Mod:Fallout: The Frontier/America

America is a former Sopher of the Crusaders. Although allied with the Crusaders, she does not have an official rank within the religious organization and is not really a proponent of their religious ideology either, merely living with the group due to her close relationship with Mollie Callaghan. She is a possible companion found at the RobCo Tower.

Background
America was born with a rare condition called congenital analgesia (inability to feel physical pain). Her parents tried to keep her condition a secret. She raised in the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, living in Bunker Zeta with her parents until her early teens. She knew an elderly lady named Lylee who'd give her sweet rolls.

When she was 15, she was doing scribe work when she accidentally dropped an engine block on her hand and didn't yelp. Other people around her were disturbed. America was considered a mutant by the Brotherhood for her condition. She was kicked out of the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel and abandoned by her parents on a task to retrieve a satellite; although she cried for her mother, she wouldn't turn around to look at her. America did not realize that her abandonment was actually a form of them trying to protect her, in order to prevent the whole family from communal punishment due to her parents lying to the Elder about her condition.

After being abandoned, America made her way across the Dustbowl before being found by Mollie Callaghan and subsequently joined the Crusaders of Steel. America felt it was almost like a sign, finding another Asian girl with red hair.

During her time with the Crusaders, America became a Sopher but later quit the role.

Personality
America is a unique and sensitive young woman who has lived a tough life and has been through much emotional pain, and she suffers from abandonment issues and trauma, particularly regarding her parents who dumped her out of their lives. However, she has resolved that she does not want to see them again.

Unlike many of the other wastelanders who are valiant and confident in their roles in their factions, America is trying to carve a place not only within the Crusaders, but her entire life and existence. This makes her somewhat similar to Veronica Santangelo who was questioning her role to the Brotherhood of Steel; though unlike Veronica, America was actually rejected and banned by the group. Her ability to have a valuable role as an asset to the Crusaders is also one of her sore spots. She does not display an interest in their religion, but there are implications she is only really with the Crusaders because she has nowhere else to go, and the organization has welcomed her into their care.

She is also shown to have a quirky sense of humor and may be interpreted as being socially awkward, possibly on the autistic spectrum or having stunted emotional development. An example of this is her attachment to her doll Lylee which acts as her comfort object. She displays a level of innocence compared to other wastelanders. Despite her awkward tendencies, she is not unintelligent by any means. In fact, it could be considered that it is impressive that she is as well-adjusted as she is considering her past experiences, even managing to survive the Dustbowl.



America has dangerously low self-esteem and seems to struggle with the idea of self-love. Despite this, she is compassionate and kind, and she shows a deep respect and loyalty for anyone who tries to help her, such as Mollie who she views like an older sister. She is also a brave fighter and a valuable asset to the Courier, not letting her fears overwhelm her. Some of her battle quotes show she carries a lot of pent-up internal anger as well, suggesting she finds the wasteland a thrill and adventure, as opposed to being cooped up at the Robco Tower.

It is suggested America may have a passion for fashion, as she shows excitement trying on different outfits in an abandoned clothing store.

Quests

 * There's a Power Greater than Atomic!: Upon completion, America will approach the player and break down crying, initiating the quest God Bless America. After talking to Mollie Callaghan and following her to see what is wrong with America, America will become the players companion and the quest Forging the Sword of Laban will be initiated.
 * God Bless America: This is America's personal quest. Visiting The Green Fairy, Parkers Resturant, Junkflea, Goose Hollow School, Goose Hollow Grocery Store, The Wasted Angel, The White Rabbit Hole, Elm's Tailors, Federal Survival Shelter, and The Menagerie will help complete this quest.
 * Forging the Sword of Laban: Mollie tasks the player with finding a means to print the blueprints with America, who provides hints for completing the quest.
 * Forging the Sword of Laban II: America will suggest the location to test the Jericho Fusion Cannon.
 * I Don't Want to set the World on Fire: During this quest the player has the opportunity to save America from the fire.
 * Breaking the Cycle: America will comment on the NCR when convincing Tasha Weaver to make peace with the NCR.

Effects of player's actions

 * If the player is rude and belittles her upon meeting her, the Crusaders can, rather humorously, turn hostile and begin trying to slaughter the Courier for their rudeness.
 * If the player encounters Wrench after recruiting America, America will take an immediate distrust to the woman due to her Enclave uniform, and will try to convince the Courier that Wrench deserves punishment.
 * There may also be dialogue if the player meets America then Skitters (confirmation needed).
 * The player is advised not to give America "inappropriate" clothing, such as prostitute outfits. Doing so will give her a bad reaction, calling it "gross".
 * If America ends up dying in the fire at the Corvega factory, the Courier can tell Mollie and she will be especially shocked and saddened. One possible thing Mollie may say is, "A kid died, you sick fuck!" Other Crusaders such as Clements and Weaver apparently can not be informed of America's death, however.

Other interactions

 * America will make comments on many of the locations across the Frontier.
 * Despite being a member of the Crusaders, she will not leave the Courier during the Legion campaign, even after witnessing the Courier blackmail Clements during A Matter of Faith. She will not leave during progression of the NCR campaign either.
 * Hector Clements may pass by her and be displeased that she has modified the appearance of her gun; she asks him why he can mod his lightsword but she can't "coolify" her gun. He claims unsanctioned weapon modifications may end up killing her. She replies Mollie gave her gun a pass. Clements says any malfunctions with her gun are her responsibility, to which she replies, "Totally, Grandpa Clements."
 * There is a rare chance that if America is brought to Ostia, she may comment on a Legioner sitting on a table, viewing them as daring and says the Dominia would never approve of such a thing.
 * She comments Crusaders never have to worry about leg day upon entering the RobCo stairwell.

Notable quotes

 * "Oh, I'm America. You could say I started being a Sopher, but it was boring science crap, so now I'm just kinda here... trying to find my path, heh."
 * "So, should I aim for the head or the nuts?" (ask to use ranged)
 * "Dude! Like I'm gonna win a fistfight with a deathclaw, or anybody for that matter." (ask to use melee)
 * "Oh, gross! I think I just stepped in-- wait, nope, false alarm." (inside The White Rabbit Hole)
 * "Holy shit, that is so gross! I'm gonna be sick." (seeing the hanged, bound and stabbed corpse of a female ghoul)
 * "Let's stay away from that old hospital. Places like that give me the creeps."
 * "Oh, great... now we're in the creepy ass hospital. Thanks for the full tank of nightmare fuel."
 * "No... I-I don't want to ever see them again. They left me to die! Their love of the stupid Codex was greater than their love for me..." (regarding her parents)
 * "I wonder why they call it the Frontier. I think New Iceland is a much better name."
 * "Great, another shithole covered in dust and mold. Why can't we ever stumble across a room full of chocolate bars?"
 * "Let me tell you my worst nightmare: Diarrhea and power armor. I saw it once back in the Midwest bunker and never forgot."
 * "Supposedly, my mom's ancestors came from somewhere in Asia called Korea. I wonder what it's like there; if they're still living in wastes like us."
 * "Someone actually did it with Charlene. Mind blown..."
 * ''"Great, freezing cold water up to my butt crack! Because I so wanted hypothermia today. God damn it!"

Behind the scenes

 * According to developer Odinsword, America's persona is based partially from Jubilee of the X-Men.
 * It has often been incorrectly assumed that America is a minor (under 18). However, she has been older than 18 throughout all stages of development. Originally, she was said to be 18 years old in a memo from Mollie titled "Happy birthday" found in her inventory.
 * Odinsword said the reason 18 was simply chosen because it is considered a milestone birthday for most people, as well as to show the passage of time to depict it has been a while since she left the Midwestern Brotherhood, rather than some malicious intent to keep her as young as possible while being "legal". Odinsword also hinted America was originally intended to be 19, mentioning, "The note was to show how much time passed and how she is still dealing with the issues even after 4 years passed." America keeps the possibly one-year old birthday memo with her for sentimental reasons similar to how Clements keeps his sister's Abby's dog tags.
 * Her age in the memo was later changed to 21 in an attempt to move away from being misconstrued in a negative manner, with Odinsword commenting, "I raised her age to 21 because someone suggested it gave the wrong impression. I do listen to feedback." Despite this, there were some oversights: "I met this teen" still appears while talking to Mollie; America still says, "badass teenage mode activated" in battle; and the mission UI still says "recruit the teenager" and "restore the teenager's confidence".
 * Before a patch, America could originally say, "I'm dreading taking off my boots tonight after the running around we've been doing. Whew, my feet will probably put rotting fish to shame." This became a meme of sorts, with accusations of it being a call out to foot fetishists. One of the developers denied this, saying the line's intent was blown out of proportion, that it was only meant to be a goofy humorous line, and joked that people who thought it was a call out are probably foot fetishists themselves.
 * Odinsword also commented it was meant to be a throwback to her inability to feel pain and have sore feet, relying on her sense of smell instead: "America is basically busting your stones about walking all over the Frontier with her. She wouldn't understand what sore feet feel like because she can't feel pain. Therefore she is using the senses she has to inform you of the same kinda situation from her perspective." "She talks about smells and sights because she is essentially missing a sense and her experience of the world is through her other senses."
 * Arguably the most well known controversy surrounding America was her possible enslavement to the Courier. America would be fitted with a collar and referred to as a "little slave girl" and she could call the Courier "master", and many fans took to assuming America's position as a "sex slave" based largely on an end credit slide that claimed she would be willing to do anything to satisfy the Courier. America is distraught about being enslaved, but agrees to it because she doesn't want to be alone anymore. This action, which required a -250 "evil" karma and the Legion questline, would turn every Crusader hostile and result in losing karma. The developers claimed they wanted to offer players a variety of immoral opportunities through gameplay, a lack of which is a common criticism of Fallout 4 and 76. While developers had hoped to show America's unhealthy and desperate need for affection through this storyline, it was removed shortly after release.
 * Developer Phobos claimed it was primarily there for Legion roleplayers: "You're never supposed to pick that option cause it instantly makes every Crusader in Portland hostile. It's there for Legion characters because they have the fewest companion options."
 * Developer Odinsword (Crusader lead) commented that it was supposed to be part of a route if the player wished to defeat the Crusaders through manipulation, which why the player can exploit the other characters' weaknesses as well (Mollie's temper, Clements' addiction, Charlene's uncontrollable empathic powers and Weaver's guilt). Odinsword stated: "You were severely punished for taking this option and she is also coded with a banned items list so that you cannot put any skimpy outfits on her. They basically took the worst of the lines (which was designed to make you feel horrible and reload) as "Neckbeard Asian Fetish" and created this whole thing about her being fetish material and underage and made up a narrative about her being a sex slave. It's all lies designed to stir up shit. People still took everything out of context because my guess is they didn't actually play the mod. She has a Birthday card telling you she is at least 18 and if you should decide to be a slime ball and enslave her:
 * 1) You lose her personal quest
 * 2) You lose the entire Crusader MQ
 * 3) You need to pass 3 hard speech checks and ignore 4 opt out dialogue option
 * 4) If you ever dismiss her she runs away and you lose her as a companion."'
 * Nazenthedark assisted with America's initial concept, name, lack of pain, and ethnicity, while Odinsword did everything else, including her original enslavement.
 * In Nazenthedark's original versions, America would be raised by a fanatical Brotherhood of Steel splinter cult, being desperate to feel anything, to the point of engaging in self-harm. However, these versions were dissuaded by Tgspy on account of being "too edgy."
 * According to ACTIONFIGHTER11, in the rework, America would no longer suddenly explain her tragic backstory immediately after meeting the Courier. Her writing would be adjusted so she's more so representing the viewpoint that the Crusaders need to actually be helping the wasteland rather than crusading, and she is conflicted with still being part of the Crusaders.
 * According to Odinsword, the rework would have gone more into America's backstory: "America will talk about the effects the Brotherhood-Calculator war had on the current Elder, who was a small child then and how it made him very strict. The reason she was kicked out was not because of her mutation. It was her parents protecting her from the punishment the family would receive for lying to the Elder and hiding America's condition from him. Given the harsh punishments we see in tactics with the families of the Quincy traitors, it's likely her parents were sent to the Brotherhood camps for their crimes. To spare her that fate, they abandoned her in the dustbowl. As most 15 year olds would do, she doesn't understand and assumes it was all her fault."
 * Despite being the face of some of the mod's controversy, America has seemed to have a generally positive reception for players who have played the mod's patched versions.
 * America is coded with a banned items list, so that you cannot put any skimpy outfits on her. Giving her an item of such list will make her drop it to the ground, and comment about it. This list includes mod items such as Green Fairy Performer Outfit and most items from Elim's Fine Tailoring, and vanilla items such as sleepwear and chained prostitute outfit.
 * However, America can still equip some vanilla skimpy outfits such as prostitute outfit and exposed prostitute outfit.
 * The event in Elim's Fine Tailoring will succesfully equip her with outfit banned in such list. However, if she unequip the outfit after the event, it is not possible to equip it again.

Bugs

 * America may become bald near the end of the quest Into the Depths!, though this seems to fix itself after returning upstairs.
 * On one occasion, America may suddenly stare at Wrench, she will rotate to face the ex-Enclave woman with an angry expression. It is unknown if this a bug or an intentional easter egg.