[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

[reformedcriminal]

Oh, I don't need to be your favorite. Just the most attractive.

[capcious]

That goes without saying, gorgeous. [Zetta reaches over Riley to tap her fingers under his chin.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran smiles smugly and tilts his head to kiss Zetta's fingers, since they're right there.]

[redefinitions]

[It's at the time the door to the room opens, and Shaun appears in the doorway. When he gets a good look at them, though, he stops short, his expression going immediately blank.]

Perhaps I should return later.

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran rapidly rolls out of the bed, putting a respectable distance between himself and the others.]

Not at all. Have you come to visit your mother or is there news? Either way, you shouldn't be obligated to wait.

[redefinitions]

[Ferran goes from pressed up against his side to gone in no time at all, and Riley shivers reflexively. But he's right; whatever Shaun is here about, this isn't really... appropriate for it. Riley sighs and sits up, rubbing a hand down his face.

Shaun's eyes flick from Ferran to Riley, taking in how obviously drained he looks. He looks back to Ferran and clasps his hands behind his back as he replies.] Neither. I came with the intention of collecting a report of the Brotherhood situation. But, if there is nothing critical to discuss, I can return later.

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon looks to Riley. He just can't give an intel report to the Director of the Institute. He can't bring himself to do it. Also, Glory would totally kill him if she ever found out. He'll let Riley do the dirty work.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley runs his hand through his hair and fights back a sigh.] No... No, it's okay. There's no real reason to wait. [He feels Zetta settling a hand on his lower back, and he feels steadied by it. There's a quiet surge of love in his chest, and he rests one of his hands on her knee, thumb brushing.] We were assigned to a new squad, one that had the mission of clearing Fiddler's Green and Fort Hagen. Apparently, Maxson specifically wanted me in that group because they knew I was stationed out of Hagen after Anchorage. The paladin in charge didn't know where they got that information from, so we'll have to look into it ourselves. That, and... why they didn't tell me about it on assignment. While we were at Fiddler's Green overnight, we were -- [Here, he hesitates, because he realizes he hadn't told Zetta about this yet. She's... not going to be happy.] We were attacked by raiders belonging to a group we didn't recognize. They utilized customized robots -- [Zetta sits up.] What?! -- and wore armor made out of robot parts. [He squeezes Zetta's knee.] We didn't get hurt. We figured out where they were based out of, over at the satellite array. So... After we checked out the fort, we went over to clear the raiders out of the array. It looked like they were still getting set up there, so they weren't too deeply entrenched. They call themselves the rust devils.

[reformedcriminal]

As if raiders weren't bad enough, now we have raiders who pun.

[Ferran murmurs. But his thoughts are focused more on two critical details. 1) The Brotherhood has information on Riley. 2) These rust devils might be the people who maimed Zetta, and therefore must be eliminated.]

[inhonorof]

We also... [Riley hesitates again. Shaun has been listening patiently, expression attentive, but neutral. He can't tell what he's thinking.] At Fort Hagen, we also... found something. A body. I... [... even talking about this is hard.] ... it had... been there a while, [he says haltingly, getting more quiet as he goes.] ... and... ... the Brotherhood has the technology in Kellogg's implants, [he finally finishes lamely. He doesn't look at any of them as he says it, staring at some vague spot on the wall near the floor.]

[ersatzeverything]

The synth carnage had been all cleaned up, but Kellogg was left behind. I figured it was probably your guys' work. [Deacon shrugs.]

[capcious]

Are you fucking serious? [Zetta looks from Riley and Deacon to Shaun, incredulity in every line of her body.] You let them have his body? His implants kept him alive for so fucking long, and you just let them have them? Do you really want fucking Maxson living for over -- [Shaun holds up his hand to try to stave her off.] Anything of critical importance was reclaimed. They won't have anything that could give them advantage without years upon years of research, and that's if their labs are half as advanced as ours. But you still left his body there, [Riley says, very quiet, finally glancing up at Shaun. Shaun just smiles wanly.]

[reformedcriminal]

Should we be surprised that Shaun didn't feel like holding a funeral for the man whom he believed killed his father?

[Leaving Kellogg's body to rot makes perfect sense to Ferran.]

[inhonorof]

[Who did kill him. Riley wants to curl up against Zetta again, burrow into her and stay there for hours. He realizes suddenly that he's gripping her knee tight, and her fingers on his back are fisted in his shirt.] No funeral... is one thing. But... Leaving him to rot, and then get picked up by an enemy to be picked apart and dissected, and eventually thrown away? [Zetta has schooled her expression back into something resembling relaxed with her eyebrows raised, but her shoulders are still tense.] Definitely my son. [The corners of Shaun's mouth twitch, and he's almost smirking for a second.]

[reformedcriminal]

I confess, I still don't understand why the Institute abandoned its research into life extending technology. I accept your judgement that it won't help the Brotherhood, but surely it's not useless.

[If Ferran had the option to stay young and beautiful forever, he'd choose do to so in a moment.]

[redefinitions]

I shut down the research and development of cybernetics due to the tensions it was causing within the Institute. In addition, upon examining its primary subject of experimentation and records thereof, I came to the conclusion that a prolonged lifespan leads to a reduction in the most fundamental traits of humanity. Cybernetics research brought us many advancements in the medical field, but I deemed furthering its cause to be more potentially harmful than worthwhile.

[reformedcriminal]

Interesting.

[And disappointing. Eternal youth is off the table. But it does bring up a point that might help Deacon.]

And yet the mission of the Gen 3 synth project is "mankind, redefined." The Institute clearly has no philosophical objection to the general notion of altering how we think of humanity. What fundamental traits of humanity were unacceptably reduced? Were the end results of the tests involving cybernetically altered people less human than the Gen 3 synths?

[redefinitions]

The primary subject of cybernetic experimentation was Kellogg, [is Shaun's only answer, letting the man's nature speak for itself.]

[reformedcriminal]

I see.

[Ferran doesn't need an answer to the synth question. It's enough to have used the moment to perhaps give Shaun something to mull upon later. Gen 3s being more "human" than Kellogg is a low bar, all things considered, but it's a start. And Kellogg, for all his inhumanity, was never considered an object without free will.]

[inhonorof]

The Brotherhood... [Riley starts, but hesitates because he's re-entering the conversation. He feels Zetta uncurling her fingers to gently rub her hand against his back.] The Brotherhood want me to look into Kellogg, and... Dr. Virgil. They -- I found the terminal entry Kellogg wrote, talking about tracking a renegade. They don't know that's Dr. Virgil, and I've already talked them into leaving him alone before this. So... So, we came up with the idea to string them along, keep them distracted, get them to waste some resources. Feed them fake intel to chase and make sure they're motivated enough to keep going after it.

[reformedcriminal]

Don't tell Dr. Lone about it, or else he'll want to lay land mines along their route.

[capcious]

[Zetta snorts.] I don't think that exactly counts as condusive to "encouraging them to keep at it." Dr. Lone has no jurisdiction over surface missions, in any case, [Shaun points out, voice mild save for an undercurrent hinting at his continued displeasure towards Nathan's self-assigned surface expeditions.]

[reformedcriminal]

We may need to send him to the surface again at some point. After he's been sufficiently penalized for unauthorized missions.

He has contacts up there still. People with military training. We might need that. I know the Institute prides itself on its self-sufficiency but the Brotherhood has an army and the coursers, deadly as they are, aren't soldiers.

He refuses to share information about his contacts and considering the type of people they are, I doubt they'd agree to meet with strangers even if we could find them ourselves.

[Introducing the Institute to the last of the Enclave survivors in the area may not be the best thing for the Commonwealth, but might help keep the Institute alive if the Brotherhood finds them.]

[redefinitions]

I disagree. The Enclave was already defeated by the Brotherhood, and that was when they were organized and well-armed. I fail to see how the scattered and weakened remnants would have anything worthwhile to provide us.

[reformedcriminal]

Isn't there useful knowledge to be gained even from failed experiments?