“The quick... the quick scribe... jumped over the lazy paladin.”
Knight Christine Royce[2] is a mute human prisoner trapped in the Sierra Madre in 2281.
Contents
Background
Royce is a member of the Circle of Steel, the internal affairs of the Brotherhood of Steel. She was a scribe[3] in the Brotherhood of Steel before joining the Circle of Steel at the rank of knight. During her life in California, she was in love with Veronica Santangelo.[4] However, due to then-Elder Elijah's intervention, the two were separated: Santangelo stayed in the Mojave chapter, while Royce joined the Circle.[1][5][6][7]
When Elijah abandoned the Brotherhood after the disastrous defense of HELIOS One from the New California Republic Army, he left a trail of crimes across the wasteland. As word of these crimes reached the Circle, Christine was dispatched to track him down. She managed to locate him at Big MT. However, once she confronted her mark at Little Yangtze, they were interrupted by security robots. The elder escaped using the ghoulified Chinese prisoners as walking bombs while Royce was wounded and taken to the Y-17 medical facility for processing.[8] During the course of experiments at the facility (involving jamming electrodes into the skull, and, in her own words: "Making a flashlight out of [her] head."), her brain was damaged to the point of her losing the ability to read and write words properly (although she can still do equations and mathematical sums).[9][10]
It was there that she was rescued by Ulysses, who blew up part of the facility just to get her out. She recovered with him for several days in a nearby cave, where they discussed philosophy and the failure of modern civilizations like the New California Republic or Caesar's Legion to forge a new future. Once Ulysses met the Think Tank and received his answers, the two separated.[11] Christine left Big Mountain with the Mark I stealth suit and resumed her quest to find Elijah. Her original armor and rifle were left behind.
She eventually tracked him to the Sierra Madre Casino & Resort, where she was captured by his slave, Dog, and forced to work for him in breaking into the Sierra Madre while fitted with an explosive collar. At some point, she was also locked in an Auto-Doc in the Villa's Medical District by Dean Domino, where her vocal cords were torn out. The Auto-Doc repeated the procedure for two weeks in which Christine eventually developed claustrophobia as a result.[12][13] She later regains use of her voice when the operation is completed by the Auto-Doc in Vera Keyes' hotel room. It is there that it is revealed that her capture and replacement of her voice was part of Domino's plan to break into the Sierra Madre vault, as the elevator could only be activated by the voice of the long-dead Keyes.[14]
Interactions with the player character
Interactions overview
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This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. Status expires when Last Luxuries begins. | |
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This character is a permanent companion. They grant the Signal Interference perk. | |
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This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests
- Find Collar 12: Christine: The Courier has to travel to the villa clinic to find her. Once inside, they have to release her and take her to the fountain in front of the Sierra Madre.
- Mixed Signals: The Courier has to escort Christine to the Puesta del Sol switching station to get her ready for her part of the Trigger the Gala Event quest.
- Last Luxuries: The Courier has to find and confront Christine in the Sierra Madre Casino & Resort.
- Heist of the Centuries: Christine can use her new voice to unlock the elevator to the Sierra Madre vault.
Other interactions
- When the Courier travels with Christine, she will be able to block out radio and speaker signals for a short time. She will also increase the amount of time taken for the collar to detonate.
- She knows how to counterfeit Sierra Madre chips, and can give the player character the Coin Operator perk with the right dialogue options.
- If the player character has at least 75 Medicine and initiates "You were badly hurt by that Autodoc" dialogue option, there is an additional dialogue option when discussing Christine's love interest ("Oh, girlfriend") and one can easily calm her down, stating that the player character understands her situation; if the player character has the Cherchez La Femme or Confirmed Bachelor perk there is an additional interaction with Christine when they leave her at her post before the Gala Opening. If the Courier accepts to hold Christine's hand, they can promise that they will return for her.
- She can be intimidated with the Terrifying Presence perk to be forced into the elevator in the Mixed Signals quest. This results in a loss of Karma.
Endings
This section is transcluded from Dead Money endings. To change it, please edit the transcluded page.
| # | Slide | Voice-over narration | In-game condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Christine, scarred by her hunt for Elijah and unable to let him go, perished in the Sierra Madre Casino. She never completed her mission, nor did she stop to consider what had driven her to accept the mission in the first place. Obsession is another form of greed, a lesson that Christine never learned. |
Christine is dead. |
| 2 | |
Christine, her mission complete, found new purpose as the Sierra Madre's warden. She watched over it silently - by choice. Over time, the ghost people came to see her as one of the Holograms. They would watch, silently, as she walked among them. At times, Christine thought of the Courier, who had kept Elijah's hand from her throat. The Courier reminded her of the other courier she had met in the Big Empty, and wondered if the two had found each other at last. She did not think of them again until she heard the legends of the Divide. The Divide, where the two messengers, the two couriers, fought beneath an ancient flag, at the edge of the world. |
Christine is alive. |
Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wasteland doctor fatigues Sierra Madre armor, reinforced (during the final quest), explosive collar |
Notes
- The player character must have a high Perception or Intelligence in order to understand her properly. Various skill checks require: PER 6, 8; INT 6, 7; Speech 50; Science 60, 75; Medicine 60, 75; Explosives 60. (Explosives 60 and Science 60 are both options in the same conversation and give the same result.) The Math Wrath, Cherchez La Femme and Confirmed Bachelor perks, as well as Power Armor Training and Brotherhood of Steel reputation, give additional conversation options.
- As a result of her imprisonment in the Auto-Doc, Christine has developed claustrophobia.
- Her dialogue indicates that she may have developed some kind of alexia from what happened to her in the Big MT.
- In Old World Blues, when speaking to Dala, the player character has the option to say "The quick scribe jumps over the lazy paladin" for observational purposes, which Christine also says. The above line is also a play on the well-known phrase, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," which itself is an English pangram, a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet.
- She is the third shortest adult character in game; her height is only 92% of the normal size. Other small characters are Sunny Smiles (95%), Sammy Weathers (92.5%), the Gomorrah floor manager (90%) and the shortest, Irate Ida (85% of normal height).
Notable quotes
- "Love makes people do strange things. Won't argue that. It can drive you crazy sometimes if you can't... connect."
- "The quick... the quick scribe... jumped over the lazy paladin."
- "The Divide? There's nothing there."
- "...wait, an explosion outside. Someone's here... someone's..."
- "Never going back... and Elijah was on his way here, so I couldn't stop to see if it was something I could fix... if you can even fix what happened to me when they jabbed the electrodes into my skull and turned my head into a flashlight."
Behind the scenes
“There are technical reasons (that I’ve gone over before) for why DLC characters can’t come back into the main game/reference each other. That’s separate from any narrative reasons why Christine and Veronica couldn’t interact, though I should also say that I conceived Veronica’s F:NV plot arc before/separately from what Chris Avellone developed for Dead Money.
I think Veronica is relatively happy (an important qualifier in setting where most things are miserable) and any tragedy in her ending slides has more to do with the state of the BoS than her personal relationships. Most other companions don’t speak of their romantic relationships. Arcade and Cassidy mention some in passing, but nothing in particular. Boone’s wife is the source of a lot of personal anguish. You could make an argument that Boone’s or Veronica’s relationships are more tragic than the other, but both of them qualify as not good.”— Joshua Sawyer on Tumblr[6]
I think Veronica is relatively happy (an important qualifier in setting where most things are miserable) and any tragedy in her ending slides has more to do with the state of the BoS than her personal relationships. Most other companions don’t speak of their romantic relationships. Arcade and Cassidy mention some in passing, but nothing in particular. Boone’s wife is the source of a lot of personal anguish. You could make an argument that Boone’s or Veronica’s relationships are more tragic than the other, but both of them qualify as not good.”— Joshua Sawyer on Tumblr[6]
“Hi Josh! My question is about F:NV and the DLC Dead Money (my favorite~ ha) I have to admit, after meeting Christine and running as fast as I could to Veronica to explain my experience in that world, I was disheartened to only give her a holotape from her previous Elder and not get a reaction from her about, who I assumed to be, her previous lover. Was there ever going to be a dialogue option about them? I guess I'm asking for closure :')
I cannot speak for Chris Avellone (who wrote and directed Dead Money), but I believe we were limited by time/scheduling. Veronica was written and recorded for the base New Vegas game with (IIRC) only a few hooks for Dead Money. I think reactions to Dead Money content itself would have required a more comprehensive level of (way) advanced planning, i.e., we would have needed to know exactly what Veronica was reacting to in Dead Money at the time that we recorded her for New Vegas.
Either that or we would have needed to book Felicia Day for more studio time during the development of Dead Money. That can also be difficult and expensive, especially since voice actors and studio time are generally booked in multiple hour blocks. It’s difficult to justify if the character is only saying two or three new lines.
It also gets a little messy when trying to decide where to draw the line. I think a lot of people would love to see some resolution between Christine and Veronica, but what about Caesar responding to the events of Honest Hearts? I wrote Joshua Graham and directed Honest Hearts, so I can speak more definitively to that. The limited reactivity Caesar could have about JG/HH wouldn’t really justify the expense of bringing John Doman back into the studio. And of course the new dialogue (minor as it might be) would still need to be tested. Caesar had one of the most complex dialogues in New Vegas, so it’s something we really tried to avoid messing with once the game shipped.
I know that might seem a little silly, but because recording expenses can be high and recording sessions typically happen late in development, it’s often safer to err on the side of caution.”— J.E. Sawyer on technical limitations behind the decision to not provide definite resolution for Christina and VeronicaAppearances
Christine Royce appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money. However, her voice is also heard in the add-on Old World Blues and she is mentioned in the add-on Lonesome Road.
Bugs
If the player character has Dean Domino or Dog/God as a companion, the camera may center directly through the player character's head (or chest) during the first bit of dialogue with Christine. [verified]
- A possible fix is setting any companions to wait before starting a dialogue with her.
Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Courier: "Ever been in love?"
Veronica Santangelo: "Ever been nosy? I was, once. We were pretty young, but I like to think it was love."
The Courier: "What happened?"
Veronica Santangelo: "She left the Brotherhood. Wanted to put some distance between herself and her parents. Since our membership isn't open to outsiders, some members think that obligates all of us to procreate. You can guess which camp her parents belonged to."
The Courier: "You didn't go with her?"
Veronica Santangelo: "No. Couldn't bring myself to leave everyone else behind. Couldn't convince her to stay, either. I'd hoped love would be enough to influence her decision, but it wasn't. We were both too stubborn. I don't know where she is now, but I'm sure she's moved on. I still think about her, though. Once in a while."
(Veronica Santangelo's dialogue) - ↑ Christine Royce: "This is Knight Christine Royce, of the Brotherhood... Christine Royce."
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "[BOS] You were a Brotherhood of Steel Scribe?"
Christine Royce: [She nods. She looks impressed.]
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ Chris Avellone on Twitter November 19, 2019
- ↑ The Courier: "You were looking for someone?"
Christine Royce: [She nods and raises a finger.]
The Courier: "A robot?"
Christine Royce: [She shakes her head and pumps her fist near her chest.]
The Courier: "Man?"
Christine Royce: [She nods. She makes a motion with her hands around her chin, drawing it down, and then she raises her hands and clenches them at the sky.]
The Courier: "Or a woman?"
Christine Royce: [She shakes her head... then stops mid-way, frowns... then tilts her head, as if thinking. She seems lost in thought for a moment.] [She glances at you, as if caught, then she smiles slightly, but there's an edge to it. Then she shakes her head, slowly, once.]
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Frog Helm Fan Club on Veronica and Christine reactivity in Dead Money by Joshua Sawyer
- ↑ Frog Helm Fan Club on Tragic Lesbian trope and by Joshua Sawyer
- ↑ Patient log: Y-17.0
- ↑ The Courier: "You said you got off lucky?"
Christine Royce: "Yeah... I saw records of other "patients," and what had been done to them. Some couldn't hear anything but static. Others, just... gibbering wrecks. Never going back... and Elijah was on his way here, so I couldn't stop to see if it was something I could fix... ...if you can even fix what happened to me when they jabbed the electrodes into my skull and turned my head into a flashlight. Then I got here, and my voice got severed... now I have a new one. Another thing Elijah has to answer for."
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Can the Auto-Doc heal your scars?"
Christine Royce: "No... they run a lot deeper than that. While I was hunting Elijah in the Big Empty, he trapped me in one of those medical research centers buried there. It... did something to my head... and I got off lucky. It's difficult enough to read now, and somehow the leap between what's in my head and words... ...it just ends up being a mish-mash of symbols, not letters. Can still do math, formulas, equations... writing poetry's out."
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ Ulysses log Y-17.15
- ↑ Christince Royce: "Did you know the Stimpak reservoirs ran out within an hour of being in there? I was in there for two weeks, and it kept... repeating the procedure."
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Those facial scars weren't done by the Auto-Doc - the throat scar was."
Christine Royce: [SUCCEEDED] [She nods... slowly, then puts her hand in front her throat, closes it slowly, then points at you.]
(Christine Royce's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Elijah didn't put you in the Auto-Doc... Dean did."
Christine Royce: "Dean? Dean Domino? Why would he want to torture me? If he wanted to do that, he could keep his singing career going... or keep staring at me."
The Courier: "He wasn't trying to torture you, he needed to alter your voice to use an audio-lock."
Christine Royce: "An audio-lock to where? To the Sierra Madre vault. It's voice-activated. And he wanted in. That makes sense. So... those bodies in the Clinic... all right. Dean always felt like the odd one out, and he kept... studying me. He was trying to figure out if I recognized him... and see if my throat healed. I'll deal with you first, then I'll deal with him."
(Christine Royce's dialogue)
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