He tapped the green button and the doors opened to reveal a homely unit with mid-20th century aesthetics. It was a large house, if it could be called that. The living quarters were packed with 1950s style furniture, brightly patterned wallpapers, wood-grain cabinets, and vintage appliances.
There was a big master bedroom with a king-sized bed on the left, a smaller bedroom next to it, and two bedrooms on the right. There was also a large enough kitchen space in the back with all the necessary appliances like a microwave with big buttons, a mixer, a stove, an oven, and a fridge. The master bedroom had an attached bathroom. There was a decently-sized bathroom attached to each bedroom on the right. The smaller bedroom on the left had a small restroom attached to it.
But the living space was large: it had several pastel-coloured sofas, an old CRT TV, a shelf with cassettes of movies and shows, and a dining table with chairs occupying the center. The dining table had a basket of packaged foods wrapped in a ribbon. It had various famous boxes of junk food such as Sugar Bombs.
"This is surprisingly good. Is this the standard or another perk of being the only man here? Most likely the latter." Animus thought out loud.
"Wait a second. Doesn't this mean I might be monitored right now?" He said with a feeling of dread.
"Damn it all," He muttered in frustration.
Quickly, Animus started looking for hidden cameras and sensors. He searched every nook and cranny, and found nothing. Just lots of food, jumpsuits, and medicines. He couldn't lift the heavy sofas or move the beds due to his low strength, but a glance underneath them revealed nothing.
He breathed in relief.
"Normally, I wouldn't slip up like that. I need to be more careful." He said to himself.
'I must treat everything with caution. More importantly, I must level up. But I don't have the luxury of killing something in here.' Animus frowned.
'Without having the option to kill something, all I can do is try to raise my stats organically and level up my skills. That said, I should look at the menu now that I am finally alone.' He thought and lifted his left hand to look at his Pip Boy.
The screen currently showed his vitals, which included his pulse, blood pressure, glucose, and radiation levels. He tapped the screen. It revealed the new options.
[Character Menu]
[Stats]
[Skills]
[Traits]
[Map]
[Comms]
[Click to Expand]
He tapped on the Character Menu option. It revealed a new screen.
[Character Menu]
[Name: Animus Spero]
[Age: 18]
[Sex: Male]
[Level: 1]
[Blessings: Blessing of !@#$%^&*()]
'I am 18? Oh. Puberty is frustrating, to say the least. I'm mostly through it, though. On the flip side, the lore of Fallout goes on for a long time. The younger I am, the more time I get.' Animus thought.
Before Animus could dwell further on the subject, his attention was captured by the blessing on his Character Menu. Curious, he tapped on the blessing.
[Divine Blessing of !@#$%^&*()]
[Description: Divine Blessing of !@#$%^&*(), one of the most powerful @##% in the Omniverse. Grants you resistance to eldritch entities and their corruptive influence, veils your presence from their sight, and makes you impossible to be traced directly. Grants the power to surpass racial limits through a systematic path built on the recipient's circumstances and imagination. Presents the opportunity to ascend to the ultimate plane of existence upon death.]
'Hmm, that is slightly more descriptive than what Robert told me. The Pip-Boy seems unable to parse his name or species, though? I didn't expect it to either. Let's look at the other details.' Animus continued.
He exited the Character Menu by clicking on the small 'x' in the top-right corner. Back to the screen, he clicked on Skills. He was already aware of his stats.
[Skills]
[Small Guns: Lv. 5]
[Use of conventional kinetic firearms, including pistols, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns.]
[Big Guns: Lv. 5]
[Heavy, high-yield weaponry like miniguns, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, and light machine guns.]
[Energy Weapons: Lv. 5]
[Accuracy and damage with advanced pre-war tech using energy cells, such as laser, plasma, and pulse firearms.]
[Unarmed: Lv. 5]
[Improves hand-to-hand combat efficiency, impacting your punch/kick accuracy and the use of weapons like spiked knuckles or power fists.]
[Melee Weapons: Lv. 5]
[Non-powered close-quarters combat tools, from basic knives and brass pipes to sledgehammers.]
[Throwing: Lv. 5]
[Range and precision of lobbed objects, including rocks, knives, and grenades.]
[First Aid: Lv. 5]
[Know-how and ability with healing minor cuts and bruises.]
[Doctor: Lv. 5]
[Used to heal severe trauma and mend crippled limbs or blindness.]
[Sneak: Lv. 5]
[Move silently and remain undetected, making it easier to slip past enemies or set up ambushes.]
[Lockpick: Lv. 5]
[Manipulation of physical locking mechanisms on doors and safes using lockpicks or electronic tools.]
[Steal: Lv. 5]
[Know-how and skill with pickpocketing or robbery without getting caught.]
[Traps: Lv. 5]
[Spot, disarm, or set up mechanical and electronic traps, as well as explosives like dynamite and plastic explosives.]
[Science: Lv. 5]
[General knowledge of high technology, allowing you to hack computer terminals, repair complex software, and understand scientific data.]
[Repair: Lv. 5]
[Practical application of mechanical knowledge to fix broken machinery, patch up generators, or assemble physical hardware.]
[Speech: Lv. 5]
[Ability to convince, lie, or negotiate.]
[Barter: Lv. 5]
[Buying and selling prices when trading items with merchants, reducing markups and increasing your items' value.]
[Outdoorsman: Lv. 5]
[Dictates your survival knowledge and skill in the outside world and the Wasteland.]
[Sex Rating: Lv. 5]
[Governs knowledge and skill of sexual and physical prowess for intimate acts with a partner.]
'Whoa. Those are a lot of skills. Is that how it is for the Fallout protagonist?' Animus thought, his inner voice exclaiming in surprise. 'Moreover, each skill is already at level 5. Is that because of the Skilled trait? That's awesome. I suppose I'll know how it plays out once I try to do anything the skills govern. I'm surprised my dormant soul did not do anything to affect the skill growth. It was too passive, I guess.'
Animus hid the descriptions first. They took up too much space and required him to scroll a lot. Then, he realized something peculiar. The skills were all glowing green, including the main Skills button at the top. Curious, he tapped on the Skills button first.
[Would you like to register your knowledge in the system?]
[Yes/No]
Without hesitation, Animus clicked on yes.
In an instant, the levels of multiple skills ballooned. Animus' mind felt like it metaphysically expanded. It was a soothing feeling. He closed his eyes for a second. The sensation cooled his brain.
[Skills]
[Small Guns: Lv. 10]
[Big Guns: Lv. 5]
[Energy Weapons: Lv. 5]
[Unarmed: Lv. 10]
[Melee Weapons: Lv. 8]
[Throwing: Lv. 9]
[First Aid: Lv. 5]
[Doctor: Lv. 5]
[Sneak: Lv. 5]
[Lockpick: Lv. 5]
[Steal: Lv. 5]
[Traps: Lv. 5]
[Science: Lv. 45]
[Repair: Lv. 15]
[Speech: Lv. 18]
[Barter: Lv. 6]
[Outdoorsman: Lv. 5]
[Sex Rating: Lv. 15]
'I feel...my knowledge is at the tip of my fingers. It is like my brain has become a library and the system is compounding its capabilities. Not bad.' He thought in silence.
Satisfied, Animus moved on to the glowing skills. For some reason, they still shone bright. He tapped on the Small Guns skill.
[Would you like to Tag the skill Small Guns? A Tagged skill instantly adds 20 levels to a chosen skill, while also making it so that every skill point invested grants 2 levels instead of one. Please note that you may only tag 3 skills. Hold and press the skills you want to Tag to finish tagging them at once.]
"Oh." He said aloud.
"This is amazing!" He exclaimed. "But wait, I must choose wisely. Do I focus on survivalism, combat, or knowledge?"
"Everything can be grown and developed. A balance is a must. Do not put all your eggs in one basket," Animus told himself, tempering his excitement.
'But I read somewhere that skills in Fallout are quantified in percentage, not levels. And the cap is at 300. Is this a change Robert made? Or the manifestation of my blessing? Regardless, this is more exciting.' He thought with a smile.
He took a seat on the sofa and spent a while thinking about the best possible Tag skill combination.
"I'm kind of tempted with tagging Sex Rating. For research purposes. I mean, what would I learn?" Animus said in a hurry.
"Wait, is this my puberty kicking in? Damn it." He cursed.
'Alright, let's think this through.' He thought, while staring at the options. 'I want to Tag Science. This goes without saying. Technology is everything, and it would be my greatest edge. Moreover, my career focus was on technology in my previous life, which is why my level is high in that too. I love tech.'
'Next, I should also leverage combat. Tagging Unarmed or Small Guns seems wise. I am personally leaning toward the latter. The skill covers plenty of weapon categories, and guns are always vital. A bullet moves faster than the fist. Moreover, small guns are easier to find than a heavier gun or energy weapon. In the beginning, it might prove highly valuable. But is there something better?' Animus pondered.
'I should invest in Doctor. Healing and medical know-how would be crucial to surviving. On that note, Outdoorsman is important, too. No. Considering my situation right now, where I am at the bottom rung of the human ladder and in the center of a twisted social experiment in a vault, Speech is the most important survival skill.' Animus considered.
'Alright, I know what to do.' His gaze sharpened.
Animus clicked on the skills one after another, pressing and holding the options.
[Would you like to Tag the skills Small Guns, Science, and Speech? This cannot be undone.]
[Yes/No]
He clicked yes.
Immediately, his eyes glowed a golden hue. Vast amounts of knowledge flooded his mind. The knowledge of how to wield many kinds of firearms with efficiency that corrected his bad habits as a beginner, knowledge of scientific concepts he was still learning in his past life along with some he had heard about and how to put them into practice, and ways to communicate effectively such that his ideas were heard and believed. He stared at the ceiling in a daze, standing in the middle of the living room.
After a minute, he looked at the tagged skills on his Pip-Boy.
[Small Guns: Lv. 30]
[Science: Lv. 65]
[Speech: Lv. 38]
"I feel more secure now. But this is only the beginning." He muttered.
Tap Tap Tap
His head swivelled to the door. Someone was knocking on it.
He heard the sound of the button outside being pressed.
It opened.
**
Author's Note
Hello, everyone! For the first ten individually unique comments across all chapters, I will upload another bonus chapter! Lastly, for every five constructive reviews until we hit 25 reviews, I will upload a bonus chapter each time! That means you guys can potentially get up to 6 bonus chapters! I love engaging comments! Reviews as well!