Watcher Initiative

The Watcher Initiative is an ambitious surveillance program created by the the Institute, spanning the entire Commonwealth. By using synthetic animals (mostly birds like ravens) as observation platforms, the Synth Retention Bureau is capable of receiving a wide array of intelligence in real time. However, the fine nature of the technology means that Robotics cannot exactly manufacture them en masse. Watcher pods are assigned on an as needed basis to monitor priority locations. In 2287, this includes four pods at Diamond City, three at Goodneighbor, two at Fort Hagen and Libertalia, and one at Covenant, Warwick homestead, and Vault 81.

The use of these watchers is known to both the Minutemen and The Railroad and is likely common knowledge among most of the other factions in the Commonwealth. But due to the watchers being synthetic birds; capturing or disabling them is likely too resource heavy and time consuming for most factions.