Summary
- Fallout 4 quests present moral dilemmas, such as choosing between siding with settlers or raiders.
- Covenant, a seemingly perfect settlement, hides a dark secret about torturing suspected synths.
- Players must decide between helping Dr. Chambers continue her experiments or rescuing innocent people.
Fallout 4 is packed full of quests that will have the Sole Survivor choosing between two sides of an argument. Sometimes those choices are easy with clear good or evil options, such as whether to sell a child or helping settlers versus raiders. But sometimes the choices are more morally gray and a good example of this is the quest "Human Error," which is less clear-cut and can depend heavily on how the Sole Survivor feels about synths during that playthrough.
When traveling through the Commonwealth, the Sole Survivor may find the seemingly perfect settlement location of Covenant located almost exactly in the middle of the map, directly southeast of Sanctuary and just west of Taffington Boathouse. This small town surrounded by thick walls looks untouched by the ravages of the wasteland, and when entering it's like stepping back into pre-war America. But all is not what it seems in this sleepy suburb, and the first clue is the strange “SAFE” test that must be taken to gain entry, with things only getting more odd from there.
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A Choice Between One Life Or An Entire Town
This Moral Decision Is About More Than The Numbers
After poking around Covenant for a short time, the Sole Survivor will be approached by a caravan guard named Honest Dan, who will ask for help as he’s looking for Amelia Stockton, the daughter of Old Man Stockton from Bunker Hill. By looking around in and outside of Covenant, the Sole Survivor will be able to follow a series of clues and uncover a secret compound a short distance away. But once inside, the terrible truth about what the residents of Covenant have been up to is revealed, and a choice will need to be made.
Hacking a terminal inside the Covenant Office will reveal the location of the compound in a report named Fishermen report, although the terminal requires Master hacking. It is possible to find Jacob Orden's on a bedside table in Covenant's locked bunkhouse.
What Happens If Dr. Chambers Is Sided With?
Gain A Settlement, But At What Cost?
Inside the compound are a handful of guards who will either need to be fought or persuaded with a speech check, as well as Dr. Roslyn Chambers. Chambers will explain everything to the Sole Survivor, and Dan if he's present, and reveal that the people of Covenant have been using their test at the gate to try to root out synths. When they believe they have found one, the targets are kidnapped and brought to the compound.
Chambers seeks to find a baseline to improve the SAFE test, and she has been perfecting her methods by physically and psychologically torturing any captives she is brought. Three holotapes found throughout the compound reveal the torture of a person known only as Subject 12. In the audio, the man can be heard repeatedly being electrocuted and begging for his life as Dr. Patricia Montgomery coldly asks him the same question from the SAFE test.
The SAFE test is a slightly reworded version of the G.O.A.T. exam from Fallout 3 and isn't the only link to Vault-Tec found in the compound or Covenant. Posters from Vault 101 are on the walls of Chamber's compound, and the guard's clothes appear to be recolored Vault-Tec security uniforms.
Chambers killed the caravan guards because she suspects that Amelia is a synth, but explains she can't let her go even if she's not, because that would compromise the compound. She will offer the Sole Survivor a bride of 300 caps, the same amount that Dan promised as a reward, if they let her carry on. Siding with Chambers will turn Dan hostile if he accompanies the Sole Survivor, and he will need to be killed.
The margin of error is ittedly high, four or five false positives per synth. But one day we hope to get it to one or two false positives.
Chambers will honor the agreement and reward the Sole Survivor with 300 caps, and Covenant will be available as a settlement. Chambers will then continue her experiment and electrocute Amelia, killing her. After Amelia is killed by Chambers, her body can be looted and will have a synth component, revealing Chambers' suspicions were correct.
However, the implication of this choice would be that Chambers and Covenant will continue to kidnap anyone they suspect is a synth. This will include innocent humans, which they it has happened before and result in more torture and death. Chambers will openly it that the SAFE test is producing false positives and that they currently have only 70% confidence in any result, saying "The margin of error is ittedly high, four or five false positives per synth. But one day we hope to get it to one or two false positives."
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What Happens If Honest Dan Is Sided With?
Freeing Amelia Has Long Term Repercussions
The other option after Chambers has finished speaking is to refuse her offer and side with Dan to rescue Amelia. Chambers and any guards, presuming they were not killed, within the compound will become hostile and need to be eliminated. After which, Amelia can be freed by opening her cell via the terminal and, if he is there, Dan will thank the Sole Survivor with 300 caps, otherwise the reward can be gotten from Stockton in Bunker Hill, ending the strange side quest.
Honest Dan has a bug which allows more caps to be gained. After releasing Amelia and being paid by Dan, walking out of the conversation will allow the dialogue to be repeated where Dan will pay the caps again.
Upon returning to Covenant, the entire settlement will be hostile, excluding Deezer and the turrets. If the Sole Survivor wants to use Covenant as a settlement, all human settlers there will need to be killed. This option seems like the morally right thing to do, given the margin for error in Chambers’ SAFE test, but with nine human settlers in Covenant plus the compound guards, this outcome comes at a heavy cost of life.
Ultimately, how "Human Error" is concluded comes down to how the Sole Survivor feels about synths during that particular playthrough. When roleplaying as a Railroad agent, then Dan is the obvious choice, whereas a Brotherhood character may prefer to opt for Chambers. "Human Error" is an interesting Fallout 4 quest that poses the question of synths potentially being alive and what the value of a synth's life is. Or perhaps it is simply enough to know that innocent merchants and travelers will be spared Covenant's accusations once the compound is shut down.
Bethesda's action RPG Fallout 4 puts players into the vault suit of the Lone Survivor, a pre-war soldier from an alternate future cryogenically frozen inside Vault 111. After their infant son is kidnapped, they venture out into the irradiated wasteland of the Commonwealth to scour the ruins of Boston for any sign of him. In doing so, they encounter various factions and companions and use an array of skills and abilities to navigate the apocalyptic remnants of society.
