Fallout: (Nuclear)Winter Is Coming

'I choose... Swift Learner.'

With a thought the point was applied and I recieved the Swift Learner perk. I waited a moment but didnt feel any different. 'I guess I would only notice when getting XP or trying to learn something.'

It was the best choice to take it as early as possible. I noticed at level 4 I could take a perk called 'Educated'. This was very similiar to the Perk of the same name in Fallout New Vegas. However this one was a bit different.

[Educated: Gain an additional Perk Point on every even numbered level. Ex:2,4,6,8. And +10% bonus to the learning speed of those you teach.]

I planned to take this perk as soon as it is available at level 4. Getting an additional point to spend on perks on every even number means that at level 100, I would have gotten 50 extra perk points. Which could translate to dozens of extra perks, considering some perks cost more than one point to unlock.

Not to mention being a better teacher could come in handy later in life if I ever take on students.

I had just about finished going through my system and an hour had almost passed. I was so absorbed in what I was doing it had only felt like a few moments.

Before Nick returned, there was one last thing I wanted to try.

I closed the menu and focused into the cell next to mine.

My irises glowed almost imperceptibly with an eerie green light, and my perception of time sped up making everything else feel like it was in slow motion.

V.A.T.S, or Vault Assisted Targeting System.

A feature from many of the games where the user's perception speeds up, giving the user accelerated thinking as well as automatic targeting with mechanical precision. Once VATS is activated, the system calculates the chance in percentages that the target will be hit.

And if I'm capable of this is real life then I would have an edge others do not.

My eyes scanned the room and the homeless guy lit up as a possible target. I could see the very slow rise and fall of his chest from his breathing. I currently had a zero percent chance of hitting him from this distance with no weapon.

'I'm fortunate to have VATS. My future options have broadened considerably just by having this.'

*clang*

The door opened and in walked Nick Valentine.

He didnt say anything but walked in front of my cell and looked at me for a few moments.

He had a key in his hand and he unlocked my cell.

"You ready?" He asked in a gruff voice.

I stood up and dusted myself off and replied, "Yup. Lead the way."

I followed Nick out into the hall and into an interrogation room. My hands cuffed after leaving the cell until we reached another room.

He laid a file on the table and flipped it open while pulling a pen from his coat pocket.

"Read and sign. Then start talking." He pulled a holotape recorder from his coat and set it down on the table ready to press play.

I sat down and read through the documents and then signed. All my charges which included, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, public intoxication and possession of controlled substances, would be be dropped after I provide information leading to the arrest of Eddie Winter. I would walk out of custody the same day he goes into custody.

Then, for the next hour or so I sang until I became parched.

Every detail in my memories I had learned over the last three years living with Eddie.

I may not have been in the inner circle, but I knew and saw enough to put all of Eddie's henchmen behind bars.

I also had to testify against him in court but that's a non issue since the bombs will have dropped long before I have to appear in court.

Eddie was already a wanted man right now but the cops had yet to find where he had been hiding.

On the south west side of Boston, there was a sandwich shop called Joe Spuckie's. Eddie had used a third party to buy into the franchise and build the shop above his hidden speakeasy.

There was a hidden tunnel that led to the sewers and Eddie had a hidden bunker down there that he lived in. He passed his orders to his men from the safety of that bunker.

I gave Nick everything I could muster, including Eddie's safehouse and the drug dens his goons hang out in.

"A fallout bunker in the sewers? I might have been more skeptical but some of the info you gave managed to tie up a few unsolved crimes." Nick stated coolly as he put a cigarette out in an ashtray on the table.

"So when can I go?" I asked in excitement. I could tell Nick still hadn't warmed up to me. But he answered calmly.

"With your testimony, I'll be able to get the judge to sign off on a raid to get Eddie. It will take a week for the paperwork process and assembling a task force. You will stay put until then."

I knew I wouldnt get out immediately but I was still very anxious to leave.

I returned to my cell and kept myself busy, ignoring the jabs of the homeless guy calling me a rat.

---

Seven days in a musty cell flew by. Nothing changed in that time. It was just eat soggy oatmeal in the morning and Instamash with meat gravy for dinner.

I did basic exercises to keep myself entertained and when the lights dimmed I fell asleep and repeated that until I heard back from Nick.

I was in the middle of doing push-ups when Nick finally came back on the seventh day.

I jumped up in excitement and clutched the bars of my cell.

"Is it today?! Will the raid happen today?!"

Nick scoffed but nodded. "Yeah kid, today's the day. That's why I'm here to take you with me. Put your hands through the bars."

I complied and he put handcuffs on me before opening the cell door.

"Am I not getting out?" I asked in concern.

"You will get out but only after Winter is either in jail or in the ground. I'm taking you to the raid so Eddie can see who turned him in."

'Ouch. So you are just bringing me there as a flex? Is taking a prisoner to a raid normal behaviour? This guy seems to have alot of pull to do what he wants without being reprimanded.'

I was escorted outside and led into a cop car. It was one of those atomic powered ones that still looked shiny and new.

It was only relatively recently that the country began using atomic energy to power things. Most of the country still had yet to convert away from oil.

The entire Fallout timeline can be summed up with these words- 'Too late.'

The bombs that are about to drop, are ending a several decade long Resource War. With the new technology that's been developed the issue of resources could actually be fixed and war could be averted but the technology came too late to avert the coming disaster.

The U.S. had annexed Mexico and Canada, and Russia and China had been invading the countries in the East.

The world had already been steeped in war for a very long time. It was surprising the bombs hadn't dropped sooner.

The atomic police car whirred to life and I gotta say the ride was pretty smooth. The car pulled to a stop next to several other law enforcement vehicles a few blocks away from Joe Spuckie's Sandwich Shop.

Nick had gotten out of the car and was talking to a cop holding a radio. They appeared to be chatting while waiting for something.

Soon it looked like some kind of signal had come through because all the law enforcement present got back in thier vehicles and moments later we were forming a police line outside the shop.

"The swat units have found the bunker you were talking about and have blocked the sewer to prevent Winter from escaping. We will now smoke him out and capture him." Nick said as if he were educating me.

I gotta say that is a good tactic they are using. Eddie is literally a rat in a trap now with nowhere to go.