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:

Watch on YouTube

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!

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She straightened up looking down at him with every ounce of indignity she could muster. While she had been spoken to in such a rude manor before it was still something she refused to get used to.

"I'm sorry, did you have somewhere important to be? Is this a working lunch for you? Far be it from me to get in the way of whatever important meetings you have to attend after you use that thing for whatever it's for."

"Glad we agree," he waves her off, ignoring the blatant sarcasm. Before ending up here, Jiro had never used a food processor before. He's taken to just shoving things into it mixing them together into what amounts to a paste, and stirring in cereal for texture.

Oh this one. This one was going to be a problem.

If she could have she'd have lit him on fire then and there. Instead she found herself scanning the counters and settled on some dull knives someone had left out. No, too messy. And it would be difficult to hide in a place like this.

For now she resumed glaring and watching him so she could at least learn how the machine works.

"Are you always this dense or is today just an off day for you?"

"You're the one looking at this piece of junk like you don't know what the fuck it is." Which makes it easy for him to pretend like he's used them a million times. "Kinda makes you the one who's dense."

"That's because I don't know what it is!" she shot back locking her eyes on his imagining his hair suddenly bursting into flames.

"They didn't have these things in my country. Just like apparently they don't have manners in whatever backwater swamp you crawled out of."

"Forest, not a swamp." He doesn't sound offended though, perfectly respectable things live in swamps. He does move a little, to give her a better view of the food processor.

"It just chops things up to save time." He presses the button and the processor whirs loudly. "Wanna try it?"

She's distracted from concocting a scathing remark about living in forests by watching him operate the machine. The blades inside whirr with a sort of enjoyable efficacy, though it's a bit loud for her liking.

"Alright." She selects one of the food items he's planning on blending and drops it into the container before pushing the button and watching it be mutilated.

"Inelegant, but effective." She concludes once it's turned off. "How does it work? What moves the blades?"

"Eh?"

How much of this is he going to have to explain? Azula may be the most confused person in this place so far, because he's getting the feeling she doesn't know what electricity is. He unplugs the food processor and holds up the cord.

"This. It goes in the wall."

He will sound like an idiot if she does know what electricity is, and he's only realizing that now.

She wilts a little, starting to suspect she might need to ask someone else for a more detailed explination.

"And that plug provides movement somehow? Is it steam? Heat?" It seems impossible that such a thin cable could provide enough room like a pipe could but at this point she was pretty sure everything here ran on magic anyway.

"It's not really the plug," he sounds a little awkward, trying to explain something instead of shouting and swearing.

It's out of his league. How the fuck does electricity work?

"It's... two... things of energy." Things. Holy shit. "Sources of energy, that only work when you attach them together? So, the... thingy here... goes into the holes over there and then it... works."

Azula listens for a moment watching his gestures and then nods. She's starting to get it.

"I see. Well I thought I might be out of my league when the other girl started describing things like "Atom Bombs" but at least some things are easy enough to follow. I suppose I should thank you."

Which wasn't usually how she did things but she also recognized Jiro was barely more aware of these things then she was. It would help not to shun him too quickly. He might be useful.

Did she understand how electricity worked? Not particularly. But was she closer? Yes, very much.

"I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and you are?"

"You're... welcome?"

Awkward as fuck.

"I'm Jiro," he's pointedly not addressing her claim to royalty. "What's this 'Fire Naiton' bullshit?"

There is no such place, and so far, everyone's been from a generally recognizable alternate version of Earth.

She wilts visibly and sighs moving away to inspect the other kitchen devices, checking them for plugs.

"I suppose that confirms my fear. No one here is from my world. Though I suppose given the circumstances that might be for the best."

What she meant was Because no one can tell you who I am.

What she said was "I wouldn't want anyone I cared about to be stuck here in such accommodations."

"No one from my world either; it's that way with everyone so far." His voice is a little softer, because he shares her sentiment to some degree. "We'll find a way out and figure out what the fuck happened."

"And punish whoever would dare to lock us somewhere so filthy."

That was perhaps playing her hand a little too honestly but she didn't care. She was examining the knives again and looking around for something to sharpen them with.

"You seem at least reasonable. What do you think of the others in this place? Are they trustworthy?"

"I'm with you there." His priority is getting out, but should they run into this Overseer guy first, he's getting his ass kicked.

There's no hesitation in his assessment of the others, just a plain statement of fact.

"No one's trustworthy."

No one. Not here, not in any other situation. It's an opinion shaped by betrayal.

Agreeing to violence AND being suspicious of others? Oh this one she liked.

"You're smart. Probably smarter then people give you credit for."

She stops her inspection of the toaster to turn and study him, his movements, his stance.

"And who betrayed you to make you feel that way?"

He smirks. Finally, someone who appreciates him, and the reality of the situation here. She's not so bad. He leans against the counter, not quite casually. He's ready to pounce if necessary. On what? No one knows.

"None of your fucking business." He doesn't say it harshly, just plainly.

"That's true, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious about it." She shrugs "Can't blame a girl for wanting to figure out the people she's trapped with. But your dark brooding angst is your own I suppose."

For now.

"So if they can't be trusted, who is the biggest threat down here?"

"Me."

Now it's time to try that concoction made in the food processor. He's already lost any semblance of taste distinction down here. It's survivor mode at this point.

"Careful, that confidence might stray into ego if you're not too careful."

Oh...oh no he's actually going to try eating that? She turns her head away to avoid being ill. Maybe these devices aren't a miracle after all.

"But if you had to pick someone who wasn't in this room as dangerous either on purpose or inadvertently whom?"

"Would that be bad?" Ego seems like a good thing to have down here. There's a little bit of a mocking laugh before he answers her question. "'If you had to pick someone'? What are you, five?"

She had to turn back to face him so he could see her looking unimpressed.

"If it's too much for you to think objectively about the others down here then I apologize for causing you undo mental stress. But the fact of the matter is if you don't trust anyone down here then that means to some degree you think they could cause problems."

Either on purpose or by being stupid. Neither of which Azula was willing to deal with right away.

"And I don't care to take any chances until I have a better idea of what kind of mess we're in."

"You look like the one's who's stressed," he shrugs. "Of course they could cause problems, anyone could, someone will. It's just a matter of a time."

Whoever snaps first is going to be a problem.

"Who wouldn't be stressed given the situation?"

She's starting to think she gave him too much credit, if he really knew something useful about the others he might not even know what it is.

"I guess for now I'll just have to keep an eye on you if I want to avoid trouble." There may be some condescending sarcasm there.

(no subject)

cicadashell - 2020-06-06 19:21 (UTC) - Expand

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