There were two pod rooms in Vault 111, where as the room Nora and Nate's pods were in was smaller, with only two rows of pods, Nate was measuring the length of the adjacent cryogenic pod room from end to end. This larger room had six rows of pods which would become hydroponics greenhouse. After disconnecting the pods, he brought in Codsworth to start dismantling the pods in this room for pieces, parts, and scrap metal.

There were twelve heavy valves that needed to be shut, cutting off the liquid nitrogen to this room.

The intention was to use the hoses from the cryopods to build a drip irrigation system for the garden. That project would wait for another day after returning to Vault 81 for advice from Priscilla Penske on layout.

After spending hours looking for the manual that described how to dismantling and reassemble the main reactor along with operating procedures, while turning off all the excess power systems throughout Vault 111 as he searched for the book, he turned off the first reactor for maintenance.

Ensuring he wouldn't trap himself inside after losing power to the doors, Nate laid out a massive bedsheet and laid the parts down one by one, screws, bolts, gears, metal shielding. He got to the fans, and saw what caused the initial damage in the first place. Two bullet holes cracked and warped the fan blades, keeping them from spinning properly. This metal was bent inwards and stopped the fans from moving as well as causing an exposed copper wire to touch the metal.

It took nineteen hours straight with no sleep, or food, and only a few sips of water to dig the bullet out, wrap all the lines with rubber tubing followed by heat shrinking the wires together, reshape the fans as well as finding the one replacement part, replacing the worn out keyways, one which was sheered off, making it impossible for the gears to catch and spin. Gears too were worn down and wouldn't catch on the teeth, so they were removed and replaced as well. Then after replacing the rod filter, installing new friction-less bearings, while greasing everything in sight that spun or moved, Nate finally reassemble the entire reactor for it to work again. When he popped the panel back on, there were no spare pieces and everything fit perfectly.

Sure of himself, Nate laid down on the ground after turning the first reactor back on. His hands were black from the grease and the oily tools. The ground was freezing, but he was so warm from being active while working, he pulled his vault suit off down to the waist.

Sleeping for seven hours there on the ground next to the reactor without a pillow or a blanket, he woke up with stiffness in his back, but was satisfied that the main reactor was working again.

When he woke up, he was stiff, sore, still extremely tired, and ravenously hungry. He showered off, and went all the way back to Sanctuary Hills to make himself some breakfast. Bringing Codsworth along, Nate stopped to inspect the growing pile of timber from salvaged houses.

The neighbors house on the lot to the right of Nate and Nora's house in Sanctuary Hills was reduced to the foundations, where Codsworth piled boards and lumber. The only type of wood that was able to avoid the mold and termites was the eternally thirsty wood-type, Cedar.

For a moment he remembered a job he picked up during his teenage years, painting a tall cabin by the ocean made from cedar. The salt water spray eroded the paint, but even without the color, it held a grey sun-bleached tone that looked very decorative. The rest of the boards from the pile were still usable, but heavily worn from constant exposure to the environment.

While working on the reactor, Nate couldn't get his hands into the tight reaches of the machine without his Pip-Boy bumping into everything. He didn't put it back on until after he came back to the Sanctuary Hills for some fresh air a second time. When he finally did, he got a little pinging message from Vault 81.

"To Vault 111, we need your assistance with an emergency health crisis, please come to Vault 81 immediately."

Nate barely started on a bowl of Sugar Bombs, with powdered milk rehydrated with some water while he was listening to the message. He looked down at his bowl of cereal, picked it up, and drank it all down. Wiping off his mouth, he left the bowl in the sink and went out again.

"Codsworth, I'm heading out again. Keep working on the houses, I'll be back in a day or two. I'm going to Vault 81."

Next Chapter: Ch. 52 Curie Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 48 Minutes