Authors Note: So, this story-type-thing is going to be completely non-based off of Fallout 3. Of course, everything still belongs to Bethesda, but I'm just switching it around and putting it into my own little story - the world I want to see it as. I plan on putting more people in who live in the Vault, simply because I find it ridiculous how there's only about 8 kids in the whole entire Vault in the actual video game. And also, there's going to be more than just three people in the Tunnel Snakes; it'd be more of a gang then.
Oh, and a heads up - The way I write may switch. It may go back and forth between past tense and present type, but it's because I can't decide on which way to write. So, if it happens, I'm sorry. 3:
But, I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I will and of course, I'd love for any of you to PM me and give me some of your own ideas; I'm more than open about that. Also, please tell me how I'm doing on the whole story. Please? Thank you. c:

War. War never changes.

Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage.

In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation.

But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes.

In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as vaults. But when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them - all except those in Vault 101. For on that fateful day, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened. It was here you were born. It is here you will die.

Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves.

The Vault wasn't always sealed up. It was open for years, letting the occupants mingle about with whomever they please; from the inside world or the outside world. Butch DeLoria's father came from the outside world, falling in love with the young boy's mother at a young age.

That was back when there was a different Overseer; someone who was very laid back and outgoing, just looking for the better of people.

Then a new Overseer came into control. His name? Alphonse Almodovar. When he came into management he had a wife and a new born baby girl; Amata Almodovar.

But when his wife was killed after going out to the unknown world above ground, he put his foot down. He sealed up the Vault door, blocking any contact from the outside world.

A year later, however, he let in a father, a docter, and his own baby. That baby wasn't really a baby, though; she was a toddler.

Her name was to be Adelyn and she was the same age as Butch, or at least close to it.

The new Overseer, Alphonse, saw them as mistakes in his new little world. He had to find a way to make sure that everything went his way. He needed everyone to think and believe that the Vault had always been closed; sealed up since day one.
And so the brainwashing began.

Adelyn Brisbane has always been self-conscious with her appearance. No one else looks anything like her in Vault 101. The very pale contrast of her skin tone, the short red hair and piercing blue eyes, the godforsaken Scottish accent. She's already begun to fill out, too. Her figure is going from one of a boy to one of a proper female. A body that she notices is unlike her childhood one. Her hips are filling in, along with her chest. It makes her even more conscious compared to the other girls.

So as she's standing just through the door of the diner, she encirles her arms around her mid-section; in a sort of comforting hug. All eyes are on her. The yelling of 'Happy Birthday!' and shouts of joy are all over the fairly big room.

Looking around at all who are attending she spots Amata Almadovar, her father, The Overseer, Old Lady Palmer, Stanley, Butch Deloria and other Vault residents. Officer Gomez is even attending.

The Overseer walks over to her and interupts the saying of something that James, her father, was saying.

"Hello, young lady. I believe it's your birthday today, correct? Well here in Vault 101, when a person turns ten he or she is given a Pip-Boy 3000 to help for the better of a Vault. I'm pleased to announce that you shall be getting your very own today."

The Overseer held a strange looking device in his hands; a Pip-Boy. It was made completely out of metel, except for the wrist band and glove in which was attached to it. The Overseer helped Adelyn slip it on, smiling just barely when he helped her find the way to turn it on.

"Don't stay up too late, young lady. You'll get your first job assignment in the morning." He laughed; a weird and unhumorous sound.

Paul Hannon Jr. stands beside Amata, wearing a weird looking party hat. Adelyn wrinkles her nose at the sight of him.

Why is he here... She thinks to herself with an inward groan.

"Man, you got your own Pip-Boy. I wish I was ten." The dark skinned boy grumbled, walking towards her.

"Paul.." She trailed off.

"Hey, uh.. Thanks for inviting me, really cool party and everything." He stuttered, "I know that, uh, Butch and I give you a hard time but you don't take that seriously, right? Anyway, happy birthday and everything. I better get back to, you know..."

As Paul walked back towards where Butch and Wally Mack sat she could hear the taunting calls the two gave the third of the trio.

"What, is she your best friend now? Hey, Wally, I think Paul's in love."Butch snorted.

"Yeah, Paul. Why don't you introduce us to your new girlfriend?" Wally joined in, grinning.

"Who? Do you mean dork-face here? Happy birthday, dork-face!" Paul called out the last bit to Adelyn, causing the surrounding boys to laugh.

She felt her pale cheeks darken in embarassment.

But then Amata stepped forward, wearing a huge smile and a sporting party hat, like Paul was.

"Happy birthday! We really surprised you, didn't we?" The other girl laughed a bit, "Your dad thought you were onto us but I told him not to worry. You're so easy to fool!"

Adelyn immediately relaxed, all of what the boys had to say disappearing from her mind.

"Great party, Amata! Thanks for doing this for me."

"You're welcome. But really, your dad did most of it. I just helped with the decorations and stuff." Amata shrugged.

"Hey, I bet you can't guess what I got you for your birthday. Go on, guess!"

Adelyn paused, "I really have no idea..."

"Ha! I knew I'd surprise you." The brunette girl beamed, "Who's your favorite barbarian? That's right; Grognak! Issue 14, with no missin' pages."

Amata pulled the comic book from behind her back to reveal it nicely wrapped up in some sort of wrapping paper.

"I found this in a box of my fathers old things, believe it or not. Imagine him reading comic books." A soft sigh sounded, "I guess everyone was ten once."

"Well, I better let you get back to "mingling" with your guests. We'll talk later, okay? Happy birthday."

And then Amata turned to walk away, smiling at her friend briefly over her shoulder.

Slowly the red head walked forward, past Officer Gomez who called out a faint 'Happy birthday!' and towards where Andy, a Mister Handy robot was. On her way forward she came to beside where Amata now stood, looking over at the floating robot.

"Attention everyone! It is now time to cut the cake!" He yelled in a robotic voice.

"No, Andy! Wait!" Amata cried out.

The disk saw that the robot had was turned on and he thrust it forward and to the cake. When it touched the very first layer of icing, the saw spun out of control and was thrusted forward abruptly, completely destroying the cake in a mess of icing and sponge cake.

Outside of the horrifying noises Amata was making, Adelyn heard the taunting voice of Butch.

"Happy birthday, Nosebleed." He yelled at her, the sound of nasally and annoying laughter reaching her ears.

Her face turned to one of disgust and she turned herself away from his booth of friends, sitting behind them and beside Old Lady Palmer who had patted the seat beside her.

"I am mortified about the cake. Simply mortified." Andy said in the background.

Adelyn smiled fondly up at the old woman, "Hello, Mrs. Palmer."

"Are you having a nice party? Ten years old, my my my. Seems like only yesterday that your daddy came..." The womans old voice sighed but with a smile on her lips.

The red head with blue eyes simply gave the grandmother a confused look.

"Goodness, listen to me ramble! You're waiting for your present, aren't you?" She chuckled.

Adelyn blinked in surprise, "Oh, you didn't have to bring me a present, Mrs. Palmer."

But the grandmother waved her off.

"Fiddlesticks! What ten-year-old doesn't like presents? I was ten once, believe it or not! My goodness, the Vault was practically crowded back then." She sighed, "Not like today. So few young people now... But here I am rambling on again and you listening so politely.

"Here you go; a nice sweet roll that I baked for you just this morning. And it's all for you -no sharing required today!"

Old Lady Palmer took the young girls hands in hers and placed a neatly wrapped sweet roll in them, smiling that old and wrinkly smile of hers. Shooing the girl away, Adelyn was standing again when Butch turned to her and began to complain.

"I'm hungry and that stupid robot destroyed the cake. Gimme that sweet roll you for from Old Lady Palmer."

The way his voice was so high made Adelyn cringe inwardly and she closed her eyes in annoyance.

"Go soak your head, Butch. I'm not giving you my sweet roll."

The dark haired boy seemed to scoff, "Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

At that moment Butch decided to stand up and he began to advance towards her, a hardened look on his face. Adelyn widened her eyes in surprise and started to back away.

"You're gonna be sorry, you little pipsqueak."

The DeLoria boy got closer to her and went into an immediate fighting stance, leaving the poor girl vulnerable. Noticing so, he shot his fists out, right and then left; landing a solid punch both in her face and stomach. She gasped at the sudden pain.

"Butch! What are you doing? Hitting a girl and on her birthday!" Officer Gomez scolded him, pushing the young boy away from the injured female.

Through it all, Amata was trying to have a conversation with her dad, but got interupted mid-way through a sentence by the sudden ruckus. Amata turned to see what it was, only for her father to bring her back into the conversation right away.

"I hope Butch didn't hurt you. Do you wanna tell me what all that was about?" The Officer asked, concern deep in his voice.

Adelyn looked down to her feet, mumbling quietly, "Don't worry about it, sir. It was nothing."

Officer Gomez seemed to accept the answer and perkened up.

"Good for you! Don't let Butch start to bully you or he'll never stop. I've seen his type before, if that mother of his doesn't get a handful on him in the next few years he's gonna cause a lot of trouble.

"Well, no harm done then. Why don't you get back to your party."

With sigh, Adelyn nodded and turned away from the Officer but jumped in surprise as Amata suddenly popped up.

"What's Butch's problem anyway? I can't believe he tried to start a fight at your own birthday party! What a jerk." The brunette friend seethed.

Adelyn huffed and grumbled, "The jerk tried to steal my sweet roll."

"God, he really is a butthead. Oh well. You can always count on Butch to make an ass of himself. Get it?"

The two girls smiled at one another, beginning to burst into a sudden bout of laughter, making more than a few heads turn their way. They giggled for a couple minutes before they parted ways once again.

"Ha. Nice Pip-Boy. What is it, a A3000 model? You'll probably have to wind it up every morning." Wally taunted her, a sick grin on his face.

Adelyn just rolled her eyes, making her way straight to Stanley.

"How do you like that Pip-Boy, Addy? Fit alright and everything?" The Vault mechanic greeted her.

She smiled at the nickname and nodded fast up at the man with his graying hair.

"It's really cool! Did you fix it up for me?"

"As a matter of fact I did. I'm glad you like it. Some may think the A series a bit basic, but I always preferred them for their reliability."

"Thanks, Stanley!"

"Don't mention it." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a baseball cap. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. It's not much, but I hope you like it."

He handed it over to her, smiling that aging smile of his before he allowed her to move on to a different party guest again.

Her father, whom was sitting beside Stanley stopped her.

"Are you all right, sweetheart? Is Butch giving you a hard time again?"

Nodding, Adelyn replied quietly; "Don't worry, Dad. I can handle Butch."

"I'm glad to hear it. Once you start letting bullie push you around, you'll never see the end of it.

"Come on now! I bet there's someone else out there with a present for you!"

Sighing, Adelyn nodded and walked away from her father. Already she felt exhausted and she just wanted the party to end all ready. It was quite boring now, with no one to talk it.

As she waited, she stood around and listened to Butch, Wally and Paul come up with names for their 'gang'.

"What about 'Mackers'?" Wally suggested.

Butch scoffed at his friend, "Man, why does it gotta have something with your name in it? That's stupid."

"Fine then. What about 'Hell's Overseers'?"

"It doesn't have your name in it anywhere so that's a start."

"Hey, guys.. What about 'Vault Weasles' or 'Vault Dwellers'?" Paul piped up.

Both boys looked to him, eyebrows raised. "What are we, preschoolers?"

"I like 'The Tunnel Rats' or 'The Tunnel Snakes'. Rats and snakes are pretty tough, right?" Butch asked.

Through their little conversation, Adelyn never even noticed her father walking over to the intercom and talking to someone on the other line until he came over to her.

"Hey! That was Jonas. Him and I have a special surprise for you. He's waiting for you down on the Reactor Level. Go ahead, I don't think anyone will mind if you slip out for a few minutes."

The doctors daughter nodded and turned towards the door. She walked towards it with a brisk setting pace and scanned her hand just over the touch pad of the console, opening up the door. Slipping through it, she found herself in the empty hallway of the corridor and began to make her way down it and towards the stairs.

Half way there she stumbled upon Beatrice, the Vaults very own lunatic.

"Happy birthday, deary! My goodness, I hope I didn't miss the party!" She frowned a little, looking to the door the young girl had stepped out of.

"Yeah, my dad and Amata threw me a great party, didn't they?"

Beatrice nodded, "They sure did. My, my. Ten years old already. Why, I can remember helping your dad change your diapers... And, now look at you! A great big grown up ten-year-old, with your very own Pip-Boy!

"Since this was such a special occasion, do you know what I did? I wrote you a poem! Just for you. I hope you like it."

The woman handed her a slip of paper and smiled wide, teeth showing in all their glory.

"Thank you. I will treasure it always. Is that all?"

"Of course! Run along now, deary, and have yourself a wonderful birthday!"

With a frustrated grunt, Adelyn gave a curt nod and finally made her move to go all the way down to the Reactor Level. This time she made it with no distractions and quickly felt relaxed from the sudden cold air she felt on her hot skin.

Down on the Reactor Level, The Overseer doesn't see it nessicary to turn on the heating. No one lives down this far below and barely anyone even works down here. If they do, it's usually just Jonas and Stanley anyway and it's only for a mere couple hours.

"What are you doing down here, young lady? I thought kids weren't allowed down on the Reactor Level." The dark skinned man scolded Adelyn.

She bristled, "I'm not a kid! I'm ten years old!"

Jonas began to laugh, smiling from ear to ear. "You sure are! Look at that, Pip-Boy and everything!

"If you want to wait another minute or two for your surprise, I think your dad wants to give it to you himself."

Just then her father walked in, smiling over at the two.

"Are you ready for your surprise?"

"What kind of surprise?" She asked curiously.

James chuckled, "The Overseer gave you your Pip-Boy and you're old enough to do some work. So I figured you're old enough for this."

He pulled out a contraption made completely of metal, then laughed again at the blank look on his daughters face.

"Your own BB gun! It's a little old, but it should work perfectly. Jonas found it down here. It was in pretty rough shape - took us a good three months to find the parts to get it working again.

Do you know how tough it is to find a spring that small? Good thing Butch 'misplaced' that switchblade of his." He began to laugh a little bit, making her smile.

Finally he asked what she was waiting for, "So what do you think - Wanna give it a try?"

"Of course! But we can't shoot down here, dad.." Adelyn's voice trailed and she frowned.

"We sure can't. But what The Overseer doesn't know won't hurt him. Jonas has a spot for you to practice, anyway."

All three of them walked to a closed door and Jonas opened it, smiling a tad bit when he saw the look on her face.

Her mouth was open agape and she eagerly ran into the room, ripping the BB gun from her fathers hands when she did so. She went right up to the barricade the two men had put together, eyeing the three poles; each with a target on it that when hit would spin back around to it's proper place.

James walked up behind Adelyn, watching the way her body language worked.

"Well, what do you think? You can come down here and shoot anytime that you want."

"This is so great! Thanks!" She squealed in delight, gripping the BB gun tightly to her chest.

She was smiling so wide her cheeks began to hurt.

"Couldn't have done it without Jonas' help. You make sure to thank him."

Adelyn nodded fast and clenched the BB gun tighter, staring up at the targets before her but on the other side of the barricade.

She walked up to it and shakily loaded the BB pelets into the gun, taking him at one of the targets just afterwards. Her blue eyes stared down the barrel sight and she aimed just above the center of her target, pulling the trigger and smiling wide when it hit dead in the middle. She repeated this two more times, trying to hold her breathe for each one.

"Careful! It's a radroach. Do you think you could take care of it? It'll be okay. Just aim and shoot. It'll be one less of the critters for us to worry about." Her father called from behind.

The roach came straight into her view, the feet of it clicking on the ground as it sniffed around and searched for something to nibble on.

God, it looks so disgusting! Adelyn exclaimed in her head.

Sucking in a deep breath, she looked down the barrel sigh again, this time aiming at the head of the radroach instead. Quickly, she pulled the trigger two times, each one sending a BB pelet out and into the skull of the rotten insect. Jonas and James cheered behind her when the roach fell down, dead.

"That's great! How about a picture, to capture the moment?" Her father asked, a pround grin on his face.

Adelyn couldn't help but smile and she shuffled over to him, standing directly beside him with the barrel of the gun pointing down at the floor as she held onto the butt of it, keeping it up straight.

Jonas had an old camera in his hands, and when Adelyn took her place beside her father, a smile on her face, he snapped the shot and blinded her with searing white light.

Gray walls, impenetrable steel.

Suffocation! Condemnation!
Little hands groping in subterranean uncertainly.
Mommy? Daddy? Am I dead?
Nay! Nay! Reborn into purifying fluorescence!

A face emerges, strong and male.
A father to me? A father to all!

Overseeing our lives, our eternities.
Harshness of descipline.
Harshness of love

Obedience my saviour!

Larva to pupa, pupa to worker.
Buzz, buzz! One with the steel honeycomb.
10 lies within the 101, significant at last.
Till gray seeps from the walls to hair, to soul.
Then, enternal slumber, the sweet sleep of incineration.