The Wanderer: Chapter 20

- Alphonse Almodovar -

The Overseer sat in the large leather chair of his immaculate office mentally reviewing every detail of his plan. The details were intricate and interwoven and would require a delicate finesse to maneuver every piece into its proper place. Alphonse was confident that he had thought of everything – he could only hope it was enough to prevent his empire from crumbling.

He had matters to discuss with Officer O'Brian and Amata, but those details were for a different day. Today he would begin with the most difficult and crucial order of business. If he didn't orchestrate today's discussion properly then there would be no need to hold discussions with the others…

The sudden rap at his door startled him from his reverie. He took a moment to compose himself as an unfamiliar discomfort roiled through his system. To his astonishment, Alphonse realized that he was actually nervous!

"Sir," Ellen DeLoria said as she poked her head into his office, "Security Chief Hannon is here as you requested."

"Yes Mrs. DeLoria," the Overseer replied in a voice he hoped sounded calmer than he felt, "Send him in."

Despite his nerves, Alphonse noted that his secretary's hair was pulled back into a neat and orderly bun today. She seemed sober, the arrest of her son and the other Tunnel Snakes probably keeping her from hitting the bottle. Tragedy always seemed to bring out the best in the woman, and she had certainly seen her share of it. With a deadbeat husband like Merle and a no good son like Butch, it was probably the environment she was most accustomed to dealing with.

Mrs. DeLoria's head disappeared and the door swung wide as Paul Hannon Sr. strode into the office. The Vault Security Chief's uniform looked impeccable as he approached the Overseer's desk and stood at attention. Even under these dark circumstances, Chief Hannon was squared away to the end.

"Overseer Almodovar," he said simply.

"Sit," Alphonse barked a little too harshly, and then added, "…please." Having the officer looming over his desk made the Overseer even more nervous, and today it was critical that Alphonse keep his emotions in check. He had to maintain the upper hand if he were going to pull this off.

"Sir," Hannon began as he took a seat, "Let me begin by assuring you that I had no idea there was any unlawful surveillance occurring in the Vault Monitoring Center."

The Overseer needed no such assurance. He knew his chief of security had absolutely no knowledge of the Overseer's secret surveillance program that Alphonse was operating right under Hannon's nose. Luckily, the majority of the evidence that Officer O'Brian had recovered from Floyd had pointed directly at the Vault Security Office. There was little to implicate the Overseer's Administration Sector and even less to implicate the Overseer himself as long as Alphonse controlled the story properly.

"And I give you my word that I will leave no stone unturned until I have gotten to the bottom of this outrageous violation of the peoples' privacy!" Paul Sr. assured.

The Overseer silently assessed his security chief. The man's conviction was compelling. Hannon was spit and polish from his shiny bald head to his shiny black boots, and the only thing that shone brighter than his badge was the righteous indignation that burned in his eyes.

Yet, it was that burning desire to uncover the truth behind the scandal and bring justice to the guilty that the Overseer couldn't afford. Chief Hannon wouldn't rest until he got his man, and it was that reputation that Alphonse was hoping to exploit.

Until the Surveillance Scandal, Vault Security Chief Paul Hannon Sr. had always been viewed as a man of the utmost integrity. The population of the vault knew him to be fair and just. There was no one more by-the-book when it came to putting away bad guys.

When Chief Hannon discovered corruption among his officers, he dealt with it firmly and swiftly. He had even been known to lock up his own son, Paul Jr., from time to time in an effort to discourage the boy from associating with the Tunnel Snakes.

When it came to the law, Chief Hannon showed no favoritism and was always as good as his word.

The Overseer knew the people of Vault 101 would be shocked if their impeachable security chief was involved with the scandal, but he also knew they would take Chief Hannon at his word if confessed to the crime – even if that confession were a lie! Alphonse just had to convince his chief of security that a confession was the best course of action to spare himself and his family…

"You know I believe you, Paul," Alphonse tried to sound reassuring, "but even you have to admit it is going to be a tough sell to the public, even with your sterling reputation."

Hannon nodded, the fire in his eyes beginning to burn out. The Overseer couldn't blame him; the man was under a lot of pressure. His son, like Ellen DeLoria's, was under house arrest and facing charges of breaking & entering and assault & battery. Floyd Lewis was in a coma. Officer O'Brian had shot and killed Wally Mack. Paul Sr. himself, was facing a career shattering scandal. And only a week ago poor Officer Stevie Mack had been gunned down in cold blood. Things were definitely not going well for Chief Hannon.

"In fact," Alphonse continued, "it's because of your no-nonsense reputation that people will find it hard to fathom such a thing happening on your watch without your knowledge…"

"What about Stevie Mack," Hannon offered – even at a time like this his mind was grinding away at the case. "He was practically in the damn Fish Bowl twenty-four hours a day. He must have known something…"

"Even if he did, Paul, we can't implicate him. How would that look? Archthetan Mack is revered by the masses. People flocked to the Cathedral in droves to help him mourn the death of his son. They would accuse us of using a dead child as a scape-goat to bury the scandal. We would make Allan Mack even more of a martyr than he already is, especially now that he has lost Wally as well. It would destroy any credibility our offices have left."

Hannon nodded again, looking more and more dejected as he absorbed the truth within the Overseer's logic. His eyes dropped to the floor as he considered the Almodovar's words. When those brown eyes finally returned to face Alphonse, they were dull and defeated. "Then what do we do, Alphonse?"

"We have to think of what is best for this office. What is best for the security force. We have to protect all that we have worked to accomplish – all that we hold dear. You must think of your family, Paul, and what is best for them…"

"My family...?" The Chief wasn't following the logic this time. "What does my family have to do with the scandal?"

Alphonse steadied his nerves. This was the point in the meeting that he had been building towards, the point that was going to seal both men's fate. He placed a holodisk on his desk and pushed it toward the Security Chief.

"As you know, Paul, the surveillance program had secret cameras all over the vault – usually in places where no one would want to be seen…"

Chief Hannon still held the Overseer in his quizzical gaze, his dark skin drawn taut across his features with a look of tense confusion. Finally, after an interminable moment, he slowly stretched out his hand and retrieved the disk.

"There will be hours of footage shown at the trial – especially videos involving you or me." Alphonse explained softly as Hannon inserted the disk into his Pip-Boy. "You know as well as I that the Archthetan will come at us hard. He will use anything he can to cast doubt on our character – to mar our good names. Family, friends, associates – he will use whatever and whomever he needs to against us no matter the cost…"

Paul's dark skin went slack as his face wilted before the screen of his Pip-Boy. His entire body began to quiver with such controlled force that it was hard for Alphonse to determine if he thought the man would melt or explode.

Paul Hannon Sr. had spent a lifetime building a reputation of a law abiding pillar of honor and integrity – and he had earned it. But the man had one secret that could destroy it all, and Alphonse had known about it for a long, long time. Preserving that precious reputation was just the leverage that the Overseer was counting on.

Despite what appeared to be a long and loving relationship with his wife, Vikki, Paul Hannon struggled with a secret life. The man had always had a penchant for the affection of young men. Growing up he had denied and suppressed it, but several years ago Hannon had begun secretly frequenting the lust boy establishments in the seediest sections of the Pleasure Sector. Even though Paul had been extremely cautious with his identity, Alphonse had plenty of footage of the chief's after hours activities.

"Paul," Alphonse said softly after an uncomfortably awkward silence, "you know I'm your friend. I don't care about what is on those disks. But you asked me what this has to do with your family, and now you know. Are you prepared for this footage to go public..?"

"What are you suggesting?" Hannon mumbled without looking up from the video. His voice was thick with desperation.

"I'm suggesting that you make a deal with Archthetan Mack," Alphonse did his best to add a weary resignation to his voice with just a hint of regret. "The Archthetan is a reasonable man. He will respect you coming forward and facing the truth. There will be no need to go public with this footage if he already has your confession."

"But I'm not guilty," the chief pleaded weekly. Alphonse could tell by the defeat in the man's eyes and lack of conviction in his argument that he was almost ready to admit to a crime he didn't commit. He just needed one final nudge in the sensible direction.

"I know you're not, Paul – neither am I! But you and I both know that truth is founded on public perception, and there is no one better at manipulating the public perception than the Church of Scientology. By the time Mack and his sycophants get finished with us there won't be a crime left in the vault that they can't pin on us!"

Hannon nodded again as tears snaked down his dark cheeks and pooled at the greying corners of his neatly trimmed moustache.

The Overseer thought the man looked as if he had aged ten years since he had entered the office, but Alphonse continued to apply pressure. "Do you really want to subject yourself to that kind of scrutiny? Do you want Vikki to be paraded in front of the cameras and dragged through the dirt? Do you want to see Paul Jr. imprisoned?"

The chief shook his head, unable to speak.

"Even if you can't salvage your legacy you can still protect your family. Cut a deal with Mack! Offer him our confession in return for a light sentencing for Paul Jr. I will leverage every ounce of power this office has to make sure your son is protected and Vikki is taken care of…"

The Vault Security Chief made no motion other than to sag even further in his chair. The effect was deflating, as if all the air and all the fight had finally escaped him. Although the man had given no response, Alphonse knew that Paul Hannon Sr. had just accepted his fate.

"Tender your resignation, Paul. You're an honorable man and this is the most honorable way out. It's too late to save yourself, but you can still save your family. I will see to it that your family and your secret remain safe. Make the deal with Archthetan Mack."

Remarkably, as he unsteadily rose to his feet to leave, Paul Hannon Sr. did the unthinkable. He quietly thanked the very man who had just blackmailed him.

- Specialist Bowser -

The Brotherhood Outcast Knight lay in an artificial darkness caused by the blindfold tightly tied around his eyes. His naked body was stretched spread eagle across the bare wire of the metal bedframe; his arms and legs securely fastened at wrists and ankles with razor wire. A shiver sent painful ripples through his battered body. He didn't know if the tremor was brought on by the frigid steel on his bare flesh or the ice-cold terror in his heart, but either way his current condition caused the shiver to become just one more instrument of torture.

To avoid focusing on the fear and pain, the specialist flooded his mind with everything he knew about the field of mechanical engineering. Bowser immersed himself in every memory of every lesson he had ever received from the Brotherhood Scribes. He unpacked the memories like boxes, cramming their contents into every cell of his brain until there was no room left in his consciousness for any other thought.

The mental misdirection had been very effective during his previous beatings. All his years of studying the laws of thermal dynamics, kinematics, material sciences and structural analysis flashed through his mind so vividly that he was able to successfully slip into a metaphysical, mechanical engineering trance. He had been able to transcend the torture and escape into a world of blissful scientific knowledge.

He was so engrossed in that world that occasionally he would shout a theorem or postulate aloud in response to the interrogations and the beatings. This seemed to infuriate his abusers and cause them to beat him even more severely.

Today, however, his captors seemed to be taking the interrogations to a higher and undoubtedly more painful level. Today, Bowser feared, his ability to mentally transcend the torture would be put to the test in earnest!

Currently the specialist was pouring through a lesson in fluid dynamics, desperately trying to enter that altered state of reality where he could escape the pain and achieve his trance-induced serenity.

The cold air and cold bedframe made it difficult to meditate. So did the fact that his tormentors were currently attaching something to his genitals. He wasn't completely sure what they had in store for him, but he was positive it would be extremely unpleasant. Again he tried to chase those dark thoughts away and focus on his studies.

"Today is going to be educational." A voice spoke to him from beyond the darkness of his blindfold. Bowser recognized it as the voice of the Colonel.

Colonel Autumn had introduced himself the day Bowser arrived at Raven Rock and had promised the Outcast Specialist that the two of them would be spending a lot of time together. So far, unfortunately, the Colonel had kept that promise.

"The question is," the Colonel continued in a menacing voice laced with mock pleasantry, "whether I educate you, or you educate me…"

"Pascal's Principle is used to quantitatively relate the pressure at two points in an incompressible, static fluid," Bowser recited.

"I see," Augustus replied, the mock pleasantry gone. "We are back to the engineering sciences."

"Pressure exerted anywhere in a confined incompressible fluid is transmitted equally in all directions throughout the fluid…" The mantras were helping Bowser slip into his deep state of meditation.

"Yes, pressure, when applied properly, will do just that," Augustus responded with unusual patience. "But fluid flow is a tedious topic. Tell me what you know of current flow Specialist Bowser…"

The question triggered a memory of Bowser's electrical engineering instructor. Entering his trance, the specialist could see the scribe standing at the head of the classroom wearing a white lab coat and drawing diagrams on a chalkboard.

"Tell me what you know of current flow, Initiate Bowser," the stern scribe demanded as he singled Bowser out among the classroom of initiates.

"Ohm's law states that the current flow between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points," the young initiate answered. "The current requires a conductive material. In an electromechanical cell, for example, current flows between two electrodes through a conductive liquid called an electrolyte."

"Very good, Mr. Bowser." The scribe replied as he approached the young student's desk. The scribe's face was changing as he bore down on his student. His features rippled like water in the wind until they settled into the menacing sneer of the Colonel.

Bowser tried to jump up from his desk and run from the terrifying instructor, but suddenly he was unable to move a muscle. He watched helplessly as the Colonel-scribe produced a metal ruler from his white lab coat and slapped it across Bowser's forehead.

Deep in the dungeons of Raven Rock the Outcast's body arched violently as Colonel Autumn touched the electrode to his prisoner's forehead. The contact had been brief and the Colonel's assistant had the voltage setting low, but the shock was still strong enough to jolt the Outcast back to reality.

An indescribable wave of pain ravaged the specialist's body from the tip of his head to the center of his groin. He was certain his genitals would explode as every muscle in his body seized at once.

The Outcast's body shook violently in the wake of the mini-seizure as the Colonel removed the rod from his forehead.

"Very good, Mr. Bowser," the Colonel was saying as the knight finally began to settle down. "You seem to know your electrical theory. Now let's see how smart you really are… Tell me where to find the Brotherhood of Steel!"

Being electrocuted had a disorienting effect on the Outcast, but the shock was strong enough to jolt him out of his meditative trance and back to the harsh reality of Raven Rock. As his tremors subsided the knight became fully aware that he was not in a classroom, and responding to these questions correctly went far beyond just getting a passing grade.

"Hmm," the Colonel finally said after his question was met with silence. "Maybe you aren't so smart after all. Perhaps another refresher is in order. Do you know what electricity does to the muscles of a human body?"

Bowser remained silent. He knew that current followed the path of least resistance. In the human body, that path would first be through blood vessels, nerves, and muscle. Second it would travel through skin, tendon, fat, and bone. As it overloaded his nervous system, the current would override his neurons and force his muscles to contract.

Again his body bowed as the electrode came down on his stomach. Every muscle in his body went rigid until even his chest wouldn't allow his lungs to fill with air. The darkness behind the blindfold exploded with a brilliant white light as Bowser's brain hungered for oxygen.

Unfortunately the Outcast maintained consciousness through the second round of electrocution. The Colonel seemed to know just how much the knight could take and remain coherent.

"Well, it would appear your bladder still works, specialist. You have made quite a mess of my floor. Now would you spare us both any further unpleasantness and answer my question?"

"Fort Independence," the specialist reluctantly gasped as the air finally rushed back into his lungs. "We are headquartered at Fort Independence…"

Bowser hated to give the Enclave any information, but they already knew about Fort Independence so he was really giving them nothing.

Even before the Brotherhood Outcasts selected the old fort as their headquarters they knew that they would be exposed once they left the ruins of the Capital Beltway, but it was a risk they had been willing to take for several reasons.

One was to put plenty of distance between themselves and the Brotherhood of Steel. The geographical separation made retaliation difficult for the angered Brotherhood Knights. The Outcasts had raided the armory and run off with much of the Brotherhood's precious technology. Elder Lyons was anxious to retrieve it, but he was too smart to spread his weakened forces all across the Wasteland just for revenge.

Another was their sworn duty. Fort Independence promised to be a wealth of pre-War technology and Fort Banister was near that location as well. It was supposed to be the Brotherhood's mission to keep such technology away from factions like the mercenaries, raiders, and the Enclave. They would prove to Lyons and his misguided followers that a true Knight would risk exposure to pursue their holy mission – the acquisition and protection of ancient technology.

And finally, an Outcast presence at Fort Independence would draw the Enclave's focus away from the Citadel. It was crucial that the Citadel remained a secret as it housed one of the most miraculous relics of pre-War technology in existence – Liberty Prime.

"I know all about Fort Independence Mr. Bowser, and I'm pretty sure you know that. So let me tell you something you, with all your scientific knowledge, probably don't know. Applying electricity to a human being is more of an art than a science. The balance of voltage and current is critical. Too much current, for example could cause your muscles to contract so violently that they will snap your bones like dry twigs. But let's think beyond skeletal muscles. The diaphragm muscle that controls the lungs, for example, can become "frozen". Or your heart, also a muscle as I'm sure you are aware, can begin to beat improperly. A fluttering heart is ineffective at pumping blood to vital organs in the body. You see Mr. Bowser, if I am not extremely careful you could easily die from asphyxiation or cardiac arrest, and neither of us wants that to occur. So tell me specialist, why did you Outcasts turn traitor on your band of brothers and set up shop at Fort Independence?"

Bowser had to be careful with this answer also. He could tell his inquisitor was reaching his boiling point, but the Outcast knight couldn't tell the Colonel the main reason the Outcasts split from the Brotherhood. The war on the mutants had cost the Brotherhood resources and lives. If Elder Lyons would have spent half those efforts restoring Liberty Prime to its full-up round glory, Casdin and his followers never would have left. But the Enclave couldn't find out about the magnificent robot no matter what the cost.

"We are sworn to the acquisition and protection of pre-War technology. Some of our brethren forgot their sacred vows. Some decided to protect the Wastelanders in the present instead of safeguard their future."

"Who decided!" Autumn bellowed. "Where are they located!"

"They are traitorous scum!" Bowser yelled back hoping the anger would hide his fear. "I don't know where they are! I don't care where they are! I hope they are all dead..!"

In the wake of the shouting the room went deathly silent again until the Colonel finally spoke in a voice that was too calm. "The problem, Mr. Bowser, is that I believe you do know where they are. So let me give you one last lesson. When I touch this electrode to your body it creates a point of entry for the electricity to flow through you. That entry point can usually experience intense burning and sub-dermal damage. But that is nothing compared to the exit point. An excessive amount of current leaving the body can cause an explosion near the point of exit."

Bowser could feel the Colonel's breath just inches from his ears. He knew the man had finally reached the limit of his patience. It was the point in the interrogation that the Outcast had been pushing him towards. Bowser wanted the Colonel mad enough to kill him – the knight would rather die than betray his sworn oath.

"Now tell me what I want to know before I blow your balls across this room!" the enraged Colonel screamed in the Outcasts ear.

"Fuck you Autumn!" Bowser screamed back just before his world exploded in a blinding white light.