Okay, perhaps this 'mystery' revelation will make the 'what if' question more interesting.
After the player has finished the end game, watched the slide show epilogue revealing the results of your actions, and ignored most of the credit roll, suddenly there is an additional cutscene.
We watch the nuclear explosion that wiped out the Enclave's oil rig from an aerial point of view, numbers in the corner reveal that this is being seen through a camera before moving to an outsiders view point.
The screen zooms out as the Pacific ocean becomes bigger, clouds start to appear as we go higher, and at some point we see stars as the shape of the Earth becomes clearly visible.
Now the screen moves somewhat aside and we see an object that slowly becomes larger; a big space station.
The station consists of a toroid with two giant sphere shaped habitats above it and below it (its north and south pole) which are connected with various access tubes to each other and the toroid. (perhaps some glowing reactor in the middle)
We rapidly zoom in and 'enter' the space station through a window.
As we move through the space station corridors we enter a room full of 50's versions of Personal Computers and loads of computer banks.
Texts and images flicker over the screens as if they are being read very fast or are being analyzed.
Suddenly we hear a female voice, it is pleasant but definitely artificial in nature. "Mr President, I have some bad news for you Sir. It seems the Vault Research Enclave has fallen through outside influence, personnel casualty rating are predicted to be 98.9 percent and the main control installation itself is essentially scrapped."
Mr President (which isn't seen yet) "A shame, the Enclave had quite some possibility. It could have succeeded at bringing stability and order to the wasteland, and dealing effectively with the impurities and degenerates currently overrunning the continents."
Secretary "Would you wish to start over Sir? We could activate another control group."
President "No, we have explored that avenue of research. No I think it would be best that we start over completely."
Secretary "Sir?"
President "Sterilize the planet to be certain we have eliminated all mutates and opposition and begin again with a fresh untainted population."
Secretary "I will initiate the clone banks Sir."
For a moment we are somewhere else, most apparently some underground installation.
Lights start to flicker on throughout a large room and we see dozens if not hundreds of large glass cylinders with various machines and hoses attached to them.
Some kind of liquid is inside them and as the machines start to activate the liquid starts to bubble as if being cooked.
We return back to the space station.
Secretary "Cloning process initiated Sir, but I must inform you, estimated time of successful release of the first batch will be twenty or thirty years. Slow cultivation is necessary to ensure viability of the specimens."
President "No matter, that will give us time to design and implement a successful new strategy to deal with the situation on the surface."
We finally get to see the 'President', a human brain suspended in some kind of liquid, inside a glass dome, connected with wires and tubes to a large computer console, surrounded by the dozens of other computers and computer banks.
The only light in the room is focused on the President's brain.
President "After all, we have all the time in the world."
Cue ominous music.
Screen goes black
Heh, ultra cheesy and cliché as hell
