Vault 114 is often the second vault players will encounter in Fallout 4, as clearing the level is required to progress the main quest. Like all vaults in the Fallout series, this one has some background to it. Vault-Tec’s questionable experiments for Vault 114 are social in nature, and the entire vault serves as a pressure test for a specific demographic.

Vault 114 is accessible through Park Street station and is the main venue for the “Unlikely Valentine” quest. In Fallout 4, the place is overrun with Triggermen, but pre-war terminal entries are still accessible via the consoles. These, as well as the vault’s layout, paint a clear picture of how Vault-Tec was deceiving its potential vault dwellers.

RELATED: Fallout 4: The Story Behind Vault 81

The Luxurious Promises of Vault 114

Interior Of Vault 114 From Fallout 4

Vault 114 was advertised as a luxurious place to live. As such, it would be home to the upper-class citizens of Boston. This includes political figures, businesspeople, and other such influential individuals, plus their families. These potential vault dwellers knew that their co-inhabitants would be of similar social standing, and thus were likely expecting a lavish post-war shelter.

However, Vault-Tec never intended to fulfill these promises. In a terminal entry, the management writes that the supposed luxury of the vault had been greatly exaggerated. In reality, they intended to put together a group of privileged individuals in a communal living space to see how they would fare. Exploring the vault’s interior shows that the rooms and amenities are the furthest from luxury.

All the bedrooms are communal, with bunk beds lined up against the walls. Additionally, there are only a few chests or drawers to be found in each of the bedrooms, so Vault-Tec also provided what looks to be a storage area for the vault dwellers. This storage room is also communal, with a dozen or so lockers crammed into a relatively small room.

Even the bathrooms and lavatories are shared. There are a total of four shower cubicles and three toilets, and each is only hidden by a flimsy curtain. Finally, the mess hall is akin to a cafeteria, suggesting that the vault dwellers wouldn’t have their food brought to them and instead had to go down to serve themselves.

Overall, Vault 114’s living conditions are fairly habitable, especially given the Great War and its consequences. However, for Boston elites who were promised luxury, it’s a far cry from what they were expecting. These wealthy individuals were probably looking for ornate personal rooms with their own Miss Nanny and Mister Handy robots, as well as a variety of expensive amenities, like swimming pools or wine bars. Well, they were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Interestingly enough, the Overseer’s Office is one of the largest rooms in the facility. Perhaps this was done on purpose to further highlight the bog-standard facilities provided for Boston’s most wealthy. Though it’s worth noting that even Vault 114’s Overseer was handpicked to further the vault’s underlying social experiment.

RELATED: Fallout 4's Far Harbor Has No Good Ending

Overseer Soup Can Harry

fallout-4-guide-holotape-games-locations-kitchen-red-menace

Vault-Tec conducted plenty of interviews with potential Overseers during the construction of Vault 114. One such interview was done with Benjamin Beasley, who expressed his desire to create a Vault Resident’s Council should he be chosen for the role. He puts a strong emphasis on democracy and government, thus his desire to form said council. Unfortunately, he wasn’t chosen for the role. Another interview was conducted with Kimberly Weese, who boasted of her background in mock government programs, the student council, and her school’s debate team. She, too, wasn’t chosen for the role.

After countless rejected candidates, Vault-Tec finally found who they were looking for in their 87th interview. This was done with a man named Soup Can Harry. This is likely not his real name, as he didn’t believe in the “rank and number” that the government gave him. Harry expressed that he was distrustful of the government because of their red tape, bureaucracy, and misuse of state taxes. He also seems to be fond of eating Abraxo cleaner.

Vault-Tec offered Harry the job on the spot. Though he doesn’t give a straight answer, he does inform the interviewer that he has no intention of wearing a tie or pants for the job. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but granting the position of Overseer to what seems to be the most unqualified man for the job was a deliberate move on the part of Vault-Tec. After all, an incompetent and crass Overseer would likely make things even more difficult for the vault dwellers.

In the management’s terminal entry, Vault-Tec staff write that they want “someone with no supervisory or government experience, and hopefully with a strong anti-authority bias.” They also ordered the Vault-Tec personnel assigned to Vault 114 to refrain from going against the Overseer, even if this could lead to emotional discomfort or physical altercations among the inhabitants. All this was done to create a stressful environment for the wealthy citizens of Boston to gauge their reactions.

Even Vault-Tec’s message to the Overseer leaves much to be desired. In it, they tell Harry that he was chosen for his “natural qualities, decision-making skills, and unique personality.” Given that he is an inherently good leader, then he can simply govern the vault as he pleases — “go with your gut,” the message reads. This was a recipe for utter disaster.

Vault 114 in Fallout 4

Fallout 4 Vault 114 Triggermen mob including Skinny Malone.

While the social experiment in Vault 114 is certainly not one to scoff about, it would seem the facility was never completed, and the vault residents never made it. In the pre-war section of Fallout 4, the player can hear the newscaster on TV talking about how there are still slots available for Vaults 81, 111, and 114 — evidence that the vault’s management was still looking for potential test subjects when the bombs fell.

Additionally, when the player enters Vault 114, the place is filled with tools and item crates, as well as unfinished vault sections. Finally, while there are messages addressed to Vault-Tec staff and the chosen Overseer, none of the terminals contain entries written by the vault’s inhabitants. This suggests that construction was never finished and that the social experiment never started.

It would seem Vault 114 never became a functioning vault, and whether this is for better or for worse can’t be for certain. Still, it’s interesting to think about what would have happened to those Boston elites if they were put under the care of Soup Can Harry. At least Skinny Malone and his goons got to make use of the place.

Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

MORE: Starfield Should Borrow Fallout 4's Settlement Building