So in watching the newly released trailer, I was struck by a thought. As of right now, the two major theories for how you survive 200 years boil down to two: you either go into cryo-sleep or you are a synthetic person. I think everyone assumes cryo-sleep at this point. Is it possible that you could be frozen and then become a synth? For instance, maybe you are dethawed but the technology wasn't perfect, so you have some artificial parts used to make you what would basically be an android (which is what I'm assuming a synth is right?). I remember the cyborg perk in Fallout 3, which was one of the reasons I had this idea, but watching the new trailer really made it slap me across the face for some reason (apologies if this has been floated out already and hashed to death).
I bring this up too because it seems like it would be a compelling reason to seek out the Institute. Maybe you get injured in a scripted event and discover that you have some synthetic parts to yourself, so you search for the Institute to find answers. It would also be an incredibly compelling way to place yourself in the middle of the conflict that the trailer seems to set up. Tensions between synthetic and non-synthetic people, with a hybrid trying to make sense of a new world and make peace within it. The more I think about this idea the more it excites me. It would add a lot of interesting possibilities.
For instance, maybe your spouse and child are seriously injured when you find them or maybe they are already dead, but you have the option to take their brains to the Institute and transfer their minds into new synthetic bodies. Disturbing yes, but it would be an incredibly unique way to utilize the family structure to make the game more dramatic, instead of the typical lose your family then seek revenge arch-type. Maybe you can make a choice early on to hide or deny your synthetic part and that will lead you into a closer relationship with the human faction. Conversely, you can choose to embrace your synthetic side and doing so might yield new body modifications that showcase your technological aspect (please glowing eyes lol). On a completely superficial level, being part synth would be an easy way to justify an in-game "face sculptor".
I feel like this is going to be an aspect of this game. I would bet money that we are part synth. I think being full synth would be too much for me, but being in the middle just feels like it would make our player character completely unique in the game world; a theme that Bethesda has been playing with since they released Morrowind. I mean think about it. There has to be something that sets us apart. In Fallout 3, we were the child of the man who was brilliant enough to save the wastes, and I think in Fallout 4, we are going to be the hybrid person who decides the fate of Boston. What do you guys think?