Author Topic: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!  (Read 328 times)

Sarokan

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Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« on: January 24, 2026, 12:40:24 am »
I thought that after many Underrail runs nothing could surprise me anymore. This time I decided to go all-in with the pirates as early and as hard as possible – and something weird happened.

Right after starting Expedition and getting the first mission from the Chief, I went to the Aegis landing bay, killed the guards there, stole an Aegis patrol jetski and went straight to the Grim Jetters to join them. Since then I’ve played the pirate route normally: Cleared the Horticulture Center and the Nexus of Technology, and finished “The Rig Attack”. But the professor’s kidnapping and the pirate quest “Interrogate the Professor” never start. Grim has no dialogue option about the professor at all, no matter how often I talk to him after these locations are done.

Some extra info: At the Aegis base, the landing bay is overrun by natives and the Aegis people there are dead, but the inner camp still exists and both Chief and Professor Oldfield are still standing there like normal, as if the expedition never officially ended. So it looks like the “professor kidnapped” event never starts.

Anyone know if this is intended behaviour, or is it actually a bug with the Expedition / Grim Jetters route?
« Last Edit: January 24, 2026, 12:49:08 am by Sarokan »

Phr3ak

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2026, 04:57:23 am »
AFAIK the kidnapping can happen only if you stay with Aegis until the corresponding point.

rararaven

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2026, 08:13:33 pm »
That's not a bug. Professor gets kidnapped only if you stay with Aegis (and subsequent negotiations are also the last chance to join the pirates)

Sarokan

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2026, 01:21:46 am »
That's not a bug. Professor gets kidnapped only if you stay with Aegis (and subsequent negotiations are also the last chance to join the pirates)

Well, is that so? Then the relevant wiki entries are simply wrong and clearly misleading. They state things like “If the player has joined the pirates before the kidnapping, the professor can be interrogated later…” – which clearly suggests that the kidnapping still happens and only the timing changes.

Anyone relying on the current wiki text will expect content that does not exist on this path. It’s about time they fixed this bullshit – I actually trusted the wiki before joining the pirates.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2026, 01:31:22 am by Sarokan »

yako

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2026, 07:02:17 am »
The professor must be inside Arch Keep for the kidnapping to trigger. The pirates go through the emergency tunnel; they won't be able to kidnap him if you haven't unlocked the facility first.

Phr3ak

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #5 on: Today at 04:20:10 am »
The professor must be inside Arch Keep for the kidnapping to trigger.

Do you know whether the kidnapping attempt occurs even if you steal Technician's radio and give it to Marcus before joining the pirates? Given that Cruzer is supposed to die during the attempt, it'd interfere with the Rig Attack which is normally led by Cruzer.

yako

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #6 on: Today at 06:45:59 am »
Do you know whether the kidnapping attempt occurs even if you steal Technician's radio and give it to Marcus before joining the pirates? Given that Cruzer is supposed to die during the attempt, it'd interfere with the Rig Attack which is normally led by Cruzer.

It doesn't occur at all; instead, Marcus will call you through NavCom about the spy, which I suppose is a bug. This happens if you don't go to sleep and join the pirates immediately after giving him the radio.

If you keep the radio for yourself, the kidnapping will succeed.

If you import a save from a previous game version where it was possible to join both the Aegis and pirates (joined pirates before obtaining Patroller from Briggs), Cruzer will not participate in the kidnapping (only generic dead pirates will appear), so his quests will not be broken.

Phr3ak

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Re: Interrogate the Professor – trigger doesn’t fire?!
« Reply #7 on: Today at 09:47:32 am »
Thank you for the comprehensive answer!