Control Resonant: How to Solve the Testing Facility Pearl Soda Dispenser Puzzle

Testing Facility Pearl hides an underground puzzle room that blocks progress on the Unsupervised Science side quest until you reset the room to its default state. The catch is simple to describe and fiddly to execute. Every object scattered around the room is in the wrong shape, and the control lever will not respond until each designated zone holds a soda dispenser.

Quick answer: Turn each of the five shifting objects into a Thirst Station soda dispenser, put one on every yellow square, then pull the control-console lever to begin the shutdown.

Reach Testing Facility Pearl in the Evacuation Zone

In the south of the Evacuation Zone, the facility is immediately next to the Survivalist’s Bunker fast travel point. Warp there, descend through the nearby open hatch, then follow the large corrugated drainage pipe downward. It brings you directly into the testing facility.

Take the metal path and descend the stairs into the offices below. The control console and desks are in this lower room, which you’ll revisit as you work through the puzzle.

Puzzle Overview — The control console at the bottom of the pipe, where the Unsupervised Science objective appears. Shown at 00:10 in Ditech Gaming’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Read the shutdown instructions first

Find the Shutdown Instructions document on the control-booth desk, beside the yellow monitor and the “Testing Facility Pearl” sign. Reading it starts the objective to shut down the experiments and confirms the rule you must follow.

The note states that every designated Impermanence area must be returned to its default state, which is set as a Soda Dispenser (labeled “THIRST STATION”). Only after all designated areas match that default will the lever initiate the shutdown.

Reaching the Control Station — The console and instruction board that spell out the default state you need to recreate. Image: Remedy Entertainment / via @PerfectParadox

How shifting objects turn into soda dispensers

None of the scattered items start as a dispenser. Each one is a shifting object that changes shape when it takes a hit. Crossing a yellow floor line, or throwing and dropping an object, moves it one position along a fixed sequence of forms.

The order always runs the same way:

Printer
Sink
Stove / oven
Soda Dispenser (Thirst Station)

You can’t transform an object directly into a dispenser; it must reach the oven stage first. Carry it across the lines or slam it until the Thirst Station label appears. Crossing a line and then going back over it restores the object’s previous form, which lets you fix an overshoot.

If an object in the wrong shape is already on a square, take it out, cycle it until the label reads Thirst Station, then put it back.

Where the five yellow squares are

There are five designated yellow squares spread across the facility, and each needs exactly one Thirst Station dispenser. The markers sit on the metal floor and on the raised platforms.

#	Location
1	At the upper stair landing, beside the pipe running along the wall
2	Main lower floor area
3	Walkway platform past the small bridge
4	Upper gantry corner near the back wall
5	Ground-level marker on the lower floor, close to the central pillars

First Impermanence Area — One of the yellow square markers on the elevated walkway, where a converted dispenser needs to sit. Shown at 00:55 in Ditech Gaming’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Solve the Testing Facility Pearl puzzle

Pick up any shifting object on the lower floor or along the elevated walkway. Printers, sinks, and stoves are scattered around, so grab whichever is closest.

Take the object over the yellow floor markings, or toss it and drop it, until its forms advance in order: printer, sink, stove, and finally a Thirst Station soda dispenser.

First Soda Dispenser — Once an object reads Thirst Station, it is ready to drop into a yellow square. Image: Remedy Entertainment / via @PerfectParadox

Set the finished dispenser inside a yellow square on the lower floor. That clears your first placement point.

Carry a dispenser up the stairs to the marker on the upper stair landing beside the wall pipe. Cycle it into the Thirst Station form on the way if it is not already there.

First Dispenser Placement — Carrying a Thirst Station up the stairs to the landing marker beside the wall pipe. Image: Remedy Entertainment / via @GGChannelX

Take an object across the small bridge to the walkway platform marker, cycling it into a dispenser before you set it down.

Third Dispenser Placement — Moving a dispenser across the raised walkway toward the platform marker. Image: Remedy Entertainment / via @GGChannelX

Fill the upper gantry corner marker near the back wall, then the last ground marker near the center pillars. If you reach an upper pipe ledge, throw a stove object down so it morphs on impact, then place it on the final square.

Clear any misplaced sink, stove, or printer still sitting in a square. Every square must hold a Thirst Station, so carry the wrong shape out, cycle it again, and set the correct form back down.

Pull the lever and confirm the shutdown

With all five yellow squares holding a Thirst Station dispenser, return to the control booth and interact with the lever on the console. The quest log updates and the sealed metal gate beside the console opens. If the lever does nothing, a square is empty or holds the wrong item, so check the room and re-cycle that object.

Go through the open door into the neighboring room and deal with the corrupt red source before collecting anything inside.

Rewards for shutting down Testing Facility Pearl

Reward	Detail
Experience	+120 EXP
Undefined Reading	+1
Health Elements Boost	Applied on completion
Talent Point	+1
Power Upgrade Point	One of three collected across the mission
Notes From Technician Washland	Collectible research document
Testing Facility Coordinates	Lists the Reade, Platt, Vesey, Pearl, Broadway, and Dutch facility locations

Pick up both notes and the Power Upgrade Point before you leave. The upgrade points only strengthen your Power once you collect all three across the different testing facilities, and the coordinates note points you toward the rest of them.