Human Error

Human Error is a side quest in Fallout 4.

Detailed walkthrough
The Sole Survivor might hear about Covenant from settlers or a passing trader, which will put its marker on the map and a quest entry to "Investigate Covenant." Upon approaching the gate, the Sole Survivor is greeted by Swanson. He explains that, to enter Covenant, visitors have to pass a test to filter out "undesirables." By pressuring for information and successfully passing increasingly difficult speech checks, details about synths and The Institute can be learned. Swanson will be adamant about administering the SAFE test, (an adapted Vault-Tec G.O.A.T.) to make sure the Sole Survivor is not a synth. After taking a seat at the table and answering all the questions, the gate to the settlement will open up.

Unlike other settlements around the Commonwealth, Covenant is surrounded by tall concrete walls peppered with defensive turrets, and the houses and the yard are in pristine condition. The Sole Survivor even mentions how everything looks almost pre-War. Several companions will voice suspicions that the village is hiding something, although none of them seem aware of its true nature. Speak to Honest Dan. He'll explain he has been hired to investigate a missing caravan and find Amelia Stockton, the missing daughter of the prominent Stockton family. He also suggests the inhabitants of Covenant might be involved in both cases. He also offers to split the reward in exchange for help in the investigation. After doing so, Dan will give the player character what he knows in the form of a note, caravan details. Passing speech checks with him may net more caps and info.

Exit Covenant and head northeast along the road to find the remains of the missing caravan and recover Deezer's lemonade and if carefully looking at the road close to the scene, discover a blood trail which the Sole Survivor suggests heads towards Covenant. Questioning the inhabitants of Covenant yields little info, they are adamant about having nothing to do with it, they are also oddly nice, almost saccharine.

To find more clues, enter the house on the far end of the settlement to discover a holding cell, a bookcase with self-help material and a locked computer. Outside, at the side of one of the houses, is a bedroll left by the caravan staff, which can be investigated, but it isn't clear enough who it belonged to.

Hack the computer when no one is looking to find out Covenant's real purpose. Hacking the computer when not sneaking will turn the whole town hostile. It is also possible to gather information by speaking to one of the settlers, Talia McGovern, and convincing her that Honest Dan is a synth after passing a few Charisma checks. Alternatively, enter the shop and take the piece of paper from the trash can or pass increasingly harder speech checks with Penny Fitzgerald to reveal the clues. Another alternative is to either pickpocket the key from Jacob Orden or pick the lock to the house directly left of the gate and find the piece of paper near the door. If pickpocket is too risky, between the hours 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. the doors to the first house on the left when entering Covenant will be open (in general, all of the buildings in Covenant can eventually be entered without the need to pick a lock, through the expedient of following the residents around until they open the doors on their daily schedule). On the table is a key and a paper that has Jacob's password. Residents may become hostile if they see stealing. One can also find the location of the compound at the office terminal. The door and the computer are both Master locks.

Once learning about the existence of the compound, the Sole Survivor can either talk to Dan or go alone. When they try to exit Covenant, Jacob will be at the gate and will try to convince the Sole Survivor to drop the case, even going as far as offering a bribe.

To find the compound, head to the fishing spot west of Covenant on the other side of the lake and enter the outflow pipe. If the Sole Survivor told Honest Dan about the compound, he will be waiting inside and will follow. Continue along the pipe to face armed guards and turrets. By successfully passing a speech check, the Sole Survivor is escorted deep inside the complex to meet Doctor Roslyn Chambers. Otherwise, fighting through the complex becomes necessary. On the way there clues about people being held captive and ongoing experiments/torture can be found.

Once confronted by the doctor, she explains her intentions of trying to reveal hidden synths who infiltrated the populace by creating and perfecting the SAFE test. A sort of psychological test involving studying reactions of the subject to several situational questions. Improving the test involves establishing a "baseline" and then requires various forms of psychological and physical torture to incite reactions from the subject. She also explains, the reason for capturing Amelia is because they believe she is a synth infiltrator. She may offer to pay the same caps reward offered by Honest Dan.

At this point, the Sole Survivor has several choices:
 * 1) Deciding to side with the doctor, if accompanied by Honest Dan it will cause him to become hostile and killing him will be necessary. Also, inspecting Amelia's body reveals she was indeed a synth. Return to Jacob to win Covenant as a usable settlement. There is also a reward of 300 caps from the completion of this quest.
 * 2) Deciding to side with Honest Dan and free Amelia will turn the doctor and the rest of the compound hostile, making it necessary to kill them all. Amelia is in one of the cells up the stairs which can be opened by using the computer terminal or by picking the lock. Speak to Dan to receive a reward. By passing increasingly harder speech checks, more reward can be earned. Choosing this option will also turn all inhabitants of Covenant hostile, except for Deezer and Dora (cat). Kill all hostiles to win Covenant as a usable settlement.
 * 3) A third option will make itself available, if the Sole Survivor does not bring Honest Dan to the compound, and has already joined the Railroad. After freeing Amelia, as they would when siding with Dan, they can turn the quest in to Old Man Stockton, who can be found at Bunker Hill. He will give the same 300 bottlecap reward offered by the doctor and Honest Dan, although there is no way to increase the reward through speech checks. If the player character has already completed Boston After Dark, the Sole Survivor can remark about making a habit out of helping him. The quest cannot be turned in to him if Honest Dan accompanies the player character, however; he will simply say that he already contracted someone to find the missing caravan. Upon returning to Covenant, all inhabitants will be hostile, and it will be necessary to kill them all except Deezer to receive Covenant as a settlement. If choosing this option, almost everything inside the compound will be considered stolen, making it very complicated to use this settlement. Old Man Stockton is a nonessential character and can be killed. If he has already been killed and the Sole Survivor chooses to save Amelia, without bringing Dan to the compound, the quest will say "Failed" immediately after the "Find Old Man Stockton" objective appears and it becomes impossible to complete.

A "fourth" option is also available to the player character. If they arrive at the compound without Honest Dan and have already joined the Railroad, they can engage Amelia in conversation before freeing her or letting her be killed by the doctor and she will direct the player character to Old Man Stockton, claiming he will give a reward for freeing her. The quest will update as though the player character has freed Amelia and the quest marker will lead them to Old Man Stockton. If the player character leaves Amelia in her cell and turns in the quest to Old Man Stockton, the quest will complete, only in this case, upon return to Covenant, all inhabitants will be friendly to the player character. If the player character has passed the speech check at the compound, all inhabitants there will remain friendly as well. Although everyone is still alive, this option offers the least amount of rewards, as there is no way to obtain Covenant as a settlement.

Companion reactions

 * Curie loves "against synth genocide" and she also likes it if asking her to "spare Amelia" or if "negotiating" with Manny. She will dislike if Chambers is killed after rejecting the offer.
 * MacCready likes when the Sole Survivor takes the bribe from Jacob Orden, choosing the "spare Amelia" dialogue option and likes siding with Chambers. He dislikes refusing the bribe, siding against Chambers and "looking for compromise."
 * Piper likes when "looking for a compromise" before leaving Covenant with Jacob as well as denying the bribe and when negotiating with Manny, she will hate siding with the doctor. She likes when asking to spare the daughter and when killing the doctor. She loves telling the doctor no deal.
 * Nick likes "sparing Amelia" and loves the "against synth genocide" options and dislikes if working with Chambers. He also dislikes it when taking the SAFE test to enter Covenant.
 * Hancock likes choosing "look for compromise" with Jacob, likes "against synth genocide," likes "sparing Amelia," hates siding with Chambers and loves if Chambers is killed.
 * Deacon dislikes the "look for compromise" option and likes rejecting the bribe. He also loves "against synth genocide" and will hate siding with the doctor.
 * Danse loves the "Institute must die" option. He hates the "against synth genocide" as well as the "spare Amelia" option. He dislikes if rejecting her offer but also says "wrong move soldier" if accepting her offer, although this has no actual effect on the relationship with him.
 * Cait dislikes when "looking for compromise" with Jacob. She likes accepting the bribe from Jacob and even comments about getting some caps without a fight. She likes it when agreeing that the Institute and synths need to be wiped out, and dislikes it if one doesn't accept Chambers' offer. However, she does like it if Chambers is killed.
 * Strong agrees that the Institute needs to be wiped out. He dislikes asking about sparing Amelia, but on the contrary also dislikes her getting killed after siding with the doctor. However, he likes if refusing Chambers' offer.
 * X6-88 likes "against synth genocide," but dislikes "spare Amelia."
 * Codsworth likes "look for compromise" with Jacob, and likes "against synth genocide" as well as "spare Amelia" with Chambers.
 * Preston likes the "spare Amelia" option and loves siding with Dan. Preston dislikes asking for more caps while speaking with Dan after rescuing Amelia.

Behind the scenes

 * The SAFE test is actually the G.O.A.T. from Fallout 3, with all references to vaults (and the 10th question) removed.
 * The development of the SAFE test to detect and remove synths (machines physically indistinguishable from humans) from the populace and many parts of this mission and dialogues, are a direct reference to the movie Blade Runner (based on the Phillip. K. Dick novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"). The SAFE test is a direct reference to the Voight-Kampff test, which tests the subject's responses to situational questions by measuring preconscious empathetic reflexes and childhood memories that are usually absent from synthetic people.

Bugs
Человеческий фактор Людський фактор