Wrong Place, Right Time: A Hero's Story

by DLTA-BOT

Not everyone is born a hero. Some, well, some are forced into it. Damon has no interest in being the beacon SPARTANs have become. An invincible, implacable force for good standing as humanity's shield. After the War took everything, he became the sword. He fights battles no one wants to see, and the troubled SPARTAN III is fine with that. Sometimes though, we don't get a choice.

28. Chapter 28: More Questions Than Answers

A/N: Greetings! And we're back with more... uh... story! On this episode of strange lands which make no sense, we're jumping around a bit in Fallout's story! I always thought the ideas brought up in this chapter were glossed over way too readily in the game. So I fixed that. Oh, hey, we broke 300,000 words! Yay us! Anyways, I have a short announcement at the end of the chapter (doesn't have anything to do with the story), but if you care, stay tuned for that. Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think, and as always, enjoy!

Chapter 28: More Questions Than Answers

I followed Dr. Li through pristine, white washed hallways toward her office set near the back of the Advanced Systems division. She hadn't said anything since I agreed to come along. The older, black haired woman controlled herself well, but her back was slightly too stiff, and the cadence of her stride quicker than it had been yesterday. She hid it better than most, which made me wonder, was that because she was a division leader here, or is there something I don't know about the woman?

Whatever the case, this is still a good opportunity to gather more information.

It's been 15 minutes since we left the apartment; Nate would probably be eating with Porter by this point.

"Go", he said when I told him Li wanted to talk with me in private. "Maybe you can figure something out. The ex-soldier grunted when I hesitated "I'm not you, but I took care of myself for a long time. Don't start babying me, that would piss me off more than anything." He looked at the door, a small smile on his face. "Maybe I'll take Porter up on her offer for a talk. Get some breakfast with her. She's…. nice."

The smaller man stared at the door for another beat before looking back at me. I shrugged; if he wanted to talk with the shrink, that was his prerogative. My only concern is if they're planning something, but the more I thought about the possibility, the less it made sense.

"Don't get into trouble and I won't."

He scoffed. "You're telling me to stay out of trouble? Sure, right, I'll take that advice from you."

"I don't need your help to get out of it."

"No, you'll just kill whatever the trouble is, right?"

I nodded.

Footsteps in the hall caught my attention as the ex-soldier sighed.

"Sometimes…" he said.

It was only… one set of them. Odd.

The stride stopped in front of the door and there was a soft knock. When it slid open, Dr. Li was standing in the hall.

Alone.

"Good morning Nate, Damon."

"Good morning Dr. Li", Nate said.

I nodded. "Ma'am."

"Have you decided?" the division leader said.

Nate didn't wait for me to respond. "He'll go."

Why was he so eager to be alone with- oh.

"She has a kid."

The implication took a few seconds to settle in, but once it did, the smaller man's face turned bright red, but I don't think it was embarrassment.

"Damon", he said, slow and controlled, "if you weren't wearing that armor, I'd be punching you in the face. You think I'm interested in that now?"

I don't know, I don't know anything about personal relationships.

"I wasn't trying to upset you."

"You usually aren't, but you're pretty goddamn good at it."

Turnabout's fair play.

I turned back to Dr. Li whose expression hadn't budged from its firmly set grim determination. "Before I agree, what assurance do I have this isn't a trap?"

"I'm here alone, other than that I have none I can give." The doctor stared up at me, not a hint of uncertainty or fear in her dark, piercing eyes. Her expression was dead serious and determined. There was no self assured smirk, or bored gaze; whatever her confidence came from, it wasn't the same arrogance many of the other scientists here had.

"Alright."

Inside the division leader's office, which was largely bare except for a desk, and two extra chairs, and a small work station, she seemed to relax ever so slightly. Whatever had her on edge, it wasn't me.

She slid the door shut behind me and walked around her desk. "Thank you, I know you must be suspicious, so I do appreciate you at least hearing me out. There have been a few inconsistencies lately and I need help sorting them out. Specifically a former colleague and friend of mine, Dr. Brian Virgil. I don't know what happened to him, but the story I got from Father didn't sit right."

Virgil? "What story?"

"The security system in his lab is active. I was told it malfunctioned and killed Brian. I wanted to be a part of the investigation, but I was turned down. The more I asked Father about it, the more he avoided the topic. We don't always see eye to eye, but he's always been fair to me. Something is going on here."

Li's story struck me odd: she's an outsider, from the sounds of it one of two accepted from the outside world. Shaun was under extraordinary circumstances, so the same probably holds true for Li. On top of that, she's the leader of their main research division. The doctor didn't carry herself the same way as everyone else here either. Most of the other Institute members I've interacted with have been nervous, or aggressive, but Li is neither, she's quiet and guarded. It's like she's used to a completely different life.

"What are you?"

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "What are you asking?"

"You're an outsider here. What did you do before this?"

"That is correct. Do you expect me to part with private information just because you asked?"

I nodded. "You came to me for help. You need someone outside the Institute, someone who is good at fighting. You don't have many options."

"You're an observant one", the older woman said. "Not that it should surprise me." She grunted. "Yes, I'm an outsider from the Brotherhood of Steel, before it came under its current leadership. I worked on what they call 'Project Purity', to provide safe, clean, potable water to the Capital Wasteland."

Potable water for an entire region? "Did it work?"

"Yes." There was more than a little pride in her voice. "It took- there were a lot of sacrifices made to finish it, but it worked. Afterward… things got complicated and I decided to take my leave. This is the only place I felt safe enough from the Brotherhood to stay. If what you say about this young boy is true, it means I at least have some reason to trust you."

Enemy of my enemy… That doesn't make me a friend.

The current situation might complicate things for her, but between her apparent distrust of the Institute, and the Brotherhood's presence, that led me to another question.

"Is that still the case?"

Dr. Li blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You came to me because you don't trust the Institute, or at least Shaun. The Brotherhood is here and there's a risk they destroy the Institute-"

"You're insinuating my loyalty to the Institute is flagging?" she interrupted, but the question wasn't really an accusation. That told me all I needed to know. The division leader held my gaze for a few moments before shaking her head. "It doesn't matter, I can't take the risk of being found by the Brotherhood. I'm sure they know I'm here, but there's a world of difference between that and them getting to me."

That's understandable given what I know about Maxson. They wouldn't kill her, but they'd squeeze every drop of information about the Institute and their operations.

There were a few other things I was curious about, like why she was going along with the Institute's current direction given her past with Project Purity, and its intent. One thing at a time though; I need to figure out what she wants from me.

"You don't trust either which is why I'm here, so what are you asking?"

She gave a curt nod. "I'd like you to break into Dr. Virgil's lab and find out what really happened."

I could tell her Virgil is alive, in the Glowing Sea. The Institute, at least some of its leadership which no doubt included Shaun, already knew that. I still need to get whatever serum he has there too. There was nothing forcing me to do it, but leaving the doctor out to dry didn't sit right. What would telling her get me? Trust? That may be useful later. Would there be any risks? Not that I can think of, they know we probably worked with him, and we worked with the Railroad, confirming either wouldn't endanger Nate or I.

"He's alive, hiding in the Glowing Sea. Kellogg was tasked with hunting down Virgil when I killed him."

The doctor didn't reply, but the expression that slowly drifted onto her face wasn't surprise, it was anger. She sat behind her desk, clenching and unclenching her hands.

"Bastards", Li said eventually, "They were keeping me out of the loop because they knew I would contest that course of action." She looked up at me. "Did he tell you why he left?" I shook my head. "I can guess. He was in charge of a program studying the Forced Evolutionary Virus. They- made a habit of conducting experiments on people from the Commonwealth. He had always contested the practice, but he could never make any headway. Brian must have had enough."

"I still need to get into his lab. He took a modified version of the virus to survive. It's killing him."

She nodded, standing. "I'll show you where it is."

"No", I said, plan throwing itself together, "if they're trying to keep things under wraps, breaking in will be a signal flare." If Li wasn't trying something here, she's someone I might be able to rely on. While there's a thin margin, I do have some. I get caught, people are angry, but I still have Li as an ally. "I need you to keep clean."

The division leader's gaze turned appraising. "You want my help later."

"Possibly", I nodded. I'm operating on almost no information and Shaun has already proven untrustworthy, even with one of his highest ranking members. Having someone in Li's position sympathetic could be invaluable.

"Alright, yes, that's- that's good." She sat back down. "I wasn't thinking. Security. I'm unfamiliar with the exact design of his lab's security system, it's in the BioScience wing, but most have deployable ceiling mounted turrets and Tesla traps. They'll be wired to optical sensors and, unfortunately, they did not wire it so the labs were on separate circuits. This project was… more sensitive than many others, so there may be additional security measures in place. I do not know what, and the only people who would are the ones who Shaun decided to bring into the investigation."

"Do you know if they sent anyone in to scout?"

She shook her head.

Those security measures sound a lot like what Kellogg used in Hagen.

"Where's the lab?"

"In the BioScience wing, go through the main hydroponics and adjacent lab,down the hallway at the back, and to the left." The slender woman reached into her desk and produced a small piece of paper. "This is the password to his personal terminal. I don't know if you'll need it for anything, especially since you know what happened to him, but better safe than sorry."

As I took the offered password, alarm bells began ringing in my head. She's trusting me with a lot here. It isn't a one way street, but we only met each other a few days ago.

"Why are you trusting me with this?"

She frowned. "I don't trust you, but it's easier to rely on someone when you know they at least haven't been actively working behind your back."

Li really doesn't trust the rest of the Institute's leadership. I'd have to ask her about that, but for now, I have to take this one thing at a time.

I slipped the piece of paper into a pouch. "I don't take being betrayed well."

"Damon", she said with a hint of dry sarcasm, "I don't need to make the list of people who want my head any longer."

"Fair enough." I know that feeling.

Before I could turn to leave her office, Li held up a hand. "We'll need another reason for meeting. It will already be suspicious enough if you break into Brian's lab after talking to me, I can't come out of this conversation with nothing."

I cocked my head at her. Was that a bad attempt at getting information out of me? "You're the scientist, I'm sure there are questions anyone in your position would ask someone like me."

After a few moments of silence, each of us holding the other's gaze, the doctor nodded. "I understand. Hopefully we can come to trust one another." Something in her voice said that wasn't an empty platitude. A weariness. That was familiar, being around people who wanted everything they could get out of you, but never feeling like you could rely on them in return.

Going straight to Virgil's lab would send up major red flags for Li. The serum he had been working on could provide a pretty good cover story. They'd ask where I got the passcode from and, while I'm generally a horrible liar, lying by omission is my bread and butter. Tonight would be a good enough opportunity to break in; it would be better to wait longer, Virgil was already running out of time when we met him, and this conversation has planted suspicions about Shaun's motives.

Instead, I headed back to the room to find Nate. Whatever the Institute leader has planned, the ex-soldier's a part of it. He's trying to recruit me as well but, whether there's genuine desire to reconnect with his father or not, Shaun is far more focused on him than me.

What is he planning though?

When I got back, Nate was still gone. I checked in Porter's room, but they weren't there either. Porter had brought all of our meals to the room thus far, but they may have decided to go elsewhere to eat. I could wait for them to get back, the question was should I? The ex-soldier is far better versed in social interactions than me, he has to have picked up on the same cues I have. He hasn't heard Li's story, but what he does know should be more than enough for him to be suspicious.

Right?

Before I realized, my legs were carrying me back through the sterile, almost painfully white halls toward the Institute's main hub. Nate was right when he said he's capable of taking care of himself, but the more I thought about the situation, the more uneasy I became.

Along the way, I came across a Synth guard patrolling the halls. That's something else that struck me odd. Maybe it was for security with the ex-soldier and I around, but this place is supposed to be secure, and they have Coursers around the facility. Why would they have guards in full armor, carrying rifles for security?

"Where's the mess?" I demanded as I planted myself in front of the guard, blocking its path.

"Excuse me sir", it replied, craning its neck to look up at me. The thing's voice sounded like it had been distorted through a broken speaker. "Can I help you with something?"

"Mess hall."

"I apologize sir, I am unsure what you are referring to."

It doesn't-

"Cafeteria."

"Yes sir", the guard turned and pointed back down the hall, "it is on the opposite side of the main commons, second level."

I stepped around the Synth and continued toward the hub. Logically, I knew they wouldn't do anything, at least not yet. Hell I don't even know what they would do if they wanted. As far as I can tell, they just want to win us over to their side, but something still had me uncomfortable. It felt like there was an ulterior motive.

As I neared the hub, I began running across technicians and scientists in the white washed walls. I paid them little mind as they hurried to get out of my way.

But what would it be?

A few minutes later, I emerged in the main hub, it's relative scale to the rest of the underground structure, still impressive. I felt the collective gaze of the dozen people around the entrance fall on me for a moment before they too rushed away.

Climbing to the second floor, I found Nate and Porter sitting at a table in the large eating area.

"Damon?" Nate asked. I must have been projecting my unease because both of them stood as I stalked toward the table.

I stopped, looking at each in turn as I stood over them. What did I want? What was I going to do? I can't tell Nate anything; we were almost certainly under constant surveillance, to mention nothing of Porter.

"Did Dr. Li tell you something?" the ex-soldier continued, probably to keep the awkward silence from dragging on.

Shit. What am I supposed to say?

Lie.

I'm a horrible liar.

Lie by omission.

"It wasn't anything new."

"What does that mean?"

Uh…

"It isn't anything you haven't heard before?"

The smaller man cocked an eyebrow. "Is that why it feels like you're ready to tear someone in half?"

"Isn't that normal?"

Once my brain caught up with my mouth, I realized how dumb that sounded. How stupid this entire situation was. What the hell am I doing?

"Yes…" Nate glanced at Porter who was watching me with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Well, anyway, we were just about done."

The shrink nodded to him, casting one more glance at me before walking away.

When she was out of earshot, the smaller man cast an irritated glare my way. "You suck at lying, what happened?"

I looked around, but a remote listening device, laser mike, or just some extremely sensitive equipment would be able to pick up our conversation. "This place feels… wrong. I don't trust this, the way-"

"Yes." My companion's expression went from annoyed to bemused. "Aside from you being suspicious about everything, I get that too, but what are we going to do? What are they going to do to us? The best thing we can do right now is see where this goes. Shaun's here and you need their help."

He was right, at least about the last part, but gathering information is always important in unfamiliar situations.

"By the way Damon", he continued, "your timing really sucks." When I cocked my head at him, the ex-soldier's eyes narrowed. "Interrupting a good conversation constitutes 'bad timing'. And I'd really appreciate it if you stopped with that joke."

X

'Night' didn't mean much underground where light was artificial. It also didn't mean much when there were still oddly well armed guards patrolling the pristine hallways, common areas, and labs. There was the occasional lab coat or technician ambling through the halls, but for the most part it was me and whatever Synth guard I came across. Not trying to slip past the patrols, or eliminate the ones that did see me felt wrong. I didn't for two reasons. First, that would have been a great way to land firmly on the wrong side of yet another major player in the area. Second, they're going to know what I'm up to the moment something pops off in Virgil's lab.

The BioScience wing was empty when I arrived, with nothing but the massive array of vegetables to greet me. It was still incredible, and a little eerie, to see the organized, almost antiseptic feeling rows of plants growing underground. The enormous room was one of the primary sources of food for the Institute. It was both impressive and vulnerable.

That isn't what I'm here for though. I followed the path Dr. Li described, heading through the large main room filled with rows of hydroponics, into an adjoining lab and down another hall. After some searching, I found the door labeled 'FEV Lab'. I was probably on the clock from the moment I entered the BioScience wing, but when I open the door, that will kick things off for sure.

I readied the laser rifle before tapping the control panel on the wall. The door slid open revealing a small security checkpoint with what looked like a decontamination passage. Sure enough, the checkpoint's large window had been blown outward, coating the steel floor with shards of safety glass.

A quick check confirmed the immediate room was clear, so I walked through the security checkpoint and found myself in a short hall. It had several doors on either side and ended in a large room filled with large shelves. I didn't see any turrets or traps, experience (sometimes painful) has taught me to never take that for granted. As I stalked down the hall, my rifle was up, swinging from one side of the hall to the other.

Nothing.

The only things out of the ordinary were the almost non-existent light and the lack of people, but-

As I stepped past the threshold into the large storage room, a quiet whirring started from somewhere further in. That caught my attention. Was that some piece of still active machinery, or a security response. I'd put-

A thud, followed by pounding footsteps answered that question.

Something shot across the gap between two shelves in front of me and I put a bright red lance into center mass. That did nothing to slow it down. Whatever it was lunged toward me and with shelves crowding both sides, the only thing I could do was meet its charge.

As it neared, I let go of my rifle and dropped into a low crouch-

Kleo?

The assaultron slammed into me. In hand to hand combat it's almost always a bad idea to fight against an opponent's momentum, even if you can stop it. The better solution is to use it against them. So as the robot grabbed for me with its three pronged pincers, I grabbed its left forearm and turned, using my hip as a pivot to throw it over me and into a row of shelves. The thing crashed through them with a loud thud and an ear piercing screech. Piles of whatever had been on the racks crashed down on top of it.

My next rule for CQC is to never give the other person (or robot) time to recover.

I pounced on the android as it tried to gather itself in the mess. Sidestepping a wild swing with one of its pincers, I grabbed the robot's arm and twisted. An awful groan came from its elbow before I felt a faint snap, but the Assaultron didn't seem to mind. The metal bastard swung for me with the other arm. At the same instant, the red eye in the center of its face began glowing painfully bright and I leapt away just in time to avoid what looked like an incredibly powerful laser blast. Molten metal and plaster sprayed from the gaping wound in the ceiling.

So that's what Kleo meant when she said she'd incinerate us.

That probably wouldn't have gotten through my armor, but I'd rather not test it.

The Assaultron was up and charging again before I had a chance to close again and this time it's laser was already hot. If I keep dodging I'm going to run out of time.

So as it ripped off another blinding beam, I stepped in and ducked under the massive jet of light. Before the thing could adjust its aim, I launched an uppercut at the bottom side of it's angular head. The blow lifted the Assaultron off its feet and sent it crashing into another shelf that collapsed under the impact.

Sparks were flying from my opponent, as it sprawled across the mangle rack. Good, that-

Red light speared out of the thing's head once again, and this time I wasn't able to avoid it completely. The edge of the beam caught my right shoulder and my shields flared hard. The searing energy had only been on me for a split second, but it was enough to drain the barrier by half and wisps of smoke were rising from the surface of my armor. That beam would have no problem reducing a normal person to ash.

As it was, the force of the blast sent me spinning off, collapsing another shelf under the impact.

Stupid. I'm getting sloppy, lazy. Anything can kill me if I give it the chance.

I surged back to my feet and locked in on the Assaultron. The combat drone was struggling, unsteadily, to stand. Had the blow damaged it?

No point in taking another chance. I closed on it once again, wary of any more blasts. It tried to take another swing at me, but I got low and drove my shoulder into its chest. We crashed through another rack and into the steel wall with a crunch.

Pain shot through my shoulder as the Assaultron slammed it's still fully functional arm down on the soft armor behind my left pauldron. I knocked the limb aside and grabbed for the thing's armored head. I don't know how to kill this bastard, but there's one significant threat, and I'm going to remove that before worrying about anything.

My left hand clamped onto the plates on its head and my right down onto the thing's chassis.

Then I pulled.

A shrill screech came from the thing's neck and I felt whatever held it in place give a centimeter. The metal bastard swung again and the blow connected with the right side of my helmet. The impact was hard enough to send a piercing ringing through my ears, but I clenched my jaw and doubled down on my efforts.

After a few more seconds, and another flailing metal arm to the head, something in the drone's neck gave with a sharp snap. It's head jerked upward, followed by tearing, before my left hand came away with my prize. I released my prey's torso and it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

The full red glow in its 'eye' slowly faded until the thing was as lifeless as the rest of this lab. That was-

Another gentle whirring came from the Assaultron's body.

What the hell?

The sound was growing louder. I didn't know what it was, but I had no desire to find out. I turned and sprinted for the storage room's exit.

I only made it three strides when a blast of heat and pressure slammed into my back. It sent me crashing through shelves until I slammed into the far wall. It probably sounded awful, but I didn't know, I couldn't hear anything besides an intense ring.

It was several seconds before my scrambled head could produce a coherent thought, but the first thing that came out was: what the hell was that?

The only thing I could think of was a self destruct. I almost laughed in my daze. An enclosed space like this, an explosion like that… even with armor, that probably would have turned most people into jelly. Whoever decided to give those things a self destruct didn't care about potential collateral damage, apparently.

My ears were ringing, my head was spinning, and my left side ached. Somewhere in the back of my slowly recovering mind, I thought something about screwing up twice in one fight, but there's a reason the UNSC doesn't have any automated self destruct systems.

Keep moving.

Right.

Painfully, I climbed out of the wreckage of the several shelves around me and back to my feet.

It was only then I realized I still had the Assaultron's head clutches in my left hand.

Annoying mfer.

I threw it back at where the now incinerated body had been and continued into the lab. Maybe I was still dazed or maybe the blast gave me a mild concussion, my diagnostics didn't say anything, but the rest of the journey felt like it took about five seconds. The dark halls and rooms blended together into a blur. There were other security measures, ceiling mounted turrets, a trap of some sort, but I barely noticed as I dispatched them.

Whatever I just did, suddenly I was standing in what actually looked like a lab, with several workstations, equipment, and plenty of discarded paper and tools everywhere. The room was large, larger than most other labs I've seen. It was large enough for a half dozen scientists and technicians, there's no way Virgil was the only one working in here.

I turned as I studied the room until my eyes fell on a large floor to ceiling tube with-

It's been a long time since I've felt genuine revulsion, but suddenly I was filled to the brim with it.

Off on the opposite side of the lab was a large tube with two Supermutants suspended inside. I don't know what I was disgusted by more, the yellow-green skinned abominations, or the fact that they made them here. Out of regular people.

As I stared at the floating creatures, a terrible thought occurred: did the Institute make the ones that attacked the kids?

During the status meeting, Shaun had said science for the sake of science is always a good thing. Well I'm staring at an example of when that isn't the case. What did they hope to learn from making these freaks?

It took a moment to tear my eyes away from the display; I wouldn't learn anything from staring at it, and I might if I can find Virgil's computer.

One of the ancient looking computers was sitting on a large desk set against the wall opposite of the entrance I'd used. Beside it were several pieces of equipment. Only one was active, a small device coupled to a stainless steel canister. It was slowly rotating, probably to mix whatever the contents of the container were. If I had to bet, that's probably the serum Virgil was talking about.

Maybe he has records for it on his work station.

I slipped the small piece of paper from its pouch as I stepped in front of the computer. Green text scrolled across the screen as I tapped at the keyboard and, after what seemed like an eternity, the machine finally booted to the login screen. I've never seen a piece of equipment this antiquated in such a high tech lab; how the hell do these people still have this when they can make artificial humans?

Pushing the speculation out of my still hazy mind, I typed in the password and was greeted with a menu screen. Most of the options were programs for running and recording tests, data logs, and reports. Given time, or an intel team, I could decipher them, but I wasn't exactly interested in the results of experiments on people to turn them into Supermutants. A little ironic considering ONI did something similar to me, but that's something to unpack another time.

The last option was for personal notes. I scanned the titles as the entries loaded; each was coded with only a date, ordered reverse chronologically. There were at least three dozen of them. Shit… I doubt I have time to read all of it.

I opened the last entry. It was short: "I have made my final pleas and, yet again, they have fallen on deaf ears. If we are more concerned with advancement than the people we are supposedly doing this research for, I have made my decision."

That was to be expected. I went to the next. This one was longer, it looked like Virgil writing out thoughts on his role in this research. The gist was 'I'm a monster for doing this to these people'. Not exactly flattering. Third was the doctor speculating about how the Institute was procuring his 'test material'. His conclusion was they were snatching people from settlements around the Commonwealth. There had been rumors spreading around the population of the Institute kidnapping citizens, sometimes replacing them with Synths, sometimes not bothering to cover it at all. Virgil didn't seem to know if that was true, but it made sense to him. Does to me too.

Clicking through the various entries, my opinions of the Institute didn't improve. The FEV research they were doing sounded like the most egregious, but between this and Shaun, it seemed like they only valued human life in so far as it was useful for their experiments. Virgil spent most of them lamenting his repeated attempts to close down the experiments or at least stop using people from the wasteland. He made several allusions to one test in particular, but wouldn't go into detail.

As much as I wanted to condemn the Institute's approach, it wasn't far removed from mine, or at least what I've been used for. To me, the value of a human life has always been whether the person was an asset or obstacle. Assets were to be used, obstacles were to be removed.

At least until recently.

I couldn't condemn them when I've spent the better part of a decade using similar methods. What I can do is be disgusted by the apathetic approach of an organization that is supposedly developing technology for the betterment of mankind.

Then I found the entry he'd been referring to. One that did hit me

"I do not know what to do with this. This time the Coursers brought in a family, all sedated, and 'ready for processing'. I immediately confronted Holdren and Ayo about this, but neither would hear my protests. I took it to Father, and he told me their sacrifice would serve for the advancement of mankind. He also, not so subtly, insinuated I would be replaced if I could not do it. Their sacrifice!? This is not a sacrifice! This was never their decision! We took that from them! Oh god, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? If I do nothing, someone else will take this project over, and there will be no one attempting to solve this situation. But these people, this family, what am I supposed to do? They do not see these people as people. They are just test subjects. Every time I see the face of one of these innocent people twist and warp into those freaks… every one of them haunts my dreams. I do not know if there is a god, but if there is, I am going to the deepest level of hell. My only comfort is they will be joining me."

My mind took a moment to process what I'd just read. The Institute doesn't view these people as people, only as test subjects. That sounded a lot like ONI. Like what Dr. Halsey did to the SPARTAN IIs. That's what has been unsettling about this place. They remind me, almost to a T, of ONI. Clandestine operations, zero accountability, and, relative to the world around them, almost unlimited resources.

Wait a minute. A pit settled in my stomach. No. The Institute isn't the same as ONI. Much of what ONI did, and what I did for them, was reprehensible, but it was pragmatic. ONI did what it did because they were in a war of genocide, and after that war was over, they were trying to maintain an extremely fragile power structure. They did what they did, they sent me to Insurrectionist bases and Remnant outposts, because they were trying to preserve what little humanity was left. For as many people as I've killed, I've never done it because I thought they were lesser than me.

"If we allow an exception here, are we going to begin allowing everyone from the surface in to contaminate our home?" Those words rang in my head. These motherfuckers- they justify what they do because they think the people in the Commonwealth aren't worth considering people.

Images of Cassandra, Thomas, Julian, Alexandra, Ellie, Preston, Sturges, the Finches… everyone I've met here, the people I've somehow come to care about flashed through my mind. These people would turn them all into lab experiments without a second thought, just because they were born in the hellscape above instead of down here in their comfy underground paradise.

I backed away from the desk, fury almost boiling. The thought of Cassandra floating in the tube behind me, mutated and warped into one of the bastards who had massacred and eaten Thomas and Julian's parents… I could have stood there stewing in my anger- no anger isn't the right word. What I was feeling wasn't as simple as anger. This was wrath. And I needed to do something about it.

But before I could move my legs rooted themselves in place with a desperate ruthlessness.

Stop. Calm down. I can't do this here, I can't do this now?

And why not?!

Two reasons: I'm operating on incomplete information, and doing something stupid won't help anything.

Incomplete information? What else do I need to know?

I don't know, and that's the problem. Relax and take a breath. This kind of rashness is why Julian was captured.

That hit me in the gut, and it was true. Goddammit.

There was nothing else to learn here though. Clearly, all reading more entries would do is make things worse. I stepped back to the desk and ejected the small stainless steel canister from its housing.

As much as I tried along the short walk back through the lab, I couldn't completely bury the fury that had planted itself deep in my head. It had taken root so thoroughly, I wasn't sure if I wanted their help getting back to the UNSC. The question now is how I'll deal with the upcoming confrontation. And how they'll react to me breaking into Virgil's lab. Whatever happens, I need to keep Dr. Li above suspicion. I still have little reason to trust her, but anything is preferable to the rest of the Institute's leadership, especially considering what I've learned.

The large storage room was a disaster. I must not have noticed, or appreciated, how much damage the Assaultron detonating did on my way out. Most of the shelves were destroyed, what was left of their contents scattered in a rough circle around the crater where the thing's body had been. Most of the ceiling was gone too, while the steel walls were warped and riddled with dents from debris impacts. Packing a CQC unit with that kind of self-destruct function… what were these people thinking?

I was still aching.

When I exited the lab back into the BioScience wing, I didn't bother trying to be subtle. They knew I was there, I wasn't going to skulk my way into whatever security force they had waiting for me.

Sure enough, as soon as I emerged back into the wing's cavernous main room, I was greeted by a dozen Coursers and at least as many guards. They were arrayed around the circular room, each with a weapon trained on me. I had to remind myself to keep my hands away from my rifle as my ire peaked again and I felt them tense.

Contrary to the will of every muscle in my body, which were tensed to the point of snapping, I stopped just inside the door. In the open. Exposed. In front of enough firepower to incinerate me, in the hands of people who would probably prefer to turn me into a test subject.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice, Dr. Ayo's, shouted from behind the wall of Synths.

"I'm only talking to Shaun."

"You aren't in a position to make demands." The half sized bastard sounded smug. Funny, considering he was too chickenshit to say that to my face. This guy is almost certainly the one who arranged the kidnappings to procure Virgil's test subjects. I hadn't liked the guy from the start, but now it was open disdain.

"I don't answer stupid questions; you know what I did."

"If you are unwilling to cooperate I will have to detain you."

Detain me? My hands balled into fists. The last thing-

That might be the best option.

What?

They knew I'm the one who broke into Virgil's lab. Shaun isn't here to confront me himself, which means I doubt I'd be able to make him come down here.

Honestly, I'd rather sit in a cell and wait for Shaun to come find me himself than try to get this blowhard to take me to the Institute leader.

"Go ahead."

The division leader hesitated. "You will not resist?" There was more than a little surprise in his voice.

"No."

More hesitation. "Lay your weapons on the floor and step forward."

With my instincts still screaming at me, I complied and a few minutes later I was walking back through the main hub, surrounded by my two dozen escorts, toward the Synth Retention Division. The enormous chamber was completely devoid of other Institute members. I didn't know if that was because it was still the middle of the night, or they had cleared the place out once they realized what was happening.

They led me to a holding cell that looked like it was about as accommodating as the cells I'd seen on Libertalia. It was small enough I could touch each side at the same time. Still preferable to listening to this compensating jackass bloviate, especially considering what I know about him now. I barely wanted to talk to Shaun, and I'm not 100% sure about that either. How would Nate react? How would he feel about learning his son has been authorizing the kidnapping of innocent civilians to turn them into lab experiments?

I sat against the bare steel wall, opposite the door, and waited, still fuming despite my best efforts. Maybe Maxson's reasons were fanatical, but the idea the Institute is dangerous was well founded. Synths aren't the problem though; like most things, it's people.

To top everything off, I've never been a prisoner before. Considering the people (and aliens) I was fighting, they'd sooner kill me than capture me. So sitting here, under the control of someone else, someone I have a serious issue with irritated me in a new way. More than anything, I wanted to tear the cell door from its hinges and get out, consequences be damned.

But I made my decision, and doing something like that now would be stupid and counterproductive. I may not be able to completely control my emotions, but I'll be damned if they keep controlling my actions. With that in mind, there was nothing to do but sit and wait.

So I rested my head back against the steel wall behind me and waited.

X

The cacophony of boots on metal caught my attention and I snapped to full alert. Had I been asleep?

My mission clock read 0530. I don't remember the time when they'd put me in the small cell, but it couldn't have been past 0200.

Climbing to my feet, I stood in the center of the cramped, steel box while the marching approached. As it did, an odd exhilaration began building in my chest. So much of my time in the past has been spent planning, scouting, and planning again and while most plans don't make it past the first shot, you have contingencies planned for those. I like to think improvisation is one of my strengths, but it's always had structure.

This isn't that. I made a decision on the spot with no clue what the outcome might be. More than that, I'm doing something completely new. Gathering intel isn't alien to me, but doing so with the intent of being caught was. More than that, my fallback isn't 'shoot my way out', it's talking. Maybe Nate has been rubbing off on me, and while this was exciting, I can't make spontaneity my MO, especially with these people.

There was a loud clang as the steel door was unlatched and it swung open to reveal X6-88 along with X2-17 and several more Coursers.

"Please exit", the dark skinned Synth said in his customary, monotonous voice. I did and found myself in a hallway crowded with Coursers and guards. "Follow me."

X6-88 led me back out of the wing and to the large conference room where the division leaders, along with Nate, Shaun, and what seemed like half of their guard contingent were waiting. The Institute leaders were all sitting around the oversized, white conference table. Holdren and Ayo looked outright pissed, both glaring at me as if their eyes alone could kill. The feeling was mutual. Filmore only wore a disappointed frown, while Dr. Li's face was carefully neutral.

Shaun was the one I was interested in. He was impassive as ever, but his stare followed me with an intensity I hadn't seen from him before. Nate, on the other hand, looked irritated.

"You were not permitted to enter that facility", the Institute leader said as I stopped at the end of the table. "Care to explain why you broke into it, destroyed the security system, as well as the entire store room?"

My ire flared as he spoke. It wasn't just the question, it was the accusation in his voice, like what they were doing there wasn't the problem, that I know about it is.

Deep breath, start with the first thing first.

Telling them I took the serum Virgil asked for wouldn't do this situation any favors. Maybe I wasn't here to start a physical fight, but I'll be damned if I'm the one treated like the monster here.

Fair enough.

"You experiment on civilians."

The gray haired man frowned. "You did not break into the FEV lab to determine how we run our experiments."

"Doesn't matter." I shrugged with a calm I certainly wasn't feeling. Despite my decision, almost every part of me wanted to turn this into a physical disagreement. "It's what you do. Dr. Brian Virgil documented his requests to shut down the program."

"The FEV lab?" Nate said, face shifting from irritation to concern as he looked at his son. "You were experimenting with Supermutants?"

"Yes." Shaun nodded. "It's been-"

"Why?" the ex-soldier interrupted, voice low.

"Because we need to. The Forced Evolutionary Virus is an extremely complex and dangerous entity. Our best chance at controlling its mutations is understanding how it interacts with as many organisms as possible."

"That virus makes Supermutants." My companion couldn't keep the disgust out of his voice.

"And many other things as well." Shaun nodded to Holdren. The blonde haired division leader's glare hadn't left me, but he tore his eyes away to give a dubious glance at the older man.

"Father?"

"Please explain, it would be better if they understood what we are dealing with."

This should be interesting. What bullshit are they going to come up with for this one?

"Yes Father." As the BioScience leader cleared his throat the idea Shaun had them call him 'Father' struck me as odd once again. It seemed narcissistic.

"The Forced Evolutionary Virus is one of the Institute's primary concerns. It is volatile, 100% effective, and currently uncontrolled. It is responsible for many of the odd mutations you see throughout the Commonwealth. Over 200 years of constant exposure and iterations, it has evolved into something completely different from whatever the original intent was. We don't fully understand it, but as you have most likely seen, one of its products, Supermutants, is incredibly dangerous. We do not know enough about it to predict what it will do, so we must study it."

As Holdren finished his speech, I hated to admit, there was a brutal sort of logic I could appreciate.

But that explanation didn't excuse a goddamn thing.

My glare was fixed on him; I could almost feel my eyes burning with hatred. "You think that justifies conducting these tests on random people?"

The division leader shifted in his chair, but before he could continue, Shaun interjected.

"I understand your skepticism, but as I said, it is necessary to test on as wide a range of subjects as possible."

"Wait-". Nate said, holding a hand up. "Just to make sure I'm understanding this, you've been kidnapping people from the Commonwealth?" His voice had already skipped past the carefully controlled stage and went straight to angry. "I was hoping the rumors I've heard were exaggerated."

"It is a practice we have, regrettably, had to undertake in order to appropriately conduct these experiments. We need real world examples, using Synths would not work because they have not been exposed to the endemic radiation above ground. Generations of accumulated effects, mixed with the many variants of the FEV we have isolated, is what results in the different Supermutant mutations"

'Generations of accumulated effects'… oh shit!

"That's why you captured that family." My hands balled into fists so tightly, my forearms flared in pain. "You motherfuckers wanted to see what would happen to multiple generations of the same family."

The ex-soldier's eyes shot wide. "What do you- are you saying-" he didn't finish the sentence, instead looking between his son and Holdren.

Dr. Li leaned forward in her chair, the armor protecting her expression cracking. Some small voice in the back of my head reminded me I need her where she is. The doctor met my gaze and I shook my head.

The Institute leader met his father's wide eyed stare with a frown, almost like he wasn't sure how to react to him being surprised.

"How did you gain access to Dr Virgil's records?"

"Dr. Virgil."

"And he gave you-"

"I don't see how that's important right now", Nate interrupted again. "You kidnapped a family to experiment on them. I- how can you justify that? After what happened to you?"

A frustrated frown flashed across the Institute leader's face. "Because the FEV is an immense danger, and it's been left to evolve unchecked for over 200 years. Do you think we take pleasure in it? The Institute has done many reprehensible things in the past, things I wish we could undo, but we cannot allow this world to continue destroying us." He lowered his voice. "If that is my burden to bear, I will do so, because it has to be done."

That's rich coming from you. "You say that as if other people aren't the ones who suffer because of your decisions."

Shaun shot to his feet, his anger and frustration finally breaking through the calm, collected countenance he'd been so carefully maintaining. "I will not be lectured about my decisions by the likes of you. I am fully aware of the pain I am causing, I was a victim of these practices. You, however, what have you done to atone for the countless people you have killed? I do not know how many you have over the course of your life, but in the few months we have been following you, it is a great many. I would wager, between the two of us, you are directly responsible for more death and suffering than I have ordered."

My body froze in place, muscles coiled taut, ready to propel myself across the conference room and turn its sterile, white walls, table, and floor a lot less clean.

Who the fuck are you to judge me or my actions? You couldn't imagine the war I was fighting, tucked away in your safe, isolated underground bunker. Maybe I didn't have the best reasons for fighting, but I was fighting to protect humanity.

Isn't that what he's arguing? He's doing what he does to protect humanity?

Nate stood from the table, clearly still upset, but a tinge of worry creasing his face. The ex-soldier placed himself between his son, who was staring daggers at me, and I, holding his hands up.

Yes, but what part of humanity is it he's worried about protecting? They don't think of non-Institute members as human.

And I didn't think about the insurrectionists I killed, I did it because I was ordered to and nothing more.

That isn't-

"I think it may be a good idea to table this for now", Nate said, voice carefully neutral once again.

Shaun nodded curtly, "agreed. Dr. Ayo have Damon-"

"No." The ex-soldier shot a glare at the Synth Retention Division's leader. "You aren't detaining him again."

For more than my own sanity, I agreed. Was Nate in physical danger? I doubt it, but these people decided they would sacrifice an entire family for a damn lab test. I wouldn't put anything past them. That's something they share with ONI.

"Father, I understand your uncertainty, but we cannot take chances with someone we cannot trust."

"Trust?" Nate retorted. "Who the hell am I supposed to trust? I want it to be you, but after what you've done- how can you expect me to?"

"Father", Dr. Li said, eyes fixed on me as she addressed Shaun, "it is possible you are allowing your emotions to intrude on this decision. We all know this man poses a risk, it would be irresponsible to allow him to remain free to do as he pleases because of how dangerous he is. We have to consider he was not only able to defeat a Courser in single combat, but now he has destroyed an Assaultron in hand to hand combat. Not only that, but he has accomplished both with no apparent injuries. We don't know what he is capable of."

The doctor's eyes were almost apologetic, but it was unnecessary. I understood, it was a good play.

I balled my hands into fists and took a step toward the former Brotherhood scientist. In an instant every weapon in the room was leveled at me. Good.

That thought made me smile. One side of me, the instincts that have kept me alive, was screaming at me to take action. The other side, the new, alien side, was pleased they were so thoroughly focused on my physical threat. It meant they would have other blindspots that can be exploited.

"Wait- Damon, stop goddammit. This situation doesn't need to get any worse." Nate's voice was a mix between frustration, panic, and desperation. "Put us under guard. We'll- we'll stay in the room you gave us until we get things sorted out."

Ayo stood from the table. "And we are supposed to take your word that you two will cooperate? No." He turned to Shaun. "I believe the safest option would be to detain them both."

For the first time, Shaun looked at a loss. The idea they'd put us both in a cell wasn't a bad possibility, as much as I hate being at the whims of someone else.

"I don't think that would be necessary", Filmore said, the first time she's spoken since this began. "Detaining them in their current accommodations would be just as effective and, despite Damon's rash and hostile actions, they are still our guests. More than that, Nate is extremely important to Father, which means this isn't a normal situation."

Holdren nodded. "I find myself in agreement. This is already a… regrettable situation, it would be best to not escalate it."

I couldn't help the glare I shot his way. Ironic that would come from you, considering your involvement in this mess.

The Institute leader glanced between the two division leaders, something akin to relief on his face. "Yes- yes I concur. Dr. Li and Dr. Ayo, do you have any objections?"

Li remained silent, but Ayo, of course, was less than pleased. "Am I not responsible for security? If we are to allow these two to stay here, and alive, we must take precautions considering how dangerous they are."

"There is more to be considered here than the security measures we employ", Shaun said, not quite keeping the aggravation out of his voice.

"Yes Father, I understand your personal connection with this situation, but we cannot allow feelings to jeopardize our operations."

Dr. Li cleared her throat. "What additional security would holding them in your facilities provide?"

The short, bald man rounded on her. "Dr. Li, we all know you were interested in discovering what happened to Dr. Virgil. We also know you were in contact with him", Ayo shot a finger at me, "this morning. You have-"

"I do not appreciate the implication you are making." Li's voice was calm, but still managed to carry a warning. "The implication I would willingly risk my trust and position within the Institute, especially now with the Brotherhood of Steel on our doorstep with the expressed intent of destroying us."

"While I agree it is important to understand this situation in its entirety", Filmore said before the SRD leader could retort, "throwing spurious accusations at each other is not the way to do it. We must act on the information we have now and I believe we have decided that course of action is to place these two under guard in their current accommodations." As she spoke, the division leader cast a glance toward Dr. Li. I didn't know what it meant, but it's probably safe to say Ayo isn't the only one suspicious of her.

A tense silence fell over the large conference room, Coursers with their weapons still trained on me. Whatever happens, my goal now is to keep Nate out of harm's way until we can figure out what their intentions are.

Glances were exchanged around the large, white table and, after what seemed like far too long, Ayo finally spoke. "That is acceptable."

As soon as the decision was made, Nate and I were escorted back to the apartment by the massive contingent of Coursers and Synth guards. I guess I should be flattered they were willing to dedicate that magnitude of resources to me.

The smaller man was quiet during the march. I may not be very proficient at reading social cues, but if I had to guess, I'd say he was shell shocked. Reflecting on everything that has happened since last night, this must be jarring for him. Yesterday he was enjoying breakfast and, supposedly, a good conversation with Porter. Now he's a prisoner after having discovered his son (who is double his age) authorized the kidnapping of innocent civilians for reprehensible, inhumane experiments.

It didn't take more than an instant for that frustration to explode once we were alone in the apartment.

The ex-soldier rounded on me as the door slid shut. "What the fuck was that, Damon?! What just happened?"

I cocked my head. He didn't understand what we were talking about?

"The Institute is experimenting on-"

"I got that part, asshole." My companion's voice was a mixture of fury and bewilderment. "What the fuck are you doing breaking into labs?"

Wait- that's your problem here?

"How does that matter?"

Nate's eyes shot wide. "How do- is your default to piss everyone off because you're constantly suspicious? Have you ever thought of trying to be cooperative? When we first met, you tried to kick me to the curb because you didn't trust me. Twice. When we began working with the Brotherhood, you didn't once engage with them in good faith; you were always acting like you wanted to stab them in the back and look what happened. Now we've only been here a few goddamn days and we're already on house arrest."

The stab about the Brotherhood ambush, and them capturing Julian, stung, but his focus on my actions was ridiculous. All I did was find out some of what the Institute was hiding, and by extension learn what kind of outfit this is. My suspicion was correct, so why the hell is this my fault?

That pissed me off.

"You're angry about me finding out the Institute experiments on innocent people?"

"Hell yes I-"

"These people make the things that ate Thomas and Julian's parents. They experimented on a family because they wanted to see how generational mutations in the host affected the virus's response."

"And you couldn't-" The smaller man stopped, eyes going from dinner plates to slits. "This is what Li talked to you about."

Shit. Nate's too attentive; he can pick up on a regular person's lies. What chance do I have?

"I went into the lab to recover the serum Virgil asked for."

He scoffed. "Since when have you been a paragon? You wanted to kill him for being a Supermutant."

"He helped us. And it was an opportunity to gather intel. I did that; why are you focused on my actions, the Institute is the problem here."

"Because the way you do things put us in danger. Again. I'm trying to do everything I can to come to terms with this." He gestured at the steel walls of our temporary prison. "I'm trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to get over missing 60 years of my son's life. I'm trying to figure out how to build a relationship with him. Now not only do I have to deal with being a prisoner, I have to deal with know he-" the smaller man's voice caught in his throat. "Motherfucker." He lashed out and slammed a closed fist into my breastplate. I could have stopped him, but the move caught me completely off guard.

As his fist rebounded off of the eight centimeter thick titanium plate, he doubled over and clutched at his right hand. "Shit." I was hard pressed to feel bad for him.

"Now I have to deal with this", he said as he straightened, still holding his hand. Blood was seeping between his fingers. The anger was gone from his weathered, tanned face. The smaller man looked hurt. "My son signed off on those experiments, and I'm being treated like an enemy on top of that."

My friend turned away, stalking over to the small table and dropping into a chair like the muscles in his legs vanished.

"I'm mad at you, but what you found out- I don't know what to do with it."

He doesn't- "You're mad at me?"

The ex-soldier's head whipped around to me, a hint of anger filtering back to the surface. "Yes I'm mad at you. You broke into a sealed lab and now we're public enemy number one. And do you think I wanted to learn my son is leading experiments on innocent people?" He put his head in hands, elbows resting on the table. "Can something- just one thing go right? The Institute really is the boogie man everyone thinks they are, my own 60 year old son is partially responsible for it, and my giant killer robot can't stay out of trouble for more than two days." Nate took a shaky breath and fell silent.

Learning what the Institute is doing upset him?

Why wouldn't it? After everything else he's learned, now he's found out Shaun has condoned experiments even ONI would find questionable (not that they wouldn't still do them).

"This really, really sucks." The ex-soldier looked back up at me. "I can't stop thinking the family they captured could have been the kids', or that some of their experiments were the ones that attacked them. How the hell could they justify that?" He shook his head. "And then I think that family was probably just like theirs: just some innocent people trying to make it by in that hellhole. What am I supposed to do?"

That- was a good question. I hadn't thought about that. My gaze drifted from the smaller man to the door. The door a few dozen armed guard were waiting on the other side of. This is an entirely new situation, one I couldn't, or at least shouldn't use my standard approach of 'fight my way out'. There are still so many things I don't know about this.

"I don't know."

Nate snorted. "You did all this without thinking about what came next?"

"I didn't know what I'd find."

"But you knew it would involve Supermutants, you wanted to find something you would be pissed off about. You knew it might lead to this. How do you do something like that without thinking it through? Without having a next step planned? Without talking to me first? Everything you do reflects on me too." He stood again, anger putting an edge on his voice. "Now we're locked in here, and I don't know if I'll get the chance to rebuild what relationship I can with my son." Blood was still dripping from a cut over his knuckles, but the smaller man didn't seem to care.

"They have us under surveillance."

"You think I haven't figured that out? Hell, we damn near talked about it."

"I-" I'd considered it but- this sort of thing isn't what I do, but it's familiar enough. Even more, I'm not the one trying to come to terms with my life being blown up for the second time in two months. I'm the one who's supposed to be vigilant and ready for a fight. Have I not been giving him enough credit? "I don't know. Everything you're dealing with, I wasn't thinking about it. I'm… sorry."

Nate held my gaze for a few silent seconds before sighing. "Somehow hearing you apologize makes me feel like I shot someone's dog." He stared at the ceiling for a moment before meeting my eyes again. "Okay, you're right, what they do is fucked up, but we need their help if we're going to get Julian back and, well, you know. Plus, I still intend to do the best I can with Shaun at this point. I don't really want to think about what else they might do", he added quietly as he sat back down. "So the question is: what do we do next?"

A/N: So yeah, I think it's fair to say both Nate and Damon would have a... fairly adverse response to finding out what the Institute was doing, but Nate has a much larger investment in this considering his relationship with Shaun. Poor guy just can't get a break.

As for the announcement, I'm not one to normally do this, and he doesn't read this story, but I'm dedicating this to one of my best friend's dad. He passed the week before last and it was a shock to everyone.

Not to make things depressing, though this chapter kind of does that on its own. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!

Next Chapter: 2/4, Past Problems