Preston

Doctor Preston is the physicianPreston: "You're in the Rivet City Clinic. I'm Doctor Preston."(Preston's dialogue) of Rivet City in 2277.
==Background==
Born in 2227, Dr. Preston is a kind old man who is well-loved by Rivet City's denizens. Much of this has to do with the fact that he genuinely loves helping the injured and the sick. He takes his job in the Rivet City clinic seriously and treats his patients to the best of his ability.The Lone Wanderer: "Got any Chems? I could really use a fix."Doctor Preston: "You can get that crap down at A Quick Fix. It's in the market. I'm a doctor, not a dealer. I'll fix you as best I can if you're hurt."(Preston's dialogue)Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.70: "Doctor PrestonPreston, 50, is a kind old man who enjoys nothing more than tending to the sick and injured. He genuinely loves helping people and is well liked and respected among the citizens of Rivet City. On occasion, he has had to work closely with Janice Kaplinski, whom he considers to be his close friend. They have a father-daughter type of relationship. He tries to get her to lighten up and interact with people more."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) As part of this duty, he gives weekly checkups to Doctor Li because of how important her health is to the city, though Doctor Li herself views this as a waste of time.Madison Li: "Let me guess. I'm perfectly healthy. I keep telling you I'm fine."Preston: "And it's my job to make sure you stay that way, so just let me do my job."(Rivet City conversations; Madison Li's and Preston's dialogue) Preston: "Li, you shouldn't see this weekly checkup as a bad thing. All of Rivet City needs you to be as healthy as possible."Madison Li: "So you say. All I see is wasted time away from my work. That's what Rivet City really needs from me."(Rivet City conversations; Preston's and Madison Li's dialogue) Furthermore, although Doctor Preston does not go to church (and has a low tolerance for faith-based practices),Diego: "Doctor Preston, may I visit with your patients? I promise to be brief and quiet."Preston: "I suppose. Don't go filling their heads with any of that faith healing crap though."(Rivet City conversations; Diego's and Preston's dialogue) he allows Father Clifford and Diego to pray with his patients so long as they are not too much of a disturbance.Clifford: "Your patients appreciate my visits, even if you don't, Doctor Preston. The Holy Spirit can be a balm to the soul."Preston: "I suppose it can't hurt. Just try not to disturb anyone that's sleeping."(Rivet City conversations; Clifford's and Preston's dialogue) Preston: "Diego, I assume you are here to visit my patients."Diego: "Yes, Doctor Preston. I will minister to the needs of their souls. You can minister to the needs of their bodies."(Rivet City conversations; Preston's and Diego's dialogue) 
The doctor is a creature of habit in his personal life. He eats (and drinks) solely at the Weatherly Hotel, where Mister Buckingham knows his usual order by (mechanical) heart.Mister Buckingham: "Doctor Preston, the usual?"Preston: "Am I that predictable? I guess so. Yes, the usual."(Rivet City conversations; Mister Buckingham's and Preston's dialogue) The Lone Wanderer: "Do you know where I can get something to drink?"Preston: "The Weatherly Hotel is a good choice. It's on the upper deck."(Preston's dialogue) He spends all his time on the Upper Deck and is aware that its citizens tend to get snobbish about their social ranks.The Lone Wanderer: "What is this I hear about the Hangar Deck and Upper Deck?"Preston: "The Upper Deck people have more money and influence than those that live on the Hangar Deck. Some of the upper deck citizens can get pretty snobby about it."(Preston's dialogue) Most of all, he is an occasional colleague and close friend of Janice Kaplinski to the point that have entered a surrogate father-daughter relationship, and he often tries to motivate Janice to lighten up and interact with others more.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.78: "Janice KaplinskiThe only thing 29-year-old Janice loves more than her hydroponic plants is Doctor Li. It's a case of classic hero worship. Janice is utterly loyal to her and completely believes in the projects they are working on. She is a very accomplished scientist but lacks that vital spark of genius and ambition that Dad and Doctor Li have, but she is their equal in technical knowledge. She is close friends with Doctor Preston, who treats her like the daughter he never had."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
Although Preston is in his fifties, he does not know much about Rivet City's history, as he hails from elsewhere.The Lone Wanderer: "Could I ask you about Rivet City's history?"Preston: "Oh, I'd like to help, I really would. But I don't know the first thing about this place's history. "(Preston's dialogue) However, he has been in the city long enough to remember Horace Pinkerton before he left to go into voluntary exile. That said, it was so long ago that Preston doesn't remember him very well apart from his perceived wild claims and surgical talent.The Lone Wanderer: "Is there anyone on this ship named Pinkerton?"The Lone Wanderer: "You know of someone named Pinkerton?"Preston: "Pinkerton, eh? That name takes me way back. Claimed to have cured radiation poisoning. Or was it food poisoning? I don't recall. He was always telling folks that he founded Rivet City. All he did was break off the front of it. Or did he die there? I don't recall."(Preston's dialogue) For instance, Preston notes that Pinkerton is the only surgeon "crazy" enough to attempt facial reconstruction surgery, which Preston himself deems too dangerous due to the need for specialized equipment and the high risk of infection.The Lone Wanderer: "Ever do any facial surgery? Maybe on someone from the Commonwealth?"Preston: "Facial surgery's way too dangerous to try. Need special equipment and expertise. Hmm. Reminds me of this old hoax. Here, listen to this holotape."(Preston's dialogue) The Lone Wanderer: "I found this holotape. What do you know about facial reconstruction?"Preston: "Pinkerton's the only surgeon crazy enough to try a facial reconstruction. I'd advise my patients against it. Due to high risk of deadly infection."(Preston's dialogue) He also knows that Pinkerton is the only person who has managed to acquire both a lipoplasticator and a micro dermal graftilizer, the equipment necessary for such surgery.The Lone Wanderer: "You know who might have a Lipoplasticator or Micro Dermal Graftilizer?"Preston: "I heard a rumor that old Pinkerton at Rivet City somehow conjured up a Lipoplasticator and Micro Dermal Graftilizer."(Preston's dialogue) Remembering this will also refresh his memory about what he believes is an old elaborate hoax: a rumor about a missing Institute android from the Commonwealth. He believes this is someone's idea of a practical joke because of a holotape he and other doctors received regarding the android, which has the voice of a man and not a robot, as far as he understands.The Lone Wanderer: "Do you know anything about some android who needed a surgeon?"Preston: "Well... ancient rumor had it that some hotshot from the Commonwealth was looking for special surgery, and some kind of computer tech."(Preston's dialogue) The Lone Wanderer: "What do you know about this android from the Commonwealth?"Preston: "That old story? Well, now.... I haven't heard talk of that in quite some time. It was all just a rumor. A hoax. Someone's idea of a practical joke. Story was there was an android, escaped from the Commonwealth up north. From someplace called the Institute. "The Lone Wanderer: "Tell me more about this holotape about the android."Preston: "Like I said, it's a hoax. Don't bother with it. Someone sent tapes like that to pretty much every doctor in the Wasteland. None of us believed it."(Preston's dialogue) 
==Daily schedule==
Doctor Preston wakes up at 6 a.m. and eats at the Weatherly Hotel until 8 a.m. He will spend the next 13 hours in the Rivet City clinic, only coming out once at 4 p.m. to eat dinner at the Weatherly Hotel until 6 p.m. before returning. At 10 p.m., he will leave the clinic and go to sleep in his room. On Thursdays, Doctor Preston will additionally visit Doctor Li in the Rivet City science lab from 8 to 10 p.m. for her weekly checkup; this will stop happening after she leaves the city.
==Interactions with the player character==
===Interactions overview===
===Quests===
* The Replicated Man: Doctor Preston offers some information on the android, but dismisses the whole affair as a hoax.
** The doctor can be convinced to give over the holotape We got the tech, now we need the doc., through an Average Speech challenge (Speech 55), a Medicine 55 challenge,The Lone Wanderer: "A patient of mine needs a facial epidermal augmentation. You ever perform one?"Preston: "Facial surgery's way too dangerous to try. Need special equipment and expertise. Hmm. Reminds me of this old hoax. Here, listen to this holotape."(Preston's dialogue) or a bribe of 100 caps.The Lone Wanderer: "You ever do a face job on an android from the North? <Jingle purse of 100 caps.>"Preston: "Facial surgery's way too dangerous to try. Need special equipment and expertise. Hmm. Reminds me of this old hoax. Here, listen to this holotape."(Preston's dialogue) 
** Similarly, a Speech 70 challenge, a Medicine 70 challenge,The Lone Wanderer: "I need to find a Micro Dermal Graftilizer for epidermal augmentation surgery."Preston: "I heard a rumor that old Pinkerton at Rivet City somehow conjured up a Lipoplasticator and Micro Dermal Graftilizer."(Preston's dialogue) or another bribe of 100 capsThe Lone Wanderer: "Here's 100 caps for the locale of a Lipoplasticator or Micro Dermal Graftilizer."Preston: "I heard a rumor that old Pinkerton at Rivet City somehow conjured up a Lipoplasticator and Micro Dermal Graftilizer."(Preston's dialogue) can be used to persuade Doctor Preston to reveal Pinkerton as Rivet City's only facial surgeon.
* Wasteland Survival Guide: Doctor Preston can offer an avenue to peruse finding the true history of Rivet City.
* You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head: This character informs the player on the potential whereabouts of Ted Strayer.
* Project Impurity: If the player chose to contaminate the water of Project Purity, with the modified FEV, during in the post-former end game quest Take it Back!, in the Broken Steel add-on his clinic will be full of terminally ill patients. He believes that their own immune systems are killing them but is unsure how to treat them. He is fairly certain that the plague isn't contagious, although they are burning the corpses just in case.The Lone Wanderer: "Doc, it's crowded in your clinic. Something going around I should worry about?"Preston: " "(Preston's dialogue)
==Inventory==
: 
==Notes==
* Father Clifford is mildly envious of Doctor Preston; it doesn't help that Doctor Preston never attends church.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.72: "Father CliffordFather Clifford, 40, spends most of his days in the church, but leaves for a couple hours every day to walk around the carrier. He's a nice guy and likes just about everyone he meets. He is especially fond of telling the story of Saint Monica, who went on a journey to be with her son and saved his soul. He counsels Mister Lopez during his frequent visits to the church. He's mildly envious of Doctor Preston; it doesn't help that Doctor Preston never attends church."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
* Doctor Preston has never seen broccoli in person, only in old books.Janice Kaplinski: "The work that Doctor Li is doing is just amazing. I might even be able to produce broccoli in the hydroponic gardens next year."Preston: "That's wonderful. I've read about broccoli in the old books, but I've never seen any."(Rivet City conversations; Janice Kaplinski's and Preston's dialogue)
* Should the player ask about how easy it would be to rob the clinic, the doctor will emphasize how security is always nearby.The Lone Wanderer: "This place looks pretty easy to rob. You have any problems with thieves?"Preston: "Don't get any cute ideas. Security is just a shout away. Now, if you've got any medical issues, let's hear them."(Preston's dialogue) That said he doesn't know that Paulie Cantelli usually steals most of his chems from Doctor Preston.The Lone Wanderer: ""Paulie Cantelli: "Okay, okay! I steal them from Doc Preston. There's an empty room across from the Staley's. I hide them in the file cabinet in there."(Paulie Cantelli's dialogue)
==Notable quotes==
==Appearances==
Doctor Preston appears only .
==Behind the scenes==
If the player asks the doctor to purchase chems, he will respond that he "is a doctor, not a dealer!" This is an allusion to the phrase "I'm a doctor, not a ..." spoken by the Star Trek character Leonard McCoy.
==References==
Non-game
Category:Rivet City characters
Category:Fallout 3 human characters
Category:Fallout 3 doctors
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