I took the summer off from this fic after finishing part 1. Now we are onto part 2. Enjoy.
Cory awoke within the confines of a dusty lab. The lab had obviously been abandoned years before, dust covered everything like a blanket. Depreciated machinery littered the room, some looking particularly unstable. The floor might have been in the worst shape, though. Most the metal finish of it was rusting away, leaving the wooden beams below it nearly exposed entirely.
Cory sat up from his chamber and looked down on himself. He was older now. The years that had passed had changed him, though not very much. He was still very obese and had extremely long auburn hair. He had grown a few inches and was now 5'9", still too short for girls but at least it was better. He felt his face and was surprised at the stubble around his mouth. How much time had passed?
He had just emerged from the distant past, a past that had shaped his future.
He caught a glimpse of a shadow in the doorway that quickly moved away. It appeared to be humanoid, though it was hard to tell because of how fast it happened.
Cory got out of the chamber, the floor creaking beneath him, "Hello? Who are you?" Cory shouted, surprised by how his voice had gotten slightly deeper. He took a few more steps toward the door, retracting his foot whenever the floor sagged down. He attempted to stay on top of the wooden beams that were below the metal floor. One step at a time, he made it across the room and to the doorway.
Just one more beam blocked his passage into the halls of the White House, though it stood 3 feet away. He would need to jump, he couldn't make it otherwise. A bead of sweat fell down his face as he looked down at the darkness below. He swallowed the moisture in his mouth, which traveled down his esophagus and into his stomach. He readied himself, moving his arms back and forth to jump. Cory bent his legs and leaped to the next beam, barely making it and landing onto the platform. He sighed with relief and let out a long breath, letting all the stress go.
Though it wasn't over yet. The beam began to crack under the force of Cory's landing. Slowly it sagged under Cory until ultimately breaking. Cory screamed as he fell down into the darkness below until he landed on a hard concrete floor deep below the White House. A loud crack echoed in the chamber.
Cory awoke moments later to his skull amulet shining. He looked down at his leg and cringed. It was definitely broken. He wasn't sure how long it would be until the souls in his amulet would heal him, but he knew he couldn't just lay there. He needed to find a way out of this place.
Tears falling down his face, Cory brought himself up and took out his katana, using it as a crutch. He looked around through his tear filled eyes and saw a huge dusty room completely emptied. He began slowly making his way through the darkness, attempting to find a wall. When he reached one, he noticed a large cog shaped door. By this time Cory's leg began to feel better, and he was able to slightly walk on it.
As he approached the door, Cory nearly fell over as a voice began to speak over the intercom in a 50s sounding male voice.
"Hello and welcome to the vault tec b.e.t.a. Vault! If you are here you have been chosen to view this test vault and learn about the benefits of them for the entirety of America. The current date is March 16, 2077, currently 5 years off schedule for this b.e.t.a. Please keep in mind that since you are late, these vaults may already be in circulation!"
"Vault tec? Who are you?" Cory shouted, clearly not realising it was a recorded message. The vault door slowly slid in and to the side as lights turned on inside.
"Please enter the vault and wait in the lobby, the b.e.t.a. is about to begin!"
Cory made his way into the metallic structure, noticing the pristine condition the vault seemed to be in. No dust anywhere. The walls were white and grey colored and metal beams held up the ceiling.
"Welcome to this test vault by Vault Tec. Today our main goal is to showcase the benefits of the vaults for both the citizens of America and the government and science. Please proceed."
The door at the end of the lobby opened upwards, leading into a long hallway. Cory cautiously walked through the door, noticing the windows that littered the walls. He stared into one, seeing a cafeteria and a kitchen, behind which were gardens under UV light.
"As you can see, the vaults each come equipped with a fully sustainable garden as well as a kitchen and a cafeteria. When the atom bombs go off you'll be safe and sound with all the comforts of your home!"
Cory turned around as another window lite up. Inside this one was a room with a bunch of beds and storage containers.
"Keep your family together within the vault with all the comforts of our rooms!"
Confused, though intrigued, Cory walked onward into a large room with a second floor. At the end of the room at the top was a large circular window.
"The atrium is the main hub for the vault! This can be a cafeteria, a meeting room… anything you want it to be! Some may even include sports events! Each atrium features a window for the overseer to oversee, it's common sense. The overseer is the leader of the vault who will lead you into greatness after the rads drop! Please continue onward to the experiment portion of the tour."
A door with stairs opened. Cory groaned seeing the stairs, not because his leg was hurt- it was fine now thanks to his amulet- no, it was because he was lazy. He slowly made his way up the stairs and found himself in a laboratory with clipboards and machinery.
"Hello and welcome to the experiment portion of the b.e.t.a. Most vaults will contain an experiment to see the outcome of scenarios on people. These will advance science via the overseer sending data to vault tec. When the United States government takes over once again, we will have sufficient resources to create the perfect society."
"Experiments on humans… hm… well the government is amazing so this must be a good thing," Cory thought out loud.
"Thank you for your attendance, you may now exit. Please remember vault construction is scheduled to begin in 2073 and end in 2078." An elevator door opened at the end of the room.
Cory walked through the door and the elevator began to go up, "This is such a strange new world, it is almost like another dimension, but I know it isn't. It feels like just yesterday I found out my dad had was fired and replaced with that wop. Hm wait, that was 5 years ago, how can it be 2077?"
Cory couldn't think that through because the door opened and he found himself in the mall. Turning around he saw he had exited through the Washington monument. Nobody was in sight, and DC looked more familiar now, though a bit neglected. Many of the buildings had cracked windows and there wasn't a person in sight.
The elevator doors shut behind him as he walked out into this new DC, completely forgetting about what had happened inside the vault. Majestic music began to play as the camera panned across the mall, showing the sheer magnitude of the buildings around Cory. Cory was small, though he was all powerful. Well, nearly all powerful that is.
Cory jumped as the elevator behind him opened up once more. Turning around, he saw a sad looking circular robot with many hands coming out of him. He crawled out of the elevator and moved towards Cory.
"M-master… Cory." It was the robot from his ship.
"Espio! I mean… uh what did we rename you after Espio came back?" Cory asked.
"B- battle bus, sir."
"Oh yeah, hey why aren't you a bus anymore?"
"I-I was reprogrammed to be a universal serial bus that can be i-inserrrrrrted into any machine that supports a usb connection. Lat-lately I have been inserted into a m-mr. Handy robot."
"What's a mr. handy robot, oh well. Why do you have a stutter?"
"M-my voice chip is m-malfunctioning"
"Oh, how can I fix it?"
"Y-you cannot. You must find a mechanic."
"Ok let's find you one, hm maybe Alex can help, do you know where he is?"
"A-according to my memory arrays, Master Jones has travelled to Egypt in orrrrrrder to discover the remaining god powersuits."
"Hm, what about Newt, he's basically a genius."
The robot twitched with electricity, "M-master Newt's whereabouts arrrrre unknown."
Cory looked down sadly, "Hm, I was missing him lately, too bad, I'm sure we'll find someone."
Cory began to walk, with the robot trailing behind closely, twitching every now and then. The wind blew through the buildings of the abandoned buildings, creating a howling noise that resonated across the entire mall. In the distance, Cory could make out the outline of the white house. It seemed to be perfectly intact with no noticable differences.
"Hey, Bb, how's the white house doing?"
"T-the house sir? It has been named 'the white palace' for three years now, it is mostly intact though."
"What about the president?"
"He is n-now known as the pale king."
"Wow we have kings now? That's so cool!" The two continued onward through the nearly empty streets of DC. A strange nostalgia flowed through Cory, seeing his beloved town in a new light. So much had changed, yet so much stayed the same. As he pondered these facts, Cory ran into a large object in front of him.
"S-sorry s-" Cory stopped mid sentence as he saw the figure ahead. It was a large man with a black trench coat with red markings on it and a hood over his head. He had a mask over his face that appeared to be of some sort of bug like creature. He was huge and intimidating. He reached a gloved hand down to Cory, helping him up.
"Um, who are you?" Cory asked as he stood, a heavy scent of cologne filled the air.
A deep, forced voice came from the mask, obviously disguised, "Elder." He turned to Bb, who was struggling to stay afloat. The man kneeled down and began adjusting parts on the robot. Cory watched in awe as the man fixed Bb, making him look nearly flawless.
"T-thanks Elder…" Cory said as the man finished. Elder nodded and suddenly disappeared. Cory ran to where he was, looking around. He was gone.
"Master Cory, that man known as Elder is a member of the Akatsuki."
"What? THAT WAS A TERRORIST?" Cory screamed and fell to the ground.
"Not necessarily, the Akatsuki exist in order to dethrone the king in the white palace and restore a working democracy to the United States."
Cory got up and glared at Bb, "you aren't one of those TERRORISTS, are you Bb?"
"No, sir, I am only stating the objecting facts here."
"Ok good, because we don't need any non patriots around here, I should really be getting to the white house now."
Cory turned toward the direction of the white house and began walking that way, followed by Bb. Dust clouds formed in the streets as the wind blew around the ground up rubble from the buildings around them. The sun shone overhead through the grey sky. The white palace shone like a beacon of hope, as if it was godly in nature. The gates glistened with polish, shining light across the city. It was a symbol. A symbol of the holiness of DC.
Dramatic music begins to play as Cory approaches the gates. He looks up at the white house- the white palace, and smiles. Slowly he reaches out his hand and takes ahold of the gate, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.
"Hello there, Cory."
Cory quickly turned around to find himself face to face with a large figure wearing white robes. He looked godly. On his head sat a mask with many spires atop it. Through the eye holes, Cory could see the eyes of a benevolent ruler. It was the pale king.