A Rose Among Thorns

9 | Closer to Metal

Briar Rose recognized her surroundings through the glass pod; the screen in front of her blinked black, and the pod lifted off her. Dr. Amari was there to greet her; Nick's memory lounger was empty. She started to get out.

"Slow movements, okay?" Dr. Amari warned. "I don't know what kind of effects the procedure might have had. No one's ever done this before. How do you feel?"

"Slightly numb like my body's asleep, but fine. Where's Nick?"

"He's upstairs. I unhooked him before you got out and is readjusting. Now, about what we learned: teleportation. What a discovery, but where do they teleport to? Maybe that scientist, Virgil, knows. But the Glowing Sea; why would he go there?"

"What's the Glowing Sea?" she asked.

"The name says it all. Radiation. So much that nothing there could possibly live. Nothing... pleasant. Navigating radioactive hazards is nothing new, but the Glowing Sea can kill a man in seconds. That's why it doesn't make sense, Virgil fleeing into that hell. The exposure alone..."

"He must've found a way to survive in there because it sounds like the perfect hiding spot."

Dr. Amari nodded. "He's had to—the Institute must believe he's still alive or they wouldn't have sent Kellogg after him. Maybe you won't be too late..." She looked up at her. "You're going to need a hazmat suit, probably generous amounts of Rad-X and RadAway, and all the luck in the world if you're going after Virgil. Please be careful, you and Nick."

She thanked Dr. Amari for her help, then went up in search of Nick. She found him in the main room sitting on a red couch; she passed by Irma, still glaring at her to get to him. He didn't look up at her, just kept his eyes on the floor before him.

"Have fun poking around in my brain?" Nick asked, but that voice wasn't his—it was Kellogg's. He looked up at her and even Kellogg's cruel, emotionless stare replaced Nick's gentle ones. "I was right; should've killed you while you were on ice."

Briar Rose was floored by the sudden transformation. "Nick?"

He blinked and Nick was back—in his eyes, features, and voice. "Hmm?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that; like in fear?"

"You... You sounded like Kellogg just now; you even had his look."

Nick blinked in puzzlement. "I did?"

She nodded. "Are you sure you're alright, Nick? Should I get Dr. Amari?"

He waved her suggestion away. "No, no; Kellogg must not be fully out of my head yet. I'm sorry."

"It's fine; just don't scare me like that again."

"You mean warn you if I become the homicidal psychopath again? Will do." Some image played in his head and his eyes took on a softer tone. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

He looked at the spot beside him. "Take a seat."

She did as he asked, confident Kellogg wouldn't replace him again.

Nick kept his eyes on his hands—for the first time since meeting him, he looked uneasy. "With everything that's happened with you, your family... It's a whole hell of a lot to process; I wanted to make sure you're holding up alright."

Briar Rose took in a breath. "It is a lot and being thrown into this new world where everything's trying to kill me adds even more; I'm still trying to adjust, but it's not something I can't recover from."

He shook his head. "I expected you to feel lost, scared, and mad as hell; I did. Took me a long damn time to get a feel of this place. Thank goodness I found Diamond City; its got its flaws, sure, but it beats the hell out of anywhere else in the Commonwealth. Course, when I took up there back when, people were just as scared of the Institute as they are now, maybe more. The Massacre of the CPG was still pretty fresh in everyone's minds at that point, and folks were still losing sleep over the Broken Mask. Plenty of people just assumed I was a saboteur—moving in to melt down the reactor or poison the drinking water. But at the time, they couldn't really turn me away."

"What was the CPG, and the Broken Mask?"

"The Commonwealth Provisional Government. Years back, a group of settlements tried to get together and form a coalition. Every settlement with even a hint of clout sent representatives to try and hash out an agreement. Only the Institute sent a representative of their own: a synth. The man killed every rep at the talks. The CPG was over before it could even get off the ground.

"The Broken Mask was long before I moved to town, but apparently some gentleman-type shows up in town, heads to the Power Noodles. Guess he didn't like the food because he pulled his pistol and opened fire on the folks enjoying theirs. When security finally put enough holes in him to drop him, they say he was full of servos and sprockets, just like yours truly. Seems he malfunctioned, went berserk. It was the first time people realized that synths stopped looking like me and started looking like them. Considering what those folks went through, I felt real lucky they let me in the front gate at all."

"That was quite a risk going there," she said.

Nick shrugged. "Couldn't really blame them for the circumstances, but people sure started to turn the other cheek when I showed up with the mayor's daughter. Gal of about fifteen, pride and joy of the mayor back then, a man by the name of Henry Roberts. The young Miss Roberts decided she'd run off with some caravan leader she'd known for an evening. Turns out the guy was a part of a gang of kidnappers. I didn't even know who I was rescuing, just stumbled upon a crying girl and four toughs. I took her home, and the mayor dubbed me a hero; offered me a place in town. Lots of folks protested, said I was a spy, but he wouldn't have it. Taking up in the city was tricky at first, but I never tried to hide what I was and people seemed to warm to that."

"You took on four guys by yourself?"

"Didn't have to; back then, synths were even more of an unknown quantity than they are today. I told them I was rigged to explode and started going 'beep, beep, beep.' Hardest part of that rescue was keeping from laughing as they climbed over each over to get away."

She laughed, and it got him going—it pulled up both of their moods. After she settled down, she asked her next question. "How was it living in Diamond City at first?"

"Well, they sure didn't make it easy. I started off doing the jobs no one wanted; I got more banged up being Diamond City's handyman than I did ever living out in the ruins. But folks never forgot I rescued the mayor's daughter, so they started coming to me when people went missing. Wife runs off with a new paramour and takes the rent money with her? Talk to the synth. An upset father decides moving him and the kids to Goodneighbor in the dead of the night's not the worst damn idea since the bomb? Go get Nick.

"After a while, the jobs got so backed up, they didn't ask me to do the handyman stuff anymore. Hell, I was so happy to do it, it was months before I started charging anyone. I never stopped being Nick the synth, but it was Nick the detective folks came to see. It was about then that things... Things started to feel normal. It took me a long time to realize that home is where you make it." He looked at her. "With some time and effort, this place can be your home, too. Long story, but I hope it helps."

Briar Rose grabbed his robotic hand. "It does; it gives me hope that maybe I can find a way to belong in this world because you did. Thanks, Nick."

His hand closed around hers. "You're welcome, Flower."