Vault City

"All Clear Signal"

Vault City is a location in California, established by the inhabitants of Vault 8 after the Great War. Vault City can be found twenty-one squares east and four squares south of Arroyo.

Background
Vault 8 was one of the few control Vaults that had no specific experiment designed for it thus it functioned almost exactly to the residents' expectations. The Vault was designed to house a hundred or so people. Vault-Tec, to ensure a bright future for the Vault inhabitants, planned to have two G.E.C.K.'s located in Vault 8. Due to logistical errors by the government, Vault 8 received a shipment with hundreds of water chips meant for Vault 13, which as a result received an additional GECK. In 2091, 14 years after the Great War, the Vault received the all-clear signal and the Overseer ordered the opening of the Vault doors. While many citizens were responsible for monitoring the surface sensors, the "all-clear" signal was sent by the Enclave, as well as detection from radiation sensors on the surface.

In the following years, Vault City was built through the hard work and suffering of many people. By using their only GECK, combined with power from Vault 8's fusion generator, they created fertile grounds and buildings. In 2092, Richard Moreau was exiled for murder. The details of the murder are unknown and judging from the hypocrisy filling Vault City, the entire incident is questionable. In 2101 the overseer retired and a Council of Citizens was established. The Council appointed the initial First Citizen.

Years after residents of Vault 8 emerged, the shelter was used primarily as a medical center, the best available in post-war America. From the beginning Vault City is one of the most advanced factions in the wasteland, possessing cutting edge medical technology, allowing it to mass-produce medical supplies and chems (such as super stimpaks) as well as perform radiation removal and sophisticated surgical procedures, including replacement of lost limbs and organs via cloning and grafting armor plating to one's skeleton. It is the only place that has information about the combat implant schematics. Vault City quickly became an important part of Big Circle caravan trail. The Chosen One: "{173}{}{Can you tell me about Vault City?}" Phyllis: "{199}{}{Vault City? Well, actually, there's not much to say. I mean, I've been a Citizen all my life... but there's not much to do in Vault City. At all.}" The Chosen One: "{201}{}{Nothing at all? Come on.}" Phyllis: "{204}{}{Look, I know you're a new Citizen and all, and I don't mean to throw a damper on your Citizenship, but this City can be VERY dull at times.}" The Chosen One: "{205}{}{Dull? How so?}" Phyllis: "{208}{}{I mean, have you noticed how similar everyone is? And OLD? Most of the seminars and extracurricular activities are geared towards octogenarians. I'm barely twenty-five, and this city makes me feel like I'm fifty.}" The Chosen One: "{210}{}{Speaking of old, I noticed there aren't any children in the city.}" Phyllis: "{216}{}{Well... yes. Actually, there aren't. Yet. I don't know if anyone told you yet, Vault City is a planned community. We're not due for another pregnancy cycle until a few years from now.}" The Chosen One: "{217}{}{Uh... a pregnancy cycle?}" Phyllis: "{220}{}{Yes. Pregnancies are permitted only during certain years established by the Council.}" The Chosen One: "{221}{}{What if you get pregnant anyway?}" The Chosen One: "{225}{}{Uh, last I heard, SEX can make someone pregnant.}" Phyllis: "{228}{}{Oh, you mean intercourse? Intercourse is still allowed outside of pregnancy cycles.}" The Chosen One: "{229}{}{Doesn't that make people pregnant?}" Phyllis: "{232}{}{Oh, no, no... you see, our pregnancies don't result from intercourse.}" Phyllis: "{236}{}{Male Citizens "donate" to the Auto-Doc here in the Vault and the most favorable matches are chosen by the computer. Then the appropriate female Citizen is seeded by the Auto-Doc.}" The Chosen One: "{238}{}{Don't people still get pregnant from intercourse? What about accidental pregnancies?}" Phyllis: "{251}{}{Well, actually... you see, this is something I've been thinking about recently, but Citizens don't seem to have accidental pregnancies. The only successful pregnancies have been facilitated by the Auto-Doc.}" The Chosen One: "{252}{}{You know, background radiation might be resulting in sterility or even worse, chromosomal damage. Might be worth checking out.}" Phyllis: "{255}{}{You know, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I should mention it to Dr. Troy. He's been too busy to look into it recently, but the next pregnancy cycle IS coming up, so...}" The Chosen One: "{257}{}{Mentioning it to Dr. Troy would be a good idea. Good luck.}" (Vcnancy.msg)

In 2232 Leonard Boyarsky was exiled for murder and unauthorized research. The research allegations revolved around some tampering with the pregnancy cycles in the Auto-Doc that apparently put all of Vault 8 in danger, but the details were deleted from the Vault 8 computer.

The Vault City guard is the direct descendant of the Vault security team - a Vault police force. Vault City guards act as a universal military force, enforcing the law within the town, defending it, and securing Vault City's perimeter. While small, it is extremely well trained and equipped, able to deal with any threats when supported by laser turrets of the city, save for an all-out siege.

Captain of the Guard is a title granted by the First Citizen of Vault City to exemplary citizens that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect the city's interest and independence. In essence, it is the highest military rank one can hold, giving them full authority over the military might of Vault City.

Relations with the outside
Gecko is a neighboring community of Vault City, who managed to reactivate the nuclear power plant that the town was built around. The plant was in a serious state of disrepair, leaking waste into the local groundwater, which eventually made the entire reservoir, from which Vault City drew water for their wells, poisonous. Offers of inclusion within the NCR were repeatedly declined, with Vault City preferring to stay independent. With no progress being made on the diplomatic side, the NCR Congress approved a secret initiative intended to force Vault City to join. The person selected to carry out this campaign of terror against Vault City was John Bishop of New Reno, who later employed mercenaries to act as raiders and regularly attack Vault City to eventually force it into NCR's hands. In 2239 Thomas Moore, an NCR agent came to Vault City and became one of its citizens. After one year he changed politically, actively seeking to convince the Citizens of Vault City to turn to democracy. As a result of his actions he is treated like an idiot, rather than a citizen. Not one citizen takes his words seriously about democracy. Although his demagogy was not effective, he did manage to steal some Vault City technology.

In February 2241 Vault City rejected offers of an alliance with both the Bishop family of New Reno and the NCR. In March, raider attacks on caravans to Vault City begin. The NCR has been getting more aggressive in their attempts to get Vault City to join the Republic, telling Vault City Councillors, if they were to join, the NCR would be able to defend Vault City from the raider attacks. John Bishop under pressure from the NCR, tried to get a current roster of all Vault City's guards. So he could see if he could "get" to one of them with drugs or other "convincing," which he ultimately failed.

One of the key limiting factors of Vault City was the fact that its nuclear reactor, housed in Vault 8, was not designed for the strain of powering an entire settlement. By 2241, it was operating at peak capacity, making further growth impossible. The only way to prevent that would be to source power from another location, such as Gecko. Without additional power, Vault City's reactor would burn out within 15 years, dooming the settlement. The Chosen One: "{124}{}{Gordon, what did you say you did here again?}" Gordon: "{130}{}{I look for opportunities.}" The Chosen One: "{131}{}{Opportunites? Like what?}" Gordon: "{135}{}{I look for ways of maximizing my potential worth.}" The Chosen One: "{136}{}{Hmm, sounds like greed to me.}" Gordon: "{140}{}{I am greedy. But most people misunderstand greed. Greed is a powerful driving force. Throughout history, mankind’s greatest achievements were driven by men that wanted to better their positions. Driven by greed. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.}" The Chosen One: "{141}{}{I’ll take your word for that, Gordon. But what does greed have to do with Gecko?}" Gordon: "{150}{}{So far, not much. But in greed lies Gecko’s salvation. I have important information about the survival of Gecko, but I can’t get anyone to listen to me.}" The Chosen One: "{151}{}{What kind of information?}" Gordon: "{180}{}{I’ve also found out, from a very reliable source, that Vault City cannot expand without additional power.}" The Chosen One: "{181}{}{Vault City can’t expand?}" Gordon: "{190}{}{Vault City, you see, has enough power for their current needs -— as long as they’re careful. But the Vault power plant that they use was never designed for the increased load their city is putting on it. It’s at peak capacity right now. Without more power, they can’t expand.}" The Chosen One: "{191}{}{I don’t see how that helps you.}" Gordon: "{200}{}{Well, if our power plant’s working better, we could trade our excess power and technical expertise to Vault City in exchange for medical technology. }" The Chosen One: "{201}{}{And?}" Gordon: "{210}{}{Without more power Vault City will burn out their reactor within 15 years. If Gecko’s reactor isn’t repaired, we won’t last half that time. Without medical technology, all of us Ghouls are going to die off in the next 20 years, anyway. Everyone loses if Vault City and Gecko don’t cooperate.}" The Chosen One: "{211}{}{So you’re just a good Samaritan huh? Somehow, I don’t buy that.}" Gordon: "{220}{}{Not at all. I’ve got my end covered. I’d be the natural choice to administer this project. Greed is my driving force, but thousands of lives are saved by it. Greed is good. At least it would be, if I could get anyone in Vault City to read my economic data.}" (GCGORDON.MSG) Despite their antipathy to the outside, the city maintains regular caravan routes with other cities, trading its superior medical technology for raw materials, fuel, mechanical equipment, and other items. Despite being warned to "avoid Broken Hills at ALL costs," Vault City and Broken Hills maintain trade relations, trading uranium for medical supplies (in particular Rad-X and RadAway).

Citizenship
The way to become a Citizen of Vault City is to be born into it. Personal intervention by the Senior Councilor (in 2241 McClure) or the First Citizen (in 2241 Lynette) can grant non-citizen citizenship (though this is never done lightly). In addition, non-citizens can take a citizenship test (administered by the Proconsul; Gregory in 2241), which is intentionally designed to be so difficult as to be virtually impossible by someone not of extraordinary intelligence, perception, and luck. The test is so difficult that the majority of born citizens would fail it were they to take it. Some of the subjects covered by it include advanced mathematics, spatial relations, deductive reasoning, and language comprehension. A thorough physical exam is also included.

Full Citizens have access to all of Vault City, including the original Vault 8 itself, although few people still use it much, except for its medical bay, and it is mostly used for storage (including a huge number of water chips, which were accidentally shipped to Vault 8 instead of Vault 13, while Vault 8's second G.E.C.K was shipped to Vault 13 instead of Vault 8).

Day passes are issued to non-citizens, allowing entrance to Vault City. (Examples: slaves, uranium, gold, or gecko pelt traders, diplomats, and non-citizen agents of Vault City.) Day passes allow non-citizen access to Vault City proper during daylight hours (8:00 am until 6:00 pm) but not the original Vault 8 itself. While the customs office is nominally strict in its rules regarding the issuance of day passes, but Skeev is willing to sell false citizenship papers. Perhaps the easiest approach to gain one is to remove one's armor to reveal their jumpsuit before talking to Wallace, who will grant immediate access and advise going to see First Citizen Lynette immediately.

Layout
The citizen population (in all departments) was 103 in 2241, with an unspecified number of outsiders residing in the courtyard area. It was small compared to the hundreds of residents that lived in Redding or Broken Hills.

The city is ruled by a Council, led by the First Citizen, established in 2101 after the Vault overseer retired. Their regulations are strict and enforced to the full extent of the law. For instance, no drugs, real alcohol (artificial imitations are legal), prostitution, gambling is allowed within the inner city. Non-Citizens, who are servants, are forbidden to even look at the city.

Appearances
Vault City appears only in Fallout 2 and is mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * In Vault 8, the Vault City designer notes are found in a terminal. It reads, "Vault City went through many incarnations. It was designed by Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Anderson, Feargus Urquhart, and Chris Avellone. Scott Everts built the maps, and the brave men who scripted this architectural Frankenstein were Rob Hertenstein and Dan Spitzley. And finally, Eric Pribish nearly gave his life testing the monstrosity that is Vault City."
 * In Van Buren, Chris Avellone stated that Vault City may have undergone radiation dumps by ghouls attempting to create more of themselves, due to Vault City's shaky relationship with Gecko in Fallout 2.
 * Chris Avellone stated that his belief for what happened to Vault City after the events of Fallout 2 was that it was annexed by the New California Republic, who dissects its computer systems and technology, and occupies the city, to the dislike of the residents.