Players will need to make several life-or-death decisions in Starfield, but there are a handful of choices that result only in death regardless of which option they choose. One of these comes during the Entangled side quest, with players asked to choose between two different versions of reality that are linked together by one of the Artifacts and an experimental machine.
In one version of the lab is Rafael: a Nishina researcher who had been presumed dead for many years. In the other are twenty or thirty people, with players forced to choose which of the two alternate universes is wiped from existence. It may seem like an easy choice on paper, but Starfield players may want to think about the potential consequences before coming to a decision.
Since this article was first written it has been discovered that players can actually save everybody during the Entangled mission of Starfield. To do so, they'll need to follow the steps detailed here.
Should You Save Rafael or Director Patel?
After making their way through the lab and reaching the malfunctioning probe, players will get to choose which version of reality they want to save. They'll know when the time has come to make a decision when their active objective changes to "Disengage Power Interlocks (0/7) or Switch Universes". At this point, whichever universe they choose to remove the Artifact in will be the one that gets saved. The other will cease to exist.
If players choose to save Rafael's version of reality, they'll be able to recruit Rafael as a companion. If they decide to save Director Patel's reality, they'll instead get a Legendary Spacesuit and Helmet, these being the Incendiary Calibrated Experimental Nishina Spacesuit and the Reactive Refined Experimental Nishina Helmet. They'll get a few thousand extra Credits too, though given how easy it is to earn Credits in Starfield, this shouldn't really factor into their decision too much.
On paper, choosing to save the Director and everybody else at the Nishina lab seems like the right thing to do, as many lives are arguably a lot more important than the life of just one man. However, some may see things differently. In the long run, having an additional crew member may prove to be a lot more useful than having yet another Spacesuit, even if it is a Legendary one. After all, there are better Spacesuits and Helmets available in Starfield for those who know where to look, but there is only one Rafael.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X|S.