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We made toys. We made children happy. That's all that mattered.— Arlen Glass

Arlen Glass is a ghoul living in The Slog in 2287.

Background

Cofounder of Wilson Atomatoys, Arlen was the lead toy designer until October 21, 2077. He worked tirelessly alongside his friend George Wilson to make toys to help children dream, to imagine a better future.[1] It was their passion to life that they pursued for the next thirty-five years, often at the expense of time spent with their families. Their flagship product, the Giddyup Buttercup (created by Arlen), became a smash hit on the market, eventually bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per annum, in spite of its excessive price tag ($16,000 per unit).[2]

However, as the years went by, the pressure on both of their families only increased. Arlen neglected his wife and daughter for years, focusing on his work as much as possible,[3] while George missed his son's birthdays, graduation and his wife's funeral. He brought on Marc Wilson as vice president in a bid to reconnect and eventually abdicated his position as company president to him in late 2077, believing that Marc grew into the toy business, despite initial reservations.[4] His son, turned bitter by years of parental neglect, immediately turned his back on his father's legacy. Sales forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2077 indicated that sales of the Giddyup Buttercup would decline in from $122,000,000 to $110,000,000, a year-over-year loss of 17%. They cited brand stagnation and market saturation at the current price point as reasons of the continuing decline.[2] While Arlen reacted to the news with incredulity,[5] he immediately set about finding new ways to enhance the brand's appeal. These included collectible variants (e.g. mythical horses), alternative markets for boys, Premium Princess lines, as well as promotional tie-ins with Hubris, Nuka-Cola and Vault-Tec. Marc, on the other hand, had other ideas.[6]

The new president made a bid for the secretive SCYTHE Program initiated by the United States government to bolster their wartime production by converting part of the Atomatoys factory into an ordnance production facility.[7] His application was accepted on September 1st, despite doubts by some of the Pentagon staff, as the Atomatoys factory exceeded the requirements specified for the project. Colonel Thomas Nelson, director of the SCYTHE Program, scheduled a visit in person while Wilson and Nathaniel Hawke set about converting three of the five assembly lines for military production of land mines.[8] The first phase of the conversion was completed by October 15, a week ahead of schedule, with production scheduled to begin on November 1.[9]

Arlen was kept out of the loop. He tinkered with leg servos,[10] new paint schemes (missing his daughter's recital),[11] while none of the executives returned his calls or moved forward with his licensing proposals. By October 20, Arlen was desperate to make any sort of headway on his projects, to have something to show at the board meeting.[12] He did not expect to see a representative of the military at the meeting, much less hear about the values of the company being betrayed in favor of patching its budget by manufacturing weapons for the Army.[13] Forty-five minutes into the board meeting, Arlen exploded and had to be removed from the premises by security. He tried in vain to enter and talk to Marc Wilson to dissuade him from the course he chose, but only succeeded in being removed several more times and forcing security to notify the police.[14][15] The CEO fired him immediately.[16] His dismissal was a shock to all employees of the company, who considered him to be the heart and soul of the place.[17]

Arlen made one last bid to try and convince Marc to change his mind on the morning of October 23, 2077. He left his Cambridge apartment and made his way to the Wilson Atomatoys headquarters. Although he was promptly removed, he managed to convince the security guard to deliver his final plea to Marc, who promptly threw it in the trash. When the bombs started dropping, Arlen tried to make his way back to his family in Cambridge, but when he came home, he only found a massive, irradiated crater. Traumatized, he just lay among the ruins, wanting nothing but to die and join his family. Instead, he survived, and the radiation from the crater turned him into a ghoul.[18] He kept on going, using his talents as a toymaker and expert engineer to get by, always haunted by the memory of his family and especially young Marlene, lost without so much as a goodbye. His focus on toys and technology helped him stay sane for over two hundred years, eventually settling down at the Slog, helping out the ghoul farmers with his expertise and trying to put one more Giddyup Buttercup together, for old times' sake and to perhaps gift it to a child in the wasteland. Although a wrench and a tool is far cry from the high-tech facilities he once had at his disposal, he keeps on going.[19]

Interactions with the player character

Interactions overview

Interactions
Icon quest starter
This character starts quests.

Giddyup 'n Go

Quests

Giddyup 'n Go - Arlen asks the Sole Survivor to travel to the Wilson Atomatoys factory and recover spare parts for a project he is working on. If asked for a reward, he'll offer a base payment of 150 caps and can be pushed into offering 225 or 300 caps with some speech checks. A third reward speech check, if passed, will give a Wilson Atomatoys ID card, used in the quest.

Other interactions

If the Sole Survivor takes Marlene's holotape from Arlen's office at Atomatoys HQ, a new dialogue option will be unlocked that allows the Sole Survivor to give him the tape and caps will be given as a reward, as well as a unique version of the Giddyup Buttercup toy called Buttercup toy.

Inventory

Notes

  • If one chooses to give him the toy parts, they may find the completed toy along with Arlen's note several days later. The note says, "For a child who needs it. -Arlen Glass." It is currently unknown if this will spawn anywhere else, although it most likely appears as a random location. A possible location is just southwest of the Boston mayoral shelter.
  • He can be killed and usually ends up in this state during and after the quest Defend The Slog.
  • If the player character has already visited the Atomatoys HQ (but is not carrying the parts) they can simply tell Arlen where to find the parts he needs. Arlen will then give caps and will leave a completed Giddyup Buttercup toy some time later.
  • If the player character gives Arlen the holotape from his daughter, he will leave The Slog and wander the Commonwealth. Wiseman will thank the Sole Survivor, as he doesn't know what the Sole Survivor did, but will mention that Arlen finally made peace with his past and left. Arlen can still be seen occasionally at the Cambridge crater.

Appearances

Arlen Glass appears only in Fallout 4.

Bugs

PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Xbox OneXbox One If the initial interaction with him is interrupted, it may cause him to no longer speak with the Sole Survivor, but just say "Hmmm..." to any attempt at conversation, making it impossible to start his quest. Killing and resurrecting with use of the console does not fix this.[verified]

  • This can be fixed with the console command setstage DN154 20.

References

  1. Marc's warning
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; development office terminal, Sales Forecasts
  3. Marlene's holotape
  4. Resignation letter
  5. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; development office terminal, DRAFT: RE: Sales Forecast
  6. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; development office terminal, Project Brainstorming
  7. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; president's terminal, SCYTHE Program Approval
  8. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; president's terminal, SCYTHE Program Specifications
  9. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; operations terminal, SCYTHE Status Report
  10. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; development lab terminal, 10/14
  11. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; development lab terminal, 10/17
  12. Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ terminal entries; development lab terminal, 10/20
  13. Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ terminal entries; security terminal, 10/21/77
  14. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; security terminal, 10/22/77
  15. Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ terminal entries; security terminal, 10/23/77
  16. Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ terminal entries; reception terminal, Security Bulletin: Arlen Glass
  17. Office note
  18. The Sole Survivor: "What happened to them?"
    Arlen Glass: "We had an apartment, in Cambridge. I went to the office that morning, to try to talk to Marc again. When... when it all happened, I tried to get back, but the city was in chaos. By the time I got home... there was only a crater. I lay down in the ruins. I... I just wanted to die. Instead... I woke up like this."
    (ArlenGlass.txt)
  19. The Sole Survivor: "How's it going?"
    Arlen Glass: "Slowly. This old girl was made with the best pre-war technology. Precision tools. High-end electronics. I'm out here in a pool shed with a wrench. But don't you worry. I'll get her done. Eventually."
    (ArlenGlass.txt)
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