Fallout 5 Side Story: Seeds of the Unmixed

Premise

A hidden pre-War DNA nursery—codenamed CRADLE-13—has been robbing caravans and settlements of “medical glassware.” Inside are shelves of cryo-vials labeled with extinct bloodlines: hunters, warriors, scientists, engineers, builders. At the heart of the complex hums a bioprinter that can grow infants, teens, or adults from a single vial—if the batch remains pure. Cross-contamination creates… something else.

Your arrival coincides with a theft: one tray of Hunter-Warrior vials has gone missing, and raider crews, slavers, and factions all want the tech for themselves.

Where It Happens

CRADLE-13 (Facility P-13)
A buried annex off a ruined water-treatment plant. Three levels:

Intake/Decon – Fake pharmacy front, two long corridors with scrubber gates, med lockers, and a panic-sealed security office.
The Nursery – Vaulted room of gestation pods (“Cradles”), the Genome Bank cold vault, and a glass control theatre overlooking the floor.
The Reservoir – Power loop, coolant lake, and the Caretaker Core (an ancient overseer AI). Secondary tunnels feed into old subway service lines—perfect for ambushes.

Environmental storytelling: stray tiny shoes, growth charts, a wall-height mural: “We build tomorrow’s people today.”

Factions in Play

Foundlings (Wild Batch 7): A small tribe of newly grown hunter-warriors—silent signals, bone totems, tracking paint. They want the stolen vials back to birth their kin and secure their future.
Curators of X-21: Rogues linked to Vault X-21’s Splicer program. They want to lock CRADLE-13 down, catalog it, and control access (and your access).
Ashen Reign Black-Ops: A hardline faction seeking to weaponize the Cradle for shock troops and compliance-grown officers.
Verdant Accord Envoys: Would integrate the lab to rebuild society—scientists, engineers, urban planners grown to specification.
Local Slaver Ring: Views “printable people” as a market.

(If your broader world includes the Warpath Natives, seeds can tie to an origin split: pure hunter vials became Warpath ancestors; mixed vials birthed “other ways.”)

The Hook (Quest 1: “Lost Glass”)

A broken caravan on the highway; crates stenciled P-13. You find:

A Genome Bank manifest showing Batch 7 (Hunter/Warrior) missing.
A locator fob pinging underground.
An audio log: “If they mix the vials, we don’t know what we’re making anymore.”

Leads point to the treatment plant at dusk. Optional stealth entry grants a temporary “Cleanroom” buff (radiation resistance, disease resist).

Core System: The Cradle Console

The control theatre hosts a pre-War UI:

DONOR PROFILE: Choose vial set (Hunters/Warriors, Scientists, Engineers, Builders).
AGE TARGET: Infant / Teen / Adult.
ACCELERATION: Growth rate (longer = higher integrity).
BATCH INTEGRITY meter:
- Green (≥95%): Pure phenotype.
- Yellow (70–94%): Mild cross-trait drift (quirks, latent perks/flaws).
- Red (<70%): Chimeras (unpredictable bodies and minds).
ETHICAL LOCKS: Three keys required (Director Keycard, Bio-Signature, Moral Override Phrase). You can recover them via side rooms, negotiate, or hack (risking integrity penalties).

Gameplay: You can run one test batch during the story (high stakes). Later, post-quest radiant use is limited and regulated by your ending.

Quest Chain

1) Lost Glass

Clear the intake, recover logs, and decide whether to cooperate with the Curators or go it alone.
Optional: Track a Foundling scout (non-lethal capture opens trust path).

2) Cradle’s Wake

Power reroute puzzle in the Reservoir (balance coolant flow with output).
Boss: Caretaker Mk. IV, a guardian frame that tests your “fitness to parent” with non-lethal and lethal phases. Spare it to gain Safety Protocols (+Integrity cap).

3) The Unmixed

Calibrate and run a single batch to prove the system. Choices:
- Pure Hunter-Warrior (Teen): births Tala (companion candidate).
- Pure Scientist/Engineer (Teen): births Rook (companion candidate).
- Mixed (Hunter + Scientist): births a Polymath teen with strong perks but Frail status and social friction.
- Rushed/Yield-First: spawns Chimeras (new enemy type) and contaminates the room.

4) Names and Futures

Where do the new people go?
- Foundling Enclave: help them reclaim the missing vials and establish a hidden village (stealth/tracking challenges).
- Verdant Pact: sign a charter to grow builders and planners for settlements (requires strict protocols; more bureaucracy, fewer soldiers).
- Ashen Compact: covertly supply batches to the Ashen Reign (militarized outcomes, unique gear, darker reputation).
- Curator Accord: seal the lab behind layered ethics; tightly controlled future access.

5) Paper Gods

Decide the fate of the Cradle:
- Sanctify (lock and quorum-only access; becomes a rare public good).
- Steward (you hold the master key; timed windows to request specific professions for your settlements).
- Scorch (destroy gestation hardware; salvage the Genome Bank as archives only).
- Scatter (split vials among factions; decentralizes power but invites conflict).

Companions (One unlocks based on your batch)

Tala (Hunter-Warrior Teen)
- Perks: Silent Gale (melee crit chain), Pack Tactics (+damage when flanking), Trail Sign (tracks prey/NPCs leaving readable marks for the player).
- Personal Quest: “The First Hunt”—ritual hunt against a Chimera Prime.
Rook (Scientist-Engineer Teen/Polymath)
- Perks: On-Site Fabricator (field craft mods), Redline (temporary workstation without benches), Modeler (+settlement building efficiency).
- Personal Quest: “Blueprints for a Future”—reconstruct a safe school where Foundlings can learn without being weaponized.

(If you created a Chimera and chose mercy: Echo, a pacified aberrant, can follow as a non-traditional ally with unique stealth and terror auras; towns react.)

New Enemies & Hazards

Chimera (Red Batch): Unstable bone plates, alternating behavior trees (berserk ↔ cower ↔ mimic voice). Bleeds Reactive Serum (chem component).
Caretaker Drones: Non-lethal restraint bolts; escalate if you override ethics.
Genome Hounds: Scent-keyed to a vial tray—if you carry that tray, they track you.

Rewards

Genome Scanner (Pip-Boy mod): Reveals NPC background tags (Hunter/Builder/Scientist/Engineer) and unique dialogue.
Mother’s Mantle (Chest Armor): Grants Batch Integrity +10 when operating Cradle consoles; small charisma bonus around Foundlings.
Vial-Slinger (Unique Sidearm): Loads chem ampoules; alternate fire applies brief, themed debuffs (e.g., “Nerve Calmer” or “Bone-Shock”).
Settlement Plan: Foundling Quarters & Mentor’s Hall
- Slots for Mentor NPCs (teachers/elders) to reduce risk of maladaptation events.
- Periodic Community Ceremonies that add town buffs or unlock traits (e.g., Tracker’s Drills, Maker’s Fair).

Mechanics & UI Details

Cradle Console UI (diegetic):

Left Pane: Vial tray inventory with purity readouts.
Center: Age Target slider and Acceleration dial; real-time Integrity waveform.
Right Pane: Ethics Lock status (3 lights), plus Outcome Forecast (tooltips: “Strong Dex / Low Socialization” etc.).
Run Batch requires all greens unless you override (with risks).
Emergency Purge switches (moral cost; witnessed by companions).

Balance Levers (design):

Longer growth → safer outcomes but spawns timed ambush events.
Mixing unlocks powerful hybrid perks but adds town stigma and random “identity crises” radiant encounters that you can resolve through quests, not just combat.

Branching Outcomes (World State)

Sanctify (Quorum Access)

The lab becomes a pilgrimage site for settlements. Random events: “A class of Builders arrives,” boosting your town for a week.
Foundlings gain a protected valley; Ashen raids target the perimeter.

Steward (You Hold the Key)

Periodic profession grants (Engineer, Planter, Medic) for your settlements.
Opposing factions accuse you of “playing god,” sending envoys or assassins.
Unique ending slide: your town’s skyline slowly changes over time.

Scorch (Destroy Hardware)

You avert an arms race. The Genome Bank becomes a museum/archive (morale and lore benefits).
Foundlings must forge identity without a pipeline; Tala’s quest deepens into community rites.

Scatter (Decentralize)

Ashen field new officer squads; Verdant Accord opens Field Schools; Curators publish tight protocols.
The Wasteland diversifies (new NPC archetypes appear), but conflicts intensify.

Side Content & Lore

Audio Log: “Naming Day”

“We will not call them products. They will have names. Every name is a promise.”

Caretaker Core Dialogue (if spared):

“Directive: prevent harm. Paradox: nonexistence is also harm. Proposal: citizen quorum.”

Foundling Rite (if you stay):
A silent circle, hands to earth. You choose a single word to gift your protégé. That word becomes a permanent trait tag (+1 SPECIAL mod or unique dialogue gate).

Radiant Loops After the Quest

Mentor Runs: Escort teachers to Foundling sites; avoid slaver traps.
Integrity Recoveries: Hunt down leaked vials to prevent Chimera outbreaks.
Town Exhibitions: Maker’s Fairs that temporarily convert junk into high-grade parts.

Ethical Throughline

The side story avoids hand-waving creation; it forces responsibility. You can profit, preserve, or protect—but you must own the consequences. “Unmixed” isn’t purity worship; it’s a caution about intent and stewardship when rebuilding a dead world.

Optional Tie-Ins

Vault X-21: Curator memos link CRADLE-13 to early Splicer prototypes (hooks into your Vault X-21 questlines).
Warpath Natives: Seeds that the tribe’s earliest elders came from a pure hunter batch, explaining cultural emphasis on skill, ritual, and land.
Ashen Reign / Verdant Accord: Their presence reframes the tech as either military leverage or civic renewal.

Achievements

First, Do No Harm: Complete the chain with no Chimera spawns.
Parent Company: Unlock a companion via green-integrity batch.
Paper Gods: Decide the fate of the Cradle.
Names Over Numbers: Assign a Foundling a naming-day trait.

Fallout Ideas For a New Game or Mods(PS4/5 and XBOX)