After several hours in the air, Team 404's Vertibird descended onto the Castle's landing pad. Below, Minutemen patrols moved briskly in and out through the ramparts — the post-war fortress alive with discipline and purpose.
Z11, the pilot, powered down the rotors as the dust settled.Sarah unbuckled and stood."404, disembark. Z11, stay on standby."Z11: "Affirmative, Commander."
UMP45 stretched, slinging her SMG."So, boss — those holotapes we got from the Railroad agent… sending 'em to Mayling for decryption?"
Sarah: "Exactly. And after that, we meet General Nate. We can't keep letting the Institute's Ringleader models dictate the tempo. We need one captured — intact — for analysis."
They entered the Castle's command room to find General Nate and Preston mid-argument. Across the table, Mayling and Curie were examining a vial of faintly glowing serum — the FEV cure.
Nate (irritated): "I gave my word to Virgil. He gets the cure, no matter what it takes — especially after that teleportation mess."
Preston (stern): "With all due respect, General — you've been to the Glowing Sea twice. Even with power armor, the escort team couldn't keep up last time."
Nate: "Then send ghouls with me — or I'll go alone if I have to."
The door hissed open. Sarah stepped inside."Hold on… what's going on here?"
Preston (relieved): "Sarah, perfect timing. Maybe you can talk sense into him — he wants to walk back into the Glowing Sea just to deliver that cure. I'm worried the Institute will use it as bait."
Nate (firm): "I made a promise. I'm not breaking it."
Sarah crossed her arms. "Then I'll go in your place. You'll just paint a target for the Ringleaders if you show your face again. I'll deliver the cure — and set a trap near Virgil's cave. If the Institute sends another Ringleader, we'll be ready."
Curie (concerned): "Please, let me come with you. I must observe how the cure reacts once administered—"
Sarah (cutting her off): "Denied. It's too dangerous. You'll do more good staying alive and improving the formula."
She turned to Mayling."Did your scanner copy the cure's structure?"
Mayling: "Yes, but it's not perfect. Some strands are not in known medical database."Sarah: "Good enough. Curie, refine it at Spectacle Island. Once I treat Virgil, I'll bring him there under guard."
Nate (grim smile): "That's… a rough plan."
Sarah: "We don't have the luxury of smooth ones. Not when these Ringleaders can teleport across the Commonwealth causing panic whenever they please."
Mayling (hesitant): "Commander, about the Switchboard…"
Sarah's expression softened. "Yes — here are the holotapes from the fallen agent. I'm sorry… there were no survivors. Find whatever you can on escaped synths. We might still help Danse's case."
Mayling: "Understood. I'll get to work."
Sarah looked toward her squad."404, check your gear and ammo. We're taking the Vertibird straight to the Glowing Sea."
Nate: "Wait — without Minutemen support?"
Sarah: "No. Your men will stay focused on rebuilding and defense. I can see you've trained them to near battalion strength. That's good — the Commonwealth needs structure again."
Nate (nodding): "Danse helped draft the manuals. The recruits are shaping up faster than I thought. Fine — I trust you'll convince Virgil better than I could."
Sarah (turning to leave): "We'll see. 404, mount up."Then into her comm:"Z11, engine status."Z11: "Engines hot. Ready for departure."Sarah: "Good. We're moving out."
The squad climbed aboard the Vertibird as its turbines roared back to life, dust sweeping over the Castle's battlements. The next stop — the Glowing Sea.
The Vertibird descended through a storm of radioactive haze, rotors carving faint light tunnels through the green fog. The Geiger counters clicked steadily over comms — low at first, then rising into a dull chorus.
Z11's voice cut through the hum."Touchdown in thirty seconds. Radiation levels holding at severe. Recommend limited surface exposure."
Sarah adjusted her rebreather and checked the seal on her combat suit."Copy that. We won't be long."
The Vertibird's skids scraped the rock near the cave's entrance. Team 404 disembarked fast, weapons up, scanning the dunes. The wasteland stretched in every direction — dead, glowing, and whisper-quiet.
Sarah: "Z11, maintain hover perimeter. Watch for any movement."Z11: "Affirmative. Standing by."
They entered the cave.
Inside, the flickering light of a lantern revealed Virgil, still massive, his green skin casting deep shadows across the rocky walls. He turned sharply, grabbing for the jury-rigged pipe rifle beside his workstation — then froze as he saw Sarah's Division insignia and the glowing orange band of her ISAC watch.
Virgil: "You're not Institute."Sarah: "No. Commander Sarah of the Division — we've met your work indirectly."
Virgil (cautious): "Division... I've heard rumors. 'Mercs rebuilding settlements. Outsiders with pre-war tactics.' You've been… disturbing the Institute's little experiments without meaning to."He set his rifle down slowly. "Why are you here?"
Sarah: "To deliver this."She placed the FEV cure vial on his table, the faint blue luminescence reflecting off his scarred features.
Virgil (stunned): "You actually brought it?"Sarah: "General Nate made a promise. I'm just making sure he keeps it — and lives to fight another day."
He hesitated, visibly shaken."I don't understand. You… you could've turned this in, used it as leverage."
Sarah: "We're not the Institute. We don't use people like parts. But you can't stay here, Virgil. The Institute knows this cave's location — and they will come again. I can move you to Spectacle Island. It's secure, guarded by Minutemen and my Dolls. You'll be safe there."
Virgil (uneasy): "You expect me to just walk out into that death field again? I barely survived the first time."
Before Sarah could answer —
BOOM.
The sound rolled through the cave like thunder. The walls trembled, dust and pebbles raining from the ceiling.
Z11 (through comms, urgent): "Commander! I'm taking fire! Multiple hostiles — plasma signatures — breaking off and relocating to safe altitude!"
The whine of Vertibird turbines roared outside, followed by another explosion.
Sarah (snapping): "Z11, get clear! We'll hold ground here!"Z11: "Copy! Pulling back!"
The comm went dead.
A moment later, an all-too-familiar voice echoed from beyond the cave mouth — smooth, mocking, and cruel.
Scarecrow (taunting): "Oh, look what the wind dragged in. The elusive Dollmaster herself, hiding under rocks now?"
Another voice followed — bright, sharp, childlike, dripping arrogance.
Destroyer: "Heehee… told you she'd show up, sis. And she even brought toys! Guess we don't need to find them anymore — they found us!"
ISAC (through Sarah's watch, glitching from interference):"Voice recognition confirmed — Ringleader models Scarecrow and Destroyer. Hostile intent: high."
Virgil (shocked, stepping back): "No… No, no, no! You led them here?!"
Sarah (calm, hand on her rifle): "They found us — or you. Doesn't matter now. 404 — defensive perimeter, now!"
Sarah slammed a fresh magazine into her rifle, then checked the gauge on her chem launcher — explosive rounds loaded and ready. A faint hiss marked the pressure build-up.
Sarah (low, calm):"Virgil, that damping field of yours — the one that scrambles teleportation. Status?"
Virgil turned toward a humming console at the back of the cavern, pale green light flickering across his rough features.Virgil: "Operational. But not stable. If I push it too far, it could burn out completely."Sarah: "How far can you extend it?"Virgil (grimacing): "Two miles, maybe. But only for a few minutes."
Sarah nodded once — sharp and decisive.Sarah: "That's enough. On my signal, overload it. If I can pin those Ringleaders down long enough, we'll make sure they can't blink out."
She stood, visor sealing with a soft hiss as she keyed her comm.Sarah: "404. Stack on the entrance."
UMP45 was already in motion, sliding behind a pillar for cover while G11 prepped her rifle with mechanical precision. HK416 pulled a flashbang from her harness, UMP9 readying a smoke grenade.
Sarah (steady, voice like steel):"Smoke and flash out. Keep the crossfire tight — the cave's unstable. We trigger a collapse, we all die in here."
Outside, the metallic laughter of Scarecrow echoed through the radiation haze.Scarecrow (taunting): "Oh, how noble. The Dollmaster trying to play hero again. Tell me, do you really think you can stop us?"
Destroyer (mocking, sing-song):"Heehee~ I can smell the fear already! Let's see if the Dollies break before the rocks do!"
Sarah didn't flinch.Sarah (into comm): "404—now. Breach out!"
A flash of white and gray erupted at the cave mouth — smoke grenade hissing, flashbang bursting with a thunderous crack! that rolled across the rocks.
The world outside went blinding for a heartbeat — then chaos.HK416 surged forward through the smoke, rifle barking three-round bursts. UMP45 followed, grinning behind her mask, laying suppressive fire with calculated ferocity.
G11 moved with eerie calm, her precision shots cutting through the haze.UMP9 darted left, lobbing another smoke to deepen the cover.
Sarah advanced behind them, firing the chem launcher once — the round detonating mid-air in a burst of concussive force, scattering sand and knocking one of Destroyer's drones off-course.
Virgil (shouting over comms): "Powering the field! Radiation spike incoming — It can't hold this long!"
Sarah (through the static): "Hold it, Virgil! Just a little longer!"
Through the haze of scorched air and the tang of ozone, Sarah stayed low behind the rock shelf, keeping the rifle steady.
Outside, the green flare of plasma bolts swept the mouth of the cave like a storm. The air quivered under the twin thump of Destroyer's cannons; drone wings whined and clicked.
"Split the defense," she ordered, voice flat over the comm. "45 and 9, right flank. 416, G-11, with me."
The Dolls moved, shadows against the pulsing light. Smoke and grit filled every breath.
Sarah fired the chem launcher once, twice. Each shell burst into a rolling sheet of riot foam that hissed and expanded like molten ice. One spray splashed across Destroyer's shoulder cannons; another caught Scarecrow mid-dash, freezing her cloak in a brittle shell.
"Are you kidding me?!" Destroyer shrieked. "Scarecrow, teleport now! That foam's—"
"Ok… wai— something's—"The Ringleader's voice broke into static.
"Now, Virgil!" Sarah shouted. "416—neck!"
A low hum swelled from deep inside the cave. Virgil's field generator overloaded, and the world seemed to ripple. The teleport shimmer that danced around Scarecrow's frame sputtered, flickered—and died.
"What… what's happening?" Scarecrow gasped. "I can't tele—"
416's AR rifle barked three short bursts. The rounds tore through the foam-encrusted synth; sparks and synthetic fluid sprayed across the rock. Scarecrow sagged, the light in her optics fading to black.
Destroyer's scream cut through the static. "No! You'll pay for that!"
She wrenched herself free, one cannon sparking uselessly, and charged. Sarah pivoted, dropped the launcher, and fired her assault rifle in a single smooth motion. The shots hammered into Destroyer's torso, ripping metal and wire. One round grazed her temple; another took her arm clean off.
"Curses! This isn't over yet!" she howled, half her frame glowing white-hot before the teleport field finally caught. In a burst of blue light, she was gone.
For a moment only the crackle of cooling foam and the whine of the field generator filled the air.
Virgil stepped out from the shadows, clutching a vial of faint blue serum. "Unbelievable," he muttered. "You actually drove them off."
Sarah lowered her weapon. "Not driven. Delayed. She'll rebuild."
He nodded once, grim. "Then I'll move. This place is compromised. Let me finish the injection and pack what I can. I'll head for Spectacle Island."
"Do it fast," Sarah said. She turned toward the cave mouth, scanning the sky that pulsed with faint radiation light. "404, set perimeter. Z-eleven, stand by for extraction."
She looked once at the shattered remnants of Scarecrow's chassis. The foam cracked as heat bled out of it.
After 2 hours, The vertibird cut through the ash-gray sky, engines droning low as the city's skeletal skyline passed beneath. Fires burned faintly in the distance — remnants of old war and new chaos. Inside the hold, the cabin light flickered over faces worn from battle.
Virgil sat opposite Sarah, still pale from the cure's effects, his eyes drawn again and again to the object on her lap.
The metallic head of Scarecrow, half-shattered and fused with hardened foam, rested beside Sarah's rifle. Its optics were dark, one cracked like glass.
Virgil shifted uncomfortably."Forgive me for asking," he said finally, voice barely audible over the engine's hum, "but… why are you bringing that thing with us?"
Sarah didn't look up. She was checking the drone uplink on her wrist, her tone calm but edged.
"I want to know how many Ringleaders the Institute's unleashed," she said. "And if we're lucky, this head still holds some data fragments I can extract. But that's not all—"Her eyes flicked toward him. "I need to know where the Institute got their Sangvis Ferri cores."
Virgil frowned, rubbing his temple."Hmmm… as far as I know, that's old internal rumor from Robotics Division. But I remember hearing whispers in SRB back when I still had clearance."
He hesitated. "That Zimmer fellow — the old director — sent synth units to steal classified archives from some pre-war military network… I think they called it the Pentagon. The Brotherhood of Steel took over that site later."
Sarah leaned back, arms crossed, expression darkening."Zimmer again. SRB Director that nate mention. Ah now i remember, Last I saw that man, he was wandering Rivet City like a dog chasing its own shadow… pestering a friend of mine — the Lone Wanderer."
Virgil blinked. "You met him?"
"Briefly," she said. "He was hunting for a lost android, wouldn't stop talking about it. I didn't pay much attention. Too busy keeping that city from falling apart."
Virgil exhaled, tone tightening."Then I fear you already know the type. Zimmer was obsessed with perfection — and with what came next. I heard he initiated Phase Three before vanishing. Something about integrating a super AI core they recovered from the Pentagon."
Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Codename?"
Virgil hesitated. "Wha—what?"
"The super AI. What's its codename."
He swallowed. "I… think it was called Athena. Or something close."
Sarah raised her wrist. Her smartwatch flickered to life, its orange glow cutting through the dim cabin light.
"ISAC," she said, voice firm.
"Run all archived data relating to Athena. Pentagon origin. Sangvis Ferri linkage. Full scan, priority one — now."
The AI's synthesized voice responded, soft but immediate:
"Acknowledged, Commander. Accessing deep archive… warning: classified encryption detected. Source conflict — Sangvis Ferri pattern recognized. Estimated completion: ninety seconds."
Sarah sat still, eyes fixed on the orange glow of her smartwatch. The holographic projection hovered inches above her wrist — a cascade of encrypted Pentagon files peeling open one by one as ISAC's filtered voice narrated the results.
ISAC: "Decryption complete. Cross-referencing Pentagon data with Sangvis Ferri archives… Confirmed correlation: 'Athena' project designated as Supervisory Combat AI, European Theater – Class 00-Ringleader Prototype. Data core extracted post-war, transferred to pre-war military R&D site under DARPA sub-branch—later relocated to Institute Research Facility, 2225."
Sarah's breath slowed. Her pupils constricted as the hologram displayed fragmented schematics — Sangvis neural lattice diagrams, rewritten under Institute format.
ISAC: "Core identifier matches Elise Framework on Europeon frontline. Current state: Unknown. Codename: Athena."
For a heartbeat, Sarah didn't move.Her pulse thudded in her ears.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she muted the hologram feed.
Virgil, sitting opposite, noticed her silence and the cold pallor washing over her face."Something wrong?" he asked.
Sarah didn't answer right away. Her gaze drifted out the window, toward the fading horizon."…Just phantom," she said quietly.
Virgil frowned, uneasy, but pressed on."Whoever this Athena is, it sounds like something the Institute should've never touched. Tell me, Sarah — you mentioned Sangvis Ferri before. You've seen tech like that?"
Sarah exhaled through her nose, tone steady again."I've seen worse."Then, without looking back: "Virgil… was Madison Li aware of this project?"
Virgil blinked, surprised. "You even know her too? She's… my friend. One of the brightest in the Institute. But—" he paused, eyes lowering— "I fear she's working directly with the team managing that super-AI. Robotics, maybe SRB crossover. She doesn't understand what they're playing with. I should've never left her there."
Sarah's eyes softened, her voice almost a whisper — in Japanese:"ああ...リィ...何に巻き込まれているの... (Ah… Li… what have you gotten yourself into…)"
Virgil leaned forward. "What's your relation to her?"
Sarah finally turned, expression unreadable."You could say… acquaintances," she said. "We crossed paths long ago. She was brilliant. Idealistic. I must be quite the disappointment in her eyes now."
A quiet fell over the cabin again. The vertibird swayed gently in crosswind, light rain streaking the windows.
HK416's voice cut through the silence from her seat near the cockpit.
"Ma'am," she said, glancing back. "Weather forecast from ISAC's sensors. Snowstorm forming by morning. Once we touch down at Spectacle Island, we're grounded for a few days."
Sarah nodded faintly."Understood."
The vertibird's engines roared as it descended through sleet and salt mist, kicking up a spiral of snow and sand over the fortified dockyard below. Floodlights swept the landing pad — Minutemen engineers waved signal wands, while combat dolls patrolled the perimeter, their glowing optics cutting through the storm haze.
As the ramp lowered, Sarah stepped out first, coat whipping in the wind, followed by Team 404 and Virgil, who blinked at the bustle of life and machinery below.
Curie hurried up to meet them, bundled in a lab coat and scarf, her usual enthusiasm undimmed by the cold. "Ah, Commander! You're back! I have finished recalibrating the atmospheric sensors— oh! You brought guest, oui?"
Virgil rubbed his hands together against the chill, looking around in wonder. "Amazing… your dolls are so vibrant, like they're alive." He chuckled nervously. "The Institute uses synths and Sangvis Ferris remnants as tools, but this… this is something else. I'd wager Madison Li would be thrilled to see this place."
Sarah's tone softened only slightly. "For your safety, Doctor, you'll have access to unrestricted zones only. My dolls are… territorial."
Virgil blinked. "Territorial?"
UMP45 smirked. "Let's say we don't like surprise guests, doc."
Sarah continued, expression unreadable. "Think of them as the opposite gender — with no qualm about pulling the trigger on trespassers."
Virgil gave a dry laugh, adjusting his glasses. "Noted. I'll keep my distance."
Sarah nodded toward UMP45. "404, escort the good doctor to the mess hall. See that he gets a warm meal. He's earned it."
UMP9 beamed. "Come on, big guy! We've got stew — actual meat, not canned sludge."
Virgil followed, sniffing the air. "Oh… real food. I might cry. Freedom and flavor — better than that cave or the Institute's nutrient paste, ha!"
As they disappeared toward the inner compound, Mayling trotted over, clutching her data tablet. "Commander, you made it back before the blizzard! Oh—wait, what's that in your hand—EEEKK! Is that… a head?!"
Sarah's lips curved into a faint, polite smile — but her eyes didn't smile with them."Ah, yes. Scarecrow's head."
She handed it over, wires trailing like veins. "Take out the neural core. Install it into one of the broken, unarmed and immobile "localized" Dinergate we recovered. You know what I mean."
Mayling froze, eyes darting between Sarah and the silent, mechanical face of Scarecrow. "You… want to use it?"
Sarah's gaze remained cold, professional. "Information is information, Mayling. Even if it comes from an enemy."
Several nearby dolls stopped mid-task, uneasy murmurs passing between them. The thought of reactivating a Sangvis Ringleader inside one of their own frames sent a chill through the air.