Synth Retention Quest Bug - "Visit your Quarters" (RESOLVED)

[Borrolan]

I think this bug is common. I did try looking around to that end, including on Steam, Reddit and other sources. Never encountered it before in around 800 hours of gameplay.

I got to the Courser teleport stage from Libertalia ages ago but put the quest on hold. After trying to pick up the quest, after I got to the point of the Courser teleporting back to the Institute from the Libertalia, my quest marker pointed to Father. So far so good. Dialogue with Father ok and the next stage (800) was to visit my quarters. Marker points to the quarters but the next stage doesn't trigger (I visit the marker point but nowt happens) so I can return to Father. The Courser is not waiting at my quarters so this is probably what's blocking completion of the quarters visit trigger. I recall that he did teleport off the Libertalia.

Background info - recently reinstalled after having to replace a dead hard drive. Running two wee mods - No Home Plate Noise and OC Decorator this time as per previous installation. Didn't bother to add a custom ini. file this time because my old (modded) saves work fine without it. Been running for about 20 hours on the new installation, using the last of my old saves. Game runs fine - not had a single crash. The old install did have a Custom ini. file - I doubt if this is relevant because of the nature of the mods, but I mention it for completeness.

I want to avoid console commands if possible - setstage, placeatme etc.

Tried returning to Libertalia, and then returning to the Institute, as per one possible fix, and noticed the cell container contents had reset. Some dead raiders still there though and I even saw a functioning machine gun turret and a live Raider - underwater - while spamming VATS trying to find the Courser. Found two live Raiders on the outlying ships. No sign of the Courser although I didn't search thoroughly.

I intend to complete the MQ with the Railroad and do NOT want anything to do with the Minutemen this time. I need to progress this $%&*£%$ quest so I can continue working with Father as per RR quest line. Anyone got any ideas on how to unblock this glitch, other than through console commands?

If I don't reply to any suggestions for a few hours, it's because it's an ungodly hour over here - dawn actually - and I'm off to the Land of Nod. Been scrabbling around for hours trying to find a way past this blockage.

Edit - sorted.

After mulling it over, I'm fairly sure I know what went wrong. I remember the BoS interrupted my initial dialogue with the Courser (during the initial contact at Nahant Wharf) by attacking him from a vertbird.

The Courser ran away to fight the BoS and - annoyingly - didn't come back to the rendevous point. I got fed up waiting and proceeded through the Libertalia on my own. The Courser magically appeared when I was in the captain's cabin, just before emerging onto the top level. The dialogue with the escaped Synth then went forward as per the quest and the Courser teleported away after the Raiders on the top level were finished off. I stayed behind to scour the Libertalia for goodies.

I put the quest on hold for several levels only to find I couldn't progress it because the Courser had not appeared back in the Institute. My guess is I waited too long and something got glitched as result.

I hoard saves for these type of situations and the earliest one I had, amongst scores of them, was me waiting to return from the Libertalia, after the Courser had teleported with the Synth. Loaded it and everything is tickety boo. Thank goodness I had that one save from midway through the quest. Otherwise I'd have had to mess around with the console, something I try to avoid.

Short version - I should have completed the quest ten levels ago, rather than waiting too long.