Allison Huang started the day as she always did. Her eyes blinked open from a dreamless night, greeted only by the darkness of the early morning. She slid her legs to the side of her cot and she shot straight to walking to the nearby lab table.

Officially, Allison rented an apartment in the downtown residential center that most of the city's administration resided. However, that place never seemed to be the home that others found so welcoming and charming. She preferred being close to the action, as it were, near where she could continue her important work.

What that work entailed changed by the day, the week, and sometimes, even Allison's mood. On this day, Allison had reopened a closed project to construct a device that had the potential to replace James's Pip-Boy. In truth, Allison was tinkering with a slightly newer model of Pip-Boy 3000 but adding modifications per James's request. It simply was more fun to her to think of herself building something completely new.

As such, she fiddled with her documents and notebooks with one hand while he waved her other at securing herself a morning cup of coffee. She had been waving her hand for a few moments when suddenly a warm mug was pressed into her palm. She grabbed the mug, smelled it for a moment before looking up to find that James had entered the room.

"How long have you been here?"

"Just got here." James replied with a curt smile. "Sugar?" He asked, gently placing two packets on a small tray before tending to his own cup. Allison reached for the sugar before continuing with the documents.

"Just got here but you were here long enough to make coffee?" Allison wondered aloud in between sips.

"Your coffee's trash!" James called out, loud enough to hear but just quiet enough not to disturb anyone else who might be sleeping. Marie, despite her young age, had taken to accompanying Allison to her lab and sleeping as Allison worked late. Though she was not present tonight, Marie had done so consistently enough that it was a habit of James's. "I bought these mugs."

"I don't understand what it is about you that can tell the difference." Allison waved her now-empty mug. "I only drink for a pick-me-up, I don't need taste to function."

"Oh, that much is clear." James replied, eyeing the room filled to the brim with science and technical documents and sparse personal items. The only things indicating some semblance of personality were a couple centuries-old fashion magazines and a doll that Marie had left here during one of her late nights sneaking out.

James made himself comfortable in an armchair and just enjoyed the momentary peace that came with letting himself relax in the lab. It used to be that the only real place that James could relax without being disturbed was in the lab simply because people found talking while Allison worked to be annoying. Consequently, many colleagues avoided the lab whenever possible.

Allison continued working as the sun slowly rose over the city. It was difficult to notice because a wall of curtains and shades masked the early morning light but quickly became bright enough to obstruct Allison's tunnel vision for a moment.

Allison finally looked up and noticed sun's lonely position overlooking the city. Not only had sunrise long since passed by but it was also close to midday. Allison looked around to see if James had fallen asleep but instead found that he had left. She had completed the device and intended to deliver so she quickly donned a coat, a beanie and left for the one place that she knew James would be.

When Allison took the position of Chief Science Officer for the city council, she was offered the medical research wing at Haven. She instead opted for a smaller, but more appropriate Pre-War hospital that stood a block away. It was unusual for a hospital in that it was built into a skyscraper but Pre-War logic was something that always escaped Allison. Why bother questioning the why of the past and instead focus on making use of it in the present?

Allison pounced up the restored stairwell, taking note of the construction quality. Just a few months ago, this was all rubble. The boys are getting better and faster. She took note of a few areas of questionable quality but she was ultimately satisfied with what she saw. All problems were aesthetically related and not functional and so such criticism would enter her thought bank until a relevant time came.

Allison smashed open the roof access door and found James standing over the railing as he tended to. In the building, there was a small roof balcony that was built into the skyscraper that enabled one to look over the downtown square. It had been a Pre-War smoking break balcony but for now, in the depopulated building, it was a tiny sanctuary for James in the city. Perhaps, Allison thought, it is his only real sanctuary.

James was standing with his hands clasped left on top of right. His fists were loosely balled as though they were holding something as he rested his arms on the railing. His face, which had a tendency to give him a harsh and critical look about him, was instead relaxed. He was smiling softly watching the city come to life. Though now, it was too lively. James's smile disappeared as a vertibird passed overhead and flew its way into the square. Just a block before the Haven hotel was a patch of dirt that was intended to be a community garden. Allison recalled the experiments and proposals but when the time came few people dedicated their time to make the project work as intended. Instead, it is now the stomping grounds for the Brotherhood training their men.

Allison decided that it was now time to reveal her creation.

"And here you are, sir." Allison spoke suddenly with playful cheer. The noise proved distracting enough for James, waking him from his watch.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

"Your new and improved Personal Information Processor!" Allison announced.

"A new Pip-Boy?" James asked, he was slowly recalling his months-old request. "Already?" Allison feigned a pout.

"While your reaction leaves a little to be desired, yes it's a new Pip-Boy. Technically, it's the prototype to a new line of Pip-Boys so you could call it the Pip-Boy 4000." Allison suggested.

"Would you prefer a different name?" James asked, smiling slightly as he inspected the device. It was far sleeker and provided a more ergonomic profile than the Pip-Boy 3000 he was used to. The casing was firmer and lighter than his model. James booted the device up and saw an entirely different interface than the RobCo one he had been using for years.

"Of course!" Allison exclaimed. "I've spent so much time putting it together and making it work to your specifications, it would be a waste not to grant a name that matches the legendary prowess of its designer!" Allison shook her hands as James chuckled. "But I can't come up with anything!" she lamented, leaning on the railing and dramatically leaning her weight to appear as though she had lost all strength in her legs.

"I'm sure we'll think of something." James mused. "Did you write a whole new OS?" he asked, watching as the screen flickered to life. While the screen emitted a similar green light to his old Pip-Boy, the colors seemed more vibrant.

"I did more than that, some of your requests required an entirely new screen. I figured we could give it a full color screen and to make that work, I needed parts that the RobCOS was not coded to take into account. I just added some stuff here and there to make things work well enough."

"That's impressive." James replied. Allison looked over at him to give him a dejected face but instead found that he was completely enamored with the device. He was clearly trying to figure out the device to fit his plans and to use it to its full potential.

"Of course." Allison boasted. "That's what you get when you work with the best, Mr. Young! Now I trust that all of the funds will be transferred now that the device is completed?" Allison's eyes lit up brightly as they tended to when she talked about money. Allison Huang was a relatively simple creature of comfort. She was a scientist through and through but she struggled to manage her financials. James had taken to managing her affairs for her but only if she agreed to do some off the book tinkering for him. He tended to pay her anyways so Allison had grown accustomed to trying and often failing to fish extra caps off of him.

"Naturally." James replied before Allison could turn her request into a joke. "You've outdone yourself this time, Allison. I'll be happy to transfer the bonus next time I return to the market." Allison was shocked. She was surprised that James had become so taken with the upgrade but then she remembered the unreasonable long list of specifications James had sent her when he gave her his idea for an upgrade.

"That's right, your requests were completely unreasonable this time! You're lucky that we found the parts needed to make this work. I seriously doubt you'll encounter anything that requires you to make full use of the device's hardware but hey at least you'll be able to far more than play Red Menace on there." Allison joked. James didn't respond with a chuckle or even a joke of his own as he tended to. Instead, he continued to fiddle with the new device, fitting it and navigating the menus.

"James," Allison began before she stopped herself. Finding the courage once more, she continued her line of thinking. "It's been weeks since the Council Meeting." she began. James froze and flitted his eyes up to match Allison's. "People are nervous and they're wondering what you're going to do. Some want to fight, some want to join the Brotherhood. What are you going to do?" James raised an eyebrow in response. It seemed that the sincere question had come as a surprise to him. In fact, Allison knew James well enough to have a good idea but she needed to hear it from him.

"I'm surprised you even had to ask, Ms. Huang." James smiled. "Many know me as the Lone Wanderer or the Champion. Some in the Brotherhood probably will still call me Knight even though I went AWOL." he paused. "If they don't want me to lead, I will happily stay out of the political squabbles and the policy. But I will take any steps necessary to protect my city." Allison opened her mouth to speak but found no words. She knew that this was the way James was. There were no half-measures with the man who tore down Ashur's regime with his bare hands. Instead, she settled her heart and focused on the person whom James care about most in the world. The one person who stopped his rampage through the city after he discovered the truth about the Pitt.

"For Marie?" Allison asked. James nodded in confirmation.

"Anything, for Marie." James replied. He returned his gaze to the Pip-Boy and began unlatching his old one to be replaced by the new. James latched the metal clasp and stretched his fingers and slowly became accustomed to the new device's weight and profile. "A few preparations more and the Brotherhood won't be a threat at all." James smiled. "So don't worry about me, Ms. Huang. Worry about the people around you like Mr. Anders and the merchants guild. They know much more than me about business but they know nothing about war."

James finished his statement and once again looked at the new pip-boy. Before, he was flicking and tapping buttons but now he was able to navigate the menus with unprecedented swiftness. As Allison expected, he had mastered the device just in mere minutes. She expected him to leave and walk past her but instead he gave her a wave goodbye and disappeared in a flash of blue lightning. There was no sound or warning. Just some light, a brief -zip-, and James was gone. Allison sighed before turning her back on the balcony and returning to the lab.

As she slowly made her way down the stairs, Allison recalled the first time she met James Young. She was not like many of the other citizens of the Pitt. She was not a revolutionary, nor was a later settler. In fact, she was not even a wastelander.

It was like any other morning. First, it was dark. It was cold, then her eyes opened and they adjusted to whatever light it could find. For her first awakening, Allison remembered the small green faces that hissed at her with words she didn't understand. She remembered the smells of their putrid food and the buzzing of the tools they used as they cut at and dissected her.

At first she tried to avoid remembering past the flashes but she could not help recalling deeper into her memories. Though she possesses an incredible intellect and memory there is a limit to what Allison can bring herself to recall. Most people do not recognize the difference but James has theorized that it has to do with the nature of her body and the modifications done to it. Thanks to James's leadership, the Pitt is welcoming and hospitable city. It is usually judgment free though there is something left to be desired when it comes to synths and mutants. That said, Allison was not a normal human. In fact, she had been synthetically altered and changed. Although it was not the Institute that had changed her but instead the extraterrestrial forms that James and Allison had since termed Zetan. Whatever they did to her, she could not remember past the first time she woke up. For this reason, that first morning was burned into her mind. Although she looks to be a person who is in her mid-20s, she cannot remember a single moment prior to the first time she woke up on that alien mothership. It was crazy and it should have been some kind of dream that she experienced through a drug-fueled haze but instead it was a real memory. She knows because it is one that James was there to save her from.

It was supposed to be too late for her. She had lost too much blood and her breathing grew quieter and quieter with every breath. Allison remembered being at peace though. It was painful when she first woke up. It was painful when they cut at her and poked her and twisted her body in unnatural ways, but now everything was fading and she was dying.

The aliens, apparently being satisfied with their studies, were moving on from her. Perhaps they thought her being on the verge of death didn't matter or perhaps they were simply preparing a new tool to see how some other part of the human body responds to blunt force. Everything stopped when they saw James standing on the other side of the operating room. He was there, covered in blood. It was hard to see if it was his blood or someone or something's blood, but he was there. His face was stone cold, his brow furrowed in anger and his fiery eyes watching and understanding what the aliens were studying. The aliens watched him in horror and eyed what looked to Allison a lot like a console. They must've shouted something at him. One went for the window, the other the door, one simply dropped to his knees and mimed a prayer to its deaf god. But James pressed the button and Allison remembered a final cold breath before she returned to sleep.

She expected this one to be permanent. Instead, her mind drifted and Allison woke once more a metal room not dissimilar from the room in which she was dissected. The light was blinding so it took her some time for her eyes to adjust. She laid in the room for an unknown amount of time, periodically trying to force her eyes to adjust to the light before finally there was a hiss at the door. Allison tried to turn her head to see but found her body had no strength. It was strange, she felt no pain and in fact, she felt nothing but she still desperate wished to move her body. She needed to thank him for ending the pain.

"Doctor! Doctor!" a young, excited voice cried. "She's awake!"

"Sally!" an exasperated voice cried out. It sounded like a young man's. "How many times do I have to tell you? A medic is very different from-" a crash sound. "Oh my stars! It worked…!"

"Captain, Captain look!" the young voice returned. Only now was she summoning the strength to turn her head but instead of her turning to face the new voices she was instead greeted with the same fiery eyes that she saw at that operating table. Those eyes now had lost some of their luster but the same spirit was there.

"Congratulations are in order, Mr. Tercorien." a new gravelly voice came from whoever the eyes belonged to. "You have just medically resurrected a human being!"

Quickly the room was filled with laughter and joy. The woman was also able to join in the jubilation. She was alive and with each moment, she could feel her strength return.

"Alien tech!" the voice she recalled as belonging to one Elliot Tercorien exclaimed. "Who knew! Oh man, maybe we can save my men!"

"Elliot…" the gravelly voice responded. The mood dampered a bit.

"Yeah, maybe it's too late. But with what we know now, we have to try." Elliot said. His voice suggested he did not believe but was somehow still hopeful.

"Do it." she found her own voice croaking. The room was silent for a moment, then they exploded in energy as they realized they had completely neglected the poor woman.

Allison opened her eyes once more and her eyes were filled with the clear image of her laboratory. No longer was she surrounded by the metal curves of the alien mothership but now she was surrounded by steel and glass made by human hands.

Allison did not belong to this world. Not in the way that most people found themselves belonging. Instead, she was a human who essentially was born from the horrors that awaited her on that ship. She learned much from her companions, her fellow "Zetans" as some of the ship's crew came to call themselves. They had formed their own little community on that ship and for a time, they were happy.

Allison found James to be the happiest of the Zetan crew. He had found his calling, helping Elliot unlock the secrets of the alien biogel. They somehow managed to find a way to revive some of the frozen humans in the mothership. The crew's size quickly swelled to the hundreds before they began to considering sending people to return to Earth. No one was sure exactly how long they had spent on the mothership. The mothership provided food when needed and water as well. Elliot even figured out how to add flavor, reproducing some of the tastes from individual palettes. Eventually, the thought creeped into many peoples' minds. Many began to miss home.

James and Elliot had quickly calculated it was possible to return home using a teleportation device that was native to the ship. In fact, it could be used to teleport in and around sectors of the ship. However, what they were less certain on was whether or not one could teleport back to Earth safely and precisely where you wanted to go. Apparently, a former companion of theirs and had taken off after the initial calculations. James planned to return as well but chose to stay when he realized that Sally and Elliot had no homes to return to. This ship was now their home.

So James helped them clear the ship from the alien creatures and eventually revived as many humans as could be recovered. Allison was one of the later revivals which is why her "survival" proved so impressive to them. Allison remembered the conversation as clearly as she remembered everything.

They were seated in the old Death Ray firing chamber. James had taken to using it as an observatory to see the world from above when he grew tired of people. She had followed him, thinking he was going to do something dangerous. Then she chose to ask him some questions.

"Everything in that room froze to far below freezing temperature. I was so focused on the aliens and what they were doing that I pressed that button half on instinct." James lamented when Allison asked about her situation.

"Then how did you think to revive me?" Allison had asked. James grimaced.

"Those aliens also did something to me." James admitted. "I'm not quite sure what but I know that when I arrived, I was in and out of it for a while. They changed me or tried to or something. My body works a little different now and feels weird too."

"Feels weird?" Allison repeated to which James nodded.

"I feel like a stranger in my own body and more than that I resent being left for dead." James replied. He frowned as he continued to speak. "I just couldn't help but think that if it were me on the table, I wouldn't want to die like that. So I just had to take a chance and see if something could be done." Allison looked over at James and saw that he was looking down at the planet now. The Earth looked very different from Space, according to James. He once learned about other countries and continents through something he called school in another thing called a Vault.

From there he was slowly able to recognize how to read the Earth and then pinpoint where his home was supposed to be. At the moment of their conversation, the mothership hovered almost directly over his old home.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to try and leave the mothership." James spoke softly. "I'm hoping that I can count on Elliot but…" He paused and tried to collect himself. Allison was surprised that he was so unsure for himself. This was a first in her recollection.

"I can go with you?" she asked him. James turned to her and smiled.

"You should stay. There's no home for you down there." James said.

"If there's no home for me, why is there a home for you?" Allison asked in response. James paused and tilted his head as he thought.

"Maybe there isn't." He whispered. "But I'm going back because I need to try to finish what my father started. He died so that I could live and so that people could have clean, drinking water in the Capital Wasteland. I can't just sit back and enjoy life on the ship without trying."

"Then I can come and help?" Allison had said in response. James made a face but then relaxed his shoulders.

"If you must." he had smiled.

Allison twisted herself in her swivel chair. It had been many years since her mind had needed to recall the mothership. She wondered to herself if the crew was happy as they were or if others had ultimately decided to return home as well. Allison had chosen to join James on his adventures and she had yet to leave him. Few in the Pitt knew where Allison came from or why she was often loyal to him but Allison knew that where he led, she would likely follow. But she also knew that if he truly wanted to, he could rule the entire Eastern Wastelands the way he had led the mothership and the Pitt. She pitied the Brotherhood, flying their sole airship so proudly just outside the Haven hotel.

With that thought, Allison stood from her chair and stretched. Then she returned to a nearby lab table and continued her work. James was a strange but driven man and she was determined to see his story to the end.