Through a Glass Darkly | Main Story Prey Guide
Last update: 22 May 2017
This page contains a walkthrough for the Through a Glass Darkly quest in Prey. It's part of the main storyline and is received after you play the video recording in the protagonist's office in Talos I Lobby. This mission involves reaching dr Calvin's workshop which is located in Hardware Labs. The objective is to restore the corrupted file in order to watch the missing part of the video.
- Reaching dr Calvin's workshop
- Find Dr. Calvino
- Unlock Dr. Calvino's Workshop
- Run diagnostics and fix connection with Looking Glass server
- Watch the rest of the recording
Reaching dr Calvin's workshop
The workshop you're looking for is located in Hardware Labs and is a separate location on the station. The entrance to the labs is located in the northwestern part of Talos I Lobby on level 3. You can reach the place in two ways. The first one involves going through Teleconferencing Center which is located in the western part of level 3. In this case you need to grab the Teleconferencing Keycard from the desk in Yu's office before you go to the aforementioned area.
Enter the Teleconferencing Center with great caution because you will be attacked by a group of Mimics. It's best to use the GLOO Cannon on them and then quickly finish them off with the Wrench or the Pistol before they run away or attack the protagonist again.
The alternate way requires you to use the object hung above the lobby. Approach the big glass wall in Yu's office and damage it with, for example, the Wrench. This will let you jump to the construction shown in the above picture. You can walk over it and then jump to the northern balcony and thus skip the Teleconferencing Center and avoid the monsters in it.
Regardless of the chosen path, you need to go to Hardware Labs which shouldn't be guarded by aliens. The GLOO burst has ended up with numerous debris blocking the way forward. You can either fire at the nearby canister or equip a melee weapon to clear the debris.
Your exploration of Hardware Labs starts in the hall and you must watch out for the operators because they are exceptionally hostile and can use, e.g. flamethrowers to hurt the main character. You can sneak behind the machines and destroy them by using the wrench or shotgun but also by using EMP charges (they are thrown like grenades and, of course, you must first find them in the game world).
After the hall you must turn left (you can also visit the nearby security station and download the map of the labs) and get to the room adjacent to Demonstration Stage. There, you must search for Sean Larsen's corpse and examine them in order to get the Employee Entrance. With the card in your possession you can now go back to the security station and after you pass it you can reach the atrium's entrance. The card unlocks the big door.
There is an alternate way to get to the atrium. In the auditorium, where you found Sean Larsen's corpse, you can look for the vent shaft entrance presented in the picture. Using it is a good idea if you want to enter the atrium unnoticed because there is at least one Phantom in that location.
Dr. Calvino's Workshop is in the south-west corner of the atrium. On your way there you can defeat said Phantom or, if you chose the vent shaft, you can sneak in there. When you reach your destination you learn that you must find Calvino and get an access card to enter the workshop.
Find Dr. Calvino
Two new mission objectives appeared in your journal and one of them is optional. You can use crew registry and determine, more or less, the whereabouts of Dr. Calvino (his corpse, to be more precise). If you want to complete this objective then you must go back to the security station which is adjacent to the hall. Use the computer in the security office and select crew registry (the second tab). Find Dr. Calvino on the list (the picture above). You can select him and from now on the game will point his presumed location.
By using the computer in the security office you learn that you should look for the scientist in Beams & Waves Lab on the second level. The easiest way to get there is to use the Grav Shaft in atrium BUT you must watch out for Phantoms and Mimics patrolling the upper balconies. When you get there you learn that Calvino's corpse is drifting inside of a destroyed room. Because of that you must go to the outside of the station and fly to the corpse in order to examine it.
Your next destination is the Machine Shop, the big room located in the west part of the Labs. The main entrance is in atrium but it is blocked by electric charges. You can get rid of them by using the GLOO Cannon, cut the power supply in the nearby room or use one of the new vent shafts - it is recommended to use the one presented in the picture above which is located in the small storeroom next to the closed entrance to Calvino's Workshop (use Leverage I to move the crate or detonate a petrol can here).
In the Machine Shop you find another hostile operators that you must deal with. In the north part of the room there is a big airlock that allows you to exit the station. Examine the terminal that operates the airlock and January will suggest you to find a propulsion system, very useful if you want to move in the space.
Fortunately, unlocking the propulsion system is not that complicated. Check out the north-west corner of the Machine Shop and examine the area presented in the picture 1. You can get there by climbing on one of the nearby constructions and then performing a long jump. When you get there search for Artax Propulsion System Fabrication Plan. You can find it in the place presented in the picture 2, right next to one of the computer booths.
A fabricator can be found in the same place where you found the plan. Check if you can craft the propulsion system. The requirements for making this item are very low - 1 unit of mineral materials and 1 unit of synthetic materials (you can process any junk and get the materials).
When you unlock the propulsion system you should go back to the airlock, use the terminal and then move to Talos I Exterior. If this mission is selected as your current one then Calvino's corpse will be marked by the game. You must fly right and reach the destroyed lab room. The corspe is presented in the picture above.
Unlock Dr. Calvino's Workshop
When you get the card you can finish the exploration of the area (by searching through Calvino's corpse you can find, among others, two TranScribe devices) or you can immediately go back to the airlock and return to the Hardware Labs. Go to Dr. Calvino's Workshop again (just to remind you, the workshop is adjacent to atrium on the level 1). Thanks to the card you can finally examine the workshop.
Run diagnostics and fix connection with Looking Glass server
Approach the Looking Glass console and examine it. You learn that the console has no power. You must follow the big electricity cable and reach the place where you can restore the electricity supply.
You can now go back to the console. Select the second tab (Network Utilities) and start checking out all servers from the list. In our case the connection was fixed by selecting the second server but because of the randomness of the game you may have to choose other entry.
Watch the rest of the recording
You must now go back to Yu's Office, located in Talos I Lobby. Take your time while walking there because, since your last visit in the Talos lobby, this place may be infested with new monsters. In the Teleconferencing center you can find one of the stronger enemies called Etheric Phantom. If you found the Q-Beam in the Hardware Labs (the description for acquiring this weapon can be found on one of the pages of this guide) then this is a good moment to use it. Otherwise, try to sneak attack the Phantom or reach the office by following an alternative way (jump on the hanging objects above the main part of the lobby or by go through the Sales Division). Besides the Phantom you should also expect to fight with Greater Mimics that are more resistant than the "regular" ones (the best way to deal with them is to stop them with GLOO Cannon and then finish them off with any weapon).
When you are in the office you must, once again, use Yu's computer and watch the rest of the recording. This ends this rather long mission.