War, war never changes.
For nearly 200 years, mankind has lived in the ruins of my time. Once magnificent civilisations, reduced to less than rubble. My home burned to ashes, my family; a lost dream.
And now, the battle for the Commonwealth is over. The fate of many has once more been decided. The brotherhood destroyed along with the railroad by the Institute, and now the son I spent so long searching for has passed as well. Shaun is gone too, Nora. This is my confession to you. I failed to save our son, our boy. The first time I even spoke to him, he had already lived his life without us. I remember one of the last things he told me. That life above the ground was over. That there no longer was a future for Humanity on the surface. As always, he was correct.
And yet….
What if instead of looking to the future, the Institute looks to the past? What if I could undo it all, save my family? Perhaps it is regret that drives me, denial of what is so clearly in front of me. But I know War. And I know that there is no longer anything left. The entire planet's ecosystem not only destroyed, but mutated beyond all compare. Humanity, once pure and noble, now scavenging the wastes just to scrape by. There is nothing we can do anymore. For all its advances under the Guidance of Shaun and I, the institute cannot bear the weight of the world on its shoulders. In many ways, life before the bombs dropped was the same. Instead of Wastelanders and raiders, there was capitalism and communism. Vaults designed as twisted experiments; not there to shelter the American people. The FEV, a scientific abomination tested on civilians.
But beyond all governments, politics and causes, I do know something. Humans, like war, never change. I met the captain of the submarine who destroyed our home, Nora. Did I hurt him? Did I yell and scream, demanding answers, baying for blood?
No. No, I saw a man like myself. Tired and weary, the weight of his actions weighing down on him more than anything fathomable. I never forgot. But I forgave. I forgave the sins of the past, the damage done and the lives lost. It was a revelation.
In many ways, I had always come to accept the world had ended when the resource wars began. No power, no food or water. But now?
The institute has a fully functioning fusion reactor. We have limitless food, power and water. No one ever needs to be hurt like our family was.
This is our son's legacy. My legacy. Our legacy.
To you, two hundred years from now, Mankind awaits Armageddon. But now, it may change. It will all change.
I'm coming home, Nora.
If I have to fight through America, through China, through the world to save our family, I will. I will save our son.
I promise, love.