31. Solitude: We reach the deepest bowels of The Institute.
Nora slammed her shoulder into the door, sweat dripping from her forehead as she slumped against the unmoving metal panel. She breathed heavily, sinking lower as her shoulder throbbed with pain. Shaun's voice sighed on the overhead.
"This would all be over if you just agreed to join us, Nora."
'Nora'
He had stopped calling her 'mother' when she woke up a few hours ago. Or was it last night? Or this morning? Nora had no idea. She was in The Institute, that much she was sure of, however, it looked, smelled, and even felt older than the parts she had been to. The room she was in was much larger than her old room, in fact there were several rooms to this one, almost appearing like a house back home in Sanctuary Hills. Every room had wood panels lining the bottom half of the wall, while decayed orange paint took up the upper half of the wall and the ceiling. In the room she was currently in was a tattered green and brown couch, dark wood coffee table, and a pre-war antique TV. In the room to her right was a kitchen with no cutlery or food. To her left was a hallway that led to a bathroom with a tub and no shower, a bedroom with two small single beds and decayed toys on the floor, a master bedroom with a king sized bed, a full bathroom (still no shower), and a small walk-in closet, and one final bedroom that appeared to have been converted into an office, complete with a terminal (although it had been destroyed). There were fake windows everywhere that were illuminated to mimic daylight and Nora had been unsuccessful in smashing them so far.
"Stop this foolishness, helping the Railroad, assisting stolen synths." Shaun tried to reason with her.
Nora glared up at the speaker in the center of the ceiling. Nothing The Institute did made sense. It was all a ridiculous cover so eggheads could play God and live cushy lives. Nora couldn't stand it before the war, and her patience had only worn thinner after thawing out. Now they were making synths of her to ruin her reputation thinking that would make her join their cause. They had another thing coming.
"Until you can see reason, Nora, you will remain here where we can keep an eye on you."
Nora felt a scraping sensation in her throat, as she lifted the coffee table, and with a guttural scream swung it around and let it go flying into the ceiling. Shaun didn't say anything else and Nora panted heavily in the silence that consumed her. The coffee table was now shattered and laying in large chunks in the living room, but Nora didn't care. She angrily paced, punching and kicking the wall. Occasionally she would toss herself at the door once more, only to be met with an aching shoulder.
She wasn't sure how long she kept her angry charade up for, but the lights illuminating the fake windows dimmed to a soft blueish-purple with only a thin white light outlining the frame, and the rest of the lights clicked off, so she figured it was now nighttime. Nora sank into a corner away from the door and pulled her knees to her chest.
For the first time in a long time, Nora wept.
It continued like this for what seemed like an eternity. A tube in the corner of the kitchen would light up three times a day and a small elevator holding food would descend. Nora, at first, refused the food. She would throw it at the speaker in the ceiling or straight into what she only assumed was a garbage disposal. But hunger eventually won out and she would eat a little off every tray that came down to her before discarding the rest. Everyday she tried to break out; breaking the windows proved to be impossible, there were no accessible air vents, and the door leading out would never open. After a months worth of day and night cycles in the lights from the windows Nora broke down and decided to take a bath. She never expected to miss the sting of irradiated water. Nora refused to wear any of the clothes left in the closet or drawers, so with a towel wrapped around her body she scrubbed her clothes with soap and water from the tub. She hung her coat, undershirt, pants, underwear, and socks up on various beams and bars where she could. Her chest armor and armor strap were laid on the master bed, waiting to be worn. Nora sat in the towel in the corner of the bathroom, waiting for her clothes to dry. It took a day and a night cycle before they felt dry enough to wear, so Nora slipped back into her General's outfit and resumed her attempts at escaping.
"Don't you tire of this, Nora?" Shaun's voice came on the overhead speaker. Nora nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't heard his voice in over a month, and suddenly she was aware that so much time had passed. What was Hancock doing? What was Preston doing? Were they okay? Was Nick okay? What about Dogmeat? Her head spun as she clenched her knotted up stomach.
"This could all be over with if you just—"
"Cut the bullshit, Shaun." Nora snapped.
She could hear him sigh, "I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this, but you leave me no choice." She could hear paper flipping, "Let's start with the escaped synth." Nora's blood ran cold, "He goes by Nick Valentine, doesn't he? You knew him before the war."
"What are you—"
"I wonder how he would react if you just popped into his office and killed," more paper flipping, "Ellie, is her name?"
"Bastard!" Nora shouted. Her voice was hoarse, having no one to talk to, she hadn't found a need to speak for over a month.
"Or perhaps you should use his recall code, and have him do it himself-"
"You touch one circuit on him, and I'll-"
"You'll what, Mother?!" Shaun shouted. "In case you are unaware, you are in the deepest bowels of The Institute where not even the souls of the damned can hear you scream!" There was a shuffling noise and Shaun sounded further away, "perhaps Mr. Valentine is not the optimal first choice to persuade your choice." There was more paper flipping, "John McDonough." Nora's eyes widened.
"Your little friend." Shaun sounded condescending, "hmm well," more paper flipping, "he has become quite the thorn in our side since you've come down for a visit." Nora scoffed. "Is able to spot a synth of you in less than a minute, has openly declared his support for the Railroad, has openly declared his support for the Minutemen," it sounded like he was reading off a list. "Yes, I think once he is gone, you'll see the truth in our vision."
"You kill him," Nora felt her voice growling in her chest, "And I will kill you."