A/N
Hello everybody. I know this may seem lame but I've never been great at first chapters. I'd like to assure you that this will not be direct word for word from the game, but most of this first chapter is because it served as a bit of a starting foundation for my story. I'm going to use in-game events as well as my own stories.
This is the story of my character, who was/is my very first since playing the game. Everything in this story is how I interpret her. Her decisions, appearance, and attitude is how I have played her through the game so far. And yes, I was surprised to find that the annoying aggressive man in Goodneighbor was named Finn, the same name as my female Sole Survivor. Wasn't intentional, but ironic. Read if you wish. I'm mostly writing this because for some reason I became very stuck on Hancock. He's my favorite character so far and I love everything about him; his backstory, his attitude, his morals, etc. Anyways, I'm probably boring you. On with the chapter!
"Hold up there. First time in Goodneighbor? Can't go walking around without insurance."
Those were the first words Finn heard when she walked into Goodneighbor. Still being foreign to the wasteland and its lifestyle, she felt a bit of fear in her chest. She was quickly reminded of her purpose and out went any fucks that were given.
"You better back off, or you're the one who's gonna need insurance."
"Woah, hey, all right. We'll just, uh, say your insurance is paid up for now, okay?"
"Woah woah woah, time out." A new voice spoke. The owner of said voice stepped out from the alley. He was a ghoul, no nose and all. He wore a long red coat and a tricorn hat, similar to someone Finn would find in a textbook when she went to school. "Someone steps through the gate the first time, they're a guest. You lay off that extortion crap."
"What d'you care? She ain't one of us."
The ghoul didn't seem amused by the man. "No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let her go."
So Finn was the man's name. Finn, the sole survivor of Vault 111, thought the situation couldn't get any weirder.
"You're soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there'll be a new mayor."
Finn decided this was bullshit. She pulled out her pistol and shot a bullet right into the other Finn's temple.
"Woah ho ho, I like you already! Walk into a place, make a show of dominance. Nice." Hancock said, obviously impressed. "Goodneighbor's of the people, for the people. You feel me? Everyone's welcome."
"I feel you."
"Nice to see we're on the same page." Hancock smiled. "What's your name?"
"Uh.. It's Finn, actually."
Hancock immediately grinned. "You're shitting me, right? Talk about irony. Anyways Finn, I hope you enjoy your stay in Goodneighbor. I'm this wonderful freakshows proud mayor, so if ya need anything, come to me. I'll be in the state house."
"Thanks Hancock."
"No problem." And with that, the ghoul turned and walked away.
Finn took a breath and observed her surroundings. Goodneighbor seemed like a pretty alright place. It felt nice to be able to take a breather after traveling in the post-apocalyptic Commonwealth. After getting some food and relaxing she found herself in front of a place with a sign that said "Memory Den." Was that a fancy name for a bar? She decided to step inside and find out. Upon entering she saw a blonde woman wearing a very extravagant outfit lying on a couch, with a paint-me-like-one-of-your-French-girls pose. She snickered to herself but felt a bit odd when she remembered that absolutely no one would understand the reference. Eh, Titanic was a movie that was more of her grandma's generation anyways. She was pulled from her thoughts when the woman spoke up.
"I think you've stepped into the wrong place, sweetheart. You don't look like you need the Memory Den. Do you even know what we do here?"
Finn smirked. "Does it involve a backroom and a handful of singles? Makin' it rain."
"Oh you have the wrong idea, honey. I don't sell skin. I sell memories. And let me tell you, reliving an experience? The right experience? It's far more intense than anything else. But it's not for everyone."
Finn tucked her long, bleached white hair behind her ear. "Why not?"
"Look, it's no secret that reliving a memory can be about having a good time, or helpful in remembering something you've forgotten or lost. But like anything worth doing in life, it's got a kick to it. And the first time can be.. traumatic. So I keep the client list very small. People I trust. It helps us avoid a lot of unpleasantness."
Reliving memories? Finn came from the world of civilization. Back when there was baseball and picnics. When she had a husband and son. A family. Now Nate was dead and their son, Shaun, was nowhere to be found. Just seeing them one last time, that's all she wanted.
"You're cautious, I respect that. But I think I can handle it, if you'll just give me a chance."
It seemed this persuaded the woman. "Well I suppose there's no harm in giving you a trial run. Now, memories involving other people are easiest. Recent events involving loved ones. Does anything come to mind?"
Finn was quiet for a moment. Nate.. God, she missed him.
"My.. husband died recently. If I could just see him one last time…"
The woman gave her a look of understanding. This probably wasn't the first time a widow came into the Memory Den. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. It's never easy losing someone that close to you. But I think we can help. All right, sit down in the lounger. Let's see what memory we can find."
Finn did as told, walking over to the strange chair-thing and sitting in it. As she did so she could hear the woman speaking to someone. The top closed in the memory contraption and in front of her was a screen that read "please stand by."
"Doctor Amari? We have a new client. Can you find a memory we can plug into?"
Another female voice spoke. "What kind of memory are we looking for?"
"Our client is-.. was.. married. See if you can find a memory of the spouse."
"All right, scanning the hippocampus… I've found something! Very recent. The sync with the temporal lobes is strong."
"That's the one! Lift the curtain, honey. It's showtime."
Finn's vision was taken over by a bright light. She couldn't see a damn thing. She almost wondered if she died when she heard the voice of the doctor once again.
"Here you are. Your memory. Just relax. We'll be monitoring your vitals on this end."
When her vision faded back she was in front of a row of cyropods. She stepped closer to the one directly in front of her. Looking through the window, she saw Nate and baby Shaun. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. No! This was not what she had in mind when she wanted a memory of Shaun and Nate.
"Oh, god... Nate… I can't watch this again…"
She heard a voice and turned her head down the hall to see three mysterious figures. Two in strange suits, and one looked looked like some sort of mercenary.
"Vault computers are still working," one man said. "That's good. Checking through the logs. Hopefully it's all…"
"Just.. Find it."
Finn looked at the three figures in horror. "How could you be a part of this?" Did these people have hearts? Did they even have enough fucking sympathy to realize how wrong it was to force her to watch helplessly while they ripped her baby from her husband's arms and shot him in cold blood?
The man spoke again. "Pod C6. Down the hall near the end."
The three of them started to walk. Finn walked just beside the mercenary-looking man. He didn't even acknowledge her existence. Who was he?
She returned back in front of her own cryopod to see herself. She looked so helpless, so confused. She had no idea what the hell was going on. Fuck, she still didn't…
The woman pointed at the cryopod containing Nate and Shaun. If she could she'd rip her arm from her body right then. "This is the one. Here."
The mercenary man walked over, gun in hand. "Open it."
The cryopod opened and Nate went into a fit of coughs and Shaun cried out. The woman began cautiously reaching out.
"Is it over? Are we okay?" Nate asked.
"Almost," the mercenary man said. "Everything's gonna be fine."
The woman reached to Shaun and started trying to take him. "Come here.. Come here, baby.."
Nate resisted, not letting her. "No.. Wait.. No.. I've got him!"
The man with the gun pointed it at Nate. "Let the boy go. I'm only gonna tell you once."
"I'm not giving you Shaun!" Nate yelled out. His last words before the man shot him, making his body fall back limp.
"Oh my god." Finn could hear the doctor's external voice. She looked back to her own past self, her husband's killer looking straight at her while speaking coldly, those words that she will never forget because they were etched into her mind ever since... "At least we still have the backup."
Doctor Amari's voice was heard again. "We're reaching the end of the memory. Hold on."
Finn felt like she was suffocating. She couldn't breathe and her heart felt like it was beating so fast that it could jump out of her chest.
"Try to calm down… Your blood pressure is spiking… I'll have you out of there in… three… two… one…"
Finn's vision went white again and when she came to she was greeted with the sight of that familiar screen. She let out a shaky breath as the thing opened and she was let out.
"Easy there, sweetheart. Easy.. I'm so, so sorry. If I had any idea that we were going to put you through that again, I would've said no."
Finn looked at her with some resentment. "Wasn't there any other memory you could've found?"
"I told you, we find the clearest memory we can for the first time. That one… stood out. You need help, sweetheart, and I know just the man. His name is Nick Valentine. He's a detective. Works out of Diamond City these days. If anyone can help you find your missing child, it'll be him."
Finn, having just finally got to Goodneighbor, wasn't up for traveling at the moment. She also wanted to get her mind off of what just happened. What better way to unwind than get some caps? The mayor oughta have something for her to do. Finn made her way to the state house and climbed the spiral staircase, finding Hancock sitting on his couch.
"Hancock."
"Hey sister. Watcha need?"
Finn leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "Looking for work. Could use the caps. Got anything?"
Hancock smiled. "Glad you asked actually, I do have something. You see, there's been talk about this Pickman Gallery lately. It's normally raider territory up there but it's been quiet. Y'know, like awkward post-coitus quiet. Go check it out and I'll compensate you when you come back."
Finn snickered at his words. He really was charismatic, wasn't he? "I'm on it. Thank you, Hancock."