Fallout Season 2 may have just introduced a significant element from the games in its "Future Enterprise Ventures" namedrop. One of the core tenets of the Fallout universe has been the secondary use of the franchise's central vaults. Built as underground fallout shelters for everyday people rich enough to afford insurance for a nuclear apocalypse, over the years, it has slowly been revealed that these steel-lined bunkers were also secretly used as test chambers for its corporate backer's various scientific pursuits.
This has come to bear in the Fallout Amazon Prime Video series in several ways, with the abandoned Vault 31 seemingly being a test for straining food supply, and the recently introduced Vault 24 exploring what happens when you reprogram an entire community with communist doctrine.
The latest vault-themed revelation came during the events of Fallout Season 2, Episode 4 (subtitled "The Demon in the Snow"). As Moisés Arias' Norm MacLean continues his trek across the wasteland with his newly thawed group of Vault-Tec employees, Norm is presented with a concerning conundrum.
On their way across the greater Los Angeles area, one of Norm's new jumpsuit-wearing compatriots approaches the assumed leader, asking about a "Phase 2" of the experiements that went on in Vaults 32 and 33.
"Hey, Boss, now that we found food, is it time for Phase 2?" the new character, Ronnie, asks. Ronnie quickly reveals that he was once the assistant of Vault-Tec Senior Junior Vice President Bud Askins (aka the robotic Overseer of Vault 31 seen earlier in the season), admitting that he remembers hearing about the various plans for the vaults in the time before the bombs fell, including what the company was trying to accomplish with Vault 32 and 33.
Describing what he remembers of the plan, Ronnie brings up "Future Enterprise Ventures," posing that "Phase 2 is very important to the experiment:"
"Hey Boss, now that we found food, is it time for Phase 2?...So, let's just say I'm the guy who did the lunch orders when Bud was meeting with the vault investors. Future Enterprise Ventures? The whole plan for Vaults 32 and 33?...Like I said, I was just a guy who got the lunch orders, but I do know that Phase 2 is very important to the experiment."
While Ronnie failed to disclose any further details about the experiment, eagle-eyed Fallout fans may have an idea of what he could potentially be alluding to.
So What Was Future Enterprise Ventures' Phase 2 Plan for Vaults 32 & 33?
There is no precedent for a company called Future Enterprise Ventures in the Fallout universe to this point; however, it could potentially hint at a particularly sinister connection to the games.
Throughout the Fallout canon, there are plenty of examples of corporate backers investing in Vault-Tec and their iron-clad shelters to further their specific corporate goals. This is likley a case of that.
While Future Enterprise Ventures may not have any history in the Fallout franchise, a deadly bioweapon that shares the company's abbreviation does. Forced Evolutionary Virus (aka FEV) is a DNA-altering corporate-created virus that has appeared in plenty of Fallout games.
FEV rewrites the host's genome, creating a mutant, almost super-powered version of the person or animal. It ultimately allows its creator to transform any creature or being into anything else they choose. While not ultimately responsible for the creation of terrifying creatures like the Deathclaw, it has been seen spawning such monstrosities across the canon.
In Fallout lore, FEV is created by a company called West Tek under a division known as NBC. Coming into Vault-Tec under the guise of another name, such as Future Enterprise Ventures, would not be entirely out of the ordinary for a company like West Tek.
This Phase 2 plan for Vaults 32 and 33 could be directly connected to FEV. The goal may have been to let these vaults live their lives until Reclamation Day while being secretly exposed to FEV in the meantime (Phase 1), before the activation of the bioweapon turns its residents into an army of uber-powerful mutant beasts.
Later in Episode 4, Annabel O'Hagan's Vault 32 Overseer, Steph Harper, brings up the idea of the "work" in her vault being done through the water. This could be a direct, yet unknowing, reference to the Future Enterprise Ventures plan, with her community having no idea they are secretly being primed to become FEV-fueled monsters.
