They Who Returned

The subject of this article is from the Worlds Part I update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 3 September, 2024.

They Who Returned
Mission type	Secondary
Implemented	Update 4.40
Description	Talk with Autophage robot and staff your Multi-Tool.

They Who Returned is a mission.

Mission Requirements[ | ]

In order to start mission, you need to:

Complete The Purge storyline mission.
Locate and enter a Harmonic Camp.

Warp to any system in your starship. The quest will start automatically after a warp.

Walkthrough[ | ]

Meet the Autophage[ | ]

Before the mission is triggered, the player will receive a starship alert which alerts the pilot to their starship having some error. The pilot needs to analyse an error in Block0, Block1 and Block2. All these blocks will have strange characters encoded in hexademical codes. Block2 is the right option. If the error is detected in these blocks, the pilot will have three choices:

Activate firewall
Quarantine 0xAD08D502ε96E
Delete data at 0xAD08D502ε96E

After some dialogue, a mechanical voice will interrupt the starship alert, saying that they are hijacking a sentient starship but forced to abort hijack due to the starship being controlled by a pilot's input. After the dialogue has ended, the player will receive a hijack source that will lead the pilot to an autophage inside a Harmonic Camp.

After reaching it, the pilot will need to have a dialogue with a damaged autophage. Unlike other aliens, it has its own unique language and its sounds are distorted. The pilot will have four choices:

Poke the head
Scan the head
Speak to the head
Leave

In the last dialogue with the autophage, the pilot will be given a choice to offer the robot a gift:

Only Atlantideum will unlock the next step.

Monolith[ | ]

After the dialogue has ended, the pilot will receive coordinates to a Korvax Monolith. The pilot will need to interact with a Discordant Interface. It speaks the same language as the autophage and the player will need to offer a gift.

Then, the player will need to interact with a main Monolith. The player will learn Autophage words for the numbers 1-16.

Return to the Harmonic Camp[ | ]

You must again interact with a damaged robot in a Harmonic camp by touching its head.

You will need to start a Memory Repair by placing correct glyphs in three empty cells.

The robot will thank you for your help and introduce itself. You have four choices:

Confront about the hijack
Introduce yourself
Ask about 'Prebuilt-Entity'
Leave

You will receive a Technology called a Scan Harmoniser, which can be made from a Radiant Shard, a Microprocessor and 100 Runaway Mould.

Once installed, press (PC), (PS4) and (Xbox) to activate Scan Harmoniser.

You will need to meet a Harmonic Camp inhabitant. This technology can reveal cloaked Autophage.

The last inhabitant will give you Atlantideum.

Tell Nada about the Autophage[ | ]

You will have to ask Nada about the Autophage on the Space Anomaly.

You'll tell Nada about the Harmonic Camp and the cloaked "Autophage". Nada will say that they will not be surprised and will understand. Before the Worlds Part I update, you also need to bring an Echo Seed to Specialist Polo.

You must bring the Atlantideum to an assembled construct. If Expedition 10: Singularity is not completed, you will also need to wake the construct. When Atlantideum is shown to them, they will be confused and repeat VOID four times. You will then need to ask about the Construct and the Autophage.

It will become corrupted and speak in the Autophage language. You have to get another technology called the Polyphonic Core which can be installed with 190 Atlantideum, Quantum Computer and Living Glass. It uses Atlantideum to run.

You will talk to Nada again, Nada will ask confusing questions. After the discussion, the pilot will receive two Autophage missions:

Prayers of the Machine
Audience with the Autophage

You must choose one of the missions in the log to install this technology. Once installed, the pilot must recharge it with Atlantideum.

You will need to use the Scanner to detect an Atlantideum-sensitive unit at Terminal Prime.

Prayers of the Machine[ | ]

If you choose Prayers of the Machine, you must earn Atlantideum at Terminal Prime. You must present it to an Electronic Heart.

You must go to a Space Station to interact with the Station Core. After revealing the Atlantideum to the Station Core, you must go to your ship to test the effect of the Atlantideum. You will receive a message from the ship's computer showing a binary number. You must then scan for Fragment of a New Atlantid (a Space Encounter) by activating the Pulse Engine.

This space encounter will list a log for each day. The last log will appear as an unknown(?) day and say that someone has stowed away its mind and Atlas has saved it.

Audience with the Autophage[ | ]

In this mission, the player has to interact with three Autophages in different systems. Everytime the visits a system, they need to activate their Polyphonic Core to locate a camp. Once a camp is reached, you need to meet the Autophages. They will give the player a task to complete. When completed, the player will receive a component of a Voltaic Staff as a reward. When all three components are acquired, a Voltaic Staff can be assembled at Autophage Synthesis terminal. The Multi-tool class will be random, and a few slots will be damaged^[1].

Reach the hidden galaxy[ | ]

You will need to use your scanner to locate a Portal. You will then need to present Atlantideum to a portal.

After presenting the Atlantideum, say "Atlas" or wield your Voltaic Staff. Choosing option 1 will open the portal. Walking through it will teleport you into space as in the 16 / 16 story mission. Wait for a few seconds until you are teleported to an Atlas Station.

You have to talk to the Atlas. Revealing the Atlantideum will make the Atlas turn purple and corrupt, and revealing a lot of backstory about Korvax and Autophage race. At the end of the dialogue, you will be teleported to a random planet, about 500u away from your ship.

After that, you need to go to the Space Anomaly to transmit data to Nada, along with give them Atlantideum and the mission will be completed. All player complete this mission will receive a guide entry about Autophage races.

Mission Warning[ | ]

Going through the portal will cause players to spawn in space with extreme Life Support drain. Please bring Life Support Gel with you to restore life support more quickly until you are teleported to an Atlas station.

Additional Information[ | ]

In the Prayers of the Machine mission, when interacting with the Terminal Prime, the Operations Centre or the Factory, and the Station Core, the last message they say will always have a binary number, the following messages have been translated:
Terminal Prime: "mother home"
Operations Centre: "she grows"
Station Core: "she lives"

Finally, the starship will send a message: "she is near", which is automatically translated.

All blocks in the starship alert are the hexadecimal numbers that can be converted to normal text. However, these block translated are strings of non-printable and special characters that may not have any meaning in plain text. For example: 0xE832FA8EB48E in your starship alert's secondary block translated is: è2úëH.

Reward[ | ]

Scan Harmoniser blueprint
Polyphonic Core blueprint
3 Voltaic Staff component blueprints
Ability to meet the Assembled Construct (even if they're not in Singularity expedition)
Ability to meet Autophage
New guide entry: The Autophage