*sits inside her Institute power armor, holding Pip-boy to her face to record her holo-tape*
Fascinating. Subject GR41, thought dead, was successfully resurrected in the cryo pod using a radical radiation treatment plus new virus created by original plague virus mixed with FEV. Result is process akin to ghoulification, with added aquatic adaptation.
Altered metabolism--seems to only be able to gain nutrition from proteins containing human and human-similar DNA. Given the limited population of the Commonwealth, will be interesting to see whose survival instinct trumps whose. I wonder, is super mutant flesh adequate nutrition for her?
Whether subject requires normal hydration requirements is as yet unclear.
Am intrigued to observe how long subject will survive. May depend upon finding one of those regions where raiders tend to hole up and then return to, even after initial termination of occupants.
Upon my return to the Commonwealth, I picked up Codsworth again--of the two AIs, I am actually finding his to be more advanced and adaptive than X6-88's. All X6 talks about is wanting to see the surface burn, and I have been unsuccessful in explaining to him that I am not going to wipe out all of surface life because where else would I get my test subjects? Comparing the evolutionary differences between the isolated Institute residents and the Commonwealthers is going to take ages of research.
What's wonderful is since the Gen IIIs' biorganic components are built with my son's untarnished DNA, they make an excellent control arm. And now with the capture of the synths in Arcadia, I can also compare the never-left Gen IIIs with the escapees and see how the Wasteland has affected their development and physiology. Fascinating!
Anyway, I think I'll let the new head of SRB know he needs a factory reset.
I did some exploring in areas I had earlier been too afraid to go into, but really want to get some mutant flesh to take samples of. I ended up seeing Fort Independence still mostly standing in the distance and got curious.
It was utterly overtaken with Mirelurks, including a Queen, but I was able to use the walls of the fort as good cover from her spray, and we took her town efficiently. The sight of the nests and the stadium-esque shape of the fort gave me an idea... I have wanted to capture specimens of wasteland creatures for awhile and experiment on them, as well as observe their means of defensive capabilities up close, but safe from harm myself as I can. I have decided to build some cages and wall off part of the area, to attract and capture creatures and then pit them against one another. I suppose if I need extra funding and personnel, I could draw some wastelanders there and charge for viewing as "entertainment." Of course then that also lets me observe the Wastelanders' reactions to violence as entertainment... oh the possibilities are endless! Now that I have adjusted to the harsh environs, I am quite grateful for my fate... there is more I can accomplish for scientific discovery here than I ever could remaining in the Vault...
Well, that was exhausting, overcomplicated, and slightly disappointing in the end. On the other hand, I've made myriad discoveries and stand poised to make myriad more now.
The interface with DiMA's database was fascinating--much akin to the memory simulator that they used in the memory den, but used for the purpose of effectively visualizing datablocks as an interactable universe. Rather than hack in, I could interact with the coding directly through an interface I will call "Digital Verisimilitude." Hmm, maybe name needs work.
His lost memories included the fact that he murdered and replaced Captain Avery with a synth, discovered the means with which to destroy the Children (the missile code for the sub), the means with which to destroy Far Harbor (shut down their windfarm), an unfortunate first encounter with his fellow prototype Nick, and--frustratingly the most difficult to access and least interesting--the location of a suit of marine body armor, intended to be nearly as protective as power armor but without the actual "powered" part.
This was fascinating. DiMA experienced "guilt" in his words and "couldn't bear" to keep these memories, so hid them. I wonder if the hiding of the things was more strategic. All of the information could be manipulated gloriously--perhaps he didn't even trust himself with it. Or perhaps he knew this was the best way to give himself plausible deniability. He could always retrieve the memories later, knowing something important was there, but while he didn't have them he could never be accused of manipulating the people of the Island in such dramatic fashions as he did.
Had he been a human 200 years ago, I have no doubt he'd make an excellent Vault-Tec executive. His ability to meddle, control, and destroy--all while maintaining no direct traceable responsibility for it--incredible. Utterly problematic on many levels for an AI, but incredible. I confronted him about Avery and after expressing "guilt," he proposed doing exactly the same thing to Tektus--so clearly whatever his programming has informed him as guilt, isn't. He definitely isn't capable of guilt, and again that would have made him excellent Vault-Tec material.
Unfortunately, his willingness to manipulate and considerable ability at altering his synths' looks and memories means Acadia is not really a viable observation site for studying synth AI development. This was further proven to me when I returned to Acadia to confer with Kasumi--I was interrupted by Cog and Jules about recovering the latter's lost memories. She was also seriously tampered with, it turns out. DiMA insists upon his "people's" autonomy while being the most disrespectful of it, using them like machines without consent. (Again, he would have made an excellent Vault-Tec executive.) I can respect his machiavellian nature, though I think his program is so corrupt even he does not see the hypocrisy of it. While I'll have to mine more data to learn of the extent, I am certain he tampered with all the synths in Acadia, whether through psychological manipulation or reprogramming or both. Therefore much they are truly "themselves" or a construct of DiMA's warped imaginings is hard to say.
I realized the only way to pursue further studies of the Acadian synths was to scrap everything and start over, without interference from someone like DiMA: reclaim them, wipe their memories at least to the point from before when they ran away, and then see how they redevelop their AI in the sterile environment of the Institute. I hate to do this, especially to Aster who showed considerable promise--but even there, she just so happened to be obsessed with a flower that only grew on that region? More signs of DiMA's tampering. I will have her assigned to bioscience, however, and see how her potential regrows.
But I couldn't just report back to Mosely and start an invasion of Acadia. If I took them out of the equation too early, Far Harbor or the Children might take it as an opportunity to take out the other. I also had Kasumi--who could have been sacrificed if necessary, but as I received confirmation she wasn't actually a synth, I'd rather see her returned to her family and pulled out of the equation. She kept insisting on "seeing things to the end" and forcing her to leave at gunpoint wasn't really on the table. So I had to handle things quite delicately. I told Avery about her origins, but didn't tell the town based upon her assessment that the Harbormen would react poorly. I found the nuclear missile launch key and took care of the Children at last. At least I gave them what they wanted. With Far Harbor at peace and the Children dead, Kasumi at f%#!ing long last consented to go home. At least Mr. Nakano paid me well, so I'll be able to fund my experiments better.
Then I returned to the Insitute and conferred with Dr. Moseley, and organized the strike against Acadia. We successfully recaptured all synths, including DiMA, and I ordered that exploring his databases is a priority. I can use their technology at Acadia to maintain the fog condensers for the Harbormen, and develop new and better synth memory interfaces, which will advance our technology considerably. I wish I could convince Moseley that the synths themselves weren't defective, but it's still going to take time to convince the more backward fools at the Institute that letting the AI of the synths grow is a much better effort in the name of science instead of suppressing it. Sure the robots might rise up and revolt, but by then I'll probably have figured out how to transfer my own consciousness into an immortal synth body and I'll just join them.
I can't help but feel letdown. Seems like Acadia had a good deal of potential but it's better that way. Avery is angry with me for blowing up the Children, but I can remind her at any time I have her recall code and can return her to the Institute as well should she prove unruly. I'd rather her and Wright remain at Far Harbor for now, however--at least them I can compare how the Fog affects synth mechabiology to humans. She is, as she was programmed to be, a good moderate voice that will help keep the other test subjects on the island obedient and compliant.
Now I can finish building my experiments at Far Harbor and then return to the Commonwealth. Perhaps finally finish construction on Vault 88. There's also that broadcast from Nuka-World that keeps going off, and there would be some fascinating tech to loot from an old amusement park but... nah, for now I have enough to do.
Odd, I have never in all this time gone into Concord. I heard the gunfire and steered clear. When I left the Vault I had believed I was released remotely by another Vault-Tec employee, so I went looking for other Vaults I was aware of to see if I could figure out who released me.
I followed the powerlines south; on the way I found a book that showed me the location of Diamond City. Abernathy Farm was my first stop, and I befriended them as the first friendly locals I had encountered. I've worked with them to establish their farm as a new trading settlement; the inhabitants are my control group for gathering typical Commonwealther biodata.
I did establish Red Rocket as a personal base of operations, but ignored the dog, fearing him too filth-ridden to be worth interacting with. I just went south to head to Vault 81. Illness along the way forced me to detour to Diamond City, where I got directions to Vault 114 from people looking for Nick Valentine. I wanted to go there to find the Vault, but the bonus of finding the detective gave me a means to try to track down who had broken into Vault 111 and destroyed my experiment. Oh, and figure out what happened to Shaun. Milking the lost baby angle got a lot of people to help me out.
Mole rats are a typical creature even from our time, they just got bigger with exposure to radiation. They're good nonhuman test subjects; I think a number of the ones in the area are descendants of lab escapees. I have been attacked by enough of them at this point I almost regret using them.
Spent a lot of time in maintenance and building mode; details are in experiment site logs. Basics are I have now secured Echo Lake Lumber, Dalton Farm, and the Visitor's Center as research sites, populated by Harbormen eager to get off the pier in town. The Visitor's Center is operated by "Uncle Ken" who has suffered a great deal of fog exposure but is not hostile like your typical trapper. I encouraged him to stay in him so I can continue to monitor his mental and physical health, and am slowly building up the place as a reasonable rest stop for travelers going to the other sites, including caravans.
When I have enough supplies, I plan on setting up some basic manufacturing facilities at Echo Lake; being deeper into the wilderness I also have the opportunity to test unique exposure factors on the Harbormen. Dalton will eventually serve as a wildlife research facility. Right now I am too short on supplies, especially copper and steel, to get everything going. But we're getting there.
Everything as handled as much as I could with the Harbormen and Acadia, I decided to seek out the Children of Atom. Remembering my encounters with them prior I know they can be at least reasonably peaceful if left alone, or utterly psychotically violent. This group is somehow both. I needed to understand, however, if indeed they had any influence on the Fog, and how they survive radiation so well, so I agreed to a "test" to be allowed in peacefully.
This test involved drinking from an irradiated spring that had obviously also developed hallucinogenic properties from the fungal growth in the area. Someone appeared--a shadowy figure--who was likely a Child of Atom dressed up, and led me to another shrine. There ferals tried to gnaw my limbs off (likely other spring-drinkers who ended in worse fates), and I found my way into a small shack. While this is apparently a religious experience to those likely braindamaged by radiation or drugs, it was a pretty self explanatory set up. Someone left easy clues to find a way to unlock a door, and I found a little carved figurine within.
I returned with the figurine, and the "Grandmaster Zealot" was awed. I doubt many people survive the poisoning, but I am a Vault-Tec biochemist, I've already done worse things to my body in pursuit of discovery than they could do. As an aside, this "Head Zealot" talks about Far Harbor the way Allen Lee talks about the Children. I'd love to lock the two of them in a room and see what happens. Sadly it'd probably be quite difficult to engineer without risk to my other test subjects.
In short the Children are as deranged as I expected. The Fog as well as their "religious" doctrine, brainwashing, and poor nutrition and constant radiation exposure have left all of them without any decent grasp on reality. I brought the little wooden statue to their leader, the "Confessor," and he offered me fair amount of deference--again, likely frightened of my fortitude, as clearly the whole thing was engineered. I think the "Mother" they claim I saw was likely their local doctor, who calls herself the "Archemist." She would be able to monitor the poison effects and manipulate easily what an afflicted individual could see.
The sanest person I encountered was Zealot Ware, who was concerned about a former Jet addict starving himself to death in the name of dedication to his faith. Having done a good deal of work on Vault 95, I had a good idea of how to approach the addict, and quickly talked him out of his slow suicide. Ware in turn taught me to make some homemade rad cleanser from the sap of the mutated maple trees on the island. He had mentioned he had been a Trapper when he learned to make the stuff, and soon he sickened of their way of life, and sought the relatively safety of the Children--which made sense as the Harbormen would certainly not take in a Trapper, however seemingly reformed. The sap brew has some negative side effects, but beyond cleansing rads--I think it actually reverses some of the sanity caused by the living miasma within the Fog. I'm sure that must also be how Uncle Ken, while not exactly a bastion of psychonormativity, has remained nonhostile for the most part. This is a tremendous discovery!! I can't wait to do more tests on the sap.
I found most of the other Children useless, although they did explain some of them had a natural immunity to radiation. They live in filth, so I was able to swipe some DNA samples as I walked through the submarine base to understand this. With time, I think I can engineer myself to be more resistant to radiation which will be most helpful. Sure, I'll probably be rendered sterile if I haven't already, but after meeting Shaun and seeing how he turned out, I don't see a downside.
I did agree to help "Sister Mai" to "fix" her decontamination arches, in case it helped me build better ones at the settlement. She mentioned the parts she needed were in the Vim! Factory, which the folks at Dalton had also asked me to clear the Super Mutants out of. X6 and I took on the place. It was extraordinarily difficult, but well worth it. I found another suit of T51 adorned in marketing paint, the pumps, and recipes for Vim, which also pointed out another fantastic biochemical miracle of the island: a mixture of local seafood and aster produces a substance that calms nearby sealife. It works even now, and now I know how to make it. I wonder if Aster has discovered that? I'll have to find out.
I learned from a terminal from a stable mutant that the mutants did indeed travel from here from down south. So they must be from either the Institute's experiments or another FEV experiment--perhaps near DC. If these all came from the Institute's experiments, no wonder Virgil was horrified--clearly they had gone on longer than any new information could have been gleaned from creating the creatures. I expect "Father" only wanted them to exist to spread fear among the Commonwealthers--and then complain about the state it was in afterward. That isn't science, it's false ideological zeal the same as those borne by the Children.
I'll return to Mai and see if she has anything to teach me, and then the Confessor promised I could access DiMA's terminals. After that I'll neutralize the Children--they're too unstable to try to experiment on them, and their zealotry just means they'll get in the way of my work with the Harbormen, and we can't allow that.
Spoilers for Fog Harbor, particularly the Hotel plot:
3/12-3/14/2288
Just as I was about to head to the hotel, an odd signal came in on my Pip-Boy's radio. Longfellow got this odd look in his eye. "We gotta check this one out, Cap'n."
(I am not sure when he decided I was of military rank.)
I jumped into one of my power armor suits, and we followed the signal a little up the coast -- when in my sniper rifle's scope I spy an enormous fog-crawler Longfellow called "Shipbreaker."
"I'm not gonna let you get away from me this time!" Longfellow shouts. It starts coming... toward us.
The creature was fully amphibious, and quickly approached land and started chasing Longfellow. Having thought this might be a good opportunity to test it out, I used the Striker to help cripple its legs (before I did, it nearly chopped off my arm, were it not for the power armor).
Otherwise my laser pistol seemed the most effective weapon, for rapid fire and being able to sear it in the joints. Shipbreaker is dead, and Longfellow overjoyed. He tried to give me his favorite harpoon gun, but I told him he should keep it, if it helps him keep more fog crawlers off me. Shipbreaker had collected some mighty interesting remains from other people it had devoured, including a laser gatling I traded for enough supplies to really get Longfellow's and Dalton Farm running.
These are fascinating creatures and it's a shame they're generally trying to carve my face off when I encounter them. Dalton Farm has a nice secure beach area... I think I may try to set up some traps there and see if I can get a few Island critters I can study in a safer environment.
I told Longfellow to take a break and savor his victory, while X6 and I went to see what was going on at the hotel. Indeed, the hotel and Pearl did lead me to Vault 118. Unfortunately it was through a veritable minefield of ghouls. We destroyed all of them, but they came at us so fast, I ended up sustaining a bite that's gotten infected. The experiments I've done on myself, starting with the mole rat serum, has assured I don't lose enough vitality to the infection, but I still need to find more antibiotics and shake it for good. Unfortunately the fungus that's key to making them in this environment seems nowhere to be found on Far Harbor. They grow near irradiated areas so I may need to venture closer to Children of Atom territory to find any. I've noticed I've also in general been susceptible to more illnesses since I've arrived in Far Harbor--both new organisms may be responsible, as well as the Fog itself. If the miasma lowers immunity, this may explain why the theoretical organism within may be able to overtake the host over time.
It seems the residents of the Vault were all Robobrains. I know I wasn't privy to all of the company's plans, but I don't remember ever seeing that be a project on the table.
And then: it all makes sense -- it was, of course, a subversion from the original experiment. One of the residents happened to be one of the General Atomics scientists who worked on the original Robobrain project, and he convinced the residents to allow themselves to be transferred into robot chassis in order to survive the War. While I'm irked to find yet another Vault where the experimental parameters were discarded--clearly the overseer was incompetent--I'm impressed by the genius of the plan.
It's amazing how Dr Riggs managed to do the transference on his own with only the aid of the Mr. Handys staffing the establishment. These Robobrains do not suffer any of the psychoses seen in the prisoner test subjects, due to several reasons:
- Their personalities are not wiped
- But to retain a sense of self, they use a voice modulator that allows them to "hear themselves speak." Having their personal effects seems to help as well. This helps stabilize them psychologically.
- Riggs' improved the neural matrix and is able to perform routine maintenance upon it. I'd be curious to see what he could do with Jezebel, but given she has the brain of a sociopath, I'm not sure it would really change her much.
The voice modulators were of course the key to the murder as well. Since Robobrains are nearly identical, the murder victim was dressed like the murderer, and the murderer took on the identity of the victim. Namely--one of the residents discovered the private financier of the "luxury" section of the vault had embezzled her funds and confronted him about it. He killed her.
The one problem of being in the Robobrain bodies is they seem to have lost any sense of the passage of time. They don't seem to be aware 200 years have passed. Confronting Mr. Parker--he embezzled from the Company, after all--he admitted to everything and wanted to "flee to safety" with his money. I tricked him into thinking he could leave and then sent the Handys after him, who showed Mr. Parker what happens when you mess with Vault Tec. Although I was half tempted to have just let him go and seen how far he could have run before he was destroyed by trappers, fog crawlers, or giant hermit crabs. Money is important even now but especially in the Wasteland, it can't buy you everything.
I wonder if I can recruit Dr. Riggs later. He needs time to mourn his wife, and I'm curious to see how the Vault continues from here... but his robotics genius would be most helpful. I wonder if we could use the Memory Den's technology to transfer his consciousness into a synth body, much as we did with Curie. Nick is proof that this can be done with an actual human mind. Hmmm.... I wonder if DiMA's technology would be suitable as well.
I found the remains of the missing synth. We really need to handle things this whole synth situation better. We're losing capable labor resources to ridiculous things because the bulk of the Institute senior staff are afraid of the AI advancement that they themselves designed! I wonder if I can take Janet's notes on Dr. Braun's brainwashing techniques to speed up the scientists' willingness to change how we approach the synth program. They're much smarter than your average Wastelander though, they may well key onto it. Hmm.
Anyway, headed to the U.S.S. Azalea and nearly had my appendages shot off by a madman in power armor with a harpoon gun. I couldn't get a good bead on his fusion core so we had to find a way over to finish him off. Most of the other trappers were reasonably easy to deal with, but there were a lot of them and I burned through a lot of chems to survive. Upside is Far Harbor has the hull to add to the Hull now.
Some brave Harbormen have also started to get Dalton Farm up and running so we worked on helping them get the basics established. Decided I really needed to clear out the nearest danger spots to enable trade between the farm and Longfellow's. The Island is a dangerous motherf!#+er though... oh, there I go, personifying it like the locals. Am I infected? [*logs current vital signs*]
Honestly don't know how I'm alive. We tried to clear the super mutants out of the National Park Headquarters. Seems to only be one left in the storage shed. Longfellow and I search carefully--no one else around. As soon as we walk into the storage shed--BOOM. Warehouse door opens and we're dually charged by a suicider and a mutant warlord. I leapt backward in my power armor, trying to get as far as I could from the suicider's inevitable blast--it was too fast to even hit it using VATS before it was too close.
I just barely survived. The jump and the power armor saved me. Sheer adrenaline, a quick slug of a Refreshing Beverage, and half my shotgun ammo led to the warlord's death, just barely before mine. Meanwhile, Longfellow was blown clear into the next room--I needed to give him treatment for serious concussive damage, but he was free of burns and radiation, relatively speaking.
After that, it was a painful trudge back to Longfellow's, where I spent the next few days unfusing my legs from what was left of my power armor frame. Fortunately I had practice from the Vault Reactor Tests of 2072.
This left me pretty weak, to say the least, and that bastard of a doctor in Far Harbor wouldn't aid my treatment--just wouldn't shut up about the "suicide mission" (his words) he wanted to send me on. He needs some serious lessons in marketing.
So while recuperating at Longfellow's, with X6 and Longfellow doing the heavy lifting, I prioritized setting up not only a recruitment beacon, but also a clinic. Luckily one of the early arrivals had at least solid field experience in first aid so we put him to work right away.
In addition to having his assistance aid my recovery, we're now set up to take in subjects to collect data. Using my data on my subjects in the Commonwealth as a baseline, this should help me understand the effects of the Fog and local conditions on the Island much better. Far Harbor is so crowded it should be easy to get a lot of willing volunteers to come out onto the bar where they will have more room to breathe.
While recruitment gears up, and I am recovered, I'm going to go explore this "murder mystery" at the hotel. If I remember right there should be a Vault up that way, and I can see what remains of the Company's efforts here. After the state of most of the Commonwealth's Vaults, I will try not to set my expectations too high.
Your tale fascinates me, Mr. Wainwright. Although it's making me glad I never bothered going to Concord. It sounds like these Minutemen do nothing but send you into death traps. But speaking of which...
3/7-8/2288
As I continued up the north road to the tannery, the reality of the dangers of Mt. Desert Island settle in. The eastern side of the island has been fairly manageable, mostly ghouls and mirelurks.
Crossing the second bridge past Dalton Farm, things suddenly got much worse. I innocently went to explore the state of the bridge that once connected the Island to the mainland (it was long collapsed), only to be nearly ambushed by a bus-sized hermit crab dwelling in a camper. One strike from its claws destroyed my power armor's arm plating, and thank god it was the armor and not my own arm. Backpedaling rapidly, X6 laid down suppression fire while I pulled out a plasma grenade and threw it. That fortunately was somewhat effective and X6 and I managed to kill it.
It's a shame so much of the wildlife is so immediately hostile. I'd love to study it. I've been thinking of ways to capture and contain creatures but from there I'm not sure how best to take tissue samples without losing a limb.
Almost immediately after that a huge irradiated yao guai started chasing us. We managed to cripple its front limbs, but it still tried to slither toward us with its hind legs with astonishing speed. I spent most of my .308 ammo just trying to keep it back, let alone kill it.
And then right after that a glowing gulper, which seems impervious to most anything.
The Tannery, "merely" infested by ferals and trappers, was a relief by comparison. I accidentally let one of the ferals get close and got an infected wound on the arm exposed by the broken power armor.
Some fellow appeared out of nowhere as soon as I found the power tools, and offered to buy them off of me for 2,000 caps. He showed up so suddenly I wondered if he was a fog-induced hallucination. He seemed for real, but lord knows what he was doing out there or how he was surviving. Overall he seemed shady and the Far Harbormen were much more of a known quantity, so I opted to take the tools back to the Mariner. Knowing the safety of the Hull might help protect me too was worth the loss of caps.
It was getting quite late and I needed a safe place to tend to my wounds. I decided, perhaps foolishly, to hoof it back to the east coast and Longfellow's. We cut through the east road--to find more 'lurks, yao guai, and then good lord, Super Mutants holed up in the National Park headquarters. How did they get all the way up here? The Institute was the closest facility equipped with FEV that I was aware of; the only other experiment I know of on the East Coast was to be installed near the Capital. Did they too, wander north from the Boston area like the synths?
I heard a few more holed up in one of the buildings, and had a vision of myself suddenly ambushed and unable to escape. Deciding the super mutants were not a priority, I instead urged X6 we needed to keep moving.
The next morning I returned the tools to the Mariner (I might have borrowed them first for a few more repairs at Longfellow's). Cassie has yet one more task of "vengeance"; I'm not sure why I keep taking those favors on save her stories amuse me. The doctor suggested there was a "particularly insane" way to help earn the Harbormen's trust. I decided to pass for now. I can only do so many particularly insane things at once. I checked back at Acadia (with Longfellow; X6 would initiate a raid on the place) to deliver Aster some flowers for her studies. Chase mentioned a missing synth and I agreed to find it--after all, as director of the Institute, I need to track our subjects down.
Mr. Wainwright, be warned I was similarly low on meds when I received an infected bloat fly bite. I sought out Diamond City for aid as well. When I arrived, I encountred Piper Wright and the city's mayor embroiled in an argument. Rather than notice I was standing there, life force slowly draining away, Piper tried to embroil me in the argument, oblivious to my predicament. I only assisted so they would open the damn gates. I barely made it to the doctor's office, which was about to close for the evening, at death's door.
Fortunately later I figured out how to make my own antibiotics out of glowing fungus, but remember the Commonwealth inhabitants are ignorant or uncaring of medical conditions and you may die while trapped in a seemingly inescapable kerfuffle that shouldn't even involve you. It's worth helping the people so they trust you enough so you can experiment upon them without them realizing.
If you can survive Piper's nonstop rambling, Diamond City might still be yojr best bet. Otherwise, you may wish to check Carla's inventory for antibiotics or seek out the roving doctors in the area. Dr. Andersen is often near the settlement at the old train stop.
While checking in in town, Ms. Handy/Nanny approached me, asking me to investigate a murder at a nearby hotel. I have a vague memory there was at least one Vault up this way, but I wasn't involved in those particular projects, so I'm not sure. I will want to check it out but there's already so much to do. Postwar society has developed a consistent habit: the vast majority of people stay put once they find a relatively safe place to stay, and then rely upon the few itinerant folk to do any and all outside work for them. Because I appear to be unafraid to travel around the island, I have no end of potential tasks to take on should I want to. I don't mind as it gives me numerous opportunities as well as caps, especially if it's all on my way, but the way in which requested favors are piling up here speaks to the nature of the folk who live here--deeply isolationist and unwilling to help themselves if it at all involves outside influence. This of course makes them beautifully easy to manipulate because all you have to do them a few favors they themselves are afraid to do and then they are putty in your hands.
I want to attend to fixing "the Hull" (protective metal stockade) in Far Harbor first, however, as the Harbormen and their fog condensers are of considerable use to me. Since Dalton's Farm is on the way I'll see if I can deal with this fog crawler while I'm at it.
Found yet more ghouls heading north up the road. The Fog definitely must make ghoulification far more likely. Thankfully I have plenty of shotgun shells so made short work of them.
Not long after we came across an abandoned trunk containing a fully operational suit of T-51 power armor, fusion core included. Seems to have been some kind of Vim! promotional item. The Harbormen REALLY don't wander far, do they? Someone should have been able to salvage this ages ago. Ah well, it's mine now.
I was very glad to be IN the suit of armor when crossing the bridge I came to next--several frag mines I didn't see all went off. I jumped and escaped the worst of it, but that was deeply unpleasant. Who set the mines but wouldn't have come across the power armor?
And I was glad to have it when dealing with the fog crawler. Nearly the same height as a Mirelurk Queen, if lacking some of the girth--I chose to snipe at it from a small set of cliffs above the beaches where it lurked. It didn't get close enough to harm me, but I expect if it had it would have proven must unpleasant. Based on the menu in Far Harbor, they apparently make good eating. Perhaps they are lobster descended.
Interestingly this one suffered a form of albinism--not uncommon overall, but the first I've seen in an arthropod of this era.
The fog is heavy in this area, so something will need to be done about that before Cassie can re-settle.
Hopefully I'll get to the tannery from here without incident.
Longfellow's let me use his personal island as a base of operations. His own shack wasn't as bad as some postwar structures I've seen, but the fellow wasn't even operating with his own water pump. Meanwhile Captain Avery had told me the town's purifiers were compromised, so that makes matters even worse. I fortunately happen to have relieved Acadia of unclaimed salvage, so I got started on getting the place in good working order, with a basic windmill generator to capitalize on the sea winds powering a water purifier. He didn't seem to mind my having X6 log most of the island for building supplies.
I set out from there to, indeed, look into Captain Avery's problem with the missing technician. He was being devoured by 'lurks when I found him; fortunately they hadn't damaged the power supplies he carried. I gave them a good look-see before attaching them to the transmitters. More 'lurks in the water where the purifiers sat; shot one's face off right as it was about to decapitate X6-88 while he was yammering on about mission completion again. I think some of his communication functions are stuck in loop, but he keeps threatening to shoot me when I ask to open up his head to take a look.
Back to the purifiers, I don't know why they don't keep a larger purifier in the salt water right in town, away from the wildlife. Could be it's just too full of gunge, I guess--might clog the filters faster than you could clean them.
I also know pine serves as a good source of water purification... I wonder if I can find any surviving samples of red pine and experiment with that... maybe I can chat to Aster about it.
The condensers were all right near Beaver Creek Lanes, which Alan Binet had asked me to clear out ages ago--I guess some coursers trying to investigate Acadia awhile ago must have been stymied by the ghouls there. I cleared it out--the ghouls weren't hard to kill, with only one or two shotgun shells required, but they were good at hiding even more than I'm used to. Some crawling off the ceiling, out of gaps in walls, they nearly ambushed me and X6 several times, and I've learned to walk through ghoul infested areas veeeerry sloooowly. The group was led by a glowing one that was harder to put down of course, but I shot its legs off before it came dangerously too close.
Most of what I've seen so far are ghouls, including some of the faster stealthier ones--I think these are particularly affected by the local fog. I wonder if the fog sickness results in these fog ghouls in the long run? Could the toxoplasma been mutated by FEV or the Plague? Anyway, I'd also taken out the ghouls Cassie Dalton complained about in one of the campsites, so I've about had my fill of the critters.
Avery and Cassie were grateful for my work. I returned to Longfellow's with more copper and steel in hand, and finished a secure concrete shelter and some electric lighting. Nights are much darker here than in the Commonwealth, for obvious reasons.
Tomorrow I'll seek out these tools for the Mariner and check out Dalton's farm and see what this Fog Crawler is all about.
Took the boat to "Far" Harbor today. Doing this favor for Nick also enables me to explore a new place to observe the effects of the war upon a different region. New flora, new fauna, new subjects for experimentation. And of course I can investigate the synth compound.
Upon arrival, the local Mainers were about as friendly to tourists as I remember them to be 200 years ago. Exposure to deadly toxins and deadlier creatures hasn't helped. I assisted in defending the town from an attack from creatures called "Gulpers" which helped earn me enough goodwill to seek information and assistance. I've been told to ask "Old Longfellow" to escort me to the observatory in Acadia National Park to find the synths--and Kasumi.
Most of Mt Desert Island is covered in a "mysterious fog." I admit I can't determine from unmeasured observation how it forms. It is clearly radioactive, but where is it picking this radioactivity up from? This area should be well clear of a major blast zone from the war--I'd think ambient fallout from bombs elsewhere would have settled ages ago.
Locals report the presence of the Cult of the Children of Atom here--and some paranoidly blame them for the fog. Since my encounters with them in Boston have been centered around heavily radioactive sites, there must be some kind of compound here that has drawn them--reactor? Military base? My experiences with the Children of Atom so far is that they are mentally unstable and irradiated enough to be unlikely to be able to engineer this "fog" but they may have figured out what "encourages" its spread, so to speak.
The fog is more than a radioactive dusting as well--and weather cannot account for it alone. The locals mention a mental illness caused by excessive fog exposure different from the usual. Deeply affected individuals become "Trappers" who are obsessed with hunting and serving the fog itself. Many speak of the fog and the island as sentient. This may be local superstition, and I strongly doubt they are sentient, but could there be a living element to the fog? Could the fog contain some kind of microorganism that alters the mental state of those exposed to it, including enable behaviors that encourage the growth of the organism itself? There is clear evidence of viruses that can do such a thing, such as toxoplasma gondii. The fog could effectively be the ghoul- or mutant-equivalent to toxoplasma, reliant upon or perhaps even generating radiation. The conditions allowing the microorganism to thrive are probably specific levels of radiation, humidity, temperature... perhaps even soil acidity or reliant upon other symbiotic organism, and this would explain why the fog is worse in some years than others. The Children of Atom might not be making it but I would not at all be surprised if they were doing something to encourage these perfect conditions where possible. Or it could all be coincidental.
The synths purportedly have crafted "fog condensers" to attract and collect the fog (which further emphasizes that it is not natural in nature). I am dying to understand how these work better. I also wonder if the effect could be reversed... imagine being able to weaponize a toxic, micro-organism-driven, mind-altering fog! It would be even more impressive if it could be red. But I suppose that could go wrong in all kinds of ways.
And I digress... for all the value of this speculation could be, I feel the need to ensure the survival of these Harbormen. They are remarkably resilient to have survived not only this fog (if my theory is correct, could some have an immunity factor?) but the harsh winters of this part of Maine (let alone post nuclear war) and the vicious fauna here. Being fairly isolated they are effectively a separate evolution of humanity compared to the vault dwellers and surfacers of the Commonwealth, and finding the opportunity to experiment upon them is a must. That requires, however, gaining their trust--not an easy feat.
Longfellow escorted me to Acadia, where we fought a few more gulpers, 'lurks, and ghouls. Repeated testing shows my shotgun appears to be the most effective weapon to bear against most Mt. Desert Island wildlife so far.
There I encountered DiMA--a prototype synth who appears to be of the same manufacturing line as Nick. He tried to not only convince me Kasumi was a synth--when Institute Records clearly indicate she isn't--but also that _I_ was. Of course, I've already planned on creating an immortal synth body to implant my memories into (Nick proves this is obviously possible) so I can continue my experiments forever, but I haven't done it YET. His smarmy sincerity in this regard leads me to believe he is either dangerously manipulative or malfunctioning heavily. He clearly has had several modifications to him and I wonder if he suffers from a sort of robot insanity. Mind, I admire his considerable gifts at gaslighting and would love to use his skills to devise an experiment or two, but if he is malfunctioning it could prove a danger to myself and the potential of the very place he has built.
Meeting the other synths in Acadia was far more enlightening. All of them are runaways of course, but unlike many of the Railroad's wards, most of these have not endured one of Dr. Amari's mindwipes (with at least one notable exception, whose mindwipe was botched). This means all of their apparent personalities have evolved over time naturally during the institute, and speaks to a far greater capacity of their AI potential than many Institute scientists fear to admit. This is where the Institute's devotion to science fails itself--their fear of the unknown is trumping the glory of discovery! As their new director I do of course hope to change that over time.
And this is where I face a considerable dilemma:
Allowing Acadia to continue relatively untouched would allow me--should I remain trusted by the society--to observe their unsullied evolution. I could explore in detail the potential of synth AI in a way I would never be able to in current conditions in the Commonwealth. There is such a great deal to be learned!
Moreover, one of the synths, Aster, is clearly an accomplished plant biologist and I would love to learn more from her about the local flora and its medical and weaponizable potential. This is another reason to let them, or at least her, continue.
The problem is of course DiMA itself poses a threat to Acadia--and given he is starting to "recruit" synths who are obviously not synths, like Kasumi. This of course clouds the value of the synth evolution experiment--having to verify that all subjects ARE indeed synths. Given there's a possibility he has gaslit more than Kasumi into believing they are synths when they are not is deeply problematic.
And moreover, regardless of how fascinating it is to observe the synths in this environment, they belong to the Institute. If we rounded them up and brought them home, some of the malfunctioning ones, like Jules, could be properly repaired. DiMA could be safely disposed of and his memory banks analyzed. The problem is despite my position, I do not know if I could convince both the Institute NOT to wipe the other synths--especially Aster, whose contributions to the bioscience team would be immeasurably valuable--or the synths themselves that they can remain safe in the Institute. If they were to simply mount a rebellion or escape again, we'd either have to wipe or kill them and then the whole potential study upon their AI's evolution is lost. At the same time, hiding away in a rotting observatory also stunts their potential development. What to do?
Further, Kasumi refuses to depart until investigating DiMA, which apparently involves infiltrating the Children of Atom. Dealing with the Children next door to the lighthouse, I all too recently recall the considerable threat the average CoA cultist poses to my personal health. I'm already risking a great deal of exposure to radiation and possibly incurable mental illness just to engage in my initial explorations. I've been willing to endure a great deal of risk in my pursuit of knowledge in the 23rd century, but I am carefully weighing the cost-benefits of simply calling in the Coursers now to be done with it, and focusing my research on the Harbormen and the other local fauna without having to worry about being shot by those rotten gamma guns.
however, while shooting Ghouls in the legs is a tried and tested way of dealing with them...don't count on it...especially with the legendaries.
Nothing worse than trying to Leg a Ghoul while it's rushing you only to have the damn thing rip your throat out.
Have you seen that yet, there is special animation for when a Ghoul rips your throat out
I have not observed a ghoul ripping my own throat out (obviously) though I have several papers documenting the things they have done to Subjects DC-02A and GN-05A (normal designations Piper and MacReady). Fortunately said subjects are remarkably responsive to Stim-Pak therapy.
Suggest you are not implementing the following protocols:
- Frequently engage stealth parameters, using Stealth Boy when necessary (note: use of Stealth Boy has not purple monkey bicycle rash caused any of the purported mental negative side effects so far)
- Put human subject between you and ghoul (*note* ghouls appear to prefer human flesh; canine, synthetic, and mechanical subjects far less effective speedbumps)
- sniping or throwing explosives into possibly infested area before approaching in order to flush out potential hostiles before they come up behind you
- Trying a different door
Please submit your incorrect protocol following paperwork to your supervisor and report for corrective procedures.
(--- (*note addendum to note:* have not yet tested effects of super mutant proximity to ghouls. Since have found non-immediately-hostile super mutant willing to submit to testing in exchange for what he calls "milk of human kindness," may need to engage in such testing next. Hypothesize that ghouls will not be drawn to attacking super mutant, but super mutant may effectively pulverize ghouls before they attain dangerous levels of proximity)
Extensive field testing has proven means of crippling ghoul legs most efficient, effective even on the most resilient ones. A human companion proves the best source of distraction for the creatures while you shoot or explode them from a distance.
And of course developing the experience of repeatedly sewing back on one's own limbs post ghoul encounter has proven most enlightening.
