I Could Make You Care

I Could Make You Care is a companion quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Initiating the quest
This quest is triggered by Veronica seeing things around the Mojave that cause her to question the wisdom of the Brotherhood of Steel remaining hidden underground and not interacting with the world. There are nine triggered conversations throughout the Mojave Wasteland that Veronica will initiate in response to nine different situations she and the Courier may encounter together. Note that one will only need to complete three of the conversations to activate this quest. Some of them can only be triggered by lines of dialogue that only happen once, so if the player character has already heard that line before recruiting Veronica, the trigger will not occur. Note that there are three triggers that can never go away—the main doors at Camp McCarran terminal building, the entrance ramp of Vault 3, and traveling near Nelson or Cottonwood Cove. The Boomer museum trigger can be activated even if the player character has already heard the tour, but not if Pete and the Boomers are hostile.

Note: If she does not initiate the listed conversation, it may initiate if the player character talks to her via companion wheel or waits 30 seconds or so. There is a delay in the conversation trigger, and it will not trigger if the player character is in conversation with someone else. Along with other companion quests, a recent patch has made activating the quest easier—in this instance two activations are required. One may also try to sit in a chair one or two times and that could trigger the conversation. If she does not talk to the player character in the trigger zone, sitting and standing up in any other zone will result in her talking to them about what she was last triggered by.

Here are the nine triggers, and the things Veronica says:
 * Casa Madrid Apartments – The trigger is some of Tom Anderson's lines. Specifically, the line "I'm with the Followers of the Apocalypse...," (responding to the question "What do you do here?"), and all of his lines confessing to the murder of Corporal White (part of the quest The White Wash). All of these lines are only given once. Veronica contrasts his good cause and lack of resources with the Brotherhood of Steel's incredible resources but lack of a good cause. This can also be triggered outside of the quest.
 * Vault 3 – The trigger area is on the outside, about a third of the way down the ramp to the door. Veronica talks about how the Fiends are giving the NCR more trouble than the Brotherhood ever did.
 * Nelson/Cottonwood Cove/The Fort – The trigger is the player traveling to one of the locations and staying for 30 seconds or so. The trigger areas are large squares larger than each location, so it may trigger before the player character actually sees the place, or while passing through a corner while on the way to another location. The three locations share a single trigger, so going to all of them does not count more than once. Veronica comments on 'ordinary guys with knives and bullets, and they're taking over Nevada'.
 * Camp McCarran terminal building, trigger 1 – The trigger area is just inside the terminal building, at the center set of main triple doors or the eastern set of triple doors closest to Colonel Hsu's office. The third set of triple doors on the west side will not trigger the conversation, as there is no trigger zone there. It is not necessary to pass through the doors; just walk very near them on the inside of the terminal. Veronica talks about her surprise at how many NCR troops there are.
 * Camp McCarran terminal building, trigger 2 – The trigger is the line "A pleasure to meet you! I'm Dr. Thomas Hildern..." This line only happens when the player character first meets Hildern. Veronica talks about the NCR investing in new research, unlike the Brotherhood. Alternatively, walking around the first floor and walking near the location of Dr Hildern can also cause a trigger.
 * Nellis Air Force Base, the Nellis Boomer museum – The player character just needs to listen to Pete's lecture in front of the mural. The trigger is the last line of his speech. Veronica remarks on the similarities between the Boomers and the Brotherhood of Steel.
 * Old Mormon Fort – The trigger is Julie Farkas' line "Are you here to drop off medical supplies? ..." which only happens the first time the player character meets her. Veronica is impressed with the work they're doing. Some people have been able to trigger Veronica's dialogue in the Old Mormon Fort even after the player has already met Farkas. Try talking with doctors around the camp.
 * REPCONN test site – The trigger is Jason Bright's line "We wish to escape the barbarity of the wasteland..." which is his response to the first question about the "Great Journey." This line is only given once. Veronica compares Jason Bright to her old mentor, Elijah.
 * Silver Rush – The triggers are Gloria Van Graff's greeting "Welcome to the Silver Rush..." and her line "Please let me know if anything catches your eye." which is the response to the player character saying, "I'm just browsing." Some of these lines will not happen during certain stages of Birds of a Feather. Veronica comments on all the energy weapons.

Some events may force the quest to start at a later stage, even if three of the above triggers have not happened.
 * Hidden Valley – Have Veronica open the bunker door after having armed ARCHIMEDES during That Lucky Old Sun and having separately obtained Euclid's C-Finder. (Confirmed Xbox, PS3,& PC: The quest will start with "Bring the rangefinder to the elder" but you can do the quest normally.)
 * The quest can sometimes be activated without having Veronica in the party, by picking up the rangefinder after meeting Veronica, and knowing about the Hidden Valley. However, the quest will not continue further without Veronica.

Acquiring the technology
Note: If the player character has already completed That Lucky Old Sun without diverting power to ARCHIMEDES, this option cannot be completed. It also appears that if That Lucky Old Sun has been completed at all and/or one has obtained Euclid's C-Finder, choosing this option during this quest may lead to glitches. Also, if the player character obtains the Euclid's C-Finder but the quest has not yet been initiated, this can provide a quick shortcut to the end of the quest.
 * The player character and Veronica will find data on three interesting technologies, only one of which is necessary to continue the quest.
 * Option 1: Euclid's C-Finder & ARCHIMEDES:
 * Obtain Euclid's C-Finder from Max in Freeside. It can be stolen from him while he is sleeping, bought for 1,000 caps (or at 20 caps with 45 Barter), or pickpocketed.
 * Option 2: New farming technology:
 * If There Stands the Grass has been completed at all, choosing this option may lead to glitches. A workaround exists, see Fixes section (PC only).
 * If not already done, complete There Stands the Grass and do not allow Keely to delete the data. Make sure to leave with a copy of the data in one's Pip-boy.
 * If one has already collected the data prior to starting this portion of the quest and have not returned it to Dr. Hildern; then the quest will update and tell the player character to go to Elder McNamara.
 * Option 3: pulse gun:
 * (Optional) The player character can obtain the key to the box containing the pulse gun from a filing cabinet in Pearl's barracks at Nellis Air Force Base. The cabinet is the rightmost of a pair standing to the left of her desk. The key to it must be stolen, which results in a Karma loss. This removes the requirement of picking a Very Hard (100) lock.
 * The player character needs to go to Vault 34 and eventually open the overseer's office, and unlock the armory door. In the armory is the very hard locked box with the pulse gun.
 * On an unpatched game, the pulse gun may sometimes be purchased from the Silver Rush, or may be carried by higher-level Fiends. This was fixed in the first patch.
 * Should the player character already have gone through Vault 34, they may have picked up the pulse gun from the Armory there already. Even if they have done so, the quest will not update for this until it is in one's inventory.
 * Note that at any time while doing Options 1 or 2, the player character can go get the key from Nellis Air Force Base or the pulse gun from Vault 34 and switch to Option 3; it is not necessary to talk to Veronica and explicitly switch paths.
 * Note: Switching is always possible by going back to the comm station and re-downloading the information as this will prompt a dialogue with Veronica enabling you to choose a different path.

The Brotherhood is not pleased

 * Return to the Elder McNamara. Veronica will show him the technology. He will remain unconvinced.
 * Veronica will ask the player character's opinion about whether she should stay in the Brotherhood or leave. They can choose for her, or can tell her it is her choice, in which case she will stay.
 * Veronica will want to go outside to get some air. Outside will be a team of Brotherhood of Steel paladins who are angry at Veronica and the player character for spreading subversive ideas. One must deal with them in one of the following ways:
 * If Veronica decided to leave the Brotherhood:
 * The player character tells them so, and they let Veronica leave, but tell Veronica never to come back. (There is an optional 95 Speech check here [rewards no XP for passing it], but it has essentially the same outcome.)
 * Note that attacking the paladins at this point will fail the quest and make Veronica leave.
 * If Veronica decided to stay in the Brotherhood, the paladins are not so easily dissuaded. The only solutions are:
 * Pass a 95 Speech check to get them to leave peacefully (this rewards no XP). As above, killing the paladins after succeeding the check will fail the quest and make Veronica permanently leave the player character. This aggressive 'option' has been fixed in v140525 by forcing one to wait for them to disappear before moving.
 * Scare them off with Terrifying Presence, which is only a temporary solution. They will be there every time one returns to the Hidden Valley bunker until one of the permanent solutions is taken.
 * Fast travel before they have a chance to engage in conversation as soon as one exits the bunker. This method is also temporary, but will give the player character enough time to get a 95 Speech level or gather supplies for defending against them. After fast traveling away, one can ask Veronica about finding the other options.
 * Talk to them until they turn hostile and attack, then kill them all. One will not gain infamy with the Brotherhood or lose Veronica's trust by killing them, at least if the paladins shoot first.
 * While the load screen is up when exiting the bunker, if one has a weapon out and holds the trigger button, the paladins will not engage in conversation upon exit, but can be heard asking the player character to calm down. It is important to pull and hold the trigger during the load screen to avoid firing on them. One can quickly sidestep them at this point then fast travel from a distance. They will not be hostile, as they have not engaged in conversation to threaten the player character. If one stays within a few feet of them, however, they may begin dialogue, so it is important to sidestep them. The player character can also re-enter the bunker using this strategy, allowing them to dispatch them at their leisure (tested on 360, August 2012).
 * Use a Stealth Boy directly after the speech ends with the orders to execute the player character.
 * Approach the speaker paladin close enough to trigger speech, but far enough to require him to walk to the player character. Enter the bunker and he will follow alone, and if he attacks first, the rest of the Brotherhood will help the player character fight him. The rest of the team will remain outside, but will not turn hostile.

Conclusion

 * Once the paladins are dealt with, the next actions depend on whether Veronica decided to leave the Brotherhood or remain a member.
 * Option 1: Veronica remains a member:
 * Veronica comments about her decision, and the difficulties of staying with such a dogmatic group.
 * The quest concludes. The player character gets 1000XP and Veronica gets the Bonds of Steel perk.
 * Option 2: Veronica decides to leave:
 * Veronica expresses an interest in joining the Followers of the Apocalypse. She suggests going to the Follower's outpost.
 * At the outpost talk to Doctor Alvarez about Veronica joining. She says that Dr. Schiller makes the decisions, and he is gone for the day.
 * Go away from the outpost and wait at least 24 hours.
 * Upon returning to the outpost, the player character will find the rogue paladins, who have slaughtered all the Followers of the Apocalypse and patients. They will accuse the player character and Veronica of sharing forbidden knowledge with outsiders. The paladins all need to be killed, though with the Terrifying Presence perk one can frighten the them into submission, giving the player character an advantage. Killing them will not gain Brotherhood infamy and will not make Veronica leave.
 * The player character negatively refers to the Brotherhood's Codex if they use Terrifying Presence against the paladins, and Veronica will have something to say about it.
 * Veronica will blame herself, but the incident just reinforces that she made the right decision.
 * If the player character attacks the paladins first, after they are dead, Veronica will scold the player character for killing them and refuse to continue being a companion. This may also cause the quest to fail.
 * The quest concludes. The player character gets 1000XP and Veronica gets the Causeless Rebel perk.
 * From here on out, one can still return to the Hidden Valley bunker with Veronica; however, she will refuse to go inside and will instead wait outside.

Behind the scenes
The title is a reference to the Frank Sinatra song "I Could Make You Care".