Chapter 8: The Institute
After you've infiltrated the Institute, proceed to the control room, and you'll soon hear a message over the loudspeaker directed at you. A presence has been detected, and someone wants to talk. Grab the Addictol near the door to the north and continue.
Editor's note: download the information from the computer in the first room.
Meeting with Batya
Follow the linear path of corridors and elevators, listening to Father, the Institute's leader, over the intercom. After a long scene that I won't spoil, you must agree to join the Institute. (Editor's note: well, actually, yes, but I don't know :)
Before talking to Father again, meet with the four division leaders he mentioned. Use the nearby stairs and hack the terminal nearby (novice) to read several logs regarding Kellogg ( Editor's note: you'll soon become the second Kellogg at the end of this article ). Then insert the "Network Scanner" hologram, scan the network, and copy the message. You'll receive an immediate response from "Patriot." Read it to learn the meeting location, then follow the quest marker to find Patriot.
Take the stairs up and then go through the northern pipe. Follow the quest marker to the storage room next to the diner, where you'll meet Liam Binet, your contact inside the Institute. After speaking with him, you'll both head to the Atrium to meet another man. Afterward, Liam asks you to find some old login credentials for the CIT computers. Incredibly, they'll still work on the Institute's current system. Unfortunately, the credentials can't be found in the CIT, but are in an unknown location. You must return to the faction that helped you get information on where to find them.
Now let's focus on the main quest. Simply follow the markers to visit the following NPCs:
1. Clayton Holden
2. Allie Filmore
3. Justin Ayo
4. Madison Lee.
After a brief conversation with each of them, you'll complete the "Institutionalized" quest and earn the achievement of the same name. The "Synth Retention" quest is next in the story and requires speaking with Father. After meeting him in his apartment, the work at the Institute is done for now.
Rescue of the Synths
When you return to the Institute with the Code Defender password for the "Underground Undercover" side quest, speak with Liam Binet and give him the password. Then speak with your Synth contact, Z1-14, and the two of you will formulate a plan to save all the Synths, not just Liam Binet's 13 friends. Z1's plan involves killing six Institute guards in a secluded area of the tunnel. Power Armor is recommended for this fight, as the guards can be tough.
Follow the quest marker into the tunnel, looting ammo from the table in the storage room along the way. When you attack the first guard, the entire scene will erupt into chaos, and the Synths will join the fight against the six guards. Leave this area and return to Z1-14, who suggests continuing his main mission and awaiting further instructions.
What happened to Virgil?
If you're friends with the Brotherhood of Steel and have received the "From Within" quest, simply follow the marker to Dr. Madison Lee. As usual, she's only willing to help if you help her first. She demands that you find information about Virgil's "death" years earlier. Saying Virgil is alive and well won't do any good. Agree to find evidence of the incident, then follow the quest marker to the Institute's Bioscience Division. Hack the locked door to the FEV Lab and enter.
Disable the laser grid just inside and proceed to find two doors. The locked door (Novice) leads to the control room for the decontamination chamber. Pressing the two buttons inside will seal the two doors you just passed. Return to the hall, open the other door, and destroy the turrets above and to the right. There are several more around the corner. Hack the terminal ahead (Novice) to open the double doors. Be careful of the Assaultron (editor's note: it's like a Raider with a rocket launcher, only with a laser). Search the large room for items:
- Stimpak, Purified Water
- Puncturing Pipe Wrench Mod
- .308 Ammo x10
- Hardened Sniper Rifle
Continue through the next doorway, hack the locked room on the right (Novice) and grab the Fusion Cells and Stimpaks. Continuing down the hallway south, there will be two turrets to the right and left, in alcoves. Sneak closer to the laser fence and kill two more turrets. Pick another lock (Novice) to continue.
In the next room, you'll see a pair of Super Mutants floating in flasks. Pick up Brian Virgil's holodisk (Personal Log 0176) next to the terminal. You can exit Virgil's lab through the next door. Use the unlocked computer terminal to disable the laser grid blocking your passage. You can also hack the master terminal outside to reactivate the grid, but this is just for XP. Return to Dr. Li and wait for her to listen to the holodisk.
After speaking with her, return to Elder Maxson aboard The Prydwen and report your success to complete "From Within" and receive "Liberty Reprimanded."
In Kellogg's Footsteps or Return Sint
Your son, Sean, or "Father," will ask you to help him retrieve a Synth who has joined the Raider gang and is now leading the group. Head to the Nahat Sheriff's Department to meet with the Institute Hunter for the quest "Containing the Synth." Speak with X6-88, then head south to Libertalia...
Items:
- Mini Nuke
- "US Covert Operations Manual", "You are permanently harder to detect while you're stealthy"
- Le Fusil Terribles (Legendary):
DMG (99), Pellets, RAT (20), RNG (71), ACC (29), WGT (15.7), VAL (389)
"+25% damage and limb damage, but has increased recoil."
Enemies:
- Raider Sccavver x2
- Raider Veteran
- Raider Survivalist x5
- Raider Psycho x5
- Raider x2
- Machine Gun Turret Mk VII
- Machine Gun Turret Mk I
From Nahant Pier, make your way along the floating walkway to Libertalia. The nearest raiders are three normals and one veteran. Infiltrate the first boat and look to the left where you'll find some loot:
- 10mm Ammo x7
- Stimpak, Blood pack
Locked Box (Expert):
- Mentats, Psycho, RadAway, Jet
- .50 Caliber x15, .38 Rounds x41, .45 Rounds x36
Safe (Advanced):
- Fragmentation Grenade,
- Pulse Mine
- Stimpak
At the end of the ship to the west, find another safe of identical difficulty:
- Cryo Mine, Pulse Grenade
Kill the raider to the south on another boat before climbing the wooden steps to the level above. Grab the shotgun shells and 5.56 ammo from inside the cabin. Climb a few more flights up to the Raven's Nest and look south to neutralize another Raider. Drop down and continue southwest. Check the sniper spot on the boat where the Psycho Raider was located and open the ammo box:
- .308 rounds x20, .45 rounds x12, .38 rounds x10.
Proceed southeast until the path forks. Go right and search the cabin of the half-submerged vessel:
- .50 rounds x22,
- Nuke x13,
- .45 rounds x13,
- .308 rounds x5
- Fragmentation Grenade x3
Proceed to the bow of the ship and take out the two Raiders to the southwest. Now head back to safely explore the left branch. The first boat on the left (dead end) contains loot, including a secure safe inside (Expert):
.308 Ammo x7
- Stealth Boy
- Caps x17
- Night-Vision Calibrated Powerful Pipe Bolt-Action Rifle:
DMG (81), .308 Caliber, RAT (2), RNG (203), ACC (92), WGT (7.6), VAL (98)
- .44 Ammo x16, .45 Ammo x10, Nuke x13.
Continuing southeast, you'll find another half-submerged boat with loot in the cabin:
- 5mm Ammo x16, Plasma Cartridge x14, .38 Ammo x34, 5.56 Ammo x27
- Rad-Away
Head north to the barge lined with debris and look up and south. Carefully kill the Raider Survivalist when you see him. He's armed with a Fat Man. Once all the Raiders are down, use the nearby zipline to climb up to the large structure with four Raiders.
At the top, you'll come across a closed blue door. Heal up and enter the Captain's Quarters. Inside, slowly make your way to the room on the left and use Gabriel's (newbie) terminal to read the logs about how some former Minutemen turned into lousy Raiders. Search the room:
Safe (Novice):
- Frag Grenade x2, Plasma Mine, Rad-X x2
- Lockpick Box
- .308 Ammo x5, Gamma Rounds x12, Shotgun Shells x6
- Captain's Naval Helmet:
END +2, WGT (0.4), VAL (25)
Just outside the room, look up at the yellow ammo container and pick up:
- Le Fusil Terribles (Legendary):
DMG (99), Pellets, RAT (20), RNG (71), ACC (29), WGT (15.7), VAL (389)
"+25% damage and limb damage, but has increased recoil."
To the northwest, pick up the Mini Nuke on the floor. Climb the stairs to reach the "roof". You can attempt to negotiate with Gabriel, the Synth Raider, but the Institute Hunter accompanying you will open fire on the Raiders shortly after the conversation begins. If you don't speak Gabriel's reset code yourself, your comrade X6-88 will say it once the fight begins. After all the Raiders are dead, the Hunter will teleport himself and Gabriel back to the Institute.
There is a computer terminal (master) to the southeast . If you can crack it, you'll open the safe:
- .308 Rounds x2 Plasma Grenade, Plasma Mine
- Expected more? - Me too... Stand on the plank, facing northwest (near the green ship's cockpit) and look down. Jump down to where you see a chair, table, and lamp. Pick up the journal on the table: - "US Covert Operations Manual", "You are consistently harder to detect when you're hiding." If you want to continue searching this place, read on. Otherwise, skip to the next heading. Drop down, head south from the barge with the cages and dead prisoners. Destroy a couple of raiders and two turrets to the west. Move on until you reach a tall ship with a green top, west of the barge.
Find the safe upstairs (advanced):
- .38 ammo x6, .44 ammo x12, .45 ammo x8, .50 Caliber x14
- Pre-War Money x17
The small boat, north of the previous one, contains a door with a lock (advanced) . Behind it:
- Mentats, Med-X,
- Rad-Away x2, - Rad-X x2 - .45 ammo x7
Father's Generosity and a New Home
Talk to Father when you return to the Institute and bring him the good news. He'll be delighted to hear it and will tell you about your new apartment, which he personally designed and equipped with weapons and armor. Your son, Father, wants you to visit your apartment, so take a break and follow him. Make sure you follow the path all the way to the top of the spiral staircase. You'll see X6-88 waiting outside the door. Enter the complex to complete the "Saving the Synths" quest and begin the "Battle for Bunker Hill."
You can immediately return to Father to update the quest. He tasks you with recovering more Synths, this time from the Bunker Hill settlement. You should meet the Hunter right outside. Before the mission begins, you have the option to warn the Brotherhood of Steel and the Railroad if you have good relations with them:
1. If you inform Desdemona at Railroad Headquarters, she will insist that the mission cannot succeed. She also proposes a plan to blow everything without blowing your cover. Desdemona will orchestrate an attack on the Institute forces, leaving you the sole survivor.
2. If you warn Elder Maxson aboard the Airship, he will order you to destroy the Institute forces heading to Bunker Hill. Fortunately, these two goals are compatible.
Battle of Bunker Hill
Meet Institute Hunter X4-18 near the village of Bunker Hill. If you've alerted both other factions to the Institute's operation, the Hunter will be suspicious and will be bringing plenty of Synth reinforcements. Follow him around, where a massive battle will ensue. The fight itself can be somewhat confusing if you're aligned with all three factions. In this case, you can simply retreat and watch them tear each other apart. The main entrance to the village is blocked during this time, but you can use the northern route.
Use the hatch in the dining area to drop down and find another massive battle. Again, you can ignore everything except the machine guns if you're aligned with all three factions. Follow the tunnels to find four escaped Synths, who are the primary target. Once X4-18 enters the room, he'll tell you to use the reset code to send the Synths back to the Institute. There are several options for what to do:
[Institute] - Use the reset code, return the Synths to the Institute as Father requested
[Railroad] - Allow the Synths to escape, turning X4-18 hostile, then kill him
[Brotherhood] - Destroy the Synths, turning X4-18 hostile, then kill him again.
Regardless of your choice, you can still remain loyal to the Institute if you answer the key question correctly when you speak to Father after this battle. Head to the CIT ruins to speak with him. If you choose to let the Synths escape, you can safely ignore the "Deal with the Synths" quest objective.
Enter CIT through the main entrance and turn right. You can ignore any ongoing fighting between Synths and Super Mutants. Go down the right corridor and up the stairs to reach the roof. You'll see Father standing on the roof, overlooking the city. Talk to him, and he'll provide new information, then change the subject to the operation in Bunker Hill.
If you didn't complete the quest as desired, simply tell him you were ambushed to avoid permanent expulsion from the Institute. If you remain a member of the Institute, you'll receive the quest "Humanity Redefined" after completing the "Battle for Bunker Hill."
Author: BitFlux Mobile, PartiallyRoyal
See also:
Chapter 7: Greentech Genetics and CIT
Chapter 6: Goodneighbor
Chapter 5: Fort Hagen