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Update 26 ? Letting Go
Bottom floor. Let's do this.
There's a challenge for saving all of the companions that we completed, since it's the best way to get the story of the Madre.
What's that?
The Vault!
So close, and yet so far 
fuckin forcefields
Well, there's only one way to go, so... Let's go, I guess?
A terminal that you need to access to go further, and it has some information. Somewhat hamfisted I guess but there are probably people out there who didn't read it.
Jesus, what kinda insanity built this place.
The game tries to stock you up a little. Also there are a few leftover posters down here. This section is pretty railroady in how you go about it as well. I call it Speaker Hell.
Not too bad so far though.
Ahhh shit.
It's not you!
Run run run
Aha!
FUCK
Let's try this again.
If you duck over here onto this desk in the corner you are actually juuuust far enough away from any speakers to reset the timer.
There is a note on the desk that you can pick up.
Much better. 
Anyway, you want to fall back after you shoot that one because of speaker overlap.
Because you can't shoot the next one 
There is another in the way though that is explodey so go for it.
As usual with this DLC, there is a terminal nearby to the red speakers that shuts them off.
Century old board, I'm sure it can carry my weight.
Next area.
Holograms! And also a red speaker. Ugh.
There are several terminals in this area ? two are useful. One is the one you kinda need to beeline to since it lets you shut off the speakers.
It's in a little dead-end area.
Another is somehow the last bit of stuff needed for History's Sake. 
A little careful planning and hopping will get you up onto these roof beams. This is where one of the emitters is.
All three have a full 100 Repair check though. Jeez.
Another is on top of the roof nearby ? you'll see it pretty easily it's blue and glowy for fuck's sake.
The last one is on the ceiling just to the right of the forcefield out of here.
Aaaand the last terminal lets us open the way forward. At this point it's a straight shot again.
You come to a terminal which continues to browbeat you that this place is desgined as a trap.
There it is. That's what all the fuss is about.
Let's go in!
Hhhuh.
There are two terminals.
One disables turrets.
Some people go to a silly amount of effort to get these ? at this point if I were to drop everything with weight, Courier could carry 6 Gold Bars. I could get all high on Buffout/Madre Martinis and carry one more. We will be fine for money though so we only grab one as a souvenir.
There's also a lot of drugs about.
Hmm.
Well, let's look at it!
Oh hey. I should probably actually disengage the protocols 
That's better! Huh, two entries.
Innnteresting.
FUCKIN READ THIS
What kind of idiot would activate the records at this point?
I love this part. This is basically my favorite part of the DLC's story, and of Dean's segment of it in particular. After all that planning, all his perfect, psychotic, cruel planning ? he lost. Sinclair knew from the beginning ? Dean was never going to get the Vault. And at the very end, right before the Bomb sealed the Madre into history? Vera went to Sinclair and told him everything.
After everything, Sinclair was, in fact, better than Dean. Maybe Dean actually knows that and that's why he's so incredibly pissed.
Anyway. That may be the end of Vera, Dean, and Sinclair's story ? but it's not the end of the Madre's story. There's one last chapter.
Let's look away from the computer. The Sierra Madre insignia behind the computer slides open.
Don't move, don't go into the vault. And don't touch anything else... there may be more traps down there... another security system.
Still hiding behind images and screens, I see.
You think you were the first one to unlock the casino door? No, I did it... with other hands, other bodies. After that, the casino wouldn't let go. Once I was locked in, no way out... until your Pip-Boy signal came to life in the Villa. Then... then, uh, things changed. And here you are.
How did you access my Pip-Boy?
The Pip-Boy's operating system has vulnerabilities... advantages to those who've studied its construction, even superficially. It's just a machine, though. Its real vulnerability is who wears it. And that's how you were caught.
What do you mean?
That thing on your wrist ? it's a convenience. It tells you where to go, what to do, dulls your brain.
Quest compass callout? I dunno. You decide.
Before this goes any farther, I had questions.
Curious? You must be. We have time, now that you've done your work. And our interactions have been too one-sided, even for my tastes.
You're Veronica's mentor. The Elder who lost HELIOS One.
As for "losing" HELIOS One... that was the only outcome, aside from retreat. NCR, swarming like ants over Old World relics... Hoover Dam... HELIOS...
You want to attack NCR? All of NCR?
Attack? No, not attack them. Wipe the slate clean. Make the Mojave like it was meant to be... undisturbed by man.
Soooo, remember how Dean's crazy? Elijah is the madgod by comparison.
What do you want from the Sierra Madre?
What do I want. Weapons. Security. A citadel of my own. The Madre's all these things. It's a fortress and a weapon. A chance... to... "begin again."
I don't understand how an Old World casino helps you do any of that.
The Cloud is unique in my travels. Its proximity to the Sierra Madre isn't a coincidence. Right now it protects this casino, preserves it. It can be used to preserve other Old World relics ? and cleanse them, at the same time.
Properly? Are you kidding me?
The Holograms kill tresspassers. That's what I want. Dump one of those emitters in the middle of any battle, there's no defense.
Except shooting the emitter. Or tinkering with it. Proximity to a remotely clever person, basically. Of course they can be hidden quite well and still project but hey.
If you secure that, that's all you want?
No, there is one last thing I want from the Sierra Madre. Its bounty. The machines that fill its streets, its corridors. They provide, provide almost anything. Perhaps in the Pre-War era, they were commonplace, things to dismiss.
What would you use them for?
Sources of food, supplies... medical assistance, ammo... make more collars, even print currency. Make a nation. The Cloud allows me to wipe the slate clean. Collars ensure cooperation. Holograms ? defense. The Vending machines provide... everything else.
How did you find out about the Sierra Madre?
Moments like that, however, failures... can provide the brightest clarity.
What happened next?
After that... I wandered, alone. Saw the storms of the Divide, walked among the Ciphers of the West. Traveled to the Big Empty.
I tracked the signal. Came here, scouted the city... using other hands. Kept dying on me, killing each other. You ? you got the farthest of all.
Where did you get the collars?
The collars. They're Pre-War tech, I suspect this great land had... compliance issues before the war.
If they're Pre-War tech, where did you get them?
A place far fram here, called the Big Empty. Almost didn't make it out.
I've never heard of the place you're talking about.
Big Empty's a treasure box, a scientific graveyard of Old World misery. Like the Sierra Madre... there's treasures there, sleeping. Some, awake. The Holorifle, the Saturnite Alloy... the hologram technology, hibernation chambers, Securitrons, the collars...
How did you get me here again?
Everyone asks that. Should be asking how they plan on leaving.
The chain ends with the super mutant. Although with him... the collar wasn't even necessary. He only needed... guidance.
So someone else with a collar placed one on me? Who?
The mutant. Heh! He swallowed one of the collars... after that, he was mine. The collar wasn't even necessary.
Even when I stopped speaking to him, he continued to leave the Villa, gather victims from the mantraps, out of habit. He must have found you in one of them. If so, he's probably forgotten ? he only remembers my voice.
If Dog put a collar on me, why didn't he say so?
"Dog?" Hnh. Appropriate. It's what I called him. You've met him. You know why he forgot ? his brain was ruined by FEV, his memory, wreckage. He may know the way back, somewhere, deep down. I doubt it. He tracks by smell and instinct. Still, he could be trained.
Do you know how to get out of here?
What happened to my gear?
It lies in the bunker ? or whatever mantrap caught you. It's the Sierra Madre, its security systems strip guests to their garments. It has... prejudices against outside material, "contraband." Almost anything with a radiation signature.
So the casino stripped me of my gear?
The Villa did, as an extension of the casino, yes ? and then sent it back to the owner's residence. Here, "begin again" is more than a slogan.
I don't believe you.
...it's automated to move things as the builder saw fit, Sinclair ? even the guests. It's what divided your team, me, assigned us to "our floors."
You're nothing more than a killer that aspires to mass murder.
Think about it. Would you truly have gotten into the casino without those collars? No, human nature is against us, always. Did you know... did you know that I had to keep adjusting the collars, keep changing the rules to make this moment possible?
What are you talking about?
It... it was insanity. They could've hade it all, it was so close. And... and they kept turning on each other, again and again.
So you answered madness with madness?
When your life is tied to another's, sacrifice and cooperation ? they can be conditioned, learned, and you can focus on the matter at hand. Greed can be beaten. Contained. Controlled. You know it better than anyone... or I hope you do. It doesn't matter.
This is the last part to get The Whole Sad Story ? Elijah's confusion and exasperation at the people who just kept fucking it up and killing each other. Remember, this is 100% how he wanted us to handle the companions for the DLC...
Now that I'm here, are you coming down?
You... you're locked down there. This is the only entrance, and I have free rein of the Sierra Madre. I have time... more than you.
Unless you come down here, I'll destroy the vault, everything in it.
No... I don't think so. It'd most likely trigger other security measures... if you hurt the Vault at all. The builder of the casino built it to last ? the Sierra Madre withstood the war. I'm sure the Vault is protected as well.
Several options now.
Destroying even a single fragment of data is more than you could stand.
But, you recognize the value of what's down there. You would no sooner destroy what's inside the Sierra Madre than destroy yourself. Persist in threatening me... or the Sierra Madre's secrets, you're of no use to me, I'll set off your collar now.
Whoever designed the Sierra Madre... their obsession with messing with frequencies and signals...
With that, the sigil slides shut again.
...We have to move.
These are... not really helpful since Elijah can see through them. They're also not necessary!
Let's go.
That's the entrance/exit ? note how the forcefield that blocked us earlier is down now. That's the way Elijah will be coming, so let's just run back the other way.
Peek out the window...
There he is.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work with the subtitles, and I can't actually hear/understand it over the other noises going on in my recording very well so I am not transcribing Elijah's infuriated rant that begins when the forcefields kick back in.
Suffice it to say that he turns on your collar and shit starts exploding so 
your way out of there ASAP. Having turned off the holograms will make this much easier!
At this point it is just a frantic dash back to the elevator in reverse of how you went in. There are some explosions and collapsing things so you will hop but it works out.
Even if the screen likes to tilt annoyingly
Hi Elijah! Suckerrrrr!
FREEDOM
The epilogue slides will talk about a radio message left at the fountain but it doesn't really seem to be a thing. We will hear it in the 26.5 update of alternate takes/post content.
...Let's get out of this hell hole.
Letting Go