Chapter 9: The Tinker, and the Tailor
NOVEMBER 8TH, 2292. 1:30AM - VAULT-TEC HQ: SUBLEVEL 15; QUANTUM TUNNELING RESEARCH DIVISION, WING 7.
The inside of Wing 7 was a stark contrast to the rest of the rooms Exeter had seen so far. The interior of the room was relatively unscathed, with some equipment remaining operational and nary a body to be found. Such was the room's cleanliness, that lab coats were still hung on coat racks and paperwork was still filed neatly on desks and laboratory workbenches. Exeter shone the light around, somewhat blinded by how reflective the light was upon the white surfaces of the room. He felt around for a light switch and, when he found it, decided to flick it and give it a try. Much to his surprise, the room's light flickered and powered on, after centuries of darkness.
He holstered his gun and looked down at Dogmeat. "Looks like this room still has power somehow. The other rooms didn't, save for the one with the computer." The dog yipped an affirmation, and followed closely behind, padding softly. Exeter looked over some of the paperwork left behind on the desks, though most of it was not of much interest, or use. After much investigation and looking around, Exeter finally found what he was looking for; toward the back left of the room, partially hidden behind a workbench, was a pulsating energy field. He moved toward it and gazed upon his prize; the crystal inside floated of its own accord upon a small elevated platform, surrounded by a rotating laser grid, all of which were encased in a pulsing energy field.
Exeter pulled on his mask and used his onboard diagnostics to analyze the structure and makeup of both the crystal and the field surrounding it, though predictably, the computer was unable to quantify them. He looked around for an off switch, a handle, something to deactivate the field, but nothing could be found. He then proceeded to check the functional computers to see if one of them was linked to the network the field was on and, though he did find the correct computer, he was unable to crack the security on it and therefore could not access the field's power grid.
Exeter sighed. "Looks like we've gotta do this the hard way." He took out his Protonic Inversal Axe and prodded the field gently with the handle; he didn't want to haphazardly attack the field, only for it to explode in his face, or disintegrate him. The field acted as a membrane of sorts, pushing back against the handle of the axe and offering resistance against it, though, no matter how hard Exeter pushed, even with his mechanically augmented muscles, the field would not give way.
Exeter decided to experiment on the field in other ways; he flipped the axe, holding it correctly now, and gave the field one more good push. Predictably, the field did not budge. He stood back, ushering Dogmeat with him, and looked around in his bag for an EMP grenade. Finding one, he grabbed the dog, ducked behind a nearby workbench, removed the pin, and lobbed it at the field. The grenade bounced off, fell to the ground and beeped once, twice, then three times in rapid succession, and detonated with a flash of sparks, as electricity arced through the air and shocked nearby apparatus. Once the commotion died down, Exeter looked over the workbench to see the results, and sighed dejectedly upon seeing the field was still up. He unholstered his .44, took careful aim, and fired a single round into the field; the bullet fired from the barrel at 1,300 feet per second, flew through the air in a fraction of a second, and… silence. The expected ricochet, bang or explosion did not occur, leaving Exeter baffled from behind his bench. He stood and marveled at the sight of the aforementioned bullet; it was suspended in mid air, still rotating, but unmoving horizontally. He moved closer, bringing up his diagnostics display. They only confirmed what he was seeing; the bullet had lost all horizontal inertia, but was still spinning rapidly on its Y axis. He once more took the head of his unpowered axe and let the handle rest on the bullet, bringing it to a slow halt. He plucked the bullet from the field and held it between his thumb and index finger, staring at it; save for the lack of casing, the bullet looked as if it had never been fired.
He stared at the bullet some more, then shrugged and pocketed the round; clearly firearms would be of little use, and though he was curious to see if a .50 cal would have the same result, he elected to not experiment with ballistics any further, lest he earn another glare from his mutt. Seeing no other alternative, he took the Protonic Inversal Axe in his hand and turned it on, watching as electricity and plasma flared to life between the two prongs of the axe that made up the top and bottom of the head; small jets of pure purple plasma arced off of the back. The axe was his favourite melee weapon, he could stare at the various colours it produced for hours on end and never grow bored. He turned his sights away from the axe, and refocused on the field before him; he had no better ideas, and prayed this would not be his last.
"Dogmeat, go hide boy."
The dog tilted his head, questioningly.
"I mean it boy. I don't want you getting caught up in this, just in case something goes wrong. Go on! Git!"
The dog whined in protest, but nonetheless obeyed, and hid behind the nearest workbench, his snout poking out from behind a corner.
"Nu-uh. Further. Go!"
Dogmeat whined once more, then shuffled away to another desk, two workbenches back.
Exeter turned back to face the field. Well, it was now or never. He took a deep, steadying breath, raised the axe high over his head, and brought it down, intending to cleave the field in two.
NOVEMBER 8TH, 2292. 1:00 AM - VAULT-TEC HQ: SUBLEVEL 15; QUANTUM TUNNELING RESEARCH DIVISION
Veronica put down the bundle of cables she was holding and moped her brow on her forearm; she was slick with sweat, smelly, and hungry. She didn't much mind hard work, but the room had become almost unbearably hot; she and Raul had managed to get two of the forklifts operational which aided greatly in their tasks and allowed them to mount several of the missing pieces onto the ring. Thankfully the ring was mostly intact, just disassembled and required minimal repairs to get back online. The reassembly of the ring presented problems which were twofold; the ring required massive amounts of power to start up in the form of a miniaturized nuclear reactor, and the ring did not have a proper cooling output. Both of these issues resulted in a swelteringly hot environment that, given the lack of a functional ventilation system, only compounded the heat. The ring itself was now working, though no portal or observable result could be seen. She dropped her multi-tool and walked over to the console computer they had connected to the ring; faint electromagnetic signatures, along Hawking radiation were present in the centre of the structure, but nothing else. She took out her log book and grabbed the pencil she kept perched on her right ear, and made more notations, writing down her observations and theories.
Once her thoughts were on paper, she looked up at where Raul was working, shielding her eyes from the glare of the blowtorch he was using. She cupped her hands over her mouth and called to him. "How's it looking up there?"
"Hot!" Was the reply.
She chuckled and shook her head. "You know what I mean!"
He waved, dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I think that was the last major component we needed to get back on this thing. What's the readout saying? I know, hell, can feel there's radiation coming off of this thing, but that's about it."
"Mm." She shrugged. "Not too much going on. A bit of Hawking and EM, but that's about it. Nothing to really write home about." She pointed to the centre of the ring. "That's where the radiation is highest. It's like it wants to do something, but lacks the eh, motivation."
He nodded and fiddled with the controls of the vertical lift he was on, maneuvered it away from the ring, then descended. When platform was fully on the ground, he hopped off, using a rag to dab at his brow. "Hijole, it's almost as hot as the Mojave in here."
She nodded and sat on a crate. "Yeah. Almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter." She pulled her satchel closer, and pulled out a canteen. She untwisted it, and took a mouthful of cool, crisp water, savouring in the relief it brought.
He sat next to her. "T'yeah. Or for a window." He nodded and took the canteen when she proffered it, taking a swig of his own.
She looked back up at the ring, studying it. It resembled a halo, made patchwork from various metals in differing shades of grey, studded with rods of multiple sizes and shapes, each serving their own purpose in the grand design. She imagined it floating high over the head of some colossal mechanical god; unforgiving, stoic, and severe. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of it all.
"You okay?" Confusion furrowed Raul's brow as he saw her twinge.
"Yeah. Just let my imagination get the best of me for a sec."
Raul took another small sip, then handed the canteen back to her. "How do you think the boss is faring? He sounded kinda pissed when I last spoke to him."
She sighed. "I'm sure he's fine. I just don't like how on edge he's been since we got back." She leaned back on the crate, using her arms to support herself. "He wasn't like this in all the time we were in the Mojave. Even when we got into firefights and other such dire situations, he always had that grin on his face, y'know? Now," She turned to Raul. "Not so much."
"I hear ya. It's like," Raul leaned forward, placing his elbows on his legs. "He's got a chip on his shoulder. Something about DC. He ever spoken to you about his time here?"
"Mm, not much. I mean, he's told me bits and pieces. Like, how he was born in a vault? Never would have thought that about him. Being a mercenary just seemed like something he was born to, and not some coddled vault kid."
Raul nodded. "You know he's only ever told me about his folks once? James and uh… Kathy? Or was it with a C? Point is, only spoke about them once. Told me that James was this egghead scientist from the wasteland."
"Wasteland? But wasn't he born in a vault?"
Raul pointed a finger. "And there's where it gets interesting. Apparently they let him in. Him and his wife."
"Exeter's married?"
"What? No, no, James and his wife."
Veronica was taken aback. "They were let in to the vault? Why?"
Raul shrugged. "Like I said, eggheads. Looks like they needed more smart people than what they had, so they let'em in. That's all I know though.
She nodded. "Makes sense. Also kindof fits into the picture of what little Exeter told me."
"Oh?
"Uhuh. He told me that his mother died in childbirth. Dad raised him alone. Never knew their names though."
Raul sucked his teeth. "Sounds tough. Least he had his dad though."
Veronica shook her head. "Not for very long. Dad up and left when he turned 18 or 19. Something about water."
"They ran out of water? Shitty reason to leave a kid."
She chortled, caught completely off guard by the comment. "No, as in James had to do something relating to water. For like, everyone."
"Oh, oh. Well that makes more sense." He groaned and stood from the crate, stretching his back. "Well, might as well do some finish… Hey do you hear that?"
She tilted her head. "Hear what?"
He waved his hand, shushing her. "Listen…"
She stood, moving her head around, trying to listen for anything. "I don't…"
A faint, but audible explosion could be heard from down the hallway, followed by a rush of air, then silence, then a series of heavy thuds, closer than the preceding explosion.
Raul rushed over to where his helmet and Type – 96 where hidden, behind one of the crates of plutonium. He quickly pulled on his armor and positioned himself, aiming down his sights toward the entrance of the hallway. "I don't like this."
Veronica did the same, hiding behind her own set of crates and barrels, pulling out a Colt 1911. "What do you think?"
Raul shook his head. "Nothing good."
Nothing could be seen from the darkness of the hallway, though still, Veronica and Raul waited.
And waited.
And waited.
A bead of sweat rolled down Veronica's temple; from heat or anxiety, she knew not. All she knew was that she needed to be ready.
Raul was similarly tense; his heart seemed to beat a mile a minute, his muscles coiled and ready to spring into action at any second.
A minute passed by.
Then two.
Then ten.
Veronica looked over to Raul, who looked back at her. She was about to say something when;
thud
thud
thud
Thud
Thud
Thud!
Thud!
THUD
THUD!
Out of the darkness stepped forth a black and red T-60F power armor, hoisting a plasma Gatling gun. The armor looked around, then suddenly snapped its head to where Veronica was hiding, then slowly panned over to Raul's hiding place. A gruff voice spoke from within the armor. "Throw your weapons down. Come out with your hands up. Do it, or I'll exterminate the two of you."
Veronica peeked over the crate. "Oh yeah? You and what army?"
The man in the armor chuckled cruelly. "Army? No. But my brothers are more than enough." Lights flickered on from within the darkness, as 4 more power armors stepped forward, all of them emblazoned with the Brotherhood of Steel insignia.
This time, it was Raul's turn to speak. "Yeah? And who the hell are you?"
The man in the armor released his Gatling gun and held it with his right arm, while sticking out his left, so everyone could see the markings on it.
"Henry Casdin, Star Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. That's fucking who."
NOVEMBER 8TH, 2292. 1:45 AM - VAULT-TEC HQ: SUBLEVEL 15; QUANTUM TUNNELING RESEARCH DIVISION, WING 7.
Exeter took a deep breath. "Heave… HO!" He brought down the axe with all of his strength, intending to cleave the field in two. As soon as the axe made contact with the field, sparks flew into the air as electricity coursed through its shaft, running up Exeter's arm. He groaned and ground his teeth; this would normally hurt if he was purely human, but as a cyborg? This was excruciating. He could feel as his internal servos and cabling become overloaded, shocking the internal fusion engine that served as his heart, and spread throughout. It dulled his thoughts; the communications array in his cybernetic brain was being bombarded with surplus current and disrupting the connection between him and the organic aspect of himself he had left behind at the Big MT. He clenched his jaw, tightened his grip on the axe, and with a yell, pushed forward against the barrier. It crackled with power, glowing and throwing up more sparks, pushing back against him, as if challenging him to a fight. He smirked and threw all of his strength against the axe.
It seemed that this was going nowhere with neither force willing to give up ground, until something changed, as if a string unseen was suddenly snapped. Exeter put a foot forward, then two, then three; he was slowly closing the distance between himself and the crystal. He was now less than a foot away, so close that he could grab it, if only he could reach through the barrier. So close. So close. With one hand he held the axe, while with the other he reached forward and started trying to grab the crystal. He needed to keep pushing. He took another step forward. His coat was starting to smoke. "Got… to… get… through…!" He yelled in agony; everything hurt. His head. His arms. His chest. Everything. "Fucking… HURTS!" With one final roar, he slowly pushed his hand through the barrier, inching ever closer to the crystal and finally managed to close his hand around it. As he did, the barrier disrupted and exploded, sending him flying backward. The world seemed to move in slow motion; he saw shards of glass moving through the air, tinkling like stars. He could see Dogmeat was sideways, teeth bared and barking, eyes wide in alarm; this amused Exeter, though he couldn't put his finger on why. He could see sparks trailing him, dancing around like wisps of blue light. Finally, he could see his axe, whirling, whirling, whirling through the air, dancing up and down with colors of bright purple and…
WHAM! He slammed into the back wall, hard, shaking it with the strength of the impact, landing slumped on a workbench, while a shelf full of glass beakers to come tumbling to the ground with a cacophonous crash. He groaned, and looked up just in time for an auditory alert to ring as his Inversal Axe twirled through the air and embedded itself next to his head. He turned to look at the axe, fizzing in the wall, but could muster up nothing more than a weak annoyed groan. He looked up, and saw that the room was now dark. He blinked a couple of times, but the darkness did not fade. He then realized that the lights were off, and all power in the room had been lost. His head felt like a ton of lead, and hurt as if he'd been smacked by a mirelurk. He looked down at the crystal he held in his right hand; it was jet black, and long. It pulsed intermittently with a weak light from within; he wondered to himself, "This thing was powering that crazy strong shield? AND powered the room? You've gotta be joking." He studied the crystal some more, when his radio began to crackle.
"Heya boss… We might have a problem."