The Glow

The West Tek Research Facility was founded in 2002 as a private contractor of the United States government. Initially divided into two divisions, Advanced Weapons and Biomedical Sciences Research, by 2069 it was the single biggest private contractor of the US government, its biggest contract was the T-51b Power Armor for use by infantry soldiers on the frontline.

Its second-largest contract was the Pan-Immunity Virion Project, later known as the FEV. In 2076, its primary complex in California was secured by a military contingent for fear of international espionage; shortly, the PVP research was moved to the Mariposa Military Base where experimentation on human subjects would continue.

In addition, several other projects were being pursued, including energy weapons and upgrading existing armour (possibly later used as basis of the HERMES/ATHENA projects).

West Tek was destroyed in the nuclear holocaust of 2077, completely obliterating the surface facility, leaving a gaping hole exposing the subterranean installation.

NBC Division
Head: Nick Davis

FEV project lead: Leon VonFelden

Pan-Immunity Virion Project/Forced Evolutionary Virus
In 2055, West Tek Research Facility started working on a new virus to kill the New Plague. The ZAX 1.2 computer was brought in to regulate conditions in West Tek. It calmly calculated data and played chess with the scientists. Many scientists claimed that ZAX cheated and drew the game out too much for a computer of his considerable abilities.

As China became increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project was officially formed on September 15, 2073 and plans were made to begin experiments at West Tek.

After a series of experiments, the pan-immunity virion was renamed FEV - the Forced Evolutionary Virus in March 2075, as increased size, muscle density, and intelligence are noted among test animals.

On January 3, 2076 a military team under the command of Colonel Robert Spindel was sent to the West Tek research facility to monitor the experiments in the interest of national security. Captain Roger Maxson, future founder of the Brotherhood of Steel, was among the team personnel.

In October 2076 large progress was made in FEV research, and the government preferred to move the project to a location under military supervision. On January 7, 2077, Major Barnett ordered transfer of all FEV research to the newly-constructed Mariposa Base, despite objections by the research team. Along with the scientists, Spindel's military team was sent to Mariposa.

Advanced Weapons Research
Head of Laser Development: Charles Rignhold

The primary research goal of this division was the creation of the power armor. After years of painstaking research, the first suits were created and deployed on the Anchorage Front Line to reclaim it from the Chinese. Although lacking the mobility of future versions, the T-45d suits performed at the height of specifications. The pinnacle of research was the T-51b Powered Combat Infantry Armour, though it was later re-engineered into the mighty Enclave Advanced Power Armour.

Additionally, West Tek focused resources on energy weapons research, and while it was private companies that manufactured the weapons themselves (Wattz, Winchester, Yuma Flats Energy Consortium, Glock), it's not a far fetched assumption that West Tek provided the necessary scientific foundation for the creation of energy weapons.

The Glow
During the war, a nuke directly hit the facility, shattering the FEV containment tanks and releasing the irradiated virus into the atmosphere. Mutated by radiation, it loses its mutagenic abilities, but it later complicates things for the Master. Due to its high radiation, the place came to be known as the Glow, surrounded by legends among the people of Southern California.

In 2134, a faction within the Brotherhood of Steel led by Sergeant Dennis Allen gained strength, and they urged the Elders to let them explore the southeast ruins of West Tek, called the Glow after being hit by a nuclear bomb, for artifacts. The Elders refused, so Allen and his divisionist group split away from the Brotherhood of Steel, taking some technology and weapons with them. Other members of the team included Soto, Jensen and Camarillo. Unfortunately for them, they were killed by security robots and radiation.

The Brotherhood of Steel used to send people who wanted to enlist into the Brotherhood (but they don't want) there on a "quest", just to laugh about it later when they ended up dead because of the high amount of radiation in the area. It was quite a surprise to them when one known as the Vault Dweller actually fulfilled the quest, bringing with him a holodisk that recorded Allen's ill-fated expedition, and got initiated into the Brotherhood.

Dayglow
Some time after 2162, some ghoul survivors from Necropolis settled north and west of the Glow, and founded the town of Dayglow, whose inhabitants formed partnerships with scavenging companies from New Adytum and the Hub and have built quite a profitable corporation from their salvage efforts.

Comments
The name of the facility is sometimes spelled West Tech, but West Tek is more common and probably more correct. Its name in the old design documents was FSEF.

Related Quests

 * Become an initiate

Appearances in games
The West Tek Research Facility appeared only in the first Fallout game. It is also mentioned in Fallout 3 on a computer in the Outcast Outpost in the Operation: Anchorage DLC.

Related Holodisks

 * Ancient Brotherhood Tape
 * FEV Experiment Tape
 * West Tech Records

West Tek