[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

[capcious]

Yeah, but I was planning on saving that shit until later. I just -- fuck. [In her anger, she forgot about Nathan's reaction the first time she went on that rant. She wanted to rage against the concept of the Enclave, of the shit they impressed on all of them. She didn't want to hurt him in the process. (She knew she'd fuck this up.)]

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon slips forward, subtly brushing against Zetta as he joins the fry.]

Wow, this is just like Thanksgiving with the family. Spooky.

So...hi...I guess I'm, like, the designated mutant in this room. Grrr. Argle bargle rawrrr.

Getting back to the whole Brotherhood problem...what do you guys think of synths?

[capcious]

[Zetta lets out a breath as Deacon brushes against her. Her fingers twitch to brush against his as he passes, and she has to resist the urge to reach out more directly and touch him. She falls back to Riley and Ferran, crossing her arms anyway by folding her good arm over her sling, resting her hand lightly on her elbow. Riley smooths his hand down her back and kisses her hair. For the first time since the reveal about the virus, Bellamy speaks up, and with a bit of snark.] I feel like I don't need to answer that.

[ersatzeverything]

You know what they say about feeling. It makes an "f" out of an "eel."

[Deacon holds his attention on Bellamy.]

[crowspy]

Gross, eels. I hate those things. Who wants to "f" an eel, am I right?

[bostoncrossing]

Oh dear God... [Carrington closes his eyes as if he's in pain. He should have expected that the two of them in one place would be headache-inducing.

He has to stop them.]

Synths are sentient and sapient individuals who deserve the same rights and autonomy as any other sentient and sapient creature.

[He knows Deacon already knows what he thinks, but it's the fastest way to halt the progression of whatever strange and senseless conversation was about to happen there.]

[capcious]

[Bellamy grins broadly at Singh and leans back, crossing his ankles again. Zetta mutters,] Good god, there are two of them.

[falloutpslnpcs]

Why are we talking about synths? [John asks, confused at Deacon's rapid subject changes.]

I thought the threat was the Brotherhood?

[capcious]

Because what you all think about synths matters as much to us as what you think about wastelanders.

[falloutpslnpcs]

I see a lot of fear about synths. New settler comes in and everyone's afraid that maybe he's a synth spy.

Way I figure, if you can't tell if someone is a synth or not then it probably doesn't matter if they're a synth or not. If a synth attacks me, then I'll care. But if he's just planting tatos who gives a shit if he's got some metal in him. Hell, I've got some metal in me, too.

[Performance implants, medical replacements after battle injuries, he wasn't artificially constructed but he probably has as much tech inside him as a synth now.]

[capcious]

[... this guy and his daughter are definitely her favorites out of this bunch. She's glad they're with the Minutemen -- He may have made the "you're stuck with us" joke, but she's beginning to think there isn't a way that's a bad thing.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

I don't know if I've ever seen a synth. Except when Nick Valentine came up on a case. [Louis shrugs.]

I haven't thought much about them one way or another.

[capcious]

[Well, that's better than nothing. Zetta's eyes slide from him to his wife and brother. He definitely seems the most reasonable of the three, even if he's largely motivated by what only affects them. But... again: she can't entirely hold that against him.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

I can't believe that a group of feeble scientists created this much fear just by creating some android look-a-likes. Replicant panic is a joke. An ordinary human could do the same damn thing with a good facial surgery.

[There's a touch of envy there. He and his gang dismember people and put their body parts on spikes and yet the Institute is what everyone's afraid of.]

[inhonorof]

Feeble? [Zellweger echoes, irritated.] You realize androids and synths are the same thing, right? [comes Bellamy's comment. Riley waits a moment after they're both done to make sure he won't get drowned out.] It's not a joke to everyone who's scared, [he says, still quiet.] One person doing that would be... [He hesitates, thinking of Deacon, and changes his phrasing.] They don't know what the Institute wants, how they work... They don't know anything about them. And they're a group with a lot of power, and they're inaccessible. There's no way to fight back. That's what they're scared of.

[falloutpslnpcs]

Then it's not just the Institute that's feeble, it's the people of the wasteland as well for being scared of them. [Torvald sneers.

Nathan pinches the bridge of his nose and wonders if he can order Torvald to stop having opinions for the duration of the meeting.]

[capcious]

[Zetta wants to behave. She does. She really does. She really wants to behave for Nathan's sake. But. Jesus christ, this asshole.] I swear to god, I'm going to actually haul off and break your nose if you keep this up.

[falloutpslnpcs]

I'd like to see you try. [Torvald draws himself up. Even outside of power armor he has a foot of height over Zetta.

Deacon's sure that Zetta could still totally take him, though.]

[Carrington rolls his eyes.] Let's not start this again. Regan, you haven't said anything about synths.

Because I don't care about synths. There are probably some with the Gunners but if they're good soldiers, I don't care.

[capcious]

I've taken out coursers, I'm not scared of -- [Wait, Carrington is talking over her. Riley's hand is on her shoulder. Wait, she needs to shut the fuck up. She keeps glaring at Torvald, though.]

[ersatzeverything]

Okay, so a unanimous "we aren't interested in pursuing genocide against synths." Yay! Progress.

Be nice if we could get there about all humans, too.

[inhonorof]

So far... We've been the ones asking all the questions. Is there anything you guys want to know about us? [He hopes it'll turn the tables somewhat, and help diffuse... well. No. There's no diffusing the tension between Zetta and Torvald. But he worries about the rest of them.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

Yeah, why the fuck should we follow you. [Torvald says, crossing his arms over his chest. Louis murmurs at him hoping to keep him calm.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley hasn't really been able to figure out what Torvald wants. Regan seems to want order, like Nathan -- maybe moreso. She turned to the Gunners... She's the type where the military life absorbed her, and it's all se knows and wants. Louis... He's trying to be a balancing factor, but it doesn't seem he's being listened to. But he's the least opinionated of them, too. John and Sara, they seem like they've adopted the wastelander life without issue. With John's comment about the Minutemen at the beginning... He's already made his decision about whether or not to support them, with or without the rest of the Enclave remnants. But Bellamy and Torvald are the two mysteries to Riley. Torvald bought into the Enclave purity ideaology hard, complete with the superiority thing. Bellamy... has been mostly silent. And it occurs to Riley suddenly that Deacon's been letting him get away with it -- He's slipped Zetta's notice, Riley thinks, but Deacon's actively talked to him, and not tried to force any answers out of him. He... wonders why. Riley mulling his thoughts over shows itself as hesitation. When he finally answers, it's in the same quiet level he's been using.] We don't... want to start a nation. I don't know if that sounds like it's a good thing to you or not. But... We don't want to try to tell people how to live their lives. We just... want to make them safer. Once people can live with less fear, then... We can, too. The Brotherhood... There are -- [He hesitates, stops himself. He doesn't think saying that there are good people on the ground would... help anything at all, here.] Their goals... mean that a lot of people who haven't even done anything wrong would die. And they're willing to take from regular people so they can do whatever they want. The Minutemen aren't a solution to everything, but... It can help keep people safe, and without extorting them. The Institute... The Institute has a lot it could offer to the surface, so many ways it could actually help, but... They've been isolated so long, they're out of touch with how things really are up here. What they're doing to the synths is... [... he sighs.] It's not something we can allow to keep happening. They deserve to have the same freedoms as anyone else. They're not human, but... that doesn't mean they're lesser. And the Institute has a long way to go before it fully wakes up to that. But... We can't -- We can't afford to give up on them. We can't. We just -- We want to live in peace with our family. And we want other people to have the chance to do the same.

[bostoncrossing]

[Torvald opens his mouth again but Louis interrupts him before he starts with a soft "Let other people have a turn, yeah?"

Carrington is the first to step up.]

I already know your allegiances and ideologies. What I want to know is what would you have us do, if you had the obedience of this group. You're being offered a loaded weapon here. If you accept it, what do you plan on doing with it?

[capcious]

[Riley turns and looks at Zetta. Zetta internally swears. But she can't say she's surprised.] Honestly, I have no fucking clue. This wasn't something we ever really -- [She glances at Nathan. She can't say they never thought this would happen; he offered already to align himself to her, and it came up then. They just... didn't expect this with his entire group.] It's nothing we thought would happen. I mean, fuck, I clawed out of that hellhole thinking I'd lost everything and that I needed to save my son. [She runs her hand through her hair and leaves it there at the back of her head.] I don't fucking know. Right now, our capability to run around and take care of problems is kneecapped. But it'd be weird having you guys solving Minutemen problems. I mean, Riley could set up some introductions or an announcement or something, but... I don't know. Our goal with the Brotherhood right now is infiltration. Then again, if there are operations we need to interrupt... And god knows we need to distract the fuck out of them. [Again, she glances at Nathan; they need to distract the Brotherhood from the teleportation frequencies.] But I don't know how comfortable I am with the idea of asking you guys to be the goose in a wild goose chase. Look, we weren't expecting to have a -- I don't know, an elite hit squad or whatever you guys would end up being. We're usually the only ones doing that shit.