GAAHHH, I'M AN HOUR OVER FEB 1ST! I FEEL LIKE SHIT FOR NOT MAKING MY ASSIGNED PUBLISH DATE! THIS IS WHY I DON'T PROMISE ANYTHING! CURSE MY PROCRASTINATING ASS!

Well, finally I'm done. I'm never promising anything ever again in regards to publishing dates. It happens when it happens.

But first, a complementary rant from yours truly on Fallout 76.

I originally wrote this back in November (or was it December?) of 2018, so it's probably not be up to date and might seem a bit stale by now. But I'm keeping it in anyway. If you don't want to read it, look for Press F for Elder Scrolls 6 because that's where it ends. Anyway, here it is.

Oh, and not that I really give two shits if you get triggered, but this rant contains *gasp* MY OWN OPINION. That's right, fear me peasants! For I am above the group think of mainstream idiots and... ugh, it's late, I'm tired, just read the damn thing if you want...

Fallout 76 has been released, and New Vegas still reins king.

Let's face it, Fallout 76 sucks ass. I'm sure you've all heard about blah how Bethesda sucks even more than it did before, and the whole canvas bag & nuka rum fiasco. But I need to say my piece on why this thing sucks a big black cock.

You can't play Fallout 76 offline. Which is funny, because Bethesda targeted an advertisement at EA for mocking them for not having single player games. And then they pull this. What a bunch of hypocrites.

I'm sure all of you know by now about how I think New Vegas is the best Fallout game that currently exists, but these past installments are just plain inferior.

Fallout 1 & 2 are pretty good, if a bit dated and clunky. I haven't had as much experience with them or any of the other non-main fallout games like Tactics, ect. Recently I got them for Christmas. They were alright, but I just couldn't really connect with them like I did with New Vegas. I guess I'm more attuned to 3d environments when it comes to Fallout games.

If I had enough time on my hands how to optimize Fallout 3 to run on my windows 8 pc, I probably would play it. I've heard it suffers a bit too much from a nonexistent aiming system and black and white morality, plus the dialogue options for the Lone Wanderer suck.

Fallout New Vegas was made from the same engine of Fallout 3, and has better writing, gameplay and roleplay features. Plus, Bethesda sabotaged New Vegas's creation, giving Obsidian little time to work on it (only 18 months) so they could point their fingers and say that no one else could make a better Fallout than Fallout 3.

Then Fallout New Vegas was released, and it blew 3 out of the water.

Bethesda doesn't let third parties work on Fallout games anymore.

I can't play Fallout 4 because my pc is a piece of junk, but I've seen enough videos on it to be relatively familiar with the game and how it works. Fallout 4 features a shitty voiced protagonist, almost every quest is a "go here, kill this", and a terrible plot. If Ricksaw ever meets the Sole Survivor and they try to use a sarcasm or a "give me money" dialogue option on him, Ricksaw is going to punch them in the face as hard as he can with a ballistic fist.

And then there's Fallout 76. Hoo boy, where do I even start with this?

Fallout 76 breaks lore more than 4 did (Super mutants shouldn't even exist yet), no npc's, a player base that will probably become very toxic and be Rust 2.0, no single player, the game uninstalls itself frequently (which is probably for the better), launching 3 nukes crashes the server, overall making it an huge disappointment.

Clearly, Fallout 76 is just a cash grab. Multiplayer doesn't matter if it's the only thing the game has going for it. It's basically just a shitty(er) Fallout 4.

Even before 76 was released, people were still iffy about it. I mean, Fallout isn't really a franchise that was designed for multiplayer, and everyone knows how disappointing Elder Scrolls Online was (but at least Elder Scrolls Online eventually became a great game of its own). Fallout Miami, a community mod for Fallout 4, got more HYPE than Fallout 76.

If we're ever going to get a good Fallout game again, Bethesda either needs to lose the rights to the Fallout franchise to a video game company that actually cares about quality and its fan base, or they let Obsidian do the writing and the programming for the next game. Even if the people who made Fallout New Vegas no longer work at Obsidian, I bet the company could still do better than Bethesda.

Because at the rate Bethesda is going, they're rapidly turning into the next EA.

AND ALSO, THE FINAL FUCKING BOSS OF FALLOUT 76 IS A RETEXTURED DRAGON FROM FUCKING SKYRIM! SKYRIM! THE GAME THAT BETHESDA HAS BEEN BEATING LIKE A DEAD HORSE FOR THE PAST 8 YEARS! AND THEY PUT A COMMON ENEMY IN AS THE FINAL BOSS!

I can't believe how quick Bethesda lost all their goodwill from consumers with this release of such a putrid garbage pile of rhinoceros dung. It makes Fallout 4 look like a fucking masterpiece in comparison, and you all know how much I hate Fallout 4. And this came from a triple AAA company. The fuck up that was No Man's Sky was understandable in hindsight, they had a small development team and they were forced by Sony and consumer pressure to release it early. Bethesda, a massive corporation that definitely has the time and resources to make this something worth playing, has none of those excuses. They are fucking lazy and have grown too reliant on the modding community to clean up their messes.

That or Todd Howard intentionally sabotaged Fallout 76 so he would never have to make a multiplayer game again. But that's just a theory, an industry the-

Man, I remember when Game Theory used to be good. I actually used to respect Matpat, before he decided that he cared more about making money than making a well-structured video. I still remember the creeping disappointment I felt as I watched the quality of his videos slowly turn from gold to shit. Then when Matpat decided to stick his dick in the cancer that was FnaF and rape it for all it was worth with shitty, clickbait videos intended for children, I turned my back on him. But we're getting off topic.

I only have one more thing to say about this whole shebang.

STOP PREORDERING GAMES.

Part of the reason Fallout 76 is so shit is that Bethesda is used to letting its modding community fix its games. Obviously, they can't do that with an MMO, making Bethesda up shit creek without a paddle. If consumers don't preorder, Bethesda will be forced to make sure what they produce isn't garbage, because they won't have the safety net of someone's well-earned cash and you won't have to hire a lawyer to get your money back.

Press F for Elder Scrolls 6. Hopefully it won't suck as much as Fallout 76 did. But I wouldn't hold out much hope. Bethesda pretty much needs to pull off a miracle to overturn years of laziness and half assed game development to overcome this hurdle.

Elder Scrolls 6 is going to be the game that makes it or breaks it for Bethesda. Because if they fuck up something as well loved and popular as The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda can kiss their company goodbye as their fanbase shrivels into nothing and they get blacklisted by the gaming community as just another EA. Most of these AAA companies think they know what's best and that they control the consumers, but hoo boy Bethesda is going to be in for a very rude awakening if they mess this up.

And bankruptcy.

If so, I hope Obsidian gets the rights to the Fallout franchise…

Hitler's Moustache- Judging by how rapidly Samuel's sanity is decaying, I reckon it's only a matter of time till he tries raising a Deathclaw from birth for use as a mount to ride into battle with. Plus it would be super-efficient killing raiders.

Leodante97: Ah shipping, the most serious of affairs in a self-insert. I'm considering romance in this story however if there is, it will progress at a realistic (aka slow) pace. Getting laid is not very high on Samuel's list of priorities, nor is he going to drop everything in order to pursue a relationship. Assuming there is any, romance is and always will be taking a backseat to the main plot of the story. This is a story about a man who struggles with his morals and does bad things for good reasons. Not some shitty harem fanfic. I did not make this story with the intent to set a proxy of myself up with fictional characters. I'm not desperate.

CeasingSwat: I will cover all the DLC's in this fanfic. Just don't expect them to play out like they did in the game.

10000+ words.

Chapter 10 – Broadcast

With a flick of my wrist, I toss an empty container of flamer fluid over my shoulder as I fumble for the magic lighter, attempting to will it into existence by sheer willpower.

After a few tries, I found success as the thing materialized out of thin air into the palm of my hand. Flicking it open, I light the tip of a desert shrub's branch and use it to set fire to the stacked up pile of dead bodies, consisting of both the raiders and their victims.

The smell of burning flesh and smoke fills the air as the fire grows in size. Soon, the entire corpse pile is engulfed in flame. Inhaling the smoke, I silently watched as the bodies of the deceased burn up.

Just a few hours ago, most of these corpses where living, breathing, people. They weren't good people, but still people nonetheless. They all tried to carve out an existence in the world, even if it was the wrong way. I don't regret killing them. People who spill blood should be prepared to pay in their own blood for their actions.

But, looking at this… I feel disappointment.

Such a waste of potential. They could have lived differently, much better lives had they made different choices. Choice…

Is it being cruel to others a natural trait of humanity, or is it just something we are especially good at? Or perhaps… both?

I shake my head and let out a snort. Here I am, getting philosophical about a bunch of cannibals and scum I couldn't care less about. The smoke must be getting to me.

Soon, there won't be anything left of their remains but ash. It's unlikely that they will be remembered by anyone. Even I will eventually forget about them.

I sigh.

How fleeting… life.

The journey to Novac was thankfully uneventful. Four days after the tunnel fiasco, Hope was strong enough to walk on her own for long periods of time without my assistance.

Who's Hope? Well for the sake of a good cliché, I decided to name the girl "Hope" out of annoyance to myself that I was just calling her girl. Besides, I need to check off boxes on my "bad self-insert tropes list" somehow.

All thanks to a regular dosage of one tablet of Buffout a day. I stopped giving her Med-X to reduce her chance of getting addicted to more drugs. It was bad enough I was giving her steroids to begin with, but I'll make sure to give her Fixer before I hand her over to The Followers.

Just as the sun was starting to peak over the horizon yonder, I stepped into the town of Novac. With my hand clasped firmly around Hope's, we walked quietly to the open tent that served as a mess-hall for the weary traveler. Eddy floated behind us, cheerily beeping away.

Thankfully, Hope is comfortable with me touching her for an extended period of time. At the very least her crippled mind recognizes me as "safe", which is a godsend considering the absolute nightmare that would be the scenario of having to tie a rope to her and drag her along forcefully. I don't think I need to tell you how that would cause so many misunderstandings with the locals, especially in an area with slavers present. I don't fancy getting shot at, thank you very much.

I'm already going to have enough trouble recruiting Boone thanks to Rick's shit charisma.

I look at Hope, who is currently staring blankly at Eddy, who is beeping at her. Ever since she was able to start walking, Hope seems to gravitate towards Eddy or myself when she's left to her own devices. I shouldn't really be surprised, given that between the two of us, we are the only friendly people she's had contact with recently.

Either way, it makes keeping track of her easy.

Entering the tent, I had Hope sit down and we ate breakfast, which consisted of some desert fruits and a box of sugar bombs I had sitting in the 4d. I wasn't wearing my metal armor, just a normal set of leather armor, mainly because I didn't want people in Novac to remember there had been a guy wearing armor similar to the description of "Ricksaw" in the future. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small notebook and started flipping through the pages. The contents contained a myriad of facts of everything I remembered about Fallout New Vegas as a game. Places, people, factions, weapons, questlines, that sort of thing.

I was originally in the mindset of keeping the knowledge locked firmly inside my head, but I don't have access to the internet anymore to fact check and "refresh" my knowledge, so I decided to bite the bullet and make sure I had a failsafe in the event of memory loss or something of that nature.

At least, that's the "official" reason I did it.

The real reason why I made it was that I was getting really bored in that tunnel. I could only read so many trashy pre-war romance novels before I went insane from just how bad they were. Looks like pinky had a guilty pleasure in the things.

I couldn't just simply pop out for a moment either. Hope only just got back her ability to walk proper today, and the distance between the tunnel and Novac would roughly take at least an hour or two of me jogging back and forth. With Hope being completely defenseless, and Eddy not being an unkillable god, I couldn't leave them by themselves. So I had to sit and find ways to entertain myself while Hope recuperated. Basically more plotting.

The journal's contents are written in a code of sorts. I've replaced names with appropriate nicknames (Example: Ulysses = Bulls and Bears), locations become vague descriptions (Quarry Junction= Rock Den of Angry Chameleons), and quests and their steps become really unhelpful and even misdirecting to the unenlightened. I've also written pages of actual gibberish in to further disguise the relevant pages. If someone who has never played Fallout New Vegas as a game were to read it, they would see it as the ramblings of a delusional madman. Which I am, but hopefully it'll be enough to render it completely unusable by anyone except me.

Am I being paranoid? Yes, but rightly so. I know what happens to forbidden tomes (read: journals) full of meta-knowledge in self-insert stories. Chances are, I'll lose this at some point and it will end up in the hands of someone it shouldn't be in, or someone will go through my belongings while I'm sleeping or indisposed and find it.

Worst case scenario, if for whatever reason someone important like the Courier deciphers it and asks me how I know all these things I'll claim I'm a psyker who saw "the future", or rather, "a future" at least. Psykers, for people who aren't an encyclopedia on Fallout lore, are individuals who possess honest to god psychic abilities in the Fallout franchise. I don't know what the criteria is for someone to become a psyker, but with this being Fallout, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with radiation. Radiation alters the DNA, and boom fallout science/magic.

Just to name a few examples of Psykers, there are: Mama Murphy from Fallout 4, The Master from Fallout 1, and Fallout New Vegas's own psyker, The Forecaster. The helmet that kid is wearing is actually a psychic nullifier that disables his abilities, which is why he calls it his "headache medicine".

Not all psykers are equal in terms of psychic ability, a fact I can use to explain how I am not all knowing in case the timeline goes off the rails due to the butterfly effect. I'll describe it as a one-time only thing that I can't repeat again in order to prevent people from asking me to predict future events I know nothing about.

Hopefully, I haven't caused irreversible damage to the main timeline yet, but knowing my luck, I've probably ruined FNV canon already.

But at least I now have an excuse for how I know all the things I do, because I can just tell Hannah I was just following my "visions" when I wrote her that note. The vague and cryptic writing style I've written my journal in should further sell the image I'm a psyker and that my entries are "visions".

Because me being a psyker will be much easier for people to believe than my true nature of being a reality hopper and body snatcher from an alternate earth. Oh and also, you people aren't real and are actually the fabrications of a video game.

Yeah. So I'm definitely sticking to the psyker story. Not going to even feel guilty about lying about it either. Besides, with the amount of shit I know, I could probably be passed off as a real psyker anyway.

Now that I think about it, there's a lot of weird supernatural stuff in Fallout. Whatever the fuck kind of Cthulhu shit is going on with the Dunwich building and that satanic crap in Point Lookout, I want no part of. I'm glad I didn't get dropped in Washington DC, I am not going anywhere near that building.

Plus, aliens are an actual thing here. Like not even as a joke, they have a whole DLC dedicated to them.

…

Please Hannah, for the love of god don't have Wild Wasteland. I don't care if the Alien Blaster is potentially the strongest weapon on the entire planet, NO.

I have several things I want to accomplish today, including but not limited to recruiting Boone, having Boone shoot Crawford, and taking care of Helios One. Not necessarily in that order, mind you, but I did want to complete those three tasks above any of the other priorities today.

Taking a page from the game, I was going to wait until night to deal with Boone and Crawford as subtly and silently as possible. Might even do it exactly the same because if it ain't broke, don't fix it. No need to cause a scene that would only cause unnecessary conflict between Boone and the locals.

Besides, I'm trying to keep a low profile right now anyway. Publically executing a town leader isn't really what I'm going for... but maybe, if I wanted to play up the well intentioned extremist, perhaps I could…

Not sure Boone would appreciate it though. I also don't have any Party Time Mentats yet, so I wouldn't come off as very heroic. But then again, I don't need to say much do I? Just show everyone the deed, and…

Hmm.

The other reason I bothered to stop here was to check consistency between the real life Novac and the game version. Like Nipton, Novac is bigger than it's in game counterpart and there's also a lot more going on here as well.

Kind of like how Nipton is part town, part cesspool of degenerates, Novac is part town, part flea market.

There's a large amount of tents with tables around the old gas station with what I presume are merchants who are setting up shop for the day, making that throwaway line Manny made about how the town prospers by selling junk represented better here by having actual townspeople that sell you stuff.

After we finished breakfast, I took a gander at some of the stuff people were selling. Nothing really interesting, with most of the available goods being things I had in bulk thanks to my hoarding. However, I did buy a visor meant for a reinforced metal helmet (which is really just a modified motorcycle helmet) and an old busted up pre-war motorcycle model that weighed a hefty 219 lbs as what was first an impulse buy. And that's just how much it weighed missing some of the engine parts. I wanted to see if I could get it running again, but I'll also kill two birds with a stone if the pip boy fast travel doesn't work like I'm hoping it will.

Plus, I would be able to go full Ghost Rider. Need I say more?

To make room for it in my inventory, I sold most of the excess weapons and armor I had floating around in my 4d. Thank god I had that thing, otherwise I wouldn't be able to carry the motorcycle. You should have seen the look on that woman's face as I zapped it into hard light, fucking hilarious.

I never really got why people didn't fix up cars and drive them around the wasteland. I'm 90% sure the things could be converted to run on fission batteries, and people could get robots or super mutants to haul away the wreckages on the road. The only real bad place with vehicle wreckage I've seen so far is the Mohave Outpost with rusted cars and trucks clogging the interstate. And even if the roads are worse elsewhere, off-road vehicles are a thing, or at least someone could probably invent the necessary tires if they haven't already been invented.

Maybe Bethesda didn't want to be sued for being too similar to Mad Max? Though I think Fallout 2 had the Highwayman…

Something I've taken note of in the few months I've been here, is that Fallout's economy is radically different here than it is in the game. Which is expected, as in game an avatar is more often than naught literal death incarnate and has absolutely no trouble mowing down anything or anyone in its path, therefore the game making items such as weapons and implants extremely expensive to compensate for all the loot the player is amassing and selling. With real life people being more squishy, weak, and lest robust than a player avatar, that obviously doesn't hold true here.

Bottle cap currency works much differently compared to the money systems most of us are used to. I'm no economics expert, so don't expect this to be 100% accurate, but I'll try my best to explain item pricing and what counts as "being rich" in terms of cap currency. I will be using the currency I'm most familiar with as a comparison, in this case being the American dollar bill, or basically fiat money.

Keep in mind this is a rough estimate, so things like inflation and etcetera are not going to be accounted for.

So basically, a singular cap is like a mixture of a dollar and a penny. With 1 cap, you're probably not going to be buying anything like a mini nuke launcher or a sniper rifle, but you can get something like a clipboard, which would probably cost like 10 dollars in American money. Probably more because of inflation, but I don't really give a damn about the specifics.

This is basically how being wealthy works in terms of caps.

Around 100 caps or below- Very Poor. Expect most of these people to be raiders, junkies, and homeless people.

Above 500 caps- Poor. This is how most of the people who could be classified as civilians in the Wasteland are. It's not really a big deal since food and water are more or less the same price as their game counterparts. Judging by the fact that people I've come across aren't just skin and bones, it seems whatever salary a civilian makes by doing whatever they do is enough to pay for normal expenses.

Above 1000 caps- Average/Well off. These people generally tend to be merchants, prospectors, or have some type of combat oriented role like being a bodyguard and are good at what they do.

Above 5000- Wealthy. I'd imagine this would apply to people like the Gun Runner gunsmiths and extremely successful doctors who are part of a community like the NCR towns.

Above 10000 caps- Very Wealthy. Basically where people like that Brahmin asshole in the Ultra Luxe and Mr. House would end up.

Before attempting to use the data here for a research paper or something on Fallout's economy, remember that this is only to serve as establishing a relative baseline and reference point when it comes to wealth. This doesn't take into account external factors like yearly income or how well jobs in the wasteland pay. I also don't really know what kind of employment people have aside from the most obvious ones present in the game like bodyguards, doctors, ect. Game didn't really cover that aspect in depth.

Items seem to be priced according to their usefulness, which basically means the price dynamic of cheapest to most expensive looks something like this:

Worthless junk- Destroyed books, empty bottles, tin cans, basically any item that is literally trash. Don't expect to get anything for these, much less someone willing to buy them outside of junkyard merchants. Novac is probably the best place in the Mohave to find and sell this kind of stuff.

Everyday items. Stuff like coffee mugs, books, household stuff. In the game, they were mostly worthless, but here real life takes hold. Cheap.

Skill Books and Magazines- Since people can't exactly use magazines for stat bonuses, they're mainly treated as books that are more expensive because of the drawings. Skill books tend to be a few "tiers" higher in price, but with me easily hoarding and selling excess amounts items with my supernatural carry weight, buying any I see isn't an issue. With skill books being the exception, magazines are pretty cheap.

Junk items that are actually useful. Basically all the stuff that can be used to make better stuff with the Repair skill. Scrap Electronics, Egg timers, the works. Scrap metal is seen as a "worthless junk" tier item. Not pricey, but definitely higher than books.

Food and water- somewhat intertwined. Stuff like fruit and vegetables seems to be the least expensive, while the price of water varies between how clean it is. High quality meat that comes from things like Brahmins and deathclaws are definitely more expensive than the purest of water. Basically fruit/veggies/bug meat, dirty water, alcohol/prewar food/low quality meat/ecetera, clean water, and high quality meats.

Interesting thing of note, Lakelurk eggs and meat seem to be frowned upon by the general population when it comes to selling them to vendors. Lakelurks aren't mutated humans and are related to mirelurks who have tasty meat, so I have no idea why they have a stigma surrounding them. Plus they're an ingredient of the Wasteland Omelet.

Medicine and Drugs. Stimpacks have a large price tag attached to them, which given that it makes you regenerate on the spot makes sense for it to have. Medical equipment like surgical tools and syringes aren't as expensive, and tend to fall near useful junk items tier. Drugs are drugs. Expensive and probably the cause of many ruined lives.

Implants (Presumably) I haven't seen any outside of Project Nevada content, but I'm betting they are extremely expensive based on the fact that they alter your body permanently and require highly trained doctors to perform surgery on you.

Gold Bars- Dude, it's fucking gold. The NCR desperately need it to save their failing currency. What more do you want from me?

You might have noticed I haven't said anything about weapons or ammo. These two have their own category of pricing which doesn't really work well on this list without making it excessively long and confusing. So they get their own list.

The general price dynamic for weapons looks something like this:

Melee Weapons,Unarmed,Guns,Energy Weapons,Explosives

Now obviously there's going to be some outliers on this list. For example, Gehenna, a unique shishkebab is definitely worth more caps than a shitty 9mm pistol. I'm not going to go into great detail about every unique weapon and their price tag, so just use your brain to fill in the rest. This is just meant to show how most energy weapons tend to be more expensive than guns, how explosive weapons like missile launchers can bankrupt your average wastelander, and so forth. Ammo works similarly to weapon price, albeit they tend to be less expensive than the gun or weapon itself.

Except Mini Nukes. Mini Nukes are fucking expensive. And impractical. I'd probably just settle for a grenade rifle or mad bomber grenades. Maybe keep a missile launcher or that thing from Lonesome Road as insurance. Hopefully Red Rocket's Glare won't lag me to shit like it did in the game when I made the mistake of using it with V.A.T.S.

In conclusion, Novac looks pretty much the same as it did in game, if a bit more animated and lively. But that's not to say everything is hunky dory here. I've heard people talking worriedly about the Legion, and considering they are only a few miles from Nelson, I'd say they are right to be worried. Still, there's enough heavily armed people here that I think even if the Legion attacked before the battle of Hoover Dam, Novac would at least put in a better effort than Nipton in defending itself.

Another thing I've found out about Novac is that their ghoul problem is bigger here than it was in the game. Not only do they have to deal with REPCONN being infested, there's also 2 AWoP locations with large hordes of feral ghouls regularly coming out and getting too close to the town. One location is beneath Clark Field, the place with all the golden geckoes. The other is a place only a few scant meters away, the crumbling Novac Shipping Office.

Too say the locals are displeased is an understatement. Apparently, it's gotten so bad to the point that the town is actively putting out bounties for anyone to stop the flow of ghouls from coming out of the tunnels.

I have a very muddled memory about the shit that went down there. Something about a gang of ghouls, NCR, and a collapsed tunnel. I do remember some asshole with an anti material rifle at the end of the dungeon.

I'm going to have to give it a pass though. I'm on a time limit and that subway tunnel has set me back way too long.

Getting into Helios was trivial. An indirect insult aimed at Fantastic's competence, tell the NCR lady I'm good with machines, and bingo! I'm let in. Hope and Eddy gets some weird looks, but are ultimately ignored for the most part by the NCR troopers.

To be fair, we were a pretty weird looking party. A man, a girl, and an eyebot walk (float) into a power plant that's secretly a prewar doomsday weapon. And I'm not exactly short either. I judge Rick's height to be at least 6 foot ten or just a few inches below 7 foot. A couple more inches and I could probably butt heads with Lanius. Put that absolute unit next to a scrawny malnourished girl of average height (she's like 5 foot something) and a robot slightly larger than a basketball, and thus, Rick's bulk and size alone made Eddy and Hope look jarringly small by comparison.

And yes, clothes magically make themselves bigger to fit me. Something that I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for being bound by extradimensional video game rules.

It was still morning by the time we got in to Helios, and I was hoping I would be able to complete "That Lucky Old Sun" before I missed the time of day needed for the power plant needed to fully charge itself. After extensive testing (standing around like an idiot and thinking "T", which is the default keyboard button I used for waiting in game) I determined that I didn't have a "wait" function, so I'd rather not dilly dally any further than I've had to already.

Luckily, Helios was fairly uneventful in terms of anything interesting happening. I managed to get Ignacio to look after Hope in exchange for setting Helios up to power the whole region at full, something I was already planning on doing anyway. I had to leave Eddy with him as a way of promising I wouldn't just ditch Hope with him.

And I went into Fantastic's room and sto- borrowed the medical skill book laying on the desk. I would put it to better use than him anyway.

The enemies I encountered inside the installation itself where nothing particularly threatening. Protectrons are trash tier enemies, turrets are easy to shoot down, and I didn't run into any missile wielding sentry bots, only ones with miniguns.

Oh, there were the robo brains though.

If the things robo brains said didn't sound so goofy and mundane, they'd be right at home in a sci fi horror film. They've got a fucking human brain in them. Imagine if they were still sentient and still had their memories as a human. Then imagine a robo-brain whose lived for more than 200 years screaming at you to end their suffering, having been trapped seemingly forever in a robotic husk and incapable of free will.

That's a proper horror video game enemy right there. And pre-war America made these things by the thousands, if that automaton dlc for Fallout 4 exists here. You can definitely tell that the scientists or whoever was responsible for making those things really didn't have a very good moral compass.

Pre-war America didn't really give a damn about ethics did they? No wonder Vault-Tec wasn't immediately shut down by the government. I mean seriously, who the fuck thinks it's an actual good idea to conduct unethical and downright sadistic experiments on what could possibly the last survivors of the human race?

I can guaran-fucking-tee that whoever came up with some of those tests knew full fucking well they wouldn't work. Like that vault where they shoved one female in while the rest of the 999 inhabitants were male. Then there's the one where they took children and turned them into super soldiers while killing the one's deemed unsatisfactory. Or that one where they played white noise 24/7 while all the inhabitants slowly went insane, I mean, just how was that one supposed to have a good result?! And don't even get me started on motherfucking Vault 22 that Big Mountain definitely knew made plant people. The effect of that vault was so profound it stalks the player in 2 dlc's as well as the main game.

Fucking bastards. I hope they're burning in hell.

If I ever find a time machine that sends me back to before the bombs dropped, I am going to take a very "enthusiastic walk" through Vault Tec's offices. Max my skills, amass enough high powered weaponry for a small army, and I can just about do just about anything I want with very little that can stop me.

Or at the very least, I will enjoy making Vault Tec squirm as I reveal the intended function of each and every Vault to the public. That's the one thing reporters are good for. A scandal? Oh, they'd snap that right up, the damn sharks. In fact, what is the point of celebrities anyway? They just sit around and do nothing and-

Er. Actually I think I'll stop. This is starting to get wildly off topic. My rant against the abomination that is mainstream media can be gifted to the world at another time, perhaps.

I peered through an open door.

Several Protectrons stood deactivated, safe behind their forcefield cylinders. Very deliberately, I slowly put a foot into the room, my axe perched on my shoulder as I listened to an alarm go off somewhere further in the facility. Patiently, I waited for the forcefields to deactivate. I didn't need to wait long. The Protectrons inside lit up as their respective forcefields fizzled out of existence. I turned my head to the Protectron closest to me as it stomped forward.

"INTRUDER SPOTTED. SUBMIT AND YOU WILL NOT-"

The Protectron's head exploded in a dazzling white explosion with a spark and crackle of electricity as I swung my axe ever so gracefully into the massive target that was its glass dome.

I get that the dome can shoot a laser, but really, you might as well put a sign that says "hit this for massive damage". Protectrons are surprisingly fragile despite being made for industrial work.

The other robots were just as easily dispatched, with me only getting hit with a glancing laser shot that left my shoulder pad feeling slightly warm.

After a couple more minutes of walking around Helios, I finally reached the server room. Heading up the catwalk, I inserted the keycard I found earlier into a slot on PYTHON's chassis. Stepping out of its way as the handyman booted to life I walked over to look at the weird thing next to it. I think it's the top half of a robo brain. Walking over to a nearby desk, I pocketed a Project Nevada implant, the AR Scanner. This thing was supposed to help by scanning enemies and giving you information about how big a threat they were.

Basically it acts as that medicine perk that lets you see enemy health bars, only it also lets you see things like DT and perception level (awareness) as well. Unfortunately, you have to look at your target and sit still for a few seconds to actually use it. It's probably more suited for sniper players than my current build.

Given that I've played New Vegas inside and out and have fought and killed every enemy, I probably wouldn't use this implant. I already had Bionic Eyes installed, and I was also planning two S.P.E.C.I.A.L. implants for my head. Wired Synapses (In Jacobstown) would serve my purposes better than the AR Scanner. Still, I wasn't just going to leave it here for the taking.

Going back downstairs, I walked over to the terminal that would let me turn Helios on. PYTHON already finished repairing the power cable and had powered itself down on the floor. Pushing buttons, I navigated through the menus till I got to the power options.

Archimedes II was looking tempting. Having a giant death laser from outer space was appealing, not going to lie. But right now that gun was in the hands of a child, and knowing children, there was an extremely high chance he would hold down the trigger unknowingly and atomize a good chunk of Freeside.

I shudder to think how badly that gun would be misused if it ended up in the hands of the Van Graffs or even worse, a Fiend. So no, we're not activating Archimedes. Besides that thing was shit in-game anyway. I instead picked the full power option, and winced as the machine let out a shrill beep informing me there wasn't enough power for the full region and t would suffer brownouts.

Well, that's what happens when you make a power plant relying solely on solar power. Did the Fallout-verse ever harness geothermal energy? I guess if I survive New Vegas, I can find out later.

I guess it's time to be blinded by light. Ooh boy. I can't wait.

Heading outside, I discovered very quickly that I suffer from vertigo. And promptly pressed my back to the central part of Helios's tower.

Why?! I flew on airplanes all the time! Is it because I'm standing on my own two feet?!

I got over it eventually, and totally didn't stand there petrified in fear for 2 minutes.

Promise.

Yanking the lever down, I heard the loud whirring noise of the solar panel gears as the things began to move. Letting out a maniacal cackle and shamelessly posing with my arms stretched outwards as the solar panels pivoted themselves upwards, the reflected rays from the sun engulfed the tower in light.

PRAISE. THE. SUN!

God, it's hot. Even before I had a Helios shoot solar beams at my location, the desert climate was already making me sweat. I'm glad I'm not wearing the metal suit. Also… I flip the bird at where I think the sun is. Hah, suck it bitch, you can't do nuthin to my metal eyes!

And then I remember that sunburns and skin cancer exist. Dammit. This is why we can't have nice things.

Absentmindedly, I put my hand on a nearby handrail for balance, before cursing and jerking it away. Hot! Resigning myself to fumbling almost blindly through the oppressive light, I clumsily make my way back up the ramp to Helios's server room. I opened the do -

BANG

"UAGHH!"

I stumbled through the door and fell to the floor with a scream as a searing pain made itself known in my right shoulder. Thankfully, I still had enough sense to place my left hand over the wound as I fell. I laid there for a minute on the floor, panting and gasping.

Shit, some fucker just shot me!

Whoever it was, they missed my head but still landed a pretty good fucking hit on me. This is what I get for not wearing my best bulletproof set of armor. Agh, it fucking huuuurtsss. I need to fuckin-comon, move dammit, I can't black out right now. If I do, I'm gonna die.

Gritting my teeth, I slowly, agonizingly, rolled myself over onto my back so I could assess the damage and not bleed to death all over the floor. Cautiously, I poked and prodded at the bullet wound in my back. Seeing as I can still move, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume it didn't hit my spine.

It was pretty bad and- I tried moving my shoulder and winced- the bullet was lodged deep in there too. I couldn't see an exit hole in the front of my shoulder, which means that I would have to dig it out or risk lead poisoning. Great, just fucking great. Thank fuck my bones are made out of steel now and can't break easily, otherwise I'd have to worry about bone fragments shredding my insides.

Judging by how big the round felt, the bullet I'd been shot with wasn't a high caliber like a .50 or a 12.7, otherwise I'd probably be too fucked to even move right with a giant chunk of my shoulder gone. If it weren't for Gamer's Mind and the fact that I was conscious for the entire duration for my skeleton shattering, which was 10 times more painful than what I was feeling right now might I add, I probably would've gone into shock and bled to death. Fuck.

I tried moving my right hand, only to get a couple twitches of my fingers. Shit shit fuck. I hope suffering grievous injuries and losing control of my limbs isn't about to become a recurring theme in my life, because at this rate it looks like it will be.

I need first aid right now. If it weren't for the fact I would have walk down several flights of stairs while bleeding out and go back outside where the sniper is lurking, I would go to Ignacito, who likely has medical training, and he would be able to assist me.

Alright, think. Right arm's somewhat fucked, left is currently in an awkward position keeping the back side of me from bleeding out, and the bullet is stuck in my shoulder. 4D is in my pocket. If I can get the 4D, I can get medicine.

This time, I try again to move my right arm more forcefully, and find success as I painfully manage to stick my right hand in my pocket and make the fingers contract to retrieve the 4D. Clicking the device on, I grabbed a pen from a nearby desk and stuck it in my mouth. I then pressed the tip of it against the 4D's "emergency eject" slot on the back. The 4D let out a shrill beep and a countdown appeared on the screen starting at 3. Guessing it was going to shoot everything out of the led at once, I pointed the remote at a relatively unoccupied space of the building.

The countdown hit 0, and the 4D emitted a great flash of light as it deposited all the crap I had inside it on the floor of Helios. Stepping into my pile of garbage, I reached for a green duffle bag that I had found somewhere out in the wasteland. Where, I don't remember nor do I have the time to try. What was in it? Lots of drugs and medical supplies. Much more convenient to put everything in one place than cycle through the 4D looking for it.

Reaching into the bag, I immediately took out 2 med-x and injected myself by stabbing them into the artery of my other arm one at a time, my fingers feeling like they were on fire as I dropped each syringe after it was used. I let out a slight sigh of relief as numbness shot through my body and the pain dulled.

My pain tolerance was already pretty high due to my 8 endurance, and it was further raised after I went through re-growing my entire skeleton lucid, but I could do without the added distraction of my body screaming at me for having a hole in it.

I then pulled out some bandages and a super-stimpack. Taking my left hand off my shoulder, I stuck that puppy in there as fast as I could and started wrapping my shoulder in bandages as best I could. I was going to have to get a doctor to reopen the wound and pull the bullet out, because I had never tried something like this and would probably make the situation worse if I tried going at it with a pair of forceps. Better to just bear with it for now.

I collapsed into a in a chair covered in dust. Now that the immediate crisis was over, I needed to decide what I should do next. Who shot me?

NCR? Doesn't make sense, given they let me in to fix the tower. Plus the platform I was standing on wouldn't let the soldiers below wouldn't be able to nail me in the shoulder like that.

Boone? My back was turned towards Novac, but that shot would have to have traveled more than at least 3 miles to hit me. Maybe if he had an actual sniper rifle he could do it, but with a .308 hunting rifle? I don't think so. Plus, he only goes on shift at night, I haven't done anything with him yet, and I'm not vilified with the NCR or a part of the Legion. Probably not him.

Some random asshole? Maybe. They sure chose a weird target, with me being smack dab in a proverbial hornets nest. Even if I died, it's not like they would be able to get in. Who else have I pissed off?

…

Oh.

Ooh, noooo.

I'm an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

Whelp, it looks like I'm finally paying the price for ding dong ditching the Brotherhood of Steel a few weeks ago. It's the only option that makes the most sense. Although…

How long have I been followed, and why am I only being attacked now? I could have spread the information about location of their base all over half the damn Mohave by now. I sat for a couple of weeks near Mohave Outpost, and didn't get attacked once aside from the usual critters. When I was indisposed by Adamantium Skeleton, it would have been a perfect opportunity to try and finish me off.

The Brotherhood doesn't regularly use assassins as their MO, but they do have those recon agents, and while Christine is part of a splinter group of the Brotherhood called the Circle of Steel, it at least shows that the Brotherhood can have assassins. So maybe it is them.

But the Circle of Steel is something from Van Buren, a fallout game that was supposed to be Fallout 3 but was cancelled and had some of its assets taken and put into New Vegas. Something might have gotten lost in translation between the two, making my knowledge on the subject spotty at best.

Bah, I don't have time for lore speculation. Some asshole who wants to kill me is out there, and they're probably not going to go away if I ask nicely. I wouldn't dare stick my head back out there to try and find out the location of who shot me, so it looked like I was going to be relying on the different vision modes of my bionic eyes to find our assassin friend.

Night vision was obviously useless right now, so it looked like I was going to be relying on the thermal and electromagnetic modes.

Thermal wouldn't be that useful at this time of day, given its warm everywhere outside right now, making finding a human body without getting shot first a difficult endeavor. So it looks like the task falls to EM vision.

Electromagnetic vision was useful for finding things both organic and mechanical, but it didn't really tell me what I was looking at if something like a wall blocked by direct line of sight. If something wasn't directly in my line of sight, it would only show up as a cluster of sparkles. But clusters did have certain shapes and sizes depending on what it was, so I could potentially use that to find the location of my would be assassin.

While the bionic eyes did have different vision modes, I couldn't zoom in with them like I could a pair of binoculars. I could see things from a far off distance though, so using a scope might be helpful in that task.

Best chance of getting out of here? I go to the ground floor and activate a stealth boy so I can get back unmolested to the main building. Then, I alert the NCR of seeing a fake Brotherhood invasion from my high vantage point so they go on high alert, making it unlikely for our little friend to be able to enter the building without being shot. From there, it's a matter of using EM vision to scan the surroundings and look for what is likely a lone signature. Then, when I find their location, I sneak up on them and blow them to kingdom come with the explosives I got from the train tunnel.

Given that Eddy has a radar built him, I could also possibly use him to track down the assassin as well. This is a plan I would rather not resort too, given that Eddy isn't exactly stealthy and he would probably get shot down by the sniper.

Note to self: I need to see if I can add a stealth boy cloaking system to Eddy.

Getting out of the chair, I quickly changed into the metal armor for better protection so I didn't get owned again the next time the sniper shot at me, zapped all my shit back into the 4d, and took some Buffout to compensate for my injured arm. I made sure to finish the Helios quest so Archimedes couldn't be activated, and took the elevator back down.

The atmosphere felt tense as I walked back. With all the robots destroyed, Helios was eerily silent. I was a few corridors away from the entrance when I heard it.

Footsteps. I pulled the laser rifle off my back, and put a finger to the stealth boy I had attached to my arm. Activating EM vision, I saw only one sparkle cluster moving slowly towards my location.

Well, this makes things easier. I'm kind of bummed my monologue about my eyes went to waste like that. Oh well.

I narrowed my eyes. So, you're not even going to wait for me to get out of Helios before attempting to finish what you started? Whoever this is must really want me dead. And it also worries me because they had the skill to sneak past all the NCR soldiers, or they killed everyone on the way in. Neither of these options are good.

Either that, or some very unlucky NCR soldier who was too curious for their own good is about to get a laser to the face.

I considered going back up to the tower so I could rig the area in my favor, but this person was too close and moving too fast for me to be able to sneak away undetected. I activated the stealth boy, and swapped the laser rifle for my fire axe. I positioned myself next to a door frame lying in wait as they stepped ever so closer.

Their footsteps echoed in the empty building.

tap. tap. tap.

I gripped the axe in anticipation, the leather padding in my gloves creaking as adrenaline running through my veins.

Tap.

A man in recon armor stepped through the doorframe. The visor was pitch black, so I couldn't see his face. But I could tell by the body shape it was a man. He held in his hands what I recognized to be a 10mm smg. A decent weapon all in all. But what really sealed the deal for me was the rifle slung across his back.

A sniper rifle. Oh buddy, if you don't notice me you're sooo fucked.

I held my breath as he slowly stepped forward. He was close enough to me that I could touch him.

He walked past me. Not wasting anytime, I drew my axe back and swung it at his head. At the very last second the guy turned his head, but it was too late as he…

As he…

As he…

…

As he did a fucking front flip, evading my swing, and landed on all fours like a… ninja?

What.

That's bullshit.

What is this, an anime?

I threw myself through the doorway as he raised his 10mm smg and fired, bullets spraying the corridor. I got back up from where I hit the ground, and unclipped a plasma grenade from my belt and threw it through the door.

Then I fucking ran like hell.

I was expecting to fight a normal human being. Instead, I got fucking spider man.

Screw this, let's see if the NCR is still alive!

But alas, my hopes and dreams were ruthlessly crushed as per usual as the guy fearlessly charged through the explosion of plasma and tackled my ass. He tackled me, a very large man who is carrying more than 500 lbs of weigh and completely said "fuck you" to the stonewall perk. I am officially freaked out now.

We struggled for a fierce minute on the ground as a fierce battle between his skill and my brawn reigned for supremacy. He put me in a headlock, and I struggled fiercely until I realized he hadn't accounted for the fact I still had grenades and mines on my belt.

It was absolutely insane, but I was desperate. I fumbled for a frag mine and put it right on the guys back as I activated it. It detonated at point blank range, throwing him off me, and slightly compromising my armor as let's face it, metal armor was kinda shit.

I haggardly got up from my position on the floor. The guy had already recovered and had reloaded his smg to fire another clip at me. Instead of running away this time, I picked up my fire axe from the floor and charged him. Bullets pinged off my armor as I rapidly approached a collision course with my opponent. He seemed to realize the gun was getting him nowhere, so he dropped it and pulled out a ripper from his belt.

I made the mistake of assuming I was safe holding the weapon of longer reach, and was proven wrong as the assassin closed the space between him and the axe, cutting off my swing. Bastard hit my wrist, making me flinch and drop my axe, effectively disarming me. He then pulled off a vicious swing that nearly cut my neck, which would have definitely been the end for me.

If I had any doubts this guy was here to kill me and not just defending himself, they were thoroughly squashed. I retaliated by punching him in the throat followed by a headbutt. We disengaged from each other, and settled for circling each other warily with him coughing up a storm. I briefly touched where he cut me.

Piss. He cut through my helmet and got my cheek. Getting wounds from a ripper is like getting cut by a knife with a serrated edge, only worse. I stuck my tongue where the cut was to see if I had a hole in my mouth. Luckily, I didn't.

I was officially pissed off now. Pulling out a shot of Psycho, I watched him warily as I injected it into my neck. Forget running, I was going to enjoy beating the piss out of this guy. I cracked my knuckles. "I'm going to bury you asshole."

There, a cheesy one liner. Are you happy?

Predictably, he said nothing, assumed some type of combat stance, and charged at me. Fine. Who needs weapons when you have fists of steel? I inhaled and exhaled and cleared my mind. My mind was a temple, and in the background a waterfall peacefully flowed down the rocks.

Suddenly, the guy slowed down exponentially as I could begin to see where he was aiming his knife at. Now, contrary to popular belief, this was not a superpower I had just pulled out of my ass. This was Bullet Time, a feature of Project Nevada which was basically just a shitty turbo that used your AP and slowed you down as well. The only thing that changed was that I could "think" faster.

To use it, your mind has to very briefly be in a state of relaxation. Pretty fucking hard in the middle of a fight, but I pulled it off just barely. I only recently learned how to use this during my stay in the subway tunnel. I learned a lot of things in that tunnel now that I think about it, Boredom definitely lives up to it's reputation as being the key to innovation.

I reached out and grabbed the hand which held the ripper by the wrist as I pulled him towards me. I then slammed my spike covered knee into his chest. Following up, I put both of my arms on his shoulder and pushed him back. As he stumbled backwards I twisted my torso and delivered another brutal punch, swinging my entire left arm with all my body weight behind it into his face, cracking the glass of the recon helmet.

Falling back, he hit his head on a wall and sunk down to the floor dazed. I immediately punished him for it.

Jumping on him, I then proceeded to beat the piss out of him by continuously punching him in the face. Each blow sent his head almost swinging from side to side. The glass of his recon helmet broke after the fifth punch, and I didn't hesitate to capitalize on it by landing a direct punch on his face, breaking his nose and pushing the glass shards into the vulnerable flesh.

The guy didn't even scream as I beat him senselessly. I was beginning to think he had died immediately when he had hit the back of his head on the wall. After one final punch that was halfhearted in nature I stopped.

He was dead.

I sat on his corpse, panting from the exertion. Contrary to what the movies and tv show, close quarter fights with the intent to kill only last a couple minutes at best. The average human body just isn't robust enough to take large amounts of punishment like that. A fact that I had forgotten as I let myself get carried away. I got off his body. Most of his stuff had been scattered around the room during our fight. The rifle he had lost in one of the explosions I had caused, the guy's smg had skidded to the wall next to his corpse, and the ripper was laying on the ground near me.

Picking up the guy's ripper, I approached the body cautiously. Switching the chain knife on, I gave the body a kick. Nothing. Holding the ripper blade level with the man's neck, I carefully reached under the shattered recon helmet to feel his neck for a pulse.

I had slight difficulty doing this, seeing as he had a giant metal band around his neck. Looking at it now, was that a bomb collar? I hastily pulled my hand back and prepared to run to safety at the slightest peep of a beeping noise.

Nothing happened. I stood there for at least two or three minutes waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. I took a closer look at the "bomb collar".

It... didn't look like one. Unlike the clunky blocky thing that gets put on your character's neck during Dead Money, this collar was smooth and sleek, almost like a circlet. There were several lights on it, and a couple circular knobs on the side that pressed up against the guy's neck. But what could it be for, if it wasn't a bomb collar?

Hesitantly, I stepped back and made a more hearted effort to see if the guy was still alive.

Daringly, I reached out and gave the collar a tug. Nothing happened, but it refused to budge, almost like it was a part of the guys neck. Weird. Still, I could mess with it later after I made sure he was dead. Sticking my fingers on his wrist, I felt for a pulse.

No pulse. He was deader than a sack of bricks. Aside from the weird collar thing that might be a bomb I fumbled with his armor, seeing if I could at least get verification I killed a brotherhood assassin.

Eventually, I did find something. But it wasn't what I expected. I had expecting a holotag with someone's name on it, only what I found instead was a weird necklace, comprised of a circle with spikes jutting out from the middle.

"The hell?" I turned it over, trying to see if looking at it from a different angle would help me figure out what this thing was supposed to be.

It made out of some kind of metal, iron or steel maybe, and painted black. It had a coppery smell and a weird sticky texture to it, like someone had dipped it in blood.

It did not give off a good vibe at all. This is like something for a cult.

Huh, maybe it really was a psycho who attacked me. A psycho with what looked like a bomb collar on their neck. Did Elijah crack earlier than expected and come back from the Sierra Madre to finish what he started?

And did he train his victims to be ninja's too? Seriously man, that guy had the hops.

I reached for the recon helmet and slowly pulled it off. Looking at his face, he didn't look like anyone I recognized. Then again, I turned his face to mush. He had brown ratty hair with green eyes, and also a bit of a stubble. His eyes were glazed and he was bleeding very profusely from the glass I had shoved into his face, but what interested me was a weird mark on his neck that looked like a bruise. During our fight, I didn't try strangle him once. Was it from where I punched his throat? I moved his head slightly to get a better look at it.

After looking at it for a second, I was sure it was a bruise until I saw it move. Black lines which I realized were veins began to slowly appear on his skin and climb up around his body. I watched transfixed as they flowed like a river up his face and towards his cut. At this point I still hadn't moved from where I was standing, too interested in what was happening, but I was also craning my neck backwards more and more as more lines of black appeared on his skin.

What... the... fuck?

When it reached the cuts on his face, the open wounds began to bubble yellow liquid that smelled absolutely foul at it formed a scab and stopped bleeding instantly. I took a step back. Then another.

Is... that the Atomic perk or something? Because that is absolutely disgusting.

Suddenly the man convulsed, and his eyes suddenly were no longer dead, but focused. We made eye contact.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

I was too shocked at seeing a dead man come back to life that I did nothing as he picked up the gun laying nearby and pressed to muzzle directly into a section of my armor that had taken too much damage from detonating a bomb at point blank range, and simply stood there as he pulled the trigger.

White hot pain alerted me as the bullets shredded through my flesh and my stomach. I let out a roar of pain as my insides were shredded. Survival instincts kicked in, I took the closest thing I had at hand, and swung the ripper down directly on the fucker's head with all the might I could afford.

CRACK

The ripper didn't so much as cut as it caved the man's skull in. Without turning it on, the sheer force I put behind the blow made the weapon act more like a shitty lead pipe than it did a chainsaw knife. Backing away, I hit a wall as I strained to recover from having the entire clip from a 10mm submachine gun emptied into my partially exposed stomach.

My insides felt like hell. My vision went blurry as tears of pain streamed down my cheeks. What the fuck was that?! Fuckin' voodoo shit!

"…Urk!" I bent over and tried to feebly cover my mouth as I coughed up a large amount of blood. I caught myself from falling over on a nearby railing as I began to bleed out from my stomach wound.

"Ugh… B-bastard!"

I tried to reach in my pocket for the 4d, only from my arm to flare up loudly in protest. The drugs from earlier had finally worn off. I was made aware of how exhausted I felt. Tiredness threatened to make me collapse. I barely had enough energy to even stand.

I needed to get out of Helios. I wouldn't die here, I wouldn't! I still have… too many things to do… agh… and not enough… time.

I left the ripper in the man's head. It was fine. I didn't need it any more than it needed me, and it could rot happily in that cranial canal for all I could ever care.

Spots were dancing in my eyes. I could still get those apparently. With great difficulty, I forced myself to move. With my hand feebly covering my bleeding chest, I took step after step, with each labored breath I took I was closer to help and safety and I needed to get out.

Dazed and disoriented I stumbled like a drunk through the bowels of Helios. What was only likely probably a few minutes felt like an hour, decade, and worse.

Finally, after what was an eternity and some more, I stepped outside into a world hot and bright. I had made it outside. Different voices assaulted my ears as I stood there, oblivious to the world and more.

What was I even doing again? My stomach chose to painfully spasm at that exact moment, bringing me for a moment back to lucidity.

Right, I'm dying. We need help. Or was it I need help?

Who is we anyway? Who are you? What am I? What is-

My stomach let out another painful sob as I snapped out of my funk again.

"Hey… you. I need a… doctor." I reached out an arm to the nearest NCR soldier. She turned at the sound of my voice, eyes widening as she no doubt spotted the numerous injuries I had sustained in my battle against that psycho.

I was done.

My legs finally gave out. The world grew dark, and the last thing I heard before I hit the ground were the panicked voices of NCR soldiers.

The sound of crows and the noise of a fan spinning were the first things she heard.

The feeling of hunger and thirst were next.

A stiffness was present in her limbs. She felt like death warmed over.

But…

She was… alive?

Slowly, her eyes opened.

Yes, yes, the chapter ends with lame cliffhanger(s), but at least we actually got to the start of New Vegas.

I definitely made an oopsie or two with the economics bit. It's probably very wrong. It's only there to serve as a rough, and I mean very rough, estimate of what a realistic fallout economy would look like. I'm not super into stuff like this, and I'm not wasting hours of my life watching Fallout videos on the economic structure of Fallout's bottlecap economy to provide a completely accurate representation. This fanfic is not intended to be about macroeconomics, harems, or whether or not traps are gay.

I also have a bit of bad news for you all. I goofed around with one mod too many before accessing Ricksaw's (now very old) save file and I kind of… corrupted it. Eddy disappeared off the face of the earth and Boone won't talk to me. Oopsies. So now I have to make a new character all over again. 14 hours of my life making a new Ricksaw, here I come!

It shouldn't be too much of an issue, as I'm trying to gradually push the gamer aspect of this fic into the background and focus more on realism and story. It'll still be there, but less in the spotlight than it has been these past few chapters. Don't worry, me having to making a new character shouldn't affect the next chapter anyway.

Because for the next chapter, I want to shake things up a bit and not focus on the SI fully for once like I have the past 10 chapters…

And, as I'm sure you are all aware by now…

The Courier's debut is next chapter!

Edited 4/17/2019.