These series of events are centred on the Brotherhood of Steel, NCR, and the Wasteland ten years after the second and final war with the Legion at Hoover Dam. The situation is dire for everyone, even those in high positions that could bargain their way out of drought, disease, and radiation stricken land. The incessant feuds with different factions and the war on the dam took a lot out of the people of the Republic and the Brotherhood, and it took a lot of brave and intelligent men and women out of the equation, leaving resource stricken survivors to pick up the pieces.

Elder McNamara, the most progressive leader of a Brotherhood of Steel faction, is determined to change their fate, no matter the consequences. He would risk his status, his standing with his faction, his life…to attempt to change the fate of the human race. But to do that, he needs to break away from the Brotherhood and chart out a new path.

Chapter 1: What was done, cannot be undone

Elder McNamara stood on a precipice overlooking the remains of the University of California Berkeley, his armor glinting in the hot summer sun beating down on scorched land and shielding him from most of the radiation caused by the Great War that had contaminated the earth and turned a once thriving city into a wasteland. He wondered what this place was like back in the day. If it wasn't for the war, would this place still exist, bustling with university students celebrating their end of term exams? Getting ready to go home and see their families again. It was so quiet he could almost hear the ghostly chatter of those lost souls. Despite the heat, he felt a cold shiver down his spine. But he wasn't here to wonder, he was here to try to do the impossible – change history.

His small group of Paladins and Scribes, all in their own protective armor, were ferrying scientific instruments out of the Vertibird, along with weapons to fight off the ghouls. Scribe Ibsen made his way to the Elder to provide him with a report for the mission.

"Elder, we have unloaded all the equipment we will need for the mission. The Paladins have collected their gear and the Scribes are ready to embark. But I have to ask sir…are you sure you want to do this?" asked Ibsen

After a last thoughtful pause, the Elder turned to the Scribe and replied assertively "I have made my decision. Make sure to carry out my orders to the letter. We only get one chance at this…we must undo the damage."

Scribe Ibsen lowered his head and nodded his acknowledgement.

McNamara signaled his small party of 6 to get ready to move out. The Vertibird pilot and a Paladin were left to guard their transport. The Elder picked up his heavy machine gun and lead the party down the sloping crater to the rubble that was once the University, dust trailing behind them.

They were running against time. It wouldn't be long before other Brotherhood of Steel groups arrived to try to stop them. McNamara ordered his pilot and Paladin guard to immediately surrender if the others arrived before their mission was complete. He would accept full responsibility for these actions. Which meant certain exile from the Brotherhood at best, an execution by firing squad at worst. He was willing to take his chances though, because if he succeeded on this day, he will have changed the entire course of history for humanity. Maybe even stopped the war. But to do that he needed the particle collider and its experimental equipment that was buried under tonnes of rubble and decay to send his warning into the past.

'This has to work….God I hope I am not wrong' he thought.

"Sir, we have reached the entrance" announced Scribe Ibsen just behind him. He was studying the map he made back when he was a young scribe and had investigated this site almost 20 years ago. Many things could have changed in that time. The entrance was buried under 2 feet of cement and steel rubble. They had to dig their way through

"All right, today's the day" said McNamara, picking up a pickax, "let's dig…".

Chapter 2: Through the looking glass

June 7th 2017

'Today's the day' thought Maya as she collected her research data and personal log books. She was finally about to run her full experiment with the particle collider, and she was expecting to obtain some interesting results. Leaving her office she made her way to the particle collider lab under the university. The campus was buzzing with chatter and laughter from students who had just finished their exams. The relief and happiness of finishing another, hopefully successful, year was palpable in the air. Nostalgia hit her as she remembered finishing her PhD and celebrating with her friends and colleagues almost 3 years ago to the day. She sometimes longed for the days when all she had to worry about were exams and coursework, it all seems much simpler back then.

Maya made her way down the stairs, the particle collider was located underground beneath the university. Weaving her way past the crowd of boisterous graduates she relished the thought of having a virtually empty campus over the summer holidays and no restrictions to amount of lab time use that would be available.

Reaching the ground level she headed for the elevator that was only used by researchers which went straight down to the particle collider lab. Maya swiped her ID card and the elevator doors opened.

"Maya! Hold up!" came a familiar shout from the crowd of graduates. It was Daniel, her best friend and fellow engineer. Maya held the elevator for them both, an amused look on her face as she watched him try to squeeze through crowds of students who were too excited about finishing and couldn't care less if someone was busy or needed to get somewhere.

"Thanks! Whoa….I'm going to be glad when these grads finally get out of here" he commented as they both got in the elevator.

"Yeah, but a part of you will miss it you gotta admit" Maya responded.

"The only thing I'll miss are the cute new graduates who show up at my office and want help with their engineering lab work" he smirked.

"Really?!" said Maya feigning incredulity, "and may I ask how many of these lovely ladies have you asked out?"

Daniel's ears turned red, followed by his neck. He was embarrassed but tried to brush it off

"Oh…well…I haven't quite…gotten round to that" He stammered. Daniel was a shy person who didn't interact with many individuals in the university, except for his supervisor, a few technicians, and Maya…who happened to be the only female in the university he could speak with freely without stuttering and making incoherent sentences. He was a reasonably attractive young man of 28 years, light ash brown hair, blue eyes with wayfarer style glasses, all which earned him flirty stares from time to time.

Maya smiled widely, "Don't worry Danny" she gently elbowed his arm, "you'll find the right person someday".

Daniel smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I just wish I wasn't so...awkward with...people"

"You're not with me" replied Maya

"That's because you're my best friend since pre-school. You're practically my adopted sister" said Daniel.

Their conversation was interrupted by the elevator's chime; they had reached the basement floor.

"I know it's difficult, especially when you're around someone you like" said Maya as they stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the lab room, "but try to think of it like you're talking with me. Easier said than done, I know, but if you keep at it it'll get easier".

"I guess you're right…" replied Daniel, walking slightly behind Maya.

"In the meantime, we have the final component for my experiment to install and test. I hope we don't break anything" she laughed nervously "Otherwise we'll get a very large bill through the mail!"

Just as she finished her sentence, the ground began to shake underneath her feet. The fluorescent lights hanging above them started to sway and flicker, and the window panes looking into the lab wobbled fiercely.

"What the hell?!" Cried Maya. Her feet were giving way to the unpredictable shaking of the floor underneath her. Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her underneath a door frame.

The shaking stopped after a few seconds. Lights stopped flickering but carried on gently swaying. A few hairline cracks had formed on the ceiling and around door joints.

"It's ok, just an earthquake…I think" said Daniel. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just…shaken up a bit" she replied. "We better go to the lab and see if everything's ok"

They briskly made their way past a couple of stricken technicians who were busying themselves checking all the sensitive equipment and making sure no one was injured.

Daniel and Maya rushed through the door into the particle collider lab, which looked like it was the least affected room.

Dr. Gerrard Buser was hurriedly instructing a group of technicians on their tasks. The lead technician and researcher at the collider lab he was an attractively lithe man in his late 50s with an impressive set of thick white hair, piercing green eyes behind black rimmed glasses and Swiss accent. He turned to Daniel and Maya at the sound of the door slamming shut behind them.

"Glad you're here, we have problems with a connection junction. Some of them have de-aligned and need to be fixed immediately. We haven't been able to shut down all the equipment, we don't know why yet but we have think it's because of that junction" He turned to Maya, his green eyes stern yet apologetic; "I'm afraid we won't be able to install your equipment today, at least not until we have assessed the situation with the collider".

"I understand Dr. Buser, we'll begin immediately" Maya nodded, slightly annoyed that this incident will cause delays for her research work. They made their way to the changing room to get into appropriate gear to enter the chamber.

"Be careful" he called after them.

Maya and Daniel got into their laboratory gear and began the tedious task of checking all the systems and analyzing the damage. Somehow Maya couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't going to be the last incident she'll have to deal with today.