Since it's taken me five years to get to Dead Money (I don't even know why), it would be fitting to say the DLC's events take place five years after the conclusion of the main game, but honestly, I never thought very hard about what happened post credits. I kind of rushed through my first playthrough, with Viv narrowly able to defeat the Legion at a quaint level 16. Sixteen!! Thank God for grenade launchers.
Despite her wild card path, she had no real interest in running things herself, and probably broached some kind of deal between the various Vegas factions and Freeside to get things stable and out of her hands. But hey, maybe she got the Lucky 38 up and running again and kept it as a main residence. She might not want the responsibility of being the sole proprietor like House was, but she sure likes the view.
Point is. She hears this mysterious broadcast touting what she assumes is a pre-war casino, and her motivations for tracking it down aren't too complicated. She's always been naturally curious, and maybe, just maybe, it'll lead to a nice payday... or a trap. (She's not stupid, either.) But when you've taken on Caesar's Legion and lived to tell the tale, an old casino doesn't exactly get you shakin’ in your boots.
I knew you weren't allowed your companions for this quest, so I had Veronica and Rex stay at the Lucky 38. I can handwave that it's five years later - Veronica has her own life to lead and maybe Rex is getting a little too arthritic to take on risky ventures. And it's refreshing, in a way, exploring on her own again.
Then again, she hates being underground for long periods of time, so it's fitting that the trap is sprung pretty quickly once you enter the bunker. And then waking up- without her gear, in a dirty, rough jumpsuit, a heavy collar around her neck... She's shaken, confused, angry. She doubts Elijah will actually let her go even if he gets what he wants out of this heist, but maybe with enough time she can find a way out... a way to disarm the collar safely. Something. Unfortunately tech was never her strong suit.
I got her 'sploded pretty much right away, though, because I was too focused on what Dog was mumbling to notice the, uh, rapid beeping. Once she got her head back on and played the recording, summoning "God," she was inclined to keep this version around, but the nightkin himself convinced her that Dog's brutality and physicality would in fact be more useful, and she's nothing if not practical. So Dog it was. (I was afraid I'd encountered a glitch, because for a few minutes there I just seemed to be stuck in a never-ending dialogue loop with God with no way to end the conversation. I even googled it in a panic but eventually found a new path.)
Dean Domino strikes her as... useful but untrustworthy, in ways very different from Dog. I avoided the more hostile dialogue options in favor of her being level-headed, straight shooting, even wry. She even made him laugh. It wasn't hard to convince Dean they were stuck together.
Embarrassingly, when I finally got to Christine and she emerged from the Auto-Doc, for a split second I thought, "Hey, I finally get to hear her voice!" before remembering >> Half the time the text went by too fast for me to really grock what she was signing, and I imagine Viv is similarly bad at charades and probably has had a Time communicating with her. Not in a mean way, but Viv possibly got more frustrated with poor Christine than Dog. LOL But they muddled their way through an understanding of Christine's usefulness, and yes, I did choose the "How romantic" response.
And this is way more writing than I usually do in a sitting, so I'll leave it there for now. I can tell the next stretch with Dog is going to be harder, since one hit from the ghost people seems to kill me dead... Also, Windows has been going all blue screen of death on me, so that doesn't help. I'll continue Viv's Very Bad No Fun Day when I'm able.
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
