As the five of them emerged from down bellow, they found the atmosphere of the Atrium to be a little eerie. The lack of noise was the biggest problem, other than the humming of the lights and the grumblings of the engines, beneath their feet.
To their surprise, the door ahead, the one that they entered through, was shut and a red light shone over it.
"Shit..." Kyu grumbled as soon as he saw it.
"Recognize that from the Vault. Door's locked down, deadlocked."
"Wait, what?" Hardin asked, finding that difficult to believe.
"Vault 87 had this one door that one of the idiot mutants accidentally locked. Took hours for them to find the button to reopen it again. Basically it's like a... fire safety thing, make one door impenetrable and it keeps fires and other disasters contained."
"Disasters like us, I guess." Jynx sighed.
Durga was busy, looking for another way out, though she quickly found it as she looked around. The Overseer's door was now open.
"He's leading us..." Durga commented, raising her laser rifle.
"Likely into a trap."
"Mrgh, just one dude. Hardly worth getting upset over..." Kyu grumbled, just wanting out of this shit hole. It felt like he'd been here forever and he didn't like Vaults to begin with.
"If it's Hamilton, you might not be saying that later." Hardin pointed out, wondering if Kyu was all broth and no beans or if he could back up his bravado.
Kyu didn't seem to be listening, he strode over to the Overseer's office entrance and tapped the button on the control panel, eager to get in there and hopefully get a crack at their new friend.
Their was a stairway up to the office, as was to be expected. So far, the place looked pretty normal on the inside, minus the odd blood smear from Hamilton's smiting of the place.
The Overseer's office was the standard procedure for anyone who had seen one before. Horseshoe desk, terminals and counter tops scattered to the side, circular window overlooking the residents and several grooves along the ground, signifying an escape tunnel of sorts.
The only thing out of place in this textbook Overseer's office was the command, pained firmly on the boarder of the window in blood or at least convincing red paint.
'Leave.'
Durga didn't need telling twice, they got what they came for. She stepped over to the terminal and leant over, typing away before hitting the enter button and releasing some steam from the hydraulics, under the desk.
"Buddy Boy's giving us a way out, I say we take it."
"Assuming that he hasn't left us any surprises down there. Boobytrapped it or..."
"Even if he has, we can work our way through it. We're smart enough to overcome your average wasteland trap, right?" Durga sighed as the passage way revealed itself.
"Mutant and I go first, Arthur and Hardin back us up."
Jynx felt a bit put out but someone had to guard the rear. It just felt like she was always put there, during situations like this...
They descended into the evacuation tunnel, the modern-day equivalent of a crypt. Vermin scuttling in the dark, emergency lighting making it look like hell. This was not a place that people were meant to linger in, even the most desperate of them.
On the far end of the corridor, the mechanical wall was open, exposing the Vault Entrance from a side view. It didn't look like there were traps but Durga was nothing, if not thorough. She strode over anything that looked out of line but no traps were to be found. It seemed... genuine, that the Vault 97 Dweller would want them to leave this place.
None of the members of this fragile alliance bought that though...
Durga stepped in first, sweeping the room with her laser rifle. She reminded Arthur a lot of Sarah. Not that she had a chance in hell of replacing that woman. Sarah Lyons was a once in a generation paragon. A born hero, leader and warrior. None of her like would likely ever come around again, to the Capital Wasteland.
Hardin noticed Arthur hesitate, opting to brush past the Squire with a grunt of disapproval. For a trained soldier, this dick spent a lot more time gawking, than he did walking.
Kyu had followed Durga out, not bothering about that military sweeping shit. He was a martial artist; he was always meant to be prepared and waddling around like some sort of crab person wasn't going to improve how prepared he was.
"Clear!" Durga called back, prompting Hardin to roll his eyes. Obviously this fucking place was clear, nothing had leaped out at them. If it wasn't clear, they'd be lying in wait for an ambush...
Dumb bitch.
He glanced back as the wall slid up to the ceiling, landing with a thud as the secret tunnel sealed. He wanted to check on Jynx, make sure she didn't get caught up in it... or maybe he just wanted to see her.
However, he wasn't quite expecting her to not be there at all. Just the wall that they'd turned their backs on...
Jynx must still be on the other side.
"R-Rayne!?" Hardin called, rushing to the passage way and hitting it with his hand.
"Rayne! Push the button! You can open it from the other side!"
...
Nothing.
"Rayne!?"
A crackling could be heard in the air, prompting the others to look up as the Vault's God spoke out to them.
He only had one, rather clear instruction. Spoken in a monotonous, rather common voice, that sounded drained of all feeling.
"Leave."
Hardin was quick to step forward, rifle at the ready.
"Not without Her!"
"I said leave."
"I'm not taking instructions from you, asshole! Give Rayne back to us!"
"She is the trade. My armour for her."
"Your..." Hardin glanced back to Kyu, donning his mutant gear.
"You mean that super mutant armour, you pried off of a corpse!?"
"My armour, you took it. Was theft, now it's trade."
"We didn't trade Jynx for it. You know that's not a fair trade, even if we were willing to do such a thing!"
"She is the price for the armour, you have made the transaction. Leave."
"Giver he back to us."
"I do not deal in refunds."
"Fuck off! I'm not leaving without her!"
Durga glared up at the intercom before returning her look to Hardin.
"Come on, we're leaving."
"What!?" Hardin snapped at her, seeming even more pissed at the Knight Captain, than he was the Cannibal that kidnapped his Ex.
"Did I fucking hear you right!? You're abandoning Rayne to that freak!?"
"This is our one chance to escape, with the armour. There's more at stake than your girlfriend." Durga pointed out, earning herself a punch to the face, which sent her staggering. Arthur stood between them but couldn't exactly begrudge his wastelander friend his anger. Were Sarah in Jynx's situation, he would have done worse to Durga.
"Hardin, stand down! I'm not abandoning Jynx."
"Neither am I." Kyu nodded in agreement.
"You need me for the plan lady, I ain't leaving this Vault as a four. We leave with the girl or not at all."
Durga rubbed the red mark on her cheek bone, not exactly complaining. She'd agree that she kind of deserved that, even if she was right.
"Arthur, you're risking the entire mission for one girl."
"She's one of us, Durga. We're like a Squad, Brotherhood don't leave people behind, unless absolutely necessary or they shouldn't at least. Besides, you heard the Supermutant. We can't leave her and leave with him, he's not budging and I don't think any of us have the strength to make him leave."
Durga sighed, shaking her head. This was a mistake... a horrible one.
"Since I'm the only one who knows how stupid we are for attempting to go back in there... I guess we'll be going back for her."
"Okay, how do we get into the Atrium? Door's sealed shut." Arthur asked, prompting Durga to push past him and kneel down in front of the pannel on the wall.
"From this side, I should be able to trip the emergency release..." She mused, stripping the wires.
"It's like jumpstarting a car, if anyone's read those old books."
"I can't even read but... I'm guessing you're tricking the door into thinking that it needs to open?" Kyu shrugged, getting a quick nod from Durga as the door triggered and slid open.
"Right, GO!"
Kyu stomped inside, fists clenched, teeth bore to whoever would be waiting for him. Unfortunately, it was no one.
"He has a prisoner and needs a place to hold her. I'm guessing that he took her to the cells?" Arthur asked as he peered into the Overseer's office. Didn't look like anyone was using it.
"Good guess, I'll go for that too." Hardin agreed, his attention switching to the small jail house on the west side of the Vault.
The Clinic wasn't far from it either, just in case they were wrong.
"Stick together, as a single unit. Do not let him pick us off." Durga commanded, rifle at the ready. Her trigger finger would likely put the fastest draw in the west to shame, especially with all of that Adrenaline kicking in. Hardin admired that, her dedication and craft but knowing how craven she was back there, he knew better than to want to become that.
Kyu forced his way into the lower levels, half expecting to be attacked by whatever was waiting for them. To his surprise, the cannibal freak was a little smarter than that... or maybe just not man enough to go through with the ambush.
"Where are you, ya freak!?"
There was a loud clang, as if his baiting was answered, prompting Kyu to break into a sprint. Supermutants had a... peculiar look to them, when they ran. Probably because of how top heavy they were.
Hardin pushed past the others, caring little for anything other than Rayne right now. He wasn't sure why... there were reasons, though he wasn't sure which was the most pressing. If Rayne died here, it just might do him in.
With little regard for anything else, Hardin and Kyu barged into the clinic, finding Rayne strapped down to some sort of operating table. She looked unharmed, at least by the standards of someone strapped down to an operating table, against their will. Except, she seemed off...
Pale skin, black veins around her wrists, eyes, mouth and neck. They seemed to accumulate most around a puncture mark, on the side of it.
"Jesus..." Hardin murmured, stepping up a little closer and stumbling over a mummified corpse. It had seemingly been stripped, likely the last victim of this nightmare, left here to die of exposure.
"Rayne!? Rayne!?"
"Mrgh..." The Lamplighter was barely responsive to his voice, a light bit of foam escaped her lips. Both Durga and Arthur broke into the room, eyeing the girl's condition with a moment for pause. What in Eternal Steel was done to her?
"Help me get the straps off!" Hardin's voice broke, seeming frantic. It was easy to forget but he was barely what most would call a man. Some would argue that he wasn't one at all yet...
Arthur pushed forward and got to work on the straps, leaving Kyu and Durga to guard the gate.
"I was hoping to get the soldier girl, to be honest. Maybe the Cowboy... One of you would have made a perfect warrior." The Cannibal's voice crackled over the PA system, the metalic hallways carried it around the Vault, making it nigh impossible to pinpoint.
"Still, the weakest of you is now the strongest of you. Maybe that'll help..."
"I'm gonna slit your fucking throat and watch the life drain from your eyes, you fucking piece of shit!" Hardin was quick to snap at him, pulling away the last of the straps and scooping Jynx up in his arms.
"Perhaps you don't even need the serum... Such anger."
"I got a lot to be angry about. I can show you, if you'll come out!"
"Heh... I listened to his logs. Hamilton? You know what made him the strongest?"
"Where are you!?"
"They gave him something to care about and ripped it away. He fought without a single shred of care for his own safety. I think he secretly hoped that someone would put him down. That Velvet Man made dozens like him but only one of them was perfect."
"Where..."
"Overseer's office. How else would I be broadcasting over the entire PA system?"
Hardin didn't need to hear anymore, he ducked down and marched toward it, finding himself stopped by Durga's firm hand on his shoulder.
"Don't."
"Get off me!"
"We have all we need. We go."
"Let him get away with it? Leave him to do it again!?" Hardin snapped at her, getting a firm glare in response.
"We're a man down and we have a much more important mission to take care of. Besides, I know exactly how to deal with this, on the other side."
Hardin continued to glare, glancing back to the door, as if he was going to pull rank. But she was right. This prick was little more than a distraction. One that would likely get them all killed in the end.
"Fine..." Hardin sighed, pulling Rayne up.
"Can't fight with her like this anyway..."
"Arthur, take point. We're going for the entrance and leaving as fast as we can."
The closer they got to the Overseer's office, the tougher it got to resist. But Hardin knew that Durga was right... in her own way. Pursuing this wasn't their job, it wasn't why they were here...
This wasn't over though, not by a long shot.
As Hardin, Kyu and Arthur emerged, Durga found herself stopping, just at the Vault's control panel. She glanced back inside before raising a hand to it, pushing the seal.
With a brief click, the Door's mechanism began to whir away. Steel groaned as the Vault Door slidd into position, the bulkhead's groanings almost completely drowned out the Survivor's shrieks as he realized what was happening. Durga merely observed as the door rolled into her line of sight, sealing off any opportunity for escape and shrieking shut, with a load 'clang.'
Hardin took a moment to process it... This was her game?
"He doesn't know the passcode... He's trapped in there." Durga elaborated, gesturing to the panel.
"We won't know what or... who he was." Hardin sighed, not sounding too broken up about it.
"Good. Fuckin' freak wanted us to fuss over his bullshit. This way, it dies with him."
"I'll build us a camp, for Jynx to get some sleep in. Rest of us should prepare some food or somethin'..." Kyu grumbled. Exhausted from their ordeal, he didn't seem especially enthused about the prospect of more work but it had to be done, were they to get a good night's rest.