Fallout Girls: Side Stories

James sat at his work desk, feverishly poring over test results like an obsessive lunatic. Several blood tests had already been performed. A full set of blood cultures would take a few days to show anything, but the few results he did have indicated that the new arrivals were perfectly healthy. That was some good news to placate the Overseer with, at least.

The sound of the clinic door opening made James look around. Jonas walked in carrying an armful of blankets, followed by Adam lugging bundles of food.

James smiled at the sight of his son. At 19 years of age, Adam looked exactly the way his father had all those years ago, though he was far cleaner and better built than James had ever been. Such were the benefits of living in a Vault instead of the Wasteland.

"Okay, we've got the food and blankets you asked for," Adam said as he dumped his burden on the examination table. "What do you need all of this stuff for, anyway?"

"Stanley and Officer Gomez have had to be quarantined down on the lower levels," James replied. He hated lying to his son, but over the years it had at least gotten a little bit more bearable. "I thought it would be best if we sent some things down to make them a little more comfortable."

Adam winced. "That's a downer. What happened down there? There's not some freaky new disease leaking in from somewhere, is there?"

"Thankfully not," James replied, though he wasn't exactly far off the mark. "We believe that there's some sort of contamination underneath the old North Block, and the two of them were exposed to it."

"Whoa, are they okay?" Adam asked worriedly.

James nodded. "They're fine. Don't worry, I've got this all in order. Why don't you see if Amata is free? Together, you might be able to convince the Overseer to take a small treat or two down to them, to keep their spirits up."

"Good plan, I'm on it!" Adam rushed out of the room, closing the door behind himself.

"Are you sure that we shouldn't let him know what's really going on?" Jonas asked once the lad was gone.

"I'm sure," James said firmly. "The Overseer is going to be watching us closely to make sure we don't reveal the truth, or what he thinks is the truth. Adam is safer not knowing." He took the blankets off Jonas, then asked him to stack the bundles of food on top.

Jonas raised an eyebrow as James struggled to keep the pile balanced. "Are you sure you don't need a hand?"

"I'll be fine," James replied, sounding more confident than he felt. "Just get the door for me, would you?" Jonas complied with a sigh. "Thanks. I'll be back up as soon as I can. Could you finish those tests for me while I'm gone?'

"Gladly!" Jonas said eagerly. "Don't hurry back."

James rolled his eyes as Jonas closed the door behind him. He couldn't help feeling a little envious that his assistant would be the first to see any new test results, but at the same time James was happy to forgo the pleasure in return for the opportunity to meet the girls again in person.

Tottering slowly through the corridors, James found an unpleasant surprise waiting for him at the stairway leading down to the lower levels. Chief Hannon, the head of Vault 101's security team, was standing to attention at the top of the stairs.

"Doctor." Hannon stiffened when he saw James coming. "The Overseer informed me of the situation on the lower levels, and instructed me to make sure that secrecy is maintained."

James resisted the urge to swear loudly. Hannon was obsessed with acting with military efficiency and poise, but he had absolutely no idea on how to actually do that, nor did he possess enough intellect to realize that if you wanted to keep a secret, maybe don't mention having one out in the open where any random asshole can hear you. "I'm glad to hear it," James said in a forcibly light tone. "Would you mind helping carry these downstairs?"

Hannon scowled, as if the thought of assisting another person with something so trivial was beneath him, but he relented when James pointed out that they couldn't ask anyone else to help without risking compromising secrecy.

The two carefully made their way down the stairs and headed towards the storage room. James spent most of the walk towards the visitors' makeshift quarantine trying to figure out how he could get rid of the security chief.

Thankfully, an idea popped into his head just as the two turned the corner to the storage room.

Gomez was standing alert in front of the door, clearly having heard the men approaching. "Gentlemen," he said evenly in greeting.

"Good afternoon," James replied brightly, before turning to Hannon and nodding at the bundles in his arms. "If you could just balance those back on top of mine, I'll drop them inside now." Hannon opened his mouth to protest, but James shot him down quickly. "We don't want too many people to come into direct contact with the girls, just in case they do have something contagious that we can't cure."

Hannon baulked and hastily piled the bundles back into James' arms.

"Much obliged." James nodded to Gomez, who opened the door for him.

The girls inside all looked up as James entered. He waited for Gomez to close the door behind him before speaking, "Here. It's not much, but I've brought you some food and blankets."

"Oh, thanks!" Sunset got up and hurried over to give him a hand with the bundles, swiftly followed by the rest.

James stood aside as the girls shared out the provisions. "I'm sorry I can't bring any more than this, but the Overseer is being particularly strict with how things go."

"It's okay, we understand," Sunset replied.

"Should you really be getting so close to us?" Twilight asked. "We could be exposing you to any number of diseases that aren't native to this reality."

James smiled. "I'll take my chances. Frankly, going by what I've seen of your blood so far, there doesn't seem to be any real difference between us beyond the colour of our skin and hair."

"Well, that's some good news," Applejack huffed.

"It's better than nothing," Sunset said flatly.

Sympathy and excitement warred in James' mind. On one hand, he didn't want to press the girls when they were clearly in such a stressful situation, but on the other their very existence posed innumerable questions, not to mention the fact that they had magic. It was a scientist's dream.

Still, the girls' health and safety came first. Biting his tongue, James waited until the seven were settled and eating before he sat cross-legged in front of them on the floor. "How are you all feeling?"

All of the girls stared at him blankly.

"Tired, stressed, confused," Sunset replied simply.

"And wondering how we're getting home," Twilight added.

"Not to mention wonderin' why we're cooped up in this storage room like a bunch of old furniture," Applejack put in.

James gave them a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. Even discounting your magic, you girls are like nothing this Vault, and maybe even this world, has ever seen before. The Overseer is simply being cautious. Honestly, I don't blame him in this regard. He has the safety of Vault 101 to consider, after all, and having seven girls appear out of thin air in the middle of a sealed environment is enough to spook anyone."

"What do you mean by sealed environment?" Sunset asked. "You said this place is Vault 101. Do you mean like a bank vault, or…?"

"I wish," James said with a chuckle. His expression swiftly turned somber as he asked, "Your world.. is it, alright?" He shook his head at the confused stares he received. "What I mean is, are there, or have there been, any particularly large wars or conflicts going on?"

The girls shared confused looks. "None that we know of," Twilight answered warily. "Why? Is something going on in this world?"

"Not anymore." James sighed heavily. He had already suspected that the girls were from a world that was more peaceful and affluent than this one, their flashy clothes and general cleanliness were good indicators of that. Unfortunately, James had a feeling that they weren't going to like what they were about to hear.

Taking a deep breath, James decided to just get it over with. "Around two hundred years ago, a devastating nuclear war engulfed the world. Subterranean Vaults such as this one protected a portion of the populace, and some people managed to survive in shelters on the surface, but civilization as we knew it was wiped out."

Shock and horror flickered across the girls' faces, save for Rainbow Dash, who looked torn between horror and excitement.

"Global nuclear war?" Twilight whispered. "What could possibly cause that?"

"Greed," James replied sadly. "Resources started to run out, especially oil, which led to intermittent wars over whatever was left. Eventually, tensions between the two most powerful nations, China and the United States of America, reached breaking point. They launched full-scale nuclear bombardments at each other. Every other nuclear-capable country joined in, giving in to old enmities and hatreds, and the ensuing holocaust engulfed the whole planet."

Appalled silence filled the room. "That's… that's awful," Rarity said quietly.

James nodded gravely. "The environment was devastated, too. Almost everything outside the Vault is a blasted wasteland." He sighed heavily. "It's worse around here. Washington DC was the capital of the old United States, so, of course, it was hit much harder than anywhere else."

"You said some people survived outside, though, right? Alongside the people in the Vaults?" Twilight asked.

"A number of people survived, yes," James replied.

"Then, you can rebuild?" Twilight pressed hopefully.

James shook his head. "Maybe, but it's not that simple." He scratched his beard, wondering how best to explain. "The situation outside the Vault is… unstable. The survivors are fractious, the environment is dangerous and the wildlife even more so. Rebuilding is not an easy process."

A loud knock at the door grabbed everyone's attention. The door formed as it opened, and Officer Gomez poked his head in. "James? The Overseer wants to have a word with you."

"Of course he does." James sighed and got to his feet, struggling to avoid rolling his eyes. He felt oddly guilty as he looked at the girls, all of them clearly and understandably confused, disturbed by what he had told them, and almost certainly worried about what was going to happen to them. "I'll be back down as often as I can. Just try and make yourselves comfortable, and I'll push to get this quarantine over with as quickly as I can."