Why Vault-Tec is the Lowest of the Low in Fallout
Umbrella Corporation. Abstergo Industries. Vought International. Shinra Electric Power Company. These are a handful of fictional corporations that epitomize the worst aspects of capitalism. They’re what happens when greed, corruption, and a disregard for the value of life become the norm. And while each of them has committed atrocities in their respective franchises, the company discussed here might be one of the most vile, disgusting, and reprehensible businesses in all of fiction. We’re talking, of course, about Vault-Tec, the company central to the story of the Fallout franchise.
Vault-Tec is, for all intents and purposes, everything wrong with capitalism. To the American public before the Great War, they were the builders of the Vaults the underground bastions for America to ride out the nuclear apocalypse. In truth, though, the majority of the Vaults were nothing more than Petri dishes for their employees to perform some of the cruelest and inhumane experiments they could think of. What’s revealed about them in the Fallout show, is only the tip of the iceberg. Longtime veterans of the games have seen first-hand the atrocities Vault-Tec has committed. So much so that when we get to the big reveal at the end of the show’s first season, we can only grimace and say “Of course, Vault-Tec did that.”
I’m RJ Writing Ink, and today we are going to discuss why Vault-Tec is the worst of the worst and likely the biggest threat to the entire Wasteland.
Project: Safehouse- Biggest Scam in American History
When Vault-Tec came into existence has yet to be revealed, nor does it matter in the grand scheme of things. What is known is that they rose to prominence in the 2050s right as the world began to descend into chaos. The worsening energy crisis, a global plague, and the beginning of the resource wars were only the beginning of the path that would culminate in a nuclear hellfire in 2077. Seeing the writing on the wall, many in the US government realized a potential armageddon would come about in their lifetimes. Thus, in 2054, they announced the start of Project: Safehouse, an initiative to build massive, underground sanctuaries to shelter the American people from plague or nuclear war. That marked the beginning of the Vaults, with Vault-Tec getting carte blanche to get them up and running.
Things went wrong almost immediately. Funds were mismanaged and embezzled, construction was set with delays, and even ignoring all of that, Vault-Tec only built 122 Vaults. With each capable of holding anywhere between a few hundred to a thousand people, they could only save less than 0.1% of the American population. Vault-Tec did come up with some groundbreaking technology, but it was little comfort for America when the bombs fell.
In truth, Vault-Tec either didn’t believe nuclear war would happen or didn’t care. In truth, the Vaults were a scam. The deep state and Vault-Tec had decided to use the majority of the Vaults to conduct social and scientific experiments without things like morals and ethics getting in their way. The goal was to use everything they learned to help them either travel to another planet to settle or claim what was left of the world and make it in their own image. A few of the Vaults did what the public thought they would, but the rest were subjected to nightmares.
The Crimes of Vault-Tec
When the Great War began and the nukes dropped, those who could get to the Vaults tried to seal themselves inside. They hoped they would be safe from the nuclear apocalypse until the time came to rebuild the world. And while some of them managed to do just that, too many subjected their population to experiments. Some were benign, others were monstrous, and some didn’t even make sense. Vault-Tec did them for the heck of it!
Vault 34, Mojave Desert-A Vault filled with an abundance of firearms and weapons. The Overseer tried locking the armory, only for some to object and leave. The reactor leak turned most of the remaining inhabitants into feral ghouls.
- Vault 75, Massachusetts-A Vault filled with children to be bred into perfect super-soldiers by scientists.
- Vault 21, Las Vegas-A Vault meant to build a society where all problems were solved by gambling.
- Vault 68-A Vault filled with 999 men and one woman.
- Vault 69-A Vault filled with 999 women and one man.
- Vault 74-A Vault filled with one man and a box of hand puppets.
- Vault 12-A Vault designed to improperly seal to test the effects of radiation exposure. The population subsequently turned into some of the first ghouls.
- Vault 95, Massachusetts-A Vault filled with drug addicts meant to undergo experimental rehab. Five years later, a stash of drugs was discovered. Guess the rest.
And the worst-known experiment was Vault 11 in the Mojave Desert. Inhabitants were told to sacrifice someone each year under the threat of the Vault cutting off life support. In truth, they were supposed to refuse, at which point they would be commended for valuing life and allowed to go free. By the time that happened, though, only five people were left. They all proceeded to commit suicide out of despair!
Vault-Tec is a Menace
In summation, Vault-Tec is one of the most horrendous corporations in the annals of pop culture. And that includes companies that are guilty of creating zombies, conquering worlds, and creating power-hungry superheroes like Homelander. Vault-Tec is terrible, even to their own employees. The recent revelations found within the Amazon Prime series are just the cherry on top of a mountain-sized pile of crimes against all that is good and decent. The fact that a few of their Vaults actually did what they were supposed to and kept their people alive long enough to start rebuilding civilization is a miracle unto itself.
With a second season of Fallout in the works, Vault-Tec stands as the biggest threat to what’s left of America. They need to be stopped, and I hope that if the show doesn’t do it, a future game in the series will let us do so.
