Chapter 11

"My love, leave yourself behind..."

His eyes slowly opened into the night that filled the room and he blinked a few times, trying to decern if he had heard it or if it was a dream. Piano keys gently plinked their way into the room and met with his ears and he suddenly felt that dull ache that had forever become associated with that song. He stood up and wandered slowly through the door, knowing he had to be dreaming. Leaving his room he found himself no longer in Tenpenny Tower but in a room he had long abandoned in Megaton. Sitting in front of the piano he could see her, and though he knew it was a dream and not real, he felt the pain deepen. God she was beautiful!

He slowly approached her and stood behind her as she played, closing his eyes as her voice flowed into him, warming him with her presence he'd long been aching for.

"I know you are pleased to go... I won't relieve this love..."

He drew closer to her and noticed trails of red dripping down her neck. He could see the rope burn on her neck, only it looked so raw, so much more painful than it had when he'd originally seen it. He sat beside her, watching her in a mixture of horror and awe, but she continued to play, her voice as angelic as it had always been. More blood dripped from the wound and he reached for it gently, wanting to try to brush it away, but when his fingertips brushed her skin she looked to him and it was no longer her. Blue eyes and deep purple hair suddenly caught his attention, and he jumped back from her.

"Annalise..." he gasped and she stood up as blood poured from the wound and she looked at him, opening her mouth as her voice harmonized perfectly with Rebeca's.

His eyes snapped open and he shot upright, breathing heavily as beads of sweat dripped down his face. That song was echoing through his head and all he could see now was Analise. He reached for his radio, turning it on in hopes to hear something else, but when he heard the piano keys ring out from the radio itself, he threw it across the room with an enraged shout and it shattered. This cause a stir outside his door and soon Roy Phillips barged in with his gun and Burke pointed his own pistol back, which had been in his hand ever since Analise had left.

"Knock it off, smootheskin!" shouted Roy. "Anymore funny business and we will splatter your brains across this wall!"

"She let me live," he growled at Roy. "And after hearing what she did Megaton, are you certain you want to risk upsetting her?" Roy cringed then sulked off. Burke stared at the destroyed radio and sighed as he sat back on the edge of his bed, the song still haunting his mind.

Analise shot upright, screaming as sweat poured down her face, and she opened her eyes to see it was broad daylight. Her stomach turned over and she scrambled to her feet, moving so she would vomit away from her things. After heaving for a few moments she straitened herself and closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. She'd never had a nightmare render her sick before, but the mess on her feet was all too real. Moving away from it, she began to gather her things, including a branch she'd been able to use as a walking stick and made her way out, looking to her pip-boy for which direction she should head.

As she made her way, the nausea took over an hour to finally leave, making the trip feel less slow, and she was able to let her mind wander as she walked. She couldn't avoid seeing the gloomy haze of smoke that had settled where Megaton had been. It looked like the clouds themselves had been pulled down to settle over that spot. Her heart panged with guilt and she looked away.

An hour passed, followed by another and soon she found herself looking ahead at and old gas station and she smiled, almost laughing in joy. This was it. Either he would be here or not, but she was at least a step closer. "Hostile target located," came a robotic drone, followed by a flash of red that shot right past her shoulder. Turning she spotted a protectron lumbering in her direction, and she pulled out her assault rifle, aiming for its head. Only two shots were fired when a flash of green caught the corner of her eye and she felt a blaze of pain fire through her shoulder, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs. Turning she spotted a Mister Gusty hovering not too far away with his plasma gun pointed right at her. She managed to avoid the second shot he fired with it and turned, abandoning the idea of attempting to fight them both, and hustled into the station. Inside was a dead raider with a pulse grenade in her hand, and she took it, aiming for the tripod and tossed it, shutting the door behind her. She heard it go off but didn't hear either of the robots drop.

Knowing she may have missed, she looked around for any sign of the entrance to the vault, only to see two large metal doors built into the floor of the other room. She headed in, limping her way to the control panel, then let herself inside, sealing the door behind her. Now if either robot followed her inside she knew they wouldn't make it in through that door.

Sharp teeth bit her hand and she shouted, kicking a mole rat off of her, then quickly shot it with her rifle. "FUCK!" she shouted frustratedly, holding her throbbing hand. "Can everyone give me a fucking break already? God!" She flipped on the flashlight on her pip-boy, and smiled when she saw the entrance to the tunnel that would take her to the vault door. After the pressing of a few buttons and the deafening screech of metal on metal, she was inside. At first she was a little surprised when an alarm wasn't tripped and there were no guards eagerly waiting to greet her with gunfire, but after a few moments of lingering to see if anything was there to be alerted, she proceeded through the only door in the corridor, only to be greeted by a robo-brain.

"Greetings!" it said in a feminine sounding robotic voice. "According to our records, you are 202 years late. Please head downstairs into the tranquility lounger and put on your issued Vault 112 jumpsuit. If you have misplaced your jumpsuit I am obligated to supply you with another. Have a nice day." She was handed the jumpsuit and the door to the downstairs opened. She headed down, seeing several other robo-brains in the halls until it lead into a lower floor where she crossed a large machine consisting of several pods encircling it, all connected to it by tubes and wires. She wandered over, moving in for a closer look and saw a very old man sitting almost in a lifeless state, staring at a small monitor. She moved to the next and the next, slowly beginning to realize whoever these people were, they had probably been here for 200 years. As she moved around she stopped upon one pod, moving in for a closer look. The person inside was not nearly as aged, and tears flooded her eyes as her heart began pounding with realization.

"Dad!" she shouted, pounding on the pod's glass. "Dad it's me! Dad look at me!" He didn't stir. Didn't even seem to hear her. His eyes were fixed to the monitor, he had no idea she was there. A robo-brain rolled up behind her, and she turned to it. "Let him out!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Please enter the vacant tranquility lounger," said the robot.

"I don't want to enter the tranquility lounger. Let my father out!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Please enter the vacant tranquility lounger," it repeated. Gritting her teeth, she moved away from her father's pod then followed the robot to the only empty lounger. Changing quickly into the jumpsuit, she climbed in and the dome sealed around her as a monitor lowered itself down.

The world around her faded to white, and when the colors returned everything was monotone and she became quickly aware that all the pain from her wounds were gone, and she was shorter than normal. Looking down at herself she was in a dress, and her pip-boy had been replaced by a simple wrist watch. She was in the middle of what she could imagine was supposed to be a pre-war neighborhood, amazed by how convincing this simulation looked. "Hey there!" greeted a friendly voice, and she turned to see a man smiling as he looked down at her. "You must be new here, little girl! Welcome to Tranquility Lane! You'd better go speak to Betty, I'm sure she wants to play." He pointed to a little girl standing in the center of the town with a dog, and, not knowing what else to do, Analise headed to her, hoping she'd be able to get some answers.

"Oh hi there! Someone new to play with!" greeted Betty eagerly. She was a child, and judging by how their height matched, Analise determined she was probably one too in this false universe. "We're gonna have so much fun!" she continued.

"I'm looking for my father," said Analise. "I know he's in here somewhere. He was looking for a Dr. Braun..."

"Oh that was your father?" giggled Betty. "This is going to be even more fun than I imagined! I'll tell you where he is, in time, but first, we're going to play a game."

"Not now, kid," she said, in no mood for any of this. "I don't have time to play, so please tell me where he is?"

"I said we're going to play," Betty spoke, but her voice warped for a second, almost sounding like an old man's. "If you want to find your father I suggest you play the game."

"What?" Analise asked, startled by the bizarre change in Betty's voice.

"I said we're going to play!" Betty snapped, her voice normal again. "You want to find your father don't you? If you want my help, you're going to have to play with me!" Her arrogant tone caused Analise to lose her temper.

"If you don't tell me right now...!" snapped Analise, moving in as if she was about to strike the child, but a loud barking distracted her, and she felt the dog grab hold of her skirt and tug her back. She looked down at the animal in surprise but could see something in its eyes almost as if it were trying to beg her to reconsider becoming violent. Almost as if it knew it would be a grave mistake.

Turning back to Betty she calmed herself and nodded. "What's the game?" she asked.

"That's more like it!" chimed Better. "All you have to do is make Timmy Newsbaum cry!"

"What?"

"What's the matter? Think you can't manage it?" She giggled sadistically. "Make him cry and maybe I'll answer your question. What have you got to lose?"

Feeling like a puppet, she relented and headed over to where Betty had pointed him out. She was what Burke would be if he wore a dress and were several feet shorter, Analise mused. The image of Burke in a little girl's dress made her snicker, and she stepped up to the lemonade stand where the little boy sat. "Hi!" he said with a smile. "I'm Timmy! Wanna play?"

At once she felt awkward. How was she going to do this? Violence? Maybe she'd insult him? Clearing her throat, she stammered, "You're an ugly butt face..." Timmy stared at her blankly. She felt embarrassed almost, unable to offend a simple child.

"What's your problem you jerk?" he asked, his brow furrowing. Analise sighed, she looked absolutely stupid and she knew it.

"Fuck it, it's a simulation anyways," she muttered to herself, then wound up and delivered a rough punch to his shoulder, knocking him out of his chair and onto the sidewalk. Timmy began to bawl loudly, scrambling to his feet as he ran for his house, grabbing at his sore shoulder. Analise sighed, lowering her head. This was a new low. It better not be for nothing. Heading back to Betty, who was smiling in delight, she growled, "I did your stupid task. Can I know where my father is now?"

"Your father is here indeed," spoke Betty, her voice changing again to that of an old man. "But if you wish to see him you'll have to keep playing." Her voice altered back to that of a child. "Entertain me, and I just might help you."

"Forget it!" spat Analise. "I'm not hurting people for your own sick amusement. I'll find him myself." She turned and walked away, trying to figure things out in her head. Even if she found him, she still didn't know how she would get them both out of there safely.

"You! You don't belong here! It's not real! None of it is!" gasped a voice. She turned to find an elderly woman looking at her almost terrified.

"What do you mean?" she asked, wanting make sure there was actually someone in this town who was aware they were living in a simulation.

"It's all fake, it's a computer and we're trapped in it." A part of her heaved a sigh of relief.

"Exactly!" she breathed. "Do you know how to get out of it?"

"There's a failsafe in the abandoned house. If you can find a way to access it, I'm sure Dr. Braun programed a way for us to escape."

"You don't know how to access it?" she asked, a little dismayed.

"No," she said sadly. "I just know he keeps it in there. He uses it whenever he needs to reprogram this place, or someone."

"Wait, he's here?" she asked. "He's Betty isn't he!"

"He's an evil man," she replied with a nod. "He can change himself in whatever he wants to, and right now he's called himself Betty. But none of us can hurt him or we might be killed." Analise's mind went back to the dog that had pulled her away and realized that it must have known... but how would a dog...

"Does he have a name for that dog he keeps beside him?" she asked.

"Why?" asked the old lady, seeming perplexed by the randomness of the question.

"Because it doesn't seem to think like a dog," she answered, unsure of how better to word that.

"Well, he calls him Doc. Come to think of it, that dog was a rather sudden edition, I know it hasn't always been here."

"Dad!" Analise gasped. "That son of a bitch made him a dog?" She shook it off, knowing there was no way she would understand the logic in that idea, since there probably was none, and she returned her attention to the woman. "The abandoned house. Where is it?" The old woman pointed to a house directly across from them.

"There," she said while pointing. "Please, set us free!"

"I'll do what I can," she said. "Thank you!" She turned headed for the house, as she passed by Betty and Doc, she whistled to get Doc's attention. The dog perked his ears up and stood up, facing her. Looking behind him to check and make sure Betty wasn't watching him, he scurried down the hill and to Analise's side, following her into the abandoned house.

"There's a failsafe in here," Analise said softly, looking around for a switch of some sort. "We need to find it so we can get out of here." Inside the house was dark and there were random items filling the living room. A gnome, a radio, a nuka-cola, and other miscellaneous items sat there dead center and she stared at them with interest. "I don't suppose you've seen how to activate this?" Doc hung his head and shook it. Analise reached out and touched one of the items, and a strange tone emitted from it. Almost like a musical note. Touching another she found it did the same thing. "It must be some sort of musical combination. But what's the tune?"

Doc turned his head to the window and nudged at it as if he were trying to open it. She reached over and cracked it for him. "What is it?" she whispered, not wanting to be heard. He nodded his head towards Betty and she looked, listening closely. Betty was whistling some tune as she skipped around watering the flowers in her little area, and Analise listened for her to repeat the tone twice. Doc leaped down from the window and began to paw at objects till he had the first note, then Analise went for the second. Together they soon found them all and the wall behind them blurred with static then cleared to reveal a terminal. "Yes!" Analise whispered and hurried over, hacking into it quickly. The main menu loaded showing records of the place and descriptions of the programs available to her. As she began to read how to terminate the simulation her eyes widened.

"He actually had a program installed that would flood this place with Chinese soldiers and wipe out everyone, deactivate the loungers they're in, and actually kill them. Well all except for him. He'll be trapped in here," she summed up, rolling her eyes at the insanity of that program. "Looks like it'll open an escape door for us though." She looked to Doc. "It's not ideal but think it's worth a shot?" He barked, nodding his head and she sighed, "Here goes nothing." She activated the program, then hurried to the door. "Time to run," she called to him.

Pacing through the suites of Tenpenny Tower was nothing like it used to be. It had always been quiet, but never like this. Burke was used to seeing at least Alistair or Susan, even if it was to exchange a few words, but having nothing to say to any of these ghouls made him feel as though the entire tower were empty. The monotony was suddenly brought to a halt when he could hear a sudden growl of anger coming from the room Roy Phillips had made his own. "Come on boss!" he could hear Michael pleading. "Snap out of it. These ghouls need you to look after them." Moving quietly, Burke peered through the crack in the door and saw Roy sitting with his head in his hands on the edge of the bed, noticing his skin was flaking off more than normal and his breathing was ragged.

"I'm fine!" Roy snapped at Michael. "Just a headache! Leave me alone!" Michael hurried out, sneering at Burke as he passed him and went for the elevator, no doubt back to the boutique where he had taken it upon himself to be the trader there.

Burke felt the grim realization come over him. Roy was turning feral, there was no doubt, and there was no telling how soon it would be before his mind finally snapped. One thing was certain, and that was he was no longer safe there. He would have to leave. Rivet City was the first place that came to mind. Ghouls were not allowed inside and it would be safe. But on an even better note it would give him a chance to reunite with that cursed Lone Wanderer to whom he owed many of his bullets.

Heading to his room he began packing his bags, equipping his pistol and plenty of bullets, and reached for some books of his when he caught his reflection in the mirror. He could see her standing behind him and his breathing hitched in his throat. She was frowning at him, sadness in her eyes and flawless features, almost as if she were aching to tell him he'd hurt her in some way. "Beca..." he whispered, reaching to the mirror, but she vanished. He snarled and returned to packing. "I'm putting a stop to this once and for all, Beca. I don't expect you to understand but it's for the best."

(A/N: Sorry this took so long. R&R please!)