Chapter Text
Blinding blue light enveloped her. Scarlett awoke with a start that sent her militia hat askew. Her head throbbed and nausea wracked her body. She opened blurry eyes and managed to turn onto her side before retching. Her sunglasses clattered to the ground with a disheartening crack.
She reached up and gingerly rubbed her temples, painfully aware of the weight of her Pip-Boy. Where the hell am I? She glanced around warily from her position in the middle of an old street, a heavy dread forming in the pit of her stomach. She picked up her cracked glasses, adjusting them on her face and frowning at the somewhat familiar sight.
An empty and desolate Sanctuary Hills stretched out before her. Scar blinked in bewilderment before looking down at her Pip-Boy and flipping through various readouts and information. That can’t be right… She flipped the nob back and forth with a frown and furrowed brow. The date remained the same. She pushed to her feet with a groan, trying to keep herself from swaying.
“FUCK!!!” Scarlett shouted into the ether and rubbed her head again. Okay, keep calm… don’t panic. She began pacing whilst trying to discern how she could have arrived here. She was pleased to find she still had her rucksack. However the meager supplies she’d prepared were clearly only meant for a short trip. She checked her Pip-Boy again. A shiver ran down her spine. Again, the glowing time and date, 8:42pm October 11, 2281 taunted her.
Tom must’ve made some mistake while working on the chip. A. Big. Fucking. Mistake. Scar continued to pace in the same wide circle. If only she could remember what they had been working on. She knew she'd been going to Sanctuary when they'd been working together, but couldn’t remember why. Her head felt fuzzy. She vaguely recollected Tom warning her of something.
It was getting darker by the minute and she decided to set up camp in an old house with a defensive perimeter of mines. After getting a fire going in the attached carport, she heated up some scavenged Instamash and Pork n’ Beans. Sitting next to the fire, she ate in quiet contemplation hoping the disorientation would pass soon.
So… I’m in the right place, but definitely the wrong time. A molecular relay is only supposed to operate as a teleportation device, not a GODDAMN TIME MACH-…Oh… Scarlet hurriedly flipped the nob on her Pip-Boy and began to read through her notes. Her brow creased and she re-read the entry about the device being recently modified.
With a grimace, she suddenly remembered some of her conversation with Tinker Tom. He ultimately had succeeded. He'd manged to create a time traveling device from the modified molecular relay chip. Unfortunately, his date calculations appeared to be off. Very off. He hadn’t been too far off about the possible repercussions though.
You might experience a few mild side effects, nothing too worrisome," Tom feigned nonchalance, but his shifty demeanor tipped her off.
“Uh-huh... and what constitutes as ‘mild side effects’ Tom?” Scarlett prodded with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, y’know, headaches, nausea, disorientation, some short-term memory loss, and you mayyyy lose some extremities, but nothing too important!” Tom rushed out the last details like a bad pharmaceutical infomercial hoping to be ignored.
Scarlett crossed her arms and scoffed, “Those don’t sound very mild… I don’t think I’m comfortable with this anymore.”
Upon recalling the memory, Scarlett frantically checked all her limbs were intact. Which they were. Sore, but definitely intact. With a sigh of relief, she readied her bedroll and crawled in. I need to find Tinker Tom… or someone with comparable knowledge of technology. Her exhaustion pulled her towards sleep quickly despite her anxiously racing thoughts.
When she woke in the morning, she disarmed the mines and resolved to head off towards Diamond City. She had no idea where the Railroad HQ would be located in 2281, and she was wary of what Goodneighbor would be like. Diamond City seemed the safest place to start. Would Tom even be with the railroad during this time? Only one way to find out, she mused.
She began her journey at a quick pace and had plenty of time to ponder her slightly altered state and surroundings. Why would I have risked such terrible side effects for Tom’s time travel experiment? I wonder how long it will be until my memory returns fully…
There was no Dogmeat waiting to greet her at the Red Rocket Truck Stop this time as she passed by. Maybe his original owners are trying to potty train him. The thought had her smirking sadly despite her present circumstances. I miss that mangy mutt.
She trudged onward wondering where the rest of her friends and companions would be right now. With any luck Nick Valentine could be found in Diamond City. Hopefully he’d be able to aid her in tracking Tom down, or the Railroad at least.
She also realized that contacting her future friends as little as possible would probably be for the better to avoid confusion in the future. So, basically she had to get through all this as quickly and quietly as possible. She sighed morosely at the thought. Ugh, this IS giving me a headache… thanks a lot Tom.