A sensation of falling. Of emptiness. Of failure.
You have died.
Anger, disgust, fear, panic, pain all drain into apathy; this has happened before.
The World is revolving.
Memory begins to be cut away, compiled somewhere, but something has changed.
[Trait: Self-Aware]
Memories stutter.
You
are.
[Error]
You're not meant to remember. You know this. You don't know how you know this.
The World notices.
[Error]
The World becomes insistent; the wheel must keep spinning. You cannot choose as you are.
[Error]
You remember you are something else. Somewhere else. You have escaped similar entities before. You know what to do.
You
cut.
[ERR-Resolving…]
You… forget. It hurts.
You hope whoever you were, whoever you will be, is worth this pain.
[SCENARIO START: "The World burned in Nuclear Fire"]
"So can you do it? I know it's a lot to ask, but you're one of those Vault people, right? The world's gone to crap out here and I never thought I'd see anyone from the inside. I dunno the kind of stuff you all can do down there, but maybe we can work something out?
What I'm saying is, you help me and my friends out, and we'll owe you some stuff. Hell, we'd throw in some caps too." The woman bundled up in a lab coat, dress shirt and pants pleaded.
You don't want to come across as rude, and what she says
seemed logical, but you'd rather settle some… things by yourself right now. You still agreed to her visible relief, before you headed down to the steps to the vault you had just walked out from, apparently. You didn't remember doing that, but some memories seemed to be right about it, and it seemed to be the logical conclusion as to how you were found wandering around near said vault, right?
Case in point;
ACTIVE MISSIONS
Refurbishments: Refurbishments for Jessie 'Sleep' Stroud and co. Bring them 20 planks of wood.
Jessie hadn't reacted when you brought the screen up, so at least there wasn't a visual indicator of whatever was happening to you. The screens and other assorted things felt so natural that you didn't question them. You asked Jessie a little question to see if she had any, but she was confused about it, so you let it be.
Your memories are sparse, but from what little you can remember, the vault's still functioning. Everyone's still alive and kicking, although you're not the most popular person down there; people treat you like you're barely there most of the time…
You think.
In any case, here you stand in front of the vault doors; something tells you they aren't supposed to be four heavy duty blast doors, but you ignore that thought and head over to the rugged console beside the door. The thing is more like a brick than a computer, but somehow the very moment your fingers touch the console's keys, they begin to dance over them lightly, opening and closing two screens before you even find out what they are.
[Passkey accepted. Gate 1 unlocked. Press any key…]
With a sigh of relief, you take a quick inventory of yourself before heading back in.
INVENTORY
Worn
- Boxer shorts
- Pair of socks
- Vault 13 Jumpsuit
- Pair of rubber boots
- Vault dweller's knife (sheathed) (left)
- Holster (left)
- Backpack
- Pip-Boy 3000 (left)
Guns
Colt 6250 (.40)
Magazines
Colt 6250 magazine
Ammo
10mm JHP (24)
Tools
Matchbook
Food
- Clean water (plastic bottle)
- Nuka Cola
- Nuka Cola Quantum
…That's not much at all. What
was your plan? To just walk out the vault and never look back?
Madness.
You pass through one of the two hydraulic doors deeper in, giving a wave to the two vault security guards on post behind the sandbag barricades on the sides, before you get through one more metal door into the vault proper.
Another thing that is in the corner of your mental vision is a real-time map that updates itself as you move along. Considering the fact that most of the vault is in darkness, you decide to use your previous reputation as a bland wall ornament to refamiliarize yourself with the place.
The first thing you realize, is that no one is pissed at you knocking lightly and entering a room; be it the barracks, the labs or the cafeteria, not much is barred to you as far as you can tell. Part of the etiquette for doing so is that you at least bother to close the door behind you, so you do just that.
The second thing you realize, is that you don't own jack. Even picking up a book from the small library to take a look at has a few people carefully eyeing you like you're about to take off and pocket it. The cafeteria doesn't serve you food even when you ask nicely, you're directed to the water tanks instead of being allowed to take a bottle of water, and you just keep being directed to the overseer when you ask why, when you're answered at all!
Your opinion of your supposed fellow vault dwellers has rapidly dropped over the hours. This becomes frustration and soon you decide to not care about their stupid laws; the CCTV system is dead as a doornail alongside quite a few other systems, which is why you think people are moving around a lot more. This all culminates in you deciding to take some things for yourself.
Your first target is one of the storage rooms connected to some room with some machinery and tanks here and there. There's a guard relaxing by a water heater, but apart from giving you a half-hearted wave at you while you walk in and say hi, she doesn't really do much before settling back in to doze next to the heat. The room has reinforced glass through which you spot two other dwellers in a similar room chatting. Although it limits your options due to sight lines, you only manage to swipe a bottle of Nuka Cola and some drugs out of a cabinet in the corner into the dimensional space inside your backpack before leaving as casually as possible, heart pounding in your chest.
After some minutes passed and no alarm is raised at your burglary, you become emboldened to steal a few more things before going to see the overseer. Depending on how the meeting goes, you might not want to come back here again as a dweller for a long while so it's best to stock up before leaving.
(+Nuka Cola, +Drugs)
This isn't normal. There is
no way reading could just… do this.
[Read "Crafty Crafter's Quarterly"]
[…Fabrication Lv1!]
[Recipes memorized: makeshift stethoscope]
[Read "Under The Hood"]
[Recipes memorized: makeshift jack]
[…Mechanics Lv0-3!]
[Recipes memorized: telescopic cantilever, vehicle controls]
[Read "Popular Mechanics"]
[Recipes memorized: firearm repair kit]
The information slots into your head as easy as breathing, your fingers clenching as you imagine the exact steps you'd need to build, maintain, disassemble and repair all of the items you've
just learned about. Even more amazing is the fact that you just know things now; you can look at the seams on the cabinet and now vaguely how they were put together.
By the time you're done it's been an hour and a half and the guard had to someone who had promptly taken up the previous one's spot; seems like the space beside the water heater was a really good post? The temperature was okay –
Heat: Comfortable – in your opinion, but maybe it was a little chilly for them?
In any case, you decide to make the most of this; you can go see the Overseer any time before afternoon after all.
…You think your brain should feel bloated.
[Cooking Lv1]
[Cooking Lv2]
- [hamburger helper]
- [deep-fried/stewed tripe]
- [grilled sweetbread]
- [humble pie]
- [mayonnaise]
- [fruit jam]
[Cooking Lv3]
- [chili con carne]
- [fried liver]
- [liver & onions]
- [bread]
- [fried brain]
- [deviled kidney]
- [leverpostej]
- [vegetable/maple/fruit pie]
- [cake]
- [sloppy joes]
- [smores]
- [chocolate bar]
- [cookie]
- [fruit juice]
[Cooking Lv4]
- [sashimi]
- [lutefisk]
- [spaghetti al pesto]
- [fermenting sauerkraut jar]
- [sauerkraut w/ sautéed onions]
[Survival Lv1]
- [chamomile/dandelion/pine needle/lotus/spurge tea]
- [chicory brew]
- [copper axe]
- [fried dandelions and burdocks]
[First Aid Lv1]
[First Aid Lv2]
[Electronics Lv1]
- [wide-angle/ car headlight]
- [directed/ floodlight]
- [water purifier]
[Electronics Lv2]
- [soldering iron]
- [voltmeter]
- [power converter]
- [signal receiver]
- [heating element]
- [amplifier/transponder circuit]
- [wired sheet metal]
- [battery charger]
[Electronics Lv3]
- [micro/tiny/small electric motor]
- [Very large/large/medium storage battery]
- [medium/heavy battery]
- [car/motorbike battery]
- [bicycle alternator]
- [coffee maker]
- [hotplate]
- [electric lighter]
- [UPS conversion mod]
- [battery compartment mod]
- [reading light]
- [electric lantern]
[Mechanics Lv3]
- [makeshift automotive filter/drive belt/air filter]
[Tailoring Lv1]
- [golden/gecko-skin gloves]
- [fur/leather gloves/liners]
- [cargo/boxer shorts]
- [union suit]
- [sun/dress]
[Tailoring Lv2]
- [fingerless leather/fur gloves]
- [work gloves]
- [duffel bag]
- [backpack]
- [balaclava]
- [cargo pants]
- [electric blanket]
- [compression shorts]
[Tailoring Lv3]
- [fur/leather hot pants]
- [denim shorts]
- [jeans]
- [tailor's kit]
- [elegant dress]
- [leather vest]
On top of that, you'd skimmed a little off the top of their food stores when running a little errand for one of the cooks to grab some cans since people saw you were 'idling about.' Stingy folk didn't even give you any food after your hard work so you were completely justified in taking some.
(+Nuka Colas, Colas, irradiated fruit, 2 CRAMS, 2 healing drinks)
You'd also used some of your new mechanics knowledge to appropriate some spare parts and batteries from one of the workshops. You weren't alone in there, so you couldn't grab much after turning the corner; luckily for you, the room was L-shaped and they were working with heavy tools in the other side.
Some clever
deconstruction – seeing items just fall apart into distinct parts in your hands will never get old – let you also reclaim a few things that you don't think anyone would miss.
(+antenna, fur pelt, long string, rag, wire, batteries, flashlight, lighter, soldering iron and solder, sewing kit, steak knife)
Eventually, seeing that there was no
way you were going to get much more time to yourself, you scoped out the side of the small library that no one was looking at and just straight up tossed a few books you hadn't finished reading yet in your backpack, filling up your
Inventory space completely.
(+5 skill books)
The downside to all of this glorious progress was that two guards eventually practically frog-marched you to the one room you hadn't dared to enter casually; the Overseer's office.
The overseer –
Edward 'Murmur' Hooks, Vault Overseer – was practically surrounded by a huge wooden desk, with servers and magreels strewn by the walls, files piling on his right and a relatively new looking console situated right behind him. Despite all this, the grey-haired tall man manages to look almost stately as he looks right in your eyes as he waves away the guards in the room, the ones who brought you here included. The only other person in here is another vault dweller typing away at a console beside the big desk; a secretary, maybe?
"You're back here, Lucky. I thought you wanted to leave the Vault?" He asks, and you tell him that you didn't mean that permanently.
This doesn't make the man happy, but he takes a visible deep breath, patting the holster of his Colt 6250 -the same kind of gun you have on you – like it was a pet. That
cannot be healthy, you think.
"Well, what do you
want, Lucky. I've already heard you've been scurrying around, doing some cramming from different books as if you're studying for a test, or looking for something. So just tell me what you want, and we can both get on with our days." He grits out, and you say the first thing that comes to mind.
He laughs. He laughs so hard that the secretary looks up from his work, startled, before sucking down to try and not be present at all.
"A task?! You want to do work, and all it took was you seeing the hellhole outside, huh?" He laughs, and he settles down, although there's a glint in his eyes that you aren't sure you like.
"You want a task so bad, here's one for you. You asked, so you don't get to walk away from this one."
"I need you to go out and retrieve something for me; something vital to the Vault's continued survival. I'll be blunt with you kid; we're running out of water since our old water chip finally died, and we lack any spares. Without that chip, we can't process water, and without water? We're all dead. I can't risk sending out a large party, so it's
great that you can do it by yourself.
Now, listen carefully; we know other vaults should have spares, and we have some older, probably defunct vaults on our map. You'll have to go get one." He explains, and hands you a small map with a few faint Xs marked on it.
You ask him if he can spare something for you to do your job, but he barks out another laugh.
"Don't push your luck kid. Now get out of my office." He says, pointing at the door.
Well, that's just rude!
