The memories of being frozen in Vault 111 and seeing white came in full force. She expected to thaw out and discover that she had dreamed it all, and would have to go searching for Shaun again. But Briar Rose only felt cold for a second. After another loud roaring sound, she didn't wake up back in the Vault.

It took a while for her eyes to clear and once they did, she found herself in some bulbous room with an open doorway, showing a silvery-white room with machines, various terminals, and a control panel.

Did it work? Was this the Institute?

Briar Rose cautiously left the room, listening for any sound to warn her of approaching danger. So far, she heard nothing but the hum of the machines working. The technological room looked to still be a work-in-progress to her left because of the rocky walls, damp earth humidifying the air, and tools left behind. She walked around the control panel—eyeing another open doorway behind it, with stairs leading down—to see if she could upload the holotape Sturges had given her.

She was able to and after a few moments, it completed downloading; she ejected it and stored it back in her pocket. She hoped the Institute wouldn't know that their information just got copied. Briar Rose turned to consider the doorway behind her—that looked like the only way to go. She headed for the stairs.

"Hello. I wondered if you might make it here—you're quite resourceful." The male voice came out of nowhere and scared Briar Rose to a stop. "Don't be afraid; I mean you no harm. I am known as Father; the Institute is under my guidance."

They were watching her? She took a quick look around for cameras, but didn't see a single one. Briar Rose continued down the steps to enter another strange room alive with lit up machines and a see-through cylinder. Father continued to talk. "I know why you're here. I'd like to discuss things with you face-to-face. Please, step into the elevator." The transparent cylinder slid open.

She hesitated for a second before stepping in—if talking with Father was the only way of getting her son back, so be it. The elevator slid closed behind her, and then it gently began to descend into blackness lit by soft light.

"I can only imagine what you've heard, what you think of us. I'd like to show you that you may have... the wrong impression."

The darkness suddenly brightened; Briar Rose had to squint before she could make out anything—she gaped at what lie around her. All the walls were white, clear tubes wrapped around and she could see people walking in the tunnels; lush, green trees grew, and pure water flowed down alongside walkways. The elevator twisted down in the very center of the metropolis.

The people and the synths all wore white jumpsuits with specific color-panels. No one had missing limbs; no one looked abnormally skinny and gaunt from starving—everyone looked perfect and soft, not used to a harsh life. It looked like a small, very clean, healthy, thriving city.

"Welcome to the Institute," Father said. "This is the reality of the Institute. This place, these people, the work we do. For over a hundred years, we've dedicated ourselves to humanity's survival. Decades of research, countless experiments and trials... A shared vision of how science can help shape the future. It has never been easy, and our actions are often misinterpreted by those above ground."

The elevator slipped down below the ground floor and she went back into a dim tunnel. It eventually stopped, and the door slid open along with another door to reveal a white hallway with more machines. Briar Rose headed down it with Father still talking to her. "Someday, perhaps, we can show them what we've accomplished. But for now, we must remain underground. There's too much at stake to risk it all. As you've seen, things above are... unstable. I'd like to talk to you about what we can do... for everyone."

She came to a yellow and gray door; she opened it to enter another elevator. The door shut behind her, but this time she went up. "But that can wait. You are here for a specific, very personal reason. You are here for your son."

When the door opened, Briar Rose walked out into a large room with a smaller room built within it. A closed door sealed it off and the glass walls allowed an unobstructed view in. And inside, a boy of about ten with dulled red hair played with a toy truck.

Her throat constricted at the sight of her son. Briar Rose ran to the glass. "Shaun?"

His head lifted and turned to look at her. "Huh? Yes... I'm Shaun..." He got up.

Tears appeared in her eyes. "Oh my God, it's really you..." She had done it; she found him.

He looked at her quizzically. "Who are you?"

"I'm your mom." Her voice broke.

"Father... what's going on? What's happening?"

"Shaun, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

He started to panic. "What's going on? Father? Father!"

"Shhh... It'll be okay, Shaun. Mommy's here now."

"I don't know you! Go away!" He arched his head as he cast around. "Father! Father, help me! There's someone here! Help me!"

"Who is Father? Where is he?"

The door next to the room her son was in slid open and a white-haired man in a lab coat walked out. "Shaun... S9-23 Recall Code: Cirrus." Shaun, or who she thought was Shaun, shut down—his head dropping and arms hanging limply at his side, immobile.

Briar Rose jumped back from the glass in shock. That wasn't Shaun; that was a synth.

"Fascinating... but disappointing," the man said as he looked over. "The child's responses were not at all what I anticipated. He's a prototype, you understand. We're only just now beginning to explore the effects of extreme emotional stimuli. Please try to keep an open mind. I recognize that you are emotional, and your journey here has been fraught with challenges. Let's start anew. I am Father. Welcome to the Institute."

She was furious. How dare this man experiment with her emotions? "This is insane... All of it!"

"The degree of trauma you're experiencing right now is understandable. Please, just try to relax. I know this is difficult to take in."

Briar Rose rounded on him, prepared to beat the truth of where the real Shaun was out of him or shoot him. "Where is—" Her demand caught in her throat at his face.

"Your son? He's here, in the Institute. Closer than you think. But I need you to realize that this... situation... is far more complicated than you could have imagined. You have traveled very far, and suffered a great deal, to find your son. Well, your tenacity and dedication have been rewarded." He paused and his face and eyes lit up with a smile. "It's good to finally meet you, after all this time. It's me, Shaun. I am... your son."

She was speechless. She wanted to deny it, but he looked just like Nate, from the structure of his face to the color of his eyes and even to the style of his hair. There wasn't any doubt that he couldn't be. "How... is that even possible?"

"In the Vault, you had no concept of the passage of time. You were released from your pod, and went searching for the son you'd lost. But then you learned that your son was no longer an infant, but a ten-year-old boy. You believed that ten years had passed. Is it really so hard to accept that it was not ten, but sixty years? That is the reality. And here I am, raised by the Institute, and now its leader."

"But why take a child? Why you?"

"Ah, now that's the question, isn't it? Why me? At that time, the year 2227, the Institute had made great strides in synth production. But it was never enough. Scientific curiosity, and the goal of perfection, drove them ever onward. They wanted the perfect machine. So they followed the best example thus far—the human being. Walking, talking, fully articulate... Capable of anything."

"Human synths? Really?"

"Human-like synths," he quickly corrected. "A great distinction. The Institute endeavored to create synthetic organics. The most logical starting point, of course, was human DNA. Plenty of that was available, of course, but it had all become corrupted. In this... wasteland... radiation affected everyone. Even in their attempts to shield themselves from the world above, members of the Institute had been exposed. Another source was necessary.

"Then the Institute found me, after discovering records from Vault 111. An infant, frozen in time, protected from the radiation-induced mutations that had crept into every other human cell in the Commonwealth. I was exactly what they needed. And so, it was my DNA that became the basis of the synthetic organics used to create every human-like synth you see today. I am their Father. Through science, we are family. The synths, me... and you."

It was all so much to take in. Everything she had believed in; everything she had hoped for had been turned upside down.

Father—or Shaun—remained quiet for a while as she tried to grasp the knowledge. "I know you have questions, and I'll try to help you understand."

"Kellogg, he worked for you?"

"Kellogg..." he spat. "He was an Institute asset long before I arrived here. It wasn't until I became director that I learned of all the things he'd done—what kind of man he was."

"You knew the man was a psychopath, but you used him anyway?"

"Would you have preferred that I turned him loose on the Commonwealth?" Shaun snapped. "At least keeping him on a short leash kept the collateral damage to a minimum. The Institute took advantage of Kellogg's vicious nature; I will freely admit that." He took a breath to calm down. "Institute technology prolonged his life, and his usefulness, far beyond any normal life span. He never failed the Institute, but his cruelty became more apparent with every completed objective. I won't lie: it's no coincidence that your path crossed his. It seemed a fitting way to allow you... us... to have some amount of revenge."

Her thoughts went back to killing Kellogg, then what he had done to Nate. "Your father... He never got to see you grow up."

Shaun's eyes dimmed. "Yes, what happened to him was..." He paused and took a moment to collect himself. "I've gone over the records of the incident, of course. It seems what happened to him was an unfortunate bit of collateral damage. For many years, I never questioned who my parents were; I accepted my situation, and that was that. With old age comes regret, and asking 'what if...' more often. But what matters now is that you and I have a chance to begin again. What else can I say to ease your mind?"

He thought of Nate's murder as 'collateral damage'? He had absolutely no emotional ties to being ripped from his rightful family. She couldn't believe it that he seemed to just shrug it off.

She bit her tongue to prevent lashing out at him and changed the subject instead. "So you're in charge of the Institute?" You're in charge of sending synths out to kill or destroy families or settlements from the inside by replacing people with synths?

"I am the acting director, yes. I spent decades working to reach this point. It's a responsibility I take very seriously. The Institute... It's important. It really is humanity's best hope for the future, no matter what those above ground might think of us."

"But... Director? Why you?"

He chuckled. "I was the most qualified for the position, obviously. I've lived my life within these walls, dedicating to science like every other member of the Institute. My hard work has paid off. Ultimately, the Commonwealth has nothing to fear from us. Whatever you've seen or heard, I know I can convince you of that. Just... give me time."

Shaun hesitated. "I know there's more for us to discuss, but... the Institute is on the verge of some important breakthroughs. Your presence would be appreciated as we approach them. I've been a part of something amazing here. I've helped build a life for myself and the people of the Institute... and now, after all these years, you have an opportunity to help with that. Doesn't that intrigue you? Isn't that what you want?"

She stared at him, stunned. "You want me to stay here, in the Institute?"

"Yes, that is what I propose. Is it so hard to imagine? The Institute can provide a better life than anything above ground. You've been in the Commonwealth. You've seen what it's like. I assure you that you are better off with us."

"How can you say that? How can you be so dismissive of all those people? Everything they've done?"

"Because it is the simple truth, and I believe you know it, too. I simply ask that you give the Institute... me... a chance; a chance to show you what I've been telling you. We really do have humanity's best interest at heart. Will you take that chance?"

Briar Rose didn't know how to answer. Yes, she wanted to spend time with him since she fought so hard to find him, but him being in charge of the Institute—the enemy of the Commonwealth, who stole people and replaced them with synths—changes things. From what she has seen of the clean Institute, it probably could give her a better, safer life. But she had so many friends above ground: Codsworth, Dogmeat, Preston, all the Quincey survivors, Piper, Ellie, Dr. Amari, Virgil, Nick... How could she just abandon them?

"I just don't know."

"Just... give it time. Give the Institute a chance. The Institute is now your home as much as it is mine. Please, take some time and get to know it. Meet the people you'll be working with. You'll want to introduce yourself to the Division Heads: Dr. Fillmore in Facilities, Dr. Ayo in the SRB, Dr. Holdren in Bio-Science, and Dr. Li in Advanced Systems. They've all been notified of your arrival, of course. Meet them, and then we'll discuss what comes next."