The X-8 research center, formally known as the X-8 Bio-Mechanical Testing Facility[1] is a location in Big MT in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Background[]
Prior to the Great War, the X-8 research center's latest research project into bio-mechanics involved creating and testing cyberdogs. A Think Tank executive, the future Doctor Borous became heavily involved in the project, even using his own pet dog Gabe as a test subject; a long period of experimentation resulted in Gabe being turned into a cyberdog and sealed within a cave system connected to the facility. A portion of the research center was turned into a testing area in the form of a pretend high school (ostensibly based on Borous' old high school American High) which the researchers claimed was for use in infiltration testing, but was actually to test the cyberdogs' ability to detect said infiltrators.[2]
At some point before the nuclear apocalypse, the researchers at X-8 also developed the K9000 cyberdog gun, one of which was loaned by Adam Figgis to Barb in the X-12 research center as a protective measure after the corpse of Harris trapped in the Y-17 master trauma harness began attacking the X-12 staff; it ended up being accidentally discarded and used by the harness' combat protocols after the facility was sealed.[3] At least one other weapon was created, which by 2281, ended up in the possession of the roboticized Think Tank executives. Figgis also arranged for the loan of the sonic emitter's forcefield disruption module from the X-13 research facility for use in X-8's research.[4]
At some point before the Great War, the facility received a shipment of night stalkers in place of standard canines. When released to include into the testing area, the untamed creatures massacred the facility's shipping department, leaving Skippy as its only survivor and causing the area to be locked down.[5]
Layout[]
Situated east of the X-7b "Boom Town" target zone and northeast of the Y-17 medical facility in the cardinal east side of Big MT, upon entry through the main doors, there are two doorways and a pair of windows into inaccessible operation rooms. The door to the left will lead to the X-8 splicing facility terminal, where combinations of different entities can be spliced together (some require requisite holotapes to be found first).
Going to the right leads to a research area and the doors to different areas: the testing facility, the testing facility observation wing, and the kennels. The testing facility itself is a multi-story mockup of an American high school (loosely based on American High). Using the computer next to the big doors into the testing facility allows access to the residential testing area, where Gabe resides. The kennels contain several big cages where cyberdogs and the errant shipment of night stalkers were kept.
Notable loot[]
Institutional test facility map
Testing facility map
- Dog and lobotomite splicing experiment holotape - Can be found on the table next to the X-8 observatory terminal in the testing facility.
- Dog and robot splicing experiment holotape - Can be found by taking a right from the main entrance then proceeding down the ramp. It lies on a table in the center of the room.
- "EM pulse wave" sonic emitter upgrade - Obtained from a terminal inside the first room of the testing area after completing the Basic institutional test and starting the Advanced institutional test. Relevant to Sonic Emitter Upgrade.
- Schematics - K9000 FIDO - In the kennel by the terminal. Requires the key for the kennel found in the X-13 research facility.
- Robot and nightstalker splicing experiment holotape - Can be found on top of one of the night stalker kennels.
- Audio Sample - Gabriel's Bark - In a random digging spot, at the end of the residential test facility.
- Four proton throwing axes - Can be found on the second floor of the kennel in the central facility
Related quests[]
- A Brain's Best Friend
- Field Research
- Sonic Emitter Upgrade
- X-8 Data Retrieval Test
- X-8: High School Horror!
Notes[]
- Between each version of the test, the locations of the activated terminals required to complete the test in the mockup high school may change.
- Several challenges are associated with the X-8 splicing facility terminal, and each rewards 100 XP:
- Automaton - Splicing together a robot and a night stalker (unusual specimen) will result in a hostile Robobrain that attacks a spot near the doorway with laser fire until it self-destructs eight seconds later.
- Mad Scientist - When splicing a lobotomite and a dog, they will end up as a failed experiment and die.
- Evil Genius - When splicing together a lobotomite and a robot, creating a non-hostile Robobrain, the Robobrain will self-destruct after a short time of talking.
- Roxie, a temporary cyberdog companion, can be obtained by acquiring the "dog and robot" splicing experiment holotape. She can be used for the tests, but will not sneak, and will immediately run towards any hostile in the area. She cannot leave the X-8 facility but will remain inside at the entrance waiting for the player character if they exit the facility. If she is killed for any reason, one can return to the splicing area and rebuild her.
- After three splicing experiments at the relevant terminal, 24 in-game hours must pass in order for the system to "restock" test subjects.
- On a wall in the high school area, "Why me, Mobius" is spelled out on the wall in large, physical letters.
- One can find one of the jars with a lump of a brain inside from the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout on the desk near the entrance to the facility.
- There are two usable beds in the institutional testing facility. They can be found by going forward through the double doors in between the bookcases, and then turning left. The beds are located in the northwest corner of the room.
- Because it was allegedly modeled after American High, the test facility has a locker hallway, a small office room, two classrooms, a library and a janitor room. However, it lacks a cafeteria, a fact Borous references.
- Opening the library door from either within the library itself or outside will yield different messages.
Appearances[]
The X-8 research center appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Behind the scenes[]
- Area designer Jessica Johnson and environment artist Sean Dunny worked on creating this location.[Non-game 1]
- A terminal on level two mentions Project Burke and Project Hare, serving as references to the Burke and Hare murders of the 19th century in which serial killers William Burke and William Hare sold the bodies of their murdered victims as cadavers for anatomy classes. Likewise, Projects Burke and Hare are designed around the procurement of bodies for scientific experimentation.
- The Robobrain created from splicing a lobotomite and a robot will give a short speech that is a reference to the whale from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
 | The following is based on the Wild Wasteland trait. |
|---|
- If Wild Wasteland is an active trait, two special encounters will appear in the X-8 research center:
- In the high school area, the phrase "Wolverines" is written on the wall at the T-junction with the dead lobotomite. This is a reference to the 1984 film Red Dawn and its 2012 remake, as "Wolverines" is the name used by the resistance group composed of highschoolers, taken from the name of their football team, after their Colorado town is taken over by Soviet military forces (North Korean in the 2012 remake) as part of a larger invasion of America.
- In the cyberdog training area, a few cyberdogs will be seen through a window playing poker, with the words "SIT. STAY. KILL." written on the wall above. It refers collectively to a series of sixteen oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge, commissioned in 1903 by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars, known in pop culture as just "dogs playing poker" paintings. In between the closest dog on the right and the left is an Ace of Clubs, just like in the painting.
- This is also similar to the Fallout Tactics special encounter Brahmin Poker.
| End of information based on the Wild Wasteland trait |
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Bugs[]
Splicing a dog and a robot may create a goo pile under Roxie. The goo pile cannot be searched unless Roxie is killed. Trying to search the goo pile while Roxie is alive will trigger her to speak with the player character.[verified]- Splicing a lobotomite and a dog may result in a bug, creating a lobotomite with no torso and eyes standing over the dead dog and some scattered remains.[verified]
Gallery[]
Dogs playing poker
References[]
- ↑ X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 main terminal
- ↑ X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 main terminal, X-8 Institutional Test Internal Memo
- ↑ X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 observatory terminal, X-12 Request for Assistance
- ↑ X-8 research terminal entries; X-8 main terminal, EM Pulse Wave Module on Loan
- ↑ X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 observatory terminal & X-8 kennel terminal, Shipping Department in Lockdown
Non-game
- ↑ Chris Avellone on Twitter: "@jezebeljinx Thanks - for X-8, you can thank Jessica Johnson and Sean Dunny for their work there, they had a good time. :)"