(Disclaimer: The Characters and General Setting belongs to Gainax and Bethesda, obviously)
December 5th, 2161
84 Years After The Great War
Vault 13
Vault Scientist Ritsuko Akagi sighs as she steps out of the bathroom in her living quarters after she had finished her daily shower. Her room was small, but nice compared to the other rooms within the Vault. Thanks to her important role as a Computer Scientist she has the Luxury of being able to have a room to herself, because the majority of the residents share a room.
She makes herself a cup of instant coffee and then takes a seat at her desk overflowing with papers, used instant coffee packets, and a Terminal.
"I'll be fine without breakfast today" Ritsuko mutters as she glares over to her clock. But as she waited for her Robco Terminal to boot up, the Intercom speaker in her room suddenly came on
"Dr. Akagi to the Overseer's Office" the robotic voice said, repeating it a few times. Ritsuko lets out a heavy sigh as she gets up out of her chair while taking one last sip of her coffee.
"I wonder what that old man wants now" Ritsuko grumbles to herself as she puts on her Lab Coat and opens the large sliding metal door to leave her quarters. She exits her room and begins to walk through the narrow hallways of Vault 13, the lights were dimmed due to it still being fairly early in the morning
As Ritsuko was walking to one of the Vault's elevators, thinking about what she was needed for, someone suddenly ran up next to her
"Good morning Dr. Akagi!" Vault Technician Maya Ibuki said cheerfully as she began to walk alongside Ritsuko
"Morning" Ritsuko responds unenthusiastically, still tired as a result of her staying up late last night working
They continue walking until they reach the elevator, Maya awkwardly stops to let Ritsuko enter first.
The elevator door closes and starts to move upwards, Maya seems happy to have been able to ride with Ritsuko
"I heard the announcement, why does the Overseer need you?" Maya asks Ritsuko
"Not sure, he probably locked himself out of his terminal again" Ritsuko says, making Maya chuckle a little
They eventually arrive at the Overseer's floor, the door opens and Ritsuko exits the small elevator.
"Uh, good luck with whatever you need to do!" Maya says cheerfully right before the door closes. Ritsuko eventually made it to the door to Overseer Fuyutsuki's office. a Security Officer standing next to the door slid his keycard on the door's control panel to open it for her.
Fuyutsuki was sitting in his desk, speaking to someone on a phone using the Vault's inner communication system, he had a look of distress and frustration on his face
"Are you sure you can't? Hm, I see" Fuyutsuki says before hanging up aggressively, he then looks up to see Ritsuko had arrived
"Is something wrong, Overseer?" Ritsuko asks him a bit nervously, Fuyutsuki sighs
"Dr. Akagi, we have a problem, a big one " Fuyutsuki says to her, making Ritsuko even more nervous
He sighs again, "yesterday the controller chip for our water purification system gave up the ghost, we don't have the resources to repair it, and we don't have a replacement chip"
Ritsuko's eyes widened, shocked at what she had just been told. "We could attempt to create a workaround system" she replies after thinking for a second, trying to keep her professional manner.
"We already tried that, the system is too complicated" Fuyutsuki says frustrated as he rubs his forehead. Ritsuko knew this was by far the worst technical malfunction in Vault 13's history
"How much time do we have left?" Ritsuko asks almost whispering, fearing what will happen to the Vault and it's 900 Residents
"We've estimated that our water reserves will last us another 156 days at best if we ration it" Fuyutsuki replies as leans back in his chair
"But….. there is some hope" Fuyutsuki adds as he looks at Ritsuko. He grabs what appears to be a Pre-War map from a drawer and puts it in front of him on his desk, Ritsuko leans in to look
"Here is the location of Vault 15, archived Pre-War construction reports we have indicate that they may be in possession of a spare Chip" Fuyutsuki says as he points to a place on the map
"So I guess Vault 13 got the short end of the stick when it came to receiving spare equipment" Fuyutsuki lightly chuckles, trying his best to lighten the grim situation, however Ritsuko just stares at the map with a worried expression
Ritsuko begins to speak, "Sir…. are you suggesting…."
"I'm afraid so" Fuyutsuki says shamefully, Ritsuko doesn't know what to say
"We've concluded that you would be best fit to go out and find the chip…. please, you may just be the only hope we have" Fuyutsuki tells Ritsuko, they then both fall silent
A million thoughts raced through Ritsuko's head, the Vault had only opened its door once after The Great War, and that was in 2146 under a special circumstance
After what felt like a eternity of hard thinking, Ritsuko finally made up her mind
"Alright, for the sake of the Vault, I will go out to find it" she sighs, bringing a small smile to Fuyutsuki's face
"Thank you Dr. Akagi, you are a hero to us all" Fuyutsuki says with relief in his voice
But he then adds, "However, we will be sending someone else out with you"