CHAPTER 3: CAMPUS
EXT. VAULT 14 ENTRANCE – NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – 2296
The Vault door groans—rusted servos grinding after decades of silence. A final shudder. A hiss.
MISSION COMPLETE – A WHOLE NEW WORLD
+50 XP
Then—light.
JUNO
"...Wait. Did it just—?"
(sarcastic)
"Okay, sure. I level up now. That's dope. Well, I'm glad I can get stronger."
JUNO ARENDAL, pale and blinking, shields his eyes.
Sunlight spills through the opening—a dead, golden thing.
Dust dances like ash from a fire that ended centuries ago.
He exhales, slow. The air is dry. Real.
JUNO
(softly)
"Okay... moment of truth."
He steps forward.
EXT. RUINED NCALTECH – MOMENTS LATER
Juno walks through what used to be a college campus: collapsed lecture halls, rust-streaked steel, concrete blackened from fire. A clocktower lies shattered in the distance, half-swallowed by rubble.
He stops.
JUNO
"...That's the quad."
(beat)
"So this is NCalTech... or what's left of it."
His Pip-Boy flickers. The map stutters—UNRECOGNIZED ZONE.
JUNO
"Cool. Guess two centuries of dirt and war confuse satellite sync."
He keeps walking.
Overgrown weeds claw through cracked cement. Torn banners flutter limply. A charred statue stands headless in the quad, arms still raised in a half-remembered gesture.
Something glints in the dust. He crouches—brushing away debris.
A student ID. Face gone. Name erased by time.
JUNO
"Probably me at this rate."
He glances over—next to it, a skeleton in tattered campus wear.
JUNO
"Great. Campus tour and crypt keeper, all in one."
SKITTERING.
He freezes. A radroach bursts from the rubble.
Juno draws his pistol.
JUNO
"Okay. First bug in two hundred years. Let's go."
BANG! Miss.
BANG! Miss.
The roach lunges.
BANG! Hit.
The creature splats. Legs curl inward, twitching.
The Pip-Boy chimes faintly:
+10 XP
Juno grimaces at the mess.
JUNO
"That's... seriously gross."
He checks his ammo. Only four rounds left.
Red text flashes: AMMO CRITICAL
A ping—signal detected. Source: beneath the old admin building.
INT. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING – LATER
He moves through wreckage. Down splintered stairwells. Broken signs. Terminals—either fried or melted beyond repair.
He finds the Director's Office. The door hangs half-broken, creaking as he nudges it open.
NEW LOCATION DISCOVERED: ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
+20 XP
The desk is caved in—except one drawer. Still sealed.
He wedges in a crowbar. The metal screeches. Finally, it gives.
Inside: a scorched Vault-Tec holotape, half-melted but still readable.
He inserts it into his Pip-Boy.
A folder pops up: CONFIDENTIAL — VAULT NETWORK NODES
Another tape labeled "Priority Relay: NorCal Vaults"
He slides it in.
[HOLOTAPE AUDIO - BEGIN PLAYBACK]
MALE VOICE (survivor)
"If you're hearing this... you made it. God help you.
Vault 14 was a containment test—no long-term support, no reconnection plan. But other Vaults survived. Or... might've.
We only know vault numbers. Vault-Tec kept the rest hidden: 13, 28, 29, 3, 9, 33.
Find them.
I'm sorry. We can't help anyone still inside. We have no way of opening the Vault without tech from inside."
[AUDIO ENDS]
Juno stares at the screen.
JUNO
(quietly)
"Vault 33… I think I've heard of that. Wasn't that the one that…?"
He trails off. Eyes narrowing.
The Pip-Boy pings again:
QUEST STARTED: FIND A NEW VAULT
JUNO
"OK. Quest. That's… good. We can level up. We finish the quest. OK.
We need to find leads. We need to find clues. Let's keep moving."
JUNO (V.O.)
If this Vault was a failed experiment… maybe the others weren't.
Or maybe they were worse.
Either way… at least I know now that message earlier means there's people out there.
He stashes the folder and holotape in his bag.
A gust of wind blows through the shattered window.
JUNO
"...All right. These Vaults—they're not shelters. They're...
either traps. Or tests."
He looks out the window.
The world beyond stretches in a haze of dust and sunlit ash.
JUNO
"The Vault I was in wasn't an accident."
A long beat. Then, softly:
JUNO
"If there's anyone left out there… I'm coming."
EXT. CAMPUS – TWILIGHT
The last sun of the day spills over the shattered rooftops, bathing the ruins in blood-red light.
Juno steps out slowly. His Pip-Boy pings—one marker, leading off into the unknown.
JUNO
(quietly)
"Let's see where this quest takes us."