Main Characters

The rest of the day passed without incident and by the time the sun was beginning to fall below the horizon we had already begun to set up camp. The caravan split up into dozens of different groups who had their carts and wagons circled up like cowboys in the old west. Having them set up this way meant that if we were attacked we would have a barricade between us and our attackers.

We joined up with another group and had dinner around an open fire. The other traders didn't talk much and stayed to themselves. I laid back on a sleeping bag I got from Gayle and turned on my Pipboy light. I wanted to read some of the magazines and a book I bought from some other people in our circle.

I had Grognak issue number 2 "Cometh the Trickster" and a Tesla Science magazine about Plasma weapons. Unfortunately unlike what I was hoping for I didn't get the Magazine Perks like in the game which bummed me out.

Even though I didn't get any Perks out of it they were still good reads and I managed to learned a lot about Plasma that I didn't before. Really the Tesla Science magazine was laid out more like a research paper than magazine.

Those were just a small distraction though what I was really interested in was the book. It was The Wasteland Survival Guide. The second I saw it I was shocked by its implications and knew I had to have it. I skimmed through the books table of contents to see what was in it. Most of it was things like what canned foods are still edible, how to avoid being eaten by ghouls, and how to properly maintain your weapons.

However that wasn't what I was interested in what I was looking for were the chapters about Molerats, Mirelurks, and Radiation. I marked those chapters and quickly read through them and what I read stunned me.

These chapters described how "Moira" the author worked with a Lone Wanderer to conduct her experiments and do research for these chapters. Did this mean that the player characters from the game were actually real living breathing people here? If that was true I needed to try and figure out what endings they picked.

If they ended up being bad people or failed in an important quest it could have unimaginable consequences. I started to think about my own origin as well my family escaped to Vault 122 because the Institute was destroyed. I don't know why I never thought about it before but, didn't one of the endings of Fallout 4 have the player nuking the Institute?

So far I could basically confirm the existence of two of the 5 main characters in the Fallout games the Sole Survivor and the Lone wanderer. That still left 3 unaccounted for Which were The Vault Dweller, The Chosen One, and The Courier.

After thinking about it though he remembered that the first Fallout games took place in 2160 and it was 2292 which meant over 130 years had passed so The Vault dweller was more than likely dead. Fallout 2 took place around the 2240's so The Chosen One might an old man but, there was a good chance he could still be alive.

As for The Lone Wander, The Courier, and The Sole Survivor their games all took place starting around 2280 in around a 15 year window so those three were definitely still out there somewhere.

I didn't know why but, as I thought about this I felt that those people were extremely important and that I had to find them.

While I was think about how to go about finding them I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Gayle he stood there with a big smile on his face as he looked at the Pipboy on my wrist.

"Is that a Pipboy" he asked?

I knew I made a mistake taking my Pipboy out. Mine was a lot smaller than most of the ones out there so I could normally hide it in my sleeve but, I got too exited thinking about the Survival Guide that I forgot I should hide it from other people.

"It is" I eventually answered.

"Where did you get it from? Are you from a Vault" Gayle questioned?

Luckily I had already though of a story in case it was found out. "No it's not a Vault Pipboy my grandfather was a scientist and he once found schematics for a Pipboy in an old Vault Tec office building."

"Oh so your grandfather built it for you?"

"Yes" I replied thinking that he actually did build it for me.

Gayle finally seemed to notice I was feeling a little uncomfortable and apologized.

"Ah I'm sorry for bothering you it's just that my daughter used to be in love with Vaults and everything about them. She was a bit of a scientist too you see and even though she knew about all the terrible things the Vaults did she was determined to find their research and use it for good, and Pipboys tend to have a massive amount of information about the Vault they were built in stored in them.

"Well sorry mine is custom made so it has nothing like that on it" I answered.

"I can see that" he said "Your Pipboy is the thinnest I have ever seen. Your grandfather is quite a scientist."

"Well actually my Pipboy is so thin because my grandpa actually took out a lot of its functions like the Radio and a port to take Holodisks."

"Why did he do that" Gayle looked puzzeled?

"This was his Prototype it was just to prove that he could build one."

"If it's only a Prototype then why do you have it?"

"It's the last thing he gave to me before . . . we got separated" I slowly said with as tears threatened to escape.

"Ah I'm sorry for your loss" Gayle stated.

"That's alright" I said quickly composing myself again.

I relaxed a little knowing he didn't have malicious intentions about my Pipboy.

"So what are you planning on doing once you get to Flatirons" Gayle asked trying to change the subject to something happier.

"I-I don't actually know" I honestly replied.

"Ah well there are a lot of good opportunities in Flatirons I'm sure you will find something to do. Anyway it's getting late I'll leave you alone now and sorry again about bothering you."

Gayle walked off to his cart where he and Nikole who was already sleeping had their bags set up.

What do I want to do? I thought to myself. I wanted to get stronger and rescue my family but, what about after that? What were my goals and what was my passion?

I began thinking about my goals and how to accomplish them and I realized a big problem. How was I supposed to save my family Vault 122 was a massive organization with tens of thousands of people how was I going to fight that. No matter how strong I get I doubt it would ever be to the level of fighting that many people single handedly,

If I wanted to save them I would need an army of my own and to make an army I would need money and a lot of it. I looked around at the Caravan around me and decided I need to start a business of my own. If I started my own trading group I would be able to make money to start building up my own forces.

If saving my family was my goal then being a scientist was my passion. I don't know if it was in my blood but, I always loved studying with Dante and even after I left the Vault I never stopped reading all of the research he left on my Pipboy.

I wanted to build things, to learn to make something as cool as a Teleporter or a giant nuke throwing robot. All of that would be expensive but, I could use the money from my trading company to help fund it. I could also use my research to make more money I could sell the thing I make and earn even more money.

It was like everything suddenly became clear to me I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. I even knew what my first product would be Gayle told me himself how few Pipboys are out there. I could build and sell my own version of it my Pipboy already had the schematics for the 2 and 3 thousand versions of the Pipboy on it.

I also realized that I could also use my business to try and find the Main Characters.

My mind was spinning the rest of the night trying to figure out the specifics of how I could actually accomplish my new dream. I wasn't till well past midnight that I finally managed to fall asleep.

The next day I told Aaron about my plan and he agreed on the condition that I don't slack on my training and I don't try and sell anything too crazy or dangerous that might lead Vault 122 to me or make the people like the Brotherhood of Steel interested in me.

The caravan set out early and Gayle told us that we should reach Flatirons by the end of the day. I was so excited I was nearly jumping out of my seat I probably actual looked like a normal child for the first time in my life.

Aaron completely ignored my antics and was just as focused on the horizon today as he was yesterday. He was already up before dawn and I couldn't remember him going to sleep last night. I couldn't help but wonder if he actually needed sleep?

I asked Aaron why he was still staring like that even though we were basically there already.

He responded by telling me that he had a feeling that we were going to be attacked today and how his feeling were always right.

Looking at how serious he seemed I started to get a little nervous too and I wondered why if Aaron knew we were going to be attacked he didn't tell anybody.

"Who would believe me we're just a random man and child if anything telling people would just make the suspicious of us. The best thing we can do is prepare ourselves so we aren't caught off guard."

I nodded and grabbed my rifle of my back pulling the bolt back priming it to fire.

During the rest of the trip I sat there quietly with Aaron ready for anything. Nikole came over to try and get me to go and play with her and when I rejected her she ran and complained to Gayle. He noticed that something was off about us and asked what was wrong and also readied the Laser Rifle on his back.