r/falloutlore • u/Mac-Tyson • 5d ago
In what ways do Gen 3 Synths differ from Humans?
The institute has created these (Self-Aware) Synthetic Organisms to be nearly instinguishable to a regular human outside of a synth component. But we know some ways they do differ they don’t age, they don’t gain or lose weight (fat synths need to be specially designed), they are immune to radiation. They aren’t born or even grown in a test tube like a clone but are created on an assembly line. What other ways do Synths differ from human?
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u/Positive_Fig_3020 5d ago
They don’t put the cap back on the toothpaste
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u/Sablestein 5d ago
And they put the toilet paper faced the wrong direction!
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u/Historical-Ad-9872 5d ago
..so... in?
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u/Sablestein 5d ago
The only acceptable time to face it inwards is if you have cats that are super naughty and like to unroll the roll…. unless they figure another way to ruin it, then you’re just SOL
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u/Historical-Ad-9872 5d ago
Phew.. I'm glad I passed the test
My girlfriend does it the other way, though.. I knew there was something off about her!
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u/Ayn_Rand_Was_Right 4d ago
Did you explain that is heresy?
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u/Historical-Ad-9872 4d ago
I did. I also explained to her how her way leads to unnecessary touching the wall. I even showed her the patent drawing for the OG TP holder.. Though still she insists, and we now have an ongoing race about who is going to decide for the next roll.
Now that I know she's a synth, it all makes sense, and I'm pondering what my next move is going to be
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u/LordCypher40k 5d ago
Well, according to one of the Institute Scientist, they apparently don't require to eat or sleep or even get sick although one of Curie's comment seem to indicate this is either a lie or they still feel these things but aren't affected by it. Coursers due to their work, are fitted with implants and their organs are tweaked to be more efficient.
On a more humorous note, all synths apparently have an irresistible craving for Fancy Lad Snack Cakes
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u/MinimumTeacher8996 5d ago
But why is it that gen 3s that replace people sleep? And also how don’t they know? If they don’t eat, sleep etc? Maybe they’re tweaked so that they do need these things? Coursers aren’t
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u/SPLUMBER 5d ago
Some don’t. Roger Warwick’s family comments that he’s always up throughout the night
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u/BabadookishOnions 5d ago
Just because they may not NEED to sleep, doesn't mean they are incapable of it. The same with eating, drinking, etc. If you're trying to seamlessly replace someone with an identical spy, it would be very obvious that something is off about them if they suddenly aren't eating or sleeping.
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
He himself will admit that they don't have those features if you use the sarcastic option. It's just a sales pitch.
Curie specifically states she needs to adjust to NEEDING to eat and sleep, not just feeling hungry or tired
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u/Deadbringer 5d ago
Wanted to look for that voice line, and found an old post digging into it.
He says "You might think so now, but just wait. You've only seen a fraction of what our synths can do. Their potential is limitless." which is not explicitly disproving the alternative line where he talks about their lack of needs as if they are current. But as that thread talks about, the guy is probably conflating now with the potential future.
If the lore is that synths do not need to eat... at all, no nutrients... I would not be too surprised, Bethesda absolutely assassinated any integrity their stories used to have. Like with the kid locked in a fridge for 200 years. I don't agree with it, but there is precedent that Bethesda make terrible lore decisions for the tiniest of reasons.
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago
If the lore is that synths do not need to eat... at all, no nutrients... I would not be too surprised
That has been part of the lore since FO3. The FO3 game guide explicitly states synths do not need to eat.
Max Loken stating the same is merely reaffirming that notion.
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u/Deadbringer 4d ago
Sure, game guides are never wrong! And totally not written an external consultant who gets things wrong! They are made before the games are finalized, alongside the game development. So they get based on pre-release version of quests and lore. Mechanically, they usually are kept up to date but the lore of Prima guides have many times been outdated compared to the games. So while they can contain extra details not found in the games, they are not necessarily part of the finalized canon (and sometimes in direct conflict, but I did not find a fallout example of that.)
Then they are simply not medically indistinguishable from humans, they are some weird perpetual motion machines. It simply is not internally consistent with the rest of the game.
I would also expect the institute to say "They do not need to eat!!!" and also say you just need to let them use the feeding station once a day to inject nutrient sludge straight into their bellies. Just like they say Synths can't dream and aren't alive, despite incredibly strong and constant proof to the opposite.
But I went to the game guide to check, and find the source since you didn't. Quest walkthrough on page 178, a short bio on Harkness on page 386 and Armitage on 387, which contains the bit
Armitage has the same schedule as Zimmer; he sleeps in the same room and eats the same food-not because he has to, but because he's been programmed to replicate human behavior as closely as possible.
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u/Valdemar3E 4d ago
Game guides can get gameplay mechanics wrong due to cut content and changed content and whatnot.
But to say that their lore-based statements are false is kind of a stretch - especially when they are reaffirmed in the next installment's actual game.
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u/EvernightStrangely 5d ago
Synths have a component in their brain, and despite never actually having had one, every gen 3 synth, when asked, will cite their favorite snack is Fancy Lad snack cakes.
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u/Fish-Heads 5d ago
I keep seeing this, but I can’t remember where it’s stated
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u/EvernightStrangely 5d ago
I believe it's on a terminal in robotics, specifically the department head's terminal. Binet, I think. In the same entry he also states he wants to investigate why synths keep giving this answer.
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u/RedviperWangchen 5d ago
According to Dr. Amari Synth brain is different from 'normal organic brain', and is something between a robot and a human. So Curie's personality can be implanted in synth's brain, which is impossible to human brain.
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u/Weaselburg 5d ago
What you said is pretty much what we know, other then the electronic bits. Bethesda doesn't go too into depth with their internal workings.
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u/Saramello 4d ago
The game...conflicts itself. There's a scientist committing near unit 731 experiments on them and they can't find a single definite factor outside the synth component in their chest (which you can't get without killing them), besides a possible multiple choice question bias to ONE question (and likely margin of error). The main narrative is there is no difference.
That said, I don't think all the game devs shared notes enough. To list differences mentioned throughout the game in separate contexts (as spoiler free as possible)
- Synths don't apparently need sleep.
- They cannot discernably age. (Or that might have been a 1-off case, hard to tell)
- They cannot gain or lose substantial amounts of weight, as one had to custom-made especially fat due to the human it was replacing.
- Each and every one has at least a one "de-activate" code that remains even AFTER full factory reset (as seen in FO3 and 4). In theory if you get the master list you can read through it and see if there's an effect.
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u/DmetriKepi 4d ago
Probably the most significant thing is that they're programmed and conditioned for work based on that programming. And part of that programming seems to be a baseline preference for imposing high defense isolationist agendas in communities, as we've seen with DiMA, Gabriel, McDunnough, Glory, Danse, Harkness, Avery, Chase, and potentially Deacon (if he's a synth). Likewise, you also see a strong tendency towards peak over performance which you see in all of the above as well as Sturgis, Warwick, Magnolia, Nick and pretty much all the Acadians. Both of these traits seem to be hardwired, as they tend to appear even in characters that don't seem to want to engage in them, such as Cog, and in characters that have had memory wipes such as Harkness and Avery. Essentially, they're optimized to live in the institute, and I'm turn they will attempt to recreate institute like living conditions when left to their own devices.
Now given that you see a fairly low cross section of synths it's unclear if these traits are absolute and 100% across the board. It is also unclear what the defect rate is in the programming, but considering that you tend to see it within synths you have close contact with whether or not they've been mindwiped, it's fairly core to their being. It also makes sense that these routines would exist as defaults in institute programming because they simultaneously set them up for making the institute successful, making them successful in the institute, and would be disruptive towards any community they are allowed to participate in on the surface. It also is a failsafe for the institute increasing the likelihood that an institute 2.0 or some sort of spiritual successor would be implemented in the case of the failure or destruction of the original should there be any survivors. It's also worth pointing out that it makes sense to program these functions in at a base level because synths are designed to be closed systems for most of their lifecycle and are designed to evolve and improve over time, so having overlapping, multilayered positive reinforcers to direct them towards desired outcomes helps to ensure the success of the synths within in the context of the institute.
Also synths have a recall code, and can be reprogrammed with greater ease than a regular human.
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u/Personal_Value6510 5d ago
Not sleeping, being able to be detected by SRB devices, synth components.
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u/Overdue-Karma 5d ago
They do sleep. Glory mentions there was a Barracks, which means sleeping.
What SRB devices?
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u/Goose00724 5d ago
synth retention bureau
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u/Overdue-Karma 5d ago
I know what SRB means, I just want them to clarify what SRB devices they're talking about. As far as I recall, there is no way to identify a living Synth, even by the Institute.
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u/Personal_Value6510 5d ago
The ones implanted into coursers lol.
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u/Overdue-Karma 5d ago edited 5d ago
The Courser Chip...how does that relate to Gen 3 Synths? They can't be tracked, or else the SRB wouldn't need to physically go out and send Coursers around. I may not be getting what you mean.
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/Overdue-Karma 5d ago edited 5d ago
But why build a barracks inside the Institute for that purpose specifically? They don't need to trick anyone there.
Plus Max Loken never says that IIRC, he says "imagine", as in, it's something he'd like to implement.
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
We don't actually know they won't age or not gain/lose weight. Everything Loken says is a sales pitch, which the sarcastic option of "not superior to me" will reveal
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago
We don't actually know they won't age
Janet Thompson makes it relatively clear when talking about synth Shaun.
or not gain/lose weight.
This is stated in an Institute terminal entry.
Everything Loken says is a sales pitch, which the sarcastic option of "not superior to me" will reveal
We can literally ask him how they are superior and he gives a list.
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
Yes, about Synth Shaun. Not about Synths in general. And read what I actually wrote about Loken. The same terminal entry also states they devour snack cakes if they can, which can be a sign of starvation
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago
Yes, about Synth Shaun. Not about Synths in general.
That is a stretch.
And read what I actually wrote about Loken.
You're saying that his list of improvements is false based on the sarcastic dialogue option... The response to which does not counter aforementioned list.
The same terminal entry also states they devour snack cakes if they can, which can be a sign of starvation
That terminal entry doesn't state that at all. It only states all gen3 synths like the taste of the snack cakes. Not that they ''devour them whenever they can''.
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
It's a stretch to take a specific line about Symth Shaun not being ALLOWED to grow up and translating it to "Synths in general don't age", sonething that is never stated anywhere
The sarcastic option is AFTER his laundry list, meaning he takes it back after staring it. And Curie directly disproves his claims.
It exactly states that, now you're just ignoring anything not saying what you want
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u/Buttered_Bourbons 5d ago
Have they got - and do they use - genitals?
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u/Overdue-Karma 5d ago
They have genitals since you can sleep with them. They just can't produce children.
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u/elgjeremy 5d ago
The synth component found in the brain, that allows programming.
Synths don't need to eat or do they age. I'm assuming certain things are programmed in to make them think they do though i.e hunger.
Synths are sterile, they can't have children.
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u/ChromeWeasel 5d ago
The biggest difference not mentioned is that synths can be programmed instantly. With a single command a synth can have its personality wiped out and rewritten. That suggests their brains are not normal in terms of human brain tissue. They are more like super advanced AI portals walking around in a human shell . Sort of like what the bug did in Men in Black.
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u/Fardesto 5d ago
That's not how the recall code works at all.
Each Synth has an entirely unique code "programmed" into them during their initial creation, and all it does it "factory reset them to a blank slate," for lack of a better explanation.
They then have to be physically brought back to the Institute in order to be "reprogrammed."
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u/ChromeWeasel 5d ago edited 5d ago
Nothing you wrote disagrees with my post.
Additionally the quest 'the Replicated Man' shows you have an incomplete understanding of synth reprogramming. It's been done outside of the institute. That's cannon in Fallout games.
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u/Adventurous-Jello961 5d ago
You said it can be instantly done, I assume that is the part he disagrees with.
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u/Fardesto 5d ago
The biggest difference not mentioned is that synths can be programmed instantly. With a single command a synth can have its personality wiped out and rewritten
[A step by step breakdown of how that's not true]
Nothing you wrote disagrees with my post.
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
If humans had an advanced implant in our heads, nothing says we too couldn't be brought to a blank slate and "reprogrammed" with new memories
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u/rsteroidsthrow2 5d ago
The role of the synth chip is completely downplayed. Look at the weird shit Kellogg’s way less advanced implants did.
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u/Jonathonpr 5d ago
Depends on who is writing. A general lack of communication and reference documentation for the writers has resulted in inconsistency and conflicts.
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago edited 5d ago
- They operate off of hard- and software, which is given patches and upgrades.
- They use highly advanced self aware AI.
- They can be turned offline by uttering a phrase.
- They can be terminated outright by uttering a phrase.
- Their brains are different enough from human ones to the point where a robot's conscience can be transplanted into them.
- They do not need to eat in order to function.
- They do not need to sleep in order to function.
- Their personalities come from personality matrixes.
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u/Safe_Finish_5820 4d ago
Desdemona hated that.
deacon hated that.
glory hated that.
danse after blind betrayal dislike that.
Nick hated that.
elder maxson loved that.
Father. They are robots for cleaning and maintenance and espionage.
X688 I'm going to give you the reset code, sir!.
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u/shadysaf 5d ago
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...
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u/Thornescape 5d ago
It's hard to know exactly how they differ, however it has to be subtle enough that a mind wiped synth could go years without realizing that they are a synth. In addition, it can't be anything that can be readily tested, or it would be simple to devise a test to find out if someone was a synth.
There is some misinformation and conflicting information, but synths appear to be biological, based on human DNA, with some implants. The implants can be programmed, but the synth themselves are more complicated, since they have a biological brain.
Synths think and feel the same as any human. They make choices based on their experiences. They can obey or disobey the Institute. Some believe Institute lies, and others want to be free.
I have never heard that Gen 3 synths are immune to radiation, and I don't see how that makes sense.
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u/Porg_Pies_Are_Yummy 5d ago
I keep hearing that synths don’t age, but I’ve never read that anywhere.
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u/Jetstream-Sam 5d ago
It's said in reference to the synth Shaun and how he'll be 10 forever
In case the link doesn't work properly,it's note 35: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Synth#cite_note-35
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
He is the only synth where that is mentioned, and specifically that he won't be "allowed" to age, not that he can't
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago
Janet Thompson: "He'll be a child forever...''
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u/Frojdis 5d ago
Because he won't be ALLOWED to grow up. They don't even state that he can't, but that he won't be ALLOWED to, like they continously prevent it
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u/Valdemar3E 5d ago
He won't be allowed to grow up because he literally cannot ''grow up''.
She literally says he'll be a child forever. How can it be ''forever'' if they kill him?
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u/arceus555 5d ago
The only time it's brought is in regards to Synth Shaun. The scientists say he "won't be allowed" to grow. That could mean
Synths themselves don't age
Shaun is spefically designed to not age.
3.Shaun's aging is actively suppressed and if they stop whatever they are doing, he'll age normally.
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u/Knight-Captain-Cade 5d ago
No, they are 3D printed FEV-infected humans, as per FEV research notes.
Year 2224
This is Doctor Elliott, reporting for the BioScience division. March 2224. We just received another batch of... subjects... but as my previous report stated, we're at an impasse here. More of the same won't help. I am officially echoing the team's position: the most likely progress for our research on synthetic organics requires new avenues of exploration. The two most promising strains of FEV have been adapted to an ideal state, but... we're still missing something. Additional Commonwealth subjects will not help. It's the same problem across the board: exposure to too much radiation. We need something... someone new. There's a proposal we'll be putting forward... I am not entirely comfortable with it, but it seems the best course."I am officially echoing the team's position: the most likely progress for our research on synthetic organics requires new avenues of exploration. The two most promising strains of FEV have been adapted to an ideal state, but... we're still missing something. "
Synthetic Organics were attempting to be made using FEV, and failing due to the Wastelander subject's high radiation exposure, therefore the 'proposal' to raid vault 111 was put forward and accepted, leading to Shaun's DNA/tissues being used to perfect the Synthetic Organics project.
Being made of FEV infected formerly human tissue, synths would gain an immense resistance if not outright immunity to radiation damage, just like super mutants.
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u/Thornescape 5d ago
That isn't what it says. It's talking about super mutants. The institute is the source for all super mutants in the commonwealth.
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u/Knight-Captain-Cade 5d ago
"This is Doctor Elliott, reporting for the BioScience division. March 2224. We just received another batch of... subjects... but as my previous report stated, we're at an impasse here. More of the same won't help. I am officially echoing the team's position: the most likely progress for our research on synthetic organics requires new avenues of exploration. The two most promising strains of FEV have been adapted to an ideal state, but... we're still missing something. Additional Commonwealth subjects will not help. It's the same problem across the board: exposure to too much radiation. We need something... someone new. There's a proposal we'll be putting forward... I am not entirely comfortable with it, but it seems the best course."
Another batch of wastelanders. More of the same (super mutants) won't help. They are making super mutants in attempts to research synthetic organics. They have modified FEV strains to do so, but the Commonwealth wastelander subjects are too irradiated, and come out as super mutants. An uncomfortable proposal is put forward regarding the organic synthetics project.
Shaun outright states that, "The program was ultimately a success; my DNA was fused with a modified virus to create the organic material from which our new synths are made."
Synths made from organic material = Organic Synthetics.
It is talking about Synths.
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u/arceus555 5d ago
I have never heard that Gen 3 synths are immune to radiation, and I don't see how that makes sense
They are made with FEV, which is supposed to make the subject immune to radiation.
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u/King-Of-Hyperius 5d ago
They’re all genetically related to Father and thus to Grandfather/Grandmother.
No really, Nate and Nora have no known family besides an unnamed mother on Nora’s side, it’s highly likely that both are single children of single children parents, and even if they weren’t, after 2 centuries of living in a radioactive wasteland and roughly 8 generations of people, any descendants of even genetically identical relatives would have had significantly different genetic makeups that they would effectively be as close genetically as Nate is to the Vault-Tec guy who ended up a Ghoul.
But assuming Dima is wrong about his theory that the Sole Survivor is a synth, then that means Father, who claims to be your kidnapped son Shaun, is a genetic link from the Synths back to you, since the Gen 3 Synths are based off of his dna.
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u/Tishers 1d ago edited 1d ago
In many ways DIMA is an unreliable narrator; He has stashed away so many different memories that he felt were in contradiction to who he wanted to believe himself to be that the true sum-total of all of his experiences would overwhelm him with contradictions.
The ones that you recover are likely only a subset of everything he has conveniently forgotten. I have played through the Far Harbor DLC several times and each time I come away liking DIMA even less. Getting him in the same room with Nick Valentine you find out that he is condescending. Looking at his set-up of the Children of Atom and the people of Far Harbor sees him in the middle of that tension. He could of been the peacemaker between the two groups but it seems the only solution he can come up with is to murder someone and replace them with a synth who will work to serve Acadia's interests.
DIMA is running a backwoods-redneck, low-budget version of the Institute. He does not even help the synths who went there for sanctuary to set up a functioning society.
I wish there was a mod to make Acadia in to a settlement. Clean up the place, build proper homes, get crops in the ground, assign tasks, maybe make it a technology hub for the island (particularly after the institute is destroyed).
Think what would be possible if Acadia became a school for the children of Far Harbor. That would be an achievement, the learning of technologies, ethics and eliminating ignorance.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
DiMa's theory is completely wrong because we do have memories prior to the bombs, and there is no DNA of us being a Synth, on top of that, Father would NEVER put a Synth in charge - he openly tells you he doesn't view Synths as people.
Plus Father would need to trick hundreds of employees which he can't do, he's too stupid.
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u/Deadbringer 5d ago
The part about losing weight an extrapolation from a note on the Mayor that says it is not worth it to reclaim the unit because he is too fat... But that ignores the rest of the note where it shortly after says this:
Determination: When and if M7-62's identity is eventually compromised, the unit is effectively decommissioned in-field. No reclamation. No Institute assistance. Given its relative age and physical condition (not to mention the danger inherent in an Infiltrator unit's discovery), further lifespan estimated at two weeks maximum.
The mayor is about to fucking DIE! There is NO time for them to even get him fit. They have given him a two week estimate for living! Why would it be worth the effort to put him through a training regime to get fit when he will die in short order?
But I will have to add, this being the institute the "lifespan" they may be referring to is the lifespan of the infiltration rather than the literal body. But I feel the context leans towards them speaking of the body rather than the lifespan of the infiltration mission.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
I think they mean two weeks before he's identified as a Synth and murdered, rather than two weeks left to live his life.
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u/redneckleatherneck 4d ago
Well for one thing, they’re manufactured robots and not actual people, so there’s a difference right there.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
Well...no, they aren't, because Robots are machines, and Synths are organic, not machines. They don't fit the classification of a Robot.
They're more akin to Gary's clones.
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u/redneckleatherneck 4d ago
They are literally manufactured, and you can see the place in the institute where they are.
They’re fucking robots.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
Cool, still not the definition of a robot. Downvote me all you want, that's objectively false.
They are built synthetically, just like Clones.
Are clones robots?
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u/redneckleatherneck 4d ago
They are manufactured, with mechanical components, even the gen 3’s.
They’re literally fucking robots. Your clone argument is apples to oranges. At best - absolute best - they’re more akin to cyborgs than clones. But even that’s a stretch.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
No, they don't have mechanical components. They have a Synth component put in them AFTER they are created. If I put a component in your head, you don't suddenly stop being a human.
And no, they don't have metal underneath. Stop watching Terminator and learn Fallout lore.
By all definitions of the word Robot, they are not one.
And by extension, people can be non-human. Ghouls, Mutants, in TES, Elves, so on.
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u/redneckleatherneck 4d ago
Their skeleton is literally mechanical.
Don’t lecture me on fallout lore. Go to the institute and fucking look.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago edited 4d ago
No...their skeleton isn't mechanical. It is flesh and blood.
That is flesh, blood and muscle.
Nobody is lecturing (except you, and you're being extremely aggressive).
But if you want to prove me wrong, simply show me an image of a Generation 3 Synth with a metal skeleton. Prove to me this claim you made. Show me a Generation 3 Synth that has a fully metal skeleton beneath it.
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u/redneckleatherneck 4d ago
There’s no point, you’ll just deny it and continue to die on your hill. I have better things to do with my time
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago edited 4d ago
I mean...that's a copout answer. I've provided proof, you have provided nothing but assumptions. I've shown you literal proof right there that there is no mechanical skeleton. I'll deny it if it's obviously a fake picture, yes.
The game explicitly says Synths are indistinguishable from humans. Being part metal would make one instantly know who is a Synth.
If you have better things to do, don't try and attack someone then run away when asked for proof. You made a claim, you refused to back it up, you then got aggressive with me, then you again refused to provide evidence. Just admit you've got none and move on, but don't try and ride the moral high ground.
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u/MuddyWaterTeamster 1d ago
It seems like all these differences would be really easy ways for Kasumi or anyone else wondering if they or someone they know is a synth to figure out the truth. Kasumi, just eat pre-war pie and sugar bombs for a week and if you gain weight, you’re golden. No more existential crisis.
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u/Chlorophyllmatic 5d ago
I would assume that as designed intelligences they have a greater memory and maybe in some respects (though not all) better processing?
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u/rom65536 5d ago
Gen 3 synths are NOT immune to radiation. Gen 1s and 2s are, but they are little more than Protectrons.
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u/Mac-Tyson 5d ago
It literally says on the wiki that coursers are immune to radiation. If that’s not consistent neither is it for non feral ghouls when it comes to radiation damage.
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u/rom65536 5d ago
The wiki isn't canon - never has been. It's a collection of what people THINK is canon. But I guarantee you, even a courser will die if you put it in a high-rad environment. So will synth infiltrator settlers. I'd rather trust the game engine for determining canon than the wiki.
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u/Nobody_at_all000 4d ago
I imagine they have various cybernetic systems woven deeply into them, such as a direct neural interface to allow for them to be “programmed”, which might be what the synth component is.
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago edited 4d ago
They're indistinguishable from humans apart from the component in their brains.
Damn, imagine people disagreeing with objective canon fact.
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u/Nobody_at_all000 4d ago
Oh yeah, I remember hearing that on Covenent’s scientist logs
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u/Overdue-Karma 4d ago
Not just in Covenant's logs, the entire game itself and the devs say Synths are indistinguishable. This is canon fact, this is why nobody can tell Synths apart.
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u/Henderson-McHastur 4d ago
Not much. That's the point. Father even emphasizes this in one of the Robotics terminals in an entry called Synth vs. Android. The Institute had lived with Gen 1 and Gen 2 synths for so long they'd grown accustomed to calling them what they were: androids, machines in the shape of men. But Gen 3 synths aren't androids, they're synthetic people: technically machines, in the same sense organic humans are an assemblage of biological machinery, but manufactured bone by bone, sinew by sinew, neuron by neuron.
Father stresses that this is the correct terminology and underlines his own hypocrisy in doing so. The important synths, the only ones really relevant to the moral theme of Fallout 4, are the Gen 3 synths, and Gen 3 synths are synthetic human beings. Their "machinery" is flesh and bone, just like an organic human. The chief difference is apparently the synth component buried in their brain, which serves as an "off button" - when a recall code is used, it's likely the synth component that receives the command and hijacks the synth's nervous system. But this component is invisible, even to the synth, pre-mortem, and doesn't seem to play an important role in their daily function.
What other differences can we identify? Coursers are a special case, but generally aren't manufactured any differently than normal Gen 3s. Their special training and physical enhancements are added after selection from the general synth population, along with an implanted Courser chip that allows them to relay in and out of the Institute. What this does tell us is that synths can receive and process information in a way organics cannot. They can be upgraded, both in hardware and software, in a process that takes a fraction of the years an organic would require.
Synths also tend to demonstrate an aptitude with technology, though this may be a unique attribute of DiMA and Nick Valentine more than a general quality. The other synths of Acadia seem to lack Faraday's aptitude, or else are kept at arm's length from the more sensitive technology in Acadia for infosec reasons. Moreover, Kasumi Nakano is most likely not a synth, given her absence from Institute records, and instead is simply a natural tech wiz.
Critically, synths have a peculiar relationship with death. On the one hand, they don't appear to age, instead appearing as designed until otherwise modified or destroyed. On the other, they can still be damaged by radiation, though if the conversations of Institute scientists are to be taken at face value, they can be designed to better withstand the hazards of the Wasteland. Disease seems to pass them by, and they seem incapable of reproduction if Deacon and his wife are to be taken as normal.
In all, the synthetic aspect of synths appears to primarily manifest in their planned obsolescence. They are designed primarily as tools of the Institute, and so are built to withstand hardship but aren't capable of independent reproduction. They are built, live, and are likely to be sidelined when the Institute moves to another generation of synths. But in all other respects, they are perfect replicas of organic humans, from psychology to biology.
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u/Valdemar3E 3d ago
Synths operate off of hard- and software, which is given patches and upgrades and use highly advanced self aware AI.
They can be turned offline or terminated outright by merely uttering a phrase, and their brains are different enough from human ones to the point where a robot's conscience can be transplanted into them.
They do not need to eat or sleep in order to function, do not get fat, their personalities come from personality matrixes, and they are infertile.
There are several parts that show that synths are not the same as humans.
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u/Unprocessed_Sugar 5d ago
We literally do not know, and everything we might know is either purposefully or unintentionally contradicted. Nobody responsible for writing the information cared enough to nail out the specifics.
There are massive inconsistencies in what we do know as well. They're obviously made with human cells, given the literal involvement of human DNA, so it's ridiculous to say that they don't require food, drink, or sleep, unless The Institute decided to completely solve human cell senescence in order to manufacture slaves.
Basically, don't ask more questions than the writers did. They really didn't care as much as we do.
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u/EldritchKinkster 4d ago
They are all genetically related to Shaun. Any faction capable of comparing chromosomes could develop a test similar to a paternity test.
Of course, they'd need to know that they are related in the first place, but if you have the bodies of two Gen 3s, you could discover it while examining them.
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u/Artimex723 5d ago
Not really on-topic, but an interesting thought crossed my mind - does the Courier technically become a synth during Old World Blues? I mean, we get those cybernetic implants in the base game already, but in OWB the Courier gets a synthetic brain, heart and spine. Doesn't that make them a synth in a way?
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u/BB-56_Washington 5d ago
I'd say no. The courier is just like Kellog at that point, they're a cyborg. The Institute never calls Kellog a synth. Even when the couriers brain is out of their body, they're still a natural born human, not synthetic.
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u/figuring_ItOut12 5d ago
Sterility presumably but it seems inconsistent in the lore.