Vault 11

 is one of the Vault-Tec Vaults, located in the Mojave Wasteland.

Plot
The entire Vault has been plastered with propaganda for an election for a new Overseer. The election seems to be unusual in that each candidate is expressing outrage at having been nominated and trying to point out not only their innocence but why the other candidates deserve to be Overseer for their sins. Deeper in the vault it becomes clear there has been fighting, with barricades and some traps. At the conclusion of the term of an Overseer, they are required to enter a chamber below the Overseer's Office to offer their own life, otherwise the computer controlling the Vault will execute the entire population. The computer does not require that the sacrifice should be the Overseer; of the original residents, only the Overseer entered the Vault knowing of the regular sacrifices that would be required to provide life and shelter for the remainder of the Vault's residents. The residents of the vault, in their shock and anger at the discovery after having already been sealed inside the vault, demanded that the sacrifice be chosen democratically, and, further, chose the Overseer (whom they viewed as having betrayed them) as the first sacrifice. This would marry the positions of Overseer and Sacrifice until the end.

In this Vault, several groups of voting blocs appeared to exercise power by means of their population and voting potential to exert force over other Vault residents. Prior to the final election, the most powerful of the voting blocs (the Justice Bloc) confronted Katherine Stone, threatening that, if she did not perform sexual favors for the members of their bloc, they would nominate her husband, Nathan Stone, for Overseer. Katherine, fearing for the fate of her husband, complied. Much to the shock of the Stone family, the Justice Bloc nominated Nathan for Overseer regardless, being the only Bloc to nominate him (it appears that it would be normal politics for several blocs to nominate a candidate due to the general moral outrage against a candidate).

Fearing for the fate of her husband, Katherine decided that she had to save him using the only method she felt left available to her: she began to stalk and kill the members of the Justice Bloc. Upon her capture, she confessed to her crimes immediately, explaining not only her plan but also her reasoning. She was asked if the voters would be so easily swayed, and explained she felt she would win because the voters had to make a choice "they could live with" the guilt of electing.

Katherine Stone's first act as Overseer, Overseer Order 745, dissolves the election process, instead decreeing that the position of Overseer will be chosen using the Vault's computer systems and a random number generator. The Justice Bloc, aghast that they were going to lose the ability to control Vault life by means of election threats, not only feared that one of their own members would be elected, but also worried that waiting for a member of their own Bloc to be randomly chosen as Overseer to be elected and thus be able to reverse the order may take so long that the dissolving Vault social structure would not place them on top when it re-formed. They decided to stage an armed coup to force Katherine to reverse Overseer Order 745.

Below the Overseer's Office is a long tunnel leading to a room with a projector and a chair. Pleasant scenes are shown while a voice reassures the sacrifice that they lived a good life and their next one will be better yet. The door locks as soon as the projection starts, and when it's done, the walls open up to reveal two side rooms containing one Security Droid, six Turrets (three on each side, various versions), and three Mister Gutsy. It is also possible for the hostiles to be two sentry bots, one robobrain, and six Turrets (three on each side, versions still varying). The hostiles are most likely determined by the player's level. If defeated, the player can then access a small room with the vault mainframe computer inside. This computer unlocks the door and reveals that there were only 5 survivors of the vault when they chose to stop sending sacrifices. There is also a recording "Automated solution response" that is likely played when they refuse. It states that by not sending a sacrifice, they are "a shining beacon to humanity" and they will not be killed. They are also informed that the vault door is then unlocked so they can come and go as they please but are urged to consult with their Overseer before they do so.

In conclusion, Vault 11, like every other part of the Vault Experiment, was nothing more than a social experiment testing human nature - most specifically the ability to sacrifice oneself for others, and the ability to place ideals above forcing that sacrifice on others. The Enclave was almost certainly pleased with the findings; the population immediately surrendered to the threat, eventually integrated it into their everyday lives, and even made sacrifices simply to preserve power cliques in the face of potentially positive change. Finally it resulted in a civil war that (we assume) left just 5 survivors, who finally refused to submit - and afterward chose to die rather than live with the consequences of their actions. All useful information for a group devoted to global domination such as the Enclave.

As is presented by the first audiolog upon entry to the Vault, the fate of the final survivors is to commit suicide as a means of punishing themselves for the events that happened in the vault. This is not apparent the first time the player listens to the tape as "I'll go first" is interpreted as referring to exiting the vault. In the audiolog, there is an argument of five people: man, referred to as "Voice 1" tries to convince the other four (three males and a female) to leave the vault. As conversation moves on, it becomes clear, that they are the last vault survivors, that refused to "sacrifice" and found out the truth.

Voices 2 (female), 3 (referred as Henry), 4 and 5 decided to commit suicide when they found out about the vault's experiment, while "Voice 1" is having second thoughts, and tries to convince them to leave the vault and spread the word about what happened there. With a single gun, the plan was for a shooter to shoot the other four and then turn the gun to himself, however this is not how it played out.

Only one question remains; there were five survivors when the experiment ended, five people who entered the suicide pact, but only four skeletons - and only a single gun - in the Vault's entrance room. The one who fired the shots that killed the others did not commit suicide himself as intended, but entered the wasteland. His identity and fate is as of yet, unknown.

Vault 11
The entry tunnel is filled with mantises, and the open vault door leads to a larger entry room than Vaults on the East Coast. A working terminal near the door allows the Courier to access an audio log with some information about the fate of the Vault. Inside at the next junction is the clinic, a dead end hallway to the classroom on the left side and a hallway to the Living Quarters on the right.

Vault 11 Living Quarters
Stair lead down to a large room and allow access to the dorms on both sides and access to the security office and lower level through the remaining door. The dorms are a long series of interconnected rooms, and the only place where Vault 11 jumpsuits can be found in the dressers. Another audio log can also be found on a locked terminal, with the password in a footlocker a few feet away. The security office has a decent stash of ammo but no weapons, and there is a door with a terminal, both Locked: Hard in the same hallway Mini nuke can be found within. At the bottom of the stairs opposite the Security office is the door to the Vault 11 Lower Level. There is a copy of Pugilism Illustrated in the Female dorm, second door on the right. There is a Stealth boy in the same room. A small cache of flamer and 5.56 ammunition is concealed under and behind a large immovable mop bucket in the male dorms as well.

Vault 11 Lower Level
This has a long hallway, and the Overseers office on one end. This has a locked terminal and some random loot scattered around the room. The main entrance to the Atrium is blocked. The courier must go down through the engineering level, which is flooded with radiated water. It is of course, advisable to pack some rad-away and rad-x when journeying to Vault 11. The totally flooded lower reactor level is the only way to proceed without 50 lockpick to open a door above the flooded level. There is only one air pocket in this area, so one must be careful about getting out of the flooded area alive. (It is recommended to open one or two doors then backtrack to the air pocket, and with one or no door unopened then you can proceed to the next set of stairs and forward). The Atrium can now be accessed, and the Overseer's terminal password can be learned from the terminal on the upper balcony. In addition to a tape on the podium below also containing the password. This level also features the Vault cafeteria, which has a large supply of food. Be careful when entering the Cafeteria, there are explosive traps on the floor and it will kill you instantly. In the back of the Cafeteria you will find a Kitchen in which there is a gas leak and an explosive trap that is triggered upon entering the Kitchen, which will cause a chain reaction.

For the Quest "Still in the Dark" for the Brotherhood of Steel, the Differential Pressure Controller is in the middle room along the corridor of the irradiated water (located before the area where you must choose to pick the Average Locked door and swimming through the submerged lower reactor level) in a locker.

Sacrificial Chamber
Enter the Overseer's office cautiously, there is a wired trap at the entrance. Accessing the overseer's terminal with the aforementioned terminal can open the chamber under the desk. The key for this terminal can be found either on a terminal or on a holotape on top of a podium, both are in the atrium. This opens onto a long tunnel, which is totally intact, unlike the decay of the rest of the Vault. At this point the game will save (not an auto-save, an actual save) and pre-programmed voice speaks as the Courier approaches a door with what appears to be sunlight but is actually four tripod lamps. At the end of this room is another door opening onto an open door leading onto a room with a single chair in the center, along with a projector. At the conclusion of the presentation, hidden doors will open and a large number of robots and turrets will attempt to kill the player. If you remain in the chair till the end of the film you will more than likely be killed as the robots and turrets open fire immediately. This fight can be made significantly easier if the player has first obtained the Pulse gun from Vault 34's Armory, allowing each of these robots and the individual turrets to be killed in one shot. Alternatively, you can just equip a Stealth Boy and by being sure not to touch any of the robots and always crouching, remove the lock down, grab the recordings and escape. You can also throw pulse mines through the walls on the side of the sacrificial chamber (done on Xbox and PC, unsure if it would work on other platforms) and as soon as the doors open the mines will detonate killing the robots in one pulse blast (turrets may evade the blast but they are easier to kill without the robots shooting at you). Usually, the blast from one turret's destruction can destroy the two adjacent turrets.

The "best" method for surviving the Sacrificial chamber attack is to equip a Stealth Boy and use the Robotics Expert (if you have taken it) perk to disable all of the robots and turrets. Using this method avoids complications with the turrets belonging to the Lucky 38 Casino faction, provides the player with experience and is low risk.

Notable Loot

 * Mini Nuke, Stealth Boy and some ammo behind the hard locked door in Living Quarters.
 * Differential Pressure Controller in a Locker under water in the flooded section of the Lower Level.
 * Prepared Speech of Gus Olson, Ombudsman, for the Annual Overseer Election in the Lower level. This acts as password for the Overseer's terminal.
 * Pugilism Illustrated inside the living quarters, in female dorm second door on the right, by the fallen dresser.
 * Hollowed-Out Rock to the right of the exterior entrance to the vault.

Appearances
appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
The actions that took place in Vault 11 are likely a reference to the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. In the story, a lottery is held annually, and the person who "wins" is stoned to death. The stoning is also to ensure the prosperity of the community.

It is also possible that the Vault was running a variation of the "Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures". This is especially noticeable in the way the recording commands the Courier to sit in the chair, in the Sacrificial Chamber.

The pre-execution film and audio in the sacrifice room could be a reference to the assisted suicide sequence in the 1973 film "Soylent Green"

Bugs

 * If ED-E is set to following you when you enter the flooded area, he may get stuck above the map near the air pocket in that area. As per usual for this kind of bug, he's still considered part of your party (so dialogue references him and you cannot recruit Rex). The NPC Fast Travel fix in 1.2.0 works around this bug -- he still gets stuck, but now he will teleport back to you at the next loading screen.


 * There are numerous reports of a glitch where going in this room may cause either or both "The House Always Wins I" and "The House Always Wins II" quest to fail even if you have not started those quest yet. This occurs possibly because the turrets in this room are a member of the Lucky 38 faction. This is likely an oversight by the developers. Because of this, it is likely that the player must escape without destroying the turrets, either weathering the fire or using a stealth boy. On the PC, to fix the faction problem at the Lucky 38, open the console and enter this command: setally 1267AB 0001B2A4 - unfortunately, Mr. House still won't talk to you. I got this bug on the 360 when I took the turrets out with a regular firearm, reloaded and took the turrents out with pulse grenades. I also left my companions in the hall never letting them enter the room. The bug did not reoccur. 10/14/10

/-> There´s a way to "cheat out of that bug" with the console commands. You have to enter the tgm console-command for godmode while sitting in the chair, watching the vault-tec video right after you entered the chamber, then after the hidden doors open and the robots and gun turrets attack you and your followers, you use simply the "kill" commands on the robots and the "disable" commands on the turrets on your console to get out of that buggy situation without fail the House-Quest. (You haven't really kill them it was the game itself = no karma-penalty or any negative effects resulting in fail a quest. Remember: After that you have to disable the god mode via entering "tgm" console-command again to get back to normal state if you don't want to use cheats on this game from this point.)

=> But: The game may freeze after you 'used' the mainframe computer after this option. The proper way getting out of that bug is to set the "tgm" command before the robots and gun-turrets will attack you. Then use simply the "holy frag grenades" (in god mode its infinite) to get rid of the attackers. In my case this won´t fail the House-quest and won´t freeze the game after using the mainframe-computer with the 'congratulations-message'. Tadaaa! Now you´re able to leave the chamber the way you entered it with all the information gathered possible.


 * It's possible to gain infinite XP after beating the sacrificial chamber. If you keep clicking on the various options the last computer gives you, you will keep getting XP. Note that once you hit the top of your XP counter, the "+500 XP" indicator may not appear when you make a selection but they WILL keep accumulating. If you leave the screen, you will be unable to click on the options again so keep a mental note of how much XP you have coming. (Not fixed by Patch 1.01.)


 * It's possible to drop mines and C4 through the false walls. Just stand by the door you entered through and wait until the end of the speech. ✅


 * It is possible to fall through the room and be put back at the start of the room while trying to get to the lower level. There is no fix, you can only avoid the spots where you fall through.


 * If you let your companions kill the turrets, you will not lose any rep or fail the quest.

Videos
The story of Vault 11