Maybe, You'll Think of Me... a Journal From the Post-Apocalypse (Fallout/SI)

April 9, 2081

Hi. This is Kelly. I just wanted to say this out in the open. Twilight sucks. Bella’s has no personality. Edward is a real creep. And that Jacob guy was kind of a doormat. And they magically turned him into a freak. I mean, if I had some guy show up saying he was going to marry Isabelle when she grew up and all that crap, I’d probably shoot him in the face.

Ugh. And that ‘fanfiction’ stuff? Why? Why would you send me something where the guys have gay sex and then give birth to ass babies? How? Why? It doesn’t work that way! I have two children, I should know!

You send me that kind of lowbrow, low quality smut again and I’ll invent a way to cross the boundaries between time and space so I can slap the jerk out of you

Also, [REDACTED] has asked for Harry Potter series and for the ‘Dramatic Readings of 30Hs and the Doom Comic’, whatever those are. He says I’ll get a chuckle out of it.

Now to my husband...

The thaw is well underway at this point. Soon we’ll be sending out teams to investigate the various lodges and campground in Yellowstone in all seriousness. We’ve done some light scavenging before, but we haven’t really penetrated that deeply before this point. Most of our efforts were focused on easy targets along the highways. This year we’re going balls out. This is going to be the year we completely secure the park and truly make it our own.

You might think I was nuts for not doing this earlier, but the fact is these major campgrounds and lodges probably held thousand of visitors. The possibility of ferals is very high and before I wasn’t willing to take the risk. Most of my people weren’t used to working together and there was a high chance there’d be a lot of them. But after our blooding last year and with our space issues, it’s about time we tackle this issue once and for all.

Along those lines I’m making sure we equip our men as best as possible. Most are getting either shotguns or some of our handful of SMGs. For armor we’re looking at Motorcycle Football pads (basically leather armor as portrayed in the first two games) or armor made from tires. Not the best for ballistic protection, I know, but easy to move in and resistant against most biting attacks and blunt force trauma. And of course, every team gets a geiger counter.

I’ve given orders that non-feral ghouls are to be offered a chance to join us. After all, we already have one Ghoul citizen. They’re also to look out for signs of current human habitation. My thoughts are simple. We don’t want to kill anyone unless we have to, and these people might have been here since the bombs dropped. They deserve a chance to join us, or if they’d rather not, at least come to arrangements that will allow us to cohabitate in peace. Plus I don’t want them accidently looting someone's food supply. We’re better than that. So care is to be taken.

Honestly, we don’t know what we’re going to run into, but if we’re lucky we could have the park ready for a serious once over by the end of May. Most of that time being due to snowy roads limiting access. After that we’re going to start focusing on reclaiming at least parts of the area towns to build outposts.

We’re going to be aggressively going after any pre-atomic salvage yards. Our Guzzoline technology will give us an advantage that could make us the most mobile force in the wasteland once the remaining atomic vehicles kick the bucket.

I will also be scouting military bases, but we need to be careful. Last thing we need is for hostiles with milspec technology to come after us. Though in all honesty, I’m expecting most of them to be glowing. I really am hoping we do get some Ghouls interested in joining us. Would be very useful to have people able to enter high radiation areas without having to pop Rad-X like tic-tacs.

I introduced Wu and Jacobs to the church of the Sub-Genius and I will admit they were a bit befuddled. I did admit, rather bluntly before we even began that it was something of a joke religion. Or rather it’s a religion masquerading as a joke masquerading as a religion. Or is it the other way around? Honestly, I’m not quite sure half the time. But honestly, it doesn’t matter either way because one of our primary tenants is ‘Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke’.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about the Church outright claims to be a UFO mind-control cult and at first glance seems to be a disjointed collection of incoherent ramblings and crazed conspiracy theories. We know how insane it sounds. It’s fully intentional. The point is to mock other religions, because let’s be honest, all religions make outlandish claims in their theology.

When you get down to it the faith has several core points. First, is the word Sub-Genius itself. It doesn’t mean below genius, because frankly most things are. What it means is having the presence of mind, the genius, to look under the sacred cows and standards of accepted reality and try and find greater truths. It’s why everything is intentionally made to look so loony. It’s a method of filtering out the people who, in all frankness, wouldn’t get it anyways.

You see, a major theme is the rejection of the concept of absolute truth. The entire point is to maintain a wide open mind. To think out of the box and look at things as an individual and have the courage to be abnormal. Which is also where the ideal of the Short Duration Personal Savior comes in. I don’t worship “Bob”, though I pay attention to his teachings. Just like I do those of Buddha and Jesus, and countless other worthies. The reason is because there isn’t just one great font of all knowledge. There is more than one book. You have to examine the situation and figure out what teachings, what lessons best apply to the situation at hand.

The issue of Normals and the Conspiracy was a big one. Now, setting aside that the Conspiracy was real in this world, the concept of the Conspiracy is simple. It’s basically the powers that be and the engines of authority trying to suppress the individuality of the masses for its own well being. Organized religion, governments, corporations, anything that tries to force people into molds and milk them for its own benefit is the Conspiracy.

Normals, also sarcastically referred to as Pinkboys, are the dupes of the Conspiracy. Pinks are individuals who have surrendered agency to the Conspiracy and function under a veneer of ‘normalcy’. Normalcy is simply a hollow, false, and self perpetuating dichotomy created to lubricate the engines of the Conspiracy and allow it to enslave others and strip them of their Slack.

Slack is a bit of a loaded term, but it doesn’t actually mean laziness. In fact it’s not really definable. It can be ‘sinful’, or it can be chaste, or it can be both at the same time depending on how you look at it. My best way to describe slack is the fulfillment brought about by engaging in an activity that helps grant an individual self-actualization.

This is the problem. The Conspiracy doesn’t want you to have Slack, the powers that be don’t want self-actualized individuals. They want a bunch of unthinking pinks who blindly perpetuate the mechanisms of authority and will defend their ‘normality’ to their dying breath. Which of course is where you come into False Slack. Meaningless and empty amusements designed to provide short term pleasure without any deep level of personal fulfillment or accomplishment. Amusement parks rides, canned vacations, blind materialism, gambling, prostitution, all of it... it’s all just a tool to keep people from discovering their true Slack.

Basically, at least how I see it, it’s a general system of humanistic self-actualization and general distrust for authority cloaked in a joke. Like I said, it’s a religion masquerading as a joke masquerading as a religion. Or at least that’s how I see it and it’s designed to be viewed individually. There might be someone out there who really does think that if they die and end up in hell, “Bob” will show up with their three times your money back refund and offer to sell them a copy of How to Enjoy Hell for a Nickel an Eternity for $59.95. I think they’re a loon, but you know what, as long as they don’t try and hurt someone that's just fine. Because otherwise it’ll just turn into another Conspiracy trying to force people into a fucking mold.

I also did admit it’s why I’m ultimately uncomfortable with my job. I’m a private man who wants to live a simple, private life. To me, my joy, my slack is my wife, children, my friends, my solitude... and I don’t have enough time for any of them. I don’t want to turn into another gear of the Conspiracy... even if it's a big gear with streamers.

I hope this didn’t sound like proselytization. I just wanted to explain the conversation. I’ll be honest, I think they were ready to lock me in a rubber room at first but... well... by the end they were willing to read the book with an open mind. I’m not looking to convert anyone, I just think... I just think that whatever religion that arises from this place needs to have a strong love of the individual. To avoid stuff like the rejection of the self or totalitarian mortality.

Reverence for Life was much simpler to explain. Jacobs had already heard of Schweitzer though had never had the opportunity to read them. It’s my hope that those views will help shape our morality.

I am life which wills to live, surrounded by life which wills to live. Reverence for Life is a Mindset, an awareness, and not really an ideology. It also gives the best explanation for good and evil I’ve ever seen. Good is that which promotes life. Evil is that which destroys it. Honestly, just look up the Young Indiana Jones clips on Youtube. They explain it far better and give it far more justice than I ever could.

I don’t know what’s going to evolve from this. It’s not my place to tell others what to believe, I just hope in my heart of hearts I’ve planted a seed which will grow into something greater that will be a force for good. God knows enough insane cults spring up from the wasteland, I’m just hoping that maybe something worthwhile might too.

I hope to god I’m not sounding like a total fucking loon right now.

Building an APC isn’t easy, though after last year it’s on the agenda. We’re looking out for a salvageable cargo truck we could use. Basically take a step van, strip it down to the frame, then cover it in mild steel plating. Won’t stand up to military grade weapons, but against most of what we’re dealing with it would be damned near invulnerable. Maybe throw a turret on top for extra fun times.

Aircraft are not in the picture at the moment. Though I am thinking back to the Autogyro from Mad Max. It might just work and according to Kelly there were Helicopter versions of the damned thing back in the day.

For fucks sake, ‘you could do it in New Vegas’ isn’t an excuse for anything. This isn’t a goddamned videogame!

Yes, we know how to build crossbows and the like. We’re thinking of settling up some powered ballista as thunder stick launchers. Though for those we already have the perfect bows already premade and ready to deploy. Automotive leaf springs. Tee hee hee.

The reason we’re using packed dirt is because its cheap, easy to work with, and does the job. We’re saving our concrete for things that actually need concrete. They don’t make it like they used to. Literally.

Not going near Necropolis. It’s still going to be a red zone which means Vault 12 is out of reach. Zero idea as to the location of Vault 77. The only thing I’d want to do with that asshole, House is club him and steal his shit. The only thing I’d want to do with the Enclave is nuke them. And the inhabitants of Vault 8 are assholes.

Fletcherville and New Plymouth are both a little north of Jackson.

I think I will send a team to check on the Indians. Good call.

Those colleges if they exist would be a good call too.

The Northeast entrance, the road hasn’t weathered well. Was hit by a couple bad landslides.

And I know about Mudbrick. I mentioned it last entry.

I’m not doing an Uberpup program. Dogs survived just fine. It’s cats that got the short end of the stick so I decided to cheat fate a bit. We also don’t have dogs that are well suited to be slead dogs. Huskies and the like are actually specially bred for it. Plus, I’m generally a cat person anyways.

Speaking of the cats, why would I keep them away from the kids? They children adore the cats and vice versa. Mainly because the kids love to cuddle and the cats are always willing to reciprocate. My own daughter refuses to go to bed without “Kitty-Kitty” to keep her warm at night. Hope says she keeps the monsters away. And honestly, I’m banking on it.

And don’t even joke about my cats being exposed to FEV. I kind of see them all as my kids and that’s a nightmare I don’t want to think about.

And thunderstick crossbows aren’t realistic. Not a big enough bomb, but like I said, leaf spring ballistas are a thing.

How would I reduce the chance of volcanic eruption? It’s beyond my control. Force of nature there, me laddo.

Yes, Kelly does have a couple apprentices and I’d like to know how a transistor radio is made if you’re going to send us instructions on how to make discrete transistors. In fact, Kelly wants more videos and sites on how we make electronics. Including more DIY transistor info and instructions. Hell, is there any way to make a DIY integrated circuit? Not taking microchips here, just the circuit itself. Might be useful some day.

Yes, I know what an atlatl is. We are using spear throwers with the sticks. They’re not very accurate but they get better range and are accurate enough to do the job.

I know what a Faraday cage is and I know there are intact tools. The issue is actually finding them. The issue with toolboxes being a faraday cage or not is irrelevant because most people don’t keep their power tools in their metal tool box.

We already have towers on the walls and near the major entrances to the part. We’re going to be expanding them to the major overlooks approaching our “territory”. I’ll be honest. We’ve laid claim to a massive region, but the fact is we’re going to grow into it and by sitting our asses on it now we can keep raiders from moving in later.

Billings is a no go. Before the North-Eastern entrance became too treacherous to drive, we did send a scouting force as far as the city. Billings took a direct hit. I’m not sending men into a city that took a direct impact. Between the ferals and the radiation, it’s going to be a deathtrap.

Now, sending people into farming areas is a good idea but it is also a risk. Those regions also were spared the worst of the bombs so they likely have a large number of survivors who will probably shoot first and ask questions later.

And I’ll say now, just to put things to bed, there’s no way in hell we’re going farther north than I-90. Helena got nuked and there were a lot of nuclear launch sites in the middle of the state which would have been a priority target for a first strike. To put it another way, the people at Pitts tell me that if you go to the top of the mountain at night and look north, there’s a faint green glow on the horizon.

Seriously. Fuck that.

For fucks sake man, yes I know adobe is useful but for fucks sake, we’re in the middle of a forest. We have tools for log cabins and lots and lots of wood. We aren’t desperate enough for wattle and daub. The housing issue was because we spent most of the year at war and were hit in the face with 100 extra people right at the beginning of winter when it was too late to do anything but say ‘well shit’ and make due.

Don’t worry, I’d only need two swings of the hammer... hehehehehe...

But thanks for the Gyroplane plans. Kelly has some ideas on how to adapt them.

The DIY lathe looks useful. Thanks. In fact all those DIY tools plans look like they’re going to be worth their weight in gold. Thanks to everyone who sent that kind of stuff.

Working farming robots are going to be a bit difficult to locate to be honest. The EMP really did a number on them. We’ve found dozens of hulks.

Though about food preparation, yeah, it actually does last that long. Let me put it this way. We have cases of Salisbury Steaks of about the quality you’d find in a TV dinner that are not dehydrated and not refrigerated but are still just as inedible now as they were when they were made, and will probably be just the same until the heat death of the universe. This was one of the first things I asked about when I got the supermarket job. Got some funny looks for asking too, but it goes something like this.

It’s a mixture of vacuum preservation and irradiation combined with a couple exotic preservatives to add stability. As long as the plastic baggy stays intact they’re pretty much as stable as canned goods, though maybe a bit more expensive.

Way you serve them is simple. There’s the meat packet, which is basically an irradiated vacuum packed patty, then the sauce packet which looks almost like a giant ketchup packet. You heat them up, maybe prepare some Instamash, and pour on the gravy and you almost have a meal.

Almost I say because it still tastes like a dollar store TV dinner. It’ll feed you but it’s not exactly what I’d call quality cuisine. That and I’ve eaten that I can barely stand the sight of them. It’s almost as bad as fucking Cram.

I. Hate. Cram.

As for EMP, not, it did pretty much burn out or at least damage a lot of the major equipment. Like I said, the idea of shit like robots wandering around for 200 years is laughable at best.

Now I want to mention one problem I have. As always I’d like input on all of the above but this is a major issue. The only person who knows about my origins beyond the original group is Helen and I only told her because frankly, she’s like the cool big sister I never had.

I need to think of whom else to tell, why, and how to break it to them without looking insane or getting shot because they think I was actually a communist agent.

 

Ok so I have a much worse Idea of what you need than you do, so here's this and you can ask for elaboration on what you think would be useful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_electrical_and_electronic_engineering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_agriculture_and_food_technology

As a question, how prevalent was aluminum in prewar america? If it was along the lines of modern (our) america then it would be one of your best options for fiddly bits in robots and what not as it can be more easily cast than iron or steel.

 

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/10/jeri-makes-integrated-circuits/

This might help... might not. No honorable mention of a great sword? Meh. Losing interest here.

 

Imbecile. This is simply being co-posted here; the whole thing originates in another forum with loads of traffic.

 

Actually, I just forgot to reply to his this time. I read all of them when comprising my responses. I just forgot QQ this time.

 

*links Harry Potter series books, Dramatic Readings of 30Hs and the Doom Comic, and over a dozen other young adult series like Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl.*

 

Anyone have a link to the AH thread?

 

http://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=268988

but registration is required

 

May 23, 2081

Kelly here again. Just do me a favor and send me a bunch of Scifi to read and no horrible fanfiction. I’m a little annoyed at my husband. I mean that 30 Hs thing he had you send me was utterly disjointed. At no point in the raving and rambling did it make any sense. I actually looked at the Harry Potter books to try and explain it and it only made it even more demented and illogical.

I honestly should have expected this. My husband claims to be part of a UFO mind control cult so his sense of humor is a bit broken. Which frankly, is one of the reasons I love him. He’s an idiot but he’s my idiot. The Doom one was almost as bad but at least had some internal logic. And when described to me it gave me an idea. I’d like to ask you to send me a bunch of what [REDACTED] calls Retro games. I’m thinking that if I might be able to convert them over to a Holodisk format we might be able to increase the amount of entertainment options open to us.

[REDACTED] wants Wasteland. He’s saying that at least from the creative point of view it was the ideological predecessor of the “Fallout” game that he says our world matches and thus the events of the game might actually happen.

I’d very much appreciate instructions on how to make simple plus toys. I’d at least like to know how to make Sock Monkeys and Rag Dolls. We have socks to spare and plenty of damaged clothing, but the children are growing short on toys. Some set patterns would really make things easier for all of us. Though doesn’t have to be just plush toys. I should have asked this a while ago, but I never really thought of it while I was typing into this thing.

I’m rebuilding a gasoline powered car. We’ve been hitting up salvage yards and are pulling together more vehicles. This is going to be so cool!

And for future note, if you have any questions for me, I’ll be happy to answer them. It seems like all of you have an interest in this world and I can answer those. I’m also able to offer a point of view different than my husband in case you’re interested in a different take on some of your ideas. I see no reason he should have all the fun. I have a bit more of a down to earth perspective since I’m not being forced to be El Presidente.

He hates it when I call him that.

Viva, El Presidente!

It’s moments like this that I have to remind myself that I love my wife...

Just kidding. I love her dearly and she’s one of the three most important ladies in my life and I didn’t say that because she’s kicking me.

Though it certainly contributed.

And now she’s kicking me again.

As infuriating as she is beautiful I swear to god.

And now she stopped.

Alright. Now, where was I?

Right.

Combing the park has proven to be somewhat difficult. Not from the military point of view, but from the human. There’s thousands of corpses out there and while natures dealt with many of those that were outside, those indoors are rather intact and from the way most of them were positioned, many of them didn’t go quickly. To make it worse, there are the ferals.

We’ve probably found well over a hundred wandering about between locations and they never cease to unsettle. Though we’ve found several good sites for possible habitation. One of the top is Mammoth near the northern part of the park. It has hotsprings and while damaged by a couple years without maintenance, it wasn’t hit directly by the bombs. The EMP did a number on the electrical systems but it could probably be fixed up with some good hard work. It also has major carrying capacity. It’s defenses will need improvement, but it’s pretty much a small town waiting to be moved into.

My hope is reasonably simple. Bring it back on line. Our little fortified little outpost here was a good redoubt but we’ve more than outgrown it. We’re now running at over 500 people here. We have tents set up outside the walls, which isn’t safe.

Masterson’s scouts ran into another semi-nomadic group coming up from the south. They’re all from some jerkwater somewhere in northern Utah. They were far enough from the bombs not to get hit directly and took shelter in an abandoned mine they’d been filling with supplies to serve as an adhoc vault.

While not as obsessively prepared as say, Masterson’s Americaneers who are full on survivalists, they made having a fall back point something of a community project and they had more than enough supplies to last for a year in there.

From the sound of it, should have been as close to a happy ending as you could get in this day and age. It wasn’t.

I’m going to say now, the hatred for the China wasn’t just because of the war and the internment of Chinese civilians wasn’t just because of racism. The PRC were nasty pieces of work, easily as bad as the Enclave and Hei Gui was able to swim through that population like fish in a goddamned sea. I had a couple conversations with Henry on the subject and the general attitude is that the US oppressed the Chinese Americans because many were spies for the PRC and the Chinese Americans were willing to become spies because they were being oppressed. And right at the top of that shit sunday was Hei Gui who were playing both sides as fools to get what they wanted.

According to Masterson, one example of the shit they pulled was that a few New Plague outbreaks about 5 years ago that were were traced to a tainted batch of Ramen noodle flavor packets. Notice, Ramen, because it’s distinctly chinese and would cause a backlash that would created more potential agents. Anyways Blue Flu spores are comparable to Smallpox in ability to survive. He knows about this because he was forced to dispose of several cases of noodles when he heard about the recall.

Needless to say, our friends from Utah never got the memo and you can guess what happened. Massive outbreak, tight quarters. When the breakout happened, it was massive. This group took the supplies and gear they could carry and fled into the night.

We both find them a little bit shady. They’re not saying too much about how they survived this long on the move and our guess is that they might have been engaging in scavenging and some selective predation and mild extortion. From the looks of things we’re the first group big enough that they don’t have a chance in hell against so they’re playing it nice.

Given a decade or two they could turn into Raiders if we don’t try and stage an intervention of some kind. They were desperate and got double fucked. I accept that. Hell, had things gone differently, I’ll admit it. If I had to rob and cheat to feed my family, I’d do it. I’d hate myself, but I’d do it. So I’m willing to cut them some slack. We both realize these conditions turn men into monsters, but if they don’t cut that shit out there will be words. Or bullets. And we’re short on bullets so I’d rather try words first but if they don’t work... bullets.

Right now they’re camped out in Jackson. As you can guess we’re limiting our contact. They claim to be clean, but we’re not exactly going to getting close until we know for a fact they’re all clean.

Speaking of Jackson, the next group, I swear to fucking god are evidence that bad pop culture references are part of the fabric of reality in this world. Send me South Park. As much as you can. Because the town just south of Jackson. Guess it’s name. Just fucking guess. Because Masterson came across a small enclave. Several families... all of whom are pretty much fell out of the show. Up to and including a foul mouthed kid named Eric.

Seems there was a town shelter. About 60 survivors. They opened up last year but we were too busy playing whack a raider up north to really keep our scouts going strong.

Their shelter’s exhausted and their town’s spread out and generally indefensible so they’re interested in moving north into the park. They want to settle on their own though, but are open to linking up.

Though it’s moments like this I do feel like going “Seriously God?”

We managed to find a couple other smaller groups subsisting in the more isolated parts of the park. It’s sometimes easy to forget how utterly huge Yellowstone is. Most of these folks were pretty much camping in the boonies or retreated into the hills when the bombs dropped, and lacking our technical knowledge and preparation have been living hand to mouth. Given a generation, I think they’d have devolved into Tribals through a mixture of incest and isolation.

On the other end, we found a settlement of ghouls in West Yellowstone. They were a mixture of survivors from the town and from the park. They’d known about us for a while, and like what they heard, but were avoiding contact. They were afraid we’d see them as monsters. I sent Lucas to talk to them.

From what he’s told me they were shocked to see a Ghoul among us as not only an equal but a community leader. There’s still some ongoing negotiation, but all seems like they’re going to start working with our little collective. This is in my mind a major windfall. We now have a group who are immune to radiation and will be ignored by Ferals.

Wu has also talked to be about his people's’ decision. They had the choice between moving on or joining us. They’ve decided on both. They want to keep their culture and identity alive but find us to be good neighbors. They’d like to lay down roots and start their own little Chinatown here in Yellowstone. Wu’s even mentioned he’d like to have some space for monastic study and meditation.

Our little religious enterprise is going well. It’s shaping into a odd little philosophy that very few people have any complaint over. Sure, Fletcher is bitching about crazy eastern mystical bullsht but lets be honest, now that he’s getting his meds I think the man only complains because he’d spontaneously combust if he didn’t have something to bitch about.

We’re also starting with serious farming as well. Some of the tricks you folks sent were worth their weight in gold. In other cases we’re simply digging off the top layers of soil. The fallout has decayed enough that the soil is at least semi-usable in places. We’re on the cusp of sustainability and once we’re sustainable I can fucking retire and go back to living like a normal person and not having to babysit a small civilization.

I asked the others about the National Guard presence in Cody but it seems that base was stripped for the war effort years ago. Might be some dregs but the place is on lockdown. That means we’d need to blow open the doors and deal with whatever's inside. Not quite ready for that yet. We don’t have the firepower and there's a good chance that the rewards will be slim.

We’re planning on spending some real time in the Wind River Reservation to look for survivors. Some of the people from Missoula are also suggesting we check out the Flathead Reservation as well. They wanted to check it out, but Necros’s raids started before they could.

Driggs might be worth looking into. Though remember, even with a car the going is slow due to the roads having many abandoned vehicles and we have a lot on our plate.

Swords really aren’t on the priority list right now. Besides, if we need them spring steel makes for pretty good blades and there are automotive leaf springs basically everywhere. They’re good steel and almost custom formed to be used as blanks.

I have to thank you all for the... sheer volume of tool information. It’s helpful and I’ll pass it along. Or at least save it to this things internal memory.

All those books are also going to be dead useful.

Right now we really don’t know about many groups outside our little Republic to be. So sending spies is a bit premature.

Good thing about most local power tools. Most use Fission batteries. Means that assume they were not burned out by the bombs they’re going to be good on the power front for about 40 years.

Billings is upstream on the Yellowstone, so I don’t know how bad the contamination is that way. Honestly, I’m in no rush to go find out either. Though if we start seeing 3 eyed fish, I’ll let you know. Might even name them in your honor. Well, that or I’ll call ‘em Blinky Fish. Because, you know, the Simpsons.

Necros did do some raiding south along I-15. We did kind of put a stopper on it once we held Missoula. According to the few survivors of his slave pens we managed to pick up, since Spokane was hit, going west was difficult.

Our general rule of thumb is to stay out of areas that were directly hit. And why I say direct hit I mean multiple surface strikes and/or multi-megaton bombs. The amount of bombs fired make our cold war look like a couple kids glaring at each other across the classroom. Keeping track of kiloton airbursts and EMP bursts simply isn’t worth the trouble, as horrifying as that might sound. You might get a spike of radiation, but its nothing a rad-x can’t deal with. It’s the places that were hit HARD that pretty much are no go areas. The counters start to bitch at you once you get within sight of city limits, and even with environmental suits and rad-x you’re don’t want to spend too long close by.

Atomic car reactors are very tough. It takes truly massive force, or 200 years of decay, to make them become unstable.

Prewar preservation involves chemicals and equipment we do not have access to.

Our level of industry is complicated. We have a solid knowledge base, but lack the tools to build the tools. We’re planning on building them when we have the chance but on the whole we’re a scavenger economy that is planning on becoming self-sufficient at some point in the future when we’re able to feed ourselves.

Being able to build a lathe while useful, is insignificant in the face of small rumbling bellies. Especially when you have a perfectly function one in the back that you pulled out of a burned out high school. Make sense?

That said, the information is useful. A lot of the basics have been forgotten. That steam engine Godo sent us is worth its weight in gold. Sure, we have people who can strip down and rebuild a nuclear reactor but are dumbfounded by the breed of Redneck Engineering we need maintain an industrial society in the long run.

Mutated wildlife is showing up. There were a couple reports of two-headed deer in the woods. Frankly I’m ordering everyone to keep an eye out. If Deer look like that, the hell happened to the Grizzlies?

That vintage projects website is a godsend. Lots of useful basic tech there on all levels and every bit of it within our ability to reproduce. Planning on putting it all on holodisk and slipping it into someone’s machine shop. It’s all old enough that it doesn’t need to be tweaked any.

Showed the walipini layout to Masterson, Pitt, and Fletcher. We’re going to build a number of them at all locations. Assuming we can keep them clear of snow in the winter they’re going to be useful as hell. We’re going to be using real windows instead of plastic sheet though. Snow will be an issue in the winter and frankly, it’s not as if we don’t have tens of thousands of abandoned houses and storefronts within a day’s drive waiting to be stripped down to nothing.

They’re not quite so hot on the garden towers, at least not that design. We’re not exactly wanting for room here and they’d take energy and materials to make, but they think they can get some ideas from it.

I’ll experiment with duckweed at the impact spring, but I’m warning you now... if I get eaten by ambulatory carnivorous mutant duckweed I’m blaming you.

Accessing Nevada and Vegas will be hard because it means going through Salt Lake City, which was nuked to shit. Maybe in a decade or two.

About the possibility of volcanic eruption. First, I’m hoping my foreknowledge implies it never happens. Second, if it does I’m glad we're at ground zero because then everyone on the continent would be fucked and at least we won’t be suffering.

To explain the damage from the EMP, most of the intact stuff we found was in some semi-shielded area. Our guess is the Chinese set off a sizable number of orbital EMP bursts to fry out the grid. The damage we’ve seen indicates it. Most tools and appliances if plugged in are never actually off. Plus a lot of the modern equipment have a fission batteries so they’re never actually put into a cold shutdown either. It’s complicated, it might sound convoluted, and believe me, it’s damned annoying, but sadly it's how things turned out.

A Chem Station? Really? This isn’t a videogame. Creating drugs is extremely complicated chemistry. And believe me, those tribals and raiders you mentioned were probably experts in their trade. Just look at Meth labs. That’s not easy shit yet it gets pulled off by the lowest form of human in the most fucked up conditions.

Again. No moats. Too hard to dig, it was the middle of fucking WINTER at the time, and lining it with spikes is just begging for people to get hurt.

I don’t need to drool at Keri. Kelly’s hotter and probably knows more SCIENCE than most of the crew. She’s the one who needs to be on Mythbusters.

Build a Gundam? What. I don’t even know what to... no. Just. No.

I’ll figure out who to tell later on. Right now I just need some sleep. Thank god things aren’t as bad as last year.

But seriously, South Park? Really?

 

actually mate a chemstation would not be so bad in terms of early experimentation (how alchemists, wiseman/women and chemists came to be) with making useful drugs like making aspirin from willow bark or creating a mild numbing agent from nettles.

also in the games certain plants when mixed together or with already existing chemical could improve them you just need the recipes and from there figure out the process.

Berry Mentats	-	Anti freeze bottle Mentats Tarberry x2
Buffjet	-	Buffout Jet
Bufftats	-	Buffout Mentats
Fury	Chemist: 1	Berserk syringe Buffout
Grape Mentats	-	Hubflower x2 Mentats Whiskey
Jet	-	Fertilizer x2 Plastic
Jet Fuel	Chemist: 1	Flamer fuel x5 Jet
Mentats	-	Abraxo cleaner Brain fungus x2 Lead
Orange Mentats	-	Asbestos Carrot Mentats
Overdrive	Chemist: 1	Acid x2 Nuka Cola Psycho
Psycho	-	Acid Circuitry Hubflower x2 Stimpak
Psycho jet	-	Jet Psycho
Psychobuff	-	Buffout Psycho
Ultrajet	Chemist: 1	Bloodleaf Fertilizer Jet Plastic x2

Name	Perk Requirement	Items Needed
Glowing blood pack	-	Antiseptic Blood pack Irradiated blood
RadAway	-	Antiseptic x2 Glowing fungus Plastic Purified water
Refreshing beverage	-	Antiseptic Blood pack Purified water x2 RadAway x2 Stimpak
Skeeto Spit	-	Blood sac Bloodleaf Glass Steel
Stimpak	-	Antiseptic x2 Blood pack Steel

Name	Perk Requirement	Items Needed
Cutting fluid	-	Acid x2 Bone x8 Purified water x2 Steel

so long as you have one actual chemist or ex highschool junkie this is doable. sides there must be some local schools where you can get most of what you need.

im not saying that these are the actual recipes for making stuff like stimpack but the individual items probably contain some of the major ingredients and would allow you to create inferior versions which in the apocalypse is better than nothing and could potentially secure your community as a future neutral zone or trade hub because of your ability to reproduce chems or make new ones.

or you could replace the with these:
Med-X = Morphine (duh)
Jet = Cocaine
Ultrajet = Methamphetamine?
Mentats = MDMA, Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines?
Buffout = Steroids
Stimpaks= Barbiturates, Numbing agents, Oxycodone?
RadAway = Disassociatives or Ketamine maybe?

especially if you can figure out how to extract them from their sources

• Jet ---> Amphetamine

​

Reasoning: Jet increases the amount of energy available to perform VATs, amphetamine is a natural choice for such an energy booster. Also amphetamine came in an inhaler called Benzedrine.

• Dixon's Jet ---> Cut Amphetamine

​

Reasoning: Dixon's Jet gives less AP than regular Jet, so a cut amphetamine dealt by a shady dealer (Dixon) seems natural.

• Rocket ---> Ethylamphetamine - In between amphetamine and methamphetamine in potency

​

Reasoning: Provides more AP than Jet but less than Ultrajet, meaning it's intermediate in strength. Ethylamphetamine is intermediate between amp and meth in strength.

• Ultrajet ---> Methamphetamine (Version 1.0 had dextromethamphetamine, shortened)

​

Reasoning: Most potent form of Jet, so methamphetamine seems natural.

• Party Time Mentats ---> BZP

​

Reasoning: A kind of party time stimulant (but less powetful than jet), so benzylpiperazine

• Psycho ---> PCP

​

Reasoning: PCP tends to induce anesthesia in humans, meaning the user can deal more pain with less inhibition.

• RadAway ---> 5-Androstenediol

​

Reasoning: 5-Androstenediol is a steroid that has use in treating acute radiation sickness

• Slasher ---> Morphine/PCP

​

Reasoning: Slasher is a Med-X/Psycho combo, so renamed to Morphine/PCP

• Mentats ---> Modafinil

​

Reasoning: Mentants are a sort of mental booster like a nootropic drug, modafinil is this sort of drug called a eugeroic.

• Med-X ---> Morphine

​

Reasoning: Bethesda's original name for Med-X

• Grape Mentats ---> (R)-Modafinil

​

Reasoning: Another type of eugeroic.

• Berry Mentats ---> Armodafinil

​

Reasoning: Another type of eugeroic.

• Orange Mentats ---> Adrafinil

​

Reasoning: Another type of eugeroic.

• Coyote Tobacco Chew ---> Tobacco Chew

​

Reasoning: Simplifying the name.

• Rebound ---> Cathinone

​

Reasoning: Rebound is an injection of Jet and adrenal chemicals. Cathinone provides amphetamine effects with more of an adrenergic push.

• Steady ---> Diazepam

​

Reasoning: Steady helps steady the user's hands, reducing weapon spray. Diazepam steadies hands.

• Turbo ---> Inhalant

​

Reasoning: Turbo produces the effect of making the users surroundings appear to slow down and the item appears to be an aerosol can. Inhalable gases tend to make the world seem to go by slower.

• Cateye ---> Tropicamide

​

Reasoning: Cateye makes night vision stronger. Tropicamide is a atropine derivative that dilutes the pupil, allowing more light to enter the eye.

• Fixer ---> Ibogaine

​

Reasoning: Fixer temporarily removes withdrawal effects without being addictive in its own right. Ibogaine is the main alkaloid of the iboga root which is a powerful psychedelic that has the remarkable ability to hit almost all addictive drug receptors, attenuating withdrawal and often bringing about a spiritual state that is able to bring one to kick many different drug habits.


you possess a library so you should be able to find where these chems originate in nature if they are not man made.

and before you say about extraction i just want to say 3 words:

syringe, glands, centrifuge

 

Don't worry, the murder plants are the result of prewar research.