Author's Note: Welcome, my friends, to one of my new stories! I will be working on this series as often as I can! This is the beginning of my series of small one, two, and three shots based off of my blog for my old Fallout Shelter vault, Vault 333! I still update the blog and such, but wanted to share my writing ideas for some shenanigans from the Vault with you all!
This first chapter is about the beginning of the Vault, starting on the day when Overseer Celina got her first Dwellers.
Note that since this is Fallout Shelter, some details may contradict the canon of Fallout.
Celina Varsquez' eyes snapped open, her brown orbs quickly looking around to see where she was. The room she was in had brown walls with fluorescent lights that were currently turned off. She sat up and nearly fell out of the bed she was lying in. She didn't remember where she was for a few second and panic shot through her. After those few moments, Celina calmed herself and sighed. The room had a brown and tan checkered floor, with a few lockers, some beds, a small table and a couple of chairs standing around her. She took several deep breaths to get rid of the feeling of fear that had been running through her only seconds before. She knew where she was now. The familiar surroundings told her where she was.
Celina had lived a fairly normal life, being the young age of 22, and she never thought she would be part of one of those big companies or groups like the Institute, the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, or any of those people. But one day, she got a letter. Vault-Tec had asked if she was interested in joining their company after hearing about some of her achievements in leadership and architecture. So she went to the main Vault-Tec headquarters, talked to its leader, and found employment under the company. For a while, she did menial tasks and small things around the Vault-Tec headquarters. And Celina was getting tired of it, and was about to quit her job…
Until, she was offered a high end job. Not just any job, the job of… Overseer of her own Vault. It was a high honor that she had not expected to receive, so she happily took it. Her Vault began to be built with a simple living quarters, power plants, water treatment plant, and diner. She had been told she would live in this vault with her Dwellers. And then, after all the introductions were out of the way, she was given… her experiment? What they told her sent chills down her spine.
"Your Vault's experiment is quite simple: how long can a group of humans survive in one of our Vault-Tec bunkers, and how long will it take them to start killing each other? Your job is simple: watch the Dwellers who arrive in your Vault. Make sure they create their resources, explore the wasteland, and survive. You are not allowed, under any circumstances, to tell your Dwellers the nature of the experiment, and simply tell them that they are in their new home in the ruins of our world. Should you tell any of them and we receive word of such actions, you shall be ejected from your employment under Vault-Tec. All funds will be cut from your Vault, and you and your Dwellers shall be forced to leave, or be destroyed with the Vault. Good luck, and remember: do not whisper even a word of your purpose to the Dwellers."
An experiment? Her Vault was an experiment by Vault-Tec?! She was very tempted to leave her employment under Vault-Tec, but with the knowledge that her vault was an experiment, she didn't know if they would let her go so easily. So, Celina decided to take it. She spent some time developing a more serious and unmoving persona to present to the Vault Dwellers she would be receiving soon. She then arrived at her Vault, and was… impressed by what they had created underground. It had a sort of homey feel to it, and she said to herself that maybe, this life wouldn't be so bad.
It had been about a week and a half since Celina had arrived in the Vault. And so far, no one but she was here. She had been alone underground. Alone in a Vault in the ruins of a nuclear war. Though she didn't step outside often, when she did, she found the scenery to be hauntingly beautiful. The remains of the world were dull but had a sense of allure to it.
A small beeping caught her ears, she looked over to the small computer she had been given to monitor her Vault. She flipped to the channel that showed the outside of her Vault, and a small gasp escaped her lips. There were people. Two people, as a matter of fact. A male and female, from what she could see. The male was tall, light skinned with strikingly handsome features and dark hair with a beard, and some muscle on him. The female had darker skin, brown hair in a ponytail and has some strength to her build as well.
Celina jumped up, quickly pulling her boots on and trying to find her gloves. She had new residents to greet.
Steam flowed from the Vault door as the mechanical arm inside grabbed onto it and spun it to the side. The light of the day was blinding and Celina couldn't see for a moment. When her eyes finally adjusted, she saw the figures of two people now had distinctive facial features and color to them. They looked at the shorter woman with confusion and intrigue. Celina, realizing how sloppy she must have looked, straightened her back and folded her hands behind her. She cleared her throat and finally spoke.
"Welcome to Vault 333, citizens," she articulated, looking between the two with deep brown eyes. "Now, are you here to live in the Vault?"
The female nodded and remarked, "Yes, we're married and here for a better life than the civilizations of the Wasteland. We tried living in one of the cities, but it didn't really suit us. We've been curious about living in a Vault, and we decided to go to our local Vault."
Celina nodded and gestured a hand to follow her into the Vault. "Well, than. Come along, and we'll get you registered and into some new clothes." She turned on her heels with her hands folded behind her back and stepped back into the Vault. The married couple follower her, before the large door spun back into place and sealed shut behind them.
Celina sighed as she looked at her lap, sitting on a bed in her living quarters. Her hands were twisted in her hair and her face read unsureness. It had been at least a week since her first Dwellers arrived. She had gotten the information for her new Dwellers, and had gotten them into Vault Suits and a job in the power room. However, she was still very uncertain about her fate as an Overseer. As a child, she had been very much of a leader, but she didn't know if she could live with the fact that this was all an experiment, a joke possibly. She wanted to tell the man and woman, know known to her as Tiffany Bowman and Nathan Boyd, but she knew that that would cause her to be ejected from her employment. Celina still had to get used to her title, Overseer. She didn't know if she was cut out for this.
"Overseer Celania?"
Celina was confused for a moment when she heard her full name, then she remembered giving her full name to her new Dwellers. She looked to the doorway to see Tiffany standing there, her hands in the pockets of her suit. Celina smiled a soft smile and said, "Tiffany, come in! Come in! Take a seat if you need to!"
The female Dweller nodded and walked over to the bed, taking a seat with her hands folded in her lap. She looked around, before a small grunt caught her attention. Tiffany noticed how the Overseer seemed frustrated or uncertain. "Overseer? What's wrong? Is something troubling you?"
Celina waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing, my dear. Just… thinking about a lot."
Tiffany furrowed her brows and her green eyes looked to the Overseer's face. "Something is obviously wrong. I can sense it."
Celina snapped her fingers. Damn it, she got a Dweller with good strength and high charisma. High charisma let people sense emotions quite easily. She grabbed her hair again and said, "I just don't know if I'm cut out for this Overseer thing. I've never led something like this before and I just…" She looked at Tiffany with a slightly saddened look. "There's so much I have to do and keep secret from anyone who comes here. And I don't know if I'm really going to be able to sustain this Vault. I'm worried that I won't be a good Overseer…"
Tiffany watched the body language of her superior closely. Slumped shoulders, hands grasping her hair, those slightly sad eyes and deep frown; it all told her how distressed the other woman was. She just had to help her. The darker skinned woman put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Overseer Celania, you know, I don't know much about you, but I can tell just from looking at you that you're going to do great. You're probably in a high leadership position and this is your first time in such a position, but you've been a gracious Overseer to us so far." She smiled and replied to Celina's gaze of surprise with, "You know, I made you something. I made a little treat for you as a way to say thanks for taking care of us."
Celina watched as Tiffany stood and walked over to the doorway, reaching behind it and grabbing onto something. As she walked back to the bed, the black haired woman noticed that it was a small plate with an even smaller cake. She could tell it was red velvet from its color and she also noticed that it had white frosting and a couple of strawberries on it. Tiffany held out the plate to her and Celina carefully took it. "You made this… for me?"
A nod was given. "Yes," the brown haired woman answered. "You've taken care of us and helped us with living here so much, we wanted to give you a little something in return. So I went to the diner and made this." She patted her superior's shoulder. "Well, I should get back to the power plant. I've got work to do." Tiffany waved and walked back out the door, getting into the elevator that would lead her to the lower levels.
Celina watched until the other woman left. She turned back to the cake and looked at it. Slowly, but surely, a smile formed on her face. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall.
Author's Note: I hoped you all enjoyed this first chapter of many stories I will be writing about my Fallout Shelter Dwellers and Overseer persona. If you enjoyed, please consider faving/following and reviewing! Thank you so much for reading!
