Good to see you again.
Report it to me immediately.
This information could be the final piece to the puzzle.
Alright then.
Commonwealth log PR029.
As a data procurement specialist it is my duty to report any pertinent information to
local chapters in the area.
To that effect, I have prepared a briefing for the Prydwen, updated with the latest intel
recovered from the field.
I would like to note that this is the type of intel you can only gather while traveling
the wasteland proper and speaking with the locals.
That is to say, you won’t find what I’m about to tell you in some pre-war technical
documents.
First, context.
The Institute as we know it today is a direct descendant of the Commonwealth Institute of
Technology, one of the finest centers of learning in Old World America, and a major link in
military research, including robotics.
Robert House himself was a graduate of CIT, which should come as no surprise.
This particular alumnus would go on to form RobCo, arguably the most influential tech
company in the world before mankind blew itself to hell.
Other major fields of research at CIT included genetics, nanotechnology, electronic warfare,
and more.
In the chaos of the Great War, the Commonwealth Institute of Technology escaped destruction.
A warhead possibly intended for the Institute wound up destroying a residential section
of Cambridge, sparing most of the campus.
Against a backdrop of unmitigated chaos and the deteriorating humanitarian situation – even
the strong military presence in the metropolitan area and outside the city couldn't stop the
violence from spreading – the survivors took shelter below Cambridge and CIT.
Rather than build upwards, they started building downwards, digging into the soil beneath Boston.
It’s important to note that the Institute we know today wasn't actually founded until
2110 by the next generation of scientists, a generation born underground.
We know that the original Institute wasn't the isolationist organization the Brotherhood
is facing now.
At first they attempted to coexist with the people of the Commonwealth.
Seems like mutual distrust wound up dismantling this project and the Institute wasn't exactly
helped by the destruction of the Commonwealth Provisional Government.
As noted in an earlier log, the CPG was an initiative to create a provisional government
for the region, much like the initiative put forth by Aradesh and Tandi out West.
Except the founders of the NCR were not wiped out by a synth sent to the proceedings.
Curiously, if it wasn't for the guidance of Elder Rhombus, we may have filled that role,
as the Steel Plague.
The Institute insisted on an isolationist policy in the wake of the CPG's failure, aided
by the completion of their molecular transmitter circa 2180.
Any efforts to locate a surface entrance to the Institute are in vain because there is
no entrance.
After their teleporter was completed all entrances were sealed and hidden following the invention
of the transmitter.
I wager it's this isolation, coupled with the advances in synth technology, that contributed
to the Institute's decision to abandon the surface and focus on developing underground
– as well as the decline in their moral standards, treating the surface as little
more than a giant Petri dish.
Part of you has to admire their ingenuity though.
The technological edge of the Institute is undeniable.
The Brotherhood still relies on salvaged goods, even for our power armor.
The Institute, on the other hand, manufactures all of their goods.
Standardized energy weapons, explosives, clothes, armor, and most impressively, synthetic biological
organisms.
And not just synthetic humans – the data included on the drive indicated the presence
of synth…
Gorillas.
The Institute has devised synthetic gorillas as an offshoot of its biological research
program.
It seems the Institute will pursue any new avenue of research.
Perhaps that's why they approved research into the Forced Evolutionary Virus in 2178,
in an effort to create a superior synth generation…
And as we all know, they managed to achieve that goal eventually.
After creating a whole new type and generation of super mutants using their modified FEV.
The super mutants we keep encountering throughout the Commonwealth are unfortunate victims of
the Institute's sick experiments.
First, they are abducted from the surface, then subjected to FEV transformation – and
once the data is mined, disposed of by unleashing them onto the surface.
This callous behavior does make sense from a strategic viewpoint, as the super mutants
interfere with human populations aboveground, preventing them from banding together and
organizing – and becoming a threat to the Institute.
My fellow surface dwellers have no reason to love the Institute.
They are victims of its operations and activities, much like pre-War Americans were the victims
of its own government's actions.
Beyond the destruction of the CPG, the Institute was also implicated in the Broken Mask Incident
of 2229, at Diamond City.
An early third generation synth went berserk on an infiltration assignment, causing that
persistent paranoia about synth infiltrators to emerge.
And then, of course, is the Institute's abduction of people for medical experiments or replacement.
I think the entire scope of the Institute's crimes against humanity won't ever be known
to us.
From what I gathered, the Institute practices strict compartmentalization and each of its
five divisions.
Let's see… there’s Advanced Materials, Biosciences, Robotics, Synth Retention
– which is a little autonomous kingdom of its own.
What binds them together, beyond their incredibly vague goal of redefining mankind, is the Director.
Chairing the Directorate – the Institute's governing body – the Director is responsible
for defining policies, breaking ties, and determining the end goal.
In other words, each division moves on its own.
The Director simply tells them where to go.
The current Director is a bit of an oddity.
Under his tenure, the Institute is aiming for autarky, with a clean fusion reactor meeting
all of their power needs.
They want to be left alone to redefine man underground, only problem is, they don't want
to extend that same courtesy to those living above ground.
Like morlocks, preying on the eloi of the surface.
But it seems the Institute miscalculated.
Synths, as advanced as they are, aren't the trump card they're supposed to be.
The cracks are starting to show, and I suspect that CIT’s greatest asset might prove to
be a liability after all…
But that chapter is yet to be written.
A story for another day perhaps?
ED-NA.
End recording.
Brothers and Sisters, the road behind has been long and fraught with difficulty.
Each and every one of you have surpassed by expectations by rapidly facilitating our arrival
in the Commonwealth.
You have accomplished this amazing feat without a hint of purpose or direction, and most impressively,
without question.
Now that the ship is in position, it is time to reveal our purpose and our mission.