The Archive appears after rooms three and six
Clear the encounter, then choose ENTER THE ARCHIVE from the room result. You can sacrifice one carried object or select KEEP EVERYTHING. After that decision, the protocol screen offers a separate choice, followed by the route to the next room. Keeping your kit does not prevent you from choosing a protocol.
There are two Archive checkpoints in the current nine-room shift. Room nine leads to the exit instead of another Archive. Think of each checkpoint as preparation for the next sector: inspect what your kit already accomplishes, identify the weakest connection, and decide whether an empty slot would actually help your plan.
A sacrifice preserves one bonus, not the whole item
If an object has power, archiving it preserves its power for the rest of this run. If it has no power, the Archive preserves its ward contribution instead. The object leaves your inventory. Its other properties and its place in a connected circuit disappear. The retained bonus ends with the shift; it is not a permanent personnel upgrade.
For example, a Ceramic fuse provides one power and one ward while carried. Archiving it keeps the one power, but removes the ward and its LIVE connection. First aid has no power, so archiving it retains one ward while losing its healing contribution and SHELTER connection. Neither conversion means that every useful property has survived.
Read the before-and-after preview
Tap an occupied Archive slot to open its confirmation. The preview compares power, ward, effective healing and the selected item's family circuit before and after removal. You can cancel and inspect a different object. Pay particular attention when a connected group falls from three objects to two: the loss can switch off an entire circuit effect.
An object in the middle of a chain may connect several others. Removing it can split that group even when enough matching objects remain somewhere in the grid. Evaluate the resulting arrangement, not just the number of matching cards you own. Keeping everything is often sensible when your current layout already supports the next protocol.
HOTWIRE and DEAD AIR need their connected circuits
HOTWIRE adds one strike power and two arc damage while you have a connected LIVE circuit of at least three. It does not supply the missing third LIVE object. Arc damage hits other enemies rather than the selected target, so consider the encounters ahead as well as the increase to your direct strike.
DEAD AIR improves SIGNAL's attack disruption from one to two while SIGNAL three is connected. That combination also stops the Clerk rebuilding armor. The benefits depend on keeping the circuit active. If your Archive sacrifice breaks SIGNAL and you cannot rebuild it, selecting DEAD AIR is a plan for later equipment rather than an immediate answer.
BULKHEAD has a lasting healing tradeoff
With a connected SHELTER circuit of three, BULKHEAD increases recurring barrier restoration from three to five on combat turns where threats remain. It also caps item-based healing at two per turn. That healing cap stays in effect even when SHELTER becomes disconnected, which is why the confirmation describes both sides of the choice.
Protocols last until the shift ends. You cannot select the same protocol twice, and there is no respec button after applying one. You may return to the choices before confirming, or continue without a protocol. Across two checkpoints, you can choose two different protocols if that supports the kit you actually build.
Finish the decision by choosing a route
The quiet stairwell restores up to nine vitality, without exceeding your maximum. The service lift instead increases the next room's enemy vitality by twenty percent and adds eight scrip to its clear reward. That is an in-run route tradeoff, not an upgrade purchased outside the shift. The enhanced threat applies to the next encounter.
Choose the route after considering your post-Archive kit. A newly broken circuit or a loss of healing may make repair more useful than the extra reward. A healthy, connected build may have room to take the lift. The Archive, protocol and route are separate decisions, but the strongest plan accounts for all three together.
A couple of details.
Must I sacrifice an item to receive a protocol?
No. KEEP EVERYTHING advances to the protocol choice in the current development build. You can also skip the protocol and continue to the route without changing that part of your build.
Does archived power carry into my next shift?
No. Archived power or ward belongs to the current run. Personnel XP, unlocks and records are separate progression systems; they do not preserve your archived combat bonuses for a new shift.