Vault Dweller's Log

December 5th, 2161:

I was kicked out of my vault today. Not forcibly. I could have refused to take the job and just stayed safe in the vault like a coward. But they guilted me into taking this job. I drew the short straw, after all. The vault's water chip is broken, and if I don't do something, then we'll all die in a few months.

I've had to go out into the wasteland to find a replacement chip. The only clue that Overseer Jacoren could offer was that I might find what I'm looking for in Vault 15, east of here. Of course, all the maps we have of the region were drawn up before the world was nuked to hell, so they're of dubious help. Nonetheless, I'm heading in that general direction. I think.

I have some basic supplies to help me, like a small amount of food and water, some stimpaks if I get hurt, a gun, some lockpicks, and a few other potentially useful items. My Pip-Boy for one, which will finally see some real use for possibly the first time in its life. I don't have armour, though. That's annoying. Just got my vault jumpsuit to brave the wastes in.

I brought along this log book with me to help chronicle my journey. I felt it would be nice to record anything I learn in here so that I'll have plenty of notes for my field report when I get back. I won't write something every day, but I'll make semi-regular entries about items of interest.

Like the fact that I'll probably die out here. I wasn't the first choice for this job. The first choice is now a skeleton laying around outside the vault door, and I don't even know where the second guy is. To say that I'm worried would be an understatement.

Today, though, not much happened. Just trekking through the desert so far, and now I'm getting ready to bed down in a little cave I found, which I had to clear of rats first. There were rats in the cave outside Vault 13 as well, come to think of it. I hope they're not as common out here as my experience so far is suggesting. Those little bastards bite hard, and I don't like wasting ammunition and medical supplies on them.

In short, Jacoren is a dick and I hate him.

December 6th, 2161:

Not much to report on today. I traveled the desert for a while but was not accosted. I think I saw a bird at one point, but I can't be sure. This place is dead. Had some beans for lunch and decided to go to bed early and skip dinner to avoid running through my supplies too quickly.

I hate this place.

December 8th, 2161:

This wretched wasteland is still miserable and barren. Just thought I'd let you know.

December 12th, 2161:

WHY IS THIS DESERT EVEN HERE?! WHAT BENEVOLENT GOD WOULD CREATE SOMETHING SO DULL?!

December 14th, 2161:

I'm already contemplating suicide.

December 15th, 2161:

Finally some good news for a change. Today I came across a town. Despite what I initially believed, it looks like the outside world isn't devoid of intelligent life at all. The human race survived, and it looks like it's thriving.

The place I find myself in is called Shady Sands. It's modestly sized and appears pleasant enough. Most of the residents treat me with distrust and suspicion, but some were friendly.

I had a very long conversation with a woman called Katrina, for one, who also used to live in a vault, and who taught me a little about how things work around here. Apparently, in the wasteland, the accepted currency is bottlecaps, and if I don't have bottlecaps, I'll be expected to barter for most goods with whatever else I have. What an awful, awful system, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected any different.

There was also the gate guard, Seth. He explained things about the town for me, and let me know of their problems with a local raider gang and these unpleasant creatures known as radscorpions that live in a cave near the town. Looks like I'm not the only one with a community to save.

And I also got to meet Aradesh, the leader of the town, who was also rather friendly all things considered. At his permission, I've been allowed to stay the night in an abandoned house that they have here for some reason. No-one seems to want to talk about why it's abandoned. It had better not turn out to be haunted or something. Or have a rat infestation. I swear, if I have to spend one more of my valuable bullets killing rats...

December 16th, 2161:

Today was eventful.

I couldn't help but feel bad for the people of Shady Sands, so I went back to Seth and told him I wanted to go to this cave where the radscorpions were. I thought maybe I could kill them and help everybody out. In hindsight, I probably should have done some research first, and learned what I was dealing with before going to fight them. I would have been slaughtered in there were it not for my new best friend, Ian.

Ian's a cool guy. He used to be a guard for a trade company called the Crimson Caravan. They traveled across the wastes and sold stuff to settlements like Shady Sands, and he protected the traders. After he was wounded and patched up by the villagers here, he became a town guard. Basically, he decided to come along and help me. Not just with the radscorpions either. He's going to come with me all the way to Vault 15 to find that water chip. As if I don't owe him enough. But I'm certainly not complaining. I've been getting slowly better with this gun from all the target practice, but the simple fact is that he has experience and I don't. I need a guy like him.

And hey! More good news. The tails of the scorpions had some additional uses. The town doctor was able to use one to create an antidote for the scorpions' poison, with which we were able to save the life of Seth's brother, and create a few extra antidotes for ourselves just in case.

To round it all out, I even lent some of my vault knowledge to a farmer called Curtis, and taught him about crop rotation to hopefully improve the town's agriculture. It's such a small thing, but people here seem to appreciate it almost as much as ending the radscorpion problem. I'm starting to earn the people's trust.

Tomorrow, we'll set out to find that Vault 15. With any luck I'll have that water chip back to my own vault within a week.

December 17th, 2161:

Me and Ian left today, heading in the direction of Vault 15. I think it's a day from here. Here being in the middle of nowhere. We almost died when we were attacked by wild radscorpions today, but it was all good. Ian had it well in hand.

I really, honestly admire his skill with weapons. I hope I'll be that much of a badass one day. Fighting was never my forte. That was always Max's area of expertise. I always preferred non-violent conflict resolution. Though, that was in the vault. Out here, it's a different ball game. I'm not going to be able to talk down wild animals, so I'd best watch Ian as close as possible and hope I can learn through observation and imitation. Makes sense, doesn't it?

I've also been easing my boredom with a book I found, called the Scout Handbook. It was on the bookshelf in my borrowed house back in Shady Sands. No-one appeared to live there, so I took it when I left for some travel reading. It's not particularly interesting, but when the alternative is either stare at sand or stare into the sun and go blind, I'll take what I can get.

I still hate the desert, though.

December 18th, 2161:

Damn it! A dead end!

The command and control centres on the lower levels of the vault were buried under rubble. There's no way I can shift all that in the time limit I have, and even if I did it'd still take a miracle to fish a working water chip out of that ruin. If there's even one there at all, it'll be just as damaged and useless as the one I'm trying to replace!

The rest of the vault was just as discouraging, full of mutant wildlife and broken machinery. It's like a twisted parody of my home. It's been nearly two weeks now, and I'm already pining. I miss the vault. I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss not having to keep shooting rats, or applying antidote for scorpion venom. Most of all, I miss the vault's neutral air temperature.

But at least it wasn't a total loss. The vault yielded a beaten old hunting rifle and an SMG, plus some ammunition, which I'll surely be able to do more damage with than the pistol I've been using until now. And I found a leather jacket too, much like the one Ian has. It's not that great, but it's better protection than just my vault suit. I also got some more medical supplies, discovered a book on proper first aid which will keep me occupied for the return journey, found a few explosives, and I came across a crowbar too, which should be easier to kill rats with than a knife, and yet does not consume bullets. It's practical, yet effective. I know because I tested it. Extensively.

I fucking HATE rats.

December 19th, 2161:

After a long day of walking, me and Ian came across a group of nice caravan people on their way to Shady Sands. They're letting us stay in their camp tonight, and tomorrow we'll join them on their trip back to the town. Safety in numbers. Gotta watch out for those scorpions.

Why does everything in the wasteland hate me so much?

December 20th, 2161:

I reiterate. Why does everything in the wasteland hate me so much?

We got back to town earlier and found that Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh, was kidnapped by a group of raiders called the Khans. Now me and Ian are going to save her and stop them. Mostly Ian.

This so isn't how I wanted to spend my day.

December 21st, 2161:

I'm bleeding from places I wasn't even aware I could bleed from right now. Those raiders are vicious fuckers. Those spears hurt like hell, and the gunshots didn't help. Fortunately, most of them missed, but I'm not nearly lucky enough to get through a fight like that totally unscathed. I'm just glad I didn't get shot in a major organ or artery.

Ian fared much better, but he's still pretty battered. He had to take on the raider leader himself for most of the fight. We walked into the base unopposed, just acting like we were on our way to speak to the big boss, but instead we diverted to the jail cell. I freed Tandi while Ian initiated the fight in a surprise attack. Then me and the unarmed woman had to deal with most of the guards.

The raiders were cowards at heart, though. Most of them turned and fled once I got a few good shots in, or whacks with my crowbar. Hilariously, Tandi killed more than a few of them. She's faster than I am, so she chased them down and beat them to death after I'd dealt most of the damage.

Conversely, after Ian had softened him up for me, I had the honour of being the one to finish off the raider boss. Completely by accident, of course. I shot him as he came through the door, expecting another guard. In actuality, it was the boss man, running for the hills after he got his ass kicked.

And then what stragglers remained that Tandi didn't go apeshit on, Ian picked off from a distance. In the end, it was a solid team effort, and a successful rescue. And while we were at it, we took down a notorious raider gang that was terrorising Shady Sands, freed a few other girls that were coincidentally held captive there, and got some new supplies to take with us as well, including a shotgun and shells for it, and the raider leader's metal armour. I called dibs on both. I'm the inexperienced vault dweller, and therefore I need all the help I can get.

Despite the presence of actual bedding, though, we decided to move on from the raider base. There's still a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and I'd rather waste as little time as possible on diversions like these when my vault is slowly dying even as I write this.

December 22nd, 2161:

Back in Shady Sands. Aradesh was happy to have Tandi back. Don't care. Tired. Sleepy time now.

December 23rd, 2161:

Since Vault 15 turned out to be a major bust, I'm progressing onto my next destination. Ian's still coming with me. I think this partnership may just be a permanent thing. I appreciate the help, too. I'm getting way better at using my weapons, and I'm far better equipped now, but there's always going to be some rogue element out there wanting to kill me.

I've been given two possible destinations to check out. Junktown, and the Hub. Both sound interesting to me, but Junktown is closer, so we spent all of today walking towards Junktown. And we'll spend all of the next four days doing the same, if Ian is to be believed.

Joy.

December 25th, 2161:

I just realised it's Christmas Day, and I'm spending it walking around in a fucking desert with some guy looking for a water purification system component.

FML.

December 27th, 2161:

Jesus Christ, finally. We made it to Junktown today. It was late in the evening when we arrived, but I was able to talk the guard into letting us through. And he was very helpful giving us information about the town. Looks like there's a lot going on around here. The major thing is that there's a crime boss called Gizmo who runs a casino here, and he's a real big deal. So are his gang, the Skulz. They sound intimidating.

Fortunately, the local sheriff is on it. I met him. His name is Killian Darkwater, and despite the name, he's a good guy with no supervillain leanings at all. He was almost assassinated by a guy working for Gizmo just as I was leaving the store, would you believe? Well, okay, we can't prove it was Gizmo, but he was shouting about Gizmo, so we're guessing it was Gizmo. So I helped stop the assassin, and now I've agreed to help the sheriff again by tricking Gizmo into confessing while I wear a wire tap, and that'll be the proof he needs to have that bastard arrested. I'd be glad to be a part of that.

Tomorrow, though. It's late. For now, I've rented a room and intend to stay the night here. It's possibly the nicest place I've stayed in since leaving the vault, and I'm not going to waste this golden opportunity.

December 28th, 2161:

Today started out with some crazy gang member holding a prostitute hostage in the room next to me, and the owner of the hotel rushing in and demanding that I save her. I was able to talk down the guy and make him hesitate, after which I was able to get a clean shot at him, and me and Ian gunned him down. This set the tone for the rest of my day.

Marcelles, the woman in charge, was thankful. She gave us tonight's stay free as a reward. The prostitute was distraught, though, raving at me that he just wanted someone to talk to, and refusing to speak with me or show any gratitude to her saviours. Classic stockholm syndrome. I don't even care. That man was clearly out of his mind, and I feel no more remorse for killing him than I do for killing those raiders. If I could go back and do it differently, I'd shoot him again in a heartbeat.

After that, I decided to hit the casino and check out this Gizmo guy. I have never met such an obese man in my life. I think he was bigger than the desk he sat at. Where did he even find the food to get that fat? I'm genuinely asking. I want to know. If I could figure out his secret, I'd never risk starvation again.

I think it's being rich. I'm working towards that, though. Between all the guns and leather armour that Ian and I took from the Khans, we've made a decent amount in bottlecaps. He took a suit for himself, of course, but for the most part we just carried it back to Shady Sands and sold it. And what we didn't sell in Shady Sands, we took with us to sell here.

Anyway, we got the confession. I left Ian outside and went in pretending that I was an assassin, looking to replace the one that we killed yesterday. He said everything we needed to hear, but I didn't take the evidence back to Killian right away, because there were other problems to deal with.

I went to the bar in the evening, looking to find out more about the Skulz gang and how I could appropriately deal with them as well. It was there that I saved a waitress named Trish from almost being murdered by a bunch of Skulz. The bar owner said that they have some kind of issue with him. Then I got to speaking with some of the other bar patrons, including this cold-looking dude in a trench coat, helmet, and gas mask named Tycho. We had a bit of a talk about survival techniques, and he told me how his grandfather was a Desert Ranger, a descendent organisation of the pre-war Texas Rangers. I soon managed to recruit him to assist me in my latest endeavour.

Ian, Tycho, Killian, and I conferred afterwards. I presented the evidence of Gizmo's involvement, and the sheriff began planning a raid. However, I've told him to hold off on it for now. Killian is going to disappear for a day to give the illusion of being dead, and I'm going to take steps to find some evidence on the Skulz gang as well. We'll take them all out in one night.

I think I'm pretty good at this vigilante thing.

December 29th, 2161:

Today saw the end of the Skulz gang and Gizmo both, but neither were accomplished without getting my hands dirty.

To get any kind of confession of ill intent out of the Skulz gang, they wanted me to pass some initiation test. I had to steal Neal the bartender's urn of his wife's ashes, possibly the most important thing to him in the world. And he's such a nice guy too. I felt like shit afterwards, even if I did give it back later. It had to be done, though. After taking the urn back to Vinnie, the Skulz boss, he asked me to come along for a raid on Neal's bar and help kill him. I went right to Killian and my companions instead, and we got to work.

I did show up with Skulz to the ambush, but it was to turn on them and shoot Vinnie in the face, not to kill Neal. Tycho and Ian soon arrived to help me, along with the rest of the police force. It was a clusterfuck in there. I almost couldn't tell who was who. But in the end, the Skulz were all dead, and no-one on our side was badly hurt. I was then able to return Neal's urn on the pretense that I found it on Vinnie's corpse.

Then we immediately turned to raid Gizmo's place as well. He was a much easier fight. I still had leftover grenades from the raider camp and Vault 15, and I put them to good use. I blew lard-ass into tiny chunks of roasted fat. His guard too.

I wasn't upset over their deaths, but I am kind of worried about myself. It was there with the raiders, and it's even worse now, because we initiated the raids tonight. I'm far too relaxed about killing. I know that they're bad people, but taking a life shouldn't hold so little weight in my mind. I feel bad about not feeling bad, if that makes sense.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. I was able to help a young couple with their relationship issues, would you believe, by having a talk with the boyfriend. Imagine! Me, giving relationship advice! I really don't feel like I'm qualified for that, yet it seemed to work. I guess I'm just really good at convincing people.

Hmm...

December 30th, 2161:

Tycho returned to his usual routine today, as me and Ian spent our final day in the town. What a way to end it, too. After the local doctor pissed me off, I decided to check out his basement that he didn't want me to go into, just to spite him, and I found that he was selling human meat to a guy in the Hub called Iguana Bob, who sold it to the general public under the guise of it being iguana-on-a-stick.

There are some sick bastards in this world.

This ties back into what I was saying yesterday, about feeling bad for not feeling bad about killing someone. Because I don't regret killing everyone in that clinic one little bit. Not Doc Morbid, not his two guards, not even the mentally retarded man packing the meat in the basement. Yeah, I'm sure some would say he didn't know any better, but I call bullshit on that. He might have been mentally challenged, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of telling that murder and cannibalism is wrong. I know mentally disabled people in the vault, so I know to give them a little more credit than that.

Killian was concerned at first, but all it took was one look at the basement, and he decided to drop the whole issue. I think he was just in shock that Morbid had managed to hide that right under his nose this whole time without him noticing anything.

I found some samples of the disguised iguana meat down there and took a few with me. Not to eat, obviously. I need to compare it when I meet this Iguana Bob in the flesh, as it were. I need to know for sure before I start blasting heads off. Though, I'll admit I did feed one of them to a dog that was harassing a man outside his house. This guy, Phil, had been unable to get into his house for days because of this dog blocking the way in and growling at anyone who came near. His previous owner was killed by Gizmo or some such. I figured I just needed to lead the dog away, and hey, I had some meat. Meat that I sure as hell was never going to eat. Waste not, want not, right?

Now "Dogmeat," as I've come to call him, has taken to following me everywhere. I think I've got a pet now. Ian likes him. So do I, actually. It's nice to have another companion.

Well, around midday today, we prepared to leave. Ian and myself went back to Gizmo's casino and the Skulz base to loot anything of value, intending to sell it once we reach the Hub, since we cleaned Killian's store out of caps. Not much to be found. Some caps. Ammunition. Small weapons that we could carry without much difficulty, including a strange type of pistol Gizmo was using that seems laughably weak. And there was an interesting book called Guns and Bullets that I found. It appears to be about proper weapon use. That'll help ease the boredom during the long desert treks.

Our next destination is the Hub. There's no water chip to be found here, and I've grown to dislike this place anyway. What people still remain alive here are pleasant enough, I suppose, but I will probably always remember Junktown as it was – gangsters, cannibals, and me at my darkest. I will not remain here.

January 1st, 2162:

Happy New Year.

January 2nd, 2162:

We've arrived in the Hub, but we were late getting here. Place looks dead. And I'm not sure where we'll find a place to stay. Going to have to try the local casino. See if they've got a place for us.

UPDATE:

Found a room at the casino, as hoped. Not a casino exactly, though. More of a club-bar-flophouse. It's called the Maltese Falcon. Seedy-looking place, but I wasn't expecting much better. I will explore the town tomorrow.

January 3rd, 2162:

First thing I did today was find Iguana Bob and accuse him directly. He pretty much confessed everything and tried to bribe me to keep quiet. Of course, I was having none of that. I went straight to the police to let them know what was going on, but they didn't believe me. Just dismissed everything I had to say!

Bob's just been around so long that they automatically trust him over anyone else, and nothing I say matters. Not without hard evidence anyway. And just presenting them with a piece of human flesh disguised as iguana and saying I found it in Junktown isn't going to convince them. It looks like iguana, and every bit of iguana they've ever eaten has been like this. Even if I found a real iguana, I can't be sure that they'd be able to tell the difference.

In the end, I only have my word for it, and my word doesn't mean anything against Bob's. If I could convince Killian Darkwater to come down here and testify that Doc Morbid really was chopping up bodies and sending them to Bob, then that might mean something, but I don't think it'll happen; Killian's got his own town to watch over. Maybe I can get him to send a note to the police chief, but it would mean about as much as the piece of meat did. I could just as easily forge it. And really, I think they just don't want to believe that they've been eating people all this time.

So I left the station, I came right back here to the Falcon, and I've been drinking with Ian all day since. I just can't accept this. There's nothing I can do. I'm so fucking angry right now.

Fuck the police.

January 4th, 2162:

I'm still irritated over the Bob incident, but lest we forget, I still have a very important job to do, so today, I got back to work. Ian and I asked around and found a local bookstore, where a woman sold me a holotape containing information on vault locations in the region. According to the holotape, I'll find another vault underneath the city of Bakersfield. I know approximately where it is, and I should be able to head out there soon.

I'm concerned, though. My vault still risks drought, and I don't know if this venture will even turn up anything. What if I travel all the way there and find nothing? I need insurance, to buy me some time just in case, and that's why I'm hoping to make a deal with a local company, the Water Merchants. I spoke to them today, and they said that they can supply enough water to the vault to last them another few months, but I'll have to front the initial bill.

Unfortunately, I splurged all my caps on buying a new combat shotgun and 14mm pistol to replace my old guns, in addition to the holotape, my room at the Falcon, and also two books called the Big Book of Science and Dean's Electronics which I found at the store for travel reading. What I've learned from this is that I am not a smart spender, and that my perceived intelligence may just be me deluding myself. In future, I should plan ahead better. But until then, I need to make some more caps to pay the Water Merchants to go to Vault 13. I can't in good conscience go off in search of this vault when there might still be something here I can do to help.

There is the Friendly Lending Company. I could go to them and take out a loan to pay the Water Merchants. However, there's a ten day limit to pay it back, and I'm not sure I could meet it. I don't know. I'll have to sleep on it.

There's also a weirdo cult called the Children of the Cathedral here, but I'm really not concerned with them right now. I've got bigger problems.

January 5th, 2162:

Gah.

Today I went to see the leader of Far Go Traders, hoping that he might have a quick and easy job I could do to raise caps and fund the Water Merchants trip. Ian also looked around for possible work without me. While talking to him, I learned that caravans were going missing recently. One entity that people blamed for the attacks was a thing called the Deathclaw.

Naturally, I was given the job of finding out what the hell was going on. So I guessed that the Deathclaw myth was as good a place as any to start searching. This led me to a person named Harold, a horribly mutated but friendly guy. And while his story of how he came to be so disfigured was fascinating, it was the Deathclaw I wanted information on. Ultimately, though, it was the slightly crazy guy outside Harold's who was actually able to show me the way to the Deathclaw's cave. We went in guns blazing, and in Dogmeat's case, teeth gnashing, and soon found ourselves nearly killed by a creature that I swear must have been quadruple my size.

Then we killed this beast (with significant effort, I might add), and discovered that it was midway through savaging some giant green man when we interrupted it. He was also monstrously huge, with enormous muscles and thick skin, but he seemed fairly intelligent. At least human level. He was dying, and in his final moments he gave us a holotape of a transmission reporting that his team had successfully captured some people from a caravan. I think he thought I was someone else.

Near as I can tell, these mutants are the ones actually behind all the missing caravans, and the fact that the mythical Deathclaw is a real thing after all is a total coincidence. The Deathclaw just got blamed. That's right. I just proved that the Deathclaw is a real monster after all, that really does live near the caravan routes, and it turns out to be completely irrelevant! The disappearances were down to an entirely SEPARATE faction of previously unheard of creatures! Jesus Christ, how in the name of my grandma's rotten teeth has humanity survived this long out in the wasteland if it's inhabited by things like these?!

Anyway, I gave the holotape to the caravan guy, and he gave me about eight hundred caps. It's a fair way to getting those Water Merchants to deliver to my vault, but it's still not enough. I need two thousand caps, and as I previously established, my prior spending practically bankrupted me. I spent all the caps I had before on the other stuff, and that includes the caps I got from selling my old armour and guns, like the SMG and 10mm and such.

Right now, I'm still wearing a set of metal armour, and my current weapons are a crowbar, a 14mm pistol, the combat shotgun, the hunting rifle, and a few frag grenades. It was sufficient to take down the Deathclaw, but that was only with help from Ian and Dogmeat, and I still used up a good amount of stimpaks healing the resulting injuries. I need more caps.

Tomorrow, I'll have to take a caravan job.

January 6th, 2162:

Today I made inquiries into possible jobs. Here's what I've got:

The Crimson Caravan pay best, offering a nice 1200 caps to guard a caravan there and back again. However, they take all the dangerous routes for fastest delivery, and I'm fresh out of stimpaks, which they won't supply. Plus, they don't leave on their next trip until the 17th of this month, so I'll be sitting on my ass for a while first. Far Go Traders, who I've already helped out, offer 800 caps for the same job. They take somewhat safer routes, though, and have a caravan leaving on 8th, two days from now. And the Water Merchants take the safest routes and leave fairly regularly, going out on the 10th, 15th, 20th, and so on. The downside is that they only pay four hundred caps for a full job.

So, here's my plan:

I'll wait around until the 8th and take the Far Go Traders job. I get to choose which caravan I go with, so if possible I'll join the Junktown route, since that's the closest one and I get paid the same regardless of distance. That's four days there and back, for 800 caps. I should arrive back on the 12th. Then I can wait until the 15th and take the Water Merchants job, also to Junktown. I'll be back by the 18th, and that job will pay 400. So then I'll have 2000 caps to pay the Water Merchants to deliver to Vault 13, assuming I don't spend a significant amount between now and then.

There is another factor, though. Friendly Lending Company can give me a loan, which would help out, certainly. The thing is, they only lend large amounts to those who've proven they can pay it back. If I could take out the full one thousand caps loan right away, I'd be able to pay the Water Merchants immediately and work off my debt through the caravan companies without feeling like I'm squandering my time.

Unfortunately, they charge daily interest. So screw that.

January 7th, 2162:

Iguana Bob gives me the fucking creeps. He knows that I know his secret, and he knows that I can't do anything about it. I can go around shouting in the streets that he's selling chopped up humans, but all that'll do is make ME look crazy. He's not openly taunting me about it, because he's not stupid, but he fucking knows.

If I were a less principled man, I might just decide to take up his offer and accept the bribes, because it's easy to see that my efforts to actually do something are futile, and at least that way I'd get some caps out of it. I can't, though. I'm not an extortionist, and even if I can't stop him, giving up on trying would be indirectly condoning his sick game. I will NOT vindicate his depravity.

January 8th, 2162:

Took the job. It sucks and I hate the desert. Nothing has changed. We came under attack from raiders, but we're fine now.

A rare bit of good news, though. I realised this morning that my calculations were all wrong. I didn't account for Ian. He was able to sign up as a guard as well on the same caravan route, and that means he will also get paid an additional 800 caps, which he's agreed to donate to help me. That makes 1600 caps in all, which when combined with what we got for the Deathclaw job is enough to not only cover the Water Merchants' price, but also buy a few more stimpaks and other supplies for the journey to Bakersfield. Or Necropolis, as it's now known. That's a true friend right there.

We should be arriving soon.

January 10th, 2162:

We're in Junktown now as I write this. Not much of interest is going on. We've got an hour to do whatever we please until the caravan turns back towards the Hub. I'm tempted to use our excess caps for forty minutes with the prostitute, but that'll be all kinds of awkward given how much she hates me. And I don't know if wastelanders are aware of what STDs are or not.

Did get to say hello to Tycho and Killian though. I got Killian to write a note for the Hub police verifying my claims about Morbid and Iguana Bob, but if it'll do anything or not, I don't know.

UPDATE:

Ambushed by mantises as we made our way through the desert. Fucking things. We'll camp here tonight.

January 12th, 2162:

Success! The job's finally over, Ian and I got our caps, and I was able to pay the full price for the Water Merchants to deliver to Vault 13. I've wasted a lot of time screwing around with caravans and other shit to do this, but I've saved myself more time in the long run thanks to them. This will delay the vault drought by another hundred days or so. So if this Necropolis thing turns out to be bogus, I've got more time to search for another possible water chip location.

It was all worth it in the end.

UPDATE:

Just as suspected, Killian's note didn't help at all. Iguana Bob is still free and laughing, and the authorities are still not doing anything.

FUCK THA POLICE, COMIN' STRAIGHT FROM THE UNDERGROUND.

January 13th, 2162:

Against all odds, we found a guy out here who didn't want to kill us. He's hallucinating, and thinks he's running a pre-war used car mart, but we're not complaining. Free room and board in the most unexpected place. Life is good.

January 14th, 2162:

We said goodbye to Bob today and move on. Found a pair of BB guns in the car mart as well. One of them's limited edition. Could be worth something if we can find someone to sell it to.

Necropolis awaits.

January 15th, 2162:

Well. I'm scared.

Necropolis is populated almost entirely by horribly mutated humans that basically look like zombies from an old pre-war horror flick. Think an entire city of Harolds, only almost none of them are as friendly as him. Most refuse to talk to me, the ones that do are suspicious and hostile (the ones on the surface at least), and a few of them attacked us on sight, just like real zombies.

I want to ask one of them what the fuck is going on, why they look like they crawled out of their own graves, why some of them are intelligent while others are trying to eat my brain, and so many other things. I just can't, though. I keep worrying that if I ask, they'll take it the wrong way, and then a room full of the undead will swarm over me and bite my throat out. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. Anyone that doesn't attack me first doesn't get shot. But it's just so weird.

I've already spoken to one of the so-called "ghouls" since arriving, who tells me that there's a dispute going on between his people in the underground and the surface ghouls led by a guy called Set, who's a lot more aggressive to outsiders. Dogmeat, Ian and myself are in the Necropolis underground right now, taking temporary refuge from the batshittery around us. I've heard that the water chip is indeed here, but that the ghouls are using it right now. They need it, since their water pump is broken, and unless someone fixes it, I would be condemning them to death if I took it.

So I guess I'm going to fix the water pump.

UPDATE:

Came across a bunch of corpses while traveling through the sewers in search of parts for the water pump. Found a plasma pistol and a cattle prod, among other things. Both consume small energy cells, which I also found plenty of. Cattle prod is better than my crowbar, and the plasma pistol is better than my 14mm too, so I replaced them both. Good thing too, because I'm all out of 14mm.

I found the parts as well. The leader of the underground ghouls directed me to go topside and find the generator. He also gave me a whole bunch of repair books for some reason. I don't know why he felt like I needed three copies of the same book, but I politely took them and hid them in a desk in this building I've emerged into.

I'm going to go find the pump now.

UPDATE:

Ian is dead.

It all happened so fast... The leader of the surface ghouls, Set, tasked me with killing all the "super mutants" at the watershed, the area around the pump. They're those huge green guys like the one I found in the Deathclaw's cave. So we went up and initiated a fight. The leader seemed to go down easily enough. He had a laser rifle, and he wasn't very accurate with it. But then the other guy came in, and he had a flamethrower, and...

I'm sorry, Ian. I'm so sorry. Please, Lord in Heaven, forgive me.

UPDATE:

I freed an imprisoned ghoul at the watershed and fixed the pump as instructed. After that, a quick trip back into the underground allowed me to find the entrance to the Bakersfield vault, now populated by a group of glowing ghouls who are apparently ostracized even by the other freaks. Some were hostile (and seemed to possess actual magic powers, but I'm in no mood to question wasteland weirdness right now), but most were content to ignore me, and they let me leave with the water chip with no hassle.

Set also gave me a separate reward for dealing with the watershed super mutants, but it wasn't worth much, so I just dumped most of it. In fact, I had to dump a lot of stuff. Without Ian to help with carrying it all, I can't haul everything back to civilization with me. There's little point anyway, considering I'm just heading back to the vault, but I might still need some of it.

I dumped the 14mm pistol, the hunting rifle, the BB gun that wasn't a limited edition, and even my combat shotgun. Plus ammunition for all of them, of course. That's a lot of valuable equipment to leave behind, but I figured the underground ghouls needed it more than I did. I let them take the mutant's flamer as well. All I took was the laser rifle. It's more powerful than anything else I have, and I still need some protection for my final trip across the wastes.

Forgot to note before, there's a hospital here ran by the Children of the Cathedral too. I think they were in league with the super mutants. This might be more than just a regular weirdo cult. They've got my attention now, but it's too late to do anything. Where these super mutants are coming from and what the deal is with the Children, I don't think I'll ever know.

I need to return home now.

January 20th, 2162:

I hate long walks...

January 23rd, 2162:

Home sweet home.

UPDATE:

I thought that today would be the end of my troubles, but apparently not. A rebel faction wanting to go outside formed in the vault in my absence, and I needed to calm them down. Someone started stealing water, and it became my job to find who it was and stop them, which I just did. And then after Jacoren checked the water chip and it all worked out, I had to write up a field report.

Then once he read it, he immediately tasked me with finding out where the super mutants are coming from, and destroying them all, since they pose a potential threat to the vault now that the water caravans are coming up here and declaring to the world where we are. Turns out that was a big mistake on my part. I should have just gone straight to Necropolis from the Hub, and not worried about the Water Merchants at all. It would have saved me time as well.

I miss just being a regular vault-dweller and not having to worry about any of this bullshit. Can't I please just go back to that?

January 24th, 2162:

I was kicked out of my vault today. Not forcibly. I could have refused. But this whole thing has kinda become my responsibility now, and I have an obligation to end it all, since I arguably started it, and since I'm the most experienced with the wasteland now.

I set out early in the morning. I left the BB gun behind in my room as a memento (and to free up some pack space), and restocked my medical supplies and food. I've also taken a whole bunch of small guns and ammunition from the vault's armoury. Anything that I can easily carry, really. I intend to sell them when I get back to the Hub, and get myself some better armour. Because I'll need it if I'm going to be taking on super mutants.

Actually no. I'm passing through Junktown first. I'll sell it there.

Side note: I asked Jacoren if I could borrow the Solar Scorcher for my second wasteland adventure, because it's pretty powerful, and the usefulness of a gun that strong and light that I'm not required to carry around ammunition for cannot be understated, but he says it was stolen months ago. I just can't catch a break.

January 29th, 2162:

Arrived here in Junktown at midday. Sold all the junk I was intending to sell. Was intending to say hello to Tycho, but he wasn't here. Killian says he skipped town with some doctor.

Will be setting off again soon.

January 31st, 2162:

Back in the Hub now. Things look like they haven't changed much. Harold's still doing good, though he commented that there's been some friction lately between the skags of Old Town and the richer residents of the Hub. Social inequality is a tragic thing, but I'm not really sure I can do anything about it, so I just went ahead and purchased some combat armour to replace my metal armour.

I really regret dumping all that stuff in Necropolis now. If I could have taken that flamethrower with me at least, and just dragged it here, I probably could have made a decent profit from it. I couldn't have done it, though. I'm just not that strong. I need the help, and without Ian...

At least I still have Dogmeat with me. It's not completely lonely out here. He's been faithfully following ever since I got him. I think he really liked the vault, too. The processed food may not have been what he was used to, but he seemed to like it well enough. Maybe once all this is over, Dogmeat can come live with me in the vault. I'd like that.

For now, though, I'm keeping my ear to the ground, and seeing what I can find out about these super mutants.

February 1st, 2162:

Today I met a man called Irwin, who's having some troubles with raiders. His farmstead has been taken over, and he needs someone to take it back. It's a ten day walk from here, and I'll be wasting a tremendous amount of time doing it.

On the other hand, I can't refuse a person in need.

February 11th, 2162:

After the most unpleasantly long desert trek in my life, me and Dogmeat have arrived at the farmstead, and just finished killing all the raiders here. For all the effort to get here, they weren't even that tough. I'm taking a rest here now. I think I've earned it.

February 12th, 2162:

Setting off again today. God damn, do I hate the wasteland.

February 22nd, 2162:

I got back to the Hub today, and told Irwin the good news. In return he gave me... a pistol. A good pistol, don't get me wrong. 223, one of the most effective pistols I've ever seen. But definitely not worth most of the month spent hiking across the wasteland. Whatever, though. I'm back in the Hub, and now I can take it easy for a bit.

Also, for some reason, the Children of the Cathedral are all gone. Irwin says two guys showed up and just beat the shit out of all of them until the police chased them off. Apparently they all fled the city, scared that they might come back for them. I don't know why anyone would take issue with the Children, but I don't exactly miss them.

Damn, though. The entire church? By themselves? Whoever these guys are, they sound hardcore.

February 23rd, 2162:

I knew it. I knew the Hub had criminal elements aside from Iguana Bob. I could tell by the size of the police force. Today I came into contact with a Mr. Decker, who wanted me to assassinate an individual named Hightower for him, head of the Water Merchants. I played along of course, but I then immediately ran for the police again. Surprisingly, this time they were willing to help me, probably because they knew that Decker was scum already and just couldn't prove it, as opposed to Bob, who they're still in denial over.

Long story short, me and Sheriff Greene teamed up to take down Decker and his gang, appropriately enough called the Underground. It was just like in Junktown. The police raid was a sight to behold. I've never felt more badass than when I burst through the door to the hideout, plasma pistol in one hand and .223 in the other, blasting a hole in Decker's forehead while police poured into the room behind me to start dealing with Kane and the other guards.

What's more, the Underground was the organisation running the Maltese Falcon this whole time, and I didn't even know. Investigating the files in Decker's office, I've also found links between the Underground and the Friendly Lending Company, plus evidence of the group's chokehold on all the major caravans except the Water Merchants.

The Hub's got problems. This place is way scummier than I thought, and it's not just Iguana Bob that I have to deal with. Now I've got to purge this city of the remnants of an entire criminal empire. Looks like I'll be busy tomorrow.

February 24th, 2162:

I finally finished cleansing the Hub of its ills today.

Started with the Friendly Lending Company. No longer so friendly towards me after I killed Decker. I accused the boss man of being a pawn of the Underground, and while he didn't confess exactly, he didn't need to. I knew, and he knew I knew. A firefight ensued. I killed the worthless guards myself, while Dogmeat chased down Mr. Giovanni and savaged him in the street. Hub police didn't even have to ask what was going on. They knew.

Then I came across a building in Old Town, where some of Decker's top men were hiding out. Not only were they his best fighters, who might have just saved his life during the police raid if they had been at the Falcon instead of here, but they also had a captured Brotherhood of Steel initiate here. They were a tough fight, but I killed them and rescued him all the same. I've heard mention of the Brotherhood of Steel a few times now, so I asked the initiate a few questions about them. In his gratitude, he was all too happy to answer. By the sounds of them, they might be able to help with my super mutant problem. I think I'll have to go see them at their headquarters soon.

And finally, while also in Old Town, I stumbled across a building where another criminal gang was hiding out in the basement. They weren't Decker-associated, but crime is crime, so I wiped out the so-called "Thieves' Guild" with little effort. Hopefully without them stealing things from the merchants all the time, tensions might calm between the skags and the upper class of the Hub.

And that's it. My crusade is finished here, justice has been done, and the Hub is a better place for my efforts. I hope Greene and the rest of the police appreciate it. Maybe they might start taking me seriously about Iguana Bob in future. It also didn't hurt that I made over four thousand caps from looting the Friendly Lending Company and Decker's office. I sold off my cattle prod, and purchased myself a super sledge in Old Town. That'll liven things up a bit.

February 25th, 2162:

Set off from the Hub today. It's a five day journey from here to the Brotherhood, but I know where it is and I know what I'm dealing with. I'll just have to put up with it.

I still hate traveling, though. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I do.

I HATE TRAVELING.

March 2nd, 2162:

Arrived at the Brotherhood today. They immediately sent me away, because the only way I can get any of their help or technology is if I join them, and to do that I need to go all the way to this place called the Glow and scavenge for shit.

Great.

March 7th, 2162:

Back in the Hub.

Need to figure out what I'm doing now.

March 8th, 2162:

After a day's break, I decided to head out and find this so-called Glow. I was advised to bring along anti-radiation supplies and any other equipment I might feel would be necessary for scavenging ruins. To that end, I remembered Vault 15, and purchased plenty of rope, just in case. As far as radiation goes, I got some RadAway and Rad-X for treating and resisting radiation respectively, and I also purchased a Geiger counter to tell me when there's radiation around, and how many rads I've soaked up. Turns out I've got a few already. Where I got them, I don't know.

This is one of the few things I don't like about my Pip-Boy. It's such an old piece of junk that it doesn't even have its own Geiger counter. The 3000 models had that shit BUILT IN. And they came with a radio, a torchlight, an assisted targeting function, they monitored your vitals, and all kinds of other stuff. I'm not sure if they could record audio and video like my model does, but still, I really wish Vault-Tec hadn't cheaped out on us.

I bet Jacoren has a whole cupboard of 3000s, and he just doesn't want to share them with the rest of the vault. Jerk.

Oh, and also, I'm going to have to go over a largely mountainous region to reach this Glow place. I've been across those before, and let me just say, if there's one thing I hate more than the empty desert, it's the mountains. Especially those canyons where the radscorpions like to cluster and ambush you. I hate radscorpions. At least Dogmeat usually smells them before we reach those places, so hopefully we can avoid them.

March 12th, 2162:

I think we might be about halfway there. I don't even know. I just know that we've ran out of food and that I had to eat a mutated rat today.

Never again, I swear. NEVER AGAIN.

March 13th, 2162:

I miss human food.

March 18th, 2162:

We've reached the Glow. It was about lunchtime when we arrived, and the radiation in this place is heavy according to the Geiger counter. I think it suffered a direct nuclear strike during the Great War. The first few levels even have great big holes in the middle of the floorplan where the bomb crashed through. From what I can gather, it was a lab before the war, called the West Tek Research Facility. They did biological and weapons tech, all to support the war effort.

I am currently residing on the fifth floor of the facility as I write this, in one of the few unirradiated areas here. I made my way to the bottom after I arrived, found that the lower levels were unaffected, and I've made myself busy. The place turned up a lot of interesting finds. Lockers and storage spaces hiding away research data holodisks and experimental weapons were abound, and there were also a few drug supplies where I was able to get a new stock of RadAway and Rad-X, as well as stimpaks.

I also found a computer called ZAX, which seems to be sentient. While the philosophical implications are immense, and ZAX "himself" is an interesting "individual," I was limited in how much time I could spend talking with "him" due to the radiation, so after a fascinating but sadly brief conversation, I downloaded as much information as I could, and moved on.

I found a lot of weapons and ammunition around the place. Pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, a minigun, a rocket launcher, and a few energy weapons and explosives too. Obviously there's a limit to what I can carry, so I've had to pick and choose what to take, just like back at Necropolis. I kept my .223 and plasma pistol, and nothing has convinced me to drop my super sledge either. However, I have traded in my laser rifle for a plasma caster, which has a shorter range, but is much more powerful, and still uses the same ammo to boot.

I've had to pass on a few other nice-looking weapons. The laser pistol looks cool, but is just a weaker version of my plasma pistol. The sniper rifles have range, but that's not much use to me in the wastes when I have stronger guns. And the minigun is going to be a chore to haul out here. I've decided to take it anyway, but that's only because it'll be worth a lot to sell back at the Hub.

I've also found use for the pulse grenades, which are good for taking out the robot security around here (turning on the power reawakened them, and they're not friendly, so I'm dealing with that right now), and there's a device here called a stealth boy, which can actually turn the user invisible. I'm excited by the thought of what I could do with this, but I need to save it. Considering that I'm going up against super mutants, I'll likely need this in the near future.

Speaking of super mutants, I think I've found where they came from. FEV, or Forced Evolutionary Virus, is something that was developed here at West Tek before the war. It was part of some kind of supersoldier initiative, but I the world got nuked before it was really completed to satisfactory levels. I'm fairly certain that the super mutants were somehow created as a result of this project.

One last thing to note is that I found another holotape from some Brotherhood scout on the first level, which hopefully will be the proof I need to get into their good graces.

I'm leaving as soon as I get out of here. Which will be a while yet. A lot of robots stand between me and the exit, and I have a feeling that they don't want me to get out of here alive. I'm going to see what I can do to shut down security. If that proves fruitless, then I'll have to run for it.

UPDATE:

All clear.

March 29th, 2162:

I'm back in the Hub. It's really late, so I'm just going straight to bed.

March 30th, 2162:

Leaving to go to the Brotherhood.

April 1st, 2162:

Today, absolutely nothing went wrong.

UPDATE:

April Fools. I actually got caught off-guard by raiders and nearly died. Haha.

April 4th, 2162:

The Brotherhood were clearly shocked to see me pass the test, but upheld the deal and granted me access to the Lost Hills bunker. I've been offered a room to stay for the night, and allowed free roam of the facility. What's more, I met a man called Talus, who had heard about me saving that initiate in the Hub, and in return, he gave me a set of Brotherhood power armour for my own use.

It's insanely heavy, but far more protective than my combat armour, and its mechanisms serve to enhance my own strength to a significant degree, allowing me to more easily carry most of my equipment. Which is good, because while here I was also lumbered with a lot of extra stuff to carry, including some low level Brotherhood armour which is basically just modified combat armour, a load of ammunition, a power fist, and some other crap. I can't find anyone to sell it all to around here, so I'm going to have to make another return trip to the Hub.

The High Elder asked me to scout the northern wastes for him. He thinks that there are super mutants in that direction, or at least some kind of threat. I think he's thinking of super mutants. They did come across a dead super mutant around here. One of the scribes (Brotherhood's name for their scientists), even gave me a copy of an autopsy report on one of them. It's pretty consistent with the information I uncovered in the Glow, and paints a concerning picture for humanity's future.

I won't be able to scout just yet, though. As I said, I've gotta get back to somewhere I can sell all this junk. The Brotherhood gave me a "weekly issue" of supplies, and the power fist to help with the scouting mission, and there's this other stuff too... I need to offload it somewhere, and I'd rather get caps than dump it all. And besides all that, I was also given a hint to look around the Boneyard to the south for mutant activity. I heard mention that the Children of the Cathedral had their origins there, and I of course suspect that they have ties to the mutants. This whole Unity thing reeks mutant conspiracy.

Other than that, I've just been my usual helpful self around here, learning about the history of the Brotherhood, assisting some guy in repairing another power armour suit that he didn't want to throw out, and a few other minor odd jobs.

Tomorrow, I leave for the Hub.

April 5th, 2162:

It's incredibly uncomfortable dragging all this heavy stuff with me, but I'll manage.

April 10th, 2162:

Arrived back in the Hub early this morning. I sold all my excess weapons and ammunition, including the power fist (since the super sledge is better if I want to get up close and personal anyway), and of course my combat armour and Brotherhood armour too. Regular Brotherhood armour that is, like the initiates wear. Not the power armour. I need that.

I've been hanging around here for today, but tomorrow, the journey resumes. Well, kind of. I want to make a detour and stop by Necropolis first, actually. I want to check on that situation with the underground ghouls and Set.

April 11th, 2162:

Leaving today.

April 13th, 2162:

Necropolis is dead. The super mutants attacked it in revenge for what happened at the watershed, looking for me.

I've made a terrible mistake here. I can't deal with this. I'm moving onto Boneyard.

April 18th, 2162:

Arrived in the Boneyard, in a town called Adytum. It's the first kind of civilization I've found in this area, even though I've been walking through this pre-war city for ages. Lots of skeletons here. I can see where the name comes from.

It's late. I'm going to see if I can find a place to stay.

April 19th, 2162:

Busy day today.

I asked around town to try and find information about the area, and heard a lot about the various factions that have power in the Boneyard. There were the Gun Runners (weapon merchants), Regulators (Adytum police force), Blades (supposed raider gang), Followers of the Apocalypse (pacifist scholars), Children of the Cathedral (my targets), and unfortunately a lot of deathclaws too.

Yeah, turns out it's not a capitalised "Deathclaw," to show the given name of a legendary beast. It's lower case deathclaw, and that's the name of an entire species of the fucking things.

Two Adytum residents gave me two jobs. One of them was to retrieve some machine parts that were needed to fix the hydroponic farms, and the other was to assassinate the leader of the raider gang known as the Blades. This last job was given to me by the mayor, as they had apparently killed his son. When I went to confront the Blades, though, they revealed that the Regulators were the ones really responsible, and that Adytum was actually under some kind of martial law or dictatorship, while the Blades were the "resistance" to this oppression. I didn't believe her at first, but a holotape she showed me of an intercepted transmission by the Regulators proved it.

I battled my way through the deathclaw playground after that, recovering the machine parts and also reaching the Gun Runners as well. At their behest, I wiped out the deathclaws living in the immediate area, killed the mother deathclaw, AND destroyed her eggs. Once that was dealt with, the Gun Runners were able to do business again, and thus owed me a favour. I used it to arm to the Blades to help take back Adytum.

Shortly after that, I went to Adytum and gave the holotape to the mayor, revealing the truth to him. Unfortunately, his reaction was very loud, and the Regulators knew that he knew, and killed him. That kickstarted the battle. The Blades stormed in, and the town's residents and former residents reunited to overthrow the Regulators in an extremely violent revolution. I assisted in the battle where I could, and Dogmeat did as well. The Regulators were no pushovers, but my plasma rifle dealt with them easily enough. I think a few of the residents were killed, but overall, it was very successful. The Regulators were caught completely off-guard, and the Blades suffered minimal casualties.

After that, I was then able to finally get the parts back to Miles and Smitty, and they fixed the hydroponic farms. In gratitude, they offered to do two things for me. Miles hardened my power armour to make it even stronger, and Smitty offered to upgrade my plasma rifle, which he did. Now it's a "turbo" plasma rifle. Hooray.

Tomorrow, I'm going to look into the Followers and Children more.

April 20th, 2162:

Asking around the old library where the Followers of the Apocalypse made their base, I found that I'm not the only one suspicious of the so-called Children of the Cathedral. The leader of the Followers also believes that they're evil, and moreover thinks that they need to be destroyed.

I found this a curious position to take for the leader of an organisation of supposed pacifists. I question her motives, and I'm not sure if the Followers are entirely on the level. I mean, even setting aside their sinister name, they say that they just want to preach peace and help people, but they've installed a spy in the Cathedral to the south, and they also sent ahead armed scouts, who I'm told will help me in destroying the Children if I find good reason to do so. I find that creepy as fuck.

I also met a ghoul-like mutant called Talius, though not really a ghoul, kind of like Harold. More importantly, he was from Vault 13. Talius was the man the overseer sent out before me, or possibly the one before him. He went hunting for a water chip in Necropolis too, but was captured by super mutants and got all messed up when they tried to convert him with the FEV. He was rescued by the Followers, and now he's one of them. I had quite the interesting talk with him, and he lent me a flamethrower to assist in the mission.

Anyway, now I'm on my way to the Cathedral, to deal with these Children. Let's hope I can put an end to all this.

April 21st, 2162:

It is with great relief that I am finally able to announce the end of the super mutant threat in Boneyard, and the death of their Master. Myself and the Followers were able to make it to the Cathedral and contact the spy, and with her directions we fought our way past the elite nightkin super mutants on the upper levels, and obtained a key to the underground from the head of the Children of the Cathedral. The Follower scouts gave their lives for this purpose, and their sacrifice will be remembered.

I infiltrated a vault beneath the Cathedral, killing one of the cultists and using a robe to disguise myself. While down there, I was very nearly caught at one point by a man who I think was a senior member, but I was able to get all the way to the final chamber undetected.

What I saw in that place still makes me retch when I think about it, and I'm disgusted to think that such things were able to exist in this world. But they do not anymore. It took effort on my part, but the Master of the super mutant army is now dead, and his mutated abominations are gone from this world too. Even the Cathedral itself was wiped out, destroyed in a nuclear blast. It's over now.

My job still isn't done, though. I've still got to destroy the super mutants at their source. Fortunately, I know exactly where it is, thanks to a terminal I found in the Cathedral. I'm on my way there now.

April 22nd, 2162:

Back in Adytum today. I sold off most of my equipment that I picked up for the Cathedral job, including the Children robes, the flamethrower, and some ammunition for guns I don't have. I also got rid of most my chems and other things I haven't found much use for.

I'm trying to lighten the load as much as possible, not just for ease of travel, but also because I regret how much I had to leave behind in the Cathedral. I found some interesting weapons in the Children's possession, like a high-tech Gatling laser, and a device called a ripper, not to mention a suit of something called Tesla armour (which really got my attention, because Tesla was one of my favourite subjects in science class). Couldn't take any of it, though. The flamethrower alone was already too heavy. Almost breaks my heart to think it all went up in flames.

Moving on again soon.

April 25th, 2162:

Back in the Hub again. Won't be staying long.

April 30th, 2162:

Finally reunited with the Brotherhood of Steel. I've informed them of my work at the Cathedral and told them of the location of the super mutants at the Mariposa Military Base in the north. I was able to convince the elders to give me a team of assault paladins to assist in the attack.

It's time to end all this.

May 6th, 2162:

The military base and the FEV vats are destroyed, and the Lieutenant of the Master's army is dead, along with a good number of his followers. Myself and the Brotherhood were able to put a definitive end to the super mutant production, and the wasteland will be menaced by them no more. Unfortunately, this did not come without cost. Dogmeat was killed, victim of an energy force field in the base. I couldn't stop him in time. I failed him.

I can't take any more of this. I've done my duty to the vault now. I've done my duty to the wasteland. I've saved people, and I've slain many enemies and ended a lot of evil. But I'm weary. I am so, so tired of the arid desert and the ruined cities. Everytime I close my eyes I see the skeletons of the Boneyard. I can still smell Ian's charred body, and hear the sound of the pulsating flesh in the Cathedral, and feel the fallout of the Glow on the wind.

This world ended a long time ago, and I have been walking through its dust. I've made friends out here, and lost them. Ian and Dogmeat. I will never forget either of them. And I will never forget what was done out here. But I must leave soon. Already the trauma of this experience is causing me to hallucinate about disappearing boxes. Don't ask. I don't even know myself.

I'm going home.

May 19th, 2162:

I've returned home. I can see the cave where the vault is hidden in the distance. Finally, after all this, I can rest.

Heh. I took thirteen days to get here. This is good, isn't it?

Final Entry:

I was kicked out of my vault today. Forcibly. For the third, and final time.

The overseer said that they couldn't let me in. I'm a hero, and I have to leave, he said. They don't want me telling stories of the outside, making people wonder what's out here, making children want to be like me and venture out into the wastes. Nevermind that I'd never let them. Nevermind that all my stories would be horror stories. Nevermind that the last thing I'd ever want would be for someone else to experience what I did out here.

It's not fair. After everything I did for that bastard. After all I went through! Tossed out of my home, abandoned by my only family, just like that?!

It took everything I had in me to not blast him to death with my plasma rifle right then and there, and not stop until even his melted remains were gone. Or blast him with the .223 and watch him bleed out and crawl pitifully across the floor. Use the plasma pistol to melt off one of his limbs at a time, maybe. I could probably throw the super sledge at him too. See if I could knock his head off.

...But then, on reflection, maybe he's right. The wasteland has changed me. Too much. They don't need me anymore, and I don't need them either. Fuck them. I can live without them. I don't need safety, or comfort, or human interaction. I have a bunch of guns to hunt food and a canteen to collect water, and that's all I need. I'll just live out here.

Or maybe... Maybe I should just make do with what the world gives me. I don't think becoming a recluse will help me either. I don't even know anymore. I honestly have no idea what to do now. I don't want to go back to the Hub, or Shady Sands, or Junktown, or the Brotherhood. None of those places are for me. I'd always be an outsider in a wasteland city. I wouldn't feel right. Maybe I could just walk off into the mountains, and wander where I will. Maybe I'll find a true home somewhere out there, beyond this place. Maybe, maybe, maybe. How did the old song go again?

Ah... I'm rambling. I should stop putting it off. I'm done here. This is the last that I'll be writing in this journal. No more field reports necessary. And no-one's going to read this anyway, least of all me. I don't need it to remind me, because I could never forget what happened out here if I tried.

This is Albert Cole, AKA the Vault Dweller, signing off.

P.S. Jacoren is still a dick and I still hate him.

END.

Author's note:

The Google docs version of this story closed with a song link. Since that is not possible on this site, I direct you to instead search up "California Here I Come" by Al Jolson.

This story shares continuity with Wanderer's Diary, Courier's Journal, and my Fallout/Doctor Who crossover, The Doctor and the Master, which ties directly into this story, and which this was written as a companion piece to.