November 7, 2287 – Nick and I left his office in Diamond City and headed out past home plate toward the abandoned West Stands, where we hoped to find more about this mercenary, Kellogg, and the young boy that traveled with him. Based on the description I had given, Nick suspected this was the man who had killed my wife and took Shaun. If it turned out to be true, there was a pretty good possibility that the kid was Shaun himself.

I suddenly realized that yesterday had been two weeks since I had emerged from Vault 111. If Nick and Ellie’s description of Kellogg’s kid was accurate, and if it really was Shaun, he would have been out here for maybe up to ten years. That’s such a long time when you’re a kid. I remembered summers seeming like they lasted forever, followed by bitter cold winters that seemed to drag on and on until the snow melted and the warmth and color returned to the Commonwealth once again.

Continue reading “14 – Tracking Kellogg – Part 1”

November 6, 2287 – I found Nick Valentine. He’s alive — well, if you can call it that. You’re going to think I’m crazy, especially given how critical I’ve been of the Mayor and all the paranoid folks at Diamond City. You’re going to say my head was messed up by wild mongrels, Super Mutants, and raiders, that spending a night in the cold, clammy basement of a old church, next to bags full of human remains with who knows what kind of infection running through my blood… Well, let’s say under normal circumstances, I’d think the same. But I know what I’ve seen, and I’m pretty sure Mr. Valentine is a synth. I don’t know if the people at Diamond City know he’s a synth. You’d have thought someone would have mentioned it to me, especially Ellie or Piper, since they knew for a fact I was going to find the guy — the thing? The person? But they didn’t mention it. Seems like it would have been an obvious — if not important — thing to tell me if they knew. So how do I know he’s a synth?

Continue reading “13 – Finding Valentine – Part 2”

November 5, 2287 – As I headed toward Publick Occurrences, the Diamond City paper run by Piper and her sister, the sun was rising over the bleachers opposite home plate. It was mid-morning, and the thought of starting another mission with no sleep wasn’t really appealing to me. Nick Valentine had been gone for a couple weeks, according to his assistant, Ellie. Either he was holding his own wherever he was, or he was already dead. I was getting in the game pretty late. I figured once I’d read Piper’s article on these “synths,” I’d get a room at the “Dugout Inn” for a few hours and get some sleep before heading to Park Street Station. But, that’s not what happened. As I walked toward home plate, and away from the horrible nightmare that I had just witnessed by the Power Noodles stand, I was swept up in a group of people that I discovered were heading to The Wall. Apparently, Mayor McDonough had called a town meeting and everyone was expected to go. I took it as a good sign – open communication. Shit went down, mayor addresses it — that sort of thing. Maybe McDonough had a handle on things after all, and Piper really was just stirring the pot?

Continue reading “12 – Finding Valentine – Part 1”