Dan awoke on a small cot in the dank underbelly of Acadia. Not too far from him were Piper, Nick, and Kasumi – sitting in three steel chairs surrounding a dimly lit lantern. Aside from the lantern, there was no other source of light in the windowless chamber. Dan had no clue what time it was, or how long he had been asleep. He slowly raised from his cot and walked over to the group, seeing a few more empty chairs up for the taking.
As he took his seat, Dan noticed the reactions of his three compatriots: Piper greeted him with a friendly smile, Kasumi gave a polite wave, and Nick impatiently drummed his fingers on his leg – avoiding eye contact. Once in his seat, Dan let out an emphatic yawn and checked the time on his Pimp Boy.
"It's… oh, holy shit, it's 10:00 already? How long was I asleep?"
"Not too long." Kasumi answered, "We went to bed pretty late."
"I'm assuming everyone else is still asleep?" Dan asked.
"Yeah." Kasumi flatly replied.
There was a short moment of awkward silence. Dan glanced at Nick, who was gazing at the floor and continuing to drum his fingers. Truthfully, Dan felt bad about how he had treated Nick earlier. His actions were largely inspired by a need to act quickly, not malice. But, understandably, Nick's first impression of Dan was less than stellar.
"Hey, Nick…" Dan blurted out, rubbing his neck, "Look, I'm – I'm sorry for being kind of an asshole last night."
Nick looked up at Dan and squinted his eyes in suspicion.
"I just…" Dan thought for a moment, "Time was of the essence. I mean, I don't know how long until the Brotherhood gets here, but Dicksmash knows we fled and is probably tearing up the Commonwealth right now. I was just in a rush."
Nick let out a brief sigh, and then spoke to Dan, "Look kid, I get it. I'm always a little suspicious with new people. We've been talking and Piper seems to like you, and she's always had good judgement – one notable exception notwithstanding."
Piper glared at Nick, but calmed herself down before her anger and embarrassment took a complete hold of her.
"Besides," Nick continued, "I've never been one to hold a grudge."
Dan knew there was a certain dead Whitey Bulger rip-off lying in Andrew Station who would take issue with that statement. While it may have been justified, fantasizing about murdering someone for 200 years definitely qualifies as a grudge.
In case you're unaware, I'm referring to Eddie Winter. Whitey Bulger was the real-life mob boss of the Winter Hill gang in South Boston and Eddie Winter is a very on-the-nose reference to him. I'm unsure of how aware people from outside of New England are of that fact. Maybe that's common knowledge, and my explaining it makes me look like a condescending douche. Or, maybe, you didn't know that and appreciate my witty banter and insightful input. Please let it be the latter. Please love me. I just want to be loved.
Anyway, Dan found it pointless to bring up the blatant falsity of Nick's statement. He nodded in appreciation, and then asked Nick what was on everyone's collective minds:
"So how exactly did you end up here?"
"Well, I was with Dicksmash when he first came up here." Nick explained, "We helped out around Acadia and Far Harbor – hell, even the Nucleus. I met DiMA and… well, it's a long story. Safe to say I learned a lot about myself. He and I are basically brothers now. I know he can come off as a little, er, distant, but he has good intentions."
There was a short, but sufficiently awkward pause, before Nick resumed:
"Point is, after we finished with our work here, Dicksmash and I headed back to the Commonwealth. That's when it all started. First he lured out that Maxson fellow and killed him in cold blood. I had mixed feelings at first – it was a pretty dirty move on his part, but it allowed Dicksmash to take over the Brotherhood. I figured that kind of change in leadership could help synths, but I was wrong. He started snatching up settlements from the Minutemen like it was going out of style, and killed anyone that got in his way. I'll give him one thing, he killed indiscriminately – it didn't matter if you were a synth or human. After he recruited a group of raiders from some amusement park in Agawam, I had had enough. I didn't tell Dicksmash a thing. One night when he was asleep I just up and left. I knew they'd take me here, so I headed to Acadia and… well, that's the story."
"Jesus…" Piper muttered under her breath.
"So then," Nick continued, "That's my story, but how in the hell did you end up here, Dan? I've been around here for over a hundred years, but somehow I've never heard of you."
Piper looked as though she was about to speak, but Dan answered before she had the chance:
"Vault 111," he said, glaring at a now silenced Piper, "I only recently escaped from one of the cryo-pods."
"It was my understanding that Dicksmash was the only survivor." Nick asked in a voice thick with doubt.
"Apparently Dicksmash wasn't the… sole survivor." Dan said, suppressing the urge to giggle at his incredibly lame pun.
"Oh my fucking God…" Piper whispered while slapping her palm against her face.
"Christ… what's all this noise about, then?" Cait said, rising from her cot. She rubbed her eyes and then made her way over to the group.
"Wait, that woke you up?" a baffled Dan asked, "Piper was literally whispering! It said so right in the text!"
"So what're ya all talkin' about?" Cait continued, completely ignoring Dan's question.
"Oh joy, Cait's up." Nick added in a deadpan tone.
"Okay, fuck it. Everyone but Curie is awake. How 'bout I wake her up and we head out?" Dan suggested.
The group discussed the suggestion amongst themselves, before all nodding at Dan in agreement. Dan made his way to the side of the room and awoke Curie with relative ease.
"Alright, I think we can only fit…" Dan paused to count on his fingers, "Seven people on vertibird, so…"
"There's only six of us." Kasumi pointed out.
Dan pointed out his index finger and counted the members of his entourage: "Me, you, Piper, Nick, Curie, Cait… oh, shit. Okay then, let's go."
The group boarded the vertibird in their usual formation – with Curie at the helm and Piper and Cait manning the turrets. Kasumi and Dan sat in the back while Nick sat in the passenger seat beside Curie.
"Monsieur, where are we heading?" Curie asked.
"What do you think, guys?" Dan asked the group, "Either the Nucleus or Far Harbor."
"Well," Nick replied, "They may not be friendly to synths in Far Harbor, but I'd rather not head to a nuclear submarine full of those crazy fanatics. Let's stop by Far Harbor first. You can drop me off here before you head over to the Children of Atom."
"Yeah, sure." Dan replied, "Curie, to Far Harbor!"
"I do not know where that is." Curie said.
"Curie," Dan said, turning deathly serious, "Please exit the vertibird."
"Oui, monsieur." Curie replied, opening the driver's-side door and promptly leaving the vertibird.
"Nick, do you know where Far Harbor is?" Dan inquired.
"Yeah, been there plenty of times with Dicksmash." Nick answered.
"Okay, cool. Can you pilot us there?" Dan asked.
Nick silently nodded at Dan and took the wheel. The vertibird powered up, and as the propellers began to spin with increasing speed the vehicle slowly rose into the air. The propellers on the wings rotated, and soon the vehicle shot forwards towards Far Harbor.