2077. That's when everything fell apart. Worldwide nuclear detonations. 2262 is when I came into existence. I was born in a wooden shack far east; to a single ghoul whose partner was a merc for a gang. I was raised to be a member of the said gang but not long after I was born, my father was betrayed and murdered by the gang leader. In revenge, my mother picked me up and sent me away with a passing caravan. From there on, I was raised as a simple trader with a caravan company. The Crimson Tide Caravan Co. Over the years the caravan devolved into nothing more than a small travelling family. Eventually I broke apart to set off west, to where dreams became reality- New Vegas. 5 months later I finally arrived. I came in from the west and ended up in a small town called Goodsprings. A local doc patched me up and told me that a woman called Sunny Smiles could set me up for the road. I found her in the local bar, the 'Prospector Saloon' but she refused to help me, saying that I 'stunk of ghoul'. Fortunately, the other townspeople weren't as blind towards my half-ghoul status. The barmaid Trudy calmed Sunny down and assured her that I wasn't saying long. I bought some supplies from Trudy before getting the hell outta there. I had a feeling that ghouls weren't welcome in this otherwise perfect town. As I was leaving I had a feeling that I was being watched but it could've been the heat. I passed a couple locations that were filled with what people called Powder Gangers. Apparently they escaped from the NCRCF (New Californian Republic Correctional Facility) and made off with a supply of guns and dynamite. Now they go around terrorising people and robbing them. Luckily I snuck past them unscathed and continued. Eventually I reached a little town called Primm. There was a casino and a hotel. My memory fails me but I'm pretty damn sure it was the Bison Steve Hotel and the Vikki and Vance Casino. I passed through and carried on just in case they didn't want ghouls like Goodsprings. I proceeded along the road with a 9mm pistol that I acquired on my way to New Vegas. I ran into a couple of geckos but they weren't that tough. Luckily I didn't run into any deathclaws (though I'm not saying I haven't). I avoided NCRCF and found myself at a motel. I asked around and found out that the place was called Novac. After asking if anyone could help me get to New Vegas I was directed to a man called Craig Boone. I found him with his wife wandering on the outskirts of the 'Dino-D-Lite' Motel (thusly named after the large dino statue out front). He seemed happy enough to help me out so within a day we were on the road together. I learned a lot about him in that time, like the fact that he was part of the NCR as a ranger before he left and became a guard for Novac. At least he seemed friendly enough to me. Within a couple days travelling and stopping we were in Freeside. As soon as I stepped through the gate with him, all eyes fell upon us. A couple steps later and a thug came running at us with a cleaver. He tried to go for Boone but missed and hit him with his other fist. With Boone out cold I was defenceless but as he ran at me something clicked. I moved out of the way, tripping him up in the process then pulled my own combat knife with serrated edge out and charged at him. I pounced, pinned him down and threatened to stab him. He dropped his cleaver so I let him go thinking he was done. I stayed with Boone and gave him a stimpak. When he woke up he spent a couple more hours with me gathering supplies for his journey back and then left. I asked around for the way off the maze like streets and into New Vegas. They all called me an idiot and walked off. Then I ran into a crier for a nearby store who kindly pointed out the way. I made my way there, past a group of people with slicked back hair talking about a 'King'. When I finally got to the gate, a securitron rolled up to me and said that I needed to submit to a credit check. I asked how much and he told me to wait as he examined me. They must have had some pretty hardcore examination tools because he raised his guns and told me that New Vegas doesn't accept ghouls. Everyone around began to shout saying I wasn't a ghoul and in the confusion I slipped away. Half-ghouls are frowned upon by full ghouls and that meant the majority of Freeside hated me. When I was out I took a minute to think about everything. I had spent almost half a year getting here and it was all useless. I got up and headed back to the only place that had accepted me so far. Novac. Another couple of days and I was in my Dino-D-Lite Motel room drowning my sorrows with alcohol. It went on like this for another year or so. Eventually even Boone drew away after Caesar's Legion kidnapped his wife for slavery. I was completely on my own, although Boone never forget how I saved his life and was constantly asking around to get me on guard duty. Soon enough everyone hated me. I realised one day when I finally sobered up that I needed to leave. Late that night I packed all my stuff, gathered supplies and left. Soon enough I was by myself travelling again. I reached my first rest stop within 2 days. The Grab-N-Gulp Rest Stop. Luckily for me it wasn't deserted. I sat down at a stool, ordered a bottle of Gwinnet Stout Ale and drank away my sorrows. 3 bottles and an hour later I was being asked to leave. I stood my ground and in my drunken state ended up pulling out my varmint rifle and threatening the barkeep. With my luck, he had a customer who had taken a liking to me. They got me out of a bad time and straightened me out. 3 days after that I had kicked my habits and had the stranger to thank. He was called Carl and happened to be a bounty hunter. I agreed to do a couple bounties with him and it turns out I was pretty good at dishing out justice. It helped me handle all my rage. We both agreed we should work together. We had a good time wandering and he was constantly preaching me about equality. Pretty quickly we worked up a rep for being ruthless bounty hunters. Some even called us assassins. After the job became too professional for both of us we decided to head North to the Capital Wasteland. 2 months later we arrived from the South. The first thing we spotted was a big Nuka Cola plant right ahead of us. By now we both had our own custom dusters and masks. I preferred rifles but Carl loved pistols. He had a .45 auto pistol and I had a hunting rifle which I had personalised. I modified it to take .50 calibre rounds and gave it a bayonet. However, I still had my serrated combat knife that I used to save Boone and me. I thought of it as a lucky charm of sorts. Anyway, we spotted some figures outside the Nuka Cola plant so we used our binoculars. Even though I could smell them, I wanted to be sure. Ferals. We had used this tactic before. I would sneak in using my half-ghoul status to my advantage, plant a couple of mines and then draw them over to me. It was over in under a minute. Bit of a mess though. We continued through the wastelands together. Our main priority was getting to a place called Tenpenny Towers. We had information that there was a man there who could help us with our 'endeavours'. We headed North towards the general area of the towers. Within a couple of hours, the fog cleared and we saw the towers (or tower really). It was a huge tower with 2 buildings on either side of it, extending outwards from it. Probably the reception. When we saw it we knew this was serious work. We also knew it would take a while to get to the place. And we were right-a couple of days in fact. When we got there we noticed how well fortified it was. Unusually so for an apartment complex. But this was the Capital Wasteland so we had no idea how dangerous the mutants were. When we got to the gate we noticed the intercom so we went over and buzzed it. We heard a voice shout that if those ghouls come back one more time, they'd blow their brains out. I looked at Carl thinking he meant me but then he pointed at some ghouls a bit further away. We explained who we were and why we were there and they let us in. We went through the gate into the courtyard, practically just a concrete wall around the premises, and into the building. The inside was an entirely different story than the exterior. It was huge and well preserved with a huge chandelier dangling precariously from a hook in the flaking ceiling. After going to the front desk and asking for someone who could help us in our predicament, we were directed to a penthouse suite and a man named Mr. Burke. We took the elevator up to the top floor and went left then right then left again. We could tell by the atmosphere that this was the place. The lights outside the door were flickering, such a cliché that I couldn't believe it, and the door was the only unpainted door. We knocked on and we heard a sincere but sinister voice say they'd be there in a minute. Then the door flung open and we were greeted by a foul odour and an even fouler looking man. "Mister Burke?" I asked sarcastically. He invited us in and offered some bourbon. We declined and inquired about our predicament. He said he might have some work and proceeded to check his file drawers for any work. He pulled out a slender file and asked if we were okay with mass genocide. We laughed it off thinking he was joking but he never laughed with us. We realised he was serious and again declined. He carried on looking and found a plumper file. We took one look and accepted the job. There was a group of bandits that had ransacked a town and taken all of the women and children. They were holed up in a tunnel nearby. He gave us pay details but we didn't care, we just wanted justice. We closed up the conversation and set off North. A couple of hours later and we were outside the tunnel. We decided to use the charmer tactic. I would try to convince them to give up and hand over the goods. If they accepted, we would murder them. If they didn't accept we would annihilate them. Simple. Obviously they didn't accept so we mowed them down. We found the hostages just in time and got them out of the tunnel. Carl took the front and I took the back. We encountered no trouble and assumed that they were a small group. We relocated the hostages to a safe area and set off to the towers to collect our reward. We got paid a fair price (considering saving the hostages wasn't part of the deal). We decided to stay at the towers and continue doing jobs. A couple of months later we were 20000 caps richer and headed out to buy a permanent home. We settled on a spacious underground area that we could build in. We gathered supplies and another couple of months later we had plated the entire place in metal and added a door. We even had enough room to add a second floor to the house. It was like our own mini-wasteland vault with state of the art weaponry and less state of the art furniture. We carried on grinding money and making a living. We added more room to the house and added electricity. Eventually we developed our house into a company. We offered and took bounties but got paid for both. It got pretty professional but this time it was inevitable. Then one-night Carl left without explanation. I was lost without him and spent some time searching for him. I never found him and just gave up on everything again, set up explosives at the house and detonated them. Just like that everything was gone. I was alone, travelling without goals with nowhere to go. I spent a couple of weeks doing some bounties but lost interest. Luckily for me I found hope and salvation in the form of a brotherhood. The Brotherhood of Steel to be exact. I was alone and drunk when I found them. I waltzed right up to the gates and started announcing that I was there to rob them. They didn't let me in so I began kicking the gate blindly, thinking it would do something. How much I'd had to drink that night I don't know, I actually don't remember any of this, but I passed out and they took me in. The next morning the paladins told me what happened and offered me a place as an initiate. They saw I was quite strong and after I explained who I was, they recognised that I owned the "Mysterious Stranger's Bounty Co.". After I had profusely apologised for the trouble I'd caused, I took up the offer. I quickly aced all the tests and was initiated as a Scribe. I decided that this was the best course of action for me now that bounty hunting was off the table. I quickly rose up the ranks to a Paladin. I led many successful missions alongside Paladin Sarah-Lyons. Eventually the Elder in our order was replaced with a man who had been with the order since he was a child; Arthur Maxson, last descendant of Roger Maxson. He immediately brought new rules to the order. He was a ruthless, determined elder (and the first in a while that actually fought in the battlefield). By that point I was the most successful Paladin but no-one even knew my name. The only person who knew was Carl but he disappeared a long time ago and I wanted to forget about him. Then Elder Maxson came out with something preposterous. He decided that the Capital Wasteland was no longer of use to us. He said that he was going to send groups of esteemed troops to the Commonwealth. If it proved of use to us we were going to move all operations there. The first group was extremely successful and came back with all sorts of pre-war artefacts. The second group went dark almost immediately and all contact was lost. After the third group Elder Maxson decided to move the Prydwen to Boston along with the whole order. We arrived with all of our vertibirds to scout the area and the Prydwen to intimidate anyone who wanted to attack us. Then Maxson revealed that he was here to eradicate all threats. He wanted all ghouls dead then wanted to destroy the "Institute". Apparently they were a secret group of people developing synthetic humans (or synths) that were damaging pre-war artefacts that the brotherhood could use. No-one knew anything about them because they had no humans that could be found to be part of the Institute. Even their own runaway synths knew nothing because their memories were wiped. I was fine with destroying the Institute but I seriously feared for my life when he said all ghouls should be dead. I knew I would be compromised soon enough and shortly after I left the only sanctuary I had ever known. After I snuck away I headed for Diamond City, an old baseball stadium turned into a settlement. I entered through the front gate and walked down the steps into the market. There was a newspaper promoter outside the printing house. Just opposite there was a shack called the All Faiths Chapel. There was a man outside sweeping the floor. I recognised him immediately. Carl. I ran towards him but he still didn't recognise me. I grasped him by the shoulders and he was startled. He swung at me but I dodged it and told him to stop. Something clicked and he realised who I was. He looked relieved and took me inside the chapel to explain everything. The night he disappeared he was kidnapped by a gang of raiders and tortured for days. One night he escaped, murdered them all, set any hostages free and came back to the house. He found the entrance caved in and dug in. Then he found the destroyed house and assumed I was killed after he was kidnapped. He decided that after everything that had happened he was done bounty hunting. He wanted a fresh start so he came to the Commonwealth. He saw all of the problems that it had and started the chapel. It made sense considering he was always preaching equality. Another person walked in and said, "Mornin' Clements". I looked at him quizzically. He motioned towards the back room and I followed him. He asked me if I knew about the synths and the Institute. I said that it was a long story. He replied saying that he was willing to listen for answers. I told him everything I did after he disappeared, about the BOS, about me blowing up the house. He proceeded to explain his side of the story. Apparently, he had joined a group which protected run-away synths. They were called the Railroad. This particular group was a big target for the Institute. To protect him they gave him a codename. This "Railroad" seemed to be the ideal place for me to go. Carl said he'd talk to Desdemona about it. I daren't ask about Desdemona. He told me I could spend the night at the chapel but I would need to find somewhere safer from the Institute. I agreed and stayed the night. In the morning I asked around town if there was someone I could talk to about getting a place to stay. They all directed me to Geneva in the mayor's office. I found her at her desk. I asked about housing and she said she had one house available in the rear stands. I paid the full amount of 7500 caps and took the keys. When I got to the place it was a mess but it at least it had a bed. I tidied up and added some wiring and lights. It would have to do. By now it was night again so I went to sleep. I woke up to Carl sat in my chair with a holotape. He threw the tape at me and left. I loaded the tape into my terminal. It was a woman saying I had been chosen to join the railroad. They gave me a code- "follow the freedom trail". I left to ask Carl about it but he was just as cryptic, telling me to look for "Swan's station". The only place in the commonwealth I could think of that associated with swans was Swan's Pond. I set off there for clues but stayed away from Swan. I had heard stories of a super mutant behemoth named Swan that could kill you in one blow. When I got there I stayed far away from the pond and moved to the first structure. It was a little area fenced off from the pond. There was a plaque on the ground and a protectron wandering around. The protectron waddled over to me and welcomed me to the freedom trail. I looked at the plaque and a letter was circled with a corresponding number. I knew it was a code and etched it into my hunting rifle. I proceeded doing this until I was led to the Old North Church. I entered and explored, plus I even found some catacombs. Eventually the catacombs led to a plaque that was the exact same as the others. The only difference was someone had painted a red arrow pointing towards a letter. I then realised that you could spin the ring that letters were on. Something clicked in my mind and I began twisting it, spelling the code out. By now I knew I was right because the code spelt 'RAILROAD'. As soon as I finished, the wall next to the plaque slid away revealing a pitch black space. I took one step in. Then another. Suddenly four construction lights flooded the room with light. After I recovered from the brightness, I saw that there was a woman stood ahead with two people at either side of her. I later found out this was Desdemona. After I explained who I was and confirmed I wasn't a synth, she let me in. I immediately felt belonging again, as if my life was back on track. She led me to a door and warned me that everything I saw in the room was strictly confidential and that she would hunt me down and gut me personally if I told anyone about it. After that I was expecting a big operation that needed serious protection. I was mildly disappointed at what I actually saw. It was a room about the size of my house in Diamond City. In the middle was a table height circular structure. On top of it was a map of the Commonwealth. There were even circles with crosses on the map in various locations across the commonwealth. I realised I was sworn by secrecy now. There were clearly expansions in progress around the room but so far it seemed to be that the table and a couple of workstations were the only things. There also didn't see many people there. About 6 or 5 people in leather armour were busy on the workstations, though one stood out… He was wearing some sort of complicated looking hat with wires and tech hanging free from it. He was also quietly muttering to himself whist using a terminal. Desdemona told me not to worry and introduced me to him. He was called "Tinker Tom" and, as the name suggests, was a guy called Tom who tinkered with tech. He seemed to be inane(ly smart?). I felt as though I could fit in with everyone there. Desdemona then explained that the current room was a last resort base after their previous base was attacked by the institute. I assumed this was why the numbers of people were extremely low. Later Desdemona explained that many recruits were taking initiation or were out on recon. She also informed me of the many informants and spies, introducing me to one called Deacon. He reminded of a Pre-War detective. What was his name, Herlock Sholmes? No. Oh, Sherlock Holmes. I used to read the books of his cases whilst travelling with the Crimson Tide Caravan Co. Deacon even underwent plastic surgery often for his cases so he would not be recognised. Overall I was impressed at the whole operation considering the recent attack and loss of members. Desdemona said that due to low members and history with Carl, I wouldn't need to go through initiation. She gave me my first task immediately. After finishing that, I felt as though I had found my place. I probably didn't have much life left anyway. I was right about that. One day a new guy showed up at the HQ, saying a friend had pointed him to them and telling him to follow the freedom trail. Apparently he had killed an Institute Courser and needed help getting into the courser chip from inside the Courser. We offered him a fair deal and he seemed to disagree strongly, threatening Desdemona. He somehow didn't realise how stupid this was and was chased out by a recruit with a machete. A couple of days later I was in Diamond City and got a newspaper. It said that a Vault Dweller had found a way into the Institute and sided with them. This was already bad but it got worse. The Vault Dweller was the guy from HQ. I knew we were compromised immediately. I ran straight to HQ non-stop which really surprised me as to how I even managed to do that at my old age. When I got there I took the back door just in case. I got in and found Desdemona. I told her immediately and she went white like she had just seen a ghost. Then we heard shouting upstairs, 2 human voices, the rest synths. First was the shooting then the footsteps outside the door. After that was the banging on the door. As this was happening, everyone was preparing for a fight. We would never be prepared for what happened next. The Vault Dweller smashed down the door and threw a grenade in. Then we were barraged with gunfire. I was on the floor taking pot shots at anyone who came in my sights. Then I felt a sharp pain in my leg as the other human voice stabbed me with a knife. He was bald and had a scar down his face. But his voice stood out the most. One by one my friends were mowed down as I tried to desperately fight the man off but he seemed inhumanely strong. The vault dweller shouted something to him and he was distracted for a second. I took my chance and shot my gun. I missed but my gun was so close to him it dazed and deafened him for a bit. I looked for Desdemona but she was already captured, probably to be tortured. I just hoped they hadn't found Carl. I took another shot at the man, hitting a nerve in his leg, hopefully incapacitating him long enough to get out. I had no chance of surviving if I tried helping the six injured recruits. When I got out, I set up a tripwire trap and used a stimpak. Then I made my way to Diamond City, hopefully to meet Carl and deal with what had happened. I avoided all main raider camps and used as many alleys as possible. I even used some sewer tunnels. But that didn't matter as the Institute has spies everywhere. One of them must have spotted me because when I was halfway there, I heard Institute laser rifles and synths up ahead. I took cover behind a dumpster. Stupid move. Institute synths have targeting chips. I heard one of them walking toward me and peeked out with my knife, grabbing it and slicing the main processing wire. I quickly ran down the alley and continued on my way. I got to Diamond City and found Carl. I told him what had happened and he acted as if he had never known me. I was confused and told him who I was but he shouted this time saying he had no idea who I was. People around started shouting, telling me to get away from him and to leave him alone. I began to fear the worst. My thoughts were confirmed a minute later when Carl stopped, stared into space and then came over acting normally again. I played along and then told him we should get out of the city for a walk. I knew at some point I would have to kill the synth version of Carl. We got to a secluded area and stopped. Then we he turned his back I stabbed him in the throat. But instead of wires, I saw blood. As he was dying he told me he had cybernetics installed a couple of months back and sometimes they malfunctioned, causing his memories to scramble. I tried everything to keep him alive but it wasn't enough. The one man who had saved me, died at my own paranoia. I took him to a nearby pond and buried him. It was then that I made the mistake that led me to where I am now. I decided to go back to HQ and see what had happened fully. I got down there and everything seemed fine but then I heard footsteps coming from the main catacombs. I heard a voice ask if Kellogg was there ( I have worked out that Kellogg was the bald, scarred man). When there was no answer I thought they had left. But then the vault dweller came round the corner. I was caught off guard and he drew before me. Before I could do anything he shot me in the leg, then shot me in my arm. However, when he shot me in the arm, my arm fully opened came off revealing wires and technology. He smirked and kicked me in the face knocking me unconscious. When I awoke I was in the catacombs, locked in a room. Knowing I would die soon, I began writing this to help ease the pain. I don't have much energy left and I'm struggling to write at the moment in time. If you're reading this then I'm probably long dead, but I'm taking comfort that someone may know what happened to me. My name is Matt Valentine, I'm an Institute synth- and this was my life.