Free Labor

 is a Fallout 3 quest and achievement that is added to the game in The Pitt DLC pack.

This Quest Starts by fighting your way through The Hole and Winning. As soon as you leave The Hole you are told you are free, and to go speak to Ashur in Uptown. Then you are able to retrieve your equipment from the trunk in the middle of the room and head to Ashur. When you speak to Ashur he lies to you and tells you there is no cure. He asks you to kill Werhner because he's been rallying the slaves and a riot would result in meaningless death. Here you can either decide to go and kill Werhner, Kill Ashur or wait until he is called away and investigate Haven for the cure.
 * If you pass a speech you can tell Ashur that you never met Werhner, or that you didn't like his looks, he will tell you about the cure and even ask you to speak with his wife to know more. After that you must decide either join him or refuse his offer.

Siding with Ashur
If you choose to leave "The Cure" or kill Werhner (both have no effect on Karma if done correctly), slaves will be rioting all through The Pitt. Killing them will cause Karma loss, but they are easily avoided as most are equipped with AutoAxes or Steel Saws. Werhner may be located by talking to Midea or reading any number of the notes located near her. He is hiding in the Steel Yard through a door which was previously inaccessible. You can either ask Werhner to leave forever by passing a speech check or using the Black Widow perk or kill him (he drops the key to the Pitt Underground) for no Karma loss if he shoots first (confirmed). Upon returning to Ashur in Haven, he will thank you for not taking "The Cure" and reward you by making you an "ambassador" of The Pitt. Ashur also mentions rebuilding The Pitt and stopping the slave trade, as with The Cure they can now grow again. For a reward you gain access to the Ammo Press and are given a quest to collect and return Teddy Bears similar to the Scrap Metal quests in the Capital Wasteland.


 * If a speech check is used to persuade Werhner to flee The Pitt the key to the Pitt Underground will be on the table with various scientific instruments.


 * Because the slaves would remain oppressed, deciding to side with Ashur may appear to be the more “evil” ending to the DLC. However, several aspects must be taken into consideration to determine its true moral standing. Firstly, Ashur seems to fully understand how a functional and successful city could operate in the desolate wastleland. Secondly, Ashur implies that once the cure is found he will happily free the slaves and administer the cure to them as well. The only knowledgeable scientist in the Pitt seems to be Sandra, his wife, so one can assume that without Ashur and Sandra working on the cure it may never be discovered at all. Of course there is no guarantee that a cure will be developed, so the slaves may likely remain in bondage indefinitely. Lastly, Ashur and the Raiders are the only form of protection the city has, and without them the Pitt would likely be overrun by scavengers, trogs, or other raiders/slavers eventually.

Siding with Werhner
After you steal "The Cure" you will be engaged in combat by Ashur´s wife and every raider in Uptown. After making your way to the exit you will then find a riot between Slaves and Raiders. Make your way through to Midea´s house (having the Chinese Stealth Suit makes it a lot easier) where she will ask you to show her the cure. She will then tell you that Werhner has everything arranged and is waiting for you in his hideout inside the Steelyard. After you talk with him and hand over the cure (and being treated like a poor bastard) he will tell you that in order to finish your mission you must find the "Floodlight control" and shut down the floodlights of Uptown, which are preventing the Trogs raiding it. When you finish, you will exit just in the entrance to the haven´s yard where you will be confronted by Ashur who is later attacked by Trogs. You can kill Ashur and loot his body (he drops the key to the Pitt Underground) or leave him to his fate, to which randomly dies by Trogs or survive the encounter and you cannot speak to him. If you kill Ashur and return to Midea´s house you will find Werhner outside who tells you that he will be reorganizing the city and that you should spread the word out of The Pitt in order to get more workers down in the Mill. He also tells you that you earned your cache of the Ammo Press, and that if you want you can gather Steel Ingots and give them to the foreman in exchange for gear (works same as Everett). For a reward you gain access to the Ammo Press and are given a quest to collect and return Teddy Bears similar to the Scrap Metal quests in the Capital Wasteland.


 * Although this may seem to be the “good” ending to The Pitt, a closer look leaves Werhner's true intentions up to speculation. He was once Ashur's second-in-command and attempted to gain power himself, so this may simply be another more underhanded effort towards that goal. Furthermore, Werhner's concern for the slaves’ wellbeing may be entirely disingenuous. At the beginning of Into the Pitt, he shows little interest in the captive slaves near the tunnel entrance beyond their clothes, asking only that the player retrieve a slave outfit to help him kill Ashur. Later, if you side with Ashur for the Free Labor quest, confront Werhner, and pass a speech challenge, Werhner readily accepts leaving the slaves to their fate and flees. If you side with Werhener and complete the quest, none of the slaves appear to be affected for the better. Perhaps they are just trading one Tyrant for another. Finally, it is doubtful that a cure could actually be developed without Sandra and Ashur, as they are seemingly the only Pitt residents with any understanding of complex science.

Glitches

 * In siding with Wehrner, you are asked to head down and disable the power feeding the floodlights to let the Trog assault Uptown. Technically, you are supposed to go through the door that leads out into Haven and confront Ashur just as the lights shut down allowing the Trog to flood the area. However, if you backtrack through the tunnels and return via the Steelyard, you can make your way back to Wehrner and "complete" the mission. This breaks the Trog attack as they never go in meaning that revisiting Haven at this point will force you to confront Ashur and whoever else may still be alive in Haven from when you had initially escaped with Marie.


 * If you kill Ashur before going to Werhner or stealing "The Cure", after completing Free Labor, Ashur may appear in his office in Haven lying down on the floor (as if dead) but will still talk when you get close and still has the option to talk to him (while he is in this 'dead state'). Although if you try to talk to him nothing happens. If you kill him while he is in this state the message 'Ashur is unconcious' will appear and he will come back to life after a few seconds, you can still not initiate conversation with him though.


 * Werhner may randomly become hostile after completing Free Labour if you try to leave the Pitt at the gates, where Mex takes all your equipment. Unequiping your weapon or leaving the area/coming back will fix this problem although when you complete the 3 quests he becomes quite useless so players may wish to kill him for his Scoped .44 Magnum.