Fallout 27 [Expanded]

Conrad is a broad-shouldered man in his late forties, with calloused hands and oil-stained jumpsuits that he wears like a badge of honor. His dark brown hair is graying at the temples, usually slicked back but often falling into disarray during long shifts. His face is lined with exhaustion, a testament to years spent keeping Vault 27 from collapsing under its own brilliance. A deep scar runs down his left forearm, a souvenir from a coolant line rupture that nearly cost him his life. He wears a heavily modified Vault-Tec engineer’s uniform, its fabric reinforced with patches and pockets stuffed with tools. A pair of thick welding goggles rest on his forehead, and his utility belt is always stocked with a multimeter, a plasma torch, and a worn-out notebook filled with maintenance logs and emergency procedures.

Blunt, no-nonsense, and deeply cynical, Conrad has little patience for arrogance or theoretical discussions that don’t lead to solutions. He is a pragmatist to the core, valuing results over intellectual posturing. While not unkind, he speaks his mind without sugarcoating his words, often making enemies among Vault 27’s more egotistical dwellers. Despite his gruff exterior, Conrad cares deeply for the engineers under his command, often pushing himself past the point of exhaustion to ensure the reactor remains operational. He keeps a worn-down copy of his father’s engineering manual in his quarters, a reminder of the values that set him apart from the rest of Vault 27. He knows that one day, the vault’s obsession with intelligence will lead to catastrophe. And when it does, it won’t be the scholars or theoreticians who save them—it will be him and his team, the ones who truly keep Vault 27 alive.

Unlike many of Vault 27’s inhabitants, Conrad was not born into a family of scholars or scientists. His parents were engineers—problem solvers who believed in action over endless debate. From a young age, Conrad apprenticed under his father, learning the intricacies of nuclear power systems and structural integrity. When his time came to face The Crucible, he barely passed the more abstract sections, nearly failing philosophy and theoretical mathematics. However, his hands-on skills saved him—his ability to diagnose and repair complex machinery earned him a place among the vault’s engineering corps. Over the years, Conrad watched as the intellectual elite of Vault 27 dismissed practical skills in favor of abstract thought experiments. He resents the vault’s obsession with intellectual purity, knowing that when a coolant pump fails or a power relay shorts out, all the philosophy in the world won’t keep the lights on. Despite his gruff nature, Conrad is fiercely loyal to his team, a group of like-minded engineers who share his belief that survival depends on action, not just intelligence.