Become an initiate

Become an initiate is a side quest in Fallout.

Quick walkthrough

 * first Ask Cabbot about joining the Brotherhood of Steel, and accept the quest to find the "ancient item".
 * Acquire a rope and several anti-radiation drugs.
 * Travel to the Glow, taking the drugs upon arrival.
 * Use the rope to descend into the crater.
 * Find the dead Brotherhood paladin wearing power armor, and search his corpse for a holodisk.
 * Return to Cabbot with the holodisk and give it to him for a gain of 2000 experience, the status of Initiate in the Brotherhood, and access to the Lost Hills bunker.

Detailed walkthrough
When first approaching the entrance to the Brotherhood of Steel at Lost Hills, Cabbot will greet you in a quirky fashion. If asked about joining the Brotherhood, he details that anyone who wants to join the Brotherhood must complete a quest first, apparently on orders from the High Elder. The quest involves retrieving a holodisk from the 'ancient order' in exchange for membership.


 * If your Intelligence is less than or equal to three, you cannot complete this quest. Because you don't have sufficient skills to communicate, you cannot ask Cabbot about joining the Brotherhood. If you talk to Darrel, the paladin standing to his left, he will laugh at you, stating that the Elders instated a minimum I.Q. for new initiates. However, he will point you to the Glow, telling you to search the facility if you want to obtain some better arms. Then, he will proceed to give you some Rad-X, warning you of the high radiation levels present there.
 * Regardless of whether or not you retrieve the holodisk from the Glow, you will not have the option to give it to Cabbot through dialogue, rendering your efforts to retrieve it as useless.

The surface and the underground facility at the Glow are both highly irradiated, so anti-radiation drugs are a necessity.
 * Rad-X can be bought from the drug dealer Vance, or from Mitch in the All-In-One store in the Hub. Alternatively, 6 of them can be found in an ice chest in the Followers' library.
 * RadAway can also be bought from Vance. It is likely you will need this considering you might accumulate some radiation before you get the chance to use Rad-X, just watch out for addictions.

Rope will also be required to get inside.
 * There are two in Shady Sands:
 * Seth possesses a rope that can be bartered for, or stolen.
 * One can be found in the eastern portion of the town in the house next to the crops.


 * Mitch has 5 ropes to trade for.

Once you have all the supplies, travel to the Glow. Take 2 Rad-X as soon as you arrive for 100% resistance to radiation (each yielding 50% resistance), for a few hours of in-game time. Without these it will be very easy to die from radiation poisoning. From here, use the rope you acquired on the metal beam protruding into the crater to descend down into the facility.

From here, you have to maneuver around the first level until you can search the corpse wearing power armor to get the holodisk. Then, return it to Cabbot, and you will gain the status of initiate in the Brotherhood.

Rewards

 * 2000 XP
 * Becoming an initiate of the Brotherhood of Steel and gaining access to Lost Hills