Vault (Fallout)
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Vaults are large underground bunkers that serve as a central part of the Fallout computer game series. Built by Vault-Tec, these structures were each designed to keep 1,000 people safe from nuclear destruction and the effects of fallout and radiation afterward. They were not intended, however, to protect the entire population of the United States, as over 400,000 would be needed to provide safety to everyone. Rather, the vaults had a far more sinister purpose, which is discovered in Fallout 2. The vaults were designed to comfortably host 1,000 people for 10 years after a nuclear apocalypse.
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[edit] The Vault Project
The vaults were not designed to save the entire population of the United States of America – doing so would require over 400,000 of the structures to be built. Rather, the vaults were part of a large-scale social experiment conducted by the Enclave, the remnants of the pre-war shadow government of the United States. Realizing that there was no hope in trying to prevent a nuclear war, members of the Enclave sought instead to survive it. Before the nuclear exchange, the Enclave worked on creating a spaceship that could take them and survivors of the Vaults to the Alpha Centauri system. The vaults would also serve as a way to test the effects of various variables. The program tested the effects of long-term exposure, lack of entertainment, disproportionate gender rates, and ready access to weapons, among other variables. This plan did not come to fruition, however, due to the loss of the space ship during the nuclear apocalypse.
[edit] Overseer
The vault overseer is responsible for the management of a vault. The duty of the vault overseer was to be in charge of that community, making sure it runs well, and to eventually prepare the vault dwellers for life on post-apocalyptic Earth.
[edit] Known Vaults
Most of the vaults had a special set of circumstances that were designed to test a certain variable.
- Vault 8 - Was intended as a control vault. Received the all-clear signal and opened 10 years after the war. (this Vault later became Vault City).
- Vault 12 - The door did not close properly, exposing the inhabitants to extreme radiation. This Vault was below Necropolis.
- Vault 13 - Intended to stay closed for 200 years as a study of prolonged isolation. (this particular part of the experiment was compromised when the water purification chip broke).
- Vault 15 - Intended to stay closed for 50 years and include people of radically diverse ideologies. Aradesh came from this Vault and many of the families based in Shady Sands and later NCR were descended from the original inhabitants.
- Vault 27 - Double the designed population was placed in this Vault.
- Vault 29 - This Vault contained no one over the age of 15. Harold is presumed to have come from this Vault.
- Vault 34 - This Vault's armoury was overstocked, and not equipped with a lock.
- Vault 36 - The food extruders were designed to produce only a thin, watery gruel.
- Vault 42 - All the lights were very low-power, making the whole Vault very dark. Possibly where the Riddick easter egg character comes from.
- Vault 53 - Every few months, most of the equipment would break down. The damage was repairable, but was designed to stress the inhabitants unduly. Possibly where the Reavers came from, given their technical skills, and advanced weaponry.
- Vault 55 - All entertainment tapes were removed.
- Vault 56 - All entertainment tapes were removed, except those of one particularly bad comic actor. Sociologists predicted that this Vault would fail long before Vault 55.
- Vault 68 - Of the one thousand people who entered, there was only one woman.
- Vault 69 - Of the one thousand people who entered, there was only one man.
- Vault 70 - All jumpsuit extruders fail after 6 months.
- Vault 101 - Meant to remain permanently shut, however this experiment is compromised in Fallout 3.
- Vault 106 - Psychoactive drugs were released into the air filtration system 10 days after the door was sealed.
[edit] Vaults in Fallout Tactics
In Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, the Vault project was said to have included a central vault, Vault 0, that was to help humanity emerge from the dark ages after the nuclear war. Built in Cheyenne Mountain, the vault contained the brains of many of the great scientists and intellectuals of the time. Due to a malfunction, however, the Calculator, the computer that was supposed to oversee the vault and its robot army, became insane and attacked humans in the American Midwest. It was only through intervention of the Brotherhood of Steel that the Calculator was stopped.
The canonicity of Vault 0 remains in debate due to various conflicts with Fallout lore, in particular the back story concerning the Vault Experiment. After all, if the purpose of the Vaults was not in fact to repopulate the United States, they wouldn't need a control center. However, it might have been used to reform the planet, to allow the Enclave to repopulate the planet, if their ship hadn't been destroyed. Vault 0 might have also been a relay to gather data from the vaults and send it to the Enclave. This might be retconed in the near future of the fallout universe.
[edit] Technical Details
These figures are based on those of Vault 13
- Construction time: Approx. 5.5 years
- Capacity: 1,000 persons
- Cost per unit: $645,000,000,000
- Door thickness: 4 yards
- Earth coverage: 3,200,000 tons of soil, at 200 feet
- Equipment that can be found on a Vault: Complete construction equipment, hydro-agricultural farms, water purification from underground river, defensive weaponry to equip 10 men, communication, social and entertainment files
- Number of living quarters: 100
- Power requirements: 3.98mkw/day
- Primary power supply: Geothermal
- Secondary power supply: Nuclear
- Time all Vault inhabitants could live with what a Vault provides: 10 years
[edit] References
- Vault article at The Vault, a Fallout wiki
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