It was a quiet time as usual in Vault 111. Nothing strange has happened there in several decades. But today seemed like it would be different. Nothing outwardly would make you think that. It just had that feeling.
Zzztzzzt
The lights of the vault started to flicker before they all shut down. A gust of wind came from nowhere, and sparks of electricity started to shoot everywhere but caused no damage. Then a ball of light started to manifest on the ground, and when it disappeared, a naked man was kneeling on the ground.
Whoosh
With a flap, two blue wings shoot out from the back of the stranger. Then the person opens their eyes while slowly standing up. They look left to right, then forward.
POV Rio
"Hmm, so this is Vault 111? It seems more impressive in person." I comment, looking at the massive cryo-stasis pods that surround me.
Before I could examine them closer, I shivered.
"Brrr. It's freezing in here. I should get out of here before I catch something. Well, I guess I can't get sick, but it doesn't change that I really don't like feeling cold, wet, and breezy."
I rub my arms and then choose to look at myself. I was covered in blue fur with normal hands and feet. I decided to check between my legs and was happy to see I was still a male.
'Huh, at least I got a massive upgrade.'
Besides the new hardware, I also checked the rest of my body. I had two wings that were only around 2 feet in length and felt odd when I touched them. It felt odd having new limbs, like the inverse of phantom pain. It was hard to describe and explain. Next was my hair. It was black, not too deep but not too light. I wouldn't be able to check fully until I found the bathroom deeper in the vault.
'I should get going. The sooner I get out of this tomb, the better.'
I started to walk, but I froze when I passed a pair of pods. I looked at the left one and then the right, and I had a terrible feeling. I ran to the nearby terminal and turned it on. I went through the terminal and found the status of the pods, and what I saw made me freeze.
Pod C6: Nate
Occupant status: Deceased. Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to Life Support failure.
Pod C7: Nora and Shaun
Occupant status: Deceased. Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to Life Support failure.
'No, no, no, this can't be accurate.'
I went to the two pods and checked them. Both contained a corpse. One female, the other male. But neither had an infant. The female had blood splatter and signs of a struggle, indicating a struggle. But what worried me was that both sides had no life signs.
"But one of them should have survived. Was this caused by me? Or was this what they meant by this world being doomed?" I wondered while trying to think how this may affect the future.
"Calm down, Rio. This may change things, but it's not the end of the world. It does suck, as Nora and Nate would have been excellent allies. My first focus needs to be getting out of here alive," I try to soothe myself.
I left the two pods as they were after trying to open them and failing.
"Malfunction in cryo pod manual release override," said the Vault computer.
"Okay, I will have to come back later to see if they can be saved. Even if that is highly unlikely," I mumble that last part.
My first stop was the door to the room I was in. It opened easily and led into a hallway. I didn't hear or see any enemies, so I continued. I made a slight detour to the other cryo pod room and searched for some supplies. I ended up finding a new Vault Jumpsuit, 2 clipboards, and a clean coffee cup. It also allowed me to test the inventory function. It was actually really easy to use. I learned that I had to have physical contact with the object I wanted to store, but when it came to taking it out, all I needed to do was think about it, and it would appear in my hand. I could also deploy the items within a range of 2 feet, which wasn't much, but it was something.
After the other room, I tested to see if the maintenance door was working, but as expected, it was broken, and I had to take the detour. Not that I minded, as I remember a few radroaches being guarding the Vault Door controls. I was unarmed and had a -95% Melee and Unarmed Damage debuff, so I had little confidence I could kill a Radroach without a gun. I at least picked up a ball-peen hammer for defense.
My next stop was the side entrance, and as soon as I entered, I started to sneak as I could see a massive roach sleeping on the other side of the window, and I didn't want to wake it up. It couldn't get to me, but I didn't need it to be aware of me. I found a little security office, but it didn't have any weapons. Just some scrap items and a single Stimpak. I didn't let it worry me too much.
The next stop was a hallway that led past some rusted pipes. None of them could be pried away, so I left them and opened the following door. Through it was a small hallway that had two paths. One led to the break/crew quarters, and the other led to the reactor room. But most importantly, there was a Radroach that was blocking the path to either. It didn't notice me or the opening door, or at least didn't react, so I had some time to think. I activated the pause menu that froze time for me, but didn't allow me to do anything but think and sort my inventory.
'Okay, how do I get past this? I could just make a run for it and close the door behind me. But with my pitiful stamina, that is unlikely to work. I can try to sneak past, but it is too close to the door. And even then, there are several roaches in the reactor room. And if I get past those, it leads to a hallway with a roach or two.'
I decided to close the door and backtrack a bit. I went back to one of the cryo pod rooms and decided to test how strong my attacks would be. I took a wrench I looted and a box of cigars and swung as hard as I could. The results were... sad.
I look barely damaged box and realize I have a bit of a problem. An average human can put 120-150 psi in a punch. 5% of that is 6-7.5 psi. Even with a force multiplier, it would still only come out to around 280-300 psi. With the roach being very large, I wasn't sure if I could kill it in one shot.
'Then we will have to try a sneak attack. I recall those doing double damage without perks. 600 psi is pretty good.'
It wasn't the most ideal, but it was likely the best I could do. I went back to the room with the roach and snuck up behind it, and while it was turned away, I mustered every last bit of energy I could and swung the hammer down on its head.
SPLAT
Its head explodes, and it dies. But to be certain, I hit it a few more times. I checked to see if the roach would have some loot, and it did. One chunk of Radroach Meat was added to my inventory.
'Well, at least now if I eat poison, I can eat this to get it out.'
I was a bit morbidly curious what Radroach tasted like, but was also very happy never learning the answer. Past the roach was a break room with a few empty beer bottles and a few other pieces of scrap. The attached employee quarters were empty, except for a couple of mattresses. It did have a working bathroom, though. It looked like it would give me tetanus and a few venereal diseases if I used the shower or toilet, but they worked. But no mirror, unfortunately. I also found a holotape for the game Red Menace. Nothing else was of interest, so I moved on.
The next room was the reactor room and had some faulty reactors that were shooting out bolts of electricity. I thankfully didn't have to do anything but watch as a roach got too close and was roasted.
'One less enemy.'
Unfortunately, it was the smallest roach that left the biggest one, which looked to be almost 2 feet long. I decided to try and sneak past it, and if that failed, lead it into the fire of the reactors. It worked, and I got past it. But the next door was bad. A small horde of roaches was blocking the door to the next room. I decided to try something risky but worth a shot.
"HEY UGLIES! I AM HERE AND FULL OF MEAT COME GET SOME!"
As soon as I yelled, I ran away as fast as I could back past the generators and into the break room while shutting the door behind me. It worked and I didn't get bit once, but I had to stop and catch my breath as I was a bit scared and out of breath. I watched from the window as several roaches were fried by the reactor, but what happened next scared the crap out of me. The roaches cannibalized the fallen roaches and then grew in size rapidly.
'What the actual hell?! I don't remember them being able to do that!'
Then, after watching the annoyed and angry roaches crawl around for a bit, they did a strange dance and shot out a cloud of green mist. I wasn't sure what it did, but I had a feeling it wasn't good. After about an hour of waiting, the two remaining roaches gave up and left. One stayed in the reactor room, and the other, which was over 3 feet long at this point, went back to the hallway I aggro-ed them from. I snuck up behind the reactor one and killed it, but when I went to go find the other one, it was gone. But more alarmingly, there was a vent hole that was broken.
The next stop was the overseer's office, which was empty of anything living. I found a few very interesting items. A Colt M1911, a C93 Pistol, and plenty of ammo. Not much else of note was found, and I opened the evacuation tunnel and peeked my head out to see what I would be dealing with. All I saw were scraps of Radroach corpses.
Gulp
I snuck through the tunnel and found nothing alive. But more worryingly, two open doors. I peeped my head into the entrance hall and saw what was easily the largest insect I had ever seen. The damn thing was well over 6 feet long and 2 feet tall.
'What in a Oblivion is that?!'
It was a massive Radroach. One that clearly had feasted on its brethren and gotten massive as a result.
-----------------
Authors Note:
Dun dun dun... Yes, I know it's a cliffhanger, but I wanted the next chapter to be for the upcoming fight and eventual escape. Until next time, Ciao.