Romance Trailer:
3...2...1...beeeeep!
Some cheesy, badly recorded harp music that is apparently suppose to be romantic plays as a cartoonish drawn heart appears. Vault-Boy walks up to Vault-Girl holding a flower. As they both act rather bashful towards each other. Just as Vault-Boy was leaning over to kiss Vault-Girl on the cheek, he is stomped on by a deathclaw. It then reaches over to crush Vault-Girl to death as it sounds like the harp was knocked over. The creature turns around to hand the dead body over to another deathclaw as hearts appears over the newer deathclaw's head.
The announcer's voice now says, "Ah love and romance. Who says it can't exist in a radiation, hell-hole of a world."
The screen starts flipping as if a film reel snapped.
The Bonanza theme starts to play as the is replaced by a stereotypical image of a western TV show ranch house. In western script, the words, "The men you can love or do without."
You see a broad shouldered, dark hair guy from behind wearing what appears to be stained and sweaty overalls over what was at one point a white T-shirt. He lowers the should straps of the overalls and peels off the sweaty shirt to display his ripped shoulder blades. As if first noticing that someone is behind him, he turns as his name appears, "Sturges." He gives that nervous smirk of his as he tosses the shirt over one shoulder and used a hand to rub the back of his neck. "He enjoys tinkering with both the guys and gals."
The scene changes to nighttime, an outline of a figure wearing a hat could be seen leaning up against a fence. With a tilt of his head, you can barely make out a glowing yellow ringed eye as neon red lettering spelling, "Nick Valentine" appears. The camera for some reason zooms in on the cigarette he is lighting up. But instead of one 'good' hand and one that is a metal skeleton, you see two new looking hands. "Sorry boys, but he's a one lady kind of guy and even then, he's picky."
The screen zooms out until you see an outline of an old-style TV, on which someone changes the channel and then the theme to Bewitched starts to play. A drawn star filled sky. Instead of a woman riding a broom a vertibird files over, shooting its machine guns as the words "Now the Gals!" appear.
As the music plays, the scene changes to what may have been a study or den. In spite of the rather ram-shackled look of the place, the desk that the camera decides to focus on is rather organized. A clean ash tray in one corner and a stack of files in the opposite one. A wrist covered by a ripped sock appears as another file is added to the stack. The camera follows the arm up to reveal Nick Valentine's secretary as the words, "Ellie Perkins" appears. She used one hand to move a stray hair out of her face, as she looks around as if to see what to do next. "Lucky catch for either guy or gal."
The camera changes to what may have been a kitchen at one point but has obviously been converted to a workshop. The camera zooms onto a set of small tools, laying across a table. It then moves slightly to reveal an arm that has been opened up to allow repairs to be made to what is obviously robotic wiring. Just as name starts to appear the film starts to melt and the music cuts off. The classic 'Sorry. We're experiencing technical difficulties' screens appears.
After about 10 seconds a handwritten note appears stating:
Dear Survivors,
I am so sorry. I really shouldn't have used pre-war film to record these things. But what can you do? The characters described in the video are not the only ones that are romance-able, but others are either less part of the story or are to kept as a surprise.
So when your Fort Dallas Ranger arrives in the Commonwealth, feel free to flirt with everyone and everything...except for deathclaws...definitely not deathclaws.
Sincerely,
Raydiva the Writer
Chapter 3: New Assignment
Rosa paid no attention as the messenger walked out and instead focused on the brief case laying flat on her lap. She closes her eyes briefly before clicking the latches and opening it. Inside was a holotape, a sealed folder and something that looked to be a wallet embossed with the circled star emblem of Fort Dallas.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me, "she sighs as she takes what she knows is a badge wallet and flips it open. In it is a picture ID of her and a bronze ranger badge, larger than the one she had handed in not long ago. The ID and the badge indicated she was now a special investigator under the rangers' purview. Shaking her head, she closes the wallet and tosses it back into the briefcase. Next she takes the folder and unseals it.
Inside the folder is a detailed report on a synth in the Boston area going by the name of Nick Valentine. Apparently, he shows every sign of having a human personality as well as using pre-war terms and references. There is a request for assistance in determining if the synth in question might be a Legacy.
(flashback)
"Rose! Phone!" Sergio called out from the living room where the house's single phone was placed. Rose rolls down the hall and picks up the handset, "Rose speaking."
"Hey Rose, how ya' been?" a voice she has been missing for months came through.
"Uncle Nick? Is that you?" she almost cries.
"Yeah, it's me. Sorry I've haven't calling as I should but well..."Nick makes a sound like he trying to hold back tears.
"Nick, is there something wrong?"
Nick takes a few deep breaths and then says, "They buried Jenny today."
"What? What happened?" Rose was shocked by the news. She may have not like the woman very much, but Jenny obviously loved Nick and Nick her."
"You know that case I mentioned and couldn't tell much you about, "Nick voice was starting to break, "The bastards had Jenny killed! And I can't do a damn thing about it!"
"Nick...is there anything I can do? I'll see if I can …"
"No..no. Just being able to talk to someone helps, even if it is long distance, "Nick takes a rough breath, "So I hear your going for criminal justice. Heh, I bet your grandma is real happy about that."
"Oh yeah, she was so overjoyed, "Rose said trying to sound happy through her tears, somehow understanding that Nick needed a few minutes hearing a friendly voice talk about anything else but the hell he's been through, "Threw me a party and everything."
(end flashback)
Rosa comes out of the flashback and takes a shaky breath. She closes up the folder and returns it to the briefcase as well. Hesitatingly, she reaches out and pulls out the unmarked holotape. Almost afraid of what she'll hear she closes the briefcase lays it on the end table next to the now forgotten bottle.
She gets up and heads to the terminal in the corner of the room. Once it powers up, she slides in the holotape and lets it play.
What sounds to be a bar with music in the background was playing. The sound of someone sliding into chair loud enough to indicate that it was the person recording.
Over the background noise, a gravelly voice could be heard talking, "...question I've been trying to figure out myself for a long damn time. I know I'm a synth. Authentic Institute handiwork. But I'm still mechanical, not bio-engineered like the fancy synths giving everyone the willies these days. I get tune-ups now instead of check-ups.
But my memories, my personality, they're all lifted from some cop who volunteered for an experiment back before the war. They scanned his brain and copied it onto the hardware that runs between my ears.
Don't know why they chose to make a robot based on some pre-war.."
Rosa stops the playback, her hands clenching into fists. The actual voice might not be the same, but how he spoke. The pattern, the word choices. Like how a bad phone connection would make the voice sound more mechanical but you can still tell who it was due to their speech patterns. Then to add to her conviction that this was a Legacy of Nick Valentine. She knew for a fact; Police Detective Nick Valentine had his brain scanned at CIT.
(Morning)
Dressed in jeans and a Silver Shroud T-shirt, Rosa steps out of her quarters and locks the door. In one hand was the briefcase that she was given early that morning. She looks around and takes a real good look at her current neighborhood. The road was cracked, but there was no trash or rubble as was still common in other settlements she's visited. Yards were small, almost non-existent but a few living trees gave some relief from the Texas sun.
Rosa start walking down the sidewalk and Mrs. Crowin called out a good morning as she was watering the two potted mutfruit trees she had. Rosa returned the greeting and continued walking. Since she was in no hurry, Rosa decided to take the scenic route to the counsel offices. This took her through the retail district where many of the stores were already open. Mostly food items trying to be sold before the head of the day causes spoilage. Refrigeration was available in Fort Dallas, but the power for it was still at a premium. It was cheaper to stock and sell as fast as possible while letting the consumer deal with preventing the food from going back before fixing it. Those who had the means, had actual working refrigerators. Those that didn't, used other preservation methods or ate the food that same day. That was one of the good things about being a Legacy, you didn't have to worry about food poisoning. The other retailers were still setting up and wouldn't open until sometime later in the day.
A school bells ring and the sounds of children laughing as they raced for school. Rosa stops for a moment to watch the young humans pass and enter the quaint schoolhouse. She smiles, remembering that time she was married and raised a pair of stepchildren. He was now long dead, and the children married with children of their own. As much as it pained her, she kept her distance now. Oh, there was the occasional letter, but everyone involved agreed it was for the best. Rosa has gotten a bit infamous since and thus posing a risk to anyone close. Then there was the fact that there was a good chance she would outlive them all. The oldest Legacy now being over 175 years old and still going strong, even if in a newer body.
She eventually makes it to the main street. This extra wide road stretched from the city's main entrance and down what use to be the exact center of town all the way to the central government building. Towards the entrance, Rosa could see one of the larger Guard stations with the Immigration offices next door. After all these years, the ranger still didn't know how to feel about that office. True it made certain that only those with skills and or the drive to better service the city came to stay, thus helping to make Fort Dallas the closest thing to a metropolis known to exist between the Rockies and the Appalachians. And even those that didn't past their tests, they were expected to see about referring newcomers to outlying settlements that could use extra hands or even to location where they might be able to build their own place. Although the outlying settlements did not have all the luxuries found in Fort Dallas, they did get support from the city that settlements outside of Fort Dallas' reach could only dream of. Of course, this came at a small cost of either caps, crops or other items but most settlers seemed to have found it more than agreeable from what Rosa has seen when on patrol.
She debated for a few minutes to pay the Guard station a visit, just to tweak their noses, but wasn't really in the mood. Checking her internal clock, she decided even though it was still early it wasn't too early to head on over to Garza's office. After all was a small chance, he might be willing to meet with her earlier than scheduled so she could get this over with faster.
(Councilman Garza's office)
"Ah, I wasn't expecting you to arrive so early but it's good that you did, "Councilman Garza says as he shakes Rosa's hand over the desk. Garza was one of the first ghouls to live in Fort Dallas back before it was even given that name. And he used that to his advantage whenever he could. There is a two-term limit on how long someone could serve on the council. Each term being five years long. However, that limit would reset after ten years of being out of office.
While Mr. Garza may not be the record holder for number of years in office, when he wasn't serving publicly, he was a shaker and mover behind the scenes. The only one higher up on the proverbial food chain was Legacy Prime, the first Legacy created and one of the city's founders. While Prime never actually served on the council, he created it and laid down the rules for it which were still being followed. He rarely interfered in day-to-day politics, but his word is basically law on those rare occasions that he does put his two caps in.
"Now let's get this over shall we, "Garza indicated that Rosa should sit down as he too took his seat, 'First things first, I want to make it clear that it wasn't my idea to give you that promotion. While I don't disapprove of what you did, I do disapprove of how you did it. When Prime...suggested this little assignment, I was very oppose to it but then I figured it out. This was not a reward, but an exile. And one that makes it look like we're rewarding you for so-called your heroism. And maybe from your point of view we are, but at least you'll be out of our hair."
"Figures, "De La Rosa shrugs, "I was kinda at loose ends anyways and was considering leaving the area for bit. This is a good a reason as any. I do have one question though; how do you know so much about my Legator?"
"I know nothing about her, "Garza leaned back, "However, Prime did mention you would have an interest in someone using the name Nick Valentine. Now I would almost be curious if I didn't have more important things fill my time."
Garza tosses over a stake of papers. "Those are your official orders, "he says, "You are to travel to the Boston area and investigate what is happening there. What information we are getting is insane. The Institute blown up, the Brotherhood appearing to be stripping the region of tech and so on. You are not to return until you are recalled. However, due to the scope of this assignment you are to be given access to resources that would normally be denied. Some of which, I will tell you are best destroyed before falling into the wrong hands. Your associate, Dr. Susan Miller, will be following you at later date. If you have any questions after going over the orders, talk to my assistant. You are dismissed."
Rosa took the papers and placed them in the briefcase, which she was going to keep. She then stood up and actually saluted before turning to leave.