POV Rio
I was sitting in the Overseer's Office trying to think of a plan.
'Okay, let's see what weapons I have.'
I had 1 Colt M1911, 1 10mm Pistol, 1 Borchardt C93, A Security Baton, various tools, 12 .38 Rounds, 128 10mm Rounds, 28 .45 Rounds, and 150 9mm Rounds. I also had 4 Stimpaks and a collection of various pieces of scrap or junk, depending on your point of view.
"Yeah, this is not going to kill that thing, or at least not before it kills me," I said with a frown.
I look around while thinking, and my eyes land on a sealed case.
"Or maybe I have another option after all," I say while staring at the Cryolater case.
The Cryolater was an invention of the overseer. It used the power of cryogenic freezing in portable form to freeze its enemies. The only issue. It was behind a locked case that was bulletproof.
'Hmm, maybe I can get past the lock another way.'
I walk over to the case and check how it is locked. It was an electronic lock, which meant I could crack it. I would just need the right supplies and some tools. Luckily, those were both something I had.
It took a few hours and a lot of DIY crafting, but I managed to make a device that would short-circuit the lock and cause it to open. Or it would explode and give me chemical burns all over my hands and arms.
'Here goes nothing.'
I activate the device and lean my head as far away as I can. But thankfully, it doesn't explode, and instead, I hear a soft click. I don't wait and open the case.
"Excellent," I say while grabbing the Cryolater and whatever ammo it has.
'200 rounds. Not perfect, but I think I know how we can crush that bug.'
Once I had the plan and it was set up, I moved to the most dangerous part of the plan. Luring the massive roach away from the Vault entrance.
'Okay, I can do this.'
I sneak towards the roach and see it sniffing around for food. I take a coffee cup and throw it to the other side of the room.
CRASH
The response is immediate; it runs towards the sound. When it gets there, I carefully aim for a water valve that contains non-potable water.
BANG
It hits the mark, and the roach is drenched in water. I start to run while the roach starts to chase me. I get back to the Overseer's office and jump over the table, and pull a string while I am doing so. The roach gets to the doorway mere seconds later, and I hear its loud screeching.
SCREEEEECH!!!!!
I had set up the Cryolater to fire when I pulled a string. The roach walked right into the freezing fire of the Cryolater and was heavily damaged, but more importantly, slowed down. I drew the C93 and used every bullet, and when that ran out, I swapped to the 10mm and repeated. I was backing away as I did so, as the roach desperately tried to close the gap. By the time I had used the last 10mm round, the roach was barely able to move. I pulled out the Colt and put one last round in its head. It couldn't take it and collapsed.
The thing was riddled with holes, but I knew it died for sure when I got the XP notification. I just dropped to the ground and tried to calm my rushing heart. I was drenched in sweat and shaking. I felt exhausted, cold, and a little scared, but most importantly, I felt relieved. Relieved that this was the final obstacle in my way out of this death trap of a vault.
'Okay, I need to loot it. Maybe I will get something good.'
I went to the roach but kept my Colt drawn as I wasn't taking any chances that this was some sort of Xenomorph where it had smaller roaches in its belly waiting to burst out. I ended up getting a massive 25 pieces of Radroach meat from it, but nothing else. I was a bit disappointed as the loot wasn't that great and couldn't even cover the ammo cost for killing it.
"Well, what can I expect? It wasn't a legendary enemy. Which is good now that I think about it. I would have never gotten out of the Vault if it were," I said while moving to a chair where I could take a seat.
I had used up a large portion of my supplies. But I was alive, and that was all that mattered. I decided to head to the main entrance. Once I arrived, I found a Pip-Boy and put it on. Once it booted up, I activated the main door. As soon as I left the vault door, I felt warm. Or rather, no longer cold. I immediately put on the Vault Suit I found. It wasn't much, but any clothing is better than no clothing.
'And maybe it will make others less likely to shoot me.'
But I didn't leave the Vault right away. Instead, I went into the Overseer's Office.
'First, clean up the corpse, then I will take a nap.'
Dealing with the corpse was easy since I could store it in my inventory. I dumped it outside the Vault Door and did the same with the other remains. Once that was cleaned up, I grabbed a clean mattress from the employee quarters and placed it in the Overseer's room. Then I closed the Vault Door and slept like a baby.
I woke up much later, feeling much better. I took a shower in the Overseer's bathroom, or I guess my bathroom, and got all ready for my trip. I made a quick stop in the bathroom to check myself out in the mirror. It was exactly as I remember it when I made the character. Deep Blue eyes, with a side-swept hairstyle, and a horn atop my head. Once that was done, I started making a plan for what I would do once I left the Vault. But before I could do that, I had a notification to see.
[Welcome To Level 2]
A small tune plays, and I am taken to the skills screen.
[Skills:
Cracking: 1
Barter: 1
Energy Guns: 1
Explosives: 1
Guns: 1
Magic: 1
Medicine: 1
Melee Weapons: 1
Science: 1
Sneak: 1
Survival: 1
Unarmed: 1
Points To Distribute: 15 ]
'Hmm, I guess I should decide what skill is increased based on what I need in the immediate future.'
I recall everything I can about the beginning of the story, but then, when I think about Vault 111, I remember an old detail that makes things very complicated.
'The Institute is watching the Vault entrance with their Synth Birds. If I want to be set up to talk with the Institute later, then I will need to deceive them. Even if only for a short time. But how?'
I think of a few possibilities. One would include crafting a disguise from the ample cloth I had access to, but I was not very confident that it would work. My head is far larger than a human's and would be pretty suspicious. The next idea was to destroy the synth birds, but I didn't believe I could guarantee that I could shoot that fast and be accurate enough to destroy them all. And even then, it would likely lead to my face being captured. The last idea was to use illusion magic to disguise myself as Nate, only to drop it later on.
'Of the three options, I think the third option is the best given my situation. But it comes with the sizeable downsides of needing to learn an illusion spell that can fool the Synth Birds.'
I back out of the level-up menu and open my spell tome. I skipped the tutorial part and started looking through the book for illusion spells. I ended up finding quite a few, but most weren't what I needed. However, I eventually found one that fit perfectly. Disguise Self. It would allow me to appear as someone I am not, and I could even change my size, which was perfect as I was slightly taller than Nate. Not by much, but if the Institute analyzed it enough, they would find the discrepancies. But the issue I found with the third option was that it would need a decent amount of time to learn the spell. A week or two at most.
'That is not that big of an issue. I don't need to eat, drink, or sleep. So, other than the occasional breaks, I can get it done.'
The other issues were with the spell's limitations. The spell also costs a massive amount of mana to maintain per minute. It was not physical in any way, and those with high enough perception could notice the illusion. Or at least that something was not right. But that only applied to sentient beings that can get close enough to inspect me. And further, I just needed the spell for an hour at most. It just needed me to get out of the Vault and to Sanctuary, as the Watchers (Synth Birds) would most likely not follow me. With the info gathered, I decided to do some reading on what the Magic skill would give me if I placed my points in it.
[Magic:
"Yer A Wizard, Rio."
The Magic skill determines your effectiveness in casting spells, manipulating arcane forces, and channeling eldritch power. A higher Magic skill increases the potency, efficiency, and cost of casting magic, from destructive fireballs to healing enchantments and reality-warping illusions. ]
The other different skills from their original were Cracking, Science, and Survival. The others were mostly unchanged from their originals.
[Cracking:
"Get Back Here You Theivin Varmint!"
The Cracking skill determines your ability to get into places where you are not supposed to be. This involves the hacking of computers, picking of locks, bypassing barriers, hacking robots, and your ability to defend against others attempting to do so to you. ]
[Science:
"Come on, press the button! The SCIENCE Button!"
This skill determines the ability to craft new inventions, weapon and armor mods, or other physically made devices. It also governs the ability to understand technology and recreate or improve it. ]
Survival was more vague with what it did, but from what I could tell, I would gain a bonus to my resistances at various skill levels.
Once I was done looking at all the skill options, I decided to put the 15 points into Magic. Then, for my first perk, I chose Archmage Legacy.
Archmage Legacy
You apprenticed under the father of modern magic and the pillar of arcane knowledge.
Rank 1: Spell cost reduced by 25%. You learn new things 15% faster.
Rank 2 (Level 12): You can now dual-cast spells. Low to medium weight telekinesis is now free. (Up to 25 lbs)
Rank 3 (Level 24): You gain +25% effectiveness on all magic spells.
Rank 4 (Level 40): You radiate ambient arcane energy. Passive mana regen is doubled, quadrupled when standing still.
Rank 5 (Level 50): Once per day, activate Temporal Seal — freeze time for 5 seconds to reposition, recover health/mana, or cast free spells. (Spells enact once Time resumes)
I thought the perk was a good first pick, given my current focus is illusion magic, and it provides a small but very useful boost at the beginning. However, at max level, it can give me access to a very powerful ability.
'Time Stop, even for 5 seconds, can add so many options in battle.'
Once I was done selecting the perk and putting the skill points in, I started my training to learn Disguise Self. With the new perk, it would hopefully not take too long to learn it.