CHAPTER 7: THE SYNTH PUPPETEER.

"Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster." -Sun Tzu.

The prewar town in Heath was crawling with Synths, the artificial robots moved in groups across the crumbled roads and streets. Gunfire could be heard in the distance, signaling that the battle between the mercs and Synths was well underway. But despite that, more of the Synths kept coming from seemingly out of nowhere.

One lone Generation 2 Synth patrolled near an old building before passing the windows. Its sensors went off for a second and turned to the cracked and dusty glass. The Synth approached slowly and peered in before its head was met with the blade of a machete. It sliced through the head between the eyes and came out the back of the head. The Synth twitched and sparks popped from it body before going limp as the blade was pulled out.

The four wanderers and mercenary came out from the building and looked around to make sure it was clear of any other Synths. "It's gonna take us forever to find anyone at this rate..." Doug frowned and kicked the Synth's limp body.

"At least we haven't dealt with hordes of them yet." Victoria gave a quick sweep before hearing some gunfire from afar. "I'm surprised those mercenaries are even still here."

"Money brings in all kinds of desperate and greedy assholes." Joe looked to where the noise was coming from. "Whether it's actual dollar bills from my time or caps, money is money. As long as they can earn it while doing what they love. Shooting shit up."

"We need those trigger happy mercs to help us get rid of these Synths." Louis sheathed his long machete. "If we continue this way, we'll make it to that gunfire."

"That is without the Synths getting in our way." Doug stated bluntly.

Louis looked at his Pip-Boy again to check the map. But the device suddenly switched to its radio function and showed a strange signal in the form of a coded frequency. "What's this? I'm getting a strange signal that I've never seen before!"

The other four came over to look at the screen and saw the fluctuating signal. "A radio signal out here? Are you sure that thing isn't on the fritz?" Joe asked him and tried to tap the screen.

"No, it's not. There's a clear radio signal coming in. But it seems to be encoded, a message that can only be decrypted by a computer..." Louis paused for a moment before his eyes wandered to the Synth on the ground. "Or a Synth processor! Someone or something is controlling all these Synths in the area!"

"Controlling the Synths?" Doug raised a brow, worried that his imagination was running wild again. "Aren't you jumping the gun on that?"

"It would make a lot of sense. There's so many Synths wandering around in the same area, and they seem to be organized, despite the Institute losing control of them." Chloe agreed with the Vault dweller.

"But who would have that kind of tech to control that many Synths?" Doug looked around for a moment. "Where would the signal even come from?"

"If someone is controlling the Synths, they must be shacked up somewhere that's big enough to hold all that equipment." Louis kept the Pip-Boy on the radio signal. "Let's go, there's something else in the works here."

Louis took the lead and followed the radio signal that was getting stronger with each passing step. Whenever a Synth patrol was coming through, they would take cover and wait for them to leave and hope none of them activated their scanners. The gunfire ahead of them was getting louder before coming up to a lower section and saw a large group of mercenaries shooting down a pack of Synths. The guns for fire mowed down the barely functional Synths that collapsed to the ground, filled with bullets and laser holes. The group watched as the last of the Synths fall, they figured these people were their best option. But no one was too optimistic in them helping.

They ran down the slope and started walking towards the mercs as they finished up. One of the leaders noticed them coming and shouted. "Hey! I don't know who you guys think you are, but this is our kills!"

"We have no intension of taking your kills." Louis held his hands up in defense. "In fact, we're in the middle of tracking down a signal that I'm picking up."

"Why the fuck would you people go around following a signal at a time like this?!" the mercenary leader frowned.

"Because I think the signal is controlling the Synths in this town. There has to be someone or something causing all this." Louis began to explain.

"A signal controlling the Synths?! That's the craziest shit I've heard!" the merc leader scoffed at him. "You damn Vault dwellers coming up here and think you can call the shots! Go back to your castle underground."

"Hey, asshole! We're trying to help you!" Doug snapped at him. "How many of your men have you lost already? We can end this right now if you would work with us!"

"Go piss off, all of you! We're gonna collect as many Synth heads as we can and go back to that settlement." he looked over and saw a Gen 2 Synth crawling across the ground. The leader went over and started stomping on its head. "Die! Die, you piece of shit!" the Synth deactivated after its head was crushed in. "Now that was fun! The only good thing those damn, egghead Institute people ever did was make these abominations for us to kill!"

Chloe clenched her fist in anger, the other four realized they weren't going to get their help. "Fine. We'll leave you guys alone. Happy hunting and all that shit." Louis said as they turned to leave.

The group got several meters away from the mercenaries, Chloe still looked mad as all hell at them. "Damn those people! They can't even tell the difference between the first two generations and the third generations!" she sneered in disgust.

"I hate to pry, but why is it so personal to you?" Doug asked her cautiously.

Chloe sighed deeply to calm down. "I've lived in this state all my life, so I know about the Synths. And I know the Institute has been making them for a long time. And they don't have the right to make living beings like that and treat them as disposable machines. Whether they were born like normal people or made, they are still alive."

"Hmm, never heard of a mercenary being so open minded." Joe said to her. "That's a rare thing to see."

Louis raised his brow in suspicion. "Indeed. I agree that their methods were crossing some lines. Even if they had the best intentions in mind, life on this world has already been screwed over enough by radiation and biological contamination. Making living Synths for their disposal is just as bad."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you become a mercenary in the first place? You seem way smarter than the average one." Victoria asked next.

Chloe thought it over and figured they were trustworthy enough for a small amount of detail, she did stick out for a merc. "My...father...that's how I always saw him. He took care and raised me, and he was a very enlighten man. He was a scientist too and taught me a lot of things. And was surprisingly good with a gun if you can believe it. I even wanted to follow in his footsteps with his scientific research, but he fell ill and died about seven years ago. So with no way to continue his research, I took up the job as a mercenary and have been that way since."

Louis' suspicion only grew. "What was he researching?"

"It's kinda hard to explain. He dabbled in a lot of things. Even I had a hard time keeping up. But he was very passionate about it, and sometimes I wish I could have continued it, but everything is gone now. And the only thing most people care about out here is caps and their next meal." Chloe finished and looked to the sky for a moment. "He deserved to be appreciated for his work, he only wanted to help people."

After awhile, the group finally found the source of the signal. In front of them stood an old and unidentifiable factory. The signal beeped loudly in confirmation as the Vault dweller turned the beeping down. At the parking lot of the factory, several groups of Synths patrolled the area in various patterns. Making it all the more obvious this place is the main operation.

"There's no doubt about it. Whoever's behind this is shacking up in that factory." Louis said as he looked at the signal on his Pip-Boy. "I'm trying to decrypted it, but the only way we're gonna shut it down is by connecting my Pip-Boy to the terminal that's controlling the Synths."

"Our first task is getting in. And if these guys are connected, won't attacking them alert whoever is in control?" Doug asked, keeping his eyes on the Synths ahead.

"Anyone who's controlling them won't be able to monitor them all." Chloe readied her plasma rifle. "Judging by their movements, I'd say they are on programmed routes and routines. Getting in their proximity would set them off."

"Then we better break off into a few groups and sneak in. We'll be harder to detect if we're not together." Joe spoke up.

"Good plan. Doug, you're with me." Louis pulled out both his handguns. "Victoria, Joe, and Chloe, you guys go together."

"Actually, if you guys don't mind, I'll sneak in on my own." Chloe said to them. "I do my best work when I go at it alone."

"Just be careful..." Louis waved before they broke off on their own paths.

The five snuck through the parking lot, ducking behind the decayed cars and other piles of rubble while avoiding the Synths' scanners. Bit by bit the groups got closer to the factory, the artificial robots were easier to avoid then they thought. The Synths were of older models, their joints rusted from Wasteland with large chunks of plastic flesh missing. Some even twitched while moving, they were on the verge of breaking down from age. It wasn't long before everyone managed to sneak through and find their own entrances into the factory through openings in the walls.

Chloe came around the side of the building and spotted an opening and headed towards it. She almost entered as a Gen 2 Synth stepped out and saw her. She was about her plasma pistol and shoot, but the Synth only seemed to stare at her before she heard a scanning sound.

"Scanning...registering...scan complete. Unknown mod-"

Chloe quickly dashed forward and tackled it to the ground and pulled out her combat knife and drove the blade into its head. "Shut up! Just shut up!" she shouted lowly at it.

She pulled her knife out and quickly ran into the opening before more came. Not long after, the merc found the unusual group after they formed up. There was two Synths on the ground and sparking, one had Doug's axe in its chest as the other had two arrows buried in at the neck. It was then that they noticed the merc had found them.

"Glad to see you made it in. Had any problems?" Doug asked while putting his fire axe away.

"I just put down a Synth. Nothing special." Chloe replied as she joined up with them.

"Strange, I figured there would be some more guards inside..." Louis looked around the place for a moment before raising his Pip-Boy. "But no matter. We're close to the signal. Very close. So time is of the essence. Even those idiot mercenaries don't deserved to be killed like this."

They started by searching the office area of the factory, sweeping each room one at a time before taking the stairs to the upper level. Just about everything that could have been of value had long since been taken, and there was no Synths inside at the moment. The main office was checked next with nothing to show for it, but the signal was only getting stronger, indicating that the source was coming from the factory floor.

They stepped out of the office area and onto the catwalk section above the factory floor. What was made in the factory has been long since forgotten, the place had been ransacked as well from a long time ago. The only source of light coming in was from the busted windows high above, the dust was heavy in the air.

Louis slowly scanned the area with his Pip-Boy raised to check the signal strength. "We should be right on top of it. But I don't see anything anywhere."

"Maybe we're on the wrong level. Let's check out below." Victoria suggested.

Joe looked over the side of the rails and gasped, almost dropping his rifle. "Oh, shit. You guys...might want to look at this..."

The rest quickly came over and looked down with him. Below on the factory floor was a small army worth of a few hundred Synths, various mix and matches of Gen 1 and 2, and all of them stood in perfectly lined rows like an army about to march. They all seemed to be deactivated, slightly hunched forward and unmoving.

"I think...we found where they're coming from." Louis whispered meekly.

"No shit..." Doug scoffed.

"No doubt about it now, this is the place. But what in the hell does anyone need with this many Synths?" Victoria looked down to the machines.

Louis turned his eyes to the floor below the one they stood on and saw something at the far end. It looked like a quickly assembled lab with all kinds of equipment lying around on tables and desks. "Well look what we found. I see a lab up ahead. And something like that doesn't belong in an old factory..." he pointed to it.

"Perfect! We can get in control and shut them down." Chloe said with determination.

They quickly moved down the walkway and then down the stairs to the platform that contained the makeshift laboratory. The Vault dweller started looking over the equipment, most of it was very old terminals and computers that are common to find. But some of them looked new and mostly clean, and didn't match any known models.

"What is this? I've never seen these models before! And they look new as well." Louis said as he typed on the keyboard. "I hope my Pip-Boy is up for it. Hold on a second, what the hell is this?" he looked up and saw something covered in dust on the new terminal and wiped away with his hand and saw a logo. A very well known logo to the people of Boston. "No! That's the Institute symbol! What's a bunch of Institute equipment doing out here?!"

"This is bad, real bad!" Chloe frowned in anger and came over to look at it. "If people find out about this, there's no telling how they're going to react!"

"But we can't just ignore it either! This whole place is full of damn Synths!" Joe pointed to the floor below. "If those mercs spot the ones outside, they'll think there's more in here!"

"That doesn't mean we can't tell someone. The people funding this job will want to know." Victoria said to them.

A gunshot rang out as a bullet punched through the floor near them. "None of you are saying shit!" they spun around to see a middle aged man with short black hair and a light five o'clock shadow on his face. He wore dirty and worn Institute lab clothes. "I don't know how you people got passed my Synth guards, but you won't leave here alive!"

Louis looked directly to him. "So I take it you're in charge of this show!"

The scientist pointed his gun at him. "That I am, asshole! And you goddamn mercs have fucked up my operation!" his arm shook in anger. "I have been putting this together over the last few years, and you trigger happy motherfuckers come storming in here and smash up my Synths!"

The rest pointed their guns at him. "You need to calm down before we fill your ass full of lead!" Doug warned him.

"If you dumbasses shoot me, the Synths below will activate and rip your guts out through your assholes! I can order them to do it!" the scientist shouted.

Everyone groaned in disgust. "Great! There's an image in my mind." Joe grumbled.

"Why are you doing this? What have those people in the settlement ever done to you?!" Victoria demanded, keeping her gun aimed at him.

"I was never gonna attack that settlement! I was going to turn this place into my own settlement!" the scientist shouted again. "My name is professor Alec, and I was one of the Institute's top scientists before that damn Vault dweller took over Boston and made everyone get along and shit!..." he said in a childish tone.

Everyone stood silent for a few moments before Doug spoke. "And that's a bad thing, how?..."

"My research was basically shelved! I was one of the lead researchers on the third Generation Synths' nervous system! Making them far more efficient to command and control!" Alec continued. "But ever since the four factions started working together, I was reduced to basic research on technology from the fucking Wasteland! But I wouldn't have it! I spent years helping perfect the Synths, only to have it shut down. So I stole a command module, took control of a number of old model Synths, had them take as much of the Institute tech they could carry and made our way out into the Wasteland as I took control of as many Synths I could on the outside." he chuckled for a moment. "Man, we really made a lot of them."

"Okay, I can understand why you're mad. I came from a Vault myself, and I did some research with the other scientists. They can be very passionate about their work." Louis stepped a little closer. "But that still doesn't make sense why you would come all the way out here."

"Because I was going to use the Synths to fix this town up. People will flock here to a safe and guarded place to live. No one would have to risk their lives with robots doing all the protecting. And I would have them bring whatever form of technology they could get their hands on. Continuing my own research and making myself independent from those Institute idiots that let themselves become weak!" Alec continued once more as he pointed his gun at Louis' head.

"Louis!" Victoria cried out in worry.

"Don't try anything funny! All of you!" Alec warned them.

"Helping people in the Wasteland isn't weak! Instead of throwing a temper and going all rogue, you should have committed yourself to helping the people of Boston and beyond!" Louis took another step closer.

"We were already helping humanity! Our Synth program was to make better humans so we could never make the same mistakes like before when this world was plunged into nuclear hell!" Alec had the gun only a few inches from his head. "All you idiots thought we were making them to replace humanity! It just goes to show how stupid the people of the Wasteland are!

"You mean making obedient slaves that weren't born like regular people!" Chloe shouted at him. "Nobody would make a big deal about it!"

"What would a mercenary bitch like you care?! You only care about your next paycheck!" Alec snapped at her. "Screw this! Once you and all the mercenaries are dead, your weapons and gear will make great additions to building my settlement. Can't build a town without things to sell!"

Louis was close enough to try his plan. "If you're gonna shoot me, you better turn off the safety."

Alec frowned and looked at his gun, Louis only had a split second and grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm up. Alec shouted and fired three rounds into the air. The Vault dweller slugged him across the face before the two started struggling against each other. He then squeezed his wrist tight to make him let go. Louis pushed the scientist hard into one of the shelves, sending tools falling to the floor.

The others were about to jump in as four Synths jumped out from the shadows above and attacked them. Doug took out his fire axe and drove the blade into the chest of the one coming after him. One tackled Victoria and knocked her to the floor, she slammed hard against the metal as the Synth tried to crawl on top of her. She pointed the 10mm forward and unloaded half the clip into its belly, causing it to short out.

One Synth grabbed Joe's arm and pulled him hard. The Ghoul drew out his revolver and shot it twice in the eye at point blank and another four into its exposed chest. Chloe backed away from the group and used her plasma pistol to gun down the three Synths coming after her. It took a few moments since the plasma globs melted through the plastic bodies and down to the frame and circuits. A Synth came after Chloe from behind and knocked off her combat helmet with its baton and sent it clattering to the floor. But she managed to avoid being hurt and shot it dead in the face.

Alec got back up and aimed his gun at Louis. The Vault dweller froze in place as the former Institute scientist smiled and began to squeeze. Chloe saw Louis in the line of fire and had no choice. She dashed forward and got in front of Louis as Alec fired. The bullet hit her dead center in the forehead, followed by a metal ping that echoed throughout the room. Everyone turned to the sound as the last Synths fell and saw that Chloe was still alive and moaning in pain from the new headache as her blood dripped onto the floor.

"What the fuck is this?! What are you?!" Alec yelled with panic and aimed for her. "Let's see how many you can take!"

"Hey, Dumbass!" Louis stepped over and slugged him right in the face. Alec was knocked out cold and hit the floor. "Look at that, a scientist that can't take a punch. Way to be a stereotype, pal."

Doug went over to help Chloe up, the bullet wound was bleeding, but not badly. "How...how are you still alive? Is there a metal plate in your head?"

Chloe took a few steps back from them, worried about what they might do as she covered her wound with a cloth from her back pocket.

Joe picked up the bloody bullet from the floor with wide eyes. "Damn, the bullet is almost completely flat."

Victoria tried to step closer to her, but she backed away hastily. "Chloe, it's okay. It's just a metal plate. Why would we be upset about that?"

Chloe frowned and looked to the floor. "No! It's not that. It's more than just a metal plate in me."

"You're a Synth, isn't it?" Louis asked calmly. Everyone looked to him in surprise. "I kinda pieced it together. Everything about Synths seemed too personal to you. Even for an average person in the Wasteland. And the way you talked about normal people and Synths seemed a bit off."

Chloe sighed deeply, knowing she had been exposed. "You're right. I am a Synth." she slowly walked to the rails and looked down to the old model Synths below. "But...there's more to it than that. I'm not like the other third Generation Synths." she looked back to them. "I'm...a Generation 4 Synth. A one of a kind..."