Vault-Tec Corporation Overview
The Overseer, is the former leader of Vault 76. She left the Vault prior to Reclamation Day on a mission from Vault-Tec. She subsequently re-emerged in Appalachia and united with the dwellers of her Vault, in assisting with the human resettlement of the region.
Background
Pre-War
The only child of a couple from Sutton, the overseer was a driven woman from the start. Whether it was running through a cornfield maze, getting straight A's in every possible subject or leading a troupe of Pioneer Scouts, she was always hitting life hard and fast, with barely any time left for herself.[1] Her father was a teacher, and her mother was a miner working for one of Appalachia's many conglomerates. Together, they led a happy, content life, an American idyll, against a backdrop of the ever-worsening international situation and the Resource Wars.[2][3]
She was one of the best students at the Morgantown High School, spending most of her time in the library honing her skills. However, tragedy struck when her mother was killed in a mining accident. In West Virginia, this was a common family story, but it did not make a difference for the future overseer. She withdrew into the library, seeking shelter among books, while her father tried to put the pieces back together. She fell in love with Evan around the same time. He graduated a year earlier than her and went to work in the mines like her mother, who had introduced the two. After her mother's death, Evan stuck with her, bringing her lunch to the library each day after his shift was over.[4]
The other pivotal event in her life was the career fair at Morgantown, where she met the Vault-Tec team. In her eyes, it was "like a light turned on." She decided to dedicate herself to protecting families, the future, and America. With her grades, it was a matter of course for her to be accepted into the Vault-Tec University. Her father was just happy to have her stay in West Virginia.[4] After four years of learning and breathing Vault-Tec, and a field posting at the Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center,[1] the overseer finally graduated, with a degree in nuclear fusion[5] and honors in the overseer track.
She was fast-tracked for an overseer position, skipping years of waiting, and at Vault 76 to boot, a promising Vault in Appalachia. When she learned the news, she was ecstatic and Evan proposed on the spot. She accepted his proposal. On July 4, 2076, she attended the opening ceremony of Vault 76's completion. The only darker side of this time period, apart from the looming atomic holocaust, was the death of her father a few months later.[6]
However, she soon learned the truth about the Vaults, the Societal Preservation Program, and the experiments that were going to be carried out on the dwellers. Although Evan wanted her to go public with the information, she hesitated. While she knew that experimenting on other dwellers was ethically wrong, the goal of finding the most suitable people to repopulate, to understand humanity pushed to the extremes, was a goal she could understand and empathize with. She justified it as necessary for the survival of humanity. Vault-Tec found out about her in short order, but instead of retaliating, the corporation instead took her into confidence, tricking her into believing they were the "good guys" in the situation. She was initially slated to be the overseer of Vault 101 due to her engagement with Evan; only by entering Vault 76 as an unmarried woman could she remain in Appalachia. She chose Vault 76 over Evan, and while she felt guilty over her decision, she expressed her belief that Evan was not Vault 76 material and that she had done what she thought was best for the world, as well as enforcing her desire to remain in her home state.[7]
If the overseer had attempted to enter Vault 76 with Evan, the corporation would have had to give Evan a spousal exemption, and the Vault had a long list of candidates more qualified than a mere miner, such as a civil engineer and a cousin to a Vault-Tec executive. The overseer broke off her engagement, betraying Evan and leaving him on the surface. She would not learn of his fate until 25 years down the road, finding him (or what remained of him) as Evan succumbed to the Scorched Plague, asking the Vault Dweller to put him out of his misery, as she worked towards securing the nukes and containing the plague.[8]
Post-War
Although the early years were difficult, as the overseer was the youngest among the Vault residents, surrounded by the creme de la creme of society, she eventually gained their trust and learned to cooperate.[8] At one point, she was awarded with the distinction of "Vault Dweller of the Year."[9]
She served at her post for 25 years, until Reclamation Day, on October 23, 2102. On that day, the overseer left Vault 76 several hours ahead of the others. A prepared recording greets the player character through the intercom while instructing them to leave the Vault. After ensuring the well-being of every Vault inhabitant for 25 years, she was directed by Vault-Tec to secure three nuclear silos, namely Sites Alpha, Bravo and Charlie, for them, even if it meant going against the United States Armed Forces. She left a holotape for Pennington to give to the player character asking for assistance in her dangerous task. Scouting Appalachia for the silos, she also left a trail of holotape logs and journals for these individuals to find, and to help follow her.[10]
Besides her Vault-Tec mandated job of finding the nuclear silos, the overseer journeyed to various locations in Appalachia to view what had become of her homeland. After realizing that Appalachia was initially bereft of human presence near the Vault but rife with mutants and rogue bots, she deployed her C.A.M.P. at the crossroads north of Flatwoods, setting up a rallying point for the dwellers. Against her advice, she left it behind, so that the dwellers could use it, while she moved south into Flatwoods.[11] Flatwoods was even more depressing than her first impressions, abandoned and ruined. She encountered her first Scorched victim there and realized that the situation was even worse than anticipated. The next stop was trying to find remnants of the Responders.[12]
She remembered taking flight lessons at the airport, but after its fall to the scorchbeasts and their minions, it was a wasteland. The overseer analyzed the Scorched, observing them from afar and realized the terrible truth: The disease took over its host, eventually burning them from the inside out, creating petrified, fragile corpses that fell apart.[13] Although the Responders proved to be a dead-end, the automated training they left behind came in use. She moved south to Charleston, tracking down the Fire Breathers.[14]
She eventually managed to find her fiancé Evan, who turned into a Scorched. Heartbroken, she locked him up in a warehouse basement atop Mount Blair and picked up the trail, focusing on the job at hand.[8][15] Although she despised the Free States, seeing them as traitors and secessionists who turned their backs on America, she needed to know what they knew and what they wanted to do.[16] She continued to Charleston and the capitol building, where the office of Senator Sam Blackwell was located.[17]
Unable to continue, she turned to the other clues found during her investigation, such as the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. She picked up the trail at Camp Venture, continuing to their fortified headquarters at what was once Allegheny Asylum.[18] She realized they were a military outfit descended from the Army at Allegheny, and that they knew how to fight the Scorched. However, the secure elevator installed by the Brotherhood stood in her way. The only way get through it was to enlist.[19] She headed to Camp McClintock, where the automated training system put her through her paces and eventually accepted her into the Army, as Overseer Private/Private Overseer (she never really decided on which one sounded better).[20]
[21] However, even as an Army soldier, her rank was too low to fool the automated systems at any of the silos. She never reached The Whitespring Bunker, and was thus unable to gain a promotion, she feared that someone might figure out how to access them, sooner or later.[22][23] The overseer was disappointed to discover fellow Vault Dwellers launching nukes manufactured by the Appalachian Automated Launch System, away from fissure sites and into other areas.[24][25][26]
Wastelanders
After Vault 76 opened, the overseer noticed the new arrivals in Appalachia. As a result, knowing that her Vault 76 family would need guidance again with information pertaining to the newcomers to the area, the overseer set up her new home in the town of Sutton, only a short distance up the road from where her C.A.M.P. had been set up when she left Vault 76 a year ago. When Vault Dwellers found her at her new house, she took them downstairs to meet her Mr. Handy assistant Davenport. She explained the details regarding Appalachia becoming populated again, but also asking them if they took care of the Scorched Plague with finding the inoculation that the Responders had been working on at AVR Medical Center before they and the other factions were wiped out by the Scorched and scorchbeasts.
If the newcomers are not given the inoculation, they could fall victim to the Scorched Plague and the threat of the Scorched getting beyond Appalachia would start all over again. To prevent this, she asks them to travel to the Crater and Foundation, meet the settlers and raiders, and convince them to be given the inoculation to ensure if they are attacked by the Scorchbeasts, they will be safe from the Plague and can fight back against them alongside the Vault Dwellers to ensure they can't threaten the lands beyond Appalachia.
Once the leaders of the two factions agree to have their groups inoculated, the overseer joins with the Vault Dwellers as they travel to the Kanawha Nuka-Cola Plant to use their own blood and inherent antibodies to mass-produce the inoculation to deliver to the settlers and raiders, thus protecting them from the Scorched Plague.[27] The overseer would participate in the distribution effort, visiting the Crater at some point.[28]
After inoculating the settlers and raiders, the decision is made to then investigate Vault 79, the real reason everyone is returning to Appalachia due to rumors of treasure being hidden in the Vault and everyone wanting to get a piece of it, including the settlers and raiders. Traveling back to her alma mater, Vault-Tec University in Morgantown with one of the Vault Dwellers, the overseer learns from the Professor-Bot now in charge of VTU that her access to the university's restricted wing has been revoked. Only when one passes the overseer exam in the Simulation Vault does the Professor-Bot grant them access.
The group must progress through a maintenance area accessed from the simulation Vault, guarded by some of the campus' surviving security robots. Once finding the restricted wing, the overseer discovers that Vault 79 had been built by Vault-Tec to preserve the United States' gold bullion reserves from Fort Knox in the event of nuclear war, and is heavily fortified to prevent theft. The overseer realizes only two factions would have the knowledge and skill to break into Vault 79 to get at the gold; the settlers and the raiders. As a result, she asks the Vault Dweller to speak to their respective leaders, Paige and Meg, to see if one or both of the groups would be willing to join forces with the individuals to access Vault 79 and retrieve the gold.
She later learns of the success in getting into Vault 79 with either the Settlers or Raiders and is happy to know that it looks like Appalachia will soon be getting back on its feet thanks to the gold and her intentions for it being put to good use.
Interactions overview
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
| This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. | ||
| This character is a temporary companion. | ||
| This character is involved in quests. |
| |
Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vault 76 Jumpsuit Eyeglasses |
Combat shotgun |
Related holotapes
Overseer's Log:
- Overseer's log - Vault 76
- Overseer's log - C.A.M.P.
- Overseer's Log - Flatwoods
- Overseer's log - Morgantown
- Overseer's log - Firehouse
- Overseer's log - Top of the World
- Overseer's Log - Free States
- Overseer's log - Camp Venture
- Overseer's log - Allegheny
- Overseer's log - McClintock
- Overseer's log - Charleston
- Overseer's log - Fort Defiance
- Overseer's log - Grafton
- Overseer's log - Site Alpha
- Overseer's log - Site Bravo
- Overseer's log - Site Charlie
- Overseer's log - Nuke launch
- Overseer's log - Mountainside
Overseer's Journal:
Notes
- Prior to the release of Wastelanders, the overseer's name or likeness was never confirmed in-game, although a cartoon depiction of her is shown in the Personal Matters quest achievement graphic. A woman resembling this depiction can be seen sitting on the seat closest to the lectern during the speech about the completion of Vault 76 in the opening cutscene, as well as in the opening slides where the Vault Dwellers are being trained for Reclamation Day. In-game files, including an NPC simply named "Overseer" confirm that this woman is indeed the overseer. Her body existed in the game files but was not used anywhere in the game prior to Wastelanders.
- When in the overseer's childhood home in Sutton, one can view her Vault-Tec University diploma on the wall where she majored in "nuclear fusion" and her SPECIAL stats are listed on it in addition to other course scores. However, the lines beside her SPECIAL stats are skewed, with 8 numbers listed instead of 7.
- According to her report on the Top of the World building, she is shown to have an extreme intolerance for profanity.
Quotes
- "Good morning, Vault 76. This is the Overseer. I hope you all enjoyed the party last night. Even those who may have overindulged and... overslept. But it's time to get up and get out there. We've been locked away long enough. Today... is Reclamation Day. It may be time to leave, but I'll never forget the day you all entered Vault 76. You come from every walk of life, every race, color, and creed. But you all share one very important trait. You are this country's best and brightest. But more importantly... you'll always be my family."
- "The more I travel this godsforsaken 'Wasteland,' the more I realize what truly destroyed West Virginia. And what destroyed any chance the survivors had of... actually surviving. Mistrust. All these divergent groups... Responders, Brotherhood of Steel, whatever. Separately, they had everything necessary to beat the odds. Brains, brawn, and bravado to spare. And what did they do? Close ranks. Get paranoid. Refuse to work with one another. And it cost them all their lives."
- "The real question is: how do you live with yourself, knowing that's what you've done. Honestly? You worry and hope and bargain and wish it's not true, then one day you wake up, and it just doesn't bother you anymore. You've blinded yourself. So you can keep going."
- "Look, I believe in Vault 76. I still do. That's why I know we'll get past this. I can't undo the nukes being used, but we can build a better future together."
- "Abandoned you? Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to walk out that Vault door on my own? Knowing I might not see any of you ever again? Breaking Vault-Tec protocol to leave behind my C.A.M.P.? The holotapes? The care packages? All with the vague hope that they might keep you all safe? I've never stopped being your Overseer. Never."
- "That's added your blood sample as an ingredient. I guess that technically makes you Nuka-Cola's newest flavor? Actually, maybe don't think about that too much."
- "If there's anything I've learned in all this, it's that humans can and will abuse technology. So, I agree with the Brotherhood's stance on collecting and containing technology... To a degree. Our world has become wild, deadly. People need to be able to protect themselves-not out of some classic American principle, but out of survival. If they plan to hoard away weaponry, they must offer protection in return. And I can't imagine they have the numbers, or possibly the will, to do so."
Appearances
The Vault 76 overseer appears in Fallout 76, introduced in the Wastelanders update.
Gallery
Attending Vault 76's opening ceremony on July 4, 2076
Attending Vault 76's opening ceremony on July 4, 2076
During The New Arrivals
As depicted in Personal Matters
As depicted in Overdue Reunions
As depicted in The New Arrivals, Overseer, Overseen and Photo Opportunity
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References
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