The Annals of Legend

       Perplexed, Liam tilted his head to the side as she continued to question him. “Because it’s her house …” he answered, blue eyes narrowing slightly at the woman. What was with the game of twenty questions, and why did she sound so suspicious? “I have no idea what she’s doing in there – I don’t go barging in, either.” The Institute had been a fairly open place to live, but even he knew that it was generally considered rude to show up at someone’s home completely unannounced. “I just meant that she’d probably be annoyed if you did. Nothing else.”

            “The Brotherhood was always kind to us,” she mused quietly. “It’s probably best that the purifier is in their hands.” Up until the increased Super Mutant attacks, the Brotherhood of Steel had been their fierce defenders and staunch supporters of the project – that much she remembered. Though the purifier certainly belonged in the control of those who had designed and built it, having the Brotherhood control it was better than the Enclave or a ragtag bunch of wastelanders.

              Catherine’s brown furrowed as Madison mentioned Vault 101. “Why would such a thing be her responsibility? She was only a child, but, from the sounds of it, everyone wanted her to carry their troubles on her shoulders.” Even James, however inadvertently it had been, had forced their daughter into a situation she was not prepared to deal with. “She must have been terrified.”

   “Yea, the Brotherhood was something...” Madison murmured the response under her breath, bitterness seeping though her tone. She’d noticed the changes as Lyons’ health deteriorated; the change in attitude around the Citadel where she had temporarily felt safe... Yet the fear that they did not have complete control so long as she was present had remained until she fled, following the word of Hoarse Pinkerton, of all people...

His words only served to solidify Eliana’s remorse. She was always leaving or being left, lying or being lied to. The past few years had been a persistent cycle of both. In the end, though, what was one more half-truth on her conscience? If keeping the truth from him made Bedwyr feel better, then it was worth withholding. 

“Of course. You were a good friend to Alia, and you watched out for her when I couldn’t. That means the world to me, truly.” He’d picked up the slack when she’d been too preoccupied with Josh or her other duties within the Brotherhood, and she’d be repaying him with a metaphorical slap in the face.

‘A good friend’... The words echoed in his ears, momentarily threatening to bring a blush to his cheeks. He resisted, of course, successful in suppressing it as he thought over his relationship with Alia. Of course he wouldn’t call it friendship, alone- they were, without a doubt, beyond just friendship.

But pointing that out seemed a terrible idea, just then.

“Sure,” Eliana replied, eyeing the man who stood in the irradiated waters surrounding the atomic bomb. Internally, she doubted the church would be of much help; they were talking about people who worshiped a nuclear disaster waiting to happen, after all. They’d probably just suggest they eat radioactive goo for sustenance. “It’s worth a shot. Moriarty’s obviously not going to help us, so we might as well talk to as many people we can to find out … whatever we can.”

Alia offered a smile to the stranger as they passed, but was seemingly ignored in favor of continued worship. Her smile faded with the realization that the gesture would not be returned, attention returning to her sister.

  “Dunno,” he grumbled, embarrassed by his outburst. How could Bedwyr just brush off the fact that some random had been allowed into the Brotherhood as a Knight? A position that they had been born into and worked their whole lives for? “Three Dog’s always talkin’ about her dad – she probably left because of that.” 

   Personally, Bruce couldn’t imagine risking his life to traipse unprepared across the wasteland for either of his parents. They’d barely shot a glance his way since he was a child. “I’ve heard some freaky shit happened in those vaults, though. Could be that.”

 Bedwyr hummed in agreement, nodding and ignoring the seeming butthurtedness of his friend. He didn’t care all that much about Bruce’s perception of his beliefs; eventually, the answers would become apparent. For now, they could just speculate.

  kaj toes the body, lip curled slightly in disgust (at the corpse or at his uniform, who could say). ‘right,’ she says after a moment of silence, then looks over her shoulder towards the horizon. ‘and i guess if those other guys over the hill,’ also wearing legion colors, oddly, ‘turned up like this, then who’s to say what actually happened, right? maybe it’s that new disease, hole in the head syndrome.’

         Dani shrugged at the question. It hadn’t ever occurred to her to ask Zeke why he picked the name. It was just that way when she joined. It honestly didn’t seem that important now.

         “The brotherhood is a bunch of cubes. You dig?” She tilted her head to the side and took a hit off her cig. She exhaled and spoke through the fog. “What’s your tale with the Brotherhood, Nightingale?”

       “I’m right there with you- they used to be decent folks, fighting the good fight, but they ended up gettin’ twisted round...” Three Dog tried not to think of his past too often, somewhat ashamed by his actions- but it had been for the best, he was certain of that.

“Sorry if I’m a little skeptical, I’ve had my experiences with-” Brutes. “- power armored types.” Gabban’s expression remained sharp on the woman, though it wasn’t anything disparaging. “Hard not to be suspicious after seeing what happens when a man’s caught at the wrong end of a metal fist.” 

 He looked the soldier over and sucked in a breath. “I’ve seen plenty of things out in the wastes and ‘armored fools’ are definitely part of it. About a handful of them make their way down a mine shaft near here. Come out with stocks, not sure what kind.” Almost instinctively, he pressed a thumb across the scar on his lip. “I’ll tell you exactly where it is. But first- what are you planning to do with them?” 

Cross shrugged, accepting the response without question. She recalled the days before Lyons had changed things- how eagerly the Brotherhood had fought against outsiders, no matter who they were, in order to reach the technology they sought. 

The next bit surprised her, however- a mine shaft... Curious. She considered whether or not it was wise to divulge her reasons for following the Enclave remnants, but it seemed as though it should be common knowledge how often the two had battled. 

“Damn... I, uh... Hold on...” Bent over to catch his breath, Erec looked back to the ground and took deep breaths, clearly winded. Once he’d apparently recovered, the man stood straight and cleared his throat.