How Little We Know

How Little We Know is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Synopsis
The Omertas have an unsavory reputation, and it is not undeserved. They are planning something devious and investigation into it is needed.

Working with Cachino

 * 1) Enter Gomorrah and speak with the front receptionist.
 * 2) Find proof that Cachino is pulling in work on the side; this is done by blackmailing him with his journal, found inside his room. The key to the room can be bought from the receptionist with 300 caps (a Barter check of 55 lowers it to 200) or by intimidating her with a Strength of 8.
 * 3) Talk to Cachino about suspicious deals in Gomorrah.
 * 4) Talk to Clanden, return to Cachino and then get rid of Clanden. The snuff tapes in Clanden's safe can be taken back to Cachino to open up dialogue to confront Clanden.
 * 5) Get Troike out of his contract. This can be done by convincing Big Sal with a Speech of 53 or a Barter of 45. With a Speech of 80, the Courier can lie to Troike and threaten to tell the New California Republic about his dealings. Alternatively, the Troike blackmail note can be presented to Captain Marie Pappas at the NCR Embassy.
 * 6) Destroy the weapon shipment Troike got in the casino basement using he thermite provided. Alternatively, a Speech of 70 convinces Troike to destroy the guns himself, but he will rat out the Courier when he is caught.
 * 7) Get rid of the Gomorrah bosses. A Speech check of 80 with Big Sal will convince him that Nero was working against him. Sal will kill Nero, leaving only Sal to take care of.

Working with the bosses

 * 1) Talk to the bosses (Big Sal and Nero).
 * 2) Show Big Sal Cachino's journal.
 * 3) Help Clanden and Troike with their projects.
 * 4) Clanden wants to kill a large amount of people in a short amount of time; with a Science of 60, the Courier can suggest a chlorine bomb. A container of chlorine can be stolen from a supply closet in the Ultra-Luxe behind the counter where Mortimer stands, or the chlorine can be purchased from Ralph of Mick & Ralph's. Ralph can be convinced to give it for free with a Science check of 60.
 * 5) Troike had a crate of guns stolen by the Fiends. Retrieve the disassembled weapons shipment northwest of the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters.
 * 6) Return to Big Sal.

Behind the scenes

 * "How Little We Know" is a song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, made popular in the 1944 film To Have and Have Not.
 * "(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" is a song written by Carolyn Leigh and Phil Springer, and recorded and released by Frank Sinatra in 1956.

Bugs

 * If you don't speak to Liza O'Malley before starting How Little We Know then you will not be able to speak to Cassandra Moore upon returning to Hoover Dam. As such, you are unable to complete For the Republic, Part 2.
 * When speaking to Cachino before going to kill the bosses, selecting the "Wait" and "Ready" dialogue options may prevent Cachino from further interacting with the player. When trying to re-initiate dialogue, Cachino will only respond that 'there is no time to talk' meaning the player cannot tell him they are ready to go; and he will also remain in place and not lead the player to the meeting with the bosses, preventing further progress in the quest. Leaving Cachino there and attempting to finish to quest later will revert Cachino to previous lines of dialogue in which you can only ask about the bosses' plans, Troike, and Clanden.
 * This bug can be bypassed by simply finding the small office where the meeting would take place (next to Big Sal's office on the main floor) and killing the bosses, resulting in a quest complete message, regardless of Cachino following you there.
 * It is possible to fix this by taking the elevator to the main floor, then typing followed by  in the console to bring Cachino to the main floor. Once Cachino gets to the main floor, he walks normally to the bosses' room and the usual sequence of events proceeds.
 * The dead prostitute you can inspect during "How Little We Know" can be found alive and standing before, during, or after the quest is complete. If you examine her the box telling you to inspect her will still pop up.
 * Sometimes, after completing How Little We Know, you can't tell Mick that the Omertas are buying his weapons again. To work around this, before telling Troike to destroy the weapons, have his contract destroyed by talking to Big Sal before completing the quest. Then tell Troike he is free and then tell him to destroy to the guns. Note that if you find the Troike blackmail note before talking to Troike about the prostitute, although Troike will still have the dialogue asking for help getting out of his contract, Big Sal will not have the related dialogue, so you cannot get Troike out of his contract, thus never tell Mick that the Omertas are buying guns again, and thus never get the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion.
 * One fix with the console is to use, , and to put yourself back to the stage when Big Sal has the dialogue.
 * If you attack the dead bodies of Big Sal and Nero after killing them, you will continue to gain experience. This can vary from 50 experience points to 750 experience points each hit.
 * When Cachino is supposed to give you the sawed-off shotgun, it may end up in your companion's inventory instead of yours. This can occur even if Cachino is still bugged as previously mentioned.
 * If you side with Cachino for this quest, then go talk to Clanden without having the evidence to progress in dialogue, then see Troike and finish his objective, reporting back to Cachino will cause him to tell you that it's time to take out the bosses, bypassing Clanden's portion of the quest altogether.
 * Killing Clanden may cause ED-E to stop following the player (it just gets stuck). Making ED-E wait won't help. Ordering it to return to base, then quickly killing Clanden and rehiring ED-E will help. The same thing may happen when killing Big Sal and Nero.
 * The dialogue option that starts this quest can appear without doing Bye Bye Love or starting For the Republic, Part 2, for no apparent reason.
 * After talking to Big Sal and telling him of Cachino's treachery, going into his office to have a 'little talk', button man remains immobile, Cachino just sits there and none of them will speak with you anymore.
 * Sometimes, after planting the thermite charge, the switch won't set off the explosives.
 * If you steal Sal and Nero's ammunition before sitting down for your chat, choosing the lie option implicating Nero will cause the two of them to stare at one another with guns out, but they will not attack due to lack of ammunition.
 * After picking up the blackmail tape, you cannot negotiate Troike's contract with Big Sal. This means you cannot free him and get the Pimp Boy. At this stage, you also cannot turn in Cachino, as he will have his diary back (pickpocketing it does nothing) meaning there is no way to get the Pimp Boy at all. To get around this the courier must kill Cachino then talk to Big Sal who will buy the guns from Mick and Ralph if the courier selects the 50 speech check. Doing this will fail the mission but grant the player the Pimp Boy after talking to Mike.
 * If you proceed with killing Cachino and beginning the quests for the Omertas family, the receptionist that Mr. House sends to speak with you during The House Always Wins Part IV, may not give you the necessary speech options.
 * After receiving the option from Cachino to kill Clanden, occasionally, killing Clanden will result in a failed quest.
 * If the player chooses to bypass the quest and instead simply kill the Omertas, Big Sal may not necessarily become hostile. It is possible to approach him after fighting through the rest of the main floor and pass the Speech 50 check to convince him to buy from Mick and Ralph's. This will also advance For the Republic, Part 2 and prompt the player to lie to Colonel Moore even if the Omertas have been eliminated.