In Prey 2017, Morgan Yu’s office contains a safe with neuromods inside — cognitive augmentations that grant abilities at the cost of memories. The number of neuromods in the safe changes depending on which starting choice you made at the game’s opening, and the quantities encode information about who Morgan was before the game began.
The safe also contains a note from Morgan-to-Morgan: a message your past self left for your present self, anticipating memory loss. The specific wording of this note changes based on your gender selection, and in both versions it contains a detail about Alex Yu — your sibling — that directly contradicts what Alex tells you in his first appearance.
Arkane built Prey around the concept of unreliable history. Nothing Morgan is told about the past can be fully trusted, and the environmental clues are designed to contradict the narrative you are fed. The Morgan safe note is the first instance of this contradiction — most players miss it entirely because it requires opening a safe before receiving context for why it matters.
The game’s ending hinges on whether you understand what Alex actually did, and the safe note is the earliest piece of evidence pointing toward the true sequence of events.
Didn’t realise how much was hidden under the surface. Makes me want to replay it with fresh eyes.
This is why I always check every corner. You never know what’s been left for the observant player.