Veronica

"Thanks for taking a chance on a naive young girl from California with stars in her eyes and a pneumatic gauntlet on her hand."

Veronica Renata Santangelo is a Brotherhood of Steel Scribe who can be found at the 188 Trading Post in 2281.

Background
Born in 2254, 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.

She was born and raised in the Brotherhood, her father a Paladin, her mother a Scribe. In her youth she fell in love with another girl, but her lover's parents disapproved of same-sex relationships. Because the Brotherhood was a community closed to outsiders, they felt it was everyone's duty to procreate. Veronica still thinks of her lost love from time to time. In Dead Money, Veronica's lover is heavily implied to be Christine Royce.

After following the Brotherhood to the Mojave Wasteland from California, Veronica became disillusioned with their goals. Her mentor, Elder Elijah, became unstable, growing obsessed with technology for technology's sake. Veronica soon realized this was also true of the other Elders, it was just that they were more cautious about it. They hoarded technology instead of using it to help the people of the Wasteland, content to hide away in their bunkers. She realized this was a course of action that could only lead to stagnation and decay, and that in order to survive the Brotherhood would have to become a part of wasteland society, not separate from it. She began to speak up about her beliefs, questioning the direction the Brotherhood were taking. In order to keep her out of their hair and to stop her dissent from spreading, the Elders sent her on longer and longer trips out into the wasteland, allegedly to collect resources.

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 her doubts about their current course.

Other interactions
As a companion, Veronica prefers to use unarmed for she has a very powerful Power fist (Fallout: New Vegas) with her, and grants the Scribe Assistant perk, which allows the player to craft items they would ordinarily need a workbench for. To use the perk, the player just needs to talk to her using the companion wheel and ask if she can craft something.

If you have destroyed the Brotherhood Bunker in Hidden Valley before recruiting her, she will come up to you and ask you what you know about the Brotherhood at 118. If you tell her what you did, she will say "Well in that case: This is for them." and attack you.

Getting her a dress
Veronica has a long-held dream of wearing a dress. She won't actually wear one (she always wears the apparel with the highest DT, and dresses generally have zero). She will still thank the player if one is in put in her inventory, and says she will try it on later. Most Pre-War outfits count as dresses. It is not necessary to get the clothes from a female; apparel in Fallout: New Vegas is unisex and what looks like a tuxedo on a man will be a dress on a woman. Giving her a Formal Wear or White Glove Society attire will make her very happy, and in return she will teach the player the special Scribe Counter unarmed move. (Note that as of this writing there is a bug that makes the game fail to add the perk if any of the nine triggers for her quest I Could Make You Care have already been activated.)

White Glove Society attire is worn by White Glove Society members, and Formal wear is worn by some of the higher-level members, including Mortimer, Marjorie, Phillipe, and Chauncey. Since it's what they're wearing, it can't be pickpocketed, though it can be taken after they are dead. Should the player not want to kill someone wearing one of these outfits, it is possible to reverse-pickpocket better armor on one of the members, then pickpocket their clothes when they put on the armor (this might require leaving and returning to trigger). Or if the player is sponsored by Marjorie to become an honorary White Glove Society member, she will give the player Formal Wear. (See Beyond the Beef for more about how to join the society.)

Dead Money
After completion of the Dead Money DLC, the player can give Elijah's Holotape (found on Elijah's console in the Abandoned BOS Bunker) to Veronica, but only if the player has spoken extensively with Veronica about Father Elijah in the first place. In the same conversation, the player can choose to keep the Holotape's knowledge for himself, gaining the Elijah's Rambling perk. If you choose to give Veronica the message, She will gain the Elijah's Last Words perk. Note: Even if you have already exhausted all dialogue options about Father Elijah with Veronica, you will have to go through the conversations again before the option to talk about Elijah becomes available.

Bugs

 * Companions who are poisoned will have the full effect of their poison "dumped" when using a Stimpak on them. This can result in negative HP which cannot be cured with more Stimpaks, and they will die as soon as you exit the companion wheel.  (For weaker poisons, this may lower their HP, but since it doesn't go below zero, they don't die.)  On the other hand, they will not use Antivenom, so the poison may end up killing them naturally.  This is especially a problem with Veronica, as she prefers melee.
 * The only way to solve for it is to prevent her from being poisoned in the first place. Make sure she is set to ranged weapons before fighting dangerous poisonous creatures.  (Veronica, despite her complaints about using ranged weapons, is very good with Energy Weapons or high powered rifles such as This Machine.)  If the fighting is really bad, just have her stay put and tank the creatures yourself.  (At least you can use Stimpaks and Antivenom without ill effect.)
 * After giving Veronica her Formal wear or White Glove Society dress she may thank you and say she'll teach you punching, and the screen will fade out and in, but the perk won't be added. (Verified with GECK: the object that does the timing for the fade out/in when she teaches the player the move is shared with the nine triggers used to start I Could Make You Care. The script for giving the move doesn't fully reset the object, so if any of the nine triggers have activated, she will no longer be able to give the perk.)
 * After giving Veronica her Formal wear or White Glove Society attire, she may fail to thank you immediately. Having the courier sit down seems to force the event to trigger -- even if you take the dress back from her!  The courier will then gain the Scribe Counter perk.
 * Sometimes after fast traveling, Veronica seems to disappear and does not show up back at 188 trading post, becoming almost impossible to find. When returning to the exact spot you fast traveled FROM, you may hear the sound of a Power Fist being swung, indicating Veronica could possibly have fallen or elevated out of the map. This may also occur when exiting the bunker. She may reappear after several 24 hour wait cycles.
 * Sometimes, after ordering her to wait, if the player fast-travels many times, she will disappear, make it difficult to find her without console commands.
 * A possible solution to fix this problem: Go to Vault 22, and take the elevator to any level. All of your companions will appear by you even if they have been ordered to wait.
 * Sometimes she will just stand and not follow the player. This can be fixed by instructing her to switch to ranged and back to melee. Also dismissing her and rehiring her works.
 * When the player buy "Euclid's C Finder" from Max at Freeside while with Veronica, it might automatically activate the quest "I Could Make You Care" but leave it in a glitched state where it can't be completed.
 * At Hidden Valley she may glitch and stay at the intercom and the door to the bunker will become locked. In the PC version the following commands can be used to fix this glitch: then
 * When the player first encounters Veronica, she might be completely unarmed and only carry her clothing and 3 doctor bags.
 * When the player first recruits Veronica she might be holding some of the equipment you left in your room in the Lucky 38 Casino.
 * Veronica might not heal herself after battles.
 * At the Ultra-Luxe Veronica's Power Fist may be confiscated and returned to the Courier upon exit. Veronica retains her 10mm Pistol in the casino.
 * She may leave both Pushy and Paladin Toaster at Gomorrah, rendering those unavailable.
 * When exiting the Brewer's Beer Bootlegging building basement, Veronica may stay there and refuse to move. No matter hoe many times you enter and leave and re-enter, she will remain standing on the stairs leading down to the basement.
 * After completing I Could Make You Care she may stop following, but still interactive and able to talk. The compass will have an extra quest arrow pointing at Gibson's Shack even though the quest has been completed and the map won't have a marker on the location. She won't follow the player except for through certain loading doorways, upon which she will immediately initiate direct conversation. She won't move from this spot, or attack any enemies. Even upon removing her as a companion and returning to 188 and re-enlisting her, she will still be unmoving. Possibly could have to do with the ending fight of 'I Could Make You Care'. You can also make her appear in Gibson's shack if you use the terminal to download the research notes.
 * Solution: After you have been confronted by the paladins and defeated them Veronica will initiate dialogue with you twice, first commenting on the paladins attack the second time to thank you for helping her. What you must do to avoid this bug is make sure that you initiate the second dialogue with her before she does.
 * Solution: go to Gibson's Shack. Veronica will instantly appear when you enter. Use the computer and download the notes again. Walk outside and talk to her in normal dialog, tell her again what tech you will go for, and end the conversation. This seems to reset her and she will start to follow you as normal.
 * Solution: PC players can download and install this mod on FONVNexus and consume the aid item it provides, then save the game, then disable the mod to fix this bug after it has occurred. (Highly suggested to do the above, only do this if going back to Gibson's shack isn't working.)
 * Solution: First sent her to the 188, join up with another companion (for example Boone). Go to the 188, fire your current companion and immediately hire Veronica back, THEN fire her again and send her to the Lucky 38! If you then go to the Lucky 38 and join up with her again, she'll follow you as usual.
 * If you go to Gibson's Shack and download the notes after finishing the quest 'I Could Make You Care' when you talk to her you might not be able to escape the dialogue. FIX: enter "cam" in the console without quotes
 * If you don't ask her to join during your first conversation with her, it is possible that the dialogue option for her to join never appears after that.
 * When entering and exiting certain areas, Veronica may randomly die.
 * After speaking to Mr. House, Veronica was stuck in passive on the Casino floor. Going to Gibson's Shack did not respawn her.
 * Solution: Downloading the data on the computer again, and after fast traveling to Freeside she came running down the street. Initiate the normal dialog again and she started following as normal.
 * Veronica can occasionally become stuck at The Silver Rush in front of the gun supply after she makes a comment pertaining to the quest I Could Make You Care.
 * Upon completing three of the first requirements for her quest, she may also stand in front of Elder McNamara without saying anything.
 * As with all companions Veronica may become stuck in a location for a period of time. Example: Lucky 38, stays in Presidential Suite. She also has a tendency after Fast Traveling to run off in a random direction, until she runs into an obstacle then turns around and runs back to you. She will end up finding you later in both situations, sometimes can take several in-game days for her to return.
 * It is entirely possible to continue to have Veronica as a companion even after blowing up the Brotherhood bunker at Hidden Valley during The House Always Wins V. First, Complete the Brotherhood Quests Still in the Dark (with Elder McNamara still in power) and Eyesight to the Blind.  Somewhere during these two quests, complete 'I Could Make You Care' (Veronica's Quest) and make Veronica leave the Brotherhood (note: Follow quest to completion).  Then, join the Brotherhood of Steel, fire Veronica (send her back to the 188 Trading Outpost), and Complete 'The House Always Wins V'.  Afterwards, head back to the 188 Trading Outpost and re-recruit Veronica without penalty (possibly linked to the Faction  Reputation of Soft-Hearted Devil for following the aforementioned path)(also worked with Wild Child reputation).
 * After giving Veronica her Formal wear or White Glove Society dress you may lose the option to tell her to go to the lucky 38.
 * Veronica may occasionally start saying: "Ugh, I'm gonna need some new limbs!" over and over again. Restarting the game solves the problem.
 * When paying Dawes the caps to enter the NCRCF, She will randomly attack Dawes when you get in, but the Powder Gangers will not be hostile.
 * Sometimes, taking Veronica into the REPCONN Test Site offices level during the Come Fly With Me quest will cause Jason Bright to appear as hostile upon entry, and cause her to attack him without provocation. Telling her to wait outside the office entrance prevents this.
 * A bug occurs where Veronica stops using her default power fist and equips a combat knife instead. Neither the Power fist nor the Combat knife shows up in her inventory, and giving her stronger melee weapons will not force her to switch. When waiting at the lucky 38 she will walk around with her default Power Fist, however as soon as you tell her to follow you, she will switch back to the combat knife.
 * When Veronica is your companion, it is is possible that she will not respond to any of the 'triggers' for the quest I Could Make You Care.
 * When attempting to enter the BoS bunker for the first time, she tells you she's gonna handle things as usual but she is nowhere to be seen and won't enter the bunker. Fast traveling is prohibited within the bunker. Upon trying to make her appear numerous ways, her blue marker appears behind the very hard bunker door running back and forth with no way to come back and talk into the intercom. [Update] This happens if you have her as a companion after you spoke to her about I Could Make You Care and enter the bunker without the quest being active. If she gets stuck then it's safe to assume she cannot be dismissed until the door is opened or try leaving the bunker, then waiting 12 hours.
 * Sometimes weapons and armor given to Veronica will disappear entirely from her inventory.
 * When giving Veronica a new ranged weapon she will still equip her 10mm pistol, even if she no longer has one in her inventory. (not quite true, for other guns, for example like .44 magnum revolver, you need to give her some .44 magnum rounds)
 * Occasionally after combat in exterior locations, she will run very far away as if chasing something or catching up to you, even if you are following her, hoping to see where she's going. After a few minutes of following her, she will spontaneously give up the run and return to your side.
 * When you put on NCR faction armour, she will tell you she will leave if you continue to work against the brotherhood. Even if you are allied with them.
 * Similar:After putting on Legion faction clothing the same as above occurs, as well as causing her to reinitiate dialogue constantly if dialogue is exited until you remove the clothing.
 * Similar: This also occurs with Great Khan armour. (Veronica kept initiating conversation when I was trying to enter Vault 3.)

Appearances
appears in Fallout: New Vegas.