GECK



The Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) was a device created by Future-Tec, a division of Vault-Tec Industries, which was meant to revitalize areas of a post-nuclear wasteland. The concept of the device as well as its design was completed by Doctor Stanislaus Braun, a brilliant, if egotistical, Vault-Tec researcher.

Characteristics
The Kit looks like a small, silver briefcase emblazoned with the letters G.E.C.K.; and, according to Vault-Tec advertisements, it contains all the seeds, fertilizer, and other equipment - including a cold fusion power generator and a basic replicator - necessary to start a new settlement in a post-nuclear world after emerging from a Vault shelter. Each Vault was presumably issued with two GECKs, except for Vaults 8, 13, 112, and 101; Vault 8's extra GECK got swapped (whether by accident or some nefarious scheme, this is not known) with Vault 13's surplus water chips that had been ordered as backups. Vaults 112 and 101 were never issued GECKs because they were intended to never be re-opened; each was an experiment in permanent confinement.

"The GECK builders had no idea what the post-nuclear world would be like, and they had no real way to anticipate it, despite their "thorough tests" (it's doubtful they gave it much thought, to be honest, considering how badly organized the Safehouse project alone was, not to mention the experimental nature of the Vaults) - still, it seems as if the seeds present in the GECK were viable for Vault 8." -Fallout Bible 6

The GECK's designers assumed that the Vault dwellers would know how to read and how to operate the various advanced technologies present in the Vault - they did not plan for the reduced knowledge of pre-War technologies common among wasteland tribals or other similar contingencies. They also did not plan on the FEV getting released into the wider world, or the fact that the Vault dwellers might be attacked by giant mutated scorpions, cockroaches or rats, either.

The GECK's seeds and soil supplements date themselves rather quickly, but "...the government subcommittees sponsoring the research and the GECK contractors (Future-Tec) weren't really concerned about that. They were 'relatively certain' the seeds would be viable in a post-nuclear environment. They had done 'thorough tests,' and 'all conclusions point to this as being the best option.' The GECKs are a miracle... a miracle that they work." -Fallout Bible 6

Actual contents
"The GECK isn't really a replicator. It contains a fertilizer system, with a variety of food seeds, soil supplements, and chemicals that could fertilize arid wasteland (and possibly selected sections of the moon's surface pre-conditioned to accept the GECK) into supporting farming. The GECK is intended to be "disassembled" over the course of its use to help build communities (for example, the cold fusion power source is intended to be used for main city power production), and so on. Anything else people needed, they could simply consult the How-To Books/Library of Congress/Encyclopedias in the GECK holodisk library for more knowledge. The pen flashlight was just a bonus." -Fallout Bible 6

"The GECK also contained some basic force field schematics as well as info on how to make adobe-type buildings from the landscape (or contain chemicals that can create "sand-crete" walls).

"As for clothing, the GECK contained codes that allowed the Vault to create more varieties of jumpsuits (and weatherproof gear) from their dispensers, which they could do anyway before the GECK. It's possible the GECK contained other codes that could unlock more functionality within the Vault computers that weren't initially available because they would jeopardize the survival of the Vault if they were used or scavenged (or else they would interfere with the Grand Experiment).

"Also, the GECKs also tell the Vault inhabitants how to disassemble sections of their Vault (or take extraneous systems from the Vault) to create new homes and defensive structures on the surface." -Fallout Bible 6''

Fallout 2
The tribals of the town of Arroyo, which was founded by the Vault Dweller, passed down stories of the "Holy GECK," which they came to believe was a sacred, magical item which can change the wasteland into fertile land again.

"The tribals were invoking the GECK as a panacea for all their problems. They saw it as a miracle device, and while the item is useful, it's not the miracle maker they considered it to be." -Fallout Bible 6

Still, while the GECK simply isn't the holy cure-all the tribal inhabitants of Arroyo intended it to be, in the right hands it's a very useful piece of pre-War technology that can help establish a viable new community in the post-nuclear wastelands. After the destruction of the Enclave, the dwellers of Vault 13 rescued from the Oil Rig used it to create the town of New Arroyo.

The only known successful use of the GECK (though whether it can be attributed to the GECK alone is debatable) was the creation of Vault City by the former inhabitants of Vault 8. By combining their GECK's contents with power from Vault 8's fusion generator, the residents of Vault City were able to erect their settlement's first buildings.

Fallout 3
When the Lone Wanderer locates his/her father in Stanislaus Braun's Vault 112, he learns that in order to make Project Purity work properly, he requires a GECK. After James' demise at the hands of Colonel Augustus Autumn, the Wanderer makes his way to Vault 87, a horrendously irradiated location, where he acquires a single GECK unit.

This version of the GECK is a far more advanced piece of technology than the agricultural starter kit of the previous games, possibly containing some sort of chemical fusion based molecular assembly-device: As stated in-game, "The G.E.C.K. will collapse all matter within its given radius and recombine it to form a living, breathing, fertile virgin landscape and allow life to begin anew." In this case, when included as a component within Project Purity's Purifier, the GECK helps that other technology remove all radioactive particles from the water of the River Potomac that flows through it. If activated on its own, a blue energy ball expands around the GECK killing the player's character and, after a burst of white light, the nearest save game is loaded.

Mutant GECKs
The stories of Fallout Tactics 2 and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 were to revolve around "mutant" GECK units, which had become infected with radioactive pathogens and caused mutant plant and animal life to expand and consume huge swaths of land. While the origin of the Tactics 2 GECK is unknown, the GECK in Brotherhood of Steel 2 was found by a former Jackal called Miles Reese. In both situations, the GECKs were "terraformer" type units, like the Fallout 3 GECK.

Appearances
The GECK is mentioned in the Fallout game manual, but doesn't appear until Fallout 2 and Fallout 3. GECKs were also scheduled to appear in Fallout Tactics 2 and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2.

As the SDK
The Fallout 3 SDK (Software Development Kit), called "The G.E.C.K.", has been released and is up for download at the official Fallout3 website.

Behind the scenes

 * According to Chris Taylor, the GECK was created by Jason Anderson and Leonard Boyarsky for the Fallout game manual - it wasn't intended to be used in Fallout 2. But as far as a McGuffins go, it was there when it was needed.
 * The GECK (or more precisely, its intended function in Fallout 3) might be a reference to the movies Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: The Search for Spock, which revolve around "Project Genesis" and the Genesis Device. Like the variant of the GECK encountered in Fallout 3, the Genesis Device is intended to be used to create life out of lifelessness (whilst killing every present living thing in its working radius upon activation).

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