Hiding In The Green: A Fallout 4 Story

Chapter 17: A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Far away, in a scrupulously clean, well-lighted place: "Father, Kellogg is here," the Great Man's assistant said, eyeing Kellogg nervously.

"Very good. Send him in," the Director of the Institute replied.

"You can—," the assistant began, but the Institute's headsman cut the woman off.

"I heard." He passed through the door into the Presence.

Father eyed him, his expression making sour lines around his mouth. "Sit down."

"I prefer to stand," Kellogg leaned against the wall, pulled out a Sunlights cigar, and lit it.

"I would prefer that you sat—and that you did not smoke those foul weeds in here," Father glared at him.

"What do you care? You're dying anyway." Kellogg took a deep drag on his stogie and let the smoke out slowly.

"While if not for the Institute, you would be long dead by now. It smells nauseating. Put it out."

"Put on the air filtration system, boy. I was part of the Institute long before I pulled your baby ass out of a freezer, and I'll be here long after you're gone." Kellogg responded.

Father's finger leapt out and stabbed at the environmental controls on his desk, and the filtration unit kicked in. "Will you, now?" he murmured. "Speaking of my origin, would you care to explain this?"

He pushed two documents over his desk in Kellogg's direction. One was a copy of 'Publick Occurances', that joke of a 'newspaper' from Diamond City, and the other was something else. At a glance, it had come from the same place, but it wasn't a newspaper, more of a booklet. It had a big yellow flower on the front cover of it. He looked at the newspaper first.

It was an interview with someone purporting to be from Vault 111, the sole survivor from that vault. Whoever it was, they obviously had been to the vault in question, because as best he could remember, all the details were correct.

He looked up from the paper at Father. "So? It wasn't like we went through all the rooms or all the pods looking for you. We knew exactly where you were, we went there and extracted you. Maybe another chamber had failsafes on their cryopods. How should I know?"

"You reported that there were no survivors. You also disobeyed orders and killed both my parents."

"I also turned the cold back on, so they would be preserved. There's plenty of living cells left in them, if you need more DNA. And what are you implying? That I chose to turn the freezer back on for someone else at random?" Kellogg let the ash from his cigar fall wherever it wanted.

"You tell me."

"All right. I will. Maybe it's possible whoever this is, is from Vault 111, but I doubt it. More likely it's somebody pulling a scam for caps," Kellogg told him.

"I see. Now, this." Father indicated the second document, the booklet.

Kellogg picked it up and read in big letters: 'Queen of the Commonwealth Seed and Plant Company'.

Then there was the big yellow flower, which looked hand colored. Below that, printed on a banner, read the motto, 'The Common Wealth of the Commonwealth'. In slightly smaller lettering, it then said, 'Purveyors of Pre-War Strains of Plants and Seeds, Vault-Preserved and Newly-Propagated. Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs and Other Useful Plants. Twenty-Five Percent Discount for Minutemen. Homestead Packages Both Small And Large Available. Ask About Our Consultation Service.'

He opened it up and read the inside front cover, where there was an article explaining where the seeds had come from. Apparently someone with a love of homegrown produce had purchased an assortment of seeds just prior to the War and then took them along with them into their Vault, where they were cryogenically stored until very recently. Rather than hoard these seeds for themselves, the company founder was going into widescale seed production in order to bring them to everyone in the Commonwealth at a reasonable price. Then there were pages and pages of what was being offered for sale.

"I don't know anything about this," he said, tossing it aside.

"You don't think it rather too much of a coincidence?" Father asked. "That someone from Vault 111 should have survived, having been cryogenically frozen, and that dozens of seeds somehow also survived by being cryogenically frozen, and Piper Wright somehow has wind of both before anybody else?"

"What do you want? The survivor's head on a platter and all the seeds collected for the Institute? I can do it."

"As you succeeded so well at University Point," Father pointed out. "We wanted the girl Jacqui alive."

Kellogg shrugged. "Accidents happen. She threw herself in front of her father at the wrong moment." He had recovered neither the materials nor the girl from that debacle, and the mission had been a thorough failure all around.

"The answer is, no. We do not want the survivor's head on a platter. We want them alive. Very much alive. If they are not recovered alive, you really don't want to know what will follow. I believe very strongly that this person, whoever they are, is from Vault 111 and lived before the war. Someone uncontaminated mentally by the tumult of factions. Someone who will want to come in from the wilderness. The Institute needs this person-and needs them now, before they pick up any ideas."

"Why? What makes you think they're for real?" Kellogg asked.

"This," Father opened a second copy of the booklet and read, "'These cheerful flowers turn to face the sun throughout the course of the day. This is entirely normal, so do not be alarmed. A field of sunflowers in full bloom is a magnificent sight.' That was written by someone who has seen this. Someone who is thoroughly familiar with these flowers. Someone who knows the people who will be growing them are not that familiar, are not familiar with them at all. All throughout this booklet there are similar examples. My linguistics expert believes this was written by someone with an IQ well within the range of what is considered genius."

"And you want them because...." Kellogg asked.

"Because I am dying. Because there is no one within this facility with the vision or the capacity to lead it once I am gone. Because the departments are fractious, and will push their own agendas without looking at the bigger picture. I read this, and as I read it, I can see glimpse the mind of the one who wrote it. This is my successor. Or will be, if they can be found before they're corrupted."

Kellogg stubbed his cigar out against the wall. "All right, old man. I'll find them. Any idea of where to look?"

"In the booklet, it invites potential buyers to visit the settlement of Sanctuary where they are actively growing these plants. That would be a place to start." Father steepled his fingers, watching Kellogg.

"I'm gone."

Once the door was safely closed behind the killer, Father permitted himself a wintry smile, and quoted, "'Go, tread the path that thou shalt ne'er return. Simple, plain...Kellogg, I do love thee so, that I will shortly send thy soul to Heaven, if Heaven will take the present at our hands.'"

Father had also learned of the syringe darts, and what was in them, and he could put two and two together. It would suit him very well if Kellogg choked on his own blood. In fact, he was counting on it.

A/N: A very short chapter, but an important one. The quote at the end is from Richard III, only instead of 'Kellogg,', read 'Clarence.'

In my headcanon, Ellie came up with the name of the company during the editing session, and Piper the backstory for the inside cover.