[A/N: Another chapter that doesnt have that much dialogue or plot but I am setting things up for the rest of the volume. So this is sort of a recap chapter since I chose to skip ahead a few months so we can move faster into stuff that isnt inside the vault.]
<><><><>Three Months Later<><><><>
Okay... You might be wondering what your boy has been up to all this time. Well, I've been a busy little beaver, that's for sure.
Shortly after returning to Hestia, we were greeted by the jubilation of an expectant crowd. No one had actually thought the scientists and the Overseer could be brought down before my arrival, so celebrations ensued.
And all thanks to a handsome mysterious stranger who came from the outside and seemed to possess an aura of authority to boot. I mean me of course.
They practically begged me to lead them.
Well... there were a few people who were cautious of me because I was an outsider, but most of the residents were youths who were easily swayed.
After that, there was a somber day of funerals. Elizabeth's mother and the little girl, Anna, were laid to rest. I also personally buried the scientist Maryl Sheep next to her lover. All the other scientists were cremated, and what was left of the Overseer was thrown into a freezer for future study.
Once my position as the new Overseer was secured, I went around the entire vault and used the system to clean up and repair as much as I could. The stuff that couldn't be repaired due to how badly it was damaged was scrapped for materials.
I fixed broken pumps, filtration units, electrical panels, etc...
I then revitalized the Demeter sector with new crops and rebuilt the housing for the farm residents.
All it took was a week, and crops such as Mutfruit, Razorgrain, Corn, Tatos, Blackberries, Silt Beans, and more that I purchased from the shop were already producing.
One might ask why I didn't pull out the prewar stuff and plant it. The answer is simple. I had already found that the mutated stuff provides more nutrition and also grows much faster than pre-radiation strains.
The taste is also not inferior, despite expectations, so while I will eventually grow the prewar stuff, what I need now are fast-growing crops.
The only issue with them is that they require quite a bit of fertilizer to be replaced with each harvest.
The fertilizer producer was at least still operational and created a good amount from the residents' waste.
Next, I repaired the Hephaestus and Hermes domes.
The Hermes dome had the recreational stuff that keeps the settlers entertained day to day, such as the bar, pool, areas for private celebrations, and even a small casino. There were only tables and no slot machines, but I graciously added some slot machines from my unlocked plans from 76.
For now, they aren't being used because the machines consume bottle caps, and I have yet to build a working economy for them.
The Hephaestus dome is also mostly empty of activity at this time, as there isn't that much use for it just yet.
I assigned only a bare-bones crew to operate and maintain the machines for now. I can unlock the Contraptions DLC machines from FO4 for a good chunk of change from the store, but with the small amount of scrap I currently have, those won't truly be useful until I have a reliable source of scavenged materials to burn through.
The Poseidon dome was fixed, cleaned up, and is currently only accessible to Cerberus personnel.
Which brings me to another thing worth mentioning. Of the 117 settlers, I managed to get 20 residents to devote themselves to my new organization as recruits.
I gave a very impassioned speech and got them fired up and motivated to follow me even into hell if necessary.
Of course, I started them with a light CODE treatment. Not a full brainwashing, but I just implanted the impulse not to betray me or the organization. I also tweaked their behavior toward having a good work ethic to ensure they don't quit easily when I give them brutal training or assignments.
Other than that, I touched nothing else inside their heads. Their memories and personalities were left intact. The full treatment is reserved for the worst scum so they can be properly recycled into something useful for humanity.
Jonny was a huge help in getting these people to come listen to me and join up. His own training and prior experience then propelled him to the top of the recruits, and he was well on his way to becoming my left-hand man.
This inspired several others to work harder as well, like a domino effect.
Besides Jonny and Lady, who were the most skilled of them, the recruits were doing decently well. Currently, they are working on their bodies and training in the basics.
Yes, progress had been steady and fruitful.
Now, to get to the biggest change in my life... Fatherhood.
Yes, you heard me right. I adopted Elizabeth.
At first, I tried to look around for any remaining family or friends of her mother, but a complication arose, and no one was willing to raise her.
Due to Jonny's tales of our adventures into Poseidon, the people all knew that Elizabeth had been experimented on and that she had gained a power that could have destroyed the entire Poseidon dome.
They were scared of her now.
Despite there being no incidents since she woke up, and despite her being mostly normal as far as I could tell, the people, and subsequently their children, began to avoid her, which left her even more heartbroken than she had been.
So, I gained a little girl who clung to me desperately wherever I went.
As for her power, for some reason, when I ask her to try and use it, only little sparks dance around in the air where she is focusing.
It was nowhere near the powerful outburst she had when awakening her power.
To be fair, I think she is still scared of it herself, and that is creating a mental block.
The little one and I had become inseparable, though. Most nights, she won't sleep in her own bed, and I wake up with a tiny foot in my face and a little toe jammed up one of my nostrils.
Another change is Lady. Her personality development had officially finished settling.
She is now a woman who is diligent in her assigned duties and very straightforward when interacting with others.
With me, however... She had been dropping more clues than a Scooby-Doo villain.
She ended up becoming friends with the woman who now runs the bar in Hermes, The Last Drop, an iconic name I gave it myself.
The barmaid, Alexandria, was an honest-to-God Ara Ara lady and a very bad... or perhaps good? ...influence on Lady.
I overheard their conversations, where she gives Lady "advice" on how to conquer a man.
I need to admit... The woman is low-key brilliant.
Lady has learned how to properly sway her hips, how to apply the right kind of subtle touches to suit the mood, and even how to offer accidental glimpses that stoke a man's desire.
So... did we seal the deal?
Yes. The first time was a very... fierce battle.
[A/N: 🗣🗣🗣 Lemon Chapter Incoming. Completely optional and contains no new story elements other than the 'juice'.]
She becomes a completely different person when alone with her master.
Overachiever is a title I would happily give to her.
But I digress. During this time, I also left for a short while to return to the surface and use the communication equipment to let Alfred and Rosie know I would not be returning for potentially a few years.
I needed them to keep the vault shelter secure and perform general maintenance. I had more plans for the bots in my warehouse, but I decided to wait until I've taken the hidden RobCo factory. Once the settlement is set up, I can get the bots scavenging again without risking the location of my personal shelter.
After some turned up missing before, I got paranoid, so it would also be better in the future to establish the Cerberus Merchant Company and label the bots with our sigil once we have established our presence. That will at least keep some opportunists from going after them for fear of retribution.
I also placed a settlement workbench on the island above. I've cleared the AARI building of any remaining Mirelurks and stored any eggs I found into storage. Any remaining ferals were also removed.
I decided to rename both Vault 120 and the island.
Vault 120 will now be named Rapture.
A fitting name that I don't really think needs much explanation.
The island above is now named Acheron Isle, as I chose to keep the Greek naming convention on this one. The Acheron is one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld, often described as a boundary or entrance to Hades, where the ferryman Charon transports souls. So, I felt it was a good name for the island since it is the waypoint connecting the world above and below.
I also scrubbed all Vault-Tec logos from the facility and had all the residents turn in their Vault suits for recoloring.
The suits and banners I've placed around the facility have the new sigil representing Cerberus printed on them.
Three steel-gray columns with olive branches rising from each side.
The colors of Cerberus are steel gray over black, but I gave each resident the option to have whatever color they wanted for the base color of their redesigned suits.
Now you'll see a variety of colors throughout the vault, giving each person their own little slice of individuality.
That earned me some more points with the people toward their new Overseer.
Things were happening quickly enough that some were having a tough time adjusting. But the changes were overall considered good, so complaints were very minor.
While I was musing over what had been happening, the door to my office opened, and the pitter-patter of tiny feet approached me.
"Dad..." I glanced up from my desk and saw my newly adopted daughter. I could see little crystal tears at the corners of her eyes.
I got up from my desk, walked over, and scooped her into my arms.
"Is it the other kids again, princess?" I asked, even though I already knew.
She nodded and then planted her face into the crook of my neck.
I rubbed her back as I sat back down, with her now resting on my knee.
Fatherhood wasn't new to me. In my previous life, I had three children from two different women whom I helped raise.
I just really didn't think I would be doing this kind of thing again so soon.
I didn't make her talk about it. We just fell into a comfortable silence as I continued to work while Elizabeth watched.
I was mostly transcribing the written notes I had found throughout Poseidon into the database for easier access and reference.
Lady, Jonny, and the recruits were running drills up on Acheron Isle, where the majority of military activities will be conducted.
The first time those recruits went up, they were like children on Christmas morning. It was the first time any of them had seen anything that wasn't several leagues under the sea or something from one of the four holotape movies they had access to down there.
Those poor souls... Not only were they kept as cattle, but they hadn't experienced real entertainment in their entire lives.
I aimed to fix that. After all, entertainment is an excellent method for controlling a populace and steering their belief systems...
Which leads me to the purpose of our upcoming field trip.
I was taking the 'kids' to play at a very special amusement park...