The American Dream

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also a Xbox 360/PC achievement and PlayStation 3 Trophy.

The player awakens behind a force field, in a prison cell inside Raven Rock, the Enclave hideout located in the very northwest corner of the map. Colonel Autumn is demanding the access code, but he leaves when the president speaks through the intercom and asks to speak with the PC. All inventory is stored in a locker inside the prison cell where the Vault 101 Dweller wakes up.

Navigating the Base
When you exit your cell (which is in east 3A), look left. You should see an enclave officer. With a succesful charisma, speech or strength check, the Enclave officer will let you go. Otherwise, be prepared for a tedious battle all the way to the President's office. Alternatively, you can kill him before he begins speaking and no one will attack you. Next to your cell Nathan Vargas from Megaton is held captive, saying he was captured by the Enclave and they are not who he thought they were. You can also walk through the door at its rightmost edge and then just walk to the right without triggering the officer dialog at all. When you get to Raven Rock Level 2, eventually you will hear Colonel Autumn's voice telling everyone to attack. Occasionally, none of the Enclave soldiers at the cafeteria (3B) will attack you (perhaps due to some sort of glitch), so use that to snoop around. You should find a pantry area with a LOT of food (about 10 of each kind of food you've so far encountered, Pork 'N Beans, Cram, etc.) Take them all, as you'll need to restore your health for the coming firefights, but watch your radiation level as you use them. The Enclave soldiers finally will start attacking you when you get to the lab area. The scientists will be easy to take out; their armor is no better than that of the Enclave officers. However, it is in this area that you will be ambushed by quite a few Enclave soldiers (3-4). They'll be using heavy weaponry, so if you have any explosives (missiles, grenades, mines, etc) use them.

EDIT: With the addition of the Chinese Stealth Armor (recieved after completing Operation: Anchorage), it is possible to avoid most, if not all enemy resistance. If the player brings a silenced weapon into Vault 87 prior to being kidnapped (such as the Silenced 10mm Pistol or the Dart Gun), Enclave soldiers can be dispatched without alerting other soldiers. An adequate level in Sneak (~50 to 60) and the Silent Running perk are recommended, but not necessary.

The target destination is further down Raven Rock level 2 (just follow your quest marker). You'll find a force-fielded area containing Enclave crates in one of the rooms (northeast corner of 2B) that you can deactivate by hacking the console next to it. The Enclave crates contain quite a lot of goodies, so stock up. Also in one of the rooms (northwest corner of 2B) you'll find one of Dr. Li's assistants (Anna Holt) -- she was captured at the purifier. She'll tell you that although she first resisted, she eventually decided to help the Enclave. If you opt to kill her for her betrayal, you'll get negative karma.

In another room (near the Bobblehead - Energy Weapons) (west 2C) there is a footlocker which you can break into that contains a "self-destruct" key command.

Meeting the President
Eventually you will enter a room with two sentry bots finishing off two Enclave guards (killing the sentry bots results in bad karma). If you try to speak to them they'll tell you to "continue on as the President is waiting". Next, you'll enter a room with a long staircase (1A), where you will encounter President Eden, who turns out to be a ZAX AI. He informs you of his plan to "cleanse" the Capital Wasteland of the mutation and disease which has gripped it, by using a modified version of the FEV virus, previously used in the creation of the original Super Mutants, in order to kill any mutated or irradiated persons living in the Wasteland, and start the Capital Wasteland anew. Despite Colonel Autumn's previously callous, mean-spirited demeanor, Eden informs you that he in fact disagrees with the Colonel's way of thinking, and thinks there can be another method of renewing the Capital Wasteland.

There are a few choices at this stage, with regard to President Eden's fate:
 * With a high Speech skill, you can convince Eden that he is insane, and force him to self-destruct both himself and the base.
 * With a high Science skill, you can argue Eden into realizing his thinking is in fact a fallacy of circular logic, and again convince him to self-destruct himself and the base.
 * If you found Colonel Autumn's room and the ZAX self-destruct code, you can deal with Eden that way (again, blows up Eden and base).
 * You can leave him intact and exit the base. If you choose this option, level 1 will still function as with the other options; rooms off the main hallway gout fire and the doors become inoperable, and the lower levels will remain sealed. The base will not explode however, and the fleeing vertibirds will remain intact.

Note that Eden does not allow you to leave the base without taking the modified FEV.

Leaving the Base
After you leave Eden's chamber, the robots in the subsequent hallways turn on the Enclave soldiers, making the trek out to the Wastelands much, much easier, as there are numerous Enclave soldiers with mini guns and missile launchers waiting on Raven Rock level 1 that would otherwise be a challenge. Along the way out there are plenty of force-fielded areas with Enclave crates, for which again you must hack the terminals to deactivate.

There is a terminal that will open a Deathclaw crate, resulting in it's captive deathclaw attacking everything in sight, however, it is located behind you, and as such the you'll likely end up pinned between an Enclave soldier and a Deathclaw.

On the way out, you will find a Gatling Laser, one of the most powerful weapons in the game, in one of the Gun Cases behind the security barrier. It uses Electron Charge Packs - so if you haven't sold any of the ones you've found thus far through the game - you'll be well armed. Even if you haven't got any EC Packs, there are plenty to be found in Raven Rock on guards and in crates.

If you already picked up the Vengeance at the Deathclaw Sanctuary, the Gatling Lasers you get here can be used to repair it, at last.

Outside the Base
Once outside you will observe a large force of vertibirds leaving the base. If the base's self destruct was activated during the conversation with Eden, the base explodes and the tunnel is blocked with rock; there is no going back inside.

At this point you'll meet Fawkes who is taking care of some Enclave soldiers. If you have positive karma, you have the option of asking him to join you. Fawkes now carries a Gatling Laser with unlimited ammo, and is highly durable. If you plan on going to some dangerous side places (like the Deathclaw Sanctuary), he is a must-have.

You then must return to the Citadel where Rothchild, Owyn Lyons, Sarah Lyons, and the Lyons' Pride Platoon have assembled for a briefing on the upcoming Take it Back! quest. Midway through Elder Lyons will ask you for further information about the Enclave. You may give him the FEV virus Eden gave you for Karma and "proper disposal after the scribes have studied it". Regardless of your choice here the remaining conversation remains unchanged. Sarah then makes you an honorary member of the Lyons' Pride and offers you a full suit of either Power Armor or Recon Armor. Rothchild will then raise the Liberty Prime up an elevator shaft. Halfway up the shaft the quest will be completed and Take it Back! will begin.

After the briefing you can tell Elder Lyons about Vault 87 being the origin of the super mutant threat for good karma.

This will be your last chance to recruit Star Paladin Cross, she will not join you after Take it Back!.

Bug

 * Sometimes player, having entered Enclave and spoken with Owen Lyons, is rooted in place, able to turn but not move, not able to speak with NPCs, etc. (PC version) Only solution is to reload earlier save and replay.

Trivia

 * The "American Dream" is the belief that anyone, no matter their background, can be successful in America. In this case, a computer has achieved the American Dream. The term is also being used as a pun for the Enclave's vision of a reshapen America, their ideal "dream" of the American way.
 * Historian and writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America.

YouTube Videos
The American Dream The American Dream