Stealing Independence

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also a PC and Xbox 360 achievement and a PlayStation 3 trophy.

Abraham Washington in Rivet City wants you to retrieve the Declaration of Independence for him to display in the Capitol Preservation Society. CAUTION: Stealing Independence is one of the buggier quests in Fallout 3. It is possible to end the quest with a handful of items permanently stuck in your inventory (Namely: Archives Prize Voucher(s), Ink Container, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence). It is advisable to save before this quest, and read through this article to avoid any glitches.

Walkthrough
Abraham Washington in Rivet City tells you to go to the National Archives to get the Declaration of Independence. (You can also acquire the quest simply by going directly to the National Archives and entering the rotunda on the first floor; this will not influence the outcome or the reward for completing the quest.)

To get to the National Archives from Rivet City, enter the nearby Anacostia Metro Station, and make your way through Museum Station to The Mall. Be careful, as these tunnels are populated by Raiders, Mirelurks, and Feral Ghouls. You can look at the world map view on your trusty Pip-Boy to see the usual line of dots that will give you a general idea of where to go. The signs with the map of the metro station connections can be helpful, as many areas that cannot be reached from the surface are accessible through the metro.

When you get to The National Archives you'll find Sydney in the rotunda on the first floor. She was also sent by Abraham Washington to get the Declaration of Independence before you, but never returned. Be careful as you approach her because she mined the room, and you'll lose karma if you take her mines before speaking with her (you can disarm without karma penalty). (apparently fixed as of 1.1.0.35 )

Slink through the mines she's laid and she'll ask you to assist her in holding off two waves of Super mutants. Once you kill about 4-6 Super mutants you'll be able to start a dialogue with her and she'll ask to partner up with you to find the declaration. If you agree, she will fight by your side until this quest is completed or she dies, whichever comes first. Be Careful where you begin dialogue with her. On some instances after exiting dialog, she will be blown up by her own mines.

Options
From this point you can pursue several paths:


 * Forget Sydney. You can decline her offer of support and find the document without her, which can make your travels harder, but it's your choice. If you choose this route, you can just let her be or kill her and take Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG from her corpse.You could also activate any remaining mines while she is following you and have them blow her up (it takes a few mines for her to die). Sydney might appear later in a random encounter, "Seeking revenge for declining her offer".


 * Sydney can be completely avoided. By entering the backdoor of the The National Archives, one can bypass the rotunda and retrieve the Declaration of Independence. Upon returning to the Rotunda, Sydney will not be there. The mini quest to defend the Rotunda is still triggered however.
 * Accept her offer but have her wait in the rotunda while you clear the way to the Archival Strongroom yourself.


 * Accept her offer and either pursue the document immediately or retain her services as a sidekick while you do other things. For example, if you haven't yet done so, you may wish to...
 * Complete the Reilly's Rangers (quest) and obtain a voice tape from the Statesman Hotel that will enable you to get Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG without her having to die or pickpocketing her. When exiting The National Archives simply fast travel to Rivet City and Sydney will be transported with you.
 * Complete the part of the The Wasteland Survival Guide quest that requires you to go to the Arlington Library, and while you're there, be sure to grab the Ink Container, which you may need depending on how you want to end this quest.

If you take Sydney with you, she will tell you that she has hacked a secret elevator that will get you very close to the Declaration's location. Interact with the computer terminal where you found her, which will trigger a secret elevator to appear in front of you.
 * This will drop you into the Secure Wing of the The National Archives. Head north and you will have to fight/sneak past a number of robots. In the first room is a broken door that is automatically repaired with Science better than 67%. In this room is the power generator for the turrets guarding the various documents (Sydney will point this out to you if she is with you). There are several Hard and Very Hard Locked Doors and significant gas leaks. If you didn't make her wait in the rotunda, you'll need to micro-manage Sydney so you don't get immolated. The best way to do this is to clear out almost the entire building without entering the area where Sydney is located. Just make sure that before entering the room where Button Gwinnett is located you go back and team up with Sydney. Then simply use the secret elevator to skip the return journey.

If you don't take Sydney's help, or if you just want a longer quest, forget about the secret elevator and take the long way to the Declaration.
 * Be careful as you advance through the first floor of The National Archives because there are booby traps and Super mutants. In one of the big rooms you'll find double wooden doors under an exit sign. That will be labeled as the Archives Stronghold and will actually be an elevator that will take you to the stronghold with a computer terminal and a bunch of robot containers and computer terminals next to them. You can use the computer terminal to unlock all the security doors.


 * It is also possible to accept Sydney's help, then kill her after you have obtained the declaration, thereby getting her help and access to the lift AND getting the solo reward AND getting her ULTRA smg. However if you leave the museum with her then killing her will make no difference except when talking to Washington you can say she didn't make it. If you kill her before speaking to Button then the turrets behind him will open fire. When you speak to Washington at the end of the quest, do not ask about the collection but just say straight away "I have the declaration" and he will give you all the rewards. If you go for the top answer, and then stop him to tell him you have it then the only options are to tell him Sydney helped you but died, or that you were joking, at which point you can tell him without asking about the collection to gain all rewards. This I believe is the best option, although you do get bad karma for killing her.

Regardless of which path you choose, There will be a bunch of Mr. Gutsy, Sentry, and Mark IV turrets below that are hostile. You'll eventually be approached by a robot that has been programmed as the second signer of the declaration Button Gwinnett. At this point you can either:
 * Kill Gwinnett and have to fight off many more robots.
 * Agree to help Gwinnett, this involves forging the Declaration of Independence with supplies from Arlington Public Library (aka "trick the Redcoats"). Once you give the ink to Gwinnett, he will create a mirror perfect forgery for you to give to Abraham Washington. Gwinnett will then ask what his next orders are. You can tell him to blow up (negative karma), or keep fighting the good fight (good karma). There is no penalty for giving Washington the forged document.
 * Convincing Gwinnett you are Thomas Jefferson through a speech challenge, this will allow you to simply grab the Declaration and leave without having to do anything more.
 * Follow the dialogue options and accept the forgery quest, it is possible to then walk behind Button and get a sneak attack critical on him, knocking him out in one shot. You are then free to take the declaration and other documents from the safes, loot Button, the room and leave with no further hassle from robots. Killing Button while he is flagged as friendly does result in negative karma and will not affect the end quest reward.
 * Order Gwinnett to shut down if you have the Robotics Expert perk.
 * also if you just want to kill Gwinnett just before he talks to you,(he's quite slow at walking) shoot the two sentry guns, if you do that he will not turn hostile and he will start the conversation, which afterwards you can kill him without worries of the turrets.

Still More Options
At this point you either have the real Declaration of Independence, a copy of it, or both.

To get out, you can...


 * Go back the way you came, perhaps using the secret elevator again.
 * Go through the Utility Door to the right of Button (which leads to a room with Protectron containers) and then to the main floor.
 * Fight your way back up the stairs. If you killed Button Gwinnett, there will be a bunch of robots trying to stop you.
 * On your way up you can find the The Bill of Rights on one of the floors in the fenced off area with a safe inside (next to a Lying, Congressional Style. You can also find the Magna Carta directly across from where you found The Bill of Rights. Both can be sold to Abraham Washington (100 caps for the The Bill of Rights, 75 for the Magna Carta).

Notable loot

 * Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG
 * Button's Wig
 * A random number of Stealth Boys in the room with Button Gwinnett, as the wardrobes and desks are likely to contain them. Even one desk may contain up to three.
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor
 * Lying, Congressional Style
 * Schematics - Railway Rifle (quest reward)
 * Sheet Music Book
 * Mini Nuke
 * Duck and Cover!
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum
 * Bill of Rights
 * Magna Carta

Bugs

 * It could be found, that the Ink Container and the Declaration of Independence are unable to be dropped after this quest, due to them being quest items, and are only able to be removed from inventory using the console.
 * For various reasons usually related to Sydney's death (or resurrection by use of console command) there will be no option to give Abraham Washington the Declaration of Independence. It is possible to complete this quest with Sydney alive or dead by entering a console command
 * It is possible that after teaming up with Sydney when moving between areas; she will hold her SMG upside down floating a small distance from her hand whilst appearing to be in an unarmed fighting stance. This corrects itself by either moving to another area, or Sydney entering combat whereupon she will hold correctly and begin firing.