Free Labor

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

As soon as you complete the three rounds in The Hole (see The Hole for detailed info on each round), you are told you are free, and to go speak to Ashur in Uptown. Then you are able to retrieve your equipment from the footlocker in the middle of the room and head to Ashur. When you speak to him, he lies to you and tells you there is no cure. He asks you to kill Wernher because he's been rallying the slaves and a riot would result in meaningless death. Here you can either decide to go and kill Wernher, kill Ashur or wait until he is called away and investigate Haven for the cure.
 * If you pass a speech challenge you can tell Ashur that you never met Wernher, 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 Wernher (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. Wernher 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 Wernher 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 Wernher shoots first. 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 Wernher to flee The Pitt the key to the Pitt Underground will be on the table with various scientific instruments.


 * You can successfully side with Ashur without losing tons of karma by not killing any hostile Pitt Slaves. To neutralize their threat you can target their weapons in V.A.T.S. and shoot them from their hands. Quickly pickup the dropped weapon so the slaves do not grab them again. Once disarmed they will either flee or fight hand-to-hand which does very little damage. The Pitt Raiders will often kill the disarmed slaves without any karma cost to you.

Siding with Wernher
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 Wernher 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 Wernher 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.

Glitches

 * In siding with Wernher, 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 Wernher 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 Wernher 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 unconscious' will appear and he will come back to life after a few seconds, you can still not initiate conversation with him though.


 * Wernher may randomly become hostile after completing Free Labour if you try to leave the Pitt at the gates, where Mex takes all your equipment. Unequipping 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.


 * Siding with Ashur, after completing the quest and receiving the right to use the Ammo Press, you can then kill Ashur and take his power armor. All the raiders and turrets in his office will attack you as well as his wife. His wife can be injured and will flee. Kill the other raiders. When you exit the elevator downstairs all will be well, including with Sandra who no longer seems bothered that you killed her husband.


 * Siding with Ashur sometimes causes the door to Uptown to be permanently locked, with no means of leaving.


 * After leaving the Haven, during the raiders vs slaves event, bodies of fallen NPCs will randomly disappear (Tested multiple times in PC version).