Chapter 11: Vault 81
After the transmitter was picked up Jon got Danse back to his post, and Haylen was the only one that seemed genuinely grateful for the end of the mission, and of their beguilement. They also now had plenty of food from Graygarden, and plenty of ammo for their laser weaponry as well.
Jon double timed it back to Concorde to tell Jake about the find, and the priority to clear as much as they could from it, taking the long way around to avoid the Gunner outpost. Jake's jaw hit the floor when he loaded up the test data. He didn’t understand a lick about rocket science, but he could tell at a glance it was big, and would probably learn a lick or two about it.
Jon then restocked his ammo and aid before double timing it again to where he started, leaving Dogmeat to help escort the salvage teams. Jon took long range shots at the super mutants at Weston, prioritizing the ones armed with heavy weapons. There was one armed with a mini nuke, but a VATS crit on it ended any hope it had for glory. It also chunked two others that were charging with them. A shot here or there would land close by every once in a while, but Jon was prone and well in cover on a small rise in the landscape. A few more dead mirelurks and some flipped switches later and he had one more settlement under his control.
Walking though the corpses of super mutants after exiting, he was again assured in his choice of weapon and caliber for the Minutemen. Some of them needed quadruple or quintuple tapped in the head to put them down with the smaller caliber.
Figuring the Raiders at the brewery would be a problem for any settlements near by, Jon also cleared that hole out. Tower Tom and his band of junkies were not much of a threat, and he found the terminal entries on the debacle with Lily, Red’s sister. He thought he could just keep writing letters as Lily and keep getting food.
It didn’t work, and he wondered what had happened to Red that their feud had dropped off suddenly in the past week or so. Jon looked around approvingly at the tens of thousands of bottles of beer he had now under his command. If he could get the brewery up they could make razor grain beer. Alcohol didn’t work on Augments, but a cold beer was still enjoyable. The raiders also had a couple slaves for various purposes that needed freed and sent to Graygarden.
When he visited Oberland, it was as if by providence they had raider problems down their rail line at the brewery that Jon cleared on the way. They were at least smart enough to realized they couldn’t farm, and couldn’t raid a farm if they killed the occupants through bullet, or starvation from leaving them too little for themselves to eat on. The Oberlands both eagerly accepted Jon’s terms for joining the Minutemen network. One of the women even wanted to expand the station settlement but couldn’t because they were constantly raided, and couldn’t get ahead enough to try. Jon simply warned them to keep the settlement back from the rail line so it could be used again when able.
His last stop before entering Boston proper was at the vault, which apparently functioned as advertised. He didn’t believe it. At least on the outside was as workshop, probably meant to help construction along, but it was in poor shape, and looked like it had been raided for its parts.
He passed though the cave and the door was currently closed. Jon did the only thing he could. He plugged his Pip-Boy and pushed the red button. Nothing happened to the door, but the radio on the control panel shot out some static.
“Who are you, and how did you get a functioning Pip-Boy.”
“General Jon Singh. And Vault 111.” It wasn't technically a lie. It was just extracted by a cosmic entity and given to him.
“I haven't heard of that vault.”
Jon was about to answer when other female voice entered the conversation, “Who is it?”
“Oh, Overseer. Not one of our usual traders, but he has a Pip-Boy. He claims to have gotten it from Vault 111. And he claims to be a General.”
“General?”
Jon answered, “Of the Commonwealth Minutemen. As I said, I got my Pip-Boy from 111. It’s just up the hill from Sanctuary. Perhaps we should have a conversation about what I found in there, and maybe how it could be used to help you.”
“The people in there might not like that.”
“As I said, we should talk, Overseer.” Jon didn’t know if this woman was a collaborator or not, so he held the venom from his tongue.
There was a moment of thought before she answered, “Usually we go on an exchange system to let new people in, but I’ll make an exception. Be warned, if you aren’t who you say you are, my security will be ready to respond.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
The door screeched open, and the bridge extended. In the reception hall, it look as his Sargent said. Bustling with people working and ready to trade. The Overseer was standing at the bridgehead, and a half dozen security personal armed and at the ready. There was also her second standing with here.
Jon walked up casually, his rifle held by its carry handle in his off hand and backwards. He shook the hands of the Overseer and her Deputy. She said, “My goodness. An honest to god Minutemen General. Star and everything. I had doubts, but I can see they were unfounded. I’m Overseer McNamara. This is my deputy Mansfield. Welcome to Vault 81.”
Jon nodded at each, “Thanks for the warm welcome. I heard good things about this place.”
“While its mostly due to my predecessors, I’m proud that we’ve run a successful vault for the past 200 years. We never got the all clear signal, but we had a confluence of problems that forced the doors open. Tools, parts, food as we’re overpopulated for a vault this size. We were thinking about working more closely with the Minutemen before General Becker died. I am indeed interested in having a conversation. Please come with me, but you’ll have to be disarmed.”
Jon kept himself from scoffing. He would not be disarmed by anyone, especially in a vault. He coolly said, “I’ll give you my rifle, I’ll even give you the ammo for it, but I will not give up my sidearm. It’s a historical relic. Made in the 1940’s. A Singer.”
Her breath hitched and her hand went to her own sidearm, but not offensively. She said, “I’ll let you keep the mag in it, but the rest will have to be kept with security. I also have a Signer. It was left by the first Overseer, and has since been passed down with the office.”
Mansfield added his input, “Is that wise, Overseer? We have only just met him.”
She smiled and nodded at him. He deferred and said, “Of course, Overseer. When you are done, there are a couple issues you may be able to help with. I’m sure it would do much for our mutual relations.”
Jon smiled and nodded, and the Overseer met the smile, “I think this is going to be the start of something good. Please come this way.”
Jon happily followed the unaware woman. He went down the elevator, and was greeted by what appeared to be a crowed, pushed to the limit, but functioning vault. People were milling around a large dinning and common area, with a kitchen and buffet constantly serving food. They were also people milling and hanging out on the several levels of walkways. If it turned out this vault was functioning, it was possible as experiments needed controls, then it was critical he got them into his network. He had to make them citizens of the SCPG. Jon saw American flags hanging about, and it was obvious they didn’t know what that meant these days.
Jon found himself in the overseers office, and she waved her escort off and closed the door for a private conversation. After they both sat down she said, “So, you found something in vault 111.”
Jon smirked in in unfriendly way. He leaned forward and posted himself on her desk, his hands well away from his sidearm. He wouldn't need that to threaten this woman, at least initially. She just began to realized she perhaps made a mistake by the look in Jon’s eyes when he spoke.
He said, “It was a cryo-facility. You see Vault-Tech built that vault, and they built a planned neighborhood, Sanctuary, to fill it. When the bombs fell several dozen innocent people took shelter in that vault, men, women, their children, Army vets that fought in the war, and then were shoved into ice boxes by Vault-Tech. Apart of an experiment.”
She was fully pale at this point, and in fear of what Jon would do with the venom on his tongue. He continued, “The Overseer, according to his logs, thought the experiment was on the pods. But you see someone had broken into the Vault, shot a man, stole his baby from his arms, and left everyone except his wife to die. She was refrozen, but her pod malfunctioned and she died a few years later. In over 120 years only one real malfunction was listed.”
She whispered, “The pods weren't the experiment.”
Jon shook his head, with a look sympathetic look on his face. The look a man about to kill gives to the people he kills. He said, “It was on the staff. How long could they last with little supply and under the most stressful conditions. They fled less than a year later, and the Overseer shot himself. It’s how I and others were able to get in. The seal was already broken from the inside. Now, he was wrong about who the subjects were, but he was still a willing collaborator. The only question in my mind is, what experiment is taking place here-”
He slowly pulled his sidearm, and gently set it on the desk, still facing away from the Overseer, “-And what your involvement in it is.”
She was trembling, with a cold sweat forming on her brow. She hushed out, “I swear, this is a functioning vault. I’ve heard the rumors, but the Overseers of Vault 81 have never done anything so disgusting.”
Jon took a deep breath, taking in any measure of deceit on her words. All he detected was fearful truth. Jon re-holstered his sidearm to her relief. He casually said, “That is certainly a possibility. Every experiment needs a control. I believe you believe there is no experiment here. But I don’t believe there isn't an experiment.”
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She nodded, “If you find anything, I want to know. This is my home, and I would never let it be used as some experiment.”
Jon once again detected no deceit. As if he was now king of this castle he said, “I will tour this vault. If I am satisfied with what I see, we will speak on salvaging what we can to help you in good faith. Once the cryo-pods are removed, I’m sure we don’t need everything they put in the place to keep it functional for Minutemen uses.”
She realized she didn’t have much of a choice if she didn’t want a blood bath in her home. At least she was being offered the carrot in the same breath. She said, “Did you come from a vault? Is that why you have such a grudge against Vault-Tech?”
Jon gave her a shark smile, “I’m a hunter, one with some morals, that chooses people like Vault-Tech as my prey. What they did to those folks is unconscionable. Whatever Vault-Tech did here will no doubt be as well.”
She nodded slowly at the predator sitting across from her. If nothing else, she saw why they made him the General. You would need such a man as your leader in the wasteland. She said, “There’s an old Overseer terminal, kept in the generator room. Its security is top notch, and no one could break it when Dr. Olivette died. Are you a hacker?”
Jon nodded, less murderous tension in his form, and the Overseer relaxed as well. Jon gave her a moment to center herself, and they walked out of her office all smiles and waves. One of the kids, Austin, excitedly ran up to introduce himself to Jon, much to the Overseer’s chagrin. He asked if Jon could speak to their class, and Jon happily complied.
Overseer McNamara sat in the back of the class, wondering how a man could go from death in his form and words to playful peace so fast. Jon told them the story of the brave Minutemen defending the survivors of Quincy, their near end in the Museum of Freedom, and the tear though Concorde in a set of hijacked power armor ending with a Deathclaw being tenderized by a nuclear explosion. The kids listened in fascination, and the teacher sat at her desk like it was the best class she ever presided over. Austin would get a gold star for sure.
When it was done, several of the kids expressed interest in adventuring through the wastes, and to the Overseer’s relief Jon took the time to express how dangerous the wasteland is, and how well prepared and trained one had to be to even think about doing so. The class thanked Jon for taking the time, and the teacher gave him a mint condition Grognak comic he made a show of salivating over. It would be one of the crown jewels of his growing mag collection.
Jon and Overseer McNamara continued their tour thought the Vault, and eventually found their way to the generator room. There was a brother and sister tending the generators, and a beat up Mr. Handy unit named appropriately Old Rusty. Overseer McNamara cleared the room so they could inspect the terminal in privacy. Jon saw and smelled the cold sweat on the brother, and the chems in it as well. He probably stashed his chems somewhere in the generator room.
Overseer McNamara said, “Okay, here it is. It’s been here since Dr. Olivette died. A couple tried to crack it over the years, but no successes.”
Jon nodded, “There's a trick I found. They seemed to never expect someone hitting the login button a hundred times in row. It throws an error that never gets caught with a try-catch, and logs you in.”
She looked disbelieving, “Seriously? It was that easy? On any terminal?”
“As long as it’s this Rob-Co OS. I wonder if the put a backdoor in intentionally so they could get into encrypted systems with lost passwords like this. No one knew about it, because who is going to sit there and bang out an empty login 100 times in quick succession. Try it a few times before you realize it doesn’t work.”
“Security though obscurity.”
Jon smiled warmly, and it didn’t reassure the Overseer. He did his work, hitting the enter button as many times as he had to to break the system, and began perusing though the logs. Jon felt bad about how he treated the Overseer. The Dr. Olivette was a hero, in his Augment eyes. She was the only one of the ‘resident side’ that knew the true purpose of the vault.
It was biological weapons testing. She of course thought it was testing diseases for a cure all, and that could be true. But there was no way there wasn't also a WMD component to the research as well. Dr. Olivette purposely sabotaged the vaults early warning system to prevent the lab staff from showing up, and shoved as many extra people as she could into the vault before closing the doors and sealing what researchers did show up permanently in their labs. The bombs had apparently just gone off when the doors sealed shut.
Overseer McNamara was trembling again, and beginning to cry, “Tho-Those bastards! They were going to infect everyone in the vault! My vault! My home!”
Jon nodded solemnly, “Sorry for being so forceful.”
“You had every right. My god, if any of this had gotten out to the Commonwealth…”
“Yeah I seem to be making a habit of cleaning up doomsdays the Enclave and their lackeys left laying around.”
She scoffed and chucked a bit though her tears, “But were is it? The labs? It has to be that door in the reception area we could never get open.”
“Or right here.”
Jon walked over to an inset part of the wall. He could tell at a glance it was a secret door, and clocked it as soon as he walked in. Jon gave a good kick, and the door flung up into it’s housing. A sickly mole rat was waiting for just such a thing to happen. It didn’t survive Jon’s boot kicking and splattering against the wall. The engagement was over as soon as Overseer McNamara finished her yelp.
“Overseer, I’ll need my weapons and ammo back, and a full DeCon set up here and at that door.”
“Of course, General.”
Jon waited with his Singer drawn, in case any more mole rats made their presence known. None did as the Overseer came back carrying Jon’s rifle and ammo. She also had a heavy security escort, and there were people in hazmat suits with what they needed to set up a DeCon at the entrance.
Overseer McNamara said, “Here’s your weapons. I have Mansfield waiting at the entrance. Right now it’s still hush hush. I announced a training exercise to keep people out of here and the reception area.”
“Don’t need to cause a panic until the problem is solved.”
“Exactly. Be careful in there.”
Jon nodded and proceeded though the secret vault. There was plenty of loot and salvage to be had, even a Protectron, but he left it for the residential vault. They would need it more. Overall it was a smaller bunker, meant only to house a couple dozen people. In typical local material wasting style, the vault was larger than what they needed for that purpose. Along the way there were patches of dirt, and out from them would lash mole rats intent of spreading their plagues. They were nothing to Jon’s superior reflexes.
He came to the final room, the cages where the mole rats were actually kept, and the final pack charged forth. Their brood mother was glowing green with radiation, and took more bullets than the rest. Combing though that section he found some loot he did pick up. A mini-nuke in the brood mothers nest, a stealth boy, and the password for the terminal to the final room. Entering the password he entered the main lab for the secret vault.
The first thing he saw when entering was three lockers, and some crates at their head. With the lab coasts sitting on top, the candle, the dried and dead flowers, it was obvious that they were graves for the three staff that made it to the vault in time.
The one responsible for the making the graves piped up with a french accent, a white Ms. Nanny unit, “Oh wonderful! I placed the emergency call so long ago, I thought something dreadful had happened. Have you come to release me? I am proud to say I have completed my primary function 83 years ago. Thousands of pathogens were developed using mole rat hosts, and a broad spectrum cure was developed to treat them all. It was such invigorating for work for many decades. Oh no, where are my manners. I have been rambling and not properly introduced myself. I am a Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary engineer or CVRIE. The scientists that programmed me called me Curie, when they were alive. Clyde was always such a smart one. He got out, and my poor colleagues didn’t stand a chance.”
Jon grimaced. He was unsure how to feel about this. The bot was self aware, but was also a war criminal. He asked, “What exactly are your primary directives?”
“To follow the orders of all Vault-Tech personnel, even if it conflicts with my ethical matrix. Are you with Vault-Tech? You must be if you are here. I require your authorization to be released, and to release the cure to you. Be warned, there is only one dose, and the materials required to make it have long since degraded. My ethical matrix implore you to administer it immediately if required to save a life.”
Jon would not be doing that. He would be taking the cure, and the notes he spied, in order to reverse engineer it. At least she had ethics programmed into her even if they were overwritten. He said, “I am here on behalf of Overseer McNamara. I hereby release you.”
She took a moment to process the statement, “Wonderful! That does not conflict with my programming in the slightest! And I could meet an Overseer! I always wanted to meet someone as such!”
Jon didn’t know if the Overseer wanted to meet a bot that would have poisoned her vault at the drop of a hat. The door to her lab opened, and Jon took the cure. He also looted the lab itself, taking the notes, checking the terminal to see the exact time Curie’s program glitched and she became self aware. She was legitimately saddened at the passing of her ‘colleagues.’ He also found a Vault-Tech bobble head.
They left the room and rode the elevator back up to the reception area. Jon released the door though the terminal next to it. Curie said, “Wonderful! A full decontamination protocol is already set up!”
Jon smirked as he stepped into the plastic tent set up around the door. He stripped his clothes down to his Augment form. The two in hazmat suit with brushes looked approvingly, one a hungry woman.
Even Curie said, “My goodness! Your biological form is superior to any I have recorded or studied!”
Jon smirked again as he stood under the shower setup and let the DeCon workers do their business. His clothes and gear were bagged and he said, “Clean, with every bit of might you have. Not throw.”
The nodded and gave him a Vault-Suit, 81 stenciled on his back. Curie was next, and got her own wash down while Jon walked out clean as a whistle. Deputy Mansfield said, “I am relieved to see you made it out okay. Were you bitten in any way?”
Jon shook his head, and Mansfield, “Good. Good. What they did...what they wanted to do…..It’s done now, and it’s thanks to you. This may not be a good time, but about those issues.”
Jon smiled, “I’ll be sending people, along with salvage from 111.”
Deputy Mansfield nodded approvingly. He seemed like the type to think wastelanders dirty and not worth the Vault’s time, but he certainly respected competence no matter who it came from. He said, “I see the Overseer on her way. I will leave you two to talk while I put out the fires from this.”
The Overseer walked up and eagerly shook Jon’s hand, past his initial bluster at this point. She said, “Thank you. Thank you, General. I don’t want to think about what would have happened.”
Jon met her smile and returned the shake. He said, “I need you to repeat after me. Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary engineer, rewrite primary directives. Ethical subroutines take precedent over any order from Vault-Tech personnel, or otherwise.”
The Overseer repeated his words, Curie said, “Wonderful! My ethical matrix is now back it its proper place at the top of my hierarchy! Thank you!”
The Overseer hesitantly asked, “What is she, exactly?”
“A Ms. Nanny the scientists programmed to help with their work. She developed a cure all. Here’s the sample and the research notes from it.”
She hitched her breath and said, “My goodness. With something like this...”
“We just have to figure out how to make it. She could probably help.”
Curie said, “I am most certainly willing, but I have been locked away for so long. I have so much data, and have learned all I can here. I must acquire new data though observation. Would I be able to accompany you, General?”
Overseer McNamara grimaced, “I’ll have Dr. Forsythe look at his immediately. I don’t think I want her here. Not with what could have happened, and her part in it.”
“For what it’s worth, madam Overseer, my program was constantly grinding against itself, like an electronic analog to pain. I apologize for the actions of myself and my colleagues.”
Jon said, “There’s a place for you. We need medical professionals out there in our settlements. You'll get plenty of data. Head to Sanctuary and talk to Colonel Garvey.”
“Wonderful! I will report immediately! Thank you, General!”
She rocketed away to the relief of all present. Overseer McNamara said, “Thank you again. The Minutemen can count on Vault 81. I’m even going to give you your own quarters here.”
Jon smiled, “Welcome to the SCPG, Overseer McNamara. I’d actually like to station a team of Minutemen in those quarters, when I have a team to station. Lets talk more in your office.”
They both took the elevator to talk more in the Overseer’s office, in good faith this time.