Ascension Easter Egg Guide — Casimir Mechanism (Black Ops 1 Zombies on PS5)

Overview

Ascension, set in an abandoned Soviet cosmodrome, is where main quest easter eggs began. Its quest — the Casimir Mechanism — frees the mysterious Gersch from the map.

Can you do the Ascension easter egg solo? ❌ No. The Casimir Mechanism requires 4 players — one step needs four buttons pressed simultaneously in different parts of the map, and the PS5 version is a straight port, so the original requirement still applies. If you're playing solo, the map is still one of the best pure-survival maps in BO1, and the musical easter egg is fully solo-friendly (see below).

Requirements: 4 players, power on, the Gersch Device from the Mystery Box, and ideally the Matryoshka Dolls for the finale.

Step 1: Activate the First Node

After turning on the power, go to the Stamin-Up lunar lander area. Under the staircase near the zombie barrier is a small computer monitor/keypad.

Interact with it — a Kassimir Mechanism node activates and Gersch speaks to you. (Have a Gersch Device in hand from the Mystery Box before starting; you'll need it throughout.)

Step 2: The Monkey Round Button Puzzle (Why You Need 4 Players)

This step can only be done during a Space Monkey round.

1. When the monkey round starts, four red buttons spawn at fixed spots around the map.
2. Each of the four players stands at one button, and all four must be pressed at the same time (coordinate a countdown).
3. While doing this, don't let the monkeys steal your perks — defend the machines you care about.

This simultaneous four-button press is the hard gate that makes the easter egg impossible with fewer than four players.

Step 3: The Clock Platform

1. All four players go to the platform beneath where the rocket engines would rest (under the rocket test pad).
2. Stand on the platform together for one full minute — a clock ticks through one complete rotation while zombies keep coming.
3. Keep a crawler or use a Gersch Device to buy space. After the minute, the clock dematerializes and the node is confirmed.

Step 4: Spell L-U-N-A with the Lunar Landers

1. Ride the lunar landers between stations — each correct trip makes a glowing letter appear in the air.
2. The goal is to spell "LUNA" by riding the landers in the correct sequence.
3. If you ride a wrong route, no letter appears — keep going until all four letters float above the map.
4. When LUNA is complete, launch the rocket from the control panel if the quest asks for it.

Step 5: Free Gersch (Finale)

1. A glowing orb appears near the lander gantry.
2. Throw a Gersch Device at the orb, then hit it with everything: Matryoshka Dolls, Ray Gun, Thundergun — all four players fire every weapon they have into it.
3. When enough damage is poured in, the orb rises, Gersch is freed, and he thanks the crew.

Reward: every player receives a 90-second Death Machine, and the Casimir Mechanism trophy unlocks. The samovar in the sky and Gersch's freedom also set up the Moon storyline.

Musical Easter Egg — "Abracadavre" (✅ Solo)

Find and interact with the three teddy bears hidden around the map — one is near the starting room/centrifuge area, one sits by the Sickle, and one is found along the lander routes. Activate all three and Abracadavre by Elena Siegman plays. Fully doable solo.

FAQ

Can the Casimir Mechanism be done with 2 or 3 players? No — the monkey round step needs four buttons pressed simultaneously, one player each. Four players is a hard requirement on console.

Did the PS5 port change the requirement? No. It's a straight port of the original, so the 4-player requirement (and all the original quirks) remain.

What do you get for completing it? A 90-second Death Machine for everyone, the trophy, and a key piece of the Aether storyline — completing Ascension's quest is also part of the setup for Moon's Big Bang Theory easter egg.

Tips

• Do the button step on the first monkey round you can — later monkey rounds get hectic.
• Keep Gersch Devices in reserve: they're your panic button during the clock platform step.
• Matryoshka Dolls + Ray Gun make the finale orb phase much faster.
• Buy PhD Flopper — it makes the Ray Gun and doll spam during the finale risk-free.