The Replicated Man

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360 and PC achievement.The quest follows the story of an unidentified humanoid robotic prototype, an android, who is hiding from its creator somewhere in the Capital Wasteland.

Quick walkthrough

 * 1) Talk to Dr. Zimmer in Rivet City or find one of the clues.
 * 2) Acquire more clues.
 * 3) Talk to Horace Pinkerton in Rivet City Bow.
 * 4) Either (options 1 and 2 can also be combined):
 * 5) Convince Harkness that he is an android. To do this, you need proof from either Pinkerton or Doctor Preston.
 * 6) Tell Zimmer that Harkness is the android.
 * 7) Show Zimmer the Android Component obtained from Victoria Watts and convince him the android is dead.

Starting the quest
The quest is given to you by Dr. Zimmer in Rivet City, who asks you to track down an android that has escaped. The android has gone sentient and independent and does not wish to return. Alternatively, the quest can also be started by finding one of the Replicated Man holotapes.

Find more clues
To start tracking down the android, Dr. Zimmer requests that the player talk to Dr. Preston in Rivet City. Preston hands the player one of the android's recordings and tells them that similar tapes were sent to almost every scientist in the Wastelands. And indeed, clues pertaining to the quest can be found in virtually any settlement.

Generally, the clues are tied to certain NPCs and you always have two options to obtain a clue from each of those people: through dialogue or by finding a holotape/terminal in the person's possession or room. For details on who these people are, please see Replicated Man holotapes.

The Railroad
At any time during this quest, you may be approached by a woman named Victoria Watts of The Railroad, an organization dedicated to helping androids gain their independence (Herbert Dashwood, Tulip, Father Clifford and Manya are also members of the railroad). She asks you to tell Dr. Zimmer that the android is dead, and gives you a piece of his body to support your claim. If the quest has not been started yet (e.g. the holotapes have been obtained, but not viewed), it can be started from here. After receiving the Android Component, the player can simply end the quest by giving it to Zimmer, however the reward for taking this path is pitiful compared to the other 2 rewards, gun and perk; both good.

Looking for Pinkerton
After obtaining the fourth holotape, A free man... a new man..., you learn that Horace Pinkerton in the Broken Bow near Rivet City "reconstructed" the android, making him the only one who knows the android's current appearance and whereabouts.

Since he's rather hard to get to, players that are yet to finish one of the final goals for The Wasteland Survival Guide, specifically the one that requires the player to find out the History of Rivet City, may want to use this opportunity also speak to Pinkerton about Rivet City's History, although once you have found him, you can exit through the locked door discussed below and later come back in that way, which is very easy.

There are two ways to enter the bow section, either by picking a locked door (100 Lockpick skill required) on the starboard side or by entering an underwater door where the bow section has broken off. The latter requires the player to swim a moderate distance through radiated water. If you have put off this mission until you got a 100 Lockpick skill, then you have gone a long, long time without one of the best weapons in the game; for everyone else, you are going to be swimming.

You can spend an inordinate amount of non-fun time swimming around (and drowning) just looking for the underwater entrance, so here is a guide: Head to the back of the marketplace to a door outside, where you should be facing the broken bow. Before jumping in, prepare by popping a Rad-X and putting on a radiation suit if you have one. Now drop into the water and swim down to the right, where should see an opening with a door. On the other side is a flooded hallway, so swim quickly forward and surface for air. Bring up the Local Map to get your bearings. Assuming you came straight through the door and are now in the middle facing away from it, you will see a tunnel/hall to your right; face that way and go under towards it, open the door, and keep going straight to another door, open it, and come up for air. Enter the door on the left, through another door ahead, a door off to the left, and into a room which is out of the water. You should have a Mirelurk or two after you at this point, so turn and aim. Other than all the traps and mines waiting for you upstairs, you are home free.

Several traps, mines and leveled Mirelurks protect this section of the broken ship.

When the player finally speaks with Pinkerton, he will reveal that the android's name is Harkness and that he personally performed the facial reconstructive surgery and memory wipe. He will also reveal that Harkness's mind was not actually wiped, but rather his old identity has been buried deep and that it can be reactivated by means of a certain code word. Harkness is now employed as the security chief in Rivet City, and was actually the person who greeted the player upon arrival in Rivet City. Pinkerton also gives you the password to his terminal downstairs; log on and it downloads to your Pipboy proof Harkness will want to see.

The easiest way out of this area of the ship is through the "Very Hard" locked door. On this side of the door is a box that can be activated to unlock the door. this makes going back to Pinkerton for any reason much simpler...and leaves you not glowing in the dark from the rads you would be exposed to.

The decision
There are now several possible courses of action which will complete the quest:
 * Show Dr. Zimmer the android part received from the railroad agent, and inform him that the android is dead. The reward for this is 50 caps and good karma. This can technically be done at any time after receiving the component, but you will lose the chance of getting the Wired Reflexes perk. This will get Zimmer angry and leave Rivet City with Armitage forever, and successfully let you finish the quest.
 * Speak to Harkness and convince him that he's an android. There are several options to choose from in the conversation, but only the final two matter. Regardless of the choices made, they will receive A3-21's Plasma Rifle and +200 Karma (unless convinced to go with Zimmer) as a reward.
 * If told his secret is safe with the player, Harkness will do nothing. However, he can still be turned in to Zimmer or said to be dead with the Android Component if this is chosen.
 * If asked what he will do, Harkness will state his intentions to kill Zimmer. The player may ask if he can order them to leave instead by making up several false charges instead of resorting to violence, or request if they can have the honor of killing Zimmer.
 * If told that Zimmer is waiting for him, the player can pass a speech check to convince him to go with Zimmer, at which point they must go to Zimmer and tell him about Harkness. Both rewards can be claimed in this fashion, but only the Bad Karma will be earned. Alternatively, a different speech check can be passed to convince him that he should stay, at which point he'll proceed to go kill Zimmer. If neither speech test is chosen or passed, the player can choose to tell Harkness that it is his choice. He will at that point vanish from the city, having fled to escape Zimmer. Zimmer himself will remain in the Science Lab and occasionally complain to the scientists, but will only say "there's nothing more to discuss" if spoken to.
 * Tell Dr. Zimmer the android's human name and reveal the code to uncover the buried memories. The player is rewarded with the Wired Reflexes perk and -200 karma. Dr. Zimmer will then walk to Harkness's location and claim the android as his property. Harkness will initially resist until Dr. Zimmer uses an override code to reset Harkness to factory defaults. Dr. Zimmer and Armitage will then leave Rivet City with Harkness in tow.
 * If you had told Harkness his secret was safe with you, you will be unable to kill Zimmer and Armitage while they are walking to find and reset Harkness. They will be set to invincible until they have reset Harkness.
 * If Zimmer and Armitage are killed after Harkness is reset, the android will stand wherever he was for the rest of the game, continuing to ask for parameters if spoken to.
 * To get both rewards without risking Harkness' memory, tell Harkness who he is for the A3-21's Plasma Rifle and Good Karma, then ask to kill Zimmer. Reveal to Zimmer and tell him the android is Harkness (this gives Bad Karma, but it will balance out with the previous Good Karma boost unless your Karma was already high) for the Wired Reflexes perk. At this point, you may either kill Zimmer and Armitage, or allow them to wipe Harkness' memory and take him away. For added fun, try using your newly acquired Plasma Rifle to melt both Zimmer and Armitage into puddles of goo.

Behind the scenes

 * This quest pays tribute to at least three prominent science fiction works. The quest's name is a reference to the Ray Bradbury book The Illustrated Man, while the android's plot line -- a synthetic human seeking to integrate seamlessly with human society -- is reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's The Bicentennial Man. The Lone Wanderer's role here -- potentially capturing and returning a wayward synthetic human to its masters -- reminds an astute player of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," a darker story far more widely known as the basis for the film Blade Runner. Blade Runner's synthetic humans were called "replicants."
 * It's also worth noting that in dialog, Zimmer will mention that this particular android's job was tracking down other escaped androids. This, of course, was also Blade Runner protagonist Deckard's job and much has been made over whether Deckard himself was a replicant.

Bugs

 * If the player gathers sufficient information to cause Victoria Watts to spawn while in Rivet City, she may end up stuck shaking in place and unable to talk to the player automatically. Speaking with her and going through her dialogue will fix her movement, as will going to a place other than Rivet City. (unconfirmed)
 * If the player chooses to give Zimmer the component after talking to Watts you never find out that Harkness is the android and the quest is permanently in your quest list as unfinished. (Confirmed on 360 and PC)
 * Although Harkness says that he is leaving after giving the player his Plasma Rifle, he will still be found standing in the Rivet City Market all day. A new security chief will appear and say that Harkness is gone, even when she is standing right next to him. (Confirmed on Xbox 360 and PS3)
 * Sometimes if you obtain the chip and give it to Dr. Zimmer, the new security chief will come even if you have not even discovered that Harkness is in fact the android. (Confirmed on Xbox 360)