The Replicated Man

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360 and PC achievement as well as a PS3 trophy.

Starting the Quest
The quest is given to you by Dr. Zimmer in Rivet City, who asks you to track down an android that has escaped. The android has gone sentient and independent and does not wish to return.

This quest can also be started by finding a holotape recording in one of the following locations: Red's Clinic in Big Town, Eulogy's Pad in Paradise Falls, outside the entrance to Paradise Falls behind the sandbags on the floor, Saint Monica's Church in Rivet City, Sister's room in Rivet City, Craterside Supply in Megaton, Nathan and Manya's House's house in Megaton, Underworld Outfitters in Underworld, The Chop Shop in Underworld, Tenpenny Tower's Clinic, and the Megaton Clinic in Megaton (Wanted: Trustworthy Surgeon). Alternatively, with the Child at Heart perk you can receive one of the holotapes from a random member of Little Lamplight. After finding a specific holotape, the quest will update, telling you to find Pinkerton. After this point no more holotapes will be available. In fact, because of an odd quirk with not having to view the holotapes to question people about the android based on their content, virtually anyone who can give an update to the quest objectives can trigger its starting.

Because this quest can result in the acquisition of the most powerful general purpose weapon in the game (other than the Alien Blaster, which you should get before this), it is a good idea to do this very early in the game. Even if you get to Rivet City without having found any related holotapes, it is easy to get what you need with just a few steps: (1) In the Science Lab, talk to Dr. Zimmer, (2) In the clinic, get a holotape from the doctor, (3) In Saint Monica's Church, get the holotape from behind the pulpit, (4) Get the holotape from the weatherly hotel room (labelled sisters door, very easy lockpick required), (5) Shortly (perhaps as soon as you exit the church), you should run into Victoria Watts, (6) Then go back to the science lab and Dr. Li will have a new prompt regarding Pinkerton, (7) Follow the directions below for getting to Pinkerton.

WARNING: Be careful not to talk to Dr. Li about your father if you have not been to GNR yet, and don't talk to Pinkerton about Rivet City history if you haven't started that quest yet.

Snooping Around
At any time during this quest, you may be approached by a woman named Victoria Watts of The Railroad, an organization dedicated to helping androids gain their independence (Herbert Dashwood and Manya are also members of the railroad). She asks you to tell Dr. Zimmer that the android is dead, and gives you a piece of his body to support your claim. If the quest has not been started yet (e.g. the holotapes have been obtained, but not viewed), it can be started from here. You can also find Watts by breaking into Dr. Zimmer's room in Rivet City. Victoria will actually follow the player around, although she cannot be killed until she speaks with the player. Despite this, it is entirely possible to complete the quest without ever talking with her, if she is attacked whenever she tries to do so. NPCs won't become hostile if they see the player attacking Victoria, but they may acknowledge the fight through dialogue. After receiving the Android Component, the player can simply end the quest by giving it to Zimmer, however the reward for taking this path is pitiful compared to the other 2 rewards, gun and perk; both good.

To start tracking down the android, Dr. Zimmer requests that the player talk to Dr. Preston in Rivet City. Preston hands the player one of the android's recordings and tells them that similar tapes were sent to almost every scientist in the Wastelands. And indeed, holotapes pertaining to the quest can be found in virtually any settlement. The player can either follow this trail of recordings containing various information, or speak with NPCs using the information gathered to get through to the bottom of things. NPCs may also have holotapes or information themselves, although in some cases Speech or Stat Checks must be employed to get them to cough up the information. There are countless ways to proceed through this quest, but all of them lead to one point.

Looking for the Doctor
There are various ways that the player can be directed towards Pinkerton. Whichever method they get it from, the player must go speak with Pinkerton in the Broken Bow near Rivet City.

Since he's rather hard to get to, players that are yet to finish one of the final goals for The Wasteland Survival Guide, specifically the one that requires the player to find out the History of Rivet City, may want to use this opportunity also speak to Pinkerton about Rivet City's History, although once you have found him, you can exit through the locked door discussed below and later come back in that way, which is very easy.

There are two ways to enter the bow section, either by picking a locked door (100 Lockpick skill required) on the starboard side or by entering an underwater door where the bow section has broken off. The latter requires the player to swim a moderate distance through radiated water. If you have put off this mission until you got a 100 Lockpick skill, then you have gone a long, long time without one of the best weapons in the game; for everyone else, you are going to be swimming.

You can spend an inordinate amount of non-fun time swimming around (and drowning) just looking for the underwater entrance, so here is a guide: Assuming you are coming out of Rivet City, turn to the left where the guard(s) stand and drop down to the next level. Walk past a plane to the next edge which drops down to the water (but don't jump yet). Just left of the corner of the bow that you see ahead is where you are going. Before jumping in, prepare by popping a Rad-X and Buffout. Now drop into the water, aim up and foward to surface, and swim to the corner, then duck under water to see where the open gate to the entrance is. Swim through it to a door, open the door, swim forward and surface for air. Bring up the Local Map to get your bearings. Assuming you came straight through the door and are now in the middle facing away from it, you will see a tunnel/hall to your right; face that way and go under towards it, open the door, and keep going straight to another door, open it, and come up for air. Enter the door on the left, through another door ahead, a door off to the left, and into a room which is out of the water. You should have a Mirelurk or two after you at this point, so turn and aim. Other than all the traps and mines waiting for you upstairs, you are home free.

Several traps, mines and Mirelurk Hunters protect this section of the broken ship.

When the player finally speaks with Pinkerton, he will reveal that the android's name is Harkness and that he personally performed the facial reconstructive surgery and memory wipe. He will also reveal that Harkness's mind was not actually wiped, but rather his old identity has been buried deep and that it can be reactivated by means of a certain code word. Harkness is now employed as the security chief in Rivet City, and was actually the person who greeted the player upon arrival in Rivet City. Pinkerton also gives you the password to his terminal downstairs; log on and it downloads to your Pipboy proof Harkness will want to see.

The Decision
There are now several possible courses of action which will complete the quest:
 * Speak to Harkness and convince him that he's an android. There are several options to choose from in the conversation, but only the final two matter. Regardless of the choices made, they will receive A3-21's Plasma Rifle and +200 Karma (unless convinced to go with Zimmer) as a reward.
 * If told his secret is safe with the player, Harkness will do nothing. However, he can still be turned into Zimmer or said to be dead with the Android Component if this is chosen.
 * If asked what he will do, Harkness will state his intentions to kill Zimmer. The player may ask if he can order them to leave instead by making up several false charges instead of resorting to violence, or request if they can have the honor of killing Zimmer.
 * If told that Zimmer is waiting for him, the player can pass a speech check to convince him to go with Zimmer, at which point they must go to Zimmer and tell him about Harkness. Both rewards can be claimed in this fashion, but only the Bad Karma will be earned. Alternatively, a different speech check can be passed to convince him that he should stay, at which point he'll proceed to go kill Zimmer. If neither speech test is chosen or passed, the player can choose to tell Harkness that it is his choice. He will at that point vanish from the city, having fled to escape Zimmer. Zimmer himself will remain in the Science Lab and occasionally complain to the scientists, but will only say "there's nothing more to discuss" if spoken to.
 * Tell Dr. Zimmer the android's human name and reveal the code to uncover the buried memories. The player is rewarded with the Wired Reflexes perk and -200 karma. Dr. Zimmer will then walk to Harkness's location and claim the android as his property. Harkness will initially resist until Dr. Zimmer uses an override code to reset Harkness to factory defaults.  Dr. Zimmer and Armitage will then leave Rivet City with Harkness in tow.
 * If Zimmer and Armitage are killed after Harkness is reset, the android will stand wherever he was for the rest of the game, continuing to ask for parameters if spoken to.
 * To get both rewards in another fashion, tell Harkness who he is, for the A3-21's Plasma Rifle and Good Karma, then ask to kill Zimmer. Reveal to Zimmer and tell him the android is Harkness (this gives Bad Karma, but it will balance out with the previous Good Karma boost unless your Karma was already high) for the Wired Reflexes perk. At this point, you may either kill Zimmer, or allow him to wipe Harkness' memory.
 * Show Dr. Zimmer the android part received from the railroad agent, and inform him that the android is dead. The reward for this is 50 caps and good karma. This can technically be done at any time after receiving the component.

You can have it all good or bad!
Do everything as usual. After you have talked to Pinkerton, go tell Harkness he is an android and that you want to kill Zimmer yourself; he will give you the rifle. Now go tell Zimmer who the android is. If you wish to be evil, then you're done now. Otherwise, enter V.A.T.S immediately and kill Zimmer and Armitage. You may need to wait a few seconds after finishing the dialogue; on my first attempt, Zimmer was still unkillable. Of course you can go back to Harkness and he thanks you for killing Zimmer.

Trivia

 * This quest pays tribute to at least three prominent science fiction works. The quest's name is a reference to the Ray Bradbury book The Illustrated Man, while the android's plotline -- a synthetic human seeking to integrate seamlessly with human society -- is reminiscent of Asimov's The Bicentennial Man. The Lone Wanderer's role here -- potentially capturing and returning a wayward synthetic human to its masters -- reminds an astute player of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, a darker story far more widely known as the basis for the film Blade Runner. Blade Runner's synthetic humans were called "replicants." It could also be that it refers to the android Commander Data from the Star Trek series.


 * Harkness is also a reference to 2005's Doctor Who's Captain Jack Harkness (the physical ressemblance is also noticeable).


 * Zimmer's bodyguard is named Armitage, which is probably a reference to the Wintermute-controlled mercenary from William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer. Gibson's work is considered the archetypal cyberpunk novel, and is also the antecedent for the idea of "wired reflexes." Prior games (such as the early 1990s tabletop RPG Shadowrun and its computer-game spinoffs) have also referenced Gibson's cyberpunk world with borrowed concepts and character names. It could also be a reference to the Anime series Armitage III, about an advanced "type 3" android who is almost indistinguishable from a real human.


 * Zimmer's body can also be looted for an Android Component even if you did not give him the component Victoria Watts gave you, suggesting he himself is an android further proving the relativity between this quest and Blade Runner. It may also simply be a spare part for Armitage.


 * The note Harkness left for Zimmer, entitled "Intelligence is not a malfunction", may be a reference to the 80's film Short Circuit, in which a military robot achieves sentience and escapes from the military lab that made him. One of the characters in that movie states: "Life is not a malfunction!"

Bugs

 * While not a true bug, elements of the quest revolving around the holotapes will proceed as though you've heard them even if you have not. Using this quirk, it is possible to complete the quest with only the objectives to find Pinkerton and telling Harkness the truth listed.


 * The dialogue options that NPCs have to tell the player about Pinkerton can be a little finicky.


 * Victoria Watts will not acknowledge the completion of the quest if both rewards are obtained, with Zimmer killed. It is an otherwise harmless bug.


 * If the player gathers sufficient information to cause Victoria Watts to spawn while in Rivet City, she may end up stuck shaking in place and unable to talk to the player automatically. Attacking her will cause her mouth to open gradually. She is also invincible, and any lost HP will be instantly restored. However, a one hit kill (explosives, sneak attack criticals, etc.) will render her unconscious. She will "snap" to her feet once she wakes up. Note that residents will not bother the player for beating on her, but may run around or say things along the lines of "Damn, a fight!". Speaking with her and going through her dialogue will fix her movement, as will going to a place other than Rivet City.


 * Victoria Watts can spawn in unusual places while attempting to track down the player, such as Little Lamplight, or underwater in the ship's broken bow.


 * If Harkness' initial dialogue can be avoided in some way when entering Rivet City (inching forward just enough to trigger his approaching the player, retreating before he can get close, and rushing forward as he walks back will do the trick), and the player proceeds through the quest until the point where they can reveal his identity, a continuity related bug can be triggered. If Zimmer is approached to end the quest, the player can speak with Harkness after his memories are wiped to get his initial dialogue. The approaching the player script can even be triggered if Zimmer is killed after his memories are wiped (and Rivet City made friendly again after the subsequent hostility), although he will still only continue to ask for parameters afterwards.


 * In a similar fashion, a harmless bug with Zimmer can be triggered if the quest is completed through Harkness through a dialogue choice that would cause him to tell the player they have nothing further to discuss if spoken to without ever talking to Zimmer, he will still automatically approach the player to speak to when seen for the first time (even if it is only to say they have nothing further to discuss).


 * If the player chooses to "Wait" after finishing the quest through Zimmer as he's on his way to Harkness, the scene between the two may fail to happen. Armitage will fail to follow Zimmer properly during the waiting period, allowing you to get to the doctor before he does. The end result in any case is Zimmer and Harkness standing next to each other for a while (even if Armitage shows up), and the former eventually leaving without the latter (who again remains fully interactable with).


 * If the player chooses to give Zimmer the component after talking to Watts you never find out that Harkness is the android and the quest is permanently in your quest list as unfinished.


 * Although Harkness says that he is leaving after giving the player his Plasma Rifle, he will still be found standing in the Rivet City Market all day. A new Security Chief will appear and say that Harkness is gone, even when he is standing right in front of her.