The Institute

The Commonwealth Institute of Technology (CIT) or, as its more commonly referred to, The Institute, is a highly secretive group of scientists located within The Commonwealth. Having originally formed from faculty and student survivors of the Great War who took shelter in the basement utility tunnels of the CIT campus, they've become perhaps the most technology advanced faction in the world at present. Deep within their underground sanctuary, Institute scientists have continued their research unhindered since the start of the Great War and remain a source of fear and an enigma to those that hear of them.

The Institute's most well known, and to some its most terrifying, piece of technology is the Synth: artificial humans produced by The Institute to fulfill a variety of roles within their society and beyond. Using their Synths, The Institute keeps close tabs on the surface world, monitoring and occasionally interfering in surface affairs where they deem appropriate and necessary. In 2287, The Institute's surface operations eventually led them into conflict with The Eastern Chapter of The Brotherhood of Steel led by Elder Arthur Maxson, in which they emerged victorious.

Now led by Director Thomas Milburn, a former CIT alumnus and a professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics before the war who eventually became known as the 'Sole Survivor', The Institute has taken complete control of The Commonwealth, ruling it clandestinely from the shadows. A larger plan seems to be at play however, as The Institute gears up to complete the next stage of its plan for humanity: Phase 4.