William van de Poorter was one of the Thongzi's finest special agents. Although not as committed to the cause he did believe in a certain work ethic. When the Thongzi disbanded in the wake of the Battle of New York in 2277 he left the faction.
Early History
Early Life
William was born in a small settlement that had formed in the ruins of Chinatown in New York City. Both his parents were of American-Dutch ancestry and Vault Dwellers that had left the Vault in search of a new life. In Chinatown he grew up like any ordinary kid until the Thongzi arrived when he was five years old. The faction easily overran the weak defenses of the small town which included William's father. The man died of his wounds. Or so the official Thongzi report stated.
Now under their dominion and rule, Chinatown was reforged under the doctrine of Mother Chao-Xing; The leader of the Thongzi. Which in the eyes of the young boy didn't change much at first. At the age of six he had to go to the People's Republic of Chinatown school ran by the new regime, like all the other kids. His mother meanwhile, had taken to drinking her problems away, giving the young boy the idea she didn't exactly love him all that much.
At the age of twelve William was bullied by other kids at school for being rather quiet and introverted, he preferred to escape in his own fantasy world with toys he found just about anywhere in the ruins. William was also a rather skinny kid that didn't eat much, because his mother couldn't provide a lot. In the early spring of 2257, William was playing with a red toy race-car he had found in an old shop when one of the bullies, Gregory, showed up and smashed it. They had never really smashed his toys before, just knocked him about, so this was the moment William snapped. While they were laughing at how pathetically attached he was to two hundred year old plastic, William picked up a rock in his new found rage and hit Gregory over the head with it, killing the boy. Whilst uncertain and confused by what had just transpired William was approached by Mother Chao-Xing whom had seen the whole ordeal. She encouraged the boy, seeing his potential. After that William was under the special wing of the leader of the Thongzi.
Throughout his teenage years the boy was trained in Eastern Martial Arts and got all his lessons, directly from Chao-Xing. A woman he never really considered as his mother, but a better substitute than the wreck he had left. This meant somewhat ironically he was less brainwashed and given more room to think freely than those in the Thongzi school. Growing up with little to no affection, Van de Poorter became a rather cynical person that did what he did because it was the only thing he was good at.
Thongzi
Like everyone else, after graduation he was put in an old Red Chinese uniform they seemed to have plenty off and into the fold of the Thongzi military. Firstly as an officer, through a handy bit of nepotism by Chao-Xing. She never showed it, but she had grown attached to the boy in some way. As a result she didn't want him dying out there in the wastes immediately. So, William became an officer of the newly formed Intelligence service of the Thongzi. A fancy word and designation for the scouts that combed the ruins for supplies and a possible Brotherhood threat.
Under William the Intelligence service got more streamlined and generally better, eventually creating infiltrators that could keep an eye on the other settlements in the area. It appeared Van de Poorter was a natural when it came to Tradecraft. Despite the improvements the service was still undermanned and a somewhat vestigial part of the Thongzi arsenal, Considering they usually just tried to take settlements with head-on violence.
The Brotherhood Of Steel Conflict
Meddling as always, the Brotherhood of Steel based in the Fort Washington, in the Hudson Heights of Manhattan launched several attacks on the Thongzi, seeing them as a threat to the Empire Wasteland and their order. The Brotherhood was far better equipped and almost every conflict resulted in BoS victory.
Mother Chao-Xing was desperate. A string of defeats never was good for morale, especially not in a military dictatorship. Desperate and out of options she decided that stealth was the best course of action and gave William's secret service a chance to prove themselves able.
William, despite his generally young age was an expert when it came to sheer cunning. He gave false information to the enemy and would then when they least expected it, strike from behind, causing massive damage to the Brotherhood. Eventually after months of these deceitful battles, the Brotherhood had to give up their southward campaign towards conquering the People's Republic of Chinatown. Instead, they decided on a perimeter they would guard from Thongzi expansion, rather than an offensive strike to take the faction out for good.
William was praised for his actions by Chao-Xing. Despite their expansion now being abruptly halted, they had firm control of the South side.
This Stalemate would be held until the Thongzi disbanded in 2277.
Top Agent
In the year 2277 the Thongzi had developed advances in the field of Psychotronic conditioning, read: direct brainwashing and idea implanting. The faction, while still militaristic in nature now had regular citizens which it kept in line with this technique. It managed to power these experiments with make-shift generators that provided power for the entire People's Republic, turning it into just more than a weird tribe with pre-war weaponry. Despite this, trading caravans absolutely avoided the South side or Chinatown. The Thongzi had arbitrarily decided they were above the "capitalist trading and barter system that had clung to the United States like a disease", and usually would rob these traders of all their stuff. This naturally caused them to have few allies and were thus in the years prior to 2277 cut off from most cultural advances of the north.
In all of this, William was now a field agent of the secret service. Serving as Mother's adviser and personal guard on the side. The reason he was an adviser was because he was one of the very few people in the Thongzi that would dare (or could) speak his mind against Chao-Xing. When it came to troubleshooting over an idea, slimy brainwashed yes-men wouldn't do. It was through this close relationship with the leader that William was let in on the big plan she had been working on ever since their expansion was stopped by the Brotherhood of Steel.
The Thongzi had created their own radio station, which first and foremost served as a way to send their propaganda into the wasteland to recruit 'willing' wastelanders, but it also had a darker more insidious purpose: Testing pyschotronic comparability with radio waves: Wireless long-range brainwashing, where they didn't need to strap the subject into a chair and poke around his brain that way. A bold experiment indeed but for it to succeed the Thongzi would need special and rare supplies. Hence they partook in under-board purchasing of products through a third party. Through William's Spy network contact could be established with the de-facto leader of Broadway: Ania Ray. A rich, bored sociopath that Mother would use to buy technology off of the infamous technologically superior clinic on Governors Island in the bay. Governors Island was however simply a front for the Enclave led by General Governor, whom posed as the Clinic's head doctor. William would meet and negotiate with both Ania Ray and Governor, to eventually get every part needed to built the transmitter necessary for brainwashing the entire Empire Wasteland.
Fallout: New York
Calm Before The Storm
In the fall of 2277, William managed to get the final parts to build the Psychotronic transmitter. A large tower that would be built on top of the Empire State Building. Piece by piece hauled up by Thongzi men under the veil of night. The Empire State building was far into Brotherhood controlled land so if they were caught the entire operation would be bust.
William would make trips too and from Governors Island and Timesquare & Broadway, overlooking every detail of the plan. Meanwhile the Thongzi scientists in the PRCT had discovered that the transmitter had been tampered with, a plan by the posing as Governors Clinic Enclave to instead use the psychotronic waves to kill every unpure and irradiated being in the Empire Wasteland.
Armed with this knowledge William advised Mother Chao-Xing to let them play it out as to not give the Clinic suspicions they knew of the double-cross before they had all the parts necessary to build the transmitter.
The last order was made by Ania Ray the following night. Now that she was useless to the Thongzi, William received the order to test the new technology at Ania Ray's Lounge. At the same time it would serve as a way to cover their tracks because another party had started interfering with their plans. A band of wandering factionless wastelanders had nearly destroyed part of the operation. One of them, Thomas Hamilton had been captured prior when he was skulking around the South side, back then they didn't even know he was part of the gang. Unfortunately for them, he escaped and was even in the Lounge when William tested the psychotronic waves there.
The test was a success however. Now he just had to get the last part from Governors Clinic have it reworked and bring it to the transmitter on top of the Empire State Building and they would rule the wasteland.
Battle for New York
William collected the last piece of the transmitter from Governors Island, this time hand delivered to him by Doctor Governor himself. Little did he know that the wastelanders that has been meddling with their plans somewhat were also on the island, however his stay wasn't very long. And with the transformer needed to activate the contraption on top of the tallest building still standing in the wasteland, he headed home.
Thomas Hamilton was however once again caught. The wastelander from DC had been put in a punching bag on which William was allowed to train for a few hours. Now, virtually crippled and his resistance as low as it was going to get, Hamilton was strapped into the conventional psychotronic brainwashing device and turned into a Thongzi foot soldier.
William would use this new member to the faction as a meat shield against the Enclave that had dropped their disguise and with the help of their vertibirds, occupied Grand Central Station close to the Empire State Building.
Armed with the transformer and Hamilton, William was once again ordered by Mother Chao-Xing to bring glory to the Thongzi. Their trek towards the tower was however shortly halted by a radioactive storm that ran through the Empire Wasteland, so both him and Hamilton had to take shelter in a nearby house.
He hadn't really told anyone, but ever since the start of the year. William van de Poorter had been having doubts. His extended time with the Thongzi had turned him incredibly cynical and by the end of fall, he was just doing what he did because it was the only thing he knew how to do. In that brief moment of quietude where he was holed up with Hamilton who was obviously fighting his way back into his mind, showed William that some people just could not be controlled. He admired the man's individuality. A concept that had been robbed from him a long time ago. But something he had always wished to know more of, despite every attempt of Mother to make him look the other way.
When the storm was over William sighed and promptly sent Hamilton to his supposed death, as a last middle finger against the Enclave. Hamilton would serve as a reminder to the stooges in central station that William van de Poorter and to some extend, The Thongzi, were not to be fucked with.
Whilst Hamilton would be sent to die alone against the Enclave, William climbed the Empire State Building, to finally finish all of this.
Thomas Hamilton however managed to escape death, even though he had served the purpose of tipping off the Enclave that they were being had. Governor quickly ordered a vertibird with himself on it to make for the top of the tower, hoping to catch up with the Thongzi and stop them before it was too late.
Meanwhile Rook, Morgan, Heather, Gary and Naomi raced to the top of the tower as well to stop all factions from killing or enslaving thousands. This included Hamilton who wanted revenge more than anything.
A battle broke out on top of the Empire State building, where Governor was killed, and William confronted by Hamilton and Rook. He did not try to kill them though. Instead, for the first time in his entire life he elected to screw his professional attitude and decided to give the transformer to the Wastelanders, so they would be given the choice what to do with it instead.
He would never return to the Thongzi, and simply left the Empire Wasteland, in search of himself, the individual.
Fallout: Second City
Arriving in the Midwest
(more to be added)
Appearances
- Fallout: New York V
- Fallout: New York VII
- Fallout: New York XI
- Fallout: New York XIII
- Fallout: New York XIV
- Fallout: New York XV
- Fallout: Prophecy (Part 1)
Trivia
- Van de Poorter is a Dutch surname, literally meaning "Of The Gatekeeper".
- William still has a nasty scar above his left eye, courtesy of Thomas Hamilton.
- His appearance is slightly based on the platinum haired and freckled face of the Dutch "Beemster Cheese" 1950's child mascot. Only a lot rougher.
- For the majority of Fallout: New York's RP he was simply known as "Thongzi agent" or "Agent of the People's Republic of Chinatown" and had no backstory.
- William's character is semi-inspired by The Manchurian Candidate, A 1950's political espionage thriller by Richard Condon. Where an American man becomes a pawn of Red Chinese Agents through brainwashing.