Desdemona

Desdemona, also known as Dez, is the leader of the Railroad in the Commonwealth in Fallout 4.

Background
Desdemona is the leader of the secretive organization known as the Railroad. Previous security breaches have lead to Desdemona being wary of those who manage to follow the Freedom Trail and enter the passcode to access the Railroad HQ. Despite this, those who can prove themselves to her will, in time, earn her respect, often to the ire of her second-in-command, Dr. Carrington. As the leader of the Railroad, Desdemona is in charge of day-to-day operations and maintaining contact with the widespread network of safehouses.

Desdemona first signed up with and joined the Railroad sometime before September 2276, serving under Pinky Thompson. Desdemona was voted into the Alpha position following the resignation of Thompson around December 2277. During her tenure, she, along with the assistance of Dr. Carrington and Deacon, made major changes concerning the organization's operational security, leading to a drastic increase in the number of synths successfully rescued. During her time as the Railroad leader, she devised a system of railsigns and improvements to the dead drops used for communication, and added Tinker Tom, Glory, and Tommy Whispers as members to Railroad HQ. P.A.M. was also discovered at some point during Desdemona's time as the leader.

Other interactions

 * The Sole Survivor must seek her aid after dealing with the courser, and getting his chip; as she and her people are the only ones who can decode it.
 * If the Sole Survivor does not speak to Desdemona prior to entering the Institute and accepting a mission, she shuns them and the Railroad questline ends.
 * If one is a Railroad agent but is banished from the Institute then this also ends the Railroad questline as the Sole Survivor remaining undercover was vital to the plan. Desdemona encourages the player character to stop the Institute with the Commonwealth Minutemen as she sees it as the best remaining option for protecting the synths.

Appearances
Desdemona appears only in Fallout 4.

Bugs

 * After completing the main questline with the support of the Commonwealth Minutemen, if on good terms with the Railroad and the Sole Survivor returns to their hideout, Desdemona will speak of Glory as if she had died even though Glory can be seen walking about. If trying to interact with Glory she will stay silent and not say any dialogue.
 * In her speech to Railroad HQ informing them of the Sole Survivor's successful infiltration of the Institute, she may incorrectly refer to them as "Wanderer" even if they chose a different code name when joining the Railroad.
 * While receiving the first To the Mattresses quest following The Nuclear Option, the dialogue option to tell Desdemona that the player misses Glory will be available even if the main story was finished with the Minutemen and Glory is alive, possibly even standing right next to Desdemona at that moment. It is useful for gaining a large approval boost for several companions including Deacon and Curie.