Shaun walked back to Acadia with DiMA feeling lighter than he had in days. Upon opening the door, Dogmeat rushed over to see him. He barked happily as Shaun petted him and upon his insistence, DiMA began petting him too.

"You have to pet him," Shaun told him. "He hates to be ignored."

"Alright," DiMA chuckled, rubbing his ears.

Shaun smiled at DiMA, but his attention caught on Kasumi, newly emerging from Faraday's computer room. She rubbed at her mouth, keeping her eyes on the floor. Her footsteps were clumsy like she'd woken up from a long sleep. She looked up, meeting Shaun's gaze. Her look told him one thing: danger.

Shaun rose from the floor, tilting his head in confusion.

"Ah, Kasumi. Has the terminal been fixed? I know Faraday was worried about it," DiMA asked.

Kasumi turned her head at DiMA, almost with new eyes. She straightened her posture, "Yeah. Yeah, we fixed it up just fine."

DiMA frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Well…Thank you for your hard work," he said. He looked between Shaun and Kasumi, "It's a good thing you came when you did. I was never very good with computers."

"Yeah, I bet you aren't."

"Kasumi?" Shaun asked.

Kasumi had come closer to him now, brushing his shoulder. "Come on, Shaun."

Before Shaun had the chance to ask, Kasumi led him away from DiMA, with Dogmeat pawing at his feet. He turned his head back to him, lifting his shoulders as a way to say sorry. DiMA watched them leave, hands clasped behind his back. Shaun couldn't read his expression.

Kasumi led him down the stairwell, taking him by the wrist. She checked the hallway before leading him back into their room.

"Kasumi, what are you doing?"

She shushed him, going to lock the door. Then, once satisfied that nobody could hear them said, "What did DiMA say to you? While you were alone?"

Shaun lifted his hands in defense. "Nothing! Why are you being so weird?"

Below him, Dogmeat whined. He pawed at his snout, laying his head on Shaun's feet. Kasumi paced the room, rubbing her mouth. "Faraday's terminal has all sorts of stuff on there about him," she said. "There's like a century's worth of life experiences in there."

His heart jumped. "What kinda stuff?" Shaun said.

"DiMA's lying about something," Kasumi said. "What if that's the reason he's so warm and welcoming? So nobody asks questions about him? But there were all these data models for stuff DiMA has been making. One was for the Fog taking over Far Harbor. Another was a nuclear detonation on the island. Plus death counts."

Shaun gulped, watching her pace. He felt a cold shiver go down his back, the slimy feeling reappearing in his chest. "Death counts?"

"What if it's a plan to wipe out the rest of the island?" Kasumi said. "What if DiMA's planning on hurting all these people? If he's planning some kind of war, guess who's put right in the crossfire?"

Shaun shook his head. "But DiMA's been so honest with us," he said. "I just don't think he'd want to hurt anybody."

"Haven't you been listening to me? It's a cover-up, Shaun!"

Shaun fidgeted with his hands, not wanting to meet her eyes anymore. The idea seemed too alien to consider. "Do you think he's a bad guy?"

Kasumi shrugged, putting her hands on her hips. "If he is, shouldn't we have a right to know? Now that we've finally found a place we belong, we don't deserve to lose it if DiMA is secretly planning on destroying everything."

"But he's offered all this stuff for us. He's made a home for synths, people like us! Isn't that good?"

"That doesn't matter if he's hiding something!"

Shaun burned in shame, he felt as if he could cry. Kasumi frowned and her expression softened, "Hey. What's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes, "Kasumi. Can I tell you something?"

"What?"

"The person I was before…. I was me? Before I was a synth-He wasn't a good person."

"How do you know?"

"I knew him in the Institute," he said. "I mean, I didn't know we were the same person right then. I got told later. But my mom said he hurt lots of people. People like us."

He rubbed his face. "So...if you're gonna investigate DiMA, maybe I shouldn't be the one to help."

Kasumi tilted her head. "Who was he?" she whispered. "A Courser?"

"No. The Director."

Her eyes squinted then widened. "So you were…" she corrected herself. "I mean, he was behind everything. Making the synths and stuff."

Shaun fiddled with the fabric on his jacket, not meeting her eyes. He bit his lip, nodding. Kasumi put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's okay."

Shaun looked at the floor, at the walls. "I know I'm not… him. I'm not stupid. But I know that I got his personality. And how he looked when he was my age, and…" he blinked back tears.

Shaun took a deep breath. He wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve. "All I'm saying is, if DiMA is trying this hard to make something good, we should be thinking of that too. Before we investigate everything."

"Even if he is doing something good," she said. "Even then. We should be looking for answers. If not for our sake, for everything else on the island. I mean, what if he's planning something that's gonna hurt people?"

Kasumi sighed in exasperation, she paced to the other side of the room and sat down on her bed.

Shaun sighed, sitting next to her on her bed. "Okay. If he's planning something bad, we should at least get evidence before we accuse him, right? There was this scientist I knew back in the Institute. His name was Dr. Zimmer. He was in charge of finding rouge synths so he had a process for finding them out. He told me once how he did it, by finding clues that pointed to where they would be. I bet if we look for clues too, we can find enough evidence for whether DiMA is doing something bad or not."

Kasumi looked at him, "That's a good idea. If we got enough evidence, we could even warn the other synths."

"Or tell them there's nothing to worry about," Shaun protested, folding his arms.

Kasumi snapped her fingers. "I know where to start. Those late-night talks they had. Remember when we saw DiMA, Faraday, and Chase head into the laboratory at the other end of the hall? They sounded like they were arguing about something."

"That could be our first clue!" Shaun said.

"Exactly," Kasumi said. "So we'll start there."

For the rest of the evening, Shaun and Kasumi wrote down pieces of evidence for and against DiMA to build a case. When they finished for the night, they stuck their paper inside their backpacks so nobody bothered with their work.

At dinner, Kasumi and Shaun remained quiet, deciding to listen in case anybody said something important or noteworthy. After dinner, they waited to see if DiMA, Faraday, and Chase would meet up afterward in the laboratory, but nothing came of it. Clues, it seemed, would come when they wanted.

When they went to bed, Shaun felt torn. As much as he wanted to help Kasumi, he couldn't bear to think of DiMA having any involvement in something as bad as wanting to wipe out the entire island. All DiMA seemed to want was peace.

Shaun curled up on the smelly mattress. He put his knees to his chest to get warmer, but couldn't seem to. Dreadfully, he thought of home again. Before he went to bed at home, there were warm meals and happy chatter. Everything was in a good place. Good-humored and friendly beneath the calm skies of Sanctuary.

He dreamt of the Institute that night. No, a dream wasn't the right word for it. It was a memory. A memory long forgotten, one he hadn't known he had remembered so well.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, watching the scientists speak beyond the plexiglass from Advanced Systems. His caretaker, Dr. Madison Li was whispering fiercely to one of the other scientists, Dr. Janet Thompson.

"He wants to see him today?" whispered Dr. Li. "We're not ready for that. I told him at the last meeting we were still ironing out bugs in the personality mesh."

"The director was insistent he sees the boy," said Dr. Thompson. "I guess he's curious to know how it's…he's coming along."

Dr. Li sighed and turned her head to look at him. Immediately, Shaun shot his attention back to the magazine he was reading. He tried his best to seem extremely interested in what the article was talking about and dared not to look up.

Then, the door to his room opened. The two women were looking at him expectantly, "S9-23, come with me," Dr. Li ordered.

Shaun zipped up, bouncing off his bed. Dr. Li took him by the shoulder to the washroom and instructed him to bathe quickly and gave him a long-sleeved jumpsuit, pressed and starched white. He combed his hair, put on his best shoes, and followed the two scientists out of Advanced Systems.

A pack of coursers followed them to a part of the Institute as different from his room as industrial light is to a match. The air was fresh from the bright green trees in the garden. The ground was made of glass which sat atop a flowing river running throughout the main room, giving the impression of walking on water. Shaun wanted to stop and take it all in, the gardens, the divisions, the people, yet Dr. Li pushed him on.

Finally, they came to a large room fit for a king, the floors were shiny metal and the decor was all freshly polished and well-kept. It was a room filled with old-world treasures. Globes were marked with ancient countries, colorful vases, and marvelous art. Shaun wanted to stare at the walls and the treasures forever. Nothing this beautiful existed in his division.

His attention turned to an old man sitting at a desk in the back of the room. He was surrounded by a trio of coursers.

The old man was thin, with white hair neatly combed beside a face so seamed and wrinkled, it hardly seemed natural. His beard was trimmed right at the jaw. He was wearing a starched white lab coat, well-pressed khakis, and nicely polished shoes. Everything about him was well-kept and orderly.

He settled back in the armchair, and his pale lips were drawn up in a smile. "Come closer, boy."

Without the slightest hesitation, Shaun walked up to the chair and let the old man stroke his face. "So young…" The director murmured.

Shaun smiled at him. He liked the director instinctively. There was something so right about the way the old man looked. His eyes were a good color, he thought; they were the color of the tree bark growing in the gardens. The director's face seemed oddly familiar, yet Shaun couldn't place why. Its familiarity sunk into Shaun and made him feel comfortable as if he had known him for many years. He suddenly understood why everyone referred to him as Father. The title suited him.

"It's been a productive week in Advanced Systems," Dr. Li said behind him. "Our first Gen4. At first, we were worried about the technicalities in the personality mesh, but Dr. Binet has done some marvelous work on him. Everything is working well."

"That's good." The director didn't take his eyes off Shaun. "Tell me, Shaun, do you like snack cakes?"

Shaun nodded energetically, his mouth watering at the memory of such a treat.

He smiled, pleased at this. "I do too, I have a terrible sweet tooth. Dr. Li, have the synths bring up some dinner. We have much to talk about."

The next hour passed like a dream. The coursers and Dr. Li were sent away. The old man and Shaun sat across from each other and dined in his office. Shaun tried to be polite and keep eye contact with the Director, but he found it so hard to focus. He marveled at all the wonderful things he had, the large computer, the bookshelves, beautiful art on the walls, and plastic flowers on his desk. Large charts were detailing scientific data and Shaun wanted to press his fingers against them and study everything.

The Gen2 synths came back with large plates of food. Father let them eat snack cakes first, before dinner. Shaun could hardly believe his luck, it was exactly what he would have done. Father gave him a feast of green salad, hot soup, and a large roast chicken. Shaun sipped a glass filled with a sparkling caramel liquid. It tasted heavenly, it was miles ahead of the food packets he always got.

"Do you like it? These foods are my favorites."

Shaun decided they were his favorites too.

Father talked mostly, with Shaun only speaking to him in approval that he was still listening. The old man rambled on about his youth in the Institute. As the old man talked, Shaun pictured the white laboratories and crystal equipment of the Institute years ago. He saw the divisions of bioscience raising impressive crops of all kinds, the robotics division with a spinning axis that churned out generations of synth after synth. Father was originally born on the surface and had parents once but, alas, was taken from them to have a better life. Dr. Zimmer took responsibility for him after that and triumphantly bore him to become the leader of the Institute.

"The Institute kept the name my original parents gave me: Shaun Clarke. It's your name, too."

Shaun smiled, happy he shared something with the director. He wondered about the surface, something he'd never considered before, and thought about what it would be like. How would it feel to walk in the sunshine, hear real birds chirp, or explore an abandoned city? Dr. Li spoke of the surface as hopeless, but Shaun wanted to see for himself. Maybe he'd get to one day if he was very obedient and good.

The director adjusted his sleeve and paused to look at the time. He told Shaun he had a few meetings to attend and that he needed to prepare beforehand. Shaun nodded, for he was happy dinner was over. He felt exhausted from so much listening and a belly full of delicious food. Dr. Li retrieved him to bring him back to his room.

Shaun stayed in his room and sat in wonder at the thought of what Father had told him. Later that evening, as the time came for the division scientists to go home, Shaun watched two little girls bounce into Advanced Systems. It was the Thompson's young daughters coming to say hello to their parents.

Shaun watched them curiously as two girls jumped up in excitement to see them. One of the girls caught Shaun's gaze and waved shyly to him as they left Advanced Systems. He waved back, a ghost of a smile on his face.

Dr. Janet Thompson turned off the lights as they left, leaving only the illuminated floor lights on. Shaun felt hollow, little tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He felt an otherness. A distinct sense he was unlike them. They had a whole family. A mother and a father and two little girls. Shaun had himself.

And as he had done many times before, Shaun tucked himself into bed, curling the blanket up to his chin. He wished then that he could go upstairs and stay with Father. He wished to have a home too, not a lab. Not the glass walls.

He is couldn't have a home, he at least wished to be friends with the Thompson's daughters. Alice and Julia. He didn't know what games kids his age played. Would they be interested in radios like him? Would they like science magazines?

Shaun lay still on his bed, hands clasped on his chest. He lifted his head and seeing he was alone decided to try out how to approach Alice and Julia.

He whispered aloud, "My name is Shaun. Do you want to listen to my radio?"

No, that wasn't right. He couldn't mention the radio. He'd stolen the parts and tools to make it. He'd be found out and have it taken away in a second.

He cleared his throat, "Do you want to play?" He practiced. That was good! Alice and Julia could suggest something and Shaun would be off the hook.

"My name is Shaun. I live here. Do you want to play?" He murmured as his eyes closed. "Hi, I'm Shaun. Do you want to play together?" Satisfied, he rolled over.

He'd make them like him, he'd make them the best of friends. And then he'd tell Father about it and he'd be proud. Proud enough to give him anything he wanted. Maybe proud enough to let him visit the surface.

He fell asleep in no time, dreaming about what the director had told him. He dreamt of a bright, green surface. He imagined what sunlight would feel like on his face. He tried to picture the director and his parents. All of it was forgotten by morning.

Elenora gripped the rail of the tugboat, staring at the lapping water rushing past the hull. This late, the ocean was the color of ink, the only semblance of it being water coming from the orangish glow of the lanterns dancing down on the water's edge.

It was the second night on the boat. A borrowed boat, from the Nakano family, those poor sons of bitches. They had retraced the radio signal from Shaun's ham radio back to a little beach shack at the edge of the commonwealth. Elenora, not knowing what to expect (and having a lot more firepower than the last time Shaun went missing) had called a full-scale invasion on the Nakano residence. She garnered a vertibird-pilot and gunner-a nearby patrolling brigade, and the best sharpshooter in the Commonwealth to take down what ultimately was two frightened parents hobbled in a corner, with her smashing through their door in a full suit of power armor. She even wore her general's armor underneath. RJ had once dubbed it her, "no-bullshit-outfit." That was one way to say it.

Finding out their child, Kasumi, was also lured away by some sycophantic synth society was a trip. Still, even after agreeing to 'yes, find her and bring her back home safe too, bye.' Elenora still thought Kasumi was some level of crazy. After all, what kind of normal girl thinks it's a good idea to take a child away from his home? Bullshit on all levels. She was angry at Kasumi. She was mad at herself for how she handled the entire situation.

She huffed in exasperation. Her grip on the rail made her knuckles white. She felt nauseous. She dipped her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. MacCready came up behind her and rested his arm around her shoulder. Instinctively, she leaned into him.

"Hey," RJ murmured. "Holding up?"

Elenora felt her throat closing up. She'd stayed so busy up until this point, ordering Minutemen around, interrogating the Nakanos, piloting the boat, that until this moment she hadn't been still. It began to catch up with her.

"I want him back, RJ," Elenora said. "I want him in my arms."

MacCready wrapped her in warm limbs, resting his head in the crook of her neck "I know, I want him back, too. We found the Nakano's pretty fast. We can't be too far behind him."

It was Valentine's idea to take the boat to Far Harbor. Originally, Elenora wanted to bring down the entire army but Nick talked her down. If Shaun were in danger, it would be best to go hidden on the island. They would have no idea what waited for them up there. If they brought an army battalion, the synths could take it as an act of war and start shooting with Shaun ending up in the crossfire. Better to just take the boat and 'not start unnecessary shit.' Nick didn't phrase it like that but he didn't have to: message received.

"I just miss him so much, I can't…" she exhaled and hung her head.

MacCready pressed his lips to her temple, "He's gonna be alright," he murmured into her hair. She nodded solemnly. "We'll do whatever it takes to bring him back."

"I know," she whispered. "I know we will."

RJ pulled away from her, keeping his eyes down. He still gripped her arms, but spoke quietly, just above the sound of the waves. "Listen, Elle… This is my fault. We both know that, I mean, if I had known he'd left earlier…kept a better watch, made sure he was asleep, stayed awake longer, I just-"

"Hey…"

"-I'm so sorry I put this on you again. I mean you've already lost Shaun before, and I couldn't even…"

"RJ."

He sighed and finally looked up at her. Elenora tangled her fingers in his scarf, "I'm not mad at you," she said. "I'm not. This is my fault, too. Shaun left because he was mad at me, I should've told him sooner or just told him at all. I…I don't know why I left for the castle as soon as I did. Not when he needed me home."

They were silent together, both accepting each other's apology. RJ pulled her into his arms again and they stayed like that together for a while.

"I wish I didn't have to be away from you and the boys so often," Elenora murmured into his duster. "These Castle trips, settlement tours… They… They don't get any easier, RJ. God, I'm exhausted. The minutemen expect too much. I know Preston does too, he doesn't treat me like he used to. Ever since the Institute was destroyed, he treats me like I'm mythic."

She pulled away from him, leaning her weight on the side of the rail. She stared out at the open ocean again. "Running Sanctuary, the castle, leading troops. It's getting to be too much, Mac. I mean it's been almost three years. The longer I do it, the more I just wish I was with you. You and Duncan and Shaun. It's all I want. The four of us, together. Safe. I just miss you all too much."

"I miss you, too. I don't like you leaving too much, either, remember? It freaks me the heck out." MacCready put his elbows on the railing, looking at her. "Listen, we're gonna get Shaun back, okay? We've done it before. Remember? You and me."

Elenora gave a short, mirthless laugh, "We do have a good track record."

"Heck yeah, we do."

Elenora sighed. He made a point, they were a good team for these sorts of things. Helping each other's sons was a bonding agent for them in their earliest days, back when she was just his employer and he only called her "boss." She never would've survived long enough to make it into the Institute without him. MacCready never would've cracked Medtek without her. They'd grown a lot together in the past few years. They had made a family together, a home. A small piece of sanctuary carved out within the chaos of the wasteland. Elenora faintly smiled at him, raising her eyebrows. For all the stress of the past 48 hours, she could feel a surge of gratitude in her heart. "I love you, RJ."

MacCready smiled back. "I love you, too."

She leaned into him and kissed him, pressing a hand to his cheek. After they broke apart, MacCready grabbed her hand and clutched it in between his. "You know what? I didn't know if I was ever gonna be able to say this to you, but…Well, hearing you talk about it…"

"What?" Elle asked, panic rising. "RJ, what?"

"You should just quit."

She made a face. "Quit?"

"Quit being the general," MacCready said. "Baby, like you said: Three years. I mean, what the heck do you owe those guys? They owe you."

She blew a raspberry. "They don't owe me."

"Yeah, they do," MacCready guffawed. "You don't have to babysit the entire commonwealth, Elle. They can handle their shit from time to time, ya know? They should be. They have been long before you showed up."

She shook her head, drawing her lips in a thin line. "Come on, RJ…"

"What?"

"What…? If I leave, what will happen to them?"

"Let Preston take care of it," he said exasperated. "He can be general. Let him help another settlement in danger for a change. I've worn out too many boots doing jobs for that guy."

Elenora chuckled, rubbing her eyes.

"He doesn't pay well, either," MacCready added.

"Well, you're never satisfied unless there are caps involved, sweetheart."

RJ shrugged, chuckling. "What? That's not true. Not unless it's you."

Elenora huffed, "That's my point. When we first met, I led with caps."

MacCready scrunched his face together. "Yeah, well… Hence why we work so well together," he said with a smirk.

Elenora laughed at him, MacCready following suit. She rubbed his knuckles with her thumb as an easier silence slipped between them. For a while, they listened only to the waves rushing past the boat, carrying them closer to their destination.

"You should talk to Preston when the three of us get home. I'll go with you," RJ offered.

Elenora shook her head. It felt like the wrong thing to be talking about. They should have been making plans for once they got to the island. But the idea felt good, and she had a sneaking suspicion Mac was only doing this to distract her. She decided to play with it. "What would I do? I can't do nothing, that's not me."

"No, it's not," MacCready agreed.

"So, what would I do if I wasn't the general anymore?"

"You'd be a mom," RJ said. "Besides that, you could do anything you want. Heck, I'd say you're good at all sorts of stuff. I've seen you build houses from junk, and make a working farm in radioactive dirt. Not anybody can do that, Elle."

"Hmm."

RJ lifted her hand and kissed it. "What do you wanna do?"

She pressed her lips together. "Well, I can't go back into lawyering, obviously."

MacCready chuckled, "yeah, no way."

"I do like building homes," she conceded. "And making farms. That's the part of being general I like the most."

"That's what we'll do then. We'll make a new house and a big old farm. Just for us and the boys and whoever else we decide to add to the party."

Elenora smiled. It sounded nice, the idea of living somewhere without people coming up to her with requests and complaints and everything in-between all the time; A life away from the public. Just her and her family. It sounded so good she didn't know how Mac hadn't talked her into this sooner.

It made her heart burn in love and admiration for him. RJ always knew what to say, how to make her feel better. She could feel herself getting choked up at the thought of it. He was so good to her.

"Whoa, hey. Did I say something wrong?" RJ said. He reached up and wiped a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. I feel… relieved, I guess. You make it sound so easy."

RJ gave her a half-smile. "It will be. It's gonna be. You'll see."

Elenora paused, the feelings of relief leaking away slowly, replaced with the thought of Shaun missing again. None of that future would be as happy or hopeful without him, she couldn't bear the thought of not having her baby there. She felt the chilling feeling of guilt sweep through her body again. "But first, we get Shaun back."

"We will," RJ promised, his tone turning sober. "Everything's gonna be fine as long as we stick together."

Elenora sighed. "I still have no idea what I'm going to say to him when we find him. He was heartbroken when he found out, Mac. You saw him…God, I can't believe I wasn't the one to tell him. That stupid tape. Why did I keep that damn thing around?"

"He's a smart kid," MacCready said. "Woulda found out eventually. Tape or not."

She hesitated, then said, "He said something to me. About how he always had a feeling. I wonder if it would have made it better or worse if I was the first one to confirm it for him."

MacCready didn't answer, they just stood together in mutual silence. From behind them, they heard footsteps. Elenora turned to see Nick watching them.

"Clear night," Nick said. "Should be smooth sailing for us…Nora, you said you wanted to talk earlier?"

Elenora nodded at him, she turned back to RJ, giving him a small smile. MacCready tapped Elenora's hand affirmatively and kissed her forehead. "I'll go find you something to eat, okay?"

She nodded, thanking him as he passed Nick. "How about you, Valentine? I, uh, could see if the engine room has got a spare tank of motor oil lying around."

"Har har," Nick said dryly.

MacCready chuckled and winked at Elenora behind Nick's shoulder as he headed below the deck. Elenora chuckled, despite herself as Nick joined her on the railing.

"That boy has been recycling that joke for years," Nick said, pulling a carton of cigarettes out of his coat pocket. "I still don't know how that's the sort you've stuck around with."

"Aw, c'mon Nick. Don't tell me he hasn't grown on you yet," Elenora said, bumping him with her hip.

"Maybe grown the way mold does," Nick said with a flick of his lighter. He offered her one and she took it, slipping it between her teeth. Nick lit the end of it for her. "Still, he's done a lot of growing up in these past years. Not the ex-gunner on the lam anymore, is he?"

Elenora shook her head, smiling to herself. "I don't think he was much suited for that type of life anyways," she said, blowing out a puff of smoke.

That was how Elenora saw it anyways. He'd worn a lot of hats before they'd met. Mayor, reject, soldier, husband, father, widower, gunner, merc. Then, a hired gun, a partner, a friend. Her best friend. Looking back on it, MacCready never struck her as a particularly good mercenary, his heart was too good for it. His motivation for caps, even then, was helping Duncan. He tried to come off as a tough guy and Elenora knew he was-she wouldn't trust just anybody to watch her back-but deep down, he was too goofy and light-hearted.

"What about you, Nick? How's mayoral life in the great, green jewel?"

Nick smiled at her, "A real mess. Lots of cleaning up to do, and plenty of people's minds to change about synths. A few of the citizens have given me a hard time, but most have come around. Still, some days I'm not sure how well I'm suited for it."

"Well, Piper seems to think you're doing a good job," Elenora mentioned. "Although, she's told me it makes her worry about what to write about for her paper."

Nick chuckled wryly. "Ah, that Piper always finds something to write about. She's the reason most people in town voted me in, she knows how to shine the best kind of light on someone."

"Well, somebody like you makes it easy, Nick."

Nick exchanged a smile with her and took another long drag from his cigarette. "You said you wanted to talk about something," Nick said.

"Yes, that's right," Elenora said. "I wanted your advice on something. About Shaun, how to help him."

"I see," Nick drawled. "Well. It's a hell of a thing he's going through right now. To think all you are is because of somebody else's experiences, their memories. He's going to be in a fragile state of mind when we find him."

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about, actually," Elenora said.

"Let's hear it."

Elenora took another puff of smoke to clear her thoughts. "After we destroyed the Institute, I found a holotape Father had saved for me. In it, he explained that he reprogramed Shaun to be my son. And when I rescued him from the Institute, he was already calling me 'mom', he said nobody had to tell him that, he just knew."

Nick frowned, "What are you saying?"

"Well, I'm saying if he knew I was his mother because those memories were coded in," Elenora began. "Or if he got Father's memories as a young boy."

Nick paused, taking it all in. "Have you asked Shaun about how much he remembers from the Institute?"

"Yes, but lots of it is hazy for him, obviously," Elenora said. "He remembers the scientists in his division, but sometimes he'll mention a head scientist there that I never met. And I met everyone, so maybe it's a memory from Father…Do you see what I'm saying?"

"I do," Nick said. He tossed his cigarette out to sea, the rushing water churning it up. "If he has Father's memories in him, that might make him like him in more ways than one."

"Exactly," Elenora responded. "Like how having the prewar cop's memories in you gave you your personality, your mannerisms."

"Yes, but…we've always known Shaun was based off of Father. Why does it matter now if he placed his memories in there?"

"That's what I'm getting to," Elenora said. "Do you remember after we went to Amari, and you had Kellogg's tech put in your brain? Amari called them 'mnemonic impressions'."

"Yeah?"

"You spoke like Kellogg, Nick. Part of him was in there with you. What if Father is doing that and I've just never noticed? I mean, c'mon, you can't tell me you've never felt Kellogg's presence there with you. I know you have. You spoke like him at least once."

Nick gripped the rail, nodding solemnly. "Alright. I see what you mean."

Elenora stared back out at the sea. The complete blackness that surrounded them made her uneasy. "It's something I want to look out for on this trip. Memories make a reality, Nick. If he has Father's memories…I don't know, I just don't think Shaun is in the right headspace. Leaving like this is just so… out of character for him."

"You mentioned that back in Sanctuary. Said it was weird for him to go to Red Rocket without permission."

Elenora rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand. "If you see anything strange from Shaun, will you let me know?"

"I will, but I don't know if this will go anywhere," Nick said. "If there's no way we can know for sure, it's just a cold case.

Elenora took another puff of smoke and smudged it out on the railing.

"Does MacCready know about this?"

"Yeah," Elenora said evenly. "We talked about it a few days after the Institute was first destroyed."

"Really? What'd he say?"

"Mac said that it was so easy to forget that Shaun wasn't human that it was best to just stop reminding ourselves. He said after everything we'd been through, we just deserved to be a family together. And after Duncan came, I admit I had just forgotten about it too," Elenora said. "Until his birthday, when he found that tape… I think I held off telling him for too long."

Nick nodded, "I understand. Thanks for filling me in. It's a long case we've got ahead of us, but you and MacCready are capable parents. We'll find Shaun soon enough."

Elenora smiled at him. "Thanks, Nick."

"Listen, after all this is squared away, I'd be happy to speak with him… The, uh, the transition isn't as easy as most people would think. Maybe I can help him with it."

Elenora relaxed, taking a deep breath. "Thank you, Nick. I know he looks up to you, I think that'd help."

"Anything for you, kid."

The boat beat on against the current, closer to Far Harbor.