Fallout Girls: Side Stories

Several days had passed since the Vault had received its unexpected visitors. James had spent every spare moment of those days running tests, learning as much as he could about the girls’ home reality, and lying through his teeth to anyone who asked what was going on on the reactor level.

Now, finally, he could throw the results of those tests in Hannon's face.

James and Hannon had once again been summoned to the Overseer’s office, and now were waiting as the other self-important prick in the room added the finishing touches to some paperwork.

Finally, after five minutes of waiting in awkward silence, the Overseer put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he looked up at the two. “Well, James, I understand you’ve completed your tests on the girls?”

“All of the most pressing ones, yes,” James began. “None of the girls are carrying any concerning pathogens whatsoever. Miss Rarity has a slightly elevated white blood cell count, and there’s traces of rhinovirus in her system, but the clinic is more than equipped to handle a case or two of the common cold. Other than that, none of them have any injuries or medical conditions that we need to worry about.” He made a show of looking through the notes on his clipboard. “All that remains to be done is genetic analysis, but that’s going to take at least a couple of weeks.”

The Overseer noted that down on one of his reports. “Get it done as soon as you can. I doubt those girls will be staying long enough for procreation to become a concern, but it pays to be prepared.”

“Of course,” James replied. Something about the Overseer’s words didn’t quite sit right with him, but he focused on the obvious implication therein. “Does this mean that the girls are going to be introduced to the Vault population?”

The Overseer crossed his arms and hummed thoughtfully. Seeing that perhaps his mind wasn’t fully made up, Hannon piped up, “I still think this is a bad idea. The best thing we could do is kick those freaks out of the Vault and slam the door shut behind them.”

It took all of James’ willpower not to tell the ignorant asshole to keep his mouth shut. “We’ve already discussed this, at length. It is far more prudent for us to treat the girls well.”

“Indeed. There’s no sense in potentially antagonizing a faction that can bypass our Vault’s security with ease,” the Overseer added, though it looked like he was talking more to himself than Hannon. James once again mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with the lie about the Commonwealth as the Overseer straightened up in his chair. “Very well. I shall make the announcement to the Vault tonight. Chief Hannon, have all Vault residents gathered in the atrium for 6pm sharp. James, I want you to prepare room 48b for the girls to move into tonight. One room should suffice for the time being. And remember, not a word to anyone about the girls until I have made the announcement.”

The corridors were pleasantly quiet as Adam made his way towards the atrium. Usually, there’d be at least a couple of people wandering through this section of the Vault at this time in the evening, running errands or visiting friends’ rooms, but almost everyone had already gathered to hear the Overseer’s announcement.

Adam was snapped out of his idle thoughts as someone called out to him, “Adam, wait up!”

He turned to see the Overseer’s daughter hurrying towards him. “Oh, hey, Amata. Are you running late, too?”

“Yeah, my dad had me doing a bunch of theoretical paperwork as practice. I only just finished it in time,” she replied. She was of Hispanic descent, just like her father, but the other residents always said that the sleek black hair she kept tied back in a ponytail, and her generally pleasant personality, made her resemble her mother more. “You’d think that maybe he would lay off since he wants to hold this mandatory assembly, but apparently not.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s about?” Adam asked.

“Not really,” Amata replied. “I asked, but he just said that it was about North Block then made me write up documents about moving people into new rooms.”

Adam frowned at the mention of North Block. His father had assured him that the recent generator leak in the old abandoned block was contained, so he couldn’t imagine why the Overseer would drag everyone together for a full Vault assembly about it. Not unless something had gone wrong. “He’s not about to tell us that the North generator is leaking again or something, is he?”

“Not a chance, he was way too calm for it to be something like that,” Amata said with a wry smile.

The two shared a chuckle as they climbed up the stairway to the atrium. Officer Taylor, a wrinkled old man who was by far the oldest member of the security team, was waiting at the top for them. “You’re nearly late, the meeting is due to start any minute. Everyone else is already here,” he admonished.

“Don’t worry, we’re here now,” Amata assured him. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”

Officer Taylor took a deep breath and let it out again slowly, a faraway look entering his eyes. “The whole security team was briefed just before this assembly, but your father doesn’t want us to breathe a word about it beforehand, so…”

“I understand, I don’t want to get you into trouble,” Amata said quickly.

I appreciate it, Miss Amata,” Taylor said gratefully. “Come on, let’s get in there before we’re late.” He opened the atrium door and ushered the two through first.

The atrium was the largest room in the Vault, able to fit a thousand people, the full capacity of the Vault, though at a push. Seeing less than a tenth of that number waiting inside, even with every single resident gathered, was a stark reminder of just how depleted Vault 101’s population was. Adam briefly wondered what it must have been like to live here back when it was full.

“Ugh, Butch is staring over this way again,” Amata said in an undertone.

Adam frowned and looked around for the person in question. Butch wasn’t exactly hard to find, given that him and his cronies were the only people in the Vault who wore snazzy leather jackets over their blue jumpsuits, so Adam quickly spotted him lurking with his little gang on the edge of the gathering. Just as Amata had said, he was leering over at her like some sick creep. Adam raised a middle finger at the asshole, earning an enraged glare, but before Butch or his posse could retaliate, Chief Hannon called for silence and attention at the front of the atrium.

All of the assembled residents automatically looked up at a round window high above the atrium floor. It was part of the Overseer’s office, allowing him to look down on his subordinates like the self-important asshole that he was, though Adam was careful not to call him that to his face. Most of the time, anyway.

After making everyone wait for several seconds, the Overseer finally appeared in the window with his hands clasped behind his back and a stern look on his face. “Good afternoon, everyone. I have called you all together today for a very important announcement.”

“No shit,” Adam muttered under his breath, making Amata struggle to keep a smirk off her face.

“As you are all aware, the generator in the old North Block is damaged and has been leaking low levels of radiation for several decades,” the Overseer continued. “Due to the obvious risks posed by the radiation, my predecessor moved the North Block residents into other sections of the Vault before sealing it off.” Concerned whispers broke out amongst the residents as everyone wondered if the leak was getting worse. The noise died out immediately as the Overseer carried on, “However, what only our eldest residents will know, as well as myself as Overseer and select members of the security team, is that not all of the North Block residents agreed to leave that section.”

Adam stared up at him in blank shock, then whipped his head around as he looked for the older Vault residents. Several of them were senile, dementia-ridden, or heavily medicated, sometimes all three, but those that weren’t were looking up at the Overseer with guarded expressions.

“Wait a minute,” Amata said with a look of dawning comprehension. “Does this mean-”

“Those few residents, and their descendants, have been living isolated in the North Block ever since, until now.” Loud gasps and exclamations of disbelief met the Overseer’s words, prompting the security team to demand silence again. “In light of recent issues, which I will not go into, the remaining seven residents in North Block have been offered a place with the rest of us in the main Vault.”

This time, nothing could stop a hiss of excited whispers from breaking out, especially among the younger residents. The Overseer allowed it to go on for a little while before saying imperiously, “If you would kindly let me finish, there are some important details I must go over.” The conversations swiftly died down once more. “As I was saying, the new residents will be moved out of North Block tonight, at around 8pm. To minimize disruption and allow them to settle in peacefully, everyone except the security team will be confined to their quarters from 7pm precisely. Anyone who so much as peeks outside their door during that time will be dealt with severely. Due to the circumstances involving the generator, each of you are also expressly forbidden from asking the girls about their life in North Block, or attempting to sneak into North Block itself.”

“Girls?” Amata noted hopefully.

Adam didn’t blame her for being intrigued. There weren’t many girls her age in the Vault, and most of them tended to keep her at arms’ length because she was the Overseer’s daughter.

The Overseer in question was watching the crowd to make sure that everyone was paying the appropriate attention to his instructions. “You will meet your new neighbors tomorrow, but until then, all you need to know is this; first, the new residents are all young women around the age of eighteen.”

Almost every young man in the Vault pricked their ears up at that. Adam had to admit that even he was one of them, though he refrained from wolf-whistling like one or two of the others did.

“Secondly, these girls are used to a life and routine wholly unlike that which we are accustomed to.” The Overseer pressed on as if there hadn’t been any disturbance. “I expect each and every one of you to show our new residents the values and work ethic that we pride ourselves on.”

“If we had pride in our values we wouldn’t have a dumbass greaser gang harassing young women and the elderly,” Adam grumbled. Amata nodded grimly along with him.

The Overseer took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, as if he was reluctant to say the next part. “Finally, as a result of unusual radiation from the damaged generator, and a few other factors, the girls look a little… different, to ordinary folk. Their skin and hair, especially, are far from what we would consider normal. However, there is no need for concern, as James has given them a thorough examination over the course of several days, and they all have a clean bill of health.”

More whispers broke out in response to his words, though this time there was a tinge of apprehension in them, despite the Overseer’s assurance.

The Overseer looked over the gathering one last time, then nodded curtly. “That is all, you may now return to your duties. James, Amata, I wish to see both of you in my office immediately. The rest of you, remember that tonight’s curfew begins at 7pm.” Without another word he turned and strode away from the window, leaving the entire Vault reeling from the bombshell he had just dropped.

A cacophony of loud conversations broke out the second he was gone, forcing the security team to step in and make sure that everyone who still had work to do went and actually did it.

“I’m not hallucinating, am I?” Amata asked incredulously. “Did my dad seriously just dump the biggest news we’ll ever hear on us then go back to work like it was nothing?!”

“It sure as hell seems that way,” Adam replied, though privately he was more annoyed that his own father hadn’t said anything about it. “Come and see me if you get a chance once you’ve spoken to your dad. If not, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me.” Amata darted off to the Overseer’s office, while Adam turned on his heel and made his way back to the clinic. James would have to go back there at some point before the curfew, and Adam was adamant that he would be waiting when he arrived.