The Stray Atomic Battery is found at the end of your journey through the Neco Corporation factory, and it's an essential item for Clementine to power up the Old Subway so you can move the storyline forward. However, you can't just grab it and escape, as once you've evaded the sentinels throughout the facility and reached the final room there's a puzzle to solve so you can extract this power source from its container. To complete this you'll need to shift different objects into position to trigger various switches, so if you're wondering how to get the Stray Atomic Battery or what to use it for, then I've got the solution for you.
Keep in mind that unlike other optional side quests such as finding all music sheets in Stray or earning the Stray Badges, the battery is mandatory – you need to find it to progress the story and complete the game.
How to get the Atomic Battery in Stray
When you reach the end of the factory infiltration in Midtown, you'll find the Stray Atomic Battery puzzle after rolling the barrel through the red laser beams. You can see the battery, but it's encased within a protective tube that you'll have to open up before you can access it.
To get started, activate the first maintenance unit and have it follow you over to the storage cage off to the side. Climb on top of it then jump up and over the fence to get inside, before activating the lever to open the gate.
You now have two maintenance units you can activate, so lead them to the two floor switches directly opposite each other, then turn them off so they remain in position and the lights on the switches stay green.
Activating those two opposite switches will raise the central tube containing the Stray atomic battery off the ground, allowing you to roll the barrel underneath it and across to the third floor switch to activate it.
With all three floor switches turned green, the central tube will open up to reveal your prize – congratulations, you've completed the Stray Atomic Battery puzzle!
As soon as you grab it, the factory will shut down and the alarm will sound, so head through the open shutter to the rickety platform outside and then ride the bucket pulley back to Midtown to make your escape.
Where to use the Atomic Battery in Stray
A number of events will happen in the storyline after you complete this heist, but you'll eventually end up back in the station with the Stray Atomic Battery and the Subway Key. It's not immediately obvious what to do next, so pass through the train to the opposite platform – where you automatically collected one of the Stray Memories on your first visit – then head down the orange-lit stairs.
Follow the trailing power cable all the way back to the blue-lit area where you first started the Midtown chapter, and you'll find a large control panel with space to use an item. Insert the Stray Atomic Battery here and the whole station system will power up, allowing you to use the Subway Key in the train cab and move on to the final chapter in the game.
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