Part 6: Rivet City
Part 6: Rivet City
“Follow the river,” he says. At least it sounds easy enough.
Hey, the green guys are fighting…somebody. Glad it’s not me, at least.
Who the hell are you?
People of the Wasteland, can you hear meeeeeee-heeeeeee! Can’t stop the signal now, baby! That’s right, from Megaton to Girdershade, Paradise Falls to the Republic of Dave, we’re coming to you loud and proud, with a special reporting!
“Well, Three Dog, you from that coo radio studio in D.C. How do yew know I can hear yew all the way here in the ass-end of nowhere?” Because of the kid from Vault 101, that’s how.
That cat actually managed to repair our antenna relay. How’s that for ingenuity, folks? From here on in, it’s “Bye, bye, stupid static,” and “Hello, magnificent music!”
So sit back, relax, and absorb these classic tunes.
…In the name of all that is holy, what are you? Aliens apparently didn’t invade in this dimension, so that can’t be it. Plus the aliens didn’t look like they were made out of spare human bits. Yech.
Ooh! That’s the Jefferson Memorial, isn’t it? I’m sure no one would mind if I stopped by here first.
Part 6:
Damn it, these giant assholes are everywhere!
You know, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t here before. At least, I don’t remember seeing a bunch of pipes on the…wait, is it on money? I forget.
At least the gift shop’s still open.
(I shot him thiiiiiiiis much.)
This seems like a very strange thing to do with a presidential memorial.
Hey, giant-ass tapes, my favorite. Wait a second, it looks like I can hook these to the top of the wristband.
I think I’ll just set these to play while I explore the basement.
The Audio Logs of Project Purity, collected in no particular order, but played chronologically for your benefit.
“Well. Here we are again. Project Purity and me. It’s been close to twenty years since my last entry. Since I left all this behind to make a life for my son. We’ve spent that time in Vault 101, tucked away from the rest of the world. It wasn’t perfect, but it was safe, and that’s all I could have hoped for. Now, my son is a grown man. Handsome, intelligent, confident. Just like his old man. Heh. And as hard as it was to admit it, he doesn’t need his daddy anymore.”
“So here I am, back where it all began. Project Purity. God, we wanted to change the world. We really thought the “waters of life” could be a reality. And that’s why this is a momentous occasion. Because even after nineteen years, I still believe in it. Project Purity can and will be operational. This is just the beginning!”
“This is day two of my attempt to resurrect this project. I’ve got one of the portable fusion generators up and running, but it’s just enough to power the emergency lighting and a couple of other systems. That will serve for now, but I’ll need help powering up the mainframe. Time to visit Madison in Rivet City.”
Hey, more tapes. This stuff is getting exciting.
“I spoke with Doctor Li…Madison…at Rivet City. It went about as well as I expected. That is to say, she thinks I’m completely mad. How can I blame her? She’s got her own life, her own team, and is making real, tangible scientific progress. And here I come again, the very paragon of failure and false promises. But the reality is I need Madison, and whatever scientific team she may have assembled. I can’t do this myself. Project Purity is bigger than me. It always was. And without Catherine…God, I can’t let this die. Not again. Not like this.”
“Even in Vault 101, my work on Project Purity never really stopped. Soon after we arrived, my nightly routine included sneaking into restricted areas, searching for…I don’t know. Whatever I could find. It was a Vault-Tec facility, after all. The place was built with some of the most advanced technology this country had ever developed. Those excursions never turned up anything particularly useful.”
Crazy. This guy sounds a lot like that one British actor—Liam something, wasn’t it?
“So…one night, after half a bottle of scotch, I broke into the Overseer’s office. It was easy enough to hack his console, gain access to restricted files. Most of it was garbage. Propaganda, spy reports, just plain, rambling bullshit, really. But there was one thing, one name that stood out amongst all the others—Doctor Stanislaus Braun. I knew of Braun’s work, of course. He was a celebrity in his day, Vault-Tec’s “Sorcerer Scientist,” leaving his peers in awe of his technological wizardry. But it was in Vault 101, that night in the Overseer’s office…I first learned of Braun’s involvement in Vault-Tec’s “Societal Preservation Program,” and his work on something called the G.E.C.K. The Garden of Eden Creation Kit.”
“To be honest, the G.E.C.K. sounded like pure fantasy, even for someone of Braun’s capabilities. It was nothing short of a miracle—a terraforming module, capable of producing life from complete lifelessness. But not only was this thing a reality, it was actually distributed to several vaults, to be used after the atomic war. Vault 101 was, sadly, not on that list.”
“I did some digging and discovered Braun’s name on the reservation list for a Vault 112. I’m no slouch, but this man…he could have easily succeeded where I failed. Does his collected knowledge remain within the halls of Vault 112? Journals, holotapes, computer records, maybe even experiments…If I could gain access to just a fraction of Braun’s genius, Project Purity could become a reality.”
“I’m off to Vault 112 to search for anything of Braun’s that might help me get this purifier up and running. All I know is that it’s west of someplace called Evergreen Mills, and it’s well hidden in some sort of garage, but I’ll find it. I have to. It’s so close, but that’s the story of Project Purity, isn’t it? An eternity of “almost there’s.” Let’s see if Braun has the missing puzzle piece.”
Screw finding that James guy, this dude sounds much more interesting! Let’s see…type in “Evergreen Mills”…search for car repairs…that must be it. Looks like I’ve got quite the walk ahead of me.