8

Doctor 8 is a pre-War acoustician operating at Big MT in 2281.

Background
Doctor 8 is a pre-War doctor who became a think tank to continue his work at the Big Empty. Given his knowledge of the sonic emitter as well as equipment discovered in his Higgs Village house, and from the initial conversation between the courier and the 5 monitors, Doctor 8 specializes in sound technology.

He has lost the ability to talk due to damage sustained to his voice module during an encounter with an earlier visitor (Elijah). Since then, he has had to transmit RobCo sound waves, which appear in subtitles as patterned RobCo terminal symbols. However, after passing a high Science or Perception check, the Courier seems to understand his language without altering the subtitled text. His name references a possible obsessive-compulsory focus on octaves - the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. In his home (#108 in Higgs Village), there are groups of eight coffee cups, eight clocks, eight picture frames, eight plates, etc.

Quests

 * Old World Blues: If Klein can't be convinced otherwise, 8, along with 2 other members of the Think Tank, are needed to convince Klein to give up trying to escape the Big MT.
 * Picking Your Brains: After completing Welcome to the Big Empty, the player needs to talk to 8 and the rest of the think tanks.
 * Welcome to the Big Empty: The player has to talk to 8 along with the rest of the Think tank to complete the quest.
 * On The Same Wavelength: Though there is a language barrier between the player and Dr. 8, you can still communicate with him with a Perception of 7 or a Science skill of 75.

Effects of the players actions

 * If the player has shown 8 the fully upgraded sonic emitter and if the player doesn't have a 100 in Science or 85 in Medicine to convince Dr. Klein, 8 will side with the player in convincing Klein to back down.
 * If the player resolved On The Same Frequency with the good karma method, 8 will tell you about an audio sample as well as a Sink project in his house in Higgs Village.

Other interactions

 * When talking to 8 with a fully upgraded sonic emitter, he will be incredibly pleased with the player. In kind, he will give them 100 energy cells out of gratitude.
 * Through a humorous dialogue involving him 'warming up' the sonic emitter he will give the Courier 2 Cram and 2 duct tape (if male). After completing the quest On The Same Wavelength, the player can speak to the doctor about what he did to the sonic emitter.
 * If the player character is female, sympathizing with his 'needs' will earn you ten microfusion cells and a copy of Tæles of Chivalrie or ¡La Fantoma! if the character is male. You can go back to the doctor each day to ask him if he knows any good ways to "'pass' the 'time'", a clear euphemism, and he will give you the same gift, unless you ask him for something to "literally" pass the time, which yields an egg timer instead.

Appearances
8 appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on, Old World Blues.

Behind the scenes

 * His collection of clocks (seen in his home and his room in The Think Tank) may be a reference to Doc Brown from the movie "Back to the Future", whose home contained 60 clocks in addition to a large audio amplifier.
 * His name is a reference to infinity, as the number 8 is an infinite loop. This is featured in a conversation with Doctor Mobius.