Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 9: The Man Behind the Mask

"Well my mother, God rest her soul, named me Shaun. A dreadful name if you ask me, especially for a man of science such as myself... but you may call me the Director, or Father if you prefer. I am used to both." He laughed again, a harsh dry noise that grated my nerves like rough sandpaper.

"You..." I said, my body shaking with rage and grief. Was this all just some game to him? He seemed endlessly amused by my every reaction, like a kid with a magnifying glass just before turning it to the sun to burn anything in its path.

"Son of a bitch! I ought to jump over this table and rip your synthetic heart right out!" I yelled as I got to my feet, but the Director merely wagged his finger with a disapproving tsk tsk tsk.

"Oh I'd be careful if I were you, Jacob," he said as casually as can be. "Do remember where you are, and to whom you are speaking. The guards are standing right outside and I am but the humble Mayor of Diamond City. Not only that, but you have no place to go. Why I could just take young Miss Astor as I pleased and nothing could stop me. Yet here I am, willing to make a deal... with you.

"You want... a deal? With me?" I was taken aback, what could he possibly want from me?

"That's right," he said simply. "I am not the monster my reputation would have you believe. In fact, I am a very fair man. I have no desire to make a prisoner out of the girl, quite the contrary, the Institute would make the perfect home for the likes of her. She'd be protected from the harshness of this reality, from the raiders and the radiation, and she would be accepted as family among us. You would be paid of course, and given safe passage out of the Commonwealth. After all, you managed to accomplish a feat in a single night that all my synths couldn't manage over the past few decades. That certainly seems deserving of a reward, does it not?"

I sat there for several moments, barely able to process what was happening. He was right of course, the Institute was the most advanced society out there. If anyone could keep her safe from the Wasteland, it was them. But then, who'd protect her from their mad experiments? Even if it was true he wouldn't actually harm the girl, who's to say he wouldn't go back on his word and turn me into the Brotherhood for the reward money anyway?

"So, what? You're buying me off?" I asked.

"Oh certainly not!" He laughed again. "All I want from you is what you've already offered, to convince Miss Astor to come with us, to the Institute. Assure her just as I have assured you, our data indicates she will listen."

"Ha! Shows what you know, old man," I said with a smirk on my face, "Girl's got a mind of her own, and even if she didn't, I'd sooner jump off the tallest tower of the Wall then help the likes of you."

"Stubborn as always, though I suppose that is to be expected," the Director sighed as he slowly got to his feet. He strode over to the open window with calculated, mechanical steps and stood there for what seemed like an eternity... staring out at the vast horizon with a look of almost sadness upon his grotesque face.

"Look out there Jacob, beyond the Wall of this so-called city... Tell me, what do you see?" His voice seemed far away, as if lost in a memory that had never really existed in this first place.

"What are you-" I began.

"Tell me what you see," he said again, and I got to my feet. I looked out over the walled city, a webbed jungle of rope bridges and makeshift shanties so much bigger than I remembered, but beyond that, there was nothing. Nothing but ruins as far as the eye could see.

"I see the ruins. All the wreckage the Old World left behind..."

"The past, you mean."

"I guess." I shrugged, what was he going on about?