[u][b]The Institute - Director's Quarters[/b][/u]

"Sir?", Codsworth said, "Miss Madison is here."

Nathan reached over to the speaker on the end table next to him and turned it down. It was playing the tactical radio channel the Minutemen were using in it's attack on Nuka-Town USA. He would have liked to continue to focus on it, but Madison might take it wrong, and to be honest, it was a forgone issue anyway. Of the three Nuka-World gangs, the Pack had been literally overrun in their beds, the Operators had fled the field, mostly escaping through a escape tunnel they had dug long ago, leaving behind only a holding force that had been captured. That left the Disciples and the Overboss, Coulter, holed up in and around Fizztop Mountain. Unlike the others, they were dug in deep and took full advantage of the defensible position. When the initial attempt to storm the place with T-51bs backed by infantry failed in the face of missile and LMG fire, Macready drew the correct conclusion and sent for his Forward Observer...to let the guns they hauled out there with them do the work.  Nate knew the place, he'd been to Nuka-World dozens of times before the war, a howitzer section would make short work of Fizztop Mountain, which in fact is a thin concrete shell made to look like a mountain. 

Nathan then turned in the recliner he was sitting in, so he could look at Codsworth, hovering quietly behind him. Unlike most of the ultramodern decor in what had been Shaun's apartment, it was the ancient recliner from his old house in Sanctuary Hills, the synths had recovered it with what furniture was still usable, and repaired and reupholstered it for him. As far as the house, the Longs lived there now, he'd given it to them as living there was impractical even if he had wanted to, which he didn't...the place only reminded him of what he had lost. Last he heard, Marcy was pregnant, which was good. 

"Thanks, Codsworth", Nathan replied, "See her in, please".

"Right away, sir", the Mr Handy burbled contentedly, and hovered off. Ayo, typically, had a cow when he moved Codsworth in, as if he had any say in the matter, which he didn't. He trusted the ancient robot far more than he trusted Ayo, he really didn't care what he thought about Codsworth. 

After a moment, Codsworth reappeared with Madison Li, carrying several binders and folders, right behind him. 

"Good Morning, Madison", Nathan said affably as she placed her papers on the coffee table and sat on the chair next to him, "you had something for me?"

"Yes", she replied as she selected the correct binder and opened it, "Peabody over at the Switchboard sent this to me...I find it rather concerning. You recall how her team got the seismic nuclear detection system they were using working again? The Geology Department took it over, and they've been using it since for the Earth Studies program." She paused to cough. "Well, they've found something, and I wanted to talk to you about it before I presented it at the next Directorate meeting....unlike the others, we know what it's like up there and frankly, I'm concerned the other Department heads won't treat this with the concern they should."

Nathan sat up straight and looked at Madison with rapt attention. He already knew he wasn't going to like this, Madison didn't play the "fellow Wastelander" card unless it was serious. "Go on...", he said. 

"Four months ago", she began, as she unfolded a map of the Pre-War US and spread it out on the coffee table, "the system picked up a earthquake of 6 on the Richter Scale...here," pointing to a spot marked in red ink near Colorado Springs, in what was the Four States Commonwealth. "Two minutes later", she continued, "a second earthquake of the same magnitude occurred within a mile of the first one." Nathan's blood froze when he heard this, though at first he could not determine why. He racked his memory to recall what was in that area that would be of importance. 

"Cheyenne Mountain...", Nathan mused aloud, "...[i]NORAD[/i]?"

"Yes, exactly", Madison, replied. "The first event took place on the surface somewhere around a mile from the facility, the second was underground and at the exact location." Madison paused for a moment, then continued. "Further analysis gives a estimated yield of 1 Megaton each...we suspect warheads scavenged from ICBMs were used. The students who recorded the events didn't realize what they had found, they weren't trained on the original function of the system. If you hadn't pushed through the program to revive the History and Earth Science Departments, we wouldn't have ever learned this had happened. Peabody had only repaired the system to get access to the data it picked up for the Great War...though it also revealed some disturbing actions by unknown parties in what was West Virginia. From 2102 to 2105, until the failure of the system in 2140 four nuclear detonations were detected at the same spot about thirty miles East of Watoga, West Virginia and one on a mine shaft just north of Monongah, in the same area. But that is a different discussion." She then tapped the map again, this time pointing at Chicago. 

"This happened three days ago", Madison continued, "three separate surface detonations. These were smaller than the first, 100 kilotons as opposed to the earlier 1 Megaton detonations, but any settlement there had to have been completely destroyed."

"My God", Nathan exclaimed, "someone out West is waging a nuclear war....and they've advanced to a thousand miles from here!"

"Eight hundred and fifty-odd miles, to be more precise", Li corrected him, "but you see the problem. Something has to be done, and we don't have much time."

"Ayo", replied Nathan, with some distaste as he really didn't like the man much, useful as he may be. "We need to brief him ASAP."

"Not quite yet", Madison replied, noticing that Codsworth had glided in behind Nathan from the kitchen, carrying a food tray. The old robot was surprisingly a pretty good cook, and she found the ration packs the people born here ate tedious, "If I have to speak to that man, I'd rather do it on a full stomach."