After receiving a complimentary bag of Rad-Away to bring down his radiation level from Dr. Forsythe, and the syringer rifle, Curie asked for "A moment of your time," to Nate.

Nate nodded and turned to face her. "After being trapped for so many years, I believe it is customary to say thank you in your role for saving me."

"You're welcome, Curie." Nate replied, smiling back at her, but for him, it always satisfied the curious part of his mind that wondered what machines thought.

"My entire life was spent in this vault. I analyzed and learned everything there is to know here. Now I must see the rest of the Commonwealth, consult with scientists, and unearth more data to challenge my hypotheses." She raised her claws, posturing herself with hand gestures.

"What do you want to learn up there, Curie?" He asked, hands raised up towards the ceiling, looking upwards to the sky.

"Down here is an enclosed system," One of her three eye cones rolled to the door of of the clinic, examining a person walking by and taking notice of the duo together. "Without the introduction of new mutagens, viruses, or bacteria, it's quite dull, medically speaking." Nate swore a the robot was programmed to take an audible breath, but his ears might've been playing tricks on him. "The world up there is infinitely more complex. Who knows what type of diseases can be found and studied?"

"You said you wanted to follow me out, but there's more than you know. On October 23rd, 2077, Atomic bombs fell on Boston. The scientific community you want to reach out and find is desperately lacking in all departments."

"But surely there is still men of learning out there. And if nothing else, there is data. Please Monsieur, may I come with you?"

"I like you Curie, you're curious about the world, and that type of yearning to understand more about the world changes peoples perspectives. Yes, you can come with me. In fact, I want you to come with me. You seem animated and full of character. You wouldn't happen to have any surgical knowledge in your memory would you?"

"Oh! I am so delighted to hear you say that. Unfortunately, I do not possess any advanced surgical techniques, however. I know by going to the local public library, or by visiting a hospital the necessary information might be available for me to download."

Nate nodded, rubbing his left eye. He swore in his head, knowing what lurked inside the Boston Public Library, and how his chances at finding to a non-corrupted file of main aorta surgery along with treating a bullet wound at a hospital were equally slim.

But, he looked down at his hand. If he caught a sickness from the mole rat bite, then it was still worth it, because now he found his surgeon. Someone with steady grips and a careful degree of excellence. The next step in rescuing Nora would be to get Curie smartened up a bit, prepare the surgery room, and then find a place Nora can recooperate after surgery. Once everything was in place, Nate would be able to see the life spark in Nora's eyes again.

\111/

Overseer McNamara's office was hot and dry, like the inside of a microwave. The fluorescent meter long light bulbs buzzed above Bobby De Luca's head, making him think there were flies incessantly droning about.

Circling about, he felt the synapses fire in his brain, and his limbs were tingling, but his stomach was a hot tight ball of knots that knew exactly what was coming next.

Vault Dwellers are saved from certain pains of the surface, while opening themselves up to other different types of suffering. What they do with that pain and suffering, how they process it, how it becomes a part of their lives are all part of life and growing up. They can feel pain, but don't have to suffer, since suffering is a construct of the mind.

A person can be in no physical pain, but be suffering greatly on the inside because their mind is telling them to suffer, because they have no other outlet to process the stress behind it.

No mantra to sing, no hymn to hum, no deity to get down on their knees and thank. By going down into the vaults, the dwellers cut themselves off from spiritual growth, because if the original residents were to have a degree of law to sort through the cyrptobabble mess that was the resident sign up, they would come to realize they've been hired as part of a much larger job.

They aren't residents, they're employees. And employees can be fired much more quickly than a resident being kicked out of their home. The rooms aren't residents room, they are employee housing.

All benefits and perks of living in a Vault, is because they are hired by Vault-Tec. to work and maintain the Vaults for as long as possible.

Most people after a few generations don't see it that way, that the Vault takes care of them. They've found a resolute happiness from working every day. They took pride in what was built and aimed to maintain the status quo and keep things running smoothly.

Overseer McNamara was speaking to him, but Bobby's had years of training, ignoring important conversations and cherry picking the details. It was clear on her face, the redness building in her throat, the way her dried lips were bared and how her teeth were visibly showing. Like a dog chasing off another dog, 'no food here, no water, Grrr. Go away.'

She started slow, but now she was simply tearing into him, all the power and control in the world belong to her, and in that brief moment, Bobby thought to himself.

"She has no control over me. She never has. What power she does have is turn all the other residents against me, and kick me out." Bobby came to the realization with a tear forming in his right eye, then his left. Hot steamy tears running down his face while Overseer McNamara tore into him, getting louder after seeing the tears run down his face and platter onto his blue vault suit.

"...Visibly slowing down, losing track of equipment, tools, personal items, etc. Repairs are taking two, three times as long, which is why we've been training replacements. Your performance is unacceptable, while working on the job, you sneak away to get high, and not only do you put your stash in a abandoned second half of the vault that no one ever knew about, a part of the vault you don't even bother mentioning to anyone, you couldn't even move your drugs and come up with an excuse for how you found the place. We've been desperate for space, storage, and expansion since the Vault first closed."

She paused only to gather her breath, the flames in her heart weren't cooled yet.

"Instead, you kept it a secret, and didn't pay attention to your surroundings, this lead to Austin being able to sneak into the reactor core. He learned when you would take your so called smoke breaks, and watch how to get into the second half of the vault. You've endangered your sister as well as the rest of the residents of the vault."

"One of these mole rats already infected a resident you need to realize that, what if the entire nest was on the other side of that door one day, and as you go to open it while you're looking for drugs, and you're attacked. An entire swarm of diseased mole rats are unleashed into the reactor room."

"Who is the next person, after you're bitten and possibly killed, infected by molerats if you survive, who is the next person to stumble upon the swarm? Your sister? What then? The classroom close by? Any number of the residents in housing?"

"You do realize how this looks, right? You do realize the depth of your actions and the consequences they have? Everyone here is lucky, beyond lucky that the circumstances are what they are. I feel aggravated. Not only because of the implications for what Vault-Tec. did to us, but if not for the foresight and intuition of men and women born and died decades before you were born that it was possible for Austin Encill to be alive right now."

"The Sole Survivor was the first to offer himself in a heartbeat, and we don't even know who he is except that he's a Vault Dweller from a different Vault. Here he is, helping out fellow Vault Dwellers. He hasn't hesitated once in finding an outcome that benefits everyone, and he comes with more understanding of how the pre-world surface works than anyone alive today. He knows how to apply terms that we've only been able to have the basic understanding of because, we've never been able to gain experience from using that information in the real world. You realize he was bitten? That while Austin lives, he may succumb to even worse diseases?"

"He spoke to me earlier, and we discussed your end of employment here at Vault 81. We discussed potential outcomes. We discussed your future, Bobby DeLuca. We discussed the future of Vault 81."

She looked into Bobby's eyes and spoke with the force of a sledgehammer behind each word. Thank God for the quick little puff of Jet he took before coming in, otherwise Bobby would've felt the true fear of God and felt like he was being electrocuted with lightning bolts from McNamara's intense gaze. He would've felt like being blown backwards twenty feet, out the doors and thrown down the stairs, rolling the entire way down.

Still, his heart hammered against his ribcage, entire head swelling up like a balloon. Here it came. The breaking point. The so called piano wire that was being plucked and plucked and plucked finally about to break.

"If you were to leave Vault 81, it is undoubtedly assured that your sister, Tina, would leave with you. Whether I say or try to convince her otherwise and continue working on the Reactor is up to her, but I know that she's expressed desire to leave the Vault. That leaves us two empty positions to fill in the Reactor Core." McNamara said, "Which I've already filled."

Every time the Overseer finished a sentence, it was like another nail being hammered into Bobby's coffin, and this last one was his own sister. A person he never wanted to hurt, not even by accident or his own stupidity.

"The Sole Survivor reached out to me and offered to transfer you to a new Vault. Vault 111. As acting Overseer of his Vault, we agreed that a transfer would be in the best interest of both parties. It wouldn't be leaving you out in the cold, but I'm told you would be working extra hard just to survive in Vault 111. They haven't even started a garden, one which Dr. Penske is helping Nate plan and coordinate. There are water, beds, and the exact same job of maintaining and repairing the reactor, the only difference between him and me, is that I can't stand to look at you anymore, Bobby. You don't have to take his offer, but I strongly suggest you do. He's the only one offering any other outlets for you and your sister to both pick up and move. Without it, you would be assuredly on your own in the Commonwealth Wasteland, with only the standard equipment that will be issued to all Vault Dwellers when they leave. One Ten millimeter pistol, thirty six rounds, a canteen, five stimpaks, five doses of RadAway, and three days of food ration. That is Vault 81's gift to you."

"Pack up your things, convince your sister to go with you, and then leave. I wont have morale dampened by separating siblings from each other. Nate is in the re-purposed room by the elevator, waiting for your answer. Now go."

\111/

Can electricity feel stale? Stale isn't the right word, Bobby knew. It was all about Voltage, and wattz. He read in a manual, that America's voltage output was 110 volts, while in Europe their voltage output for plug ins was 250 volts, more than double. Which meant electronics going from continent to continent might burn out from being overloaded with energy, or not work from receiving enough electricity through the wire.

That's what he felt like. He wasn't getting enough volts through his body. That he should be operating with more energy, and he is, but the plug ins are all screwy, and the lights buzz even louder than before.

Every step down the Overseer's office stairs back to the main foyer felt jolting, sending racks of electric tingles through his legs. He didn't know if it was pain or relief, he didn't know what to make of the sensation of being fired and rehired somewhere else.

That's what it was, wasn't it? He was fired. And in the same breath, rehired to work in a Vault. Exact same thing, different people, different environment. It was all on him to make it work.

It was his responsibility to make this new job work.

His head shuddered.

Bobby feels the tension of doing Jet from the other members of the vault and dwellers complain to Overseer, Tina goes with him. Nate hires them to work in Vault 111.

Walking around the upper floor to the main lobby, Bobby saw Nate sitting on his bed talking with Tina inside, and they both looked up to him and his sullen face.

Nate waved him in.

\111/

"Here I was about to leave, but there's a radiation storm going on up above, so we're waiting out the storm." Nate said to Bobby, there was only one chair by the desk, but Tina was sitting in it while Nate sat on the bed. That left Bobby standing as his eyes rested on Nate.

"I was talking with your sister about being employed up at Vault 111. It's not glamourous, or well lit like Vault 81, you'll need to find and cook all your own food. The work will be maintaining the vault and the reactors, but you'll have a bed and clean water. I've been writing up long lists for jobs and tasks that need to be done around Vault 111 and Sanctuary Hills, that's the neighborhood where we'll all be living in. These are things you can do to make caps and start earning a living for yourselves. An important item on the list will be setting up the greenhouse and hydroponics system to start growing food, but before we even start that, we need to remove all the cryogenic pods in the room, find seeds, and bring in dirt. Are you ready to work harder than you've ever worked before to survive, Bobby? There wont be any sneaking off, because you'll both be on your own and if you think that you can do things your way, and go against me, you'll be mistaken." Nate said, making sure to keep Bobby's attention.

"I'll throw you out, same as Overseer McNamara is doing right now, but if you listen to me, and follow my instruction exactly, then you and your sister will be much better off in the long run. You'll gain self-worth, and maybe take pride in your work after building something, but all that is up to you if you want to fuck around and do drugs and not work, that's fine, I'll say good bye and tell you to not come back. But, if you accomplish your work, and get things done, then you'll do great."

"I don't have anywhere else to go." Bobby said, trying to take everything in.

"That's not what I asked, Bobby. I asked are you ready to work harder than you've ever worked before? There will be so many things to do, you wont have time to complain or think about other things, because you'll be working too hard."

"Bobby, he's giving us a chance. Say yes." Tina urged her brother.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, shake my hand." Nate said, extending his right hand. Bobby gripped it, but Nate's grip was tighter and strong. Shaking once, he let go. Bobby flexed out his hand afterwards.

"Go pack your things and anything else you want to take with you, because you'll be carrying it yourself. No offloading anything to your sister or expecting anyone else to take care of you, you got me? It'll just be you. I'll guide you back to Vault 111, and there you'll meet Codsworth. He's overseeing the tasks your doing, while I have him working on something else. I'm going to give him the list of tasks, and make sure both of you are doing it, but I'll be heading out back into the Commonwealth, understand? Once I come back, he'll give me a report on both of your progress. If things are running fine, then you'll get to stay. Otherwise, I wont need you and I will ask you to leave."

Bobby nodded. He flushed most of the Jet away, aside from his last little personal hit before being called into the Overseer's office. No more drugs, he swore to himself. He needed this, to get away and find something else to do. Life was boring here in Vault 81, maybe that's why things got so out of hand. Drugs were a stimulus, but the wrong type. Buildings things from the ground up sounded hard, but even the reward of not needing to find a new place to live in the Commonwealth sounded so much better than nothing except the clothes on his back and the few rations of food in his kit.

"What will we do for food?" Tina asked.

"We'll be passing a number of farms on our way back. There's a farm south of Sanctuary Hills, Codsworth will give you items to trade, and then you can take them to Abernathy Farm, it's right under the giant electric wire supports, you can't miss it. Talk to them about trading for food, or if you're interested, there's a store farther south of Concord, called Drumlin Diner. I'll introduce you to Trudy there. There's Oberland Station, where a couple is settling down and living out of a train depot, but they've managed to set up a garden in a fenced in area. That's on this side of the river, and I don't expect you to often make the trip from Sanctuary Hills to Oberland, but they're friendly and need help with jobs. They might pay you, and be more open to trading their tomato plants at a better deal if you help them. Lastly will be Greygarden, it's a greenhouse run by Mr. Handy's. They've got the seeds we'll need for our own garden, I'm buying a few from Priscilla, but Greygarden will be one of your best resources for fruits and vegetables. There's a Mr. Handy you can trade with, but, if you steal from them, they will hunt you down and kill you. That's not me just saying that to intimidate or scare you, that's how they were programmed."

\111/

As Nate spoke, both Tina and Bobby's pip-boys gathered and collected all the notes they needed to keep track and be aware of. Their task list had never been longer than before since they received their personal computers, and before they knew it, they were already packed with their entire lives into three bags that they strapped onto their backs, and a gun to their waist.

They met back in Nate's room, who was talking with Curie, but it wasn't more than five minutes later a guard came and rapped his knuckles against the sliding door.

"Come in." Nate called out.

The latch on the sliding door clicked, and the doors parted upwards. The guard took one step into his room and said, "The storms broke."

Nate stood up, "Time to go."

\111/

When they ascended in the elevator, both Bobby and Tina were nervous, they'd been up to the main entrance before, but there was a line mentally drawn in their minds about how far they've ever gone. It was to the catwalk that extended out and through the Vault door, then everything else beyond that was unknown territory to them. Nate strode ahead with Curie behind him, then the twins both followed after them.

Nate waved goodbye and mentioned, "See you around." While a guard thanked Nate for saving Austin's life. The twins weren't given the most heartfelt goodbye, but they expected that.

Outside, chills ran down from the tip of their skull, down to their feet.

Nate let them have their moment of awakening and awareness of the outside world, even though it was hazy with fog.

"We'll follow train tracks north, which will take us right past Oberland Station and Greygarden, but we'll be passing a raider's camp at Corvega Factory, I'll point it out, but they shouldn't give us any trouble."

Rounding the hill and walking to the top through the barren tree husks, Nate stopped for a moment to let the twins and Curie get their bearings.

"That over there is Diamond City. Best way to get there from here is run along the waterfront, then take a right at the first drawbridge you see there with the tugboat against it. Go into the city for five blocks, and then you'll be there at the front gate." Nate turned around and looked North, "See that way up there?" Through the fog it was difficult to see, but the group could make the outline of a highway overpass, and beyond it was the telltale shape of the Corvega car factory. Even now, the lights blinked in sequence.

"Yeah."

"That's the Corvega car plant, the raider camp. Once we get to Grey Garden, we're going to detour West and North. I haven't dealt with them in a while, but they'll be hostile towards us if we get too close."

\111/

After reaching the train terrace bride leading across the Charles river, the fog lifted and they could see clear up and down to the West and East. "What's that?" Tina asked, pointing to a cluster of buildings to the West.

"That's a water treatment facility, but I doubt it's operational." Nate said, stopping to dig through his satchel. He pulled out a scope and frowned. "Yeah, Super Mutants are holed up there. Take a look."

"Super Mutants? This close?" Bobby asked.

"Hey! Look there." Nate said, pointing to two moving shapes by the waters edge on the far side of the river. "You want food? I'll show you how to get some food." Ejecting the shotgun rounds, he loaded in three slug rounds. By the river were two rad-elk, grazing by the river's edge.

"That'll be enough to feed one person for a month. Let's see if I can hit them."

"What are Super Mutants?" Curie asked, scouting her memory banks, there were no files found. She created a new one and was

"Just a sec." Nate said. Crouching down, both the twins and Curie were hesitant to intrude on Nate's line of thought as he laid his shotgun barrel on the rail, and aimed down the ironsights.

Exhaling, he fired and the slug round rocketed out of the end of the barrel, striking the elk 50 meters away and tearing into the shoulder. The elk yelled and collapsed, quickly trying to get back up as the other fled, but the shot elk was in pain and couldn't rise.

"Yes! I got 'em!"

Both the twins and Curie were startled by the detoured hunting trip, but Nate saw an opportunity and took it. Running the rest of the way across the bridge, Curie called out again, "What are Super Mutants?"

"They're humans infected with a Forced Evolutionary Virus. Makes them stupid, increases their muscle mass, impervious to radiation, extremely aggressive. They're all green and hit like a sack of bricks." Nate said, grabbing at his chest where an old wound was felt. He remembered the Mutant who got a hold of him in Faneuil Hall, and how fun it was to be rammed through a wall, and tossed down two stories onto a staircase with only wood to cushion his fall.

"I don't want to be the one to point out the obvious, but aren't we running towards the water plant where you said the Mutants were?" Bobby asked.

"Do you want to eat meat? Then follow me and stay quiet. We'll need to take him and be quick about it. I for one want elk steak tonight, and if you don't help me carry it back, then you're not getting any. Plain and simple."

The twins last meal was breakfast that morning, before Nate arrived and went into the other side of the Vault. Their hungry went by the wayside when it came to lunch, and by that afternoon, they were outside Vault 81, and neither of them wanted to quickly break into their food rations. Jogging to keep up with Nate, they got to the elk, which was panting on its side.

Nate took out his knife and killed the elk, stabbing it in the chest. The elk tensed up for a moment then collapsed completely. Passing his shotgun to Tina, he told her to keep watch, and handing her a handful of shells, she examined the shotgun and figured out how to load the gun.

"Safety's on. Safety's always on." Nate said, showing her the red and black switch along the barrel. "When you're not aiming at something, safety's always on. When you need to shoot, flick the safety off and fire. I'm going to break down the carcass, and it'll take a while."

\111/

Tina, Bobby, and Curie stood watch in a circle facing away from Nate as he skinned the elk from the head, down to the legs, and then the rear. Pulling out the organs and tossing them into the river, Nate kept the liver and the heart. Careful not to puncture the small intestine or the anus, the elk was gutted and skinned.

With bloody hands, he asked for Bobby to go through his backpack and find plastic bags he stuffed in there. Afterwards, Nate filled the first three bags with elk meat and bones. Cutting the whole legs off at the ball joints, he wrapped them up as well. Cutting the head off, Nate preferred not eating the brain, and into the river it went as well.

Cutting down through the spine took the longest amount of time, but in the end, the two halves of the elk, along with four legs were divided into six bags. Rolling up the hide and placing it in his backpack, it took an hour to break down the carcass, and one slug round netted them over one hundred pounds of meat and fifty pounds of bones.

In all that time, Tina never took her eyes off the water treatment plant down the road, and let the rest of the group know whenever she saw movement, but nothing ever came for them. Bobby kept his eyes down the road, nervously looking all around him as the Jet wore off and he was sobering up. He felt cold, but sluggish as well. Curie kept her eyes on the water, testing the water itself and recording the toxicity levels and amount of ambient radiation in the water as well.

"Alright, everyone take two bags. We're moving out." Nate went down to the river to wash his hands and knife free of the blood, eager and hungry to taste some home cooked food that wasn't preserved. The taste of powdered milk and Sugar Bombs were still on the top of his tongue, but the more he thought about a grilled steak, the more his mouth watered.

Taking his shotgun back from Tina, he holstered it on his back and picked up two bags of elk, as the twins picked up their own bags and grimaced that blood got on their suits.

"Don't worry about the blood, it washes off. Since your hands are already dirty, they might as well get more dirty. There's water at Vault 111 that you can use to wash up."

From the water a mirelurk emerged, drawn by the scent of blood in the water.

"Interesting," Curie said, making the trio turn around. Nate dropped the bags he was carrying and went for his shotgun, but Bobby was already there with his pistol, firing at the face and chest with his 10mm pistol.

The mirelurk retreated, and dove back into the water, but the group didn't wait for it to return.

"Come on. I'm starving and we got a long way to go."

"What a bizarre creature...It's a type of shellfish, correct?" Curie asked aloud, Nate didn't know for sure, and the twins never saw anything like that in their entire life, they only knew that it was getting too close for comfort.

"I believe so, yes. I haven't had time to really look at Mirelurks yet."

\111/

The expedition back to Sanctuary Hills wasn't a straight shot, they stopped at Grey Garden, and traded caps for seeds, along with an entire mut-fruit plant down from the roots, that Nate was hoping to transplant it back in Sanctuary Hills. Since it was an outdoor plant, and with the winter season coming upon them, it was imperative they get a greenhouse up and running as quickly as possible.

From Dr. Penske, Nate gave her the outline of the room and she drew in blueprints for how many crops could be yielded from the area. Naturally, the fastest growing plant would be potatoes and onions, both of which she gave to Nate while they were in Vault 81.

But following the train tracks North lead them to Rocky Narrows park, at which point two ghouls were standing next to a table, fingers dragging over the wood.

"Tina, you're up. Those are ghouls. Irradiated humans. Take your gun, and line up the shots. Remember the recoil, but stay calm. They don't look too animated. Aim for the chest area, you're more likely to hit them than the head."

Tina set down her bags and nodded, taking a step closer they were thirty feet away.

"Shoot."

Tina fired three shots, and all three went wild. That got their attention though, Tina panicked and fired six more times, only striking one ghoul in the chest once. The others hit the dirt, or sailed past them.

"Three shots left, make them count." Nate said.

Tensing, Tina fired two more shots, but now the ghouls were about to hit her, "Do something!" Bobby said to Nate.

Nate unsheathed his knife, "I am, unlike you."

Tina screamed as one ghoul hit her, but she kicked it back and fired straight into the skull. It didn't die, so Nate charged at one, knocking it to the ground. Grabbing the second ghoul by the shoulders, he flung it back and let it tumble to the ground. Shoving the knife into Tina's hands as she fumbled to reload her pistol, Nate said "Here, knives don't need to reload. Aim for the neck."

Taking a step back, both ghouls started to rise. "Anytime Bobby." Nate said off-hand.

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

"Any fucking time, Bobby, you're sister's in danger and you're standing there with your thumb up your ass! Let go of the bags and grab your gun!"

Tina swung and stabbed the ghoul in chest above the heart. But it snarled and swatted at her as the second turned its attention towards Nate.

"You need to want to kill it, Tina! You need to both channel some inner bloodlust or this world is going to kill you dead! Hurry the fuck up, Bobby!"

Nate raised his elbow and bashed the second ghoul in the side of the head.

"It doesn't want to die!" Tina yelled.

"Then keep stabbing it until it's dead! Kill it!" Nate shouted, Curie raised one of her arms, ready to fire a laser blast, but Nate told her to hold back.

Bobby tackled the second ghoul to the ground with the gun in his hand. Holding it to the chest, he fired three times, killing it as Tina unstuck the knife and plunged it in again.

The ghoul groaned but Tina was beyond the point of tears, she pulled the knife out and stabbed the ghoul three more times before it stopped moving. Taking a few steps away, she let go of the knife and collapsed to her knees, crying.

Bobby rushed to her side, "What the fuck, man?"

"Neither of you possess a killer instinct, without that, you're both good as dead."

"You're a monster!" Tina yelled.

"I don't care what you think of me, without first hand experience on how to kill, the both of you will not survive in this world. You need to pick yourselves up off the ground, grab the bags, and then we all need to get the fuck out of here. That was way too much noise, and something is going to come check out the noise." Nate said.

"Tina appears to be visibly shocked, Monsieur." Curie said.

"Good, she'll remember that next time something worse comes along. Tina, good work finishing the ghoul off with the knife. Bobby, overkill but you got the job done. If you and Tina want to survive, you'll need to work together, always. In a dangerous situation, hesitation like that can get both of you killed. Now, let's move out."

\111/

The march to Vault 111 didn't end with the encounter with the ghouls, they hadn't even reached Drumlin Diner when they came across a pack of feral dogs. Nate and Curie both assisted Bobby and Tina fending them off, but farther on their walk, they came to a leaning blue house with the roof collapsed in, and voices shouting from the inside.

"You're not going to rat us out to the Institute! We're not going to let you leave!"

Nate waved Bobby and Tina back, drawing his shotgun and readying it, he took cover near the door.

"I'm not a synth!" Poking his head in, three people, a ghoul and a woman were aiming rifles at a man with his arms above his head.

"We're going to find out right now! Kill him-"

"Hold it! Vault Tec. Calling. Drop your weapons!" Nate shouted, aiming his shotgun at the woman as she was closest to the door.

"Shut up!" The ghoul yelled.

"Don't let them kill me!" The man turned to Nate, then they saw Curie behind him.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nate demanded to know.

"This thing's a synth. That's what. It's been traveling with us for weeks."

"How do you know?!" Nate shouted down at the ghoul, keeping his shotgun trained on the woman.

"Today he let slip that he's an Institute errand boy! The whole fucking time!" Nate grit his teeth but didn't change his aim.

"Because I thought you were my friends!" The man in the middle said. That changes things, but he wasn't about to murder a man in cold blood. Hearing the words, the first man never explicitly said he was a synth, only a job that he worked for the Institute.

"I'd never be friends with a damn synth!" The ghoul shouted back.

"You already were friends, now please, just...just let me go!"

"You think we're stupid!? You're gonna run back to your Institute buddies, to come put us down! That ain't happening pal."

"I'm not with the fucking Institute! I ran away! I need to get to Bunker Hill! I swear! You'll never hear or see me ever again!"

"Both of you back the fuck off, and drop your weapons. Institute or not, you don't kill a man in cold blood." Nate said, "You charge them with a crime, then hang them. Curie, aim at the woman."

Readying her laser blaster, Nate changed targets and aimed at the ghoul. "Now everyone hold up. Shit-for-brains might be telling the truth, he just happened to tell two people who weren't interested in hearing it."

The man in the middle, shit-for-brains, turned to Nate and begged for him to listen. "Please, you believe me, right? You can't let them do this!"

"Everyone needs to stop talking, because I can't get a clear story out of anyone here. Now. I'm asking you to lower your rifles, so we can all get to the bottom of this. This man might be worth a lot more alive than dead." Nate said, looking to the ghoul to drop his weapon.

Taking note of the blood stains all along Nate's cuffs, chest, and the burnt hand scabbing over, he was a unsettling sight, prone to violence and freshly coated with the blood of something else. Slowly, the ghoul lowered his rifle, and the woman did the same.

"I want names, all of you."

"Fred." The ghoul said.

"Jules."

"Angie."

"Let's start with you, Fred, don't you think killing Jules here would make them madder? I've got proof that the Institute is watching us in ways you wont even believe until Piper writes up the whole article in Publick Occurences. They'll know in an instant Jules' heart stops beating, and then what? Their synths swarm the whole area and take you back to their lab."

"..." Fred bared his teeth, "Jesus. What do you know? How are they watching us?"

"There's a lot more to be said, Fred. But if you want to know more, it's the fucking birds. Go to Diamond City, ask Piper about it. She's writing up a story this very instant about what we discovered a few days ago. Jules, get your hands down."

Jules slowly, albeit hesitantly lowered his hands. "Now, I don't care if you're a synth or not, tell me, you say you want to go to Bunker Hill, who are you looking for there?"

"The Railroad! I heard the Railroad could be found there."

"Is it true that you worked inside the Institute?"

"Yes! I was forced to do whatever they told me to, I never had a choice!"

"What do you mean, you never had a choice? How'd you leave? How did you get away from the Institute?"

"Synths are programmed to obey, we...get to speak, but it's like our limbs don't respond when they say certain things...Code words. Phrases. It makes us act out!" Jules explained, begging for his life made him forthcoming with information.

"Then who let you out? How did you come to say that you wanted to leave the Institute?"

"Down in the Institute, the scientists don't always need us, but we're always working, we know what they're doing to people from up on the surface, and we hate it, we hate what they're doing, how they lack empathy and don't care about human life at all."

"Enlighten us on how you got out." Nate told Jules to explain.

"When we're sent out on scouting parties, someone on the inside changes the registry log to say that we died or went missing. Our only advice from then on is to make contact with the Railroad...That's why I'm trying to get to Bunker Hill." Nate inhaled, digesting the information.

Do you even know how to get to Bunker Hill? Who's your contact?"

"I don't have a contact! All the synths going in and out have their memories wiped of how they get to the entrance and how they get out!"

"Jules, I need a name, anyone who can vouch for you or is on your side in this world."

"Nick Valentine! Nick Valentine told me that I can find the Railroad, and then they can get me out of the Commonwealth."

"Is that so?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Jules went from tense, to beyond hysterics in a second, feeling his life grow shorter by the second and how there was very little chance of him leaving this house alive.

"Angie, Fred. You're going to let this man go. Bobby! Tina! Come here!"

The twins crowded the door, peering in, and the new faces only made the situation more tense as they saw the guns pointed at each other.

"Now, Fred, Angie, you are going to need to put in a little effort to see if this man is innocent or not. Find Piper Wright, find Nick Valentine. If this man is a synth looking to escape the Commonwealth using the Railroad, then that's as far as you go. Tell them to point Jules here towards Bunker Hill, and from that point on, you'll never need to see Jules ever again. But, if you kill him right now without knowing the whole story, then you may as well be damning both yourselves to an early grave."

Jules groveled, "Thank you, thank you!"

"Jules, I suggest you shut your mouth until you reach Diamond City. Fred, Angie, it's not worth the bullet, when a noose is cheaper. He hasn't hurt you yet, and that's not how the Institute operates. Think about it. Every time I've heard of the Institute, they swarm a place with synths, kidnap them and drag them back to parts unknown to experiment on them to create Super Mutants, releasing a synth lookalike and then the human now turned Mutant back into the Commonwealth."

That declaration made all three of them revulse the new information. "I ain't ever hear of the Institute making Super Mutants." Fred said.

"Then you learn something new everyday, don't you? There's a man over in Cambridge, part of the Brotherhood of Steel. He and his buddies were doing experiments on dead Super Mutants from here in Boston, all the way to Washington D.C. and he explained that Super Mutants are created by a virus. The Mutants down in D.C. are smarter than the ones up here, and the only way that's possible is because the Mutants down there have had access to vats of the FEV for decades, making it less effective, while the ones up here, do not. But that means since more Mutants are still coming out of the woodwork, and not abducting people out of their beds, and dragging them away to make a Super Mutant army, is because the only people with access to the Super Mutant virus is the damn Institute! Jules here is not the issue, he doesn't even look like he's got the killer instinct in him! Look at his eyes, and those are not the one of a man who is working for the Institute, but trying to run as far as fuck away from them as possible."

The three travelers gulped, shaken by the new information Nate was laying down for them. "Is that true?" Angie asked.

"Every word, Take him in and find someone who can point you to the Railroad, but neither of you mention the word 'synth', or the entire Diamond City guard will lock you out. They've got terrible aim, and might hit one of you by mistake. If the Railroad does in fact want Jules here, then they would welcome him in with open arms. However, if the Railroad hasn't heard of him, then it would make sense they up and kill Jules right there on the spot, just as you were planning to do right now. Does everyone here understand? All you need to do is put up with each other for a few more hours, and then you'll all be out from under each other's skin."

Fred and Angie both nodded at each other, while Jules accepted that his sentencing just got delayed.

"Alright, we are going to Diamond City. Jules you're in front. Fred, make sure he doesn't bolt." Angie said.

Nate stepped backwards through the door, keeping his gun at the ready, but walking back outside.

\111/

"Damn. That was close." Wishing for Meathead to be here, he could've known in an instant if the man was synth or not. If he was lying, however, remains to be seen.

"Why did you do that? I thought the Instiute was the enemy up here?" Tina asked.

"The Institute is causing problems for everyone, and hated by plenty of people as well, but there's a whole other fight going on I doubt you're aware about. There's a group up here called the Railroad. While the Institute creates newer models of synths, they incorporate personalities into their programming. These personalities don't care for being treated as lower class working slaves, so the Railroad finds them, wipes their memory, and gives them a new face. There was a man wearing similar clothes I met last week who the Railroad was currently helping. I don't know if Jules was lying, or telling the truth,, but things will clear up if the Railroad finds out, because my line of thinking is that they will either welcome him in with open arms, or shoot him dead on the spot. That's not up for me to decide."

"So you're heading to Diamond City?" Bobby asked.

"Yes, but first, I need to set the both of you up properly at Vault 111."

They were at the end of the driveway, as both parties eyed each other, with Fred, Angie and Jules heading one way, and Nate pointing to Drumlin Diner down the road. They could make out the sign and the faded red features of the diner less than a football field away.

\111/

"Afternoon Trudy."

"Howdy. Huh...There's more of yah! You Vaulter's are multiplying." Trudy remarked. Nate laughed off the joke as he gestured to the first bag of elk he was carrying.

"Here, I brought some meat for you, better than that cat you tried to serve me last week, God. Still can't get the taste out of my mouth. This is Tina and Bobby, they're from Vault 81, and they're going to be helping me up at Vault 111 to get the place whipped into shape."

"Well, ain't that nice?"

"Yep. How's your son Paul doing? Where's he at?"

"He's running some supplies out to Abarnathy, but thanks to you, he's doing fine."

"That's good. Well, this elk is fresh, skinned it less than an hour ago, and I wanted to leave some with you. That and introduce you to Bobby and Tina, they might be showing their faces around here in the future, looking to trade and get some grub when they can."

"Glad to meet both of you."

"Go on, shake hands and introduce yourself."

"I'm Bobby,"

"Tina."

They all said hello and shook hands, then Nate directed Trudy's attention back to the bags of elk meat. "How much do you want?"

"I'll take whatever you're giving."

"Put it on credit and thank me later, these two might need a few odds and ends, tracking down parts to fix up the Vault, and you're the closest thing to a store from here to the D.C."

"I could talk to some caravans, get them to run up that way. What've you got going up north?"

"At Sanctuary Hills, Vault 111 is close by, but getting caravans to stop by that way would be great. In a few weeks we'll have plenty of scrap to trade, I've got a Mr. Handy breaking down junked houses up there, and sorting things out. There'll be plenty of lumber and other things worth caps to someone. I will take salt if you have some. We'll probably end up letting it marinade for a few days, then smoking it to keep it from going bad."

"Will do. That's not a bad idea either. Thanks for the meat. Lord knows the last time we had some big game worth eating." Nate transferred a few pounds of meat and bones out of the first bag into his second, and then gave Trudy twenty pounds of elk bones and meat.

"Do you have any tips for these two for cooking? They're about to embark on a whole lot of self-sustaining, and could use all the help they could get."

Trudy looked at the fresh faces out from the Vault, and how they didn't look as hardened as herself. "Aside from telling them to make sure they use everything before it goes bad, and throwing out anything with mold on it, make sure when you're cooking, you keep an eye on the food, otherwise it'll burn. Salt and vinegar is good for breaking down this tough muscle. Elk you said, Nate? Yeah, strong tough meat there. Let it soak in vinegar for a few hours and you wont need to take a chainsaw to it after it's done in the pan."

"Are you making notes?" Nate asked Tina and Bobby, they both nodded. "How's your vinegar supply? I'll take a bottle off your hands as well if you've got one to spare."

"Low on vinegar, I'm afraid. Next caravan should be here tomorrow, but I doubt they've got anything like that. Maybe a sour bottle of wine, but that's it." Trudy gave Nate a box of salt, and took the bag of elk off her counter.

"Ah well, we wont take up any more of your time now, Trudy. Thanks again, neighbor. See you around."

"Au Reviore! Madam Trudy." Curie said, making the shopkeeper grin at the French speaking robot.

"Bye, Trudy." Both twins said, leaving the shop after Nate. "Nice to meet you." Tina added.

"All right, we're in the home stretch." Nate said to them outside the shop. "Up there is Concord, and once we reach the welcome sign, we'll take a left towards Abarnathy Farm, and follow the power lines up into Sanctuary Hills. The only thing is, is that it's all uphill, so expect those bags to get a little heavy."

The twins nodded, and they all followed the road north towards Concord, and past the "Welcome to Concord" sign, they followed the road left until they were directly under the power lines, from there, they passed a rusted out van and went off road, hiking up the hill.

It was two hundred meters from the road to Abarnathy Farm, where Connie, Lucy, and Blake Abarnathy were growing melons and tomato plants out of their home that was built into and wrapped around a power line support.

The family was tending and watering the field, with their brahmin filling up on water in its pen.

They saw Nate and his followers coming from a ways away, but weren't on edge as they were the first time Nate came through, expecting him to return.

"You can set your bags down for a sec." He said to Tina and Bobby. "Afternoon," He called out to the Abarnathy's.

"You're back." Connie said, "And there's more of you." She said, looking at Tina and Bobby's blue vault suits.

"Yep, we're setting up a greenhouse in Vault 111, and are going to need some good dirt here soon. What's the chance I can hire one of you to come help us get our garden up and running? I've got caps, meat, and plenty of other things to trade in Sanctuary Hills. These two will be busy keeping Vault 111 from falling apart, but we'll need any help we can get to grow some fruits and vegetables."

"I'll go. One hundred caps a day, sound fair for my time? It's time I'm not here helping my family, but we could use the money and whatever other supplies you want to trade."

"Sounds fair. Come up in three days, and we'll have things ready." Nate reached into his pocket, "Here's fifty caps now. Just don't forget."

"Deal." Blake said, taking the caps from Nate.

"This is Bobby and Tina, they might be coming down this way here in the future to buy some produce off of you for food."

"Sounds good." Lucy said.

Another deal struck, new connections made, they were off again, and passing the Concord water tower when they needed to deal with two large bloatflys, neither Curie, Bobby, or Tina ever saw one of these things before.

"Those are unknown insects." Curie said, logging their giant fly like shape away for reference.

"What are those?" Bobby asked.

"Bloatflies. They're all over, but we'll take care of them as needed." Nate pulled out his shotgun and fired four times, killing both of them.

They cut down towards the road, passing the Red Rocket Filling Station, crossing the wooden bridge into Sanctuary Hills.

"Almost there." Nate said, passing a empty site where a week ago, there used to be the ruins of a house, but now it was dismantled down to the foundations and floorboards. Everything else was laid in piles of usable wood, lengths of metal, and then a giant burn pile ready to be set alight.

\111/

"Codsworth!" Nate shouted. it took a minute, but the Mr. Handy came hovering along down the road and was pleasantly surprised.

"Mister Nate! How was your trip to Vault 81? I see you've brought some guests with you, and if I may introduce myself, it's good to see some friendly faces around here. My name is Codsworth. Hello, pretty lady." He said to Curie.

"Good afternoon, Monsieur Codsworth, I am Curie."

"I hope you'll stay, it would be nice to have someone around to comfort through these long lonely nights."

"I'm afraid not, Monsieur Codsworth, I am traveling with Nate to study the Commonwealth."

Codsworth put a claw to his chest. "Ah! Shot down in flames, Curie, I barely knew thee. Anyway, there doesn't look like there's a more suitable companion to help you, Master Nate. I realize I'm no Mister Gutsy, but if needed, I'd be honored to accompany you throughout the Commonwealth. Just say the word."

"The trip went well, Codsworth, but I'm going to need you here to keep an eye on things. Go ahead and introduce yourself," He told Bobby and Tina.

The twins went through the last introduction of the day before Nate got down to business.

"I see that you've been busy Codsworth, breaking down the houses around Sanctuary. Well, I've got a new task for everyone. I hired Bobby and Tina to maintain the Vault, but we need to set up a greenhouse within Vault 111 for food, and I'll be giving you a task sheet of everything that they'll be taking care of. I want you to check on them every once and a while and assist with breaking down the cryopod in the room we're planning to use. Everything else is to remain untouched."

"Bobby had a knack for letting the Mr. Handy at Vault 81 take care of his work, so don't let him bully you around, Codsworth." Tina said, receiving a look of ire from Bobby.

"Noted, Miss Tina. Shall we make our way to the house for refreshments, or straight to Vault 111?"

"Grab some sheets and pillows, we need to set Bobby and Tina up with beds in Vault 111. That's where we're heading now."

"Right away, Master Nate. It'll be a grand time working with you two." Codsworth said, hovering off to find the items Nate requested.

"All right. That's it, next stop, Vault 111."

In the brief span of time from walking from Abarnathy Farm to Sanctuary Hills, the sun was setting. Codsworth, Curie, Nate, Bobby, and Tina all descended down together into Vault 111. For a brief moment, the twins exhaled a breath they'd been holding onto for a while now.

"Home sweet home." Nate said as the blast doors above closed over them, and then the elevator came to a stop at the bottom of the shaft.

\111/

Next Chapter: Ch. 60 Libertalia Nov. 4th Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 54 Minutes