CHOSEN ONE

Cryo-Sickness: Diagnostic... Human flesh proves feeble compared to other species, particularly after prolonged exposure inside cryogenic pod. Over time, the body weakens, though a resolution usually comes after waiting some time. However, during this period, highly irradiated Cryo-Fluid appears to have seeped in, liquefying flesh, veins, muscle, and nerve in the affected areas. Ordinarily, these areas would succumb to decay, but a mysterious phenomenon seems to have occurred.

Upon exposure to sunlight, the encased wounds experienced a reaction, restoring the flesh to its more alive state. The final reaction occurred between the energy of the Cryo-Fluid within the veins, the heat from the living flesh, and the DNA change due to radiation exposure. As a result, the affected areas remain perpetually cold, resembling densely compressed ice, albeit without causing harm. However, your heart is too weak to efficiently pump the thick, cold blood from these areas, necessitating the development of inhuman heart strength.

The skin and flesh in these regions possess a strength/sturdyness akin to densly campact ice, numbing sensation and weakening feeling. The radiation has altered your constitution, rendering you the first cold-blooded living mammal. Paradoxically, this transformation filtered out all irradiation caused by the fluid.

"Is this even a sickness, a malus, for I AM AN ANGEL OF ATOM, HIS DIVINE KINDNESS SAVED ME AND GRANTED ME THIS GODLY BOON– Cough cough" I jest, pondering the implications.

"More seriously, upon re-reading, it mentions inhuman heart strength… Am I completely doomed? I need to test it immediately; my heart is my lifeline, my tool for survival. Without a strong heart, I'll lack the stamina necessary to flee or even be physically capable." With a growing sense of urgency, I equip myself with the Bren Ten and the AR, each with five magazines.

"Codsworth, I will go look around and test some things protec–" I'm interrupted as the Pip-Boy vibrates.

On the screen, a map within a 500-meter radius displays a horde of red dots moving slowly, steadily advancing. They are approaching, necessitating immediate investigation.

I open the garage door and navigate around my seemingly intact yet heavily rusted car to reach the front of the house.

Passing through the neighbor's garden to evade the red dots' notice, I make my way toward the indicated location. Whether they are friend or foe is irrelevant; their proximity to my family demands caution.

Approaching within 50 meters of the red dots, I observe on the map that they are gathered in front of the neighboring house, some already entering. As I leap over the wooden fence, my path is impeded by a tripwire. Reacting swiftly, I roll to evade, setting off bells and alerting them to my presence. Amidst the chaos, I hear the shattering of glass.

Turning my attention away, I confront a ghastly sight: a half-flesh half-skull, its mouth grotesquely agape, hurtling toward me. Drawing upon my military training, I sidestep its attack, crushing its skull underfoot before rolling clear of another two ghoul assailants colliding mid-air. Dispatching one with a well-aimed shot, I engage in hand-to-hand combat with the other.

Amidst the fray, the Pip-Boy vibrates once more, and as I turn to face the source, I'm met with a cacophony of growls and screeches. Amidst the horde stands one distinct figure, clean-clothed and fully fleshed, separating itself from the rest. There's no mistaking it—these are ghouls. The figure steps forward, its voice raspy and growling.

"I'm Sorry Smooth Face… I didn't know there were Smooth Faces here." It gazes at the fallen bodies of the ghouls around me. "Arg… oh no, Jasmine, Carl, Stephen… Sarah come here. I'm sorry, I knew I shouldn't have moved you… sigh."

"Huh… Hi hum sorry, to have put down your… friends here, but they jum–" I'm cut off. "I know… Smooth Face I know, I didn't know there was someone here… nobody was there since loooong time. What are you doing here?" he asks me.

"What am I doing here? I live here, but what… What are you, all of you?" I inquire. 'Even if I know already, if I don't Nora will get suspicious… Wait, didn't I see data about ghouls from the Pip-Boy, data from 70 years ago?'

"What? A Smooth face that has never seen a ghoul? Where are you from, boy?" he asks in response to my question. "I always lived here… Well, I was down there," I whisper at the end.

"Down there?" He hears me. "What?! Are you from a damned Vault? Lucky bastard haha. So what was there?""What, what was there? You've been in one too since you know it and are still alive. We got cryogenized like everybody," I say, feigning ignorance.

"What?! CRYOGENIZED? You're from before the bomb fell?!" he exclaims. "Well yes, like you apparently. Why?" I respond.

"Cause I… We weren't in a god damn Vault, they are freaking experimental labs… You got lucky with what you had, some got drugged to death and others… well, you can imagine. It's a bunch of hellish experimentation in those Vaults."

"So you're telling me you're from before the bomb fell and you were popsicled till now? HAHA Welcome to hell. Nowhere is like you knew before… Wait, first I came here to put down my family peacefully in a clean and beautiful place… If you're from there, do you know of a place like that?" He says before it turns into a question.

"Yes, I do know," I reply. Leading him through the ferals to the front door, on the road I point him in the right direction. "Go here for about 2km, then take a left on a wooden bridge. Go straight, and at an intersection, continue straight ahead. At the next junction, the left path leads to the vault so continue straihgt. Go 3 or 4 km further, and you'll come across a clearing with an enormous tree. The place is calm and peaceful, if it hasn't changed since."

"Thanks," he says gratefully, then asks, extending a walkie-talkie, "Show me your Pip-Boy." I give him my arm, and he plugs in his walkie-talkie. "There, now you have my personal radio. It's like a phone, but works within a range of no more than 300km from me."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"Haha! I WAS RobCo, more like I worked there as a designer," he says as he passes by with his family. "I'll contact you when I'm… done… There's a lot I need to tell you. I'll teach you, between men of the same era, hehe. Danny by the way."

"Duncan." With a handshake.

With that, he goes farther than I can see, now appearing as a green dot among the reds.

That was… Interesting. My body seems fine, I'm not exausted at all… Anyway, I need to tell Nora and see Shaun… Let's go home.