I woke up to metal scraping somewhere down the hall. For a second I just lay there with my eyes half-open, trying to remember why the bunker sounded like someone was murdering a filing cabinet. Then one of the constructtrons gave a flat, distant, "WORK ORDER CONTINUING," and my brain caught up. Right, Security doors plus whatever else was in those rooms. I sat up and rubbed my face. My hair felt like mess. The room was dim, the air cool, I got dressed, pulled the lab coat on over everything, and tied my hair back before grabbing the musket. I really needed to get some kind of pj's.
The bunker was already awake before me. Claptrap walked in the hallway and stopped when he noticed me leave my room. "PERIMETER SECURE."
"Morning to you too," I muttered. Down the hall, the constructtrons had finished the job. And as I walked around I noticed that both security doors were gone. The Steel sat in one pile in the living room with Scrap wiring in another. I looked at the mess and nodded once. "Good work."
One constructtron turned its head toward me. "WORK ORDER COMPLETE." "Aye. New one then." I led them to the old kids' room and pointed inside. The beds were already gone, broken down into raw material along with most of the useless furniture. The room looked bare now, which suited me fine. "Build the research bench here. Basic metal."
"WORK ORDER ACCEPTED." They moved in at once, and the room filled with clanks, scraping feet, and the steady sound of them dragging metal into place. While they worked, I went to see what those doors had been hiding from me. The first opened section was the guard side.
I stepped in, there were metal shelfs with stuff on them and that made me smile. "Aye, now we're talking." I gathered three rad pills and 2 radaway. in the metal boxes I found Two 10mm pistols. One baton. A combat shotgun with a scuffed stock. A little cleaning kit. Three boxes of 10mm rounds. One smaller box of shotgun shells. A tin of gun oil. There was also a flashlight with batteries and a bundle of holsters. I set everything out on the floor in a line so I could see it properly. The pistols needed cleaning. The shotgun looked better. I checked the chamber and let out a breath when nothing got stuck.
"Good morning to me." I didn't need to carry all of it right then. The bunker was mine for the moment. I loaded the ammo into a crate and had one Protectron haul it toward storage. The footlocker under the shelf gave me medical supplies. Not many, but good ones. Two stimpaks, one RadAway, a sealed roll of bandages, and a bottle of Med-X. I took the stimpaks first and slid them into my coat. After i made my way to the haul that led to the elevator.
Inside the caged room I found 4 RAD-X, 6 shotgun shells, 28 10mm rounds and 14 5mm rounds. A thing I was looking forward to was the duffle bag, as I could put that on one of my robots so they could carry stuff. In the Duffle bag I found 7 .50 caliber rounds, 5 .308 rounds, 8 .45 rounds and a .50 pipe bold action sniper Rifle. The metsal creates were already popped open. and Inside one of them I found spare generator parts. Nice. The next box had three fusion cores and I stared at them for a few seconds.
Just sitting there, In the bunker. Behind the door I couldn't open yesterday. After ArcJet, After the walk, After the mutant tracks and after crawling home tired with my nerves chewed up. I closed my eyes. "You have got to be bullshitting me," I said. One of the nearby Protectrons turned its head. "STATEMENT UNCLEAR." I lifted my hands over my face and slowly dragged them down. "Don't worry about it."
I picked up the first fusion core. Then the second. Then the third. I made the motion look like I was tucking them into the deeper pockets of my coat, slow and casual, but the Pip-Boy took them one by one. I watched how my hand moved while I did it. Pocket first. Storage second. Practice. If I ever had to do that in front of people, I didn't need them staring too hard. The cores vanished cleanly into storage.
I stared at the empty box again and shook my head. "All that walking." I didn't let myself stew over it. Good fortune was still fortune. The rest of the creates took less than half an hour to sort. Food in one stack. Water in another. Medical and weapons separated. Parts near the parts pile. Anything too heavy got assigned to the bots. The constructtrons were still working in the kids' room while I moved between storage and the opened rooms, and by the time I finished, the bench had already been make.
A metal frame. A flat surface. A chair dragged into place. Enough space to work. Filing cabinets beside it. I opened the top drawer of the first filing cabinet. I looked at the other cabinet Also empty. I couldn't help but wonder if it would work. I stared at both of them, then at the bare bench. I gave the empty drawer a little push closed. "Magical filing cabinet of nothing," I muttered. "Grand." My stomach reminded me I had skipped breakfast, so I left the bench alone for the moment and went to eat.
Food was simple. Canned meat, water, and one of the cleaner snack cakes from storage because I deserved at least one stupid little treat after finding the universe's joke box. I ate in the kitchen area while the bunker worked around me. After eating, I checked the laundry. The clothes were dry and I folded what needed folding. If I had to move soon, I didn't want my things scattered. I should probably move soon. That thought stayed with me while I walked toward the gym. I stopped outside the gym door. For a second my hand rested on the handle and then I opened it.
The two cracks were still there and had gotten slightly bigger than last night from what I could tell. I stepped close enough to check, my eyes moved to the generator nearby. Before I leave the shelter, I should switch that core back to the weaker one. I backed away, left the wall alone, and shut the gym door. The lock clicked under my hand. Then I stood there a moment, I wasn't stupid to believe that this door could stop a death claw but still, as stupid as it was, it was another layer between me and it.
I turned away and gave one of the Protectrons a new order as I passed. "Stay in this stair case, no one is allowed down. If that door moves wake the whole bloody bunker."
"ACKNOWLEDGED." When I got back to the kids' room, the research bench was finished. The constructtrons stood idle beside it, waiting for another order. I looked them over, then pointed toward the storage piles. "Sort the rest. Steel, copper, components, weapons, food, medical. Keep the hallways clear. After that, work on making a Mech gestator in what was the guards bedroom." Since they were linked to my pipboy they had access to what I knew, so they should be able to make it.
"WORK ORDER ACCEPTED." They left, and for the first time all morning, the room got almost quiet. I sat down at the bench. The lab coat sleeves bunched a little when I rested my arms on the metal surface. I adjusted them, opened the research menu, and let my eyes move over the options. There were things I wanted badly like better robots, better weapons and proper production but it was all locked behind steps I hadn't taken yet.
So I picked the one that made sense. Microelectronics. The project settled into place, and that little invisible part of my head. Passive research was already ticking along with the bench bonus. The empty filing cabinets helped, somehow and the lab coat helped. I leaned over the bare bench with nothing in front of me but metal, empty drawers, and my own thoughts, and started working.
It felt more like pulling threads together in my head. Old Fallout knowledge with RimWorld logic. If anyone walked in, I probably looked like I was spacing out at an empty table. I rested my chin on one hand and stared at the bench. "Right," I murmured. "Let's learn how to make the world better for myself."
It had been a hour and the number moved ever so slowly. I sat at the research bench with my chin resting in one hand, staring at absolutely nothing while the system did whatever it did in the back of my head. Microelectronics ticked forward until a small red letter flashed on my Pip-Boy.
I blinked.
The icon was a tiny Vault Girl, except she was under fire, ducking with her hands over her head. My stomach dropped before I even touched it. I clicked the alert.
THREAT DETECTED: SUPER MUTANT
LOCATION: SHELTER ENTRANCE
COUNT: 1
I just stared then movedout of the chair. The musket came with me so fast the chair scraped back and almost tipped over. The kids' room fell behind me, then the steps up into the living room. My boots hit concrete hard enough to send little shocks up my legs.
"Claptrap!" I shouted. Somewhere deeper in the bunker, he answered with a loud, "HOSTILE ALERT RECERECEIVED"
I passed the living room, cut through toward the kitchen, and nearly slipped on the turn but I caught myself on the wall with one hand, swore, and kept moving. The stairs to the long hallway felt longer than they had any right to. Every step up made the sound clearer.
Laser fire and then gunfire answered it.
"Shite, shite, shite." I hit the hallway and ran for the elevator. The waiting nearly killed me.
I could hear fighting above me. My Protectrons were shooting. Something was shooting back. The system said one super mutant, but one was enough. One could tear a person apart. One could smash a Protectron's head flat if it got close enough.
The elevator doors opened and the sound was clearer now. Laser fire. Gunfire. Metal impacts. A mutant voice roaring from up the tunnel.
"DIE, METAL THINGS!"
I raised the musket and moved, and as I passed the turret, it sat in such a bad spot, it was useless from this angle. I glared at it for half a second. "Oh, now I really need ta move ya"
A round snapped off the wall near the doorway and showered dust down over one of the Protectrons. That ended my complaint. I moved past the turret and crouched near the entrance, close enough to see whils behind cover.
The two Protectrons were where I'd left them, both firing up the tunnel. One had fresh dent across its torso. The other's left arm sparked at the elbow, but it kept shooting. Up the tunnel, the super mutant had taken cover behind a chunk of concrete near the approach. He leaned out and fired.
The shot hit the damaged Protectron in the chest hard enough to rock it back.
The mutant laughed. I lifted the musket.
My hands weren't steady and I hated that but I teeth clenched and took aim. The sight wobbled over his shoulder, then his head, then the concrete.
"Breathe," I muttered as He leaned out again and I fired. The laser struck the edge of his cover and blew a glowing chunk from the concrete instead of hitting him. Hot dust puffed into the tunnel. The mutant jerked back, then roared.
"HUMAN! LITTLE HUMAN! ME EAT LITTLE HUMAN!"
I ducked as he fired again. The bullet chewed into the wall above me. Bits of concrete peppered my hair and shoulders. My heart jumped into my throat, and for one horrible second I wanted to crawl backward, shut every door between me and him, and let the robots handle it bu then I saw the damaged Protectron take another hit.
Its torso plate was becoming dented with bullets, but It stayed up still firing at the target. I cranked the musket, Once, twice, no three times. My fingers moved too fast and almost slipped pass the trigger, but I forced myself to breath.
The Protectrons kept firing. Red beams flashed up the tunnel, clipping the mutant's cover, burning black streaks into the debris. He was pinned, Id prefer it to be dead already. He leaned out again to shoot at the bots, but this time I was ready. I aimed lower, towards center mass and pulled the trigger.
The beam hit him in the side and he howled actually howled. The sound filled the tunnel and made my whole body go stiff. He stumbled back a step, one hand slapping over the burned spot near his ribs. The Protectrons fired at once, both lasers striking his armor and shoulder. He ducked back behind cover, snarling. "I EAT YOU! I BREAK YOU!"
"Please don't," I whispered, already cranking again. The turret behind me clicked uselessly. The mutant fired blind around the cover. One bullet sparked off the floor. Another cracked into the frame near the entrance. A third hit the healthier Protectron in the upper body, leaving a fresh black mark. The bot didn't care. It stepped forward half a pace and fired again.
"HOSTILE COMPLIANCE REQUIRED."
"That's not how that works," I snapped, then leaned out and took another shot and missed. The beam scorched the tunnel wall above the mutant, and he laughed again, rough and mean.
"BAD SHOOTING, LITTLE HUMAN!"
My face went hot with anger. "Oh, shut up, your Shrek rip off." He lunged from cover. Not all the way but just enough to move to the next bit of debris, closer now, too close. If he rushed, he might reach the door before we dropped him.
I backed up two steps and shouted, "Hold the line! Dont let that thing get any closer."
The Protectrons kept firing and hit him in the thigh. The mutant stumbled, slammed a hand against the wall, and fired from the hip. The round punched into the damaged bot's shoulder joint.
Its arm jerked down. "LEFT ARM FUNCTION IMPAIRED."
"Still got the other one!" I shouted. I cranked the musket again. The mutant shoved off the wall and came forward. I felt my mouth dry as I aimed and fired. The beam hit dead center as his armor smoked, He staggered but didn't fall. The Protectrons fired again, one beam hit his neck as the other hit his face.
The mutant's roar cut off into a wet, choking sound. He stumbled another step like his body hadn't gotten the message yet, then collapsed forward hard enough to make the floor shake under my boots.
For a second, nobody moved. Dust and dirt drifted in the tunnel. The damaged Protectron's arm sparked as my ears rang.
I kept the musket trained on the mutant's body. "Confirm the kill," I said, my voice came out thinner than I liked.
One Protectron stepped closer, weapon still raised. Its head tilted down toward the body and fired three more times at its head. "HOSTILE NEUTRALIZED."
The tunnel smelled awful. Burned meat. Hot metal, gun smoke and concrete dust. The kind of smell that crawled up the nose and made you gag. I leaned one shoulder against the wall for a second taking that time to try and calm my nerves. With a shakyvoice i asked. "Damage report."
The worse-off Protectron turned slightly toward me. Sparks still snapped near its shoulder.
"LEFT ARM FUNCTION IMPAIRED. TORSO ARMOR COMPROMISED. MOBILITY FUNCTION NORMAL."
The other answered next.
"MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. COMBAT FUNCTIONAL."
"Good." I swallowed and looked at the dead mutant. "Good enough." I needed to come up with names for these guys at some point.... "Brilliant work."
I turned back to the entrance tunnel and stared up it, past the body, Just one mutant, the alert had said one, but then again this was the first time ive ever gotten one of those before.
But one didn't always mean just one forever
He could have wandered ahead. He could have split off. He could have been following my tracks from yesterday. I pointed at the healthier Protectron.
"Watch the tunnel. Do not move unless I say."
"ACKNOWLEDGED."
Then I looked at the damaged one. "You're pulling back, near the turret, ill have to check to see if i have any replacement arms for you"
"ACKNOWLEDGED." It moved stiffly, sparks trailing once from the bad arm. I finally stepped closer to the dead mutant. He was massive. His skin was burned where the lasers had hit. The crude pipe gun lay near one hand, bent but maybe salvageable. His armor was a mess of straps, metal plates, and old junk hammered into shape.
I nudged the weapon farther from his hand with my boot. I crouched just long enough to check him over for Ammo then I grabbed his gun. A few caps tied in a little pouch, not sure why they even had it. A chunk of meat wrapped in cloth that I did not touch after seeing it. As it could have been human meat. A key ring with no idea what it belonged to. Some scrap metal bits hanging from his belt.
I stood again and looked toward the tunnel mouth. The bunker didn't feel as safe as before. I tapped the Pip-Boy and checked the alert again. I wanted to go back to the research bench.
I also wanted to drag every piece of furniture in the bunker to this entrance and build a wall but that was just stupid. "Tomorrow," I muttered, "We're getting that thing moved even if I have to drag it myself."
But for now, i made my way back to the elevator and took it back down. By the time the doors opened below, my heartbeat had slowed enough that I didnt feel it in my ears anymore.
I walked back through the lower rooms on my way back to my research room. I stared at the whole setup for a second. Then I laughed once, quietly. I have survived my first raid. "Right," I said to nobody. "Back to being a nerd."
I set the musket where I could grab it fast, then dropped back into the chair. My legs complained the second I sat down. My back joined in after. The Pip-Boy screen still had the research tab open. For a little while, i went back to worked but then my Pip-Boy chimed. I jerked so hard my knee hit the underside of the bench.
"Ah—damn it." I looked down, expecting another red warning. My hand was already halfway to the musket but it wasn't red this time. A small blue letter had appeared in the corner of the screen. This one was soft blue, glowing gently. I just stared at it. The icon was a little envelope, sealed with a tiny star.
For a few seconds, nervously I tapped it and the screen shifted.
LETTER RECEIVED: DIVINE GIFT
Below it, text appeared in clean little lines.
You made it this far.
"You fought, learned, and survived longer than most would have. Consider this a small gift for your stubborn heart."
Microelectronics research completed.
"Keep going, Morgan. I am still watching."
I didn't move and just stared even harder. The bunker was quiet around me. Then a small smile pulled at my mouth before I could stop it.
"Still watching, huh?" I whispered. I leaned back in the chair and rubbed at my face with both hands. I didn't cry, not really. My eyes just stung a little but it felt good, more than good. I had been grateful to her already. For the second chance. For the body that didn't hurt all the time. For the chance to build something, even in a world that wanted to chew me up and spit me into a ditch.
But knowing she was still there, still paying attention? That made the bunker feel a little less lonely. I looked back at the screen.
The research tab updated on its own.
Completed Research:
Simple Robotics — Complete
Vault-Tec Basics — Complete
Chemfuel Refining — Complete
Hygiene — Complete
Junk Turrets / Basic Automated Defenses — Complete
Electricity — Complete
Workshop Construction / Basic Research Bench Construction — Complete
Blowback — Complete
Smithing — Complete
Microelectronics — Complete
I let out a slow breath. "Microelectronics," I said softly, just to hear it out loud. That was a big one done. I tapped through the available projects next. Not everything was possible with the basic bench. The system made that clear enough. Some research needed more advanced facilities, or things I absolutely did not have yet. But there were still options Machining or vehicles.
Practical and exactly the kind of thing I needed if I wanted to stop relying on whatever scrap the Commonwealth coughed up and start making proper parts myself.
I selected Machining and the research screen shifted. Current Research: Machining
I rested my fingers against the edge of the bench. This was the boring part but not anything I couldn't fill in with music. I took one of the salvaged boards and set it aside, then grabbed a notebook and started making notes.
"One problem at a time," I told myself. "Machining first. Fancy lady robot later."