Remember that quest in fallout 3 where you look for the android that ran away? And maybe you talked to the railroad member that gave you the android component? Well the railroad is a group of 5 people bent on freeing androids from slavery and believe the androids deserve rights.

Also, in the new trailer, we see a railroad banner when the character is flying away and looking out. Why is there a railroad banner there anyway?

My theory is that since androids are created in Boston by the common wealth, there are more of them there instead of in the capital wasteland. So the railroad thought there will be more androids to save in Boston and they should move to Boston. Then they migrated and set up there head quarters in that state and started their mission to save all the androids.

Do you agree with this theory or do you have a better one?

New Trailer!?!? What!?

What's a railroad banner? Is it cool enough for a link?

i mean first trailer, sorry for the mistake

please note i accidently posted 2 of this post so there is another post by me with the same name and plz tell me how to remove posts

I, all good man.

Fallout 3 hinted that the railroad orginated from the commonwealth (aka boston) and the group you find is one cell, assuming 4 does indeed only take place months after 3, we can assume the railroad is indeed gonna pop up in 4.

I think you might mean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4&feature=youtu.be&t=2m one, with the "RR" in the centre. That's actually a banner for the Red Rocket Gas Stations. Around the outside it says "Gasoline", "Diesel", and "Fusion".

But your point about the Railroad is a very good one. And I have a feeling that they will be playing a very big part in the main story, although perhaps not in the way that they originally intended

The Rail Road was already from Boston in Fallout 3, as was Harkness, Zimmerman and everyone else associated with the quest. They just used the term "the Commonwealth" for the whole region around the Institute rather than calling it Boston.

What I find interesting is the fact that they were all in the Capital Wasteland in the first place. I don't think it's as straightforward as Zimmer's claims of 'recovering technology'.

Presumably they were there because of the signifiance of Harkness. We've seen the Synths in the trailers but Harkness can actually pass as a human being and presumably was designed as somekind of infiltration unit to be used against them. Seems reasonable that they'd leave some handlers knocking around in-case the Institute got him back, gave him a wipe and a new face, and sent him back in.

Well there was the institute lady who was keeping a eye on the water purifying project, so it seams the Institute had eyes on DC in general, possibly scouting for "threats" or "competition"

If Harkness was in fact designed to recover other 'rogue' androids, then he would have been aware of a fair amount of sensitive information. I think this information is the real reason why he was being hunted, as well as the key behind what's really going on in Fallout 4.

Just to demonstrate a point, according to Brian Delaney, the first code name for Fallout 4 was actually Institute.

Heck when Beth bothers to actually visit the real life MIT you know they are gonna play a big part.

It should also be noted that Beth has stated more than once that information garnered from NPCs in their games may or may not be true and that many of the things we are told are from character specific points of view and some info is just straight up lies. You can't take everything every NPC says as canon.

I think people read way to much into a minor quest from a decade old game

normally yes, but since beth confirmed they started laying the groundwork for 4 pretty much straight after 3 its not impossible there is going to be some connection.

A quest about Androids from the Institute not being related to a game set in the Institute featuring Androids?

I look forward to this quest line. I always returned Harness to Zimmer and loved me some tech in return. I will hunt androids for tech bounty all day every day.

I really liked it as well, though I tend to side with whoever lies to me the least first time out or whoever does not ask me to do something stupid crazy. (Go poke that death claw in his privates and tell me what happens- Ya looking at you Moria ehh its ok cause your cute i'll do it) And Zimmer is full of it one way or other since, was it Watt's, (railroad gal who should not just run up on twitchy ole 2-caps) give you a chip good enough to fool him, something is fishy bout the whole thing from there. It is well a bit omni-game but turns out not only does Hark have one built in, Zimmers goon has one, as does Zimmer himself. I figure goon is droid, Zimmer could be or maybe he has allready taken out another runaway. Advanced prototype my Butt, thats a lot of borg chips. I agree with GK they wanted him dead for some other reason.

I usually tell harkness I want to kill Zimmer for him to get his awesome plasma rifle, then tell Zimmer about Harkness to get the Wired Reflexes perk, and then blow the [censored] out of Zimmer and Armitage.

The Institute where they make these things being in Boston...

We know there's civil strife with the androids possibly...

...And we're speculating that it's gonna be a thing?

I cant wait to learn MIT's backstory, how it progressed after the war. Wonder who is governing the Institute?

If the classic fantasy equivalent, a mage rule (magikrat?) It is often a council, so I assume the same here, a council of the brightest scientist.

Maybe the same way like the MIT today just expanded?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology#Organization_and_administration