Time skip – 3 days – 4 days until Delsin arrives in Seattle
*Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap*
My foot tapped on the leg of the table that I was sitting at, something I had started to do after I kept myself from going out to do things that I told Eugene and Fetch not to do beyond the necessary. I only started noticing after we had been in this basement for the last few days.
'Maybe since I've never really been in a single place without doing something?' I thought, thinking back to everything I've done.
'Doesn't help that my memories of this life are mostly me in a single room being tortured and brain washed to be nothing but a weapon…' I continued, thinking about the drastic shift in life styles…again.
"Is this my new normal now?" I spoke softly, almost a whisper. My mind buzzed with thoughts on all of the memories floating in my skull, memories moving and shifting into several different directions. As they did, a new song from a long list started playing in the background.
BGM: I've been everywhere – by Johnny Cash
I don't know why I liked this song as much as I did, but it seemed to have transcended all of my lives in one way or another. Being called an 'old soul' in my first life and a 'smooth skinned geezer' by Eugene of all people in this one. Johnny's deep, gravely voice echoed through the currently empty space like an old man telling a story to an empty room only because he could. The guitar that Johnny was playing, while kind of grating on my now rather impressive music skills, still helped me think.
My mind moved to the system panel, more specifically the part that shows the tickets I've received.
Ding! Reduce collateral damage, have no civilian deaths, and kill no DUP agents in your escape!
1x Random Gold ticket acquired.
Ding! Keep Eugene and Abigail (Fetch) together after their escape into Seattle!
1x Random Silver ticket acquired.
Ding! Have all three of your group move through Seattle without attracting attention!
1x Random Silver ticket acquired.
Ding! Set up a base where Eugene's base was in the game!
1x Random Bronze ticket acquired.
Moving on from this, since I couldn't make any rolls during the mission after I decided to become a part of this world instead of just dropping in, I looked at the mission for this world.
[Main Mission: Helping Hand]
Help Delson free Seattle from the DUP presence faster than he originally would while keeping the worst outcomes from happening.
— Time limit: 7 days (Time starts once Delsin reaches Seattle)
— Keep Eugene, Fetch (Abigail) and yourself from getting captured.
— Make sure Reggie Rowe does not die.
— Make sure Hank is reunited with his daughter.
Looking over the mission and tilting my head, I think a bit more. About how best to do this whole thing. 'Maybe wait for him to dismantle the communications tower that the Space Needle became before intercepting him? Then have him absorb our powers one-by-one before training him to use our powers. We'd probably have his training be what the main missions are, though I think my training is going to be on that new island-'
*Bam!*
Then my thoughts halted, the door to the basement slamming open, Fetch walking in with a scowl on her face. Not from anything in particular, that was just her natural resting face…or maybe she was actually pissed at something and I was just too absorbed in my thoughts at the moment to figure it out.
"You gotta see this." She growled, jabbing her thumb behind her before waking back out.
'Actually pissed at something it is then.' I thought, pausing the music before following her into the now designated living room, the TV that we grabbed from some electronic repair shop with a generous donation to keep them from looking for it played the news. Though I only got a part of it since I came in later.
The news anchor sat there with a professionally neutral look, speaking into the microphone in front of him, "...in breaking news, the Department of Unified Protection has announced an unprecedented expansion of operations into the Seattle metropolitan area. Roadblocks have been established at all major intersections, and aerial patrols have increased. Most notably, the DUP has seized control of the newly built Industrial District for use as their main base of operations. It is now being converted into a restricted zone for, and I quote, 'advanced research and containment.'-" He wasn't able to finish since Fetch turned off the TV.
She dropped the remote onto the couch, raising her hands to start yelling, but stopped. Dropping them back down and her face that was twisted in anger relaxed back into the scowl she had when she got me.
"...you good now, or are you going to keep fuming for a few minutes?" I ask, partially to relax the tension and partially as a genuine question. I hear Eugene snort before coughing into his fist, the reason being Fetch whipping her head towards me. She works her jaw for a second, her tongue rolling across her lower teeth as she tries to find a way to word what she's about to say.
"What do we do now?" She asks, looking like she wanted to just run out and start blasting things. Looking at the ceiling and taking a breath, I thought about how best to say what I will, knowing she wasn't going to like it. Deciding to just bite the bullet, I just say it outright.
"Nothing-"
"WHAT!? The fuck do ya mean, 'nothing'!?" She yells, finally exploding. Eugene jerked back slightly, expecting it to happen but not that fast. I did, not reacting in the slightest, just blinking before speaking again.
"It's probably better to say that we shouldn't do anything, they're expecting something to happen, hoping even." I explain, leaning forward on the couch to rest my elbows on my knees. "They want us to move, want to have a reason to push for more DUP in Seattle, they want more control. Us taking action to discourage them will only do the opposite." I say, standing as I finish my explanation, Fetch looking to be in deep thought as I walk past her. Eugene followed shortly after.
"Is there absolutely nothing we can do?" He asked after a few seconds.
"Depends, we just have to be careful about it, make sure it doesn't get too out of hand and that we do whatever we do quickly…why? Do you have something in mind?" I explain, stopping as I ask my question. He stops as well, turning to me before speaking again.
"Well…I was thinking, what if we did something about the criminals across the city? Like, take them down while they… you know…think they can take advantage of the chaos that the…DUP…cause?" He said, his voice getting quieter and quieter before he finally finished. I stared at him for a few moments, my mind racing as I thought about his question and what we could actually do. Bringing my attention back to him I noticed he was shifting in place, looking nervous about how I'll answer.
"It's not a bad idea, we just have to be smart about it." I begin, starting to walk again with Eugene following right behind me, the sounds of Fetch doing the same a few seconds later. "Like finding where they keep their products, where they gather the most, where they move through, so on and so forth. It's not like we can just go out and start acting like vigilantes or something, despite how much our powers make us like superheroes." I said with a shrug, coming up to a map of Seattle and starting to look over it.
I grabbed a stack of sticky notes and started to write notes out before placing them on different parts of the map. One was labeled 'Communication Tower' and placed on the Space Needle, another was called 'Main Base' and placed over the Channel 6 building. I made three identical sticky notes and placed them on the bridges connecting the mainland to the island and Sallman Bay called 'Most likely to be destroyed'. Then finally placing one where the island would be since it's a rather new installation and hasn't been placed on the map yet, calling it 'Research Center'.
"If you find anything then come here and add it to the map, make sure you're certain about what you put down, yeah?" I say, tossing the sticky notes and marker I used onto the table the map was on. Turning to look for their answer I received a nod from them both. Smiling, I returned their nods before heading back to my room. As I did I could hear them taking sticky notes and writing things down, probably Fetch writing down where she knows some drug dealers do business and make deals the most at.
Entering my room I walk to the desk I had set up, sitting down in front of the computer on it I opened up files detailing how to build several things that would be useful for when I head back to the Fallout Universe. Things like portable water filters, modern circuitry, modern weaponry, programming languages of several types, source codes for creating several types of AI's, different types of martial arts with and without weapons, and more. Most of this knowledge would make me into another Mr House in terms of wealth if I sold all of it to the highest bidder.
I took advantage of my ability to learn anything at a glance and opened files, scanned them, then moved on to the next. Before finally finishing off all of what I have currently, leaning back in the chair and sighing. I stretch slightly before grabbing a few sheets of paper and starting to draw up blueprints for a universal USB analyzer…why? So that I can fuck with Mr House, that's why. I'm going to get into that Platinum Chip and enslave his entire robotic army to myself.
I was debating on what to do about him, but I figure having him by the balls would be the most poetic way to do things. He is still useful despite being a cunning old man who would happily have my brains be splattered across his terminal if it meant getting what he wants. Hell, just from the small amount I know about him, this might be too merciful.
'I mean, scanning some chick's brain just to keep a copy of her as your own personal entertainment? That's some psycho shit right there.' I thought, thinking of that one securitron that you can sell your snow globes too.
I just have to find a way to overwrite his control over his systems before moving onto rewriting his brain, since he is literally hooked up to the Lucky 38 and its systems. It wouldn't be wrong to call him THEE Lucky 38 at this point. I also know that mind control technology is rather common in the Fallout universe, how easily I'll be able to find such technology is another question though.
'Unless the Gacha decides to give me something related to mind control…?' I mentally ask towards the Chaos Gacha, waiting to see if it'll answer me.
Ding! That is not up to me, it is up to your luck to get something like that, user!
'Damn, whatever, I'll just keep doing my best until I either succeed or end up putting a bullet in his old wrinkled head.' I think, silently hoping I can find another solution to my problems that doesn't end with someone dying. Though, it'll likely end that way anyways…it usually does when it comes to the Mojave.
Ding! Due to your research on several different fields, the skills and traits you own were able to be digested in advance!
"…huh?" I said, using all of my intelligence in the formation of my response to the new information.
[Chapter 12 End]
A/N: Yo, been a while, eh? Well, I don't really have an excuse. A bit of being burnt out, a bit of forgetting where I was going with this, and a bit of trying to even find out where I was going with the whole Infamous Second Son section. I mean, I got the broad strokes of what to do, but I didn't really know what to do for the specifics(I could say that for the whole story though…).
I have the whole story of Infamous Second Son semi-memorised, but I'm going to switch the order of things around a bit. Not a lot, but enough that it's noticeably different.
Additional A/N: I forgot to do this when I got [Jack of All Trades] but the Random Bronze ticket that gave [Novice Mechanics] was supposed to be refunded since [Jack of All Trades] brought it into itself, making it invalid(or some word that's similar to 'invalid', I can't find a better word to use if there is one). So I'll just roll it and put the result here(here's hoping it isn't something that would affect my character directly so I can just place it in once he returns to the Fallout universe).
Rolling Random Bronze ticket!
[Kanaedas Bike]
|Common Item|
Akira - A very fancy and fast sci-fi-ish bike, very iconic.
I also forgot to give my character the skills/traits/etc. that 'MY' Courier has, since that's how the {Take Over} option for the CYOA section works, so I'll have to add those in, though it shouldn't change much since I don't think I've gone TOO far out of what the skills and traits I'll add are going to do(I say that now…). I'll probably explain it as just having muscle memory that came from somewhere he couldn't explain…or something…I don't know, I'll figure it out though.
Anyways, I'll stop rambling on now and let you get onto the rest of your day/night. And if you have read this far, I wish you a wonderful rest of your day/night.
Thank you for reading and sticking with me until now.