Christine Royce

Christine Royce is a mute prisoner trapped in the Sierra Madre in 2281.

Background
Royce is a member of the Circle of Steel, the internal affairs of the Brotherhood of Steel. She was a scribe in the Brotherhood of Steel before joining the Circle of Steel at the rank of knight. During her life in California, she was in love with Veronica Santangelo. However, due to then-Elder Elijah's intervention, the two were separated: Santangelo stayed in the Mojave chapter, while Royce joined the Circle.

When Elijah abandoned the Brotherhood after the disastrous defense of HELIOS One from the New California Republic Army, he left a trail of crimes across the wasteland. As word of these crimes reached the Circle, Christine was dispatched to track him down. She managed to locate him at Big MT. However, once she confronted her mark at Little Yangtze, they were interrupted by security robots. The Elder escaped using the ghoulified Chinese prisoners as walking bombs while Royce was wounded and taken to the Y-17 medical facility for processing. During the course of experiments at the facility (involving jamming electrodes into the skull, and, in her own words: "Making a flashlight out of [her] head."), her brain was damaged to the point of her losing the ability to read and write words properly (although she can still do equations and mathematical sums).

It was there that she was rescued by Ulysses, who blew up part of the facility just to get her out. She recovered with him for several days in a nearby cave, where they discussed philosophy and the failure of modern civilizations like the New California Republic or Caesar's Legion to forge a new future. Once Ulysses met the Think Tank and received his answers, the two separated. Christine left Big Mountain with the Mark I stealth suit and resumed her quest to find Elijah. Her original armor and rifle were left behind.

She eventually tracked him to the Sierra Madre, where she was captured by his slave, Dog, and forced to work for him in breaking into the Sierra Madre while fitted with an explosive collar. At some point, she was also locked in an Auto-Doc in the Villa's Medical District by Dean Domino, where her vocal cords were torn out. She later regains use of her voice when the operation is completed by the Auto-Doc in Vera Keyes' hotel room. It is there that it is revealed that her capture and replacement of her voice was part of Domino's plan to break into the Sierra Madre Casino Vault, as the elevator could only be activated by the voice of the long-dead Keyes.

Quests

 * Find Collar 12: Christine: The Courier has to travel to the Villa clinic to find her. Once inside, the Courier has to release her and take her to the fountain in front of the Sierra Madre Casino.
 * Mixed Signals: The Courier has to escort Christine to the Puesta del Sol switching station to get her ready for her part of the Trigger the Gala Event quest.
 * Last Luxuries: The Courier has to find, and confront, Christine in the Sierra Madre Casino.
 * Heist of the Centuries: Christine can use her new voice to unlock the elevator to the Sierra Madre Vault.

Other interactions

 * The Courier must have a high Perception or Intelligence in order to understand her properly. Various skill checks require: PER 6, 8; INT 6, 7; Speech 50; Science 60, 75; Medicine 60, 75; Explosives 60. (Note: Explosives 60 and Science 60 are both options in the same conversation and give the same result.) The Math Wrath, Cherchez La Femme and Confirmed Bachelor perks, as well as Power Armor Training and Brotherhood of Steel reputation, give additional conversation options.
 * She knows how to counterfeit Sierra Madre chips, and can give the Courier the Coin Operator perk with the right dialogue options.
 * If the Courier has the Cherchez La Femme or Confirmed Bachelor perk, they get an additional dialogue option when discussing Christine's love interest ("Oh, girlfriend."), and can easily calm her down, stating that the Courier understands her situation; as well as an additional interaction with Christine when they leave her at her post before the Gala Opening. If you accept to hold Christine's hand you can promise that you will return for her.

Appearances
Christine Royce appears in the Fallout: New Vegas add-ons Dead Money and is mentioned in Old World Blues.

Bugs

 * It is possible to initiate the first conversation with Christine without opening the Auto-Doc. The player may open it afterward, but they will be stuck in place and you will need to load a previous saved game to continue. Using third person view, you are able to peek into the Auto-Doc and initiate dialog with Christine before opening the door. Once the door is finally opened, the bug occurs.