In the end, after a long time thinking, Adam chose the fallout 3 system for some very simple and rather obvious reasons

First, he is in the Capital wasteland, the place where Fallout 3 takes place so the Fallout 3 system would be most suitable and compatible with the time and place since it was designed around the Capital wasteland

And secondly, it's because he doesn't know what would happen if he chose one of the other systems, could he still pick up and use the bobbleheads? Or the skill books? Or the special perks? Or any other consumable/equipable item for that matter, there are just too many variables that could go wrong with the other systems so Adam will play it safe by choosing the Fallout 3 system

To make thing even more convenient the Fallout 3 system isn't actually that bad, it allows you to level up to level 30 and raise all your skills and specials to max if you play your cards right, besides that you get a perk every level, up to 30 perks so the system itself is not only very useful but also very powerful

After he had decided on his course of action Adam clicked on the Fallout 3 option, before a green box popped up with a 'Are you sure?' sign and a yes or no below it

Adam thought about it again for a minute before he steeled himself and his heart, choosing yes, although it wasn't easy, he still has many doubts and insecurities about his actions, he still chose the yes option

[Congratulations on completing the character customization! Now you will distribute your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points before choosing your tag skills.] After Adam had finished his character customization, named himself and choose a system he was congratulated before being presented with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. chart

Like the text beforehand the moment Adam read thru the text it vanished into thin air and was replaced by 7 numbers going vertically down while beside them are 7 letters each with their own explanation beside them, on both the left and right of the numbers there is a small arrow indicating the ability to either take or give points to the desired attribute

This is the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. selection screen and at the bottom left there is a number 5 glowing bright green, that is how many points he has left to distribute on his S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Adam immediately dumped 4 of those points into intelligence bringing it up to 9 before putting the last point into the luck stat leaving all of his other S.P.E.C.I.A.L. at 5 with the exception of luck and intelligence which is at 6 and at 9 respectively

Then Adam hit the confirm button which was at the bottom right and the screen then changed and now came in the 13 essential skills of fallout

All of the skills besides medicine, repair, and science were at 15 while the 3 intelligence governed skills were at an astounding 23, but it is not that unusual considering how the game calculates skills, it's just that having a 23 in some stat right of the bat is quite strange so to say

Next Adam chose small guns, speech, and medicine as his tag skills bringing medicine up to 38 while small guns and speech reach 30, these are probably going to be essential skills for surviving in the wasteland, especially if everything has become more realistic

[Congratulations on completing the system selection! Now that you have finished it you have 30 minutes to ask me anything before I go offline. After that, you will fall unconscious so that your body can change to the configurations you have set for it.] With all of the usual or rather unusual procedures gone the system talked/wrote to Adam on his pip-boy, it seems as thou Adam is more or less done with all of his procedures

When Adam heard what the system said he panicked for a second with all color draining from his face, making him look like a corpse once again, after all, if he falls unconscious in the middle of the wasteland his chances of death are huge

But soon he regained back his composure and started to think about his questions, the system probably has something in place to protect him so he might as well ask about that

"What has changed about the fallout universe? What has changed about the system? Am I safe here? Has something been changed about me?" The questions Adam had in mind were not that difficult, at least they shouldn't be for a system as advanced as his, nor are they as numerous but they were the core questions crucial to his survival in the post-apocalyptic wasteland

[Everything has become more realistic is the basic answer to the first 2 questions. People now behave like people and not like NPC's while the system has also become more realistic. An example would be you have a carry weight of 200 but you have no inventory, you have to use a backpack or something similar. Besides that, the system changed your mind a little so you wouldn't be averse to killing or anything similar to that so that you don't die in the wasteland because of hesitation or other emotions similar to that. And here, in a 1km radius, you are safe for the next 12 hours, no natural disasters or hostiles will appear for 12 hours.] The text said, as Adam read it he fell into deeper and deeper contemplation, the information he is getting right now is highly important to his survival later down the line

Deep down he was quite unnerved that the system changed his mind but he thought about it rationally and silently thanked the system, as a man of the 21 century who has never experienced violence and killing surviving in the wasteland where such things were an often occurrence would be hard, so Adam was thankful for the system even thou he didn't like the fact that it tempered with his mind

Before he knew it 30 minutes were up and Adam was knocked out, there was no slow embrace of the darkness, no suffering of great pain or anything like that, no all that happened was that Adam feel unconscious as if someone hit him on the head very hard

That's when Adam's body started to change, bis shoulders broadened, his hight decreased from 195 to 190, still towering over normal people but not as much as before, he started to gain some muscles, not too much like a bodybuilder but not too little like a swimmer, he now has a Goku like physique unlike his previous skinny physique

Besides that, his face also started to change, his hair adopted a blonde hue, not eliminating his black hair, the hue just incorporated itself into the black hair giving it blonds stripes and pigmentations, but his hair was still kept short, his unibrow was gone turning into 2 separate although still bushy brows, the slight crook his nose had straightened out and his jawline became a little sharper, overall he looked more handsome, not breathtakingly so but above average for sure

Thankfully his clothes and pip-boy adapted with the changes brought on to his body, they enlargened in some places and tightened in others so that they wouldn't be destroyed, it really is something convenient if Adam woke up naked he probably wouldn't be happy so the adapting clothes are nice

The change lasted an hour an extremely short amount of time if looking at the fact that Adam became a completely different person altogether in more ways than one in that one hour

"Ugh." After an hour was up a grunt was heard from Adam as he woke up from his nap like a princess, a princess that has been raped and tortured for the past month that is

His body feels heavy like someone replaced his blood with lead, his muscles felt sore like he has been working out for days on end while his bones are seemingly on the verge of breaking from the pain he is experiencing

Thankfully for Adam, the torture that is being alive lasted for only a minute before his body started to calm down and the pain soon disappeared like mist in the night

'I don't want to experience that ever again.' Thought Adam as he regained his thoughts, this was a truly harrowing experience that shook Adam up quite a bit, in all fairness rarely has anyone experienced such pain so most people would be shaken-up, the only reason Adam was holding up so well is probably because of the mind alteration done by the system

After another minute or two of calming down, Adam finally decided it was time to leave this place and head towards his favorite post-apocalyptic Capital wasteland town, Megaton, because of fu*k River city and all of its confusing hallways

Adam got up from his lying position and stretched himself, feeling his bones crack and his muscles stretch is quite the refreshing feeling after that torture he went thru to readjust his body

Adam then tried to move around, since he was now shorter and quite a bit bulkier moving around was a bit complicated, he had to re-learning how to move as even turning around or walking was a bit complicated

But after around 10 minutes of just walking around, jumping, turning and doing all sorts of movements Adam had somewhat gotten used to his new body, even thou he can't use it at 100% but it is good enough to move around the wasteland

After he had gotten the hang of awkwardly walking Adam looked behind himself and saw the great gray city of Megaton and Adam has decided that it is his next destination

But then he remembered about another thing that he had to take care off, another one of his wishes he had gotten granted before coming here, a wish of convenience so to say

'Got you.' Adam went into his right pocket with his hand and found an object inside of his pocket, the object has a weirdly humanoid shape and is seemingly made up of a type of hard plastic, and it is quite big as well

With a little bit of difficulty Adam fished out the object from his pocket and that's when Adam saw what it is, it's exactly what he expected it to be, the Fallout 3 intelligence bobblehead

*Bip* *Bip*

When Adam took out the bobblehead he looked at it for a few moments while a wicked smile full of happiness adored his face before a familiar beeping sound interrupted his train of thoughts

Looking down at the origin of this sound, his pip-boy, Adam saw the screen beeping while a green box appears on the screen

[Do you wish to consume the bobblehead? Yes-No] There was a row of text on his screen giving him an option of whether to use the bobblehead or not

Adam was dumbfounded for a bit since such a thing never happened in the game but he quickly recollected himself as the system did say that there will be some changes to the Fallout systems so he quickly pressed the yes option

[Bobbehead successfully consumed, intelligence is permanently increased by 1] Immediately the row of text changes showcasing that Adam should now have his intelligence permanently increased by 1 bringing his intelligence to a grand total of 10

'I don't feel different.' Adam looked around himself in confusion, he doesn't feel like anything changed but he does know that something must have changed if his pip-boy said so

So instead of worrying over such matters, Adam pocketed the now useless bobblehead into his pocket and went back to observing Megaton and the way to Megaton

'About 3 kilometers huh, it should take me about half an hour.' Observing the big gray clump of rock and metal encasing a still-active nuclear bomb that the inhabitant call home Adam estimated the distance between himself and the town before he began making his way to the city

Adam started to move along, slowly and awkwardly walking towards his destination before getting the hang of it and he even began to jog at some point but it seems he has greatly overestimated himself and underestimated the rough terrain of the wasteland

What was supposed to be half an hour journey actually took somewhere to 2 hours as Adam tried to overcome the rough terrain full of bumps, hills, rocks, and valleys with his terrible movement so him stumbling wasn't an uncommon sight, although it is a hilarious one, the only good thing that came out of this whole endeavor was that Adam has adapted to his body more than before

Luckily there were no hostiles insight as to the area in which the system kept hostiles out was only a 1 km radius so the next 2 km was a true no man's land where Adam could lose his life at any moment

Thankfully besides the minor problems of movement, Adam has managed to come close to Megaton without any other troubles and he is finally standing right in front of the city

To his right is the trader Crow with his bodyguard and brahmin, Deputy Weld is a little ahead of Adam but still to his right, and there are a couple of homeless people to Adam's left begging him for some clean water

When Adam arrived he was at first not so cautious since this is Megaton, a very safe place to be so the chance of anything bad happening is not very big but what surprised Adam was Crow who has been staring at Adam since the moment Adam arrived with hungry eyes, something that really freaked out Adam but Adam can make a guess as to why Crow is looking at him like a hungry beast saw a juicy piece of meat

Adam ignored both of them, especially Crow and instead took a detour going around the sides of the city, circling around its walls and being on the lookout for a certain scene/scenery that will help out Adam, at least for the beginning of his life here

After walking for a minute or two and being on the lookout, observing every tree and every rock until Adam finally found what he was looking for

Adam now stood in front of a boulder surrounded by 3 small, black dead trees forming a triangle at the front of the boulder while the boulder itself is quite big

Adam carefully approached the boulder making sure not to stumble before lightly knocking on the boulder with his knuckle, the sound he got back was not the sound a boulder should make, at least not a solid one

That was exactly what Adam has been looking for, the hollowed-out rock behind Megaton is a perfect place to get a weapon without much hassle or trouble

With a smile of joy on his face, Adam looked around the boulder for a moment but he didn't notice any way to open it up so Adam circled around the boulder until he found a square-shaped line carved out in the rock which is very geometrical so it is probably man-made

Adam pulled that part out and it slid out quite easily revealing the goodies stashed inside of the rock and the dust/dirt which flew up high into the air after Adam pulled out the cutout rock blocking Adam's vision for a few seconds

After the dust cloud came down Adam saw what was inside of the rock, a sniper rifle, 10 308. sniper rounds, 2 stimpacks, a stealth boy, and a note are inside of the hollowed-out rock

Adam put the stimpacks, stealth boy, sniper rounds and note in his pockets before observing the sniper rifle in his hands for a few moments, making sure to inspect every inch of the rifle

It looks quite worn out with its grip already uncomfortably worn out, most of it lost the paint job it once had, the scope is a little broken and bent while rust can be seen here and there, it's definitely not in 100% condition but it is definitely still usable

Soon he put the rifle into his right hand as he looked at his pip-boy screen and tapping on the weapon tab wanting to observe the weapon from a statistical perspective

[Sniper rifle

Durability: 34%

Weight: 10

Value: 62

Damage: 23]

Adam looked at the statistics of the rife and nodded in satisfaction, even if the weapon is not at 100% some protection is better than none and a sniper rifle is a good protection

Adam observed the weapon a little longer trying to familiarize himself with it, trying to get a feel of how to handle it correctly and how to use it, even thou this is the first time he has handled a firearm he feels weirdly familiar with it, probably because of his small guns skill

The journey took once again a minute or two with nothing interesting happening along the way, which is strange since this place is usually inhabited by mole rats or vicious hounds, and it's a good thing that they weren't here, for now, Adam doesn't want to engage in a fight after all his only methods of defense would be his fists or this sniper rifle which only has a couple of dozen shots left

When Adam came back to the front of Megaton intent on entering the city what greeted him was none other than Crow with his brahmin and guard in tow standing right behind him as they observed Adam obviously intent on interacting with him

"Um hello, do you want something?" When Adam saw them he was a little puzzled and confused about what was going on, he has a suspicion that is probably correct but it never hurts to ask but if they are here because of Adam and they are here with the same goal as Adam then this will be a profitable meeting

"Hello, there traveler! I am Crow, a merchant passing by here. I couldn't help but notice your clothes and the pristine condition they are in. So I would like to propose a trade, you give me those clothes and I will give you one of my wares. What do you say?" Immediately when Adam spoke to him Crow's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he began explaining why Adam caught his eye or rather why Adam's clothes caught his eye as he continued to eye Adam or rather his clothes

'Seems I was right.' When Adam heard what Crow said he understood why Crow sought him out, it turns out Adam's suspicion was right, it's become of his strange and unusual clothing he knew that he would catch the eyes of traders and Adam hoped to do exactly that

His clothing is not only extremely clean for the wasteland, but it is also strange in its design and look as well as the brand of clothing has never been seen before in the wasteland so it is quite easy to tell why Crow sought out Adam

But this cleanliness and condition his clothes are in also makes Adam quite a big target and it makes him stand out very much so seeling the clothes is a better option than keeping them

"Well, I think that only one article is not enough. These are prime clothes that you can not find anywhere else in the wasteland. Just one article is not nearly enough." Said Adam as he pointed at his shirt and explained how valuable it is, sure Adam is trying to get rid of these clothes but he won't let it go for a cheap price

"I understand what would you want for your clothes?" Crow's face scrounges up a bit as he looks at Adam and his clothes deciding to negotiate further and listen to Adam's demands, at first he thought that Adam might be a bit naive since he seems young but it seems as thou Adam is not as naive as Crow thought

"I wish for some clothing, a piece of armor and for you to repair my rifle." Said Adam as he showed Crow the rifle he had in hand and pointed at his clothes, Adam has formulated a plan and is right now setting that plan into motion

"No way that is a rip-off, ask for something less." When Crow heard Adam's demands his brows immediately shot up into the sky giving his forehead wrinkles as his face became quite red in anger, he seems to be quite angered at the moment

Immediately when Crow said that Adam heard a sad ding go off inside of his head, he was astounded for a moment making him stand in place dumbfounded before he remembered the situation he was in and went back to talking with Crow

"All right how about 100 bottlecaps, some casual clothes, and a repair?" Asked Adam as he hoped that his scam could work, this is basically the psychological trick of asking something absurd at the beginning before asking for something comparatively smaller later and Adam can just hope it works since if it does work that means he has gained another asset to help him survive in the wasteland

"Hmmmm all right I can agree to that." Crow thought about it for a bit, he mulled over the offer for several minutes before deciding it would be a good bargain and accepting Adam's offer

"Great, I will choose an outfit before I go to undress." Said Adam as a smile came to his face before another beep was heard inside of his head confirming that Crow indeed can't hear that beep while he can and it proves that he wasn't going insane instead this has something to do with the system

*Bip*

Suddenly Adam's pip-boy beeped out loud so Adam decided to take a look at it and what he found was surprising, very surprising

[Crow: Dirty suit 134 caps

Dirty businesses clothing 127 caps

...]

Adam looked at the screen and noticed that Crow doesn't seem to take any offense nor does he seem to mind that Adam is browsing his pip-boy when he should be browsing his wares

'So this is another feature of the pip-boy.' Adam continued to hold up his pip-boy for another 10 minutes but nothing happened, Crow didn't get angry or anything like that so it can be concluded that the pip-boy works similarly to the game when bartering

Adam just shrugged it off as another one of the features the pip-boy has before he seriously started to browse thru Crow's wares and withing a few minutes Adam had found something at least decently useful

"I will take the Regulator's Duster and the pre-war hat." Said Adam as he had finally found something satisfying to wear, something that will look decent but also offer some sense of protection while also belonging to the casual wear category and it is something that Crow sells besides that the pre-war hat will hive him +1 to perception so Adam will gladly take it

"All right, now wait a minute for me to get it." After Crow heard what Adam wanted he breathed out a sigh of relief since he expected for Adam to chose something he couldn't give and then another argument would ensue which luckily didn't happen

Crow went over to his brahmin where he searched thru one of the trunks strapped on to the poor creature's back, he searched for a full minute before he found the hat and the outfit pulling it out of the trunk and taking them into his hands

Adam just observed how Crow did that, it seems as tho he won't get the things he bought set into his inventory, not that he has one so Adam just continued on to observe

Then after he had found the clothes Crow walked over to Adam handing him the outfit and hat while Adam gave Crow his sniper rifle for repairs

Adam then walked off towards a nearby giant boulder which he promptly hid behind while he undressed and put on his new outfit but that is, not all he did while being behind that boulder

[You passed a speech check gaining 20 exp!] Adam stared at the message now knowing that whenever he hears a buzzing in his head it means he either passed or failed a speech check and it probably works like that as well whenever he is losing or gaining karma

[Regulator's duster

Dr:10

Dt:0

+1 Charisma

+5 Small guns

Condition: 100%]

[Pre war hat

Dr:1

+ 1 Perception

Condition: 100%]

Adam looked at the stats of the gear he had gotten and he must admit it looks pretty solid, it should at the very least help him out at the beginning of his life in the wasteland

After looking thru his gotten equipment Adam went on to clothing himself and it took Adam 10 minutes to figure out how to put on the outfit, figuring out thru which hole which limb went thru and which belt, bucker and zipper needs to be done first was challenging but eventually, Adam had managed to put it on, honestly, Adam found the whole wasteland apparel way too troublesome and complicated to put on, the only easy thing to put on was the hat

Adam finally came out from behind the rock with his clothes in his hands and a new look, honestly, the hat cupeled with the duster looked kinda strange and funny but at the same time it suited Adam quite well

Adam casually approached Crow and saw him sitting on the ground tinkering with his rifle as a box of spare parts lay beside him, he would sometimes take a part out of the sniper rifle and replace it with one from the box

"Are you finished?" Asked Adam as he approached Crow, Adam walked up to Crow's guard and gave her his clothes which she promptly took and stored up into one of the trunks of the brahmin

Now that Adam thinks about it isn't it strange that there is only 1 guard that Crow has hired? Wouldn't it make more sense for a merchant to have a dozen or so guards? As Adam fell into deeper and deeper contemplation he was brought out of his thoughts by Crow's voice

"Do you really think it is that easy to repair something? Especially something as complicated as a sniper rifle? It will take at least another 10 minutes." Said Crow in a snide and rude voice without even turning back to face Adam as he continued to fiddle with the rifle, it really annoys Crow when he as to repair complicated weapons like sniper rifles

Adam just nodded in understanding, a sniper is very complicated so it will probably take some time for it to be repaired so Adam is willing to wait but in the meantime, Adam plans to at least talk to someone

Adam than just stood there for a few seconds before turning to Crow's guard who was just idly standing there like him so Adam started to chat with her

At first, she was a little hard to crack and talk to but soon she and Adam were having a nice conversation about what it's like being the guard of a merchant

It is also thanks to this conversation that Adam found out why there are so few guards, as it turns out there are 6 guards but the other 5 are in Megaton advertising their business while Crow and she stay outside for any passing people willing to trade with them

After 15 minutes Crow was finally done with repairing Adam's rifle so he got up, stored the box of spare parts back on to the brahmin and gave Adam a hundred caps before he went back to his old cutting spot where he waited for more passers-by to barter with not wanting to deal with Adam again anytime soon

Adam took a deep breath after the whole situation and moved towards the Megaton door greeting Deputy Weld along the way

When Adam came in front of the door it slowly started to creak open revealing the inside of Megaton