Emerging From the Vault into the Post Coronavirus Wasteland

The Fallout series of games is one of the most unusual series of games out there, featuring the idea of survivors of a nuclear apocalypse emerging out into the wastelands of the post-nuclear apocalyptic world.   The series mixes dark humor, violence, survival, and often brilliant writing along with the best graphics (of the current release dates) to place players in the scenario.  Most Fallout games start with the player living in a "Vault" which is a massive underground bunker made by an enormous corporation before the bombs dropped.   The premise of these vaults was sold as "survival underground" but most often these vaults turn out to be horrible experiments.  

Most players will cite the emergence of the vault itself as a seminal moment of the game.  The great door opens with a grinding of machinery, there's a blinding flash of sunlight, a rush of air.  Eyes so used to false, phosphorescent light see the sun for the first time and view a land once beautiful rendered naught by the follies of man

Youtuber Gopher called it a "second birth" or "the emergence from the hobbit hole."   Given that the Vault Doors resemble giant gears with a circular portal, its not hard to see that comparison as fair.   Once out in the world, these vault survivors encounter fascinating situations and stories, they make moral decisions that determine the outcome of the game.  The post-apocalyptic world is starkly beautiful, haunting, and a single small moment can capture the real world possibilities of such outcomes even in a game.  Another youtuber, Oxhorn, covers such stories in his series. 

The reason I cite Fallout, vaults and the post-apocalyptic world with Coronavirus is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and yet it is not so far from what is about to occur.   Many people all over the world have lived at home, rarely going outside, interacting or doing much of anything that was "normal."  Now with restrictions slowly being lifted, many of us will be leaving our vaults to venture out into the world.  The question is, what will we find?   Certainly we are not ignorant to the outside world, we haven't been underground for generations like the vault dwellers.  Indeed, we have windows, tv's and we -do- get out.

All the same, as we leave what has become the new normal, we may discover that the society beyond our four walls with windows has changed.  Part of the Fallout premise is how those from underground change society for better or worse.   For the most part the outside world has been in a state of limbo and will continue to be.    As we step out, as we try to gain normalcy, will some things carry over? 

Will we no longer shake hands?  Will we take cleanliness more seriously?   Consider that 100 years ago no one in Edwardian society ate with their hands because it was considered filthy!  That changed as society did, but after a pandemic like this  we may see a return to that way of thinking.   I'm not saying bye to my local sandwich place, but I cannot help but wonder how things might evolve  in the decade/s after coronavirus.

We certainly will see new vaccinations.   In schools, hopefully, I might see more emphasis on cleanliness and thoughtfulness about cleanliness on the part of my fellow co-workers.  Perhaps when I sit down for interviews my urgency about the cleanliness of a school may ring more true to principals who dealt with the real-world ramifications of coronavirus on their school sites.   To be fair, it already has.

For me, life beyond the vault would be a welcome return.   I haven't had to deal with Mad Max style bandits or  mutated cockroaches the size of minivans, and the small inconveniences I face PALE by comparison to the possibilities Fallout presents.  All the same I want to go back to the movies, go to restaurants and sit down, interact with more people, take a walk without a face mask.  I can safely say I am looking forward to that vault door opening, and stepping out and away, making the post-coronavirus world better than it currently is or was before.

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Fallout is copyright Bethesda Softworks.  Any images are copyright to their respective owners and their use and the commentary around them are meant for fair use.