Earnest Schwartz is a young maintenance technician in Vault 18. He serves as a potential temporary companion during the quests Save The Vault and Hell to Pay.
Background[]
Earnest is a technically-minded young resident of Vault 18, but whether he is an adopted tribal or a child of the Vault residents is unknown. Earnest was assigned to maintenance duty under Joe Marshall throughout the Vault, coming to be loathed by John Bragg for his ineptness and laziness. He is the archetypal "creepy nerd," with reputation as a perverted loner by much of the Vault's younger residents, for such actions as recording Jenn Hail crying and using the Vault's computers to view pornography. Despite this, he displays some competence in technical matters, being able to construct a functional pulse pistol from schematics recovered in the wasteland and holding a good deal of knowledge about the Vault's internal workings and computer systems.
Interaction with the player character[]
In the prologue, Earnest does not do much other than sit outside the Overseer's office. The Star Player can attempt to speak to him; however he'll only say "...Yo!", but if the player has gone down the Scientist path, Earnest will give his condolences to the Star Player for their leg injury.
Path of the Warrior[]
If the player has joined Vault 18 Security and returned to Coach Bragg, Overseer Christianson will call for them on the Vault PA system. If the player delays, Earnest will track the player down, then lead them to and unlock Christianson's office. If he somehow does not unlock the office, Sarah Carter can be spoken to to unlock it.
Path of the Scientist[]
After the player has finished unlocking Maria's tiers and activates the Enclave hologram, Earnest will track them down then lead them to and unlock Overseer Christianson's office.
Both paths[]
In any event, the moment the Star Player walks into the office, Earnest will attempt to call them names such as "Ball-juggler" and "Bragg-blower." After done speaking to the Overseer, Earnest hopes that the Star Player was punished and claims if they are given detention, he'll want them assigned to cleaning his bathroom.
Save The Vault[]
Earnest will be found cowering behind the Vault Security barricade in the Lower Apartments, just outside the Star Player's apartment. He will give the player information on Bragg's revolt and, with 7 Endurance or 6 Charisma, can be pepped into joining the player as a temporary companion, following the player until killed. Earnest lacks much health, but possesses a powerful Pulse Pistol he custom-built.
Earnest will stay loyal to the player even if they decide to join the Enclave, and provided that he survived, will follow them all the way to the elevator. Before the player reaches Ben Kurtz, Earnest along with John Anderson are killed in the blast that ensues in the corridor leading to the maintenance area. There is no way to avoid this.
Inventory[]
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vault 18 utility jumpsuit Eyeglasses |
Pulse pistol (Act One) | 50 energy cells (Act One) |
Notes[]
- Talking to Earnest while he is following the player will allow them to pass an Endurance 8 and/or Charisma 7 check that will pep Earnest up, healing him if he has been injured. However, if they are failed he will refuse to keep following and run back to the Lower Apartments. These can only be performed once each.
- Despite presumably working under Joe Marshall, Earnest does not know his name, referring to him as "Jim."
- Earnest, like John Anderson, is scripted to die during the explosion past the elevator. If one were to stop after the initial explosion and allow their companions (including Earnest) to make it to the room with Ben Kurtz, Earnest will still die the moment the second explosion in the hallway is triggered.
- If Earnest is somehow kept alive past the meeting with Ben Kurtz (either through glitching or using console commands to skip the explosion), he will follow all the way until the very end of Vault 18 but will not spawn after exiting into the Wasteland.