Veronica

"Thanks for taking a chance on a naive young girl from California with stars in her eyes and a pneumatic gauntlet on her hand."

Veronica Renata Santangelo is a Brotherhood of Steel Scribe who can be found at the 188 Trading Post in 2281.

Background
Born in 2254, Veronica is a Brotherhood of Steel journeyman scribe who has been indefinitely assigned to the role of "procurement specialist," responsible for venturing out of the Brotherhood bunker to find and acquire resources that the Brotherhood cannot create on its own.

She was born and raised in the Brotherhood, her father a Paladin, her mother a Scribe. In her youth she fell in love with another girl, but her lover's parents disapproved of same-sex relationships. Because the Brotherhood was a community closed to outsiders, they felt it was everyone's duty to procreate. Veronica still thinks of her lost love from time to time.

After following the Brotherhood to the Mojave Wasteland from California, Veronica became disillusioned with their goals. Her mentor, Elder Elijah, became unstable, growing obsessed with technology for technology's sake. Veronica soon realized this was also true of the other Elders, it was just that they were more cautious about it. They hoarded technology instead of using it to help the people of the Wasteland, content to hide away in their bunkers. She realized this was a course of action that could only lead to stagnation and decay, and that in order to survive the Brotherhood would have to become a part of wasteland society, not separate from it. She began to speak up about her beliefs, questioning the direction the Brotherhood were taking. In order to keep her out of their hair and to stop her dissent from spreading, the Elders sent her on longer and longer trips out into the wasteland, allegedly to collect resources.

Irritated by what she sees as the Brotherhood’s unrealistic and uninformed views of themselves and the world, Veronica is a perpetual outsider caught between her loyalty to the Brotherhood and her doubts about their current course.

Other interactions
As a companion, Veronica prefers to use unarmed, and grants the Scribe Assistant perk, which allows the player to craft items they would ordinarily need a workbench for. To use the perk, the player just needs to talk to her using the companion wheel and ask if she can craft something.

Getting her a dress
Veronica has a long-held dream of wearing a dress. She won't actually wear one (she always wears the apparel with the highest DT, and dresses generally have zero). She will still thank the player if one is in put in her inventory, and says she will try it on later. Most Pre-War outfits count as dresses. It is not necessary to get the clothes from a female; apparel in Fallout: New Vegas is unisex and what looks like a tuxedo on a man will be a dress on a woman. Giving her a Formal Wear or White Glove Society attire will make her very happy, and in return she will teach the player the special Scribe Counter unarmed move. (Note that as of this writing there is a bug that makes the game fail to add the perk if any of the nine triggers for her quest I Could Make You Care have already been activated.)

White Glove Society attire is worn by White Glove Society members, and since it's what they're wearing, it can't be pickpocketed. Formal wear is worn by some of the higher-level members, including Mortimer, Marjorie, Phillipe, and Chauncey, and is given to the player by Marjorie if the player becomes a White Glove Society member (see Beyond the Beef for more about how to join the society).

Bugs

 * After giving Veronica her Formal wear or White Glove Society dress she may thank you and say she'll teach you punching, and the screen will fade out and in, but the perk won't be added. (Verified with GECK: the object that does the timing for the fade out/in when she teaches the player the move is shared with the nine triggers used to start I Could Make You Care. The script for giving the move doesn't fully reset the object, so if any of the nine triggers have activated, she will no longer be able to give the perk.)


 * Disappearing problem:
 * Sometimes after fast traveling, Veronica seems to disappear and does not show up back at 188 trading post, becoming almost impossible to find. When returning to the exact spot you fast traveled FROM, you may hear the sound of a Power Fist being swung, indicating Veronica could possibly have fallen or elevated out of the map. This may also occur when exiting the bunker.
 * If Veronica disappears, wait in 24 hour intervals, and she might show up.
 * Sometimes, after ordering her to wait, if the player fast-travels many times, she will disappear, make it difficult to find her without console commands.
 * Here is a simple solution to fix this problem: "Go to Vault 22, and take the elevator to any level", all of your companions will appear by you even if they have been ordered to wait.


 * Sometimes she will just stand and not follow the player.


 * At Hidden Valley she may glitch and stay at the intercom.
 * Solution on PC: Type these commands in console: then


 * When the player first encounters Veronica, she might be completely unarmed and only carry her clothing and 3 doctor bags.


 * When the player first recruits Veronica she might be holding some of the equipment you left in your room in the Lucky 38 Casino.


 * Veronica might not heal herself after battles.


 * At the Ultra-Luxe Veronica's Power Fist may be confiscated and returned to the Courier upon exit. Veronica retains her 10mm Pistol in the casino.


 * She may leave both Pushy and Paladin Toaster at Gomorrah, rendering those available no more.


 * After completing 'I Could Make You Care' she may stop following, but still interactive and able to talk. The compass will have an extra quest arrow pointing at Gibson's Shack even though the quest has been completed and the map won't have a marker on the location. She won't follow the player except for through certain loading doorways, upon which she will immediately initiate direct conversation. She won't move from this spot, or attack any enemies. Even upon removing her as a companion and returning to 188 and re-enlisting her, she will still be unmoving. Possibly could have to do with the ending fight of 'I Could Make You Care'. You can also make her appear in Gibson's shack if you use the terminal to download the research notes.
 * Solution: After you have been confronted by the paladins and defeated them Veronica will initiate dialogue with you twice, first commenting on the paladins attack the second time to thank you for helping her. What you must do to avoid this bug is make sure that you initiate the second dialogue with her before she does.
 * Solution: go to Gibson's Shack. Veronica will instantly appear when you enter. Use the computer and download the notes again. Walk outside and talk to her in normal dialog, tell her again what tech you will go for, and end the conversation. This seems to reset her and she will start to follow you as normal. (Verified on PC, PS3, XBox360)
 * Solution: PC players can download and install this mod on FONVNexus and consume the aid item it provides, then save the game, then disable the mod to fix this bug after it has occurred. (Highly suggested to do the above, only do this if going back to Gibson's shack isn't working.)


 * If you go to Gibson's Shack and download the notes after finishing the quest 'I Could Make You Care' when you talk to her you might not be able to escape the dialogue.


 * If you don't ask her to join during your first conversation with her, it is possible that the dialogue option for her to join never appears after that.
 * Solution (PC): Open console, klick on her and type "rdf".


 * When entering and exiting certain areas, Veronica may randomly die.


 * After speaking to Mr. House, Veronica was stuck in passive on the Casino floor. Going to Gibson's Shack did not respawn her.
 * Solution: Downloading the data on the computer again, and after fast tracking to freeside she came running down the street. Initiate the normal dialog again and she started following as normal.


 * Veronica can occasionally become stuck at The Silver Rush in front of the gun supply after she makes a comment pertaining to the quest I Could Make You Care.
 * Upon completing three of the first requirements for her quest, she may also stand in front of Elder McNamara without saying anything.


 * As with all companions Veronica may become stuck in a location for a period of time. Example: Lucky 38, stays in Presidential Suite. She also has a tendency after Fast Traveling to run off in a random direction, until she runs into an obstacle then turns around and runs back to you. She will end up finding you later in both situations, sometimes can take several in-game days for her to return.


 * It is entirely possible to continue to have Veronica as a companion even after blowing up the Brotherhood bunker at Hidden Valley during The House Always Wins V. First, Complete the Brotherhood Quests Still in the Dark (with Elder McNamara still in power) and Eyesight to the Blind.  Somewhere during these two quests, complete 'I Could Make You Care' (Veronica's Quest) and make Veronica leave the Brotherhood (note: Follow quest to completion).  Then, join the Brotherhood of Steel, fire Veronica (send her back to the 188 Trading Outpost), and Complete 'The House Always Wins V'.  Afterwards, head back to the 188 Trading Outpost and re-recruit Veronica without penalty (possibly linked to the Faction  Reputation of Soft-Hearted Devil for following the aforementioned path).


 * After giving Veronica her Formal wear or White Glove Society dress you may lose the option to tell her to go to the lucky 38.


 * Veronica may occasionally start saying: "Ugh, I'm gonna need some new limbs!" over and over again. Restarting the game solves the problem.


 * When paying Dawes the caps to enter the NCRCF, She will randomly attack Dawes when you get in, but the Powder Gangers will not be hostile.


 * Sometimes, taking Veronica into the REPCONN Test Site offices level during the Come Fly With Me quest will cause Jason Bright to appear as hostile upon entry, and cause her to attack him without provocation. Telling her to wait outside the office entrance prevents this.


 * A bug occurs where Veronica stops using her default power fist and equips a combat knife instead. Neither the Power fist nor the Combat knife shows up in her inventory, and giving her stronger melee weapons will not force her to switch. When waiting at the lucky 38 she will walk around with her default Power Fist, however as soon as you tell her to follow you, she will switch back to the combat knife.


 * When Veronica is your companion, it is is possible that she will not respond to any of the 'triggers' for the quest I Could Make You Care.


 * When attempting to enter the BoS bunker for the first time, she tells you she's gonna handle things as usual but she is nowhere to be seen and won't enter the bunker. Fast traveling is prohibited within the bunker. Upon trying to make her appear numerous ways, her blue marker appears behind the very hard bunker door running back and forth with no way to come back and talk into the intercom. [Update] This happens if you have her as a companion after you spoke to her about I Could Make You Care and enter the bunker without the quest being active. If she gets stuck then it's safe to assume she cannot be dismissed until the door is opened in which case, you can only have either Rex or ED-E with you until you have the skill to open it. So try not to do this..
 * Possible Solution: If you go to the REPCONN headquarters and receive the password "Live to fight another day" from the dead Brotherhood party, it is possible to use this to enter the bunker, though you must first fire Veronica.  In order to do this. head to either Gibson's Shack or the Vault 19 Service Elevator (Repair skill of 50 required).  Upon leaving Gibson's shack or exiting the Service Elevator, it should be possible to talk to Veronica (assuming she is not engaged in combat).  Remember, a companion not in your service can be killed even in casual mode, so Gibson's shack may be your safest option, as it is far closer than the Vault.  She will not follow you, so tell her that you want to part ways (the Lucky 38 was not an option to me, so I suggest not telling her to go there until someone can verify whether or not it will work).  You should now be able to use the Intercom at Hidden Valley Bunker.  Submit to the Brotherhood and do as they ask so that you are able to meet with McNamara.  Agree to deal with the NCR Ranger and do so (I used the speech check, which was about Powder Ganger Presence, you may need to do the same for this to work, but I suppose any way is fine).  Following this, report back to McNamara and agree to finding the patrols.  When you leave the Bunker, Veronica should be on the entrance level talking into the intercom.  You will now be able to recruit her and she will follow you.  (It'd be great if someone could fix this up a little for me.  Some "verification needed" signs, and possibly formatting, as mine might not be in keeping with the Wiki's.  Obviously this note should also be deleted.  Thanks!)

Appearances
appears in Fallout: New Vegas.