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Just about everyone inAtomfallhas some hidden agenda tied to the mysterious Oberon.Joyce Tanneris no different. She tells you that she needs to get the radio towers in the quarantine zone powered up so she can send a message. If you assist her, she’ll offer to help you escape from this awful place.
However, it’s very hard to tell if Joyce can be trusted. She’s evasive about who she’s working for and what her goals are. So, let’s see if she’s being honest and can lead you to a way out.
Where To Find Joyce Tanner In Atomfall
The first place you can meet Joyce Tanner is in theRemote Bunker, which can be found at thecoordinates 28.0 E, 91.6 N on the mapin Casterfell Woods.She’ll tell you that she came in with a convoy to investigate the quarantine zone, but they were ambushed by druids. She managed to survive, and now she’s trying to find a way to communicate with the people she works for to find an escape. However, she needsThe Interchange powered upto get a message out of the quarantine zone.
That means your next destination is The Interchange, which has multiple entrances.Since you’re in Casterfell Woods when you meet Joyce, the closest way into The Interchange in this region is at the coordinates 27.6 E, 83.6 N.You’ll then need to reach theCentral Processor Room, which is in the middle of the facility. There will be a deactivated console here called theBootstrap System Terminal.To power this up, you’ll need a key item calledanAtomic Battery.Insert a battery into the socket on the console to get it up and running.
The Interchange will now be partially powered on, but there will be additional Data Stores that will also need to be turned on using Atomic Batteries. After you activateData Store Charlie,Joyce Tanner will arrive at The Interchange. She’ll be in the upper level of Data Store Charlie, where she’ll be surprised to see you.
She’ll say that she’s opened up the entrances tothree radio towersspread out across the quarantine zone. However, she cannot send a message to her people because they all require a keycard to be used.So, you’ll need to go to each radio tower, find their keycards, and turn them on.
How To Activate Every Radio Tower In Atomfall
There will be a radio tower inSlatten Dale, Casterfell Woods, andSkethermoor.When you talk to Joyce in The Interchange, she will mark the locations of all three towers on your map. Here’s how to find the keycards to each radio tower:
Once you’ve retrieved each keycard, you’re able to enter the radio towers and use them on the consoles inside. After activating two of the towers, you’ll receive messages from Joyce. When you power up the last tower, you’ll hear amysterious coded message. When you ask Joyce about it, she’ll say that she doesn’t know what you’re talking about. She will also be rather evasive about whether her message has reached anyone outside the quarantine zone.
How To Access The Casterfell Dam Data Store
The next step in Joyce’s questline involvesanother character namedDr. Garrow.She is a scientist who was part of the same convoy as Joyce and is partially responsible for the events that have led to the quarantine. She can be found inSkethermoor Prison at the coordinates 41.1 E, 70.8 N in Skethermoor, where she’s being held for tampering with The Protocol’s defenses. You’ll need to free her from her cellusing the Signal Redirector tool.Afterward, she will run away through an entrance to The Interchange that you can’t access.
Dr. Garrow will next be found inside The Interchange in the Central Processor Room.She’ll tell you that she needs you toretrieve her research notesfrom the Robotics department. If you go fetch her notes, she’ll then tell you that you need to go to theCasterfell Dam Data Store located at thecoordinates 22.5 E, 92.4 N in Casterfell Woods.She’ll give you theDam Data Store Keycard, and you can head over there.
If you don’t care aboutgetting Dr. Garrow’s ending, you can kill her and loot the Dam Data Store Keycard off of her body instead of getting her research notes.
Once you’re at the Casterfell Dam Data Store, you’ll need todestroy a B.A.R.D. Robotwith a flamethrower. Then you’ll have to power on the building until you reach the office and can use the Dam Data Store Keycard. This will activate acomputer consolethat Dr. Garrow wants you to run the commandGEN ERAon.
However, when you reactivate the facility, Joyce will message you over the loudspeaker. She will tell you that she wants the information stored on the computer. She will tell you to enter the commandGEN MOVEinstead, which will transfer all the data stored in this building onto a tape.
So, run this command on the computer and grab theProject Oberon Data Tape,which will be to the left of the computer. She’ll also refuse to help you escape if you don’t bring her the tape, so you’ll need to bring it to her to get her ending.
If you choose to run GEN MOVE and take the tape to Joyce,Dr. Garrow will become hostileand attempt to kill you the next time you see her.
Should You Trust Joyce Tanner To Help You Escape In Atomfall?
Joyce will help you escape in Atomfall, but it leads to anundesirable ending.
Return to Data Store Charlie in The Interchange and give Joyce the tape. She’ll continue to give vague answers about her motives before telling you what you need to do to escape the quarantine zone.You’ll have to travel to the Oberon Dig Site, retrieve a sample from Oberon, and then destroy Oberon once and for all.
To reach Oberon, you need to use Atomic Batteries topower up Data Stores A, B, C, and Din The Interchange. Then, use the Signal Redirector on electrical boxes in the floor of the Central Processor Room. This will power up the Bootstrap System Terminal, and you can then pull a lever that will activate the Central Processor. This will open up the way to Oberon.
There will be several enemies and blue mist that can inflict theinfected statuson the way to Oberon. If you haven’t learnedthe recipe forStrange Tonicsyet, you should find it before heading to Oberon so you can cure yourself of the infection.
Make your way through to Oberon’s Dig Site. Enter the large building in front of the meteorite. Be cautious of the Thralls that roam around, because if you make too much noise, they will all attack you. You will need tofind theGenerator Room and insert two Atomic Batteries into the terminal in the middle.If you need to get batteries, you can find the Dig Site Storeroom Keycard in the Administration Room. The Storeroom will have a battery anda Pneumatic Tubeyou can use to retrieve items from your storage.
Once the terminal has two batteries installed, you can head over to theControl Room.There will be various levers for you to pull. One will be theSample Extractor Console.This will begin the drill that will bore into the Oberon meteorite and retrieve a chunk of it. It’ll then drop it into the nearby Sample Grinder, which will produce theMeteorite Sample Canister.You will need to retrieve this canister as this is what Joyce wants you to bring back to her. Be careful as there will be a Thrall near the grinder and three B.A.R.D. Robots with flamethrowers patrolling the meteorite.
Grabbing the sample is the first part of what you need to do for Joyce. The second part involves destroying Oberon. This can be done by either burning it or activating the explosives for the self-destruct console.Take out Oberon and then quickly make your way to The Interchange as the facility begins to crumble. When you return to see Joyce in Data Store Charlie, she’ll be gone, but she will have left you a voice recording. This will give you the coordinates of her escape out of the quarantine zone, which is inCasterfell Woods at 27.9 E, 90.3 N, close to the bunker where you first met her.
Head to these coordinates, and you’ll find Joyce standing by a helicopter. You can attempt to get some information out of her before you leave.Handing her the sample will complete the game and give you Joyce’s ending.
As for whether you should trust her, Joyce’s ending involves her bonking you on the head and knocking you out so you can be taken to her superiors for interrogation. This will get you out of the quarantine zone, but since it looks like you’re about to be taken into military custody, it doesn’t seem like a particularly good ending. So, out of the many weirdos inAtomfall,Joyce may be the one you should trust the least.
