The White Wash

The White Wash is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Detailed walkthrough
Get I Put a Spell on You from Colonel James Hsu, then talk to Captain Ronald Curtis. Once this is done, you can talk to Lieutenant Boyd about missing people. After talking about Bryce Anders, you have the option of asking who else is missing. She will tell you that Cpl. White has gone missing and will direct you to Dazzle, a prostitute at Gomorrah. Make sure to check Corporal White's things and get Corporal White's journal entry. When you're done with that, go to the Strip and meet Dazzle. She's in the Gomorrah courtyard. She will tell you how White used to always talk about the water treatment plant and mention a man named Trent Bascom (the same info can be found on her body, if she's dead). Bascom is located on the east side of the NCR Sharecropper Farms.

After talking to Trent, you'll discover that White talked to Lieutenant Romanowski but got nowhere. You can also pickpocket Note from Corporal White from Trent to get the same information. Talk to Romanowski and you can pass an Intelligence check, but it really doesn't yield anything. The rest of the conversation reveals that White went to talk to Tom Anderson, a Follower of the Apocalypse in Westside. Alternately, Romanowski holds a note called Reprimand recommendation that contains this information.

Travel to Westside and head to Casa Madrid Apartments. Anderson's apartment is on the north side on the ground floor. Talk to him and pass an Intelligence check (6) to discover the truth behind White's disappearance. Alternatively, if you're on good terms with the Followers of the Apocalypse, you can convince him to tell you the truth.

If you fail the Intelligence check or cannot convince him otherwise, then Anderson will tell you to ask around Westside to find out what happened to Corporal White. You will find Hector, a young boy working on the farms, if you are able to pass a Speech check (80) you can get the boy to tell you Anderson confronted Corporal White and he thinks something bad happened. Alternatively, you can follow Hector during the day, where you will find him stealing water from the North cistern. Hector blames it on Anderson, and a new objective to interrogate Anderson appears. Find Anderson and confront him to finish the quest by doing one of the following:
 * Turn Anderson in (this will turn him hostile towards you), kill him, and take the note Anderson's confession (this might give you a negative reputation towards the Followers; if you get negative rep load up a previous save and try again. Or use one of your companions to make the killing blow on him, this will prevent you from gaining any negative rep with the followers(xbox-verified)). If Arcade Gannon is in your group he will comment on how it was unnecessary to kill him; an Intelligence of 7 can justify how it was for the better. Return to Boyd and tell her the truth. She will send troops to stop water from being stolen. You can then go to the Sharecropper Farms and talk to Trent, who will comment on a sudden increase in water and reward you with 10 maize, 10 banana yucca fruit and 10 coyote tobacco chew.
 * Keep Anderson's secret by telling NCR that White was killed by the Scorpions gang. This increases your reputation with the Followers of the Apocalypse. If Arcade Gannon is in your group he will also comment on the issue. Return to Boyd and you can either do as you promised Anderson, or tell Boyd the truth (if you told Boyd the truth, she will react the same as if you killed Anderson. When you go to Sharecroppers Farms and talk to Trent he will still comment on the rationing of water by the NCR and he and the other farmers are heading back west).
 * Convince Anderson to turn himself in, by lying to Boyd about a fall out with White over Dazzle (there is no option to tell the truth about the missing water) in exchange for keeping Westside's secret and receive good karma. Trent still complains about the water shortage and talks about leaving.


 * NOTE: Helping to keep Westside's water secret will open up dialogue allowing extorting the co-op's profits (10% of earnings (or 20% with a 50 Barter skill), paid by Etienne in the Co-op. There will be 250-400 caps every 24 hours, however finishing the quest and speaking to Boyd will end this arrangement. Trent still complains about the water shortage and talks about leaving.

No matter which option you choose, Boyd will reward you with the key to the MP confiscated goods trunk, located across Boyd's office in the jail. In the trunk you'll find some magazines, a super stimpak, and possibly antivenom, doctor bags and Mentats.

Behind the scenes
This quest contains a few references from the 1974 film Chinatown. Like the movie, the mystery involves water, which is also referenced in the quest's title. A character present in the quest named Romanowski is a portmanteau of the name Roman Polanski, the director of Chinatown.

Bugs

 * Boyd won't let you talk about the missing people if you complete the unmarked quest Silus Treatment. For PC users, the quest can be started with the console command.
 * It may still be possible to receive and complete this quest after completing Silus Treatment if you have not also completed I Put a Spell on You as speaking with Boyd about this quest will open up multiple dialogue options with her in spite of the initial, "Haven't you done enough," greeting.
 * For some reason, if you choose to turn Anderson in (or let him turn himself in) he can be seen walking around Camp McCarran some days later, and can be talked to, but is also found in the cells relentlessly pacing.
 * If you acquire Corporal White's journal entry before speaking to Boyd, the optional task "search Corporal White's personal locker" cannot be completed. This might lead to a savegame issue where the loading screen dialog tells you that the memory device is no longer present due to inaccessible DLC objects. The game will then restart upon loading dialog confirmation. This repeats with the next loading attempt, rendering the savegame useless.
 * Tom Anderson can disappear into the wall though he still shows up on your radar. Without talking to him, you cannot complete the quest. This MAY however be resolved by normal reloading procedures or even exiting and re-entering the building.
 * Upon triggering a hostile conversation option, such as telling him you'll not keep Westside's secret, or by telling him you'll "take him out", Anderson will say you've "left him not choice", and will turn him hostile, however if he is seated during this encounter, he will simply stand up, turn hostile, and then sit back down before turning non-hostile again. You'll still be able to talk to him as though he were a normal non-player character, and he will not attack the player. If you want him to turn hostile and have one of your companions killing him without losing any rep with the followers then use your own fists and punch him until he turns hostile turn hostile.
 * Upon leaving the Casa Madrid Apartments your save file might be corrupted.
 * At least in the german version Lt. Boyd won't have a dialog to tell her that White was killed by a gang. This happens if you uncovered the truth about White via both dialog options with Anderson as well as following Hector. Not tested on other platforms.

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