Denis shivered as the needle of the stolen stimpak entered his wound, the usual hiss that assured him that everything was going to be fine didn't seem to do its job today. If what Gomez said was true, dying wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you in this place.
He had enough ammo now to take down the entire security force, assuming that the simulation couldn't spawn more or resurrect the dead. It was odd but for the first time in his life, his enemy wore the faces of friends and family, if anything it was worse than the last time he had to fight his way out.
Fighting his way out wasn't necessary at this point, all he had to do was find the objects and he could go home. This prompted him to look around, finally taking in where he was.
Denis had taken refuge in his Dad's office, if his theory was correct, this place's activation codes were all connected to him. As a result, Denis began to tap around, feeling for any sign of anomaly, though he quickly paused as he saw his Dad's old bobblehead.
He leant forward and tapped it, making its head bobble furiously as he did so and activating its hidden chime, followed by the irksome buzzer.
Bobblehead and Toothbrush…
Denis quickly stepped around, the desk, weighing up where he needed to be next. Butch DeLoria, the only friend he had left from this place, surely he'd have some sort of connection to this place.
The Regulator quickly shuffled over to the other side of the desk, where one of the security team's stolen uniforms lay folded for him, the guy he took it from had no use for it anymore anyway.
The dead don't need armour…
How long had he been doing this? Hours? Days?
By now, the security force had been reduced to a small squad, protecting the survivors in Mr Brotch's old classroom. They huddled in the dark, waiting to make their last stand against the monster that prowled the hallways…
Denis would like to think that they would be safe once he left but he knew that, in reality, they would all be deleted. If it was anything like Tranquility Lane, they were cattle, being lead to slaughter…
Apparently, pigs have the psychology of children and seem to believe that facing the wall and burying their faces away will protect them. If they cannot see the threat, they cannot be hurt by it…
That wasn't exactly a thought process that existed solely to pigs, that was how all humans acted in the face of adversity. Burying their heads in the sand, like Ostritches and hoping for everything to blow over their perfectly stretched out necks, just waiting for the chop of an axe.
While they waited for said axe to strike, Denis emerged from the Overseer's Office, his fingers still tingled from finding the last of the hidden objects. It would seem that Alphonse's picture of him and Amata together was the missing link, the final piece to this puzzle that would free him from his torment.
Denis paced around, knowing fully well that there would be an order to this, one that would require him to rush around the Vault, looking for the pattern. The first one was Jonas' alarm clock, he knew that much, it was a start at least.
He quickly made his way downstairs, cursing under his breath as he wished he could take the objects to the same room and just do it that way, sadly, he wasn't able to do it that way.
Denis was quick to hop off the bottom step as he arrived in the Atrium, his next stop was Jonas' private quarters. It was odd, he hadn't seen Jonas around, whilst ransacking his room. Denis wasn't exactly discrete as there was no need for it.
He expected Jonas to be hiding, though, then again, wouldn't he and his Father be the first at the scene? Maybe they were setting a trap for him, lying in wait…
The Regulator paced through the halls, having to step over the occasional corpse as he made his way to Jonas' place of residence. This was the first of many stops, though he expected it to be burdensome, it wasn't in the way that he was expecting…
Denis wasted no time and marched into Jonas' office, he quickly stepped over the trashed stationary pile at the center of the room, stumbling forward towards the alarm clock. With a swat of his hand, the clock chimed, just like it did last time and there was a glitch that momentarily changed the very fabric of reality around him as he faded in and out of existence.
"Denis?" Jonas asked, quickly getting the Regulator's attention as he turned back to him, pistol at the ready. This time, Jonas stood before him, baring the wounds that Denis had seen him with, the last time that he saw him in the real world.
He had severe bruising on his head, especially around the eyes, where swelling was most susceptible. Some of his clothing was torn, Denis could only imagine what horrors lay beneath that white labcoat…
"Why're you doing this? Why let me die again, when you have a chance to undo your past wrongs?"
"How does this undo your death!? You aren't even Jonas, you're a machine!" Denis snapped, stepping forward.
"Actually, no, a machine is something! You're a line of code! You're a few words and symbols, gibberish that has taken human form! You're less than nothing!" He snapped, moving his face as close as possible to Jonas', though he didn't even flinch.
"Denis, Denis… This simulation, it's for you! It's a gift, to right your wrongs! Undo your failings, so that you can live the life that you were meant to live, the life that your Father wanted you to have! Are you really going to defy him now? Bring him more shame and discontent?"
"I didn't defy him! I left, because I had no choice, there were people trying to kill me and killer bugs everywhere! I had to leave and, when I did, I did everything he asked of me! My conscience is clear!"
"Is it? We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was…" Jonas pointed out, seeming rather indifferent.
"The reality is, that every parent you've ever had has died, because of your weaknesses.
I died because you couldn't deduce your Father's plan. You were too busy living a lie to look around and face reality. What was that you were saying about before? Pigs facing the wall as the slaughterhouse blades whir…"
"I didn't say that…"
"Say it, think it… Same difference in here. Nothing is safe from us, not anymore…" Jonas shrugged, dismissively.
"Your Father died, because you weren't strong enough to take charge or stand up to him. If you were in the control room, everyone would've lived, even that poor woman that you murdered at Raven Rock."
"He wanted me out of the way…" Denis murmured, glancing to the floor.
"Did he… Know that they were coming?"
"What of Star-Paladin Cross? She was a soldier, under your command and you lead her to her death. She lay brutally maimed at your feet, bleeding out after losing an arm and you, the great doctor that you are, couldn't even save her."
"What's your point!? That I haven't saved everyone in the universe!?"
"No, that anyone who gets too close to you dies… It's a correlation that even you cannot deny, you burn anyone who touches you and today, this Vault will be engulfed, along with the rest of your family!"
Denis paused, finding his mouth, the corners of which twitching on their own.
"That's not true, it's not true at all. I thought you were clever but that wasn't even close to being correct." The Regulator explained, stepping forward.
"My family… I never had a proper one, so to embrace everyone around me as family. Amata, you, Cross…
What you don't get? Is that there are so many lives who I have touched, so many that have touched mine, it's impossible to extinguish them all and they're what keep me lit! They burn but they don't burn out, they're like candles! Hundreds of stars, causing my galaxy to shine bright and not a single being, no matter how fancy his computer set-up is going to stop me from getting back to them!"
Denis lifted his pistol and took a shot, shooting a bullet into Jonas' head and putting him out of his misery. He didn't exactly look comfortable, standing there in that condition, beaten to a pulp…
The Regulator walked on past him, doing his best not to look back at the shattered glasses and the hollow eyeball behind the broken lens. It wasn't real… None of it was.
He just had to hold onto that thought…
Denis stepped into his Father's office, examining the bobblehead from afar, he figured that this was going to be his next button. He was somewhat hesitant at first, knowing how hard this was guaranteed to be...
He took a deep breath, sighing heavily as he gently bopped the small statue on the head, taking some solace from watching it bobbing up and down.
It was odd, how childish impulses give us so much relief from reality, how they distract us for a brief moment and take us back to a time where there was just so much mystery in the world.
The Regulator was always envious of children, their worlds were so much bigger, so full of wonder and mystery...
The world was big and there were mysteries all over the Wastes but somehow it wasn't enough. How many lockers have tentacle monsters inside? How many beds serve as roof tops to mythological beasts?
"Denis..."
None... Not anymore...
The Regulator turned back and saw his Father stood behind him, he used to find comfort in those eyes, in his voice... Now he was the very embodiment of deception, false lives and loss.
"Don't you see? This is justice, it's always been justice for Anna Holt..."
"Screw you." Denis said, plainly.
"I know what I did to her was abhorrent but in the end? She betrayed us, she betrayed you or the man who's form you took!"
"So you're saying that I'd want her to die?"
"I'm saying that you wouldn't want to her to join the Enclave."
"If she didn't, she would've been killed."
"She was killed anyway, what does it matter, why are you bringing this up now!?" Denis snapped as he stepped forward.
"Just let me leave!"
"I cannot let you leave, until you accept the truth. Accept that the Wasteland would be so much better off without you and that you would be so much better off without it." James said, shaking his head firmly.
"Oh, so the Wasteland would be better if it was full of slaves? Slavers? Mutants? You aren't my Dad, I don't know who or what you are but..."
"It's better off now that it's scattered with corpses? Those you killed in droves?"
"The innocent deaths don't even come close to the deaths of the guilty." Denis insisted, he knew this, even if you counted morally grey murders, like Roy Philips, he'd killed a grand total of 5 innocent people.
"So many lost souls, forced to fight for survival, only to lose to you..."
"Are you talking about the Raiders? The mutants? They're monsters! They kill without mercy."
"They have no choice... You know this, you wouldn't be talking to me otherwise." James pointed out, folding his arms and furrowing his brow.
"They were victims to..."
"Now they're murderers, they had another choice, they chose the wrong choice." Denis answered, glancing down to the floor.
"It was too late to save them..."
"Jericho was saved... Until he met you."
Denis' eyes quickly shot up, he shivered a little, how much of his short term memory was missing?
"Jericho died a hero, he didn't drink himself to death or get shot by Lucas Simms. We all know that's what he would've done if it wasn't for you opening the Vault!"
"You're saying that it's 'me' who unleashed you on the Wastes?"
"Who else was it!? You were the one who opened the way! You got me exiled from the Vault, you forced me to run off into the wastes!" The Lone Wanderer snapped, stepping away and running his hands through his hair.
"You said that the Vault was for me but how was I supposed to know that!? How was I supposed to know that the life you were living was a lie!? That you didn't even want to be my Father and planned to just ditch me as soon as it met your moral parameters!?
Face it! Everyone who died, everyone I had to hurt or kill, even Anna Holt, it was you who put me in that situation! I could've grown up in Rivet City, with no lies clouding my judgement! I could've worked with you on Project Purity! Instead, you just thought about ditching me and going back to Project Purity and the funny part? You would've been dead if it weren't for me! You would've just run off and gotten yourself turned into a dog!"
"You know I'm not your Father... Yet you're still angry at him to the point that you're willing to take it out on me."
"Might as well, it's all your good for." Denis paused, shuddering heavily, with a sigh, gently leaning against the wall.
"Well, if it's any comfort? You're wrong... Your Father didn't want to abandon you, he actually thought of taking you with him." James said, stepping back and leaning against the wall.
"You know this how?" Denis asked, glancing up to meet his Father's gaze.
"You're a projection!"
James just paused, glancing down to the floor.
"You still haven't figured it out yet, have you? Well, don't worry... You'll know, when you know."
Denis paused, flinching as he raised his pistol at James' head.
"Tell me... Who are you? Are you using Vault 112!? I demand to know!"
"What're you going to do? Shoot your own Father in the face?"
"I killed Jonas and Gomez... Or their shadows."
"Well, let me tell you, you aren't going to get anywhere by killing me."
"No but it'll feel good." Denis scowled, shooting James in the forehead, letting him drop down to the floor, sprawled out along the floor as his 'son' simply strode past him. He didn't seem to care at all to watch his Father fall, he'd seen that once before...
He didn't ever want to see it again...
The last chime…
With that, the interface was now active and Denis now found himself face to screen with the Simulation's kill switch.
Vault 101's kill switch…
He took a deep breath, shuddering a little as he exhaled and stepped forward, hovering his hand above the keyboard. He took several deep breaths as he braced himself for what he was about to do.
Access "Chinese Invasion" program.
He found himself struggling to confirm it. How was it that it took more convincing to kill artificial intelligence than it did human beings?
How was it that these people, wearing the faces of the dead, were far more difficult to kill than their real life counterparts?
Was this part of the simulation to?
Whether it was or not, Denis only had one answer. He swiftly hit out at the keyboard, slamming his hand on the enter key.
As he did so, he heard the sounds of whirring machines, up ahead, he saw lights flashing in the corridors an the deafening sounds of sirens whirring in the corridors.
The Vault's doors were opening, letting the people out and the monsters in…