Mission 3:
Getting in Top Shape Again
As Adam leaves his apartment, he's contacted by Vaclav Koller, a Back-Alley Doctor who works out of a nearby bookstore called Time Machine. When Adam tells him that it's perfect timing because he wants to get his augs repaired, Koller says that he needs help because the Dvali crime family is trashing the store looking for him, and that he's holed up in his secret bunker underneath the building. He tells Adam to hurry and stop the goons as soon as possible.
Before Adam heads out, he takes the time to break into several nearby apartments, and discovers an augmented man praying in front of an infirmed man laying on a bed. Adam goes downstairs from his apartment, passing several people who lament how bad the situation has become in the city. At the ground floor, he finds a man talking about the "Singularity Church of the MachineGod", a religious sect that believes the "next evolution of life" is coming and dismisses it as nonsense before continuing on.
He heads towards the District where the Time Machine is, and discovers a number of goons searching through and trashing the bookstore. He's able to take down most of the assailants and crawls under an overturned bookcase to reach a back office before accessing a hidden switch that opens to an elevator. He meets Koller at the bottom of the elevator, and the doctor is elated that Adam was able to stop the associates. He tells Adam that despite the incident, the Dvali family are still good friends of his.
Adam tells him that something is wrong with his augs and sits in a chair while Koller hooks up a cable to his system. He goes unconscious, and rouses a short while later to find Koller in a panic asking if he's alright. Adam asks what's wrong and Koller says that he wants to show him something.
He reveals that Adam has several experimental augs that he didn't know about installed in his system. When Koller asks why Adam would have such a thing and what happened since the last time he saw him, Adam reveals that he was rescued from the wreckage in Panchaea and brought to a rehabilitation clinic in Alaska to recover. He admits that there are several months during his stay there that he can't remember, and pledges to talk to Sarif about it.
Koller tells him that he can use the experiemental augs if he manages the power drain correctly, but also mentions that there may be a way to get around the limitation. He tells Adam to speak with The Dragon of the Dvali family, Otar Botkoveli, and obtain a neuro-regulator that can be used to bolster Adam's systems. He tells Adam that Otar has an underground casino in the Cisty district.
Adam goes back home to call Sarif and express anger at not being told he had secret augmentations installed. Sarif is surprised to hear this, and says that he always did everything above-board. He also tells Adam that he suspects that the augs are TITAN-grade, and were developed by a man named Orlov who tried to get a job with Sarif Industries. He offers to search for more information from his contacts before Adam leaves.
He eventually finds the entrance to an sewer system and makes his way to Otar's casino, where he is having a conversation with his subordinate, Vano. The guards stop Adam at the door, and he tells them that he's come to negotiate for the calibrator on behalf of Koller. Although Otar is cautious, he begins to respect Adam's honesty and loyalty to his friend and offers to give him the calibrator in exchange for a small favor in the future. Adam agrees, and Otar gives him the calibrator.
With that, Koller radios Adam to let him know that he's busy with a house call and will be available later. Adam decides to continue on to the TF29 headquarters.
Tropes:
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The sewer tunnels leading to Otar's casino are wide enough for people to travel comfortably through.
- Amnesiac Hero: According to Adam, there are several months after the destruction of Panchaea that he can't remember, because he was taken from the wreckage and brought to a rehabilitation center in Alaska for treatment.
- Appeal to Flattery: The optimal conversation with Otar runs into this trope. Unless you appeal to Otar's need for loyalty amongst his men (by taking "Straight Talk" or appeasing him), he will refuse to give you the calibrator, forcing you to either stealth past his men to get it or instigating a firefight.
- Back-Alley Doctor: Koller runs an illegal augmentation clinic in a hidden bunker underneath Time Machine.
- Call-Forward: The Singularity Church of the MachineGod is a religious sect that believes humanity will ascend to a new level beyond flesh and blood. This appears to be a nod to one of the endings in Deus Ex: Invisible War, in which the player could choose to uplift humanity by networking everyone with the help of J.C. Denton (who has become the closest thing to a "machine god" in the franchise).
- Crapsack World: Aside from the already-obvious segregation of augs and the recurring bombings, certain districts in Prague are blocked off due to members of a crime syndicate wielding automatic weapons in public. Meanwhile, with the exception of Adam's apartment, almost every apartment you go into is dirty and disorganized.
- Developer's Foresight: Just like the previous game, going out of your way to get the calibrator from Otar's den before you're asked to warrants an entirely different conversation (and an achievement, to boot!). Koller is gobsmacked when Adam reveals he has the calibrator, but says that he's not ready to dive in just yet. He also tells Adam to contact Sarif, and says that he's going to do some research before installing it. It should be noted that doing this also makes the mission chain involving Otar's errands unavailable, making this sequence more of a curiosity for enterprising players.
- Dirty Cop: A sidequest has Adam running into a cop at the subway station who attempts to make him pay a high fee for getting access. The player can either sneak past him and continue with the mission, beat him, or break up the extortion ring by putting its leader out of business and getting credentials for one of two residents to leave the ghetto permanently.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Koller's initial conversation with Adam in his workshop has weird sexual undercurrents as the former talks about examining augs:Koller: We need to get you in the chair... the chair. You know, I've always wanted to get a closer look at those Sarif augs of yours. A real close look. So, let's strap you in, get the gas going and... and... well, then I just need to sort of dive in. Feel my way around.
- Enemy Mine: One of the solutions to the "Calibrator" subquest is to negotiate with Otar to receive the device in exchange for a favor in the future. Of course, there's also nothing stopping the player from killing Otar and his men and taking the device for yourself.
- Foreshadowing: Several posters found around the Prague ghetto advertise Talos Rucker, the leader of the Augmented Rights Coalition.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Koller, who performs back-alley aug modifications and helps diagnose Adam's injuries.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: According to e-books and newspapers scattered throughout the ghetto, augs are accusing Nathaniel Brown of wanting to build Rabi'ah solely for the purpose of segregating augs, despite his public statements to the contrary.
- Impairment Shot: When Adam wakes up after Koller repairs his system, the screen is blurry and Adam is constantly opening and closing his eyes.
- In Da Club: One side mission, "Neon Nights", sees Adam going into an underground rave to find out more information about a new type of drug that's polluting the streets of Prague.
- Instant Sedation: When Koller straps Adam into the chair in his workshop, the latter immediately goes to sleep as a cord is connected to him.
- Invisible Wall: Despite the player's best attempts, it is impossible to get onto the roofs of certain buildings in the ghetto because they have invisible barriers, despite it seeming to be possible.
- I Own This Town: If Adam confronts Sarif with the information about the TITAN augs, the latter says that he'll get to the bottom of things and find out more information, before saying that his name still carries weight in many circles.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Just like the previous game, Adam can break into many apartments and offices, including those at Task Force 29's headquarters. Doing so nets more items and e-mails about the state of the world.
- Lampshade Hanging: One of the newspapers you find near Koller's bookstore mentions how it's "conveniently unclear" about what happened at Panchaea, lampshading the Merging the Branches nature of its ending and relation to the sequel.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Adam is revealed to have a secondary set of powerful, experimental augs hidden in his system. However, he learns that these weren't installed willingly, and can only use them by balancing the power drain on his other standard set of augs.
- Noble Demon: Though Otar doesn't like Augs, he appreciates loyalty and honesty. Being upfront with him in the initial conversation causes Otar to respect Adam a lot more, and he allows him to take the calibrator in exchange for a favor in the future.
- Power at a Price: Unless Adam obtains the calibrator from Otar, the player is forced to balance their usage of augs to prevent system instability through the whole game.
- Shout-Out:
- The Antiky shop (located near the Libuse Apartments) has a number of items in its basement that are shout-outs to many of Eidos Interactive's products, including covers for Human Revolution, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Hitman: Codename 47 and Tomb Raider: Legend. Additionally, one of the tables has a Companion Cube from Portal on top of it, which is being used as a storage box.
- The music that plays in Adam's apartment ("Adam's Safehouse") actually has a line of dialogue that's taken from Blade Runner. Shortly after the track begins, the line "Do you like our owl?" can be faintly heard in the background, and was the first line of dialogue spoken by Rachel to Deckard in the Tyrell building.
- Another Blade Runner reference is seen via Otar Botkoveli's custom .357 Revolver, which looks nearly identical to Rick Deckard's from the film, and includes the brown, bulky grip and similar steel engravings.
- Tempting Fate: E-mails found on Otar's computer have the head of the Dvali crime family threatening to discipline him (or worse) if he interferes with Koller or his work. This comes right after Adam rescues Koller from Otar's men, who are currently trashing his store.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite the city being locked down due to the fear of more augment bombings, the populace and most police officers don't care if Adam brandishes a rifle in public. Most of the cops simply tell him not to point his weapon at them.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: Adam is shocked to discover that he had a set of TITAN augs installed without his consent, and confronts Sarif about it. He then discovers that it was implanted by someone else, likely during his recuperation in Alaska.
- Vulnerable Civilians: Just like before, many of the civilians can be shot and killed. However, doing so draws police attention due to the already-present fears about augs.
- With This Herring: Averted. Once Koller reboots Adam's system, he gives him a handful of Praxis Kits out of pity, because 'Praxis makes everything better". There's an extra kit in a passageway in a hidden passage right by the elevator as well.
