5. Fawkes' Transformation
Bethesda SoftworksFawkes is one of the most trustworthy companions the player can have in Fallout 3, despite his monstrous appearance. As a super mutant that has retained his original cognitive abilities, Fawkes is an outcast in both societies. The player is able to rescue Fawkes from his containment in Vault 87, where his transformation originally took place. A series of audio holotapes that were cut from the finished game graphically depict the build-up to Fawke's mutation process:
Sykes and Cossler dragged some unconscious guy from the dorms into the labs. I tried to ask what was going on, but they just glared at me.... After they left I snuck into the containment room, and... and I almost threw up. I don't even know how to describe it. It looked sort of human, but it was deformed... I could see some of its organs on the surface of its body like they were trying to push through.What the hell am I supposed to do now? Merrick and his team are obviously experimenting on people. Someone's got to put a stop to it. But how? There's nowhere to go and no one to tell. Shit, what am I gonna... Oh my god. They're coming... I... Tell my wife in Dorm E that I love her... I... While this is all terrifying stuff, the worst is the final holotape, which helps to add a more tragic element to the super mutants as a whole. Recorded as he begins to succumb to the super mutant virus, it reveals the once intelligent Fawkes as he struggles to maintain his higher brain functions:
Stupid machine... how you work this thing... this thing is stupid! Smash it!