Two months have passed since the Overseer fell deeply into a 'coma', for the lack of a better word. It wasn't a biological coma; it was more like a programming problem, one which the Vault's top scientists couldn't solve. Long story short, they couldn't boot her up. During this time, chief Frosst took over Vault duties and did his best to lead the people.
Jim was visiting the robotics lab three times a week; he looked miserable. The young security guard was sporting a rugged beard now, which wasn't planning on getting rid of anytime soon. He was assigned as the new Chief of Security, at least until the Overseer wakes up. If she will ever wake up, Jim thought to himself. Today, Overseer Frosst organized a huge picnic outside the Vault. Everyone was happy and cheerful, everyone except Jim.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Go ahead, Jim."
"This is not a good use of the teleporters, chief. Not to mention, it's dangerous."
"How many times do I have to tell you to address me as 'Overseer', Jim? Anyway, people need to see the sunlight once in a while, or else they'll feel trapped. They'll get desperate when they see no way out. This is for the best, trust me."
"Then send them to scavenge!" Jim almost yelled.
"Not everyone is brave enough to join the scavenge parties, Jim."
"But-"
"That's enough!" Frosst gives Jim an annoyed look.
The young security guard decided he said enough and that, no matter what arguments he would bring to the table, Overseer Frosst has already set up his mind. The clouds are drifting by above the mountain, like giant cotton wool pieces, not that Jim would know what a cotton wool was. That was something from before his time. Many things were, actually...
The sun is slowly going to sleep, a bloody red was filling the Wasteland and animal howls could be heard in the distance. The wind also howls eerily. Jim was waiting for the last vault dwellers to be teleported back into the Vault, when he noticed a group of people approaching from the West. Shortly after, his radio came to life.
"This is team Bravo returning with the Brotherhood chief scientist. Six to beam in. Over."
"Delay that order," Jim holds down the talk button. "I'll tell you when."
"Chief? What's going on?" the leader of the away team inquires over the walkie-talkie.
"I'll tell you when you get here, Julian. Over."
About a month ago, chief Frosst decided to send out a team to borrow the Brotherhood of Steel top scientist. Frosst wanted to make one last try to wake up the synth, before settling in as the permanent Overseer of Vault 121. He owed the synth that much.
Jim waited for the away team to reach his position and unexpectedly hugged their team leader. Julian backed away instantly, visibly uncomfortable.
"What was that for?" Julian snapped.
"It's your birthday today. Or you forgot? Happy birthday! I'm happy you're back. Also, you're late."
"Traffic," Julian smiled at his teammates.
When he blamed the traffic, Julian wasn't actually referring to cars or anything. There were hardly any working cars in the Wasteland, not to mention expensive as frak. No, he meant they were ambushed by raiders or synths, which usually resulted in delays. But Julian always got out unscratched from those nasty situations every time. He was a true survivor.
"Catch me later, I'll buy you a Nuka-Beer... chief."
"Don't you get snappy with me. I'll hold you to that," Jim returned the smile. "Teleport room, seven to beam in. Over."
An hour later, Phillip Shirley, Brotherhood of Steel's top scientist was staring at the 'sleeping' synth in the robotics lab. Jim was also present; he assigned himself as security guard for the Brotherhood scientist for the duration of his stay in Vault 121, despite the fact that the young man was currently the Chief of Security. There were lots of scientists gathered in the lab, and many VIPs as well. Phillip inquired, addressing no one in particular.
"How long has she been sitting there?"
"Two months," one of the scientists replies.
"Two months?! By Atom! And what have you been doing all this time?"
"Well, we tried everything. Even tried to modify to wake-up loop to receive remote directives from a terminal, but that didn't work either. Her brain just reprograms itself and denies all further attempts to change the internal code. It's like a living firewall!"
"Uhm..." Phillip gets lost in his thoughts for a whole minute. "How about a kiss to wake Sleeping Beauty?" he smiles and leans over the pod.
Chief Hendrick instantly grabs him by his shoulders. "What the frak are you doing?"
The young man heard the rumors about the Brotherhood's top scientist being a weirdo and doing the craziest things to achieve results with his research. I guess the rumors were true. Jim holds Phillip firmly, unsure how to proceed further.
"Relax," says the Brotherhood scientist, "I just want to reset the Auto-doc."
"Oh..." the young security guard lets go of Shirley.
The high-tech machine starts buzzing, powering down, then powering up. Meanwhile, strange code, unreadable to Jim, started scrolling up on its small display. Philip turns around to face the vault scientists.
"So you're telling me you tried 'everything', but none of you geniuses thought about resetting the pod?! Your Overseer is not like nowadays synths; you can't just brute force your way into her positronic brain. It doesn't work that way! She's a prototype, so the only way to troubleshot her, so to speak, is trough machine language instructions. Not through modern compilers, like you were trying to do. The Auto-doc can do that, you can't, 'cause you're all a bunch of idiots."
The Overseer opens her eyes and looks around surprised.
"So, I guess that wasn't a good idea," the synth says, referring to the moment when it stumbled upon that Enclave eyebot, which was actually the last thing it remembers. "Jim? What's wrong?"
A tear rolled down Jim's cheek and he wiped it away quickly with the back of his hand.
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I'm just happy to see you're finally awake."
"Finally? How long have I been out?"
"Two months," Jim whispers and sighs loudly.
"TWO MONTHS?! I'm sorry..."
"Are you, really?" Jim snapped. "Why do you never listen? Why do you always put yourself in harm's way?"
"Well, my work is here is done," Phillip intervenes. "Not gonna stick around and watch this lovers quarrel. I'll send you the bill later, now I'm gonna grab some sleep, it's been a long walk from the Citadel. Goodnight."
Jim was blushing, while the synth was looking at him curiously, still in its pod. It would still take a few minutes to regain its full motor functions.
"Welcome back, madam Overseer," chief Frosst approaches the pod. "It's good to have you back," he forces a smile.
"Thank you, chief Frosst. What are the news?"
The news of Overseer's miraculous recovery spread fast throughout the Vault and now everyone was trying to get into the lab to see her. Chief Frosst was however on top of it, dispatching security on the doors the second the synth woke up. Jim remained silent, watching the 'sleeping beauty' in her pod. His love for the synth was still strong. That love won't wither and die, not anytime soon...