Your father locked portions of SAM's memory array, and SAM is unable to recall certain information. You must explore in order to find the numerous memory triggers scattered throughout the world.
To get this quest you need to tak to SAM in SAM Node (Hyperion - Habitation Deck).
1. Find a way to remove SAM's memory blocks
Go to Alec's quarters and pick up the memory trigger.

2. Speak with SAM in SAM Node about an unlocked memory
Go back to SAM Node and speak with SAM.
3. Search for memory triggers that will unlock SAM's array
From time to time, after collecting a few memory triggers (3?), you will be able to return to SAM Node and watch another unlocked memory.
3.1. Optional: Visit your sibling in Hyperion's cryo bay
This objective will be added to your journal when you complete A Better Beginning mission.

Locations of other memory triggers.
Eos #1 - Prodromos

Eos #2

Eos #3

Havarl #1

Havarl #2

Havarl #3
Accessible during / after A Dying Planet mission.

Voeld #1

Voeld #2

Voeld #3

Kadara #1

Kadara #2

Kadara #3

Elaaden #1

Elaaden #2

Elaaden #3

4. Investigate Alec's logs in his quarters on the Hyperion
This mission objective will be added to your journal when you unlock the memory about the mysterious "benefactor".
Go to Alec's room and listen to "benefactor" logs.

5. Speak with Director Tann about the "benefactor"


6. Investigate the Nexus records about Jien Garson's death

Garson investigation [CLOSED]
File #1A98 - Addendum
Update to the missing persons report filed on Jien Garson: maintenance crew found her body in a Nexus apartment. Severe burns were apparent, similar to others we saw who were killed during Scourge disaster. It's unclear how she got there, but confusion and disorientation during the Scourge event are likely. Events align with the timeline.
CAUSE OF DEATH: Casualty of Scourge disaster.
STATUS: Case closed
7. Investigate the Nexus apartment where Jien Garson was found dead

8. Scan the room for clues

9. Continue scanning the room for more information

10. Investigate the hidden room

11. Speak with Garson's VI display in the Nexus Cultural Exchange
"Secret message".


12. ON HOLD: Find a way to unlock the extra security on your father's final memory
You need to find and unlock all memory triggers and progress main story, meet with your sister / brother at the beginning of The Journey to Meridian mission.
13. Speak with SAM in SAM Node about an unlocked memory
Talk to SAM in SAM Node one more time.


Removal of the memory block sheds light on the renewed urgency behind the Initiative's launch. An unknown benefactor working with Jien Garson, and Alec Ryder himself, believed claims concerning "the Reapers," reportedly a galaxy-wide menace that returns at 50,000-year intervals to threaten all life in the Milky Way. The Andromeda Initiative's priorities secretly changed from a purely scientific and colonization effort, to a last-resort measure to preserve sentient life.
Details on the current situation in the Milky Way are sparse and impossible to confirm. A non-QEC signal in either direction, traveling at light speed, would take 2.5 million years to arrive. This lends new weight to the Initiative's success here in Andromeda.
14. Meet with your sister / brother at your mother's stasis pod in Hyperion cryo bay
You have unlocked your father's final memory, which revealed that your mother is still alive—aboard the Hyperion. Visit her stasis pod.

