If you only played the Alan Wake games, Ahti would be a new face for you when you encounter him in the Dark Place for the first time in Alan Wake 2, but the janitor who speaks in strange ways has actually appeared before, in Control.
The Remedy Connected Universe unites the studio’s other games in the same universe, which means the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) and The Oldest House exist in the same world as Bright Falls and the Dark Place. Ahti is one of the connections between the two; a mysterious creature that looks like a Finnish man but isn’t.
Ahti the Janitor in Control
You first encounter Ahti in The Oldest House mopping the hallway. He has the same appearance as in Alan Wake 2, including the same janitor uniform. Ahti tells the protagonist—Jesse Faden—that she works for him as the Janitor Assistent and asks her for help in completing some tasks like repairing the cooling system and cleaning a pipe.
Those tasks are not what they seem to be, however. Cleaning the pipes actually means killing a monster called The Clog, cleaning mold means shooting large glowing bubbles of mold that are taking up the whole place, and burning trash means throwing toxic waste to appease a being that demands human sacrifice.
It’s clear Ahti isn’t a normal janitor and his role is much more complex than just mopping the floors. In reality, Ahti is a paranormal entity designated as Entity A-001 by the FBC. You can find documents in the FBC that indicate his work as a janitor is classified information and that other staff members shouldn’t interfere.
Ahti helps Jesse lift the lockdown in return for completing the tasks but she’ll need to find him again in the Finnish Tango mission. When she arrives at the Janitor’s Office, there is a painting of Ahti in a cabin holding a bottle and wearing nothing but a towel. The janitor got his vacation.
Ahti the Janitor in Alan Wake 2
You get to meet Ahti with both Alan and Saga in Alan Wake 2. The first time is with Alan during Initiation One: Late Night when entering the Janitor’s Office in the Talk Show Studio. Ahti calls Alan “Tom,” even after Alan corrects him. Ahti gives his Janitor keys and directs Alan to the basement, so he can make his own exit.
Alan has a quick encounter with Ahti after the musical ends in the Initiation Four: We Sing chapter. He’ll be humming and singing to Herald of Darkness while mopping the theater floor. Ahti appears for the last time before the game’s end for Alan during Initiation Seven: Masks. He is in the same Janitor’s Office where Alan first met him, but this time, he’ll send you to get Alan’s wife’s light pictures.
Saga meets Ahti during Return Three: Local Girl in Watery, where she’ll see him singing karaoke on stage at Suomi Hall. The other time Saga meets Ahti is in Return Five: Old Gods, at the Valhalla Nursing Home next to the jukebox. He puts an Old Gods of Asgard song to play, has a quick chat with Saga, and goes back to mopping.
He’ll only appear again when Saga is trying to enter the door marked with a spiral. Ahti appears out of nowhere to tell her getting in that door is forbidden for her own sake and that she can go to the basement and check on the generator when the lights go out.
