So skipping forward in time a little. Originally had the whole trip to the location where this chapter picks up written out, but it was just taking up way to much time and killing my already slowing down pace. So, here is chapter 23. Enjoy, comment, leave a review. as always any and all critiques are welcome.
Chapter 23
Finally, they are here. However long they have been searching, all the blood they have shed, it is all about to pay off. The holotapes Doctor Li gave Nick lead them straight to this vault, hidden beneath a mechanic's shop. Finding it hadn't been all that difficult, nor had getting in. Luther was actually surprised by how big of a turn around Nick seemed to have made, again. After their argument in the Weatherly hotel, Luther made the assumption that Nick was well and truly done with his search for dear old dad.
After Tyler stormed out, Nick made it clear he wasn't talking to anyone by disappearing in the direction of the bar. Luther searched the ship for Tyler, but didn't find him. Giving up on his search, as he figured Tyler would show up when he was good and ready, Luther went to the cafe in the town market. He intended to drink his pains away. Only problem was that he ended up doing exactly what seems to always do these days, stare hatefully at his reflection in the liquid. Nick found him there, told him he had been to see Doctor Li, and that they should probably leave Rivet City before the authorities came looking for them. That was all the motivation Luther needed. The two of them returned to their hotel room where they found the others, including an eerily quiet Tyler, and after packing their gear they set out.
The trip to the mechanics shop took them all of four days due to a detour they were forced to make around a camp of raiders holed up in an abandoned mill. Luther made note of the camp's location just in case some work might come out of it. Upon finding the shop, 'Smith Casey's Garage', they entered and spent all of an hour searching for the hidden door to the vault. It was cleverly hidden, a trap door that could only be activated by a power switch behind some old cars, but Luther has had enough experience with vaults to know what he was doing. Vault 87 for example, that place was a living nightmare. this vault, vault 112, turned out to not be so bad.
Sure, there are some strange robot brains rolling around and offering vault suits to them every three seconds, and then there are the cryogenic pods where all the original residents still seem to be sealed, but aside from that, still a very nice vault. A nearby door slides open and Charon steps through. "No resident hall through there, just more tubes and piping."
The ghoul's report confirms what Luther had been suspecting. This vault never operated as a residency vault like most of the others. This one sealed up its first patrons, and then never unsealed them. He steps up to one of the pods and wipes away the layer of dust on the glass panel. Inside he can just barely make out the features of a young woman, her hair all done up like one of those old pre-war posters. As he watches, he can almost make out very faint movement as she breaths, very slowly. "Nick," he calls, "what was your Father looking to find here?"
Nick steps back from a pod he was looking into and shakes his head. "Half of what was in the holotapes Madison gave me didn't make any sense. Ramblings about finishing his work, plans for technical issues, stuff like that. Only the last few mentioned his plan to start searching vaults. Turns out his retreating to vault 101 wasn't even about keeping me safe like Madison said. He actually only used me as a way in so he could look for some form of technology that was supposed to help rebuild the world after the bombs fell. Probably what he came here looking for. Probably moved on by now. If he hasn't left any more holotapes here, then the trail is cold, again." the anger in Nick's voice is very poorly hidden.
Something about his missions into different vaults starts nagging at Luther's thoughts.
that is correct soldier, you know something that you are keeping from your degenerate underlings. Will you tell them, no, you won't. You are too much of a coward. The GECK. And that mutant you refused to kill despite direct orders to terminate all mutated hostiles.
Shut the hell up! Fucking voice! Yes, he knows something, and yes, he spared Fawkes. Yet if it wasn't for Fawkes help he never would have reached the GECK and completed his mission. How was he supposed to kill the only resource he had in that fucking hellhole? Now though, he would have killed the bastard mutant. It was because of his momentary act of mercy that his family was eventually murdered. It was because of the GECK and what he learned about it that made him a danger. It would have been better if he died in that vault, then those bastards wouldn't have their fucking super weapon.
Oh poor, poor Luther. The whole world is just gunning for you isn't it? Suck it up soldier! You shouldn't be crawling through the mud with these degenerates!
How dare you. How fucking dare you! "Who I work with is my business!"
"What?" Luther hadn't realized that he was speaking out loud, or that Tyler was standing next to him.
"Nothing," he responds quickly, "just talking to myself."
He steps away and examines a computer terminal. Within he discovers the entry dates for all of the pods. One of the pods is still empty, and another. "Hey Nick," he calls, "I think you Father is still here. Check pod six." He looks over as Nick runs to the pod and peers inside. From the kid's body language, Luther can tell that his guess was right.
"Yes," Nick's voice is barely a whisper, "that's him."
"From what I can tell," Luther says as he reads off the terminal, "we cannot release him from out here due to a security lock. Seems we are going to have to go into one of these pods and find a way to release them all from the inside."
Tyler cross his arms, "Just what they hell do you mean, on the inside?"
Luther points at the pods, "They are not just frozen. According to this they are stuck in a virtual reality simulation built by some guy called Dr. Braun that is supposed to test their mental capabilities over long periods of time. According to these readouts, manual release of the pods would more than likely kill the occupant or leave them brain dead, so someone has to go into the simulation and find a fail safe. Strange thing though, I can't find any information as to what or where the fail safe is. If your Father went in there, then it is safe to assume he is looking for this Dr."
Nick nods, "I recall that name from one of the tapes Madison gave me. Seems this Braun created some sort of technology that my Father needs to finish something called Project Purity that is supposed to clean all the radiation out of the basin. Look there," he points at a pod, "that must be Braun, looks like he could just stand up and walk right out of here."
"Shit, fuck, damn." Clover is backed against a wall and looking around wildly, "they are zombies! A bunch of pre-war zombies just sitting on ice and waiting for the chance to go psycho on us! No way in hell am I getting into one of those things, none of you are!"
Tyler goes over to comfort her and Luther opens the only remaining pod. "Don't worry Clover," he states in a flat tone, "I'll go in and be back out in a few seconds."
"Like hell," Tyler growls angrily, "I agree with her, none of us are getting into one of those things! What if something goes wrong and we cannot find the fail safe! What if we get trapped! I say we just pop the lid on Nick's dad, grab him, and haul his ass out of here!"
"I told you," Luther says in an exasperated tone, "manual release could kill him, we sure as hell didn't come all this way and discover that we have a chance to save him just so we can fry his brain."
The sound of a pod closing and sealing causes them all to whirl around. While they argued, Nick climbed into the pod and activated it. Luther runs to the pod and attempts to open it, but it is already sealed shut. Charon appears beside him and is furiously slamming the but of his rifle against the glass exterior. A crack appears in the pod and Luther panics. If the sealing process pressurized the inside, breaking the seal could tear Nick to shreds. "Charon stop!" He makes to grab him, but the tall ghoul elbows him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "You could kill him by opening it back up!"
Charon turns on him and points his shotgun, "I have had enough of you two smooth skins getting my boss into trouble! How am I supposed to protect him from out here!"
"You open that pod, or do any further damage to it, and you will be responsible for his death, does your contract cover that?" Luther's voice is a low menacing hiss.
Charon's face contorts into a look of pure, but somehow bottled up, rage. With a roar he turns and slams his gun down, against the floor. The wooden stock of the weapon splinters and Charon stands back up to his full height. He glares down at Luther, "If he dies, you die with him." The ghoul steps back and leans against Nick's pod, as if to protect the kid from the rest of them.
Luther stands up and cautiously approaches the pod. Looking in he can see Nick's eyes glued to the simulation projector, yet try as he might, Luther can't make out what Nick is seeing. With a sigh he returns to the computer terminal he was looking at before. "Seems Nick got tired of all the arguing and took matters into his own hands, again."
Strange isn't a good enough word for what Nick finds himself looking at. Bizarre, terrifying, wrong. Before him is the image of a perfectly preserved pre-war town. Everything is lacking color, the sky, the grass, hell, even the strange childish body he seems to have been forced into. There are several houses all neatly arranged in a circle around a small playground where a little girl is watering some flowers. Nearby a few adults are chatting idly and a young boy is selling lemonade. The overall picture is one of peaceful bliss. Strangely, it all manages to make Nick feel sick.
He wanders around the small town, trying to get some information out of the people he encounters. All of them simile warmly at him and none of them seem to realize they are living in a simulation. He didn't understand all of what Luther was talking about before he entered the pod, but from what he did understand these people all represent someone who is alive and in a different pod at this very moment. Yet none of them even know what the hell a virtual reality simulation is, fuck, Nick doesn't fully understand!
Eventually he ends up looking through the peoples houses, only to find nothing of interest. The interiors remind him of the ruins he has picked through while in the wastes, only much much cleaner and without any holes in the walls. He keeps expecting to see the image of his Father in one of the houses, maybe drinking coffee or something, but he finds no sign of him and none of the residents know where or who he is. In frustration he slams his fist into the side of a house. The skin breaks and little drops of blood fall to the ground. He stares at his hand and is struck by the fact that he can feel the pain. So the simulation can replicate pain, he wonders if it works for other things, like hunger or sickness.
He shakes his head and redoubles his search. Eventually he ends up approaching the small girl in the middle of the town's playground. He is irritable from being treated like a small child, which is what he looks like right now, but he sure as hell is not some fucking boy! He notices a dog sitting beneath a swing set and rubs its ears as he passes. The dog licks his fingers, but otherwise does not move. "Oh goodie," the girl all but squeals as Nick approaches, "someone new to play with, and I was just getting bored."
Nick sighs, "I am not here to play. I am looking for my Father. middle ages, white or grey hair, scruffy beard, and a god complex that is incredibly annoying. Seen him?"
The girl scrunches up her face and Nick cant help but think that she has a piggish nose. "Hm, actually, yes, I met the good doctor some time ago. He was very curious about Tranquility Lane and how it worked. But he kept causing trouble, so I had to put him in time out. You can see him if you want, but only if you play a few games with me."
Nick feels his jaw start to drop, but snaps it shut quickly. "You mean to say, you met my Father, and then put him in time out? You, a little girl, put my Father in time out? There has to be some fucking irony in there someplace."
The girl rolls her eyes. "Oh please, don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet. I have been watching you go around and talk to just about everyone. You must be much more of an idiot than your father." Nick bristles at her words and starts to respond, but she interrupts him. "Look at yourself for example. I am sure that outside this simulation you are an adult or something right? Yet here you stand before me, a child. And that aside, I am also sure that you have noticed how no one else seems to be aware that this is just a simulation, am I correct?" Nick nods, starring at the girl suspiciously. "Then you should take comfort in the idea that your Father is indeed here, but has been given the shape of someone who you will not recognize. The game is simple, you play along, and I will give you your daddy."
"You are Dr. Braun."
The little girl smiles sweetly, "You catch on quick. Now are you going to play, or are you going to continue walking around in circles like a fool?"
Nick grinds his teeth as he realizes he has not choice but to humor the sick bastard, for now. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"
"Delightful," Braun laughs, "it is simple really. Timmy over there is boring to play with and a little crybaby. So, I want you to make him cry. How you do it, is up to you."
Nick scoffs, "You seriously want me to make some little punk cry? Fuck that."
Dr. Braun shakes his, her, its head with a sigh. "I told you already, he may look like a small boy, but he could in all actuality be a full grown man, or woman. Now are you going to play, or not?"
Nick thinks back to how he bloodied his knuckles. He smiles menacingly and lowers his head, "Oh yeah Dr. Braun, you and I are going to play a few games all right." If it is possible for a little girls face to reflect an old man's look of fear, then that would be the expression on Braun's face.
"Seems Nick got tired of all the arguing and took matters into his own hands, again." Luther barely finished speaking before an alarm starting blaring and the pod Nick is in lifts up and Nick tumbles out with a gasp. "Shit," Luther jumps to Nick's side, "don't start to hyperventilate, the cryo or whatever it is that preserves the body in those things has slowed your systems. Give it a second to wear..." He can't finish as Charon steps up and shoves him away from Nick.
"Don't fucking touch him!"
Luther jumps to his feet and steps up to the tall ghoul, "I am trying to help him! Who knows what sort of side effects going into that thing could have had on him! Seems he got ejected for some reason, so there has to be something wrong!"
"No," Nick gasps on the floor, "I found, the fail safe. Was in there, for hours."
Luther looks at Nick in confusion, "You were in that pod for all of a three minutes, the simulation must be fucking with your sense of time. There is no way you were able to do anything before..." A few pods over a second pod opens slowly. From it steps a middle aged man with pepper grey hair and a short beard. The man's eyes lie beneath heavy brows and stare out at all those gathered with mixed emotions before he spots Nick.
The man lurches forward, only to be intercepted by both Luther and Charon. "Not so fast." Luther growls angrily. "Who are you."
"That," Nick says as he stands and pushes between Luther and Charon, "is my Father."
"Nick." The man's voice is husky and under used. When he says the kid's name, Luther can hear the affection in it, but he can also hear anger and confusion. "What are you doing here?" Now the man's voice is chiding, "You are supposed to be safe in vault 101."
Luther throws out an arm to hold back both Charon and Tyler as they move to stop Nick from advancing on his Father. For his part, Nick steps up and stands right in his Fathers face. "Safe? You thought that you could just leave the vault and everything would stay the same down there! The Overseer went mad! He killed Jonas and tried to kill me before I escaped!"
Nicks Father looks like he has been shot. "I, I am sorry, I don't..."
"Sorry," Nick snarls, advancing further and forcing his Father to retreat backwards, "I get tossed out into the wasteland with no idea how to defend myself! I get kidnapped and tortured by raiders! I kill a woman in cold blood because I need the caps! I get made a slave and taken to the Pitt! I crawl through hell to find some evidence of your survival in the capital! I have nearly been killed more times than I can count! And you say, sorry?"
Every word he speaks seems to make his Father die a little more. "I never wanted this for you. I took you to the vault when you were little to protect you from the wasteland. I thought you would be safe there, if not happy."
"Bullshit!" Nick grabs his father by the front of the lab coat he is wearing and jerks him forward. "You went into 101 looking for some fucking technology for your damn Project Purity! You used me as a way in! I saw the way you used to look at me! You blamed me for my Mothers death! You feared me for what I might become!" Nick releases his Father and steps back. He throws out his arms and motions all around. "Well, here I am Father! This is what you feared come to life! Lie to me again and tell me you still love me, that you ever cared for me at all!"
Luther stares at Nicks Father, willing him to say something. "I," the man starts, then he looks down, "I have always loved you."
Nick seems to deflate a little, but not much. "Did you at least find what you were looking for?"
The man looks up at Nick and Luther releases his hold on Charon and Tyler. "Dr. Braun did know about the GECK." If Nick's Father could have shot him, Luther knows that he might as well have. This Braun knew about the GECK, and Nick's father knows now. "I managed to pry a great deal of information about it from him, but I will need to do some more research before making any attempt at retrieving one. For that, I need to return to the Jefforson Memorial. I, I hope that, now that you have found me, will you join me there?"
Luther looks to Nick, suddenly realizing that what the kid says next may well determine if he has to kill both of them, or put a bullet between his own eyes.
Nick glares at his Father for a long time.
He is going to say yes.
Say no damn it, Luther begs silently.
"Fine." Nick answers.
I warned you. Now the truth will become clear to them all, no matter how hard you try to hide it.
there it is. I was knocking around the idea that Nick just has one of his crazy spells and kills his dad, but that sort of defeated the whole plot line. Besides, this felt better. I always did see James as a bit of an ass. That aside, if you peoples have any guesses as to who Luther used to work for I am happy to hear them, been lots of clues dropped throughout the story. Things will be heating up here soon as all who have played the game know. Hope you stick around!