Goodneighbor, Commonwealth 2087
"Hey good lookin…" the smug voice from behind her spoke. Piper turns around to be greeted by a tall, but hunky man. She analyzes the man in front of her, visibly seeing his abs pop out of his small white shirt, and the buff from his arms practically bulking his whole appearance. She looks up to his face and sees hair as brown as the soil before the war, and eyes that were greener than the glowing sea. Piper froze to the fact that this young sexy man had actually went up to her and complimented her. Because of her reputation, not that many people really approached her, and the only time they would have contact with her is if she were the one to make the contact first. And that doesn't end up well most of the time. Though this man was different. What did he want from her? Piper opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted when he had started talking again. "You dropped this back there… Looked important and I didn't want you losing it." He says to her before gently handing her a gold thin-chain necklace with an emerald heart shaped medallion. It had been the necklace her father had given her on her birthday, which was a few days before he had been brutally killed by Captain Mayburn.
Her father said this was actually her mother's necklace, the one he gave her on their anniversary before she passed away. The surprising thing that Piper noticed was that this necklace looked to be with great value, yet this man actually took the time to give it to her rather than just selling it for a few bottle caps. Piper takes the necklace and smiles up at him. She wasn't expecting someone to actually do something nice for her… Especially here in Goodneighbor. "Thanks, um…" She said as she scratched the back of her head slowly.
"Curtis. Curtis Fals." He said before grabbing her hand and shaking it, startling her with his confidence. "And you are…?"
"I uh.. P-Piper… Piper Wright." She said blushing a bit from his soft hand touching hers. The man looks at her one more time, then takes out a sack of bottle caps.
"So you want a drink? I ended up winning a bet and I have just enough to buy two of what I wanted." Curtis says, his eyes not clearly showing it but having little desperation in them. Piper sees the man as nice, but she knew what he was doing at the start. He had been nice enough to get her valued necklace back, he's offering her a drink on the house, he looks pretty damn good… How could she say no? She was thinking about accepting until one person in particular had happened to pop up in her mind. She turned around to see Nathan leaning on the wall with his arms crossed just outside the Memory Den, looking at her and pointing at his pip-boy,
"No t-thanks, I'm pretty busy right now… Maybe later though if I got the time?" Curtis looks at her with a blank face and then turns around.
"If you insist. I'll be waiting, Ms. Wright." The man walks away eventually arriving to his destination known to everyone here in the Commonwealth as The Third Rail. After calming down, Piper decides to finally follow Nathan who had been awaiting her patiently.
"Blue, sorry I kept you waiting I-"
"You were with your boyfriend?" Nathan says smirking at her. Goodie two shoes has a boyfriend? Hmm… Nathan's trace of thought had been disrupted when Piper suddenly started throwing words at him.
"NO! He's too good for me- err I mean he's way out of my league- Uhm what I meant to say was that he's just not my type… Ya know?" Piper says before looking down in embarrassment, trying to find a way out of this conversation. "W-why are we still here Blue? Aren't we supposed to see this person who can help you find your son?"
"Well, yeah but-"
"Then let's going then! Come on we don't have all day now r-right?" At this moment Piper grabs his arm with both her hands most likely faster than light, and pulls him inside the Memory Den trying to pretend this conversation never existed.
"Okay…?" He says as he is pulled inside the building. Nathan wasn't exactly sure what to think on the occurrence of events that had happened just moments ago. He doesn't know if he should be happy, cautious… Hell he doesn't even know if he should be jealous of that man who had her talking like this in the first place. If he is her boyfriend, then hopefully he treats her right… I know I would if she was my- Nathan's mind immediately stops after saying the last part in his mind. He wasn't also sure what to think about the fact that he's thinking of himself and her together. It felt kind of weird to him just thinking that, and also did hurt him a bit in the inside since he was growing attached to another woman, when the only reason he was even motivated enough to kill Kellogg and have hope in finding young Shaun was Nora. His mind couldn't continue longer as Piper snaps her fingers right next to his eyes to awake him from his constant daydreaming.
"Hello? You there Blue?" She said as she tilts her head in curiousity, wondering what he is thinking about. I swear if he's still thinking about me and Curtis still… She thought before Nick suddenly enters the scene.
"About time you guys got here, I wasted about two cartons of cigarettes just waiting for you two..." He said with his friendly detective smile.
"Seriously Nicky?"
"No."
"Wow."
"Well enough about me, we have to get that guy over there the information he needs to find his son." He says before looking at Nathan. "You ready to head over to the woman that can decode Kellogg's memories for us?" Nathan still looks like he's in space as he stares at nothing.
"Blue!" Nathan suddenly snaps himself back to reality as he looks at Piper, and then Nick.
"Uh... sorry, I was thinking." He said emberassingly as he rubs the side of his head slowly. Reminder to self: Daydream when you're by yourself... "So we gonna head over to the guy that can decode Kellogg's memories for us?"
"I just asked that question, but yeah we are. Also it's a woman by the way. Doctor Amari's the name." He says to Nathan rolling his eyes.
"Well what are we waiting for, you two? The world to end a second time? Let's go to that Doctor already." She says smiling at both of them. The three eventually see Doctor Amari, and Nathan shows her the part from Kellog's brain.
"What's this? This isn't a brain? This is… Wait…" She says studying the cybernetic brain augmenter. "That's the hippocampus! And this thing attached to it. A neural interface?" Piper and Nathan look awfully confused as Nick looks at it at a magnifying range.
"Those circuits do awfully look familiar…" He says fixing his hat.
"This item.. It won't work properly without the living function of a brain. Though it may work if this part were fitted into Institute technology." She says eying Nick.
"You're trying to say that, we could fit the thing inside... Nick? Piper says concerned at the situation.
"Yes, seeing him as an older generation synth, and seeing this component is part of Institute architecture, we could fit it with his brain." She said before sighing. "Though this might be a risky task, as we are wiring the memories of a bloodthirsty mercenary into his brain."
"Don't worry about me Amari, I'm sure I'll be alright." He says smirking at Nathan.
"You sure about this Nick? Nathan says to him worriedly. He doesn't want another life taken away just because he needs to find his son.
"Hey, if this is the only way we can find your son, then might as well." He says again before turning over back to Amari. "So let's get this thing set on my brain?" Nick sits down on a chair as she prepares the scene. She eventually finishes and stands up to look at Nathan.
"Ok, the process is almost ready. All I need you to do is to sit down, and we can begin the memory process." Amari says.
"No problem." Nathan says as he sits in the pod. The pod closes and Amari goes to the nearby terminal to begin the process.
"Doc, are they gonna be okay?" Piper says to Doctor Amari. Seeing as three people are all doing something to just relive the memories of one person's brain, she was worried that something may go wrong.
"I'm just as worried as you, but this might just work for sure." Amari replies. Piper looks at them both, before sitting down on the sofa to await their safe arrival. The things he'd do just to find his son… It's making me concerned for him but I can't deny that the sight is heartwarming. She says in her mind as she leans her head back and closes her eyes. They sure don't make them like they used to...
Well, another chapter finished. I think I might just skip the scene with Kellogg's memories in the next chapter though, as most of you already know what's going down. Anyways I tried rewriting the dialog from when you talk to Amari, but I didn't want to write it word-for-word (verbatim) so I decided to tweak it up a little bit. Also I know the character Curtis is Non-canon, but you know… Gotta have a horse of another color somewhere right? Anyways tell me what you think about this one, and I will see you in the next chapter!