Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Deacon’s first impressions on the much rumored state of New World 81 was that it was way more than whatever tales the caravaneers spread. The detail of military robots for example failed to account for just how well maintained they were. To be able to keep all of them running at peak condition spoke of a scary amount of infrastructure behind the patrols.

The infrastructure probably included some eldritch information gathering system, because no way could Sev uncover Deacon and his trustee’s identities so quickly. The girls and the overseer behind him were equally surprised at his announcement, which meant whatever intel network he had, Sev was keeping it to himself.

Maybe Sev already had eyes on the Railroad? That was not a pleasant idea.

Deacon recovered from his surprise and ill thoughts, calming down his two charges with a gesture. Sev didn’t sound threatening or malicious.

Better not ruin that by denying things, he supposed, as he forced himself to his usual casual charm. “You got us, there.”

The younger girl, Piper, gave Sev a look. “How did- Never mind. Uh, synths huh? Don’t know much about them other than the boogeyman tales… Cait?”

“Same, though if you’re acting all casual about it Sev, I’m guessing there’s more to it?”

Sev’s much storied girls were far from the brainwashed, obedient sex slaves some people said they were. They were sharp and carried themselves like his right hand women more than just broken sextoys. There was also a marked difference in their casualness with Sev compared to the deference from the overseer.

“Eh, might as well let De- Mr. D do the explaining?” Sev said as he tossed Deacon a wry smile.

Deacon raised his hands in mock surrender with a resigned sigh. “So I’m from the Railroad. We work to help free synths like Carl and Sal here. The Institute basically created synths as slave labor or infiltrators.”

“Infiltrators?” Cait queried.

Sev gave an authoritative nod. “Yeah. These third gen synths are basically pre-programmed humans created in vats. The Institute makes them to take the place of people on the surface, hence the justified paranoia.” He gave a light shrug of the shoulders before continuing. “I’ve been avoiding them for now just because I haven’t figured out how to approach them yet.”

Wait, Sev knows about the Institute and knows where they’re located? This changes things. This changes things a lot.

Deacon lost his composure and felt a surge of excitement and fear overtake him. “Hold up, you’re telling me you know what’s going on in the Institute, and know where it is?”

Everyone’s eyes were on Sev, and the guy looked uncomfortable from the attention.

“Yeah,” he finally confessed, shoulders slumped a bit. “I know enough bits about them, but I only got a rough idea on where their base is now.” Sev turned to the girls. “They’re why I’ve been making target practice out of crows.”

What?

“What?” Both Piper and Cait asked at the same time while Gwen just looked confused from the sudden revelation. Even Deacon’s two charges were listening attentively to the whole thing.

“The Institute uses crows as surveillance. Don’t know how, just know that they do.”

That was a very unpleasant piece of trivia.

“I see,” the polite-sounding robot said. “With that new piece of knowledge, would you mind if I dissected a few specimens, Sev?”

Sev gave a brief look of surprise and then quickly nodded. “Yeah, didn’t think of that. See if you can find anything useful Curie, but we probably need to take precautions, can’t be too overt about it.”

“So these third gen synths,” Gwen started thoughtfully, “If they’re pre-programmed, how does the Railroad free them?”

Deacon took a second to gather his thoughts and compartmentalise the new information for later. The false cheer was gone as he truthfully answered the vault overseer. “They’re practically human, so like us they eventually learn that there’s more to life than being a slave, and they seek freedom. Someone tells us about them and we work to give them a new life.”

“Like these two?” Sev quickly slid in.

“Yeah.” Deacon glanced back to Carl and Sal, noting their trepidation and the beginnings of hope. He returned to meet Sev’s gaze. “So, you gonna help them?”

Sev kept thoughtful silence for a few seconds before turning to the girls and the overseer. “Adults still gonna be a problem, you think?”

Piper nodded. “Adult men. Nat says Mandy and Lennie at least are still having trouble keeping calm near the vaulter men. At least no one’s getting consistent nightmares anymore.”

“The trauma experienced still lingers, I’m afraid,” the assaultron chimed in sadly. “Even in a relatively safe environment like Vault 81, readjusting to normal social conditions with adults requires more time to prevent negative developments taking root as they grow up.”

Deacon processed the words and realised just what kind of situation Sev’s people used to be in. There was a pang of guilt that the Railroad wasn’t so active rescuing child slaves, but there were other abolition groups out there for your average slave while only the Railroad dealt with liberating synths.

Sev then gave Gwen an inquiring look, and the woman sighed. “We could take them in, but I assume that their identities as synths should remain a secret?”

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“For now,” Sev replied before turning to Deacon again. “Housing them here in R&R makes them more exposed, unless you’re planning on taking them out of the Commonwealth eventually?”

That was a good question, and Deacon turned to his two companions. “Well, there’s the options. You could stay here for good, or for now, what do you think?”

Carl and Sal both exchanged looks, and held each other’s hands with firm determination before they gave their answer. “We’ll join your vault, if you would take us,” Sal told Gwen.

The overseer nodded and offered a comforting smile. “Welcome to Vault 81 then. I’ll have someone guide you through later, but for now, if there’s anything else Sev?”

“Nope. Nothing from me until our next usual meeting after your new vaulters’ orientation.”

Gwen turned to Deacon, who shook his head as well before giving the two synths a congratulatory smile. “Nothing from me either. Stay safe, you two.”

Sal moved to hug him in gratitude, followed by Carl. “Thanks Deacon, for getting us a new lease on life.”

They shared goodbyes before the overseer escorted the two new vaulters to their new home, the robots outside following them.

That left Deacon with Sev and his girls. Oh, and the robot Curie.

“So, what now?” he echoed Sev’s much earlier question.

Sev hummed quietly before replying. “Well, I’m more on the Railroad’s side compared to the Institute, but I’ve got other priorities at the moment. In the meantime, I guess I can set up an underground base for you guys.”

“Just like that, Sev?” Piper quipped before Deacon could.

“Eh, Caladan should be up and running soon, so there’ll be plenty of space here.” Sev said casually, and the girls and even the robot nodded in understanding.

Deacon didn’t try to even pretend to understand, the relevant point was that Sev was offering aid to the Railroad. He’d have to let Desdemona know and his head began churning with plans on how to migrate here without drawing attention. Would the attention Sev drew be worth the possible protection?

*****

Gwen had her first rather tense meeting in a long time. It was almost nostalgic having disapproving and stressed out senior heads. She’d been complacent, they’d all been, with how well everything was running and the inventory kept full.

Accepting outsiders into the vault felt like a non-issue compared to the overbearing dread of structural failures and supply shortages. Still, as overseer Gwen would take the matter at hand seriously.

Dr Forscythe brought up his point. “While we there are no major medical issues from our new vault settlers, I say it’s safer if we monitored their acclimatization closely, especially on those purged of chem addictions.”

Everyone agreed despite the sour faces on Scott and Dr. Penske. “While we don’t have to resort to rationing, we still have to make sure the newbies don’t take things for granted and start gobbling things up,” the older woman commented. “I saw the looks on some of them when dinner was served, they were acting like it’s the first meal they’ve ever eaten.”

“Can’t blame them,” Calvin retorted with a dry chuckle. “I bet it’s the first time they’ve had fresh, rad-free food. Even the working plumbing and air conditioning boggled some of their minds.”

That drew some wry smirks from everyone, though Gwen was aware that perhaps they might be too disparaging on their views on the refugees.

“Nevertheless,” the head of maintenance continued, “there’s a good number of eager workers from the lot, so we’ll have more hands on deck if we ever need it.”

“Will need probation before they take up some tasks though, like security,” Scott said sternly, taking his job as seriously as ever. “And we’ll need to keep an eye out on how everyone mingles.”

Gwen nodded at probably the most important point. If both groups of vault dwellers and accepted settlers didn’t get along, things could easily get messy real quick. “At least Arnold seems up to the task as a spokesperson,” she offered, earning nods from the others. The man took his position reluctantly but dutifully, keeping his people calm as they slowly went through the paces of integration and assimilation.

And at least the men from the vault would finally shut up some, now that there’s new women for them to try wooing. Gwen pettily hoped that they failed, so she could yell at them when they next whined about a lack of a dating scene.

Speaking of which, when would the next rendezvous with Sev be? The other women were pestering her to get another round of a thorough stuffing, but he said he was busy, which was an understandable shame.

Gwen had spoken to Piper about it and the girl had suggested a get-together with the vault candidates to see how Sev handles a one-man orgy. An interesting idea, Gwen was still curious to how exactly Miranda and Tina got so used that they lost use of their legs for a couple of days...

Ah, Gwen realised she was teetering on the verge of daydreaming and got back to the meeting.

“Of course, now that we have new people to integrate, the proposal to assimilate into New World 81 would have to be postponed...”

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