Vault 96

"With its vast gene banks and cryogenic storage bays, Vault 96 was intended to rebuild entire ecosystems in the aftermath of nuclear war. Or so its residents were told."

- Fallout 76 loading screens

Vault 96 is a Vault-Tec Vault in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia. It is located to the south of Foundation and southeast of R&G Station, at the end of Route 103.

Background
Made up of a small team of brilliant scientists, Vault 96 was advertised as an ark to preserve flora and fauna for the future. However, upon the Vault's sealing, it was revealed that the staff would also be forced to perform experiments relating to genetics and mutations, in order to meet "quotas" set by the Vault mainframe. While a failed escape attempt killed the original residents, and the Vault's cryonics eventually froze over, Vault 96 later became the site of more sinister scientific research, this time, by Dr. Edgar Blackburn, who used the Vault's resources for his work on FEV.

The Vault was first expanded upon as part of the Daily Ops feature, in the Locked & Loaded update. It was previously slated to be a Vault raid similar to Vault 94, though this plan was scrapped in favor of Daily Ops. Vault 96 was only made available to be explored at will outside of Daily Ops with the release of the Steel Reign update.

As with the other Vaults, Vault 96 was sealed shut during the Great War in 2077. 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 was sealed, the mission received an addendum to the residents, revealing 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 were then to be 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: Overseer 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, and cryokinesis. During week 142, a mysterious new mutation was stumbled upon when the biologists inserted 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 did not have access to the mysterious and undocumented Bay 86. Shifting allowed creatures to teleport when stressed, but could lead to disastrous results, such as 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. After disabling the mainframe's monitoring system in the Overseer's office, Erik made a revelation: for more than two years, he had quietly been working on an escape plan. Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, Erik had been just as much a prisoner of the mainframe as everyone else. He had finalized development of SERAPH, a prototype computer virus originally meant for the DIA. SERAPH was capable of taking over and defeating even the powerful mainframe intelligence. 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 sealed 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
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.

As of patch 1.5.2.32, the Vault can only be entered via Daily Ops. The Vault itself is covered in ice, creating a unique look and layout oddities throughout the facility. After entering, the Vault's entrance has an upper level with a row of console terminals; more specifically, there are four Vault 96 monitoring terminals straight ahead. To the west is a staircase that leads down to the lower level. Below the stairs is a weapons workbench. The east side has a path of ice leading down. This lower level has little of note aside from the aforementioned weapons workbench, though there are some lockers to the east that can be looted, as well as a first aid box on a table in a southwestern corner. The only way forward is to the north, which leads into a hallway. Continuing north leads into the atrium, while a room to the right is labeled as "emergency ventilation," which has some machinery inside, as well as several containers to loot. A table in this room has several beer bottles on top, as well as an assault rifle.

The atrium is a large, open area coated in ice just like the rest of the vault. On the top floor of the atrium, the western catwalks provide access to the mainframe wing, and there is an inaccessible, iced-over door to a depot. The northern end provides access to a workroom, and the inaccessible door to the overseer's chambers is to the left. On the eastern side, there are doors to a lounge, "utility room 1," and a hallway to the research wing. On the lower level of the atrium, the eastern side branches off into inaccessible living quarters B and C, as well as providing access to stairways to other parts of the Vault. The northern end has another iced-over door to an inaccessible cafeteria, while the west has the inaccessible living quarters D, and a long staircase that leads to reactor monitoring.

The lounge is a small room with a bar, pool table, and interactable jukebox. Part of the northern wall is broken and leads into the hallway to the research wing. Utility room 1 is actually made up of two connected rooms, which ultimately lead to the chemistry lab. The chemistry lab, filled with machinery and containment barrels, is directly above the imaging lab. One exit to the north leads to the cryogenics wing, though the doors in the imaging lab lead to the research wing.

Research wing
The research wing is one of the largest areas of the Vault, and itself contains many catwalks, utility tunnels and test chambers. All of the test chambers are in large, isolated rooms with glass windows, and have access to the utility tunnels. Test chamber 1 contains a large shack and a car's husk within it. It is connected to a unique utility tunnel that leads to the staging area of the research wing. Test chamber 2 appears to be a simulation of a railroad and/or mine entrance, in which the railway tracks lead to the large utility tunnel. Test chamber 3 is a rocky environment with various bushes and in which wild razorgrain grows. A beheaded corpse is strung up against the window. Test chamber 4 contains a blue office niche with several containers to be looted. The stairs in the chamber provide access to the roof of the niche and the utility tunnels.

The tunnels themselves largely serve as a safe access route between the test chambers; various pieces of machinery (including robot fabricators) and junk items can be found throughout. Test chambers 2, 3, and 4 are connected via one tunnel, while test chamber 1 is connected to the staging area through a single, smaller tunnel. The staging room is mostly empty aside from some shelves along the walls.

To the east, on the lower level, are the main entrances to the test chambers, as well as two Vault 96 dweller corpses on a table and near a broken pod. The southwestern corner, with the "R1-4" pillar has nothing aside from some consoles, but the northwestern corner has a workspace and the associated biology workstation terminal, owned by Molly Cooper. The upper level of the research wing consists of winding catwalks. A large blue pod on the western side holds a large chunk of an unknown substance. Going further west will lead back to the atrium.

Cryogenics wing
This area of the Vault can be accessed from the research wing, the reactor chamber, living quarters A, or the gas storage just past the workroom. It is another two-leveled science wing; the bottom floor, labeled as the cryonic bays, sports dozens of cryochambers, though the western side has three of the blue pods seen in the research wing. To the east is a two-room sensor lab with several containers, junk items, and rusted machinery. It also has an armor and weapons workbench.

Reactor monitoring and chamber
This wing provided power to the Vault; the top floor is known as reactor monitoring, while the bottom floor is the reactor chamber. Fittingly, the latter has several reactor units interspersed throughout, while the former mostly consists of consoles and other technology to control the reactor. There is a hallway room in the center of the top floor that connects the eastern and western ends of the reactor wing. The southwestern corner of reactor monitoring is the location of the engineering workstation terminal, owned by Hans Memling. Taking a right, there is a staircase that leads back down to the atrium.

Workroom
The workroom is one long room connected to the atrium, providing access to gas storage, living quarters A, and a staircase back down to the atrium's lower level. Living quarters A is a rather cramped room littered with objects from the previous experiments of its deceased occupant. The Vault bed here is noticeably smaller than most beds in Appalachia. A broken wall in the room leads to the cryogenics wing. The path to the gas storage room also has a hallway to the left featuring a chemistry station and a doorway to reactor monitoring.

Mainframe wing
If one is heading to this wing from the top floor of the atrium, there will be a long hallway of ice before reaching the entrance to the "mainframe chamber." This area is heavily affected by the cryo leak in Vault 96, and is much icier than other wings. The mainframe wing has three levels; the top one features consoles, the quantum research lab terminal, and the door to the archives room. The archives room has an impressively tall stack of black machines inside, but is devoid of much else. To the north is a transitional room where some of the ice has actually melted into water. Continuing north leads into reactor monitoring, but to the left is the robotics lab.

The middle level of the mainframe wing has the Vault mainframe itself along a western wall. Four flat-screen monitors hang above the mainframe access terminal. An open doorway to the north provides another route into the robotics lab, while the opposite end is where the archives room ends. To the east, heading to the back of the area, are more consoles, though some are decorated with various junk items. The lowest level of the mainframe wing has little of interest aside from even more consoles and a few Vault file cabinets to be looted.

Robotics lab
Entering from the top floor of the mainframe wing, the robotics workstation terminal, owned by Jeanette Higgins, can be found immediately to the left on a cabinet; across from this are two shelves with some assorted scrap metal. Heading down the stairs, the main part of the lab has many robot fabricators and Protectron pods. There are some containers to loot here, and the doorway to the south exits back into the mainframe wing.

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

 * Breakthrough - Note, on a red console on the upper level of the reactor, next to a robot fabricator.
 * Corpse disposal - Note, near four dead settlers in the cryonics wing.
 * FEV research logs - Nine holotapes, found throughout the vault.
 * #1 - In the overseer's office, on a cart.
 * #5 - Inserted in the research terminal in the imaging lab in the research wing, on a counter.
 * #13 - On the white table near the biology workstation in the research wing.
 * #17 - In the Vault.
 * #22 - In the archives room of the mainframe wing, on the lower level.
 * #38 - On a cabinet in the lower level of the reactor, near the vault dweller corpse.
 * #57 - Next to a bloody, covered corpse in the cryonics wing.
 * #112 - On the upper level of the chemistry lab in the research wing, between a dead settler and a microscope on a metal table.
 * #148 - In the overseer's office, on the nightstand next to the bed.
 * Huntersville memories - Holotape, in the overseer's office, on a kitchen counter.
 * Reminder: supplies - Note, on a stretcher in the cryonics wing.
 * Return to Appalachia - Holotape, on a console at the entrance, by the Vault 96 monitoring terminals.
 * Snallygaster - Note, in the staging room.
 * Vault 96 - Note, in the mainframe's center chamber, on a blue console near a metal box.
 * Vault 96 biology log 280 - Holotape, inserted in the biology workstation terminal in the research wing.
 * Vault 96 community meeting - Holotape.
 * Vault 96 genetics logs - Holotapes, all three of which can be found on consoles in the research wing.
 * Vault 96 mainframe lab recording - Holotape, inserted in the quantum research lab terminal in the mainframe wing.
 * Vault 96 orientation session - Holotape, on the desk in the overseer's office.
 * V96 security keycard - Key, given by Tally Lang during A Satisfied Conscience.

Related quests

 * A Satisfied Conscience
 * Daily Ops: Uplink
 * Daily Ops: Decryption
 * Vault Mission: Creature Feature
 * Vault Mission: Gone Viral

Appearances
Vault 96 appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

 * The Vault was originally slated to be opened alongside Vault 94 and Vault 63 in the summer of 2019 as part of the Vault raids feature. After Vault raids were discontinued, Vaults 94 and 96 were repurposed as locations for Daily Ops, with Vault 94 being released as part of One Wasteland For All, while Vault 96 was released as part of Locked & Loaded. There is a significant amount of cut content for the Vault, as it has gone through several iterations in changes only visible in the game's files.
 * Following the road away from the Vault, there is a tractor tucking a wooden carriage. The tractor has a spear leaning on it, a crossbow on its hood, and the corpse of a raider. The carriage has a Nukashine empty bottle (being one of the places the player may wake up after drinking it) and the corpse of three settlers. All of this is a reference to the carriage seen at the beginning of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, another Bethesda Softworks title. This reference was implemented by lead level designer Steve Massey.