Fallout: Lore

The Vaults

"When atomic fire consumed the earth, those who survived did so in great, underground vaults." — Narrator

Vault-Tec and the Vaults
In 2054, the U.S. government commissioned "Project: Safehouse". This project was to ensure protection from nuclear warfare by constructing underground fallout shelters called vaults. The government paid Vault-Tec to build 122 vaults all across the nation. Many people from all walks of life were allowed into the vaults, and were guaranteed entry if nukes ever did hit.
Each vault was designed to hold a thousand occupants at any time, and were supplied with all the essentials in order to survive in isolation for years to come. As luxurious as the vaults appeared to be, they hid a dark secret. The real reason behind the vaults was so the scientists of Vault-Tec could preform social experiments on isolated individuals. The experiments were in-humane and sadistic. Some worse than others. Things like being exposed to deadly toxins, forced into high-anxiety situations, cloned, frozen alive, starved, tortured, and encouraged to participate in violent events are what residents of the vaults had gone through.
Not all vaults were used to experiment on unaware subjects. Some were "control vaults" with the purpose to actually house people until it was safe to return to the surface. Those who got into those shelters were lucky. Most vault experiments failed; either mutating, killing, or mentally destroying the dwellers. For the ones that didn't fail, along with the controlled vaults, the people inside survived, and eventually adventured out into the wasteland. Now the vaults are either vacated or still inhabited by whoever wants to live in one. For the ones that are still able to be lived in, they are probably the safest places to be. They are radiation safe, have plenty of supplies, easy to barricade if necessary, and are quiet places to sleep.
The vaults sustained life, or at least some of them did. Even so, survivors in both the control vaults and experiment vaults were sheltered from the nuclear blast that ended the old world. It was always a better chance to be below ground than above. Still, Vault-Tec will never be forgiven from their sinister intentions. Even now, the remnants of the most excruciating tests performed on the dwellers are plain to see. All one has to do is look.

Vault 101
    Vault 101 was finished sometime around 2060. It's location is in the northwest area of Washington D.C. Vault-Tec's true purpose behind this shelter was to have it never open, studying the role of the overseer to a society that would be isolated forever. The genetic material would've been limited, resulting in inbreeding. But it didn't end up that way. The vault had opened at some point, letting in radroaches (large mutated cockroaches) which would become a pest problem to the residents. The vault was still isolated, but never had the results of inbreeding because some people from the outside had been allowed to stay.
     The Vault was home to James; a brilliant scientist and loving father. He was not originally part of Vault 101, but was taken in upon request. He was the father of the renowned "Lone Wanderer", who made a name for themself out in the Capital Wasteland. They had grown up in the vault, but eventually ventured out into the land above in search of their father, who had gone missing.
     This vault is one of the more friendly ones, despite shunning some outsiders. It's a safe place to live other than the occasional radroach problem. The overseers have not always been so kind to its dwellers, but it beats having what some of the other unforgiving shelters had to deal with. All in all, Vault 101 had made it through the harshness of the nuclear winter, even with its scuffs and dings. To live here would have been luckier than most.

Vault 111
     Home to people in the Concord area, this vault was designed to study cryogenic stasis on unsuspecting subjects. Upon entry when the bombs fell, the dwellers were put into pods and frozen. They were supposed to be unfrozen and let out of the vault after a 180 day period, but the overseer never gave the "ok" to open the shelter doors. The staff engaged in mutiny when they were not allowed outside. Whether the mutiny was a success or not is a mystery. As for the dwellers still frozen in cryogenic stasis, they stayed frozen for 200 years. Most of them died.
Except for one; the Sole Survivor. Nicknamed that by the people of the post-apocalyptic Boston Commonwealth, this vault dweller survived cryogenic stasis, along with their infant son, who was stolen away by a mercenary. After witnessing the mercenary kill their spouse, and steal their son, the dweller escaped the vault in search of the infant and his kidnapper. The Sole Survivor had been frozen for 210 years, and soon found out of Vault-Tec's sinister plans after seeing the aftermath of the shelter.
From being frozen, they were kept youthful and healthy. Still, it doesn't excuse Vault-Tec for using the dwellers like lab rats. Especially since most of them died from hypothermia. They got what they deserved in the end it seemed; the Sole Survivor found skeletons of the staff while exiting the place. The vault was a disaster, which goes to show how evil Vault-Tec scientists can be. There were other vaults that also underwent cryogenic stasis, but it's unknown exactly how those results turned out. Hopefully, better than Vault 111.

Vault 76
     As one of the 17 control vaults, Vault 76 was scheduled to open 20 years after the bombs fell with no cruel experiments preformed on the inhabitants. Located in West Virginia, 500 occupants were sealed in the shelter and re-emerged to the surface 25 years after it was shut. They called the opening of the vault "Reclamation Day", and all dwellers left to venture out into the West Virginian wasteland on that date.
     The residents of Vault 76 were one of the first dwellers to emerge after the atomic annihilation. The brave men and women of the vault had to survive the wastes of the surface at its most hostile time. They had to get used to the dangers of the lands; including mutated monsters, high radiation, little food and water safe for consumption, changes in the weather, and even each other. They laid out the foundations of the new world, and were the pioneers of life after the nuclear winter.
     Their vault might have been a vault of little consequence, but the surface world the dwellers had to brace was not. Life above ground then was a constant struggle. Many dwellers didn't make it, but for those who did, carried on the legacy of a lost nation, and its hearts and minds with it.

Rare Vault-Tec Facts
Vault-Tec, which can also be referred to as Vault-Tech, Vaultex, or Vault-Tek, has many things about them that few know. The following is a short list of trivial facts about the engineering company behind the famous fallout shelters.
• Vault-Tec's phone number was 1-888-482-858-832 (or 1-888-4VAULT-TEC).
• The vault suits worn by dwellers and staff is always yellow and blue; the official company colors of Vault-Tec.
• Vault-Tec allowed Vault 76 to have colored TVs, which as far as anyone knows, is the only vault to have colored TVs.

Conclusion
These underground fallout shelters may have been corrupt, but still protected people from the devastation above. Many heroes of the wastelands came from the vaults. The people that live on the surface nowadays often see vault dwellers as unique individuals. Something of an oddity, just like the vaults themselves.
Just be careful when going down into the vaults, one might find a not-so-friendly environment.

Official Fallout Lore