9: Armageddon Games

The science teams did everything possible to block access to Sentinel's reactor core. You will have to work quickly to overcome their obstacles. Upstairs from your location are three local jump pads leading to nearby areas. It doesn't matter which order you choose, but you must visit each area to open up a viable path to Sentinel.

You will need to drain the toxic coolant from the nearby storage reservoirs by triggering the switch shown here in the main pump room. One of the jump pads upstairs will take you to this room. Once the coolant is drained, you must open two large doors that allow passage to the reactor core.

The first door is controlled by a switch pictured here. As before, one of the nearby jump pads will take you to a location where you can eventually access this switch.

The second door is controlled via a purple keycard, which can be found in the cybernetics laboratory shown here. This lab is sequestered from the rest of the structure and can only be reached and exited via transportation.

Once the path to the core is open, make your way to the shaft at this location. I will provide detailed instructions on overloading the core here.

The shaft next to you leads to the lowest level of the Jjaro structure, where Sentinel and its reactor core are located. Ensure you're well-stocked on ammo and spells before you drop down - you won't be able to get back up until after you set off the reaction sequence. Make sure you have an idea of how to escape this area, as well. The clock will be ticking.

Once in the reactor room, you will see five tall control rods suspended within or directly above the coolant pool. These control rods keep the reactor running under optimal conditions, but if you completely remove them from the coolant pool, you will prime the reactor for failure. You must access the gangway where these control rods are operated from and ensure each control rod is withdrawn from the coolant pool.

Once complete, make your way to Sentinel's processors, pictured here. A panel will open, revealing a set of wires. Once you smash these wires, the reactor cannot execute an emergency shutdown, leading to a runaway fusion reaction in the absence of any control rods. If my estimations are correct, you'll have about thirty-five minutes to make your way back to the ship to safely escape the surface. Lastly, I wanted to tell you that you have done better here than I could have ever predicted. I have no doubt the planet would be lost without your actions. The fate of humanity may well be owed to you, at least for now. Best of luck, truly.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ A week has passed since contact was made with the Creator. All hope had vanished from my mind. Others were losing their faith just as fast. Then came reports from the surface that an object had launched into space, taking off from an unknown launch site below ground. It climbed the sky with incredible speed before vanishing into the stars. At the same time, S'yuth reported something from the ancient computer systems: a message from an artificial sentience, addressed to S'yuth by name.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ We can only assume the Creator left inside the object that was witnessed taking off from the surface. But now, S'yuth has retreated to the farthest depths of the Edifice, near the immense reactor core that appears to power this whole structure. He has been summoned.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ Shortly after the Creator left, it became clear to us they had, in fact, fully understood our plea. The artificial sentience operating this Edifice received orders from the Creator to use all means necessary to guarantee our survival. The labs, manufacturing facilities, and all the knowledge once possessed by the Creators are now at our complete disposal. Our end is not as near as I had once feared.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ The answer we have sought for so long lies in the stars above us. Soon, we will possess the means to leave our dying world. I must return to the surface to prepare for the evacuations. I worry not everyone will be willing to go. We will start anew somewhere far away in the heavens, and all that we leave behind, we will one day build again.