Welcome to the Freewastes, kid.

Been out here a while now. Hell, think we had folks livin' in this ruin since the bombs dropped. Probably 'cause of that there Edwin  and the RobCo district. They called it the Binary Valley, what with all them robots gettin' made.

Nowadays, it's the only place around where a person can live freely of the constraints of National identity. That's who we are. We're free.

They say the King of the Crossroads never dies. Some say he's just some fancy ZAX-bot, or somethin'. Others say he's a suspended brain. Others say the mafia keep his death a secret and use his name as some sort've claim to power and fame. Either way, while we all got our families and businesses to run out here, we don't bow to nobody. Even in the lil' town of Detour, built outta some whacky bugger's idea of a steam-powered apartment building, ain't nothin' but a Sheriff and an old Ghoul tellin' you what's what.

So what's the big deal 'bout us?

Well, turns out, that freedom's at risk. Somethin' strange is happening, people are gettin' sick. Some sort've plague. With news of the nearby town, Antares, bein' wiped out by the plague, and the army of slaving super-mutants to the south planning to besiege the King's Cross, we might have turned to the Republic for help. Turns out, they got a war for their lives on their hands too. Some Brotherhood of Steel pickin' a fight with 'em, and calling their friends to the east back home to fight their war. Some sorta Paladin-Elder is on a warpath, and they're headed right for us all the same.

We got a hell of a mess out here. We got thousands of people tryin' to weather the storm out here.

Folks're sayin' you're some sort've test Subject. Now, around these parts, it don't matter what you came from, only what you plan to be. So what's it gonna be?

You here to break these chains, or wrap 'em 'round our necks?