Welcome to Cryo Archive

After poring over terminals, chasing coordinates, and collectively galaxy-braining your way through our latest ARG, you’ve made your way to the doorstep of the UESC Marathon. Before you step aboard the derelict vessel, an unknown AI reaches out to all Runners who believe they can survive the journey.  

Drop by our official Discord and Twitter to correspond with NULL//TRANSMIT.ERR, a signal from far across the stars. 

But don’t let this presence distract you from the task at hand: The countdown to Cryo Archive has begun. You’ve got less than a day to prepare yourself to take on the end-game zone aboard the UESC Marathon, which opens for the first time tomorrow, March 20. 

Godspeed. 
 

The UESC Marathon ship left Mars for the Tau Ceti solar system in 2472. It arrived 300 years later. Then… silence. Contact with the 30,000 colonists who set out to make a new home on an alien world was lost. 

Decades later, the Marathon ship still hangs abandoned in orbit, a frozen snapshot of the past promising valuable resources and information for anyone brave enough to make the trek and survive. 

Cryo Archive is the first deck of the UESC Marathon, where you’ll find a labyrinth of cryopods, medical bays, and storage wings where colonists once eased into and out of deep sleep on their journey across the stars. 

In game, Cryo Archive takes you through six interconnected wings with a central hub. Traverse from wing-to-hub and back again in search of frozen Vaults containing powerful loot and dark secrets. Battle your way through intense UESC security, decked out Runner crews, and a ship that seems hellbent on keeping you out. 

Here’s a few quick notes before you dive in: 

• Intensity: Cranked to the top—Cryo Archive is a pinnacle challenge and will take many runs to learn and master. 

• Playstyle: Think raid-style puzzle solving and layered mechanics wrapped around brutal extraction stakes. 

• Design: A labyrinthian layout where tight corridors give way to massive open spaces, pitting enemy crews against each other to unseal frozen Vaults. 
   

Cryo Archive opens up for play on the weekends, starting this Friday, March 20. 

It’s designed to be taken on by a team of Runners, so you’ll need a crew of three. Grab some friends, find allies in our community Discord, or queue up solo with fill to be matched with a Cryo-ready team.   

To queue for Cryo Archive, you’ll need: 

• Minimum Runner Level: 25 

• All six factions unlocked (liaison contracts completed) 

• Minimum loadout value: 5,000 credits

  • This is the value of your equipped gear, not an additional cost

If you meet these requirements, you’ll also be eligible for a one-time Cryo Archive Sponsored Kit from the Armory. This is a bundle of blue-tier gear specifically tuned to get you through an early Cryo Archive run without having to risk your favorite items on attempt number one. 

Cryo Archive runs on Security Clearance, a progression you build up over the course of a single run by interacting with the ship’s systems and surviving long enough to leverage them. 

Systems in Cryo Archive, including doors, supply rooms, and exfils, are locked behind specific Security Clearance levels. The more important the system, the higher the clearance you’ll need to use it. 
 

Cryo Archive is threaded with seven Vaults. These heavily-secured rooms have some of the most lucrative loot in the game, some of which you can’t find anywhere else. 

To access each Vault, you’ll need to complete its unique entry challenge or access requirements. Each Vault also requires a specific Valut Key for entry. 

You can find Vault Keys on the planet-side zones, with higher-risk and investment activities being more likely to yield Vault Keys. You can also find Vault Keys on the ship itself, both within locked Vaults and by downing enemy Runner crews and stealing their goods for yourself. 

Once you’re inside a Vault, you’ll work through tense puzzle interactions and race against other crews who know exactly how valuable these rooms are. 

Across the set of Vaults, you will chase: 

• High-tier containers loaded with valuables, materials, and top-end equipment 

• Unique gold weapons stored in special weapon lockers 

• A path toward assembling a DN~~~%^&*()8167f48f-e253-4e2f-be4c-2077b646d531+{}:"<>?~~ that leads deeper into the Marathon’s secrets and towa~~~~%^&*()_+{}:"<>?~~~~~~~ 

Exfils on Cryo Archive are less reliable and follow different rules than the planet-side zones. You'll need to learn how exfils work to secure your way off the ship. 
 

If you like structure with your suffering, Cryo Archive-specific contracts are there for you. 

Here’s how they work: 

• When Cryo Archive is available, a pool of seven unique Cryo contracts appears in CyberAcme. 

• You and your crew can re-roll which contract is active so you’re all working toward the same objective during a run. 

• Completing a contract removes it from your pool for that week. 

• When Cryo Archive returns the next weekend, progress resets and the full slate returns. 

Each contract you complete provides you with a random high-rarity item, which could be a locked room key, Vault key, material, or piece of gear. 

There are also unique Codex rewards you can earn for you Cryo Archive progress, including a style (skin) for all six Runner shells and more. Your Codex progression carries over from week-to-week and does not reset. 
 

A few reminders before you embark on your next great journey in the stars: 

• Prepare your shells—Cryo Archive unlocks when the timer hits zero tomorrow.  

• It’s Marathon’s first end-game zone, a high intensity, raid-style PvPvE activity built around security systems, Vault chases, and contested exfils. 

• You will need Runner Level 25, all six factions unlocked, and a 5,000 credit loadout to queue up. 

• Security Clearance, Vault Keys, and Cryo contracts are your main avenues for exceptional loot once you’re inside. 

• Cryo Archive is open on the weekends starting this Friday, March 20 

There are more secrets waiting for you in the frozen halls of the Marathon. 

You have not seen every locked room, hacked every terminal, or met every presence that is watching from somewhere deep in the ship’s Panopticon. 

Best of luck.