Runs
Endings
A run ends in death or in one of three endings. All three are reached from the top of layer 11, after the cargo is embedded on layer 10. Endless runs never reach them: there the Blue Heart sends you back to layer 2, so an Endless run only ends in death.
End screens
The MSN-CARGO STATUS REPORT printed at the end of every run.
| Ending | Headline | Physical status | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death | UNRESOLVED | DECEASED | Brain integrity reaches 0 |
| Bio-pod | RETRIEVED | ALIVE, UNDER EXAMINATION | Walk through the door in the End lab |
| Escape | MORE INFO AT MEETING | UNKNOWN | Shoot the scientist in an Unchipped run |
| M.E.R.C. | CATASTROPHIC FAILURE | UNKNOWN - POTENTIAL ISSUE | Reach the top of layer 11 with the M.E.R.C. scarf |
Reaching the End lab
Layer 10
Walking within 10 blocks of the Blue Heart while standing embeds the cargo in your Abdomen. The way down is closed on this layer.
High-powered drill pod
Works only with the cargo inside you; its use text becomes "Buckle up and travel". Without the cargo your character only comments on it: "C-cargo... First..." (Experiment), "It is unpowered. I likely would be able to start it with medium effort." (Milky), "Lea-ve ti-me?" (Dune). It takes you to the bottom of layer 11.
Top of layer 11
Without a M.E.R.C. scarf you break through to the surface and a pod takes you to layer 12, the End lab. With the scarf anywhere on you the M.E.R.C. ending starts instead.
In the End lab
Hunger and Thirst stay at 60 or more, Energy at 90 or more, Mood at -50 or more and Brain integrity at 20 or more. You can only walk until the escape starts. Items and attacks are blocked when you enter. In an Unchipped run they are freed after the scientist's eighth line; with the chip they stay blocked.
Brain dying in the lab
Blood pressure below 10 with Consciousness below 5 ends the run in a bio-pod: you are revived and taken to the capsule. Before the escape and after it the text differs.
Breaking through to the surface
As you breach through the final few layers of gravel and rock that separate you from the wide open air, a blinding light unveils itself through the cracks. You've travelled through hell and back, surpassed thousands of, what are now corpses, and have become the first and only one to complete your assigned objective. You step foot on the cold gravel. Buildings, mountains and various groups of people appear in the horizon. You have breached the surface.
The pod
Soon after, you see a flash in the sky accompanied by an unrecognizable loud beeping. A few minutes pass while you appreciate your newfound surroundings, before some kind of pod loudly crashes into the ground a short distance away. While you've seen hundreds of lifepods during your journey, this one looks nothing like the ones before. You figure this one is meant for you. A significant part of you wants to rebel and run far, far away, however... It feels as if with every moment you spend in the sunlight, the object lodged in your abdomen wriggles around painfully and vibrates with progressively higher force. Fearing the likely catastrophic failure of the hearts structural integrity approaching at a rapid pace, you board the lifepod with a defeated look on you. Soon after you do, you are thrown to the floor by a sudden jolt. The pod is ascending. While you don't know where you're going, you are slightly reassured by the fact that whoever sent this vessel down probably does. You decide to hunker down and make yourself comfortable while you wait. Suddenly, a bright flash overwhelms your vision. You feel an indescribable physical sensation shooting through you - the very same one you felt when first arriving here. After it dies down, you look outside the pod to find yourself surrounded by a hazy, blue sky above what appears to be a green forest with some kind of huge facility in the midst of it. The vessel slowly descends into some kind of hatch inside of said facility. Soon, the pod locks in place, the steel door opens, revealing the sight of...
The status report
Specimen
"#" with your specimen number and SAW-01, SAW-03 or SAW-12 for Experiment, Milky or Dune.
Depth or time
A death shows DEPTH, the total depth, and AT the run time. The three endings show TIME, the run time.
Last recorded mental status
The average of your last 10 Mood samples, one taken every 60 s, shown as one of 21 words from Suicidal to Ecstatic. Until 10 samples are taken, the empty ones count as 0. A mindwiped character shows Hollow. After a survived last stand ", yet hopeful" is added.
Calories
Calories eaten this run: 210 for each unit of body mass gained.
Casualties
UNKNOWN + the number of deaths on this computer, across all runs.
Copy to clipboard
Copies the 14 lines of the report.
What endings unlock
Next character
Any ending with Experiment unlocks Milky, any ending with Milky unlocks Dune. Until then the character shows [ACCESS_DENIED], "Finish a run with the previous character to unlock".
M.E.R.C. runs
A bio-pod or escape ending lets later runs become M.E.R.C. runs.
Menu trinkets
Each of the three endings adds a trinket to the main menu. The Hide menu progression game setting hides them.
Steam achievements
One for each ending, one for an ending with each character, one for any ending within 3 hours of run time, one for the escape without killing a guard, one for dying and one for dying on layer 6 or deeper.