Chapter 5: Tranquility Lane
Private made it to a small abandon car repair shop. Private looked at his Pip-Boy to see if he went to the right place, and it said Vault 112. Private went inside anyways to see what he could find. The place was old and dusty, cobwebs everywhere. Private noticed a huge door on the floor on the far-left side of the room, and walked to it. He opened the door and it showed stairs that lead to the basement. He went down, but saw that this wasn’t the basement at all. Instead it was the entrance to Vault 112. Private looked at the control panel, and just simply just pressed the button that said “Open.” The big door opened and the penguin went inside to find his father. He looked around and noticed how it looked a lot like Vault 101, just exactly like it. Just then a robot walked up to Private and started talking to him.
“Welcome, resident!” said the robot. “According to my scanners you are 200.3 years late. Please put on your Vault 112 jumpsuit. If you do not have one, I am authorized to give you a new one.”
Private said he didn’t have one and was given a new jumpsuit. He put it on just in case if anything goes fishy and was told to head to the lower level of the Vault. Once he got there he saw pods in the room. One of them opened, and the robot that greeted him told him to get in. Private was a bit suspicious, but went in the pod anyways. He got in, and the pod closed locking him inside. A small television turned on and the next thing he knew everything went white.
Private look up, and looked up at the sky...it was black and white. He sat up and saw that everything was in black and white. But what was even stranger is that this didn’t look like the Capital Wasteland anymore. Instead it looked like a small neighborhood in the 1950’s. Everyone was dressed differently, buildings not destroyed, and people not suffering or killing each other. It was like the apocalypse never happened. Just then a penguin walked up to Private.
“Hey there, sport!” he said, with a smile. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“Whe-where am I?” asked Private.
“Where are you? Ha-ha! Should lay off the egg cream don’t you think? Why don’t you go to the playground, son? Your friend Betty’s waiting for you.”
Private was very confused, not having one clue what he just said. Private looked at a window from one of the houses, and saw that even he looked completely different. Instead of wearing the Vault 112 jumpsuit, he was in a striped t-shirt, and he wasn’t the same nineteen-year-old he was before. He was ten years old again! Private didn’t know what was going on, but he needed to figure it out quickly. Just then a dog walked up to Private and started to whimper. The dog couldn’t speak English but he was poking Private a lot and just wouldn’t stop. Private shoos the dog away, and the dog just walked away. Private waddled to the playground to talk to this Betty that penguin told him about. He saw a female lemur that looked the same age as him; it had to be Betty.
“Um, hello,” greeted Private.
“Hi!” she said in a burst of excitement. “Someone knew to play with! What luck I’ve been having lately.”
“Uh...can you help me find father by any chance?”
“Gee, I don’t know. What does he look like?”
“A bit taller than me, flat head, and he’s a doctor.”
“Hmm, I don’t believe I’ve seen him. But anyways, do you want to play?”
“I really can’t, I need to find my dad.”
But then Betty started talking in a different, in a manly voice. “Listen here, penguin,” Betty said. “If you truly value your life then you will play with me now!”
“O-o-okay!”
“Goody!” Betty said in her little girl voice. “I know what game we can play first. Do you see that chubby otter over there?”
She pointed to a young otter selling lemonade next to his house. “Yes, what about him?”
“He annoys me, so I want you to tell him that his parents are getting a divorce and that it’s his entire fault.”
“What? I can’t possibly-”
And in Betty’s alternate voice again, she said. “Do it now or you will die!”
Private didn’t argue and went to go do what she said. He didn’t want to do it, but what choice did he have? This is another place and he has no idea what Betty could do to him. Private walked up to the otter and did what Betty told him to do.
“Hi there!” said the otter. “Do you wanna buy some lemonade?”
“Um, no thanks,” said Private. “I wanted to tell you...that your parents are getting a divorce.”
“Wha...what, but why, was it something I did?”
“Yes...your parents said they’re getting a divorce because of you.”
The otter ran off crying inside the house. Private felt really bad that he did that, but it’s not like he had a choice. Private went back to Betty.
“There,” he said. “I did want you want.”
“That was funny!” she said, while laughing. “That was a great game. Now I have another one we can play.”
“What do you want me to do now?”
“There is this husband and wife that lives next door to me, and they just seem too happy for my taste. I want you to kill one of them with no one looking, and put the blame on the other.”
“I cant-”
“Do I have to explain this to you again? Now look, I’m going to play somewhere else for right now. I expect you to have the job done when I get back.”
Betty skipped away to another area to do what she wanted. Private couldn’t do this much longer. It was one thing to lie to someone innocent, but to kill someone innocent just wasn’t in him. He didn’t know what to do now, but then that same dog came up to him and tried to get Private’s attention again. He wasn’t sure what the dog wanted, but it looked like he wanted Private to follow him. Private didn’t know why this dog wanted him to follow him, but what did he have to lose? He followed the dog inside an empty house filled with random items. Private wasn’t sure why this dog led him here, but the dog touched the radio in the room and it made a ding. Private figured it out; the items in the room would open something up that could help Private escape this world. There was a radio, a glass pitcher, a bottle, a gnome, and a cinder block. Tapping all these items in the right order would solve the puzzle. He tapped the bottle next, and it made the same ding the radio made when it was touched. He was getting a bit closer. He tapped the cinder block next but made a different type of ding, which meant he had start over. So now the penguin tapped the radio and the bottle again, and then tried to gnome and that made the right ding this time. There were only two items left, and from a stroke of luck Private tapped the cinder block again and made the correct ding. So that meant the glass pitcher was the last item to touch. He tapped the glass pitcher and after it made one final ding the wall on the far right of the house opened up.
Inside was a machine that had screens that showed everywhere outside. This is was cause of this whole different world, and what Betty must have used to trap everyone in Vault 112 to be stuck in here. Private switched the machine off, hoping to end this terror once and for all. But once he did he started to hear gunshots outside. Private ran out, and saw Vault guards all over killing everyone outside. This isn’t what he expected to happen at all! He thought it would send everyone back to the Vault. Betty ran to Private and she was very angry.
“You idiot!” she said. “Do you know what you just done?”
“I suppose not because everyone is being killed!” said Private.
Betty started talking in her male voice, but then a little in her child voice. Like there was a malfunction or something. “All I wanted was to be with someone...you ruined that for me! I never wanted to trap everyone in Vault 112 in this dream...but...I had no one else....”
Private was confused, he didn’t know what to say.
“I’ll send you back now,” Betty said. “You...and your father.”
“My father?” asked Private.
But before his question was answered he was sent back into the real world. He woke up inside the pod, which was now opening. Once it was fully opened he got out and was now back inside Vault 112. Another pod started to open, Private wasn’t sure who was coming out of it...but then he say his face. It was his father, Skipper.
“Dad!” Private shouted, as he ran to hug his father.
“Oy!” he said on the impact of the hug, but then smiled and returned the hug. “Private, my son. It’s good to see you again!”
“Dad...DAD!” Private’s voice quickly turned into anger. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to leave the Vault! You left it in chaos!”
“Private I-”
“The Overseer tried to have me killed!”
“I know son, but-”
“I spent days wondering and trying to survive just trying to find you!” Private’s anger then turned into tears, crying on Skipper’s chest.
“Private! Listen to me. I‘m sorry I left you, but it was too dangerous for you to come. I‘m very lucky that you‘re not dead now. I had to leave because-”
“For Project Purity?”
“Yes, that is why.”
“I know about it now, and I’m sorry I angry with you right now.”
“It’s alright, and thank for you saving me from that horrible place.”
“That Betty character said you were inside there but I couldn’t find you.”
“Private, who else do you think was helping in there?”
“You were that dog?”
“Yes, and I hope to never become one again. Feels good having flippers and walking on two legs again. Well, stubby legs, anyways.”
“I listened to your journals back at Jefferson Memorial, did you find that G.E.C.K., and does one even exist?”
“No, there wasn’t one here, but I was right about Rockgut’s studies. However the technology is unstable, and even dangerous. But it CAN be adapted for Project Purity.”
“Do you know where to find one?”
“No, but we need to head back to Rivet City so I can talk to Doris. If we can find a G..E.C.K., then we can make Project Purity work.”
“So...you’re going back to Rivet City and keep working?”
“Yes, but this time I would like for you to come with me. I want you to be there when we finally open the floodgates, and finish what me and your mother started years ago.”
Private smiled at his dad, giving him another big hug. They went to Rivet City to work on Project Purity together as father and son, and give hope to those animals that were less fortunate in the Capital Wasteland.
Private made it to a small abandon car repair shop. Private looked at his Pip-Boy to see if he went to the right place, and it said Vault 112. Private went inside anyways to see what he could find. The place was old and dusty, cobwebs everywhere. Private noticed a huge door on the floor on the far-left side of the room, and walked to it. He opened the door and it showed stairs that lead to the basement. He went down, but saw that this wasn’t the basement at all. Instead it was the entrance to Vault 112. Private looked at the control panel, and just simply just pressed the button that said “Open.” The big door opened and the penguin went inside to find his father. He looked around and noticed how it looked a lot like Vault 101, just exactly like it. Just then a robot walked up to Private and started talking to him.
“Welcome, resident!” said the robot. “According to my scanners you are 200.3 years late. Please put on your Vault 112 jumpsuit. If you do not have one, I am authorized to give you a new one.”
Private said he didn’t have one and was given a new jumpsuit. He put it on just in case if anything goes fishy and was told to head to the lower level of the Vault. Once he got there he saw pods in the room. One of them opened, and the robot that greeted him told him to get in. Private was a bit suspicious, but went in the pod anyways. He got in, and the pod closed locking him inside. A small television turned on and the next thing he knew everything went white.
Private look up, and looked up at the sky...it was black and white. He sat up and saw that everything was in black and white. But what was even stranger is that this didn’t look like the Capital Wasteland anymore. Instead it looked like a small neighborhood in the 1950’s. Everyone was dressed differently, buildings not destroyed, and people not suffering or killing each other. It was like the apocalypse never happened. Just then a penguin walked up to Private.
“Hey there, sport!” he said, with a smile. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“Whe-where am I?” asked Private.
“Where are you? Ha-ha! Should lay off the egg cream don’t you think? Why don’t you go to the playground, son? Your friend Betty’s waiting for you.”
Private was very confused, not having one clue what he just said. Private looked at a window from one of the houses, and saw that even he looked completely different. Instead of wearing the Vault 112 jumpsuit, he was in a striped t-shirt, and he wasn’t the same nineteen-year-old he was before. He was ten years old again! Private didn’t know what was going on, but he needed to figure it out quickly. Just then a dog walked up to Private and started to whimper. The dog couldn’t speak English but he was poking Private a lot and just wouldn’t stop. Private shoos the dog away, and the dog just walked away. Private waddled to the playground to talk to this Betty that penguin told him about. He saw a female lemur that looked the same age as him; it had to be Betty.
“Um, hello,” greeted Private.
“Hi!” she said in a burst of excitement. “Someone knew to play with! What luck I’ve been having lately.”
“Uh...can you help me find father by any chance?”
“Gee, I don’t know. What does he look like?”
“A bit taller than me, flat head, and he’s a doctor.”
“Hmm, I don’t believe I’ve seen him. But anyways, do you want to play?”
“I really can’t, I need to find my dad.”
But then Betty started talking in a different, in a manly voice. “Listen here, penguin,” Betty said. “If you truly value your life then you will play with me now!”
“O-o-okay!”
“Goody!” Betty said in her little girl voice. “I know what game we can play first. Do you see that chubby otter over there?”
She pointed to a young otter selling lemonade next to his house. “Yes, what about him?”
“He annoys me, so I want you to tell him that his parents are getting a divorce and that it’s his entire fault.”
“What? I can’t possibly-”
And in Betty’s alternate voice again, she said. “Do it now or you will die!”
Private didn’t argue and went to go do what she said. He didn’t want to do it, but what choice did he have? This is another place and he has no idea what Betty could do to him. Private walked up to the otter and did what Betty told him to do.
“Hi there!” said the otter. “Do you wanna buy some lemonade?”
“Um, no thanks,” said Private. “I wanted to tell you...that your parents are getting a divorce.”
“Wha...what, but why, was it something I did?”
“Yes...your parents said they’re getting a divorce because of you.”
The otter ran off crying inside the house. Private felt really bad that he did that, but it’s not like he had a choice. Private went back to Betty.
“There,” he said. “I did want you want.”
“That was funny!” she said, while laughing. “That was a great game. Now I have another one we can play.”
“What do you want me to do now?”
“There is this husband and wife that lives next door to me, and they just seem too happy for my taste. I want you to kill one of them with no one looking, and put the blame on the other.”
“I cant-”
“Do I have to explain this to you again? Now look, I’m going to play somewhere else for right now. I expect you to have the job done when I get back.”
Betty skipped away to another area to do what she wanted. Private couldn’t do this much longer. It was one thing to lie to someone innocent, but to kill someone innocent just wasn’t in him. He didn’t know what to do now, but then that same dog came up to him and tried to get Private’s attention again. He wasn’t sure what the dog wanted, but it looked like he wanted Private to follow him. Private didn’t know why this dog wanted him to follow him, but what did he have to lose? He followed the dog inside an empty house filled with random items. Private wasn’t sure why this dog led him here, but the dog touched the radio in the room and it made a ding. Private figured it out; the items in the room would open something up that could help Private escape this world. There was a radio, a glass pitcher, a bottle, a gnome, and a cinder block. Tapping all these items in the right order would solve the puzzle. He tapped the bottle next, and it made the same ding the radio made when it was touched. He was getting a bit closer. He tapped the cinder block next but made a different type of ding, which meant he had start over. So now the penguin tapped the radio and the bottle again, and then tried to gnome and that made the right ding this time. There were only two items left, and from a stroke of luck Private tapped the cinder block again and made the correct ding. So that meant the glass pitcher was the last item to touch. He tapped the glass pitcher and after it made one final ding the wall on the far right of the house opened up.
Inside was a machine that had screens that showed everywhere outside. This is was cause of this whole different world, and what Betty must have used to trap everyone in Vault 112 to be stuck in here. Private switched the machine off, hoping to end this terror once and for all. But once he did he started to hear gunshots outside. Private ran out, and saw Vault guards all over killing everyone outside. This isn’t what he expected to happen at all! He thought it would send everyone back to the Vault. Betty ran to Private and she was very angry.
“You idiot!” she said. “Do you know what you just done?”
“I suppose not because everyone is being killed!” said Private.
Betty started talking in her male voice, but then a little in her child voice. Like there was a malfunction or something. “All I wanted was to be with someone...you ruined that for me! I never wanted to trap everyone in Vault 112 in this dream...but...I had no one else....”
Private was confused, he didn’t know what to say.
“I’ll send you back now,” Betty said. “You...and your father.”
“My father?” asked Private.
But before his question was answered he was sent back into the real world. He woke up inside the pod, which was now opening. Once it was fully opened he got out and was now back inside Vault 112. Another pod started to open, Private wasn’t sure who was coming out of it...but then he say his face. It was his father, Skipper.
“Dad!” Private shouted, as he ran to hug his father.
“Oy!” he said on the impact of the hug, but then smiled and returned the hug. “Private, my son. It’s good to see you again!”
“Dad...DAD!” Private’s voice quickly turned into anger. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to leave the Vault! You left it in chaos!”
“Private I-”
“The Overseer tried to have me killed!”
“I know son, but-”
“I spent days wondering and trying to survive just trying to find you!” Private’s anger then turned into tears, crying on Skipper’s chest.
“Private! Listen to me. I‘m sorry I left you, but it was too dangerous for you to come. I‘m very lucky that you‘re not dead now. I had to leave because-”
“For Project Purity?”
“Yes, that is why.”
“I know about it now, and I’m sorry I angry with you right now.”
“It’s alright, and thank for you saving me from that horrible place.”
“That Betty character said you were inside there but I couldn’t find you.”
“Private, who else do you think was helping in there?”
“You were that dog?”
“Yes, and I hope to never become one again. Feels good having flippers and walking on two legs again. Well, stubby legs, anyways.”
“I listened to your journals back at Jefferson Memorial, did you find that G.E.C.K., and does one even exist?”
“No, there wasn’t one here, but I was right about Rockgut’s studies. However the technology is unstable, and even dangerous. But it CAN be adapted for Project Purity.”
“Do you know where to find one?”
“No, but we need to head back to Rivet City so I can talk to Doris. If we can find a G..E.C.K., then we can make Project Purity work.”
“So...you’re going back to Rivet City and keep working?”
“Yes, but this time I would like for you to come with me. I want you to be there when we finally open the floodgates, and finish what me and your mother started years ago.”
Private smiled at his dad, giving him another big hug. They went to Rivet City to work on Project Purity together as father and son, and give hope to those animals that were less fortunate in the Capital Wasteland.
