Vault 75 is one of the explorable vaults inFallout 4. Much like any other post-apocalyptic Vault-Tec facility, this one was the home of an unethical experiment. In particular, Vault 75 dabbled in gene pool enhancement.
This specific vault features its own quest wherein the player must uncover what happened in the place all those years ago. The “Vault 75” quest immediately triggers when the player starts exploring Malden Middle School. This can be found southwest of the Greentop Nursery settlement.
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Fallout 4: A Vault Designed to Train and Educate Children
To begin with the genetic experimentation,Vault-Tec created Vault 75and advertised it as a haven for children in the post-apocalyptic world. Its placement underneath the school was to ensure speedy evacuation should the bombs fall. To sweeten the deal, Vault-Tec even provided special discounts for families with children under the age of 15. In case the child’s family couldn’t afford to save a spot for everyone, it was possible to only enroll their child in Vault-Tec’s program.
Vault 75 was marketed as a placewhere families and their children could thrive in the aftermath of the Great War. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth as upon entering the vault, only the children would survive the orientation. Children under the age of 17 were to be taken to the vault’s atrium for briefing, while anyone over that age was to be taken elsewhere in the facility and executed. This was only the beginning of the brutal experimentation though.
Once the adults were taken care of, the children would liveunder the guidance of the Overseer. A person of military background, Vault 75’s unnamed Overseer put the children through classes and training that recorded their physical, mental, and social performance. The classes entailed educating the children about the wasteland above, which the staff called “Uptopland.” It was described as a terrible place filled with monsters and bandits, but with the help of the Vault 75 children, the people in Uptopland could be saved. This suggests that Vault-Tec might have had plans to try and help the wasteland should the output of their experiment be favorable, or perhaps this was just a fib to give the children motivation.
As for the training, the most notable instance of this can be seen inVault 75’s combat training room. This room includes a life-sized recreation of a dilapidated diner as it would appear in “Uptopland” as well as a terminal that initiated the training sequence. The program had the children shoot targets as they appeared, timing them until they shot the final target. Other relevant facilities include a room with treadmills and another room with what looks to be a scanning device. Both were likely used to pinpoint the children’s physical state and prowess.
These programs went on until the children turned 18. At that point, each of them would be judged based on their capabilities. Thus, beginsVault-Tec’s unethical eugenics program.
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Vault 75’s Human Genetics Experiment
Each vault resident’s aptitudes were a crucial point in Vault 75 because Vault-Tec’s intention was to see how the human genome could be improved in a controlled environment. Unbeknownst to the children, there was a hidden facility in Vault 75,where Vault-Tec scientists were observing them. These scientists were the ones who decided who among the children were excellent or even superior — physically, mentally, and socially. These exceptional subjects would then be taken to the normally off-limits genomics facility, where the scientists would then “harvest” their genes.
In “harvesting” the children’s genes, it’s implied thatthe subjects were killed in the process. Once the scientists got what they needed, they would then use the gathered genetic material to begin a new generation of Vault 75 residents. This is implied as one of the terminal entries mentions IVFs and the existence of a nursery facility. The scientists then raise a new generation of vault residents and start anew, conducting the same experiments.
What of the vault residents that didn’t pass the scientists’ tests? Any child who was not deemed “excellent” or “superior” was killed. The only exceptionwere children who had high intelligencebut were not exceptionally strong or social as these subjects were brought into the Vault-Tec research team. Should these subjects turn down the offer to become a scientist, they, too, were to be executed.
The Residents of Vault 75 Rebel
The only instance of a former vault resident ever becoming a scientist was witha boy named Washington. As per the scientists’ terminal entries, Washington has shown a penchant for problem-solving and critical thinking, alongside low physical scores, plus a psychological profile that says he’s highly suggestible. The only problem was his attachment to the younger vault residents, particularly a girl named Nina.
Washington’sown terminal entries revealthat he’s excited to be on the research team. He writes that he feels more mature and that he’s happy that he still gets to see his friends, even though they don’t see him. In a later entry, he writes that one of the scientists lost some papers from her clipboard and that he later saw one of his younger friends find them on their side. Washington made the decision to keep this knowledge to himself.
The child who found the papers was a boy named Rohit. Along with two other children named James and Alma, he had been planning to storm the inaccessible area of the facility — where the scientists were. All three of them were going to bust in and overpower the “geeks” while the younger kids were asleep.
When the player first arrives in Vault 75,the place is overrun by Gunners. Though given the lack of newer terminal entries from the scientists as well as the placement of skeletons in Vault-Tec uniform, it would seem Rohit’s plan ultimately succeeded, likely with help from Washington. It’s unclear where the children went after the uprising against the research team, but they’re no doubt long gone by the time the Sole Survivor arrives.
Vault 75’s experiment is undoubtedly one of the most immoral programs conducted by Vault-Tec. Not only does it involve eugenics, but Vault-Tec staff also willingly taught its child residents about violence and subjected them to experiments without their consent. Even worse was the project’s requirement to kill off the children’s parents as well as any child that didn’t reach the necessary parameters. It’s a chilling reminder that science has its ethical limits, even inFallout’spost-apocalyptic world.
Fallout 4is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
