Chapter 2: Awaken
VAULT 14 — YEAR UNKNOWN
Darkness. A thump. A faint pulse. A hiss. Then—crack.
JUNO's eyes snap open.
Condensation streaks the inside of the cryo pod. His breath fogs the glass as a cold droplet slides down his forehead.
He gasps. Chest tight. Muscles cramping. He lurches forward, coughing.
The pod lets out a mechanical groan — rusted hydraulics grinding against time.
It creaks open.
He collapses to the floor.
Every nerve screams. The undersuit clings to him like freezing plastic.
He pushes himself up, limbs trembling, and looks around.
Red emergency lights pulse across the silent chamber.
JUNO (V.O.)
What the hell… Cryogenic pods? No chance…
He winces and flexes his fingers.
JUNO
"Hello?"
Silence.
Around him: dozens of cryo pods. Some shattered. Others cracked open or sealed shut. Skeletons slumped inside.
A nearby terminal blinks dimly. Still working — barely.
He staggers over and taps the screen.
VAULT 14 STATUS LOG
• Year: 2296
• Reactor: Offline
• External Comms: None
• Overseer: Deceased
• Cryo Survivors: 0
• Wake Trigger: Biometric Spike — AR-Delta1
He freezes.
JUNO
"2296? No… That's insane."
He backs away, heart racing.
JUNO
"What the hell happened here? Not a single survivor… This is grim. I need more info."
(beat, noticing something)
"Well, that looks promising."
He finds the Overseer's office.
Dust coats everything. The air smells like burnt wiring and decay.
He powers up the main terminal with a few flicks and a hard reset.
[OVERSEER TERMINAL – ENTRY 198 – DATE CORRUPTED]
Cryo failures climbing. Bio-sign monitoring shows cascading declines across Sector B.
We're out of time. Corporate still says "stay the course." Bastards.
Supplies are running out. They didn't design this to last. It's like we were just being played with.
[END OF FILE]
Juno clenches the edge of the desk.
JUNO
"They toyed with these people. Vault-Tec… They fucked them over.
Just left them to rot in here."
Still shaky, he walks toward the technician's room.
In a workstation nearby, he finds a cracked holotape.
He jams it into the terminal.
[AUDIO LOG]
"…This place was a Vault in name only. No long-term power. No plan. Just test pods.
They said we'd be safe. Then they stopped answering.
Vault-Tec fucked us over. It's been months.
The pods won't last. This is all so wrong. Why, God, why…"
[TAPE ENDS]
Down the corridor, he passes skeletons.
Scratched into the wall:
They said we'd wake up when it was safe.
They said it was safe.
Help never came.
Below that, carved deeper:
If anyone finds this — find a way out. You will die here.
JUNO
"This is bloody awful. They really just… abandoned them."
Eventually, he forces open a sealed storage room. A locker clanks open.
Inside, he finds:
• A folded Vault 14 jumpsuit (reinforced)
• A 10mm pistol in a worn holster
• A slightly upgraded Pip-Boy 2000 unit
He picks up the Pip-Boy.
JUNO
"This looks like anoverdesigned watch. Fancy."
He glances down at his soaked undersuit.
JUNO
"Yeah… I need out of this."
He changes into the vault suit — blue and stiff, stitched with the number 14.
JUNO
"Kinda snug… Never thought I'd actually wear one of these."
He straps the Pip-Boy to his forearm.
[PIP-BOY 2000 BIOS – BOOTING…]
INITIATE USER PROFILE – AR-Delta1
ENTER SYSTEM PARAMETERS
He flips through the menu. Pauses at the SPECIAL stat screen.
He thinks, then inputs:
• Strength: 5 — "Never the strongest, but I've held my own."
• Perception: 3 — "I'm aware enough."
• Endurance: 4 — "Not a fighter. Just an engineer."
• Charisma: 7 — "Talking used to fix things. Doubt it still does."
• Intelligence: 9 — "Need to apply what I know."
• Agility: 5 — "Fast enough to survive. Hopefully."
• Luck: 3 — "Yeah… this is probably fine."
JUNO
"That'll do."
The screen stabilizes. The Pip-Boy clicks into standby.
He looks around the tomb of machines.
JUNO
"This wasn't an accident."
(beat)
"They killed these people. Vault-Tec screwed them."
He walks to the Vault door. Inserts the manual override key.
The gears scream to life.
The door begins to shift.
JUNO
"If they're still out there… I want answers."
[Would you like to adjust anything before leaving the Vault?]
JUNO
"No."