Marathon Introducing NuCaloric Contract Guide: The Door Is Not Bugged
I have watched dozens of runners violently slam their faces against a locked door and blame the game code, but the solution to this contract is painfully simple.
The extraction shooter genre thrives on panic. You drop into a hostile environment, your stress levels spike, and suddenly basic problem solving goes right out the window. I know this because I spent fifteen minutes yanking on a locked handle like an absolute idiot, completely convinced my Introducing NuCaloric contract was bugged. Right now, the Marathon community is flooding forums with the exact same complaints. The quest is not broken. The game just expects you to use your eyes and look up. I am going to walk you through how to breach this facility, secure the employee ID, and extract without becoming tick food.
The Reality of Single Deployment Contracts
Before you even step foot on Tau Ceti, you need to understand the stakes of this specific mission.
Marathon does not hand out participation trophies. Contracts like this one require you to complete multiple sequential objectives during a single run. If you manage to find the employee ID but take a sniper round to the helmet before you scan the final terminal, you lose all your progress. You will drop the quest item and you will have to start the entire process over from scratch on your next deployment. You need a solid plan and an exit strategy before you engage.
Locating The Infested Building
Your first major hurdle is simply surviving the trek to the objective.
Navigating the Columns POI
You need to drop into the Perimeter map and navigate toward the Columns point of interest. This specific area sits directly between Overflow and South Relay. You will know you are in the right place because the target structure looks like an absolute nightmare. The exterior is coated in disgusting tick nests and crawling with hostile wildlife.
To make matters significantly worse, UESC turrets are actively monitoring the perimeter. Stay low, use the surrounding terrain for cover, and avoid the turret sightlines. Your primary target is the main building, but walking straight up to the front door is exactly where everyone gets stuck. The terminal is dead and the door refuses to budge.
Breaching The Locked Door
Stop hitting the interact key on a dead terminal. The front door is designed to keep scavengers out until someone manually restores the power from the inside.
The Roof Hatch Solution
Instead of fighting a heavy security door, circle the exterior of the infested building until you spot a metal ladder leading up to the roof. Climb up carefully. You are highly exposed to enemy sniper fire while standing on top of this structure, so keep your head on a swivel.
Look for a closed metal hatch resting on the roof surface. You cannot shoot this hatch open with your rifle. You need to walk directly up to it and hit it with a physical melee attack to break the seal. Once the hatch gives way, you can drop down into the darkness of the facility.
Securing The Employee ID
Dropping blindly into an unlit room covered in alien parasites is a terrible tactical decision, but NuCaloric does not pay you to be safe.
Restoring The Power
The moment your boots hit the floor, you need to turn the lights back on. Find the power console located directly next to the locked front door and activate it. This restores electricity to the building and allows you to finally open that primary exit. You want that door open immediately so you have a clear escape route when the local wildlife decides you look appetizing.
Exterminating The Ticks
Turning on the power essentially rings the dinner bell. Ticks will immediately swarm your position. Keep your distance and destroy the glowing nests to stop the endless spawning. Do not waste heavy ordinance here. Use short, controlled bursts from your primary weapon to conserve ammunition.
Once the room is reasonably clear, check the tables scattered around the facility. The NuCal Employee ID card is sitting right in the open. Your user interface should highlight it, but you still need to grab it quickly and secure it in your inventory before another player pushes into the building.
Completing The Terminal Uplink
Grabbing the card is only the first half of the contract. You still need to upload the corporate data before you get shot by a rival runner looking to steal your loot.
Scanning The Terminal
Follow your HUD marker to the nearby terminal. It is located in the same building block but sits behind another heavy set of interior doors. Opening this next room triggers a second, much more aggressive ambush. More ticks and fresh nests will spawn to protect the hardware.
Clear the room with extreme prejudice. Once the parasites are dead, walk up to the terminal and initiate the scan. The upload takes a few agonizing seconds, leaving you vulnerable to anyone tracking the gunfire. Hold your ground and watch the doorways.
The moment that contract completion banner pops up on your screen, your business with NuCaloric is finished. You do not need to stick around and admire the scenery. Sprint to the nearest extraction zone. Getting paid by the factions only matters if you actually survive the flight back to orbit.
