The level opens with a Helios propaganda video, diegetically introducing the world and establishing the corporation’s authority through an intentionally unreliable narrator.

Players then take control of Ayana as she arrives at a Helios training facility to undergo a recruitment test.

A linear sequence of corridors allows players to freely experiment with camera and basic movement while advanced abilities remain restricted.

Optional interactions with workers and robots provide narrative context and reinforce the corporate atmosphere.

Guarded side paths redirect players toward the golden path, subtly guiding progression while reinforcing Helios’ controlled and oppressive environment.

The sequence culminates in the training chambers, where players meet the Helios leader, the Nascent, and begin the first core mechanic tutorial: Shadow Merge.

The first challenge takes place in a minimal test chamber, allowing players to safely experiment with Shadow Merge.

Players begin in a lit area, naturally prompting them to step into the shadows and notice character feedback indicating Shadow Merge availability.

Progression is gated through skill checks, ensuring players successfully perform each new action before advancing.

Movement mechanics such as crouching, running, and jumping are then introduced and gradually combined with shadow traversal scenarios.

• As trials progress, explicit guidance is gradually reduced. 

The sequence ends with an unguided objective, requiring players to retrieve a progression collectible by applying Shadow Merge in different contexts.

After crafting their first gadget, offering a first glimpse into the game’s progression systems, players move on to the next learning step: the Stealth tutorial.

First encounter takes place with a single robot at the end of a corridor, while players begin from a safe elevated vantage point.

To succeed, players must perform a silent Shadow Land, then approach using shadows, cover, and crouching to disable the enemy undetected.

Detection does not trigger a game over. Instead, the scenario resets, encouraging safe experimentation.

The next chamber introduces a second enemy archetype, briefly shown repairing a disabled robot.

Players perform their first aerial takedown, learning to observe patrol patterns and time their attack correctly.

• The room is intentionally illuminated so players cannot descend safely without committing to the attack.

After completing the encounter, players return to the initial room where the next concept is introduced: Shadow Powers.

Players discover a Shadow Orb, collectible used to learn their first power: Shadow Jump.

• This ability propels players perpendicularly from a Shadow Merge and expands their traversal options.

Shadow powers were intentionally placed toward the end of the trials because of their narrative significance for Ayana and her connection to the shadows.

The ability is immediately reinforced through a skill gate, ambushing players in a previously visited corridor where Shadow Jump is required to escape.

Once finished, players return to the facility corridors, and discover workers are gone and security has increased.

• Structuring the trials in a circular layout serves to highlight this contrast and signal a shift in tone.

Players are directed to the “final part of the test”. 

• By this point, they have experienced traversal, stealth, and abilities separately, preparing them for their upcoming first real challenge.

Before the final section, players can optionally explore the Helios Museum, an exhibition space presenting the corporation’s history.

Interactive displays provide lore and world-building, expanding the game’s narrative context.

The layout places key exhibits along the golden path and centre, while additional details sit on the periphery for curious players.

This area provides a pacing break between tutorial trials and the upcoming climax

• It also reinforces the contrast between Helios' public image and the events that follow.

Several exhibits foreshadow story developments that players will later encounter in the game, adding replay value.

Once players are done exploring, they proceed to the last section of the level and first real challenge: the reveal and escape of the facility.

Helios attempts to restrain Ayana, but she escapes through the facility’s ventilation systems and must find her way out while being pursued by security robots.

The first challenge is a short traversal sequence through the facility’s industrial infrastructure, contrasting with the clean public areas seen earlier.

Players then face their first real stealth encounter, beginning from a safe vantage point with multiple routes and strategies.

• Unlike earlier sections, failure now results in death, with music, lighting, and enemy behaviour reinforcing the increased stakes.

The second stealth encounter increments difficulty. Players start from a more vulnerable position and space features greater verticality and increased number of enemies.

The final gameplay challenge introduces a systemic use of Shadow Merge that players have not yet been explicitly taught: merging into moving shadows.

• This creates an "aha" moment designed to confirm their mastery of system and its possibilities.

The level ends with a cliffhanger cutscene, where Ayana is surrounded and desperately destroys the facility’s reactor to escape, closing the chapter and kicking off the adventure.