Arlen Glass

Arlen Glass (2017 or 2027–) is a ghoul living at The Slog in 2287.

Background
Co-founder of Wilson Atomatoys, Arlen was the lead toy designer until October 21, 2077. He worked tirelessly alongside his friend George Wilson to make toys to help children dream, to imagine a better future. It was their calling, their passion, their life's mission that they pursued for the next thirty-five years, often at the expense of time spent with their families. Their flagship product, the Giddyup Buttercup (created by Arlen), became a smash hit on the market, eventually bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per annum, in spite of its excessive price tag ($16 000 per unit).

However, as the years went by, the pressure on both of their families only increased. Arlen neglected his wife and daughter for years, focusing on his work as much as possible, while George missed his son's birthdays, graduation, and his wife's funeral. He onboarded Marc as vice president in a bid to reconnect and eventually abdicated his position as company president to him in late 2077, believing that Marc grew into the toy business, despite initial reservations. His son, turned bitter by years of parental neglect, immediately turned his back on his father's legacy. Sales forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2077 indicated that sales of the Giddyup Buttercup would decline in from $122 000 000 to $110 000 000, a year-over-year loss of 17%. They cited brand stagnation and market saturation at the current price point as reasons the continuing decline. While Arlen reacted to the news with incredulity, he immediately set about finding new ways to enhance the brand's appeal: Collectible variants (eg. Mythical horses), alternative markets for boys, Premium Princess lines, promotional tie-ins with Hubris, Nuka-Cola, and Vault-Tec. Marc, on the other hand, had other ideas.

The new president made a bid for the secretive SCYTHE Program initiated by the United States government to bolster their wartime production by converting part of the Atomatoys factory into an ordnance production facility. His application was accepted on September 1st, despite doubts by some of the Pentagon staff, as the Atomatoys factory exceeded the requirements specified for the project. Colonel Thomas Nelson, director of the SCYTHE Program, scheduled a visit in person while Wilson and Nathaniel Hawke set about converting three of the five assembly lines for military production - land mines. The first phase of the conversion was completed by October 15, a week ahead of schedule, with production scheduled to begin on November 1.

Arlen was kept out of the loop. He tinkered with leg servos, new paint schemes (missing his daughter's recital), while none of the executives returned his calls or moved forward with his licensing proposals. By October 20, Arlen was desperate to make any sort of headway on his projects, to have something to show at the board meeting. He did not expect to see a representative of the military at the meeting, much less hear about the values of the company being betrayed in favor of patching its budget by manufacturing weapons for the army. 45 minutes into the board meeting, Arlen exploded and had to be removed from the premises by security. He tried in vain to enter and talk to Marc Wilson to dissuade him from the course he chose, but only succeeded in being removed several more times and forcing security to notify the police. Of course, the CEO fired him immediately. His dismissal was a shock to all employees of the company, who considered him to be the heart and soul of the place.

Arlen made one last big to try and convince Marc to change course in the morning of October 23, 2077. He left his Cambridge apartment and made his way to the Wilson Atomatoys headquarters. Although he was promptly removed, he managed to convince the security guard to deliver his final plea to Marc, who promptly threw it in the trash. When the bombs started dropping, Arlen tried to make his way back to his family in Cambridge, but when he came home, he only found a massive, irradiated crater. Traumatized, he just lay among the ruins, wanting nothing but to die and join his family. Instead, he survived, and the radiation from the crater turned him into a ghoul. He kept on going, using his talents as a toymaker and expert engineer to get by, always haunted by the memory of his family and especially little Marlene, lost without so much as a goodbye. His focus on toys and technology helped him stay sane for over two hundred years, eventually settling down at the Slog, helping out the ghoul farmers with his expertise and trying to put one more Giddyup Buttercup together, for old times' sake and to perhaps gift it to a child in the wasteland. Although a wrench and a tool is far cry from the high-tech facilities he once had at his disposal, he keeps on going.

Other interactions

 * If the player tells Arlen Glass where the Giddyup Buttercup toy parts are rather than get them themselves, Glass will disappear from the Commonwealth.
 * If the player gives Arlen Marlene's tape, he will reward them with a unique Buttercup toy.
 * Fallout_4_random_encounters

Appearances
Arlen Glass appears only in Fallout 4.