Vault 106

Vault 106 is one of the Vaults constructed by the Vault-Tec Corporation in the Capital Wasteland. It is located southeast of Arefu and just a short walk south of Kaelyn's Bed & Breakfast, and a bit north of Jury Street metro station.

Background
Finished in just five years (construction began in March 2064 and finished in December 2069), Vault number 106 was designed to hold a total of 107 inhabitants: 95 test subjects and 12 researchers, with a projected duration of 147 months (12 years and 3 months) from the moment of sealing. The Vault's subsystems included the Think Machine 2800x as the central computer unit, with power provided by (primarily) Rok-Solid Brand Geo-Thermal and (secondarily) an General Atomics nuclear power plant. Dr. Albert Leris, head of Vault-Tec's Psychological Research Department was designated Overseer. All references to the Vault experiment were redacted and kept under strict information control by Leris.

The reason was simple: The experiment involved pumping psychoactive drugs into the circulation system ten days after the Vault sealed. When the door sealed, preparations for the release were undertaken. Control sequence 46-2A, as it was referred to, required preparation from the entire Vault security and medical staff. Once the preparations were completed, the drug was released into the circulation system at 1530 hours, with the emission concluding at 1600. Residents were not notified of the release, with any strange effects being dismissed as the result of an irregularity in the filtration system.

The release had disastrous effects. While many dwellers succumbed to a relaxed, hallucinogenic state, some began to behave bizarrely and even aggressively. The Security Chief tried to contain the situation and advised anyone not affected by the gas to take shelter.

Ultimately, the security team failed to contain the situation and the Vault perished under the pressure of drug-addled, psychotic victims of the experiment. For two centuries, unwary travelers and scavengers entered the Vault, only to succumb to the effects of the drugs and wander the halls of the ruined bunker, convinced they are the original dwellers.

Inhabitants

 * Insane survivors inhabit Vault 106. They wear Vault 106 jumpsuits and wield a variety of melee weapons, including lead pipes, knives, baseball bats, pool cues, Chinese officer's swords, and sledgehammers.
 * Survivor is a special raider fought in the science labs, dressed in a Vault lab uniform and carrying a baseball bat. During the fight the player will suffer several hallucinations, making the survivor a boss character.

Entrance
The entrance is divided into two distinct parts: The entrance itself and the first level of the Vault. The entrance section begins with a typical cave leading to a closed Vault blast door, beyond which lies the entryway. The entryway has significantly deteriorated, as have all the systems of the Vault. Beyond the entryway lies the "foyer", from which the only possible route leads to the checkpoint, with an adjacent security station. Once the player clears the checkpoint, they arrive at stairs that lead further into the Vault.

The stairs on the left lead to the reactor sublevel, with the maintenance offices overlooking a small, natural cave. The other leads into the proper first level, which is (or rather, was, before the inhabitants were driven crazy by the psychoactive drugs) focused on science. Along the corridor leading to the stairway leading further into the Vault are chambers which contain ruined laboratory equipment and a number of survivors.

The player will experience the first Vault 106 hallucinations here, due to the residual presence of psychoactive agents.

Living quarters
The living quarters are centered around the Vault's atrium, which is entered from the entrance level, directly onto the upper catwalk. There are definite traces of conflict scattered throughout the entire area. The upper level of the atrium exits into the Overseer's office (directly opposite the entrance door, behind a hard locked door), which also contains a functioning terminal (very hard lock) that sheds light on what happened in the Vault.

On the left side of the atrium catwalk (relative to where the player enters) lies a ruined classroom, next to which is a room that leads into a long corridor that connects to the Vault's primary medical bay. Now ruined beyond recognition, it is one of the most impressive engineering feats of the Vault, as it is built inside a large natural cavern, which can still be seen and marveled at beyond the dirty, smeared windows.

Access to the lower level is granted via a stairway that's right next to the entrance door. The lower level is even more devastated and includes a small storeroom (beneath the access corridor to the Overseer's office), right next to the corridor that leads into the actual science lab, on the southern end of the atrium.

The doors at the northern end lead into the dorms, via a corridor connected to a small medical lab and a computer room. Just before the dorms is a security checkpoint, whose security station can only be accessed via the science lab. The dorms themselves are devastated, offering minor loot and a number of locked safes for pilfering.

Science labs
The science labs are spread out, rather than centered around the main atrium. The stairway leads to a small junction with a computer lab adjacent to it. The corridor to the right leads to a wrecked children dorm and a technical area with the air filtration system (traces of the agents still filter through).

The staircase next to the computer lab leads straight down to the science labs themselves. There are two, situated along the corridor leading deeper into the Vault. The first one is a large computer lab with defunct mainframes grimly standing watch after two centuries. The other is a small room that was apparently used as a medical lab, but ended up becoming a scrapheap of discarded equipment.

The corridor beyond the labs leads into the last part of the Vault, a technical area that provided amenities for the Vault. Located there is the Survivor, who is the final, boss-like confrontation of the Vault. Beyond the technical area lies a backdoor, of sorts, exiting into a natural cave tunnel that has collapsed shortly after Vault 106 fell.

Entrance

 * A torn out journal entry is one of the rooms on a table.

Living quarters

 * The Science bobblehead is located in the medical bay, accessed through a small room with two large computers on the upper atrium catwalk. It's on the bookshelf leaning against the back wall.
 * A Nikola Tesla and You is inside the classroom on the upper level of the atrium, hidden in a wooden box on the teacher's desk (the bottom one).
 * A note entitled Scribbles is found on a table near the entrance to the Overseer's office, the one with a with a monitor on it.
 * A note entitled To anyone who gets this is inside the dorms, before an average locked door.
 * A note entitled Feel the love man is downstairs, in the leftmost male dorm.

Science labs

 * A Tumblers Today is two floors down from the entrance, inside the computer lab, on an overturned mainframe in the south west corner of the room, next to two milk bottles.
 * A mini nuke is on the shelves next to the back-door entrance.
 * The Vault 106 master key is in the security station next to the dorms (accessible via the science labs, in the tech area with the gas). Another one is located at the bottom of the shelf in the back door area, though it is unreachable without using the tcl command.

Appearances
Vault 106 is mentioned in Fallout Bible and appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Makeshift gas mask was intended to be used inside the Vault. The item was removed, but two (disabled) instances of it still exist in the Vault, but cannot be obtained.

Bugs

 * The hallucinations of James that appear throughout Vault 106 are always the default Caucasian model.
 * The main Vault door is not aligned properly with the door frame.