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He did not know the Brotherhood was preparing an infiltration. But he knew, instinctively, that this peace would be tested.
The night passed without incident.
That, in itself, was a quiet victory.
Sanctuary slept the way a living place slept—not the uneasy half-rest of a camp expecting attack, but the deep, earned stillness of a settlement that trusted its walls, its people, and the systems that held it together. Wind moved softly through rebuilt houses. Generator hums blended into a low, familiar chorus. Lanterns dimmed one by one as guards rotated shifts with murmured greetings and tired jokes.
Sico did not sleep much.
He rarely did after days like this.
Instead, he sat at his desk until the early hours, reading reports twice, not because he expected to find errors, but because repetition gave shape to instinct. Patrol routes. Trade manifests. Medical supply tallies. Notes from Magnolia about increased caravan traffic already forming outside the northern gate.
And Curie's report.
He lingered on that one longer than the others.
It was concise, as always Curie had learned, over time, that Sico valued clarity as much as brilliance. Production output up twelve percent. Stabilization loss reduced again. Demand continuing to exceed projections. A brief note at the end, almost apologetic in tone:
I will temporarily redirect my efforts from Project Continuum to assist the team until staffing stabilizes.
Sico exhaled slowly when he read that.
He knew what it cost her to write it.
By the time the sky began to lighten with that pale, pre-dawn gray that came before true morning, he had already made his decision.
The pharmaceutical lab sat adjacent to the hospital complex, close enough that medical staff could coordinate easily, but far enough that production hazards with chemical fumes, volatile reactions, heavy equipment that never crossed into patient space. It was one of the earliest structures the Freemasons had expanded after Sanctuary stabilized, built with a deliberate blend of salvaged pre-war materials and new construction techniques Curie herself had helped design.
White walls. Reinforced floors. Proper ventilation.
Clean.
Sico approached on foot, refusing an escort despite the protests of a junior guard who clearly thought this was a poor idea after yesterday's visit from the Brotherhood.
"If I can't walk through my own settlement without armor," Sico had said calmly, "then we've already lost something."
The guard hadn't argued after that.
The lab doors slid open with a soft pneumatic hiss as Sico approached, recognizing his clearance instantly. The change in atmosphere was immediate.
Warmth.
The faint, sterile tang of disinfectant layered with chemical undertones that nothing sharp or unpleasant, just the smell of work being done properly. Machines hummed in controlled rhythms. Conveyors moved at measured speeds. Voices overlapped in focused conversation.
The lab was alive.
Inside, Curie's team was already in motion.
Technicians moved between stations with practiced ease, checking pressure gauges, adjusting mixture ratios, logging batch numbers. Protective gear varied as some wore full lab coats and respirators, others lighter coverings depending on their station, but every face carried the same expression: concentration edged with urgency.
Demand did that.
Sico paused just inside the doorway, taking it in without interrupting.
Rad-X production had scaled faster than anyone had predicted, including Curie. What had begun as a controlled rollout to stabilize Sanctuary's own patrols had become a Commonwealth-wide lifeline. Caravans arrived daily. Sometimes twice a day. Sometimes with armed escorts not because Sanctuary demanded them, but because the roads had learned that Rad-X shipments were valuable.
Too valuable.
And there, near the center of it all, sleeves rolled up, gloves already smudged with reagent stains, stood Curie.
She was not behind a terminal.
She was not buried in data.
She was working.
Curie moved between stations with quiet efficiency, stopping to adjust a technician's hand position here, to correct a measurement there. She spoke softly, in precise language, switching effortlessly between instruction and encouragement.
"No, not yet. The mixture must stabilize first. Yes, exactly. That opacity is correct."
A young assistant nodded rapidly, relief obvious as Curie offered a small approving smile before moving on.
Sico felt something loosen in his chest as he watched.
This was Curie as she truly was that not just a mind, but a presence. Someone who made others better simply by standing beside them. Someone who did not command obedience, but earned trust.
She noticed him only when she turned and nearly collided with him.
"Oh!" Curie stopped short, blinking once in surprise before her expression brightened. "Director Sico. You are… earlier than expected."
"Am I?" Sico asked mildly.
Curie glanced instinctively at a wall clock, then laughed softly. "Apparently so. Time has been… elusive this morning."
Sico smiled. "I thought I'd see the chaos for myself."
Curie gestured around them with one gloved hand. "Organized chaos, I hope."
"From where I'm standing," Sico said, "it looks like competence under pressure."
She looked genuinely pleased at that.
"I am sorry," Curie added, lowering her voice slightly as they walked together along the main production line. "About Project Continuum. I do not enjoy leaving work unfinished."
"I know," Sico replied. "That's why I came."
Curie glanced at him, curious. "You came to scold me?"
Sico huffed a quiet laugh. "Hardly."
They stopped near a glass partition overlooking the final bottling process. Rows of freshly sealed Rad-X vials moved steadily along the conveyor, each labeled with the Freemasons insignia that not as a mark of ownership, but of accountability.
"This," Sico said, nodding toward the line, "is exactly why your other work matters."
Curie followed his gaze. "Because it distracts me?"
"No," Sico said. "Because it makes this sustainable."
She frowned slightly. "I do not follow."
Sico leaned his forearms lightly against the railing, careful not to interfere with anyone's movement. "You're carrying too much of this yourself."
Curie opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again.
"That is temporary," she said carefully.
"So was Rad-X," Sico replied gently.
Curie exhaled through her nose, a sound halfway between a sigh and a laugh. "You are very good at uncomfortable truths."
"I have practice," Sico said.
They watched the line for a moment in silence.
"I abandoned my research this morning," Curie said quietly. "Not because it was unimportant. But because people are lining up outside the gates. Sick people. Scavvers. Traders. Even settlements we've never had contact with before."
"I know," Sico said. "Magnolia's office is already drafting new distribution schedules."
Curie nodded. "I could not justify staying in my lab while others struggled to keep up."
Sico turned to face her fully. "And you shouldn't have to choose."
She met his gaze. "But I do."
"For now," he agreed. "But not forever."
Curie hesitated. "What are you proposing?"
Sico gestured toward the lab floor. "You built this system to be resilient. Redundant. Scalable."
"Yes," Curie said. "In theory."
"In practice," Sico replied, "it needs more people who think like you."
Curie smiled faintly. "That is… statistically improbable."
Sico smiled back. "Then we'll make it probable."
She studied his face, reading the intent behind the words. "You want to expand the team."
"I want to protect your time," Sico said. "Because the Commonwealth can survive without one more batch of Rad-X tomorrow. But it might not survive what you're working on next if you're forced to abandon it entirely."
Curie's expression softened.
"You believe in my work," she said.
"Yes," Sico replied without hesitation. "And not just because it produces results."
A technician approached cautiously. "Doctor Curie? We're ready for the next catalyst run."
Curie nodded. "I'll be there in a moment."
The technician glanced briefly at Sico, then hurried off.
Curie turned back to him. "There is something else."
Sico waited.
"Demand is increasing faster than we can train," she said. "Some of the new assistants are capable, but they lack foundational understanding. I can guide them, but it takes time."
Sico nodded. "Time is the one resource everyone wants."
Curie smiled wryly. "Indeed."
They began walking again, Curie checking stations as they moved, her attention split but never diminished.
"I will arrange additional staffing," Sico said. "From settlements we trust. People with aptitude, not just desperation."
Curie glanced at him. "And security?"
"Already increased," Sico replied. "Quietly."
She paused for half a step. "You sensed something."
"I always do," Sico said simply.
Curie did not press.
Instead, she returned her focus to the work at hand, issuing calm instructions, correcting errors before they became problems. Sico watched her for a while longer, not as a leader assessing output, but as someone recognizing the weight another carried.
Sico remained where he was, leaning lightly against the railing as Curie moved ahead of him, her focus returning seamlessly to the flow of work. He watched the way she adjusted without friction, how her presence didn't disrupt the lab's rhythm but seemed to tune it, like a conductor stepping briefly onto the podium before yielding again to the orchestra.
For a few minutes, he said nothing.
He let the machines speak. Let the technicians work. Let Curie finish what she was in the middle of finishing.
It was a habit he had learned early on: never interrupt someone in their element unless it truly mattered.
Eventually, Curie stepped back from a station, removed her gloves, and sanitized her hands with practiced efficiency. She turned to him again, curiosity returning to her eyes now that the immediate pressure had eased by a fraction.
"You were going to say something," she observed gently.
Sico smiled faintly. "Was it that obvious?"
"To me," Curie replied. "Yes."
He straightened slightly. "I wanted to ask about materials."
Curie's expression shifted at once, professional instincts engaging fully. "Raw inputs or refined compounds?"
"All of it," Sico said. "From reagents to stabilizers. I want to know how close we are to strain."
Curie nodded and gestured toward a nearby workstation where a tablet rested on a clean surface. She tapped the screen, bringing up inventory schematics layered with production forecasts.
"At present," she said, "we are stable."
Sico waited.
"But," Curie continued, glancing sideways at him, "stable is not the same as comfortable."
She expanded the projection, highlighting several components in amber rather than green.
"These," she said, pointing to a cluster of chemical precursors. "They are not rare, strictly speaking. But they are increasingly contested."
"Because of us," Sico said.
"Because of success," Curie corrected, without judgment.
Sico accepted that. "How long before stable becomes strained?"
Curie considered, fingers hovering above the screen as calculations ran behind her eyes. "At our current output? Perhaps three weeks before we begin making compromises in scheduling. Five weeks before I would be… displeased."
He raised an eyebrow. "That sounds serious."
She allowed herself a small, wry smile. "It is."
He studied the highlighted components more closely. "Can we synthesize substitutes?"
"For some," Curie said. "Others require specific molecular structures that are difficult to replicate without significant infrastructure. It is possible. But inefficient."
Sico nodded slowly. "So the better option is acquisition."
"Yes," Curie said. "Trade, purchase, or recovery."
She hesitated, then added, "I had hoped you might speak with Magnolia."
Sico glanced at her. "About procurement?"
"Yes," Curie said. "Her networks are… impressive. She can source materials that would take us months to gather ourselves."
"That was my thought as well," Sico said. "Anything else?"
Curie hesitated again, then sighed softly. "There is also Hancock."
Sico smiled slightly at the name. "I was wondering when you'd bring him up."
Curie looked almost apologetic. "I am aware that his methods are… unconventional."
"That's one word for it," Sico said.
"But effective," Curie added.
"Very," Sico agreed.
She folded her hands together, thoughtful. "Some of the compounds we require are more likely to be found in old industrial zones. Places that caravans avoid. Places scavengers… do not."
Sico chuckled quietly. "Hancock has never avoided a bad idea in his life."
Curie tilted her head. "Is that a criticism?"
"No," Sico said. "It's a qualification."
They shared a brief smile.
"I will speak with Magnolia today," Sico said. "And I'll send word to Hancock. See if he's willing to divert a team."
Curie's shoulders relaxed slightly. "That would be… reassuring."
Sico studied her face for a moment. "You're worried."
"Yes," Curie admitted readily. "Not about Rad-X failing. But about what happens if we succeed too well without preparation."
"That's a fair concern," Sico said. "It's one I share."
Curie glanced back at the lab floor, at the steady movement of vials, at the technicians who trusted her guidance implicitly. "They depend on this work now."
"So does the Commonwealth," Sico said.
She looked at him again. "That is what frightens me."
Sico's voice softened. "It shouldn't. Not here."
Curie searched his expression, then nodded. "I believe you."
A brief silence settled between them, comfortable but heavy with shared responsibility.
"I should return to the catalyst run," Curie said finally. "If we delay too long, the mixture will cool."
"Of course," Sico said. "I won't keep you."
She hesitated, then added, "Thank you. For asking."
"For listening," he replied. "It's the least I can do."
Curie smiled at that, then turned back toward her team, slipping seamlessly once more into motion.
Sico remained where he was for a few moments longer, watching the lab reclaim her completely. Then he turned and made his way out, the doors sliding shut behind him.
Magnolia was already halfway through her morning workload when Sico entered the Administrative Building.
The space buzzed with controlled activity. Clerks moved between desks carrying manifests and stamped approvals. Runners waited near the doors, ready to carry messages to gates, warehouses, and patrol commanders. A chalkboard near the far wall listed today's caravans, destinations, and scheduled departure times.
Magnolia stood at the center of it all, coat off, sleeves rolled up, hair pulled back with efficient precision. She was speaking to two aides at once, dictating changes to a supply route while reviewing a ledger with sharp focus.
She noticed Sico only when he stopped beside her desk.
"Give me five minutes," she said without looking up.
"I'll give you two," Sico replied calmly.
She snorted softly, then waved the aides away. "You're cruel."
"I'm efficient," he countered.
She finally looked up, eyes scanning his face. "You've been to the lab."
"Yes," Sico said. "Curie's holding things together."
Magnolia nodded. "I know. I've already had three requests for priority allocation this morning."
"And you denied them," Sico said.
"Of course," Magnolia replied. "Fairness scales better than favoritism."
Sico smiled faintly. "I need you to source additional materials."
She reached for a fresh ledger without hesitation. "Which ones?"
He named them, watching her expression carefully.
She frowned slightly. "Those will take some pulling."
"Can you do it?" Sico asked.
Magnolia looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "Do you ever ask me questions you don't know the answer to?"
"Sometimes," Sico said. "This isn't one of them."
She smiled thinly. "I'll reach out to my western contacts. They owe us favors."
"And Hancock," Sico added. "I'll handle that part."
Magnolia nodded. "Good. His people are reckless, but thorough."
"Just like him," Sico said.
She closed the ledger. "Anything else?"
"Yes," Sico said. "Quietly increase oversight on incoming material shipments. I don't want surprises."
Her gaze sharpened. "You're expecting interference."
"I'm expecting interest," Sico corrected.
Magnolia's smile faded. "I'll be careful."
"I know," Sico said.
He turned to leave, then paused. "Magnolia?"
She looked up again. "Yes?"
"Thank you," he said. "For holding the line."
She studied him for a moment, then nodded. "That's my job."
Hancock was in Scavenger Department when the message reached him.
He was, predictably, not doing anything resembling official governance at the time.
The place was alive with music and laughter, smoke curling lazily through the air as patrons crowded around tables and the bar. Hancock leaned against the counter, coat open, hat tilted back slightly as he listened to some music.
When the courier finally pushed through the crowd and handed him the sealed message, Hancock took one look at the Freemasons mark and grinned.
"Well I'll be damned," he muttered. "Look at that."
He cracked the seal, skimmed the contents, then laughed outright.
"Scavenging for science," he said aloud. "Now that's my kind of philanthropy."
He turned to the courier. "Tell Sico I'm in."
The courier blinked. "Just like that?"
Hancock tipped his hat. "Just like that."
By the time Sico returned to Freemasons HQ, confirmations were already filtering in.
Magnolia's first contacts had responded positively. Hancock's message arrived shortly after, brief and characteristically irreverent, but unmistakably committed.
Sico read it once, then set it aside.
The machinery was turning.
That afternoon, he returned to the lab briefly, not to interfere, but to inform Curie that help was coming. She listened, relief evident even as she masked it with professionalism.
"That will ease matters considerably," she said. "Thank you."
"Focus on what matters," Sico told her. "We'll handle the rest."
As evening approached, Sanctuary continued its steady rhythm. Rad-X shipments were packed and sealed. Guards doubled checks at the gates without drawing attention. Clerks updated manifests. Caravans rolled out under the watchful eyes of patrols.
As dusk settled over Sanctuary, it did not arrive as a sudden fall into darkness, but as a gradual softening of light, the sky bruising from pale gold into muted violet. The settlement adjusted instinctively. Lanterns were lit. Gates shifted from open flow to controlled entry. Voices lowered without being asked to. Sanctuary had learned its own rhythm, and it moved through evening the way a practiced body moved through breath.
Sico stood at the upper balcony of Freemasons HQ for a while, hands resting on the worn railing, watching it all unfold.
He could see the glow of the hospital complex in the distance, brighter than most structures, its lights steady and constant. The pharmaceutical lab beside it shone with a colder, whiter clarity, like a thought held deliberately in the mind. Even from here, he could imagine the hum of machinery, the careful choreography of hands and glass and calculation.
Curie would still be there.
She often was.
He did not go to her immediately.
Instead, he let the day finish settling into place. He reviewed the last of the afternoon reports as they came in with Magnolia's procurement updates, patrol summaries, a brief note from security confirming Hancock's team had already begun assembling volunteers, enthusiastic and ill-advised in equal measure.
Typical.
When the final caravan rolled out and the gates sealed for the night, Sico finally left HQ and walked toward the hospital complex again.
No escort.
By now, most guards knew better than to argue unless there was an immediate threat. They watched him pass, offered nods of respect, and returned to their duties. Sanctuary trusted him because he trusted it in return.
The lab doors recognized him instantly, sliding open with the same soft pneumatic sigh as before. Inside, the atmosphere had shifted from morning urgency to evening endurance. The pace was still brisk, but steadier now, less frantic. The team had found its second wind.
Curie stood near the central synthesis station, speaking quietly with two senior technicians. She looked tired in the way only deeply engaged people did that not drained, but stretched thin, attention pulled taut across too many responsibilities.
She noticed him almost immediately this time.
"Sico," she said, stepping away from the technicians and offering them a nod that dismissed them without words. "I was not expecting you back so soon."
"I won't stay long," Sico said. "I wanted to update you."
Her posture straightened slightly. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said quickly. "Quite the opposite."
That caught her attention.
They moved together toward a quieter corner of the lab, near a reinforced window that looked out toward the darkening settlement beyond. The hum of machinery remained, but the voices were more distant here.
"I spoke with Magnolia," Sico said. "And Hancock."
Curie's lips curved into a faint smile at the second name. "Then the scavenger teams are already arguing over who gets the most dangerous assignments."
"Probably," Sico agreed. "They're mobilizing faster than expected."
"That is… reassuring," Curie said. "And Magnolia?"
"She's pulling favors," Sico replied. "Western routes. Old industrial caches. Some pre-war suppliers who still have stockpiles they don't fully understand."
Curie nodded thoughtfully. "That should cover the amber-tier shortages."
"It will," Sico said. "And more."
She studied his face, then said quietly, "You did not come here just to tell me that."
"No," Sico admitted.
There was no tension in the admission. Just honesty.
Curie waited.
Sico folded his arms loosely, considering his words carefully that not because he feared her reaction, but because he respected her enough to choose precision.
"You can start expanding your team," he said. "Tomorrow."
Curie blinked.
"I beg your pardon?" she said.
"Begin recruitment," Sico repeated. "Training. Delegation. Structural expansion. Whatever you need to bolster Rad-X production without burning yourself into the ground."
For a moment, she simply stared at him.
"You are serious," she said slowly.
"I wouldn't bring this to you otherwise."
"But the vetting process," Curie said. "Security clearances. Education gaps. Time."
"All manageable," Sico replied. "And all less costly than losing you to exhaustion."
Her expression softened despite herself. "You have thought about this."
"I always do," he said gently. "Just not always out loud."
Curie turned away slightly, resting her hands against the edge of a workstation as she absorbed the implications. The lab lights reflected off the glassware beside her, throwing faint patterns across her sleeves.
"Expanding the team changes everything," she said quietly. "It requires structure. Layers. I will no longer be able to oversee every process personally."
"That's the point," Sico said.
She let out a small, uncertain laugh. "You say that as if it is easy."
"I say it as if it's necessary."
She looked back at him. "And if I refuse?"
Sico met her gaze evenly. "Then I'll worry. But I won't force you."
That answer seemed to matter more than anything else.
Curie inhaled slowly, then nodded once. "I accept."
Relief crossed his features, subtle but real.
"I will need criteria," she continued, already shifting into planning mode. "Aptitude thresholds. Psychological screening. Ethical alignment."
"You'll have full authority," Sico said. "Within reason."
She smiled faintly. "I assumed as much."
They stood in companionable silence for a few seconds, the weight of the decision settling between them.
"There is something else," Curie said.
Sico waited.
"With expansion comes visibility," she said. "More people. More questions. More interest."
"Yes," Sico said. "I'm aware."
"And that does not concern you?" she asked.
"It does," he replied. "But hiding strength has never protected anyone for long."
She studied him again, then nodded. "Very well."
She straightened, her earlier fatigue giving way to a new kind of energy with the kind that came from possibility rather than pressure.
"I will draft an initial framework tonight," she said. "Training modules. Tiered access. Mentorship pairings."
"Send it to me when you're ready," Sico said. "Magnolia will coordinate logistics."
Curie hesitated, then said softly, "Thank you. For trusting me with this."
Sico smiled. "You earned it a long time ago."
That seemed to catch her off guard more than anything else he'd said.
He did not linger after that. He knew better than to steal momentum from someone just handed a new horizon.
As he turned to leave, Curie called after him.
"Sico?"
He paused and looked back.
"If this succeeds," she said, "Rad-X will no longer be merely a medicine. It will be infrastructure."
"I know," he said. "That's why we're doing it now."
He left her there, already calling technicians over, already sketching ideas on a glass board with swift, precise movements. The lab responded to her instantly, like a system recognizing an upgrade.
Outside, night had fully claimed Sanctuary.
The lights along the main road glowed warm and steady, illuminating faces as people moved between homes, clinics, and communal halls. Laughter drifted from a gathering near the river. Somewhere, a generator backfired and was immediately corrected by a mechanic who didn't even bother to curse.
Sico walked slowly back toward HQ, his mind already shifting to the next set of challenges. Expansion would ripple outward. Training would take time. Security would need adjustment. Success would draw attention from factions less inclined toward cooperation.
______________________________________________
• Name: Sico
• Stats :
S: 8,44
P: 7,44
E: 8,44
C: 8,44
I: 9,44
A: 7,45
L: 7
• Skills: advance Mechanic, Science, and Shooting skills, intermediate Medical, Hand to Hand Combat, Lockpicking, Hacking, Persuasion, and Drawing Skills
• Inventory: 53.280 caps, 10mm Pistol, 1500 10mm rounds, 22 mole rats meat, 17 mole rats teeth, 1 fragmentation grenade, 6 stimpak, 1 rad x, 6 fusion core, computer blueprint, modern TV blueprint, camera recorder blueprint, 1 set of combat armor, Automatic Assault Rifle, 1.500 5.56mm rounds, power armor T51 blueprint, Electric Motorcycle blueprint, T-45 power armor, Minigun, 1.000 5mm rounds, Cryolator, 200 cryo cell, Machine Gun Turret Mk1 blueprint, electric car blueprint, Kellogg gun, Righteous Authority, Ashmaker, Furious Power Fist, Full set combat armor blueprint, M240 7.62mm machine guns blueprint, Automatic Assault Rifle blueprint, and Humvee blueprint.
• Active Quest:-