Vault 101

Vault 101' is one of the vault series of fallout shelters developed by Vault-Tec in north-west of Washington, D.C. near the Tysons Corner. This vault is located northwest to Megaton and east to Springvale. It was the home of the Lone Wanderer.

Construction and purpose
It's unknown when the construction of Vault 101 began, though it was probably constructed in the 2060s like the other vaults in Washington, D.C.. Vault 101 appears to have a rather serious radroach infestation, with James' departure from the vault triggering their large scale manifestation, leading to the death of some residents. The source of this infestation is unknown, though it's possible they appeared after the many excursions the residents made to the outside world; another potential explanation is that of faulty construction. One of the main objectives of Vault 101 security is containing and killing these nuisances.

The purpose of Vault 101 in the Vault Experiment was to stay closed indefinitely, as a study of the human condition; the genetic impact of a small group of individuals breeding through several generations; and the role of the Overseer when a vault never opened, though the limited genetic material would probably result in inbreeding. Vault 101 was supplied with all the equipment it would need to keep functioning, such as spare parts for the water processor, though the vault didn't receive a GECK as the residents weren't intended to leave the vault.

Early years
Just after the Great War on October 23, 2077, the first Vault 101 Overseer, in order to prevent anyone from leaving the vault, created the illusion that the outside world was an uninhabitable nuclear-ravaged wasteland with absolutely no hope of existence outside of the vault, reinforced with regular fake radio transmissions (recorded before the Great War). This created a false belief among Vault 101's residents that the only hope of survival was to remain inside the vault. The first Vault 101 Overseer died of natural causes in 2127; before his death he prepared a subordinate to continue the vault experiments.

The second Vault 101 Overseer led Vault 101 dwellers according to the same isolationist doctrine preached by his predecessor, but also attempted to garner as many senior vault dwellers to become complicit in the vault experiments. In addition, the second Vault 101 Overseer was the first Overseer able to communicate with, and even visit, the outside world by using the secret tunnel in the Overseer's office. However, for all other intents and purposes, the vault dwellers were sealed in with the motto "we are born in the vault, we live in the vault, and we die in the vault".

Sometime before 2241, the preceding Overseer of Alphonse Almodovar was strongly in favor of outside contact. In that context, he assembled a survey team led by Anne Palmer, and together they began planning for their journey and theorizing types of mutations they might encounter. Upon finally journeying into the outside world surrounding Vault 101, the survey team made contact with the nearby Megaton settlement. The survey team returned to Vault 101 on February 10, 2241, analysing their samples to see if the outside world was dangerously irradiated as a precaution as to whether it was able to actually sustain human life. Having killed a Giant Ant, the team performed studies upon it, revising their survey plans in light of what they learned. Lewis and Agnes Taylor, two members of the survey team, remained in Megaton to serve as contacts between the two settlements and to further survey the surrounding environments. Agnes Taylor returned to Vault 101 sometime before in 2258. The Overseer preceding Alphonse Almodovar then vanished without a trace after another expedition to the Capital Wasteland failed.

Isolation
His successor, Alphonse Almodovar, became the new Overseer of Vault 101 sometime before 2258. Under his rule, the vault changed into somewhat of a police state with a strict policy of isolationism. Early in Alphonse's tenure as Overseer (around the years 2258-2259), a crisis occured, leaving the vault without a physician. It was at this time that James and his infant arrived seeking shelter. James proposed to become the vault's new physician in return for entry into Vault 101, to which Alphonse, without much choice, agreed.

After entering the vault, James, in his agreement with Alphonse, kept his child ignorant of their original origins in the Capital Wasteland, specifically Rivet City and Project Purity, leaving the child believing themself a normal citizen of Vault 101. In the late 2260s, Jonas Palmer was appointed to be James' assistant by The Overseer, hoping he would act as somewhat of a "voice of reason". It's worth noting that between 2265-2267, an unamed girl escaped Vault 101 and made her way to Megaton. It was there she left her vault suit in the hands of Moira Brown of Craterside Supply, requesting reinforcements be made to the suit; the girl never returned, leaving her Armored Vault 101 jumpsuit behind. On 12 July 2268, the water purifier began to malfunction, but was thankfully repaired by Stanley Armstrong. On 13 July 2268, Butch DeLoria, Wally Mack and Paul Hannon Jr. began looking for a name for their future gang, later known as the Tunnel Snakes. Sometime during 2272, another noteworthy event took place, whereby another resident of the vault escaped, also making his way to Megaton. Upon reaching Moriarty's Saloon, he spoke to the owner Colin Moriarty of the extensive "brainwashing" taking place in Vault 101.

Gradually, The Overseer created an entire generation of Vault 101 dwellers who were playing along with the vault experiments, keeping the secrets from their children and enforcing the isolationist movement. The Overseer continued to receive periodic information from the outside world, while those not "in the know" were told that things had gotten so bad on the outside that whoever was sending transmissions was no longer able to do so, reinforcing the idea that the vault was their only hope of survival.

James' departure
On August 17, 2277, a Radroach infestation took place. It lead to the death of Agnes Taylor (due to a heart attack), Floyd Lewis and Vikki Hannon (murdered by Vault security forces), and Paul Hannon Jr. (wounded by radroaches). It was at this time that James made his escape from Vault 101. James' disappearance lead to the immediate questioning of Jonas Palmer, eventually leading to his brutal murder at the hands of Officer Mack's severe interrogation methods. Every member of the Vault 101 security force is then ordered to both contain the radroach infestation and capture the Lone Wanderer for questioning about James' departure; however, The Overseer's daughter, Amata Almodovar, wakes her close friend, the Lone Wanderer, explaining the situation while advising his escape.

During the Lone Wanderer's escape, Tom Holden and Mary Holden or O'Brian and Richards die. In front of the vault door, Amata bodes farewell to the Wanderer as the vault door opens and the Lone Wanderer leaves Vault 101 for the Capital Wasteland.

Sometime after James' departure, Paul Hannon Jr. dies from his wounds and The Overseer becomes more oppressive with the residents of Vault 101 than before. The departure of the Lone Wanderer opens the residents' eyes to the world around them as they learn of the lies fed to them since birth, eventually leading to a large scale rebellion.

Vault experiments crisis
The group of rebels led by Amata Almodovar, included all of the young vault dwellers, and holed itself up inside the vault clinic. They wanted to open Vault 101, interact with the outside world, open up limited trade with nearby settlements, and make excursions into the Capital Wasteland when necessary. The other group was led by The Vault 101 Overseer and he wanted to keep the vault closed permanently, in accordance with the Vault Experiments. Butch DeLoria himself wished to abandon the vault entirely and live on the surface.

Some time later, the vault received radio contact from the Enclave seeking to gain entry into Vault 101 because their passwords to the vault door no longer matched their records (it was changed to "Amata" by Amata Almodovar to allow the Lone Wanderer into Vault 101 at a later point), but after brief negotiation, the The Vault 101 Overseer refused to let them in, thinking he couldn't expos his vault and its dwellers to an unknown factor, much less one that would so gallantly suggest abandoning the Vault Experiments, also thinking it was an additional reason to prevent the rebels from opening Vault 101 to the likes of them. After that, Amata began to send out an emergency frequency to the area nearby Vault 101 in the Capital Wasteland, primarily Megaton, hoping that the Lone Wanderer could come to aid them in their current crisis.

It is unknown what exactly became of Vault 101 afterwards, if Amata Almodovar became the new Overseer or she was killed, if Alphonse Almodovar was still the Overseer or Allen Mack remained Overseer, if the group of rebels were deterred or if Vault 101 was open, kept closed, destroyed or thrown into chaos, and if the Lone Wanderer helped them for one of its possibilities. But at this time, the number of Vault 101 dwellers has fallen significantly in the two centuries since it was sealed (despite messages encouraging procreation), and that without external input, the Vault 101's population would not remain genetically viable for more than a generation or so, and collapse inevitably due to genetic stagnation and inbreeding in some years if Vault 101 remains closed.

Layout
Vault 101 is divided into four sections in the game. These sections are the Main Entrance, Overseer's Tunnel, Atrium/Upper Level, and the Lower Level. The sections are separated by doors, and stairways connect floors and levels within two of the sections. Levels and rooms are identified by signs. There are two paths to the Capital Wasteland: a direct path from the Atrium and a hidden tunnel named the Overseer's Tunnel.

It is important to note that the sections are not directly stacked upon each other. They are staggered with each section moving progressively more westward as the Vault burrows deeper into the earth.

Main entrance
This section connects the Capital Wasteland to the Vault. The rooms in this section are:
 * Natural rock tunnel connecting the Wasteland door to the Vault door
 * Entrance room
 * Control booth
 * Concealed room connecting the Overseer's Tunnel to the main entrance
 * Large generator room
 * Small generator room
 * Storage room

Overseer's tunnel
This section connects the Overseer's Office (in Atrium/Upper Level) with the Main Entrance.

Atrium/Upper level
This section connects the Main Entrance to the Lower Level. This section is divided into two sub-sections: Admin and Atrium. Admin is short for Administration.

Rooms in Admin are:
 * Overseer's Office
 * Overseer's terminal
 * Reception room
 * Jonas Palmer dies ("Escape!")
 * Overseer's apartment
 * 3 rooms - Dining/Living room, Amata's bedroom, Alphonse's bedroom
 * Operations
 * Computer (inaccessible)
 * Location of Vault's mainframe
 * Security
 * Amata is interrogated ("Escape!")
 * Holding Cell
 * Mr. Brotch is detained ("Trouble on the Homefront")
 * Systems
 * Floyd Lewis dies here ("Escape!")

Systems connects Admin to Atrium. Rooms in Atrium are located on two floors - a upper and a lower floor. Rooms on the upper floor are inaccessible. They are: The lower floor of the Atrium offers access to a Storage room and a Cafeteria on the Lower Level. The rooms on this floor are:
 * Dining/Living room of Mack Apartment
 * Allan Mack is yelling at the Lone Wanderer ("Escape!")
 * Utility (inaccessible)
 * Equipment (inaccessible)
 * Storage room (inaccessible)
 * Storage room


 * Note: The Fallout 3 Official Game Guide identifies the lower floor of the Atrium as the Vault 101 Sub-Level. This error is later corrected for the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide - Game of the Year edition.

Lower level
This is the final section of the Vault. Though named Lower Level, this section actually covers two levels: the Lower and the Reactor.

Rooms in the lower level are:
 * Clinic
 * Physician's office
 * Vault 101 Medical Access Database terminal
 * Beatrice is dead ("Trouble on the Homefront")
 * Classroom
 * GOAT ("Future Imperfect")
 * Cafeteria (aka Diner)
 * Lone Wanderer's tenth birthday ("Growing Up Fast")
 * Grandma Taylor dies ("Escape!")
 * DeLoria apartment
 * 2 rooms - Dining/Living room, bedroom
 * Ellen DeLoria is attacked by radroaches ("Escape!")
 * Common room (inaccessible)
 * Cigar room (inaccessible)
 * Ladies restroom
 * Gentlemen's restroom
 * Lone Wanderer's apartment
 * Amata talks to the Lone Wanderer after James escapes ("Escape!")
 * Storage room
 * Note: The map for the DeLoria and Lone Wanderer's apartments in the official game guide have two beds in the bedroom; whereas, in the game, there is only one bed.

Rooms in the Reactor level are:
 * Generator room
 * James gives a BB gun to the Lone Wanderer ("Growing Up Fast")
 * Filter room
 * Location of the Water Purifier and Water chip
 * Reactor room
 * Location of the Vault's geo-thermal reactor
 * Storage room
 * Lone Wanderer kills a radroach ("Growing Up Fast")


 * Note: The Official Game Guide identifies this level as the Vault 101 Atrium.

Notable loot

 * Bobblehead - Medicine: In James' clinic, on the lower level.
 * Schematics - Rock-It Launcher and 300 caps: In James' clinic, behind the an average locked wall plaque featuring your mother's favorite Bible verse.
 * Grognak the Barbarian: In the diner, from Amata. If you do not use it during your tenth birthday party, it will be in the dresser to the right when you escape the vault.

Appearances
Vault 101 appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * In the cafeteria, there is a reference to Fallout. On the bulletin board above the jukebox it advertises a bingo night in the diner, with the ball chosen being 13 and "First prize being a weeks supply of water rations!". This is a reference to the legendary Vault 13 home to the Vault Dweller, which has a limited amount of water after its Water chip breaks down and they have no extras due to an error in distribution by Vault Tec during its construction before the Great War.

Bugs

 * Fast-traveling or approaching the Vault entrance will in some cases result in a massive frame-rate drop.
 * Closing the Vault door manually using the outer console will work normally during Escape!. However, approaching the tunnel exit will result in the Vault door reopening behind you exactly when it is supposed to close if you don't tamper with the console.
 * Using the console command on the Vault door or just using the  and simply walk through the door will grant you access at any time after leaving the Vault. However, if the Trouble on the Homefront quest is not in progress or available yet, the Vault will be completely empty of all residents, with the occasional exception of a lone security guard who will have no dialogue options and is prone to frequent and random disappearance. Entering using this method after the quest will allow you to remain there as long as you wish, with some residents having dialogue options available, such as Susie Mack.