Tape 1
How
did it come to this? Trapped here with the super
mutants.
I’ve been here, what? Six
months? The
Greenskins
have only just started trusting me enough to actually give me some
alone time meaning I can
finally start recording these.
For
the last six
months or so,
I’ve been working on FEV. They want to continue what The Master
started all those years ago, whoever
the
Hell
‘The
Master’ is.
For
some reason, they think I can do it. I might be from a vault and
a doctor, but that doesn’t
mean I know anything about this stuff.
Still,
in about half an hour the mapping
will be complete and I’ll have the entire makeup of the FEV
analyzed. I don’t know if that means I can make more of
the stuff or not. I’m not
sure I even want to. For all I know as soon as I develop the means of
reproducing the stuff, the super
mutants
will dispose of me.
The truth is, if I don’t find a way
of developing FEV, then they’ll dispose of me regardless. I’m not
the first they’ve had locked up here, and if I fail, I won’t be
the last.
Speaking of which,
I went over the notes of my predecessors
and the first one apparently got
the farthest along before the Greenskins
lost their patience and killed him. Though
it’s difficult to tell when most of those records were
lost. The second one had no clue and they
killed him pretty much
immediately. The third and
fourth met the same fate and the fifth managed to escape, but
not before wiping away a lot of the progress that had been made.
I don’t have the same illusions of
escaping. My leg was broken by one of the brutes when they captured
me. It’s healed wrong, and I couldn’t run even if I wanted to. I
know, I could have set the bone, and believe me I tried. They tore
off the splint calling it weakness, re-breaking my leg in the
process. That was six months ago now. Six months of torture.
I had better get back to work,
otherwise, they might just decide to do more than break my bones.
Tape 2
So, it’s
been about three weeks since I recorded my first log. My intention
was to make them a regular thing, but it just didn’t turn out that
way. I’ve been too busy and the Greenskins have been breathing down
my neck.
Well, suffice to say that I’m not
yet dead and that is because I’ve made actual progress. The FEV is
a mutagen and an extremely organized one at that. Unfortunately, I
don’t think it was ever actually finished. From the old records, it
appears that there were two main points of research, maybe more.
Somehow Vault-Tec got hold of some samples and decided to continue
research in one of their vaults out east near DC.
Well, I guess none
of that is important because I don’t have access to any of those
records or how their research went. I only have the samples that the
super
mutants brought
me and what research logs I can scrounge up.
This place holds all sorts of secrets
well beyond FEV research. As it turns out the United States was up to
all sorts of grotesque types of research and this place held secrets
on a lot of those projects.
For instance, many believe the
deathclaw to be just another wasteland mutant creature, but it isn’t.
The thing was made by the US before the war. The most deadly creature
out there was made on purpose. It beggars belief.
I plan on erasing all those records
at some point. I don’t want anyone finding this stuff. It would be
bad for the already precarious future of humanity.
Well, I mentioned
some success. That
success comes in the form of a sort of super
mutant
Squirrel that I managed to produce.
That thing bit the hand off of one
of the super
mutants
before another beat it to death and ate the thing raw.
Still, they were pleased. Well, the
one that lost his hand wasn’t particularly happy, but the others
see the potential and I am the first one to actually create a viable
test subject.
Super excited to see where this goes.
Well, I would be if the end result wasn’t the potential creation of
more of those vile brutes.
Well, it sounds
like one of the green
bastards is coming to see me,
so I had better end this.
Tape 3
They brought
in some poor soul they found out there in the wasteland. They want me
to do my next test on him and I’m honestly not sure I can.
I knew this day would come
eventually, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon. I’m supposed to
take away this person’s humanity, his memories, and his sense of
self. It’s barbaric, but to the Greenskins it’s some kind of
reproduction. A means to create more of their kind.
I am honestly thinking of sabotaging
it so he dies quickly. That should delay them for a short while at
least. If I do that, though they might bring more. They do have cages
on wheels down here which they could use to gather dozens or maybe
even more if they cram them in there.
Still, they will bring more, that
much is clear. But perhaps I can convince them that more animal
testing is needed before moving on to humans?
They are pretty dim, even the
smartest among them. Not to say they are all idiots. Their leader is
almost indistinguishable intelligence-wise to your average
wastelander. That makes him especially dangerous.
So, I guess I
should also note a potential problem. That problem is that
radiation-induced mutation may result in
the FEV not working as it should, which is
why my
predecessors suffered
so many failures. I
have tried to remedy this, but I don’t know if it’s something I
can truly fix. I’ve reduced the
chance of catastrophic mutation
errors which
result
in
writhing
monstrosities,
but there is still a chance.
Still,
the squirrel and the
radstag
I
mutated
late
last week
survived, but that’s two out of perhaps fifty or more failures.
I’m
rambling a little, I know that. The truth is that I don’t know what
to do here.
Actually, I do. I’m just not
certain I’m truly ready to take a human life.
Tape 4
It has been
four months since my last recording and by happenstance, this is the
fourth one.
Three more Super Mutants have joined
the fold. Not because they turned up on our doorstep, but because I
helped make them.
While they survived they are
incredibly stupid to the point where they can barely feed themselves.
They can follow orders but that is about it.
The
super
mutant
warlord, the one in charge, is rather pleased and feels I am heading
in the right direction.
I don’t share his feelings.
Still, I believe I have isolated some
parts of the FEV that cause the reduction of intelligence. It is
exacerbated by subjects that have had their cells mutated by
radiation.
I
don’t intend on fixing anything regarding intelligence just yet,
though.
The last thing I want is to
create a
super
mutant
smart enough to take over from me. I would prefer they all remain
woefully ignorant of things scientific.
At the end of the day, though, I know
where all this must end. I don’t want it to happen, but I know that
eventually, it must. I might have a plan, but I don’t know yet.
I guess whoever listens to this will
know if it worked or not. Or maybe these tapes will be lost to time.
Tape 5
It
feels evil, but I know it has to be done. There
is no other real choice.
Slowly,
better and better super
mutants
are coming out of the vats. I have convinced the Warlord to step
up production and use all the vats we have available.
I want to be able to stick twenty people in and get out twenty
monstrosities. I’m
not talking about super mutants, either, but something else. All
I have to do is give up my soul to do it. But I feel that I gave that
up a long, long time ago.
Funnily
enough, even
though I practically spelled it out to them, and told
them I was going to make the strongest, fiercest
creatures they’ve ever seen, the
dumb bastards actually
liked
the
idea. Then
again, they do worship strength above all else so maybe the thought
of some monstrosity powerful enough to kill them turns them on in
some sick sort of way.
Honestly,
I don’t know how this will go. I might be making abominations far
worse than the super
mutants,
but I’ve isolated pretty much every single part of what makes the
FEV work and what it’s doing.
I
can’t believe I’m saying this because it is monstrous and also
because, again, I might be creating something far worse than the
super
mutants
themselves.
What I need is time. Time to make the
preparations. Time to see if it can be done and done correctly. The
DNA I need is stored right here in this facility. All I need to do is
sequence it into the FEV template and with luck, it should work. The
keyword being ‘luck’.
Actually, that’s a lie. I know it
will work, I just don’t know if the subjects will survive the
transformation and I doubt they will survive long after. It is why it
is perfect. They kill the super mutants and the changes eventually
kill them.
Tape 6
That was
unexpected. Very unexpected. On a whim, I made a slight alteration to
the FEV, and humans came out of the vats. Six of them. But they
weren’t normal humans, they were bigger. The leader of the super
mutants was not happy and went to kill them. Managed to kill two but
the rest fled and I could swear they were still getting bigger.
The best thing was that they didn’t
appear to be overtly hostile. As to where they have gone, I don’t
know. But they had to be upwards of eight or nine feet when they
left.
Of course, the super mutant leader
hit me so hard that I was out of it for a few hours. He said I was
lucky he didn’t kill me. He wanted more super mutants, not bigger
humans. I’ll give the bastard super mutants. I’ll give him
mutants so super he won’t know what to do with them. I’ll make
sure that he and the rest of them die. I don’t care if I join them.
They are too dangerous to live.
Truth be told, I had decided against
doing what I intended on doing but not now. As I said before, I have
the DNA right here. All I have to do is sequence it into the FEV
template and unlike last time, this time I am not going to be a
coward and I am actually going to do it.
Tape 7
There
is a small town up north across the border in Canada. I know it is
evil, I know that I should probably just erase all my research and
end my life, but if I do that then the super
mutants
will just keep searching and many more will die.
But who is to say that I won’t
bring something worse into the world?
Hell to it. It has to be done.
I
believe I have successfully integrated deathclaw
DNA into the FEV profile. In essence, the FEV will mutate the subject
into what I believe will be a fairly good approximation. I have been
working tirelessly to ensure that what comes out of those vats will
be able to remove the Greenskin
threat.
Of
course, I understand the risks, but the FEV makes its subjects unable
to breed or
rather has an extremely high likelihood of doing so.
They will have limited lifespans, or at least I hope so. There is
still a variable which means they might live five
years or they might live for
five
hundred.
I
have a terrible
feeling
that the latter will be true and I believe this due to how the
deathclaws
themselves were made.
Within
the next few weeks, I will make the final decision on whether to
proceed or not.
Right
now, I feel like I have to go through with it. For good or ill, the
super
mutants
must be stopped.
Tape 8
No,
I cannot go through with it. Turning people into super
mutant
deathclaws
is a step too far. Not to mention that what I create might bring far
more death and hurt than the super
mutants
could
ever hope to achieve.
Unfortunately, they have already set
off to the small town up north, taking the animal cages with them.
Within the next week or two, they will have returned with prisoners
to be changed.
I
could make it so that the
super
mutants
that step out of the vats still have their memories. But I need more
time to
figure out how exactly to do that. There doesn’t seem to be
anything apparent that should cause them to forget. Maybe
it’s trauma or the physical change to the brain that causes the
memory loss. Ultimately, I don’t know.
Tape 9
They
are late. Is it too much to hope they’re dead? I
doubt it, but if they are, then maybe there is a chance. The Warlord
went with them. If he’s dead, then things might turn out okay after
all.
I can only hope
The
super
mutant
in charge here, though, is not nearly as smart or patient as the
Warlord. He has been talking about taking the role of
leader for
himself and I fear that he won’t be nearly as forgiving.
Hold on, I hear footsteps.
Tape 10
To Hell with
it. I was right, he isn’t nearly as forgiving. I have sabotaged it
all, though the new Warlord thinks everything is fine.
They stick humans in those vats and
they’ll get the biggest, meanest proxy deathclaws they’ve ever
seen and they’ll be wanting blood.
I need rest. I’ve been working
overtime and I don’t know if I got all the calculations right. I
believe, though, that it will work. The question, of course, is
intelligence and humanity. There is no way to tell if they will keep
either. I’m half-willing to step into one of those vats myself.
Fuck it, maybe I’ll sneak in
tonight.
Tape 11
The
old Warlord wasn’t dead at all. They just got lost on the way back
from the
old town and after
almost a month they’re
back
and with maybe twenty
people.
If only that was the end of it.
The old Warlord killed the new one
after he challenged his authority and then sent out more of his
people to gather even more poor bastards. He said it was time to
create an army. Two weeks after that, they returned with another
twenty-five.
Turning
twenty
into those monstrosities is one thing, but forty-five?
Oh,
God, what have I done? If they stick those people into those vats
then they’ll be changed forever and not into super
mutants
who have no memory of who they were. They might remember everything.
If they’re lucky they won’t. If
we’re
all lucky, then they’ll kill all the super
mutants
and
then
each other.
Shit, this is bad.
Shit.
Fuck it. Let it happen. I don’t
care anymore. Let the end come. I welcome it. Those green bastards
deserve to die and honestly so do I.
Tape 12
It is done.
They stuck the first of the prisoners into the vats. When they
brought them out, they were changed and they were definitely not
super mutants and thankfully not conscious. I thought the warlord
would kill me there and then, but he grew excited and stuck more in.
Altogether that will make forty of the monsters. Forty of them that I
have unleashed on the world.
He should have waited. The ones that
went in first have awoken and they are not happy. I am in my office
and even now I can hear the fighting outside. They are monstrous
beasts with impossible strength, especially the males. They are far
more hostile and violent than the females, so much so that they are
attacking them as well. It is by sheer chance that the females are
bigger than the males, but the ferocity of them makes up for it.
I suppose this will be the end.
Either the warlord finds me and kills me or one of the green proxy
deathclaws do. Either way, I’m dead.
Strangely, I’m okay with it. Let
the end come. I deserve it.