Vault 96/Unused

A list of unused content in Vault 96.

Overview
Originally, the mission and story of Vault 96 was quite different, as noted in the below summary. A number of unfinished terminals existed in the game's files at release, inaccessible in normal gameplay. However, with The Legendary Run update (June 2020), a number of behind-the-scenes changes were made to content for Vault 96. Although the Vault remained closed during The Legendary Run, the content was largely unaffected when it was finally opened for the Daily Ops feature during the Locked & Loaded update (April 2021).

This page summarizes the content for Vault 96 before it was altered with The Legendary Run.

Vault raids
Vaults 63, 94 and 96 were originally intended to be associated with Vault raids, a team quest where there would be an emergency in the Vault that required fixing. Player characters would have been notified through an emergency radio beacon. These were instanced dungeons, where groups of up to four could enter and attempt to complete the raid for a chance at unique rewards.

There were two missions planned for Vault 96:
 * Vault Mission: Creature Feature
 * Vault Mission: Gone Viral

Ultimately, Vault 94 was the only Vault raid released for the game, and the raids were discontinued with the Wastelanders update (April 2020). With the release of the One Wasteland For All update (September 2020), Vault 94 was repurposed for the new Daily Ops feature, and Vault 96 became part of Daily Ops seven months later (April 2021).

Background
Constructed by Vault-Tec as a genetic ark intended for ecosystem restoration, Vault 96 was supposed to attempt to force nature back into equilibrium after a catastrophic event. This was based around two key components: An almost inexhaustible number of frozen embryos ready to be artificially gestated to full maturity and automated keeper robots to protect them when they leave the vault. Embryos constituted a carefully chosen, fully complete ecosystem referred to as "core fauna." The vault had enough material for 112 releases until the system stabilized itself or the outside world turned out to be simply uninhabitable. Releases were timed to coincide with vault exoduses. In ideal conditions, the corporation planned for 5 full ecosystem releases before a human vault opened, to provide a more habitable region to re-develop. Vault 96 was designed to run on a skeleton crew of just six highly trained people: Randall Evola (overseer), Ryan Harvey (cryogenics), Nina Valaya (biology), Jeanette Higgins (robotics), and Orrin Cantwell with Jasper Fry (maintenance).

Although established with good intentions in mind, robotic surveys performed outside the vault quickly demonstrated that the world outside was a lot more hostile than expected. Rampant mutations were quickly turning the new world into a place where the old systems stored in Vault 96 were no longer viable. However, the team continued on schedule, attempting to release the wildlife as per their mission. Strong genetic and physical differences made their chances for success tenuous - but it was still better than just abandoning the vault.

The pattern continued until the underlying flaws in the vault's design and infrastructure revealed themselves: Generator 1 started experiencing intermittent failures, leading to the vault door failing and letting in mutated creatures from the outside (as they were a relatively near match for the animals contained within). Although robotic security managed to fend the mutated creatures off, the situation steadily deteriorated due to a limited supply of spare parts and equipment. The team ultimately had nothing to repair Generator 1 with.

The staff of the vault managed to perform five manual releases before the automated ecosystem release system took over. All of the systems switched to automatic mode when the skeleton crew became real skeletons, together with the failing Generator 1.

Layout
Prior to Locked & Loaded, the Vault's interior was unfinished and had two desks along with a door making a barricade blocking off the next room. The Vault was infested with mirelurks, and a mirelurk queen was at the end of the Vault in a giant chamber. These rooms could only be accessed by clipping bugs, but the interior was eventually finished for release with Locked & Loaded.

Residents

 * Randall Evola - Overseer
 * Ryan Harvey - Cryogenics
 * Nina Valaya - Biology
 * Jeanette Higgins - Robotics
 * Orrin Cantwell - Maintenance I
 * Jasper Fry - Maintenance II

Loot

 * Vault 96 databank
 * Vault 96 ID card
 * Vault 96 decontamination procedure
 * Vault 96 decryption code