Boston Bewilderings, The Fallout 4 "Where are you now?" thread Options

[SubRosa]

Have you been to the Drumlin Diner yet? It is on the road between Concord and Lexington. There is a merchant there, assuming you side with her against the drug dealers who are threatening her. Also not far away on the same road is a traveling merchant - Trashcan Carla - who will begin to make regular stops at Sanctury once you meet her the first time.

There is a way to craft ammo by building an Ammunition Plant, which you need the Contraptions DLC for. I never bothered with it. It seems like a big hassle with little to really show for it. It was easier just to make a mod that allows you to craft bullets from steel. Just look at how the other constructable objects work, and it is simple enough to do.

[Renee]

Not sure if Jenn's been there, I'm not seeing it on the map, however Jenn did meet a chems dealer named Slash or Shade or some such, near Med-Tec Research.

See, I'm spoiled by PC gaming here. On PC I would just jump into the GECK and make the merchant I need, give him or her plenty of rotating stock (including junk) so it doesn't feel like I'm blatantly cheating, voila. 🍷

I don't have the Contraptions DLC, at least I think I don't, not sure... I did just find this mod, however, which promises ...



1. (1) Lease one per owned settlement [ workshop crafting menu ].

Ammo put into the machine is scrapped in blocks of 10 or 20 to produce standard base game scrap components which are used to make boxes of 50 new ammo. on Xbox I'm somewhat limited; this seems the best I could find.

I'll let everyone know if this works.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 25 2026, 01:19 AM

[SubRosa]

Here is my Ammo Crafting Simplified mod, on my Google Drive. Anyone should be able to download it. With it you can create all forms of gun ammo with steel, and energy ammo with acid.

[Kane]

@Renee, since you mentioned not seeing a lot of Protectrons, I figured I'd mention that very few roam free. Most are in charging pods controlled by terminals. The benefit is that sometimes you can program them to defend you via the terminal and then release them.

There is actually one in Corvega, in the final room with the raider boss that you can do that with. I like releasing it and watching it take out the raiders for me.

This post has been edited by Kane: Jan 26 2026, 01:39 PM

[Renee]

We did fight one Protectron yesterday actually. It was free-roaming with some Mister Gutsies, forget where we were at the time, though
`

December 23, 2287, Midnight: Jenn X discovers Cambridge Diner, but is too afraid to go in. This is ghoul country after all. It's the Night before the night before Christmas Jenn X is in not in the holiday spirit at all though. Her life is grim, never know where the next trauma or danger will happen next, but she knows when; usually every five minutes or so. She misses the days of 210 years ago, when all she had to worry about were some bills, what to have for lunch and make for dinner. Back then her life was also sort of grim; stuck in a dead-end marriage with that lowlife Malcom. Grim, but not dangerous. She would've been in the holiday spirit at least, not constantly about to get killed!

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 27 2026, 12:10 AM

[Lopov]

I don't think I've ever encountered former neighbors in a random encounter. But I remember encountering the guy from the Vault-Tec that visits you at home. He's also ghoulified of course.

So Jenn is pondering, whether living a boring life with her husband was better or worse than getting killed almost twice every day?

I expect to return to the Commonwealth soon enough too.

[Renee]

So Jenn is pondering, whether living a boring life with her husband was better or worse than getting killed almost twice every day?

She sure is. At times she misses the guy, other times (like after a successful delve) she wouldn't trade her old life for the new. There's a thrill to living by your wits all the time that just wasn't there in the days of paying bills & showing up to work on time. I like to think Jenn had some gun training in her old life and was an avid runner though.

December 29, 2287: Jenn X spends the night in Lexington Apahtments just in time to avoid the latest rad storm and levels up to 13. I added a point of Agility and perks in Rifleman, Sneak and Aquagirl, because Jenn was a swimmer in her old life, too. I like to think she had some killer gym membership and was pretty athletic. She also now has perks in Animal Friend, Rad Resistant, and Locksmith. Ha! All these months I've been hitting the wrong button to add perks, now that I know it's RB and not the A button, that's why there's the sudden backlog of perks to add.

EDIT: Whoa, leukemia??? we can get leukemia in this game? What's that about?

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 1 2026, 12:36 AM

[SubRosa]

I have never heard of that. It looks like diseases are part of Survival mode, which I have never used. I don't see leukemia in there though.

[Lopov]

Is Lexington Apartments that building, populated by a pair of raiders inside?

Like SubRosa, I've never used the Hardcore mod but I remember some online discussion about leukemia and cure for it - whether the disease is mod-added or vanilla, I don't know.

_____

Fortunately for Genesis, one of the masked attackers that opened fire on him without any apparent reason was broad enough that his leather armor - though uncomfortably tight - offered a welcome alternative to roaming the wasteland half-naked. What motive could have driven the crooks to attack him the moment he came into view?

Had they assumed he was carrying something valuable? Unlikely - he had been wandering the wasteland in nothing but his underwear.

Were they simply indulging a mindless urge to kill, shooting at anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path? Possibly.

Or were they cannibals, hoping to make a meal of him once he was dead? Also possible.

Whatever the reason, it hardly mattered. Genesis quickly dismissed the questions and shifted his thoughts elsewhere. Would every human he encountered in this shattered world open fire on sight? Perhaps he'll find some answers in the ruined settlement nearby.

The settlement lingered in his memory with unsettling clarity, as though he had visited it only yesterday. Yet the device strapped to his forearm insisted that two hundred years had passed since then. He recalled accompanying his commanding officer, General Dwight, to the general’s home in that very settlement, where he briefly met Dwight’s wife, Nora, and their infant son, Shaun. Soon afterward, they proceeded to the vault, where Genesis was instructed to enter a cryo pod - assured by General Dwight that it was necessary to conduct further analysis of his enhanced capabilities.

But once sealed inside, Genesis witnessed a harrowing scene. In the pod opposite his own stood Nora, clutching her child. He watched helplessly as the pod was opened, Shaun torn from her arms, and Nora murdered before his eyes.

Now, awakened centuries later, Genesis felt a pressing duty to report Nora’s death and Shaun’s abduction to General Dwight. Yet a series of questions weighed on him:

Had his commanding officer somehow survived the two centuries that had passed? Unlikely - unless he, too, had been preserved in cryo-stasis.

Why had Nora Dwight been sealed inside the Vault as well? No answer presented itself.

Why had the infant been taken? Again, no clear answer.

Genesis knew he had never been designed to think. Yet without orders to obey or a superior to guide him, thinking had become essential.

[macole]

I like the beginning.

[Renee]

I have never heard of that. It looks like diseases are part of Survival mode, which I have never used. I don't see leukemia in there though.

Ah, at least that's vanilla then. Oddly, I don't use Survival mode. I still suck at this game in combat; pretty sure I've got it on Very Easy. I've recently added a bunch of mods though, including a Hardcore Mode addition, so I was thinking maybe that's where cancer comes from. Seems not, thankfully. Really surprised Bethesda themselves would go this far.

Is Lexington Apartments that building, populated by a pair of raiders inside?

Si. *nods* Jenn surprised the hell out of them, too. Say hello to my new 10 mil auto, raider scum!

Cool, glad to see you are writing again, Lopov. I love how you are working the events of the game's beginning into Genesis's story, while also sidestepping Genesis as being the actual father of Shaun, ignoring the forced family thing in your own way.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 2 2026, 09:18 PM

[Acadian]

'Genesis knew he had never been designed to think. Yet without orders to obey or a superior to guide him, thinking had become essential.'
- - This really brings home the challenges Genesis faces - not so much physical since he is fittingly imposing, but needing to ponder human nature and the meaning of so many things.

[Renee]

Jenn returns to Covenant, speaks to Doctor Patricia about this sluggish feeling she's got; and her Pipdevice is saying she's got leukemia! Well the doc has nothing to say, no dialog options other than Barter, Cure Me, and so on. Cure Me only allows her to top off Jenn's health, cure her Rads, or cure an addiction. Nothing about diseases or cancer, so we're stuck. Not sure what the heck to do.

[Kane]

I would check the mod description because cancer is certainly not a base game feature. There aren't any diseases in the base game unless you play survival mode.

[Lopov]

@macole - then I hope you'll like the rest as well.

@Renee - I've decided to let options for the main quest opened, but for the time being his focus lies elsewhere as evident from today's story.

@Acadian - thanks for noticing it, it is indeed struggling, at times even overwhelming for Genesis to think, recognize emotions, reactions from others etc.

_______

A man out of time

Preston Garvey, seasoned leader of the last surviving Minutemen, had witnessed more than his share of strange things in the Commonwealth - but the man who called himself Genesis eclipsed them all. Preston had watched him crush raiders’ skulls with his bare hands, leap from the roof of the Museum of Freedom and land on the street below without so much as flinching, and face down a deathclaw armed with nothing more than a battered tire iron. The wounds, bruises, and gashes he sustained in that desperate fight had begun knitting themselves back together before Preston’s very eyes. And as for the purpose of Genesis’s unsettling bionic eye - Preston had decided it was wiser not to ask. Whatever it did, he suspected it allowed Genesis to perceive far more than any ordinary human.

“I’m glad you’re on our side,” Preston told the towering figure as they made their way toward Sanctuary, where he hoped to establish a safe haven for the scattered remnants of the Minutemen. If you weren’t, he thought silently, we’d all be dead by now.

Had Preston been able to read Genesis’s mind, he would have found reassurance. For Genesis, it felt strangely right - almost comforting - to have someone to take orders from again. He accepted the responsibility of helping the Minutemen without hesitation. Though he spoke little, he found himself experiencing unfamiliar, touching emotions as he listened to them share fragments of their lives - their losses, their struggles, their determination to endure in a shattered world.

Perhaps, Genesis thought, he could help them build something resembling a safe haven in the wasteland’s relentless chaos.

[Acadian]

We can already see how how Genesis is growing in his understanding and possible role. We also see hints of an underlying 'goodness' to him.

[Renee]

EDIT: Whoa, leukemia??? we can get leukemia in this game? What's that about?

It's from a mod yea, of course it is. Lopov found this Reddit thread which describes how we get cancer with this mod.

After taking extensive radioactive damage, my character contracted leukemia. The damage I take is enough to need a stimpack every minute. I've taken every medicinal drug that I'm able to craft that the "hardcore mode on" mod includes. Antibiotics, antiparasites, penicullium samples, activated carbon. I've searched the internet and Nexus Mods on this issue and haven't found any information. This disease is bad enough that I'm not able to continue playing my game without curing it. Has anyone had experienced with this? I really hope someone can tell me how to cure it.


Yea I've got that exact Creation: hardcore Mode ON it's called. It's those damn rad storms which cause cancer--Every time Jenn gets stuck in one of those she tries to do the right thing by finding somewhere INDOORS to be, except Murphy's Law always steps in--there's usually nowhere close by to hide within, and we can't fast-travel while taking constant damage. Dangit, and there's no way to disable that feature on consoles. I would definitely tweak this if I still was gaming on PC.

Here's how to cure it though. See we can't cure cancer in real-life but we sure can thru mods in a videogame.

I figured out what to do shortly after my post. Since I couldn't find any information online, I'll leave it here for the next person with the same question. To cure leukemia you have to get a blood transfusion. To do that you have to build a blood transfusion table, (workshop mode: furniture). Transfer five blood packs to the blood transfusion table, and sit (process takes hours, make sure you're fed). Since I couldn't sleep while taking damage to my health, I've also contracted insomnia. That's a bit simpler to cure though.

I'm taking a break from gaming this week but am thinking Jenn's actually going to learn how to cure herself, maybe she can build one of these blood transfusion tables in or near Covenant, her favorite settlement so far.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 10 2026, 06:38 PM

[Lopov]

@Acadian - you're indeed right about noticing goodness in his actions.

_____

The Giant of Olivia

Smokey knew the big guy was coming for him. Heavy boots thudded closer - slow, steady, like the giant didn’t have a single worry in the world. He was right around the corner…

A few minutes ago, life had actually been pretty decent - raider decent, anyway. Smokey had been living the high life in the cellar of Satellite Station Olivia. His boss, Ack Ack, ruled the place, and Ack Ack was the biggest badass Smokey had ever known - huge guy, favorite toy a minigun, temper shorter than a fuse on a pipe bomb. Settlers feared him, raiders feared him, and Smokey? Smokey practically worshiped him. Or at least he pretended to.

Now Ack Ack was just another corpse with half his skull vaporized.

Genesis had taken him down with one shot. One. Like the legendary Ack Ack was nothing more than a mole rat in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Genesis stepped over the bodies with calm, measured strides. The raiders had attacked without hesitation - hostile, reckless, predictable. He neutralized each one, his movements smooth and efficient. He recognized fear in their eyes. Fear he knew he wasn’t supposed to understand.

But he did.

Smokey was the last one left.

Running wasn’t an option. The giant would catch him. So Smokey clutched his pipe pistol, heart rattling in his chest, and sprang from the corner.

Genesis registered the movement instantly. The raider’s aim was shaky, adrenaline surging through him. Bullets tore into Genesis’s torso - pain blooming briefly before his enhanced tissue initiated repairs. He kept advancing, step after step, ignoring the gunfire as something faint and unwelcome flickered inside him - a sensation he couldn’t identify. Not fear. Not anger. Something else.

Smokey’s shots grew more desperate.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Nothing stopped the giant.

Then Genesis moved. The switchblade flashed.

Smokey felt a hot slash rip across his neck. He dropped to the ground, hands slick with blood, the world spinning. His breath came in wet gasps as he looked up - and saw the giant standing over him.

Genesis stared down at the raider. Not with malice. Not with triumph. Just… watching. Observing the life draining from the man’s eyes. He recognized the terror there. The confusion. And something inside him tightened - strange, alien, unwelcome.

Smokey’s vision blurred. The giant’s expression didn’t change. He didn’t kneel. Didn’t finish him off. Didn’t even look curious. He simply stood there, silent as stone, until Smokey’s breaths turned ragged.

Then Genesis turned away.

No victory cry. No final blow. No interest in whether the man lived another five seconds or none at all.

He just walked off.

Smokey’s last thought, as darkness finally swallowed him, was simple:

The giant didn’t care.
Not about him.
Not about any of them.

And Genesis, stepping into the daylight outside, felt that same faint, unwelcome pressure in his chest - an emotion trying to form.

He dismissed it.

Mission complete.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Feb 12 2026, 11:31 AM

[Acadian]

Neat seeing Genesis from a baddie's perspective. You painted Smokey's panic and confusion over what he knew was coming really well.

Genesis is still growing and trying to figure out these strange sensations he feels inside.

Over in the screenshots thread you did a good job showing us the story via pictures.

[Lopov]

Thank you, Acadian! At first I had the story written from Smokey's perspective only but something was missing. Then I wrote it from Genesis' perspective but it didn't feel right either. In the end I shortened both and merged them together.

_____

Eyes of Genesis

The sun blazed harshly over Concord, its light glaring off broken windows and rusted metal as Preston Garvey and Genesis moved through the deserted streets. Two weeks had passed since they had cleared the town of raiders and the deathclaw that once stalked its center. None had returned. The silence felt absolute - so complete that only the sound of their measured footsteps disturbed it.

Preston narrowed his eyes against the brightness and glanced at the towering figure beside him. He wondered whether Genesis had switched to one of his “other” visions to compensate for the harsh sunlight.

Genesis had explained them once - demonstrated them, even. With a precise click against a small node at his right temple, he could activate what he referred to as night vision. As the name implied, it proved most effective after dark. When engaged, the world shifted into varying shades of green, every outline sharpened and clarified.

There was also thermal vision. That one rendered living beings in vivid tones of red, their body heat blazing against cooler surroundings. However, Genesis had noted that it was less effective beneath strong sunlight, which interfered with the clarity of the thermal spectrum.

He had mentioned - almost casually - that using both modes had been invaluable during his assault on Corvega, one of the largest raider strongholds in the Commonwealth. The idea that a single man could storm Corvega and eliminate its defenders still strained Preston’s belief. Yet by now, he was learning not to question what Genesis was capable of.

As they continued southward through the empty streets, Preston found himself wondering just how many other abilities lay dormant within the engineered soldier - waiting, perhaps, for the right moment to be activated.