Vault 22

"The Vault of the Future" 
Vault 22 is a location in the Mojave Wasteland .
==Background==
===The Green Vault===
The only vault constructed in the broader Mojave region not assigned to house a civilian population, Vault 22 was instead inhabited by scientists working under the auspice of experimentation with staple crops to combat global hunger prior to the Great War. An entrance sign posted close to the exterior blast door describes the projects underway within, claiming to involve research ranging from advanced fertilizers to improving crop production and increasing these crops' resistance to insects, drought, and disease.Pre-War sign near the entrance of Vault 22: "Under the heart of the Mojave desert, Vault 22 provides a fertile laboratory for experimentation on staple crops to maximize their potential. Within the Vault, scientists and horticulturalists continue to innovate our understanding of agricultural possibilities in the fight against the global hunger crisis. The scientists who developed a miracle fertilizer within have made a profound impact on your ordinary life. So take a second to reflect on the hard work of Vault-Tec scientists in improving crop production in arid biomes like the Mojave, and for increasing crops' resistance to insects, drought, and disease."
Following the nuclear apocalypse, the scientists within the Vault continued agricultural-based initiatives, with the goal of sustaining the Vault's researcher population with plants grown within its confines. Designed as a "green" Vault, those selected to reside in it were dedicated to such goals and some of their most successful experiments were donated by pre-War defense contractors.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collectors Edition pp. 292-294: "[1.09] Vault 22Vault 22 was a "green" vault, filled with scientists dedicated to their experiment: keeping the entire population of the vault alive with plants grown with its confines. The experiment could be said to have exceeded all expectations, but with horrific side-effects. Many have attempted to locate the data the scientists left behind, but so far nobody has returned alive. The vault is open, but warning signs surround it from people lucky enough to survive their initial encounter with the vault's inhabitable. Don't forget to check the Hollowed-Out Rock on the right side of the gully, across from the "Keep Out!" sign."(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition Tour of the Mojave Wasteland)
One such donation, however, would eventually become the Vault's undoing. Beauveria mordicana was originally an entomopathogenic fungus designed for pest control: when a pest is exposed to the fungal spores, the fungus infests it and begins to colonize the host body. The host eventually dies due to failure of body functions while the fungal colony continues to expand through its body. Eventually, the host body's motor functions are fully controlled by the fungal colony, allowing it to move around and infect more pests by spraying new spores around the host body. Researchers noted that, while effective in the long term, it still takes between 10 to 20 days to kill its prey and the fungal spread has limited effectiveness when dealing with unsocial pests.Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, species 3 The donated samples of the fungus were originally developed at the X-22 botanical garden at Big MT before later being shared with Vault-Tec to enable advanced botanical experiments by the scientists of Vault 22.Old World Blues endings: "The Biological Research Station, obsessed with seeding everything in sight, requested a transfer to the X-22 Botanical Garden... so that it might, in its own words, "sensually fertilize the garden's smooooth contours." The Garden sent back a polite refusal, saying it had prior commitments with a Vault it had helped infect before the war."
===Fall of 22===
As with many technologies produced by Big MT, the fungus turned out to be an organic "Pandora's box" with which the Vault's scientists effectively signed their death warrant. While ostensibly designed to provide effective means of long-term pest control, it was learned at Big MT that the fungus was perfectly capable of infecting human bodies as well.Patient Zero's name and appearance infer that they were the first human to become a spore carrier. As experiments with the fungus progressed in Vault 22, its spores gradually spread throughout the Vault, slowly infecting the population unbeknownst to them. The first confirmed infection was Dr. Harrison Peters, who also provided insight into the development of the infection: beginning with bouts of pneumonia as the fungus invaded the lungs, it eventually transformed into chills, a fever, and a terrible racking cough. The fungal colony caused the body to actively reject anti-fungal treatments, culminating in death due to organ failure. As with its intended targets of smaller pests, the fungal colony continued to grow and develop inside the host. Eventually, it spread far enough to establish control over the deceased person's body, becoming a highly aggressive creature dubbed a spore carrier, whose sole purpose is spreading the spores and infesting more would-be hosts. The untreatable infection baffled the scientists and spread through the Vault like wildfire.Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 162Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 164 (group)Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 162 updateVault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 173 (group)Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 162 updateVault 22 terminal entries; terminal, case 162 update 
The widespread infection led to an eventual collapse of social order in the Vault. Infected humans were turned into more spore carriers, with the airborne fungal spores threatening the remaining living residents. Scientists attempted to eradicate them by igniting gas deliberately released in the lower levels of the Vault.The Courier: "How did you get this whole gas thing set up so quickly?"Keely: "That's a very good question! Actually, I didn't come up with it. The systems were already set up to pump the gas when I first arrived here. I believe the scientists were in the process of attempting to ignite the gas just as we're about to do. And by we, I mean you, of course."(Keely's dialogue) However, it's speculated that the gas release triggered an aggressive reaction from the carriers, which attacked the scientists and decimated their numbers, preventing their plan from being carried out.The Courier: "What happened to the scientists, then?"Keely: "Something prevented them from igniting the gas, obviously. I suppose it's possible that the gas triggered some kind of defensive reaction. Hordes of previously slumbering creatures may have awoken and entered a killing frenzy, ripping the hapless scientists into quivering, bloody chunks. You'll have to let me know when you get back from going downstairs."(Keely's dialogue)
By 2096, the Vault was fully abandoned by the living, with the dead eventually becoming spore carriers or stationary colonies of the fungus.Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, Vault 22 expedition, entry 6Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, Vault 22 expedition, entry 8Vault 22 terminal entries; terminal, Vault 22 expedition, entry 9
===Fleeing to Zion===
A party of 118 survivors left the Vault and traveled north into Utah, eventually ending up in Zion Canyon, where they encountered another group of refugees from Mexico. With greater numbers, strong discipline, tactics, and firepower, the Vault dwellers had every advantage over the Mexicans. They hit the Mexicans' camp on February 11, killing all the men and shooting down women and children that resisted. The remainder were taken to the group's main camp and penned in like livestock.Stone Bones cave terminal entries; terminal, Year 2096 I.Year: 2096
Randall Clark, a former US soldier and survivalist residing in the canyon, witnessed the massacre and was desperate to help the Mexican survivors. Over the next two days, he surveyed the area, noting that the Vault 22 dwellers were organized well, with patrols and sentries set up along all approaches into the camp, except for the stream. The coughing induced by the fungal infection puzzled Clark (which he mistook as tuberculosis), but he ignored it as he prepared to save the surviving Mexicans. He went into the camp on February 14th, and what he saw snapped something inside him: the Vault 22 dwellers had killed and eaten everyone they took from the Mexican survivors' camp. Clark retaliated, waging a brutal war of attrition against them. With his rifle and any explosives he could loot, he ambushed the dwellers where he could, booby-trapping the bodies and taking weapons he could use.
By the end of February, he had killed 24 of the original 118 dwellers in a cold, merciless campaign of vengeance, suffering only one wound: a 10mm steel-jacketed round through the thigh, which missed the femoral artery. Though he remained unseen by his quarry for the duration of his campaign, he was forced to move camp once on March 2nd when a small patrol entered his cave shelter and one was caught in a deadfall trap. Panic fire from the others almost hit Clark. After he disposed of the intruders, he moved camp to Cueva Guarache.Stone Bones cave terminal entries; terminal, Year 2096 II.Year: 2096 (II)
Ten months later, after losing more than eighty members of the group to the unknown killer and their sickness, the remaining dwellers gave up and fled the canyon, after eating their own dead for nourishment.BEWARE - A VENGEFUL SPIRIT STALKS THESE CANYONS The fate of the remaining Vault 22 dwellers after their departure is unknown, although, occasionally, damaged Pip-Boys and Vault jumpsuits from the Vault would find their way into the hands of prospectors traveling in and around Zion.The Courier: "Where'd you get the Vault suit?"Ricky: "Where the fuck you think? Vault two-two! That's where I grew up!"The Courier: "You're lying. I've been to Vault 22. No one's lived there in 150 years."Ricky: " I may have been exaggerating a little. Truth is, I got this suit and the Pit-Boy off a dead prospector who came out from Zion. Guy was dead when I found him, okay? Had a ton of shit on him. That's how I know there's good loot in Zion, see?"(Ricky's dialogue) The Sorrows tribe also knew of the Vault 22 dwellers, likely through stories told to their ancestors by Clark as the "Father in the Caves" and passed down to their descendants, with some of their cliffside murals in 2281 depicting the "Father's" weapon casting lightning upon skull-headed figures and the number "22."
===OSI's interest===
The Vault itself fell into disrepair over the years after the fungal infestation, becoming overrun by the plants and wildlife that thrived in the conditions within. The occasional scavenger that entered the Vault quickly fell prey to the creatures dwelling within or the fungus, creating more spore carriers and fungal pockets. It wasn't until roughly 2281 when scientific interest in the Vault's experiments was renewed, specifically from Thomas Hildern, director of the Office of Science and Industry branch in the Mojave. He hired multiple mercenaries to retrieve the data stored within the Vault, hoping to find a way to enhance the agricultural output of the NCR and stave off the nation's projected period of famine, though he did not mind that it was likely to also result in a major promotion for him. Hildern's reliance on paid mercenaries eventually pushed one of his colleagues, Keely to go to the Vault herself to investigate, though she still had not returned by October of 2281.
==Layout==
===Entrance===
Situated south-southwest of the Griffin Wares sacked caravan, east of Jacobstown and west from the Thorn and Westside, the Vault's entrance is advertised with a sign that reads "Welcome to Vault 22" covered by graffiti which says "Stay out! The plants kill!" The advertisement in and of itself is unique when compared to other Vaults that generally attempt to stay concealed. Under the graffiti, the original sign reads: 
The Vault door itself is covered with overgrowth and lodged open, in addition to having direct access to the surface, unlike most that have a natural rock formation or tunnel enclosing the entrance. There is a hollowed-out rock directly across from the sign at the entrance. The whole surrounding area of the entrance is choked in plant growth and thick vines.
Once inside the Vault, one will come to a door that leads to a room with an elevator and stairs. From here on out, the player character will encounter spore carriers, spore plants and giant mantises throughout the Vault. The Vault is split into five levels, and the different floors can be accessed by repairing the main elevator within the Vault (requires a 50 Repair skill level) or via a series of staircases.
===1st floor - Entrance hall===
Immediately upon entering the Vault, turn to the left to find a usable mattress, a duffle bag with some supplies and one of Keely's terminals with entries 1 and 2. Next to the mattress, hidden between two books, is a Programmer's Digest.
===2nd floor - Oxygen recycling===
From the entrance of the lab, one can take a right and continue to the room directly across the hall to find one of Keely's terminals with entries 3, 4 and 5 in the series, as well as a duffel bag containing at least 6 frag grenades.
===3rd floor - Food production===
Vault 22 Food Distribution.jpg|Food distribution
FNV Vault 22 Experiment.png|One of the food production/experimentation chambers
The keycard to access the cave tunnels on level 4 is located in the common quarters (the floor below). Once inside, an Average locked door must be opened on the lower level in the northwestern corner of the room or progress to the overseer's office, and use the terminal and disengage the lock. Once inside, the first room on the left, on a shelving unit will have the Vault 22 cave door keycard. The keycard does not open the cave door on level 3 directly, it instructs the terminal next to the cave door to unlock the door.
From the elevator, go down to the hallway and into the first room on the right to find one of Keely's terminals with entries 6 and 7 in the series. For the quest Bleed Me Dry, the pile of giant mantis egg(s) will spawn in the caverns down a side tunnel guarded by a giant mantis female and several giant mantis nymphs.
===4th floor - Common areas===
From the entrance to the commons, take a right over the little bridge and straight back to the billiard room for one of Keely's terminals with entries 8 and 9 in the series. The keycard that unlocks the door to the tunnels on the food production level is found in the lower level of the common areas in the quarters section on a shelf in the first room to the left. If the keycard cannot be found, check the floor near the shelf, as it may have somehow fallen off. It is a darkish red/orange color. The stairs between this level and the fifth level are blocked by debris. The tunnels on the third level or the elevator can be used to bypass it. A flamer and several cans of fuel can be found in the room across from the room with the terminal that talks about Dr. Peter's re-animation.
===5th floor - Pest control===
This floor is filled with deadly "savage" spore carriers. The large cavern contains many giant mantises and spore plants. Five mantis ootheca and Keely are located here, in an alcove on the far end of the cavern.
==Original inhabitants==
==Notable loot==
* AER14 prototype - On the stairs between the fourth and fifth floor, the door to the stairway from pest control has a Very Easy lock. The AER14 is lying on the ground next to a scorched skeleton with a couple of energy cells.
* Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor - Located on the 5th level, in the pest control section. Take the elevator to pest control and turn left to go upstairs to a large room with a door that leads to the food production caves. Turn left and the book is on a long table with bubbling vials or on the floor in front of the long table.
* Six HEPA 20 cartridge filters - In a blocked-off section of 2nd level oxygen recycling area which can only be accessed via the cave system surrounding the Vault (the room and its cave entrance are visible through a window on the main part of the 2nd level). There are entrances to these caves on the 5th level, pest control, and on the 3rd level, food production. The terminal on the 3rd level will not open the door to the caves without the cave access keycard, which is found in the common areas, downstairs on a shelf in the bedroom with the baby carriage. To locate the HEPA filters, go to the third floor. Open the metal door to the cave, then turn right at the fork. Follow the cave to find another wooden door labeled oxygen recycling. The HEPA filters are located in a locker in the upper right corner of the room. Relevant as a quest item for a certain part of Still in the Dark.
* food additive - When exiting the elevator on the 3rd Floor - food production level, go forward through the vegetation and turn left down a hallway, enter the door on the left. This room has a long railed off area of undeveloped maize. Turn right (northwest) and walk to the far end of the room where there is a small office. There are spores growing around and on the desk. The food additive is sitting on the corner of the desk but can be knocked off onto the floor by a spore carrier. Relevant as a quest item for the unmarked quest Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans.
* Six frag grenades - In the duffle bag in the right-side lab on the second floor.
==Related quests==
==Notes==
* The background music that plays in the Vault is "The Vault of the Future," which was originally used for Vault 13 .
* The exterior view of the Vault door shows that it is slightly open and one can see the entrance room through the gap.
* Despite Keely's claims that the spores are contagious, the player character suffers no adverse effects from continued exposure to the air in the Vault, even in the lower levels where the concentration is the highest.
* Vault 22 is one of the only vaults found in the Mojave Wasteland that lacks an entry tunnel, the other being Vault 3. Furthermore, 22 is the only Vault in the Mojave Wasteland whose Vault door would have opened directly to the outside world at the time of its construction, similar to many of the vaults found on the West Coast.
* If one has found and spoken to Keely, she remotely locks the entrance to Vault 22. They can get her to unlock it only after completing her quest. Alternatively, the player can pickpocket her for her terminal password and use it to access her terminal on level 2 (where they met up after finding her in the caves) and unlock the door themself.
* When examining the outer Vault door closely, the door number actually reads "92" instead of "22."
* The first interior door to the staircase very faintly reads "101" under the grime.
* Ricky claims to have lived in Vault 22, to which the player character can refute his claim if they have visited Vault 22 beforehand, or have a high Perception attribute level. If successful, Ricky will tell the truth, that he found his broken Pip-Boy and Vault 22 jumpsuit on a dead prospector from Zion.
* The elevator is scripted to move companions to be near the player whenever they use its service, even if they tell them to wait outside the Vault.
* While one can hear strange voices and typing sounds can be heard throughout the Vault, these are completely aesthetic and part of the aforementioned background music.
==Appearances==
Vault 22 appears and is mentioned in its add-ons Honest Hearts and Old World Blues.Old World Blues endings, Biological Research Station: "The Biological Research Station, obsessed with seeding everything in sight, requested a transfer to the X-22 Botanical Garden... so that it might, in its own words, 'sensually fertilize the garden's smooooth contours.' The Garden sent back a polite refusal, saying it had prior commitments with a Vault it had helped infect before the war."
==Behind the scenes==
* Vault 22 was designed by Jesse Farrell.
* According to Joshua Sawyer in an interview with PC Gamer, Vault 22 was partially based off of the Nursery, which was meant to appear .PCGamer Interview with JE Sawyer: "[...]Vault 22 was based on some of the old ideas of the Diana Vault that we have in the Van Buren design doc's, but yeah it was pretty much a brand new story, it's just, every once and awhile, we were all like, "Ah, you know what?- we did design something cool before, let's see if we can bring it back in this title."
* There are two cut robot NPCs associated with Vault 22, Koch and Bohr, both named after real world scientists.
==Bugs==
* In the top floor of the common areas, one of the rooms has a booth seat placed close to a wall that is only visible from certain angles, if the player sits in this boot they will glitch into the wall and upon getting up will be stuck inside the wall.
* The key card from quarters (needed to enter the cave) can, on rare occasions, never appear and cannot be found.
* With the PS3 system update 3.60, the "trigger" event to download the data from the terminal on Level 5 doesn't happen, preventing the continuation of the storyline.
* Use caution if you are to take ED-E on to the fifth floor and trigger the flames. Make sure ED-E is in a room where he is protected from the flames as he can be "killed" even if you are not in Hardcore mode and never register as being dead (in fact you will still see a marker indicating that he is at Vault 22) thus robbing you of having a second follower for the rest of the game. If you don't want to have to worry about this, just have him wait at the entrance or at your Lucky 38 suite. This can happen to Veronica too. 
* When inside the Vault, the door has another texture problem. You can still see the 92 but it also shows a 101 and an overwrite sign from the doors (you need to use the console to see this).
* Many times while in Vault 22 your companions will sense enemies nearby, when in fact they are on another level of the Vault. This makes them run off to the corners of rooms, stairwells, etc. in search of their foe(s).
* If entering the Vault for the HEPA 20 cartridge filters and obtaining them after first talking to Keely in the cave she may not appear in her lab and the door to exit the Vault will need her key to unlock it. Exiting the game and restarting from that point seems to fix this problem, however, if the problem still persists she may be found stuck in a wall in Oxygen Recycling (identified by a non-hostile line on your radar). Use explosives on the wall where she is trapped; if she is damaged she will turn hostile and spawn again in the corridor. If you want to pursue the quest, as usual, go to a different floor and wait an hour. When you return to oxygen recycling, she will be found non-hostile in her correct place so the quest can be finished. To avoid this bug entirely, get the cartridges before you speak to her for the first time.
* Sometimes, the giant mantises outside the Vault do not spawn. They are likely to spawn when you exit, though, so be prepared for five or so mantises on top of you if this happens.
* Leaving companions outside of Vault 22 and then entering the Vault will cause a glitch where your companions disappear. They are noted on your world map as being at Vault 22, but they are not there.
* If you complete the quest There Stands the Grass before unlocking the door that leads to where Keely is and then rescue her, she will still attempt to have you do her portion of the quest which includes her locking the front door. Since you've already dealt with the data, you cannot do anything else for her after activating the gas on the 5th floor and remain locked in. (To get the code to unlock the doors, either pickpocket or kill Keely after being asked to activate the gas. Once you have the password, use the terminal in the same room Keely is in to unlock doors.) Should you return to Williams, and did not kill Keely to get the password, she'll pay you, and you will also gain XP for saving Keely as well.
* ED-E appears upon entering level five via the elevator even though he is told to wait elsewhere, even if told to wait outside of Vault 22.
* If you have a companion while looking for the AER14 Prototype, the companion might pick the gun up (to get the gun from a companion just go into their inventory).
* If you have ED-E as a companion, and try to fix the broken elevator inside the Vault, the game will freeze and the last auto-save will corrupt, therefore you will have to restart the console and load from another saved game.
* Occasionally all of the spore carriers will be found lying on the ground near their plant patches rather than crouching within them. They will still jump up to attack when you approach, though, and their prone state often makes them harder to detect and eliminate in advance. Their animations may also glitch, allowing them to advance and attack invisibly while their body stays frozen on the floor, the frozen model still takes damage when shot rather than the invisible carrier attacking.
==Gallery==
Vault 22 Atrium.jpeg|Atrium
Vault 22 bedroom.jpeg|Vault 22 bedroom
Vault 22 exterior.jpg|Vault 22 exterior
Vault 22 interior.png|Vault 22 interior
AER14 Prototype.jpg|AER14 prototype
Vault 22 Door detail.jpeg|The 92 number on the Vault 22 door
FNV Vault 22 92 door.jpg|Noclip close up view of the 92 on the Vault door
Vault 22 outside.jpg|Outside of Vault 22
Vault 22 Overseer's Office.png|Vault 22 overseer's office
Vault 22 Entrance.png|Vault 22 entrance
FNV TOAJJV Vault 22.jpg|Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor
Pile of giant mantis eggs Bleed Me Dry.jpg|Pile of giant mantis egg
Frag grenade Vault 22 OR.jpg|Keely's duffle bag
Frag grenade Vault 22 OR.jpg|Frag grenade
Pool tables Vault 22 CA.jpg|Pool room
FNV Vault 22 entrance flowers 2.jpg|Hollyhock-esque flowers at the entrance
FNV Vault 22 entrance flowers 1.jpg|Daffodil and violet-esque flowers at the entrance
Vault 22 exterior.jpg
FNVCE Vault 22 map.png|Overview map from Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition
FNV Vault 92 22 gear door.png|Vault 92 door used for 22
FNV Vault 22 nifskope render.png|Exterior signage
The plants kill.jpg|Vault 22 warning graffiti
Nvdlc02 graffiti sorrowsmural02.png|Vault 22 Dwellers depicted by a Sorrows mural
==References==
Non-game
 
de:Vault 22
es:Refugio 22
fr:Abri 22
it:Vault 22
pl:Krypta 22
pt:Vault 22
ru:Убежище 22
uk:Сховище 22
zh:22號避難所