War. War never changes.

It had been more than a hundred years since the days if the Shinigami war. The time when the world started to turn into a wasteland. The remains of three worlds collapsing into one: Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living. Hollows, human souls, and living humans. Precious few of them remained, more so after the ravages of the nuclear war that mankind engaged in during the last, desperate years of civilization.

Without the three worlds, the Circle of Life, the movement of souls between the worlds, was broken. And humans, lost in a limbo between living and dead, between plus and hollow, lived in a permanent, never ending struggle for survival.

In the new, desolate world known as the Wasteland, there was one sound, one simple sound, herald of a new life, that was the rarest of them all. So much so, it could only be regarded as a miracle.

The simple crying of a newborn baby.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The frail baby's crying drowned the cries of pain of the mother's labour. The precious little one was quickly ushered away, cleaned and wrapped into a warm white blanket. The clean, pure piece of cloth stood in contrast with the run-down state of the delivery room. A facility from the old world. It was a small infirmary coated in rusty old metallic walls, a single stretcher in the middle of the room, and some derelict, salvaged medical equipment about. The monitor beeped with the fast cadence of the mother's heart.

She was laying on the stretcher, breathing heavily. Her brown hair was wet with sweat, matted to her face, and so were her clothes. She looked at the baby, safe in the arms of her father, and smiled. Even though she could barely see them through her fogged glasses.

The second man, a tall, dark-haired shinigami with small horns protruding out of his forehead, walked into her line of sight, wiping his hands with a towel. "Well, congratulations you two. It's a girl."

Letting her head fall back, she sighed. "We did it. Renji, we did it. A daughter. Thank you, Akon-san."

"No need to thank me," the horned shinigami replie, and smiled as he continued. "You did all the work after all. Thought of a name yet?"

"Noelani," Renji replied. The fierce countenance of the shinigami, with his tribal tattoos and long, crimson hair, and his permanently scowled expression, stood in stark contrast with the tenderness with which he was holding the baby girl. "Don't look at me, it was Mihane's idea."

"It is merely unusual, that's all," Akon said.

"It's an old name, and old world name," Mihane said, getting the attention of both men. She propped herself up, and Akon helped her by raising the back of thestretcher, making a good support for her back. Then, she reached out with her arms and took the baby girl from Renji. It was her first chance to take a good look at her daughter, and it almost stole her voice away. She had heard how newborn babies are not particularly beautiful, but that little girl in her arms was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. After a few seconds, she continued speaking, in a soft, low voice. "It's from Heaven. A mist from Heaven. A child-"

Her explanation was interrupted by a resounding boom coming from far above them. Without missing a beat, Renji made for the intercom at the wall. "Report, what's going on?"

"Lieutenant, we've got some Super-mutants coming."

"How many?"

"We're not sure, they're- Watch out!"

Renji cursed loudly and turned to Mihane. "I'll go get rid of them."

"Okay. Be careful."

"Don't worry about me," he replied, drawing a cocky smile. "You just rest, I'll keep you safe."

"Renji..."

He didn't answer, and that one word seemed to carry an entire conversation with it. The Lieutenant shook his head and bolted out of the room, drawing his Zanpakutō as he did.

Mihane closed her eyes and laid back on the stretcher. She spent several minutes resting in silence, a blessed relief after the hours of labour. After a while, she started to stir uncomfortably again.

"Are you okay?" Akon said. "Any pain?"

She shook her head without answering the question. "Is everything ready?"

"As ready as it will ever be."

"What do you mean?" she said, opening her eyes again.

"Yours was simple enough, but hers..." he looked at the baby, girl and took a moment before continuing. "I have only ever seen one before. We studied it thoroughly but-"

"I trust you."

"It's not a matter of trust. I don't trust the results. We've had no testing, we don't have the equipment, we-" He stopped, shaking his head.

"We've been through all this before. Really, what is it?"

"Really," he replied. He put his fingers over the bridge of his nose and rubbed it, irritated. "I don't think this is a good idea. Heavens know what Kurotsuchi had planned for them."

"You don't trust your old Captain?" Mihane said, speaking in half-jest.

"Of course not!"

Akon's sharp response quickly changed the tone of the conversation. Mihane recoiled slightly on her stretcher, more due to surprise than fear. Akon didn't miss it.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's..." he trailed off.

"No, no, I'm sorry Akon-san." Mihane smiled, trying to relax the atmosphere again. "I shouldn't have made light of that."

He nodded. "There's a reason I left the 12th. Back then, I was merely waiting for the day when Kurotsuchi would be replaced. But after the war..."

"I understand." She waited, but Akon didn't say anything else. "Still, it's our decision. She should be safe."

"The Lieutenant wants you both to be safe."

"I know. But... This is important too."

"It's never going to fool her, you know. It'd be better if you sent them both now, instead of-"

"No," Mihane interrupted. She pulled the blanket back to look at the face of the sleeping baby. "She should know at least one of us."

"If you say so."

10 Years Later

*FLASH*

"Augh! What the-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The initial, blinding flash of light receded, and soon the girl opened her eyes to look around her. The mess was packed with people from the Vault, and an old colorful banner reading "HAPPPY BIRTHDAY" was flung across the room. At the end, a note reading "NOELANI" had been attached. That old banner was always there on every birthday, and only the note at the end changed.

I bet Amata wrote that! she thought.

"Jeez, you blinded the poor kid!"

"Haha, look at her face!"

Noelani ignored the remarks and quickly scanned the room. Vault-issued black and yellow Shihakushō everywhere, the number 101 written on their backs, everyone wearing them except for two people. One of the security guards, and the Overseer himself, who was wearing a rather more utilitarian blue and yellow jumpsuit. Right by her side, her mother was smiling widely. Of all the people in the Vault, she always looked the best in those clothes. She wore them like she truly owned them.

"Happy birthday honey," she said, getting the attention of the red-haired girl. When she saw her face, Mihane smiled. She looked more and more like her father every day.

Except for the eyes. Those were definitely hers.

"Thanks mom!"

"I can't believe you're already ten years old. And you're growing so fast!" She made a gesture with her hand as if to measure Noelani's height, only to apparently change her mind and muss the girl's hair instead.

"Mo-ooom!"

"Ah, if only your father-"

"Happy birthday, young lady," the familiar voice of the overseer interrupted them. Noelani turned to the man, and so did Mihane. He was a dark-skinned, tall and lanky man, with prematurely whitened hair, and a bit of a rough appearance. Overworked appearance.

"Thank you sir," Noelani replied politely. She didn't much like the man, even though he was the father of her best friend; nonetheless, her mother had managed to imbue in her some semblance of respect for his position of authority.

"And now, as Overseer of the Vault, I present you with your own Pip-boy! As you know, ten is when we become official members of the 'll be having your first work assignment tomorrow, heh."

Noelani was only vaguely aware of the last part of the overseer's speech, as she was focused on her wrist-mounted computer accessory. It was locked shut over her left wrist, and she knew she'd have to go down to Engineering later for it to be soldered solid, but there it was. She had been looking forward to it for quite some time. She fiddled with the receiver, and soon the PA signal came clearly through the Pip-boy, soft music she had heard many times before. Spirit particle counter, Geiger counter, a screen with a health monitor... That thing was awesome.

"Noelani, pay attention," Mihane prodded her.

"Ah? Oh, sorry. Thank you sir!" Noelani replied, recovering well from her lapse of attention.

"Haha, that's fine. Enjoy your party."

The overseer smiled at her and then stepped away, leaving the mess to the others.

A young girl took it as her chance to step in. She had brown hair and eyes, a round face with high cheekbones, and somewhat pouty lips over a round, somewhat oversized chin. "Hah! You should have seen your face! Did we catch you? I bet you didn't expect it."

"Amata! Hah, I wasn't surprised at all!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're such a bad liar."

"Okay, you got me." Noelani appeared to be distracted for a moment, but turned to the girl just half a moment later. "I'll be right back!"

"Wha- Hey!" Amata called, but Noelani just waved her off. "Really, if you have to go to the potty..."

Noelani followed along the corridor, where the Overseer had disappeared. She walked cautiously, unseen, until they came to the stairs leading up to the atrium. She stood behind the corner at the bottom of the steps, and stole a peek at the top.

"Sounds like a good party down there!" the voice of officer Gomez came through.

"Bah! I was there only because my girl is friends with the brat. I want it all cleaned and everyone back to work in fifteen minutes."

"Yes sir," officer Gomez replied, not a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Noelani smirked, and shook her head. It was so typical, she wasn't even surprised. She heard the door open and the Overseer walk off, but didn't hear Gomez until he was right next to her.

"Young lady, if you are going to snoop, learn to listen without looking."

The voice made Noelani jump in her spot in surprise. "Ah! Mister Gomez. I... I mean..."

"You're ten years to soon to sneak past me," he said. However, his stern face soon broke out a smile. "Now, better go back to your party. I'll give you guys a bit longer, but orders are orders."

"Ah, sure."

"And happy birthday."

"Thanks!" Noelani replied. She rushed back the corridor, and waved at Gomez before turning. She liked that guy, even though his son was a punk.

She made it back to the party just in time to see the cake being turned to mush by the robot behind the counter. The robot was a Mister Handy series, a floating ball of metal with several appendages that made it look a bit like a jellyfish. It used to be a very popular house utility android back in the pre-Vault days, but this one had run for over a hundred years non-stop, and it seriously showed. Apparently, somewhere in the recesses of his programming, he thought that the circular saw was the right tool to cut a cake into portions.

"Andy! What did you do!" Amata shouted.

"Oh my," the robot replied in its cracked, synthesized voice. "I seem to have accidentally ruined the cake. My most sincere apologies."

"Awwww, I never even got a taste," Noelani said. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Lady Palmer next to her.

"Oh my, what a shame. Well, no matter. Here you go dear, I made this for you, you can have it instead."

The kind old lady was handing her a little bundle wrapped in kitchen paper, and inside was a freshly baked sweet roll.

"Wow, thanks! This is great!" Noelani said. Sugar was on rather short supply in the Vault, and rationed to boot. It was grown in the hydroponics from sugarbeet, but it was considered a luxury. And luxuries were something the Vault didn't have an excess of. But that roll was made with sugar, that much she could tell. Unlike the artificial sweeteners they used on cakes, sugar was awesome.

"You're welcome dear. You only turn ten once, after all."

Noelani smiled at the old lady, a big happy smile, and then turned her attention to the treat. She opened her mouth wide, but even before she could dig in for the first bite, she was interrupted by a push on her back.

"Hey! Abarai!"

Noelani recovered her balance and turned to face her assailant. She didn't even need to recognize the voice, the bully was always the same. The kid had short black hair, a rather large forehead, and eyes a little too far apart. And he was always angry.

"What's your problem?" Noelani said.

"That stupid robot broke the cake, and I'm hungry! Gimme that roll!"

"Now, now, don't be like that Butch," the old lady said, quite feebly.

"Are you hungry?" Noelani said, mockery in her voice. "What's the problem, your mom drank all the food coupons?"

"Shut up!" Butch demanded. He looked ready to pounce, but Noelani stopped him with a hand gesture.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. Here, take the roll," she said, offering the treat to Butch. When he was about to take it, she snatched it back, and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth in one go.

That was too much for Butch. He pounced at Noelani, and in the surprise, socked her on the face. She took a single step back, while the old lady Palmer tried fruitlessly to tell him to stop. But when the second punch came, Noelani was ready. She dodged, grabbing the sleeve of Butch's Shihakushō as she did, and meeting his chin with her elbow.

She became vaguely aware of a faint croaking somewhere nearby, but before she knew what it was, they were both pulled apart by the adults.

"Goodness sake, Butch! Hitting a girl, and on her birthday!" It was Gomez's voice, as he was the one holding the boy.

Noelani, meanwhile, was held back by Mihane. When she looked up at her mother to protest, she saw she had a strange expression on her face. A mix of surprise, and maybe some fear.

"Mom?" Noelani said, still speaking with a full mouth.

As she spoke, the vision disappeared as if by magic, and Mihane was back to her old self. A calm, warm expression on her face. But she wasn't smiling.

"Lani, what were you doing?"

Alarm bells started ringing in Noelani's head. Her mother using that name meant one of two things, she was either showing her affection, or was about to chew her up. Nothing in between. She suspected the second.

"He started it!"

Mihane took a paper napkin from the pile by the cake, and wiped the girl's nose. The paper got stained in red, and only then Noelani realized her nose was bleeding.

"Come on, let's go fix you up."

She followed without saying a word – still trying to figure out whether she was in trouble or not – and soon they were in the Vault's infirmary. Noelani sat down on the examination chair, and after some cleaning, her mother started fussing over her broken nose.

"How did Butch get you this bad?" Mihane said. She sounded disappointed.

"He sucker punched me!" Noelani protested, and grunted in pain when her mother pulled at her nose.

"Hm, that's not broken. Does it hurt?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay," Mihane said. For the first time, her smile returned to her face. "Not that you should let bullies push you around, but what were you about to do?"

"What? He started it!"

"I know. But you were going to hurt him, weren't you?"

"He started it..."

They both stopped talking as Mihane started stuffed a big ball of cotton inside Noelani's nose, and Mihane continued only when she was done with the task.

"As I said, you wanted to hurt him."

"Yes..." Noelani hesitated. "How do you know?"

Because you were leaking reiatsu so bad, your Pip-boy started croaking. She looked at Noelani up and down, thinking. Is she going to be okay? She's only ten, and already-

"Mom?"

Mihane sighed, still smiling. "Because I'm your mother. I didn't teach you martial arts so that you could go hurt others."

"But he star-"

"I know, I know. And yes, you should defend yourself, don't let bullies walk all over you. But don't go overboard, okay? It's not like Butch trying to take your roll was a matter of life and death."

"Yes mom."

"Okay then, you're set. Now, how about I show you your present?"

"My present?" Noelani said, and her face brightened up when she realized that yes, it was her birthday. "Right! My present!"

"Come on, it's down in the basement."

"What? The reactor level?"

"Yes!"

Noelani followed Mihane out, not hiding her surprise. She knew Mihane sneaked down there from time to time, and after a while she realized she went down there to train. Why she didn't do it with the others in the gym, she never knew. And she had never asked.

They made it down with no problem. The party was still being cleaned up, so nobody really paid attention to them as they walked past. It wasn't long before they were in front of the closed gate. On the other side were the rooms and equipment only the maintenance crew handled. To Noelani's surprise, Jonas was there too. A tall, black man, usually sporting a pair of glasses and with a very friendly demeanour, Noelani always got along famously with him. He was her mother's assistant, so he was always around whenever she was in the infirmary or the lab.

"Hey, what are you two doing here? This is a restricted area."

"But..." Noelani said, looking at her mother in confusion.

"Hah! Just messing with ya. Happy birthday kiddo!"

"I- Jonas!"

Without missing a beat, the young man started laughing. "Right right! Anyway, it's in there, off you go!"

With a last, lingering look at her mother, Noelani opened the heavy door and walked in.

At first, all she saw were the boxes containing the spares, and the heavy equipment. But at the end of the sealed corridor she saw a small area, with a clean floor covered in a thick rubber mat. On one corner stood a strange contraption, a dummy about a head taller than her, with four pieces of metal protruding out like a bizarre set of extremities. While the whole thing was made of metal – easily identified as scrap metal put together – the extremities were wrapped in cloth.

"Well, what do you think?" Mihane said.

"What's that?"

"That's a training dummy. Since you're ten now, you can come down here with me to train if you want. We can train together."

In saying that, Mihane reached to the side, and took a long piece of wood that was resting against the wall. It was a bokken, shaped like a sword and with a tight piece of cloth wrapped around the handle.

"Really?! Em, I mean, training? What training?"

"Like you don't know," Mihane said. She smiled at Noelani, and rested the bokken on her shoulder. "You think your mother won't notice you sneaking around?"

"Eh-hehe, really?"

"Now, don't forget to thank Jonas too, he's the one who fixed up the dummy."

"Thanks Jonas!"

"Hey, no problem kid! I'm not that good with the soldering, but I think it works. Why- look out!"

Noelani turned in the direction Jonas was pointing, in time to see a Radroach crawl out from behind one of the boxes and fly at them. In the blink of an eye her mother had stepped between the two of them, making a swipe at the oversized bug with the bokken. A moment later, the bug, as far as Noelani could see, exploded.

It had been such a quick, brutal attack, Noelani was rooted on the spot. She had never seen anything like it. Her mother had just appeared, like out of nowhere. And the attack! Such a beautiful flowing movement, deadly, but... Amazing.

Mihane, on the other hand, didn't seem too fazed by it. She turned to Jonas, not smiling but still looking rather relaxed.

"Haven't you found the nest yet?"

"I wish. It's somewhere in the bowels of this contraption," he replied, kicking the wall. "We don't even know half the stuff that's down there."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." She turned to her daughter, who was still looking at the bug as if she didn't believe what had happened. "Lani? Are you listening?"

"Y-Yes! What?"

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing. Just... That was awesome."

6 years later.

"Leave me alone Butch."

"What's the matter? Are you going to go crying to daddy? Oh, I'm sorry, the Overseer?"

Amata looked at Butch, and the other two, and took a tentative step back. Without missing a beat, the three young men surrounded her. They were wearing the yellow and black Shihakushō of the Vault, but they had put a motif of a snake on the back, covering the 101 number the standard uniform had. Butch was wearing a ridiculous thrown-back hairdo with a ridiculous excess of grease on it, and was altogether trying too hard to emulate the rebels from the entertainment films they had at the Vault.

"You know," Butch continued, "I can show you a real tunnel snake."

"Ew, you're so gross. Just leave me alone."

"What seems to be the problem?"

There was mockery in the voice that interrupted them, and they all recognized it instantly. Even before seeing the mat of red hair.

"Beat it Abarai," Butch said. He looked at the girl, who by now was as tall as he was, and frowned. She had her hair held in a ponytail, and a gauze patch over her right eyebrow. And, as usual when facing Butch, she was grinning.

"So, Tunnel Snakes huh? That your gang?"

"That's right, Tunnel Snakes rule!"

"That's great, why don't you go rule somewhere else and leave Amata alone?"

"What, is she your girlfriend now?" Butch taunted. "Figures."

"Yeah. Wanna watch?" she replied, her smirk breaking into a wide, mocking smile. "That's about all you tunnel worms can do."

"That's it! Me and you, Abarai!"

"No, you and I." Noelani raised her guard, and made a taunting gesture with her hand. She still had the small scar over the bridge of her nose, courtesy of Butch's punch the day she turned ten, but she didn't hesitate. She never did when it came to punching bullies. "All of you, if you want."

"Tunnel Snakes!" Butch shouted.

He threw the first punch, and met only air with it. As soon as he realized his mistake, he braced for impact, and sure enough, the punch that Noelani had slipped under his guard caught him flat on the stomach. The other two were also coming at her, and soon she had her hands full. She kept on the defensive, dodging and countering only, until one of her opponents managed to grab her from behind.

She hadn't expected any kind of teamwork from them – mostly out of habit – so she was surprised by the move. Butch took the chance to give her a good punch on the face, but it didn't have that much of an effect. Before he could land a second, she pushed back until she made her assailant hit the wall, clocked him on the face with the back of her head, and gave him an elbow to the ribs.

The crack she felt under that last attack was strangely satisfying.

When Butch threw that second punch, he found himself pushed aside – and ended up punching the metallic wall of the Vault.

"SONOFABITCH!" he shouted, falling to his knees with his right hand held tightly in his left.

Noelani wiped her nose. It felt warm, the sticky warmth of blood. Her left side of her face really hurt too, and only now she could feel the other punches that had landed on her. She looked at the last Tunnel Snake, and her smile returned. Softer this time. The boy looked a lot like his father, and Noelani always though he was quite handsome. Freddie Gomez.

"Freddie, what are you doing with these two anyway?"

"S-Shut up!"

Behind her, Butch had finished complaining, and was now standing up. He reached into his back pocket, and took the switch-blade inside it. With a flick of his thumb, the blade flipped open.

"You little..." he muttered.

Before he could take another step, he froze in place. It was as if the air had been drained out of his lungs, and a moment later, he felt his chest being pierced through. It was indescribably painful, but just as quick as it had arrived, the feeling disappeared. He looked down, and saw there was nothing in his chest. He wasn't harmed at all.

"What the-"

"Butch," Freddie said, gesturing behind him with his chin. Mihane was at the end of the corridor, walking towards them.

"Tsk, what a pain," Butch mumbled. "Tunnel Snakes, let's go!"

The three young men made a show of loitering for a few seconds, then walked off down the corridor. Noelani looked at them go, but didn't make another move.

"Assholes," Amata muttered. She turned to Noelani, and looked at her face with consternation. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine," she replied. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, no. I'm fine. But I don't get it, just because my dad is the Overseer. They won't leave me alone."

Noelani snorted and tipped her head back, pressing on her nose. By the taste in her mouth, she was sure she had a cut inside it too. While she checked herself like that, she heard steps approaching.

"Problems, girls?"

Noelani turned to look at her mother, and even in her awkward position, she managed a smile. "Nah, we're fine."

"Nuh-huh," Amata mumbled, shaking her head. "She's not. I'm sorry Shirogane-san."

"There's nothing for you to apologize, dear," Mihane said. "Come on Lani, let's get you cleaned up."

Lani? Noelani thought. Uh-oh.

They made the short distance to the infirmary, and Mihane made Noelani sit down in one of the regular chairs. She was getting too tall to easily fix her up when she sat on the tall examination chair. Without a word, Mihane started wiping blood. But she was smiling.

"Mom?"

"You know, your dad used to pick fights a lot when he was younger."

"Yeah, you told me."

"He usually won though."

"I was winning! I was just going easy on them." Noelani protested.

As if to shut her up, Mihane stuffed a gauze in her mouth, between her teeth and her right cheek.

"Did you see Butch pulling his knife out?"

"Yefh?" Noelani said, speaking in a muffled voice.

"Then why were you so relaxed?"

"Mom, I haf it unfer confrol. I can take care of myfelf."

The words had an immediate effect, and it was very disconcerting for Noelani too. Mihane's smile disappeared, and she gave her a long, long look. There was something about it, like she was looking at her for the first time. Or the last time.

"Mom?"

"Yes, you can take care of yourself." She paused for a moment, thinking. "But don't ever think that a fight is a joke, okay?"

"Sure, I-"

"It may seem like it here in the Vault," Mihane continued, as if she hadn't heard her. "but..." She trailed off, and the silence hung for a few seconds. Until Mihane broke it again, recovering her smile. "Ah, don't worry about me. You'll be fine I'm sure."

Noelani didn't answer, she just looked at her mother very closely. She couldn't tell what was in her mind.

"Now, you have a test to take I believe."

"What, the G.O.A.T.? I'm too furt to go fere!" Noelani said, exaggerating the stuffed sound of her voice.

"Oh my, your dad would be so disappointed, to hear that her daughter is such a wussy..." She stopped talking, and reached up to the patch over Noelani's eyebrow. Catching her by surprise, she ripped it out.

"Ouch! Mom!"

"What are you hiding... What's...?"

She had expected a cut, or a bruise. She didn't expect a tattoo.

"It's... it's a tattoo. I was going to tell you. I just... I wanted to get it! Okay?"

It was a simple design. A tribal motif, two broken lines going up and down, and interlocking in the middle of it. Mihane had the strangest feeling of displacement looking at that simple tattoo. Like it wasn't real.

"Why did you get this?" Mihane said. She made the question sound very awkward.

"I just wanted to! Okay?"

"Yes. That's... That's fine."

Again, Mihane's reaction gave Noelani pause. "Mom? Are you okay? It's just... you're very odd today."

"Am I?" Mihane said, relaxing visibly. "Well, maybe I'm worried that my daughter will end up being a garbage burner, just because she didn't take the G.O.A.T. Now, off you go."

Noelani sighed. "Yes mom."

She stood up and, without warning, Mihane reached out and held her in a tight embrace. While that wasn't unusual by itself, the suddenness surprised Noelani. And so did the apparent intensity of it.

"Mom? Just-"

"It's okay," Mihane interrupted. She gently pushed Noelani back, and gave her a long look. "You'll be fine. Go take your test."

"O-Okay... Can we talk later?"

"Off you go."

Mihane ushered Noelani out, and so she made her way back to the classroom. The rows of seats were already full of students, all the young people in the Vault about to turn sixteen. Or already sixteen. Butch and the other Tunnel Snakes were at the back, and looking at the way they were sitting, still sore after the fight.

She ignored them and headed for one of the empty seats. The terminal was already switched on, and waiting for her to log in.

Welcome to the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test.

"Tsk, what a stupid test," Noelani muttered.

The questions started to roll in. In theory there was no bad way to answer any of the questions, as long as she was being honest. In practice, she knew perfectly well there's never such thing. The test would determine what she was going to do for the rest of her life in the Vault, and as such, she had to be careful.

But her heart wasn't into it. She kept thinking about Mihane. Whatever it was, there was something going on – and she wasn't supposed to know.

She toyed with the idea of just rushing the test and getting out. Mr. Brotch would probably let her. He was always lenient with her. Then she could sneak out and follow her mother, and figure out what she was up to.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tremendous rumble shook the entire room. With it came a loud, regular alarm ringing though the Vault. Pandemonium broke in the classroom.

"Everybody, calm down!" the teacher shouted. "Abarai-kun, sit down!"

Noelani felt her heart beating hard inside her chest. For some reason she couldn't stop thinking about her mother. It couldn't be a coincidence.

The rumbling stopped, and so did the alarm. A tense silence settled, and soon the rumbling, and the alarm, resumed.

"That's the Vault door!" Amata shouted.

"Everybody, stay- Stop!"

Mr. Brotch's yells were for naught. Noelani was out the door, and soon others were following. They were stopped at the atrium by security, who had cordoned the door to the entrance area.

"What's going on?" Noelani asked officer Gomez, as more and more vault dwellers piled up.

"We don't know, stay back here."

"No way! Where's my mom?"

"You asking me? Hell if I know!"

"Just let me through!"

"No, you wait here! Don't-"

By then the whole place was up and yelling. Noelani took a step back as the security forces tried to push back. The Tunnel Snakes were the ones causing the most trouble – not because they wanted to know what was going on, Noelani noticed, but just because it was a chance to cause mischeif.

She waited patiently for an opening, and slip through to the back of the Vault, walking silently and unnoticed. Almost unnoticed. She was sure Amata was looking at her, but no one else had seen her. No one that mattered, at least.

The back door was closed, and the status indicator was on red. Locked shut and sealed. Without much choice, she made her way to the desk, where Stanley, the resident maintenance techie, was pounding frantically at the keyboard of the monitoring station.

"What's going on?" she said.

"Wah!" he shouted, jumping up in place. The sudden fright seemed to fit him, with his prematurely balding head and the permanent dark circles under his eyes. He was probably the only reason the whole Vault hadn't fallen apart. "Holy crap girl, what the hell are you doing here?"

"They just let me through," she lied – badly.

"Yeah, just don't be here when they come." He turned to the terminal, typed some more, and then relaxed visibly.

"What happened?" Noelani insisted, reading the screen over his shoulder. "Did the door just open?"

"Not by itself," he replied, furrowing his brow. "But look, spirit particle levels are going down. The venting is working."

"That's good, right?"

"I haven't checked that system in years! Bloody thing was stuck, I had to bypass to the internal reflow and use the emergency filters."

It all sounded like mumbo-jumbo to Noelani, but she didn't interrupt. Stanley was a good guy, and she let him ramble as much as he wanted when they talked. Which was a lot, on both respects.

"So how did it open? Someone just went and opened it?"

"Probably. If it was someone from outside... Well," he tapped the screen, where the spirit particle concentration was rapidly approaching zero. "Won't be much left of them."

"I thought you needed a password to open the door."

"In theory," Stanley replied grimly.

They waited together, until officer Gomez came down the corridor into the entrance room.

"Abarai-kun! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just want to see what's happening," Noelani replied.

"You-"

His retort was interrupted when the door made a buzzing sound, and the indicator flipped to Clear – OPEN. Noelani quickly made to it, but was stopped by Gomez.

"Stay behind me!" He yelled. The other security guards were rushing down into the room, and there were several looks thrown her way. "Let us do our job," he finished, in a softer voice that was almost pleading.

He's not worried for himself, Noelani thought, so she decided to comply. Weapons were drawn, and Gomez stood by the door while someone else – she couldn't see under the helmet – opened the door. They rushed through in the blink of an eye, guns ready.

Empty.

Noelani peered through the door, and her eyes quickly found the only thing that was off. Gomez was down on one knee, next to-

"MOM!"

"What the- Stay out!"

She didn't know who had shouted that, but she didn't care either. She rushed in, ducking under the arm that appeared out of nowhere to grab her, and kept pushing people out of the way. However, the guards had soon closed in on her. She pushed and clawed, trying to get through.

"MOM! MOM!"

"Okay, okay, let her go," Gomez finally said, seeing the conflict escalate. "There's no one here anyway."

As soon as she was free, Noelani rushed in, and landed on her knees next to her mother. Mihane was sprawled on the ground, with her eyes closed. It took only a moment for Noelani to ascertain she was breathing, but she wasn't waking up.

"Mom, can you hear me? Just say something! Mom!"

"Calm down, don't move her," Gomez said. He moved Mihane very carefully to her side, hand under her head in the standard defensive position. "Someone get Jonas in here!"

"Mom..."

Noelani bit her lip, trying to hold the tears back. She felt stupid for breaking down in tears, but she couldn't help it. Her mother, who stood in her mind as an indestructible figure, was laying on the floor completely helpless in front of her.

An hour later she was at the infirmary, sitting in the uncomfortable waiting chair by the stretcher, where her mother was resting. Jonas had looked over her, and as far as he could tell, she was physically fine. They didn't know much about spirit particle poisoning – as far as people surviving it, that is. But that's what Jonas thought had happened.

"All we can do is wait."

Noelani sighed and leaned back on the chair. She stretched her muscles gratefully, raising her arms and making the sleeves of her black and yellow Shihakushō slide back. With another sigh, she reached out and grasped Mihane's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

To her surprise, she got a small squeeze back.

"Mom?"

"Hrm..." Mihane mumbled, stirring on the stretcher.

"Mom!"

"Wha..." Mihane opened her eyes, blinking a few times. "What? Where...?"

She looked at Noelani, but didn't make any gesture of acknowledgement.

"Mom! It's just me! Noelani!"

"Oh, Lani," she said, and looked at her for several seconds. You look so much like your dad."

What? Noelani thought, and her look turned to consternation. "Mom? Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Ugh, where am I?"

"The infirmary. We just found you by the entrance, what happened? Did the Vault door just open? What were you doing up there?"

"I..." Mihane propped herself up, and Noelani helped her by raising the back of the stretcher. She put her hands on her face, rubbing her forehead. "I can't... I don't..."

Without waiting for an answer, Noelani put her arms around Mihane. "It's fine mom. Just fine."

6 months later.

"Hey there girl, what brings you to these parts?"

Jonas looked up from the medical terminal, and looked at Noelani. She had poked her head into the room, taken a quick look, and was about to bolt when he interrupted her.

"Hi Jonas. Just looking for mom."

"Haven't seen her today. Not that we have any work..."

"Okay, thanks!" she said, and waved at Jonas as she walked off. She thought about it for a few seconds, and guessed there was only one place for her to be.

She'll be training downstairs. Again.

Mihane had been spending a lot of time down in the reactor room. Training. Ever since the day of the accident with the Vault door, she had been... different.

Sometimes Noelani looked at her, and thought she was looking at a stranger.

It was all put down to spirit particle exposure. Loss of memory, mental damage, they didn't quite know what to call it. She was still as good a doctor as she had ever been, still as strong, and just as scary when she was angry. But she had never been the same. She didn't even feel the same.

That last part was the worst one. Noelani couldn't quite put it in words, and felt it was an unfair thing to think. Just because she had seen her mother at a vulnerable moment once, it didn't mean she had a right to think less of her.

All these thoughts were in her head as she made her way down the stairs. When she came to the last flight of steps, there was a resounding book that shook the entire Vault. She lost her step, falling down several steps and bouncing off in a very painful way. She heard things crashing everywhere. It was chaos for several seconds.

Then, the shaking slowly died down.

"What the hell was that?!" Noelani said out loud. She hesitated for a moment, but decided to go check the back room, where their little training area was.

She thought her mother may be there. She wasn't expecting what she found. Several of the heavy equipment crates had come crashing down. And Mihane was under one of the piles.

"MOM!"

It was like the worst case of déjà vu of her life. She rushed to her mother, and fell to her knees by her head. Mihane was laying on her back, her head turned to the side, and with a little puddle of spit by her mouth. There was a weird, small green round ball by it.

But that didn't catch her attention. Mihane had her eyes open, fixed on a spot far away. And wasn't breathing.

"MOM!" Noelani shouted. She turned her mother's head, but it didn't change anything. Still the same lifeless eyes looking ahead. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" She stood up, and tried to lift the crates, but it was way too heavy for her to manage. She found the bokken her mother used, not far from her hand, and tried to use it as a lever. It didn't work, it just split in half and sent her face-first to the ground. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, mom, please," she pleaded. She was starting to have difficulty breathing, like an invisible hand was chocking her throat. "HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

It was Jonas who answered her call. He had rushed down the stairs, and was almost out of breath when he walked in. "What the- Noe... Shirogane-san!"

"She's not breathing! I can't get her out!" Noelani pleaded, still struggling to try and move the crates.

Jonas rushed out of the room, shouted for security to come down, and then went to help Noelani. Soon, half a dozen men were trying to move all the fallen stuff while Jonas performed CPR on Mihane. And all Noelani could do was sit in the corner, holding her head in her hands, and crying.

After almost twenty minutes, Jonas checked for pulse one last time, and shook his head. He took the top of his own Shihakusho off, and covered Mihane with it.

Noelani's cry of despair couldn't be put to words.

A small crowd had formed outside the door, and security held them gently at bay. However, Amata managed to force her way in, and rushed to the aid of her friend. On her way there, she kicked that small green ball that was kicking about, and after a bounce it landed next to Noelani's foot.

"What's that?" Amata said, kneeling by Noelani and picking it up.

Noelani didn't answer. She didn't even look up. Without another word, Amata put the ball in her pocket, and then put her arms around Noelani's neck, pressing her head against her chest. "I'm so sorry," she muttered, and found herself chocking up a little.

Mihane was gone.

That night, Noelani found herself laying down in bed, unable to sleep, and staring at the ceiling without being able to put a single coherent thought together. Her eyes still hurt, and it was uncomfortable to even try to close them. It had all been dealt with in typical Vault fashion: simple and efficient. That same night the funeral service had been organized, everyone had paid their respects, and Mihane's body had been sent to the incinerator.

It was almost frightening how very alive her corpse looked. It was as if she had been waiting for a switch to be flicked, to then jump up and declare the whole thing a silly mistake. Many similar absurd thoughts were crossing her mind, and none of them made any sense. It didn't make sense that her mother was dead.

She looked to the side. Her mother's empty bed was the constant reminder of how alone she felt. The clock on the table read 3:32. It was going to be a very long night.

Her eyes fell on the small, round ball Amata had picked up. She had shown it to her again after the funeral, and Noelani wasn't sure why she had taken it. She flicked the lights on, blinked uneasily under the glare, and picked it up. She had no idea what it was. But it was right by her mother's face when she...

"What's this thing?"

Noelani laid back on the bed, her hand raised high as she looked at the strange ball. It felt odd in her fingers.

"Whatever it is... *YAWN*"

As she stretched with her yawn, the ball slipped through her fingers, and fell right into her mouth. She shot up in bed as she felt it go down her throat, chocking on it, and when she tried to cough, she felt herself being pushed off her bed.

She landed on her face. Again.

"Ow," she muttered. She massaged her throat, but the ball must have gone down. She realized that she was completely naked. She didn't even have her Pip-boy. "What the heck?"

Then something even more odd happened.

"Lani? What's wrong? What happened?"

She felt her blood freeze. It had sounded exactly like her. She knew how her voice sounded to others, and that was exactly it. She turned, and jumped back in surprise, and, truth to be told, fear.

That was her. Sitting on her bed, and looking straight at... Well, her. Red hair, tattoo on her right eyebrow... her.

"W-What... Who... Who are you?"

"What? I'm your-"

She – the clothed she – suddenly clamped up, as her eyes opened wide in surprise. She raised her hands, looked at them for a moment, and then started touching her own face and hair.

"Oh no. No, no, no! What have you done?" clothed Noelani said.

"What's-"

A sudden alarm interrupted her. As it rang, the door of the room locked up, hissing as it sealed shut. A moment later, a rush of air came through the vents, and with it, Noelani dropped to the ground, contorting in pain.

"AAAAAGH! WHAT'S- AAAAH!"

She felt like she was being ripped apart.

"Shit! Lani!" clothed her shouted. She pushed her naked self up by her shoulders, and looked at her in the eye. "Never, EVER, do this again inside the Vault. You hear me? NEVER!"

She couldn't see her face through the pain. She felt her clothed self's arms around her, and then, the strangest thing, she felt like she was being pushed inside her own body again. It was very strange, but as soon as she did, the pain stopped. She coughed up, and spat the green ball out.

"What the hell..." she muttered before passing out.

"Noelani? Are you awake?"

"Hrm... Jonas?"

Noelani struggled for a few seconds, until she managed to open her eyes. She recognized the infirmary, and the stretcher she was laying on.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," she replied. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "What happened?"

"Spirit particle leak in your room."

"Really?"

"Yes. We're still trying to figure out how it happened, but that's what it was. The system locked your room automatically and started venting it out."

"I see..."

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," Noelani repeated.

"Well, can you be a little more specific?" Jonas replied, smiling.

"Just that. I'm queasy, and it just hurts everywhere."

Jonas scribbled on his pad. "Anything else? Memory issues?"

"No. I don't think so. Or maybe I just don't remember."

That got a laugh out of Jonas. "Well, I think you're doing fine."

"Better than mom?" Noelani said, with a sigh.

He stopped writing and looked at Noelani for a while. "You want to talk?"

Noelani shook her head. She was trying to pierce together what had happened. Her doppelgänger, the alarm... The warning she shouted before pushing her into her body.

"Jonas, did you find a green pill in my room?"

"Not in your room," Jonas replied. He picked it from the desk, and gave it to Noelani. "You were hanging on to it for dear life. What's that thing?"

Noelani looked at it for several seconds before answering. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"We haven't done this since we were kids! It's gonna be great!" Amata said, looking at Noelani.

They were both in their pyjamas, and trying to fit into Amata's single bed.

"This was a lot easier when we were younger," Amata continued, trying to sound upbeat.

"I guess..."

"Come on, let's try like this."

They ended up on their side, Amata had her arm under Noelani's head, and her other arm resting on her friend's side.

"See? Told you we can fit."

"Uh-huh."

Amata raised her head, to look at Noelani's face. Only the low light of the door sign illuminated the room, but it was enough to see her friend's expression. "You can talk to me." She paused. "Please?"

Noelani closed her eyes and sighed. "It's just... So much."

"I know." Amata squeezed Noelani's shoulder. "I can barely remember my mother. I was just two when she... I can't imagine what this is like for you." She laid down again, not expecting a response.

"It's not just that."

"Hm?"

Noelani stirred, and turned to face Amata. "I just have to leave the Vault."

"What? Why? Are you nuts?"

"No. Or maybe I am."

"I'm serious!" Amata said, now speaking in a hushed voice. Like they were discussing a capital offence. "You can't leave the Vault!"

"I'm even more serious," Noelani said.

"But why?"

"Because..." Noelani hesitated. "Okay, this is just going to sound nuts, but here you go. Because my mom is out there."

"WHAT?!" Amata put her free hand to her mouth, too late to stop the shout that had just escaped.

They both waited in silence. Still with her mouth covered, Amata looked at Noelani, and the latter nodded.

"Noelani," Amata finally whispered, when she was sure no one was coming to check on her. "Listen to me. Your mom... She passed away. She's not outside."

"No, that wasn't my mother."

The look of consternation on Amata's face prompted Noelani to continue. "Remember the day we were taking the G.O.A.T.?"

"Yes?"

"With the door."

"Yes, I remember."

"I told you that my mother was a bit odd after that. I'm sure of it now, that just wasn't her."

"Noelani..."

Without warning, she sat up and reached for her Shihakushō. After some searching, she pulled the green pill and showed it to Amata.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. I think this is the thing who replaced my mother."

Amata didn't answer, and the look on her face didn't change. Noelani put the pill back in her Shihakushō, and laid on the bed again, facing her friend.

"You're worrying me."

"Amata, please. I can't stop thinking about it, it's just... It's the only thing that makes sense."

"It doesn't make any sense!"

Noelani closed her eyes and sighed. Without missing a beat, Amata put her hand on Noelani's face.

"Please don't do anything rash, okay? Let's sleep on it."

"Okay," Noelani replied in a whisper.

It was the start of a very uneasy night. Having Amata close to her like that, it felt warm and reassuring. That night, she could fall asleep. They had been friends for her entire life, probably the only real friend she had in the Vault. As far as she was concerned, without Mihane, the Vault could be empty.

Except for Amata.

And so she found herself chasing after a shadow. Rushing through an empty Vault. Rooms, corridors, always a step behind a silhouette. A voice.

"Amata, wait!"

The shadow didn't wait. She wasn't even sure it was there. She ran harder and harder, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She finally crossed a threshold and found herself blinded by a light. The door behind her had closed, and even as she turned, the Vault disappeared. It was all right, empty space, and so she fell.

"Noelani, wake up!"

"Ah! What! Amata!" Noelani babbled, shaken awake by her friend.

"You have to get out of here! Quickly!"

"I- What? What's... Ugh..." She was sitting up on the bed again, struggling to stand up in her dazed sleepiness. "I was just dreaming about you..."

"What? Gross!"

"Not like that!" Noelani replied.

"You have to go, now!"

"Go?" she said, and Amata nodded vigorously. "Amata, what just happened?"

"My dad, the guards... They killed Jonas! They're coming for you!"

"WHAT?!" Noelani was now wide awake, and only took her a moment to snap and start getting dressed. "What the hell happened?"

"I told Jonas, about... About you."

Noelani stopped getting dressed, and looked at Amata with a shocked expression.

"I was worried! You were saying all these weird things, I thought you were... I thought you needed help."

"Amata." Just one word, that's all she needed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry. But it's not that, he... He didn't look surprised at all! But one of the guards had overheard us, and before I knew it, security was there, and... And dad went crazy. He was all 'that fucking shinigami' and 'I shouldn't have trusted her'. Jonas was arguing back, he said he was going out to find her. To find your mom! Like she's not dead!"

Noelani felt very strange. It wasn't even relief. She was still trying to take it all in. Her mother was outside, alive. She had to be. She wasn't the only one who thought it.

"And then... Gosh, I ran, and I heard shots, and... We have to get you out of here. You have to go now."

"Jonas..."

"Come on!" Amata said. "Here. I got my dad's gun. Take it."

Noelani hesitated. "Maybe you should just keep it. If they come for you-"

"I'll be fine!" Amata interrupted. "My dad wouldn't do anything to me!"

I bet Jonas thought the same, Noelani thought. But she bit her tongue. If she went down that avenue, it'd be an ugly discussion, and it'd never get anywhere. That was the one thing that they never could talk about. The Overseer.

She sighed and took the gun. She never understood the relationship between Amata and her dad. "Thanks Amata." She stopped to think for a few seconds. "It's a long way to the door. How am I going to just slip by? Any ideas?"

"There's a secret entrance in my father's office. Goes straight to the Vault's door. Come on!"

They both rushed out of the room, going for the Overseer's office. It was next door, but the room was locked shut.

"Piece of cake," Noelani said, taking a bobby pin out of her mat of hair.

"Hurry up, they may be here any minute!"

"Just a bit more..."

Amata started pacing back and forth, while Noelani kept working on the lock. There was a snap, Noelani cursed, and she pulled a second pin out of her hair.

As she worked, the sound of heavy steps rapidly approaching broke the silence.

"Noelani, they-" Amata turned to her friend, but to her surprise, she was nowhere to be found.

"Amata!"

"Dad!" Amata replied. "What's going on? How could you?"

"Shut up!" the security officer, Mack, said. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along towards her room.

"Let me go!" Amata shouted. "Dad!"

"Amata, where is Noelani?" the Overseer said.

"I don't know!" she replied. "Let go!"

Mack checked Amata's room, the Overseer's, and not finding Noelani, he dragged Amata back to her own room and threw her on her bed.

"Ouch! You asshole!"

"Shut up!" Mack shouted. He added to the threat by drawing his police baton. "Where is the girl?"

"I don't know! Dad please! I don't know!"

"Amata, answer the question," the Overseer said.

"Dad..."

"Answer!" Mack insisted.

Amata didn't. She hugged herself and withdrew on the bed, curling up and looking away from both men. Mack put the police baton back in his belt, and drew his 10mm gun. He cocked the gun, and put it by Amata's head.

"Start talking," he said, in a low, menacing voice.

She was frozen in place, looking at Mack with wide, scared eyes. The gun had a smell, the smell of gunpowder. It was the same gun that had killed Jonas. She glanced at her father, but she got no support there. He was looking at the scene unfold with arms crossed, not moving a muscle.

"Daddy..." Amata muttered.

"Amata," the Overseer finally said. One word was enough for Mack to raise his gun away from Amata's head. "Where is she?"

"I don't know, I really don't know."

"We can't let her leave the Vault," the Overseer continued. "We don't want to hurt you Amata."

"Funny," a voice interrupted from behind them, "I do."

Before Mack could turn around, there was a loud crack, as Noelani hit the back of his head with his own police baton. She hit him with a knee on the stomach as he fell, and when his gun hit the floor, all of them dove for cover as the deafening report boomed in the room.

All three of them. Mack had dropped like a sack of InstaMash, and wasn't moving at all.

"Guards!" the Overseer shouted. "Gu-"

He shut up when Noelani punched him in the face. For good measure, she pulled her gun and placed it on his forehead.

"You fucking asshole. You hurt Amata again. Just do it. I dare you."

"I appreciate your concern," the Overseer replied, with surprising calm. "But my position as Overseer is more important than my feelings for my daughter. I am responsible for this entire Vault. So please, do give yourself up now. We don't want any more senseless violence."

"Is that what you told Jonas just before you killed him, you bastard?"

"What happened to Jonas was... unfortunate. But I am not going to repeat myself. You can't possibly understand these responsibilities."

"You..."

Noelani felt a tug on her sleeve, and glanced back to see Amata looking at her.

"Please... Please don't..." she pleaded.

"Dammit," Noelani muttered, fixing her eyes back on the Overseer. "Fine. Just give me your key and your password and I'll be on my way."

"Really, is that all?" he said in a mocking voice. "No."

Noelani pressed the gun on the Overseer's forehead, but the man didn't budge.

"I am responsible for this Vault, girl. That's more important than even my life."

After another moment, Noelani pulled the gun back, and punched the Overseer on the face again. "That's for Jonas you asshole. Amata!"

"What?"

"The bedsheets."

It took Amata a moment to understand, but then she stood up and pulled the sheets off her bed. With them, Noelani tied the Overseer up, and shoved him on the bed before leaving the room, locking it behind her.

"Let's go," Noelani said, shaking the keychain she had taken from the Overseer and making the keys jingle merrily.

"Thank you," Amata said.

"Huh? What for?"

"For not killing him."

Noelani took a moment before answering. "No need. I just don't think I could. Come on."

They got in the room and rushed to the terminal. Now they had to break into it. Noelani stopped to think for a few seconds, then started typing.

She got the password on the second try.

"Huh? That's it?" Amata said.

"That was easy. It was just Amata."

It was a simple matter to choose the right option and unlock the secret passage under the main desk. As the floor started to slide open, they kept digging through the archives.

"Exploration reports?" Amata said, tapping the screen.

"As in outside?"

"Let's look!"

They didn't get far. The heavy thumping of running feet announced the arrival of the security forces.

"Shit! We have to go!" Amata said.

Noelani rushed to the door, and managed to shut it before the guards could get through. She jammed the key in, turned it, and with a strong pull, broke it inside the lock.

"That'll keep them. Let's just go!"

The corridor ran on the side of the Vault, embedded in the bedrock, with thick metallic and concrete walls around. There was more to it, the construction had several layers of strange materials which nobody could identify, but that helped to keep the spirit particles out of the Vault.

For the most part. Just like a small amount of Radon always leaked from the concrete walls, a tiny amount of spirit particles made their way in as well. If the spirit particle filtering system ever broke down, the Vault would be doomed.

"Over there, look," Amata said.

They had arrived to what looked like a dead en, but a flick of a nearby switch soon made one of the walls slide open. On the other side, the enormous Vault door was waiting for them.

"We're here," Noelani said. She spoke with such finality in her voice that she stopped Amata dead in her tracks. "You better get out. When that door opens, I just don't know what could happen to you."

The two young women embraced each other, and for a while, it looked like neither of them would let go.

"I'm going to miss you," Amata said.

"Me too. Please just take care of yourself."

"You too. You too."

They both let go at the same time, and Amata made her way to the secondary door. With a final lingering look, she closed the threshold, and sealed the door behind her.

Noelani took a deep breath and turned to the door.

"Here we go," she muttered. With one flick on the main controls, all the vents, doors, and openings sealed shut, and the alarm started ringing. Metal groaned as the enormous screw locked into the main gate, and the entire Vault shook as it was pulled back. The sound of metal grinding on metal was deafening, but not loud enough to cover the hissing of pressure equalizing between the entrance room and the outside.

She was surprised at how dark the other side of the gate was. A faint croaking caught her attention. The Pip-boy's spiripar counter had started bouncing up and down. In the Vault, it had only ever been at a solid zero. Sometimes it croaked once or twice when she got into a fight, but she never figured out why that was. Stanley had looked it over a few times, but never found anything wrong with it.

After one last lingering look at the Vault, she decisively stepped out of the gate. There was a control panel outside, the same as the one in the Vault, only with an extra panel to input the appropriate password.

There was something else. Skeletons. Several skeletons sprawled on the ground. They looked several decades old. Maybe even a hundred years. There were a few old signs on the ground as well.

OPEN THE DOOR

WE'RE DYING YOU ASSHOLES

LET US IN!

"Gods above, just... Wow."

Behind her, the alarm resumed its ringing, and the door started to close. First rolling into place, then being pushed by the enormous screw of the entrance mechanism. She waited, not sure what for. The hissing of the pressure changing again was the last sound she heard. Then nothing. The door was so thick, she was sure she'd not be able to hear anything even if they were throwing firecrackers on the other side.

The Vault opened to a long corridor excavated in the rock. At the end, there was some light, covered by an old door.

Noelani searched in her pocket, and pulled out the green ball.

"It's time we had a little chat. Just you and me."

She opened her mouth, popped the pill in, and swallowed.

Just like it had happened before, she felt herself kicked out of her body, and landed sparled on the ground, stark naked and very dizzy.

"What the- Lani! I told you not to do this again, are you crazy?"

Noelani stood up again and turned to... herself. She didn't say a word, or move one inch. She just waited for the penny to drop.

And drop it did. The gigantic Vault door, with the 101 logo in the center, was impossible to miss.

"Oh no." She looked at the door, at Noelani, back at the door, and keep going back and forth. "What the HELL have you done?"

"Who are you?" Noelani said. She was trying to remain calm, but her heart was beating hard, and she felt butterflies running up and down her belly. She was deathly afraid of the answer.

She didn't answer. She staggered back a couple of steps, and fell on her bum, sitting on a rocky outcropping in the cave.

"Who are you?" Noelani insisted.

Author's Notes: Taa-daa! Welcome to the next instalment of the Faoolut/Bleach crossovers by yours truly! If this is your first time seeing this, and are curious about the world, please check my previous fic: The King's Key. Specially the notes in the Prologue about world building and whatnot.

So, I skipped Fallout 2, and went straight for Fallout 3 after the events of Fallout 1/The King's Key. Main reason being Fallout 2 is really not that popular compared to Fallout 3, the leap forward in time, the "descendent of the hero of the vault" would be a bit problematic (going by what happened in the previous fic), and given how people are essential "immortal" (because they're souls, d'oh!) it'd mean just reusing characters and places. No thanks. So, I moved to the Capital Wasteland, and I'm going to use all those excellent characters I didn't use in the previous fic.

Many, many things to consider here.

First off, the obvious thing. Unlike the original Fallout 3, I didn't kill mom, She's the one that goes into the Vault with the baby, and she sneaks out just like dad did in Fallout 3 (only I made her extra sneaky). The reason for this isn't particularly nefarious. As I show in the beginning, to make the character of Noelani I basically shipped Renji with Shirogane Mihane (you may have to check a Bleach wiki if you don't know who this is - she's the owner of the silver dragonfly, where Renji buys his glasses). If you think about it, Renji is many things, but an intellectual capable of leading project Purity isn't one. Moreover, he's not one to slink from danger and hide in a Vault either. As it stood, he was a poor choice for sending into the Vault and filling in the shoes of the Lone Wanderer's dad. Mihane is a secondary without much development, so I was more free to give her the necessary traits.

That doesn't mean that the father of the Lone Wanderer won't have a relevant role. I mean, it's Renji. I don't think it's a spoiler to say he'll be present in the fic.

Maybe.

I kid, I kid!

Speaking of the Lone Wanderer, second thing. She's not alone, as you have seen. And that serves one purpose: Having the Lone Wanderer be, well, alone, makes wandering the wasteland a bit of a dull exercise. In the previous fic I fixed it by giving the main character companions early, and even so, the first chapters were very lonely (not a bad thing, but I wanted a bit of a change, specially as Fallout 3 is a lot more of an "urban decay/ruins" kind of setting). Here, it's as early as it gets! Mom left behind a mod soul to take her place, in hopes of fooling the Lone Wanderer long enough.

If you have played Fallout 3 long enough, you can probably figure out where the big explosion that shook the Vault and made everyone think Mihane had died came from. If not, I can give you a hint: Springvale School. There's info and notes in there that explain it.

Third thing: The setting. This will not be in the ruins of DC. It's going to make it a pain geographically (as I'll have to "translate" locations), but there you go. I'm sure you can figure out where this new "Capital Wasteland" is going to be set in.

Fourth thing: I'm getting ridiculously verbose. I don't know what's about these Fallout/Blech fics, but the chapters just keep getting fatter and fatter. It doesn't happen when I write other stuff, I don't know why!

Fifth thing: I play Fallout 3 with a ton of mods, so expect things that usually don't appear in the vanilla game to appear here, only with a Bleachy twist to them.

Sixth thing: Location, location! Locations in Fallout 3 are a bit... less memorable than in Fallout 1 and (specially) 2. Yes, there's Rivet City, Megaton, and the Mall. But there's also a ton of places that kind of blend in together. How many power stations are there in the game again? So I've had a bit of trouble coming up with where to put what characters and how. Moreover, enemies: DC is knee-deep in Super Mutants, Raiders, and Talon Company... All the time. I don't know, I feel there's a bit too little variation. Which is silly, because, for example, Fallout 1 had less types of enemies. Anyway, it's all about the feel.

Seventh thing: I've clocked in hundreds of hours in Fallout 3 - so any criticism doesn't mean I don't think the game's awesome.

Eight thing: Three dog. Oh yeah. Three dog. Someone's gonna be filling those shoes. Expect news reports from her.

Muahahaha!

*Cough* Anyway. Not sure what the schedule of this fic's going to be. I still owe the Mass Effect fanfic I promised after the 2013 hiatus. The Fallout 2/Fairy Tail one... Well, feedback hasn't been brilliant, to put it mildly, so I'll probably skip it.

Ninth thing: Oh yeah, is the Lone Wanderer an OC, or technically not because we get to name them and make them? Anyway, I decided to have a female MC this time, to switch it a bit from the previous fic. Want to give it a try and see what happens.