Have I mentioned that I'm poor? That's why I just got the DLCs. Also, I have a present for you guys this chapter: Nick Valentine!
The inside of the room was practically glowing with technology that Owen had never seen before.
Two pristine white shelves lined the room, filled with strange weapons and fusion cells. He caught sight of fusion cores and the same strange plastic weapons he had seen in his dream. Somehow he knew that they would should blue beams of energy, just like the turrets had. He also saw pure white uniforms with the strange symbol of a man holding his limbs out—like a child's crude drawings—emblazoned on the arms. Other, stranger devices stood in the corners of the room: big, clunky devices that looked more like something out of comic books than functioning technological devices.
On the wall facing the entrance to the room was a large screen that seemed to be a giant version of a television. Owen had seen smaller versions of televisions in decrepit homes, but all of them had been torn apart for scrap. This one seemed to be fully functional, despite the fact that nothing was playing on it—just static.
But the centerpiece of the room was a large table. It was at least two yards in length and width, and it seemed to be a map of some sorts—except it was three dimensional.
Topographical map, Owen thought, though he wasn't sure how he knew that. The map showed all the mountains in the Commonwealth, all the settlements, and all the old military bases. It seemed to be a very complex piece of technology, but when he tried to look for Finch Farm, he couldn't find it. He couldn't find County Crossing either.
"This map has got to be old," Owen said, frowning at the device in the center of the room.
Hazel turned. She had been examining the shelves full of weapons, but she cocked her head at the map. "You're right," she said, approaching the opposite side of the table. "Sanctuary isn't on here, either."
"Why would the Institute forget all those settlements?" he asked. "They're all too big to miss."
She was frowning intensely. "Unless it was done intentionally."
Now Owen was even more confused. "What?"
Hazel nodded to herself. "This map is incomplete," she said. She pointed to several spots on the map. "Sanctuary should be here…Revere Satellite Array should be here…the Slog should be here…damn, even the Castle is missing! This had to have been done on purpose. The Institute didn't make big mistakes like this."
"Why?" Owen asked. "The Institute would want to protect itself from these things that are missing, right? Why exclude them?"
Hazel opened her mouth to reply, but she never got a chance. A sudden, high-pitched whining sound filled the room, forcing both of them to cover their ears. In front of them, the giant television's static turned to a black screen. Words were flashing across it.
WORDS RECOGNIZED, it read. INSTITUTE, PROTECT. AUTHORIZATION: Q1-91. SECURITY FEED ACTIVATED ON NEW EDEN.
There were those words again. New Eden. What was it?
The screen switched to what seemed to be a live video, filmed in black and white. At first, it showed nothing but a large hallway, similar to the one that Owen and Hazel had just exited. Then the feed switched to footage of a large steel door. It took up the entire wall that it sat in, and lights blinked on and off at various points. It appeared to be very high tech—and very secure.
"That door…" Hazel said, staring at the screen in what seemed to be a state of awe. "That looks like Institute technology."
Owen agreed. Though he had seen very little Institute tech that he could remember, it looked advanced enough to be beyond pre-war capabilities.
The words SECURITY BREACH suddenly flashed across the screen in large, red letters. Several people entered the frame. They seemed to be dressed in military fatigues and combat armor, and most of them wore bandanas over their faces.
Owen's grip tightened on his laser musket. Gunners.
Instead of carrying their customary laser muskets, these Gunners seemed to be carrying power tools. They must have salvaged them from old construction sites and restored them to working order, because one Gunner revved up a laser-saw. Owen had seen them before but never used one. Before the war, they were used to cut through solid steel. They had to be government mandated, because criminals kept using them to break into bank vaults.
More words flashed across the screen as the Gunners set up their tools. AUTHORIZE AUDIO?
Owen stared at the words, which started blinking on the screen after a moment. He looked at Hazel, who shrugged at him with wide eyes. She was just as clueless as he was.
"Er…yes?" he said.
The words on the screen changed. AUTHORIZATION?
Owen swallowed. "Um…Q1-91."
ACCESS GRANTED.
"…is stupid," one of the Gunners was saying. The sudden sound made Owen jump. "Why can't we just blow up the doors and be done with it?"
"Don't be an idiot," the Gunner with the laser-saw said. "The last crew to try that blew themselves to hell and still didn't get inside. We do what the boss says."
Owen watched, transfixed, as the Gunner powered up his tool and lifted it to the door. For a moment, sparks flew and the sound of burning metal filled the room. Two other Gunners joined in with similar tools.
SECURITY BREACH flashed across the screen again, more urgently. DEPLOYING DEFENSIVE MEASURES.
Suddenly, turrets appeared in the wall, just like they had for Owen and Hazel mere minutes ago. They took a minute to power up—time that the Gunners spent scrambling for their weapons—and opened fire.
As much as Owen hated the Gunners, he had to look away for the slaughter that followed. There were five, high-tech turrets and only four Gunners. They didn't stand a chance. He looked back when the screams and gunfire silenced.
THREAT CONTAINED, the screen read. Then, COURSER DISPATCH ERROR. CRYOGENIC STASIS CONTROLS UNRESPONSIVE. REQUEST IMMEDIATE MAINTENANCE.
"Coursers?" Hazel asked. She had moved over to Owen's side of the map at some point during the video. "Cryogenic stasis? Isn't that what Bryan was talking about?"
Owen's eyes widened. "The Gunners must have already found the second Institute facility." He cursed. A lot.
Hazel seemed to react a little more calmly than he did. "But they can't get inside." She turned to look at him, the light of realization in her eyes. "That's what they need you for, Owen! They can't get inside, but you can! They need a…a synth to get inside! And a very specific one at that."
He looked at the screen, where the security feed watched the Gunners' bodies. "I wish there was a way we could figure out where this place was. I wonder if the Institute planted cameras on the surface? This place looks like it's underground."
The television screen went blank for a moment, responding to his words. Then more text appeared.
COMMAND RECEIVED. SWITCHING SURVEILLANCE TO SURFACE.
"I need to watch what I say around this thing," Owen muttered.
The security feed switched to a view of a large wooden shack, about three stories tall. Gunners milled around it, some of them chatting while others looked like they were on guard. All of them carried advanced laser weapons, though not the Institute's versions. Long grass swished around their feet. One Gunner cooked stew in a pot while another ate a sandwich around a campfire. The audio was still active, so Owen could hear a lot of noise from the militia group.
"It looks like a settlement," Hazel said with a frown. "For Gunners."
The video switched. Suddenly they were staring at a large group of Gunners, all of them firing at groups of plywood targets crudely carved into the shapes of people. Other Gunners watched, shouting insults at those who missed and slightly less offensive words at those who did not. This had to be some kind of training group. A withered tree stood nearby.
"Do you recognize it?" Owen asked.
Hazel shook her head. "I don't, and I've visited nearly all the settlements. Wherever this 'New Eden' is, I've never been there. I have no idea where they are." She muttered a curse.
The camera view switched again. This time, a smaller hut stood. It was made of metal, unlike the previous ones, and only had one story. However, it looked like it contained at least three rooms inside. It was quieter here, because there were less Gunners around it. The ones that were there stood with their laser rifles held at ready position. They must have been guarding something. But what?
A man stepped out of the hut, stooping down so that his suit of power armor didn't hit the top of the door frame. Owen's fists clenched when he caught sight of the paladin armor. This was the Commander. His power armor looked like it was stained with blood, but that was impossible. Any wounds he sustained in battle would splatter blood on the inside. That meant it wasn't his. So whose was it?
"Tell the boss that I need more time," the Commander told one of the guards in his deep voice. "The Sole Survivor is being…uncooperative."
Hazel seized Owen's arm in a death grip. Her face had lost all color.
Sole Survivor. Wherever the Gunners were—wherever New Eden was—they were keeping Sam Lewis with them.
"My dad," she said, her voice a whisper. "He's still alive! They have him there!"
"But where is it?" Owen demanded. He flicked himself in the forehead. Now would be a really great time to remember that.
But he did have a dream. One that had specifically mentioned this "New Eden." It had to be related somehow.
Quickly, Owen told Hazel the details of the dream, trying to leave nothing out. She seemed a little miffed that he hadn't told her earlier, but she also seemed too deep in thought to chastise him about it.
"Hmm," she said when he was finished. "This has to be one of the places you were told to check up on. A cache. But why not just order you to head to New Eden first?" She turned to the incomplete map. "There has to be other maps at these caches." Realization lit up her face. "It's a clue!"
"A clue to what?" Owen asked.
Hazel turned to him, grinning. "Don't you see? The Institute wanted to keep their second facility secret, so they hid clues across the Commonwealth for specific synths to find. This map has got to be part of it! If we look at all the maps, there has to be one point that appears on all of them."
"If we find New Eden, we find your dad," Owen said. And the Commander.
Hazel looked around the room and walked over to one of the shelves. As far as Owen could tell, it seemed to be full of scrap. She pulled something off. It looked like a plain white box to him, but when she turned it over he could see a lens and a piece of crystal. A camera?
Hazel held the camera up to her eyes, aimed it at the map, and pressed a button on the side. The bulb on the outside flashed suddenly, and Owen blinked the light out of his eyes. When he could see again, there was a small square of paper printing out of the bottom of the camera.
"Oh, my mom would kill for one of these,"Hazel said. "It's a polaroid. Prints out pictures after you take them. This will definitely come in handy." She held up the square of paper to the light, and after a moment, an image appeared on it. It was the map, and Owen's face caught blinking into the camera. Hazel chuckled and pocketed both the picture and the camera.
Owen looked around and found a small supply of stimpaks while Hazel continued to look through the other inventions of the Institute for anything else useful. He looked over at the burn on her face that he received while pushing him out of the way of the turrets.
"Hey," he said, crossing the room to stand in front of her, holding up a stimpak. "You need one?"
Hazel looked over at the stimpak and then lifted a hand to her burn, wincing. "Yeah, couldn't hurt."
She grabbed the healing device from him and tried to lift it to her face to inject the healing liquid into her skin, but she kept missing. Finally, she sighed and held it out for Owen. "Can you do it? I've always been terrible with self-medication."
He nodded and grabbed the stimpak from her. He lifted it to her face and tried to apply the stimpak from a respectable distance away, but it was nearly impossible. The only way to do it would be to step inside her personal space.
Owen took a hesitant step forward, suddenly feeling awkward and hoping that she wouldn't shoot him. He lifted the stimpak to her face, but there was a strand of red hair in his way. Praying that she wouldn't harm him, he brushed it out of the way and carefully injected the stimpak's healing liquid into her burn.
He'd never really seen a stimpak work up close before. It was miraculous; almost immediately, the burn knit itself closed, replacing burned skin with pink. In a minute, there was nothing to suggest that she had been shot with an energy bolt other than a small, white scar on her cheek.
"There," Owen said. "All done."
"Uh…Owen?" Hazel said, her face red.
He was still standing very close to her. That, coupled with the fact that he'd never moved his other hand away after brushing her hair out of the way, made for a very awkward situation. Their eyes locked. But she didn't move.
He quickly stepped away. "I…uh, sorry."
She was staring at the pile of junk, not at him. "It—it's all right."
God, this was awkward. He needed to say something else. Distract from what had just happened.
What had happened?
"Some cache this is," Owen said, looking around, trying to cover his awkwardness. He cleared his throat. "All they have here is energy weapons and scrap."
Hazel froze suddenly. "Owen, what did you say you wanted to do when you moved to Diamond City?"
"Sell energy weapons and…oh."
She stared at him. "We need to talk to my mother."
x x x
Piper seemed surprised when Hazel called her over in the middle of the night using one of the guards, but not as surprised as Owen was by the person following him.
They were clearly a synth, but not one that Owen had ever seen before. It seemed to be a cross between the robotic Gen 2 and the human-like Gen 3. He—for it was clearly male—had gray skin, but it had been ripped away at several places, revealing metal servos and gears. One of the synth's hands was covered in skin, but the other was all steel. Strangely, the synth was wearing an old, patched trench coat and a blue tie, along with a battered fedora. His eyes glowed yellow.
"Nick!" Hazel said when she saw the synth. "I didn't know you were in town!"
"Piper contacted me when you told her about Sam," Nick replied. The synth's voice seemed to be tinted with a perpetual sarcastic tone, though he seemed serious. "She thought I could help figure out where he is."
Hazel and Owen shared a look.
"Actually," Owen said, "I think we've already figured that out."
Piper and Nick listened patiently as they explained what had happened in the last hour, starting with Owen's headache. Hazel showed them the picture that she had taken, which seemed to trouble both of them, though not nearly as much as the news about Sam had.
"So the Gunners are keeping Sam with them on this…'New Eden,'" Nick said, looking thoughtful. He lit a cigarette, though Owen wasn't sure what smoking it would do for the robotic synth. "And they need Owen to open up this facility. Sounds like a trap to me."
"They already sent a ransom note to the Railroad," Hazel said. "They want to exchange Owen for dad."
Nick shook his head. "As soon as you would have handed Owen over, they would have killed Sam. Owen too, once they got what they needed. You made the right choice, kid."
Hazel crossed her arms. "I'm not a kid anymore, Nick."
Nick smiled. "No. No, you aren't."
The synth turned to Owen. "We haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Name's Nick Valentine, detective." He stuck out a hand for Owen to shake.
He shook it. The synth's skin felt normal, if a little rough. "Owen."
Nick hmmed. "So, Owen. You wanted to move here and sell energy weapons and scrap—which is exactly what you found down in that cache. And the secrets of New Eden are locked inside your head. Doesn't seem like a coincidence to me."
Owen looked at Hazel, who nodded. "Yeah, maybe."
He was still having a hard time coming to terms with what that could mean. He'd accepted that he was a synth, and decided that he was still Owen, despite his fabricated memories. And then he'd learned about the cache.
He was Owen, but how much of him was made by these memories that seemed to be leaking into his life? His hopes and dreams had been formed by orders that the Institute had given him in another life. How much of his identity was a lie? He was being thrown for a loop all over again.
"Why don't you sit down?" Piper told Owen, guiding him to the black leather couch. He did as he was told, and Piper, Hazel, and Nick sat across from him on the wooden pallets.
"In order to track down Sam, we need to know where New Eden is," Nick said. "And we just found out that you still have the secrets to finding it trapped in your head."
"What are you thinking?" Hazel asked the old detective.
"I'm thinking that if we had the time, we should take him to the Memory Den up in Goodneighbor," Nick replied. "But that would put both of you back in harm's way."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Piper asked.
Nick nodded. "We need to interrogate our friend here."
"I was thinking we could use the word 'interview' instead, Nick," Piper said, rolling her eyes. "Owen isn't a criminal."
"Of course not," Nick replied. "But we do need answers."
Owen swallowed. An "interview" somehow sounded more intimidating than an interrogation.
Great.
Yeah, so these chapter endings kinda suck. But guess who's almost at a thousand views!? Thanks so much, guys. Please review!