Year: 2287

Location: The Commonwealth, former Massachusetts.

The Current State: The Institute has just achieved a major, yet fragile, victory. After decades of clandestine operations, the Commonwealth Institute of Technology—the shadowy faction known simply as "the Institute"—has successfully activated its advanced nuclear reactor. This new power source has ended their desperate need to scavenge the surface and has allowed them to begin large-scale production of third-generation Synths, biological androids indistinguishable from humans.

The Commonwealth above is in turmoil. The Minutemen are scattered, the Railroad operates in deeper secrecy than ever, and the Brotherhood of Steel has yet to make its decisive move from the Capital Wasteland. The Institute views the surface as a chaotic, irradiated failure, ripe for "reclamation" under their guidance. Their leader, Father (Shaun), believes the time has come to shift from passive observation to active, controlled intervention. You are either a Courser, a scientist, a synth, or a newly "reclaimed" surface operative, thrust into the delicate and dangerous work of securing the Institute’s future.