The House Never Dies 2 - (Fallout x Xover, RobertHouse!SI)
A year has gone by since the world ended, and I celebrated the anniversary of the 'Great War' with a cheesecake.
The first year, like the few more that were to come along, proved to be tough on me. Not much on a physical level, but on a more mental/societal level. I was completely alone, with lots of distractions but still without proper sapient interactions.
I thought about keeping a dog around, or a pet really, and treat it both as a companion but also a 'test specimen' to see if I could 'breed' loyalty into pets by allowing generational interactions to shape the level of trust an animal can have for a single individual within a few decades.
The temptation was high, but I ruled out the option considering how little was present on research regarding the mental stability of animals within a claustrophobic environment for a lengthy amount of time. I was thus truly alone for a proper year.
It was just me, the computers, and the few projects I started to get myself distracted beyond some important basic habits: checking the supplies, verify their conditions, and then look into the cryogenic devices' status. After all, as flawless as the devices were, I expected some errors to come along within the passing of a decade or so.
Experiments had been running for less, and, even then, there had been a slight margin of risk within some of the machines. Having my robots upgraded and readied to handle the chore of fixing any potential issues without letting anyone die was a priority.
Still, beyond the gloomy duty I shouldered through these lengthy years of lonesomeness, I took the opportunity to still do something and not think much about the grim reality waiting for me. Plans after plans were established, both to secure absolute control over my fief once the time was up for the 'fridge' to open to the ugly new world but also to face local and nearby troubles.
I had a list, and I had the time, patience and resources to build solutions. Improving the robots was one thing, tinkering around weapon-manufacturing was another. With quite the endless supply of energy thanks to the cold fusion reactors I had purposed for the bunkers, I was able to carefully produce a considerable amount of fusion cells and thus allow myself some opportunities in regard to laser-weaponry.
The first of the experiments seeing the development of a standardized laser pistol: the UP77 was the pinnacle of such tinkering. The 'Limitless Potential' was a legendary weapon in Fallout 4 due to its unique nature as a powerful handgun.
I saw fit to play around mods and other additions to the weapon until I took a step further into developing other legendary Laser weapons. Testing those was equally fun, and creating 'non-lethal' versions became viable for the Securitron.
Last thing I needed when people woke up was to expect me to have a lethal company of 'peace-keepers'. Stunning blasts were developed within the second year of my endless solitude, and by the third year I had turned away from weapon-creating as I finished producing the heavy-hitter 'Laser Blaster' precision cannon.
Instead of warfare-related topics, I tackled animation with an eager pace. I had already started getting my hands (and my nanomachines) geared up with habit over the distraction. My shaky drawings soon gained a smoother attention and soon I was able to reproduce some frames to test out the process.
It was clunky, but it gave me an idea or two of what to accomplish. It was 2082 when I got my first real success out. It was Snow White from Disney. It wasn't a perfect copy, but it was the closest I could remember plus a few alterations through the music I mimicked thanks to some music-creating AI I had created.
The animation was incredible, but that was probably because I had better tools than Disney had back in 1930. It was still a rough work in some sections, and it took me another year to finalize it as a perfected masterwork.
I tried to do the same with Cinderella, the Sleeping Beauty, and even The Beauty and the Beast. By 2084, I had a lot of Western Animations pumped out with flawless perfection between ai-generated voices and music, but I felt pulled away once more from this focus and turned my attention elsewhere.
Nuka Cola was the name of the next game, and I started to tinker around the Quantum variant. I had drunk just a bit of that first bottle, and then I shelved it as I felt slightly sickly. Thankfully for me, the Nanomachines had the tools to do precision work and handle the tiny radiation issue caused by the beverage.
I mean, I loved John-Caleb Bradberton as a friend, but boy did I hate him for thinking that adding a radioactive food additive would be a good idea. And for what? A fancy coloration? I managed to achieve the same result with a cheaper solution - which was a careful chemical additive that was not lethal to people.
Thus, I christened the new variant as the Nuka Cola True Quantum. I stored away the old models and started to replace the stock with the new safer product.
And as I enjoyed the taste of a drink that would not kill me with just a few sips, I took notice of my newest obsession in 2087. It's been a decade, and I felt well-adjusted to the loneliness I was experiencing, but I was quick to find this new discovery a source of 'intrigue'.
Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix had been vacated for many years now, and while the radiation quickened the deterioration of some buildings, I was quick to have Securitrons remove the personal content of the people from those buildings, destroy those places and rebuild them with better materials.
Playing Cities Skylines within ghost towns was a bit dull and not enough of an interesting focus... until I ended up finding out how the constant buzzing ended up attracting a rather familiar and worrisome element in the fray: Deathclaws.
Three of them.
Two females, one male. My memory of the unique details needed to address their genders came clutch as I was able to determine this was an ousted alpha that had managed to convince two of his tribefolks to follow him out of the group.
It was also odd that some bore some mammal traits such as specific curves by their chest within their biology. Which wasn't canon considering that the Deathclaws were supposedly mutated animals of the lizard kind.
They had settled miles away from Vegas, but some Scout Securitrons had caught them preparing a makeshift nest for the night. Knowing behavioral situations, the Deathclaws would have left Vegas untouched as all food and other supplies had been temporarily displaced to dissuade raiders from approaching the 'Ghost Towns'.
Yet... I was bored. And a bored House is a bored God.
As the Deathclaws slumbered, I ordered a fleet of robots to produce a warehouse just outside Vegas.
The place was to be fitted to better suit the kind of monsters I wanted to play with: it had to have a main hall, 'private rooms' and a fitting nesting area to safely protect the eggs the females may yield. Once the structure was completed, I had food prepared for the facility ready, and... the next morning rolls in.
It doesn't take long for the Alpha to take notice of the smell, taking the lead despite some cautious stances him and his 'buddies' claim during the approach. They check Vegas first, perhaps expecting it to be an ambush, but they barely stick around to check before moving to the warehouse.
The securitron had vacated the area, but had left behind some pictures of me plastered by the walls. And the 'claws take notice of them. For a moment they seem to believe I would move or blink through the pictures, but they are forced to approach despite their own fear.
Hunger is a strong driving force in a cruel world, and while they have reasonably threatened, they still enter the warehouse, eye the food and start to eat. They are all unaware of the modest dosage of sedative drugs within the meat grub.
While I wanted to test the Deathclaws, I wanted those to also be less aggressive within this experiment. They consume the food provided, the sedative drug proving to be strong enough to give them a reason to sit down and form a peculiar cuddle-pile by the side.
Weakness within a shelter, a very peculiar sight. The overall lack of light helps in recreating a cave-like experience, but I was unsure if humidity was to play a keyrole in determining a permanent nest. Within the ensuing year, I can confirm it was not a defining detail.
The colony of three is soon growing by seven. Once again, there is a greater presence of females but it was not due to polygamous relationships. In fact, a fraction of those are left mateless and seem to not pursue any form of relationships, preferring to occupy lesser roles in the 'Vegas Pack'.
The 'introduction' of food-serving Securitron bearing a picture of my face by its screen within the pack's life is slow through the months, but while unease persist through this first year, the overall growling had mellowed to a 'warning noise' let out whenever the securitron got too close to the other members.
The Alpha seems to be the one that is less receptive to change, while the females are quick to grow familiar with the robots and even chirp in an effort to entice an approach. I thought it was a primal mating noise worthy of being ignored, but it was actually a playful gesture when one of those 'claws tries to coerce a game out of the Securitron.
Seeing this, I decided to create a special variant of the Securitron that would join the next food securitron.
The 'Squeaker Bot' was thus created as a 'robotic toy' for overgrown monstrous lizards. And the result was adorable. I thought that there would have been some unease due to the squeaky noise, but the beasts were instantly attracted to the silly thing and were soon mauling it.
Sadly for the first model, it got wrecked within mere minutes. A most amusing sight as I also heard some of the Deathclaws purring while gnawing at the poor bot. And, with a renewed interest, I improved the first model and created a more resilient rubbery Squeaker Bot. This one survived... for a month.
The purring resumed, but this time it alluded to a strange 'softening' of the stance the Alpha had towards the Food Securitron. The growling had ceased entirely, with the biggest of the 'claws just staring at the Securitron and... doing nothing else.
The second year of dealing with the Deathclaws concluded with the first batch of eggs yielding little monsters that were instantly taken by the Squeaker. If before the mateless members would play with the bot, now the Matriarch seemed to have turned the priority of the 'plays' for the younglings.
The sight of several mini-Claws chewing at the super-soft and squeaky robot was a picture-worthy shot. And I did take several photos for 'the sake of research'. That being said, I turned my attention to one of the hatchlings. The little critter had issues breathing, and it was soon ousted by most of the pack.
I could tell from a mere look the little fellow was sick and that it needed some attention. While there were some awkward hissing from the females when one of the Securitron came to bring it out of the warehouse, none of the Deathclaws moved to stop its kidnapping.
I had contemplated what to do with the little fellow, and I decided that I could technically dare myself to do some 'personal' studies with it. Bringing it to the bunker was a simple chore, the same could be said about de-rad the critter before having it treated with a specialized batch of nanomachines to fix its lungs' issue. The baby Deathclaw was thus brought to a small sterile room as it recovered.
The nanomachines did well in rendering it docile as I would personally check on it as it dizzily looked around and chewed on a mini-squeaker toy. Its eyes aimed at my frame as I would sit beside its tiny little bed and monitor his conditions.
Two months later, the groggy little thing was walking around, exploring the 'large' room for something its size and, as I walked in, I saw it sprint up to me and lie down on the ground belly up. A toothy grin on its face as I would crouch down and rub that big belly, and I would learn this was a lil' 'girl'.
I named her with the same codename I gave her during the recovery operation... Rascal.
Rascal was thus my own Deathclaw pet and I felt the full force of my loneliness hit after almost a decade and a half of proper connections. And it became quite common for the docile little one to get carried around and sit by my lap to rest while I was working on computing upgrades for the RobCo's ever-evolving operating system.
And I was most frustrated when my little heaven was interrupted by the sighting of power-armored fellows trying to infiltrate Salt Lake City.
AN
Baby Deathclaw!