Part Two

Six months went by in a flash. In fact, at the time, it was the fastest any period of time had ever gone by for me. Looking back now, I kind of regret not taking advantage of the time better than how I had. If I had even the slightest inkling of what would await me outside the walls of the Vault, I would have tried to make each and every moment live on for an entirety of their own. Youthful naivety stood in in the way of accomplishing this goal, and I found myself standing in the opening of the cog-shaped vault door. They had me standing at the top of the flight of stairs heading down to the door, away from the control panel, but within range of the three armed guards they had brought around just in case McNeil decided to shoot me rather than let me outside. It would have saved me a lot of trouble if he had just ended me there, but I guess he thought I wasn't worth the lead that went into the limited number of bullets he was in possession of. And it was for this reason that I didn't receive any form of gun. In fact, the Overseer didn't offer me any sort of weapon, instead handing me a thick winter coat and thick pants, claiming it was "all he could spare", all the while he was using his personal firing range to test the specs of his new sidearm which had no use in a controlled environment. James protested for better protection on my behalf, but was shut down almost instantly.

James sat me down about a month prior and broke to me the fact that McNeil wouldn't be offering me any weapons. Naturally, I was distraught, but he said he had a contingency plan. He spun in his chair while it rolled backwards, and he snapped to a stop under his desk. After a few minutes of tapping away on a computer, a footlocker in the back corner of the room hissed, decompressed, and clicked open. He then pushed off and slid to the crate, pulling out a wrapped up package, and sliding back to a rest in front of me. James handed it to me and smiled. "This is what I was perfecting for you."

I nodded once, and swallowed hard, unraveling the packages carefully. It was long and slender, and surprisingly light. My eyes widened at the sight. There were two parts to the contraption; the first of which was a long, exoskeletal arm, with a shoulder plate and glove for my right hand. The whole thing was made of sterling white metal, except for the black detail lines around the ridges of the shoulder plate, and the solid black gloves. Running across the fingers of the glove were small sensors made of tiny silver metal. The final part was an eyepiece, which had a screen to go over my right eye, and a bar of sensors that come over the top of my head, connected to the eyepiece like a pair of headphones. The eyepiece came back and hooked over the top of my ear, and from it dangled a small speaker, which was shaped enough for somewhat comfortable fitting in my ear.

"Wh-What is it?" I asked, self-consciously putting the eyepiece on. The screen buzzed for a second, and then the Vault-Tec logo appeared on the tiny screen, which was close enough for me, glasses and all, to make out the text. And then, when I slid the speaker into my ear, I heard a robotic voice chime from it.

"Welcome to Vault-Tec's very own Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S. My name is Vatty, and I will be your personal assistant in all of your targeting needs!" The mascot of Vault-Tec, the Vault Boy, sprung up from the bottom right of the screen and shot me his signature thumbs-up and wink.

"Vats?" I questioned, looking to James, who was motioned with his hands from me to hurry up and put the arm part on. I did so, and he grinned wildly.

"It's something that Vault-Tec was perfecting in other vaults, but not our own," he explained, pushing backwards, and coming to a rest with his elbow resting behind him on his desk. "The perfected Vats doesn't require the eyepiece or arm, but instead is an implant they give to newborns." He tapped his right temple, signifying where the implant would be received.. "This is the V.A.T.S. Model 0, the prototype. Sadly, it's the best I have. However," he slid open his desk drawer, and pulled out a survival knife the likes of which I had only seen in movies, and tossed into to me. My natural tendency was the flinch, but it was then I heard the tiny voice in my ear speak up again.

"Commencing defensive maneuver. Host benefaction; 0%, taking autonomous action."

The hand that was connected to the exoskeleton moved instantly, and when my eyes opened, I had caught the blade of the knife in the tips of all of my fingers, and was holding it up into the air. Vatty ended his sequence, and suddenly my arm was my own again, and flopped back down, sending the knife clattering to the ground.

James grinned. "I think this one looks a lot cooler." He turned around again, and opened the large drawer on the bottom and side of the desk, and from it pulled a large, leather exterior gauntlet with its own wrist strap. He snapped it on for me, and turned it so the skeletal arm of the Model 0 was protected from wrist to mid-forearm. He let out a sigh. "It's the best I could manage with McNeil snooping around. If he found out I was giving you Vats, he'd have my head." He snapped his fingers as if forgetting to mention something. "Oh, yes, and Vats can be used to automatically aim any guns. However, it is prone to overheating. Once you start using him, you'll see a little meter in the bottom left of the screen. That's how hot Vatty is. And let's just say, don't let him overheat. There probably isn't anyone out there who can help you replace the parts if any of them melt."

I nodded, and we hugged. A month passed quickly, and here I was, standing at the top of the metal stairs leading towards the vaults doors that were screeching open. I had Vatty stuffed into the backpack they gave me, rather last minute, after hearing James provided me with a weapon. Not wanting to be outdone with the only man who dares speak against him, McNeil reluctantly gave up the usage of one of the military grade backpacks possessed by the Vault. I gave James another hug, and he rested his hands on my shoulders, and knelt, so I was finally taller than him.

James sighed, and held back his tears, giving me another tight hug at this level. He checked over his shoulders quickly, and saw no one was within earshot, so he whispered to me. "Katrina, so long as you have Vats, you should be safe." He pulled out a dusty holotape and shoved it into my chest, so I tucked it quietly into my jacket. "Head north. There was once a town there. Hopefully, there will be people living in the ruins." He checked over his shoulders again. "Please, try and find what happened to your parents. If you find them, tell them you have Vats, and tell them that the geck is compromised."

I was about to ask why, but McNeil stepped out from the group of point, and nodded towards the vault door. "Katrina, it's time."

I nodded slowly, and gave James a final hug. I took a deep breath, and headed down the stairs and out into the vault cave. An alarm sounded, and behind me, the gigantic steel cog slammed shut, and with it, I was left to my own devices, in a nearly pitch black cave, with only a tiny amount of light filtering from the cracks in a wicker door in the distance. I equipped Vatty, took out my knife, swallowed hard, and pressed forward, pushing open the door, and stepping, for the first time, into direct sunlight.

Quest Added:

Salve Mater, Salve Pater

Find any signs of your parents

Tell your parents "The Geck is Compromised"

We've Gotta Go North!

Head north and find the town indicated on James' Crumpled Map

HP: 100 RAD: 0% LVL: 1 EXP: 0% LMB: 100%

Item(s) Found: Polished Survival Knife, V.A.T.S. Model 0, Vault 81 Fur Coat and Jumpsuit, Backpack

There was a moment in which I could see nothing. My eyes had grown so accustomed to the artificial light, that once I was being bombarded with the natural stuff, something I had only heard of inside the vault, I was blinded. When my vision cleared, and I blinked the sight back into my eyes, I was able to behold the area in front of me.

Vault Eighty-One was built into the bottom of the mountain, so there was only a slight hill before I was able to reach the valley of this mountain and the next one, which rose up a bit into the distance. Slicing through the valley was only what I could presume was a road from the old world. I say "presumed" because the entire area was completely coated in ankle deep snow. However, tiny bits of black asphalt; again, something I had only read about at the time, stuck out in the tiny patches that weren't completely covered. I bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. It amazed me, the fact that such a peaceful looking thing could possibly exist. Hell, the entire area just blew me away, as it looked as if it was untouched by the years.

Huge pine trees rose high into the sky, dotting the area like a nicely dense forest. Not too bad, but not so sparse it would be easy to see through. I headed down the hill and stood in the center of the presumed road, and took my bearing. I slid the holotape into my Pip Boy. It worked for a moment, showing a loading icon in which the Vault Boy ran around a hamster's wheel, until finally, a new feature was installed below my "status" icon. "Data". I opened it, and found a few new buttons; "world map", "local map", "holotape collection", "doppler radar" and even a broadcast radio receiver. All of these things were not allowed to be installed in the standard vault dweller's Pip Boy, seeing as it was needless. Out here, however, it would probably prove life or death to know which direction one was headed into. It was at that moment I realized something; I needed to eat, drink, and sleep. These were all things that were readily available in the Vault, but now, out here, I would have to find my own way. And not freeze to death in the process. The Pip Boy read twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit, fifty degrees colder than it was inside the Vault. And at that moment, I shivered, and realized just how cold it really was out here. The wind didn't help much, either, sending bits of snow and at least ten degrees flying away with every blustering moment, instilling a sense of urgency to me. I needed to head north. There was a point marked on the map James gave me, his final gift, with the knife and Vatty. Truly, I had never been better off than I was right now.

I snapped my knife back into my right hand, and Vatty took notice. "Equipped: Bladed Weapon. Blade Length?" It prompted my response.

"O-Oh, about eight inches? Nine max."

There was a moment where the Vault Boy in the eyepiece pondered my words, and then he shot me his thumbs-up and wink. "V.A.T.S. calibrated. Say operator's name now."

I blinked and stuttered again. "K-Katrina."

Again, Vatty processed the information, and after a moment, shot me a thumbs-up. "Welcome to V.A.T.S., Kah-Tree-Nah. V.A.T.S. Prototype Model 0, Model Number 1118976 is now calibrated to your personalized settings. If you wish to add another weapon, please, simply say 'Command Vatty; New Weapon'. From there, I will guide you through the targeting process."

I nodded. "How do I target things?"

Vault Boy pondered again, and then grinned his usual grin. "V.A.T.S. is programmed to respond to your mental electricity. Attached to this eyepiece and earpiece is a headband, through which I use your mental stimulation to detect targets. If you simply think hard, I can pick up the signal, and take aim at a target."

Snazzy. James certainly wasn't messing around with this thing. Using my own brain waves to process targets sounded like something out of one of the novels I had to leave behind, but, alas, here it was, strapped to my arm.

"Any other features, Vatty?"

After processing the request, Vatty spoke again. "V.A.T.S. Prototype Model 0 is equipped with three unmentioned features. First, V.A.T.S. automatically syncs up to any Official Vault-Tec Pip-Boy, model 2000 and later, and can inform you of any radiation poisoning, your current overall health on a scale of zero to one hundred, and the condition of all of your limbs. Subsequently, I can advise you on when to use healing items or not, but will be unable to do that for you."I nodded my understanding.

"The second feature is the Vault-Tec Waypoint System, patent pending. By hooking up to an installed copy of the Vault-Tec Data Reader, any Waypoint, patent pending, can be found using the small beaded lights on your fingers. If the Waypoint if before you, with your fingers spread out, a stream of lights will direct you in that direction. If the Waypoint is behind you, your palm will glow. The Waypoint System, patent pending, can not account for roads or trails, however, so it will only show you the straight-line direction. Any questions about the Vault-Tec Waypoint System?" I told him I didn't.

"The final feature is the Vault-Tec Short Range Life Detector. With this, any life in the immediate vicinity can be found and reported to you, so that you might be prepared for a fight. This feature can be turned off, however, so that if you are present in a high populated area, it won't overload and crash. For that, simply say; 'Command Vatty: Set Life Detector Value 0'. To turn the feature back on again, command for the value to be set to the number one!" There was a pause. "Can I help you with anything else, Kah-Tree-Nah?"

I shook my head. "Thank you Vatty. Set my Waypoint to the town ten miles north."

The Vault Boy gave me a thumbs-up. "Waypoint set. Entering Combat Level One."

I opened my palm, and held it out. Like Vatty said, the sensors moving across my fingers all lit up for a moment, before fading down, leaving on my middle finger, which pointed due north, right for the location James specified. I even checked my Pip Boy, and Vatty was right, the point on the map there lined up with the palm of my hand, almost perfectly. I smiled, and began a light jog north, tightening my hand around my knife, so I would be careful not to drop it. I followed the path for a good ten minutes, with nothing out of the ordinary coming from the pine forest or down from either of the mountains. Some clouds coming from the north promised snow, but according to my Pip Boy, it would be light snow at best. The radar bars spun around and only showed a light green patch of clouds, which promised to be better than their yellow or red cousins.

Perhaps, I thought, things wouldn't be so bad, after all. Things were looking rather nice so far. In hindsight, I had never thought anything so naive since then. For what awaited me was going to be far worse than anything I could ever imagine. And that realization started with the voice of Vatty chiming in my ear.

"Two life forces detected. Tread with caution."

HP: 100 RAD: 0% LVL: 1 EXP: 0% LMB: 100%