[closed] the only constant is change

[capcious]

Who: the Fallout AU crew
Setting: the Commonwealth
Summary: BoS things, institute things
Warnings: Fallout warnings, smut
Other: [original notes] [first post] [second post] [third post] [fourth post] [fifth post] [sixth post] [seventh post] [eighth post]

- minor timeskip to when the BoS has its feet under it again, shaun asks riley to go up and keep an eye on them and deacon goes with
- they get assigned to a BoS squad composed of AU versions of chancellery guards (paladin archimedes o'hallan, knight-captain anthony norris, lancer-sargeant alex reyes, knight riley reynolds, knight everett wynter, knight henry "hal" saller, aspirant 'jack' "deacon" 'priest')
- maybe some minor quests involving getting to know them, gotta get some solid Bonding going
- sarrith (sarah, secret enclave remnant) and sal's romeo and juliet romance
- that one quest where you get the nukes from the glowing sea for the BoS
- wynter's mistake and gradual ghoulification and the position it puts the squad in
- blind betrayal

- shaun announces ferran officially as his successor
- ferran dealing with the short institute quests that result from that
- shaun discovering ferran's a slut and trying to talk to him about it
- zetta freaking out bc they're spending all this time waiting for her to recover and dealing with the BoS, and not having the time to try to figure out a way to save shaun
- zetta, in general, driving shaun slowly up the wall because she's cooped up and needs to be kept occupied or else Bad Things Start Happening, why is this shaun's life, this was not what he was expecting at all
- ferran going on missions with x6-88 / house divided, warwick
- nathan and zay's one night stand with ferran becoming not a one night stand any more
- at some point we need to have nathan call deacon a mongrel to his face so zetta can go positively nuclear
- zay finding out nathan is taking buffout

- build towards the railroad and institute being on better terms (not *stable*, but they need to be in a position where they're willing to make an alliance at the battle for bunker hill and afterwards to take the BoS down)
- probably need to do a meeting with dez and carrington, bc jfc (and ferran being the next director makes it easier to make negotiations on the institute's behalf though shaun probably doesnt fully trust him with that wrt the railroad yet, shaun needs to see ferran make decisions that benefit the institute OVER the railroad for that)

- mass fusion happens before battle for bunker hill, lighting a fire under the brotherhood's ass (still use it as the faction cut-off point?)
- at the battle, brotherhood wins -- keeping them a legitimate threat and serving as the push for the institute and railroad to work together against them

[image] [lyrics]

well, oh, it seems you're a lot like me
you dug yourself into places you never thought you would be
but don't you fret, and don't you mind
the only constant is change,
and you never know what you'll find

yeah, tomorrow i might wake up nice and clean
and i might believe the things i said i didn't mean
and this might turn and wind up just the way we'd dreamed
and i might become the things i swore i'd always be

Comments

[inhonorof]

[It takes Riley a moment to realize what Hal means, and then he doesn't know whether to be mortified or to laugh. He ends up doing both. At least Hal's assumption provides the others an explanation of their own making. He just needs to help it along.] It's kind of their thing, [he agrees. There. Nice one.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Anthony laughs.]

I've never heard a robot make puns before.

[inhonorof]

Really? All Mr. Handies are programmed with an entire library of them.

[gallifreynpcs]

I've haven't met many Mr. Handies. The few I've met before tried to kill me, so I didn't get to jokes.

I think maybe losing their families drove a lot of them crazy. Proctor Quinlan says it's just programming decay after two-hundred years. But I don't know. None of the other pre-War robots glitched like that as consistently as that.

[inhonorof]

[Riley sobers instantly, his good humor evaporating.] I don't know. Codsworth was alone until this past year, and he held up. If it was just programming decay... [It would've affected him, too. Riley looks away from Anthony back to Codsworth, who is spinning a particularly bad pun. He'd thought he'd lost his family, too. But Codsworth had told him what kept him going was the hope that some day, their descendents would come out of the vault. Maybe that was the difference. ... but Riley doesn't want to share that. It's personal. It should be up to Codsworth to decide who knows that. Instead, what he says is,] But not all Mr. Handies were domestic models. You saw companies using them, too. Maybe there was a difference in the programming between the household and office packages.

[gallifreynpcs]

Yeah, and all the ones I've seen were in this old factory in D.C. on a tech scouting mission.

[And Codsworth is so different from those, Anthony thinks. Funny how a robot that looks the same, programmed by the same company, could be completely different. Like meeting triplets where two of them are bloodthirsty raiders and the third is somehow a peaceful farmer.]

[inhonorof]

Maybe that's what it is. [A pause.] ... I should probably stop them, because otherwise, they're not going to. [Riley steps forward again, holding a hand out.] Hey, Codsworth? I know we called you down here for the puppies, but we need your help with something else before you leave. Oh, certainly, sir! Anything for you.

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon sticks out his tongue at Riley.]

Spoilsport. [He mouths at Riley behind Codsworth's back.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley grins apologetically at Deacon.] We were attacked by some raiders with robots last night. We were hoping we could take the robots apart and find something, maybe a navigation drive or that kind of thing, that'll help us figure out where they came from. We don't want them to be a risk to Sanctuary or anyone else who lives around here. But we don't have anyone who could recognize any of the parts. Do you think you could? I could certainly try, sir.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Alex scampers forward at that.]

The robot scraps are this way. I'll show you.

...

[He stops, though, and looks at Riley.]

It's not weird for it to go through robot parts, is it?

[Brotherhood training states that robots aren't people, but it still feels weird. Like bringing a random person to a mortuary to cut open some bodies and point out what an appendix looks like.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley could answer this, but there's something about the way that question was phrased that bothers him.] You don't have to ask me. He's right here.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Alex looks at Codsworth, back to Riley, and at Codsworth again like he's not sure how to talk to robots.]

Uh, Codsworth, so...is it?

[inhonorof]

Not at all! There's no need to worry on my account, [Codsworth answers cheefully. Riley relaxes marginally.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Alex relaxes too, but for a different reason.]

Good. Wouldn't want you to go all robotic psycho from trauma of tearing apart the chassis of your brethren or some shit like that. Especially not when I'm with you.

[inhonorof]

[... and, just like that, Riley's hackles are going back up. He frowns deeply.] Don't say things like that.

[gallifreynpcs]

Like what? [Alex looks at Riley in confusion.]

[inhonorof]

Don't -- [Riley struggles for words for a moment, longer than he wants to. He doesn't know how to explain this.] You're telling someone -- [He really, really doesn't know how to explain this. He runs his hand through his hair, frustrated more with himself than anything else, now.] Just... look. Codsworth is part of my family, so please, talk to him like you'd talk to anyone else. [A beat.] Talk to him like you'd talk to me.

[gallifreynpcs]

You don't have a buzz saw for a hand. I'm not really as worried about you getting fucking murder-death-kill on us.

[Deacon pipes up from the cup of coffee he's claimed.]

Nah, he's got a laser musket. So he could, like, take you out from thirty paces away instead.

[inhonorof]

[Alex still isn't getting it. Deacon is -- Riley thinks Deacon is trying to turn his logic on him, but he doesn't think that's going to work, either. He doesn't... He doesn't know what to do. His shoulders are hunched and tense.] If you trust me not to, then you should trust him. [Even his words are growing tight.]

[gallifreynpcs]

I know you. I don't know him.

[inhonorof]

[Riley's agitation continues to rise.] And I trust him. I trusted him with my son after he was born. He waited for us when we went into the vault. He's never let us down. [From behind him, he hears Codsworth trying to pipe up,] Sir, [his voice wavering.]

[gallifreynpcs]

Yeah, but I don't know him. And the last person you guys vouched for [Just Deacon, but in Alex's mind they go together.] turned out to be a spy who helped a fucking murderer escape.

[Alex, too, is growing more agitated as the conversation progresses. Anthony shuffles a half step forward like he might leap between them.]

[inhonorof]

[Dammit. Riley doesn't know how to counter that, doesn't -- like this, doesn't like doing this, and it feels like his entire body is tense. But he can't let himself back out just because he hates arguing, because this is for Codsworth's sake. But Codsworth is taking advantage of how long it's taking Riley to figure out a response, and speaking up again. This time, his tone is approaching on gentle.] Mister Riley... It's quite alright. [Riley half-turns towards him.] Codsworth... [He doesn't mean for his voice to sound as vulnerable as it comes out.] I'll be fine, sir, I assure you, [Codsworth answers with confidence. Riley starts to deflate, shrink in on himself. He wants Zetta.]

[ersatzeverything]

Hey, I was the one who was a totally bad judge of character there, not Riley. So blame me.

And I get that it's natural to be suspicious. [Boy, does he ever.] Suspicion is totally reasonable. But when someone offers to help you with a thing just to be nice, you can, like, at least pretend to be grateful while you're sussing out their character, you know?

[inhonorof]

[Codsworth has floated up next to Riley, who has shifted to stand closer to him, with an air to him almost like he's trying to hide behind the Mr. Handy. He feels like he's failed him, didn't adequately stand up for him. After everything Codsworth's done for him...] Fret not, sir, [Codsworth says to him quietly, and then, something more personal, he touches a pincer to his back. It's something Codsworth only does with Riley -- something he hasn't done in a long time, because it was usually only when he was in a bad way.]