Adam now had to find a way to blend in for four more hours alone. He knew better than to follow Mira around. Even if she clearly was not doing perfectly mentally, if she was to try to swipe a keycard she would need to do it alone. He would only get in the way.
Still, 4 hours more meant more chances to be exposed. So he had to do his best to find something for himself to do that wouldn't look suspicious. Luckily for him he found the perfect thing.
In the back, on the former playground, now mostly stripped of usable playground equipment, he saw some men using a handpump to draw water out of the ground for distribution to the rest of the people here. Even though it was getting late they were still bottling, jarring, and canning, any liquid they could. Practically any even mildly sealable container was being filled for later distribution. With no idea what else to do with his time he decided to help out. After all, if there was one thing he was confident in it was his strength now.
He was met with confusion at first but very quickly the confusion turned to gratitude as Adam began to offer them a chance for respite while he took over the water gathering himself. This was kept up for a few hours as he amicably spoke with the two men he had kindly relieved. Adam did his best to give either vague or incorrect but believable answers when asked about himself. As far as they were aware he was Liam, the believer who was deployed near Midway to fight the army of War until recently. He came back for some spiritual enlightenment. This was more than enough to win them over and he actually found himself enjoying their company to an extent even if it was all just a cover.
Still after a few hours the work time was over but it was not yet time to meet with Mira. So instead they all headed to the male barracks to get some sleep. The space was a converted classroom, as was most of the building, that was lined, wall to wall, floor to ceiling with bunk beds. However it was not nearly that claustrophobic for Adam. After all when he was in boot he had far worse close quarters living situations. Even more so at times on the front. This was almost roomy in comparison. However for these believers it was an act of faith to shed worldly comforts and take in the minimalist requirements. Or something like that he assumed anyway.
Regardless Adam was granted a bed without issue and decided to lay down for some time. There was no curfew, as he found out, so sneaking out when it was time to meet Mira would not be necessary, but there was an unspoken 'lights out' time in an hour. So when he left he would just need to be quiet, that was all.
For the next while Adam rested on his bed replaying scenes from old movies in his head, rereading moments in books, and thinking about what sort of things he would need to do in the future to improve the Vault. That is until a radio, from somewhere else in the room, turned on and, 'Where Have You Been All My Life' by Hal David and John Cacavas started to softly play. From then on Adam simply enjoyed the music from the radio, as did many of the others. Simple pleasures and time spent waiting once more reminded him of his time on the front. Despite the fact he was in 'enemy' territory, and the fact these were not men he knew, war, for the most part, was mostly about waiting. An engagement might last a few minutes. If you were unlucky, over an hour. But the bulk of the time in war was spent waiting for something to happen. Some found it comforting, some found it nerve wracking. Adam? He always just chose to turn off his brain at times like this. Peace was rarely found in stressful situations, it's best to enjoy it where you can.
Eventually Adam's waiting time was over, as evidenced by a Nuka Cola branded clock on the wall. Quietly getting up from his bed he left the room wordlessly. He was seen leaving, but no one seemed to care. Which was just what he wanted.
When he arrived back at the spot from earlier Mira was already there waiting for him.
"Did you get-" Adam began before Mira quickly flashed an orange keycard in between two fingers at Adam before stashing it back inside her cloak just as fast.
"Let's just say that a friendly cultist lent it to me." She said with a half smile and then turned to Adam. "Lets check this place out." Adam nodded and then turned around and led Mira towards the door to the fallout shelter.
With a satisfying beep the door to the fallout shelter clicked open thanks to the card Mira swiped. Adam held the door open for her and then quietly closed them behind them as they began to descend down the stairs of the concrete bunker that laid below them. As soon as Adam got downstairs the worst case scenario was confirmed. The entire space, once nothing more than a huge concrete box meant to house students in the worst case scenario had been outfitted with jail cells. That alone was fine, but it was what was in the Jail Cells that terrified him.
Bodies. Innumerable bodies. There were bodies of half mutated humans crammed into the cells like they were human livestock, which is how he was sure they were being treated. Most of the people were disfigured beyond recognition, some were grotesque monster looking creatures, others looked to be in between a super mutant and a human. On the back wall there was also a huge tank of bubbling green liquid hooked up to a series of pipes and tubes. It was weird, but an equally bad omen.
To make matters worse the majority of the people in cells looked to be half dead, drugged out of their minds, or completely dead. There were a few that seemed to not yet be completely broken but no one looked well down here.
In addition there were several surgical beds with gore coating the sheets with rolling tray tables full of medical tools and several syringes with the same glowing green liquid that is in the large tank.
Adam was not sure what all of this meant, but human experimentation was already bad enough for him to hate them. It was not too far from what the Vault-Tec Scientists were doing, perhaps worse. However while Adam was looking at the situation with horror, Mira seemed to see something different. She was horrified too, but the expression on her face was not one of confusion but of recognition.
"Adam…" She said slowly, able to talk freely due to the fact that there were no cultists down here to hear them. "This isn't just any cult…" She continued. Hesitantly.
"What do you mean? You recognize it?" Adam asked, confused.
"Yes…." She said as she gulped silently. "That over there…" She said pointing to the vat of liquid. "Is concentrated FEV, Forced Evolutionary Virus. This is not just any cult… This cult worships The Master." She said terrified.