They Are Already Here is the cultist story chapter in Escape from Tarkov, and it is one of the longest in the game. It sends you through Lighthouse, Streets of Tarkov, Woods, Shoreline and two separate Interchange raids, plus a marked room and a night-time cultist hunt. On October 28, 2026, a player on r/EscapefromTarkov posted that they had finished it. They had both achievements and could read the ARRS file in their handbook, but nothing arrived from Mechanic and they had no "major evidence" item to hand in. The chapter has no item reward, and the ARRS file is a note rather than a stash item. Both points are covered below. This guide is written for patch 1.2.5.0 (Season 1 "KORD BREACH", build 1.2.5.0.48146, released October 16 and updated October 20, 2026, per the wiki changelog). It covers every objective in order, every Eye of the World location, the Intelligence Center craft, and the one-button-per-raid trap at the ARRS station.
Quick answer: Start They Are Already Here by reading the Note about the Eye of the World. It's in a marked room (Customs Dorm 314, or Reserve RB-BK, RB-VO or RB-PKPM), at the candle circle in the north Woods village, or in the island house on Shoreline. Then go Lighthouse torture house → Streets apartment → Mechanic → kill a Cultist priest → priest's note in a marked room → Lighthouse Blue Chalet (damaged Arshavin pass on the ATV) → Woods cultist house → Shoreline Sordi tower repair with a Toolset. Next, craft the restored Arshavin pass at Intelligence Center level 1 (3 h 30 min, power on the whole time). Use it on ARRS Station 14-4 KORD under the Interchange power station. The reward is +128,000 EXP and two achievements, Through Another's Eyes and When the Light Fades. There's no item from Mechanic. Bring an Audio recorder for the tapes. Finishing the chapter is also a hard requirement for Prestige 5. (EFT Wiki – They Are Already Here)
Escape from Tarkov - Roubles
Get millions of Roubles in 10 minutes
What Is They Are Already Here in Tarkov?
They Are Already Here is one of the 10 story chapters listed on the wiki's Story chapters page, alongside Accidental Witness, Batya, Blue Fire, Boreas, Falling Skies, The Labyrinth, The Ticket, The Unheard and Tour. Story chapters are multistage quests that you track in the handbook rather than take from a trader. Triggers vary: Tour, for example, is added automatically when you start the game. This one starts when you read a note found in raid.
This chapter follows the Witnesses of the Arrival, the hooded cultists who perform rituals in marked rooms at night. You trace their symbol, the Eye of the World, from map to map, until it leads to a hidden NGO Cobalt facility under Interchange.
Here's what it costs you, roughly:
| Step | Map / place | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger note | Customs / Reserve / Woods / Shoreline | A marked key, or go to the free Woods or Shoreline spot |
| Tape #2 + apartment key | Lighthouse | Must be found in raid |
| Victim's apartment | Streets of Tarkov | Cult victim's apartment key (spawns at the Lighthouse house) |
| Cultist priest kill | Night Factory, Customs, Woods, Shoreline or Ground Zero (21+) | Night raid, 22:00–07:00 |
| Priest's note | Customs, Streets or Reserve marked room | One marked key |
| Damaged Arshavin pass | Lighthouse, Blue Chalet | Nothing |
| Sordi tower repair | Shoreline | Toolset |
| Restored pass craft | Hideout | Intelligence Center 1 + 4 items, 3 h 30 min |
| Station 14-4 KORD (x2 raids) | Interchange | Restored pass, Secure Flash drive |
| Tapes (#1, #2, Mysterious) | Lighthouse, Streets, Interchange | Audio recorder, so you can listen to them |
How Do You Start They Are Already Here?
You start it by picking up and reading the Note about the Eye of the World. It can be in any of four places:
- Customs: the marked room (Dorm room 314) on the third floor of the three-story dorms, on a stack of books.
- Reserve: inside RB-BK or RB-VO (on the table with the pig carcass), or RB-PKPM (on the desk).
- Woods: the marked circle in the dilapidated village in the north, next to the burning candles.
- Shoreline: the house on the island, on the floor (there are two possible spots).
If you don't have a marked key, use Woods or Shoreline. Both are free. If you're already farming Reserve marked rooms for money, our Reserve money guide covers those routes. Pick the note up and read it. Reading it, not just looting it, is what starts the chapter.
Pack an Audio recorder before you go further. Three objectives ask you to listen to a tape, not just pick it up. The Tarkovforge chapter guide lists an Audio recorder as a required item for exactly that reason.
Where Is the Cult Victim's Apartment? (Lighthouse → Streets)
Step 1, Lighthouse. Find the cultist torture house on Lighthouse. Pick up and listen to Cult victim audio tape #2, which is on the chair. It must be found in raid. The Cult victim's apartment key also spawns in this house. It has four spots: on the fallen-over shelf, on the chair, on the wooden table and on the metal table. Take it now so you don't have to come back.
Step 2, Streets of Tarkov. The apartment is on the third floor of the old apartment building behind the Klimov shopping mall. The door is apartment 5 and needs the Cult victim's apartment key. Inside, breach the office door. Then read the Book of the Arrival on the bookshelf and the Note on preparations for the Arrival on the desk. Pick up Cult victim audio tape #1, also on the desk.
Step 3, Mechanic. Open Mechanic's trader screen and ask him about the Eye of the World. If you haven't unlocked Mechanic yet, the chapter has an optional objective to gain access to him first.
How Do You Kill a Cultist Priest for This Chapter?
The next objective is to kill a Cultist priest on any location. Cultists only appear between 22:00 and 07:00. According to the wiki's Cultists page, they spawn on:
- Night Factory: priest + 2–3 warriors, anywhere on the map.
- Customs: priest + 4 warriors, around the construction area near the Scav base and the laboratory.
- Woods: priest + 4 warriors, at the dilapidated village in the north or near the checkpoint west of the sawmill.
- Shoreline: priest + 3–4 warriors, at the health resort or at the roadblock northeast of the swamp village.
- Ground Zero (level 21+): priest + 3–4 warriors, anywhere.
The priest has 850 total HP, with a 50 HP head and 200 HP thorax. Cultists move with quieter footsteps and run at 28 °C, so thermals show them less clearly. Our Cultist Priest boss guide has spawn timing, loadouts and what to carry.
Night Factory makes the search short because the map is small, so if the group is there you'll find it fast. The trade-off is that the spawn isn't guaranteed, and Customs and Woods are the more reliable places to look. If Factory comes up empty, move to one of those.
Where Is the Cultist Priest's Note?
After the kill, read the Cultist priest's note in a marked room. The note does not spawn until the priest-kill objective is complete, so don't open a marked room early. You only need one of these keys:
- Customs: Dorm room 314 marked key (third floor of the three-story dorms).
- Streets of Tarkov: Abandoned factory marked key. The room is on the third floor of the northern abandoned factory building, and the note is on the floor.
- Reserve: RB-BK (black pawn barrack), RB-PKPM (next to the command office in the underground tunnels) or RB-VO (security barrack). The note is on the bookshelf in RB-BK and RB-VO, and on the fallen-over bookshelf in RB-PKPM.
If you bought a marked key for the first step, use the same room again.
Where Are the Eye of the World Locations on Lighthouse, Woods and Shoreline?
Next you visit three marked places, one per map.
Lighthouse, the Blue Chalet. Go to the small southern bedroom on the second floor of the northern blue chalet. Read the Victim's note on the balcony next to it. Then grab the Station 14-4 KORD Arshavin K. pass (Damaged) from the ATV in front of the garage across from the chalet. Lighthouse changed a lot in the 1.1.5.0 rework, so if you haven't been back since, our Lighthouse rework guide shows the new layout.
Woods, the cultists' house. In the dilapidated village in the north, find the house marked with the Eye. Read the Newspaper clipping from the cultists' house, which is pinned to the whiteboard next to the desk. It's the same village where cultists spawn at night, so you can do this on the same night raid as your priest kill.
Shoreline, the Sordi tower. Look for a red metal shack at the radio tower near the Road to Customs extract. Read the Programmer's note on the dead body next to the tower; it's by the body's right hand. Then use a Toolset inside the shack to repair the tower. Bring the Toolset from your stash. If you forget it, you have to do the run again.
After Shoreline, ask Mechanic about the Eye of the World again to learn about Station 14-4 KORD.
How Do You Restore Arshavin's Keycard?
You craft the restored pass. You won't find it in a raid. The recipe, verified on the wiki item page):
| Input | Qty |
|---|---|
| Station 14-4 KORD Arshavin K. pass (Damaged) | 1 |
| Secure Flash drive | 1 |
| Military flash drive | 1 |
| VPX Flash Storage Module | 1 |
- Station: Intelligence Center level 1
- Time: 3 h 30 min
- Power: the generator must run for the entire craft, or it gets interrupted. Fill your fuel before you start it.
The restored pass can't be looted from you. It goes in a special item slot, so dying with it costs you nothing. It's also not sellable on the flea market, so you can't skip the craft with roubles. You can, however, buy the inputs. If your Intelligence Center isn't built yet, that's the real wall in this chapter.
Escape from Tarkov - Leveling
Get leveled up in 10 minutes
How Do You Do Station 14-4 KORD on Interchange? (Raid 1)
NGO Cobalt's secret facility is in the basement of the power station on Interchange. Go down the basement stairs and use the restored pass on the station door. Then, in this order:
- Restore power. Swipe the restored pass at the keycard panel right next to the entrance door.
- Turn on cooling. The server room is behind the grate door. Flip the lever at the back.
- Plant the flash drive. Stash a Secure Flash drive to the left of the cooling lever. The wiki item page says the chapter provides one, but carry a spare anyway.
- Get the tape. Turning on the cooling opens the safe next to the entrance door automatically. Pick up and listen to the Mysterious audio tape inside.
- Extract. Leave Interchange with a Survived or Run-Through status. If you die, the objective doesn't complete and you need another raid.
The room also has 5 PC blocks and an Intelligence folder spawn, so it's worth looting on the way out.
Why Can't You Press the ARRS Station Button? (Raid 2)
Go back to the facility on a second Interchange raid:
- Read the ARRS station mechanic's notes on the big desk.
- Turn the power on again with the keycard panel. The chapter lists this as an optional check, but the button doesn't work without power.
- In the server room, press the button under the table.
- Pick up the Flash drive for ARRS station from the server next to the cooling lever.
- Survive and extract from Interchange again.
The one trap in this raid, quoted verbatim from the wiki: "Only 1 player per raid can press the button and get progress on this objective. If you can't interact with it, return in a new raid." (EFT Wiki). In a squad, only one player gets credit per raid. If someone got to the button before you, even another PMC, it won't work for you. Plan on a separate raid for each squad member.
What Is the Reward for They Are Already Here?
Hand the Flash drive for ARRS station to Mechanic through his trader screen. Then open your handbook and read the ARRS system specifications. The chapter is finished. You get:
- +128,000 EXP
- Achievement Through Another's Eyes
- Achievement When the Light Fades
That's the whole reward. You don't get an item, roubles or a crate from Mechanic. The ARRS system specifications is a note, so it lives in your handbook's Notes, not your stash. The wiki lists it as one of the major evidence pieces used later in The Ticket. So if you have both achievements and can read the specifications in your handbook, the chapter is complete, even though nothing landed in your stash. That matches what the October 28 Reddit poster described. If you can't find the specifications in your Notes, that's a different problem: the Tarkovforge guide warns that you have to press the ARRS reset button before taking the flash drive, or you miss the specifications. A commenter in that thread also points out that the chapter has a strict objective order. If one step won't complete, check that you did the one before it (for example, the priest's note won't spawn before the kill).
Is it required for an ending? The wiki's Endings page doesn't list They Are Already Here as a requirement for Savior, Survivor, Debtor or Fallen. Use our All Endings guide to plan the main route. It does matter for Prestige, though.
Do You Need They Are Already Here for Prestige?
Yes, for Prestige 5. The wiki's Prestige page lists "Complete They Are Already Here" as a story requirement for Prestige 5. No earlier Prestige level needs it. Here is the full Prestige 5 checklist:
| Prestige 5 requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| PMC level | 47 (45 in PvE, per New Beginning (Prestige 5))) |
| Quests | New Beginning (Prestige 5) + Collector |
| Story chapters | Complete Tour, complete They Are Already Here, obtain the Ticket from Tarkov (Kruglov's RFID keycard) |
| Skills | Strength 20, Endurance 20, Charisma 20 |
| Hideout | Intelligence Center 2, Security 3, Rest Space 3 |
| Items | 20,000,000 roubles |
If you're working toward Prestige 5, start this chapter early. The Arshavin craft only needs Intelligence Center 1, but Prestige 5 asks for level 2 anyway. Our Prestige prep checklist covers the rest of the grind.
What's the Fastest Order to Do It In?
Objectives unlock one after another, so you can't stack later steps into an early raid. This order keeps the trips short:
- Woods or Shoreline: read the start note at a free spot (no key needed).
- Lighthouse: get tape #2 and the apartment key from the torture house in one go.
- Streets: clear the apartment and read the book, the note and tape #1. Then ask Mechanic.
- Night Factory: the quickest Cultist priest kill.
- One marked room: read the priest's note. Use a room you can open with a key you already own.
- Lighthouse, Woods, Shoreline: Blue Chalet note + damaged pass, the newspaper clipping, then the Programmer's note + Toolset repair. Ask Mechanic again.
- Hideout: start the 3 h 30 min craft with the generator fueled.
- Interchange x2: raid 1, then raid 2.
The Halloween event is teased but not live as of October 28 (our Halloween 2026 guide tracks it).
Short on time for They Are Already Here? Five maps, two Interchange extracts, a night cultist hunt, a marked key and an Intelligence Center build is a lot of grind for one chapter. Let a pro handle the parts you don't enjoy.
- EFT Kappa Container & Quest Boost: story chapters and quest lines done by pro players
- EFT Hideout Upgrade Boost: Intelligence Center and generator built so the Arshavin craft can run
- EFT Keys: the marked key or flash drives you're missing
- EFT Roubles: the 20M Prestige 5 fee, or the Military flash drive and VPX module, without farming (pick your PvP, PvE or Season zone at checkout)
- EFT Leveling Boost: PMC level 47 and Strength, Endurance and Charisma 20 for Prestige 5
FAQ
How do you start They Are Already Here in Tarkov? Pick up and read the Note about the Eye of the World. It's in Customs Dorm 314, in Reserve RB-BK, RB-VO or RB-PKPM, at the candle circle in the north Woods village, or in the island house on Shoreline. Woods and Shoreline don't need a key.
Why didn't Mechanic give me anything after They Are Already Here? The chapter doesn't have an item reward. Once you hand over the ARRS flash drive and read the ARRS system specifications, you get +128,000 EXP and the achievements Through Another's Eyes and When the Light Fades. The specifications are a note in your handbook, and they count later as major evidence for The Ticket.
Why can't I press the button at the ARRS station? Only one player per raid can press it and get progress. Make sure the station power is on first. If it still won't work, someone already used it that raid, so come back in a new Interchange raid.
Where is the Station 14-4 KORD keycard in Tarkov? The damaged Arshavin pass is on the ATV in front of the garage across from the Blue Chalet on Lighthouse. You then craft the restored version at Intelligence Center level 1. It takes 3 h 30 min and needs a Secure Flash drive, a Military flash drive and a VPX Flash Storage Module.
Why isn't the Cultist priest's note in the marked room? It only spawns after you finish the "Locate and neutralize a Cultist priest" objective. Kill the priest first, then open any one of the Customs, Streets or Reserve marked rooms.
Is They Are Already Here required for Prestige? Yes, for Prestige 5. The wiki lists it as a story requirement next to Tour and obtaining the Ticket from Tarkov, along with PMC level 47 (45 in PvE), Collector and 20,000,000 roubles.
Do I need to kill the Cultist priest myself? Yes. The objective is to neutralize a Cultist priest on any location, and cultists only spawn from 22:00 to 07:00. Night Factory is quick to search, while Customs and Woods are more reliable.
