AN: Double Chapters for the first week of this story!
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POV Rio
After the toilet water disappears, I find myself sitting in a chair. I look around and instantly feel I am in the wrong place. I was sitting on a chair on a train near several people I recognized quite strongly.
"When is the Hyperion representative supposed to get here? We've been waiting for half an hour," Maya complains.
"Who knows, these corporate types can be a little eccentric," Axton comments.
"This waiting is not fun," Salvador says with annoyance.
It was at this moment that the sign saying Welcome Vault Hunters! Fell down and instead showed: To Your Doom (Nothing Personal)
Then all crap hit the fan. Robots appeared from boxes, and everyone started running out of sight. I hit the deck as bullets started flying over my head. Axton deployed his turret and then fired a rocket launcher indoors and somehow didn't blow us all up. Maya used her Phaselock to toss out one Loader Robot, and Salvador unloaded upon everyone with his twin big a** guns. I was still woefully unarmed, and I had no idea how to use my inventory. But at least I seemed to be adapting very quickly. I got off the ground and looked as the last robots were being obliterated by Salvador.
It was at that point that Zero reentered the train, and everyone had started stacking up on the door. Before I could even say a word, they busted open the door, and inside was a massive pile of explosives and a Handsome Jack dummy.
"It's cute that y'all think you're the heroes of this little adventure, but you're not," the Handsome Jack dummy says as it turns around.
"Welcome to Pandora Kiddos," Handsome Jack dummy says.
Before it can explode, I react first and slam the door shut and brace the door. Then comes the explosion.
"GAH!" I scream as I sit up in bed.
I pat myself down and make sure I'm not missing any body parts, and sigh when it seems I'm fine.
"Sigh. Whew, it was just a dream," I say with a still pounding heart.
I pause for a second, and as if on cue, my mind is flooded with memories. And there were a lot of them. Over 100 years' worth of them, from what I could tell. I was born, or at least found, on January 1st, 1900, by the Pines family. Yes, that Pines family. Thankfully, it didn't seem like my Great Uncle Stanford vanished. Though oddly, the entire family does seem to live a very long time. My great-uncle Stanford had died just recently at age 111. His twin died about a decade prior at 101. I was the last of the Pines family name and therefore inherited the properties and wealth. However, I was legally an emancipated 17-year-old according to official records.
'Hmm, okay, so this world is definitely different.'
I was 107 years old, which is just barely an adult in elven society, and thanks to those years, I had extensive knowledge of the country I lived in. And this world was definitely an alternative timeline or universe. For one, the US isn't a two-party state, but a three-party state. With our family being somewhat responsible for the creation of that third party, or rather, the forest that we take care of. In this world, there was a massive forest in New York. It was really large, as in the second-largest forest in the USA, sitting at a mind-boggling 15 million acres. It covers around two-thirds of the state.
If that were all, then the colonizers would just take the land and use the wood to fuel their economy. Except this forest has a guardian. A really powerful Nature Spirit that was strong enough to force the USA to back down. She was worshiped by a tribe that had been around for a very long time, and with the advantage of longer lives, plentiful food, and stronger immune systems, it made the natives stronger in this region and, to some extent, the entire continent. One thing led to another, and eventually, a certain Andrew Jackson became president and attempted to use his newfound authority to remove natives, and one such target was the Everfree Forest. 20k dead US soldiers/militiamen later, and the sinking of a dozen or so US warships, and the entire US government was terrified of the nature spirit that rules over this forest.
This led to a domino effect, causing natives to be treated much better and get a much better deal overall. That tribe that worshiped the nature spirit disbanded and went on to integrate with numerous other tribes, getting them to change some of their ways. Even leading them to a so-called promised land in the West. This led to far fewer wars against the natives and more or less integration instead. Now, instead of reservations, the US granted entire territories and, to some extent, states to them. This led to a new third party in US politics that had immense power early on and even to this day controls around 17% of Congress and 24 seats in the Senate.
And yet, despite all that changed, history in the US kept a somewhat similar path. Obviously, there were some large changes, such as the Civil War ending much more quickly in this timeline, as the natives assisted in the war and were far stronger. It also led to a much weaker and shorter Segregation, as well as Women getting the vote after the Civil War instead of in 1920. As well as the states given to the natives having a few more freedoms than other states. Such as exemption from any draft and greater restrictions on what the government can build in those territories.
The other biggest change was that this USA was a bit more environmentally friendly. This was because any person who wanted to get elected or pass a bill had to consider the Everfree Party's wants and needs. And they were very environmentally minded. It also meant both parties were far less extreme because if you are too extreme, nobody will work with you. And if you make too many enemies, you will constantly lose. Of course, it wasn't perfect, far from it, but it was an interesting alt-history scenario.
Now, as for what this had to do with the Pines family. The Pines family predates the US by a decent amount, and it was the Pines family that formed a covenant with the Nature Spirit. After the debacle of the failed invasion, the US government officially ceded the forest to the Pines family to serve as a sort of vassal state or mini nation within a nation. In return, if there were ever a conflict between the two sides, the Pines family would step in as representatives for the forest. But it came with a lot of nice perks, such as exemption from any draft and no property taxes or, technically, any taxes for that matter. But also no utilities, and the forest was on its own if it were ever attacked.
The covenant with the Nature Spirit made those of the Pines family live very long lives. Basically, to the maximum extent a human could without any modifications. In this case, the maximum number of times your cells can replicate. This included a powerful immune system that made illnesses rare and usually weak when they did happen. It meant they lived for around 100 years or so and usually died in decent condition. This also meant the family has a lot of time to do things. Such as gaining influence and making money.
For instance, I knew that my great-grandpa was famous for paying a literal fortune evacuating people from Germany during World War II. So much so that our family was fondly looked upon by the Jewish people of America. Including a certain Erik Lehnsherr, or more commonly known as Magneto. I know this because I have memories of him showing up for Stanford's funeral. He even gave me his card and told me that if I needed anything, I could call.
'Okay, so that means mutants are in this world. And I recall reading about Captain America and the Howling Commandos, so that sounds right.'
I tried to think of anything else in my memories that would indicate anything else, and I found one right away. Latveria. And also Von Doom Industries.
'Great, so now I might have to deal with Dr Doom.'
"Oh, well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. At the very least, I don't recall any reports about the Fantastic Four or anything similar. But, I'll have to research that," I mutter to myself.
Now came the time to look at my system. It was extremely user-friendly. Just thinking about it showed the interface, and it had a quick tutorial on how to use the system. Which was basically how to use my inventory, as the Templates had nothing I could interfere with. It was all automated. The inventory was quick and easy to use. I just had to think about what I wanted and where I wanted it, and it would appear there. It had a maximum range of my reach for most items, but for larger items, it would appear in the closest area it can safely be placed without disturbing the environment. My template had already made a decent amount of progress.
[007: 53%]
'Odd.'
As soon as I wondered why the template was so far, I noticed a note on the bedside table. I knew it couldn't be a staff member because the mansion didn't have any.
'Which reminds me, I need to look into how to deal with that.'
I grab the letter and find it's from God.
Dear Rio,
Sorry about that mix-up. That's never happened before. But hey, you survived, so that's all that matters. As an apology, I have tweaked a few things, and I'm sure you'll like the changes. Oh, and look in the Afghan Desert. You might find a diamond in the rough. And as a last note, your assimilation got such a jump start from having to survive a dangerous mission on a train, as well as the fact that Elves are already very nimble and charismatic, which fits Bond quite well. Anyway, I have some prayers to answer, so have fun.
Your Truly,
God.
"Wait, that wasn't a dream! And what changes?!" I say aloud, but I know I won't get an answer.
I had no idea what a diamond in the rough meant, but I would look when I was in the area. I was a tiny bit upset, but not that much. I couldn't expect God to do all the work, and if a little hiccup happened, then so be it. I wasn't harmed, and if anything, I gained something from the experience. While I was thinking this, the letter in my hand vanished.
'Ah, oh well. I guess it's time to familiarize myself with the mansion.'
I had plenty of memories, but it was time to experience them for myself. That and I figured it would help my assimilation, seeing as that seems like something Bond would do in this case.