She blinked her eyes open, still sensitive to the light, and used her hands as shade to look out over the Wasteland.

It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, but the first sight she saw was of a ruined town down the hill, the Capitol Building, and Washington Monument.

It smelled weird. But the air felt fresher and not laced with cleaning chemicals like in the Vault.

Outside. She was outside. In the open where there was radiation and monsters and cannibals and—

It was hot. She checked her Pip-Boy for the temperature, but it had to take a moment to adjust to the heat.

The wind, dust, sounds, smells, sights, everything was so different.

It felt like she was dreaming.

Maybe this was a dream. Maybe all of this was a dream.

She would wake up, seventeen years old again with an empty stomach and a death wish.

Or maybe now she really had a death wish.

It didn't matter, she had no time to lose. She carefully made her way down to the ruined town, Springville, and into a town called Megaton.

The air blew her freshly chopped-off hair onto the left side of her face, and she tried her best to put back into place as she made her way to Megaton, as indicated on a large sign with an arrow pointing to the settlement. Gloria marked its location on her Pip-Boy and headed on inside, casting an untrusting glance at the robot... thing outside the gates.

The mayor greeted her, explaining how the town was built around an atomic bomb, worshiped by a group of people, and Gloria definitely wondered if she was dreaming.

But she wasn't. The metal railing up to the second story of the town was hot to the touch, burning her skin more than a normal wastelander's.

The town was made entirely of broken down buses, planes, scrap metal and a whole lot of duct tape. It was a wonder it hadn't fallen apart yet. Gloria's fingers traveled over the railing to a large building, then a doorknob she turned and pushed the door open.

A woman in a utility jumpsuit was humming to herself while a man in leather armor eyed Gloria carefully. She assumed he was her bodyguard? But what would she need one for?

"Welcome to Craterside Supply!" The woman chirped, startling Gloria. She blinked a couple of times before asking "What?"

"Oh! You must be that kid from the Vault!" She had a strange look in here eye, and Gloria wasn't sure if she wanted to continue this conversation or not.

"Yeah, I am… why do you ask?" She asked slowly. The woman giggled, which was way too cute for a woman in her late 20s.

"What was it like?"

Well… It was her home. What else could she say about it? "It was kinda dark."

"That's it?"

"It… was cramped?"

"Go on," the woman tapped a pen against some paper in front of her, eyes gleaming in childlike delight.

"I don't know. It was home I guess. Sort of wanted to make me-" She couldn't finish her sentence. The woman sensed her discomfort and stopped pressing the issue, then wrote what she needed on the paper and slipped it under the counter.

"What's your name?"

"Gloria. Hill. Gloria Hill." She stuttered out, and the woman held out her hand. Gloria stared at it, and the woman laughed. "You're supposed to shake it. My name is Moira Brown."

Gloria cautiously took the other's hand, giving it a few up and down swings, then let go, more uncomfortable than she was before. Why did people outside do this?

"They didn't teach you that in the Vault?" Moira asked, catching Gloria's attention again. She shook her head, then added, "We didn't focus on social aspects in the Vault. Only things that would 'help the betterment of the Vault' or something."

Moira gave her a sympathetic smile, then her eyes lit up again, "Oh! I know! How about you help me with something. I'm writing a book to help 'the betterment of the wasteland!' I can't do it alone, of course, but you can help me!"

Wow that was… sudden. But she couldn't; she had to find her dad.

Her frown caused Moira to worry, and she tried to help her out as best she could. As thanks for telling her about the Vault, Moira gave her a modified Vault 101 jumpsuit to help her survive a little more in the Wasteland. Gloria tried to reject this gift, as it was the polite thing to do, but thankfully Moira insisted she keep it.

She then pointed Gloria to the bar at the top of the settlement, run by a man named Moriarty, then wished her luck as she was on her way.

Colin Moriarty had introduced himself before Gloria could ask where to find him. He gave her some bad vibes and she only wanted to know where her father was. But when she asked him, his expression changed like he realized something, which concerned Gloria even more.

"My God... It's you. The little baby girl, all grown up. Persistent little flower, ain't ya? Then and now, it would seem. It's been a long time, kid." Moriarty crossed his arms, looking a little too smug for Gloria's liking, "Oh, your daddy passed through here all right. Here and gone. Got what he came for, and then left. I'm assuming you'll do the same, correct?"

Gloria sighed. She knew when the Overseer was her age, they Vault was opened again for the first time since the bombs fell. They had multiple expeditions outside and collected data, kept hidden from the younger generations. She only found out because she was curious at heart.

But what she didn't understand is why Moriarty seemed to know her and her father.

"I'm pretty sure my dad and I were born in the Vault. I mean… why would he lie to me?" She trusted him. She told him she was gay and suicidal and she wouldn't have done if she didn't trust him. So why would he not trust her?

Moriarty leaned against the wall behind him, "Ah, I see. You know, I heard about the brainwashin' that goes on down there. From the other fella, escaped, oh... five years back. 'All hail the Overseer! We're born in the Vault, we die in the Vault!' and all that other assorted lunacy. Kid, you've got better programming that our own Deputy Weld. You'd best wise up quick. Wouldn't want anyone... takin' advantage of ya, Hmm?"

Gloria wasn't sure what he was talking about, but only annoyed her further. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to get rid of her budding headache.

"Look, I want to find my dad. Do you know where he is?"

"You seem like a nice kid, so I'm going to be straight with you. Yes, I know where he went, but what you're asking me for is information, and information is a commodity. Let's say... 100 caps, and daddy's location is yours. Very reasonable."

"A hundred what?"

"Bottle caps, you know, money."

Ah. That's what they must use for currency. Her strong suit was science, not economics. Or whatever this was.

"Well, I don't have any of those."

"Then you better go make some."

"All right, kid. Let me help you out, you know... for old time's sake. Maybe you can so a little favor for me."

"So you want me to do your dirty work?" Gloria raised an eyebrow.

"Who said anything about dirty work? You need some caps, and I'm giving you a way to get 'em. It's just business."

She reluctantly agreed. What could possibly go wrong?

…

A lot of things went wrong.

She wasn't new to breaking and entering, which she'd gotten a lot of jail time for. But this was the outside world where people had guns and Silver had one pointed right at her face.

"Tell Moriarty those caps are mine."

"I would if you'd get that gun out of my face," Gloria offered, but Silver shoved it closer. Well. This wasn't going to end well.

"What are you waiting for? He sent you to kill here didn't he?"

"What in fuck's name are you talking about? Obviously he didn't." Gloria nudged the gun away from her, and gave her a confused look, "Why would he try to kill you?"

"That's none of your business."

"Look, I don't care what your problem is, I'm here for the caps."

"Is there something wrong with your hearing? I told you the caps are mine! You can't have them!"

"Okay, whatever." Gloria knocked the gun out of Silver's and punched her in the side of her head. She searched Silver's body for the caps while she was retaliating, and almost didn't dodge a punch aimed for her face. She kneed Silver in the stomach and elbowed her ribs and fled out the door.

When she returned to Moriarty, she shoved the small bag into his hands and glared at him.

"Here's your caps, I hope you choke on them." She sneered.

"How can you be so rude when I'm going to provide you with such a useful public service?"

She rolled her eyes while he jabbered on about her dad not staying in Megaton long for like the third time, then mentioned he was headed to Galaxy News Radio. Whatever the hell that was. He explained it was in the D.C. ruins and is run by a guy named Three Dog. She didn't thank him for his information, and left without saying anything else.

For the remainder of the day, she wandered around the city, and eventually ended up at the bottom of the crater, where a seemingly live atomic bomb was nestled in a pool of water and a preacher standing in it.

She hummed and gently touched the bomb, her fingers finding a small hatch she pried open with a screwdriver, rubbing her chin as she studied the "off" button, before pressing it and hoping it doesn't explode.

It didn't.

She was awarded a house and 100 caps by the mayor. Which was honestly kind of weird but she wouldn't complain.

She wandered into her new house after she was done exploring, sitting down on the ratty couch by the door and sighing.

Megaton wasn't as bad as she originally thought. There were some nice people around, except for that Jericho guy. He was kind of an asshole. She'd gotten a few odd jobs here and there, but she didn't have time. She had to find her father.

She felt like throwing up again. She need a distraction.

Repairing her jumpsuit seemed to calm her nerves, but she still felt a tiny piece of her that wanted to throw three years of hard work into the nearest toilet.

No, no, she couldn't. She promised she'd never do it again.

She pulled everything out of her bag, and her hands smoothed over a wallet-sized picture of Amata she never knew she had.

The photo was recent, taken in the last two weeks. She was smiling, laughing at a joke Gloria made. The memory made her heart ache; would she ever see her again?

She placed the picture onto the empty space on her Pip-Boy under the logo, and secured it with tape. Her eyes drifted onto the screen, where a holotape was loaded and ready to play. She hadn't noticed it.

She ejected it and read the title.

Note From Dad

Oh.

She should have listened to it sooner. She placed it back into the cartridge and pressed play.

"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."

Jonas spoke, "Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."

"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye, Gloria. I love you."

The recording ended, and the tape was ejected from her Pip-Boy. She placed it in a drawer and made sure to never look at it again.

Resting her chin on her hands, she stared through the holes in the wall to the world outside.

It was darker than she would be used to. Louder too.

She ran her hands through her hair, still unused to it being so short.

Everything changed so quickly; nothing would ever be the same.