X-8 research center

The X-8 research center, or the X-8 Bio-Mechanical Testing Facility,X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 main terminal is a location in Big MT .
==Background==
A research facility used for experimenting with biomechanical research, the X-8 research center's most recent project involved creating and testing cyberdogs. Dr. Borous became heavily involved in this project, even using his own pet dog Gabe as a test subject; Gabe was eventually turned into a cyberdog and sealed within an area of the facility. A sizable testing area was created within the research center, 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.X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 main terminal, X-8 Institutional Test Internal Memo The K9000 cyberdog gun was also developed within X-8.
At some point, the facility received a shipment of night stalkers in place of standard dogs. When released, the creatures massacred the facility's shipping department, leaving Skippy as its only survivor and causing the area to be locked down.X-8 research center terminal entries; X-8 observatory terminal & X-8 kennel terminal, Shipping Department in Lockdown
==Layout==
Situated far to the east of the Think Tank, upon entry, 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 a shipment of night stalkers were kept.
==Notable loot==
* 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.
* 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==
* The terminals in the high school may change their location from test to test.
* 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 tests at the terminal, 24 in-game hours must pass in order for the system to "restock" test subjects.
* The key needed to access the kennels is not in X-8, but rather is located in the X-13 research facility center.
* On a wall in the high school area, "Why me, Mobius" is spelled out on the wall in large, physical letters.
* One of the jars with a lump of a brain inside from the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout is on the desk near the entrance to the facility.
* There are two 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.
* Being 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 .
==Behind the scenes==
* A terminal on level two mentions Project Burke and Project Hare. This is a reference to the Burke and Hare murders of the 19th century in which William Burke and William Hare, a pair of serial killers, sold the bodies of their murdered victims as cadavers for anatomy classes. Project: Burke and Hare are both regarding the procurement of bodies for scientific experimentation.
* The created Robobrain's short speech is a reference to the whale from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
* In the high school area, there is a Wild Wasteland encounter where the phrase "Wolverines" is written on the wall. This is a reference to the movie Red Dawn, as the Wolverines is a resistance group composed of highschoolers, taken from the name of their football team, after their school (and America) is invaded by the Russians at the beginning of the movie.
* In the cyberdog training area, there is another Wild Wasteland encounter, where 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.
** It is similar to the Fallout Tactics special encounter Brahmin Poker.
==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.
* 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.
==Gallery==
Poker dogs.jpg| Dogs playing poker
Old World Blues X 8 splicing experiment Bug.jpg|X-8 splicing experiment bug
Old World Blues X 8 splicing experiment holotape.jpg|Dog and lobotomite splicing experiment holotape
FNVOWB Robot and nightstalker splicing experiment holotape.jpg|Robot and nightstalker splicing experiment holotape and four proton throwing axes
FNVOWB_Dog_and_robot_splicing_experiment_holotape.jpg|Dog and robot splicing experiment holotape
X 8 FIDO upgrade Schematic.jpg|FIDO upgrade schematic
Nvdlc03 endingslide x8.jpg|X-8 research center ending slide
Cyberdog poster 02.jpg|Cyberdog poster
Nvdlc03x8decal02 d.png|Texture file
Nvdlc03x8decal01 d.png|Texture file 
==References==
Category:Old World Blues locations
Category:Fallout: New Vegas military and research facilities
de:X-8-Forschungszentrum
es:Centro de investigación X-8
ru:X-8 Исследовательский центр
uk:X-8 Дослідний центр
zh:X-8研究中心