Amber, Allison, and their daughter, Cub, were all teleported into the Institute safe-house. Amber, unfazed from the teleportation, cradled Cub against her chest. Allison swallowed and placed her hands on her knees as she doubled over from nausea.

“Is Allison... okay?” Amber asked her cautiously. “Teleportation can be a little disorienting.”

Allison, looking more pale then usual, held up her right index finger “I think...” her stomach gurgled. “Nope. Gonna be sick...” She looked around hoping to find somewhere to be sick.

Amber pointed to the far wall. “There is a door over there. It appears to be a-”

Allison didn't let her finish as she ran over to the door an flung it open. Luckily, Amber was correct, and it was indeed a bathroom. She closed the door behind her just as she got a second look at her dinner.

Amber, meanwhile, looked around the safe-house. It was a single room dwelling, aside from the bathroom, with pristine white walls. There were several boxes of Institute rations stacked against the opposite wall of the bathroom. Adjacent to that, was a double sized bed. Opposite the bed were several lockers. She walked over to them and opened them one at a time. There were several outfits in each of them, composing of what Amber assumed were the Institute's attempt to allow their agents to blend in with the Wasteland populace on scout missions.

“They are not... dirty enough.” She mumbled to herself. She opened the last locker, and found an impressive looking laser rifle.

“Allison?” Amber called out to her. “Are you well enough to come see what Amber found?”

Allison groaned and opened the door to the bathroom as she flushed the toilet. “Urp... sure.”

The sick, former, tech walked over to Amber and Cub. She looked at the locker that Amber was pointing to. She blinked as she saw the laser rifle.

She picked it up, and looked at it. “(Whistle) This is a Wattz laser rifle.” She explained. “One of the Gen 2 Scouts found it in the old Wattz Electronics Lab a few years ago. It was just a prototype, but it was more advanced than anything we came up with. It was supposed to be... locked away.”

“Perhaps Atropos placed it here for us to find.” Amber suggested. “You were in Advanced Systems after all.”

Allison nodded. “Makes the most sense, really.” She said as she put the rifle back in the locker and shut the door. She then looked around the room.

“So, uh...” She rubbed the back of her neck as she noticed the bed. “Only one bed...”

Amber smiled and walked to it. She sat down on the edge and looked at Allison innocently. “Are you afraid to share a bed with Amber?”

Allison sighed and blushed. Amber was just to cute and innocent for words. She had no idea about love or romance or mating.

“I never shared a bed with anyone before.” She said with a shrug. “You knew how things were in the institute. No relationships, aside from friendship, were allowed. And we were never allowed to have physical relationships.”

Amber nodded. “Yes. You and Amber are both virgins. But you didn’t answer Amber’s question. Are you afraid to sleep next to Amber?”

“No.” Allison admitted as she sat next to Amber, and stroked Cub’s head. “What I am worried about, is, well, since we both love each other… are we going to try, well, being physical? Because I know very little. Aside from the manuals Fath- er – the Director had us read about the horrors of the Waste.”

Amber thought about that for a moment. “Um, Amber wouldn’t mind experimenting with you. You and Amber just have to look at this scientifically. Like… Data collection. She and you try things, and find out what she and you like. Yes?”

Allison blushed at the though of Amber and her exploring one another's bodies. “Phew… is it getting hot in here?” She said as she fanned her face with her right hand. “But yeah. We can do that. Sure.”

“But not right now.” Amber admitted as she sniffed the air. “Cub has soiled herself.”

“Oh.” Allison blinked. “Um…” She looked around. “Right. I read about this… we need a cloth to wipe her and uh… another cloth to put on her once she’s dry.”

She stood up from the bed and started rooting through the supply crates. While she did that, Amber laid Cub on the bed in her back and un-wrapped her from her blanket. She was already wearing a waste collecting cloth, which smelled even worst now that she wasn’t bundled up.

“Blech…” Amber moaned. “Please hurry, Allison. Amber’s nose is very sensitive…”

“I’m looking, Amber…” Allison said as she opened the last box. “Okay. I found some.” She placed a package of waste collecting clothes on the bed, and then walked over to the bathroom. She wet a rag with warm water and walked back to Amber.

“Okay… um, I once watched Tech Anders do this with the Babies in the Maternity wing.” Allison explained, as she walked Amber through the steps on how to change their child.

15 minutes later, and after throwing the old diaper out in the incinerator, Amber watched as Allison got a chance to hold Cub.

“Cub will be very furry once she grows up. Not as furry as Amber… but still.” Amber said as she examined her.

“I don’t mind.” Allison said through happy wet eyes. “She’s beautiful.” She stroked her soft head and the tuft of red hair that she had. “She has your hair.”

Amber nodded. “Oh.” She said as thought occurred to her. “How are we going to feed her? She is too young to eat the MREs.”

“Um, well, I can’t breast feed her…” Allison said. “Since, well, you know… I never gave birth to her.”

“Amber’s body adapts very well to new situations. Perhaps…” Amber said as she removed her chest wrap.

Allison blushed as she gently passed Cub over to her. She then watched as Amber held Cub against her chest and Cub latch on. “Well?”

Amber smiled and nodded. “It seems like Amber can feed her. That is a relief.”

“That’s good.” She yawned and laid down on the right side of the bed, laying her head on a pillow. “What a crazy day it has been.”

Amber laid down on the bed as well, facing Allison, being careful not to jostle Cub. “Allison? May Amber ask you some questions?”

Allison nodded. “My life is an open book to you, Amber.”

“She doesn’t know how old you are.” Amber admitted. “She doesn’t even know how old she is. Do you?”

“I’m 25.” Allison answered. “As for you? It’s tough to tell. Since you’re not human, I can’t really use any indicators that I normally would to tell.” She looked deeply into Amber’s eyes. “You can’t remember anything at all?”

“Amber gets flashes of her… other life.” She admitted. “Like an old, degraded holo-tape. She knew she was loved… maybe she had a family.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. “She sees… candles… hears singing… 18?” She opened her eyes. “18 candles?”

“There was an old world tradition of putting candles on a pastry for birthdays.” Allison explained. “The candles indicated how old a person was going to be.” She smiled. “18 candles meant that you were 18. Add three years to that, and my best guess is, that you’re 21.”

“Amber is happy with that guess.” Amber said as she looked down at Cub. “Did you want to call Cub something else? Something more… personal?”

Allison thought for a moment. “I always liked the name ‘Kara”. I came across it in an old-world book before it was destroyed. It means ‘beloved’.”

“What do you think, Kitten?” Amber asked her daughter, who had fallen asleep. “Do you like that name?”

Kara stirred slightly.

“Amber thinks she does.” Amber giggled softly. Her face screwed up in thought. “Kitten… that names sounds familiar…”

“Well, it is a name for a young cat.” Allison explained. “Did you read it somewhere?”

Amber shook her head no. “No. She remembers being called Kitten. From before.” She looked at her hands. “This is so frustrating. She knows things but can’t remember why she does. It is like… seeing objects behind a pane of frosted glass. She can see them, knows they are there, but can’t focus.”

Allison reached out and stroked Amber’s cheek. “It will be okay, Amber. We’ll figure this out together. You and me.”

Amber sighed happily and slowly fell asleep under Allison’s touch. Allison smiled, as she too, fell asleep.

Some hours later, Allison snorted and woke up. Kara was next to her in the bed, but Amber wasn’t.

“Amber?” She asked, half asleep, as she sat up in the bed.

“She is here.” Amber said from behind her.

Allison looked to where her voice was in the darkened room. She let her eyes adjust, and saw Amber with her ear pressed against the door to the safe-house.

“What-?” Allison began to ask, but stopped when Amber held a finger to her lips.

“Amber is listening to noises outside.” Amber explained. “Her ears are big. She hears voices.” She listened for a few seconds. “She thinks they are wastelanders from the colony Atropos told us about.”

Allison got out of bed slowly and walked over to a locker. She pulled out a set of clothing and got dressed. “Do they sound hostile?”

“They sound… curious.” Amber answered. “There are… 4 of them. Unsure if they are armed. One female is telling the others to be careful. A male with a deep voice is calling her General.” She looked at Allison and watched her take the laser rifle out of the locker, and load a power cell into it.

“Well, Raiders don’t use ranks. The Brotherhood do, but not General. They use ranks like Knight and Paladin.” Allison said. “There is another group in the Wastes… called the Minute Men. We kept tabs on them.” She walked over to the door, and put her back to the wall. “Go get dressed, Amber. And grab Kara. Just in case.”

Amber nodded and lightly jogged over to a locker. She quickly pulled on some clothes. Once she was done, she walked to the bed, and gently tucked Kara into a shoulder carrier she had found. She carefully placed the bag and her kitten on her back.

“Amber is ready.” She said as she rejoined Allison.

Allison looked at Amber. “Might want to pull that hood on your jacket up over your ears, Amber.”

Amber nodded and did as Allison suggested. She then looked at the door as she heard someone trying to pick the lock.

“Shall we say hello?” Allison asked.

Amber nodded and unlocked the door. She slid it open to the left and held her hands up to the group. “Don’t shoot her. She means no harm.”

Allison showed herself, holding her rifle with the barrel pointed up. “We’re just a couple trying to make it in the wastes. We mean no harm to any of you.”

The leader of the group, a middle-aged female with dark brown hair, wearing a blue vault suit, and holding a laser musket, held her hand up to her group. “We had no idea that this… bunker existed.” She lowered her rifle, and her party did that same. “I’m Nora. I’m the General of the Minute Men.” She gestured to her party. “This is Preston, Cait, and Piper.”

“I’m AJ.” Allison greeted them as she slung the rifle on her back. “This is Amber and our Daughter, Kara.”

“Wait, Daughter?” Piper, a young woman with short black hair, wearing a red leather hat and coat to match, asked. “How…?”

“It is a long story.” Amber said as she lowered her hands. “Amber was a prisoner of the Institute. AJ… found her and rescued her. But, um, not before the Scientists cloned Kara from her DNA.” She looked at AJ. “AJ wants to help Amber and Kara… leave the Commonwealth.”

“A prisoner of the Institute?” Nora asked. “Not the first time I heard about that.” She gave the two girls a warm smile. “AJ is it?” AJ nodded. “How did you… rescue Amber?”

“I thought it was MY job to ask questions…” Piper murmured.

AJ scuffed the dirt with the tip of her boot. “I’m not proud of this… but I was a Tech in the Institute…I… was born and raised in the Institute. Had no idea about what they did… how they treated synths.” She looked at Amber. “One day… I found Amber in the BioScience wing… I planned to help her, and we escaped here…”

“Amber isn’t normal…” She said as she showed them her fur covered face. The crowd gasped. “The Institute kept her secret. She is happy AJ found her. Please, don’t judge her.”

“Lot of folks got duped by those guys…” Cait, a young Irish woman, wearing a leather corset said. “Ain’t no one gonna point fingers at ya, AJ.” She smiled. “But ya wanna leave the Commonwealth? Why?”

“Again…” Piper said as she rolled her eyes.

“We know the Institute is gone.” AJ said. “But Amber still isn’t safe from them. I have to get her and Kara as far away from here as possible. We’re headed North to Canada. They weren’t hit with the bombs. As much.”

“As good of a plan as any.” Nora said with a nod.” She looked at Preston. “Preston?” She asked the middle-aged African American man, weather a beige Duster and hat. “Can we do anything to help them?”

“Well,” Preston said solemnly. “There’s one way I can think of. If they don’t mind waiting a day. There’s that Trader that makes his way North. Has a Caravan. They can make a trade with him. See if he will go that far.”

Amber blinked. “He will be here in a day?”

“Oh, right.” Nora nodded as she looked at Amber. “Nice guy. Yeah. He usually comes to Sanctuary Hills once a week. He should be here tomorrow.” She smiled. “Did you want to stay here? Or come with us?”

AJ blinked. “Amber?”

Amber thought for a second. “Amber trusts Nora and her friends. We can come with you.” She looked inside the Shelter. “We have… supplies we can trade. Um… for caps?”

“Sure.” Nora said with a nod. “Need help carrying them?”

“Uh, yes please.” AJ nodded as she lead the group inside. “Just some rations, really.” She said as she pointed to the boxes. “That one crate is baby cleaning stuff. We’d like to keep that.”

Nora nodded in understanding. “Makes sense.” She turned to her companions. “Come on, you guys. Grab a box each.”

Everyone, aside from Amber, grabbed a box and made their way out of the Shelter. Nora then lead them towards Sanctuary Hills.

“Looks like we got lucky, Amber.” AJ whispered as they followed the others. “With a little more, we can make it to Ronto with that Caravan.”

Amber nodded. “She hopes so, AJ.”