The American Dream

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

Walkthrough
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, and there are a few different options.
 * You can give Autumn the true code, 2-1-6, and he thanks you with a deadly bullet.
 * You can use all manner of expletives to tell him where to stick that information, and infuriate the Colonel!
 * You can play dumb, which also makes the Colonel mad.
 * You can play along with him and give him the (incorrect) code 7-0-4. After the Enclave troops at Project Purity input the code, Autumn is informed that the troops have just lost another man. This is the angriest you see Autumn!

Assuming you did not give Autumn the correct code, he leaves when the president speaks through the intercom and asks to speak with the player. All inventory is stored in a locker inside the prison cell where the Lone Wanderer wakes up.

Navigating the base
Before you exit your cell, after you open the door, a couple things may happen. If you go directly right, you may avoid the attention of an enclave officer. If this happens President Eden will make a short speech inviting you to his office, which will allow you to avoid both a speech check and some combat. Otherwise, when you exit your cell (which is in east 3A), look left. You should see Lieutenant Williams, an Enclave officer. With a successful charisma, speech or strength check, Williams will let you go. Otherwise, be prepared for a 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. If you do not find him captive he will appear in Megaton as usual as if nothing happened.

When you get to Raven Rock Level 2, eventually you will hear Colonel Autumn's voice telling everyone to attack. You should find a pantry area with about 10 of each kind of food you've so far encountered, Pork 'N Beans, Cram, etc. There are two First Aid Boxes as well, on the side of a locker. The Enclave soldiers will start attacking you when you get to the lab area, if they haven't already. In this area you will be ambushed by quite a few Enclave soldiers (3-4).

The target destination is further down Raven Rock level 2. 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. 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, 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 Destruct Sequence, 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 spout 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. 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 its captive deathclaw attacking everything in sight.

On the way out, you will find a Gatling Laser.

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.

You then must return to the Citadel where Rothchild, Owyn Lyons, Sarah Lyons, and the Lyons' Pride 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!. However, she will rejoin you if she was previously in your party.

Bugs

 * When leaving Raven Rock, if you re-enter Raven Rock before talking to Fawkes, Fawkes may disappear completely from the game. (confirmed all platforms)

Behind the scenes

 * 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 reshaped 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.
 * Raven Rock is a real place.

YouTube Videos
The American DreamThe American Dream

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