Editor's note: this entry is only the first half of Chapter 94. After it was posted, I conducted a poll to determine the Charlie's decision about how to proceed after she reaches Beverly. I've moved this version to the "miscellaneous" section and will update the table of contents links once the complete chapter is posted in the near future.

 

"The Institute?" Quartercut said, working the words slowly. "This is the mythical group that engineered the Commonwealth Provisional Government massacre, correct?"

 

Despite the support the power suit gave me, I could still feel my shoulders weighing heavily on me with fatigue. Our escape from the fishery in the wee hours of the morning had left me with precious little energy, but I felt the news of our discovery couldn't wait. 

 

"Far from mythical," I corrected. "I suppose I should have brought them up when we were talking yesterday, but they aren't as overt a player as the other ones we covered." I paused for a second, then shook my head, "I'm sorry, I'm a little run down. My point is that the Institute is very real and, more to the point, they may be at the root of some of your problems."

 

"Alright," she said, sitting up on the bed and focusing her attention on me, "you've got my attention. Tell me more."

 

Piper had joined me, and together we gave Quartercut a brief overview of the Institute's misdeeds in the Commonwealth - the kidnappings, replacing people with Synths, Kellogg's mercenary group, and of course how they'd kidnapped my son.

 

 

"When we visited the fishery," Piper explained, "we found evidence that strongly suggested the priests were behind the mirelurk attack. But the evidence was staged - the lower levels of the fishery were crawling with Synths."

 

"Which tells me that it was actually the Institute who disturbed the mirelurk nesting grounds," I finished.

 

Quartercut seemed genuinely alarmed by that last part. "Did they follow you? Are they coming to attack Salem?"

 

I shook my head, starting to say, "at first. But they stopped at..." I had to take a long blink to clear my head before finishing, "they stopped at the outer defenses to the city. If they're going to try something, it won't be until they've gathered more strength."

 

The Queen of Salem seemed lost in thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Then you were doubly right to turn those turrets back on, no matter how much it displeased me at the time. I hope they've just given up, but we need to prepare to the possibility that we'll have trouble."

 

Heather added, "you should... you have to, really. Your situation is too much like College Point, and the Synths wiped us out with a surprise attack. Don't pretend that they won't be back."

 

I felt myself leaning a little and put one hand on Quartercut's bedframe to steady myself. She noticed, and pointed me towards the couch in her small living area. "Sit down, Charley. You're obviously exhausted."

 

I settled into the comfortable if worn out couch, only to find Quartercut reaching for the manual release on my air filter. 

 

"Hey--" I started to protest, before I momentarily lost my voice while she drew the tubes out of my throat and then released the helmet seals. Still coughing from the unexpected move, I hoarsely continued, "hey, tell me next time when you're..."

 

Quartercut silenced me by laying her hand on my breast. "I'm sure you'll rest better breathing fresh air. But tell me, can you feel through this suit? Can you feel my touch?"

 

 

It took me a second to process what she was saying, and as I fought to answer her she slid up onto my lap, meeting my eyes and all but challenging me to stop her. 

 

"Yes," I said, "it's not exactly the same but the suit transmits what... ever..."

 

"Whatever touches you?" Quartercut pressed. She slid closer, bringing her hips right against me and leaning in until her breasts pushed up against my own. Still she refused to break her eye contact, staring deep on my eyes. In a moment of clarity, I realized that I was unconsciously wrapping my arms around her in such a way that my hands were sliding up under her shorts.

 

"How much can you feel?" she pressed, "can you feel my heart beating? Can your hands feel my body tightening against you?"

 

 

Before Quartercut could push herself on me any further, I heard Piper clear her throat. "Excuse me, but that's my wife you're molesting," she said, a tinge of irritation in her voice.

 

Quartercut pulled back, and I thought I detected a little blush on her face, but she quickly regained her confidence. 

 

"Indeed, it is your wife that I'm molesting," she agreed. "I was rude to not ask your permission first... will you forgive me? Or, perhaps, would you like to join me?"

 

I let my eyes close at the momentary respite from the stimulation, and I heard Piper laugh, saying, "well, I've never fucked a Queen before. But if you two are going to fool around, we need to get Charley out of her suit first."

 

I let them undress me passively - somehow I'd expected Piper to be a little more possessive, but I was so worn out that I just went with the flow. 

 

As the two of them led me over to the bed, I heard Quartercut ask Heather, "what about you? Are you joining us as well?"

 

She shook her head, "no, I think I'll just, um, keep watch."

 

I'm not sure what those two expected from me in my state, but after some half-hearted snuggling, Piper - who was apparently much less tired than I - tightened her trusty strap-on around her waist and shifted to a more commanding position. With Quartercut sandwiched between the two of us, Piper penetrated the Queen while I... mostly laid there and enjoyed the warmth of her skin against mine. 

 

 

At some point the two of them shifted positions and I found myself semi-ejected off the bed. Crawling back onto the mattress, I found my wife now ensconced between Quartercut's legs, held tight between the Queen's thighs as she squirmed. I leaned over, meaning to give Quartercut just a brief kiss before sliding in next to her, but she reached around and held me fast, extending the kiss and letting her hot tongue freely explore my mouth.

 

 

When we finally separated, she said, smiling, "you have a nice mouth. I should have taken more advantage of it yesterday." Letting out a long sigh, she shifted just enough to let me lie next to her but not so much that Piper could escape from between her legs.

 

This kept up for another ten or fifteen minutes before, finally spent, Quartercut relaxed and let Piper wriggle free.

 

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to stay in Salem for a while, Charley?" she asked, "I haven't met someone like you in a long time, and I'd like to spend some time together."

 

I tried to come up with an answer for her, but it turned out that falling asleep in her arms was much easier than finding a way to gently deny her request.

 

Still, when the afternoon sun finally warmed us enough to rise, I had to do just that.

 

"I'm sorry," I explained, "but we've already stayed later than we should have. I really do need to go to Beverly, and then... well, then I need to get back to finding my son. I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll meet though... and you'd be welcome in Concord any time."

 

Quartercut looked disappointed, but not surprised. She still did manage to draw out our visit a little longer, insisting on serving us lunch and then getting into a lengthy discussion with Heather about the defenses at College Point and their weaknesses - and how Salem could to better - but ultimately we had to depart.

 

As we crossed through the remains of Salem's marketplace, Quartercut waved at the empty stalls.

 

"We're lonely up here, Charley. I'm lonely. Find a way to send your traders, it's time for Salem to be part of the Commonwealth again."

 

 

I promised to do just that, and then parted with the Queen of Salem after a brief hug.

 

"Be safe," I said, "you've earned it."

 

The journey north of Salem was uneventful; we steered well clear of the fishery, but I was still concerned that we'd run into mirelurks - or worse - ranging this far north. While we did have a run-in with a group of feral ghouls, nothing really threatening ever confronted us. The worst part of the trip was actually a passing rad storm that forced us to waste precious hours sheltering in an abandoned building. I was fairly safe inside my power suit, but Piper and Heather both needed to be careful about radiation, and while we waited for the storm to break I thought about options to offer them better protection. That wouldn't be the last time this crossed my mind, either, but that's a whole other story.

 

I was impressed with the farmstead on Brackenbury Beach when it finally came into view. The buildings were well maintained, with what damage there was patched up with salvaged materials. I suspected even then that the settlers here didn't have access to a Workshop, something I confirmed later, and their diligent upkeep and repairs spoke to a resourceful bunch. I did note the remains of the 127 overpass in the distance, and wondered if that put them at risk of being observed by raiders, but so far at least the residents had kept their place livable. 

 

 

If I'd been concerned about finding Nick, I put those fears to rest quickly. Before we even reached the main house, I found Nick sleuthing around a small shed right at the perimeter of the settlement. After an enthusiastic round of greetings from the three of us, Nick asked the obvious question.

 

"Charley, what are you doing out here?"

 

I felt a smile creep over my face at the sound of his voice. It had been much too long since I'd last talked to Nick, and it felt good to see him again.

 

"Isn't it enough that I just wanted to check up on you?"

 

 

"Yeah, that's great an all - and don't get me wrong, I appreciate it. But I didn't get to be the longest serving detective in the Commonwealth by missing obvious clues. Something's up, isn't it? A lead on your kid?"

 

I nodded in agreement. "Was it that obvious?" I didn't pause for him to answer. "Of course it was. Jack Cabot has agreed to introduce me to the Railroad in exchange helping him solve a missing person problem he has."

 

"Cabot, huh?" Nick murmured, "that's a serious player. And how does the Railroad fit into all this?"

 

I gave Nick a brief summary of what we'd learned about Brian Virgil and our hope that he could provide us with a way to infiltrate the Institute and rescue Shaun. 

 

"Sounds like we're both chasing the same bone, going different ways," he said.

 

 

"So you've got a lead on Shaun too?" I pressed.

 

"More on the whole 'cracking the Institute' part. But I've got a missing persons case too, and maybe a lead on where Kellogg hung us out to dry. Speaking of which, do you have that doo-dad you pulled out of his skull?"

 

I nodded. "Do you need it?"

 

"I might. But for now, follow me, I want to introduce you to the client, then I'll fill you in on the rest."

 

Nick led me down to the main house, where we found a man and woman waiting for us in the dining room.

 

"Kenji," Nick said, "why don't you tell my partner what you told me."

 

"Oh," the man said. If I wanted to describe him in a word it would be 'frightened.' Maybe a little angry, too, but mostly frightened. "Good, you brought in a partner. Good. Does that mean you found something? You've got a lead to follow?"

 

 

"We're here to help," I said, "tell me what happened."

 

That brought back a little bit of the anger, though it was still tinged with fear and concern.

 

"It's all thanks to this damn radio," he said, waving at an orange CB set that'd set up on the table. "I told Nick everything already."

 

"It's OK, Kenji," Nick drawled, "I want my partner to hear it fresh from the source. No sense on her getting this second hand since you're right here."

 

The woman - the man's wife, I presumed, spoke next, "our daughter Kasumi likes to fix things. This radio was her latest project."

 

"Until she made contact with the kidnapper, who lured her away," Kenji finished.

 

 

An interesting biplay followed that made the scenario a little less clear-cut than Kenji would let on. Their daughter, Kasumi, had recently turned 19 and had been testing boundaries in the settlement. Her mother, Rei, the woman we were speaking with, was more open to the idea that Kasumi had left seeing to forge her own life, but Kenji was certain foul play was involved. Kasumi had taken one of the settlement's boats, but beyond that her parents were at a loss. They'd turned to Nick for help and since then he'd been gathering evidence around the settlement, trying to piece together what Kasumi had been doing prior to her departure.

 

"Don't worry, Kenji," Nick reassured him as the conversation wound down, "we'll find Kasumi. Now I need to compare notes with my partner. Come on, Charley, let's take a walk and I'll go over the evidence I've found so far."

 

It seemed a little odd that Nick wasn't just discussing it in front of his clients, but I followed his lead, letting him show me out of the house and towards a large warehouse on the waterfront.

 

"The girl left recordings all over the house. Left her diary out on her bedstand too. Most of it was all about her handyman projects and about her recurring nightmares, but there's one thing she hid out here, locked up in a safe. Can you guess what?"

 

I shrugged, "something tells me it's the answer to where she went. But... it can't be that simple?"

 

Rather than answer me directly, Nick handed me a holotape, which I plugged into my Pip-Boy.

 

"Project Log: um, myself. I never really thought about who, or what, I am. God... where do I start? The radio. I was right about the radio. There's a strong signal to the north. There's a group of people out there. They say they're all Synths. Synthetic people, made by the Institute. They're trying to build a place for their kind. Where they can be accepted... and live alongside human beings. It sounds wonderful but... then they started asking questions. Questions about me, and... well, then more questions came up. Questions I don't have answers to."

 

"I mean... I've always felt... off. Like I'm not really supposed to be here. There's things in my childhood I can't remember. And the dreams. That white room over and over again. I... I'm going to go. To the Synths. To Dima. He's going to help me find out the truth about myself. He told me to sail north, to a town called Far Harbor. Then I can make my way to them on foot."

 

"So... the daughter thinks she's a Synth?" Piper said, "and now she's taken off to... where? Far Harbor?"

 

"Charley knows it as Bar Harbor," Nick interjected, "About two hundred miles northeast of here by water. At least she didn't try to go there by land, right up through the war zone in New Hampshire."

 

"OK," I said, "I see the Institute connection, but... if they replaced these poor peoples' kid with a Synth, there's no reason to think she'd know how to get back in, right? How does this connect with us?"

 

"The colony of Synths is the part that got my attention. Or rather, that name. Dima. I know him. He's... well, he's my brother. It's complicated."

 

Piper perked up at that. "I didn't know you had a brother," she said.

 

"I don't really talk about him. When we were... younger, some things happened that I'm not too proud of now. But if Dima's still alive? Well, I bet he can crack that implant in a hot second."

 

 

"Sounds like you're not available to help out with Cabot's case, are you?"

 

Nick shook his head decisively, "sorry, kid. Even before I found out about the Dima connection, I promised Kenji I'd find his kid. I can't just drop that case. Honestly, I was kind of hoping you'd drop the Cabot thing and come with me. It sounds like beyond the implant, Dima might just the kind of ally you need for going after the Institute."

 

"Fuck," I muttered, "you're right. But I also don't want to just stiff Cabot. He doesn't seem like the kind of man I want as an enemy."

 

The four of us - Piper, Nick, Heather, and me - talked about our options as the sun descended towards the horizon. Nick was set on going to Far Harbor - I couldn't talk him out of it and honestly I didn't really want to. So we all agreed that we'd have to recruit Holly Ainsleigh to be the drive the investigation at the asylum. We also agreed that Nick shouldn't go to Far Harbor alone. In the end we concluded, uncomfortably, that either me or Piper would accompany Nick and the other one would work with Holly on the Cabot case. Heather, since she was technically my employee, would go wherever I went. 

 

I could see advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but in the end I decided...

 

You can decide how the second half of this chapter goes in the Book 5 poll, which you can visit at this link.