Chris Haversam

Chris Haversam is an engineer living in the REPCONN test site in 2281.

Background
Chris Haversam grew up in Vault 34 and was assigned as the vault reactor engineer due to his technical aptitude (and preference for machines that don't shoot people, which made him a preferred pick over fellow engineers Houser and Mitchell.) He believed the radiation he would absorb from his many visits to the vault reactor would turn him into a ghoul, although most of the management dismissed his claims as neurotic.

Eventually, his hair began falling out due to natural reasons, but Chris insisted he was becoming a ghoul due to radiation from the Vault reactor and subsequently left the Vault. The vault descended into chaos shortly after his departure, when the reactor became unstable and began leaking dangerous radiation, turning most of the residents into actual ghouls.

Believing himself to be a ghoul, Haversam joined the Bright Brotherhood in 2279. He could not be convinced that he was a human, so Jason Bright decided to accept him into his congregation believing him to been sent by the creator to ensure the success of the "Great Journey." Bright also believes that Haversam is blessed with ignorance: both that he is not a ghoul and that he cannot join them on their journey. There is no malice in this decision, however: they would take him if they could. With his technical expertise, Chris was made the engineer in charge of the entire project to accomplish their goal.

Quests

 * Come Fly With Me: Chris sends the Courier to find Isotope-239 igniting agent and thrust control modules so the ghouls' rockets can take off.

Effects of player's actions

 * The player character can convince Chris that he is indeed human with a Speech check (50) or with the Black Widow perk, and the rest of the Bright Brotherhood needs to leave him behind. The Courier is given the choice to help him sabotage the rockets so the ghouls die in flight. Alternatively, they can convince Chris not to sabotage the rockets, and he will send them off with no hard feelings before heading for Novac.

Other interactions

 * Chris thinks he's a ghoul, and therefore calls the Courier "smoothskin" and speaks rudely to them. He also naturally speaks in the distinct gravelly voice that is typical of ghouls.
 * After the quest is over, he can be found milling about Novac. If the player character talked Chris out of his hard feelings for the ghouls before the launch, but then sabotaged the controls anyway, Chris will remark that he was lucky not to have been on the rockets. If the player character admits to sabotaging the controls, Chris will yell, "You bastard! Those ghouls declared me a saint!" and then turn hostile. Though he carries a 10mm pistol, he won't fight back and will instead run away.
 * He can often be seen entering Manny Vargas' room in Novac, and one will occasionally find him in the room at night, which might mean that is his new place of residence.

Appearances
Chris Haversam appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * His entire story parallels that of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travel.
 * Both were spared from a grisly fate by the very same religious group they aided.
 * Both were immortalized in religious chants by their respective religious groups.
 * Both were revered religious figures at the end of their stories by helping the followers of their respective religions reach a paradise in the heavens through selfless dedication and sacrifice.
 * His name appears to be a play on Mr. Faversham, a character from the Honeymooners of similar build and appearance. Faversham also has a tendency to be overly enthusiastic in his belief that what he feels is right has to be correct.

Bugs

 * If you convince Chris that he is human before acquiring the parts, he sometimes will have headed to Novac before you return and the quest becomes impossible to complete because the quest conversations never come up, so the parts never get delivered, and he instead thanks you for telling him about Novac.
 * After completing the quest without convincing him of his humanity, he may simply say "Not now, it's almost time for the Great Journey." over and over again without acknowledging the fact that they've already left without him. This can happen even if you convince him of his humanity through speech checks. If this happens, he will remain in the control room indefinitely rather than moving to Novac. In order to avoid this bug, make sure to first convince Haversam that he is human (make sure that's the first dialogue you make with him), and then it's safe to start his quests (gather thrusters and then the green substance). An alternate solution is as follows: After handing over the 2nd item and telling Haversam to start, Jason Bright will start his speech. The player MUST wait (and listen) until Jason will finish his speech. After that Haversam will run to the exit. The bug can happen even if you convince Chris he is human before starting his quests. If Jason's speech still gets cut off and Chris stays stuck in the basement, before telling Chris to initiate the rocket launch, pick the dialogue option to delay the launch instead, leave the area, wait, then speak to Chris again, this seems to fix the bug, Jason will give his full speech, then Chris will run for the exit afterward.
 * If Chris is killed after telling him to begin the launch, but before the launch itself, his body will appear in Novac.
 * If Chris is talked to during the end of the mission "Come fly with me" Chris may walk out of the control room and fall through the floor making the mission impossible to complete.
 * While wandering around Novac you can kill him without the citizens turning hostile, even if you do it right in front of others.
 * At the bringing of parts quest stage, Haversam can run off up the ladder and never reappear. This happens if the player ignored respawning ghouls near the compound and entered the basement via the hatch.