The Glow

West Tek Research Facility was a high-tech weapons-research facility. West Tek created a number of useful things for the American military. Laser and plasma weapons were being experimented with here. Power Armor, massive self-contained suits that turned a single soldier into a walking tank, was developed here. And most importantly, some terribly important research into immunity drugs was being conducted at West Tek. The Forced Evolutionary Virus was originally developed there.

During the war, the place was hit by a nuclear warhead and, because of its high radiation, it came to be known as The Glow.

Pan-Immunity Virion Project
In 2055, West Tek Research Facility started working on a new virus to kill the New Plague. The ZAX 1.2 computer was brought in to regulate conditions in West Tek. It calmly calculated data and played chess with the scientists. Many scientists claimed that ZAX is a big ol' cheater and draws the game out too much for a computer of his considerable abilities.

As China became increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project was officially formed on September 15, 2073 and plans were made to begin experiments at West Tek.

Forced Evolutionary Virus
After a series of experiments, the pan-immunity virion was renamed FEV - the Forced Evolutionary Virus in March 2075, as increased size, muscle density, and intelligence are noted among test animals.

On January 3, 2076 a military team under the command of Colonel Robert Spindel was sent to the West Tek research facility to monitor the experiments in the interest of national security. Captain Roger Maxson, future founder of the Brotherhood of Steel, was among the team personnel.

In October 2076 large progress was made in FEV research, and the government preferred to move the project to a location under military supervision. On January 7, 2077, Major Barnett ordered transfer of all FEV research to the newly-constructed Mariposa Base, despite objections by the research team. Along with the scientists, Spindel's military team was sent to Mariposa.

The Glow
During the war, a nuke directly hit the facility, shattering the FEV containment tanks and releasing the radiated virus into the atmosphere. Mutated by radiation, it loses its mutagenic abilities, but it later complicates stuff for the Master. Due to its high radiation, the place came to be known as the Glow, surrounded by legends among the people of Southern California.

In 2134, a faction within the Brotherhood of Steel led by Sergeant Dennis Allen gained strength, and they urged the Elders to let them explore the southeast ruins of West Tek, called the Glow after being hit by a nuclear bomb, for artifacts. The Elders refused, so Allen and his divisionist group split away from the Brotherhood of Steel, taking some technology and weapons with them. Other members of the team included Soto, Jensen and Camarillo. Unfortunately for them, they were killed by security robots and radiation.

The Brotherhood of Steel used to send people who wanted to enlist into the Brotherhood (but they don't want) there on a "quest", just to laugh about it later when they ended up dead because of the high amount of radiation in the area. It was quite a surprise to them when one known as the Vault Dweller actually fulfilled the quest, bringing with him a holodisk that recorded Allen's ill-fated expedition, and got initiated into the Brotherhood.

Dayglow
Some time after 2162, some ghoul survivors from Necropolis settled north and west of the Glow, and founded the town of Dayglow, whose inhabitants formed partnerships with scavenging companies from New Adytum and the Hub and have built quite a profitable corporation from their salvage efforts.

Comments
The name of the facility is sometimes spelt West Tech, but West Tek is more common and probably more correct. Its name in the old design documents was FSEF.

Related Quests

 * Become an initiate

Appearances in games
The West Tek Research Facility appeared only in the first Fallout game.

Related Holodisks

 * Ancient Brotherhood Tape
 * FEV Experiment Tape
 * West Tech Records

West Tek