Hacking will not work until electricity is restored to the ship! That being said, plenty of characters are working on electricity being restored here!

As for John, he can certainly break into one of the easier doors by himself, closer to the rooms. If he does phase through the first few doors, he will find a storage room with a ton of notebooks in them. They don't have any real meaning to them, though, because they're all written in a different language. Additionally, the room will have some spare blankets and bedding in them, along with a few spare jumpsuits.