Probably Stolen crates and keycards: unlocks, production and exchanges

1. Inspect the exact crate before buying. Our Thief offered a Security Department Evidence Locker, marked Locked, stolen at 100% Heat and mid-level contraband. Its Five Finger Discount IV label reduced the 200 base value to a 150-credit offer. Selecting and buying it reduced cash from 600 to 450. These are this seller’s terms, not a fixed price for every crate.
2. Make room in your own cargo and collect the purchased locker. Keep the relevant card accessible. Our starting Security card was a separate inventory item; simply possessing it did not unlock the locker when we double-clicked.
3. Drag the matching Disposable Keycard (Security) directly onto the owned locker. In the recorded test, the Security card disappeared and the locker no longer showed Locked. The keycard is single-use. An earlier drag with the Medical card failed, left the card intact and left the locker locked.
4. Double-click the unlocked locker to view its contents. The contents stay in their container until collected. We moved its small contents window upward by dragging the title bar, making every slot visible.
5. Ctrl-click each reward to move it into clear shop cargo. We collected all nine items, and the empty locker remained as a reusable container with a displayed value of 15. This procedure was completed on day 1; an overnight wait was not required for the unlock.

Only the Security-to-evidence-locker match below was demonstrated by opening a player-owned crate. The remaining entries are descriptions read from actual retail card tooltips, not additional completed unlocks. Use the card’s full name and the lock’s department rather than assuming that any card works.

The Command tooltip says it opens most keycard locks. That is narrower than “all crates,” and we did not test a Command unlock. We also did not test Supply or Science cards. Keep those gaps in mind when using broader community tables.

This one evidence locker contained Disposable Keycards for Security, Engineering and Command; a Cut Product Nomore Injector; a Glass Shiv; a Meat Cleaver; an Unlicensed Phagimycin Pill; a Street Standard Dream Dust vial; and Raw Meat (Standard). The contents window had a 7-by-5 internal grid. We collected all nine items into cargo with ample free space.

After unlocking and before collection, the locker’s estimated value was 598. After removing everything, the empty container’s value was 15. The nine individual estimated values totalled 583; the Nomore Injector showed 28 estimated value despite a 50 base value. Those readings describe inventory valuation, not cash received. We did not sell this entire reward or establish repeatable profit.

The replacement Security card happened to be part of this reward. Do not assume each opening refunds the card you spent or supplies the same items. Some contents were contraband; opening the container did not make the individual pills, Dream Dust or cards legal.

The lamp tooltip says Black Market reputation affects the response. The 35% shown in our clientele panel is a reading from that particular run, not a universal crate probability. A visitor’s appearance is also insufficient to identify their role: use the name and buying/selling terms in the trade interface.

For the successful opening, we started another separate Fence run on Normal with Well Connected and Savings. Well Connected added 15 starting reputation to all factions. The Black Market panel showed 45, and Safe Hands was active at its displayed 40 threshold. The in-game description promises a Thief once per week with improved wares. Safe Hands is a reputation perk, not an option in the starting-perk menu.

We set both starter lamps to Thief and displayed them before opening day 1. The final visitor that day was a Thief selling a Security Department Evidence Locker. We bought it for 150 credits. This is an actual acquisition path from one run; it does not prove a universal day-one arrival, a guaranteed crate on every visit or a measured chance. The earlier lamp-attracted visitors in the production run had no active Safe Hands perk.

1. Find an actual Black Lamp in your inventory. Our Fence start supplied two. Double-click a lamp to cycle its signal; we observed Food Thief, Petty Thief and Thief.
2. Set the lamps to Thief and place them in your display case before opening the shop. When we added one after opening on day 9, the game warned that display additions would have no effect until the following day.
3. Check the clientele display and each arrival’s trade panel. With two Thief lamps, our day-10 panel listed Black Lamp: Thief (35%). On day 14 a Thief seller’s trade panel explicitly said she was attracted by a Black Lamp in the Display Case.
4. Inspect the offered items instead of assuming the visitor carries a crate. Our first Thief wanted to buy medical goods; later Thieves offered cards, chips and other items. Those visits did not produce a crate. We did not measure a crate drop rate or compare different numbers of lamps.

Our production test used a separate Fence start on Mark Up (Normal), with Savings, Model Citizen and Short Sleeper selected. The scenario supplied two Shabby Black Lamps and a Smuggler’s Bay. These were actual items in the starting cargo. They were not empty equipment slots. We used the Bay to protect the card and chip during trading hours; the Desequencer was directly in cargo for each processing night.

Dr. Jackson sold the Cryptographic Desequencer for 402 credits and a Blank Keycard for 17 on night 3. A full 100 kJ Energy Cell cost 126 in an earlier visit. We initially had the machine, cell and blank but no chip: the following morning the cell still held 100 kJ and no Security card had been produced. That missing component is an easy reason for a setup to appear ready without delivering the card you want.

The Security chip appeared in Dr. Jackson’s shop on night 5 in this run. It cost 345 credits: its 300 base price plus the displayed 15% supplier markup. This is an observed stock visit, not proof that the item always appears on that night or that buying a Desequencer forces it to spawn. Read the chip’s name before buying: the verified cycle below used Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Security).

These are results from one unmodified machine and one Security chip. Module upgrades, other chips and full-output blocking were not tested here. There was a blackout on the final two mornings, but this was not a controlled blackout comparison. Use the machine’s own work and energy statistics if your equipment differs. The linked machine-power guide covers the separately tested battery and charger troubleshooting.

Battery, charger and module troubleshooting

1. Double-click the Cryptographic Desequencer to open it. Put the Energy Cell in its battery slot, the Security chip in CHIP SLOT and a Blank Keycard in INPUT. Dim item silhouettes mark empty slots. Confirm that the real items have been loaded.
2. Read the Security chip tooltip. Ours required 125 work. With no modules installed, the machine displayed Progress Speed 33/Day and Required Energy 10/Day. The machine’s general Ready label alone did not establish that a Security-card recipe was loaded.
3. Leave the loaded machine directly in your shop cargo for overnight processing. In this test all three overnight services were selected during the four production nights. We did not isolate a Power Service requirement for the Desequencer, so this guide does not claim that it is necessary for every battery-powered machine.
4. Check progress and charge each morning. Our readings were 33/125 with 90 kJ, 66/125 with 80 kJ, then 99/125 with 70 kJ. The same blank and chip remained loaded while work was incomplete. Three nights were insufficient for this particular setup.
5. After the fourth processing night, collect the Disposable Keycard (Security) from OUTPUT. Our cell held 60 kJ: 40 kJ had been used overall. One blank was consumed and the Security chip remained. Keep the finished card safe for a suitable lock. Its tooltip describes it as single-use and mid-level contraband.

This exchange was tested in a separate Fence / Mark Up (Normal) run with no perks, on days 1–3. Its service prices therefore differ from the later production run. The successful exchange used an otherwise empty bin, with room for all three cans. We did not establish the minimum free-cell requirement, test a full bin or verify whether Power Service can be omitted.

Our three Peat cans each showed a base value of 25 and 800 kcal, for 75 in combined displayed base value. That is the reward from one completed random-goods exchange, not a promise that you receive Peat or make 75 credits. The inputs themselves had value, the successful night cost 8 in selected services, and a sale price depends on the buyer. We later sold one can for 32; the same customer declined another.

1. Read your Underground Exchange Directive. Sawyer supplied this chart on the first visit in our Fence research runs. Double-click it to distinguish permanent trades from the promotional section, which says it resets on Monday. Follow the offer shown in your own game.
2. For the completed test, place two Vials of Dream Dust in the shop’s trash bin. We used two Street Standard vials with base value 18 each and otherwise cleared the bin. The permanent chart offered random legal goods for this input.
3. At the end-of-day services screen, enable Janitorial Service. In our separate no-perk test it cost 3 credits; Power Service remained selected at 5. The same two vials had previously stayed in the bin after a night with cleaning off.
4. End the day, then inspect the bin the next morning. In the successful retry both Dream Dust vials were consumed and three Peat cans appeared. Collect the delivered items from the bin and inspect them. Leave receiving space for the reward before sleeping.

Our successful exchange used an otherwise empty trash bin with room for three Peat cans. Our crate purchase and nine-item collection used a roomy main inventory. These are demonstrated sufficient arrangements, not measured minimum-space requirements. The locker’s internal 7-by-5 grid is its storage capacity; it does not tell you the footprint needed to receive a different exchanged crate.

A prelaunch Reddit player reported that engineering cards disappeared without a delivered crate when toxic barrels left no suitably shaped space in the bin. We did not reproduce that failure in this release. Treat it as a reason to clear a generous contiguous receiving area before committing valuable cards, rather than as a verified current-build loss rule. Check your own Directive: promotional input counts and rewards can change.

Prelaunch player report about blocked crate delivery

The production purchases totalled 890 credits, but most of that bought equipment and a retained chip rather than consumables for a single card. The services included insurance and cleaning as well as power; the last night’s power line was zero during a blackout. Rent, the earlier failed setup and other shop events are separate. These figures describe the research run and should not be presented as a guaranteed per-card cost or profit margin.

Buying a crate also commits a matching card to a single opening. Judge that decision against its actual offer price, your card supply and the reward you can use or sell. A base-value tooltip, an NPC’s opening animation and a random reward are different kinds of evidence; none establishes a repeatable profit strategy by itself.

The 3:23 main demonstration and 0:34 exchange short are silent, with explanatory text burned into original gameplay. Playback remains at normal speed; waiting and repeated inspections are cut. Separate source runs have their own perk labels in the footage. The text alternative and timed explanatory text are below; the VTT is not a speech transcript and should not duplicate the burned-in text on screen.

Read the main and short video text

Download timed explanatory text

Inspect original measurements, source ranges and limits

Tested in the purchased Windows / Steam game, installed build 26284217, visible version 100-REV3, October 29–30, 2026 UTC. All runs used Fence, Mark Up (Normal), Skip Intro and Endless off. The opening run used Savings and Well Connected; production used Savings, Model Citizen and Short Sleeper; the completed exchange used no perks. The starting supplies, reputation and service costs therefore belong to the stated run.

Original gameplay verifies one Security evidence locker unlock, a mismatched Medical-card rejection, one four-night Security-card cycle, and a two-vial exchange that failed with cleaning off and succeeded with cleaning on. Other card access descriptions come from retail tooltips. We did not open other crate types, isolate a Power Service requirement for the Desequencer or Exchange, test other chips/modules, establish a full-bin failure rule or measure random-reward profitability.

Official hotfix 1.0.0.2 lowered Dr. Jackson’s Normal markup to 15%, which matches the 345-credit chip offer recorded here. Recheck the current build and your actual price before spending. Community discussions informed the research questions; they do not replace the recorded outcomes. Existing user progress was backed up and preserved without save editing.