NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 17
It seems piloting power armor is a bit more complicated than I anticipated, and I ended up faceplanting like I did when I first left the cryopod. It took me longer than I would have liked, but I eventually lifted myself back into a standing position.
The first few steps were janky as hell. Imagine raising your center of gravity by a whole foot and then extending your limbs by several inches. Every single motion was different than what I was used to, and making sure my movements were balanced took real effort from me.
The best way to explain it was as if I was controlling somebody else body, and my own body was the controller. It wasn't quite like an out-of-body experience, but it was damn close.
I stored the minigun in my inventory and then stumbled around the place. The weapon is a massive boost in firepower, but lugging it around slows me down. I got back to the Museum entrance I could walk relatively normally, but I knew I needed more practice before I could perform more delicate acts. I also encountered another problem I will need to get used to. I was too big to exit through the broken window I came in from.
The locked double door was held shut by a chain and padlock. Each of my giant metal hands grabbed a side of the metal chain and violently yanked it back. The studs holding the chain flew out of the wall, and splinters sprayed from the holes. I grinned at the result and admired the strength boost I received. I quickly made my way toward the agreed-upon rendezvous point. Isabel was already there, and when she saw me she froze like a deer in headlights.
Instead of turning towards me, I saw her turn around and start running away. I was confused at first, and then I remembered that she didn't know it was me inside the suit.
"ISABEL! It's me, Basil! Look what I found!"
The suit amplified my voice, and a digitized version of what I said in the suit boomed out. Once Isabel heard my message, she heaved a huge sigh of relief and turned around. I waved and jogged up to her, careful not to trip again. Isabel's eyes sparkled, and she circled me several times, noting the mechanical engineering of the suit.
"A full suit of power armor! Where'd you find it, Basil?"
"It was next to the downed vertibird on top of the museum. It didn't have a fusion core, but I managed to find one in the basement. I'm still not a pro at piloting it, but I think I'll get used to it soon. Pretty neat, right?"
Isabel continued to fuss over the power armor for another few minutes, measuring parts and taking notes in a small book. I could only get her to stop by mentioning that we had to leave now to make it to the junkyard before nightfall. I also had to promise her that she could study the suit all she wanted once we reached our destination.
Finally, on the road to the junkyard, I started playing with the skill points I received from leveling up. My level has risen from 13 to 18 after the fight with the raiders. I first put one point each into Locksmith and Hacker. Unlocking these two perks allowed me to hack and pick advanced locks, which is required if I want some of the better loot in the wasteland.
I put two points into my intelligence stats to raise it to 7. Power is one of the most scarce resources in the wasteland, and fusion cores are especially so. Once I get the intelligence stat to 9, I can unlock the Nuclear Physicist perk, allowing me to extend my fusion cores' life.
After significant consideration, I put my last point into VANS. Sacrificing a point for VANS was a gamble, as I have yet to be able to use VATS up to this point. I theorized that unlocking a VATS-related perk would maybe force the system to work for me. All the other game-like elements were present, and I don't see why VATS would be the only thing missing.
The second I confirmed the point allocation to VANS, an agonizing pain struck the base of my head. What felt like being hit on the dome with a bat turned into a giant needle piercing through my skull and into my brain. This sensation continues for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, the discomfort subsided.
What showed in front of my face was a world that wasn't quite right. Everything around me was in slow motion. The clouds in the sky, the branches bobbing in the wind, and the birds flying through the air all slowed to a snail's pace. A giant green line continued further into the distance along the road we were on. This line must be the VANS perk, leading me to my target. In this case, the scrap yard.
Thinking about the targeting function caused my line of sight to snap behind me to Isabel. All around her were little green boxes with a number within them. The green boxes should each correlate to a body part, and the numbers reference my likeliness of landing a shot. Only Isabel's torso is saturated in neon green, indicating the body part on which the system is currently focused.
Since I didn't want to shoot Isabel, I mentally commanded V.A.T.S. to transfer to the next available target. My vision immediately snapped to a crow perched on a power pole. This time, instead of individual parts, just one large box represented the entire crow. I guess the crow is too small for the system to engage individual limbs, so it just grouped it all together.
Wanting to back out of the VATS, I thought about exiting the targeting system, and my vision went back to normal. After leaving VATS, the world around me sped up once again. I never liked using VATS in the Fallout games, but the fact that it retained the ability to slow down time could be beneficial. If I were ever ambushed or overwhelmed in combat, I could use the VATS system to slow down time and identify all the threats.
Adding VATS also gave me an alternative combat option that allowed me to surpass my human limitations. Under normal circumstances, it would take me time and effort to transition to a different target. Stress-induced inaccuracy was also a thing. Using VATS could allow me to instantly transition from enemy to enemy and greatly enhance my accuracy, as long as my Perception and Agility were high enough.
Happy that I managed to gain access to VATS, I focused again on the road ahead to the junkyard.