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Background

To receive this quest, you'll need to have Veronica with you (you can recruit her at the 188 Trading Post), and you'll need to have three conversations with her about the current policies of the Brotherhood of Steel. These conversations will come up during the course of your explorations in the Mojave Wasteland. Veronica will notice something, she'll comment on it, and then you'll need to talk to her to trigger the conversation.

There are nine places where you can trigger the conversations:

• Camp McCarran (Terminal Building), after talking to Thomas Hildern about Vault 22. "Even the stupid NCR is investing in new research. We're getting left in the dust."
  
  
• Camp McCarran (Terminal Building), upon entering. "There's a lot more troops here than we thought. No wonder we couldn't hold HELIOS One."
  
  
• Freeside (Old Mormon Fort), after talking to Julie Farkas. "Can't help but be impressed with what they're doing here."
  
  
• Freeside (Silver Rush), after examining Gloria Van Graff's wares. "Holy hell, that's a lot of energy weapons. Guess we dropped the ball on that one."
  
  
• Nelson or Cottonwood Cove, upon arriving. "Ordinary guys with knives and bullets, and they're taking over Nevada."
  
  
• Nellis Air Force Base (Museum), after listening to Pete's presentation. "A bunch of shut-ins who scorn outsiders and hold technology over them. Gee, where have I heard that one before?"
  
  
• REPCONN Test Site, after talking to Jason Bright. "Leading his people to a new land with big dreams and a clean slate. Makes me think of my old mentor."
  
  
• South Vegas Ruins, upon reaching the ramp leading to Vault 3. "No power armor. No energy weapons. And they're giving the NCR more trouble than we ever did."
  
  
• Westside (Casa Madrid Apartments), after talking to Anderson. "He's got no resources but a decent cause. We've got plenty of resources and a totally lost cause."

Most of the time, Veronica will make her comment either immediately or a few seconds after the triggering event, but sometimes she won't say anything until you've fast-traveled somewhere, and sometimes she'll break and not say anything at all. From our experience, the more you use Veronica as a companion, the more likely she is to break, and so if you'd like to use Veronica as a companion and complete her quest, then we'd recommend waiting until after you've reached New Vegas, and then quickly take her to Freeside and Camp McCarran to trigger her comments.

During your third conversation with Veronica, she'll ask you to take her to the Brotherhood of Steel bunker at Hidden Valley. When you agree to go, you'll trigger the quest.


Walkthrough

The first thing you should do at the Brotherhood of Steel bunker is head over to the office of the current elder (on Level 2). When you get there, Veronica will automatically start up a conversation with him, and she'll try to convince him -- without luck -- to change the Brotherhood's ways. When you leave the office, Veronica will start up a conversation with you, and she'll decide that she needs to bring in "an indisputable sign we're on the wrong course." To find such a sign, she'll recommend that you visit Father Elijah's terminal, which she has access to. However, on your way out of the bunker, you'll get stopped by a trio of paladins. They'll warn you that they won't allow Veronica to "corrupt" the policies of the Brotherhood, but then they'll leave you alone.

You'll find Father Elijah's terminal in Gibson's Shack, located slightly to the west of the Gibson Scrap Yard (near Novac). When you download the information from the terminal, Veronica will start up another conversation with you, and you'll learn that there are three pieces of technology that might sway the Brotherhood:

• Farming Technology. For this option you'll need to travel to Vault 22 and complete the quest There Stands the Grass by not destroying the data from the vault.
  
  
• Pulse Gun. For this option you'll need to travel to Vault 34 and make your way to the Armory. There you'll find the Pulse Gun inside a "very hard" gun case. If you can't pick the lock, then you'll need to loot Col. Blackwell's Key from a filing cabinet in Pearl's Barracks at Nellis Air Force Base.
  
  Note: This is the safest option since it doesn't involve completing a quest in a particular way. You'll also be able to switch to this option if your first choice doesn't pan out.
  
  
• Rangefinder. For this option you'll need to track down the rangefinder and then activate the weapon it is attached to. The quest will give you two places to look for the rangefinder: Miguel's Pawn Shop in Westside and Vault 21 in the New Vegas Strip. Miguel won't know anything about the rangefinder, but Sarah (in Vault 21) will tell you that she sold one to a man wearing a Slave Collar, and that he was planning to hide out in Freeside for a while.
  
  In Freeside, you'll find the remains of the man (minus his head) in the ruined building south of Mick & Ralph's, but you won't find the rangefinder on him. To track down the rangefinder, you'll need to talk to the vagrant sitting outside the ruined building. With Strength 7 or 10 caps, he'll tell you that some kids took the rangefinder. You'll find the kids, Max and Stacey, either running around Freeside (or just outside Freeside), or sleeping in the building next to Mick & Ralph's. To get the rangefinder (aka Euclid's C-Finder) from Max, you'll need to pay him 1000 caps (or only 20 caps with Barter 45), or steal it from him, or choose the Child at Heart dialogue option, which will get you the gun for free.
  
  To activate the rangefinder's weapon, you'll need to head to HELIOS One and complete the quest That Lucky Old Sun by diverting power to ARCHIMEDES II.

Note: When you access the terminal, you'll have to choose one of the three tech items, and then that's the one you'll have to pursue for the quest (along with the Pulse Gun). However, if you change your mind, then you can return to the shack and download the information again, which will cause Veronica to talk to you again, which will allow you to choose again.

After gaining one of the three tech items, when you return to the elder at Hidden Valley, Veronica will initiate another conversation with him. Unsurprisingly, the elder won't be impressed by Veronica's arguments, and he won't change the ways of the Brotherhood. This will frustrate Veronica, and when you talk to her next, she'll ask you if she should stay with the Brotherhood or leave. The answer you give her will change the end of the quest (see below). If you tell Veronica to make the decision herself, then she'll decide to stay.

When you exit the Brotherhood bunker, you'll get confronted by four paladins (if the paladins don't show up, then you might need to return to Level 1 of the bunker and exit again). Depending on your decision with Veronica, this encounter can go in different ways:

• You convinced Veronica to stay. For this case, the only way to make the paladins leave peacefully is to pass a Speech 95 check. Otherwise, you'll have to kill the paladins, which will net you some Brotherhood T-51b Power Armor, T-45d Power Helmets, and some high-end laser weapons. But either way, this encounter will end the quest. You'll receive 1000 xp for your efforts, and Veronica will receive the Bonds of Steel perk (which should give her +4 DT, except the assignment of the perk is currently broken).
  
  
• You convinced Veronica to leave. For this case, no matter what you say to the paladins, they'll leave peacefully, but they'll warn you against "treachery" and "the thought of return." Afterwards, when you talk to Veronica, she'll ponder joining the Followers of the Apocalypse, and she'll ask you to take her to the Follower's Outpost to the north (located northeast of the REPCONN Headquarters).
  
  At the outpost, when you talk to Doctor Alvarez, she'll tell you that Dr. Schiller decides who can join the Followers, but that he won't be back until the next day. However, when you leave the outpost and then return 24 hours later, you'll find the Followers dead and four paladins standing over their bodies. The paladins will accuse you of "passing Brotherhood secrets to outsiders" and then they'll attack. You'll find Brotherhood T-51b Power Armor, T-45d Power Helmets, and some high-end laser weapons on the dead paladins, and some medical supplies and more on the dead Followers. Then when you talk to talk to Veronica again, you'll receive 1000 xp, and Veronica will receive the Causeless Rebel perk (which will increase her unarmed attack rate by 30%).