Heist of the Centuries

Heist of the Centuries is the final quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.

Detailed walkthrough
To begin the quest, the speaker next to the elevator in Vera Keyes' suite must hear the password in Vera's voice. The Courier can take the holotape of Vera's audition, go down to the front computer in the main lobby, collect all three music varieties, and return to the elevator in Vera Keyes' suite. Play the music into the speaker, and the elevator can now be taken to the lower level. Alternatively, if one has not killed Christine, she will say the password using her new vocal cords after recovering the music from the lobby computer.

The Courier must navigate a maze of ducts and catwalks filled with security holograms, toxic clouds and many shielded speakers. In some situations, the Courier may have to trigger hologram monitors to clear a path. Once passing through the two initial vault doors, on the right is a terminal next to another vault door. Enter the duct maze by using vault maintenance access terminal to open the maintenance access. There's a speaker nearby. Follow the passageway around to the first room. Entering the first chamber, the speaker is immediately in front of the Courier. Halfway down the chamber the Courier enters the range of another speaker. Jump down the broken walkway and then to the right to enter the shelter. There is a safe spot in front of the table in the enclosure with the worker's note complaining about safety and Frederick Sinclair's ignorance of the vault issues. There are two ammunition boxes next to the note on the shelf. Continue through the passageway to the left.

Follow the passageway around and into another shelter area. In the next room are four speakers, two of them unshielded. Exit the sheltered area to the right, go up the stairs, jump over the broken walkway and the safe spot is in the corner. Directly behind the Courier above the door they came through is an unshielded speaker. Slightly to the right and up high above a doorway is the second unshielded speaker. Destroy both of the unshielded speakers.

A third, shielded speaker is high on the wall just a bit further along the catwalk. If the Courier's gun is holstered, they'll have barely enough time to run down the left side of the upper walkway and reaching the terminal to override the alarms. Continue through the corridor.

Note: On the right broken section of the top walkway, one can actually jump onto the beam and then onto the section with the exit. If one's timing is good then this is an easier way to get through than to follow the left path. If one lands on the beam and run to the right towards the wall, they can step out of reach of the speakers, resetting the collar timer.

Once the alarms are off, standing next to the console walk to the edge to see the roof of the shelter the Courier just ran from, if they can, fall onto that and there will be a duffle bag and inside will be a random small gun and some other Items.

The next room adds security holograms to the gauntlet. The hologram control computer is in a workers' hut to the left of the entrance to this area across a walkway with a gap in it. There are 3 hologram emitters in this room, although they require a Repair skill of 100 to disable, the Courier can shoot them. The first is on top of the enclosed structure to the left (when entering the room). The Courier can push a barrel onto the catwalk to the left, jumping on it and jumping in the air while on the barrel will allow them to shoot the emitter on the roof of the first structure (After moving said barrel, it will disappear and become visible again after touching it and will repeat in this way), alternatively this can be achieved by exiting the room towards the gap in the walkway the Courier came from, hopping onto the rail and attempting a jump shot into the emitter, this will make the holograms hostile so run. The second is on top of the metal beam almost directly on top of the door with the force field. The Courier will need to run along a beam and jump up onto the roof of the structure in the southeast corner of the map to reach these. The third is on the ceiling (not the roof like the 1st, but inside) of the control structure in the northeast corner of the map. The Courier can also use 2 or 3 carefully tossed hand grenades to blow up the emitters without having to get close to the holograms or the speakers (one can get up to 9 frag grenades from the grenade bouquets that Dean Domino set up around himself from where the Courier first encounters him, so long as they can pass an Explosives check (30) to disarm the grenades).

Alternatively, one can run from the southeast structure to the northeast structure and shoot it, running back quickly, but you will have to be very fast, as this method puts you in danger of the radios for under a second less than the time needed for your collar to detonate (or one could run past the last security and turn off the alarms first, then run into the adjacent room where the emitter is). After dispatching the three hologram emitters, the Courier can turn off the security system at the last terminal. There is a terminal in a shelter on the lower catwalk on the other side of the room. This allows them to turn off all alarms.

After the room is quiet, drop down to the lower catwalk in the poison gas and grab the Vault turret terminal password tape. Activate the vault security turret terminal in the southwest corner of the room, as this shuts down the last set of force fields and speakers.

After entering the hall past the force fields, there is the vault security terminal which can be used to shut down the remaining security. (Note: Initially there are only two options: "Vault Security Protocols Information" and "Vault Security Protocols Warning," but after reading the first entry another option to disable security comes up.)

Immediately before entering the vault is a toolbox and next to it, a holotape containing a venomous message to Vera Keyes. A skeleton lies on a pipe beneath it - Sinclair's - and the duffle bag next to it contains a copy of Nikola Tesla and You.

Inside the vault itself is an assortment of weapons, armor, chems, money, chips... and the fabled Treasure of the Sierra Madre: 37 gold bars worth 10,539 caps each, for a total of 389,943 caps and the single greatest collection of wealth in the Mojave Wasteland - each of which weighs 35 pounds, for a total of 1,295 pounds. There are also over 2000 .357 Magnum rounds inside a gun cabinet (not a fixed number, it's dependent on Luck and whether the Courier has Scrounger), as well as some Sierra Madre armor, reinforced.

However, the vault door seals within seconds of entrance. Lift the lockdown using the left security terminal, then use the monitor in the back to look up the word 'Vera.' This reveals that Sinclair in fact designed the Sierra Madre Vault not to protect valuables, but a small number of people as per a Vault-Tec vault through the Great War: namely himself and Vera Keyes. Learning that Dean Domino planned to rob the Sierra Madre with Vera's help changed these plans. Sinclair left a warning for Vera, and a trap for Domino: a file marked "Sinclair's Personal Accounts," the reading of which activates a system which permanently seals the vault.

Premature endings
If the Courier chooses to access Sinclair's personal accounts, the game will end in with a slideshow cutscene, stating how the Courier was trapped in the casino vault, eventually dying inside. The game will then load the autosave created before accessing the terminal inside the vault.

After the Courier reads the Vera entries (and without reading the personal accounts closes the terminal), Elijah will make contact. Skills of 75+ in Science, Repair, Sneak, Explosives, Barter, Speech or Lockpick can be used to persuade Elijah to enter the vault to confront the Courier personally. If one's reputation with the NCR is low enough, the Courier can ally with Elijah during this conversation. He regrets putting the collar on a potential ally and comes down to the vault. But the end slideshow starts early, detailing how the Courier and Elijah conquer the Mojave with an army of holograms and generate a second Cloud over Hoover Dam, ensuring nobody gets the power. Unfortunately, this results in another nonstandard game over.

The Courier cannot ally with Elijah unless they previously spoke to Veronica about him and exhausted all relevant conversation options.

Normal endings
After leaving the vault control terminal, Father Elijah will contact the Courier on a green screen behind the terminal and they're given the opportunity to further question Elijah's methods and motives. When the topic of Elijah coming down to the vault arises, the following dialogue options and skill checks (75+) are available:
 * "Unless you come down here, I'll destroy the vault, everything in it." - followed by choice of Explosives, Science or Repair skill checks.
 * "I'm not interested in the vault, I only want to leave." - followed by choice of Speech or Barter skill checks.
 * "Then I'll find a way to unlock the secrets of this vault, take them for myself." - followed by choice of Lockpick or Sneak skill checks.
 * "If you want me to wait, I'll cooperate. The Sierra Madre doesn't matter to me." He appreciates the cooperation and prompts the Courier to leave the vault and wait where he can see you. Stand at the forcefield barrier nearest the elevator and he accuses you of attempting to steal the vault contents, or remain out of sight and he belittles your cowardice first. Elijah activates the security turrets, and once the Courier initiates combat, a fight to the death ensues.

With any of the first three options (he's persuaded or coerced into approaching the vault), Elijah will arrive via the elevator, deactivate the forcefields and walk directly to the vault door. The player character has the option of confronting Elijah and killing him or sneaking away from the vault and making the escape to the elevator.

It is also possible—though challenging—for the Courier to sneak through an entrance to the hallway Elijah uses to enter the room outside the vault, and, from there, to travel quickly and directly to the exit elevator without retracing the Courier's previous path to the vault. (This is one way to escape while encumbered e.g., by the gold bars inside the vault.)

There is one such entryway to the left (the Courier’s left) of the door through which Elijah enters. Sneak through the hallway directly across from the vault door, and then go up the stairs. Then sneak along the gantry and into the entryway. The Courier must, before Elijah enters, make it past the middle of the room immediately outside the vault, and sneak into the "entry" hallway. If Elijah notices the Courier, however, the security fields will activate.

As long as the Courier has made it inside the "entry" hallway when the fields activate, travel to the exit elevator will not be blocked by the security fields when Elijah activates them; if the Courier is still outside the hallway when Elijah activates the security fields, the fields will block access to the "entry" hallway and prevent any direct exit by that route.

Hacking the security terminal (Science 100) in the vault will cause the turrets outside to turn on Elijah. However, if they kill him, the player character will not receive the Cash Out achievement/trophy (credit is only awarded for personal or companion kills, and the turrets are neutral). Destroying the turret generator (Melee or Unarmed 50) next to the terminal will disable the security turrets and cause Elijah to become hostile when he gets to the vault door.

Elijah is immune to damage as he approaches the vault, up until combat is initiated and he reactivates the forcefield barriers blocking access to the elevator. Once Elijah has entered the room, he becomes instantly aware if the Courier steps across the mid-line of the catwalk section that lies between the arcing coils and the elevator exit; the Courier can only pass this midline without Elijah activating the security fields if the midline is passed before Elijah enters. Even if the Courier has 100 Sneak and is using a Stealth Boy, they will be detected any time before Elijah begins to path toward the terminal next to the vault door. Once he begins to move toward the terminal, it takes about 9 seconds before he will notice if the courier is not in the vault and re-enable the forcefields and security doors. Elijah can pass through the forcefield even if it is active, before or during the fight.

If the Courier is on good terms with Christine Royce when you initiate combat with Elijah, she will aid them by deactivating the turrets that are hostile to the Courier.

If the Courier is on good terms with Dean Domino when you initiate combat with Elijah, he will aid them by deactivating the speakers giving the Courier more ground to walk on without having to worry about their collar exploding.

In order to seal Elijah in the vault, resulting in the Safety Deposit Box achievement, simply leave the vault, retrace the route the Courier followed to get in (or sneak into the hallway Elijah uses to enter the room outside the vault before Elijah activates the security fields; see above) and then remain outside the blue forcefield barriers. When Elijah triggers the trap that seals him in the vault, he will realize the Courier tricked him and activate their collar. It will take about a minute to explode. Both entrances on the side opposite the elevator will remain open until Elijah activates security; the forcefield on the entrance that Elijah enters through near the elevator will activate automatically if approached, but the forcefield for the other entrance near the elevator will not. If one remains within the confines of the barriers, whether Hidden or not, Elijah eventually activates security, turning the turrets on and sealing the Courier in while they fight.

Once Elijah is killed, or he realizes he's been tricked, the entire vault level begins to fall apart and the explosive collar is activated; it will detonate within a minute unless the Courier boards the elevator to the surface. Reach the elevator in time and the Courier appears at the fountain in the Villa. The Courier can then revisit any location in the Sierra Madre except the vault itself. Travel between the Villa and the casino, which was previously barred, will now be available. The explosive collar will have been automatically removed upon arrival in the Villa, which makes navigating the outlying areas easier and allows exploration of previously unavailable locations.

Once the Courier exits the front gates of the villa, a slide show plays detailing the fates of his three fellow captives, ending with the Courier deposited at the abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker, unable to return to the Sierra Madre (except with PC console commands, finding a steel "Door to Villa"). Thus make sure everything needed was collected before leaving. The radio plays a last broadcast from Vera Keyes, bidding the Courier farewell and reflecting on the real meaning Sinclair intended for the Sierra Madre casino.

The terminal in Elijah's quarters of the bunker will now be accessible and the gun case at the foot of the bed will contain Father Elijah's robes. The wall safe in the bunker will also have a deposit of 100 chips and optionally a complimentary voucher which can be used on the vending machine in the corner. The deposit of chips and voucher and the chemistry set granting a Cloud residue will refresh after 3 days and 1 day respectively.

The Courier's original equipment will be returned as they walk up the stairs to leave the abandoned BoS bunker.

Behind the scenes
If the player character chooses to read Sinclair's personal accounts, they will find a letter to Dean Domino. At the end of the letter, it says "...and I will raise my glass and say Fortunato." This is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," in which the protagonist Montresor lures his victim, Fortunato, to an underground crypt in his family catacombs, where he chains him to a wall and seals him up alive in an alcove. It is signed "in pace requiescat," Latin for "rest in peace," the phrase with which Poe's story ends.