The side quest

Finding the 6 Testing Facilities and finishing the experiments inside completes the side quest Unsupervised Science, which is one of three requirements for the Threshold Researcher trophy/achievement (alongside The Last Taxi and Crossing the Threshold). The quest begins the moment you enter any facility; it has no other requirement beyond reaching the facility's area.

The premise: during the Oldest House lockdown, FBC researchers ran experiments in facilities across the city, and whatever they were working on may have gotten out of hand — it needs shutting down. Objectives: (1) Shut Down the Experiments in Downtown, Central, Evacuation Zone, West Incursion Zone, The Park, and the Unknown, in any order; (2) Go Into the Threshold.

How the facilities work

Facilities display on the map with a computer icon and can be tackled in any order. There's one per region except the Underpass, which has none. Entrances are hidden — typically sewer pipes near the computer icons, often at construction sites; some spots are labeled "Testing Facility Reade."

Two puzzle types repeat across the six sites: a soda-machine puzzle (carry 5 objects to floor squares; crossing the floor lines changes each object's form, and the goal is for all of them to be soda machines when set down) and a charge puzzle (shuttle electric charges between cores within a 60-second timer so none overload).

Facility locations and solutions

  1. Downtown — enter via the construction site in the Deserted Area; on the ground floor, drop into a pipe leading east to the facility. Soda-machine puzzle: 5 objects stand around the room; carry them to the middle squares. Crossing the floor lines while carrying changes each object's form; the goal is to have all of them become soda machines when set down. Starting objects are randomized per player, so the exact route differs — carry them toward the middle and loop around the T-intersections, since objects cycle through 4 states and the intersections beside each placement spot let them switch among 3 states. Once 5 soda machines sit in the middle, return to the computer icon and flip the switch (if it won't turn green, pick up the audio log beside it to register Unsupervised Science). The corner door unlocks, holding a Power Upgrade crate.
  1. Central — enter through a pipe in an open pit southeast of the Patterned Factory. Charge puzzle: 4 charge cores with 2 charges present. Flip the switch (blue circle) to start a 60-second timer; during it, keep shuttling charges between cores so none overload. A spot currently holding a charge shows blue; an empty one shows red. Grab from a blinking blue spot and place on a blinking red spot. It looks random, but each spot allows roughly 15 seconds before forcing a restart, so repeatedly taking from the second-most-recently-placed blue spot and moving to a red one carries through. Survive 60 seconds and all stations turn green; flip the switch by the computer icon, then collect the Power Upgrade crate behind the unlocked corner door.
  1. Evacuation Zone — enter through a pipe directly below the Survivalist's Bunker fast travel door; get there first via the parking garage near the "Unauthorized mines?" map text. Soda-machine puzzle: same object-carrying form-shift concept as Downtown — 5 objects to squares (1 upstairs, 4 downstairs in the corners), all needing to be soda machines when placed in the yellow squares. Starting objects are randomized; brute-force by walking diagonally across the lines where they cross until the soda machine form appears. After placing all 5 (1 up, 4 down), flip the computer-icon switch and take the Power Upgrade crate from the unlocked corner door.
  1. West Incursion Zone — enter through a pipe in a construction pit along the road in the area's center. Soda-machine puzzle again — 5 objects carried to middle squares, crossing lines to turn them all into soda machines; randomized starts, walk the lines until they convert. Flip the computer-icon switch after, collect the Power Upgrade crate at the unlocked corner door.
  1. The Park — go to the Sewer Route area on the east side of The Park and follow the path southeast to the facility; advance to the "lava" room, then jump to the northeast path on the lava's level to reach the test area. Charge puzzle like Central but with 5 cores instead of 4, solved the same way — 60-second timer, move charges from blinking blue spots to blinking red spots to prevent overloads (about 15 seconds tolerance per spot). Last 60 seconds, stations turn green, flip the computer-icon switch, collect the Power Upgrade crate at the unlocked corner door.
  1. The Unknown — enter through a pipe in a construction pit on the Unknown's "ground" section, west of the Twisted Rooftops fast travel door. Charge puzzle again with 5 cores, same method — 60-second timer, shuttle charges blue-to-red while blinking, survive to turn stations green, flip the computer-icon switch, collect the Power Upgrade crate from the unlocked door (left of the switch here).

Final step — Go Into the Threshold

After shutting down all 6 sites, return to the Unknown site if it wasn't the last one finished. In the room with the Power Upgrade crate, flip the switch to open the door ahead. Follow the path to its dead end and pick up the recording beside a dead body, which completes the quest.

Rewards

Each site grants 120 Area XP, 1 x Undefined Reading, and 1 x Power Upgrade Point (in the unlocked room) — those 6 upgrade pieces feed the Astral trophy (obtain 4 Power Upgrades). Finishing the quest grants the Untapped Scrunchie artifact. For the remaining Threshold Researcher pieces, see Taxis and the full quest rundown at Unsupervised Science.