Medical Mystery is an NCR side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: Medical Mystery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach Camp Forlorn Hope and speak with Dr. Richards in the medical center; talk about the rough state of the camp followed by the issue of supply theft. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Enter the medical center between 1:00 and 2:30 a.m. to catch Pvt. Stone in the act. | Pass a 50 Medicine skill check with Dr. Richards to identify the symptoms of Hydra abuse, and subsequent 50 Medicine check with Pvt. Stone to diagnose his own symptoms and expose him. | Talk to Pvt. Sexton in the barracks about the missing supplies. | Pickpocket the empty hydra syringe from Pvt. Stone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Report Pvt. Stone to Dr. Richards. | Pass a 60 Speech check to convince Pvt. Stone to turn himself in. | Pass a Speech check to persuade Pvt. Stone to stop the thefts in exchange for keeping his secret. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 300-360 XP NCR fame | Reward: 5 Hydra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest is started by reaching Camp Forlorn Hope to the northeast of Novac and talking with Dr. Alex Richards, medical officer for the camp in the medical center (recognizable by the large cross sign over the tent flap entrance). Although one interacts with Dr. Richards as part of Restoring Hope for Major Polatli, completing this quest is not required for that quest but it does confer a boost to "camp morale" that will improve the outcome.
Nighttime burglary[]
Asking him about the state of the camp, Dr. Richards will mention that among the issues they face is that his supply of medicinal drugs has been getting low and more due to theft than their stalemate against the Legion in Nelson, with the restorative Hydra being the most sought-after item. If not for his constant medical work, he'd have tried to stake out the culprit and have them jailed in the camp. One can offer to take up that job, for which he will agree, triggering the quest.
Richards mentions that the only time the thief would be able to enter the tent and pilfer his supply is early in the morning around 1 a.m. Once he mentions that his supply of Hydra is being stolen the most, one can also pass a 50 Medicine skill check to question him about the symptoms of abusing the chem as a means to identity the thief in the camp.
Catching the culprit[]
The shortest method for completing the quest requires simply waiting in or around the medical tent undetected until around 1 a.m. in the morning. Between then and around 2:30, one will notice Private Stone enter/exit the medical tent, crouched down to be stealthy, and attempt to steal the supplies. At this point, the quest can progress in one of several ways:
- Ignore his movements and let him escape, then report to Dr. Richards, completing the quest and garnering 300 XP and NCR fame.
- Confront Stone and pass a 60 Speech check to convince him to turn himself in for the thefts. Talk to Dr. Richards after to garner 60 XP for the check plus the original additional 300 XP, Karma gain, and NCR fame.
- Confront Stone and allow him to offer a bribe in exchanging for keeping quiet about his theft, garnering a supply of five doses of Hydra.
- One can also turn Stone in even if he gives you the five hydras, completing the quest and garnering the 300 XP and NCR fame as well as Karma loss for betraying Stone.
- Confront Stone in the medical tent, end the conversation and let him escape, and then turn him in to Dr. Richards.
- Pickpocket Stone and take the empty hydra syringe from his inventory, then report him to Dr. Richards.
Alternately, if one passed the 50 Medicine check to learn the symptoms of Hydra abuse, one can then find Pvt. Stone during the day, outside the door to the barracks on the west side of the camp, and pass another 50 Medicine check to identify his own symptoms and expose him as the thief; this alleviates the hassle of waiting until 2 a.m. for him to sneak into the medical tent, with similar options to the above.
A second alternative is to talk to Pvt. Sexton about the missing drug supplies; he'll reveal that he's noticed Stone going absent from his bunk late at night. From there, confronting Stone will yield an option to make him confess with a 50 Speech check, leading to the 60 Speech check to make him turn himself in for a total of 110 XP.
A third alternative is, when confronting Private Stone with either the Hydra symptoms or Sexton's clue, to pass a separate Speech check to convince him to stop the thefts in exchange for keeping it a secret. When returning to Dr. Richards later, one can tell him that the missing supplies were not found, completing the quest, but garnering neither XP nor NCR fame.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
If the quest is completed by getting Stone put in jail (either turning him in or convincing him to do it himself), then one either fails Don't Tread on the Bear! or otherwise gains a negative reputation with the NCR that makes them hostile on sight, entering the jail will cause Stone to open his cell door, even though he does not have a key. However, once he has left his cell, he will not attack, even though he is labelled as an enemy. If the NCR trooper who was guarding the cell is killed, Stone will grab his 10mm pistol and then stand near one of the benches while occasionally drawing and holstering his weapon. If the weapon is picked up before he grabs it, he will do the same thing, except he will continually lower and raise his fists.
Bugs[]
Private Stone may disappear, leaving the player unable to complete this quest. The quest marker will point to where he usually hangs out (outside the Command Center), but he is not there. It is possible he is trapped under the terrain. He never appears in the medical tent if this happens.[patched]
- Waiting hidden inside the medical tent between 1:00am and 2:30am can fix this.
- Reloading to a point before one entered the camp (the first time) and reentering may fix this problem.
- This is fixed in patch 1.06. The pointer will still point to the empty spot, but one can now find him either inside or outside the medical tent at the designated times.
- After the completion of the quest with turning Stone in, he may be absent from the jail and be wandering around still (and stealing the Hydra), and all he will say is "Get lost."[verified]
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