Xx-Katherine-xX
Sass Queen
MOD - @Xx-Katherine-xX
CO-MOD - @Endless Winter
HISTORY
In the United States, following World War II, the transistor was not invented, while vacuum tubes and atomic physics became the cornerstones to scientific progress, eventually achieving the technological aspirations of the early Atomic Age and locking society into a 1950s cultural stasis. In this golden age", a bizarre socio-technological status quo emerges, in which advanced robots, nuclear-powered cars, directed-energy weapons, and other futuristic technologies are seen alongside 1950s-era computers and telephones, and the aesthetics and Cold War paranoia of the 1950s continue to dominate the American lifestyle well into the 21st century.
More than a hundred years ago, an energy crisis emerged caused by the depletion of petroleum reserves, leading to a period called the "Resource Wars" – a series of events which included a war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East, the disbanding of the United Nations, the U.S. annexation of Canada, and a Chinese invasion and subsequent military occupation of Alaska. These eventually culminated in the "Great War" in the year 2077, a two-hour nuclear exchange on an apocalyptic scale, which subsequently created the post-apocalyptic United States.
VAULTS
Having foreseen this outcome decades earlier, the U.S. government began a nationwide project in 2054 to build fallout shelters known as "Vaults". The Vaults were ostensibly designed by the government contractor Vault-Tec as public shelters, financed by junk bonds and each able to support up to a thousand people. Each Vault is self-sufficient, so they could theoretically sustain their inhabitants indefinitely. However, the Vault project was never intended as a viable method of repopulating the United States in such a deadly scenario. Around 400,000 vaults would have been needed, but only 122 were commissioned and constructed. Instead, the Vaults were part of a secret and unethical social experiment, and were designed to determine the effects of different environmental and psychological conditions on its inhabitants. Experiments were widely varied and included: A vault filled with clones of a single individual, one where the equipment designed to make clothing failed immediately after closing, one where no sources of entertainment were provided, one where one resident must be sacrificed each year, extremely disproportionate numbers of men and women, one filled with compulsive gamblers who were only allowed to solve issues through gambling, a Vault where the inhabitants were exposed to the mutagenic Forced Evolutionary Virus, and a Vault where the door never closed, exposing the inhabitants to dangerous amounts of radiation. A few control Vaults were made to function as advertised to contrast with the data from those Vaults with intentional flaws, but were usually shoddily made due to most of the funding going toward the experimental Vaults. Nevertheless, many Vaults had their experiments derailed due to unexpected events. Many of these Vaults were so self-destructive that by the time other survivors opened them, they were nothing but tombs.
The society draws from 1950s pulp magazine science fiction and superhero comic books, all rooted in Atomic Age optimism of a nuclear-powered future, though gone terribly awry by the time the events of the game take place. The technology is retro-futuristic, with various Raygun Gothic machines such as laser weaponry and boxy Forbidden Planet-style robots. Computers use vacuum tubes instead of transistors.
VAULT LIFE
We currently live in Vault 76, a Vault that was supposed to open 20 years after it closed. We are living 17 years after the Vault has closed. Here we'll just give a general overview of life inside Vault 76.
The Vault is capable of holding 1,000 people. The entrance houses the vault's only connection to the outside world - the airlock. It is closed from the inside by a reinforced high-security door and from the outside by a massive, gear-shaped, four-foot thick door. For most vaults this is the only means of entering or leaving. Out vault has consoles located on both the inside and outside, both of which require a security code to open the outer door. These codes are only known to a handful of people within the facility so as to prevent unauthorized exits.
The entrance level also houses the Emergency Medical Lab complete with anAuto-Doc. A vault medic is required to be present at the EML 24 hours a day. The lab has the equipment to treat nearly all injuries and illnesses, ranging from simple bruises to radiation
Standard living quarters are basic one bedroom, one bathroom areas, although there are family units that are larger. The lights in the Vault use Simu-Sun technology, making it feel just like the outdoors, with only a fraction of a sunburn risk.
New Entertainertrons are used to play holotapes, and used as a slide projector in classrooms.
At the heart of the vault, the command center is where the Overseer's seat is located. The operations center, apart from the seat of power, includes the computer lab, where the water purification system is located, and an armory, where the vault's weapons, ammunition and armor is stockpiled. A security guard is posted in the command center at all times, to ensure that the armaments are properly secured and handed out only to people possessing the proper clearance from the Overseer. The Overseer is also able to see anyone inside the vault with the Eye-on-You cameras.
Apart from that, the level also contains the computer core (with the vault's AI monitoring the shelter 24/7), housing data processing units, a library playing an important role in educating vault dwellers, a common meeting room, and the primary store room, where the most important supplies are be stored.
Equipped with dual 5mm miniguns, the Overseer's command post can be considered the last line of defense in case vault security is breached.
A Pip-Boy (Personal Information Processor-Boy) is an iconic wrist-computer given to children when they turn 10. The computer gives out general information, has a map of the Vault, and is used to receive messages.
At age 16, you take the G.O.A.T (Generalised Occupational Aptitude Test) to determine your job and place in the Vault. From that point you are apprenticed to whatever job you are deemed apt to work in.
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