There Stands the Grass

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

Quick walkthrough

 * Speak to Dr. Thomas Hildern at Camp McCarran.


 * Enter Vault 22 and download the research data found there.


 * (Optional) Find Keely, a researcher who has gone missing at Vault 22 - You will only get this optional quest if you speak to Dr Williams.


 * Meet Keely at her base of operations on the second level.


 * Find the vents Keely is pumping gas through and somehow ignite the gas.


 * Return to Keely and let her know the spores have been purged.


 * Return to Dr. Hildern at Camp McCarran with the research data+.


 * Return to Camp McCarran and tell Dr. Williams that Keely is safe+.

+XP granted for this quest (as stated below) is wholly dependent on whom you return to first with the news of what occurred in Vault 22. If you manage to both save Keely and download the data, you will get the highest XP return but only if you speak with Dr Williams first.

Detailed walkthrough
To start the quest, you have to speak to Dr. Hildern in the Camp McCarran station. Dr. Hildern can be found in his office located inside the Camp McCarran Terminal building at the east side of the terminal in the south wing. After speaking to him, he will tell you that Vault 22 has data on its computers that will help him prevent a food shortage. He will give you the location to Vault 22 and ask you to enter and download the experimental data onto your Pip-Boy. Before leaving the base, make sure to speak to Dr. Williams so you get the optional objective to find Keely, a researcher who went to the vault before and has become missing. You find out from Dr. Williams that Dr. Hildern has sent other people on his task but none of them have returned.

The vault is easily found by following the map marker. There are quite a few Cazadors who roam the area and can be a little tricky. Just outside the vault entrance are 4 Giant Mantis hiding in the foliage, but they are not difficult to fight. The door is permanently open and full of overgrown plants. Inside the Vault are numerous Manti and what are known as Spore carriers. In the Pest Control there are Spore plants who shoot toxic vomit much like the Centaurs are known for.

Once inside you have the choice to repair the elevator (with a skill check) or walk the five levels by stairs. Be careful, there are Spore carriers hiding in most of the patches of plant growth. The Spore carriers are in a sort of sleeping state, meaning you can sneak up on them easily. Melee attacks as you sneak through patches of plant growth work well. Whether you choose the elevator or the stairs you need to find the Overseer's office, which is located in the Common Area. Follow the arrow through the common area to the computer in the Overseer's office to unlock three doors. The third door will actually be a malfunction error of "Manual Override at Door". This means that unless you have 75 lockpick, you need to head for the Crew Quarters (now unlocked via the Overseer's computer). There is a key card in the first room on the left side of the hall as you enter the crew quarters. Be careful, there are two Spore Carriers waiting inside. With the key climb the stairs(you can not use the stairs because they are blocked) or take the elevator to Level 5, Pest Control. Follow the arrow to the door (if you picked up the key card it will just open, otherwise pick the lock).

You do not need the keycard to access the databanks. One of the first two doors that unlock from the overseer's office is the databank door.

Finding Keely is a bit more difficult. It is recommended you have followers as the area where she is is littered with Spore plants and Mantis, but a flamer with lots of fuel and a strong melee attack work well too. Keely turns out to be a Ghoul. She credits being a ghoul with saving her from the abominations, as the Mantis creatures captured her and were going to feed her to the Spore Plants but they were not interested in Ghoul flesh. On the pest control level she is found by leaving the vault through a hole in one of the labs and traveling through a short cave to a large open cavern filled with Giant Mantis and Spore Plant creatures. She is on the south end of the cavern sitting alone next to a duffel bag.

Keely tells you about a plan to burn all the spores. Follow her to the second floor (Oxygen Level) and make sure you have a Flamer or some sort of explosive/energy weapon. There is a duffel bag with frag grenades beside Keely in the room were you met up with her on level 2 (Oxygen level). Also, on the bottom level of the common area (where you found the overseers office)there is a room marked Utility. It contains a flamer in the far corner. Be careful, there are higher level Spore Carriers in the large room outside the utility room. Keely tells you to find where two vents exhaust beside each other on the fifth floor, these are circular vents that are right next to the entrance of the room to the cavern on the Pest Control level. You need to light the gas that is leaked into the vault without killing yourself. The easiest way is to stand in the reinforced computer room you downloaded the data from and throw a grenade, then close the door quickly(opened or closed the explosion has no effect on this room). Once the fires stop, it is safe to re-open the door and return to Keely. Another safe method (if the player has the resources) is to plant some C-4 plastic explosive near the vents, and remotely ignite it using the Detonator. You can also take a shot at the vents with a Laser Pistol from the end of the corridor, quickly administer a shot of Turbo and make a dash for the elevator. Time bombs are ideal, if you have any.

When you return to Keely to collect your reward, she'll talk about destroying the files from the computer. If you have the files she'll discover they were downloaded and you have multiple options from here:


 * Tell her the truth and destroy the codes for good karma. If she lives you will get caps or Karma depending on what you bartered with Dr. Williams.


 * Tell her the truth and refuse to destroy where she will become hostile. Killing gives you her password to leave. Make sure to use her computer to unlock the door. This gives you New California Republic 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. You will lose karma for lying but gain it for saving her.


 * With a science skill of 70, you can keep the data while Keely Remains alive. She will unlock the door for you and you receive positive karma.


 * If you are on the companion quest with Veronica you will have another option to save the data without bloodshed.

After that, whatever you chose you must return to Dr. Hildern.


 * If you saved the data he will give you 1200 caps and you can get an additional 600 with a high enough Barter or Speech skill.


 * If you deleted the data, the quest will end with you informing Dr. Williams that Keely is safe or dead. Dr. Hildern will suspect her responsible for the data being gone. No matter what response you choose afterwords, he will suspect you as an accomplice and demand that you leave the lab in anger.


 * If Keely died, you can tell Dr. Williams a lie with a speech check. You get 800 caps and lose Karma this way. If you don't, you won't get anything but you won't lose karma.

If you do not have the files downloaded she will tell you she has set it up where she can delete all the files from her computer. With a speech skill of 50 you can tell her not tot delete the files, which you can keep and still receive good karma. Any of the ways gets you a cool 1500 xp if you finish it and your fame with the NCR will be raised.

Bugs

 * If you repair the elevator before you meet Keely, when Keely asks you to follow her to the 2nd floor she will not be in her lab but will instead be standing by the elevator. She will ask you if you fixed the elevator and comment that it makes things easier, she will then go down into her lab.  If you have taken the stairs instead of the elevator, return to the elevator and Keely should be standing there waiting for you.


 * You can download the data before beginning the quest.
 * If you then explore the Vault while the quest is active, the terminal with the data will be marked, but may be unable to download the data a second time to complete the objective. The objective and its marker will stay until you finish the other objectives. If you could download the data a second time the objective message will be blank on the screen and remain until you change rooms.
 * If you download the data before starting the quest, Keely will not notice that the data has been downloaded and will not confront you about it.


 * Speaking of Bugs... there is a chance that the ambient sound of the bugs in the quest will continue to follow you after you've left the vault. No known solution. They are there for the rest of the game.


 * Keely might not turn hostile at all when you tell her you won't delete the data, but instead claim how you leave her no other choice, stand up, and sit back down at the computer. No further interactive dialog is available.


 * When attempting to access the door from the Oxygen Recycling level that is "Locked - Requires Key" the terminal to the left of the door that allows access with the keycard from the Crew Quarters may not be there at all! To fix this leave the Vault and re-enter. The terminal should come back.


 * It's possible to earn infinite experience points with 25 speech from Dr. Williams. After you get the quest from Dr. Hildern, you can ask Dr. Williams about how she feels about Dr. Hildern. If you pass the 25 speech check you'll earn 25 exp, and as long as you do not select "So Dr. Hildern takes credit for your work," this can be repeated indefinitely.

Note

 * The title of the quest is a nod to a 1950s country song 'There Stands the Glass', sung by Webb Pierce.


 * Inside the Vault you may hear the faint sound of a cell phone ringing. This is a nod to the 2008 movie "The Ruins", which is also involves killer plants.


 * If given the chance to get close to you for a couple of seconds, the Spore carriers will explode and release large amounts of radiation.


 * If you approach the vent while having the Flamer equipped it will cause the gas to ignite. (Probably the same with Shishkebab drawn.)