I was flipping through the Fallout Bible for story seeds when I came across a question about Myron and Jet that Chris Avellone never really answered. (Well, that's half the Bible right there, but moving on...) Someone brought up a good point: how could Mr Bishop hook the future Mrs Bishop on Jet when its creator, Myron, looks younger than Ms Bishop?
I found a really old post about it, but what I'm looking for is the kernel of a story seed: is Myron lying? Or did the FO2 development team goof?
Myron's initial description:
You see a pasty-faced teenager. His hair is greasy, and he smells faintly of formaldehyde.
Myron on Jet development:
Ah, Christ. Well...when I came across the Mordino family way back when, they were farming peyote cacti and trying to sell it to tourists as the 'Reno experience.' Total bullshit. I mean, peyote? C'mon. It isn't even half the strength of, say, old school LSD. Plus, a peyote trip is too long. The profit's in fast turn around and high addiction. Like, uh, barbitutates before the Big One, y'know?
Problem is, in the new climate, we can't grow most of the veggies needed for the best drugs. Couldn't grow coca plants, opium poppies -- and man did we try -- so we figured our best bet was shrooms. You can grow 'em if you use plenty o' brahmin shit as fertilizer. Plus, hallucinogens have low overhead, so I start experimenting with derivatives of lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD] and psilocybin [an alkaloid that gives shrooms their magic powers]. Still, I really wanted to whip up a hard-hitter that didn't rely on veggie extracts. Man, was I an idiot, 'cause the answer turned out to BE the extracts, or, more precisely, what they were growing IN.
See, old Jesus Mordino wanted something that the Redding miners would get addicted to fast AND make them work harder. So, I said, 'no prob,' right? Well, wasn't too hard to come up with a good upper. A sample of that pre-war protein extract, corrupt it and bam -- decent amphetamine. Before the Big One some meat companies were experimenting with a cheap protein extract for growing food, but they had to ditch it. One little skin bacteria contaminates it, and it's all screwed. The contaminated version acted like an amphetamine when ingested....When [the meat companies] first screwed up, they contaminated tons of that shit. And rather than ditch it, they fed it to their brahmin herds to try and recoup their losses.
PC: "So you used brahmin shit as fertilizer for the shrooms, except the pre-war protein contamination gives whatever shrooms grown in brahmin shit…certain extra ingredients?"
See, we start experimenting with the brahmin shit as fertilizer for the shrooms, except get this; then, we noticed the slaves working fertilizer vats were getting high from the fumes…By putting tons of brahmin shit in the vats, we found out that the fumes give more than enough of a kick. Eureka. Literally. 'Course, we had to test to get the mix right…
Is Myron a child genius? Doubtful. But he doesn't mention any other helpers (like an idea thief would mention the idea's originator anyway) and no one else in the Stables knows anything about Jet's initial manufacture and they all defer to Myron.
This is what Mrs Bishop has to say about her little addiction:
PC: "How did you end up in New Reno?"
JOHN happened. I used to live [in Vault City]. He visited once, I was pleasantly charmed because he was so…rough, I guess. Different from most Vault Citizens. (Sighs.) Of course, he let me try this little thing called 'Jet'... Jet's illegal in Vault City, of course. The other Citizens found out and revoked my Citizenship. John was the only one I could turn to... he knew that, of course. He'd planned the whole thing.
For what end, I wonder? A trophy wife? The only time Mr Bishop even mentions the existence of his wife and daughter is when he mentions sex between the Bishop ladies and the PC to threaten a recalcitrant PC into doing a hit for the Bishop family.
From a writing standpoint, this situation works only by a) doubling Myron's age, which conflicts with his avatar and in-game text or b) assigning another crime to Mrs Bishop that would get her kicked out of VC, such as posession of grain alcohol or murder or something. I can see John luring Leslie Anne out of VC with promises of booze and good times, especially since John Bishop's the type of man to keep a hand in everything (*snerk*) and seems more interested in towns and organizations outside of Reno than any of the other families.
Thoughts?
I found a really old post about it, but what I'm looking for is the kernel of a story seed: is Myron lying? Or did the FO2 development team goof?
Myron's initial description:
You see a pasty-faced teenager. His hair is greasy, and he smells faintly of formaldehyde.
Myron on Jet development:
Ah, Christ. Well...when I came across the Mordino family way back when, they were farming peyote cacti and trying to sell it to tourists as the 'Reno experience.' Total bullshit. I mean, peyote? C'mon. It isn't even half the strength of, say, old school LSD. Plus, a peyote trip is too long. The profit's in fast turn around and high addiction. Like, uh, barbitutates before the Big One, y'know?
Problem is, in the new climate, we can't grow most of the veggies needed for the best drugs. Couldn't grow coca plants, opium poppies -- and man did we try -- so we figured our best bet was shrooms. You can grow 'em if you use plenty o' brahmin shit as fertilizer. Plus, hallucinogens have low overhead, so I start experimenting with derivatives of lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD] and psilocybin [an alkaloid that gives shrooms their magic powers]. Still, I really wanted to whip up a hard-hitter that didn't rely on veggie extracts. Man, was I an idiot, 'cause the answer turned out to BE the extracts, or, more precisely, what they were growing IN.
See, old Jesus Mordino wanted something that the Redding miners would get addicted to fast AND make them work harder. So, I said, 'no prob,' right? Well, wasn't too hard to come up with a good upper. A sample of that pre-war protein extract, corrupt it and bam -- decent amphetamine. Before the Big One some meat companies were experimenting with a cheap protein extract for growing food, but they had to ditch it. One little skin bacteria contaminates it, and it's all screwed. The contaminated version acted like an amphetamine when ingested....When [the meat companies] first screwed up, they contaminated tons of that shit. And rather than ditch it, they fed it to their brahmin herds to try and recoup their losses.
PC: "So you used brahmin shit as fertilizer for the shrooms, except the pre-war protein contamination gives whatever shrooms grown in brahmin shit…certain extra ingredients?"
See, we start experimenting with the brahmin shit as fertilizer for the shrooms, except get this; then, we noticed the slaves working fertilizer vats were getting high from the fumes…By putting tons of brahmin shit in the vats, we found out that the fumes give more than enough of a kick. Eureka. Literally. 'Course, we had to test to get the mix right…
Is Myron a child genius? Doubtful. But he doesn't mention any other helpers (like an idea thief would mention the idea's originator anyway) and no one else in the Stables knows anything about Jet's initial manufacture and they all defer to Myron.
This is what Mrs Bishop has to say about her little addiction:
PC: "How did you end up in New Reno?"
JOHN happened. I used to live [in Vault City]. He visited once, I was pleasantly charmed because he was so…rough, I guess. Different from most Vault Citizens. (Sighs.) Of course, he let me try this little thing called 'Jet'... Jet's illegal in Vault City, of course. The other Citizens found out and revoked my Citizenship. John was the only one I could turn to... he knew that, of course. He'd planned the whole thing.
For what end, I wonder? A trophy wife? The only time Mr Bishop even mentions the existence of his wife and daughter is when he mentions sex between the Bishop ladies and the PC to threaten a recalcitrant PC into doing a hit for the Bishop family.
From a writing standpoint, this situation works only by a) doubling Myron's age, which conflicts with his avatar and in-game text or b) assigning another crime to Mrs Bishop that would get her kicked out of VC, such as posession of grain alcohol or murder or something. I can see John luring Leslie Anne out of VC with promises of booze and good times, especially since John Bishop's the type of man to keep a hand in everything (*snerk*) and seems more interested in towns and organizations outside of Reno than any of the other families.
Thoughts?
