FOvet
Wandering the Wastelands
Notice I avoided saying this is a FO 3 fan fic. This is because it isn't. While it takes place in the DC area, and it IS based on FO3, it takes place prior to the events of FO3, (and even during later), but the story never revolves around the wanderer from vault 101. Nor does the story deal much with the BoS/Enclave fighting.
So what is the fan fic? It is about a young scientist named Arianna Lahar, who is a member of the East Coast Enclave, living in Raven Rock. It is her story of being the youngest girl ever to actually work for the Enclave. It is about her history with FEV, as the head of a huge project involving the virus. It is about her struggle with her past, and the uncertain outlook of her future. It is about her journey through the wastelands, as she tries to find her place in this world.
If you want to know a bit more about Arianna prior to reading (or even during reading), go ahead and check out my RP character for Old Glory. I based her character strongly on the Ari of this story--I only made a few rather minor changes for the RP.
Finally, this will not all be done in one post. This story is a work in progress, and one that probably won't be finished for some time. I will post bit by bit, and hopefully you guys enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Now, withotu Further ado, I present Shattered Dreams.
Shattered Dreams
PART 1: The Great Escape
Prologue
“Jeesus!” the 14 year old girl exclaimed, her brilliant emerald green eyes wide with horror. The body lying on the table before her was swollen, deformed, as though it were from some pre-war monster film. The skin on the body—a young Caucasian woman with flaming red hair—bubbled and blistered, her pallid face contorting into a twisted mess of flesh and bone. The A few of the blisters began to pop, sending small sprays of dark red blood splattering across the 14-year olds white labcoat.
“Dr. Lahar?” A 35 year old man asked, his voice quavering slightly as the blood made contact with his skin and face. The girl looked up at him, and then back to the body.
“Get this fucking thing into containment, NOW!” she cried, pushing the wheeled table towards an isolated area with force-field generators on either side of the door. The older man helped, and together they shoved the body into the isolation chamber, and the man quickly tapped in a security code on the keypad. A red wall of energy emanated between the two generators; even as the field was activating, the blisters began to burst in unison, several at a time, spreading blood and tissue all over the walls of the small room behind the force-field.
“Dr. Lahar…am I…contaminated?” The man asked, his blue eyes wide with fear. Ari looked at the blood on his hands and cheek, and giggles slightly.
“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “No you’re fine, Dr. Burke.” He nodded in relief, and made his way over to the sink where he proceeded to wash his hands and face. “Then why were we in such a rush to get the body into containment?” he questioned, wiping his cheek with a washcloth.
“I didn’t want the blood all over my lab,” Arianna Lahar answered matter-of-factly. At that moment, the body in the isolation chamber exploded, sending guts and entrails splattering across the floor, walls, and ceiling. A few bits of tissue struck the force-field and slid to the floor.
“Just in time, eh Will?” Arianna asked, raising an eyebrow. William Burke turned to look at the blonde-haired girl. “Indeed Ari,” he said. “That would not have been fun to clean up.
“Colonel Autumn would have thrown a hissy fit,” Arianna replied waspishly. And then both she and Burke burst into laughter together.
Arianna Lahar was only 14 years old, but she was a scientific genius. She took to the sciences from a very, very young age, fascinated by the world around her and the way it worked. Her father, Dr. Vincent Lahar, was a well-known geneticist within the Enclave; a group that Arianna currently served as well. Her mother, on the other hand, was a gifted officer, who was often sent out on field expeditions into the wasteland, to bring back subjects for the scientific experiments that the Enclave were conducting.
“You know, I don’t think that strain of FEV was very effective,” Burke said thoughtfully, as he gazed into the isolation chamber.
“Not entirely, no,” Arianna agreed. “But, before it killed Subject 15, she was starting to display some remarkable abilities. Did you see how she made that ball levitate…with her mind?”
“Yes, I did. Still, it does no good if it causes your organs to liquefy, and your entire body to blow up.”
“Maybe we can modify it,” Arianna suggested. “That IS what we’re supposed to be doing, after all; studying the effects of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, and finding out its limitations, and its possibilities.
“Very true,” Burke relented. “So what now?”
“I’m going to alter a bit of the genetic structure of this strain of FEV. Maybe I can get it to still have the positive effects on the brain and stop the more…lethal effects on the body.” Burke nodded, stepping towards a table with a microscope. Arianna followed, and the two of them prepared a slide with the strain of FEV that Ari had named “Strain MaE 11249; Mae standing for Mental Acuity Enhancer.” The numbers were just relating to the number of FEV strains that could also be classified as Mental Acuity Enhancement strains; regardless of how successful or otherwise they ended up being.
Just as they were about to begin working, the door to the lab slid open, and a man wearing thin-framed glasses and a labcoat not unlike Ari’s stepped in. She turned, gazed into those green eyes of his, and darted forward, throwing herself in his arms.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed, her own eyes bright, face igniting like a bonfire.
“Ari, my girl!” he shouted in his soft voice, spinning her around. “It’s so good to see you again!”
“I’m glad your back, daddy!” Arianna said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pressed his lips to her cheek, a grin passing across his face.
“The one thing I hate about being in the field, dear girl,” he said, “is being away from you and your mother.”
Dr. Burke watched the exchange, and came forward extending his hand. Vincent took Burke’s hand in a firm shake.
“Dr. Lahar,” he said nodding.
“Hello Dr. Burke,” Vincent replied, patting the man on the shoulder. “Been treating my daughter well, I presume?”
“No, she has been treating me well,” Burke said with a laugh. “She’s my boss, remember. It’s not every day that a man has to answer to a child as their superior.”
“That’s my girl—the most brilliant mind to ever grace the Enclave!” Arianna blushed at her father’s words, her face turning a deep crimson. “So, Ari, where’s your mother?”
“She’s in the field too; she left two days ago,” Ari answered, unable to keep the sadness from her voice. She always hated it when both parents had to leave their home at Raven Rock, to venture into the wastelands.
“Damn, I had hoped she would be here when I returned,” Vincent said, ruffling Ari’s hair. “Ah well, she’ll get a nice surprise when she gets back, won’t she? I better go see your sister now, before she accuses you of monopolizing my time.” He gave Ari a big wink, and headed for the door. Just before leaving, he turned around to face his daughter once more.
“Good luck with whatever it is you’re working on,” he said.
“Thanks father…I think we might need it,” she responded with an exasperated smile. Vincent exited the lab, leaving Dr. Burke and Arianna Lahar to their work with one of the most-if not the most-dangerous substances ever devised by man: Forced Evolutionary Virus.
So what is the fan fic? It is about a young scientist named Arianna Lahar, who is a member of the East Coast Enclave, living in Raven Rock. It is her story of being the youngest girl ever to actually work for the Enclave. It is about her history with FEV, as the head of a huge project involving the virus. It is about her struggle with her past, and the uncertain outlook of her future. It is about her journey through the wastelands, as she tries to find her place in this world.
If you want to know a bit more about Arianna prior to reading (or even during reading), go ahead and check out my RP character for Old Glory. I based her character strongly on the Ari of this story--I only made a few rather minor changes for the RP.
Finally, this will not all be done in one post. This story is a work in progress, and one that probably won't be finished for some time. I will post bit by bit, and hopefully you guys enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Now, withotu Further ado, I present Shattered Dreams.
Shattered Dreams
PART 1: The Great Escape
Prologue
“Jeesus!” the 14 year old girl exclaimed, her brilliant emerald green eyes wide with horror. The body lying on the table before her was swollen, deformed, as though it were from some pre-war monster film. The skin on the body—a young Caucasian woman with flaming red hair—bubbled and blistered, her pallid face contorting into a twisted mess of flesh and bone. The A few of the blisters began to pop, sending small sprays of dark red blood splattering across the 14-year olds white labcoat.
“Dr. Lahar?” A 35 year old man asked, his voice quavering slightly as the blood made contact with his skin and face. The girl looked up at him, and then back to the body.
“Get this fucking thing into containment, NOW!” she cried, pushing the wheeled table towards an isolated area with force-field generators on either side of the door. The older man helped, and together they shoved the body into the isolation chamber, and the man quickly tapped in a security code on the keypad. A red wall of energy emanated between the two generators; even as the field was activating, the blisters began to burst in unison, several at a time, spreading blood and tissue all over the walls of the small room behind the force-field.
“Dr. Lahar…am I…contaminated?” The man asked, his blue eyes wide with fear. Ari looked at the blood on his hands and cheek, and giggles slightly.
“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “No you’re fine, Dr. Burke.” He nodded in relief, and made his way over to the sink where he proceeded to wash his hands and face. “Then why were we in such a rush to get the body into containment?” he questioned, wiping his cheek with a washcloth.
“I didn’t want the blood all over my lab,” Arianna Lahar answered matter-of-factly. At that moment, the body in the isolation chamber exploded, sending guts and entrails splattering across the floor, walls, and ceiling. A few bits of tissue struck the force-field and slid to the floor.
“Just in time, eh Will?” Arianna asked, raising an eyebrow. William Burke turned to look at the blonde-haired girl. “Indeed Ari,” he said. “That would not have been fun to clean up.
“Colonel Autumn would have thrown a hissy fit,” Arianna replied waspishly. And then both she and Burke burst into laughter together.
Arianna Lahar was only 14 years old, but she was a scientific genius. She took to the sciences from a very, very young age, fascinated by the world around her and the way it worked. Her father, Dr. Vincent Lahar, was a well-known geneticist within the Enclave; a group that Arianna currently served as well. Her mother, on the other hand, was a gifted officer, who was often sent out on field expeditions into the wasteland, to bring back subjects for the scientific experiments that the Enclave were conducting.
“You know, I don’t think that strain of FEV was very effective,” Burke said thoughtfully, as he gazed into the isolation chamber.
“Not entirely, no,” Arianna agreed. “But, before it killed Subject 15, she was starting to display some remarkable abilities. Did you see how she made that ball levitate…with her mind?”
“Yes, I did. Still, it does no good if it causes your organs to liquefy, and your entire body to blow up.”
“Maybe we can modify it,” Arianna suggested. “That IS what we’re supposed to be doing, after all; studying the effects of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, and finding out its limitations, and its possibilities.
“Very true,” Burke relented. “So what now?”
“I’m going to alter a bit of the genetic structure of this strain of FEV. Maybe I can get it to still have the positive effects on the brain and stop the more…lethal effects on the body.” Burke nodded, stepping towards a table with a microscope. Arianna followed, and the two of them prepared a slide with the strain of FEV that Ari had named “Strain MaE 11249; Mae standing for Mental Acuity Enhancer.” The numbers were just relating to the number of FEV strains that could also be classified as Mental Acuity Enhancement strains; regardless of how successful or otherwise they ended up being.
Just as they were about to begin working, the door to the lab slid open, and a man wearing thin-framed glasses and a labcoat not unlike Ari’s stepped in. She turned, gazed into those green eyes of his, and darted forward, throwing herself in his arms.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed, her own eyes bright, face igniting like a bonfire.
“Ari, my girl!” he shouted in his soft voice, spinning her around. “It’s so good to see you again!”
“I’m glad your back, daddy!” Arianna said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pressed his lips to her cheek, a grin passing across his face.
“The one thing I hate about being in the field, dear girl,” he said, “is being away from you and your mother.”
Dr. Burke watched the exchange, and came forward extending his hand. Vincent took Burke’s hand in a firm shake.
“Dr. Lahar,” he said nodding.
“Hello Dr. Burke,” Vincent replied, patting the man on the shoulder. “Been treating my daughter well, I presume?”
“No, she has been treating me well,” Burke said with a laugh. “She’s my boss, remember. It’s not every day that a man has to answer to a child as their superior.”
“That’s my girl—the most brilliant mind to ever grace the Enclave!” Arianna blushed at her father’s words, her face turning a deep crimson. “So, Ari, where’s your mother?”
“She’s in the field too; she left two days ago,” Ari answered, unable to keep the sadness from her voice. She always hated it when both parents had to leave their home at Raven Rock, to venture into the wastelands.
“Damn, I had hoped she would be here when I returned,” Vincent said, ruffling Ari’s hair. “Ah well, she’ll get a nice surprise when she gets back, won’t she? I better go see your sister now, before she accuses you of monopolizing my time.” He gave Ari a big wink, and headed for the door. Just before leaving, he turned around to face his daughter once more.
“Good luck with whatever it is you’re working on,” he said.
“Thanks father…I think we might need it,” she responded with an exasperated smile. Vincent exited the lab, leaving Dr. Burke and Arianna Lahar to their work with one of the most-if not the most-dangerous substances ever devised by man: Forced Evolutionary Virus.