Fallout: (Nuclear)Winter Is Coming

Fast forward a month.

Life in the vault is pretty monotonous. I had done my daily quests everyday which took alot of drive for me to do.

But the habit of doing them in the mornings before breakfast had formed.

The key to not losing your mind in the solitude of the vault is forming good habits and maintaining them.

Savannah has opened up to me more during this time. She has even started joining me on some of my morning exercises.

I didn't tell her I was doing it for a quest of course but just to stay in shape.

She also thought she needed to get in shape so she joined me.

It was also possible she just wanted the company of the only person available to her.

After dailies and breakfast, I typically spent the early part of the day tending to the mutfruit seeds I planted in the residential sector.

It was a bummer to remove the grass but I composted it and added it to my fertilizer mix and laid it back down with the germinated Mutfruit seeds.

During the afternoon I spend my time in my lab which formerly I called my utility room.

I experimented with the basic knowledge I had and practiced doing things manually.

I could just sit back and rely on the system to do all my crafting but that wouldnt help me to actually learn how to do things.

I couldn't rely on the system for everything. If I wanted to push my limits, I would have to put in the hard work for it.

Practicing how to use the various tools on the workbenches and crafting the basic items by hand was a good start.

It wasn't easy and even with the knowledge given to me by the system I often second guessed my self.

But I continued to persist, and will continue to do so until I am ready to leave the vault.

After dinner, Savannah and I have begun a nightly ritual to watch a holo-movie in the atrium using the projector.

We also sometimes play the many board games or cards to keep ourselves busy.

Today, I brought out some 10mm pistols and both of us will practice shooting in the small gun range I set up.

I had taken the [Gunslinger] perk which gave me basic weapon knowledge which allowed me to hit nearly all my shots on the immobile combat dummies I have set up on the range.

When activating V.A.T.S. I become like a machine.

My eyes snapping from target to target and my hand following.

I'm not gonna lie, I now feel like a gun slinging Uchiha. But oh boy does it still drain my AP.

It's a little jarring feeling winded after only a short few seconds of real time.

I can hit about 7 targets before I'm too drained and am forced to stop using it.

Fortunately I also took a perk called [Action Boy] which gave me +25% AP regeneration which helps alot.

"How do you keep doing that?" Savannah asked still holding her pistol and looking over at me in astonishment.

"What? Does what I did look difficult to you?" I smirked.

"Ugh... can you teach me or not?" She replied with an irritated expession and a cute pout.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and approached her. "Raise the gun with your dominant hand... Use this hand as a support and straighten your shoulders like this..."

"Like this?" She asked.

"Yeah that's perfect. Remember that. Oh but also try to place your feet like this."

I moved her body to a correct shooting form and then came behind her. I could smell her hair from this close which had a citrusy scent and was pleasant.

"When I tell you to, fire three shots in a row. Back to back." I told her.

"Hm. Okay..."

I lined up the targets in the distance and with one hand around her shoulder I guided her aim.

"Now!" I activated VATS and moved her arms to position the gun perfectly on the first target.

*Bang*

The first shot went off and I immediately moved her aim to the next target.

*Bang*

The second shot fired. Next, the third target.

*Bang*

VATS ended and Savannah and I were standing there in silence for a moment.

Three head shots on the target dummies.

"...I actually hit them?" She blinked in confusion for a second before she broke out in a grin.

"I did it!" She started jumping up and down with an almost childish excitement.

That action caused her plump read to grind on me and I almost acted up before taking a step back.

'Tch... damn it woman! Have some self awareness.'

The one thing I learned about Savannah is that she experiences highs and lows and her mood can be like this or she can be a bit emo and quiet.

I think she is Bi-polar but I'm not well versed or qualified enough to say either way.

She is also a bit clueless about relationships from what she has said, she had one intimate encounter she was not impressed by.

Not that I'm actively trying to get into a relationship with her. It's actually the opposite.

I know myself best and if I let myself get attached to this girl then I could easily see myself beginning to slack off in order to prioritize her with my time.

I couldn't afford the distraction...

Not when I needed to be able to survive the wasteland. There were too many powerful creatures and dangerous enemies waiting to turn me into meat paste out there.

The grind must not stop.

After target practice, she and I watched a movie. "A Man and His Dog" starring Cooper Howard, the actor/war hero who would become 'The Ghoul' on the Fallout TV series.

The movie was quite good and I nearly shed a tear at the end. That dog was a real one!

Savannah on the other hand had fallen asleep and her head rested on my shoulder.

I reached over and brushed her hair back off her face.

'She really is quite beautiful...' I thought to myself but quickly pushed it away.

I got up gently and lifted her up into my arms and then carried her back to her suite.

It was much easier to carry her this time around. I had put a few points into strength recently which gave me a decent boost, plus all the working out I have done has improved my base strength a bit as well.

I put Savannah in her bed and covered her with a blanket.

I noticed half way there she had woken up and was pretending to be asleep.

I promptly left her suite and went back to mine.

I had a feeling that she was a bit disappointed when I left her without doing anything. Call it intuition, or a similiar past experience bleeding it's way back to the surface of my mind.

But this presented a problem for me. How do I respond?

I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

"I won't do anything for now..." I decided to kick the problem down to road to my future self.

Let that asshole deal with it!

<><><><><><>

And just like that the days bled into months and very little changed in our routine. The only thing that changed was my level and perks that had seen a good upgrade.

I was a little disappointed after 3 months in when the weekly quest disappeared.

After completing it 20 times and getting 20 free special points, I could no longer use it to farm those points.

It seems 20 was all I was going to get easily.

That's alright though, because my status was starting to come together.

Status

Frank Winter, 18

Lvl: 25

S-6

P-5

E-7

C-9

I-17

A-9

L-5

Perks: Swift Learner, Hard Bargain, Educated, Lady Killer, Advanced Science, Advanced Robotics, Advanced Chemist, Adamantium Skeleton, Action Boy, Gunslinger, Field Medic, Advanced Hacker, Rad Resistance, Gun Nut,

Perk Points: 5

Mutation: Healing Factor, Speed Demon, Marsupial,

Caps: 133,621

First I had begun spreading my S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points out and I have never felt better.

My strength allowed me to bench about 300 easily, while my endurance made my skin as durable and elastic as rubber. My body has never been this cut in either of my lives.

With my agility higher, I could run for much longer and use VATS more often. My hands and feet were becoming very dextrous and fine movements were much easier to do.

My intelligence being so high allowed me to think at a much rapid pace than I could have ever achieved before. My memory recall and memory retention were quite high now.

I was able to learn at a fast pace compared to before and apply what I learn more broadly.

With the boost to my perception, my vision started to become more like a hawk. Little things I didnt notice before dont escape my sight and my accuracy is very high.

With my charisma being higher I noticed little alterations to my skin and facial bone structure.

The changes were not exaggerated but they were noticable if the heated looks from Savannah were anything to go off of.

As for my luck... I'm not sure how to measure it. Maybe I would have stubbed my toe this morning but didnt because of my luck stat?

I'll have to visit a casino or something to test the limits of my luck.

I raised my science perks to the advanced level and gained a bunch of new knowledge that took me several weeks to sort through and learn.

I also took new perks, [Rad Resistance] and [Gun Nut].

Rad Resistance adds 25% more radiation resistance which I felt would come in handy until I can get the Perfect Mysterious Serum or PMS for short. Heh...

The Gun Nut perk just gave me more knowledge of weapon modifications and general maintenance of weapons.

A useful perk to have.

There was still many perks I wanted but several of the advanced perks had costed me 3 points each.

The adept and master level perks cost 5 and 8 points respectively.

Thankfully I dont think there is an actual level cap so I should be able to get all the perks I want eventually.

I decided to save the 5 points I had leftover for one of the higher level perks. I could get the lower ones if I want to later.

'It might take awhile, but I'll get there!'

The most impressive thing is probably the amount of caps I had saved up from completing my dailies.

"Time to shop again? Hehe."