A story written for lilibombe as a gift. Not related to Trouble in any way.

Hello :) Thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.


Echo
Chapter 2

He followed the snake on the back of Butch's Tunnel Snake jacket. The jacket had lost a bit of its shine but the snake still tried to stare him down. Harkness ignored it. Both of them circled the stairwell, heading for the door that led to the rest of the bow. Butch turned its handle counter clockwise and the door was released from its catch, creaking on its hinges. Harkness stepped through. Waited for Butch to close the door behind them before continuing the journey. He remembered giving Butch this same treatment when he'd just arrived at Rivet City; damn Tunnel Snake had been trying to pick a fight with Shrapnel in the Muddy Rudder. Not a good idea. Butch bumped into him.

"Quit stallin', tin man," he warned. It probably would be more intimidating if he kept the smirk off his face. How many times in his life did Butch get escorted like this? He wasn't doing too badly at it. On the right, the door to Butch's room was shut. They walked past it. Past the scrawled 'Tunnel Snakes rule' on the wall opposite the door.

At the end of the hallway, they entered the dining area. There was a faint smell of cooked meat hanging in the air; some sort of stew was on the stove. There was a kettle there too. Butch picked up one of the glasses sitting on a tray on the counter. He poured water from the kettle into the glass. It was warm judging by the steam rushing away from it. Carrying it through the open archway, he punched a switch on the wall, making the door on the side swing open for them. There was a whoosh of air and the smell of chemicals hit his face.

Right. Pinkerton's lab.

The first step inside the lab made him tense. It was like stepping into the Institute again. There were metal pieces, electronics and wires on all flat surfaces. Piles of papers. Charts on the walls. Colourful chemicals in test tubes sitting on a rack. A humming, whirring sound from machines in the lab. Harkness spotted the Vault boy bobblehead on top of Pinkerton's personal desk and saw it examining him through its glasses. It had earned its place in the lab when Butch moved into the bow. Harkness had no idea why Pinkerton would hire Butch as a sentry, especially when it was Butch who had broken into the lab in the first place. Still, he supposed the doctor and the Vault kid got along well enough.

"Yo Pinky," Butch called out in greeting. "You got company." He walked to Pinkerton's desk and pushed a pile of papers away from the edge and onto the floor. He placed the glass of warm water on the cleared triangle of space. "Since when are you Mr. Popular?"

"Kid? Will you lower your volume? I need to concentrate," Pinkerton's muffled, annoyed voice came from somewhere in the back of the lab.

"All this beeping shit and you got a problem with me talkin'?" Butch went to Pinkerton's terminal and typed something on the keyboard.

"Your 'talking' isn't conducive to the work while -" The terminal greeted Butch with a string of happy beeps and Pinkerton's head rose from a bunch of machine parts he had been hidden behind. "Are you logging into my terminal? If you changed my password –"

"I didn't. Your password ain't that hard to crack, y'know."

"Listen, kid. Just because I let you in here, it doesn't mean you can mess around with my equipment." Pinkerton wagged a wrench in Butch's direction. "It's not a free pass to -"

"Yeah, yeah," Butch straightened up from the terminal. He smirked. "Don't raise your blood pressure."

"Doctor Pinkerton," Harkness interjected. The doctor turned to him then, blinking magnified eyes behind his goggles. They were large and grey as they assessed him.

"Oh, it's you," Pinkerton said after a moment. He pulled the goggles off his face and dropped the wrench he was holding onto the table. He took off his gloves as well, muttering to himself. "Has it been a month already?" As Pinkerton passed his desk, he put the gloves down and picked up the glass Butch had placed there. He gulped from it like he hadn't seen water in a long time. "Let's get you hooked up, A3-21." He gestured for Harkness to take a seat next to the terminal. When Pinkerton lifted the red tube that was connected to it, Harkness stilled, knowing what came next.

The doctor's fingers reached for the opening at the base of Harkness' neck. This touch was clinical, similar to that of the scientists at the Institute. And even though this was Pinkerton, he couldn't help but feel the flutter of unease that came with that familiar sensation. The cold metal of the phono plug trailed across his skin. And with a fast jab, the plug was lodged into him. Immediately, currents latched onto him. It accumulated at the base of his neck, trying to get into him, into his head. Harkness swallowed a curse. His fingers twitched on the armrests.

"I heard Li left the purifier. Is that true?" Pinkerton asked, oblivious to his discomfort. He watched as Pinkerton's fingers flew across the keyboard, typing commands too fast for him to catch. A dull current nudged his system. Harkness shifted in his seat. Blue lines of code ran down his vision behind his eyelids, visible upon connection. The pressure at the base of his neck increased. "What about all her monkeys in lab suits? Did they go with her?" Pinkerton scratched his chin. "That can't be good for the Brotherhood for Steel."

"Seriously, Pinky, just go to the purifier, already," Butch suggested from across him. He was leaning on the table, twirling his switchblade between his fingers, watching them. Pinkerton grumbled something, and Butch snorted in response.

"Well, then. I'll just start the scan and see if there are any anomalies in your system," he said. As soon as Pinkerton jammed onto the 'Enter key', Harkness shut his eyes.

In an instant, the pressure amplified. The currents thrust. Pummelled at his defences. Until it cut through. The electric cleaved its way into his chest, to his body, to the tips of his fingers. It scraped through his tubes' walls. Unravelled every code. Choked every wire in its hold. Drowned everything in order to take control. Behind his eyelids, the blue lines turned green. Drenched with the foreign charges. Only then, did the intensity drop. Lowered to a pulse. His system was pushed to the side as the scan had its way with him. He was no longer in control right now.

His grip loosened on the armrests, fingers still twitching. It had been 2 minutes 13 seconds so far. 3 minutes more of this bullshit to go. Harkness opened his eyes.

Pinkerton was no longer at the terminal. Butch was gone too. He heard them, far away, discussing about the broken bow. About the purifier. About drinks and cleanliness and plumbing. About some errand Pinkerton wanted Butch to help him with.

"This one isn't like 101," Pinkerton was saying, turning over a gas mask in his hand, examining it.

"There's nowhere like 101. It makes no fuckin' difference, Pinky."

"It's more advanced in terms of technology. If only I had my hands on some of its records…" Pinkerton's voice trailed off and Butch pursed his lips. The line of his back was tense and he had slipped one of his hands into his pocket.

"Why don't you ask your fanclub?" Butch asked, a hint of a threat in his voice. Pinkerton waved the idea off.

"Clearly, you've had experiences with vaults," Pinkerton said. Butch tensed a little more. "And... you occasionally show intelligence."

"No shit, old man. I got through your traps, didn't I?"

"So did the android."

A sudden loud beeping filled Harkness' ears. The scan had been completed. The currents started to leave, unclenching their hold on him. Harkness grasped all his senses as the electric let go, feeling like he was expanding into his own body. Every wire felt shredded. Scrubbed raw. Sore. Some parts of his system continued sparking from where the scan had molested him.

Pinkerton returned to the terminal. He typed something into it. Harkness could feel the moment the connection snapped and jerked against the echoing snap in his chest. He leaned forwards, reached up to his own neck and twisted the plug out, shivering as the last traces of green left him. Slowly, he took a breath and lifted his face.

"Alright, tin man?" Butch asked. There was something soft in his gaze that looked like concern, but the tension in his body hadn't left. Harkness nodded.

"Looks like you're in perfect working order. 100% in operation," Pinkerton announced. He looked pleased as he tapped some keys on the terminal.

"Is there any..." Harkness started. Pinkerton turned to him, waiting for the rest of the sentence. Harkness didn't voice it. "Nothing. Thanks, Doctor." Pinkerton stood up and moved away, letting him look at the results of the scan. In the Institute, Harkness wasn't given the privilege to read his own reports, just a set of instructions and then he'd be sent back to base to be 'fixed'. Now, Harkness looked at terminal, skimming sections of the report labelled 'Performance', 'Security', and 'Memory'. Pinkerton was right. He was in perfect working order. 100% in operation. There were no anomalies detected. He hadn't broken anything, consistent with the findings in the 'Hardware' section of the report. He scrolled down to last page of the report. Down to where it was titled 'Network'.

Summary of the activity on system A3-21.
Signal strength: Excellent
Address: **
Address filtering check: PASS
Communication mode check: PASS
Active summonses: 0

Right.

No active summonses.

Bullshit.

The scan couldn't detect the summonses. What the hell? It was impossible. It didn't make sense when he could see them so clearly in his head right now. All 12 of them laid out in chronological order. Repeating their messages. Waiting for his response.

What the hell was the Institute up to? Weren't these even summonses at all? If they weren't, what the hell were they? Staring at the report, he had no idea what to do. Was he... going rogue?

"Why a snake, DeLoria?" Pinkerton's voice interrupted his thoughts. Harkness turned to see him addressing Butch with a curious expression. Butch looked over his shoulder at the snake on his back and frowned.

"What? You got a problem with it?"

"Isn't it a little ironic that it's your gang mascot? Snakes are solitary creatures." Butch stared at Pinkerton in disbelief. The doctor shrugged before he stood up from his chair, pointing at the metal piles on the table. "I'm done with those. Put them in storage, will you? I also need some scrap metal."

"You're kiddin'. You need more metal?"

"It's a different kind of metal," he explained, downing the glass of water. He handed the empty glass to Butch. "And kid, that wasn't your best boiled water," Pinkerton remarked with a smile as he climbed to the upper deck of the lab. Butch made a rude noise after him. Harkness stood up from the terminal. Stepped towards Butch who raised his gaze to his.

"Want to get out of here?" he asked.

"Yeah. Fuck. I need a drink." So did he.