I Could Make You Care

 is a quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Initiating the Quest
This quest is triggered by Veronica seeing things around the Mojave that cause her to question the wisdom of the Brotherhood of Steel remaining hidden underground and not interacting with the world. There are nine triggered conversations throughout the Mojave Wasteland that Veronica will initiate in response to nine different situations she and the Courier may encounter together. Completing three of the conversations will activate this quest. Some of can only be triggered by lines of dialogue that only happen once, so if the player has already heard that line before recruiting Veronica, the trigger won't occur. Note that there are three triggers that can never go away - the main doors at Camp McCarran Terminal building, the entrance ramp of Vault 3, and traveling near Nelson or Cottonwood Cove. The Boomers museum trigger can be activated even if the player has already heard the tour, but not if Pete is dead.

Note: If she doesn't initiate the listed conversation, it may initiate if the player talks to her via companion wheel or waits 30 seconds or so. There is a delay in the conversation trigger, and it won't trigger if the player is in conversation with someone else.

Here are the nine triggers, and the things Veronica says:
 * Casa Madrid Apartments - The trigger is some of Tom Anderson's lines. Specifically, the line, "I'm with the Followers of the Apocalypse...," (responding to the question, "What do you do here?"), and all of his lines confessing to the murder of Corporal White (part of the quest The White Wash). All of these lines are only given once. Veronica contrasts his good cause and lack of resources with the Brotherhood of Steel's incredible resources but lack of a good cause.
 * Vault 3 - The trigger area is on the outside, about a third of the way down the ramp to the door. Veronica talks about how the Fiends are giving the NCR more trouble than the Brotherhood ever did.
 * Nelson or Cottonwood Cove - The trigger is the player travelling to somewhere near either location and staying for 30 seconds or so. There is only one trigger, so going to both locations won't count as two triggers. (Some sources, including the official guide, say Nipton may also work, but the GECK doesn't seem to have a trigger for it, and in testing it didn't work.) Veronica comments on savages taking over the Mojave.
 * Camp McCarran Terminal building - The trigger area is just inside the terminal building, at the center set of main triple doors or the eastern set of triple doors closest to Colonel Hsu's office. The third set of triple doors on the west side will not trigger the conversation, as there is no trigger zone there. It is not necessary to pass through the doors; just walk very near them on the inside of the terminal. Veronica talks about her surprise at how many NCR troops there are.
 * Nellis Air Force Base - The Boomers museum. The player just needs to listen to Pete's lecture in front of the mural. The trigger is the last line of his speech. Veronica remarks on the similarities between the Boomers and the Brotherhood of Steel.
 * Old Mormon Fort - The trigger is Julie Farkas's line, "Are you here to drop off medical supplies? ..." which only happens the first time the player meets her. Veronica is impressed with the work they're doing.
 * Camp McCarran Terminal building - The trigger is the line, "A pleasure to meet you! I'm Dr. Thomas Hildern..." This line only happens when the player first meets Hildern. Veronica talks about the NCR investing in new research, unlike the Brotherhood.
 * REPCONN Test Site - The trigger is Jason Bright's line, "We wish to escape the barbarity of the wasteland..." which is his response to the first question about the "Great Journey." This line is only given once. Veronica compares Jason Bright to her old mentor, Elijah.
 * Silver Rush - The triggers are Gloria Van Graff's greeting "Welcome to the Silver Rush..." and her line "Please let me know if anything catches your eye." which is the response to the player saying, "I'm just browsing." Some of these lines will not happen during certain stages of Birds of a Feather. Veronica comments on all the energy weapons.

Some events may force the quest to start at a later stage, even if three of the above triggers haven't happened.
 * Hidden Valley - Have Veronica open the bunker door after having armed Archimedes II during That Lucky Old Sun and having separately obtained Euclid's C-Finder.
 * Go to Gibson's Shack south of Helios One with Veronica and use the console to unlock the terminal there.

Quick walkthrough

 * Do one of 3 Things

Go to Hidden Valley
 * Choose one of the techs to find. (If you have done That Lucky Old Sun and did not activate the Archimedes II, you will not be able to find it).

Farming Technology
 * Do the There Stands the Grass quest. (see the walkthrough section).
 * If you chose to rescue Keely, tell her not to erase the data on the Pip-Boy.

Pulse Gun Technology
 * Go to Nellis Air Force Base, in a filing cabinet in Pearl's barracks, and retrieve Col. Blackwell's Key, and the Inventory Transfer Order
 * Go through vault 34
 * Enter the Overseer's office, and unlock the Armory
 * Obtain the Pulse Gun from the armory

Note: You only show the elder the pulse gun or rangefinder, you still keep it.


 * Return to Hidden Valley.
 * Exit Hidden Valley.
 * (OPTION 1) If you chose to suggest Veronica to stay, or if you let her choose for herself, then you be forced to kill or persuade the Brotherhood of Steel Paladins who start a fight.
 * Tip: if you don't have a speech of 95 you can not persuade the Paladin talking to you and you will have to fight them. If you know this in advance and want to skip fighting 4 Paladins at once you can enter V.A.T.S. as soon as you exit the bunker and kill the Paladin standing in the middle. Doing this will skip his speech options and the other Paladins won't be hostile.
 * IF YOU GOT THE PULSE GUN: you can practically 1 shot each solider which makes it incredibly easy to fight
 * Also if you have the Terrifying Presence perk, you can use this perk to scare the four paladins into fleeing, avoiding a fight with them. However lets say you leave then go back to hidden valley and you speak with the paladins, they will again try to fight you, but you can once again use the Terrifying Presence perk to scare them off. you can do this over and over, and never fight them.
 * Another way is to immediately open your Pip-Boy on exiting the Hidden Valley and fast travel to another location. The Paladins will remain waiting for you to return and will initiate conversation next time you approach. This allows you time to prepare whether that is by levelling speech, getting equipment or you may just want to never fight them.
 * (OPTION 2) If you directly tell Veronica you think she should go, and then tell the Paladins she is leaving, then you will be warned to never come back, but are allowed to leave without a fight.

Detailed Walkthrough
Upon returning to the bunker, Veronica will speak to the Elder in charge of the bunker, claiming that the Brotherhood must change before it dies out. The Elder rebuffs her, and Veronica vows to bring a piece of technology that will make him. The player will then have to head to Father Elijah's comm terminal with Veronica, in the vicinity of Gibson's Scrapyard.

If the player has activated HELIOS One without using the Archimedes II weapon system in That Lucky Old Sun, you can tell Veronica that HELIOS One is not a weapon, reducing your choices to the Pulse Gun or the Farm Tech. However, if you have not activated it, you can choose the Range Finder. For the Range Finder you'll need to go to Sarah at Vault 21 on The Strip. (Miguel's Pawn Shop is mentioned but possibly not necessary, he won't have it). Turns out Sarah from Vault 21 sold it to a man who has gone to Freeside who will be dead in the abandoned buildings found outside Mick and Ralph's. There is a corpse of a man who has died. Quest says to ask the locals, find a Vagrant outside the building who tells you kids took the Range Finder. The kids run around Freeside, catch up to the boy Max. You can pass barter check (45) for it or pay him 1000 caps. (He mentions going to bed at night, if you wait until 9pm and will head to bed, you can steal it from him since he has unequipped the gun). Next step is to enable the Range Finder at HELIOS One. You must go to Fantastic at HELIOS One. The pointer is telling you to to go the Reflector Control Panel at the top of the tower, so you need to do That Lucky Old Sun first, up until right after you restore power to the mainframe, select ARCHIMEDES II for the power configuration, this will power the Range Finder (defense system is still optional). After that you will be instructed to return to the elder at Hidden Valley.

If the player chooses Farming Tech, the player can follow the There Stands the Grass at the same time.

Should the player choose the Pulse Gun, Veronica and the player will go and look for it at Nellis Air Force Base, where the player must evade the Boomers' artillery barrage if they have not already done so. Once inside, the player will have to sort through a filing cabinet owned by the Boomer leader. Inside the filing cabinet is a note indicating that the Pulse Gun has been moved to Vault 34, which must then be searched. The gun is located in the highly irradiated vault armory, among a host of other loot. Alternatively, the player can purchase the Pulse Gun at Silver Rush, avoiding the need to search the other locations. Once the gun has been obtained, Veronica and the player will return to the Hidden Valley bunker to meet once more with the Elder. He will still refuse to change, citing the codex. Veronica will ask the player what to do, at which point the player can suggest remaining with the Brotherhood, leaving the Brotherhood, or express apathy at Veronica's situation. Additionally, you can simply skip going to Nellis Air force Base if you have 100 lockpick and just go directly to Vault 34 to get the Pulse Gun

Should the player recommend staying with the Brotherhood or have her choose on her own, Veronica will agree. Upon leaving the bunker, a group of Paladins will approach you. If you have 95+ Speech, you may convince them to give Veronica another chance. Also, if you have the perk Terrifying Presence, you can make them cower in fear by threatening them and the Codex, making the possible fight far easier. Since they will not move, you can even return later with a higher Speech skill and re-initiate conversation (note that it takes some time and perhaps an area transition for them to stop "fleeing"). If you can survive the onslaught you can get some nice Brotherhood loot. Using the Pulse Gun looted from Vault 34 against the paladins makes the encounter extremely easy. Either way, this will end the quest and she will obtain the perk, Bonds of Steel which increases the defense of her armor. Your Reputation with the Brotherhood doesn't change.

If the player suggests leaving, Veronica will express a desire to join the Followers of the Apocalypse. The player and Veronica will then leave the bunker, where they will be accosted and warned by a group of Brotherhood Paladins. Once Veronica and the player travel to the Followers outpost, they will be informed that they cannot be allowed into the organization until the leader of the outpost returns the next day. After waiting a day, the player and Veronica can return to the outpost to find all of the Followers dead and a group of Brotherhood Paladins waiting in ambush. After a battle with the Paladins, Veronica expresses regret for the deaths she has caused and vows to travel only with the Courier for the remainder of the game. She also gets Causeless Rebel perk, which boosts her unarmed attack rate. This doesn't change your standing with the Brotherhood but Veronica won't follow you into the Bunker any more.

Bugs
After choosing to live with the Followers of the Apocalypse, and traveling to their safehouse, the quest is unable to be completed. Dr. Schiller never arrives no matter how long you wait for him, and no matter where you wait for him.


 * After choosing to find the Pulse Gun and successfully locating it in Vault 34 and adding it to your inventory, your pipboy stills asks you to find the Pulse Gun in Vault 34 if it still exists. Since you already have found it there seems to be no way to complete this quest as it will never recognize that you have found it. Also adding it Veronica's inventory or talking to her does not fix this as she will not have any dialogue about the quest. Also returning to Hidden Bunker and confronting the Elder does not complete the quest as Veronica will not acknowledge that you have the gun and thus will not talk to the Elder about it (SOLUTION: Drop the Pulse Gun on the ground and wait for several seconds; pick it back up. The Quest should update and ask you to return to Elder McNamarra).

It seems that choosing not to destroy the technology from There Stands the Grass (if you completed it before starting I Could Make You Care) still prevents you from completing the quest with the farming tech. The quest directs you to the terminal in Vault 22, which no longer has the data. It can't be found despite having been downloaded to your Pip-Boy during the quest.

Activating the Archimedes II weapon system and gaining the Rangefinder before you initiate this quest will automatically flag the journal to tell you to return to the Elder after activating the terminal in Gibson's shack. But in the conversation with Veronica, it doesn't give you an option to leave the conversation and return, but to choose another technology instead. This allows you to find both the Rangefinder as well as another technology. After you find the second technology, the quest is seemingly broken. Neither Veronica or the Elder will have conversation options to continue further, and neither will initiate their dialogue scripts between the two, despite there being periods where you cannot talk to either one after coming close to the Elder.

If you leave Gibson's Shack after downloading the data, Veronica will not comment no matter how long she's been with you or how many places you've gone together. Her only response to anything is What's up?. Because she won't comment on the locations you bring her to, it's impossible to start the quest. Sometimes she will comment on one item if you dismiss her and then have her join again, but after that it's glitched again and she will never make comments again.


 * SOLUTION You have to speak to Veronica when you are still in the shack. However, if you have already completed the Helios One and Vault 22 missions, you may get an infinite loop of dialogue, that does not allow you to exit the conversation. It is meant to be done in order.


 * SOLUTION A possible fix to this glitch is to fast travel to Vault 22 and ride the maintenance elevator. This could also fix the bug where Veronica mysteriously disappears after the PC enters the Brotherhood bunker. (which didn't fire her, just took her to God-knows-where)


 * Console Workaround commands See the discussion under http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:I_Could_Make_You_Care#Possible_console_command_workaround_to_start_I_Could_Make_You_Care


 * WORKAROUND A possible workaround to Veronica being stuck only commenting with What's up? is to steal the Euclid's C-Finder from Max who is in Freeside.  As long as you do not activate the terminal in Gibson's shack or retrieve another piece of technology this workaround should work (Unconfirmed if retrieving any of the requested technologies will also cause this workaround).  This will start the quest and advance it to the point where you return to the Brotherhood with the technology.  After you return to the bunker you can advance the quest normally till it is finished.  The following conditions were met when it worked: 1) Did not visit hidden valley and talk to the BoS (with or without Veronica).  2) Had not retrieved any other piece(s) of I Could Make You Care technology.  3) Had not visited Gibson's shack.  4) Directed the power at HELIOS to the ARCHENEMIES II.  It appears that taking Veronica to the BoS before starting the I Could Make You Care quest will cause this workaround to not work.  However, using the other methods to opening BoS's bunker is uncertain that it will glitch the quest.  If the this quest is not glitched it will appear after taking her to three of the locations and then direct you to Hidden Valley.  If you have already taken her to hidden valley and talked to the BoS then you may have to revert to an earlier save.  NOTE: I have lost misplaced the save which pre getting the Euclid's C-Finder.  Any additional information on the conditions (such as other technologies which trigger, gaining access without Victoria, etc) that still allow this workaround to work would be quite beneficial to the community as I know I am know I am not the only who was quite frustrated trying to get this quest to work.  Additionally, it might be a good idea to create a table on the talk page listing the different conditions (listed above) and various solutions and if it worked or not.

NOTE: Just because Veronica says what's up, does not mean she is stuck in the glitch. So before you give up hope, cross your fingers and take her to another conversation-trigger location.

FURTHER NOTE: If you leave the shack before speaking to Veronica, then just go back into the shack and re-download the data, and speak to Veronica before leaving the shack. Fixed! I noticed that Veronica only started saying the "what's up" when i took her to the BoS bunker.

I found that taking the formal wear out of Veronica's inventory (if already given to Veronica) and then giving it back to her at a conversation-trigger location triggered conversation with her, after being stuck in the "what's up" glitch.

The encounter with the Paladins outside the bunker may not spawn, stopping the quest from progressing. This can be fixed by re-entering and exiting the bunker until they turn up. It may take four or five attempts before they appear.

While talking to the Elder, both Veronica and the Elder will freeze in place and will not respond to attempts at communication. Upon reloading, the Elder spouts three phrases, and Veronica is unresponsive.

After taking the Rangefinder option, if you use HELIOS One to power the grid instead, you should be able to discuss the other two options with Veronica (so says the Journal). However, when talking to her only her normal dialogue appears, rendering the mission unsolvable. Choosing to go to Vault 22 after destroying the data also renders the mission unsolvable because the terminal will be blank.


 * WORKAROUND - confirmed on the If you, after having this issue, take Veronica to Nellis and steal the note from the Filing Cabinet, you receive an update for the Pulse Gun portion of the quest.  Complete this portion of the quest as normal and the Elder/Veronica conversation will go off without a hitch.

(This seems to be fixed in the patch, but it's still possible that she gets stuck after thanking you.)
 * Even after choosing the "She was just testing you (requires speech 95)" dialog option and getting positive response from paladins, she is unable to enter the bunker.
 * After fighting the 4 Brotherhood Paladins (doesn't matter which dialogue options are chosen) located at the entrance of the bunker, she gets blocked and will not follow you anymore.

After the Brotherhood Paladins confront you outside the bunker Veronica may become immobile. Sending her to the Lucky 38 Presidential Suite or back to 188 Trading Post will result in her disappearing. She can still trade gear though as well as back up, making her a kind of 'container' that defends itself. Traveling to Gibson's Shack and reactivating the terminal inside will fix this bug. Also, after she appears in the shack you may have to speak with her before she will be able to move again.

After the Brotherhood Paladins ambush at the Follower's Outpost Veronica may become immobile. Just like above, traveling to the Gibson's Shack, reactivating the terminal, and speaking to Veronica to select a destination will make her mobile again.

If you use the Terrifying Presence speech option during the confrontation at Follower's Outpost, you need to be sure to kill all Brotherhood Paladins at the Outpost or the quest will not be completed. If a Paladin gets away, you can fast travel to another location and back and you should find them wandering around or inside the outpost.

After completing the quest she stops following you. Fast travel and dismissing and rehiring her had no effect. Reloading to a previous save after entering Vault 34 causes a "DLC not installed" error message and forces a restart.

Randomly stops following the player which can be fixed by dismissing her and recruiting her anew.

When the Paladins initially deliver their ultimatum, sometimes only one will become hostile and three will run away, still friendly. The quest completes normally after killing the one hostile, but upon returning to the bunker the three have come back, deliver their ultimatum again, and attack. After this fight, Veronica refuses to follow you, and will sometimes start an unprovoked dialogue with you but only give the standard "what's up?". This appears to be caused by her attempting to deliver the quest-ending dialogue but, already having delivered it, getting stuck and refusing to budge until it's delivered. The only way I found to fix this was to clear the speech flags from the console, causing everybody in the game to re-introduce themselves to me.


 * WORKAROUND! To fix this through the console, enter resetquest 00145f85 which erases the completed ICMYC mission from your quest log. After separating from and rehiring Veronica, she seems to work perfectly fine, following the player again.


 * Thanks! I'm going to try resetting all my broken quests! Now I know what the console does!

If done after helping Paladin Hardin in the Still in the Dark quest, but before Elder McNamara is ousted, Hardin and McNamara will not talk to the player, and the Brotherhood quests will be locked. However, this does not have any affect on Veronica's quest itself. This can also cause Veronica to stop following you.

Quest can be received by buying the Range Finder from Max in Freeside, however after finding Veronica and completing the quest by using the 95 speech option on the paladins that confront you outside of the bunker, the quest does not complete.

Game freezes each time you attempt to enter Gibson's shack. The load screen will freeze (roulette wheel stops spinning) and you will hear a fire crackling. No fixes yet; multiple attempts yield same results.

NOTE: you may need to deselect the quest i.e. make another quest your primary one. After fighting a few troublesome Brotherhood Knights outside the door of the Hidden Valley Bunker once Veronica has chosen to stay, Veronica freezes and will not follow you; although she will still talk to you and listen to commands (except to follow you). The only fix after this happens to to head here to Gibson's Shack and go to the terminal and download the notes, whereas Veronica will magically reappear inside of the shack. Then you can open dialogue manually with Veronica; however, this is where infinite dialogue loop bug may likely happen. If you get to the infinite dialogue, you cannot continue. In addition, if you leave the shack, then she will stay where she is and won't follow you, and there will not be any longer the option to even get into the dialogue. This is because when she said she decided to stay, she meant that she will not be coming with you. However it is not made clear and ties are not broken with her - she merely stands in place and won't follow you anymore.
 * WORKAROUND - (to be confirmed by other users) Approach the hut but don't go in. "Wait" untill the next day (in this case I waited 12 hours, 8:40pm till 8:40Am) then enter the Hut. Retried from save and confirmed I can enter the Hut only if I wait till next day, other wise load screen freezes.

Fixes

 * Solution to Veronica not following after I Could Make You Care: During the battle with the paladins, KO Veronica before you kill the last paladin. When she wakes up, you can manually talk to her twice for her standard dialog. *Note* won't work on hardcore for obvious reasons.


 * If Veronica won't follow you anymore (she simply stands in place and won't move, despite being able to interact with her) after you fight the Paladins outside the Hidden Valley Bunker (After suggesting she stay with the Brotherhood to gain her Bonds of Steel Perk), simply travel to Gibson's Shack, re-download the data from the computer, talk to her so she brings up the conversation about what technology to pursue, choose the technology you choose initially to complete the quest, exit the conversation, talk to her again, enter her workbench and craft ANY item (1 ammo conversion works just fine), after the item is crafted and added to your inventory she should now follow you again. Test by simply entering into sneak mode, if she crouches with you she is now following you again. Solution works for Xbox 360. (Confirm on PC)


 * If Veronica won't follow you anymore, you'll have to go back to before the part of the mission where she speaks to the elder after you retrieved the notes, and directly tell her you want her to leave (don't suggest for her to stay, and don't allow her to choose for herself).


 * If Veronica gets stuck and won't follow you anymore, and then you get the infinite loop once you get to the comm terminal at Gibson's Shack, you'll have to restart the mission (from a previous save) and work back to the part where she speaks to the elder after you retrieved the notes, and directly tell her you want her to leave (don't suggest for her to stay, and don't allow her to choose for herself). Then go to Gibson's Shack and access the comm terminal, and once you do, it will say (in the upper left side of your screen) "COMPLETED: Access Father Elijah's notes for the comm terminal", and upon exiting the terminal, Veronica will automatically start talking. After you choose one, it will give you the option to exit the dialogue, and Veronica says, "I like the way you think...". Good luck!


 * If Veronica missed too many triggers to initiate her companion quest, the console command set "145f85".ngreetingpending to 1  . will advance her companion quest dialog conversations. This may need to be done up to 3 times, allow a few seconds after the console command for her to initiate dialog.