Pain. Not sharp, heavy. Like someone had filled Adrian’s skull with wet concrete and then shaken it violently for several hours straight. He groaned quietly, cold metal pressed against his cheek. There was a low mechanical hum somewhere nearby.
Air circulation fans. The sound felt weirdly enclosed. Adrian slowly opened his eyes, blurry gray ceiling, dim lighting and metal walls. For several long seconds he simply stared upward, his brain struggling to reconnect with reality.
☢ ☢ ☢
Then memory hit him all at once. The game, the screen and the voice. Adrian jerked upright instantly and immediately regretted it, his vision swam violently. “Oh fuck…” He grabbed the side of what appeared to be a narrow metal cot while nausea rolled through him.
The room around him slowly came into focus, small. Industrial cold gray metal walls lined with exposed bolts and faded yellow paint markings. A locker stood against one side beside a small sink. Across from him, a thick reinforced vault-style door sat partially open, beyond it he could hear muffled voices, footsteps and the distant echo of machinery.
Adrian stared blankly. “No…” His voice sounded rough and dry. “No no no no…” His eyes snapped downward. He was in a blue vault suit.
Dark blue fabric with yellow trim and a large 13 covered his back and a smaller one over his heart. His stomach dropped, for a moment he genuinely could not breathe. “This isn’t funny.” He laughed weakly, the sound came out shaky. “This is a dream.” Obviously, it had to be.
Adrian swung his legs off the cot too fast and nearly collapsed when they hit the floor. The world tilted sideways violently. “Jesus” He caught himself against the wall. The metal felt cold and real… too real.
Every tiny detail slammed into him at once, the faint smell of recycled air, the humming of electrical systems, the smell of old machine oil, the sound of distant ventilation fans and the rough texture of the vault suit fabric Not dreamlike or blurry. Real.
His pulse quickened. “Nope.” He pointed at the room aggressively like reality itself had personally offended him. “Nope. Absolutely fucking not.”
He staggered toward the sink, a cracked mirror hung above it. Adrian froze when he saw his reflection, not himself. Close enough to recognize, different enough to feel horrifying Same dark hair with a stronger jaw and broader shoulders. A face that looked like some alternate version of him built for surviving harder lives.
☢ ☢ ☢
Adrian stared silently for several seconds. “Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He touched his face carefully, the reflection copied him perfectly.
Real. Not real… its real…
His breathing quickened again, the vault door hissed nearby and footsteps approached. Adrian whipped around, an older man stood just outside the doorway wearing a cleaner vault suit and carrying a worn clipboard beneath one arm. Gray hair, tired eyes and a calm expression. The Overseer.
Adrian immediately recognized the aesthetic even if he’d never played Fallout. The realization made his stomach sink even harder. Because if this was Fallout 1… he knew almost nothing about it.
The Overseer studied him carefully. “You’re awake.”
Adrian said nothing. Mostly because his brain was currently on fire. The older man stepped into the room. “You collapsed during final medical evaluation,” he said evenly. “Doctor Morbid says you’re physically fine.”
Adrian blinked slowly, Doctor Morbid. That sounded exactly stupid enough to belong in Fallout. “Oh good,” Adrian muttered weakly. “That’s reassuring.”
The Overseer frowned slightly. “You hit your head harder than I thought.”
Adrian almost laughed hysterically, instead he gripped the sink tighter. Okay, okay think. Think. Don’t panic, if this was real, which it apparently fucking was then panicking accomplished nothing.
The Overseer continued watching him carefully. “There’s a problem.”
Of course there was, it wouldn’t be Fallout otherwise. Adrian swallowed slowly, “…water chip?”
The Overseer’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You were listening during council meetings.”
Adrian immediately realized he’d guessed correctly. Right, Vault 13’s water chip crisis. That was literally the only thing he knew about Fallout 1 besides “super mutants exist somewhere.”
The Overseer sighed quietly. “Our primary water purification chip failed earlier this week.” He handed Adrian a file. “We’ve exhausted all repair options.”
Adrian stared at the file numbly… this was actually happening.
The Overseer continued calmly. “Without a replacement, Vault 13’s water reserves will fail within months.”
Months, not days or hours. Months, the absurdity of the situation almost made Adrian laugh again. Instead, he asked the only reasonable question left, “…why me?”
The Overseer looked at him for a long moment. “You’re capable.”
That felt suspiciously like everyone else had said no. Adrian rubbed both hands down his face. “Bro, I work retail,” he muttered.
The Overseer blinked, “…what?”
“Nothing.”
God this was insane.
☢ ☢ ☢
The Overseer stepped toward the locker near the wall and opened it. Inside rested a weathered leather shoulder holster, ammunition pouches, a canteen, survival supplies and resting on the top shelf a Pip-Boy. Adrian froze.
Something inside his chest tightened upon seeing it. Because even from across the room… it looked wrong. The casing was black, not green.
The Overseer carefully removed it from the locker. “It’s an older model,” he explained. “Was kept in long-term storage.”
Adrian stepped closer slowly, the Pip-Boy looked heavier than normal versions from the later games and more industrial. Reinforced edges, minimal Vault-Tec branding. The screen remained dark for now. Along one side, beneath years of scratches and faded wear, Adrian noticed the faint outline of an old symbol. Wings, an eagle maybe. Half-erased but still distinctly military-looking.
A cold feeling slid slowly down his spine. The Overseer either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Hold out your arm.”
Adrian hesitated, only for a second. Then extended it slowly. The metal clamps locked around his forearm with a heavy mechanical click, the screen immediately flared to life. Deep red, not the normal green glow he remembered from the games. Emergency red.
The room suddenly felt quieter, the Overseer stared down at the activated screen briefly. A strange expression flickered across his face, confusion maybe. Then it vanished. “Hm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” That answer sucked, Adrian ignored it and continued looking down at the Pip-Boy. For the briefest moment, words flickered across the screen too fast to fully read.
EXECUTIVE AU…
Then gone… replaced instantly by normal interface menus.
Adrian’s heartbeat quickened slightly. “Cool.” Definitely not cool…
The Overseer stepped back toward the doorway. “Gather your equipment.” His voice became heavier now, more official and more final. “You leave within the hour.”
Adrian stared silently at the glowing red screen on his arm, then toward the vault door beyond the room. Beyond that door was the wasteland… the actual wasteland… and with it came death probably, monsters definitely and somehow… it was real.
The Pip-Boy emitted a soft static crackle, for half a second, the screen brightness dimmed on its own. Then returned to normal.
Adrian slowly exhaled.