Cait is asleep with IVs of Ringer's Lactate in both arms. Another day or two and she should be on the mend. The way that everyone has pulled together for our new addition has made me realize something - we are a unit. It goes beyond family. In war, you love your family, but the guys you are in the trenches with will fight and die for you, and you for them. I am not saying that I wouldn't die for my family, but this is just, well, different.
I don't know if a non-military mind can ever truly understand this. Family is a bond formed OF blood - a unit is a bond formed IN blood. In a way, it is a different kind of family. It is a family that I have found myself the leader of, whether I wanted to be or not. It is a role I don't take lightly.
After seeing everyone's response to Cait, I have to accept the fact that my actions could affect each and every one of them. There is a part of me that regrets our actions at the Combat Zone. Not because I do not feel that they were warranted, but because whatever the response to it is, it is going to affect us all. It has been just under two months since I was dethawed, and, looking back over it, I have been moving at a breakneck pace. I think that Cait's convalescence may be what we need right now.
It will give us a little time off the radar and out of the action while I figure out what the next move is.
Regarding the Gunners. They, as with the Institute will be dealt with. As of this morning, apart from the timeline, nothing has changed. I want another few rounds of the willy pete before we move and the hiatus from action will give Arturo a little more time to scrounge up the additional ammo. It also gives me a little time to flesh out the plan. Lobbing 40mm rounds of white phosphorous into their layer and picking them of as they run out sounds dandy, but, after considering the nature of the beast, also seems a bit short-sighted. Chances are they have at least a few gas masks. I don't expect to kill all of them in one action and need to calculate possible ramifications of this. I also know that there are more out there than just the group at their HQ. If they are anything like the military, they will have a leader, but a fairly decentralized command structure. Will an attack on their HQ illicit a response from the horde of them still in Quincy?
It has become abundantly clear to me that I am going to need to build a small army of sorts.
I am still hesitant to involve Preston and the Minutemen. The Railroad, though their mission is noble, is not a fighting force. They lost control of the Switchboard for fuck sake. Unless I can find a better option, soon, this leaves the Brotherhood of Steel. I may need to encourage Paladin Danse a little. Maybe run a few missions for him to garner more trust. If I can find a way to get this Elder Maxon's ear, I may be able to influence their activities in the Commonwealth. If I can convince him that the Gunners present a clear and present danger to his cause, I may be able to manipulate them to fight a few of my battles for me.
I still have to figure out how to find this Virgil character in a place that is referred to as "The Glowing Sea." The name isn't giving me real happy vibes. He has something the Institute either wants or fears. I need to track him down to find out what the hell it is.
On a more positive note, I met with Edward Deegan today and received a few vials of a new and "improved" serum as well as some intel. Apparently Lorenzo was able to cut through the clutter of what he was seeing. I am both horrified and fascinated by what he said. Apparently the Institute has used stem cells from Shawn as its base-line for their Gen 3 synths. When I failed to understand what the hell that meant, Deegan elaborated in a way that chilled my blood. Every goddamn one of the Gen 3 synths has part of my DNA sequence. even the Coursers. Now I get Kellog's cryptic reference to me as the "back-up" loud and clear. If Shawn didn't survive whatever the hell it was they were putting him through, they could always come back for me. The fact that they did not indicates to me that my boy is still alive. The thought of him in some lab surrounded by Institute assholes pulling stem cells out of him enrages me in a way I have never felt before.
This revelation changes the landscape. Now instead of a direct assault on the Institute I need to get in, find Shawn, and THEN kill everything in it after I get him out. To say it complicates things is a goddamn understatement. I am going to have to come at them sideway, and I have never done sideways real well... I am a blunt instrument, goddammit.