Rex Meacham

Rex Meacham was the lead scientist of the Beverageer Division before the Great War.

Background
At some point, Rex and Kate Leavitt stayed at the Mountainside Bed & Breakfast for a time.

Tired of dabbling with soft drinks, Meacham yearned to work on world-changing matters. When John-Caleb Bradberton (affectionately referred to by Meacham as JC) formed a partnership with General C. Braxton to develop chemical weapons, Meacham jumped at the opportunity. He and his team were provided with a cutting-edge laboratory built into the foundations of the Nuka-Cola bottling plant, with a dedicated reactor and living quarters. Work commenced immediately, with many initial failures. However, they eventually reached a breakthrough with sample Q4N7-UM - strontium-90. Version 0.245 of Q4N7-UM was selected as the basis for further weapons development as a form of high-explosive nitroglycerin. Meacham named the substance Quantum, after its sample identification code, and presented his testing to Braxton and Bradberton. The former accepted it as the basis for the Nuka-nuke, the latter as a new flavor, Nuka-Cola Quantum.

Following these three weeks of constant work, the Beverageers were given vacation time, while Meacham pored over the data with the general and Bradberton. Project Cobalt was about to yield its first fruit. However, the purpose of the project and its military applications did not sit well with the best organic chemist on the team, Ruth Leavitt, who repeatedly voiced her concerns to Meacham. He was her mentor and idol until he decided to have the Beverageers research weapons of mass destruction. To appease her, Meacham placed Dr. Leavitt in charge of developing an isotope safe for human consumption. However, as the Beverageers continued to focus on Project Cobalt, Leavitt found it impossible to remain in Nuka-Cola's employ. She openly confronted Meacham in early October and declared that she would tender her resignation at the end of the month. Bradberton was livid. When he learned of her intent, he was furious. By defying his and Meacham's will, Leavitt wound up blacklisted from the industry. It was a loss for Project Cobalt as well, as Leavitt's expertise was second to none. Dr. Edmund Medford was the only other organic chemist qualified enough to pick up the slack, and he wasn't remotely near her league. The other members of the team, particularly Dr. Kevin Bennell, considered her choice to be a selfish one in wartime, and her blacklisting by Bradberton also entrenched their loyalty.

Meacham and his colleagues continued trying to convince Leavitt to join the project, Meacham resorting to intimidation, and kept on trying until October 23, 2077. As the nuclear attack on the United States began, the automated safety systems engaged and the Beverageer lab locked down, leaving all four trapped within the facility. Isolation and the end of the world as they knew it took its toll on the research team. Within a few weeks, Dr. Medford committed suicide, hanging himself in the dorms. Dr. Bennell tried to escape into his work to cover up the cracks in his composure. Meanwhile, relations between Leavitt and Meacham rapidly deteriorated. Meacham reacted to the end of the world with an obsessive focus on Project Cobalt, convinced that completing it could somehow save America from the Chinese soldiers supposedly flooding the mainland. In his mind, Project Cobalt was the key to salvation. The predictable result of his obsession was the shooting of Dr. Leavitt when she attempted to open the door leading out of the lab. Outside, he was calm and collected. Inside, Meacham was falling apart, guilt eating away at his murder of a woman he secretly loved.

Weeks passed as he and Bennell tinkered with Project Cobalt, trying to create a stable isotope for use by non-existent troops above ground. In October 2078, the last of his team finally cracked. Bennell made an escape through the reactor overflow pipe, preferring the risk of death from radioactive exposure to certain insanity. Meacham was psychotic at this point and opened fire on Bennell as he disappeared in the tunnel. Dr. Bennell died of his wounds at the service station in the tunnel, never having reached freedom. Meacham stayed behind, continuing his work and descending into lunacy. In the end, he finished the project but perished awaiting rescue by the military that no longer existed.

His remains can still be found in the Nuka-Cola bottling plant's secret lab in 2287.

Appearances
Rex Meacham appears only in the Fallout 4 add-on Nuka-World. He is also mentioned in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes
Rex Meacham's name is an amalgamation of the names of Cal Meacham, the main character of the 1955 science fiction movie This Island Earth, and the actor that portrays him, Rex Reason. He shares this trait with his fellow secure beverageer scientists.