Robot Repair Center

The robot repair center is a building in the Capital Wasteland, south-southwest of Canterbury Commons in 2277.

Background
The building was a large discount electronic warehouse named "Darren's Discounts" before the war. In 2277, the building became the base of the Mechanist.

Building
The building is divided into an office area, the Mechanist's forge (this can be accessed by picking a hard lock which will allow the player to reach the forge without fighting) and two repair sectors, sector A and sector B. Each sector is defended by leveled robots, ranging from protectrons up to sentry bots and a leveled automated turret.

Located opposite one of the turret arrays, on a high platform, is a security console, which allows the player to trigger an "emergency pulse" (essentially a massive EMP blast) which will destroy any and all robots nearby. In order to use this pulse, the encryption key must be looted from the nearby (easy) locked safe.

There is an elevator near the entrance which can be lockpicked with a skill of 75 or above, allowing entrance to the Mechanist's forge. Otherwise, the facility is broken up into four sections: Office (left of entrance), two maintenance areas (sector A and B, which are connected by a control room on the upper level) and the forge (an upstairs area used by the Mechanist as a secret lair). Sector B is closest to the entrance, connected to the lobby by a metal door past the elevator, and the forge entrance is on the upper level of sector A.

Mechanist's Forge
To gain access to the Mechanist's office, go to the Mechanist's Forge entrance at the south-west corner of the second floor. Go through the door to find yourself in an office that contains, among other items, a coffee brewer. Activate this, and a rusty corrugated metal wall slides away revealing an intricate secret door which opens in an elaborate style.

Enclave
After The Waters of Life, a small Enclave outpost will appear just south of this position guarded by one Enclave officer and four turrets. The officer holds a keycard that if held by the player character, will stop the turrets from targeting them. There is a terminal in the center of the outpost that has information on why the camp is there.

Notable loot

 * Nikola Tesla and You on the workshop floor in the west room just north of the door to the Mechanist's forge. It is near a conveyor belt. It is on a counter next to a toolbox and hidden by a wrench. Note that the sonic pulse activated using the terminal may displace the book.
 * Lying, Congressional Style in a room in the Mechanist's forge accessed by the second story catwalks. The room is in the southwest corner of the area. It is on top of a desk.
 * Sector A encryption key - In a safe near a terminal. Gives access to an encrypted terminal on the upper level, near exit to the Mechanist's Forge.
 * Two oversized pieces of scrap metal in the west room on the counter.
 * Some 20 pieces of scrap metal can be found throughout, including ones in the robots and all the containers.
 * A locked metal box (average) in the room to the left of the entrance (in the last cubicle on the left side) contains 6 pulse grenades. A nearby terminal will point towards the hidden key.
 * A single Nuka-grenade in the workbench where the Mechanist stands in the Mechanist's forge.
 * The Mechanist's costume worn by The Mechanist.
 * Protectron's Gaze given by The Mechanist if the player character brings him the AntAgonizer's costume.

Appearances
The robot repair center appears only in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * Closing the secret door using the door gear while standing in the middle of the doorway will cause the player to be stuck inside. One way to get out is to reload the game. Another way out is to go into third person mode and swirl the camera around. This allows you to sometimes reach the button, in the same way you loot Colonel Autumn when he 'dies' at Project Purity.
 * Sometimes when leaving the Mechanist's forge through the room with the coffee machine your follower will fall through the floor and get stuck on the conveyor belt. This can be fixed by leaving the factory.
 * The key that opens the locked box of pulse grenades may not appear.