Chapter 8
Revelations
During the walk to the memorial, Sandra's companions were eerily silent.
After contacting Doctor Madison Li and her assistants in Rivet City, James, Sandra, and the others returned to the Jefferson Memorial where Project Purity resided. Sandra made sure the building was completely free of super mutants before allowing her father and the other scientists to enter it.
So, while James continued giving Sandra different jobs to do around the memorial, and making small talk with her in between tasks, Charon and Mr. Burke stood with their arms crossed near one of the doors without moving. The other scientists would shuffle passed them, and Bryan was playing with Thrash back in the main room of the building, but the two of them didn't seem to belong on the scene at all. So, they merely stood like statues near the closest exit.
"This is far too positive for my tastes," Mr. Burke said quietly. "She looks a little too happy over there with her father. And I suppose… it is a good thing, I'm just not... accustomed... to this sort of happy-go-lucky environment. All this talk about helping others, saving humanity, working for the greater good... it's all very new to me."
"Yeah… I get that," Charon agreed, slipping a flask out of his leather armor and taking a swig of scotch. "Still. It's better than working for a bunch of pricks."
Charon handed Mr. Burke the flask.
"I second that," Mr. Burke nodded, taking a sip of Charon's liquor and handing it back to him. "Thank you very much. I haven't had a taste of alcohol since Sandra and I were served Nukarum by my old robot friend back at the tower. Don't suppose I'll ever have the pleasure of being served by Shakes again, though. How unlucky."
Charon gave him a surveying look. "So you and her... you do know each other."
"Somewhat. I met her in Megaton, on less-than-friendly terms... but when we reunited in Tenpenny Tower, we seemed less... hostile," Mr. Burke explained. "Won me over, she did. And damn her for that. No one's ever been clever enough to win me over. But then, she waltzes in, and does it completely by accident. There's something about that blunt-as-a-spoon approach of hers that I like. It's a refreshing change, compared to what I'm used to. No beating around the bush. She doesn't take flak from anyone."
They both stopped talking for a few minutes.
James was standing near the purifier, talking extensively with Sandra about fixing some of the pipes.
Charon watched them from a distance.
"I can see why you're so adamant about keeping me away from her," Mr. Burke remarked. "And you're right to be."
"She's just a stupid kid. That's why she acts the way she does. It ain't because she's some prize catch. She's just a ditz," Charon responded, still staring at Sandra and James.
"I understand what you mean, but I don't believe stupid is the right word to describe her... mannerisms," Mr. Burke told him. "I believe the word you're looking for is innocent."
"Same difference," Charon grumbled.
"Perhaps." Mr. Burke shrugged. "But, I find it hard to look at her... at them... and not feel a strange touch of inspiration. It's hard not to respect someone who has enough gall to go against the flow, to reject the horrible truths of the world and break their backs trying to mend them. Why... I think that you and I wouldn't be here if not for that streak of idealism in her."
"Okay. All right. Okay," Charon grumped. "I get it. You're head-over-fucking-heels for her, and it's fucking obvious. I get the message. Stop talking about it…"
"Well, I just think it'd be polite of me to ask her bodyguard's permission… before I..."
"Before you what?"
"Before I... pursue her."
Charon finally tore his eyes from Sandra and her father—his attention now locked onto Mr. Burke, glaring into him heatedly
"You have my permission to fuck off," the ghoul growled. "You pursue her—and the next thing you'll be pursuin' is a goddamn doctor to get my fucking boot outta your ass."
"Guys!"
Sandra darted up to Charon and Mr. Burke, completely unaware of the conversation they'd been having.
"Dad says we have to go down to the pipes and twist a valve or something. I might need some help. Come with me!" Sandra beamed, starting toward the door.
Charon followed her.
"And me?" Mr. Burke asked. "Am I to assume that I'm a part of your little Scooby gang, then?"
"Well, duh," Sandra replied. "I didn't save your life and drag you halfway across the wasteland just to tell you to go away. Come on!"
Mr. Burke smiled, and the three of them left the room.
After meeting up with Bryan and Thrash, Sandra and her friends all headed through the main halls and located the sewer grate that would lead them to their destination. She pulled the metal lid off of the hole and climbed inside, her companions all doing the same.
"Dad knows about Megaton," Sandra said happily as they walked through the large pipe. "He said he's proud of me."
"I see… and does he know that I..." Mr. Burke began.
"No… I didn't tell him Tenpenny sent you there to destroy the place. Let's keep that hush-hush," Sandra responded. "As far as I'm concerned, that never happened. Fresh start, remember?"
"Why're we crawling through the pipes?" Bryan asked from the back of the group. "It stinks in here."
"We have to fix a valve. When we're done, Dad and I are gonna test a few things. We might actually get it working!" Sandra said joyously.
Charon, who was right behind her, gave her a lingering stare as they walked. He'd never seen her so overjoyed before.
"Here we go."
Sandra found the valve. It sat in front of a broken opening in the pipe, which made the sky outside completely visible.
She began to twist the valve, and continued to do so until it refused to turn anymore.
"There. I think we're done..."
A noise suddenly caught her attention.
It was faint at first, but it grew steadily louder.
The loud, distant echo of large, whipping propellers...
Sandra and her companions gazed through the broken opening in the side of the pipe's wall, staring outside—now in awe.
Two vertibirds were flying dangerously close to the memorial. They both landed on the roof of the building, and Sandra was able to see a few soldiers wearing power armor jumping out of the vertibirds and heading for the entrance.
"Who're they?" Sandra whispered dreadfully.
"I don't know. I've never seen soldiers like that before," Mr. Burke replied. "Their armor is different from the Brotherhood of Steel's."
"Oh shit," Charon breathed.
"What?" Sandra asked him.
"Mistress..." he sighed. "That would be the Enclave."
"The Enclave? Like, from the Enclave radio station?" Sandra said. "So they're the government?"
"Well... I'm afraid I'm not well educated on the Enclave, apart from what I've heard on the radio," Mr. Burke said. "But if they are the government, then perhaps we needn't worry about their arrival too much. Perhaps they have a legitimate reason for being here. Forgive me, I'm trying optimism for once..."
Charon's eyes fixated on the parked vertibirds up above. No one else here had ever seen or dealt with the Enclave before—but he was old enough to remember many of the things they'd done in the past, and they were far worse than a simple sect of government remnants.
"We need to get back to your father, Mistress," Charon said darkly. "He's in danger."
Sandra gulped, drew her gun, and jogged toward the exit. Charon and the others trailed behind her, and they stepped out of the pipes just when—
"Oh—FUCK—!"
Lasers fired off immediately; Enclave soldiers flooded through the inside of the memorial all the sudden, and they shot at Sandra on sight.
Her heart jolted—and she just managed to duck and dart away from the searing lasers and hide behind one of the massive pillars, her friends all doing the same alongside her.
"Go!" Charon appeared beside her and shooed her away. "Go get your father. I'll deal with them."
"I can't leave you guys alone!" Sandra protested.
"We'll be fine," Mr. Burke, who was crouched behind a nearby pillar alongside Bryan, pulled a submachine gun out from underneath the side of his suit. "Go on."
"Go!" Bryan yelled, holding up his gun as well. "Don't let your papa get hurt!"
Sandra gave them all a last torn look, then turned and dashed toward the doorway leading to the purifier.
She was able to hear the fire fight ensue behind her, and she didn't dare look back.
When she burst into the room—the purifier was sealed off from the rest of the room, and the only scientist standing on the outside of it was Doctor Li. James was standing inside of the concealed area, along with a couple of his scientists and a few uniformed people that Sandra didn't recognize, though she assumed that they must have been the leaders of the Enclave invasion force that had breached the Jefferson Memorial.
The man in charge was exchanging conversation with James. Sandra wasn't able to hear them clearly through the thick glass.
Then—the leader of the Enclave shot one of her father's assistants, killing her stone dead.
He threatened James, effectively forcing him to the console and ordering him to proceed more quickly.
The Enclave wanted control over the purifier. That must have been it...
"Don't touch my father," Sandra fumed through gritted teeth, watching and feeling both incensed and unbearably helpless, pressing her face against the glass. "Don't fucking touch my father, you bastard..."
A small explosion occurred at the console inside—making her jump.
The sealed off section of the purifier quickly became flooded with radiation; the Enclave leader and his two armed followers, as well as James himself, began to collapse as the radiation ate away at them at a frighteningly rapid rate.
James then staggered—and he leaned against the glass, now perfectly parallel with his daughter and staring painfully into her eyes.
"Run," he stated hoarsely, making a weak waving motion toward the door. "Run. Run…!"
James' head hit the glass—and he slumped over and collapsed onto the metal floor.
Sandra suddenly felt gone, no clue how many tears were cascading down her cheeks now—steeped in total shock and feeling as if she was living through a nightmare. She reached out for the handle of the door, but Doctor Li smacked her hand away.
It was as if some divine force had taken total control of Sandra now; somehow, through her crying, she was barking orders at the scientists and reloading her revolver on the way.
The wanderer led the scientists outside, even with every fiber of her being screaming at her, pleading for her not to leave her father behind—but her father was gone for good now.
There was nothing any of them could do for him anymore.
Sandra emerged in the main room with a trail of scientists behind her.
Charon and her other companions were thankfully unharmed, and they quickly regrouped with her before they all headed for the exit at once.
Sandra led the assault against the Enclave as Madison Li guided them through the underground tunnels, which would lead to the Brotherhood Citadel—which was, as of now, their only sanctuary from the sudden Enclave onslaught.
Sandra was completely gone; she'd become almost unresponsive to Charon's voice, hardly heard anything the scientists were saying.
She was far too busy succumbing to her rage, popping off shots with keen aim, her bullets reaching the crevices and eyeholes of every set of power armor, killing each enemy she came across without an ounce of hesitation.
Somehow—all at once, out of nowhere, and for no reason in the world—her father and her joy had been killed at the Jefferson Memorial, and nothing in the world existed beyond her desire to kill every soldier in her path.
"MISTRESS!"
Something clicked—and she stopped.
Suddenly, she was no longer leading the scientists through the sewer tunnels, no longer shooting down Enclave soldiers and tossing plasma grenades almost carelessly toward clusters of the enemies… no longer rampaging through the power armored goons who had killed her father...
Now—Sandra was outside of the Brotherhood's Citadel, free from the tunnels and standing beneath the night sky.
She'd almost opened fire on the Brotherhood guards when she spotted the power armor—but Charon snapped her back into reality just in time.
Sandra panted exasperatedly, lost to a wild daze she'd never known before, her eyes wandering up to his.
Charon stood in front of her, grasping her arms and glaring into her face, and a searing pain became noticeable on her left side. A laser had burned through her outfit, leaving a nasty smoldering wound on her left hip. Sandra hadn't even noticed any injuries until now…
"Lyons!" Masidon Li hollered almost hysterically into the intercom on the outside of the Citadel. "Lyons, I know you're in there! We need shelter—OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!"
In response to Li's frantic voice, the gigantic metal door began to rise at once, allowing everyone to enter the Citadel.
Sandra didn't follow the scientists inside right away.
Charon, Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash stood around her outside of the massive structure and waited for her to respond to their expectant stares.
Apparently, she had raised her revolver and aimed at one of the Brotherhood guards. Alarmed by her actions, Sandra holstered her gun and attempted to regain some levelheadedness.
"I'm fine," Sandra breathed. "I'm fine. I'm fine..."
"You lost your goddamn mind back there. Tell me what happened," Charon ordered. "Where's your father?"
Sandra looked down at Charon's feet, feeling a sharp pain in her chest at the mention of her dad.
Charon examined her, reading the answer off her face and sighing grimly.
"You're hurt," he said. "Inside. C'mon…"
Without waiting for a response, Charon dragged Sandra into the Citadel, where Elder Lyons stood side-by-side with someone Sandra recognized. Sarah Lyons was beside her father as the elder talked with Doctor Li, trying to determine what had happened and failing at calming the shaken scientist.
Sandra tried to stop and join in the conversation, but Charon and Mr. Burke both took hold of either of her arms and escorted her down the long walkway and into the enormous building.
They found the clinic and forced Sandra to lie on one of the hospital beds before she could argue. Sandra stole a few perceptive glimpses of her friends as the doctor began treating her injury. None of them seemed to be hurt.
"I suppose this erases any doubt about the Enclave's existence," Mr. Burke said. "Many people suspected that they simply weren't present in the Capital. We've only ever heard the president's voice, after all. No one's actually seen him with their own eyes. The only Enclave presence in the Capital are the little robots floating around..."
Charon didn't reply to him. His milky blue eyes were focused on Sandra.
"We need a GECK." Sandra hopped off of the bed with her burn only partially wrapped, pushing the doctor away and heading for the door.
By the time she got down the stairs, her companions had caught up to her, and she went after Elder Lyons and one of the scribes, who were talking about the new Enclave threat that had emerged.
"They want the purifier, but it won't work for them. We can take it back if we find a GECK. We can make it work," Sandra told them.
"A GECK? Well… that's not exactly easy to come by. Some people doubt that such a thing even exists." Elder Lyons replied.
"They do exist. My dad found proof," Sandra said straightly. "We just need to find one."
"I am aware of a vault that may contain a GECK," the scribe chimed in. "But it's highly irradiated. You'd be unlikely to survive in trying to retrieve it."
"I just need to know where it is, and I'll figure out the rest. Tell me," Sandra commanded in a hardened voice that didn't belong to her.
"Well... it's in Vault 87. I can mark it on your pip-boy," the scribe said, taking a quick look at the vaultie's injury before fiddling with the device on her arm. "There we go. You should be able to access it if you enter from the back, perhaps from Little Lamplight."
"Mistress… calm down." Charon interrupted. "You're talking about going into a cesspool of radiation for something that probably doesn't even exist."
"It does exist!" Sandra yelled. "And I'm gonna find it!"
Elder Lyons and the scribe exchanged glances.
Charon sighed at her.
"My dad didn't just die for nothing. I'm getting the GECK—I'm fixing the purifier—and I'm killing every single fucking one of them!"
"Mistress, you have a damn hole in your side. It's not wise to—"
"I don't care! I'm not just gonna sit here while the Enclave steals my dad's life work away!"
"So you plan to dive head first into a radioactive pit, huh?"
"Charon, you're immune to radiation. If the place is irradiated, then you can grab the GECK for me."
"No. My contract states that I am to assist you in combat situations, Mistress. I'm not your errand boy."
"What?!"
"You heard me. I'm not playing servant anymore. You're being a reckless fucking idiot, and I'm not playing along anymore. You're gonna get yourself—"
"FUCK YOU!"
Sandra bashed her hands into Charon's chest and shoved him backward.
Charon's mouth fell open—but before he could respond, Sandra said something he never thought he'd hear from her.
"You're fired!"
Charon gaped at her in surprise.
"You heard me!" Sandra continued, eyes watering and voice trembling with angry despair. "Go! Go ahead and fucking leave! You don't wanna play along? You don't wanna help me? You don't give a shit about being friends? All you care about is your stupid—fucking—contract—!"
She pulled out a very old rolled up paper from her satchel—Charon's contract—and she began ripping it into pieces and letting them scatter onto the floor.
"Then—WHO NEEDS YOU! GO! YOU'RE FREE! GO LIVE YOUR FUCKING LIFE! BYE!"
Elder Lyons, the scribe, Mr. Burke, and Bryan all looked flabbergasted.
Charon simply stood rooted to the spot, utterly stunned and unable to react.
Sandra then turned to Mr. Burke.
"Go to my house in Megaton. You're free to stay there," she told him. "Take Bryan and Thrash with you. Look after each other."
"You're going it alone?" Mr. Burke asked, and if Sandra was in her right mind, she might've noticed the underlying concern in his tone. "You can't. You can't possibly..."
"I'll be fine alone," Sandra grumbled as she stormed past Charon and headed for the stairs. "Bye."
On her way out, Sandra didn't look back at any of her friends.
This very well could have been the last time she would see Charon—but right now, she couldn't care.
No, she would have to ignore the endless stream of tears running down her cheeks, as well as her feelings of guilt and loneliness that silently screamed at her to turn back, to get her friends, and to keep her group together no matter what...
But that wasn't an option anymore.
Her father was a casualty of a situation that had escalated dramatically out of the blue. Her friends might meet a similar fate if they stayed with her.
Besides—Charon didn't care about her anyway. He'd made that perfectly clear.
So—Sandra marched out of the Citadel and vanished into the Capital Wasteland by her lonesome.
It was not at all the same as the day she left the vault; this time, facing the bleak and dangerous wasteland, she harbored no fear, no terror, and no doubt whatsoever about her ability to survive.
Her wellbeing didn't matter in the long run, anyway.
Project Purity mattered.
Her father's work mattered.
Avenging his death mattered.