Psycho Jet and me: My fall from grace in the Commonwealth
1/3/2016
Drugs are bad. That is what we as a culture have been told ever since we first learned to walk and talk. They ruin lives, make you a terrible person, and ruin career paths and relationships. What about when the world is gone and lost as is everything you have known and loved – is it okay to get totally ripped then? That is what Tom Hiddelstein, my character from beloved game Fallout 4, took very seriously.
From the second the bright sunlight hit Tom’s eyes as the Vault opened up and the fresh irradiated smell of the wasteland flooded his being, he decided to live this life like every day were his last, as he took sprint to find every mind-altering, time-slowing substance the Commonwealth has to offer.
I had Tom start as just a recreational user, hitting the Jet when it was needed and inducing in Buffout anytime he needed a boost of strength and confidence. Then as he noticed how beautiful the desolate world full of murderous creatures got when it lit up bright with color and how murdering felt so simple with the slowed time it became much more of a need than a want. I started taking everything I could find from Psycho to Jet and Mentats to Buffout in mass quantities until I got the special message in the left hand corner of the screen, you are now addicted to whatever I was on at the time. I had taken so much of everything my addiction screen filled with what was known of every discoverable substance in the Commonwealth. But there must be more people like me out here…
So as I stripped off all my clothes and let the world gorge on the body of a middle aged, balding man with a comb-over who has the physique of Walter White in the first episodes of Breaking Bad, I went on the hunt for some fellow drug addicts and dealers whom I may call friend.
It was at this time I discovered a group in the small town of Concord, which included a little old lady named Mama Murphy, begging for drugs. As the other members of the group discouraged me from fueling her habit, I needed her drug-addled friendship, so I invited them all back to my settlement and became her main supplier. Tom is now a small time dealer and couldn’t be happier.
But what about when Tom’s supply runs out?
That was a true worry I had, so I quickly decided to create that good-old chem station where I can start creating my own hybrid drugs to take and sell to the people who need. I then discovered my favorite drug of all: Psycho Jet.
It was at this time Tom’s life took a turn for the worst, where I discovered his eyesight dulling out and blurring as I went some time without injected myself with my large quantities of Psycho Jet. Tom wandered as he slept on nasty mattresses he found anywhere in abandoned shacks and caves, one of which had a still-dressed decomposed skeleton of a runaway girl. It made no difference to Tom, as he needed a place to lay his drug-soaked mind.
Next place on the list was the town of Goodneighbor, which I stumbled across and, upon entering, where I saw the mayor called Hancock stab a man repeatedly in the stomach, and not give a shit about who was around. My new supplier. Anytime I would speak to him, he always gave me something to clear my head, which I would take over to Mama Murphy. Then I would take my very own cooked-up chems to Diamond City and deal them out to any vendor I could find making quite a good amount of caps. My title as a full drug lord was coming full circle.
Now most anybody would think badly about a person like this but Tom has a known past of war before the bombs fell on his peaceful life. He was assured to kill people and watch his friends die that a PTSD was sure to develop. The seeing the nuke fall and destroy his town, and watching his love get shot in the head as his baby gets kidnapped, nobody can really blame him for his horrible life choices.
This goes on for a while, my relationship with Hancock growing, caps growing into the thousands, and my addictions rising exponentially adding in Bufftats and most alcohols. What could go wrong?
Well the answer to that was knowing I kill innocent people in drug fueled rage just because I could and the over dose of someone Tom came to really care about. Mama Murphy. On my last encounter with the sweet old lady who I have been dealing to, she asked me if I had anything to help her visions and clear her mind. “Why yes I do, here’s some Jet.” Completely ignoring the previous cries of trouble breathing and how her heart starts to pain. She has one last gasp of breath after to swap and then collapses straight to ground no longer moving. A fellow settler comes rushing to her side as Tom sprints away.
Not being able to deal with the loss and the cope I have Tom decide to take the Fat Man he bought from all the caps made from dealing his cooked drugs, load up a mini nuke, point it at the ground and fire, taking his life. This was the last time I played with my drug themed character Tom Hiddelstein. Lost but never forgotten.
Written by Mike Middleton
