POV Rio
After buying and selling what I wanted to, I went to Dan and told him where Amelia was. Since the cult hadn't noticed me sneaking around, they didn't try and stop me from leaving. They did watch Dan, but we made sure to leave at different times. After leaving Covenant, we swam across the lake and into the Compound.
'But really compound. They really aren't trying to beat the Cult allegations. I mean, nothing good ever happens in a Compound.'
We leave the pipe to see half a dozen men with 10mm SMGs aimed at us, along with 4 turrets.
"Are y'all with the Cult?" I ask.
"We're not a cult, we're an organization that promotes safety and..." they start, but I interrupt them.
"Yep, this is the place," I respond.
They just glare at me the others try to hold their laughter.
"Outsiders aren't allowed. Why are you here?" the leader asks.
"I don't want to fight you. I am just looking for answers to what happened to Stockton's Caravan," I say to defuse the situation.
"Sigh. Look, I don't want to hurt you, so turn around and leave. And don't come back, and we'll forget anything happened," the leader says.
"We just want to talk to the person in charge. I'm sure we can come to an arrangement," I reply.
The leader bites his lip and looks reluctant, but then sighs and picks up his radio and starts to speak into it. He gets his answer fairly quickly.
"Okay, I'll take you to see Doctor Chambers. She'll know what to do about you. And don't wander off," the leader says.
We follow him, and while we walk, we talk a bit, and I learn his name is Manny. The walk to Dr. Chambers isn't long.
"So the ones investigating Stockton's caravan have arrived. Do you even know that his supposed daughter is, in all likelihood, a synth? No matter. Let me be up front about this. There are two ways this meeting can end. We come to an agreement, or there's violence," Dr. Chambers said bluntly.
"I'd prefer a peaceful solution," I say while using my hands to signal the others to get ready.
I was not stupid; I knew that trying to negotiate with a cult leader was a foolish idea. Dan didn't understand what the hand signs meant, but I figured he would guess soon enough.
"As would I. Let me pose a question to you. What would you do if your family was destroyed by a synth, right in front of you, when you were but a child? Would you roll over and accept it? Or would you do something about it?" Dr. Chambers asks.
"I would do something. But I wouldn't resort to killing and torturing innocent people," I reply.
"Casualties are inevitable. It may not look like it, but we're at war. As long as the Institute walks invisibly amongst us, they strike without warning and control us from the shadows. I've dedicated my life to devising a test to detect these hidden synths. To root them out, so they can be extinguished. Isn't that a goal worth fighting for?" Dr. Chambers asks with the eyes of a zealot.
"That sounds like excuses to me. If you were really interested in helping others, you would try other methods first before resorting to violence. Like, for instance, teaming up with other scientists who are proficient in engineering. I have several methods that can identify a Synth with zero error, and I didn't have to kill innocent people to get it," I reply firmly.
"Y-You what?" Dr. Chambers asks.
"Yeah, I have several methods to detect who is and isn't a Synth. One is magical. The other uses normal science. Then there are much easier methods. For one. Synths don't age! It's stupidly obvious. They also never get sick. They can't get pregnant. Like I swear, you people are idiots. With all this equipment, you could honestly find Synths without hurting others. Gen-3 Synths also have a slight vulnerability to Pulse Grenades and other similar weapons," I say with a disappointed shake of my head.
"You! But! I mean, would that even work? And what nonsense are you talking about, magic?" Dr. Chambers asks.
I don't answer and just cast some spells. The first shoots a ray of frost, the next makes an illusion, and the third teleports Cait up 5 feet in the air.
Thud
Cait flips me the bird.
"Magic exists? Then the other methods... Those would actually work?" Dr. Chambers asks.
"Yep," I respond.
"But then that would mean... No! I refuse to believe that what I did was in vain. We still have results to show. Our test has shown some ability to detect Synths. Psychology can detect a difference. Enter the SAFE test. The test is in its infancy, but through sacrifice and perseverance, our success rate is improving," Dr. Chambers responds.
"How many people have to die before you realise that what you are doing is wrong. You haven't even realized that not all Synths are part of the Institute. Plenty have escaped the Institute and aren't even spies. Even if you detect them, how can you be sure that they are an enemy and not an innocent Synth that no longer knows they're a Synth?" I ask.
"There are no innocent Synths. We will not stop until every last Synth is dead. No matter the cost, we will succeed. But that is enough of this discussion. If you still want this to end peacefully, let us continue our work, and we will pay you the bounty you would be giving up. But we keep Stockton's synth," Dr. Chambers suggests.
"You really don't want to fight me," I reply.
"Agreed. Killing you would be a costly proposition. Not to mention it might bring war to us. We aren't ready to fight, nor do we want to, fight the Minutemen," Dr. Chambers responds.
While she is offering this, most of the guards have gathered behind us. If it turned bloody, this would get tricky. I signed to my friends what was about to happen.
"Sigh. I don't want to fight you either, so I guess that leaves us with no other option but to... fight!" I say while drawing my M1911 and putting a round through Dr. Chambers' skull.
The others respond right away, turning around and opening fire, causing the guards to duck behind cover. This also gives enough time for Honest Dan to get to cover. I toss a Flashbang into the hall.
"GRENADE!" screams one of the guards while jumping away.
The Flashbang went off and disoriented the guards enough that they didn't see the next two grenades falling near them.
BOOM
The grenades went off, turning the guards into minced meat and chunks of flesh. A few survived, but they were maimed or deafened and confused. But I could see several more guards running towards our position. I didn't wait for them to arrive; I ran down the hallway, I finished off the surviving guards, and then placed some mines. Then I fell back to the lab.
The mine went off and killed several more guards and injured a few more. At this point, there were only 7 guards still capable of fighting, and they didn't even look phased about the blood and gore near the entrance. Instead, they looked like religious zealots getting a chance to kill some infidels. Unfortunately for them, zealousness doesn't protect you from bullets. When they turned around the corner after not seeing us, they were obliterated by our combined gunfire. After them, all that remained were 2 scientists and a few disabled guards. A bullet for each was enough. Then I started looting the base while Dan went to rescue Amelia. Once she is calmed down, Dan comes to talk with me.
"So Stockton gets his daughter, and we get paid. Not a bad day," Dan comments.
"It was nice working with you," I respond.
"Likewise. Glad you were on my side. Here's your cut of the reward. I'll get my half from Stockton. Been a pleasure," Dan says while handing me a bag of Caps.
I try to refuse, but he tells me that if it wasn't for me and my friends, he would have never managed to save Amelia in time. Not to mention, he wouldn't even be able to get to her through all those guards. At least not without injury. I couldn't convince him otherwise, so I just agreed. After we left the Compound, we went our separate ways. I went back to Covenant to see what happened, and I was surprised to see it full of bodies and bullet holes.
"What happened here?" Nick asks.
"Not sure, but it looks like they attacked each other. Look at the bodies, they aren't placed in a way that looks like they were attacked from the entrance," I comment.
"That's because we weren't attacked. It was an internal fight. We got word from the Compound of what happened, and we were divided on how to respond," says Talia McGovern.
"What happened exactly?" I ask.
"About half the town wanted to ambush you and your friends. The other half didn't want to start a war with the Minutemen. And a few others were neutral and didn't want to take a side," Talia McGovern says.
"And which group won?" I ask.
"The pro-Minutemen. The others attacked us. They said we were traitors to the cause. It at least got the neutrals on our side, but it was a bloody mess. As you can see, a lot of people died," Talia McGovern says with a frown and an exhausted look.
"How many survived?" I ask.
"3 people and Deezer," Penny responds.
"What will you do now?" I ask.
"With so few of us left, all we can do is hope the Minutemen will take us," Talia McGovern says with a sad smile and some hope in her eyes.
"If you all agree, then yes, the Minutemen will accept you. We will also help you rebuild," I reply.
"Thanks..." Talia McGovern says while walking away.
We stick around a while to help them clean up, and I send word to the Minutemen to send a garrison to help defend Covenant.