Veronica Santangelo

Journeyman Scribe Veronica Renata Santangelo (born 2254) is a Brotherhood of Steel Scribe found at the 188 Trading Post in Fallout: New Vegas. Being a Journeyman Scribe, Veronica is responsible for acquiring supplies for the Hidden Valley bunker along with the other duties of a scribe, but relishes her time above ground and to explore life outside of the bunker (as everyone is glad to have her out of the bunker). By 2281, Veronica has become increasingly frustrated with the Brotherhood of Steel's unabiding adherence to the Codex and inability to adapt to changing times.

Early life
Veronica was born into the Brotherhood, like virtually every member of the organization in the 23rd century. Her father was a Paladin and her mother a Scribe. Both were killed in the same battle with the New California Republic while she was still a child, and she was brought up by the whole Brotherhood as a result. Father Elijah took a keen interest in her education, becoming her tutor and eventually a parental figure (or the next best thing; Veronica never had a grandfather and Elijah was what she imagined one would be like).

From a very young age (before she was even able to speak, according to her), she demonstrated an aptitude for engineering, taking things apart and putting them back together. This drive and natural curiosity led her to choose the career of a Scribe within the Brotherhood, turning her from a tinkerer into an engineering prodigy, in no small part thanks to Elijah's guidance. His technological genius rubbed off on her in many ways, but perhaps the most important thing he taught her was irreverence for dogma and authority. His years-long bickering with the Elder council taught her to question the Brotherhood's direction.

The Brotherhood provided more than just family and education: Love. As an adolescent, Veronica fell in love with Christine Royce, a Knight Initiate. However, their budding relationship was frowned upon by some members Brotherhood, who believed that the limited numbers of the order mean that everyone is obligated to procreate. Eventually, Christine's homophobic parents prevailed and she left the Brotherhood to put distance between her and her parents. Veronica was unable to convince her to stay and couldn't bring herself to abandon the order. She never realized the truth: It was Elijah who was responsible for the breakup, using his status to break them apart. She never learned that Christine didn't actually leave the Brotherhood either, instead finding new purpose as a member of the Circle of Steel.

Journey to the East
Unwilling to leave the Brotherhood behind, when it was Veronica's turn to make the decision, she chose to remain. She believed in what the Brotherhood stood for, or at least the values at the heart of their beliefs. Elijah's influence also played a role. When the Council decided to deal with him by promoting him out of the way, assigning him to investigate Hoover Dam in Nevada, he asked her to join him in founding a new chapter. He tricked the Elders into approving the assignment, concealing the fact from Veronica.

At first, Veronica was elated to join her foster parent on such an important expedition. However, when Elijah sidetracked the chapter at Helios One, she started having doubts. Although she was his confidante, trusted with recovery runs and intel he wouldn't share with anyone else, she started seeing his nasty character flaws, beginning with obfuscation: He never told her the reason why he had her looking for various pieces of technology. The biggest change came in 2274, when news of the NCR's deployment to Hoover Dam reached the chapter at Helios. The Elder flew into a rage, calling the NCR children playing with a bomb. It was then that Veronica realized he wasn't mad because of what he could do with the Dam, but rather, being denied its power.

Despite her relationship with Elijah, she was still a 20 year old Scribe with no ability to influence the direction of the Brotherhood. She watched powerlessly as the chapter waged a guerilla war against the Republic over the next two years. Then came Operation Sunburst, which broke something inside Veronica. Whether it was the loss of half the chapter, desertion of Elder Elijah, or the grueling combat experience, something broke inside the 22 year old Scribe. She survived Helios. Her belief in the Brotherhood's cause did not.

Life after Helios
As the Brotherhood under the newly appointed Elder, Nolan McNamara, entered a protracted lockdown to protect themselves from the Republic's Army and Rangers and rebuild its strength, Veronica became an outspoken critic of the Brotherhood's policies. Her difficult questions combined with her status as a veteran of Helios One made the leadership uncomfortable. To keep her away from the Elder and the bunker Heads, she was designated a procurement specialist and permitted outside the bunker to make regular supply runs and obtain provisions and other necessities for her peers. She was keenly aware of the reasons behind her new assignment, made even more frustrating by the fact that she got along with other members well as long as Brotherhood politics weren't involved.

Notable exceptions include Head Scribe Lars Taggart, who tutored her and grew to dislike her attitude,

Head Paladin Edgar Hardin, a hardliner, and Senior Initiate Melissa Watkins, likely for the same reasons Senior Scribe Linda Schuler dislikes the Initiate. On the other hand, she gets on particularly well with Senior Paladin Ramos, who has a soft spot for Veronica's antics, Scribe Ibsen, Knight Torres, and the aforementioned Scribe Schuler.

While her absence from the bunker did keep her out of command's hair, her exposure to the outside world only made her more aware of the Brotherhood's failure. Watching the influx of NCR troops, merchants, and citizens to the Mojave made her realize how it failed to adapt. The Brotherhood wanted to seize military technology, to control it so that it couldn't destroy humanity again. The single-minded pursuit of this goal resulted in stagnation, a failure to adapt to the shifting landscape of the wastes. The NCR had an army, a nation, and controlled the Dam. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood was stuck in a glorified hole in the ground, unable to carry out its mission. Yet it still refused to change, to start helping people and serve humanity, rather than itself.

She didn't need to be a Scribe to realize that the Brotherhood was doomed in the long run. Even with laser rifles and power armor, the Brotherhood was fast running out of people to bear these arms into combat, and as their power waned, their competitors' waxed. Without a radical course correction, she was staring a lifetime of scavenging and watching her friends die pointlessly in lost battles.

Changes
By 2281, five years after the fall of Helios One, Veronica is at her wits' end. Increasingly torn between loyalty to her friends and unwillingness to join them on the funeral pyre of the order, she seeks to learn from the thriving cultures of the wasteland as she collects supplies for the bunker. She hopes to find some sort of solution that could help save the Brotherhood, but her irreverent attitude puts her dangerously close to outright banishment. Even Elder McNamara, the most progressive member of the chapter after Veronica, is unwilling to bend on what he considers the Brotherhood's core beliefs.

The fact that she received a curious note from Father Elijah doesn't help. The letter from this ghost of her past indicated a delusional, unstable personality, claiming to have the salvation the doomed Brotherhood needed. The familiar signature made it plain that it came from Elijah and only strengthened her resolve to try a solution that didn't involve wiping the slate clean.

Although she focuses on finding something to force the Brotherhood to change, she also has personal goals to keep her sane. Chief among these is finding a proper dress for herself, something that would allow her to feel like a woman once in a while. She hopes to find a designer gown one day, but until then, she keeps looking.

Companion

 * Veronica can be recruited at the 188 trading post by simply talking to her. As long as the player does not make themselves out to be an enemy of the Brotherhood, she will ask if she can join their party and reveal her association with the order once she is accepted.
 * If the player destroys Hidden Valley before recruiting her, the player will be able to reveal that they are responsible for the chapter's destruction. Veronica will immediately attack, to avenge her lost family.
 * She is a powerful follower focused on unarmed combat and benefits greatly from heavy armor and high end unarmed gear. However, this also puts her at risk when confronting deathclaws and the like, so caution - and judicious use of the companion wheel - is advised. In her ranged mode, Veronica is a capable user of Energy Weapons.
 * As with other companions, Veronica will pick weapons according to their damage per second (i.e. the best weapons in inventory). For unarmed weapons, this will generally mean Fist of Rawr and Saturnite fist super-heated, followed by Pushy, Love and Hate, Embrace of the Mantis King, and Displacer glove (depending on their condition). Veronica will not equip industrial hand, since it's marked as a player-only weapon.
 * Notably, Veronica will wear Brotherhood power armor, such as the one found on dead Paladins at Black Mountain, REPCONN, or near Nellis. This makes her a very powerful asset, as they are available for free and with relative ease, and give a tremendous edge, especially in the early parts of the game.
 * As with other companions, she offers a special perk: As long as she's in the party, the player can talk to her and activate a workbench interface anywhere in the world, as she can help them craft with her own tools and expertise. This advantage is nullified by the additional options provided by ED-E after playing through Lonesome Road and unlocking its workbench and reloading tools.
 * Veronica will leave the player's party if their reputation with the Brotherhood drops to Vilified at any point. She will stay onboard with it as low as Merciful Thug, however, but will warn that it is the player's last chance. She will leave if the reputation drops further.
 * Incidentally, this allows for the player to retain her as a follower even if Hidden Valley is destroyed, and retain her services even past NCR, Legion, and Mr House quests that require the destruction of the Brotherhood. The player can either take the infamy hit for destroying the bunker and unless it puts them at Vilified, Veronica will warn them, but won't leave. If the player clears Hidden Valley by relying on stealth kills and no infamy is gained, the quests can be safely turned in, as she is scripted to only check reputation values, rather than quest progression.
 * Unlike other companions, Veronica will not object to being sent to Lucky 38. However, as with other non-player characters, she will collect and consume any food and drink left in the suite, including in containers. The scripts tied to special Nuka-Colas and the like will apply visual effects to the player should she consume them.
 * As with other non-player characters, Veronica will appear bald if wearing the atomic-valence tri-radii-oscillator or the valence radii-accentuator from Old World Blues

Quests

 * I Could Make You Care: Veronica's companion quest focuses on her attempt to talk sense into the Elder of the Mojave Chapter. She will ask for help in tracking three pieces of technology that could help her make her case: The Archimedes II and its targeting beacon, to verify whether losing half the chapter was worth it, Vault 22's agricultural research to help the Brotherhood become self-sufficient, or an EMP gun that could nullify the Brotherhood's technological advantage. However, no matter what Veronica presents before the Elder, her pleas will go unheard, at which point she will ask the player for guidance.
 * The player can suggest leaving the Brotherhood. Although she realizes it will put her at odds with the order, since she's leaving nearly a decade after she should've made that decision, she will accept it. The player will have to travel to the Follower's outpost to meet up with Doctor Alvarez. The doctor will be out, but the Followers will ask for Veronica to come back a day later. However, once the player returns, they will find the Followers slaughtered by a band of hardline Paladins, who will proceed to attack them and Veronica. After the fight, Veronica will come to realize that she caused their deaths and resolve to a nomadic life. She will also gain the Causeless Rebel perk (+30% to attack rate).
 * Veronica will refuse to enter Hidden Valley if this path is taken, although the Brotherhood is not hostile to her.
 * The player can also suggest staying with the Brotherhood or leave it up to Veronica to decide, at which point she will decide to stay, hoping for light to shine in the darkness. In this case, she gains the Bonds of Steel perk, which increases her damage threshold by 4 points (equivalent to raider armor or 2/3rds of leather armor).
 * You Make Me Feel Like a Woman: The player can fulfill her dream of owning a dress by placing White Glove Society attire or formal wear in her inventory. The grateful Veronica will teach the player the Scribe Counter unarmed move. It can be later removed without penalty.
 * Veronica will comment "Aw, you shouldn't have. It's just my taste. Thank you." or "Hey, a dress! Thank you! I'm totally trying this on later." if the player adds formal wear or any pre-War outfits to her inventory, but only the formal wear or its White Glove equivalent will meet the conditions for learning the Counter.
 * Other quests
 * Beyond the Beef: Veronica is one of several companions who can be given to Mortimer to replace Ted Gunderson as the main course.

Other interactions

 * If Veronica is accompanying the player, she can get them into Hidden Valley without having to lockpick the front door. As she vouches for the player, they won't have to deal with Ranger Dobson or run around with a pound of explosives strapped to their neck.
 * After completing Dead Money, the player can collect Elijah's holomessage from the fallen Elder's terminal in the abandoned Brotherhood of Steel Bunker. They can then reveal it to Veronica (may require exhausting all of Elijah-related dialogue options), and either give it to her or keep the knowledge on the holotape for themselves. The former grants Veronica the Elijah's Last Words perk (+150% attack speed and 25% knockdown chance with melee weapons), the latter grants Elijah's Ramblings to the player (+50% critical damage with melee weapons).
 * Veronica has a large number of quips and jokes at her disposal, and if the player character is male, she will joke when being told to stay close that she won't get too close unless the Courier changes into a leggy brunette.
 * The Forecaster offers a special forecast related to Veronica: Cloudy, with a chance for friendship.

Non-player character comments

 * Nightkin: Book girl has hard decision to make.
 * NCR civilians: Your lady friend seems out of place here.
 * NCR tourist: Your friend seems too civilized for a place like this.
 * Boomers: I can spot a Brotherhood spy from a thousand yards. Even the cute ones.
 * Brotherhood of Steel: If you're planning to take Veronica with you, be sure to have a good pair of earplugs with you. I'm kidding, Veronica! Put the power fist down!; Keep an eye on Veronica here. She's a sharp one.; Try to keep Veronica out of trouble, would you?
 * Powder Gangers: Now there's a fine-looking woman. Just needs to ditch the robe.
 * Great Khans: Your friend's cute - is she single?
 * Followers: I didn't know the Brotherhood had any people out here.
 * Freesiders: Your lady friend needs to lighten up.
 * The Kings: Your girl's kinda cute, but not my type at all. I don't go for smart chicks.
 * Omertas: Let me know if the pretty lady with you is looking for some work.
 * Outer Vegas denizens: Your friend's not from the desert, is she?

Bugs

 * If the player wishes to receive the Scribe Counter in exchange for formal wear or the White Glove Society attire, they need to do so before they trigger I Could Make You Care. The reason is that the object handling the fade to black is shared between the dress-hunting and the nine triggers for her companion quest. If the triggers are used, then the perk will not be properly added, even if the player gives her the correct dress.
 * It's possible for Veronica's dialogue at the Hidden Valley intercom to stop. Saving beforehand and reloading in this case may help resolve the glitch.
 * PC users can use console to fix her:  then.
 * It's possible for Veronica's scripting to break after completing I Could Make You Care by telling her to leave the Brotherhood. She will not follow the player or attack enemies, and this state will persist even if she is dismissed.
 * Players can attempt to fix this by going to Gibson's shack, making her appear there by script, and downloading the research notes. Then they need to leave the shack, talk to her, and select the tech to pursue again, which will reset her scripting.
 * PC players can use a quick fix available on New Vegas Nexus. It adds a special aid item that can be used to execute a script command that fixes her behavior. The mod can be safely removed afterwards.
 * Veronica's script might fail to register the correct dress in her inventory. Removing, then adding it again might help.
 * PC players can manually trigger the dialogue with.
 * Equipping Brotherhood disguises can cause her script to register that the player gained infamy with the Brotherhood, causing her to issue her warning about the last chance.
 * Veronica's companion quest can be activated by collecting Euclid's C-Finder in Freeside, but if it's activated in this manner, the resulting quest will be impossible to complete due to broken scripts.
 * Veronica is affected by other bugs common to companions and non-player characters, including:
 * Losing weapons after visiting a casino or weapons being returned to the player's inventory.
 * Getting stuck on level geometry, such as in the underwater sections of Vault 11 or in the chambers of Hidden Valley bunkers.
 * Randomly attacking non-player characters such as Jason Bright or Dawes.
 * Randomly running away from the player, which can be fixed by loading a new area.
 * If given lobotomite goggles, Veronica may remove her hood, but not equip the goggles. She will equip other headwear and eyewear as normal.

Appearances
Veronica Santangelo appears in Fallout: New Vegas and is mentioned in the add-on Dead Money.