A storm of emotions raged inside Becky as she waited for the elevator to descend. She wanted nothing more than to make a beeline for the Exodus building and check on everyone, especially Tara, but Agent Drops was absolutely refusing to allow it. Becky had considered overriding her as the President, but the Agent had made it clear that she could and would physically restrain her if it became necessary.

Stuck at the Air Base and slowly going mad with worry, Becky had practically leapt out of her office when the head trauma surgeon had asked to see her at the hospital.

Finally, the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a ping. Becky strode out before they had even fully opened. A waiting administrator fell into step alongside her and Agent Drops, checking notes on his Pip-Boy. “Madam President, we’ve just received word that Horrigan has turned up at the Raven Rock mining outpost.”

“Thank god. It’s about time we had some good fucking news.” Becky glanced sidelong at the administrator. “Have we heard anything else from the Exodus team?”

The young man nodded quickly. “Yes, ma’am. The last of the Super Mutants have been killed or driven off, and the remaining soldiers are working to secure the perimeter once more. Unfortunately, Doctor Strong hasn’t woken up yet-” Becky’s breath hitched, “-but Doctor Bohn has assured us that she is stable and her life is no longer in danger. The damage to the facility is extensive, so it will likely be a few days before an accurate assessment can be completed.”

Becky nodded slowly. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she had seen Tara with her own eyes, but knowing that her better half was alright was at least a little weight off her shoulders. “Have Horrigan transported back to Exodus as quickly as physically possible. As soon as he confirms that it’s secure and gives the all clear, I’ll be heading there myself.”

Agent Drops turned a disapproving stare on Becky as the administrator hurried away. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Horrigan used to be Secret Service, he knows his business,” Becky countered firmly. “Right now, we’ve got something else to deal with.” Without another word, she turned down the next corridor and shoved open the door to the trauma center. A nurse was already waiting at the reception desk when the pair arrived. She offered them a quick greeting, entered them into the visitors’ log, then escorted them through the busy unit.

Becky couldn’t help but look around as they walked. The Air Base’s hospital, expanded and updated when the Enclave had first retaken it, was by far the most advanced medical facility in the Capital Wasteland, perhaps even the world. Bleeding edge technology, both magical and mundane, was being used around every corner.

It wasn’t long before the nurse showed the President and Agent Drops into what looked like a waiting area. A glass window dominated the far wall, with a handful of chairs and vending machines lining the sides. A woman in crinkled scrubs was standing at the window looking out.

“Doctor Fran?” Becky asked, trying not to let her impatience show through her tone.

The woman glanced over her shoulder, then turned fully when she saw who it was. “Madam President. I believe this is the first time we have formally met.”

“I apologize for not making time sooner,” Becky replied as she eyed the surgeon. She looked thoroughly exhausted, with thick black bags under her bloodshot eyes.

Fran waved the apology away with a grunt. “It’s fine, we’re all busy. More importantly, I have an update on our latest guest.”

Becky tried to ignore the sudden surge of anxiety she felt. “How’s Sunset doing?” She asked as calmly as she could.

“Don’t worry, Sunset Shimmer is alive. Mostly, anyway,” Fran replied.

The words sent a shiver down Becky’s spine. “What do you mean? Were there complications during the surgery?”

“That depends on your definition.” Fran gestured for the President to join her at the window. Becky hesitated, unsure as to whether she could handle whatever she was about to see, but swallowed her fears and stepped up alongside the surgeon.

The window looked down on an operating theater. Becky felt a small twinge of relief when see saw that a screen largely blocked the view of the table in the center of the room, and a second screen obscured the patient’s head, but the amber skin of the patient’s neck left no doubts as to who it was down there. An auto-doc and a full surgical team were busy working on her.

“Miss Shimmer is extremely lucky that your troops found her and cryo-ed her when they did,” Fran said. “Aside from the obvious missing arm and enucleation of her eye, she came with five broken ribs, contusions on her kidney, liver, and skull, and a collapsed lung. On top of that, her cardiovascular system didn’t kick in when we began the defrosting process, so we had to have the auto-doc take over all essential functions for her while we stopped the bleeding.”

Hearing the full extent of Sunset’s injuries made Becky feel sick. “Is she at least out of danger?”

“Oh, she’ll survive, I made sure of that. As soon as I saw that we were going to struggle to patch Miss Shimmer up before she died, I made the decision to remove her central nervous system and place it in a biogel solution to prevent degeneration. That drastically reduced her body’s blood and oxygen requirements, as well as the overall risk she’s facing.” Becky’s blood ran cold as she realized what Fran meant, but the surgeon continued heedlessly, “Right now, the team is working on removing the last bone shards and making sure that everything we can surgically fix is fixed.”

Becky looked at the screen blocking Sunset’s head and shuddered. “Sunset isn’t, well, aware, is she?”

Fran shook her head. “She’s thoroughly sedated, with a neurologist and anaesthesiologist directly overseeing her central nervous system. She’s out cold.”

“Good.” It was a small mercy, but Becky would take what she could get. “How long do you think it’ll take for her to recover?”

“That depends,” Fran replied. “Miss Shimmer is going to need prosthetics, without a shadow of a doubt, so we’ll need to figure out what exactly she needs, decide on materials and any additional functions they’re to have, and construct them to fit her properly. That’s assuming that her body can hold out long enough to get the most urgent ones made. If not, we’ll have to look into robotic housing instead.”

“No, I couldn’t do that to her,” Becky said with a firm shake of her head. “Do everything you can to keep her in her own body. Whatever resources you need, you’ll have. I’ll send you all of the data we’ve gathered from Horrigan and Acheson’s Daybreaker experiment as well.”

Fran cocked her head to the side as she thought. “I’ve heard that Twilight Sparkle is a dab hand when it comes to robotics and programming. Having her input when it comes to prosthetics would be useful.”

“Done,” Becky replied instantly. She’d convince Elder Lyons to lend Twilight out somehow.

“If it comes down to it, should I involve Doctor Ashford?” Fran asked. “Her Progenitor experiments are showing significant promise in the lab.”

Becky fought the urge to grimace. “Keep that as an absolute last resort. We’ve already got one Rainboom infected with FEV, we don’t want a second one if we can help it.”

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