Dealing with Contreras

Dealing with Contreras is an unmarked quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Siding with Lt. Boyd
This quest is started by either speaking to Lt. Boyd in the Camp McCarran terminal building or by proceeding directly to Sgt. Contreras's computer (marked "NCR Supply Database") in the Camp McCarran supply shack and hacking it (50 Science required). The supply shack is located in the back of the terminal building via the Camp McCarran concourse; enter the terminal and go up the escalators then down the hallway to the concourse. When in the concourse bear left down a ramp, and bear right to the door of the supply shack. Contreras's computer will be on the upper level of the supply shack.

Downloading the weapons manifest and returning it to Lt. Boyd will complete the quest. She will reward the player character with This Machine and grant NCR fame. By turning in Sgt. Contreras one will drastically decrease his weapon, ammunition, and apparel stores and he may be found in the far right un-openable holding cell. However, he can still be interacted with by aiming at him in V.A.T.S. first without attacking. Since he is one of the best weapon merchants in the game, and since the quest reward (the unique battle rifle, This Machine) is awarded in two of the three possible conclusions (siding with Keller will not grant This Machine), one should think carefully before deciding. Note that if Isaac at the Gun Runners dies, intentionally or accidentally, one will have no choice but to side with Lt. Boyd.

The player character can also complete this quest if they have sided with Contreras or even Keller. If Contreras's manifest has been downloaded it can be brought to Lt. Boyd at any time to complete the quest and receive This Machine. If one ran his errands and noticed that his "medical supplies" could be used to make chems (Medicine 25 with Blake), then they can be turned over to Lt. Boyd rather than brought back to Contreras to complete the quest as well. Sgt. Contreras will wind up in a prison cell as a result, and he will still act as a merchant though he will not restock like other merchants.

Siding with Sgt. Contreras
Note: One may find that there is no dialogue option to initiate this quest when speaking with Contreras, and that the only two dialogue options are to either buy his merchandise or say goodbye. Though the reason for this is unconfirmed, it is believed that completing previous quests with Lieutenant Carrie Boyd or Colonel Hsu may bar one from completing this quest through Sgt. Contreras (In some cases this can be easily solved by selecting the dialogue option to view his merchandise, exiting his inventory, then selecting the new dialogue option). The quest can still be completed by downloading the weapons manifest, as detailed in Siding with Lt. Boyd. In actuality, Contreras will not give the quest unless the player character meets a minimum level requirement of 12; otherwise he will simply state that they are too inexperienced to handle his jobs.

If one decides to side with Contreras, start this unmarked quest by finding him in the Camp McCarran supply shack. The supply shack is at the back of the terminal building via the Camp McCarran concourse. Enter the terminal, go up the escalators, down the hallway to the concourse. When in the concourse bear left to a down ramp, and bear right to the door of the supply shack.

Speak to Sgt. Contreras about his supply which will lead to a Speech/Barter check of 80. One also has the option to pay 50 caps. Contreras will then ask the player character to speak to Isaac outside of Gun Runners.

Isaac should be located near or at the reloading bench to the right of the Vendortron at the Gun Runners storefront (If not there, he may be in his house directly to the east of Gun Runners, behind the Hostetler home. If he is not there either, check the Bugs section for this quest). Speak to Isaac and one will either have to pass a Speech/Barter check of 80 or give him 100 pieces of junk metal (tin cans, hot plates, metal pots, pots, pans and scrap metal). If one chooses to scavenge the metal pieces, the Aerotech Office Park (suite 200) has over 100 tin cans (bent and regular). Boulder Beach Campground and Broc flower cave each have around 50 tin cans (bent and regular combined); the latter area's tin cans can be found in a corner of the makeshift lab where the Ratslayer is found. REPCONN test site has around 30 tin cans and 40 scrap metal. Once enough have been gathered, return to Isaac.

Contreras' next errand will be to obtain medical supplies from Blake in the Crimson Caravan Company. Blake can be found around the center of the camp, next to the shelves with items on them, during daylight hours. With 25 Science or Medical skill one can observe for Contreras that the supplies he is acquiring could be used to make chems, or one can point the same thing out to Blake; however, doing so to either man will have no effect on the quest whatsoever. Once the supplies have been acquired, return to Contreras. At this point one can tell him about the chems and threaten (no Karma loss) to tell the NCR, resulting in him giving the player character 100 caps to keep silent, after giving him the medical supplies he will say that he needs a "couple days" before he has another mission. Waiting for 26 hours is sufficient to trigger the next quest.

Contreras will then ask one to deliver the medical supplies to a man named Price in Miguel's Pawn Shop. He will also provide a pass phrase: "I'm looking for some betting advice" to speak to Price, and he will tell the player character what pass phrase Price should say to them in return. Upon entering the pawn shop though, Price is nowhere to be found; instead, speak the pass phrase to Keller. Keller will not know the correct response. From here, there are a few options:


 * 1) End the conversation immediately with "Um, well... Nevermind." Return to Contreras to inform him of Price's absence/Keller's ignorance of the pass phrase. Regardless of which he is told, Contreras will tell the player character to kill Keller and he will take back the medical supplies (which the player character would not otherwise be able to remove from their inventory as they are marked as a quest item). One cannot barter for extra caps for killing Keller. Upon returning to Keller, one can enter into dialogue, but the only option is to say "Goodbye." One must kill him to complete the quest.
 * 2) Inform Keller he said the wrong response. With a Perception AND an Intelligence score of 7 (which always shows as fails even if successful - see 'Bugs'), Keller informs the player character that Price is in custody and attempts to place them under arrest as well for being involved.
 * 3) *With a hidden Speech check of 70 the player character can bluff their way out via dialogue. When one exposes him to Contreras afterwards, he will ask the player character to kill Keller. One can barter for extra caps, get This Machine and the expanded inventory.
 * 4) Give Keller the package. One can do this immediately, or after attempting the INT/PER check above. Once Keller has the package, he exposes himself as an undercover NCR ranger attempting to shut down Contreras' operation and threatens to place the player character under arrest. If speech is too low, and one wants access to Contreras' inventory or This Machine, the only option now is to kill Keller. This can be done at virtually any point in the conversation, as there is always a  option from this point on.
 * 5) * Passing a Speech check of 60 will convince Keller that the player character is innocent and he will let them go.
 * 6) ** a) With an additional Speech check of 80 or a Barter of 70 (and 250 caps), one can convince Keller to work with Contreras to take down the drug ring. However, this option will not award the player character with This Machine or access to Contreras' extra inventory.
 * 7) ** b) Alternatively, the player can then return to Contreras who will be in jail, but can be spoken to. Do this, barter for extra caps or not, return to Keller, kill him, return to Contreras, and This Machine can then be obtained. However, since he is in jail his inventory is empty except for what is sold to him.
 * 8) Kill Keller before returning to Contreras. This saves a trip back to Contreras. Choosing this option will not remove the medical supplies from the player character's inventory and Contreras' dialogue will say that they worked things out with Keller instead of killing him. As Keller is already dead, one cannot barter for extra caps for killing Keller now.

If the player character returns to Contreras before killing Keller, they can get 150 extra caps upfront with a Barter check of 50. This option only presents itself if:
 * the player character informed Keller the passphrase was wrong (option 2 above);
 * the player character gave Keller the package and does not convince Keller to work with Contreras (option 3 b) above).

Killing Keller
If the player character choose not to make a deal with Keller, they will be forced to kill him to finish the quest in Contreras' favor. Killing him will result in NCR infamy. To avoid this:
 * 1) Attack Keller then leave the shop. Lure him somewhere where there will be no witnesses to his death. Alternatively, if a companion kills Keller it will not result in infamy.
 * 2) Sneak while behind him and reverse pick-pocket a grenade or mine into his inventory.
 * 3) Kill him quickly with a silenced weapon so that Miguel does not notice.

Return to Contreras after killing or making a deal with Keller.

Settling things in Contreras' favor, he' will hand over This Machine and the next time his inventory restocks he will have a wider selection of items.

Siding with Keller
If the player character sides with Keller, they will not be able to obtain This Machine from Contreras, but will still be able to side with Boyd afterward, turn Contreras in and obtain This Machine from her. To complete the quest in Keller's favor the player character must have already completed Contreras' first two missions, then when he sends them to speak to Price in Miguel's Pawn Shop Keller will be there instead. The most direct way to complete the quest in Keller's favor is to give him the medical supplies.

Once this is completed, he will threaten to arrest the player character. The player character must claim that they are innocent and blame Contreras. Keller will be pleased that his suspicions of Contreras have been confirmed. The player character then has to pass a Speech check of 60 or a Charisma check of 7 to convince him that they did not know what they were carrying. Keller will let one go free, but says Contreras will be executed. At this point the player character can leave, which will get Contreras arrested and one will lose access to his expanded inventory.

With a Speech check of 80, Keller can be convinced to have Contreras become his informant. Or, with Barter, he can be bribed with 250 caps to throw his lot in with Contreras - despite the bribe, the plan remains him becoming an informant. Lacking a Barter skill of 60, the bribe attempt will fail, but one can then offer Keller 500 instead. Keller will accept and ask one to bring the deal to Contreras. Return to Contreras and inform him that Price is being held by the NCR and a Ranger has taken his place. If the player character was forced to give Keller the medical supplies, Contreras will demand that they kill Keller (refer to the bug where, even when killing Keller, the dialogue option with Contreras is as though a deal has been cut with the ranger - the relevance of this is regarding Contreras' special stock not seeming to become available).

One could return and kill Keller, in which case consult the "Siding with Contreras" section above. If one is determined to side with Keller, then with a Speech of 80 or a Barter of 70 Contreras can be convinced to cut a deal with Keller. Contreras will ask one to speak to Keller once again; a Speech or Barter check of 80 is required to get Keller on board; otherwise, the only dialogue option left is to attack him. Convincing Keller will complete the quest, awarding one 80 XP but not This Machine; Contreras will still deal with the player character, but it appears that they do not gain access to his special stock.