"You know this isn't right Smith" High Inquisitor Evitt said. Hampshire sighed and stared down at the foldable table in his command tent, one of many makeshift structures in the growing camp outside Savior Installation. He thought to all the events that had transpired over the last twenty-four hours. With the help of the Calculator's old army the Brotherhood secured the bunker and eradicated the mutant threat in the area. No casualties on his own side, but Maxson's soldiers were still counting their dead.
"I'm aware of your thoughts on this matter. Defcon and Lola's as well. But we need these bots, we do. After this menace has been dealt with, we'll deactivate them again. With what HR-M3W did all those years ago, I don't blame you for hating them" Hampshire said.
"Don't blame me? Damn right you shouldn't. My entire fucking career is built on questionable acts, but this Smith? This? This is wrong. Get Maxson's help, I don't care. But leave these goddamn machines alone or we'll all be paying for it"
"S-sir? Ma'am?" a squirrelly voice said. Hampshire and Evitt looked to the half-opened tent flap, a young Knight stood under it waiting. "We found him."
The Knight stepped aside and a balding, scarred man, armored in T-60 entered.
"General Smith I assume?' he muttered.
"Yes. Paladin?" Hampshire questioned.
"No, Paladin Commander Larsen. I'm here to accept the terms of my force's surrender" Larsen stated.
"You won't be surrendering" Evitt cut in.
"I... then why did you send soldiers to find me?" Larsen said, surprised.
"I need you to escort a fellow Council member to speak with Elder Maxson. As you may have noticed, these new mutants are a force to be reckoned with. And.... it may be time to find an end to this war" Hampshire stated.
"I'm accepting your surrender?" Larsen asked.
"No. The Midwestern chapter will remain in the Midwest, protecting the Midwest, leading the Midwest. But we will allow Elder Maxson and his men safe passage through our territory and send representatives to accompany him back to Lost Hills, assuming he leaves us be and helps to deal with the mutants" Hampshire raised an eyebrow. "Agreed?"
"I can't agree to that, only the Elder can" Larsen said.
"I know. I'm asking if you agree to bring one of our councilmen to meet with Arthur, and your honor that no harm will come to him" Hampshire responded.
It took Paladin Commander Larsen a few moments, but he finally responded, "Yes. You have my word"
"Thank you soldier" Hampshire said. He looked to Evitt. "I suppose we should tell Shepherd to pack"
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Carter sat on the roof of the Super Duper Mart, watching several of the former Vault 0 robots clean up the hundred or so mutilated mutant corpses laying about. The C-27s would stack the bodies high and then light them ablaze, and a dozen pyres were already burning around the area. One of the robots exited the grocery store with the carcass of a mutant scorpion trailing behind it. It looked up at Carter and stopped.
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
"Lakeman, Carter. Registered Vault 0 resident. Security personnel. Auxillary sector C. Last reports indicate that said Vault personnel is still in cryogenic stasis" the C-27 said.
"No, that was over a month ago" Carter replied, and an old thought occurred to him. "Wait, when was that report from?"
The robot stood silently for a few seconds, accessing it's files, then responded. "October 23rd, 2077"
"The day the bombs dropped? Why weren't any other reports made?" Carter asked, getting excited.
"After the date of October 23rd, 2077, no report originating in the auxiliary sectors was made. All access to said sections of Vault 0 were disabled"
"Why?"
"Apologies, this unit is unable to disclose that information to any individual without proper authorization"
Carter began scrounging through his pockets and pulled out the Vault-Tec ID card he took from the Brotherhood soldier the day he escaped the Vault.
"Would this work?" Carter asked. He carefully slid down from the roof and approached the robot, holding out the plastic card. The C-27 looked at it and nodded.
"What information would you like to access?"
"Why was access to the auxiliary sectors of Vault 0 cut off?"
"Executive directive from Vault-Tec board of directors. All access to auxiliary sectors of Vault 0 denied to any non-board personnel. Due to inferior authorization status, the Overseer was unable to override this decision"
"When you all tried killing us? Yeah. So why did the board send this order? It was the end of the world, they had better things to do"
"This unit does not have the answer to that question"
"Alright, thanks. Carry on"
The robot continued it's dragging of the deceased scorpion to one of the body piles, where another doused it with gas and lit it with a flamer. But Carter didn't notice, he was too busy thinking about what this could mean. Did Vault-Tec know about the faults in the Calculator's code? That was impossible, they would've stopped it. Or would they, Carter thought. Staples, Conrad, everyone told him what Vault-Tec really wanted, the experiments and misery. He clenched his fist. He knew one way or another, he wouldn't stop til he found out the truth.