Annie, I hope you are alright, and I hope Amata is taking care of you. But you need not fret. Your mother and I will always be there for you, even if it is from afar.

This past month in Rivet City has been immensely paradoxical. Quite productive yet unproductive, all experienced at once. Though I wish she were more willing to discuss Project Purity, Madison has let me stay with her, so long as I stay out of the way of her and her staff. I am sure, now, if you ever need her, she will do the same for you. She has been rather concerned for you, Annie, and I hope to God she does not need to be. If there is reason to believe something terrible has happened to you, and if I am unable to protect you, then I will have failed before I have even begun. No, I could not go on if I were to lose you, my sweet little girl, the same little girl who would dance around the apartment humming to herself, and who has always refused to cut her hair because she has always wanted to be Rapunzel, if only her hair had darkened during her childhood. You had your mother's hair for so long, it, truly, was a surprise when your hair turned to a light brown, such as mine, after having reddish blonde hair as an infant and a toddler. You were so little, so tiny at birth you did not even fit into your baby clothes. Knowing you are healthy and grown now is a relief, and knowing you are safe with Amata, as well, is what has kept me going. I hope you will understand.

I will return, Annie, you need not worry about that.

Things are not quite right here. So much time away has truly blinded me from what life is like inside Rivet City despite having lived here for so long with your mother before your birth, Annie. What has been the most difficult part of being here again, however, has not been the noise of the city compared to the almost painful silence of the Vault, some nights, and instead has been living with Madison. I cannot imagine anyone else in this city being possessed of by the same kindness and understanding as Madi, certainly not now she has permitted me to live in her home with no stipulations attached. I have been sleeping well, now the adrenaline has left me, though I feel rather strange about sleeping each night on Madison's couch. I know it would be improper, but a part of me would like to sleep beside her. She is a calming presence, at least, for me, however I do know better than to be so selfish as to ask for such a thing. She already does so damn much for people without me making her life more difficult. Perhaps that is what I have become. The one thing, the one person whom, by virtue of his impulsivity, I am is a potentially mad, desperate man who feels – no, who knows – he must do this to preserve his wife's memory and as such is difficult to understand.

The most uneasy of my feelings towards Madi of late have been, though, of a more explicit and physical nature. I had never thought of her in such a way before, and yet now…

No, I cannot. I cannot betray the solemn oath I swore to you, Catherine. I should not be having such thoughts. She has been so startled by and, understandably, upset by my reappearance, too. It would not do to act on such thoughts, even though I have found, in dreams, an unnerving desire to spend more time with her, and to, perhaps, slide her perfectly pressed blouse off her…

No, no, no. I must focus, and focus on our work. Project Purity is the reason I am here, the reason I need Madison. This is an endeavour I cannot hope to complete of my own volition, and she is one of the only people who knows the project as intimately as I do. There are precious few people with the drive to even attempt a project so vast, and, from what I have heard, especially now with the Enclave's increased aggression but, even so, they do exist. Madison is one of them. If it were not for her, Project Purity never would have gone far beyond a fleeting notion. We have the opportunity, now, to complete it and, finally, provide the people of the region with clean, free, and easily accessible water. Once I find Vault 112 and the GECK, I will be able to return and, I hope, she will be open to returning to the endeavour then. For now, however, I am stuck, going through file after file to attempt to find any records of the location of Vault 112. The Vault and the GECK are the key.

"Still working in here?" Dr. Holt, right? When I turn, it seems I was correct, and the tall, sour faced blonde woman is standing in the doorway. "You've been here for nearly six hours, Dr. Davis."

"I've only made my way through the first two filing cabinets. There are still nearly twenty more to go through," I calmly explain. "I'm not preventing anyone from getting work done in here, am I? If so, I can leave for now."

"You're not preventing anyone from doing anything," She says, tapping her heels impatiently. "I just happen to find this persistence of yours pointless. Most of what's here is junk anyways."

"Though not what I was looking for, I've actually compiled a few files of information I find useful," I reply. "If it's alright, I would like to be able to take them for further reading later."

"Have at it," She says, rolling her eyes. "Finally, someone is decluttering around here. I always tell Albert to, but he doesn't listen, would rather tinker."

"Thank you, Dr. Holt."

I offer her a small smile to which she narrows her eyes before slamming the door shut and walking off down the hall. She seems quite strained, and I suspect it is in part due to the rather strange man who comes in and out of the laboratory complex. His vexing of Madison has, reasonably, led her to completely refusing to speak with him and, as the job has fallen to Dr. Holt, I can only imagine the frustration she faces at least a few times a week. He is a peculiar fellow, and never seems to go anywhere without his bodyguard. Armitage, I believe his name is, and he, too, is peculiar though in a much more threatening and menacing manner. His demeanour is almost robotic and, just as pertinent, he is a rather violent person or, at least, fantasises about violence quite a bit. The city's chief of security, Harkness, has more than once been called in to ensure no one in the laboratory complex is injured by the man. They have been around less, these past few days, which seems to be something of a relief to everyone. Far be it from me to complain about being able to spend more time working with no distractions other than those created by my own mind.

Catherine, I do wish I could hold you securely in my arms, keeping you and your fragile body but strong mind safe, protecting you as I had always intended. I never stopped writing, as you always asked me to keep writing. Even here, now, I still have a few of the diaries I have kept over the years. They are, truly, one of the few things I still have of you and nothing hurts more than the letter, the one I never got around to writing for you to read when, after our child was born, you were back on your feet. What I did write I feel rather guilty about, because it put so much more on you than you ever should have felt the pressure of, especially after you had left me, left us all. Truly I am embarrassed by it, by the demands I put on you when I should have known it was more important to lay you to rest, beautiful as ever, and raise our child, our daughter, our dancing princess to be as kind, gentle, and intelligent as you. My lamentations were selfish, I know it to be true now. Catherine, I hope you can forgive me. For my words. For my thoughts. It was so soon after you passed, so soon after Annie was born…

19. August. 2258.

Well, here we are, nestled all safe and snug inside Vault 101. It is so cold down here, colder still without Catherine, with her gone…oh Catherine. I so wish you were here with me. How the hell am I supposed to do this by myself? Live down in this hole? Take care of our daughter? But this is our life now, so I guess I had better get used to it. The overseer who runs the place is an overbearing bully, but I've dealt with worse. Star Paladin Cross did her best, convinced him to let us in. But I do not know what to do now. I have been assigned to a team in the medical wing of the Vault. Dr. Jonas Palmer, whom, from my few interactions with him, is a kind hearted and brilliant man. Dr. Roslyn Chambers, whom, though it took me by surprise, is much like myself – focused, calm, methodical. Though I cannot say I have been calm much of late. Every time Annie cries, I panic. Even if it is something so normal for an infant, such as simply needing a bath, a bottle, or her nappies changed, I panic when she cries.

Since arriving in the Vault, Annie has been a rather good sleeper. It frightens me, sometimes; if something were to happen to her, I suspect I will have nothing left to live for. Project Purity has fallen to pieces, completely and utterly crumbled. You, Catherine, are gone. Annie is all I have, our beautiful Annette Christine. I gave her the name I knew you loved most, and, though I had worried about it at first, I believe it suits her quite well. You were right – naming her Ginger Rose would have been a mistake.

I was reading back on everything I had written in this last year, everything about Project Purity. When I had written…

Almost a man possessed, I begin rummaging through my bag for my other notebook, the one from then. When it is in my hands, it feels heavier than I recalled, perhaps weighed down by the memories.

1. December. 2257.

We are back at work after a full week of delays. The Brotherhood soldiers were able to repair the sentry guns, much to my relief. I know Madison is not comfortable having them here, but there is no denying we would be lost without them. We are still waiting on the full analysis of the last three small scale water purification tests, and I hope they come back with good news. Catherine has not been feeling well, and it is slowing down our research. I do not mind, I took an oath to care for her after all, but I can tell it is bothering some of the others, Madison included. She has always been quiet around Catherine, and I cannot fathom why. Catherine is always so kind and bubbly, it baffles me how Madison seems almost incapable of speaking with her or, really, even around her. Catherine tells me she is more open when I am not around, and I hope she is right. I worry about Madison a great deal, and she has always seemed to be rather…

19. December. 2257.

Well, there is no more mystery behind Catherine's health problems. The news of her pregnancy has lifted the spirits of everyone here, and given us a renewed interest in making the purifier work. We now have a future generation to provide for. The latest tests show our methods are horribly inefficient, a let down, but I think we are on the right track. Catherine refuses to rest; she insists on spending all day in the lab. I have never seen her more driven. She is determined to resolve the power problems before the baby is born. I have tried to reason with her, but it is no use. From what we can tell, the baby is due in July or August, but I fear her condition could lead to premature birth. She has not been eating, even less than usual, and instead focusing everything she has into our work. I am doing all I can to make sure she gets the nutrients she needs for herself and our baby, and I know she wants our baby to be healthy. I only wish she wanted the same health for herself…

17. February. 2258.

The team has made plans to scale back our work once the baby is born. Catherine believes we are going to have son, and she wants to name him after me. If she is right, I do not believe I deserve such an honour. I will have to try and come up with a name for our baby – whether our baby is a son or a daughter – she will love too. It does not matter much, though. Even more than her, some days, I cannot wait to meet our child. Until then, my focus is on our child's mother and the project we have dedicated ourselves and our lives to.

At the moment, we have been trying to compensate for the increase in mutant attacks. No one is really talking about the implications of it, however. There are more of them than before. We know it, and the Brotherhood Of Steel knows it, and, as such, our relationship with the Brotherhood is straining. I do not like to judge, but I do believe Madison's arguments with them have been part of the problem, her insistence on them staying as far out of our way as possible making some of them believe we are ungrateful for their help. Madison has never been on the best of terms with them, and, aside from Scribe Rothchild, she will tolerate none of them. If Catherine and I have to step back after our child is born, and Madison becomes the one dealing with them, who knows what will happen. I hope it will not come to that. Imminently, the Brotherhood are concerned by the lack of concrete results from the project, especially in light of the mutant attacks. They have not said it outright, but we all know what is happening – they are questioning whether their involvement in our project is worth the trouble it is causing them. They have lost two good men this week, with three more injured.

Maybe we are hoping against hope for things to come together, but we have no choice. The people of the region need the clean water, and the Brotherhood needs it so they can keep it safe for the people from the Enclave. I do wonder if they are behind the mutant attacks. No one knows much about this Enclave, but I have heard rumours. The new leader of the Brotherhood, or, at least, new since his arrival, replacing a series of weak and struggling leaders who had been barely holding onto control of Brotherhood strongholds…he is a good man. Owyn Lyons. He has reinforced and saved the Brotherhood strongholds of the Citadel and the former international airport after the rest of the Brotherhood had, by all accounts, been barely holding onto them for nearly two hundred years against the Enclave. It was an incredible feat, but everyone needs aid at some time or another, and their time came. I quite like Lyons. Not only has he helped them continue to stave off and fight back against the Enclave, but he is dedicated to serving the people of the wasteland. He is also a good father to his two children, a daughter and son. I hope I can, one day, be as good a father as he is to his children.

Have I been a good father to you, Annie? Leaving you has left me with questions, some of which I am scared by. Is Madison right to say I have abandoned you?

No, you have Amata. Alphonse will not lay a finger on you, if not for your sake but for hers. And out here it is not safe. You are safe there, with her, with everyone you've known your entire life. I promise, when I can, I will return.

I keep telling myself I will return.

If I stop, I fear I will jinxing myself.

I have to get back to work. Dawdling and reminiscing, though tempting, is not enough. It will not get me to where we need to go.

I know we can make this work, now, this second time around. So, I return to the filing cabinets, and begin to rummage through them again, though unable to cease my ruminations, for now. Dr. Kaplinsky had said there were maps in here, somewhere, though what of she could not quite recall. I cannot blame her, not with all she has to do. Her own experiments, keeping the laboratory running, teaching students from the city's elementary, middle, and high school. Three schools, all run by the Brotherhood or, at least, partially run by them. Seeing how enthusiastic some of the kids are about science is wonderful. Dr. Holt teaches classes, too, but is much less thrilled about it from what I can tell. She does not seem to like people much. Madison, sometimes, teaches as well, but only the high school students and a handful of the younger kids, no more than ten, I believe, for the younger ones. I cannot help but admire her work, whether it be with the team she has assembled these past twenty years, the students, or alone. She is just as I remembered. Brilliant, mindful, and absolutely gorgeous –

"Did Anna give you trouble?" I smile when I turn back towards the door to see Madison entering the records room. "She seemed rather miffed," Madison continues. "But I think she's more annoyed by the fact I had to remind her she can't leave a group of fourteen year olds alone with corrosives."

I laugh. "Have they gotten into trouble with hazardous chemicals before?"

"Some of them," Madison replies. "The oddest thing to happen in the lab was during one of Dr. Roberts' geology class. A boy began licking the rocks, on a dare. The worst thing to happen was during one of Dr. Addams' class when a girl nearly spilt a sample of E. Coli into her drink. I suppose it was one way to remind people why not to eat or drink in the lab."

"Horrifying, I'll say," I remark. "Sounds one poor experience away from one of the wealthy parents needing to be removed from the laboratory complex by security."

"Speaking of people needing to be removed from the laboratory complex by security, you have my full permission to call them in against Zimmer," Madison sighs. "He's an absolute nuisance. I'm tired of him and his condescension. 'Stop playing with your chemistry set and start talking real science.' If Zimmer wants to talk 'real science,' then I'll do so if real science involves him staying out of my way, but he has nothing of substance to say."

"Some people don't," I say, pausing when she smiles. "What's that for?"

"I forgot how good it was having you around," She says, and I cannot help but smile too. "You may be a pain in the ass, James, but I forgot how nice it was having someone to talk to who understood my work and didn't want anything self serving from me."

"I'm glad to hear it," I say, raking a hand through my hair. "And thank you, Madi, for everything you've done for me since arriving here. I know it was unexpected."

"You mean well," She says though she soon shakes her head. "Even if you are a bit mad."

"I'll find a way to make this work the second time around, Madison," I promise her. "I wouldn't have come here if I didn't believe wholeheartedly in it. This will work this second time around. I just need time."

"You keep saying that," She says though her voice is lighter than I anticipated. "But I can't let myself believe it, not right now, and not without proof. We tried so damn hard to make it work, and it just wouldn't."

"I know," I say, closing one of the file cabinets I had absentmindedly left open. "This time will be different, Madi, and I wouldn't promise you that if I didn't mean it. You know me, after all, and I never break a promise."