[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

[coursers]

[X6 is not curious -- it's inappropriate for a courser -- so he does not pursue the matter further. He simply nods, and their travel to Goodneighbor continues.

They locate the farmhand in the Third Rail. Reynolds chooses to pose as a mercenary looking for information about the job in order to get the details of what he was planning with Sutton, and then used that position to convince him they were unreasonable for believing the concept Warwick is a synth. X6-88 has to admit it's a smart play, from several angles.

([X6-88 liked that.])

They have the information they need now, and the issue the farmhand poses has been neutralized. But before they leave Goodneighbor, Reynolds insists on stopping so he can change clothes. When he re-emerges, he is wearing a long black trench coat and a silver scarf tucked neatly down the front. X6-88 doesn't understand why, but he also doesn't ask. For all that Reynolds talked about the courser uniform standing out, the two of them dressed like this will certainly stand out more.]

[reformedcriminal]

All right, I'm ready to head out. [It's a lot of travelling, but he needs to make it back to the homestead before Cedric does or else he'll recognize him and grow suspicious. He needs to get Sutton out of the homestead and kill him before Cedric returns.]

I'll tell you what the plan is once we're out of Goodneighbor.

[He likes Goodneighbor but he won't discuss Institute business within its walls. Too much risk of someone overhearing something and selling the information.]

[coursers]

Yes, sir. [Perhaps the change in outfit has something to do with the plan. He fails to see how that could be, but perhaps Reynolds will enlighten him.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran waits until they're clear of the narrow winding alleys around Goodneighbor before talking.]

Sutton is a drug addict, alcoholic, and miserable excuse for a parent and husband. A wretch of a human being in every way, and Sutton knows it. Warwick--the real Warwick--was no peach himself. The synth is an improvement on the original. I think I can convince Sutton that drugs and envy are clouding his brain, that it's easier for him to believe that Warwick is a synth than to believe that a man can turn his life around because if it's the latter it proves what a failure Sutton is.

If it doesn't work, we may have to kill him.

[And if it does work, he's going to tell Sutton that he should leave the homestead. He nearly destroyed Warwick's family, after all. And then he can ambush him and make it look like a Gunner attack.]

[coursers]

[So, no, the outfit hasn't been explained. As X6 figured.

Reynolds' solution would continue the trend of smoothing things over while turning their own thoughts against them, which X6-88 approves of, as it makes it seem as though the Institute had no presence in the situation at all, as Father wanted. He can't say he understands the... emotional intricacies of the situation, but they aren't for him to understand. If it were him, he would simply ensure that Sutton died while away from the farm. But not understanding won't affect his role or his performance.]

Understood. I'll follow your lead, sir.

[reformedcriminal]

Thank you, X6. It's good to have you watching my back.

[He's seen courser reflexes. He's confident that X6 can have a gun drawn and Sutton dead before Sutton can fire, if he decides to get violent. It's reassuring when the terrifying killing machine is on his side.]

[coursers]

[In response, X6 simply nods and says again,] Sir.

[The trip back to the homestead goes uneventfully, minus another encounter with mirelurks. When they arrive, however, no one is out in the fields.]

I hear voices in the house, [X6-88 reports.]

[reformedcriminal]

Do they sound angry or frightened?

[Ferran needs to know if it's just an indoor meal break or if something's going on.]

[coursers]

Both. [There's definitely something going on.]

[reformedcriminal]

All right, let's go in carefully. We don't want to startle Sutton or else he might do something rash.

[coursers]

[They approach the house quietly, and as they reach the steps, Sutton can be heard speaking.]

One way or another, you're going to admit what you really are.

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran tries to make enough noise as he approaches so that he won't startle Sutton. The mood he's in now he might be inclined to shoot first and never ask questions. He calls out, pretending that this attack is a surprise.]

What's going on? Mrs. Warwick, are you all right?

[coursers]

[X6-88 hears Sutton swear.

Mrs. Warwick answers,] Help us! Please, you have to stop him.

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran enters, his gun drawn but not raised. He needs to look like someone who is ready to help what would appear to an outsider to be an attack on a nice farming family, but not panic Sutton into violence.]

All right, just calm down. If it's money you want, I'm sure we can arrange that. You don't have to kill anyone.

[A worker holding his boss at gunpoint: Ferran imagines that the first assumption a stranger would come to is that it's a fight about money.]

[coursers]

[The Warwick synth is standing up against the wall, his hands held in the air -- Sutton, standing near the opposite wall, a pipe pistol drawn. The family is standing in the living area, the teenage daughter and younger son huddled together in fear, the mother standing in front of them.

What a mess.

Sutton moves his gun from the Warwick synth to Ferran and X6 as they enter, their own weapons drawn. He glares at them.] You! I know you're a part of this. You probably killed the real Roger so this thing could take his place.

[reformedcriminal]

A part of what?

[Sutton's attention is focused on them now instead of Warwick. Good.]

[coursers]

Don't try playing stupid. I figured it out! He's a synth! And you're one of them! You show up out of nowhere, have your secret chat with Roger and the next thing I see, you're off looking for Cedric. I know you're up to something, and I ain't going to trust a word you say.

[reformedcriminal]

What makes you think Warwick is a synth? What makes you think I'm a synth, unless talking--pretty overtly, I'll add, it's not much of a secret when we're in the middle of a goddamn open field--is what counts as evidence these days. In which case every passerby who does business here is suspect.

[Sutton can't possibly know that they sought out Cedric. No one but Warwick knew they'd been told about him. It must be Sutton's paranoia talking.]

[coursers]

I know, okay? I know. Nobody's personality just turns around like that. Nobody's.

[reformedcriminal]

You're going to have to give more detail than that, because right now you're sounding like a paranoid Jet-addict. The type that swear that time-travelling aliens started the Great War.

How did Warwick change?

[coursers]

I don't need to justify myself to you. His family knows. They understand.

[Mrs. Warwick shakes her head quickly.] Understand? We don't understand you at all. You're crazy!

[reformedcriminal]

Mrs. Warwick, what's he talking about?

[coursers]

I don't know, [she says, and X6-88 can tell she's lying by the fear on her face. He wonders why very briefly, but then considers the information Reynolds had shared as they left Goodneighbor. If the human Warwick was as bad as he said, then perhaps Mrs. Warwick has seen the truth in Sutton's paranoia, and prefers the synth. Perhaps she's hoping the less support she gives Sutton, the higher the likelihood of things working out in her favor.

Interesting.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran sighs in a performance of frustration.]

Sutton, you said something about personality changing. What changed? Has Warwick started vivisecting raiders or something?

[coursers]

He -- [To Sutton's credit, he seems to realize the corner he's been backed into. If he starts talking about how Warwick became "too nice"...

He lifts his pistol aggressively, and X6-88 shifts his rifle.] I don't need to explain myself! Especially not to you. Are you ready to take a bullet for a synth?