FADE IN:

INT. MYSTERIOUS LOCATION

A MYSTERIOUS INTRO shows a group of MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE talking to NOT-SO-MYSTERIOUS BOB PAGE.

BOB PAGE

Good thing the first Deus Ex has already characterised me as bastardly evil.

(beat)

Greetings, my fellow conspirators who are now also evil by association! Let's discuss a bunch of things that won't make sense until people have finished the game.

CUT TO:

INT. SARIF INDUSTRIES - DETROIT

SECURITY EXPERT ADAM JENSEN is talking to SCIENTIST SUPERMODEL MEGAN REED.

ADAM JENSEN

Well, this is promising. I've got the same trenchcoat with popped collar and deadpan smoker's voice as JC Denton. My surname even rhymes with his. Although somehow I look more like a cosmopolitan Jin Kazama.

MEGAN REED

Yes, but at least you have a more defined backstory, which includes a traumatic past event and a relationship with me.

ADAM JENSEN

Let's hope those two weren't the same thing.

MEGAN REED

Now, I've discovered how to make the human body accept mechanical augmentations without the constant need for the expensive anti-rejection drug Neuropozyne. I'm amazed I found the time in between turning down all those offers from Tom Ford.

ADAM JENSEN

Well done. I'd pat you on the shoulder, but I'm afraid I might cut my hand on your ridiculous frill.

MEGAN REED

Come on, let's take a guided tour through the labs. And when I say guided, I mean we're just shy of sticking you aboard a slow-moving tram.

MEGAN takes ADAM past some LABS, after which they get into an ELEVATOR.

MEGAN REED

Adam, I have something important to tell you, but now that I've hesitantly announced my intention to do that, we're sure to be interrupted by someone very annoying.

FRANK PRITCHARD enters the ELEVATOR while MEGAN leaves.

FRANK PRITCHARD

I'm the computer guy, which pretty much makes me annoying by default. Allow me to instantly establish our antagonistic relationship by keeping my head high enough to condescend to you but still low enough to comfortably ogle your ex-girlfriend's ass.

ADAM JENSEN

All that, and you sound like Dr. Venture. Wonderful.

ADAM enters the office of DAVID SARIF, CEO of SARIF INDUSTRIES.

DAVID SARIF

(soul patch, seriously)

I'm a very charismatic and genial boss. In person, because I tend to use the f-word a lot in my mails. That, and poor spelling.

ADAM JENSEN

Okay, I get that the Renaissance is being used as a metaphor for transhumanism, but why is it also plastered all over the art direction? There's a goddamn floral print on my trenchcoat and your waistcoat looks like it's made from papercraft.

DAVID SARIF

And did you perchance also catch the golden filigree engravings on my mechanical arm?

ADAM JENSEN

If I squint, yes. It's tough to make out gold when everything is saturated in a golden haze. It's like playing Instagram: The Game.

Suddenly, an ALARM goes off.

DAVID SARIF

Something's going on in the labs. Go check it out, Adam. The code to my private elevator is the one that all immersive sims need to use at least once to communicate that they mean serious business.

ADAM JENSEN

0451, got it.

Passing through several DESTROYED LABS, ADAM is forced to engage ENEMY TROOPS.

ADAM JENSEN

What is this? Regenerating health? A cover system? Ironsights? THIS IS NOT DEUS EX! YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP!

ADAM is then NEARLY KILLED by an AUGMENTED MERCENARY while MEGAN is KILLED MAYBE.

DAVID SARIF

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. And some rad sunglasses.

ADAM is fitted with MECHANICAL AUGMENTATIONS in an OPENING SEQUENCE that's not at all like the one in MASS EFFECT 2.

INT. SARIF INDUSTRIES - DETROIT

SIX MONTHS LATER, ADAM returns to SARIF INDUSTRIES.

ADAM JENSEN

What happened?

DAVID SARIF

You were near death, a common trend for gaming protagonists these days. You were exposed to too much linear cover-based shooter. We've had to open up your game to save your life.

ADAM JENSEN

I never asked for this, nor did I ask for that line to become a meme.

DAVID SARIF

We brought you back early because one of our manufacturing plants has been taken over by a guy named Zeke Sanders. He's part of Purity First, a violent offshoot of the anti-augmentation organisation Humanity Front.

ADAM JENSEN

Does that mean we're taking a strictly black-and-white approach to the issue of transhumanism, where you're either for it or against it without the subtle nuance of a middle ground?

DAVID SARIF

Very much so. Let's get to the helipad, I'll brief you in the air.

ADAM reaches the HELIPAD and meets his PILOT, FARIDAH MALIK.

FARIDAH MALIK

Hello, Adam. I'm Faridah Malik.

ADAM JENSEN

Oh right, I just broke into your office and read all your mails. Those captioned pictures of kitties were hilarious!

FARIDAH MALIK

Oh, quit jocking.

ADAM JENSEN

What?

FARIDAH MALIK

Joking. I said joking. Now get in and I'll take you to the manufacturing plant.

While EN ROUTE, ADAM speaks with DAVID.

DAVID SARIF

So what weapon do you want to use against the Purity First terrorists? Something lethal or non-lethal?

ADAM JENSEN

Can't you just give me both and allow me to adapt on the fly to a highly fluid situation?

DAVID SARIF

That wouldn't be very Deus Ex, now would it? Your mission is to secure the Typhoon prototype. And I guess you can rescue hostages too or whatever.

INT. SARIF MANUFACTURING PLANT - DETROIT

Before entering the PLANT, ADAM approaches the SWAT LEADER.

ADAM JENSEN

What's the situation?

SWAT LEADER

This is basically the Liberty Island mission from the original game. A central primary objective, an optional secondary objective involving hostages, and all of it surrounded by generic terrorists you can knock out or kill.

ADAM JENSEN

At least Deus Ex had an audience it could trust to start with that mission right away.

SWAT LEADER

By the way, you should remember my face.

ADAM JENSEN

Why?

SWAT LEADER

Because in keeping with the tendency to recycle character models, you'll also be seeing me as a Sarif employee, a common pedestrian, a gangbanger, and a couple of homeless people.

ADAM enters the MANUFACTURING PLANT.

FRANK PRITCHARD

You can get in through a vent in the roof, you incredible waste of space.

ADAM JENSEN

Agh, are you going to be the voice in my ear? You're almost making me miss Alex Jacobson's amiably youthful personality.

After killing EVERY SINGLE TERRORIST, ADAM encounters a HACKER near the TYPHOON PROTOTYPE.

ADAM JENSEN

Whoa, what's going on? Is this a cutscene? A goddamn pre-rendered cutscene?

HACKER

Sucks, doesn't it? If it wasn't, there might've been an option for you to stop me from doing what I'm about to do.

The HACKER kills himself. After securing the TYPHOON, ADAM finds ZEKE SANDERS holding a HOSTAGE at gunpoint.

ZEKE SANDERS

Don't come any closer! I'll kill her!

ADAM JENSEN

Please let me stare at you unflinchingly while I think of the correct thing to say.

ZEKE SANDERS

Alright.

(beat)

Well?

(beat)

You're freaking me out, man.

(beat)

Fine, take the hostage! I'm out of here!

ZEKE somehow escapes through a DOOR that leads past several SWAT MEMBERS.

ADAM JENSEN

LET HER GO! THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND --

(beat)

Oh, he left.

SWAT LEADER

Nice job, numbnuts. You let him get away!

ADAM JENSEN

Hey, you guys played just as much a part in that as I did, seeing as how Sanders got past all of you to a door that you can't seem to break down.

ADAM talks to MALIK.

FARIDAH MALIK

Good job, Jensen. You managed to both secure the prototype and save the hostages. Not only is this a curt little evaluation of your performance, it's also a quick condemnation of corporations putting their own interests before human lives.

ADAM JENSEN

Sure, but I also killed every Purity First member in there, and they were established as being mere street kids riled up by that very same anti-establishment rhetoric.

FARIDAH MALIK

That's their fault for all wearing hangman's nooses around their necks. It's like they were asking for it. Now let's go back to Sarif Industries.

INT. SARIF INDUSTRIES - DETROIT

ADAM is debriefed by DAVID.

DAVID SARIF

The Detroit Police Department has the corpse of that hacker locked down. They won't let me near it, no matter how much I threaten to cut their retirement fund.

ADAM JENSEN

As an ex-cop with a strong sense of justice, I should point out that you're crossing a line there.

DAVID SARIF

I want you to break into the police station and examine that corpse, Adam.

ADAM JENSEN

And now the line is a dot to you. I'm beginning to think that being this company's security expert really means "do all the illegal things."

DAVID SARIF

If you want to focus on a sidequest first, there's one that involves the organised theft of Neuropozyne from the company. Also, someone's been stealing every credit chip they find around here.

ADAM JENSEN

It's probably the same guy, ha ha! I'll just get to work on that sidequest. No doubt it will involve lots of breaking into offices through air ducts and going back and forth between characters.

ADAM is then PAGED to his OFFICE by TIM CARELLA.

TIM CARELLA

Hey Adam. I'm the one who's been stealing Neuropozyne.

ADAM JENSEN

Well, that takes care of that!

TIM CARELLA

But the other guy who's involved has evidence against me. Can you take it from him? Come on, Adam! I'm in a bad spot here!

ADAM JENSEN

Jeez, how big of a moron are you? You not only admitted to being the thief, you did it to the company's security expert. The company's traumatised security expert. And now you're acting like I'm the dick because I don't want to help you get away with it! Seriously, why am I not seeing a "report this douchebag" dialogue option?

ADAM heads out to the STREETS of DETROIT.

EXT. CITY STREETS - DETROIT

Everywhere he goes, ADAM finds RADIOS tuned to the DEUS EX SOUNDTRACK STATION to stimulate everyone's NOSTALGIA GLANDS.

ADAM JENSEN

Okay, I get that this is a city hub that needs to represent all layers of society in a limited space, but isn't it still kind of idiotic for, say, a gun runner to set up his shop two blocks down from a heavily policed corporate building?

FRANK PRITCHARD

You're in Detroit.

ADAM JENSEN

Forget I said anything.

ADAM enters the POLICE STATION.

INT. POLICE STATION - DETROIT

In one of the OFFICES, ADAM overhears TWO POLICE OFFICERS discussing ROBOCOP, which preempts the INEVITABLE COMPARISON.

ADAM JENSEN

Looks like I'll need to hack this keypad to get into the morgue.

He FUCKS IT UP and right away EVERY COP tries to SHOOT HIM.

ADAM JENSEN

Okay, you caught me doing something illegal, but aren't you guys overreacting somewhat?

POLICE OFFICER

THIS IS DETROIT, MOTHERFUCKER!

ADAM JENSEN

Right.

ADAM stabs EVERYONE in the FACE and then finds the CORPSE.

ADAM JENSEN

Turns out the hacker was augmented. Exactly how he managed to infiltrate Purity First with plainly visible cranial implants is a mystery to me.

FRANK PRITCHARD

I can backtrace his neural hub using vague technobabble that a caveman like yourself wouldn't understand. Bring it to your apartment and link it to me from there. It's too risky to examine on the company's computers, but I couldn't give a fuck about yours.

EXT. CITY STREETS - DETROIT

On the way to his APARTMENT, ADAM runs into JENNY ALEXANDER, who is identified as a WORKING GIRL.

ADAM JENSEN

Is that what this game calls prostitutes? Melanie Griffith would like to have a word with you.

JENNY ALEXANDER

I'm working undercover, Adam. I'm trying to bring down a crooked cop, which is actually completely unrelated to me posing as a prostitute.

ADAM JENSEN

Still, you probably shouldn't discuss the intricacies of your undercover status with your fellow prostitutes right next to you.

JENNY ALEXANDER

I could use your help with something. Would you mind running all over the place and doing six different things while I wait here and do nothing?

ADAM JENSEN

So you basically want me to take over your investigation in its entirety?

JENNY ALEXANDER

And if it's not too much trouble, can I take all the credit afterwards? Thanks, you're the bestest!

ADAM JENSEN

These sidequests better start tying into the main storyline, seriously.

Eventually, ADAM gets to his APARTMENT.

INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DETROIT

After momentarily mistaking his APARTMENT for that of RICK DECKARD, ADAM links the NEURAL HUB to PRITCHARD.

FRANK PRITCHARD

The hacker didn't kill himself, Jensen! His neural hub was being remotely controlled by someone else!

ADAM JENSEN

You're talking about mind control?

FRANK PRITCHARD

Yeah, there's an aug for that. The signal came from an abandoned warehouse just outside of town.

ADAM JENSEN

What an incredibly original location. I'm headed there now.

EXT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - DETROIT

ADAM arrives at the WAREHOUSE and sees the MERCENARIES that attacked SARIF INDUSTRIES.

ADAM JENSEN

Holy fuck, they're here. They've even brought in the same complement of backup soldiers! I remember them from the attack on our labs, because I wanted to play Tetris on their balaclavas then too!

ADAM infiltrates the WAREHOUSE and finds out that it is a RETROFITTED INTERNMENT CAMP because CONTROVERSY.

ADAM JENSEN

I think I see two of those mercenaries up ahead. But where is the third guy? The giant conspicuous third guy?

Despite being as subtle as a BAG OF BRICKS, BARRETT manages to sneak up on ADAM and punch him in the FACE.

LAWRENCE BARRETT

Why didn't that knock you out forever? It happens whenever you do it, and my fist is twice as big as yours. Oh well, I'll just use my built-in minigun that makes me look like a Strogg.

ADAM JENSEN

Whoa, why the fuck has this game been subtly encouraging a stealthy approach only to throw me into a boss fight that can only be won through brute force?

LAWRENCE BARRETT

Look at it from my point of view! I can't defeat you in a battle of wits! This minigun is part of me!

ADAM fights BARRETT and manages to MORTALLY WOUND him.

ADAM JENSEN

There. Now tell me about your two mercenary friends. I need to establish some sort of connection with them to make these encounters even remotely compelling. Seriously, just their names would be a start.

LAWRENCE BARRETT

Can't I just give you your next lead and then try to kill you by blowing myself up?

ADAM JENSEN

(sigh)

Fine.

LAWRENCE BARRETT

Shanghai. Hengsha Court Garden. Penthouse. Send you straight to hell.

BARRETT blows himself up, but ADAM manages to AVOID THE BLAST by leaping THREE FEET TO THE SIDE. He then returns to SARIF INDUSTRIES.

INT. SARIF INDUSTRIES - DETROIT

On his way to DAVID'S OFFICE, ADAM runs into WILLIAM TAGGART, leader of the HUMANITY FRONT, and his PERSONAL AIDE, ISAIAS SANDOVAL.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Greetings, Mr. Jensen. Allow me to deeply regret the actions of Purity First by incessantly psychoanalysing you.

ADAM JENSEN

So you're just copying the look and purpose of Senator Kelly railing against the X-Men.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Losing yourself in comparisons is a sign of insecurity, Mr. Jensen.

ISAIAS SANDOVAL

Mr. Taggart, we have to be going.

ADAM JENSEN

Hey, you have a unique character model for what seems to be a minor role. I guess that means you'll become more important to the plot later on.

ADAM then goes to talk with DAVID.

ADAM JENSEN

Boss, I feel I should point something out.

DAVID SARIF

What is it, Adam?

ADAM JENSEN

What's the deal with everyone's twitchy animations and practically non-existent facial expressions and lip synching? It's like I'm talking to a bunch of marionettes from Thunderbirds.

DAVID SARIF

Yes, but pretty much everyone playing this game is comparing it against the original Deus Ex, which had some of the worst character models and animations ever. So even this mild improvement will be seen as a giant leap forward.

ADAM JENSEN

Of course, you could argue that this game should be held to today's standards and not those of ten years ago, in which case it does fall short.

DAVID SARIF

GET TO HENGSHA, ADAM! THERE'S NO TIME TO WASTE!

EXT. HENGSHA COURT GARDEN - LOWER HENGSHA

MALIK drops off ADAM near the HENGSHA COURT GARDEN.

FARIDAH MALIK

Find out who lives in that penthouse, Adam. Rather than consulting a public directory, I suggest you immediately infiltrate it.

ADAM JENSEN

Hmm, it appears the penthouse is being searched by mercenaries from Belltower Associates.

FARIDAH MALIK

A private military corporation? Evil!

ADAM walks up to a BELLTOWER GUARD, who is wearing a RADIATOR as ARMOUR.

BELLTOWER GUARD

Can't let you through here.

ADAM JENSEN

Then I guess I'll have to punch you out. Just a second, I need to munch on a candy bar before I can do that.

BELLTOWER GUARD

Yeah, why does moving your arms in a certain way require the use of a full energy cell?

ADAM JENSEN

No, that energy is actually used to freeze time for the duration of the takedown animation.

After KNOCKING OUT the GUARD, ADAM finds out that the PENTHOUSE belongs to a HACKER named ARIE VAN BRUGGEN, who is MISSING.

FARIDAH MALIK

If that hacker is being pursued by a PMC, there's a good chance he went to find refuge with an equally evil organisation: a triad. There's one being run out of a club called the Hive.

INT. THE HIVE - LOWER HENGSHA

ADAM enters the HIVE and talks with TONG SI HUNG.

ADAM JENSEN

Nice club. You don't even need any wall to wall mirrors to make it seem like there's more than five people dancing. I'm looking for Tong.

TONG SI HUNG

I am not Tong, but I will allow you to speak with him. Go to his office in the basement.

When ADAM reaches the OFFICE, he finds TONG already there.

TONG SI HUNG

Surprise! I totally am Tong.

ADAM JENSEN

That was already spoiled by one of the preview trailers, thanks. Still, didn't we just leave from the same bar? How the fuck did you beat me here?

TONG SI HUNG

There's an otherwise useless ventilation shaft between the bar and this office. Now, what do you want?

ADAM JENSEN

I need to find Arie van Bruggen.

TONG SI HUNG

We put him up at the Alice Garden Pods as a commentary on people being the equivalent of stacking crates, surely.

INT. ALICE GARDEN PODS - LOWER HENGSHA

After searching the ALICE GARDEN PODS, ADAM finds VAN BRUGGEN.

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

Hey mon. We be jammin'.

ADAM JENSEN

Aren't you supposed to be keeping a low profile? You've converted seven neighbouring pods into a server farm. And I think you're mistaking a Dutch accent for a Jamaican one there.

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

But my hacker alias is Windmill, so that makes up for it.

ADAM JENSEN

Now, who ordered you to work your way into Sarif Industries' security systems?

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

It was the CEO of Tai Yong Medical, Zhao Yun Ru.

ADAM JENSEN

She didn't even use an intermediary to cover her own ass? Corporate espionage ain't what it used to be.

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

I've stashed evidence of her involvement in the Tai Yong Medical tower.

ADAM JENSEN

Where exactly?

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

Just on a server somewhere in the tower that is in fact the tallest building in all of Hengsha. That's all I'm going to say.

BELLTOWER MERCENARIES then invade the ALICE GARDEN PODS.

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

Oh God, they're here to kill me! Please give me a weapon!

ADAM JENSEN

No way, dude. You're on your own.

ARIE VAN BRUGGEN

Is this because you're seeking revenge for the part I played in what happened to your company?

ADAM JENSEN

What? No, I've spent a lot of time and money on upgrading my weapons, so I'm not about to part with any of them.

ADAM leaves VAN BRUGGEN and fights his way out.

INT. TAI YONG MEDICAL - UPPER HENGSHA

Upon entering TAI YONG MEDICAL, ADAM finds a BELLTOWER GUARD in front of a LOCKED DOOR.

ADAM JENSEN

Hey, what's behind that door?

BELLTOWER GUARD

This is a restricted area, sir. Can't let you in here.

ADAM JENSEN

Okay, hang on a second.

BELLTOWER GUARD

What are you doing?

ADAM JENSEN

Quick saving.

BELLTOWER GUARD

NOOOOOOOOOO!

ADAM stabs the GUARD in the BALLS and then QUICK LOADS after finding out that he was just guarding a STORAGE ROOM.

FRANK PRITCHARD

I'm going to assume the evidence is stashed in the data core room, which has the toughest security and will therefore draw this mission out the longest.

ADAM makes his way over to the DATA CORE ROOM and finds VAN BRUGGEN'S EVIDENCE.

ADAM JENSEN

It shows that Zhao Yun Ru was involved in the attack! Megan and her team are still alive! This was so obvious right from the start!

DAVID SARIF

Find out what Zhao knows, Adam.

ADAM reaches the PENTHOUSE and confronts ZHAO YUN RU.

ZHAO YUN RU

Please! I'm just an innocent pawn in all this!

ADAM JENSEN

Your portrayal in the trailers would make it seem so, but I read all your mails, so I know you're really a big pile of bitch. Your company's name even sounds like you want your customers to "die young."

ZHAO YUN RU

In that case, allow me to inappropriately caress you and then shove you into a platoon of Belltower guards, hah!

ADAM JENSEN

Goddamnit, why does every cutscene make me out to be a complete idiot?

ADAM gets past the GUARDS and meets up with MALIK.

ADAM JENSEN

Zhao mentioned someone called Eliza. Once. No surname either. I consider this enough of a lead to investigate that Picus newscaster Eliza Cassan.

FARIDAH MALIK

I will immediately fly you to Montréal, no questions asked.

INT. PICUS TV - MONTREAL

ADAM enters the PICUS BUILDING and finds it to be DESERTED.

ADAM JENSEN

A starkly white office building that is both overly saturated and completely empty? Did I just drop into Mirror's Edge by accident?

FRANK PRITCHARD

Eliza Cassan is located in room 404, which is a joke so obvious they might as well have called it room trololol.

ADAM meets ELIZA CASSAN.

ELIZA CASSAN

Hello Adam. I've been watching you.

ADAM JENSEN

Whoa, I thought Zhao Yun Ru's outfit was ridiculous, but yours looks like a reject from the Lady Gaga collection.

As it turns out, ELIZA is a HOLOGRAM.

FRANK PRITCHARD

IT'S A TRAP! AGAIN!

ENEMY SOLDIERS enter the BUILDING.

ENEMY SOLDIER

Find Jensen! I know he's been here because all the desk drawers are open and I just found Jerry unconscious and stuffed inside a ventilation shaft!

ADAM evades the SOLDIERS and eventually reaches THE REAL ELIZA CASSAN.

ADAM JENSEN

You're a computer!

ELIZA CASSAN

Artificial intelligence, please!

ADAM JENSEN

I should've guessed when your speech pattern exhibited no variation or effort whatsoever. Now let me ask you the same questions I've been asking everyone else so far!

ELIZA CASSAN

Not until you fight this augmented mercenary!

YELENA FEDOROVA enters and says NOTHING, because why go for CHARACTERISATION when you can just make them MUTE?

ADAM JENSEN

Oh, it's -- her. That one. Okay, let's get this over with.

ADAM fights and kills YELENA.

ELIZA CASSAN

Good job, Adam. Now, even though I'm an advanced artificial intelligence with a clear and comprehensive knowledge of the entire conspiracy, I'm only going to unveil a very tiny part of it.

ELIZA shows footage that implicates ISAIAS SANDOVAL in the ATTACK.

ADAM JENSEN

Called it!

ELIZA CASSAN

Oh, and David Sarif knows more than he lets on, the cad. Now go meet your pilot. Luckily there's always a helipad conveniently located right next to your mission objective.

ADAM meets MALIK and they fly back to DETROIT.

EXT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DETROIT

Upon returning to DETROIT, ADAM finds that it is being plagued by RIOTS.

ADAM JENSEN

What's going on here?

POLICE OFFICER

Anti-augmentation riots are breaking out all over the world because of some footage that's entirely unconnected to the main storyline.

ADAM JENSEN

Really? Seems to me the main storyline had plenty of developments so far that could've served as a spark for this powder keg.

POLICE OFFICER

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm wearing a fully enclosed helmet that somehow still allows me to see and one of my randomised idle animations was a violent sneeze. It's everywhere.

ADAM JENSEN

I could knock you out. That always seems to send snot flying. Helmet or no helmet.

POLICE OFFICER

No thanks.

ADAM meets with DAVID.

ADAM JENSEN

Eliza told me that you know who's behind all this.

DAVID SARIF

Oh yeah, it's the Illuminati. And just like every other time when I've been caught with my hand in the conspiracy jar, I'll brush it off like it's nothing.

ADAM JENSEN

The Illuminati? Chuckle!

DAVID SARIF

Yeah, I know Dan Brown ruined them forever, but they're really real this time!

ADAM JENSEN

Eliza also told me Taggart's personal aide was involved.

DAVID SARIF

Isaias Sandoval? You'll have to talk to Taggart to find out where he is.

ADAM JENSEN

Ooh, can I publicly confront Taggart at his press conference?

DAVID SARIF

That would needlessly maximise your exposure and jeopardise your mission, but be my guest!

ADAM heads for the CONVENTION CENTRE.

INT. CONVENTION CENTRE - DETROIT

ADAM interrupts TAGGART'S PRESS CONFERENCE.

ADAM JENSEN

Taggart! I need to find --

WILLIAM TAGGART

Ah, Mr. Jensen! Here's a man who broodingly questions his own humanity because of the augmentations forced on him, but still uses them to take down his opponents in excessively stylish ways!

ADAM JENSEN

No, I just want --

WILLIAM TAGGART

He actually twirls them before he punches them! And don't even get me started on those elbow chisels!

ADAM JENSEN

Oh okay fine.

(beat)

This isn't about me, Taggart! Don't you realise how narrow and downright moronic your whole organisation's point of view is? If you're blaming augmentation technology for the corruption of humanity, why stop there? Why not call your cell phone unnatural too? Maybe you're only choosing to denounce this particular development because it's so visible. You ever catch yourself staring at an amputee's prosthetic arm on the bus? Your organisation is that feeling, but institutionalised. People can pocket their cell phones, but they can't pocket their mechanical arms.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Yet people choose to flaunt their cell phones to show off, Mr. Jensen.

ADAM JENSEN

Then the problem isn't augmentation itself, but that it creates a gap between the rich and the poor. Doesn't every major technology end up becoming a divisive status symbol?

WILLIAM TAGGART

A status symbol that comes with the addictive side effect that is Neuropozyne. Someone who chooses to get augmented is in fact taking out a never-ending mortgage on their life.

ADAM JENSEN

And how is that different from any other drug out there? Or even cigarettes? You're just attacking symptoms of a much larger disease. You yourself talk about someone who chooses to get augmented. As long as it's a choice, you have no right to pass this kind of judgement on behalf of other people. And I am in a unique position to realise that.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I have just been thoroughly schooled. Excuse me for a minute.

TAGGART takes ADAM aside.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Now shall we discuss the finer points of this ethical quandary?

ADAM JENSEN

Actually, I really need to find your aide, Isaias Sandoval.

WILLIAM TAGGART

What? So you just took a giant shit all over my point of view in front of the whole world only as a run-up to me telling you where my personal aide is?

ADAM JENSEN

Yeah, somehow I just keep pulling insightful arguments out of my ass.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Urgh, fine. He said he was going back to his apartment.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - DETROIT

ADAM finds and confronts ISAIAS SANDOVAL.

ADAM JENSEN

Do I really need to ask the same damn question again?

ISAIAS SANDOVAL

Yes, I was approached to operate on the kidnapped scientists and remove their tracking implants! But I just switched the trackers to a different frequency, because I couldn't remove them without killing the scientists!

ADAM JENSEN

Just goes to show that Sarif Industries really cares about its employees!

ISAIAS SANDOVAL

Hey, can I ask a question real quick?

ADAM JENSEN

Sure, that'd be a nice change of pace.

ISAIAS SANDOVAL

We've just now established that I'm Zeke Sanders' brother, but how did you even know he had one when you were talking him down?

ADAM JENSEN

That's almost as good a question as why I found Zeke protecting your apartment when he knew you set him up at the manufacturing plant. Hey, I think this is the part where you commit suicide!

ISAIAS SANDOVAL

Maybe you can offer up an insightful argument to sway me from that course of action? Or maybe some nice pheromones?

ADAM JENSEN

Nah.

ISAIAS KILLS HIMSELF.

ADAM JENSEN

Nothing I could do. I guess I should report back to David!

INT. SARIF INDUSTRIES - DETROIT

When he enters DAVID'S OFFICE, ADAM finds HUGH DARROW.

HUGH DARROW

Greetings, Mr. Jensen. I'm the father of modern augmentation, because every storyline that focuses on a groundbreaking technological development needs one guy to pin stuff on. Miles Dyson ruined it for all of us.

ADAM JENSEN

English accent, goatee, eccentric cane. Boy, you have villain material all over you.

HUGH DARROW

Please, I'm a humanitarian. My current project involves trying to stop global warming. I call it Panchaea.

ADAM JENSEN

Ah, the thin veil of philanthropy. Helping villains hide in plain sight since 1953.

DAVID SARIF enters.

DAVID SARIF

Pritchard located one of the scientists' trackers, Adam. You're going back to Hengsha, since there wasn't enough development time for a third city hub.

EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - LOWER HENGSHA

As it's coming into HENGSHA, MALIK'S JET is SHOT DOWN by BELLTOWER MERCENARIES.

FARIDAH MALIK

More mercenaries are coming! You have to get out of here!

ADAM JENSEN

The hell with that, I'm staying to fight them!

FARIDAH MALIK

Thanks for protecting me, Adam.

ADAM JENSEN

This isn't about you! I just don't want to miss out on a battle that's far more interesting than any boss fight I've had thus far!

After dealing with the MERCENARIES and allowing MALIK to FLY OFF, ADAM heads into the YOUZHAO DISTRICT.

EXT. YOUZHAO DISTRICT - LOWER HENGSHA

When he gets to STREET LEVEL, ADAM finds that everyone who is AUGMENTED is having BRAIN FARTS.

FRANK PRITCHARD

Jensen, it turns out that every augmented human's biochip is faulty. A massive recall is being organised.

ADAM JENSEN

Seriously? People shit blood when they have to bring their iPad into the shop and now they're practically being forced to undergo brain surgery? No corporation in the world could pull that without tanking. If this is the Illuminati plot that it obviously is, it's brain-meltingly stupid.

FRANK PRITCHARD

Huh, planned obsolescence as part of an evil conspiracy? Usually it is one all by itself. Anyways, I've tracked the scientist's signal to a parking garage that's being occupied by the Harvesters, a group of gangsters that runs a black market in augmentations.

INT. PARKING GARAGE - LOWER HENGSHA

ADAM works his way into the PARKING GARAGE and finds TONG SI HUNG.

TONG SI HUNG

As you can see, I'm the leader of the Harvesters. As an ex-cop with a strong sense of justice, I wonder whether you're still willing to work with me now.

ADAM JENSEN

Sure thing, because even the hypothetical situation of finding my dead pilot on one of your blood-soaked operating tables wouldn't elicit so much as a derogatory remark from me.

TONG SI HUNG

Good. Then I will tell you how to find your scientists once you rescue my son and set up one of the more tangible links to the original game.

ADAM JENSEN

Sorry, but I didn't get that piece of downloadable content.

TONG SI HUNG

Fine, then just head over to a dockyard controlled by Belltower and sneak aboard a freighter there. I think it might have something to do with your scientists.

ADAM JENSEN

I haven't questioned any of the vague and dubious leads I've uncovered before, and I'm not about to start now!

After doing something IDIOTIC with a BOMB, ADAM manages to STOW AWAY on the FREIGHTER.

INT. OMEGA RANCH - SINGAPORE

A FEW DAYS LATER, ADAM wakes up in the OMEGA RANCH.

FRANK PRITCHARD

Jensen! Where the hell have you been?

ADAM JENSEN

I'll be able to fill you in come this October. Patch me through to David.

FRANK PRITCHARD

I can't. He and Taggart were invited to Panchaea by Hugh Darrow.

ADAM JENSEN

So David's response to the disappearance of his security expert, the one that's investigating an organised attack on his company, is to go on a corporate outing? Swell.

ADAM infiltrates the OMEGA RANCH and eventually encounters the THIRD AUGMENTED MERCENARY, JARON NAMIR.

JARON NAMIR

Time for another boss fight!

ADAM JENSEN

For the record, can we just point out that you're totally naked right now, no matter how augmented you are?

JARON NAMIR

Stop staring at my extruding mechanical codpiece!

ZHAO YUN RU

And I'm here for no reason whatsoever!

ADAM kills NAMIR and finds MEGAN in a room that's COMPLETELY WHITE.

ADAM JENSEN

Whoa, they just didn't bother to texture this room at all, did they? How did you work in here for six months without wearing your eyes out completely?

MEGAN REED

Adam! You're alive! Did you also happen to come across my colleagues? They're spread out over this entire facility, forcing you to keep backtracking.

ADAM JENSEN

Uhh -- no, their rescue is part of a downloadable content package that I don't have.

MEGAN REED

No, it's not.

ADAM JENSEN

I'm sure it is. Now tell me why you were kidnapped!

MEGAN REED

They wanted my research. I based it on your DNA, Adam. Your body can accept augmentations without needing any Neuropozyne. Like pretty much every gaming protagonist before you, you're special.

ADAM JENSEN

Yeah, I did uncover some disconcerting facts about my past in a few sidequests, but somehow I failed to follow up on them. My character is so flat that even I don't give a shit.

MEGAN REED

I wanted to tell you, but David wouldn't let me.

ADAM JENSEN

Wait, if David knew about this, then why did he send me out to public clinics where my peculiar genetic profile would be closely scrutinised? He might well have handed over this historic discovery to a nurse's aide.

A TELEVISION suddenly TURNS ITSELF ON and shows HUGH DARROW at PANCHAEA.

HUGH DARROW

Ladies and gentlemen, David Sarif has asked me to complete my path to becoming a generic Bond villain. I will do that by completely destroying my public image and unveiling my diabolical plan while inexplicably putting myself at risk.

DARROW uses a SIGNAL BROADCAST to turn all AUGMENTED PEOPLE into the INFECTED from LEFT 4 DEAD.

MEGAN REED

Oh my God, he's using the new biochips to turn everyone violently crazy! You have to stop him!

ADAM JENSEN

You go back for your fellow scientists and I'll get to Panchaea, because I'm just going to assume that the signal is being broadcast from there. Oh, and I should mention that I accidentally impaled your mother on my elbow chisels. Bye!

ADAM finds a SHUTTLE that's coded only to HUGH DARROW but still manages to fly it to PANCHAEA.

EXT. PANCHAEA - ARCTIC OCEAN

To emphasise the ICARUS METAPHOR some more, the SHUTTLE first BREAKS ATMOSPHERE and then CRASHES into the OCEAN. ADAM magically appears just outside of PANCHAEA.

ADAM JENSEN

Whoa, it's daytime! In a Deus Ex game!

FRANK PRITCHARD

Well, this is the Arctic Ocean, so even though the sun's out, it might technically still be night. Anyways, you need to override the lockdown to get into the broadcast room.

ADAM makes his way to the CONTROL ROOM and finds HUGH DARROW.

HUGH DARROW

I won't give you the override codes. Nuh, not doing it.

ADAM JENSEN

You do realise you just sacrificed your entire global cooling project just to make a ham-fisted point about augmentation, right?

HUGH DARROW

Sacrifices must be made for the greater good, Mr. Jensen. Augmentations have become simply another instrument for control, and I won't allow my life's work to be used for such ends.

ADAM JENSEN

Don't you see what happened? You got caught up in this whole black-and-white approach to transhumanism! When you found out you didn't love it anymore, all you could do was hate it with a passion!

HUGH DARROW

You're right! I totally missed the subtle nuance of a middle ground! How could I have been so blind? Here are the override codes.

ADAM JENSEN

Oh, I've convinced you? Because I have all this other stuff where I basically accuse you of killing thousands of people out of petty jealousy.

HUGH DARROW

No thanks.

ADAM overrides the LOCKDOWN and heads for the BROADCAST ROOM. Along the way, he finds DAVID barricaded inside a MACHINE ROOM. GET IT? MACHINE?

DAVID SARIF

Adam! You have to do something! Get a message out, say that the Humanity Front managed to infect all augmented people somehow.

ADAM JENSEN

Really? That's your plan to safeguard augmentations? You think people will still trust a technology when they think it's so unsafe that it can be taken over and corrupted by anyone opposed to it? And as we've demonstrated, there are plenty such people around.

DAVID SARIF

Did you just use pheromones on me? Because I don't see any other way you could've so easily punched holes in my infallible logic.

ADAM JENSEN

This coming from the guy who wants to make augmentations available to everyone, but still speaks about evolution and how it will leave some people behind. And another thing, if Darrow's broadcast affects only those who are augmented, why aren't you going batshit crazy with your mechanical arm? Or is this batshit crazy you?

DAVID SARIF

I really hope that's something to make my character more intriguing and not simply a glaring oversight.

ADAM leaves DAVID and works his way past several CRAZED AUGMENTED PEOPLE.

ADAM JENSEN

Yes, this is exactly what we needed. Bum rushing zombies.

He then finds ANOTHER BARRICADED ROOM. This one has TAGGART in it.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Mr. Jensen! You must know we never intended any of this!

ADAM JENSEN

We? So you are part of the Illuminati. And since Zhao Yun Ru is too, I can only assume you're artificially keeping the transhumanism conflict alive. Really, it's the fake struggle between the Order and the WTO all over again. I hope it was worth ripping off the most ridiculous plot twist from Invisible War.

WILLIAM TAGGART

You must trust the Illuminati!

ADAM JENSEN

You know, in the tie-in novel, the Illuminati sent out those augmented mercenaries to kill you.

WILLIAM TAGGART

Oh, nobody read that. I want you to get a message out when you stop the broadcast, Mr. Jensen. Tell the world that a contaminated batch of Neuropozyne caused all this. We don't want augmentations banned, but that will guarantee more regulation.

ADAM JENSEN

No, that will guarantee the outright ban you don't want. It's the same thing with the massive biochip recall. Nobody's going to want to use a technology that repeatedly breaks down, especially when that technology involves drastically modifying the human body.

WILLIAM TAGGART

I'm sure you've gathered by now that this isn't as much about choosing the lesser evil as it is about choosing the least stupid.

Eventually, ADAM reaches the BROADCAST ROOM, where he runs into ZHAO YUN RU.

ADAM JENSEN

You just kind of show up whenever, right?

ZHAO YUN RU

Welcome to the Hyron Project, a massive quantum computer that's linked to human drones for some reason!

ADAM JENSEN

And what does that have to do with Panchaea? Honestly, this feels like a leftover asset from a previous draft of the story that someone still wanted to shoehorn in somewhere.

ZHAO YUN RU

I will now interface with Hyron and alter Darrow's broadcast to suit the Illuminati's purpose!

ADAM JENSEN

Do they even have one? So far, the Illuminati really appear to be a group of individuals who all think they can further their own selfish goals while pretending to work together.

ZHAO plugs herself into HYRON but is OVERWHELMED by its POWER.

ADAM JENSEN

I'm not even going to bother pointing out that this final boss is something that looks like a dragon that lives in what amounts to an underground lair.

ADAM does A BUNCH OF STUFF and eventually KILLS ZHAO. A PASSAGE to the BROADCAST ROOM is opened behind her.

ADAM JENSEN

So this wasn't really a fitting conclusion to everything that came before, but more something that was in the way.

As he walks up to the BROADCAST CONSOLE, ADAM is contacted by ELIZA CASSAN.

ELIZA CASSAN

It looks like you're trying to choose an ending. Would you like help?

ADAM JENSEN

Three buttons. Looks fairly straightforward.

ELIZA CASSAN

You can send out a full confession by Darrow or alter it according to either David Sarif's or William Taggart's specifications. There's also a fourth button off to the side that'll allow you to destroy Panchaea and let humanity decide for itself.

ADAM JENSEN

Since all these endings need to lead into the first Deus Ex, which is set in a shitty dystopian society on the verge of complete collapse, does it even matter which one I choose? The fact that this buttoned-down endgame allows me to quick save and conveniently try all four doesn't really bode well.

ELIZA CASSAN

Not really. Each ending is just some slideshow of whatever present-day stock footage the developers could get without infringing on any copyrights and supplemented with a monologue where you talk more about yourself than anything else. And then there's a little epilogue after the credits that's designed to set up the plot of Deus Ex regardless of which ending you picked. Oh, and it'll make Megan out to be a total bitch.

ADAM JENSEN

What a shame.

THE END