FALLOUT: Raphael's Story

The man in the long coat walked slowly back to his campsite. He wondered to himself how he had gotten stuck in this place, living in a rusty pre-War caravan. The man knew that he wouldn't be able to stay put for much longer, the Second Battle of Hoover Dam was approaching at a fast rate and he knew that if he didn't leave soon, he would be engulfed once again in the flames of battle. This man was called Raphael McCreed, he was a wanderer, an independent... he did everything by himself, no family, no colony, nobody. Raphael did not believe the whole, safety in numbers saying. Being by himself for a long time, it was no surprise that Raphael wasn't a socialite but he was extremely intelligent, an excellent marksman with his .45 auto pistol and his 5mm assault carbine. Raphael was also an excellent survivalist, of course this survival expertise only stretched to himself; he couldn't have a companion during his travels because it wasn't his way.

Raphael, with his dusty long coat, sat down at his campfire that burned brightly in a tyre. Everything that Raphael made was made excellently, despite his low resources. Looking around the familiar surroundings, he felt almost sorrowful that he would have to leave the Mojave. Although he didn't enjoy having the NCR so close to his home, he knew that there wasn't many places that a wanderer like him could call home. Having spent almost four years in the Mojave Wasteland, Raphael found that he liked the atmosphere despite the fact that New Vegas loomed so near. Raphael never did enjoy the big cities, too loud and too many people for him. The Strip of New Vegas reminded him too much of New Reno during the short time he spent there and he encountered way too many drunks for his liking. Raphael did enjoy a solitary whiskey every once in a while but he had to keep his senses up for the sake of survival. As Raphael was pondering about things, he removed his large sunglasses and dropped them to the floor. His deep blue eyes were seldom seen by daylight and Raphael rarely had a chance to see the beauty of the sunlight. The world that Raphael lived in was ravaged and destroyed but the beauty of the sun still existed.

Relaxing further, Raphael dropped onto the floor. Sitting comfortably, Raphael rolled up his coat sleeves and brushed off his dirty, khaki-coloured trousers. Raphael remembered his parents, how they protected him so much on their journey to the West Coast when he was just seven years old. Raphael was born on the East Coast, somewhere in Boston, but his parents seemed to hide his real identity from him. Eventually, approximately one year ago, Raphael found out his true origins from the Think Tank in the Big Empty. Raphael was born into a mysterious organisation known as The Institute that was built off of the foundations of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that was founded before the Great War. Raphael's mother was a scientist in The Institute and his father was one of the many armed guards that The Institute had in place. When Raphael was born, he was implanted with many different cyborg enhancements; Raphael was in fact a cybernetically enhanced human being, one of the first kinds that The Institute had made. The difference between Raphael and normal androids was that he was originally a human and he still kept his free will. He found this out from the Think Tank when his heart, brain and spine were replaced by machine parts. It turned out that Raphael only survived the procedure due to his cybernetic enhancements. The Think Tank was able to find out his origins through memory banks lodged into Raphael's cyborg parts. Raphael later retrieved his stolen brain and found the insignia of The Institute on its metal surface. He chose to put his brain back into his body to retain all of his memories. Raphael still felt pained that his parents did not escape the facility of The Institute sooner, before he was made into a cyborg. His solitary existence is slightly caused by these enhancements; Raphael believed that, due to the fact that he was different, he would not be accepted by anyone if they knew the truth.

Raphael let his head fall into his hands; he experienced a lot of pain when he remembered his past, his rugged past. He believed himself to be nothing more than a killing machine, created to protect an organisation that he had no love for. However, his purpose was changed when his parents escaped the machine-hell. Feeling unenlightened at the current moment, Raphael decided to lie down and remember the things that he had done during his time in the Mojave Wasteland.