Ronald Laren

Ronald Laren is one of Girdershade's two inhabitants in 2277.

Background
Ronald Laren was born in 2244. He is obsessed with Sierra Petrovita and would love nothing more than to have sex with her (although he proclaims to the player that she is "nutty as a fruitcake"), and states that the only reason he stays in the obscure little settlement is for her.

Quests

 * The Nuka Cola Challenge: Should you accept Sierra's mission to obtain Nuka-Cola Quantum for her, Ronald will attempt to convince you to give all the Quantums to him.
 * Grady's Package: Ronald is the recipient of Grady's package, the Naughty Nightwear found in Marigold Station. Depending on your Speech/Barter skills, you can get him to pay up to 300 caps for it.

Effects of player actions

 * Should your (female) character have the Black Widow perk, you can convince him to fetch the Nuka-Cola Quantums for you with the promise of a threesome with yourself and Sierra. Excited, Ronald will run off to the distant Nuka-Cola Plant and die. If you then ask Sierra if he's been bothering her, she'll say she hasn't seen him in a while, but she's sure he'll come back.
 * If you give the Nuka-Cola Quantums to Ronald for the Nuka-Cola challenge, he will attempt to woo Sierra with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but she fails to notice his obvious innuendo-laced words and instead interprets his behavior as an imminent marriage proposal.
 * If you kill Sierra and talk to Ronald, and tell him she's dead, a variety of options will open up. Among these are admitting to killing her and lying that the Nuka-Cola Company had her assassinated.

Other interactions

 * If the PC is male, he will act dismissive towards the player. When the PC is female though, he will be flirtatious and compliment the player.
 * When asked about the surrounding area, he tells the Lone Wanderer to stay away from the nearby Dunwich Building to the south of Girdershade, claiming the place is "bad mojo".

Notable quotes

 * "Sorry, darling. I'm on a mission of mercy... for me!"

Appearances
Ronald Laren only appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * If you kill Sierra and then speak with Ronald, you have the option of convincing him (with a speech check) that it was at the hands of the Nuka-Cola Corporation. On success, he attributes this to the Nuka-Cola machine he got her, which possessed a warning label declaring that anyone caught tampering with the unit would answer to the Nuka-Cola Corporation. This is a nod to the movie Dr. Strangelove.
 * The name "Ronald Laren" is almost certainly a reference to the Star Trek: The Next Generation recurring character Ro Laren, played by Michelle Forbes.

Bugs

 * Sometimes when you tell Ronald that you killed Sierra, he will threaten the player, but not actually turn hostile.
 * If you have stolen The Kneecapper from Ronald and then kill Sierra, he will say "Meet the Kneecapper" but only use his fists.
 * After completing "Grady's Package" it may be impossible to recover the Naughty Nightwear by any means other than the console; this includes killing him.