I'm sure we'll never know, but I still wonder....

Post » Fri May 24, 2013 6:43 pm

What are the Courier's ties to the Enclave?

Within New Vegas:

-ED-E is picked up by the Courier on the Courier's initiative. Nobody asks him to fix ED-E, it's a rare moment where it's simply something the Courier desires to do rather than a task someone else is asking for help with. He sees an eyebot and desires to fix it.

-The Courier is said to have had a fixation and attachment to the package he delivered to the Divide. Ulysses specifically mentioned that the Courier was drawn to it because of it's markings and symbols, presumably Enclave ones.

-Ulysses goes on to state that the Courier has always been fond of those symbols and that they're "familiar to him (the Courier)."

-The Courier can state that he doesn't know where he was born or where he's from.

-The Courier is NOT super-familiar with the Enclave, can't identify Gannon as a remnant immediately, doesn't know what Chicago is and otherwise doesn't have extensive knowledge about them.

I just find it both odd and kinda cool that it seemed like they were sort of developing a backstory for the Courier, which again is quite strange because it's something they'd never expand upon (and didn't). All of it almost seems to imply the Courier himself may be a pure-strain human child of an Enclave officer who was cut off from them at a young age. Again though, part of me kinda wonders why they bothered to include such little snippets when in the long run, the Courier's personal backstory is largely irrelevant, since I sincerely doubt we're gonna hear his autobiography in FO5 or what-have-you.

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Ebou Suso
 
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Post » Sat May 25, 2013 4:17 am

Doesn't Johnson Nash urge you to fix ED-E -- well, not urge, but inform you that if you can fix it, you can keep it. You can, of course, fix it by your own initiative, but I'm guessing that since it is mentioned by an NPC in a less than heavyhanded way, it isn't intended as a mystery hint for secret Enclave ties (or even lack of them).

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JaNnatul Naimah
 
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Post » Fri May 24, 2013 6:01 pm

The Courier has to bring up the topic of ED-E first though. I think he/she asks "What's the story with that robot?" or something to that effect. I don't think Nash ever says a word about ED-E until you bring it up first.

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Robyn Howlett
 
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Post » Fri May 24, 2013 6:14 pm

Regardless, the other lines all still exist.

And on that note, the exact matter is that the Courier brings it up, not Johnson Nash. And there is a dialog option to ask to take a look at it before the Courier's even asked what it is etc.

Overall my point is that when you write a story or character, every line has meaning and purpose. Every line is about defining and fleshing out a character further.

What I find odd is that the Courier seems to have numerous ones to, at the very least, suggest some form of fixation with Enclave tech. The thing is though....why? I mean he's the protagonist; it's unlikely we'll ever hear detailed accounts of his life beyond the simple hint here and there of what he did because people would prefer he remain as much of a blank slate as possible for them to roleplay with, so while we may here what decisions he made, we can't expect to hear so much about his past or the like. Yet they actually did make very minor allusions to his past and did take a half blank-slate, half developed-character approach with the Courier. They definitely make it clear he's a professional Courier and not a part-time one, and they make it clear he's traveled much of the core region. They also suggest the Courier was after Benny for revenge, that the Courier doesn't like staying in one place for too long and that he's curious by nature. All of those are simple little insights into who he is that can be taken at face-value, but alongside those are some rather unclear allusions to ties to the Enclave in one way or another (fan of their tech? childhood memories? etc?). So those lines just kinda stand out like sore thumbs to me and peak my curiousity, because I fail to see the purpose behind them since I'm sure the writers knew they'd never be expanding upon them.

And yet there's a pattern to them, in a sense. It's not just an out-of-the-blue thing, the connection is made on more than one occassion. Not implying there's some secret Enclave connection or what-have-you, because as I stated I doubt it ever matters. Still, it just has me curious.

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Amber Ably
 
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Post » Fri May 24, 2013 11:16 pm

Ulysses is fascinated with the old world and its symbols, and he has no connection to the Enclave.

The Courier could be the same way.

Also the eyebots were used in the CW along with the Divide, so I don't think a connection to ED-E is anything special as he may not have lnew about it....Actually he has hisyory with the Divide, so he probably remembered the eyebots from there, not the Enclave.
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Sheeva
 
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