At The Precipice Of Something New

Something Below

Old North Church
August the 2nd, 2288
15:19

When they stepped into the underground, mausoleum tunnels, the first thing they noticed was the water pooled all over the floor.

The second were the painted symbols of lanterns seen every so often the deeper they went into the tunnels.

Unsettled, Piper tightened her jacket around herself and began fidgeting with her hat on her head. The cold, damp, and poorly lit tunnels were bad enough on their own, but the nervous excitement of knowing they were hoping to find and contact the rumoured 'Railroad' was clawing at her. Much less bothered, Nick kept a flashlight on, checking every corner they turned to ensure they were still alone. Seeing Nora ahead of them, her hands clenched as she all but ran, however, caused worry to come over him again. Having to go through the memories of someone as wicked, evil, and vile as Kellogg would do a number on anyone, but, with how angry she's been... Struggling not to judge her too harshly for how she had been acting since going through what remained of Kellogg's mind, Nick focused himself on what they were doing. In some ways, things were almost funny or, at least, would have been if the circumstances had been a little better. Should have known you, of all people, would be working with the Railroad, Amari. Suppose it's not a bad thing for you to be able to let them know we're going to be coming to talk to them. Of all the people in the Commonwealth, they probably know the most about the Institute outside of the Institute itself. Hopefully they know something about this Dr. Virgil. Slowing their pace when they turned another corner and reached the end of a long corridor, Piper and Nick reconvened with Nora, pausing just in front of a large set of rings on the wall embossed with an emblem and a few simple words.

The Freedom Trail, Boston.

Her hands tense, Nora stepped over to the marker and began to turn the dial in the pattern Amari had told them would work. R. A. I. L. R. O. A. D. Railroad. Not a great cipher key if your organisation bears the same name. Then again, how many cases were there where it turned out chapters of the Mob were using obvious cipher keys? Too damn many to count, at least, the ones we were taught about in law school. Swearing under her breath when the dial briefly got stuck, Nora closed her eyes briefly to try and calm herself. Turn. Letter. Push. Once, twice, thrice. Once, twice, thrice. Again, once and twice a last time. Pushing the dial in with as much of her body strength as possible, Nora took a step back, and then another when the sound of stone, metal, and brick scraping against itself began reverberating in the mausoleum tunnels. Some dust fell from the ceiling and the walls pushed to the side, creating a space just large enough to walk through. Her hands on her holstered gun just in case, Nora slowly stepped through the entrance, followed by Piper, and, finally, Nick. The walls began creaking back shut behind them, and they briefly turned around, caught off guard. Then, the sound of lights flickering began and the dark room lit up quickly and brightly. Piper swore, covering her eyes with her hands, for a minute. Nick grimaced and took a small step back. Nora let go of her gun and put her hands up in front of her face, trying to give her eyes more time to adjust to the light. It was when they all regained their composure, however, they all took another step back, realising not one but two people were waiting for them and had weapons drawn and pointed at them.

"Now!" A woman said, stepping forward, her gun still pointed at them. "Don't move any closer. You three have gone through a lot of effort to arrange this meeting, but, before we go any further, answer my questions. Who the hell are you?"

"Nora Jacqueline Norwich," Nora irritably said, crossing her arms. "Dr. Amari sent me."

"Nick Valentine," Nick said with a polite tip of his hat. "Been a long time friend of Amari's and, as you can see, am a synth myself."