Before Another Fallout Tale

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes to find myself facedown in some dirt. I spit out some of the dirt as I stood up. I found myself standing in a barren wasteland. I looked around.

"Vahl! Brian! Copper! Quasar! Sarah! Anyone hear me!?"

Silence. I opened up my Pipboy to discover new horrors. Different perks, different stats, and worst of all, Level 1. I opened my inventory only to be welcomed with more horrors. No weapons, no clothes (besides my underwear), no stimpacks, no notes.

I lost everything.

After wandering around for ten minutes, I saw them. A small group of people wearing Vault uniforms. By the time I had found them, my throat was dry and my head was spinning from the intense heat.

"Hello," I called.

The woman in the group turned her head toward me and said something to the others. She ran toward me. If she was trying to kill me, I couldn't stop her. I took a step forward but my foot hit a rock and I fell forward, darkness clouding my vision once again.

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Timebomb looked me in the eyes. I felt regret fill me inside but I didn't say a word. He tried to destroy Megaton, I killed him.

I killed him.

The thought hurt. I looked at it as a simple act.

"I'm sorry," he said. I reached for him but he didn't move. "Lets restart."

I sat up in a bed, sweat rolling down my body. Timebomb. Were his eyes really filled with regret? No. It was a dream, a fragment of my imagination in the form of sleep. I looked under the blanket that was thrown on me and quickly hid myself under it. I was naked.

"No need to be nervous," a male voice said. "You're safe in Vault 13."

I peaked over the covers to see a man in a vault jumpsuit and a lab coat. He seemed to be in his 40s but looks could be deceiving.

"Vault 13?" I asked.

"Yes. Its mostly empty but there are a few people who decided to stay here after the radiation levels dropped."

I felt my cheeks burn. "Could I have some clothes, please?"

The man stood up. "Of course. You seem to be a medium sized lady..."

He opened a dresser behind him and pulled out a female Vault 13 jumpsuit. He handed it to me and sat back down on his swivel chair. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Can I have some privacy to change?"

His eyes filled with shock. "Oh, sorry. We usually change and shower without..." He stood up and quickly left the room.

When the door shut, I got out of bed and opened the dresser. I found some underwear and slipped them on. I slipped into the jumpsuit before I realized my Pipboy was gone. I opened the door and saw the man sitting on a couch.

"Where is my Pipboy," I asked.

"It was a really old and trashy model so I gave it to our engineer." He pulled out a Pipboy from his pocket. "She gave it some upgrades and even added a new color scheme for you."

I took it and slipped it on. I searched through it all. Orange. Why?

"Thank you," I said dryly. "Have you seen my friends?"

"I don't know. What do they look like?" I quickly described them. "They sound like an interesting bunch. No. We haven't seen anyone like that. Sorry."

I thanked him and left the vault. It felt strange leaving the vault without opposition. When I got outside, Venturian entered my head.

"Hey Cywren! When did you get here?"

I missed him. "Venturian? Where am I?"

"I installed Fallout: New Vegas to my computer. Its the sequel to the game you were in."

"Was my world called Fallout: Capital Wasteland?"

"No, Fallout 3."

I sighed. "What a lame name."

"It was the biggest title at its time. Anyway, you look different. Did you style your hair?"

I looked at my Pipboy screen and used it as a mirror. "I think I grew it out a little bit."

"I tried to transfer everyone from Fallout 3 but there is no way to," Venturian said in an apologetic voice. "Sorry, I'll see if my followers can create mods of them for this game."

"Even Vahl?"

No answer.