Nate POV, 2074, Pre-war
(A/N for purposes of storytelling, Shaun is born a few years earlier otherwise there would be little time for plot)
I could see faint rays of sunlight bursting through the curtain, the twittering chatter of birds echoing outside. My eyes were still blurred, but I could feel Nora cuddled up to my side, hogging the duvet to herself. Another day in paradise. Someone needed to check on Shaun, so I shifted out of the bed despite the protests and repeated attempts at stopping me from my better half. Still partially dazed, I moved out of the bedroom into the hallway, and opened Shaun's door. Codsworth had already changed him (thank God!) and was in the kitchen preparing a full English.
Today was a day we'd been looking forwards to for a while; the annual presidential speech being given by the Washington Monument. We weren't attending in person, but it was still a nice Saturday to relax and watch the speech before we went for lunch in the city. I sat down at the counter, and Codsworth hovered over to me with fresh, beautiful coffee.
"Ah Mr Nate Sir, here is your coffee, a perfect 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit as requested! May I inquire into the readiness of your beloved? It is an important day after all!" He said enthusiastically (as he always does)
"Thanks for the coffee Codsworth. I think Nora is having a lie in. We have a busy day, but if she's not up in an hour you have permission to… wake her…" I lowly chuckled at the thought.
Codsworth visibly shivered, his arms twitching with the expectation of mischief.
"Yes sir!" He saluted.
I couldn't help but laugh.
30 minutes late, Nora ambled out of the bedroom dressed and ready for the day. Codsworth, having already prepared her breakfast which by this point was cold, couldn't help but get a reply in.
"Ahh, Mrs Nora! Has her Majesty, the sleeping beauty, decided to grace us with her presence?" He said casually.
I almost spat out my coffee before I reigned myself in. Nora, although trying to hide it miserably, found it funny as well.
"Thank you codsworth. Honey, do you think he needs a service?" Nora shot back. Codsworth whirled around, and if he could use facial expressions, he would be giving her a look of abject horror. I sat back and watched it unfold.
"Please Ma'am no! That unholy factory routinely scratches my paint, puts on parts backwards and doesn't tighten the screws! He pleaded.
"Relax Codsworth no-ones touching you." Nora giggled.
Codsworth harrumphed in response.
I decided now would be a good point to re-enter the conversation. "Nora, are you ready for the speech? Its at 10 o'clock, so an hour from now. I was thinking that we could go down to Swan's Pond afterwards." I spoke.
Nora gave me a squinting glance, before a smile curved up her lips. "Why, do you want another baby?"
This time I spat out my coffee. Codsworth desperately started zooming around attempting to clean up the mess, while Nora and I laughed.
Life was good. I couldn't think about how it could get better.
5 minutes before the speech
Nora, and I sat on the couch, Shaun between her arms. The TV was on the News; the presidential seal embossed on the screen, ready for the speech to begin. The speech would last 15 minutes or so, talking about foreign and domestic issues, awards, new projects, technologies and other matters any hardworking American would enjoy. I was particularly looking forward to the President talking about veterans. Having fought in Anchorage, I could understand the worry held by America's new generation of soldiers.
President Irons was a good leader, even if I didn't agree with all his policies.
I spared a glance at Nora. The sun illuminating her smile, her hair framing her face and her eyes perpetually light up with joy. Everyday I saw her, I felt like the luckiest guy in the world all over again.
She caught me staring, and winked.
"Babe, its starting. If you don't want to catch flies you should close your mouth as well." She grinned.
I blushed, knowing I had been caught. It didn't happen often, but I never forgot when it did. Shaun chose the moment to start squirming, and Nora quickly comforted him before he could cry.
The TV began to flicker, and the scene changed to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. People lined the entire area, families sitting in the grass or standing by the pool. Every 20 meters or so, a power armoured, navy blue soldier wearing the presidential seal stood guard, watching over the crowd. Secret service agents were scattered in between them, waiting for the president to move out onto the stage. American flags hung everywhere, a vivid display or reds, whites and blues. Towards to front of the stage were decorated officers and soldiers, recently returned from their latest tour in Anchorage.
I internally gave them a nod. A few moments later, the crowd began to applaud as the video panned to the stage, showing the President marching out, waving in one hand with a 'V for victory' in the other. President Irons was a military man through and through. Since WW2, all his direct ancestors had been in the military, all decorated war heroes in their own right. Irons was a staunch advocate for resistance to communism, having fought in Asia himself. He stood at 6'4 with lightning blue eyes and steel-coloured hair, a black suit with an America tie framing his body.
He was an American icon, a symbol of the American dream and what all soldiers should strive to be. He had strict no-nonsense, no corruption policy, which most recently resulted in scandals involving Vault-tec, Mass fusion, Halucigen-Inc and others.
Once he had finished his parade to the podium, he took his place and arranged his notes while the crowd quieted down. The Camera had zoomed from just the stage to him personally, every moment being held by a thick, silent tension.
Irons looked up from his notes towards the crowd.
"My fellow Americans. Today is a day of all days." He started. He gestured towards the medal-spangled soldiers in the front rows. "Our heroes return to us! From the cold wastes of Alaska, the sons and daughters on the United States of America fight back against an unprovoked, unwarranted and unsanctionable act of aggression from the Chinese Communist Party. Instead of pursuing peace, they choose war. They choose to push back the clock closer to midnight; to put Humanity on the path of total destruction. We, the American people, have a message for them! In the words of President Kennedy: we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. We will not be pushed back from our home, our land, our people!" The crowd roared.
"Let it be known this day that-" The president stopped speaking. A low crackling could be heard. Nearly 50 feet in the air, a blue…. Ball was floating, lightning sparking around it. Power armoured soldiers rushed the stage, swarming the president before anything could happen. The crowd froze, petrified, unsure of what was happening. The light disappeared, and its place something, a figure, appeared in the air. Finally succumbing to gravity, the man dropped in the pool below.
Nora and I were shocked. What the hell was going on?
The Camera panned away from the president, directly to the individual in question. A power armoured behemoth, 8 foot tall and more advanced than any model I had seen before. On its chest plate was a Vitruvian man, the words "Mankind, Redefined" framing the icon. The man fell to one knee, its helmeted head and face bowed away from the camera. Its chest convulsed before it quickly ripped of its helmet and vomited into the pool. A dark head of hair was on his head, his face titled away from sight.
'It almost looks like Nate' Nora thought.
Slowly, the man raised himself to his feet, his head naturally inclining towards the cameras as he did. My whole world froze around me. A cold, dripping panic crept into my heart.
The man had my face. He looked older, grizzled and with three claw marks vertically across his visage. Nora and I were both frozen.
"What the fuck…" I mumbled. Nora could only nod silently.
The man stumbled, forwards his hand shielding his face from the flashes and the sunlight. Power armoured secret service members surrounded him, guns ready for anything. This….. other Nate….. raised his arms in surrender.
"I mean you no harm! I was an American soldier!" he called out. His voice was identical to my own.
"I am from the future!" This caused the panicking crowd and advancing agents to still. Nora looked more closely at his face. At the marks she so intimately knew on her own husband's face. The slight scar under his lip from his childhood. The grazed mark under his left eye from when he was almost stabbed in Anchorage. The two moles under his right earlobe.
All were a match on this man's face.
She opened her mouth, her lips trembling. "N-Nate…. that…. T-that's you!"
Nate still hadn't blinked, his face frozen, the once tanned skin having taken on a paler hue. They both just…. Continued to watch the events unfold. At his hip was what only could be described as something look like the head of the devil. Twisted horns rose up from its head, massive jaws beneath them. It was like no creature I had ever seen.
One of the agents moved forwards. "Don't move!" he shouted. "Identify yourself!"
He turned his head towards the agent. "My name is Nate Anderson, Serial number 48259/54/56!"
Nate and Nora's faces turned an unhealthy shade of white.
The man was looking around while staying still. His eyes shone with wonder and curiosity. He let out a low chuckle. "I must say, Washington looks better without the nuclear fallout!"
The crowd went even quieter.
Oh no.
A/N Thoughts? 😊