Semper Eadem
Hello everybody.
My name is Nathaniel and this is my first attempt at a fanfiction. While I am not new to fanfiction, I am new to writing it. This is one of my favourite games ever and although I hold it in very high regard, I am aware of several shortcomings with the story. I intend not to follow the story directly. I am not of the school of thought that is convinced that direct imitation is a good reason to write a story about it, and as a result I will be wandering off with the story in several directions and I intend to expand the story well beyond the original Vanilla version.
As I have previously said I am new to writing. While I have a great deal of experience with books, being a antiquarian, I am afraid I pose neither the brilliance of any conventional writer nor the detailed literature side of writing, I do possess, however, an imagination for this fiction and I intend to draw the string out as it were. I do have a mild form of Dyslexia, so please account for any misspelled words, which if you inform me of I will rectify immediately, however please bear in mind I am English and therefore spell things a slightly different way from the Americans. Metre and Litre being one such example.
I have somewhat of a fascination with the Duke of Wellington so if anybody can spot all the references throughout I will award you with one hundred points. I have, and will, base his character to mine heavily and I do not intend to make his personality a two dimensional affair.
Any criticism or suggestions will be taken gracefully and I will endeavour to implement them as best I can. Furthermore, it would be much appreciated if you could spare the time to review this story. Criticism serves the same function as pain, it brings to our attention an unhealthy state of things. If at any point things could be improved please let me know, and if it ever appears that I do not know where the story is going, it is most likely that I don't.
So once more, welcome aboard and I will try my damnedest to make this an interesting story. Please enjoy and review and I hope you enjoy my story.
Nathaniel Howarth Sanchez
Semper Eadem
James was impatiently pacing back and forth in a narrow tunnel corridor underneath the Jefferson Memorial. His thoughts wandered between his concern for his wife and his anticipation for his soon-to-be born child. He was growing nervous, the contractions had started a few hours ago and the ordeal shouldn't be taking this long, should it? With only the dripping sound of water accompanying him, it was a lonely, fear filled wait, unending in its span and making the doctor more nervous by the second, but all he could do was wait in the visceral darkness. While James was a professional doctor, Dr. Li had asked him to leave the room, for privacy and the fact that James' emotions were clearly affecting his wife, a fact he knew, but how could he be cool in such a time? He knew of Catherine's congenital heart defect, he knew that it was going to be a long and exhausting time for her, but he knew she could pull through. James had personally spent weeks finding the necessary materials and equipment for the birth, meticulously finding a solution to any potential problem, but he knew if Catherine's heart worked too hard, the results would be catastrophic. James tried to bury this knowledge with the hope that in a few more hours he would be a loving father and Catherine would be fine. It was all becoming too much for him. He leant against a wall and slumped onto the cold, wet concrete floor, finding it a comfort to be sat still rather than endlessly pacing, waiting for what could be hours.
He sat there, thinking about the trivialities of being a father. Would it be a girl or a boy? What would he name it? What would the teenage years be like?
"God," he thought out loud, "am I ready for this?"
He knew that he couldn't prepare for everything but he would do his best to bring his child up with Catherine in a loving, nuclear family. James laughed to himself at that thought of a nuclear family.
"How fittingly ironic," he thought.
James was exhausted, physically and emotionally, he sat there thinking everything through again and again with the groaning wait burring at his mind. Eventually, in a near fit of frustration, he decided to speak with Dr. Li. He rose to his feet and set off in search for her but as he walked to the door, the mechanism within it activated. Before him stood Dr. Li. Her face screamed stress and the always proud and collected doctor was clearly on edge. She sighed, delivering a great deal of panic to James.
"It's going well," she said. "It's taking a while, as expected, but nothing to cause alarm."
With this, James felt a massive wave of relief wash over him; he had been hugely worried about the time. He jumped on his opportunity without hesitation.
"How is she?" he said hastily, showing all the signs of a man in distress.
"She's fine, James. Don't worry, everything checks out fine. Her blood pressure is okay but we need to monitor it, obviously. I've given her a makeshift epidural with the Med-X we have, it's crude but it will lessen the pain somewhat."
James was deeply pleased with the result, especially considering the alternative scenarios which had been racing in his head.
"So, is it time?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes, we need you scrubbed up and on the floor in the next 10 minutes, but just come in calm James, that's what she needs right now. She wants you to deliver the child, is that okay with you?"
James nodded slowly and took a breath to steady himself and set about his pre-operation ablations, cleaning up to his elbows with soap and Abraxo cleaner. The solution burnt his arms but he found solace in that it was also doing the same to any possible infections. He donned his pristine white lab coat and his face mask before taking a moment to steady himself. He breathed deeply for a minute, becoming slightly light headed in the process. He set off towards the makeshift theatre, entering the room with all the grace he could afford. He walked over to his young, beautiful wife and gripped her hand with his glove still on.
"How are you doing sweetheart?" he asked with the usual calm and power that characterised his voice.
"Fine," Catherine smiled back, though clearly in a great deal of pain.
"That's my girl," he smiled sympathetically back to her.
He leant down and kissed her sweaty forehead and walked down to the opposite end of the bed she was on. Dr. Li stood behind him.
"Okay Catherine, the head is crowning. We need you to push now, okay?" Dr. Li ordered.
Catherine screamed as she pushed as hard as she could. James grimaced behind his mask, how could so much pain come from such a happy moment? He let Dr. Li perform the last stages before she handed control to him. He gripped the baby with a set of forceps and pull gently, pulling the child from the canal onto the birthing sheet. He picked up his child and stared at the wrinkled face of his new future. A million thoughts rushed through his head, not a single one about the sex of the child. Reality came spinning back to him.
"Formalities first," he said to himself.
"Let's see, are you a boy or a girl?" he said slowly, examining his new born child. "It's a boy! A boy! We've got a son Catherine!" he said happily, showing no signs of the man who was nearly in pieces but 10 minutes before. "A beautiful healthy baby boy!"
He was ecstatic, beaming over his son. He had privately hoped for a son, someone he could be a true role model too.
"Oh… oh James, oh we did it," Catherine said meekly, clearly exhausted by her ordeal, but no less pleased with the outcome.
"A son, a beautiful son." Despite the pain and regardless of her delirious state that she was in, she was just as pleased as James. James' nuclear family was a reality and he couldn't be happier.
"You've got a bright future ahead of you son, I'm sure of it," he said softly to the child.
The child began to contort its shrivelled face, amusing James to no end.
"Look at you!" he said, sounding rather like a baby himself. "Look at you… Hi, there! I'm your daddy little guy. Daddy!" James looked between his son and his wife, content as ever. "You're going to need a name, aren't you? Your mother and I have been talking, what do you think about Arthur? That's a good name, don't you think? Suits him perfectly. Arthur Wellesley."
James looked behind him to see that a small monitor was beeping quietly.
"Looks like they've finished the gene projection, let's see what you'll look like when you're all grown up."
James turned to the monitor to see a face that looked almost identical to his. The child would have the same facial shape of his father, the light Caucasian skin, he would have a similar type of dark brown hair that was slightly wavy, his nose was to retain the shape of his father's, the child's eyes however were to take darker, more piercing shade of blue than his father's, almost Prussian blue. In all, James could have sat himself next to the projection and anyone would have had difficulty telling the two apart. James proudly noted that his child had a handsome face, derived from his own. He chuckled.
"You're going to look a lot like your dad. See that Catherine?"
Catherine had been looking at the monitor through tired eyes but she could clearly see the resemblance between the two, 'shockingly similar,' she thought.
"Ooooh, ooh very strapping ha...ha...ha."
James was concerned for his wife, he knew it had taken a lot out of her and she was clearly suffering, but he was too enthralled by his new child to notice Catherine's heart rate monitor fluctuating wildly.
James looked to his son, "It's a big world out there, full of all sorts of people, what about you? What kind of person are you going to be? You'll just..."
James was cut short by his wife. By now the monitor was screaming alert and Catherine was in a great deal of distress.
"Christ, not now!" James thought to himself, he ran over to Catherine's side and tried administering some drugs to bring her heart under control.
"Catherine! She's gone into cardiac arrest!" he looked to Dr. Li.
The drugs failed to make any impact as Catherine's heart went on uncontrolled. He watched his wife for a brief moment. He saw all semblance of colour drain from her face. Her body went limp and her face was paralysed in a state of pure panic as James desperately tried to get a reaction from her. Her body was cold and sweaty, her hair drenched in it and her forehead beading with sweat as well. James looked on in horror as he witnessed his love die before him. He started compressions as soon as he thought it was best. He heard his wife's rib cage crack with a sickening crunch when he applied force for the compression. He began counting in his head.
"One, one thousand. Two, one thousand."
He was losing everything to him, and he knew it. Nothing was working.
He looked to Dr. Li "Get the baby out of here now!" he ordered.
Dr. Li wheeled the child away while James stayed, fighting his losing battle to save his love. James wouldn't let death beat him; he stayed administering CPR for a whole ten minutes, despite the monitor declaring the patient dead and requesting that it be shut down to preserve charge. Dr. Li re-entered the room, seeing a distraught James with tears running down his face trying to bring Catherine back. But she had gone. She walked to James and tore him from the body. James resisted, fighting her efforts to bring him away. Dr. Li grabbed James into a hug and James began to cry. She had never heard the man cry before. He was always the rock in the storm, all the way through the project. Now the rubble of the man cried against her, looking with horror at his wife's body. The shattered James could do nothing but look upon her beautiful dead face.
1 Year Later
James stood at the far end of the room, inside a small playpen built to house his adventurous one year old. The pen itself was quite large. The Vault room James had set up the pen in was his bedroom but he had allocated more than half of the room to his child. He was clapping to get the small child to walk to him.
"Here, Arthur, come to Daddy."
The child picked himself up unsteadily; supporting himself with the bed and when he was upright, with arms outstretched, he stumbled over to his father. James was amazed how quickly Arthur had developed walking and was doing so well at such a young age was unusual, but he was proud of his young son.
"Just a little further," James said, encouraging the walking child.
Arthur wobbled his way over to James, hands clenching and opening, indicating he wanted to be picked up.
"There you are." James said when Arthur moved into the playpen. "My goodness, only one year old and walking like a pro."
He gazed upon his son and was remembered of the bitter absence of his wife. Not a day had gone by when he hadn't reflected upon her. He thought of everything to do with her. When she first met him on the pier, when the two singles became a duality, and James thought about her death. He viewed her death as a sacrifice for Arthur and he wouldn't let her die in vain. James had elected to raise Arthur and teach him of all the things his wife had held dear and he knew that she would have given anything to see the clumsy child stumble his way towards her.
"Your mother would have been so proud," James said softly.
James looked to his Pip-Boy 3000 and noticed the inbuilt messaging system was blinking. The Overseer had 'summoned' him. James sighed, he knew this was going to be another heated argument but James needed the materials to carry on. He resented being under the control of such an authoritarian figure, but a necessary evil. James would just have to accept the dominance the Overseer exerted upon him. After all his, ambitions required the Overseer's cooperation. James sighed as he rose to his feet; he had wanted to spend the day he had off with his child, teaching him how to walk and help him with his motor controls, but that would have to wait. James had more pressing matters.
"Listen Kiddo, I know you don't like it when Daddy leaves you alone, but I need you to take care of yourself for a minute." James said locking his child into the pen. "You just stay here while Daddy runs to his office, you'll be okay pal," speaking reassuringly to his child. "I'll be back in a minute," he promised and walked out of the room to meet with the Overseer.
James felt bad for temporarily abandoning his son but he had to make his case to the Overseer. He continued down the faded tunnels of Vault 101. He had once joked that the Vault was a "civilised hole in the ground." However, with the Overseer in charge, civilised translated into controlled. He walked to the upper levels of the Vault, a short walk by any standards made all the quicker by the pace James was walking. He arrived outside of the Overseer's quarters and let himself in. On the floor was the Overseer's young daughter, Amata, a mere 2 months younger than Arthur. Straddled alongside her was the Overseer's young wife, Maria, on the floor, playing with the young child.
"Hello Maria, is he in?" James said had always liked Maria. She was quiet but thoughtful and caring and had helped to no end when James had first had to cope alone with Arthur. She had been unwell recently, finding herself short of breath and subject to large coughing fits so James was established as her physician.
"Oh, hi, James. Yes, he's through there, but just be warned, he's in one of those moods again," Maria advised jokingly.
"Thanks, I'll try not to rattle the cage too much, I've been on the receiving end enough times to know that he spits," James retorted amusingly. "Coincidentally, how have you been? You've not been round in a while," James inquired.
"I'm doing just fine, thank you, James. Those antibiotics are doing wonders," she replied.
James was unsure of the validity of that statement as more than likely it was a placebo effect. He had actually prescribed her some antibiotics but he was beginning to suspect that whatever was wrong with her was far more serious than any old chest infection.
"Marvellous. Be sure to see me for a check-up in two weeks, I just want to see how much you've improved." James ordered, showing his bed-side manner was always as good as it always was.
He entered into a small room full of monitors. James stood there, composed as ever, waiting for the Overseer to acknowledge him. In the centre of the room sat a grey haired figure. He had a well-defined, stern face. His hands swiping over the keyboard of his computer, no doubt filling in dossiers on the vault residents, James thought. After a few awkward moments, James coughed, announcing himself to the Overseer.
"Ah James, how good of you to join me. Everything is meeting your expectations, I assume?"
James recognised the air of authority the Overseer had. He commanded a presence which James knew was hard to resist against.
"Actually Alphonse, I want to start experiments upon one of the systems main filtration tanks," James stated calmly.
"James," Alphonse said condescendingly, "how many times must I say this? We have no need for a scientist. We need a doctor, not a mad man wasting vault resources on hopeless experiments. These 'experiments' are a waste of time."
James felt assaulted, he had been expecting the Overseer to be resistant, but it would seem that James was now on the defensive.
"These 'experiments' are to prepare, to prepare is to survive," James replied assiduously. "Don't be a damned fool, Alphonse; you know that they could prove lifesaving. All I am asking for is one filter room out of dozens. Jonas and I will isolate it and circumnavigate it away from the other systems. There's no risk to the Vau-"
James was brutally cut off from the Overseer, "James! Don't be foolish! You can't prove these experiments valid above a glass of water, and you expect me to dedicate Vault resources on such a scale based on such precarious results? For the good of the Vault, no."
James was about to reply but he was rebuffed by the Overseer. "James, you seriously want me to pull resources from circulation? I'm sorry, but my decision is final. It is regrettable that the work you put in won't come to fruition but I have told you from the moment you stepped in, you are the doctor, not god. I am the arbiter, and you will show me the respect I deserve."
He turned to the monitors at the wall and stared one in particular.
"You want me to believe that you can responsibly manage such resources? You can't even manage your infant!" James looked at the screen noticing the young Arthur escaping from his pen and walking towards James' bed.
"Bloody hell!" James muttered as he ran from the room. The Overseer sat, not moving, simply continuing with his previous activities, albeit with a growing smug smile plastering his face.
James ran back to his room as fast as he could. God knows what the baby could find and swallow. He found his room and opened the door to his sleeping quarters. There he found mischievous Arthur playing with his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. book. James grinned, seeing the whole ordeal as an overreaction and smiled down to his son. He began laughing at the boy.
"You are quite the little explorer, aren't you? Serves me right for trying to pen you in."
He looked at the framed biblical reference on the shelf. He looked at it and remembered his wife as a wave of sadness washed over him once more. He was sad not only for himself but also for Arthur. The child would grow up without a mother, a life James never wanted for him. He decided to show Arthur the single most important material possession that he owned.
"Come over here, I want to show you something."
Arthur stumbled his way forward, dropping the book he was holding, looking into his father's eyes, grinning all the way. James leant down as Arthur approached him.
"See that?" he said pointing at the reference. "That was your mother's favourite passage," He looked down to Arthur, who was staring at his father.
"It's from the bible; Revelation 21:6. 'I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.'" James looked longingly at the passage, remembering his past life. "She always loved that," he said slipping into his memories.
"Alright, let's see if your little friend Amata wants to play."
James had endeavoured to make Arthur and Amata friends. Not only was she close to the Overseer, he hoped in the future, their friendship would grow into an unbreakable bond, tying Arthur to the place he knew as home. But he also wanted his son to have a friend and James wasn't keen on the other candidates, or rather their parents, all carrying some disreputable trait or flaw. "Dirty old ladies breed dirty little girls," he thought to himself, reciting Juveniles speech on women from his classical studies, he always found such quotes useful to live by.
9 Years Later
Arthur walked towards the Canteen. His father had told him that he had a few water ration tickets left unclaimed and he had to cache them in before they expired. Arthur realised the usually busy Vault was deserted, usually there were people walking to and fro, doing menial jobs and running errands, but today they were suspiciously absent. Regardless, Arthur walked on, ignoring the emptiness. He walked to the Canteen door and he could see the lights were off, an unusual occurrence again. It was Arthur's birthday and he had hoped for a surprise party but it never came to fruition, and this year was no different. Even his father had forgotten it. He pressed the console adjacent to the door and it slid open. The room was black save for the light produced by Andy's exhaust fumes.
"Now Maitland! Now's your time!" the robot said in its quintessential English accent.
"Who?" Arthur said puzzled.
With that, a blinding light came from the room. Forcing Arthur's eyes to wrench close.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" came a deafening call from the packed canteen.
Arthur's eyes slowly adjusted to the light, making out the figures of about twenty people packed into the small canteen. In front of him stood his father and Amata.
"Happy birthday, Pal!" James said walking towards his son. "I can't believe you're already ten! I'm so proud of you! If only your mother-" James veneration of his son was cut short by the Overseer.
The Overseer adopted his usual official tone, though slightly softened, he didn't want to appear too overbearing to his future employee.
"Congratulations, young man. I don't have to tell you how special this day is, do I? Down here in Vault 101, when you turn ten, well, you're ready to start your first official responsibility. So here you are!" The Overseer presented a small wrist mounted interface with a command and control glove attached to it. "As Overseer, I hereby present to your very own Pip-Boy 3000. Get used to it," The Overseer's voice sounded rather cynical toward the end part of his speech, but that was just the way he was, Arthur thought. "You'll be getting your first assignment tomorrow," he said somewhat cryptically and then started laughing maniacally.
Arthur had always been intimidated by the Overseer. He was best friends with his daughter, and, while lacking any overt parental traits, he was deeply protective over her and often went to great lengths to make Arthur remember that he was in charge. James could sense Arthur's unease and came to his rescue.
"Enjoy your party. You're only ten once, so have fun. Go to Stanley to get the Pip-Boy fitted to your arm, and then go and thank your guests."
Arthur nodded, "Can I say hi to Amata first?" he pleaded.
"Of course son. Just don't forget you have other guests," James prompted and walked away to sit by at the counter with Stanley.
Amata walked up to Arthur and said, "Happy birthday! We really surprised you didn't we? Your dad was afraid you were onto us, but I told him not to worry. You're so easy to fool!" She joked.
Arthur was embarrassed to admit it, but they had. He had no idea of what they had planned. He thought discretion was the better part of valour and avoided her question.
"Thanks for throwing this party. Thanks for doing this for me!" Arthur dodged.
Amata smiled softly back at him. "You're welcome, but really, your Dad did most of it. I just helped with the decorations and stuff," she admitted, but Arthur knew that she had put a lot of effort in. How else would the Overseer have been convinced if not for her intervention?
"Hey, I bet you can't guess what I got you for your birthday! Go on, guess!"
Arthur thought for a moment, "I really have no idea," he said defeated.
"Ha!" Amata said revelling in her victory. "I knew I would surprise you. Who's your favourite Barbarian? That's right, Grognak! Issue Fourteen!" Amata said proudly. She was clearly pleased with her find, "and with no missing pages!" she added triumphantly. "I found this in a box of my Father's old things, believe it or not. Imagine him reading comic books," she stated incredulously, "I guess everyone was ten once. Well, I better let you get back to 'mingling' with your guests. Come and see me when you're done. We'll talk later, okay? Happy Birthday!"
Amata had always been somewhat older than her physical age. She had carried a level of intelligence that Butch and his drones clearly lacked. She was intelligent in her own right. She had a knack for gauging emotions, a useful trait for a best-friend. She had always tried to be older as well. The use of the word "mingling" was one such attempt. She had heard James use it a few weeks before and had endeavoured to include it in common speech as much as possible. She was confident with her superiors, but not always with her peers. She had always got along with Arthur, however. Arthur, conversely, was a quiet child. He was a private person, sharing emotions and personal information with either his father, Amata or Jonas only. He was well mannered and intelligent, taking after his father. He had adopted an English accent through prolonged exposure to his father, but it suited him well and added a certain weight to the otherwise 1950's speakeasy dialect that ran rampant through the vault, peaking with the DeLoria family. He held Amata above all others his own age. He confided within her and the two had formed the bond James had been hoping for. The two were inseparable friends, and their activities were always done together. Amata walked over to her father and sat there, hands on her knees, waiting patiently for Arthur to return.
Arthur walked over to Stanley, who was sat on one of the stools by the bar.
"Happy Birthday, young Master Wellesley!" the Andy the robot bellowed. "Attention everyone," the robot announced, "it's time to cut the cake!"
From the other side of the room Amata's head snapped around, "Andy no!" she cried, but to no avail. The robot started up its rotor blade and massacred its way through the cake. What was left was battered icing and ground up cake.
"Oh no…" Amata said sadly.
The robot hovered over to Arthur. "I am… mortified about the cake mishap… simply mortified, Master Wellesley," the robot said. If robots could have emotions, it would have sounded upset.
"It's okay, Andy, don't worry," Arthur reassured.
"Splendid! Now if Sir has no further requests, I have a certain task I need to perform…" Andy shuddered as he flew away, equipping a plunger from his inbuilt tool cabinet. Arthur laughed at the slightly deranged machine and walked over to Stanley who was also laughing at the Robot.
"I tell yah, every time I fix the damn thing, he goes and flies into a wall or electrocutes himself. Every time I see him, something's hanging off. Anyways kid, Happy Birthday!"
"Thank you Stanley, did you fix my Pip-Boy yourself?"
"Yeah. I know some people say the A series is a bit basic, but I've always preferred them for their reliability. Here, let me fit it onto you. It'll take a minute and you'll feel a sting, but it's just the biometric seals going around, don't worry about it. Now hold tight son."
Stanley brought the Pip-Boy around Arthur's arm, it felt loose at first but Stanley pulled out a small multi-tool and inserted it into the console. The machine made a whirring noise as it slowly clamped around Arthur's forearm. At first it felt tight, and then it seemed to loosen slightly to a comfortable pressure, gripping lightly but firmly on Arthur's forearm. Then the machine beeped twice. Then a louder whirring sound activated and Arthur felt something pierce his skin underneath the pip boy.
"Arrrgh!" Arthur cried.
"Don't worry son, it's just the sensors entering your arm. It will measure your heart rate and overall condition. Quite ingenious if you ask me! And 'ahem' I added some 'improvements' to yours. It tells your hydration and other such statistics, also there's a small port on the front where you can administer drugs and things straight to your bloodstream, but you shouldn't know about those yet so for the meanwhile, it's standard. Just get used to it kid, you can't get it off again," Stanley smiled at the cringing child.
"Oh, and here, take your mind off pain," Stanley pulled out a baseball cap. Arthur took it with his undamaged right arm. He slid the interface glove over his left arm and admired his new 'responsibility'. He really did like his new Pip-Boy, but the pain was subtracting from the experience.
"Thanks Stanley," Arthur grimaced.
"Eh, don't mention it son. Now go on, I'm sure there other people you need to talk to." Arthur nodded and walked off, clutching his gauntleted arm.
He walked over to the Overseer. He had hoped the Overseer had walked off in attendance to his duties, and so wouldn't have to navigate the minefield of possible discussion with him.
"Hello, Overseer," Arthur stated as officially as possible.
"Ah, hello young man. I hope you appreciate the effort Amata put into this party. She really seems to like you… for some reason." Arthur was expecting the usual 'happy birthday sport' or 'champ' or some such suffix, but he hadn't expected a lecture off the Overseer.
"Of course I do, Sir. Did you not help her?" he inquired. The Overseer took visible offence to the question, treating it more of an accusation.
"I do not allow the fact the fact that Amata is my daughter to compromise my position as Overseer. I gave her all the appropriate paternal encouragement, of course, but I could not contribute extra Vault resources. That is simply what my position requires, no more, no less. I know Amata understands that perfectly well."
The Overseer stared at Arthur, and Arthur felt himself get shorter.
"Very well, I have to tend to my other guests, have a nice day, Sir" Arthur said, replying to the Overseer's cold tone with his own attempted rendition. The Overseer simply turned away. Arthur walked off feeling dejected. Amata listened into the whole conversation, and she decided her father was out of order.
"Daddy," she commanded, "I know you were joking, but I'm not sure anyone else did," she said sternly. The Overseer was mollified by his daughter's comment. She had the real beginnings of a leader.
"Nonsense, people always love my speeches. Besides, that friend of your is not all fun and games."
Amata groaned in frustration, "This is meant to be a party! You know? Fun? You should try it sometime daddy, you might like it," She said sarcastically.
She then went to sit down next to her father, not saying anything to him. In the background, Arthur could hear Butch talking with his friends about cheese or something, he hadn't been paying enough attention to know, neither did he possess the incentive either. More than likely is was just Butch drivelling on.
Arthur walked away from the situation as quickly as he could. He saw the old lady, Mrs. Palmer, walking over to him. She clearly wanted to wish him happy birthday. He had always liked Mrs. Palmers; she was always kind and always tried to make him smile.
"Are you having a nice party?" She said smiling down at the boy. "Ten years old. My, my, my… Seems like only yesterday your daddy came- Goodness! Listen to me ramble! You're waiting for your present aren't you?" She said. The comment about her father had confused Arthur, but put it down to an old ladies meandering conversational links.
"Oh, Mrs. Palmer, you didn't have to bring a present."
"Nonsense, what little boys don't like presents? I was ten once, believe it or not. The Vault was practically crowded back then. Not like today, so few young people now."
Arthur listened intently, his father had always taught him to respect his elders, "They are worthy of your respect, because one day you will be the same as them and you will know why. You will see son," his father had told him.
"But here I am, rambling on again, and you listening so politely," Arthur gave a look as to say 'it's not polite, it's interesting,' though he would rather be talking to Amata any day.
"Here you go! A nice sweet roll I baked for you just this morning!" She took her hand out from her handbag and gave it to Arthur. Arthur was pleased by the present, he always like the baking of Mrs. Palmer and took it politely.
"And it's all for you, no sharing required today!" she smiled as she went back to reading her magazine. Arthur pocketed the wrapped up sweet and walked over to Amata to give her a piece of it when Butch shouted up to him.
"I'm hungry and that stupid robot destroyed the cake! Gimme that sweet roll you got from Old Lady Palmer!" Arthur stood there surprised by Butch and somewhat intimidated.
"I'm sorry Butch, it contains intelligence, you wouldn't like it," Arthur replied.
"You little Punk! I'm more smarter than you! Wait until I get hold of you!" Butch leapt from his seat and chased after Arthur. Arthur had already ran from him as he rose from his seat and ran towards Officer Gomez. Officer Gomez stood from his seat.
"Butch! Stop right there! Now!"
His eyes frowned upon Butch as the child looked to the floor, avoiding the glower of the Officer. Gomez looked over to Arthur who was stood behind him for protection.
"Are you alright son?" he said warmly. "I hope Butch didn't hurt you. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Arthur weighed up his choices. He knew Butch already had two misdemeanours on his record and a third would mean he would go on curfew from 4 P.M. to 7 A.M. the following morning for two whole months. Arthur was going to answer that he had provoked Butch but then he realised that with Butch gone, Amata and he could go up to the atrium or the playing halls without him pestering them. There would be less confrontation so Arthur settled with the getting Butch banned.
"Butch tried to take my sweet roll," he said as innocently as possible, knowing full well that he was at least a little to blame.
"Why that little… I figured it was him who started it," Arthur felt a slight pang of guilt, but it served Butch right. "He's been nothing but trouble since the day he was born. Let me handle this and try to stay out of the way."
Officer Gomez walked over to Butch and began issuing his misdemeanour. "Two months suspended privileges," Gomez started.
Arthur walked away having mixed feelings. At least Butch would be gone for two whole months.
Arthur walked over to Amata who had been talking with Stanley. "Hi, I'm all done now. Want to go and play? I've got a sweet roll we can share!" Arthur said excitedly with Amata giving him a smile.
"Sure! I just need to say goodbye to my Daddy. I'll be right back."
Amata walked over to her father and said goodbye as the Overseer left the room. Amata walked back over.
"Okay, he's gone. Want to play Dwellers and Wastelanders?"
"Sure, but I'm the Dwellers!"
Amata sighed, "Fine, but only because it's your birthday!" she giggled.
They ran into the halls and begun pretend firing at each other. Arthur ran up the stairs and held his arms triumphantly.
"It's over, Amata! I hold the high ground!" At that moment he heard the Overseer's voice. Arthur signalled for Amata to come quietly. Above them on another flight of stairs stood the Overseer talking to Officer Kendal.
"I only showed up for the Brat that Amata is friends with. Give it a few more minutes then I want that place cleaned up and everyone back to work. A complete waste of resources if you ask me."
"Yes, Sir."
Amata felt awful, she turned to Arthur who was clearly dejected by what he just heard. He looked as upset as he could be without crying. Amata stood there next to him unsure of what to do.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's just that Daddy is so official about everything. I'm sure Daddy didn't mean it," she knew he probably did and she knew that Arthur was thinking the same.
"Shall we go back to the Canteen?" she asked.
"I guess," Arthur replied.
They wandered back to the Canteen, not a word spoken between them. Amata didn't know how to react, anything she said might elicit a bad response. Silence was the answer. They reached the Canteen and found a seat and sat down in it.
"How was your day?" Amata finally asked.
"It's been good, I guess. Got this sweet for us," Arthur said unwrapping the roll and breaking it in half for them both. "Butch wanted it from me. He has got two months short curfew now."
"Really?" Amata laughed and giggled, "Serves him right for being such a jerk. On your own birthday as well," she said indignantly.
"It's not all his fault," Arthur said. "He must have been born backwards," he joked, lightening his mood.
Amata laughed. "Yeah, his face is the last thing anyone wanted to see!" Amata joked. Amata had a way of making Arthur feel happy.
"I had better go and speak to my Dad, he's probably wondering what I have got. I'll be back in a minute," Arthur said.
"Okay, I'll be here," she said as she started to eat her half of the role, wishing Arthur would be quick.
Arthur smiled back and walked towards his father. His father had been on the intercom and Arthur had heard Jonas' voice on the other end.
"Hey," James started, "that was Jonas on the intercom. He and I have been cooking up a little surprise present. Jonas is waiting for you downstairs on the Reactor Level. I don't think anyone would mind if you slipped out for a few minutes," James suggested.
Arthur walked down the stairs and over the Reactor Rooms. Within stood Jonas waiting for him with a sly look across his face.
"Hello, Jonas," Arthur said.
Jonas gave Arthur a questioning look. "What are you doing down here young man? I thought kids weren't allowed down on the reactor level," he questioned, with false suspicion invading his face.
"My father told me to come down here and I'm not a child any more Jonas!" Arthur said confused and defensively.
Jonas laughed at the comment. "You sure aren't. Pip-Boy and everything, look at that! If you can wait just one more minute, I think your father wants to give you the surprise himself," Jonas said looking towards the stairs.
A moment later James walked down, holding something behind his back.
"Are you ready for your surprise?" James asked inciting excitement into Arthur.
"What kind of surprise?!" asked a very excited Arthur.
"The Overseer gave you your Pip-Boy and you're old enough to do some work, so I figured you're old enough for this... your own BB gun!" James said proudly as he pulled the gun from behind his back.
"It's a little old but it should work perfectly. Jonas found it down here; it was in pretty rough shape. Took us a good few months to find the parts to get it working again. You know how hard it is to find a spring that small?" James began laughing. "It's a good job Butch 'misplaced' his switchblade. So what do you think?" James asked happily, proud of Jonas' find and his own work. "Want to give it a try?" James hinted.
"Here? We can't shoot a gun here?" Arthur replied.
"We sure can't," James replied, "unless we want the Overseer beating down our door. Jonas and I have found a place though. Come on, it's in the service tunnels."
James set off down one of the many side passages which littered the maintenance levels. They proceeded down a tunnel to find a makeshift shooting range, complete with self-resetting targets. Arthur was overjoyed, his father and Jonas had clearly put a lot of effort into his present, and Arthur knew it.
"Well, what do you think? You can come down here and shoot, anytime you want!"
Arthur was amazed. How did the Overseer not find out about this? That was the amazing part of it all. He always knew everything.
"Thanks dad, this is great! I'll come down here all the time!" Arthur said overjoyed.
"Couldn't have done it without Jonas' help!" James said, looking back at Jonas who modestly waved him off. "You make sure to thank him."
Arthur walked over to Jonas. "Happy Birthday, Buddy," he said happily.
"Thanks Jonas. I just want to say thank you, this is the best birthday present ever!"
"Hey, you don't turn 10 every day! Now go on and let me see you shoot something!"
Arthur smiled as he turned around and took aim with his rifle. He cocked it once and fired at the target which let out a ring and span around. He aimed at the next one and fired again, hitting the mark in the centre, and did the same with the final one. Then, Arthur heard a scurrying sound from the right and looked over. From the darkened passage came a Radroach.
"Careful," James warned, "that's a Radroach, think you can handle it?"
Arthur was slightly surprised by his father. He had always advocated calm and tactful decision making, but Arthur wasn't going to consult his morals over a Radroach. He fired twice. The first round bounced harmlessly off the insect's carapace. Arthur adjusted, aiming into the gaps between the armour. He fired and the pellet went straight into the insect, killing it instantly.
"Good work! That's one less Radroach to deal with," James beamed. "Let's get a picture together, capture the moment," He said to his son smiling.
"Hey Jonas, get a picture of me and the 'Big-Game-Hunter.'" Jonas nodded and retrieved his camera from the side. James stood by Arthur's side and put his arm on his shoulder.
"Smile," Jonas said as the bright flash went off.
James looked down to his son. "I hope you have had a good day. I know your mother would have been very proud of you," James said softly as he knelt down to his son's height. "Now, just don't go telling the overseer about this little secret okay?"
"Okay, Dad," Arthur replied, "but can I show Amata? She won't tell the Overseer, I promise."
James paused to think for a second.
"Okay, but you must swear her to secrecy, the Overseer mustn't know of this place, I'm sure it breaks all sorts of his 'rules and regulations,'" James mocked.
"Thanks dad, you're the best!" Arthur said as he hugged his father. James returned the gesture in kind. A BB gun, a shooting gallery and Butch gone for two months, this was turning out to be one of the best birthdays ever.
5 years later
"Slow down, I don't think we are allowed to be here." Arthur whispered silently as Amata crawled ahead in the overhead air ducts.
The pair had spent the day exploring vault after The Overseer had granted Amata access to the vaults maps for the first time. Amata had been eager to search as much as she could, and having found a way to use the air ducts as a means of clandestine travel, Amata had dragged Arthur off on an impromptu exploration of the forbidden areas of the vault.
So far the pair had seen various maintenance areas, deemed of such value only the maintenance crew themselves were allowed where they had been. This would have all seemed very superfluous to James, but the two, always well behaved children, were on a new exciting adventure, and Amata would not hear of the consequences.
Amata, more eager and less apprehensive than Arthur, had been racing about all day. She was attempting to view the inside of the guard room, up on the floor above. The difference in levels caused some embarrassment for her; thus far she had been unable to find an access point into the upper levels.
"You've got us lost. I knew you would." Arthur complained behind her in the claustrophobic, suffocating hot vent.
"I'm not lost." Amata replied sternly. "I'm just… exploring." She insisted.
Amata stopped for a moment; she had thought she had been this way before. Looking around in the maze of vents, it was easy to get lost. Arthur had managed to catch up. He was anxious to leave, fearing the reprisals if his father found what they had been doing. Arthur shuffled his way up to Amata, passing onto the same vent as her.
The vent buckled under their combined weight as the metal groaned erroneously. Amata looked to Arthur with Sheer horror.
"Go back!" she ordered.
Arthur began to nudge himself backwards but it was useless. The metal pins that held the vent into the ceiling came undone and one side of the vent broke away at a 45 degree angle. Amata began to slide out of the vent, scrambling furiously to save herself. Arthur, who was further back, had managed to cross onto another section of the pipe, and, thus, was in relative safety.
Seeing Amata slide from the section of the vent, he lunged forwards, trying to grip her hand. He managed just to grace his fingers across hers as she fell from the pipe section into a stack of cardboard boxes below.
Landing relatively softly, but still rolling off the boxes and onto the floor, Amata managed to scrape her knee on something, feeling the pain beneath her vault suit. Pulling a face of pain, yet skilfully avoiding the urge to cry, Amata rubbed her leg tenderly.
From above, Arthur had shuffled himself back down the precariously hanging section of the vent as he peered over to check on Amata.
"I hope you haven't broken anything." He called cautiously down into the black room.
Amata stood up and switched on her Pipboy to illuminate the black room.
"Whoa…" she echoed. "You've got to see this." She implored from the floor, disregarding that Arthur was half a story above her, and voluntarily jumping from that height was the last thing on Arthur's agenda.
"Erm" he pondered. "I would rather not." He said, looking at the distance to the floor; nothing inconsiderable for a small fifteen year old.
"No, you have to. It's so cool." Amata demanded joyfully, now exploring the dark room.
From Arthur's vantage point, he could only just see a few tables with equipment on; what that equipment was, he had no idea. Arthur edged forward, keen to know what was on the other side of the room that Amata had now wandered over to. He placed on hand carefully on the very edge of the vent's corner as he tried to better his view.
The vent shook violently causing Arthur's carefully placed hand to slip. His body weight, being forward, made him almost roll out of the vent, crashing rather painfully onto a pile of cardboard boxes, as Amata had done.
Arthur stood up and rubbed his arm, the fall having had him land rather awkwardly on it. Amata was some ten metres away, inspecting some table or other. Arthur hurried over to her, keen not to be split up from her.
"What does… F.E.V. mean?" She asked him.
"I am not sure; I think it is a word which has been shortened into that."
"What does initial distribution phase mean?" Amata asked, reading off a label from a vial with a yellow gaseous substance inside.
"I think it means, the start phase of something." Arthur replied, studying the room by himself now, rather more confidently.
Arthur walked over to a large wooden crater, with symbols he did not recognise upon it. As he drew closer, he saw the letters F.E.V again. Arthur had never heard of these letters before; they certainly weren't in his computer's data base, or in his father's lab.
"What do you think this place is?" Amata asked from the other side of the room, finding more vials of the yellow gas, labelled phases one through twelve. "It isn't on my map, and daddy has never mentioned it before." She stated, picking one up to examine it.
Amata was intensely curious to discover what the substance was, and began to unscrew the lid on the vial.
"Don't." Arthur implored from right behind her, making her jolt, throwing the vial into the air.
As if in slow motion, the vial tumbled through the air as it hit the floor. The vial smashed at the bottom as small fragments of glass were thrown across the room. In blind panic, the pair, scared that someone was had heard the vial smash was coming for them, ran for the door. There was a moment of scurrying as the pair attempted desperately to find the door, but Amata quite literally ran into it, bashing her already pained knee on it in the darkness of the lab. Amata called to Arthur, who came running. Suddenly, the door began to open from the other side.
Amata pushed Arthur backwards in yet more panic as he door began to open. The mischievous pair hid behind an old and dusty table as Amata poked her head around the corner, trying to see who was coming through the door.
A great column of light broke through the room as the door opened. Arthur could hear footsteps entering the room as Amata stubbornly refused to hide, wanting to see who it was who had entered.
"It's Stanley." Amata whispered to Arthur.
"Come on, we can run for it now." Amata said as she grabbed Arthur's sleeve and pulled him towards the door.
The pair ran silently to the door, stopping slowly for a moment to see if either Stanley or anyone could see them, inside and outside of the room. Arthur saw Stanley kneel down and pick up the smashed vial. Arthur did not know the evil that was within that vial; but neither did Stanley; the room had been sealed for decades, a century perhaps, and Stanley had never needed to enter the room. So the room sat, unexplored for years; its evil contents lying dormant, though now, it had finally found a host within Stanley.
Arthur and Amata ran from the room as quickly as they could; both fearful of their fathers knowing. They ran around the corner and stopped, breathing from all the excitement.
"I told you it was best to have gone back." Arthur complained, breathing heavily.
Amata looked seriously at Arthur, fearing for her future career; her father would not have been best pleased if he had found out about their days escapades. "Do you think he saw us?" she asked.
"No, I think he picked up that glass vial thing." Arthur revealed.
Amata sighed with relief. "Oh good. Daddy would kill him if he found out. Do you think that those vials had anything dangerous in them?" She asked, concerned now for Stanley.
I don't think so. It didn't look like anybody had been in there for years." Arthur replied.
"Okay, good. We should get back to the main part of the vault; I don't want to get caught now." Amata planned as she looked side to side, trying to find anyone who would pose a problem.
"I have to stop following you; one day you will be the death of me." Arthur continued to complain.
The pair set of cautiously, anxious to return to the main area, or at least somewhere that they would no longer be punished. Both of them later agreed never to talk of this area of the vault again; lest it be revealed by The Overseer's all-knowing ear.
Inside the condemned room, Stanley wiped his nose with his hand. Unbeknownst to him, small fragments of the F.E.V. was placed into close proximity to a viable entry way. The virus was subtle, undetectable for years in such a dose; yet the seeds of Stanley's demise were inevitable now; like a cancer, the virus would spread through his body, killing or mutating his cells in a horrendous way.
Many of the pre-war scientists likened the premature effects to a tumour, but it would be far, far worse an ending for Stanley, should the F.E.V. develop.