Vault 87

Vault 87 is one of the Vaults constructed by the Vault-Tec Corporation in the Capital Wasteland. It is located northwest of Little Lamplight and southwest of Broadcast tower KT8. It's the place of origin for the super mutants and centaurs in the Capital Wasteland.

Background
Construction on Vault 87 began in May 2066 and finished in December 2071. The primary computer system was Cyberbrain v2.3, while energy was provided by a General Atomics nuclear reactor, with a backup Versicorps fusion power generator. Non-standard equipment included four stasis chambers, a plasma containment field, six food processing stations and a Garden of Eden Creation Kit. Around 2076, the original Vault experiment was scrapped and the Vault was converted into a secondary research center that would study the effects of the Forced Evolutionary Virus on humans, exclusively for Dr Wayne Merrick and his staff. Using batch 11-111 as basis, the team attempted to create a virus batch that would result in reliable creation of humans adapted to the post-nuclear environment, the Evolutionary Experimentation Program. However, despite the efforts of the science team, only inferior mutants were created: despite a substantial increase in size, strength and practical immunity to environmental hazards, the subjects suffered from considerable mental damage and extreme aggression towards their surroundings.

The Overseer and his security guards were well aware of the nature of the experimentation, they were following their orders from Vault-Tec. Unfortunately, the standard security measures were not enough. A year after the Vault was sealed (following a disastrous nuclear detonation right on top of the entry cave), some test subjects broke free, overwhelming the security force, and beginning a haphazard dipping process.

Since then, the mutants are effectively a staple of the Capital Wasteland. They are obsessed with the preservation of their species, due to the fact that they are all irrevocably sterile. Super mutants kidnap humans from all over the Capital Wasteland and bring them to the vault to be mutated. They have been doing so for nearly 200 years, until their source of FEV started to run out. Because of the shortage of the "green stuff," there are now super mutant bands searching all over the Capital Wasteland for a new source of the virus. Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.42: "Super Mutants The Super Mutants that infest the urban ruin of Washington D.C. originated in Vault 87. Those unlucky enough to have reserved space in Vault 87 soon found themselves forcefully taken to a secure part of the vault, where they were locked in airtight chambers and exposed to a concentrated form of the F.E.V. The Overseer and his security force had no real idea what to expect; they were simply following the "plan." When the exposed vault dwellers started transforming into Super Mutants, nearly the entire vault population had been exposed. Those who hadn't yet metamorphosed knew what was coming, and, well...it didn't end well for humanity. ''The dwellers of Vault 87 were turned into Super Mutants in 2078, and have been a presence in the Capital Wasteland ever since. Most of those original Super Mutants have long since been killed. But whether it's because of the nature of the F.E.V. they were exposed to, or a simple underlying human instinct, the Super Mutants of the Capital Wasteland are obsessed with the preservation of their own species. Super Mutants are asexual and incapable of procreation, so their only way of reproducing is to kidnap other humans, drag them back to the Vault 87 chambers, and infect them with F.E.V. And so they have done, for nearly 200 years. Super Mutant society is loosely hierarchical, with the weaker (most recently transformed) Super Mutants generally giving way to the stronger. The Super Mutant hierarchy, as defined by the Capital Wasteland contingent of the Brotherhood of Steel, is as follows: Grunt, Brute, Master, and Behemoth. Generally speaking, the Super Mutants of the Capital Wasteland get bigger, stronger, and dumber as they age. The Behemoths are so strong and savage that they’re the only thing feared by the other Super Mutants."'' (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles)

By 2277, the Vault is in a state of disrepair. Lack of maintenance led to advanced deterioration of subsystems and even the very structure of the vault. Parts of it have collapsed entirely. The mutants, owing to their low intelligence, have adapted various sections of the bunker in an ad hoc fashion. For example, medical recovery rooms were turned into makeshift prison cells meant to store experiments deemed a failure (like Fawkes).

Exterior
Above ground, the radiation near the entrance to Vault 87 peaks at well over 3,000 rads/second, which is fatal in a third of a second. According to information obtained from the G.E.C.K., the Overseer's terminal states, "I'm quite sad to report that due to a direct hit from what I presume to be a nuclear weapon on the entry area of Vault 87, we will be unable to provide the Scouting Reports as outlined in Vault-Tec's Operations Manual. The main door to Vault 87 is damaged beyond repair and we are detecting extremely high levels of lethal radiation outside and in the entry tunnel."

It is possible to reach the entrance through the extensive use of RadAway in combination with clothing providing radiation resistance and Rad-X. However, as the Overseer's message mentions, the door is inaccessible, making the Vault impossible to enter from above ground. The map marker will activate near the entrance. There is a dead scientist in a radiation suit that can be found near the Vault door, as can RadAway and Rad-X, presumably carried by the scientist but not enough to prevent his/her death by radiation poisoning.

Super mutants have built a barricade of broken girders and wrecked cars around the entrance. If you do decide to venture into this one-way death trap, be sure to defeat them before going in. Remember that super mutants can enter into a dense area of radiation without suffering any effects, like the possible companion Fawkes.

Strangely, you can fast travel from the vault's entrance despite the heavy radiation which normally prevents fast travel. Though, almost always, you will arrive dead.

An Enclave eyebot is usually seen patrolling south of the entrance.

Accessing Vault 87
Before you can access Vault 87, you must complete The Waters of Life, a part of the main quest line, by speaking with Scribe Rothchild in the Citadel. You will then be sent there to recover the Garden of Eden Creation Kit also known as the G.E.C.K.

Vault 87 can only be accessed through Little Lamplight. The player will have the option of questioning Mayor MacCready about how to access it. The mayor will suggest taking Murder Pass. However, he will also inform the player that there is a broken computer terminal in Little Lamplight that will allow direct access to the Vault via a different, safer route. If you have the ability to access this route, it is highly recommended to take it, as Murder Pass is difficult to traverse without injury and will result in significant ammunition usage.

To access the terminal, the player must speak to Joseph (as directed by MacCready). Joseph can fix the broken terminal, allowing it to be hacked, but he will only do so if the player has rescued Penny from Paradise Falls, if the player has a high enough science or speech skill, or through the Child at Heart perk. Joseph can be found in the Little Lamplight schoolhouse in the morning. The player must have a Science skill of 50 to actually hack the computer to get into the Vault.

If Penny is not rescued, Joseph becomes upset through dialogue, by failing the speech check, the science check is not available, or not having the Child at Heart perk, entrance through Murder Pass will be the only option to get to Vault 87. Located north of the souvenir building, Murder Pass houses several super mutants armed with heavy weaponry like missile launchers and miniguns. There are also a number of traps, so a careful approach is recommended. Mayor MacCready will open the gate for you if asked. Murder Pass is a good choice for earning experience. It also contains several medical cabinets, a decent amount of ammunition, and a Nuka-Cola Quantum.

Interior
Vault 87 is very similar to all the other vaults a player may visit during the game, with narrow, confusing corridors and small rooms connected by the main lobby. Once inside the dimly lit Vault, the player will encounter super mutants, centaurs, super mutant brutes, masters and super mutant overlords (if Broken Steel is installed). Super mutants take pride in mutilating the corpses of humans they kill in combat, hence the many skeletons and gore bags found throughout the vault. The player can also find the remains of failed FEV subjects.

Eventually, the player will encounter a friendly super mutant named Fawkes, who was sealed in a test chamber and left there decades before. Fawkes, via the intercom, will offer his services in acquiring the G.E.C.K. in return for the player freeing him from his cell. Though the player need not free Fawkes, the super mutant (if freed) will indeed honor this bargain, and will help the player acquire the G.E.C.K. by serving as a guide, as well as attacking any future enemies encountered, and finally, retrieving the device itself from its highly irradiated resting place. Further, if the player has good karma, Fawkes can be recruited as a follower later on. It's highly recommended to free him, because after the next quest (The American Dream) when you are in Raven Rock, he is practically invincible and wields a Gatling laser.

There are two methods to free Fawkes. First, in the room at the end of the right hallway, you can set off the fire alarm in a room inhabited by two super mutant variants, which will open all five isolation rooms. However, this is not recommended, as in the process, two centaurs and a hostile non-player character will also be freed. It is advisable that the player instead should hack the average-rated terminal located next to the fire alarm to unlock an individual chamber, of which Fawkes' cell is the fifth.

Inhabitants

 * Fawkes
 * Sid

Notable loot

 * This is the only time Fawkes' super sledge can be acquired; you must either kill Fawkes or trade weapons with him to get it.
 * A copy of Nikola Tesla and You can be found in a wooden box at the feet of a mannequin in the southwestern-most dead-end tunnel of the Reactor Chamber, along with four bottles of whiskey (from the Murder Pass entrance, turn left and go downstairs, turn left again, then through the door at the end of the corridor).
 * A copy of Pugilism Illustrated is on a shelf in the storage room behind an average locked door on the southwestern side of the catwalk level of the living quarters. There is also a Nuka-Cola Quantum, AER9 laser rifle, microfusion cells, and a safe with random loot in this room.

Related quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden

Appearances
Vault 87 appears only in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * It is possible that companions following you through the Vault (other than Fawkes) will be killed or misplaced when you are arrested by the Enclave.
 * Sometimes when a companion is lost while you're arrested, when you go back inside the Vault with another companion they will disappear, and they will be found dead in the position that your lost companion was in, just to the north of the T-junction where you were captured. This companion will be lost, and after a few days, you will receive a message that they have died.
 * If you leave your follower outside, you will find them teleported to the same room, alive. This may be related to having more than one follower at a time.
 * When passing the cells containing centaurs, it is possible for the first centaur, in the cell on the left, to appear outside the cell as the player passes and being able to attack the player. Once it is killed, it's top half may appear back in the cell while its bottom half is stretched across the ceiling of the corridor, or it may disappear into the floor entirely upon being killed. The centaur may also pass through the wall between its cell and Fawkes' cell, resulting in Fawkes killing it.
 * If you go to the door in Little Lamplight that requires the broken terminal to be repaired, you may find it is already open and you can get into Vault 87 with no problems.
 * Upon re-entering the Vault with Fawkes after completing the quest, if you select the "Kill subject" option on the terminal outside of Fawkes' old cell, he will instantly die if he enters it, even if he is not in the room when the fire is released. You will also lose karma for doing this.
 * If you have Dogmeat as a companion, and you go into the test labs, he will stand idle in front of the living quarters' door. Interacting with him will instantly put you on an empty item menu. Dogmeat will then be found back in the test labs, in the same position. This can be fixed by loading a previous save. Note: Loading the Auto-save that it defaults to will have him up for a split-second, but he'll just fall onto his side.