The scientific method is the backbone of all research and understanding. First, you have a question. You then research information about the question. If you can’t find something that answers it, you then make a hypothesis. You then test it and analyze the data. If your data is correct, you share your results.

Franklin put the scientific method to use in this bizarre situation.

Observation: the world around him was a nuclear wasteland.

Knowledge of the subject: Franklin was sure he wasn’t teleported to Bolivia. It was the only place in the world that had suffered atomic annihilation. Even Hiroshima and Nagasaki looked better than this.

Hypothesis: He was in the future—specifically one after a nuclear apocalypse.

Experiment: Meeting the locals and gathering data.

Franklin would then check that data against his hypothesis. If he were correct, it would be time to devise a plan of action. If he is wrong, he will revise his hypothesis and gather more data.

Following the scientific method was how he was coping with the fact his teleport malfunctioned and caused him to kill a man. He needed the distraction because, honestly, that was slightly traumatizing. It was only made worse by the fact that it happened due to negligence. In his long scientific career, he has always ensured his work never killed anyone. Sometimes, there were accidents, but he made sure that any people involved always got a full recovery and generous compensation. It was simply the polite thing to do.

Franklin would love to comb over the data his new electronic brain was producing in response to his trauma, but it wasn't the time. The shifting levels of atmospheric radiation had him more concerned right now. The first theory was that his teleport had gotten lost in the worldwide teleport pathways and held him there as energy for who knows how many hundreds of years. The system must have been still active after surviving the end of the world and trapped him until some kind of glitch spat him out. That was the most logical theory he could come up with at the moment.

To test his theory, he started gathering data by turning on his sensors to detect ambient radio waves. He found two stations playing some old 1950s western songs or rock songs, an advertisement for the Sierra Madre Casino and Resort, another advertisement for a caravan expedition to Zion National Park, another advertisement for some science fiction show, and many more signals that are only garbage sounds he was unable to understand.

Franklin tried to piece together some of these garbled signals. Some were encrypted, but the level of security was so low it took him only a millisecond to figure out the key. Most were lost transmissions from military personnel talking about atomic explosions or other things. One was supposed to be delivered to someone called courier six from a guy named Ulysses.

Franklin could even tell where that one was being received. Walking back down the road, he found the man he killed, or at least the remains of his left arm. It had some kind of large watch device on it.

Franklin picked up the watch and gave it a look. It was a bulky thing that was strapped around the entire wrist. It might have been mistaken for some kind of vambrace if it didn’t have a screen. He sent his nanites into the device and made a fantastic discovery. This device relies primarily on vacuum tube technology and works like a phone. It can send and receive signals, make notes, track your biological data, and has a Geiger counter, among other things. This both is and isn't future technology. It's like someone gave Franklin all the tools and things developed in the 1950s and said make a smartphone.

Was this a pre or post-apocalypse technology? If this was the future, they should still have access to matter recyclers, and fission forges shouldn't have been forgotten, right? Right?!

Would Franklin have to rebuild the world by himself? No, no, no, he isn't alone here. The radio station had a man called Mr. New Vegas who spoke about current events. The things this man mentioned reference the wasteland he had found himself in, so it must be current news. That has all but decided Franklin's next destination—the city of Las Vegas.

Franklin collected the smartphone watch thing and a few other pieces from the bags of the dead man and followed the road till it forked north. The sun was starting to set, and the lights from the city had begun to show. At least there were some signs of life in this world.

___________

“Me and my big mouth!” Franklin shouted as he ran from the explosions behind him.

Everything was going well as he walked north when Franklin spotted an old RV with some people smoking outside of it. Franklin's hopes for conversation were soon thrown away as they started to light sticks of dynamite and throw them at him. All he did was say hello, and they immediately attacked him. Was the English language that hated now? He just wanted a simple conversation.

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Franklin had the benefit of endless stamina as his nanites had infinite energy due to his internal fission reactor. He wasn't entirely made of grey goo. His body still needed a few key components to function without total issues. There was his reactor, the hard drives that stored the majority of his memories and higher functions, and a few energy storage devices in case of damage or if he needed to fix his reactor. Of course, everything was made of or by nanites, and he could quickly fix them by consuming raw material. He designed his body to be fully self-sufficient; even in this wasteland, he would have little trouble surviving.

He said that, but he was now being chased again, not by the explosive happy bandits but by human-sized bipedal lizard things. They seemed more eager to continue the chase as they chased him south for a few miles.

Franklin eventually decided enough was enough and committed to his second action of extreme violence of the day. The lizard charged at him, mouth open, ready to devour what the creature assumed was dinner.

It was unfortunate that the creature would not find his meal. Franklin extended his palm and shaped it into a long, thin spear and let the beast skewer itself in the head. The lizard slid down his arm and went limp.

“First day as a new form of life, and I have already killed two life forms. Sure, the other one was an accident, but this is not a good habit to form,” he lamented.

The only solace Franklin could obtain was that he now had a new research subject to further his knowledge of exactly where and when he was. He began to dissect the gecko and investigate his internal organs and cells.

“Subject log: Large Gecko. The subject appears to be a large form of a desert gecko commonly found in the Californian/Nevada area. The subject shows signs of vast genetic mutation due to high levels of radiation. There also appear to be traces of a strange virus that continues to change the subject's cells despite the creature being dead. Numerous tumors and other growths seem to be a result of the virus. Further subjects will be required.” He spoke out loud for his benefit. He could record his thoughts with no problem, but it's good to maintain habits from when he was a human for his mental health.

“Now, where am I?” He could no longer see the lights of Las Vegas, but the location was still memorized. He could continue to head north, but those bandits might still be in the way. The other roads he saw led into the mountains. The east road led up into some territory he didn't like the look of, while the west was where he came from. It was also where the man he killed came from. Did he dare go that way and encounter anyone who might have known the exploded man? Or worse, someone who saw how he died.

“Nope, let's not do that,” Franklin said. He checked the smartwatch device or Pipboy and found a map of the area. Luckily, there was one other path to Las Vegas. If he walked south, he could cross the mountain range at a town called Nipton, then head north to Novac and finally on to Las Vegas. It would be a longer road, but Franklin might learn more about the world before encountering a real civilization. His first destination was within sight—the town of Primm.

___________

“Hey, where the hell do you think you are going? Primm is off limits,” said the annoyed soldier.

“Why is that, sir?” Franklin asked. He was ecstatic about meeting someone that wasn't trying to blow him up.

“Some convicts from up the road have taken over the town. Everyone is either dead or hiding from them. Plus, there are two tribes of raiders causing trouble in the area. You are better off heading on back to Goodsprings,” he said.

“Oh. What are you doing here? Who are you?” Franklin asked. The soldier was dressed in what could be assumed was a standard military fatigue. It didn't look like anything he had seen and was pretty low-tech. It must have been a post-apocalypse item.

“I am Private First Class Johnson. NCR Army. We have an outpost here to watch the prisoners,” he said.

“Wait, you are just watching. You aren't going to deal with the prisoners,” Franklin asked. If they are part of whatever army this was, why weren't they dealing with the convicts? They are killing people.

“Primm isn't a part of the NCR. You can speak with Lieutenant Hayes if you want. Have to wait till morning for that, though,” he said.

“Sure thing. Mind if I sit here and ask you some questions? I am not from around here and don't know much about the NCR,” Franklin sat and asked.

Johnson gave Franklin a rundown of what he knew about the NCR or New California Republic. He went into great detail about its history and where he was from. From what else he told Franklin, he was able to piece together a rough outline of who was in charge in Las Vegas and how the NCR interacted with them. Learning of this group called Caesar's Legion terrified Franklin.

Combining all of this information has led the scientist back to the fifth step of the scientific method. Consulting the new information, which includes the dates the NCR was founded, he concluded the earlier assessment of accidental time travel to be wrong. It would seem that poor maintenance of the teleportation pad had accidentally created a dimensional travel system and placed Franklin in another world.

‘This was not my world but some kind of alternative version—one where society never progressed past the 1950s, and the Cold War never ended. Certain technologies were never invented, or their development was severely delayed, like transistors. I believe they still exist, but it was vacuum tubes that continued to be popular in manufacturing. Nuclear technology was also developed much sooner than in my world, but I believe we managed to catch up to the same level of what I might find here.’

This new hypothesis scared and saddened Franklin. The loss of life had been devastating. A whole world gone and blown away. The entire potential of the human race smothered in ash. If they had colonized Mars and the Moon like his world had, they might have survived the apocalypse and come to resettle the Earth. It's such a shame.

“You must have really not been from around here if you don't know about Mr. House,” Johnson said, looking at him with a small amount of pity.

“You can say I lived under a comfy rock, I guess,” Franklin replied.

“I got to ask Mr. Limon. You a vault dweller?” Johnson said quietly, even though no one else was around.

“Vault dweller? What's that?” Franklin asked.

“You know, vault dweller. Lived in one of those numbered vaults built in mountains or underground. The ones people say were either a safe haven from radiation and mutants or some kind of mad scientist wack house. You from one of them?” Johnson asked.

“No, I don't think so. I am just new around here. It looks like your night watch is over anyway. I can see the sun coming up,” Franklin said, leaving the Private alone.

Franklin was intrigued at the thought of these vaults. If they protected its inhabitants from radiation, they could have been designed to help people survive the apocalypse. It also puts a perspective on prewar America. They feared the end of the world so much that they made a bunch of shelters to survive it. Why not spend resources on trying to prevent the end of the war? Seems more cost-effective if you ask Franklin.