Beatrice raised her hands in a placating gesture, warily eyeing Zoe's hand.
"This is just a standard call. Mister Spero has a broken Pip-Boy that makes communication impossible. The Overseer also wants to improve her impression on Mister Spero. That's it!" Beatrice said, sweating slightly under Zoe's gaze.
Animus placed a hand on Zoe's shoulder. Zoe's muscles slackened a little.
"It will be fine, Zo. I'll be back soon." Animus smiled.
Gwen leaned in to whisper in Zoe's ear. "Don't worry, Zoe. Everything should be alright. The Overseer doesn't have the guts to pull off another stunt like what she did last time."
"Okay." Zoe nodded, then handed Animus the cloth bag. "Brother, take your bag with you."
Animus nodded and took it.
'Smart Zo.' He praised internally.
"Let's go." Animus told Beatrice, slinging the cloth bag over his shoulder.
"Yes. Follow me." Beatrice said and began walking ahead.
The two walked towards the Atrium before stopping toward a large door. Beatrice opened it.
The Overseer's Office was ostentatious, and positioned right next to the center of the fifth floor of the Vault. A fake window revealing a clear blue sky on the far end caught Animus' attention first. Animus' boots tapped inside the office as the doors closed shut. The flooring was of natural wood above concrete. A huge semicircular wooden desk piled with documents, binders, and a bulky computer captured his attention. One corner looked oddly empty.
Sitting behind the desk on a high-back leather chair, Overseer Rachel stared vacuously at Animus.
"Welcome, Animus." She said, tilting her head while addressing Animus by his given name.
It made Animus uncomfortable.
"Hi." He said, clutching his cloth bag.
There was a row of bookshelves on the left, cupboards on the right, and a pair of sofas next to Animus. Two chairs were also positioned in front of the Overseer's desk. Animus chose not to sit.
Rachel smiled, noting his reactions. Her smile made one think she thought of nothing and no one as important.
Rachel intentionally let the silence build. Animus narrowed his eyes.
'Petty psychological tricks.' He thought.
Animus ignored her and continued to look around. There was a pole with a flag of Vault-Tec in the corner. To the right, next to the cupboards in the corner, was a metal safe. Animus stared at it for a second. He looked to his left and noted a table with a reading lamp next to the sofas. The office was spacious.
"Do you like my office, Animus?" Rachel asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Animus smirked, not hiding his intentions. "I wonder how someone becomes an Overseer. I quite like your chair."
Beatrice gripped her Tranquilizer Gun at her waist.
Rachel's smile twisted a little.
"It takes a lot of blood, sweat, and sacrifice," Rachel answered, her voice smooth and low. "You would have to dedicate time and effort to Vault-Tec. You may not even have time to visit your family sometimes."
"Ah," Animus drawled. "Is that why we don't hear about your family in the vault, Miss Rachel? Are they not here?"
"No," Rachel said curtly.
"Are they in another vault, then?" Animus asked, tilting his head with a fake smile.
"No. They are not," Rachel said, her voice clipped.
"Does that mean they are...outside?" Animus asked, intentionally speaking slowly.
"I believe that is not why you are here! Do not-" Beatrice began.
Rachel raised her hand.
Beatrice shut up.
Rachel's smile looked ugly.
"I believe they have died in the nuclear fallout." She said, her smile breaking.
Animus' eyes widened in genuine surprise.
"Why? You are part of Vault-Tec, no? There is no way you could not secure a few seats in a vault for your family." Animus said, staring at Rachel.
"They were communist sympathizers." Rachel said, her smile gone. Her expression was terrifying. "Does that satisfy your curiosity, Animus? Or could you be a communist sympathizer too?"
Animus knew when to stop. He thumbed his cloth bag.
"No." He shook his head. "I am sorry for your loss."
Rachel regained her soulless composure.
"Then, let's move on to the matter at hand." Rachel said, pulling a Pip-Boy from one of her desk drawers before gesturing to Beatrice.
Beatrice moved and picked the Pip-Boy before giving it to Animus.
"Your current Pip-Boy is malfunctioning. We will provide you with a new one. Once it comes online, we will move on to your proper role assignments in Vault 69," Rachel said.
"Alright. I'll try the new Pip-Boy." Animus shrugged.
Animus took off his Pip-Boy without any ceremony and wore the new one. His old Pip-Boy suddenly flickered and blacked out. Beatrice looked at it with a frown and began prodding it, pressing its buttons.
The same sequence of green lines of code, diagnostic information, and the Vault-Tec mascot appearing occurred. In the next instant, a robed pixelated figure emerged on the screen and kicked the mascot away.
It then waved at Animus cheekily.
Animus smiled.
The Pip-Boy booted up with his vitals, looking business as usual. But Animus knew that his System was a swipe away.
Beatrice brought the old Pip-Boy to Rachel. Even after a few minutes, it did not boot up.
"This simply refuses to work. How come?" Beatrice muttered.
Rachel turned to look at Animus from her seat. Seeing him stare at his Pip-Boy in silence, she turned back to look at Beatrice.
"It was a malfunctioning piece. We cannot be surprised. This is fine," She said.
"Now what?" Animus asked, interrupting them.
"Here are your new assignments." Rachel said without fanfare. She tapped on her Pip-Boy and sent Animus a message.
The message never arrived.
Animus got a prompt on his Pip-Boy.
[Would you like to allow 'Rachel Greaves' to contact you?]
[Yes/No]
He clicked no.
Rachel noticed it.
"What did you just do?" Rachel asked, staring at him.
"Nothing. The message wasn't coming, so I just clicked on my Pip-Boy to see if that would do something." Animus said, lying through his teeth.
The group of people stared at each other in silence.
"This cannot be..." Rachel muttered in surprise. She massaged the bridge of her nose in frustration.
The experiment of Vault 69 could not occur properly if the main subject was impossible to monitor.
"L-Let me try calling him." Beatrice stuttered.
The call never rang.
Beatrice kept clicking on Animus's name in the directory, but the call kept getting disconnected.
Another message popped up on Animus's Pip-Boy. It asked if Animus wanted to let Beatrice contact him.
Animus tapped no.
"This is unbelievable. Are Pip-Boys allergic to you?" Rachel said, bemused.
Animus shrugged. "I do not know. Do you have a Pip-Girl?"
Rachel ignored the joke and said with a vacant smile. "We will need to conduct tests on the old Pip-Boy to find out if anything was wrong with it. If there is a persistent issue, perhaps we can solve it for your new Pip-Boy. From now on, Beatrice here will deliver you messages from me."
Beatrice looked like she wanted to say something, but a look from Rachel silenced her.
"Okay. Is that all?" Animus asked.
"No. Your new assignment is at the Food Farms. They are on the sixth level, which is right below us." Rachel smiled.
"I refuse," Animus replied immediately.
"What?" Rachel asked with slightly wide eyes.
"I want to work in the science labs. I've already spent some time there," Animus said.
'Now is the time for me to work on my Science skill further.' He thought.
"For a change in assignments, you will need to pass a review from our jobs committee-"
"I said I refuse. You can not force me to do something I do not want to do. I will ignore your assignment and continue to do what I like. So, we either make it easy for all of us or you have a belligerent vault member." Animus crossed his arms. He was making it clear he wasn't going to play along their whims.
Animus could hear the sound of grinding teeth. Beatrice took a fearful step back. All the two could see was a creepy, grinning smile on the Overseer's face.
"Fine. The science labs are on the eighth level. You may go." She said with an eerie smile.
Animus turned and left without saying a word.
He heard the doors close behind him. Animus frowned, pondering over the whole interaction. Rachel seemed more complicated than he thought. He walked back to his unit. It was a long walk.
**
In the Overseer's Office, Rachel stared at the closed doors for a second.
Bang
Beatrice flinched.
Rachel had slammed her hand on the table.
She smiled at Beatrice. Her smile was devoid of joy.
"Make daily reports of his activities. I want to know everything. Every single thing he does. Follow him. Stalk him. Sleep with him. I don't care. I want results," She said, her voice low and menacing.
"Yes, ma'am." Beatrice nodded shakily. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.
Refusal would mean Beatrice would be thrown outside the vault, right into the pack of people begging to be let in even now. She choked back a sob. Her mind was hammered with the realization that in the apocalypse, not even her body remained hers. She had become the property of Vault-Tec, body and mind.
"Good." Rachel smiled. "The administration is mildly interested in the results of the vault. Some of the men and women with questionable tastes want to see what happens when one man is trapped in a vault with a thousand women. Will he become their king, or will he become their slave?
"But I want to see the latter." Rachel growled. "How was subject Malty's interaction with him been? Has she made contact?"
"Yes, ma'am." Beatrice nodded desperately, her voice breaking. "I saw subject Malty having breakfast with Animus' group. There were also two new additions: a woman named Yor and a child named Anya, her adoptive daughter as per our profiles."
Vault-Tec demanded every staff member memorize the basics of every vault member.
"Good." Rachel said, leaning back. "Now all she needs to do is drug him, seduce him, or frame him. He must become our pawn. This is the only way we can achieve outstanding results and be promoted to senior management."
Beatrice looked down.
Rachel grinned, her vacant smile growing wider.
"M-Ma'am?" Beatrice asked timidly, daring to look up.
Rachel snapped to look at her.
"What?" She asked, her voice biting.
Beatrice flinched again, but continued. "Can I speak with my family? They should be in Vault 04. I will do a good job with Animus!"
"Oh, dear Beatrice," Rachel drawled. "Communication lines for civilians are down due to the bombs that dropped. It will be years before we can restore them for people like you. If you want to talk to them badly, I can put in a special request if you do well with your job. So, do what I told you."
Beatrice gulped. She felt a lump in her throat.
"Years? I won't be able to talk to them for years? Let alone meet them?" She choked.
"Yes, Beatrice." Rachel smiled. "So, if you want to talk to them soon, do your job well. Help Malty. Ruin Animus."
"Accelerate the plans. I want the vault to know him, use him, and destroy him." She said with a dark look on her face.
"Yes, ma'am!" Beatrice nodded, her voice filled with renewed desperation.
Beatrice turned and left the office, formulating plans in her mind.
Now alone, Rachel's smile disappeared. Her eyes were empty. She got up and turned to look at the fake sky in her office. She gently touched the artificial image.
"If only they listened to me. That foolish man," She whispered.
Her fingers dug into the false sky.
**