The Fallout TV show reminds us: Vault-Tec really is that bad

polygon.com:

“I’ve just taken a cyanide pill,” Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson) admits in episode 2 of Prime Video’s Fallout series. “Vault-Tec Plan D: It was the most humane product that Vault-Tec ever made.”

This thought sets up viewer expectations for what’s to come over the next few episodes — but for fans of the post-apocalyptic video game series, it’s a glib reminder of the fictional corporation’s heinous in-game history.

Vault-Tec built the bomb shelters, or Vaults, in the world of Fallout, purportedly as a cautionary measure to protect the American people in the event of a catastrophic incident. Funded by the government (“Project Safehouse”) and junk bonds, these underground bunkers featured highly advanced technology to create self-sufficient ecosystems completely independent of the outside world. Those who secured a spot in one of these shelters survived the nuclear holocaust, living comfortably within a small community governed by an Overseer and Vault-Tec official procedures.

At least, that was the promise Vault-Tec and the U.S. government sold to the American people. In reality, Vault-Tec had little interest in saving the population — its corporate leadership was playing the long game, using the majority of the Vaults to conduct social experiments and scientific research, free from the restraints of regulations or ethics. And with Prime Video’s Fallout, we get even more insight into how nefarious this company can be.

Initially, Vault-Tec was essentially background decoration to enhance Fallout’s retrofuture setting. The company and its corporate mascot, Vault Boy, satirized the fiercely patriotic American pop culture that thrived during the Cold War — think the cheerful “Duck and Cover”PSA or the many examples of shocking print advertising. Many of the franchise’s most well-known emblems — the blue-and-yellow Vault suit, the Vault Boy mascot, and even the iconic gear-shaped Vault entrance — appear early on in the first game as the player character (the Vault Dweller)