"Well look who it is!" A woman with stringy, murky brown hair greets us as we walk across a large puddle of water. "It's good to see you again!"

"Hello, Sister Layla.." Blade weakly returns the greeting, leaning on me more after the climb down the crater wall.

"Oh! You're injured! We should get you to Mother Isolde right away!" She takes my blond companion from me and leads her inside the metal structure near by. "Mother Isolde! Can you please get the first aid kit?"

I quiety follow them, unsure of my surroundings. It feels as though no one really sees me. They ignore me as I walk by them; It's unsettling to say the least.

"Come in, quickly now!" I hear another voice say as I approach the door. Before I can go inside the door closes, leaving me outside of the shack. Behind the metal door I can hear them fussing over Blade's wound, though she does her best to keep a tough appearance. I sigh and look around again, feeling a bit bored now that I'm on my own.

I wander away from the small cluster of metal and wood structures, towards bubbling puddles of a radioactive soup. There are some people kneeling by the larger puddle, mumbling words together to form a jumbled mix of syllables. I've never seen such strange behavior before, it's kind of silly the way they bow and pray to a pool of bright green water. A man hears me walk up beside them and he stops his praying to look up at me. I notice the man beside him look up too, but he quickly goes back to his worshiping. "Hello, my name is Brother Achim." He smiles softly as he gets to his feet. Comparing him to everyone else living in this hole in the ground, he appears to be the healthiest. His hair is thick and well-groomed, though what I'm assuming is a natural golden color looks sickly when surrounded in the green glow of radiation. "Let's go talk somewhere more private, you seem to be… lonely." He offer me his hand, which I hesitantly accept. We stroll around to the other side of the puddle and end up at a small, empty sitting area by one of the walls surrounding the settlement. "So you are here with Blade?"

"Yes. I've been traveling with her for about three days now." I sit on the log and he joins me, taking the spot to my left. "But she got injured on our way here. I certainly hope we don't end up stuck here for a few days."

"As I heard. This part of the wasteland is a dangerous place. But right now, it's the same story all over the Commonwealth. There isn't a safe space in the world."

"You really think so? The Minutemen seem like they are helping a lot from what I've seen, but that's mostly thanks to Blade."

He nods and sighs. "But you weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, no. I'm totally fine."

"You're not human, are you?"

"Wha-" I pause and blink a few times before letting out my own sigh. "I mean, technically, I guess not…"

"You're a Synth then, correct?"

"Yes.. Blade is helping me to escape the Institute right now."

"She helped me here too. I'm assuming she is going to take you to the woman who can change your memories then?"

"I guess so. But I'm not sure I want to lost what few memories I have."

"You don't have to if you stay here, you know?"

"No I don't know."

He lets out a soft chuckle. "I've only been here for a couple of weeks. It takes awhile for them to get used to you, and it took me awhile to get used to them too. But you could stay and not worry about changing your memories at all!"

"You really think so? I'm not sure I would be happy here."

"Well I'm sure you'll have some time to think about it. Who knows, maybe we could leave and just live somewhere else in the Glowing Sea. Not many people wander in here and I doubt the Institute would dare to tread on this land. We'll be safe."

"Let me ask Blade, I'm sure she knows what's best."

"If you say so. I wanted you to know all your options. Being familiar with the process, it can be tough. Especially with Brotherhood and Institute starting to crack down on the Railroad more."

I nod and stay in my spot as he gets up to leave. "Thank you for the help."

"No problem. And if you're still stuck here later and you're still bored, feel free to come talk to me again."

"Right." I watch him leave and rub my arms. Just to be honest, that guy gives me the creeps. The way he knew I'm a Synth just by looking at me sent a shocking shiver down my spine. "I hope Blade heals up soon. I want to get out of here."