[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]

[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?

[reformedcriminal]

I'm ready to stop you from murdering a man, yes. I still haven't seen or heard a shred of evidence for him being a synth. If there were truly something off about him, don't you think his wife would be the first to notice?

All I'm seeing right now is a paranoid drug addict about to rip a family apart.

[coursers]

I... I know what I've seen! [Despite his insistence, he's starting to look uncertain, his resolve wavering, his gun lowering.] At least... I think I do. What else could explain it...?

[He looks beseechingly to the Warwick family.] None of you believe me, do you? Am I really crazy? I don't know... I was so sure about Roger... [His hands are starting to shake.] Jesus, what if... What if I'm wrong? What if I was about to... right in front of June and the kids...

[reformedcriminal]

Why don't you go. Get clean. I think you'll see things differently once the chem craving is out of your system.

[coursers]

I... yeah. I need to sort things out, I've lost sight of things.

[He hesitantly starts to move towards the door, but Reynolds and X6-88 are still standing in it.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran slowly backs out to let Sutton through. Their work here at Warwick Homestead is done. But their work with Sutton isn't yet. Once Sutton is far enough away, they'll follow him.]