Garden of Eden Creation Kit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Garden of Eden Creation Kits, also known as G.E.C.Ks, are miscellaneous items in Fallout 2.
Background[]
According to Vault-Tec advertisements, the kit contains all the seeds, fertilizer, and other equipment (including a cold fusion power generator and a basic replicator) necessary to start a new settlement in a post-nuclear world after emerging from a Vault shelter.[1] In practice, a G.E.C.K. contains a fertilizer system with a variety of food seeds, soil supplements, and chemicals that can fertilize arid wasteland (and possibly selected sections of the moon's surface pre-conditioned to accept the G.E.C.K.) into supporting farming. The GECK is intended to be "disassembled" over the course of its use to help build communities (for example, the cold fusion power source is intended to be used for main city power production), and so on. Anything else people need, they are meant to consult the How-To Books/Library of Congress/Encyclopedias in the G.E.C.K. holodisk library for more knowledge. The little pen flashlight is just the cherry on top.[2][3][4]
The G.E.C.K.s were designed to be used relatively soon after the war, as the seeds and soil supplements they contained dated rather quickly. Furthermore, since the pre-War scientists had no idea how the post-nuclear world would look, the Kits were woefully out of tune with the post-nuclear world. However, if used by people with the necessary technical knowledge, the G.E.C.K. could be a powerful tool, especially if it was combined with the resources and infrastructure of a Vault.[5]
Other information provided by the G.E.C.K. includes basic force field schematics as well as info on how to make adobe-type buildings from the landscape (or create chemicals that can create "sand-crete" walls).[6] Furthermore, the GECK contained codes that allowed the Vault to create more varieties of jumpsuits (and weatherproof gear) from their dispensers, which they could do anyway before the GECK. It's possible the GECK contained other codes that could unlock more functionality within the Vault computers that weren't initially available because they would jeopardize the survival of the Vault if they were used or scavenged (or else they would interfere with the "Grand Experiment"). The GECKs also allow the Vault inhabitants to disassemble sections of their Vault (or take extraneous systems from the Vault) to create new homes and defensive structures on the surface.[7]
If chosen to receive a G.E.C.K.,[8] a Vault would be issued two standard G.E.C.K.s.[9] Vault 8's extra G.E.C.K. got swapped (whether by accident or some nefarious scheme, this is not known) with Vault 13's surplus water chips that had been ordered as backups.
Location[]
- Vault 13: In the store room on the command center level. Received from Gruthar as reward for fixing the computer if the player did not pick it up themselves.
- Control station Enclave: On the trap room level, in the Survival/Gear Locker.
References
- ↑ Fallout manual advertisement
- ↑ The Chosen One: "{546}{}{Did I mention Arroyo was founded by my ancestor, the holy Vault Dweller? He made a legendary journey from the south after defeating a great evil. (Puff up chest and stare proudly into the distance.) Now, *I* am the deliverer of my tribe, chosen to search for the holy GECK!}"
Renesco: "{556}{}{GECK? As in 'Garden of Eden Creation Kit?' Comes with a basic replicator unit, holodisc reader with selections from the library of congress, and a little pen flashlight?}"
The Chosen One: "{558}{}{Yes! My village is having trouble with crops, and the GECK is needed to restore them. Do you know where I can find one?}"
(NcRenesc.msg) - ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "The GECK isn't really a replicator. It contains a fertilizer system, with a variety of food seeds, soil supplements, and chemicals that could fertilize arid wasteland (and possibly selected sections of the moon's surface pre-conditioned to accept the GECK) into supporting farming. The GECK is intended to be "disassembled" over the course of its use to help build communities (for example, the cold fusion power source is intended to be used for main city power production), and so on. Anything else people needed, they could simply consult the How To Books/Library of Congress/Encyclopedias in the GECK holodisk library for more knowledge. The pen flashlight was just a bonus."
- ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "To close, the "basic replicator" mentioned in the Fallout 1 manual is nothing more than a selection of seeds and fertilizers. The fact that it can "build basic items" is intended to mean that you can use it to help break down sections of the Vault into items usable in a community, as well as provide new codes for the machines in the Vault to create new items from the dispensers and computers."
- ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "1b. What may be suitable for planting in the present may not be suitable in 20 yrs. This is esp true I would think in the FO universe with its rather unstable ecosystem. I mean if one really wanted to be certain that what one was panting would grow the best thing to do would be to collect the seeds, spores etc from already growing food sources - these have a guaranteed fertilization rate. After all those corn seeds that were put in the GECK 50 yrs ago now have not sufficiently mutated to endure the new Wasteland (even in a "normal" ecosystem, the only strains of plant that survive are those that mutate).
You're absolutely right. The GECK builders had no idea what the post-nuclear world would be like, and they had no real way to anticipate it, despite their "thorough tests" (it's doubtful they gave it much thought, to be honest, considering how badly organized the Safehouse project alone was, not to mention the experimental nature of the Vaults) - still, it seems as if the seeds present in the GECK were viable for Vault 8.
Evolutionarily speaking using old seeds would be like reintroducing a species that may have gone extinct or at the very least one that is not as cutting edge in its evolution.
You bet. And that's dangerous on so many levels! Wheee!
Also, as far as How-to books, schematics, sand crete etc.. this seems a bit user heavy. That is a GECK is going to be utterly useless to those who cannot read, or don't have the raw materials to construct a force field, sand crete polymers etc.
The GECK designers assumed that the Vault Dwellers would know how to read and how to operate various technologies present in the Vault - they didn't plan for tribals or other contingencies. They also didn't plan on the FEV getting released, or the fact the Vault Dwellers might be attacked by giant mutated scorpions or rats, either. On one hand, you could say they weren't too bright, and on the other hand, you could say they weren't prepared for the future of the human race to become an extended Post-Atomic Horror movie. Silly rabbits!
1a. Wouldn't this [the seeds and soil supplements] date itself rather quickly?
Sure, but the government subcommittees sponsoring the research and the GECK contractors (Future-Tec) weren't really concerned about that. They were "relatively certain" the seeds would be viable in a post-nuclear environment. They had done "thorough tests," and "all conclusions point to this as being the best option." The GECKs are a miracle... a miracle that they work." - ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "The GECK also contained some basic force field schematics as well as info on how to make adobe-type buildings from the landscape (or contain chemicals that can create "sand-crete" walls)."
- ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "As for clothing, the GECK contained codes that allowed the Vault to create more varieties of jumpsuits (and weatherproof gear) from their dispensers, which they could do anyway before the GECK. It's possible the GECK contained other codes that could unlock more functionality within the Vault computers that weren't initially available because they would jeopardize the survival of the Vault if they were used or scavenged (or else they would interfere with the Grand Experiment).
Also, the GECKs tell the Vault inhabitants how to disassemble sections of their Vault (or take extraneous systems from the Vault) to create new homes and defensive structures on the surface." - ↑ Vault-Tec Instructions
- ↑ Vault City central computer: "{238}{}{According to the archives, there is no GECK currently in stock at Vault City's Amenities Office. The people of Vault City seem to have used the only one they had to help establish the place when they came to the surface."
{239}{}{Scroll through the remaining information.}
{240}{}{From what you can make out in the archives, two GECKs were part of every Vault's standard inventory package. Only one was shipped to Vault 8, however.}
{241}{}{Cross-reference the GECK shipment information.}
{244}{}{Due to a shipping error, it appears Vault 8 received a box of surplus water chips intended for another Vault. The other Vault most likely received Vault 8's second GECK.}"
(VICENCOM.MSG)