Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 8: The Mayor of Diamond City

I could tell the truth. Well, most of it at least...

"What if she wasn't from Vault 81? What if she was from a new vault?"

"Oh, don't try to play me like that, there hasn't been a new vault discovered in the Commonwealth for over one hundred years. This must be the same ploy you tried with my brother, isn't it?

"But it's true!" I said, and for the first time, I meant it too. "She's from a brand new vault just outside of Cambridge, never been opened before. This girl was the only one alive, but we made it out before the damn thing collapsed. C'mon McDonough, you know how the people love a good vault story, just imagine what it would do for your numbers! You'd have a new mascot for your town, and all the support you'd need to win every election from here to eternity. And I can convince her to stay, all you have to do is keep quiet that I was ever here and let me slip out into the night.

"Hmm... it is interesting," he said and I felt a brief flash of hope. "What number was the vault? Do you know what the experiment was?"

"Oh... uh, it didn't really have a number. Or an experiment, but it is real!" I said hurriedly, but I could already see the disbelief on his face.

"My city is bursting at the seams as it is, and you want me to take in a thieving little nobody from a numberless vault that had no experiment whatsoever? I don't think so Jacob, in fact, I'd be better off handing her over to Goodneighbor to appease my little brother. A pretty face always had away of keeping him busy for a couple of weeks, enough time to get you off to the Citadel and face justice at the very least."

"You wouldn't dare," I growled.

"I most certainly would! It makes the most sense overall, it keeps both the Brotherhood and Hancock off my back and takes care of two trouble makers at the same time. All my problems solved in one fell move. I warned you, Jacob, I told you what would happen if I ever saw you again, and now, your radhens have come home to roost."

My head was spinning, everything was coming down around me. I was screaming inside my head but there was nothing I could do but watch as the mayor reached for the intercom and buzzed into the other room.

"Geneva dear, please alert the Brotherhood that I have Jacob Burns in custody and then arrange a meeting with Goodneighbor about taking in-"

"She's from before the war!" I blurted out, it was a Hail Mary for sure, but it was the last bargaining chip I had. If the girl wasn't interesting enough for him to take in, then we were both screwed.

The mayor took his finger off the button. "What was that?"

"The girl, she's from before the war. She was frozen in cryo-freeze for over two hundred years, her dad was some big shot at Vault-Tec and had a special one made just for her. Now, don't send her out there!" I said, exasperated. The mayor looked shocked as he stared me down.

"A... new vault you say? Are you sure? It wasn't, oh say, 111?" I couldn't believe my ears, there may be a chance after all.

"N-no, definitely not."

"And right outside of Cambridge? You don't say? You don't say..." He trailed off as he fidgeted with his drink.

"Please excuse me," he said all of a sudden.

"Wait, what?" But I didn't get an answer, the mayor was on his feet and out of the room in seconds, leaving me standing there completely confused. I could hear voices in the next room, but I couldn't make out a word.

The longer he made me wait, the more anxious I got. This was already too good to be true and I was starting to wonder whether I should have said anything at all. Piper's voice was ringing in my ears, old warnings from long ago that the mayor couldn't be trusted, but then again, she had always been the conspiracy theorist in the house, not me.

At last the mayor came back into the room, looking paler than usual as if he'd come down with a bad case of rad poisoning in the last ten minutes. He went to the door to make sure it was shut tight before going back around the table.

"Please take a seat, Jacob," he said, though I didn't believe the sincerity behind it.

"I'm fine thanks."

"I really think you should have a seat. Would you like a drink?"

"Uh... no, I'll pass," I said as I watched him pour another for himself. Something definitely wasn't right. Mayor McDonough was known about as much for his hospitality as his brother, that is to say, not at all.

"There is... someone who would like to speak with you."

"What's the matter McDonough, don't you run your own city?" I laughed as the man fidgeted nervously across from me. "So who is he? Who's the moneybags that's got you set up so nice, eh? Shoulda known you'd be up for sale." The mayor didn't respond, he kept staring at the table as if he were about to be sick.

"He'll... be here... any minute," he said as he took several deep breaths. I cast my eyes to the doorway, wondering who on earth could get the mayor in such a state.

Suddenly, the mayor collapsed on the table with a dull thud.

"What the hell?!" He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing, but his eyes were wide open in a cold, glassy stare.

Oh my God, is he? He is! I thought. What the fuck just happened? One second the man's just fine, the next he's stone cold dead on the table! That certainly wouldn't sit well with the guards when they found me alone with their beloved mayor's corpse, that's for sure, but I had no idea what to do. I tried to think of something, but all I could hear was static coming from the radio.

Suddenly, the mayor jolted up as if he'd been prodded with an electrical wire. My heart hammered in my chest, those glassy eyes staring right through me. I wasn't sure if I should call for help or make a run for it, but as the skin around his mouth stretched and tightened into a mad smile, a foul terror ripped through me.

The thing that was once McDonough smiled again, and spoke in a voice entirely not his own.

"Hello Jacob, so very nice to meet you at last."