Chapter Eight
Getting A Clue
On my way to Diamond City, I thought about how funny it was that my life was now basically a route of Cambridge-Boston-Cambridge-Boston. Not that I had much of a choice - Paladin Danse had practically thrown me out of the police station, saying something about how I've got my own problems. To be honest, I thought he was afraid he would have to give me some food rations. I had tried to convince myself that they weren't starving, but it hadn't prevented me from leaving a two hundred years old can of food on Scribe Haylen's desk. Hopefully, she would know how best to divide it.
The gates to Diamond City were open this time - another argument for my theory that they had been closed simply to keep Piper out. I was glad I had helped her get in after all. It wasn't fair to banish her simply because of her job - the mayor seemed like some kind of despot from where I was standing.
"Hey, Blue!" I heard the journalist's voice as soon as I entered the city.
"You're always there when something happens, aren't you?" I asked, walking up to her.
"Part of my job," she shrugged. "Goodness, Blue. I didn't think you would actually survive. And Nick's back in town too, so I take it you saved him."
"You could say that, yeah." I adjusted my military backpack on my shoulders as we walked further into the city. "You could have mentioned a few details about Mr Valentine, though. For example, I don't know, that he's not human."
"I assumed you knew," Piper answered, and she sounded so honest that I simply had to believe her. "Sorry about that." She gestured to herself with a small laugh. "Still not used to people from outside DC."
DC. I almost wanted to laugh out loud. I had been used to thinking of this as an abbreviation for Washington (or the 'Capital Wasteland', as it was now called) but I reckoned the initials fit for Diamond City as well. Funny.
Piper took a step back to get a better look at me.
"By the way, you look different," she noticed. "Happier. Has something happened?"
"You could say that... I just realized that life and love go on."
"You've fallen in love, then?" She raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't get me wrong, but I don't think there was enough time for that."
"No," I laughed. Of course, I had meant Scribe Haylen - but that was something Piper couldn't possibly know about. "No, I just... I'm happy." I realized that this didn't explain anything, but I didn't know how else to describe the way I was feeling.
"You're one big mystery, Blue, has anyone ever told you that?"
"No," I replied honestly. "You're the first one. People usually tell me I'm too straightforward, not the other way around."
We got to the city's market and I took off my backpack to pull out the pouch I used for carrying money - I mean, bottlecaps. Which were money.
"I need some of those 'power noodles'," I explained to Piper. "I'm starving. Well, not actually starving - although the guys I've given my food to were. But I sure am hungry."
She just looked at me.
"You've given your food to some people in the Wasteland?" She repeated. "I can't believe that I have to explain this to you, Blue, but generosity doesn't exactly pay off in this world. It's only a way to get yourself killed."
I shrugged. I didn't want to talk about the soldiers right now - food was more important.
I bought a bowl of noodles - it turned out they cost five bottlecaps each, so there was an information of how the value of money stood. I finished eating in less than two minutes and immediately ordered another portion.
As I ate my breakfast/brunch/lunch, Piper filled me in on the outcomes of my yesterday's work. Darla and Valentine had reached Diamond City only an hour before me, so I reckoned they must have spent the night on sleeping too. (If Nick Valentine did sleep at all - I still wasn't sure what kind of creature he was. I also had a feeling that asking again would be considered rude.) Valentine had delivered Darla home to her parents, who were more relieved to see their daughter again than angry at her for running away in the first place.
"Also, Nick has been waiting for you." Piper took a sip from the bottle of cola she had pulled out of her messenger bag while I was eating. "Said something about the price of gratitude or something like that. You know what he meant?"
"Yep." I pulled some hair away from my face. (Maybe Sturges was right and it was a bit long. I didn't feel like cutting it, though.) "Thanks, Piper."
"If you don't mind the company, I'd rather come with you." She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and offered me a wide grin that said 'trouble'. "You are the best story I've seen in the Commonwealth in my entire life. I want to be there when something happens around you."
I spread my arms. "I don't think you'd take 'no' for an answer, would you?"
"You're not getting rid of me." Piper bit her lower lip, trying to fight off a smug smirk. "So if I were you, I'd get used to my company."
"Seriously." I sighed. "Fine. When I'll be leaving Diamond City, I'll let you know so you can come with me. For now, I've got to..."
"Yeah, I know. Best not to keep old Valentine waiting." She laughed in a friendly manner. "And Blue... Be nice to him, alright? Nicky's a good person."
"Sure," I assured her. "No racism. I get it."
"Racism," Piper repeated. "Oh boy, that's one way to put it. Anyway, I'll see you around!"
I waved her goodbye, still smiling. I guess I've made a friend, then. The feeling was nice.
I walked to the Valentine Detective Agency, humming America the Beautiful under my nose. I have to admit that I got lost a few times on my way there - as impressive as a city built inside a baseball stadium was, it wasn't easy to navigate. It didn't help that most houses were the size of a single room, which only magnified the clutter.
"Nora!" I heard someone call out my name. I looked around and finally spotted Nick Valentine waving at me. I walked up to him nervously.
"Sorry about that," I said. "Still getting lost in all those alleys and everything." I laughed.
"Diamond City's not the best-organized town I've ever seen," he admitted. "But they don't call it the great, green jewel for nothing." He nodded at the door to his office. "Shall we?"
"You've been waiting outside for me?" I asked flatly. "How long? You didn't have to."
He put his robotic hand on my shoulder. "Just an hour or so. And, judging by your amazing sense of direction, I did have to."
I shook my head, but couldn't argue with the fact that I wasn't the best at making my way through Diamond City. The town was like a maze to me.
He pulled the door open and let me walk inside first. Paladin Danse too, I thought. The world's gone to hell, but at least gentlemen still exist. I looked at Valentine. Well, in some form.
I noticed that Ellie was still looking through the files in the drawer of one of the cabinets. She hadn't noticed us enter.
"The bills," she was murmuring to herself. "Oh, Nick... No, forget the bills. This won't help."
I cleared my throat loudly to get her attention.
"You're back? Any word on-" She turned around and saw both of us standing in the doorway. "Nick!" She cried out and threw herself on him.
"Hey, Ellie." He smiled as she hugged him. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You idiot!" She pushed him away now that the initial relief at seeing him again was gone. "You're not taking any case on your own from now on, understood?"
"What can I say? You know me, Ellie." He shrugged. "And you should be thanking Nora here, to be honest. I'd still be locked up in that metal cage if it weren't for her."
"I didn't do that much," I said modestly. "Just talked some sense into a girl who'd lost it."
"Thank you." Ellie embraced me tightly - though not as tightly as she had Nick. She... liked him, didn't she? As more than just her boss. "Thank you. And I know you didn't do it for money, but..."
I noticed she was trying to push a sack of bottlecaps into my hands.
"I didn't do it for money," I said, refusing to take anything from her. "I'd like it to stay that way."
"This world needs more people like you," Ellie said honestly. "You and Nick are gonna get along so well."
"And speaking of getting along," Valentine cleared his throat, "how about we get along with your case? You mentioned a murder, didn't you?"
"You mentioned a missing child," Ellie added. She must have noticed that my face fell, because she gestured to the couch in the corner. "Maybe you want to sit down?"
"Yeah. Thanks." I took my place on the sofa. It was definitely more comfortable than standing, though had nothing on seats before the War.
Nick Valentine sat down on a chair vis-a-vis the sofa and Ellie took the place by my side. She took out a notebook and a pencil. I assumed that they were only waiting for me now.
"Alright, so... This case is a bit 'different'." I decided it would be best to be out with it as soon as possible. "I have no idea who the murderers are or when the murder actually happened... I can't describe the kidnapped person, because I have no idea how much time has passed... I don't know why anyone would kidnap my boy or... Well, nothing."
"No details, then," Valentine summed up. "Well, I've worked on less."
"Really?" I asked. This sounded promising.
"No," he said flatly. "This is a lost cause."
"Thanks for telling me something I didn't know." I lavished sarcasm.
"But I promised I'd help you, so we're not giving up. Alright?" I nodded. "What can you tell me about the whole thing?"
"They went in, took my son... Killed my husband. One shot from some revolver. Big caliber, one-handed." I closed my eyes, trying to recall that moment without getting too emotional. "There were two of them, a man and a woman. I remembered after they took Shaun, they called me 'the backup'. I don't know what that meant or why..."
Eventually, I told them everything. About Vault 111 and how I had been frozen for over two hundred years, about how I didn't know how much time had passed since Shaun had been taken, about when I had woken up and found out about all of that, and eventually even about how I'd lost all hope for finding him.
They were both silent for a while - but only a short while.
"Well, you are right. This is something different. 'The backup'? Doesn't sound like anything I've heard about so far." Valentine lit a cigarette (and ignored the glare Ellie gave him). "This wasn't just a kidnapping, either. There are plenty of groups in the Commonwealth who take people - raiders, Gunners, most gangs... And, of course, there's the Institute. But kidnapping an infant? Whoever took him was taking all of that care on himself, and a baby needs a lot of it."
"You're not helping me by just speculating," I noticed.
"Oh no. Speculating is the best, believe me." He looked at my unconvinced expression. "You were a lawyer, right? I want you to forget that for a moment. Who cares about the facts? Let's speculate together a bit, shall we?"
'Let's forget about the facts' didn't sound like something that could help me in anything, but I decided to trust his judgement. Nick Valentine was, after all, the best private detective in the Commonwealth. (And the only one.)
"...Fine. So what? You think this whole mystical Institute is responsible for kidnapping my child? Taking that it exists at all."
"I don't know. They're the boogeyman of the Commonwealth - anything goes wrong, everyone blames the Institute. The thing is, aside from the synths they sometimes leave behind, no one really knows what their agenda is or where they are... Hell, I don't know, and I'm a synth myself."
"You're a synth?" I tried not to show how surprised I was. There, mystery solved. Nick Valentine was a robot after all.
"A discarded prototype, but still. Sure am." He raised his eyebrows. "Don't freak out, I don't bite."
"You're... a prototype?" I asked. "How does that work?"
"Well, I just kind of assumed that on my own. Never seen another synth like myself. There's the older metal ones that are dumb as rock and the newer ones that are almost human - and I'm something in between, so... Prototype, the only logical explanation."
"Nick is one of a kind," Ellie smiled. "A good person too, unlike the Institute. Just because he's a synth doesn't mean he's one of them."
She was so into him.
"So... The Institute takes people, right?" I asked, wanting to get back to the subject. "Or people assume that the Institute takes people."
"It's less of 'they're taking people' and more of 'they're kidnapping people and replacing them with synth duplicates', actually." Valentine puffed some cigarette smoke. I wondered if he was smoking only to maintain that 'noir detective' image. "Main reason why folks are afraid of the Institute, to be honest."
"Has something happened?" I asked. A look at their faces was enough of an affirmative answer. "What happened? An incident or...?"
"People prefer to call it 'the Metal Mask'," Ellie explained. "It happened like two years ago..."
"Long story short, there was a synth that looked like a human and it freaked everyone out," Nick stated through gritted teeth. "Look, it doesn't matter what happened. What matters is that the Institute doesn't kidnap people without leaving a little present behind in return. Your kid is gone, not replaced by a synth - it can't be them."
"So we're still in the woods," I summed up.
"Not quite. You mentioned something about how there were two of them, right? Small groups usually mean professional work, so I think we can rule out a random raider attack as well."
"No, not raiders," I agreed. "They broke into a Vault to get us... Get him. They had a specific goal in mind."
"Then why your family?" Ellie narrowed her eyes, looking at the report she was writing as we talked. "You're right, this doesn't make sense. Was there something special about you and your son, something that made you different from everyone else in the Vault?"
"...I don't know," I replied honestly. "I can't think of anything like that. Shaun was a normal kid, we were just an ordinary family."
Valentine stood up angrily and began pacing around the room.
"Did you see either of them? What they looked like?" He asked finally.
"Kind of," I admitted. "But I was frozen again afterwards, so God knows how much time has passed since then."
"I didn't ask how long ago you saw them but if you saw them," he said impatiently.
"I did see the man - the guy who killed my husband. Bald, thick eyebrows, long scar on his left cheek..."
Valentine gaped at me. "It can't be... You didn't hear the name Kellogg at all, did you?!"
"Who?" I asked, hoping for a clarification.
"Conrad Kellogg." Ellie flipped through the pages of her notebook. "The physical description matches. Usually involved in dangerous mercenary work. Ruthless and violent... And no one knows who his employer is."
"Looks like we've found our man, then," I whispered, surprised. This had been much easier than I had expected. "How can I find him?"
"Didn't he buy a house here in Diamond City a while ago?" Valentine narrowed his brows. "And he had a kid with him..."
"Shaun!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. "It's Shaun. It has to be."
"Hold your horses," the detective put a hand on my arm. "The kid with him was like ten years old, and you said you were looking for an infant. That's over nine years' difference by my count."
"But I told you - I was frozen later! I have no idea how much time had passed between the kidnapping and my waking up..." I looked at my hands and clenched them into fists. "It's him, it has to be."
"Alright, tone it down a bit. If he does that kind of thing often, maybe it's somebody else's kid. Or maybe he has a son of his own." Nick shook his head. "You can't just throw accusations left and right."
"The man killed my husband!" I pointed out.
"We assumed he killed your husband. Now remember your being a lawyer, Nora. What should we do?"
I sighed. "Stick to the facts," I mumbled.
"Still," Ellie said, looking at us from over her notebook. "It is the only lead we've got. You should at least check him."
"Alright." Valentine adjusted his fedora on his head. "Might as well - even if it's not connected to this particular case, Kellogg's never been someone I could trust."
"Nick." Ellie grabbed his arm. "Be careful this time."
He gave her a crooked grin.
"Aren't I always?"
He then just walked out of the building. I recalled a similar situation with Scribe Haylen and Paladin Danse, so I quickly took Ellie's hand in one of my own.
"Hey," I said as I looked her in the eyes. "I'll look out for him. Keep him safe and all."
"Thank you," she whispered.
I walked outside, gently closing the door behind me.
"Come on," Valentine nodded his head at me. "The house Kellogg bought is by the wall over there. I don't expect anyone to be home, but be prepared just in case."
"Prepared for what?" I asked. "We just wanna talk."
"The guy is dangerous," the detective reminded me. "He kills people for a living, he's ruthless and brutal. Anything more you need to know?"
"I need to know if he was the one who destroyed my family," I said coldly. Just because I was beginning to set up a new life here, it didn't mean I had forgotten my old one, or that it didn't hurt anymore. It did. Revenge was still the brightest of flames burning within my soul, even if it wasn't the only one anymore.
"Huh... That's strange." Valentine glanced at me, then again at the door of the building he had led me to. "Look at this."
I looked. The door was open - not entirely, of course, but just left ajar. It was also clear that the last person to use it hadn't had a key.
"Someone's busted the lock," I observed aloud. "We're not the first to have come here."
Nick drew the 10mm pistol I had given him (somehow, both of us had forgotten about that. At that point it was his gun already). "Be ready for anything," he said.
"Wait." I nervously took out my laser pistol, the smallest and most discreet-looking firearm I owned. "You think whoever broke in is still inside?"
He gave a quick nod of his head and slowly pushed the door open. It swung quietly, without creaking or anything, and we both aimed our weapons at the person standing in the middle of the room.
"Holy-!" Piper dropped the file she had been holding. "You scared the hell out of me!" She exclaimed.
"Piper? What are you doing here?" Valentine holstered his pistol.
The girl offered us a charming smile.
"The same thing as you two - investigating Nora's case. Kellogg's been known for kidnappings, so I thought I'd poke around. I wanted to pick the lock quietly, but something went a bit wrong..." She shrugged. "Not like anyone lives here anymore either way."
"You're right," I said as I wiped some dust off of a cabinet. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here for a few weeks." I wrinkled my nose, but couldn't suppress a sneeze. "Or hasn't dusted the place, at least."
"Bless you," Valentine muttered. Unlike me and Piper, he had gotten straight to business and was now knocking on the walls with his fist. I didn't know what he was looking for, but I had to give credit where it was due, he did act like a professional.
"Huh." Piper put her hands on her hips as she looked around the house. "Small place. Looked bigger from the outside."
"Exactly," Nick parted with the wall. "It does look bigger from the outside. Nora, try and look for something. Piper, give me that file."
"Look for something like what?" I asked.
"You know, the usual." Piper patted me on the shoulder. "A loose brick, a moving bookcase, an empty closet... Whatever it is people do to cover a secret passage."
I rolled my eyes at that unhelpful advice -the shack's walls were metal, there wasn't a single bookcase in sight, and the only closet was the size of a cupboard.
"Honestly, Nick. I've been searching here for the last fifteen minutes," Piper said while I tried looking for anything suspicious. "The guy's either got nothing to hide, or took it all with him when he left DC."
"It does look like he's clean," I admitted reluctantly. "There's nothing to find here, except for old newspapers."
"He read the Publick, ha!" Piper exclaimed triumphantly, then smiled bashfully when we looked at her. "...Sorry."
"There's got to be something," Valentine shook his head. "The types of Kellogg always have some kind of..."
"I've got something!" Piper said proudly. She was kneeling next to the only desk in the room. "There's some kind of switch here."
"Well, that's it?" I asked. She gave me a look. "Just press it."
We all took a step back when a large section of the wall collapsed, showing another room almost the same size as the rest of the house.
Valentine whistled. "Well, Kellogg sure didn't save on the effects."
I walked into the newly-opened secret room. It was more cluttered than even Piper's office, and most of the clutter were ammo boxes and other containers. There was a fair share of food on the shelves, too - mostly pre-packaged stuff from before the War. The only highlight in all that mess was a small coffee table and a comfy-looking armchair right next to it. Other than that, the room was filled with supplies.
"Looks like someone was preparing for the re-apocalypse," Piper commented.
"Re-apocalypse?" I giggled. "Really?"
"I'm a true wordsmith," she replied with a smug grin. "Nobody's gonna tell me I can't."
"Can't you two focus for a moment," Nick Valentine muttered, but more to himself than to us. "Anything useful here?"
I looked around, but couldn't see anything that could help us get on with the investigation.
"Some ammo... A lot of ammo," I corrected myself. ".44 caliber, if I'm right. Cigars..." I picked one up. "San Francisco Sunlights," I read the name aloud.
"Huh. Interesting brand," Valentine commented.
"Except I doubt an old cigar stump will be enough to help us track him down," I countered.
"It may... I got an idea. I need to call someone in." He chuckled to himself. "A specialist."
I didn't know why he found it funny.
"So who's your friend, Nick?" Piper asked, raising an eyebrow. "Someone I know?"
Valentine shrugged. "Worked with him a few times, but he only likes certain people. Got a feeling you'll get on, though. Just gotta send out a signal." He looked at the two of us. "It's, um... a bit of a different frequency, so you won't probably hear it. But he will, don't worry."
I and Piper exchanged glances when he whistled - true to his word, without making an audible sound. I almost wanted to ask if Nick's friend was another synth. That would make sense - and despite the fear of synths that both Preston Garvey and Paladin Danse had tried to pass upon me, I was actually interested in how an actual, 'proper' synth looked like. It was impossible for a robot to be indistinguishable from a real human, wasn't it? All those people were just being paranoid... Or were they?
"So, what now?" Piper stomped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Because we can't stay too long in a house that looks like it's been broken into."
"It has been broken into," I pointed out. She couldn't resist a chuckle.
"Let's head on outside. We'll wait for my friend there," Nick decided. "And don't worry. He usually doesn't take long."
We walked out of the house, trying not to look suspicious (which was a pretty futile effort because, much to Nick's aggravation, Piper and I had decided to hoard as much of the stuff we had found in Kellogg's armory as we could. As a result, we walked out of the house with me pushing the last ammo box into my backpack and Piper trying to figure out how to comfortably place three boxes of cookies in her bag. Valentine looked like he wanted to be as far away from us as possible).
Piper took out a box of cookies (Fancy Lads Snack Cakes, Nate's favorite - I noted bitterly) and overgenerously decided to share them with me, which resulted in another despaired look from the private detective. She offered him some too, but he dismissed it, saying that he doesn't need to eat.
I had a feeling that Piper had known that already.
"So," she said, her mouth full of food. "Where's your friend, Nick?"
"He should be here any minute... Oh, and speak of the devil, here he is! Prime as always."
We both looked at him, and I couldn't utter a word. Piper seemed as surprised as me, but probably for different reasons.
"Um... Your friend. You know he's a dog, right?" She asked seriously.
Not just any dog, either. I could recognize the animal that had saved my life several times.
"Seriously?" I glared at Dogmeat. "Now you come back?"
"Aw, you know him?" Nick asked as he knelt down to pet the dog's muzzle. The animal cuddled to his hand with an affectionate whimper. "Dogmeat's a hell of an animal. We've worked together on a few cases in the past and he's always been more than helpful."
"I'm trusting my family's future to a dog," I noticed. "That's it. I'm officially crazy."
Piper snickered, but Nick was completely serious.
"I'm telling you, a Commonwealth mutt like him can track a scent for miles," he insisted. "Let's give him one of Kellogg's things."
I sighed. "Fine." I crouched in front of the dog. "Hey there, Dogmeat. Remember me?" He licked my hands and I couldn't resist a smile. "Of course you do. Who's a good boy?" I scratched him behind the ear. "Alright, I need to you do something for me." I pulled out the cigar stump and let him have a good sniff. I stood up. "Think you can track down someone who smokes these?"
Dogmeat barked enthusiastically, looked at us, wagged his tail, and set off in the general direction of the city center.
"I'm not even sure if he understood you or just ignored you," Piper commented.
"Thanks for filling me with even more hope for this insane plan," I said, not saving on sarcasm. "I am feeling so confident right now."
"Hey, both of you. Have a little faith in my friend here," Valentine said in defense of the dog. "That nose is second to none. He'll find our man."
"Or he'll find the nearest person who smokes San Francisco Sunlights," I noticed. "Because that's the biggest flaw of this entire plan. I doubt this Kellogg guy is the only one who does."
"Stop having so little faith, will you?" Valentine rolled his eyes at me.
"Let's just follow the dog," Piper said. "Because, ultimately, that's the only way to find out."
Dogmeat sped up the pace almost drastically when he noticed that we were following him, so we had to jog to keep up with him. I don't know what the citizens of Diamond City thought when we passed them, but we had to look interesting: the synth, the journalist, and whatever-I-looked-like, all running after a dog. Then again, I suppose they'd seen stranger things already.
"What is it, boy?" I asked when the dog stopped in front of the city gates. "He's not in the city?"
"I haven't even suspected that much," Valentine's gruff voice joined the conversation. I looked at the detective - I was almost getting used to the sight of all those metal parts of his body. Even the pale, fake skin wasn't freaking me out as much as it had used to. I didn't believe that Nick was evil - either he wasn't a synth or Preston Garvey, Paladin Danse, Piper, and everyone in the Commonwealth were wrong about synths. But Piper seemed to like Nick even though she seemed afraid of other synths - and that further confused me. What was Nick Valentine? An exception which only backed up the rule?
"So. We're heading out or staying behind?" Piper asked, and her question brought me back to reality.
"It's still before noon," I noticed after glancing at my Pip-Boy (did I really need that heavy thing on my forearm when I only used it as a watch?) "I'd say we might as well go now. Not like I'm in a hurry, though."
It was true, actually. Despite the amazing feeling that I was finally getting to the bottom of the whole thing, I wasn't particularly eager on meeting the man who had killed my husband. You can call that fear, you can call it trauma, you can call it common sense, but... I was actually afraid of him. Of seeing him.
Of killing him.
Because - if I found him at all - I knew that would be the only possible outcome. There was no institution of law or justice in the Commonwealth - I would have to execute that justice myself.
"I'm with you," Valentine said. For a moment I thought he was referring to what I had been thinking about, but I soon realized that he simply meant leaving Diamond City. "There's not much point in procrastinating your personal vendetta, is there?" He looked down. "Guess I never learned that one," he whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Piper was the first to ask, always the journalist.
"Nothing," he replied so smoothly that I could almost swear he hadn't said anything. "And speaking of leaving, don't you have your sister to take care of, Piper?"
"I've tried that already," I told him. "She insists on following me wherever I go."
"Yes, and you're not getting rid of me that easily." The reporter crossed her arms. "So? We going or what?"
I just threw my hunting rifle over my shoulder, rolled my eyes and followed Dogmeat out of the city.
"Guess it's settled, then," Valentine murmured. "This is gonna be a hard one."
Seeing the once grand city of Boston in this terrible state still managed to make me feel down. But, depressing as it was, at least all that rubble and decay wasn't anything strange to me anymore. It's funny how quickly we humans can adapt to new situations, no matter how crazy they are. But it's true. That's the human nature - we are meant to prevail.
Dogmeat barked at us urgently but thankfully didn't run off. I was beginning to actually have hope for this plan. After all, Valentine was a detective - he was supposed to know what he was doing.
It didn't take even three minutes of walking until my Pip-Boy picked up a new radio station and labeled it as Trinity Tower Radio. As someone who had only seen Classical Radio which played music 24/7 and Diamond City Radio which was pretty much terrible, I was rather curious about this new one. I quickly took out my earbud and connected to the Pip-Boy.
"-one of them is coming!" A terrified male voice exclaimed. That statement was followed by a short silence. "This is Rex Goodman speaking. I'm trapped at the top of Trinity Tower - I'm held prisoner by some super mutants who, in all honesty, may be planning on eating me! Please, if you hear this radio signal, send someone to help me get out! I've set this message to repeat... Oh dear. I think one of them is coming!" The message cut off a few seconds of static before, again, it began. "This is Rex Goodman speaking."
I turned it off.
"Hey, Piper," I asked. "Super mutants are those big green guys, right?" I had read about them in the Wasteland Survival Guide and the description matched the creatures I had encountered while tracking down the Brotherhood of Steel recon team.
"Yeah," the journalist answered absent-mindedly. "Why're you asking?"
"I heard this message on the radio. By some guy called Goldman or something like that, saying he's trapped in Trinity Tower."
"Trinity Tower is super mutant territory," Valentine frowned. At this point, our entire group had stopped. "I don't think he's still alive if that's where he's gone. Do you reckon we should check it?"
"The guy did sound like he needed help," I reasoned. "And we're not in that much of a hurry, are we?" Frankly, putting back my meeting with Kellogg was a tempting idea.
The expressions on their faces told me that I was either really stupid or really not used to the world.
"Um... Not to be rude, but have you ever fought a super mutant, Blue?" Piper raised an eyebrow. "Those things are pretty tough. And they always come in groups."
"And they've kidnapped someone with the intention of eating him," I added. "Come on, there's three of us - four, counting Dogmeat. We can fight them."
"Here's the thing: we're not actually fighting them unless it's necessarry, okay?" Nick scratched his cheek (which looked kind of disturbing, taking that it was one of the places where his metal endoskeleton showed). "Believe me, you don't want to engage in a fight with those guys with only three people."
"And a dog," Piper added.
"Three people and a dog. Against a whole skyscraper of super mutants? Still don't like the odds."
"But we're still saving that Rex Goodman guy, right? I mean, it would be kinda indecent if we just ignored something like that." I bit my lip when I realized that, of all the things I had seen in the Wasteland, decency wasn't one of them. It probably only got you killed.
"You're the one who keeps insisting we do," Valentine pointed out.
We stopped and I realized we had just reached Trinity Tower. Once the highest building in Boston and a symbol of the prime American society of the late 21st century, it now looked much worse than I had remembered - but then again, everything nowadays did.
"Okay, here's the plan." Piper motioned for us to lean in closer to her (although in my opinion being secretive didn't make much sense when we were already standing in the middle of a street). "We go in, sneak past any guards and get to the top floor."
"Hold on," I protested. "Who put you in charge?"
"I did," she replied professionally.
"I hate sneaking around," I complained. "My plan is this: we go in, run to the elevator and get to the top floor."
"That's almost exactly the same as my plan," she noticed.
"Alright, you two." Nick Valentine raised his eyes to the heavens. "We adapt to the situation. Best plan we'll ever come up with. How does that sound?"
"Fine," I agreed. Piper nodded and pulled out a small revolver. I was suddenly hit by the realization that I was the only one of us who had a decent weapon, but it was too late to contemplate things like that. One of the super mutants had already noticed us.
"On second thoughts, Blue," Piper became very pale, "your plan isn't that bad."
We ran past the mutant charging at us (which made it rather confused), into the building - and into a hall full of super mutants! There were at least five at the ground floor, who knew how many higher up. And they all had assault rifles which they put to good use when we entered the building.
I debated on whether or not to engage in combat and pull out one of my weapons, but that was the moment when I noticed the elevator at the other end of the hall. If we just made it there, we wouldn't have to worry about risking our lives in a shooting.
"Come on!" I urged my companions. I grabbed Dogmeat, who was running beside me, and sped up with the dog in my arms. I didn't doubt Piper and Valentine were just behind me, so I quickly pressed the contol button as soon as I was inside.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator door shut open, several bullets embedding themselves in it, but from the other side. I set Dogmeat on the ground.
"You know, for so heavily muscled things that size, I would have thought those mutants would prefer martial arts... Or melee weapons," I wondered aloud. Valentine snorted.
"If they had a little more brain, they would have. The thing about super mutants is that nowadays, their strength is only in number."
"Nowadays?" I repeated. "What, were things different before?"
"Actually, yeah. When super mutants were first created like one hundred and fifty years ago, they had some pretty decent intelligence to them," Nick explained. He adjusted his fedora on his head. I didn't bother telling him there was a bullet hole in it. "Something of a threat to humanity, actually. They could have taken over... And they were close to doing that, if it weren't for one Vault dweller..."
"Nick," Piper complained, prolonging the vowel in his name. "Stop with those myths, we stick to the facts. And the facts are, super mutants lose their intelligence as time progresses. Their personality, their characteristic traits, even physical appearance... Poof. All that disappears. And all super mutants are the same."
"More or less," Valentine agreed. "Not all of them, and not on the same level. But yes."
"Wait..." I rubbed my forehead. All of this new information was hard to process. "You mean they're not actually born like this?"
They exchanged glances and I had a strange feeling that there was something they weren't telling me.
There was a familiar ding and the elevator door slid open.
"Top floor," the speakers announced.
"Alright," I said, setting aside the previous subject. We could continue that conversation later. "Let's do this."
I pulled out my automatic laser pistol and nodded at my friends. We walked out of the elevator cautiously - but that caution was futile, as it seemed. The super mutants must have already realized someone had tried to storm their little stronghold.
"Ha! New humans come rescue Rex?" A brute-ish voice came from the intercom speakers on the ceiling. One of the super mutants, I didn't doubt that - their poor knowledge of English grammar was hard to mistake for anything else. "They are weak! Kill them!"
"Oops," I stated matter-of-factly.
"You don't say!" Piper exclaimed when three super mutants rounded a corner and attacked us. I instinctively rolled over when one of them swung a nail board at me (oh, so they did use melee weapons after all!)
I aimed the hull of my laser pistol at the nearest enemy and fired three or so quick shots, which was enough to make him stagger. Valentine added several rounds from his 10mm pistol to that, and we were one third through. The other super mutant didn't seem too pleased with the fact that we were killing his friends so easily, because he launched a full assault from his assault rifle - straight at where the two of us were standing. I cried out in pain when a bullet sank in my thigh, and another just below the knee. My body suddenly lost all support and I fell to the ground. I heard an angry growl and Dogmeat jumped at the super mutant, biting viciously. Piper swung the large nail board at it (him? I hadn't seen a single female, so I didn't know if these things had gender at all). If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, I would have laughed out loud - the large board was easily more than half her size, making her look like a small child. But it did work, and the super mutant fell to the ground, dead.
I tried slipping my backpack off my shoulders, but with little result. My leg hurt like hell.
"See why this wasn't a good idea?" Nick Valentine asked sternly as he knelt down next to me. He opened my backpack, pulled out a Stimpak and injected into my leg. I didn't immediately feel better, but after several seconds, I could move my leg and eventually stand up.
"See why Piper's plan with sneaking around wouldn't have worked, either?" I snapped back at him, angry that I was the only injured one. I rolled my eyes. "Let's just keep going."
Armor.
I need more armor.
That was my only thought after we had to fight our way through at least twenty more of the super mutants. The only upside was that thanks to looting the bodies of some of the creatures, my friends were now armed with semi-automatic assault rifles. That actually made our progress to the top floor a bit faster and, as much as thoughts like this still made me feel uncomfortable, I was at least getting slightly better at shooting. The assault rifle was too heavy for me to use it for a long time, so I just settled for the laser pistol, which to be honest did as much damage as the conventional weapons. We weren't doing that bad. One of the super mutants had tried to heal itself with a Stimpak before dying and I happily confiscated the drug. I didn't doubt it would come in handy.
"Is it me or has it gone awfully quiet?" Piper asked. I looked up from the weapon I had been reloading - she was right. Although we were very high, at least at the fortieth storey, and the building was such a mess that some of the walls were actually missing (I could see all the way down, and it was scary even though I wasn't usually afraid of heights), the howling of wind was the only sound we could hear. No shooting or even talking among any mutants.
"I don't like this," Nick muttered. "Silence in the Wasteland usually means something's either just been killed or is about to kill you."
I bit my lip and gripped the handle of my automatic laser pistol nervously.
"You're the first humans to get this far!" The voice from the intercom came on again. "But you only kill the weakest of us! If they cannot kill puny humans, they are not worthy!"
We shared heavy looks.
"I hate this guy," I complained aloud.
"I just wonder, what's a super mutant smart enough to use an intercom doing around here kidnapping people?" Valentine narrowed his brows. "I really don't like this."
The next staircase we conquered turned out to be the last and we ran out on an empty space. Not the roof yet, but maybe what used the be the penthouse back when all the walls were there.
"Holy shit!" I swore when, carried by force of momentum, I almost fell off the ledge. Nick grabbed the collar of my leather jacket and pulled me back onto the building.
"Watch it," he warned. I looked down. We were so high above the clouds that I couldn't even see the ground.
I looked around and saw the three super mutants that were standing not that far away and looking at the three of us. The one in the middle, wearing patched-up metal armor, glowered at us.
"Stop waiting! Kill them," it ordered - I recognized the voice from the intercom.
I jumped back when they opened fire at us - which meant I jumped into Nick Valentine, who almost dropped his weapon because of that. (I really needed to learn how to pay attention to the battlefield around me.)
Dogmeat jumped onto the nearest super mutant and bit into its arm, making it stagger. Piper took care of that one, so I moved towards the most immediate danger - their leader. It looked exactly the same as the rest, but the armor looked scary. And instead of a rifle like his friends, this one was armed with a minigun! The automatic weapon spat bullets all too quickly for my reflexes, so I didn't manage to hide behind the corner fast enough to avoid getting shot. The leather jacket from Piper was mostly torn now, not to mention at least four bullets had made it to my body. Pain! It hurt like hell!
"Shit!" I heard Piper exclaim before she joined me, pressing her hand to the bleeding wound in her side. "This is bad, Blue. What's our plan?"
"I thought you wanted to be in charge."
"I've decided to abdicate from that position," she said sarcastically. "It was just a bit too much pressure for me."
The two super mutants continued to shoot at us with their automatic weapons - me and Piper were leaning out the corner to shoot back from time to time, Valentine was injecting a Stimpak into Dogmeat's body while hiding behind some desk - so eventually, they had to run out of ammunition. And the moment I heard the sound of the minigun die down, I threw myself into the heat of battle. I wasn't good at shooting, I knew that much so far - the only times I had managed to pull off something like at ArcJet had been when I had been able to take advantage of my surroundings.
I looked around hastily. Quick, think! Before the super mutant manages to reload that minigun and I die.
I grinned when I noticed what was lying on the table next to me. Those super mutants really needed to learn to hide their suppliers better.
"Take cover!" I screamed after throwing the three grenades at our enemies. I jumped towards the place where I had left Piper and quickly covered my ears.
The explosion wasn't as loud as I had expected - instead, it was longer because it was a chain reaction of three.
I lay on the ground, panting, until Nick knelt down in front of me and offered me a hand. I let him help me up and together, we looked at the destruction I had caused.
"Nice handiwork," he said and nonchalantly lit a cigarette.
"Yeah, yeah." Piper gagged at the sight of the dismembered super mutants corpses. If wasn't a pretty one, I could agree. "What are we here for?"
"You're here to save me?!" Someone exclaimed. We all turned to look at the man. He was locked up in the most intact room on that floor, talking to us through a barred door. "Please tell me you've heard my radio broadcast!"
"Nora here did," Valentine nodded at me. "You should be thanking her."
"To be honest, I've stopped hoping for a rescue." The man adjusted his necktie. For someone who had been kept prisoner by a horde of cannibalistic monsters for days, he looked surprisingly good. "You're the first ones to make it here. I'm afraid the super mutants might have... eaten all the others."
"What I'd like to know is how come you've gotten yourself into this situation," Piper noticed. "What kind of idiot walks straight into super mutant territory?"
"Rex Goodman, one of the finest actors in this wretched Wasteland," the man half-answered, half introduced himself. "I was only hoping to teach these brutal mutants some culture and mannerism, so I came here with hopes of reading them Macbeth. They, uh..." He looked away from us. "They did not seem to appreciate the works of Shakespeare nearly as much as we humans do."
"You. Are. An idiot," I said flatly. "Alright guys, I'd say we leave him locked inside that cage. His own stupidity drove him here."
Piper snickered.
"Alright, that's enough." Valentine stepped forward, apparently done with the two of us acting childishly. "Tell me, Mr Goodman, why didn't they just eat you?"
"I have no idea. They laughed at first, when I performed the play before them. Strong was the only one who actually listened, but they've locked him up too."
"Wait. They've locked you up with a super mutant?" I shook my head. "Sorry, but that's..."
"Oh, no worries. Strong wouldn't harm me," Goodman smiled at the super mutant in the corner of his cell. "He turned out to be a bit more civilized than his savage brothers."
"I'm not opening that door while there's that thing inside there," I protested.
"You said he was friendly?" Nick raised an eyebrow at that. "Would be the first friendly super mutant I've seen."
The said mutant walked up to the door and looked at us.
"Fake human not look friendly too," he noticed. I marveled at the amount of intelligence recognizing that Nick was a different species must have required. "Strong help Rex. Rex tell Strong about Mack Beth and the milk of human kindness."
"The milk of human kindness?" I repeated as skeptically as I could.
"Ah yes, the milk." Rex nodded his head. "Strong here seems rather fixated on that one. But, we're here chatting and it's not even safe up here." He looked at us through the bars. "Please open the door."
Piper took out a screwdriver and a box of bobby pins from her bag. "Watch and learn."
After a few seconds, the door was open.
"I know a back exit," Rex offered. "Best way to get back down to earth without having to fight the entire tower of super mutants, an old service elevator. It should still be working."
I glanced at my friends, but it didn't seem either of them had a better idea. I wasn't very thrilled about taking a super mutant with us, but Strong hadn't been hostile so far, so I didn't have any basis to leave or kill him.
"So," I said once we were all packed in the elevator (it was a wonder it still worked, especially considering our combined weight couldn't be small - Nick was partially made of metal, and Strong's mass easily exceeded a few humans'). "Showing Shakespeare to super mutants?"
"It was supposed to work," the actor said, offended. "After all, what better way to fight aggression than with culture?" I didn't answer that stupid question because I was afraid my soldier self might not respond well. "They seemed to be taking it well at first. They listened. Then, they started laughing... Then, they threw me and Strong into that cage - but they didn't know there was a CB radio in there, so I could send out a distress message."
"They did know," Strong argued. "Radio signal attract more humans. More food."
Rex Goodman looked like he was about to faint. "Oh dear. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Strong thought you know."
Piper was covering her mouth and I didn't blame her. I was close to giggling too. Oh, he was an idiot. But I was glad we had rescued him, especially since no one else would be walking into that trap now.
When the elevator reached the ground and we all got out as quietly and quickly as it was possible, Rex thanked us briefly and quickly walked away. At first, I took that behavior as suspicious, before I realized that he had left us with Strong.
"So, um... We'll be going?" I smiled shyly, looking at the super mutant. Please don't want to come with us. Please don't want to come with us.
"Strong go with humans," he said. I bit my lip. "Humans and roboman help Strong find milk of human kindness! Strong drink milk and make super mutants stronger than humans," he explained proudly.
There was a moment of silence.
"Oh dear," I commented, the only response I could think of.
"Yeah, buddy, we're... not interested." Piper laughed nervously. "Pretty sure you're not gonna find any human who'll help you 'make super mutants stronger than humans', too."
I put a hand over my mouth to cover my smirk.
"The roboman's not helping you, either," Valentine said, crossing his arms. "No offense, big guy, but maybe settle on some less destructive goal. Like maybe if you don't want to harm humans, you could help them."
"Bah!" The super mutant exclaimed, offended. "Strong need human to help find milk of human kindness. Human not help, Strong smash human!"
Dogmeat growled at him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I raised my arms defensively. "That won't be necessary at all! We'll help you, alright?" I nervously glanced around. "Yeah. We'll help you... But we can't do that now. So how about this: we'll go away now, but we'll come back for you and help you find that... milk... thing. Sound like a great deal from where I'm standing."
From where I was standing, it sounded like I was only hoping that he was stupid and that I was very convincing.
"Strong wait and human come back help Strong?" He repeated, apparently trying to understand that whole idea.
"Yes!" I nodded eagerly. "Exactly! So... we'll just..." I looked at my friends and nodded at the door. Piper took the cue and began slowly walking in that direction. "Leave... now..." I didn't stop talking as we backed away out of the building, leaving the super mutant alone, confused. As soon as I was several meters away, I broke into a run. I sprinted until the nearest crossing, took the turn left and pressed my back against the wall.
"That was a close one," Piper exclaimed, panting slightly, when she stopped next to me.
"And some smooth talking back there, Nora." Nick Valentine wasn't bothered by the physical exercise in any way - which was only to be expected, I guess. "Haven't seen anyone talk down a super mutant before."
"He was kind of tame already," I justified myself. I glanced at the sky, then at my Pip-Boy. "Lord. What time is it?"
Late. It was late.
It was so late that we decided to find someplace to spend the night rather than push on during the night - and managed to find it in the form of an abandoned bakery. The windows had been smashed long ago and the whole place was deserted, but we managed to set up a campfire behind the counter. By the time we boarded up the windows enough to provide some privacy and security, it had already gone dark.
I sat closer to the fire when Piper pulled out two packs of mac'n'cheese she had stolen from Kellogg. Pre-packed food, the exactly same one as back in my- I stopped myself before I had the chance to think that. Can't you learn to move on with your life, Nora?
"So," she said, her mouth full of food. "We need to work out some kind of priorities. Because the next time we go charging on a building full of super mutants, I want to be sure that's what we're supposed to be doing. So what is it, Nick?"
The detective put away the screwdriver he had been using to adjust something on his robotic hand.
"It's all down on Nora. After all, we're going after your case."
I put away my food. "The priority... The priority will always be people who are in immediate danger. I want to get my hands on that Kellogg guy, but it's not like I'm in a hurry. Even if Shaun is still alive, it's not my son anymore... If he is alive at all."
Valentine tilted his head.
"If you don't think your kid is still alive, why are you trying to hunt down the kidnapper?"
"Because he's also a murderer," I explained through gritted teeth. "Because I'll be damned if I let the man who killed my husband go on hurting other people. This isn't about revenge - I just..." I hesitated, not sure how to put my feelings into words. "I don't want anyone else to go through what I've gone through."
"Good old preventive approach, then." Valentine sighed. "Tell you what though. About your kid... You don't know, then why are you so afraid of hoping?"
Piper looked away and poked the wood in our campfire with a stick. The stick caught on fire too, of course, so she had to throw it into the flames as well. I watched as it turned into a black, destroyed version of its former self. Everything dies.
"False hope is the worst thing in the world," I said quietly. "It can break you. I'd rather live with the knowledge that Shaun is lost forever than hold on to the belief that I can find him, only to have it shattered."
Nick threw out the bud from his cigarette. He looked at me.
"False hope hurts, but it's better than none."
I let out a bitter laugh. "This entire world is hopeless."
"Alright... This conversation is getting depressing." Piper clapped her hands together. "Anyone know a good story?"
"Huh?" I was kind of baffled by this sudden change of subject.
"You could tell us something from before the War," she offered with a smile. I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. Piper was right - I had so many good memories of that time. But knowing how much the world had changed, and that I would never be able to come back...? I didn't know if I could bear talking about that.
Valentine noticed my hesitance to answer and turned the attention to himself by putting his feet up on the counter. In normal circumstances, a gesture like that would be considered rude, but the entire room was in such a bad state that honestly it didn't matter.
"Have I ever told you about my first case?" He asked - I was guessing the question was supposed to be rhetorical. "Quite a story."
Piper perked up at the word 'story'. She crossed her legs, which made her look like a little child. I smiled involuntarily.
"Go on," she encouraged.
"Alright, what do I begin with? Ah yes, that was how I got my permit to live in Diamond City. Bit of an accident, now that I look back on it." He laughed. "But sure did me good..."
"Hold up," I interjected. "You were a detective already when you first settled down in Diamond City? Where did you live before that?" I didn't mean to be too intrusive, but it just interested me where a synth like Nick could live in peace - it seemed to me that people generally avoided his kind.
"I didn't exactly..." He sighed. "It's complicated. And I don't suppose you want to listen to my whole life story right now."
"We've got time," Piper noticed. "And to be honest, we're already making Blue here uncomfortable with all this poking around her past. Might as well share your own story while you're at it."
"And what about you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. She grinned in response.
"I'm the reporter. I get to listen and judge you two - and always remain uncommitted," she said sarcastically. "Nah, it's fine. Let's share some dirt on each other, why not. Best way to build a strong friendship."
Valentine sighed. "Fine. But I ain't gonna lie, this isn't gonna be a pretty story." He looked around, apparently wondering how to begin. "Alright, so you know about the Institute and that they've created the synths... That's exactly as much as I know. Apparently, when they don't like some project of theirs, they don't bother with cleaning up afterwards... I was a prototype, so that apparently made me useless to them eventually. Not that I would know - had my memory wiped clean. Just woke up one day in some alley, had no idea who I was or what I was..." He shuddered.
"Gosh, Nick." Piper wrinkled her forehead. It seemed she was now uncomfortable that she had touched that subject. "Must have been terrible."
"Just confusing." He shrugged. "It was strange, yes. I found myself wandering about without a purpose or a hope that there might be any life out there in this wasteland..." That was uncannily like my own experience after leaving the Vault. I sympathized with him on the deepest level possible. "Eventually though, I reached one of those smaller settlements you can find all over the Commonwealth. Now, folks didn't know as much about synths back then as they do now, so I was treated with reserve more than with fear. The first person to ever talk to me in my life was a little boy, like ten years old. He walked up to me and asked if I ran on batteries or engine." He laughed. Piper and I shared a giggle too. "I have to admit, not the thing I was expecting to hear. But after other people saw that I didn't harm the kid, they started to warm up to me too. Real friendly folks - the mechanic even gave me a once-over, completely for free. Guess they treated me like some kind of rare attraction or something."
"They sound... nice, actually." I had been preparing myself for some terrible, heart-wrenching story, but this was actually uplifting. "Maybe we could go visit that place someday. You know, pop in and say hi."
"No." Valentine hung his head. "I went back there a few years back. The whole town's been slaughtered by raiders. There's... no one left."
Oh. So that was when the story stopped being so nice and friendly.
"Anyways, when I was back on the road again, I eventually wandered to this little shithole of a place, completely overrun by Gunners."
I raised a finger. "What are Gunners?" I asked. Hopefully not another strange mutated horror - the gun in the name didn't sound good.
"A better-organized, better-equipped bunch of raiders," Piper huffed. "Don't recommend any closer encounters."
"The Gunners are a large group of mercenaries," Valentine explained, shooting her a look. "Though I've to admit that they're not exactly what you'd call 'the gentle type'... Either way, I found that girl being held prisoner there, by four of those assholes. I didn't know who she was, I didn't know how did she come to be there, I only knew that she was in trouble. So I made the quick decision to bust her outta there."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "You took out four Gunners, all by yourself?"
"I didn't have to," he snickered. "Back in the day, you looked like me and you were Technological Mystery #1. I didn't know what I was - how could they? So I..." He covered his mouth with his hand, chuckling to himself. "I told them I was rigged to explode and just started going 'beep, beep, beep'. Hardest part of the whole rescue was keeping from laughing as they climbed over each other to get away."
I laughed so hard I almost fell off the stool. Piper had tears in her eyes.
"But that doesn't explain how you got to live in Diamond City," I noticed when I could breathe again. "Or why you became a detective."
Valentine chuckled. "Turned out the girl I had saved was the daughter of the mayor back then. He was so grateful that he offered me a house in DC - some people protested, of course, but I never did try to hide what I was. Guess that was what made folks open up to me, eventually trust me."
"And that's why people don't trust the Institute's synths, which try to pass as humans," Piper explained. "The Institute just snatches you up in the middle of the night and no one even knows you're gone, because you're replaced with a perfect duplicate. But then, someone notices the strange behaviour and bang. Turns out your brother has been dead for a few months and this guy is just a robot pretending to be him." Piper chewed on her pencil mindlessly. "Pretty sure Mayor McDonough's a synth."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"I told her to cut it," the detective shook his head. "But when it comes to Institute paranoia, Piper wins the first prize."
"Gee, thanks, Nicky. So charming."
"Institute paranoia?" I stifled a laugh. "Is that a thing?"
They both looked at me completely seriously. "Yes."
I looked at the fire as silence fell between the three of us. Dogmeat lay his head on my lap, so I offered him the rest of my mac'n'cheese. The dog seemed happy to eat something that was meant for humans. I smiled.
"Alright, kiddos. Lights out." Nick stood up from his chair. "You've both gotta get your share of sleep if you want to keep up tomorrow."
Piper yawned. "Yeah. You're right, Nicky. Alright, maybe I'll find some kind of mattress to crash on here. Night."
I nodded at her. "Goodnight."
Maybe there was hope in this world. Because for a moment there, laughing together with them... It had really felt like I had found friendship.
Level up.
New perk: Inspiring - You lead by example! Your companions can not unintentionally hurt you in combat anymore.
