Obviously, your Alters are at the heart of the game and you simply cannot survive without them. Despite some of them being absolute sods, they’re all the top minds in their chosen field and Jan can learn a lot from them. In order to unlock all the Life Lessons and get all the achievements or trophies, you’ll need to create every available Alter over the course of a few playthroughs, but one of them is a little unorthodox.
Warning: This guide details how to get the Tabula Rasa and therefore contains major spoilers for The Alters.
The Tabula Rasa is arguably more trouble than he’s worth, despite occasionally being somewhat adorable in a Stigg-of-the-dump kind of way. But how do you get the Tabula Rasa in the Alters in the first place?
First you’ll need to progress the campaign into Act 2 and witness the tragic death of Jan’s first companion. After this, the Scientist will discover that the Alters are all dying from a rare neural condition caused by lab-growing their brains. There are two solutions, and neither is great (although they will greatly affect the rest of the game).
Which cure for the Alters should you choose?
Solution one is to grow a blank Jan Dolski in the womb, nicknamed the Tabula Rasa. The idea is to grow a healthy brain and harvest tissue from it to save the Alters’ lives. As expected, this rather ghoulish idea doesn’t go over very well. The alternative solution is to create neural implants that will allow Ally Corp to control the Alters’ brain chemistry, saving them but also allowing them to be discovered and monitored by the corporation. This, too, is frowned upon.
If you choose the former option, you’ll grow the Tabula Rasa and the scientist will euthanise him after harvesting the necessary tissue. This will cause a number of The Alters to break away from your enclave and start a base of their own. Arguably, it’s the better solution in the long run as it allows the Alters to remain anonymous.
If you choose the Implants instead, a different group will rebel, but every one Jan talks to back on Earth will be furious and the Alters will be in grave danger. But you’ll need to choose this option if you want the Tabula Rasa.
How to get the Tabula Rasa
To get the final Alter, you’ll need to create him and also create and administer the implants. Then, during the rebellion and the subsequent shit-storm, the Scientist will forget to administer his sedative and the Tabula Rasa will awaken.
You can’t make him work or assign him to any task, but he’ll need to consume food like everyone else, making him a bit of a drain on resources. But you can learn a lesson from him, as his adorable stupidity is useful in teaching Jan to take joy in simple things. When you get the notification that he’s doing something in the Airlock, go check it out to unlock this Life Lesson.
There you go: that’s how you get the Tabula Rasa in The Alters.
