The American Dream The American Dream is a main quest in " Fallout 3 " . It is also an achievement and trophy . Detailed walkthrough . The Lone Wanderer awakens behind a force field , in a prison cell inside Raven Rock , the Enclave hideout located in the very northwest corner of the map . Colonel Autumn wants the access code to Project Purity and there are a few different responses to give him : Assuming the Wanderer did not give Autumn the correct code , he leaves when President Eden speaks through the intercom and asks to speak with the player character . One ' s inventory ( which is all the items one was wearing , carrying or had equipped when they were captured ) is stored in a locker inside the prison cell . Navigating the base . Upon exiting the cell , all but one officer will initially be hostile . Shortly after exiting , President Eden will order the troops not to engage the player character . If one leaves the cell and turns to the right , this will happen automatically . If one leaves to the left , they will first encounter Lieutenant Williams , an Enclave officer , who queries the Wanderer about their freedom . With a successful Charisma or Strength check , Williams will let the player character go or flee , respectively . One can also use a speech check to convince him that they ' re going to see President Eden , at which point he will contact Eden directly and get himself reassigned . Alternatively , one can kill him before he begins speaking and no one will attack , since Eden has ordered them not to . If one did not blow up Megaton , Nathan Vargas is held captive next to the Lone Wanderer ' s cell , saying he was captured by the Enclave and they are not who he thought they were . If one does not find him captive he will appear in Megaton as usual as if nothing happened . Despite his presence , he does not actually serve any purpose . He will simply cower in his cell repeating the same phrase over and over if talked to . In any case , this short break will not last . On the approach to Raven Rock Level 2 , Colonel Autumn will countermand Eden ' s orders , turning the entire base hostile against the player character . The exact point at which he does this varies . If one enters Level 2 through the lab area between the cells , he will make the announcement upon arrival at Level 2 . Alternatively , should one try to pass through the mess hall to reach Level 2 , he will make the announcement upon reaching the stairs . In either case , there is now a base full of hostile soldiers between the Lone Wanderer and their goal . During the trip from one ' s cell to President Eden , there are several things one may wish to collect . In the mess hall , there is a pantry area with 2 - 3 of each kind of packaged food one has so far encountered ( Pork ' N Beans , Cram , etc . , but no Sugar Bombs ) and two first aid boxes near the lockers . The soldiers patrolling the mess hall will pick these up and occasionally eat them , so the faster one reaches the hall after being released the bigger the haul . The laboratories also tend to have a few ammunition boxes and other assorted loot . There are also the Enclave soldiers and personnel , who carry a large amount of valuable , if quite heavy loot , such as Tesla armor , Enclave power armor , plasma rifle s , laser rifle s , as well as an abundance of ammunition . On Level 2 are more laboratories , Enclave crate s , and the Energy Weapons Bobblehead . The Bobblehead is in Colonel Autumn ' s room ( at the end of 2B , just before entering 2C ( the war room ) ) , along with a footlocker containing the ZAX self - destruct sequence . Also , in one of the rooms ( northwest corner of 2B ) one will find one of Dr . Li ' s assistants , Anna Holt — she was captured at the purifier . She ' ll tell ythe Wanderer that although she first resisted , she eventually decided to help the Enclave . If one opts to kill her for her betrayal , this will result in negative Karma . Meeting the President . Eventually the player character will enter a room with two sentry bots finishing off two Enclave guards ( interestingly , killing the sentry bots results in bad Karma . ) If one attempts try to speak to them they ' ll tell the Lone Wanderer to " continue on as the President is waiting . " Next , one will enter a room with a long staircase ( 1A ) , where they will encounter President Eden , who turns out to be a ZAX AI . He informs the player character of his plan to " cleanse " the Capital Wasteland of the mutation and disease which has gripped it , by using a modified version of the FEV , previously used in the creation of the original super mutants , in order to kill any mutated or irradiated persons living in the Wasteland and start the Capital Wasteland anew . Despite Colonel Autumn ' s previously callous , mean - spirited demeanor , Eden reveals that Autumn in fact disagrees with the President ' s way of thinking , and thinks there must be a less " extreme " method of renewing the Capital Wasteland . There are a few choices at this stage , with regard to President Eden ' s fate : Note that Eden does not allow you to leave the base without taking the modified FEV , regardless of the results of your conversation with him . Leaving the base . After you leave Eden ' s chamber , the robots in the subsequent hallways turn on the Enclave soldiers , helping you out . Along the way out there are plenty of force - fielded areas with Enclave crates . Again you must hack the terminals to deactivate . There is a terminal that will open a deathclaw crate , resulting in its captive deathclaw attacking everything in sight , aside from the player who it will ignore until all other hostiles have been killed . You can also open the crate the deathclaw is held captive in with a Lockpick of 50 . The crate is directly beside the terminal . On the way out , you will find a Gatling laser in a crate behind a blue barrier unlockable by computer terminal . In the last group of 2 soldiers , one is wielding a missile launcher and wearing Tesla Armor . Outside the base . Once outside you will observe a fleet of Vertibirds leaving the base . If President Eden ' s self - destruct was activated during the conversation with him , the base explodes and the tunnel is blocked with rock ; regardless of whether or not the self - destruct was activated , there is no going back inside . At this point you ' ll meet the super mutant Fawkes if you released him from his cell in Vault 87 , who will be armed with a Gatling laser and taking care of some Enclave soldiers . If you have positive Karma , you have the option of asking him to join you . You then must return to the Citadel where Rothchild , Owyn Lyons , Sarah Lyons , and the Lyons ' Pride have assembled for a briefing on the upcoming Take it Back ! quest . Midway through , Elder Lyons will ask you for further information about the Enclave . You may give him the FEV virus Eden gave you for Karma and " proper disposal after the scribes have studied it " . Regardless of your choice here the remaining conversation remains unchanged . Sarah then makes you an honorary member of the Lyons ' Pride and offers you a full suit of either power armor or recon armor . Any time after the briefing , you can tell Elder Lyons about Vault 87 being the origin of the super mutant threat , for good Karma . At this point , she will ask you if you ' re ready to head to the Jefferson Memorial alongside the Brotherhood of Steel and the Lyons ' Pride to stop the Enclave soldiers and Colonel Autumn . Note that this is the last story mission of the main game without " Broken Steel " , so replying yes to this is a point of no return . You may want to save and leave the Citadel to finish any other optional side - missions you have in the Capital Wasteland , as you will not be able to continue playing after the ending unless you have the " Broken Steel " expansion installed . This will also be your last chance to recruit Star Paladin Cross , she will not join you after Take it Back ! unless you have " Broken Steel " installed and good Karma . She will rejoin you if she was previously in your party . When you ' re finally ready , talk to Sarah and say " yes " . Rothchild will then raise Liberty Prime up an elevator shaft . When Liberty Prime is halfway up the shaft , the quest will be completed and Take it Back ! will begin .