“The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. G.O.A.T.! Everyone here in the Vault takes it when they're sixteen.”— Dad
Future Imperfect is a main quest in Fallout 3. For completing this quest, you will get The G.O.A.T. Whisperer which is an achievement on the Xbox 360 and PC; and a bronze trophy on the PlayStation 3.
Quick walkthrough
| Main Quest: Future Imperfect | |||||
| Get to class and talk to Mr. Brotch about the G.O.A.T. | |||||
| Take the G.O.A.T. | |||||
| Turn in the G.O.A.T. | |||||
| Exit the classroom. | |||||
| Reward: Tag skills | |||||
| Leads to: Escape! | |||||
Detailed walkthrough
This quest takes place on August 3, 2274. After a talk with your dad, you're told to go to class and take the G.O.A.T.. Bobblehead - Medicine is on his desk; this is one of only three opportunities to take it. Exiting your dad's office, you run into Jonas and also see Stanley who is suffering of severe headaches and insomnia. Just outside the classroom, Amata is being harassed by Butch DeLoria and his gang, the Tunnel Snakes. There are a variety of choices that can be taken here:
- The player may pass a Speech check warning Butch that the Overseer will come down on the Tunnel Snakes if he continues his actions. This will earn good Karma.
- Also for good Karma, Wally Mack may be convinced that he is being used by Butch as a lackey, which causes him and Paul Hannon to leave the group.
- An even better karmic option here is fighting Butch and his gang. Once either the player or Butch is reduced to 50% health, the fight will stop (alternatively you can start the fight and run into the class room or to James' office. This will stop the fight and still give you good Karma).
- The only evil karmic option here is telling Butch that Amata is sensitive about her weight, giving him and his friends more ideas to make fun of her.
- Alternatively, the player may ignore the incident completely for no change in Karma.
- Another option that results in neutral karma, but without ignoring the problem, is to encourage Butch to insult Amata, then proceed to beat him up. This will result in both karma effects.
Keep in mind that the path you take here will determine your initial Karma levels in the game, and it will be very difficult to change your alignment afterwards (the Karma shift is quite high).
Mr. Brotch will approach the player as they enter. If asked whether you really have to take the test, he will allow you to skip it, and select your Tag skills directly. The player may also ask Mr. Brotch to fill out the G.O.A.T., whereupon he will ask what the player likes and will assign Tag skills accordingly. This won't earn the achievement, though. Otherwise, the player is to sit down at a desk, after which the G.O.A.T. will begin. See the G.O.A.T. article for information on the questions and how the answers given influence the results. If the Tag skills given are undesired, they may be changed by speaking with Mr. Brotch after the test.
Walking out of the classroom after setting your Tag skills will progress to the next quest, Escape! (the first main quest), which occurs after a three year transition.
Quest stages
Notes
- If you do not sit down for the test but bypass it through dialogue options with Mr. Brotch, you will not get the achievement "The G.O.A.T. Whisperer".
- If you wait and stand back you can listen to what everyone else got as they approach.
- Butch DeLoria is slated to be a hairdresser, much to Brotch's amusement. He is infuriated by the result and runs off. Despite his misgivings, during Trouble on the Homefront, he can give the player a haircut - though he insists on being called a "barber," which he claims is entirely different.
- Paul Hannon Jr. is slated for the Engineering Track. He finds the results reassuring, having initially feared the worst.
- Christine Kendall is slated to go into Maintenance. She and her mother wanted her to go into Science or Home Economics, and the unexpected result causes her to run out of the room in distress.
- Susie Mack is slated to go into teaching due to, according to Brotch, her gift for communication.
- Wally Mack walks out of the room without hearing the results of his G.O.A.T., saying over his shoulder how he knew which answers would lead to his ideal job, thus 'cheating' the test. Mr. Brotch is heard to remark: "Well I'll be damned, that little so and so, wish I'd thought of that when I was sixteen."
- Freddie Gomez is struggling with the test and stays behind to try to figure it out, and is eventually told by an irritated Brotch to hurry up and decide. He will continue to mull over the test until the quest is completed.
- If you activate the terminal in the office you start off in, you can read about an experiment that your dad and Jonas have done, foreshadowing Project Purity.
- Since you can change your Tag skills after taking the G.O.A.T.—and you can once again manually change these right before leaving Vault 101—it could be worthwhile for some players to Tag skills useful during Escape! and then select different skills right before leaving the vault. For example, players could select melee weapons as a Tag skill, relying on the baseball bat in dealing with any guards during the escape, and then drop melee weapons in exchange for a ranged weapon skill right before opening the outer door.
- Freddie Gomez has one particularly humorous line when speaking to him after the G.O.A.T. He may ask, "I was going to go with The Overseer for Question 10. What did you put?"
- A stimpak can be found on the doctor's tray when you leave the door to James' office; it is removed from your inventory once you turn 19 but two more can be found next to the same tray upon return during the next mission, Escape!.
Transition quotes
Full transition audio:
- "Boys and girls have different parts. Right? And when a boy and a girl love each other…"- Dad
- "What is their problem, anyway? So I'm the Overseer's daughter? So what? Like I get any kind of special treatment!"- Amata
- "No, Mister DeLoria, that is not correct. Tell me. Are you really that stupid?"- Mr. Brotch
- "Revelation, 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end…"- Dad
Bugs
- The test may fail to begin after the player sits in a desk. Some students may be scribbling some answers on their papers but nothing else will happen, requiring a reload. This commonly happens after fighting the Tunnel Snakes gang outside the door. If you wish to get the good Karma, talk to them instead. A workaround for this on the PS3 version is to save the game after Butch laughs and nothing else happens. When you reload, the test will continue normally. [verified]
- Mr. Brotch may not address the player after entering the classroom. This may happen if you have knocked out more than one of the Tunnel Snakes in the hallway when they were teasing Amata. [verified]
- After the blinding light appears right before the quest begins, you can see your father examining you, but he has stretched and bent fingers. [verified]
- If you knock out all the Tunnel Snakes and sit in the last seat on the right and right when the test starts you can get up and leave the room to skip the test. [verified]
- There is a rare occasion where one of the NPCs will not take a seat and thus the test would not begin. This can be easily fixed by reloading a previous save.[verified]
- A minor bug can occur where Christine Kendall will walk into Susie Mack before Susie has finished her dialogue talking to Mr. Brotch, she will stop moving and not complete her dialogue and therefore the player will not be able to hear the results of her or the characters that get their results after her. This can be stopped by the player walking against Christine until Susie finishes her dialogue. [verification overdue]
See also
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