Note: I got about eight irons in this fire. Sometimes I have to remember which one needs removed
Minor edit in dialogue.
The transition to Vault life had not been entirely without problem. James spent the greater part of two days talking the Overseer into allowing them to stay, even for a short while. He argued his skills could be applied to their benefit, and he would gladly apply said skills. He also bluntly hinted at the fact that his daughter was dangerously mentally ill.
He'd explained Jericho away as her personal guard, much to his own chagrin. Lillie had not been privy to the conversation. James had to plead with the Overseer not to agitate her further, and thanked God that Jonas hadn't divulged the information about the plasma charge to the man.
"You've heard what she threatened to do, before," he sighed. "She knows too much, and is capable of too much, to be released into the world. Let me try to undo some damage."
Almodovar understood, but didn't budge. He insulted Lillie blatantly. James knew that the man regarded her as unstable, and considered her threat to their safety very real. Why should the Overseer willingly allow his own people to be exposed to that danger?
"She spoke to you about the Enclave," James replied. "They want you to join their cause; Lillie wouldn't dare harm anyone inside the Vault. It would destroy her chance of persuading the Vault to swear loyalty to the Enclave."
He'd explained as much as he could to the Overseer about the Enclave. Almodovar felt that she might convince some of the younger Dwellers to rebel against his rule and make them want to join the Enclave. It was a believable risk, James felt. He did his best to explain that Lillie had been denied the opportunity to socialize with children her own age, even teens. He didn't think her chances of convincing another teen to listen to her were very high, solely because she simply did not know how to do so.
He also pointed out that Jericho would be following her around, to mind her behavior. Jericho had agreed to the terms. James did not think the man would actively stop her from attacking someone, but... well, it was the best solution available.
James had had an in-depth conversation with Jericho, about what would happen if Lillie managed to find her way into the maintenance wing. If she managed to hack into a computer or two and caused a power failure. He was disturbed by the interest in the eyes of the man when he discussed how, if Lillie "broke" the Vault, they would all be locked into what was essentially a fully-stocked coffin.
But he had agreed.
And the Overseer, while he did not enjoy the thought of a crazy teenager roaming his Vault with a dirty wastelander bodyguard, eventually gave James a week-long stay.
"You will leave the moment that week is up, no ifs, ands, or buts," he said, in a familiar no-nonsense tone. "Or you will be shot, and your bodies disposed of."
Much like the fate he and Lillie had faced before. James wasn't worried. It was the best they could hope for.
James integrated himself into Vault life almost seamlessly, using years of living under the Enclave's "president" to ingratiate himself to the others. The clinic had lacked a doctor with actual medical training for so long that Jonas was damn near fawning over him as he treated the various ailments present among the Dwellers.
The only unfortunate aspect of this kowtowing was that he could not monitor Lillie's activities within the Vault. He had to rely on the ignoramus Jericho, to trust the filthy old man, that he would be able to curtail whatever chicanery she might be up to.
James didn't think Lillie was of sound mind, anymore. She acted as if Eden's whole plot of getting her into the Vault was her destiny; she inferred that she was a heroine in a story that she could control. He believed that she was convinced of her role as an outlander who, in the time of need, would swoop in and save the day for the people who had, in reality, brainwashed her into believing the Enclave was the only answer.
He dreaded that this would end as... as Mowgli's story had. Killing the village she so desperately wished to be a part of, because she desired the safety and the acceptance of a domineering tyrant.
He would never agree with Enclave ideals, but he would not allow his daughter to harm someone who had every right to exist. Realistically, he knew he couldn't undo years of conditioning in only one week, but perhaps he could offer her another hope to hang onto―
Another way for her to prove herself to the Enclave. Even if he would be lying to her―again―maybe he could tempt her into behaving and slowly undo the brainwashing by offering up a solution.
The purifier―her mother's dream of clean waters―the management of which he would skew so that Lillie believed it would ensure her re-entry into the Enclave.
She couldn't honestly believe that everyone in Raven Rock was of pure stock, could she? He knew for a fact that several of the officers working in the medical bay were from the wastes. ...But Lillie might not be able to understand that Eden's desire for the pure human stock of Vault 101 was merely the mistake of a mislead supercomputer, and not the Enclave's true goal.
It was his fault for lying to Eden about their origins, for the benefit of Lillie. She was right, in a way. Eden hadn't had use for someone like James, seventeen years ago. Without the lie, they may well have been turned out. Left to face their inevitable deaths―
James cringed at the dramatic way he'd spoken to Lillie. He didn't honestly think Eden would have thrown them into an incinerator. He had been angry, and allowing his hatred for the Enclave show. He must learn to still that opinion, if he wanted her to believe his plan.
For this to work, however... he would have to lie to her, once more.
James did not feel very satisfied with himself.
It was nearing time to enact the plan.
James had been sleeping in the clinic. Jericho made progress reports to him at the end of each day. The two men got along like a house on fire.
James was not overly worried about the man being around Lillie; from what he had gathered over the past three days, Jericho was mildly intimidated by her. Vague comments about having his ass handed to him and a snide reference to her being "no Sleeping Beauty" were enough to convince James that Lillie was relatively safe in the company of the foul-mouthed man.
But it was implied violence. James was concerned about this new reputation she had accrued. He needed her to focus, but she would not release that ideal that the Enclave had pounded into her head just yet. She'd been very volatile toward him in the time since their arrival, and wasn't improving.
He sighed to himself, reviewed the medical chart of a patient, and tapped a pencil on the desk. There simply wasn't enough time, inside the Vault, for him to effect change. He would have to use Lillie, outside of the Vault, to draw the Enclave out and prove to her that they were not the bright and shining future she had been promised.
There wasn't enough information in the Vault files for him to undo any of the conditioning. He needed...
"Hey, jackass," Jericho snapped, from the doorway.
James breathed out slowly before turning his head to stare at the man. "Yes?" he asked, his voice measured.
"She's got some shit goin' between her and this little bitch boy," the man said, crossing his arms and leaning on the door frame. "He ain't tough enough to do damage but she ain't fightin' him―"
"I am aware of the way the DeLoria boy acts," James muttered, turning off the terminal at the desk and standing.
"Yeah, well," Jericho snorted. "She's sittin' out here with a goddamn bloody nose because of that horseshit."
James sighed, removed himself from his office, and went to examine his daughter. It wasn't the first time Butch had attacked her―or any of the other teenagers in the Vault―but it was the worst injury thus far.
Lillie sat very still as he cleaned her face, staring into the air. Her nose wasn't broken, but swollen to near twice the size. "What did you say to him this time?" James asked, carefully hiding the irritation in his voice.
"I didn't say anything," she mumbled, sniffing. "He started in on Amata."
James nodded. Lillie's initial plan of getting the Vault on her side―a direct appeal to the Overseer― had failed, and so she was attempting to make friends with the Overseer's daughter. James understood that her plan now was to do what Almodovar feared and cause the youths to rebel.
"We aren't going to be able to stay here, Lillie," he reminded her, gently. He'd told her every time he'd seen her. She'd pointedly ignored him, and continued the trend.
Lillie said nothing, but turned her eyes down. James put the gauze to the side and a hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie," he said, lowering his head to try to catch her eyes. "I know that you think―that your plan is the best one available. Can I offer you an idea, at least? A... back-up, of a kind?"
"Dad..." she groaned, gingerly touching her nose. "I have to do this."
"I know," he murmured, and patted her shoulder. "Hear me out, okay?"
Lillie looked up at him with a tired face. The effort of talking the people of the Vault into siding with the Enclave was wearing on her nerves... and the effort of fitting into a group of teenagers so unlike herself surely wasn't helping. James cleared his throat.
"Do you remember your mother's favorite passage?" he asked, lowering his voice in respect to Catherine.
" 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely'," she recited, without pausing.
James was surprised, honestly. He hadn't thought she would recall the verse. His nightly recital to her, her mother's dream, had ended well before she was old enough to form permanent long-term memories, out of fear that Eden would find the lie. Lillie shot James a frown, screwing her face up. "That is right, isn't it?" she asked, sounding frustrated.
"It's absolutely correct," he breathed, and smiled with a secret pride that she had remembered.
"Why did you ask," she said, rubbing her nose and wincing.
"Your mother wanted to bring clean water to the people of the wastes," James replied, cautiously. "She was... well, she wasn't able to, and I had to leave for your sake―"
"Don't try to guilt me aga―" Lillie began, sounding grumpy.
"No, no, nothing like that. I just..." James sighed out. "I had thought that, if you were to deliver the purifier into the hands of the Enclave, you could..."
Lillie stared at him with a suspicious look. "You didn't like me trying to gain favor before," she said, her tone hardening, "so why would you do it now?"
It took him a moment to work up the courage, but he was able to do so when he saw the underlying exhaustion in her eyes. He walked across the clinic, grabbed up a set of x-rays and marched them back to Lillie. "This is why," he said, thrusting the film into her hands.
She stared at it for a moment, then looked up at him with a strange look on her face. "That's..." she started, her voice going soft. "Me."
"It is," he replied, and he sighed. "I didn't want to tell you, but... we have to leave the Vault, Lillie. You―" his throat tightened. "You need something to guarantee your survival. This plasma charge..." He blinked away the emotion. "Eden's back-up plan. You need one, too."
Lillie lowered the film to her lap and touched the visible lens of VIOLA on it. She was quiet for a moment. James let her come to the conclusion he had purposefully guided her toward.
"They'll know I know," she whispered. "You shouldn't have―"
"I'm sorry," he said. "I love you, Lillie. I don't want you to die."
She wiped her face and sucked snot into her head, muffling a groan of pain. She dropped the film to the floor.
Watching her come to terms with the bomb in her head was painful enough. He hated to see the panic that crept into her face when she realized―as he had, when he thought up the plan―that she would be considered a traitor the minute they stepped out of the Vault. But they had to leave.
Stepping into the wastes again, lying again, to ensure his daughter's survival... the identical outcome of his actions, in the past and the present, was eerie.
As you make your bed, so you must lie on it, he thought, comforting Lillie.
Even if he had no other choice.
