Twin Mothers Dish

The Twin Mothers Dish is a location in Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios.

Background
The Twin Mothers Dish is a small radio relay station that has been deserted since the Great War.

The station is currently in poor shape. The fusion reactor has failed and switched over to battery backup power. The batteries, which are charged by solar panels on the roof, are low and cannot keep the station in operational mode. Inspection of the solar panels will reveal them to be covered in sand and dirt.

Layout
The station is located on the plateau above the box canyon that houses the Twin Mothers tribe. It can be reached via a narrow cave in the canyon wall located in the forbidden lands. The cave entrance is hidden behind some cleverly placed boulders. They are placed in such a way to give the illusion of being a part of the canyon wall. However, if the boulders are approached from the proper angle the cave entrance can be clearly seen.

The main room contains the communication and tracking equipment for the satellite dish. A side room contains bunks and a small recreation area for the crew. Another room contains the fusion reactor and battery backup system that powers the station. The final room holds the mechanism that moves the dish to desired coordinates.

Related quests
This is the communications dish that was used by Diana to contact the ZAX computer in Vault 29. It is currently locked onto the location of the Nursery. The player can query the computer for the coordinates of the location but it will refuse to reveal them without the proper access codes. However, if the player has both Science and Outdoorsman skills he can examine the mechanism that moves the dish and glean the coordinates. This will mark the world map with a location labeled 'unknown'.

Later in the game this dish can be used to contact the satellite orbiting the earth and sending it a reset command. This will give the player more time to complete certain tasks. However, before the player learns of this possibility, he may have the option to destroy the dish. Doing so is one way of ending the reign of Diana, the goddess.

The Twin Mothers are not aware of the existence of the dish. Since it is located in the forbidden lands, and the entrance hidden, it has been overlooked.

Cleaning the panels will allow the batteries to charge to full capacity with twenty four hours of exposure to the sun.

Once the station is operational the computer terminal will begin to flash a warning message: 'Signal source lost'. If the player investigates this he will find that the dish is locked onto an unknown ground based target to the southeast (the Nursery) and cannot be redirected. Any attempt to do so results in the computer demanding security access codes. Obviously the dish is aimed at something of importance.

Appearances
The Twin Mothers Dish was going to appear in Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios.