Sarah Burks's Arc

Chapter 3 of 13

Sarah arrived at the meeting point fifteen minutes before dawn, her analyzer case slung over one shoulder and her modified Pip-Boy already tuned to the Cats' frequency. Marvin stood near a rusted fuel pump, the canvas-wrapped blueprints tucked under one arm. The Atomic Cats leader pulled up in a painted coupe just as the sky turned gray. Sarah watched them study the old brick factory behind Marvin, its boarded windows and faded signage barely visible in the pre-dawn light. The leader crossed the cracked pavement slowly, gaze sweeping from the factory to Marvin to Sarah. When they spoke, their voice was flat. "This better be worth pulling me out here before breakfast." Marvin unwrapped the blueprints on the hood of the coupe without introduction. Sarah saw the leader's expression shift the moment they recognized the Vault 17 construction stamps. Marvin pointed to sublevel three with one weathered finger. "Grandfather said they cleared out a whole building to make room for the rebuild. That factory." He gestured toward the brick structure. "Vault-Tec put up barriers and scaffolding, told everyone it was surface reinforcement. Took six months. When the barriers came down, the factory was still standing, but everything underneath had changed." The leader leaned closer, tracing the pump systems and air handlers that Sarah had seen on her incomplete manifests. Then Marvin pulled out a procurement order—original, dated three months after initial vault completion. It listed biological containment equipment, climate-controlled storage, and something called "iterative consciousness housing." Sarah's chest tightened. The Cats leader looked at her, waiting. Sarah pulled the filing cabinet from her pack—the battered metal case she'd found half-buried near the factory's foundation last week, burn marks across the drawers. She'd kept it because the documents inside mentioned sublevel three by name, but the pages were too damaged to read clearly. She set it on the coupe's hood next to Marvin's blueprints. "I found this four days ago. Didn't know what it meant until now." The leader opened the top drawer and pulled out a singed requisition form. Purchase order for demolition equipment, signed by a Vault-Tec regional coordinator. The date matched Marvin's rebuild timeline exactly. The leader looked at Sarah for a long moment, then at Marvin. "You both ride with my team when we go in. No more surprises." Sarah felt the knot in her stomach loosen. She'd gambled on transparency, and the Cats leader had answered by expanding the partnership instead of questioning her judgment.