Chapter Text
Ella Rhodes
-July 13th, 2268-
Her tenth birthday was, so far, the best she could have ever asked for. The cafeteria was decked out with birthday decorations that had been stored and reused for over nearly two hundred years, now falling apart and requiring special care. The streamers and banner had once been vibrant and colorful, now a faded musty tan. She'd had nightmares for weeks about the old paper falling apart - Amata may have been her best friend but her Father was the Overseer and didn't like her or her father, but she felt much better now that the day had finally arrived and everything was looking pristine.
The first gift was a Pip-Boy, which meant that in the vault she was practically an adult - which unfortunately came with being put on the work schedules. Whatever Amata's Dad had in store for her didn't seem like it was going to be fun or easy.
So far she'd gotten a Grognak comic from Amata and a sweetroll from Old Lady Palmer. Whatever her Dad was going to get her was bound to be absolutely fantastic as he always gave her good gifts on her birthday. She hopped over to get a good look at the cake, before it was likely demolished by the others. The only time anyone had something sweet to enjoy in the Vault was on Birthdays and Christmas. But, as usual, the gang of bullies of the Vault stopped her on her way to see the cake.
"I saw Old Lady Palmer give you that Sweetroll! Hand it over!" Cassie demanded from her seat in the booth.
Ella shook her head, "No way am I giving my Sweetroll to you and Butch!"
"That's no fair!" Butch squealed from beside his sister, "Old Lady Palmer made us share one on our birthday 'cause we're twins, so you're gonna share with us! Or else!"
"Or else what, Butch?" Ella stuck her tongue out at him. "You gunna hit me on my birthday in front of everyone and get in trouble?" She dragged her tongue through the sweetroll's sugary icing, then held offered it to them, "Here, now you can have it."
Neither of them made a move toward the sweetroll, now covered in her saliva. The dark haired twins glowered at her from their seats.
"You're gunna regret that, Rhodes." Cassie spat.
Ella excitedly went to see the cake, only to find that Andy had already destroyed it with his buzzsaw. She wondered if her Dad would let them still eat it, or if the Mr Handy was too rusted and dirty for it to be edible still. Shrugging, grateful that she still had her sweetroll, she made her rounds and talked with her guests. Stanley gave her a baseball cap - she was almost more excited about that gift than any other since she could otherwise only wear the vault suit. It was nice to have something different that wasn't against the rule to wear. From Beatrice she received a birthday poem, which she read through once before politely thanking Ms. Beatrice and stuffing the paper between the pages of her new Grognak comic.
Her Dad approached her - Jonas was waiting for her downstairs on the Reactor level with a surprise from both him and her Dad. She smiled as she slipped away from the party, easily found her way down to the reactor and grateful that Jonas hadn't forgotten her birthday.
"What are you doing down here, young Lady?" Jonas joked as she approached, "I thought kids weren't allowed on the reactor level."
She held up her left arm, unaccustomed to the weight of a full sized Pip-Boy that seemed to swallow her entire forearm, "I'm not a kid anymore!"
Jonas laughed, making her blush, "You sure are! Pip-Boy and everything!"
"Are you ready for your surprise?" Her Dad asked from behind her, making her jump. She nodded, trying to calm her heart that threatened to burst out of her chest. Receiving her present away from prying eyes meant it had to be something special, and she was right when her Dad presented her with a BB gun. Though it was old and a bit beat up, it was clear that it had been recently cleaned and repaired (Or so her Dad explained, though she couldn't hear him over her excitement). It was handed to her, and she held it just as she had seen cowboys do in the movies they rarely got to watch. It fit her perfectly, perhaps just a little large, but she was still growing.
Jonas and her Dad led her further down to a makeshift target range. Ella skipped after them, absolutely elated. Taking her stance and aiming down the sights, a warm feeling bloomed in her chest, as though she was destined for this.
-August 3rd, 2274-
She had just stepped out of her Dad's office, and of course he was able to see right through her feigned illness. She didn't want to take the G.O.A.T today. Why should she let an automated test score her and assign her to a job she didn't choose? Couldn't she pick her own role within the Vault?
Then she heard laughter and looked up to see Butch - without his sister - and their little underlings all gathered around Amata. She immediately stomped over.
"Step off, Butch." Ella tried to puff her chest out, but everyone else seemed to have had their growth spurt but her, leaving her almost half a head shorter than the others.
Butch smiled, knowing or thinking that she wouldn't have the courage or the fighting skill to take him on much less him and his two lackeys, Wally and Paul. Though she knew his sister was the real brains of the operation and probably off trying to have a 'word alone' with Mr. Brotch to cheat the G.O.A.T and get the job she wanted.
"And what are you going to do, little girl?" He taunted from above.
She slung her right fist across his jaw, startling him and causing him to stumble backward, hitting the back of his head against the wall. Wally and Paul objected as she grabbed Amata and walked arm in arm toward the classroom.
"Nah, leave 'em. Those two little bitches aren't worth the effort anyways," Butch muttered.
Ella sat in her usual seat, and Mr Brotch gave them all a few minutes to get to their seats and settled. The tests were passed around and the projector wheeled out. He fumbled with the projector for nearly half an hour, scolding anyone who tried to start the test without him. She read through the test twice while waiting, then had to follow along. Anyone who began before Mr Brotch finished reading the questions was promptly reprimanded. She sighed through each monotonous question, his voice so dull that she had to pinch herself to stay awake.
Sighs of relief filled the room when the test was finally finished. Mr Brotch turned off the projector and returned to his desk at the front of the classroom, allowing everyone to line up to submit their tests. Over an hour of hassle for a one page test, yet Mr Brotch graded them instantly. Christine left the room in tears after being assigned to Maintenance, and Susie was going to be a teacher like Mr Brotch. Paul was assigned to Engineering and Butch began cursing when Mr Brotch told him that he was going to be a hairdresser. It didn't help that Mr Brotch laughed as Butch stomped out of the class. Cassie was slated to work in the Cafeteria - something which Ella immediately recognized as terrible. Although she could usually avoid the DeLoria twins, she still needed to eat like everyone else. Wally left without hearing his results, suggesting that he had cheated on the test. Mr Brotch grumbled that he wished he had cheated when he was sixteen - and Ella now wished she had done that just minutes ago!
Nervously, she handed in her test. It seemed to take forever for Mr Brotch to tally her answers before he looked up in surprise, "Vault... Chaplain?" He said with a sigh, "Haven't had one of those in awhile."
Ella frowned - there was no current Vault Chaplain, so who was she going to learn from?