Starfield Absolute Power quest guide – who to blame and all choices explained?

With the Starfield Absolute Power quest, you’re already well on your way through climbing the ranks of the Crimson Fleet, whether you’re a committed member or double crossing them for the United Colonies. That dedication is going to come to a head in this quest, as you’ll be faced with a fairly major decision to make.

If you’re making your way through the Crimson Fleet questline, then make sure to check the Starfield quest list to see how far through you are, or even to pick up a new quest, like the Starfield Operation Starseed, Starfield Delivering Devils, or Starfield Alternating Currents quests. And whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, be sure to check out our Starfield tips and tricks as you’ll be sure to find something worthwhile in there. For now, let’s take a look at the Starfield Absolute Power quest, whether you should kill Ayumi, and who you should blame for the virus.

Starfield Absolute Power walkthrough

Once you’ve stolen the ComSpike from the United Colonies, you’ll be tasked with heading to Neon, on the planet Volii Alpha in the Volii System to steal the Conduction Grid technology from the Generdyne corporation. First, you’ll have to debrief with the UC Vigilance about the previous mission, and then you’ll be able to go to Neon.

After you arrive at Neon, follow your quest marker to Madame Sauvage’s Place in Ebbside. Walk up the stairs at the back and you’ll find your contact Estelle Vincent. She’ll tell you that the Conduction Grid technology belongs to a company called Generdyne, and that you’ll need to get in touch with Ayumi Komiko, one of the company’s executives, if you want to get your hands on it.

When it comes to Ayumi, you have three options of how to approach her. You have an optional objective of finding evidence to blackmail her, you can pay her for the information, or you can kill her. If you’re wondering if you should kill her or not, check down below for the answer.

If you want to extort her, enter Generdyne via the elevator in the Trade Tower and talk to receptionist Ji Nashida. He will go on a rant about the company, and when asked to talk about Ayumi Komiko, you can use Persuasion on him to tell you about her illegal activities. If successful, he’ll let you know that she’s in some trouble with Breyson Bayu, and unlocks a safe containing some incriminating evidence for you. Grab these and leave the Trade Tower.

Go back to Ebbside and head to Euphorika. Inside, talk to Myka about Ayumi Komiko’s whereabouts, and she’ll reveal that Ayumi is upstairs in the member’s lounge. Pay Myka 5000 credits for an access key and head upstairs. Talk to Ayumi and ask for a way into the Generdyne research facility. Blackmail her using the evidence, pay her, or kill her and her guards and you’ll receive the Generdyne Industries storage room pass.

Once you’ve got the Generdyne passkey, follow your quest marker to the storage entrance of the Generdyne research facility in the Underbelly and head inside. From this point onwards, you’ll want to be stealthy, and try to avoid being seen, so make good use of the vents you find to sneak around, and perhaps dismiss your companion. Alternatively, if you have a strong enough Starfield spacesuit, you can just run all the way through like we did. Keep following the signs towards the Research Director’s Office.

Eventually, you will reach Generdyne’s Power Core. Interact with the computer and download the Conduction Grid Plans. Unfortunately, they are encrypted, and you’ll need to use Breyson Bayu’s Encryption Cipher to unencrypt them. Once you reach Breyson Bayu’s office, he is more than happy to let you use his computer terminal as a means of getting back at his brother. Interact with the Power Core Computer to unencrypt the plans and upload Estelle’s virus.

Now, head to the Astral Lounge VIP area, where you are meant to meet Estelle. Instead, you’ll find Benjamin Bayu waiting for you. He asks you who installed the virus, and you can snitch on Estelle, or lie and claim it was either you or his brother Breyson. Again, if you’re interested in who you should blame, check down below to see what each outcome is.

With the Conduction Grid Data safely in your possession, exit Neon and return to The Key and Naeva will be waiting for you at the entrance. Speak to her to complete the quest, collect your rewards of 14000 credits and 350XP, and immediately begin the next quest, Eye of the Storm.

Should you kill Ayumi Komiko?

If possible, you should try and avoid killing Ayumi Komiko. While the outcome is the same whether you kill her, extort her, or pay her off, it’s best to try and avoid killing her if possible. UC SysDef is insistent on avoiding bloodshed wherever possible, and will take killing her will go down pretty badly with them, and any companion you have with you. Additionally, as you stand to gain nothing from it that you couldn’t get otherwise, there is no reason to kill her unless you’re specifically doing an evil playthrough.

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Alex’s Advice

If you’ve decided you want to kill Ayumi, but you don’t want to upset your companion, simply tell them to leave before you have to make the choice. That way, they won’t see the outcome and you’ll get away with it (though SysDef still won’t be too happy)

Should you blame Estelle, Breyson, or yourself for the virus?

There is no definitive answer to this, and really it depends upon who you want to get in trouble. If you blame either Estelle or Breyson, Benjamin will thank you for the information, and comment on how he’ll be taking care of them, heavily implying that he’ll have whoever you blame for the virus killed. On the other hand, if you blame yourself, he will frame you for a murder, with a pretty hefty bounty on your head, forcing you to leave the city. You will have to clear your bounty if you want to return.

If you don’t particularly care about the fates of Estelle or Breyson, then either of them is the best option to blame – particularly Breyson as he has no links to any of your factions. This way, you also avoid taking on a bounty. If you’d rather keep everyone alive, however, blaming yourself is the best option, as you can simply pay off the bounty if you have enough credits, or serve your jail time.

Absolute Power mission rewards

The rewards for completing Absolute Power are fairly high, and certainly make all the effort you went through worthwhile. You’ll receive 14000 credits, as well as a decent 350 XP if you managed to completely evade detection in Generdyne. If you got caught, you won’t get as big of a bonus, but you’ll still get a pretty high 12400 credits – not too big of a loss if you ask us.

That’s everything you need to know about the Starfield Absolute Power quest. After all that, there’s plenty of quests still to do, like the Starfield Surgical Strike quest for the Freestar Rangers. If you’re looking to do a bit more space combat, make sure to check out our Starfield starship weapons guide. And to power those weapons, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the best Starfield reactor, too.

Alex has been playing Starfield on PC and has currently clocked up over 50 hours in the game so far.

Starfield Absolute Power FAQ

Should you kill Ayumi Komiko?

You should not kill Ayumi Komiko, as this will go down badly with UC SysDef, and your companion will dislike this.

Should you blame Estelle, Breyson, or yourself for the virus?

There is no definitive answer to this. If you want to protect Estelle and Breyson, you will get a bounty on your head, while the alternative will see the person you blame killed, but you will face no repercussions.