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Jul. 30th, 2014 06:32 pmPlayer Information
Player name: Chasekat
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
chasekat
Are you over 18: Yes
Characters in The Box Already: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: The Lone Wanderer (Reginald Winters)
Canon: Fallout 3
Canon Point: After entering Vault 112, during the Tranquility lane simulation
History: Fallout 3 wiki for reference.
Expanded history:
Baby Steps.
Reginald (or more accurately 'Reg') was born to James and Catherine Winters on July 13, 2258. Despite what he currently believes, it was not in Vault 101: James and Catherine had been heading Project Purity, a experiment to bring clean water to all of the wasteland, when Reg had been born. Unfortunately, Catherine passed away due to cardiac arrest, and Reg's father made a decision. Caring deeply for his son, and not wanting him to go through the horrors of the wasteland, James put the project on hold and traveled to Vault 101, a vault that had been sealed since the war. He made a deal with the Vault Overseer: his son would his living in the Vault, and in return, James would lend his skill as a physician. The entire thing would be a secret, of course, as Reg was to be protected, as was the Vault.
Growing up Fast / Future Imperfect.
And so, Reginald Winters grew up in Vault 101 with no knowledge of the Wasteland he was originally from. He acted like a normal kid--James ensured he was thrown birthday parties and joined the little league team, even when Reg expressed little interest in sports and would much rather watch Stanley, the old vault technician, work. He eventually grew to be very close friends with Amata, the Overseer's daughter, and develop a bit of a brains vs brawn rivalry with another child named Butch.
In school, it was painfully obvious that Reg is his father's son. More slated for science than medicine but still well-versed in each, the moment he was of age and took the test that signifies what the Vault dwellers are going to be for the rest of their life.(<--I literally am not sure what you're trying to say in this sentence; is it missing something?) Reg, after taking the test, turned out to be slated for Pip-Boy programmer. This, however, would never actually come to pass.
Escape!
At 19 years old, Reg was awoken by a rather desperate Amata, as well as to the sound of alarms. Confused and panicked, he calmed down enough to listen to Amata's words: his father had left, his father's coworker and best friend were dead, and radroaches had infested the entire vault. A lot of it didn't make sense, save for one thing that his best friend was abundantly clear on: her father, the Overseer, blamed it strictly on him.
Reg still thought it was impossible--no one could ever leave the vault, so it made no sense--but when Amata gave him a gun to protect himself and guards came rushing in, he had no choice but to act in self defense. All he knew was to run and run fast and try to find some way out. (It's important to note that this is the first shift in his way of thinking, as will be further illustrated in the personality section, that he saves Butch's mother from the radroaches).
While entering the Atrium and still attempting to escape, Reg came across two fellow Vault dwellers contemplating escape--only to see them down by security after their foolish and brash attempt. This served as a harsh reminder of the pandemonium, and Reg quickly kept heading towards where he thought the exit was.
Turning the corner, Reg found Amata. Her father was interrogating her about Reg's whereabouts led Reg to act on instinct and confront him. The confrontation led to Reg getting pretty beat up but ultimately, against the overseers security guard, triumphant. Thinking quickly, he Reg threatened Amata's life (a hollow threat, of course), and the Overseer gave in almost immediately and handed the office key and terminal password to him. Reg pressed on.
Unfortunately, 'pressing on' meant 'tripping over Jonas' body.' Upon doing so, he found a rather important holotape his dad recorded moments before opening the vault. "I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me."
For the first time in his life, Reg ignored his dad's wishes and stepped out into the Wasteland.
Following in his Footsteps / The Power of the Atom / Wasteland Survival Guide.
The first true settlement Reg came across was Megaton. It was almost a little too much for him at first--having been underground in a vault all of his life--but he immediately headed to town and asked questions. His generous and helpful nature, however, abstained him from leaving right away--the citizens of Megaton, while completely different from the Vault, were human, after all. Even the Ghoul that works the radio.
He agreed to help them with a few things--one of them being a rather large atomic bomb in the middle of the city he managed to disarm and earn the Sheriff's trust. The second person he helped was Moira, a rather all-too peppy girl from Craterside Supply. The moment he heard Moira was working on a survival guide he practically jumped up to volunteer, partially because he himself would find something like that handy, and also partially because of the fact that it would help him learn about the Wastelands. The rewards weren't too bad, either. The guide's tasks ranged anywhere from learning how to scavenge supplies from the local Super Duper mart (and also improving his aim on raiders), to seeing if irradiated aquatic beasts have some form of intelligence (and discovering that Mirelurks are probably the scariest thing in the universe), to stealing old history information from a library. Through doing this and gaining the trust of the Megaton settlers, Reg finally felt ready to look for his dad. His first hint? Moriarty. The man refused to give anything up, though, other than he knew Reg's dad--but he'd give up the information if Reg "took care" of a problem: he needed a girl named Silver gone and the 400 caps he owed. Reg, after visiting her, luckily managed to get her to hand over 400 caps and disappear instead of actually having to kill her.
Galaxy News Radio.
Moriarty mentioned his dad probably went by way of Three Dog, the announcer for Galaxy News Radio and a so-called freedom fighter. It made sense--if Three Dog knew everything and everything about the wasteland like the radio claims, then he'd know where his father was. Reg began the grueling process of trekking to the downtown DC area, learning very quickly that Super Mutants and Super Mutant Brutes were extremely difficult and not to be messed with. He ran into Lyon's Pride along the way and in actuality wound up helping them take a Super Mutant Behemoth in downtown DC. Reg to this day doesn't remember most of what happened, thanks to adrenaline and getting knocked in the head with a fire hydrant, but Lyons assured him he helped.
With the Brotherhood (shakily) on his side, Reg was granted access to the Galaxy News Radio building as well as the legendary Three Dog himself. Three Dog, skeptical that a kid such as him could actually do anything, was a little apprehensive. Luckily, the clever Vaultie began to talk the other into giving up the information. Three Dog explained that his dad was at a place called Rivet City, but instead of going there right away, Reg felt a little bad about talking his way out of doing whatever Three Dog wanted for the information. Three Dog, in Reg's opinion, was one of the best men in the Wasteland--and the radio was the only source of news he knew of. Before going to Rivet City like he was supposed to, he decided to fix Three Dog's problem so the radio would broadcast throughout the entire Wasteland. Fix the satellite dish, no problem. Right?
Reginald Winters, shortly after agreeing to fix the radio tower, went into the old museum of history and took the Virgo II Lunar landing dish. Just how he got such a big thing out of the enemy-filled museum and then up the tower itself is a miracle, though hoisting it up by using a series of pulleys and levers he constructed out of spare parts around the building is a particularly impressive feat that he never fails to boast about when given the chance.
Tenpenny Tower.
With that out of the way and a stable way to get news from across the Capitol Wasteland, Reg began the trek to Rivet City. The city itself was pretty far away from downtown DC, and Reg felt the best way to get there quickest was to just use the old subways for shortcuts. While exploring and trying to gain entrance to a few, he met Roy Phillips, a ghoul--someone who's zombie-like in features but able to communicate thanks to radiation and a few other factors. When Reg asked why he was in the Warrington Tunnels and not with the other ghouls, Roy explained that they wanted access to a place called Tenpenny Towers, but weren't allowed in because of who they were. Reg was absolutely outraged.
Tenpenny Towers is an exclusive establishment in the uninhabitable wastes--an old hotel, only those who were rich enough could get in. Reg, still angered that Roy and his crew have the caps to get in but wouldn't be allowed to because they weren't human, made the trek to talk to Alistair Tenpenny himself. He became aware that there was actually a bounty on Roy Phillips from one of the security guards who didn't like him skulking around, and once he meets with the leader of the towers. (<---is there something missing here?)
Reg figured if he could convince key figures of the group--the movers and shakers--he could help human and ghouls live together. He used his charm to win them over, convincing them that since they had the money it didn't really matter what they look like. It was a stressful negotiation period, but after a day or two he managed to win them over. All it took was a quick trip back to Roy to say they could move in and a few more to make sure they were living in harmony before Reg allowed himself to leave.
He was on his way to (hopefully) find his dad in Rivet City when he received a news update from Galaxy News Radio: He fixed it, sure, but now all of the humans had "mysteriously disappeared." Worried, Reg backtracked only to find Roy and the ghouls had taken out the place. Roy stated the humans and ghouls had a "disagreement," and he "took out the trash." Trying desperately to believe that the statement didn't really mean what it sounded like, Reg explored. It was when he got to a lower level in a basement that he saw it--all of the humans from Tenpenny, dead, all of their bodies stripped and all of their goods looted. All of those people had died, in Reg's mind, because of him. All of the pressures of the Wasteland, the injustices, and just how different it was from life in the Vault caused him to snap. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was all of the innocent people dying because they trusted him. Reg snapped, grabbed his gun, and shot and killed every single ghoul in the Tenpenny Tower area he could possibly find. He hunted down some of them, too.
Scientific Pursuits.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Reg long to snap out of it. He buried what he'd done and continued onwards. Though that pivotal moment in Reg's Wasteland life would always stay with him, he needed to focus on finally finding his dad. He cleared everything out of his mind and headed to Rivet City, the biggest establishment in the Wasteland--and promptly found out from a woman named Dr. Li that James Winters was, of course, not there.
Frustrated, the only solace that Dr. Li gave him was that his father has instead gone to the Jefferson Memorial to work on something called Project Purity, a scientific wonder of a project that would allow the entire Wasteland to have clean water, and maybe even grow food again. She also informed him that she knew his dad before he had you him--and that his mother helped work on it. Full of emotions, mainly that he was a failure courtesy of Tenpenny Tower, Reg finally got the inspiration he needed to keep going. If he could help his dad with Project Purity, it would somehow eclipse the terrible things he'd done in his rage earlier. He understood now why James left him and while Reg was still upset, he no longer resented him nearly as much.
The way to Jefferson Memorial was long and grueling, and the Lone Wanderer found nothing but the company of Three Dog and various hostile creatures--the Talon Company had begun to hunt him, thanks to a bounty, and super mutants were still aplenty.
He should have expected his father not to be there--he'd spent what felt like centuries always being one step behind him. The equipment was there, of course, and Reg began to sift through notes and information, trying to make heads or tails of what exactly was happening with Project Purity.
While poking through things, Reg came across his next big break: notes on holotape his father had left. One of them noted that he'd left for Vault 112 for the last component to the Project Purity--a device that was left in almost all of the vaults capable of starting clean water and plants anew. After a bit of searching, Reg realized that Vault 112 was actually below a place called Smith Casey's garage, which was relatively near Megaton. He'd essentially traveled all across the Wasteland just to find out his dad was near where he started out.
Finding and accessing the vault is easy when you're your father's son--the secret entrance isn't really a secret when you're clever, and opening the vault required a few tweaks in code after that. What he wasn't expecting was the fact that it was less of a vault and more of a huge lab with people in pods. People in pods including his father.
He panicked. He panicked and tried his best to wrench his father out of it, only to discover he could potentially cut off his life supply. Rerouting the power would prove to be too dangerous, and for once in his life he couldn't actually crack the code. Reg would spend half a day tinkering with everything, trying to release him, until finally giving up.
If he couldn't beat the contraption, he'd have to join it and destroy it from the inside. He needed to get his father out. His train of thought was simple as he slipped into one of the Tranquility Loungers and suddenly entered a simulation.
Tranquility Lane
Tranquility Lane, as mentioned before, was a virtual reality simulation. Vault 112 was an experiment revolving around this, and so Reg found himself in a completely different place--post-war in the 50s, in a cul-de-sac. He also found himself significantly de-aged, but realized that he still retained all of his memories. When he explored, he found that everyone believed they were in the 1950s still, complete with memories and white picket fences and even a dog named Doc, but his father was nowhere to be found.
A little girl in the playground introduced herself as Braun, who was this Vault's Overseer. S/he explained that they'd let Reg go and relinquish his father if he entertained him them with a series of tasks. Reg, having no choice, hesitantly agreed.
His first task was to make a boy named Timmy cry. While cruel, Reg was determined to get his father back and the device he needed. Using his way with words, he convinced Timmy that his parents were divorcing. It worked. His second task was slightly worse, but still doable without too much guilt--breaking up the Rockwells' marriage. It didn't take too long for Reg to play up the pint-sized child charm, innocently dropping hints here and there to Mrs. Rockwell before she believed it. His third task was to kill someone--Mrs. Henderson, to be exact. The stipulations were that he could not do it in a "simple" way, such as a good, clean death. He needed to be "Creative" about it.
Reg didn't even hesitate.
Wandering into the kitchen, Reg accessed the security lockdown once he spotted Mrs. Henderson entering the house. With the doors locked, it just took a few more keystrokes to let the security bot begin the actual securtity security program itself and to disable the security parameter data. The robot, of course, turned hostile and gunned her down, and Reginald disabled it altogether before the robot turned on him, cancelled the lockdown, and tried his best not to think about the innocent life he'd just killed. His resolve was crumbling--he didn't really want to kill or hurt people.
His final task was to kill everyone, and upon Betty saying this, Reg flat out refused. No more. There had to be another way out. He began to look harder, try to find things that were missing--and realized there was a shack that didn't belong to anyone. There were strange noises coming from it. It wasn't quite a glitch, but upon finding a series of objects that made a different tone if touched, Reg mimicked the tune he heard frequently on the radios in the simulation. It worked and a console was revealed. A failsafe.
He was about to activate project 'communists on US soil,' the ultimate solution to this mess, when he hesitated. Reading through Braun's notes on the terminal, he realized that killing them by using this would kill them permanently. All of them except for Braun. He decided to do this after a few minutes of debate, feeling that releasing them from an eternity of being Braun's playthings was far better than Braun killing them over and over again.
Once the deed was done and the simulation of Chinese soldiers killed everyone, Reg left the shack and found Braun and the dog. Braun revealed that the dog, Doc, had been Reg's dad all along and had watched him do horrible things in an attempt to get him back. Guilty, but vowing to make it up to him once they were able to have an actual conversation, Reg exited the program, and thus entered into the game's universe.
Personality: At first glance, it's very easy to write Reg off as someone who knows very little at all. He's such an optimist it's easy to think he doesn't know about the dangers of the Wasteland--and while that's true in the very beginning, Reg learns very quickly. Easy to adapt--he gets that from his father--despite all of the trials and tribulations he faces he manages to keep a smile on his face and reach out to people that need help.
That's not to say he's some sort of superhero, or some kind of extreme do-gooder. He'll help people who ask for it, but he's also practical. That being said, if it's something he cannot do he's the type of person to recommend people that can. Another distinct way he's different from the average Wastelander is his extreme hesitation to kill. With a few noted exceptions (Tenpenny Towers, escaping the vault), Reg does not--and sometimes outright refuses--to kill, even if a character is deemed "evil" by everyone else. It's very common for him to wait until he's shot at before shooting back, though some exceptions are there--the Talon Company, for example, will see him drawing his gun first.
The true breaks from his personality he's had are caused by stress and rare, rare bouts of anger. The only time Reg will truly snap is under extreme circumstances, or when he feels like he's led people to their death--for example, he blames himself for the humans of Tenpenny dying, not the ghouls, although he does wipe them out in a fit of rage.
Instead of actually coming to turns terms with what he's done, he has a rather bad habit of burying feelings of regret and letting his guilt get the better of him. He pretends the Vault incident and the Tenpenny Towers massacre didn't happen, and refuses to acknowledge that he's the one that killed them despite being all too aware of it. He doesn't deny it to himself, he just simply shuts himself off when the matter is at hand, or avoids the question. An unhealthy way of handling it, one that manifests in nightmares and, on occasion, making himself physically ill.
He handles extreme situations in a variety of ways: it's easy for him to keep his cool and even excel under pressure if it's medical or scientific-related, treating it like a game, but if it's something hostile or involving guns or other Wasteland traits he hasn't developed, it's quite likely he'll panic. Luckily, he's extremely good at hiding said panic.
Reg is blessed with a teenage heartthrob physique thanks to extremely good genes, and fully uses that to his advantage. He's got charm, charisma, and incredible good looks. A lot of times he uses either this or his science or medical knowledge to talk his way out of things, more specifically to find a non-violent answer. Reg is very much a peace maker, having a lot of patience from his days in the Vault. It's important to note that he's pretty selfless courtesy of how his father and the Vault raised him with the values of working together, and the thought of using this to his advantage never, ever occurs to him, although it's quite possible for him to be influenced.
Reg can also, unfortunately, be incredibly gullible and naive when it comes to the way the world at large works--he's so trusting and optimistic he truly believes the best in everyone, and it's no surprise that some Wastelanders--Roy, for example--use that to their advantage. His kindness and optimism is not only a huge part of his strengths, but his weaknesses as well, especially in the harsh environment of the Capitol Wasteland. However, Reg takes pride in what he does and his view on life--not with an air of superiority, but because he genuinely believes what he does is right.
For the most part, Reg is not one to panic--he's clear, calm and collected, and incredibly focused on what he has to do. His love for his dad is immense, and his feelings about family are intensified because of his mom's death. He's stubborn, which is a dangerous combination when one has the charm that Reg has and isn't afraid to use it. He's been taught by his dad to be open-minded and creative in his solutions, which is always why he prefers the non-violent answer to any threats or problems. He's gifted and it shows, but James had taught him the humility and humbleness he needed not to come off as an arrogant prick although sometimes he can't help it.
Reg doesn't, in any circumstances, see himself as a leader type, or a hero. He has a hard time saying no to people in distress but if anything, he's a reluctant hero. In truth? Reg wants nothing more than to live his life in peace, preferably side-by-side with his father, researching whatever strikes his fancy.
Items on your character at canon point: 1. 1 pair of glasses (obtained from Jonas in Vault 101)
2. Pip-boy attached to his arm containing the note from hid his father as well as other information regarding the Wasteland. (NOTE: The maps will still be of the Wastelands, the radio will not work, and it'll essentially just be a health monitoring device with a flashlight).
3. One 10mm pistol, 2 clips
4. One AEP7 laser pistol, 3 clips of energy cells
5. Three boxes of instamash potatoes
6. One squirrel on a stick
7. Four radroach meat
8. One Amored jumpsuit
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
+Daddy's Boy: Where Reg shines, however, is in the science and medicine fields--he knows what there is to know about anything in the realm of physics to basic biology, and is incredibly well-versed in healing wounds and knowing what the body can and can't take. This is by far his biggest strength in terms of abilities.
+Educated / Swift Learner: He is incredibly perceptive, absorbing most information like a sponge. This is also, most likely, a trait he received from his father.
+Charisma/Child at Heart: Particularly good with kids, Reg has a habit of wrangling answers out of them when adults wouldn't. He's also incredibly good at talking his way out of things, lowering prices on charm alone, and occasionally (if his conscience can handle it) picking up extra caps here and there.
+Robotics Expert/Master Hacker: Again tying into his background. Reg can disable robots and terminals with ease, and can even disassemble robots if they're simple enough in design or he has the blueprints.
-Shooting: Reg is a whiz kid. Unfortunately, knowing how bullets work and actually aiming are two different things. He's a terrible shot, and has been known to need an entire clip just to fend off a hostile Wastelander.
-Sneak/Eyesight: While Reg has a pair of glasses and wears them when he's working or focusing, he tends not to very often otherwise, for fear of breaking them and ruining sentimental value. Because of this he tends to be slightly on the clumsy side, and even with them cannot skulk around to save his life.
-Physique: While good looking, at his core, Reg belongs in a lab or a hospital, not wandering out in the desert. He's not frail, per se, but his pain tolerance isn't very high and it's not like he can carry a lot, unlike most in DC.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
Gosh, text format. This is exciting! And everyone can communicate in it. I suppose this is like holotapes but maybe a little more advanced.
Which is actually sort of strange. Not in a bad way! In an interesting way. There's things around here that I've never seen before, but also things that are way less advanced than what I'm used to. Does anyone else have this experience? It's nifty, but it sure has me confused.
Anyway, I'm looking for information on someone named Dr. James Winters. If you're looking for an incentive, I can spare 500 caps. A whooping 1,000 if you can actually bring him to me!
(Do I sign this like a letter? I'm not sure how to end this.)
Prose Log Sample: test drive meme link!
Player name: Chasekat
Contact:
Are you over 18: Yes
Characters in The Box Already: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: The Lone Wanderer (Reginald Winters)
Canon: Fallout 3
Canon Point: After entering Vault 112, during the Tranquility lane simulation
History: Fallout 3 wiki for reference.
Expanded history:
Baby Steps.
Reginald (or more accurately 'Reg') was born to James and Catherine Winters on July 13, 2258. Despite what he currently believes, it was not in Vault 101: James and Catherine had been heading Project Purity, a experiment to bring clean water to all of the wasteland, when Reg had been born. Unfortunately, Catherine passed away due to cardiac arrest, and Reg's father made a decision. Caring deeply for his son, and not wanting him to go through the horrors of the wasteland, James put the project on hold and traveled to Vault 101, a vault that had been sealed since the war. He made a deal with the Vault Overseer: his son would his living in the Vault, and in return, James would lend his skill as a physician. The entire thing would be a secret, of course, as Reg was to be protected, as was the Vault.
Growing up Fast / Future Imperfect.
And so, Reginald Winters grew up in Vault 101 with no knowledge of the Wasteland he was originally from. He acted like a normal kid--James ensured he was thrown birthday parties and joined the little league team, even when Reg expressed little interest in sports and would much rather watch Stanley, the old vault technician, work. He eventually grew to be very close friends with Amata, the Overseer's daughter, and develop a bit of a brains vs brawn rivalry with another child named Butch.
In school, it was painfully obvious that Reg is his father's son. More slated for science than medicine but still well-versed in each, the moment he was of age and took the test that signifies what the Vault dwellers are going to be for the rest of their life.(<--I literally am not sure what you're trying to say in this sentence; is it missing something?) Reg, after taking the test, turned out to be slated for Pip-Boy programmer. This, however, would never actually come to pass.
Escape!
At 19 years old, Reg was awoken by a rather desperate Amata, as well as to the sound of alarms. Confused and panicked, he calmed down enough to listen to Amata's words: his father had left, his father's coworker and best friend were dead, and radroaches had infested the entire vault. A lot of it didn't make sense, save for one thing that his best friend was abundantly clear on: her father, the Overseer, blamed it strictly on him.
Reg still thought it was impossible--no one could ever leave the vault, so it made no sense--but when Amata gave him a gun to protect himself and guards came rushing in, he had no choice but to act in self defense. All he knew was to run and run fast and try to find some way out. (It's important to note that this is the first shift in his way of thinking, as will be further illustrated in the personality section, that he saves Butch's mother from the radroaches).
While entering the Atrium and still attempting to escape, Reg came across two fellow Vault dwellers contemplating escape--only to see them down by security after their foolish and brash attempt. This served as a harsh reminder of the pandemonium, and Reg quickly kept heading towards where he thought the exit was.
Turning the corner, Reg found Amata. Her father was interrogating her about Reg's whereabouts led Reg to act on instinct and confront him. The confrontation led to Reg getting pretty beat up but ultimately, against the overseers security guard, triumphant. Thinking quickly, he Reg threatened Amata's life (a hollow threat, of course), and the Overseer gave in almost immediately and handed the office key and terminal password to him. Reg pressed on.
Unfortunately, 'pressing on' meant 'tripping over Jonas' body.' Upon doing so, he found a rather important holotape his dad recorded moments before opening the vault. "I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me."
For the first time in his life, Reg ignored his dad's wishes and stepped out into the Wasteland.
Following in his Footsteps / The Power of the Atom / Wasteland Survival Guide.
The first true settlement Reg came across was Megaton. It was almost a little too much for him at first--having been underground in a vault all of his life--but he immediately headed to town and asked questions. His generous and helpful nature, however, abstained him from leaving right away--the citizens of Megaton, while completely different from the Vault, were human, after all. Even the Ghoul that works the radio.
He agreed to help them with a few things--one of them being a rather large atomic bomb in the middle of the city he managed to disarm and earn the Sheriff's trust. The second person he helped was Moira, a rather all-too peppy girl from Craterside Supply. The moment he heard Moira was working on a survival guide he practically jumped up to volunteer, partially because he himself would find something like that handy, and also partially because of the fact that it would help him learn about the Wastelands. The rewards weren't too bad, either. The guide's tasks ranged anywhere from learning how to scavenge supplies from the local Super Duper mart (and also improving his aim on raiders), to seeing if irradiated aquatic beasts have some form of intelligence (and discovering that Mirelurks are probably the scariest thing in the universe), to stealing old history information from a library. Through doing this and gaining the trust of the Megaton settlers, Reg finally felt ready to look for his dad. His first hint? Moriarty. The man refused to give anything up, though, other than he knew Reg's dad--but he'd give up the information if Reg "took care" of a problem: he needed a girl named Silver gone and the 400 caps he owed. Reg, after visiting her, luckily managed to get her to hand over 400 caps and disappear instead of actually having to kill her.
Galaxy News Radio.
Moriarty mentioned his dad probably went by way of Three Dog, the announcer for Galaxy News Radio and a so-called freedom fighter. It made sense--if Three Dog knew everything and everything about the wasteland like the radio claims, then he'd know where his father was. Reg began the grueling process of trekking to the downtown DC area, learning very quickly that Super Mutants and Super Mutant Brutes were extremely difficult and not to be messed with. He ran into Lyon's Pride along the way and in actuality wound up helping them take a Super Mutant Behemoth in downtown DC. Reg to this day doesn't remember most of what happened, thanks to adrenaline and getting knocked in the head with a fire hydrant, but Lyons assured him he helped.
With the Brotherhood (shakily) on his side, Reg was granted access to the Galaxy News Radio building as well as the legendary Three Dog himself. Three Dog, skeptical that a kid such as him could actually do anything, was a little apprehensive. Luckily, the clever Vaultie began to talk the other into giving up the information. Three Dog explained that his dad was at a place called Rivet City, but instead of going there right away, Reg felt a little bad about talking his way out of doing whatever Three Dog wanted for the information. Three Dog, in Reg's opinion, was one of the best men in the Wasteland--and the radio was the only source of news he knew of. Before going to Rivet City like he was supposed to, he decided to fix Three Dog's problem so the radio would broadcast throughout the entire Wasteland. Fix the satellite dish, no problem. Right?
Reginald Winters, shortly after agreeing to fix the radio tower, went into the old museum of history and took the Virgo II Lunar landing dish. Just how he got such a big thing out of the enemy-filled museum and then up the tower itself is a miracle, though hoisting it up by using a series of pulleys and levers he constructed out of spare parts around the building is a particularly impressive feat that he never fails to boast about when given the chance.
Tenpenny Tower.
With that out of the way and a stable way to get news from across the Capitol Wasteland, Reg began the trek to Rivet City. The city itself was pretty far away from downtown DC, and Reg felt the best way to get there quickest was to just use the old subways for shortcuts. While exploring and trying to gain entrance to a few, he met Roy Phillips, a ghoul--someone who's zombie-like in features but able to communicate thanks to radiation and a few other factors. When Reg asked why he was in the Warrington Tunnels and not with the other ghouls, Roy explained that they wanted access to a place called Tenpenny Towers, but weren't allowed in because of who they were. Reg was absolutely outraged.
Tenpenny Towers is an exclusive establishment in the uninhabitable wastes--an old hotel, only those who were rich enough could get in. Reg, still angered that Roy and his crew have the caps to get in but wouldn't be allowed to because they weren't human, made the trek to talk to Alistair Tenpenny himself. He became aware that there was actually a bounty on Roy Phillips from one of the security guards who didn't like him skulking around, and once he meets with the leader of the towers. (<---is there something missing here?)
Reg figured if he could convince key figures of the group--the movers and shakers--he could help human and ghouls live together. He used his charm to win them over, convincing them that since they had the money it didn't really matter what they look like. It was a stressful negotiation period, but after a day or two he managed to win them over. All it took was a quick trip back to Roy to say they could move in and a few more to make sure they were living in harmony before Reg allowed himself to leave.
He was on his way to (hopefully) find his dad in Rivet City when he received a news update from Galaxy News Radio: He fixed it, sure, but now all of the humans had "mysteriously disappeared." Worried, Reg backtracked only to find Roy and the ghouls had taken out the place. Roy stated the humans and ghouls had a "disagreement," and he "took out the trash." Trying desperately to believe that the statement didn't really mean what it sounded like, Reg explored. It was when he got to a lower level in a basement that he saw it--all of the humans from Tenpenny, dead, all of their bodies stripped and all of their goods looted. All of those people had died, in Reg's mind, because of him. All of the pressures of the Wasteland, the injustices, and just how different it was from life in the Vault caused him to snap. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was all of the innocent people dying because they trusted him. Reg snapped, grabbed his gun, and shot and killed every single ghoul in the Tenpenny Tower area he could possibly find. He hunted down some of them, too.
Scientific Pursuits.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Reg long to snap out of it. He buried what he'd done and continued onwards. Though that pivotal moment in Reg's Wasteland life would always stay with him, he needed to focus on finally finding his dad. He cleared everything out of his mind and headed to Rivet City, the biggest establishment in the Wasteland--and promptly found out from a woman named Dr. Li that James Winters was, of course, not there.
Frustrated, the only solace that Dr. Li gave him was that his father has instead gone to the Jefferson Memorial to work on something called Project Purity, a scientific wonder of a project that would allow the entire Wasteland to have clean water, and maybe even grow food again. She also informed him that she knew his dad before he had you him--and that his mother helped work on it. Full of emotions, mainly that he was a failure courtesy of Tenpenny Tower, Reg finally got the inspiration he needed to keep going. If he could help his dad with Project Purity, it would somehow eclipse the terrible things he'd done in his rage earlier. He understood now why James left him and while Reg was still upset, he no longer resented him nearly as much.
The way to Jefferson Memorial was long and grueling, and the Lone Wanderer found nothing but the company of Three Dog and various hostile creatures--the Talon Company had begun to hunt him, thanks to a bounty, and super mutants were still aplenty.
He should have expected his father not to be there--he'd spent what felt like centuries always being one step behind him. The equipment was there, of course, and Reg began to sift through notes and information, trying to make heads or tails of what exactly was happening with Project Purity.
While poking through things, Reg came across his next big break: notes on holotape his father had left. One of them noted that he'd left for Vault 112 for the last component to the Project Purity--a device that was left in almost all of the vaults capable of starting clean water and plants anew. After a bit of searching, Reg realized that Vault 112 was actually below a place called Smith Casey's garage, which was relatively near Megaton. He'd essentially traveled all across the Wasteland just to find out his dad was near where he started out.
Finding and accessing the vault is easy when you're your father's son--the secret entrance isn't really a secret when you're clever, and opening the vault required a few tweaks in code after that. What he wasn't expecting was the fact that it was less of a vault and more of a huge lab with people in pods. People in pods including his father.
He panicked. He panicked and tried his best to wrench his father out of it, only to discover he could potentially cut off his life supply. Rerouting the power would prove to be too dangerous, and for once in his life he couldn't actually crack the code. Reg would spend half a day tinkering with everything, trying to release him, until finally giving up.
If he couldn't beat the contraption, he'd have to join it and destroy it from the inside. He needed to get his father out. His train of thought was simple as he slipped into one of the Tranquility Loungers and suddenly entered a simulation.
Tranquility Lane
Tranquility Lane, as mentioned before, was a virtual reality simulation. Vault 112 was an experiment revolving around this, and so Reg found himself in a completely different place--post-war in the 50s, in a cul-de-sac. He also found himself significantly de-aged, but realized that he still retained all of his memories. When he explored, he found that everyone believed they were in the 1950s still, complete with memories and white picket fences and even a dog named Doc, but his father was nowhere to be found.
A little girl in the playground introduced herself as Braun, who was this Vault's Overseer. S/he explained that they'd let Reg go and relinquish his father if he entertained him them with a series of tasks. Reg, having no choice, hesitantly agreed.
His first task was to make a boy named Timmy cry. While cruel, Reg was determined to get his father back and the device he needed. Using his way with words, he convinced Timmy that his parents were divorcing. It worked. His second task was slightly worse, but still doable without too much guilt--breaking up the Rockwells' marriage. It didn't take too long for Reg to play up the pint-sized child charm, innocently dropping hints here and there to Mrs. Rockwell before she believed it. His third task was to kill someone--Mrs. Henderson, to be exact. The stipulations were that he could not do it in a "simple" way, such as a good, clean death. He needed to be "Creative" about it.
Reg didn't even hesitate.
Wandering into the kitchen, Reg accessed the security lockdown once he spotted Mrs. Henderson entering the house. With the doors locked, it just took a few more keystrokes to let the security bot begin the actual securtity security program itself and to disable the security parameter data. The robot, of course, turned hostile and gunned her down, and Reginald disabled it altogether before the robot turned on him, cancelled the lockdown, and tried his best not to think about the innocent life he'd just killed. His resolve was crumbling--he didn't really want to kill or hurt people.
His final task was to kill everyone, and upon Betty saying this, Reg flat out refused. No more. There had to be another way out. He began to look harder, try to find things that were missing--and realized there was a shack that didn't belong to anyone. There were strange noises coming from it. It wasn't quite a glitch, but upon finding a series of objects that made a different tone if touched, Reg mimicked the tune he heard frequently on the radios in the simulation. It worked and a console was revealed. A failsafe.
He was about to activate project 'communists on US soil,' the ultimate solution to this mess, when he hesitated. Reading through Braun's notes on the terminal, he realized that killing them by using this would kill them permanently. All of them except for Braun. He decided to do this after a few minutes of debate, feeling that releasing them from an eternity of being Braun's playthings was far better than Braun killing them over and over again.
Once the deed was done and the simulation of Chinese soldiers killed everyone, Reg left the shack and found Braun and the dog. Braun revealed that the dog, Doc, had been Reg's dad all along and had watched him do horrible things in an attempt to get him back. Guilty, but vowing to make it up to him once they were able to have an actual conversation, Reg exited the program, and thus entered into the game's universe.
Personality: At first glance, it's very easy to write Reg off as someone who knows very little at all. He's such an optimist it's easy to think he doesn't know about the dangers of the Wasteland--and while that's true in the very beginning, Reg learns very quickly. Easy to adapt--he gets that from his father--despite all of the trials and tribulations he faces he manages to keep a smile on his face and reach out to people that need help.
That's not to say he's some sort of superhero, or some kind of extreme do-gooder. He'll help people who ask for it, but he's also practical. That being said, if it's something he cannot do he's the type of person to recommend people that can. Another distinct way he's different from the average Wastelander is his extreme hesitation to kill. With a few noted exceptions (Tenpenny Towers, escaping the vault), Reg does not--and sometimes outright refuses--to kill, even if a character is deemed "evil" by everyone else. It's very common for him to wait until he's shot at before shooting back, though some exceptions are there--the Talon Company, for example, will see him drawing his gun first.
The true breaks from his personality he's had are caused by stress and rare, rare bouts of anger. The only time Reg will truly snap is under extreme circumstances, or when he feels like he's led people to their death--for example, he blames himself for the humans of Tenpenny dying, not the ghouls, although he does wipe them out in a fit of rage.
Instead of actually coming to turns terms with what he's done, he has a rather bad habit of burying feelings of regret and letting his guilt get the better of him. He pretends the Vault incident and the Tenpenny Towers massacre didn't happen, and refuses to acknowledge that he's the one that killed them despite being all too aware of it. He doesn't deny it to himself, he just simply shuts himself off when the matter is at hand, or avoids the question. An unhealthy way of handling it, one that manifests in nightmares and, on occasion, making himself physically ill.
He handles extreme situations in a variety of ways: it's easy for him to keep his cool and even excel under pressure if it's medical or scientific-related, treating it like a game, but if it's something hostile or involving guns or other Wasteland traits he hasn't developed, it's quite likely he'll panic. Luckily, he's extremely good at hiding said panic.
Reg is blessed with a teenage heartthrob physique thanks to extremely good genes, and fully uses that to his advantage. He's got charm, charisma, and incredible good looks. A lot of times he uses either this or his science or medical knowledge to talk his way out of things, more specifically to find a non-violent answer. Reg is very much a peace maker, having a lot of patience from his days in the Vault. It's important to note that he's pretty selfless courtesy of how his father and the Vault raised him with the values of working together, and the thought of using this to his advantage never, ever occurs to him, although it's quite possible for him to be influenced.
Reg can also, unfortunately, be incredibly gullible and naive when it comes to the way the world at large works--he's so trusting and optimistic he truly believes the best in everyone, and it's no surprise that some Wastelanders--Roy, for example--use that to their advantage. His kindness and optimism is not only a huge part of his strengths, but his weaknesses as well, especially in the harsh environment of the Capitol Wasteland. However, Reg takes pride in what he does and his view on life--not with an air of superiority, but because he genuinely believes what he does is right.
For the most part, Reg is not one to panic--he's clear, calm and collected, and incredibly focused on what he has to do. His love for his dad is immense, and his feelings about family are intensified because of his mom's death. He's stubborn, which is a dangerous combination when one has the charm that Reg has and isn't afraid to use it. He's been taught by his dad to be open-minded and creative in his solutions, which is always why he prefers the non-violent answer to any threats or problems. He's gifted and it shows, but James had taught him the humility and humbleness he needed not to come off as an arrogant prick although sometimes he can't help it.
Reg doesn't, in any circumstances, see himself as a leader type, or a hero. He has a hard time saying no to people in distress but if anything, he's a reluctant hero. In truth? Reg wants nothing more than to live his life in peace, preferably side-by-side with his father, researching whatever strikes his fancy.
Items on your character at canon point: 1. 1 pair of glasses (obtained from Jonas in Vault 101)
2. Pip-boy attached to his arm containing the note from hid his father as well as other information regarding the Wasteland. (NOTE: The maps will still be of the Wastelands, the radio will not work, and it'll essentially just be a health monitoring device with a flashlight).
3. One 10mm pistol, 2 clips
4. One AEP7 laser pistol, 3 clips of energy cells
5. Three boxes of instamash potatoes
6. One squirrel on a stick
7. Four radroach meat
8. One Amored jumpsuit
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
+Daddy's Boy: Where Reg shines, however, is in the science and medicine fields--he knows what there is to know about anything in the realm of physics to basic biology, and is incredibly well-versed in healing wounds and knowing what the body can and can't take. This is by far his biggest strength in terms of abilities.
+Educated / Swift Learner: He is incredibly perceptive, absorbing most information like a sponge. This is also, most likely, a trait he received from his father.
+Charisma/Child at Heart: Particularly good with kids, Reg has a habit of wrangling answers out of them when adults wouldn't. He's also incredibly good at talking his way out of things, lowering prices on charm alone, and occasionally (if his conscience can handle it) picking up extra caps here and there.
+Robotics Expert/Master Hacker: Again tying into his background. Reg can disable robots and terminals with ease, and can even disassemble robots if they're simple enough in design or he has the blueprints.
-Shooting: Reg is a whiz kid. Unfortunately, knowing how bullets work and actually aiming are two different things. He's a terrible shot, and has been known to need an entire clip just to fend off a hostile Wastelander.
-Sneak/Eyesight: While Reg has a pair of glasses and wears them when he's working or focusing, he tends not to very often otherwise, for fear of breaking them and ruining sentimental value. Because of this he tends to be slightly on the clumsy side, and even with them cannot skulk around to save his life.
-Physique: While good looking, at his core, Reg belongs in a lab or a hospital, not wandering out in the desert. He's not frail, per se, but his pain tolerance isn't very high and it's not like he can carry a lot, unlike most in DC.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
Gosh, text format. This is exciting! And everyone can communicate in it. I suppose this is like holotapes but maybe a little more advanced.
Which is actually sort of strange. Not in a bad way! In an interesting way. There's things around here that I've never seen before, but also things that are way less advanced than what I'm used to. Does anyone else have this experience? It's nifty, but it sure has me confused.
Anyway, I'm looking for information on someone named Dr. James Winters. If you're looking for an incentive, I can spare 500 caps. A whooping 1,000 if you can actually bring him to me!
(Do I sign this like a letter? I'm not sure how to end this.)
Prose Log Sample: test drive meme link!
