Magnus Odinnsohn - [Vault 104] - Biohazards

 

From the Recordings of Magnus Odinsohn, Mercenary, Explorer, and, Exspelled Resident of Vault 76

 

 

A special thank you and well-earned hug to Gwen McNamara for hiring me for this assignment. It fits my particular qualifications.  I, for most purposes, am a "ghoul."  FEV and radiation has altered my physiology to a weird degree of functioning.  I am for all purposes a mutant, some that Vault-Tec did not achieve for some decades after the Third World War.  I am capable of entering and scouting radioactive sites were most unaltered humans dare not venture.  Part of this assignment was to scout the immediate area Northwest of the Commonwealth of Boston and locate an undisclosed vault.   It took me a three weeks of exploration anmd a few martial encounters, but I found its location.

 

I was able to unseal the the main vault door with a Pip-Boy, a loaner from Vault 81.  They discovered a hidden Vault adjacent to Vault 81 a year ago and it had several holotapes, files, archives, including the description, operations, and location for a sister Vault, Vault 104.  It appears as McNamara put it, both were working on similar bio-sciences, but took different routes.  Anyway, where do I begin?  Uh, the entry ramp was similar to the entrance bays from Vault 111 and Vault 81. The Vault Bay inside 104 is in pristine shape despite over 200 years of isolated preservation.  No decayed bodies, no old sad telltale bullet holes or markings of previous firefights were found.  There was an unused desk, a reclining chair and three lockers.  The table is unadorned save a thick layer of dusk.  Ventilation was odd as I could feel a small breeze whisper through a semi-open gate.  I swept my geiger-counter across the vent and heard the ominous clicking and radiation.  It was gamma rays.  Whatever happened inside Vault 104 sterilized all organics inside of it.  The amount of radiation buried the needle on my geiger-counter.  By observation, the ventilation system and its radiation filters in the entrance bay are working on a low-battery power system via an electrical dynamo.

 

Oddly enough, the entrance doors leading into the depths of 104 are barred shut and needed an access code.  Where they planning to return at some date or did they not want anything getting out?

 

I began an inventory check of the lockers and their contents.  It was brief.  The first locker from left to right, contained 5 spare Vault 104 uniforms, in pristine condition, and draped in a long plastic bags to prevent dust and micro-particle contamination.  Second, accompanying the Vault-Tec uniforms were two obviously hazmat suits.  They looked like they torn inside with no regard for future use .  The second contained three unused pip-bays, in pristine condition.  The final locker held several holotapes, and a photo album with several old world pictures, all in pristine condition after two hundred or so years.

"To Lia Bennett, I hold you in my heart for all time."

 

I turned my attention next to the holotape.  I open my Pip-Boy played the disk.

 

 

{{{{{---Static---}}}}}

 

{{{{{---two minutes of silence---}}}}}

 

"Is this thing working?"

 

"I think so.  Okay.., ...Mac.  Lets' get this thing done."

 

"To whoever find this holotape and is able to access the information, you're already dead if you entered the main Vault chambers.  If not, then turn around Leave Vault 104.  This facility holds nothing but death."

 

{{{{{---pause---}}}}}

 

"My name is Karl Bennett, Chief of Security of Vault 104.  Mac and I are the only two remaining survivors of this over-stated marvel of technology.  First, let it be known that I am responsible for the safety and liquidation of any emergencies that occur inside Vault 104.  It's in my job description. Second, If I ever meet Stanislaus Braun, my only goal will be to put several rounds in his unethical skull.  The bastard lied to us.  Vault 104 was sold as a safe haven from nuclear death, instead the research scientists used the inhabitants as guinea pigs.  The purpose of this vault was to modified the human immunophysiology and create a new strain of human that could rapidly regenerate blood and tissue damage in a matter of hours.  The research I secretly obtained suggested no less and 24, but no greater than 48 hours.  What happened in the Vaults final days was an outbreak of influenza, a super-strain of the common flu developed by our military in secret to use on the Chinese.  I'm not a microbiologist, but they were attempting to disrupt the human body's immune system, expose them to Influenza, then hyper-jump a weakened immune system in order to activate a new genome sequence."

 

"...My wife was keeping dangerous secrets from me..."

 

"Judging from the chaos and the orders that came from Lia, my wife and the Vault overseer, it didn't work.  Three decades of research gone do to a clumsy accident and a brief error in judgement.  The mutated strain they engineered had a fatality margin of 99%.  My wife on her deathbed ordered the gamma ray projectors activated at full output.  The ventilation system to the lower level was to be sealed.  Nothing inside the lower Vault was to survive. I wept as I followed my wife's orders.  Damn Vault-Tec.  Damn them to Hell.  Nothing left here now.  Mac is pushing 60 and his wife left us 3 years ago. (Pause)  Anyway, Mac and I are taking what supplies we can salvage and the we are going to locate Vault 72.  Maybe we'll find sanctuary there.  This is Karl Bennett, Chief of Security, Vault 104 abandoning his post and signing off.  Heed my warning and good luck."

 

After shutting off the holotape, all I could say was damn.  I hope this will satisfy curious scholars and leave a historical record for tomorrow's generations.

 

- Magnus Odinsohn

 

(P.S. Photos and images not mine BTW.  Last image is a photo of Lia Bennett.  Some day I'll get around to posting a new original photo.)