Reach 5 Upper Brae
First obtain Boltcutters from CEG Employee Locker 17. That requires the South Brae floppy-disk puzzle and its barcode. At the top of the stairs in CEG Staff Parking, cut the chained gate to the Overpass, then use the upper-level route to 5 Upper Brae. Read the upper-level Clara Woods map before choosing a staircase.
Inside, go upstairs to the office with the transcription player, computer and black safe. The Today note and player are in the first room on the left. The bedroom at the far end of the corridor holds Tape: Yesterday in a black container.
Move through the tape states in this order
| Play / collect | Next action and its purpose |
|---|---|
| Today | Inspect The Code Today; play and remove Tape: Today. Keep it for the return to the final state. |
| Find Yesterday | Open the black container in the far upstairs bedroom and take the cassette. |
| Play Yesterday | Go downstairs: collect Tape: Tomorrow from the living-room box and The Code Before from the kitchen table. |
| Play Tomorrow | Collect The Code After in the living room and Tape: Do Not Play from the kitchen box. |
| Play Do Not Play | Pick up the Back Door Key from the kitchen counter beside the rear door. |
| Play Today | Use the Back Door Key, follow the rear alley and enter the room whose door is open in this state. Take the Ammonite Disk from its table. |
| Play Yesterday | Insert Ammonite Disk into the reader beside the upstairs computer. Open Current Count. |
| Play Today again | Return to the safe and enter 129. Collect Barcode (Upper Brae). |
The tape state controls what you can access. If you see the wrong room arrangement, check the cassette currently loaded before treating a missing object as a bug. Both the Back Door Key and the Ammonite Disk are separate steps; finding the key does not itself unlock the computer file.
Why the safe code is 129
The clue combines the two readable day numbers with the computer’s Current Count list. Find the number between the two recorded values in that list; it is 129. This is a lookup in the file, not the arithmetic average of yesterday and tomorrow.
GosuNoob’s checkpoints: 2:23 — Yesterday cassette ▶ · 4:07 — later house-state progress ▶ · 5:09 — code route continues ▶. The full item chain remains in the table above; changing the house with a tape is only useful if you then collect its state-specific object.
Scan the barcode and open Locker 94
- Take the barcode from the upstairs safe, then return to the CEG Employee Lockers building on Clara Woods’ ground level.
- Use Barcode (Upper Brae) on the scanner at the counter. It identifies Locker 94 and PIN 490.
- Open locker 94 with 490 and take its Mechanical Part. This is one of the three components for the Atlas Way gate.
For the optional postcard in the same rear area, switch to Tomorrow, unlock the back door with the key, follow the alley and crouch into the shed. It is a separate pickup; the Today-state Ammonite room and Tomorrow postcard shed are different checks.
Recover a missing step
| Problem | Next check |
|---|---|
| Rear door locked | Use Do Not Play to get the Back Door Key from the kitchen counter. |
| Ammonite room closed | Load Today, then follow the rear alley. |
| Computer cannot show Current Count | Load Yesterday and insert Ammonite Disk. |
| Safe code seems unrelated to locker | 129 opens the safe. Scan its barcode; 490 opens Locker 94. |
Video walkthrough
Upper Brae tape puzzle and safe code
GosuNoob · Watch on YouTube ↗
Sources & image credits
Source links and credits
- PowerPyx — Clara Woods illustrated route
- AllThings.How — complete Upper Brae state chain
- Townfall Answers — tape puzzle comparison
- GosuNoob — Upper Brae gameplay
Source footage and game images are credited beside the relevant figures. This guide does not claim a personal playthrough.