Things changed, after bringing Zwei into the dorm room. He was a new addition that we needed to take care of, and there were some things that came with it. Remembering to feed him, take him for walks, and making sure he wasn't just cooped up in the room all day. There were some growing pains, needed to teach him to stay off the furniture unless invited. Came back from Vale the first night to find him curled up on my pillow. Made sure he had a bath after that. Blake also didn't take too kindly to the addition of a new cute critter. Though the fact she adamantly refused to leave her bunk for the first night or two was mildly amusing. He taught me some things though, lingering around as he was.

For example: snowflakes melt.

"Who's the bestest boy?" Weiss asked, Zwei seated on her lap as she scratched him behind the ears. "You are, yes you are!"

Because Weiss literally turned into a puddle whenever he got involved.

We'd been in the midst of deciding what we were going to be doing for dinner that night. I'd had a couple of different ideas involving meat and potatoes, or some seared vegetables and sauce. My options had started to improve since I'd started getting fresh ingredients from my garden.

Nora, however, had other ideas.

"You owe me pancakes, buster." She said, stabbing a finger at me "Pay up."

"Keep your shorts on, I'm flipping them as fast as I can." I groused.

Despite the fact that she didn't get our wager in writing, or similar proof beyond eye-witnesses, Nora had been incessant. So, I caved, and had allowed that we'd be doing pancakes for dinner. However, in keeping with my no longer having to handle the responsibilities alone, I twisted Ren's arm a little. Had him make the batter for me, since I'd never had to make it from scratch myself. I took note of how he did it as he went, for future reference. A nice new recipe to have under my belt.

Nora, however, did not appreciate that this was the first time I was making them, nor my candor. "None of the sass, mister man." She squawked "You know the deal."

"No, actually I don't." I retorted "It's pretty ill-defined beyond my having to make you pancakes for some arbitrary reason."

"Rule number one-" Ren supplied "You made the bet and lost. You pay up, no whining."

"Whose benefit is that for, her's or yours?" I asked.

That got a chuckle out of Ren, and caused Nora's already ruddy cheeks to flush further.

"What kinda question is that!?" Nora asked "We both agreed on it!"

"Who proposed it, you or him?" I queried.

Nora didn't have a comeback for that one. Though her face turned a nice shade of pink.

"Be nice." Pyrrha hummed, holding out a plate already stacked high with pancakes "In the end, you made them anyway."

"Yeah, I know." I said, levering my spatula under the pancake "-This one makes, what, thirty total? That's a shortstack for everyone, plus a few extra. I'd say I've made good on my end of the bargain."

"You got any syrup for them?" Nora asked, giving me the stink eye.

"What kind of question is that?" I asked, pulling a sticky jar of sap from my box of tricks "Of course I have syrup, you really think I'd throw away ingredients?"

"Of course not, we've had your cooking." Weiss said snidely, ruffling Zwei's ears.

"Very funny." I said "Just for that, you don't get any pancakes."

"Hmph." Weiss turned her nose up at me. "Fine."

"…" I looked to the small dog currently sitting on her lap, and gave a sharp whistle "Zwei."

The small dog wrenched his head out of Weiss's hands, staring at me curiously.

I dangled one of the fresh made discs of pleasure in the air. "Pancakes, here boy."

Zwei yipped and jumped off of Weiss with a doggy grin on his muzzle. He trotted across the room to me and wriggled his furry butt up onto my cot. He stared expectantly at me, and I tore off a piece of the pancake and fed it to him. He panted happily and nuzzled up against my leg contentedly.

I looked back over to Weiss, who glared daggers at me through the pout on her face. A chuckle escaped me as I continued tearing off chunks of pancake and feeding them to the pup currently using my thigh as a pillow.

"You might want to not do that." Yang chuckled "Last time dad fed him anything but dog food, he made a giant mess."

"It's a single pancake." I said "He technically shouldn't be eating this anyway since dogs aren't supposed to have carbs. Makes them fat."

"It does?" Ruby asked, scrutinizing the dog resting on my lap "But he'd always try to steal the crusts from my toast."

"He's a dog Ruby, he'll beg for scraps on principle." I said, scratching the pup behind the ears "No wonder he's a little butterball. I just thought it was his breed."

Zwei tilted his head at me in a way that would've implied he took offense to what I said. I wasn't sure how smart he was. Wasteland hounds are a touch more intelligent than the average mutt. Either a result of breeding or the environment. I knew Rex at least was more capable than the average hound because of his mechanical components. Zwei was giving me vibes that he was more aware of his surroundings than he let on. However, to what degree, I had no clue of measuring.

All I really knew: he looked annoyed with me.

"Did you just call Zwei fat!?" Ruby squeaked "He's not fat! He's pleasantly plump."

"Well, maybe a little." I said "But, hey, bread makes you fat."

Zwei growled at that, but stopped when I threw another piece of pancake at him.

"Whaaat?" Nora asked, drowning her portion of dinner in saccharine ichor "No it doesn't!"

"Bread is calorie dense and has been a source of food for centuries because of it." I reminded her "It lacks nutrients, which matters in the long run. But, when your goal is just to make sure you've got the energy stores to survive until tomorrow, it does the job. And since the body tries to store whatever calories it can as fat for later…"

I could see the gears turning in Nora's head as she looked at me, then down to the sopping pancakes on her plate, then back to me. "… Bread makes you fat!?"

"Along with most other carb heavy dishes. Like pancakes." I said, smirking.

Nora looked down at her pancakes once more, her face horrified. As she looked back up to me however, it darkened significantly. "Why!?" She squawked "Why did you have to ruin this for me!?"

"Ruin?" I asked innocently "I haven't ruined anything. I've simply informed you on the nutritional nature of your favorite food. Knowing you, you'll just convert it straight to muscle the next time you're in the gym."

Nora's face narrowed into a glare, as her ruddy complexion deepened. "I'll remember this, bub."

"Whatever you say, pancake." I replied sweetly.

Likely lacking the wear withal to respond, Nora tucked into her sickly-sweet meal. Glowering at her mountain of carbs with all the fury of a thousand puppies. As dangerous as the sugar content of her dinner.

I continued scratching Zwei as everyone else started in on their food. Pudgy or not, he was a pretty sweet dog. Not better than Rex, or even Roxie for that matter, but he was a dog. Being sweet was almost his default. Unless you were dinner, in which case I'd help with the carving.

Not an excuse for me to keep feeding him people food, but he was liking the pancakes.

"I'm serious about the food thing." Yang warned "You'll be the one cleaning up after him if you're not careful."

"Fine, fine, I'll slow up." I said, shifting the food away from Zwei.

He whined pitifully and flashed me with puppy eyes.

"Nice try, boy." I said, ruffling his ears "Ruby's better at it than you, and she doesn't have a very good track record either."

"Did he just call me a dog?" Ruby muttered.

"No, but falling back on that eye trick when it so suits you doesn't weigh in your favor." I said.

Ruby's cheeks flushed, as she realized she should've been a bit quieter.

"To save you from any further embarrassment-" Weiss cut in "Can we move on to talking about something other than dinner? Every time we do, it ends with you telling us you did something strange to it."

"Like, say, mixing fresh blood in, to make them blood pancakes?" I offered "It's not uncommon to do that in the wasteland, make something called a Thick Red Paste and-"

"NOT ANOTHER WORD!" Nora squawked.

Okay- okay, easy." I said, placating "I was only joking, we don't make pancakes out of them… Or at all, for that matter. We've got most of the ingredients, come to think of it, but the only places that actually serves them is this hotel on the Strip called Vault 21. But they use corn flour instead of wheat."

Ren rubbed his chin. "I'll have to try that sometime."

"Let me know how they turn out, I've never actually had them." I said.

"Ahem." Weiss intoned, feigning it as a cough into her sleeve.

"Yeah, yeah, we're moving away from it." I said "Though, side note, I might actually try making blood-pancakes now. So thanks for the idea."

"Wonderful." Weiss groaned.

"So, what's tonight's topic of choice?" I asked "Any burning questions or thoughts that we can use to direct this thing?"

"Actually, since you happened to bring it up." Weiss said "I do have a few questions I would like answered, assuming there's no problem with that?"

"You know the rules." I said "As long as they are within reason, speak your mind."

Weiss nodded "This hotel you mentioned, Vault 21, it wouldn't happen to be one of the 'Vaults' that you've mentioned previously, would it? The underground bunkers built before the war."

"That it would, actually." I answered "Vault 21 was built on the New Vegas strip, in the heart of the city. Or, rather, its most often patronized portion."

"Which is most likely why it was there then." Weiss surmised "It would make sense that they'd put a bomb shelter in the city's heart."

"That…" I put a hand on my and pondered it for a moment. "… Actually, I'm not entirely sure why Vault 21 is where it is. From everything I understand, the Vault program was a government run project, and handled by Vault-Tec."

"Vault-Tec?" Weiss asked

"The company that built the Vaults and operated them for the Government?" I offered.

Weiss gave me a look of confusion. She seemed to be trying to place the name, but was turning up nothing.

"… Huh, thought I'd have mentioned them by now. Funny." I said.

"Is it safe to assume they just built all the Vaults and leave it at that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes and no." I said "On the one hand, they did build the Vaults. However, they were also responsible for maintaining them and ensuring they continued to function. At least until the U.S. Government signaled an 'all clear' for people to start coming back above ground."

"Which never happened." Yang chimed.

"Which never happened, yes." I parroted, turning back to Weiss "Just kinda odd I never mentioned them until now, considering they were instrumental for a lot of things."

Weiss gave me a satisfied smirk. "Well then, I believe we've found tonight's topic."

I nodded "Suppose we have then… Well, since we're on it, we'll start with Vault-Tec."

Nora groaned audibly.

"Oy, less sass, more syrup." I countered "You got your dinner, I don't want to hear it."

Nora blew me a raspberry, before cramming saccharine-soaked bread into her gob.

I looked at her a moment longer before continuing. "So, Vault-Tec. I personally don't know too much about them. Couldn't give you specifics, like what year they were founded, or who ran it, but I can give the overview. They were tasked with Vault construction and oversight. With some management and direction from the Government, naturally."

"So that means they held a monopoly on it." Blake noted "Kind of like-"

"Kind of like the SDC and its myriad contracts with Atlas, yes." I finished for her "We can use that analogy a dozen times, and it would not change how accurate it is, barring certain details."

Weiss turned up her nose. "If you're good at something, you tend to get chosen for it." She huffed.

"Actually, government contracts tend to get picked because of availability and who can get it done the cheapest." I told her "Either you'd get chosen because you are the only one offering, or because you undercut the competition enough."

"…" Weiss flushed slightly.

"In either case, Vault-Tec probably fit somewhere snugly between the two." I continued "There's not much mention of other large companies producing fallout shelters, but there may have been. Vault-Tec just wound up taking the lead."

"Well, what was so special about them?" Weiss asked, soldiering on "If the whole point of a Vault is just to be a bomb shelter, what was the point of hiring outside business to handle it. In theory, as long as they were capable of surviving the blasts, that should've been enough, correct?"

"Not quite." I answered "Remember, the bombs they were preparing for were nuclear. You're all familiar with dust explosions, but nuclear blasts are their own beast. We had a whole conversation about it."

"I remember." Weiss answered "They would leave behind material that was extremely poisonous to anything that came in contact with it."

"Not inherently poison, but close enough." I answered "But remember: it was poison that would take hundreds of years to drop to safe levels. It would also linger in the air as particulate, or seep into the ground and affect the water. Poisoning plant and, subsequently, animal life. Building a simple blast shelter isn't hard, you just need the proper materials and construction. Building a Fallout shelter, specifically a Vault, is a lot more complicated. You need to account for food, water, air quality, long term structural integrity and a host of other things. Not to mention you'd be doing so for hundreds of people over the course of a century or more. Not something you could just slap together and hope for the best. It certainly didn't help that the Government, or rather the Enclave, had some ulterior motives."

"Because of course they did." Weiss said "Is there anything from the 'Old World' that didn't have some 'super-secret and super-sinister' ulterior motive?"

I resisted the urge to laugh in her face. Instead continuing to scratch Zwei's head, and slowly working my way down his back. "If there was, they were limited in number for the purpose of not screwing over the entire human race."

"Which itself, implies that they were doing pretty horrific things." Ren said, watching me intently

"You don't even know the half of it." I said "Neither do I, and frankly, I'm glad I don't. I sleep better that way."

"I think you did actually talk about the Vaults having experiments." Ruby said, thinking "But I don't think you ever said what they were."

"Wouldn't be surprised if I glanced over it." I agreed "They're a pretty wicked can of worms at the best of times. But I suppose now's going to be the time where we open them up. Consider this the only warning you'll be getting about them; they get pretty bad."

"Compared to everything else you've told us?" Weiss asked.

"In some cases, yes." I said "Vault-Tec and the Enclave ran most of these experiments with plenty of sadism in mind. I can say that a majority of them typically failed. The aftermath isn't always well documented, but the ones that are… well, it can test your faith in what you think of people. Let's leave it at that."

Weiss, and most everyone else in the room began to look uneasy. I was making it clear that what we were about to talk about wasn't light hearted. I'd never done that with anything else we'd covered up to that point. It was important they understand the severity of it.

Weiss schooled her expression, and nodded, steeling herself.

"What were some of them?" She asked.

"… By and large? Social experiments." I said "Trapping hundreds of people in tight, underground spaces is a good way to test human condition and nature, when people are stressed and volatile. Made it more likely they'd get genuine reactions. Most of them… ended poorly."

I continued to pet Zwei, as some of the memories about the Vaults came back to me. Running through those rusted corridors and breathing the mildewed air. Without thinking, I felt my fist clench over Zwei's back. The little pup looked up at me, curious. I exhaled and continued petting him.

"There were over a hundred Vaults across the United States." I said "Of them, only a handful were 'control' Vaults. Meant to be shelters and nothing else. I want to say the actual number was something in the ballpark of about fifteen and twenty. Most of the information has been disseminated by word of mouth and found documents. Can be hard to say sometimes. But the number of Vaults that were made available to the public only numbering around one hundred and twenty. Which means less than a sixth of them were ever even intended to keep the people in them safe. Assuming that something didn't screw that up. Mismanagement and error have a way of eschewing concepts such as 'safety'."

"A one in six chance." Weiss said, more to herself than anyone else.

"None of the Vaults were made equal either." I continued "Almost all of them were guaranteed to house about a hundred people at minimum. But most of them either never made capacity, or went over them for reasons both unintentional and not. No one expected the war. That as many people made it into the Vaults when they did is a surprise."

"And even then, they were almost guaranteed to be part of something far worse." Weiss said, numbly.

"Yeah…" I said "… Not all of the experiments were bad, or rather, didn't turn sour. Vault 21, the Vault built into the New Vegas Strip, was one of the rare Vault experiment success stories. They kept their experiment running for the entire run of the Vault's use as a shelter, almost two hundred years. It only stopped because House kicked them out so he could start 'revitalizing' New Vegas and the Strip. Having the Vault continuing to function as it was threw a wrench in his plans, apparently."

"What was their experiment?" Weiss asked "To have survived, it couldn't have been one of the more dangerous experiments."

"Actually, I'd say their experiments was one of the ones most people would've expected to fail." I answered "The Vault had basically no governing authority to make decisions. The vault dwellers were basically left to govern themselves. Barring one enforced stipulation: All disputes needed to be settled through gambling."

Weiss's brow furrowed "Gambling?"

"I'm pretty sure it was chosen because of the irony of the Vault's location." I added "But that was the experiment: See how people react when their lives are basically ruled by fate and luck. Doesn't matter how important the issue was, if it came time to decide and there was disagreement, break out the cards. You'd let things be settled by the hands of fate."

"And barring that, wind up chip outta luck." Yang said snidely.

"Har-de-har, never heard that one before." I said "But, by all accounts you'd think having that be the way things were settled would end in people saying 'screw it' and making their own choices. Nope, quite the opposite. By all accounts, people respected the rule, and the outcomes of it. Being happy about it was a different matter, but considering they succeeded where most failed, it counts for a lot."

"A Vault run by gambling addicts, that didn't devolve into anarchy." Blake mused "Go figure."

"Sadly though, they still wound up getting dealt a bad hand in the end." I continued "Mr. House couldn't force them to leave the Vault until they opened the door, so he had to make them offers instead. The Vault became divided between staying and leaving and, falling back on tradition, they settled with cards. Blackjack, if my information's right. The side who wanted to sell-out to House won, and most of the inhabitants were forced out into the Wasteland. Only a handful got to stick around after pleading with House, and were permitted to turn their old home into a hotel. A tourist trap in a city full of them. Most of the Vault wasn't even left intact, House filled its lower levels with concrete to make sure it stayed a hotel. Rather than go back to how it used to be."

"Wow." Yang said, tone sincere "That's cold."

"That's what happens when you let something else decide your fate for you, I guess." I said "End of the day, you don't get a say where you'll end up. You just get to deal with it… Moving on." I shifted slightly and dragged Zwei the rest of the way onto my lap. He seemed pretty contented where he was, but I enjoyed the emotional support he was providing. He resettled himself, and I focused my thoughts. "Outside of Vault 21, there were a few other Vaults sprinkled throughout the Mojave. Vaults 3, 11, 19, 22, and 34."

"Could they not keep any of them numerical order?" Weiss asked, looking confused "Wouldn't it make more sense to number them based on region?"

"Fuck if I know." I said "I'm not the one who was in charge of it. I think they numbered them in order of completion, but really it just shows disorganized they were on that front if Vault 3 is in New Vegas while Vault 1 is somewhere on the coast a couple hundred miles away… Speaking of Vault 3, it was also one of the more benign Vaults, for a time. Given that it was a control Vault, set a couple miles away from the Strip. Unfortunately, unlike Vault 21, Vault 3 didn't have much luck going for them."

"Did Mr. House come to kick them out too?" Blake asked, perhaps trying to be smarmy.

"They'd have been so lucky." I answered "No, from what I gather, some of the Vault's systems began failing, and forced them to open up to the outside world. With next to no knowledge of the local politics and dangers of the wasteland, they were an easy target. After a few weeks of trying to make trade, they were attacked by a group known as the Fiends. Raiders with a penchant for chems. They stormed the place and killed the Vault Dwellers to a man. Set up shop in there not long afterwards."

Whatever mirth Blake had tried to foster melted away.

"With a location secured, the Fiends used Vault 3 as a stronghold to stage attacks on the surrounding area. No one was crazy enough to dive headlong into a cazador's nest and hope they came out the other side. The Fiends were easily some of the worst humans you'd find in the wasteland too. Most of them suffered from mental conditions and psychosis, made worse by their addictions. They were ultra-violent, cannibalistic slavers and opportunists with a penchant for rape and torture…" I took a moment, and continued rubbing Zwei's head. "If you ever need an idea of what the worst of humanity looks like, you could do worse than the Fiends, but it'd be a hard task."

An uneasy air hung in the room. I'd warned them that things weren't going to be pretty, world wasn't always a fair place. Animals like the Fiends only made it less so.

I drummed my fingers over Zwei's back, thinking. "… They're not so much of a problem anymore, at least. Bounty hunters and NCR contractors managed to take out their leadership over the course of a few months. The rest of them thinned out over time. Lack of coordination meant their own tendencies would destroy them. I've had more than my fair share of run-ins with them."

"… How could people do something like that?" Ruby asked, visibly troubled.

"Honestly, Ruby, that's a riddle for the ages." I answered "They were already unstable, and the chems definitely didn't help… but to do the things they did, for as long as they did… I don't know. Though there's some rumors that they themselves were the product of a completely different Vault experiment. One not even that far away from Vault 3."

"You're kidding." Weiss said, looking particularly disturbed by this point.

"I might be, honestly." I said "This one's more theory than fact. Just people making educated guesses with the evidence we have on hand. A few miles to the south-southwest, was Vault 19. Much like 21, 19 was an experiment Vault. Unfortunately, their experiment was more divisive. Literally. The Vault's occupants were split into two factions, a Red side and a Blue side. The two sides were kept largely alienated from each other, with interaction being next to nonexistent. The purpose of the experiment, was to test methods of inducing paranoia through non-chemical and non-violent means. Evidence showed they succeeded. Both sides rapidly developed psychosis and aggression towards the other, and grew increasingly unstable. The standing theory is that the Fiends are the result of the Vault's experiment. No one knows what happened to the Vault dwellers of 19, they all seemed to have vanished. However, notes of the Vault medical staff administering copious amounts of chems to the dwellers lines up at least somewhat with the Fiends' own dependency. Mental illness isn't inherently hereditary, but can be found to run in families. A couple hundred years in an environment like 19's would allow for it to become more concentrated and exacerbated."

"You're saying that they made an experiment out of turning people crazy?" Ruby asked, visibly horrified "That's… That's just…"

"I know." I intoned "They wanted to study it, and no one was going to stop them. Ultimately, if there is any truth to the Vault 19 theory, the rest of us are stuck paying for it."

"Guess you weren't kidding about these places being really screwed up." Yang said.

"I haven't finished yet, they get worse." I said.

"Are you kidding!?"Jaune hissed.

"No." I intoned, readjusting my tactical relief dog. "If it's too much, we can drop the topic. Things aren't going to be getting any better from here. Frankly, ignorance is bliss."

"True, but we wouldn't ask if we didn't want to know." Weiss answered, looking to Ruby with a steely expression.

Ruby returned the gaze with a soft one of her own, before she took a breath. When she next looked to me, I could see determination in her eyes. "What else did they do?"

"… There're two more Vaults in the Mojave meant for housing people." I answered "Vault 22 and 11. Vault 22 was located to the west of Vegas, in the mountains. Their experiment was one the vault residents were actually made aware of and actively recruited for. The experiment was geared towards solving food shortages through botanical engineering. The whole Vault was intended to function as a 'Green Vault'. Sustaining itself off of the crops they were able to propagate. They were actually extremely successful. In the present, Vault 22 is overgrown with vegetation and plantlife. An ocean of green in the otherwise barren desert of the Mojave."

"But if it's overgrown, that means that something still went wrong." Weiss surmised "Otherwise they'd have maintained it, correct?"

"Correct." I agreed "Unfortunately, despite the Vault's more altruistic goal, things didn't pan out. Despite being fairly successful with their food production, pest control was an issue. Where there's food, the rats and roaches have a tendency to follow. To combat them, the Vault's researchers turned to a contribution from an outside contractor: Beauveria Mordicana. A species of Fungi who's spore were highly poisonous in the appropriate concentrations."

"They tried to handle their rat problem with poisonous mushrooms?" Weiss asked, confused "Why didn't they just put down, I don't know, rat poison?"

"I don't know, that would've been the sensible thing." I agreed "Maybe they did at first but ran out. Besides which, it was more than rats they had to worry about. The spores were kept largely contained at first, limited to the various greenhouses they grew their crops in. It was considered a success, initially. Unfortunately, trying to keep something airborne, such as spores, contained is easier said than done. The spores weren't picky about who they poisoned either, they were their own life form, after all. The infantile stages of one at that. Contamination was eventually broken and, with the hermetically sealed Vaults effectively being their own Microbiome, the spores took root rapidly."

"So, the entire Vault was killed by poisonous mushrooms?" Ren asked "Or have you just not gotten to the part where something worse happened."

"What, because having hundreds of people die because of mold and-or mushroom spores is somehow good and mundane?" I asked.

Ren fixed me with a dry look.

"… Yeah, it got worse." I admitted, petting Zwei again "Although initially people apparently were getting sick without knowing the cause, once they started dying they started piecing it together. Because the spores didn't just kill the person they infected. They would properly mature once a host was infected, and they would begin slowly seizing control of the host's nervous system post-mortem. The revived spore-carriers would then more actively and aggressively begin eliminating threats to its ecosystem. As well as providing food and future seedbeds for its spores."

My teammates and JNPR digested that statement, eschewing the meal in front of them.

"… They turned into mushroom zombies?" Nora asked, somewhere between confused and horrified.

"Essentially." I nodded "From my understanding, as long as there was no outside stimuli, the spore carrier would remain inactive. They'd settle someplace where the fungus would grow best and vegetate there, for a term. As soon as new life made itself known, they'd attack. Even if they died, the fungus would still have them as a food source… The Vault fell quickly, from my understanding. Because of the systems deteriorating like they did, the environment became increasingly beneficial to the spores. With most of the Vault already having breathed them in and become inoculated, it was like dominos. The more people died, the faster they fell. A group of dwellers managed to escape the Vault, estimates say about a hundred total. But in a Vault meant to house at minimum double that, they were a scant few. No one's sure what happened to them either, they'd have to have abandoned the Vault early into its lifecycle. Maybe a year after the bombs fell, at the most. Trading the spore filled air for the radiation outside. The hundreds lost in the Vault, men, women, and children, turned into mindless abominations. Ghost stories abound of people visiting the Vault, and never coming back. Not hard to imagine why, in a place like that."

My teammates and JNPR paused a moment, then slowly all began to set their food aside. I was getting the impression I'd gone and killed their appetites as much as the mood.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Weiss, having set her food aside, steepled her fingers together, and seemed to begin contemplating. "… I- I don't know if I want to hear anymore."

"I don't blame you." I answered, as empathetically as I could "The Vaults, when found in the Wasteland are largely viewed as cautionary tales and great tragedies. There obviously exist the ones that didn't end poorly, but they are few and far between when compared to the ones that did… Honestly, the last one, Vault 11, is by far one of the most inhumane and depressing. Given a lot of what happens in the wasteland, I think that says something."

"How could it possibly be any worse that what we've already heard?" Weiss asked "Do you have any idea how insane what you've told us sounds? Experiments to drive people crazy, plants that turn people into zombies, using gambling to run a society- it's crazy."

"Yeah. It's also painfully real." I told her, running a hand under Zwei's muzzle and chin "And frankly, the last of them is probably the most real out of all of them. I don't blame you, any of you, for not wanting to hear it."

"What if I did want to hear it though?" Ruby asked, looking less certain than she sounded.

"Then I'd tell you, if you were sure you'd be able to handle it." I said "But, being completely honest, Ruby, you don't look like you could right now."

Ruby looked at me pointedly, but didn't answer. She'd surprised me in the past, she could be mature and tough when she wanted to be. But I got the impression she didn't want to be for this. We'd covered dark stuff in the past. But most it didn't concern talking about how large swathes of people died because of others' cruel decision making.

Considering what happened in Vault 11, we'd be hitting that nail square on the head.

"Why don't we try focusing on something else?" I offered "The Mojave's full of plenty of other things, not all of its doom and gloom… mostly."

"Yeah… Hey, Six?" Ruby asked.

I looked to her. Taking not of the steely tone of her silver eyes.

"You don't have to tell us what happened… but what was the experiment?" Ruby asked, clearly resolved.

"… I'll put it to you as a question." I said, shifting towards her fully "You're guaranteed safety from a world that would kill you for being in it, but in exchange, once a year, someone has to die for it. No sacrifice, you all die. What do you do?"

Ruby pursed her lips, mulling over the question. I could see everyone else shifting uncomfortably. Either not sure what their answers would be, or perhaps knowing them and not happy with the choice. Ruby however, after a few moments, responded. "Do I have a year to think about it?" She asked, smirking slightly.

I pondered the question myself for a moment. I had to imagine the experiment had been run like that, from what I'd found. That the dwellers weren't informed of the choice until it was almost upon them however, would've been more likely. "… For the purposes of keeping it in line with what happened, no, at most you'd probably have had a month to figure it out."

Ruby nodded. "Well, I guess that's most of a year to relax, then a month to try and find a way to save everyone."

"…" I shook my head "It's not that simple Ruby, you can say that now, but in the heat of the moment, do you think you'd be able to say the same thing?"

"… Probably." Ruby answered "I mean, why would I want someone else to die just so I can stay safe? If I've known them for a year, wouldn't we be friends, even family by then?" She asked, tapping her fork against her plate "Why would I do that?"

"…" I didn't trust myself to say anything for a moment. Her words were those of someone who'd never had to make a decision like that. When push comes to shove, people do terrible things to protect the ones they care about.

Up to and including putting everything and everyone else in danger.

But that had been the purpose of the test. To determine how far people would go to protect the people they care about.

The Dwellers of Vault 11 had failed. Miserably. They allowed their fear to twist them, turn them against each other so horrifically, the experiment had completely gone off the rails.

Because no one had to die.

They'd only needed to risk it once. Show that, when the chips were down, there's enough love between you and your fellows to face whatever comes next together.

From the look in Ruby's eyes, I wanted to believe she hadn't made the choice lightly. She looked like she'd made her choice, and meant every word of it. Maybe she had some idea of what that meant. The kinds of hardships it would bring. Maybe she didn't.

But as I sat there, looking at her, I couldn't help but feel my eyes sting a little, Warmth swell in my chest.

"… Congratulations, citizen of Vault 11." I said, finally "You have made the decision not to sacrifice one of your own. You can walk with your head held high knowing that your commitment to human life is a shining example to us all."

My teammates and JNPR looked at me in confusion, not yet grasping what I was telling them.

"What's more, to make that feeling of pride even sweeter, we have some exciting news." I continued, biting back a bitter taste in my mouth "Despite what you were lead to believe, the population of Vault 11 is not going to be exterminated for its disobedience. Instead, the mechanism to open the main vault door has now been enabled. You may come and go at your leisure."

My eyes fixed on Ruby once more. The resolve hadn't left her eyes, but there was confusion mingled with it now.

"Congratulations, Ruby." I said "I don't need to tell you what happened in Vault 11. You're one of now seven people to have ever heard that message. One of two that's still alive."

The looks of abject horror on everyone's faces said more than any words could.

The confusion in Ruby's eyes vanished. For a moment, there was horror. Then it was gone just as quick.

Sorrow found its way there instead. It took root and refused to move.

"Did… did they not even try?" Ruby asked.

"No." I answered "I only know about any of this because I went into that Vault myself. Four of the five other people to ever hear that message were laying in the entrance. Along with a suicide note. I don't know where number five went. But given that numbers one through four were little more than skeletons when I found them, I imagine they're long dead too."

"I… I don't even know what to say." Ruby said.

Before I had a chance to speak, Zwei hopped off my lap and trotted over to Ruby. His stumpy tail fanned back and forth as he brushed up against one of his upset owner.

The sorrow ebbed slightly from Ruby's face as she bent over and picked the pup up. She began cuddling him without a moment's hesitation.

"… There's nothing to say Ruby." I said "End of the day, you know what you believe you would do. The damage is done, and I hope none of you ever find yourself in a situation like Vault 11." I looked around to everyone, they were listening quite intently. "… But take heart, Ruby. The point of the test was to see how hard people will hold onto their morality in the face of destruction. In the end, you chose right, and didn't bat an eye in doing so."

Ruby gave me a sad smile as Zwei's head nestled under hers.

Everyone remained silent as they sat on what I'd explained to them. I don't know what their choices were, and frankly, I didn't want to. I knew by my own measure, I'd probably have screwed up the Vault's exam too. When lives are on the line, the many outweigh the few. When tensions are high and the people you care about are in danger, you risk making rash decisions. Not because you want to, but because you're human. Keeping a calm mind in those circumstances is one of the hardest things you can learn to do. It's something that can never be mastered either.

Ironic, that it was one of those decisions that ultimately broke the cycle of sacrifice and destroyed the Vault. If only they'd done it sooner.

Frankly, I had to wonder, if Vault-Tec had survived, what would they have thought about the result? They'd programmed the test to not even require a single sacrifice. They were bastards for having created the test in the first place. But I don't know if even they could've predicted the outcome.

Then again, these were the same bastards who willfully induced paranoia and mistrust in a Vault within the same area. To the point they may have potentially become one of the most outwardly violent and sadistic factions in the Mojave. Odds were also good they knew what would happen, but did it anyway for kicks.

"… While a lot of the experiments were overtly and mindlessly sadistic, that didn't guarantee failure." I said after giving everyone a little time to their own thoughts. "In more than a few cases, it was unexpected events that tended to end things poorly. Vault 21 played the hand it was dealt, and only failed because of poor decision making. Vault 3 was only forced to open itself to the Wasteland because of irreparable maintenance issues. They only died because one of the intentionally screwed-up experiments came knocking before they knew better. The scientists of Vault 22 shouldn't have used spores for pest control, but how do you predict plant zombies? Obviously, this wasn't always the case, more often than not, I'm sure the actual experiment was what got everyone killed. But that doesn't change that, sometimes, things took an unexpected turn. Failing to adapt appropriately or in time meant it ending in catastrophe."

"That doesn't change how barbaric it is." Weiss said, still visibly disturbed "The people of the Vault shouldn't have been so willing to go along with it, but the experiment should've never required someone to die either. It's just so- so…"

"I know." I nodded

"I think the worst part is actually how complacent they must've become." Blake said "Even if they sacrificed one person because they panicked, why didn't they try to stop the tests? They had a whole year to try and find a solution to stop anyone else from dying."

I shook my head. "I wish I could tell you. Because there is no excusing their inaction on that front."

Especially because I knew what they'd elected to do instead. That none of them even made a token effort to try and stop the sacrificial cycle was perhaps the biggest black mark against the Vault.

If there was one assumption I could make about Blake, and there were several, it was that she was more hot blooded than she showed. Inaction didn't jive with her, probably a trait born from growing up around the White Fang.

It was pretty clear that the story of Vault 11 didn't sit well with her either. She didn't even know the full story.

"… How about we move away from the Vaults now?" I asked "I've basically covered all of them, and it's a rough topic to keep talking about. Especially coming to terms with the aftermath."

"That's probably a good idea." Yang said, picking at her pancakes "Things got sad really quick."

"Welcome to the Wasteland." I said wearily.

"But we're not done talking about the Vaults yet." Nora chirped "There's still one left."

"What?" I asked "No there's-"

"Vault 34." Nora chirped again "You listed it."

"…Oh." I said, silently berating myself. "… Yeah, they're on the list too, but I'd rather we didn't stay on this subject. It's clear you're all uncomfortable with it now, and it's probably better to move along."

Notwithstanding that I had my own reasons for avoiding Vault 34. Their experiment wasn't as horrific as the other Vaults. But the results, everything associated with it, plus my own experiences and choices with the place made it something I didn't enjoy talking or thinking about. Not that I had much control over the latter, sometimes.

'It was supposed to be a simple job.'

Nora squinted at me, but made no further noises or arguments. Instead, much like Yang, she began picking at her pancakes again. I needed to be more careful with her, she'd been showing that she could be much more observant than she let on. Last thing I needed was to start letting slip the wrong details and letting her figure out something important.

"… Why don't we try and focus on a more neutral topic now, or something." I offered "A palate cleanser of sorts. Maybe one of you can take a turn talking about something I don't know."

"Like?" Blake asked.

"I don't know, surprise me." I answered "There's all kinds of crazy stuff in the Wasteland and Mojave that I haven't told you yet. The probably holds true for here, because I doubt Oobleck is going to cover everything, or in enough detail during class."

Not for lack of trying, the guy spat words like a minigun spews lead. The only reason he wouldn't talk about something would probably be because he didn't know enough about it.

Blake looked down at her pancakes for a moment, and I honestly didn't expect her to answer. Frankly, I was used to either leading the discussion or having someone randomly take charge.

But, in a rare showing of me getting what I asked for, Blake narrowed her tired eyes and looked back to me. "Do you want me to tell you more about the White Fang?"

That got everyone else's attention right quick.

Especially because, as I was fairly certain, we'd neglected to mention that little factoid to JNPR.

The four members of said team looked at Blake, surprised and curious.

"You were in the White Fang?" Jaune asked.

Blake's narrowed; tired gaze drifted over to Jaune pointedly. "Yes, I was."

"… Ok, cool." Jaune said, choosing to drop the topic almost immediately after picking it up.

"Well, that explains a lot." Nora chirped "I thought you were just hiding your ears so people wouldn't judge you."

"I was." Blake answered.

"If you ever want a better disguise, try a face mask." I said, tapping my own "They're a lot better at… wait, shit. The White Fang already wear them."

"Yeah." Blake said, looking at me pointedly "Y'know, maybe offering wasn't such a good idea."

"You know I didn't mean it like that." I said "There are plenty of people out there who wear masks besides the White Fang. That in this case the implications were less than ideal doesn't change that."

"I actually wouldn't mind hearing about the White Fang from you." Pyrrha added "Your perspective is one that would be most interesting to hear."

"The irony of that statement is palpable." I said "But I agree with Pyrrha. I spend enough time running around punching them. Hearing what it was actually like being a part of them would be interesting."

Blake continued to look pointedly at me for a moment, before nodding. "Ok… so, where do I start?"

"Origins would be a good place." I explained "I've got a contemporary understanding thanks to Oobleck, but what's the White Fang's history? I know you guys were created after the revolution for Faunus Rights, but I have to imagine there was a little more to it than that."

Blake nodded "There's really not much to get around it: The White Fang's original leadership were the leaders from the revolution. My father said it had been the goal in the end, because fighting was ultimately never going to solve everything. We needed to be able to be peaceful, otherwise we'd always be seen as violent criminals."

'Boy howdy did that backfire.'

"Everything that could be shifted towards those ends, was." Blake said "I was born into the White Fang. I can still remember when I was a kid, my dad would be spending days in his office, working to help the White Fang accomplish their goals peacefully. He'd go to meetings, talk with Elders, help organize boycotts and rallies where he needed to. He and my mom did everything they could to help reach more peaceful goals. They would even go on supply runs when needed. I even have memories of being at rallies when I was just kit- little girl."

"All around, peaceful and well-meaning goals." I said "So what changed?"

"Nothing, that was the problem." Blake said blandly "Despite everyone's best efforts, things just kept getting worse. Even with Menagerie, and a great increase in civil rights, things were moving too slowly. They still are. People would still attack us, make our lives harder despite everything. Members of the revolution's leadership, now the White Fang's leadership, were tired of waiting for things to change. I don't really know for sure what set things off, but about five years ago, they decided they'd had enough. My father had come back from a supply run that'd apparently been the last straw for a lot of people."

I nodded "Five years. That puts things roughly in line with when the White Fang first started becoming less peaceful, if Oobleck is right."

"That was when leadership began to shift." Blake explained "The original leader of the White Fang stepped down, and allowed one of his Lieutenants to take command. He said he'd had enough fighting for one life, and decided to step away. Currently, he's the Chieftain of Menagerie. Where the White Fang still have a major presence, but have stayed true to their original goals."

"Which, I'm assuming is where you come in." I said "You used to run with them, but you're a bit young to have run with the Original group and still be a teenager."

Blake huffed "Like I said, I was born into it. I grew up around everyone and fell into it easily… When people decided they'd had enough, I wanted to go with them. My mom and dad stopped me at first, but eventually, I just decided to stop asking for permission."

"Sounds like you took things a little closer to heart than they thought you would." I said.

"… Yeah." Blake said "I honestly don't know what they'd think if they saw me now."

"They'd probably be proud of you." Yang said, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder "Because that's not who you want to be anymore."

Blake looked sadly to her partner "But that doesn't change the things I did."

"And?" I asked "Newsflash, kitten, you're not the only person in this room who's done some horrible shit."

Blake looked at me pointedly, and perhaps just a little hurt. "It's not a contest."

"Did I say it was?" I asked "I've been in your shoes. You can't take back the shit you did, only do different in the future. That's what you're doing, and even if your parents were upset by the choice you made, what about this one? The one where you chose to try and undo the damage you caused?"

Blake didn't answer that.

"Not to get on a lecture, but Yang's right. If you can't take it from her then take it from me." I said "If your parents are good, then they love you, and would be proud that you are doing the right thing. Even if you stumbled a little on the way."

Blake's expression softened slightly, but didn't change. She looked tired in a way I knew and felt all too well. There were some things that couldn't be fixed with one simple talk. Blake's issues with the White Fang were long standing. Until we got somewhere with the investigation, I doubted she'd seem any less broody.

But she soldiered on.

"After that, there's really not much more to say." Blake said "I started helping however I could. Spying, stealing, and fighting all in the name of what I'd believed at the time to be equality… but the longer it went on, the more I saw what it was becoming. Spite. People were joining not to try and make things better, but so they could get revenge against the people who'd wronged us. Like the SDC."

Weiss didn't look very offended by the statement, the SDC's poor relationship with Faunus was well-trod ground.

"A lot of members, before I left, still saw it as us forcing people to treat us with equality." Blake said "But for others, it just became an excuse to hurt people, show we were better than them… My choice became clear after that."

"Understandable." I said "You started fighting for the cause you believed in, and the one you thought they believed it. When it became apparent to that wasn't the case, you made your own way. I can empathize."

Blake nodded, falling silent. As I mulled over what Blake had told me. Honestly, I could understand it, somewhat. The White Fang had lost its way, but it was hard to blame them. They'd fought a war over equal treatment, and tried for half a decade after that to reach peaceful ends. When words failed, violence followed.

It reminded me of Vegas in a lot of ways. Not for the discriminatory aspects, but the sociopolitical ones. The NCR had made inroads to take control of the region, but sat around with its thumbs up its ass. Ignoring the suffering of anyone who wouldn't wave the flag at worst, and in some cases being the cause of it.

Getting people on my side for the second battle at the Dam hadn't been hard, just needed some legwork.

Frankly, it made me feel uneasy. If I was to make the comparison between Vegas and the White Fang, was I setting everyone up for more trouble down the line? Leading Vegas wasn't easy, paperwork aside. I get on well enough with people, when they're not pissing me off, but I freely acknowledge that I'm a terrible diplomat. If I'd had to do what Blake said her father did, I'd…

"… You said your parents were members of the old-guard, right?" I asked.

Blake looked at me curiously. "Yeah, they fought during the revolution."

"In what capacity?" I asked.

"…" Blake's gaze sharpened "I'm not sure, I've never really asked."

"Curious." I said "You never asked your parents how they helped out with the founding of a new territory? That seems like something a lot of people would take pride in."

Everyone, sans Blake, was beginning to look at me with interest. They all knew I was driving at something, but couldn't tell what.

"Well, maybe we can puzzle it out." I said "Let's see… You said your dad did a lot of seemingly mundane, but all-around important things." I said, ticking off my fingers as I went. "He'd step out with the troops on supply runs, so he's familiar with soldiery. That a large amount of time, however, would be spent in an office also implies that his role could also involve a degree of clerical work. Further compounded, by the fact that he and your mother would be tasked with organizing protest events. Such as the boycotts and rallies, and probably bake sales or something too, those always get someone's attention."

That last one earned a few snickers from everyone sans, again, Blake. Though the flush on her cheeks was amusing.

"However, you wouldn't trust a clerical worker to play Meet-and-greet with community leadership." I said "In my experience, the clerks and bean-counters like to avoid having to meet their bosses. So that rules out a host of non-combat positions which, frankly would've contradicted the earlier supply runs. No, your parents would've had to be fairly important, and frankly brave, people to try and fill all those roles…" A thought occurred to me further, and I began smirking. "Come to think of it, Tukson said that you yourself were fairly high on the totem-pole, compared to him, a grunt."

Blake's eyes began to widen, she could probably see the net closing in, but wasn't sure what she could say to actually avoid it.

Unfortunately for her, I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"Important people, who espoused peaceful methods, and didn't want to see their daughter join into the current fighting." I said "Who, if your word is anything to go by, are currently residing in Menagerie and have been for a number of years now…"

I smiled, as Blake looked like she was about to start sweating bullets.

"So, Kitten… Who's currently in charge of Menagerie right now?" I asked "From what I understand, the White Fang is protective of their leadership, otherwise Oobleck would mention them a little more often."

The room was quiet enough you'd be able to hear a pin drop, and the tension thick enough you could cut it. Then soak it in syrup and scarf it down, like Nora was doing with her pancakes once more.

"I… I don't know." Blake answered "I haven't been home in a long time; it could have changed."

"I feel like something like that would've been newsworthy." I said "Especially among the ranks of the White Fang. Having the old guard currently tending the home-fires pass away or change would be a pretty notable thing…" I leaned in "Their last name wouldn't happen to have been Belladonna, would it?"

Blake practiced being a statue for a moment, as she paled and pursed her lips.

"-And before you answer-" I continued "Bear in mind, you're among friends. Lying to your friends tends to end poorly. Speaking personally, these ones like to tie people to chairs."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Yang asked.

"Never." I answered, brightly.

Blake's eye darted amongst everything quickly. She licked her lips briefly, clearly trying to stall for time. A fruitless gesture, as she soon focused her eyes back on me. Her brow narrowed in annoyance. "… You're an ass."

"That's not a no." I said.

"…" Blake heaved a sigh, and spoke "Yeah… My dad is the current Chieftain of Menagerie."

"…Seriously?" Yang asked.

"Yes, seriously, Yang." Blake said, eying her partner.

"…Ok, wow." Yang said, a shocked smile on her face "That's big, why didn't you say something?"

"Never really seemed all that important." Blake said "I want to be judged for who I am and what I do. Not what I am and who I'm from."

"An understandable sentiment." I said "I'm sure most people would look at snowflake and make more than a few assumptions."

"Hey!" Weiss snipped.

"Are you saying you don't want to be known as Weiss Schnee: Warrior Princess and Queen of the Snowflakes?"

Weiss glared at me pointedly as everyone else struggled, and in the case of Ruby, failed, to stifle laughter.

"…That would be Lady Schnee, to you, knave." Weiss muttered.

"But of course, Madam Snow-… wait a minute." I said, a thought occurring to me, and a smirk with it. "Blake, You're father's the Chieftain of Menagerie, right?"

Blake looked at me blankly, unwilling to answer. Unfortunately for her, the question was rhetorical, so I didn't really care if she answered or not.

"Menagerie itself, is not one of the historical kingdoms." I furthered "However, following the revolution, and its establishment as a proper political entity, it currently recognized as a nation. One whose own government is led by a pseudo-monarchy in the form of the previous White-Fang Chieftain. IE, your father. While the verbiage and methods of succession may not be clear-"

Blake's eye narrowed, and she suddenly seemed to have picked up where I was going. "Don't even think about it." She hissed.

My smirk broke into a smile "-that does not change that your father is, by all accounts, a king. Your mother would there-fore be the queen consort-cum-regent. Which, if all of this is true, would make you…"

I waited off on that statement, waiting to see what would happen. I could see realization dawning on my teammates and JNPR, slowly creeping over them in a wide-eyed wave. All slowly cascading towards Blake in anticipation, who glared daggers in my direction. If looks could kill, she'd have committed war crimes.

Rather, she would have.

Except her head was as bright as a sunburnt Bighorner.

"Are… are you a princess?" Ruby asked, at first in a normal tone, before shrinking to a whisper.

Blake immediately whipped towards her, glowing red "I am not a princess!" She yowled. The uninitiated would've mistaken it for anger.

I saw it for what it was.

Embarrassment.

She immediately seemed to realize the way she had responded to that, and clasped her hands over her mouth.

"The evidence seems to stand against you." I said, chuckling "I mean, I can call snowflake a princess, and she knows it's a joke. Heck, she even goes along with it, for a metaphor she practically is one."

I took note of the fact that Weiss rolled her eyes at my prodding.

"You, however, not only couldn't take it as a joke, but reacted viscerally to it." I said "So I have to guess being royalty is a sore subject for you."

"I'm not a princess." Blake said, stuck half-way defeat and retreat. Struggling to decide what the answer was.

"Oh, but of course, m'lady." I said, affecting a stuffy and more elderly voice "I do so apologize for troubling you so."

Blake's face fell in horror as she continued to stare me down. I was going to milk this for everything it was worth.

'Ooo, milk, there's one.'

"Please, allow me to fetch you a dish of warm milk from the scullery, I shall see if the fish monger has acquired the tuna you requested." I continued, not changing my tone. "Only the finest for her majesty."

Blake looked like she wanted to die, a hand ran over her face.

Everyone else was struggling to hold in their laughter.

"If you so wish, M'lady, I can even fetch you some literature from the royal library." I smirked "I believe the newest volume for-"

Before I could finish the sentence, Blake's eyes sharpened. Her body instantly deciding fight was better than flight, and surrendering was for suckers. She grabbed a pancake off her plate, squishing it in her hand, and hocked the ball of carbs at my head. It struck me in the face, leaving a syrupy residue behind on the lenses of my gasmask, before slowly rolling off and tumbling to the floor.

Zwei immediately bounded away from Ruby, towards the ball of food now sitting well within his domain.

However, if she thought she would win so easily, she had another thing coming.

My hand snapped to the floor, snatching the food back up just before Zwei could snap his jaws around it. The little prince looked up at me, annoyed and expectant.

"Tut, tut." I said looking from Blake to Zwei "You know better than to play with your food, lady Belladonna."

I allowed her a second to think about what would happen next.

Then I hurled the wad of food at her.

Zwei bolted after it as the ball of pancakes collided harmlessly with her chest. The pup launched at her like a dog-shaped cannonball.

Blake hissed, and suddenly there were two of her. One where she'd been sitting, and one on the bunk bed above her. Zwei collided with the Blake on the lower bunk, and it instantly vanished. Immediately, he tucked into Blake's unfinished dinner.

Blake glowered down at me from the upper bunk.

On a side note, I'd discovered that Blake's semblance was either short-range teleportation, or she could clone herself. Which was neat.

I smiled at her. "Off to bed so soon, M'lady?"