“Caesar sleeps but doesn't awaken. I fear it is only a matter of days before death claims him.”— Lucius
Et Tumor, Brute? is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough
| Main Quest: Et Tumor, Brute? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Find a way to cure Caesar's brain tumor. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Decide to repair the Auto-Doc so it can do the procedure. | Decide to use your own medical knowledge, or your luck to do the procedure yourself. | Sell Arcade Gannon into slavery as Caesar's personal doctor. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Go to Vault 34 and find a replacement diagnostic scanning module for the Legion's Auto-Doc. | Buy a doctor's bag, and surgical tools from the New Vegas Medical Clinic. You could also steal the tools from the first aid box in the room left of the counter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pass a Luck check of 9 followed by a Speech check of 65, or a Medicine check of 75. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kill Caesar during the operation. | Leave Caesar unharmed during the operation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| To remain friendly with the Legion after Caesar's death, you must pass a skill check (Speech 50, Medicine 50, or a high Legion reputation) when speaking to Lucius. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 1,000 XP, Legion fame | Reward: 1,000 XP, Legion fame, 11 Aureus | Reward: Negative Karma, 10 Aureus. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Leads to: Arizona Killer | |||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough
If you choose to find the diagnostic scanning module, you must go to the heavily irradiated and ghoul infested Vault 34. You can find the vault north-northwest of the NCR's Camp Golf or east of the NCR Sharecropper Farms near New Vegas. It is recommended that you bring a good supply of RadAway and Rad-X. There will be golden geckos outside, as well as the ghouls inside.
Simply go to the room marked "Clinic."
- As you walk in take your first right to the stairway that will take you to the "cafeteria."
- Drop down the hole, exit the room and turn left.
- Follow the corridor (and signs for the "clinic"), until you see the room marked "Clinic."
- The Auto-Doc is on the back wall. Interact with it and the option to take the item will appear (you can turn around the way you came to leave after this if you are only here for the Auto-Doc).
Notes
- Attempting the surgery without the required Medicine 75 or Luck 9 will result in Caesar's death. You must then have either Medicine 50 or Speech 50 to explain to Lucius that Caesar's age was a complication in the procedure, or he will become hostile (unless your reputation with the Legion is "Liked" or higher).
- In all versions of the game, the broken Auto-Doc is in the clinic in Vault 34, not Security Station A.
- You will not be able to offer Arcade Gannon as a slave if you recruited him after you have spoken to Caesar in private.
- If you attempt this quest after losing Arcade by betraying him in For Auld Lang Syne, sometimes you can still get the option to sell him into slavery, although this does not seem to complete the quest. There is also no mention of him in the ending and he does not actually appear in The Fort.
Behind the scenes
- The title of this quest is a play on Julius Caesar's famous last words,"Et tu, Brute?", from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar which translates to "And you, Brutus?", showing Caesar's dismay in seeing Brutus taking part in his assassination and betrayal.
- The quest is an elaborate allusion to Julius Caesar, who did indeed suffer from an ailment that caused severe headaches and was also a secret from the public. Caesar's headaches were more likely to have been caused by a motor function disorder, causing him to fall regularly ("falling sickness"). Other theories on this include Epilepsy, migraines, and even malaria.
- If after Arcade is given as a slave the player speaks to him and says "The world needs Caesar more than it needs you" Arcade will respond "Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni" which can be translated as "the victorious cause pleased the gods, but the conquered cause pleased Cato." This is a quote from the Latin poem Pharsalia by Lucan, in which the historical figure of Caesar is portrayed as the main antagonist, and the main hero, the historical figure of Cato Uticensis, is eventually forced to commit suicide, being unable to defeat Caesar.
Bugs
Completing the quest via offering Arcade Gannon to Lucius causes a show stopping bug whereby Caesar is not woken from his coma and is permanently stuck. Only his coma message box will show when interacting with him even though that quest is marked complete. The reason is a developer omission of 3 lines of scripting for that specific quest outcome.[verification overdue]