Nick walked towards the bar in The Third Rail and nodded at the white Mr. Handy behind the counter.
"What's the word, Charlie? Anyone new in need of finding?"
"Valentine," the robot acknowledged with his cockney accent, polishing a glass with his metal arms. "None that didn't want it, or have it coming."
"Always the humanitarian, ain't ya, Chuck?" He chuckled as he sat further down the bar to wait for Nora to arrive with - what had she called that Brotherhood guy? Danse? Hmm. As long as he didn't try to vaporize Nick with his laser rifle again, he could call himself anything he wanted.
He listened to Magnolia sing one of her jazzy tunes for a couple minutes, then saw Nora sit at the bar beside him out of the corner of his eye.
"Watch your caps in this place," he quipped to her. "Folks behind the bar are as likely to rob you as those in front of it."
"Oi!" he heard Charlie protest from the other end of the bar.
He smirked a little and turned to look at Nora… then froze when he saw the expression on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was avoiding his gaze, her shoulders slumped over.
...Either she had suddenly developed the world's worst allergies in less than 15 minutes, or she had been crying right before she entered the bar.
His face fell as he quickly glanced at the stool on the other side of her - which seemed to be missing one suit of power armor containing a cranky, synth-hating soldier.
...This was not good.
He stared at her for a few seconds, then stood up from his stool and gingerly took her arm. "Come on," he said gently, and guided her towards one of the couches at back of the bar to give them a little more privacy. Nora allowed herself to be led obediently. Once they were seated, he paused to consider how best to approach the situation - he didn't want to say something to make her feel worse. After a moment he gave up and simply decided to be direct.
"...So what happened? You two have a fight?"
She finally looked up at him and shook her head, then nodded, then shook her head again. ...Well that helped. He smiled sympathetically.
"...You might have to help me out a little here, kid."
Nora couldn't help chuckling a tiny bit at that, which made him feel a little better. 'Well, that's at least something.'
She told Nick all about the ghoul from Vault-Tec - and Danse's comment after he'd left - as Nick listened patiently.
"...It wasn't so much his comment - it certainly wasn't his first 'gem' of the day," she said with a sigh. "It was kind of… everything. I mean, here's this guy who not only had to endure turning into a ghoul, and seeing the horror of the bombs dropping and the aftermath, but then - on top of everything - felt totally and completely alone and abandoned for 200 years. All alone. I mean… I have people I can rely on, like Preston, you, Piper, and yes - even Danse now, I think."
Nick was still uneasy with that, but let her continue.
"...This poor man has had absolutely NO ONE. For two. Hundred. Years. It broke my heart. Nick..." she looked at him and shook her head. "...you should have felt how tight he hugged me when I suggested he go to Sanctuary to be with the other settlers there. It was like... I gave him his life back or something. Like I suddenly gave him… hope."
He smiled at her softly. "It sounds like you did."
She looked away and frowned. "When Danse said what he said - it was just kind of the 'straw that broke the camel's back'. I just didn't understand how he could be so... cold. So uncaring of another person's pain."
Nick was quiet for a moment, then took the opportunity to light a cigarette while gathering his thoughts. He offered one to Nora, who shook her head.
"...What made you decide to join up with them in the first place?" he asked her.
"I thought they were my best chance to find the Institute, get in, and get Shaun back," she replied. "...I still do. The Minutemen are noble, and I'll still continue to help Preston and the others as much as I can - but... I think they're a bit out of their league compared to the Institute. The Brotherhood of Steel have a bit more... 'oomph'."
"Firepower and fervor... the Brotherhood has both in spades," Nick said. "Inviting them to our doorstep, though... I'm getting the feeling we just cracked the lid on Pandora's box." He sighed. "...Look, kid - all I'm trying to say is that the right tools in the wrong hands can be just as unsafe as the person or people wielding them. These Brotherhood guys - they can be dangerous. I'm not saying they're necessarily bad people - I heard the ones in the Capital Wasteland helped bring purified water to the entire area. Just maybe... misguided. They 'know' that their way is the best way, and don't really listen to anything different. I just... want you to be careful, that's all."
Nora nodded, contemplating his words. She decided not to mention to him that Nate had briefly served under the Brotherhood's original founder way back when, just in case.
"Putting that aside for the moment," he went on, "let me ask you something."
She raised an eyebrow curiously. "...Is something wrong?"
"Well... I sort of had the same question. It's just... with everything that's happened with you, your family... it's a whole hell of a lot to process. I wanted to make sure you're holding up alright."
She shrugged and sighed. "I don't know, Nick... my family's in tatters, I've been dropped into this place where everything's trying to kill me... you tell me."
He nodded. "I'd expect you to feel lost, scared, and mad as hell. I sure did. Took me a long damn time to get a feel for this place. Thank goodness I found Diamond City. It's got its flaws, sure, but it beats the hell out of anywhere else in the Commonwealth. 'Course... when I took up there back when, people were just as scared of the Institute as they are now, maybe more. Plenty of people just assumed I was some kind of saboteur, moving in to melt down the reactor or poison the drinking water. But at the time, they couldn't exactly turn me away. They let me in because I rescued the then-mayor's daughter from a group of kidnappers... four guys just looking to make some quick caps."
Nora's eyes widened. "You took down four guys by yourself?"
"I didn't have to. Back then, synths were more of an unknown quantity than they were today. I told them I was rigged to explode and started going, 'beep beep beep'."
She burst out laughing and shook her head. Nick chuckled also.
"Hardest part of that rescue was keeping from laughing as they climbed over each other to get away." He paused, then gently put a hand over hers. "...It took me a long time to realize that home is where you make it. With some time and effort... this place can be home for you, too. Well-" he looked around the bar with raised eyebrows. "Maybe not this place..." She laughed again and he smiled. "...I know the night seems dark right now... but it won't last forever."
She smiled back and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "...Thanks Nick."
He nodded and pulled his hand back as he stood up.
"Alright, well... gonna go stretch my legs a bit before I take you over to Dr. Amari. Take your time, and when you're ready I'll meet you over at The Memory Den." He paused as a thought suddenly hit him. "Do you... think your Brotherhood chum is going to be joining you?"
Nora frowned as she thought about how she had left Danse. She had tossed some of her stuff into the hotel room & hurried for the stairs, trying not to let him see the tears starting to run down her face from her conversation with the Vault-Tec ghoul. Judging from the shocked look on his face though, he'd definitely seen her upset. 'Good,' she thought, 'Maybe it'll teach him to change his attitude a little.' She sighed.
"I don't know... he probably will at some point because Elder Maxson sent us on this mission together..." she ignored Nick's slight huff. "But... I don't really know what kind of a mood he'll be in when he does."
"Well I wouldn't worry about that," Nick said. "He's in Hancock's territory for now, and if he gives you any grief, he'll have both him and me to deal with."
She had a mental image of Danse in his power armor - Nick hanging from one arm and Hancock hanging from the other - with Danse trying to shake them both off. She snickered and waved Nick off as he walked out of the bar.
Nick exited to the street and started walking in the direction of The Memory Den. He stopped short when he spotted Danse outside The Hotel Rexford, pacing like a caged animal. Occasionally the soldier would stop and change direction, heading towards The Third Rail... but then turn and head back towards the hotel, stop, rub the back of his head (well... hood) in what looked like frustration, and start pacing all over again.
As Nick watched him with interest, he heard a familiar gravelly voice behind him. "Valentine... should I be worried about our 'tin can' friend, here?"
Nick turned to see Hancock stop at his side, his eyes on Danse.
"I heard he put on a bit of a show at the Rexford when he saw you there," the ghoul said.
Nick scoffed as he looked back towards Danse as well. "I'd probably be a pile of ashes on the hotel lobby floor if Nora hadn't stopped him."
"Nora... that's the vault dweller that was with him?"
Nick nodded. "She's his new 'Knight', apparently."
Hancock looked slightly appalled. "No way, she's one of them?" Nick nodded again as Hancock grunted. "Oh man... well, I did tell her everyone was welcome here. I just hope he doesn't cause any more scenes."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Nick said. "Nora's a lot tougher than she looks, and a good judge of character. Our soldier here might be a little... rough around the edges-" Hancock snorted at this, "-but she wouldn't be giving him the time of day if there weren't any redeeming qualities there." He watched Danse stop and rub his head again and sighed. "...Guess I should 'nudge' him in Nora's direction so we can get the meet-and-greet with Amari over with."
Hancock chuckled and patted Nick on the back. "Godspeed, Valentine. I don't envy that conversation."
He nodded at Nick and headed back towards his office, as Nick reluctantly headed over in Danse's direction.
Danse had just begun pacing again for what felt like the hundredth time, oblivious to the drifters outside the hotel giving him shifty-eyed, suspicious looks. He knew he needed to talk to Knight Taylor, to straighten things out between them one way or other, but he was at a bit of a loss right now. He couldn't help how he felt about ghouls - he did find them dangerous, like ticking time bombs waiting to go off. They shouldn't exist - the risk was too great. It was what the Brotherhood had taught him, and it made sense to him. So why was he the 'bad guy'?
...But he also couldn't stop seeing Knight Taylor's face in his mind, full of pain and sadness, tears leaking from her eyes. It gave him an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.
Suddenly he spotted the synth detective walking over to him slowly. He froze and straightened up. He wasn't about to pull out his rifle again, but it didn't mean he approved of its presence any more, either.
The synth looked at him for a moment with its abnormal yellow eyes.
"...It's 'Danse', right?" it... 'he' asked.
Danse nodded stiffly. There was another awkward pause as they just stared at each other, each not quite sure what to say. The synth sighed.
"Look... I know we're not going to be 'best friends' or anything like that. And given your background, I don't expect you to fully trust me. But Nora trusts you, and... that's good enough for me. So... I expect you're wondering where she is." He paused, his eyes narrowing a little bit. "Of course, if you're just going to yell at her... maybe I 'forgot' where she is at the moment."
Danse frowned, not liking the disapproval in the synth's voice. He opened his mouth to argue, then hesitated and sighed, feeling defeated and tired.
"...I just want to talk to her," he finally said.
Nora was still sitting on the couch in the back of The Third Rail, listening to the music when Danse approached her.
She tensed up when she saw him, fully expecting a lecture. Instead, she was surprised to see that he looked a little... remorseful. He shifted in his power armor uncomfortably for a moment, then cleared his throat.
"Soldier. Is there... somewhere we could talk?" he asked her. "Somewhere... a little more candid, perhaps?"
She thought for a moment, then nodded as she stood and led him out of the bar.
Back at the Hotel Rexford, she sat on the edge of the bed in their hotel room and looked up at him, unsure of what to say. Danse paced around the room and rubbed the back of his hooded head, doubtful of how to approach the situation himself. She sighed softly and began to squirm. This was getting a little more drawn out than she was comfortable with, and if they wanted to get this mission completed today, maybe she should initiate the conversation.
"Look, Danse..." she started slowly.
He stopped pacing and looked at her, grateful that she had started speaking.
"I... I know how you - and probably the whole Brotherhood - feel about synths and ghouls," she said. "The non-feral kind. You're all very... 'logical', in your own way. And I understand why you think that they might be dangerous. But..." she looked up at him. "...ghouls that aren't feral are still people. They're no more dangerous than any other person that could decide to take up a weapon and start attacking someone. Most just... want to live their lives like anyone else. That ghoul from earlier - the one from Vault-Tec..." She paused, remembering the sadness that had been clear on his irradiated face. "He didn't do anything bad to anyone. He'd just gone to work that morning, done his job, and then... had to watch the world as he knew it end. And to top it all off... he was completely alone for almost the entire time after that. No family. No friends. No anyone. " She looked up at him.
"...Can you imagine what it would be like to feel so alone?"
Danse almost flinched and hoped that she hadn't noticed. He was silent for a long moment before he nodded, so slightly that Nora almost missed it. He froze for a moment and she raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was what she'd said that had Danse looking so conflicted, before he turned and went to the corner of the room with his back to her. She watched him, confused for a moment, until she heard a metallic hiss as the back of Danse's power armor opened up and he stepped out of it, wearing an orange Brotherhood uniform. He turned back towards her, then walked over to the bed and sat down on the opposite corner from her.
Nora stared at him the entire time, almost having forgotten that there was a person in there under all that metal. And... huh.
...Not that she ever expected Danse to have a 'beer gut' or be skinny, but... she also hadn't expected him to be so... big.
...Muscular.
She almost jumped when she heard Danse sigh, shaken out of her slight stupor. She blinked and scolded herself mentally. 'Good God, Nora… get a grip, for crying out loud...'
Danse looked over at her - Why was she looking at him like that? Wait, no... focus - and cleared his throat gently. "Knight Taylor... this isn't a formal meeting. I... simply want to clear the air."
She nodded and waited for him to continue.
"...I grew up alone in the Capital Wasteland. Spent most of my childhood picking through the ruins and selling scrap. When I was a bit older, and had a few caps to my name, I moved into Rivet City and opened a junk stand. I had things a lot harder before I joined up with the Brotherhood of Steel."
Nora was dumbfounded. She didn't know what she'd been expecting from Danse, but it sure as hell wasn't... that.
"So when you ask me about being alone... yes. I can imagine. I mean..." he shrugged. "Obviously not for 200 years, but... sometimes it sure felt that way. Look..." he turned towards her a little more. "I still stand by my beliefs. I still find ghouls dangerous, and I'm inclined to not exactly be warm towards your synth... companion. But...I also think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot when we first met, and I feel like I owe you an apology. Expecting you to embrace the standards of the Brotherhood without having a history with us was... unfair. And given that you've adjusted so well to our beliefs - mostly," he added at the end, shooting her a knowing look, "I don't think I needed to push so hard."
She opened her mouth to speak, but was still a bit thrown for a loop and faltered for a moment. He was apologizing?
"Are you worried that I'm going to quit the Brotherhood?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, I just felt it was the right thing to do. And while I can't make any promises, I will... try to rein it in with my comments around and about civilians." He took a deep breath and continued.
"When I was an Initiate, my sponsor was Paladin Krieg. Toughest squad leader I ever served with. He was a model soldier, embodying the values every trainee striving to achieve. Fiercely loyal, secure in his beliefs, and brave to a fault. From the moment I was assigned to his squad, I was singled out. It felt like he was pushing me harder than the rest of the team. I fought by his side for years and we had some seriously close calls, but he never explained to me why I was treated that way."
"...Did you ever ask him why?"
"I'd considered it - but unfortunately, I never had the chance. After I was promoted to Paladin and I had moved on to my own squad, I received word that Krieg was killed at Adams Air Force Base."
Nora's face fell at his expression. "I'm... so sorry."
He sighed and looked down. "The news was like being kicked in the stomach. I mean, I'd lost some of my brothers and sisters before, but his death... well, it really got to me. It's taken me a long time to realize it, but the reason Krieg was so tough on me is the same reason I'm so tough on you." He looked up at her again. "It's because I believe in you... and I don't want to see any of your potential go to waste."
Nora was quiet, touched by his words.
He was silent himself for a moment, then stood up. "Well... I've said what I had to say, and I hope that it meant something to you. I... trust you'll keep this in confidence, of course. Some of that information was of a personal nature, and well... I'd like to keep it that way."
She nodded as he walked back over to his power armor, then she chuckled. "You know... I've never seen you out of your power armor before. I was beginning to think it was fused to your body or something."
Danse climbed back in and gave her a small smile when he turned around again.
"A good soldier uses every tool to his advantage. Now if you're ready, Knight... I believe we have a mission to complete."
Nick was relieved when Nora finally walked into The Memory Den, Danse close behind her.
'Well... looks like they made up,' he thought dryly. Irma lay on a couch in front of them and directed them downstairs to see Dr. Amari. They headed down to the basement, where there was a woman in a white lab coat with her back turned.
"Doctor Amari?" Nick called out.
"Yes?" The woman turned around and peered at her visitors. "I take it this isn't a social call."
Nora stepped forward. "You're the one who can extract memories from a brain, right?"
Dr. Amari raised an eyebrow. "Normally we only allow our clients to experience their own memories. Now what's this all about?"
"We need a deep dig Amari, but it's not gonna be easy." Nick said. "The perp, Kellogg, is already cold on the floor."
She looked from Nick to Nora again. "Are you two mad? ...Putting aside the fact that you're asking me to defile a corpse, you do realize that the memory simulator requires intact, LIVING brains to function?"
Nora sighed, starting to get a little desperate. "Please... Nick told me you're the only one who can make this work."
"This dead brain had inside knowledge of the Institute, Amari." Nick said. "The biggest scientific secret of the Commonwealth. You need this, and so do we."
Dr. Amari sighed and shook her head. "Fine. I'll take a look, but no guarantees. Do you... have it with you?"
Nora pulled out the component she had taken from Kellogg's corpse. "Here's... what I could find."
Dr. Amari took it and stared at it incredulously. "...What's this? This isn't a brain! This is... wait... that's the hippocampus! And this thing attached to it - a neural interface?"
Nick narrowed his eyes, not having taken a good look at Kellogg's implant before. "Hmm... those circuits look awfully familiar..."
"I'm not surprised," Dr. Amari said. "From what I've seen, all Institute technology has a similar architecture. ...Mr. Valentine, you're an older model synth. You might be compatible. If we're lucky, it should hook right in." She looked at Nora and Danse cautiously. "But even if this works, he would be taking in a tremendous amount of risk. We're talking about wiring something to his brain."
Nora looked at Nick and frowned. She certainly didn't want anything bad happening to him after all he'd done to help her so far. He sensed her hesitation and shook his head.
"Don't worry about me Amari, let's do it."
"Nick... are you sure?" Nora asked hesitantly.
He nodded and smiled to reassure her. "We got a missing kid on the line. That's worth the risk."
She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "...I really appreciate this."
"You can thank me when we've found your son," he chuckled. He turned towards Dr. Amari. "All right, let's do this."
"Whenever you're ready, Mr. Valentine. Just sit down."
He took a seat in a chair by Dr. Amari. "If I start cackling like an old, grizzled mercenary, pull me out, okay?" he quipped.
Dr. Amari moved behind him and started to tinker around with the back of his head. "Let's see here... I need you to keep talking to me, Mr. Valentine. Any slight change in your cognitive functions could be dire. Are you.. feeling any different?"
He winced a little. "There's a lot of flashes... static... I can't make sense of any of it, doc."
"That's what I was afraid of." She frowned and stopped what she was doing to straighten up and look at Nora and Danse. "The mnemonic impressions are encoded. It appears the Institute has one last failsafe. There's a lock on the memories in the implant."
Nora sighed and glanced at Danse. They both seemed to think the same thing: ...Is that it? Her gaze returned to Dr. Amari. "Is Nick gonna be okay?"
"Yes, the connections appear to be stable. Hopefully, it'll be as simple as unplugging the implant once we're done. But that doesn't get around the current problem: the memory encryption is too strong for a single mind, but... what if we used two?" She raised an eyebrow and stared at Nora for a moment.
Danse disliked that.
"...We load both you and Mr. Valentine into the memory loungers. Run your cognitive functions in parallel. He'll act as a host, while your consciousness drives through whatever memories we can find."
Danse hated that.
"Wait a minute," he said, speaking up at last. He gawked at Nora and stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. "Taylor... you can't seriously be considering doing this?"
She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "...I don't think I have much of a choice."
"Of course you have a choice! This is risky for... him," he gestured towards Nick, "and he's a synth. What's going to happen to you if something goes wrong?"
She bit her lip and looked downward. "I understand your concern... but this is our only lead on the Institute right now. I have to at least try. Besides..." she looked up at him again, "we both know being a soldier in the Brotherhood means facing risks on missions sometimes. It's inevitable."
He frowned, realizing she had him there. She turned back to Dr. Amari.
"Any idea of... what I'm going to see in there?"
The doctor shook her head. "I have no clue... but considering we have only a single piece of the medial temporal lobe, and not the whole brain, I doubt it'll be... cohesive."
Nora took a deep breath, then nodded. "All right... let's get started."
"Just sit down over there, and... keep your fingers crossed."
"See you on the other side," Nick murmured as he got up from the chair and climbed into the second memory lounger.
Nora moved over to the first lounger and sat down inside. Danse stopped her before she pulled the cover down.
"Taylor -"
She looked up at him and he hesitated for a moment before swallowing nervously. "Just... be careful, soldier."
She stared at him for a moment, then smiled softly and nodded as she pulled the lounger closed.
He moved over to stand beside Dr. Amari at the control panel, which monitored both her and Nick's vitals as well as showed what Nora would be seeing on a screen in front of them.
"Initiating brain-wave migration between the transplant and the host," Dr. Amari said as she got the machines started. "...Mnemonic activity coming from the transplant! It's degenerated, but... it's there!"
As Nora stared at the screen in front of her and waited for something to happen, she heard Dr. Amari's voice. "We're going to load you into the strongest memories we can find. They might not be stable... just hold on!"
Everything seemed to go completely white as the machine started to do its thing. After a moment, things went dark again as Nora saw unclear shapes in front of her, brief flashes of light... it was difficult to make anything out at first. She heard Dr. Amari's voice again.
"Can you hear me? Ah, good. The simulation appears to be working, although the memories are quite fragmentary. I'll try to step you through the intact memories, and hope we find one that gives us some clue to the Institute's location."
Nora meanwhile tried to navigate her way through the darkness on her end, trying to find anything that might make sense or resemble a memory.
"...There... this is the earliest intact memory I can find," Dr. Amari said.
As a scene came into view, she saw a boy sitting on a bed reading comics and a woman - most likely the boy's mother - sitting on a chair by the bed reading a book. A man banged on the bedroom door, yelling at the other two abusively.
Nora tensed as she heard a different man's voice speak, as if to her.
'Mom knew how it was. She wasn't soft, but... she loved me in her way.'
She wondered if Dr. Amari had seen any change in her vitals, because she heard the doctor's voice next.
"Remember - you're experiencing these memories as Kellogg. This may prove disorienting at first."
The man's voice... it had been familiar to her - it must have been Kellogg's thoughts of his own memories.
"This doesn't seem to be what we're looking for," Dr. Amari said. "There appears to be another intact memory close to you in temporal sequence... there. Try that one."
Suddenly Nora saw a younger Kellogg and a woman in an apartment, along with a baby in a crib. ...A baby. ...Kellogg had been a father. And a husband. She felt a flash of anger. He'd once had the very things that he had taken from her.
'I was the worst thing that ever happened to her...' Kellogg's voice said.
She navigated through a few different memories of Kellogg's, each time hearing his thoughts and feelings on the matter.
Kellogg carrying a gun and kicking in a door, a voice taunting him about his family 'dying like dogs' (so... he had lost his family too...)... Kellogg in a bar, agreeing to do mercenary work... Kellogg meeting with a woman from the Institute, surrounded by Gen 1 synths, negotiating caps for his services...
"We're running out of brain here..." Dr. Amari was saying. "Ah, there's one that looks mostly intact. Connecting now."
She saw Kellogg and two Institute scientists in decontamination suits, standing in what looked like... some kind of...
"Manual override initiated." A robotic voice announced. "Cryogenic stasis suspended."
...Oh no... no. Not this...
Danse frowned beside Dr. Amari. These memories of - Kellogg, was his name? They didn't seem to really be getting them anywhere. Kellogg's inner thoughts didn't reveal too much to help them... even the memory of his first meeting with the Institute hadn't told them much.
He sighed as they got to the next memory, Kellogg and two Institute scientists in decontamination suits - one typing on a wall terminal as the other two stood waiting. It looked like they were standing in some kind of... vault.
"Manual override initiated." A robotic voice said. "Cryogenic stasis suspended."
'...Cryogenic?' Danse thought. 'Wait. Isn't that...' ...Cyrogenic pods. ...In a vault. His eyes widened a little as the realization suddenly hit him. '...Oh no...'
Nora watched as one of the Institute scientists typed on a terminal while Kellogg and the other scientist waited impatiently. The typing scientist finally said, "Pod C6. Down the hall, near the end."
'I didn't know then who it was we were grabbing from the Vault.' Kellogg's thoughts said. 'Of course... neither did they. Not really. I never knew why we didn't just refreeze the rest of them... but we had our orders. I guess the old man didn't want so many loose ends. Too bad he left alive the one person he shouldn't have.'
Kellogg and the scientist not typing on the terminal walked down the row of cryopods. As Nora passed each one, she could see the other vault residents inside, slowly awakening and becoming aware of their surroundings. They appeared how she remembered feeling back then - confused, scared.
Kellogg pulled his pistol out of his jacket. Things seemed to happen in slow motion after that.
Him and the scientist stopped near the end of the row. On one side was Nate, holding Shaun in his arms. On the other was Nora, who had just regained consciousness and was starting to pound on the cryopod glass.
"This is the one. Here." said the scientist, pointing at Nate's pod.
Kellogg turned to glance at the Nora still in the other pod.
'Even then... I knew it was a mistake leaving her alive,' he thought. 'I understood that kind of revenge. No one better. But I was cocky enough to assume I could handle some soft prewar vault dweller, even if she somehow got thawed out. ...At least I know those Institute bastards will soon get what's coming to them, too. If she could take me out... they won't be able to hide from her for long.'
Nora's heart felt like it was hammering in her chest, knowing what was coming and desperate to not relive it again.
Danse was livid. He glared at Dr. Amari, beginning to panic."You have to get her out of there - now!"
"I can't!" exclaimed Dr. Amari. "Putting aside the fact that we haven't found what we're looking for, if I pull either of them out right now without warning, I could damage either of their brains or even kill them. There's nothing I can do right now, I'm sorry - the memory has to run its course."
Danse turned to look from Nora's vitals to Nora herself. Her blood pressure was accelerating rapidly and he could see tears beginning to run down her cheeks. He squeezed his hands into fists, willing himself to stay calm. It was all he could do not to get her out of that damn thing himself.
Kellogg turned back to Nate's pod. "Open it," he told the scientist.
The scientist activated the switch on Nate's pod and the door opened up. Nate coughed as he reawakened and a soft cry come from Shaun in his arms.
"Is it over?" Nate asked weakly. "...Are we okay?"
"Almost," Kellogg answered him. "Everything's going to be fine."
'You liar!' Nora wanted to scream.
"You have to get her out of there - now!"
She thought she heard a familiar voice speak, sounding very far away, but she was once again drawn back to the horrific scene unfolding in front of her.
The scientist reached out for Shaun. "Come here, baby..."
Nate pulled him back protectively. "No, wait. No... I've got him!"
Kellogg raised his pistol, and Nora saw the cryopod-Nora pounding hard on the thick glass window now, yelling from inside her pod.
"Let the boy go," Kellogg told Nate menacingly, as the scientist tried to wrestle Shaun from Nate's arms. "I'm only gonna tell you once!"
Nate was frantic, trying to keep hold of their son. "I'm not giving you Shaun!" The fear and desperation in his voice was like a dagger in Nora's heart.
Kellogg fired once, right into Nate's chest - killing him instantly.
"Nooooooo!" Cryopod-Nora screamed hysterically, her cries muffled by the window. Shaun wailed as the scientist took him from her husband's dead arms.
"Goddammit! Get the kid out of here, and let's go..." Kellogg turned and looked right at cryopod-Nora, who was still screaming and beating on the glass with everything in her, tears streaming down her face. He smiled sadistically.
"At least we still have the backup."
"Cryogenic sequence reinitialized," a robotic voice said, as the other scientist typed at the terminal and activated the cryopods again.
The Nora in the cryopod gradually stopped slamming her fists on the glass as she became frozen once more, icy tears stuck on her face.
Kellogg and the other scientists headed out of the vault with Shaun.
After a pause that felt as if it lasted forever, Nora heard Dr. Amari's voice.
"...I'm, uh... I'm sorry you had to go through that again. I've found another intact memory. ...Whenever you're ready."
Nora didn't know if she even wanted to see any more... but if she didn't, she might never see Shaun again, so she forced herself to press forward.
The next scene was the inside of a familiar looking house... where had she seen this before? She suddenly realized she was in Kellogg's house in Diamond City - the one she had examined with Nick for clues.
As the scenery became clearer, she felt like she was hit by a wall - there, sitting on the floor, was a boy of about 10 years old. He had Nate's facial features, but... he definitely had Nora's green eyes. She felt tears pricking her eyes again. Was this... Shaun?
"Is that... your son?" Dr. Amari said. "This appears to be a very recent memory, so... good news, I think."
Kellogg himself was sitting in a chair near Shaun, watching him play.
'It wasn't my idea to settle down with the kid in the middle of Diamond City. I thought it was a terrible idea, actually,' his thoughts said. 'But it was one of the old man's pet projects, so here we were. Me and the kid, like a happy little family. I ended up kind of liking it. A reminder of what my life might have been if things had... turned out differently. But there's no going back. I knew it was just temporary, and it would be back to normal business before too long.'
A dark-skinned man entered the house, wearing sunglasses and a long black trench coat. Kellogg's thoughts identified this man as a synth - a 'Courser' to be specific, whatever that was.
"New orders for you," the synth said. "One of our scientists has left the Institute. He's gone rogue. Dr. Brian Virgil. We know he's hiding somewhere in the Glowing Sea. Here's his file."
Kellogg took it from the synth and looked it over. "Capture and return, or just elimination?"
"Elimination. He was working on a highly classified program."
"No kidding. One of the top Bioscience boys? Damn. So... I guess you're taking the kid back with you."
"Affirmative. Your only mission is to locate and eliminate Virgil."
Shaun looked up at the synth. "You're taking me home to my father?"
Nora wanted to scream at this. Lying bastards! Your father was murdered by these people! And that place is not your home!
"Yes," the synth said. "Stand next to me and hold still." When Shaun had done so, the synth seemed to speak to no one in particular out loud. "X6-88, ready to relay with Shaun."
Shaun turned towards Kellogg. "Bye Mr. Kellogg! I hope I'll see you again sometime!"
With a flash of light and what looked like crackling electricity, they both disappeared into thin air.
"Teleportation!" called out Dr. Amari's voice. "Now it all makes sense. Nobody's found the entrance to the Institute because there IS no entrance. Let me pull you out of there. As soon as you're ready..."
Danse sighed with relief. They'd finally found the answer they were looking for, and now Dr. Amari could finally get Nora out of that damn machine. He waited for the door to the memory lounger to open... but it continued to stay shut. He glanced at Dr. Amari, confused.
"...What's taking so long?" he asked impatiently.
Dr. Amari frowned. "There's... one last memory coming through. I thought we were finished, but I can't seem to stop this one..."
They both looked at the monitor with baited breath.
Kellogg stepped out from behind a bunch of machinery, a few Gen 2 synths with him, pointing their Institute rifles at someone. They appeared to be in... some kind of fort.
"And there she is... the most resilient person in the Commonwealth," he said wryly. "Funny... I thought I had that honor. You came a looong way. Let's hear it."
A distance away, there stood Nora in her blue vault suit - the laser rifle Danse had given her pointed right back at Kellogg. Her face looked absolutely murderous as she glared daggers at him. Nick trailed behind her, also aiming a pistol at him.
"...You murdering, kidnapping psychopath!" She hissed at Kellogg, acid dripping from every syllable. "Give me my son! Give me Shaun! NOW!"
He looked mildly amused, which only seemed to enrage her more. "Hmph. Lady... I'm just a puppet like you. My stage is a little bigger, that's all."
"Enough," she spat. "Just... where is my baby?"
"Shaun's a good kid," he replied. "So maybe he's not quite a 'baby' anymore. But he's doing great. Only... he's not here. He's with the people pulling the strings. If you're hoping for a happy reunion..." he shook his head. "...Ain't gonna happen, pal."
Nora was clearly reaching the end of her patience, her hands starting to shake a little. "Goddammnit, you mercenary motherfucker... Where. Is. My. Son?"
Kellogg seemed very unmoved by her words. "What's the cliché? 'So close... but yet so far away'? That's Shaun. But don't worry - you'll die knowing he's safe, and happy. ...Bit older than you expected, but ah well. At least he's in a loving home... The Institute."
"So where is it, huh? This... 'Institute'? How do I get there?"
He laughed cruelly. "Haven't you been paying attention? You don't 'find' The Institute... The Institute finds you. You open the closet... it's just a closet. You never find the monster that lives inside. ...Not until it jumps out at you."
Nora scoffed bitterly. "Here. The 'Institute'... I'll find my son no matter where he is."
He smiled. "Heh! That's the spirit. You know... you surprise me, I have to admit. I find myself actually kind of... liking you. I admire your dedication to motherhood - even if it is ultimately useless. But I think we've been talking long enough... we both know how this has to end. So... you ready?"
She took a deep breath, her eyes boring into his. "You know... in a hundred years, when I finally die, I only hope I go to hell so I can kill you all over again, you piece of shit."
The screen finally went white at the exact moment that Nora, Kellogg, and Nick all raised their weapons, as the doors to the memory loungers finally opened.
"...Slow movements, okay?" Nora head Dr. Amari say to her as she sat up. "I don't know what kind of side effects the procedure might have had. No one's ever... done this before. How do you feel?"
'Like a truck ran me over... then reversed and drove over me again.'
She shook her head slightly, trying to shake off the migraine she was starting to get. She wobbled a little as she stood up and felt strong metal hands on her arms. Looking up, she saw Danse standing over her, a worried look on his face. "I'm... okay, doctor. Thank you," she murmured. She realized there were tears on her cheeks and tried to nonchalantly rub them away, her face flushing a little in embarrassment.
"That's good, but I want you to keep monitoring yourself," Dr. Amari said. "We have to be sure there's no long-term damage. Are you... ready to talk about what happened in there?"
Nora really didn't feel like talking about it much. "You were along for the ride. You saw what I saw."
Dr. Amari nodded and looked sympathetic. "Yes... but it's important we review everything together, in case either of us missed anything."
Nora sighed and lowered her head as she thought back. "We got what we needed. The Institute uses teleportation to get in and out."
"Yes. Their greatest secret has finally been revealed. But that only leads to more questions. How does it work? Where do we go next?" The doctor wondered.
They were all silent for a minute, then Danse spoke up. "That scientist Kellogg was supposed to track down - Virgil. We need to find him."
"You're right!" Dr. Amari said. "A rogue scientist could answer all kinds of questions. I didn't know an Institute scientist could defect. Where did the memory say he was? The Glowing Sea? That doesn't make sense. No one goes there. Not even if they were desperate."
"Why?" Nora asked, looking up at her again. "What makes the Glowing Sea so dangerous?"
"The name says it all - radiation. So much that nothing could possibly live. Nothing... pleasant. Navigating radioactive hazards is nothing new, but the Glowing Sea can kill a man in seconds. That's why it doesn't make sense, Virgil fleeing into that hell. The exposure alone..."
Nora contemplated this for a moment. "That's why he's there - to make the Institute think twice about following him. If we need to find Virgil, then I'm going after him."
Danse's gaze snapped over to her. "Not alone, you're not."
"If you're going to go, be prepared," said Dr. Amari. "You'll need some way to combat the radiation there. There are chemical compounds - Rad-X, RadAway... You'd need as much as you can carry. Maybe more. A sealed environment suit would be great, if you can find one. Or maybe..." she looked over at Danse and raised her eyebrows. "...one of those suits of power armor? That would be perfect. It's called the Glowing Sea for a reason."
Nora nodded. "We'll find a way to get through the rads. Don't worry."
"Good luck, and... be safe. By the way, I unplugged Mr. Valentine first. Removed the implant while you were waking up. He's waiting for you upstairs."
When Danse was sure Nora could walk just fine on her own, he followed her back upstairs to see Nick sitting by the entrance.
Nick looked up at them as they approached, a strange expression on his face.
"Hope you got what you were looking for inside my head," he said, his voice suddenly not his own. Nora's blood ran cold. "Heh heh... I was right... I should've killed you while you were on ice."
Danse instinctively pushed Nora behind him and reached for his laser rifle as she cautiously peered around him at Nick.
"...Kellogg? Is that you?" she asked cautiously.
Nick blinked and looked at her behind Danse, confusion coming across his face. "What? What are you talking about?"
Danse slowly lowered the hand reaching for his rifle again and Nora sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. "...You sounded like Kellogg just then."
Nick's eyebrows rose. "Did I? Hmm... Amari said there might be some 'mnemonic impressions' left over... anyway, I feel fine. Let's get going."
He stood up and Danse opened his mouth to argue, but Nora put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head, so he reluctantly shut it again.
"Actually Nick... I'm really kind of beat. If it's all right with you guys - I'd kind of like to get some rest, and then -" she turned towards Danse. "-we can head out tomorrow and report back to Elder Maxson on what we found."
Danse nodded. "Affirmative. A good night's rest might be just what we need to clear our heads."
Nick nodded as well. "In that case, I'll head back to Diamond City and seek out Piper. Maybe she found out some useful information on the Institute while we were gone. If you need anything from me, just let me know."
They all said their goodbyes. Nora was somewhat pleased that Danse was at least tolerating Nick's presence without scowling (much), and after exiting the Memory Den, she and Danse headed back to the Hotel Rexford while Nick headed out of Goodneighbor.
END NOTE:
A couple quick things:
- Yeah, I used a couple speeches from Nick and Danse. With Danse especially, I kinda sliced a couple things together, but obviously more of his backstory will come around again later.
- The whole 'Memory Den' sequence: yeah, I cut some stuff out and played around with it a little. I figure almost everyone knows how this scene went down at this point, so the extra little details weren't needed as much if everyone already knows what happened. Hope I did it okay.
- As you see, I also added Kellogg's 'final memory' to the sequence. I know why they didn't have it in the game (obviously they weren't going to have the player go through the same whole scene twice), but I thought it would be kind of a neat touch to allow Danse to see Nora at her worst (so far, lol).
Coming Up soon: 'The Lost Patrol' - what happened to Recon Squad Artemis? ;-)
(...Yes, I know it's out of order from the game - just enjoy anyway, lol.)
