Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 11: Way Back Home

We woke up the next morning in an abandoned townhouse, having gone as far as we could the day before. Luckily for us, the place had remained intact over the years and made for a great hideout throughout the night. Besides, we'd both been exhausted and were in need of a well-deserved rest. Ilya greeted the day with a pearly smile and a skip in her step now that she had gotten her way. I, on the other hand, was left on edge, wondering how on earth I managed to get myself into this situation.

There were a million questions running through my mind, none of which I had any answers to. How on earth were we supposed to find this thing? And what were we going to find at her father's place that the Institute hadn't found already? I wished there was another way out of this, but If the Institute was after this vault, then it just might be everything Ilya said it was, and in the hands of someone like the Director...

I shuddered to think.

Just remembering the mad glint in his eyes was enough to send shivers down my spine. All my years in the Brotherhood of Steel had told me stories of Old World scientists and their wicked experiments, but nothing could have prepared me for that kind of evil face to face.

"So," I said as we walked along the empty boardwalk, "What's your plan? Once we get to your father's house, that is."

"Hmm? Oh, well we find whatever message he left for me and follow that to the Conduit, and then to the vault! Easy enough, right?"

"Ugh... and you made fun of my plans," I groaned.

"Hey, I didn't know anything about this vault until yesterday, so I have an excuse, what's yours?" She smirked as she climbed atop the river wall and balanced along the edge.

"Can you at least tell me who else knows about it?"

"No idea, it was a top-secret project so no one should have known. That's why this has to be the work of the Order. I'll bet the Institute is working with them, or for them, or something. I mean, if they approached my father for help, why wouldn't they enlist the aid of others?"

"Great, so anybody then. Just like a madman to send his only daughter after the most dangerous and valuable vault in all the Wasteland, and without a clue no less." But before I knew it, Ilya was inches from my face, stopping me in my tracks.

"My father is NOT a madman! He was a kind and brilliant soul who sacrificed everything for me and I will not have you insulting his memory," she said with an indignant huff.

"Hey, whatever you say. I just wouldn't be so sure about that if my dad worked for Vault-Tec..."

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know my father was one of the heads for the Societal Preservation Program, thank you very much! Why, I bet there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of people that have my father to thank for being alive today!" She finished with an air of pride, but it was all I could do not to roll my eyes. She really was the most naive girl in all the Wasteland.

"C'mon, take a look around. Do you really think this is what the world would look like if Vault-Tec was legit? They were all the same Ilya, the Institute, Vault-Tec... they're nothing but power hungry monsters, willing to do anything to get ahead."

"Not. My. Father." The girl said stubbornly as she poked me in the chest.

"Believe what you want, kid. I'm just telling you the truth," I said as I shrugged her off and marched my way forward, leaving her fuming behind me.

We walked in silence for hours after that, which suited me just fine. I was able to concentrate on our surroundings and getting us to this place in one piece. Ilya had told me where the old house was, a riverside mansion overlooking the city. Girl must have had one sweet ride as a kid, that's for sure, but I was more concerned with what might be living there now. Nice places like that rarely stayed empty for long.