Nekoholic

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith stared at her in shock, but then slowly shook his head. "No, Kaye, that's just the concussion telling you bad things. We're not getting help from the Brotherhood." After making sure that she was just exaggerating her injury, he straightened up once again. "All they do is horde the technology that they find--they don't actually use it to help anybody. It's just their philosophy. Humans aren't to be trusted with science, and they see it as their duty to hide it from us."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith looked down at her, and sighed. "I'm sorry. I was...looking for someplace private. Are you okay?" He knelt down by her.

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith clenched his fists, and said, "They won't work, Kaye. They weren't designed like the others, not like the one that was used for Project Purity because, you know what, that one was actually designed to save people, not to deliberately malfunction and kill hundreds of people!" He abruptly stood up, barely refraining from hitting the wall; instead, he settled to place his fist against it, glaring at the ground as if it was his mortal enemy. He pressed his face into his other hand, teeth gritted as he managed, albeit muffled, "We tried so hard, for so many damn years. And that's what they gave us. If I wasn't certain that every one of those damn Vault-Tec scientists was already dead at this point, I'd hunt them down myself."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith nodded. "We started with just one, considering that we initially thought that'd be enough to save our area. We decided to preserve the other four, so that we could take them elsewhere to work their scientific magic." He tapped his fingers against his knees, but then stopped when he picked up the story again. "We had seven scientists left; the vault had many bright minds in there, I suppose for this purpose. I wasn't one of them, mind you. At that point, all that I cared about was Christina. Anyhow, we weren't prepared, to say the least. It'd only been a decade since the bombs fell, after all, so if you think radiation is bad today...you've got no idea, sweetheart. Half-life works wonders, when given the time to do it."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith barely heard or felt her, instead forcing himself to continue, "Eventually, there came the time that the current overseer--we'd gone through so many at that point--proposed that we just leave. We were trapped down there, after all, and we'd die eventually if we didn't at least try to escape. That was when she showed us the vault's secret. Five...five G.E.C.K.s; she explained to us what it stood for--Garden of Eden Creation Kit, and that they were supposed to terraform and purify even the most highly irradiated territories. We'd needed a miracle. Despite the lies and deceit, we latched onto it. And we left. We opened the door after suffering down there for ten years."
He bit what remained of his lip. "Our baby girl didn't make it, though. Once the radiation leaks began, it didn't take long. She was...she was six, when she passed away."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Stiffly, Leith nodded and continued, "It was built specifically against the safety codes and requirements. At first, there were only mundane issues. A food dispenser would break, but we had a couple of mechanics who could fix it; it wasn't that much of a problem, and we'd expected it to happen eventually. We ignored it. But then, there were greater issues. Medical equipment would just cease to function. There would be cracks in the ceiling. Then, after a couple of years, there were...the air vents didn't work. Radiation began to seep in. There were leaks. The ceiling collapsed in certain areas. The reactors would malfunction, they would explode. People would be caught in it, and would die. More radiation. No power. We had to depend on the light of flashlights, candles, and our Pip-Boys. Our Pip-Boys were our lifelines because they were the only things that didn't break."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"No, I need to. Not only because you deserve to know, but because...going back there, it may actually help us," Leith said. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "It was about six months before the bombs fell. My boss organized a meeting, and there was a Vault representative there; he told us all about how wise it'd be to register for space in a Vault, as well as for our families. Because we worked for the government, we'd have a higher chance of being accepted, though the first people to be invited were of the particularly talented sort or were well-known and respected soldiers. Well, I went home that evening and of course, I told Christina about it. I showed her the paperwork, the brochures. I thought it was nonsense. My reasoning was that if one country launched the bombs, then all of the rest would, and then where would we be? Well, looks like...logic doesn't always matter in the grand scheme of things."
He sighed. "April was three at the time, and, as to be expected, she was on the forefront of Christina's mind. We both had a bright future in mind for our baby girl, and we wanted to do all that we could to ensure and protect it. So Christina convinced me of the vault. Together, we filled out all of the forms, and the following week, when the representative returned for a follow-up meeting, I gave them to him. A few months later, we received the news that we'd been accepted. In the event of nuclear disaster, we'd have our new life--underground." He hissed out the last word, his tone a mix between venomous and sarcastic.

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith laughed at the thought, but then said, "I'm glad that I know you today, Kaye."
He then found himself becoming lost in his thoughts again. Then, "Kaye, I...I've been through a lot of hardship in these last two centuries. But I have to tell you that the worst part of my life was in that damn Vault. That's what I wanted to talk about, honestly. It's about time I did. I got off track, though, rambled, started stalling. Sorry about that."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith snorted at that, though he immediately wondered how he even managed to make the noise when he, well, didn't have a nose. Shaking his head, he said, "No offense taken." He thought for a long moment, struggling to remember the finer details of what his appearance had been. "Well, I was quite roguish. You know, I possessed a certain devilish charm." He chuckled, glancing at her. "But assuming that you want an actual answer and more detail than that, I had, um, blond hair. Yeah, it was of the lighter variant, but during the summer, I'd get these brown highlights. More time I spent out in the sun, more apparent they were. Or...or was it vice versa? Eh. Anyways, my eyes were, uh, brown. Yeah, brown, dark brown. And I had a fair complexion. About like yours, actually. Maybe a tad bit darker."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith stared at her for a long time before he corrected, "You're referring to Atlantis, sweetheart." He shook his head, chuckling. "I'm talking about Atlanta, the real city."