"What do you mean you can't open the gate?" Piper sighs deeply and continues "Stop playing around, Danny! I'm standing out in the open here, for crying out loud!"
"I got orders not to let you in, Ms. Piper. I'm sorry. I'm just doing my job."
"Oooohhh, 'just doing your job?' Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? 'Oh look, it's the scary reporter!' Boo!"
"I'm sorry, but Mayor McDonough's really steamed, Piper. Saying that article you wrote was all lies. The whole city's in a tizzy."
Piper was getting frustrating and furious over this. The only thing she could do is yell at the machine "You open this gate right now, Danny Sullivan! I live here. You can't just lock me out!" She sighs again and leans closer to whisper this to him "I can wait all day, Danny. Open up!"
"Piper… I can't believe you're still alive." Sonja speaks out to Piper to get her attention towards them. Dogmeat runs up to her and acts friendly towards her in exchange for a few head pats.
After Piper was done patting Dogmeat, she looks back to Sonja with surprise and replies "Sonja? I thought you were done with this place? Wait, you want into Diamond City, right?"
"Not me." Sonja replies and tilts her head to the side to point at Doomguy "He does."
"Then play along." Piper replies and leans closer to the intercom system "What was that? You said you're a trader up from Quincy? You have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a whole month? Huh. You hear that, Danny? You gonna open the gate and let us in? Or are you going to be the one talking to crazy Myrna about losing out on all this supply?"
"Geez, all right. No need to make it personal, Piper. Give me a minute."
After that, Piper finally got her wish and saw them opening the gate. Piper was relief to finally have a chance of returning. She looks back to the others and says to them "Better head inside quick before ole' Danny catches on to the bluff."
Sonja whistles Dogmeat to return to her side and responds "You two go on through. It's better that I return home."
Doomguy looks back to her "I appreciate the help."
"Help?" Sonja scoffs while moving her helmet in front of herself with both hands to it. She replies "From what I saw about you, you could've made it here without my help. Good luck on whatever you think you'll find here, and perhaps next time should you desire to have company, you know where to find me." After that, Sonja puts her helmet on, nods to the two and turns around to walk away from them.
Now it was Piper's turn to deal with him.
As soon as Piper went past the gate, another obstacle was waiting for her all the sudden, as if he knew she would find a way to get inside the city. It was the mayor himself, McDonough.
"Piper! Who let you back inside? I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut!" He was seriously not happy about this. "You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer! The… The level of dishonesty in that paper of yours! I'll have that printer scrapped for parts."
"Ooooh, that a statement, Mr. McDonough? 'Tyrant mayor shuts down the press?'" Piper responds
Doomguy was not really interest towards this argument, so he chose to walk past them and go straight to the city. However, Piper calls him out and asks him a question.
"Why don't we ask the newcomer? You support the news? Cause the mayor's threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster."
Doomguy looks back to her and gives her his answer "I support it. Because without the news, I'd probably be dead."
McDonough turns towards Doomguy and changes the subject "Oh, I didn't mean to bring you into this argument, good sir. No, no, no… You look like Diamond City material. Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. Safe. Happy. A fine place to come, spend your money, settle down. Don't let this muckraker here tell you otherwise, all right?"
"What did you just call me?" Piper asks and steps closer to McDonough, which made him take a step back from her and turn his eyes towards the nearby guard to intervene.
"Oh, well… Was there anything in particular you came to our city for?"
"You're the mayor. I need information." Doomguy replies
"Information about what?"
"The Institute and the UAC."
"What? N-Now why do you want to know about that?" McDonough asks him
"They have my wife and son. I'm going to get them back."
"Wait… Your family's missing?" Piper asks, then looks back to McDonough and replies "Oh, you hear that McDonough? What's Diamond City Security going to do to help this man, huh? This isn't the first missing person's report to come through here. You going to do anything about it?"
"Don't listen to her. While I am afraid that our security team can't follow every case that comes through, I'm confident you can find help here. This city has every conceivable service known to man. One of our great citizens can surely find the time to help you."
"Hmmmmm…." Doomguy turns away from him and starts walking up ahead into the city.
He can hear the two arguing some more, until McDonough ends the conversation and walks away from her. Piper decides to catch up to Doomguy and follows beside him.
"Hey, you wanted to know about the Institute? If you're interested, you should stop by my officer. I think I just found my next story."
Doomguy looks back to her and says nothing, then faces forward to see the great view of Diamond City.
Diamond City was the Commonwealth's largest and successful community. This place has been active for decades, and the community remains the same, as one side, the wealthier residents would occupy the upper stands of the stadium, while the lessor residents would remain down below on the field.
Doomguy decides to follow Piper, since her words really caught his attention, and decides to explore the city later. As soon as Piper was done talking to her younger sister at the front of the house, Piper invites Doomguy inside the house.
"So glad you decided to talk to me, Blue."
"Blue?" Doomguy asks while raising an eyebrow for a moment
"Cause you're a Vault Dweller? I know you're not wearing the blue jumpsuit right now, but the Pip-Boy and that 'fish out of water' look? Dead giveaways."
"I am. So what do you know about the Institute and the UAC?"
"I'll tell you whatever I can, but here's the deal. I want an interview with you. Your life story in print. I think it's time Diamond City had a little outside perspective on the Commonwealth."
Doomguy sighs and asks "Is this really necessary?"
"Yep. And if you do that, well… I'll tell you what. I'll come with you. I'll watch your back while you get used to the world above ground."
"I can handle against the monsters of the Commonwealth. Can you?"
"I lived in this new world long before you. I know what's really out there, and I survived against so much. So, do we have a deal?"
Doomguy turns away from her and decides to sit down on the couch and lean against the top barrel of the shotgun like it was a cane. He knew this was going to be a while and he cannot leave until she gives him what he wants.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
Piper smiles and replies "Good. Let's get down to business. So, I know you're from a Vault. How would you describe your time on the inside?"
"It didn't last long. I was frozen inside a pod."
"Wait. They boxed you up in a fridge? The whole time? Are you saying you were alive before the war?"
"I was alive before World War 3. I never fought that one, but I fought in another war."
"There was another war before this? And you survived two wars?" Piper scoffs and continues "You really are immortal. So, you're telling me you saw everything before they blasted this world to pieces?"
"Yes."
"Wow. I hope you're telling the truth about experiencing one war and then live long enough to see the next."
"It is the truth. I fought in a war to save this world, and then they decided the world didn't want to be saved, so they cause this instead."
"So, you've seen the Commonwealth. Diamond City. I know Sonja gave you a little tour before coming here, so how does it compare to your old life?" Piper asks
"Hmmmm, this new world reminds me of that war I fought, and relief to see humanity hasn't given up on this world yet."
"That's good to know. Now, the big question. You came all this wat looking for someone. Who is it?"
"My wife and son… They were taken from me."
"Hmmm, the man after his missing family…" Piper sighs and continues "As heartbreaking today as it ever was. Do you think the Institute are involved?"
"Whoever is involved, I'm going to make them pay." Doomguy replies "And if I find out they're dead…." He tightens the grip on the top of his gun and continues "There will be a reckoning."
"Well, I feel sorry for the ones seeing the end of that barrel of your gun." Piper replies "And I guess that's everything. It's going to take some time to put this together, but I think your story is going to give Diamond City a plenty to talk about. But there's one last thing I'm curious, if you don't mind me asking."
"What is it?"
"You fought in a war before this one. What happened? What was it all about?"
Doomguy sighs and looks down "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"I'm a reporter. Try me."
Doomguy looks back to her with a serious look on his face and replies "It was hell. The things I saw and fought…. They're far worse than anything you've ever seen before. I only encountered ghouls and a large behemoth, but they're nothing compare to the real monsters. We were fighting Demons."
Piper scoffs about it and asks "You're… Really? There were monsters before all this."
"Yes.
"Wait…. Hang on a second." Piper turns away and walks off to find something in the room.
"How long do I have to stay here?" Doomguy asks himself. He finally stands up off the couch and leans the double barrel against his shoulder.
Piper returns with just a comic book cover and offers it to him "I want you to take a look at this."
Doomguy looks back at her and takes the comic out of her hand. The moment he took a look at it, he was left with shock to see he was holding. It was literally the cover of DOOM. The sight of seeing himself, standing on the high ground and shooting at the Demons that were trying to climb their way to reach him, forced him to experience some flashbacks of his time when he engage the Demons wherever he went. While he shown no mercy and no emotions against the armies of Hell, Doomguy was still suffering a post-traumatic stress, after finally winning the war and returning home to find nothing.
Doomguy drops the comic onto the floor and turns away "That is enough. Were done here…." He then turns to the door and walks out of here.
"W-Wa. Hey, wait."
As soon as Doomguy made it outside, he notice a commotion happening in the middle of the market. One man drew his gun towards his own brother and threatens his life in front of everyone. His brother was left in fear for his life and left his hands up in the air, while his brother demands he tell everyone he is not his brother but a Synth. Of course, he has no idea what he is talking about, and while this was happening, the guards drew guns towards the gunner and threatens to shoot him if he does not put his gun down. After failing to calm him down, two guards open fire and shot him through the head. Everyone quickly got down and moves away in fear over this man's death.
"Okay, show's over! There are no Synths in Diamond City, hear me? Just you folks and your damn paranoia!" The city security replies when securing the body
And this was not the only thing happening right now. A large VTOL-Helicopter, which is large enough to hold over fifteen passengers, flew over the city and attempts to land outside the front of the city. They were unable to land inside the city, since the size of this bird was so big that the pilots worry they could lose control if they make a mistake. It was perfect for them to almost land on the ground and drop only a few troopers out from the back of the bird. Only four people came out of it, two light infantry, one medium infantry and a heavy infantry in a power armour. These people are part of the ARC; ARC Troopers.
The ARC Troopers have three sets of class, where the light infantry wore a black bodysuit with a protection vest and carry submachineguns. The medium class wore the same black bodysuit, but with more combat armour covering themselves completely and carry all types of heavy arsenal of guns. The heavy class are those who have permission to wear a black power armour with a minigun.
As soon as the drop was complete, the VTOL bird ascends high and flies out of the area. These troopers would move through the city without any resistance from the guards because this was not the first time they came through here. The man with the medium armour would break off from the others to meet with McDonough in his office, while the others enter the market and interact with the security or go for something to eat.
Doomguy watches them entering the city and went straight to the middle of the market to ask for something to eat from the robot. Piper approaches him to his right and fills him on some of the details.
"Those are ARC Troopers. They usually show up on business. They're the military authority to the Commonwealth and work with the UAC."
Doomguy looks back to her for a moment and says nothing to her. Piper continues "Look, I said I'd come with you when were done with the interview. Sonja trusts you, so I trust you too. I can also introduce you to someone who is good at searching for missing people. What do you say?"
"Hmmm, fine. This better work."
And so Piper takes the lead on bringing Doomguy to meet with Nick Valentine. He was the perfect investigator to help search for his family. As they were making their way to his office, Doomguy looks back at the ARC Troopers in the town square, where one of them was showing citizens a picture of a person. It was either a wanted poster or a person that interests them. One of them approaches Doomguy and asks him if he has seen this girl, and the person's face he saw on the paper was actually Sonja. It was a wanted poster; Sonja was target for dead or alive, and the reward of finding her is over three thousand caps. The poster had just her face with her helmet next to her face, as well as information about this woman. It all became clear why Sonja refuse to enter Diamond City because she is a former member of the ARC.
"I've never seen her." Doomguy replies and looks forward to follow after Piper. While he walks away, he expects he will be seeing her again very soon.
They arrive at the front where they find Nick Valentine already inside and checking through his folders to find any new work that must be doing. Piper walks in first to interrupt him. As soon as Doomguy enters the room to see him, he almost went alert by grabbing onto his pistol at the ready the moment he saw Nick as a Synth.
"Woah, easy there, blue. He's a friend."
"Piper… What trouble are you bringing to my way?" Valentine replies
"I've got someone who needs help searching for someone." Piper replies and steps to the side to allow Doomguy to step forward "He's a Vault Dweller that just came to the surface."
"You're a Synth." Doomguy replies
"I'm a detective. I'm not a Synth working with the Institute so don't bother asking about that. It's not really important right now." Valentine responds and looks back to Piper "Piper, you know I've got other work that needs doing."
"I promise this good. You can't turn this one down."
"Hmmm, alright. So you looking for a missing person, right? Well, you've come to the right man. Alright, take a seat and make yourself comfortable."
"More talking…" Doomguy mutters and did what was told and sits down in front of the desk
"Now then. When you're trying to find someone who's going missing, the devil is in the details. Tell me everything you can, no matter how… Painful it might be."
"There was three people I saw in the Vault. They wanted my son, so they kidnapped both my son and my wife."
"So were talking a small team. Professionals. The king that know to keep their lips tight when they're on the job." Valentine replies "Anything else you remember?"
"One of them wasn't human. He was a robot."
"A Synth?" Piper asks
"He didn't look like a Synth. He was a tall robot, and he was in charge of this. I know because one of them was going to kill my wife in front of me…." The thought of the man aiming his gun towards Samus was making him angry enough to close both his hands to form a fist.
"Hmmm, I don't know about this giant robot. Most of the Synths everyone has ever come across has always been a fake imitation of a human. Whatever this leader was definitely had an agenda with your son. I'm not sure why they decided to take your wife too. It wouldn't be a surprise all of this is done by the Institute."
"Are they really a problem around here?" Doomguy asks
"Well, they're the boogeymen of the Commonwealth, so everyone blames them for anything suspicious in the shadows." Valentine replies "There's also the other lower-muscled factions in the Commonwealth, but there's no way any of them would have a robot as their boss."
"What about the UAC?"
"The UAC? Well, they're just as secretive as the Institute, and they use those ARC Troopers as hired muscle. The only thing different between the Institute and the UAC is that one of them is actually helping humanity by offering resources and technology, while the other is busy kidnapping people, stripping towns for parts, and killing everything in their way."
"You shouldn't trust them." Doomguy replies "They're worse than the Institute."
"What makes you think they are?" Valentine asks "Didn't Piper say you were in a Vault?"
"The UAC was around during my time, and they collapsed before this war started. Because of what they did in the past, they're the ones responsible for this war in the first place."
"Is that right? You're right about this one, Piper."
"Have I ever been wrong?"
"On occasions. Okay, so were getting off track at this investigation and we only know of this tall robot is one of the clues of solving this case. Can you tell me about the other two? What they look like?"
"The other two… One wore a hazmat suit and the other was bald, and his weapon was a revolver."
"A high-caliber revolver… Hmmm… I'm starting to get a cleaner picture of the kind of man this is. Wait… You didn't hear the name 'Kellogg' at all, did you?" Valentine asks
"No."
"Ellie, what notes do we have about the Kellogg case?" Valentine asks his secretary that remain standing beside him with a clipboard in her hands.
"The description almost matches. Bald head. Carries a revolver. Reputation for dangerous mercenary work, but no one knows who is employer is." Ellie replies
"And he bought a house here in town, right? And he had a kid with him, didn't he?"
"What about my wife?" Doomguy asks
"I don't think he had a woman with him. He did have a boy with him, but was around ten years old." Ellie replies
Doomguy sighs of annoyance and shakes his head "That's not him…"
"Maybe he has a son of his own. Maybe it's someone else's kid. Either way, they both vanished a while back, so nobody lived in that abandoned house." Valentine replies and rises up off his chair "Let's you and I take a walk over to Kellogg's last known address. See if we can snoop out where he went."
"I'm coming too." Piper replies "I said I was going to help. This'll definitely be a story I want to write about."
And so the talk was done and the three leave the building to return outside. Valentine takes the lead and brings the two towards Kellogg's household where it was a private building set away from the rest of the buildings. He had a perfect view of the whole city.
During the walk, Piper walks beside Doomguy and asks about what happen with the comic. "Hey, blue, you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine…"
"What happen back there with the comic? I've seen that happen before, except the other guy was more terrified than you."
"I wasn't terrified… It made me remember things."
"I remember asking an interview with a new guy coming into the city for the first time. When he saw that cover, he was so terrified at the man in the green armour, then fled the city. Who is he?"
Doomguy was unable to respond to that and just looks back at her with seriousness. He was curious as to who the man who was afraid of him, and had an assumption that he could be someone he would have to find and kill.
"I've seen a lot of things in the Commonwealth. I didn't suspect there were more terrifying monsters that exist. That expression when you mentioned about them, I know you really are telling the truth." Piper replies
"Here we are." Valentine replies when standing in front of the door to Kellogg's house. "Keep an eye out, will ya? Let's see if I can get this open." He then crouches down and proceeds to pick the lock. Unfortunately the lock on his door was incredible strong, so only those with a high status of lock picking can open this door.
"That's one heck of a lock… Got something to hide, Kellogg?" Valentine continues, but he was not skilful enough to open this door. He steps to the side and asks "Why don't you give it a try?"
Doomguy tries it out by kicking down the door with a good kick from his right foot. Nobody complain about that, but they did look around to see if anyone actually heard that. With the door down, they enter the house and examine everything Kellogg had inside this place.
"Well that works… Anyways… Let's take a look around. Kellogg must have left something behind."
"Hmmm, wonder what we'll find." Piper replies and starts moving around the desk in front of them and goes upstairs.
Doomguy remain where he was and looks around the room. Valentine checks the desk and looks down to find a red button under the desk.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Valentine presses it and opens the wall on Doomguy's right and shows another secret room.
"Secret room… I've seen them a lot." Doomguy replies and moves into the secret room to find all sorts of stuff. He would go straight for the ammunitions, while Valentine checks the small table next to the chair and find a pack of cigarettes.
"San Francisco Sunlights. Interesting brand. Won't lead us anywhere on its own, though." Valentine replies and looks back to see Piper entering the secret room "Found anything?"
Piper shakes her head "Nothing whatsoever. You got anything?" She looks to Doomguy to find a Pipe Rifle from a duffle bag.
"Is this worth anything?"
"Probably enough caps to replenish your double barrel." Piper replies
"There's nothing here." Valentine replies and looks back to Doomguy "But I do have an idea of where we could start searching for Kellogg."
"I'm listening."
"I know a dog in the Commonwealth that can track down any man from miles. We give him these cigars and they could lead you to Kellogg."
"But Dogmeat is with Sonja at the moment." Piper replies "We'll have to find her again."
Doomguy sighs and replies "Typical…"
"I wish it was that easy. Look, before you head out… I know this is personal business. If you have to face Kellogg on your own, just say so." Valentine replies
Doomguy takes the cigar out of Valentine's hand and responds "I'm going after him with Piper and Sonja. Thanks for the help."
"If you need me, just come knocking. If not, then, the next time I see you, I hope it's with your family, safe and sound."
While they leave the household and return outside, nobody suspects an actual live camera was filming the whole thing. Kellogg himself would find out as soon as he return to his hideout.
Kellogg was taking a break inside Fort Hagen with the rest of the Synths following him. He just came back, after clearing the whole area around the fort and ordering the Synths to get to work on building a power armour for himself to venture into the Glowing Sea. They already scavenge enough parts and materials to prepare themselves on a dangerous journey to the Glowing Sea, and getting more resources from the Institute.
Kellogg checks his terminal to find an incoming message. The video camera, which is a small camera attach to the fan on his desk would go active the moment they enter the house, so now he has the full video of three individuals entering his house. After they left, Kellogg controls the video and rewinds it back to get a good view of Doomguy's face.
"It's you…." Kellogg replies and remembers that day when he last saw him inside a cryo chamber. "I figured I'd see you again… I bet he's going to enjoy this." And so he uses the terminal to send a message to the Institute to report about this.
As soon as the Institute got the message, one doctor had to send this message to somewhere else, which is the heart of the Union Aerospace Corporation. This message went straight to Mars, where the leader, Samuel Hayden, living in his quarters and checking through valuable data. He had to stop when VEGA, the artificial intelligent, interrupted him in order to give him this message.
"Dr. Hayden, we've just received a message from the Institute. Kellogg has information that regards the man that resides in Vault 111. He claims the man from Vault 111 is after him."
Samuel Hayden stops and leans back against his large chair. "Well then… That changes everything. He'll be going after Kellogg…" He then chuckles and continues "That's one less loose end. So, what is the status of the two?"
"Specimen 1 has been put under house arrest inside the Institute, after showing signs of serious rebellion against her superiors. As for specimen 2, he's still continuing his duties inside the ARC, and is unknown at this time."
"Contact the ARC and order to send specimen 2 to the Commonwealth. This is what we've been waiting for. Let's see how he fares against him."