contacts, the player discovers clues to Strelok's possible location. These bring them deeper into the Zone and provide more details about Strelok and his team. Along the way, the Marked One begins to have flashes of his lost memory. To progress further into the Zone, the player must disable a device known as the Miracle Machine. This device is man-made and causes those within its range to lose their mind, becoming zombies. While disabling the device, the Marked One finds a clue that leads to Doc, a member of Strelok's team. A trap injures the player, who is then rescued by Doc. He tells the Marked One about a monolithic artifact known as the Wish Granter, located at the center of the Zone. This artifact is sought after by all the factions and a group known as Monolith protects it. Doc also implies that the player is in fact Strelok, before departing. New leads point to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as the location of the Wish Granter. A second, larger Miracle Machine, named the Brain Scorcher blocks the path to Pripyat. After disabling this device, the player can travel into Pripyat and through to the plant. With the path open, Pripyat becomes a warzone as different factions fight for control. The player must fight Monolith fanatics and the military to reach the plant. Once inside the sarcophagus, the player discovers the Wish Granter and a secret laboratory beneath it. Inside the lab is a terminal, where an entity known as the C-Consciousness resides. The C-Consciousness reveals that the player character is Strelok, as well as explaining the Zone and its history. After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the Soviet Union used the complete vacancy of the Exclusion Zone for unhindered secret research into the human mind. This resulted in the development of ESP and psychic weapons. Seven scientists were neurally-linked, creating a hivemind known as the C-Consciousness. When the Soviet Union fell five years later, the C-Consciousness took control of the Zone and continued the research. The hivemind attempted to create world peace through global mind-control. This attempt failed and caused the anomalies and reality-warping nature of the Zone. To protect itself, the C-Consciousness created the Brain Scorcher and Wish Granter. The Wish Granter brainwashes those who reach it, turning them into Monolith soldiers. The C-Consciousness gives Strelok the option to merge with it and become part of the