Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Ongoing Impressions Part 5

Hengsha’s huge. Really Huge. Really, really huge. I’m lost in the game. And this time, I’m lost in the sense that I can’t get my bearings. I refuse to turn on any sort of quest arrow. I want to work my way through and discover things on own, even accidentally or out of frustration. Malik lands me on the rooftops of some hotel building. Almost immediately, I see a couple of working girls on the roof, one of which has a Chinese accent and one of which very much does not. I talk with them and get the scoop that there’s a fight between a girl and the owner inside. I walk into the building, head down a floor and listen to their argument. He wants her to get augmented; she doesn not. Augmented girls make all the money, it seems.

Maybe it’s not so different than the plastic surgeries of today. Really, it’s kind of crazy to think that people will implant silicon and more into their bodies for vanity. Imagine what society will think if they dig up our graves for scientific research in thousands of years. Just like we hypothesize about how why the Egyptians mummified their leaders, will they conclude that we put silicon only in our upper class individuals so that they’d be able to use this in their life after death? I ramble, but even though I find it absurd that someone would willingly chop off their arm in order to attach a mechanical limb, what society does today is not so different.

I go in and speak with the girl, Mei, and the owner leaves her with me, assuming I’m a client. He knows how to run a successful business. Mei informs me that one of girls has gone missing. She’s going to forcefully be augmented. Will I help? Of course. Mei does not know where the girl is, but a shady guy on the corner of the rooftop should. He wants 2000 credits for the info. No way. I’ll just find her on my own. I search around the place a bit and come across a keycard to medical corporation.

No doubt, this’ll come in handy later, but right now, the mission is to travel to the address that Barret left. It’s a penthouse apartment in another district of the city. I head down the the lower streets and check the place out. It’s littered with vendors and pedestrians. One thing that I’m noticing that’s quite different than Detroit is that people here have no issues with augmentations. Folks walk down the streets displaying their mechanical arms, legs, and who knows what else. I’m told to watch out for The Harvesters, who may just rip my fancy military grade augmentations right off of my body. Right, like I’m going to let that happen.

Walking through the streets, I listen to tons of people. Some speak English, some do not. Those that don’t are translated at the bottom of the screen with their translated words wrapped in parentheses.

Eventually, I find my way to the correct district, but in all honesty, I’m having a heck of a time finding where I’m supposed to go. I leisurely hack into the room of any apartment I find. A couple of these apartments even have people in them, who rightfully decide to cower in the corner as I turn on their faucet and hack their computer. In the back of my mind, I wonder if anyone is going to pull a gun on me, but it doesn’t happen. I reach the top of some buildings where I discover that the rooftops are close enough that I can use my jumping aug to leap between them. I keep leaping and leaping until I find an airduct. Yes, a steady diet of airducts will keep you alive in Human Revolution. I sneak in the airduct and it brings me to an elevator shaft. Down at the bottom is a Praxis kit, a little bonus for venturing down there. I want to go up, so I take a few ladders upwards, but then I hit a sticking point: There’s no ladder to the next level. It’s alright, I stand on a guard rail and use my augmented jumping abilities to get up there. Damn, that aug has come in handy. And to think, I almost decided not to get it.

On top, there’s another airvent, leading to the Penthouse. Wonderful. I head over to the bedrooms, which are mostly empty. I go down the hallway and, oh crap, guards. I go back to the airduct and hide. A couple of guards come down the hallway. I wait until they separate, pop out and wham – takedown. I pull the unconscious guard into the airduct and search his body. Nice, a couple of credits. I do this a few more times, and no one suspects a thing. With the hallways cleared, I head into kitchen. There are two more guards just outside on the patio, but I make sure to hide behind the kitchen counter and only move when they’re looking away from me. I’m making liberal use of cover and the mini-map in the lower-left corner of the screen. The map displays any visible enemy as arrows. The way the arrow points is the way their facing.

For some reason, part of the kitchen has been blown up, but the destroyed rubble reveals a secret computer room. There’s some extra software, so I snatch it and hack the computer. This is our guy. Now, I get a name to go with the address: Van Bruggen. I also have another lead: Look for a man named Tong. Malik pops up over the info com and informs me that the Hive is the place to go. Sounds like a plan, so I will do just that.

I head down to the Hive, only to find that there’s a 1000 credit cover charge. It’s expensive, but the word on the street is that there’s a back way in. Now the other word on the street is that they’ll rip your augmentations out if they find that you didn’t pay, so I opt to pay the cash and keep things on friendly terms. I walk in, gun in holster and talk to a few ladies. None seem that interested, so I chat with Bobby the bartender and buy a few drinks.

Drinks give you health at the expense of vision. I’ll take it. I try one of each, raise my health a bit, and go all blurry-eyed. I head to the pisser, aiming poorly I’m sure, and I find a note containing the password to get downstairs.

Bobby had told me to go upstairs, so I go upstairs first where I’m greeted by the manager of the place. It’s another conversation battle. This time, I’ve got to convince the guy to let me see Tong. He’s augmented and seems a little angry, but I reason with him until he agrees to take my services and let me have a speak with Tong in the basement.

Down to the basement, I start snooping around. I hack a few doors, but only where I won’t get caught, and I even pay the DJ a visit. It pays dividends as I’m able to get the DJs locker code in the main security office. I’m also able to turn off some security cameras, which gives me an opening to hack another room. In this room, there’s a dead body. I guess the folks on the street were right about those that don’t pay to get in.

I finally talk to Tong, who just so happens to be the manager from upstairs. Surprise, I’ve been speaking with Tong the entire time. He gives me the location of van Bruggen. It’s in some pods, as they’re calling them – a shitty hotel that now rents rooms for long term. I head over an Malik is already there. She’s been doing some sniffing of her own. A Hengsha friend of hers just recently died, but she knows there’s something fishy about it. She’s no cop, just a pilot, so she wants my help. Of course I’ll help. But, I’m going to wait until tomorrow to do it.