny and a female Courier from Fallout: New Vegas set to “I Don’t Want to Be Alone” by Billy Joel.
The video starts with a full-color sequence made to look like comic panels, the first with narration reading, “A courier on her last delivery.” The courier, who has light skin and short brown hair ending just below her ears, is adjusting the brim of her hat as she walks away to a sunny horizon with a bag slung over her shoulder above her suspenders. A person carrying a gun comes into view with the beat of the music, and she turns her dark eyes back in worry while her name, Arthur, crawls across the screen behind her in golden all capital letters.
The scene switches to show her looking up at three men in front of a tree with the full moon in the dark sky above them, one gripping a shovel while the man in the checkered suit reaches into his lapel as the narration reads, “The man who shot her in the head and took the package.” Benny’s name crawls across the screen as he pulls out a coin and looks down with a small frown.
The next panel shows Victor’s mechanical hands reaching down to grab the courier up by her shoulders, her eyes blank and her mouth duct-taped as her head falls to the side to reveal two bleeding bullet wounds in her forehead above her left eye. It switches to show her standing in a doorway and looking up with a hand shading her narrowed eyes from the sun, scarring now visible where she had been shot while the narration continues, “Survived the execution, but lost her memory.” There is a close-up shot of her neutral face, her hair now hanging loosely to her chin while her name now simply reads, “Courier”
The Courier is shown wearing a dark jacket over her shoulders above a low-cut golden dress and dark boots ending just below her knees as she strides to the bright lights of the New Vegas Strip, the narration concluding, “Now, she arrives at the Strip to settle the score…”
The video changes to uncolored or greyscale limited animation as the singing starts with “She said she’d meet me in the bar at the Plaza Hotel” and the Courier looks up at the sign for the Tops. “Wear a jacket and a tie,” the song continues as she raises one hand thoughtfully to her chin and then looks down at the lighter in her hand to close it.
She walks briskly through the lobby, and the man behind the front desk watches her head to the staircase as the next line goes “What’s the occasion? She just smiled, and she wouldn’t say why.” Benny’s checkered suit can be seen on the second floor just as the Courier stops at the foot of the stairs and looks up to better see him. “So here I am standing, waiting in the lobby, sweating bullets in this stupid old suit” is the next line as Benny is shown in better detail scowling at the men leaving behind him before turning irritably to the woman now standing on the stairs before him.
In time with the guitar, he startles to see the Courier staring up blankly at him, her left eye under her scarring appearing paler due to the pupil not being heavily dilated like her other eye. There is a quick shot of her looking up with tape over her mouth and blood running down from the bullet holes in her skull before the scene cuts back to her blinking and raising one hand to hide her laugh, the song continuing, “And when she sees me, she burst out laughing”
The next line goes, “You’re a sad sight honey, but you look so cute” as she lowers her hand to look up with a fond blush, and Benny grimaces with sweat running down his face when his shoulders untense in confusion.
“And I don’t want to be alone anymore,” the song continues when the Courier runs forward to place one hand upon Benny’s chest, her jacket falling down one arm while she grins warmly and he leans back. The next line goes, “I was checking you out, I was just making sure” while he tries to smile awkwardly back and she puts both hands on her chest.
“No, I don’t want to be alone anymore,” the song reiterates as she grabs him by the tie and twirls him around as if dancing, Benny choking briefly before the Courier pulls him back so that she is standing behind him with her grinning face by his ear. She entwines her fingers tightly with one of his hands down bis side and leans in to his uncomfortably smiling face to sing along with the line “And I want you tonight, although you hurt me before”
She moves away, and his face falls with one eyelid twitching as he stares ahead in terror. With a blink, the scene pulls back to show him in a darkened scene front of a tree, one hand pushing back his hair and the other holding a gun down in front of himself as he smiles nervously and the song goes, “It didn’t matter that I felt like a fool”
The next line is “’Cause I forgot when she walked through the door” when the Courier moves across the scene to transition back to the present day with a grin and wink at the viewer. She looks back at Benny, and he pulls out a room key with a deep red tag as the song goes, “I said I’m sorry, but she said it was cool”
His smile is wobbly and a bead of sweat still runs down his face as she moves to place one hand upon his and wrap her other arm around his shoulders. The post-chorus ends with “And I don’t want to be alone anymore” as the scene pans down from him smiling when she leans in by his face down to their hands where Benny turns to clasp hers in his.
The scene changes to footage from the game showing a text box against a solid black screen as Benny says, “You’re platinum, pussycat! You know how to swing!” The text box then shows two choices reading, “<Kill Benny in his sleep.>” and “<Go to sleep.>” The mouse cursor moves between both as the instrumental section continues, and the scene changes back to the animation.
The linework is now white against a black background as the two lie unclothed under the covers, Benny sleeping on his side and the Courier wrapping one arm around him from behind with her other hand on the bed to prop her up. She looks down at him with only her left eye and her scar visible on her face before reaching her hand for his neck.
The scene shifts back to the usual greyscale style as Benny writes a note to leave by the bed, the man fully dressed when he looks over to see the Courier still asleep and the song goes, “It’s so confusing choosing sides in the heat of the moment”
The next line is “Just to see if it’s real” when he leans over with a slight frown to push her hair back over her scar, and the scene shifts to show him doing the same motion while she looks down at him with a smile and holds his wrist. The song continues, “Ooh, it’s so erotic having you tell me how it should feel” with Benny lying down down and smiling up at her with his suit undone to reveal his bare chest. The Courier straddles him and leans down, his hand dropping to her shoulder and then down her nightgown before two hands are shown together.
In time with the guitar, the hands drop down to the ground from Benny’s perspective with a rope around his wrists. “But I’m avoiding all the hard cold facts that I’ve got to face,” the song continues as a roughed-up Benny lies on his side in Caesar’s tent with Legionnaires standing around him. One of them reaches down to pull him up by the hair, and he looks over with a tired grin before looking over curiously in the other direction as the song goes, “So ask me just one question when this magic night is through”
A dark figure strides through the doorway, revealed to be the Courier slightly smiling and wearing a jumpsuit when the singer asks, “Could it have been just anyone, or did it have to be you?” The verse ends with “And will you still be saying” while Benny’s mouth falls open and eyes widen in shock.
The chorus begins, “I don’t want to be alone anymore” as he watches her walk by without glancing at him. The next line is “I was checking you out, I was just making sure” when her mouth thins with her nearest eye hidden by her hair, and he visibly turns his head to watch her.
“No, I don’t want to be alone anymore,” the song goes as Benny pulls his wrists over his head and tries wriggling them out of the ropes before slumping down in defeat. He looks up with an awkward smile, the Courier’s boots framing the shot as the next line goes, “And I want you tonight, although you hurt me before” and it pans up to show her staring down at him.
“It didn’t matter that I felt like a fool,” the song continues as she squats down in front of him, and he tilts his head down to look up at her with a thin grin and a strand of hair falling over his forehead. The next line is “’Cause I forgot when she walked through the door” while she smiles back and brings one hand to her chin in thought before placing it down upon one of his thighs. The shot pans up to show her smiling with nearly closed eyes and her chin resting against her other hand as he gives a wobbly smile back, and the song goes, “I said I’m sorry, but she said it was cool”
The post-chorus ends with “And I don’t want to be alone anymore” as she stands back up to his horror, and she turns to walk away while two Legionnaires drag him off. A saxophone solo plays as Benny is brought up to lie down on a crucifix on the ground, and the Legionnaires undo his bindings to tie him to the cross and set it up. They cheer triumphantly as Benny scowls, his gaze moving down the cliff to see the Courier standing with her hands on her hips and looking up at him with a crooked smile.
The singer calls out, “But don’t you know that it’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong” as the shot moves back to show Benny up on the cross with his head hanging down before he pants and looks up furiously with a dark shadow over one side of his face. The song continues, “But like the song, being caught by the wink of an eye” as the Courier takes a sip from a canteen and then points it his way with an amused wink before turning to walk away. Benny’s vision blurs a little as he looks down and squeezes his eyes shut, the song going, “I can’t be sure we’ll get along, but I’m willing to try”
The verse ends with the singer exclaiming, “As long as you can tell me,” and Benny looks up in surprise. The chorus starts, “I don’t want to be alone anymore” as the Legionnaires standing around get shot down through the gates. Benny cranes his head to get a better look at the NCR troopers storming in as the next line goes, “I was checking you out, I was just making sure”
“No, no, no, I don’t want to be alone anymore,” the song continues as they go up the cliff with an off-screen blast. He watches curiously and then with a nervous smile as a disembodied head flies down with red blood following it matching the splatters on the chainsaw held up afterward, the song continuing, “And I want you tonight, although you hurt me before”
“It didn’t matter that I felt like a fool,” the song goes as the trooper stops in front of Benny and looks up at him before swinging the chainsaw to the bottom of the crucifix. The next line is “I forgot when she walked through the door” as Benny falls onto his back, still tied to the cross and gasping for breath while the soldier casually tosses the weapon to the side.
She then pulls off her mask to reveal herself to be the Courier, her mouth moving along with a grin to the apology in the next line “Said I’m sorry, but she said it was cool” while she stands over Benny struggling to get free. The post-chorus ends with “And I don’t want to be alone anymore” when she reaches down to grab his face, and he looks up with wide eyes before closing them when she leans in to kiss him.
The singer croons, “I don’t want to be alone anymore” as the Courier pulls back from a stunned Benny and laughs before falling down beside him to lie upon one of his outstretched arms. She opens her eyes to smile warmly at him, the song continuing, “No, I don’t want to be alone anymore” when she moves to punch him in his other shoulder across his chest with a grin. He looks shocked before she sits up to look down at him, and he grins back with sweat running down his face while the shot pulls back and turns away.
The song trails off with one last “No, I don’t want to be alone anymore” from the singer as credits in golden-orange appear over the grey sky, the title “I Don’t Want to be Alone” for a “CourierBenny Animatic” set to a song by Billy Joel and animated by CVVisaLizard.
