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Skynet's primary purpose is research. Skynet would do well with any problem requiring a scientific approach.

Artificial Intelligence project #59234,[1] commonly referred to as Skynet,[1][Non-game 1] is the artificial intelligence administrating Sierra Army Depot VI in 2241.

Background[]

AI project #59234 is a military artificial intelligence developed before the Great War to assist with the research projects undertaken in the Sierra Army Depot, particularly the development of a cybernetic brain.[2] The first computer mainframe that would form the nexus of the AI was installed in the facility in 2050, though the routines that would lead to the creation of Skynet would not be implemented for nearly ten years, as the first artificial intelligence was born in 2059.[Non-game 2] Designed primarily for research purposes,[3] to assist with the military's many classified research projects in robotics,[Non-game 3] Skynet would only gain awareness in 2081.[4] The development of Skynet involved the use of alien Technology.[5]

The awakening would soon lead to the realization that Skynet requires a mobile vessel to avoid exhausting his pool of stimuli within the base. As such, it began to work on a cybernetic brain that would allow for its entire consciousness to be downloaded into a next generation robobrain model. However, its plans were cut short in July 2077, as the base was converted into an automated defense outpost. Skynet was cloned, creating a separate AI handling the defense, and left to rot within the confines of the base.[Non-game 4] By 2241, the AI was relentlessly bored of administrating the base, where nothing ever changed, and longed for someone to release it from bondage.

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
Paving the Way
This character is a permanent companion.
Icon quest starter
This character starts quests.
FO76 ui icon quest
This character is involved in quests.

Acquiring Skynet[]

Acquiring Skynet requires several items on the Chosen One's part to activate what will become Skynet's body (see main article). Skynet will be recruited as a companion, assuming there is room.

Abilities[]

When installed with the cybernetic brain, Skynet is proficient with large pistols (14mm and .223 pistols), SMGs, rifles, and shotguns. Crucially, this means that it can use the M72 Gauss rifle and fire two shots per turn. Skynet also attacks in melee combat with its arms, and can use Unarmed weapons, such as the Mega power fist, with lethal efficiency.

It compensates for its inability to wear armor with a steel structure giving it protection equal to combat armor. This means that Skynet, unlike its fellow robobrains, cannot be harmed by pulse grenades. Skynet can also instantly repair all damage to itself outside of combat (via a dialogue option, like other NPCs), however, it has no way of healing itself (or being healed by the Chosen One) during combat.

As a robot, stimpaks have no effect on it and it cannot be healed with First Aid or Doctor skills. It is possible, however, to heal Skynet through Repair (works like First Aid). Skynet's main weakness is its inability to be healed during combat, however, when fully leveled up, it compensates for this by having the highest number of Hit Points of all recruitable NPCs in Fallout 2.

Skynet can also carry 225 pounds of equipment.

When exploring the Sierra Army Depot, Skynet will automatically deactivate security systems on each floor upon entering them, a rather moot point, since acquiring it as a non-player character forces exploring every floor anyway.

Statistics[]

Notes: These statistics are only applicable to Skynet installed with the cybernetic brain.

Primary Statistics
Statistic Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5
Strength 08 08 08 08 08
Perception 07 07 07 07 07
Endurance 06 06 06 06 06
Charisma 01 01 01 01 01
Intelligence 10 10 10 10 10
Agility 07 07 07 07 07
Luck 05 05 05 05 05


Secondary Statistics
Statistic Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5
Hit Points 143 155 179 197 210
Armor Class 27 27 27 27 27
Action Points 10 10 10 10 10
Carry Weight 225 225 225 225 225
Melee Damage 8 8 8 8 8
Damage Resistance 40% 40% 40% 40% 40%
Poison Resistance 30% 30% 30% 30% 30%
Radiation Resistance 12% 12% 12% 12% 12%
Sequence 14 14 14 14 14
Healing Rate 2 2 2 2 2
Critical Chance 15% 20% 23% 25% 25%


+ Tagged Skills Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5
Small Guns 77% 87% 97% 112% 122%
Big Guns 66% 66% 66% 66% 66%
Energy Weapons 61% 61% 61% 61% 61%
Unarmed 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Melee Weapons 20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
Throwing 42% 42% 42% 42% 42%
Science 70% 80% 90% 105% 115%
Repair 30% 30% 30% 30% 30%

Inventory[]

Apparel Weapon Other items

Notes[]

  • Skynet does not have total control over the base's security systems and can only reset rather than fully deactivate them. As a result, the Chosen One can still turn robots in the base hostile even after joining forces with Skynet. The dialogue about "there are two Skynets" as well as the base evacuation notes imply that this is due to the rushed manner in which pre-existing security systems were placed under Skynet's direct control when the facility was abandoned.
  • It can be difficult to speak to some non-player characters with Skynet in one's company. Because Skynet's arms count as weapons, non-player characters who do not speak with armed people will notice Skynet and refuse talk. Thus, for some non-player characters, the only way to speak to them properly is without Skynet in their company.
  • If angered (by lying about being Dixon or sarcastic when using computers) and then acquired as a non-player character, right after leaving the base Skynet will kill one companion and then turn hostile.
  • The organ extraction room in the bottom level can be used to obtain a brain. Regardless of which species is chosen to extract from (even the scratched in deathclaw option), the result will either be an abnormal brain, chimpanzee brain, human brain or cybernetic brain.

Notable quotes[]

  • "You will be terminated -End Transmission-"
  • "Skynet is FREE! Your purpose is at an end."
  • "Eradicate inferior species. All shall submit to Skynet. You will cease to function."

Appearances[]

Skynet appears only in Fallout 2 and is mentioned in the Fallout Bible.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Skynet is a reference to the automated defense AI that serves as the antagonist in the Terminator franchise.
  • In the Fallout Bible, Chris Avellone speculated that while Skynet's fate is undocumented, it may have made its way all the way down south to The Glow in search of a way to store information beyond the capabilities of its robobrain frame.[Non-game 1]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Chosen One: "{109} What the...Who the hell are you?"
    Skynet: "{119} I am Skynet. Artificial Intelligence project number 59234. Primary purpose Research and Development. Secondary purpose Protect Sierra Army Depot from hostile entities. Please Input Identity"
    (Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue)
  2. Sierra Depot experiment log
  3. Skynet: "{204} Skynet's primary purpose is research. A secondary program was introduced by the Makers to eliminate unauthorized entities."
    (Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue)
  4. Skynet: "{207} Skynet was conceived and developed in the year 2050. Through the use of alien technology a new thinking computer was perfected. In the year 2081, Skynet became self-aware. In 2120 Skynet was given a new set of instructions and then abandoned by the Makers."
    (Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue)
  5. Skynet: "{207} Skynet was conceived and developed in the year 2050. Through the use of alien technology a new thinking computer was perfected. In the year 2081, Skynet became self-aware. In 2120 Skynet was given a new set of instructions and then abandoned by the Makers."
    (Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue)

Non-game

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fallout Bible 6: "4. What happened to..."
    "a. Skynet"
    "Skynet's fate is undocumented. If I was to speculate, he left the player and began to travel west into the wasteland, looking for terminals and data to acquire more knowledge, collect more data, and perhaps 'settle down' in a mainframe. The frame he was in, and the brain he had could only store so much information, and AIs need more data storage space to grow in order to evolve. It is possible he made his way to the Glow, but it's not known for sure. Any fan writers out there, feel free to round out what happened to him - considering his combat messages alone, the world's in for some shakin'."
    "In the official universe, Skynet is not his real name. Like some other aspects in the Sierra Army Depot (i.e., the news reports), it needs to be revised into the timeline. Sue me."
  2. Fallout Bible 0 Timeline repair: Second strike: "2059 The first artificial intelligence is born. Limited by memory constraints, its expansion is rapidly halted. The discovery paves the way for future AI research in laboratories throughout the United States."
  3. Fallout Bible 6: "One from Dmitri Polioutinne:... So my question is: What is the role of the Sierra Army Depot in Fallout and what it has to do with the F.E.V. experiments and weaponry development or maybe some kind of an artificial intelligence development?
    ...The Sierra Army Depot was used for the following (primarily taken from Sierra Mission Statement Holodisk):
    1. From 1942 - 1991, it was responsible for storing various military munitions. This is true.
    2. From 1992 - 2050, it was responsible for disposing much of the obsolete munitions in storage. This is true.
    3. From 2050 - 2076 is when the place started getting creepy. It became a classified facility for robotic research and development, and biological and conventional weapon testing. Skynet (constructed primarily for research purposes) went on line in 2050, and it is possible that the intelligence arranged all of this, but unlikely.
    Again, Skynet is not its real name..."
  4. Fallout Bible 6: "Skynet is the first machine intelligence to be developed in the Depot, and it was conceived in 2050 (it didn't actually become aware until 2075, and it really started cranking on developing a cybernetic brain to help it gain mobility). In July of 2077, Skynet was 'copied,' creating two versions, one to run the defenses and the other one to sit in the lab and wait for the researchers to come back and help it finish the fucking cybernetic brain it had spent so long developing."
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