A half-empty plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and spicy, fermented cabbage sat in front of Altan, surrounded by several empty plates stacked in a precarious tower. On either side of him, Delilah and Bryan picked at their untouched meals, their eyes distracted by the growing crowd of lunchgoers. The group had slowly gathered, pulling chairs and tables closer, eager to overhear their conversation.

"Is it true?" one of the patrons—a woman in a lab coat layered over a dark blue dress—asked, her voice cutting through the air and drawing the crowd's attention to Altan.

He blinked, momentarily thrown off. "What? You'll have to pardon me—I got lost in Vera's cooking. What’s true?"

The woman gestured toward Delilah, who was clad in her armored Vault suit and Lesko's old lab coat, her Pip-Boy visible on her wrist. "You're Vault dwellers? From Vault 101?"

"We were Vault dwellers, even if my bro doesn't look the part.” Delilah replied, her tone tinged with resignation. "Altan forgot his Pip-Boy when we left, and I doubt they’ll let us back in to retrieve it." The girl shrank into herself, her eyes distant as memories of that chaotic morning resurfaced. "It was bad. The whole Vault was in chaos after Dad left—the radroaches, a-and the Overseer... he..." She shuddered, her voice faltering. "It was a terrible time."

Altan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze. "Yeah. That’s acually why we left—and why we came here. We’re searching for our father, James. He looks like us, but more like me—" he playfully nudged Delilah, who shoved him back with a grin. "—and he probably would’ve shown up around two weeks ago, give or take. If any of you have seen him, we’d really appreciate any info."

An unreadable look flashed across the woman’s face as she stood. "Please wait here. There’s someone who may want to see you." Delilah started to rise, but the woman held her hands up. "I said she may want to see you. Please, wait here."

"Well, shit," Altan muttered, and Delilah nodded, her eyes flicking to his stack of plates. After eating a few bites of her macaroni and cheese, she slid the bowl over to him. Altan smirked. "Does someone have a tummy ache from eating nothing but junk food for dinner?"

Delilah flushed, nodding wordlessly. Altan chuckled, dumping the contents of her bowl onto his plate before returning to his meal.

After a quarter of an hour, the woman returned, accompanied by an older woman in a similar lab coat and dress. The older woman froze at the lobby entrance, her hand flying to her mouth as she stared at Altan in shock. "I... It’s you. My heavens, you look so much like him." Her gaze shifted to Delilah, who was fiddling with her Pip-Boy. "And you too. You’re James’s son and daughter. What are the two of you doing here?"

Altan paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. "You know my father? Have you seen him?"

"Well, yes, of course I do. Don’t you know who I am?" The woman scoffed, shaking her head. "I suppose James never told you. Typical." She straightened, her voice softening slightly. "I’m Doctor Madison Li. I worked with your father many years ago. Your mother, too, in fact."

She paused as the younger woman guided her to a sofa near the dining area and brought over a glass of water. Madison accepted it with a grateful nod, taking a sip before continuing. "You’ll have to forgive me. This has all been very stressful, especially with your father suddenly showing up here after being gone for so long. You have to understand, we... we put all of that behind us. Project Purity, our work, all of it. We’ve moved on, even if your father hasn’t."

The siblings exchanged a glance, and Delilah spoke up. "Project Purity? What is that?"

Madison's eyes briefly flicked to Delilah, her gaze hardening slightly before she spoke. "Project Purity was... a dream. A dream of restoring clean water to the Capital Wasteland. Your father was obsessed with it—obsessed with fixing the world, even though it was already broken beyond repair." She sighed, her fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the sofa. "He believed that Project Purity could change everything. But it was never as simple as he thought."

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She reached for the glass of water the younger woman had placed in her hands, her fingers trembling slightly as she took another sip.

"The plan was to build a facility that could purify all the water in the Tidal Basin at once," Madison continued, her tone softening as she became lost in the memory. "No radiation, no muck, just clear water." She paused, her gaze distant, and then added, almost wistfully, "It was simple, really. 'Fresh, clean water for everyone.' Such a simple idea, and yet so impossible to realize."

Her fingers tightened around the glass, as if grounding herself in the present. "We made progress, yes, but the technology, the infrastructure, it was never enough. Not enough to handle the scale of the task, not enough to filter the wasteland's poison out of the water. And then there were the... other complications." Her voice trailed off, as if the weight of those complications was too much to bear.

Delilah leaned forward slightly, curiosity piqued. "Other complications?"

Madison’s lips tightened, her eyes flicking briefly to Altan before she exhaled deeply. "You happened."

Altan froze, the air in the room suddenly feeling thicker. Delilah’s brow furrowed as she looked from one person to the other, trying to make sense of the statement. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice quieter than before.

Madison’s voice dropped to a near whisper, the words heavy with years of suppressed emotion. "It wasn't just you; we had more problems than we could handle already, but your birth is what finally pushed it over the edge. Your father decided that you were more important than everything we'd been working for, and he left. He left all of us."

Altan felt something cold and sharp twist in his chest. Delilah, too, seemed caught off-guard, her expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief. She opened her mouth but hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"Wait," Altan said, his voice low, the edge of anger creeping in. "You're telling me... that because of me, everything fell apart?" His gaze hardened as he looked at Madison. "That's why he left? He just turned his back on all of you?"

Madison nodded, and Altan muttered something venomous under his breath. "Well, I guess that clears a few things up." He glanced at Madison. "'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.' The Book of Revelation, twenty-first chapter, sixth verse." He paused, eyes narrowing. "He was obsessed with that. Had it framed in several places around the clinic and our dorm. Now I know why."

Delilah piped up, her voice trembling with anxiety. "Do you know where our dad went? We've been through so much trying to find him. If you know anything, please, just tell us."

The older woman sighed again, pressing a hand to her chest. "I... I don’t know. He said he was going back to the lab. I assume that means you haven't seen him?"

Delilah shook her head, and the woman continued. "Well, I've got good and bad news. The lab is nearby—it's the old Jefferson Memorial that you likely passed on your way here." As the siblings perked up, she added, "The bad news is, it's currently occupied by super mutants. Our Marines—who, I might add, are much better trained and equipped than either of you—haven’t received authorization to clear it out."

Altan frowned, and Madison sighed. "I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but there’s no point in getting yourselves killed—" She glanced at Delilah. "—or worse, chasing after your father."

Delilah shifted closer to Altan, and he reluctantly nodded, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Right. I’m still banged up from our last encounter with super mutants. Going in there now would be suicide." He hesitated, then added, "But thanks. We appreciate the info."

As Madison started to stand, Delilah called out, "Wait! Is there anything you can think of that might help us?" Madison frowned, and Delilah whined, "Please, we just want to find our dad."

Madison sighed, her expression heavy. "If you two are determined to chase after him, you could try Galaxy News Radio in the D.C. ruins. James mentioned it—I'm not sure if he was already there or if he planned to go after checking the lab. But if anyone can help, it’s Three Dog. That demented disc jockey has eyes and ears all across the wasteland." She chuckled dryly. "He may even be expecting you. Who knows?"

Altan nodded, his face hardening. "We’ll need better gear. I’ve heard enough about the ruins, and none of it’s good."

Madison crossed her arms, her gaze distant. "That would be wise. We’ve lost too many good, young people with more bullets than brains to those ruins."

Madison and her assistant departed shortly after, leaving a long silence in their wake. Altan and Delilah exchanged a look, the weight of Madison’s words still hanging in the air.

"That was... heavy," Altan said, breaking the stillness. "I need some time to process all that." Delilah nodded in agreement, her expression still distant. Altan sighed and added, "But after, you wanna go shopping?"

Delilah’s grin spread wide, a flicker of relief in her eyes as she teased, "We’re going shopping!”