Vault 22

"The Vault of the Future"

Vault 22 is a Vault-Tec vault constructed before the start of the Great War in what became the Mojave Wasteland. The vault door is open, with various kinds of plants around the exterior and creatures such as giant mantises. It is located and can be approached from south-southwest of the Griffin Wares sacked caravan, east of Jacobstown and west from The Thorn. The entrance is at the bottom of the cliff.

Background
Before the war, the vault contained scientists working under the auspice of experimentation with staple crops to combat global hunger. The entrance sign describes the projects underway within, from developing advanced fertilizers to improving crop production and increasing these crops' resistance to insects, drought, and disease.

After the war, the scientists within the vault continued agricultural-based initiatives, with the goal of sustaining the vault population with plants grown within its confines. Designed as a green vault, people selected for populating the vault were dedicated to such goals and some of their most successful experiments were donated by defense contractors, such as the fungus that would eventually become the vault's undoing.

Beauveria mordicana was originally an entomopathogenic fungus designed for pest control. When a pest is exposed to the fungal spores, the fungus infests it and begins to colonize the host body. The host eventually dies due to failure of body functions, as the colony expands through its body. However, the dead body continues to be controlled by the fungal colony, allowing it to move around and infect more pests by spraying spores around the host body. While effective in the long term, it still takes between 10 to 20 days to kill its prey and achieves limited effectiveness when dealing with unsocial pests. The fungus was originally developed at the X-22 botanical garden at Big MT, though the technology was eventually shared with Vault-Tec Industries, to enable botanical experiments at Vault 22.

As with many technologies coming out of Big MT, the fungus was a Pandora's box. Once the vault scientists began experimentation with the fungus after the Great War, they effectively signed their death warrant. While ostensibly designed to provide effective means of long-term pest control, the fungus was perfectly capable of infecting human bodies. Fungal spores gradually spread through the vault, slowly infecting the population. The first confirmed infection was Dr. Harrison Peters, who also provided insight into the development of the infection. It begins with pneumonia as the fungus invades the lungs, eventually transforming into chills, a fever, and a terrible racking cough. The fungal colony causes the body to actively reject anti-fungal treatments, leading to death due to organ failure. As with smaller pests, the fungal colony continues to grow and develop. Eventually, it spreads far enough to establish control over the deceased person's body, becoming a highly aggressive spore carrier, a mindless beast whose sole purpose is spreading the spores. The untreatable infection baffled the scientists and spread through the vault like wildfire.

The widespread infection led to a collapse of social order in the vault. Infected humans were turned into spore carriers, with the airborne fungal spores threatening the remaining living residents. Scientists attempted to eradicate them by igniting gas deliberately released in the lower levels of the vault. However, the release triggered an incredibly aggressive reaction from the carriers, which attacked the scientists, tearing them limb from limb.

By 2096, the vault was finally abandoned and a party of 118 survivors made way for the Zion Canyon. The dead eventually mutated into spore carriers or became stationary colonies of the fungus. The dwellers traveled to the Zion Canyon. With over one hundred men and women, strong discipline, tactics, and firepower, the small band of Mexican survivors camped out there posed no threat to the dwellers. They hit the survivors' camp on February 11th, 2096, killing all the men and shooting down women and children that resisted. The remainder was taken to the main camp of the dwellers and penned in like livestock.

Randall Clark, the guardian of the valley, was desperate to help the Mexican survivors. Over the next two days, he surveyed the area. Vault 22 dwellers were organized well, with patrols and sentries set up along all approaches into the camp, except for the stream. The coughing among the dwellers puzzled Clark, but he ignored it as he prepared to save the surviving Mexicans. He went into the camp on February 14th. What he saw snapped something inside him. The Vault 22 dwellers killed and ate everyone they took from the Mexican survivors' camp. Clark retaliated, waging a brutal war of attrition against them. With his rifle in hand and all the explosives he could use, he ambushed the dwellers where he could and booby-trapped bodies and weapons he could not take. By the end of February, he had killed 24 dwellers. In the ten days it took to accomplish this, he only suffered one wound: a 10mm steel jacket round through the thigh, missing the femoral artery. Though he remained unseen by survivors, he was forced to move camp when on March 2nd, a small patrol nearly uncovered his camp in the cave when one of their men was caught in a deadfall trap. Panic fire almost hit him. After he disposed of the intruders, he moved camp to Cueva Guarache. Victory came ten months later. After losing six concurrent overseers and more than eighty members of the group to Clark and sickness, the dwellers gave up and fled the canyon, after eating their dead for nourishment. History loses track of them past that point. Occasionally, damaged Pip-Boys and vault jumpsuits from the vault would find their way into the hands of prospectors.

The vault itself fell into disrepair over the years, overrun by the plants and wildlife that thrived in the conditions within. The occasional scavenger quickly fell prey to the creatures dwelling within or the fungus, if they managed to survive. It wasn't until roughly 2281 when it piqued the interest of others. More specifically, Thomas Hildern, director of the NCR's Office of Science and Industry, or OSI East. He has hired multiple mercenaries to retrieve the secret of the vault, hoping to find a way to enhance the agricultural output of the NCR and stave off projected famine. Of course, the biggest benefit would be a major promotion for him. His latest hire, Keely, has gone missing much like the previous mercenaries, but this time, the situation is different.

Entrance
The entrance of this vault is advertised with a sign that reads "Welcome to Vault 22" covered by graffiti which says "Stay out! The plants kill!" The advertisement in and of itself is unique when compared to other vaults that generally attempt to stay concealed. Under the graffiti, the original sign reads:

Additionally, the vault door leads directly outside, unlike most that have a natural rock formation or tunnel enclosing the entrance. There is a hollowed-out rock directly across from the sign at the entrance.

Once inside the vault, the Courier will come to a door that leads to a room with an elevator and stairs. From here on out, the player character will encounter spore carriers, spore plants and giant mantises throughout the vault. The vault is split into five levels, and the different floors can be accessed by repairing the main elevator within the vault (requires Repair skill of 50) or accessed by perpendicular staircases.

1st floor - Entrance hall
Immediately upon entering the vault, turn to the left to find a usable mattress, a duffle bag with some supplies and one of Keely's terminals with entries 1 and 2. Next to the mattress, hidden between two books, is a Programmer's Digest.

2nd floor - Oxygen recycling
From the entrance of the lab take a right and continue to the room directly across the hall to find one of Keely's terminals with entries 3, 4 and 5 in the series.

3rd floor - Food production
The keycard to access the cave tunnels on level 4 is located in the common quarters (the floor below). Once inside, an Average locked door must be opened on the lower level in the northwestern corner of the room or progress to the overseer's office, and use the terminal and disengage the lock. Once inside, the first room on the left, on a shelving unit will have the Vault 22 cave door keycard. The keycard does not open the cave door on level 3 directly, it instructs the terminal next to the cave door to unlock the door.

From the elevator, go down to the hallway and into the first room on the right to find one of Keely's terminals with entries 6 and 7 in the series. For the quest Bleed Me Dry, the pile of giant mantis egg(s) will spawn in the caverns down a side tunnel guarded by a giant mantis female and several giant mantis nymphs.

4th floor - Common areas
From the entrance to the commons, take a right over the little bridge and straight back to the billiard room for one of Keely's terminals with entries 8 and 9 in the series. The keycard that unlocks the door to the tunnels on the food production level is found in the lower level of the common areas in the quarters section on a shelf in the first room to the left. If the keycard cannot be found, check the floor near the shelf, as it may have somehow fallen off. It is a darkish red/orange color. The stairs between this level and the fifth level are blocked by debris. The tunnels on the third level or the elevator can be used to bypass it. A flamer and several cans of fuel can be found in the room across from the room with the terminal that talks about Dr. Peter's re-animation.

5th floor - Pest control
This floor is filled with deadly "savage" spore carriers. The large cavern contains many giant mantises and spore plants. Five mantis ootheca and Keely are located here, in an alcove on the far end of the cavern.

Notable loot

 * AER14 prototype - On the stairs between the fourth and fifth floor, the door to the stairway from pest control has a Very Easy lock. The AER14 is lying on the ground next to a scorched skeleton with a couple of energy cells.
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor - Located on the 5th level, in the pest control section. Take the elevator to pest control and turn left to go upstairs to a large room with a door that leads to the food production caves. Turn left and the book is on a long table with bubbling vials or on the floor in front of the long table.
 * Six HEPA 20 cartridge filters - Needed for the Still in the Dark quest, in a blocked-off section of 2nd level oxygen recycling area which can only be accessed via the cave system surrounding the vault (the room and its cave entrance are visible through a window on the main part of the 2nd level). There are entrances to these caves on the 5th level, pest control, and on the 3rd level, food production. The terminal on the 3rd level will not open the door to the caves without the cave access keycard, which is found in the common areas, downstairs on a shelf in the bedroom with the baby carriage. To locate the HEPA filters, go to the third floor. Open the metal door to the cave, then turn right at the fork. Follow the cave to find another wooden door labeled oxygen recycling. The HEPA filters are located in a locker in the upper right corner of the room.
 * A food additive meant for Cpl. William Farber in Camp McCarran - When exiting the elevator on the 3rd Floor - food production level, go forward through the vegetation and turn left down a hallway, enter the door on the left. This room has a long railed off area of undeveloped maize. Turn right (northwest) and walk to the far end of the room where there is a small office. There are spores growing around and on the desk. The food additive is sitting on the corner of the desk but can be knocked off onto the floor by a spore carrier.

Appearances
Vault 22 appears in Fallout: New Vegas and is mentioned in the add-on Honest Hearts.

Behind the scenes

 * Vault 22 was designed by Jesse Farrell.
 * According to Joshua Sawyer in an interview with PC Gamer, Vault 22 was partially based off a location that was meant to appear in Van Buren.


 * There are two cut robot NPCs associated with Vault 22, Koch and Bohr, both named after real world scientists.

Bugs

 * In the top floor of the common areas, one of the rooms has a booth seat placed close to a wall that is only visible from certain angles, if the player sits in this boot they will glitch into the wall and upon getting up will be stuck inside the wall.
 * The key card from quarters (needed to enter the cave) can, on rare occasions, never appear and cannot be found.
 * With the PS3 system update 3.60, the "trigger" event to download the data from the terminal on Level 5 doesn't happen, preventing the continuation of the storyline.
 * Use caution if you are to take ED-E on to the fifth floor and trigger the flames. Make sure ED-E is in a room where he is protected from the flames as he can be "killed" even if you are not in Hardcore mode and never register as being dead (in fact you will still see a marker indicating that he is at Vault 22) thus robbing you of having a second follower for the rest of the game. If you don't want to have to worry about this, just have him wait at the entrance or at your Lucky 38 suite. This can happen to Veronica too.
 * When inside the vault, the door has another texture problem. You can still see the 92 but it also shows a 101 and an overwrite sign from the doors (you need to use the console to see this).
 * Many times while in Vault 22 your companions will sense enemies nearby, when in fact they are on another level of the vault. This makes them run off to the corners of rooms, stairwells, etc. in search of their foe(s).
 * If entering the vault for the HEPA 20 cartridge filters and obtaining them after first talking to Keely in the cave she may not appear in her lab and the door to exit the vault will need her key to unlock it. Exiting the game and restarting from that point seems to fix this problem, however, if the problem still persists she may be found stuck in a wall in Oxygen Recycling (identified by a non-hostile line on your radar). Use explosives on the wall where she is trapped; if she is damaged she will turn hostile and spawn again in the corridor. If you want to pursue the quest, as usual, go to a different floor and wait an hour. When you return to oxygen recycling, she will be found non-hostile in her correct place so the quest can be finished. To avoid this bug entirely, get the cartridges before you speak to her for the first time.
 * Sometimes, the giant mantises outside the vault do not spawn. They are likely to spawn when you exit, though, so be prepared for five or so mantises on top of you if this happens.
 * Leaving companions outside of Vault 22 and then entering the vault will cause a glitch where your companions disappear. They are noted on your world map as being at Vault 22, but they are not there.
 * If you complete the quest There Stands the Grass before unlocking the door that leads to where Keely is and then rescue her, she will still attempt to have you do her portion of the quest which includes her locking the front door. Since you've already dealt with the data, you cannot do anything else for her after activating the gas on the 5th floor and remain locked in. (To get the code to unlock the doors, either pickpocket or kill Keely after being asked to activate the gas. Once you have the password, use the terminal in the same room Keely is in to unlock doors.) Should you return to Williams, and did not kill Keely to get the password, she'll pay you, and you will also gain XP for saving Keely as well.
 * ED-E appears upon entering level five via the elevator even though he is told to wait elsewhere, even if told to wait outside of Vault 22.
 * If you have a companion while looking for the AER14 Prototype, the companion might pick the gun up (to get the gun from a companion just go into their inventory).
 * If you have ED-E as a companion, and try to fix the broken elevator inside the vault, the game will freeze and the last auto-save will corrupt, therefore you will have to restart the console and load from another saved game.
 * Occasionally all of the spore carriers will be found lying on the ground near their plant patches rather than crouching within them. They will still jump up to attack when you approach, though, and their prone state often makes them harder to detect and eliminate in advance. Their animations may also glitch, allowing them to advance and attack invisibly while their body stays frozen on the floor, the frozen model still takes damage when shot rather than the invisible carrier attacking.
 * If the Courier does not exhaust dialog with Keely about her findings, Farber may not have the corresponding dialog branch to turn in the food additive.