Deus Ex Diaries Part Fifty-Three (The Fall)

This is my ongoing exploration of the Deus Ex Universe, in release order. Whether you’re a newcomer or an old-goer, I hope to make this something you can read along with and enjoy. This time I begin Deus Ex: The Fall.

After a brief origin story by Ben Saxon to Anna Kelso where he explained the one mission he carried out as a member of the Tyrants, we were now back in present day Costa Rica…

Kelso lamented that Saxon’s fall from the Tyrant jetliner had caused his augmentations to reset, before asking for a round-up of the information we now had. The Tyrants were being aimed at things by whomever controlled the Killing Floor, and their ability to pull off the Project Rainbird double-cross meant that they had significant resources in Australia. Suddenly, Kelso was struck by Neuropozyne withdrawal, so I grabbed the meds from the bedroom.

Once she was feeling better, I went down into the secret basement to speak to Janus — we were apparently now a part of the Juggernaut Collective. Unfortunately, Janus had no way to get us more Neuropozyne, so we’d have to get it from a L.I.M.B. clinic. They knew of a doctor in Panama City called Alverez Araujo, and if I needed weapons I should hit up one of the many black market dealers.

Deciding to take the maglev line to the city to find Araujo, I hung up and went back upstairs to find Kelso waiting to talk to me. She wanted to come with me, but agreed that it would be too risky for both of us to be seen together, so she would use the time to get in touch with some of her old contacts. I took a 10mm pistol and left the safehouse.

I looked around the train station, finding supplies in bins and left in the bathrooms. I used the opportunity to upgrade myself with Emotion Enhancer and Move Heavy Objects, since I had three Praxis points, and had spotted a large crate in front of a ventilation shaft. That took me into the station’s office which had a few items, a safe, and a computer. The computer had an email with a code to the safe, which had some credits inside. While I was opening it, I could hear Eliza Cassan on the news talking about a new pharmaceutical firm called Zaaphire Biotech, which was about to release an alternative to Neuropozyne called Riezene.

Once I had grabbed everything that I could find, I left the station to head up to the boardwalk. I looked around a bit, grabbing some credits, alcohol, and pocket secretaries that people had left laying around, before walking past a club called Nightshades, the music thudding loudly even outside of the building. As I entered an alleyway, I was hit by a Darrow Deficiency Syndrome (DDS) seizure which must have been bad, because Kelso called to make sure that I was alright. Despite clearly going through Neuropozyne withdrawal, I assured her that I was fine.

I hacked into a panel next to a gate to get some stun darts, but the gate opposite required a higher hacking ability than I possessed. Luckily, moving a nearby box out of the way gave me access to a pocket secretary holding the gate code: 5643. It turned out that it was a back way into Nightshades, though I wasn’t sure why I would need it — nonetheless I went inside the club for a nose around.

Inside Nightshades, I explored a little, managing to not alert anyone as I moved through ventilation shafts. It took some doing, but I was able to force myself to leave some credit chips on the floor near some dancers, not wanting to rouse suspicion. Unable to find anything worth risking my neck for other than some credits and alcohol, I left the club via the rear entrance when I was unable to get inside a locked office — I would have to come back later.

I used the opportunity to upgrade my hacking to Capture 2, though the office in Nightshades required Capture 3, and headed into the slum in search of Doctor Araujo. I was greeted by a nice gang member who threatened me despite me walking on the other side of the street. There didn’t appear to be many people, or much loot, so I went inside the underground clinic, and walked straight over to Doctor Araujo.

Deciding to be direct, I told him that I needed a supply of Neuropozyne. Araujo told me that he didn’t deal in it as the profit margins were awful, and there was a shortage. However, he did have some of the cheaper alternative Reizene that I’d heard about. He could only give me a single dose, but offered me an untraceable way to get Neuropozyne from the local L.I.M.B. clinic: a Preferred Client Card. However, to get it from him, he asked me a riddle.

“A man is cast adrift, with no family bonds, no old friends, and no morals to guide his actions. What do you call him?”

Not in the mood to guess, I sprayed him with pheromones thanks to my Computer Assisted Social Interaction Enhancer (CASIE) augmentation, and replied with “a man who is free to do anything he pleases”. He happily handed over the card and told me to speak to Doctor Cardoso at the L.I.M.B. clinic.

Before leaving, I decided to check for any loot, and found a locked door which I hacked. I then hacked the computer inside, finding an email to Araujo from a Camilla, promising to get some documents out of his safe if anything happened to him. Luckily for me, the code for the safe was included: 0001. So I opened the safe, grabbing an ID File and some credits before heading for the exit. However, I heard a familiar voice coming from the TV. Eliza Casan was interviewing Bob Page about a possible AIDS cure involving nanotech…

As I tried to leave the slums, someone stopped me and asked me to look for their boyfriend Luis. He had joined the local gang, the Skulls, and gone missing days ago. I agreed to help out, and began looking for a quiet way into Skull territory. Saxon called Kelso to get her up to speed, summing up what happened so far while I knocked out a guy and climbed a ladder. I figured that I could probably use the rooftop I found myself on as a way into the building that the Skulls were guarding, but one of them spotted me and I had to shoot them all, allowing me to simply use the front door into the drug den.

Since my radar showed a bunch of people, I snuck through a couple of ventilation shafts. There was a mine in one of them which I attempted to disarm only for it to explode in my face; somehow it didn’t alert a single Skull. I did locate a ladder which took me up to where there was only a single gang member, so I knocked him out and carefully crossed the bridge that he was patrolling. Much to my delight, I was able to access the drug lab without being spotted!

Since I was able to see more hostiles on my radar, I remained hidden and knocked them all out before looting the place. I hacked a door open, but there was a mine in the hallway so I avoided it, finding my way to another locked door sealing a storage room. Inside was Luis’ leg, so I grabbed it, then resumed my exploration. I found myself in a passageway with an electrified floor, but a large pipe allowed me to bypass it and locate the switch to disarm it. I found a Praxis kit, but also two more Skulls who were facing in my direction and not moving. I threw a concussion grenade and shot them both before exiting into the garage.

Immediately, I could hear the telltale “beep” of a mine, so I avoided the alley to my right, instead crawling through a shaft into the garage with its multiple Skulls. I managed to take down a few of them before I was spotted, and shot the rest. There was an electrified patch on the ground, but I disabled that with a lever on the wall before having a look outside, finding another hostile as well as an automated turret. Unfortunately, after killing that guy it turned out to be a waste of time, since there was nothing outside other than the Belltower truck that the turret had apparently been liberated from.

Going back to the alley that I had avoided, I shot the mines and then the Skulls who were out there, finding some decent loot and a safe in one of the makeshift shelters. It had a laser sight and a few credits inside, but there wasn’t much else before I went back inside the drug den. I decided to avoid the surviving members of the Skulls, and snuck back outside, returning to the person who asked me to find Luis. However, I first did some upgrades: Armor Level 1, Punch Through Wall, and Capture 3.

Reporting on Luis’ condition, I decided to be harsh, which they did not appreciate, then I headed back to the Boardwalk — I had an appointment to keep…