Nick Valentine Nick Valentine is a synthetic private detective and a potential companion of the Sole Survivor living in Diamond City in 2287 . Background . An unusual robotic detective , Nick Valentine operates a small agency in Diamond City along with his assistant Ellie Perkins . In addition to possessing the memories of a late pre - War detective , Nick has certain abilities that complement his investigative skills : he is very effective at hacking computers , and adept at both ranged and melee combat . Valentine believes himself to be a prototype between second generation synth s and the latest , which might explain why he exhibits sapient intelligence and is not innately hostile towards non - Institute humans . He is generally well respected throughout Diamond City despite his mysterious origins . Originally , along with another synth named DiMA , the synth that would become Nick Valentine was one of two unique prototype Gen 2 synths used to test if and how synths could handle independent thinking . For years he was experimented on , having various personalities and memories from former humans loaded into him . Despite this , he and DiMA grew a family - like bond to one another , due to being the first and only synths of their kind . This was until DiMA , having been an experiment on a synth developing its own sense of consciousness and self without preloaded personalities or memories , grew to resent the experiments being performed on him and his " brother . " The two synths managed to escape , but not before the Institute uploaded a new personality and memories in DiMA ' s brother . The synth , now identifying himself as a Pre - War police officer named Nick Valentine , in a state of confusion due to suddenly " waking up " 200 years in the future , attacked DiMA . DiMA was left with no choice but to knock Nick out and leave him behind . After regaining consciousness in a pile of garbage an unknown amount of time later , Nick wandered the wasteland in a state of confusion for several weeks . Due to unfamiliarity with the Institute and its technology , most wastelanders regarded Nick with equal parts fear and awe ; however , he was eventually accepted into a small local community where a mechanic offered to repair the damage he had sustained in his travels . During this time Nick befriended a child he knew only as " Jim , " the first human contact Nick ever had . The community was the first time since his reawakening that anyone had treated Nick as a human being and not some mechanical monstrosity . Nick eventually left that settlement ; upon visiting years later , he found that it had been pillaged by raiders . The fate of its population remains unclear . Nick eventually found himself traveling to Diamond City . Although Diamond City holds no small amount of hatred for the Institute and their synths , Nick gained their respect by saving the daughter of the city ' s former mayor , Henry Roberts , when she ran away with a caravan trader . The caravan trader and his companions were , unbeknownst to the girl , actually kidnappers who proceeded to take her hostage . Nick stumbled upon the kidnappers purely by accident when he was wandering the Commonwealth wasteland , having been almost exclusively itinerant since his " awakening . " Finding himself held at gunpoint and likely the girl ' s only hope , Nick scared the abductors away by claiming that he had a bomb inside him and beeping ( Nick claims that he literally just said the word " beep " repeatedly ) . When the Mayor ' s daughter told Nick what had happened , he returned her to her father , who in turn gave him a house in Diamond City as compensation despite the citizens ' dismay and objections ; Nick gradually eased the citizens ' fears by acting as Diamond City ' s handyman . His formidable detective skills were brought to the forefront when he helped to find a wife who was thought dead : Nick discovered that she had in actuality run away with her lover . In time , people stopped asking Nick to fix things when it became clear that he had found his true calling as Diamond City ' s private investigator . While on a case to find a human named Darla , who was believed to had been kidnapped but in fact had run away to join the gang of mobster Skinny Malone , Nick was captured by the gang and imprisoned within their hideout in Vault 114 . It was here that he met and was rescued by the Sole Survivor . The two escaped the vault after confronting Skinny Malone . Upon their escape and meeting back up at Nick ' s office , the Sole Survivor enlisted his help in tracking down their missing son . Nick eventually opens up to the Sole Survivor and starts the quest Long Time Coming . Nick asks them to help him tie up the last " loose end " of the original Nick Valentine ' s life : bringing down his old rival Edward Winter . Tracking down all 10 of Winter ' s old holotapes , Nick and the Sole Survivor use them to decode Winter ' s hideout and the code to get in . Once inside , Nick confronts Winter ( who , predictably , does not recognize Nick ) . Together , with the Sole Survivor , Nick kills Winter and avenges the murder of the original Nick ' s fiancee , Jennifer Lands . Nick then shows the Sole Survivor the site where Winter had killed Jennifer , before contemplating who he is and what purpose his life has after that point . While traveling with the Sole Survivor , Nick finds himself on a case to find the missing daughter of Kenji Nakano ( who apparently worked with Nick on a prior case that wound up with Kenji getting shot in the hip ) . The trail leads to Far Harbor . While on the island , Nick is reunited with DiMA , who is now the current leader of Acadia . Though DiMA is very glad to see his brother again , Nick is reluctant due to not remembering DiMA at all . Upon finding proof of their relationship , the Sole Survivor can convince Nick to accept DiMA as his brother , and the two will occasionally greet each other or chat upon entering Acadia . The original Nick Valentine . Nick Valentine was originally a police detective from Chicago . He was brought to Boston to lead " Operation Winter ' s End , " an operation to bring down mob boss Edward Winter . Unfortunately , Winter or one of his associates managed to find out about Nick ' s fiancee , Jennifer Lands and killed her in revenge for Nick ' s involvement in the operation . The Bureau of Alcohol , Drugs , Tobacco , Firearms and Lasers received intelligence of associates of Winter discussing her whereabouts , but senior officers decided not to place Jennifer or Nick into witness protection in order to avoid compromising the investigation . To make matters worse , Nick and the rest of the task force on Operation Winter ' s End discovered that Winter was actually working for the BADTFL and the district attorney against the other mob bosses in exchange for immunity . In the weeks preceding the fall of the bombs , Winter was released and Operation Winter ' s End was disbanded . Nick was ordered to seek treatment for PTSD at the C . I . T . , where his brain was scanned as part of his treatment . This was how the Institute was able to obtain Nick ' s pre - War memories . Appearances . Nick Valentine appears only in " Fallout 4 " .