There Stands the Grass

There Stands the Grass is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Detailed walkthrough
To start the quest, speak to Dr. Hildern at Camp McCarran. Dr. Hildern can be found in his office located inside the Camp McCarran terminal building on the east side of the terminal in the south wing. After speaking to him, he will tell the Courier that Vault 22 has data on its computers that will help prevent a future food shortage. He will give the player character the location to Vault 22 and ask them to enter and download the experimental data onto their Pip-Boy. Before leaving the base, make sure to speak to Angela Williams in order to get the optional objective to find Keely, a researcher who went to the vault before and is now missing. One finds out from Dr. Williams that Dr. Hildern has sent others on this task but none of them have returned. If he is spoken to again before heading to Vault 22, one can demand that he double the caps he is paying for the job (40 Speech is required). To get this option, one must not have delivered the invoice from the Crimson Caravan, or one will only have the option to say goodbye (fixed or not always happening)

The vault is easily found by following the map marker. Quite a few cazadores roam the area near the vault. There are large and colorful plants outside the entrance, and a sign saying, "Stay Out! The Plants Kill!". There are also four giant mantises hiding in the foliage. The door is permanently open and has a curtain of overgrown plants.

Inside the vault are numerous mantises and spore carriers hidden in plant beds. Spore carriers blend in with the vegetation and will not show up as enemies on the compass until they are disturbed. On Level 5 - Pest Control, there are spore plants who spit spike projectiles.

There are many password-free terminals throughout the vault which can be accessed to find some of Keely's notes and information on what became of the Vault's inhabitants.

Once inside one has the option to repair the elevator (Repair 50) or walk the five levels by stairs. Since access to some staircases is blocked, repairing the elevator will make things easier.

With a Lockpick skill of 75 or higher, one can take the elevator directly to Level 5 - Pest Control and unlock the data bank room. If one has not repaired the elevator or does not have a high enough Lockpick skill, or are also doing Still in the Dark and/or Bleed Me Dry, the player character will need to go to the Overseer's office on Level 4 - Common Areas. Follow the signs through the common areas to the Overseer's office where one will find a terminal (no password needed) that can be used to unlock the crew quarters, the data banks, and the cave entrance. (The crew quarters can also be opened with a Lockpick skill of 50.)

Trying to disengage the cave entrance lock will give one the error message: “Override engaged at door site.” A keycard will need to be retrieved, which is located in the crew quarters (now unlocked via the Overseer's computer). The keycard is in the first room on the left side of the hall as one enters the crew quarters, on a shelf to the right of the entrance. There are three spore carriers waiting inside.

(NOTE: there may be a glitch on the metal shelf where the keycard should be. Items will be invisible and only the item identification will be shown upon scrolling over where the object should be. In this case the key card will be on the bottom shelf in the right corner next to a couple of purified waters.)

With the keycard, climb back up the stairs to Level 3 – Food Production (the stairs to Level 5 are blocked) and follow the arrows until one sees a door to the caves. The keycard will access the adjacent terminal, where the lock can be disengaged. The vault door to Pest Control will be down towards the left in the cave. Follow the arrow to the door.

Once the player character is on Level 5, they can access the Data Room either by picking the lock or having disengaged it from the Overseer's office. At this point one can finish the quest by downloading the data and returning to Hildern, or, either with or without downloading the data, one can look for Keely (this will provide opportunities for additional XP, caps, and either positive or negative Karma).

To find Keely one must locate one of two entrances to the cave where she is stranded. The shortest route is through a room with a hard lock (Lockpick 75). Open this room and there will be a cave entrance. There are plenty of spore plants and mantises in the cave, even a family of baby mantises. Follow the arrows to find Keely. If one does not have a high enough lockpick skill, the room adjacent to the room with the hard lock has another cave entrance. The entrance is partly concealed by a computer wall panel that is been moved slightly from the wall. This route takes a bit longer.

Keely can be found at the far end of the caves. She is on the south end of the cavern sitting alone next to a mantis pod. She will ask the player character to meet her in her lab on Level 2 - Oxygen Recycling. If one has not repaired the elevator yet, Keely will do so at this point, making the trip up and down a bit easier.

Upon seeing Keely on Level 2, she will tell the Courier about her plan to eliminate the contagious spores. She is pumping flammable gas through the vents on Level 5. She wants the player character to find the vents and ignite the gas, without dying in the process.
 * There is a duffle bag with frag grenades beside Keely in the room where one meets up with her on level 2 (Oxygen Recycling). To find the duffle bag turn right (west) after entering the room with Keely's terminal in it, it is in the corner on the floor.
 * On the bottom level of the common areas (in the overseer's office) there is a room marked "Utility", which contains a flamer in the far corner along with plenty of fuel.

Survive the Blast
There are several ways to achieve the intended outcome. First, go to level 5 and locate the "vents", which one can identify by the fuzzy distortion of the air. The vents can be found in an area at the end of the hallway nearest the Data Room and the room nearby room full of mantises.

Next, one will need either explosives or an energy weapon with which to ignite the blast. If one does not have any, grenades can be obtained from Keely's duffle bag in her lab; the AER14 prototype is accessible through a Very Easy locked door on the fifth level, and a flamer can be found in the same room on the fourth level.

Finally, upon igniting the vents, one needs to survive the resulting blast. This can be done either by hiding in the reinforced data room with the door closed, by making it to the elevator before the blast reaches the player character (see below), or by simply surviving the substantial fire damage that the blast causes.

The following methods for surviving blast are ranked by the chances of minimizing or escaping damage entirely:
 * Placing a C-4 plastic explosive near the vents, and then detonating it while standing next to the elevator.
 * Placing a time bomb by the vents and then running for the elevator. Wait for the thump of the explosion before using the elevator.
 * Consuming a turbo and then shooting a laser at the vent from the end of the hall and simply running to the elevator (as the flames are slowed considerably by its effect).
 * If one chooses to use explosives to ignite the gas, long-fuse dynamite will provide the most time to get to safety. The six-second fuse allows enough time to run back into either the data room or the room across the hallway, close the door, and move as far away from it as necessary.
 * Shooting an energy weapon or throwing an explosive from the data room and then closing the door and backing up farther into the data room should prevent all damage from the blast. But closing the door quickly enough can be tricky and it is entirely possible one will take damage depending on the timing.
 * Another method is throwing an explosive toward the gas vents from the opposite side of the file cabinet blockade right next to the data room door. Immediately run to the room directly behind the player character with the purple lights, closing and moving away from the door.
 * Yet another method is standing near the room with the cave entrance, at the end of the hall opposite the vents. Ignite the gas and then turn and run out into the cavern.
 * Consuming an atomic cocktail and/or a Fire ant nectar should help one withstand the flames, although keep in mind any followers may be momentarily knocked unconscious, or even killed if one is playing on Hardcore mode.
 * Standing behind the gas, right where the vent is, does not subject the player character to as much damage as standing in the hall—a high level character can survive this.
 * Stocking up on stimpaks will let one outpace the damage being done but will burn through quite a few stimpaks, depending on one's medicine skill.
 * It's also possible to crouch in the gap between two main frames, right of the main terminal in the data room and fire an appropriate weapon for setting off the gas, but the blast will definitely reach you since you don't have the door closed.


 * Returning to Keely

Upon returning to Keely after igniting the gas from the vents, she will tell the player character that she intends to destroy the research data. If one has the files she will discover they were downloaded. One have multiple options from here:
 * Avoid talking to her. One can unlock the door by accessing the terminal in front of her and walk out of the vault by pickpocketing her.
 * Tell her the truth and destroy the codes for good Karma. If she lives, one will get caps or Karma depending on what was bartered with Dr. Williams.
 * Tell her the truth and refuse to destroy where she will become hostile. Killing her provides one with the password to leave. Make sure to use her computer to unlock the door. This results in NCR infamy.
 * Tell her the truth and refuse to destroy it, and flee the area. Go back in and she should be non-hostile again. Pickpocket the password from her.
 * Lie and let her live. Karma will be lost for lying but regained for saving her. This results in a net gain of about 50 Karma.
 * With a Science skill of 70 (hidden), one can keep the data while Keely remains alive by suggesting science learns from failure as much as from success. She will unlock the door for one will receive positive Karma. One must choose the speech option of telling Keely that Dr. Hildern sent them for the data in order to get the Science check option.
 * If the Courier is completing I Could Make You Care, they will have another option to save the data without bloodshed. If one tells her Dr. Hildern sent them, the player character can say that their friend is part of a big organization that can use this data to help people. She will then state that the player character has given her no reason not to trust them and will open the door. Note that it will only pop up anytime after finding Elijah's data, and then settle for going after the data as one's then central objective for the quest.
 * If one has already handed in the data to Dr. Hildern, Keely will tell the player character that the data should be deleted but will not confront them. This can result in a situation of being locked in the vault; to escape either pickpocket or kill Keely for her password, and use her terminal to open the locked door.


 * Returning to Dr. Hildern

After whatever option was chosen, one must return to Dr. Hildern.
 * If the data was saved he will give the Courier 1200 caps and they can get an additional 600 with a high enough Barter (50) or Speech (50) skill.
 * If the data was deleted, the quest will end with the player character informing Dr. Williams that Keely is safe or dead. Dr. Hildern will suspect that Keely was responsible for the data being gone. No matter what response chosen afterwards, he will suspect the player character as an accomplice and angrily demand that they leave the lab. One will earn 1200 xp for this ending.
 * If Keely died, Dr. Williams can be told a lie with a Speech check. One will get 800 caps and lose Karma this way. If the player character does not, they will not get anything nor lose Karma.
 * If both the data and Keely were saved, speak to both Hildern and Williams to finish the quest. One will receive the amount of caps mentioned above from both, and 1500xp.

Behind the scenes
The title of the quest is a reference and pun on the 1953 country song "There Stands the Glass", performed by Webb Pierce.