Act I The Descent
Act I: The Descent is the first act of Terminal Descent, spanning Nodes 1 through 6 across the Surface layer of The Lattice. It serves as the player's introduction to the game's systems and the beginning of ZERO's search for Lyra.
Overview
Act I takes place across the Surface — the public-facing layer of the Lattice. Security levels range from 0 to 3. The player learns core mechanics: navigation, combat, skill usage, HEAT management, and NPC interaction.
Walkthrough
Node 1: Safehouse
ZERO wakes in a basement hideout jacked into a battered Cyberdeck. This is the tutorial area where players learn basic commands: LOOK, EXAMINE, SEARCH, MOVE. A message from Lyra waits on the terminal, providing coordinates to the Echo Ruins and warning about increased Hive activity.
The Safehouse serves as the player's home base throughout the game — a place to save, review collected data, and plan the next move. Security level: 0.
Node 2: Public Lattice
The open network hub introduces IC mechanics. Players encounter their first Sentry IC — basic patrol programs that can be fought, evaded, or analyzed. This node teaches combat commands (ATTACK, DEFEND, EVADE) and the consequences of aggressive action on HEAT.
Node 3: Echo Ruins
The digital graveyard of Echo, a defunct social media platform. Its recommendation algorithm still runs feral in the dark, serving content to users who no longer exist. Lyra hid a dead-drop here containing half of the kill-switch.
Accessing the dead-drop requires finding and cracking a Barrier IC, which leads to the hidden node Lyra's Cache (H1). Players can also explore Echo's abandoned data structures, finding fragments of its last days.
Node 4: Ghost Relay
An underground broadcast node operated by the Ghosts faction. Here players meet CONDUIT — the faction's leader — and learn about the underground resistance against the Consortium. Building reputation with the Ghosts unlocks access to the Old Net Archive (H2).
Node 5: Onyx Market
The dark web marketplace run by FENCE — one of the last surviving creations of the Reclaimers, an autonomous market algorithm that has been operating unsupervised for decades. Players can buy and sell programs, data, and upgrades. FENCE's dialogue evolves over time as the relationship deepens.
Node 6: Echo Deep
The buried data layer beneath the Echo Ruins. Here players face the act's boss encounter: the Corrupted Algorithm — Echo's recommendation engine, now a hostile entity that tries to trap visitors in infinite content loops.
Boss strategies:
- Combat — Fight directly with offensive programs
- Stealth — Bypass using CLOAK and SPOOF commands
- Analysis — ANALYZE to find its vulnerability, then exploit
- Social — Reason with the algorithm (requires Social skill)
Act I Climax
After defeating or bypassing the Corrupted Algorithm, ZERO recovers Lyra's dead-drop containing coordinates to FENCE and the first kill-switch half. A Trace program locks onto ZERO's signal and the node begins to collapse. The player must escape before the Hive pins their location — a timed sequence introducing the stakes of Act II.
Key Items
- Lyra's Message — Found in Safehouse, provides Echo Ruins coordinates
- Kill-Switch Half 1 — Found in Lyra's Cache (H1)
- Echo Backdoor — Key item unlocking shortcut access
- FENCE Coordinates — Points to the Onyx Market