As we reached the other end of the bridge, a surly woman standing in what looked like a makeshift guard tower glared at us. Turrets on either side of formerly grand entrance pillars, as well as more turrets on top of said pillars, targeted onto us.
"A new settler, Valentine?" she growled.
"I'm only here to see your smiling face, Marcy." Nick replied as we passed by the turrets safely.
What was clearly once a typical New England suburb was now practically a fortress. The houses that had remained standing, more or less, had been fortified and now had another level built on top of them. The construction joined three homes together, and sported more defenses similar to the ones at the entrance. Across the road from this monstrosity was a cleared out section of cement foundation. A small cooking station, vendor stalls, and a seating area occupied this space. I could see what appeared to be an actual artillery gun down at the end of the cul-de-sac.
A man spotted us making our way to the center of the settlement, and cried out a greeting to Nick. He looked like a complete blast from the past in his Minuteman getup. If nothing else, he'd be easy to spot when I had questions.
"Preston Garvey, Minuteman. And now, your teacher." Nick said, gesturing to the approaching man.
I blinked, and shot Nick a heated look. "Teaching me what exactly? I thought I would just be hunkering down here until we came up with a plan to get me home." I said. I tried to hide my irritation at this turn of events but failed spectacularly.
The more entrenched I became in this world, the less likely I would want to leave it. I know it sounds counterintuitive. I want to get home to my family. But let's be honest here. Does it seem likely to happen? I was constantly asking myself if it might make more sense to just build a life here in the Commonwealth. I'd found a few good people to begin that journey with after all. But what about my kids? How would they manage growing up without a mother? Would my husband of 16 years move on from me as easily as I apparently was from him? And what kind of person did that make me? Hopefully Nick would find some answers, and I could begin working on my escape.
"Nate sent word about the new arrival. We expected you both a few days ago. Run into any trouble along the way?" Preston asked pointedly.
"No, no troubles at all. Just getting my traveling companion acclimated to the Commonwealth along the way. Lovely lady, this is Preston. Nate and Piper asked him to teach you basic survival skills, and help you set up a little home for the time being." Nick said as he took my hand and placed it in Preston's. "Now shake and say hello, you two."
Having gotten used to Nick's touch, feeling Preston's large hands engulf mine was a little odd. Never in my life did I think I'd prefer a robot's hand to a warm living man's. Just another little shock in this new life I suppose.
"I'm Preston Garvey. Good to meet you. You are?" he asked.
"Brenna will suffice for now. I hear you're going to teach me how to survive in this hellhole." I replied.
"That's the idea. I'm looking to improve your proficiency with guns, teach you basic things such as starting fires and scavenging for both food and useful supplies, and perhaps most importantly, building a good set of protective armor. This should be a start to what you'll need to learn out here. For all intents and purposes, you'll be a settler like most of the folks around here in Sanctuary, so you may want to learn the skills that will allow you to become a productive member of our little society. Farming would be a good place to start on that front." Preston informed me.
"Brenna does a fine job of starting fires and finding food supplies so far. I've begun teaching her lock picking and some computer terminal hacking already. I think she'll prove to be an eager learner for you." Nick added.
I took Nick's arm and tugged him away from this Minuteman guy.
"Excuse us for a moment." I told Preston. I caught a glimpse of Preston's mildly surprised look as we walked over to a bench in front of the nearest abandoned house.
"Nick, sit with me a bit. Please?" I asked.
"Anything for you. Something on your mind? You look as overwhelmed as Nate first did when he rescued me from an old Vault full of mobster types." Nick said.
"Seriously? I can't imagine Nate feeling like I do, or you being captured by anyone for that matter." I said incredulously.
"That's a tale for another day. In any case, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, his voice lowered so only I could hear.
I laid my head on his shoulder, just wanting a familiar friend nearby and a moment to collect myself. I told him as much.
"If you need a bit of quiet, it'd be my honor to stay here with you." he said.
We sat like that together for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. This whole situation sucked so much. Nick felt like a solid force in the whirlwind of emotions and events these days. I needed an anchor, and he fit the bill nicely.
"Nick, I'm gonna miss you when you go back to Diamond City. It's been nice having you near." I whispered. I wanted to say these things, but wasn't certain I wanted him to hear it. I didn't take into account that his hearing was superior to mine. Damn.
He hesitated a moment, and said "I'll miss you too. Life has certainly taken a turn for the interesting."
"That it has, my friend. That it has." I said.
Preston approached us, and asked if I was ready to get started on building up my home since I'd said my goodbyes to Nick. I wasn't ready, not to build and certainly not to watch my clockwork detective leave. But I pretended everything was ok, and got to my feet.
"Sounds good to me. I could use a roof over my head that didn't involve some sort of extermination beforehand. Where do I start?" I said.
"There's an empty yellow house down by the artillery cannon. I'll have Sturges get you started on fortifying it, and check in on your progress in a few hours." Preston said. It sounded a bit too much like he was issuing orders to me, but I guess that was just his way.
"I'll walk you down there, Brenna. Gives us a few more minutes to plan out what happens next. I've got some ideas on that front." Nick said, offering me his arm. I gladly took it, and we strolled down to the house that would be mine.
"I'm not ready for this, Nick. Having a place to call home in this world? Honestly, it makes me worried that we won't find a way back to my world. You mentioned that you had some thoughts on that?" I asked.
"Since it seems that Nate is reluctant to help us out, I'm thinking we need to gather some other resources. We can find folks who might have the information we're looking for, or at least a place to start finding it without getting Nate more involved than he cares to be." he said.
"That could work. I'll defer to you on that, synth sleuth. Nate seemed like a bit of a prick anyway when I met him so frankly, I'd rather not have him around us much. Is that typical for him? Sorry to say that if he's a good friend of yours." I said.
Nick sighed. "He wasn't always like that. The man you met is not much like the man who saved me, or the one Piper fell in love with. The more time he spends at the Institute, the more he changes." he said with a note of sadness in his voice.
"The institute again. That place must be full of bad mojo to have such an impact on people." I said.
"That's putting it mildly. Ever since I woke up in a trash pile, I've questioned the motives of the place that created me and all the other synths." he said.
"The Institute has other synths like you, Nick?" I asked with some surprise.
He chuckled and said "Not quite like me. I'm a prototype. Somewhere between what they call Gen 2 and Gen 3, I suppose. I was part of some experiment. Sticking a living human's life, memories, and experiences into a synth brain and body. I'm not truly human, and more than the early synth models before me. Guess we have that in common. Not quite here nor there."
We came to a halt in front of the house Preston had assigned me. It was getting close to sunset. I turned at the sound of footsteps behind us. A man in dirty overalls who had the look of a mechanic or carpenter came to join us while we stared at the house.
"Sturges here. You're the newcomer? Welcome to Sanctuary. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to see how well she lives up to her name." he said while sticking out his hand for a shake.
I shook his hand and said "Welcome home, I guess."