2287, Present Day
For seventeen years, Codsworth and Nina lived in relative peace.
Sanctuary wasn't a great place, not like it was in its glory days - but it was their home, the only safe haven they had from the hostilities of the Boston wasteland. For numerous decades, Codsworth hated that Sanctuary had been abandoned, leaving him with no one to talk to, no one to serve - but now, the lonely isolation was more of a blessing than a curse. After all, being alone in Sanctuary made it possible for Codsworth to care for Nina without fear of raiders, mutants, ghouls, or any other threats. Over the years, travelers would breeze through town, but they never stayed long. Most people didn't know about Sanctuary, and since it was an empty husk of a neighborhood with nothing of real value to loot, Sanctuary was left to its own devices.
Codsworth and Nina lived in one of the homes at the edge of the culdesac, overlooking the entrance to Sanctuary and the creek that ran under its bridge. The town was surrounded by trees, many of them dead, many others flourishing with life, the leaves fading amber as autumn took over. It was beautiful in a way, and very peaceful compared to most places. Still, Nina grew restless as days passed by, never meeting new people and never leaving home.
Today, she sat on the hillside overlooking the creek, holding a hammer and waiting for the bugs to draw closer. There were three bloodbugs flying around near the water's edge, and Nina cooked a mean bloodbug steak; she hoped she'd be able to catch one today.
Nina hunched in the tall grass, blowing a strand of hair from her face and tightening her grasp on the hammer. If she made a noise, the bugs would come closer to her, and that might make her job easier... but Codsworth always warned her not to get too close to bloodbugs. If they sucked enough of your blood, you might pass out, or even die.
Could she kill them before they sucked her blood? She wasn't sure. Should she risk it?
"I can handle it," she whispered, inching closer to the bugs.
As the bugs buzzed about, Nina drew nearer. She stepped n a twig and snapped it, and instantly, the bloodbugs rounded on her.
All three of them swarmed her, and suddenly in a panic, Nina swung the hammer, smashing one of the bloodbugs and sending it hurtling into the grass.
The remaining two were agitated; Nina swung at them frantically, though she wasn't able to see clearly amidst all the movement.
The closest bloodbug landed on her chest, pressing its needle-like mouth into her throat.
Nina grew faint as the bug drank from her, but after a moment, she snapped back to her senses; she grabbed the bug by its wings and ripped it off of her, tearing the wings off its body.
"Miss Nina!"
Codsworth zoomed out of their house, raising his buzzsaw and slashing at the last bloodbug. He sliced the insect in half.
Nina was still holding the wingless bloodbug, staring at it as it wiggled and squirmed uselessly in her grasp. Codsworth gently plucked the insect from her hands, held it up, and pressed his flamer tool into it, lighting it ablaze and tossing it aside.
"Whew..." Nina breathed, wiping a thick smudge of blood from her neck. "That was close."
"Miss Nina, I've asked you not to go hunting by yourself," Codsworth stated. "It's dangerous."
"It's just bloodbugs," Nina shrugged. "It's not a big deal, Codsy."
"Not a big deal? You've got a gaping hole in your neck."
"I'm fine..."
"You have got to be more careful."
"But I'm fine, Codsy."
Codsworth sighed. "I suppose you are. I just hate to see anything happen to you."
"That's why I have you," Nina smirked, patting his metal head.
Codsworth saluted, adjusting the bowler hat atop his head. Nina found the hat when she was five and put it on him, and he hadn't removed it since.
The two of them gathered the bloodbugs and carried them off to the grill outside of their house, Codsworth lighting the charcoal ablaze and stripping the exoskeletons from the bodies before cooking them.
"Did you make your bed this morning, Miss Nina?" he asked, flipping one of the bloodbug filets.
"Yes..." Nina murmured.
"And you took a bath, yes?"
"Yes..."
"Very good, then."
Nina stood beside him for a moment, simply watching. She considered asking him about the outside world again; many times in the past, she'd ask what the rest of the world was like, if she could travel, if Codsworth would approve of her exploring. But Codsworth repeatedly warned her of the dangers of the outside world, and Nina grew weary of his warnings. He didn't understand how restless she felt. It wasn't for lack of compassion - in truth, Codsworth was as empathetic as he was protective, as his robotic nature didn't get in the way of sentiment - but he simply didn't understand her boredom, her emptiness. She often felt like she ought to be doing something with her life, though she wasn't sure what yet.
"Codsy... I'm gonna go check the water pump," Nina said. "See what it gives me today."
"Very good, Miss. Be careful. Avoid the bridge."
"I know."
Nina wandered down the hill, glimpsing over her shoulder and seeing that Codsworth was focused entirely on his grilling, none of his three eyes following her trail.
She reached the bottom of the hill and rounded the corner, stopping at the bridge and the rusty water pump beside it. Often times, she questioned why they bothered with a water pump when they had a small river right next to their home, but she dismissed the thought and inched closer to the bridge, forgetting her original task.
For many years, the bridge leading out of Sanctuary was intimidating, like a mysterious gateway leading to a dangerous land beyond her home. Now, however, it felt more like a welcoming passage to a new adventure; each day, she felt less and less anxious about the bridge. Codsworth always requested that she never cross it, that anything outside of Sanctuary was a threat... but oddly, now, she couldn't help herself. Her legs carried her over the bridge, the wood creaking beneath her feet. But she wasn't to blame; she didn't choose to cross the bridge. Her legs were moving on their own, entirely without command from her.
When she reached the middle of the bridge, however, a pinch of anxiety returned to her, making her brisk stride halt on a dime; she glanced back at Sanctuary, hoping that Codsworth wouldn't catch her. Should she go back, play it safe?
Or should she press on?
She couldn't live in fear of the unknown forever, that was a fact. Codsworth was her best friend, and she loved him... but Nina wasn't a child anymore. She had to face the world sooner or later.
Gulping and bracing herself, she marched across the rest of the bridge. She wouldn't be gone long; she'd look around and observe the environment around Sanctuary, then she'd go back and collect water from the pump. Codsworth would never know she left.
When she tried to follow the road, she stopped dead, swallowing a gasp. A few feet away were two corpses; a dead man in a trench coat and a dead, emaciated dog with a tire iron lodged in its ribcage.
For a full minute, Nina simply stared at them. Then, when the smell slithered up her nose, she snapped back to reality and covered her face with one hand, trying not to gag.
Nina almost walked past them, but then remembered what Codsworth taught her from an early age; always hold onto anything useful. Growing up, Nina taught herself how to pick locks and scavenge for useful materials throughout Sanctuary. Perhaps this dead man had something useful on his person.
So, Nina knelt and hesitantly slid her hands into each of his pockets, finding a small sock full of bottle caps and a handful of loose bullets. Holding her breath, she flipped the corpse over, seeing that he had a 10mm pistol on his hip.
She carefully removed the gun and holster from the man, fastening the belt around herself. After checking the clip in the gun, she slipped it back into its holster, which now sat on her hip.
Nina gave the man a brief, sad stare before pressing onward, toward a building just a bit further down the street. It was a gas station, or perhaps a diner, with an open garage and a restaurant area, and the top was decorated with a huge red rocket.
"Whoa... what is this place?" Nina whispered, fascinated. "What's it for?"
Compared to everything she'd read in magazines and comic books, the gas station wasn't especially impressive... but now, she was facing a real place, not a picture in a book. It was the first building she'd seen up close apart from one of the shambled Sanctuary homes. She was almost tempted to find a way to climb it; growing up alone in Sanctuary, she never had anyone to play with, so she amused herself by climbing and jumping from structure to structure. Parkour was a fun game in itself, even if you had no one to do it with.
Not thinking, Nina inched closer to the place, grinning and wondering what the dangling hose was for. Perhaps those old-world machines people once drove around in? That must've been it.
As she stepped into the parking lot, she caught a glint of movement out of the corner of her eye. Nina froze, staring at the door hanging ajar; a creature galloped out, darting toward her and barking playfully.
The dog stumbled to a stop at her feet, holding a tattered and drool-ridden teddy bear in its mouth. It was a fully-grown German Shepherd.
"Um..." Nina stuttered, holding out a hand. "Are you... friendly?"
The dog barked happily and rubbed his face into her palm. Nina pet him, relieved to find that he was tame. She felt a leather collar on his neck.
"You lose your owner?" Nina asked.
The dog licked her hand, leaving no inch of her skin dry.
"Okay... you wanna stay with me?" Nina smiled.
The dog barked again, jumping in place and spinning around, darting around the parking lot.
For a little while, Nina enjoyed herself by dangling the destroyed teddy bear and running around as the dog chased her and tackled her, overjoyed to play tug-of-war with the mutilated toy. After fifteen minutes of playing, Nina giggled, pushing the dog off her and wiping a streak of dog saliva off her cheek.
She reared around, glimpsing at the bridge and feeling a stab of guilt. How long had she been gone? Codsworth might've noticed her disappearance by now. She didn't want to go back yet, but she didn't want to worry him either.
"Okay... five more minutes," Nina decided, scratching behind the dog's ears. "We can play for five more minutes, then I have to go back home. Kay? You can come with me, if you want."
The dog placed its front paws on her chest, jumping on top of her again and ambushing her with his flat, sloppy tongue.
Just when Nina was about to entice the dog into another game of tug-of-war, a noise in the distance caught her attention.
It sounded far away, but not incredibly far. Distant, but within walking distance. Then, it happened again. Soon, the atmosphere was filled with the sounds, the ambient bangs and pops.
Gunshots.
"What's...?" Nina reached her feet, her feelings of joy and excitement quickly morphing into anxiousness and worry.
She listened to the noise for a moment. The dog whimpered warily, flattening its ears and growling at the general direction of the noises.
Nina stared down the hill beside the Red Rocket Station. Close by was a collection of buildings, different from both the gas station and the Sanctuary homes; it was a conglomeration of buildings, a town. She hadn't noticed it until now. It was the source of the noise.
Everything in her mind was screaming at her, commanding her to go back, to take the dog to Sanctuary and lay low from the danger. Still, strangely enough, she marched down the hill and approached the sound of the conflict, stealthily creeping her way into Concord.
The dog followed along behind her. Nina stopped behind the nearest building, peeking around the corner and surveying the situation; on the main street, people were trading gunfire, many of them wearing strange leather and metal hunks of armor. They all seemed to be focused on the building at the end of the street, the museum. There were a few corpses lying around the museum's entrance, and on the third floor, Nina was able to see a man in uniform standing on the balcony, hunching for cover and returning fire to the raiders.
He's cornered, Nina figured. He's cornered, and his friends are dying.
Then, something happened that made her heart skip a beat; the man on the balcony shot a beam of red light, hitting a raider squarely in the chest and sending him flying backward. The dead raider landed feet away from Nina and the dog.
Nina's hands clamped over her mouth, her eyes lost in the fresh corpse. After a moment of shock, she shook off the feeling and grabbed the arm of the dead body, sneakily sliding him behind the building so she could search him properly. Again, she felt a wave of nausea overcome her, but she held her breath and sifted through the raider's pockets, finding a handful of bullets and a single stimpack.
Nina gulped, leaning around the corner again and watching as the man in the balcony continued to kill the raiders one by one. For a one-man army facing bad odds, he was doing quite well. Still, many people wearing similar uniforms were lying dead in the street, and Nina could only assume that he was the last man standing. It was only a matter of time before these raiders got the upper hand against him.
What could she do? She'd killed countless creatures in the past, but never a person. She had a gun now; would she have the nerve to fight? She wasn't sure.
Gulping and forcing herself into an artificial composure, Nina gripped her pistol tightly and slipped around the corner, carefully approaching the situation. Luckily, most of the raiders nearest to her had fallen already, but the ones outside of the museum were still firing haphazardly up at the balcony.
Summoning a nerve she never had before, Nina aligned the sights with the head of the closest raider. With the single pull of a trigger, the man's head exploded into flesh and bone fragments, dead before he hit the ground.
The others spun around, startled and furious.
Nina's heart jumped; she darted across the street and vaulted over a fence in the alleyway, circling around the building and approaching once more. The dog ran into the fight as well; the raiders took shots at the dog, effectively distracting them from Nina.
She fired a second time, and another raider bit the dust.
Her stomach churned; Nina wanted desperately to vomit, but she forced the feeling down and carried on. Now wasn't the time.
Some of the raiders scattered and hid, fearing that Nina and the dog were the beginning of an ambush, but one of them remained in front of the museum's entrance. Just when Nina was about to take another fateful shot, the dog pummeled into the raider and sank his fangs into the man's neck, tearing a chunk from his throat and knocking him to the cement. The raider's head bashed against the concrete stoop of the museum, and then, he went motionless.
Nina heaved a few heavy breaths, suddenly convinced that she was dreaming. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Would she wake up from this soon, greeted by Codsworth delivering her breakfast and requesting that she make her bed?
"I..." Nina breathed, her eyes scanning over the nearby corpses and concluding that she was not, in fact, lost to a dream. "I... I did it. I knew I could do it..."
"Hey!" the man screamed from the balcony, waving frantically at her. "We're cornered up here! There's only five of us left! Grab that laser musket and help us! Please!"
Nina blinked up at him, then looked down and spotted one of the large, strange guns lying beside one of the Minutemen's corpses. Part of her wanted to turn back, to return to the safety of her old, sheltered life... but another part of her, a part that she never knew existed, insisted that she press on.
"Mu'm?"
Codsworth hovered around the water pump, his eyes double and triple-examining the environment. Apart from the radroaches in one of the houses, he didn't sense any other lifeforms. Usually, he'd find Nina by feeling that familiar blip of warm energy, usually either climbing trees or scavenging in one of the homes. Now, however, he felt nothing no matter how many times he activated his sensors.
He floated up toward the pathway to the vault, but still, he sensed nothing. He checked the water's edge along the creek, yet still, he didn't find her.
He stopped at the bridge, a spark of worry rising in his nuclear core.
Codsworth hovered over the bridge, paying no mind to the corpses of the man and the dog. He stopped at Red Rocket and ran his scanners again, but his sensors found nothing.
"Where on earth could she...?"
He heard the firefight from Concord, perking up and focusing his mechanical eyes on the town. The gunshots rang through the air, as well as the blasting noise from the balcony man's laser musket.
Codsworth felt a rush of concern. "Oh dear..."
He entered Concord in a hurry.