“I hope the Legion burns your wretched body at the stake when they conquer this place. Nothing I could tell you would do anything to stop that.”— Silus
Silus Treatment[1] (or McCarran: POW in the G.E.C.K.) is an unmarked quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Unmarked Quest: Silus Treatment | |||||||||||||
| Travel to Camp McCarran and enter the terminal building. | |||||||||||||
| Go to the west end of the second floor. Find Carrie Boyd in a room to the north or alternatively, speak with Colonel James Hsu in his office to the east. | |||||||||||||
| Speak to Carrie Boyd and agree to help her interrogate the prisoner. | |||||||||||||
| Interrogate the prisoner. | Free the prisoner. | ||||||||||||
| Reward: NCR fame or infamy 175 or 300 caps 250 or 325 XP | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
Silus, a captured Legion Centurion, is being held captive in Camp McCarran, with the NCR attempting to interrogate him. So far he has refused to give up any useful information and his interrogator, Lieutenant Carrie Boyd is looking for help.
The player character can speak to Lt. Boyd about getting the centurion to talk, such as using a truth drug, insulting him or simply beating him senseless. Boyd reveals that her hands are tied since the torture of prisoners is frowned upon in the NCR.
With a reputation of Accepted or higher with the NCR, Lt. Boyd will allow one to go in and deal with Silus. The player character will go in unarmed, unless their Sneak skill is high enough to bring in holdout weapons.
The Courier can either break Silus to get information for the NCR or help Silus escape.
Break Silus[]
There are two ways of getting Silus to talk: violently or through persuasion. Using non-violent methods yields more caps and XP.
- If one chooses to use violence:
- Once inside the room, start hitting Silus until his HP drops below 50 (2/3 of his full health). At this point, Silus will stop being hostile and Lt. Boyd will come in. She asks the player character to step outside and precedes to have a brief conversation with Silus. Once inside again, keep hitting Silus until his HP drops below 25 (1/3 of his full HP). Silus will then initiate dialogue and is willing to talk now. One can either listen to his information or choose to "beat him to death for personal satisfaction." There is no going back should one choose the latter option as Silus would not even enter into dialogue when interacted, forcing the player character to kill him in order to complete the quest.
- If one chooses to persuade Silus:
- Passing a series of Speech checks of 50 (though the number is not shown) will anger him, causing Lt. Boyd to come inside. She asks the player character to step outside and precedes to have a brief conversation with Silus. Once inside again, keep passing the Speech checks and eventually Silus will spill the information. This approach also yields an additional 50 XP.
- Passing a series of Intelligence checks of 8 will trick him into thinking that the player is a Legion assassin and is here to kill him. This results in him panicking and yelling accusation of the player character's identity, causing Lt. Boyd to come inside. The two will engage in a brief conversation with Boyd completely unconvinced. Once she has left the room, keep passing the Intelligence checks and eventually Silus will spill the information.
Once Silus has given up the information, or is killed in the process, one can no longer interact with him, and will need to talk to Lt. Boyd in order to complete the quest.
- The XP and caps reward will depend on the method of obtaining the information. Either way, one will gain NCR fame.
- Killing Silus during the interrogation results in Lt. Boyd condemning one's action by complaining that she will not see a promotion this decade since Silus did not reveal anything about the Legion, and the fact that his suffering has ended. Lt. Boyd then finishes this diatribe by calling the Courier an "asshole," resulting in NCR infamy.
Help Silus escape[]
Warning: Completing the quest this way would lock up Lt. Boyd's dialogue, preventing any other quests involving her from being completed. Therefore it is advised to complete all other quests involving Lt. Boyd should the player character wish to help Silus escape. See Bugs section on Boyd's page for affected quests.
If the player character is at least Accepted by the Legion[2], they have the option to tell Silus this, gaining his trust. Silus will ask the player chracter to retrieve his silenced .22 pistol from the locker in the next room. He then propose to stage a fight with the player character to avoid suspicion. Hit him until his HP drops below 50 (2/3 of his full HP). At this point Silus will stop being hostile and Lt. Boyd will come in. She asks one to step outside and precedes to have a brief conversation with Silus. Steal the pistol from the locker and go inside again once requested, Lt. Boyd will confiscate all weapons except the pistol. The quest itself will be completed once one hands over the weapon to Silus.
He then fakes being unconscious so one can get out without being suspected. Lt. Boyd will come back in and say it looks like he is "all tuckered out," and tell the player character to leave for the day so she can get someone to clean up the mess. On the way out, she instructs Cpl. Hornsby to the job. Once the corporal is inside the room, Silus will kill the corporal and dress in his clothes, then walk out of the terminal building undetected by the NCR soldiers.
Notes[]
- Silus will accept any silenced .22 pistol, not just the one stolen from the locker.
- After Silus is dressed as an NCR corporal he will not speak to the Courier while he leaves.
- If Boone is with the Courier, he detects and becomes hostile to Silus once Boyd has left the room and called for the corporal. Silus also detects Boone and walks around with the pistol drawn. Silus ultimately leaves the room (and will typically be shot dead by Boone) without having shot the corporal or disguised himself. Boone does not talk about the incident afterwards.
- The Courier is unable to explain to Silus that they are from the Legion if they are wearing NCR faction armor.
Rewards[]
- If Silus gave up the information
- NCR fame (if Silus persuaded) or infamy (if Silus died during interrogation)
- 175 caps (violent approach) or 300 caps (non-violent approach)
- 250 XP (violent approach) or 325 XP (non-violent approach)
- If Silus escaped
- 250 XP
Notes[]
- Killing Silus will gain +1 history point with Boone, used for activating one of his companion quest.
- Although Silus will become hostile to the Courier if attacked, he will never actually fight back, only block and sidestep when they hit him.
- Caesar approves of the Courier releasing Silus before he could talk about Legion movements, though is less pleased by Silus' capture by NCR troops and plans to punish him. Caesar also approves of the Courier killing Silus.
- Regardless of whether the player character chooses to kill Silus during or after the interrogation, all further conversation with Boyd will begin with "Haven't you done enough?" However, this does not have an effect on any other dialogue chains, including quest related dialogue.
- Silus disappears from Camp McCarran once he reaches the terminal doors.
- If one approaches Lt. Boyd dressed as a member of the NCR, she will address them as a NCR soldier. The dialogue for this side quest changes and she will disregard the player character's offer to help. (This is easily fixed by merely taking off the armor and talking to her again.)
- After everything is done, Silus and Boyd will still continue their banter while she is walking away. They will talk to each other as if they are still in the same room despite Boyd being halfway across the building.
- On PC, if, for any reason, the Courier is unable to initiate the quest through dialogue with Boyd (or simply wishes to bypass the reputation check), the door can be unlocked via console commands, which will force the quest to proceed as normal and can be finished for either faction.
- At the end of the conversation one can choose the attack option, asking if he has any last words, to which he replies "Cedo Nulli" which means "I yield to no one," though he does not become hostile.
Behind the scenes[]
- The name of this quest is a play on the term "silent treatment," which means to deliberately ignore someone for a period of time, usually because of something they have done.
- If the player character chooses the Intelligence option to pose as an agent of the Legion, a few Latin phrases will appear in the dialogue choices. Here is their meaning:
- "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" means "I fear the Greeks, even when they offer gifts." This is a line from the Roman poet Virgil, recounting the doubts of Laocoön, one of the Trojans, about accepting the gift of the Trojan Horse.
- "Corruptio optimi pessima" means "Corruption of the best is the worst possibility." It is originally from Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great).
- "Legum servi sumus" means "We are all slaves to the law." The phrase is originally from the Roman orator and statesman Cicero, and in full reads "Legum servi sumus ut liberi esse possimus" -- "We are the slaves of the law, in order that we might be free."
Bugs[]
It is possible to earn infinite XP with a glitch while talking to Silus. Use the first speech check option (50 XP), then use intelligence one. After Silus' answer, the speech check will still be available, as well as the XP. [verified]- If the player leaves the room after the first time Silus is talked to, the room will become inaccessible and further interaction with Lt. Boyd only result in her saying "Let's talk after we finish this up," ending the conversation abruptly. However, it is possible to return to the area in a few game hours. [verified]
- The door has many opportunities to bug: if the game is saved after Boyd enters the room to introduce the Courier, the room will remain locked prohibiting the interrogation after she leaves. Also, if Silus is murdered in order to earn points with Boone towards triggering his character quest I Forgot to Remember to Forget, Boyd may become stuck in the room afterwards, preventing the player from talking to her again and completing I Put a Spell on You. [verified]
- Reloading the auto save that occurs when first entering the room may cause all of the player's weapons to spawn back in the inventory. [verified]
- Around the third going into the interrogation room, a random NCR trooper can spawn inside as well, kiling Silus, preventing the full reward and resulting in infamy with the NCR. [verified]
- Sometimes Boyd's face may not load and will only have her eyes and mouth showing. It can be fixed by exiting the building and re-entering. [verified]
- Do the speech option of [Intelligence] and don't leave the room. If you engage in conversation with Silius while Boyd is talking to him again, Boyd may disappear, although the conversation between her and Silus continues. If you tell Silus you are not from Caesar's Legion while this happens, after Boyd finishes the speech you can talk to Silus again and apparently he just forgot what you said and thinks again that you are a legionary. [verified]
- If you initiate this quest and have Boyd enter and talk to Silus but then you don't go in after she exits and you leave and proceed to do various other quests and gain rep with the NCR, when you come back you may be unable to continue the quest and Boyd will act as if you "have to do a lot more NCR ass-kissing" before she'll let you help with Silus. If you talk to Hsu, he will still recommend that you see if Boyd needs help. [verified]
- After entering the interrogation room for a second time and beating Silus to get the information a glitch can occur when exiting the room to talk to Boyd. She will disappear and not be anywhere within the building. [verified]
- Note: After experiencing this, it may be possible to find her through the I Put a Spell on You quest. She may appear in the hall to the right of where you find Col. Hsu, by the Nuka Cola machine. This may require I Put a Spell on You not being started until after Boyd disappears.
- After helping Silus escape, sometimes Lt. Boyd got stuck in the same dialogue, making future interactions with her impossible. On the PC, this can be fixed in console with the command set "00E7913".bSilusUnconscious to 0. [verified]
- Loading the Autosave when you enter the interrogation room may result in you being permanently locked inside with Silus. [verified]
- Note: This can be worked around by immediately exiting the room, before talking to Silus. The player then can reenter the room and proceed as normal.
- If you do all of the speech checks in Silus' dialogue then kill him before Boyd tells you to stop, Boyd returns to the room and lock it and will not leave but appear to be talking to the empty chair. [verified]
- If you have ED-E or Boone as a companion, he can follow you into the interrogation room. Once you start hitting Silus, turning him hostile for brief periods, ED-E will also attack him. [verified]
- After entering the interrogation room for the first time, re-load the auto save of when you entered the room. You should now have all your weapons not just holdouts. [verified]
- Silus must reach the terminal doors without being made hostile through a failed pickpocket attempt (even if he doesn't detect the player) in order for Caesar to acknowledge his release. [verified]
- When interogating Silus, any characters inside the terminal, most commonly the Corporal or your followers, may believe that Silus is an actual threat and come to your aid, resulting in Silus' death. [verified]
- Sometimes when Boyd enters the room where Silus is located, she may not exit the room making the quest impossible to complete, this may be fixed by continuing other quests. [verified]
- There's a chance that after beating Silus the first time and going back in that he won't respond to anything; trying to talk to him fails, and he merely sits in the chair. At this point, killing him will yield no angry dialogue with Boyd, nor any NCR infamy. Also, if the room is left, it cannot be entered again, leaving the quest broken. Alternatively, this may happen when reloading a save at this point - Silus will get up, and instead of turning hostile he will sit back down again. [verified]
References[]
- ↑ Quest name from Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide
- ↑ G.E.C.K. [clarification needed]
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