Curie is one of the most dynamic characters inFallout 4. The science-loving robot is devoted to learning more about the world around her and pushing the boundaries of her perspective. She’s also available as a companion after the player completes her associated quest.
To unlock Curie as a follower, the player must complete the quest “Hole in the Wall” inFallout 4. This allows them to meet Curie and eventually leads her to offer her services as a follower.
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Curie’s Time in Vault 81
Curie is actually an abbreviation for her model’s official name: The Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer, which was then stylized as “Curie.”When Vault 81 ofFallout 4was first set up, this Miss Nanny robot was specially designed to accompany the scientists and record the findings of their experiments. Though only three scientists showed up to work on said experiments, they still managed to make good progress, even as the overseer tried to hinder their efforts.
While this was happening, one of the scientists — a man named Kenneth Collins — upgraded the Miss Nanny robot to take on more responsibilities and help the undermanned laboratory. He also uploaded multiple texts by Immanuel Kant, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and more into the machine’s databanks to help her learn more about the world around her.
Finally, as a personal touch, Dr. Collins programmed a custom personality into the Miss Nanny — the female counterpart forFallout 4’s Mr. Handy— taking inspiration from his old romantic partners.
Aside from programming Curie differently, Dr. Collins also convinced the two other scientists to address her like they would a human. This helped both them and Curie. While ithelped Curie learn more about human interaction, her presence helped the scientists stay grounded despite the state of the vault.
At first, Dr. Collins continued to tinker with Curie’s mainframe but later, he decided to let her evolve on her own. This would eventually lead to Curie developing her personality as seen inFallout 4.
A Robot’s Devotion to Scientific Exploration
Much later, Dr. Collins died of old age. The other scientists were dead as well, leaving only Curie to continue their research. After arranging the scientists’ bodies in makeshift coffins, Curie went on to study the captive molerats. Eventually, she managed to create a medicine that could cure any sicknesspropagated by the molerats of Vault 81.
In the events ofFallout 4, the Sole Survivor can acquire this cure and choose to either give it to an infected vault resident or keep it to themselves, which then completes the quest “Hole in the Wall.”
This then unlocks Curie asa companion inFallout 4. By increasing affinity with her, the player can learn of Curie’s reasons for exploring the wasteland. She reveals that she wants to study the world around her as much as she can, but her robot shell is hindering her progress. According to Curie, there has never been a great robot scientist, likely because they lack the cognitive abilities to arrive at great scientific breakthroughs. Given this, Curie wants to extend her thinking to acquire “the spark” of inspiration, which will help further her research.
This is when Curie expresses that she wants to migrate all her thoughts and processes into a human brain,triggering theFallout 4quest“Emergent Behavior.” She believes that doing so will help broaden her cognitive capabilities. To increase Curie’s affinity further, the player must complete her personal quest. This simply requires the Sole Survivor to bring Curie to Dr. Amari in Goodneighbor, where she’ll transfer Curie’s consciousness to the brain of a Gen 3 synth. Once the transferal process is complete, Curie will express confusion, unaccustomed to the need to breathe as well as how emotions affect the human (or rather, synth) brain.
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Helping Curie Become More Human in Fallout 4
After theFallout 4quest“Emergent Behavior,” the player can continue traveling with Curie. In her next set of affinity dialogue, she talks about how her feelings are affecting her thinking. As a Miss Handy robot, she believed that moving to a synth body would help her further her research, but what happened was the opposite. All the inconsequential thoughts and feelings she was experiencing were making it hard for her to do her research.
Curie’s worrying over the many emotional distractions only worsensas theFallout 4player increases their affinitywith her. She talks about how strange it is when people compliment her and how it makes her so flustered, especially when the Sole Survivor does it. Despite her whirlwind of feelings, however, Curie is adamant about furthering her research. In her final set of affinity dialogue, she gets her first taste of scientific success.
Through Curie’s research of the wasteland, she discovers a strain of mutfruit that bolstersthe medicinal effects of Stimpaks. She admits that it’s only a small scientific finding, but it excites her nonetheless since it’s proof that she has “the spark.” Curie then goes on to thank theFallout 4player for giving her the opportunity to pursue her medicinal research. She’s happy to have found a friend and is eager to return the favor. The Sole Survivor can then opt to either romance Curie or stay friends.
Regardless of what the player chooses, maxing out Curie’s affinity inFallout 4will unlock the “Combat Medic” perk. This special companion perk allows the Sole Survivor to heal 100 Hit Points once a day when their current Hit Point count falls below 10%. This,paired with the free Stimpaksshe gives the player, makes her an excellent companion.
At the end of the day, Dr. Collins’ robot experiment was a success. Throughout the years, Curie learned and adapted to the world around her, developing a distinct personality and a zeal for medicinal science. While she still struggles with the more human aspects of her nature inFallout 4, there’s no doubt that she’s an excellent scientist and is well on her way to the huge scientific breakthrough she’s always wanted.
Fallout 4is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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