Vault 13 felt smaller once Adrian knew he was leaving it. The realization crept in slowly while he gathered supplies from the locker beneath the dim buzzing lights of his room. Every sound suddenly stood out, distant machinery humming through the walls, muffled conversations in nearby corridors and the steady pulse of ventilation systems that had probably been running nonstop for near a century
It no longer felt like a videogame location, it felt lived in. Real people actually depended on this place and somehow that made the pressure worse.
Adrian tightened the worn leather strap on the shoulder holster resting against his chest before looking down at the pistol inside. A 10mm, heavy, chunky and uncomfortable. Nothing like modern handguns back home. Even unloaded it felt dangerous.
The Overseer had also provided spare magazines, basic medical supplies, a canteen, dried rations and a weathered map of nearby regions
Which Adrian was currently staring at with growing concern. “This map is fucking terrible.” The paper looked like someone had drawn it during a minor earthquake, he folded it anyway and shoved it into one of the pouches on his belt.
The Pip-Boy screen glowed softly red against the dim room while he checked the menus again. Still bizarre and unsettling, every once in a while, the screen brightness flickered almost imperceptibly on its own. Adrian absolutely hated that.
☢ ☢ ☢
A knock sounded against the partially open door. “You decent?”
Adrian blinked. “Uh…”
A young vault resident leaned awkwardly into the room, maybe early twenties. Thin build, messy hair and nervous posture. The guy looked at Adrian like he wasn’t entirely sure whether to congratulate him or attend his funeral. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Silence… the resident rubbed the back of his neck. “Heard you’re the one going outside.”
Adrian snorted weakly. “Apparently.”
Another awkward silence followed, then the resident carefully held out a small box. “My mom made extra.”
Inside sat several homemade snack bars wrapped in faded paper. Adrian stared for a second before taking the box carefully, “…thanks.”
“Yeah.” The resident hesitated. “You’re gonna come back, right?”
The question hit harder than Adrian expected, because now, this wasn’t quest dialogue. These people genuinely believed he might save them and for the first time since waking up in Vault 13… Adrian felt truly afraid. Not of mutants or raiders… hell not even of dying really… but off failing.
He swallowed slowly, “yeah,” he said quietly. “I’ll come back.”
The resident nodded once. Trying and failing to look reassured, then left. The door hissed shut behind him.
Adrian stared at the snack bars in silence. Then muttered softly, “…fuck.”
☢ ☢ ☢
An hour later he stood near the massive vault entrance surrounded by perhaps two dozen residents pretending not to stare at him. The chamber itself was enormous. Towering steel walls disappeared upward into darkness while thick hydraulic systems groaned somewhere overhead.
Warning lights flashed dim amber across the chamber floor. Adrian had seen the Vault door opening scene dozens of times across Fallout games. But standing here physically… the scale was unbelievable.
The actual Vault Door looked less like a door and more like a bank vault designed by paranoid gods. Several security personnel stood nearby holding old rifles, none of them looked confident.
The Overseer approached from the control platform overlooking the chamber. The older man’s expression remained calm and controlled, but Adrian could see exhaustion buried behind it now. “Your final equipment has been prepared.”
A small duffel bag rested near the exit platform. Adrian picked it up. Heavy, good maybe they gave him things he would need.
The Overseer stepped closer. “For obvious reasons, we cannot spare more resources.”
“Trust me,” Adrian muttered, adjusting the strap. “I’m amazed I’m getting resources at all.”
That actually earned the faintest twitch of amusement from the Overseer, barely. “Once outside,” the Overseer continued, “head east. There are several settlements marked on your map.”
“Assuming the map isn’t complete bullshit.”
The Overseer frowned slightly. “It was updated recently.”
“That doesn’t make me wrong.”
No response. Yeah, that figured.
☢ ☢ ☢
A heavy mechanical alarm suddenly echoed through the chamber. Every resident nearby stiffened automatically, then the Vault door began to move. The sound was enormous. Grinding steel, hydraulics straining, ancient machinery dragging itself awake. A deep vibration rolled through the floor beneath Adrian’s boots while dust drifted down from the ceiling overhead.
Slowly a thin line of light appeared between the enormous metal seal and the vault frame. Real sunlight, Adrian stared at it silently as his chest tightened unexpectedly.
The opening widened. Harsh white desert light spilled violently into the chamber. After so long beneath artificial lighting, the brightness almost hurt. Some residents shielded their eyes instinctively as warm air rolled into the vault carrying dust, heat, small stones and something metallic… the smell of the wasteland.
Adrian’s pulse quickened. This was it. No reset button, no loading a save and no cheats… this was real.
The Overseer stepped beside him one final time. “You are all that stands between Vault 13 and extinction.”
No pressure then… Adrian glanced sideways. “You really know how to motivate people.”
The Overseer ignored that too. “For what it’s worth…” The older man hesitated briefly. “You were not my first choice.”
Adrian barked out a laugh. “There it is.”
“But,” the Overseer continued evenly, “you may prove to be the correct one.”
That was probably the nicest thing the man was emotionally capable of saying. Adrian nodded once, then looked toward the open wasteland. Endless desert stretched beneath a blazing sun beyond the vault entrance. Broken rock formations, dead earth, windblown dust and somewhere out there. Raiders, monsters, entire settlements, ancient conspiracies and things Adrian didn’t even know existed yet
His heart pounded hard enough he could feel it in his throat. Fear, excitement and wonder. All at once.
The Pip-Boy emitted a soft static hiss, Adrian glanced down instinctively. For just half a second the screen flickered.
EXTERNAL NETWORKS DETECTED
Gone instantly, Normal display returned.
“…nope,” Adrian muttered quietly. “Not dealing with that right now.”
He stepped toward the light, the heat hit him immediately. Dry and brutal. Behind him the people of Vault 13 watched silently while Adrian Vance walked out into the wasteland for the first time and somewhere deep beneath ruined America something ancient quietly began waking up.