Stealing Independence Stealing Independence is a " Fallout 3 " quest , a PC and Xbox 360 achievement and a PlayStation 3 trophy . Abraham Washington in Rivet City wants you to retrieve the Declaration of Independence for him to display in the Capitol Preservation Society . Detailed walkthrough . Acquiring the quest . Talk to Abraham Washington in Rivet City or go directly to the National Archives and enter the rotunda on the first floor . Encountering Sydney . When you get to the National Archives in the rotunda , you ' ll find Sydney , another treasure hunter sent by Abraham Washington to get the Declaration of Independence but never returned . If you help her by fending off the super mutants , you can take her on as a companion through to the end of the quest . If you decline to take her on as a companion , Sydney might appear later in a random encounter , " Seeking revenge for declining her offer . " Sydney can be completely avoided . By entering the backdoor of the National Archives , one can bypass the rotunda and retrieve the Declaration of Independence . Upon returning to the rotunda , Sydney will not be there . The mini quest to defend the rotunda is still triggered however . Alternatively , if you go to the eastern door in the room with the terminals ( before the Rotunda ) you can also skip the defend the rotunda unmarked quest . Sydney ' s shortcut . If you take Sydney with you , she will tell you that she has hacked a secret elevator that will get you very close to the Declaration ' s location . Interact with the computer terminal where you found her , which will trigger a secret elevator to appear in front of you . This will drop you into the secure wing of the National Archives . Head north and you will have to fight / sneak past a number of robots . In the first room is a broken door that is automatically repaired with Science better than 67 . In this room is the power generator for the turrets guarding the various documents ( Sydney will point this out to you if she is with you ) , but you can only activate it with a Repair skill of 60 . There are several Hard and Very Hard locked doors and significant gas leaks . Encountering Button Gwinnett . Regardless of which path you choose , there will be a bunch of level - dependent robots , including protectrons , Mister Gutsies , sentry bot s , and the occasional robobrain , as well as Mark IV turrets below that are hostile . You ' ll eventually be approached by a robot that has been programmed as the second signer of the Declaration , Button Gwinnett . At this point you can either : Getaway . At this point you either have the real Declaration of Independence , a copy of it , or both . To get out , you can … Sydney ' s quest . After the delivery of the Declaration of Independence to Abraham Washington , ask Sydney " So , whatever happened to your father ? " Previously this dialog path was closed as she did not trust you . Now she mentions her father and that he used to call her " Little Moonbeam . " If you have found her father ' s body and holotape in the Statesman Hotel , the option to tell her about her father ' s message will be available . She will reward you with Sydney ' s 10mm " Ultra " SMG . You can actually exploit this . The choice of asking her about her gun doesn ' t go away , so when you ask her about it , the option of asking about her father appears again . When you choose it , you can once again give her the message to continue to get rewarded again and again . This is still not fixed as of patch 1 . 7 .