So, ive never really heard anyone mention this before

But on shauns terminal one of the files records all the divisions progress and in SRB it says "Director Zimmer offline" - the guy who was looking for an escaped synth in fallout 3.


Im sure this could mean that zimmer was merely an android sent to DC posing as the "boss" but, given the institue, could it not be something conveluded as one of the previous directors conciousness was uploaded to a mainframe in the event there was no clear leadership from within?


PROBABLY NOT. Just a thought

I think that's a bit of a stretch. Probably just means Dr. Zimmer has fallen off their radar and disappeared... something must have happened to him when he left ten years ago to fetch A3-21. >.>

It's a real theory that Dr. Zimmer was a synth, but I doubt the Institute would knowingly appoint a synth as the head of the SRB.

Was he killable in FO3? Could his absence just be a way to cater to those who killed him in FO3?

I think you could kill him, though I usually always got his perk.

IMO It doesn't really matter if you did kill him, if thats not part of their canon story thats that, our stories are " what if's?" though they don't really make the games rely too much on the previous storys anyhow.

Which is fine with me I would rather be able to do whatever I want in one game, then a series of meaningless choices that are supposed to effect further games down the road and don't amount to anything except a few random character cameos...

Hes not head of the SRB, though.

And yeah, i assumed but the only other human they say "offline" instead of "dead" or "missing" for is Kellogg - and they class him as a cyborg (cybernetic human blahblah)

He was killable in the quest "the replaced man", but i don't remind of him claiming himself as any leading role inside the Institute or the SRB, i guess he was just an high-end agent or something related to the cyber-implants which, presumably, both Harkness and the other courser with Zimmer had, same as the ones we can see on Kellogg.

Probably he was somewhere around the SRB and the Robotics department which lead him to go out to track the escaped Synth (even tho in FO3 its refered as cyborgs, more than synths).

Anyway, its stated also Victoria Watts to have been killed in action, so eventually she made it back from the Capital Wastelands and/or there got killed, while about Zimmer's fate there is nothing saying whether he's dead for good or just missing.

If he hasn't ever returned since the travel to Washington he is presumably dead, or eventually he just made it back and then moved on to a new assignment that may be still undergoing.

So presumably he might be still around, with the secrets about the cyber-implants and the past of the Institute, secrets and so on.

I really hope we get to know something more about the past between the Institute and the Railroads....

Nope, was unkillable i believe. But as someone said - one persons playthrough doesnt determine cannon - because lets face it, us gamers are kinda d!cks in a game world

I highly doubt he's been missing completely for 10 years.

He'd almost certainly be presumed dead by then. Yet Dr. Ayo is still just 'acting' Director.

He is. Justin Ayo is the "acting" head in his abscence.

I think this is definitely one of those things where Bethesda deliberately left it open to our interpretations. If the Lone Wanderer or Harkness didn't execute him, then he disappeared at some point afterwards.

New theory: the Institute makes synth copies of Dr. Zimmer and sends them all over America to reclaim multiple high-profile synths. And none of the Synth Zimmers know they're synths.

Guess this'll be DLC

"Heres the institute guy from fallout 3. He's kidnapped you/gone crazy/turned into a man-machine combo/became a born again christian.

Buy this DLC"

Suspect within' the Institute there were more infos about the mission Zimmer was into but they are not willing to share them with the Sole Survivor for some reason, since FO3 events weren't forgot neither was this character.

Been a while since i've finished my Institute ending playthrough, but iirc wasn't there something on terminals which completely suspended / deleted the cyborg programs and resources?

Imho many characters in the Institute should know about it, for example, how does Drs. Li made it to the Institute? Zimmer being the most reliable link for her to find and contact the Institute, whether she wanted to join with them.

And Ayo also should know enough , for the same reason that he is still "acting" director, so, if Zimmer was the SRB head his position is still vacant?

Or they know that he's anyway coming back?

He looked quite old in FO3, so that makes sense that he could've been simply died of old age, unless in the Institute they know that he can't age (somewhat like Kellogg maybe?).

Would be cool whether he'd return and allow the Institute to restablish the cyborg project under a new directorate, or just returning as a new villain, something like elder Elijah, opposing the Sole Survivor directorate role? unlikely, but well, would be nice.

Anything that deepens the Institute's lore would be nice, really.

Yeah, hahah, institute was my first playthrough and i kinda blaggef through that. Doing RR now and messing with the terminals, my mistakes.


And i assume thats sarcasm? wasnt sure.

Itd make more sence to send a synth instead the head of one of the 3 divisions to reclaim ONE synth..


Again, just rather odd it says "offline" rather than "missing" or "dead", makes him sound like an it rather than a he

I kinda thought Maybe the real zimmer was a problem, and whoever was the director replaced him (father I suppose) then sent out a synth Zimmer on a mission as to not arouse suspicion, nor alert people as to some fishy things going.... I mean you replace people all the time, if someone is giving you a head ache at base...... well

(maybe heheh I was always bothered by zimmer having a synth component, which showed he was either a synth, or fibbing about how many how many advanced synths there were.... and could go either way really heheh)

hes definitely killable

you can choose to turn in harkness or lie or just straight up kill him

if you just kill him it turns rivet city hostile, i cant remember what but there was dialogue that turned him hostile which didnt turn all of rivet city hostile

what i always did in my playthrough was turn in harkness gaining the perk, then kill zimmer and his bodyguard (which did not turn rivet city hostile) as they start walking away, and then go tell harkness that zimmers dead, thus gaining the plasma rifle and harkness' gratitude

best of both worlds as id never turn harkness in (not how i play) but that way i could "pretend" to turn him in, assassinate zimmerman, and gain the perk

There was a way to obtain both Harkness rifle (pretty much among top best weaps in FO3) AND the perk from Zimmer.

Even tho was quite a gamey tactic, still possible.

But somehow i like 2-caps suggestion as well, surely Father should know something more, but still feels like there are not enough dialogue options ingame to discover most of the tips left around, like about FEV, Virgil, Zimmer, Kellogg, RR past etc its all left a bit on the side

to muddy the water even more, why would Zimmer have a component on him...

If he is armed with the recall code, there would be no need to kill the synth...... But wait the memory/new identity wipe of the railroad is optional.....Maybe a non wiped synth would shoot first , and he was forced to down it.

But why would you ever send out a deparment head.... no no

(heheh I have no idea fun stuff to talk about though)

That actually sounds very reasonable Zimmer was all obsessed with cyborg technology, hell he augments some random in the capital wasteland he just met, and as we learn, father( man i hate even typing that name such a cheesy name" father" if that isn't a crazy cult fanatic title i dunno...anyways...) didn't like cyborg tech advancements.