Chapter 2: Wastelander
Well, there's not anything else to do here other than staring off and floating throughout this black void in perpetuity. So let me see what I'm working with and which of them would be the best to go with for my new life.
I’m going to have to think long and hard on each of these choices because if I don’t pick the right one, that gives me the best chance of survival. The innumerable mutants and many wasteland powers that exist out in wasteland will have no problem ripping me apart, limb from limb, not to mention Zetan aliens and their large flying saucer-like spaceships.
While I began looking over the six options I had available to pick from, I immediately noticed the plus symbols beside each of them.
I already have an idea of what three of the options probably entail. But let me see if the plus symbols beside each option will expand and give me any more details regarding my choices.
Upon finishing that thought, I tried selecting one of the plus symbols with my ghost-like ethereal hand. Unfortunately, my action seemed to have no effect.
Guess that doesn’t work. Let's try something else.
Not ready to give up on getting a bit of intel, I tried focusing on it and willing it to expand. And the very next second, the first of the options expanded and presented me with some much needed info.
Looks like that did the trick.
1. Cheyenne Mountain Bunker, Colorado Springs, Colorado (-)
Details: You will start your new life as you were prior to your passing minus any health-related issues in the massive sealed Cheyenne Mountain Bunker that was for some reason or another abandoned prior to the war with all of its supplies untouched thanks to its enormous blast doors.
I remember this location’s massive blast door pretty vividly in Wastelander 2 from passing by it every so often. Though I never got the chance to explore it because it was unfortunately sealed. I also never found any information on it throughout the many hours I dumped into Wastelander 2, so I have no idea what's really inside it.
However, from the description I just read, it doesn't sound like that bad of an option among the choices, but it has some issues. First of all, I'd rather not start my new life in the wasteland in a bunker that may or may have any food left for me to survive and subsist off of. I was also pretty lean, probably within a few percent of single digit body fat before my passing, therefore I wouldn’t really have much fat reserves for my body to feed off of in the event of there being no food.
And with all the Wastelander games taking place 200+ years after the nukes, any food that was there should've expired by now and become rancid beyond belief. Thus, I’d rather not take a gamble on whether this place will have any viable food for me to eat before I can figure out how to get the armored blast doors open to acquire some. On top of that, water could potentially be an issue as well. If I don’t have any drinking water, I can forget about the food issue because I’ll be dead again long before starvation courtesy of dehydration.
There is also the possibility that I'll be able to modify and improve myself with the character creator, hence if I take this I'll miss out on that opportunity... Yeah, I don't particularly want to do that. It’s unfortunate that I’ll lose the gains I made over the years working out, but I can regain them and even faster than before since I’ll have all that experience and knowledge I banked to work with it.
On the bright side, even if I don't take this one, I now know that the Cheyenne Mountain Bunker is sitting there unclaimed and has a plethora of resources stored there ready for the taking. So I'll likely head to El Paso County, Colorado, where the military complex is located when I eventually get myself decently established in the wasteland and have the ability to open it up, loot it, and possibly take it over as another base for myself…
Moving on to the next location, we have Undercity 1 in D.C.
2. Undercity 1, Washington, D.C. (-)
Details: Your new life will begin in Undercity 1, the second underground city to be built by the collaborative efforts of the former U.S. government and the Fallout Foundries corporation. As for the specifics of your situation, if you are to pick this option, you will be born to the governor of Undercity 1 as his first son and second child.
This was the starting location of the first game and would have me reincarnated into an advantageous position as the governor's son. That's pretty good, but if the D.C. area is anything like it was in the game, the actual city of D.C. will be crawling with all sorts of mutants and creatures, which would be good for farming exp.
On the other hand, because of that, I could easily get swarmed and overwhelmed by the many mutants that inhabit that city. That would obviously result in my death, something that I’d much rather avoid and not have to experience again so soon. In addition to the danger of many mutants, there are two very strong powers inhabiting that area that I'd prefer not to face nor get involved with until I'm able to build myself up to where I could easily deal with the both of them. Therefore, with those two cons, this ones off the table.
With another starting scenario eliminated, let me check what the next one has to offer, onto choice number three.
3. Raven Rock Bunker, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania (-)
Details: Your new life will begin in the Raven Rock Bunker, a state-of-the-art bunker located right below the Raven Rock Military Complex that was constructed not all that long after world war II. As for the specifics of your situation, if you are to select this, you will be born from one of several of the rogue A.I.'s experiments.
I don't recall this location in any of the games and being the product of a rogue A.I.'s experiment doesn't sound all that safe to me, so I'll be taking a hard pass on this for sure. However, I will be noting down the rogue A.I. as well as the bunker's ability to perform genetic experiments. That kind of tech would definitely prove useful later on. I wonder if I could maybe figure out a way to extend the human lifespan by modifying the human genome, something to think about.
4. ??? (-)
Details: ???
What the fuck am I supposed to do with this, that's not helpful at all, next.
5. Random Start (-)
Details: Your new lease on life will be entirely random and as a result of taking a chance with this option, you will gain a total of 10 attribute points to freely distribute as you see fit.
Not really looking to leave whether or not I get a good start for my new life up to chance. I have a feeling in my gut that if I went with this, I would somehow end up being transported to a mutant den with zero way to defend myself.
Yeah, I'm not picking this one that may or may not end with me being mauled by a bunch of mutants.
Last but not least, Undercity 7 wastelander 3's starting location.
6. Undercity 7, Nevada [ - ]
Details: You will start your new life in one of the many undercities that were constructed across the former United States to house hope for future generations to rebuild in case nuclear war ever broke out between NATO and the Commodus Alliance. That was the reasoning given to the public to gain support for the project, but that was a lie. The real purpose of these giant underground cities served was to house and protect the elite class from the dangers of war.
As for the specifics of your situation you will be born to a couple of researchers who are both experienced and well-versed in the fields of science and medicine in Undercity 7, a massive underground city located hundreds of meters underground in a large mine that was supposedly abandoned over a dozen years before the hundreds of countries around the globe were reduced to nothing but rubble thanks to nuclear annihilation.