I transferred to Vault Tec University in my last year of study. It was more of a practical decision than personal preference as I was swimming in debt and had heard that participation in some of their more dubious studies could help broke students earn quick cash. I could only hope that it would be less toxic than my recent taste testing stint at the Nuka Cola bottling plant, or at least pay more. 

I was supposed to be entering my sixth year of college life, but had no real plan for what to do after I graduated. If the rumors were true, I could attempt to get a job offer from Vault Tec and get a much needed financial infusion before heading north, where prospects seemed better.

The economy in West Virginia had been built on despair, but in recent years it had become almost impossible to find work in anything but mining or Vault Tec subsidiaries. Generations of Meyers had worked the rocky hills and cavernous mines of Appalachia and leaving would be a bittersweet ending to a proud legacy of poverty and desperation. My father’s dying words had been ‘Get the hell out of here’ and that was exactly what I planned to do.

When I was accepted to the small liberal arts college just south of Charleston after high school, I was thrilled. The school itself was one of the few that hadn’t been taken over by large corporations and many of the best staff from WVU were hired there after Vault Tec took over the institution and purged anyone who objected to the new focus on associated technologies.

I was able to complete my degree in Anthropology and Psychology during the initial influx of talent, but the school began to founder financially and was forced to cut staff and classes and by the last year I was only able to take one course in my MFA program. I realized that while I yearned to write, the world no longer had a need for novels; instruction manuals were the only reading most people would attempt now and even those, with the limited education provided by impoverished local governments, were a slog.

So there I was, completely broke with a useless degree from a now defunct college, standing at the pearly gates of Vault Tec U, hoping to hell that the connections I could make there would get away from this god forsaken hellhole.

‘Natalia Meyers.’

The secretary’s nasal voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I shook my head before heading towards the reception desk, attempting to smile and praying they wouldn’t notice how threadbare my pants had become. The office was bright and cheerful with the Vault Tec logo proudly displayed in every nook and cranny. The secretary had a fixed smile on her face and I wondered if she kept it there due to the threatening presence of the copious Mr. Handys hovering in every corner. That thought triggered a chill down my spine but I shrugged it off as I entered the sterile admissions office and took a seat at the desk, facing a suited male version of the secretary.

‘Hello, Ms. Meyers.’ I could see him glancing at my name on the paper in front of him. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Likewise.’ I was fairly certain he didn’t know or care that I was lying. 

‘As you know, the admission process is usually handled via the terminals in the foyer, but your CV was flagged and sent directly to me.’ He continued smiling and I wondered if it was even possible for his face to have any other expression. ‘We don’t normally get applicants of your caliber so the higher ups wanted me to discuss something with you specifically.’ 

By ‘my caliber’ I assumed that he meant functionally literate.

‘Ah, yes. You know how to use firearms also, correct?’

‘Yeah, but..’ Memories of shooting with my dad flashed through my mind. How did they know and what else from my past were they aware of?

‘Excellent.’ He cut me off before I could ask. ‘You also have no remaining family?’ This was getting creepy.

‘Uh, yeah. My dad died a few years ago and other than a few distant cousins…’ 

‘Perfect.’ He cut me off again.

‘Mr., uh’ The vibe I was getting from this nondescript pencil pusher was worrying, to say the least, and I slowly pulled my bag off the floor and began to stand. ‘I think I should be going, sir. This might not be the right place for me.’

‘Nonsense.’ He stood and extended his manicured hand. ‘Welcome to the Vault Tec family.’ A Mr. Handy entered the small room and I wondered if leaving now could be classified as an escape attempt. This combined with the thought of having to work at the local Super Duper Mart made me take his limp hand and gave it a quick shake. ‘Gaylord here will take you to our processing center and a staff member will be in touch to discuss what we have planned for you.’

‘That’s great, but could you tell me more?’ The only thing I wanted was a way to become generally employable in a non-minimum wage job and I wasn’t sure the special program he was talking about was the solution.

‘Of course. Vault Tec U’s purpose is to prepare you for the future- don’t worry Natalia.’ He motioned to the door and I followed Gaylord through a maze of offices where I filled out forms, gave blood, posed for photos and was issued a standard blue Vault Tec jumpsuit. When I was finally taken to my small room, I was so exhausted that I passed out on the Vault Tec branded bed without undressing.

Something was ringing. It yanked me out of an embarrassingly inappropriate dream featuring myself, Grognak and the Mistress of Mystery and I groaned loudly before pulling the receiver to my ear. ‘What?’

‘Good morning Ms. Meyers, this is Constance Trudeau and I’ll be your indoctrination coordinator here at Vault Tec University.’

‘What am I being indoctrinated into?’ I didn’t like her chipper voice or the work indoctrination.

‘Oh, it’s just a phrase we use.’ She laughed a little too quickly and I felt my skin prickle. ‘I’ll be at your door in 15 minutes. Please be ready. Thank you!’

She hung up before I could say anything. I sniffed my armpits and realized that while I wasn’t fresh, I could get by for another day with a ragadouche. I pulled off my stinky clothes, brushed my teeth and pulled on the bright blue jumpsuit that I had been issued. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but laugh at the entire situation.

‘Remember, you’re only here until you can find something else.’ At that moment, there was a light knock at the door. I quickly crammed my red hair into a sloppy bun, slapped some water on my face and attempted to look like a functional human being. When I opened the door a few minutes later, I was greeted by a smiling, chipper woman with perfect teeth and cropped blonde hair that didn’t appear to follow the normal rules of gravity.

‘Good morning, Natalia.’ She stuck out her hand, but instead of a handshake, she was holding a large contraption with a screen and a bunch of straps. ‘Before we get started, I’m going to need you to put this on.’

‘What is it?’ I took the device that was like a small TV on a wristband. She grabbed it and expertly fastened the contraption to my left arm. It was surprisingly light but I could tell it would really get in my way.

‘It’s a Pip-Boy. We use it to monitor your vitals and ensure that your training is progressing as planned. All of the program participants have to wear them.’ She flashed me her flat smile and I was not reassured. ‘I promise that after a few hours you won’t even know it’s there. Follow me please.’

I could tell by the tone of her voice that this was not a request so I closed my door and shadowed her down the hall. The lights were bright and I could already feel a light headache coming on as we passed dozens of identical offices with identical people doing identical jobs. Mr. Handy’s floated past with files, cups of coffee and various other office accouterments. The bright colors and striking functionality were such a strong contrast to the world I had been living in that I blinked my eyes and shook my head slightly to make sure it wasn’t some sort of fever dream.

She was chattering about something and I noticed classrooms full of jumpsuit-clad students out of the corner of my eye. I figured that I would be attending some of the classes, but today would probably just be orientation to familiarize myself with the campus. We boarded an elevator and she pushed the button simply labeled Vault, inserted a key and I could feel my ears pop as we began our descent.

‘Uh, what floor is this?’ I asked as the door opened and I moved my jaw to unclog my ears.

‘There’s no number, silly. Welcome to the training vault.’ 

I looked around at dozens of technicians who were rushing between stations barking out orders. The interior of the vault was clean and white, with carpeting and furniture to give it a veneer of hominess. There was still an antiseptic smell and I couldn’t help but notice the normal looks on the workers’ faces. This place was infinitely more tolerable than upstairs and I relaxed slightly.

Constance was still talking and I refocused on what she was saying.

‘...was constructed last year and represents the most cutting edge technology available in the world today.’ She stopped in the cafeteria and turned to smile at me. ‘So, Natalia. This is where you will spend most of your time.’

‘In the cafeteria?’ I was being facetious.

‘Oh, you’re being facetious.’ She smiled again and as a tall, beefy guy in a lab coat walked over, I immediately regretted not putting a little more effort into my appearance. He handed Constance some paperwork and stood there as if waiting to be introduced. I took the initiative and held out my hand.

‘Hi, I’m Natalia- but my friends call me Nat.’ He took it and squeezed lightly. I could see the trace of a smile on his lips, but he maintained a serious expression and I couldn’t help but hope that it was only for appearances.

‘Nice to meet you. I’m Danse Peterson. Welcome to the program.’ He released my hand and turned back to Constance, who was still looking at the papers. She gleaned at me quickly, frowned and they walked away for a few words with Danse. He walked off and my mood soured- I made a mental note to track him down later.

‘Ok.’ The fake smile had returned to her face. ‘Follow me please.’ She still had the papers and I followed her into a clinic where she motioned for me to lay on an inclined hospital bed. A woman with bobbed brown hair and a clipboard walked in, looked me over, then took the papers from Constance.

‘Good morning, I’m Dr. Wright.’ I nodded, remembering the poking and prodding from yesterday and wondering what else they needed to know. 

‘Does she know why she’s here?’ Dr. Wright seemed slightly concerned as she looked over my paperwork.

‘No, she doesn’t.’ I was suddenly feeling annoyed. ‘And I don’t understand why I need all of this medical work to write some fucking instruction manuals for your stupid vaults.’ The two women looked at each other and Dr. Wright put the clipboard down on the table beside me.

‘Natalia- you’re not here to write instruction manuals.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Do you know what we do here?’

‘Yeah- you’re making survival vaults for the nutjobs who are convinced they can ride out a nuclear war underground.’ Dr. Wright opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Constance who served up the company line.

‘Our goal is to save the best and brightest of humanity so that when we emerge, we can build a better world together.’ 

‘Constance- I appreciate your help getting Natalia oriented, but I’ll take it from here.’ Constance smiled and turned to leave. ‘Fucking sys.’ Dr. Wright swore under her breath as she gathered my paperwork.

‘What?’ I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly, but had a million more important questions and she seemed like the right person to answer them. ‘Dr. Wright..uh..’ 

‘Call me Piper.’ She stood and pulled a hood from behind the bed. ‘Can you take your hair down? We’re going to run a few tests on your brain functions.’ She pulled a tight cap over my head and went over to her computer terminal to type a few commands. There was some beeping and a nearby printer sprang to life.

‘Let’s have a quick chat about what your job here will involve.’ She walked back over to me and I realized that I already felt more relaxed now that Constance was gone. ‘I don’t want you to feel any pressure to stay. The staff upstairs can be incredibly pushy. It’s their job to recruit, but we’re more concerned with performance. If you’re not happy, you won’t do good work- and we need good work, understand?’ I nodded slightly and she continued.

‘You and Constance are both mostly correct. Vault Tec builds vaults for refuge in case of nuclear annihilation, but we’ve been tasked by the government to do more.’ She gently removed the Pip Boy and put a band around my arm. ‘The problem is that we have no idea what those who have been saved will encounter when they emerge if and when the worst happens.’ I noticed she bit her lip and wondered how much more she knew about world events than I did. She paused for a moment, ostensibly to check some settings, then moved on.

‘We’ve constructed vaults throughout the United States, hoping that some areas will be spared obliteration. Each vault will have different objectives; some will be occupied by conscious inhabitants to maintain ecosystems while others will be put into cryo sleep and awakened when it’s deemed safe to reemerge in their region.’

‘So why am I here?’ It seemed like the most logical question. While incredibly interesting, I couldn’t see where I fit into the plan.

‘Your job, Natalia, is to work with our simulation team to develop scenarios that will train the occupants while they are in stasis. We have combat experts, chemists and botanists working on skill development, but we need to assemble it into a recognizable narrative so it’s not just years of training. Basically, we want to prepare them for the worst case scenario before they encounter it. Also, it’s important to keep their minds functioning. We’ve had…uh…issues with lack of mental stimulation in cryo subjects.’ Piper adjusted the headpiece and went back to her terminal. ‘Right now I’m checking out your brain waves to make sure you’re a good candidate for Future Tec.’ 

‘So..will this vault be operational?’ I felt like I needed to say something after her long exposition dump.

‘This one is a simulation designed specifically for Vault Tec students. Some are training to be Overseers, vault administrators, others are just technicians.’ She came closer to me and glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one could see what she was saying. ‘Those of us working on this project have been promised a place in one of the Vaults. Likely one here in Appalachia.’ I realized that I would be included in that group if I decided to work with them. It seemed like a good deal- a promise of a sort of immortality if shit really hit the fan.

‘What is Future Tec, exactly? You mentioned simulations, but how would it work? I mean, you don’t really know what’s going to happen.’

‘You’re right. I told you that subjects had issues with no stimulation- they also had problems when they were left to wander in a world with no boundaries. After a few months of no guidance and complete control of their existence, they emerged with various psychoses. I can only imagine the damage that could be done if they were left unattended for years at a time.’

‘The program we need you to create would be highly detailed and possibly similar to the environments where they will emerge, should the worst happen.’ She glanced at the paper and made a few notes. ‘Dr. Braun is heading up the project and will assist you with the psychiatric parameters. Those of us here will work on the more practical aspects of the simulations. Some will be purely for recreational purposes in the early release vaults, others will be set up for long term subjects. There are also rumors of military applications, but I doubt we’ll be involved with those.’

I was actually beginning to get excited about the possibilities of what she was suggesting. I could create endless scenarios and put some of the ideas that had been percolating in my head to use at last. She finished filling out the forms and began to unhook me from the monitors.

‘So what do you think?’

‘I’ll do it.’ She smiled and helped me off the bed.

‘Excellent. I know it’s not what you were expecting, but this could be a fantastic opportunity.’ She lightly bit the end of her pen before continuing, ‘And if we continue on our current trajectory, you’ll actually have a future.’

I attempted a smile at the last part as she turned and led me through the med bay doors, down another corridor, up some stairs and into a conference room. She pointed at one of the leather chairs, filled a glass with some water and sat it in front of me.

‘I’ll find the rest of the team. Wait here.’ I sipped the water and looked at the paintings on the wood paneled walls. My focus fixed on one in particular- a lighthouse in a harbor, surrounded by crashing waves. People began to trickle into the room and one met my eyes and came over to introduce himself.

‘Hi, I’m John Chan- you’re Natalia?’

‘Yeah, but you can call me Nat.’ I shook his hand, and he sat in the chair next to me.

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‘That’s a Russian name, right. Is your family…’

‘No…no. My grandmother had some neighbors who were from Ukraine and really liked the name. We’ve been in Appalachia forever. What about you?’ He was cute, but a little too serious for me.

‘I’m from California. Vault Tec moved me here a few years ago. It’s beautiful here, but rough.’ A smile touched the corner of his mouth and I grinned back.

‘Try growing up here. If your name’s not Garrahan or Hornwright you’re basically trash.’ I could see some others filing in and as they took their seats, I took note of the group and an older man commandeered a seat at the head of the table. His dark hair was slicked back and thick glasses and the lab coat indicated that he was our science guy. Probably the one in charge of the psychological testing.

‘Welcome everyone.’ I detected a slight accent, but couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. I could only assume that he was the Dr. Braun Piper had mentioned earlier. ‘We would like to welcome Natalia. She will be working with us to hone scenarios to further our research.’ The room turned its collective attention to me and I peeked at Chan for some reassurance, but he was focused on the Doctor.

‘I am eager to begin testing so please bring her up to date as quickly as possible so that we can continue with the trials. Any questions?’ He looked around, ostensibly for questions, but making clear that none were welcome. The room was silent, so he made a few abstract comments about procedures not being followed before he gathered his things and left.

Once he was gone, we all stood and the rest of the group came over and introduced themselves. 

‘I’m sure you’re eager to take a look at what we’re working on.’ Chan shuffled me through the maze-like corridors and led me into one of the research areas. Inside was a row of glass and steel pods. I walked over to one and looked inside, shocked to see an occupant. I waved my hand above the pod, but even though I could see her, she was otherwise occupied.

‘These are the short term pods, mostly for entertainment and training purposes.’ Chan motioned for me to join him and I walked over to an open unit. Inside was a foam lined casement that could easily fit a fully recumbent adult. The platforms for the arms and legs had leather straps attached. Chan could see my attention drawn to those and smiled.

‘It’s not a torture device, don’t worry. Users are given a mild paralytic to relax the body, but occasionally they can experience muscle spasms during the simulation. These are just to keep everyone safe.’ I slowly ran my hand over the surface as I circled the open unit and motioned towards the interior.

‘Can I try it?’ I had dreamed of technology like this since I was a kid and couldn’t wait to see how it worked. Disappointment was an understatement when Chan shook his head no.

‘Piper’s still finishing up your medical workup, so no Visiontron until you’re cleared. I promise you’ll get a block of time to try it out for yourself- it’s more incredible than you can imagine.’ He walked into an adjoining room where a bank of computer terminals was lined against the wall. One of the screens was displaying what at first looked like a movie, but I quickly realized it was live feed from the pod.

‘Is this the person in the Visiontron?’ The visual details were completely realistic and as he looked around, I could see what she was experiencing as she walked down a road. It appeared to be an area south of Morgantown that I was intimately familiar with, but I quickly noticed significant changes to the flora and fauna.

‘Yeah. She’s currently running one of our survival scenarios. We’ve been using Appalachia for this series. The plan is to create additional regions for the library, but this is the one we’ve brought you in for.’

‘It’s incredible.’ I watched as she wandered closer to a river and was attacked by a Mr. Farmhand, one of the manual labor Mr. Handys. She dispatched it with a few shots and continued into an abandoned house. 

‘We’re currently tweaking the combat aspects of the training but this scenario also teaches crafting with found materials.’ I could see her gathering items around the house and walking back out to the road. ‘The current situations are placeholders, with anticipated post nuclear fauna and possible enemies, but these will be replaced by intel from assets living outside of the vaults. For now, the best we can do is guess as to what they might encounter.’

‘And they’re completely safe? I mean, if they die in the simulation will they die in real life?’ I couldn’t imagine that Vault Tec was sinister enough to allow death in a simulation, but one could never be absolutely certain.

‘Of course, we’re not the military.’ The technician laughed and turned back to his work. A chill ran down my back as I observed the man in the simulation run towards a large rat, shoot it and cut it open to harvest the meat. 

‘Any more questions?’ I could tell Chan was ready to go so I shook my head and he led us out of the room. As we walked down one of the white corridors, I heard a beeping sound and looked around to try to figure out where it was coming from. With all of the excitement of the day, I had nearly forgotten about the heavy device strapped securely to my arm. Chan grabbed it gently and punched a few buttons. ‘It looks like you’re hungry. Want to get something to eat?’

‘Sure.’ 

It was dinner time and the cafeteria was buzzing. I waited in line for some Mr. Handy’s to serve me a plate of something I couldn’t identify and went towards the dining area. Chan was already seated with a group and I sat next to them.

‘I think it’s coming, and there’s no way I’m leaving Morgantown for even a day.’ I had obviously interrupted a lively private discussion and the group quieted as I looked around, feeling awkward about the intrusion.

‘Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.’ I took a mouthful of food and was glad that the Pip Boy had let me know I was hungry as the fact that I was famished hadn’t reached my brain yet. 

‘We’re not really supposed to be talking about what’s going on outside, but it’s everywhere.’ One of the women at the table directed that towards me, but the next part was for everyone. ‘I personally think it’s coming any day now.’

‘Look, this shit has been going on for years and there’s no reason to think that anything is going to change. These skirmishes between us and China are just dick measuring contests; we’ll be having the same conversation right here in two years. The Vaults are a way for Vault Tec to bilk more money from the government.’ He seemed fairly self assured about his opinion and got up to leave. ‘I’m willing to bet that they won’t even be used.’

He walked off and Chan leaned towards me. ‘That’s Samuel. He’s just pissed because his agricultural work is getting downgraded in favor of the cryo and simulation programs.’ I watched as he threw his tray at one of the Handy’s and stormed off in a huff.

‘Yeah- doesn’t seem like a happy camper.’ I looked around at the rest of the table and smiled. ‘I’m Nat, I’ve been brought in to work with the Visiontron team.’ The rest of them nodded and smiled, but no one was in the mood for small talk after the previous discussion. I shoveled the food in my mouth and waited for Chan to finish. He was chatting with an attractive blonde seated next to me, but I missed most of what they said and settled into my own thoughts- suddenly feeling the stress of the day hit me.

‘I’m going to get a coffee.’ Chan nodded and I took my tray to the counter, shooting an appreciative glance towards the Handy for some reason and headed towards the coffee machine. It took a few minutes to find in the sea of technology, but as I placed my mug under the spigot the smell of fresh brew lifted my spirits and after the first sip, I felt ready to get back to whatever insanity the day had left for me.

The tour wasn’t over, but after the excitement of seeing the Visiontron in action I just rolled with the neverending series of testing facilities, medical bays and development wards that were spread throughout the sprawling underground complex. I had no idea what most of the stuff was used for, but could tell that some of it was cutting edge technology while the rest resembled medieval torture devices.

‘I think that’s it.’ Chan turned to me and crossed his arms, indicating that the tour was complete. I realized that we were back by the receptionist’s desk and the elevator was behind me. ‘We’ll need you to start first thing in the morning. Are you ok with your room? We have space down here, but honestly, after a long day of work it’s better to get out- even if it’s just up there.’

‘Yeah, it’s fine.’ I shook his hand and gave him an exhausted grin. ‘See you tomorrow?’

‘Of course. All day. Everyday.’ He turned and started walking back towards the cafeteria and I boarded the elevator. The day had been crazy and all I wanted to do was get a shower, eat something and pass out. I managed to find my room and grabbed some clean clothes before making my way to the dorm showers. The above ground cafeteria wasn’t nearly as nice, but I grabbed a box of food and parked myself at the desk. 

‘Yuck.’ I looked at the box and realized that it was Saddle Up Salisbury Steak, a specific foodstuff I had always loathed. Shoving it aside, I flipped through the orientation guide on my desk causing a piece of paper to fall out. It looked like a release form and I sat it on top of the other pile of papers, pulled off my jumpsuit and collapsed into bed.

The alarm woke me bright and early the next morning and I forced myself out of bed and went over to the locker to grab a fresh jumpsuit. I shoved the other one in the laundry hole and stuffed the abandoned salisbury steak down the trash compactor. The whole room stank of packaged meat and I wrinkled my nose, wishing I had disposed of it the night before. I was lost in thoughts about the Visiontron and what I had seen the day before when the loud buzz of the doorbell pulled me back to reality. I cracked open the door to see a smiling Constance planted on the welcome mat with a clipboard.

‘Good morning, Natalia.’ Her voice was extra annoying since I hadn’t had my coffee yet. ‘Do you have that release form I left for you?’ 

‘Oh.’ I walked to the desk, retrieved the form from the pile of papers and returned to her, grabbing her clipboard and scrawling a large signature at the bottom of the paper before handing the whole thing back.

‘Did you read the release form?’ She was determined to annoy me as much as possible.

‘Yeah, it was something about not holding you responsible, blah, blah, blah…blah.’

‘Precisely. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.’ She turned and I hoped this was the end of my interactions with Constance. I took another look at the sterile room, closed the door and headed down the hallway to the elevator and my first day of work.

When I checked in with reception, they told me to report directly to the Visiontron division. Trying to remember where it was, I wandered aimlessly until I felt a beeping on my wrist and looked down to see a map displayed on the Pip Boy, pointing me in the right direction. I followed the arrow and found myself back in the lab from yesterday. Chan waved me over and I joined the group at a terminal, watching what looked like a military simulation.

‘What’s this?’ I casually walked in and Chan sprinted to the door and pushed the button to slam it shut. 

‘One of the military simulations they’re using to train troops.’ I winced as I saw a guy cut in half. The landscape was in ruins and figures clad in what looked like some sort of mech suit were running around. 

‘Wait, those are the suits they use over at Garrahan for mining. I’ve seen the ads.’ I paused long enough to watch a massive bomb explode. ‘Why are soldiers wearing them?’ I generally avoided any military news as much as possible, honestly believing that if I just ignored the constant wars, they might magically disappear.

‘This is power armor. The military developed it to create super soldiers- basically walking tanks.’ Chan couldn’t tear his eyes away from the video.

‘Is this actual footage?’ It was so realistic, but the point of view was off and it had a manic feel that I had never seen in news footage.

‘It’s from the war training simulations.’ One of the girls sitting down answered. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the video snapped off, leaving only a loading screen. I could feel my skin prickle and a chill went down my spine. The others had a similar reaction, walking away from the video screen, clearly in shock.

‘One of our friends in DC sent this to Ursula.’ Chan whispered to me. He shook his head. ‘Rumor is that if you die in the simulation, it triggers a massive heart attack in the user.’ Ursula pulled the holo tape out of the player and hid it under some papers in her desk. Suddenly the door opened and I turned to see Dr. Braun stroll in with a cup of coffee.

‘Greetings, all. I hope you’re ready to get to work.’ The team tried to pull themselves together, but most were still clearly shaken. The doctor walked into the Visiontron room and opened one of the pods. After sorting through his papers, he looked at me and pointed at the device.

‘Natalia, you have been cleared by the doctor. Please enter the pod.’ I was hesitant at first; while the idea was incredibly tantalizing, I would be entrusting myself to a possibly lethal device I had never heard of until the day before. Combine that with the images I had seen only moments earlier and rumored heart attacks and I was less enthusiastic that I should have been. Taking a deep breath, I lowered myself into the object and positioned myself to be strapped in. Fortunately Chan was taking care of it and he talked me through the entire process.

‘I’m going to secure your hands and feet.’ He gently tightened the straps and double checked to ensure they were secure. ‘Ok?’

I nodded and noticed that Dr. Braun was standing back and allowing the rest of the team to prepare the simulation as he made notes on his clipboard. ‘Most people think that you need to be able to move in order to function in a simulated environment, but the reality is that it’s all in your mind.’ Chan gently placed a cap on my head and secured it under my chin. I leaned back and tried to relax. 

‘Once I close the lid, the paralytic will release and a screen will lower towards your face. You will be able to control your movements within the space by thinking about what you want to do. It can take a few minutes to adjust, but don’t be anxious- this is one of our pleasure simulations.’ Chan knew I was still thinking about the military training scenario I had seen earlier. I felt my body relax and tried to flex my fingers but was unable. Knowing that my vitals were being recorded, I tried to stay calm, not wanting to be taken off the project for not being able to handle some discomfort.

The screen lowered and completely surrounded my face. I kept my eyes shut, worried that the projection would be too bright but after relaxing them slightly, a pleasing amount of sunlight worked its way through my eyelids. When I opened them fully, I was greeted by a street in Anytown, USA. 

The scene was bucolic, with kids playing on sidewalks and adults standing in groups as the day wound down and the sun slid slowly towards the horizon. One of the men motioned for me to come over. I took a look around and checked out my body, hands and feet, clothed in items I would never wear, but perfectly suited to this suburban utopia.

It took a few minutes to figure out how to control my limbs, but once I got the hang of it, I strolled over to the group. They were talking about a recent sporting event and offered me a beer. I accepted and pulled the bottle to my lips, taking a deep drink. It was incredible- I could feel the cold liquid pool inside my mouth and the bitter aftertaste as it made its way down my throat. The bottle itself was cold and I wiped the wetness from my hand on the folds of my skirt. For a few minutes, I forgot that my surroundings were a simulation and began to feel myself relaxing into the flow of early evening, mumbling a few words to the group, then wandering towards one of the nearly identical houses that lined both sides of the street.

I casually strolled inside- touching the objects and testing their weight and textures. No detail was too small and I could feel a light layer of dust as I brushed my hand across the surface of the television. I caught sight of a reflection and walked toward a mirror- slightly unnerved at the stranger’s face staring back at me.

‘Time for dinner!’ A voice called out and I exited the house, following the trail of excited suburbanites towards a grill in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Hot dogs and hamburgers were sizzling over the red hot coals and as the smells wafted towards me, I made idle chit chat with a woman named Susan.

‘Well, you know, Bill has vacation time coming up and we’re thinking about checking out Nuka World. It’s a bit of a drive, but you know the kids have just been nagging us to take them since Doris and …..’ She kept talking, but I was too entranced to participate. As I stood looking around, the scene began to dim and I pulled my mind back into what I assumed was reality.

The paralytic was slow to wear off and after Chan removed the straps, my extremities were still slightly numb and tingly. He helped me out of the pod and I sat there for a moment, stunned. The rest of the group was smiling giddily, with the exception of Dr. Braun, likely remembering their first experiences.

‘So, what do you think?’ Chan grinned broadly and I laughed.

‘When can I do it again?’ I walked over to the group and out of the corner of my eye saw Dr. Braun grab the printout of my session and leave.

‘This was one of the more benign scenarios, but it always creeped me out a little. Dr. Braun set it up himself and if you go long enough it gets weird.’ Chan wrinkled his nose and shrugged, leaving it at that. At this point I just wanted to get started and was super amped about the entire project. Further discussion about the good doctor’s gonzo simulations could wait.

‘So where do I start? What do you need me to do?’ We sat around the small table and pooled the current resources. There were tutorials on plant life, cooking, crafting, hunting, farming and almost any other activity that could be considered useful once the Super Duper Mart ceased to exist. We viewed recorded sessions of user experiences in the simulations and tried to figure out how these training sessions could be tweaked to create an incentive to complete.

‘The training scenarios look lonely.’ I mentioned casually, remembering the social nature of the earlier simulation. While the surroundings were enticing, the interaction with my neighbors was what I remembered the most vividly. ‘Will those simulations have any sort of social dimension or do they want to keep the users isolated in the scenarios?’

‘Dr. Braun prefers to keep them separated from others, but the pods can be connected to allow for interaction between users.’

‘Can I try it out?’ I was curious to see how the simulation might change if others were present. We went into the lab and got the units ready. Chan agreed to go in with me and Ursula and the others helped prep us. As the lid closed, I realized that my feelings toward the Visiontron had changed and I felt no hesitation, only excitement.

The screen came to life and once my eyes adjusted, I knew exactly where I was. It was the small town of Helvetia, location of the annual Fasnacht festival, which I had attended a few times over the years. I took a few minutes to appreciate the incredible details before walking towards the church.

‘Nat.’ The sound of another voice reminded me why I was here and I turned to see Chan running towards me. I smiled and felt relieved to see a familiar face, but remembered that people were probably viewing the session so we needed to keep it focused.

‘Hey.’ I reached out to touch him, then touched my face. ‘You look the same. Do I?’

‘Not yet- you’re still using a stock avatar. We’ll work on getting you customized.’ After closer inspection, I could tell that he wasn’t exactly as he appeared in real life. I grinned as I ran my hand over his bulging muscles and realized that my tits were definitely bigger here than in the real world.

‘This is fantastic.’ I turned back towards the church and walked inside. The interior was still immaculate and looked as though the congregation could walk in and begin communion at any minute.

‘We’re supposed to be training for a nuclear aftermath, correct?’ Chan nodded. ‘Shouldn’t the scenery appear more worn. I mean, people won’t be emerging for decades after the initial bomb strikes and those who remain outside won’t be able to maintain the current infrastructure. There should be holes in the roof and nature should be reasserting itself.’

‘You’re right.’ He addressed the session viewers. ‘Ursula, talk to the designers about this.’

We continued to walk around making notes and I noticed that the scale of the environment had been reduced. Sutton was over the hill and I could see Charleston’s golden dome in the distance.

‘We’re not sure if cars will be operational, so we wanted to reduce the scale- otherwise people would just be wandering for days and lose interest.’ 

‘That makes sense.’ I could feel myself getting tired and wondered how long we had been inside.

‘We should probably go. Simulations can run for up to 8 hours, but it’s better to limit our time inside for now.’ He motioned for the monitors to end this run and we were slowly brought back to reality. The session had been constructive and I sat down with the rest of the team to make suggestions as to how we could improve the Appalachia simulation.

The bulk of the original Visiontron development team had been moved to more pressing issues, leaving a few coders behind to work with us to bring the product to completion. We shared our notes and watched as the synthetic landscape was gradually transformed into something more post apocalyptic and strange.

We would occasionally receive instructions from Dr. Braun, who had returned to Washington, but the directive on the project had been clear and we worked for weeks on end to improve the landscape and training storylines. Vault Tec had been insistent that the Visiontrons would need to be continuously updated with information provided by those who remained outside, so we tried to keep surroundings as generic as possible and used robots that we knew would be able to easily survive the initial onslaught of a nuclear attack.

The first few weeks were taken up with the smaller details and things that could be ascertained from previous studies of nuclear environments, but as we got deeper into the story, it became clear that we would need to plan for the formation of outside coalitions.

‘It’s natural that survivors will group together. We can create some generic characters and once additional info starts trickling in from the outside, the details can be changed.’

‘That sounds like a great idea, but it could be a lot of additional programming for nothing. Dealing with the AI on these characters is a nightmare.’ Sandra was one of our remaining programmers.

‘True, but we can plan on several ‘types’, right?’ I saw them start to agree with me. ‘We’ll need to have one group that serves as altruistic guides, another that fights everything, maybe some sort of cult… you see where I’m going with this, right?’

‘I get it, but to be honest, I’m worried that people could be influenced by what they experience in the Visiontron.’ Chan made a good point, but I was determined to get humans into the simulations.

‘That’s a good point and maybe Dr. Braun could offer some insight into that, but my main concern is that these people are going to be locked up together for a long time. Having adversaries that they could challenge in a simulated environment would be good for morale and prevent major in-fighting within the vault.’

‘Ok, let’s table this until we hear back from Dr. Braun. I’ll write it up and submit it to him to see what he says.’