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Piper stared at her notes, then back to her computer screen.

It was difficult to compress the last two weeks of her life into articles worth sharing. Where to finish?

The Institute Crow in a jar on her desk, inches away from her right hand.

The Brotherhood of Steel, with their information on the Super Mutants.

The public execution of Kellogg, and the lengths Nate went through just to hang him.

Then the affairs of the raider gangs, conflicts in the Commonwealth.

But Nate's story as the Man from Time, and everything she learned about Vault 111 was an article in of itself,

Piper smiled to herself, tapping the words out on her keyboard.

"Almost done." Inhaling, she caught a faint whiff of the Vault 111 suit she wore back with her. It still had a fresh scent to it, and reminded her of how precious a luxury clean clothes were.

While her promotional side wanted to publish the story of the synthetic crow, she filed it for later. It was a burning flame lit under her to sit on such a groundbreaking story. She couldn't argue past the point that once word got out, things would change rapidly. Birds getting shot down where they roosted, the Institute changing tactics, and the paranoia leading people down the rabbit hole to attack anything with wings, including pegasus, and then go on to mistrust other animals as well. It was understood the synthetic crow situation would require a delicate touch. Being able to tell fakes from the real thing, and only one creature in the entire Commonwealth had that skill.

It was Nate's Ace up the Sleeve.

Thinking about Meathead gave her an excited rush, her mind fixated on that little nugget of information like it was a cigarette. To think one Changeling could undo all of the Institute's plans...lead down a rabbit hole herself, she chastised her self for thinking the Vault Dweller's biggest secret would make their goals known to a reporter.

Beginning the article, with the end of Kellogg, and then letting the readers work backwards, it showed the building tension of how a man fresh out of the Vault relentlessly pursued the Institute's most notable active field agent. Using all the skills and experience granted to him from a time before the world was under the great green sky, she was shown firsthand what it meant to survive in a Vault doomed for failure. The lengths Vault-Tec. went through to test the population at large at what would be the most successful way to reintroduce humans back onto the surface, with the greatest mindset to prevent tragedies such as the Great War from ever happening again. Some would call it luck that Nate survived, a flip of the coin, that lead him to bring his dog with him, while his wife carried his son. But in the same twist of fate, his son was kidnapped and wife shot by the man Nate pursued, only to discover Shaun was so far removed from Nate and Nora's life, that the day might come where Shaun wont even be able to recognize them as his parents. The pursuit is still on, the search continues, and the hope Nate has in succeeding remains.

All this thinking did was make her want to get up out of her chair and track them down again, to see how this story all played out.

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It was no big story, but for a small town, Henry Cook being replaced by Paul Pembroke was as big as stories could get around here. It took people's minds off the Mayor McDonough being a synth when the mayor himself stopped in the bar, socializing and commenting that the place looked better than it had in years. For her own sake, Piper grilled Paul long and hard over the course of several beers, confirming with the Diamond City security that on November 2nd. Nelson, Henry, Nate, Paul, and Malcom all left within the span of an hour, yet Henry was the only one not to return.

Being friends of a friend, and talking herself up as the Vault Dweller's traveling companion, Paul eventually spilled that it was Nate who fronted the caps for Paul to buy the Colonial Taphouse.

With every source of news squeezed out of this city on to paper, she felt restless enough to go traveling again. She prepared the newspapers to be printed, and let Nat churn out bundles of articles. Deciding now would be the perfect opportunity to take up Nate, or Meathead in disguise, on their offer to see the U.S.S Constitution up close. Packing her kit, rifle, bundle of ammo, plus two pistols for her pockets, grabbed a few strips of Brahmin jerky, and a stack of twenty newspapers to sell in Goodneighbor, she went out to go hunt down the latest scoop. While she usually traded with the caravans to deliver the newspaper, this edition felt special to her.

She was two steps out the door before spotting four crows on a conduit wire running above her head, 'Crork, Crork,' they cawed, and Piper clenched her teeth, wondering which one was the fake, or if they were all real, or any combination in between. Piper disliked the idea of being watched, and the fact she couldn't do anything about it yet was enough reason for her to get out.

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Next Chapter: Ch. 74 Mass Bay Medical Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 38 Minutes