 | The following is based on Fallout 4 cut content. |
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Spencer Lords is a deceased Robobrain resident of Vault 118 who was cut from the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor. His body can still be found in the void surrounding the Vault 118 interior cell, but can't be reached without the use of console commands.
Spencer Lords was originally intended to feature in an earlier version of the side quest Brain Dead. Most of the scripting, objects, and references to him in the Creation Engine have been removed, but there are still a number of unused voice files recorded via synthesizer which reveal his intended role, found in the DLC03Coast - Voices.ba2 archive. The references below contain the voice type folder these files are contained in (following the Sound\Voice\DLCCoast.esm directory).
Background[]
The character of Spencer Lords was a famous novelist[1] who had written hundreds of books,[2] mostly in the horror and mystery genres.[3] At some point, he met Ezra Parker of the Cliff's Edge Hotel and was convinced by him to invest in the construction of Vault 118, promised ownership of a room in the luxury wing of the Vault. Like the other investors, Spencer accepted Bert Riggs' proposal to become a Robobrain in order to wait out the Great War,[4] which enabled him to survive the following two centuries alongside the other residents while continuing to write more novels.[5]
At some point in 2287, Spencer discovered evidence that Ezra had actually been embezzling the residents' money and confronted him about it. Ezra promptly killed him to ensure his silence.[6] His body was later discovered by Julianna Riggs, whom he had promised to give an advance copy of his next novel.[7] Julianna believed Spencer's death was a murder, but no one else did.[8] She refused to believe otherwise and sent Pearl outside to find help, though Ezra tried to convince her not to.[9][5] Ezra would soon murder Bert and impersonate him, either because Bert also found out about Ezra's crimes[6] or because Ezra realized he would need to hide now that the police were coming.
The other residents would have mostly been ambivalent towards Spencer. Gilda Broscoe considered it a waste that Spencer had not written any screenplays despite his hundreds of novels,[2] while Keith McKinney would only have known that he was a famous horror writer.[3] Santiago Avida would have called him a "complete bore" who ruined an artistic collaboration by being too focused on "literal interpretations," which caused him to set fire to the piece and end their partnership.[10] Ezra, in Bert's guise, would only say he did not read fiction but his wife enjoyed Spencer's work.[11] Julianna would have affirmed this, commenting that the others did not appreciate Spencer's work, unlike her.[5]
Like the other residents, Spencer would have owned a private safe in Vault 118's bank (which was cut from the game), and would have had a keycard to the safe found somewhere in the Vault.
Interactions with the player character[]
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This character is involved in quests. | |
Quest[]
Brain Dead: Spencer's murder would have been a key plot point in an earlier version of this quest. In this version, the Sole Survivor would be hired by Pearl to investigate Spencer's death and not Ezra's.[1] However, upon reaching Vault 118, it would be discovered that Ezra had also been murdered, and the actual investigation would involve solving both crimes (most of the surviving files are related to Ezra's murder, so the circumstances of Spencer's death are left unclear). The Sole Survivor would've been able to ask the other residents about Spencer,[12] hearing their (mostly neutral) opinions of him. In particular, they could also accuse Julianna of murdering Ezra, speculating that it was because she thought Ezra killed Spencer.[13] The "correct" ending to the quest would come from figuring out that Ezra had killed both Spencer and Bert and was impersonating Bert.[14]
- Spencer would have also owned the cut item "Vault 118 Keycard, # 6" (xx048A4E; DLC03_V118_Keycard_Spencer). This would've presumably been used to open his private safe in Vault 118's cut bank vault, where the residents' personal belongings were stored.[15] A cut branch of Brain Dead would have involved actually helping Ezra before letting him escape, stealing the residents' keycards to rob their safes and then split the take with Ezra.[16]
Inventory[]
Notes[]
Like the other Vault 118 residents, Spencer has an unused pre-War human model, wearing the suspenders and slacks. Unlike the others, whose human models are unique, Spencer's appearance is templated off of a generic male appearance.
Appearances[]
Spencer Lords was cut from the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor.
Behind the scenes[]
Spencer Lords is a reference to American author Stephen King, who is known for his prolific body of horror and mystery novels. King is a resident of Maine, in proximity to the real-life Mount Desert Island where Far Harbor takes place. Santiago's comments about literal interpretation may be a reference to King's writing style, which tends to be more simplistic and straightforward. Unlike Spencer Lords, King has worked on a number of films (and written several screenplays).
Gallery[]
References[]
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