Fallout: The Dawn War » Places

         Grey walls of steel, dirtied and overpopulated. The belongings and bedding sprawled past original design. Some try to avoid me as I pass through these halls, others cant find the space to hide from me. Or maybe they just don't care. I can barely breathe down here. The stench and fog of man’s forgeries, the same fog covering the world above, is compressed down here. Trying to escape it, they only suffocated themselves in it. Even the clothes they where keep the smog tight against their skin.

“Right this way, Sir. The Overseer and Society Board will see you now.”

I step into the room. A long table almost fully seated with one spot left on the opposite end to a grey haired man. The woman from earlier, Meryl, is also here. I squat on the chair. Too bad my legs don't bend that way.


“Well then?” I say.

“Yes…I am the Overseer of Vault ten. Also seated here are Chief of Security James Clockworthe, Chief of Science Kirk Arnold, Chief of Maintenance William Bennett, Chief of Sociology Eliza Fowler, Chief of Requisitions Nicole Grant, and you’ve already met our Chief of Medicine Meryl Stryfe.” He points to each one has he does the introductions.

“Now who might you be?”

“D’ne Saeed.”

“Well its good to meet you. Tell me, is this report accurate?” He slides some papers across the table. I slide them back.

“I cant read.”

“Oh come on. Do you really expect Meryl and my men to submit a false report?” says the Security Chief.

“No, of course not. I expect your men and Ms. Stryfe to submit accurate reports from your perspectives but vantage points vary and I’d like to shed as much light on this situation as possible.”

The Science Chief stands up. “This is a waste of time. If you want to shed light on what this thing is just put it on the slab with the rest of the bodies whose autopsy have been delayed because of this meeting.”

“I’m looking for more then your surgical tools can tell me Arnold. I need to know more then simply the organism we are dealing with. This man is from the outside and right now we all need to know as much information about it as we can. As a member of the Society Board you need to be attending this meeting.”

“Look,” says the Sociology Chief. Whatever that means. “We all know that Arnold is out of his element right now. His specialty is terminals and test tubes, not people. We cant expect him to contribute to this meeting besides listening. But Arnold, let’s not forget what you can learn from observational science. Poke your petri dish too much and you’ll contaminate the results. I'm sure you’ll get all the time you need to examine the two other subjects in the lab later.”

It seems that the members of the board are all of high education and their knowledge isn't limited to their individual specializations. Looks like they know how to pick their leaders well.

“Fine.” He sits back down. “Let’s just hurry up with this.”

“Okay so let’s start from the top then. In the report it suggests you are familiar with the subjects that attacked the surface team. What can you tell us about them?”

“As I said before they are called Nightkin. They were created through salvaged pre-war tech as soldiers by someone called The Master. At least that's what I’ve heard. Their army was already crippled and their leader dead long before my people discovered them.”

“Interesting…Pre-War technology. That's as interesting as it is troubling. What of you? What exactly are you?”

“I’m a Yokai. We are born from the left overs of the Great War. I’m no scientist. I've no idea how radiation works. I'm tougher, stronger, and faster then you.”

“Are all humans topside like you?”

“No but there is nothing like you up there either.”

“Also in this report you state that you knew of previous uses of G.E.C.K. units. So are there other civilizations out there?”

“Countless ones. Who I was talking about there is the New California Republic. They control California, Oregon, and parts of Nevada and the Baja. Funny how those territory names stuck for all these years. They are one of the largest tribes. The other is Caesar’s Legion, an army of slaves, there territory goes from Arizona eastward though no one knows how far. We are actually in Legion territory right now. Or under it that is."

“Look, I can already tell where this line of questioning is leading. You want to leave the Vault?”

“Yes…I suppose it wouldn't be hard to tell. The Chief of Maintenance can fill you in.”

“I’m supposed to explain this to a person who cant even read?” He sighs. “Whatever. Look the bottom line is that the Vault was never designed to keep living occupants for this long. The Vault was forcibly and irreversibly isolated shortly after closing, only now to reopen for seemingly no reason. Air, water and food processing degradation is only a fraction of our issues. Our power supply is going dead fast. If we keep this up the reactor will go super-critical in a few months. That is to say it’ll do the same thing as the bombs that blew up the whole damn world if we don't shut it down and we cant live down here without it."

“There is also the issue of overpopulation.” Says the Sociology Chief. “Vault ten was only designed to hold approximately one thousand occupants comfortably and up to ten thousand with hot bunking. Currently, we have a population of over twelve thousand. This has put even more strain on our resources and has caused a degeneration of our society. At this point in time I think the only department that isn't on the fringe of failure are the science and security departments.”

“Not quite true,” says the Security Chief. “Our high population hasn't offset our ratio of civilians to law enforcers thankfully but we don't have the weaponry available to arm our security teams without breaking into the emergency weapons cache. Often times my men have had to bring in trouble makers with their bare hands. Piety thievery and sexual crimes are at an all time high due to the lack of privacy and despite having plenty of men their is little we've been able to do about it.”

“You know I would have been just fine with the short answer.” I can't believe I'm doing this but...