Vault 21 in Fallout: New Vegas is one of the few functional vaults in the wasteland. However, it has gone through a lot of change since Vault-Tec built it in 2077, primarily because of Mr. House’s takeover. Looking into the facility’s history and what its former residents have to say reveal that Mr. House wasn’t exactly a welcome patron when he arrived.
To get to Vault 21 in Fallout: New Vegas, The Courier must travel to The Strip. The Vault 21 Hotel and Casino can be found next to Michael Angelo’s, and its signage seems to be made out of a vault door.
Vault 21’s Gambling Experiment
When Vault 21 was built before the bombs fell, Fallout’s Vault-Tec arranged for a social experiment centered around gambling. Appropriately set up in the heart of pre-war Las Vegas, the residents of Vault 21 were required to settle differences through gambling. According to terminal entries in the Vault 21 Hotel, this practice created the “perfect equilibrium between self-reliance and social equality.” Because people used luck and gambling skill as a basis for settling issues, everyone was, in a sense, “equal.”
To mirror this notion of equality, Fallout: New Vegas’ Vault 21 was built to be fully symmetrical and transparent. All the living quarters were the same and the gambling sections were in plain sight so that no one could cheat. Of course, the residents didn’t gamble constantly. When they weren’t settling disputes, they would be going about their normal lives or throwing parties in the facility’s diner. Former resident Sarah Weintraub even says that everyone knew each other in the vault, suggesting that the inhabitants had a close-knit relationship.
Despite the vault’s unorthodox means of tending to disagreements, it remained active over two centuries after the Great War of the Fallout world. Generations of vault residents adhered to Vault-Tec’s gambling rules and seemed to thrive with them. However, things changed in the year 2274.
Mr. House’s Proposition for the Residents Vault 21
In 2274, Robert House got in contact with the residents of Vault 21 and asked that they help build New Vegas in Fallout. A shrewd businessman from the pre-war era, Mr. House had taken the necessary precautions to protect Las Vegas from nuclear destruction. He also made it so his consciousness persisted long enough to see the city’s revival. Thus, years later, he was able to rebuild the area’s structures, putting up lavish casinos of which he was the sole proprietor. He intended to do the same with Vault 21.
Many of the vault’s inhabitants were against Mr. House’s proposal. Having lived their entire lives underground, they were afraid of the wasteland above. Some sided with Mr. House in Fallout: New Vegas, leading to a gambling session that would decide the vault’s fate. Those in favor of opening Vault 21 won - but the truth may be much darker than this story as told in the Vault 21 Hotel’s official terminal.
Mr. House wanted to get into Vault 21 to acquire its pre-war tech and collect materials for his casinos. Once he’d gotten everything he needed, he intended to pour concrete into Vault 21’s interior, barring anyone from using it again. The only reason why the top level is still accessible is that Sarah and her brother convinced Mr. House to let them stay there, offering it as a hotel. While Mr. House said he wanted to open Vault 21 to the world, it’s more likely that he wanted to get the vault residents out so he could take whatever he wanted and repurpose it in Fallout’s New Vegas Strip.
Vault 21 in Fallout: New Vegas
Regardless of Mr. House’s true intentions, Vault 21 stands as a hotel and casino (though one less extravagant than the others on The Strip). Many of the residents have left and are elsewhere in the wasteland, such as Doc Mitchell - whom Sarah refers to as “mole butt.” Some stuck around, like Sarah and her brother, Sheldon. Sheldon, who has changed his name to “Michael Angelo,” runs a sign shop on The Strip, while Sarah is in charge of the Vault 21 Hotel and its vault-themed gift shop (which holds an interesting Fallout: New Vegas side quest).
As mentioned, the vault’s lower floors are inaccessible as they’ve been filled in with concrete. The only rooms that the player can enter are the gift shop, the diner, the living quarters, and a few gambling halls. The vault also has a main control room where The Courier of Fallout: New Vegas can try to access the facility’s security, life support, and access control. However, trying to do so simply brings up the message “ACCESS DENIED… SYSTEM OVERRIDE ---> HOUSE MAINFRAME.” It’s a disturbing revelation as, at any time, Mr. House could cut off Vault 21’s crucial support systems.
Speaking to Sarah reveals that she doesn’t approve of Mr. House’s actions and misses her old vault in Fallout: New Vegas. She still refers to it as her home and has even developed a fear of going outside. Her brother suffers from the same issue, likely due to having lived their entire lives in Vault 21. Even more telling is Sarah’s email to her brother, in which she writes that she thinks Mr. House cheated them, and that it might only be a matter of time before he throws her out.
Should The Courier kill Mr. House and return to Sarah, she’ll react with joy. She’ll be happy to have her vault back and comment that New Vegas will finally “belong to the people.” This further suggests that Vault 21 was wrongfully taken away from its original residents, which is a sad thought given it’s one of Vault-Tec’s few successful experiments. Fallout: New Vegas’ Courier can draw hope from the fact that they, in a way, can give the vault back to Sarah, allowing her to do with it as she pleases.
Fallout: New Vegas is available now for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
