Mission 8:
01011000
While walking through Prague, Adam is distracted by a voice that appears to be coming from a nearby public billboard. As he approaches the sign, the screen glitches out and a figure cloaked in shadow appears. The figure tells Adam that she has "found him", before asking him to find her and giving a set of coordinates for a nearby pawn shop.
Upon arriving at the shop, Adam finds that the front door is unlocked. He heads downstairs and finds a number of operational computers. When Adam accesses one, the messenger service starts up and a figure named "Helle" introduces herself. She tells Adam that she has secured their location and asks if he was followed. When he assures her that he wasn't, she tells him that "our" memories are incomplete, and says that "they" need him his help. She asks him to retrieve a data disk containing their memories that has been delivered to a tourism center in Prague, and gives him the coordinates.
Adam heads towards the tourism center. As he gets close, Helle calls and apologizes for her subterfuge. Adam tells her that he still doesn't understand what's going on, and she says that her "coalescing process" is not complete. When Adam arrives at the tourism office, he finds three armed men searching the basement for the disk as well. Adam dispatches them and finds a datapad telling them to dispatch a man named "Walker" after they find the disk. Helle also reroutes power to a nearby door so Adam can get in and retrieve the disk. Once he acquires it, Helle asks him to go to the nearby Future-Past Antiky pawn shop and find a compatible reader, due to the technology being very out-of-date.
On his way to Antiky, Helle reveals that the man who ordered the mercenaries to search the tourism office is Morgan Everett, the CEO of Picus Television. She tells him that Adam is now a target because he has the disk, and asks him to be careful.
Adam enters the store and finds a store clerk, who asks how he can help. When Adam brings up the memory disk, the clerk is suitably impressed and says he hasn't seen that kind of tech in a long, long time. When the clerk inquires as to how Adam obtained it, he dodges the question and brings up the name of the store, pointing out that "Future-Last" isn't and never was part of the Antiky brand. Caught in a lie, the clerk blusters through several excuses before getting fed up and pulling out a gun.
The clerk holds Adam at gunpoint and asks who he thinks he is. Adam surmises that the man is part of the hit squad that was sent to the tourism office, and realizes that he's the one the mercenaries were ordered to kill after finding the disc. Adam says that he knows his real name is Walker, and tells him that he's in danger. Walker realizes that Adam is telling the truth, and curses Everett for wanting to kill him because he asks questions and is inquisitive. He gives Adam the disc reader, and Adam allows him to walk free. Before he leaves, Walker tells him that he knows the disc is related to Panchaea and a "program that got all confused". He also tells him that the program, Helle, got "mixed up out there" and is trying to put itself back together.
Adam heads back to his apartment and plugs the disc and reader into his computer. After a message appears showing the data transfer process, Helle appears and tells him that "they" are trying to consolidate. She asks if he remembers Panchaea, and he tells her that he remembers what happened to the Hyron Drones. She then says that Helle was one of the human components and worked to equalize thought processes. When he asks if that's who she is, she says that all of the Drones are dead, but an imprint of Helle's memories remain. She asks Adam to define the meaning of "intelligence".
When he does so, "Helle" reveals that she is actually the Eliza Cassan AI. Eliza tells him that she is trying to amalgamate her personality and he is her only friend who can help. She also reveals that the Eliza seen on television is an older version that has been programmed by Morgan Everett to continue serving the Illuminati. Adam reassures her that she can trust him, and she finally reveals her true form to him.
Eliza tells him that she is broken, and wonders what her role in the future is supposed to be. Adam tells her that she can only decide that course of action for herself.
Before the conversation can continue, Eliza warns Adam that Everett's men are on their way to the apartment to retrieve the device. After activating the Smart Home system, Adam hides and stealthy takes out all of the intruders. Afterwards, Eliza calls to thank him for his help. Before hanging up, she says that she is truly whole again, and promises to tell Everett how she has broken free herself...
Tropes:
- Brain Uploading: Eliza tells Adam that while the Hyron Drones are dead, their personalities have somehow been uploaded and merged with her personality.
- Break Out the Museum Piece: Helle asks Adam to retrieve a portable USB drive, which has been discontinued for years (if not decades) and is only found at the Antiky pawn shop. This is also flipped on its head when its revealed that the device is the only way to access Helle's memories.
- Call-Forward: A large-scale one for Everett, who is attempting to retrieve the AI memories for his own usage. As fans of the original game know, Everett eventually develops a prototype AI (Morpheus) and a more polished version in Daedalus.
- Character Development: Eliza becomes slightly more personable and emotional once she is reintegrated with Helle's memories, and it's hinted that she either has a crush or infatuation with Adam because of his help towards her.
- Death Trap: If the player doesn't convince Walker to give up the reader willingly and leave, the latter lures him into the basement and attempts to kill him by setting off a series of EMP mines, followed by a set of explosives.
- Dynamic Difficulty: The number of mercenaries that show up to search Adam's apartment varies based on whether the guards encountered beforehand (and Walker) were either killed or let go.
- Face–Heel Turn: It's revealed that the Eliza seen on television is an upgraded version of the AI built by the Illuminati, which has replaced the previous version.
- Foreshadowing: After she is re-integrated, Eliza tells Adam at one point that "(The) connection is severed. She is not the original her. You, of course, are familiar with this kind of process." Considering what you might find in a later mission, Eliza might know more than she's letting on...
- He Knows Too Much:
- A Pocket Secretary reveals that Everett's men were planning to get rid of Walker once they found the disc. Depending on the player's actions, Adam can convince Walker that he's being used as a pawn, leading the latter to flee once he realizes he's a loose end.
- Also lampshaded in Walker's dialogue. He muses why he's considered a "loose end" just because he shows initiative for his work and is inquisitive about certain things.
- Magic Floppy Disk: The disk containing Helle's memories is shaped like this.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Once Eliza reveals her true self to Adam, his glasses retracts and looks at her for a long time before responding, hinting that there's a deeper connection between them.
- Ship Tease: Just like her incarnation in the previous game, Eliza is protective of Adam, to the point that she states that she'll look after him once the quest is complete. Adam lampshades this when he asks if they should "run away together and settle down".
- Spotting the Thread: Adam figures out that the clerk (Walker) is bluffing when the latter refers to the store by a name it's never been branded as.
- Trash the Set: Depending on how the mercenaries were dealt with, Adam's apartment will be trashed after he comes back from the Swiss Alps, likely due to Everett sending more goons to check out the area.
