Like any other role-playing game,The Outer Worldsfeatures side quests for players looking for a distraction from the main story. All side quests develop the world of the game and give little stories for the NPCs, but games such as The Outer Worlds can include morality tests for the player. One of the earliest tests is during The Long Tomorrow.
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This quest starts once the player speaks with Martin Abernathy, a sickly worker whose employers are refusing to treat him. There may or may not be more to it, however, as the short quest unfolds.
Martin and Esther
Martin is found in his house, easy to spot by how close it is to the neon sign for Edgewater. When the player starts talking to him, he worriedly asks if the player was sent by Mr. Tobson and tries to avoid mentioning he’s sick. The player can easily reassure him. Not having a high enough perception only boils down to having to ask further questions to get to the same conclusion.
After the reassurance, Martin will admit he’s very sick and that the available medicines are doing him no good. He’s not sick enough to get stronger medicine and also too sick to get it as well, according to the company guidelines. As Martin continues, he realizes the player might be the right person to hire, the job in question is there’s a stash of experimental medicine in the abandoned community center. If Martin is asked further, he will say the place is surrounded by Marauders, as well as a brief mention that the medicine is contraband and the authorities would write him up for it at the very least.
After leaving Martin’s home, the player will overhear another NPC named Esther Blaine. She has extra information regarding both Abernathy and the medicine.
Esther will say that Martin is a hypochondriac, he only thinks he’s ill. She isn’t here to convince you from getting the medicine, however, only from giving it to Martin. If the player has the right speech skills she will admit she plans to share the medicine with those more deserving than Martin but refuses to divulge who they are. The game doesn’t technically end up saying if either of them is lying, but Martin can be asked about this topic if the player has the needed medicine skill level.
Martin will end up worried about what hypochondria is, he thinks it’s another disease. A sign of hypochondria, but that’s as far as proof goes one way or the other. Whoever the player decides to help, they still go to the same location for the medicine.
Emerald Vale Community Center
The community center is marked on your map for the quest and is easy to find. Just as Martin may have warned the player, the outside and inside are crawling with Marauders. While they can pose a challenge, it’s not too hard to sneak up on many of them even after a firefight, and a companion for the extra firepower is always a useful strategy. They are not the only thing standing in the way of the player grabbing the medicine, however.
The door is locked. With many locked door puzzles, the player has to either find the correct key or simply pick the lock themselves, but the lock is a surprisingly high level for how early in the game the quest can be unlocked.
That’s not to say the player can’t have this high a lock pick skill this early, but it should be noted that getting the key is far easier as there are three separate ways to obtain it.
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An option that stares the player in the face from the first room is a hackable terminal.
This is only the first step of the process, however, as you need to hack the terminal a second time to get it to print out a keycard.
The rest of the methods only require singular inputs, making this the most complicated method to earn the key. If the player searches the center they can find a locked box which will also contain the key if lock-picked.
For players without the lock-pick or hacking skill sets, violence is the answer. A Marauder Hooligan is carrying the key, and it can be looted off their corpse.
Once the player opens the locked door, they can pick up the medicine and choose who to sell it to.
Who To Give The Medicine To
Both Esther and Martin will result in the player earning respect from the Spacer’s Choice community. In fact, Esther and Martin barely differ. Martin offers fewer bits at 500, while Esther pays 700, and both have speech options that will result in exactly 300 extra bits if passed. If you pick Martin he will happily take the medicine, and you can admit this to Esther who admits disappointment but doesn’t hold it against you. If you give the medicine to Esther she can then be asked again who it is for and this time will admit the names of the people she’s helping, and if Martin is told afterward he will be disappointed but not hold it against you.
For players who want a third option, especially an eviler option, it’s hidden. Without a map marker.
Fans ofFallout: New Vegaswill rememberObsidianhas no problem with secret options. Martin telling the player the medicine is contraband was your first clue that the medicine can be delivered to Constable Reyes instead.
She pays as much as Martin does. A player can then admit to Reyes that Martin hired them if they’d like. If asked, Reyes will state the medicine contraband because it’s an Auntie Cleo product and not a Spacer’s Choice product. The player will earn a positive reputation with The Board.
