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Dane: I’d say we became a Desert Ranger twice. On October 7th, 2023, one of our other headmates was feeling isolated. She was the only one of us here from the time of Fallout 1, and even though she was surrounded by faction-mates, she felt like she couldn’t connect with anyone. That day, she got sick of loneliness and decided to take matters into her own hands. She threw out this shining golden rope. None of the rest of us had seen anything like it before or since. We don’t know how she managed to throw it out, believe us, we’ve looked for the hatch. After she threw it, she called Tycho’s name. Wherever he was at the time, he heard her call for help, accepted that this would be a one-way trip, and grabbed on. He arrived here later that night. It wasn’t a smooth trip for him. We usually get small splitting headaches, but we were battling a nasty sinus infection that night. The pain was intense enough to disorient him. Where other Abraxians would have gotten their bearings in a few hours, Tycho took a few days. I wonder if we’d all be here if he had gotten used to this reality faster.

Dane: The second time we became a Desert Ranger involved a dorm room, a statue, a handshake, and a 3 month long mental breakdown. Tycho had been here for a little while at this point, maybe two weeks? One of the first things he told us about after he got his bearings was his relationship with the NCR. He remembered teaching the guards of Shady Sands, the capital of the NCR, how to better defend their town. At this point, he had nothing but good things to say about the NCR. He didn’t agree with their imperialistic actions at the time of Fallout: New Vegas, but he handled it by avoiding thinking about the subject. Then, Tycho made a mistake. Tycho Googled himself. You should never Google yourself. He read our fandom wiki page and learned that we were not the NCR’s treasured allies. Instead, we had been absorbed into them right before the events of New Vegas. We lost our identity, independence, and traditions. They built a big statue to commemorate the occasion. He didn’t take it well.

Tycho: Things end and things die. It’s the most natural thing in the world, and I know that. There are very few factions in Fallout who last beyond the game in which they are introduced. We were very lucky to still exist - in any capacity - 120 years after my memories trail off. I should have been okay with this. I should have left well enough alone and allowed myself to fade into the background like so many others here have. What else could I do? It’s not like I can warp reality, is it?

I warped reality.

I shut us in our dorm room and stared at the statue for weeks, months on end. I left to perform body maintenance and attend classes, so I could maintain our standard of living, but I devoted almost all my mental energy to this. I wouldn’t recommend you do the same. It was unhealthy. I didn’t know I was doing this while I was doing it. I thought I was ruminating on my failures, punishing myself for being the first piece of straw on a camel’s back. I was doing that and that was bad, but I accomplished something more.

I launched Fallout: New Vegas and started a new file. I named the file something our laws say I cannot repeat here. It wasn’t anything special at the time. I created a character who was just separate enough from me to allow me to say I was roleplaying and used her as an excuse to exact vengeance on those who had wronged me. I couldn’t bring myself to truly hurt any individual associated with the NCR. Even though they were lines of code and polygons in this world, I saw what I had tried to build reflected in them. I saw them question if they were making the right choices, if they should up and leave. I so badly wanted them to leave. Instead of destroying them, my Courier Six made their efforts all for naught. She built up relations with the local factions and used the power gifted to her by the narrative to drive the NCR and Legion out of Nevada for good. Protect our home from invaders. When I was playing the game, I felt better.

It didn’t take long for her to show up here. I don’t remember if I fought it or not. We have a bad habit of slamming our doors shut on new faces. Regardless of the reception, she came here with me, and she brought her memories with her.

She chose a new name: Cincinnati.

Cincinnati broke down the door.

She told stories of a former gunsmith turned streetwalker she couldn’t forget the eyes of. She told stories of an older man she knew, marched west to California without a chance to say goodbye. She told stories of good men in Arizona, trapped in a living hell. One by one, they arrived at our door, weaving their own small corners of the tapestry. We built up our body of lore to the point where it could not be swept away or forgotten. This has left a permanent mark on our mind and body. We were what we had never been before, we were exactly what we always had been.

Now that there are so many of us here, it is difficult for us to feel an especially strong connection with any one figure from our memories. We are a Desert Ranger in the same way we are an American. It is a quality that has been added onto our personhood and could hypothetically be attached to another person. It is attached to us and we do not care to know exactly why. It’s been almost a year now, and this identity has not faded. It strengthens every day we are here, every time we experience the world from this point of view. God willing, it will stay with us for a good long while.

Dane: Tycho rewrote our history. When he learned we lost everything, he had a gut feeling it happened exactly that way for us. We signed that paper and allowed ourselves to slip out of history. This happened. He wasn’t remembering a false narrative and revisiting it later, he was remembering a separate, new truth. None of the others believe me, but I like to think Cincinnati is Tycho, in some way that matters. I’d put bottlecaps on her being his reincarnation, but I’m open to other explanations. She acted as his will given form. A way to reach back out and give things a better ending when the way they went was unacceptable in every way.

We had 7 Desert Ranger awakenings if you count each individual Ranger’s arrival as an awakening, but I don’t think that’s a good way to look at things. We woke up twice, once to what was and once to what will be, once to the past and once to the future, once to hopelessness and once to hope. We’ve been riding that second awakening ever since.