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Doctor Ruth Leavitt, referred to as Kate by friends, was an organic chemist who worked for the Nuka-Cola Corporation's Beverageer Division before the Great War.

Background[]

Dr. Leavitt was the best organic chemist among the Beverageers.[1] She had a close relationship with her superior, Lead Beverageer Rex Meacham, and the two even vacationed together at the Mountainside Bed & Breakfast in Appalachia at some point before their falling-out.[2]

When John-Caleb Bradberton formed a partnership with the U.S. military through General C. Braxton to develop chemical weapons as part of Project Cobalt, Meacham jumped at the opportunity. Concerned with the ethics, Leavitt protested his assignment of the entire Beverageer team to Project Cobalt but could not stop him. The team was provided with a cutting edge laboratory built into the foundations of the Nuka-Cola bottling plant. With a dedicated reactor and living quarters, it allowed the Beverageers to work around the clock.[3][4]

Feeling angered by Meacham for what she considered to be "jumping into bed with the U.S. Army," Leavitt confronted Meacham and announced her refusal to support the project, even going as far as to announce her resignation at the end of October.[5] When the news reached Bradberton, he was furious, and Leavitt's blacklisting from the industry was a very real possibility. Despite this, she continued to work at the Beverageer facility through October, although she refused to contribute to Project Cobalt. This was a major blow for the team, as her skill as a chemist was second-to-none among the Beverageers and even Dr. Edmund Medford, the closest substitute, would not make up for her departure.[1] The other Beverageers pleaded with her to change her mind. Meacham tried to intimidate her into staying, Dr. Kevin Bennell tried to appeal to her through flattery and reason, and Medford followed Bennell's lead. To appease Leavitt, Meacham diverted her into working on the new Nuka-Cola Quantum isotope, which she developed into a stable and relatively safe-for-consumption additive.[6] Even still, she continued to worry about consumer safety and requested for Bradberton to delay the release of Nuka-Cola Quantum by several months.[7]

Leavitt's arguments with her colleagues continued until the Great War struck on October 23, 2077. Leavitt and the others were all trapped as Bradberton activated his panic button, engaging the automated safety systems and locking down the lab with the Beverageers inside.[8] Within a few weeks, isolation started to take its toll on the research team, and Medford was the first to break under the strain, hanging himself in his dormitory room.[9][10] His death shocked his colleagues, who each responded differently. Meacham brushed it off, considering Medford's suicide an act of weakness. Bennell tried to escape into his work and avoid confronting his fears. Lastly, Leavitt angrily contested Meacham, their relationship quickly deteriorating. Eventually, she attempted to leave the lab (despite further attempts at appeasement by Bennell) and was instead killed by Meacham for doing so. Though Meacham outwardly stood by his decision, he inwardly regretted the drastic action he had taken.[11]

Notes[]

In Fallout 76, it is confirmed that Ruth also went by the name Kate.

Appearances[]

Ruth Leavitt's skeleton appears in the Fallout 4 add-on Nuka-World, and she is mentioned in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes[]

Ruth "Kate" Leavitt's name is an amalgamation of the names of Dr. Ruth Leavitt, one of the protagonists of the 1971 science fiction movie The Andromeda Strain, and the actor that portrays her, Kate Reid. She shares this trait with her fellow secure beverageer scientists.

References[]

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