Vault 96

Vault 96 is a Vault-Tec vault in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia in 2102. It is located to the south of Spruce Knob and R&G Station, at the end of a gravel road designated 103.

The vault was slated to be part of vault raids in the Nuclear Winter update. However, the quests associated with Vault 96 have not been released. Because Vault 94 closed with the release of Wastelanders, Vault 96's future and release schedule are unclear.

Background
As with the other vaults, Vault 96 was sealed shut during the Great War in 2077. The vault remains sealed in 2103, having been sealed for 26 years.

Constructed around 2074, and completed in August 2077, Vault 96 advertised itself as "An Ark for the Atomic Age." Vault 96 was one of the world's largest cryogenic storage facilities, with approximately ten thousand animals preserved within it. Vault 96's public mission was to monitor post-War surface conditions, the damage caused genetically to local fauna, and reintroduce species to restore ecological balance. Once the Vault sealed, the mission received an addendum to the residents, compiling that their true mission was far more complex, requiring the conducting of genetic experiments to explore mutated fauna and to develop countermeasures for them. The results of these studies being transmitted to external facilities. The quotas were weekly, made up by the mainframe, and assigned to the Overseer to distribute to the residents. The Overseer would track progress and ensure results in addition to assigning quotas. The total duration of the Vault was supposed to be 250 weeks at least, after which all the residents were to be exterminated, and only the Overseer permitted to leave. As one final part of the Vault's construction, a secret cryogenics bay, Cryogenics Bay 86, was installed. Containing a mysterious entity known only as "X-001", the bay was only to ever be accessed by the automated research systems.

The Vault was made up of only five human residents: Erik DeMarcos, Jeanette Higgins, Hans Memling, Nina Valaya, and Molly Cooper. Each were highly gifted individuals, and incredibly specialized for their role in the Vault, most coming from high-ranking executive positions and prestigious teaching careers. Upon closure of the Vault, during their first weekly meeting session, the other residents expressed extreme discomfort and resentment towards Erik, due to the unethical research and apparent threat of elimination should any of the residents not comply with Erik's demands and quotas. Although the residents eventually settled into their new positions, it became clear quite quickly that the only necessary individuals were the biologists, with the other positions simply acting as a glorified support team.

Beginning with a mere 4 credits per week, the biology staff maintained credit gain by forcing various experiments and experimental mutations upon creatures and having them fight one another, documenting which mutations were stronger. Over the course of the next 3 years, the staff maintained their assigned duties, with the biology team documenting various mutations induced on the creatures housed within the Vault, beginning with simple natural processes such as electrogenesis, venom, regeneration. By week 100, these mutations had gone into evolving chameleonization, pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, and "Shifting." The Shifting mutation was garnered by the biologists inserting Specimen X-001's DNA into a petri dish, which spread to every other dish, mimicking the ability perfectly. Nina attempted to study the mutation with the subject it originated from but was originally forbidden to. The Shifting mutation allowed creatures to shift or phase when stressed, but lead to disastrous results, often with the subject phasing into another subject, fusing them together.

By week 148, due to the lack of access to Specimen X-001, and the lack of ability to improve or stabilize the mutation, Nina was unable to meet the quota of 568 credits. However, Erik had a final meeting, discussing a method of getting out, utilizing a prototype computer virus, originally meant for the DIA, that he had been working on for years, two of them honing it in the Vault. The plan was to use the virus on the Mainframe, shutting it down, and escaping the day before quotas were due. However, while most events went well on the day of escape, the Mainframe activated Superceding Protocol Omega, which killed all the residents of the Vault, and sealing it once more. However, the virus was uploaded and began infecting the mainframe and its systems. In addition, the animals began to escape, prompting the Vault to begin activating the Emergency Management System to call for assistance.

Layout
Vault 63, 94 and 96 are associated with vault raids, a team quest where there is an emergency in the Vault that must be fixed. Player characters are notified through an emergency radio beacon. These are instanced dungeons, where groups of up to four can enter and attempt to complete the raid for the chance at unique rewards.

The vault's exterior consists of a raised platform featuring a helipad, which is accessible from the ground using a staircase. A blue freight elevator adjacent to the staircase is inoperable, and the carriage has stalled between ground level and the platform. Four derelict vehicles are scattered around the area beneath the platform. Atop the platform lie various construction materials and pieces of machinery, along with a small booth containing only a pair of black-rim glasses and some junk items. There is no means of communicating with the vault's residents or opening it from the outside.

Judging by the localization files, there are two types of events planned for inclusion:
 * One where the player characters must save the frozen embryos by repairing the failing generator responsible for maintaining the power to the cryonic sections.
 * Another one where the player characters must wipe out the mutants that invaded the vault and are threatening the de-iced core fauna since the vault will sterilize the interior should active mutations persist.

Residents

 * Erik DeMarcos - Overseer, Chief software developer
 * Jeanette Higgins - Chief robotics technician
 * Hans Memling - Chief engineer
 * Nina Valaya - Chief researcher
 * Molly Cooper - Chief biologist

Notable loot

 * Vault 96 biology log 280
 * Vault 96 community meeting
 * Vault 96 genetics logs
 * Vault 96 orientation session

Appearances
Vault 96 appears only in Fallout 76.

Cut content
Originally, the mission and story of Vault 96 was quite different, as noted in the below summary. However, with the Fallout 76 update The Legendary Run, Vault 96's story changed significantly. What follows is a summary of Vault 96 content as it was before The Legendary Run.

Constructed by Vault-Tec as a genetic ark intended for ecosystem restoration, Vault 96 was supposed to attempt to force nature back into equilibrium after a catastrophic event. This was based around two key components: An almost inexhaustible number of frozen embryos ready to be artificially gestated to full maturity and automated keeper robots to protect them when they leave the vault. Embryos constituted a carefully chosen, fully complete ecosystem referred to as "core fauna." The vault had enough material for 112 releases until the system stabilized itself or the outside world turned out to be simply uninhabitable. Releases were timed to coincide with vault exoduses. In ideal conditions, the corporation planned for 5 full ecosystem releases before a human vault opened, to provide a more habitable region to re-develop. Vault 96 was designed to run on a skeleton crew of just six highly trained people: Randall Evola (overseer), Ryan Harvey (cryogenics), Nina Valaya (biology), Jeanette Higgins (robotics), and Orrin Cantwell with Jasper Fry (maintenance).

Although established with good intentions in mind, robotic surveys performed outside the vault quickly demonstrated that the world outside was a lot more hostile than expected. Rampant mutations were quickly turning the new world into a place where the old systems stored in Vault 96 were no longer viable. However, the team continued on schedule, attempting to release the wildlife as per their mission. Strong genetic and physical differences made their chances for success tenuous - but it was still better than just abandoning the vault.

The pattern continued until the underlying flaws in the vault's design and infrastructure revealed themselves: Generator 1 started experiencing intermittent failures, leading to the vault door failing and letting in mutated creatures from the outside (as they were a relatively near match for the animals contained within). Although robotic security managed to fend the mutated creatures off, the situation steadily deteriorated due to a limited supply of spare parts and equipment. The team ultimately had nothing to repair Generator 1 with.

The staff of the vault managed to perform five manual releases before the automated ecosystem release system took over. All of the systems switched to automatic mode when the skeleton crew became real skeletons, together with the failing Generator 1.

Notable loot

 * Vault 96 databank
 * Vault 96 ID card
 * Vault 96 decontamination procedure
 * Vault 96 decryption code