So far many thanks for the faves and follows of chapter 1. I'm really surprised that a 76 story got recognition to begin with! Let's hope the future chapters will meet your expectations. 6.6

Also, Engineer455 - You're actually onto something here ;)

[2084] The Shroud and the Mechanist

"October 31st, 2084

Life in a Vault can be… Really boring… And annoying…

Most of the time I sit somewhere and dream of being outside… I don't even mind that we have no sun… But I really miss the wind and everything smelling like… Like the world...

School sucks, and most of my time I'm happy when I can do something for myself and in my own speed. It'd gotten kinda worse the last year. Dad says that I have my own way of learning things, but I'm sure most other kids think I'm sorta stupid or so. No one really says anything, but sometimes everyone looks at me as if I didn't even understand English… But I guess it's useless to explain myself… I can see how the other kids sometimes think I don't notice. But I do - and I don't even care… I just dream myself outside. And so does Gannet.

He is kinda the only real friend I made ever since we were brought here. Most of our free time we hang out in the maintenance areas, talking to Mr. Fillion or watching the robots. He says I'm not missing anything and that the other kids are stupid; that everyone's stupid here, and that one day we are going to escape. He makes it sound like an adventure story, and sometimes… Sometimes I think he means what he says…

I remember when we first met. I was still sad, and missing my family outside… I wasn't feeling like at home and didn't know how much my recent dad would love me... I told Gannet that I didn't belong here… That I was kidnapped, and that I just wanted to go back home… He said he would help me get out of here… And since then he never stopped believing that this was his new mission...

I think that was six years ago. I still don't fit in, but I'm trying. Sometimes. I don't really feel like I need to make everyone happy. But I want dad to be happy… He's always so sad when remembering the world outside, and - by now - I finally understand why. Because there is none anymore. So I try to be a good Vault Dweller - For dad.. I do my jobs, go to school, pretend to be a normal person and dream myself outside. But it's just that… A dream, a fantasy… A thing I play and imagine when no one looks...

But Gannet is serious… How does he even want to do that? And even if… Where would he even want to go? If there was war outside, maybe the bad people are still everywhere around too. Those Communists… Whatever the hell a Communist even is…

I still never received a proper answer to that question, regardless of how many people I asked about that… None of the grown ups knows what communism is, but all of therm claim that it is… Apparently… Something satanic… Should I tell them that Satan isn't real? Maybe another day…

...Today is a good day. Too good to steal other people's fantasy friends. Today is Halloween, or - How Gannet and I call it: The only day in the year we are encouraged to run around as the real us. And we decided to be the heroes. Okay… Maybe not heroes…. But we're no villains either… We're something in between…

He's the Silver Shroud and I'm the Mechanist.

Yeah, I know, the Shroud and the Mechanist were fighting one another in most of the episodes, but Gannet and I agreed, that circumstances can always change, and sometimes alliances have to be forged. Both were doing the good thing - from their point of view…

Gannet was lucky. He found a real black coat and a hat and only had to paint himself a toy gun and everyone instantly knew who he was. For me it was more tricky. But dad gave me a spare security helmet, and I attached my glowing goggles onto it - and two teaspoons as antennae. I built the armour out of pieces of a broken hazmat suit - It already came with lots of gadgets and looks really cool. And for the cape I just used a grey tablecloth.

We already finished our costumes yesterday, and were play-pretending to protect the Vault from evil doers from outer space. I think dad got really annoyed with us. He just quietly looked at us for a while, then buried his head in paperwork as he always does. I tried to cheer him up and stopped, and offered to help him sorting his desk instead, but he said he was busy taking notes.

Today Gannet and I finally attend the Halloween party - all by our self. No parents. I mean, I'm twelve! I can save the Vault if I want to! If I want to… Meaning, if the inhabitants promise to behave!...

When we arrived in the atrium, we already spotted a few other kids in costumes too. I loved Jerry's costume, you could instantly recognize him as Frankenstein's monster! And one of his friends was - I think - a dog, or a wolf Most kids were sticking to their usual friends, meaning that Gannet and me stood somewhere outside, not really being part of any of them. The only other outsider was Alex, that boy from my science class. He just stood there in his cowboy costume eating sweets and shoving even more of them into his pockets. He is older than most of us. That's probably why he never really talks to any of us. Gannet and I tried to make friends with him last year. He just gave us the middle finger. And later when I asked him if he was okay, he punched me and walked away calling me a freak. He's a weird person. Almost entirely like a true adult…

After a while Gannet and me gave up trying. We just sat down at one of the tables, ate sweets too, and got into a really long discussion about whether and why living in the Vault for the next thousand years might turn all of us into Morlocks or so.

Eventually however, the day turned out really nice. At least for me. Most people thought that my costume looked really cool, so I was nominated for the costume contest and even won it! I mean, yeah, I know it's easy for a costume to be liked if people recognize the character, hence no one nominating the wolf or the cowboy, but still… I was kinda happy that someone liked my work.

When Gannet walked me home to our living quarter, I offered that we share the trophy. After all we came as a team, and our characters were from the same universe and all. He just chuckled and said I should place it on my desk and that he'll win his own one next year. After we said goodbye and I went inside, I found dad where I left him a few hours before.

He was still at his desk, half buried in paperwork. By now he had fallen asleep, so I made sure to be quiet. I grabbed a blanket and pulled it over his shoulders, then decided to place my trophy in front of him, so he could see it when waking up. After all, he donated parts for it, so it made him a winner too! When I caught a glimpse of his work though, I stopped for a second, giving some of the notes and schematics a curious look.

I never really knew (or dared to ask) what exactly he had been doing in his time with the military, but I didn't have to be an expert to recognize a rocket or a missile I saw them in a document. Most of the writing didn't really make much sense to me. Project names, codes, facilities with odd names long numbers and even more codes… When I saw the words "Eyes Only" I unwillingly chuckled. Everyone has eyes! That's a silly thing to write somewhere…

Upon hearing dad mumbling while asleep though, I stopped and took a step back. I didn't want to wake him up, or - even worse - upset him by being nosy. So Instead I simply placed the trophy and my helmet on his documents and then decided to head to bed.

This is the Mechanist, signing off!"