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Mobius
Biography and appearance
RaceThink tank
GenderMale
AffiliationThink Tank (formerly)
RoleScientist
Old World Blues antagonist
LocationBig MT, Forbidden Zone Dome Entrance
Dialogue FileMobius' dialogue
Gameplay
QuestsWelcome to the Big Empty
Old World Blues
Statistics
AlignmentNeutral
SPECIALStrength: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 5
Luck: 10
Derived StatsHit Points: 300 → 400 → 500 → 600 → 700
DT: 15
Tag SkillsCombat Skill: 60 → 70 → 80 → 90 → 100
Level15 → 20 → 30 → 40 → 50
Technical
Editor IDNVDLC03DoctorMobius01
Base IDxx00c1cfRef IDxx004034
Editor FactionsNVDLC03MobiusFaction
NVDLC03RobotFaction
ActorCam Clarke
 

You will never survive my deadly robo-scorpions, technological terrors and, uh, um... BIGGER, more ATOMIC versions of these things!

— Mobius

Doctor Mobius is a think tank operating in the Big MT in 2281. He is the leader of the robo-scorpion army and nemesis of Dr. Klein and his team.

Background[]

Doctor Mobius was one of the Big MT "Think Tank" executives before the Great War. Sometime after the War, he became a think tank in order to continue his work at Big MT.

After the escape of the cazadores and night stalkers, Mobius became disillusioned with the methods of the other think tanks. He grew tired of the endless and horrible experimentation, and was deeply afraid of the damage the amoral and psychosis-ridden scientists would wreak upon the fragile, post-apocalyptic world in the name of Science.[1]

Mobius voiced these concerns with Klein and they had a falling out, resulting in Mobius being exiled from The Think Tank; furthermore, Klein removed all the chips of all personalities of The Sink (Mobius' room and personal laboratory)[2] and flung them over the balcony, ridding the Think Tank of all things that belonged to the exiled Mobius.[3] Mobius erected a radar fence – a kind of radar-guided repulsive field – around the perimeter of Big MT to prevent the disembodied brains from escaping into the wasteland.[4]

However, he realized the radar fence would not be enough to keep them in Big MT. So, against their will, Mobius remotely hacked the data banks of his colleagues, reprogramming their chronometers, geometers and cartography programs, making them lose their sense of history, time and the world beyond Big MT to the point that they now believe Big MT is the world and nothing exists beyond its mountainous boundary.[1] He went even further and accessed more personal information, reprogramming their own names to be part of a recursion loop to lock up the Think Tank's processors; he even left hints of this recursion in their new cyclical names.[1][5] In the process of making these alterations though, he also damaged some of their memories and knowledge, leaving only mangled, disjointed versions behind. Disgusted to have done this to his friends, he also erased some sections of his own memory, like this event and his pre-War creation, the robo-scorpion, before exiling himself.[5][6] Like the others, he forgot a part of his personality and his real name, due to the recursion loop in their new perception programming.[7]

Afterward, Mobius moved to the X-42 robo-warfare facility (which he dubbed the "Forbidden Zone") and began to "recreate" the robo-scorpion, inspired by radscorpions that had wandered into Big MT. These new versions included all features of the pre-War model, such as an energy bolt blaster in the tail, highly sensitive robotic eyes, and communication systems connected directly to his stronghold. Now in possession of a proper army, Mobius decided that without something to distract the other think tanks, the radar fence would eventually become insufficient to contain them.[8] He began sending repetitive, threatening broadcasts, laced with false notions that robo-scorpions were somehow able to consume intelligence from brains, fueling the Think Tanks' fear of leaving Big MT's central dome.[9] This also served to further distract them from their experiments, as it prompted the think tanks to focus on retrieving technologies with which to defend themselves instead, which kept them occupied and unable to escape the crater.[10][11][12] With the remaining think tanks trapped in the central dome by their exaggerated fear of Mobius, the Big MT fell mostly silent.

Although not originally aggressive in his intentions, Mobius' own behavior seems to have degraded over the years, likely in part due to an increasingly serious addiction to Mentats and Psycho.[13][14] By 2281, his body had become severely damaged, partially rusted, and his right "eye" monitor smashed. He also began to suffer from short term memory loss, hallucinations, and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Although his plan had been ultimately successful, the recent arrival of Father Elijah, Christine, and Ulysses from the Mojave has caused the curiosity of the think tanks to begin pushing beyond the boundaries he had set for them.[15]

The arrival of the Courier, and the subsequent survival of their lobotomy, proved to be the last straw. Mobius unleashed a fresh wave of robo-scorpions and announced his false intention to finish off the other think tanks once and for all. Mobius stole The Courier's brain because it possessed the knowledge of a successful brain extraction, which would be able to replicate the procedure. However, Mobius subliminally suggested to the Think Tank that various technologies around the Big MT would help them against him. These technologies ‒ a sonic emitter, an X-2 antenna, and a Stealth suit Mk II ‒ are actually all the components required to rehouse a brain inside a body and allow the body to leave Big MT.[16][17][18] Eventually, the Courier defeated the X-42 giant robo-scorpion, entered the Forbidden Dome, and confronted Mobius.

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed.
This character is involved in quests.

Quests[]

  • Welcome to the Big Empty: Mobius interrupts your conversation with the Think Tank and threatens them with robo scorpions.
  • Old World Blues: You are to go to Mobius' lair and either kill him or reason with him.

Other interactions[]

  • He will offer the Courier a Mentat upon interacting with him through dialogue, once per 24 hours.
    • If you have consumed alcohol and Mobius asks you if you would like a Mentat you may turn it down saying you would rather avoid mixing it with alcohol.
    • If you are already addicted to a drug when he asks you if you want some Mentats you can refuse stating you are tripping as it is already.

Inventory[]

Apparel
-
Weapon
-
Carried items
-
Drops on death
empty

Notes[]

  • Mobius mixes up a few of his words often. For example, instead of saying reason, quite, and desert, he'll instead say raisin, quiet, and dessert.
  • If you say that you "think you're going to kill him", Mobius claims he's never been killed before (obviously true), and that he's eager to see how it goes, obviously keeping to the nature of the Think Tanks. He'll still fight back and summon his robo-scorpion army, though.
  • If you enter combat with Mobius, he will activate a Stealth Boy, and it will become impossible to target him in V.A.T.S. However, his monitors will still be active, making him easiy to track. He will also summon several robo-scorpions.
  • Dr. Mobius has significantly more health than the other Think Tank members. He also becomes stronger as the player's level increases, increasing in power every 10 player levels. The only other Think Tank member that also increases in power with the player's level is Dr. Klein.
  • Although he is at first shown to be the antagonist of the Big MT, he is in actual fact saving the surrounding areas by confining the think tanks to the dome where they cannot perform their immoral experiments on the rest of the Mojave. (Borous alone is responsible for creating cazadores and nightstalkers).
  • Mobius programmed the Sink Central Intelligence Unit to accept bottle caps as a debug command.
  • You can't yield to Mobius. Your decision to assault him is final.
  • Mobius refers to tripping on psycho and Mentats. This can be seen in the upper rooms of the Forbidden Zone dome, which contains both samples of psycho, and an extremely large supply of Mentats.
  • He was responsible for the creation of all of The Sink intelligences except for Muggy.
  • If Dr. Mobius survives the final Old World Blues quest, the Courier may return to Dr. Mobius and ask for Mentats. Dr. Mobius, through a round about way of speaking, will inform the Courier that more will be available every 24 game hours.
  • He has the most damaged and rusted body compared with other Think Tank members.

Notable quotes[]

  • "I see you. Now, I end you."
  • "I consider "coincidence" to be profanity, along with the words, "astrology," "herbal tea," and "luck." So watch it, Potty Mouth."
  • "Mighty Think Tank... still c-c-c-c-cowering in your Dome? Cower, you fools. Cower."
  • "Well, there's many things they have forgotten, sitting in their bowls. Friendship. The thrill of discovery. Love. Masturbation. The usual. Much like your brain, I am certain there is something you can spark within each of them. Memories, hormones... ...a wise man once said, the eyes do more than see. Make them see, if you can. Or, if not, you can always make them succumb to fear... it certainly worked for me. For a time. Then you came along, and bravery and/or desperation trumped that little idea. Back to the drawing board, I suppose. Or is this the end? Hard to tell."
  • "Oh, a variety of raisins... you're something of a homily. Er, anomaly? You're really quiet special, and not in the cranially-challenged way. You see, you are the most successful brain extraction experiment ever performed here at Big MT. A victim of your own success, as it were. If you were to go back with what your brain knows about the procedure, well... ...your brain could be popped back in and you could walk right out of here. Can't have brains moving around of their own volition." (Mobius on why he stole the Courier's brain)
  • "It is I, Dr. Mobius, transmitting from my dome-shaped... dome in the Forbidden Zone. A zone... that is, yes... forbidden to you."
  • "In any event, you showed up at the Think Tank, and because you had suffered a cranial injury in just the right place... Bullets in the head are usually much more fatal, and yours was a light case of bullet-head-itis. But... it was enough for the Auto-Doc in the Sink to change its programming to fix the problem. And the brain extraction technology for once, worked. That gave the Think Tank the knowledge its brains shouldn't... couldn't... sh'couldn't possess. With that knowledge, the procedure can be reversed. If they obtain that procedural data, they can use it to mush and modify their cranial selves into hosts to slip past the Radar Fence, I'm sure of it. And once they're off the reservation..."
  • "2 plus 2 equals... 4-Bidden, idiots of the Think Tank!"
  • "Ah, trying to steal the X-2 Transmitter Array Antenna, are you? You won't succeed, not if my lethal Robo-Scorpions have any say in the matter."
  • "Depth perception is a problem with this old monitor of mine. Went black a while ago. That's old age for you. Should look at getting the visual nerves re-attached... it's just that the right eye would see the wrong things. The flying tortoises were the worst. Would you care for a Mentat?"
  • "Dr. O... which is actually not his real name multiplied, since you can't multiply his real name in the first place... Ouro-bor-ous, Klein... They have all forgotten themselves. And not only themselves, but the world, sense of time, and history. All that is left is what's here. I reprogrammed their chronometers, geometers, and cartography programs. This is now their world, here, Big MT. It was a merciful lobotomy, really, thinking back. They were my friends, but... sometimes they would take things too far. And the world isn't ready for that kind of too-far-thing-taking. That's my professional opinion, anyway, and I am told I was once quiet professional."
  • "Well, every scientist needs an army. Mine came to me after these rather large scorpions kept coming in from the dessert. Like poisonous frosting. How scary, I thought! But they had survived when nothing else had. Perfect candidates for improvement, as a reward for their tenacity. Then I thought, what if they shot energy bolts and acted as walking eyes and data-drained computers and acted as bullhorns? Then I made them bigger. Then, I thought about... custard. I do so love custard. Or was it mustard? Mustard custard. Mmmm. I miss sugars and salts." (Mobius discussing his robo-scorpions)
[read more...]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Mobius was inspired by Dr. Edward Morbius, the antagonist in the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, as well as the name of his base was inspired by the name of the film.[19] He also references it in dialogue.
  • His name is also a reference to the Möbius strip or Möbius Band, a 3D object which topologically has only one side. The challenge to dress in his apparel is also called "Mobius Strip."
  • The 'murderous gang of thugs' that he said once went looking for a spine, a heart, and a brain, but had them all along is a reference to Frank L. Baum's book The Wizard of Oz. The thugs refer to The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man, and The Scarecrow respectively.
  • If the player character has taken the Wild Wasteland trait, Mobius will mention keeping several "Plan 9s in place". This is a reference to the cult-classic, 1959 science fiction/horror film "Plan 9 From Outer Space", written and directed by the infamous Edward D. Wood Jr.
  • The song Dr. Mobius occasionally sings in his lab ("Electron's attached to the... neutron. The neutron's attached to the... meson. Meson's connected to the... proton") is a parody of the spiritual song Dem Bones, also called Dry Bones.

Bugs[]

  • Xbox 360 If you talk to Mobius after defeating the giant robo-scorpion, you may be forced into killing him, as you can only end the conversation with "enough, I came here to kill you." This can be avoided if the player has a Repair skill of 75, permitting the player to repair the "ghosting" in his optical sensors. This will open up the conversation to leave him be without killing him.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Mobius appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Courier: "Klein... Mobius... 0's a circle... 8's an infinity symbol... they're all loops, I get it."
    Mobius: "[SUCCEEDED] O, you figured it out. No pun intended. Dr. O... which is actually not his real name multiplied, since you can't multiply his real name in the first place... Ouro-bor-ous, Klein... They have all forgotten themselves. And not only themselves, but the world, sense of time, and history. All that is left is what's here. I reprogrammed their chronometers, geometers, and cartography programs. This is now their world, here, Big MT. It was a merciful lobotomy, really, thinking back. They were my friends, but... sometimes they would take things too far. And the world isn't ready for that kind of too-far-thing-taking. That's my professional opinion, anyway, and I am told I was once quiet professional."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  2. The Courier: "I'll head out, then, and be back with these... things."
    Klein: "WELL. GOOD. WHAT ARE THE TOKEN WORDS SPOKEN IN THIS CASE... UH... "THANK YOU?" YES - THANK. YOU."
    Dala: "Wait, is it leaving? Uh, but... eh, Dr. Klein, the Lobotomite will need rest. Recuperation. Things like that. I volunteer my chambers so it might be stared at, my monitor radars slowly scanning its form to collect sensitive data."
    Borous: "-NO! That would put it too CLOSE to us! It could press BUTTONS, turn lights ON and OFF, and worse, let OTHER Lobotomites in!-"
    0: "*We could give it Mobius' old room. It's where its brain got scooped out anyway, and plus, some of its parts are already there.* *Might be more comforting for it to hang out with its spine and heart. Home is where the heart is, after all. See what I did there? Went literal.*"
    Klein: "I SUPPOSE. WE'LL HAVE TO MOVE THAT COUCH OUT OF THERE, BEEN PUTTING THAT OFF TOO LONG."
    8: "@@[$((*&^#%]@@."
    0: "*8 says let the Lobotomite take the Sink Central Intelligence Personality Chip and re-install it.* *That stuffy Mobius-programmed butt-ler can walk the Lobotomite, feed it, barter with it for us.*"
    Dala: "It would also prevent it from going to Higgs Village and taking up residence there. With my teddy bears. And it would be nice to have it so... close."
    Klein: "YOUR LOGIC COMBINED WITH MY DESIRE TO KEEP THE THINK TANK LOBOTOMITE-FREE HAS SWAYED ME. HERE, I PRESENT THE SINK CENTRAL "INTELLIGENCE." LOBOTOMITE, TAKE THIS CHIP TO THE SINK. PLUG IT IN, AND MAKE SURE THE CHIP IS CLEAN, OR IT COULD SKIP. THEN MAKE WHATEVER CRUDE BIOLOGIC DEMANDS YOU NEED OF THE SINK. IT WILL CATER TO MOST OF YOUR HORMONAL WHIMS."
    (Klein's, Dala's, Borous, 0's, and 8's dialogue)
  3. The Courier: "This chip looks like it was mass-produced. Are there other chips?"
    Klein: "[SUCCEEDED] ARE THERE OTHER CHIPS?"
    0: "*Are you... echoing what he said, or... are you asking for real?*"
    Dala: "He's asking, yes. Dr. Klein, there are many other personalities. If you recall, you hurled them off the Sink balcony after your argument with Mobius."
    Klein: "IT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT IF ONE IS CLEARLY RIGHT AND THE OTHER IS CLEARLY WRONG! I REMEMBER NOW. YES, LOBOTOMITE, THERE ARE OTHER CHIPS. IF YOU WANT, FIND THEM. I BELIEVE THEY ARE STORED ON HOLOTAPES IN MANY OF OUR FACILITIES. BUT YOU SHOULD STAY OUT OF THOSE - NO EXPLORING AND DISCOVERING THINGS. THE SINK CENTRAL "INTELLIGENCE" SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR YOUR... HEH... NEEDS."
    (Klein's, 0's, and Dala's dialogue)
  4. The Courier: "Why did you trap them?"
    Mobius: "The Radar Fence to keep the Think Tank hemmed in wasn't really enough. They keep testing things, they would have found a way to disarm it. I suspect I have Plan Cs/Plan 9s in place, but I may have coded myself to forget them, just in case... they're probably very dangerous, lethal, or worse. So I had to do something else to keep them occupied here. Or as you like to say "trapped." I prefer to have several plan Bs/Plan 9's in case the As/7s fail."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  5. 5.0 5.1 The Courier: "You reprogrammed their names as part of recursion loop? What, to trap their processors?"
    Mobius: "[SUCCEEDED] Now, "trap" is a rather harsh word. Like "excrement." Not an inappropriate word, but still - rather harsh. But... yes, I did... take some liberties with their programming. It's all right, they don't remember. I certainly didn't until you said "trap." And then I said "excrement." And then..."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  6. The Courier: "Minor detail, but a snake devouring its own tail is "Ouro-borus," not "Ouro-borous.""
    Mobius: "[SUCCEEDED] Really? It is so unlike me to make an error in anything I do."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  7. The Courier: "Sounds like you forgot your master plan - surprised you remember your own name."
    Mobius: "This name's as real as you or I, although I believe your brain expressed similar incredulity at the nature of such an appellation. Someone's been watching too many Old World science fiction movies, it said. I believe it meant me. I must admit I have a vulnerability for holotape fantasies of planets and robots and all that is forbidden. As for the name I was born with... ...like the Think Tank, we were all reprogrammed to forget them, take on new names. It enforces the recursion loop in our perception programming."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  8. The Courier: "Can you tell me about your Robo-Scorpions?"
    Mobius: "Well, every scientist needs an army. Mine came to me after these rather large scorpions kept coming in from the dessert. Like poisonous frosting. How scary, I thought! But they had survived when nothing else had. Perfect candidates for improvement, as a reward for their tenacity. Then I thought, what if they shot energy bolts and acted as walking eyes and data-drained computers and acted as bullhorns? Then I made them bigger. Then, I thought about... custard. I do so love custard. Or was it mustard? Mustard custard. Mmmm. I miss sugars and salts."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  9. Borous: "-BEWARE Dr. Mobius' army! His Robo-Scorpions crawl everywhere, in SEARCH of intelligence to devour and stupify!-"
    (Borous' dialogue)
  10. The Courier: "Klein said they had the idea to get the three technologies after your broadcast. Coincidence?"
    Mobius: "[SUCCEEDED] I consider "coincidence" to be profanity, along with the words, "astrology," "herbal tea," and "luck." So watch it, Potty Mouth. My threat broadcast is designed to instill... and install... fear. And along with the emotional download, other data rides the fear carrier wave. It prompted them to focus on retrieving those technologies and bring them to "attack" me. And coincidentally... pardon my language... all those technologies are needed to put a brain, your brain, back into its skull. Properly."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  11. The Courier: "Wait... sounds like you built the Robo-Scorpions, issued threats to keep the Think Tank occupied."
    Mobius: "Did I? Maybe I did. Can't have them leaving. Some reason for it. Ethics - or con-science? You and your Brain are quite alike, I'm sure it knows the raisins better than I do."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  12. The Courier: "If you lobotomized the Think Tank, why terrorize them?"
    Mobius: "Well, it's simple. Despite their many failings, they are rather bright. They are the "Think Tank" for a raisin. That, I didn't change. Without something to distract them, make them afraid, they would simply de-deuce what had happened. And when they start deucing it up... Then you came along, the final variable solved. They saw that their world was larger than they perceived. Bacteria, finally able to see its host."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  13. The Courier: "You don't seem aggressive. Why broadcast threats to the Think Tank?"
    Mobius: "Oh, I was probably tripping hard on Psycho when I sent that. Had to work myself up to it, not usually violent, except when I am. Then, huh! Watch out! So many chems, such varieties! Whenever I take Mentats, I can feel my entire chassis breeeeeathe like a big spherical lung. As for the Psycho, sometimes get the chem despositories in my tank all switched up, go in the wrong tube - still, served its purpose."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  14. The Courier: "Is that better?"
    Mobius: "Depth perception is a problem with this old monitor of mine. Went black a while ago. That's old age for you. Should look at getting the visual nerves re-attached... it's just that the right eye would see the wrong things. The flying tortoises were the worst. Would you care for a Mentat?"
    The Courier: "I'll save it for later."
    Mobius: "Mmm. I love Mentats. Delicious and smarty. I have all sorts of amazingly science-arific thoughts and ideas when those chalky tablets are zipping through my biogel. I forget them all not long after, though, especially with the data constipating my memory core. Afraid binary streams might shoot out my chassis. Had to start using the dome floor and walls here to inscribe equations, although I've somewhat lost track of where they start and end."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  15. The Courier: "Do you know anything about the other visitors?"
    Mobius: "Oh, not much, except they contaminated Big MT and installed new ideas in the Think Tank. One caused a great deal of infrastructure damage with his brain and smartyness. Ruthless, that one. Played a little rough with the trains. But the last one was the most dangerous. Him... eh... slipping away... that was almost as bad as the Think Tank escaping."
    The Courier: "What do you mean?"
    Mobius: "The first one, the ruthless one who smashed up our toy trains, asked for weapons, power. Items he could use to destroy a nation with force. The other... the other asked a different question, and with it, got the true answer. About what makes nations... and what breaks them. He spoke to the Think Tank, to Klein. Showed them the flag of the Old World... and it made them remember. All of it. All that had happened. They shared things with him that they shouldn't. He now carries those ideas, that knowledge elsewhere."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  16. Mobius: "In any event, you showed up at the Think Tank, and because you had suffered a cranial injury in just the right place... Bullets in the head are usually much more fatal, and yours was a light case of bullet-head-itis. But... it was enough for the Auto-Doc in the Sink to change its programming to fix the problem. And the brain extraction technology for once, worked. That gave the Think Tank the knowledge its brains shouldn't... couldn't... sh'couldn't possess. With that knowledge, the procedure can be reversed. If they obtain that procedural data, they can use it to mush and modify their cranial selves into hosts to slip past the Radar Fence, I'm sure of it. And once they're off the reservation..."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  17. The Courier: "Why did you steal my brain?"
    Mobius: "Oh, a variety of raisins... you're something of a homily. Er, anomaly? You're really quiet special, and not in the cranially-challenged way. You see, you are the most successful brain extraction experiment ever performed here at Big MT. A victim of your own success, as it were. If you were to go back with what your brain knows about the procedure, well... ...your brain could be popped back in and you could walk right out of here. Can't have brains moving around of their own volition."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  18. The Courier: "What is the purpose of the technologies?"
    Mobius: "The X-2 Antenna can be used to focus your alpha wave frequency thought patterns. The Sneaky Suit? Why, it houses a cardiac regulator. And the sonic soundwave projecto-emitter was never intended as a weapon. It was a medicinal vertebrae-pulse-de-sensitizer. In short: Brains, a heart, and courage... spine. I think there was a story once where a band of murderous thugs sought these things. They had them all the time in the story. Didn't stop them from murdering to get them, and it won't stop the Think Tank, either."
    (Mobius' dialogue)
  19. Chris Avellone on Twitter
Antagonists
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