PUBLICK OCCURRENCES
Whenever I take a walk through Diamond City, there are so many things people tell me to be grateful for. Purified water, working lights, electricity, security. True, what we have would have been unthinkable even a few decades ago. But it's easy to forget that, even after all the progress we have made, we are still living in the shadow of the world that was. A world before the threat of radiation. Before the Super Mutant and the Feral Ghoul and the synth.
So, as fortune often has it, I crossed paths with Dakota Michelson, ex-Vault Dweller. A person who is experiencing the Commonwealth for the first time. What would Dakota's fresh set of eyes say about how far we've come?
Before getting Dakota's input, we need some background info. To my surprise, I learned that Dakota is actually a pre-war Vault Dweller. Vault 111 residents were unknowingly placed into cryogenic suspension. Dakota only recently thawed out. So keep in mind that we are dealing with someone who has experienced both the old world and the new.
So what does Dakota have to say about seeing the Commonwealth for the first time?
"There's so much violence and danger. The comfort of knowing that you are going to be alive tomorrow and the next day and so on is gone. All the luxuries and conveniences I used to take for granted have been destroyed. Besides that, the world looks so dead. No beautiful greenery or even fully intact structures anymore. Despite that, it is not all bad. Seeing the world surviving despite all of these setbacks… well… it tells me that there's still hope. It tells me that we can get through this."
These words are painful, but honest. So much of civilization was lost when the bombs fell, and we have rebuilt without the comfort and security of the old Vaults.
After some conversation with Dakota, we got on the topic of the rumors and whispers that surround every missing person in Diamond City. The guilty looks we pass to mourning family members as we "thank the Wall that, this time, it wasn't us." You can end up dead in the Commonwealth for a million reasons. Why spend our time worrying about kidnappings?
It's easy for us to be cynical about the missing. We have spent so long knowing the Institute is out there, but knowing so little about them. They are not the only ones responsible for kidnappings, but the fact that they sometimes are, and the fact that we have been so powerless to stop them when they do, causes us to treat all victims of kidnappings as if they are a lost cause.
But the people left behind, those loved ones, friends, and neighbors who may never see the faces of those taken from them again, they do not have the luxury of being able to just look away. They have to carry that loss with them, even if everyone else tells them to move on and forget.
I asked Dakota to make a statement to everyone to get an outsider's perspective on our situation.
"It's obvious that there are lots of terrible threats to our survival," Dakota said. "A lot of it is us fighting each other. We need to set aside these petty issues and work together. It seems we all have one common enemy here. The Institute. If they don't stop with these synths which threaten our survival, then they should be our main target."
End