NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9
"Are you sure? Sir?"
"Yes, Codsworth. I met Nora, and she said she would be down here very soon. Just wait here until you meet her."
"Well, uh, alright then. I will see that the home is in tip-top shape once she arrives."
Taking a few steps back and confirming that Codsworth was going to stay put, I turned around and made my way to head towards Concord.
To quickly recap what happened up until now. While scavenging the remains of Sanctuary, I ran into the British robot fighting off a small group of bloatflies. The only Mr. Handy around would be Codsworth, and he is vital to the story, so I helped the robot fend off the insects. Grateful that I helped him, Codsworth surprisingly offered to be my companion as long as I helped him find his family. Having an extra set of hands (or robotic claws) would have been nice, but I also didn't want to leave Nora without help once she resurfaced.
To convince Codsworth to stay, I told him I had met Nora not long ago, and she was on her way to Sanctuary to pick him up. Technically I wasn't lying since she would be here eventually. Talking with Codsworth also confirmed that the Pip-Boy's map function worked. Once the robot suggested I visit Concord to find civilization, I checked my Pip-Boy to see if the map function had any markers.
Not only did it have Concord, but it also seemed to have every other marker. This must have been because of the map marker mod I added. I couldn't interact with the marker, but it indicated my and Concord's locations. So as long as the arrow representing me pointed at Concord, I should be good to go. The map also showed the distances were much more significant, which made sense since this was the "real world" so everything was true to scale.
Another discovery while in Sanctuary was that lockpicking was "gamified". While trying to open a safe, I found, a little screen would pop up in front of my face, showing a picture of the lock, a bobby pin and a screwdriver. This was a perfect representation of the lockpicking mini-game in Fallout 4. Turning my right hand allowed me to turn the orientation of the bobby pin while turning my left hand turned the screwdriver and lock body. I broke a bobby pin on my first try, but I was more careful and unlocked the safe the second time. Following that, I heard a clicking noise, and the screen disappeared. The door to the safe swung open and I was allowed to plunder its depths.
My immediate thought was, what about the Cryolater? Why wasn't I given a prompt to engage in the lockpicking mini-game? Thinking about it, I realized it was probably because I didn't have a bobby pin or screwdriver in my inventory then. I also needed a higher lockpicking level.
Another game element I confirmed was "artifacts," which gave unnatural boosts to the character. When I picked up Grognak the Barbarian Issue #3, I felt a surge of strength in my arms and noticed I punched a little faster than before. Something similar happened when I found the You're Special
baby book. When I touched it, a green text box popped up, prompting me to choose a SPECIAL stat to level up.I added the point to endurance since raising endurance also raises my HP, resistance, and health regeneration, so it was on the top of the list for me to max out first. Killing all the bloatflies and radroaches lurking around gave me another three levels. The corresponding points were also put into endurance. While the ease at which I gained these points made me happy, it provided more evidence for my theory that the mods were in effect. Killing a dozen insects should not be enough to raise me from level five to level eight. It had to be the exp modifier I added, making this possible. After clearing out Sanctuary Hills, my stats looked like this.
Crossing the rickety wooden bridge, I took inventory of the loot I found in Sanctuary. The old houses had the usual caps, stimpaks, ammo, and junk, but the root cellar behind one of the houses had some nice loot. I found three gold bars, cans of purified water, and a few bottles of pristine Gwinette Stout. Are they still edible? I have no clue about the economy, but I bet uncontaminated alcohol could still fetch quite a pretty penny. Happy that the first step of my journey seemed to have gotten off on the right foot, I started humming a little tune and thinking about the next leg of my trip.
The guns and ammo I currently have on me are more than sufficient when you consider that most wastelanders only have access to pipe firearms or a board with nails stuck in it. My main issue now is finding good protection. Besides my helmet's dubious protection, I am unarmoured and would take debilitating damage from almost everything. For most wastelanders, this is a real issue, but I already have something planned to cover all my weaknesses.
Most armor would only protect vital organs, but the Fallout universe had something special: power armor. Fallout's power armor provided not only exceptional all-around protection but also strengthened the user. The only downside was that they were hard to maintain, required fusion cores, and hard to come by. But with my world knowledge, I knew I could solve all three problems if I could make my way to Concord and get into the freedom museum.
One of the first missions in Fallout 4 is meeting the ever-annoying Preston Garvey and his merry band of refugees. Trapped in the freedom museum, under siege by raiders, you stumble across them and save their bacon. It just so happened that a suit of power armor was abandoned on the roof, and the missing fusion core could be found in the basement. Using the power armor and minigun found on the vertibird, the Sole Survivor would jump down, decimate the raiders, and fight with a deathclaw.
I always found it weird that the previous settlers of Concord in the game didn't use the power armor, fusion core, or minigun, but who am I to judge free military-grade gear? This universe differed from the game in scale and details, so there's no guarantee that the armor exists. But I couldn't pass up a chance at power armor so close to me.
Based on my progress towards Concord in the last ten minutes of walking, I had about another three hours or so left before I got to the small town. Thinking about the long journey, I took out one of the purified waters from the vault and drained it empty. Gotta stay hydrated if I'm going to make it, thirst is the number one killer in survival situations after all.