The Institute (location)

The Institute is a location in the Commonwealth in Fallout 4. It is the secret headquarters of the organization known as the Institute, and is located deep beneath the C.I.T. ruins.

Layout
The Institute is a large cylindrical-shaped subterranean city with 3 floors. Hallways wrap the outskirts of the cylinder leaving the middle section open for a large atrium of trees and fountains, with a helix-shaped elevator going to the surface levels where the teleporter is located. The upper two stories of the cylinder are residential and meeting rooms. The majority of activity takes place on the bottom floor.

Along the outer circumference of the lower floor are the 4 labs. Bioscience is the lab to the northeast. Robotics is to the southeast. Synth retention is to the Southwest. Advanced systems is to the Northwest. There are also supply rooms next to each of the labs in the lower section. Some of these are locked via terminals.

Towards the hub of the bottom floor are 4 recreational/common areas. To the north is the cafeteria, to the east is supplies/outfitting, to the south is a break/lounge area, and to the west is medical.


 * There is a synth food vender that sells Institute bottled water and Institute food packet in the cafeteria.
 * The synth requisition officer can be found on the bottom floor in supplies/outfitting. He sells the legendary plasma rifle Experiment 18-A and is open 24/7. This will no longer be available if the player receives the quest Banished from the Institute.

Bioscience
One of the larger labs, bioscience is filled with plants, and even some synthetic gorillas. Most notably, however, is a series of connected labs that have been closed off and abandoned. The quest Building a Better Crop can be found here from Isaac Karlin, and also Hypothesis can be started with Clayton Holdren.

FEV Lab
The FEV lab is thought to be the source of all the super mutants found in the commonwealth. Years of experiments with the Forced Evolutionary Virus took place here on the innocent people of the wasteland. It is also believed that this was where mutant hounds were created.

To access the lab one must either hack a master level terminal in the main Bioscience lab which provides direct access to the FEV lab. Or, pick a novice lock in the back hallways of the Bioscience division which requires dealing with an Assaultron guard, seven laser turrets and further hacking to open locked doors and optionally disable some of the turrets.

Past the storage room the Sole Survivor enters what looks like a long room filled with observation cells. They are oddly filled with children's toys, most-likely to test the intelligence of super mutants. Past that there is a small room with a dead synth and another door access terminal. It is possible that the dead synths are from whatever took place when the lab was shutdown.

The player will then find what looks to be the main research room, with three large glass cylinders in the middle, two of which contain super mutant specimens. The third cylinder looks to have been smashed with a chair. The rest of the room is filled with lab equipment and machinery. One can find another terminal that is filled with test subject information and progress reports. The player character can also find the serum that Virgil asks to retrieve to cure his mutation and the holotape "Brian Virgil personal log 0176" which explains why he left the Institute. One can give this holotape to Madison Li to convince her to leave the Institute.

Robotics
Robotics is the smallest of the four labs by accessible areas, consisting of a single large room containing the Institute's synth assembler. A constant stream of synths are being produced here, being assembled in a pool in the middle before climbing out and walking through into the inaccessible Processing section.

Synth retention

 * Justin Ayo can be found here. He eventually gives the quest Political Leanings
 * X6-88 can be found here if the Sole Survivor did not recruit him when going to their room at the Institute.

Advanced systems
A small lab area with multiple work stations and a firing range used to test new weaponry. This where Institute weapons are developed, tested, and innovated to arm the Institute's vast army of synth foot soldiers and coursers. This is also where they created the experimental Synth relay grenades, which will automatically teleport in multiple synths to fight for the player where thrown.


 * The advanced systems laboratory contains the entrance to the Reactor Room.
 * Madison Li can be found here.
 * Evan Watson, who begins the quest Appropriation can be found here.
 * Shaun can be found here after meeting with Father.

Reactor
The reactor room is only accessible through the Advanced Systems division after completing the quest Mass Fusion for the Institute or in The Nuclear Option quest for the the Brotherhood of Steel, Minutemen, or Railroad. Upon entering there is a long sloped hallway that leads to a larger room with the reactor in the middle, accessible by catwalk. Depending on which faction the Sole Survivor choses will determine the events that take place here.

If the player decides to destroy the Institute they will be greeted by 3 hostile laser turrets upon entering the sloped hallway. In the main reactor room there are multiple synths, Institute scientists, and 2 more laser turrets. A legendary synth named Z4K-97B is present, armed with a flamer. The player needs to plant the Fusion pulse charge in the reactor to sabotage it, which leads to completely erasing the Institute off the face of the Earth with a massive nuclear explosion. Once the agitator is planted the player is teleported out and can't return.

If the player decides to join the Institute they will be called to the reactor room to insert the Beryllium agitator into the reactor, which will lead to propelling the Institute into the future with enough power to sustain them indefinitely.

Old Robotics
An old and rundown section of the Institute that has been sealed off for many years. The player can only travel through this area while progressing through the quest The Nuclear Option. It is inhabited by many hostile synths and 4 laser turrets, which can be deactivated using a terminal. There are many conveyor belts and machinery that appear to have been used to assemble protectrons. On the main assembly floor there is a prototype sentry bot which can be activated with the robotics terminal to fight the synths that stand in your way, however it will be hostile to the player as well. The player exits through a circular hatch and enters the Bioscience division.

Sublevel 21-D
A very small area accessible only by an elevator in the main atrium. It contains a store room and heavy construction equipment being used to expand the Institute's infrastructure.

Notable loot

 * WARNING: This loot will become unavailable after completing the Nuclear Option for any of the three factions (The Brotherhood, The Railroad, The Minutemen).
 * Every Institute-unique junk item contains at least some Aluminum, and dozens if not hundreds of items can be found throughout the facility.
 * A copy of Astoundingly Awesome Tales in Holdren's room at the top of the north spiral staircase. Out on the left balcony on a table to the right.
 * 3 Ice cold Nuka-Colas in the cafeteria on the bottom floor. These can be taken without stealing.
 * Holotape Director's recording 108 found in the Director's Quarters. On the upper level opposite the globe and radio, inside an opened white box itself resting on two unopened white boxes.
 * Holotape Advanced system notes found on a balcony of one of the top level rooms.
 * Collectible baseball in a room on one of the spiral stairways (south side, first floor, right hand door (Thompson), in the bedroom).
 * Holotape Director's recording 52 on a side table in the board room on the top level (East Side).
 * Holotape Join the Railroad can be found in a trash can, under the bathroom sink on the right side of the room, on the top floor (there are two balconies attached to this room; North Side).

Sublevel 21-D

 * Holotape Implant update session 7 located in Sublevel 21-D, which appears to be an expansion of The Institute, as its filled with several pieces of heavy machinery. The section must be accessed via a dilapidated elevator off of the ground floor storage room on the South side of The Institute. The elevator room is the door on the left. The recording itself is on one of the shelves, at ground level.

FEV Lab

 * A hooked pipe wrench mod on a shelf in the storage area of the FEV lab.
 * Holotape Brian Virgil personal log 0176 can be found in the FEV lab with the super mutants.
 * Holotape FEV research notes (InstituteHolotapeFEVLab01) on a console in front of the super mutant test tubes in the FEV lab.
 * Holotape FEV research notes (InstituteHolotapeFEVLab02 same name but different recording) on another console in front of the super mutant test tubes in the FEV lab.
 * A puncturing pipe wrench mod on the shelf in the storage area of the FEV lab.

Advanced Systems

 * Voice recording "Advanced Systems Notes" located in the Advanced Systems lab.
 * 8 Synth relay grenades in the Advanced Systems firing range.

Old Robotics

 * Fusion core in the room beneath the circular hatch that leads to the Bioscience division.

Appearances
The Institute only appears in Fallout 4. The location is mentioned several times in Fallout 3 and in Mr. House's obituary in Fallout New Vegas.

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