I - The Magician
"Wake up"
"Whaa..?"
"I said: WAKE UP!"
Suddenly, a shot of a revolver.
And then only the sound of the singer broke the silence.
"Another day, shows its face..."
...
- A couple of weeks earlier -
"-but I still don't get it Tony," John opened a bottle of Nuka-Cola. "If I'm going to be a security officer, why do I need to learn how to hack computers? Seems to me that I don't need this kind of stuff." He threw the bottle cap in to the trash and took a sip from the bottle. "What if the Mister Handys go haywire? I'd rather shut them off than create more jobs to do down here like cooking and fixing the radioactive parts." Sally rolled on the floor and laughed at the boys's arguing. They had been friends for their whole lives but still had their small arguments from time to time and- "What do you think, Sal? Do you think I need to learn this stuff?" -somehow she always had to decide for them. "I don't know, I guess." "You guess?" "Well I mean yeah, it's good to know that stuff." John rolled his eyes. "Fine. Now how do I do this?" Tony explained in great detail how a computers password could be passed and after what felt like hours to John and Sally, he added "You can come practice anytime." "Yeah, I'll do that."
Not a second passed when the public announcement loudspeaker cracked on. "This is the Overseer. If you could all gather to the Atrium for a special meal. Thank you." Sally got up from her seat. "So this is the surprise meal the robots told me about." "You actually talk to those tincans?" They walked into the corridor and went with the others. "Sure, I like them. They have been working with a lot of people so they have a lot of stories to tell. And even if they're just simple AI, they can have interesting personalities."
They talked about the robotic helpers until they got to the Atrium and sat down. "Where did they get these huge tables?" "I think they were made to pop out of the floor." Tony examined the floor. "Yeah, I was right. See, no crack between the floor and table." "Wait, we've been walking on these tabl-" He got cut off by the Overseer. "Hello friends. You might wonder why we are eating in the Atrium. The only thing the computers said about this day is that we are going through some milestone in the Vault's program. The program was made to celebrate these kinds of achievements and so the robots have prepared a special meal for all of us. Now I only have one thing to say: please enjoy the meal and company!" Applauses came and went, and then the robots served the meals. It was a great change from the regural grub they had to eat so everyone ate their delicious meals quickly. After a moment of rest, people started getting up. The three friends got up and started walking toward the door. "I need to thank the robots for this great-" Sally quieted as a man, that had been coughing for a while, fell on the floor in front of her. John got on his knees. "Hey, are you ok?" There was no answer. The Vault's doctor got next to him and checked for a pulse. There was none. "He's dead." People lowered their heads, but not three seconds passed until more people started coughing. More people fell on the floor.
Screams echoed in the Atrium. People started running. John got pushed on his ass and cut off of his friends by ramming people. "Tony, Sal!" There was no answer. Only the screams, coughs and loud smashes on the floor. John got up and decided to run in to the corridor. There were people crying and coughing. And there, in a small corner, were Tony and Sally, kissing. John saw that they had both been coughing and crying. He tried to get to them, but he got suddenly dizzy, fell and hit his head on the wall. In the last moments of consciousness, he saw his friends, dead in each others arms.
John woke up on the floor, alone. He had a headache, but remembered what had happened. He looked around, but saw no one. His friends were gone, and after looking around in the Atrium, he realized that so was everyone else. The residents, the security and even the Overseer. He walked in to the mess hall and sat on a chair. "What would you like Mr. Pilgrim?" asked the Mister Handy with a slight southern accent. "Just give me some water." The robot took a glass and started filling it. "And maybe something for the headache."
8/15/2281
It's been a few days since everybody else di... disappeared. I decided to start doing a voice diary. To try and keep my sanity. I've had a non-stop headache. I can barely sleep at night. I just try to eat some pills to keep it at a manageable state. I want to know more about what happened. Maybe I can get into the Overseers office. I'll think about it tomorrow.
8/17/2281
I've gotten closer in hacking the Overseer's files. They've got some pretty hard passwords on them. It's good that I can use Tony's... Ugh... Umm... Tony's computer to practice.
...
God I miss them. All of them.
8/18/2281
I had the robots set up a screen with all of the vault dwellers' names. I also found some candles and lit one next to the screen.
...
I got into the files and did some searching. Apparently, the day wasn't a milestone. Not even close. There must have been some other reason. I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight, but searching for the answer.
I still have a headache so I don't think I'd be sleeping anyway.
8/21/2281
Nothing really happening. I'm still going through the files. But I think I'm hearing voices in my head. I don't need to be a psychiatric to know that it's a sign of insanity. I also noticed something wierd when I washed my face last night and checked it again just a while ago. My eyes are becoming white. I mean my pupils's color is changing from blue to white. Maybe the foods reaction to me was different.
8/22/2281
Finally! I found something worthwhile. Some kind of drug was added to the food that we ate. I asked the robots to tell me about the drug, but they only told me that they were 'special'. Don't know what that means though.
...
I have to admit something. I wouldn't have found the file if I hadn't listened to... a voice in my head. One of them seems to really smart. I'm not really confident in listening to them though.
8/25/2281
I got some of the guns and ammo from the Security offices lockers. I put up some plates in the Atrium and used them for target practice. I need to know how to shoot if I want to go topside. I also got my Pip-boy to pick up signals from there. Been listening to this 'Mr. New Vegas' for a while and learnt something from his speeches. One, the currency up there is 'caps'. Bottle caps? I doubt it but just in case, I'll save the caps I open. Two, there's some kind of war going on. I thought we were put here to save us from the war. I don't know. And three, 'New Vegas is still shining its lights across the night sky.' I've read from some holodisks that a city called Las Vegas once stood close the Vault. But that must have been destroyed during the war. My eyes are still white. I don't know why the drug did this, probably because of what happened to the other pills, just my pill had a lesser dose of it.
8/26/2281
Raagh! *crash*
...
*sob* God why did you leave me alone? *sob*
I didn't want this! *sob*
I don't know if I should go out to the wasteland.
I'm not strong enough.
...
Oh, but I am.
I'm brilliant, charismatic, agile and most importantly, lucky.
...
What just happened?
...
I need another drink.
8/27/2281
My headache got worse again. But I think it's because of the alcohol I had yesterday. It was a mistake. I had to listen to yesterdays recording to find out what happened to my chair. But what was I saying? I don't remember saying any of that... Ow.. That charismatic stuff. Then again, I don't remember much.
...
But I know I didn't say any of the stuff about agility and luck. I'm sure of it.
8/29/2281
I'm leaving. I don't want to stay here for the rest of my life. I don't even care if I die as soon as I open the vaults door. I just want to leave. I'll pack today and sleep the night off. Although I'm not so sure the vaults day-night cycle is the same as the topside. Even if I leave in the morning, I might walk out to an afternoon. I'll have to adapt to more things than that anyway.
John stood in front of the giant metal wheel. He had a backpack full of food, water, ammo and some meds. On his waist he had the pistol that was, as he saw it, in the best condition. He also had a SMG on his back. He was ready for an adventure, even if it meant death. He pushed a button on the control panel and took a breath. Sirens yelled. The giant door pushed back and rolled to its side. He let the breath out and took a step into the tunnel.
...
John saw the sunlight for the first time in his life. As he made his way outside, his eyes hurt from the light. Even though it was only the early evening sun, it was brighter than the lamps in the vault. He reached into his pocket and took out the sunglasses he had found in the Overseer's office. He quickly covered his white eyes. The wasteland looked different than what he had originally thought of. There were no trees that he had seen on holodisks, or animals running around. The only moving things were the sand and tumbleweeds going with the wind. The only buildings visible were giant, brightly lit buildings to the west and a small house near the entrance to the vault. John whipped up the map on his Pip-boy. "It's good to know where you're coming from", he thought as he marked the Vaults location on the map. He took one last look into the cave and started walking.
...
The sun came down quicker than John had anticipated. Darkness was already settling before he even got halfway to the house. The weight of his backpack and the SMG were more than he thought. He thought that maybe he should have tried walking with them before settling for his 'epic adventure'. He could hear something moving close-by. He wasn't sure what it was, something big probably. He grabbed his pistol and started running. The more he ran, the closer were his follower. He shot once into the bushes. The follower stopped. John stopped and turned. A cazador jumped out of the bushes and sped at him. John looked in fear at the venomous mouth of the cazador. He shot at it with no success, missing every shot. With one bullet and only being outside the vault for just hours, he already welcomed death.
...
Even though he didn't notice it, John's eyes flashed into a brownish color. He pointed the gun at the speeding cazador with steady hands. He pulled the trigger to fire the only bullet left. Not a second passed when the bullet pierced the cazador's head, killing it with ease. John eyes returned back to their original, white color. "How'd I do that?" he asked the quiet evening. He laughed at his unbelievable luck as he reloaded his gun. Now, with a bit more confidence, he walked toward the house.
...
The house was actually in really good condition. As John opened the door, he yelled in to the darkness. "Hello? Anybody in here?" No answer. John walked inside, had a quick look around to see if anyone had hid from him, hand on his pistol the whole time. He found no one, so he decided to have a quick snack and sleep on the bed he found upstairs. After eating, he threw his weapons and other carriages on the floor. He actually trembled a little when the floor cracked a bit under his backpack as it hit the floor. He lied on the bed, closed his eyes and let the smooth jazz on the radio lull him in to a good, well earned sleep.
...
"Wake up"
"Whaa..?"
"I said: WAKE UP!"
Suddenly, a shot of a revolver.
And then only the sound of the singer broke the silence.
"Another day, shows its face..."
