Jacob Carter's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Jacob stood at the edge of his search zone, three miles northeast of the Trade Guild Office. The ground here looked wrong—too flat, too uniform. He dropped to one knee and brushed sand away from a section of concrete. His claws scraped against pre-war construction material, the kind used for vault entrances. He pulled out his radiation meter and swept it across the surface. The readings spiked in a geometric pattern, just like the fractals he'd found in the other vaults. This was it. Vault 116 was directly below him, and whatever had arranged those bodies in groups of seven was probably still inside. But the G.E.C.K. was down there too, and he'd come too far to stop now. He needed help—specialists who tracked vaults for a living. Back in Broken Hills, a wooden tower stood against the desert sky, stacked planks rising high with bold text painted across the top. The sign advertised vault location archives and expedition planning. Jacob walked inside and found filing cabinets full of vault coordinates, structural diagrams, and expedition reports. He pulled three folders on nearby vaults and spread them across a table. Each one listed entry methods, structural weak points, and radiation levels. Vault 116 would have the same basic layout. He photographed the pages and added the data to his notes. Outside, a bronze statue caught his eye—an NCR soldier and an Arizona Ranger shaking hands on a blue and red marble base. Names of successful vault expeditions covered the sides. Jacob counted them: forty-three vaults opened, thirty-one cleared of threats, twelve with working technology recovered. The G.E.C.K. wasn't listed, but pre-war water purifiers and medical equipment were. People had gone into vaults before and come back with something useful. He could do the same. Jacob walked to a weathered brick building with a wood and tile roof. The 37th Aero Squadron Bunker served food and drinks to travelers passing through. Inside, three different groups sat at tables—caravan guards, scavengers, a trader counting caps. He listened to their conversations. One scavenger mentioned finding a vault door jammed half-open near the eastern ridge. Another talked about hearing mechanical sounds underground. Jacob pulled out his map and marked both locations. Someone here might know about Vault 116's entrance mechanism, or what kind of tools could breach a sealed door. He ordered water and sat down to wait for the right conversation.