"This is Ryleigh Levinson, formerly of Vault 101. It is currently August 17, 2277. I am really really unsure of what to do."

Her young voice shook slightly. She sounded exhausted and terrified of everything around her. Her words were occasionally clipped or punctuated by a small gasp whenever metal creaked nearby or the sound of other voices got close. She choked back a sob, clearly trying to appear calm while in public.

"I don't even know why I am recording this but… maybe I just need to hear it all said out loud to make sense of everything."

Ryleigh took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She repeated this twice before she continued speaking.

"Earlier today I left the vault. Hell, I fled it. The only home I've ever known… and now I'm learning that may not even be true. I mean, it is the only home I can remember but..."

There were a few minutes of silence with just the sound of people talking and wind occasionally blowing over the Pip-Boy. When she next spoke her voice was deeper and detached.

"Dad left. I don't know why, but Jonas helped him out and was killed for it. The Overseer tried to have me killed as well. If it wasn't for Officer Gomez and Amata… Instead I limped out into this wasteland. Fuck. None of this is even supposed to be here. There is supposed to be nothing but desolation and radiation out here and instead I find people, plants, clean air. I'm sitting outside a fucking bar right now in a city made up of scrap metal.

I stopped in the ruins of a town called Springvale to pull out the bullets in my leg and side and patch myself up as best I could. Amata had given me a few stimpacks before I left and they seem to be helping. I guess learning some tricks from dad is actually paying off. There was a report about this town on Overseer Almodovar's terminal. He made us believe no one ever left the Vault and yet there were photos and information from "survey teams" that were checking on the state of the world. I wish I had taken the time to copy. From now on I will include all records and reports I come across in case I need to go over them later. Let's see here…"

There was a click and a slightly distorted message began playing. The voice belonged to James, Ryleigh's father. He sounded stressed and rushed for time, the slight tremor in his voice a sign he was trying to remain calm for the message.

"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first.

I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going.

A voice interrupted her father, "Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."

"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you."

The message clicked off.

"So much for that, dad."

Ryleigh chuckled. There was a sipping sound before she continued.

"Right, that's gonna have to be good enough to start this. I'm in Megaton, out in the Capital Wasteland, and not sure what to do. I've been shot by people I thought of as friends and family and welcomed by total strangers. I need to find dad and learn what happened. Why did he leave? Why did he lie to me about where we came from? And what the hell is this place? He knew there were people out here, that the world wasn't dead, and yet he kept it from me the same as the Overseer. Why? Did Almodovar really want to remain in power that badly? I know Vault Tec had ordered the Overseers to keep us isolated but after 200 years why would they continue the facade?

I'm going to find out. I'm going to find out everything."

*Click*