Olivia Remington.

11/03/2287.

Thursday.

2:17PM.

I only slept for a few hours. It wasn't a good sleep though. I was nervous all morning about the trader, I didn't know him beforehand and he had absolutely no reason to let me crash there. And when I WAS sleeping, I was dreaming about killing Kellogg. Over and over, in different ways with different weapons. I caved in his skull with a metal baseball bat, I blasted his head apart with my Trench Gun; each dream more violent and gruesome than the last, until I finally got up for the day. I cooked my breakfast at the trader's cooking fire outside the hut, then hiked back to Diamond City. I got here just before 11:00, dumped some more shit in Kellogg's safe, then went to break the news to Nick.

I walked into the office where Piper seemed to be trying to get some information about me from Nick. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that I caught her, she even noticed me before Nick realized I was there. Piper's definitely a nosey girl, but I guess that's in her nature as a reporter. Nick was concerned immediately since I didn't come back with Shaun. He asked me what happened, and I froze for a few minutes. It's like the shock of everything was delayed, and Nick asking me about it acted as the trigger. I came out of it on my own, but the reality hit me really fucking hard. I had trouble getting it out, but the information I shared about my trip to Fort Hagen was just as shocking to them as it was to me. Kellogg worked for the Institute, and my son was there. And considering I blew his brains out, he can't exactly tell us where the Institute is.

Nick came up with the wackiest idea I've ever heard, bring a chunk of Kellogg's brain to this Dr. Amari in a town called Goodneighbor. Apparently she has tech that allows people to relive their memories, and he thinks she might be able to search his brain's memories. Sounds absolutely nuts to me, but I'll give it a chance. Nick helped me when I needed it, and he seems to know what he's talking about. I certainly haven't been in this world long enough to be an expert.

Nick already left town, but I put off following him because I really needed to figure out what to do about all of the stuff I've collected. Piper and I wandered around town for a bit while I thought about what to do. While I had John touch up my hair again, his mother Cathy tried reigniting that Synth drama from the other day. Those two made me laugh with their little disagreement, but after all that, I overheard Piper trying to interview another resident about Institute stuff, and the guy was kind of a jerk to her. I mean, I might get annoyed too, but she's the only person here that's willing to do ANYTHING about it, even if it's just a newspaper.

Somehow I got the idea to try and buy Kellogg's house. I can't just leave my stuff there forever, so I figured I'd just buy it before the town reclaims it since the owner is now dead. However, when I got up there, the Mayor's secretary made a dickish comment about not wanting to talk about Synths. Irritated me, but then she said something about a housing permit, and when she said it was bigger than average, I jumped on it. I'm down 2000 caps now, but there's significantly more space in here than there is in Kellogg's house. After I head over to Goodneighbor and meet this Dr. Amari, I'm gonna spend some time working on this place. I need to at least have storage space. This will act as my central hub while I figure out this whole Institute/Shaun situation.

Gotta go move my shit across town now. Later Diary.

10:45PM

Today has seriously been the longest day of my fucking life. Early this morning, I was blowing Kellogg's brains out, and by the end of the day, I've spent some time inside of the very brain I blasted to bits.

After I moved all my shit from Kellogg's safe down to Home Plate, my Diamond City home, Piper and I traveled through the Boston ruins to Goodneighbor, where I was set to meet Dr. Amari. On the journey, I uh… well… found myself looking at Piper's butt. I mean, she does have a nice butt, I've always like girl butts over guy butts. But I'd never, like, touch one. Wow… okay, maybe just so I know how they compare to guy butts…

We passed through Boston Common, and Piper got really nervous while we were there. She said "people don't come back from Boston Common", the implication being that everyone who comes here dies. Pretty obvious right? But when we passed though, nothing happened. There were Super Mutants about a block away, but nothing at Boston Common that I could tell. We got to Goodneighbor, and Nick was already there, waiting inside for us. Once inside, Nick got into a brief verbal spat with some jerk in a leather jacket. This guy, Finn, was passive-aggressively threatening me, trying to get me to give him my valuables. Then, a Ghoul in a red frock coat and a big hat stabbed the bastard. The Ghoul, Hancock, is the Mayor of Goodneighbor, and welcomed me to town. Seems to be familiar with Nick, so he must carry a bit of Commonwealth fame. Regardless, my introduction to Goodneighbor was far more interesting than my introduction to Diamond City.

There was this guy standing outside a shop that I feel like I've seen before. I'm not 100% sure, but he seemed familiar. Then I met K-L-E-0, an assaultron with a sassy attitude, and a gun store. Speaking of, I spent almost ALL of my caps on guns and ammo at her shop. I got a few nice things, but their names have escaped me after the day I've had. The paperwork is in my backpack somewhere so I'll write it down later. I really wanna tinker with them. That was one of Nate's hobbies, tinkering and modifying his guns, even after his time in the army was over. I miss that man so much.

Went across town to the Memory Den and met Dr. Amari. Those pods, the memory loungers, apparently let a person relive any of their past memories. The guy I saw in the pod looked like he was having a good time. I think he was the guy outside the gun store, but how he got there before I did I don't understand. Strange… but we met Dr. Amari in the basement of the Memory Den. And she thought we were insane to try and use Kellogg's dead brain to search his memories, until she saw the piece we brought that is. She deduced that the piece was still viable due to the advanced technology infused with it. And Nick offered to have the piece temporarily installed in his head so we could search Kellogg's memories. It's the most thoughtful thing someone's done for me in a long time, and I'm just another case for him.

I had to get in a memory lounger so I could connect with Nick and experience Kellogg's memories myself. It was the trippiest thing, I wonder if that's what being on drugs is like. On top of that, I was overtired and really thirsty, but I needed to get inside. Kellogg's life was tragic… I can't believe I feel any sympathy for him, but his drunk abusive father which parallels my junkie father, his wife and child being murdered, seeking revenge and becoming numb to the world, to right and wrong, become a hired gun, and a hitman for the Institute… it was just really sad, and we're very much alike, as much as I hate to say it. Of course along the way, I had to experience Nate's murder from Kellogg's perspective. It was horrible and I became so distraught, I think I started crying in the lounger. I can't be sure because I was essentially Kellogg, but it was horrible. But finally, we saw his time in DC, and for sure that was my son Shaun. About 10 years old… I lost 10 years of my son's life because of the Institute, Kellogg, because of the Great War… I fucking hate this…

The Institute uses teleportation to get in and out, I saw it in his memories, and the Synth that took my son back to the Institute looked a lot more deadly than the ones I've been fighting. But Shaun didn't appear to be upset at all, or in any danger. He seemed to like Kellogg, so he has no idea what happened. He probably doesn't even know who his parents are… He doesn't appear to be in any danger, so I can at least take a breath and calm down. I really need to find him, but after everything I learned today, I don't know if I can. The only person that can possibly help me is a guy named Brian Virgil, an Institute scientist on the run. He was Kellogg's next assignment, a murder, but this guy is hiding in a place called the Glowing Sea. What the fuck even is that? Is it an irradiated ocean? How do I find him without dying of radiation poisoning? I don't know.

I've had the worst headache since getting out of the memory lounger. It feels like the inside of my skull is on fire and my vision is really blurry. I really wanted to thank Nick for putting his own safety at risk just to help me, but when I saw him, I heard Kellogg's voice. After effects from the memory dig I'm sure, but I almost got into a brawl with him in the lobby. It was ridiculous, and I feel like a real jerk now. I'll have to thank him later. For now, I have to figure out what to do. I'm terrified to go searching for Dr. Virgil, but I don't have much of a choice if I want to get Shaun back. Piper is really convincing though. She said she's impressed at how dedicated I am, at the lengths I'm going to to find my son. She's cute, in a dorky girl kinda way.

Met Daisy, a ghoul that runs a general goods shop in Goodneighbor. We talked a bit about being from the old world, that she didn't believe I was over 200 years old like her. I think she believes me after that, after I told her my opinion on the world. She mentioned another ghoul at the Hotel Rexford. That's where we are now, because I'm too god damn exhausted to walk through downtown Boston at this time of night. The Ghoul here at the hotel turns out to be the guy that sold us the vault space the day the world ended… It was the strangest of reunions, he's such a lonely guy, and still so hurt that he didn't know anything about Vault-Tec's true nature. Definitely a shady organization. I told him to head up to Sanctuary Hills and that I'll visit him sometime. The Institute paranoia spreads to Goodneighbor as well, only difference is, these people are all gung-ho to fight them. Two neighborhood watch guys killed a Synth replacement. They didn't seem to mind if I checked out the body. I found a component on him similar to the one I found on Kellogg, which is also the same as the components I loot off of regular Synths. They're valuable, and possibly a window into what the Institute is.

I really wanna strip out of my clothes, but I can't because I'm sharing a room with Piper. I'm not gonna get a good sleep at all, and I'm tired enough as it is. It's just one night, and tomorrow we're going back to Diamond City. I'll be able to renovate my house in Diamond City, then I'll be able to sleep in my underwear all I want. Besides, that'll help me get my head together. I need to learn about this Glowing Sea, or get close to it so I know what I'm up against. I guess it's one day at a time for a while.

See you tomorrow, Diary.