Las Vegas Boulevard Station¶

The northern section of the New Vegas Strip is as done as it’s going to get, it’s time now to explore the central section, which includes the Ultra-Luxe and the Las Vegas Boulevard Station. While the former is obviously more interesting, the latter should be explored first, as there’s a quest that ties with another quest you can pick up in the Ultra-Luxe. So, into the Las Vegas Boulevard Station you go, which is along the eastern side of the road, just north of the Ultra-Luxe.

Inside, an NCR Trooper will whine about not being able to carry any arms on the strip (because that’s what this place needs; drunken soldiers, stressed out from deployment, carrying weapons). Aside from this rant he’ll give you some information on the strip’s casinos, as well as Vault 21 and the NCR Embassy. If you want to grab some useless collectbles, grab Strip Letter 8 off a desk in the entrance room then search near the Mojave Express Dropbox to the north to find Strip Letter 4 and Strip Letter 5 on the floor.

More interestingly, you’ll find Ethel and Walter Phebus, the latter of which apparently has some… beef… with a big-time rancher named Heck Gunderson. Talk to either one of them to start the quest Pheeble Will will start, but to really get the ball moving on things, you’ll need to talk to Walter Phebus and pass a [Perception 7] check (some Mentats will help with this, as will wearing certain hats). After this is accomplished he’ll elaborate on his grievances with Heck. Be sure to listen to his story and ask about Heck Gunderson, his robber-baron rancher activities, and how Walter plans to topple Heck.

At this point you can talk him out of his vendetta by passing a [Speech 75] check. If diplomacy isn’t your thing, you can attempt to aid Walter in his attempt to take down Heck, which is a bit more involved and potentially more profitable, depending on how you go about things. Passing a [Barter 70] check will guarantee you a base salary of 400 Caps, and when you accept (Barter check or not) you’ll be directed to the Ultra-Luxe, where Heck is staying.

The Ultra-Luxe¶

Leave the Las Vegas Boulevard Station and make your way south to the Ultra-Luxe, where you’ll find Heck Gunderson sitting (with an armed guard nearby) right in the middle of the casino floor. Talk to him to find out that he’s looking for his son. Apparently Heck came here on business, and while conducting said business, his son went missing. Offer to help him find his son to start the quest Beyond the Beef.

Before messing around in the Ultra-Luxe more, report back to Walter Phebus. He’ll reward you for the information (if you convinced him to pay, that is) and will take a bit too much delight in Heck’s situation. Sure, Heck might be a jerk (or so Walter claims) but taking such delight in the potential demise of the guy’s kid just to spite him? Walter might not be so morally upright, himself… He wants Heck - or his son - gone, and doesn’t even see kidnapping and ransom as a viable alternative. Talk about price and you can convince him to fork over 500 Caps for the demise of Heck’s son [Barter 80] or he’ll offer 1000 Caps for Heck’s life [Barter 90]. Without passing either one of these checks, you’ll have to settle for considerably less money, but… if you’re inventive and get rid of both Gundersons, none of this will matter.

Beyond the Beef¶

Return to the Ultra-Luxe and head south-east through the casino floor, past the cashier’s cage, and into a room where Mortimer oversees business. Ignore him for now, and instead head north-east into a room two two sets of double-doors, the north-western which lead to the Gourmand, your destination. Once here, talk to the Marjorie and ask her about Heck’s missing son and she’ll bring up accusations of cannibalism out of nowhere. Yikes. Ask about their cannibalism to get her to roundly deny it (at least, they haven’t done it since they become the White Glove Society, several years back). Avoid trying to lie about being a cannibal yourself, as this goes nowhere, but earns you a bit of White Glove Infamy. Instead, ask about the investigation into Heck’s son and she’ll let slip that another person has recently gone missing at the hotel. She’s just mortified by this, of course.

Time to pay Mortimer a visit, who of course is busily standing around doing nothing behind a counter at the south-eastern end of the Ultra-Luxe Casino Floor area. There are two ways you can go about advancing this quest; either by talking to Mortimer about the investigator or by bringing up the subject of their cannibalism, where you’ll get the option to use the [Cannibal] perk to convince Mortimer that you’re one of them, or you can achieve the same result by passing a [Speech 62] check. If you gain Mortimer’s confidence, he’ll speak… quite candidly about the issue, tell you about Heck Gunderson’s son, his plans to revive the traditional practices amongst the White Glove Society and deal with Heck.

If you go meet with the investigator, you will not be able to gain Mortimer’s confidence later, and if you gain Mortimer’s confidence, you will not be able to pursue the investigator’s branch of the quest. All in all, gaining Mortimer’s confidence is easier and allows a full range of options for dealing with both Heck Gunderson and Walter Phebus, but both approaches will be covered. If you gained Mortimer’s trust by passing either the [Cannibal] check or the [Speech 62] check, continue with the text under the “A Dinner Faux Pas” heading, otherwise skip to “Investigating the White Glove Society” .

Investigating the White Glove Society¶

After getting the information about the investigator from Mortimer, leave without making either the [Cannibal] or [Speech 62] check and head south-west into a room, then go through the only operational door to the south-east to reach the Ultra-Luxe Hotel Rooms. Head up some stairs to the south-east and enter the first door on the right (south-west), which you can open with the Investigator’s Room Key, given to you by Mortimer. Inside you’ll find Jay Barnes, who is too busy lying in a pool of his own blood to talk to you. Shortly you’ll be attacked by two White Gloves, who should prove to be little threat, especially if you were able to sneak in a holdout weapon like Love and Hate. Loot the bodies of the White Gloves members (their clothes will allow you to pose as a member), then search the body of the investigator to obtain a Matchbook, which will give you the note “Matchbook”.

Leave the room and continue through the Hotel Rooms area to the south-east. At the end of the hall continue through some double doors to reach the Ultra-Luxe Bathhouse and immediately turn south-east and go through two doors to reach a steam room. Wait around until it’s nearly 4:00, at which point a White Glove member named Chauncey will show up and spill the beans on Mortimer and his scheme, after which he’ll be gunned down by an Assassin. Kill the killer, then return to the Casino Floor by heading through the double-doors to the north-east.

Time to rescue Ted Gunderson, which can be done in a few ways. First, you can get access to deeper parts of the casino if you become a sponsored member, but you’ll have to postpone this quest to gain more Fame in The Strip, first. It’s not necessary, however, as there are plenty of ways to get to Ted if your Sneak and Lockpick scores are decent. In fact, if you’re Sneak skill is good, and you’re willing to reload if necessary, you don’t even need to bother picking any locks.

First, start out by picking the pocket of any White Glove member on the Casino Floor save Mortimer to obtain a White Glove Society Members Key. This is optional, but it may save you some trouble later. You can also rob Mortimer for the Ultra-Luxe Kitchen Key (bypasses an [Easy] lock), the Ultra-Luxe Freezer Key (allows you to open a door without hacking a [Very Easy] Terminal) and the Ultra-Luxe Penthouse Key (which you only need you want to to frame Heck Gunderson and side with Mortimer.)

There are two ways to reach Ted Gunderson from where you are, and both require a bit of sneaking, if you didn’t bother getting enough The Strip Fame to get somebody to sponsor you (Marjorie will do this if your Fame is high enough). First, you can head south-west from where Mortimer is and go through the doors leading to White Gloves Members Only Section… if you have the White Gloves Members Key, anyways. Be sure to sneak, as there are hostile White Gloves in the member-s only area, or just wear some White Gloves attire to pass unmolested. From here head north-east through a doorway, continue north-east through another doorway, then turn north-west through another doorway before taking another door to the north-east to reach the Ultra-Luxe Kitchen. Failing that, you can always reach the kitchen by going into the Gourmand area and picking a locked door [Easy] behind the counter.

Once you’re in the kitchen, head down some stairs (either sneaking or while disguised to avoid trouble). In the hallway you may be pestered by a White Glove wandering around down here, but he can be evaded or you can succeed at a [Speech 55] or [Repair 35] check to get past him. Failing all that, if you’re wearing White Glove attire, you can just pick the “Just passing through” option.

Make your way into the actual kitchen part of the kitchen to find Phillipe, where you’ll have even more options. Wearing White Gloves attire was enough to get you through the Ultra-Luxe, but Ted Gunderson will have no such cover. If you’re confident in your sneaking ability, you don’t need to bother with drugging the wine, you can just Sneak out. As long as you’re not caught, Ted Gunderson shouldn’t be either. You can get rid of Phillipe by killing him, succeeding a [Medicine 55] check followed by several other [Medicine] checks, of you can pass a [Speech 55] check to convince him there’s a Radroach in the pantry, then, when he runs in, access the Pantry Access Terminal and close the door on him.

If you want to try drugging the White Gloves, head north-east through two doors to find a bottle of Wine sitting on a small round table. With a [Medicine 25] check and a dose of Med-X, you can drug it. Once done, run Phillipe off however you must, wait until 7:00 p.m., then activate the intercom along the wall near the door south-east of where Phillipe was to call the Head Waiter. Tell him the wine is ready then make yourself scarce if you’re not wearing White Glove attire.

Lastly, if you want to expose Mortimer, you’ll have to make some a dish out of human flesh… or rather, fake it well enough. There are two ways to do this; activate the stove near Phillipe and pass a [Survival 75] check, or get Phillipe’s recipe and pass an [Intelligence 6] check. You can get your hands on his recipe by looting it off his corpse, stealing it or by lying about writing a cookbook and passing a [Barter 55] check then paying him 100 Caps or by passing a [Speech 55] check after the [Barter 55] check. Call the waiter and have them take the meal up to the White Gloves.

Once Phillipe is gone, the wine is drugged and/or you’ve cooked a fake meal, head through the northern-most of the two doors to the north-east to find the Freezer Access Terminal [Very Easy]. Either hack it (this will get you some White Gloves Infamy) or open the freezer door with the appropriate key to find Ted Gunderson. Talk to him and get him to follow you by telling him to calm down, then either tell him there’s “no time to explain” or tell him the White Gloves are cannibals… it doesn’t really matter too much.

With Ted Gunderson in tow, return to the White Glove Members Only Section, where your actions will vary depending on how you handled things in the kitchen. If you are just sneaking out, go back the way you came, going through the side rooms instead of through the dining room. If you drugged the wine, you can just walk out casually, as everybody will be in too much of a stupor to stop you. If you faked the meal, sneak up behind Mortimer, who is giving a speech about the good old days. What for him to finish (appropriately with bon appetit) then stand up and immediately talk to him - delay can cause the White Gloves to turn hostile before you can act. Once in conversation, proceed to expose him to his fellows. After he runs off talk to Marjorie, who rather casually dismisses the whole affair… although will gain enough White Gloves Fame to become “Idolized”.

However you manage to do it, return to Heck Gunderson, where your reward will vary depending on what you told Ted when you rescued him… but more importantly, based on how you respond to Heck now. There are, in essence, two outcomes; if you tell Heck that the White Gloves Society are a bunch of cannibals, then encourage him to blockade The Strip you’ll gain a massive dose of White Gloves Infamy and to a less extent, Strip Infamy. If you talk him out of this course of action (pass a [Speech 35] check after revealing the White Gloves are cannibals) or if you say that Ted is wrong about them being cannibals and lie about who is responsible you’ll gain Fame with both The Strip and the White Gloves Society. Rescuing Ted Gunderson in any way will fail the quest Fheeble Will.

A Dinner Faux Pas¶

After passing either check Mortimer will reveal that they have Heck’s son, who was mistakenly abducted. He suggests you either convince Ted that this was all a silly misunderstanding, take the boy back to Heck, and then go after their intended morsel. Otherwise, Heck needs to be taken out of the picture because he can cause any public embarrassment to the White Glove Society. Once Heck is gone, Ted will do fine as a replacement meal, but you’ll need to frame Heck, first. Coincidentally, framing heck and letting the White Glove Society eat Ted will appease Walter Phebe, as well.

Whether you wan to frame Heck or not, return to The Gourmand and continue into the dining room north-west of Marjorie stands, blissfully unaware of Mortimer’s actions. Head north-east to find a counter, behind which is a door that leads to the Ultra-Luxe Kitchen, which you can open with the Ultra-Luxe Kitchen Key Mortimer gave you. Do so, then head south-east down a tunnel to find some White Gloves toasting some Brahmin with a Flamer. Must be where their food gets that special “military grade weapon” taste from. Go through a door to the south-west, then, when you reach some tunnels go south-east, around a corner, then down a tunnel to the south-west. When a White Glove stops you, either lie and say you’re here to fix some pipes [Repair 35] or tell him that Mortimer sent you to get past him. Enter the fourth door to the right (north-west), then go through the north-western most of two doors to the north-east before finally continuing north-west through a door to the freezer, which yields before your almighty key of doom.

Here you’ll find Ted Gunderson, unhappy but unharmed, who naturally starts to conversation by threatening you with the wrath of his daddy. Now is when you have to make another choice, branching the quest yet again. If you want to rescue Ted, say “Calm down. I’ve come to get you out of here.” after which you can succeed at a [Speech 38] check to convince him of some conspiracy between to frame the White Gloves… or you can just tell the truth. It doesn’t really matter, nor does it matter whether you frame the whole White Glove Society, or just Mortimer and his cronies. Alternatively, you can just kill him to start working towards framing Heck. Time for another split, if you want to frame Heck Gunderson skip to the section “Framing Heck Gunderson” … not very inventive, but it gets the job done. Otherwise, skip to “Cannibalizing Carlyle St. Clair” .

Cannibalizing Carlyle St. Claire¶

Tell Ted whatever you wish, then take him back to Heck and he’ll faithfully relay whatever story you told him. If you told Ted that the White Gloves are cannibals Heck will question you about the matter. If you confirm Ted’s story and agree with him about his plan to blockade the Strip you’ll gain a good bit of Strip Infamy (enough to make you “Shunned”) a huge amount of White Glove Society Infamy (enough to become “Vilified”!), 500 Caps, and the quest Pheeble Will will fail. Yikes. Not the cleanest way to end this quest, even though it provides a happy ending for the Gundersons.

On the other hand, if you sold Ted a story about a conspiracy, or if you confirm that the White Gloves are cannibals but pass a [Speech 35] check to talk Heck out of the blockade, or if you just say that Ted doesn’t know what he’s talking about then lie about “just finding him” Heck will reward you and leave without further fuss. This will get you enough Fame to become “Accepted” in The Strip, and “Idolized” by the White Glove Society. It also fails the quest Pheeble Will, but… well, you can’t have everything. At least, not if those two remain alive, anyways. There’s still the matter of securing a replacement dish for Mortimer to handle, however, so don’t get too complacent just yet.

Time to get the White Gloves some dinner. Leave the Ultra-Luxe and fast-travel to some area along the northern end of the New Vegas outskirts; Freeside’s North Gate works fine. From there, follow the map marker to find Carlyle St. Clair’s House, which is north-east of Freeside’s North Gate, or north-west of the Mole Rat Ranch. Outside of his house you’ll find Carlyle St. Clair III, and it’s your job to get him into the dumpster east of his house without killing him. As should be unexpected for this quest, you’re absolutely spoiled with ways to do this; you can use [Black Widow] to convince him to jump in on his own volition, [Guns 45] will allow you to distract - and pistol whip him - you can ask about his neck and pass a [Strength 7] check, a [Medicine 45] check or an [Unarmed 45] check to subdue him, you can ask him about himself and succeed at a [Speech 45] check to talk him into walking right into the spider’s web, or failing all of those options, you knock him out with the Cattle Prod Mortimer gave you. However you do it, drag him near the dumpster and activate it to drop him in, then return to Mortimer for your reward.

Framing Heck Gunderson¶

Kill Ted Gunderson, loot him for his blood, then return to where Mortimer is. Go through either of the two doors behind him to the north-east or south-west to find an elevator leading to the Ultra-Luxe Penthouse, where Heck Gunderson is staying. Be sure to sneak and make your way west to reach a large, swanky penthouse room, complete with a freakin’ pool. Nice. Continue past the pool, head up some stairs, then dribble some of Ted’s blood on Heck’s bed and near his sink. Sneak back out and you’re gold. If you get caught by any of Gunderson’s Hired Hands wandering about, just kill them. No big deal. It’s not like anybody is going to question the dead guards in Heck’s room, right?

Leave the Ultra-Luxe and find a Securitron out on the strip; they’re all over the place, you shouldn’t have to search far to find one. After it lectures you at length about your civic duty, follow it into the Ultra-Luxe and witness its confrontation with Heck, who isn’t as successful at bullying around the machine as he is at running off his competition. Report back to Mortimer for your reward, which includes enough White Glove Society Fame to become “Idolized”.

Next, return to Walter Phebus to collect your reward from him, who is overjoyed that the Gundersons are gone, and will reward you appropriately. If you only killed Ted Gunderson you’ll get 250 Caps (500 if you passed the [Barter 80] check earlier), if you killed Heck Gunderson you’ll get 500 Caps (1000 for passing the [Barter 90] check), but if you followed the advice above, he’ll give you a whopping 1500 Caps for both of them, no Barter check required. Nice.