This page contains spoilers to the game's final plot. It is advised you skip this section or page if you haven't completed the game yet!
The Alpha, also known as Object Alpha, or the Alpha Artifact, is the first ever artifact created following initial contact with the Noosphere. Its existence is responsible for the creation of The Zone, and later kickstarting the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
Background
The Alpha was a byproduct of the First Caribbean Experiment, which it was created when a psi-beam "grazed" the Noosphere[1]. It coagulated aboard the experiment's receiving vessel, and was secretly taken back to the Exclusion Zone for study. They discovered that it has the ability to convert biological alpha-psi radiation into electromagnetic beta-psi, and vise-versa[2]. It provided stable and remote power to Project X (later MDST) installations, such as the Wish Granter and the X-Network[3]. During Lab X-11's construction, it was moved to the facility for the purpose of debugging, test runs, and maintaining a secure remote connection to the Generators[4][5]. At somepoint after the events of Shadow of Chernobyl, it went missing.
SIRCAA eventually discovered documentation of the Alpha's existence and searched for it, as it was a means to remotely connect to the Generators without risking lives; which was especially important following the outcome of Operation Zenith. They were unable to find it, and instead attempted to synthesize a replacement in an artifact farm to no success. Desperate, Dr. Dalin repeated the initial Caribbean Experiment to create an artifact with identical properties, which failed spectacularly.
Because of the consequences of the Second Caribbean Experiment, the Alpha eventually would find its way to the Mainland[6].
Appearances
Heart of Chornobyl
Skif, after waking to his apartment in ruins, finds the Alpha in the remains of his kitchen. In exchange for enough money to buy a new apartment, he brings it to Hermann to recharge it. Hermann, upon seeing it, realizes that it's the Alpha SIRCAA has been looking for. Hermann secretly coordinates with Faust and his supporters to take the artifact from Skif once it's recharged. After acquiring the recharged Alpha, Faust dumps it at the Clear Sky Base for Hermann to collect.
The Alpha is reacquired by Skif during Ad astra per aspera, and is brought to SIRCAA. It is immediately put to use after validation, testing if it still can power the Wish Granter. The experiment is successful, and it's brought to X-11 to connect to the Generators. The Alpha momentarily connects and reactivates the X-Network, before activating a defense protocol due to Faust and Scar's interference at Azimuth Station. The Monolith is reactivated, and Strider takes the Alpha from X-11 to an unknown location.
Acquisition
It is not collectible in game, but can be properly implemented from blueprint and configuration file modifications.
Trivia
- The Alpha looks near identical to the Wish Granter in Heart of Chornobyl. Whether this was done intentionally by MDST or as a byproduct of Skif's psi-hallucinations during Wishful Thinking isn't clear.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Dr. Vavylov: "The experiment attempted to affect an object located in the Earth's other hemisphere via a psi-field. It was carried out back in 1995. That’s when the first Alpha Artifact came into being."
- ↑ Dr. Kaymanov’s Diary, June 1996
- ↑ Dr. Dalin: "Skif, please. Alpha Artifacts are a source of power not only for the Generators, but for other Project X installations as well – including those designed to create illusions. Like the Monolith."
- ↑ Dr. Kaymanov’s Diary, March 2003
- ↑ Agatha: "Not while the link to the Generators is severed. Only Alpha allowed remote access. But that's just a minor obstacle."
- ↑ Hermann: "The only thing that snot-nosed genius managed to achieve was botching the Second Caribbean Experiment. And that’s precisely when anomalies – and artifacts too – began cropping up outside the Zone."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||