[u][b][color=39b54a]Sanctuary Hills[/color][/b][/u] The green and vibrant community of Sanctuary Hills felt warm and inviting as Thomas stepped out onto the sidewalk. He felt the warmth of the afternoon sun beating down and took a deep breath, before continuing on down the street. Dressed in his usual professional attire and carrying a briefcase. As he walked, Mr. Able who was in the process of mowing his lawn stopped to give him a wave, "Afternoon Tom! Back from work at the College then? Hey the missus wants to know if you and your wife would like to have dinner next Tuesday. How about it?" Thomas ignored the friendly neighborly banter and didn't even turn to look at Mr. Able. His rudeness, oddly enough, didn't seem to be noticed, and Mr. Able simply gave a friendly smile and went back to his yard-work with a cheerful whistle. Thomas continued onward without a word or any thought to any of his neighbors at all, but when reached the steps of his own front door though, his hand froze as he reached out to grab the handle. A thousand different thoughts raced through his mind, and he considered turning back and leaving right then and there. [i]I shouldn't be here. I need to leave. [/i] "Dad's home!" The voice coming from the window caused Thomas to look up, and shake him from his stupor. The face of a young boy was plastered against the glass, beaming a wide smile. He couldn't help but grin himself. Against his better judgement, he stepped inside. As he sat his briefcase to the side, he was immediately set upon by the small boy, who ran and hugged him, "Hello Shaun..." Thomas smiled as he wrapped his arms around him. "Welcome home honey. You're early....I was just getting ready to start dinner." Nora walked up from across the room, and she leaned in to give him a kiss. Thomas winced at the touch of her lips, and an odd feeling washed over him. The thoughts from earlier once again rushed back. "That's okay...actually, I was thinking...that...perhaps...perhaps I need to go." "Go? But you just got here..." Nora asked with a quizzical turn of her head, "Shaun's been waiting for you all day to get home. Is something wrong?" "No...everything is fine," Thomas stuttered, "I'm just..." He looked down at the face of his son, and saw the disappointment in the child's eyes. It was too much for him, and he couldn't bring himself to say it. "I'll just be a minute. Old Mrs. Abernathy stopped me on my way over and asked if I could help her move something. You know how she is. Tell you what, I'll go help her real quick and then I'll ask her if I can bring you back some of her cookies? How does that sound?" "Yeah! That'd be awesome. Cookies for dinner!" "No Shaun, cookies for [i]dessert[/i]," Nora then turned to her husband and gave a wink, "I'm glad you aren't going far. You had me worried there for a moment...you're so thoughtful to help her....I love you." "I love you too," He said, as leaned in to kiss her once more, "And you too Shaun. I love you." "I love you too Dad. See you soon, okay?" "Okay. I'll be right back," Thomas said as he stepped back out of the house and onto the sidewalk. [i]I can't...I can't keep coming back here. [/i] He walked briskly down to the end of the street where an old woman sat rocking in her chair. She greeted him warmly, "Ooo evening Mr. Milburn. Come to help out an old lady?" "Reset memory cycle for all units. Initialize sequence '[i]Lazy Saturday[/i]'. Enable looping. Authorization code: Omega 4 3 Ark." Thomas stated quickly. The old woman froze, and her eyes stared up at him with a blank expression, "Command accepted. Have a nice day Director." Without another word, Thomas immediately began walking away and down the path that led out of Sanctuary Hills. As he was about to cross the small bridge that spanned the creek, he looked back one last time, sighed, and then pressed a button on an unseen panel. A door immediately opened up with a noticeable hiss, revealing a bright light beyond, and also showing the scenery to be the illusion that it really was. He stepped out and the door closed behind him. Now inside the pristine looking observation room, he reached out and grabbed the carefully folded white lab-coat that had been left for him, and put it on over his clothes. As he did so, a door on the other side of the room slid open, and a young woman wearing a white and red jumpsuit walked in. "Good morning Director Milburn. I apologize for the interruption." "Not at all A4. I was just about to leave as a matter of fact. I've concluded my testing for the day. Go on." "Thank you sir. I was asked by Dr. Secord to give you a message. She wonders if it would be possible for you to meet her in the SRB war room for a debriefing on the intel regarding the Synth infiltration of The Brotherhood of Steel. She says the mission is still ongoing, but that they've gained quite a bit of valuable information already." "Of course. I'll head over to the Bureau right away then. I'm very interested to hear her status report." "Very good sir. There is another matter that she wished to relay to you as well. You had asked that strict surveillance be placed on the Wright sisters' residence. An individual arrived at the Publick Occurrences office a short time ago. The subject in question had apparently asked about you specifically sir, and about your connection to Ms. Piper." "And?" Thomas raised an eyebrow. "The individual self-identified as 'Desmond Lockheart' and appeared to be a non-human 'ghoul'. SRB cross referenced this name against its internal database and found several references to him as a member of the pre-war international intelligence community, and a former agent of a pre-war British organization called 'MI6'. SRB advises that..." Thomas held up a hand to stop her, "That'll be all. I'm familiar with the man in question...moreso than SRB ever could be. I'll speak with Dr. Secord regarding it when I arrive." "Very good sir. That is all I had to report." "Then before you return to your duties, I have a task for you of my own. I would like you to relay a message to someone else..." "Of course sir."