Et Tumor, Brute?

Et Tumor, Brute? is a main quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Synopsis
Caesar has been experiencing intense headaches and blackouts more frequently as of late and asks for diagnosis and treatment of his ailment.

Detailed walkthrough
Immediately prior to initiating the quest, Caesar asks the Courier to meet him in his tent privately. Caesar explains that he has been suffering from debilitating headaches, his left leg has been dragging, the Courier has noticed him blank out, and that Lucius has said that he stares into space. The player character can properly diagnose him through either a 50 Medicine or 60 Speech checks followed by 75 Medicine and 65 Speech checks. Caesar asks them to gather the proper tools and hurry back or asks who can help him if the checks were failed, initiating the quest. Whether the player character passes the skill checks or not, they can ask about the Auto-Doc in his tent. Caesar explains that it is missing its diagnostics scanning module and that one may be found in Vault 34. If Arcade is a current companion he can also be offered immediately into slavery as Caesar's personal physician, skipping the quest but making him permanently unavailable for recruiting.

Upon gathering either the surgical tools or the automatic surgical unit and returning to the Fort, Caesar is in a coma and is near death. Only an operation to remove the tumor from his brain will save him. There are several options to finish this quest:


 * 1) Use a set of surgical tools in conjunction with a doctor's bag. This option is only available if the player character previously passed Caesar's 50 Medicine or 60 Speech checks in his prior conversation. Surgical tools can be bought from Dr. Usanagi at the New Vegas medical clinic for 999 caps or stolen from a first aid box on a stretcher in the adjacent room (the surgical tools and the first aid box won't spawn unless the player character previously passed one of Caesar's skill checks). The operation will only be successful if the Courier has 75 or higher Medicine skill, otherwise, Caesar will die.
 * 2) Trust in one's luck and perform the operation. Passing one of the above skill checks and having 9 Luck is required for the option to be shown and the operation will always be successful.
 * 3) Install the automatic surgical unit into the Mark III Auto-Doc in Caesar's tent. The replacement diagnostic scanning module is found in the clinic room of Vault 34, located northwest of Camp Golf and east of NCR sharecropper farms (in Vault 34, walking in, take the first right to the stairway that will lead to the cafeteria. Drop down the hole, exit the room, and turn left. Follow the corridor and the signs for "clinic." The Auto-Doc is on the back wall. Interact with it and the option to take the item will appear). After installation, one can choose to activate the surgery mode to successfully remove Caesar's tumor or activate autopsy mode, which causes his head to explode, killing him.
 * 4) Sell Arcade Gannon into slavery as Caesar's personal doctor.
 * 5) Arrange for Caesar to die during the surgery.

If Caesar lives, he will thank the Courier for saving his life, and will then move on to give the Arizona Killer quest.

If Caesar dies, then with a "Liked" or higher reputation or passing either a Medicine 50 or Speech 50 check to Lucius, it is possible to remain friendly with the Legion, or else they will become immediately hostile.

Behind the scenes

 * The title of this quest is a play on Julius Caesar's famous last words, "Et tu, Brute?" from the Shakespearian play Julius Caesar which translates to "And you, Brutus?," showing Caesar's dismay in seeing Brutus taking part in his assassination and betrayal.
 * The quest is an elaborate allusion to Julius Caesar, who did indeed suffer from an ailment that caused severe headaches and was also a secret from the public. Caesar's headaches were more likely to have been caused by a motor function disorder, causing him to fall regularly ("falling sickness"). Other theories on this include epilepsy, migraines, and even malaria.
 * If after Arcade is given as a slave the player character speaks to him and says "The world needs Caesar more than it needs you" Arcade will respond "Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni" which can be translated as "the victorious cause pleased the gods, but the conquered [cause] pleased Cato." This is a quote from the Latin poem Pharsalia by Lucan, in which the historical figure of Caesar is portrayed as the main antagonist, and the main hero, the historical figure of Cato Uticensis, is eventually forced to commit suicide, being unable to defeat Caesar.

Bugs
Completing the quest via offering Arcade Gannon to Lucius causes a show-stopping bug whereby Caesar is not woken from his coma and is permanently stuck. Only his coma message box will show when interacting with him even though that quest is marked complete. The reason is a developer omission of 3 lines of scripting for that specific quest outcome.

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