NOVEL WEB Chapter 1
Looking at the rays of light that shined through a tree and scattered into my window, I relaxed back into my pillow and enjoyed the sense of peace. Saturday morning was always my favorite time of the week. The hustle and bustle of the work days are left in the rearview mirror, and it's still early enough into the weekend that I don't feel pressured to be productive.
The nest of pillows and blankets enwrapped me in luxurious warmth. I tossed around for a few more minutes in a futile attempt to retain the built-up comfort only found in a bed after a great night's sleep, but it was a futile attempt. Eventually, I lethargically peeled myself out under the covers and trotted over to my shower.
I climbed into my tub and pulled the water knob, setting it to the midpoint. A cold spray hit my face before heating up to the perfect temperature. I just stood there for a few minutes, letting the hot water wash over me. After my mind sufficiently warmed up, I scrubbed myself clean and did a basic shave. After the shower, I dried myself off and brushed my teeth.
Feeling more energized after freshening up, I quickly walk into my kitchen to make a simple breakfast of sausage and eggs. After plating my meal, I brought the food to the table and sat down. Scrolling through the news feed on my phone while cramming food into my gullet, I gently sighed at the ever-expanding list of negative things happening worldwide.
Generally speaking, I didn't care for politics or the world around me, but even I feel like the last four to five years have just been a slow march into a massive shitshow. Maybe it's one of the side effects of being an adult, and I just view everything through a pessimistic lens. Maybe things weren't better when I was younger. Perhaps I was just too oblivious to see things crumbling around me. Regardless, I've been in severe need of some stress relief for a while now.
While scrolling through my emails, my phone vibrated.
"Hey Basil. Wanna run the gauntlet and shoot the shit?"
"Nah, got stuff to do today. Thanks anyhow."
Usually, when I needed a break I would play video games for a few hours, get greasy food, or hit up random stores and do some people-watching. However, my free time was severely reduced after finding my first full-time job.
Most of my friends also left where we grew up to work or further their education, making it hard to hang out when I do have the time. Sure, I could play video games with them, but everyone's been on a battle royal fever lately, and I hate that stuff. Due to this lack of venues for stress relief, I have recently found myself in a rut.
That's why I've been craving something more sustainable. Something that I can cater to myself and enjoy over several days if not weeks. I wanted a game where the environment alone could tell an engaging story. Where I could start as a nobody and end up strong enough to shape the world to my desires. Using these criteria, I eventually landed on a recent favorite of mine, Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 by itself is pretty fun, but after exhausting the base game content, it started to show its lack of depth compared to New Vegas or Fallout 3. To cover this perceived weakness, I added a crap ton of mods varying from weapons to animals. Ranging from things as mundane as a reloading bench for ammo to more loony mods like synth creation machines.
Beyond the physical items, I also included tweaks to game mechanics. Things like leveling quicker, looting easier, crafting legendary mods, and other quality-of-life improvements. Some people might turn their nose at me, claiming that these mods break the game, but honestly, I also wanted the new run to satisfy my craving for a powertrip. I've had enough playthroughs scrounging for ammo and supplies, struggling through fights, and never having enough points to make the 'perfect' character.
I also included mods that added factions from other games and new NPCs to the wasteland. Groups like the Enclave, Brotherhood Outcasts, etc. Some lore friendly, some not, but all things I thought would be great fun. Speaking of fun, I also added more... risque changes.
All the primary female NPCs had their appearance changed, keeping something recognizable while significantly improving their looks. The gender balance was skewed one to two in favor of the fairer sex while also adding body-enhancing modifiers. To still have some variety, I installed the Diverse Body mods so everyone didn't look like a clone of each other.
Beyond that, there was new tempting clothing, toys, tools, and the ability to do the horizontal tango. What? Don't judge me. I'm a horny young dude. I couldn't help myself. Eventually, I hit the mod limit and started a new playthrough since the game won't let me customize it any further.
Being greeted by the familiar intro cinematic of Nate's speech on how war never changes. The expertly created black-and-white video that briefly recaps the Fallout universe reminded me why I loved the franchise so much. The storytelling was always on point. A video only a few minutes long did more world-building than most games today accomplish in their entire campaign. Following the short film, I was greeted by the steamed mirror in Nate and Nora's bathroom, marking the beginning of player customization.
I spent the next few minutes trying to recreate myself in video game format... but a little taller... with a little more muscles... and a little more handsome. I only had two modes when creating characters in video games: the hideously deformed and a weird idealized version of myself. What is the point of playing a fantasy, sci-fi, atompunk game if I can't spruce myself up or play as the Hunchback of Notre Dame?
Afterward was the SPECIAL traits, and I spec'ed myself mainly into Charisma and Intelligence. Unlike most people, I actually enjoyed the ability to pass speech checks to either get more caps for quests, get confidential information, or entirely skip sections of gameplay. It makes me feel like I got away with something.
Once I finalized the character creation, the mod: "Start Me Up" kicked in and the custom starting options jumped onto the screen. Browsing through all the choices, I eventually decided on being a Vault 111 dweller, but not as Shaun's parents.
I liked the concept of playing a "man out of time" but hated how the game pushed the plot forward by forcing the player to act like a concerned parent. Since I wasn't a father, I don't have a point of reference for the emotions the game wanted me to feel. This led to a lot of the protagonist's personal drive feeling unnatural to me. After finishing up with the other options, I clicked Enough, I'm ready to wake up to start my long-awaited playthrough.
The game faded to a black screen and... stayed black. Opening task manager, I check that the game is still responding. Everything seems fine and just the other day I did a test run, and everything worked perfectly.
The smoke alarm suddenly blared into life, and my screen flickered and gave a distorted image. Startled, I looked around and noticed my PC case billowing smoke behind me.
"What the hell! Fuck, is it on fire?"
I quickly rushed to the case, taking off the side panel to better understand what had happened. In hindsight, that was not the most intelligent thing to do.
The second the panel came off a blinding white light rocketed out, and a scorching heat wave hit my body. My body was then assaulted by an explosive force and thrown back. The last thing I felt was my body crashing into the floor and then passing out.
