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aaaaaaaagh_skyEllen was just beginning to think that they would never leave Vault 87- that even if they left Vault 87 the place would be with them forever- when she heard the voice.
”Hello?”
The sound was crackling, strained, staticky. It was the sound you only got from a two-hundred-year-old intercom. For a moment Ellen thought she’d hallucinated it- but Cross held up one closed fist in the stop, wait right there gesture; she’d heard it too.
”I- you, over there, please come speak to me-“
Cross’s head turned to the right, and Ellen followed suit. A glimmer of red emergency lighting- the only light left in this place other than Cross’s helmet-light and Ellen’s Pip-Boy- lit up an intercom box and the edge of a reinforced window. Slow and careful, Ellen moved forward. She did not look into the window; she wasn’t sure she wanted to see what might lie in there. Not after everything else. Mouth dry, she pressed the intercom’s talk button. “I’m here,” she said.
”It can’t be,” said the voice. The owner sounded as if he- or she, Ellen couldn’t tell- was in immense pain. ”Either you are quite real, or I am going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?”
Ellen stiffened at that. “’Pure’ has some funny connotations these days,” she said, remembering what Linden, what Cross, had told her of the Enclave. “Identify yourself first.”
”The name’s Fawkes,” said the voice. ”I was born in the FEV chambers.”
Oh, Jesus, Ellen thought, trying and failing to suppress the rush of memories. Almost involuntarily she turned her gaze to the window, peered into the darkness beyond-
“Oh, thank God, you’re just a supermutant!”
”Ugh. Must you use that vulgar term?” said the greenskin beyond- for a greenskin it was, albeit one whose fingers were so thick that it had to press the intercom’s talk button with a pencil. Ellen winced a little as the mutant went on to say, ”I prefer the term ‘Meta Human’. Suits me better, don’t you think?”
“I… all right,” said Ellen, who had heard the term before at Milliways, mostly from people with super-powers. It seemed a little strange to hear here, but considering how much worse it could have been. . . “My name’s Ellen Park. Hello, Fawkes.”
”Forgive my astonishment,” said Fawkes into the intercom, ”but I hadn’t expected to meet anyone down here with a reasonable outlook on such things. It is a pleasant change. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It was really only a matter of time before someone like you showed up for the GECK.”
Finally, they were right, it hadn’t been for nothing, finally- For a moment Ellen couldn’t hear anything at all over the rushing in her ears. When it passed she found herself distantly surprised to still be on her feet. “The GECK,” she said as clearly as she could. It wasn’t easy. “What do you know about it?”
It was hard to tell with so little light in the chamber beyond, but Ellen almost thought she could make out a smile on Fawkes’ face. ”The Garden of Eden Creation Kit. I know what it is,” the mutant said. ”I know where it is, and best of all, I know how you can get your hands on it.”
“Why-“ Ellen looked to Cross, who shook her head. Apparently the Paladin didn’t know how to handle this either. “Why would you do this for us?”
”Because you can help me,” Fawkes said. ”Please, I beg you. Release me from this makeshift prison and I will personally take you to the GECK and retrieve it for you. You wear armor, but the chamber in which the GECK is housed is absolutely flooded in radiation. I doubt very much whether either of you would survive in there very long. Whereas I, like my fellow Meta-Humans, am highly resistant to radiation- a useful trait, don’t you think?”
“Well,” murmured Cross. “Now I’ve seen everything.”
”Let me out of here,” Fawkes continued, ”and I will place the GECK safely in your hands.”
“We ought to verify this,” said Cross. “Considering-“
“No,” said Ellen suddenly. “No. I can’t leave him here.”
Cross cocked her head. Ellen had a feeling that behind that helmet, an eyebrow was rising.
“It doesn’t matter whether he’s lying or not. I can’t leave somebody here who’s sane enough to talk properly. Not in a place like this.”
( “"It was something I could not do," Leo had said when she met him on the way west from Andale. "I tried to get them to stop. But they wouldn't listen. They would have killed me if I had not run away." )
“You don’t lock somebody up unless you’re going to torture them or- or mess with them, for your own sick amusement. He’s sane. I can’t leave him here. Not in this place.”
She was shaking again, as bad as if they were still pinned down by the monstrous ones on the surface. She didn’t care. When Cross finally silently nodded, she turned back to the intercom. “How-“ She swallowed. “Tell me how to let you out. What’s wrong with the door?”
”The door is magnetically sealed, and is far stronger than I am, even with leverage,” said Fawkes. ”Believe me, I’ve tried it many times. But when the others locked me in here they made the mistake of choosing a room with a terminal that still had its connection to the Vault’s mainframe. At the end of the hallway to your right, the schematics say you’ll find a maintenance room. Inside, you’ll find the fire control system for this whole medical area. Trip the alarm, and the magnetic seals should come undone, and I’ll be able to get out.”
Ellen nodded and started to step back, but Fawkes spoke again. ”A word of warning. The failsafe triggered by the alarm releases all the locks in this area. I don’t doubt that there are far more dangerous things locked up in those rooms. You must be careful. Do you think you can do it?”
Cross, despite being fully armored, contrived to look dubious. But Ellen was thinking of poor maddened Sid, and of the vile sick mess beside the gurney upstairs; she nodded. “Okay, Fawkes,” she said. “You’ve got a deal.”
”Thank you,” said Fawkes. ”I’m glad to see you are a sensible person. I will wait here for your return.”
Ellen stepped away from the console and lifted a hand in farewell. Solemnly, Fawkes nodded and returned the gesture.
Cross might have been about to voice another doubt or concern, but fell silent at the sight. Just as well. Ellen didn't trust herself to talk just then anyway.
”Hello?”
The sound was crackling, strained, staticky. It was the sound you only got from a two-hundred-year-old intercom. For a moment Ellen thought she’d hallucinated it- but Cross held up one closed fist in the stop, wait right there gesture; she’d heard it too.
”I- you, over there, please come speak to me-“
Cross’s head turned to the right, and Ellen followed suit. A glimmer of red emergency lighting- the only light left in this place other than Cross’s helmet-light and Ellen’s Pip-Boy- lit up an intercom box and the edge of a reinforced window. Slow and careful, Ellen moved forward. She did not look into the window; she wasn’t sure she wanted to see what might lie in there. Not after everything else. Mouth dry, she pressed the intercom’s talk button. “I’m here,” she said.
”It can’t be,” said the voice. The owner sounded as if he- or she, Ellen couldn’t tell- was in immense pain. ”Either you are quite real, or I am going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?”
Ellen stiffened at that. “’Pure’ has some funny connotations these days,” she said, remembering what Linden, what Cross, had told her of the Enclave. “Identify yourself first.”
”The name’s Fawkes,” said the voice. ”I was born in the FEV chambers.”
Oh, Jesus, Ellen thought, trying and failing to suppress the rush of memories. Almost involuntarily she turned her gaze to the window, peered into the darkness beyond-
“Oh, thank God, you’re just a supermutant!”
”Ugh. Must you use that vulgar term?” said the greenskin beyond- for a greenskin it was, albeit one whose fingers were so thick that it had to press the intercom’s talk button with a pencil. Ellen winced a little as the mutant went on to say, ”I prefer the term ‘Meta Human’. Suits me better, don’t you think?”
“I… all right,” said Ellen, who had heard the term before at Milliways, mostly from people with super-powers. It seemed a little strange to hear here, but considering how much worse it could have been. . . “My name’s Ellen Park. Hello, Fawkes.”
”Forgive my astonishment,” said Fawkes into the intercom, ”but I hadn’t expected to meet anyone down here with a reasonable outlook on such things. It is a pleasant change. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It was really only a matter of time before someone like you showed up for the GECK.”
Finally, they were right, it hadn’t been for nothing, finally- For a moment Ellen couldn’t hear anything at all over the rushing in her ears. When it passed she found herself distantly surprised to still be on her feet. “The GECK,” she said as clearly as she could. It wasn’t easy. “What do you know about it?”
It was hard to tell with so little light in the chamber beyond, but Ellen almost thought she could make out a smile on Fawkes’ face. ”The Garden of Eden Creation Kit. I know what it is,” the mutant said. ”I know where it is, and best of all, I know how you can get your hands on it.”
“Why-“ Ellen looked to Cross, who shook her head. Apparently the Paladin didn’t know how to handle this either. “Why would you do this for us?”
”Because you can help me,” Fawkes said. ”Please, I beg you. Release me from this makeshift prison and I will personally take you to the GECK and retrieve it for you. You wear armor, but the chamber in which the GECK is housed is absolutely flooded in radiation. I doubt very much whether either of you would survive in there very long. Whereas I, like my fellow Meta-Humans, am highly resistant to radiation- a useful trait, don’t you think?”
“Well,” murmured Cross. “Now I’ve seen everything.”
”Let me out of here,” Fawkes continued, ”and I will place the GECK safely in your hands.”
“We ought to verify this,” said Cross. “Considering-“
“No,” said Ellen suddenly. “No. I can’t leave him here.”
Cross cocked her head. Ellen had a feeling that behind that helmet, an eyebrow was rising.
“It doesn’t matter whether he’s lying or not. I can’t leave somebody here who’s sane enough to talk properly. Not in a place like this.”
( “"It was something I could not do," Leo had said when she met him on the way west from Andale. "I tried to get them to stop. But they wouldn't listen. They would have killed me if I had not run away." )
“You don’t lock somebody up unless you’re going to torture them or- or mess with them, for your own sick amusement. He’s sane. I can’t leave him here. Not in this place.”
She was shaking again, as bad as if they were still pinned down by the monstrous ones on the surface. She didn’t care. When Cross finally silently nodded, she turned back to the intercom. “How-“ She swallowed. “Tell me how to let you out. What’s wrong with the door?”
”The door is magnetically sealed, and is far stronger than I am, even with leverage,” said Fawkes. ”Believe me, I’ve tried it many times. But when the others locked me in here they made the mistake of choosing a room with a terminal that still had its connection to the Vault’s mainframe. At the end of the hallway to your right, the schematics say you’ll find a maintenance room. Inside, you’ll find the fire control system for this whole medical area. Trip the alarm, and the magnetic seals should come undone, and I’ll be able to get out.”
Ellen nodded and started to step back, but Fawkes spoke again. ”A word of warning. The failsafe triggered by the alarm releases all the locks in this area. I don’t doubt that there are far more dangerous things locked up in those rooms. You must be careful. Do you think you can do it?”
Cross, despite being fully armored, contrived to look dubious. But Ellen was thinking of poor maddened Sid, and of the vile sick mess beside the gurney upstairs; she nodded. “Okay, Fawkes,” she said. “You’ve got a deal.”
”Thank you,” said Fawkes. ”I’m glad to see you are a sensible person. I will wait here for your return.”
Ellen stepped away from the console and lifted a hand in farewell. Solemnly, Fawkes nodded and returned the gesture.
Cross might have been about to voice another doubt or concern, but fell silent at the sight. Just as well. Ellen didn't trust herself to talk just then anyway.