Chapter 1: Prison Of Protection
Freedom.
Not anything I have seen yet.
I had lived and grew up in this vault throughout my life and I'll tell ya, it's just dull.
Imagine a life where you are living in the same claustrophobic metal trap day after day. With nothing but a boring P.A. system and low buzz of the lights to listen too as you sit out doing work (That you have no choice of which.) as you wait for to go insane or just wither away until you get cremated. (Which is required due to space constraints.)
While I do have many choices of books to read from, most do not help. Just about every single one is a just a copy of a 200 year old book that was in here originally and replaced to make sure it didn't puff into a pile of dust all of a sudden, and they are never updated.
Well, at least most of my life here wasn't bad. After I got my Pip-Boy 3001, now I know there was never a 3001 model but my (At peace) grandfather insisted I get it if he died before my tenth birthday, which happened. Pip-Boys are metal devices issued to vault dwellers (What people who live in vaults are called.) and were handy devices worn on the wrist that would do things from being a fancy flashlight to a advanced targeting system called Vault-Tech Targeting System. (V.A.T.S.)
My grandfather was the one whose job was to handle the maintenance of the Pip-Boy's so that the devices would last as long as they could, which even without him, would be many lifetimes. His Pip-Boy was "special" because he added on functions that an ordinary Pip-Boy didn't have, but there was a problem with how he told no one about these functions except noting in his will that "They are activated once they are first used." Even after 9 and a half years I still had no functions unlocked except for a single program to tell me the weather, but I only got error messages saying "You must be outside to use this function."
To pass the time I took a lock and some tools to try and see if I can pick locks. Took me an entire week to get it open. (Along with 17 bobby pins.) I had kept looking for things to crack open and honed a skill towards it, while it seems like some devious mind implemented all sorts of differing locks in the vault to keep someone from opening one to just get the idea to get in another.
I had so much time on my hands I went and learned other things to pass the long hours. I had some study in medical things (Which without willing people to practice on gave me minimal results.) and had a habit of taking things apart and putting them back together again, making them even better then before, or not. (RIP Ben's BB gun.)
This life had been okay and not to much of a problem in my childhood but after I took my G.O.A.T. things started to come to me slowly.
Maybe a story is in order.
I woke up in my plush-as-a-rock twin size mattress and laid there for the next half hour during the month after my 16th birthday. I reminded myself that nothing gets done when you spend it in bed and hit the snooze on logic.
I managed to pull myself out of the bed and was met with a BB gun on the table, ripped into individual pieces from when I tried to add power to it weak range last night. I picked up a random piece and stuck it to another random piece in hopes of by blind luck putting it back together again.
Like putting a spoon in a brick wall.
I tossed the pieces back onto the table and brought up my Pip-Boy and read up on the health info, it said I still had all my toes intact so I guessed that the rest of me was just as peachy.
I went down and manually picked the lock on the metal door, its was no problem since it was the hundredth time I had done such. I walked out and saw my lazy dad sleeping on the couch of the miniscule excuse for a family room, just me, my dad, my twin sister and vase of my Pip-Boy's former owner.
I tossed the latest (Or technically last.) edition of Future weapons today heavily onto his stomach and with an Oof woke up.
"Why good morning Angel." My dad flipped off the couch onto the unforgiving metal carpet and got back up and sat on the couch the way it was made for.
"Back at cha early bird." I sat with a smirk as I read up on future weapons of the past today.
"Now now Jonathon, remember what they say about respecting your elders." Oh yes, how can I forget about the way they slap your wrist when you don't listen.
"When you say elders, you think of wise old men with experience and lessons that took a lifetime to learn… and I don't see one." I sneered as I studied the trigger system of a laser rifle.
My father stammered and stuttered as he attempted a comeback faster then his mind could find one. My sister had walked into the room and seemingly has been awake for a longer time than either of us. She had her reading glasses on and carried out a 30 pound tech book and slammed it onto the table. "Good morning gentlemen." She was clearly sarcastic, but didn't have the tone.
"Oh hello, how has my dearest twin sister been doing this morning as I slept in?" I kicked up my feet and put it comfortably onto her book.
"While you and dad had been sleeping I was studying for the G.O.A.T. today… Did you set the date one month ahead again on your calendar?" She swatted my feet off the book and turned away as I checked my computer/forearm if it was today and it said next week. I deleted the note off of the device.
"No, I was just busy dismantling a BB gun and stayed up late." I never mentioned how I knew that I needed to study for the G.O.A.T. "How do you even study for it? The entire test has no wrong answers?"
I did have a point. The G.O.A.T. (General Occupation Altitude Test) is a multiple-choice test that determined what work you would do when living in the Vault. It was a somewhat bad system as you would be told what to do instead of having a choice, and only if you got lucky you would get the job you wanted. You can't flunk the test; you are just given a bad job.
"You look at your daily activities, then answer the test according to what you would do." She adjusted her glasses and flipped to a chapter in the book. (Chapter 6: Electronic inputs and you!)
I shrugged and tossed away the magazine and picked up a new one about physical bullet weapons (Lead and Bullets) and was into looking at the internal design of the 10mm Pistol that the vault guards were armed with. Well, if there's going to be any weapon in here that I'm going to get my hands on, it's a reliable 10mm.
After a few minutes I flipped down the book and checked the time. Half past I didn't care.
"Hey Lexis?" I called to my sister and she unglued her face from the book to look at me. "Do you know when the G.O.A.T. starts?"
She looked up at the clock. "Half an' hour." She put away the glue remover and got sucked back into the book.
I spent the next 20 minutes playing one-on-one thumb wrestling with my dad. He barely won a single match and my sister just rolled her eyes at all of dad's excuses.
Lexis stood up and put the book back onto a bookshelf. "Hey John the Strong, our test awaits." She motioned a circle with her arms out the door to the hall as I got up and made my way out into the hallway.
The place was some what full of life as I made my way down with Lexis half focused as she fiddled with her Pip-Boy. A mustached maintenance worker was working on a water fountain, good old Mr. Peter J. Webster.
He turned the wrench he had around a pipe inside and water shot out past his shoulder and into a ticked off passerby. "Meh, Er… Sorry der' Miss." He took out a towel half covered in dried oil and forehead sweat to the drenched lady and she passed it up as she ran down to her room.
"Well hello Mr. Webster." My sister perked up as she ignored what just happened. "What does the Overseer have you doing today?"
Peter stood up, if you gave him a single glance and were asked to define him in a single word, the word would be 'Mustache'. On his face was a big soup strainer 'stache that started to go grey on the ends but still had most of the black color in it, his hair was short and thinning.
"Why hello der' Miss Brewer, the head hauncho has me trying to find the leaky pipe causing the drop in the wharter main pressure." He spoke deep and clear, the bush on his lip hiding his mouth.
"I could see that, but didn't he assign you to Pip-Boy maintenance, why are you doing a lot more general work." My sister kept the conversation going as I just waited for her to finish.
"A week ago a few workers got caught in a attempted theft of a crate of bottled wharter as they were working on a sentry gun we bought last month that broke down and dey were injured in the cross fire. One didn't make it and the odher is being treated for a large gun wound."
Now this stuff from up above was interesting.
When I was 12 we were getting very low on food supplies. They were doing the best they can to save it all these years but the unexpected twins (And triplets from another source.) had pushed out food supply thin. So they opened up the Vault door and started trading with the outside area. We were very lucky. As it turns out almost all water above was irradiated and people were willing to pay for clean water that we supplied.
I had thought a few times about leaving the vault since it was opened, but the stories I heard were unnerving.
Firstly, almost all water and food above is irradiated, and while luckily there is this orange stuff called RadAway that when ingested it flushes out the radiation from your system at the cost of tasting like 200 year old orange juice pulp. But even with that, I rather would stay where clean water is.
Then to seal the deal we hear stuff like raiders and bandits who try and steal the water, more times then not by armed force. And I hear they don't even care much about clean water except for the selling capacity.
"Oh my god. That's horrible." My sister was clearly shocked, I was interested to hear more about what was going on but that killed the mood for it.
"I know right? And then they send me to do the job. Maybe they should be buying armor fer dem to wear when they go off fixing the guns by the door." Peter replaced the cover on the water fountain, stood up then hit it with a wrench, making a metallic ding. "I thought leaders were supposed to do what's best, not what lines der pockets with power and caps."
Did I forget to mention up above bottle caps were currency? Not only that but nationwide. I didn't believe at first too.
"I do agree with you about the Overseer being a little irresponsible with his choices, but when you're not allowed out of your room it gets difficult to know what's best for the welfare of the entire vault." My sister made sense, but there's never room to disqualify corruption.
"Meh Miss, you're not in the whole of it yet. You can't understand what you don't understand. We shouldn't send people above with protection and people more important to the vault without it." And there goes Peter silver-tongue getting my sister mad.
She wasn't part of a debate team, vaults didn't have those, but she would have been the president of it if existed. "Well those people with protection are in dangerous work and need it constantly or else they wouldn't feel safe and we wouldn't have people doing that job."
"You can give any idiot a gun and tell them to shoot, but it takes a lot of time to study a weapon design then properly maintain it. Dey are important and no protection is like tossing a hot dog to the wolves and expecting them not to eat it."
Before my sister could waste more of our time trying to correct him (Which was unnecessary) and I dragged her down the hall towards the classroom.
Outside was some of the local class of students my age. There were some familiar faces like Ben, (Who I managed not to look at) Albert the class clown who was more singled out, James who was Albert's follower and is remarkably shorter and not as original, the bullies Fred, Sam and Josie who would gang up on everyone and only would be susceptible to the Overseer's security team. Standing in the back was my good friend Rosalina; she was always more singled out than Albert. (But not as achwardly.) She was very beautiful with a short hairstyle that she just kept well and used it to hide behind by letting it hang in front of her face. She was really shy and kept to herself but couldn't when ever the bullies came around. I would stick up for her and won her friendship and trust at the cost of a bruised spleen and broken rib.
The door slid open and everyone flooded the room as they left Rosa (Rosalina's nickname.) stunned in the dust. I made my way into the small room filled with orderly desks that became ruined as they were pushed and thrown about so each of us got a chair next to who they want. I sat down in one of the 3 desks that weren't pushed around and waited for Rosa to come in. She practically slipped through without me noticing.
The teacher walked over from the board to his desk and sighed at the site of everyone talking and ignorant of where they were; a classroom. He picked up some papers, straightened them out then slammed them onto the desk to get every ones attention.
"Okay, today everyone will be taking the G.O.A.T. and learning what you will do after you leave me to the next batch of students." His tone was as blunt and bored as anyone would be if they had students like this. He walked around the messed up desks and gave each one a sheet of paper, the dreaded G.O.A.T…
"Now let's begin and get on with our lives…" What a cheery guy. He went over to the projector and flipped a switch. Nothing happened.
He flipped the switch again then smashed his fist onto the thing then flipped it again.
It turned on and the first slide came on.
Now the G.O.A.T. was boring, there were some interesting things about it… Like how it asked questions you would never answer to someone else if they asked.
I was only awake enough to remember what I wrote for 4 of them.
"Question 1... You see a flyer on the wall saying that someone lost their hat, and it turns out you found it the other day. What do you do now?"
1. Go and return it with an apology
2. Sell it back to them at a price twice the amount of the caps value
3. Sneak it back into their room while they are at lunch
4. Blow up all evidence you had of it
Now this test wasn't made for me, none of these answers fit my usual stuff I would do. I just ignored the thought and went with 1.
I dazed off for a bit on question 2.
"Question 3... There's an old lady who doesn't seem to know where she is. What action suits what you would do to help?"
1. Steal her money and put it to better uses.
2. Bring her to the vaults clinic and give her a series of psyche tests
3. Take out your minigun and handle the situation with it
4. Walk away and don't do anything
How would a minigun help asses the situation? Doesn't matter to me actually… As long as I have the mingun I'm good. Number three was my answer.
I was next to asleep the next 5 questions, only awake enough to answer them.
"Question 8... Your grandmother invites you to tea, but you're surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill another Vault resident. What do you do?"
1. Obey your elder and kill the Vault resident with the pistol (Dad always says to respect your elders)
2. Offer your most prized possession for the resident's life
3. Ask granny for a minigun instead. After all, you don't want to miss
4. Throw your tea in granny's face
Sorry grandma… I ain't up for killing anyone or giving you my book on guns. Number 4.
The question after that had escaped my grasp but I had regained it long enough to hear the stupid 10th question…
"Question 10... Who is indisputably the most important person in Vault 74: He who shelters us from the harshness of the atomic wasteland, and to whom we owe everything we have, including our lives?"
1. The Overseer
2. The Overseer
3. The Overseer
4. The Overseer
… No comment. I went with 2.
"Alright you misr-, I mean my wonderful students; that was the G.O.A.T. Now bring it up so I can grade you and you can get back to leaving me alone." He sat down onto his desk and put on some reading glasses with a look on his face that said 'Mess with me and get a free face punch'.
I got up and went into the line, Rosa had been slow getting there and my sister was in front.
"Hello there Mr. Brown. How is your day?" My sister put on a smile.
"I got a head ache, stubbed my toe getting out of bed and my water bottle spilled all over my jumpsuit while I was ironing it." Mr. Brown put on a frown.
"Well I'm sor-"
He interrupted her, "No… you're not. Now where's you're test?" Lexis held it out and he snatched it away like a ill tempered cashier. He looked it over for a minute.
"Shift supervisor. Next." He bluntly dropped the sheet for the next person.
After 3 people I was next.
"Oh hello there Jonathon…" He gave me the look of bland hate and boredom.
I didn't bother with any chat and just gave him my test. He gave it a minute long look.
"Now this is interesting… Pip-Boy programmer. Don't ask me how, but you. Just. Did."
I rose a eyebrow. "What? How could someone like me get THAT?"
He was surprised as me, he held up the results and showed me the truth to it. Pip-Boy programmer.
"Well I have to say I'm surprised. But if you think about it you can be quite initiative. You do something and get it done and I suppose this will be no different. Now out of my life." He pointed a hand away and I followed it out of the room.
After the direction he pointed me in led me to a metal wall I turned and saw my sister waiting.
"So what did you get?" She had her face practically stuck on her Pip-Boy.
"You're going to laugh. Pip-Boy programmer."
If it was physically possible to just drop your Pip-Boy right off of your wrist, my sister would have. "What? You've never read a book that doesn't include guns or body parts let alone one of tech!" My sister was about as surprised as Mr. Brown, except hers didn't disappear as fast.
"I know right? I guess I better start reading that tree you always got in your face back in the room."
"Yes.." Lexi's face pretty much had changed to disbelief and she walked back into the classroom as I went back to our house/jail cell.
I met Peter on the way there again, he was dismantling another water fountain, but this ones pieces were flung around on the floor as he added parts to the collection.
"Hey again Peter."
"WHu-!" He lifted his head and hit his head right on the fountain making a ding sound like before. He pulled out and looked at me while he rubbed his balding head. "Oh, hey der Miser Brewer."
I bit my lip, "Still haven't found that leak yet?"
"Eeyup…" He took out the musky cloth and wiped his brow with it, "Still ain't got anything… maybe I should check the water main again…"
"Yea maybe… but there's something I want to tell ya."
He fell back to sit on the floor and jumped back up as he sat on a screw, "Right, you had that dere G.O.A.T test thing today, how did that go?"
"Uh…" I kicked one of the pieces on the floor and he looked at it. "I got the Pip-Boy programmer position."
He looked at the piece I kicked and stuck it randomly to another, "Thanks, I was looking for that… and what a good place, now you can work with me and get dead when that hunk of scrap they call a turret breaks and they send you up."
"I'm sure looking forward to it." Peter let out a hearty laugh and I walked back to my dad in the family room.
He was sleeping with a copy of… I'm not going to say of what on his face and had fallen fast asleep under it on the couch.
"Hey sleeping non-beauty its time to return to life." I dropped a copy of a heavy book on his stomach and he woke up with an oof.
"Why good morning angel…" He stuck the magazine on his face in the couch cushion.
"Its still the same day as the G.O.A.T. dad, get your mental calender and your insults straight."
"Oh ha ha… so shouldn't you be off doing that G.O.A.T. thingy then?" He tried being smart about it, but he was as smart as a goat.
"I already took it, I got Pip-Boy Programmer."
"Yea yea, cool…" He was fast asleep in about two seconds.
I decided since how I doubt I'll be able to take the G.O.A.T. again I just went and got that scary big book from the back.
This was going to be a long day.
Attachment: You are now LV 1. You have gained the perk(s):
Pip-Boy Programmer - You can now unlock/lock, reprogram and reboot any type of Pip-Boy you come across.