The Among the Stars Exhibit in Fallout 4 was an attempt by Vault-Tec to increase vault applications, but it was also an immoral experiment.
Fallout 4’s Nuka-World DLC adds a variety of new set pieces to the game, ranging from jungle-themed attractions to kid-friendly rides. However, one stands out above the rest, and it just so happens to be a Vault-Tec-sponsored attraction. It features dubious procedures and possibly human experimentation, as is typical of Vault-Tec.
In Fallout 4, Vault-Tec: Among the Stars may be located in Nuka-Galactic World’s Zone. The location must be explored as part of several quests, including “Precious Metals,” “Star Control,” and “Trip to the Stars.”
Vault-Among Tec’s the Stars was a showcase for their vaults developed by Fallout’s Vault-Tec. The vaults were touted as dwelling facilities to be erected on faraway planets, which is an interesting point to consider. A voiceover describes Vault-aims Tec’s as the player passes by the set elements. The narrator cites a region called Arcturus Prime, a barren wasteland burnt by the sun. It goes on to state that Vault-technology Tec can assist in the construction of a home, even in the severe conditions of Arcturus Prime. Vaults, please enter.
The attraction’s following few sections depict what a vault might look like. The entrance hall and vault door are followed by an atrium, living quarters, and even a hydroponics area. When the player reaches the exit, the narrator will describe “an exciting new adventure,” in which Vault-Tec has established hundreds of vault colonies throughout the galaxy. It’s an ambitious goal, but it doesn’t appear that Vault-Tec was able to carry it through. They did, however, construct many vaults on Earth, notably Fallout 4’s Commonwealth.
The player can exit the attraction and into an open area where Vault-Tec sales agents would have been stationed once the presentation is finished. The terminals show how the salesmen were expected to promote the vaults and “convert” park visitors into applicants. It’s all done in three easy steps, according to the terminal entries in Fallout 4: “Introduction, Initiation, and Information,” which sounds disturbingly like a cult recruitment approach.
To begin, potential applicants should be made to feel “at home and a member of the Vault-Tec family” during introductions. To make them feel more at ease, salespeople could make small conversation or offer them a drink. They could then proceed to initiation after this was completed. The sales reps were supposed to explain the advantages of living life here. If a potential candidates appeared hesitant, they were to be given pamphlets like “History Of Radiation Burns” or “Mutations: It Could Happen To You” to persuade them that Vault-facilities Tec’s were protected from such threats.
If the park visitor decided to apply to become a future vault dweller, the sales representative was needed to provide them with eight separate paperwork. They would be required to fill out suspicious papers on organ donation and rights revocation. Worse, the new candidate would have to fill out all eight applications in quintuplicate – no doubt a pleasant way for an adult to pass the time on a day out in Nuka-World in Fallout 4.
Apart from the overt propaganda to portray Vault-Tec as a shining enterprise, there were also questionable behaviors going on behind the scenes. Vault-Tec couldn’t help themselves and built up an experiment in Fallout 4. One of the project’s scientists, Luis Bateman, planned for five distinct experiments to be conducted on both park visitors and employees who visited the Among the Stars attraction.
The initial experiment entailed sending an electromagnetic field into a person’s head that disrupted their brainwave rhythms. The second method, akin to Fallout 3’s Vault 92, employed subliminal encouragement via auditory queues layered with a precise frequency. This second experiment was overseen by a scientist named Langston, who reported great success. He was able to get a few park visitors to take off their hats or scratch their noses. Other recommendations, on the other hand, were more violent, such as having someone shove the person in front of them, which resulted in a fistfight. To say the least, he avoided any potentially violent comments after that.
The third experiment involved spraying hypnotic pheromones derived from a genetically engineered plant into the air, while the fourth entailed exposing park visitors to low levels of theta-band radiation. This station was overseen by a different scientist, Grunner. People were experiencing dizziness and weariness as a result of the radiation, which was to be expected, according to Grunner. Despite the fact that he was growing tired of documenting the same effects on various park visitors all day. He didn’t have much of a choice, though, because Bateman was keeping a tight eye on him.
In later reports, however, Grunner began to complain about falling asleep on the job, while Hodgson, the operations engineer, began to complain about headaches, memory loss, and nosebleeds. Here is where the fifth experiment enters the picture. Bateman had ordered that the first four tests be given to everyone on staff so he could observe the long-term effects on humans. Clearly, they yielded the expected results.
Grunner would soon figure out what Bateman was up to and lock himself in his exhibit station. The bombs were going to go off at this point, so Langston dashed into the exhibit, yelling and frightened. Grunner’s rage had been heightened by the tests’ side effects, and he couldn’t stand Langston’s wailing any longer, so he shot him. He then ended his own life because he didn’t know what else to do.
The area is desolate by the time Sole Survivor from Fallout 4 arrives in Vault-Tec: Among the Stars. The experiments, however, are still ongoing. Quiet audio tracks, electromagnetic impulses, and built-in sprays are activated by walking through the exhibitions. In Fallout 4, these cause visual distortions in the player’s view, as well as brief debuffs to the character’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. characteristics.
It’s hard to think Vault-Tec got away with these experiments for so long, but their level of power and influence certainly justified it to some extent. It just goes to demonstrate how nefarious Vault-Tec is, eager to put its employees and clients in jeopardy for its own benefit. Regardless, their legacy will undoubtedly be felt in Fallout 5.
