After the Brotherhood of Steel was defeated by the NCR at HELIOS One, Father Elijah disappeared into the wastes to search for technologies that would save the Brotherhood - to find what he believed was "one of the greatest treasures of the Old World." For Elijah, the Brotherhood was doomed; they needed to begin again and he would do whatever was needed, no matter how morally questionable, to ensure that came to pass. He traveled throughout the Wasteland, going as far as the Divide and spending time among the Ciphers.