"It is much safer to be feared than loved."
Friday, August 17, 2277
The most annoying part of the situation, Julia pondered as she crept along the darkened corridors, was how thoroughly it had come out of nowhere. She was reasonably certain her father hadn't known about the Conspiracy (they took precautions, of course). He probably would have been sympathetic, but he was always busy with his own work and experiments. He didn't really have time to contribute besides providing medical care, and he did that anyway. Ultimately, even though it was hard keeping secrets from him, Julia decided the risk wasn't worth the reward. Which was why it was so galling that his sudden, unexplained departure had been the thing to torpedo the whole deal. She couldn't even blame the man. He, literally, couldn't have known. It wasn't the most rational of thoughts, but people like to have someone to blame, and Julia was far too self-honest to allow herself to do so. Such were her thoughts when she rounded a corner and came upon Officer Kendall being swarmed by radroaches.
She froze instantly. Kendall was putting up a good fight, but there were just too many roaches. Kendall was a good man, but he was also a good cop. If he managed to win, he'd have to come take her in. If he lost, she'd be dealing with the swarms. Tearing her gaze from the grim melee, she ducked quickly into a nearby bathroom.
Sorry, Officer. she thought in his direction, more a prayer than condolences. The other exit from the bathroom came out near the clinic, which she exited quickly.
"Whoa, hold on there, missy! I just want to talk to you for a minute!"
Julia rose from her semi-crouch and spun around to face the source of the voice - Officer Gomez. He had always been a kind man, and more than forgiving of minor transgressions. If she hadn't technically been a criminal, she might have considered him a friend. That of course didn't change the fact that he was an armed security officer who had her dead to rights. She met his gaze warily. Fortunately, he lowered his baton and sheathed it in its holster.
"You're lucky it was me who found you. The others won't be so forgiving." He crossed his arms, clearly somewhat conflicted. "Look, I don't know what you're up to and I don't want to know. Just clear out of here and I'll pretend I never saw you. "
He was.. letting her go? Even amidst the chaos of the evening, the simple charity of a good man brought a small smile to Julia's face.
"Thanks, Officer Gomez. I always liked you." she said, meeting his eyes.
"It's a real shame it's come to this. I can't believe what they did to Jonas... Officer Mack was just out of control... " He shook his head as if to dispel the dark memories, and turned to leave. "But you're a good kid. You didn't do anything to deserve this. Go find your dad, if you can."
Julia gave him a quick nod and vanished up the stairs. Ducking security was proving to be simpler than expected, the incident with Gomez notwithstanding. They were mostly focused on the bugs. Thus, before long, she found herself in the Administrative section - home to the Overseer's quarters, office, and security room. Julia had often noted how well-centralized power was in the Vault, both political and military. Today, at least, it would be helpful, since both locations should be empty. That is, until she heard shouting coming from the open door of the security office.
Idiot! she thought at herself. How often does the concept of "should" interact with your life?!
Hurrying over to the window, what she saw made her blood boil. Amata was strapped to a chair, with the Overseer conducting negotiations, with Officer Mack, the Overseer's chief thug, wielding his baton like he meant to use it.
"Be reasonable, Amata." said the Overseer from the other side of the small window. "Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell us where to find your friend, so we can talk to her."
"If you think I'll betray her, you don't know me very well." responded Amata coldly. "But that doesn't exactly come as a shock, does it?"
"I've always indulged you, Amata. And now you've taken advantage of my lenience." he gave a deep, world-weary sigh. "Go ahead, Officer."
Officer Mack raised his truncheon.. and then he fell over with a "thud". Julia lowered her bat and surveyed the situation.
"I don't envy you the headache you'll have waking up," she said mockingly at Mack as she undid Amata's bonds. "But as I can't have you following me, either.." Amata hurried out, and Julia rounded on the Overseer. The sarcasm in her tone could bite through steel. "You wanted to see me, Overseer? You might have just asked."
"The hero arrives in the nick of time." he sneered. "I don't suppose you're here to surrender, are you?"
Julia just snorted, searching Mack's insensate form and the room for anything useful, turning up some spare ammo, cash, that sort of thing. "But siccing your attack dog here on your own daughter? That's sick!"
"I place the good of the Vault above everything, even my own paternal feelings. Besides, do you really think I didn't know about the little coup you two planned? She's hardly an innocent in all this." he said. "If you really care about Amata, you will see how dangerous your actions were. I don't know if your father was involved in your plot, and it doesn't much matter. He's placed the entire Vault in jeopardy through his reckless actions!"
"My father has nothing to do with any of my long term plans, aside from probably standing at my wedding, if that ever happens." Julia said carefully. "All of.. this.. is as much a surprise to me as it is to you."
"I actually believe you in this case." the Overseer "You've quite clearly been taken as much off-guard as the rest of us here. But that's why it's all the more imperative that you hand over your weapons, and put an end to this dangerous situation. There's no need to join your father as a traitor to the Vault!" he said imploringly. He had never lacked for charisma, and it's not as if he didn't almost have a point. Despite herself, Julia was tempted.
Stay in the Vault, help beat back the Radroach infestation, become a hero, leverage that to retain the needed pull to remain a political entity? Even if the Overseer knows about the Conspiracy - and there's no reason to assume he knows much- he wouldn't be able to move against me openly without an opening. But the man is a master of spin, and it would be very easy to paint this whole night as a Mateus family production, with me in the starring role. It would be a gamble. Besides... Dad. Would I be able to stay down here for even a month, let alone the entire rest of my life knowing there's another world out there? That the rest of the Earth might well be safe to explore? ...well, explorable, anyway. There's no guarantees on "safe". Most of the temptation of staying is me trying to flinch away from the grand Unknown anyway.. so.
"I won't say I'm not tempted, because I am." she drew herself up to her full height, and faced her rival squarely. "But you know as well as I do I won't - can't - stay. You need to have someone to pin this evening on, and I need to find out what happened to my father. Neither of those things can happen properly if I'm still here in the Vault. Simply letting me leave and painting whatever picture you need to in my absence will be simpler for both of us."
"I won't deny that you've proven yourself resourceful this evening." the Overseer said, a note of respect in his voice. "It just might be the case that letting you slip away in the chaos would be more expedient. You do realize the unflattering picture I'll have to paint once you're gone, of course."
"Naturally." Julia said, acknowledging the point. "While that's regrettable, I doubt I'll be able to come back here in any case. So it doesn't matter what tales you need to tell to keep the Vault from tearing itself apart. Many people already blame my father, it should be an easy sell."
"I believe we have a deal then, Ms. Mateus." he said, holding out a key. "You'll need to slip out undetected, of course. There's a hidden tunnel in my office that leads to the entrance in case of emergencies. Use this key to get inside.. the door mechanism is quite simple to operate once you have the password."
"The password is 'amata', right?" she said impishly despite the situation. "I should be able to work it out. Speaking of Amata and poor security, though.."
The Overseer grimaced. "For your information, once the password is set on a RobCo Administration Terminal, it can't be changed until a new Overseer is sworn in. Fantastically useful machines, but "security" isn't one of their selling points. As for Amata, I should be able to shield her from reprisals. She hasn't been seen aiding you? Nor you her?"
"Just by you." Julia said, shaking her head. "You'll have to think of something to tell Officer Mack here, though."
"Leave that to me." he said, a wave of great weariness coming over the man. "If only I'd been able to say for sure that you'd react reasonably to all this.. I would have been able to prevent much of this unpleasantness. But not everyone is as reasonable as you, unfortunately. I'm afraid some of our more.. zealous security forces won't be convinced to stand down while you're still walking around." He sat down at a chair near the security desk, gathering the shards of his confidence for the remainder of the evening. "Go on then, find your father. Despite our disagreements, I always did respect the man. It's a pity I couldn't have shown him more of that."
As Julia exited the room, she heard one last thing from the Overseer. "And.. I'm so sorry for what I've already done." Before she could ask him what he meant by that, the door closed and locked behind her.
Well, fuck. What does THAT mean? Regret at having his own daughter almost tortured? Interrogated? I kind of hope so, as twisted as that sounds..
The worry continued right up until she came across Jonas' body. It was just laid out where he'd fallen.
..oh. Julia thought, her mind not allowing her to be unfairly uncharitable. Jonas... no.
Pushing her grief at the death of her friend to the back of her mind, she noticed a slightly bloodstained holotape in his hand, with the letters "JUL" visible on the label. She knelt down and carefully picked it up - as suspected, it was marked with her name. She copied the contents onto her Pip-Boy and continued into the Overseer's office. It was a voice recording of some sort. She resolved to play it later, when she wasn't in direct mortal peril.
She entered her friend's name into the Overseer's personal computer terminal, musing that caring about Amata may be one of the few things thing she and he had in common. Amata might have added "megalomania", but she was busy at this point, and not privy to those thoughts anyway. Julia picked through the Overseer's files - propaganda, spy reports, just plain, rambling bullshit, really. Two items were of interest, though - the original instructions from the company that built the vaults, and a report of a survey party about 36 years ago.
That would have been during the tenure of he previous Overseer. Julia noted. Interesting. The ground isn't too badly irradiated, old maps are useless, and there's a city.. "Megaton"? Cute. May as well try and go there first, even if it's abandoned, there might be something useful.
Clicking the button to open the secret hatch, she closed the terminal session. The outer door to the office cycled shut, and the Overseer's desk rose off of the ground, revealing a staircase hidden in the floor. She headed down, and soon found herself standing in the Vault's entry hall.
It was a room of bare metal and machinery, dark and very still. There was almost a tomb-like quality about the place, subtly unsettling. Shaking off her melancholy, she made her way over to the control panel.
Looks like it needs the password. Julia noted. Fortunately, the default password was in the Overseer's instructions from Vault-Tec. Aaaand.. boing.
She pulled the large lever to begin the process of opening the giant blast door. A screw mechanism came down from the ceiling, and Amata came running in from the Overseer's tunnel. Amata paused, wide-eyed at the spectacle of 13 tons of steel in motion.
"You did it!" she said, voice tinged with wonder. "Nice! I almost didn't believe it was possible."
"I couldn't have done it without your help, Amata." Julia said, regarding her friend for the last time.
"No, you didn't need me." she said, looking down, somewhat embarrassed. "If anyone can survive out there, it's you. You were always the strong one."
"Don't be silly, Amata." Julia said warmly. "If it wasn't for you, I'd still be buried in the library, forgetting to come out to eat. We've been a good team... I almost wish you could come, too."
"So do I." she said. "But with you gone, I'm the last, best hope for the Vault to have sane leadership."
"Speaking of." Julia said, outlining the deal she made with the Overseer in broad strokes. "I'd suggest going along with him publicly, and keeping the Conspiracy quiet until things blow over. I'll be able to focus much better out there if I know you're safe in here."
The giant door finished cycling open with a squeal and a bang, revealing a cave beyond.
"I'll be alright, you know me." Amata gestured with her chin to the opening. "Now go on. Before anyone comes. Find your dad. I'll miss you. You've been a good.. a good friend."
Julia swept Amata into a big hug, hanging on to one last moment of sanity, before releasing. Amata ran off into the Overseer's tunnel, and the main entrance to the room started sliding open.
"She's opening the door!" came a shout from the other side. "Stop her!"
Julia took that as her cue to leave, dashing through the cog-shaped metal door and out through the short cave. She heard shouting from within the vault, and the sirens of the door mechanism being re-engaged as she burst through the wooden door at the end of the cave - one with light brighter than any she'd ever seen shining through the cracks.
A/N:
I've redone this chapter quite a bit after some consideration. Those who read it before will likely notice the changes, those who read it the first time this way, it was always this way. Totally. Also, the touch about not being able to change the password is my invention, but it seems in line with the rest of RobCo's "security" features.
As always, I'd be curious to see how accessible this is to people not familiar with Fallout, so if you're such a person who found this fic, do let me know. And constructive criticism is always welcome, I'm at least 75% sure I don't actually know what I'm doing here!