Nekoholic

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"Brotherhood of Steel doesn't even have any permanent, much less stable postings here," Leith continued, "So, she must have either come here on her own accord, perhaps as an exile, or she was sent here on a recon mission, which, in that case, there would have still been more with her."

"Perhaps the others were killed?" Basil suggested.

"It would certainly explain why she was alone. Recon missions are seldom sent reinforcements, after all. Those teams are assigned to uncharted territory to ascertain whether it's worth exploring; if the others died, then the higher-ups must have decided that it isn't worth sending more people out to the same area just to get wiped out, too."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil, without even thinking of the potential repercussions, leaned over and brought Jace's hand back down to rest on the table. Realizing what he had done, he instantaneously retracted his hand, almost as if the contact had burned him. After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, "You shouldn't drink, especially not when we're about to be back on the road."

After an awkward silence ensued, Leith absently questioned, "Wasn't it odd that, even though she was a scribe, she was alone? She said that she had other men stationed with her, but we didn't see any of them; not on patrol as we headed here, not in the vault. Someone surely had to have accompanied her into the Vault. She'd need at least one knight, if not more."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith rubbed his eyes with one hand, and interrupted their arguing, "Look, there's a catch--there always is. In that Vault, everything was designed to break and malfunction within a few years; each Vault was nothing more than a social experiment, designed to test which batch of humans was or wasn't fit to survive after the bombs fell. The two that we used didn't even serve their intended purpose. One was useless from the very get-go, and the other that the scientists in the vault attempted to reverse-engineer taught them nothing. Honestly, I doubt that any amount of tampering and examining them will lead to anything fruitful. Not with the limited resources and equipment that we have, at least." He looked between each person at the table. "We need someone who does, though."

"Are you suggesting that we find that Brotherhood of Steel scribe?" Basil inquired dubiously after a moment's consideration.

"Kaye, you take over from here," Leith said, leaning back in his seat.

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith sighed, as he'd been hoping that Kaye would be the one to do most of the talking, but he supposed that he was the one who had spent several years in a Vault. Leaning forward until his elbows were propped on the table, he said, "Well, in case neither of you have been able to figure it out yet, I've had...bad experiences with Vaults. That's because I registered myself and my family into one a couple of years before the Great War, and, well, I was the only one who survived through it." He clasped his hands together, staring at the tabletop as he continued, "In short, since I doubt either of you cares to hear the details of it, this Vault had G.E.C.K.s in it. Not just one, but five. And we used two of them."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil spared Jace a brief glance, and was about to respond when Leith, primarily only to prevent an argument, jumped back into the conversation, "We've yet to be compensated; we weren't even able to scavenge that vault because of the activated security systems and that Brotherhood woman." He crossed one leg, sideways, over the other. "And not only that, but you two are going to need our help."

He looked over at Kaye, "Who's explaining, sweetheart? You or me?"

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

When Basil returned with Jace in tow, Leith couldn't help the little smile that broke out. He then greeted, even though Jace was clearly hungover, "Well, well, well, Sleeping Beauty has awoken from his slumber. Was it the kiss or the migraine that caused that?" This time, his smile was more of an antagonizing smirk.

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil considered it, then slowly nodded as he answered with as much certainty as he could muster, "If I hadn't moved past it, then I would have left you here." He turned back to the mouth of the alley, watching absently as people milled about on the nearby streets; a man tugged along a huffing Brahmin, a woman weeded her meager garden, a group of children ran down the old road, apparently playing tag. He finally added, "You can trust me, Jace, but I know that my word will never be enough for you again. You will just have to give me the chance to have my actions strengthen them, or we will have to ultimately go our separate ways." He then started to leave, throwing over his shoulder, "The choice is yours this time."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil nodded, then, after a moment, he hesitantly asked, hope evident in his voice, "So, does that mean that you'll remain with me--at the least, until this is all said and done?"

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"You never abandoned him," Basil argued, shaking his head, "And why was I created? I don't have an answer to that, Jace. I really don't. If I had one, I would tell you. All that I know is that I am here, and whether there was an ulterior motive or a purpose behind it or not, it doesn't change the fact that I've found a reason to be here, one of my own." He took a step forward, but then forced himself to stop. "I...I just want you to stay with me, Jace. I know that I'm not the real Basil, and I understand that you hate me for it, and you're entitled to be angry because of all the lies and deception, but I'm selfish, and...and I don't want to lose my best friend. I really don't."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil remained quiet, but finally said, albeit quietly, "I never laughed behind your back, Jace. I don't know why you'd think that." He clenched his hands together behind his back. "I'm not a monster. Not like you think that I am, at least."