At The Precipice Of Something New

Something Near

Diamond City
September the 21st, 2288
10:01

For unit designation CW-928, unit model 'Mister Handy,' better known as Codsworth, seeing the woman of his family again, for the first time since she had first returned to Diamond City, made him happy. Her demeanour, however, concerned him.

Rarely had Codsworth known Nora Jacqueline Norwich to be anything but a compassionate if not calm presence. Even in the lows before and after the birth of her and, her husband, Nathaniel Jonathan Norwich's son, she had never been so strained. So few were even times he had seen her cry or lose her temper, and, as such, seeing her looking sick, rung out, and utterly deflated was quite the shock. In some ways, he tried to find the right word, she seemed to be becoming despondent. Her eyes were tired, dark circles around them, and her body looked just as rung out, as though she were dragging herself through the motions of life rather than living. Lack of sleep. Miss Nora, please rest up. You look as you did after all those long days in court. Hearing the exhaustion in her voice was what truly concerned him, however, and he only felt a little better when he saw her perk up, even a little, when she began talking with Cait, soon joined by Preston. Satisfied when she seemed to, slowly, cheer up a little, Codsworth lingered, enjoying the conversation among the three, all sat comfortably at a table outside the Dugout Inn. The day was still warm, the chill of winter not yet set in, but, never having found a better remedy, he kept brewing and pouring the three of them tea.

The faint smile taking over Nora's face when Cait tried to appear perfectly ladylike brought him hope for things returning to the way they had been before, as much as possible, once Shaun was returned to her.

"Rowdy and the Cats really know their stuff," Preston said, setting down his tea. "It's a shame she had to leave so soon, but it'll be good to have her help in getting that suit of power armour in full commission. And with Derek and Sturges working on it with her? It'll come together pretty quick, I think, once we can get the ball moving on the work."

"Mister Sturges has already headed back to Sanctuary to bring the suit down, hasn't he?" Codsworth waited until Preston, to his relief, nodded. "How long should it take before he returns with it?"

"Not too long, and it definitely won't be longer than a week or two," Preston replied. "He said he's going to check in on a few settlements on the way back and is hoping doing so will also give him a good handle of what the suit is currently capable of."

"As long as it gets here eventually, he can take as much time as he needs," Nora paused, keeping her hands tightly around her warm cup of tea. "There's a plan, now. Better than it was just a week ago, and much better than it was before we figured out what was in Kellogg's head."

"Sounds to me Amari worked some magic," Preston said, smiling when Nora laughed. "I'm pretty far removed from being a scientist, so what she was able to do seems like magic to me."

"Might as well be," Cait half jokingly said. "The way Nicky tried to explain it made me head spin. All I took away from it was Kellogg was an even bigger piece of shite than we already knew."

"Guess it makes sense he really didn't want anybody tracking him down," Preston looked to Nora. "I can believe it – can't run from the truth – but the things he did...they're chilling from what you've told me."

"Chilling is putting it lightly," Nora said. "I try not to think too much about what else he might have done for the Institute other than what he did to me and my family."

"Probably for the best," Preston sombrely agreed. "Even if the lowest thing he ever did was what he did to you and your family, there's a whole lot of evil left for him to latch onto and enjoy."