About half an hour after the Vault Door slammed shut, we heard a thud through the walls. Muted, distant. We all huddled and prayed as we herd more thuds. Some were a little louder, others quieter. Once, a bit of dust was knocked down from the ceiling. But that was it. No great shaking of earth, no collapsing roofs on our heads. Just distant sounds. The thuds stopped completely two hours later. People haven't talked about it. What is there to say?
It's a day later. We all look a lot alike, now. Apparently the machines in the Vault responsible for producing clothing are capable of only a few designs. And so, everyone was asked to change into the provided blue-and-yellow jumpsuits, each with 69 in yellow across the back. Some people were resisting that, but we all came down here with only one set of clothes. You can't wear the same thing every day forever. Along with the uniform came a permanently-attached vambrace on the left forearm called a PipBoy. It was a combination of PDA, radio, floodlight, Geiger-counter (thankfully silent) and health-monitoring device. I had one put on my arm yesterday, but I hadn't fiddled with it much. All I knew was it was a pain in the butt trying to sleep with it on. But I guess I'll just have to get used to it. They're not designed to ever come off.
I had my own living space. One among many, just a bedroom and a living room. It wasn't much... Hell, it was damn little, the bathrooms were communal, at least in my area. But why complain? It was dry, it had a bed, dresser, table, and chairs, and a window looking out onto the hallway outside. Just like everyone else's.
I was broken out of my reverie by a knock on the door. I answered it. There was the same soldier I had seen shut the Vault Door. And like every other person I had seen down here so far, she was a woman. This was more apparent than before because the soldiers, like the civilians, were wearing the Vault 69 jumpsuits, although theirs came with an armored vest. I guess they had gotten downsized to police officers, now that we were all stuck with each other. I was a bit surprised that she was actually kinda pretty, now that I could see her face clearly, in an all-business, hard-edged kind of way. I mentally shrugged and asked, "Yes?"
" ?" she asked. I just nodded. "The Overseer wants to see you in her office. Now, if you would." Gesturing down the hall, she indicated I should go ahead of her. Not seeing any other real option, I started walking, as she fell into step behind me.
Eventually, we got to the Overseer's office. The officer went in ahead of me, and all I heard was "He's here." I was let inside, directed to sit, and the officer left. The Overseer, a middle-aged woman sitting behind a large, horseshoe-shaped desk, checked something on her computer terminal as I sat there and fidgeted. A sign on her desk read 'Bethany Clarke, Overseer'.
Eventually, she spoke. ", . Single. 22. Caucasian. Male." Leaning back in her seat, she just looked at me for a few moments. "I wonder if you happen to realize the entire weight of the situation you're in right now?"
I thought about it for a little bit. "You mean, besides..?" I simply point upwards at the ceiling. It's clear what I mean.
"Yes," she testily answers. "Besides that."
"I'm not sure what you mean," I say. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"It's not what you have or have not done, Mr. . It's what you are." Not waiting for an answer, the Overseer stood up and paced over to the one window, overlooking the main atrium. "It appears that Vault-Tec has had a bit of a snafu. Vault 69 is furnished with everything it could need for a thousand people to reside comfortably for eighty years. And a thousand people were let in, the door sealed shut behind them." She let that hang in the air for a little bit, as she watched people wander through the atrium below. "One thousand people... Nine hundred, ninety nine women, aged eighteen to thirty five. And one man."
Those words entered my brain and just sat there in the forefront of my mind. Just sat there. It was nearly a full minute before the Overseer spoke again. "If you're grinning by the time I turn around, so help me God, I will slap you silly." A few seconds later, she turned around. |