Before the Great War, Bert Riggs was a roboticist who worked for General Atomics, where he was one of the lead researchers on the team which created the first model of Robobrains. He is highly passionate about his work and is willing to go into great depth about it with anyone who shows interest, though he recognizes it can easily bore most people.[2] Furthermore, the confidential nature of the work (and its immoral areas, such as their use of convicts as "recruited subjects,") also dissuades him from sharing too much about his research.[3][4]
Bert is the husband of Julianna Riggs, a wealthy heiress with a fortune derived from investments in natural resources.[5] Julianna was known for her harsh and forceful personality,[6] whereas Bert tended to be more demure. Their pairing seemed surprising to outsiders, but Bert personally appreciated Julianna for being able to take charge of any situation, allowing him to focus on his research and leave thorny matters such as their finances to his wife.[7][8]
The Riggs were known to be premier clients of the Cliff's Edge Hotel on Mount Desert Island. Sometime before 2077, they became acquainted with the hotel's primary owner, Ezra Parker, who convinced them to become investors in his ambitious plan to build a Vault underneath his hotel, tailor-made to his clients' specifications;[9] this would develop into Vault 118, intended by Vault-Tec to study the results of a Vault divided between a luxury wing for a small group of ultra-wealthy residents with their every need catered to by robotic staff, and a large population of working-class residents living in comparatively squalid conditions.[10] The Riggs were not the first investors, but they soon became the majority investors, owning as large of a share as all of the others combined.[5]
Vault 118[]
Once the luxury wing of the Vault was finished, he and Julianna eventually moved from their mansion into the Vault, taking all of their belongings with them (including several cats).[11] Bert took a room to use as a personal laboratory to continue his research. He soon began trying to persuade his fellow residents to be made into Robobrains in order to better wait out the coming war. The other guests (Santiago Avida, Keith McKinney, Gilda Broscoe, and Ezra Parker himself) eventually agreed and became Robobrains alongside Bert and Julianna before the Great War.[12]
Bert's proposal was undesirable to the Vault 118 overseer, who believed this would subvert the Vault's experiment; his superiors were instead intrigued by the new development and allowed it to happen.[13] The true subversion of the experiment would occur when the Great War struck. The Robobrain elites, already in the Vault, were spared from the devastation. However, when the overseer attempted to process the working-class population for entry, he discovered that one of the elites had disabled the system, leaving the other intended residents to die.[14] As a result, the elite guests were able to spend the following two centuries in comfort, Bert using the time to focus on his research.
"Ezra Parker's" death[]
The situation changed in late 2287, when Julianna entered the long-dead overseer's office and discovered a holotape suggesting that Ezra had secretly been embezzling their money in the name of funding the Vault's construction.[15] Julianna soon confronted him about his crime, leading to a heated argument between them. Bert was not aware of this, having been hard at work in his lab at the time. Following the argument, Julianna tried to let Bert know about what she had found, but he was too engrossed in his research to listen (and he was more comfortable letting Julianna handle the money situation anyways).[8]
This sequence of events would lead to a murder. Realizing he now needed to cover his tracks, Ezra locked the overseer's office, claiming it to be "unsafe" for the guests.[16] Several days after the argument,[8] he confronted Julianna in the Vault atrium and smashed her brain case with Keith McKinney's baseball bat, killing her. To hide his crime, he stole Julianna's identity by swapping accessories and using the robots' inbuilt voice modulators, pretending to be sick/malfunctioning to cover for any flaws in his impersonation.
Bert immediately noticed the changes in his wife. She was usually harsh but now she was kind and nice to him; she also started forgetting the names of their cats and said she was getting ill all the time, but refusing to let Bert examine her; this has been going on for at least one month.[17] However, he does not want to believe that his wife could really have been replaced, and tried to convince himself her strange condition was simply due to a known glitch involving the Robobrains' voice modulators and neurochemical regulators (leading to increased moodiness) plus the stress of the murder.[18][19] However, with enough prodding, he can be convinced to admit what he suspects: that whoever "Julianna" is, it is not his wife.[6]
An unused human version of Bert Riggs can be found in the Creation Kit, wearing a lab coat. In fact, all Vault 118 residents have an unused human variant, including the cut Spencer Lords.
↑The Sole Survivor: "Tell me about yourself." Bert Riggs: "Oh uh... well, I'm a scientist. You've probably met my wife, Julianna, already. Not sure what else to say really. Was there something else, Detective?" (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Tell me about your research." Bert Riggs: "Well, I was one of the leads on the team that created the first robobrains, the precursors to our model.Most people don't find it all that interesting, and I'd rather not bore you.. Was there something else, Detective?" The Sole Survivor: "I'd like to hear more about your research." Bert Riggs: "Oh wonderful! No one else here really wants to talk about it. Functionally this model is more or less the same as the previous versions I worked on, but without the neural inhibitor and reconditioning. The voice modulator seems to have some minor issues interfacing with the neural matrix, which can add some moodiness. But that's easily solved with regular tune ups. Was there something else, Detective?" (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Robobrains have a voice modulator? Tell me about that." Bert Riggs: "That's what allows us to recreate our original voices. They can mimic any normal human voice, actually. I've speculated for some time that the issues we had with our hm... recruited subjects are due to the brain attempting to preserve a sense of self. Maintaining our original voices helps reinforce the neural network, sort of like playing music for an Alzheimer's patient." (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "I'd like to hear more about your research." Bert Riggs: "I'm afraid that's really all I should say about it. I mean it IS still classified, but I wanted to help with the investigation." (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑ 5.05.1The Sole Survivor: "Your residents are robots?" Maxwell: "Well, Gilda Broscoe and Keith McKinney were our first investors. They are both movie stars with very storied careers. Santiago Avida is a world renowned painter, he joined us shortly after Gilda invested as he was working on a series of paintings of her at the time. Bert and Julianna Riggs are our largest investors in the hotel, holding as large a portion as the other combined. Mrs. Riggs comes from old money, lots of investments in natural resources. Mr. Riggs was a researcher for General Atomics on the Robobrain project." (Maxwell's dialogue)
↑ 6.06.1The Sole Survivor: "What do you mean, Julianna's not the same person?" Bert Riggs: "My wife has always been a very harsh woman, Detective. I don't know who it is in our room, but that is not my wife, Detective." Was there something else, Detective? (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Have you noticed Julianna acting strange lately?" Bert Riggs: "Oh, well I'm probably just being paranoid, but... She's been so much more pleasant lately. I mean it's been nice, but also a bit unnerving. Most people don't really understand us, but I always appreciated how she can just take charge of a situation. It's what allowed me to focus on my research. I'm worried something has happened to her. She doesn't seem like the same person. Was there something else, Detective?" (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑ 8.08.18.2The Sole Survivor: "I heard that Julianna and Ezra had an argument a few days before he was found dead. Tell me about that." Bert Riggs: "Well, I was in my lab at the time so I didn't hear it, but Julianna has always been rather critical of Mr. Parker. I think she found something in the overseer's office... I wasn't listening when she told me about it. I kind of had my head in my research. I don't know really. I try to let her handle all the money stuff." (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Tell me about the victim." Maxwell: "Mr. Ezra Parker was the primary owner and financier for the hotel. He had vast experience managing venture projects around the world. It was his idea to have our premier clients become investors in the vault section of the hotel. He worked with Vault-Tec to have this built to their every specification. Was there anything else?" (Maxwell's dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Your residents are robots?" Maxwell: "Not robots, Detective. Well not exactly anyway. I believe the term they use is Robobrain. Back before the war, the residents decided the best way to wait it out was to put their brains inside robotic chassis." (Maxwell's dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "The door to the overseer's office is locked." Maxwell: "Oh yes, Mr. Parker locked it a while back after finding out that one of the other residents had been inside. Said it wasn't safe. If the key isn't on him, it's probably in Mr. Parker's room. Was there anything else?" (Maxwell's dialogue)
↑Ezra Parker: "Hello Mr. Whiskers. Who's a pretty kitty?" Bert Riggs: "Julianna... Mr. Whiskers died last month. This is Scruffy, remember?" Julianna Riggs: "Oh... of course. Silly me." Bert Riggs: "Just let me have a look at the neural interface matrix and I'm sure I can clear that-" Julianna Riggs: "No! No it's not that, I've just caught another cold. Probably something that got in when they sent Pearl out." Bert Riggs: "Oh god, not this again. Last month you were convinced you had the measles..." Julianna Riggs: "You're not a doctor, what would you even know about it. And besides, I think it may be malaria." Bert Riggs: "First of all, I am a doctor." Julianna Riggs: "Yes, but not a real doctor. Robotics isn't an actual medical degree." Bert Riggs: "Secondly, I've told you time and again, you can't get sick inside the suit. It's not physically possible." Julianna: "I know when I'm getting sick, Bert. Now why don't you just wander off and play in your lab. Mr. Scruffy and I are going to rewrite the will, so he will get everything when I die because horrible Bert didn't believe me. Have fun, dear!" Bert Riggs: "Oh, god Julianna. Whatever. I'm going to the lab." (Bert Riggs and Julianna Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Have you noticed Julianna acting strangely lately?" Bert Riggs: "I'm sure that's just a glitch in the neurochemical regulator. I'm still working out the kinks that were introduced by the voice modulator interface. If she would just let me give the regulator a tune up I'm sure she would be back to normal." (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Have you noticed Julianna acting strangely lately?" Bert Riggs: "I'm sure it's nothing. She's just feeling stressed like the rest of us. I mean, there's still a murderer out there, Detective." (Bert Riggs' dialogue)
