1
"Director. We must get you to Dr. Volkert straight away." X6-88 stated.
The General stood in the Molecular Relay getting her bearings back. "Belay that, X6-88. I need to change and meet with the Directorate."
The synth shifted his head. "These instructions came from the Directorate. Particularly after the information G9-81 reported. You've been above ground and in the field for weeks. You came back not only in barely mobile power armor but dehydrated, suffering from malnutrition, and perhaps on the edge of delirium. The Directorate is prepared to meet with you after you are examined by Dr. Volkert and proven to not need at least one night of secure sleep to restore yourself.
"And I am not X6-88."
She regarded the synth who looked, sounded and moved exactly as she expected the one that had accompanied her on many Institute missions to move.
"That unit was declared missing in action after the incineration of Gunner Plaza."
"I didn't order that.", the General objected.
"Understood.", the synth responded. "However, that was out of an interest to not spend Institute resources on this war. Dr. Ayo authorized X6-88's attempted to assassinate Colonel Cypress."
"There were assets that I wasn't told about in Gunner Plaza as well?", the General surmised. "I'm going to see Dr. Ayo/"
"In the Directorate meeting after Dr. Volkert clears you.", the synth insisted.
"Am I the Director?", the General asked.
"Affirmative."
"And if I give you a direct order to allow me to call a Directorate meeting immediately without your or Dr. Volkert's interference, will you obey it?"
"Affirmative."
The General drew one of her pistols, the overpowered laser, and put it to the synth's head. "And what do you think about me blowing your brains out right here?"
"I believe it would be a waste of Institute resources. However, as the Director of the Institute made the decision to do so, I will abide by it. There may be some reason I have not computed to do so.", the synth assessed.
The General tucked the pistol back into her coat. "Fine. Dr. Volkert, a hot shower, a meal and then the Directorate."
2
"Where did that synth take my PIP-BOY, Dr.?", the Director asked.
"Probably the same place he took what passes for a uniform that you got from the Minutemen.", he answered.
"Hold out your right arm so I scan it.
"Everything will be returned, Director. I just wanted to test what you've been carrying for radiation contamination. Not only is topside very dangerous. But you, due to your unique origins, are the only full functioning example of pre-war humanity available. So in addition to your health and welfare, I could also be considered responsible for protecting a unique resource.
"The other arm please."
The Director scoffed. "I don't believe I look that different than other people, Dean."
"And I don't believe your phenotype really is.", Dr. Volkert replied. "In researching Sean's physiology for the synth program, we found that the real changes weren't really genetic but epigenetic. Like the ghoul condition: some people happened to have a lot of their junk DNA stop being merely junk when exposed to a significant amount of radiation and if enough of it is the development of brain structures or neurotransmitters in too high a concentration an onset of madness. Or the occasional Child of Atom marker."
"You mean how some of them seem to not only remain healthy in lethally hot environments, but could make you swear their hand was alight?", the Director asked.
"Their hand really isn't glowing.", Dr. Volkert stated. "It's that they've accumulated so many radioactive particles in their blood stream that there's a high enough concentration to affect the cones in your eye. It appears to be a glow, but the photons are released in your eye not their hand.
"But yes. Unlike the FEV virus that replaces functional DNA with other functional DNA, most of the survivors of humanity have been for lack of a better term 'naturally selected' for having the most radiation resistant epigenetic functions - the molecular machinery responsible for using only a subset of our entire DNA sequence.
"However, those adaptations do still show. Had you noticed any radiation symptoms from eating from ingesting pre-war foods? BLAMCO MAC & CHEESE/"
The Director nodded. "Of course. But that's to be taken for granted, they've been covered in fallout from the bombs."
"And you haven't noticed that no one else seems to show symptoms?", Dean asked. "That's because the humans that remain topside are literally better at passing the radioactivity than you are."
"Huh.", the Director mused.
"Anyway, I've completed my examination.", Dr. Volkert announced. "While I would say you're healthy enough, I'm sure your pre-war sensibilities may object. But your radiation content isn't remarkably different from anyone else here at the Institute. If you have any symptoms of pro-longed malnutrition or dehydration, I can't detect them. No germs that the Molecular Relay didn't cook out of you.
"I guess that I'm forced to clear you for duty."
3
The Director settled in at the head of the table. She was dressed in a CLEAN BLACK SUIT and showered to a level that was impossible back at the Castle.
Down the table were the usual department heads. Dr. Justin Ayo of the ever hopeful to be disbanded Synth Retention Beureu sat next to the Dr. Madison Li of Advanced Systems. Across from them were seated Allie Fillmore, Bioscience' Dr. Holdren and the head of Robotics.
"You can have this back.", Dr. Li said as she passed the PIP-BOY across the table to the Director.
"Am I supposed to thank you?", she asked.
"Well, it came in as clean as you are. So I suppose not.", Madison replied. "We thought it could be buggy since the chip that allows use of the Molecular Relay reported you were bogged down in the south eastern Commonwealth for quite some time, including a couple of days you didn't move more than a few meters. But everything appears to be in functioning order."
"Well, navigating behind enemy lines is tricky business.", the Director stated. "Sometimes avoiding the fights you need to to get to the fights you need to requires staying put."
Dr. Ayo objected. "We could have just used the Molecular Relay to put you where you intended to be."
"Which without knowing where that should be would have been entirely too reckless.", the Director corrected. "And yes, I am saying that despite avoiding telling you of my intentions so you wouldn't insist on supporting me with every synth under the sun.
"Either way, it's neither here nor there. The mission failed and the five synths I did bring along are all lost.
"What is under focus is the apparent nuclear attack on Gunner Plaza. I need the truth on this. Was it us?"
"No.", Dr. Fillmore stated immediately.
"Are you absolutely certain?", the Director questioned. "I have been expressing my views on repeating the mistake that turned my world into this world regularly and in front of large audiences. Don't cover for someone because you're afraid of what I'm going to do to them. If someone from the Institute is responsible, I need to show that. Otherwise, when it's found out that the Institute did this, we will lose any and all gains of peace or cooperation with the every facet of the Commonwealth. That includes the Minutemen who I've been building the capability of this entire time."
Dr. Fillmore nodded. "Allow me to clarify, Director. What I mean is that it's impossible. Every scrap of nuclear material that we obtained in enough quantity to cause an atomic energy explosion went directly into our reactor. Remember, we were scrounging for electricity from what remains of the surface power grid. Our previous military capabilities were offensively precise teleportation of laser armed machine troopers and a defense of effectively being shut off from the rest of the world. The closest we could come to a large explosion would be...oh, I don't know..."
"An overloaded FUSION CORE.", Madison supplied. "Besides, if we had such a weapon, wouldn't we have used it on the Brotherhood of Steel? We had to hack Liberty Prime to shoot down the Prydwyn with the Brotherhood's own nuclear weapon. Maybe you should remind your Minutemen of that if they begin to lose trust."
Dr. Ayo added, "Plus, my sources tell me that surviving eye witnesses state that the event was preceded by a plume of smoke from the sky. With the Molecular Relay, the Institute has abandoned local flight technology."
The Director nodded. "That brings me to two thoughts.
"The first is the reactor. We've revealed the existence of the new reactor to the surface in the speech Sean had me record, correct?"
Dr. Ayo nodded. "Fine. Dr. Fillmore, Dr. Li: can you generate a report that doesn't give away the capability of the previous reactor or at least the Institute's drain on it, yet shows that there was never material removed from it?"
Dr. Li folded her fingers.
Dr. Fillmore stated, "That's just an inventory report on the nuclear material. But anyone with a basic knowledge of applied thermonuclear energy reactions and marco scale quantum integrations could work out a theoretical maximal output."
"And that's why I'm wondering if it would reveal too much or it would beyond people on the surface to understand.", Madison mused.
"Don't underestimate people just because they were born on the surface.", the Director stated. "I would think that you of all people would realize that, Madison. Besides, I made it down here by getting a surface dweller to help hijack the Molecular Relay signal. But I need something for Piper Wright to publish. Get me something: and it has to make sense because one rumor from someone who knows better will shoot down the entire report.
"Onto the second issue.", the Director took a deep breath. "I am asking that Jack Cabot be granted permanent membership to the Institute. The man is clearly a genius and has made strides and discoveries in an entirely new field. I believe that his membership may require a redistribution of personnel to aid him in an entirely new department."
Dr. Holdren folded his arms. "Well, Dr. Cruz has worked out phenomenally. We're about to debut a new combat synth considering the sentience problem the recent Turing tests showed. Isabelle managed to not only strengthen a baseline synth frame to the might of power armor but also allow for anchors the biological components of a Mark III synth. It will be completely robotic for a combat chassy but still capable of the lifetime deep cover missions that have been assigned to Mark IIIs due to their indistinguishability from an actual person.
"What's Mr. Cabot's field of expertise?"
The Director grimaced. "Dr. Cabot works in xeno...xeno...xeno-mechanics? Xeno-engineering?
"Look, the man is pre-war. He got his Ph.D. maybe a century before I did. And before you start asking how that's possible since apparently Vault-Tech never screwed anyone over the same way twice and he wasn't in the cryo storage I was - recall the serum that's been distributed recently to strengthen and retard again in Institute members. Jack was the original producer.
"In recent days, he's been examining an alien spaceship for me."
"Bull.", Dr. Holdren surmised.
"Don't assume anything.", Dr. Ayo stated. "We've been observing Cabot House for decades. This...this explains entirely too much. Particularly the fact that the anti-aging serum came from somewhere since we didn't develop it ourselves and the Cabots...well, do not observably age without the ghoul condition."
"Then, if we are to believe that the Director has been going behind our backs and funneling the tools she's stolen to Dr. Cabot and not the Minutemen because he is examining an actual alien spaceship, the question becomes why was that decision made.", Dr. Li accused.
"Because the Institute is a bunch of cowards.", the Director stated.
"I agree.", Dr. Fillmore stated. "Maybe the rest of you don't notice because you get to be holed up in your own little projects. But whenever a serious problem develops with a system, people panic. I'm sure Dr. Volkert and everyone that has day to day operations knows it to be true. If the Director told us that aliens had landed and that's all she knew, we would have never shown our faces again and humanity would have died.
"Now, she's offering not only the existence of the craft and the craft itself but someone who can make sense out of it. We construct a single alien replica vehicle and we give humanity a shot again. And now that we've shown a vested interest in the Commonwealth, we are much more inclined to agree to do that. Isn't that what you were getting at, Director?"
The Director answered. "Well, I was thinking a space program using reverse engineered technology, so if that's what you mean by 'alien replica vehicle' then sure. But for humanity to be seen as anything approaching a worthwhile civilization and not just another ant hill or zebra herd, it's going to take being able to travel off the rock we were born on with attitude.
"Which means a space program to build and run whatever space ships the Institute can engineer. But that will need loads of support. Schools to educate a mid-tech skill workforce. Infrastructure to distribute resources from source to the project. The ability of the populace to provide those resources.
"And only now is the Institute ready to see that the Commonwealth's population is a worthwhile entity to invest in instead of divest of. So this is probably priority numero uno. And considering the level of technology Dr. Cabot has described to me I think it is, I don't think any scientist worth their degree is going to be hard to interest in working on this project.
"So, do we have a vote to invite Dr. Jack Cabot to the Institute?"
Nearly everyone else at the table called out "Seconded." at the same time.
The Director nodded. "So I guess he's voted in."
