There was a blinding flash and Travis was knocked to the floor of his studio. His legs shook as he forced himself up to his feet, using his desk to steady himself. Thank god he wasn't broadcasting when the light flashed, as he was certain the sound he let out could only be described as a high-pitched squeak. He repeated the sound when he turned and saw a man standing in the middle of his studio-a man who certainly wasn't there before.

He was tall, or at least much taller than Travis, and his oddly-clean black coat didn't look like anything someone would wear in the Commonwealth. The strange flash of light. The mysterious man suddenly appearing in his studio. There was only one explanation for this. Unfortunately, it was the explanation Travis dreaded the most.

"Insti-Institute?" Travis' fear only escalated when he said the name outloud. The so-called boogiemen of the Commonwealth. Travis heard the rumors and he'd be lying if he said they didn't spook him, but he always found comfort believing that it was just some sort of conspiracy.

Believing that wouldn't be so easy now that one was standing in his room.

The stranger's eyes were concealed with a pair of sunglasses, but he seemed to have a look of disapproval on his face as he scanned the room.

"Your setup." The man's voice wasn't loud at all, but Travis still jumped at the sound of it. "It's a piece of shit. Your technology is so primitive."

"You...you're with the Institute, aren't you?" Travis backed up against his desk, completely cornered. He did have his microphone on standby, maybe he could call for help. No, that would just cause a panic. And if the stranger could teleport, who knew what he was capable of. Maybe he could shoot lasers out of his eyes and that's why he wore the sunglasses. Travis was pretty sure he just read that in a comic book, but it seemed like something synths could do too.

The stranger gave a curt nod before he began fiddling with Travis' tech. Travis winced, but took no further action. What, was he supposed tell someone from the Institute to stop touching his stuff? Not happening.

"Oh man...you're really from the Institute." Travis held his head in his hands. "This...this can't be happening!"

"This is the third time you've said that." The man brushed a patch of imaginary dust off of his shoulder. "If you want to make yourself useful, you should tell me why I relayed here."

Travis' shaking slowed down, but his breathing was still ragged and uneven.

"You're...you mean you're not here to take me to the...to the Institute?"

The intruder frowned. "Why would I do that? From what I've gathered, you are useless, weak, and completely incompetent-much like your technology. The Institute would have no use for you."

Not the most encouraging words in the world, but Travis couldn't help but give a sigh of relief when he was assured that this man wasn't going to abduct him. But his relief was short-lived when the truth finally struck him. The Institute, the boogiemen of the Commonwealth, they were real.

Travis fell back against his chair, furiously rubbing his temples. He knew he wasn't the best at handling stressful situations, but how was anyone supposed to behave at a time like this?

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it." He muttered to himself. "You guy...you guys are real."

Travis wasn't looking at him, but he could tell the man was rolling his eyes.

"Yes, the Institute is real. We walk among you every hour of the day. Your friends, your enemies, the people you see everyday, any of them could be working for us. We've been over this countless times. Could you answer my question now?"

Travis would have felt less scared if the man forced him to give a public lecture. But he wasn't going to risk angering someone from the Institute. All he could do was get him out of his studio and everything would return to normal. Hopefully.

"You...I mean…I...uh…" He could feel the man growing more impatient as he tried to piece together a response. "You mean you didn't, uh, want to be here?"

"Why would I choose to be here? This setup is a joke. This whole place could be wiped off the map and no one would notice."

Well, that certainly wasn't encouraging. Travis cleared his throat and leaned away from the intruder.

"Then, uh...then how did you get here?"

"Teleportation. Although this is not where I planned on ending up." The intruder stood up straighter and his voice became more clear. "Designation X6-88, ready to relay back to the Institute."

Travis covered his eyes with the crook of his arm, but the flash of light never came.

The intruder gave a frustrated sigh. "Designation X6-88, ready to relay back to the Institute. Please."

Once again, nothing happened. Travis lowered his arm and eyed him curiously.

"Are they, um, are they not taking calls or something?"

"This doesn't usually happen." He scanned the room with his eyes. "Something in this room is interfering with the courser signal. This should be easy to take care of."

Before Travis could react, the man took out an energy weapon and aimed it at the radio transmitter.

"Wait, no!"

The stranger only had a few seconds to look up before Travis tackled him to the ground, the energy weapon clattering to the corroded metal floor.

Travis immediately jumped back, holding his hands up as the intruder stood back up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Touch me again and I will destroy you along with your pathetic set-up." He pushed his sunglasses back up.

"I know, I know, I just-"

Travis was interrupted again when loud and frantic knocking sounded at the door.

"Travis, it's Piper. Open up!"

"Oh no, oh no." Travis looked around the room. "You need to hide."

"Where?"

"I don't know, just-" Travis flinched when Piper's knocking persisted. "-just trust me!"

Without waiting for the man to respond, Travis pushed him under his desk and covered him with a sheet. Not the ideal hiding space, but it wasn't like he had a lot of time to think things through.

Travis unlocked the door before sitting back down in his chair, angling himself so he obstructed most of the human-shaped lump under his desk.

Piper exploded into his studio, a notebook and pen under one hand and an old camera in the other.

"It's about time!" She tucked her notebook under her arm so she could push her hair out of her eyes.

Travis shrugged and bowed his head. "Sorry. I just, uh, I just had to finish some radio stuff.

Piper scanned the room with her eyes, causing Travis to freeze up. Oh no, he forgot to hide the energy weapon.

"I saw this bright light coming from your studio." She cleaned the lens of her camera with her scarf. "You know anything about that?"

Travis shook his head, unable to speak. He felt the man move beneath his desk so he kicked him back down.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "You look like something's bothering you, Travis."

He shrugged, still unable to meet her gaze. "Well, I mean, you did kinda burst into my house…"

"Travis, you're not in trouble." She rubbed her forehead under her hat. "I just need you to tell me about the light."

"Well I didn't really see a light or anything, so…" He stared at the floor as he picked at the hem of his jacket. "I don't know, maybe you're, uh, seeing things?"

Piper frowned. "Travis, I saw that light with my own two eyes."

"Do you have proof? Like, um, like a photo or whatever?"

"Stop playing around, Travis."

"I'm sorry!" He held his head in his hands. "I'm just, I'm kinda freaking out here. I don't…I don't know what you're talking about and the rest of the city is going to think I'm...they're going to think I'm a synth or something, and...oh god oh god…"

"Travis, no one's…" Piper sighed. "This is getting me nowhere. Listen, when you want to talk, you know where to find me."

Travis continued to hold his breath until Piper closed the door behind her. He gave a sigh of relief and pulled the sheet away.

The intruder crawled out from under his desk, rubbing his jaw.

"You kicked me."

Travis held his hands up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

The man stared at Travis as if he couldn't decide if hitting him would have been an act of cruelty or one of mercy. He got that look a lot.

"So, uh…" Travis averted his eyes. "Your...your name's, uh, X6-88?"

"Designation. Not name."

"Okay, well…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, do you have a nickname, or something? I've never been good with, y'know...numbers."

X6 stared at him.

"Okay, guess not…" This guy certainly didn't invite conversation. Maybe that was a good thing. "Uh...I'm Travis."

"So I heard."

A period of silence lingered between them. Travis remained seated in his chair, too intimidated to move or speak further.

X6 turned towards the door to leave.

Travis shot out of his chair.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Out of here." X6 stopped, placing one hand on the doorknob. "This place is filthy and interfering with the courser signal. I imagine it isn't any less putrid outside, but at least I will be allowed to return to the Institute."

"But people will totally freak out if they see you!" Travis' struggled to keep his voice below a shouting whisper. "It's, uh, it's pretty obvious you're, y'know, from the Institute?"

X6 frowned. "This sounds like your problem, not mine."

"Please!" Travis' entire body was shaking at this point. "Just trust me on this."

X6 stared intently at Travis from behind his sunglasses, before stepping away from the door. Travis sighed in relief.

"I can't understand how you can stand to live in a place like this." X6 crinkled his nose. "It smells like cigarette smoke and mildew."

Travis shrugged. "You get used to it, I guess."

X6 stepped back over to the radio transmitter and Travis held his breath, afraid that the other man was going to smash it or something.

"So archaic." He touched one of the dials as if he expected the entire structure to crumble beneath his fingertip. "How is this more important than the Institute? What does it even do?"

Travis thought he was just being condescending again, but then he realized that he was actually asking a question.

"Oh, it's uh, it's for the radio." He looked back down at his feet. "I'm a radio DJ. I play, uh, music, I guess."

X6 stared blankly at him.

"You know, music?" Travis scratched his temple. "Like songs and stuff?"

"I know what music is."

"Oh, right." Travis wondered if the Institute had a radio station. Or maybe his signal could reach them as well. He shuddered at the thought. "So, uh, I kind of need to do my job."

"Likewise."

"Yes, but…" He sat back down in his chair. "Do you mind sitting somewhere and being quiet? Just, uh, just while I'm broadcasting."

X6's gaze darted between Travis and the energy weapon on the floor, before shrugging and sitting down on the bed.

Turns out that sitting and being quiet was something X6 was particularly good at. Travis jumped in his seat a few times from forgetting someone else was in the same room as him.

It didn't get any better when Travis had to go to bed. Trying to sleep with a scary Institute man standing on the other side of the room wasn't easy.

"Do, uh…" Travis peered over at him, holding the bed sheets close to his chest. "Do you have to stare at me like that?"

"I'm not staring."

"Well it's...it's kinda creeping me out."

"Then you can stop looking at me."

There was no use arguing with him. Turning over onto his side, Travis squeezed his eyes shut and tried to convince himself that he was alone.

This didn't last long. Travis woke up a few hours later to music being played.

"What…" When his eyes adjusted, he saw X6 sitting at his desk and listening to the radio. "What are you doing?"

Travis kicked the sheets off and stepped over to him. X6 looked up, nonchalant as ever, with his sunglasses still on despite the station being dark.

"I'm listening to your station." He looked back at the radio. "You really weren't meant to do this."

"I know, I…" He sagged his shoulders. "I'm not very good."

"Then why do you continue?"

"Because…" Travis paused. He had a feeling that X6 wouldn't approve of any answer he gave. "Because it's, uh, it's my job. People count on me to do this. If I...if I gave up, people would think I'm abandoning my duty."

X6 didn't respond. Travis sighed.

"I know. It sounds silly."

It took a while for X6 to speak again.

"If I'm being completely honest, your presence isn't the only issue with your show." He shut the radio off. "Some of the songs make no sense."

"...what do you mean?" Travis struggled to keep the defensive tone out of his voice.

"For example." X6 flicked the desk light on, causing Travis to shield his eyes, and reached for the pile of holotapes. "Crawl Out Through the Fallout. Not only is this bad advice when taken literally, but the singer sounds like he wants the listener to do most of the work in the relationship. This does not sound healthy or mutual."

"I, uh, I actually always thought that too." Okay so he shared the opinions with a frightening agent for the Institute. Good to know.

"And there are so many songs where multiple people are singing a love song to one person. You'd think someone would acknowledge that in the lyrics."

"Yeah! I mean, I know, right?" Travis couldn't help but feel himself start to relax. "That just...that just has workplace drama written all over it."

"This one here doesn't make any sense." X6 furrowed his brows. "Rocket 69?"

Travis had to hold back his snickering.

X6 tilted his head to the side.

"I don't understand what's supposed to be funny about this."

"Just…" Travis tried to control himself so he could give a decent answer. "It's like, uh, it's...heh...it's like…"

"You need to actually have something to say before you start speaking."

"I…" He rubbed his face, which was rapidly heating up. "It's kind of an, uh, an innuendo?"

X6 stared at him.

"Because when you put the numbers '6' and '9' together it kinda looks like…"

X6 stared at him, but his expression shifted when it finally started to sink in.

"Oh."

"Yeah, it's…" Travis laughed nervously. "It's a little funny."

"Or juvenile."

"Or that, yeah."

"Someone wrote a song about that?"

"Yeah, I mean…"

"And you play that song on the radio?"

"Well I don't really...I don't have many options, y'know?"

X6 turned around in his chair. "These songs are juvenile, but maybe you can get better."

Travis' eyes widened. "You...you mean that?"

"I said maybe. Right now you're still a whiny little shit."

It was easier for him to fall asleep the second time around. Even though X6 was mostly silent, Travis swore he could hear the faint sound of humming coming from him.