Stealing Independence

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360 achievement.

Abraham Washington in Rivet City wants you to retrieve the Declaration of Independence for him to display in the Capitol Preservation Society.

Walkthrough
To get to the National Archives, enter the nearby Anacostia Metro Station, then make your way to the Metro Central Station to arrive at Pennsylvania Avenue. Be careful, as these tunnels are populated by Raiders, Mirelurks, Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants. 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.

The National Archives is where Abraham Washington tells you to go to get the Declaration of Independence. When you get to The National Archives on the first floor you'll find Sydney who was sent by Abraham Washington to get the Declaration of Independence before you, but went missing. Be careful as you approach her because she mined the room, and you'll lose karma if you disarm her mines.

She'll ask you to assist holding off two waves of Super Mutants, once you kill about 4 to 6 Super Mutants you'll be able to start a dialogue with her and she'll ask to partner up to find the declaration. She will not join you for other quests upon completion of this one.

Be careful as you advance through the first floor of The National Archives because there are booby traps and Supermutants. 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. You'll probably be approached by a robot that has been programmed as the second signer of the declaration Button Gwinnett. He'll offer you a quest to find some ink so he'd be able to forge the Declaration of Independence.

Alternatively you can convince him you're Thomas Jefferson and tell him to stand down. The original Declaration of Independence is in the safe in the room behind him.

An alternate way through is to talk to Sydney about the special lift in front of the document case in the back of the Rotunda. After this using her computer will activate the lift. 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 64%. 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. You'll need to micro-manage Sydney so you don't get immolated.

The ink can be found somewhere in Arlington Library. With enough speech skill, you can convince him you're Thomas Jefferson returned to reclaim the constitution (if you have a low speech skill save just before you talk to him and keep reloading your save until you convince him), and he will shut himself down and give you free access to his computer. With Robotics Expert you are able to skip the Talksequence and override his faulty programming, enabling an immediate Shutdown (plus Passcode). Finally, you can kill him and the two turrets guarding him in his office. You'll lose karma. Open the fenced off area with three safes and you'll find the declaration.

You can fight your way back up the stairs there will be a bunch of robots trying to stop you if you don't wish to use the elevator (only if you killed Button Gwinnett). 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. Or you can just take back the elevator. 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 The Magna Carta).

Notes: If you choose to retreive the ink from Arlington Library after retreiving the forged copy from Button, he can be commanded to "Blow himself up" (Loss Karma). This will give you access to the safes and the shortcut back to the ground floor of The National Archives. This shotcut room contains the pods for the robots, including an inactive "Thomas Jefferson" robot and a backup robot that can have Jefferson's programming transferred to it. As mentioned in some of the computer bulletins, someone has hacked the voice of the robot, replacing it with a radio tuned in to GNR. Note: you can also gain access to Button's computer after completing the Ink optional and commanding him to keep the declaration safe.

On deliverance of the Declaration of Independence to Abraham Washington talk to Sydney about "So, whatever happened to your father?". Previously this dialog path was closed as she did not trust you. Now she mentions her father and that she used to call him her "Little Moonbeam". If you have found her father's body and holotape in the Statesman Hotel, the option to tell her about her father's message will be available. She will reward you with Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG. You may also obtain Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG by looting it off of her dead body, either by way of murder or Super Mutant.

Sydney does not need to be with you while you complete the Archives Stronghold section of the mission. Sydney may disappear if you manage to collect the Declaration of Independence prior to encountering her.

If you already own a copy of the Railway Rifle schematic, you will be rewarded the v.2 of the same schematic.

Behind the scenes

 * Sydney the Relic Hunter, is a reference to the Relic Hunter television show.