Veronica

Veronica Renata Santangelo (born 2254) is a Brotherhood of Steel scribe found at the 188 trading post in 2281.

Background
Veronica is a Brotherhood of Steel journeyman scribe who has been indefinitely assigned to the role of "procurement specialist," responsible for venturing out of the Brotherhood bunker to find and acquire resources that the Brotherhood cannot create on its own, such as food. Irritated by what she sees as the Brotherhood’s unrealistic and uninformed views of themselves and the world, Veronica is a perpetual outsider caught between her loyalty to the Brotherhood and troubling doubts about the validity of their current course.

Veronica was born and raised in the Brotherhood. Her father was a paladin, her mother a scribe. In her youth she fell in love with a woman, but Father Elijah split them up. Because the Brotherhood is not open to outsiders, many of its members felt that it was their duty to procreate and frowned upon same-sex relationships. Later in dialogue, she laments that both of her parents were killed in the same battle defending a position whose name and significance she no longer remembers, saying, "Guess it seemed important at the time."

After following the Brotherhood to the Mojave Wasteland from California, Veronica became disillusioned with their goals. The Mojave Chapter's Elder and her personal mentor, Elijah, had changed the direction of the Brotherhood somewhat by dispatching Scribes to recover beneficial technology instead of just weaponry, but after he abandoned the Brotherhood following their defeat at HELIOS One, his successor, Nolan McNamara, upped stakes and holed up in the Hidden Valley bunker, dispatching scouts only to assess the threat posed by the NCR. She felt that McNamara was too much of an isolationist, and by hiding away and hoarding technology instead of using it to win favor with the people of the Wasteland and attract new recruits, he was just going to "wait in a hole for everyone else to die."

Veronica felt that if the Brotherhood was to survive, things were going to have to change. She began to speak up about her beliefs, questioning the direction the Brotherhood was taking. In order to keep her out of the Brotherhood's hair and to stop her dissent from spreading, the Head Scribe sent her on longer and longer excursions out into the Mojave, allegedly to collect resources. It is on such an excursion that her fateful meeting with the Courier occurs.

Quests

 * Beyond the Beef: The player character can offer Veronica to Mortimer as a substitute for Ted Gunderson for the banquet.
 * I Could Make You Care: Veronica will ask the Courier to take her to Hidden Valley, where she will talk to the Elder about the Brotherhood's collapse, and how it will need to grow and change to stay alive. Veronica then asks the player character to find some technology to convince the Elder.
 * If Veronica is convinced to leave, the Courier will have to go to the Follower's outpost and talk to Alvarez about getting her to join the Followers of the Apocalypse, but the doctor who decides who joins the Followers is out for the day. This will require a day's wait, after which a few rogue Paladins are found to have destroyed the outpost, killing everyone. She then blames herself for what happens. Afterward, she earns the Causeless Rebel perk, giving her a 30% increased attack rate.
 * If she decides to stay, the quest is completed and she will gain the Bonds of Steel perk, giving her +4 DT.
 * You Make Me Feel Like a Woman: Veronica has a long-held dream of wearing a dress. Giving her formal wear or White Glove Society attire will make her very happy, and in return she will teach the special unarmed move, Scribe Counter. The attire can be removed from her inventory without penalty after obtaining the Scribe Counter.

Effects of player's actions

 * If the Courier talks negatively about the Brotherhood when first conversing with Veronica, she will refuse to join up as a companion, and further attempts to talk to her will yield only one dialogue option: "Goodbye."
 * If the player character has destroyed the Brotherhood Bunker in Hidden Valley before recruiting Veronica, she will ask what they know about the Brotherhood when they meet at the 188 trading post. Telling her about destroying the Brotherhood will cause her to express shock and lead her to say, "Well in that case: This is for them," and attack.
 * Becoming Vilified with the Brotherhood of Steel causes Veronica to quit as a companion. However, it seems that even with a reputation as low as Merciful Thug, she will happily continue as a companion. It should be noted that she will remain a companion upon destruction of the Hidden Valley bunker, although she warns that it is the Courier's last chance, similar to what happens with Craig Boone after working too closely with the Legion, or Rose of Sharon Cassidy after gaining negative Karma with her as a companion. Destroying the Brotherhood of Steel by activating the bunker's self-destruction option will drop the reputation to Vilified, making Veronica leave the party even if she chose to leave the Brotherhood in her companion quest. Killing all the Brotherhood members without activating the self-destruction option is much less likely to make this happen, as it results in little to no loss of reputation. It is also possible for her to stay as a companion should the Courier complete all Brotherhood of Steel faction quests in their favor, make her leave the Brotherhood, and destroy them without killing any members.
 * Veronica will enable access to Hidden Valley on much friendlier terms without being stripped of gear, having an Explosive collar put on, and having to get rid of Ranger Dobson from one of the bunkers.
 * Completing her companion quest in favor of the Followers of the Apocalypse causes Veronica not to enter the Brotherhood bunker anymore. As a companion, she will always wait outside the entrance.
 * Equipping NCR faction armor while Veronica is a companion may lead her to issue her "last chance" warning.

Other interactions
Giving Veronica the following dress-type items: may complete the quest You Make Me Feel Like a Woman (See the quest for full details and bugs) and will make her say one of the following lines randomly:
 * formal wear
 * White Glove Society attire
 * Vera's outfit
 * Dapper gambler suit
 * "Aw, you shouldn't have. It's just my taste. Thank you."
 * "Hey, a dress! Thank you! I'm totally trying this on later."
 * " For me? Do you mean it? No, no it's too much. Well Okay. But it's too much. It's perfect. Thank you. Thank you."
 * "I wish I had something I could give you. I-Wait! What about punching? That's the gift that keeps on giving."

Dead Money
After completion of Dead Money, the Courier can retrieve Elijah's holomessage from his console in the abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker and give it to Veronica, but only after exhausting all of Veronica's dialogue options regarding Father Elijah. In the same conversation, the Courier can choose to keep the holotape's knowledge instead, gaining the Elijah's Ramblings perk. Giving Veronica the message will give her the Elijah's Last Words perk.

Appearances
Veronica Santangelo appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * If asked about her personal life, she might mention "I was young and needed the money." This quote is similar to when the Chosen One (as a Porn Star) says to Ethyl Wright: "Look, I was young and needed the money."

Bugs
Veronica Santangelo ru:Вероника (Fallout: New Vegas) Veronica Santangelo Verónica Santangelo Veronica Santangelo uk:Вероніка (Fallout: New Vegas)