Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Control - Unknown Caller mission: Reaching Communications Dept and Object of Power

Delving deeper into the Oldest House and returning to the Astral Plane.

Unknown Caller is the second mission in Control. Now that you've become the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, it's time to contact the former Director, which is a thing you can apparently do.

To do this you must find the Hotline - another Object of Power. Between you and the Hotline, however, are the forces of the Hiss. So it's time to journey further into the mysterious Oldest House.

On this page:

Need more help in your quest through the Oldest House? Then check out our Control walkthrough hub, with links to all our Control guides.

13 Ways Control Gameplay Connects To Alan Wake - Control + Alan Wake Easter Eggs!Watch on YouTube

Starting Unknown Caller in Control

If you want to know more about the world of Control, then take the time to talk to Emily. She can give you more information about the Hiss, Oldest House, Director Trench, Objects of Power and Hedron Resonance Amplifiers.

Once you've finished chatting to Emily, head to the back of the Board Room and open the chest here to receive a House Memory.

Before you head on to find the Hotline, it's worth investigating the offices you reclaimed by cleansing the Control Point for collectables and chests. You will find two chests on the upper floor of Central Executive.

When you've finished exploring head through the doors directly north of the Control Point on the ground floor. There is a chest, on the left-hand side, once you walk through the doors.

Head down the stairs and through the doors behind the poorly build barricade. In this new room, you'll be attacked by 2 Hiss Guards - you know what to do. Make sure you open the chest in this office before you leave.

You'll now find yourself in the Cafeteria. There is a red, distorted, corridor that has been overtaken by the Hiss. Do not head that way or else you will take damage.

This corridor is a no go.

Either head down the stairs or jump over the ledge to reach the Cafeteria. You will be attacked by 5 Hiss Guards when you do. When their defeated, you can open the chest in the men's toilet.

Go through the doors in the north-western corner of the Cafeteria to enter the Dead Letter department.

Head down the first set of stairs and, on the level below you, 4 Hiss Guards will appear. Be careful - there will also be a Hiss Range, which will be protected by a shield. Until you defeat it of course.

There are two new chests for you to open, before you continue on into the Dead Letter Department. The first is behind the set of stairs and the second is in the left hand side office.

Now head down the next set of stairs, across the lower section of the department and up either set of stairs to the next floor.

You'll be attacked by 3 Hiss Guard when you reach the top floor. After killing them, cleanse the Control Point to return the Dead Letters department to normal.

Before continuing to the Communications Department, you might want to re-explore the Dead Letters department. Cleansing the Control Point has opened some of the closed offices, allowing you to add some more Collectables to your collection. If you look hard enough you might find what passes for children's entertainment in the Bureau of Control.

Collectables to be found:

  • Correspondence - Non-Official - Shifted Bathroom Complaint
    • (In the second floor office directly north from the first Control Point.)
  • Research & Records - Research - Technological Restrictions
    • (In the second floor office north-west from the first Control Point.)
  • Correspondence - Official - Travel Costs
    • (On a cabinet against the southern wall in the room after the barricade directly north of the first Control Point.)
  • Research & Records - Hiss Research - Hiss Barrier
    • (Trying to walk down the Hiss infected corridor in the Cafeteria.)
  • Correspondence - Official - Unstable Area Notice
    • (In the women's toilet in the Cafeteria.)
  • Correspondence - Dead Letters - Machine God
    • (Next to the wet floor signs on the left as you enter the Dead Letters department. You may hear music.)
The locations of collectables - Shifted Bathroom Complaint, Travel Costs, Unstable Area Notice and Machine God.
  • Correspondence - Dead Letters - Singing Fish
    • (In the south-western corner of the Dead Letters department once you've gone down the first set of stairs. May be hard to see in the dark.)
  • Correspondence - Official - Trench: Dead Letter Approval
    • (In the middle right hand office after first entering the Dead Letter department. May be hard to see in the dark.)
  • Multimedia - Darling Presentations - Floppy Disk
    • (After cleansing the Control Point - in the office to the right of the Control Point, next to the doors to the Communication Department.)
  • Correspondence - Non-Official - Book Club: Penny
    • (After cleansing the Dead Letters Control Point - a cabinet in one of the formerly closed offices on the lower floor.)
  • Multimedia - Threshold Kids - Missing Momma
    • (After cleansing the Dead Letters Control Point - turn on the television in one of the formerly closed offices on the lower floor.)
  • Correspondence - Dead Letters - Dead Presidents
    • (After cleansing the Dead Letters Control Point - on a cabinet in one of the formerly closed offices on the lower floor.)
The locations of collectables - Singing Fish, Trench: Dead Letter Approval, Floppy Disk, Book Club: Penny, Missing Momma and Dead Presidents.

Navigate through the Communications Department in Control

Head through the doors right of the Control Point. If you go up the stairs you find after this doorway, you won't find the Communications Department, but you will find a chest.

As you walk down the corridor, a man will be thrown out of Pneumatics, a canister hitting him in the head.

That's going to hurt in the morning.

Since the passageway to the Mail Room has been blocked off, you'll have to investigate Pneumatics and what attacked him.

Before you do, consider heading into the shelter at the end of the corridor. Inside you'll find a chest and a new collectable.

Collectables to be found:

  • Correspondence - Non-Official - Book Club: Samson
    • (In the shelter at the end of the corridor after the Dead Letters Control Point.)
The location of the Book Club: Samson collectable.

Reach the Object of Power to Cleanse it in Control

Entering Pneumatics will introduce you to what attacked the man - an Object of Power that is throwing objects about the room. You need to cleanse the Object of Power.

Crouch down behind objects to avoid the projectiles it sends towards you. If you get hit, you will take damage.

Sprint to the stairs on the right-hand side of the room, making sure to dodge or hide from any projectiles, and then, once you're on the upper floor, across the walkway to the left side of the room. From there, run down the next set of stairs and cleanse the Object of Power.


It’s time to journey into the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control. Our Control walkthrough can help you through the storyline missions, including Welcome to the Oldest House, Unknown Caller, Directorial Override, Old Boy’s Club, Threshold, My Brother's Keeper, The Face of the Enemy, Finnish Tango, Polaris and Take Control. You can also learn new supernatural powers by completing A Merry Chase, A Good Defence and A Captive Audience. We also have guides on upgrading the Service Weapon, your Abilities, how to use Weapon and Personal Mods, how to unlock every outfit and the solution to the Roulette Wheel puzzle.


Use Launch to complete the Astral Plane challenge in Control

Cleansing the Floppy Disk will return you to the Astral Plane. Like with your previous visit to the Astral Plane, you're here to learn how to use your new Launch powers.

Destroy barricades and unlock new pathways by using your powers to control the blocks that you find in your path.

You will eventually come to a plateau, where you have to use your new Launch powers to kill Check number enemies the plane creates.

Be careful though, just like how the Service Weapon needs to recharge, so does your Launch power. Make sure you taking cover and not just running into battle.

Once you've defeated these enemies, interact with the small line of floating cubes to return to the Bureau of Control and continue your search for the Hotline.

Collectables to be found:

  • Case Files - Objects of Power - Floppy Disk
    • (Receive automatically after completing the Astral Plane tutorial for the Floppy Disk.)

To continue the Unknown Caller mission, visit our guide on searching for the Hotline.