*BANG*

A lone gunshot rang in the woods as a speeding bullet aimed true and hit its intended target in a pack of Radstags. The herd scatters as one of the bucks rapidly bleeds out and drops dead as the bullet pierces right above and behind the main front legs, puncturing its heart.

I watched from behind as the sharpshooter atop a hill stood from her kneeling position and lowered her rifle. Slinging the gun around her back, Cait pulls a hunting knife out.

"A'm gonna go break that buck down. You two stay here."

I watched as the redhead hurried down the hill to where the downed Radstad was. She quickly got to work skinning and dismembering the buck for edible meat.

"So, what do you think about her? Meeting your expectations?"

Tanya joined me and asked my opinions on our newest addition.

"It's still too early to tell, plus she's a lot younger, so she might as well be a different person. Still, she's a hell of a shot, though, that much I will say."

"I bet you would like to take a shot at herself, wouldn't you, stud."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Even though my expression was hidden behind my helmet, Tanya must have known my reaction since she smirked in my direction.

"Not this again." 

"What? There's nothing wrong with it. She's capable and resourceful, has nowhere to go, and gets along with Isabelle. Not to mention that she's a complete smokeshow."

Tanya muttered that last part while she not so subtly leered at the younger woman.

I had made a mistake when I let slip that I knew Cait from my prior life. It didn't take long before Tanya could dig it out of me that she was a character I regularly romanced. Initially, I thought my lovers would react poorly, but they were surprisingly nonchalant. If anything, Tanya was too supportive after finding that information.

"First of all, stop it, you pervert. Second, Cait's vulnerable, and I'm in a position of power. I could ask her to do anything right now, and she would probably go along. It wouldn't be right to make any moves on her."

"So you're saying you would do it as long as Cait's genuinely interested?"

"I'm saying that you need to drop it, ok? I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

"Ooooooh~"

While I wasn't planning on bedding the redhead, I wanted her to stay with us if possible. Being a former slave meant she had to pick up many skills to survive, many of which, like knowing how to skin, gut, and dress a tag, benefited our fledgling group.

I ignored Tanya while Cait finished butchering the buck by reviewing the events of the last two weeks.

It took us almost two weeks to get all the non-raiders we found in Monsignor Plaza to where they needed to be. We separated people into groups of general locations and dropped people off as we went. Most chose to return to their settlement or a nearby settlement if their original was burned to the ground.

Luckily, Most of them were within a two-day trek; it just took longer because we had to make so many stops and the inherent slower speed of a larger group. The silver lining was that we contacted many settlements, most of whom were friendly and open to interacting with us. We ensured those who gave us bad feelings wouldn't try anything funny by showing off our collection of lethal pets and advanced robots.

Including Cait, three people had nowhere to go. On account of Cait being sold into slavery by her parents two years ago, it was understandable that she wasn't exactly happy to head back to her family home. The other two were sisters, Marcy and Alexandra, whose parents were killed when the raiders attacked their farmstead. They couldn't bring themselves to go back to the place where their mom and dad died, and they didn't want to risk starting a new life as two young women in a larger settlement where they could be preyed upon in other ways. 

Not seeing many great options, we offered them a settlement near the RobCo facility. Letting them stay so close to us was a risk, even if they didn't know exactly where we lived. Still, we felt responsible for them, and keeping them close meant that we could provide some semblance of security. And just like that, we had the first three settlers.

We had them bunker down in the East Boston Preparatory School because Tanya and I had already cleared it out, and it was close to the Robco Facility elevator entrance. After we returned from dropping all the people off and the new girls were settled in, I decided it was finally time to move on to the next big project.

I wanted, no needed, to get to Vault 81 to find Curie.

The past two weeks of traveling with such a large group and getting our three new settlers taken care of had made our lack of medical professionals and sustainment abilities even more abundantly clear. We could trade a bunch of stuff for surplus medicine at the various settlements, but it didn't matter if he had everything we needed but didn't know how to use it.

While Tanya and Isabelle had basic medical knowledge common to wastelanders who had been toughing it out solo, they were not doctors. They couldn't deal with anything too severe if it popped up.

As a former slave, Cait was more knowledgeable. She had gotten used to treating her own and others' injuries with limited resources. While she had plugged that gap somewhat, she still wasn't a professional.

This problem of not having a doctor was a real headache for me since there were even fewer trained medical personnel in the post-apocalypse. And I doubt any of them would have been willing to leave their comfy posts to take a chance on this random upstart. Even if this random upstart had dozens of robots for security and unlimited drinking water through purified water. Hell, if I mentioned that, it might even hurt my chances since they would think I was crazy. Then, a lightbulb went off in my head, and I thought about the perfect candidate.

Curie was a robot research assistant in the abandoned secret section of Vault 81. Having been heavily modified, she was possibly one of the Commonwealth's most knowledgeable and capable individuals. Better yet, I knew where she was, that she wanted to leave, and that all it took to get her on my side was to find her and release her from her current task. The only snag was convincing Vault 81 to let me in and mess around in that hidden part of the vault.

That was easy enough since I knew Vault 81 had issues with its generator. After their power grid and other facilities started experiencing problems, the current overseer opened the vault in 2277 to the outside world so they could trade for supplies to help alleviate the situation. And it just so happened I had theoretically unlimited access to raw materials, pre-war RobCo manufacturing capabilities, and recently, a crap ton of fusion cores.

The successful attack on the raider camp and the two weeks spent traveling around meant I had plenty of opportunities to gain xp and level up. Dealing with Boatflies, Molerats, Mutated Hounds, a Yao Guai, and a few raider patrols meant I was now level 51 when I returned to our base. With the points gained from leveling up several times, I increased my Intelligence stat to 9 and finally picked up the three levels in Nuclear Physicist that I always wanted.

With that, my stats now looked like this.

The main stat boost of Nuclear Physicist 3 was doubling the capacity of my Fusion cores and doubling radiation weapon damage. But more important than the stats was the slew of mod structures I could now build, including one of my favorites, the fusion core recharging station.

We had a collection of empty fusion cores, which took no time to charge up with multiple recharging stations hooked up to a Vault-Tec Super-Reactor. Clearing out Vault 88 early was great since, without the nuclear material or blueprints that unlocked advanced power generation crafting, it would have taken me multiple weeks to build enough generators and charging stations.

When I mentioned wanting to leave to explore a nearby Vault, Cait demanded that she come with us. Something about proving that she could be of more use than basically a stay-at-home nanny for the two younger girls. I was sure about letting Cait tag along, but Tanya pointed out that Cait was clearly getting cabin fever. I was finally convinced when Isabelle said she wanted to stay behind so she could work on the UFO, which meant she could keep an eye on Marcy and Alexandra instead.

We left in the early morning. It was now just before noon, and we were just a few more miles before we would find ourselves at the Vault 81 entrance. On the way, Cait spotted a herd of Radstags and asked if I was ok with her taking one of them to collect the meat. Seeing no reason not to stock up when and however we can, I let her proceed.

As I was wrapping up that thought, Cait finished dissecting her kill and waved us over.

"A'd appreciate a lil help!"

Snapping me out of my thoughts, I hurried over to where Cait was with Tanya in tow.

"How can we help?"

"A've done the hard part an taken the entrails oot, I just need ye to help me break the animal down into smaller bits."

"Alright, just show me what to do."

I exited the power armor, and Tanya and I each grabbed a knife to help Cait cut up the buck. Avoiding the abscess formed from radiation, the hard bone, and the ligaments was a difficult task. Still, the combined effort of the three of us made short work of it.

When we were done, we shoved the smaller bits of meat into plastic packs while the more significant pieces, like the legs and ribs, were strung up on one of the tank bots. I hadn't revealed my strange abilities to the newcomers yet, so I was stuck having to use the mundane method of storage while around them. 

We returned to the road after harvesting everything that could be used. Checking my Pip-Boy, there should only be an hour or so of travel left at our current pace, maybe an hour and a half if we're slow or run into something.

I decided to pass the time by getting to know Cait better, so I tried to initiate a conversation.

"So, Cait, you seem used to hunting. How'd you pick up that skill."

"Mostly self-taught. Travelin with raider scum means that ye're not guaranteed a meal. Huntin' an foragin' was how A got by when times were tough."

"Must have been hard."

"It definitely was not a walk in the park, A'll tell you that much. But A did pick up some tricks along the way. When we get back, A'll make the best damn jerky you've had in yer life."

It was nice to see Cait still be the person with a strong enough mental fortitude to just get on with it. Slave one day, unexpectedly free the next. Not a problem for Cait, she's just going to truck along. Of course, she could just be extraordinarily good at putting up a strong front, like in the game, so it was best we all kept an eye on her.

"You know, Cait, Basil over here can give you some real good meat too."

Tanya, unable to help herself, injected a very unnecessary double entendre into the conversation. It was times like this that I wished I didn't have power armor on all the time so I could give people proper glares, though I doubt that would have stopped the woman.

"Is that right? We'll have to trade recipes sometimes."

Good thing Cait didn't seem to catch on. We continued our small talk, helping us pass the remaining leg of the journey. Not long after, we found ourselves walking up a slope near the entrance to Vault 81.

At a glance, it seems like just another one of many decrepit junkyards in the wasteland. There were abandoned cars, rusty shipping containers, and other assortment of junk. However, upon closer inspection, one could find details indicating this was anything but.

There was a Vault-Tec guardpost, the iconic blue portable building indicative of a Vault nearby. Scaffolding surrounded a suspicious hole drilled into the side of a solid rockface. And the most damning, a giant billboard advertising for Vault-Tec with a picture of a line of people entering a vault to escape an incoming nuclear explosion.

After having our robot escort stay behind, we entered the cave entrance. We were quickly met with a familiar sight. Across from us was a giant vault door shaped like a cog with the number 81 on it. And just like Vault 88, on our side was a control panel that could be activated through a Pip-Boy.

Getting out of my suit, I pulled the connection plug from my Pip-Boy and inserted it into the jack on the panel. It took a second for the systems to recognize each other before I was told everything was ready, and I flipped up the cover and pushed the red button.

"You think they'll let us in?"

Tanya asked as we waited for a response from the Vault. No doubt they were not expecting an uninvited guest, so the upper management was probably discussing what to do with our group.

"It doesn't matter. Vault 81 can't afford to turn away from what I'm offering them."

A few moments later, the built-in radio turned on.

"This is Vault 81 security. Identify yourself and explain how you found a functional Pip-Boy."

The story was that I was a fellow vault dweller from Vault 88 who could see the statuses of other nearby vaults. That was technically true since Vault 88 was always intended to be able to connect to the other Vaults to implement its experimental equipment. I was even wearing a Vault 88 suit I had found to sell the ruse.

"I'm from nearby Vault, Vault 88, and we've been informed that your Vault's generators need servicing. I brought some fusion cores to hold you guys over until the situation is resolved, but I need you to let me in if you want me to fix whatever is happening with your power generation system."

There was another bout of silence, no doubt the various department heads going over what I said. Was I really another Vault Dweller? How did I know that their generator was failing? Could I really fix their problem? Could I be trusted?

It didn't matter in the end, as I was proven right that the Vault simply couldn't afford to turn me away. The same man, presumably the head of security, came back on and announced their decision.

"We'll let you in, but don't try anything funny."

Hazard light then turned on as the Vault door unlocked and began rolling out of the way. We walked over to the scaffolding near the massive cog door after I got back into my power armor. A sky bridge swung in as the door rotated away, connecting our platform further into the vault. The bright spotlight made it challenging to determine what was further ahead, but I could see the vague outline of a few people on the other side.

I took the lead and walked across the bridge. Tanya and Cait followed after me. After we crossed the bridge and passed the blinding light, we could finally see the Vault 81 welcome party.

Most of the group were guards standing in the back. Besides them, there were two people, one man and one woman, and a Mister Handy who stood out by being slightly in front of everyone. The Mister Handy was in disrepair, missing an eye stock and most body panels. The man was wearing a full suit of Vault-Tec armor, no doubt the head of security I was on the radio with. If my memory was correct, his name was Edward something. Or maybe Ethan?

Which meant the 'I'm in charge' looking woman in the middle must be Overseer Mcnam- Wait, that's not Gwen Mcnamara,

"I'm Overseer Mcnamara. It's nice to meet some other Vault Dwellers. And right in time, too. We could really use some help with maintenance around here. Old Rusty here has been having a real hard time keeping up."

Now that she was closer, I could get a crystal clear look at her face, leaving me gobsmacked. For whatever reason, Gwen Mcnamara, the Overseer of Vault 81, looked precisely like Marissa Tomei in this world.