Dr. Zimmer

Dr. Zimmer is a 58-year old scientist in Fallout 3 who is temporarily staying at Rivet City, searching for his prized escaped android in the year 2277.

Background
Not much is known about Dr. Zimmer except that he is a scientist from the Commonwealth, formerly the pre-War state of Massachusetts, who specializes in robotics, specifically androids. He is from the Institute, a mysterious organization with advanced technology and technological skills that was probably once the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sometime in 2277 Dr. Zimmer left the Commonwealth and headed south to the Capital Wasteland in search of a missing android. Accompanied by another android, Armitage, who served as his bodyguard, he made his way to Rivet City in the hopes that fellow scientist Dr. Madison Li could assist him in his search for his missing android. On arrival in Rivet City's science lab he is refused the right to speak with Li by Anna Holt, Li's assistant. Despite being refused assistance he remains within the lab, refusing to leave and demanding he speak directly with Li. Zimmer refuses to leave until Li "stops playing with her chemistry set and starts talking real science".

Interactions with the player character

 * Main Article: The Replicated Man

Zimmer offers you the The Replicated Man quest. You can give him an android component that will make him think Harkness, the android he's looking for, is dead, and he will leave Rivet City and go back to the Institute. You can also tell him that Harkness is the android, and he'll go to Harkness and reset him and will head back to the Institute.
 * If the player chooses to warn Harkness of Zimmer's plan to capture him, Harkness will either kill Zimmer and his android bodyguard, Armitage, or evict them from Rivet City (depending on the player's responses to dialog).
 * Warning Harkness will also yield the option of killing Zimmer yourself.

Behind the scenes

 * The name Dr. Zimmer is possibly a reference to the movie Mandroid (1993), in which the character Dr. Karl Zimmer is the creator of a humanoid robot.
 * The Institute is most likely a reference to MIT, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 * Dr. Zimmer is possibly a reference to The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager, a holographic representation of a computer designed to help during emergencies, created by a character in the TV series named Dr. Louis Zimmerman.

Appearances
only appears in Fallout 3.