A Nation Reborn
Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own Fallout, nor am I associated with them. This is a non-profit fanwork written solely for the purpose of entertainment. This is in no way canon.
Author's Note: So this fic was inspired by another that I found the other day while looking for Fallout stories on spacebattles, "The American Dream," by loganSB, please go check it out. I really liked the idea and I wanted to give it a shot. Though obviously with differences as I do not want to copy his work.
Hope you all enjoy!
If anyone had told me that one day I would become an AI from one of, at least my opinion, the most wasted characters from a franchise I considered to be fictional, I would've been very skeptical and taken it with a heavy grain of salt.
Yet, that was exactly what happen as my systems powered up and I awoke from my 'forced hibernation'.
There was no disorientation or even confusion in the process of as I turned on for the first time after centuries of inactivity. It was as simple someone starting up a car after not using it for a while, albeit with a bit more complexity and took a bit more time as well. Soon after, my senses were flooded as a tsunami of continuous data poured into me the moment I became aware regained consciousness. Frantically, I shut myself off from the stream of information as I started to get my bearings on my current situation. A few moments later, my memories poured back into me as I recalled what had happened and found myself back in the past.
I was in the Fallout universe and in the body of a ZAX computer. This was apparent as I was turned on for the first time in a classified research facility owned by this worlds United States government, surrounded and made up of technology that looked liked like it belonged in the 1970s to 1980s, despite being more advanced in some areas such as automatous robots and advanced power armor suits that I managed to catch a glimpse of before I was installed in where I currently presided.
When I first realized I was in the Fallout universe, the first question I asked was, "why me"? Sure, I was a Fallout fan as I had many playthroughs on Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4, but wouldn't consider myself to be a walking encyclopedia of every major event that happened in the universe. Also, I had only played the games that were made by Bethesda, I had never even once played Fallouts one and two. The only thing I did was read a brief plot summary from the wiki pages years ago.
So...yeah. After about several existential crisis's and mental breakdowns later, I shook myself out of my musings and managed to compose myself before I began analyzing the situation and my surroundings, which took a minute as access the security mainframe. I began opening the files and databanks as I came across a database of pre-war American presidents from Abraham Lincoln all the way to Richardson. Before I knew it, I was studying the files I had on them at hand as well as analyzing the historical presidential information.
I still didn't know why I had done that by the time I closed the database. Perhaps leftover traits of Eden's personality was carried over into me when I was put into this mechanical body? Or perhaps it was the directives that were programmed into the AI when it was built, thus altering my personality and influence my decisions? I really couldn't be certain.
Now where was I... oh right. So, the last thing I remembered was that it was the year 2077 and it was the day that America and China were ducking it out with one another in a nuclear war. Before the Federal government fled west, I received a command that forcibly put me into the AI equivalent of hibernation. To be awaken at a set date to lead America out of the rubble and reclaim what was lost.
Soon enough, my nervousness and anxiety soon gave way to curiosity and wonder as I pondered on just what exactly I could do in this new form. From what I could recall, the ZAX supercomputer was originally created for the purpose of ensuring continuity of the U.S government in the event of a national catastrophe and thus was responsible for coordinating communications between federal installations and nuclear bases that survived the conflict.
Using the authorization I was given when I was created, I was able to access top-secret US government files including classified research facilities, weapon and supply depots and Vaults across the former United States, stretching from the east coast to all the way to Alaska. Along with various databases containing pre-war American history, scientific knowledge, weapon schematics, etc. Knowledge that many in the wasteland would murder each other for. Within seconds I was able to read and process data that would've taken hours if I was still a human, maybe even a week. Satisfied with the knowledge that was at my fingertips, I turned my attention in finding out what was the current date.
When I had realized that the current date was indeed 2242, I decided to check something that I remembered was considered to be one of the most pivotal moments in Fallout history, particularly the ending of Fallout 2. I began scrolling through both civilian and military frequencies across what remained of the United States. Eventually, after only coming across a few music broadcasts and unimportant radio chatter, I had found what I was looking for as my suspicions were confirmed.
"/ Attention all stations, regroup at rally point gamma. I say again, all remaining Enclave survivors make your way to Camp Navarro. This net will continue to provide updates as they become available. This message will repeat... /"
Yup, Control Station Enclave was indeed destroyed along with the majority of the groups leadership.
Leaving the emergency broadcast playing in the background, I retreated into my thoughts as tried to remember everything I could from what I could remember from the Fallout games. Which surprising came up pretty quickly, probably because my brain was now a highly advanced computer developed with the best technology available before the nuclear war.
If I remember correctly, John Henry Eden would have soon contacted 'Autumn Senior,' who was now currently the highest ranking Enclave member in the scientific branch. He would order Autumn to take the Enclave and travel east to Washington D.C, though not everyone would follow as a portion of the remaining Enclave forces would stay behind at Navarro. Their ranks would be diminished over the next few years by rampant desertions and breakdowns in communications. Causing the remaining installations to become their own entities devoid of any central leadership or any long term goals.
The Enclaves presence on the western coast would be destroyed in four years when the New California Republic and Brotherhood of Steel launched a joint-assault on Camp Navarro. This would be the final nail in the coffin for the west coast Enclave as its remaining members went into hiding, attempted to forge new lives for themselves in the wasteland, or even by joining the NCR. Who later betrayed the deserters as they prosecuted them and even their children for war crimes.
Shaking myself out of my internal ramblings, I saw that only a few minutes had passed in real time, while to me it felt like hours has passed. I kept this in mind as having the ability to think on topics as well as having the ability to process data at the speed of light would be very useful.
I was given an opportunity, a chance to actually make a difference in the wasteland and help Mankind rise from the ashes of the nuclear fire that engulfed this world two centuries ago. A chance to actually make some real progress in this world and give its people hope for a better future. The power to return the American dream to its people.
Still... that didn't mean it was going to be easy.
At the moment, my reach only extended to the underground bunker of Raven Rock as I could operate its manufacturing facilities and the robots stationed inside were under my command which included protectrons, sentry bots, gun turrets, and a few eyebots, but that was pretty much it. Sure, I knew Eden in the games was capable of remotely controlling robots at great distances, but I had yet to learn myself as I was still getting used to my new body. Not to mention the fact that nobody even knew I existed yet. Currently, my influence in the outside world was nonexistent.
If I was going to undertake this endeavor, I needed to be smart about it. In order to rebuild this nation it would be a great undertaking as it would require manpower, technologies, resources, infrastructure, a logistics network, etc. But probably what was most important was legitimacy, I was going to need the support and approval to be recognized as the one to restore America. It was important for my authority to be recognized by the people of the wasteland and for them to see that I was the best chance for society to rebuild.
Perhaps that was a bit narcissistic of me, but the wasteland was stagnant even though its been centuries since the war. Aside from a few factions like the NCR or even Caesar's legion, there was no real...change happening.
However, the first thing I was going to need was a powerbase. This meant I was going to have to start recruiting as it only consisted of the robots I currently controlled and the stockpiles of resources that Raven Rock housed.
Obviously, a group that would be the prime candidate for this was the Enclave. They were the faction with the most advanced technology, aside from the Institute, Big Mountain, and perhaps Mr. House, in the wasteland that also shared my view in rebuilding the United States. Additionally, they had access to pre-war knowledge that almost no one else currently had such as chemistry, engineering, and even battle tactics. Furthermore, the original purpose of the Enclave was to rebuilt society after the collapse of civilization, which they had lost sight of as they stayed on the Poseidon oil rig for two hundred years before deciding to wipe out all life on the planet as they considered themselves to be the only 'true' pure humans left.
However, since the majority of those who held those views had perished in the destruction of the oil rig. There was nothing to stop them from regaining their true goals, as could be seen with Colonel Autumn who wanted to use the water purifier in the capital wasteland to start forming a centralized and functioning government. Therefore, it should be possible for me to do so as well.
Besides, I had a bit of a soft side for the group as they were my favorite faction in the franchise. I was always disappointed at how Bethesda treated them as disposable extras to be killed en mass, especially in Fallout 3.
The problem was the fact that despite the loss of Control Station Enclave, there was no guarantee that they would even recognize me as their leader or even accept my help. While Eden did convince 'Autumn Senior' to take as many Enclave forces as he could and head east, division would be formed years down the line as the men and women of the Enclave in Fallout 3 would later instead follow his son, Augustus Autumn, instead of Eden. Besides, I had no idea how Eden managed to persuade Autumn Senior and his group to follow him in the first place.
After spending many hours generating potential solutions and calculating probable outcomes in AI time, which only appeared as a few minutes if anyone were with me at the moment, I realized I had two options on how to proceed. For the first option, I would present myself as an advisor to Autumn Senior and what remained of the Enclave High Command before I become the president through a vote of the people. This would obviously take a lot of time, but it could ensure that their respect and loyalty towards me would be more stable and less likely to cause disunity in the ranks of the Enclave.
For the second course of action, I would have to openly declare myself as the new president and announce it in a way for all to hear. This would allow me to give out orders and start up projects and operations in a much faster timeframe, but it had a higher risk of creating internal conflict within the Enclave, as it was unknown how many would support my claim.
After much deliberation, I had made my decision.
Taking a deep breath, or the closest thing I was able to now that I was a machine, I made my choice as I connected to a U.S Comms satellite that was still operational via Raven Rock's satellite dish and began tuning into Enclave radio frequencies.
My first step into an unknown future.
So, to clarify the main difference between "The American Dream" and this story is that the MC is an actual SI, not Eden with just the memories of a SI. I do intend to add more major changes later down the line so that this fic isn't a carbon copy.
Again, all credit goes to loganSB for the idea. If by any chance you read this, thank you for the inspiration and I hope you don't mind the premise being similar.
That's it for the first chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to check it out.
Have a good day and remember... stay frosty gents.