The Institute ( location ) The Institute is a location in the Commonwealth in 2287 . It is the secret headquarters of the organization known as the Institute , and is located deep beneath the C . I . T . ruins . Layout . Concourse . The concourse is a large cylindrical - shaped subterranean structure with four floors . Hallways wrap the outskirts of the cylinder leaving the middle section open for a large atrium of trees and fountains , with a helix - shaped elevator going to the surface levels where the teleporter is located . The upper three stories of the cylinder are residential and meeting rooms . The majority of activity takes place on the bottom floor . Along the outer circumference of the lower floor are doors leading to the Institute ' s four main labs : Bioscience is the lab to the northeast , Robotics is to the southeast , Synth Retention is to the southwest and Advanced Systems is to the northwest . There are also supply rooms next to each of the labs in the lower section . Some of these are locked via terminals . Towards the hub of the bottom floor are four recreational / common areas . To the north is the cafeteria , to the east is supplies / outfitting , to the south is a break / lounge area and to the west is medical . Bioscience . One of the larger labs , bioscience is filled with plants , and even some synthetic gorillas . There is a series of connected labs that have been closed off and abandoned also . The quest Building a Better Crop can be found here from Isaac Karlin , and also Hypothesis can be started with Clayton Holdren . FEV Lab . The FEV lab is the source of the majority of super mutants found in the Commonwealth . Many years of experimentation with the Forced Evolutionary Virus took place here on the people of the wasteland . It ' s also speculated that this was where mutant hound s were created . To access the lab one must either hack a Master level terminal in the main Bioscience lab which provides direct access to the FEV lab . Or , pick a Novice locked door in the back hallways of the Bioscience division which requires dealing with an assaultron guard , seven laser turrets and further hacking to open locked doors , with the option to disable some of the turrets . Going through the storage room the Sole Survivor will enter what is a long room filled with observation cells . Past that there ' s a small room with a destroyed synth and another door access terminal , the destroyed synth indicates there was a conflict of some kind which left the lab in a state of disarray . The player character will then find the main research room , with three large glass cylinders in the middle , two of which contain super mutant specimens . The third cylinder looks to have been smashed with a chair . The rest of the room is filled with lab equipment and machinery . One can find another terminal that is filled with test subject information and progress reports . The player character can also find the serum that Virgil asks to retrieve to cure his mutation and the holotape " Brian Virgil personal log 0176 " which explains why he left the Institute . One can give this holotape to Madison Li to convince her to leave the Institute during the quest From Within . Robotics . Robotics is the smallest of the four labs by accessible areas , consisting of a single large room containing the Institute ' s synth assembler . A constant stream of synths are being produced here , being assembled in a pool in the middle before climbing out and walking through into the inaccessible Processing section . Advanced Systems . A small lab area with multiple work stations and a firing range used to test new weaponry . This is where Institute weapons are developed , tested and innovated to arm the Institute ' s vast army of synth foot soldiers and coursers . This is also where they created the experimental synth relay grenade s , which will automatically teleport in multiple synths to fight for the player where thrown . Reactor . The reactor room is only accessible through the Advanced Systems division after completing the quest Mass Fusion for the Institute or in The Nuclear Option quest for the the Brotherhood of Steel , Minutemen or Railroad . Upon entering , there is a long sloped hallway that leads to a larger room with the reactor in the middle , accessible by catwalk . Depending on which faction the Sole Survivor chooses there will be a change in the events that take place here . If the player character decides to destroy the Institute they will be greeted by three hostile laser turret s upon entering the sloped hallway . In the main reactor room there are multiple synths , Institute scientist s and two more laser turrets . Three legendary synths , Z4K - 97B , XPN - 20A and A - 2018 are present . The player character needs to plant the fusion pulse charge in the reactor to sabotage it , which leads to completely erasing the Institute off the face of the Earth with a massive nuclear explosion . Once the agitator is planted the player character is teleported out and can not return . If the player character decides to join the Institute they will be called to the reactor room to insert the beryllium agitator into the reactor , no turrets will be hostile and the room with be filled with scientists . By doing this the Institute will be propelled into the future with enough power to sustain them indefinitely . Public Works maintenance area . This area is accessed from an underwater pipe due south of Ticonderoga , which leads into a small flooded underground room . There is a terminal - locked security gate in the northeast corner , leading to a small area containing a steamer trunk with leveled loot . Old Robotics . An old and rundown section of the Institute that appears to have been sealed off for many years . The player will only travel through this area when progressing through the quest The Nuclear Option . It ' s inhabited by many hostile synths and four laser turret s , which can be deactivated using a terminal . There are multiple conveyor belts and pieces of machinery that appear to have been used to assemble protectron s . On the main assembly floor there ' s a prototype sentry bot which can be activated with the robotics terminal . It will fight the synths that are on the assembly floor , but will also be hostile to the player . The exit is through a circular hatch in the back of the main assembly floor , which will lead to the Bioscience division . Sublevel 21 - D . A very small area accessible only by an elevator in the main atrium . It contains a storage room and heavy construction equipment being used to expand the Institute ' s infrastructure . Notable loot . N . B . This loot will become unavailable if you are banished from the Institute , or after completing The Nuclear Option for any of the three factions . Appearances . The Institute only appears in " Fallout 4 " . The location is mentioned several times in " Fallout 3 " and in Mr . House ' s obituary in " " .