Fallout: (Nuclear)Winter Is Coming

On my briefing table were scattered pages and holotapes filled with information of various points of interest.

50 years had passed since the bombs dropped and I still had access to the vault tec database from my server consoles.

With Overseer's reports from the various vaults collected over the last five decades.

It's easy for me to see exactly when things went wrong in a vault.

And there were many vaults that had already gone dark.

There was some comedy to be found amid the tragedy though.

Vault 68 and 69 which had a 1000/1 ratio of men to women and vice versa between them was hilarious.

Obviously vault 68 that had 999 men and 1 woman devolved into violence and war among the dwellers. It ended for them as quickly as you'd expect.

Vault 69 on the other hand, which had 999 woman and 1 man is still going strong. Unfortunately it has become a woman only vault and the men that exist there are captured outsiders used for thier seed and then disposed of.

Male children are terminated in early pregnancy. A pretty brutal situation. Both vault entrances are located on opposite sides of Central Park in the ruins of New York.

Then there is the Gary vault in DC.

*shudder*

Creepy as hell.

Though, there were some vaults that had posted some useful results from thier vault experiments.

'Like vault 120 and their experiments on irradiated sea slugs and... wait!'

I had to triple check the files I was seeing. As I kept reading, I found many similarities to another franchise.

Bioshock.

Vault 120 was conducting research on the effects of radiation on marine life. And they discovered something very interesting before things went dark there.

As they usually do in vaults.

'The last update was in December, 2086. 9 years after the bombs and 41 years ago from the current date.'

From the files, I was able to see the updates from the Overseer, which gave me a little context of what happened inside.

Vault 120 housed 100 of the brightest minds in thier respective fields as well thier families and maintenance personnel.

From geneticists and marine biologists to plumbers and janitors, the vault was fully staffed and the scientists were eager to begin thier research.

Three years later, a scientist by the name Dr. Murphy Conrad created a new species of sea slug through radioactive mutation, which, the new species, produced potent stem cells capable of adapting and becoming any type of cell.

Including non standard cells...

And that's where things changed in Vault 120.

The Overseer's logs told a vivid story. Excited by the discovery, the scientists began using the genetic material they named ADAM to alter the genetics of lab mice, allowing them to learn how to refine it into the substance named EVE, which led to human trials.

Residents that committed crimes were used as test subjects and when no one committed a crime and subjects were needed, crimes were falsified in order to justify taking subjects.

This led to an inevitable coup by the residents against the scientists.

'After that report, no other overseer logs were sent. So... is anyone still alive there?'

Even with the server files, I can't know everything since I'm not omniscient.

I'm extremely interested in the research. The ability to alter the cellular structure of an organism could open numerous possibilities for the future.

I can see notes on the server about the experiments but without the physical samples and research, it means nothing.

"I'm gonna have to personally go there..."

I had planned to leave the vault again now that I have the Perfected serum injected.

I'm far less likely to mutate or become a ghoul now that my body naturally filters out rads.

I wanted to visit a few places and get my hands on some tech.

But now I have even more reason to build some kind of personal aerial transportation.

The entrance to Vault 120 is located on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, approx 25 miles east of Boston's shores.

I grabbed some blank paper and began making a schematic. I could already picture the finished product in my head.

It needed to be able to hover like a vertibird but still be capable of reaching high speeds and altitude for faster and safer travel.

There were still ground to air weapons in the hands of raiders, super mutants and other factions that might be hostile after all.

What I came up with had elements of a vertibird and a fighter jet but instead of propellers, there were four wings with small thrusters that can rotate under the wings and carriage, allowing the craft to hover like a drone.

I made it as compact as I could and the interior could still carry 4 people. It looked like a f-35 fighter jet but would be slightly larger with the bigger cockpit and reactor chamber.

'I'm gonna need to make a trip to that crashed airplane for all the materials for this.'

I needed many components to complete it and I am optimistic I can make that happen.

The craft would have a fusion reactor on board as well as a fusion core recharger.

I also planned to have undermounted laser turrets and rocket propelled mini-nukes as well as thermal decoy flares in case someone shoots a guided missile at me.

If I can complete this project, I would have a powerful card in my deck, giving me mobility and offense.

I would need to take the [Nuclear Physicist] perk and the advanced rank since I'm still lacking the knowledge and skill to completely build this.

I need two level ups to have enough perk points to take it.

'That shouldn't be difficult if while I am out, I can kill some enemies. The super mutants at Malden would be good targets as long as I stay undetected and kill them silently.'

With a plan finalized, I was ready to walk over to my lab when I heard a notification sound from the system.

I checked it and saw a few new quests.

[Main Quest- The Depths of Vault 120: Reach the entrance of Vault 120. Reward: 5,000xp, 2,000 caps.]

[Side Quest- Raid Skylanes Flight 1981 for parts to build your aircraft. Reward:4000xp, 2000 caps.]

[Side Quest- Kill 20 Super Mutants in Malden. Reward: 15,000xp, 8,000 caps.]

'Oh nice! That solved the problem with leveling. Hm... This is the first main quest I have seen since I was freed from jail but why is the reward so low?'

I thought about it as I walked and could only come up with the conclusion that it was just one quest out of a series of quests.

'Makes sense that main quests would have multiple phases each with thier own small reward but the final reward would probably be substantial.'

I grew a bit excited thinking about it. There must be something currently going on there or the system would have just given me the quest to retrieve the research data and samples like it did with getting the blood from Parsons.

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I spent the following week relaxing to center myself. I didn't do any daily quests or work in my lab, I just chilled.

My last venture outside my vault was short but impactful.

I'm still not used to being in danger or... taking a life.

I took several lives at Parson's Asylum. They were just hired thugs but when I stabbed that one guy in the neck and held him while he struggled, it hit me.

I was the villain in thier story. A selfish man that killed to get what he wanted.

It's not like I'm sad or regretful about it. I just needed some time to accept these things about myself.

This isn't a civil world anymore. Maybe it never was.

Rosie and Alfred had been a constant rock for me despite being robots.

Rosie is always cracking jokes and Alfred was always there at my side ready to serve.

I was also feeling a little bad about what I did to Savanna. I know I could have handled it better but in my heart of hearts, I know it was the best for her.

Even though it was mostly my own selfishness, not wanting to have to explain things to her.

I'm sure she will forgive me though. When I wake her up and there is a thriving society for her to live in, she will probably be thankful instead of mad.

Yeah.

But anyway... it was time to pack my bags, because I'm rolling out!

Rosie is staying here this time. I didn't want to risk her again and the danger this time was too great.

And it would more convenient if I went alone since I can camouflage myself and she can't.

With my bags packed, I opened the vault door and stepped outside once more.

[A/N: Hello! Enjoying the story? 10 more chapters will be published sometime in March. Sorry, I don't have alot of time to write and I do alot of re reads to edit all the errors and that eats up time. Well if you have any suggestions or criticisms leave them here. C-ya next month!]