Cait is the spunky brawler of Fallout 4. Though she may seem crass at first, there’s a reason for it — a reason the player can uncover by raising affinity with her. Better yet, the player can help Cait process her personal problems, paving the way for a genuine friendship (or romance) between the two.
To find Cait in Fallout 4, the player must travel to the Combat Zone and defeat all the raiders within. After, speak to Tommy Lonegan, who will happily pawn off his “little bird” to the Sole Survivor.
Cait’s Early Life
Cait’s childhood wasn’t easy. When the player reaches a certain affinity level with her, she’ll open up to them about how her parents were abusive. She recalls being yelled at and beaten, and never once was she treated kindly. On two occasions, she tried to run away, but her parents stopped her. The first time she tried, they locked her in the shed, and the second time, they broke her leg. A part of Cait believed that her parents did love her, even a bit, since they didn’t let her leave. However, she’d be proven wrong on her 18th birthday.
That day, her parents sold her off to slavers without a second thought, and she remained with the band of thugs for five years. In those five years, the abuse continued — just at the hands of different people. Even so, Cait endured it and was already planning how to get away. She started swiping bottle caps off unsuspecting raiders until she had enough money to buy her freedom. When she was finally out, she wanted revenge.
Cait traveled back to her family home to confront her parents. When she got there, she shot them dead. Should the player comment that what Cait did was an act of justice, she’ll question it. She also admits that what she did has been troubling her ever since, which is what ultimately led to her chem abuse.
The Combat Zone and Drug Addiction
At some point, Cait entered a contract with Tommy Lonegan, who handled the Combat Zone arena just southwest of Goodneighbor. According to Tommy, the place used to be much more, but then raiders took over the place and became the proprietor’s only client base. There, Cait became the main source of entertainment — fighting people and other such challengers for the audience’s amusement. Though the raiders weren’t always so kind to Cait, as she tells the player that it made her much more liable to getting beaten up, robbed, or worse.
Still, Cait stayed in the Combat Zone and scrounged up a good amount of caps. Though after rounds in the arena, she would use chems, particularly Psycho, to keep her physically fit to keep fighting. This took a toll on her mental state. She expresses to the player how much she felt alone in that stage of her life, and how, sometimes, she wished her opponents would win. This went on for three years.
During this time, Cait also got into what she hints to be a romantic relationship with a man named Stratton. She tells the player that, one night, she refused to sleep with him. This led to a fight, where the two were screaming at each other. Cait then went outside to get some air when some raiders decided to bully her. When Stratton followed her out, he simply stared at her and said, “Next time you'll think twice before walkin' out on me,” before leaving to let Cait get beaten up. She tells the player that this is when she learned that no favors were ever given for free.
Entering a Contract with the Sole Survivor in Fallout 4
If the player wanders into the Combat Zone and happens to shoot every raider on sight, Tommy will call them to the arena stage. There, he’ll lament that he’s just lost his entire clientele, but also offer Cait’s contract to the Sole Survivor. Accepting unlocks Cait as a companion.
With a low-level affinity, Cait will be rude and dismissive of the player. In her first few affinity dialogue trees, she’ll even express that it’s weird that the Sole Survivor is treating them kindly. Even if the player assures her that she doesn’t owe them anything, she insists that she’ll repay them somehow. Should the player get to a high enough affinity level with her, her personal quest — Benign Intervention — will be unlocked.
When talking to Cait, she’ll admit to her abuse of Psycho and tell the player that she can’t stop, no matter how much she tries to. She also talks about how the chems have been negatively affecting her health, which is why she needs to cure her addiction. Unfortunately, no normal wasteland doctor can cure her. She’s been addicted to Psycho for too long.
The only way Cait can think of curing herself is by heading to Vault 95. There, Vault-Tec conducted unethical social experiments on people with drug addictions. However, the facility also housed a machine that could wipe that addiction clean. The player can travel to this vault with Cait, fight through a horde of Gunners, then finally arrive at the “Clean Room.”
Cait will be hesitant to go through with the treatment because she thinks the Psycho is what’s keeping her from falling apart. To this, the player can encourage Cait, finally convincing her to use the machine. Once the treatment is done, Cait will say that she perceives everything much clearer and that the cravings are gone. After, she’ll thank the player, thus ending her personal quest.
Cait’s story showcases everything ugly about the post-apocalyptic wasteland. It shows how low even parents will sink just to get by, and how there are countless people with malicious intent roaming a world with no rules. That’s precisely what makes Cait’s companion story so engaging — the fact that the player has such a central role in helping someone pick up the pieces of their life.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
