Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 5: The Last Will & Testament of Dr. Isaac Astor

"Whoa, whoa, whoa kid! What's all this "we" stuff?" I said as I got to my feet. "Look, I'm sorry about your old man and all, but I've got enough heat on me as it is. The last thing I need right now is to run off on another damn treasure hunt. I've already had my fill of that today, thanks."

"But... didn't you hear him? This isn't just any vault Mr. Burns, this is the vault! Don't you get it? This could save countless lives, it could save the world!"

I laughed.

"A little late for that dontcha think?" I said as I waved my hand out the window. "Where do you suppose we start? The radiation? The raiders? Oh I know! How about we teach Super Mutants the power of love and kindness so we can all sit around the campfire and sing Kum-ba-yah? Wake up sweetheart, this world's beyond repair, probably wasn't worth saving in the first place."

"How can you be so cold?" She said angrily, "My father died for this, I have the right to know what happened to him at the very least! Besides, can't you imagine what this is capable of? All the good it could do?"

"Oh please, that sounds like just another empty Vault-Tec promise to me. Anyway, he also said it was dangerous. Aren't you afraid the evil Order is going to come after you?"

"Not really," she said as she shrugged, "My father had always been a bit... eccentric, and when it came to me in any case. I was all he had left after my mom died and growing up as sick as I was, he'd always been overprotective of me. Honestly, if it were up to him I never would have left the house without a dozen bodyguards in tow. But it's been over two hundred years, if the Order was going to come after me, don't you think they would have done it by now? I mean, if someone like you could do it, then I doubt they were really that determined in the first place."

"Look, if you just take me to my father's house, I can show you this is real. Please Jacob, I can't do this without you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This all had to be one bad dream. Any minute now, I'd wake up in my hotel room with a nasty hangover and a vow to shoot whoever spiked my drink last night. She had to be out of her mind if she thought I was about to babysit her while she went off playing adventurer like the heroine of some cheap Grognak knockoff. Well, this ain't no game of Dungeons and Deathclaws girly, this is real life.

"So let me get this straight," I said as I rubbed at the headache forming behind my eyes. "You want me to run halfway across the Commonwealth in search of some ancient treasure that will "save the world" from an evil Order that no one's even heard of, and you're going to accomplish this by solving a two-hundred-year-old murder case, all without a single clue to go on... Did I catch all that?"

"Mr. Burns, I know this all sounds impossible, but I trust my father more than anything, and he's counting on me to do this. He was a brilliant man and I know he has a plan, besides, we aren't talking about some common vault, this is the very salvation of mankind! You can't honestly turn your back on that, can you?"

"Oh yes, I can!" I shouted, "First thing tomorrow morning, I'm taking you to Diamond City, and that's that." I shoved past her and took up a spot near the stairs, where I laid down for the night.

"But..." She protested.

"But nothing! Get some sleep, it's going to be a long walk tomorrow. Trust me, it'll be safe for you in the city, no ancient evil or anything. Once you see what it's really like out there, you'll thank me for this."

She glared as if she wanted to give me a swift kick down the stairs, but she settled for cursing me under her breath instead. She grabbed the gun off of the couch and begrudgingly handed it over to me. I laughed and waved it away.

"Keep it," I said, "I've got another right here, did you really think I only carried one weapon?" I smiled as I lifted my shirt to show her the gun still at my side.

"Oh, and the one in your hand? It's been out of bullets the entire time."

And with that, I rolled over and closed my eyes, relishing that last look of indignant disbelief on her face before finally drifting off to sleep.