If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
...
Now the loudest sounds were chickens clucking, farmers talking quietly as they packed away their tools, and the gentle breeze rolling in from the sea.
The next morning arrived beneath a blanket of low gray clouds that drifted lazily over the Island.
A cool breeze rolled inland from the sea, carrying with it the familiar scent of salt and damp stone.
The Vim! Pop Factory had already awakened.
Workers headed toward construction sites with steaming mugs balanced in rough hands.
Farmers disappeared into the newly planted fields to check the moisture of the soil they had turned only yesterday.
Guards rotated from the watchtowers while engineers continued inspecting power lines one section at a time.
It was another ordinary morning.
Or at least, it appeared to be.
For Sico, however, today had been waiting ever since the worker had reported the strange terminal hidden beneath the southern mixing building.
For days he had deliberately ignored it.
Not because he had forgotten.
Because there had always been something more urgent.
Walls.
Water.
Food.
Power.
A settlement came before secrets.
Now, for the first time since taking the factory, there was enough breathing room to investigate what lay beneath the building.
Inside the newly established command center, Sico studied the operations map spread across the large planning table.
The room smelled faintly of fresh-cut timber and drying paint.
Outside the reinforced windows, the Republic flag fluttered gently above the courtyard.
Several patrol reports lay neatly stacked beside Rebecca's latest supply inventory.
Nothing demanded his immediate attention.
Exactly as he wanted.
He rolled the map closed.
"Lieutenant Harris."
A young officer immediately looked up.
"Commander?"
"I need six volunteers."
The lieutenant smiled knowingly.
"The trusted kind?"
"The trusted kind."
"No questions asked?"
"There will probably be plenty of questions."
A faint grin crossed Harris' face.
"I'll find the right people."
Within fifteen minutes six experienced soldiers assembled inside the command center.
Veterans.
Every one of them had fought Grun.
Every one of them had earned Sico's confidence.
Among them stood Harris, Ranger Collins which not the engineer, but another veteran bearing the same surname after that Corporal Diaz, Sergeant Lewis, Private Nolan, and medic Emma Brooks.
Sico looked around the room.
"What we're about to investigate stays between us until I say otherwise."
Their expressions immediately became serious.
Nobody interrupted.
"We found a concealed facility beneath the southern mixing area."
Several eyebrows rose.
"I believe it belonged to DiMA."
Silence followed.
Everyone on the Island knew enough about DiMA's hidden bunkers to understand those words carried weight.
Lewis finally asked quietly,
"Expecting trouble?"
Sico considered the question.
"I don't know."
"And that's exactly why we're going prepared."
A few minutes later the group entered the southern mixing building.
Morning light streamed through grimy upper windows, illuminating rusted vats and long-abandoned conveyor systems.
Workers already inside respectfully stepped aside.
One of them pointed toward the lower stairwell.
"We kept everyone away, Commander."
Sico nodded appreciatively.
"Good work."
The freshly painted warning sign still stood at the entrance.
RESTRICTED AREA
Entry prohibited.
No personnel are authorized beyond this point until further notice from Commander Sico.
The sign had remained untouched.
Exactly as ordered.
Descending into the lower level felt strangely familiar.
The temperature dropped noticeably.
Their footsteps echoed through narrow concrete corridors.
Portable lanterns cast long shadows across thick walls.
Finally the reinforced blast door came into view.
It looked exactly as Sico remembered.
Cold.
Silent.
Waiting.
The technician who had first discovered it still stood nearby.
"I haven't touched anything."
"I know."
Sico walked toward the terminal.
Dust had already begun collecting across its screen again.
He brushed it away with one sleeve before pressing the power switch.
To everyone's surprise…
The monitor flickered.
Then glowed green.
"Still has power," Brooks murmured.
"Apparently."
Ancient boot sequences scrolled across the screen.
Security authorization requested.
Username.
Password.
Sico rested his fingers on the worn keyboard.
"I'll see if DiMA's security is as clever as he thought."
Harris looked over.
"You can hack this?"
"I've dealt with stranger terminals."
The room fell quiet except for the rhythmic tapping of keys.
Code scrolled down the monitor.
Encrypted directories.
Old security protocols.
Attempts rejected.
Sico frowned slightly.
"Not bad."
Another series of commands.
Another failed attempt.
He remained patient.
Minutes passed.
Nobody hurried him.
Finally…
A soft electronic chime echoed through the hallway.
ACCESS GRANTED
Lewis let out a slow whistle.
"I'll admit…"
He smiled.
"…that's impressive."
Sico simply leaned back.
"Let's hope what's behind the door was worth the effort."
He selected the security controls.
One final confirmation.
The ancient machinery responded.
Somewhere inside the walls heavy locking mechanisms engaged.
Metal groaned.
Hydraulics hissed.
With a deep mechanical rumble the reinforced security door slowly slid sideways.
Dust drifted from its frame after remaining sealed for decades.
Behind it…
A narrow chamber.
At its center stood an elevator.
Still intact.
Still waiting.
No one spoke.
Sico stared quietly at the old lift.
"So."
Harris broke the silence.
"You were right."
"I wish I weren't surprised."
He stepped inside first.
The others followed.
The elevator looked remarkably clean.
Emergency lights still glowed faintly along one wall.
Someone had maintained this place once.
Or perhaps it had simply been built to survive.
Sico pressed the only functioning button.
DOWN.
The doors closed behind them.
For several long seconds…
Nothing happened.
Then the elevator shuddered gently.
Ancient motors came alive beneath their feet.
Slowly it descended.
The journey underground felt longer than it actually was.
No one spoke.
Only the soft hum of cables and pulleys accompanied them.
Eventually the elevator slowed.
A quiet bell chimed.
The doors slid open.
Cold air drifted inside.
Before them stretched a spotless underground corridor.
Far cleaner than anything above.
Bright white walls.
Medical lighting.
Polished floors.
Rows of intact ceiling fixtures still glowing from emergency backup systems.
Private Nolan stared.
"…How?"
Brooks looked equally stunned.
"This place has been sealed for years."
"It shouldn't look like this."
Sico slowly stepped forward.
"It was designed not to be found."
The hallway opened into what had clearly once been a medical reception area.
Examination rooms branched away behind reinforced glass.
Medical carts still stood where someone had abandoned them.
Cabinets lined one wall.
Most remained closed.
It felt less like entering a ruin and more like interrupting a place frozen in time.
Then Harris quietly called out.
"Commander…"
Sico turned.
"What is it?"
The lieutenant stood in the center of the first room.
Looking downward.
At the floor.
There in the otherwise spotless room, lay an uneven patch of earth.
Not concrete.
Not tile.
Dirt.
A rectangular mound.
Too deliberate to be natural.
Too carefully placed to ignore.
No marker.
No name.
Just disturbed ground.
Everyone understood immediately.
Nobody wanted to say it aloud.
Sico slowly approached.
He knelt beside the mound.
His expression hardened.
"Get shovels."
No one questioned him.
The soldiers retrieved compact entrenching tools from their packs.
They worked carefully.
Respectfully.
Nobody rushed.
The sound of metal biting softly into earth echoed through the silent facility.
Minutes passed.
The soil grew deeper.
Eventually…
Lewis' shovel struck wood.
Everyone froze.
Brooks swallowed quietly.
"There."
They brushed away the remaining dirt.
An old wooden coffin emerged.
Weathered.
Simple.
Unmarked.
Sico removed his gloves.
"We open it."
Together they lifted the fragile lid.
Silence consumed the room.
Inside rested human remains.
A complete skeleton.
Still wearing faded clothing that had once belonged to the leader of Far Harbor.
Around the neck hung a familiar silver locket.
Harris whispered,
"…Captain Avery."
Nobody answered immediately.
Sico stared at the skull.
Then at the locket.
Everything fit.
Every rumor.
Every suspicion surrounding DiMA's replacements.
Every missing piece.
Brooks looked horrified.
"…Then…"
Her voice barely escaped.
"…the Avery we've been working with…"
Sico slowly nodded.
"…is a synth."
The words settled over the room like lead.
No one celebrated discovering the truth.
It felt…
Wrong.
Deeply wrong.
Lewis quietly removed his cap.
"She never even got a grave."
Sico looked at the skeleton for several moments before speaking.
"Treat these remains with respect."
He looked toward Brooks.
"The skull."
She nodded solemnly.
Carefully wrapping it in clean cloth.
"The locket as well."
Harris gently unclasped it from the fragile bones.
As Lewis searched the coffin further, his fingers brushed something tucked beside the skeleton.
"Commander."
He lifted a small object.
A holotape.
Old.
Unlabeled.
Sico accepted it silently.
He already suspected what it contained.
Without another word he inserted it into his Pip-Boy.
Static.
Then voices.
The first belonged to a woman.
Young.
Nervous.
Synth Avery: "Is it… is it going to be painful?"
A long pause followed.
Then came another voice.
Calm.
Gentle.
Unmistakably DiMA.
DiMA: "Yes… It's going to be like having everything you are ripped out and replaced with something else… Someone else."
No one moved.
The recording continued.
Synth Avery: "I'm ready. I just… wish I could say goodbye to everyone."
Several soldiers lowered their eyes.
The emotion in her voice sounded painfully real.
Then DiMA answered again.
DiMA: "No one else can know. This isn't just about infiltrating Far Harbor. It's about becoming the human that synths drawn here need to meet. Reasonable, willing to accept them as just another living thing. No greater or lesser than humanity itself."
A pause.
Then quietly…
DiMA: "You'll be part of the bridge between our two worlds. That all vanishes the moment anyone discovers that it's been manufactured. That you're a synth."
Silence.
Only faint breathing remained on the recording.
Finally the woman's voice returned.
Smaller now.
Broken.
Synth Avery: "Did she have to die? The woman I'm replacing? God… She looks so peaceful lying there…"
Several soldiers instinctively looked toward the coffin.
Then DiMA spoke one last time.
His voice carried unmistakable regret.
DiMA: "Don't. Please. That blood is on my hands. Not yours…"
The recording ended.
Static filled the room.
No one reached to stop it.
For a long time…
Nobody spoke at all.
The silence inside the hidden medical facility felt heavier than any battlefield Sico had ever walked.
Eventually Harris found his voice.
"…What do we do now?"
Sico looked once more at Captain Avery's remains.
Then at the holotape resting in his hand.
Finally he answered quietly.
"We tell no one."
Every head turned toward him.
"Not yet."
He carefully removed the holotape from the Pip-Boy.
"Far Harbor is finally stable."
"If this becomes public without preparation…"
He looked toward the elevator.
"…it could destroy everything we've spent months building."
The soldiers understood.
Even if none of them liked it.
Sico gently wrapped the holotape beside the locket.
"We'll give Captain Avery the burial she should have had."
"And when the time is right…"
He looked back toward the silent grave.
"…the truth will be dealt with."
No one argued.
The silence lingered over the hidden burial chamber long after Sico's decision had been made.
No one argued.
No one questioned him.
Every soldier present understood the weight of what they had just uncovered.
Some truths could save lives.
Others could tear communities apart.
This one had the potential to do both.
Brooks carefully secured Captain Avery's skull inside a padded medical case normally used for fragile instruments. Harris wrapped the silver locket inside a clean cloth before placing it beside the holotape in Sico's field satchel.
Lewis stood beside the open coffin for a long moment, his cap still held against his chest.
"She deserved better than this."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
No one disagreed.
Sico looked toward the disturbed grave one last time.
"We'll come back."
Brooks glanced at him.
"To bury her properly?"
"Yes."
He nodded once.
"Not down here."
"She'll have a grave beneath the sky."
Those simple words seemed to lift some of the heaviness that had settled over the room.
Not much.
But enough.
The soldiers carefully replaced the coffin lid.
Rather than reburying it completely, they marked the location on one of Harris' maps.
Only trusted officers would ever know where it lay until they returned.
Eventually Sico drew a slow breath.
"We're not finished."
Several heads turned toward him.
"If this really was DiMA's medical facility…"
He looked deeper into the underground complex.
"…then there's more here than one grave."
They continued farther into the facility.
Bright emergency lights still illuminated the polished corridors with an almost unnatural steadiness.
The entire place remained eerily clean.
Dust had settled in corners over the decades, yet the medical equipment appeared almost untouched.
Examination beds stood neatly arranged behind glass partitions.
Cabinets remained closed.
Several operating rooms waited silently behind reinforced observation windows.
Nolan peered into one room.
"It feels like the doctors just stepped outside."
Brooks nodded.
"I've worked in hospitals that looked worse."
Lewis frowned.
"That's somehow less comforting."
A faint smile passed across several faces.
Even after discovering the grave, moments of ordinary conversation helped steady everyone's nerves.
The deeper they walked, the stranger the facility became.
Several hallways ended at sealed blast doors.
Others led to laboratories filled with pre-war medical devices that none of them recognized.
Many rooms remained locked.
Small security lights glowed red above each doorway.
Whatever power source sustained the bunker was remarkably resilient.
Eventually the corridor widened into what had clearly been the administrative center of the medical facility.
Rows of terminals occupied both walls.
A circular console dominated the middle of the room.
Unlike the dusty computer systems elsewhere, this one remained active.
Soft green lights blinked rhythmically across its control panels.
Monitors displayed lines of text that continued updating even after two centuries.
Collins let out a low whistle.
"Someone's still running this place."
Before anyone could respond…m, one monitor suddenly brightened.
Letters slowly appeared across the screen.
INITIALIZING…
Another line followed.
FACILITY A.I. ONLINE
A synthetic voice echoed gently through hidden speakers.
"Medical Facility Control Program…"
A brief pause.
"…KYE version one point one online."
The soldiers instinctively tightened their grips on their rifles.
Sico raised one hand.
"Easy."
The artificial voice continued.
"Unrecognized personnel detected."
"Please identify yourself."
The room fell silent.
Sico stepped toward the central console.
"My name is Sico."
"I represent the Republic occupying the Vim! Pop Factory above."
Several seconds passed.
Then KYE answered.
"Identity not found."
"Access denied."
Another pause.
"Prototype synth personnel only."
One nearby blast door emitted a brief red warning light.
The lock remained firmly engaged.
Lewis folded his arms.
"Straight to the point."
Sico ignored the comment.
"KYE."
The A.I. responded immediately.
"Listening."
"This facility has been abandoned for years."
"Confirmed."
"There are no prototype synths here."
"Confirmed."
"The personnel who built this place are gone."
A brief pause followed.
"Confirmed."
Sico rested one hand on the console.
"Then who exactly are you protecting it for?"
Silence.
Longer this time.
The processors somewhere inside the bunker quietly hummed.
Finally…
"My primary directive is preservation."
"Preservation of medical resources."
"Preservation of authorized research."
"Preservation of prototype synth personnel."
Sico nodded thoughtfully.
"And have you preserved them?"
Another pause.
"No."
"When was the last authorized visitor?"
Several seconds passed.
The answer came quietly.
"Approximately…"
A short burst of static interrupted the calculation.
"…one hundred and twenty-seven years ago."
Even the soldiers exchanged surprised glances.
The facility had truly been forgotten.
Sico looked around the room.
"KYE."
"Yes."
"The people this facility was built to help are gone."
The voice remained calm.
"My directives remain active."
"They no longer can."
Again…
Silence.
The machine processed every sentence literally.
Patiently.
Without emotion.
Sico continued speaking.
"Above this facility…"
He gestured upward.
"…hundreds of people are rebuilding."
"They're restoring the factory."
"They've built homes."
"They've restored clean drinking water."
"They've planted crops."
"They've created a settlement where there was once only death."
The monitors continued blinking quietly.
"KYE."
"We aren't here to destroy this place."
"We're here because knowledge hidden forever helps no one."
Another pause.
"My directives prohibit unauthorized access."
"I understand."
Sico's voice remained calm.
"But your highest purpose wasn't locking doors."
"It was preserving lives."
No reply.
He continued.
"Every bandage."
"Every medical instrument."
"Every supply hidden behind those doors…"
He looked directly at the terminal.
"…could save someone's life."
"A wounded soldier."
"A farmer."
"One of the children who'll someday live above us."
The processors hummed again.
"My access parameters…"
The voice hesitated for the first time.
"…do not contain projected civilian settlement scenarios."
"They should."
Sico answered gently.
"Because that's what exists now."
"The world changed."
"The people who gave you your orders are gone."
"But people still need what you've protected."
The room became completely still.
Nobody interrupted.
Even the soldiers seemed to understand they were watching something unusual.
Not a battle.
Not a hacking attempt.
A conversation.
Between a man and a machine that had faithfully obeyed orders for generations.
Finally KYE spoke again.
"My purpose…"
A pause.
"…is preservation."
"Exactly."
Sico nodded.
"So preserve something that still exists."
"Help the living."
The silence that followed felt almost human.
At last, the green status lights across the console slowly changed.
One by one.
From red to amber then to green.
A soft electronic tone echoed throughout the underground facility.
"Directive reinterpretation accepted."
The soldiers glanced at one another.
KYE continued.
"Emergency civilian medical preservation protocol initiated."
"Additional access granted."
Somewhere deeper within the facility…
Heavy locking mechanisms disengaged.
A sealed blast door several corridors away unlocked with a loud metallic clunk.
Another followed.
Then another.
The sound echoed through the underground bunker.
Harris smiled.
"I think that worked."
Sico allowed himself a quiet smile.
"So do I."
KYE spoke again.
"Opening authorized storage room."
"Medical preservation inventory available."
A nearby security door slowly slid open.
The soldiers cautiously entered first.
Beyond it lay another storage chamber.
Unlike the immaculate medical rooms they had already explored, this space resembled a supply warehouse.
Shelves lined every wall.
Boxes.
Medical trays.
Old surgical instruments.
Sealed containers.
Most had survived remarkably well thanks to the stable environment.
Lewis picked up a sealed package.
"Still intact."
Brooks examined another cabinet.
"Medical gloves."
She opened another.
"Sterile dressings."
Her eyes widened.
"Actual surgical kits…"
The medic looked almost overwhelmed.
"We've never had equipment like this."
Nolan moved farther inside.
"There are enough supplies here for an entire hospital."
Harris stopped near one corner.
"Commander."
Sico walked over.
Resting against the wall stood a well-preserved combat rifle.
Unlike the rusted weapons commonly found across the wasteland, this one had clearly spent decades protected from moisture.
Lewis picked it up carefully.
"Hardly any corrosion."
He checked the action.
"It still cycles."
Sico examined it briefly.
"Secure it."
"It'll be cleaned and stored in the Depot."
The soldiers continued cataloguing the room.
Most of the shelves contained medical junk that would have been priceless to Republic doctors.
Microscopes.
Surgical lights.
Diagnostic instruments.
Sterilization equipment.
Replacement parts.
Old laboratory glassware.
Nothing glamorous.
Yet Brooks looked happier than if they had discovered a cache of weapons.
"Curie is going to lose her mind when she sees this."
Several soldiers laughed quietly.
Sico smiled.
"Assuming we ever decide to tell her."
"Fair point."
As they finished examining the room…
KYE's voice echoed once more.
"Power reserves critical."
Everyone looked back toward the control room.
The status lights had dimmed noticeably.
"KYE?"
The reply came slower than before.
"Primary reactor functioning below operational threshold."
"Emergency reserves depleted."
The monitors flickered.
"My remaining power is insufficient for continued interaction."
Sico stepped back toward the console.
"You've helped us."
A brief pause.
"Directive fulfilled."
The lights dimmed again.
Then KYE spoke one final time.
"Facility access…"
Static briefly interrupted the sentence.
"…maintained."
"Entering…"
The processors emitted a long, low hum.
"…sleep mode."
The green monitor slowly faded.
One screen after another went dark.
Indicator lights blinked once…
Twice…
Then disappeared.
Silence returned to the room.
The control console no longer responded.
Brooks pressed a single key.
Nothing happened.
Lewis looked at Sico.
"That's it?"
Sico nodded quietly.
"I think KYE spent the last of its power keeping this place alive."
Nobody spoke for a moment.
It was an oddly sad ending.
Not because KYE had died exactly.
But because an ancient machine had faithfully carried out its purpose for centuries, only to complete its final task helping people it had never been programmed to know.
Sico rested one hand lightly on the dormant console.
"Thank you."
There was no reply.
Only silence.
Then he turned back toward his soldiers.
"Pack every medical supply carefully."
He looked around the underground facility.
"Nothing here gets wasted."
"The Republic has doctors who'll save lives with this equipment."
He glanced once more at the dark computer screens.
"And KYE made sure they'd have the chance."
They worked in a hushed, reverent rhythm, stripping the shelves of the pristine tools that would soon heal wounds under the open sky.
______________________________________________
• Name: Sico
• Stats :
S: 8,44
P: 7,44
E: 8,44
C: 8,44
I: 9,44
A: 7,45
L: 7
• Skills: advance Mechanic, Science, and Shooting skills, intermediate Medical, Hand to Hand Combat, Lockpicking, Hacking, Persuasion, and Drawing Skills
• Inventory: 53.280 caps, 10mm Pistol, 1500 10mm rounds, 22 mole rats meat, 17 mole rats teeth, 1 fragmentation grenade, 6 stimpak, 1 rad x, 6 fusion core, computer blueprint, modern TV blueprint, camera recorder blueprint, 1 set of combat armor, Automatic Assault Rifle, 1.500 5.56mm rounds, power armor T51 blueprint, Electric Motorcycle blueprint, T-45 power armor, Minigun, 1.000 5mm rounds, Cryolator, 200 cryo cell, Machine Gun Turret Mk1 blueprint, electric car blueprint, Kellogg gun, Righteous Authority, Ashmaker, Furious Power Fist, Full set combat armor blueprint, M240 7.62mm machine guns blueprint, Automatic Assault Rifle blueprint, and Humvee blueprint.
• Active Quest:-