Agatha's Song

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Template:FO3 achievement

Agatha's Song is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360/PC achievement and a Playstation 3 trophy.

Retrieve the Soil Stradivarius from Vault 92 for Agatha, an old woman living alone in a house in the Capital Wasteland

Objectives and Walkthrough

Meeting Agatha

Her house is Northeast of Meresti Trainyard and west of the Scrapyard and can be tricky to find since it is surrounded by rock piles except for the small passage from the west over a suspension bridge. The suspension bridge is located just west of where the upraised monorail tracks come together. If you are having troubles finding it, then look for caravans in the area with your Pip-Boy since they are often positioned right in front of the passage to her house.

Agatha is a talented violinist who broadcasts her music through her late husband's old radio gear. She wants you to find her great-great-grandmother Hilda's Soil Stradivarius violin, which she believes is still in Vault 92. She offers you the frequency of her radio signal (which plays "beautiful music") as a reward, but with an easy speech check or if you have high Charisma, she'll also immediately give you the key to her husband's ammunition box if you promise to get the violin for her. You can also skip the speech check if you have the Lady Killer perk and use your wily charms to seduce this woman who is old enough to be your grandmother. She doesn't know the location of the vault, but if asked can give you the location of Vault-Tec Headquarters on your Pip-Boy. At this point, going to Vault-Tec Headquarters is entirely optional. You can get the location of the vault while doing the quest Picking up the Trail or just by stumbling on it. Note that using either of these two options will not count towards completing the optional objective for the quest.

Getting to Vault-Tec Headquarters (Optional)

To get to Vault-Tec Headquarters, you need to get to Vernon Square. Vault-Tec Headquarters is close to one exit of the Metro Junction tunnels: Vernon Square North.

This station can be accessed from Chevy Chase East, the same region that has GNR Plaza.
Metro Junction can also be reached from Dupont Circle.
Vernon Square can also be accessed from Pennsylvania Avenue.

When in Vernon Square, you need to get to the northernmost part, Vernon Square North map marker. Vault-Tec Headquarters is just next to the Metro Junction exit.

Discover the location of Vault 92 (Optional)

Once inside Vault-Tec Headquarters, make your way to the Vault-Tec Mainframe. The building is divided into 3 sections. The Guest Relations (Lobby), the Corporate Offices and the Administration. The building is still protected by several automated units such as Protectrons, Robobrains, Turrets and depending on your level and the game difficulty level Sentry Bots. Sentry bot's are pests when the game is on very hard, so be sure to stock up on pulse grenades because they take them out pretty easily. There's also a few remaining Super Mutants when you come in, but they seem to have their hands full.

The Mainframe is located in the Administration section. To gain access to it, you will need to obtain permission from System Operation Station 1, 2 and 3. The terminals are scattered across the Administration. Once you gain access to the Mainframe, you'll be able to download the location of Vault 87, Vault 92, Vault 101, Vault 106 and Vault 108 on your Pip-Boy.

If you've already accepted the quest 'Picking Up The Trail' then the locations of all Vaults will be marked on your map by Elder Lyons in the Citadel Laboratory, during the start of the quest.

Recover the Soil Stradivarius from Vault 92

Vault 92 is infested with Mirelurks, Mirelurk Hunters, Mirelurk Kings, Bloatflies, and Radroaches. The Soil Stradivarius is located within the most southwestern room in the Sound Testing section of the vault on a table.

Entering the vault, go straight, the room should have 3 doors. The door in front leads to the Atrium, the door on the left has signs that say Classroom and Lab and leads directly to the Sound Testing section. The door on the right is unmarked and leads to the Living Quarters (where you can find a piece of Sheet Music Book, see below). You can move through the vault in at least two ways:

If you can pick Average locks, you can go left, directly to the violin, and either ignore the Sheet Music Book or get it after the violin. If you choose this path, enter the door on the left, which shortly leads to the Sound Testing area. Once there, if you're noisy, you'll have several Mirelurks on you. On any difficulty you'll face 2 regular Mirelurks and 2 Mirelurk Hunters. Once you've dealt with the Mirelurks, take the corridor on your right. At the intersection, go right around a corner. On your left will be a staircase leading down with a sign saying Lab above it. Be careful, there are 2 Mirelurk Kings down there.

If you cannot pick Average locks, you'll need to go right, through the Living Quarters, to get the violin. Once in the Living Quarters proper, if you're noisy, you will quickly be engaged by several Mirelurks. On Hard, there were 3 Mirelurk Hunters and 1 Mirelurk to the left. Since you're already here, you might as well get the Sheet Music Book, which can be found in the Male Dorm bathroom (straight ahead from where you entered) in a closed stall behind the toilet. If you are having trouble with Mirelurks (try to aim at their face, easiest done by crouching, even if you have been detected) while trying to get the Sheet Music Book, then the first terminal once entering the dorms, The Women's Dorm Security Terminal, can be used to perform a noise flush and kill all the Mirelurks in that area. Once you have the Sheet Music Book, continue through the Living Quarters until you are on the upper floor of the Atrium. There should be a door to the Reactor section and an unmarked door that leads to the Sound Testing section. Go through the unmarked door. Once there, immediately to your right should be a staircase with the sign Lab above it leading down. Be careful, there are 2 Mirelurk Kings down there.

At the bottom of the staircase and around a corner is a 4-way intersection. In front of you is an Average-locked storeroom with a Stealth Boy, ammo boxes, medical supplies, and an Average-locked safe. To your right is a room with the first Mirelurk King, a juke box, a soda machine, a refrigerator, and a Pre-War Book. To your left is a T-intersection. The computer terminal that grants access to the music studio (and the second Mirelurk King) is to the left of the T-intersection. It also contains an Energy Weapons skill book: Nikola Tesla and You. The violin is to the right of the T-intersection, with a Laser Pistol and an Easy-locked safe with another Stealth Boy. If you didn't do so already, you may want to go to the Living Quarters section and get the Sheet Music Book there (see above).

Overseers office

There is a Stealth Boy, a Duck and Cover!, and a Pre-War Book located on a wooden book case, also a few ammo boxes (random loot), Professor Malleus audio log 3 of 6, and a Laser Rifle on the top shelf of the book case. A computer terminal in the room explains some of what went wrong with the experiment in the vault.

Return to Agatha

Upon completion of this quest, Agatha will give you the frequency to her radio channel for your Pip-Boy. It plays violin music and can be heard across the entire wastes.

If you bring Agatha back a Sheet Music Book, which can be found in Vault 92 and several other locations (see: Sheet Music Book), she will give you the Blackhawk, a unique, modified .44 Scoped Magnum and 12 .44 magnum rounds that was her husband's property. It is considered one of the best weapons in the game. To get the Blackhawk, you must ask for the reward (second option). Watch out, if you're rude towards Agatha your Blackhawk's condition will be halved. If you don't have any Sheet Music Book when talking with Agatha again, she'll tell you that she needs Music Paper to write her music on and asks you to retrieve some for her.

Alternatives

You can bring the Soil Stradivarius to Ahzrukhal at The Ninth Circle in Underworld. If you tell him it's one of a kind, he'll buy it off you for 200 caps (or Speech him for 300 caps) and you will get the achievement for finishing the quest. There is no karma gain nor loss by selling it to Ahzrukhal.
It's also possible to sell the violin for 200 caps to Abraham Washington in Rivet City. This ends the quest (although you may have never accepted it) and gives you the good karma bonus. If you talk to Agatha after doing this, you can return to Rivet City and buy the violin, so you can still give it to Agatha when you want to.

Notes

You can convince Agatha to give you the key to the ammo box next to her at the beginning of the quest. That includes numerous types of ammo including Mini Nukes and Missiles. If you pick the lock on the container and loot it, the box restocks when you receive the key. (Note: The restocking doesn't apply to the 360 or PS3 version and it is possible this has been patched for the PC version)
If the player picks the lock on the ammo box Agatha will become hostile and will be attacked by any companions you have with you. It is recommended if you take this action that you complete both quests through her before attempting this.
Vault 92 is located near Old Olney, which is known to be a Deathclaw nest. There are sometimes three or four Deathclaws that wander around the town and one could end up near Vault 92.
If you use the Noise Flush command on one of the security terminals in the Living Quarters of Vault 92, it will kill all the Mirelurks in the Living Quarters. (This does not grant any experience for killing them, however)
After you give Agatha the violin, re-initiate conversation and give her the sheet music. Convince her that it's very valuable and she will give you her husband's "Blackhawk" a .44 magnum with 40 dam. (58 with 100 small guns skill.)
You can kill Agatha after completing the quest, and she continues playing from the beyond... (Actually, she mentions that the radio equipment her husband left her allows her to record her performances and play them continuously.) Three Dog will state on Galaxy News Radio that "Suspect numero uno is you, vault-asshole."
You can first get the Soil Stradivarius in Vault 92 and then go to Agatha's House. You should do this if you want to complete the quest very fast.

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