vault66 | MONTH 2 LOG

Entry tags:

MONTH 2 LOG

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Vault 66
WHEN: ???? – Day 1, Month 2
WHAT: The second wave of pods open
WARNINGS:Reference to suicide, TBD

AWAKENING

You awake laying on your back in an, admittedly comfortable, pod. You can't move anything but your eyes, can't even feel your body yet. How you got here or why is a blank. You may have been in the middle of your day, asleep, or even- for what you remember- should be dead. Then a screen directly in front of your face flickers to life and in crisp, black and white displays: DON'T PANIC. The following video then plays:

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The screen flickers again and reads: CONGRATULATIONS ON PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE! WELCOME TO VAULT LIFE, CITIZEN. WELCOME TO YEAR: [ERROR]. YOUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS ARE LOCATED IN [FILE CORRUPTED. SEE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR]. ENJOY YOUR STAY AND THANK YOU FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT VAULT-TEC.

The pod then unseals and you are able to, unstably at first, climb out of the pod. Your body may feel foreign for a moment- perhaps entirely foreign if you suddenly find yourself a human, ghoul, or super mutant for the first time. But whatever your form, you have two items on: a bright blue jumpsuit with the number 66 in yellow on the back, and a mechanical device known as a Pip-boy sealed onto your arm. If you click on the buttons it takes you to an instruction screen.

You look around to find yourself in a room of other pods. Some are just opening, other people looking as confused as you climbing out. Others remain closed with the status of 'STASIS' on the screens attached to the pods. The rest of the room is less than impressive. Computer systems that seem out of place compared to the technology level of the pods are scattered across the room, apparently running the chambers. Trying to access them, even for the most talented hacker, will simply result in SEE OVERSEER being displayed. There is large metal door leading to the rest of the vault, a lever on the wall next to it that will cause it to open.

Welcome, dweller, to vault 66.

THE VAULT EXPANDED

In the month following the first pods opening, Jiro and Elizabeth DeWitt enlisted the help of the Mr. Handy ‘Louis’ the clear the debris and create a stable passageway to the rest of the testing area. Slightly smaller than the rest of the hallway, there is still plenty of room for people to move in and out of the area without discomfort.

This portion of the vault, if possible, is even dirtier and more decrepit than the rest, having been cut off from even the most basic maintenance for an untold period of time. The emergency lighting has been cut off to this area, leaving the whole zone in the dark besides what little light comes through the newly formed passage.

Those willing to venture into the area will find this isolation has allowed a handful of more intimidating creatures than radroaches to establish a home (though there are still roaches, just fewer than are found in the rest of the vault). Several breaches in the metal walls along the hallways open into small tunnels, which the occasional mole rat will venture out of. Though usually only appearing alone or in pairs, these creatures are even hungrier for fresh meat than the radroaches and will attack with their huge, sharp, pointy teeth. If killed, they could supply a decent (if slightly irradiated) source of meat for a while, along with hide to make more reinforced clothing. But taking one down without proper weapons will likely require some teamwork.

There are several important (and often concerning) areas to find in this zone. First are two firmly sealed doors, one at the upper corner of the new area and one at the lower middle. Each door has a very helpful (currently unlit) sign over it: ENTRANCE and OVERSEER, respectively. Next to each is another of the computer terminals characters have grown used to seeing around the vault.

Next are Testing Areas 1, 2, and 3. Each of these testing areas has an observation room with a smaller containment chamber attached to it. The doors to the observation areas can be pulled open with enough effort, allowing entrance to the small room filled with chemistry glassware, lockers, and tables covered in long since rotten scraps of paper and books. The doors to the containment chambers, for the moment, remain sealed shut with yet more computer terminals next to them. These doors look weaker than the ones sealing off the entrance and overseer area, and can possibly be broken down with time and effort. But characters will want to think long and hard before doing that. Each observation room has a bullet proof, reinforced one-way window that allows characters to look into the containment chamber without whatever is in the chamber being able to see them. And the chambers are occupied.

Testing Chamber 1 (WARNING: SUICIDE) contains the corpse of a super mutant splayed on the ground. The walls around it are dented, and its head caked in long dried blood. Anyone with passing medical knowledge can observe the super mutant apparently killed itself through repeated blunt force trauma, banging its own head against the walls and door until death.

Approaching Testing Chamber 2 causes character’s pip-boys to start crackling a warning of increased radiation. Standing in the observation chamber the levels are low enough that it isn’t healthy, but no one is going to die without prolonged exposure. The source of the radiation is clear, inside the chamber is a corroded barrel of radioactive waste. Along with it, a grotesque creature that is very clearly alive, moving around and around its small, enclosed space.

Testing Chamber 3 also crackles with radiation, though the source of this isn’t a barrel. Rather, a walking, emaciated corpse shambles about the containment chamber. Other than the walking corpse bit, there’s two characteristics which stand out: the corpse is glowing an eerie yellow-green with an inner light that pulses as it walks and it’s wearing the torn remains of what is very clearly the same blue and yellow jumpsuit all characters arrived in.

GENERAL EXPLORING

Whether you venture into the new area of the vault or not, the rest of the vault awaits. This includes the three Mr. Handy’s floating around, as well as more radroaches wandering around the many corpses/blood splatter patterns.

OOC NOTES

To talk to a specific NPC one-on-one, leave a comment on their thread below.

Looking for loot in a specific area? Looking for a specific item/kinds of item in general? Ask here and we’ll let you know.

If you have any OOC questions, please leave a comment here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Saya stops for a moment after a frustrated sigh at making not much headway at the terminal. Turning around, she looks for the source of the voice and raises a brow at the new occupant. "You ended up here too huh?" she started as she shrugged at the comment and question. "Not likely, no. I made sure I wasn't infected last I checked. And those were the choices considering the last things I remember before waking up here..."

"Sounds familiar." He chuckles. "Horrible danger, ought to be dead? I wonder how many of us that's true for. Zhao Yunlan."

He tips his head, casual how-do-you-do style, and sprawls back in his chair, fingers tapping a swift rhythm on the armrest.

"Infected with what?"

"Takagi, Takagi Saya." she replied with a light bow of her head.

"Well, much like those ridiculous zombie movies, games, and manga... The damned walking dead that roamed home the past month could spread that infection with their bites." Saya shuddered and rubbed her arms.

"I'm glad I didn't end up like them, but I'm starting to wonder if this was better, or worse..."

"What the hell? We definitely don't have those where I'm from. When's the last year you remember?"

Had he missed a zombie outbreak on top of a worldwide nuclear apocalypse? That was just-- perfect. Great. So much for saving the world from Dixing invasion.

"You're the second I've met who hadn't heard about it, but at least you seem to know what they are." Saya said a bit annoyed. "Last year I remember?" That was an odd question and one that made Saya uncomfortable as it began to play into the theories she had about this place.

"2017, why?"

"Just wondering if it was after my time." His eyes narrowed, thoughtful. "It wasn't. Last I knew it was 2018... and I'm pretty sure I'd have gotten the news about zombie outbreaks. Even overseas. It's kind of my job."

Only kind of: supernatural public health problems aren't the same as supernatural criminal activities, but a zombie attack would absolutely have ended in a call to SID.

His fingers tapped a tattoo on the table. "How localized was it? If you know."

This didn't bode well and as much as she wanted to dismiss it as people being addled from the pods or something, not long ago she would have dismissed the possibility of an outbreak... And she knows all too well how real that was.

Saya had been lost in thought at his words and had to snap back out to address this information. "2018? So you're from the future... Ugh, this place just." she stopped herself and pinched the bridge of her nose as she took a deep breath. Not the time she thought to herself.

"As far as we were told, world wide... which is where the whole nuke situation sprung from..."

"Huh." Times like this, he desperately missed his candy stash. Or, hell, his cigarettes. Props made it so much easier not to fidget.

Blowing out a breath, he turned to lean back against the table, staring up at the ceiling and its blotches of water and darker things. Mold? Blood? Who knew?

"The timeline's no big deal -- we were all in stasis, yeah? No reason we couldn't go in at different times, and I don't think anyone knows how much time we've missed. Worldwide zombie apocalypses, though, I'd have noticed."

She could be lying, of course, but she'd have to be a very good liar, and that assumption would burn a bridge. It was better to assume good faith, and that the problem was his not knowing the situation, rather than her not telling the truth.

"I'm starting to think we can't trust our memories."

"Fair, it's one of the many possibilities I've been thinking about." Amongs the all too many scenarios she had been brooding over in her mind ever since she awoke.

"As for our memories... That was one of the things I was hoping to dismiss... So much happened, so fast but if it was all for nothing? What happened? There's just so much that doesn't make sense here." she sighed and slumped on the chair she had moved over to work on the terminal.

"If it was all for nothing..." All the death, all the destruction. Lost friends. Shen Wei. At last, he huffed a laugh, letting his gaze fall from the ceiling to rest on her. "If it was all for nothing, it's because it didn't happen at all. So there's no loss, right?

"I vote we call it real, because no matter what happened in the past, it affects us now. Hey, how are your computer skills? I can use one, but I'm no techie."

Saya lingered on his words for a few minutes in silence. After a bit, she spoke up a bit somberly. "But what about what we gained?" taking a deep breath she steeled herself. "But you're right, I would much rather so much loss not happen, but wishful thinking like that never got anyone anywhere." she finally replied with a huff.

With his last statement, she nodded. "That's what I was thinking. The effects it'll have on us will remain regardless of the truth. As for my computer skills, they're top notch," she said proudly. "As well as academics. I was top of my school and way ahead of my peers before..." She paused. It didn't matter now did it? "Well, before this I suppose."

"Same thing," Yunlan said. It was an effort to keep his tone light. "Whatever we gained, we'll always keep the ways it changed us. Good to hear we've got a computer expert here! How do you think those skills stack up against an antique like this system?"

Academics might not matter much in the long run, but some skills transferred.

Grateful for the smooth change of topic, Saya looked over her shoulder at the terminal before turning to look back at Zhao with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure it out. The system's ancient, like first model screened computers and the coding while goofy and nonsensical at times, still hides a lot of secrets." she nodded towards the outside.

"I mean, hibernation pods?" she then points at her pip-boy, "An infinite battery? Assuming the thing actually runs indefinitely which judging from the conditions of this place, might be the only thing worth anything, then I really don't believe this goofball system is just that."

"Eh, it could be nuclear powered," Yunlan offers, sighting down his arm at his own pip-boy. "I swear I saw something about miniature nuclear batteries that could run for centuries... still. They sure didn't have those back when they were using this kind of monitor. So you're probably right that there's something going on with the system other than just being old.

"Maybe the old systems are sturdier? If you're sticking people in pods, you don't want their life support controls to degrade for... however long."

He still shied away from thinking about how long it might have been. Decades? Centuries? Shen Wei had waited thousands of years. Yunlan -- didn't know if he had it in him to keep going over that sort of gulf of time. And yet, here he was, surrounded by a group of mostly teenagers. He did know he couldn't just give up when a bunch of precocious kids needed his help to survive a hostile world.

Maybe that was the secret of endurance: always to make sure that toughing it out was the lesser evil.

"Fair point... Though that doesn't make me feel any better by having it strapped to my arm..." Specially if something were to happen that made it malfunction or worse.

At his assessment, she thought for a moment; "Still, wouldn't it have been better to just have solid servers in a secure room instead? The terminals themselves could have still been top of the line and yet we have some 'City of Tomorrow' type stuff here instead." she shrugged.

Saya thought for a moment before nodding to herself, "Well at least it's just one more thing to keep us occupied in a 'secure vault'. I really don't know what will happen, but I do know I won't take it lying down."

"I like your spirit, Saya." He chuckled and pushed away from the table, tapping it as he turned to survey the room. It was better than some parts of the vault -- the cleaning efforts were starting to show, although the ground-in grime of decades would take a while to fully clear -- but it wasn't much.

"Home sweet hole in the ground! I think priority number one has to be figuring out what the world looks like outside. We got in, ergo there must be surface access somewhere -- right?

"Maybe there's maps under the Overseer's access. Or passcodes."

"Right, though, depending on how 'long ago' the assault occurred, the outside might still be too dangerous to visit unequipped." she taps at her pip-boy a few times before looking back at him. "At least these things apparently come equipped with built in geiger counters." Which would be extremely useful in gauging how safe it'd be to venture outside of the vault.

At his suggestion, Saya nodded. "If there was anywhere they'd be, it'd be there no?"

Edited 2020-06-03 16:05 (UTC)

"I think I saw some protective suits down by the reactor," he muses. "Might be useful for going outside in, if the radiation levels turn out to be high... I've gotta say, I don't like the idea of spending the rest of my life stuck down here waiting. So, yeah."

He flashes her a smile. "If there's anything worth cracking, that's probably it! Think you could try?"

"Yeah, you and me both... And especially not in this place." It wasn't even a well preserved bunker like those they always showcased in the corporate meetings her parents would frequent.

"I sure could, I mean, we have nothing to lose right? And besides it probably also has more information than this old thing." she points at the terminal behind her.

"Exactly. -- If they're networked, you might be able to get into the secret information from that old thing, right?"

Yunlan prodded dubiously at it, then crouched to examine the cords. None of them looked like the kind of internet cable he expected -- or even a phone jack -- but with how weird the mix of old and super-advanced tech was around here, he had to admit he didn't know what he was looking for.

"Have you been able to figure out if it is on a network yet? The only one of these I recognize is the power cord."

"So far it seems they're remote terminals unfortunately. If they're connected, I haven't figured out how as of yet." she sighed lightly.

"So going to whatever this overseer's terminal is will probably be our best shot at getting any relevant information... Unless there's more terminals that are specialized." she thought for a moment.

"A place built like this couldn't have been easy to run and maintain so it stands that there must have been specialty terminals all over if they weren't particularly connected."

"Sounds about right to me." He rocked back onto his heels, glancing up at her. "So maybe we're looking for an office?"

"Somewhere high." she replied. "I've never seen those mangerial types to enjoy living on the same level of those they're running. Power trips and all," she shrugged. "I'd like to be wrong once about that one, but so far, yeah... hasn't happened. So whatever would count as top most floors in this bunker."

"'Down' seems to be all the maintenance crap, so I'm guessing you're right -- power trips send people to the top of the bunker." Grinning, he heaved himself back to his feet, and glanced around. "There was a little side corridor up by where I woke up! Looked like somebody'd cleaned out some rubble recently. That might be a good first spot to check. Got anything planned for tomorrow?"

Saya nodded and smirked, "Things never change, regardless of the apocalypse I suppose." At Yun's mention of the corridor, she looked down in thought. "It's as good a guess as any and we'll have to start somewhere."

Looking up she chuckled and raised a brow, "Yeah, I'm going to go shopping and take a nice leisurely afternoon at the spa."

MONTH 2 LOG

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