Profile: Aldous A.
...yeah I got your money...or maybe just its weight in lead...
Aldous A. had never been the type of kid to play aimlessly in the sandbox, or to go to school every day and sit in the same chair, attentively listening to the teacher’s monotonous bullshit. So he took the first opportunity he could, and, at age eleven, hitched a ride in a trader’s backpack, leaving Vault 81 forever. Once out, however, he was just as oblivious as any of the Vault Dwellers would have been, and struggled to make his way in the world. Were it not for the generosity of some of the settlers living at Oberland (and their gifts of clothes befitting a new wastelander), he surely would have died in his first nights in the wastes. It was only when he found Diamond City that he truly came into his element. Taken under the wing of legendary detective Nick Valentine, Aldous was taught the synth’s trade, and became a legend in his own right...
Early Career:
When he started on the job, Valentine gave him, smartly, the east jobs. That doesn't mean they were simple, however. One of these first cases gave Aldous his first combat experience, after he had unwittingly followed a DCer's dog into a raider camp. He dealt with them swiftly...then he found the dog.
The Raider Incident of 2277:
By this time, a still young Aldous was idolized by his mentor Valentine, and many of the citizens of Diamond City. However, his universal fame did not come about until the year 2277. A new group of raiders (who would in the end be short-lived) drummed up within themselves the confidence to attack the Jewel of the Commonwealth itself. Unfortunately for them, not all of their members could keep their mouths shut. Aldous got wind of the plot, and he made it his mission to stop them before they could achieve their goals. Valentine took the lead on the case, but quickly fell short--many of his archaic methods were unfit for a modern, almost paperless case like that one.
So instead, Aldous became, for the first time, the head of a real case. He began the same way any detective would...he asked around. Few of the Diamond City residents had even heard of the gang, so he left there and went around the Commonwealth, asking everyone who would listen. Goodneighbor held no leads, nor did any of the now flourishing Minutemen settlements.
Dejected by the lack of leads, he returned to Diamond City, unable to find any hint of a lead. That is, until a stroke of luck brought to his front door a spurned member of the gang. Once a simple lackey within the large ranks of the group, he had been lucky to have been given the higher paying job of headquarters guard, and, as such, had heard enough of the plans to learn his role within the whole thing--cannon fodder. Instead of being sacrificed for a cause he didn’t truly believe in, he would sacrifice to bring about its end. He told Aldous all that he knew, and was able to point out the location of the headquarters. Making the ex-raider his deputy, and taking his mentor Valentine with him, Aldous went to raid the headquarters.
Once there, however, they realized how under-armed they were. The raiders, having been amassing weapons for several months, had a large stockpile of explosives stored in a backroom. As Aldous signalled for a retreat to his two companions, who had been separated during the firefight, the raider, having abandoned his old name, who now called himself Dave, refused, and began a blind charge towards the room they had spotted earlier, filled with grenades, pulse mines, and mortar rounds. As more bullets tore through his skin, pieces of his metallic endoskeleton began to show. He broke down the door to the room with his now skinless shoulder, and then pulsed, lighting the explosives and destroying the headquarters. Nick and Aldous, who had been on the other side of the building, were thrown through the thin walls and into the streets. The second time that Aldous owed his life to a synth, and he would never forget it.
Aldous laid low for the next few years, avoiding any potential revenge from any surviving raiders there may have been. During this time, Nick once again took the helm of the cases, Aldous providing occasional insights from the comfort of a plush chair, comfortable enough to support his broken leg, which had never been set correctly by the unfit doctors of Diamond City. His greatest regret in those years was his inability to help in fighting off the many assailants of the city during those years.
In 2283, however, Aldous, still confined to walking about Nick’s office and, occasionally, the market, was given the opportunity of a lifetime. A doctor of the shadiest sort approached him one day, offering to get rid of his “leg problem”, and for a nominal fee as well. Aldous, desperate to get back into the cases, which were now piling up, he took the opportunity. The doctor took him to a basement in old Concord, and went to work, the whole time Aldous laying anesthetized. When Aldous woke, his left leg made a certain mechanical click, and the doctor told him of the success. His old leg, once a mangled mess, had been replaced by a cyborg enhancement. Aldous, relieved he could walk again, ran back to Diamond City. He did not tire on the way, although at that time he merely attributed it to his excitement, the first he had felt of that emotion in years.
When he returned to Diamond City, he ran straight to Nick’s office. Bursting in the door, he pulled up his leg and shook it slightly. The sound of well-oiled hydraulics sailed smoothly through the air. Nick looked at it for a moment, and then stared Aldous in the eyes sternly for longer than he ever had. Pulling a switchblade from his pocket, Nick grabbed Aldous by the arm, and tore into his arm with the sharpened blade. Aldous struggled to pull away, but Valentine prevailed. Nick pulled the strip of skin from Aldous’ arm. What was now exposed was a mass of chips and pistons. Aldous struggled to comprehend at first, until Nick took his hand and said to him, “We are the same now.”
Ever since then, Aldous has struggled with the consequences of his actions. Was he always a synth, and those memories were fabricated? Did that doctor kill his old self and replace him? Aldous had no answers, but that doesn’t stop him from living his life. Sometimes, he even appreciates the additional strength and dexterity.
Since then, Aldous laid low, and took on fewer cases for the second time. That is, until a mysterious man emerged from a Vault near Concord. The man had lost his son, and needed assistance, and Aldous was the one to provide it.
Aldous is often told that he is built like a brick, and it's true. Standing at a little under six feet tall (~1.7 m) and weighing something over one hundred eighty pounds (~81 kg), he's hard to knock over.
His face is long, and his chin sharp. He keeps a small amount of facial hair, little more than a thick five o'clock shadow, around at all times, though it is split on his left cheek by a long scar, the aftermath of a fight with a mongrel. He wears his hat low to hide his long forehead and already receding hairline. His arms and legs are slightly too long for his torso, and make him look slightly gangly during the few times he runs. Aldous has never "worked out", but the nature of much of his more physical work keeps him in good shape. The few people that have seen his naked back remark at his defined muscles--he has very little fat on his body, though the amount is slowly getting larger.
Aldous is instantly recognizable from behind, due to the heavily-modded laser rifle he keeps on his back. Picked up after the incident with the raider gang (a pipe pistol would no longer suffice after that) he scavenged parts from Pre-War military sites. The laser, purposefully weakened so as to light his opponents on fire instead of cauterize their wounds, he named Burning Beauty.
Aldous' head is almost constantly topped by his signature fedora, a piece he has worn since he was a teen, poorly attempting to imitate Nick.
His small pack, almost like a satchel, is generally filled with poorly-kept case notes and ammunition. He wears this over his shoulder most often.In his pockets can almost always be found a pack of cigarettes, though he rarely smokes.
Aldous' most common attire is a trench coat and vest, along with black jeans. He occasionally wears aviators on sunny days.
Aldous enjoys few things besides solving cases, but when he does have off time, he enjoys sitting at Power Noodles, slurping quietly on his favorite food.
He also enjoys tinkering with his rifle in his spare time, and has taught himself how to optimize its performance for different scenarios, switching between different parts when the need arises.
Thanks for waiting so long for this. A variety of tests and papers all in a row delayed this way too long, but now it's done. Please tell me if I've accidentally retconned any lore with his backstory, and I'll change it. Also, I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in a full, short story version of his backstory. I think there's enough content there for a good 20 pages, but feedback is appreciated.
I'll continue to edit this, as I think the presentation could use a little bit of work.
PCTY out.
Profile: Aldous A.
...yeah I got your money...or maybe just its weight in lead...
Aldous A. had never been the type of kid to play aimlessly in the sandbox, or to go to school every day and sit in the same chair, attentively listening to the teacher’s monotonous bullshit. So he took the first opportunity he could, and, at age eleven, hitched a ride in a trader’s backpack, leaving Vault 81 forever. Once out, however, he was just as oblivious as any of the Vault Dwellers would have been, and struggled to make his way in the world. Were it not for the generosity of some of the settlers living at Oberland (and their gifts of clothes befitting a new wastelander), he surely would have died in his first nights in the wastes. It was only when he found Diamond City that he truly came into his element. Taken under the wing of legendary detective Nick Valentine, Aldous was taught the synth’s trade, and became a legend in his own right...
Early Career:
When he started on the job, Valentine gave him, smartly, the east jobs. That doesn't mean they were simple, however. One of these first cases gave Aldous his first combat experience, after he had unwittingly followed a DCer's dog into a raider camp. He dealt with them swiftly...then he found the dog.
The Raider Incident of 2277:
By this time, a still young Aldous was idolized by his mentor Valentine, and many of the citizens of Diamond City. However, his universal fame did not come about until the year 2277. A new group of raiders (who would in the end be short-lived) drummed up within themselves the confidence to attack the Jewel of the Commonwealth itself. Unfortunately for them, not all of their members could keep their mouths shut. Aldous got wind of the plot, and he made it his mission to stop them before they could achieve their goals. Valentine took the lead on the case, but quickly fell short--many of his archaic methods were unfit for a modern, almost paperless case like that one.
So instead, Aldous became, for the first time, the head of a real case. He began the same way any detective would...he asked around. Few of the Diamond City residents had even heard of the gang, so he left there and went around the Commonwealth, asking everyone who would listen. Goodneighbor held no leads, nor did any of the now flourishing Minutemen settlements.
Dejected by the lack of leads, he returned to Diamond City, unable to find any hint of a lead. That is, until a stroke of luck brought to his front door a spurned member of the gang. Once a simple lackey within the large ranks of the group, he had been lucky to have been given the higher paying job of headquarters guard, and, as such, had heard enough of the plans to learn his role within the whole thing--cannon fodder. Instead of being sacrificed for a cause he didn’t truly believe in, he would sacrifice to bring about its end. He told Aldous all that he knew, and was able to point out the location of the headquarters. Making the ex-raider his deputy, and taking his mentor Valentine with him, Aldous went to raid the headquarters.
Once there, however, they realized how under-armed they were. The raiders, having been amassing weapons for several months, had a large stockpile of explosives stored in a backroom. As Aldous signalled for a retreat to his two companions, who had been separated during the firefight, the raider, having abandoned his old name, who now called himself Dave, refused, and began a blind charge towards the room they had spotted earlier, filled with grenades, pulse mines, and mortar rounds. As more bullets tore through his skin, pieces of his metallic endoskeleton began to show. He broke down the door to the room with his now skinless shoulder, and then pulsed, lighting the explosives and destroying the headquarters. Nick and Aldous, who had been on the other side of the building, were thrown through the thin walls and into the streets. The second time that Aldous owed his life to a synth, and he would never forget it.
Aldous laid low for the next few years, avoiding any potential revenge from any surviving raiders there may have been. During this time, Nick once again took the helm of the cases, Aldous providing occasional insights from the comfort of a plush chair, comfortable enough to support his broken leg, which had never been set correctly by the unfit doctors of Diamond City. His greatest regret in those years was his inability to help in fighting off the many assailants of the city during those years.
In 2283, however, Aldous, still confined to walking about Nick’s office and, occasionally, the market, was given the opportunity of a lifetime. A doctor of the shadiest sort approached him one day, offering to get rid of his “leg problem”, and for a nominal fee as well. Aldous, desperate to get back into the cases, which were now piling up, he took the opportunity. The doctor took him to a basement in old Concord, and went to work, the whole time Aldous laying anesthetized. When Aldous woke, his left leg made a certain mechanical click, and the doctor told him of the success. His old leg, once a mangled mess, had been replaced by a cyborg enhancement. Aldous, relieved he could walk again, ran back to Diamond City. He did not tire on the way, although at that time he merely attributed it to his excitement, the first he had felt of that emotion in years.
When he returned to Diamond City, he ran straight to Nick’s office. Bursting in the door, he pulled up his leg and shook it slightly. The sound of well-oiled hydraulics sailed smoothly through the air. Nick looked at it for a moment, and then stared Aldous in the eyes sternly for longer than he ever had. Pulling a switchblade from his pocket, Nick grabbed Aldous by the arm, and tore into his arm with the sharpened blade. Aldous struggled to pull away, but Valentine prevailed. Nick pulled the strip of skin from Aldous’ arm. What was now exposed was a mass of chips and pistons. Aldous struggled to comprehend at first, until Nick took his hand and said to him, “We are the same now.”
Ever since then, Aldous has struggled with the consequences of his actions. Was he always a synth, and those memories were fabricated? Did that doctor kill his old self and replace him? Aldous had no answers, but that doesn’t stop him from living his life. Sometimes, he even appreciates the additional strength and dexterity.
Since then, Aldous laid low, and took on fewer cases for the second time. That is, until a mysterious man emerged from a Vault near Concord. The man had lost his son, and needed assistance, and Aldous was the one to provide it.
Aldous is often told that he is built like a brick, and it's true. Standing at a little under six feet tall (~1.7 m) and weighing something over one hundred eighty pounds (~81 kg), he's hard to knock over.
His face is long, and his chin sharp. He keeps a small amount of facial hair, little more than a thick five o'clock shadow, around at all times, though it is split on his left cheek by a long scar, the aftermath of a fight with a mongrel. He wears his hat low to hide his long forehead and already receding hairline. His arms and legs are slightly too long for his torso, and make him look slightly gangly during the few times he runs. Aldous has never "worked out", but the nature of much of his more physical work keeps him in good shape. The few people that have seen his naked back remark at his defined muscles--he has very little fat on his body, though the amount is slowly getting larger.
Aldous is instantly recognizable from behind, due to the heavily-modded laser rifle he keeps on his back. Picked up after the incident with the raider gang (a pipe pistol would no longer suffice after that) he scavenged parts from Pre-War military sites. The laser, purposefully weakened so as to light his opponents on fire instead of cauterize their wounds, he named Burning Beauty.
Aldous' head is almost constantly topped by his signature fedora, a piece he has worn since he was a teen, poorly attempting to imitate Nick.
His small pack, almost like a satchel, is generally filled with poorly-kept case notes and ammunition. He wears this over his shoulder most often.In his pockets can almost always be found a pack of cigarettes, though he rarely smokes.
Aldous' most common attire is a trench coat and vest, along with black jeans. He occasionally wears aviators on sunny days.
Aldous enjoys few things besides solving cases, but when he does have off time, he enjoys sitting at Power Noodles, slurping quietly on his favorite food.
He also enjoys tinkering with his rifle in his spare time, and has taught himself how to optimize its performance for different scenarios, switching between different parts when the need arises.
Thanks for waiting so long for this. A variety of tests and papers all in a row delayed this way too long, but now it's done. Please tell me if I've accidentally retconned any lore with his backstory, and I'll change it. Also, I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in a full, short story version of his backstory. I think there's enough content there for a good 20 pages, but feedback is appreciated.
I'll continue to edit this, as I think the presentation could use a little bit of work.
PCTY out.
