It wasn't long before we were over the bridge and back into Boston, but this time I had made sure Ilya knew to keep close and keep quiet. The Back Bay District was a known haven for raiders and Super Mutants alike, neither of which I had much of an answer for should we get caught. It was easy enough I supposed, Ilya was still moping over Valentine and hadn't spoken a word since we'd left, but none of that mattered now. A synth's a synth and I certainly wasn't about to risk my neck for the likes of him.

Even so, I looked back at Ilya, only to find her scowling off in the distance, refusing to so much as look me in the eye.

I sighed to myself. She could be such a child sometimes.

"Look, I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but we did the right thing ditching the synth. The last thing we need is an Institute spy sniffing around while we're off looking for this Conduit thing. Trust me, you can thank me later."

"Oh, can I? Can I really?" She snapped back with a glare, "Don't patronize me, Mr. Burns. You know perfectly well that I didn't want to leave him behind, but you insisted and you're the boss, so here I am. I mean, honestly... I finally meet someone from my past, someone that might actually be able to help us, and you won't even hear him out. And why? Just because he's taken on a few mechanical parts?"

"It's not as simple as that and you know it," I snapped back, "With the flip of a switch that "friend" of yours becomes the deadliest killing machine in all the Commonwealth. Besides, what's the likelihood that wasn't a trap, anyway? Out of all the personalities he could have had, he just so happens to be an old friend and the foremost expert on your father's murder? C'mon kid, wake the hell up."

"But that's just it! Don't you think the Institute would have put a little more effort into disguising a spy?" She said as she trotted along next to me, "Consider the fact that he's been living in Diamond City long before this Director ever took over, and that he managed to earn a strong reputation with the townspeople there. He might have been telling the truth the whole time, and for all we know, he could have been the best chance we had of finding the vault. At the very least, he could have been one of those Railroad synths I keep hearing about..."

"Seriously, you can't really think... Wait, what?" I stopped for a moment, not quite sure if I had heard correctly. "Did you say the Railroad? How do you know about the Railroad?"

"I heard some of the townspeople talking about it in the marketplace just before I got arrested. It's some sort of secret underground network that smuggles synths out of the Institute, right? They think of them as people, being treated as slaves. They liberate them and give them new identities out in the Wasteland. He could be one of them!"

"Who the hell have you been talking to?!" I said as I reeled around on her, hardly able to believe she overheard this in Diamond City of all places. The Railroad was nothing but a bunch of whacked-out nut jobs and synth-crazed terrorists whose blind altruism was going to get us all killed.

"Whoever told you that was not your friend Ilya, the Railroad is as dangerous as it gets, what's left of them are anyway. They may think the synths are people, but they're dead wrong. How human can you be if all your memories, all that makes you, you, can be replaced with a simple program?"

"You aren't being fair! The least you could have done was given the man a chance!"

"That's enough!" I snapped, thoroughly fed up with this nonsense, "I'm not taking any risks and that's final! I won't hear another word about it!" And with that I stomped ahead, leaving Ilya to return to her cold and stony silence.

Several hours later, we finally entered into the plaza of old Copley Square and the sound of gunfire and screaming seemed to fade away into the distance, our footsteps echoing off the ancient stone of crumbling ruins as the surrounding steel skyscrapers ached and groaned in the wind.

The library stood before us like a great mausoleum. Though the swooping arches and heavy columns gave the place the distinct air of a Roman palace, decorated with the fine sculpt-work of the great Masonic masters, the dark stains left by the radioactive ash gave off a sense of deep foreboding. As we walked up to the gated entrance, we could barely make out the words decorating the seal just above the doors.

Omnium Lux Civium

"This must be the place," I said as I turned to Ilya, "But there's got to be an easier way in, anything you can think of?" I said as I eyed the massive bronze doors sitting just beyond the gate. She shook her head.

"Afraid not," she replied with a shrug.

With little choice, we began a sweep around the library's perimeter, searching for any sort of crack in the building's defenses, but it seemed the automated security system had done its job in shutting the place down after the bombs had dropped. It was with sheer luck that we managed to find a broken window whose grating had come loose over the years. I wrenched it from the wall and gave Ilya a boost inside before quickly following in after her.

I landed with a thud into a pile of plaster and debris, kicking up a heavy cloud of dust that cast a dark haze about the room. We were in an annex, perhaps once used to house special exhibitions of the library's voluminous collections, but now, the entire room lay dead and quiet, the floor above having caved-in long ago. Shelves upon shelves of ruined books littered the ground as we maneuvered through the wreckage, the occasional glimpse of bone glinting in the heady light of Ilya's Pip-boy.

At last, we reached the far side of the room, only to find a wall of rubble standing in our way. This was definitely where we wanted to go, but it looked as if the cave-in had blocked the hall leading out. I felt my way around the pile until I found a spot loose enough to start digging.

It seemed like ages as we shifted through all that rock and debris, but at last, our hard work was rewarded when we finally managed to break through. As we moved into the entrance hall, I was taken aback by the most breathtaking sight.

A shaft of twilight streamed in from the high windows above, casting the room in a deep orange glow that seemed to set the ancient hall on fire. Vaulted ceilings rose high above us, inscribed with the names of the greatest masters of the scientific age, shining like stars in the ethereal light.

As we walked further into the foyer, we found ourselves at the base of a grand sweeping staircase where twin marble lions lazed atop a pair of pedestals, looking down upon us with a sense of almost-curiosity beneath their stony gaze. We must have been the first living souls to step foot in these ruins in over a century. Even the dust seemed suspended in time as an eerie silence reverberated around us, echoing with the voices of the long forgotten past.

"It's beautiful..." I said to myself.

"It is, isn't it?" She replied with a quiet smile, "It was called the "Palace of the People" back when it was first opened. See these murals here? They represent all the different disciplines found inside the library. History, philosophy, physics, and this one here... It shows the nine muses of Greek mythology praising Enlightenment as he is risen by Contemplation and Study. My father used to bring me here all the time when I was a child, I can't believe how well it's been preserved after all these years..."

Ilya trailed off as I looked around the arcaded gallery, covered in ages of dust and grime. It was less of a palace than it was a temple, a temple to the very hubris of man. It made sense for the Order to have some kind of presence here, but I couldn't help but scowl as Ilya continued on, seemingly oblivious to the implications.

"Oh! And that motto outside?" Ilya said without a care, "The Light of All People... It's talking about knowledge, and how it belongs to every single one of us. It is the light of all humanity, that guides us out of the darkness and leads us into the future-"

"And you think that wise, do you?" I said as I raised my brow.

"What?" She said, almost startled by the question.

"Do you think that is wise?" I said again as I gestured around me, "Putting all your faith into technology and science... Worshipping knowledge for knowledge's sake... Isn't that what ended the world in the first place?"

"No, it's not like that at all!" She said, a look of genuine surprise on her face, "My father always told me it was more like the ancient myth of Prometheus. How he sacrificed himself to bring the heavenly fire to earth, that spark of knowledge that brought mankind out of the dark ages. It's a gift, Mr. Burns, bought with the sacrifice of our ancestors."

I scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Well, I've got another little fairy tale for you. It's called Pandora's Box, and it's about a girl that just had to know the answer to everything. A girl whose curiosity and quest for "knowledge" brought about the end of the world, because that's what happens when you mess with things men weren't meant to know. That's what the endless pursuit of "knowledge" gets you."

"You are just so... infuriating! First of all, that's not how the myth goes, and second, technology and science aren't what's dangerous, it's how you use them!"

"Well, they used it alright!" I yelled out, a little louder than I'd meant to, "Don't you get it? It always gets out of hand, people just can't control themselves. Sometimes they can't even control their own creations!" But as soon as the words had left my mouth, I knew what a terrible mistake I'd made. A cold, mechanical voice rang out from somewhere up above, echoing around us as the sound of heavy metallic footsteps began to clang closer and closer.

"WARNING; Intruders detected in the vicinity of the main hall. Defensive routines activated..."

We both looked up just as the clunky frame of a Pre-War robot came into view, its positronic brain whirring madly beneath a plane of glass. Our presence had sent the machine's ancient sensors into overdrive as it scoured the area from its high position upon the balcony.

I cursed under my breath.

Protectrons. Of course there were Protectrons... How else does a treasure like this go untouched for so many years? All the Pre-War companies had used them, but they were just another example of technology run amok. Though they may have been the most basic of automatons, they had always been unreliable, even before the war. Now after two hundred years of nonstop functioning, they could be downright unpredictable. 

"ATTENTION all law-abiding citizens, the library is now closed due to an emergency. Please find the nearest exit or be eradicated to the fullest extent of the law." Its monotone voice seemed to jerk and hitch at the strangest of times, the occasional spark flying from its mechanical head.

Instinctively, I ducked behind one of the marble statues, dragging Ilya down with me as she struggled.

"Hey!" She hollered as she wrenched her hand from mine.

"Be quiet! Are you trying to get us both killed?"

"Now really, a Protectron? Is that what's got you all upset? Honestly, I'm starting to think you're just messing with me..."

"I said get down!" I hissed as I readied my weapon once again.

"Oh, this is absolutely ridiculous... Watch and learn, Mr. Burns." And without another word, she marched right towards the lumbering tank of steel and sparking servos.

"Ilya!" I called after her. What did she think she was doing!? Dammit, I knew this girl was going to be the end of me...

I watched on helplessly as she approached the machine, a metric ton of gears and steel. What it lacked in refinement and mobility, it made up for in sheer strength and firepower.

"HALT; Unauthorized access detected. Present identification or face imminent destruction."

"Ilya Jane Astor, identification number 07734."

"Bzzzrt- Processing information..."

"Welcome ILYA ASTOR to the Boston Public Library. The library is now closed due to emergency protocols. Kindly return to the nearest exit or be vaporized under Federal Code M-108b."

"Now now, no need to be so rude my dear robot," Ilya chided as she pulled out the cable on her Pip-Boy. She dodged the Protectron's slow grasp and ducked around its back, plugging her computer into a port hidden beneath a panel. Before I knew it, the robot had powered down, completely at Ilya's mercy.

"How... did you do that?" I asked.

"I told you!" She said as she typed in a string of codes, bypassing the emergency protocols and resetting the personality systems.

"It's just a matter of knowing what you're doing," she said with a smile as the machine booted up once again.

"WELCOME to the Boston Public Library! I am your helpful guide to the world of knowledge. Please input your request."

I could hardly believe it as the robot stood before us, completely harmless and utterly obedient. Not only had she subdued the Protectron, but she had also managed to turn on the backup generator. A deep rumble shook the room as the power kicked on from somewhere deep below, and one by one, ancient lights flickered on around us.

Even so, I wasn't convinced.

"But what about the turrets hiding in the alcoves? Or any other security for that matter! There could be an assaultron just hiding around the corner and you wouldn't even know it!"

"Nope, not a problem. I've already hacked into the mainframe and reset the protocols to regular working hours. Ask him anything you want and he'll tell you the answer, I guarantee it!" She said with a pearly smile.

"Hmm, I still don't like it..." I grumbled as I looked the machine up and down. I certainly didn't trust the tin can any farther than I could throw it, but I supposed everything did seem to be in working order.

"Oh don't be silly, here let's give this a try... Ahem, Protectron? What is the Order of the Algorithm?"

"Processing request..." The mechanized voice chimed as his processors kicked into action, a whir of activity and computation humming through the air.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Information not found, please try again later," he said after several minutes of thinking. I scoffed.

"Hmm, I suppose that was a bit of a stretch... I mean, what kind of secret society would it be if you could just look it up at the library?" She conceded as she began to pace up and down the room.

"Okay, how about this... Protectron? What is the significance of "M8"? What does that mean?"

The humming filled the air once more.

"Clarification required," the robot chimed again, "Do you mean the M8 Armored Gun System first implemented in the U.S. Army in 2045, or the M8 class planets often explored in the popular children's program The Adventures of Captain Cosmos and Jangles the Moon Monkey?"

"Well, that was helpful," I snarked. "I think we should ask it about the Moon Monkey, how about you?"

"We're just not asking it the right questions, that's all!" Ilya insisted, "Perhaps something a little more tangible?" She said as she came over and grabbed the key out of my pocket.

"How about this, do you recognize this?" She asked as she placed the key in front of the machine's face. A beam of light emitted from one of the sensors beneath the glass, scanning the image before sending the robot into another whir of computations.

"The Eye in the Atom," the robot replied after some time, "A high society symbol that rose to prominence in the early 2020's for gentlemen's clubs and science consortiums around the world, though its origins may date much earlier."

"Oh, for crying out loud," I said, quickly becoming exasperated with the whole ordeal, "This thing is as useless as it is dangerous. We're never going to find anything this way!"

"Hmph, well he can still help us haul books back and forth at the very least," she said with a pout, "Protectron, bring me everything you have on secret societies, symbols, and code-breaking."

And with that, the robot was off to search amongst the wreckage. Ilya and I, on the other hand, worked on finding a way into the main reading gallery. A long, vast hall lined with tall arching windows that left us exposed to the outside world, we decided instead to find a nice secluded spot in an alcove near the far end. The Protectron began bringing in stack after stack of books until slowly, we were surrounded by a treasure trove of lost knowledge.

The table creaked under the massive weight as Ilya buried herself into book after book, all but hidden among the towering stacks. I tried to help for as long as I could, but after finding half the volumes completely unreadable, I quickly gave up and took to patrolling the perimeter while she worked in a feverish silence.

The hours seemed to slip by until the darkness outside had become complete, leaving me feeling more anxious and exposed than ever. It wasn't wise to have an entire building lit up in the dead of night, in fact, it was the kind of thing that put a bullseye squarely on your back. I made my way back over to Ilya, where I found her pouring over a few faded newspapers in search of some sort of clue as to what this all meant. Halfway between an article on the increasing tensions over the last known oil reserve and a report on the New Plague sweeping across the mountains of Colorado, Ilya looked up, heavy bags forming beneath her tired eyes.

"Hey, kiddo? It's probably time to wrap it up for the night," I said as I laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "C'mon, we'll find a place to hole up for now and get some rest. We can get a fresh start in the morning."

"No! Please, Mr. Burns, I'm so close, I can feel it! It's like, I'm missing something... Something right in front of me, but I just can't see it. I mean, it's too short to be a coded message, it's not some kind of location reference... I just can't find anything that makes sense of "M8"!

"We could probably search this place up and down until the end of time, and we still might never know the answer," I said as I rubbed my eyes, starting to feel the edge of the day myself. "Most of these books are destroyed beyond repair, even so, maybe we're just looking at this from the wrong angle? Like I said, try to get some sleep. I'm sure it'll come to you."

"Oh, I suppose you're right..." She said with a great yawn, "After all, there's no use in bashing my head against a wall. Let me just gather my things and... whoops!" She fumbled with the key as she almost tripped over a pile of books. I heard her curse under her breath as the tiny thing clattered to the floor, but as she bent over to pick it up, she stopped and stared.

"What is it?" I asked, but I could already see those wheels turning in her head. I could just barely hear the whisper beneath her breath before that smile spread wide once again.

"The Divergence Sequence..." She said.

"The what?"

"The Divergence Sequence!" She said again, "You were right Jacob, we have been looking at this all wrong! The key doesn't say "M8" at all, look!" She held up the key so that the 8 sat on top of the sideways M, and I wrinkled my brow.

"I don't get it," I said with a shrug.

"They're mathematical symbols, Mr. Burns, that of infinity and the Greek letter sigma. It's a shorthand for the Infinity Sum, also known as the Divergence Sequence. It just goes on forever and ever, with an infinite number of answers depending on how you go about solving the problem. Honestly, I can't believe I didn't see it before, it was one of my father's favorites!"

"You know, it's funny," she added with a sad smile, "He would always tease me about which was the "correct" answer... by telling me it just depended on which reality you chose to wake up in that day." She laughed to herself, "Of course, he'd always known it was a bunch of silly sci-fi nonsense, but he truly loved the idea, that every possibility existed within the vast macrocosm. If certain calculations were correct, then the number of realities could be infinite, and what my father told me would be true. Reality really is made by the choices you make..."

"What on earth are you going on about?" I said, starting to wonder if the girl was more sleep deprived than I'd thought. "I've never heard of any of that crap, and besides, what does any of this have to do with us?"

"Well, think about it! My father would use this to describe hidden worlds connected to our own. If my theory is correct, then this is telling us exactly where to find the next clue! Protectron, please take us to the mathematics section, specifically anything regarding the Divergence Sequence."

"Fine," I groaned as the rust-bucket began to move away from us, "If you insist, but this better be quick, alright? I'm sick and tired of feeling exposed out here..."

It seemed to take forever as we followed the slow, heaving steps of the Protectron, but at last, we'd made it through the vast library and into a dark room. It was clear by the blown out windows and heavy scorch marks that the blast had hit this wing the hardest, leaving almost all of the books here charred to ash. There was a strong stench of mold and decay as we came up to a crumbling bookcase, where the Protectron pointed to a book so old and brittle there was no telling what it once was called.

"Well, I guess that's it then," I said with a sigh, "Can we get moving now?"

"No, no, that can't be the end! There's got to be something else... I mean, if we just handle it very carefully, maybe there'll be something inside? Something that didn't burn? Here, just help me get this thing out."

"Ilya, there's no chance... That book is completely destroyed. It'll fall apart the second you touch it!" I replied, but as usual, she wasn't listening. Slowly, carefully, she eased it from its place off the shelf, but every movement sent more and more slivers of charred pages flittering to the floor. As soon as she had the book in hand, it disintegrated before our eyes into a pile of dust and dead dreams.

"Well, don't I didn't warn you. C'mon, let's get going," I ordered as I turned to leave, but still, she insisted.

"Jacob... you should see this..."

"Oh, no. I've had enough," I snapped back without so much as a second look, "I'm not hearing another word about it, at least not for today. Get your things, we're leaving. Now."

"But, if you'd only take a moment..."

"I said no. Seriously, this has gone on for long enough. How many times do I have to tell you 'no' before you get it through your thick skull?"

"Jacob!" She hollered at the top of her lungs.

"Oh for crying out loud, WHAT?!" I yelled, finally reaching my limit, "What is it? What is so god damn important?!"

"Would you just... look!" She yelled back at me as she pointed to where the book had been only moments before, and that's when I saw it.

There, embedded into the wall just beyond the bookcase, was a golden eye.

I grabbed Ilya's Pip-boy and brought it closer as I wiped away the years of soot and grime, and just like the key, the eye was surrounded by the electron rings of an atom. A small keyhole sat at its center, winking at us from beneath the pale light.

"Well, I'll be damned... You actually did it," I said, barely able to contain my amazement. I clearly hadn't been giving the girl enough credit this whole time.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I said, "Open it!"

Ilya certainly didn't need to be told twice. She whipped out the key and placed it into the lock with one fell swoop. The ancient tumbler turned with a loud thunk, followed by a fast flurry as a dozen more disengaged. Slowly, the bookcase opened with an eerie creak that echoed throughout the cavernous room, a cloud of dust billowing out around us.

Without a second thought, I grabbed the nearest chair and tore off one of its legs, quickly wrapping the end with a spare bit of cloth I always kept around, just in case. I lit the material and watched it blaze to life. As I held out the torch, we saw a set of mysterious stone stairs that seemed to stretch on forever before us. Ilya and I turned to one another, sharing a look of silent agreement before descending down those shallow steps and into the dark unknown.