History of The Paper Crane

Overview

The Paper Crane is a side quest in The Edge of Fate about the Dark Matter Radiolaria pools and the Vex. Orin supplies the narration, and Ikora Rey comments on the findings. It unlocks after completing the Quarantine mission (part of The Gorge Strangelet) and starts at a radiolaria pool in The Gorge. It is short, with five steps and mostly travel, plus a couple of fights.

Walkthrough

1. Investigate the Radiolaria pool in The Gorge that shows Dark Matter signatures.
2. Defeat the Vex ambush guarding the pool. One guide notes it includes an Uplifted Choral Hydra; killing a few of them is enough to advance.
3. Ikora suspects a life form (possibly a plant) is feeding on the dark matter. Search the Caldera and follow the waypoint to the specimen.
4. Ghost tracks dark matter traces to The Stacks. Interact with the marked Matterspark device near where you landed.
5. Find the Aionian Shrine to Failure. Follow the marker into the cave to the laser gate, kill the Brig in the middle and deposit the charge to open the shrine. The shrine may give a clue to the history of the Aionians.

Rewards

Sources disagree on the reward: one lists Legendary gear and a Fated Cipher, another lists 3 Fated Ciphers plus an AION Renewal Suit armor piece or a Kepler weapon. The in-game reward list was empty in the database used here, so verify in game.

Trivia

Orin explains with the metaphor of folding a paper crane how the Nine manipulate spacetime, and how dark matter cuts Vex off from their collective mind.