It was warm and sunny as he looked around for the kitten he had followed into the gardens. It was a small grey thing that looked hungry and was probably half starved. He rounded a corner and saw a girl was sitting on one of the benches in front of the podium where the Mayor gave all her speeches. He looked at the enormous green wall that stood behind it and knew he was safe in Diamond city with it being in place.
He scanned the ground as he approached the girl and still didn't see that kitten. He was about to turn back when he heard a soft meow come from where the girl was sitting.
He turned and saw the kitten was standing on the bench next to her and it was begging her for food. He pulled out the small piece of bread he had found and cautiously approached the girl on the bench. "Hey, don't let it run away." He said with a calm quiet voice.
The girl turned to look at him and smiled as she passed a piece of food to the kitten. "She yours?"
The boy shook his head. "Naw, I've been bringing it food for a few days now. I don't like to see things suffer."
The girl smiled as she nodded her head. "Me nighther, My name is Ellie, my family just moved here a few days ago."
The boy held his hand out and smiled as she placed her hand in his. "I'm John McDonough nice to meet you."
He placed the piece of bread on the bench and watched as the kitten looked at it before biting it and ran off with the bread in its mouth. "Someday ill get to touch it, just got to earn its trust is all."
Ellie nodded her head. "Trust is a rare thing to find in the commonwealth, that's what my father always says anyway."
John climbed over the back of the bench and sat next to her he was thirteen and his curiosity with girls was something new to him. He looked at her hands and saw she was holding a book. "You like to read?" He almost wanted to fade away after asking such a stupid question.
Ellie smiled as she held the book up. "I love to read, I try to read everything I can find. The world before the war is so fascinating. Did you know that at one time there were huge creatures called elephants that roamed around?" Her eyes lit up as she looked at John.
He shook his head and started to answer her when a voice behind them made him cringe.
"Awww, Is little Johnny flirting with a girl?"
John took a deep breath as he turned to face his brother. "I'm just talking to her James, go away."
He watched as he brother kept walking towards them. "And miss the chance to see my little brother screw up his chances with a girl?"
John stood up and glanced at Ellie. "I'm sorry, my brother is an ass."
Ellie nervously laughed as she stood up. She dropped her book and it landed in he middle of the two boys. James grabbed it before John could even move and started flipping through the pages. "Books are so useless, why even bother with such a stupid thing?"
John climbed over the bench and tried to snatch it back from his brother. "Give it back to her James!"
The boy holding the book laughed as he jerked the book back ripping a page.
Ellie gasped. "Don't! your going to ruin it!"
James gave her an evil grin. "There are plenty of these stupid things laying about, why care about one stupid book?" He grabbed a page and ripped it out then tossed it on the ground.
Ellie started crying as she ran around the bench and grabbed the page that was starting to flitter away with the wind.
John balled his hand into a fist as he stepped closer to his brother. "Just give it back!"
James laughed. "Or what? Ya gonna hit me if I don't?" He ripped another page and let it fall to the ground.
John growled as he lunged at his brother. He swung at his face and missed as his brother side stepped and slammed the book in John's face knocking him into a mud puddle.
"Pathetic John, one of these day's you'll get it through your thick skull I'm better then you." He threw the book down and laughed when it landed in the mud next to John.
John stood up and glared at his brother as wisps of muddy blond hair dangled in front of his face. "I hate you!"
James looked at John and laughed. "I've hated you since the day you were born, so I guess the feeling is mutual." James turned and walked away from John, stepping on he book pushing it further into the mud.
John felt something trickle from his nose and he used the back of his arm to wipe it away. He saw a trail of blood on his arm and felt his anger flare. He picked up a rock and threw it at his brother hitting him on the back of his head and watched as it landed on the ground. James turned around and gave John a murderous look of hate.
He picked a rock up and rushed at John with it held tightly in his hand. He grabbed John by his jacket and slammed the rock against the side of his head. John heard Ellie scream as everything flashed white then nothing.
"Mayor Hancock! Wake up!" John felt someone shake him as the memory of his dream faded away.
He sat up and moaned as he put a hand to his throbbing head. He was sitting on the couch in the third rail and was covered in sweat. He looked up to see one of his guards was staring down at him.
He reached for a glass on the coffee table in front of him and saw a book was sitting next to it. He drank the liquid from the glass and felt his throat burn with the alcohol that had been in it. "What is it?" He asked as he picked up the book and remembered it was the journal that Mama Murphy had been writing in.
"We have a situation at the Memory lounge." He waited for Hancock to respond before moving.
Hancock groaned. Was probably some junkie having a flash back after one of Irma's sessions. He flipped through the journal and stopped when he saw his name written in large letters on a back page. "Hancock, I'm sorry I had to do it like this but its time for this old bird to fly home. You hold my entire life in your hands and I know you're the only person I can trust to share it with. You have always treated me like a friend and you never scolded me for my chem use. I know Preston and the others will be upset but they will move on. Thank you again for being a great friend, this is my last goodbye John, stay safe and keep being the man I saw years ago when you stood up to your brother."
Hancock blinked his eyes, he knew something was up when she refused the Mentats. He closed the book and groaned when he saw his guard was still standing, waiting for him to say something. "Just take care of whatever the problem is and throw whoever is causing trouble in the jail for a day or two." He needed to find Mama Murphy and get her back to Sanctuary before she does whatever she planned on doing.
The guard took a deep breath and gave Hancock a weary look. "Its Mama Murphy sir…"
Hancock quickly stood up and rushed passed the guard before he could finish his words. He ran up the stairs and slammed the door open as he rushed through it. The sky was dark and it was raining hard as he kept running to the Memory lounge. He must have been really out of it for it to be this late. It was just the early hours of the morning when he arrived at The Third Rail. He then remembered the ultra Jet Mama Murphy had given him and groaned as he realized the old bird had planed everything and cold dread sent chills down his spine.
He opened the door and rushed into the lounge room and saw Dr. Amari and Irma were franticly trying to open one of the loungers. He quickly approached them and looked into the machine to see Mama Murphy was inside laying peacefully as the machine beeped.
Irma ran to Hancock and wiped tears from her face. "We cant get her out and her vitals are dropping!"
Hancock looked behind the machine. "Just unplug it then damn it!"
Dr. Amari shook her head. "You cant just shut it down like that when someone is inside, it will cause brain damage to the user." She gripped the handle of the lounger door and tried to pull it open. "She jammed it shut from the inside some how."
Hancock knelt down and tried to turn the handle. It was jammed tight and wouldn't budge. He stood up and tried to kick the handle open. Irma grabbed him by his arm and tried to pull him away from the machine. "John stop! That might break it and kill her!" Irma yelled.
Hancock growled as he glared at her. "Well isn't there some kind of emergency shut of system?" He looked back at Mama Murphy and silently thought of the chewing out he was going to give the old bird.
Irma cried as she shook her head. "Its built into the door, if something goes wrong the door safely shuts everything down when it's opened."
The beeping started getting worse and Irma turned away "I don't want to watch this!"
Hancock looked at Dr. Amari. "Isn't there anything we can fucking do to save her!"
Amari looked at the lounger Mama Murphy was in then at the lounger next to it. She took a deep breath and looked back at Hancock. "There is a way John, but I don't recommend it."
Irma turned to look at Amari. "Don't you dare Amari, loosing one person is bad enough, but two people? No. I wont have it!"
Hancock looked at Irma then at Amari as she spoke. "But if it saves one then we have to take the risk Irma." Amari looked at Hancock. "We can hook another machine to hers and have them share her memories, it will take the strain off her system and spread it between the two minds."
Hancock crossed his arms as he looked at Irma. "What is the risk?"
Irma took a shaky breath. "The connected mind wont be able to leave the host mind until they willingly wake up releasing both connections."
Hancock looked at Mama Murphy. She planned on dying in that thing while reliving her memories of her past, not a bad way to go if you think about it. Hancock took a deep breath. "If someone connects can they interact with her?"
Dr. Amari shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I've never done it with human to human transfer. Nate did it with Kellogg's memory chip but he had Nick's mind to help him."
The beeping of the machine started pulsing faster. Hancock took his coat off and laid it on a chair next to the empty memory lounge that was next to Mama Murphy. "Lets save the old bird then."
Irma rushed to Hancock and placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him from stepping into the lounge. "You cant John, what if she never wakes up…"
Hancock shrugged her hand away. "Then we both die I guess." He climbed into the memory lounge and sat. "Dr. Amari, if something goes wrong and Fahr doesn't want the position, I name you as GoodNeighbor's next Mayor."
Dr. Amari rolled her eyes. "I don't think that is going to be necessary John." She rolled up his sleeve and pushed a syringe into his arm. "Just come back to us and bring Mama Murphy with you." Dr. Amari shut the lounger door and went to the back of the machine. She pulled a cord from the back and connected it to Mama Murphy's lounger.
She stood behind Hancock's lounger and took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"
Hancock grinned. "Ready as I'll ever be Amari." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he felt the familiar hum of the machine start and felt his mind slip into the darkness.
He opened his eyes and blinked with the blinding glare of the sun above him. He looked around and saw he was in a chain link cage of some kind. There were men walking around wearing gold and red armor and a group of people stood around the fence staring in at him. He looked down and saw a group of young girls were chained together with metal collars locked around their necks.
He shook his head as he realized this was some kind of slaver group. One of the girls looked up at him and gave him an odd look. Her hair was silver and her eyes were such a light blue they almost looked grey. "John? I don't remember you being here?"