Sierra Madre vault The Sierra Madre vault is a in the Sierra Madre Casino . It is the last location the Courier will go before the end of " Dead Money " . The Courier must proceed through the bowels of the casino , passing areas filled with the Cloud , speakers and holograms to end up in the main vault room . Layout . What the Pip - Boy labels as the " vault " area is actually three areas of " the basement " and then the vault itself . Forcefields in the doorways from the enclosure prevent the player from being able to simply walk over to the vault . Father Elijah is the only one who can deactivate the forcefields , and he aims to do it only for himself when he comes down to confront the Courier . The first two areas of the basement are spent shooting , out - running , and deactivating the various speakers along the catwalks that wind through the first two parts of the basement . From the enclosure where the Courier comes into the second catwalk room , there are stairs to the right and another set of stairs on the left that lead up / down to the floor of the room . There is a bare - metal support beam over the stairs that bridges the gap between the catwalk and the door leading to the next section . The third area of the basement is more complicated , due to several security holograms patrolling the enclosures and catwalks in the area . There is a speaker to the right upon entering . From the doorway where the room is entered , on the opposite side of the room , there is a long enclosure that runs most of the length of the opposite wall , as well as a very small enclosure in the right corner . The doorway to exit the room is between the two enclosures , and one of the holograms is standing guard next to it . There is also a medium - sized enclosure on the far - right wall that has a terminal that controls the hologram next to the exit . In addition , on the right as the room is entered , there is a set of stairs going down to a lower catwalk level . The Cloud covers the lower catwalk level , and the only way through is to jump from the bottom of the stairs to the next section of the catwalk . The holograms in the room can be turned off with a high enough Repair skill ( or a good aim ) and some climbing , as the emitters for them are located on top of the small metal box rooms they patrol . This makes a clear run for later if the player aims to lock Elijah inside the vault . To do so , the player must stay out of his sight and then make a quick dash back the elevator before he notices he is trapped inside and activates the collar . While turning the corner after exiting the hologram room , the collar will start beeping while running toward a speaker on the wall ahead . There is a terminal that deactivates the weapon turrets and the blue force fields around the vault , allowing access to the vault . However , deactivating the security also triggers the entire sequence of events leading up to the confrontation with Elijah , including locking the elevator until Elijah comes down to the vault , enforcing a point of no return for the player . There are two entries on the terminal regarding the vault ' s security . Backing out of the folder shows a third option to disable the vault ' s security protocols . The end of the corridor leads into another enclosure on the opposite side of the vault room that was first seen upon leaving the elevator . On the walkway in front of the vault is a holotape , a fairly hostile letter from Sinclair to Vera Keyes , condemning her for lying to him , apparently written after he discovered what Dean and Vera were planning , but hastily ripped out of the computer inside the vault . The Cloud hovers just below the walkway . On the pipes that run below and along the front of the walkway , there is the skeleton of Frederick Sinclair , who apparently met his end at the hands of his own creation . Next to him is a duffle bag with a copy of ' Nikola Tesla and You ' inside it . If the player jumps down to the pipe to obtain the book from the duffle bag , it is tricky , but possible , to jump back up to the walkway . On top of the enclosure in the middle of the room ( facing the vault ) is a larger enclosure with some miscellaneous computer equipment inside it , and a pair of weapon turrets on top of it ( there is two more around the room , for a total of four turrets ) . The weapon turrets will be deactivated at this point , since the security was switched off from the terminal in the corridor previously . On the outside of the door to the vault is a single terminal that releases the lock to the vault . Just inside the door is a generator and two more terminals ( one on either side of the door ) to control the weapon turrets outside the vault and the vault ' s security systems . Inside the vault , which is only a single - room , is a table with some Sierra Madre chip s , 17 stacks of and 37 gold bars , which amounts to 390 , 239 , but at 1 , 295 pounds of weight ( since each bar weighs 35 pounds ) it is almost impossible to leave with more than a few bars . There is a first aid box with a wide range of chems and medical supplies , and a gun cabinet containing a few sets of Sierra Madre armor and hundreds of . 357 Magnum round s and , plus a suitcase on top of the locker with more pre - War money and chips . At the far end of the room is another terminal on a round Overseer ' s - type desk . The terminal has two messages for Vera from Sinclair , but the first one says " file not found , " which was the holotape out in front of the vault that Sinclair ripped out of this computer , telling Vera that she is now trapped and has become the " heart " of the Sierra Madre , but he had obviously changed his mind as to her fate . The second message is also from Sinclair , who apparently had a change of heart ( which was too late ) in spite of knowing what Vera and Dean were planning . There is also an entry for Dean on the computer ( labeled " Sinclair ' s Personal Accounts " ) . It is an actual message which can be read , but reading the message causes the player to be trapped within the vault and ending the game , thus continuing from the player ' s last game save . Upon exiting the terminal , a panel on the wall above opens , revealing a communication screen , immediately beginning dialogue with Elijah . Appearances . The Sierra Madre vault appears only in the " " " Dead Money " .