University Point

 is the remains of a public research university and once thriving, and strong fishing village in the Commonwealth in 2287.

Background
University Point was a place of higher learning before the Great War, and home to some of the most talented minds in the United States. Although not quite on CIT's level, Massachusetts Bay University was a popular destination for students and had its own fair share of great minds, including Prof. Stuart Campbell. The University could've prospered even more if Dean Alan Patterson wasn't focused on profiteering from its operations and embezzling money. In fact, Campbell was brought on not for academic pursuits, but for his contacts in the private sector and access to research grants. It was a profitable arrangement at first, but what Patterson failed to account for was that Campbell was well aware of that and structured his contract not just to guarantee tenure, but also give him autonomy and independence from Patterson's control and meddling. When the military contacted Campbell regarding his energy research, Campbell wasted no time arranging for a research grant and aid in constructing a laboratory beneath the administration building.

The Dean did not take kindly to this independence and demanded full disclosure from Campbell, especially after construction work started under University buildings, all classified and under Campbell's authority. The Professor, of course, refused to submit to the demands and simply referred him to his liaison, Colonel Rosemont. Of course, since Patterson had no security clearance, he was repeatedly rebuffed, and eventually thrown out of Colonel's military base when he went there to meet him in person. The events further aggravated the conflict between him and the professor. The University was making money, yes, but Campbell's flagrant disrespect for the Dean's authority could not go unpunished. In his desperation to control Campbell, the Dean tried to find leverage, first by trailing him and then enlisting the aid of a suspended student. In return for forging a good GPA, Henry Mitchell provided evidence that suggested Campbell was having an illicit affair with a student, Leslie Mathews. Patterson wasted no time in threatening Campbell.

In truth, Mathews and Campbell were involved - in military research. She and Curtis Marsh were graduate students aiding Prof. Campbell in his energy research. Although originally working under his strict supervision, Campbell eventually gave them unrestricted access to the laboratory to compensate for the Dean's interference. Their work focused on plasmon containment and increasing energy efficiency in nuclear reactors, and they eventually achieved a breakthrough in October, focusing the electron beam down to around 200 nanometers, achieving improved efficiency and grouping. Although the result was ill-suited for reactor containment, it did promise improved energy consumption for industrial applications and weapons.

However, their research would have no effect on the war effort. On October 23, as Mathews and Marsh were presenting their findings to Sergeant Rivera, the team's liaison, the nuclear attack on the United States began. The sergeant left the laboratory to investigate, asking the young researchers to stay behind until it was safe. He did not return - and Campbell, originally scheduled to arrive around noon, never reached the laboratory. The two researchers stayed underground for the next several weeks, ignoring the explosions continuing above ground. To pass the time and preserve their sanity, they focused on their research, tightening the electron beam on the laser using modified parabolic reflectors. The stocks of food and water kept on site by Campbell definitely helped, allowing them to survive for weeks. Finally, several weeks after the Great War, the two managed to tighten the wavelength down to around 75 nanometers and achieving an impressive capture rate and tremendous power capacity for each of their prototypes. At that point, however, they were already out of food and almost out of water, forcing the researchers to abandon the lab, after exchanging marriage vows. They left their creation, prototype UP77 "Limitless Potential", behind in the safe.

Wasteland and the Point
Abandoned by scholars, the secrets of the research team were kept safe by coastal erosion that resulted in parts of the University to sink into the bay and the mirelurks that claimed the abandoned sections as their nesting ground. However ran down it was, University Point gained a second lease on life when it became the heart of Mass State, a major player in Commonwealth politics. Its forces were instrumental to victory in the Battle of Charles River and even after the loss of the CPG, it remained a major trading outpost, trading razorgrain for additional tech like generators (although it limited its exports to 20% of yield in 2285).

However, that good streak wasn't to last: In August 2285, on a scavenging trip into the old building, a young Pointer by the name of Jacqueline Spencer salvaged an old hard drive from Campbell's office. She was the local tech wizard, responsible for reactivating the town's mail relay and enabling citizens to send e-mails to each other. The hard drive was intended as a replacement, but Jacqueline let her curiosity get the better of her and investigated its contents instead of formatting it. When she realized that she discovered Campbell's research on reactor efficiency, she immediately sought out a passing caravan to find a buyer for the information, agreeing to a 25/75 split of the hundreds of caps promised.

Unfortunately, she chose poorly: The trader was an Institute informant and in a time when the organization was looking for reactor research all over the Commonwealth. The hard drive's contents were vital to the Institute and so a synth was sent to demand that the town hand it over, with the implied threat of force if it failed to comply. It also mentioned Jacqueline by name, leading to the town turning on the Spencers. Bert Strickland, mayor of University Point, managed to keep the tensions contained for a while, violence nearly broke out when Perry Owens suggested that Jacqueline be turned over to the Institute and her father, Gerald Spencer, attacked him. He was convinced it was a con to gain the data for free. However, rumors circulated. One of those, started by Martha Cole, implied the Institute demanded children. Another denizen suggested a nuke was hidden in the town to go off if the town doesn't surrender their harvest. The mob was forming and a lynch was just a matter of time, with Owens ready to be the first to grab a pitchfork.

Gerald grounded his daughter for her own protection and Jacqueline obeyed, despite her initial misgivings. However, that did not spare her the hate, as the town used the e-mail relay she restored to flood her inbox with hateful messages. As the atmosphere heated up, Gerald found himself at a loss. The mayor was his friend and he was the one who suggested keeping his daughter inside. However, he also said out loud what Gerald feared: The Spencers were vulnerable at University Point as a result of Jacqueline's actions and if the Institute didn't get to them, then their neighbors would. He suggested getting out of the Commonwealth entirely.

His advice was sound, though Strickland did not anticipate that the Institute would not take kindly to a town not following orders. Synths from the Institute descended on the outpost in late August and wiped the trading post off the map. The denizens put up a fight, but they stood no chance of repulsing the synths. Some chose to take their own lives, rather than await execution. During the fighting, an explosion in the service tunnels under Sedgwick Hall killed many, released a large amount of radioactive material, and caused the building to partly collapse, in a grim monument to the town's fate and the Institute's savagery.

Layout
The external section is an abandoned settlement, bordered by a thick defensive wall consisting of old buildings patched together with sheet metal walls. Within lie stalls and shacks that once housed the population of the town, now dead or ran off by Institute synths.

To the north and going clockwise, there is: a former armor store, with an armor workbench and cooking stove; a former weapons shop, with a weapons workbench and a cooking station; a liquor store, containing an Expert-locked safe, and a chemistry station on the second floor; Sedgwick Hall; a large cafe with the mayor's terminal on the top floor; and the University Credit Union.

Sedgewick Hall
Most of Sedgwick Hall is restricted by Expert-locked doors on both stories to the east, and a Master-locked door to the south leads to the Dean's office. To the north on the second floor is what used to be a tools shop, on the opposite end is Jacq's terminal, and a stairway that leads up to the third floor is between them. This small home contains a cooking stove and a bedroom.

The Expert-locked doors lead to a flooded lecture hall, and the busted wall to the south leads to another lecture hall. The ground floor of this hall has an Average-locked door to the Dean's office, while a collapsed floor leads to the another part of the second story.

This reception room has a staircase leading up to the third floor classrooms, which are littered with holes in the floor. The only notable rooms are a professors office in the north (where Jacq and her duffle bag are) and a door in the northeast that leads back out to the Commonwealth.

University Credit Union
The front offices a small room partitioned from from the employees area. The employees area is accessed through the adjacent cafe, using the Novice-locked terminal. Stairs in the back of the room lead down to a kitchen and breakroom, as well as the credit union's vault. There is a Master-locked safe against the south wall that reveals a button that, when pressed, reveals Prof. Campbell's secret laboratory containing a weapons workbench and chemistry station.

Notable loot

 * The "Geckos and Gamma Radiation - The Key to Prolonged Life?" issue of Tesla Science is on the end table in the bedroom in the north on the third floor of the entrance.
 * Prototype UP77 "Limitless Potential" and Prototype PA77 can be found in the University Credit Union building's secret laboratory accessed in the vault. The laser pistol is on the table.
 * mini nuke: In the northern office on the third floor of Sedgwick Hall.
 * Jacq's holotape is on Jacq's terminal.
 * Jacq's note is in Jacq's duffle bag.
 * Sylvia's holotape is in the tool box on the counter of the liquor store.
 * University Point council meeting is on the Mayor's terminal.
 * Gerald's barricade key is under the counter of the Tools store in Sedwick Hall.
 * Gerald's vault password is obtained by reading the second entry in the council meeting minutes on the mayor's terminal.

Appearances
University Point appears only in Fallout 4.