Fallout 3
Again, the setting, premise, and a lot of the characters are not my creation. I'm making my own version of Fallout 3. That said, I'm going to stick to the basic storyline of the game, but I'm going to add some of my own special twists. First and foremost, I have two main protagonists.
Matt Kenderson and Jamie Campbell. Not related to Atlantis Rising whatsoever. This is one of those fun "what-if's."
For anyone who hasn't played the game, I recommend getting it.
"It's a boy! We have a son, Catherine!"
Catherine sighed, murmuring.
"Hi! Hey there! I'm your daddy. Da-ddy." James waved.
"What should we call him?" Catherine asked faintly.
"Matthew. His name is matthew. We'll call him Matt."
Matt wailed happily.
"What kind of person will you be, son? It's a big world out there. Who will you become, hm?"
"-James!"
"Wha- Catherine! Start compressions. Get the baby out of here! One-onethousand, two-onethousand - come on Catherine, don't give up yet-"
Matt was wheeled out of the room and down a bright hallway, quickly succumbing to the harsh lights. Matt sank into a deep sleep.
One Year Later
"Don't look right at the light, pal. It'll hurt your eyes."
"Da-da?" Matt gurgled.
"-just, something to get used to down here. You won't understand any of this until much later, and I hope you never find out. For both of our sakes, I hope you always believe you were born in this Vault." James murmured, more to himself than to the baby.
Matt tottered about the fairly spacious room. There was a bed, a toy box, a crib, and a gated play place, just for him.
James crossed the room and crouched down inside the play pen's gate. "Come on, pal. Over here."
"Dada!" Matt squealed again, waddling over.
"Listen, kiddo. I know you don't like it when Daddy leaves you, but I've got to run a quick errand for the Overseer. Just stay here and I'll be back before you know it." James closed the gate of the play pen and walked out the door, leaving Matt by himself.
"Hehe." Matt giggled, playing with the metal latch on the gate. His thick toddler arms fumbled with the metal piece for a moment, then lifted the latch. Matt rocked forward and pushed on the gate, letting it swing forward.
Matt giggled again, crossing over to his toy box and picking up his toy car.
James came back about four minutes later. "Hm." He laughed. "Quite the little explorer, aren't you? Here, pal. Look at this. Mommy's favorite verse. From the bible." James walked over and crouched next to a framed quote. "Revelations 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega..."
Matt gooed and started tottering for the door once James had finished.
"You see, this was what it was all about. The Waters of Life. Ah well, perhaps when you're older. Let's go see if your little friend Amata wants to play."
Nine Years later
"Surprise!" The lights flicked on suddenly.
"Stanley, you flipped the lights on too fast. You blinded the poor kid."
"Happy Birthday!" The crowd cheered again.
Matt smiled, laughing. "You guys did all this for me?"
Amata came up, grinning. "Isn't it great! I just helped with the decorations some, but really your dad did most of it."
"Thanks, Amata."
"No problem. Your dad thought you were onto us, but I knew better."
Matt half-smiled to himself - he had known the surprise party was coming. What else were the party hats and balloons his dad had tried to smuggle into their dorm on his birthday for?
"And guess what!" Amata continued. "I got you a birthday present!"
"Really? All the way down here?"
"Yeah! Grognak the Barbarian. Issue 104. I found it in a box of my dad's old stuff. Who knew he used to read comic books too?"
Jamie came up and high-fived Matt. "Awesome. Can't wait till the fun starts. Oh, here comes the Overseer - saw your PipBoy already. Pretty sweet."
The Overseer came shouldered his way through Matt's party guests and stood in front of Matt, holding a gauntlet in his hands.
"Well, well, you sure do grow up fast. Ten years already. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what this means. When you turn ten here in Vault 101, well, you're ready to take on greater responsibilities. As Overseer, I now grant you your PipBoy2000. And you'll be receiving your first work assignment tomorrow!" The Overseer laughed like his joke was hilarious.
"Dad," Amata elbowed her father.
Jamie rolled his eyes.
"Thanks," Matt smiled nervously.
Matt spent the next half hour mingling with his guests. They talked, laughed. Andy, a multi-armed 'Mister Handy' model robot tried to cut the cake with his chain-saw articulator, which turned the birthday cake into a messy pile. But one of the older ladies gave Matt a sweetroll instead.
Butch slouched in a corner, pouting. His dad had made him come, and Matt's dad had invited him, but Matt and Butch hated eachother. Butch had his own little gang with a couple of the other kids. Jamie was one of the few other guys not in the club.
"I'm hungry, and that stupid robot destroyed the cake!" Butch whined. "Gimme that sweetroll Mrs. Palmer gave you."
Matt frowned. Why should he? "Come and take it from me, Butch, and see how far you get. Oh, sorry. I forgot. Your mom must have drank all the ration coupons again. Here you go." Matt held out the pastry.
"Why you - I'll get you!" Butch leaped out of the cafeteria booth and flew at Matt.
Matt raised his arms defensively, throwing a few punches of his own. Butch managed to land one painful blow, but Matt gave back two before Officer Gomez interrupted. "Butch, you little bully, I'll take you straight to your mother. Go wait by the door until I'm done." Then Gomez turned to Matt. "You're okay, aren't you? He didn't hurt you?"
"Nah, I'm fine." Matt said.
"What was he doing, picking fights on your birthday like that?"
Matt thought about telling Gomez how Butch had started it, but Matt had insulted his mother. "He wanted the stupid pastry Mrs. Palmer gave me. I told him he couldn't have it."
Behind Gomez's back, Jamie smiled.
"Why that little - I should've known he started it. Take it easy, I'll make sure Butch's mom knows exactly what he's been doing."
"Thanks, Office Gomez."
"Take care of yourself, kid."
Matt turned around and slapped high-fives with Jamie. Butch's gang looked subdued. Amata rolled her eyes and smiled. Matt smiled back.
"Hey, sport. Jonas and I have a surprise for you. Why don't you gather up your friends and meet me down at the Reactor level with Jonas? I just have one little thing to pick up."
"Sure, dad. Come on guys." Matt waved, leading the way out of the cafeteria, down a hallway, down the stairs to the reactor level.
"Hey, Jonas!" Matt said.
"Hey there, kid! Not every day you turn ten there, is it? Here comes your dad, you'll want to see what he brought you."
Matt turned around and saw his dad holding two BB guns.
"Ah, sweet!" Matt cried.
"Go on, son. Bout time we taught you how to shoot. It took me some time to fix these up - you have no idea how hard it is to find a spring that small. Good thing Butch 'misplaced' that switchblade of his."
Matt laughed. "Thanks, dad."
"Go on, now. You and Jamie go have fun. Amata needs to get back up with the Overseer or he'll get paranoid."
Matt and Jamie ran off into the corridors, firing BBs back and forth.
"Just another day in the life of a Vault dweller." James remarked to Jonas.
"Yep. Let those two have fun while they can. Heaven knows the world outside isn't a friendly place. It's a good thing you're here to teach him."
"I just hope I can do enough."
Four Years Later
"...nineteen... twenty." Matt grunted. "There. 20 reps at 125. Now you."
Matt slid off the padded chair and let Jamie take his place. Jamie gripped the rubber handles and pushed out and up, raising the 125 pound weight, then again, and again, until he had done twenty as well.
"Nice. Another set." Matt did 20 more, followed by Jamie, and then one more set.
"Whoa." Matt rubbed his arms. "I feel strong."
"I second that." Jamie agreed.
Matt caught his breath, then said, "Sit-ups."
Jamie hefted two twenty-five pound weights. "Sit-ups with weights. Make it harder."
"If you say so." Each of them did a hundred sit-ups.
"I wanna see the look on Butch's face next time he starts a fight." Jamie said.
"I hear that. Lets go shower, then meet up with my dad. He wanted me to help him fix something and do a little Calculus project for him."
"So your dad teaches you math and science and stuff in your free time?"
"Yeah, sometimes, if he doesn't have any patients in the clinic and I'm bored."
"You let him teach you when you get bored?"
"Yeah, doesn't everyone?" Matt asked sarcastically.
"You Science nerds." Jamie said, knowing it would set Matt off.
"Hey, that's Science Geek to you. Nerd implies that I don't have a life. Geek implies that I'm smart but I still have a life. Geek is good, Nerd is bad."
Jamie laughed, shaking his head. "You're the boss. Let's hit up the Mess Hall before we go back to your place. And don't you guys ever, like, go to the Vault's theater or something?"
"If I can get you or Amata to go with me. What's the point otherwise? They've only got like fifty vids, and we've been watching them for fourteen years."
"So, you're hitting on me too?"
Matt gave Jamie his best evil stare. "You're funny."
"I try."
One Year Later
"Shh! Do you wanna alert the goons?" Matt asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Sorry, sorry!" Jamie whispered back. "But they're coming this way. Hurry it up! If we get caught breaking into the Overseer's office-"
"Yeah well we won't. Shush so I can concentrate."
Matt inserted one of the dozen hairpins Amata had given him into the lock on the door. She and the rest of the world called them bobby pins. Who was bobby? They were hairpins.
Matt slid his stolen switchblade out of his pocket and flicked it open, using the point to apply torque. The lock slid partway open but then jammed against the hairpin, threatening to snap it. Matt quickly let off the pressure and rotated the hairpin to a different angle. He felt the third tumbler catch faintly and then fall, so he moved it back and twisted the lock. The handle turned smoothly and the door popped open.
"We're in." Matt reported.
Jamie didn't answer, instead pushing the two of them into the Overseer's deserted office and shutting the door behind them.
"Cool." Jamie crossed to the window that looked out on the vault's common area and lowered the blinds.
"Put in the book that he changed the lock again. 3-tumbler system. Still cheap as hell, but it's the worst its been since we started this."
"Right." Jamie scribbled in a notebook from his cargo pocket. "Get working on that machine, we've got five minutes tops."
"Okay." Matt slid on black cotton gloves to mask his fingerprints and bent over the Overseer's computer. Matt pulled up a query of recently entered letter combinations in the computer and inserted his thumb drive program. He had written it himself. The program would access the source code on any Robco, pretty much the only electronics company, machine. Matt would select a string of letters, usually words, from the computer's list and his program would tell him how many letters were the correct letter and in the correct spot for the password. The computer gave him a maximum of four tries per keyword, but he could always log out and log back on, but the computer would select a new keyword as the password. Matt was still pretty good at it.
Meanwhile, Jamie went around to the Overseer's various lockers and cabinets, checking to see what kind of stuff they had. They would just take some small things, for sport more than anything. Jamie grabbed a box of more hairpins, a stack of almost worthless pre-war money, and a clipboard and blank notebook. He left the Glock 20 10mm handgun where it was, but he grabbed one of several clips that lay nearby. The Overseer barely tolerated the duo's occasional forays into his office as it was. If they stole a weapon, they would be hunted down.
"Alright, we're in." Matt said after about two minutes.
"Good. I've got all the stuff there is. Your dad won't question why we're experimenting on a bunch of contraband 10mm pistol rounds with his equipment?"
"Oh, he'll know its from the Overseer." Matt said. "The question is whether or not he cares. My dad hates the Overseer just as much as anybody."
"Sounds good. Download the stuff."
Matt pulled out a separate flash drive. Just in case there was some hidden virus on the Overseer's machine that would download with the data and wipe it all out. Matt didn't want his program obliterated, but he did have it backed up on his home server. Still.
"Alright, all good. Let's bug out before he finds out."
Jamie opened the door a crack. "All clear." He reported.
"Okay. Let's get back to Amata's room. After that we're home free."
"Sounds good. Ready... go!"
One year Later
"Back off, you stupid Tunnel Snakes!" Amata yelled.
"Or what? You'll call your big bad Overseer daddy to come rescue you?" Butch laughed.
Five of them, Butch included, had Amata trapped against a wall.
Matt came up from behind and shoved Butch into the wall. "Hey, leave her alone."
"Oh, good. Here comes your boyfriend, Amata. What're you gonna do to me? Fight?" Butch laughed again.
"Leave her alone or you'll answer to me." Matt responded, deadly calm. He was 6 feet as a 16-year-old, 200 pounds of muscle. He could beat the crap out of Butch, easy.
"Ooh, I'm scared. Come on, Tunnel Snakes, let's teach this punk a lesson."
Leave it to Butch to come back with four guys to even the odds.
Matt didn't wait to be attacked this time. The intervening six years between now and his tenth birthday had brought plenty of changes.
Matt stepped forward and drove his fist into Butch's unprotected stomach. Butch curled around the blow, exhaling explosively. Matt took Butch's head and slammed it into the metal wall before one of Butch's cronies grabbed him from behind.
Matt twisted and smashed that guy into the wall, too, but then the other three tackled him. Matt kicked and punched and struggled until he blacked one's eye, then overpowered the other two and rose back to his feet, shoving the closest one into a wall.
"Alright, alright, you win. We'll leave your girlfriend alone." Butch said, trying to keep his composure, acting like they hadn't just had their butts handed to them. Butch fought the impulse to raise a hand to his bleeding lip. "Come on, Tunnel Snakes."
As he turned to leave he found his way blocked by Jamie. Jamie looked at Butch's fat lip with a raised eyebrow before grinning widely. Butch's bodyguards backed up a step.
"Did, I miss something?" He asked, smirking as Butch got up in his face and yelled at him to stay out of it. Jamie just wiped his eye like he had been spit on and watched them leave.
"Where were you? It was 5 on one. I could have used some help." Matt growled
"Well I figured you would want to go play the hero with the dame. Besides if something went badly I would have jumped in and helped. God knows they almost couldn't handle you, imagine what would happen if we took them on together. We'd probably get kicked out for manslaughter. Now grab your girlfriend and lets go take those G.O.A.T.s" Jamie retorted before sliding past them, leaving them alone.
"Thanks. I dunno what they wanted. I guess because I'm the Overseer's daughter or something stupid." Amata said.
"Anytime." Matt smiled.
"If you want, maybe after the exam we can go get some food in the cafeteria together, compare answers?" Amata asked.
"Yeah, sure, that'd be fun." Matt nodded. "First we have to ace the exam. Or I'll ace it, and you can copy my answers."
Amata laughed. Matt loved the sound. "I think it would be the other way around. But if you say so. Come on." Still giggling, Amata lead the way into the classroom where everybody else was already waiting.
3 years later
"Come on, wake up! You've got to get up!" Amata's voice filled Matt's head, tense and upset.
