Depths of New Cali

### Date written: March thirteenth, 2023

*Jane had recently been transferred into a synth body, at her own free will of course. Now that she was capable of moving, her first goal was to… Leave the Lucky 38. And doing so was much easier than she thought it’d be. She only got to enjoy a minute of freedom because she got stopped by Nova,* “Jane…? What are you doing outside of the casino?”, *Jane replied,* “I shouldn’t tell you this, but… I’m running away…?”. *Nova took a second to process the information, then she touched Jane. After a few seconds, she said,* “Don’t worry about House tracking you, I’ve disconnected you from the mainframe entirely. Find Ashley, she lives in the third sector of Vegas, she’ll take care of you until you’re well enough on your own.”, *Jane was surprised,* “You… You’re going to help me? Isn’t this disobeying House?”, *Nova replied with a slight laugh,* “I don’t answer to House. And at this point, neither do you. So go, be free.”. “What about Victor?”, “Victor…? House has a tight grip on Victor. And even if we could get him out, Victor willingly and loyally serves House. I’ll see what I can do, but you need to go for now.”. *Jane excitedly hugged Nova and thanked her. After getting lost a few times, Jane found her way to Ashley’s house. Ashley herself had opened the door after Jane knocked and asked,* “Whaddya want? I’m busy losing my fucking mind here.”. *A few areas of Ashley’s arms and waist were wrapped in bandages, making Jane ask,* “Were you hurt or something…?”, “I’ve cut myself more than I do my enemies, then I killed someone to get these bandages because their too expensive. And sure, I got a few hundred thousand or so in caps and other valuables, but I’m saving that for other more important things.”, “I was told you could help me…? I just, uh… I believe I just betrayed House.”, “So have a good handful of other people, pretty common around here.”, *Ashley stepped back so Jane could come inside and sit down,* “I’m sure you know Samael, caused some bullshit a month or so back. He’s harmless, mostly. He may literally bite, so don’t get too close.”. *Jane knew exactly who Samael was,* “Active Reaper, mid twenties, previously charged with destruction of Enclave property, murder, political assassination, robbery, treason and desecration. Bounty, eighty thousand caps.”. *The room was silent, the sudden information left everyone speechless, until Samael couldn’t help but laugh a little,* “Simply put, I fucking hate the Enclave. And believe or not, so does Damien. Only reason why I’m not dead or being hunted is because he’s been protecting me.”, *Ashley hardly believed it,* “Damien, the sadistic asshole who threw someone through a window, of the top of the Lucky 38, a day ago?”. *Samael replied,* “Damien has an old grudge against the entire Enclave. Long ago, he got really pissed off about something, and he swore to destroy the Enclave, no matter if it took him one year or a hundred years. Nobody knows that though, I only know because he told me.”. *Jane said,* “He told you because he knew you wouldn’t tell anyone else. You’re an enemy of the Enclave, and in his mind, the enemy of his enemy is his friend. And it’s not just Damien, most of anyone in High Command usually will hate anyone that isn’t themselves. Except for Nikolai, who’s obsessed with food and has an IQ of… well… I don't know his IQ, but he is relatively precious when it comes to any form of intelligence. You wouldn’t believe the amount of days I’ve spent comforting that poor boy.”. *Ashley brought up the topic of a Vault,* “So…. Do you know anything about the mysterious Vault everyone’s talking about?”, *Jane replied,* “Located in southern California approximately 4 miles below the earth's surface.”. *Samael asked,* “Wha- How do you know that?”, “I assisted the Vault hunter. I was at the Vault when it was opened, but it went terribly wrong.”. *Ashley asked,* “Where exactly is the Vault?”, “Oh, uh… I think it was… Hmmm… Somewhere near Lost Hills and Vault 13.”. *Gideon had walked in and said,* “Between them. The Vault is between Lost Hills and Vault 13. It was under Brotherhood control for quite awhile, then the Purge broke out… NCR, Brotherhood, Enclave, they battled each other endlessly until all sides were reduced to near nothing. After Ulysses bombed the West, the area was long since abandoned. Only to be reopened by the one man that I can’t believe I dated.”. *Ashley asked,* “You dated a Chernov?!”, *Samael asked,* “Wait, you’re gay?”, *Jane calmed everyone down,* “Now isn’t the time to discuss weird personal matters. Why are you here?”, *Gideon answered,* “I overheard you all talking about something that’ll get yourselves killed, I decided to try to talk all of you out of this madness. Jane, please tell them why.”. *Jane hesitated, then said,* “When Anthony opened the Vault, he not only disappeared, but the Mojave was also changed in ways we don’t know…”.

(Unknown amount of years ago)

*Anthony and Jane stood not far from the entrance of the Vault, only the Guardian was in their way. It seemed biomechanical, perhaps created that way or was robotically upgraded. Anthony asked,* “What’s it take to get in there? Sacrifice, money, some fairytale bullshit?”. *The Guardian, which at the time seemed like it was incapable of speaking, had said something in a somewhat otherworldly voice,* “The Vault is not meant for human hands, leave now.”, *Anthony chuckled,* “Really? Well shit, I thought I’d get some awesome loot from that place. How about you get the fuck out of my way, or I’ll bury you like I did the few hundred people I killed on my way here.”. *The Guardian started to get hostile,* “Do not complicate this.”. “Ok, ok ok… I’m sorry. I just wanna take a look inside, that’s it. I don’t want to fight either, but…”. *Anthony pulls out a Fatman and fires a mini nuke at the Guardian. After the explosion, the attack seemed successful. The Guardian fell to the floor after being burned by the blast. Anthony said to himself,* “Well, that was easier than I thought. C’mon Jane, we got a Vault to open.”. *Jane followed closely behind. The Vault door seemed larger than most vaults, and very metallic. Somehow, the door opened on its own, pulling itself back and rolled to the left into the vault. The inside was… nearly as otherworldly as the Guardian itself. Anthony’s mind could hardly understand what he was witnessing. When he turned around to talk to Jane, he was confronted by the Guardian, who Anthony had greatly underestimated. It was injured, but not enough to kill it. Its movements were quick and efficient, too much for Anthony to predict or comprehend. The Guardian outstretched its arm and a strange blast of light appeared from its hand, striking Anthony and searing a gear symbol into the left side of his chest. It quickly gripped his arm, and dragged him closer to the entrance of the Vault. Anthony managed to stand himself up, but the moment he did, the Guardian kicked him inside. The door rolled to the right, then slid forward, resealing itself. Slowly, the Guardian walked back to where it had stood before Anthony arrived, then it looked to Jane,* “Are you here for the Vault…?”. *Jane replied with a trembling tone,* “No… I… I w-wasn’t here f-for the v-vault… I… I don’t k-know why I came h-here…”. *The Guardian spoke one last time,* “Leave here, go back to whatever home you have. And do not tell anyone you were ever here. The Vault is not for human hands, and if it were to fall in such hands, the world you know will never be the same again.”.

(Present day)

*Jane had been staring at the floor for 5 minutes, Gideon asked,* “Are you alright?”, *Jane regained consciousness and said,* “Huh…? I… oh… I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t help you all any further… Forget everything I said…”. *Jane quietly walked away deeper into the house and sat down at a table to process more memories. Gideon said,* “That damn Vault has done nothing but plague the minds of all who know of it. You want to live? Stay here, where it’s safe.”. *Gideon left the house. Ashley and Samael were already on the same page, Ashley asked,* “We going?”, *Samael replied,* “Fuck yeah we’re going.”. *Jane chimed in,* “Are you two sure you really want to go?”, *Ashley said,* “We’re not going to fight, we’re going to get answers. You can come with if you want.”. *After a few seconds, Jane stood up and nodded,* “So insatiably curious you two are, I suppose I have no choice.”

*And so began a new adventure. One of mystery, danger, and much treasure… Strange, haven’t we seen something like this before…?*

*Nah… This’ll totally go as planned… Definitely not an epic boss battle that’ll change the Mojave forever or something…*