Vault 94

Vault 94 is a Vault-Tec vault located on the border of the Savage Divide and the Mire regions of Appalachia in 2102.

After the release of Nuclear Winter patch 1.2.2.9, the player character is able to visit Vault 94 during vault raids, in groups of 1-4. It will be closed again for an indefinite amount of time with the release of Wastelanders.

Background
As per its mission, Vault 94 was tailored to the needs of a congregation and to respect the values and beliefs of a religious intentional community. Antonio Salavar suggested his ex-wife, religious leader Gabriella Salavar, and her congregation to take residence in the vault. With the exception of Tyrone Hayes, a Vault-Tec Corporation maintenance engineer, all invited residents of this vault were members of her congregation (the tenet of faith), no weapons or ammunition were provided, nor had any turrets or other defensive systems been installed, while all robots were locked to a nonviolent conflict resolution mode (non-violence), living quarters were clustered to create communal residential spaces instead of individual residences with a community council model of government established to encourage dialogue and consensus-building among residents (communal life), and extensive agricultural facilities for the benefit of the community and any other survivors of a nuclear apocalypse (ecological harmony). Vault 94 was not assigned an overseer either, with the community council taking over their responsibilities, though Gabriella acted as its de facto leader. The council was encouraged to operate by consensus, and consensus was presumed unless otherwise indicated. Motions related to vault security would require a formal vote, which was conducted by swiping Vault ID cards in the card readers located in the council chamber.

Most importantly, Vault-Tec assumed that in the event of global nuclear war, multiple mass extinction events would happen. The primary mission of Vault 94 was to monitor and stabilize the local ecosystem, and to assist survivors outside the vault (if any) with their agricultural needs. Vault 94 was equipped with a complete agricultural research facility on top of its hydroponic facilities, including experimental greenhouses, aquaculture labs and a comprehensive seed bank containing all known plants suitable for edible or medicinal use. To prevent damage to the seed bank, the vault door would automatically seal when external radiation reached unsafe levels. The vault door was designed to be reopened after a mandatory minimum shelter period of one year. Finally, Vault 94 was also selected to receive a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) module. In the event of catastrophic environmental devastation, the G.E.C.K. was thought to be the best hope for the survival of humanity. As a security precaution, and to prevent premature use or misuse, the G.E.C.K. was sealed in a self-contained secure wing of the vault. Access to the G.E.C.K. wing required special authorization from the Vault 94 community council.

Two days before the Great War, Vault-Tec issued new orders for the staff maintaining the vault, with most of the staff wrapping up their assignments and returning to Vault-Tec University. Tyrone Hayes was instructed to stay behind as the only Vault-Tec employee, to maintain the vault and remain in touch with the invited residents, Pastor Salavar and her congregation, in case of nuclear war. He did as instructed. When the Great War came, he even deliberately stalled the door to allow a second bus of residents to arrive and find safety inside the vault.

What they did not realize was that Vault-Tec was absolutely not the benefactor they thought it to be. Vault 94 was a social experiment like most other vaults, and Tyrone Hayes was secretly designated as its special overseer. Vault 94 was designed to test the adaptability of ideological groups to changing social contexts. The pastor's congregation was an agrarian pacifist religious community, expected to reinforce that identity during the one-year shelter period, enjoying Vault 94's high-value resources and no lethal tools of any kind. By encouraging contact with the outside in both the mission outline and through Hayes, Vault-Tec hoped to observe how the residents would modify their belief system, improvise and adapt quickly in order to ensure their survival against armed, hostile people outside. Hayes was the only Vault-Tec official in the vault in order to minimize disruptions to their social order and avoid contaminating the experiment, under cover as a Vault-Tec maintenance engineer. Furthermore, he was prohibited from taking a role in their decision-making process. Instead, he was merely to observe the ensuing conflicts and report findings using the secure channel provided. While the congregation took to life in the vault well, Hayes did not. He stalled the door as best he could, but it sealed, leaving the second bus of prospective dwellers pounding on the massive door. That experience, listening to their cries and pleas, broke something inside Hayes. He instantly regretted enrolling at VTU. By November, he started adjusting, but remained an outsider. The congregation got along well, despite the shock of the nuclear war. Only Pastor Salavar gave him the cold shoulder, blaming Hayes for the people locked out of the vault. The distrust lasted well into the new year, especially when Hayes and her daughter, Angelique, started spending time together. When they finally got engaged and announced it at the council meeting in August 2078, Salavar did not take it well either.

As the shelter period drew to an end, Hayes became convinced that he needed to protect the vault from his former masters' plans, especially as the pastor's ambassador program was formally presented to the council and would result in people being invited to the vault. Despite Hayes' warnings and pleas, they refused to listen. Vault-Tec expected them to fight to survive and Hayes knew, as he was one of them by then, that they wouldn't do it under any circumstances. During the October 16 meeting, a week before the end of the mandatory shelter period, Hayes took to the council floor and came clean, explaining Vault-Tec's intentions and showing them his instructions as proof. He sacrificed everything, his relationship with Angelique and his standing with the community, only to see the ambassador program pass. The vault reopened on the first anniversary of the Great War, with ambassadors sent out after a short prayer for the victims of war. The dwellers prepared for the first visitors and even set up an experimental garden outside to see which crops, if any, could be reintroduced to the post-nuclear world. Everything was safe and secure for nearly a month as the vault waited for the first ambassadors to return. Hayes remained fearful of what would happen, while the entire community remained convinced that whoever was left out finally understood the futility of war, and was ready to listen, to live in peace.

Hayes was eventually proven right. Many of the vault ambassadors found a grisly end at the hands of the raiders of Pleasant Valley Ski Resort, tortured to death or outright killed, then propped up as decorations. The ambassadors who did return didn't bring anything better: A group of survivors from Harpers Ferry, dispatched by its mayor to verify the ambassador's claims, believed the message of peace was a trap for something more nefarious and massacred the residents. After killing everyone, including the pastor and Hayes, they eventually reached the G.E.C.K. in the secure wing. Already spooked by the dwellers' apparent docility, they assumed that it was a mind control device, responsible for the peculiar behavior of the congregation. The leader ordered his men to shoot up the G.E.C.K., resulting in a Level-6 nuclear event and radiation surge measured at 7,800 Rad/s. The resulting blast wave created the Mire almost instantly. The explosion could be felt for miles around and preceded a mysterious fog that came rolling down the eastern slopes of the Appalachians, twisting the flora and fauna as it came into contact with them. Ella Ames, the Free States' resident scientist, couldn't even begin to theorize what effect the G.E.C.K. could have on an environment when "improperly utilized," which soon became clear with the Mire's creation.

By 2102, the Vault 94 door was still sealed. Entrance required a vault access code, which only vault ambassadors carried. The corpses of many of the Vault ambassadors are scattered across Appalachia, however none of them still seem to be carrying their access codes. However, the residents of Vault 76 later accessed the vault as "Vault-Tec maintenance engineers."

Vault 63, 96 and 94 are associated with vault raids, team quests where there is an emergency in the vault that must be fixed. Player characters are notified through an emergency radio beacon. These are instanced dungeons, where groups of 1-4 can enter and attempt to complete the raid for the chance at unique rewards.

Layout
The exterior of the vault features a small experimental garden that had been set up by Vault 94 resident Maria Collins to test what crops could still grow in the post-War environment. There is a shallow pool of water near the garden, along with some derelict vehicles, shacks and crates. A cave leads into the Vault 94 entrance. There is a waist deep pool of water in the cave, which is covered from wall to wall with mutated vegetation endemic to the Mire.

Occupants
All of Vault 94's residents are deceased by 2102.

The corpses of 12 unnamed Vault dwellers wearing Vault 94 jumpsuits can be found scattered throughout Appalachia. These are the corpses of the ambassadors that had been sent out by Gabriella Salavar.

Notable loot

 * Antonio's holotape - Holotape.
 * Pump Alpha shutdown code - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Washout. Shuts down pump Alpha.
 * Pump Beta shutdown code - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Washout. Shuts down pump Beta.
 * Pump Delta shutdown code - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Washout. Shuts down pump Delta.
 * Pump Gamma shutdown code - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Washout. Shuts down pump Gamma.
 * Reactor interlock control key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Washout. Opens reactor interlock panels.
 * Tyrone Hayes' password - Holotape, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water and Vault Mission: Meltdown. Accesses Tyrone Hayes' terminal and utility room terminal.
 * Utility interlock key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown and Vault Mission: Washout. Accesses utility interlock panel.
 * Vault 94 access code - Holotape
 * Vault 94 G.E.C.K. recording - Holotape
 * Vault 94 community council recording - Holotape
 * Vault 94 requisition holotapes - Series of five holotapes, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown.
 * Vault 94 pump restart codes - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water.
 * Vault 94 reactor reset codes - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water.
 * Vault 94 water pressure regulation - Note, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown.
 * Vault 94 community council recording key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water. Opens sliding door to Community council chamber.
 * Vault 94 ID card - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown. Accesses Vault 94 voting stations.
 * Vault 94 maintenance engineer's ID card - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water. Accesses ID card reader to Maintenance engineer's room.
 * Vault 94 maintenance key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown. Opens sliding door.
 * Vault 94 nursery key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water and Vault Mission: Meltdown. Opens sliding door to nursery.
 * Vault 94 security ID card - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown and Vault Mission: Washout. Accesses ID card reader.
 * Vault 94 storage room key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Meltdown. Opens sliding door to storage room.
 * Vault 94 workroom key - Key, obtainable during Vault Mission: Dead in the Water and Vault Mission: Meltdown. Opens sliding door to workroom.

Appearances
Vault 94 appears only in Fallout 76.