Jacob Carter's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

Jacob's newest radiation meter cracked in half when he dropped it testing the confirmed coordinates. The needle had been jumping between seven and fourteen rads, exactly what his calculations predicted for Vault 116's entrance depth. But his claws slipped on the casing and the device hit rock, splitting the calibration chamber clean through. He stared at the broken pieces in his paws. Sixteen other meters sat back at the Trade Post, but this one had the sensitivity range he needed for underground mapping. Without it, he couldn't measure radiation gradients as he descended. The breakthrough location was confirmed, the entry plan was ready, but now he'd have to rebuild the detector from scratch before he could safely proceed. His tail went still. He'd been so close to starting the actual descent. He walked back toward his base and spotted what looked like a tunnel entrance cut into the rock face. Metal supports framed the opening, and a faded Vault-Tec logo marked the blast door. Jacob's ears perked up. He pulled out his working radiation meter and checked the readings. Three rads. Normal background levels. His tail drooped. He walked closer and saw the metal supports had rusted through completely. The concrete walls had crumbled inward, blocking the passage with debris. Someone had painted the Vault-Tec logo on recently—the yellow paint was barely faded. Scavengers had built a fake entrance to throw vault hunters off track. Jacob kicked a chunk of concrete and watched it tumble down the pile. He'd wasted twenty minutes checking coordinates against a decoy. Outside his workspace, he found a weathered stone pillar half-buried in the sand. Deep cracks ran through the surface, and rust-colored dust coated the faded inscriptions. Jacob knelt beside it and traced the markings with one claw. Pre-war survey marker, probably. The inscriptions were too worn to read completely. He'd passed this pillar fourteen times and never stopped to examine it properly. His pattern obsession had kept him focused on radiation readings and coordinates, but he'd missed an obvious landmark that might have helped triangulate vault locations months ago. He stood and brushed the dust off his paws. Another mistake. Another delay. He walked to a reflecting pool near his workspace and crouched beside the smooth stone rim. The clear water mirrored the sky above, showing clouds drifting past. Jacob splashed water on his face and watched the ripples distort his reflection. The broken radiation meter sat in his pack. The fake tunnel had cost him time. The stone pillar proved he'd been blind to useful data. He'd built seventeen meters, documented three vaults, decoded fractal patterns, and confirmed Vault 116's exact location. But carelessness and tunnel vision kept pushing the G.E.C.K. further out of reach. He dried his face with his sleeve and stood. The detector could be rebuilt. The mistakes could be documented. The descent would happen, just not today.