And now this slave has proven willing to kill and die for his freedom! But how will he fare
against the man who made it all the way: Gruber! Undefeated in the Hole, Gruber has yet to
meet his match. Only one will walk out with their freedom! Only one will walk out alive!
GO!
Hey Mister Gruber. Mister Gruber!
Yeah?
I just wanted you to know, you’re greatest pit fighter ever!
Uh huh…
Do you want some of my Nuka-Cola? It’s okay, you can have it.
Well, see ya around…
Hey Kid, catch.
You know more about Quantum soda than you're letting on! Tell me everything about Sunset
Sarsaparilla - Or none of us are getting out of here alive!
Well, Old Festus here-
Howdy Pardner!
He’ll tell ya that the Sunset Sarsaparilla company was founded by a humble saloon keeper
who wanted to create a new beverage that let the people of the West drink something other
than Nuka-Cola-
Wait! Why would they want anything besides the most delicious… refreshing… satisfying
beverage ever created? It’s the best!
Uh… they just did. So the saloon keeper made a deal with a mysterious stranger to
brew a secret recipe, that had been in the stranger's family for generations. But only
if the saloon keeper would allow his mysterious benefactor to sample a bottle every now and
then, just to make sure the recipe was being followed. And that’s why some of their bottle
caps have a little blue star on the inside.
Ugh! That’s gross. Some guy took a sip out of a bottle, and then put the cap back on,
and they still sell it? The fine makers of Nuka-Cola Quantum would have never done that!
Yeah, Sunset Sarsaparilla's marking department didn't seem too bright. But that story is
hogwash, anyway. There really are glowing blue stars on the inside of some sarsaparilla
bottlecaps, but no one knows why. Festus tells folk that if you collect fifty of them and
bring them here, you’ll get a special prize, and folk have done horrible things to get
more of 'em. They kill and steal and betray each other, all in the name of some mysterious
treasure.
But you know what the treasure is, don't you....
Yeah. I've know what the treasure is, and I assure you it ain't the sort of thing you'd
want to kill someone over.
Well if those little stars on the bottle caps glow blue, then it can only mean one thing!
It must be-
Quantum Sarsaparilla! Tons of it! So much you could die! Yes! Oh yes!
Um. Yeah… Hate to tell ya, kid, but that legend has been around for over two hundred
years, and you wouldn't be the first person to bring old Festus fifty star caps. Even
before the war, children had been hauling in handfuls of blue star caps, and the prize
is generally regarded as somewhat disappointing. Sorry, son, but you drank just about the only
bottle of Quantum soda West of the Mississippi.
You're just trying to throw me off the trail! You've got some Nuka-Cola Quantum with you
right now, don't you? Don’t you?
Well… not really.
You’re holding something back! I can tell! You know some secret Quantum recipe! Give
it to me or I’ll kill us all! Don’t think I won’t do it…
Truth be told, I did find a few of bottles of Quantum in one of the Super Duper Marts
near Megaton, but I never cared for the stuff, myself. Instead of drinking it, I tried a
little recipe I found out East. Mixed the Nuka Cola Quantum with turpentine and some
cleanser in an old tin can.
What did that do? Make it more refreshing? Make it more delicious?
You could say it’s “Bursting with flavor”.
Throw it over here. Nice and gentle. Or you’re a dead man.
You sure about that, son?
Yeah.
Hey Kid- catch.
That’s the trouble with people now-a-days. No loyalty. Tried to kill us over a bottle
of soda.
*wistful beep*
You want loyalty in the wasteland, about the only place you’re going to find it is with
a dog.
*curious beep*
...and robots. And robot dogs.
Yup, there are robot dogs. And cyborgs that are half robot, half dog. Even saw a-thing-jig
that was part dog, part robot, and part gattling gun. Although all the circuits and gizmos
that science has to offer, still can’t improve on nature when it comes to Man's best friend.
But that- is a story for another day...