four ❀ text

[unknowable]

Hey. I spend a fair amount of time in the orchard, weeding and taking care of plants and stuff. It doesn't need as much work as it would if we were growing it entirely ourselves, but that's no reason not to keep it in good condition. I know I'm not the only one - maybe we could start working together? Coordinate our efforts, I guess.

Plus, I don't even know if half the stuff that grows in there tastes good. I'm wondering if some of it might even be things people would recognize, but there's just so many different things it's impossible to tell. Anyway. Let me know if you're interested.

Oh - and I guess I'm on Sorrow's team. So take a couple minutes out of your day to think about what a waste of time being here is. All the stuff you should be doing at home, all the people you miss, all the shitty things that have happened since you came here and all the great things you're missing out on. Go tell your best friend - sorry, your best cave friend, since your best friend probably isn't here - so you can feel terrible together.

There. Job done. This is ridiculous, I'm pretty sure it's making me sadder than I'm making anyone else.

Comments

[manofmettle]

They're edible, but because of an atomic war, all plants carry some measure of radiation.

I've asked Sorrow to remove the radiation from the produce. But to be on the safe side, I'll sample the first harvest.

[unknowable]

That's decent of you. Are you immune to the radiation?

[manofmettle]

No, I'm not. But I've grown up in that sort of environment, and I don't want to risk anyone that hasn't had prior exposure to radiation.

[unknowable]

I guess you'd probably be more used to it than any of us.

Can I... ask about the atomic war, or is that a sensitive subject?

[manofmettle]

Ask away. It happened 210 years ago so I have no personal sensitivities to the Great War. And more importantly, people do need to know what could happen if humanity's greed and hubris runs unchecked.

[unknowable]

So you've had some time to recover, but it sounds like it still devastated everything. What was it like before? I'm wondering if it was a world like mine, or something else entirely.

haha I hope I got my Fallout lore right

[manofmettle]

[Settle down for a full-on history lesson, Adam.]

It was a mad scramble for the last remaining reserves for fossil fuels that eventually caused the collapse of international relationships between nations. Diplomacy was eskewed, and the 25 years preceding the Great War were characterized with numerous violent confrontations between nations. Scribes generally refer to this period as 'The Resource War'.

I don't know what was going on in other countries, but the shortage of energy as well as the brutal annexation of Canada would led to riots within the civilian population, and the then Government of the United States of America responded with ever increasing violence. Records also indicate that any Americans of Chinese descent were subject to increasing interrogation and monitoring.

But, "a nation's ability to fight a modern war is as good as its technological ability". The race for better weaponry led to numerous scientific breakthroughs. Fusion technology was refined for both military and commercial use, which helped to alleviate the shortage of fossil fuels in the United States of America. New developments were made in robotics, medicine and transportation vehicles.

However, most of these advances were the results of unethical experimentation by both the government of the United States and private corporations, and the culprits got away with it because they were rich, powerful and influential enough to ensure that their secrets were never discovered.

Overall, most Americans were able to live a comfortable life. "The American Dream", as they called it back then. Children went to school, a system for law enforcement was in place, and in general people could work an honest job for a living without fear of having their houses raided.

[unknowable]

It sounds like one of the ways my world could go if we're not careful. If we don't invest in alternative sources of energy, if we keep being so focused on war.

[But what does he know? He's just a high school student.]

So... war broke out?

[manofmettle]

Yes. The Resource Wars started in the European Commonwealth and the Middle East, and confrontations spread across the world.

The primary rival of the United States was another country called China. The two nations were in a race to discover and claim the last remaining oil fields in the Pacific Ocean. The Chinese were the first to discover the cache in 2052, but the United States were somehow able to establish an oil rig first and claim the oil for their own. Ties became strained, and in 2066 the Sino-American war began when the Chinese successfully launched an invasion of the American territory of Alaska and seized the American oil pipeline and reserves there.

In response, the United States commenced the Anchorage Reclamation. A fierce war was fought on the Anchorage frontline, but resources for the war had to be channelled through the neighbouring country of Canada, and eventually that country was annexed and absorbed into the United States. With a combination of inclement weather, constant American bombardment, trench warfare and U.S. power armor units attacking mainland China, the Chinese supply lines were severely weakened. On the 10th of January 2077, the city of Anchorage was finally liberated and the Chinese presence was removed.

The state of relations between the United States and China remained hostile but no other serious confrontations escalated between the two countries for ten months.

Sometime on the morning of October 23rd 2077, nuclear missile strikes were launched on major American cities including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and Boston. Bombardment lasted for two hours. Some were able to find shelter that successfully protected them from the attack, but the majority of the population didn't and were wiped out from the blasts.

But humanity hadn't paid enough for their greed yet. I don't know if you're familiar with radiation, but it takes a very long time for radiation particles to dissolve. Radiation dispersed into the air by the bombs were so intense that when it rained, contact with the rain water killed many of the plants and animals that hadn't already been wiped out. Nearly all water sources was contaminated with radiation, in addition to other contaminants. America became a barren wasteland.

Areas with low and tolerable levels of radiation did still exist after the Great War ended, and the survivors were able to seek shelter in any remaining standing structures. New communities and settlements were starting to being formed in the shadow of our lost civilisation. But perhaps the greatest damage from the fallout was the lost of order and stability. The government of the United States had effectively gone silent on its people. Without the law, desperation drove many to abandon civility and core morals. Gangs of raiders began to occupy the wasteland, targeting the vulnerable, mercilessly killing innocents and stealing everything they set their eyes on. Terrifying mutations began to emerge, the remnants of military experiments gone wrong.

Nothing much changed over the next 200 years. But recently in the Capital Wasteland (formerly the areas surrounding Washington D.C.), a scientific breakthrough in the form of Project Purity successfully purified a small part of the major river that runs through the Wasteland. Purified water is also being distributed to communities. Clean water is now slowly becoming available to the people once again.

[unknowable]

[That's a lot of information, but Adam's always been a great - and very determined - student. He reads the message carefully.]

That's awful. But - honestly, not surprising. People have always been greedy and selfish and stupid, it's just luck that nothing like that has happened where I'm from. Which sounds almost identical to your world a couple hundred years back. I'm from the United States.

It's getting better, though? Things are being fixed, even just a little?

[manofmettle]

[There's a pause in this response as well, but the message is much shorter.]

Project Purity was a huge step forward for us, and efforts are being made everyday to establish safe and secure settlements. It's slow progress, but yes. I'd say the situation is looking more optimistic with every passing day.

[It just came at the sacrifice of his former comrades. And Adam didn't even have to try very hard to get Danse to feel sad.]

[unknowable]

[WHOOPS... he'd feel bad if he knew!]

I guess we do have a pretty good capacity for survival, regardless of the circumstances. Just look at all the things that have happened here - and in your world, and in some other people's. I should feel lucky there's no nuclear war or anything in mine.

[manofmettle]

[Water under the bridge, talking about the Brotherhood always gets him sad.]

The will to live is powerful. I wouldn't wish near-total nuclear annihilation on anyone, but I'm certain that your world would find a way to survive.

[unknowable]

Just like we've all managed to survive here, more or less.