Into the Valley of Death Walkthrough (Control Resonant)

During Control Resonant’s Into the Valley of Death mission, Dylan enters the Sinkhole to save Langston’s cat, Alfred. This is one of the game’s more disorienting side stories: the Sinkhole is a maze of shattered apartments hanging above a chasm, and the objectives send you back over the same ruins several times. Completing it awards the Untapped Catnip Toy Artifact and 250 XP tied to the Evacuation Zone.

Quick answer: Speak to Emily Pope twice during Recursions and Iterations to start the quest, get the apartment key from Langston, guide the cat carrier through the Sinkhole to lure Alfred, then defeat Maria and leave the carrier by the ranger’s body.

How to start Into the Valley of Death

This side quest is locked behind main story progress. You need to reach the Recursions and Iterations quest, which opens immediately after you finish Enemy of My Enemy. Until then, the trigger will not appear.

During Recursions and Iterations, one of your early tasks is to talk with Emily Pope in the Oldest House lobby. Once that conversation ends, she says “One more thing.” Interact with her a second time to formally start Into the Valley of Death.

With the quest active, the objective updates to Talk to Langston at the Field Office. Head to the Field Panopticon office in the Field Office area and speak with him. After a short exchange about Dr. Darling, he hands over Langston’s Apartment Key and asks you to find Alfred.

Review Quest Log and Map — The Central map pins the Field Office and marks speaking with Langston as the active quest objective. Shown at 00:06 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Reach Langston’s apartment in the Sinkhole

Travel to the Evacuation Zone, southeast of Central, and make your way to the Path to Sinkhole near the Laundromat. Follow the hallway until you step out onto the broken apartments that overlook the chasm.

Travel to the Sinkhole — The corridor opens toward the Sinkhole chasm, marking the route from the Evacuation Zone toward Langston's apartment. Shown at 01:32 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Go through the next doors and make your way to the airlock. Once it finishes cycling open, continue into the main apartment area. Find the checkpoint labeled Personnel Access.

At the checkpoint, follow the yellow line inward, using the arrows to reach the opposite side. In the northern section, Ranger Dombrow is seated on a couch watching TV. Cross the platforms to get to him and start a conversation. He says he won’t return to the apartment because his partner disappeared.

Speak with Dombrow — Ranger Dombrow sits on the couch during the conversation before the route continues toward Langston's apartment. Shown at 02:06 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Trace the yellow route north to a doorway in a pitch-black area. Unlock the door with Langston’s Apartment Key and enter; the conversation with Langston will then play through the automated cat feeder.

Enter Langston's Apartment — Langston responds through the cat feeder inside his apartment, starting the apartment search. Shown at 02:37 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Search the apartment and pick up the carrier

Use the cat feeder in the corner, then report the nearby evidence: first the scratches on the wall, and next the blood on the floor.

The cat feeder marks the start of the Search the Apartment for Alfred objective before checking nearby evidence. Shown at 02:40 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Pick up the cat feeder and carry it to the bedroom, where the cat carrier sits. Place the feeder next to the carrier, then interact again to set the feeder inside it. Finally, pick up the carrier itself.

Track Alfred and lure him into the carrier

Leave the apartment through the broken wall and follow the trail of broken plant pots along the ground. After a short stretch, Langston recognizes Alfred’s meow from below and tells you to set the carrier on a bed with a working TV nearby.

Search for Alfred in the Sinkhole — The carrier moves through the Sinkhole as Langston recognizes Alfred's meow before it goes on a bed. Shown at 04:02 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

For the quickest trip, go back to the place where Dombrow sat watching TV. Jump to the apartment southwest of there, enter, and locate the bedroom where the TV is on. Set the cat carrier atop the bed to finish the objective.

Interact with the piano in the room to start the music. Then remove all four plant pots from the bedroom and carry them outside past the kitchen.

Leave the bedroom and wait in a different apartment for the conversation to play. Langston will say Alfred has climbed into the carrier and ask you to return. Go back to the bedroom, let the dialogue finish, then collect the carrier.

The plants have to be fully out of the room for Alfred to approach, so double-check you have carried all four out and stepped away before waiting.

Investigate the scream and reach Maria

With the carrier in hand, head back to Dombrow’s spot. You will find the ranger dead on his rug. Report the body to Langston to advance the quest.

From there, follow Alfred’s directions by tracking the blood marks on the ground and dropping down through the chasm structures several times. You will land at a checkpoint. Head south toward the blue light to trigger the fight against Maria.

How to defeat Maria

The first phase is a straightforward fight. Deal damage normally and drop Maria’s health bar to zero. The second phase changes the rules and requires Alfred’s help.

Second phase: use Alfred to expose Maria

Lift the cat carrier and set it beside the crack in the wall. Watch the windows for a red light moving across them.

Move into the light’s path and stand near one of the windows. As the light approaches your window, select the Call Cat prompt (L1) so Alfred lands an attack on Maria. Repeat this several times to grind her down.

Trigger Call Cat when the red light is one window away rather than already on you. That timing lands the attack correctly.

Once Maria is defeated, pick up the cat carrier again to continue.

Finish the quest and claim the reward

Carry the cat carrier back up using the platforms and scaffolding until you reach Dombrow’s body at the top. Drop the carrier on the ground next to him to close out the side story.

You will know it worked when the quest completes and grants the Untapped Catnip Toy Artifact along with 250 XP for the Evacuation Zone. The Artifact can then be used at the Gap like your other crafting materials.