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Dakota Michelson
A Fallout 4 Fan Fiction
Chapter 13: Decrypt
Danse and I meet will Elder Maxson on the Prydwen to report our latest discovery. "This is excellent work, you two," he says. "Proctor Ingram, do you think you are able to decrypt this chip?" Ingram looks over the chip and responds, "Not sure. But I sure as hell can try. These schematics you gave me look like they were written by a child." I explain that Virgil turned himself into a Super Mutant so he could survive in the Glowing Sea. Maxson nods. "All right then. Until then, you two are to remain on the Prydwen and await further orders. Dismissed."
Danse and I wait in his quarters. I've never been in here before. I think to myself how nice it would be to have privacy again. The common area is pretty crowded. "I hope Proctor Ingram is able to get what we need off that chip," I say to Danse. "I'd like to think that she will be triumphant, but she hasn't had much experience with Institute technology. It's new territory for the Brotherhood. Maybe with Quinlan's help, she will be able to crack it." I nod and then we sit quietly for a while. It's peaceful to have a moment to just sit and relax for a bit. I yawn and realize it's been quite a while since I've had any sleep. Danse puts his arm around me and I lean in towards him.
I'm blushing, like I always do when he is this close to me. I look up at him and his dark eyes are looking right into mine. He caresses my face with his hand to kisses me. My heart starts to pound again and I lean in closer to him, nearly pushing him down on the bed, but he stops me. "Sorry," he says. "We really shouldn't be doing this on the Prydwen. It's too risky." I smile and nod. I give him one last short kiss and he smiles back at me.
Suddenly, the intercom blares, "Paladin Danse and Scribe Michelson, report to the command deck immediately." Danse stands up and says, "Let's see what news Ingram has for us."
We head down to the Command deck and see Maxson, Ingram, and Quinlan waiting for us.
Proctor Ingram is holding the chip in her hands and has a look of disappointment. "I wish I could tell you some good news," she begins, "but it seems we don't have the capabilities to break the security on this chip." Quinlan chimes in, "The security on this chip is far more advanced than anything we have encountered before." Maxson looks at us and says, "It seems that we must count on you to discover a way to unlock the chip. Can you think of anyone in the Commonwealth who may possess such capabilities?"
Immediately I think of Dr. Amari at The Memory Den. "We could try Dr. Amari in Goodneighbor." Maxson looks at me and says, "Doesn't she specialize in memories? What makes you think she can help us in this situation?" I say, "If she isn't able to help us, she may know someone who can. I think it's a good place to start." He nods. "Very well then. I'll leave both of you to it. Dismissed."
Danse and I take a vertibird to the outskirts of Goodneighbor, close enough to walk to but far enough to avoid creating a scene and causing the locals to fire at the vertibird. Once inside the Memory Den, I see Dr. Amari at the terminal in the back of the main room.
"It's you!" she says, her eyes widened. "The Glowing Sea. What happened?"
I say, "We found Virgil and he was able to help us. He gave us this Courser chip. I'm hoping you can help us decrypt it." "A Courser chip?" she asks in disbelief. "I'm afraid I won't be able to help you. I've never seen a Courser chip, let alone know what it does." Danse speaks up, "Do you know of anyone that may be able to assist?"
"Well…" she says. "There is someone. A group that calls themselves 'The Railroad.' I don't know where they are, only a code. 'Follow The Freedom Trail.' I'm sorry for being so cryptic, but that is all I have. I hope you find them and get what you are looking for."
Danse and I leave Goodneighbor. I'm disappointed that I was wrong about Amari being able to help us. I step on something metal and look down. It's a circle that says 'Boston • The Freedom Trail.' "Danse? Look at this." He walks over and says, "There's a 6 and an arrow point at the letter O." I say, "This is too big of a coincidence. I wonder if these red bricks will lead us to them." He says, "There's only one way to find out."
We follow the bricks as best as we can. It's a bit difficult with all of the debris, but we've been able to find where the trail picks up. We get to another code. 4L. We keep walking and the trail stops. This one has 7A. But there's a sign on a wood plank that reads 'At Journey's End Follow Freedom's Lantern.' Danse says, "Perhaps this is actually the beginning of the trail. The trail went in the opposite direction back at Goodneighbor." I nod and say, "Good thinking," and we head back the way we came.
We make it back to Goodneighbor and surely enough, the trail continues past an old bookstore. We walk up some stairs and see a Super Mutant campground. We crouch down and walk closer. One of the Super Mutants is walking around and holding a flashing bomb. "I'll get this one, Dakota," says Danse. He's already looking down his rifle. "Just a little closer," he says and I realize he is going to shoot the bomb. The Super Mutant gets closer to the rest of them and Danse fires. His laser precisely hits the bomb and it explodes. I duck and cover my ears. The ground trembles, but then I uncover my ears and hear nothing but the fire crackling in the campground. I get up and look around to see that all of the Super Mutants are destroyed. "Nice shot!" I say.
The middle of the campground has another clue for us. This one is 5R. I'm trying to memorize these, but I'm worried I will forget, so I ask Danse if he is memorizing them also. He says, "6O 4L 7A 5R." I smile at him. "What? I'm not supposed to be impressed or anything, am I?" I say jokingly. He walks towards me with a smile on his face and I can't help but to kiss him again. It's a short kiss, but it feels good because I feel that I can be more casual with him; like I can be myself around him.
We continue walking and this area has even more debris, the worst I've seen in Boston. The next marker says 8D. Right around the corner, the next marker says 1R. But the trail ends at a church. I look back at Danse. "It looks like it ends here." Danse walks up to the door and opens it.
We walk in and there's a horrible smell. The place is completely ruined. "Well if they were here, I doubt they are here now." My voice echoes in the church and suddenly several feral ghouls rise from the debris. Danse and I maintain our positions and fire at the ones running towards us. I've gotten pretty good at killing the ferals. In just moments, they are all dead.
We look around the church for any signs of life. I walk upstairs the left stairs while Danse checks the right. I don't see anything of significance. "You find anything?" I ask. "Negative," Danse says. I look back out to the ground level and see nothing still. Danse continues walking down until an area where the floor has collapsed and I notice a painting of a sign that looks far to crisp to be anything pre-war.
"Hey, Danse! Look at this!" I say, pointing at the sign. "It looks like a lantern. There's a hallway underneath it." Danse and I head back downstairs and into the hallway. There are stairs that go into a basement. There are skeletons everywhere. "These crypts would be an excellent place to seek shelter during a bombardment," Danse says.
We get to the end of the hallway and find another Freedom Trail marker. There's a wire coming from the outside that goes into another brick wall. "Something doesn't feel right here," I say. I walk up to the marker and push it. Only the center part is a button. I wait, anticipating something to happen, but nothing does. Danse and I examine it and realize that the words are on a ring that spins. "That must be it!" I say. "Danse, what was the code again?" He says, "6O 4L 7A 5R 8D 1R". I move the ring so the red arrow at the top of the button is pointing to the letter R and I push the button. I near a noise behind the marker and I look at Danse in surprise. "So… I guess we are missing some of the code? We don't have a 2 or 3." Danse says, "If we put what we have in order, it spells R, blank, blank, L, R, O, A, D." Both of our eyes light up and in unison, we say "RAILROAD!"
I turn the ring to A and push the button. There's another noise. We keep going until we finish the word. The noise happens again and keeps happening, like some sort of gear. Suddenly the wall that had the wire going into it moves back and to the side. Behind that wall, there's a hallway, but inside of it is pitch black, except for the dim light emanating from a small candle. "I have a bad feeling about this," I say to Danse. He puts his rifle up and walks cautiously into the hall. I do the same.
We keep walking and suddenly a blindingly bright light shines in our faces. A voice echoes through the hall, "Stop right there."