FALLOUT 3: REWRITE
1 - RETREAT!
2259…
Under the circumstances, James should have felt nothing but panic. Panic, and perhaps more than a little anger that Project Purity, his life's work, was being taken over by the fucking Enclave!
But as he made his way through the secret escape tunnel with his wife, the latter carrying their infant daughter in her arms, he could not help but feel a strange sense of unease. If drainage pipes could talk, he had a feeling they would be saying you shouldn't be here. And the terrible recurring dream where his beloved Catherine died in childbirth haunted him daily.
Still, he had more important things to worry about. Like getting out of here!
-f3r-
The escape was surprisingly uneventful. Rivet City was close by, and the Enclave was much more interested in controlling the purifier than tracking down the scientists. The latter had gotten it working, after all.
And so James settled down to life in Rivet City with his new family.
2261…
"James, do you ever regret how we left Project Purity?" Madison Li asked. Her tone indicated she was asking out of curiosity rather than judgment.
"I don't think so," he said. "People have pure, clean water. But I'm still not sure how I feel about living under the Enclave…"
"Well, you don't have to stay here."
James opened his mouth, then closed it again. Somehow, that thought had not occurred to him in two years of living in Rivet City.
"The Enclave's got its hands full annexing Rivet City," she continued. "If you left, I doubt anyone would care."
James shook his head. "This isn't what I wanted, Madison."
"But it's the way things are," she retorted. "Besides, the people have food, water and governance. Harsh governance, to be sure, but governance."
"That is true enough." He paused. "Where can I go that's as safe as Rivet City, though?"
"Megaton?" She suggested. "It's safe enough, isn't it?"
"Not as safe as here. Still, Mary needs to know how to survive."
James made his decision then and there. Mary Wu, the little girl who would have been the Lone Wanderer in another world, would grow up in Megaton.
2 - Life In Megaton
2268…
"Happy birthday, Mary!"
"Thanks, Sheriff Simms!"
It was a nice day in Megaton. The sun shone on the improvised crater-turned-town, and all were eager to celebrate the birthday of the community doctor's daughter. After all, said doctor had an established reputation of always healing for a fair price.
"Here in Megaton, we like to introduce you to a little something once you're old enough. And ten's as good an age as any!"
Mary's eyes widened as Lucas Simms presented her with the first rifle of many she would own: her BB gun.
"It's perfect!"
-f3r-
"Alright, kiddo. You ready?" Stockholm sounded eager to get out of his usual sentry routine, while still remaining carefully vigilant on the town's vantage point.
"Sure am! Can I kill a raider?!"
Stockholm stared. "Kid, I promised your dad I wouldn't let you kill a person."
"Oh, fine." Mary began to pout in the way only ten year olds can.
Frowning, Stockholm scanned the horizon for suitable prey. At length he found it. "Alright, kid. You see those mole rats?" He pointed northwest.
"Yep! I got 'em!"
And sure enough, she did. A quick look down the sight and a steady breath for aim, and a mole rat's head exploded into tiny pieces.
"Nice job! Let's keep at it! We can send a scouting party for food later."
-f3r-
2271…
"I love you, sweetie."
All in all, they were fitting last words for Catherine Wu.
-f3r-
She didn't cry.
That was not to say that the death of her mother did not affect Mary. She found it difficult to get out of bed for weeks afterwards. But even as the tears flowed freely among much of Megaton's residents at Catherine's funeral, she remained stone-faced.
That would not happen twice.
2274…
"Honey, you're sick. Are you sure you want to go on your first scouting trip with a flu?"
"Who cares about the *sniff* flu? I want to hunt for some food!"
"Well, you're not deathly ill, so as long as you maintain some distance from the rest of the scouting party I'll let you go."
"Thanks, dad!"
-f3r-
Springvale was so much worse up close.
Long had she stared at the filthy den of raiders that lay just downhill from their settlement. The problem had gotten worse over the years as the Enclave had slowly annexed and rebuilt more territory. Raiders had fewer places to roam, which meant they were consolidating at some of their favorite locations.
Unfortunately, one of those was Springvale Elementary School. Mutilated bodies hung from throughout the building. Peering through her binoculars, Mary Wu knew there would be justice in the deaths of these sadistic freaks just as she had from afar.
"Ready?" Her scouting partner Andrew Duran sounded determined. That was good; she wanted someone who could match her own outrage.
"Ready."
Two were dispatched with quick bullets to the head. The plan had been to kill a few more, but with the worst possible timing one of the raiders had rounded a corner just as his fellow was being killed. As the former screamed in alarm, Mary cursed and barked at Andrew to run back to the settlement.
They got within twenty paces of the front gate before Andrew was shot in the back by an extremely (un)lucky stray round.
"NO!"
-f3r-
Both James and Doc Church did their best, and neither charged for it - it was an unofficial rule among wasteland doctors not to charge for life-ending treatments so the bereaved could afford a funeral.
Said funeral was something Mary had a very difficult time getting through.
"And so Atom's light leaves this vessel," Confessor Cromwell finished. "But though Andrew Duran is no more, the spirit of his wondrous glow shall remain with all who knew and cared for him."
Nods of somber agreement greeted the Confessor's words. Soon the soil was filled, a little bit of dirt by each person per Megaton tradition. And then Andrew Duran was reclaimed by the Earth.
-f3r-
"Mary, are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine."
James frowned. He knew his daughter, and that was not a good "fine".
"Death is a part of the wasteland, dad. I'll-"
Without warning, her father pulled her into a tight hug. She said nothing more as the tears took over and flowed freely.
3 - Something In The Water
2276…
John Henry Eden was displeased.
The Enclave's rule over the Capital Wasteland was sub-optimal. Humans with corrupted, impure genetic sequences were being cared for by the military.
This needed to be corrected, and one of its first acts as President would be to do just that.
-f3r-
"Honey, turn off the sink and remember not to drink any of the water."
Mary nodded, anxiety clear on her face.
"Something happened to the purifier," James continued. "I don't know what, but it's killing us."
"What do we do?" Mary asked the question in such a way that made it clear she expected her father to have an answer.
"I…"
For the first time she could remember, her father was at a loss for one.
-f3r-
"James, is there any way we can get the poison out of the river water?"
"Boil all of it to at least ninety five Celsius, or about two hundred Fahrenheit. Sheriff, this is bad. Very, very bad."
"We'll get through it. Megaton is strong."
"Maybe. Maybe not. We need to find a way to deal with this."
-f3r-
"Sir, I must once again object to this course of action."
"Your objections are noted, Colonel. Back to work, please."
Fuming, Colonel Augustus Autumn sat back down at his desk and put his head in his hands.
This was not what the Enclave was meant for. True, the genetically inferior could not be allowed into the Enclave, but they were still Americans! To kill them all with this "Forced Evolutionary Virus"…
No.
There had to be another way.
4 - Dad? DAD?!
2277…
When Mary Wu stepped out of the family home and saw the entire Megaton community gathered near the gate, she knew something was wrong.
When everyone stopped talking to stare at her, she knew something was very wrong. The walk from her house to the front gate seemed to last an eternity.
"Mary…" Sheriff Simms' tone only made the alarm bells in her head ring louder.
"Is dad dead?" She immediately assumed the worst.
"No," the Sheriff said quickly. "Well, we don't know. He left Megaton last night."
She stared at the Sheriff, uncomprehending. Then her gaze quickly shifted to Doc Church.
"I don't know anything, Mary," he quickly said. "If he knew anything, he would've told me."
She stood and stared at the Megaton gate for a long moment.
What was something her father had been obsessed with lately? Clean water. And where was the one place you could find clean water?
Vault 101.
-f3r-
"Stay safe, Mary!"
"Ya'll come back in one piece, y'hear?"
She smiled and said her goodbyes as the gate to Megaton closed behind her.
Then she made her way towards Springvale.
-f3r-
The years had not made the place any more pleasant. If anything, things had gotten worse. Which was unfortunate for the raiders, since she had only gotten deadlier.
Dispatching them was a quick job. She ran into some trouble when one of them surprised her from behind a building, but her knife made short work of the ambusher.
Taking little time to savor the view lest she fall victim to one of their snipers, she quickly opened the door at the top of the Scenic Overlook and made her way towards her destination.
5 - The Vaults
"So, the surface dwellers finally decided to come say hello!"
The voice of the person Mary presumed to be the Overseer was surprisingly cheerful over the Vault 101 door intercom.
"You're the second one in as many days, too! What a weird coincidence. But I can't just let you in without knowing why you're here."
"I'm after the guy that came before me," she replied instantly. "My father."
"That's your father? You know, now that I'm looking at the security feeds, I do see the resemblance…OK, we'll let you in if you have something to trade."
"Five pounds of brahmin meat?" She had brought the food with her in anticipation of the request, and it was still slightly cold from the refrigerator.
"Deal. Come on in!"
-f3r-
"I have to say," Mary began as she sat down in the Overseer's office, "I'm surprised you let me in so easily."
"Your dad had a lot harder time." Amata Almodovar smirked and raised an eyebrow. "My father never would have allowed it. But inbreeding is going to kill us if we don't let new blood in! I'm glad your dad let us take a sperm sample."
She winced. She had not needed to know that.
"Sorry, oversharing," Amata said, blushing. "So, umm, what brings you here?"
"My dad. Did he say anything about where he was going?"
"Well, he asked us if there we any active Vaults left in the wasteland. I said ours were connected via computer terminals, but the main power had failed on all of them but Vault 112. And we don't know where that one is!"
"Oh, I'll find out."
"Good. So, are you willing to donate your-"
"NO!"
-f3r-
Mary Wu breathed a sigh of relief as the door to Vault 101 closed. There was something about that place that unnerved her. It felt somehow as if the walls were closing in on her, trying to keep her from leaving. The sunlight was a blessed gift as she opened the exterior door.
Amata had said she needed to make her way to Rivet City, as that was where her father was headed to get help with the purifier issue. With any luck, however, she could bypass Enclave territory altogether.
-f3r-
A small one story suburban residential home, the Vault-Tec Research Outpost was fairly unassuming. Of course, she supposed that was the whole point.
She'd been grateful to Overseer Almodovar for providing her the location. Apparently said location had been sent to Vault 101 by mistake instead of Vault 100, and she was eternally grateful for that.
Her gratitude quickly turned to disgust as she accessed the main computer terminal in the middle of the home.
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH: VAULT 112
Vault 112 will provide a computer simulation that will be controlled by Dr. Stanislaus Braun. Dr. Braun will provide continuous updates on the results of experiments…
…Dr. Braun has become brutally sadistic in a remarkably short period of time, resorting to torturing the residents by 2085…
…the safety of the Research Outpost has been compromised as of 2090…
Disgusted, she backed away from the terminal. The Vaults were nothing more than experiments! Its residents? Guinea pigs, to be used against their will in the name of science. The thought made her sick, and she would be certain to tell Amata about this.
After she had a look at Smith Casey's Garage, of course.
-f3r-
A/N: The Vault-Tec Research Post is fictional, and a bit of a MacGuffin so I don't have to retread the same plot the game did.
6 - Settling In
James woke.
And was delighted to feel his daughter immediately embrace him in a hug.
Delight, of course, was quickly followed by trepidation.
-f3r-
"Dad, what do we do?"
"I don't know, honey. Thank you for saving me, but…why did you follow me?!"
"Why do you think? Dad, I couldn't just let you die out here. I needed to know you were safe."
"Thank you. I…"
Suddenly, an idea seemed to come to him.
"Vault 101. We need to go there, and stay there."
-f3r-
During the journey to the Vault, father and daughter learned much of one another. James was pleased to see how well his daughter handled herself in the brutality of the Capital Wasteland. And Mary was surprised at how good of a shot her father was.
She was also surprised at the compulsion that both of them seemed to have to journey to Vault 101. And surprise turned to alarm when her father shared his dreams with her.
-f3r-
In the dream she is jolted awake by Amata, her lifelong friend. Her father has left the Vault! Panicking, she grabs what she can and rushes to leave.
She steps out of the Vault and into a yawning abyss, one that swallows her whole.
-f3r-
"Why did you let those two in?" Butch often annoyed her, but he sounded genuinely annoyed himself that she had opened Vault 101.
"I…"
"We all agreed during the general meeting that we would only open the Vault door after a community vote."
"I needed to!"
"What the hell does that mean?"
And so the conversation went. Amata could not explain the drive inside her, the one that connected her with the Amata Almodovars across the multiverse who had known Mary Wu and cherished her friendship.
7 - Change In Management
COLONEL AUGUSTUS AUTUMN: Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT JOHN HENRY EDEN: It is always a pleasure, Colonel Autumn. Now, you had some concerns about my plans?
AUTUMN: Yes, Mr. President. I am unsure if…genocide is the correct approach.
EDEN: Come now, colonel. The genetically inferior are life unworthy of life. Surely you can see that?
AUTUMN: The genetically inferior still have rights as American citizens, Mr. President.
EDEN: And what rights might those be? You'll recall that the US Constitution was written before the Great War, when all were genetically pure.
AUTUMN: Were they, Mr. President?
EDEN: Pardon?
AUTUMN: Before the Great War, nuclear power was used in all aspects of American life. Surely some radiation leaked into the atmosphere. Surely some of that radiation corrupted the genome?
EDEN: Oh my. I had not considered that.
And so the conversation went until the paradox was found.
President Eden died, and President Autumn rose to take his place.
-f3r-
Citizens of the Capital Wasteland,
The Enclave has corrected the poison in the water supply that has led to so many tragic and unexpected deaths. On behalf of the United States government, we apologize for this regrettable and unforeseen mutation. Please make your way to Rivet City for appropriate compensation if you have lost a loved one to this scourge.
As part of our restoration of civilian rule, we plan on holding a Presidential election in three years' time. We encourage any citizen over the age of thirty-five to run for office, as is your right under the Constitution.
Cordially,
President Augustus Autumn
Epilogue: Opening The Vaults
2281…
When the day came, Mary felt it was anticlimactic.
The Enclave had peacefully offered to meet them in the Vault for an incorporation ceremony. And the citizens were promised full rights and responsibilities under the rule of the Enclave.
Something in her screamed that this was wrong. That she should have done more to fight. But the reality was staring her in the face in the form of the Enclave-Vault Treaty.
As she signed it on behalf of Vault 101, a vision flashed before her.
-f3r-
In the vision she has destroyed the oppressors.
"DEATH IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM!"
The purifier is activated after two decades of dormancy.
Project Purity is complete, the people are free.
This is the life not lived.
-f3r-
"Is everything alright, Overseer?" The Enclave representative did her best to sound genuinely concerned.
"I'm fine," she said quickly. "Let's sign the treaty."
They did, and the Enclave's rule over the Capital Wasteland was solidified with the might of the Purifier.
In the back of her mind, she was grateful her father's death the year before had caused him to not live to see his ideological foes claim victory.