I spent a lot of 2009 playing Fallout 3. I loved exploring the world and trying to imagine myself in it. When I exited the Vault, I paused to contemplate what it might be like to have never set foot outside. And when I stumbled upon folks in the wastes I thought, what could you possibly do all day in a world like this? It provided some interesting moments, one of which I scribbled up as follows:

"You sit atop a silo in the northeastern Capital Wasteland, shooting at Giant Radscorpions powerless to harm you below. A missle flies by, 3 ft. from your face. Then a man in a trenchcoat and fedora is next to you. TWANG. BANG."

This is from the perspective of a Raider I encountered one afternoon. I shot a missle his way, but heavy weapons weren't really my area of expertise, so the shot went wide. Then my Mysterious Stranger perk kicked in, and he appeared on the walkway next to the Raider, and gunned him down.

I laughed for about four minutes straight picturing these events from the Raider's perspective. The dude has found himself a sweet spot at the top of a tower with no discernible way for any hostile creatures or wastelander to reach him. He's dicking around, taking potshots at radscorpions with his crappy hunting rifle. Just another dull day in his dull existence. Maybe some poor sap will wander by and he can ki--

WHOOSH!

"WTF? Was that a missile?! Who the fOH MY GOD WHERE DID YOU COME FRUUUuuuuuggghhh...."

hehehehe... oh man, it gets me every time. The last thing that dude saw was the muzzle flash of a magnum held by a teleporting man in a trenchcoat and fedora. Thank you Fallout 3 for creating a world where such a vast variety of things can happen!