"Really? That's Goodneighbor?"
Severa couldn't help but be disappointed. This town was supposed to be the beacon of freedom compared to Diamond City, without all the skepticism and backstabbing, and yet the entrance to it was some dirty wooden wall that barely held itself together.
"Now Severa, don't judge it just yet, from my look of the wasteland so far, this is probably one of the more secure living spaces you'll see."
Severa merely groaned at Nate's quip, before angrily pushing through the doors to enter the town. With a sigh Robin and Nate followed right after her.
She didn't get 3 steps before a dirty looking drifter stopped her.
"Hey, Hold up there lass, first time in Goodneighbor? You've got to have insurance around here."
"What? I don't want anything from you creep. You make Nelson look like a nice guy."
"Easy there lass, listen to me. This insurance is some personal protection. How about you hand over everything you got in your pockets there and we'll call it good. Otherwise, some big, bloody accidents might start happening.
Severa opened her mouth to ridicule the man, but she never got the chance. One of the weird ghouls walked over and spoke up first.
"Woah there Finn, time out. Remember what happened on the last Girl you tried this on? I stuck up for you once, and you promised to not do it again. Yet here you are once more. You lied to me Finn, and you know what I think about liars.
Without warning, the ghoul grabbed Finn by the neck and dragged him to the ground, plunging his knife into his chest without warning. Finn struggled for a second, but quickly went still.
"Sorry your first impression of Goodneighbor hasn't been so swell. Name's Hancock, I'm the Mayor here. Just remember if you need anything, couple of Chems maybe, just ask, we're by the people, for the people. Welcome to Goodneighbor."
Robin could only sigh inwardly.
What have you gotten yourself into now?
"Wow, that's some pretty backbreaking work."
Stahl wiped the sweat from his forehead as he hammered the last plank into place. Taking a step back, he admired his work, one section of the wall completely finished. There was still three more sections to go, but just thinking about building those now made Stahl more hungry.
"Sure is, Wall like that won't be too sturdy, but it'll hold out the pests and ghouls. That's all we're asking for."
Sturges was quite the builder it seems, this short wall, while simple, likely would have taken much longer had someone else been designing the supports on this side. Yet here they are barely an hour later with a good amount of wall up. Stahl could merely nod.
"Well, thanks for your help, you can stay around here if you want, if you want to head to Diamond City, you can just follow the road South, watch out for any creatures 'long the road."
"What about the rest of the wall?"
Sturges shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that segment was the hard part, the rest of us here in Sanctuary can deal with the rest pretty easily, and I remember you saying something about needing to go somewhere while you were building. I don't want to keep ya from finding your purpose in life now do I?"
"Are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely."
Stahl waited another second, before taking Sturges' hand and shaking it firmly
"Thank you, good luck with the rest of Sanctuary, from what you told me it sounds like the people really need you guys."
Sturges only nodded.
With one more nod Stahl turned and walked out across the old Bridge, starting his trek along the old highway. Each broken stone a remnant of a great road that once stood. Occasionally he would find a couple corpses, whether human or mutated animals. Minutes of walking turned into hours as the empty broken landscape flowed out in front of him, with the large desolate metropolis standing eerily in the Distance.
"What secrets hide inside you I wonder."
Internalized Report
Classification Level: 5
Relay encryption: 65scriptkey
Processing…
Processing…
Processing…
Processing Complete:
Data File:
Sent From: Father
Authorization Code: AB995
"There appears to be a recent turn of events that requires our attention immediately. Please Gather yourself and the other department heads for an urgent meeting. The Future of the Institute itself could be at risk."
One hour later:
"What's the meaning of this meeting? You pulled me out of a diagnostic of the most recent Courser training course. With the escaping synths as of late this will set us back weeks!"
Father sighed as he leaned back in his chair, if only Doctor Ayo knew what was at stake.
"Calm yourself, trust me you all need to hear what I have very alarming news."
The Directorate seemed to quiet down, looking towards Father with confused faces.
"Now, in the past few days, our instruments read approximately 6 high energy spikes across the Commonwealth. After some investigation, these spikes turned out to be the entry signatures of 6 individuals. Five of these individuals seem to be connected in some way, while the sixth is completely different."
"Father, are you saying people traveled here from a different world? That's absurd."
"Absurd Doctor Holdren? Yes I agree with you, but it also appears to be what has happened to us. We need to stop discussing whether or not it's possible for them to be here, and agree that they are. Now there are a few things we need to begin. First, Dr. Li, I need you and your department to begin looking into how they could have possibly arrived here. Two of these individuals appear to have access to magic, so this may be a more difficult job than anticipated. We have the data on the energy bursts, try to replicate it."
"We'll get right on it Father."
"Next, We will begin to scout out these individuals with greater interest in the future. We do not know who they are or what they're capable of, they could either be a tremendous boon or a horrific bane. I dare not find out in a harsh way."
"Father, might I recommend elimination then? It would be the easiest way to rid ourselves of this unknown variable."
"Aptly put Dr. Ayo, and I concur, once the opportunity presents itself, we should focus on removing these unknown variables from the playing field. If it requires elimination, then so be it."
End of Act One
