Fallout 4: AR

69. On the Road Again

"Wow, Pip," Piper exclaimed as I wound down my tale a little while later, "If that's the truth..."

"It is," MacCready growled. He hovered near my chair, leaning against Valentine's desk and ostentatiously cleaning his fingernails with his combat knife. For his part, the detective stayed quietly in the background.

"Which I don't doubt," she added hastily, eyeing the flashing blade. "True as your story is, I couldn't print it anyway. No one would believe it." She had initially taken out her notebook, a force of habit, but it went unused the moment the phrase "transported from my world to here" passed my lips. "Damn. The timing of your escape from the Institute and McDonough's visit to my news stand is too perfect to be mere coincidence. And why would he suddenly have an interest in detaining you? You hadn't been anywhere near Diamond City in weeks!"

"It does sound suspicious." Nick Valentine had been intently listening to our conversation while he flipped through a seemingly bottomless pile of folders. "Heh, looks like you have your work cut out for you, Piper. Solid knowledge, but no tangible proof. If you do try to expose our 'dear' Mayor as an Institute agent, be very careful. Let me know if I can help. Diamond City could sure use a wake up call in the 'tolerance towards non-humans' department."

"Thanks, Nick!" Piper stood up and retrieved her unused notebook. "I, uh..." Her gaze swept from me over to MacCready and she shook her head slightly. "Never mind. I guess I'll be going now. Maybe I can 'forget' to put that notice in the next issue. Or lose it entirely." She gave me a small smile. "If the Mayor wants to detain you, I'll do what I can to make sure he doesn't."

"Sounds good, Piper. I would appreciate it a lot. Good luck with your governmental overthrow of the city!" That comment teased a laugh out of the reporter as she breezed past Ellie and out the door.

Valentine spoke up as soon as the door shut behind her. "That was a heck of a story." He tapped a handful of folders against the desk to straighten them. "And it helps me with a problem I've been trying to solve. People have been going missing. You said the Institute was essentially trapped underground for the last week or so, barring agents already on the surface?"

I nodded. "Our, ah, 'friends' (I hadn't mentioned the Railroad by name) managed to wipe out their matter transmission data... until two days ago. They're back up and running now according to the latest intel."

"That's too bad," Nick commented dryly. "I wouldn't have minded them languishing below ground for the rest of eternity, trapped in their own personal purgatory."

"Hell would be more appropriate." MacCready's sardonic comment joined the discussion. "Kidnapping? Tearing families apart? They all deserve to rot." He frowned fiercely, re-sheathing the knife on his belt.

Nick wasn't about to be derailed, though. "If they were unable to transport back and forth, it means the most recent disappearances can't have been the work of the Institute... and probably some of the older ones as well." He fished out a file from his desk drawer, opening it to scan the contents. "Huh, it makes more sense if it were a local group, after all."

"What are you talking about, Nick?" I asked, my curiosity piqued by his cryptic commentary. "What disappearances?" MacCready moved behind me, peering over my shoulder at Valentine's desk.

"Like I said, people are being kidnapped, and it's not just the types that would usually be of interest to the Institute." He paused to look up at both of us. "I normally handle only a few 'missing persons' cases a year, but the number of abductions has spiked in the last couple of months."

He sighed, pushing his chair over to his computer and typing rapidly. "Your information about the takedown of the Institute's transport system eliminates them from consideration in this case. And if it hadn't been for Hancock asking me to check around for some of his residents who had mysteriously disappeared and providing me with some top-notch detective work on his own, I never would have pieced together the larger story."