Fallout: A Relic of the Old World
Chapter One
Vault 111 Revival
From the blackness of unconsciousness, the utter disconnect and numbness of body and mind began to recede and through that dim Alec became aware of a voice. A voice that was vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't place it let alone understand what it said.
"Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended."
Slowly he gained further awareness of his body and the first conscious thought was the realisation that he needed to breathe. Attempting to take a normal breath Alec felt like his lungs were on fire and they burned painfully, as if they were no longer capable of properly expanding and contracting. It was the most peculiar feeling, but after several agonising breaths they began to work properly but this achievement only seemed to trigger other sensations.
A deep and painful ache of cold seemed to lance throughout his body, as if his very bones were made of shards of ice. It made Alec feel brittle like glass and at the slightest provocation he could shatter.
The fog that had clouded his mind and even his vision began to part, and he was able to see and remember where he was. A decontamination pod within Vault 111. He could just about make out the metal and glass of the pod, but his eyes refused to focus on the details.
Memories whirled through his head; Codsworth giving him coffee, Kate teasing him in the bathroom. Running. Panic! An almighty flash and explosion followed by a mushroom cloud. It was like remembering a bad dream, but this was no dream.
Outside the pod there was movement within the decontamination chamber. He remembered the vault doctors moving around the room and assumed they would soon release him from the pod. That doctor had certainly failed to properly explain the decontamination process and Alec couldn't wait to give the arrogant ass a piece of his mind. Or he would after they had given him something to counteract the effects of the process so he could think clearly.
A figure stepped in front of his pod, and the only thing that Alec noticed in his confused state was that they were not wearing a vault-suit. It was a type of protective gear unlike anything he had ever seen. There was something odd about its head, what should have been its face was flat except for a number of strange protrusions. He discerned that it must be some form of Vault 111 automaton, it looked too mechanical to be a person.
His eyes were slowly starting to focus, his vision sharpened gradually and painfully, and he saw that the figure moved away from his pod towards the one that contained Kate and Shaun. Their pod was still out of focus, but he remembered looking at his wife through their pod's windows clearly.
"This is the one, over here." Came a voice from the strange robotic figure which Alec's groggy mind reluctantly told him was female. It was a surprisingly human sounding voice for a robot, even to his ears it didn't sound at all tinny as he'd expected.
A shadow passed in front of his pod as another person came into sight and they too stood in front of his wife's pod and then spoke in a gruff, gravely deep voice. "Open it."
What was happening here, why were the vault personnel not releasing him as well as Kate? Alec tried to speak but found that he was unable to form any words or even sounds. He thought to bang on the pod door only to realise that it wasn't possible, he could seemingly only manage to twitch his fingers and toes, the rest of his body was completely paralysed.
This wasn't right. There was something wrong, very wrong about everything here. Alec was certain of that now. His mind might be slow and lethargic, but it was still able to limitedly process and understand that fact. Although he couldn't yet say what exactly was wrong or why.
Unable to do anything but watch the figures closely, he noticed that he began to see them properly as his eyesight continued to recover and sharpen.
The figure he had originally thought to be a robot was in fact human. A woman if the voice had been any indication and if he could trust his hearing. The protective outfit she was wearing was some type of hazmat suit that was aquamarine in colour. What he had taken for a robotic head was in fact the hood of the suit and a protective mask with instruments built in.
Next to them was the second figure, clearly male. Alec didn't need to have heard his voice to reach that conclusion as unlike his female companion, this man didn't wear a protective suit. Instead he wore a leather jacket, cargo pants, heavy boots and had some type of armour strapped to his left arm.
It was then that cold fear rushed through his already frozen body as his mind finally began processing the scene. Where were the doctors? Where were the other vault personnel who had been outside, for these people were clearly not Vault-Tec. If they weren't from the vault then who the hell were they and what was going on?
The woman took a moment to study the control console to Kate's pod and then seemingly found what she was looking for as the door mechanism released and it retracted upwards, revealing its occupant through a cloud of condensation.
Kate fell forwards slightly but didn't leave the pod, Shaun was still held securely in her arms and was seemingly unaware of the figures in front of her or the potential danger these strangers posed. After the longest moment she moved and began to cough and heave as she came to.
"Please tell me that it's over." She managed to say over the top of a shrill cry from Shaun, "are we okay?"
"Almost." The man said tersely, "everything is going to be fine, just keep calm."
The way the man spoke made Alec bristle instantly. Whoever he was he had no business being anywhere near his family. Try as he might he was unable to shout a warning to Kate, only managing to make garbled noises from his throat.
The woman stepped forwards seemingly intent on being helpful, "here let me help you, pass the baby to me, you can catch your breath."
"No!" Kate said shaking her head vigorously as if to try and focus and pull herself together, "I have Shaun, its fine."
Not listening to her protests the woman suddenly reached into the pod and grabbed hold of the baby, Shaun let out a shriek of terror as his mother and the stranger began to struggle over him and engaged in what could only be described as tug-of-war.
"Let. The. Boy. Go." The man said darkly pointing warningly at Kate, "I'm only going to tell you once!"
"WHO ARE YOU! YOU CANNOT HAVE MY SON, SHAUN STAYS WITH ME!" Kate shouted fiercely holding on to their son with all her strength. "ALEC! WHERE IS ALEC! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM! GET AWAY!"
Alec screamed silently from within his enclosed prison, forced to watch helplessly in suspended purgatory. The man moved and with horror Alec realised that the man hadn't merely pointed at his wife as he had initially thought, but instead held a large revolver in his hand.
Never before had he felt so useless. Trapped not only in his own body unable to move or speak, but he was also trapped within the metal pod. Kate was fighting for their son, but Alec knew that if these people wanted the child, and they clearly did for some unimaginable reason, then the easiest way to get that was to….
CRACK.
There was a flash. Kate suddenly stopped struggling and instantly went limp. The woman plucked the screaming infant from his mother's arms and began to bounce him absently.
"That was not at all necessary." The woman scolded furiously, "You were told…"
"I don't care." The man shrugged, "It's done now, you got what you wanted, you have the kid. Shut this place down and let's leave this godforsaken morgue."
Alec had stopped listening; he was staring unblinkingly at Kate. She wasn't moving and he stared disbelievingly at what his eyes and brain were telling him. None of this could be real, his mind was playing tricks. This was a dream, no a nightmare, he would wake up soon and he would be back in Sanctuary Hills.
A loud piercing cry from Shaun pierced through the denial and grief and caused Alec to blink and return to the present. Kate's pod had been closed and the woman who had her son was gone and only the man remained. He now stood in front of Alec's pod, peering at him closely through the glass window.
For the first time Alec saw his appearance in full profile. He was white, mostly bald but had a dark black beard. However the most distinguishing feature was a large scar that ran down the left side of his face. It was old, ugly, and reddish in colour.
The man was watching him with a leering smirk as their eyes met through the glass, it was almost predatory.
"Well there is still at least one half of the redundancy plan." He said laughing at some unknown joke, "Not that you will likely see the light of day."
"Cryogenic sequence reinitialised." The robotic automated voice of the pod announced.
Alec glared furiously back at the man, committing every detail of his face to memory. The face of the man who shot his wife and stole his son. The anger and hatred burned through the ice that had frozen his body and he found he was finally able to move once more, and he made to angrily pound on the glass window just as the pod began to hiss.
This time Alec was aware of the deep biting cold and felt the all-encompassing nothingness press itself back onto his consciousness, his head fell limply mere millimetres from the glass as he lost consciousness looking into the face of his wife's murderer.
o-Fallout-o
Abruptly, Alec awoke coughing and spluttering with the sudden feeling of having the worse hangover of his life. He felt like a stranger in his own body, his mind and body seemed far away, slumbering, and unfamiliar.
It was disorientating and uncomfortable, and he breathed heavily as though he had just run a marathon. The air within the pod was damp, a thick film of moisture clung to him, and he felt it dripping from his hair and neck. His chest was tight and sore as though someone had kicked him straight in the chest.
A deep alarm rang, the sound loud enough to enter the pod and it echoed through Alec's ears in a disjointed far away fashion, it caused his head to ache, and he struggled through the delirium to focus on the sound.
Forcing his eyes open urgently, the glass was covered in water droplets but despite that Alec had a clear line of sight to the pod opposite his own. The scarred bald man was gone. Kate was just feet from him.
"Let me out!" He rasped bashing weakly on the door, the mere effort making him nauseous.
If he could get to her, if he found the right supplies then he might be able to treat her wound and then together they could find Shaun. Alec hadn't seen where the bullet hit but knew that with the right equipment it had to be possible, and this vault must have a medical bay somewhere with all types of advanced equipment.
"Critical failure detected in Cryogenic Array. All vault residents must vacate immediately." The computer-generated voice announced over the alarm.
The door to his pod creaked as the locks and hydraulics disengaged, it hissed as air escaped through the broken seals as the door retracted upwards. Alec was finally free of his icy prison. Gingerly and weakly he gripped hold of the handrail on the side of the pod and succeeded in heaving himself out of the supportive cradle and stepped down onto the floor.
He collapsed instantly. His legs were unable to support his weight and his limbs trembled uncontrollably, a second wave of nausea came over him as his vision blurred alarmingly. Alec could do nothing for several minutes but lay in a heap on the floor and try and catch his breath as his heart raced.
From his position on the floor he was at least able to see that the pod chamber was empty. There was no sign of the mysterious strangers, nor yet any sign of the vault personnel.
Eventually through sheer force of will he crawled his way forward to Kate's pod and used it to pull himself up to his feet, barely noticing the icy bite of the metal he touched. Looking through the windowpane he felt like he received a punch to the stomach and almost fell to the floor once more.
"Kate! No! You have to be fine. Shaun needs his mother." He groaned looking around madly, "How do you open this infernal thing!"
Gripping hold of the control panel it took him little time to identify the manual release switch and he flipped it urgently and watched with abated breath as the door released and opened sufficiently to reveal his wife.
It was like looking at a photograph. A photograph taken at the worse moment of both their lives. The look of terror on her face pierced his heart, she hadn't seen the bullet or gun, she had been determinedly holding onto their son. If it were not for the bullet wound to the head and the awful expression on her face, then it could have been easily possible for her to be only sleeping.
"No Kate! No!" He cried and gripped hold of her with both of his hands, "we were supposed to be safe here dammit! Don't leave me Kate, not now, I need you."
He let out a bloodcurdling shout, despair and sorrow echoing through the pod chamber, as tears streaked down his face. It was a savage display of emotion, so unlike Alec but he didn't care. His wife was gone, and he had done nothing but watch.
Why did it have to be Kate who was killed? If either of them were to die better for it to have been him. After three years of war he had certainly cheated death enough, and even more so after some of the acts he and his unit had committed in the name of the U.S war efforts.
He cursed as he realised that it should have been him. The only reason Kate had died was because she had insisted on holding Shaun. If she hadn't, those people would have come for him. He might have died so that Kate might live, or he could have stopped them taking…
Shaun. Those people had his son. His wife might be dead, but Shaun was alive and missing.
With that sudden clarity the tears stopped falling. Alec pushed away the guilt, shame, anger, and fear and used them to shape a hard steeled resolve. He would find Shaun by any means necessary. His son was the last thing of Kate he had left. Kate had died protecting Shaun, he would honour that sacrifice.
"I will find the one who did this to you Kate." Alec vowed darkly. "I will find our son and I will bring him home. That bastard will die by my hands, it will be slow and agonising and I will make him pay for what he did here, to you, to us, to our family!"
Removing the wedding band from her hand he placed it firmly on his pinkie, kissed two fingers and placed them on Kates frozen lips in a parting gesture and stepped backwards, reactivating the pod, and watched as it closed and sealed itself once more.
"I'll come back once everything is done." He promised, "I don't know when that will be, but I will."
With one final look at his wife he forced himself to turn away and not look back.
Focusing on his immediate surroundings, Alec regarded the pod chamber critically for the first time and noticed that it had severely deteriorated. Almost all of the visible pipes, wiring, plating and everything else in the chamber showed shocking advanced signs of decay, rust, and corrosion. His next observation was that all the other pods had not opened like his own and he moved to check on their occupants. Moving from pod to pod he saw the same thing, none were moving or awake, each occupant was within, covered in thick ice crystals and frozen through.
Cryogenics. The computer had used the term he was sure of it although his attention was elsewhere at the time.
Armed with that information he studied the infrastructure critically with a trained eye. Whatever that doctor had said this room was not designed for decontamination. How did he not see it when they entered? The entire set up was designed for extreme temperatures and insulation. Although that made him wonder at the science, was it even possible to freeze a human? He had always thought cryogenics was science fiction, something you see in a Silver Shroud comic.
Regarding the people within their pods he hoped that they were alive and were just frozen like he must have been until his pod released him. However as he studied them he became convinced that something was wrong. Each of them wore frozen expressions of torment, horror, and pain.
Finding a terminal against the wall closest to the door Alec pulled up the system mainframe which had been surprisingly an open system and accessed the biometric data readings from each pod. The readings were far worse than he had originally feared. Both the life support and cryogenic systems had failed, the occupants of the pods had all been revived and died of asphyxiation.
Was this a system failure or was this sabotage he wondered. He tried to access the readings pertaining to the Carter's pods at the end of the chamber but the data for those pods was inaccessible due to corruption. Did those strange people do this? Or was this just a cascade of failures in the vault systems. That also raised the question, where were the vault personnel who likely should have been maintaining the systems.
Apprehensively Alec made his way to the door, not sure what he would find on the other side and wished he had some kind of weapon. The only thing he had to hand was an oxygen tank and that wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
Activating the door it slid upwards noisily and revealed an empty corridor in an equal state of decay to the cryogenic chamber. A cloud of vapour was being emitted by several vents which likely attributed to the level of oxidisation given that the walls were moist to the touch.
The vault was almost silent, the only noises were mechanical, from water moving through pipes, air circulating through vents, machines or turbines whirling and the near constant rhythmic beat of liquid dripping.
Slowly he ventured through the vault and found it was deserted. There had been two further cryogenic chambers each of which had contained a further twenty occupied pods. Neither of the additional chambers held living occupants, they had all expired the same way as those within his own.
"Why is everyone dead but me?" He wondered aloud nervously. The man had said something about him being a back up of some kind. A back up to what?
The main corridor was blocked by a large bulkhead door which was sealed. The door and computer beeped a warning at him that there was a malfunction within the door controls. A toolbox and bench had been set up next to the door, it looked like the vault maintenance people had been attempting to fix it before… well at some point.
With the original path to the exit blocked, Alec moved towards another accessible corridor that had been sealed off when he had first entered the vault. Again there was still no sign of anyone, alive or dead which only made him more on edge. It was with some relief that he found a security baton and with it in hand felt more assured.
As he passed through the corridors he found the remains of what had once been the Vault 111 Security Office, or at least that's what the wonky sign above the door said. The room itself looked like it had been ransacked and searched roughly. Damp papers and folders lay in piles on the floor, drawers of the filing cabinets and desk were all pulled open and askew or completely upended.
Glancing at a few of the documents they were all Vault-Tec security protocols, personnel files, and other procedure documents from what was still legible from the serious amounts of water damage. The security lockers were empty of almost anything useful apart from a Vault-Tec issue blue and yellow canvas combat bag, it was a bit ragged but still functional at least.
The security terminal in the room was still somewhat operation and required a little bit of coercion to allow him to access its files but once he bypassed the basic security lock he couldn't believe what he was reading.
Vault-Tec had designed and built the vault to study and experiment with the long-term effects of suspended animation on human test subjects. A completely blind study! It had nothing to do with saving people from nuclear annihilation at all. Everything about the vault was designed to facilitate cryogenics. The pods would freeze and defrost their occupants, the vault suits were designed for both protection and insulation but would also monitor their biometrics and provide defibrillation to jumpstart the heart through the awakening sequence.
Skimming through the rest of the files nothing really caught Alec's eye until he stumbled into the security logs and things got interesting. Vault 111 reportedly functioned fine for a time, however there had been a growing contention between the different departments and mistrust developed due to the close quarter living. Supplies within the vault dwindled over the months, the promised all clear signal and instruction to leave was never received and this all culminated in a mutiny against the Overseer.
The closing words of the unknown author in the logs was somewhat ominous. 'One way or another, we're getting out of this Vault.' Could this mutiny be the reason the vault was empty? Had everyone left? Or had they killed themselves? Or were they somewhere else in the vault he hadn't yet found.
Reading the security logs had also raised a startling realisation that he hadn't actually considered, and that was time. According to the logs it had been at least six months since the bombs fell. Six months had passed with Alec none the wiser. How long had he been asleep frozen in ice?
He searched the office for anything of further interest or helpful. The vault he suspected was likely deserted, but who knew what he would find above ground. If he was to find Shaun he would need to equip himself accordingly and be prepared for almost any eventuality.
Despite Vault 111 having gone through a supply issue in the past, Alec was pleased to find a small first-aid pack complete with a stimpak and a bottle of aspirin. A stimpak was a wonder of pharmaceutical science, it was a syringe filled with a mixture of healing agents and stimulants which enabled the user to drastically increase the bodies regenerative abilities. It was because of syringes like these he had survived his injuries at Anchorage, let alone the rest of the war.
He had paused considering the stimpak and thought of running back down to the cryogenic chamber and using the medicine on Kate. It was true that they were a marvel of medicine, but even that had a limit. Alec was no doctor; he might have had basic army medical training, but his wife's condition was beyond his knowledge. Bullets to the heads were fatal, and brain injuries were incredibly dangerous.
Leaving the security office he moved down the hallway and activated the next door. No sooner had the door opened and he stepped over the threshold something darted out of the opening at the far end of the corridor and headed straight towards him. Acting on pure instinct, the security baton extended with a flick, and he swung it in a downwards arc and smashed it down with a crack.
"Giant roaches!" He said disbelievingly shuddering at the sight of the disgusting creature, its gooey entrails now covering the floor. "What the hell?"
The roach was unbelievably larger than an American football, this thing was a creature of nightmares. Tapping its revolting and split carapace tentatively with the baton Alec made sure it was dead before he stepped over it and into the room it had come from.
It was the living quarters for vault personnel, for the residents had been condemned to living as popsicles down into the cryo-pods. Unsurprisingly given what the security logs had said, the quarters were almost entirely devoid of anything that Alec could use or supply himself with.
Preparation and planning were key to survival. The kitchen might not have food and other such necessities, but that was not to say it didn't contain things he could use. A working hotplate, cutlery, mug, and pan were all items that he would need if he was to feed himself later.
In the old refrigerator he had also found an old glass milk bottle. The bottle was clearly disgusting and filled with the remains of what could only have been congealed and fermented milk, however when he popped the lid Alec discovered he couldn't smell anything. Not just the bottle which should surely stink, but he hadn't smelt anything since he left the pod.
Wondering at the loss of one of his senses, Alec found that the vault surprisingly still had operational plumbing as water poured from the kitchen tap. He took the moment to pop a couple of aspirin to try and take the edge of his thumping headache before he cleaned off everything he had found. The glass bottle he left soaking in a potent concoction of cleaning products while he ventured into the sleeping quarters.
The room was not dissimilar to military barracks, it had once been set up with numerous bunks and lockers to serve the vault personnel, but also provided storage if the numerous shelves lining the walls were anything to go by. Much like the rest of the vault, it was in a sorry pitiful state and had been thoroughly searched and pulled apart.
All of the beds were dirty, damp and crawling with who knew what type of bugs, but despite himself Alec was sorely tempted to rest his aching body and he yawned involuntarily at the thought. He couldn't rest, not yet. The vault was empty of that Alec was now almost certain, but until he could confirm this he was not about to rest in unfamiliar and unsecured territory, not even for a moment. He couldn't risk it, not with Shaun counting on him.
Returning to the kitchen he retrieved and rinsed the now clean glass bottle, filled it with water and placed it and everything else he had salvaged into the canvas bag, hung it over his shoulder and proceeded into the vault's reactor room.
Much like the rest of the vault, the reactor was in dire need of maintenance. Electricity arced from one of the reactor pylons dangerously and as he watched it struck another of those giant roaches that had scuttered across the floor and it became a crispy smoking husk.
Not about to walk through the obviously dangerous passage between the reactors, Alec instead kept to the outer edges of the room hoping that his security baton wouldn't act like a lightning rod to the surging electricity. He'd almost made it to the exit when one of the giant roaches jumped at him from an open box causing him to cry out and swat it backwards as if it were a fastball.
With his attention on the flying roach he didn't immediately see the enormous roach that had streaked across the floor to him. His eyes might not have seen it, but his ears heard it move and he turned just in time to duck out of the way as it launched itself and he fell over a crate.
If the other roaches had been the size of an American football this monster was like a medium sized dog. The vile insect went for him again only to be hit head on with the metal end of the baton, only this one didn't die. It attempted to attack him again only for Alec to kick it backwards and then pounce unleashing a barrage of baton strikes that made his arm hurt.
Breathing heavily he stepped backwards and heard a crunch. Alarmed and feeling his heart race expectantly at what he thought would be another monstrous bug intent on eating him he cried out when he saw skeletal remains. It was human, and surprisingly it was wearing a vault suit similar to his own.
"So at least some of you remained." He said quietly as he studied the remains, "What killed you then? The reactor? The roaches? Perhaps you died in the mutiny, I doubt I will ever know."
These remains were entirely skeletal, with no trace of any meaty sinew left on the bones or within the vault-suit. That could be indicative of long-term decomposition, but the presence of roaches made that less certain. Insects had to eat as much as humans and were not nearly as fussy where they got their nourishment. Flipping the remains over Alec removed any doubt on the cause of death. The material of the vault-suit had three holes in it, evidence of bullet wounds. Whoever this had once been had been killed, although that just raised another question. Had they been killed during the vault mutiny or Shaun's kidnapping?
Leaving the remains behind Alec continued through the vault and was far more wary for signs of roaches' intent on finding their next meal. Several of the disgusting critters were in the next corridor and he dispensed with them without hesitation. Alec discovered the vault medical bay or at least that's what the sign above the door said, in truth it was a room barely larger than a broom closet. The medical bay was empty, with no sign of any of its equipment or any indication of the supplies it might have once contained.
Eventually he came to a large room through a bulkhead door. It was almost as large as the recreation room, with a large circular desk in the middle with a terminal. Surrounding the room were numerous shelves and filing cabinets all filled with boxes and crates. With the room seemingly free of roaches, Alec relaxed slightly and began to look around.
Remembering the security logs he assumed that this must be the Overseers Quarters given the obvious stockpiling of boxes around the room and the set up of the large desk. Moving towards the desk his eyes fell on a 10mm pistol and he couldn't help but rush over and grab it eagerly. The security baton might have been a weapon, but a gun was far superior, and his fingers curled by reflex around the trigger.
It was then that Alec noticed the skeleton lying behind the desk, this time clearly one of the vault scientists or doctors if the remnants of the white lab coat were anything to go by. Whoever it was looked like they had fallen back off their chair dead, although that was likely due to the bullet hole to the front of their skull.
There was no name on the remains of the lab coat, so Alec had no idea who it was, but he wondered if this was the doctor who had seen the Carter's to their so-called decontamination and had them flash frozen in the cryo-pod. If it was, Alec wasn't entirely sure the man hadn't deserved this fate given what the vault personnel had done to its selected residents.
Picking up the chair, Alec sat himself at the terminal and was relieved to find that it was unlocked as though the person dead behind him had been shot during the process of working at the terminal.
Reading through the Overseer instructions and operations protocols for Vault 111 didn't reveal anything of interest about the vault. The Overseer had been tasked in getting the residents installed in the pods and keeping them frozen, after an initial shelter period the personnel of the vault were meant to evacuate and regroup with Vault-Tec leaving the residents inside to be monitored remotely.
"Bastards." Alec growled, he should have known that a corporation like Vault-Tec had an ulterior motive, he had been right to be suspicious of a free position within a vault.
He eventually found the Overseers personal logs and unlike the sanctioned formal reports and entries of Vault-Tec, these were far more interesting and revealing.
Preparations:
The final staff orientation is complete, Vault-Tec has carefully selected our future residents from the surrounding area to meet our needs, the variety of the prospective residents will provide stability to the mission of Vault 111.
Vault-Tec sponsored and steered the development of Sanctuary Hills to ensure we had not only a wealth of perspective residents but also a stable water source through the lake. I do not know the exact nature of Vault-Tec's plan but in my experience the board never does things for singular reasons.
The Vault-Tec supervisors visited this week to go through a technical review and inspection of the vault and have deemed Vault 111 ready to open.
I cannot imagine what our residents will get to witness. The notion of leaping forward in time! Escaping the dark days of this planet and awakening in the new world. I almost wish I could join them and see the promise of our future realised.
That is not my path. I am the caretaker and once my job is complete I will help Vault-Tec build the foundation of what our residents will need.
This entry suddenly made sense of the development of Sanctuary Hills. None could ever understand why the government had permitted the desecration of historical landmarks, but now it was clearly the work of the powerful Vault-Tec Corporation pulling strings to overcome a trivial issue.
Alec also found himself conflicted over the purpose of Vault 111, perhaps it was not as nefarious as he first thought. In fact as he thought about it Vault 111 might just have been worse for its staff than its residents. That said he still couldn't agree with their actions on taking away their choice and freedom.
Vault-Tec Conference:
Today I attended the regional Vault-Tec Conference for the New England Commonwealth. As you would expect this type of function was attended by some of the top brass of the Vault-Tec Corporation. They gave the assembled guests the usual speeches and presentations for the agenda of the year and future plans.
It was odd to attend the conference since my invitation had strictly informed me that I was not to reveal my position as an overseer. Under severe penalty I was also not permitted to reveal my vaults designation, mission, function, capability, or location to anyone. This was a strange stipulation since all of us worked for the same company, but I was not going to disobey the order.
It was therefore a shock to receive a summons after dinner to a briefing room above and was met by none other than Dr Stanislaus Braun of the Future-Tec Division himself! My heart almost stopped as he began to speak of Vault 111 and wasn't sure what to do since I was told categorically not to speak about my vault.
He must have noticed my fear for he explained that it was Future-Tec that had developed our Cryogenic Array as part of two Vault-Tec projects codenamed ARK and EDEN. Dr Braun explained that Vault 111 formed a part of the ARK Program, and it would be the ARK Initiative that would take over the remote monitoring of Vault 111 once my team evacuated.
I have never felt more nervous in my life as I answered Dr Braun's questions and was incredibly relieved when I was dismissed, and I returned to the party and tried to forget the whole experience.
During the rest of the evening I spoke to many of the guests but all of us avoided conversing about the specifics of vaults themselves. The room could have been filled with the New England Overseers, but I would never know. During the night I met a rude and gruff woman named Valery, I admit I suspect her to be an Overseer. If I am right I do feel sorry for her staff, I had made a quick exit to avoid talking to her, but her staff could be locked in a vault with her for a very long time.
Alec had forgotten about the other vaults that Vault-Tec had built not just across Massachusetts or New England but the rest of the United States. Thinking on them now he couldn't help but wonder if all of them were not dissimilar from Vault 111. Could they too have secret agendas beyond keeping their residents alive and safe in case of the event of nuclear annihilation.
What was this so-called ARK Initiative? If Vault 111 could be monitored remotely by Vault-Tec then how could the system have catastrophically failed and killed almost every single resident and why didn't the pods release them like his own had.
Skimming through the rest of the entries from Overseer Ramirez he found that they were much the same as those from the security terminal. Ramirez he discovered was well aware of the discontent but had been attempting to protect the staff from the radiation on the surface but had been unable to stop the mutiny.
The terminal also controlled access to the evacuation tunnel through the sealed bulkhead door, but before he unsealed the door he decided to search through the rooms for any extra supplies and hoped that Ramirez had managed to secure something of use away.
Salvaging what he could from the various boxes and crates surrounding the room, Alec could safely say there wasn't much, but he wasn't empty handed. He'd found a pack of the anti-radiation soap, stimpaks, a second 10mm, Rad-X anti-radiation medication, a lighter, three boxes of ammunition, bobby-pins, normal soap, two new vault suits, underwear, and socks.
It truthfully wasn't much, but it was all he had available, and it wasn't like Alec had the choice of being picky. At this point he would take what he could until he could find a way to equip himself properly. At the very least it all fitted into his bag which sat bulging slightly on the desk.
He'd also found what he could only deem Ramirez's folly. Within the gun locker was a sealed container which held a prototype that the former overseer had developed and dubbed the Cryolator. According to his notes, the device made cryogenic freezing available in a portable, on-demand form. Ramirez must have been bored sitting here in his office, or perhaps wanted a way to quell the mutineers humanely. Either way, given the lack of human icebergs lining the halls Alec doubted the device truly worked as advertised.
Finally after scouring every inch of the office and living quarters of former Overseer Ramirez, Alec slipped the strap of the bag over his shoulder and activated the evacuation door control via the terminal.
The evacuation tunnel was long and low but at least reasonably well illuminated so that Alec could see down its length and what he saw made him stop in his tracks. There were numerous dark shapes moving along the floor and walls.
Silently he withdrew the pistol from the open pocket of the bag and raised it and aimed. Pulling the trigger there was a loud bang that echoed through the tunnel, and it was almost deafening after the silence of the vault.
Four bullets shot across the tunnel and imbedded themselves within the giant roaches that began to swarm against him, two of the bullets missed, and as he went to fire again the gun suddenly jammed. Cursing, Alec dropped the gun, withdrew the security baton, and began to bludgeon the remaining roaches to death.
Once the deed was done he picked up the dropped gun and realised his mistake. In his haste to leave the vault he hadn't cleaned the weapon and had thought that as it showed no signs of rust or corrosion it would be both structurally safe and reliable. A potentially foolish assumption and luckily he had been facing insects.
In the back of his mind he could just hear his commanding officer and drill sergeant both lecturing him over correct gun maintenance and cleaning, he winced at the imagined tongue lashing. Neither of them were alive now he thought, he doubted both would have survived the nuclear blasts.
Finally he moved into the vault entrance, expecting to see the large steel wall that separated the vault from the outside world with its distinct cog-shaped opening leading to the elevator platform. Only the vault door was closed, blocking his path to the surface.
He remembered where the door controls had been and moved towards the console, ignoring the skeletons strewn across the floor. One of them was being gnawed on by a giant roach which was met with the firm heel of Alec's boot.
Stepping over a skeleton laying under the console, Alec looked it over and thought it simple enough. There was a large red button clearly labelled for releasing the door. But of course it wasn't that simple, the vault would hardly be secure if just anyone could press the red button. No the damned thing was protected by a case of hardened glass preventing any access to it.
The other controls on the panel seemed to be dead and inactive as he pressed two with no effect. Or so it seemed until a loud buzzer-like error sound squawked startling him and the vault computer announced, 'Pip-Boy interface required to activate Vault door cycling sequence.'
Frowning intently he regarded the skeleton on the floor under the console, it was wrapped in the usual blue vault suit and also wore a lab coat like the other remains he had seen, except this one had attached to its bony left wrist some type of device.
Curiously he unclipped the device from the doctors remains and studied it closely.
It was clearly a Pip-Boy given that the name was emblazoned atop the device. Alec remembered hearing about them on the news, it was a RobCo developed miniature portable computer. It was said to be a marvel of computer science, and interest and demand for such devices had been extreme. They were said to be incredibly versatile and functional and immediately noticed this model came equipped with a universal jack built in for linking with other systems.
"Let's see if you still work." He said quietly as he strapped the device onto his arm and pressed the power button. The device whirled and within it the distinct noise of powering up electrical components could be heard and then writing began to cycle down the filthy screen as the operating system began to load itself.
The Vault Boy mascot of Vault-Tec appeared on the screen as the last start-up sequence initiated, once it was done the device began to scan Alec for biometric data likely connecting to the vault-suits internal sensors or through the sensors within the device itself.
Ignoring the personal computer, Alec detached the universal jack from the Pip-Boy and plugged it directly into the console jack-port. Instantly the connection was made, and a message appeared on its glowing screen.
VAULT DOOR REMOTE ACCESS
READY
Whatever security features the console had, were deactivated merely by the connection to the Pip-Boy, likely some Vault-Tec key was included within the devices programming or hardware. The protective case on the console flipped open and Alec hammered the red button with his fist. Immediately alarms and lights began to sound and flash.
'Vault door cycling sequence initiated. Please stand back.'
In somewhat astonishment, Alec watched as what he could only call a key moved forwards and inserted itself into the large gear door, it sparked as loud motors engaged and it released the locking mechanisms in the door. The cog was retracted from the entrance and then moved out of the way. A gangway then extended providing a walkway to the exit.
Hardly waiting for the gangway to finished extending, Alec hurried across and stepped off onto the steel staircase that led down into the cavern and saw the vaults elevator platform sitting open as though it had been waiting for him since the last time he had stepped on it.
As he stepped onto the platform Alec looked back at Vault 111 for a long moment. This place had both saved and killed him. It was now the final resting place of not only his wife, but his former neighbours and part of himself. Vault 111 was supposed to protect humanity, now it would serve as a tomb.
"I will be back when I have my son." He said quietly repeating his earlier promise as the grate lowered and the platform began to ascend up towards the surface, taking him one step closer to finding his stolen child.
As if the vault had heard him the computer called out in parting.
'Enjoy your return to the surface, and thank you for choosing Vault-Tec.'
O-FALLOUT-O
Authors Note:
This chapter was not easy to write. As this chapter is mostly filler with Alec Carter exploring the vault, but it has some very key moments and lore establishing points within it that needed to be told. Also more importantly it was about the emotions portrayed and showing the characters frame of mind at this point in time.
Edited: 14/08/2022
Vault 111:
For those of you familiar with the game you will of course notice that I have expanded the vault and added more. These is a lot more to Vault 111 in this story than you will see in the game! What that is I will let you discover, but that will more than likely feature in Book 2: Rise of the MCR!
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