"Okay," Robert nodded, his voice gaining an analytical edge. "Our enemies will detect your presence as you make significant changes to the future of the world. That is inevitable. What matters is how long we can delay that, and if possible, deliver a surprise attack to them before they realize it. For starters, let's discuss where and when you will be getting placed."
Primulus nodded. "The starting point is everything. It will make or break my future actions. I hope you have something good in mind, Robert."
"Any high profile starting position will instantly alert our enemies. But I need you to be safe and in a position that allows you to take advantage of the apocalypse. We need a balance. Being a wasteland wanderer forced to hide somewhere during the nuclear winter is out of the question. I'll send you to a point right before the nuclear war. I am going to insert your soul into that of a young son of a low profile, wealthy family that manages to buy the standard vault tickets, allowing you to enter a subterranean vault for protection while the world turns cold from the nuclear fallout." Robert said with a nod.
"Wait," Primulus interrupted, his voice panicking. "Vaults? By Vault-Tec? Robert, Vault-Tec's vaults are hell! They are vile social expe-"
Robert raised his hand. Primulus stopped.
"You will be sent to a random vault with little or no notable history within an unknown location in the Fallout universe. This minimizes chances of you being noticed while protecting you from the horrors of the well-known vaults." Robert replied.
Primulus shuddered in relief. "Thank God. Or, thank you."
"Haha!" Robert laughed.
"I know some of the vaults are hiding horrors that would be an instant death sentence. Worry not, my friend. Like I told you, we are a team. And we keep each other safe." Robert chuckled.
Primulus smiled. But a few questions quickly surfaced as his mind worked a mile a minute.
"How are we sure those eldritch gods won't recognize your intervention? You're sending me before the nuclear war? Why? Fallout has hundreds of years of history! Will I become a baby again? With my intellect intact?" Primulus asked rapid-fire questions with a little horror.
"Alright, relax. Primulus, I know you are simply preparing your mind for everything that is to come, but you need to slow down. One question at a time." Robert said, raising his hands in a disarming gesture.
"Yeah, sorry. This is all too new...and exciting. I can't help it." Primulus nodded, taking a deep breath.
"That is precisely why you will be fine. You have a daredevil's mentality." Robert smiled, his voice a cool baritone. "For your first question, the answer is that they won't find out."
"How?" Primulus asked.
"My enemies already expect me to do something." Robert answered, and turned his palm upward. Shimmering golden spheres emerged, floating and dancing on his palm. "So, I will mask our actions as much as possible through decoys. What you see are souls I have personally crafted for this purpose. They will be given a life and a background story before getting integrated into the world. They will garner so much attention that my enemies would think I am launching a large-scale intervention. They would be completely distracted by these decoys."
"That's a relief. Yeah, this sounds like our best bet. Use a forest to hide a tree." Primulus nodded.
"Indeed, my friend." Robert smiled and the shimmering golden spheres that would be the decoys floated out of his hand and moved around him. "As for me sending you before the nuclear war, it is the best point to alter the entire future of the American wasteland. You will have access to everything you need before the major factions fully emerge and obtain the resources for themselves. It's the best point for you to grow."
"Hmm." Primulus frowned, his voice hesitant. "But the history of Fallout spans hundreds of years. Are you expecting me to become a cyborg to watch it unfold, or solve everything quickly before it gets too late?"
"You will know the answer to that when the time comes." Robert smiled mysteriously.
Primulus rolled his eyes. "Really, Robert?"
"Yes. Because having everything on a silver platter is boring, Primulus!" Robert laughed.
"Fine." Primulus huffed.
"Now," Robert said, his voice regaining its deep baritone as his laughter subsided. "For your last question, the answer is also a no. Leaving you like that would be cruel. Moreover, spending that long in the universe with your karmic nature active will cause some fluctuations in the universe. Your simple actions will cause a Butterfly Effect. I will make your soul dormant. Your body will simply go through the motions of existence. You will be known as a quiet boy known for humility and kindness."
"I'm not sure if I am comfortable with that. What if that personality and my own collide?" Primulus muttered.
Robert shook his head. "Your true nature and your soul will awaken the moment the bombs drop, Primulus. The personality before you awaken will dissolve under the weight of your karmic nature and golden soul."
"Alright." Primulus said, though a small part of him nagged at him, saying that the implications would not be so simple.
"But new parents, huh? I don't what to feel about that." Primulus wondered aloud.
"This is what happens as you undergo rebirth. I understand it may not be easy to accept a new family, but you must enter your new life with an open mind." Robert said with a gentle expression.
"...Okay. I will endeavour to do so." Primulus said, his voice hesitant but mind acceptant. His death and the experiences following it had already changed his mindset to become more adaptive.
"Good. Since you agree, let's move on to the things I can provide you with. First, I will grant you my blessing." Robert smiled and raised his hand towards Primulus.
Light surrounded Primulus, enveloping him before entering him. A wave of warmth suffused his soul. He closed his eyes. He felt like he was being hugged by his mother again, evoking memories of his childhood. The memory was sweet. It made him forget his worries.
Robert patiently waited for Primulus to open his eyes. Once Primulus opened his eyes, Robert continued.
"Now, your soul has become resistant to eldritch entities and their corruptive influence. You will also be invisible to their sight, which will make it difficult for them to trace you directly when your existence will eventually become known due to your actions. Lastly, you cannot enter the cycle of death and rebirth in the Fallout universe. If you die, you will return to me here." Robert said gently.
"That's reassuring. Thanks, Robert." Primulus breathed a sigh of relief.
"However," Robert warned, his voice turning grave. "Do not, and I mean no matter what, get caught by our enemies. Eventually, they will realize something is amiss. They are no fools. As you work to save the world and subvert their actions, they will realize someone is targeting them. They will connect the dots. They will come for you. And if you fall into their hands, saving you or your soul would become almost impossible. At least without direct intervention."
Primulus took a shaky breath. He couldn't imagine the horrors that would await him in that case. He felt sweat, metaphysical in nature, cover his temples and back.
"Got it," He muttered shakily.
"Relax. The following perks should make it easier for you to navigate such situations." Robert waved his hand and ethereal, glowing numbers emerged out of nowhere, floating in front of Primulus. The numbers were accompanied with letters on the left, forming two neat columns and seven rows.
[Stats]
[S.P.E.C.I.A.L]
[S: 1]
[P: 1]
[E: 1]
[C: 1]
[I: 1]
[A: 1]
[L: 1]
Before Primulus could check what each stat meant, Robert interjected.
"This will be the core mechanic of your success." Robert smiled brightly. "You will have some of the abilities given to the protagonists of the early Fallout 1 and 2 games. This includes a system displaying the seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats on your Pip Boy, which is a Personal Information Processor that can be worn on your wrist. You may already know about that. You will gain 1 stat point and several skill points every level to increase your might. This way, you can become far more powerful than the average man. And that's not all. You will have a limit of 100 levels. This should allow you to eventually surpass humanity."
"Wow." Primulus exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
"However, you will not have an inventory. That would require your soul to be tethered to a hyper-dimensional space which will guaranteed alert our enemies. And you won't have the perks mechanic either. Some of them manipulate reality, and doing that may risk their unwanted attention. Especially, if it is early on. As for when you do get found out, preferably when you have an entrenched presence of your own, I could patch your system with that feature then." Robert smiled awkwardly.
"That's a serious blow. Those are both vital to anyone wanting to survive in the world." Primulus said with a frown.
"I could give you all those abilities, but I imagine they will immediately use their entrenched presence to send their apostles and followers to kill you. Even if you are invisible to their sight, such a major bend to reality will get their attention quickly. I want them to look at my decoys, not you. It's not worth it." Robert shook his head.
"Fine. But then how will you visit me if we can get detected that easily?" Primulus asked with a little disappointment.
"Your soul has become connected to mine in a deeply intrinsic way through my blessing. An infinitesimally small amount of my presence will emerge for a brief instant from within your soul to speak to you in your dreams. Since my blessing will hide your soul from prying eyes, this is the best way. We won't get found out, because everything will happen within your soul." Robert answered.
"But what if our connection or your blessing itself is detected?" Primulus asked, feeling paranoid.
"My blessing will hide both our connection and itself. That shroud is one of its major perks. To our enemies, you will look like the environment itself. A shrub in a desert, a tree in a forest, and a pipe in a sewer. But if the shrub starts teleporting or the pipe starts controlling mutant cockroaches, things start getting suspicious. You get it." Robert smiled.
"I see." Primulus chuckled.
'I don't think it could be anything bad. Could there be a chance you might try to detonate my soul remotely if I fall into the wrong hands, Robert?' Primulus asked.
'Haha, no. If anything, I will receive a small amount of damage if you are devoured by our enemies. The same, albeit to a miniscule degree, applies to the decoys I plan to send. They may attempt to damage me through our connection, Primulus. It would be nothing much, just around a couple of Big Bangs worth of damage.' Robert chimed inside his mind.
"I think a couple of Big Bangs is a serious matter." Primulus said with a deadpan look on his face.
Robert laughed.
"Let's design your new body, or your character, if you prefer. You may allocate 21 stat points for the starting loadout. This matches the Fallout games. More importantly, the Fallout universe has a higher baseline for humanity. You will need the strength. Just don't equally distribute all stats. That will put you at a 4 in each stat, which is below average in the universe. The world's baseline is 5 in each stat. An imbalance is okay for the beginning, as long as it serves your growth," The friendly god said.
"Thank you. Before that, can I pick my traits?" Primulus asked.
The gamer inside him had awakened.
'I'm gonna min-max the heck out of my new self!' He thought with a gamer's determination.
"Sure!" Robert laughed.
The numbers shifted to display a collection of traits with their descriptions. Primulus quickly eyeballed them.
[Bloody Mess: Make your enemies explode upon death in a burst of violent gore! This trait does nothing else.]
[Jinxed: Caused insane chaos wherever you go! Guns would randomly lock in battle, grenades explode without being primed, allies would suddenly shoot each other, and worse!]
[Sex Appeal: Members of the opposite sex instantly find you more attractive, making negotiations with them smooth. However, members of the same sex will instantly dislike you, making it hard to negotiate with them.]
'What the hell... Fallout is crazy. I knew it was wild, but this is too much. And while Sex Appeal sounds tempting, I cannot get distracted by trivial concerns. I have a bigger goal now. I must stay focused.' Primulus thought.
Robert smirked.
Primulus sighed. 'Stop it, you voyeuristic god.'
"Remember, you can only take any two traits~" Robert lilted.
Ignoring his annoying new friend, Primulus soon spotted the trait he was looking for.
[Gifted: You have more innate abilities than most, so you have not spent as much time honing your skills.]
**
Author's Note:
Greetings! How are you all liking the story so far? The story will be slow-burn for a while. I would be really happy to receive some comments! - Tales Bringer