Deus Ex Diaries Part Five

This is my ongoing exploration of the Deus Ex Universe, in preparation for when Mankind Divided arrives later this year. Whether you’re a newcomer or an old-goer, I hope to make this something you can read along with and enjoy. We continue on with Deus Ex.

With the Ambrosia recovered from the NSF, JC Denton’s world was shaken by the newfound knowledge that his brother Paul is working with the terrorists. Sent to Hong Kong, the helicopter pilot Jock instead took me to New York to meet up with an injured Paul. Asking for help, he sent me to go to the NSF warehouse and send a coded message.

I went around the block and through a tunnel, finding the warehouse swarming with UNATCO troops. They asked why I was there and not Hong Kong, but I blagged and they let me in. Paul radioed to tell me where to find some information he left — under some boxes — but I couldn’t find it no matter how many cardboard and steel boxes I moved...

Nor how much trash I smashed!

I went upstairs, still looking, and casually chucked a box of TNT over the balcony of the third floor. That did not go well and I retreated onto the roof, where I hacked a computer which let me into the inner room so I could send the message. I figured I wasn’t finding this information, so sent away.

Walter Simons, the FEMA agent, then radioed me to tell me that I was now an expensive mistake and it was too much hassle to activate the killswitch. “Uh oh,” I uttered as UNATCO troops swarmed in to gun me down…

Many murders later, I left the area to return to The Ton and Paul. I asked why Simons had the authority to shut me down (though I had acted against UNATCO), when he was only FEMA. Paul explained that Simons was part of an organisation called Majestic 12. The MJ12 guards from before!

Suddenly there’s a robotic voice. The bodyguards from back at UNATCO when Simons arrived — Men in Black. No, not those ones. Less singing and funny, more robotic and shooty. They wanted me to turn myself over: Paul wanted me to go out the window.

Later's bro!

I barely feel guilty as I leave Paul to die, making my escape to the subway so I could get to Battery Park and Jock. Only one troop, which I skirted around, but two robots were near the subway entrance which I had to run past. Luckily they are from the Dalek/ED-209 school of staircase users, so once I hit those I was homefree!

Until Anna Navarre found me at the Battery Park subway station… She confronted me, she exploded in a LAM-fueled explosion. Because that’s how I roll.

I made my way upstairs and there was Gunther Hermann: with about 12 assorted robots and troops. I had two options: fight or surrender. I figured I would try my luck and see what happened — and was shot dead.

At least, until I woke up in an MJ12 jail cell…

"I won't sugarcoat this... Shit."

I looked around my cell with four mirrors and a toilet, and when I went near the door a voice called Daedalus radioed me, telling me to be ready for when the door opened. With a shrug, I went under the half-open door and into the hallway. A couple of cells with a guard at the end.

As I made my escape, Daedalus contacted me again, telling me to go and retrieve a data cube from Paul’s body, stored to the north. But first thing’s first. I’ve spent hours collecting every little thing that will fit into my inventory — I’ve got to retrieve that before I go near Paul.