In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Twenty One

The ride back from Diamond City was filled with the calming hum of the Vertibird's fusion-powered engine, a welcoming distraction from the lingering awkwardness standing between the Paladin and I. When the Prydwen and the observation tower at Boston Airport appeared through the thick clouds, I struggled to hold back the sigh of relief that was to attract the attention of Danse.

"You OK?" He asked. I had to look at him, look into the eyes that had held so much affection the night before. And absentmindedly I found myself moving the focus onto his lips, noticing the way the corners were pulled down into a concerned frown. I flushed.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." That was a lie, a very evident one. But he pried no further and for that I was grateful. 
"OK, we're cleared for landing," the pilot started. "Hold tight."

As the ground drew closer, some recognisable faces soon made themselves visible; it seemed as though Professor Scara had beaten us upon our arrival at the airport.

"Ah, nothing like flying in style." Danse sighed gleefully as he hopped down from the Vertibird, earning a snorted laugh from myself. We made haste towards the airport's entrance, past two Brotherhood Knights adorned in their heavy duty cases of power armor, and towards Ingram. It wasn't long before both her and Scara's conversation came within our earshot. Heading up the stairs, I noticed Liberty Prime was now in the public eye, situated within the parameters of the gantry.

"Woah," I whispered, my breath cool in the early morning air.
"Impressive, isn't he." Paladin Danse reappeared at my side, eyes wide with pride, raised by a beaming smile. It had the corners of my own pulling into one.
"The Institute will sure as hell be surprised when this guy comes calling round for afternoon tea."
Disguised beneath a subtle frown, he laughed, which earned an eagerly awaited look of relief from Proctor Ingram. I wonder how much whining she's had to take from Scara. I grimaced.

"Welcome back Paladin, Knight," she greeted with a step towards us, a step away from Scara. "Things seem to be off to a good start, isn't that right, Professor?"
"You call this a good start? This poor things memory core was completely corrupted. Haven't you people ever heard of inertial dampeners? Titanium shock casing?" She released an aggravated sigh, rolled her shoulders, composed herself. "It won't be easy, but I should be able to make a few modifications and get his basic functions online. If you can keep your inept scribes from slowing me down."

Proctor Ingram shifted her attention towards us. "Mmm, charming, isn't she?"
"I've always hated saying 'I told you so', but I told you so." I shrugged, smiled when Scara shot me a glare.
"Sorry about that, Ingram." Danse recovered.
"Don't worry about it. We might be butting heads on a few issues, but I've dealt with worse. Besides, Scara's worth all the aggravation. I've never seen someone so proficient with Prime's power systems. She's already saved us weeks, maybe months of work. In fact, we're ready for you to start building his electromagnetic actuators." I blinked, once, twice, three times.
"His electromagnetic awhat? You're acting like I know what those are."

She laughed, shifted on her feet and eased the laughter into a smirk.
"Oh, I know you haven't the faintest idea what I'm talking about. I just like watching you squirm." Scara sniggered behind her, now it was my turn to scowl. "The actuators are what allows Liberty Prime's arms and legs to move. Prime's new limbs are way too heavy for the simple hydraulic pistons he had in the past, so we're gonna have to rip those out, construct a brand new system using electromagnets, and install them in its limbs. What we need you to do is build the actuators for us."

With a dramatic leap from her stationary position, Professor Scara grabbed the conversation by the reins and introduced a new level of passive aggression. "All right, Ingram, enough with the school lessons. Here's a list of materials you'll need, and the plans to make the actuators." She reached into the pocket of her tarnished white lab coat and retrieved a folded piece of paper which she thrust into my hands. "If you have any questions, ask now." With a frustrated sigh and a roll of my eyes I glanced down at the tattered piece of paper.

Professor Scara's Incredibly Easy Guide on How To Build Electromagnetic Actuators
(So easy a Molerat could do it)