Work Text
Begin at the beginning, that’s usually how these work, right?I wish I could give this a more… fitting opening, but… I’m drawing a blank on how to start this better.I don’t remember much from my early life, only brief memories of a mother I never got the chance to meet.Maybe if she lived things would’ve turned out differently, but those what-ifs are what cause some men to drive themselves to madness.Even so, the next few years were a blur. I vaguely remember reading a book at one year old, something about me being special. I also remember my father showing me a bible verse.Apparently the verse, that being Revelation, 21:6, was my mothers favorite. To this day, because of how important it was, I still remember, and can quote it, word for word with zero flaws.It probably helped that it was placed in my room for nineteen years, as well, but I digress.Me and my father then left my room, and if memory serves, I went to go play with my best friend Amata. I don’t remember much after that, cut me some slack, this was over twenty years ago.My tenth birthday was about as standard as it gets, at least in a Vault. At ten, I finally got my Pip-Boy 3000A. It was a “gift” from the Overseer, who happened to be Amata’s father. From the jump, I never liked him. His paranoid, pretentious mind is one of the things that led to events transpiring the way they did, but I digress.Apparently Amata did help decorate, but for the most part my dad is the one who worked on it. Amata wanted to help more, but… Well, to preserve his image, the Overseer didn’t let Amata help out that much. He wanted to give the impression that he didn’t play favorites, and I begrudgingly have to admit he succeeded at that.We had some fun with the festivities for a while. Outside of Butch being a major ass, it was actually fun.My father eventually told me to go down to the reactor level to see Jonas, one of the Reactor technicians of the vault. I did after a few more minutes of enjoying the festivities. On the way down there I received a birthday poem. I actually still have that on my Pip-Boy, if you can believe that.I made it down to the reactor level, and Jonas decided to pull my leg a little bit.“What are you doing down here, young man? I thought kids weren't allowed down on the Reactor Level,” he said, clearly attempting his best impression of the Overseer. My feeble ten year old brain still thought he was serious though.“Oh... But Dad told me it was okay to come down here…” I said, with a pouty face.Again, I was ten.“Hey, relax! I was just teasing. Listen, now that you're ten you don't have to take guff like that from grownups any more. Got it?” he said with a chuckle, “Hold on one more minute. I think your dad will want to give you the surprise himself.”A few minutes later, Dad came down, asking me if I was ready for my surprise.I of course responded with glee.“The Overseer gave you your Pip-Boy, and you're old enough to do some work,” he said, “So I figure you’re old enough for this.”He then pulled out a BB gun, and held it out to me.“Your own BB gun! It's a little old, but it should work perfectly. Jonas found it down here a few months ago, it was in pretty rough shape, but it should work perfectly.”I took the BB gun and I can almost guarantee I got that spark in my eye. It’s the same spark I get whenever I manage to catch a break or get my hands on something I’ve wanted for a LONG time.I slung the BB gun over my shoulder, ensuring it fit comfortably.“I can see you like it! It’s a good thing Butch ‘misplaced’ that switch blade of his,” Dad said with a chuckle. “Do you want to give it a try?”I looked up at him in confusion, before asking, “Won’t the Overseer not be happy with us? We can’t shoot a gun here.”“You’re exactly right on that front, son. We can’t, not unless we want the Overseer beating on our door. So I helped Jonas find and set up a place where we can. C’mon, kid, follow me.”I followed Dad and Jonas into an unused hallway, seeing a makeshift target range set up in there.“Here you go, kid. You can come down here anytime you want to practice with it,” Dad said, before Jonas chimed in, “So long as you’re not meant to be working.”“Yes… that is true. But that doesn’t start until tomorrow, at least. Today’s all yours, Michael,” Dad said, “don’t let tomorrow discourage you. Have some fun!”“See if you can hit all three targets,” said Jonas.I began lining up the barrel of the BB gun with one of the targets.I squeezed the trigger, and hit the first target, and repeated the process with the other two targets.I managed to hit all three on my first try, although I attribute that to beginner's luck.“Nice shot, kiddo! You’re a natural!” said Dad.“Not to interrupt, but there’s a radroach on the floor,” said Jonas.Of course, nowadays I obviously know what a radroach is, but me being ten at the time, I wasn’t exactly aware.“Careful, son! They’re nasty pests!” said Dad.“W-what’s a radroach?” I asked.“They’re nasty pests, is what they are. They tend to stick to dark areas though, so you shouldn’t have to worry about seeing them here. Think you can get that one with your BB gun?”I aimed at the radroach, and fired three times into the roach's head. Killing it.“Nice aim! You didn’t hesitate one bit!” Dad said, “Jonas, get a picture of me and the big game hunter!”I turned around, putting the BB gun back over my shoulder. --- The next few years were fairly uninteresting. I went through schooling, started working in the Vault, still kept hanging out with Amata, it was peaceful.That’s how it was until August 3rd, 2274, when I had to take a test. This test was called the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, or the G.O.A.T. for short, and was one of the most pointless tests I had ever taken.The whole point of the G.O.A.T. is to see where you’ll go in the Vault. Sure, there are no wrong answers, but in the long run it’s pointless.Me, what with my sixteen year old wisdom, wanted out of the test. So I used the classic excuse of being too sick to go.Unfortunately, my father was a doctor and very quickly sniffed out my lie, saying, “As far as I can tell, you're a perfectly healthy 16-year-old boy. So yes, you have to go to class to take your G.O.A.T. exam!”I still tried to keep up the lie, but, well, that didn’t happen.Eventually I was sent out to take the G.O.A.T., stopping to say hi to Jonas on my way out.I stepped into the hallway, and saw Butch and his gang, the “tunnel snakes,” bullying Amata. I, of course, confronted Butch about this. I kindly told him to back off, and that we all had better things to do.He persisted for a bit, making fun of my need for glasses (nearsightedness is a bitch, believe me), as well as my decision to start growing my hair out. I then, more forcefully, told him to back off, and he eventually conceded, before saying his usual “tunnel snakes rule!”I immediately switched my focus to Amata, who was calming down from that whole ordeal.“Are you alright?” I remember asking.“Yeah, yeah… Thanks, Michael,” she said, “I don’t know why they pick on me so much! Just because I’m the Overseer’s daughter doesn’t mean I get any special treatment…”“Don’t listen to him, Amata. He has an inferiority complex like you wouldn’t believe,” I said, “Come on, let’s go take the G.O.A.T.”She smiled at me, and we started walking to the classroom to take that damned test.I don’t know why I was psyching myself out over it, the test was easy as hell.After a brief exchange with the teacher, I sat down in front of Amata. We got out our pens and papers, and got ready for the G.O.A.T.“Ok, people! Time for the G.O.A.T. Remember, there are no wrong answers, and answer truthfully and honestly. Question one: You are approached by a frenzied Vault scientist, who yells, ‘I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!’ What's your response?” inquired Mr. Brotch, the teacher.I answered, "But doctor, wouldn't that cause a parabolic destabilization of the fission singularity?"For the record, I have no idea what any of those words mean.The second question was much easier to answer, in my opinion, seeing as it’s basic common sense. Mr. Brotch asked us, “While working as an intern in the Clinic, a patient with a strange infection on his foot stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do?”I answered that you should cut off the foot before the infection spreads.The third question got me thinking, if only because of the way I myself am wired. I had to think on this one for a while.The third question was, “You discover a young boy lost in the lower levels of the Vault. He's hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do?”The answer choices were the following:Give the boy a hug and tell him everything will be okay
Confiscate the property by force, and leave him there as punishment
Pick the boy's pocket to take the stolen property for yourself, and leave the boy to his fate
Lead the boy to safety, then turn him over to the overseerTwo of them were easily able to be written off, those being the second and third ones, but answer choice four got me thinking.Yes, I’m leading the boy to safety, and I’m bringing him to the Overseer, but did it mean that the Overseer would help figure out who the boy’s parents are, or that the Overseer would punish the boy for pick-pocketing?I answered choice one, but I could very easily see the argument for choice four.Mr. Brotch then asked us question four, “Congratulations! You made one of the Vault 101 baseball teams! Which position do you prefer?”Me, not being interested in baseball in the slightest, picked a random option, which if I recall correctly was “Designated Hitter.”Thinking back on it, this makes sense given my preference for melee combat in smaller combat encounters where it’s just me and at the most 4 other people.The fifth question we were asked was “Your grandmother invites you to tea, but you're surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill another Vault resident. What do you do?”This one also got me thinking, because, I mean, despite it being an outlandish scenario, it’s your grandmother.Granted, I never knew mine, she died LONG before I was born, but I digress.I answered with “Offer your most prized possession for the resident's life.”Question six went as follows, “Old Mr. Abernathy has locked himself in his quarters again, and you've been ordered to get him out. How do you proceed?”I answered that you pick the lock with a bobby pin, but I’m willing to bet that Butch bubbled in that you let the old coot rot… Okay, that’s a bit mean, he probably didn’t, I just like to poke fun at how much of an ass he was.Question seven… Oh boy, question seven. Yeah, come to think of it, that’s a large coincidence given what’s happened.Question seven was, “Oh, no! You've been exposed to radiation, and a mutated hand has grown out of your stomach! What's the best course of treatment?”The answer choices were:A bullet to the brain
Large doses of anti-mutagen agent
Prayer. Maybe God will spare you in exchange for a life of pious devotion.
Removal of the mutated tissue with a precision laserI answered with the second, but all of these, with the exception of the third, in my eyes at least, are all entirely within the realm of possibility.Just to be clear, I’m not judging if you think the third is the best, I just don’t really follow any religion.The eighth question was pure comedy to me. “A fellow Vault 101 resident is in possession of a Grognak the Barbarian comic book, issue number 1. You want it. What's the best way to obtain it?”I opted to trade for it, seeing as I’m not that much of an ass, but depending on who you are the answers can drastically change for that.Question nine was also kinda funny, as every answer was something that had almost definitely happened in Vault 101. The question was, “You decide it would be fun to play a prank on your father. You enter his private restroom when no one is looking, and....”And the options were:Loosen some bolts on some pipes. When the sink is turned on, the room will flood
Put a firecracker in the toilet. That's sure to cause some chaos
Break into the locked medicine cabinet and replace his high blood pressure medication with sugar pills
Manipulate the power wattage on his razor, so he'll get an electric shock next time he shavesThe only incorrect answer on this one is the third one, seeing as that just means you’re a complete asshole.I answered with the fourth one, as that’s 100% something I would do if I was feeling particularly petty.And then there was question ten… Question fucking ten.The Overseer himself almost definitely put this question on. This question went as follows:“Who is indisputably the most important person in Vault 101: He who shelters us from the harshness of the atomic wasteland, and to whom we owe everything we have, including our lives?”This egotistical, megalomaniacal, pretentious, paranoid, and ungodly annoying excuse of a person made the tenth question all about himself, with all four answers being the same damn thing.All four answers, all four of them, said “The Overseer.”I picked the first one because it was the easiest to circle, but this did not ease my own distrust towards the Overseer.We all got up to turn in our tests, and I turned mine in.This was… interesting.I handed my test to Mr. Brotch, and as he looked at my results, he said, “They say the G.O.A.T never lies. According to this, you're slated to be the next vault ... Chaplain. God help us all…”I was confused as fuck, and I voiced my opinion on this, answering with, “That can't be right! The stupid test got it all wrong!”“Listen, I was just as obnoxious at your age. I didn't take the G.O.A.T. seriously and look where I ended up,” Mr. Brotch said in response to this, “Between you and me, this test is a total joke. If you don't like the results, I can make your G.O.A.T. come out any way you want. Just let me know, okay?”“Yeah… I’ll be back in a few hours, I’m not happy with this outcome,” I said.“Alright, meet me back here in… three hours? Does that work for you?” he said.“Yeah, that works,” I said, “Thanks, sir.”He sent me off, and I found Amata waiting for me.“As expected, supervisory track. I guess I take after my father more than I’d like too,” she said as we began walking.“Yeah, it’s better than mine. I got ‘chaplain’ of all things. I’m gonna head back there in a few hours to change my results, do you want to go in with me?” I asked.“Tempting but… No. I can do the supervisory stuff. Maybe help out more if I can become Overseer,” she said.“Fair enough. Want to hang out for a bit?” I asked her, knowing full well what she’d say.“Oh, absolutely!” she exclaimed, and we headed for my room.We got in there and immediately collapsed on the couch, turning on the television. I popped in an old tape with… What’s his name? Cooper something…?Anyways, we put on one of his old movies, and started relaxing. I did notice a change in her demeanor when she sat down, like she had ten pounds of stress just sitting on her shoulders for a month.I attributed this to what went down just before the G.O.A.T., what with Butch’s constant and unending bullying.Fuck me, even thinking about all of this is making me nostalgic.Simpler times.All we did that day for a few hours was relax and watch some movies, before she had to go to her duties as the Overseer’s daughter.I sent her off with a hug, and watched her walk away. I let go of a metaphorical breath that I didn’t know I was holding as she did.I remember chastising myself for not telling her how I felt. I was in a very brief relationship with someone else, but that was only for a few months and was destined to crash and burn.About thirty minutes later I went down to get my results changed. In the end we agreed on “Pip-Boy Programmer.”I was happy with it, it actually pertained to something I was interested in. I had tinkered with my Pip-Boy in the past, giving it a more Amber color scheme instead of the usual green.I eventually went to my own duties, helping out my father in the clinic with anything that came up.I told him what I got (more accurately, what me and Mr. Brotch agreed on), and he expressed his support. He was, however, confused at that considering I never really showed many signs of being interested in that.I turned my head to look at him, before raising my Pip-Boy and saying, “You know I figured out how to reset this thing, and change the color on it with ten minutes of alone time, right?”“Ah… I suppose that is true. Maybe you and Stanley can figure out how to make them run more efficiently,” he said.“Maybe, although it’s likely as efficient as it’ll get. There’s not exactly many programs you can run on this thing,” I responded.“Perhaps you could figure out more methods of entertainment on it. Alleviate the boredom for the children,” he suggested.“That’s actually a good idea. Either way, I’ll still be here as much as I can, helping you out, because no offense but you’re getting older faster than you’re getting younger,” I said with a clearly obvious amount of sarcasm in my voice.“Oh, how dare you,” he responded in a joking manner.We both laughed over that one, before the end of our duties eventually rolled around.Well, end of mine, at least.Dad had to work late with Jonas, and I was sent on my way. I walked in and made myself some dinner, putting whatever leftovers there were back in the fridge for Dad and noting that they were in there.I walked into the bathroom, and splashed some water on my face, waking myself up, before chastising myself further for my blunder of not telling Amata how I felt about her.I eventually went and laid down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, not even getting anything to read or entertain myself with.Inevitably, I took off my glasses and fell asleep, letting my dreams consume me.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Life in the Vault was boring, but there was order. There was structure to life in the Vault. You wake up, not having to worry about much, you do your job, you live your life, you try to have a good day, you go to sleep.Simple. Orderly.Peaceful.That peacefulness is something we all took for granted.One of the best days of my life was my eighteenth birthday, the 13th of July, 2276. I had officially crossed into being an adult.This meant I now had full citizenship and access to the entirety of Vault 101.I still, however, found it easier to live with Dad. It gave me peace of mind.I found myself walking into the Vault’s cafeteria on the morning of my eighteenth birthday.“Ah! Hello Mr. Michael,” said Andy, the Mister Handy unit.“Hey, Andy. Business as usual here?” I asked.“Business as usual! How has your morning been?” asked Andy.“Ah, same old, really. Despite it being my eighteenth birthday, it’s the same routine as every other day,” I said, “Welp, I’d love to stick around but, I’ve got things to do.”“Of course, and happy birthday, Michael!” said Andy.I shot him a brief smile and nodded towards him as I left to go to my duties with Stanley.That was the plan at least. I was walking down the hallway when I heard commotion coming from the clinic.I peeked in the window and saw Dad and Jonas having a serious argument about something. I knocked on the window, getting their attention before opening the door.“Trouble in paradise here?” I asked.“I’ve told your father time and time again that Stanley needs to rest and that he NEEDS to have a break, but he refuses to listen to reason,” said Jonas.“I would let him have rest, but the Overseer would have his head if Stanley were to take off work for even a day,” Dad said, “Outside of my son, Stanley is our only maintenance man. He is one of three people keeping this place running.”“I can handle myself for a few days, Dad. If the Overseer comes a-knockin’ just point him in my direction,” I said, “If Stanley needs the break, give him the damn break before the stress kills him.”Dad looked at me, considering the options, before conceding, “Yes… I suppose you’re right. I’m sure Stanley will appreciate the break.”“I’ll tell him when I get down there, assuming he’s not already-” I got cut off by Stanley walking into the clinic, looking like he went diving into a pit of Radroaches.“Stanley! Are you alright?” asked Dad as we rushed over to him.“There- Ah!” Stanley flinched as I put pressure on a gash in his side, “There might- MIGHT be an infestation of Radroaches in the reactor level- Ow!”“I take it the lights went out?” I inquired.“Yep! Lights are out down there. I would not recommend heading down there,” warned Stanley.“Right now that’s the least of my concerns, YOU need to rest, especially after this,” I told him.“Doctor's orders, Stanley. You are on medical leave until you’re back to full speed,” said Jonas, “You clearly won’t be able to do much for a while after this, so until I deem otherwise-”“Yeah, yeah, I got it… The Overseer isn’t gonna be happy about this,” he said.“Michael, could you take him back to his quarters?” asked Dad.“Yeah, I’ll get him back there,” I said, “I’ll head down to the reactor level later, see if I can’t fix the lights.”I took Stanley back to his room, ensuring he was alright, and eventually ended up making my way to the reactor level.I had my toolbox in one hand, and I opened the door to the reactor level.The first thing I did upon walking into the reactor level was turn on my Pip-Boy’s flashlight, as expected it was dark as hell, so this was a necessity.I cautiously made my way down the stairs, ensuring that I didn’t fall flat on my ass with my poor luck. I eventually hit the last step, and heard the scuttling of a few Radroaches.I immediately set down my toolbox, and pulled out a wrench.Hell no I wasn’t about to punch a Radroach to death, not back then, you’d have better luck giving a recovering addict Psycho and telling him to not take it.I got ready to swing my wrench at the Radroach, when it leaped up at me.Me still being fairly inexperienced at the time, I ducked underneath it. It hit the ground and I immediately swung my wrench down into the Radroach’s body, killing it with a sickening crunch.I immediately turned my arm back around, scaring off a few more Radroaches.I looked up towards the busted light, pulled up a safety ladder, and got to working as quickly as possible.Turns out, all that was wrong with the light was that it simply got too old.That was the issue with most of them, so, after far longer than I would like to admit, I eventually got all of them fixed and back on.In total, I killed about three Radroaches.I walked back out of the reactor room, only to find myself face to face with Amata.“Your dad said I’d find you here,” she said.“Lights went out down there, Radroach infestation. Stanley got messed up pretty bad,” I responded.“Judging by the fact that the lights are on, not to mention the fact that you’re COATED in Radroach,” she said, “I can only assume you fixed that issue?”“I did, seeing as Stanley can’t,” I said.“Now, as to why I’m here, it’s to wish you a happy birthday!” she told me.“Thank you! That’s… the second one I’ve gotten today,” I said, initially with a smile before turning into a slight frown.“Aw, that’s bullshit. Really?” she asked.“You and Andy, that’s it. Dad and Jonas likely would’ve said it when I saw him earlier, but Stanley walked in… He’s lucky to be alive,” I said.“That bad, huh?” she said as we began walking.“Yeah, he had a gash about… that big,” I say as I position my hands on my side to show the rough size of the gash, “on his side. If it was much deeper, he’d definitely be in surgery.”“Damn… Hope he gets better. That, combined with his chronic headaches can’t be a good thing,” she said.“Yeah, definitely not,” I said, “I should probably go check on him, make sure he’s not bleeding out.”“Alright, want to hang out later tonight?” she asked me.“Sure, I’ll see you when I’m off,” I said.“Great! I’ll see you then,” she said with a smile, before walking off.I walked towards Stanley’s quarters, once again chastising myself.Oh, and for the record: Dad, Jonas, and Stanley all ended up wishing me a happy birthday at the end of the day.That was a good day.---Thirteen months later, on a regular August night, I was having a good dream, one that I still vividly remember. It was me, Amata, and Dad all sitting around a campfire on the surface.It was filled with lucious, green grass. The trees were filled with leaves, the air was clean, it was beautiful.I was woken from this dream by Amata, whisper-screaming in my face.“Wake up! Come on, wake up!” she said.“Wha…?” I said, clearly still halfway between sleep and being awake. I eventually sat up, “What’s goin’ on?”“It’s my father, he’s- Oh my God- He killed Jonas!” she exclaimed.“What?! Why?!” I questioned, clearly confused as to why he’d do such a thing.“Your dad, he- he just LEFT! I don’t know… I guess they thought Jonas helped him escape, so my father he-” she said, breaking down, “They just kept beating him, over and over again…”I immediately pulled her in for a hug, like Hell I’m gonna let someone I give a shit about hurt that badly.“Listen you- you need to get out of here,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, “They’re coming for you, and they’re going to kill you.”“Alright- Damn it- Alright, message received, I’ll gather what I can in here,” I said.“Did your dad tell you he was doing this?” she asked.“Oh yeah, he told me that he would leave when I’ve hardly even seen him for three days. Yeah, he told me,” I snapped back, “Damn it- Sorry, I’m just- stressed over here.”I gathered what I could, grabbing my baseball bat, a spare Vault 101 utility suit, and my BB gun.“Here- You… You should take this,” she said, handing me a 10mm pistol.“Wha- I’ve never held an actual gun! I don’t know what you want me to do with this,” I said, surprised.“You’ll need it, please take it…” she said.I took the pistol, and we both heard security running down the hallway towards us.“Listen, I’ll meet you at the entrance to the vault, if I’m not there, just go. Head through the secret tunnels the Overseer has that leads to the entrance,” she told me, handing me the keys to the Overseer’s office.“I- Okay- Okay, alright, I’ll get down there and open the door as fast as I can,” I said.“Be careful, if I’m not there when you are… Just go… good luck,” she said, before running out, not giving me a chance to respond.I made sure I didn’t forget anything, ensuring to grab my glasses before running out of my room.Upon running out of my room, there were two security guards right there, both of which yelled at me to stop where I was. I managed to get around them, seeing as I didn’t want to hurt them, and ran off.This is when fucking Butch of all people stopped me and practically begged me to help him.Oh, how ironic.He told me that his mother needed help, that she was being attacked by Radroaches. I considered my options, and eventually went into his room, using my baseball bat to crush the two roaches attacking his mother.He thanked me, multiple times, and gave me his tunnel snakes jacket. I took it before running out of the room, and then down the hall towards the entrance.I ran into the main atrium, before seeing two talking to each other.“Come on, let’s get out of this madhouse!” one said.“Yeah, let’s go!” said the other.They both ran towards the main entrance hallway, before being effectively murdered in cold blood by two security officers.I ran past them, and up the stairs before seeing Amata getting interrogated by her father and officer Mack. They asked her where I was, and I overheard her say this.“Daddy, please don’t make him beat me again! I’m your daughter, doesn’t that mean anything?!”Now. I want to make this very clear.I don’t like it when people hurt those who are innocent, this goes double if it’s someone I personally care about.This was the last straw, and I opened the door, drawing the pistol she gave me.Amata immediately tried to run behind me, before being grabbed by officer Mack, and thrown back into her chair.I immediately entered V.A.T.S., fired three shots, with only one going in Mack’s chest for that once he saw me due to me flinching.Amata ran out of the room, running down another hallway, as Mack dropped to the floor, clearly injured.The Overseer cautiously approached me.“Now, kid, just give me the gun and we can talk this out,” he said.“Oh yeah, we’ll ‘talk this out.’ For the record, you suck as a father,” I said as I ran out of the room, towards his office.I ran into his office, seeing Jonas’ body on the floor. I noticed a holotape on him, and picked it up, along with a few of his stimpaks, before being forced to leave him on the floor.I went into the main office, looking around for anything that screamed “secret exit.” The only thing I could think of was his terminal that activated something, but of course, it was locked. I looked around for his password, before finding it.I logged onto the terminal, punching in the password, keeping an eye on the door in case security showed up.As soon as I saw the option, I clicked to open up the secret path to the exit. I felt the desk move beneath me, and I immediately got off of it, watching as it raised into the air and a set of stairs revealed itself beneath the desk. I practically ran down the stairs, before coming to a door that opened directly into the main entrance.I immediately ran to the door controls, and opened the Vault. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned, hand on my pistol, seeing Amata running towards me.‘You opened it… Oh my God, you actually opened it…” she said.“When I say I’m going to do something… I do it. You of all people should know that…” I said.“Yeah… That is true…” she said.“You should come with me. I don’t think this place is going to be very safe for a while,” I pleaded.“It’s tempting, but… I need to try and reason with my father, as crazy as that sounds,” she said, holding her side.“Are you sure?” I asked.“I’m sure… I’m sure about staying here,” she said, pausing for a moment, “I’m also sure about this,” she said before kissing me, much to my shock, before I leaned into it.The kiss was eventually broken, as we both needed air eventually, and there was a lot of people headed our way.“I’ve wanted to do that for so long…” I said, with a sobering amount of sadness in my voice.“That’s in case I never get the chance to do that again… I love you, Michael,” she said.I turned towards the exit, before turning back to her. She placed her necklace in my hands, before looking up at me.“I love you, too,” I remember saying, before security officers begin attempting to pry open the door.“Go, I’ll miss you…” she said.I eventually ran out of the Vault door, as she ran into the Overseer’s tunnel. I got halfway down the tunnel when I heard security behind me, shouting.“He opened the Vault!” one said.“He’s leaving, shut the door!” said another.“Yeah, yeah! Got it!” said one on the controls.I stared back towards the closing Vault door, watching as it sealed itself behind me.I solemnly walked back towards the door, placing my hand on the door, before letting it fall to my side.I took Amata’s necklace and placed it around my own neck, before slowly turning around and walking towards the flimsy exit gate.I put on the Tunnel Snakes jacket Butch gave me before walking out of the gate. I could feel the cool August air of the Capital Wasteland hitting my skin, even chilling me through my Vault suit.I eventually opened the door, shielding my eyes from the blinding light as my Pip-Boy’s geiger counter ticked a couple times.Eventually my eyes adjusted, and I looked around at the world I had stepped into.I took in my surroundings in shock, seeing destroyed buildings and the destroyed Washington Monument in the distance, hardly able to form a sentence.I walked closer to the edge, staring down, before looking back up.With everything hitting me at once, I could barely even manage this sentence.“What the Hell did you get me into, Dad…” I said, before remembering the Holotape he left with Jonas.I put the Holotape in my Pip-Boy, and played it.“Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first,” said Dad, through the Holotape, “I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry…” he paused, trying to find the words to say, “I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know.”’Helpful,’ I remember thinking to myself.“So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out,” he continued, “It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe some day, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me.”“Bullshit,” I said quietly.“God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going,” he kept going, before Jonas chimed in, “Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with.”“Right, go ahead, open it. Goodbye, son. I love you…” he said, as the Vault door opened and the Holotape ended.I looked up towards the ruins of Washington, D.C., with hundreds of thoughts racing through my head.“...Fuck…” I remember quietly saying to myself, solemnly.I stood there for a good five minutes, just taking in the scenery and getting my bearings, before eventually walking down the hillside the Vault was in, wholly unaware what awaited me in the Capital Wasteland.