Jack Parsons and the Unexpected Backup
Doctor Brian Virgil, formerly of the Institute, was a very fearful man. That was why he currently found himself living in a cave near a nuclear crater. That was why his current roommates were a Protectron and two ever-vigilant automatic turrets. That was why he had turned himself into Super Mutant. That, and to resist the consistent radiation from the aforementioned nuclear crater.
That was also why he had left the Institute in the first place. They were making him make Super Mutants, after all. There's no telling what other kinds of heinous things they could be up to. Perhaps they saw him as dispensable. He saw what Synths beginning to be capable of, attacking innocent towns and replacing people. He just wanted to get ahead of the curve. So that's why he lived in the Glowing Sea. And that's why he was not surprised at all to find a strange man in front of him, wearing a suit of Power Armor.
"Did the Institute send you? Where's Kellog?" he demanded, attempting to show a brave face despite his growing fear. The man in Power Armor just stood there, silently. Almost menacingly.
"Is Kellogg attempting to sneak up behind me, as we speak? It's not going to work! One word and I can turn all of my robotic friends on you!" Virgil threatened.
At that, the suit of Power Armor opened up, and a blonde man of average height and athletic build slid out. Definitely not Kellogg.
"Sorry," the stranger apologized, "I forgot how to eject from T-51 suits. My COs back in Alaska would have been ashamed, but hey, they're dead," he grinned.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" asked Brian Virgil.
"Right," the mysterious man admitted, "I can see how my sudden appearance could confuse and even alarm you. Let me cut to the chase. Kellogg's dead. I killed him. I'm looking for a way inside the Institute, which I know probably sounds crazy to you, since you went through great lengths to get away from them. But tell me what you know, and I'll go back where I came from and you can go back to… whatever you're working on here."
The mutant was dumbfounded. He was having such a normal day. Then a man shows up out of the blue claiming to have killed the greatest threat to his life, and wanted a way in to the most dangerous organization in the wasteland. This had to be some kind of trap.
"How do I know you're not in cahoots with Kellogg? How do I know this isn't some kind of ploy to get me back there?"
"I thought you might ask as such!" came Jack's response. He rifled through his backpack for a moment, and procured a beat-up cybernetic pain inhibitor. He held it up to Virgil's face.
"This doohicky, as you can probably tell, is Institute tech. And it came from inside Kellogg's head, as you can probably tell. Plus, there's this big iron on my hip," he said, showcasing a .44 revolver that Kellogg used as his signature weapon.
"You… you really killed him," mutterd Virgil, astounded. "And if you're capable of killing Kellogg… well, this might just work."
"What might just work?"
"There is a way into the Institute, like you have mentioned. You might know that they use short-range teleportation technology. I theorize that if you intercepted one of their signals… but there's a caveat."
"And what might that be?" the stranger asked.
"You're going to have to kill a Courser."
The words, "You're going to have to kill a Courser" echoed in the mind of Jack Parsons as he made his way up the stairs into Greenetech genetics. That was a tall order, even for him. Coursers were walking weapons, synthetic soldiers for the Institute specially designed for the retrieval of wayward Synths. As such, they were trained on things like infiltration and combat, and definitely not trained on things like mercy and compassion. Jack had found out about their existence during a conversation with Garvey about the current threats facing the Commonwealth, and it was just his luck that he would have to face one. And unfortunately, Preston was busy setting up defenses at Tenpines Bluff, a small farm that had decided to join the Minutemen, after Jack helped them out of a bind.
He was about to walk in when he heard a familiar, mildly irritating voice call out from behind him.
"Say, you seen any vault dwellers nearby? You can't miss 'em, they have a Pip-Boy and look like a fish out of water."
"Piper!" Jack called out, "How did you find me?"
At that question, Nick Valentine stepped around the corner.
"What, you think Kellogg is the only person that Dogmeat can track?" the Synth Detective asked with a trademark smirk. The dog in question came in to view behind Nick, tail wagging.
"We hadn't heard from you since you and Nick parted ways in Goodneighbor. We wanted to know if you had made it out of the Glowing Sea. We were worried," confessed Piper.
Jack's eyed narrowed slightly. These people were actually worried about him? That was a change. Most people that he had met in the Commonwealth had wanted him dead or had just wanted him to do them a favor. Nothing like legitimate care.
"Umm, thanks," he scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment, "the truth is I found Brian Virgil. He knows a way in to the Institute. The only catch is, it involves tracking down a Courser and stripping them for parts."
Nick Valentine let out a low whistle. "A Courser, huh? That's no joke. Looks like you could use a helping hand." At this, Nick and Piper both brandished their revolvers.
"Are you guys sure?" Jack asked.
"Believe it or not, Blue, I've been in my fair share of dangerous situations. Part of the job. Nothing that I can't gab or fight my way out of. Besides, we're talking about the story of the century! A man out of time, tracking down a lost son, with a legitimate way into the Institute? I'll throw my lot in for that," Piper declared with a grin.
"As for me," Valentine began, "You saved my hide back in Park Street Station. If Skinny Malone had his way with me, I'd be a pile of spare parts out in that Vault. I owe you one. And I promised to help you find Shaun. As far as Dogmeat, well I think he's down for whatever."
The dog in question let out a friendly bark.
"Well, alright then. You're clearly in, no sense trying to convince you otherwise." Jack started to adopt the old role of a covert squad leader. "If we're doing this, then we're doing it right. Quick, clean, and quiet. You follow my lead in there and we'll make out just fine. Got it?"
"Yes sir!" said Nick, in his half-patronizing manner. Piper merely nodded. Dogmeat, incapable as he was of human communication, sat there and scratched behind his ear. Jack Parsons took it as an affirmative.
"Let's do this."