Exhausted, a man takes a brief respite against the machine he just plugged his unique water code into. Automated doors grind across the concrete, slowly opening a dimly lit passageway through a wall thicker than he was tall. Stepping inside, the doors once again recede into their resting place, blue lights flicker in to life. He takes one last drag of his cigarette, before stubbing it out reluctantly on his ration can and throwing the butt aside.

Masses of people were squeezed into the next room, all there for the same reason he was. Descending a brief set of stairs, he noticed the air temperature drop a few degrees before joining the end of the nearest line. The queue resembled a slowly moving steam train; as it shuffled forward slowly, clouds of warm breath visible in the cold air.

He stood elbow to elbow with people on his left and right, the room rife with the stench of unwashed skin, even with its far-reaching ceilings. Little natural light reached the dispensers either, most of it flooded in 12 feet or so above the mans head, through the security box. Members of Vault 47's staff constantly monitored the automated system; it had been raided in the past, and no doubt would be again.

Eventually the man arrived at the dispenser unit, a worn looking rectangular recess in the wall, and slotted his can into position. This was as far as anyone from outside the facility actually got to the water vault, too much risk of contamination otherwise. Re-typing his code into the wall mounted number pad, he anxiously waited for the life supporting liquid to fill his can with the weeks ration. Heaving the receptacle out, he had forgotten how heavy water was, and struggled with it to the exit passageway.

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Ezra nervously presented his staff card to the guard on duty. The royals had always been insistent about security at their water facility, they had made a great effort to secure a water source for the city, and were determined not to lose it to raiders or rival infiltrators. The armed soldier nodded him through, after reviewing his credentials on a small wrist mounted screen. A small hatchway swung open, and led him through to the exterior courtyard, if it could be called that. The raised walkway up to the vaults entrance was surrounded on either side with water delivery receptacles. Ezra, trying to calm his nerves, mused to himself that they resembled giant trumpets buried half way in the ground.

It was his first day, he'd just graduated Water Systems University, and landed a top notch job at the cities Water Vault, one of the first that were built. Slotting his card in to the card reader, he tapped in the accompanying confirmation code he had spent all night memorizing. While he waited for the metal doors to drag themselves wide enough for him to step inside, he noticed a drop of rain. His gaze followed the ascending skin of the tower, up to the fabled climate control station. Strange antennae and globes of glowing white spread out in all directions from a slowly growing raincloud. He was sure he noticed a flash of lightning in its depths.

Already dumbfounded, he made his way down a long hallway adorned with images of the past. Medical lights gave the images of vast oceans, and flowing rivers an odd hue, exaggerating the dreamlike quality they had already bestowed upon the new employee. Ezra came to a halt where he had been told to wait by the Vault employee on the phone, the main lobby. Since a child, he had been told stories of the inside of Vault 47, but they had never got across what his own two eyes were now studying enthusiastically. Dozens of elevators, descended into the depths of underground lakes at vast speeds, while others appeared to dissolve into what looked like a soft mist at the ceiling of the towering lobby. Various monitoring stations were dotted around the perimeter of the large atrium space, some dealing with the regulation of water deep underneath Ezra’s feet, others concerning themselves with the quality of the current water delivery. In the distance, the young man could just make out through a thick window, some water trucks accompanied by armed convoys. Most amazing was the animal that stirred before him in a glass globe the size of his small house. A slimy looking alien looking creature blinked its two large eyes at him, before pushing to the other side of its prison with several of its eight long winding appendages. Ezra circled the globe to get another look, stepping back in surprise when the surface separating him from the bizarre creature, was clouded with a black fluid, monstrous mouth disappearing within.

“She’s an Octopus. We call her Danube ” Said the man Ezra had spoken on the phone to.