GECK



The Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) is a terraforming device created by Future-Tec, a division of Vault-Tec Corporation, to ease the process of harnessing the post-nuclear wasteland for vault dwellers.

Characteristics
Created by Doctor Stanislaus Braun, the kit exists in two variants. The basic kit is less advanced but more commonplace. It contains basic amenities needed to harness a vault to establish a post-nuclear settlement. The advanced version is a unique matter recombinator designed to recombine matter into a fertile landscape. Both versions of the kit have the appearance of a silver briefcase emblazoned with the letters "G.E.C.K." The basic G.E.C.K. was supposed to be standard equipment for all vaults.

Basic G.E.C.K.
According to Vault-Tec advertisements, the kit 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. In practice, a G.E.C.K. contains a fertilizer system with a variety of food seeds, soil supplements, and chemicals that can fertilize arid wasteland (and possibly selected sections of the Moon's surface pre-conditioned to accept the G.E.C.K.) 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. Individuals can consult the How-To Books/Library of Congress/Encyclopedias in the G.E.C.K. holodisk library for more information and can utilize the included pen flashlight as a bonus.

The G.E.C.K.s were designed to be used relatively soon after the war, as the seeds and soil supplements they contained were perishable. Since pre-War scientists had no idea how the post-nuclear world would look, the kits were woefully out of tune with the post-nuclear world. However, if used by people with the necessary technical knowledge, the G.E.C.K. could be a powerful tool, especially if it was combined with the resources and infrastructure of a vault. Fallout Bible 6: "1b. What may be suitable for planting in the present may not be suitable in 20 yrs. This is esp true I would think in the FO universe with its rather unstable ecosystem. I mean if one really wanted to be certain that what one was panting would grow the best thing to do would be to collect the seeds, spores etc from already growing food sources - these have a guaranteed fertilization rate. After all those corn seeds that were put in the GECK 50 yrs ago now have not sufficiently mutated to endure the new Wasteland (even in a 'normal' ecosystem, the only strains of plant that survive are those that mutate).

''You're absolutely right. 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.''

Evolutionarily speaking using old seeds would be like reintroducing a species that may have gone extinct or at the very least one that is not as cutting edge in its evolution.

''You bet. And that's dangerous on so many levels! Wheee!''

'''Also, as far as How-to books, schematics, sand crete etc.. this seems a bit user heavy. That is a GECK is going to be utterly useless to those who cannot read, or don't have the raw materials to construct a force field, sand crete polymers etc.'''

''The GECK designers assumed that the Vault Dwellers would know how to read and how to operate various technologies present in the Vault - they didn't plan for tribals or other contingencies. They also didn't plan on the FEV getting released, or the fact the Vault Dwellers might be attacked by giant mutated scorpions or rats, either. On one hand, you could say they weren't too bright, and on the other hand, you could say they weren't prepared for the future of the human race to become an extended Post-Atomic Horror movie. Silly rabbits!''

'''1a. Wouldn't this [the seeds and soil supplements] date itself rather quickly?''' ''Sure, 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."''

Other information provided by the G.E.C.K. includes basic force field schematics as well as info on how to make adobe-type buildings from the landscape (or create chemicals that can create "sand-crete" walls). Furthermore, 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 G.E.C.K. It's possible the G.E.C.K. 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). The G.E.C.K.s also allow the vault inhabitants to disassemble sections of their vault (or take extraneous systems from the vault) to create new homes and defensive structures on the surface.

If chosen to receive a G.E.C.K., a Vault would be issued two standard G.E.C.K.s. Some vaults lacked the two issued G.E.C.K.s, such as Vault 8, of which their extra G.E.C.K. was somehow swapped with Vault 13's surplus water chips that had been ordered as backup.

Matter recombinator
The alternative version of G.E.C.K. is a device capable of radically altering the Wasteland and transforming dead, irradiated soil into viable land suitable for farming. However, it is also capable of malfunctioning or melting down if not properly handled or otherwise tampered with, capable of drastically mutating and changing entire regions of land miles wide. It does so by collapsing all matter within its given radius and recombining it to form a living, fertile landscape.

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.

Though the G.E.C.K. may not have been the holy cure-all the tribal inhabitants of Arroyo believed it to be, in the right hands it was a very useful piece of pre-War technology that could help establish a viable new community in the post-nuclear wastelands. Alternately it was indeed a miraculous device, capable of terraforming the Wasteland into something far more habitable. Either way, after the destruction of the Enclave Oil Rig, the dwellers of Vault 13 rescued from the Oil Rig used it to rebuild Arroyo.

The G.E.C.K. was instrumental in the creation of Vault City by the former inhabitants of Vault 8 (though whether the city's success can be attributed to the G.E.C.K. alone is unknown). By combining their G.E.C.K.s' contents with power from Vault 8's fusion generator, the residents of Vault City were able to erect their settlement's first buildings and generate arable farmland.

A G.E.C.K. is given by Gruthar as a reward for fixing the Vault 13 computer or found in a locker in the Enclave Oil Rig's access corridor.

Fallout 3
When the Lone Wanderer locates their father in Stanislaus Braun's Vault 112, they learn that in order to make Project Purity work properly, they require a G.E.C.K. After James' demise, the Lone Wanderer makes their way to Vault 87, a highly irradiated location, where they acquire a G.E.C.K. unit. It is unknown if other vaults in the Capital Wasteland were issued a G.E.C.K.

This version of the G.E.C.K. is a far more advanced piece of technology than the implied agricultural starter kit the developers of the previous games intended it to be. In this case, when included as a component within Project Purity's Purifier, the G.E.C.K. helps that other technology remove all radioactive particles from the water of the Potomac River that flows through it.

In Fallout 3, it is possible for the Lone Wanderer to reach the G.E.C.K. instead of allowing Fawkes to retrieve it, thus allowing the player character to activate it. If this is done, a blue energy ball expands around the G.E.C.K., killing them in a burst of white light.

Fallout 76
Vault 94 was issued one G.E.C.K. for the purpose of recolonizing the Earth one year after the Great War. However, Vault 94 was an experimental vault, being issued with no weapons, extra resources, and inhabited by a non-violent, faith-based commune. After the vault made contact with the town of Harpers Ferry, the town's mayor Miranda Vox sent a group consisting of Billy, Cole, Lucas, and Red to investigate the vault then report back. The group of four men were welcomed in with open arms, but growing suspicious of the vault's complacency, and expecting it all to be a trap, Cole ordered his men to kill all of the dwellers.

Once finding the G.E.C.K., however, the expedition was perplexed by it and thought it to be the cause of the strange disposition of the dwellers. In an attempt to destroy it, the men opened fire to end its control. The resulting explosion would create The Mire region in Appalachia. The G.E.C.K. continued to function after the explosion, releasing a massive amount of radiation into the surrounding region for years to come.

Mutant GECKs
The stories of Fallout Tactics 2 and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 were to revolve around "mutant" G.E.C.K. 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 G.E.C.K. is unknown, the G.E.C.K. in Brotherhood of Steel 2 was found by a former Cypher called Miles Reese. In both situations, the G.E.C.K. was a "terraformer" type unit, as seen in Fallout 3.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2
Miles Reese was conducting research into the G.E.C.K.s capabilities, which led him to the Nursery. Here, he stole a prototype G.E.C.K. with the hopes of terraforming the wasteland into a new, greener, and human free "Eden." The G.E.C.K., still not quite mastered by Miles, created a patchwork of lush vegetation in the areas he traveled through. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico, Miles toiled with the G.E.C.K. for five years, greatly magnifying its effects, not concerned with the immense effects it was capable of when combined with an FEV environment. The G.E.C.K. could now terraform on a dangerous scale, including within enclosed structures, and occasionally produced carnivorous plants.

It could generate unnatural weather patterns and his experiments created jungles within deserts, and the Gulf, whose water had apparently retreated a considerable distance, re-flooded on an even larger scale. As Miles continued to tinker with the G.E.C.K. its capabilities became sharpened and could focus its power on more specific tasks such as protecting Miles' base, the Corpse, with an organic shell.

Armed with an extremely dangerous and refined piece of technology, or New Eden device as he referred to it, Miles continued with his ultimate goal. He went on to exploit the Jackals to his own end, all the while planning to eliminate them with biological mini-bombs which detonate at his command created by the G.E.C.K. that he infected them with.

A second G.E.C.K. was found by the player character in Austin, which they would go on to use to overload Miles' mutant G.E.C.K. causing a devastating explosion.

It seems a combination of continual exposure, self-augmentation experiments, and control over the G.E.C.K. altered Miles into a being capable of symbiotic relations with the plant life it generated, vines protruded from his person and he was capable of merging with the plants themselves.

Locations

 * Vault 13 (Fallout 2) - given to the player by Gruthar.
 * Enclave Oil Rig (Fallout 2) - in an Access Corridor locker.
 * Vault 87 (Fallout 3) - in the G.E.C.K chamber.
 * Vault 94 (Fallout 76) - within the sealed vault.
 * The Nursery (Van Buren) - can be made in the Nursery Factory
 * Austin (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2) - unknown
 * The Corpse (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2) - Corpus Christi Naval Base

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 Fallout 3 website. It is also available for Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * According to Chris Taylor, the G.E.C.K. 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 MacGuffin goes, it was there when it was needed.
 * There is no clarification from Bethesda on how to reconcile the two radically different views of the G.E.C.K. The view of the device as a miraculous terraformer is a far cry from the view of the G.E.C.K. as a useful piece of pre-War agricultural technology.
 * The Garden of Eden part of the name is inspired by the biblical location in which life was first created.


 * The G.E.C.K. (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 G.E.C.K. encountered in Fallout 3, the Genesis Device is intended to be used to create life out of lifelessness (while killing every present living thing in its working radius upon activation).