There Stands the Grass

There Stands the Grass is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
==Quick walkthrough==
==Detailed walkthrough==
To trigger the quest, one must go to Camp McCarran. Inside the Camp McCarran terminal building, turn left and go to the east side, staying on the first floor and enter the room to the south beneath the stairs, the OSI office. Talk to Dr. Hildern in the rear office. Upon speaking to him, he tells the Courier about his belief that the residents of Vault 22 completed research data that OSI can use to solve the NCR's future food shortage. He asks them to travel to the Vault and locate and download the experimental data onto their Pip-Boy. Before leaving the base, Angela Williams stop the player character at the door and reveals that Hildern has previously contracted mercenaries to investigate Vault 22 but none ever returned. Recently, Keely, a ghoul scientist, went to the Vault as well and is now missing, and she offers to pay them to find and rescue her. Additionally, after learning this, one can go back to Hildern and demand that he double the caps he is paying for the job (40 Speech is required). This option is only present if one did not talk to Hildern about the invoice from the Crimson Caravan, or he will only have the option to say goodbye (fixed or not always happening).
The location of Vault 22 is marked on the map by Hildern and it can be found north-northwest of Westside tucked in between the cliffs. A swarm of cazadores often roam the area near the vault. One will know they have found the correct valley when they spot large and colorful plants, and a sign saying, "Stay Out! The Plants Kill!". Outside the Vault's entrance are four giant mantises hiding in the thick foliage. Enter the defunct, open door of Vault 22.
===Locating the data===
The interior of Vault 22 is composed of five levels, and the top two are devoid of enemies. The last three contain both more giant mantises and a unique type of enemy only found there, spore carriers. These blend in with the vegetation of the plant beds they reside in and will not show up as enemies on the compass until they are disturbed (even with ED-E's Enhanced Sensors perk). On Level 5 - Pest Control in particular, one will come across spore plants who spit spike projectiles. Also scattered throughout the Vault are many unlocked terminals that provide a series of notes written by Keely as well as background information on what became of the Vault's inhabitants.
Upon first entering the Vault, one can find an inoperative elevator which may be repaired (50 Repair required) to enable faster access to the Vault's lower floors. Since access to some staircases between floors is blocked, repairing the elevator will make things easier. Quest items for other side quests can be found throughout Vault 22, and can be collected if one is willing to sidetrack:
* Food additive for Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans, given by Cpl. William Farber: in an office in a hall to the left from the elevator (when facing away) on Level 3 - Food Production.
* Pile of giant mantis eggs for Bleed Me Dry, given by Red Lucy: inside the caves on Level 3 - Food Production.
* HEPA 20 cartridge filters for Still in the Dark, given by Nolan McNamara: in a sealed section of Level 2 - Oxygen Recycling, only accessible through the cave system on the lower floors.
With at least 75 Lockpick, one can take the elevator directly to Level 5 - Pest Control and unlock the data bank room. If one has not repaired the elevator or does not have a high enough Lockpick skill, or are also trying to complete Still in the Dark and/or Bleed Me Dry, the player character will need to go to the Overseer's office on Level 4 - Common Areas. Follow the signs through the common areas to the Overseer's office, where one will find a terminal (no password needed) that can be used to unlock the crew quarters, the data banks, and the cave entrance. The crew quarters can also be opened with a Lockpick skill of 50. Additionally, on the bottom half of the atrium and in the back area of the "Utility" room is a flamer and several batches of flamer fuel in the cabinets and around the weapon itself, useful against all three enemy types in the Vault.
Trying to disengage the cave entrance lock on Level 3 - Food Production will give one the error message: “Override engaged at door site.” A keycard will need to be retrieved, which is located in the crew quarters (now unlocked via the Overseer's computer). The keycard is in the first room on the left side of the hall as one enters the crew quarters, on a shelf to the right of the entrance. There are three spore carriers waiting inside (Dr. Bailey and his wife and child). Note: there may be a glitch on the metal shelf where the keycard should be. Items will be invisible and only the item identification will be shown upon scrolling over where the object should be. In this case the key card will be on the bottom shelf in the right corner next to a couple of purified waters.
With the keycard, climb back up the stairs to Level 3 (the stairs to Level 5 are blocked) and follow the arrows until one sees a door to the caves. The keycard will access the adjacent terminal, where the lock can be disengaged. A few mantises reside behind the security gate. The cave system goes two ways, with turning right leading to a door into the sealed-off section on Level 2 where the HEPA 20 cartridge filters needed for Still in the Dark can be found in one of the lockers, and turning left leading to a crossroads: the right way leads to a larger group of mantises including a female guarding the pile of giant mantis eggs needed for Bleed Me Dry, the forward way leads to a collapsed tunnel, and the left way leads to the door into Level 5 - Pest Control.
Once on Level 5, skirt past the furniture barricades and the spore carriers and plants. The data room containing the terminal that Hildern requested can either be opened by picking the lock on the door or having disengaged it from the Overseer's office. At this point, one can finish the quest by downloading the data and returning to Hildern, or, whether or not it's downloaded, continuing to look for Keely (this will provide opportunities for additional XP, caps, and either positive or negative Karma).
===Rescue mission===
To find the missing Keely, one must locate one of two entrances to the second cave system where she is stranded. The shortest route is through a room behind a Hard-locked door; inside is a cave entrance. If one does not have a high enough lockpick skill, the room adjacent to the locked door has another cave entrance. The entrance is partly concealed by a computer wall panel that is been moved slightly from the wall and is a bit longer to navigate to reach the cavern.
The cavern is occupied by many of both giant mantises and spore plants who will spit from afar. After they are killed, Keely can be found in an alcove at the south end of the cavern. She will be thankful if the player character says that they came for her at Williams' request, then asks them to meet her in her lab on Level 2 - Oxygen Recycling. She then stands up on her own and proceeds out of the cave and through Level 5 to the elevator. If one did not repair it themselves before rescuing her, Keely will do so herself, making the return trip easier. If one did repair the elevator beforehand, she will comment on it.
Upon finding Keely back on Level 2, in the room to the right when entering the "Lab" section, she reveals her plan for eliminating the infectious spores in the Vault. She rigged the ventilation system to pump a flammable gas into Level 5 where the spores are most concentrated. To finish the plan, she asks the player character to locate the vents and ignite the gas, without dying in the process. This can be accomplished through the use of incendiary weapons or explosives, even including lasers. If one lacks anything viable, Keely offers a supply of frag grenades in the duffel bag just to the right of the door walking into the room.
===Destroying the spores===
Return to Level 5 and locate the "vents", which one can identify by the fuzzy distortion of the air. The vents can be found in an area at the end of the hallway containing the data room and the door to the cave entrance behind the disturbed computer panel. 
Successfully igniting the gas will require either explosives or a laser energy weapon with which to ignite the blast. One must also be able to survive the resulting blast. This can be done either by hiding in the reinforced data room with the door closed (move to far corner opposite the door, by the terminal), by making it to the elevator before the blast reaches the player character (see below), or by simply surviving the substantial fire damage that the blast causes. The following methods are ranked by the chances of minimizing or escaping damage entirely (easiest first):
# Placing a C-4 plastic explosive near the vents, then detonating it while standing next to the elevator or from within the data room.
# Placing a time bomb by the vents, then running for the elevator or taking shelter in the data room. If running for the elevator, wait for the thump of the explosion before using the elevator to get credit for the quest step.
# If one chooses to use explosives to ignite the gas, long-fuse dynamite will provide the most time to get to safety. The six-second fuse allows enough time to run back into either the data room or the room across the hallway, close the door, and move as far away from it as necessary.
# Using a 25mm grenade APW with a timed grenade from within the data room, followed by quickly closing the door. Alternatively, consuming turbo, firing a Timed grenade from the far end of the hallway, and running for the elevator.
# Consuming turbo, then shooting a laser at the vent from the far end of the hallway and running to the elevator (as the flames are slowed considerably by its effect).
# Shooting an energy weapon or throwing an explosive from the data room and then closing the door and backing up farther into the data room should prevent all damage from the blast. Closing the door quickly enough to avoid damage is difficult, and it is entirely possible one will take damage depending on the timing.
# Another method is throwing an explosive toward the gas vents from the opposite side of the file cabinet blockade right next to the data room door. Immediately run to the room directly behind the player character with the purple lights, closing and moving away from the door.
# Yet another method is standing near the room with the cave entrance, at the end of the hall opposite the vents. Ignite the gas and then turn and run out into the cavern.
# Consuming an atomic cocktail and/or a Fire ant nectar can help one withstand the flames, although keep in mind any followers may be momentarily knocked unconscious, or even killed if one is playing on Hardcore mode.
# Standing behind the gas, right where the vent is, does not subject the player character to as much damage as standing in the hall—a high level character can survive this.
# Stocking up on stimpaks will let one outpace the damage being done but will burn through quite a few stimpaks, depending on one's medicine skill. Auto-inject stimpaks may be extremely helpful in surviving the blast.
# It's also possible to crouch in the gap between two main frames, to the right of the main terminal in the data room and fire an appropriate weapon for setting off the gas, but the blast will definitely reach you since you don't have the door closed.
===Keep or destroy the data===
Upon returning to Keely on Level 2 after igniting the gas from the vents and surviving, she says she intends to erase the Vault research data to protect others from any potential revival of the experiments that destroyed Vault 22. If one used the terminal in the data room beforehand, she'll figure it out and ask them to let her erase the data from the Pip-Boy. Several different options for concluding this part of the quest become available:
* Avoid talking to her. One can unlock the door by accessing the terminal in front of her and walk out of the vault by pickpocketing her.
* Tell her the truth and destroy the codes for good Karma. If she lives, one will get caps or Karma depending on what was bartered with Dr. Williams.
* Tell her the truth and refuse to destroy the data, which turns Keely hostile. Killing her provides one with the password to leave. Make sure to use her computer to unlock the door. This results in NCR infamy.
* Tell her the truth and refuse to destroy it, then flee the area. Go back in and she should be non-hostile again. Pickpocket the password from her.
* Lie and let her live. Karma will be lost for lying but regained for saving her. This results in a net gain of about 50 Karma.
* With 70 Science (the numerical value is hidden), Keely can be convinced to save the data by suggesting that science learns from failure as much as from success, and with the data intact, its mistakes won't be forgotten or repeated, which also gains Karma. To unlock this, in addition to the skill level, one must firsthand tell Keely that Dr. Hildern sent them for the data.
* If I Could Make You Care is active & the NCR farming technology option was chosen after visiting the terminal at Gibson's shack, and the player is honest about downloading the data, they can say that a friend of theirs is part of a big organization that can use the data to help others. Keely will accept and unlock the door.
* If one has already handed in the data to Dr. Hildern and returned to rescue Keely, she will tell the player character that the data should be deleted but will not confront them. This can result in a situation of being locked in the vault; to escape either pickpocket or kill Keely for her password and use her terminal to open the locked door.
===Back at OSI===
Return to the OSI lab at Camp McCarran.
* If Keely survived, the player receives 800 caps from Dr. Williams and gains Karma.
* If Keely died, the player can lie to Dr. Williams with a Speech check for the 800 cap reward, but will lose Karma. Telling the truth results in no reward from her or shift in Karma.
* If the data was saved, Hildern rewards the player 1200 caps, plus an additional 600 through a 50 Barter or 50 Speech check.
* If the data was deleted, the quest ends with the player informing Dr. Williams about whether Keely is alive. Hildern suspects that Keely was responsible for the data being lost and that the player was an accomplice, then angrily demands that they leave the lab.
==Quest stages==
==Notes==
* Due to dialogue bugs related to Thomas Hildern, it is recommended that the player character completes any other related quests to him prior to starting this one.
* Vault 22 is also involved in the side quests Still in the Dark, which is given by Elder McNamara in the Hidden Valley bunker, Bleed Me Dry, which can be obtained by speaking to Red Lucy at The Thorn, and I Could Make You Care (depending on chosen path), which is given by Veronica Santangelo at 188 Trading Post. It is also related to the unmarked quest Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans, given by Cpl. William Farber in the Camp McCarran concourse.
* If one completes this quest before doing I Could Make You Care, one will lose the option to retrieve the Vault 22 data as part of that quest.
* If one completes There Stands the Grass before ED-E My Love, and destroys the research rather than giving it to Hildern, one may not be able to trigger ED-E's audio log, or the dialogue on Hildern with Arcade Gannon. If one wishes to trigger either companion's dialogue, do so before completing There Stands the Grass.
* If one wants to leave the vault after finding Keely and agreeing to help her, simply pickpocket Keely's password and activate her terminal in the lab, click open entrance and one can leave.
* Be aware of exposed gas pipes if using a flame based weapon such as the flamer or Shishkebab. The pilot light from the flamer will ignite the gas.
* If the data has been downloaded before receiving this quest, one will be able to give Dr. Hildern the data immediately upon speaking to him. The best way to go would be speaking to Dr. Williams after receiving the quest to be able to look for Keely, speaking to Dr. Hildern, giving him the data, and bartering the additional caps out of him. After that, the quest will be marked as finished. It is still possible, though, to get caps for rescuing Keely by returning to the vault once more. Some things like the quest logs might not trigger correctly. It could also be necessary to pickpocket the passcode from Keely because the door might not open even after helping her. Be sure to return to Dr. Williams afterward to receive the caps.
* Killing Keely does not result in negative Karma, though lying to Dr. Williams about her safety does.
* Keely may not spawn unless the optional quest to find her is accepted from Dr. Williams. Even after downloading the data, one can still go back to Dr. Williams and receive the optional quest, then head back to Vault 22 and rescue Keely.
==Behind the scenes==
The title of the quest is a reference and pun on the 1953 country song "There Stands the Glass", performed by Webb Pierce.
==Bugs==
Category:Fallout: New Vegas NCR quests
Category:Fallout: New Vegas side quests
Category:Vault 22
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