June 6, 2283 – 11:34 am

We stumbled as one from the dark confines of Vault 123, hiding our eyes from a light above us that no one knew of. As we gathered ourselves, more of the residents climbed out of the giant metal door that stood as an entrance. It was so bright out, it was impossible to see anything, and we weren't sure if it would be good news or not. I felt a crackle under my feet, and I was relieved to know that it wasn't dirt. Now that my eyes had adjusted, I beheld what was before me.

"Look at all the trees!" someone gasped.

"I can't believe I've never seen one before," another one said.

"I expected something totally different."

"It's beautiful…"

Now that voice belonged to someone that I knew well. Of the 156 residents in our Vault, Jessie was one of the few that I could recognize from a distance. Well, from what is considered a long distance in the Vault, equivalent to the length of the hallways.

As she came up to me, I couldn't help but notice how the light made her hair and face look even prettier.

"It's amazing isn't it?" she asked me. I took just a second to marvel at the canyon forest. What I thought was a large oak tree grew from the side of the ravine, surrounded by elms, birches, and plants of all kinds native to the region. Little chirping birds nested in the extending branches while red squirrels could be seen scavenging down a footpath. It was surely, unquestionably…

"Perfect." Jessie smiled broadly at my response, and looked around with me. The foliage went high up to the top of the canyon, and above that was a clear blue sky. The wildlife thrived all around, and seemed unnerved by our presence. For a brief moment, I wondered if they'd ever seen humans before.

More and more 123 jumpsuits continued to pour out of the door, rub their eyes, and stare in astonishment. None of us could believe that the world we would wake up to was as wonderful as this. Finally, the Overseer jumped out last and referred to a small console, which quickly closed the huge door. He turned to the crowd, his people, and jokingly shouted:

"I hope you didn't leave anything behind, because that thing is never opening again!"

A lot of people cheered, though most started rummaging through their luggage to make sure that something of value was still in there. I barely had anything besides what was in my backpack, and had made sure that my room was literally spotless. I assumed my mom had done the same, but she was notorious for losing stuff like birthday gifts; hers as well as other's. I looked across the clearing, past the crowd, in search of her, but she had that hairstyle that every woman liked, so it was quite difficult. Finally, she reached me, but before she could speak, the Overseer began a long speech that he must've written a long time ago, because the beginning was like any other speech he gave:

"For two hundred years, our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and probably beyond lived in a tiny metal box, safe from the devastation that was the Great War. They recalled hearing it, banging onto the ground from high in the sky, coming from some country like China or Iran: the nukes. Even after it ended, they were not given the okay to leave. They feared what the world had become, and even today, I expected to be met with something completely opposite to what I see before me. But we were wrong to judge the powers of time. We were wrong to judge the extent of the world's wanting to correct its mistakes. Today we took our first step into a world meant to have been destroyed, and instead we find Eden. I personally am…"

"So, how do you like the surface?" my mother asked quietly while the Overseer still spoke. I peered at all the other people, listening politely to the old man. Even Jessie was completely focused on him. Being his niece, it was only respectful. I turned back to my mom, who beamed at me with pure happiness. But she expected an answer.

"Well, I dunno. It's beautiful here. But what about the rest of it?"

"If this place survived, I'm sure most of the world is on the right path from here on out."

"What about outside the canyon?"

"That's what we're supposed to see after Mr. Head Honcho lets us go."

She turned back to that Head Honcho, who was wrapping up his address on how the world will be so wonderful now.

"… the leaders will do the right thing. Our Vault was never supplied with a GECK, but it seems we do not need it anyways. So without further ado, let us, the people of Vault 123, experience the New Earth!"

The crowd cheered tremendously. We turned around, and started filing down the footpath, towards our new future… our final destination.

11 hours ago

Overseer Anthony Krakeur woke with a start. He'd been dreaming about something, but he couldn't remember what. All he could recall was something breaking the visions apart until he appeared back in his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he crawled out, having every intention in the world to grab a whiskey from the kitchen.

"What woke me?" he thought, still groggy as he opened the refrigerator and grabbed the bottle. Taking a quick swig, he closed the door and sneaked back to his bedroom.

"There's barely anything in this place that could wake me up. We're 200 feet below ground, and the only things that makes noise here are the people. Maybe a guard was clumsy, or a little kid got out of bed, or…" His thoughts stopped instantly when he saw the blinking light next to his bed stand. The light had never blinked before. Not when his father was Overseer, nor when his grandfather held the position. But he knew what it was. Underneath the light was a little screen.

URGENT!

REPORT TO OVERSEER TERMINAL

IMMEDIATELY

Krakeur did just that.

Rushing quickly from his quarters, he leapt down the hall to the Overseer's office, passing by a sleeping Officer Matheson, who didn't even stir from his late-night slacking. As soon as Anthony opened the door, he nearly fainted. Every computer, every screen, everything in his office was ringing and blinking, awaiting his arrival. The Overseer sped to his business terminal, and punched in the password, only to be met with another wave of lightheadedness. A message waited for him in the e-mail application. Still feeling woozy, Krakeur tentatively opened it.

CONGRATULATIONS, VAULT 123!

THE TIME HAS COME TO TRADE THOSE

VAULT-TEC JUMPSUITS IN FOR A BRAND NEW

EXPERIENCE ABOVEGROUND!

ALL TESTS IN THIS VAULT ARE OFFICIALLY FINAL

AND HAVE BEEN PASSED.

DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS, YOUR VAULT DOOR

WILL BE OPEN FOR YOU TO DISCOVER THE WORLD

THAT HAS BEEN AWAITING YOUR RETURN!

WE WISH YOU A WONDERFUL TIME IN YOUR NEW ENVIRONMENT!

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING VAULT-TEC.

Anthony Krakeur, Overseer of Vault 123, a man who had been born and assumed that he would die in this bunker, simply gaped at the computer. Now that the message had been received and read, all the noises and lights had stopped, but Anthony could hear his heart beating louder than anything.

"The door's open?" he thought vaguely. "We can go outside? Aboveground?"

It seemed too good to be true. It was too good to be true. He had lived here his entire life. Sure, he had seen pictures and read textbooks about the Earth his grandfather had left behind. But, the things in those books seemed unreal to him. Impossible. He had never seen a plant, much less another animal, unless you count the troublesome Radroaches.

Slowly, but surely, his mind came back to him, and he took quick action. He activated the monitoring computer behind him and read the stats that were supposedly about the surface. He hadn't checked these in a long time, and besides, the doors don't open unless Vault-Tec commands it. He couldn't have left if he wanted to. After a second of loading, the numbers appeared on the screen.

AIR TEMP. – 76 DEGREES FARENHEIT

GROUND TEMP. – 62 DEGREES FARENHEIT

RADIATION – 3 MREMS PER MINUTE

SOLAR EXPOSURE – UNAVAILABLE

It seemed reasonable enough. It was June, so the temperature seemed normal for the summer, and the ground temperature was a full six degrees higher than estimated in post-nuclear exposure. Krakeur had no idea how to read radiation millirems, but he was pretty sure that 3 was relatively low. When he looked at "solar exposure" however, he was unnerved. "Unavailable? How?" Perhaps the monitoring station was damaged. This came as no real surprise, since there was no one to fix it. Still, he wondered.

But now was not the time for wondering, it was time to let his people know of this new development. He was sure they'd be thrilled, or at least anxious, to discover what was out there. He grabbed the intercom and spoke to the entire Vault:

"Rise and shine everybody! I am terribly sorry to wake you, but something has occurred of great significance." He was sure they would respond positively. They'd been waiting for this their entire lives. Besides, what could possibly be out there?