Underground Exchange in Probably Stolen: the Directive, how to trade and every offer
The Underground Exchange is a night-time barter run by the janitorial staff. You drop the requested items in the trash can, use the Janitorial Service, and the reward is left in the trash can by morning. The Underground Exchange Directive item lists the current offers. It is not tracked by Security, but it is closed to you if your Black Market reputation falls to −40.
How do you unlock the Underground Exchange?
There are three ways:
- Sawyer’s visit. If you have not unlocked it yet, Sawyer (of the janitorial staff, a Black Market contact) visits on day 25, explains the Exchange and gives you the Underground Exchange Directive.
- The Fence scenario. The Exchange is unlocked from the start.
- The Sawyer’s Crew perk. The Exchange is available from the start, the Janitorial Service is free unless the store is vandalized, and Sawyer hands over the Directive on day 1 (unless you skip the intro).
How does a trade work?
- Open the Underground Exchange Directive (activate the item) and read the offers: “Permanent Exchanges” and “Promotional Exchanges”.
- Put the requested items in the trash can.
- Use the Janitorial Service for the night. Without the Janitorial Service, no exchange happens.
- In the morning the reward is in the trash can.
Each exchange can happen once per night (“Once Per Night”). If several offers match what is in the bin, all of them are processed, and each completed exchange also increases your Black Market reputation progress. Items you hand over are consumed even when an offer gives you nothing (see Dream Dust below). Radioactive Waste is never destroyed by the bin; see the radioactive waste guide.
Be careful with contraband: an inspection searches the trash can, except when the officer is a lazy inspector who skips it.
What are the permanent exchanges?
There are seven, always available while you are not blacklisted:
| You give | You get |
|---|---|
| 3 Water Filters | 1 Water Filter |
| 2 modules | 1 module of a type you did not hand in: Performance, Efficiency or Quality (most likely), Overclock, Eco or Refinement (a third as likely each). 1% chance of a Neural Core Module (Capped) instead |
| 2 Vials of “Dream Dust” | Random goods, only if their purities add up to 60 or more (see below) |
| 1 Disposable Keycard (Command) | 2 random Disposable Keycards from Security, Engineering and Medical |
| 2 poison items (Zyanide Pill, Vial of “Nightmare Dust”, Nightmare Cap) | An Energy Cell with charge equal to the total value of the two items (a chemical product counts for half its purity), maximum 100 |
| 2 ammunition items | A number of food items equal to 2 plus the contraband and restricted levels of the ammunition: Galaxy Blend (about 41%), Cat Chocolate Bar (20%), PEAT (16%), Soda (13%), Pilk (10%) |
| 1 Smuggler’s Bay and 8 Oxymore Injectors | Smuggler’s Bay (Modified) |
Dream Dust. The two vials’ purities are added. Below 60 you get nothing and the vials are still taken. At 60 or more you get one random reward: a Water Filter, Raw Meat (Small), a Metal Ingot, Electronic Parts (Common), Medical Supplies (Common), a Blood Bag, two Birth Control Pills, a Kitchen Knife, a Food Stamp (80 credits) or, most often, PEAT. At 120 or more many rewards are doubled or extended (a Meat Cleaver with the knife, Box of REX Condoms with the pills, 3 PEAT), and a Self Charging Energy Cell, a Scavenger’s Token or an Energy Cell become possible.
What are the promotional exchanges?
Three of these seven are active at a time, picked at random (the Directive says they reset on Monday).
| You give | You get |
|---|---|
| 4 Vials of “Dream Dust” | A reward scaled by their average purity (see below) |
| 3 Disposable Keycards (Security) | Security Department Supply Crate |
| 4 Disposable Keycards (Medical) | Medical Bay Supply Crate |
| 4 Disposable Keycards (Engineering) | Engineering Foundry Supply Crate |
| 5 seed items | Energy Cell charged to 100 |
| 1 Scavenger’s Token | +25 Black Market reputation |
| 2 Oxymore Injectors | 1 genuine Immunivax Injector |
Improved Dream Dust. The average purity of the four vials decides the tier; each tier is a weighted random roll.
| Average purity | Possible rewards (chance) |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | 2 Basic Bandages |
| 30 to 44 | Basic, Hemostatic and Topical Medication Bandage (40%), Medical Supplies (Common) (35%), Oxymore Injector (25%) |
| 45 to 59 | 2 Oxymore Injectors (35%), 2 Medical Supplies (25%), an expired Immunivax Injector (20%), 3 Blood Bags (15%), a genuine Immunivax Injector (5%) |
| 60 to 79 | 3 Oxymore Injectors (44%), 5 Medical Supplies (14%), expired Immunivax Injector with 2 Blood Bags (12%), 5 Blood Bags (11%), genuine Immunivax Injector (7%), Synaprest Injector (6%), Bag of “Blue Blood” (6%) |
| 80 to 89 | Genuine Immunivax Injector with 3 Oxymore Injectors (30%), 5 Medical Supplies with Nightingale’s Salve (20%), “Blue Blood” with a Blood Bag (20%), Surgery Toolset with 2 Blood Bags (15%), Synaprest Injector (15%) |
| 90 to 98 | Synaprest Injector (30%), 2 genuine Immunivax Injectors with Nightingale’s Salve (25%), “Blue Blood” with 2 Oxymore Injectors (20%), Surgery Toolset with a genuine Immunivax Injector (15%), Synaprest Injector with “Blue Blood” (10%) |
| 99 or more | Synaprest Injector with a genuine Immunivax Injector (40%), 2 Bags of “Blue Blood” (30%), 3 genuine Immunivax Injectors (20%), 2 Synaprest Injectors (10%) |
Who can use it?
Black Market reputation matters. At −40 (the Blacklisted perk) Black Market customers stop selling you contraband, you are barred from the Underground Exchange, and the Janitorial Service costs double. See black market and contraband.
FAQ
How do I start the Underground Exchange? Reach day 25 and talk to Sawyer, or start as a Fence, or take the Sawyer’s Crew perk.
Where do I put the items? In the trash can, then use the Janitorial Service for the night.
Where is the reward? In the trash can the next morning.
Why did nothing happen? The Janitorial Service was not used, you are blacklisted, or you used a barter that was already done that night. A Dream Dust trade also gives nothing below 60 total purity.
Can I trade every night? Each offer can be taken once per night, so one batch of the same offer per night.