"I have finished my scouting." Deccanus said upon seeing Adam exit the rubble cave where the Vault lay.
"Did it go well?" Adam asked as he approached.
"I found a few suitable locations, however I have also confirmed that the first small groups of feral ghouls have begun to breach the area. Time is running out." Deccanus said with a resolute tone. Adam nodded.
"Alright, good work, let's get you inside the vault and you can take a much deserved break." Adam smiled before turning to head inside the Vault. It was a few moments before he noticed Deccanus was not yet following him.
"Is there something wrong?" Adam asked, confused.
"I… am not a fan of Vaults…" Deccanus said, hesitantly. "I do not like the concept of being enclosed or… the old world horrors." Adam stopped and sighed softly then nodded.
"I understand." Adam said softly as he walked closer to Deccanus. "If you truly don't want to come inside that is fine. But… in all likelihood this will become my home, my base. I will be coming here a lot. You don't have to live here if you don't want but I want you to feel welcome. Besides, I promise this vault is not at all like the other one. There are no 'horrors' here." He smiled warmly, completely ignoring the fact that in a way he could be considered the horror from this Vault. Nothing could be done about that anyway though.
Deccanus remained silent for a few moments before he took a deep breath and then seemed to steel himself.
"Alright, lead the way." Deccanus said, resolved.
Deccanus stepped into the Vault skeptically, remaining cautious as he did, he noticed the red overhead lights which did not seem to put him at ease as his hand was on his machete but he was trusting Adam as they moved through.
Adam took him on a brief tour, showing him first the living quarters where the refugees were still cleaning, which did seem to calm Deccanus' nerves, as seeing other people milling about made the vault seem less oppressive. He then showed him a few other spaces including the library which, surprisingly, got the biggest reaction out of him so far.
"All of these are stories?" He said in mild awe as he took in the room, walking among the bookshelves.
"Yeah." Adam said casually. "I mean some are fiction, some are nonfiction, some are probably cookbooks, but yeah they are mostly untouched by time so they are all still good." Adam said as he nonchalantly pulled a book out from a bookshelf to examine it idly. The title was 'Pride and Prejudice'. He had heard the name but never read it. As he put it back he found Deccanus pulling one out and staring at it in wonder.
"Is it that surprising?" Adam asked, curious. "There are plenty of other books out there too."
"Yes, there are other books." Deccanus said as he gently ran his hand over the cover. "But many stories have been lost from the old world. Books naught but piles of ash, even stores which sell books do so in small quantities, to find a library such as this, untouched is…" He stopped himself and then put the book back, leaving his words unfinished.
"I didn't realize you liked books so much." Adam said, surprised. Deccanus shook his head.
"I like stories." He corrected. "It is less that I would make use of such a place and instead it leaves me in awe that so many stories exist in one place."
Adam was having a hard time fully understanding what he meant. But perhaps the legion did not have many books, stories were told by word of mouth. It was true that books now were a bit of a luxury. They were not overly expensive, though not cheap, but they were not nearly as abundant as they once were. The bookstore he found in Midway was quite a small shop, even if it was stuffed to the brim with books it did not make up that many. Meanwhile if he were to assume every book here was worth 20 caps, which is a lowball figure, this library would be worth thousands if not tens of thousands of caps.
Of course for Adam this place was not that impressive, the Chicago library was massive and made this Vault Library feel like a kids section, but to someone who had never seen a full library this place must seem huge.
Adam just chuckled softly.
"Well if you stick around you can come here as often as you like, no reason you can't spend time reading every story in here." Adam offered.
"Perhaps…" Deccanus admired, softly as he put the book back. "However I remain hesitant."
"Why? What's bothering you?"
"I feel… enclosed… The walls box me in and there is no sky to gaze upon. I'm not sure I can get used to this." Adam smiled softly.
"Take your time, neither the Vault nor the library are going anywhere, and even if you decide to stay elsewhere you will always be welcome to take books out to read whenever you want." Deccanus turned to look Adam in the eyes.
"Adam, thank you." He said seriously.
"Don't mention it." Adam replied. Then, almost as soon as Adam finished speaking, the Vault lights kicked back in and a more normal illumination began to fill the vault rooms and corridors. Adam was exceptionally pleased to see this. Afterall it meant that the reactor was fixed.
"I need to go see what the situation with the reactor is, are you good to head back to the rooms and pick a place for you to stay tonight?"
"Yes, do not worry about me, I shall find my way." Adam gave him a firm nod and then set off, heading to the reactor room to hopefully get the good news he was already expecting.
When Adam arrived at the reactor door he saw it was still closed. He decided to err on the side of caution. And remain outside, just in case the room was still flooded with radiation.
Lucky that he did because a few moments after he got there Salvatore emerged from the room, seemingly preparing to go look for Adam and was surprised to find him right there. While the door was open, in that brief time, the geiger counter from the pip-boy was letting him know that the room was, in fact, not radiation free. Updates are released by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩
"Hey kid, we did it." Salvatore grinned.