First Writing: Fallout 3 Plot Adaptation

by kchnz13

A (not so) short adaptation I made of the Fallout 3 plot line I wrote a while back as a "for fun" project. It's rather long and it may not be the best written piece out there, but I had fun making it. Please Enjoy!

The game Fallout 3, developed by Bethesda Software, is the basis of this story. This is a rather long story, so if you want to take them time to read it great! If not, I won't be offended :D

Fallout

Imagine that if during the course of time, the quantum fabric of spacetime had split at the 1950's. One version of time skewing into one tangent, our reality, and the Fallout universe skewing into another tangent. In the Fallout universe, technology advanced at a much faster rate. America became locked in the 1950's era culture, with the nuclear war paranoia left over from World War II. With Europe and Japan defeated, Red China grew and became a powerful force, with a great thirst for oil. Relations between communist China and the United States became strained in the following years, as China invaded weaker nations for their resources. In the years after World War II, resources had become scarce, as no nations attempted to make cuts in their energy consumption, and Red China's strength grew as it became allies with the USSR, which had not fallen in the 1990's as it did in our world. Europe began to run out of oil in the early 21st century, and invaded the Middle East to take control of the remaining oil wells. Eventually, China also joined in, declaring war on the United States and invading and occupying Alaska in 2075 for it's vast oil reserves. These battles over resources and oil became known as the Resource Wars, involving most of the countries of the world, many of them on the U.S.'s side, a de-facto World War III. Europe was reformed around this time into separate commonwealths instead of countries, and the U.S. followed shortly after, reforming from 50 states to 13 commonwealths. Late in 2075, the United States government was rendered paranoid by a plague that wiped out a third of the American population. It was thought to be a biological weapon from China, and in response the U.S. government created the FEV or Forced Evolutionary Virus, a menacing biological weapon, capable of changing an organisms DNA to create a monster of nature in a matter of seconds. When the year 2076 dawned and the U.S. was readying its assault of occupied Anchorage, Alaska, Canada was annexed to insure Canadian support for the upcoming battle on the Alaskan Front.

In 2077, after the development of the new T51-b Power Armor for the United States military, the U.S. re-took Anchorage, Alaska, liberating Alaska from the Red Chinese in a bloody three-day assault in the tundra. The U.S. army rejoiced the victory, they had won back America's oil. Little did they know it would be the last battle of the war fought on foot, and the end of the world as they knew it. The war climaxed in October, when atomic fire consumed both sides of the conflict. No one knows who fired the first missile, but the warheads exploded everywhere, in the U.S., China, and potentially the USSR. What used to be the United States lay decimated and ruined. Soon after the first bombs fell, Washington, D.C. was hit and the United States as a country ceased to be. This exchange of nuclear warheads lasted only two hours, but the damage was done. This became known as the Great War, the Apocalypse, or simply the Nuclear Holocaust.

Mutation was rampant. Many of the people who survived did so in great underground vaults, created by the pre-War company, Vault-Tec. They built 122 such vaults all over the country, not only to help people survive an atomic war, but as experiments on human nature. If Vault-Tec had intended to save the entire American population, they would have needed over 400,000 such vaults. Many of these experiments failed, and the vault population either died or left the vault. Others caught on the outside when the bombs fell, were not so lucky. They were exposed to an incredible amount of heat and radiation, and if that didn't kill them, then it started the process of ghoulification. This gave former human beings a full resistance to radiation, but also gave them the appearance of walking corpses, and the danger of becoming feral, in which prolonged exposure to radiation completely destroyed the Frontal lobe of their brain, rendering them zombie-like.

200 years later, in the year 2277, patrols from the surviving vault populations were sent out, and discovered settlements that were more or less thriving with life and trade. The Capital Wasteland, as the greater Washington, D.C. area had become known, was also full of creatures of a more hostile disposition, Super Mutants, Radscorpions, giant Mole Rats among others. Our story begins in the untouched underground Vault-Tec Vault 101, where a person who holds the key to the future has lived his entire life…

Chapter 1

I was born in a vault. That's all I know about the first years of my life. That and my mother, Catherine, died after I was born, but I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. My name's James Holden Jr., after my father, James Holden. I look a lot like my dad, slick black hair, pretty well built, but unlike my dad, I have a mustache and I actually have a sense of humor. He's about as dry as a doctor can get.

We were both born in Vault 101, located the so-called Capital Wasteland, or Washington, D.C. as it was called in pre-War times. We all learned in history class about the Great War. It only lasted about two hours, but the way they describe the outside world, it leads you to think there was more to it. My life was all happy and fine for the most part. Living in safety in Vault 101, and hanging out on my off time from my job as a PIP-Boy (Personal Information Processor) programmer with my best friend and would be girlfriend Amata Almodovar. She's about the best thing I've ever seen in my life. She's about 5'8 with black hair she always has up in a ponytail. Pretty good-looking too. Only problem is she's the Overseer's daughter, and that is the thing stopping me from making a move, the Overseer doesn't like me much. That was right before my 19th birthday. I noticed my dad acting funny on the day of my birthday, he kept talking to Jonas, his lab assistant, in a hushed voice and was oddly polite to me, even with it being my birthday. He even gave me a few dollars to spend at the Vault diner, and I'm the only person in the vault who does not get an allowance of any kind. I went to sleep loving vault life more than ever, but while I slept, dad carried out his plan.

Chapter 2

"Wake Up!" "Wake Up!" I woke with a start. The vault's Simu-Sun lights shone very bright in my eyes. My eyes focused and I realized it was Amata standing over me, yelling at me to wake up. "What is it?" I ask, confused. " It's your dad," she said, out of breath, "your dad's left the vault!" "What?" I say, surprised, "That's impossible! No one gets through the door!" The vault door had been sealed for over 200 years, even before the War. It had never opened, Mr. Garrison, the vault teacher, said so! How could my dad have made it past the security guards, and hacked the door, gotten out of the vault, and gone into that horrible world? Didn't he like it here? Didn't he feel safe? Didn't he… Amata's voice broke into my clouding thoughts, "Hey! Stay with me here!" she exclaimed, "My dad has the whole vault looking for you, you're not safe here, you're going to have to leave too!" Whoa, whoa, whoa, I have to leave too? I want to scream at her that she is wrong, that my dad would never leave the vault, but then I hear her say something that makes me believe, "They killed Jonas!"

Jonas, my dad's lab assistant in his infirmary. He was my favorite person in the whole vault! Besides Amata, but it's different with her, with Jonas I could talk about almost anything, and he would teach me things about medicine and life. He was very dear to me, and they just killed him, The Overseer and his security team. Now I was going to make them pay. Amata broke into my thoughts once again, "…. Here, take this." It was a 10mm pistol and five clips of ammo. "I stole it from my dad's office, I hope you won't have to use it, but if you do…." Amata was on the verge of tears. "Don't worry Amata," I said, "I'll only use it as a last resort, I've got my baseball bat, but listen to me, I am going to have to do some killing. I don't see any scenario where that can be avoided." That's one thing about me, I can look into a scenario, and see all of the different outcomes, and I didn't see any outcome that didn't involve me doing killing of some kind, as much as the thought disgusted me. "I know, just….be careful." Amata said, now in tears. "I'll meet you at the entrance. Don't worry," she said with a new wild light behind the tears in her eyes, "I have a plan."

Chapter 3

All I could think about as I stepped into the pristine white and blue hallways of the vault was all of the ways possible to kill the man responsible for Jonas' death, the Overseer, and about how crazy Amata's plan was. Amata means a lot to me, but her dad, does not. He hasn't liked me from minute one, and killing my best friend just pushed me over the edge. "I'll make him pay," I said with a cold edge in my voice even I hadn't heard before, "I'll make sure of that." Another thing about me, I talk to myself. A lot. I pulled out the pistol and started walking down the hallway. It wasn't long before I encountered Officer Harding, one of the vault security officers. "Stop in the name of the Overseer!" he yelled, pulling out his police baton. Before he could get to me, though, he was attacked by a horde of radroaches. Radroaches are basically cockroaches, only about 20 times bigger. We have always had a problem with them, and now that the Overseer has all the security guards looking for me, I guess they finally broke through the lower level walls. Their attack couldn't penetrate Officer Harding's Vault 101 Security Armor, but my 10mm rounds sure did. I put two in his heart, and he went down like a rock. Screw melee weapons, this was personal. I took care of the radroaches and didn't stop until I got to the Atrium door.

The Atrium of the vault is basically a commons, where all of the vault residents pass through everyday on their way to work and just talk a bit and get on with their day. It was here that I found the most horrific sight that I had ever seen in my entire 19-year life. One of my friends, Bob Anderson from Room 13, was lying in the corner of the room. Or rather his head was. His body was on the ground in the hallway to the diner, at the feet of Officer Rodriguez. My mind went blank. I'm not sure I had any control over my actions, but after I came to, I found Rodriguez dead at my feet, sliced into three pieces, with a bloody Vault 101 Tactical Knife in my hand. I turned around swiftly and headed up the stairs in one of the six passageways in the Atrium, eager to forget what I had just done. All I remembered was a red haze of emotion. I had no idea what was going on. My primitive side just took over. I vowed right then and there that unless Amata was involved, I would never let that happen again. As much as I tried, though, I couldn't get the image of his crimson blood and magled body out of my head.

"Get back you slimy creatures!" cried a familiar British accented voice. I came up the stairs to find Andy fighting off a few radroaches with his Flamer. Andy was the vault Mr. Handy robot. Mr. Handy's were pre-War robots built by RobCo. Their heads are spherical and they have three arms, one with a saw, one with a flame-thrower, and one with a claw. They use a single rocket for propulsion, and Andy's was working over time to overcome the amount of radroach gook in it. "Andy!" I yelled as I killed the last of the radroaches, "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be on your docking station?" Even robots need to sleep. "Yes sir but these alarm klaxons are rather loud. They woke me and I immerged to find these roaches everywhere!" Andy exclaimed. Andy doesn't like roaches. "Now they've gone and gummed up my circuits!" "It's all right Andy," I said, " I'm sure Stanley will fix you up." Stanley was the vault's mechanic. "That might be very well sir, but he cannot fix you up if they catch you! Go now, while you still can!" then, quick as his rocket would carry him; Andy went in search of Stanley. "Crazy robot's gonna get himself de-activated." I muttered. As I approached the door to the Overseer's corridor, I stop. I think about what I am about to do. "Do you really want to do this?" I ask myself. "Do I really want to put the vault through this? Do I really want to put Amata through this?" The blue and grey door in front me reads "NO ACCESS". I start to doubt my decision. Suddenly, I find myself inside the door. Facing Senior Officer Frankfurt. "You're dead kid." He whispers threateningly. He drew his 9mm pistol and fired two bullets into the thigh of my right leg.

Pain. Pain. Pain. That's all I can think about. Blinding pain in my right leg. I hear Frankfurt laughing, I see him raise his pistol for the final shot. My mind reels from the pain in my leg. This is it, I thought, This is how it ends. Right before I was about to give up, I remember something my dad taught me long ago. Always keep the medical quick fix in your back pocket. Frankfurt had an evil smile on his face; right up until the moment I painfully stand up. Out of my back pocket, I produce a Stimpak, the medical quick fix, and jab it directly into my thigh. It works wonders fast, and I instantly I feel better. The pieces of lead in my leg are immediately pushed out as my flesh heals miraculously. While Frankfurt stares at me in awe, un-knowing of my posession of a Stimpak, and I promptly put two bullets in his brain. Ah the wonders of pre-War medicine.

Chapter 4

As I walk down the freakishly clean hallway to the Overseer's corridor, I hear the Overseer's voice, and then Amata's voice. He was interrogating his own daughter. My anger welled back up. "How could he not trust his own daughter", I said under my breath. I came to the door of the Overseer's Quarters. It was locked, so I fished out my trusty bobby pin and screwdriver from the pocket of my Vault 101 jumpsuit and picked the lock on the door. One of my more odd habits I had picked up when I was 13, watching Stanley fix a broken lock. It was a relatively easy lock to pick, and within seconds I was in the door with the Overseer's own pistol pointed straight at his head. "Amata, get out of here, Overseer, we've got some…things to talk about." After Amata left the room bawling, I holstered the pistol. "I hope you're here to turn yourself in young man. I will not have the entire vault population put in jeopardy because of your father's stupid actions." The Overseer had a steely edge in his voice, the same edge I'd heard every time I had talked to him. "Just give me the key to your terminal," I said, doing my best to sound bored, "and no one else has to die." The Overseer's eyes light up with annoyance, "Oh is that all? Is there anything else I can get you while you're here?" The annoyance in his eyes turned to hatred, "You'll get nothing from me, except a good long time in the vault prison. Guards help me!" The Overseer looked around desperately for some of his security guards, but found none. He stood defiant in the corner of his quarters. I un-holstered and raised my, or rather his, pistol and pointed it at his heart, then his head, but I can't bring myself to shoot him. My attachment to Amata remains too strong to put her through this. Her best friend killing her father? That would not do. "Today's your lucky day old man." I muttered under my breath and stormed out of his quarters. I would have to hack his terminal, then. I pulled the baseball bat out of my waistband and cracked the Overseer over the head with a vengeance. He fell to the ground, out cold. I checked his heartbeat to make sure he was still alive, and dropped the bat at his feet.

Hacking is something I've always been rather good at. My job as a PIP-Boy programmer in the vault deals with computer programming, so I am able to hack very easily. I've seen some things on my dad's computer I would have been fine not seeing if you catch my drift. As I picked the lock to the Overseer's office, Allen Mack, the Overseer's lap dog, pressed his face in the glass of his quarters and started yelling at me. "This is all your fault! If your stupid father had never come to this vault none of this would have happened!" I stopped and thought for a moment. What did he say? If my dad had never come to the vault? I was born here, dad was born here, and every one was born here, weren't we? I shook off the doubt and focused on the task at hand. The lock finally clicked open and the door slid up into the ceiling. I closed the door behind me and I set to work on the computer under the watchful light of it's warm green glow.

After about 5 minutes I finally broke through the Overseer's terminal's defenses, which was a rather bad time for me. It was a weird encryption I had never encountered before, too many damn zeros. Immediately five options came up, "Open Overseer's Tunnel", "Personal Journals", "Security Journals", "Profiles", and "Vault-Tec Instructions". I ignored the other four options and went directly to the first option, though I feel my curious side start to inquire about the "Vault-Tec Instructions" option. As soon as I selected it, an odd rumbling noise came from the bottom of the Overseer's desk. "What the…" I muttered. The heavy oak desk slowly rose from the vault floor, supported by four rusting iron bars. It was uncommon to see anything not properly maintained in the vault. The Overseer had clearly never used this passage. I set my jaw and walked to the metal steps.

As I descended the cold steel steps, I felt a sense of foreboding of what I was about to do. I was about to open the vault door, something that hadn't happened in 200 years, save for my dad leaving earlier today. It wasn't supposed to open, it weighed like 14 tons for a reason, but I think of what will happen to me if I stay here and decide against the option of staying in the vault. "I would be imprisoned and forced to do the dirty work of the Overseer until I'm declared dead on the job," I say to myself out loud, "that, and I would never see Amata again, but I would know we were in the same place, just out of my reach." That was more of a punishment then being forced to do work in the Overseer's filthy grasp. So I decided to continue my mission. Liberation from Vault 101.

As the maintenance door to the vault's main door opened, I knew there was no turning back. A great metal door stood before me. About 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide, it loomed in front of me. I headed over to the control panel and flipped the switch. No need to hack the passcode, my dad had already done that. There was a loud din from the direction of the door as the giant controlling arm came down from the ceiling and grasped the gigantic vault door. With a great screeching noise, the vault door was pulled from its place in the wall, and the gear shaped door rolled to one side. Outside was a rock tunnel, with a small wooden door at the end, yellowish light filtering through the gaps. I checked my PIP-Boy. It was 10 o'clock. The stench of the outside air was putrid to my vault dweller's lungs. I had been breathing filtered air my whole life. The outside air smelled like smog. Or at least what I thought smog should smell like. I cursed. "Why'd you have to leave dad. Why would you want to go out there?" I silently cursed my dad for leaving the safety of the vault and putting himself in danger.

Suddenly Amata was beside me. "You did it!" she squealed with delight, "You opened the vault door!" I cracked a crooked grin, "You know very well that if I set my mind to something, I do it." Amata smiled back, "I know, but this," she gestured towards the open door, "this is bigger than anything I've ever imagined you doing." She was practically jumping for joy. "Why don't you come with me Amata?" I said, "The Capital Wasteland's a big place, might be nice to have some company." I wanted so desperately for her to say yes, but I knew the real answer. "It's tempting, but my place is here." she said with a glimmer of sadness in her voice, "I'm the only one who has a chance of talking my dad out of this, situation we're in." A wave of sadness washed over me, but I quickly recovered. I'd known the answer to my question even before I had said it. I shouldn't be surprised. "Well, all right then, but you stay careful now, you hear?" I think she could hear the disappointment in my voice. She grinned playfully. "You hide it real well, but you know I can read you. I know you've got feelings for me." I could believe that. She always seemed to know what I was thinking; she always seemed to know, well, everything. "I also know the only thing that held you back was my dad, but you can change all of that now," she was crying for the second time today. "You have a chance to go out into the world and start a new life, without me." I noticed for the first time that she was getting closer. "But I will always remember you and what you did for this vault." With that, she leaned over and kissed me.

I was happier than I had been in a long time. It only lasted for about 3 seconds but it still made my head spin. "Go now. Leave." She said half-heartedly and pushed me out the gaping hole in the wall. I said my final good-bye, and started off towards the end of the tunnel. I hesitated at the wooden door and looked back one more time. Amata was at the control panel now, and she flipped the switch. The door alarms sounded and the vault door started to move itself back into place. She waved, and I waved back. I swear I saw her mouth the words "I love you." She turned around, and the vault door sealed. I turned around reluctantly, not sure if she had mouthed the word I thought she had, and opened the small wooden door, into the new world.

Chapter 6

The light was blinding. Simu-Sun my ass. The light was so intense from the sun I had to blink my vault dweller eyes for about a minute until they adjusted. "Not even outside for a minute and already off to a bad start you idiot." I muttered. In front of me was a ledge overlooking a small field of boulders, rocks, and dirt. A ruined sign still stood, "Scenic Overlook". Yeah, I thought, if your idea of scenic is a nuclear wasteland. My Vault 101 jumpsuit felt tight against my skin. It must be drying up in the heat, I thought. The ruins of a road passed under me. The pavement was hot under my boots. I began to pick through the field of boulders and rock in front of me. Very soon, a large wall appeared in front of me. It was blackish grey in color, stood about 15 feet high, and appeared to be made out of scrap metal and slag. Outside was a dirty Protectron. Protectrons were robots produced before the Great War by RobCo, a large robotics company. From what I had learned, it was used as a security guard, alongside it's other RobCo counterpart, the Sentry Bot, which was a heavy-duty security guard armed with a minigun in one arm and a missile launcher in the other.

As I approached the strange walls, a gate started to creak rather loudly. The gate doors started to open and a man was walking out into the sun towards me. I heard him say something along the lines of, "Well I'll be damned, another visitor!" Cautious at first, I sized the man up. He seemed to be a healthy African American in his 40's, well built, his skin hardened by years in the sun, or years of work, I can't tell which, but he has a certain, "Don't mess with me" air about him. Definitely wasn't going to piss this guy off. "Howdy partner." The man says with a cheerful yet suspicious tone in his voice. "Welcome to Megaton. The name's Lucas Simms. I'm the sheriff around here. And you would be?" "The name is James Holden Jr." I said, trying to sound confident. "You're in charge around here?" I said, eyeing his badge. Simms smiled, "Yes I am. Now you're not planning on starting any trouble in my town are you?" I got a little nervous. "No sir, I am not. Just looking to find my bearings. I'm fresh out of the vault you see." His expression was one of amazement, "Friendly, well-mannered, and straight from a vault, now I've seen it all." He started laughing. That's when I noticed the nuclear bomb in the middle of town.

"DUCK AND COVER!" I yelled as I flailed into a small rut in the ground. "What!? What is it!?" says Simms, drawing his rifle. "There's a bomb in the middle of town! Unless you haven't noticed!" I'm hysterical at this point. Simms started to laugh again as he holstered his rifle. How could he laugh knowing there is a NUCLEAR BOMB in the middle of his town? "Don't you worry about that James, that's where Megaton gets its name. That bomb has been there for over 200 years." Simms said with a chuckle. "Is it live?" I ask timidly. The wheels in my head began to turn. I may be able to get on good terms with the town if I was able to defuse the bomb. "Yes it is." a dark expression came over Simms' face. "Don't you get any ideas." "Relax. I think I may be able to help you out with your, eh, bomb." An unsure expression replaced the dark one on Simms' face. "All right," he said with a sigh, "Just do me favor, go easy. We don't want you blowing us up!" I smiled at Simms confidently, "Don't worry sheriff, I may have grown up in the vault, but I've had a lot of experience with explosives." With that said, I left the sheriff at the entrance of Megaton, and started down the makeshift metal stairs towards the bomb.

Chapter 7

The bomb loomed in front of me. It was as black as the Overseer's heart and about as big as his ego. "Isn't a rose garden out here," I grumble to myself, "but it's a helluva lot better than doing the Overseer's dirty work for the rest of your life." I approached the bomb's tail fin. The town, being roughly circular in shape, surrounded me on all sides. The bomb looked almost right at home among the makeshift metal city. The city was multi-leveled, with ramps heading up to the different levels. The black metal was hot in the afternoon sun. I searched the sides for the hatch to the internal components. On the right side of the bomb, I found the rusting hatch. With great effort, I pulled the hatch door away from the bomb in a cloud of reddish-orange dust. Inside the atomic components gleamed, the metal untouched by time. The Chinese lettering was still clearly readable. Well if I were Chinese that is. The Geiger counter built into my PIP-Boy started ticking. I knew I only had so much time before I got radiation sickness, So I got to work. I opened the central explosive unit, and crossed my fingers.

I woke up in a very dark room. The air smelled of anti-septic, and for a moment, I thought I was back in Vault 101. Had it all been a dream? Was I still in the vault? The light was flicked on and in the doorway stood a large black man with white hair and beard in dirty white doctor's shirt and a pair of dull brown pants. "Well, you're finally awake." The man said in a low voice. He didn't sound happy. If anything, he sounded disappointed. "It's amazing what a little Rad-Away can do huh?" He still sounded unhappy to see I was alive. "Where am I?" I ask with a little edge in my voice. "Megaton Clinic." He said bluntly. "Now are you going to lie on my bed all night or are you going to get up and see the sheriff?" This guy was really starting to piss me off at this point, "I'm going, I'm going you old coot." I mumbled to myself. "What was that?" He asked with irritation in his voice. I picked myself up and walked through the door to the dark scene of Megaton, without saying a word.

According to my PIP-Boy it was about 11 o'clock at night. Megaton's lamps glowed brightly in the night, but none glowed brighter then the lights strung over the bomb. Funny, I hadn't noticed them earlier. "Behold! He is coming from the clouds!" I heard a strange voice say from behind the bomb. "Bask is his glory, the glory of Atom!" I walked around the bomb and came across a man in a patched green shirt and shorts. He had blonde hair and was kneeling before the bomb. "What in God's name are you doing?" I ask. "What ever do you mean child? I am in worship!" he said matter-of-factly. I cocked my eyebrow, "You're worshiping a warhead?" "Yes child, we are all children of Atom, and what you see as a bomb, I see as a vessel, the vessel of eternal life!" he said with an eerie happiness in his voice, "You see child, I am of the Church of the Children of Atom. Our church is based on the idea that everything in creation, was at one time, a single atom," he stops, for dramatic effect or in thought, I don't know which, "Occasionally, a divine event occurs, the last one happened just 200 years ago." He was referring to the Great War, the war that had destroyed America and brought it to its present state, as a divine event. I'm a pretty hard nut to crack, but I was officially freaked out. "Good luck with that, the worshiping the bomb and all." I said, and walked as fast as my legs would carry me away from the crazy cult leader and his "vessel of eternal life". I heard the man sigh as I walked away, and he went right back into scripture. The Capital Wasteland is a crazy place.

I sought out a sign illuminated by the light of Megaton to find the way to Lucas Simms' home. The words were painted on and almost illegible, but eventually I found one that read "Sheriff". I followed the arrow up a metal ramp until I came to a large house. It was by far the biggest residential unit in the city. I knocked on the brown steel door, and after a few seconds, Simms opened the door and pulled me inside. "Hello James, what brings you here?" Simms said as he walked toward a large open window overlooking the, uh, worship. "Well I woke up in the clinic, and the doctor said you wanted to see me?" I say. "He did? I didn't tell Church to send you. He must be at it again." Simms said with annoyance. "Why do you keep it so dark in here?" I ask. "I'm keeping an eye on Confessor Cromwell down there. You've already met him. I suppose he told you about his cult of loonies?" Simms said with more than a little irritation in his voice. "Yes sir. He seems a bit, odd." I don't want to say anything bad. I don't know the rules around here so I'll stick to the basic "watch your manners" stuff. "Yeah he is, him and his damned cult. Someday he's gonna try and take that thing apart and blow us all up!" I smiled knowingly, "You won't have to worry about that ever again, sheriff." I unzipped the pocket of my jumpsuit and pulled out the bomb's plutonium core.

" I don't believe it!" Simms exclaimed with delight, "You actually disarmed the bomb! Over 20 years of people coming and going, trying and failing, a kid straight out of the vault waltzes up to the bomb and disarms it first try. Well done kid, well done." Simms walked over to the small desk on the far wall of his home. He flicked on a small lamp, which appeared to be powered by an Electron Charge Pack hooked via two rotting wires. He opened a drawer and produced a number of bottle caps. "Here you are James, 1,000 caps." Simms said with a smile, holding the bottle caps out to me. I stood there, puzzled, "Caps?" I ask, "Oh right!" Simms slapped his forehead; "The vault you come from probably used pre-War money. Well James, out here in the Wasteland, pre-War money is no longer currency, it's too rare, and when it is found it's usually ruined and dirty. We use the much more abundant bottle cap as currency nowadays." He motioned the his hand holding the caps, "1,000 caps is a great way to start, eh?" He pushes the caps into my hand and I pocket them, "Thanks sheriff." I say. "Don't mention it, everyone here owes you one. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." "I'll remember that sir." I said thoughtfully. I know what I'm going to ask him next. "I could use a place to live." Simms looks up from the desk he had proceeded to sit at, "Hell, we could use somebody like you." From the same drawer, he produced a tattered piece of paper. "Here, the deed to your own house in Megaton. I'll mark the location on your PIP-Boy there." After he had programmed my PIP-Boy, he sat back down and got to work on what looked like an important paper. "Well James, you should go and get some rest." I nodded silently and walked back out into the scene of Megaton towards my new house.

Chapter 8

I woke about five hours later the next day. Yellow light was filtering in from the window blinds, the same sight as the light filtering through the door the day before. "Great, more bad memories." I grumbled to myself. It reminded me so much of yesterday, seeing the old wooden door at the end of the tunnel out of Vault 101. Megaton and the entrance to Vault 101 were only about 1,000 feet from each other. I knew I couldn't stay here forever, I knew that Vault 101 was close, and that hurt. I got out of bed and looked in the mirror of my new house. I noticed for the first time that my jumpsuit had not held up to the heat of the Wasteland, and was in tatters. I took a spare jumpsuit from my back pocket. Leave it to Vault-Tec to make an inflatable spare jumpsuit. "I need to get rid of this thing." I mumble, "Even this brings back horrible pain." I just couldn't get that last scene out of my head, I swear to God she mouthed the words "I love you" as the vault door closed, sealing her and me from each other with a wall of steel. That scene would haunt me for the rest of my life. I finally snapped out of my funk about 5 minutes later and walked down the stairs and out the door to Megaton, still debating that last moment in my head.

I decided that if I was going to brave the wasteland, I should probably equip myself for the journey I would have to make seeking my father, so I headed back to the trusty sign I had used last night. I followed the arrow that said "Supplies" and eventually I came across a two-story building with what appeared to be an airplane fuselage on the roof. In white lettering painted over the doorway it said, "The Craterside Supply". A fitting name, I thought to myself. I opened the cold steel door to see what I could find for my trip to find my dad. I don't know how I came up with trying to find my dad, but it was all I had to go off of. What else was I supposed to do in this Godforsaken place?

"Hi!" a cheerful woman said as I walked in the door, "Welcome to Craterside Supply! You must be James! The kid out of the vault! Gosh it's been a long time since I saw one of you!" The women just kept rambling on about all the people coming out of vaults she'd seen and vaults themselves. It was a long rant, so I had about 7 minutes to study her. She was fairly tall, in her 20's with red hair and a slight build. She was wearing a dirty light blue RobCo jumpsuit from before the war. Life seems like it wants to torture me, because she bore a striking resemblance to Amata. Either that, or I'm just to damn in love. "…But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself," she said, sounding out of breath, "My name is Moira Brown, and this is my supply shop! Would you like to buy anything?" I looked at her for a while until I realized I was staring. "Yes ma'am." I said, almost drunkenly. "Well then here you are! My inventory!" she walked over to a rusty row of lockers on the west side of the shop next to an old computer terminal and a workbench and opened the lot of them.

Everything from Missile Launchers to Gatling Lasers lined the shelves of the rather large lockers. Each item had a price tag. A particular item caught my eye. The AK47 gleamed in the dull light. A pre-War rifle, the AK was even in Vault-Tec school curriculum, they taught us to fear it, the Chinese weapon of choice, an evil weapon. I knew I had to have it. "How much for the AK down there?" I ask. She smiled at me, "300 caps, and since your new here, I'll include 2,000 7.62mm rounds for an extra 100 caps. The total comes to 400." I counted out the caps from the 1,000 Simms gave me and took my new toy. The weapon felt good in my hands. The polished wood was smooth against my skin. I loaded the weapon and knew this would be the weapon that would get me through thick and thin. "I'll tell you what, I've had this other rifle with me for a long time and I really want to get rid of it." Moira said, "You interested?" I thought about it and decided it may be worth it. "Sure I guess so. Show me." Moira smiled again and walked over to the one cabinet she hadn't opened. She unlocked it and inside was a weapon I had never seen before, not even in school. It was about the size of my newly purchased AK47, but had a strange barrel and a round body. The barrel glowed green. "This is a P96 Plasma Rifle, designed by pre-War REPCONN Industries for the U.S. military, and you can have it and 1,000 Microfusion cells for only 200 caps. I thought about this and decided that since you got to run out of conventional ammo some time, I should take the deal. I hand over the caps and the Plasma Rifle slid into my hands. It didn't feel as good as the AK, but it had a powerful atmosphere around it. The barrel glowed with an angry pent-up energy, just waiting to be released. I would have some fun with this one. "Thanks for the help Moira, have a good one!" I called out as I left the store. I slung the AK over across my back, de-materialized the P96 into my PIP-Boy storage, and followed the signs to the saloon. A great place for maybe finding some info about my dad.

As I stepped through the dull, blue metal door to the saloon, I was greeted by a strong smoky smell in the air, and a blast of static from an old Radiation King radio. "Come on you piece of junk!" I heard a gravelly voice say. I looked around and eventually I found its owner, a ghoul walking over to the radio. It's hard to tell what age a ghoul is because they live so long, so I didn't bother. He was pretty tall and was wearing a green shirt that almost blended in with his greenish-brown skin that was common on non-Feral ghouls. To most people, ghouls are walking corpses because they do look a bit like corpses. Their skin deteriorates and the cartilage making up their ears and noses is lost, but in reality, they were once people. Ghouls were just humans that, when the bombs dropped, got exposed to an ungodly amount of radiation and heat at the same time. The result was a being that was still human on the inside, but on the outside looked like a corpse and was 100% resistant to radiation, if you don't include the fact that if they get exposed to radiation for a long period of time they become feral. In other words, hostile to all non-Feral ghouls. Better not piss him off. I walked up to him and said cheerfully, "Hey there!" "Don't hit me!" the ghoul yelled, ducking under the counter. I leaned over the counter, "Get up man, I ain't gonna hit you." I said. The ghoul stood up, puzzled, "You mean, you're not going to hit me, yell at me, slap me, nothing?" I smiled, "Of course not!" I said, "Why in hell would I do that?" The ghoul rolled his marble-like blue eyes, "Because everyone does, but hey, you're all right smoothskin. The name's Gob." Of course it was. "Nice to meet you Gob, name's James. Now, I've got some questions for you."

I talked with Gob for all of about two minutes before I realized he didn't know much, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Gob said that he had seen my dad yesterday morning, but since he usually keeps his head down he didn't know much. He said that I should talk to his boss, a man named Moriarty, and that maybe I could find him at the pub in town called "The Brass Lantern". Gob pointed me in the right direction and I proceeded down the hot black ramp to the bar out front of the pub. It was a modest two-story building, and like everything around here in Megaton, it was made of old steel and scrap metal. I walked up to the bartender, "Hi there! Welcome to the Brass Lantern! I'm Jenny Stahl, what can I get you today?" the lady asked. I studied her for a moment. She was in her 20's, light red hair cut short above the shoulder, and wore an old yellow Red Racer Tricycle Factory jumpsuit. "I'm looking for the one they call Moriarty." I said. An Irishman at the bar looked up from his scotch. "That would be me lad." He said tiredly. He looked to be in his 50's or 60's, but still very much in shape. He had long white hair and his eyebrows angled inward, making him look mad. His leather jacket was a tight fit, and his neck struggled to get loose of the grasp of the white undershirt. "I'm James, Gob said that you might know something about my dad?" Realization dawned in the man's eyes. "My God, it's you! The little baby boy all grown up. Persistent little bastard ain't ya?" He said with enthusiasm. I cocked an eyebrow, "How could you possibly know who I am?" I asked.

Chapter 9

I was on the move again at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Moriarty had said that my dad had come and gone, said he was headed for Vault 112. Really dad? another Vault? Hadn't you just abandoned 101 without letting me know? I was angry one minute, then I was sad the next, then I was angry again, then I was accepting. Anger wouldn't get me any closer to finding him, so I sat down on a brown rock outside Megaton to listen to the holotape Moriarty found in dad's room yesterday and gave to me. As I slid the holotape under the reader on my PIP-Boy, I thought about what he had said. How could Moriarty have known me? I was born in Vault 101, and if dad hadn't left, I would have died in Vault 101. My thoughts turned to Allen Mack the day I left, yelling at me through his window. "If your stupid father had never come to this vault…" he had said. Was it possible that dad had lied to me? Was I actually born outside Vault 101? I grimaced, "Don't worry about that right now, you have to find dad. He can answer all these questions." I said to myself. The PIP-Boy made an audible beep, telling me it was done reading the tape. I punched the play button and listened.

"I'll be leaving Megaton soon," said my dad's grainy voice, "Moriarty told me of a device he had heard tell of, something called a Garden of Eden Creation Kit, or GECK as the pre-War government had called it." Dad sounded so normal I almost cried, "I think this is the device I need to get the Purifier running. There are six vaults in the area, and I know that 112, 101, and 108 don't have such a device. That leaves Vaults 87, 92, and 106." So dad had left our vault to search other vaults for some sort of creation device? Seems like a lousy reason to abandon your son. "Dr. Stanulus Braun was a high up figure in pre-War Vault-Tec, and he was the Overseer of Vault 112, so that is I where I'm headed. I hope to find some notes or information as to which vault the GECK resides in. As far as I remember, Vault 112 is hidden in some sort of garage. I should head to Smith Casey's in the west. I'm so close." The holotape ended with another audible beep. So dad was on the way to Vault 112 to find a creation kit to start a purifier. The more I learned about how and why he left, the less I wanted to find him. He left me there, not knowing where he was going or why, so that he could start a Goddamn purifier. I got up; determined to find my dad and let out all of the anger I could muster when I found him. When I see dad, all hell's gonna break loose.

Chapter 10

My journey from the lonely rock outside Megaton started off bad. I stepped in a pool of water and the Geiger counter in my PIP-Boy ticked like mad. I had forgotten about radiation. I would have to be more careful. I hadn't walked more than 1,000 feet when two Mole Rats attacked me. Mutated by the nuclear radiation, Mole Rats had grown to the size of large dogs, and their teeth were as sharp as steak knives. They ran as fast as their stubby pink legs would carry them towards me. I pulled my AK47 off my back and selected the VATS in my PIP-Boy. VATS or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System basically tells you what your chance of hitting a certain part of a creature's body is. It also allows your PIP-Boy to manipulate the nerves in your arm to make you aim a certain place. That's why it hurts so much when they put the PIP-Boy on your arm, and why it never comes off. I selected the heads of both Mole Rats faster than I thought possible and pressed the enter button. My arm moved without my permission. It was very surreal to have my arm move without my thinking about it. Once my arm had stopped moving, I fired off a seven round burst of bullets from the AK. All of them connected with the first Mole Rat's head with so much combined force that the head of the creature separated from the neck in a shower of crimson blood. My arm automatically moved to the next Mole Rat and I fired again. Two bullets met their target, killing the fleshy rat. The other few bullets I fired ricocheted off of a nearby rock and pounded harmlessly into the rocky sand on the ground. I slung the AK over my back as VATS lifted its control over my arm. My left leg was covered in warm blood from the first Mole Rat. I found a dirty rag in the pocket of my jumpsuit and wiped it off the best I could. I traveled for some time, well into the night. I stopped on a cliff at about nine forty-five at night. There was a small shack on the crest of the cliff. It was made of old metal siding and contained a small mattress, with a dead man on it.

I almost threw-up, but I swallowed it. The dead man was wearing some leather armor, and still had a grey beard attached to its lips. I stripped the corpse and disposed of my Vault 101 Jumpsuit once and for all. All it did was bring back horrible pain. I found a few matches being clutched in the corpse's hand, and lit the article. I would be better for it. I searched the place and in a ruined locker I found an old sniper rifle from before the War, along with three boxes full of .308 rounds and a note with three words, "The Victory Rifle". "This might come in handy for killing things from distance." I say to myself. I could get used to scavenging. I was about to lie down on the mattress when I noticed the grey-blue smoke rising from the crevice below. Curious, I crawled over to the side of the rock formation to see what was going on. In the middle of the crevice floor, there was a small fire going, with little wooden huts all around it. Men and women wearing various armors made of metal and leather surrounded the fire. It was a Raider campsite. Raider's favorite activities were killing and maiming, and I really didn't want to tangle with them up close. I had heard about them in Megaton, and they didn't sound friendly. They said that they would shoot up chems like Psycho and Jet all day, and ransack towns while in the high the drugs created. I thanked God a moment for the sniper rifle. It was a blessing not to have to go up close and personal with these bastards. I went prone and steadied the rifle on the rocky cliff edge. I pulled a magazine of .308's out of one of the ammunition boxes I'd found and loaded the rifle. I pulled back the firing pin and let it slide; hearing a metallic smack as it primed the heavy round. I aimed down the scope, held my breath, and took the shot. A Raider's head exploded down range, and I was surpirsed at my own accuracy. The others whipped out their pistols and began searching the area ahead of their fallen friend, none of them even checking to see if he was still alive. They had all seen his head become toothpaste. I took a second shot, this time hitting one in center mass. He took the round in the chest and flew backward 20 feet behind where he had been standing. This rifle has some punch. This time, the Raiders, who had obviously been listening for another shot, whipped around and unleashed a hail of bullets on the canyon wall. None of them even came close to me, but I ducked as fast as I could. It was at this moment, that I realized the real danger of the outside. My first real engagement with a thinking enemy. I quickly selected VATS as I had done earlier that day and peeked over the canyon edge. My arms moved automatically again and within 3 seconds, the remaining Raiders lay dead on the ground. Pleased that I could finally get some shut-eye, yet horrified that I had just ended the lives of a dozen people, I moved back the small metal hut, and rested my body on the dead man's mattress.

The sun was just cresting the horizon when I woke. It was ironic that such a beautiful sight could still be seen even after all of this devastation and destruction, like a new beginning that was just out of reach. I collected the sniper rifle from the ground and de-materialized it to the storage of my PIP-Boy as I had done with my Plasma Rifle. I stretched for a good long minute and checked my PIP-Boy's World Map. It was programmed with the location of all of pre-War Washington D.C., and Smith Casey's garage was only about an hour away from my current location. I was glad that the GPS satellite it used was still somehow functioning. I turned around clockwise until the arrow marking my location was pointed directly towards Smith Casey's, and I started my long journey to Vault 112

Chapter 11

After an hour of brutal travel, I finally saw the silhouette of Smith Casey's Garage on the horizon. My trip had been plagued by a Giant Radscorpion attack that had left me bleeding in the sand, almost killing me, but once again; a Stimpak saved my life. The giant blue scorpion was dealt with in less than 5 shots but it stung me a few times. I took a nice boost of anti-poison and walked away from the giant creature, which at that point was oozing greenish-yellow blood. The flesh turned out to be edible though, as I haven't died yet from making a snack out of him. Then I had hit the lowlands. The nuclear acid rain had fallen and collected in the area, and it had become a very boggy place. I fought at least three giant crab creatures known as Mirelurks. That was hard as hell, seeing as the only unprotected part of their body is their face, and its pretty damn hard to hit, even in VATS. Once I hit the face it only took 2 shots to bring them down, but it wasn't easy. The armor on the creatures was just so thick. "Damn James, you need to be more careful, survey the land more." I said to myself, shaking my head. "You almost died for the second time in two days. Be careful you idiot." I really need to stop talking to myself, I thought. As if I could help myself by scolding myself. Suddenly, I was in front of Smith Casey's. The building was roughly rectangular in shape, with a small square branching off of the central rectangle. The sign was still readable, and I scanned it to make sure that this was the right garage. The cursive writing was wearing away but still legible. "Smith Casey's Garage, Service while you wait!" it read. It took me a little bit, but I finally identified the thing I was looking for. It was very well worn away by the sands of the wasteland, but in the right-bottom corner was a small Vault-Tec logo with the smiling face of the ever present Vault Boy, and I knew this was the right place. I turned to the rusting blue door to the inside of the garage. I was strangely nervous about opening the door. What will my dad say when I see him? What will I ask him? Should I just deck him? My head was swirling with questions. After 5 minutes, I came up with a plan of action, and opened the door.

The air had a musty smell. Much like the smell I had experienced exiting Vault 101. Yep, I thought, life loves to torture me. The interior of the garage was dimly lit by an old Nuka-Cola machine's red glow. I sat there, mystified that it was still humming with electricity. I opened the machine and found 4 old bottles of Nuka-Cola. Nuka-Cola had been the most popular drink in America before the Great War. There was a machine on almost every corner on every street. I could see why. The drink was deliciously fizzy in my mouth, and the taste quenched my thirst and moistened my parched throat. It also sent my Geiger counter on a half-second rise. I had heard that this stuff was made with a mild isotope. I walked away from the Nuka-Cola machine, over to the old service counter. The cash register stood alone on the counter, save for the old bell next to it. There was a mattress behind the counter, with what I figured to be Smith Casey, or what was left of him, resting upon it. The skeleton still wore a t-shirt and jeans. I found an old Combat Knife on the corpse, and stored it in my PIP-boy for later use. Stealth kills anyone? Finally, I opened the metal door behind Smith Casey to the actual garage. That's when the Mole Rats attacked.

There were on me in an instant, screaming and hissing while they tried to bite my flesh. I whipped my AK47 off my back with seconds to spare and started to spray the group of Mole Rats. Many of them went down instantly, others were startled by the gunfire and scurried off into a corner, where I promptly mowed them down. It was all over in 30 seconds, but I was already standing in a pool of crimson blood almost an inch deep. I holstered the rifle and counted the bodies. "Must have been a whole God damn family of em'!" I said to myself. There were 10 Mole Rats in total on the floor. Some of whom had missing limb sand organs. One of the Mole Rat's brains slid out of its imploded skull, and I turned around and puked. That was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. Not even my friend's head in a different place than his body came close to seeing a small gray organ sliding out of a skull in a mixture of brain fluid and blood. I shivered, and turned around once more. Avoiding looking at the brain, I noticed a hatch on the ground, with a small switch connected to it by two metal-coated wires. I opened the box and flipped the industrial switch. The rusty hatch doors groaned and slid to their respective sides to reveal a hidden staircase. Small LED lights that lined the sides of the staircase illuminated the steps. This must be it, I thought, this is the staircase to answers. "Here goes nothing." I said. I took a deep breath, and took the first step towards Vault 112.

The air started to take on a familiar smell of anti-septic and cleaning supplies as I went deeper. It wasn't as strong as it was in Vault 101, but I knew I was getting close. As I descended the third metal staircase I had encountered, the concrete floor ceased and gave way to a metal one. Just opposite the landing of the stairs was an industrial strength, triple lock metal door, like those used in pre-War bank vaults. I pressed a large green button on the panel next to it and heard the metallic clicks on the three locks disengaging. The door slid into the wall, and inside was a pitch-black tunnel. It was completely dark, except for three yellow numbers at the end. 112. I brought my PIP-Boy to my face and put the screen brightness up to the "Flashlight" setting. The light generated from my PIP-Boy lit up a space of about five feet in front of me. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as the vault door came into view. For a minute, I thought I saw a 101 on the door, but it quickly dissipated. "Your mind's playing tricks." I muttered to myself. I was so homesick that it was starting to trigger illusions. Wonderful. The door was the same size as the door of Vault 101. The yellow control panel was slightly smaller than 101's. A green light blinked on the control panel as I flipped the heavy switch. The same alarms that had sounded when I opened 101's door came on inside the vault, and I heard the hydraulic hiss of the giant controlling arm lock onto the door. After a few seconds, there was a rush of pressurized air as the door was pulled from its place and rolled to the left. I walked into the cool atmosphere of Vault 112. Surprisingly, it seemed cleaner than 101. I took a quick survey of the room. There was a small control room to my right, containing small computers and machines. There were two steps in front of me, leading to a door on the left. I cautiously walked towards the pristine white door and turned the wheel.

I heard another whoosh of pressurized air when I opened the airtight door. Inside was a large computer that had large glowing columns on it's exterior. "Hello sir." A female voice said. I almost jumped out of my skin. A Robobrain rolled into the room in which I was standing, clutching a blue rag of some sort. Robobrains were pre-War robots produced by RobCo. Their bodies are cylindrical and they moved about on two triangular treads. They had two claws for hands and rubber arms. They were unique in that they used an actual organic brain as their central processor. It was also highly unnerving. This one was light blue in color, and stood a good head taller than me, and I'm 6'1. "You are 202.3 years behind schedule." The Robobrain said, holding out the blue rag, "To enter the vault, please put on this Vault 112 jumpsuit. You are not permitted to used the Tranquility Loungers without one." I took the jumpsuit and looked at it for a while. Damn it dad, why would you do this to me. I stripped off my leather armor and stored it in my PIP-Boy. The Vault jumpsuit felt familiar and alien at the same time. It felt the same, but my emotional side kicked in and all I could think about was the good times I had had with Amata while wearing one of these. I was going to kick dad's ass. "Ok, please follow me sir." The Robobrain said, motioning towards the door. I nodded, and followed the strange robot into the corridors of Vault 112.

The Robobrain led me through a set of corridors that were much like those of 101, but once we got the where the Atrium should have been, I was astounded. The ceiling was three times higher than a normal Atrium, and in the middle was a huge pillar that glowed red, with large electrical cables running down its length. A ring of computer terminals was located on the bottom of the pillar, and surrounding it were pods of some sort. The Robobrain led me off the balcony we were standing on and down a set of stairs. "This is it sir, please select a Lounger and enjoy your stay in Vault 112." It said cheerfully as it rolled away. I started to walk around the ring of pods, which seemed to hold people. The pods were roughly egg-shaped, each containing a single human being and a screen displaying some sort of simulation. Each was hooked up to a computer terminal, which presumably monitored their vitals. I was walking around the pods, observing the wires and when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar face. I froze and turned my attention to the pod I had just passed. I pressed my face to the glass and there, inside the pod, was my dad. He looked exactly how he had the night before he left, just dirtier, and he had lost his lab coat. He sat motionless, immersed in the simulation. I yelled for him but he did not answer my calls. I peeled myself away from the glass and whipped around, desperately searching for an open pod. I found an unoccupied one and pressed the release mechanism. The top slid open and I crawled inside. As soon as I was seated, the top slid back into place and a screen moved so close to my face I could barely focus. Then there was a flash of white light, and everything went black.

Chapter 12

I woke in a dark room. White light was streaming in through the windows of the room, but not enough to light the room up. I sat up, wondering where I was. I looked down and nearly fainted. Everything was in black and white, and I was no longer my 19-year old self. I wore a striped shirt, jeans, and seemed to be 10-12 years old. I brought my arm up to look at the location on my PIP-Boy, but all I found on my scrawny arm was a Vault Boy watch. "This can't be happening." I told myself. Funny, my voice was still the same. I got out of the bed and walked into the hallway of the house I was in. Nobody seemed to be in here but me. I walked down the flight of stairs to my right and up to the oak door. The metal of the doorknob was cold as I opened it. I was met by a blast of brilliant white light and warmth. The sun showed brightly in the white sky. Everything was still black and white. The small area I found myself in consisted of five two-story houses located in a ring around a Cul De Sac. In the middle of this Cul De Sac was as small circular playground, slide and all. Brand new Corvega fusion-powered cars sat in the driveways of the homes, and people wandered about the sidewalks. I remembered the other people in pods. I was in a simulation! I noticed that there was a small girl and a dog in the middle playground, and I decided that that would be a good place to start. She was just and innocent little girl right?

"Hello there!" I said, trying my best to sound happy. The girl, who was watering some black and white flowers, looked up at me with a bored look in her eyes. "Yes, hello. I am Betty." She wore a white dress with buttons all up the middle and heavy eye makeup. She couldn't have been more than 10. I looked straight into her eyes and I knew something wasn't right. "My name is James, James Holden Jr., you wouldn't have happened to see my dad anywhere around here have you?" I said cautiously, now watching the young girl's movements and eyes with great interest. "Oh please young man, I know who you are. I monitored you getting into the Lounger. Don't play games." She, or rather he, said. The voice of the young girl was replace by a heavily accented German voice. Startled, I took a step back, "Well have you seen him or not?" I asked, an edge starting to develop in my voice. In the voice of the young girl again, he spoke, "Maybe I have, maybe I have not." she/he turned back to the flowers. "Before I reveal anything to you, I have a few tasks for you." My eyes narrowed. "What kinds of tasks?" Ms. Alternate Reality smiled evilly, "First, I want you to make that boy," she/he pointed towards a lemonade stand with a young boy sitting behind it, "Timmy Neusbaum over there, cry." She/he smiled at the thought, "I don't care how, just do it and I will reveal some, but not all." Ms. AR turned back to her flowers and shooed me away with her hand. I walked all of about three feet before an old lady, begging me to listen to her stopped me.

"Young man! Young man!" The elderly lady called after me. I stopped and spun around, looked at Betty. She hadn't seemed to notice. "Thank goodness you're here!" the woman said, out of breath, "You're from the outside!" I stared at her blankly. She was apparently an elderly African American woman, wearing a long white dress. Then again, most of the clothing in this place was white, so it could have been any light color. "I need you to listen to me, everyone else thinks I'm crazy!" she said. "Yes ma'am, I'm listening." I said, intrigued. "Ok," she narrowed her eyes; "You have already met the little girl over there, yes?" "Of course" I said. "She is not really a little girl, that is Dr. Stanulus Braun!" Once again I took a step back, astounded that the little girl I had just talked to was the man my dad came here looking for. Reality check anyone? "This is a simulation, I know it, you know it, he knows it, but no one else does." This would explain why everybody looked so happy, and the woman in front of me looked so frazzled. "No one believes me, but you will, you're from the outside." She paused for a moment, catching her breath. "My name is Old Lady Dithers by the way, but that is beside the point. I need to tell you how to get us out of this horrible place." I cocked my head to the right, confused; "It doesn't seem to bad here, you are free from the harshness of the wasteland, living in a perfect world!" I exclaimed. Surely she didn't want to get out. "That's what you think. We have been here for over 200 years, at the beck and call of Braun. We are his playthings, his puppets!" Old Lady Dithers wailed, "If you don't stop him, nobody will." Now that I heard this I stopped. This sounded awfully familiar. This had Vault Overseer written all over it. I guess it wasn't just my old Overseer that was corrupt. "Ok Old Lady Dithers, I want to help, just tell me what I need to do." The frantic expression on her wrinkled face softened into one of happiness and joy, "Oh thank you outsider! Thank you! Ok, here is the way out of this horrid place." She pointed to a house opposite of our position, and outlined her plan.

Five minutes later I was inside the forgotten house or the Abandoned House as Dithers had called it, on the other side of the street. Apparently, there was a secret Failsafe terminal that Braun used to start a new sim once he got "bored" with the one he was in. He seemed like an evil dictator, and I hated dictators, especially Overseer dictators. Old Lady Dithers had also said that the only way to activate the Failsafe terminal was to get a specific musical note pattern on the objects in the house. It was dark and cold inside. The stairs seemed to be taller than they actually were, everything looked intimidating. If I remembered correctly, the pattern was Radio, Pitcher, Gnome, Pitcher, Cinder Block, Gnome, and Bottle. I walked towards the black and white Radiation King radio and found an odd switch on the side. I flipped it and a musical note sounded from the radio. I proceeded to the other objects. All of them had an odd switch somewhere on their bodies, and issued a musical note every time they were flipped. After I was finished with the others, I found the glass bottle and flipped its switch. The note sounded and a brilliant flash of white light erupted from upstairs. A shockwave of reality merging with virtual reality threw me against a far wall. Now aching from the collision between my back and the wall I walked up the stairs. "This had better be worth it old lady." I muttered. Inside the only room on the top floor was a large computer terminal. Unlike everything else in this world, it was in color, and my eyes struggled to adjust. I walked up to the keyboard and activated the screen with my stubby fingers. Two options were listed, "Chinese Invasion (DANGER!)" and "Kill and Wipe". Old Lady Dither had said to choose Chinese Invasion. It would kill all of the vault residents, not only in the simulation, but in the real world as well. It seemed cruel, but in light of what Braun had done to them, I decided it was worth it. I could not let these innocent people suffer any longer. I selected the Chinese Invasion option, and ran down the stairs as the Failsafe terminal imploded, and a roar from the outside reached my ears.

As I stepped through the doorway of the Abandoned House, I was met by the sight of Chinese men in full army gear attacking the residents of Vault 112, with the exception of Betty, the dog, and myself. They killed them one at a time, no blood being spilled. Old Lady Dithers ran to me, a Chinese officer on her tail, waving his sword. "Thank you outsider! You have saved not only me, but also everyone eternal suffering. Thank you, Thank you!" she said delighted. The Chinese officer caught up to her and ordered his troops to open fire. "I will always remember you outsider, always." She said and bowed her head as the soldier opened fire. Her lifeless body fell to the ground, and the soldier disappeared. Braun sat on the flowers he once watered, dumbfounded. I walked confidently over to him. "Why, why would you do this?" he asked in his real voice. "Why would you rule over these people as a god?" I shot back. "I only wanted to create a perfect world…" I cut him off, "Stop the sucking up Braun, you were playing god, a dangerous game." I said. "People suffered and you sat by and laughed. I'm glad you are trapped in here" Braun's little girl form began to cry as a door materialized behind it. "You are free to go." She sobbed. "Where's my dad?" I asked, unmoving. Braun looked up, "He has been here the whole time." She pointed to the dog. I spit on his face; "You sick bastard." With that, I stepped through the virtual door, leaving Braun trapped in the simulation, forever.

Chapter 13

Another flash of white light came and suddenly I was back in my own body. I flexed my fingers and arms. It felt good to be in my own skin again. I felt for the release mechanism and opened the pod. Fresh air, real air filled my lungs. I jumped down and breathed deeply. "Son!" I heard my dad call. I turned around and there was dad, Vault 101 jumpsuit and all. "Son! It's so good to see you!" he opened his arms and slowed to a walk. I brought my arm up, and punched him straight in the face.

Dad reeled from the blow. "Ok, I guess I deserved that." He said painfully. "Damn right you did!" I yelled, furious. "What the hell were you thinking? Leaving me in the vault while you went of and did God knows what!" I was giving him all the anger I had. "The Overseer tried to kill me! I almost died three times on the trip here alone! I have three words for you dad, What, The, Hell!" Dad stood across from me, staring directly at me. "Son, you have a right to be mad, but hear me out. I didn't tell you where I was going because I knew you would follow." He paused for a second; "Obviously I was wrong in the fact that you wouldn't follow me if I didn't tell you." Our eyes locked onto each other's, his filled with warmth and concern, mine filled with anger and skepticism. "I wanted to keep you safe, you were old enough to live on your own, you didn't need your dad anymore." He sighed, "But you're here now, and I suppose you have some questions." Oh boy did I ever.

It was a good half an hour before dad was done telling his side of the story. During which I had punched him three times. Just as he was about to rap up, I decided to ask the million-dollar question, "Dad, was I not born in the vault?" Dad looked down and sighed. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. My worst fear had been realized. I had not been born in a vault; dad had lied to me about my life. "No son, you weren't born in Vault 101, I wasn't born in 101, and neither was your mother." He started to back away from me, probably anticipating that I would throw another punch, but I was too dumbfounded to do anything but slide to the ground. " Your mother and I, we were scientists working on a water purifier in the ruins of the Jefferson Memorial, know to us as Project Purity. The Potomac River is so irradiated, we wanted a way to make it clean and drinkable, but you changed all that." he said, "If your mother hadn't died after you were born, maybe we would have stayed at Project Purity, but she did, and I had to get you somewhere safe. 101 accepted me as a doctor, and I lied to you about your life so we wouldn't be in this situation." He motioned to the vault we currently sat in. "Now we are here though, and you can help me now." He stood, looking young again. Hid black hair had gotten gray and his eyes had gotten darker, but he still had resolve. "Will you come with me to Rivet City, so I can continue my work?" dad asked. I snapped out of my trance and answered right away, "Yes." Dad smiled, "Thanks son, I owe you a lot, and this can be the start of me paying you back." With that, he pulled me to my feet, and we ascended from Vault 112, back into the wasteland.

It was a grueling 12-hour trip to the place known as Rivet City. On the way there was another Mole Rat attack (I'm really starting to hate those things), a nuclear rainstorm, and a Super Mutant sighting. My dad actually proved to pretty good with a weapon in his hands. I was using the AK; he was using the Plasma Rifle. Together we fought off the Mole Rats, survived the irradiated acid rain, and successfully sneaked by the Super Mutants. Some of my respect for him had re-appeared, but not all of it. Back to the here and now. I had heard stories about a large city in the east in Megaton. Just whispers and rumors mostly. I'm guessing that Rivet City is that city, the largest, most successful settlement in the Capital Wasteland. It was an awe-inspiring sight to see. The city was built into a crashed pre-War aircraft carrier. The bow appeared to have split away from the rest of the ship, and ruined aircraft sat in the middle on the two halves. The letter were wearing away, but still legible on the side of the ship, "USS Freedom". A large tower consisting of spiral ramp and makeshift walls stood across the river from the ship. Dad started to walk up the ramp, so I followed. A small intercom was attached to one of the support posts at the top of the ramp. Dad walked over to it and pushed to "Talk" button. "Harvey," dad said, "please swing the bridge over. It's James." The voice on the other end, which I assumed to be Harvey, said something I couldn't make out. A loud metallic din sounded and a large metal bridge swung across from the ship to the ramp platform. It screeched to a halt an inch away from the ramp and dad and I started to walk across. Below me I could see 2 Mirelurks swimming in the water. Once we came to the other side, a man holding an AK47 and wearing beat-up leather armor sized me up. "Been a long time Harvey!" dad said to the brown-haired man. "Good to see you to James, but who the hell is this?" the strange man asked. I was offended slightly and reached across my back to touch the trigger of my AK. "This is my son," dad said with a stern voice, "he is not a security threat or a liability, he is a very capable young man." Harvey eyed me suspiciously once more and said, "All right go on in." I followed my dad to a rusting door with a rotating lock and stepped inside.

We appeared to be in a large market place. Five stalls were set up in what probably used to be a mess hall and what appeared to be a restaurant and bar resided on the right side, opposite of the stalls. Two men manned the first stall, "Flak and Shrapnel's". Both men wore a leather jacket and bandoleers slung across their shoulders. One man had a shaved head and black moustache, and the other a brown buzz cut and no facial hair. I immediately put them on my "Do not mess with" list. All of the other stalls save for the one labeled "Potomac Attire" were unmanned and closed. The stalls themselves were made of scavenged wood and tarp draped over the top for roofs. As I followed my dad through the middle of the marketplace, I thought of how much this place reminded me of the Vault 101 market. "God damn it." I said under my breath, "Why does life love to torture me like this?" Couldn't life just say to itself, enough is enough? Leave me alone! My dad and I ascended a flight of metal stairs opposite from the entrance and opened another door, revealing a long corridor with a door on the other end. More reminders. Just kill me now.

The walk down the corridor ended up taking us half an hour because of all the people who stopped my dad and welcomed him back. I was anxious to get rid of all the attention but my dad "had to be polite" as he said. I looked so out of place wearing my leather armor and sporting my AK47. Everyone around here looked so normal, so clean. I was so eager to get on with it that during several conversations I cleared my throat, loudly. When we finally came to the door at the end of the hallway, I found it was labeled "Science Lab". This scared me; I don't do well around scientists. I found that out when I was seven and helping Jonas in the vault lab, but that is another story for a different time. "Why are we going in here?" I asked with genuine curiosity and a touch of fear. Dad smiled and said, "To find an old friend." Dad turned the circular handle and the door, pushed free of its place in the wall, disappeared to the left. The room was at least three times bigger than the Atrium of Vault 101, and that's saying something. Four large generators sat in the middle of the room, humming rather loudly. A small space was set aside for cots and beds on my right, and to my left was a group of scientists arguing about, well, whatever scientists argue about. Another flight of metal stairs led down to the floor of the room. Once again I followed my dad down into the room. The walls were gray, like all of those I had seen so far. This ship must get confusing; even my head is spinning.

As we got closer to the group of arguing scientists, I began to make out white tables and screens. There were four tables surrounded by three medical screens under the balcony from which Dad and I had descended. Two of the four tables had vials and beakers full of strange substances that showed blue and green, and a small chemistry kit took up the other two. I noticed for the first time that the group of scientists was actually a ring surrounding a female scientist. She had black hair up in a tight bun and appeared to be of Asian decent, but her head was all I could see. Dad walked up to the group in his grimy Vault 101 jumpsuit and the bickering ceased. The Asian woman, who I now saw was wearing a fully buttoned up white lab coat, embraced my dad, and started saying something in his ear. After a good three minutes, their embrace finally ended, and the two began walking towards me. "Son," Dad said, smiling, "This is Doctor Li, an old friend of mine. We worked on Project Purity together before you were born." Doctor Li offered her hand and I shook it, "Very nice to meet you young man," she said politely, "You look a lot like your dad here." I flashed my trademark-crooked grin and said, "Yeah, I get that a lot." Dad started back up the stairs we came, "Come on son, Doctor Li and I want to get to Project Purity as fast as possible." He stopped and looked at me, "We could use an escort. Will you come with us." We had come this far, and I wasn't going to let dad die by himself. "What the hell," I said, "Let's get outta here."

We exited the ship the same way we came, and the man known as Harvey waved good-bye from the ship as the bridge was retracted. Our small party as it now was, composed of three scientists, wearing identical lab coats to Doctor Li, my Dad and I, and, of course, Doctor Li. I noticed for the first time that the Jefferson Memorial was visible across the Potomac River. It seemed to be largely intact, the dome's silhouette unbroken. We walked across the runs of a sidewalk. The concrete literally crumbled where we stepped. No one spoke as we crossed what was left of a stone bridge to the Jefferson Memorial side of the Potomac. A large metal catwalk had been erected at the base of the steps into the rotunda of the memorial, and enormous pipes protruded from the rotunda itself. All of the pipes fed into the Potomac, and a small pump station was located to our left at the edge of the river. My dad sighed, "Well. This is it." He turned to me, "Son, thank you for walking us up. I have one more favor to ask of you." I nodded, "Of course." Dad walked across the small area separating our group from the memorial. He stopped at a black door I hadn't noticed earlier. A grey plaque to the door's right read "Gift Shop". Dad pointed to it and said, "If you could go in a clear the memorial of any threat there may be, we would be very grateful." I drew my AK47 out of the makeshift sling on my back and flipped it off safety. "Sure." I said, trying not to sound nervous. Close quarter fighting isn't something I've really done yet. Except with Mole Rats and Mirelurks, but those are beasts. There may be a human threat in there, or worse. I took a deep breath and grabbed the cold metal handle. The door creaked and I stepped inside the Jefferson Memorial.

The air was cold and damp inside, a stark contrast to the Wasteland. The corridor I now stood in had a rounded ceiling, and a pile of debris and ruined furniture blocked the way. I was about to climb over an oak desk when I heard a muffled thump. And another, and another. Footsteps, I thought, Oh great. I tried as hard as possible to climb the desk without making a sound. I slipped to the floor and crouched to make less noise. As I approached another debris pile, I found another doorway to my right. The footsteps were louder now, louder than a human's footsteps should be. I touched the cold wood of the double doors with the barrel of the AK and gently pushed forward. Thankfully the door didn't creak, and I sneaked inside. Carefully, I pushed the door back into place. I was now in a large room with even more junk everywhere. Water from ancient toilets overflowed, flooding the small bathroom to my right. Janitor's buckets lay on the floor, along with documents, pencils, and many other useless items. I turned the corner I was hiding behind and saw an office to my left. The footsteps had stopped, and there was a shadow on the far wall. I moved across the ruined wall, dodging obstacles as I went. I came to the doorway and stood up. I slowly stuck my head through the doorway, and it was there, that I saw my first Super Mutant up close.

Chapter 14

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. I thought desperately. Super Mutants, mutations of humans by the FEV virus. We had learned about them in the Vault. The pre-War government would take humans and expose them to this FEV and it would turn them into these monsters. Their skin would turn green, their muscles would grow and bulge, and they had absolutely no value for any life but Super Mutant life, due to their reduced mental capacities. The one in front of me wore a makeshift suit of metal armor made from garbage cans and old traffic signs. It sat in front of a small fire, with a pre-War double-barreled shotgun lying on the floor. I brought my PIP-Boy to my face and materialized the Combat Knife I had picked up earlier. I caught it just before it hit the floor. The black hilt was hot from the materialization process and almost burned my hand. I stepped as quietly as possible over the massive creature in front of me. I brought the knife up to my eye level and made a lunge. Before it could react, I shoved the 7-inch blade into the base of its skull and twisted. The Super Mutant's eyes rolled up into its head and the body slumped to the floor with a muffled thud. I wiped the bloody knife on the skin of the fearsome creature and moved outside the small office. This time I holstered the knife for later use, and picked up my AK from the floor were I left it. I could hear deep, scratchy voices of more Super Mutants across the hallway, and I readied myself for some spray and pray. The short hallway amplified the voices. I almost screamed twice from vermin startling me. I finally reached the corner of the hallway and there they were, a group of four Super Mutants. I brought the rifle up to firing position, and let loose.

What happened after went by in a hurry. The Super Mutants all fell to the floor in a heap, and my dad came rushing in, thinking I had been hurt in all of the gunfire. The scientists followed after, and after he was satisfied I was ok, he led me to the rotunda, where Project Purity was located. In the middle of the rotunda there was a large tank holding water around the Thomas Jefferson statue, and a glass enclosure surrounded the tank. Various scientific instruments and machines with blinking lights resided in the room. "This is it, this is where it all started." Dad said. I heard him whisper something, my mom's favorite Bible verse. He taught me as a kid. I'll never forget it. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning, and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." He slowly ascended the metal ramp to the control room and said to me, "Go find the generator in the basement. Let's get this thing operational."

I didn't even know this place had basement. It was a small square made of concrete, but hey, what are you gonna do. The green generator sat in the middle, surrounded by wires, switches, and cables. I finally found the power switch and flipped it. Immediately it started to hum with electricity. Dad had said he would radio me if he needed anything else, so I sat down on the floor against the wall. According to my PIP-Boy, it was 11:05 at night. Funny, it hadn't seemed that dark when we got here. I allowed myself to close my eyes, not realizing that it would be the worst mistake of my life. If I hadn't allowed myself to sleep, maybe he would still be with me.

Chapter 15

It was the ear splitting scream that jolted me out of slumber. Groggy, I got to my feet and checked my PIP-Boy. It was 2:00 in the morning and someone was screaming. This couldn't be good. I groped in the dark until I remembered my AK was still on my back. I slid the rifle into my hand and pulled a fresh magazine out of my pack. I loaded the weapon and leaped up the stairs to the ground level. I thought I heard commands being issued outside, but I couldn't be sure. I opened the door and stepped into the dark. I was met by a large figure with glowing eyes. "Dropping Hostile!" it shouted. It wasn't fast enough, though, as I whipped my AK to firing position and got off a three round burst into his chest. The body fell to the ground with a clanking noise. I turned my PIP-boy to flashlight and found that it was a man wearing a suit of metal armor like I had never seen before. The suit bore a logo on the shoulder plates. It was an upper case E surrounded by a circle of stars. "Who are these people?" I said to myself. I quickly got up and went to the rotunda door. Dad hadn't mentioned soldiers. I could hear commotion inside, someone was crying rather loudly, and someone else was talking. I forced my way through the door hoping dad was all right.

I pushed past the sobbing Dr. Li and company to the control center of Project Purity. There I saw my dad, standing in the control room with two more of the ironclad soldiers and a man with a Southern accent. The man wore a white jacket with a high collar and held in his hand a Laser Pistol that was pointed at my dad. They had sealed the glass door and they seemed to be interrogating him. Anger welled up and I opened fire on the door, which I quickly found was bulletproof. "You will turn this establishment over to us at once Mr. James." The man in the white said. He also bore the logo with the E in it. Dad stared at the man and said defiantly, "I'm sorry, but you and your men are tyrants. You want only to make profit off of this machine and to deny people of their rights. I will not stand for this." My dad had the same look in his eye as I saw every time he scolded me as a child, and I knew he would not back down. I never won an argument with my dad. "Well that is a shame, isn't it fellas?" The man said, nodding to the soldiers. They raised their weapons and the defiant look in my dad's eyes was gone, replaced by one I had never seen before, defeat. He turned to the activation panel, the heart of Project Purity, and punched in a code. The platform shook and lurched as the code was entered. Dad turned around and his face was full of sorrow and apology. The strange white-coated man injected himself with something as he and his soldiers fell to the floor. Dad pressed his hand against the glass and slid to his knees. "Son…" he paused and coughed, "You must go, please, run, James, run!" and with those final words, my father, the man who had guided me through the vault, the man who had taught me courage, sacrifice, and respect, slumped to the floor, dead.

Chapter 16

I woke up on a red couch in a strange building. I sat up and noticed I was wearing only a white undershirt and boxers. My leather armor was folded on the table next to me. It was dark, and I had no idea what had happened after the death of my dad. I can't believe it. The man I had traveled the wasteland looking for, the man I loved and revered was dead. I remembered only one thing before I blacked out, and that was my PIP-Boy's Geiger counter going off. Dad must have flooded the control room with radiation to kill the men inside, including him. He had always said he would lay down his life for mine, but I didn't think that day would come. Now it had, and I began sob, and then cry. He meant so much to me, and now he was gone. For three full minutes I laid there, sobbing and mourning my dad. I looked up at one point, and across the room was a table with a silhouette covered by a white sheet. I knew what it was, so I didn't bother walking over to it. When I finally composed myself, I slowly stood on shaky legs, and put on my leather armor. A door was to my left and I opened it. The brightly-lit hallway scorched my eyes and I stood blinking for a while. When they finally focused I found I was in an office space. Men and women in suits like the ones worn by the men who had attacked my dad walked about. Many of them stopped at looked at me as I went past, to a door marked "Laboratory". I figured Dr. Li would be there, and I could ask questions about the last few hours there. I pushed my way past more ironclad men and opened the faded blue door.

I walked in to the gaze of a gigantic robot. I staggered and fell backwards at the sight of it. The head was as tall as my body alone. The great machine had one slit across it's face, which I guessed to be it's eye. I got back to my feet and looked over the balcony rail. The floor was at least 30 feet below me, with the robot's enormous body taking up much of the middle. A lot of people walked about in red robes. I caught I glimpse of white among the red and scurried to the nearest staircase. I bounded down the metal steps, jumping past the iron soldiers and dodging men holding stacks of paper. Soon I hit the concrete floor and jogged over to Dr. Li, who was in the company of three iron soldiers and a white-haired man in a black robe. All of the men bore the blue logo of a sword through a gear on their shoulders. Soon I could hear the deep voice of the man in black, and the filtered voice of the soldiers. Dr. Li was crying. "..It will be ok Dr. Li, everything will be fine." The man in black said. Dr. Li looked up at him and just started sobbing ever louder. "But…But, James is dead!" she wailed between sobs, "The purifier has been taken over by those, by those, monsters that call themselves humans!" Dr. Li slumped back into her chair and cried so loud that some of the soldiers backed away. The man in black caught I glimpse of me standing to the side and stood. He must have been almost seven feet tall because I noticed right away that he towered over me. The man's grey eyes gave nothing away as he approached. "Hello, you must be James' son." He said in a commanding, yet tired voice, "I am Owyn Lyons, Elder of the D.C. branch of the Brotherhood of Steel." I shook his strong hand and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Owyn, though I wish it were under better circumstances." He sighed, "As do I, come, sit with me." He motioned to a couple seats near the far corner of the room and we walked to them, dodging red-robed men all the while. I sat down in the cool material. "You must have questions. Please, ask away." Owyn said.

Chapter 17

This Wasteland is full of crazies, but the Brotherhood is all right. Owyn, the leader of this faction known as the Brotherhood of Steel, told me about what had happened the day before. Dr. Li had radioed for help as soon as dad got locked in the control room. A Brotherhood assault team crossed the Potomac to intercept, but were attacked by Mirelurks on the way, making them arrive late, and unable to save my dad. At first I was angry, but then I accepted the fact you cannot control when mutated creatures will attack. When the assault team finally got to the Memorial, they were pinned down by fire from the Enclave, or what the men who had killed my dad called themselves. Apparently they are the remnants of the US government from before the war. When the assault team got into the control room, the Enclave man in the white had disappeared, and only his soldier's and my dad's bodies remained. They purged the room of radiation and recovered dad's body, dumping the soldier's bodies in the Potomac. I had led Dr. Li and the other scientists through the lower levels and escaped through a manhole near the Potomac River's banks. What used to be the Pentagon was now the operations center of the Brotherhood. Only A Ring and B Ring remained, with much of the building leveled. My party and the Brotherhood assault team had also apparently rendezvoused on the banks of the Potomac River, and the Paladins, as the Brotherhood called them, had led us to what was left of the Pentagon, now called the Citadel. Dr. Li had rushed off to find Elder Owyn Lyons, and I had collapsed on the ground, out of fatigue or sadness I don't know, and was brought to the room I had woken up in, along with my dad's body. Considering the fact I didn't remember any of it, I must be traumatized. Add that to my growing list of imperfections. Once our discussion was finished, Elder Lyons was called over to a meeting in the B Ring, and I was left on the seat in the corner, alone. Dad had left me, mom had left me, and I had no where to turn. I never got to ask my dad the one thing I had wanted to ask him. That one question that had crept it's way into my mind after dad had said he would lay down his own life for mine so many years ago. Why?

My moment of pondering came to an end as I was called to the same meeting that the Elder had been called. I walked across the concrete floor and pushed through an aging set of double doors. The walls were covered with peeling white paint and the old oak doors were falling apart with termite damage. A Paladin wearing a suit of T45-d Power Armor waved me into a large room. Power Armor is what they called the metal suits they wore. I entered the room, which looked nicer than most. It had recently been painted, and a large logo of a lion rampant over a winged sword hilt was displayed on the wall. It read "Lyons' Pride". I sat down in a high-backed wooden chair at the end of the table. Elder Lyons sat across from me at the other end of the table, and on his right were the red-robed men known as Scribes, and on his left were the members of the so-called Lyons Pride, the most elite of the Brotherhood's Paladins, commanded by Sarah Lyons, Owyn's daughter. The Elder stood up and spoke in a commanding voice; "You all know why I have called this young man in here today, correct?" The Scribes and Paladins alike nodded. The Elder sat back down, "Then you know why it is of the utmost importance that we re-claim Project Purity as soon as possible from this Enclave threat." He looked at his daughter and said, "Sarah, if you would please enlighten young James here about the situation." The blonde-haired girl stood up and spoke with the same voice as her father, just a little higher, "James, my father explained the basics to you about the situation, but that is not all there is to it." She took a breath and started off, "This is a lot to take in, but bear with me. Some time after you rescued Dr. Li and the scientists from the Purifier at the Jefferson Memorial, Colonel Augustus Autumn, name of the man in white you saw confronting you father, escaped and came back a few hours later with three fully-loaded Vertibird helicopters." She stopped and looked at me, "You following so far?" I nodded slowly; "I think so." Sarah looked satisfied, so she continued. "Our assumption is that the Enclave has seized control of the Purifier, but cannot get it running without the activation code that your father programmed. Without the code, the purifier won't start, and if the purifier won't start, then they can't carry out whatever their plan may be." Sarah sat back down and motioned to another member of the Lyons Pride to stand up. He stood up and took off his helmet, revealing a scarred face. He had close-cropped red hair and looked like a pre-War Navy drill sergeant. In a conservative yet loud voice he asked, "Do you know what a device called the GECK is, son?" The mention of the device my dad had mentioned in his Megaton holotape sparks new interest within me, "Yes." He looked surprised, but continued, "We believe you father thought that this is the device he could use to finally get the purifier in perfect condition to restart the Potomac's ecosystem. It's been irradiated for over 200 years, and he thought the GECK would be the device to finally make the purifier work." He pulled a white sheet down from the ceiling and a Scribe turned on an old Vault-Tec projector at the back of the room. On it was an orange map of the area, with only the D.C. vaults marked as locations. "These six vaults," the man with the red hair said, "Are the only known vaults in the region. Vaults 87, 92, 101, 106, 108, and 112. As you know, Vaults 101 and 112 do not carry such a device, as per orders from pre-War Vault-Tec." He pointed to the three vaults north and northeast of Vault 101, "We have also concluded that due to the nature of the experiments in Vaults 106, 108, and 92, that they also do not have such a device." That left only one. Vault 87, the vault in the upper left-hand corner of the map. "Vault 87, may be the only vault in the area with a GECK." He looked at me long and hard. I returned the stare and asked, "When do I leave?" The man shuffled nervously over to Sarah, who nodded after he whispered something in her ear. He stood again and said nervously, "James, Vault 87 is the home of the Super Mutants."

The room was filled with silence then. I sat back in my chair and put my hands on my face. Super Mutants. I had already tangled with then at the Jefferson Memorial. But this would be different. Vault 87 was apparently the sole home of the Super Mutants. A hive of Super Mutants is much different than a few in one room. I stood. "This may be the case, but in light of the events and my dad's sudden death, I think I should continue his work." I met everyone's eyes and stopped at the Elder. "I'm going to Vault 87." I sat back down and let what I had just said sink in. Five minutes of silence later, the Elder stood up and spoke, "If you are going to make this trip, I will order a small team from Lyons' Pride to escort you across the Wasteland." He paused for a second before continuing, "Considering the circumstances, I would also like to ask Paladin Gunny to give young James here Power Armor training." A brown-haired man rose from his seat and walked over to the Elder. I assumed him to be Paladin Gunny. He whispered in the Elder's ear and he just nodded and pointed to me. The man rose, saluted his Elder, and said, "All right James, follow me to the armory." I rose from the wooden seat and followed Paladin Gunny out of the meeting room. He led me through a set of corridors that led to a narrow passageway. At the end was a metal door like the one I had seen in Vault 112. Gunny swiped a holotag over an ID reader and the door creaked open. Inside was a concrete bunker, holding guns and armor of all types. From a simple Single Shotgun to a Laser Rifle, they had it all. "Ok," Gunny said, "Lets do this."

Over two hours later, I finally got the hang of operating the Brotherhood's T45-d Power Armor. The secret was to let the suit do the work, and from there everything was a piece of cake. The helmet was a bit stuffy and the eye slit was tinted grey, but other than that it was a fantastic piece of machinery. "Ok, I think you have finally mastered it." Gunny said with a smile. "Over two and a half earlier than most trainees here too. You aren't bad kid. I'll make a Paladin out of you yet!" We walked out of the armory side-by-side, our metal boots making loud noises on the concrete floor. I held my helmet by my side and navigated, with the help of Gunny, to the Courtyard of the Citadel, where I would be joining my escort. I pushed through the reinforced iron doors and stepped into the light. Despite Gunny's insisting I have a laser or plasma weapon, I keep my Plasma Rifle in my PIP-Boy storage and my AK47 on my back. It didn't quite fit in the fixed holster on the Power Armor, but I had the sling it came with from Moira's. A small four-person team stood in front of me. Elder Lyons had handpicked them for my escort. I shook all of their hands, though I had already met them at the meeting. Paladin Kodiak, a stealth master and Laser Rifle marksman. Word was he had never taken his helmet off. Paladin Vargas, Sarah's second-in-command. Paladin Glade, heavy weapons expert, and Sentinel Sarah Lyons, daughter of Owyn Lyons and commander of Lyons' Pride. "Well, we're all set over here." Sarah said, "We can move out whenever you give the word." I met the eyes of all the Paladins, and the eye slit of Kodiak. "Lets do this thing." I said.

The sun was setting for the second time by the time we reached the highly irradiated entrance to Vault 87. These suits were amazing at keeping the radiation out of our bodies, but my PIP-Boy's Geiger counter started ticking none the less. I took a plastic container out of the pack the Brotherhood had supplied me and popped a few pills of Rad-X, a medication that makes your body more resistant to radiation. "Once we are in the vault, everyone pop some Rad-Away." Sarah's filtered voice said. Rad-Away was a brownish-orange liquid that had the power to purge your body of radiation sickness and radiation itself. It also tasted like Brahmin dung. As we reached the canyon that Vault 87 resided, we saw large signs with fallout shelter logos on them. We also saw a lot of bent steel I-Beams. Sarah had said this was how Super Mutants marked their territory. We walked through the yellow haze of radiation until we could make out a small cave. Paladin Kodiak, the only one with a flood light on his helmet, took point and lit up the cave. My Geiger counter became quieter as we entered the damp cave. The air smelled of water as well. Kodiak turned his head to the far wall of the cave, and memories came rushing back. In the far wall of the cave, was a small wooden door, yellowish light filtering through the cracks.

It was the same as Vault 101's door to the outside. I knew I couldn't open that door without having a huge emotional response, so I asked Sarah to do it instead. She pulled on the wooden door with all her immense strength, but couldn't open it. The wood appeared to be fused to the rock. "Glade," Sarah said, breathing heavily, "Breach the door." Glade unhooked the Gatling Laser from his hip. "With pleasure." The weapon exploded with power, six laser beams cutting into the door as if it were tin foil. When Glade was finished there was a large hole in what used to be the door, and ash covering the ground. I was the first to climb through the opening. Bad idea. As soon as I was through, I saw the heavy iron door of Vault 87 and a few dead human skeletons on the ground. It wasn't long before the door completely dissipated in front of me, and a vision of Vault 101 appeared. I could see a human silhouette standing where the control panel would be. I knew who that person was. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it faded away, leaving only the ruined door of Vault 87 in its place. "Well, let's get moving then." I heard Sarah say. "You're the vault guy here, sow us how to open this door." It felt like a dream as I walked over to the small yellow panel next to the vault door. I flipped the identical switch and identical alarm klaxons sounded. The heavy door rolled to the left, revealing an un-maintained entry hall. The walls were yellowed with age, green mold covering the ceiling and floor. My small party and I stepped though the gaping hole in the wall and instantly my Geiger counter cut out. The room was exactly the same as Vault 101. If this room was the same, then most of the vault would be the same. We spread out to search the room. And so it begins.

Paladin Glade found a vault map , and smoothed it out upon the small table in the entryway. "Ok, we are standing the entry hall." I said, putting my finger on the entrance. "If we go this way, that will lead to the Atrium, the biggest room of a vault, and provide fast access to the science lab, which I'm guessing is where the GECK is located." Sarah nodded, "The only problem I see with that is the Muties probably have that room locked down. I say we go through this way." she pointed to a passageway to our left on the map. "These narrow passages will be less protected. Granted we will still have to fight, but the resistance will be lighter." She was proposing going through generator room, down the stairs to the living quarters, and then back up some stairs to the science lab, which could be risky, as those small hallways could be a massacre if we met up with a group of mutants. "Ok," I said, scratching my head, "How about this. Kodiak, you're an expert in stealth right?" The quiet man nodded. "Do you think you could sneak up to the Overseer's Office through here and scout the Atrium? There is a window in the office that overlooks the room." I pointed to the passageway to our right. It was the same passage I had used to escape 101. He looked at the map and nodded again. "How long do you think that would take you?" I asked. He held up three fingers, and I looked at Sarah. "Three minutes." She said. "Are you comfortable with letting him go?" I asked Sarah. She was after all the leader of this team. I was merely a guide. "Yeah, let's see what he finds. I'm fully confident in his ability." I looked back at Kodiak. "They're easy enough to sneak up on, just use a blade and stick it in the base of their neck." He nodded a third time and moved quietly over to the right to begin his scout. It was amazing how his large metal boots made absolutely no sound on the ceramic floor, a feat we had nver been able to accomplish with rubber boots as kids in 101. "Ok everyone," Sarah commanded, "Set up a perimeter and secure this room. No Muties get in until Kodiak comes back and we leave all right?" Everyone nodded at got to work. I boarded up and reinforced the door to the Atrium with some scrap wood I had found and a table. I then sat on the table and drew my AK47. Now the waiting would begin. I hoped to God that the Atrium isn't heavily guarded. I don't want to fight any more of those creatures than I have to.

Chapter 18

Everyone was on edge when Kodiak finally returned an hour later. He had written his findings down in a notebook he found in the Overseer's Office, along with a few notes of why it took him so long. I stifled a laugh at his 'had to take a leak' note. On his actual scouting notes, it read, "Office clear, untouched by Mutants. Atrium secured by Super Mutants, not heavily. Five patrol Mutants, each carrying a .32 caliber-hunting rifle. One Mutant carrying an assault rifle of some kind, maybe 5.56mm or 7.62m rounds. Easy to take out with laser and/or plasma weapons." I handed the book to Sarah and she came to the decision that the Atrium was the way to go. We all stepped back as Glade, rather than un-board the door to the Atrium, melted through it with his Gatling Laser. I led the party though the door and past a sparking generator. I drew my AK and pushed a green button on a panel. A door ahead of us slid up into the ceiling, revealing the Atrium. Kodiak then took point, and led us to where he had seen the patrols. Kodiak pulled special silencers out of his pack for the team's laser weapons, and a conventional one for mine. I screwed it on and followed Kodiak across the Atrium floor. We all did what he did to stay hidden. Ever so slowly, he went from crouching, to crawling, and we did the same. I was amazed that anyone could ever be this quiet in Power Armor. As we approached a door on the left side of the Atrium, I could hear the heavy breathing of the Super Mutants. Kodiak motioned for me to go ahead of him. I looked at Sarah and she pointed to her weapon. It was time to take out the Muties. I crawled ahead and poked my head around the corner. Two Super Mutants were seated with their backs to me at what used to be a bar. They appeared to be eating meat of some kind. I held up two fingers behind me and Paladin Vargas crawled to me, with his Plasma Rifle drawn. "On three." I whispered as quietly as possible. "One," I tensed my body, ready to get to firing position in an instant. "Two," Vargas inched his rifle upwards. "Three!" I jumped to my knee and sprayed the first Mutant, and Vargas killed the second. Within seconds both creatures lay in a pool of their own blood as their hulking bodies slumped out of the stools and to the floor. Kodiak motioned to another room to his right and crept forward.

It would be a long hour and a half as we inched our way across the Atrium, taking out patrol after patrol after patrol. There ended up being 10 patrols of 2 Mutants each, double what the initial scout said. When I asked him about it, Kodiak merely shrugged and motioned to be quiet. Once the patrols were dealt with, I led the team to the door that led to the Science Labs. According to the map, these would be much larger than those found in 101. It showed multiple individual rooms, and very narrow corridors. Sarah took one look at the map of the Science Labs and said, "Only one person is going to be able to navigate down there." The whole team, with the exception of Kodiak, who had a sudden interest in his boots, looked straight at me. I sighed. "I guess this is why I'm here isn't it?" I turned around and pressed the button on the door panel. The rusty hatch made an awful sound as it slid into the ceiling. Great, now they probably suspect something, I thought to myself. I stepped through the opening, sealing the door behind me with another awful screech. I cringed at the sound. The hallway was dark, and only lit by the flickering emergency lights. Needless to say, they didn't offer much visibility, so I flipped a switch on my helmet to turn on the night vision setting. Everything instantly became tinted green, and much clearer to see. Even so, when I rounded the first corner in front of me I fell down the old metal stairs. My armor made a very audible clang with every step. "Huh? What was that noise?" I heard a deep and scratchy voice say. Nice going James, you've alerted the whole damn vault. I cursed myself for being so stupid. "I don't know, go check out." A second, identical voice said. I unscrewed the silencer as threw it in my pack. I would have no need of it now. Instead, I reached for the bayonet I had made out of the Combat Knife. Now was a good a time as ever to use it. I secured it with a bit of leather to the barrel of my weapon and inched forward to the corner ahead.

I rounded the corner slowly, and saw the hulking figure of the Super Mutant approaching. The time for stealth was gone; the time for action was upon me. I jumped from my hiding place, yelling like a madman. "Arrgh!" The dumb creature yelled. It was too slow to react, and the combination of bullets and a blade brought him down within seconds. "Found you!" Another said. I bolted down a narrow corridor just before it opened fire. The corridor had three rooms on either side, and in one was an old desk. I pushed it out easily with the Power Armor's hydraulic strength, and barricaded the hallway. The Super Mutant was awkward enough in this narrow space, and with the desk in front of it there was no room to maneuver. For the Mutant anyway. I was light on my feet, despite the 50 pounds in armor I was wearing. I jumped over obstacles like a pre-War Olympic athlete. At the end of the corridor was a door marked "Holding Room". "That must be where the GECK resides." I said to myself as I started to jog. I could hear more Mutants behind me, gathering to move each other and the desk out of the way. Eager to get out of this place, I picked up my pace, until I heard another Mutant voice, "Please, you there, help me."

I stopped suddenly and looked into the eyes of a Super Mutant being held in one of the rooms on my right. I could tell right away he was a man, it was the remnants of a man's Vault 87 jumpsuit that he wore on his massive frame. "Yes, please, press the button on this cell door. They've kept me here, forever. Please." I glared at the Mutant. "How do I know you won't attack me?" I said, my voice giving away nothing of my intentions. The Mutant looked straight into my eyes, full of innocence and honesty, and said, "I am an outcast among my own kind. The ones that call themselves Super Mutants. I had no desire to join in the killing, so they locked me up here." He motioned to the room. "Now all I want is to get out of here, and revenge for all that they have done to me." I felt sorry for him, no one deserved to be an outcast among their own. He sounded truthfully sincere, so I pressed the big green button on the room panel. The door hissed and slid into the floor. The Mutant stepped out of his prison and said, "Ah, it is good to be out of that retched room." He stretched his massive arms. "Human, I forever in your debt. My name is Fawkes." He held his large hand out to me. I took it, and my hand was enveloped in his. "It is nice to meet to you Fawkes." I heard a crashing sound as the other Mutants broke through the barrier. "We have to go!" I yelled. "Not so fast!" He ducked back into the room and came out with a gigantic metal hammer. "This is for locking me up all those years!" Fawkes yelled. He swung the giant hammer with such force that the entire group of approaching Super Mutants were lifted off of their feet and catapulted down the corridor. The one who had taken the blow was surely dead; the others close to death or severely winded. The attack from the Mutants delayed if not over, I turned to my newfound ally. "Fawkes, do you know of a device called a GECK?" He tilted his head in thought, "Yes, I believe it resides on the other side of that door." My eyes lit up, "Do you think you could get it for me?" He looked at the door, then back to me, "Of course, dear friend. I would not expect you to go into such an irradiated room!" With those cheerful words, Fawkes stepped into the green room. .

Five long minutes later, Fawkes returned from the glowing green abyss. In his meaty hands he held a device no larger than a pre-War suitcase. "Here is the device you seek, the Garden of Eden Creation Kit." Fawkes said with pride. I took the device and put it in my pack. I looked up at Fawkes, "How were you able to do that? Go into that irradiated room and survive?" He pointed to his think green hide, "Being a Super Mutant, though I prefer the term "Meta-Human", I am extremely resistant to radiation." Good to know, the Brotherhood needs all they can get on theses creatures to defeat them. "Well, you have my thanks Fawkes." I shook his large hand once more; "Do you think you would like to travel with me?" He looked up from me and down the narrow corridor. "My friend, it would be a great honor to travel with one such as you." Lets do a quick inventory, Power Armor that is resistant to most everything, a friendly Super Mutant fighting with me, and a weapon that feels almost like part of me now. I think I'm pretty well set. "Can you show me the way out of here?" I asked the hulking man. He pointed down a corridor to my left I hadn't seen at first, "That is the fastest way out for a human such as you." He took a deep breath, "I will go the long way around. I will see you on the outside." I thought of the escort. "Fawkes, I came here with a small Brotherhood of Steel group. They don't take too kindly to Super Mu-..Meta-Humans, so to get by them, just say that you are with me and mention my whole name, James Holden Jr." He closed his eyes in thought, "Yes, I will see what I can do." He started off running, "On the other side my friend!" he yelled as he went, his heavy footfalls thundering in the distance. I too started running down my respective corridor. The walls got even narrower through this passage, and at one point I had to get sideways to make it through. "It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic." I said to myself, "That would make this real damn hard." I continued through grey passageway until I came to a small maintenance room with two regular hallways on either side. I had stopped to catch my breath when I heard the clank of metal on metal, and then an electronic whine. A blast of white light and a loud bang erupted from the left side hallway and knocked me to the ground. I saw a familiar man in a white coat, and then I blacked out.

Chapter 19

"Where the hell am I?" I asked myself. I didn't remember anything that happened after the Shock Grenade went off in the Vault. I woke up in a strange holding cell. A blue force field contained me within a seven-foot tall aluminum tube. My hands and feet were bound by some kind of electrical pulse, and I was once again wearing just an undershirt and boxers. The room in front of me was small. A strange door with a glowing blue ring on its upper half provided the only light in the room. From it I could see at least two lockers standing next to it on either side, though they were blurred by the shimmering force field. "Ah shit. I hope Fawkes made it out." Of course he did, he was a Super Mutant. He would have made it, I just hope he didn't have to kill the escort team, or worse, they killed him. Suddenly, the glowing sci-fi door rotated and slid away. The lights came on and blinded me momentarily. For the third time. When I finally was able to see, I wasn't particularly surprised to find the white-coated man in front of me. What had Sarah called him? August, Autumn, Augustus Autumn! Colonel Augustus Autumn, commanding officer of the Enclave forces. "Hello son," Autumn said in the same southern accent I had heard in the purifier, "I suppose you're wondering why we brought you here." He looked at me, a cocky look in his eye. "Well that's easy. We have a purifier, and since your dad wasn't willing to cooperate, you're the only one left who knows the code." Code? I didn't know any code. Only my dad knew the code to start Project…Something dawned on me. The Bible verse, Revelation 21:6. 216 was the activation code! No use in telling him I knew it, "I would never give that code even if I knew it." The colonel chuckled, "You have to know it son, we know you were in on his plan the whole time." Man, these people really don't know that dad just abandoned me in the vault. "I had no idea what dad was up to until I found him in Vault 112." I said as convincingly as possible, "Even then he only outlined his plan, he gave me nothing in terms of details. He probably didn't even trust me." I was just flat out lying now. He started to open his mouth, his hand hovering over the pistol at his side, but a rotating orb above his head started to talk. I must be going crazy, I thought. "Colonel, can you tell me why you are treating our guest like this?" a gentle voice said. "Mr. President I just…" "Just what Augustus? You will stop this interrogation at once. I have need for you in the war room." The orb said. "Yes, sir." The colonel mumbled as he walked out the door. The glowing orb which resembled an eye looked at me, " He didn't hurt you did he?" not sure what to say, I kept silent. "Ah, you probably have no idea who I am. Here, I will release you. Your gear is in these lockers. Meet me in my office just up the hall. It's time we meet face to face."

As soon as the orb stopped talking the energy bonds released me. I dropped to the floor and stretched. As I approached the lockers I heard the locks disengage and the doors flung open. In the locker to my right was my suit of Power Armor, and in the left was my AK47 and supplies from the Vault 87 trip. It took about ten minutes to disassemble the Power Armor and reassemble it around me, but eventually I finished. Felt good to be enclosed in the fortress of metal. I didn't trust these people anyway, so I could really care less if I kept the so-called president waiting. I picked up my AK7 and inspected it for any damage that may have been done to it by these Enclave people. Once I was satisfied that it was still in proper condition, save for a few minor chips in the polished wood, I packed my supplies back into my bag and turned to the door. As I stepped towards it, it began to buzz and it rotated open as it had done for the Colonel. Outside was a metal catwalk no more than a few inches off the ground. The floor underneath glowed blue with arcs of electricity. I started down the metal catwalk, my boots clanking against it as I went. I passed Enclave soldiers standing at attention on my way. They looked identical to the ones that had been killed by my dad. I got a better look at their armor in the bright light of the corridor. It seemed to be an adaptation of my t45-d armor, only the helmet was fitted with two horn-like radio antennas, and the eye slit was replace by two glowing orbs. The square metal plate in the front had been removed and replaced by a torso shaped breastplate. The legs had additional armor protecting them. It would be hard taking down these guys in a fight. "First door on your right James." The president said. I jumped out of my skin at the sound of it. Damn surprises, I've been in the Capital Wasteland for, uh, however long and I'm still not used to them? That can't be good. I gathered myself up and found the door the president had mentioned. Again it buzzed and rotated, then slid away. This time, it revealed staircase, leading to another and another and another, all thew way to a large shape at the top. The room had to be about 20 feet tall. "All right," I said, cracking my knuckles, "Let's get to it."

About ten minutes and a Charlie horse later, I finally made it to the top of the stairs. My calf muscle throbbed with pain, but I dealt with it and half walked, half limped the final staircase of five. I stepped onto the landing, and was met by a large blue screen. A pot of white lilies sat to the right, an ironic site. The leader of the maelstrom of death Enclave has I soft spot for flowers, how cute, I thought, smirking. Many large industrial electrical cables were connected to the monitor's body. It must be taking in a helluva lot of electricity. A white line appeared on screen. "Hello James." The screen said, the white line moving erratically. "I am President John Henry Eden, welcome to my home." I looked up at the strange screen, "You said we were going to be meeting face to face Mr. President, stop hiding behind that screen and show yourself!" The screen chuckled, "My dear boy, this is me." I stared at the screen for a couple seconds until it came to me. Those cables, the screen, the somewhat electronic sounding voice, this was a self-aware AI computer! "What are you?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. "I am technically a ZAX 6000 Artificial Intelligence unit." The computer paused, as if unsure, "But in actuality, I am the President of these United States of America. Sure she may look a little different, but this is America, and I intend on rebuilding." I decided there and then that whatever it asked me, I would deny, and that because it was a computer, I should be able to outwit it. It was just a computer right? "I thought the Brotherhood was rebuilding." I said to the machine. The screen went from blue to light red in an instant, "The Brotherhood of Steel will fail. All those who oppose the Enclave will fail. I am President John Henry Eden, and this is my pledge: No one, NO ONE will take this great nation away from me."

A crazy computer hell-bent on destroying the world in the name of patriotism? Great. "So, eh, Mr. President, why did you ask me here?" The screen turned back to a comforting blue, "Ah yes, my request." A small circular hole opened under the screen, and a vial of slimy green liquid slid out. "This vial contains a modified strain of Forced Evolutionary Virus, or FEV." The screen switched from the white line to a depiction of Super Mutants and ghouls drinking water and then dying. "After you help us restart the purifier, I want you to inject this into the water supply. It will have no effect on humans, but will kill any and all mutants or non-pure humans that drink from it." I don't know if a machine can smile, but it sure seemed like it. "The United States will be free of the un-pure and take it's first step in achieving its former glory." After the machine stopped laughing to itself, it asked, "Will you do I as I ask? Or will this military base become your tomb?" Military base? I thought this was a command and control center, not a full-fledged military base. Suddenly my "Don't accept any offer he makes" attitude doesn't seem so brilliant. Before I knew what I wanted to say, my mouth had already uttered the words, "I'll do it Mr. President." The machine whirred as if in approval, "Excellent, the way out is through the door there." A thought started to formulate in my mind. Outwit the computer? "Mr. President, you said you are machine right?" The computer, which had started to go into some sort of a sleep mode, came back to attention, "Yes, why do you ask again?" Good, I thought, Its taking the bait. "Well I was just thinking, how does a machine run a government?" After a moment, the computer answered, "Well that's and easy one. We are perfect unlike humans, therefore unable to make a mistake." I shook my head as if unsure, "Humans may not be perfect, but we have the ability to reason. To form opinions, to comrpomise. Machines don't have that ability and they never will. Youa ren't fit to run a government, a republic needs different views to succeed, not a dictatoship." The screen turned a lighter shade of blue, "Error, error, contradiction in logic." It was in this moment, I knew I had broken the computer's self-awareness, and that I had complete control over it. "You have been a tyrant to the people of the wastes, and it is time to let go." I said. I didn't know if the base had one, but it was worth a shot to try, "Execute self-destruction sequence." The machine whirred, "Command accepted. T-Minus 2 minutes."

I turned to the door the former president had mentioned earlier. The walls rumbled around me as I turned the cold metal handle. The lock clicked and I stumbled through the door as the floor shook. A series of explosions rang out on both side of the small tunnel I now ran in. The walls were made of rock and the metal pathway was the same as the one outside my former cell. Sentry Bots, heavy-duty military security robots armed with missile launchers and Gatling guns in their arms, rolled out of two forks in the tunnel and down the hall towards a door on my left. I picked up my pace to see what they were rolling off to. By the time I got to the window next to the door I only caught a glimpse of olive drab and landing gear, but I knew what had gone down. That coward Colonel Autumn had taken his entourage of Sentry Bots and flown away in his Vertibird, leaving his own soldiers here to die. "I am going to kill you Colonel Autumn." I said to myself, "I swear that right now." I continued down the tunnel until I saw a set of double doors. The explosions kept getting louder. I held my PIP-Boy up to my arm as I ran toward salvation. 30 seconds left until utter destruction. I summoned my last reserves of energy and surged towards the doors. I leaped with all my might and crashed through the double doors just as I heard the largest explosion go off. Daylight reached my eyes and I went crashing down a set of stone stairs and to the Wasteland dirt. I picked myself up with my arms and looked up from the ground just in time to see the biggest fireball I have ever seen burst into the sky. The large mound of rock in front of me started to crumble before my eyes. The roof caved in and smoke poured out. A lone Vertibird flew in the distance, Autumn. Every inch of my body ached from the fall. I tried to get up but my legs wouldn't respond and I slumped to the ground. Weakness seeped into me as I let me head fall to the ground. I heard heavy footsteps. Oh no, I thought, the Enclave is coming for me. I closed my eyes and readied myself for death, until I felt two massive hands on my shoulders pull me to my feet. "I had hoped I would find you here, friend." Fawkes said, "Where to next?"

I stood in a Vertibird that the Brotherhood of Steel had captured from the Enclave some ways back. Fawkes had chosen to travel with the Brotherhood's ground forces. Apparently the burly Super Mutants had escaped the vault with the help of my escort. They had known instantly he wasn't hostile due to his still wearing somewhat normal clothes, and his ability to talk with sense. The small group then proceeded to the vault door, where they witnessed the Enclave Vertibird, carrying me and my captors, flying to the north. The Brotherhood knew the Enclave had some sort of military base to the northwest, but they had never been able to pinpoint it's location, therefore, unable to attack. With the radio receivers they had brought along, they hacked the Vertibird's radio frequency, right as the pilots were confirming the coordinates. The Enclave unwittingly led the Brotherhood straight to them. The boys and girls in Power Armor were readying their assault on Raven Rock, as it was called, when I "convinced" the president to self-destruct. The last thing they expected to see was my beaten figure fall into the sunlight, Power Armor and all. The last thing I expected to see was a Super Mutant wielding a Gatling Laser, but this is the Capital Wasteland. Fawkes had seen me tumble through the door and ran to my side. Once I was on my feet, Sarah had asked how I was doing, how I managed to destroy the most secure military base in existence single-handedly, and if I wanted to walk or fly back to The Citadel. Obviously I chose to fly, and that brings us to the present. "Brotherhood V-Bird 1 Contacting Citadel flight control, over." One of the pilots said over the radio. An Initiate's voice crackled back, telling us we were clear to land. I felt the strangely quiet machine lurch as we descended, and finally a sharp bump as we hit the ground. The rear hatch hissed open, and I limped out, with the rest of the Lyons Pride in tow. "You must have had quite a day young James." Elder Lyons remarked as I lurched toward him. "Well taking down an entire military base accidentally isn't quite as fun as you might think." I said with a painful smile. The old man smiled back, "Come now James, we are readying our assault on Project Purity. We need a few more days of preparation, but for now I want to show you something." He pointed to the B-Ring door and started walking. I obliged, and followed, wondering what he could possibly want to show me.

Chapter 20

What he showed me nearly made me fall flat on the floor. It was so beautifully crafted, so well made, it was awe-inspiring. It glowed, with a fierce electrical energy, much more powerful than my own Plasma Rifle. "This," Lyons said, "Is our key to ultimate victory over the Enclave." The tubular weapon was no more than 3 feet long, but the lightning bolts that danced inside told that it was a terrible weapon, capable of causing many casualties. "We call it, the Tesla Cannon." The Elder hefted it onto his shoulder, a surprising accomplishment for a man his age, and grabbed an Electron Charge Pack from the shelf in the corner or the dark room. He stuffed the small yellow cylinder into a small slot on the back of the weapon, and pressed a button on the wall. A section of the ruined wall opened to reveal a small firing range. "Ah the wonders of the pre-War government." Lyons remarked. Three small wooden targets stood tightly grouped in the middle, much like an Enclave assault force would line up. The figures wore suits of Enclave Tesla Armor, with only their heads showing. Tesla Armor is much like Power Armor, except for the fact it uses an electrical field to repel attacks. Lyons eased his finger onto the thin trigger and squeezed. A brilliant blue beam of electricity surged out of the barrel. The beam exploded downrange into a bright ball of lightning and disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The Tesla Armor shorted out shortly after, and the wooden targets burst into flames. It was all over in less than two seconds but the weapon had proved itself. "As you can see," the Elder said, "This is a weapon capable of producing massive damage to the unfortunate soul to have it turned on him" He slowly put the large weapon down on it's original resting place, lighting still dancing inside. I looked to the Cannon, and back to Elder Lyons, "When do I get to use it?" Lyons chuckled, "In good time my friend, all in good time."

I followed Lyons out of the B-Ring of the Citadel and into the laboratory, where the giant robot known as Liberty Prime stood. A Scribe worked at the terminal connected to the enormous machine's mainframe. "We should have Prime online in a matter of hours." Lyons said with confidence, "I have already spoken to Sarah and we have made battle plans. You and the Lyons Pride will go in using the robot as support." I nodded my approval at what sounded like a sound plan. "So we use this giant nuke lobbing robot to smash through and then we handle the delicate work re-taking the Purifier?" The Elder nodded, "That is about right." He gestured to another door, one I hadn't noticed before. It looked like the same metal door like I had seen going into Vault 112, but it was larger, the central door accompanied by two metal plates, most likely for extra protection. Whatever this room contained, it must have been pretty important to the pre-War government. "Step inside that door. You may need some extra protection, and Sarah and I have been saving it for just this occasion." He pressed a beaten blue button and the door creaked. The two metal plates on either side folded in half, and then slid aside, and the metal door unlocked and slid half into the floor, and half into the ceiling. Lyons pushed me inside and sealed the door behind me. I turned on my PIP-Boy light to illuminate a dark hallway, leading to some sort of chamber. I could hear the whirring and clicking of machinery. A strange blue glow radiated from the chamber. It wasn't as bright as the Tesla Cannon, or as dull as the lights in Vault 101. This must be big, I thought. As I drew closer, I heard a more distinct sound, not a computer whirring or a system ticking, but the subtle hum of a life support system. Air and pressure where being controlled. I finally stepped into the chamber, and found what Lyons had sent me in for. The suit of Power Armor looked more refined than the t45-d model I was wearing. The helmet was the same but the body was more shaped to a human form, no bulky square breastplate. A plaque on the bottom of the life support pod read, "t51-b Power Armor. Developed by the US Government, 2076. Lets go beat them Reds!" I could hardly believe it. T51-b Armor was the stuff that had won back Anchorage, Alaska before the bombs dropped. It was amazing. I noticed a flashing green button on a console to my right. Curious, I pressed it, and the life support pod slid open. The helmet of the suit rose and the front portion of the suit was pulled away. "Oh hell yes." I said, and stepped into the pod."

I felt lighter than I ever had wearing a suit of Power Armor. The older suit of t45-d armor was large, hot and clunky. This t51-b stuff felt close to my body, like it was protecting me, but yet very, very light. I was even able walk up three flights of stairs without resting! I emerged from the chamber to find the Elder and the Lyons Pride waiting. Their faces tinted a slight shade of green from the eye slit. "So," I asked, "How do I look?" Sarah stepped forward, laughing; "You look great superstar." I looked up at Liberty Prime, our nuke lobbing, laser eyed guide robot, and then to the Brotherhood Scribe working at the control terminal. "It is really gonna be operational?" I asked, with absolutely no doubt whatsoever. The Elder smirked, "Or course it is, now get some rest. I have delivered an ultimatum via radio to the Enclave. We assault the Purifier tomorrow." The Elder giving an ultimatum to a superior army with superior weapons? Yeah that sounds about right. "What was the ultimatum?" I asked, more for my own amusement than anything else. The old man smiled, "This is for the Enclave. The men and women in Power Armor are coming for you. You have 24 hours to comply, or you will face the wrath of Steel on your entire operation."

Chapter 21

"Ah man, of course the one day I have to go to war…" I grumbled as I got out of bed. My back was stiff, my arms were numb, and I was hungry as a starved Brahmin. Sarah burst through the door just as I was starting my meager breakfast. "Look alive Holden, Enclave just fired a return at us. They are ready whenever we are, meaning we are going to have to face down the whole of the Enclave forced here at the Citadel if we don't attack first!" As usual she was already dressed in full Power Armor and ready to go. I hadn't even eaten an irradiated bagel yet. "Ok, ok. I'll go get ready." I mumbled. I muscled the Power Armor onto my arms to make the rest of the suit easier. The numbness in my arms quickly subsided and I rolled my shoulders. It felt good to stretch. An explosion went off in the distance, and I quickened my pace. Breakfast could wait until after I saved what was left of the world. Still pulling the left leg of the t51 on my body I hopped out the door to the Lab of the Citadel and into the busy room.

When I got there the Elder and the Lyons Pride was just assembling. Good, I wasn't the last one for once. I took my place next to Paladin Kodiak, or Silent Treatment as I called him. "Good morning everyone." Elder Lyons said once we were all present over the din of the rushing Scribes. "The Enclave threat is on the move, and that means we have to counter it." A scribe wheeled in a large map of the Capital Wasteland on cue, with only the Citadel, the Jefferson Memorial, and a long winding road connecting them displayed. "You will need to navigate this heavily fortified road to the Purifier. Liberty Prime will most likely clear most of the way, but I want snipers on the nests in the roof, and Fat Mans in the lookouts. Nothing gets into this Citadel!" Sarah nodded, "Pride, move out!" The Lyons Pride lined up in sets of two and we ran towards the door to the Courtyard. An unseen crane started to life the enormous robot out of its cast iron cage. "Designation: Liberty Prime, Mission: Liberate Anchorage, Alaska from the Red Chinese." It said in a thunderous voice. They must have re-programmed it to think the Enclave were the Chinese. Isn't irony a bitch? I pushed through the blue double doors out into the dull yellow light of day. Artillery shells burst all around the Citadel, but none managed to clear the high walls of the heavily fortified structure. Liberty Prime was lifted across the courtyard, his foot hitting the tip of the highest wall on the way out. The robot swayed like a branch in the breeze but was still lowered to the ground, just out of sight. A thunderous boom shook the ground as Liberty Prime hit the ground. "Mission objectives clear. Communism shall never stain the shining star of democracy!" Prime's voice boomed above the whistle of artillery and sniper fire. The Pride reached the bridge across the Potomac River, and I finally got to the see the giant robot in action. It was a magnificent sight to see a 50-foot robot lobbing nukes at your enemy. This would be the most fun for us, and almost impossible for them.

We made swift progress. The robot led the way as we cut through the lines of Enclave defenders. Many Vertibirds had tried and failed to get a lucky shot on Prime, all shot down by the brilliant blue lasers that the robot could generate, the rest being mopped up by the Tesla Cannon support group. Another magnificent fireball erupted as Prim threw his baby nukes at the enemy. The Pride marched behind the robot, mopping up the remaining resistance as we strolled down the main street to Project Purity. Only one thing stood in our way now and that was the Enclave's force fields. It was their final line of defense, and the Jefferson Memorial was almost unprotected after that. If the robot could get through, we were assured a victory. The water of the Potomac River lapped at the banks as we crossed the bridge to the Memorial. My dad's words echoed in my mind, Revelation 21:6, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give unto him that is the fountain of the waters of life freely." "We're almost there dad," I whispered, "We're almost there." The rotunda of marble was shrouded in blue from the force field, but easily recognizable. The pipes that protruded sat idle, waiting for the command to do their job. "We are almost there Pride! The robot will put down this force field, and then we assault the interior!" Sarah yelled over another explosion. "Obstruction detected," The robot boomed. "Composition, Metallic compounds assisted by photonic resonance generator. Chance of mission hindrance, zero percent." The lasers once again blasted from he robot's eyes and the force field disintegrated in a brilliant burst of blue energy. "Holding position." Prime said. "Pride, charge!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and drew my AK-47. It felt good to have it back in my hands after such a long time without using it. I kicked down the door to the interior of the Memorial, and I was immediately met by an Enclave sentry. "Dropping hostile!" He said, just like the rest of the brainwashed zombies that call themselves soldiers. He went down like a rock with two the chest. Their Power Armor, I found, wasn't very useful, despite it's extra armor. I turned a corner and part of a plasma rifle's discharge caught me. "Damn!" I hissed and opened an arm plate. "What is it?" Sarah said, sliding up next to me. "Damn Enclave Plasma burned my arm." I grunted. The flesh on my arm was already festering, turning an ugly shade of red. "Can you fight?" Sarah said over the firefight that had broken out. "Yeah, no problem." I said, picking up my AK, "No problem at all."

The ensuing firefight lasted ten minutes. I dropped up and down from cover over 100 times I guessed. Each time another soldier would drop, only to have two more replace him, but the Pride remained strong and we held our own. Eventually, the stores of soldiers seemed to run out, and the final one went down. We walked, exhausted from the fight, into the final room before the rotunda, to find an injured soldier in the corner, fighting for his every breath. "Why?" He wheezed, "Why…Have you done…This?" I just stared at him and said, "Justice." I fired a single round straight to his heart, and the man was put out of his misery. "You could have let him live." Sarah said. I turned to see the whole Pride watching, even Kodiak. I sighed, "I'm sorry that I haven't shown more mercy, but how would you fight if you dad had been killed in cold blood by murderers?" Sarah just looked sad and said in a quiet voice; "Your dad killed himself to save you. He understood sacrifice. This isn't about revenge James, this is about the good of humanity." And that was when it hit me. My fight, my drive, my sense of purpose had all been fueled by my desire to get back at the Enclave for killing my father, a deed that they did not even commit. They may have caused it, but my dad had sacrificed himself to save me. He wouldn't approve of what I was doing. "You're right." I said, tears in my eyes. "Come on, let's finish this, Once and for all."

The black door was edged open by Sarah and Kodiak and I pushed through. "You persistent little son of a bitch. Why do you insist on provoking us?" Colonel Autumn said, Laser Pistol raised and ready to fire. "Look Autumn, We aren't here to hear your rants about the Enclave's dominance, we just want the purifier." Sarah said before I could open my mouth. "Well that's a shame," Autumn said, "because you can't have it." He motioned to his left and right. Two soldiers stepped out, one wielding a Gatling Laser, and the other a Minigun. The crazy Colonel laughed and laughed, right up until the moment when the world's only friendly Super Mutant burst through the door. Fawkes screamed at the top of his lungs and unloaded his own Gatling Laser on our adversaries. Colonel Autumn was dead before he hit the floor. The two soldiers were not so lucky. Caught off guard they had stumbled and fallen into a gap in the walkway, a gap that led to the water filters. They would drown before anyone could help them. "Fawkes you crazy Meta!" I said and slapped his back. "Yes my friend, I knew you would need assistance, but the large robot would not let me through!" He said. I laughed, "Well it's good to know his programming works." Then I heard static. "Hello? Is anyone there? This is Doctor Li." Sarah pressed the return button and said something I couldn't quite make out. "If I'm reading this right," Dr. Li said, "There are dangerously high levels of radiation in the chamber. Someone is going to have to activate the purifier or the whole system could explode."

Sarah hung her head and smashed her fist against a pipe. "Well so much for celebration." I said under my breath. Sarah collected herself; "Someone is going to have to go in there." Before anyone could speak up I said, "I'll do it." Immediately thinking of my dad. "No one argue, I'm doing it and that is final." Sarah opened her mouth, but closed it just as fast. "But my friend," Fawkes said with concern, "I could do it without any ill consequences, you will most certainly face death!" I looked to the blast door ahead and saw a vision of my dad in his last moments, his hand on the door, telling me to run. "No, I have to do this." I began up the metal steps and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Kodiak, bring up his hands and remove his helmet. "I will miss you Brother." He said in a very smooth, even voice. So he was an African American. I was probably the first to hear him talk and probably the last. I took my helmet off as well, "You as well, Brother." I shook his hand and while the Pride watched, I stepped into the irradiated chamber. My PIP-Boy's Geiger counter exploded with activity. The panel was numbered one through nine, accepting a three-digit code. Dad had never told me the code. He never had needed to. His words echoed one last time, Revelation 21:6. I punched 2, then 1, then the final 6. The chamber erupted with noise as the Potomac River's water was purged from the system and into the filters. My legs went limp and I fell to my knees, by life flashed before my eyes and I saw it. I saw our entry into Vault 101, I saw my mother's face. I saw everything in vivid detail. My vision started to fade, and I heard my dad's voice, Son, I am so proud of you. I smiled weakly and whispered, "Thank God for that." I closed my eyes and let my body settle as I felt the life that had carried me through the wasteland's many trials, drain out of my body.