Chapter 1: WE ARE LEGION?
I felt like writing about this after a session of hoi4 with the mod.
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"How foolish I've been, so naive to let them deceive me, or to trust them. Well, it's not easy to doubt those who raised you from a child to adolescence.
At no point did I think that our dear supervisor, who filled our heads with lies about our bright future, was only speaking words full of deceit to keep us calm. He assured us that the day of reclamation would come, when all our acquired skills would make sense.
Our home, the place that supposedly sheltered the best genes humanity had to offer before everything went to hell over resource conflicts, had the noble mission of creating the leaders of tomorrow. They tested indoctrination and teaching methods, using advanced technology to bombard our brains with knowledge. They focused on leadership, charisma, and deceit, without neglecting physical skills. Several generations had passed through genetic selection, where only the best, with the finest genetic reserve of human society, were chosen. Additionally, there was a lot of genetic therapy involved, all because the leaders of a shattered country needed to be born warriors, so that the people they ruled would feel protected.
They called us "the future presidents of America." However, those names didn't mean much to me; I felt no attachment to a country that ceased to exist years ago, especially due to some blurry memories… that I clearly know aren't mine. But apparently, due to some issues during my fetal development, I acquired these memories that occasionally surfaced in my mind.
Thanks to that, I managed to break the trance the supervisor had generated in all my siblings. Memories that showed me the terrible experiments the company that built these vaults had planned.
At first, with all my heart, I thought my vault would be one of the control vaults, where the objective was genuinely what they had been drilling into our heads for years.
Taking advantage of a weakness in the guards, who always watched over us during our indoctrination hours in the learning pods, I discovered the truth. A guard showed up to work drunk and quickly fell asleep, giving me enough time to snoop on the computer. Bypassing the security defenses that protected the vault's information wasn't difficult, as we were regularly taught computer science, and above all, how to hack into RobCO computers and networks. Vault-Tec had a very different computer defense system, but it wasn't hard to learn on the spot, using all the knowledge they had forced into my head about the competitor's security issues as a base.
I managed to access the program files while the guard's snores kept me alert, discovering the vault's purpose. Another burst of memories hit me, showing me Vault 75, which aimed to create the perfect soldiers. My vault, however, had the purpose of creating perfect politicians with unshakable loyalty to America.
We were Generation 193... All previous generations, when they reached their peak physical development at sixteen, were eliminated. Those who showed blind loyalty and great knowledge in fields like agriculture, mechanics, and biology were chosen to maintain the vault's operations for the following generations.
All of this was decided based on various ratings according to our growth, and according to my own ratings, even though I had exceptional scores in many areas, none were of use to the vault, so I was marked to be discarded on my next birthday. Time was running out, and I refused to die doing nothing.
The vault's security measures were poor; no one had ever attempted anything like a rebellion before, so the atmosphere inside the facility was quite peaceful.
Within hours of my discovery, I secretly began to break many technological objects in the area where we lived, searching for parts to create my own tools, necessary if I wanted to change my fate.
Due to the vast knowledge they had forced into my brain, I managed to make radios, spare parts, and alarm clocks disappear. My greatest achievement was when I managed to break one of the computers that controlled one of our relaxation zones, and thus, I was able to replace it by helping the technician. I asked so many questions that he forgot to take the broken computer with him, which allowed me to repair it with a multitude of parts I had managed to gather over days.
Keeping a computer secret, and even more, finding a way to connect it to the vault's system, was one of the toughest challenges I had ever faced.
However, the ventilation zones proved to be the perfect hiding place: little presence of my peers and only a few sensors in the ventilation. This place quickly became where I stored all the items that could land me in trouble.
After several days, I managed to find where the wiring of one of the main computers ran, and, making a bold move, I managed to set up an improvised connection with the computer I had hidden in the ventilation.
The next challenge was to remain hidden within the system. The security system was deficient; it hadn't received updates in years, so being invisible to the scientists' eyes was much easier than I thought. But I remembered that computer science wasn't an essential skill to join the group that controlled everything.
Thanks to that, I managed to enter the vault's central system and access the security cameras, and in fact, the entire control system.
Now, knowing the location of all the security cameras, and not depending on moving through areas where none were visible, I managed to establish areas where the central servers received programming with empty corridors. This way, I could much better control my operations area in the ventilation, deactivating the sensors while the server continued to receive the information that everything was perfect, giving me more freedom to move.
The next step was to create a security ID with all the necessary permissions to open the doors that separated us from the scientists, something essential to escape this vault.
Although I tried to gain support from my peers, it was in vain. The indoctrination we had received was so strong that my hints of insubordination were met with terrible reactions. So I knew that gaining help from my peers would be impossible.
But luckily, I could make several of the robots in the vault, which were there to help us with daily tasks, join my cause for escape by slightly altering their enemy detection patterns. By establishing that anyone without a supervisor's authorization would be considered an enemy, I ensured that the sentinels and vault robots would identify everyone without the ID as a threat.
The last thing I needed to complete my preparations was a weapon, and I only had to look under my bed. Tearing off one of the metal supports, and using a rough surface, I managed to sharpen a dagger long enough to reach the heart if I could stab it near the ribs.
Then, I just had to keep being the perfect individual, as I had done for several weeks, until the day of a very important celebration arrived, when everyone would be celebrating. We had been indoctrinated to celebrate crucial moments of America: July 4th, the official birthday of all generations under experimentation.
I modified my place on the list through the central server so that I would be assigned as a helper in the kitchen, distributing drinks and food to the birthday boys while the rest of the scientists celebrated in their zone. When I was alone, I sprinkled all the drinks with ground glass and added cleaning chemicals to the food.
I just sat back and watched, claiming a stomachache, while all my fellow experiment participants drank and ate, obviously showing disgust at the taste of the food, but everything was going according to plan.
It only took two hours for even the strongest to fall to the floor, vomiting blood.
The pair of guards watching over us met a quick and lethal end: one with his throat slit wide open, and the other with a sharp piece of metal stabbed directly into his heart.
Using my supervisor ID and the computer in the area, I made the final changes, and the day of freedom could officially begin—my day of freedom. I changed how the robots saw the scientists and locked the armory with high-level authorization.
I took the security guard's pistol and donned his riot armor.
I hadn't even put on the body armor when I heard screams in the other sector.
Using my ID, the doors opened, and I walked through the hallways I had studied in advance thanks to the security cameras. I headed to the armory in search of weapons with a higher rate of fire, to put to use the skills I acquired in the reality simulator.
It didn't take long before I encountered a pair of Mr. Handy robots with their tools soaked in the blood of some guards who had tried to enter the armory.
'Unarmed guards... how unfortunate.'
"Identification detected... greetings, Supervisor. You must take shelter; unidentified subjects have entered the vault," said one of the robots, moving a circular saw.
"I'm aware. Eliminate them all," I replied while placing my ID in the armory and pointing towards the experiment area.
There wasn't much to choose from; all the weapons were low-caliber pistols that couldn't penetrate the robots and riot gear. Moving several crates while still hearing cries for help throughout the area, I managed to find something good: an R91 assault rifle and several dozen magazines.
Using the armory terminals, I checked the security cameras and looked for all the places of resistance that the scientists managed to create. They were quite few because the guards had left their weapons in the armory due to a regulation established for guards stationed in the scientists' sectors forty-two years ago, after a drunken guard on July 4th ended with several dead.
All I had to do now was direct the still-operational robots to the places where the survivors had barricaded themselves and open the doors to let these reprogrammed machines finish the job.
For several minutes, I enjoyed watching how my executioners were massacred by the robots that had previously served them so faithfully, observing their reactions as the doors they had sealed opened and several robots entered.
As I watched a group of twenty scientists being cut and dismembered, I wondered what kind of lunatic would put a circular saw on those robots that could easily separate bone from flesh.
I stood up and, with several magazines near my gear, went to find the largest group of scientists who had managed to barricade themselves in the dining area due to the few robots there.
I opened the door with my ID, and they all looked at me with great happiness, until they realized I was one of the experiments from below.
"Happy 4th of July, you sons of bitches," I said as I pulled the trigger.
The rifle's recoil struck me every time one of the war rounds fired, and I watched as each of these scientists who had lied to me for so many years dropped dead.
I stopped shooting only when the gun ran out of ammunition in the magazine.
Killing was very different from how the simulations made it appear, but I didn't feel any difference from the battlefields they made us practice on.
I ended up killing two more groups, and seeing the hallways, not finding anyone with the supervisor's physique, I went to his office to finish it all.
Placing the ID, the doors opened, and I found an old man with a gun pointed at me with a trembling arm.
"Shit, finally, what took you so long?" the supervisor said, nervous and angry, lowering the gun.
"Sorry, I couldn't kill them all so quickly. I took my time," I said, pointing the rifle at him.
Seeing his surprised face, he tried to lift his gun, but I shot first, nearly tearing off his arm with the shot.
The supervisor, on the floor, groaned in pain as I approached him, taking my time, while he tried to control the bleeding unsuccessfully.
I kicked the supervisor's gun away and stood over him after removing my helmet.
"S-79843, why are you doing this? ... You were always the most loyal... you betrayed our country, the one you were supposed to rule," the supervisor said, crying in pain.
"Spare me the lies. I know what you were going to do; I was going to be eliminated tomorrow... Yes, I know everything... I'm not going to sit around waiting for the executioner's knife. I took the initiative, just like you taught me, old man," I said with a big smile on my face.
"Everything would have stopped at Generation 200... we were so close," said the supervisor.
"I don't care, I'm the only one who wanted to survive. I tried to save some, but they wouldn't. Now they're all dead... yes, even the children... all of them. The experiment is over," I said as I pulled the trigger.
The supervisor's brains splattered across the room.
I used the supervisor's computer and noticed there was much more information that wasn't backed up on the central servers. Many files were corrupted and couldn't be repaired, despite trying all the methods I knew.
I only found the full project goals, and that two hundred generations would be enough to create a breed of leaders capable of recreating modern society. This vault would have everything necessary for that. I found a security code.
I quickly scanned the room and noticed something behind the supervisor's portrait. There was a safe, and using the code 1776, I opened it.
Inside the safe were some papers that disintegrated as soon as I touched them, and two suitcases with the initials G.E.C.K."
I didn't understand why these briefcases were secured. I searched all the available information on the supervisor's terminal, but no matter how many hours I spent studying and analyzing the thousands of documents about the experiments, I never found anything about the initials on the briefcases.
I knew they were important because, why else would someone secure something with such complex security? Entry required supervisor-level authorization, and accessing the system with the supervisor's personal code to find the combination to the safe. There were at least three layers of security that had to be breached to obtain the briefcases.
I even looked for information on the supervisor's wrist computer, but it only gave me quite vague information when I placed it on my arm and configured it to provide some results:
Strength: 8
Perception: 10
Endurance: 8
Charisma: 7
Intelligence: 9
Agility: 8
Luck: 5
What these stats were for, I don't know. The supervisor was the only one with one of these portable computers, and again, there were no files indicating their meaning or function.
When silence finally reigned in the vault, I reflected on everything that had happened.
Coming out of the trance of thinking about everything I had done to survive one more day, I finally decided to eat something, as I hadn't eaten all day. I had no trouble returning to the dining area and enjoying the food prepared for the celebration, surrounded by the bodies of the scientists.
After eating, I felt calm, relaxed, as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, so much so that I immediately fell asleep for several hours.
Upon waking, I thought about what to do next. Maintaining the vault on my own would be impossible; even if I could repair all the robots, I couldn't perform the necessary maintenance for so many machines alone.
Therefore, staying here would be impossible for a long time before everything gradually started to fail. While I thought about conducting an inventory of everything available, I heard a loud explosion at the vault's entrance.
I immediately ran to one of the nearby servers and checked the cameras showing the exit. I saw several figures in American football gear, which I recognized from some pre-war American life simulations.
These figures were placing explosives all around the entrance, which destroyed some of the cameras, but some still remained in good condition to see what was happening outside.
Once again, a loud explosion was heard, shaking the entire vault a bit, but the door remained undamaged.
The figures stood watching, scratching their heads not knowing what to do.
I tried to reactivate the vault's listening system, but it took me quite some time, only to hear another explosion. Even so, the vault door held firm against the explosives used by these men.
With the audio activated, I could hear their words.
The ones trying to enter the vault just stood watching, defeated, as they saw the door remaining firm.
"So, you wasted valuable explosives that could have destroyed the profligates, and you have nothing to show to the mighty Kaesar," said one of the men, tall, wearing full armor, a mask, and a sword.
"The door is very resistant, legate; it doesn't open with anything," said one of the men, lowering his head.
Listening to their words, I noticed they pronounced "Kaesar" like in Latin, referring to the famous Roman dictator. Observing their gear, I saw they only carried swords and spears, and only one of them had a rifle that seemed very worn.
Interesting, the post-war society seemed to have regressed several centuries. Analyzing a bit more, it seemed likely that it was a Roman imitation made by Americans. Interesting.
The one who appeared to be in command just stared at the vault door without saying anything.
I remained meditating for a while. No one in the vault survived, no one I could use for what I was created for. So, the only available option would be to join another group, adapt to their customs to slowly take control of that society, and fulfill my purpose, to find some meaning in everything I did today.
Seeing it was my only option, besides being a lone wolf, I searched for red clothing. I found a shirt and a tablecloth, used them to cover the riot gear, and removed my helmet as I opened the vault doors.
All the men stood staring at me, preparing to attack. Only the leader remained stoic, looking at me.
"And who is this before me in the colors of the Legion?" asked the man in armor.
"Ave, amicus," I said to the leader.
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