the blood to daub symbols on the bathyscaphe interior and his own body before he dies of oxygen starvation. Altman investigates and then leaks the video findings from the bathyscaphe dive, forcing DredgerCorp to stage a press conference to spin a face-saving narrative. The conference is not effective, so DredgerCorp partner with the military, who send an ocean research facility to the crater in the wake of the local DredgerCorp manager's delusion-induced suicide. Due to his activities, Altman is approached by DredgerCorp and the military, who decide to include him as a team member. On the research facility, he reunites with Ada and other scientists from around the world, befriends submarine pilot Hendricks, and forms an antagonistic relationship with the local military leader Markoff. Altman is forced to help in the recovery of the bathyscaphe after one of the original pilots dies in mysterious circumstances. During the dive, Hendricks cracks and tries to kill him, but Altman fends him off and salvages the bathyscaphe, also seeing a Necromorph fish. On the surface, he steals a salvaged Marker fragment and a piece of unknown organic material from the bathyscaphe exterior, giving the matter to the scientists and keeping the Marker fragment for private study. Hendricks is later killed when he escapes confinement. On several more dives, Altman survives similar events with other co-pilots, and he deduces that the Marker has mind-controlling abilities which do not affect him. Finally Altman helps Markoff bring the Marker to the surface, which triggers mass hysteria; those scientists who do not go insane and commit suicide begin worshipping the Marker and treating Altman as its prophet due to his immunity, which Altman uses to gather more data on the Marker. He and Ada are transported off the research facility, but their guards suffer hallucinations and the pair escape. The military catch up with them in Washington D.C. after Altman releases knowledge of the Marker to the world; Ada is killed, while Altman is tortured by Markoff's agents. He is saved when the military bring him back to calm the growing cult on the research facility, supported by the Marker-worshipping Harman. The Marker soon triggers an outbreak of Necromorphs, which begin slaughtering the surviving staff and military personnel. Altman escapes to shore, learning of Ada's death through a Marker vision, and kills assassins sent by Markoff before being taken in by Chava. With Chava's help, Altman equips