FFF - Ch81

It’s awkward now, and having Annette as an audience doesn’t help.

Shell can’t be too pushy; she’s outnumbered.

“I can get you whatever you need to finish your work and keep it away from Enclave,” she promises Annette as the four of them eat at a table in the corner of the dining room. “The Sisterhood have access to tech that these Vault dwellers don’t.”

“You’re outnumbered, Shell. This isn’t a negotiation,” Curio reminds her. “And Annette doesn’t want to go the Sisterhood. She wants to go to a Vault where it’s safe, filled with women, many of whom have lovely penises. Isn’t that right?”

Annette scowls. “If it’s Vault F or the surface, I’ll take the Vault,” she says sourly.

“Shell,” Curio says before Shell can retort. “You, too, should consider coming to the Vault.”

“Why would I do that? You going to give me what I want? That formula? With Stimpaks like that…” Shell trails off. “The Sisterhood needs them.”

“I’m not opposed to sharing that with you. I have a mission as well, Shell.”

“To research the wasteland,” Jane supplies helpfully.

“That was my first mission,” Curio replies, her eyes still on Shell. “Not my second one. I returned to the surface because I needed help.”

Jane frowns, puzzled. That’s not what she was told.

“Help with what?” Shell asks.

“Change,” Curio replies honestly. “I needed allies. Someone decent. Trustworthy. Vault F can thrive, but not in isolation.”

“It’s actually really important that Vault F stay a secret,” Jane cuts in.

“It was. For a time,” Curio tells her. “That time is gone. The world has changed. How long has it been since my disappearance?”

“Ten years.”

“Your water chip has another year in it at most. But our gene pool is probably a more urgent concern. It’s time for us to form relationships with organized people on the surface. There are several villages not far from the Vault, and considerable potential for mutually satisfactory relations.”

“The Overseer will never go for it. That’s the opposite of everything she’s ever taught.”

Curio nods, unbothered. “I know.”

“We can’t go against her wishes.”

Curio finally looks over at Jane. “Maybe you can’t,” she says, and something about how she says it doesn’t seem right.

Jane bristles, putting her fork down and straightening her back. Beside Shell, Annette stops eating and watches worriedly.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ve never been curious about that device in the back of your neck?”

“I had a concussion. Something got fractured back there,” Jane replies, pointing. “I fell.”

Curio looks down at her food. “What brought you to the surface, Jane?”

“A girl,” Jane admits; why act embarrassed about it? “If I brought back the DNA—like you said, we need it—the Overseer was going to tell me what happened to her. And when I bring you back, I mean, you’re a legend. She’ll tell me.”

Curio sighs. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Jane.”