Chapter Text
Going down the stairs from the junction with the elevator and the vending machine, the group comes to another door. Going through the door, the group comes to another crossroads in the corridor. To their left, was the elevator again, ahead of them was the next flight of stairs, and to their right, was a door with the lit-up sign ‘OXYGEN LAB’ above it.
They decide to go through the door to the lab, and the sight that greets them is both wonderful and disturbing. They enter a central room with doors leading off it but in the centre of the room, bursting forth from the floor panelling and burrowing up through the ceiling, were what could only be described as tree trunks, or possibly very thick plant stems. Sticking to the outer edge of the room, so as not to disturb the plants, Veronica leads the group to the left-hand door leading out of the central room.
The door leads to a corridor going around the central room in a U shape, connecting to several testing rooms overflowing with all manner of plants and vegetation. However, in one of the larger labs, with noticeably fewer plants in it, they find a working terminal, like the one up in the vault entrance.
They approach the terminal, and Veronica logs into it. However, instead of Dr Keely’s expedition notes, they find the remnants of an intra-vault messaging system. The screen reads:
‘Vault 22 Interlab Network, Atmospheric Effects Subsystem
Warning: System diagnostic shows that memory has been corrupted. Retrieving uncorrupted files only.’
Of which there is only one recovered file, titled ‘Noise complaint’.
Veronica clicks on the file, which displays a message.
‘Could maintenance look into the ductwork here on level 2 again? I know you guys took a look at this last week, but I swear the noise is back. I even have other people that can back me up on it this time, too.’
As everyone finishes reading the message, they all fall deathly silent, as if trying to see if they could hear anything in the ducts as well.
“Jirou?” Ochako whispers cautiously, “anything?”
The punk girl shakes her head slowly as she replies, also in a whisper, “Not that I can hear.”
“Could have just been cabin fever,” Momo theorises, “I can’t imagine what it must have been like being trapped down here as the world ended above.”
“Could be worse,” Veronica states as she rises from where she was bent over in front of the terminal, “Think about the poor children who were born in the vaults, never knowing anything else.”
That thought sends a collective shudder up the five teens’ spines as they exit the lab they’re currently in.
The only other room of significance on their current floor is a lab on the western side of the central room, to the right of the main lab entrance. Entering the final room, the group finds, immediately to their left, in a corner, two UV lamps, focused on a patch of plants, bursting forth from a grate in the floor. To their right, the group finds a recently made makeshift lab set-up. With a collection of tubes and flasks, next to a microscope and another functional terminal.
Booting up the terminal, Momo and the others are pleased to find more entries from Dr Keely, labelled entries three, four and five.
Entry three reads as thus:
‘This lab seems to be devoted to the study of atmospheric effects on plants, with a concentration on producing plants with a high oxygen yield. Given the “Problems” these vaults were known to have, it sounds like a reasonable avenue of research.’
“Sounds like something the Brotherhood could do with for our bunkers” Veronica comments, and Momo agrees with Keely’s assertion, a plant-based life-support system did seem like smart research. Once everyone has finished reading, they check ‘entry 4’:
‘It’s strange, but some of the sections of machinery down here appear to have been modified for some unknown purpose. The restraints regarding oxygen content and systemic pressure have been bypassed.’
“Do you know what she’s talking about?” Kirishima asks Momo.
“No,” The stand-in courier shakes her head, before addressing the resident scribe, “Veronica?”
“Maybe it has something to do with the experiments?” Veronica says with a shrug.
Deciding there was nothing else to be gained from the current log, they move on to the final entry on this terminal, entry 5.
‘I’ve been hearing a strange chittering sound for some time now, and finally discovered its source. There’s some kind of giant mantises that’ve taken up residence in the vault. I almost ran smack into one the other day, but the creatures don’t appear to react to my presence at all. Perhaps the others sent here ran afoul of the creatures, but I can’t see how a few scattered insects could pose much of a problem to experienced mercs.’
“So that must be what the person on the other terminal was hearing,” Anan realises, and the others see the sense in that logic.
“How come the mantises seem to ignore her?” Ochako asks.
“Well, from the way Miss Williams described her, Keely sounds like a ghoul,” Momo answers, “It’s possible the insects avoid her because of her mutations.”
The others accept the logic behind that.
Having finished with the terminal, they begin to investigate the rest of the lab they’re in. On the opposite side of the lab from Keely’s terminal, there’s an adjoining room that is unfortunately blocked by various tables and bits of machinery. There’s a window looking into the adjoining room, and when Momo looks inside, she can see various crates, containers and lockers. Next to the window is a terminal built into the wall. Turning it on, Momo finds that it’s an inventory for the inaccessible room, with various components listed, such as Nitrogen canisters, Pressure valves, piping, and HEPA filters for the air supply.
As she goes back to the window she notices movement in the storage room, and that’s when she sees it, a mantis, like the ones they found outside. It seems to look at her for a second before skittering away to a large man-sized hole in the wall that seems to lead out into a cave outside the vault.
“Great, more mutated bugs,” Kyouka groans next to her.
In the end, they find nothing else of use or significance in the lab. Veronica does seem to perk up slightly at the mention of the HEPA filters but given that the barricade blocking access to the storeroom is also keeping the mantises out, she decides it’s not worth it.
With nothing else to explore or investigate on this level, the group heads back out to the stairway, where they see a sign pointing towards the stairs going down that says, ‘Food Production’.
They go down the stairs, pass through another door, and come to yet another junction, the elevator still to the North. But unlike the last two times, there is a large patch of soil and plants in the middle of the corridor.
Initially, the group thinks nothing of it, after all this entire vault seemed to be overrun with plants. It’s not till Veronica and Ochako approach the clump of plant life that they notice something odd. The vanguard pair of the group is practically on top of the patch of vegetation when it begins to move. Slowly at first, but within a few seconds, a creature has risen to a half crouch before it roars and leaps at the two women in front.
The entire group is taken by surprise by the sudden emergence of the creature. Fortunately, Veronica’s fight-or-flight response seems to be stuck on fight, and her immediate reaction is to swing her gauntleted fist at the creature, the pneumatic plate catching it square in the chest as it leaps at the group. The impact of the power fist sends the creature flying into a nearby wall, before it drops to the floor, lifeless.
“WHAT THE f*ck WAS THAT!” Kyouka is the first to recover enough to speak, the others still trying to catch their breath from the sudden attack. “Wha- was that a ghoul?”
“I- I don’t know,” Veronica replies truthfully, her voice shaky, her fist still raised, ready to deliver a second blow, though it was becoming rapidly apparent that one wasn’t necessary.
Once they’re certain that the immediate danger has passed, the group edges closer to the body lying slumped against the wall. It’s obvious where Veronica’s punch landed as there is a massive hole wrenched in the middle of the creature's chest.
Now that it was still, the group could get a better look at the creature. Physically, it’s humanoid, but it’s like no human that they’ve ever seen before, not even a ghoul. Its ‘skin’, for lack of a better word, is green and plant-like, in fact, as Momo shines a torch on it, they can see that the creature is covered in what looks like moss. Its facial features are barely visible, and it has large, plant-like growths sticking out of its back.
“Is- is it human?” Ochako asks, her fear obvious in her voice as she keeps her shotgun levelled at the corpse.
“I-” Veronica tries to find the words to express herself but can’t. Her mouth just moves wordlessly for a few seconds before she finally finds her voice. “I- I think, I mean, it looks human enough, but it’s obviously mutated.”
“Well, whatever it is,” Thirteen joins in, “It’s giving off a large number of those unknown particles I’ve been detecting,”
“So, is it pollen of some sort then?” Momo theorises.
“Pollen?” Kirishima questions.
Momo nods her head in confirmation, “Well, it is a plant-ish creature, and plants give off pollen, or spores in the case of fungi,”
“Could be,” Anan says thoughtfully in response to Momo’s earlier question.
“Still doesn’t tell us how that-” Kyouka points one of her jacks at the creature- “happened,”
“No, but perhaps we’ll find some answers elsewhere in the vault.”
“Okay but, what’s to stop more of those creatures from sneaking up on us?” Kyouka asks, rightfully concerned.
“Can’t you just use your quirk to find them?” Kirishima asks, earning him a scornful look from the purple-haired girl.
“Oh, gee, why didn’t I think of that!” Kyouka snaps “It’s not like it was completely f*ckING SILENT until it jumped up at us. Kinda hard to hear something when it makes no f*cking sound.”
Kirishima raises his hands in front of him in a placatory manner, while Momo rests a reassuring hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder. It was clear that she was still in shock from the sudden encounter.
“Breathe, Kyouka, breathe,” The taller girl says calmingly, and in the silence that follows Kyouka’s outburst, all they can hear is the rhythmic wheezing of air passing in and out of Kyouka’s filtration mask as she takes long, deep breaths.
After about a minute, Momo speaks up again.
“Better?” She asks.
“Not really, nerves are still on edge,” Kyouka answers truthfully.
“I think that goes for all of us,” says Ochako, “Except maybe Ibara, you’re looking awfully… zen, I guess,” The rosy-cheeked teen addresses her vine-haired peer.
“Perhaps it is because of my quirk, or perhaps it’s my faith, but I feel… aware of this place,” Ibara replies as she looks up and around them, taking in the various hanging vines and roots intertwined with the pipes and power cables.
“I don’t suppose you’re ‘aware’ enough to tell us if and where there are more of these… plant creatures?” Veronica asks, but Ibara shakes her head, disappointedly.
“I’m afraid not, it is merely a general awareness, but I can feel the malevolence that has taken root in this vault,” She then looks down at the floor, “And I am afraid it runs very deep,”
Veronica shudders slightly after hearing Ibara’s words, “Eugh, ominous,” She turns to Ochako, “Is she always like this?”
Ochako just shrugs, “She’s not as bad as Tokoyami, he’s full-on goth.”
Veronica doesn’t know how to respond to that, so she decides to go back to the earlier conversation of how to avoid walking into more of the plant men.
“Yaoyorozu,” Hearing her name, the heiress turns to face Veronica as she continues, “You wouldn’t happen to be able to create a flamethrower of some sort, would you? To deal with more of him?” The scribe points a thumb at the plant monster.
“I’m afraid not,” Momo shakes her head, her expression grim.
“Okay then, our next best method for dealing with these creatures is to just pepper each patch of vegetation we come across. A single shotgun round from about a metre away should do,”
“I only have so many bullets,” Ochako points out.
“They’re shells, and if needs be, we can have Momo make more,” Veronica counters.
“I’ll have to study one first to know how they’re made,” Momo interjects, “But otherwise yes, I believe this situation would call for their necessity.”
“Very well,” Anan says somberly, “We should probably keep moving?”
The group turns left from the junction where they encountered the plant creature, and almost immediately takes a right into a room with a large water tank in the middle, as well as several smaller tanks around the edge of the room. Opposite the door, in the southwest corner of the room, was another set up of ultraviolet lamps pointed at a small clump of plants, too small to hide another plant monster, fortunately. But of greater interest to the group, was another terminal on a desk next to the lamps.
Momo powers on the terminal this time and is greeted with two more entries from Dr Keely. She opens the first one, entry 6, and she reads it, the others reading over her shoulder.
“I've finally found some of the bodies of the scientists that lived here. They appear to be overgrown with some form of lichen. They blend in so well with the other growth that I walked right by several of them without even noticing them. I've taken the proper precautions, but the lichen doesn't seem to be contagious, at least to ghouls.”
Momo covers her mouth with her hand in shock.
“Oh my god, that… thing…”
“If it was one of the scientists here, then I think it’s possible that whatever happened to him, was a result of some experiment gone awry,” Anan reasons. “Kirishima, I recommend you don’t touch any of the bodies.”
The redhead nods solemnly as Momo opens entry 7.
“This level appears to be where they performed most of the research NCR is interested in. I've been able to collect a little, but the vast majority of the data from the research done here is inaccessible. I'll have to find the main backup and download from there.”
“Well, that basically just confirms what Dr Hildern told us,” Veronica states as she finishes reading.
“Well, let’s finish exploring this level and then we can go further down,” Momo replies as she rises from where she’s sitting in front of the terminal.
The group continues to investigate the floor they’re on. They come across several more patches of dirt and vegetation. At each one, Ochako unloads a 20-gauge shell into the patch. Most of the time, there’s nothing. However, every now and again, Ochako fires her shotgun, into a patch of foliage, and is rewarded with the sound of buckshot piecing flesh, plant flesh in particular.
“That’s now our third,” Momo comments just after Ochako had cleared another patch of undergrowth.
“Hopefully there won’t be too many more” Kyouka adds.
“Hey bros, I think I found something,” Kirishima calls out.
The room they’re currently in seems to be one of the main ‘farms’ of the vault, with several large beds of soil in the centre of the L-shaped room. Kirishima is currently in a small alcove, tucked away in the north wall of the room.
“What is it?” Momo asks as she and the others join Kirishima.
“A terminal, and this…” He points to a jar full of some kind of viscous liquid. “I don’t know what it is, and I didn’t pick it up cuz, you know…” He holds his ungloved hands up to illustrate his point.
“Well done, Kirishima,” Anan was always a firm believer in positive reinforcement. “Yaoyorozu, see if that terminal can tell you anything.”
Powering up the terminal, Momo discovers that it’s part of the inter-lab network, just like the lab terminal on the floor above them. And just like the terminal upstairs, only a few entries are recoverable, this time, three status reports. The first one, Status Report 9228, explains how the scientists were able to modify their crops to grow better in artificial light, as well as detailing how one of the scientists is sick.
The second entry, Status Report 9253, explains what the jar of gooey liquid is; it’s some sort of mood-altering substance, extracted from a specimen that was being bred downstairs. Upon reading that, there are a few disgusted reactions from the group. Additionally, the report details how more people have grown sick, possibly due to a viral infection.
“You don’t think that this sickness is related to the plant monsters?” Ochako worries, to no-one in particular.
“I’m afraid that it is quite likely,” Anan says softly.
“We’re not at risk of infection, are we?” Kyouka frowns with concern.
“Well, we’re all wearing masks of some variety and, except for Kirishima, we’re all covering our hands, so we should be reasonably safe.”
“And what are we going to do with this?” Veronica gestures to the jar of extract.
In response, Momo produces a plastic zip-lock bag from her arm, and holds it open in front of Veronica,
“Put it in here,” she says to the scribe. “Who knows, it may be of interest to Hildern.”
So, Veronica places the jar into the zip-lock bag, as Momo brings up the last entry on the terminal, Status Report 9312.
This last entry is shorter than the others. The writer reflects on the passing of one of the scientists, Doctor Peter. Apparently, there had been a rumour that the doctor had reanimated and attacked people, a claim the original writer dismisses. However, after having cleared several of the plant monsters, the five teens and their adult chaperones are more inclined to believe the rumours, especially if they had anything to do with said plant monsters.
After they’re finished in that particular room, they continue exploring the food production floor. Clearing more plant monsters as they do so.
The final room they explore on that floor has a large door, that judging by its appearance, and the windows next to it, leads into the cave system in which the vault was built. There are two terminals in the room, one on a table next to another patch of withered crops, and another mounted to the wall next to the exterior door.
Momo checks the terminal on the door while Veronica checks the wall terminal, the group splitting in two for a few minutes before regrouping.
“So?” Momo indicates for Veronica to go first.
“Nothing,” The scribe shakes her head “The doors are locked down tight, we need admin access or a keycard of some sort, how about you?”
“You remember in the reports, one of the scientists who died, Dr Peter?” Anan replies, to which Veronica nods.
“Well,” Thirteen continues, “It turns out he and a few security personnel went into the caves to look for a missing research assistant.”
“Only they never found him, lost several of the security guards, and Dr Peters was badly injured,” Ochako adds.
“Which is when he became ill,” Veronica realises, to which Momo nods.
“We have to assume so, the final entry… it sounds like it was written as the vault was being overrun by those… things,” Momo gestures back towards the rest of the vault where the corpses of the plant monster were.
“So maybe it wasn’t some experiment that went wrong,” Kirishima says with optimism he certainly wasn’t feeling, “maybe there’s something in the caves,”
As he says that, the group goes silent as they turn towards the exterior door, expectantly. A minute passes, without any sound, except for the occasional creak of the metal vault around them.
“Perhaps it is best that that door remains locked for now,” Momo concludes.
“I agree, I think it best we keep moving, we still have a job to do,” Anan says in agreement with her student.
They make their way back to the entrance to the food lab, satisfied that they’d found all they could, as well as having removed the threat of the plant monsters on this floor. Continuing to descend further into the vault, they turn left at the junction, taking the stairs down.
The next floor down is labelled ‘COMMON AREAS’, which Momo interprets as being the residential area of the vault, bedrooms, mess hall, rec room, etc.
They pass through the door leading from the stairwell to the next floor, and when they do, they find a most peculiar sight, the entrance to the next stairwell down is blocked. An improvised barricade made of lockers, tables, and desks had been thrown across the entrance in a bid to keep… something out, whether it was the giant Mantises or the plant monsters, Momo really couldn’t say.
But Kyouka could.
“Mantises,” She says in a hushed warning to the others, “They’re on the other side of that barricade,”
“Guess we know why it’s here then,” Kirishima comments.
“And it’s going to stay there for now,” Anan instructs her pupils, “We’ll check out this floor first.”
So, turning right from the stairs they just came down, Veronica and Ochako lead the group into what is likely the single largest room in the vault, a large multi-storey atrium. Judging by the nearby railing, they’re atleast on the second floor. Approaching the railing, Momo and the group see the ground floor of the atrium beneath them, covered in more vegetation, focused around large planters from which grow more of the large trunks they’d seen in the central room of the oxygen lab. Momo reckons that these are the lower half of the trunks they saw earlier.
Looking across the level they’re currently on, Momo can see another balcony, mirroring the one they’re on. She can see windows on the far side of the atrium, leading to some unknown rooms. Judging by the overturned tables and chairs in front of these rooms, Momo presumes that that is the dining area.
Adjusting her gaze to her right, Momo sees a bridge connecting the balcony their on to the one across from them, and opposite the walkway is a door. As she looks down the length of the atrium, she can see a circular window set in the wall, overlooking the entire open area, and at the far end of the balcony they’re on is another door.
“So, where first?” Momo asks the group.
“Well,” Veronica is the first to respond, “Based on what records the brotherhood has on general vault design, that-” she points to the large circular window at the far end of the atrium- “should be the overseer's office, essential the head-honcho of the vault,” She explains.
“But first,” Kirishima buts in, “Alright if I make a toilet stop?” He’s pointing at the door opposite the walkway, which Momo can now see has a sign indicating that it’s the bathroom.
“Really?” Kyouka looks at the sole male teen of the group, “You want to take a leak here?” She gestures to the dilapidated vault around them.
“Sorry, but I’m kinda desperate.” The boy says apologetically.
“Y’know, now that you mention it…” Ochako begins to eye up the door leading to the toilets.
“Really?” Kyouka now turns her withering gaze on her brunette classmate.
“What?” Ochako seems almost offended at the expression, “I’ve been drinking water walking around all day, I’m surprised I’ve lasted this long.”
“Given the alternative, you better go,” Thirteen sighs, and with that Ochako and Kirishima hurry through the door before turning off to the respective gents and ladies’ facilities.
However, barely a second later, they hear Ochako scream violently followed by a single shotgun blast.
Hearing the combined scream and gunshot, everyone pours into the women’s bathroom, Kirishima included, where they find Ochako standing in front of one of the cubicles, her still smoking shotgun aimed at its contents. As they join her, the others can see what had caused the commotion, another one of the plant monsters, now lying, blasted, in the toilet cubicle. The metal toilet bowl behind it, peppered with buckshot.
“Suddenly…” Ochako says between deep breaths, “I don’t feel quite so desperate to use the loo,”
“Agreed,” Kirishima utters.
Exiting the toilets, the group heads to the Overseer’s office. Turning right out of the toilet block the group passes through what looks like some kind of presentation area, with a projector and projector screen set up alongside a lectern and several scattered chairs.
Passing by the projector set-up, the group enters the door to the overseer’s office, with Veronica in the lead. The door leads to a short corridor that turns left, before reaching another door, which slides up to reveal the Overseer’s office.
The office is cosy, but only in the sense that it isn’t grand, it only takes up the space it needs and little more. In the middle of the office is a round desk, almost like a horseshoe, with a large growth of plants in the middle of it. After checking the patch is clear of monsters, the group investigates the office for anything useful. In the end, they only find a working terminal on a desk in one corner with no entries on it, with only three commands. One to unlock the living quarters, one to unlock cavern access, and one to unlock the data backup. After a discussion amongst the group, it’s decided that they’ll unlock all areas of the vault, in the vague hope that the open access will make their life easier, though as they leave the office, everyone grips their weapons just that little bit tighter.
Having found nothing else in the Overseer’s office aside from the lone terminal, Veronica leads the group back out onto the balcony and then across the walkway to the opposite balcony, where they find what looks like the dining area, with many upturned tables and chairs.
On this balcony, Momo can see four doors leading off it. One mirrors the door through which they first entered the atrium and leads to stairs going to the ‘ground’ level. The other three doors lead off from the open dining area. The first, on the left leads to the kitchen, of which there is nothing of value. The second, opposite the kitchen, leads to a bar, in which they find a few half-empty bottles of liquor, and a first-aid kit containing a bottle of Rad-X pills and a few stimpaks. The last door, however, leads to a recreation room, with a working terminal.
Initially, Momo is disappointed when she reads the text header of the terminal which says, “Vault 22 Interlab Network, Guess What Trivia Game”, that is until she sees the entries: more of Dr Keely’s logs.
She reads the logs aloud to the others; due to the layout of the room, it was difficult for everyone to see the terminal screen.
“I guess no one will miss this ridiculous trivia game. The questions weren't even that hard. It looks like this is where most of the people were when they died. The medical reports I found suggested that most of them succumbed to some kind of airborne infection. I'm going to see if I can convert some of the grow-lamps into UV spectrometers to test the air for contaminants.”
“So that explains what these lamps are for,” Thirteen exclaims as she turns and looks at another one of the UV lamp setups, this time in a corner of the games room. “Does she say if she found anything?”
“Yes,” Momo replies after briefly scanning the second entry on this terminal,
“After numerous attempts, I've found a range that highlights the particles in the air that I believe killed everyone in this vault. Preliminary tests show them to be spores of some kind. I've set up spectrometers on several of the levels now and the concentration appears to increase in the lower levels. At this point, I'm concerned that the plants here may constitute a danger to the people of the NCR.”
“Well… this complicates our job for Dr Hildern, significantly,” Momo sighs.
“Hmm,” Thirteen lets out a hum of concern, “Indeed it does. If Dr Keely is right, and the research here is the cause of this infection, then we can’t risk it being made public,”
Veronica nods her head in agreement, “This is the exact sort of stuff the brotherhood should be retrieving, technology that is too dangerous to be left to the wider public.”
“Of course…” Momo counters as she steps away from the terminal, “There is a good argument to be made that the infection is all the more reason to hand over the research,”
Veronica, and several of her friends, frown in confusion and concern at Momo, but Anan grasps what she’s getting at.
“If we give them the research, they can learn what not to do,”
Momo is gratified that her teacher understood her meaning.
“Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it,” She quotes.
“Well, we still need to retrieve the research first,” Kyouka interjects.
“And atleast we now know what the mysterious particle sensei kept detecting was,” Ochako adds.
“Which means, as long as we don’t inhale it, we should be fine,” Anan concludes.
Having finished with the games room, the group proceeds to the ground floor of the atrium, descending a small flight of stairs at the western end of the atrium, opposite the Overseer’s office. As they exit the stairs on the ground floor, they are greeted with large patches of plants in the middle across the atrium floor. Opting to avoid the vegetation for now, the group hugs the outer walls, as they pass in front of a set of barricaded windows looking into an adjoining room, Kyouka presses one of her jacks up against the glass.
“What do you hear?” Momo asks in a soft whisper, upon seeing the action.
“Crackling, electrical crackling, like Kaminari using his quirk,” Kyouka explains.
“It’s probably the vault’s generators,” Veronica explains as the group carries on.
As they continue to hug the southern wall of the atrium, they come to a door signed ‘UTILITY’, Veronica leads them through the hydraulic door to what looks to be a maintenance workshop, with cabinets and workbenches lining the walls. There’s a working terminal on one of the benches, which Momo and Veronica check, while the others check the tool cabinets. After a few minutes, they regroup and go over what they found.
“The terminal just has 2 maintenance reports,” Momo explains, “One about noise complaints, which was likely the mantises.”
“And the other was about a potential gas leak, which going by the description in the report, is likely the spore pathogen,” Veronica finishes. “Did you guys have any luck?”
“We only found these,” Kirishima gestures to several large bottles that he’s holding in his arms. They’re unmarked, but Veronica recognises what they are by their design.
“Flamer fuel!” The scribe practically jumps for joy.
“Flamer fuel?” parrots Ochako, who’s also holding several of the large bottles.
“Yeah, fuel for flamers,” Veronica explains “The M13A7-3 combat model flamethrower, also known as The Burnmaster, or in layman’s terms, a ‘flamer’. It was a flamethrower with a large tank that you carried on your back.”
“Weren’t combat flamethrowers banned by the Geneva Convention?” asks Thirteen, more than mildly concerned.
“The what-now convention?” Veronica asks, genuinely confused, and Anan has to resist from face-palming.
“Right, I forgot… alternate timelines.” The teacher sighs, “Forget it,”
“Anyway,” Veronica decides to move on from that brief diversion, “If they’ve got flamer fuel in the cabinets then that might mean they have a flamer, if they do, it’ll make our lives much easier.”
There’s a second door in the workshop, to the right of the door they entered through. Going through the second door the team is greeted by a room with more cabinets lining the outer walls, and 4 large, sparking, cuboid generators, which they assume is the source of the electrical crackling Kyouka heard earlier.
Keeping well away from the generators in the middle of the room, the group rummages through the various tool cabinets, where they find more canisters of flamer fuel, a laser pistol and some energy cells, two branded backpacks: one Vault-tec and one West-Tek, and…
“Is this the flamer?” Ochako asks Veronica, pointing to a large nozzle and hose attached to a set of large tanks with backpack straps.
Veronica looks at the contraption Ochako is pointing at and beams at the smaller brunette. “Yes, yes, it is! Finally, everything’s coming up Veronica!” She fist pumps the air with her Power Fist as she exclaims, only narrowly avoiding putting a dent in the ceiling as she does so.
“So, how do we use it?” Kirishima asks as he and the others join the two brunettes.
“Not to mention, who uses it?” Momo adds.
“Well, I honestly think Kirishima should use it,” Veronica suggests.
“ME?” “HIM?” Kirishima, Kyouka, and Ibara all exclaim.
“Do you have a reason why?” Momo asks, trying to be more level-headed than her peers.
“Well,” Veronica explains “currently, he’s the only one not using a weapon of any kind, just his fists. And unlike the shotgun we’ve given him, this flamethrower should require significantly less training to use, plus his quirk might help with the heat a little,”
Amongst the rest of the group, most of them find Veronica’s reasons to be… logical. In fact, the only one who still seemed to have an objection to Kirishima becoming a discount Endeavour… was Kirishima himself.
“Are we really sure that giving me something so volatile is a good idea?” The red-head objects.
“Can you think of someone better to do it?” Kyouka asks, raising one eyebrow at him, challenging him.
But as he thinks about it, no, not really. Everyone else had their own weapons, or in Ibara’s case, her vines. He was just relying on his bare fists. Atleast Veronica had a large metal hydraulic plate on her fist.
“Okay,” He says with resolute acceptance, “How do I use it?”
It takes them about 5 minutes to get the flamer fuel tanks onto Kirishima’s back, and then another 20 for Veronica and Boone to teach him how to use it. But eventually, almost half an hour after first finding the weapon, Kirishima steps out of the utility section, into the main atrium, and lets fly with the flamer; squeezing the trigger in short, sharp bursts, rather than one, long, continuous burst, so as to conserve fuel.
The effectiveness of the flamer is proven instantly as the patches of plant matter, as well as several spore monsters lying within them, are reduced to ashes within seconds. Rather curiously, the plant monsters don’t burn like flesh, but more like the plants they resemble, their bodies charcoaling into ashes.
As Kirishima goes to work with the Flamer, Momo can’t help but notice the pained expression on Ibara’s face, and she’s not the only one.
“Shiozaki, are you okay?” Even behind her helmet, it’s obvious Thirteen is concerned for her student.
Ibara lets out a long and mournful sigh. “I weep for them,” she says before gesturing to the ashes left by Kirishima. “The plants, they did not deserve such a violent end,”
“I know,” Anan empathises with her student, as someone whose quirk was directly tied to nature, she imagines Shiozaki has stronger emotions concerning the treatment of plants than most. “But, I’m afraid it’s necessary, the sign at the entrance was right, these plants are deadly.”
After only a few minutes of pyromania, Kirishima has cleared the atrium ground floor of all plant life, with the exception of the two large trunks that go from floor to ceiling. Curiously, they seemed impervious to fire but that didn’t matter as the main objective of rooting out plant monsters had been achieved.
With the floor now clear the group crosses from the utility section to the north side of the atrium, where they are presented with two doors: one marked Clinic, the other marked Quarters.
The group decides to check the clinic first, as they can see through the windows into it. They don’t find any more plant monsters, thankfully. Instead, they find several stimpaks, a few bottle caps, a working terminal, and, rather curiously, a Stealth Boy in the doctor’s desk, for reasons unknown.
Checking the terminal they find various medical entries, essentially cataloguing the initial outbreak and eventual spread of the spore infection. The most devastating and revealing part of the entries is just how quickly the infection spread, with 10s of people showing symptoms only a couple of days after Dr Peter first became ill.
Wanting to be done with the clinic, the group moves across to the door to the living quarters. Passing through the door, the group finds themselves in another corridor, only this time, Kirishima, with his flamer, takes the lead. They check each of the rooms going from left to right as they move up the corridor.
In the first room they check, Kirishima lets out a controlled burst of flame, burning down a large patch of plants in the middle of the one-room quarter. However, once the flames die down, something moves from out under the double bed, it’s another of the plant monsters, only this one’s smaller, far smaller, it’s tiny, almost the size of a…
And it’s that thought that causes Kirishima and Ochako to hesitate, fortunately, Veronica doesn’t, as she slams her power first right into the skull of the tiny, fragile, monster.
“Oh my god was that…” Ochako begins in a hushed tone, but Veronica ushers the two of them out of the room before they have a chance to think about it.
“Don’t think about okay, there was nothing you could have done, it’s already been dead for over a century, this was nothing more than a mercy.” Veronica croons, trying to calm the two teens.
“But it… it…” Ochako blubbers, on the verge of tears.
“What happened?” Momo asks, worried for her friends.
“Body,” Is all Kirishima can say, “Tiny body,”
“Tiny body?” Kyouka asks, not understanding.
“A child,” Veronica says bluntly, her expression, grim. “Infected, just like others, I dealt with it.”
The other students are shocked at that news, and immediately move to comfort their two friends who had been unfortunate enough to witness the disturbing sight.
Anan is likewise shocked, while she had seen children tragically killed in disasters before, this was a particularly horrific fate if the various medical reports were anything to go by. And a part of her is saddened at the thought of a child, sick and frightened, coughing and wheezing, as its parents and friends died around them. She hopes that being smaller than an adult, the child did not suffer for as long.
Boone for his part doesn’t seem that much different on the outside, after all, he’d seen the worst the legion had to offer, but the idea of something so small being subjected to such a horrific fate… he finds himself returning to Cottonwood Cove and… and Bitter Springs. Atleast the thing Veronica had killed was no longer human, that was more than he could claim.
At that though the retired sniper shakes his head clear of his thoughts. “We need to push on, what’s done is done.” He says with little emotion.
The majority of the U.A. students look scandalised, but Momo sees the necessary logic in his statement.
“He’s right, standing here, feeling sorry won’t do anything. We can mourn these people once we leave the vault but for now… they deserve peace. Just… maybe we hold off on the flamer for the living quarters, there’s a lot of flammable stuff here.”
Reluctantly, the other four teens agree, and so they press on going from room to room, clearing out plant monsters and looking for anything useful. They find several Vault 22 jumpsuits, similar to Momo’s, which they hold onto, as well as some SECs, and a Keycard to the cave access door in the food lab. They also clear out several more plant monsters, and everything is running relatively smoothly until they come to a corner in the corridor, and Kyouka calls for the party to halt before rounding it.
“What is it?” Momo asks, Lucky drawn and ready in her right hand.
“Something big, I don’t know what, but it’s hissing,” Kyouka responds in a lone voice.
“Is it getting closer?” Veronica questions, to which Kyouka only shakes her head in the negative.
“Okay, let me have a look,” says Veronica, before she slowly pokes her head around the corner, just enough for her to see. “It’s… a giant plant… with jaws?” her tone indicating that’s she’s obviously confused.
Everyone frowns at that description. Nothing they’d encountered so far in this vault could be said to have jaws.
“Let me have a look,” Ibara requests, and being the resident botanist of the group, Veronica lets her take the corner.
“It’s a giant Dionaea muscipula,” Ibara proclaims upon peeking round the corner, before clarifying, “A Venus flytrap,”
There are several silent and mouthed acknowledgements, before Kirishima asks, “So, what’s the plan?”
“Let me try something,” Ibara says vaguely, kneeling in the middle of the corridor and clasping her hands in prayer before her vine-hair begins slowly growing, snaking around the corner in the corridor as it does so.
The group stares at their floral companion in dumbfounded silence. Several of them open their mouths to speak, but no words come out, until eventually, Anan speaks.
“Shiozaki, what…?” But the teacher doesn’t get a chance to finish as her student interrupts her.
“The plant is subdued… for now,” she says serenely, as if it was no big deal.
Again, there are looks of confusion on the other’s faces, till Kyouka speaks up.
“She’s right, it’s stopped hissing,”
Tentatively the group, minus Ibara, collectively peers round the corner and look down the corridor, only to be greeted with the sight of a large, man-sized, Venus flytrap, with Ibara’s vines intertwined around its stem, seemingly pacifying it in a sort of stun.
The group looks back at Ibara in amazement as Momo asks, “Ibara… have you always been able to do that?”
“It’s something I’ve theorised, but this is the first time I’ve put it into practice,” The vine-haired girl remains in her supplicant posture, eyes closed, her mouth being the only part of her body moving.
“How…?” Veronica half asks.
“Simple, I just pray and let the Lord guide me,”
“So, gut instinct?”
Ibara pauses a second before answering, “If that is how you would like to think of it, then yes. I am not consciously controlling my hair or the plant at the moment,”
“Well, we better check these next rooms quickly,” suggests Thirteen, “So as not to place you under any unnecessary strain,”
“It is hardly taxing to be in the Lord’s presence,” Ibara replies, quite calmly.
“Nonetheless, we shouldn’t waste time,” Momo says in agreement with Anan.
Fortunately, Ibara does not need to placate the giant plant for long as the team only has two rooms to search, the rest of the corridor, and living quarters, are cut off by a cave-in. They only find two more vault suits, bringing their total up to 8. Once they have rejoined Ibara around the corner from the mutated plant, the vine-haired teen releases her hold on the mutant, and immediately they can hear it hissing again.
“How are you? Momo queries, obviously and understandably concerned for her classmate's wellbeing.
“I am feeling rather… peaceful,” Ibara has a soft smile on her face as if she were somewhere other than an infected vault in a nuclear wasteland.
“Really?” Kyouka co*cks one eyebrow in an expression of clear scepticism.
Ibara gently nods her head, “It felt like nothing more than a deep meditation, just me and the plant.”
“Well, let’s try not to do that again, if possible.” Thirteen advises.
In finishing their sweep of the living quarters, the team finishes their investigation of the common area. So, they head back to the junction leading to the stairs and elevator, where they have to come to a decision.
“The way I see it, we have two options,” Veronica states. “One, we use the key card to access the caves and use them to descend to the bottom floor, or two, you five super-teens use your quirks to remove the barricade.”
“Frankly, I don’t want to risk letting in whatever the scientists tried to keep out,” Anan argues, “At least with the barricade, we know there are mantises on the other side,”
“And we have a solution for that,” Kirishima grins as he enthusiastically claps Kyouka on the back, causing the unaware girl to stumble forward slightly.
“Just so long as the mantises have somewhere to run,” The punk teen says as she levels a piercing glare at Kirishima, who mumbles an apology.
“Well, let’s get started then,” Ochako wears a fiercely determined smile on her face as she removes her gloves, exposing the pads on her fingers necessary for her quirk.
Veronica initially volunteers to help clear the barricade, but Anan gently urges her to let the 5 teens do it themselves.
“It makes for a good exercise in teamwork and group coordination, as well as good practice for clearing debris from disaster sites,” The space hero explains.
“Heh, ever the dutiful teacher I see,” Veronica chuckles, “At least you’re not boring, like Taggart,”
“While we may no longer be at U.A.” Anan says conversationally, “I am still their teacher, it is not only my duty to protect them, but to educate them, as the next generation of heroes.”
“I’ll admit, they’re certainly something,” Veronica observes as she, Anan, ED-E, and Boone watch the five teens work.
Each of the five students has a role. Momo is the team leader, directing the others on which pieces are to be removed in such an order so as not to collapse the barricade unsafely. Ochako, Kirishima, and Ibara are the movers and lifters. Ochako uses her quirk to remove the weight of the various lockers and tables, allowing Kirishima to easily move the furniture out of the way, while Ibara uses her vines to ensure the remaining barricade is secure and stable. Kyouka, meanwhile, is standing guard, her jacks plugged into her boots pre-emptively, ready to send a heartbeat blast at the first sign, or sound, of giant mantises. However, the mantises that Kyouka had heard earlier must have run off, as the 5 students encountered no resistance during their deconstruction of the barricade.
All in all, it took the team 15 minutes to remove the barricade, and then another few minutes to re-equip the gear they had taken off to work, Kirishima taking the longest due to the flamer. Anan congratulates her students for their work, and the group descend the stairs. However, they just make it to the landing where the stairs double back on themselves, when they come across a first for this vault: a skeleton. The skeleton is picked clean of flesh, with only the torn, shredded remnants of its clothes left. It’s obvious from what little remains of the clothing, that this wasn’t a vault dweller.
“Who do you think it was?” Ochako asks, her voice subdued by the horror of the situation.
“Judging by what’s left of his outfit, probably one of the mercs Hildern sent.” Thirteen surmises.
“But what happened to him?” Kyouka queries, while Ibara says a short prayer for the fallen merc.
“I dread to think but…” Momo says hesitantly, not wanting to air her thoughts aloud, “This is where you heard the mantises earlier, isn’t it?”
“Yes but…” Kyouka’s eyes go wide as she realises what Momo is suggesting, “YOU THINK THEY ATE HIM?!” She exclaims, startling Ibara out of her prayer, and causing Ochako and Kirishima to blanch at the thought.
“Occam’s razor,” Veronica says in support of Momo, “The simplest solution is usually correct. At least he was kind enough to leave his weapon behind.” The scribe gestures to a laser rifle lying on the floor next to the skeleton, and Kyouka picks it up to examine it, as even without closer inspection, she notices it looks different to her own AER-9. Her own rifle was black and dark grey, whereas the other rifle was a faded white, with orange highlights, and exposed wires and circuitry around the outer casing.
“Huh, AER-14,” She reads on the side of the rifle, stencilled in faded black ink. “Must be a newer model, well, relatively new.”
“Possibly a prototype,” Veronica comments, “The Brotherhood’s records state that the most cutting-edge model of pre-war laser rifle was the AER-12,”
“Hopefully this is an improvement,” Momo speculates as Kyouka stows the new rifle in her backpack with her current rifle.
Moving on from the deceased mercenary, the group finishes descending the stairs and exits the stairwell to the bottom floor of the vault, ‘Pest Control’.
Coming out of the stairwell, the group are greeted with another patch of vegetation, which Kirishima deals with. Like with previous stairwells, the elevator is to the north. Unlike the previous floors, however, opposite the stairwell they just left is a short flight of stairs leading up, to a half-level. The group decides to check the half-level first before exploring the rest of pest control, a decision aided by Kyouka alerting them to the presence of more giant Venus flytraps on this floor.
The team of students and chaperones follow the stairs up to a lab overrun with plants. Fortunately, there are no plant monsters in this particular lab, instead, there is yet another working terminal, and an exterior door, which, to their concern, is unlocked.
Boone decides to keep an eye on the unlocked exterior door, while the others check out the terminal.
This terminal contains three entries detailing the specimens that this particular level of the vault was experimenting with. The first entry talks about Venus flytraps, which everyone assumes is where the giant plant Ibara pacified came from. They also find out that the flytraps are what secreted the jar of nectar Kirishima found in the food lab.
“If that jar came from that thing” Jirou gestures to the floor above them, “I’m not sure I’d want to eat it,”
“Atleast it’s vegan,” Kirishima jokes, earning him several withering looks.
The second entry details a species of Praying Mantis, which explains where the giant mantises came from. Interestingly enough, the scientists observed the mantises and the giant flytraps working in tandem, and Momo has a horrified thought as to what happened to the mercs that came before them and Dr Keely.
The final entry is about Beauveria Mordicana. An entomopathogenic fungus. Which Ibara explains means that the fungus spreads by infecting and killing insects. Indeed, the terminal confirms this, describing behaviour that mirrors the medical reports in the clinic. The victim gets sick, dies, and is then ‘re-animated’ by the fungus so as to covertly spread amongst an insect colony, or in this case, the vault. By the time they’re done reading, the group are sickened.
“Why…?” Momo asks, exasperated, “What was the point of all this? they killed an entire vault just to… what? Remove pests?”
“Unchecked, unregulated, unethical science.” Anan comments, “This is the exact kind of stuff I’d be sent in to clean up, not to mention the kinds of experiments that would properly anger Nedzu,”
“Well…” Ochako begins hesitantly, trying to remain optimistic, “Atleast it was only the result of a simple accident, it wasn’t like someone intentionally infected the vault.”
“Not that it does the residents any good,” Kyouka bites.
“Atleast there is some good news here,” Momo pipes up.
“Which is?” Veronica asks.
“The research Hildern wants isn’t the cause of the vault’s infection,” the creationist replies. “If he’s interested in boosting the NCR’s food production, then the research he’ll want is from the second floor.”
“True,” Veronica concedes before countering, “But when you download from the main server, you’ll be downloading everything, he’ll end up getting this research regardless,”
“Then we’ll just have to warn him,” Momo says, somewhat naively as she steps away from the terminal.
Heading back down to the junction, Veronica has the group pause for a minute while she inspects the elevator.
“If I can get it working, it’ll make for a quick escape,” She explains before tinkering with the elevator controls.
“In the meantime, we better clear this floor of those creatures and find that backup server,” Momo turns to her girlfriend, “Kyouka, you said you heard more of the giant flytraps on this floor?”
“Yeah,” Kyouka nods her head, “By the sounds of it, there in that room there…” She points down the hallway opposite the elevator and to a door on their right.
“Okay. Boone, if you stay and watch Veronica’s back while she works, we’ll meet you in the server room.” Momo instructs.
The retired sniper just grunts and nods his head in response, before the five teens, their teacher, and ED-E head down the corridor to clear out the spore monsters, leaving him alone with the joyful Brotherhood scribe.
Once she’s sure that their quirked companions are gone, Veronica addresses Boone while she works on the elevator controls, taking her Power Fist off as she does so.
“So… what do you think of them?” She asks, and initially, Boone is confused.
“Hmm?” He grunts, co*cking one eyebrow at her.
“The kids, and their teacher I guess, their powers, the world they come from, it’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” The sombre man mutters.
“Oh, come on,” Veronica cries, “you can’t tell me that a world where the bombs never fell doesn’t intrigue you, at the very least a world without the legion must be appealing,”
Boone lets out a soft chuckle, “Heh, yeah,” but his expression quickly reverts to being grim, “But their ‘villains’ sound just as bad,”
“I dunno,” Veronica shrugs as she rearranges a tangle of wires, “They just sound like petty raiders but with superpowers…”
…
“Okay, I take it back, that does sound worse. I mean, they did say villains were attacking their school just before they arrived in the Mojave, I mean, who attacks a school?!”
“The legion,” Boone replies bluntly, and Veronica can’t argue with that.
“Still, the powers those kids have, did you see them back there, with the barricade? It’d take a paladin in full power armour to clear that barricade, and he’d probably damage the armour doing so, and they just…” She gesticulates with her hands. “It did get me thinking though, I wonder what it’s like to be weightless?”
Boone gives the scribe a look of disbelief, and sensing the look, Veronica turns to look at him.
“What? I’m curious.”
Boone just shakes his head. Suddenly, a loud inhuman screech comes from further within the vault, drawing the attention of the two quirkless adults.
“Sounds like they're busy.” Boone comments.
“And yet, for some reason, I have no fears for their safety,” Veronica adds as she turns back to her work.
Another minute of silence passes before Boone speaks up again.
“How much longer?” is all he says.
“Just about finished,” Veronica replies, “Just need to…” She pushes the panel covering the elevator buttons back into place with a loud *CLICK* “And done,”
The scribe then pushes one of the buttons on the panel and the door opens with a soft *DING* and a pre-recorded voice from the elevator announces: “Fifth Floor – Pest Control”.
“Guess we better go find the others,” Veronica beams, pleased with her handiwork as dusts off her hands before putting her Power Fist back on.
The two Mojave natives jog through the pest control lab. With the rest of the group having gone ahead of them, they’re confident that all of the threats before them had been handled.
And indeed, they had. As the two pass through the labyrinth of labs and corridors, they encounter multiple piles of ashes, several shot Spore Monster bodies, and even one smouldering giant Venus flytrap. All in all, for five teens, a teacher, and their eyebot, they left one hell of a devastating trail in their wake.
Eventually, they find the rest of the group gathered at the end of a corridor, between two doors, one on either side of the corridor.
“Ah, Veronica. Boone.” Momo gives a small wave to the two quirkless adults. “Did you have any success with the elevator?”
“We did, or rather I did,” Veronica replies with a smile, “How about you guys?”
“We have the data,” Momo holds up her wrist with her pip-boy on it.
“Unfortunately, we have yet to locate Dr Keely,” Thirteen reports.
“Bu~ut,” Ochako chimes optimistically, “We think we know where to find her,”
Veronica gestures for her to continue, but it’s Kyouka who explains.
“We think she’s in the cave system,” And in saying that she points through the doorway to her left, Veronica’s right. Veronica steps forward and peers through the door frame, and sees a room littered with mantis corpses… and a large hole in the wall leading into another cave system.
“Any particular reason you think she’s down there?” Veronica asks.
“A hunch, and the fact that the creatures here leave her alone, meaning it’s unlikely she’s been eaten,” Momo explains and while the first part doesn’t exactly reassure Veronica, the second part she can’t argue with.
“Okay then, if you’ve got the data…” Veronica gestures towards the entrance to the hole in the vault and the group marches through in their standard order.
Funnily enough, the cave is seemingly easier to navigate than the vault. Whereas the vault had multiple corridors, rooms, and junctions. The cave was a linear tunnel, except for a single fork they came to, but even then, the right-hand path of the fork was blocked, meaning they only had one option.
They spend about 15 minutes walking through the cold, damp rock until, eventually, they come to an opening where the path they’re following suddenly drops off into a 15-metre-high cliff, leading into a large open cavern, populated with mantises and oversized Venus flytraps.
“I believe we have just found the main nest,” Anan comments, and there’s a muttering of agreement from the others.
“So what do we do?” Ochako asks.
“Simple,” Boone says as he unslings his rifle, but Anan stops him with a gentle hand on his arm.
“I believe that would be a bad idea,” The rescue hero cautions, “while the mantises may not be able to reach us, those giant flytraps will,”
“Reach us?” Veronica looks at Anan quizzically. “They’re plants, they’re hardly going to come up and stab us,”
“Except, they can do this,” Momo gestures to her right shoulder and the leather pauldron covering it. Only, the armour has a large, dark stain on it, where the leather is slightly melted, “It seems the mutated plants have the ability to spit some kind of acidic substance, luckily my armour caught the worst of it but…”
“There was only one of them then,” Anan takes over, “There must be atleast ten down there,” The space hero gestures into the cavern. “If we start shooting, in the dark no less, they’ll start reigning down acid on us.”
“So, what then?” Veronica asks, and Anan very deliberately turns her gaze to Ibara.
“Shiozaki, I am reluctant to ask this but…”
The vine-haired teen nods gracefully in acceptance, knowing what her teacher is about to ask her.
“It is of no concern,” The teen bows her head. “In fact, for me, this is the preferable option, it minimalizes the casualties,”
“I… guess…” Anan isn’t sure what to make of Ibara’s assertion but is reluctantly glad that she’s willing to go through with it. “But are you sure you’ll be able to manage that many?”
“I have faith,” Ibara replies, which Anan takes to mean yes.
“So, what’s the plan?” Ochako asks as Ibara begins to kneel on the cave floor.
After a few minutes of discussion, it’s decided that once Ibara has pacified the plant monsters, the others will clear out the mantises from their elevated vantage point. Once all the cavern occupants are neutralised, one way or another, Ochako will use her quirk to lower the others down.
It takes a few minutes more after their discussion for Ibara to stun the plant monsters, her ‘hair’ stretching and creeping down the wall and across the floor of the cavern. Once Ibara’s certain that all the plant monsters are under her control, the others, mainly Momo, Kyouka, ED-E and Boone, begin eliminating the mantises. After the first few shots, the mantises begin swarming towards the entrance to their tunnel, stopped only by the 15-metre-high drop from the tunnel to the cavern floor. Fortunately, this only makes their job easier, like shooting a fish in a barrel.
Once all the mantises are dead Ochako uses her quirk to lower everyone down to the cavern floor, everyone except Boone and Kirishima, who stay behind to guard Ibara. Ochako is naturally the last to descend, and as soon as she releases her quirk, she braces against the nearby cavern wall and suddenly throws up.
“Whoa,” Veronica is taken aback by the sudden vomiting, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ochako waves the scribe away, “Using my quirk on myself takes more out of me than using it on other people, it’s one of the drawbacks of my quirk, the same thing happens if I overuse my quirk.”
“So, what’s the maximum you can lift then?” Veronica asks as Ochako washes out her mouth with some water.
“About three tonnes, give or take.” Ochako answers after spitting out the water, and Veronica is suitably impressed by that answer.
“Anyway,” Momo interrupts, “Now that we’re down here, and the local wildlife has been… pacified, Kyouka, are you able to hear any sign of the doctor?”
The group goes silent as Kyouka jabs her two jacks into a nearby stone column, a few seconds later, she gives a report as she withdraws her jacks.
“Somewhere over there, to the south. It definitely sounds like someone struggling, with a bit of cursing too.”
Carefully, the group treads through the cavern, stepping over, and around Ibara’s various vines and tendrils so as not to disturb them, and potentially break the peace. As they cross the cavern, Anan notices another cave mouth, only this one is ground level, not raised like their tunnel was.
Eventually, they come to an alcove in the cavern wall, which is covered in a mess of vines, and vegetation, not from Ibara. As well as, what look like, nests of eggs, presumably the mantises’. And nestled amongst the eggs and the foliage, is a female ghoul, wearing a white tank top and cargo trousers, similar to Anan’s outfit underneath her hero costume. The ghoul is currently caught in some thick vines, preventing her escape, she hears the group approach and stops her struggling to look up at them.
“You took your sweet time,” Her gravelly, yet still feminine voice growls, “I suppose the NCR sent you?”
Momo decides to take the lead on this one.
“Yes, Angela Williams asked us to find you,”
“Ah, she's such a dear.” The scientist ghoul fawns before scowling “Not like that pompous little pedant she works for. Anyway, the plants here have gotten out of control, as I’m sure you’ve seen. I have a plan to deal with them, but I need your help,” She looks at the vines pinning her to the wall, “In more ways than one.”
“Okay, let us cut you out, then we’ll help you,” says Momo.
“Just be quick,” Dr Keely grumbles.
So, using the cleaver ‘Chopper’ she found at Wolfhorn Ranch, Momo makes quick work of the vines binding Dr Keely. Once she’s free, the doctor springs to her feet, rather spryly for someone who was likely centuries old.
“Okay, let’s go, we’ll head to the second level where I set up my stuff, and-” She pauses her speech as she exits the alcove and sees the giant plants wrapped up in Ibara’s vines. “What the… What the hell happened to them? Where did all these vines come from?”
“That’s from one of our friends,” Momo explains, “She has a… mutation, involving plants. We found out while exploring the vault that she can, for lack of a better word, ‘pacify’ the giant Venus flytraps.
“You don’t say…” Dr Keely says thoughtfully, “Well, I can’t wait to meet her. Now, we’ve got to get back to my lab,” Saying that she books it through the cavern, the others hot on her heels. The female ghoul leads them to the second tunnel entrance that Anan had seen earlier. Once they’re in the tunnel, Momo produces a walkie-talkie that she had made with her quirk earlier.
“Boone, you can tell Shiozaki to let go now, we found Dr Keely and another way out, we’ll meet you back at the elevator.”
“Understood,” Is all Boone says before radio silence.
Putting the handheld radio Momo had made for him back into his pocket, Boone gently taps Ibara on the shoulder.
“Your friends are clear, you can let go now,” he says.
“Thank you,” Ibara unclasps her hands, and her vines seem to detach halfway down her back. She rises from her kneeling, but just as she stands upright, she falters, stumbling slightly.
Instantly, Kirishima reacts, grabbing Ibara; stopping her from collapsing.
“Whoa, you okay?” the redhead worries.
“I… I’m fine…” The botanical teen replies weakly, nursing her head as she does so, “I think… I think I just rose too quickly,”
“Are you sure, I mean, you looked like you were concentrating hard to keep all those plants tamed,”
“I will confess, controlling that many of them was harder than just the one, but I’m fine now.” Ibara shrugs off Kirishima’s protective grasp as she finally stands upright, this time, more sure-footed.
“Well, if you sure…” Kirishima is doubtful, but if Ibara said she was fine then, who was he to question, still, he’d keep an eye on her, just in case.
Boone guides the two teens through the cave tunnel back to the vault. Once back in the vault, the group of three rush back to the elevator where they find Momo and the others waiting by the elevator entrance.
“Hey guys,” Ochako waves in greeting, “Dr Keely’s waiting for us on the second floor, in the oxygen lab.”
Momo and the others fill the other three in on what transpired in the cave as they all squeeze into the elevator. It’s a struggle to fit them all in, even with ED-E hovering above their heads, but they manage. Fortunately, none of them are claustrophobic, and the elevator ride is mercifully short. Once they arrive on the floor with the oxygen lab, the mismatched group of teens, adults, and a robot strolls into the lab where Dr Keely had set up.
Hearing their arrival, Dr Keely looks up from where she’s working and notices the three additional faces of the group that had rescued her. Of particular interest to her is Ibara.
“I take it you’re the one who pulled the cute trick with the plants?” The doctor rasps as she points at Ibara.
“I am,” The vine quirk girl says simply.
“Huh,” Keely grunts, “Can’t say I’ve seen a mutation like yours before, and the same goes for you with the ears,”
Kyouka bashfully reaches up to touch the end of her jacks as the doctor continues.
“But then again, by all conventional sciences, I should have died 200 years ago, radiation does weird sh*t to people,” She grumbles to herself before addressing the wider group.
“Well, you’re here. Ready to begin?” The scientist asks.
“Sure, how can we help?” Momo offers.
“Time is of the essence. Judging by your gas masks, I assume you know that this place is filled with spores, good job by the way. Anyway, we need to get rid of them.”
Immediately, everyone in Momo’s group thinks of Thirteen and Black Hole. As the Space Hero had told them earlier, clearing up these sorts of hazmat scenarios was her speciality. However, Dr Keely has a different idea.
“I've pumped the vault full of a highly flammable gas that, once ignited, should destroy the vast majority of the spores.” The scientist explains, “There's one problem though, the gas becomes semi-inert on exposure to oxygen, meaning the gas will have to be ignited close to where it's being introduced. I need you to find the vents where the gas is being pumped and ignite it. Oh, and survive the resulting blast.”
Most of the group looks at Keely in bewilderment upon hearing her plan, not seriously believing her.
“Hold, on,” Kyouka voices her disbelief, “Your plan to deal with these spores, is to blow up the vault? That we’re in?”
“Less of a boom, and more of a whoosh.” Thirteen explains, who, unlike her students, understood what Dr Keely was thinking. “With the gas spread out, it’ll essentially be a giant fireball.”
“Yeah, but aren’t we still inside the vault?” Kirishima asks.
“The blast will mostly be focused on the fifth floor,” Keely explains in an attempt to reassure them. “That’s where the highest concentration of spores is. Typically, these vaults use circular vents in their air circulation systems. Look for a wall with two of them almost side by side. There's one just around the corner outside this lab if you need an example.
Reflexively some of the students look towards the door they’d just come through, as if they could see through it into the corridor.
“Still, how exactly are we going to ignite the gas?” Kyouka asks, “Sure, Kirishima has his flamer, but I imagine if he uses that he’ll get caught in the blast.”
Keely nods at the wisdom of the purple-haired girl. “In the area where the gas is active, any kind of fire or explosion should do the trick. Hell, even lasers would do the job. If you don't have anything like that, I've got some grenades in my bag in the corner that you can use.”
The ghoul points to a duffle bag on the ground as she says that.
“Alternatively…” Veronica chimes in, “I believe we still have that C4 I retrieved from that would-be bomber.”
“That would seem to be the most sensible solution,” Anan agrees, “A remote detonation would allow me to stand by the elevator and just hop in as soon as I trigger it, rather than trying to outrun the blast.”
“Hold on,” Ochako interjects. “You, sensei?”
“Yes, me.” The teacher says firmly, “I’ve been willing to give you all some latitude while we’re here in the Mojave, accepting that there are some necessary risks that we can’t avoid. However, this is one of those times where I’m asserting my authority and duty as your teacher. As such, I will be the one to go down and set off the explosion.”
“I suppose your suit is more designed to deal with that kind of damage,” Ochako concedes.
“But what about…?” Kirishima is about to suggest he goes down with his quirk, but Anan cuts him off.
“No, Kirishima.” Anan’s voice is firm, but not harsh. “I have made my decision, you five will stay up here with Boone, Veronica, ED-E, and the doctor, and I will go and clear out the spores.”
“Only one slight problem with that plan.” Veronica butts in. “We don’t have a remote detonator to go with the C4, the guy I killed didn’t have one on him,”
“Oh,” Anan’s shoulders sag as she realises the fatal flaw in their plan.
“What would a remote detonator require?” Momo asks.
Veronica scratches her chin as she thinks before answering, “Just a simple radio transmitter and a trigger really, nothing more.”
“Okay,” Momo nods before her face scrunches up in concentration, after a few seconds she checks to make sure Dr Keely is watching before holding out her palm. Which suddenly begins glowing as a small hand-held device with a trigger and a radio antenna emerges from her palm.
“Will this do?” she asks as Veronica takes the improvised trigger and inspects it.
As she turns the quirk-made remote detonator over in her hands Veronica lets out a low whistle of admiration.
“I will never get tired of seeing you do that,” She declares, “And as far as I can tell, everything looks to be in order, though there’s only one real way to test it,” she says as she hands the trigger to Anan, while Momo retrieves the block of C4 from her bag.
After a quick explanation from Boone and Veronica on how to arm the C4, Anan departs for the fifth level of the vault, C4 and detonator in hand.
“Do you think sensei will be alright?” Ochako worries for her teacher and role model.
“I know she will be,” Ibara comforts her classmate, “The lord will watch over her, and keep her safe.”
“Okay, I have to ask,” Keely cuts in from where she was checking her terminal. “You keep referring to the astronaut cosplayer as ‘sensei’ and teacher, just who exactly are you guys, because you’re not exactly typically mercs, I mean… how old are you?”
“Fifteen” The five students chorus.
“Fif-” The ghoul scientist begins to repeat, before fully realising what they’d said “Fifteen? YOU’RE KIDS?!” She exclaims before calming once more. “I know Dr Hildern was an tool, but sending kids, in here? That’s cold, even for him, I’m surprised Williams didn’t try to stop you.”
“You know, we’re not just some hapless bunch of dumb teens,” Kyouka counters with some heat, her arms crossed in a look of indignation that was matched on the faces of her four friends. “After all, we managed to clear almost this entire vault of plant monsters.”
Keely nods in concession, “Okay, that is fair, you’ve handled yourselves better than the average Merc, I’ll give you that.”
“To be honest, they’re better equipped to handle this sort of mess better than most mercs,” Veronica states.
Keely looks at Kyouka and Ibara, the only two of the group whose quirks were currently visible, before nodding.
“I can’t argue with that,” She rasps out, not knowing the full extent of how true Veronica’s statement was.
However, wanting to move the conversation away from the topic of quirks, Momo decides to ask the doctor a few questions while they wait for Thirteen to return.
“Dr Keely, I was wondering,” The creationist puzzles, “How did you set up the gas feed so quickly? I can’t imagine the vault would have a system to easily allow flammable gas to pump through their ventilation.”
“That's a very good question!” The doctor gives Momo a look of admiration, before explaining. “Actually, I didn't come up with it. The systems were already set up to pump the gas when I first arrived here. I believe the scientists were in the process of attempting to ignite the gas just as your friend is about to do.”
“So then why didn’t they?” Kyouka asks the obvious question.
“Something prevented them from igniting the gas, obviously. I suppose it's possible that the gas triggered some kind of defensive reaction in the plant monsters. Hordes of previously slumbering creatures may have awoken and entered a killing frenzy, ripping the hapless scientists into quivering, bloody chunks.”
The teens and even Veronica grimace at the thought of such a massacre.
“The other thing I wanted to know was, why were you down in the cave?” Momo asks her other question.
“The mantises and spore plants virtually ignored me for most of the time that I've been here.” Keely explains, “It was only once I began to investigate the fifth level that my presence began to agitate them. I guess I was a little too close to home for them. A few days ago, I was attacked by a large number of mantises and-”
The scientist is interrupted by the sound of a large rumbling as the whole vault shakes as if an earthquake had suddenly struck them.
“I guess that must have been sensei,” Kirishima surmises.
“Kyouka, are you okay?” Momo asks, concerned after having seen her girlfriend reach to cover her ears during the rumbling.
“I’m fine,” Kyouka reassures her, “My ear plugs muffled the noise enough for me. Though I think you may want to check on Shiozaki.”
In response to that suggestion, Momo turns to where she last saw their spiritual classmate and finds her braced with one hand against a nearby vault wall, the other hand clutching at her head, her face contorted in pain.
“Shiozaki?” She calls out as she hurries over to the stricken girl, “Are you okay?”
“I’m- I’m fine,” Ibara slowly shakes her head as she talks, the traces of pain fading from her face. “I just… it was just a headache, nothing more.”
“Another one?” Kirishima asks, visibly concerned.
“Another one?” Momo parrots, now more concerned than she was already.
“It’s nothing,” Ibara tries to wave them off, “I am simply suffering from lack of fresh air.”
“Kirishima?” Momo turns to the sole male teen of the group, “What happened?”
“It was just after she released her hold on the giant plants in the cave,” the redhead explains, “She was getting up from where she was kneeling when she just sort of collapsed, clutching at her head.”
“And I told you, I simply got up too quickly,” Ibara tries to reassure her classmates, but they’re not convinced.
“Perhaps you should just sit down for now,” Momo suggests.
“That’d probably be best.” Ibara agrees as her friends guide her to a chair.
“You don’t think this is because of interacting with those mutant plants, do you?” Ochako asks, as equally concerned for her friend as the others.
“I don’t know,” Momo responds as she takes out a bottle of purified water and gives it to Ibara. “I hope not, but either way, once Thirteen has returned I don’t think we should stay here much longer.”
“That would be the sensible idea, yes.” Keely concurs, “We only have one more thing to take care of once your friend gets back.”
And as if summoned by simply being mentioned, the door to the lab hisses open to reveal Anan, still in one piece.
“Thirteen!” Ochako smiles, relieved that their teacher is safe. “Did it work?”
“I believe so, that detonator worked like a charm Yaoyorozu, good job.” Anan praises her student, and Momo beams at the praise, glad that her technical knowledge had served her well.
“Ah, good, you survived,” Dr Keely almost sounds surprised, “You'll be pleased to know that the spores should no longer be a problem. Now all that's left is to ensure that none of this ever happens again. The research that led to these abominations must be erased.”
As the doctor sits back down at her terminal, Momo looks uncertainly at both Kyouka and Anan. They had copied the research from the backup servers onto both her and Kyouka’s pip-boys, as a fail-safe.
“What do you need to do?” Momo asks.
“I've managed to create a connection to the vault's backup system from here. I just have to remotely delete all the files, and we're done here.” The female ghoul explains. “Just a few more moments and…” She stares at her terminal in confusion. “...that's strange. The system says that the files were accessed recently and copied to an external source. Twice.”
Keely slowly tuns in her chair to face Momo’s group.
“You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?” She co*cks one eyebrow at the group in an inquisitive expression.
The group looks amongst themselves, debating whether it’s worth trying to lie to the scientist, Momo, in particular, looks at Anan and Veronica, Boone having chosen to step back from the conversation.
Seeing her student look to her, Anan takes the lead.
“Actually, we copied the files.” She explains, “Dr Hildern sent us here to get them.”
Keely sighs, “Yes, that sounds like something he'd do. Well, there's nothing for it, then.” She rises from her seat and approaches Momo, “Those files need to be erased. Hold out your arm and I'll have it done in a flash.”
Instinctively, Momo tucks her left arm behind her back, removing the pip-boy from sight, her left hand raised in a gesture to stop.
“Wait,” She begs, “Deleting those files makes it more likely that this will happen again.” Momo blurts out, causing Dr Keely to stop.
“How do you figure that?” The ghoul scientist is clearly sceptical.
“Science isn't just about success. Failures are just as important to learn from.” Anan explains, understanding, and agreeing with, Momo’s logic.
“Hmm,” Keely hums in thought as she uncertainly wiggles her head from side to side, “I suppose the data here could serve as a warning to other scientists. Tell them what paths of research not to follow…” She trails off giving Momo a chance to drive home the point.
“Exactly. Without that knowledge, something similar is bound to occur.” Momo finishes.
As Dr Keely concedes the argument, Veronica is deep in thought. Everything she’d been raised to believe, the Codex, the Brotherhood’s ideals, everything in her told her that the research they’d just acquired should be kept safe with the Brotherhood.
But hearing Momo and Anan's arguments?
The logical part of her brain was telling her they were right.
‘Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.’
That had been what Momo had said earlier, and she knew that the girl was right. That was the Brotherhood’s big issue. They refused to learn from history, their history, from Helios. And by refusing to share with the rest of the wasteland, by hoarding their knowledge, the Brotherhood was denying the wasteland the opportunity to learn. She compares that to the Followers of the Apocalypse, who take their knowledge of technology and go out to try and help the wasteland, and their knowledge was but a fraction of the Brotherhood’s. And as the rest of the group says their goodbyes to Dr Keely, Veronica comes to a decision.
She must return home.
After they finish their farewells to Dr Keely, Momo leads the team back up to the vault entrance and then back out into the Mojave.
Upon exiting the Vault, the group discover that it is now night, having spent many hours underground, but nonetheless, the open air is a welcome sight for the teens.
“I have never been so grateful to see the sky,” Ochako sighs with relief as they tread through the undergrowth.
“I know what you mean, compared to the constant creaking of the vault, and the noise from the masks, the Mojave sounds positively silent,” Kyouka agrees as she removes the gasmask from her face.
“I guess we’re camping outside then?” Kirishima asks.
“Atleast we’ve got plenty of fuel for a fire,” Momo gestures to the undergrowth around them. “Though, perhaps we shouldn’t camp too close to the vault.”
Boone and Anan nod in agreement with that assessment, and the group is about to move away from the giant vault door when the silence of the Mojave night is interrupted by the sound of sudden, violent coughing, from none other than Ibara.
Hearing the sudden racket, the group turns to their plant-haired companion, only to find her doubled over in a coughing fit.
“Shiozaki…?” Momo begins, her tone obviously concerned.
“Okay, maybe I do need…” Ibara is about to suggest they take her to a doctor, but before she can, she loses consciousness, collapsing into the vegetation outside the vault, to the distress of everyone around her.
“IBARA!”
