Foalout 4 – Sanctuary Hill – Chapter 49 – Lothmar
“Wook, so wong as Sundae and ouw babbehs am dah ones diwectow wub dah most, nu cawe if dey wan hab speciaw huggies wif uddah fwuffies.” She adds shrugging. “Eben sundae nee’ some time to wecovew between funsies.”
“Allright back to your safe room. Also, no more enfies on daddy’s bed!”
“Unwess ou invite sundae wight?” You immediately took off your shoe and chucked it into the wall next to her as she scampered out the doorway laughing haughtily.
“I miss Curie…” Johnson sighed remembering the short time they had together only for the fruit of the poison seed to wither on the vine as they left you after you sided with the institute. The love wasn’t as pure as the one you had with your first wife before the war but damn did that accent get your motor going…
“I wonder if I still have the audio files on that voice..?” You pondered while stripping the sheets accordingly. With the laundry gathered and heading down to retrieve your laundry from the garage you went back to the institute.
~THWOK!~
After depositing your laundry, Johnson made his way over to Bio sciences to schedule an appointment for up to all his fluffies tomorrow. Johnson had to pull a few strings and even pay a hundred caps for the expedited appointment, but he thought it was more than worth it. On the way out Johnson made his way over to synth retention to check if there were any fluffy leads.
“Excuse me.” A creaky old voice added from behind you while you were monitoring the board.
“Yes, how can I help you?” Johnson added respectfully after looking down and to the side to a man that must have been in his late sixties or older at this point.
“Have you seen acting director Ayo around? I just got back and was looking to debrief.” You blinked at this. You didn’t know almost any actual people who worked for synth retention and you didn’t think the institute made elderly coursers. Your eyes looked at a sudden train of synths in electronic collars being escorted towards the direction of retention by a courser dressed more like a wasteland mercenary.
“Depending on your relationship with the ex- acting director, the news could be good or bad.”
“Ex acting director? Oh my, what has that buffoon done this time?” Their tone was one of disappointment and maybe a hint of embarrassment.
“Tried to commit treason against the institute and then disintegrated himself instead of facing trial.”
“My goodness… Wait treason? Was what he doing a threat to the institution as a whole?” The handful of synths were being marched past him and into the rooms beyond for their reset.
“Matter of opinion. As the party effected, I tend to look poorly on him attempting to assassinate me in the field without permission of the council only to effect martial law and trying to have all the coursers kill me. Lead Director Johnson by the way.” You add extending your hand.
“Previous department head for Synth retention, Dr Zimmer. At your service Director. Hopefully I’ll have your vote to resume my previous office.”
“Androids secured doctor.” Came the voice of the man returning from the back chambers.
“And this is my man Armitage. Well, android to be accurate.” Johnson shakes hands with both.
“Ahh so you’re doctor Zimmerman. Im glad im not the only head that’s willing to do field work. Where are you returning from?”
“Washington DC.”
“I haven’t been to DC since before the bombs, what was it like?” Johnson added excitedly.
“It’s a war torn quagmire of violence and despair. Bunch of power armored hoodlums were taking charge of things when I was leaving. They’d gotten popular after distributing purified waters to the masses. . .” Zimmer paused suddenly. “Did I mishear you, did you imply you were alive before the bombs dropped?”
“Vault one eleven, cryo pods.” You shrugged.
“Ahh yes, that makes sense. Far too clear of complexion to be one of those Ghouls afterall.” Johnson humored the joke with a chortle.
“Took over for my son Shaun, the last acting Director.” You added as if not to say ‘the one you abducted from us’. “So did you approve the operation?” Johnson added in a noted tonal shift to his voice.
“As a matter of fact I did.” Zimmer added in a non-apologetic tone that only the elderly could pull off. “It was a shame Kellog wasted a potential sample but we were lucky in the long run that we didn’t need more of you.”
“. . .That sample was my wife.” Johnson added in a lower tone, Armitage was starting to ready himself in case he needed to defend Dr Zimmerman.
“Im sure plenty of the people in those containers were somebodies something. By the way, what happened to the others?”
“Dead due to various technical failures. I probably would be as well if not for Shaun discreetly arranging for my release.”
The look on Zimmermans face suggested he thought ‘pity’. “Well it sounds like it all worked out in the end.”
“I think, im going to enjoy getting to know you better.” What was with Synth retention being a magnet for ass holes!? “I’ve been handling a majority of the things Kellog used to do. I could provide you a debriefing on the last year or so if you’re interested?”
“I think I’ll stick to reading the logs. It’ll help me fall asleep, I’ve been looking forward to a proper bed after all this time on the road.”
“I’ll arrange a meeting with the department heads then to get the bureaucracy out of the way then. Enjoy your evening.” You were very tempted to destroy him in every sense of the word but you were also very practical and if he was the best man for the job he’d probably die soon anyway. No way you’d let someone like him benefit from the MIT project.
Johnson made the rounds and checked with the other department heads if they needed to call a premature meeting for the appointment. Everyone was seemingly for reappointing the previous director if only because there were no volunteers, and they’d have to appoint someone without experience otherwise. The idea of forcing him into retirement that way was somewhat amusing, but he decided not to spend the energy needed to try and convince them to push someone new instead because it wasn’t quite good enough of a victory.
~THUMP~
Johnson teleported back to Sanctuary to end the day. After sensing some low morale / nervousness Johnson brought out the pot of tato soup to act as a gravy for their kibble dinner and ate with them. With the pot finished he then proceeded to pull some barricades out of storage to separate the six eyebot pods and their terminals from the rest of the singular chamber cement building. He then proceeded to seal the windows the eybot devices were buttressed against with foam to prevent air leakage and used the rest of the spray foam to cover the barricades before putting colorful cloth over them. Last but not least, some old gym mats over the floor to prevent scuffing up their hooves or bodies. Johnson then added an AC unit to the house and attached it to the settlement grid.
“Listen up fluffies. Daddy appreciates what you’re doing for him tomorrow, so I’ve made this building into a place where you can come and cool off if it gets too hot for you even with shade or water. Just push the blue button on the wall to turn it on and push it again to turn it off if no one is in the room. The brown button turns on the ceiling fan if you want a bit of breeze.” You let the various fluffies come inside and take a look at the wasteland safe room. While many of them still preferred walking on grass, it seems the feel of the floor was preferable to cement, stone and dirt. You’d need to make a note to consider researching some kind of soft interchangeable and washable tile mats that people can buy. Heck some people might just buy them for themselves since roll up sleeping bag like mats were probably half of the beds in the commonwealth. Johnson even watched them test the buttons for a time and they marveled at the idea of cool air on demand. You all shared a hug and while you could tell they were still a little apprehensive about tomorrow they felt better.
Johnson made some wild grain rice for dinner. He had tried growing it with little success and so had little yields and had to rely on trading or foraging for it when he could. He grated up some brahmin cheese and added some milk to make it a proper sauce before stirring in the finished rice to make a wild cheese rice. He cooked a mirelurk eggs and added some of the cheese rice to each making it a stuffed omlette. He brough up the remainder of the rice on the side of his plate in case he wanted more.
Johnson and sundae ate dinner together in the safe room quietly.
“Daddeh. Can gentweman twy some nummies?” You blinked at this.
“Can you open your mouth for daddy?” You questioned and eyed the new baby teeth coming in. “You’ll be on solids soon enough. The rice should be soft enough.” Johnson added looking to Sundae who nodded with your assessment. Johnson forked a small bit of cheese rice off to the side of the plate. “Try a little, remember to chew.”
He sniffed it hesitantly but was interested, especially after he smelled the dairy smell. Taking a few grains in his mouth he began to chew. His eyes lit up and their mouth opened with half chewed rice in it. “Suu, goodsies!” They went back to smiling with their eyes closed while chewing till they swallowed.
Johnson chuckled. “Glad you liked it. Cant have you eating too much since your stomache is not adjusted for it yet. But another bite or two should be fine. Your mom should have milk for you by then.”
“Tank’ou daddeh.” The rest of the dinner the mood was much more pleasant. After washing up the dishes and returning upstairs johnson opened the previous laundry parcel for sheets. He had used the spare sheets after the last batch of stains so now it was back to the original while the spares were getting cleaned.
“There we go.” Johnson added eyeing the crisp look. He turned around hearing the pet door open and his two fluffies approached him.
“Daddeh… Gentweman undewstan’ why daddeh take fwuffies tomowwow… But Gentweman stiww a widdwe scawdies.”
“That’s completely understandable bud.” You added leaning over.
“Can, can famiwy sweep wif daddeh tonight? Diwectow nu hewe fow tawkies an huggies tu hewp gentweman feew bettew…” Gentleman added with a shy tone.
“One cannot always rely on others for help gent. But Daddy is willing to help you shoulder this burden today since it’s something im asking of you.” Johnson added his serious face turning to a smile. “Come here.” You add holding out your hands to help your fluffies up and onto the bed. Gentleman lay sandwiched between his mother and their human daddy each laying on their side facing each other. Johnson stroked Sundaes mane and head with his left arm and casually brushed his fingers along Gentlemans back and sides as well.
With a tune in your head you began sing an old song in lieu of a lullaby.
“Wish on the moon
And look~ for the gold in a rainbow
And you’ll find a happy time.
You’ll hear a tune
That lives in the heart of a bluebird
And you’ll find a happy time
Though things may look very dark
Your dream is not in vein
For when do you find the rainbow?
Only after rain
So wish on the moon
And someday it may be tomorrow
You will suddenly hear chimes
And you’ll have your happy, happy time.”
The two fluffies were now asleep and so you simply hummed the remaining repeating chorus of the song to yourself as your eyes drifted off as well muttering groggily. “Daddy’s here shaun, daddy’s here.” Gentleman snuggled in closer with a contented peep.