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This page is about the Enclave research project, first mentioned in the Gleaming Depths update. For the Grafton Steel initiative, mentioned in the Fallout 76 update Wastelanders, see Project Vulcan (Grafton Steel). |
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Project Vulcan was a research project conducted by the Enclave in Appalachia before and after the Great War. Taking place in a remote research facility in what came to be known as the Gleaming Depths, Project Vulcan was focused on the "Ultragenetic Resonance" properties of Ultracite crystals following sonic experimentation.[1]
Background[]
Before the war, a mine owned by Atomic Mining Services was located deep underground in the region that would become the Ash Heap. Prior to the bombs dropping, the mine was bought out by a company known as Raven Financial Holdings, LLC, a front company for the Enclave.[2][3] The buyout was very sudden; miners were not even allowed to retrieve personal belongings that they may have left behind inside, and almost none of the miners had even heard of the company that had bought out their place of work.[1]
The location became a space for researching Ultracite, which AMS utilized atomic charges to drill and mine extremely far into the ground for.[1] A group of engineers and scientists got to work almost immediately constructing the facility that would eventually be called the Gleaming Depths, with the backing of the Enclave after "aligning" themselves with the cabal.[4] The complex was deemed so important that a detachment of Enclave Squad Epsilon troops were assigned to it, under direct orders from Thomas Eckhart. Doctor Robert Gaines was assigned to be the director of the project, though he did not have control over what his orders were and the facility itself, those being relegated to Enclave brass. Initially, he and his colleagues were merely experimenting more generally on Ultracite with the aim of stimulating growth in Ultracite crystals; however, during one of these experiments, Dr. Esther Wright realized that when bombarded with sound waves of a certain frequency, the crystals would generate a sort of invincible force-field, referred to as Ultragenetic Resonance, or Ultragenesis.[5] Immediately recognizing the value of this discovery, Gaines would abandon his approach of treating the crystals with radiation, and instead turn to Wright's methods.[6]
Breakthroughs abounded regarding the crystal's unique property. First, to provide additional security, an Ultragenetic shield was fitted to an oversized sentry bot torso, and emplaced in a position that made encountering it difficult to avoid.[7][1] This bot would be known as the EN06 Guardian. Experiments with animals had been occurring throughout, creating invincible Ultragenetic creatures that could range from mole rats to deathclaws.[1] The command center had three Ultragenetic generators fitted within it to allow the Epsilon Squad detachment stationed there to benefit from the effects of Ultragenesis and become a formidable security force, powerful enough that the three soldiers present could all be supplied invulnerability by one generator, even if on the cusp of breaking. One fatal flaw with Ultragenesis became clear to Dr. Gaines: Under the right conditions of damage, Ultracite crystals would shatter violently and release a burst of energy. This small meltdown was very damaging to things affected by Ultragenesis, though would not remove the effect.[1]
In spite of his successful research and his claim that he believed he was doing right by the future of mankind, Dr. Robert Gaines was viciously mauled and killed by his pet snake, Butch, that he had been conducting experiments on during a routine sound wave bombardment of an Ultracite crystal, which apparently enraged the creature.[8] A saboteur was involved, and although Dr. Esther Wright is alluded to as having been the culprit.[5] More continued to go awry, including the Epsilon troops falling victim to the Scorched Plague while on the surface, and when "human-sized movement" was detected in the ground surrounding the complex, the facility was placed on lockdown.[9] According to Captain John Holloway, something known as the "fear" had begun taking hold in personnel at the facility during the lockdown.[10] What exactly this "fear" was is unknown, though it is alluded to that it was caused by the "empowered Ultracite," and capable of inducing symptoms of paranoia, delusion, and hysteria in the staff. This ailment rendered so many personnel insane that Dr. Wright was put on trial and executed for her role in pursuing the course of experimentation that had led to this point. Her case was not helped by the fact that Dr. Gaines still had substantial influence even in death.[11]
By 2105, the facility that once housed the experiments of Project Vulcan is desolate and abandoned by all its previous human occupants, with only the mutated, Ultragenetic animals created by the personnel and mole miners left there. It is unknown if the work conducted there became of any use to anybody, though perhaps it played a role in the development of the Enclave's force-field technology that would become common sights in Enclave facilities in the following centuries. Regardless, the Gleaming Depths stand, or rather lay, as yet another example of the Enclave flying too close to the Sun, and paying the price for it.
Appearances[]
Project Vulcan is mentioned only in Fallout 76, introduced in the Gleaming Depths update.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Gleaming Depths terminal entries; Vulcan lab terminal, Ultragenetic Resonance
- ↑ Raven LLC
- ↑ New management
- ↑ Final preparations
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Project Vulcan log 04: Ultragenesis
- ↑ Project Vulcan log 02: Direction
- ↑ Shoot on sight
- ↑ Vulcan security log 02
- ↑ Security missive
- ↑ Vulcan security log 03
- ↑ Project Vulcan log 05: Disaster
