The Human Condition - Fallout 4 | OC x Danse |

2 - hackin' & whackin'

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Road to Diamond City

3 Weeks Later

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I lowered my head as I made my way down the dirt road, somehow avoiding the attention of a Yao Guai several feet away. Dogmeat crept alongside me, ears flattened in anticipation of a fight that luckily never came. Wasn't worth the bullets nor the trouble.

I had found myself back on the trek to Diamond City after visiting Sanctuary Hills for awhile, my search for suitable power armor left useless. After learning that synths transport to and from the Institute via teleportation, I had practically deflated; how in the hell could anyone teleport? No one had actually been able to invent that technology outside of comic books and movies. And yet here the Institute was, programming select synths with the capability.

Dr. Amari had given us a tip about an ex-Institute scientist named Virgil who was hiding out somewhere in the Glowing Sea who may be able to help with the dilemma. I had never been that far south, and sure didn't want to — I'd heard plenty of stories that would make anyone want to stay away. But what other choice did I have?

There was no way anyone would survive for long on their own in the Glowing Sea, especially without proper equipment and weapons — namely, power armor. Regular armor did nothing against the thick haze of radiation constantly infecting everything in its path, not to mention the horrid, mutated creatures that dwelled there. If the wasteland was rough, this place was its personal hell.

So I had gone in a desperate attempt back to Sanctuary, remembering the suit of power armor that Preston had helped me get into in Concord when I'd first helped them. If that suit was still viable, I could use that; I'd only ever seen power armor locked up tightly in impenetrable cages or on random raiders that I had blown to smithereens, unable to scavenge anything. Power armor was envied across the Commonwealth, ruthlessly looted by anyone who came upon some. So getting that suit back was my best shot.

But to my despair, I'd found that Sanctuary had been attacked by Super Mutants while I'd been gone; some settler had gotten into the power armor, apparently an ex-Brotherhood of Steel member, whatever that was. He'd successfully deterred most of the firepower towards himself and took down quite a few mutants with it. But the poor bastard got himself killed, the armor being blown to pieces by a Super Mutant who just so happened to bring his Fat Man. Luckily the casualties were limited, but it struck everyone with dread. There were already so few people populating the streets of Sanctuary Hills, and now it was even more hollow with newfound quietness and fear.

I was determined not to waste any time in my search for Shaun, however... how could I say no to the pleading eyes of desperate settlers? They all looked to me, for some reason. Perhaps it was the vengeance-fueled vigor that spurred me on, or the reckless bravery that threw me onto the frontlines; regardless, the Minutemen respect me. And at that moment, they needed me.

So I'd spent the few days helping scavenge and build a recruitment radio beacon along with some generators and water purifiers. Sturges was the main help, laying out blueprints and just giving orders on what he needed. But I had given orders, assigned jobs, told them what went where... it was strange, in a way. But it felt natural at the same time.

Eventually when I felt that the settlers had gotten it down, I'd briskly said goodbye, heading off to return to Diamond City. Nick had gone back there after the Memory Den, saying he was going to go over all his notes and hear any gossip to determine where exactly Virgil might be. We couldn't afford to be wandering around the thick clouds of radiation, so there was no time to waste trying to search. There wasn't much information available, especially at the level of secrecy from an ex-Institute scientist... but there had to be something. And he was determined to find it.