Juliet opened her dark blue eyes slowly. "Baby?" She heard Autumn speak. Juliet felt she was laying on a sofa in the gift shop. It was old and dirty as hell but it sure was comfortable. "Do you know who I am?" She heard Autumn ask.

"Uh, you're Mom?" Juliet answered in confusion, sitting up on the sofa. What kind of question was that?

"Oh, thank God," Autumn sobbed. "I thought your activation would erase your memory."

"Huh?" Juliet slurred. Her head was throbbing horribly.

"I never wanted this to happen, but in case it did, I would tell you everything after you were activated." Autumn wiped the tears from her brown eyes. "Listen to me, okay? What I'm going to tell you is going to upset you."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "We slept for two hundred years, Mom. Can it get any worse?"

Autumn fearfully nodded. "My father worked for Vault-Tec. When I finished school, he was able to get me a job. I was a young girl doing a man's job so it was difficult, until Dr. Braun discovered me, and recruited me into his Future-Tec program. One of his ideas was that instead of Pip-Boys... he wanted to implant that technology into people's brains. Obviously that failed, but his stubborn ass wouldn't give up."

Juliet stared in silence. Her mother worked for Vault-Tec?!

"Instead of implanting the technology into an existing brain..." Autumn gulped. "He created it. You were going to be named Julien, which means 'downy hair' thus... Project Downy Hair. He never expected you to turn out a girl. None of us did."

Juliet gasped mentally. "I... I-I'm a machine-?"

Autumn jolted. "No, baby! You are human! Braun gave you his DNA. You are a miracle. A hybrid. Half human, half... Vault-Tec."

A miracle.

A hybrid.

Half human.

Half Vault-Tec.

Juliet felt sick to her stomach. Was this reality? Autumn wasn't her mother? She has Vault-Tec inside of her?

"When you were born, I had already met your father, and he had Julia. I knew in the end you were going to be nothing more than a lab rat, so I took you and your father helped us go into hiding ever since."

Okay, that was insane too. But only one thing bothered Juliet then. "He already had Julia-? You're not her mother-?"

Autumn shook her head slowly. "Her real mother died giving birth to her. She was still so small when I met her, I raised her as my own, as I did you."

This definitely wasn't real.

Julia wasn't her sister.

Their father wasn't her father.

Autumn lied about... everything.

Juliet's response was, "I don't feel good."

"It will take some time for your brain to process your activation." Autumn admitted. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. I was never expecting you to hold a gun ever in your life. Sylvia thinks she knows what you were doing that caused the trigger. She's in the basement if you-"

Juliet got up and bolted. She needed to get away from that woman.

That liar. That stranger. That thief.

Sadly, as she reached for the basement door, Sylvia, Charon, and the dog appeared. "Hey!" Sylvia said nervously. "Are you alright?"

Juliet read Sylvia's jumpsuit. She no longer wore Vault 112, but instead 101.

Vault 101.

Juliet felt her left eye twitch slightly as-

Evaluation of performance of an omnipotent, dictatorial overseer in a closed community.

It seemed like computer logs ran through Juliet's mind, but she wasn't able to focus and read any of them. Instead she spoke coldly, "We are born in the vault, we live in the vault, and we die in the vault."

Sylvia looked terrified now as her face went extremely pale. "How-how-HOW DID YOU-WHERE DID YOU-?!"

Juliet shakily held up her hand in defense. "I don't know. I'm... I'm Project Downy Hair."

Sylvia widened her eyes. "What your mother said? About having vault technology in your brain?"

"She's not my mother," Juliet retorted. "I... I need to get out of here."

"Come with us to the Rotunda." Sylvia offered, calming down. Juliet nodded and let her take point.

Charon glanced down at Juliet as they walked across the gift shop. Project Downy Hair... come on, it'll return to him, just wait-

"An old lady just up and shot three men?!" Emma exclaimed in a shocked whisper.

"You didn't call the police-?" Bria wondered confusingly.

"Mom said not to," Juliet remembered. "She said... not to worry about it."

"What the-" Bria started, but the bell rang to resume classes. Juliet took hold of Charon's hand like normal but walked slightly slower than normal. Charon on the other hand, was trying to figure out what the hell Project Downy Hair was. No way those Vault-Tec men would find the wrong Autumn. She was married so of course her name would change.

She was hiding something.

Question was... what?

He'd finally gotten an answer two hundred years later. Huh.

In the Rotunda, Sylvia returned to her father and came back holding a bunch of fuses. "Back to the basement we go." She spat sarcastically. For an instant, Juliet was reminded of Julia, and she shred a smile. Despite how screwed up her life was right now, she was slowly starting to like this woman.

Juliet thought of her sister as they ventured through the Memorial basement to find the power box that needed new fuses, in order to access the mainframe. Sylvia took this time to explain all of what she knew of Project Purity - which really wasn't much. Just an old dream to purify water for everyone.

Juliet was sick of projects at this point.

On the other end of the basement they were able to enter the mainframe, where the switch was waiting to be turned on, which would power up the Rotunda. Sylvia pushed the switch and moments later, James spoke through an intercom on the left wall of the room.

"There are a few minor repairs up here that still need... wait, Janice says there's blockage in one of the intake pipes." He gave directions on how to get there, and sent them on their merry way.

"Okay, it smells so bad down here," Sylvia gagged as they went through another grate. "It smells like that place we had to put the observer in the mirelurk eggs for Moira."

"Otherwise known as a sewer." Charon let out.

They went through yet another grate. "Is that the valve up there? Tell me that's the valve." Sylvia begged.

"It's the valve." Charon promised. All around the valve was nothing but fencing so they could vaguely see outside. Just as soon as Charon turned the valve, huge flying things landed on the Memorial platform.

"What are those things?" Sylvia gawked.

"Helicopters," Juliet answered. "Who are they?" How the hell can people fly helicopters in an apocalyptic wasteland?

"This isn't good," Charon muttered and whipped out his combat shotgun. Several men piled out of the helicopters, some of them wearing dark painted armor-

"The Enclave," Charon realized. "We need to go. Now."

"I'm not leaving my dad!" Sylvia yelped, her grey-blue eyes flaring angrily. "Or the other scientists! Or Juliet's mom!"

"Fine!" Charon growled. "Be cautious." He advised as he led them out of the pipes, returning them back to the basement. Unfortunately, the ground was quite a ways down. Charon jumped anyway, landing in a small pool of water.

"Crap," Sylvia groaned. "There's no way I'm-" She screamed when Juliet pushed her from behind. The Lone Wanderer plunged into the water, followed by Juliet. For the brief moment she was under water, a timer of some sort flashed in her mind, counting down at an average rate, but disappeared when she surfaced. Her hands remained in the water, and something was burning in her mind:

+1 RAD/SEC

This water was radiated. Well, of course it was. Juliet dunked herself under and the timer flashed in her mind, and she realized it was telling her how long she could hold her breath under water.

THIS WAS CRAZY!

She really did have Vault-Tec inside of her. And she absolutely hated it.

When everyone was out of the water (and soaked double thanks to Dogmeat shaking his wet fur on them all) they were near the basement entrance. "I'll forgive you this time!" Sylvia huffed at Juliet. "Now let's find out what's going on!"

There was an Enclave soldier right as they exited the basement, wearing big, metal-like armor. Juliet jumped out of the way while the others went to work on fighting them. When the Enclave person dropped dead, Sylvia yelled, "Juliet, pick up his laser rifle!"

What the hell? Laser rifles exist?

Juliet was afraid to touch the gun. What if... that slow motion thing happened again?

It will take some time for your brain to process your activation.

She sighed to herself. This is who she was now. She would need to learn to control whatever she was capable of. She bravely snatched the laser rifle and followed the others to the Rotunda.

Autumn Carlisle simply stared at the man known as Colonel Autumn as he said, "By the authority of the president, this facility is now under government control."

From the corner of James' eye, he saw his daughter just outside of the Rotunda. Safe. Thankfully he locked it. "This is a private project," he spoke. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Are you the one in charge?" Colonel Autumn raised an eye.

"Yes." James confirmed sternly.

"Then I need you to hand over all materials relating to the project, and you are to assist Enclave scientists to continue this." Colonel Autumn insisted.

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but this facility has never been operable." James told the man earnestly.

The Colonel narrowed his eyes angrily. He pulled out a pistol and instantly shot the other Autumn point blank in the head.

Dr. Li gasped, and Juliet-

She couldn't-

She couldn't-

She-

She...

"MOM?!" She wailed, pressing her entire body against the Rotunda glass. "MOM?!"

"Oh my God..." Sylvia whimpered.

"I suggest you comply in order to prevent any more incidents." Colonel Autumn threatened.

"Yes, I'll do whatever you want, no more violence please," James begged. "Let me get the system online." He turned around to the mainframe of the Rotunda.

Tears softened Juliet's dark blue eyes as she continued to stare at her mother's body. Blood was oozing out of her head, soaking into her long, auburn hair.

She was dead.

She was... dead.

Just like everyone else from her old life.

She was dead.

Juliet barely flinched as the interior glass of the Rotunda shattered, and radiation poured in. Colonel Autumn injected himself with Rad-X. James stumbled over to the glass door that separated him and his daughter. "Dad?!" She panicked.

"Run!" He ordered her, dropping down to his knees. "RUN!"

"NO!" Sylvia pounded and kicked on the glass.

"They'll be coming for us next," Dr. Li realized. "We have to evacuate!"

Dogmeat was barking erratically. Charon grabbed Sylvia, who was in a fit of hysteria. Meanwhile Dr. Li put her hand on Juliet's shoulder, who was behaving the opposite of Sylvia. "We have to get out of here, Juliet."

Juliet ignored her, continuing to stare at her mother's body.

"Is there a safe way out of here?" Charon asked, fighting with a delusional Sylvia.

"There's an abandoned tunnel we used in the gift shop," Dr. Li remembered. "I'll show you." She held Juliet's wrist firmly and escorted everyone out of the Rotunda. Sylvia was screaming for her father, and Juliet was speechless, horrible thoughts haunting her.

"No, baby! You are human! Braun gave you his DNA. You are a miracle. A hybrid. Half human, half... Vault-Tec."

"I knew in the end you were going to be nothing more than a lab rat, so I took you and your father helped us go into hiding ever since."

She needed to get away from that woman.

That liar. That stranger. That thief.

Juliet realized her mother died thinking she hated her, and this was something she could never forgive herself for.

Ever.

She was truly alone now.