Chapter 26: Loose Ends
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Gerard walks through a metallic hallway. He stops at the end as he sees a hooded man approach him.
"You were right" he said "Ellie's still alive"
"Of course I'm right" the hooded man said "My information network is second to none"
"What do you plan on doing to Ellie, anyway? I don't think driving her mad is your only purpose"
"Why of course! She'll be our guide to acquiring the key!"
"Guide?"
"Ellie's memories are vital and your latest 'conversation' with her was a great push"
"Where is she anyway?"
"Why she's where you'll expect her to be"
Gerard then squints his eyes as he says "The Commonwealth…"
The hooded man gives a sinister smile before walking away
Gerard looks back as the hooded man disappears into the deeper parts of the facility
"Don't think you control all the strings" Gerard muttered "I'm not just gonna let you have your way"
3 weeks later:
CIT Ruins, the Commonwealth:
Ellie stands over a flooded crater. She scours the area, hoping to find something useful.
"Looks like they also bit the dust…" she muttered as she searched the area "I guess they deserve it…"
After a few minutes, the mercenary gives up on her search and decides to head elsewhere…
"I hope the other labs are still intact…" she muttered as she turns her radio on
She listens to the broadcast of Radio Freedom. As she listens to the countless announcements and songs, an idea came to her head. "The Minutemen… I wonder, should I ask for their help?"
The Castle:
Ellie arrives at the castle's gates. She could feel the tension as several laser and missile turrets take aim at her.
"Can I help you?" a Minuteman asked
"I could use some help" the mercenary replied
"What kind of help?"
"Well I was hoping I could talk to your leader?"
"The General? He's out at the moment. Come back later"
"Oh ok…"
Disappointed, the mercenary goes to the nearest town she could find, Quincy.
Quincy:
Ellie arrives at the bustling town. The town was packed with people as they go about their day-to-day lives.
"This was in ruins a few years ago…" she muttered "The Minutemen sure don't miss a beat. Clearing an entire place like this with just a small squad"
The mercenary then enters a bar. Sitting down at the back end of the establishment, Ellie orders a bottle of whiskey.
"Cheers…" she melancholically muttered as she takes a swig
As the mercenary continues to "enjoy" her drink, a tall dark colored man approaches her.
"What do you want?" the mercenary asked
"I saw you at the Castle" the man answered
"So?"
"So I know where the general is"
"What now?"
"I said I know where the Minutemen General went"
"You do?"
"Yes. I'll lead you to him"
Ellie's eyes squint as she says "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Preston Garvey"
"Why should I trust you?"
"Do you want my help or not? You are free to refuse"
"Fine. I'll go with you"
"Good"
HalluciGen Inc. Building
An hour later:
"He's in here?" the mercenary wondered as they both enter the main hall
"Yes" Preston answered "Follow me"
Ellie and Presto then navigate through the intricate maze of the facility.
"Seems awfully empty…" Ellie remarked "Not even a radroach in sight…"
They eventually reach the control room.
"Wait a minute" the mercenary said as she look through the room's window "This looks like a test chamber"
"That's right" Preston answered "This facility was used to test psychoactive drugs on unsuspecting people…"
"What?"
"Yes… Many fell victim to this facility even after it was abandoned more than 200 years ago"
"Fuck that" Ellie muttered as she shoots the control panels "So where's the general anyway?"
"In here" Preston answered as he draws a cross on a wall, revealing a hidden door
"Hidden room… Why am I not surprised"
Hidden Lab:
As Ellie and Preston enter the lab area itself, the mercenary couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia in about the area.
"Wait…" she thought "I've been here before…"
She then searches the area and finds a terminal. Surprisingly, she enters the correct password on the terminal revealing its contents to her. She then comes across a video file and clicks it out of pure curiosity.
The video opens with Ellie, wearing a lab coat, fixing the camera.
"Specimen C-E-1-1" she said with a formal tone "Date: November 28, 2165. I'm administering FEV Sample B-S-5 on a live human female test subject"
"NO!" a woman, strapped to a table, shouted as she struggles to escape "No! Please! Don't!"
Ellie, while holding a syringe, slowly walks to the woman, who struggles faster. Ellie then injects the woman on the forehead.
Seconds later, the woman started to convulse and violently snarl as she eventually breaks free from her restraints. She then collapses to the floor and two appendages sprout out of her back and the "woman", now a ghoul, stands up and slowly made her way towards Ellie.
"Another failure…" Ellie muttered as she fires several shots from her .45 pistol on the 'ghoul's' head, killing it "Oh well… Back to the drawing board…"
"No…" the mercenary muttered as she gets a migraine and is haunted by visions of her experimentations "Who are you, Preston?"
Preston then smiles as he brings out a syringe gun. "I'm here to free you, Eleanor"
"What?!"
Preston then fires his gun but the mercenary manages to dodge the incoming syringe.
After dodging several syringes, the mercenary manages to close the distance with Preston and struggles to wrest control of the gun.
"Who the fuck are you?!" she shouted as she grabs Preston's left fist
Preston simply smiles as he breaks free of the deadlock and fires another syringe, which Ellie narrowly dodges by doing a split.
Acting fast, the mercenary sweeps the man's legs, causing him to fall over and drop his gun.
However, Preston brings out a syringe and tackles the mercenary to the floor.
Ellie grabs Preston's hands with hers as she struggles to prevent the syringe from stabbing her neck. She then notices a distinct purple color inside the syringe
"The fuck is in that thing?!" Ellie uttered
"One mind, one body, Ellie" Preston uttered
Despite using all her strength, Ellie fails to prevent the purple liquid from being injected into her.
She quickly loses all her strength and energy as she struggles to even stand up. Preston then accesses another terminal and moves the monitor for the mercenary to see.
She then sees herself in another video clip
"If you're seeing this" she said "Then that means you, or rather I, were weak and have been compromised. Or you could have forgotten the noble purpose you sought to achieve"
She then brings out a vial. "In this vial is a serum to remind you of who you are and what you should do. This is disappointing. I never thought that I'd ever be defeated by mere savages… Oh well, there is always room for error and errors must be corrected"
The video clip ends there as Preston walks slowly towards Ellie.
"You son of a bitch!" Ellie said "You don't know what you've done!"
"I know exactly what I did" Preston replied "Welcome home, Eleanor"
Ellie then begins to see visions & delusions as voices begin to bombard her eardrums.
"No…!" she muttered "Stop it! NO!"
As Preston steps back to see the sight of Ellie struggling to maintain herself, several bullets punch through him. He then turns around and a hooded man emerges from the door. Preston attempted to fight back but the hooded man fires a .44 magnum in his head, blowing it apart.
As metallic parts scatter around the room, the hooded man approaches Ellie, who was slowly losing consciousness.
The last thing she hears was the hooded man saying "Shit! I'm too late!"
As she drifts from dream to dream, one particular dream had a unique impact on her.
Ellie sits down in an oval table, with 8 other men. Although she was close to the men, she could hardly make sense of their faces, save for Gerard who was sitting down in the corner.
"Ellie" one of the men said "You have exercised great promise and have proven your dedication to our doctrine. I guess it is time"
The mercenary then notices that the dream skips to her standing up and a circle forms around her.
However, the dream ends as she get close to the man in the center of the circle.
Sometime later:
Ellie wakes up and finds that she is lying on a bed. She could hear the distinct sound of a coast just outside the window on her right.
"Where am I…?" she thought
A young man then approaches her. "You're awake"
"Where… am I? What happened…?"
"You're in the Castle, the Minutemen's headquarters. You were carried here by General Nate"
"General? That's right! I need to meet your general"
As she stand up, Ellie suddenly feels a headache.
"Easy. Easy" the young doctor said "You're still a bit weak. You need some rest"
"I-I'm fine… I-I need to see the general…"
"You're in no condition to do anything"
"Shut up!"
The mercenary then stands up and slowly walks to the courtyard with the doctor close by attempting to convince her to go back to bed but to no avail.
As she stumbles upon the courtyard, a familiar face approaches her. "Hey! You don't look so good, you should rest"
As her vision clears, Ellie sees it was Preston who greeted her. As if acquiring all of her lost energy, Ellie punches the man in the face and proceeds to stab him with her hidden blade but was suddenly subdued by a tall middle-aged man.
"Let go of me!" she shouted "This bitch injected some weird shit on me!"
"What are you talking about?!" Preston responded
"Shut up! You attacked me and injected me with some weird purple liquid!"
"He didn't do it!" the man, who subdued her, said
"What do you mean?!" Ellie responded
"It was a synth! A synth posing as him attacked you!"
Briefing Room
A few minutes later:
"I'm sorry" Ellie said to Preston
"It's ok. Anyway, I'm Preston Garvey nice to meet you and this man here is General Nate"
"I'm Ellie. Nice to meet you. But I thought the Institute was destroyed why are there still synths out and about?"
"Despite the destruction of The Institute, a few synths are still active and causing trouble"
"We have to do something about them…" the Minutemen General said
"Well… We can always ask help from the RailRoad"
"They're already mobilized. I can't just go around and killing synths…"
"I know…"
"Anyway, you said you wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes" Ellie said "I need help"
Preston then buts in saying "Another settlement needs-"
"Shut up, Garvey" the Minuteman General interrupted
"Anyway" Ellie continued "I need your help in helping me dig something out"
"Dig something out?"
"Sir!" a Minutemen Soldier said as he enters the room "He's here to see you"
"Oh him" Nate said "Send him in"
"Him?" Ellie wondered as a hooded man enters the room
Recognizing the man, Ellie draws her pistol and aims it, point blank, at his head.
"Been a while" the hooded man said
"Never expected to see you here, asshole" Ellie responded
"Nice to see you too…"
"You know him?" Nate asked
"Know him?!" Ellie responded "He practically held me at gunpoint and allowed one of my enemies to escape!"
"Still holding a grudge eh" the man uttered
"Shut up!"
"Look. I am not your enemy. There's a reason why I had to do that. You gotta understand"
"Really now? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't splatter your brain right now"
"Because the serum that synth injected into you will slowly drive you mad"
"So?"
"I know of a way to cure you"
"Bullshit!"
"Don't believe me?"
"You think I will after what you did back in the Purifier?"
"Fine then. Nate tell her"
"Huh?"
"Right" Nate said as he points to the CIT Ruins in the map "We managed to dig up an old teleporter in the area. Despite the destruction of The Institute, it was intact but we couldn't activate the device"
"Where is this teleporter?"
"In the eastern side of the building. It was buried under a lot of rubble"
"That teleporter" the hooded man said "Leads to a hidden lab that YOU used to work at"
"I don't remember ever working on any labs there!"
"Are you sure? I thought you had your memories restored?"
"What?! How did you know that?!"
"I have my sources…"
"Like hell you do!"
"You gotta believe me. But if you don't you're free to pull that trigger"
Ellie then puts away her gun as she grunts. "Alright. I'll play along. We'll go to the CIT Ruins and I'll see this teleporter for myself"
The hooded man then does a slow clap. "Very good"
"But if that teleporter doesn't exist, I'm gonna enjoy grinding your smug little face into the ground"
"By all means"
CIT Ruins
An hour later:
Ellie, Nate, and the hooded man arrive at the crater as they begin to scour the eastern side of the old building.
Eventually, they reach the teleporter but the mercenary is suddenly struck with another headache.
"You ok?" Nate asked
"Y-Yeah… Just a minor headache" the mercenary said as she composes herself
Wasting no time, the mercenary approaches the teleporter and opens a panel at the back of the device. After some rewiring, the mercenary activates the teleporter.
Ellie's Lab:
As they emerge from the teleporter, Ellie couldn't help but feel nostalgic as she recognizes the place as one of the labs she used to work at…
However, as she enters the lab proper, her headache returns and the surrounding area suddenly changes.
"Please…!" a male voice shouted as Ellie notices a man strapped to one of the tables
Ellie then looks to her left as she hears someone banging on the windows. She spots a young woman, whose face is dripping with blood.
"Ellie!"
The mercenary then comes to her senses as she sees the hooded man shaking her.
"Looks like the serum's really taking its toll on you"
"Y-Yeah… I need a terminal"
"There's a terminal over there"
Wasting no time, the mercenary approaches the terminal, although it was locked with a password. Ellie thought for a minute before guessing. "A-se-lia"
The terminal accepted the password and the mercenary sees two files.
"The mind reader…?" the mercenary muttered as she opens the file "Eleanor Neumann personal journal. March 15, 2165. After another failed experiment, one of my colleagues told me of a special artifact hidden somewhere in the wasteland. It mostly sounds like random mythical nonsense but I have to admit that it was an interesting legend. I mean, an artifact that can read minds. Now that is something we can definitely use. Nevertheless, it is just a legend and most legends are just exaggerated stories told from the past"
The mercenary ponders to herself for a moment but could not remember writing the journal entry.
"Can't waste any more time!" she thought as she opens the other file, which contains information about the mysterious serum and a cure for it.
After downloading the ingredients and procedure to make the cure, Ellie hastily begins to mix the chemicals in her former lab.
"Good thing all of the ingredients I needed are still intact…" she thought
30 minutes later:
The mercenary finishes her serum but as she was about to inject it on herself, she is suddenly attacked by a headache, much more painful than the others.
"Ellie!" the hooded man said as he approached the mercenary
Surprisingly, the mercenary lunges at the man. The hooded man dodges to the left as Ellie draws her pistol and begins to open fire on the man.
"Ellie!" he shouted "What the hell are you doing?!"
But his words land on deaf ears as Ellie continues to attack the hooded man and Nate.
After spending an entire magazine on them, the hooded man quickly rushes to Ellie before she is able to reload. He quickly flicked his wrists and attempted to stab the mercenary's shoulder with his hidden blade but the mercenary quickly parried them with her own.
An intense close quarter battle ensues as both fighters attempt to land a hit using their hidden blades.
Nate then attempts to intervene but the mercenary quickly sets her sights on him as Nate blocks her attacks with his rifle.
Seeing an opportunity, the hooded man lunges at the mercenary however, Ellie parries his strike and grabs him by the throat. The hooded man quickly uses the hidden gun mechanism of his hidden blades to shoot Ellie in the shoulder, who promptly lets go.
He attempts to stab her once more but the mercenary quickly recovers and manages to slash his mask, forcing the hooded man to take it off. Ellie then tackles him to the ground.
Before she could deliver the killing blow, Nate manages to grab the mercenary and inject her with the serum.
A few minutes later, the mercenary recovers and upon looking at the hooded man's face, she quickly recognized him. "Polonsky?!"
"Hey Ellie…" the young man said
"Hey Ellie?! What the fuck is going on here?!"
"It's better that you know nothing"
"Know nothing?! I want answers, Polonsky!"
"No can do, Ellie"
Angry, the mercenary storms off without another word.
An hour later:
As Ellie wandered the wasteland, she notices a young woman being attacked by some raiders.
She quickly comes to the woman's rescue as she kills the raiders with relative ease using her hidden blades.
After taking care of the raiders, the mercenary approaches the young woman she just saved.
"Thank you for rescuing me" she said "Excuse me but I need your help"
"My help?"
"Yes. You see those raiders that attacked me were part of a bigger band of raiders and they recently attacked my research laboratory and my friend is still trapped inside"
"Where is this lab?"
"The Glowing Sea. Will you help me?"
The mercenary ponders to herself before saying "Alright"
"Thank you! My name is Curie, by the way.
"Ellie"
"Do you have something to stop the radiation by any chance?"
"I don't need to"
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say I have more tolerance to radiation than any other human. So let's go"
"Ok then"
Edge of the Glowing Sea:
Before nearing the highly irradiated area, Curie hands over some Rad-X and Radaway to the mercenary.
"I told you I can take the rads"
"Pays to be prepared"
"How about you? You're human. Don't you need these too?"
"I am not exactly human. I am a synth"
"A synth huh… ok then…"
As they enter the irradiated area, Ellie's Geiger counter begins to ping at 100 rads per second.
"Can't even feel a thing…" she thought "Yep… I'm a monster but why did I feel the adverse effects of radiation back then…?"
"Are you a synth as well?"
"No… But I'm also not human…"
"Your tone makes it seem that you are not happy with your current biology. A friend of mine once taught me that your biology does not define who you are. It is your actions that determine them"
Ellie gives a pained smile. "So what were you doing here anyway?"
"I have been researching radiation for a few years now. You see I was a medical robot before I was transferred to this body. I want to find a way to reduce radiation faster than Rad-X or Radaway as well as finding a cure for the ghouls, either to reverse their mutation or to prevent them from becoming feral and maybe even cure those who have"
"Such a noble goal…" Ellie muttered "While all I did was cause pain and suffering for my selfish reasons…"
Curie's Lab:
As they neared the lab, Ellie recognized it as another Institute Lab but she kept it to herself as she scours the area.
"Ghoul raiders…" she muttered "That's a first. Two at the entrance"
Ellie then turns to Curie. "Why would ghouls attack your lab?"
"They heard of my research and demanded I hand over the cure but I told them that I have yet to make a breakthrough. Based on their symptoms, they are showing signs of a feral ghoul. They are slowly losing their sense of reasoning…"
"Can I kill them then?"
"As much as possible, try to incapacitate them"
"Understood"
Ellie then circle around the area and walks towards the south side of the building. She then climbs the derelict structure and emerges at the top.
She quickly jumps down and lands on one of the ghouls. With a quick karate chop to his neck, the ghoul was knocked out. The other ghoul then raises his rifle but the mercenary pushes the muzzle upwards, causing him to miss. She then grabs the ghouls arm and squeezes it tight, prompting him to let go of his weapon. She then punches the ghoul in the stomach and finishes him off with an uppercut.
Wasting no time, the ghoul enters the elevator and descends to the floor below.
Curie's Lab; Underground:
Emerging from the elevator, the mercenary quickly makes her way through the facility, neutralizing guards with non-lethal force, checking room to room for Curie's friend.
She then stumbles upon a room with a window. She takes a peek and sees a super mutant held prisoner behind a force field.
"Now then" a ghoul said as he approaches the force field "You WILL give the cure!"
"I told you" the super mutant replied "We don't have it yet. You can't just-"
"Shut up! Th-There's a cure here! I-I know it!"
"A super mutant…?" Ellie muttered "Looks like Fawkes and his crew aren't the only docile super mutants…"
Ellie quickly breaks through the door and grabs the ghoul's arm. She squeezes it tight, prompting the ghoul to drop his gun. She quickly does a combo of punches and kicks on the ghoul, knocking him out.
With the threats neutralized, Ellie deactivates the force field, freeing the super mutant
Sometime later:
Ellie looks through the room, where all the ghoul raiders were imprisoned.
As she look at the room, she couldn't help but remember the countless horrific experiments she did in the past…
"Thank you"
Ellie then looks behind her to see Curie and her friend
"Thank you again for rescuing my friend" Curie said
"You didn't tell me your friend was a super mutant" Ellie remarked
"I know what you're going to say" the super mutant said
"Don't worry" Ellie replied "I don't have anything against your kind. In fact, I encountered a pretty friendly group of super mutants"
"Really now?"
"Yes. So can I get your name?"
"My name? It's Virgil"
"Virgil huh… So what's up with this lab anyway?"
"Well…" Curie answered "A few years ago, I, Virgil and a good friend of mine found this laboratory. We found several notes and research data that showed that this facility bore witness to several horrific experiments done by The Institute"
"Yes…" Virgil said "The Institute did so much atrocities towards the people of the wasteland… I was one of them once…"
"You were…?" Ellie wondered
"Yes… I couldn't stand it anymore so one day I left… But I still considered The Institute as my home"
"But The Institute was destroyed…"
"Yes… For a time, I took it against the Minutemen and their General"
"Wait, Nate destroyed The Institute?"
"Oh you know him!" Curie remarked
"Yeah… met him some time ago… Virgil, you said "for a time" what do you mean?"
"I hated the Minutemen, especially Nate, for a time because they destroyed my only home… But after sometime I realized that the destruction of The Institute was necessary to make the Commonwealth a better place…"
"Oh… But why did you continue the research of such a group?"
"Although the experiments were morally questionable…" Curie answered "Some good can still be used from their research. Using them as a platform, I hope to create a permanent cure for radiation poisoning and even a cure for radiation mutations and FEV infected individuals, including super mutants. The notes of one notable scientist was quite helpful in my research"
"One scientist?"
"Yes. I believe her name was Eleanor Neumann"
Ellie's eyes widen as she tries to keep her composure. "But their research was grounded behind dark goals. They experimented on people, tortured them… Who knows how many died painfully in these labs"
"That is true. But things like research, data, and even weapons are not inherently evil. It is the one who wields them that defines their purpose. Drugs such as stimpaks are also products of countless human experimentations, some of which were failures and resulted in the painful death of the human… I plan not to waste the lives that were lost here and give them meaning by finding new ways to cure diseases and conditions and Ms. Neumann's research is most helpful in my research for drugs that help mend wounds"
Ellie feels a sense of pride as she hears Curie's explanation. "Well I gotta go. Good luck with your research!"
Curie then waves goodbye. "Thank you once again, Ms. Ellie for helping us!"
Somewhere in Downtown Boston:
Ellie stands on top of a skyscraper as she stares at the ruined city below…
She the notices Gerard on her right. "You again… Been popping up a lot recently…"
"Used to my presence already?"
"Taunting me for 3 weeks straight… Who wouldn't get used to that…"
"Going numb are we"
"You sent that synth to inject that serum didn't you?"
Gerard's eyes squint. "No…"
"A lying bastard as always"
"I am who I am. So then Eleanor, what's your decision?"
"I know who I am and what I should do now…"
"Really? Do tell"
Ellie then turns to her right and stares at Gerard's smug face. "My name is Eleanor Neumann. A proud scientist and soldier of the Enclave"
Gerard gives a sinister smiles as he hears Ellie say those words.
"But!" Ellie added "I'm also Ellie, a proud knight of the Brotherhood of Steel! The Enclave is gone. Although, I can't reverse everything I did in the past, I can strive to make up for all the lives that I ruined! I'm going to stop you, Gerard! And no amount of delusions or serums will make me say otherwise!"
"You're really playing with fire here, Ellie. Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure. Gerard. You are going down!"
Ellie then turns around and walks away.
Gerard did not move. He simply gave a genuine smile as he says "Good answer…" before disappearing.
Vicinity of Vault 111
An hour later:
Ellie meets up with Polonsky by the fence.
"So" her old friend said "You made up your mind?"
"I have"
Polonsky smiles as he senses Ellie's determination
"Polonsky, answer me straight. Who are you guys?"
Polonsky's smile quickly disappears. "It's better that you don't know Ellie. I think you can agree with me when I say that some things are not meant to be known"
"I'll accept that for now but I'll demand answers soon"
"We'll see what happens then"
Polonsky then throws the mercenary a pack of mentats
"My special mentats…?" she wondered
"Don't you remember?" Polonsky said "You made those mentats to suppress the FEV. You recently stopped taking them, right?"
"Now that you mention it…"
"Alright. Enough chitchat. We gotta go back to D.C. A lot of shit happened and I need to reorient you!"
With her identity and purpose finally clear, the mercenary goes with her old friend back into the war…
D.C. Ruins
Nighttime:
Vyse, with a gunshot wound to the stomach, is running through the ruins as several armed men chase after him.
"Damn it!" he muttered as he fire his laser pistol at the assailants
He quickly trips on a piece of debris. With no way out and his assailants closing in, Vyse goes against a wall, brings out his laser rifle, and opens fire, killing a few of his assailants, before being shot in both shoulders.
No longer a threat, the assailants surround Vyse, who was bleeding out.
Then a tall hooded man emerges from the group.
"The fuck is up with you people?!" Vyse shouted "You're all backstabbers, you know that"
"Yes, we know Vyse" the tall man responded "If only you didn't delve into our 'affairs', we wouldn't have had to kill you"
"Fuck you assholes to hell!"
"Temper. Temper. I warned you, Vyse but you didn't listen"
"Are you gonna continue talking or are you gonna shoot me already?"
The man then gives a sinister smile. "Don't worry, I'll end you"
The man then aims a M1911 at the knight sergeant's face.
"Oh!" the hooded man said "Did I mention that your death will guide Ellie back to us?"
"Bullshit! She'll never come back to you guys!"
"Let's see. Well goodbye, Knight Sergeant"
The hooded man then pulls the trigger, ending the knight sergeant's life.
"Now then, how should we proceed from here?" he thought