(RW) [The Last Hope For Mankind] 3 – Talking with an Old Man and his Daughter

[A/N: This is a reminder that this story is AU, most of the timeline will be AU, but I will have to create original characters since Bethesda does not cover every possible angle when it comes to the Lore and Fallout history. I will also have to make my own lore, which will probably be complicated or convoluted since I doubt I'll also be able to cover every possibility]

Stepping into the clinic, I was greeted by a human doctor...injecting something into a mark 3 Synth.

Speaking up, I asked, "Hello?"

The man was in his late 40s if not early 50s and had hair that beginning to turn white.

Carefully pulling out the long syringe, the man turned to me, raising an appraising eye upon looking at me.

"What are you doing up so early, little miss? You should know that you need plenty of rest to grow up healthy," The Doctor commented.

"I got plenty of rest," I replied, trying to remain stoic and not show any childish behavior.

"Sure you did..." The Doctor commented, not believing me, before asking, "Well, what can I help you with?"

"Well...I was hoping that you could direct me to Facilities?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Hmm, what do you need there? Eh, no matter, Brendan!" The man shouted, and a teenage boy came quickly into the office.

"Yeah, Dad?" The boy asked.

"You're three minutes late," The Doctor scolded the boy with a stoic face and tone.

"Sorry," The boy apologized, looking away from his father's stern gaze.

"I will speak with you later, right now, however, this young lady needs help finding Facilities, I'm sure Ben's already up there with his girl getting ready for the day," The Doctor spoke, waving his hand towards me.

The boy looked at me curiously and nodded to his father.

Thanking the both of them, the boy led me past the clinic to the round staircase at the center of this tower before leading me up to the second floor and over to a large sliding door that could only be described as more of a garage door then any of the small sliding doors that were normally seen across the Institute.

Walking up to it, he pressed a button.

Making a sound, the large door slid open, revealing a rather large workshop that smelled of oil, grease, and a few other strong odors I did not recognize with two people and a couple of mark 2 synths could be seen gathering tools and materials.

One was an old man with a lumberjack build, while the other was a surprisingly petite teenage girl.

"Hey Ben?" The boy called out, getting the attention of both the Old man and woman.

"That you Brendan?" The Old man asked, squinting once he looked our way.

"Yeah, I have someone that wanted to see you," He told the two, gesturing to me.

The woman immediately looked over to me, while the Old Man squinted, clearly having trouble seeing anything other than a blurry outline of me.

"Oh? Come a little bit closer, child," The Old man beckoned, waving to come closer.

As I stepped forward, the old man and the woman did as well, while the boy just stood behind me, not moving and more so seeming to wait to see what I wanted.

Once I stood directly in front of the grease covered Father and Daughter, the old man spoke up, "What can we help you with, Child? Why are you up so early in the morning? You should still be in bed," The Old Man scolded me after asking me a few questions.

"I slept for eight hours," I stated matter-of-factly, which got a chuckle from the old man.

"That might be enough for Adults like us, but children such as yourself need more sleep," The Old man commented.

"Perhaps, but that's not why I am here," I told the three.

"And what are you here for, exactly?" The woman asked, directly.

"Before I tell you, I want you to hear me out, I know what I will say will sound ridiculous, but I ask you give me a chance," I stated, looking the two in the eyes directly.

The Old man merely looked at me with amusement, while the woman stared at me, indifferent.

I did not know how the boy behind me was looking at me, but to be frank, I was ignoring him, instead focusing on the two before me, the two I would need to convince.

Sighing before taking a deep breath, the Old Man spoke up encouragingly, "Take your time."

Not wanting to waste time, I took another deep breath before speaking, "I would like to help. By that, I mean assist you in maintaining and repairing the various Terminals, power lines, and the other necessities such as the Life Support systems across the Institute."

The Woman scoffed, disbelieving and annoyed by what I said.

The old man, on the other hand, looked at me with an appraising eye.

"Father, don't tell me you are taking her seriously," The woman asked, looking at the Old Man, who still hasn't looked away from me.

"For someone so young, she sure does seem confident," The Old Man commented before asking, "What makes you believe that you can help us?"

"Because I have been studying, in the Archives," I lied.

"What are you doing in that old, dusty place? Hardly anyone goes in there anymore," The Old Man asked.

"I wanted to learn," I stated, not saying anything more.

Knowing that they would not believe unless I proved myself, I spoke up, "I don't know everything, but I do know the basics, do you have a Terminal that needs fixing?" I asked.

The Old Man hummed, before calling out to one of the nearby Synths, "D4-11, bring me one of the glitching Terminals that is in need of repair."

One of the nearby Synths nodded and walked over to a cart filled with old Terminals.

Looking at the amount of Terminals in the cart, I raised an eyebrow, something the Old Man noticed as he chuckled and explained, "None of us know how to repair Terminals, so we've been having to rely on old Terminals or create new ones entirely."

"If you don't know how to repair the Terminals, how are you able to make new ones?" I asked, confused.

"We are able to make new ones because one of our ancestors made a data file that can be put into a terminal that would automatically install any software that is needed to run the Terminal," The woman spoke up.

"What if you lose that data? Or it becomes corrupt?" I asked, concerned.

"We have multiple backups," The Old Man told me.

"That's good," I commented before frowning, "Wait, does that mean that you guys just trash or recycle the computers when you can't fix them?"

"It's all we can do, though sometimes the data is not completely wiped when we rebuild the computers, so we end up using the materials for other things," The Old Man explained.

"Why hasn't anyone in Facilities learned how to do it properly?" I asked, confused.

"Because we have more pressing concerns, and the state of what few Terminals we use is of no concern," The woman explained.

"As my Daughter said, it hasn't been that much of a problem, and the Terminals have only started causing problems in my Father's time, if we ever do need more Terminals, we could always fetch some from the Surface," The Old Man explained.

"And when no working Terminals can be found on the surface? What then? Do you hope someone figures out how to recreate them from scratch?" I ask.

"I see your point," The Old Man sighed.

That's when the Synth placed a Terminal on a workbench nearby.

"Please, show us what you can do," The Old Man motioned his hand over towards the Terminal.

"It would be my pleasure," I replied, a smile on my face.