Rivet City and the Artificial Human
The southeasternmost point of the Anacostia district. The easiest way to reach this location is along the east bank of the Potomac River, using the bridges near the Anchorage Memorial/Warm Sewers, the Citadel, or by swimming across the river near the Arlington Library. Moving along the shore from the Warm Sewers, you'll need to pass: Dyukov's house with a few ants around it, a small Raider camp with trophies and ammunition, a mutant checkpoint near the radiated subway, a checkpoint near the Jefferson Memorial, a mutant camp along the road to the left and uphill from the Memorial, and the Anacostia Metro station.
On the beam next to where Carlos begs for water, there's a button that, when pressed, extends an additional section to Rivet City. The settlement is located in the holds of an aircraft carrier that was docked during the Great War and ran aground when the water levels in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers dropped sharply. Founded by former employees of the US Naval Research Center, who relocated to the aircraft carrier in hopes of taking advantage of its relatively sophisticated equipment and relatively safe location, it remained the only place in the Capital Wasteland capable of offering radiation-free food for sale in exchange for raw materials and other resources.
To some extent, the city's structure is a social satire, with the "highborn" residents of the upper decks oppressing and despising the "dregs" of the lower levels. Nevertheless, the city boasts a greater diversity of social institutions than anywhere else in the Wasteland: the Christian congregation of St. Monica's Church, the Capitol Society for the Preservation of Cultural Property (a museum of pre-war artifacts and lore), the Weatherly Hotel, a well-guarded armory, and the Muddy Rudder bar. The carrier's stern has broken away from the hull and is half-submerged.
Its lower levels are infested with mirelurks, while the upper levels house Pinkerton's laboratory and quarters. When exploring the carrier, it's worth checking all the exterior doors on the command tower, as they lead to ramps where ammunition and other interesting trophies can be found. An Intelligence +1 figurine can be found on the table in the science lab.
Interestingly, Craig Mullins' concept drawing of the Rivet City panorama makes it possible to identify the aircraft carrier. It's the USS Oriscany, one of five Essex-class aircraft carriers. In real life, the other four are preserved and on display at naval museums across the United States. The Oriscany, however, met a different fate: it currently serves as an artificial reef off the coast of Florida.
Artificial Human
The mission to track down the artificial human is given by Dr. Zimmer, the android's creator, in Rivet City. After some time, the android became too animated and independent and refused to return.
The mission can also be initiated by finding a tape recording in one of the following locations: Red's Clinic in Big City, Paradise Falls, St. Monica's Church in Rivet City, Moira Brown's shop in Megaton, Nathan and Mani's house in Megaton, a shop in the Underground, and hospitals in Tenpenny Tower and Megaton.
At any point during this quest, the hero may be approached by Victoria Watts, an activist for the Railroad organization, which fights for androids' right to freedom and independence (Robert Dashwood from Tenpenny Tower and Manya from Megaton are also members of this organization). She will ask the hero to tell Dr. Zimmer that the android has died and, supposedly as proof, will hand over a part of the robot's body. Victoria Watts can also be found attempting to break into Dr. Zimmer's office in Rivet City.
At the beginning of the search, Dr. Zimmer will advise the hero to contact Dr. Preston in Rivet City. Preston will give the hero one of the android's recordings and inform them that similar recordings have been forwarded to almost every scientist in the Capital Wasteland. After this, the recordings can be found in various locations, primarily in clinics. Another recording can be found on Seagrave Holmes at the market in Rivet City. With a high enough Science skill, a dialogue option appears stating that a certain Pinkerton performs facial plastic surgery but won't give you the film itself. This will reset the quest. To reset it again, you need to collect 2-3 more films from different locations. Instead of snooping around clinics, you can simply go to Megaton and speak with Moira Brown. If the conversation raises a question about the android, and your Speech skill level allows you to answer it, the quest will update with the information that Pinkerton is in Rivet City. By asking questions around Rivet City, you can learn that he lives in the broken bow of an aircraft carrier. If the story progresses parallel, you can convince Winthrop in the Dungeon to reveal who performed the android's plastic surgery. He will point to Pinkerton in Rivet City. After this, you will no longer be able to question Dr. Preston about the films.
Since the task is quite challenging, it might make sense to combine it with one of the stages of writing the "Wasteland Survival Guide," which will also require the hero to speak with Pinkerton.
There are two ways to enter the broken section of the ship: by hacking the locked door at the aft end of the aircraft carrier (100% Lockpicking skill), or by jumping into the deep end, where you'll see an underwater tunnel, swimming a considerable distance through the radiated water, and facing off against several mirelurks and avoiding several traps and mines. The entrance here is through an underwater tunnel in the broken section of the ship.
After speaking with Pinkerton, you can learn that the android's name is Harkness and that he (Pinkerton) performed a shape-shifting operation and erased the android's memory—or rather, not erased, but rather, driven its previous personality deep into the subconscious, which can be activated by giving a special code. Now the artificial human works as Rivet City's chief of security and, in fact, was the first to greet the hero upon entering the city. Pinkerton can also optionally perform plastic surgery on the hero.
There are now several options for completing this quest:
(1) Speak with Harkness and convince him that he is, in fact, an android. As a reward, the hero receives the A3-21 Plasma Rifle (unique) and +200 karma. You can then escort Harkness to the research lab, where he will speak with Dr. Zimmer and then kill him along with his android bodyguard.
(2) Show Dr. Zimmer the android's part and tell him it's dead. Reward: 50 Ammo and good karma.
(3) Give Zimmer the android's human name and its memory activation code. Reward: Wired Reflexes (apparently translated as "Cyborg," an advanced Commonwealth technology that gives the hero faster reflexes and, as a result, an increased chance of being hit in VATS mode) and -200 karma. After this, Zimmer will go to Harkness and claim it as his own. Harkness will initially resist, but Zimmer will give him the memory activation code and leave Rivet City with Armitage and Harkness.
Apparently, J, there is a way to get both the rifle and the Wired Reflexes. To do this, you need to talk to Harkness using the hack code and gain good karma. Ask him what he intends to do next, and suggest that he kill Dr. Zimmer. Harkness will then give the hero his trusted A3-21 rifle and allow him to kill only Zimmer and his android, but no one else in Rivet City. Now talk to Zimmer, point out Harkness as the android, and gain negative karma and a trait. The karma will thus be offset and return to zero. End the conversation and attack Zimmer and his servant. When they die, Harkness will witness Zimmer's death at the hero's hands.
This entire story is reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's science fiction short story "Do Androids Dream Electric Dreams?", the plot of which was used for Ridley Scott's famous Blade Runner starring Rutger Hauer and Harrison Ford.
Source: stopgame.ru, Orcidea
See also:
Reilly's Ranger Headquarters,
Fallout 3: Vault 92 and Old Olney
Evergreen Mills