3 August

Is this what it's like to be a hero? That's what they called me, you know. "There's no way the people of the Vault can ever thank you for what you've done," the Overseer told me the evening I returned again to the Vault. "You've saved all our lives. Who knows, maybe even saved the human race. That makes the rest of this even harder...." I wasn't sure what he was getting at. A moment before, he'd seemed so happy, so excited at the news that the Vault, his precious Vault, was safe from the mutant army. "Everyone will want to talk to you," he went on. "Every youngster will look up to you. And want to emulate you. And then what? They'll want to leave. What happens to the Vault if we lose the best of a generation?..." My head was whirling. He wasn't! He couldn't! "I've made a lot of tough decisions since I took this position," he said, sadness pulling at his voice. "But none harder than this one. You saved us, but you'll kill us. "I'm sorry. You're a hero... and you have to leave." I was being exiled from the only place that had ever been home to me. Still, though I was shocked and angry at first, I'm beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, the Overseer is right. This Vault can't hold me any longer. It's too small, the horizons too narrow, the possibilities too... limited. Once, I know —— I've been paging through this journal, trying to remember the feelings behind the words I wrote months ago —— I know I've changed. Grown. Once, I was terrified of the Outside. Now, well... Outside is more of a home to me now than these gray and claustrophobic walls. It's time that I moved on. Change is the only constant. The world Outside has changed —— drastically —— from the world of eighty years ago. Now, the survivors of humanity are beginning to work to change things again, for the better, this time. I can help them. And maybe change will even come to the tight little box of life that is Vault 13. It will have to. They can't live in that box forever. I know I can't. I'm going Outside, where I can breath free, non-recycled air, and help build a new world. It will be there waiting for them when they overcome their fear, smash the shackles and bars in their minds, and come out of the prison that they've manufactured for themselves beneath the sands of the desert... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book of the Elders Book of the Elders is a written account of Arroyo's history, events and the Elder's thoughts, excerpts from which are featured in Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets guide. Text

Note: The book is ordered by seasons. Since the 322nd season entry is when Fallout 2 starts, four seasons correspond roughly to a year. All dates are estimates.

62Nd Season (2177)

Those that travel the desert speak of the wondrous and bizarre creatures and events that they encounter. Some of these chance meetings are commonplace amongst travelers, while others are rare enough to be discussed in hushed whispers around the evening fires for years to come. One thing only is certain - that the nature of the Wastes is as ever-changing as the sands themselves.  However, these fairy stories are simply too fantastic to be believed.