Reuben Gill

Reuben Gill, referred to as the Vault 51 overseer in-game, is the deceased overseer of Vault 51 found in the Forest region of Appalachia.

Background
One of the several dwellers placed at Vault 51, Gill was in love with Helen Marks, a feeling that helped him survive the engineered crises and indignities, such as the one in mid-April 2078, when Harold Clark (an executive posing as Clayton Ward, a plumber) kicked him out of one of ZAX's luxury bedrooms to claim it as his own. Reuben's cynicism differed from Helen's earnest belief in the human condition. This difference became apparent after they found the corpses of Carmen Greene, Matthew Johnston and Elizabeth and Joel Chambers on August 3, 2078, and Reuben commented that at least their deaths meant "more food" for the rest of the dwellers, disgusting Helen.

Helen was found dead on August 6, 2078, having presumably been poisoned by an unknown individual. This drove Reuben Gill to go on a rampage and kill other residents, starting with those that he held grudges against, namely Harold Clark. Gill killed at least three other dwellers and was selected as overseer by ZAX after he was left the lone survivor of the ensuing chaos and violence in the vault.

For the next six years, Gill lived in the empty vault, constantly shadowed by ZAX. With nothing to do but subsist from day to day, he provided little useful feedback for the AI, which eventually rescinded his privileges and started locking him out of sections of the vault. Beginning May 20, 2084, overseers were given ranks in Vault 51 and Reuben, as a Rank 1 overseer, lacked privileges and special rations. On March 3, 2094, ZAX locked Reuben out of his office, citing maintenance concerns.

ZAX ultimately removed a drunken Gill from his position as overseer on October 23, 2102, the same day Vault 76 opened. This marked the start of the process to select a new overseer and, as a resident of Vault 51, Reuben was required to participate in the new process.

The date of Gill's escape from Vault 51 is unclear, as dated records place him both within and outside of Vault 51 at conflicting times. Gill escaped the vault by stowing away in a large crate using ZAX's Vertibird delivery system - a system using Vertibirds that ZAX did not control until January 2103. A separate terminal entry dated June 2, 2108 gives the exact date of Reuben's escape. The crate was dropped in Morgantown outside the Super-Duper Mart. Reuben's goal was to contact anyone from Vault 76 and seek their assistance in destroying ZAX. As he learned more about post-War Appalachia, it only reaffirmed his mission. During this time, he successfully made contact with a Vault 76 resident.

In contrast, other records exist showing that by October 30, 2102, Gill attempted to return to Vault 51, specifically the Appalachian Shelters Claim Center, believing it to be a control center for the vault. Upon learning it was simply a marketing area, Gill attempted to hack back into the vault's network, in order to learn more about the network that automated the vault and get back inside. Despite a heavy firewall and lack of clearance protecting the network, Gill continued in his efforts, deciding to use the internal network of Mr. Clark, the Shelter Claim Center's Mister Handy, to contact the vault.

After taking some time to simply watch the vault for an unknown period of time, Gill reflected on he and the other residents' time inside, wondering if messages sent from inside ever made it out, but still determined to hack into the network. By December 7, 2102, Gill finally hacked into the network, alerting ZAX and sending another question. However, he learned that the vault was not fully automated, which perturbed him. After learning his network access attempt made Mr. Clark refer to him as "Mr. Candidate," in a manner reminding him of ZAX 1.3c, Gill decided to locate building supplies to construct turrets, as well as a beverage, if only to get far away from Vault 51 temporarily. Reuben's goal in both situations was to contact anyone from Vault 76 and seek their assistance in destroying ZAX. As he learned more about post-War Appalachia, it only reaffirmed his mission. During this time, he successfully made contact with a Vault 76 resident. However, he died before he could ever fully realize his mission in destroying the Vault 51 ZAX.

Related holotapes

 * Helen Marks & Reuben Gill - 20780803 - Holotape, inside Vault 51 on a pushcart in the medical room.
 * Reuben Gill - 20840520 - Holotape, inside Vault 51 on a desk near a terminal in the security room.
 * Reuben Gill - 20940303 - Holotape, inside Vault 51 next to a TV in the overseer's bedroom.
 * Reuben Gill - 21021023 - Holotape, inside Vault 51 on a bureau in a room to the northwest.
 * Reuben Gill to whoever finds this vault - Holotape, inside Vault 51 next to a terminal at the entrance.

Appearances
Reuben Gill appears only in Fallout 76, first introduced in the Wild Appalachia update. His story, along with Vault 51, was expanded upon in Nuclear Winter and Steel Dawn.