21. Fear: Nora faces her greatest fear alone.
Nora squinted at the blinding white light of the Institute teleportation room. She felt dizzy and staggered to the side. Colliding with a wall, she slid to her knees and tried to remember what Virgil and Sturges had told her.
Serum. Virgil needed the serum.
And the holotape. Sturges wanted her to copy any Institute data she could onto the holotape.
Nora gave her pockets a pat down, fumbling with ammo, weapons, and other junk before she found the holotape Sturges had given her.
Nora let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and clutched the holotape to her chest. She was finally in the Institute. Her baby boy was here—well not so baby anymore—Kellogg's memories had prepared her for that. Nora took a breath of clean air. She was so close.
Nora finally opened her eyes after a few shuddering breaths. She was alive. And everything was too quiet. She looked around the teleportation chamber. Everything was in pristine shape, the blinding lights had not dimmed, and that left everything glowing.
Nora pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead and clenched her teeth in pain. Virgil had warned her it wouldn't have been smooth, but she hadn't expected to be left incapacitated on the floor.
Hancock would have made a quip about the bright lights if he had come along. Her head and heart ached, her stomach twisted, everything felt like it was shaking. She replayed their last talk in her head over and over again, wishing she had asked him to stay, or yelling at him for making her fall for him.
"No. Those are childish, silly thoughts." Nora lightly slapped her own face. "Find Shaun. Get home." Shaking herself off to psyche herself up for whatever waited for her outside the chamber Nora pushed herself up.
She clutched her the butt of her rifle. Did she go out with her gun drawn? If anyone on the other side was friendly they'd no doubt mistrust her. Or worse, she went out with her gun drawn and if they were friendly they'd quickly turn unfriendly and light her up. Then again if she went out unprepared they could put about a dozen bullets in her before she could even think to grab her gun.
"Don't sell yourself short, sister. You've got the fastest drawn in the Commonwealth. Besides me probably." She could almost hear Hancock's voice in her head. She smiled to herself.
Nora shook herself out once more and decided to hold onto her gun, but keep it aimed at the floor. She took a few deep breaths before she finally stepped out of the teleportation chamber.
The room was empty and eerily quiet. A console like one she and Sturges had built sat in the middle of the room, and other tall computers lined the walls. To her left was a large warehouse type room with a closed shuttered door, and dozens of shelves, and boxes stacked up in front of it like a haphazardly thrown together barricade.
"Guess that isn't the way out." Nora mused. She peeked into toolboxes for any helpful supplies, and scanned the floor for any kind of mines or traps that could be laid out. Once she was sure the area was secure she went back to the console and sat in the chair. Nora pulled herself closer to the terminal and found it unlocked. "Hah, easy." She whispered to herself. She popped in her empty holotape and was quickly able to transfer the Institutes data onto it.
As soon as she popped it out a voice gently spoke out, breaking the silence. It seemed to come from everywhere.
"Hello."
Nora quickly drew her rifle, raising it to look through the scope as she scanned the room. The voice was that of an older man, and Nora was reminded of her father and father-in-law. She tried to remember what they had sounded like when she'd last talked to them some two-hundred years ago.
"I wondered if you might make it here. You are quite resourceful." A sliding door hissed as it opened upon a descending staircase.
"Keep your eyes sharp, babes." Nora could hear Hancock's advice in the back of her head. She kept her gun raised and ready, but crept as silently as she could through the door. It didn't immediately close behind her, so she cautiously lowered herself down the stairs.
Nora made sure her feet touched down gently on each metal step before she would shift her weight and lower her body down slowly to the next step. Repeating the process until she reached the bottom. It was a long process, and Nora tried her best to ignore her shaky hands and sweaty brow.
Her foot had just brushed the floor at the bottom when the voice came on again, "I am known as Father." Nora swept the room. No turrets. No Assaultrons. No hostiles. "The Institute is under my guidance."
"Good. Now I know who to shoot." Nora thought bitterly. She clenched her jaw and stayed close to the wall, ready to bolt back up the stairs should anyone try to sneak up on her.
"I know why you're here. I'd like to discuss things with you face-to-face. Please. Step into the elevator." The voice had the same cadence as what Nora could remember of her father and grandfather. Soft, yet exuding a false sense of superiority of intellect. Her heart raced wildly with rage. This bastard had her son, and he was going to pay.
"Pompous bastard, what elevator?" Nora almost asked out loud. Then a muffled whirring sound came from the glass tube in the center of the room, and a platform lowered itself into the floor. The glass tube split open and waited for Nora.
Part of her wanted to run back to the console and just leave. She'd gotten Sturges what he needed, she should just go. She was outnumbered, she had no plan. But Nora remembered Shaun, her baby, and she knew that even if this was her last day to fight to see him, she would go out and take as many Institute fuckers as she could.
She stepped into the elevator.
"I can only imagine what you've heard." The voice said as the elevator descended. "What you think of us." He added. The elevator shaft was pitch black. The only light came from her pip boy flashlight and the neon blue lights on the floor. "I'd like to show you that you may have," he mulled over his words, "the wrong impression." As he said that the shaft gave way to an open, no other word for it, atrium like laboratory.
Apartments were nestled next to labs, all surrounded by plant life. Nora could see several synths and humans. Some walking and talking as equals. Others, there was a clear divide. She didn't realize she'd pressed her face to the glass until the voice spoke again.
"Welcome to The Institute. This is the reality of The Institute. This place. These people. The work we do." Nora was only half listening now. "For over a hundred years, we've dedicated ourselves to humanity's survival."
"Nick came from this place?" Nora thought to herself. She wondered if he subconsciously remembered any of it.
The voice had kept on talking and the elevator kept going down. Nora looked down and wondered what went through everyone's heads as she'd stepped onto the platform in Sanctuary to come here. Sturges looked proud, but was anxious to see the device work. Preston looked terrified and had switched between watching and turning his back on the platform. Nick and Macready were both there, both looked terrified, but masked it well behind strained smiles of reassurance. Dogmeat sat beside Codsworth, confused as to why he couldn't join her on this trip, and Codsworth shuddered with fear as he waved a clawed hand goodbye. Even Marcy, Jun, and Mama Murphy had come to watch, though their expressions were unreadable as the classical music on the radio got louder. Hancock, true to his word, had gone home. Nora wondered if he would have even cared that she was walking into the lions den.
"There's too much at stake to risk it all. As you've seen, those above us are...unstable." The elevator finally stopped its descent and the doors hissed open. Nora pulled herself out of her thoughts, cursing herself for letting her guard down.
"I'd like to talk to you about what we could do for everyone." The man kept talking as she made her way down the hall. Sure now that no one would jump out and harm her, Nora had lowered her rifle once more. "But that can wait. You are here for a very specific reason. You are here for your son."
It was like someone had poured ice water over Nora. She stopped dead in her tracks.
They knew her. They knew everything. They knew about the Vault, about Nate, about Shaun, her trip through the Commonwealth, tracking down Kellogg. They had to have known.
She didn't raise her rifle, but her grip on it tightened.
Nora kept walking down the hallway to another elevator. This ride was much quicker and Nora found herself in a small room with three doors. Two doors lead out of the room, one room lead to a small glass cage where a little boy with deep red hair sat with his back to Nora.
"Shaun?" It took Nora four steps to get across the room, drop her rifle, collapse to her knees, and lay her hands on the glass. "Shaun?" She repeated. The boy jumped with a start and turned around. His eyes were the same brown as Nate's.
"Black coffee, just how you like it." Nate used to joke when she'd compare his eye color to different things.
"Huh? Yes, I'm Shaun," he stood up and was as tall as Nora was on her knees.
"Oh my," Nora's eyes burned as tears pooled on her lashes. "It's really you." A rock formed in her throat.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Shaun asked.
"Shaun, I'm-I'm your mother." Now that she could see him she could see, even underground, he'd developed the same smooth caramel colored skin Nate had, the same wide button nose, same thick bottom lip, and round chin that Nate had. But his hair, Nora couldn't help the quiver in her smile as she looked at him, his hair was all from her. His strong cheekbones, thin frame, high waist; those were all from her. He was, in Nora's eyes, a perfect blend of her and Nate. God, she wished he could see Shaun now. He was beautiful.
"I-I don't know you. Someone! Help!" Shaun cried.
Nora panicked. Of course Shaun didn't recognize her. "Shh!" She gestured, putting a finger to her lips, "it's okay, mommy's here." She glanced at the door secluding him in his glass cage and reached over to yank at it. No use. It wouldn't budge. "Shaun, please, open the door."
"No! I don't know you! Help! Father!" Shaun cried out."
"Shaun!" Nora shouted through tears. One of the doors leading out of the room hissed open and Shaun lowered his head. Nora quickly wiped her tears away and looked at this newcomer.
He was an older man, his once ginger hair now had streaks of white, and he wore a green sweater under a starch, white lab coat. He wore neatly pressed khakis and brown running boots, and even though the man was not large, Nora didn't think the man did too much running in his spare time. He had a beard and mustache combo that was almost completely white and did nothing to help him look younger.
"Shaun. S9-23. Recall code: Cirrus."
Nora blinked at the man's words and before she knew it she was grabbing her discarded gun and was on her feet. She pointed it at him, raising his head with the end of her gun.
"I could kill you where you stand." Nora seethed between her teeth. The man opened his mouth but said nothing as she jammed her gun closer into his throat, "I should kill you where you stand." She corrected herself, "but I want some Goddamn answers! Now!" She demanded. With trembling hands she shouted, "Where's my baby?!"
The man, unfazed by her display of violence, swept her gun aside with two fingers.
"Let's start this conversation anew. Hello, Mother. I am Shaun."