How to start Maintenance Protocol
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Quest type | Side story |
| Requirement | Complete Zoe’s Briefing (Camzilla’s Mom: Zoe’s Briefing appears after the credits) |
| Quest giver | Zoe, at the Watchtower in Central, just past the Central Checkpoint |
| Where it takes place | The Underpass, starting at the Deepest Underpass fast travel door |
| Reward | Standard Issue Coverall (outfit) |
You do not pick it up from a marker: the quest is added the moment the conversation with Zoe ends (PowerPyx). Guides disagree slightly on when Zoe’s Briefing appears. PowerPyx and AllThings.How only say to finish it; Camzilla’s Mom says it comes after you beat the game and watch the credits. If Zoe has nothing new to say, finish the main story first.
The Oldest House door in the Underpass
- Get there: fast travel to the Deepest Underpass door. Face south and climb the ledge (Camzilla’s Mom uses Reach) to a basement doorway marked as the Oldest House. Inspecting it starts a call with Zoe.
- Open it: use the panel on the left of the door. PowerPyx and AllThings.How call it a keypad, Camzilla’s Mom an intercom; either way you just interact with it, there is no code to enter.
- First room: kill every Mold enemy, then take the south door.
- Projector room: follow the path up and let the maintenance briefing video play to the end.
- Coordinates: in the small room next door, use the console beside the three red lights. This marks the three bulbs on your Underpass map.
The bulbs do not show on the map until you use that console, so do not go hunting for them first. You can fix them in any order.
Electrosensitive bulb
Where: directly below the Research Stations fast travel door. The quickest route is from Deepest Underpass.
Fix: the bulb sits next to three charged cores. It is too sensitive to fix while they are live, so carry each Charge away to an empty core:
- First Charge: to the core below the northwest side of the platform.
- Second Charge: to the core below the west edge of the platform.
- Third Charge: to the core just past the second one, on the same level.
With all three cores drained, interact with the bulb. Camzilla’s Mom describes the same step as moving the electricity from the cubes to the floodlights below.
Volatile bulb
Where: east of (around the corner from) the Halfway Trail fast travel door, in a raised control area. Ayad Engineering Log #1 is just north of the same door if you are collecting.
Fix: this one is a conversation as much as a fight. Pick the calming lines in this order:
| Step | Do this | Choose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Interact with the bulb, then talk to it | “You’re okay.” |
| 2 | Hiss start spawning; fight them off | “I’ll keep them away from you.” |
| 3 | Once the Hiss are dead, talk to it again | “You deserve to be fixed.” |
| 4 | Walk up and interact | The bulb is fixed |
Botanophobic bulb
Where: on the island north of the Research Site. Follow the path north from the area labelled Research Site; the bulb is in the middle of the island. Camzilla’s Mom describes it as centre-left on the zone map.
Fix: a bulb that is afraid of plants is buried in Mold. Attack and destroy every patch of Mold around it, then interact with it.
The final bulb and the slides
With all three repaired, fast travel back to Deepest Underpass and return to the projector room. Interact with the bulb shown in the video. It pulls Dylan into the slideshow — the maintenance worker has trapped him in the projection.
| Order | Dialogue choice |
|---|---|
| 1 | “Where are you going?” |
| 2 | “Unstable bulb” |
| 3 | “Do you know a way out?” |
| 4 | “Break the bulb.” |
Breaking the bulb collapses the projection and completes the quest. This order is from PowerPyx and AllThings.How; Camzilla’s Mom only notes that you break the bulb when prompted.
Reward
The Standard Issue Coverall, an outfit for Dylan. No trophy is tied to this quest in the guides we checked. If you are working through the other Underpass side content, the Power Lines station puzzles, the Underpass SHÜM cabinet and the Underpass dog toy are nearby.
Maintenance Protocol FAQ
How do you start Maintenance Protocol in Control Resonant? Finish Zoe’s Briefing at the Watchtower in Central; Maintenance Protocol starts automatically when you speak with Zoe there (PowerPyx, AllThings.How). Camzilla’s Mom places Zoe’s Briefing after the main story and credits, so it is effectively a post-game side story.
Where are the light bulbs in Maintenance Protocol? All three are in the Underpass. The Electrosensitive bulb is directly below the Research Stations fast travel door, the Volatile bulb is east of the Halfway Trail fast travel door, and the Botanophobic bulb is in the middle of the island north of the Research Site. They only appear on your map after you use the console beside the three red lights near the projector room.
What do you say to the Volatile bulb? Interact with it, choose “You’re okay,” then defend it from the Hiss while answering “I’ll keep them away from you.” After the fight, talk to it again, choose “You deserve to be fixed,” and interact with it to repair it.
How do you escape the slides in Maintenance Protocol? Pick “Where are you going?”, then “Unstable bulb”, then “Do you know a way out?”, and finally “Break the bulb.” Breaking the bulb ends the projection and completes the quest.
What is the reward for Maintenance Protocol? The Standard Issue Coverall outfit for Dylan. None of the guides we checked lists a trophy for the quest itself.
Sources
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