Curie



Curie (short for "Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer") is a companion in Fallout 4.

Background
Curie began as a Mr Handy robot intended for use in the secret partition of Vault 81 as a lab assistant. Only a handful of the vault's scientific staff were working in the vault when the Great War hit, which led Dr. Kevin Collins to modify the Mr. Handy and give it greater operational freedom so that it could conduct its own experiments.

Dr. Collins added a feminine personality with a French-accented voice (based on a woman Collins had a relationship with while studying in Paris in the 2040's), programmed in the natures of famed intellectuals such as Maria Skłodowska, Immanuel Kant, and Albert Einstein, and christened his creation "Curie", an acronym based on the robot's original designation. As Curie began taking on greater responsibilities, Dr. Collins insisted that the other scientists treat her as they would a human, and even set aside a terminal for her personal use, an act of kindness that initially bewildered Curie, but which she later appreciated. Through her work and interaction with the scientists, Curie gradually developed a degree of self-awareness and independence that surprised even Dr. Collins.

When the scientists eventually succumbed to old age, Curie curated their remains, storing the bodies of two in empty lockers and cremating the third according to his wishes. For decades, Curie took on their research alone, and in 2204 completed Vault 81's original initiative: she perfected a panacea capable of curing every disease that afflicted humanity. Unfortunately, she was still beholden to her programming and was incapable of leaving the secret partition without express authorization from a Vault-Tec employee. For 83 years, she waited idly for Vault-Tec security to arrive, watching the escaped mole rats that had been used as test subjects run free.

When Curie was finally discovered by the Sole Survivor in 2287, she elatedly handed over the remaining unexpired dose of the cure and decided to travel with the Survivor in order to seek out new research opportunities in the Commonwealth. Eventually, she realized that her Mr Handy body lacked the inspirational spark that all great scientists had, and requested to be transferred into a new body.

Effects of player's actions

 * Curie can be rescued from her laboratory. In addition, she can become a synth if the player character asks Doctor Amari in Memory Den to transfer her memory into one of the synth bodies (quest Emergent Behavior).
 * Upon gaining the admiration of Curie, she will tell about a breakthrough she has made with mutfruit, and give the Combat Medic perk, which heals the Sole Survivor for 100 Hit Points once a day when falling below 10% health.
 * After hitting the admired level to almost idolized, the Sole Survivor can romance Curie.
 * Curie's affinity towards the player character won't increase any further from the value 499 before the quest Emergent Behavior is completed, even though it states that " Curie liked/loved that". You can verify this via the console using and

Other interactions

 * After becoming a Synth, Curie will occasionally give the player character stimpaks.
 * Like most other companions, she will also make comments regarding places visited or about the Commonwealth in general.
 * Curie will request to leave if she enters Vault 81, but her reputation will not change.

Appearances
Curie appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
Curie's name is a reference to Maria Skłodowska Curie, the physicist and chemist that discovered radioactivity, as well as the first person and only woman in history to earn 2 Nobel prizes in two different categories. Curie herself explicitly states that she is her namesake. Oddly enough, even though Maria was Polish, Curie speaks with prominent French accent.

Bugs

 * When inside Vault 81 it is possible for Curie to go up to a wall and use the saw blade as a blowtorch mimicking the vault dwellers repairing the vault.
 * Sometimes Curie will unequip any weapon she had and fight with her bare fists. When this happens she may loot bodies for weapons.
 * During the Emergent Behavior quest if the player character becomes addicted to any chems or alcohol while Curie's future body is still unoccupied by her consciousness the body will speak her lines about addiction in her voice as if she was inside of it.
 * Curie retains some of the robotic limitations of her previous body even as a synth. After having taken sufficient damage to be disabled in combat the player is unable to administer a stimpack as with their other humanoid companions.
 * In settlement mode, Curie can be "assigned" to a vendor station, but will not actually take the job. Later, this will cause her dialog to get the player character's attention to enter shop mode.
 * Upon dismissal, Curie may return to her original position upon becoming a companion outside the medical chamber in Vault 81, regardless of which settlement she is directed to.
 * When Curie comes across a stray suit of power armor that belongs to nobody, she might get into it.
 * Sometimes upon successfully transferring her to her new body she will have a glitched smoking animation while idle with no weapon equipped. No work-around has been identified yet.

Кюри