Diamond City
June the 4th, 2288
12:21

"Oh, what fresh hell is this?"

For Dr. Lorainne Jennifer Scara, very little was more aggravating than people suddenly and loudly entering her office. To see not one but five people and a dog be the ones to burst in uninvited was close to being a criminal offence. She cut herself short, beginning to tell them off, however, when she saw what they were carrying.

Almost speechless, she pushed through them to start down the stairs, all but yelling at everyone who was not in a lab coat to leave the Science! Centre until further notice. Uncomfortably waiting at the top of the stairs, Nick, Nora, Cait, Piper, and Ellie kept exchanging nervous glances, punctuated every so often by Dogmeat affectionately rubbing his head against one of their legs. All but throwing her hands up in exasperation, Scara waved them down and ordered them to put what they had been carrying down on the large table in the middle of the room, pushing aside the notebooks, pens, pencils, calculators, and whatever else the others had left behind in their rush out of the building. Tired just from looking at the things, Scara briefly closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose, before, finally, calling her wife over to take a look. In a much more cheerful mood than her wife, Dr. Amelia Alexis Duff simply set down her notes, told the teenage boy with dark curly hair to continue taking observations for her, and came over. When she opened one of the larger containers they had set on the table, she grimaced, removing what seemed to be a human arm, and, then, torso, raising an eyebrow when she looked at Cait, Nora, and Nick in particular.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume you three brought us pieces of a body and not the whole body for a reason, but I'm very unclear as to what that reason is."

"This is…or, more accurately, was Kellogg," Nick explained. "Turned out he was, in fact, the one who kidnapped Nora's son…and killed her husband."

"That doesn't answer the question," Duff sent him a pointed look. "Why did you bring us pieces of the man's body?"

"A couple of reasons," Nick said, adjusting his fedora. "First, in that big box, the one with ice all around a smaller box inside it? That's the old merc's head, and we need to preserve it."

Scara raised an eyebrow. "To what end?"

"There are some…cybernetic enhancements in it, at least, we're pretty sure," Nora almost breathlessly told her. "Nick has a friend in Goodneighbour, but it might be a while before we can see her, and we need to preserve his head and brain inside it intact as best we can until then."

Scara frowned. "How do you propose we do that, then?"

"We can cryogenically freeze and store it," Duff said, smiling when her wife tentatively nodded. "Do we have the machine to do so still here?"

"It's in my office," Scara said, warily looking at Piper and Cait. "After having been misused last year by the two of them and Piper's wife in an attempt to freeze dry leaves for some God forsaken reason."

"In our defence, we were very drunk!" Piper nervously called up to her as she went up the stairs with the large box in hand. "It won't happen again!"

"No shit it won't happen again," The teenage boy muttered before turning to scowl at her. "You, Lissy, and Cait are a menace to society, and it's worse if Vadim gets involved…or if any of those power armour geeks from near Quincy do."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Sweet as always, Emmett."

"Some of us actually try to do work," He replied, turning back to his and Duff's experiment. "Alright, so add the…"

"Let me get this straight," Duff put the pieces of Kellogg's body back in the box. "You need to preserve the brain so – I'm guessing Amari, right? – it can be examined by a neurologist. I don't want to know why, and I don't want to know how. But the rest of him? Why did you bring all of this with you? I'm guessing it was a long way back to Diamond City from wherever the three of you went…" She laughed, for a moment, when Dogmeat let out a sad whimper. "Well, wherever the three of you and the cute little dog went. Why go through all this trouble to bring back a body when I'm guessing you three killed him?"

"Well, first, can you take any samples of what remains of his skin, bones…anything really to tell us how old he is?" Nora sighed when Duff eyed her in confusion. "We…he had some…very inconsistent documents in his house, and we…we're not sure if he's as old as he looked."

Duff shrugged. "It might take a little, but that we can do fairly easily. Still doesn't explain why you –"

All but jumping out of her skin when the doors to the Science! Centre suddenly opened, Duff rolled her eyes and swore at herself under her breath when she saw it was only Codsworth, followed by Lana Marie, her favourite student's eldest sister. With a slight smirk, Lana Marie walked over to where her brother was working and sat down next to him, waiting for him to notice. When he did, he briefly freaked out, having been so focused he hadn't noticed anyone had come near let alone sat down next to him. He scowled, and the two siblings stuck their tongues out at each other before crossing their arms and frowning at each other. Codsworth, thrilled to see Nora after not seeing her for a month, eagerly greeted her, happy when she smiled and started talking with him, herself relieved to find something was still normal. Cait spun on her heel to join them, wrapping an arm over Nora's shoulders, something the lawyer was more than happy to lean into. Still lost and disturbed when she opened two of the other boxes to find more of Kellogg's body parts, Duff glanced between Nick, Piper, and Ellie. Mostly happy to have the detective home safe, Ellie was standing beside Nick, and, every so often, their hands would entwine and then untwine, almost in a dance. Piper, almost too curious, pulled a chair over and hopped up onto it so she could get a better look inside the boxes laid out on the table. She gagged nearly the moment she saw the contents, but then went almost eerily silent, staring at something visible from under a partially cut open section of the dead mercenary's chest.

"Wait, wait…" She waved Duff over, who, having put a new pair of gloves on, quickly did. "Can you peel back a bit of the…skin and…can you peel that back? I think there's something in there."

"There absolutely is," Duff said, opening a drawer and removing a pair of tongs. Lighting a fire on a bunsen burner, she let the fire disinfect the tongs before, finally, she came over and peeled back layers of skin and muscle until what Piper had noticed became visible. "Holy shit! That looks – Lori! I need you to come down here, now!"

"What the hell is it now?" Scara's eyes widened in surprise when she stepped out of her office and saw the look on her wife's face. Carefully removing the head from the freezing container and moving it to the small, cryogenic storage box in her office, she checked to ensure it was secure, the box was on, and the freezing device was off before running down the stairs. "Is that part of his –"

"Not naturally," Piper said dryly. "Unless you can grow metal and circuitry inside yourself."

"If there's a way to do it, think I'd have figured it out by now," Nick said with a light chuckle. "But," He said, levity leaving his voice. "From the looks of it, that's Institute technology."

"It absolutely is," Scara said, snapping her fingers to get the attention of Nora, Cait, and Codsworth. "I have to ask – how the hell did you come across this man?"

"We went head hunting for him," Cait chirpily replied, giving Nora an affectionate squeeze when she laughed for a second. "Brought back pieces as a trophy, and figured we could sell whatever we couldn't use for caps on the side. Preferably for fun things. My go to recommendation for a fun time is beer, daytripper, and minimal clothes…with the right people, of course."

Scara shuddered at the thought. "Your eccentricities aside, I…" She turned to her wife. "Didn't we have something from the Institute pass through here a few months ago."

"You did," Emmett said, safely pausing the experiment to look between her and Duff. "There was this odd looking knife attached to the kind of gun you only ever see those really old, creepy synths with. I'm pretty sure it's filed away as to be analysed once you're freed up from teaching for the summer."

"Thanks," Scara reached into her lab coat and pulled out a set of keys, approaching one of the large filing cabinets. "Do us all a favour, please, and write down what…pieces of the man they brought back with them. It might as well be documented."

"On it!" He said, sweeping up his notebook and pen, then approaching the table while Ellie and Nick took the tops off the other two boxes. "So, in the first one, there's most of his torso and his left arm. Where's…" He swore when he looked into the box nearest him. "God damn it, that's…" He looked over at Cait. "Did you shank him while he was alive or after you guys killed him for the hell of it?"

"What?" Cait went unusually quiet, thinking. "You know, I'm not quite sure. All I know is I was the one who did the cutting up. Nick was the one trying to carefully preserve things and Nora didn't seem up to any of it at all."

"I wasn't," Nora sighed. "Thanks, Cait, for doing that. It probably was the only…relatively safe way to get it back here and decently preserved."

"Well, apparently in this box, they have his legs, and that's as much as I'm willing to inspect right now," Emmett shook out his long, dark curls. "Promise you won't ever do this to me, Cait. Getting threatened to be shanked as a kid at school was enough."

Cait snickered. "Intimidated them with your intelligence?"

"No, the kid was just an asshole," Lana Marie said, a mischievous glint in her eyes when she ruffled her brother's hair, relenting only when he protested long enough. "It's crazy his mother didn't back down when dad – a high ranking member of the Brotherhood – confronted her about the incident but she did back down after mom came over and confronted her."

"You make it sound like mom's a dainty little, soft spoken lady," Emmett rolled his eyes. "I don't care if dad thinks I shouldn't say it – she can be a really scary bitch sometimes."

Lana Marie shrugged. "Either way, I'm guessing mom said some very choice things to her, which is reasonable because the kid's mother was saying there was no way her kid would threaten to shank you with a homemade knife and shiv even though Rivet City Security caught it on camera."

"I'm just glad we at least got out of there and away from all the Brotherhood bullshit," Emmett muttered, turning back to the last box and raising an eyebrow. "Alright, so you have his right arm in here and…his severed feet? Cait, why the hell –"

"A bloke once showed me a pre-War movie where this guy and his girlfriend opened up the back of a car to find a bunch of severed feet tied together like a necklace on giant chains," Cait winked. "Thought I'd try it…and I was also very, very high. Nicky took me fun chems away from me, too."

"Taking daytripper before we got back to Diamond City could have been a disaster waiting to happen, Cait," Nick shook his head. "Try and go easy on the chems. I think we're all a little worn out, certainly after dealing with Kellogg of all people."

"Fine, fine," Cait said, blowing at her bangs when they fell in front of her eyes. "Either way the son of a bitch deserved what he got."

"He did," Nora said quietly, anger simmering on the edge of her words. "And hopefully this doesn't lead to another dead end."

"If we're dealing with the Institute, then prepare yourself for that," Scara cautioned her, removing the knife and the gun from storage. "They're probably going to be furious when they learn you've done away with one of their guys. Institute agents, I'm sure, aren't easy to come by, and certainly not with the record, I imagine, Kellogg had."

"His record is part of why we need you to find out his age," Nick said. "Some of what we found in the old merc's home were dated before 2230."

"Before 2230?" Scara dubiously repeated. "I wouldn't put it past the Institute to be able to keep someone alive well beyond a normal human lifespan, but if you mean active as a…no, you know what? You could tell me they've mastered teleportation and I'd believe you. I'm not convinced there's much the Institute isn't capable of."

"Can I take a look at that?" Piper, after putting on gloves, lifted up the knife, only to set it down in shock and taking her camera out of her bag. "There's a serial number on there! One I've –"

"You've seen an Institute serial number before?" Duff stared at her in disbelief. "Where? How?"

"I didn't know for sure it was an Institute serial number at the time, but, about a year and a half ago, I saw McDonough with this strange looking device, almost like a holotape!" Piper excitedly babbled. "I managed to get a closer look at it, and a few pictures, before I was…okay, so that was the incident leading to me getting banned from the mayor's office, but the point is if this is made by the Institute and this is how they keep track of things, then odds are McDonough's device was also Institute made!"

"Do you still have those pictures?" Nick smirked when she nodded. "Keep digging. I think you're close to catching him with no room for doubt soon."

"Whatever the case, it seems this device in Kellogg's chest is immensely complex," Duff noted. "We're going to need extra time to look at them before we can tell you much more than that. And his age, of course."

"Either way, let's hope we can find some way to show the Institute we're not useless idiots who just happen to have read a few textbooks," Scara said bitterly. "I'm tired of them assuming they're the only intelligent people left in the Commonwealth."

Cait raised an eyebrow. "Sounds personal. They try to recruit you and then drop you or something?"

Scara snorted. "If only. My dumbass of a brother in law just about sold my niece to the Institute because she found some pre-War files in their shanty town. I've seen her once since then, and she's changed. Not in a replaced way, but in a 'you don't understand me because I'm a teenager' way. It was too damn much, and, frankly, the fact they took her and only her tells me they only care if you're a prodigy or have something they want. As for Gerald, he can go to hell for this. If Josie were still alive, at least she wouldn't have let this happen."

"The Institute took your niece?" Nora said, a bit shaken when she nodded. "I…I'm so sorry. I…"

"Don't be," Scara said, raising a hand to silence her. "You have enough to worry about on your own. They may have taken my niece, but she's a teenager. They took your son, who's a baby, and killed your husband. No matter how anyone puts it, you have it worse."

"He…sir is dead?" Codsworth went quiet, dampening his systems. "He's…he's really gone? Oh, and young Shaun, he…he's –"

"He's wherever the Institute is," Nora snapped, taking a step back when she heard the anger in her voice. "Codsworth I…I'm sorry. I'm not upset with you, it's…"

"I know, Miss Nora, please don't worry," Codsworth said, removing something from a small bag and handing it to her. "I know you might not want to hear this, right now, but…the day before the War, sir and young Shaun made a holotape for you. I believe sir was going to give it to you on your birthday, November the seven –"

"My…" Nora shakily took the holotape from him before sitting down. "Oh my God…" She whispered. "I didn't even…I forgot about my…my twenty fifth birthday, I…"

"You were going through a lot," Piper reassured her. "It's alright to forget things. Hell, if it weren't for my computer terminal's calendar, I'd probably never know which day of the week it is off the top of my head."

"Half the time I can't find matching socks," Cait added, sitting down beside and loosely embracing her when she saw Nora was starting to cry. "Or," She said when Nora began crying into her. "Sometimes I can't find a bra to match me underwear. If I ain't feeling the mix and match, sometimes I'll forego one or the other."

Nora weakly laughed through tears. "Are you just saying that to try and cheer me up?"

"Far be it from me to lie to a sweet lass like yourself," Cait replied, sweetly brushing the lawyer's hair with her fingers. "But I'm glad it helped a little. What's been done to you is just cruel."

"I...I can't believe…" Nora whimpered through tears. "I turned twenty five and didn't even…I'm closer to twenty six than I…my baby's almost a year old without me and his father…my…my husband is gone and…"

"And it's too bloody unfair," Cait sighed, holding the lawyer securely in her arms while she began to sob. "We'll find the cunts who did this to you, and we'll find your baby. They'll pay…even if it takes time."

Med-Tek Research
June the 5th, 2288
13:17

The inside of what had once been one of Med-Tek Laboratories' most advanced medical research facilities was no prettier than it was on the outside, nearly two centuries with nary a visitor, staff member, or resident having taken its toll on the formerly robust and bustling facility.

Though most of the feral ghouls outside the facility had looked to be dead, the two of them paranoid about something going wrong, Robert Joseph MacCready and Dr. Annette Christine Davis shot them all a few times, just the same as the other ferals which came out from around a myriad of places from the nearby streets to the former parking garage around the other side of the building. After a few minutes of fighting with the computer terminal on the wall beside the side entrance, the system loaded enough to be able to have the password typed in. The keys rather sticky from years of dirt, dust, and grime, controlling them well enough to enter the password correctly was an equally slow and frustrating process. Still, the system, after nearly twenty minutes of struggling, accepted the password and opened the command functions. His hands shaking, MacCready jabbed at the buttons of the computer terminal until they reached and activated the command to unlock and open the side door into the facility. The second the locks on the doors clicked and detached, he stepped inside, Annette beside him, both of them with guns drawn. Quietly making their way to the main entrance hall, hoping to not alert anyone or anything of their presence, the doctor and the former gunner paused briefly in the main lobby, startled by its size and the signs someone or something had apparently tried but failed to get deeper into the facility relatively recently. Once sure they were still alone, MacCready went over to the computer terminal on what was once the front desk and, after a minute of fighting with it, managed to get into it and turn the lights and power to the facility back on.

The sounds of cracking and popping rang out through the old building, and bright, almost painful fluorescent lights slowly turned on, if broken in places. The sound of an elevator ringing reverberated nearby. Lost for a couple of minutes and caught off guard by some feral ghouls, MacCready and Annette fought through the ghouls back to back, only relaxing the tiniest bit when the ferals all laid dead on the floor. A few minutes of trying to find their way later, the two of them reached the elevator, stepped inside, and began the descent down to the facility's sublevels. When the doors to the elevator opened again, anxiety seizing him, he suddenly grabbed Annette's free hand. She turned to him, worried but reassuringly squeezed his hand, cold like always but feeling less so when her warm hand wrapped around his. He only let go of her hand when, the sound of ferals roaming nearby, he drew and reloaded his sniper rifle. Walking beside him, Annette kept her hands anxiously tapping around her small handgun. A feral coming from around the corner and down into the corridor they were taking the steps down into caught them by surprise, and they quickly began firing on it only for more to come running. The second the ferals were all dead, the doctor and the former gunner reached the last of the stairs and began down the corridor.

Reaching a door only to find it was locked, Annette swore under her breath and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, fiddling with the lock until it clicked open. For a few seconds, the door remained stuck, but, after MacCready and Annette forcefully kicked it at the same time, it was pried forward enough to be opened. They stepped through it quickly, and into a much larger corridor. Close to where they stepped out was the entrance to a large room which, in the inconsistent light of the facility, appeared to be either a laboratory, an autopsy theatre, or both. On the wall, by the door, was a computer terminal, which, to his relief, was able to be accessed by one of the passwords he had been given by Sinclair. The system a bit slow, when it finally came online, MacCready began searching for the menu to open the door to the room. He clicked the button to open it as soon as he found it, and went to open the door only to stop short when he heard Annette scream from just a few feet behind him. A feral having tightly wrapped its arm around her legs, Annette shot at it a few times to try to scare it off but it only grabbed onto her tighter. His mind racing, heartrate spiking, and instinct seizing him, MacCready began shooting at it too but, suddenly terrified he would accidentally shoot Annette, dropped his gun and ran over to her, reaching down to try and rip the feral off of her. Annette already having lost her grip on her gun turned as best she could to try to grab onto one of the ghoul's hands and tear it off her. After a few minutes of struggle, they pulled the feral ghoul off of her, and, taking out his knife, MacCready stabbed it until it stopped moving, dead.

It was too much but, when he looked up, he realised they were once again alone, not a ghoul in sight.

Badly shaking, MacCready stayed on the floor, for a minute, trying to calm himself down. Annette, barely aware of it, was swaying lightly too, dizzy. When he felt well enough to get back on his feet, MacCready sheathed his knife and began to pull himself up off the floor, only to accidentally knock Annette over in the process. Panic tugging at him again, he quickly went to help her up, only for exhaustion to overtake him. For a minute, the two of them laid on the floor, side by side, looking up at the ceiling. Closing her eyes, Annette reached for and managed to find and hold onto MacCready's hand, feeling a little calmer when he gently squeezed hers back. His own thoughts all but torturing him, MacCready held onto her hand as long as he could, more relieved than he could say for them both being alright. When he eventually let go, he rolled over onto his side to make sure she wasn't hurt. Almost the second he was sure she wasn't, he turned back to her, taken aback when she smiled at seeing his face again. Not taking a second to think, MacCready leaned down to kiss her, something Annette was all too happy to accept, loosely wrapping her arms around his neck. After they broke their kiss, he helped her back onto her feet, and they picked up their guns again before opening and stepping through the door. Flicking on the lights, MacCready took a small step back when he saw the state of the room and, equally shocked, Annette gasped.

"Oh, God," Annette horrified, hesitantly stepped towards one of the autopsy tables in the centre of the room. "I don't think I even want to know what they did to preserve a corpse this…well for so long."

"I don't think I do either," MacCready said, though his eyes widened when he saw the, albeit darker, bloodied, and clearly decaying, boils left on the skin of the corpse. "Is that…"

"Subject Q7-285," Annette read off the toe tag on the body. "Is the computer terminal over there still working?"

"Looks like it," MacCready said, pulling over a chair and turning the device on. "Should I search the files for what's written on the tag?"

"Yes," Annette replied, stepping around to the largest table in the room, medical supplies littered on it. "I don't recognise most of these. If one of them could be a treatment for what that person died from, I'd put serious money on it being the treatment for what Duncan's experiencing."

"The data stored on here says Subject Q7-285 was 'used to finish developing PREVENT, a preventative and treatment for disease M39QF2, which subject was infected with…'" MacCready fell silent in disbelief. "They created this too? Why the hell would anyone do that?"

"If I had to guess, biological warfare. But…here!" Annette picked up a large case labelled 'PREVENT' and carefully opened it before pulling out her thin, red oval rimmed glasses and bringing the instructions left inside close to her face, the half working fluorescent lights making it difficult to read the already badly scuffed procedural documents. "First dose is a dead version of the virus, second is a standard conjugate vaccine, and the third is an attenuated vaccine, meaning it's a weakened form of the live virus, or, I should say, viruses. It seems this is a deliberately modified form of one of if not all of the diseases prevented by the MMR vaccine."

MacCready eyed her strangely. "What's MMR?"

"Shorthand for measles, mumps, and rubella. In the Vault, we all received a combined MMR vaccine as part of our childhood immunisation schedule," Annette elaborated, putting the glass bottles containing the three doses back in their secured container. "Up until we were eighteen, we were vaccinated against a myriad of diseases, a surprising number of which went extinct after the War, most notably being smallpox – though that had technically been extinct before the War – polio, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic meningitis, and rabies, although, for that last one, immunisations were only given if one were suspected to have potentially come into contact with it. Better safe than sorry was what my dad said."

"Guess the War did something good then," MacCready said dryly. "Getting rid of some diseases was so nice of them to do."

Annette laughed a little. "Given the horrific things the ones I listed could do to a person, I have to agree. As for this, why Med-Tek were experimenting with a modified and, apparently, more potent set of the MMR viruses is something I can't explain. All in all, it sounds like a horrible idea…and, considering it clearly escaped their facilities, I'd say it was. My understanding is they also contributed to at least one of the forms of the virus responsible for creating super mutants, too, so I suppose this isn't too shocking."

"Do you by chance have access to the vaccines you received in the Vault as a kid?" He let out a sigh of relief when she nodded. "Is there any chance you can administer them to him too?"

"Provided this works – and because it's the most immediately life threatening, it should be done first – then yes. I'd also like to administer them to you," Annette replied, relieved when he nodded. "Good. Last thing I want is for either you or him to come into contact with something completely preventable."

"So then…" MacCready stared at the metal container with the cure inside when she gave it to him. "This is it?"

"I think so," Annette said, delicately setting a hand to his shoulder when she saw he was starting to cry. "I have clean and disinfected needles to administer it to him with back in Goodneighbour. Whenever –"

"Thank you," MacCready suddenly tightly embraced her, relieved when she held onto him just as tight. "He's…he's going to be okay. I can't…no, let's go. The sooner this gets to him, the better. I…he's alright. He's going to be alright."

The Prydwen
June the 7th, 2288
10:01

"Our mission in the Commonwealth, I would say, has been quite successful, thus far," Danse said, standing at attention before the Elder and the Lancer Captain with his most trusted Scribe and Knight beside him. "It did not go as anticipated, nor were we able to recover much of the work or, indeed, any members of Paladin Brandis' team, but we've nonetheless learnt a great deal about the Commonwealth and the Institute."

"I too would consider your mission a success thus far," Lancer Captain Kells agreed as he, Maxson, the Paladin, the Scribe, and the Knight sat down at the table in the closed room of the command deck. "Especially now you've been able to hand over the remains of those synths you disabled at that town."

"University Point is very much on our radar because of you as well," Maxson said with a faint smile. "I for one am quite pleased to know you not only took out the synths infiltrating the town but made their people aware of us. I only wish they hadn't been so resistant to it. Why they defended the Institute is beyond me."

With a short nod and a near flawlessly neutral countenance, Knight Laurent George Rhys felt nothing short of pure pride and contentment fill his chest, receiving praise from the Elder something he fully dedicated himself to. Herself pleased but her mind quickly reviewing the reports she had written throughout their time in the Commonwealth before the Prydwen's arrival, Scribe Janet Isla Haylen found herself hoping they would be given the opportunity to return to the town called University Point. With the full might of the Brotherhood behind them, she was certain, the town's people would realise they had nothing to fear from the Institute. Perhaps, even, they could rescue the young girl the Institute had ripped away from her father. Fury crept into her thoughts, the knowledge the Institute were using a young girl as leverage and occasionally trotted her out to see her father to keep a town in line was sickening. Just as sickening had been the sight of the synths controlling the town and its people for the Institute, their grating mechanical voices and movements enough, she was sure, to give anyone nightmares. So much has he had been eager to hide it, she knew they had the exact effect on her close colleague, Rhys having been on edge every time he awoke to the sound of metal scraping metal in any manner close to the way it had when the synths moved or spoke. As for their commanding officer, Paladin Jackson Roger Danse was himself proud, not only of them and their work but of the way they had, despite setback after setback, stuck it out until the Prydwen arrived, until they could give their final report, until they could receive new orders. They had succeeded, the optimal outcome achieved.

And damn did it feel great.

"Your retrieval of the synths from University Point has given us a critical edge on the Institute," Kells said, turning on the table's projector and scanning in the file. "As noted, there appear to be three models of 'synths,' each under a different 'generation' by the Institute, with the 'first generation' synths being the most primitive and the 'third generation' synths being all but indistinguishable from us."

"I apologise for us not having been able to find out the way to identify synths as done so by the town of Covenant," Rhys said, his voice even despite the disdain he felt recalling the events. "Though I have no proof and could likely be wrong, I do wonder if Dr. Davis did something to throw us off out of spite, if she somehow knew we are soldiers of the Brotherhood Of Steel."

"Unfortunately, I would be unsurprised," Maxson shook his head. "Her temperamentality is part of why the urgency to re-recruit her is minimal. She's a deeply emotionally unstable person. According to what we've learnt from those living in the Vault she had – cowardly, I might add – run to after the Enclave's defeat, she's a selfish, angry mess of a person with mild alcohol issues and a habit of smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day. That said, I still believe it is most likely the town drew its own conclusions on what you were doing and actively prevented you from finding any more information."

"They were, also, eerily friendly," Haylen put in. "Initially, it made me wonder if they might be synths themselves, but I've come to since reject that hypothesis as, most likely, they are victims of the Institute and are in denial about it for the sake of their own mental health and wellbeing."

"A more than reasonable point, thank you Scribe," Kells said with a calm, short nod. "The Institute, no doubt, have massive capacities, some of which I doubt we'll ever fully understand without, somehow, managing to get cooperation from them. The damage they've done to the Commonwealth and its people, too, is terrible and disheartening."

"Hence our presence. Our primary objective here is simple," Maxson said proudly. "Put an end to the Institute and their synth menace by any means necessary. Ideally, we'll get a surrender from them, and access to their facilities for us to appropriate for our own purposes. In the worst case, we'll destroy them entirely in total war. Which, of course, brings me to the issue of Dr. Madison Li."

"We've received and confirmed intelligence regarding Dr. Li's whereabouts, and she is, without question, in the Institute," Kells disdainfully noted. "Supposedly, she is there willingly and with no desire to leave. Whether or not she is a willing participant in their activities, she needs to be removed from them so we can, efficiently, reconstruct Liberty Prime. As you are our most experienced and active team on the ground here in the Commonwealth, your being aware of that project is critical. It is also a highly classified project, and I trust you understand why."

"We do," Danse cordially replied. "We'll do everything we can to attempt to locate Dr. Li on our own, which brings us back to the matter of University Point. Given the volume of information you've received ahead of full arrival in the Commonwealth, I understand it's possible this has gone under the radar, especially with the amount of information to comb through regarding Dr. Li. Still, Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys were informed, before rudely being demanded to leave, of Dr. Li's connexion to the town of University Point."

"Dr. Li has been positively identified as tied to a known location in the Commonwealth?" Maxson faintly smiled in approval. "That certainly makes things easier for us. What do you know about her connexion to the town at University Point?"

"A young, teenage girl was kidnapped from University Point a few years back by the Institute," Haylen said, flipping to the page on the matter in her notes. "Her name is Jacqueline Spencer, and her father, Gerald, has since become – in his own words – a liaison between the town and the Institute. Two women were the ones who ultimately took his daughter to the Institute, and one of them was Dr. Li."

"A disappointing turn of character," Kells frowned. "I certainly expected a great deal more from her. I suppose we now have yet another matter we'll have to interrogate her about when she is finally returned to the Brotherhood."

"I'm sure she'll be incredibly useful to us once she's returned," Haylen said, looking back to her notes. "I am pleased to report, surprisingly, it appears – from what the girl's father said – Dr. Li returns to the surface and, specifically, the town of University Point every so often with the girl, letting her speak to her father and have time on the surface before, always, returning to the Institute. However, as I'm sure he's grieving the loss of his daughter, the veracity of his claim is questionable at best."

"It'll be some time until we can formulate a solid and secure plan of action, however, knowing there's a location where we may find her visiting at some point is fantastic news for us," Maxson said, pausing briefly in thought. "Dr. Li was an incredible asset. I understand why Elder Lyons let her go, but I disagree with it. She should not have been allowed to leave. Not only did she have intimate knowledge of some of our most sensitive and secretive operations, but she is, for all her faults, an absolutely brilliant mind."

"Indeed. Her knowledge of Liberty Prime is what I find most troubling," Kells said grimly. "If she has given the Institute information on Prime, it could be disastrous for us, especially if the Institute learns of our plans to reconstruct Prime."

"Yes, and we also can't afford to be reckless," Maxson looked between Danse, Haylen, and Rhys. "I'm giving your primary orders as being to continue to secure and maintain our outpost at the former Cambridge Police Station. However, I believe you could also prove useful in securing and gaining control of the town of University Point. We will have to move slowly, but, eventually, I suspect we'll be able to make the situation there favourable to us."

"I absolutely agree, thank you, Elder," Danse said, pride for his team swelling in his chest. "With time, we'll be able to show those civilians they need not fear the Institute and, I'm sure, we'll find a way to contact Dr. Li and bring her back to the Brotherhood, where she belongs."

"Yes, and we will keep you abreast of any developments or changes to ensure success in that mission," Kells confidently said. "We'll communicate any adjustments or changes to your orders at least once a week. Ad Victoriam to you and your team, Paladin, and congratulations on such a successful mission in the Commonwealth so far."

The Institute
June the 9th, 2288
18:49

Humming to herself as she worked, Dr. Rosalind Orman only paused when she realised, not in her entire life, Advanced Systems had never been busier. Though anxiety about Phase Three was rampant, for the young scientist, the anxiety was overrun by excitement.

Everyone being so hard at work put a buzz in the air the young physicist was all too happy to enjoy. Even the slight disappointment she had felt upon being informed her high energy weapons projects would have to be put on hold could not bother her for long, and, so, she continued to run through data sets, quietly humming along to whichever song came up next in the playlist set to be on the background from her computer terminal and into her wireless earbuds. There was something about the data sets she had received, each showing a different, projected outcome of one potential change to the current reactor, which was enrapturing, and every possibility was, she felt, more interesting than the last. And, one day, I'll design a more efficient reactor to replace the old clunkers in the basement. Phase Three is just the beginning! Smiling when one of the data sets finished uploading to the simulation programme, Rosalind opened it up and patiently waited for it to load, her fingers dancing lightly over the computer keys. The moment the programme was ready, she began the simulation tests, eyes narrowing when she noticed a discrepancy between projected reactor output and overall efficacy. Pausing the simulation, she opened up a text document to take a few notes before beginning the simulation again. Dissatisfied with the results, she took another few notes before uploading the next data set to run the next simulation. Her focus tight, it only wavered when, out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed movement, nervous movement. Pausing the simulation, Rosalind turned around from where she was sat working and pulled out one of her earbuds, surprised when she saw the nervous walk of a woman she had never seen before beside Dr. Evan Watson, who was as restrained and cordial as ever.

"This is Advanced Systems," Evan said, turning to face the woman. "Father said you said you want to work in this department?"

"I do," She eagerly said. "It's amazing – all this time – the best research facility in the world was just below my feet. Really puts the Commonwealth to shame and will allow me to continue my research into reverse engineering pre-War technology."

"Well, the Institute has always brought in as many people as possible," Evan said, glancing over to where, just beside Rosalind and at her own computer terminal, Jacqueline Spencer was reading through the latest update on the reactor's efficiency. "We couldn't advance without it, but we have to be quite careful, hence our isolation."

"With people like raiders always trying to take everything for themselves and killing anyone who stands in their way, I completely understand the need for security," The woman agreed. "I don't know how I survived as long as I did in that old theme park they've been luring people into."

"Then it's a good thing we were able to bring you in. To lose someone with your talents would be –"

"Dr. Watson, if you could end your soliloquy, some of us are actively trying to work."

Though hearing someone cut in briefly took him by surprise, Dr. Evan Watson found himself completely unsurprised when he saw the woman who had spoken watching him through narrow eyes. In the near decade since she had arrived, one thing he had learnt was Dr. Madison Li was not permissive of distraction. So much as he disliked being told what to do, he politely nodded, lowering his voice as he continued to speak with one of the newest members of the Institute. Curious, Rosalind watched how the woman reacted to every piece of information Dr. Watson gave her. Almost hungrily, the woman listened intently, as if she saw everything Dr. Watson told her – no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential – as something of a revelation, a new piece in understanding the puzzle of the world she must have once known. Herself surprised to see a new face in the Division, Jacqueline Spencer would, every so often, look between her work and the woman speaking with Dr. Watson. Trying to stay focused, she pushed her long hair out of her face and up into a ponytail, secured by the band she had absentmindedly left on her wrist the night before. Both she and Rosalind, however, could not help but watch when they saw Dr. Li return, a hint of annoyance on her face when she looked at Dr. Watson, offering the woman with him a half sympathetic glance.

"So, I take it you're the woman who found a hidden laboratory at the former 'Nuka World,'" Madison said, waiting for her to nod which she, nervously, did. "I read the report. I was a bit surprised there was anything useful there, let alone research into weaponising Strontium-90."

"I was just as surprised," The woman said, a bit awkwardly. "Although I'm still not sure why the Nuka Cola Corporation decided to put it into a drink."

"Yes, well, somethings are best left not dwelled on," Madison turned to Evan. "I take it Father has made her your responsibility?"

"Yes, Evangeline will be under my team," Evan said, gesturing to the woman who hesitantly smiled when she saw Rosalind was smiling at her. "She'll be joining the team working on integrating pre-War and modern technology to optimise our development of, among other things, security measures and weaponry."

"Welcome to the team, then," Rosalind said, standing up to shake her hand. "I'm sure it's exciting to be able to continue the work you started on the surface here."

"It is," Evangeline said. "Resources up there are quite limited, and no one seems to be particularly scientifically minded."

"Is that so?" Madison raised an eyebrow. "Whatever the case, I expect you to be flexible with your projects under Dr. Watson, and become familiar with the Institute itself. There's quite a bit going on right now."

Evangeline nodded. "What is it we're working on?"

"Apart from what Dr. Watson just mentioned, other Advanced Systems special projects," Madison said curtly. "For a start, I suspect you've seen the boy – synth – already, haven't you? Or has Dr. Watson neglected to fill you in on that particular…project? I should hope not, considering we've been hard at work on him for quite a while now. Of course, there are also our weapons projects, as he mentioned, and that's as much as I'm authorised to tell you, for now."

"I have been thorough, as always," Evan assured her. "At such a critical research stage, minimising the opportunity for miscommunication is most prudent. It could be disastrous if we become complacent and rush our work. Rushed work is sloppy at best and deadly at worst, after all, especially considering our Division's primary focus, at the moment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare the notes on this month's progress report for Father."

"I'll get you started on learning how to use our systems," Rosalind eagerly said, closing the data sets and simulations for Phase Three. "If you need me to stop at any time, let me know. I'm sure it's a lot to take in. Wasn't it, Jacqueline?"

A bit surprised, the teenager startled, briefly, but then nodded before quickly returning to her work.

"Speaking of," Madison said, sitting down beside Jacqueline, her voice low. "You're being shifted to work on reactor efficiency as part of Phase Three. Also, Father asked me to let you know you'll be able to visit your father again in July, after the dust has settled a bit with the Brotherhood's…arrival."

Jacqueline nodded. "I've already started looking over the documents I was sent to analyse, so the shift shouldn't be a problem. I just have to ask – is my dad going to be alright? With the Brotherhood being around the Commonwealth more, especially after they threatened him and the town, I'm really worried something's going to happen to him."

"For now, you have nothing to worry about," Madison told her. "Focus on your work, and, if anything comes up, I'll let you know as soon as I can. You're a talented young woman, Jacqueline. Don't let fear get in the way of you or your work when things are still well under control."

Diamond City
June the 11th, 2288
10:01

"So good to have you back!" Vadim clapped when Cait sauntered up to the bar, waving coyly at the other patrons. "I heard you did well and killed the very evil man! What will you be getting tonight?"

"Oh, we'll see," Cait said with a sly grin, hopping up onto one of the barstools. "It's barely past dark. There's plenty of time for hell to be raised, don't you think?"

Nearly spilling his vodka on himself when the former cage fighter elbowed him, the infamous leader of the Atom Cats took off his sunglasses and perched them up on top of his expertly styled and gelled hair, nearly three inches high. Rolling her eyes, Lisanna Branson swirled her beer in its glass, humming to herself and only setting it down to catch her glasses before they fell off her face when she started laughing at Rowdy attempting to 'puncture' Zeke's hair with a pen. When she finally managed to push it through from the very top all the way to the other side, just the tip of the pen and its click retractor visible, Zeke smacked his palm against hers with a triumphant smirk, standing up to show off how, almost disturbingly, the pen managed to stay in place even when he began to spin around. Impressed, when he sat back down, Vadim handed him another bottle of vodka with a wink, ignoring the disapproving look his brother sent him. Amused, Cait took a few shots of moonshine and then, the second it was in reach, pulled the pen out of Zeke's hair. Laughing when she realised she had taken him by surprise, Cait tossed the pen over his head and back to Rowdy, who caught it and twirled it in her fingers. Setting it down with a flourish, she tossed Vadim a few caps and happily began chewing on the freshly cooked fries he handed her, yanking them away from Zeke when he reached over to try and take a few.

"Don't get big headed, buster," Rowdy said, waving one of the fries in front of his face. "No one gets to eat my food except for me…unless I say otherwise."

"I wouldn't fight her for it," Cait put in with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Unless you want to get a little bit hurt, Zeke, and I don't want to see you get any damage to your pretty face."

"My face ain't all that pretty," Zeke said, dramatically fluffing his hair. "This mane? This is the prettiest part about me."

"And hopefully you don't get it to stick up that high with super glue," Lissy said, shuddering at the thought. "I had a friend do that, once, when we were teenagers. It was so bad she had to shave it all off."

"I used super glue a few times," Zeke replied, a little disgusted by the memory. "I managed to get it out without cutting too much of my glorious locks, but the sticky feeling on my fingers was terrible. I wanted to peel my own skin off to make the sensation go the hell away."

Rowdy scoffed. "You're exaggerating, Zekey. And you're forgetting just how bad the attempt to dye your hair with acrylic paint went."

"That," He conceded. "Was so not rad. It ended up feeling like I put rubber in my hair! Kinda reminds me of how I feel when I listen to the radio out here. Music's fine, but, man, the DJ is a wet rag."

"I have a solution," Vadim said, leaning forward towards him, Rowdy, Cait, and Lissy with a hushed, conspiratorial tone to his voice. "One to make it so you don't want to cut your own ears off. Someone needs to get rid of him, give us a new DJ for the radio. I don't think many would notice if he…you know, disappeared."

Lissy eyed him strangely. "How much have you had to drink? I thought Yefim said you weren't allowed to drink on the shift anymore."

"Yefim is a spoilsport," Vadim said, dismissively waving his hands. "Now," He said, turning back to Cait, Zeke, and Rowdy. "This is a serious problem, calls for a serious solution. So, I tell you, it would be easier than you think. You just talk him into following you out of town, and –"

"Vadim," Lissy said pointedly. "We all know you don't actually want to kill Travis."

He laughed. "It's true, it's true," Vadim said before shrugging. "But still, radio is bad for business, makes customers unhappy. Either we have unhappy customers listening to bad DJ, or we have no music and customers have boredom. Something must be done, and soon. We will have customers suiciding before long!"

Cait snickered. "Not here," She said, stretching her arms out as she spun around on the barstool. "All the customers suiciding will be up at the 'Colonial Taphouse,' all of them left to the painful attempts of Henry Cooke to please them."

"He pleases one of them real well," Lissy remarked, then taking a long sip of her beer. "If he didn't, she wouldn't come in there practically shirtless more often than not."

"Then we must find a way to get people down here, so they do not suffer up there!" Vadim declared, pouring Cait another round of shots. "Now, now," He said, an unusually serious note slipping into his voice. "Travis is a good friend. Yefim and I worry about him. Poor Travis, he means well but does not have the confidence he needs for his job, or anything else, really. So, I say, we figure out how to help him feel better about himself, gain confidence."

"Like where you're heading, Dima," Rowdy said, taking a minute to continue to munch on her fries. "But I've got to ask," She eventually said. "What are you even thinking? I'd say talk him into coming down to the Garage and stay with us for a few weeks, but that'd probably scare him shitless. He's a sweet guy, but he sure as hell ain't ready for strutting around in power armour."

"And we've got some territorial issues right now, too," Zeke reminded her, sharing a knowing look with her when she groaned. "I don't like how those Brotherhood Of Steel people are setting up so close to our turf. And they're trying to take all that scrap at the old airport like they own the whole damn place and its goods!"

"If you're going to fight it out with them, be careful," Lissy warned him. "They brought the fucking Prydwen. They aren't kidding around. Whatever it is they want with the Commonwealth, they pretty clearly intend to take it by any means they see fit. Last thing any of us want is to see all y'all and your garage get scraped for parts by them."

"They're a bunch of wet rags," Zeke said, swearing under his breath. "But you're right. We've got to figure out the best way to stake our claim and keep them from fucking with our territory," He turned back to Vadim. "As the cute pink haired cat said, our turf is a bit dangerous right now. Any other time though? We'd love to give Travis a few lessons in picking yourself up off the pavement. Hell, Rowdy could do it all on her own, given where she's come from."

"Really?" Cait said, surprised. "I thought you'd just given up on the raider life."

"I gave up on it because I didn't have much of a choice," Rowdy sighed, staring intently at one fry she held in front of her face before eating it. "Long story short," She said, pushing the remaining fries towards Zeke. "A raid went wrong and I was left for dead on a highway. Zeke and the boys found me, fixed me up, and showed me I could make better use of my skills. They're knuckleheads, but they wouldn't leave me like that. Think that might be what Travis needs, actually. To be shown people give a shit about him, want him to do well."

"This is what I am talking about!" Vadim said with a snap of his fingers. "You didn't know it, but you're a good lady, Rowdy. Travis too, is a good guy. Like you did, he deserves a better life, and, so, first step is he needs to believe in himself, yes? Believe he is capable of more. And you know what works well for this? A bar fight!"

"Yes!" Cait cheered, elbowing Lissy, Zeke, and Rowdy before standing up to jump up onto the bar and smack her hands against Vadim's. "Let's get him to fight, and then let's get him laid!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, lapochka," Vadim said with a smile, tapping Cait's nose to tell her to sit back down. "And we all know you've been in bar fights. You've been in all sorts of fights, and win them all. You know what I'm saying! Travis needs a boost of confidence, and he'll get it from winning a bar fight!"

Rowdy grinned. "Like where you're heading with this, buster."

"Good, good," Vadim said, clasping his hands together. "Because you can help Travis win his first fight! Think you can do that?"

"She sure as hell can," Cait smirked. "All four of us can, actually."

"Then it is settled!" Vadim cheerfully declared. "We will stage a fight here in Dugout, nothing too serious, so Travis wins and feels good about himself after. I have contacts, people I can count on. You know the types, real tough looking but will take a dive for money. So, now, all we have to do is get them here with Travis, and, soon enough, we'll have a nice, good confidence man!"

"Sounds like a good cause," Zeke said, sliding his sunglasses back onto his face. "Don't you worry Vadim – we're in."