Chris Haversam

Chris Haversam is a mechanic living in the REPCONN test site in Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
Chris Haversam grew up in Vault 34 and was assigned as the vault engineer due to his technical aptitude (and preference for machines that don't shoot people, which made him a preferred pick over Houser and Mitchell. He was often sent to work on the reactor, which he believed would turn him into a ghoul, although most of the management dismissed his claims as neurotic.

Eventually his hair began falling out due to natural reasons, but Chris insisted he was becoming a ghoul due to radiation from the Vault reactor and subsequently left the Vault. Ironically, the Vault descended into chaos shortly after his departure, when the reactor became unstable and began leaking dangerous radiation, turning most of the residents into actual ghouls.

Believing himself to be a ghoul, Haversam joined the Bright Brotherhood in 2279. He could not be convinced that he was a human, so Jason Bright decided to accept him into his congregation believing him to been sent by the creator to ensure the success of the "Great Journey." Bright also believes that Haversam is blessed with ignorance: both that he is not a ghoul and that he cannot join them on their journey. There is no malice in this decision, however: they would take him if they could. With his technical expertise, Chris was made the engineer in charge of the entire project to accomplish their goal.

Quests

 * Come Fly With Me: Chris sends the player out to get Isotope-239 igniting agent and thrust control modules so the ghouls' rockets can take off.

Effects of player's actions

 * The player can convince Chris that he is indeed human with a or with the Black Widow perk, and the rest of the Bright Brotherhood are going on the rockets without him. They are then given the choice to help him sabotage the rockets so they explode flight. Alternatively, through extensive dialogue you can convince Chris not to sabotage the rockets, he will then forgive the ghouls for their deceit, and send them off with no hard feelings before heading for Novac.
 * After the quest is over, he can be found milling about Novac. If the player talks Chris out of his hard feelings for the ghouls before the launch, but then sabotages the controls anyway, Chris will remark that he was lucky not to have been on the rockets when visited in Novac. If the player admits to sabotaging the controls, Chris will yell, "You bastard! Those ghouls declared me a saint!" and then turn hostile. Though he carries a 10mm pistol, he won't fight back.

Other interactions

 * Because he thinks he's a ghoul, Chris calls the player smoothskin and speaks rudely to the Courier. He also speaks in the distinct gravelly voice that is typical of ghouls.

Behind the scenes

 * Chris is revered as a saint by the ghouls for the help he provided to help them on their journey. This is likely a reference to Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.
 * The discrepancy between Chris Haversam's dialogue and the backstory of the Boomers is unintentional, as Chris was written much earlier in development than the Boomers.

Bugs

 * If Chris is killed after telling him to begin the launch, but before the launch itself, his body will appear in Novac.
 * After completing the quest without convincing him of his humanity, he may simply say "Not now, its almost time for the Great Journey." over and over again without acknowledging the fact that they've already left without him. This can happen even if you convince him of his humanity through speech checks. If this happens, he will remain in the control room indefinitely rather than moving to Novac. In order to avoid this bug, make sure to first convince Haversam that he is human (make sure that's the first dialogue you make with him), and then its safe to start his quests (gather thruster and then the green substance). An alternate solution is as followed. After handing over the 2nd item and telling Haversam to start, Jason Bright will start his speech. Player MUST wait (and listen) until Jason will finish his speech. After that Haversam will run to the exit. The bug can happen even if you convince Chris he is human before starting his quests. If Jason's speech still gets cut off and Chris stays stuck in the basement, before telling Chris to initiate the rocket launch, pick the dialogue option to delay the launch instead, leave the area, wait, then speak to Chris again, this seems to fix the bug, Jason will give his full speech, then Chris will run for the exit afterward.
 * If you convince Chris to sabotage the rockets then return to talk to him after they crashed he will start the dialog that normally follows if you sabotage the navigational controls.
 * Make sure you proceed directly to where Chris tells you to when you first enter the REPCONN facility. Do not attempt to pick the lock to the facility basement and kill all the nightkin before you get the quest to do so. Doing so will result in an irrevocable bug that causes Chris to die as soon as you enter the Brightfollower labs upstairs. Even using the resurrect console command won't fix it, because as soon as Chris dies, you fail the quest.
 * A fix to the problem stated above would be to stack items high enough in the hole in the ceiling by the back entrance so that you can jump through it. If you jump through the hole and enter the back door before entering the front one Chris will not die and you can continue the quest as planned. I used an incinerator and 3 cartons of cigs.
 * Chris may leave the terminal room before giving him the thruster making it impossible to complete the quest.
 * After completing the quest and rigging the rockets to explode, it is possible that Chris will stay in the basement, but his dialogue is the same as if he was back in Novac. He also forgets that he helped the player character sabotage the rocket entirely and will attack you if you remind him that it was you that sabotaged the rockets.

Appearances
Chris Haversam appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.