Deus Ex - nuwen.net

About this page

This Deus Ex Story page is, in spirit, descended from the Marathon's Story page. Unlike it, however, this is intended to be readable straight-through in a linear manner. A different style for a different game.

At the end of the page is a summary of all acronyms used, in case the first usage of the acronym goes unnoticed.

The greatest game ever made...

Deus Ex is an immersive role-playing first-person adventure shooter simulation, or a reasonable approximation thereof. It was released in June 2000 by Ion Storm Austin (ISA), and its unusual name was taken from the Latin phrase "deus ex machina" ("a god from a machine").

No one really expected Deus Ex. It was an unprecedented game; before it, first-person shooters were nearly uniformly devoid of plot; even the well-respected Half-Life was just "the finest implementation of a game on rails anybody has ever done" (according to Warren Spector, of course). At the time of Deus Ex's release, Ion Storm [Dallas] was rather disliked by the gaming community, because of a controversy involving Ion Storm's founder John Romero and his four-years-under-development game Daikatana. Ion Storm Austin was a wholly separate division created when Romero offered Spector and his team funding with no interference, and it was delivered as promised. Hence, no one saw Deus Ex coming, and most distrusted the company it came from. While it did not have a spectacular launch, gradually people noticed what Deus Ex was all about, and it began accumulating awards and gathering attention. It is the author's opinion that Deus Ex has the most detailed and immersive story yet seen in a game, and this page is dedicated to examining that story in detail. Additionally, with the upcoming release of Deus Ex II, there will be people who will play the new game without having played the first (unthinkable, I know), and this page will help clear up the mysteries of Deus Ex's universe.

Deus Ex is officially abbreviated as DX, not DE (e.g. the logo is a stylized 'DX' (and the Deus Ex: The Conspiracy logo even more so) and the extensions of map files are .dx), and I'll refer to it as that here.

...by the hands of man.

Deus Ex was created under the leadership of Warren Spector and Harvey "witchboy" Smith. The credits as listed in the source text files are:

• Producer and Project Director: Warren Spector
• Lead Programmer and Assistant Director: Chris Norden
• Programmers: Scott Martin, Albert Yarusso
• Lead Designer: Harvey Smith
• Designers: Marshall Andrews, Ricardo Bare, Monte Martinez, Steve Powers, Robert White
• Dialogue: Sheldon Pacotti
• Additional Dialogue: Austin Grossman
• In-Game Text and Intro/Endgame Cinematics: Chris Todd
• Lead Artist: Jay Lee
• Artists: Clay Hoffman, Russell Hughes, Rob Kovach, Nghia Lam, Terry Manderfeld, Hugh Suh
• Audio: Stan Neuvo, Will Nevins, Darren Walsh
• Music: Alexander Brandon, Dan Gardopee, Michiel Van Den Bos
• New York, Hong Kong and Paris Club Songs: Reeves Gabrels
• QA Leads: James Flores (Ion Storm Austin), Jay Franke (Ion Storm Dallas), Mike Orenich (Eidos Interactive US), Tom Murton (Eidos Interactive Europe)
• Unreal Technology Development: Tim Sweeney and the rest of the Unreal team
• Additional Programming and Design Input: Doug Church

Deus Ex has an extensive voice cast, so I will not list all of the voices here. Of note are:

• Jay Franke: J.C. Denton, Paul Denton, Daedalus [Daedalus is the only voice which is not attributed in the credits]
• Alexander Brandon: Jimmy, Tech Sergeant Kaplan
• Tom Hall: AI Prototype, Howard Strong, Walton Simons
• Cliff Stephens: Bob Page, Ford Schick

Story background.

According to Ion Storm Austin:

The future is here, and the world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly, killing thousands; drugs, disease, and pollution kill even more. The world's economies are close to collapse and the gap between the insanely wealthy and the desperately poor has grown to the size of the Grand Canyon. Worst of all, an ages old conspiracy bent on world domination has decided that the time is right to emerge from the shadows and take control. No one believes they exist. No one but you.

In this thrilling roleplaying adventure, you play the part of a powerful, nano-technologically augmented anti-terrorist agent. It's up to you to stop the conspirators from achieving their goals.

But this is a world of lies and betrayal, a world where nothing is as it seems and entire nations can seemingly be turned against you at the push of a button. To succeed, you must travel the globe in a quest for knowledge, develop your character's strengths as you see fit, build a network of allies to assist you, determine when stealth and strategy are more important than action. And each time you think you've got the mystery solved, the game figured out, there's another, deeper mystery to be unraveled. You will never know who to trust, who your friends are, who's in on the conspiracy and who's innocent.
Maybe no one is.

What year does Deus Ex take place in?

Fitting DX to a precise chronology is difficult. It is certain that Deus Ex takes place on or after November 20, 2055, but it may well be into 2056 or later.

The introduction.

The original intro script, on Chris Todd's website, reveals that something important was snipped for an unknown reason. However, everything else was done very closely to the script. My comments are in [italicized brackets].

DEUS EX INTRO
written by
Chris Todd

FADE IN:
INT. VERSALIFE - NIGHT - CLOSE ON - EARTH
rotating beneath the sculpture of a giant, grasping hand. TILT DOWN to REVEAL BOB PAGE and WALTON SIMONS in quiet discussion, the globe and hand reflected in the marble at their feet. As they talk, MAGGIE CHOW walks past. [At this point, the player doesn't know who Maggie Chow is. Only on a second playthrough does this make sense - and it is an easily missed bonus.]

PAGE
Your appointment to FEMA should be finalized within the week. I've already discussed the matter with the Senator. [FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.]

SIMONS
I take it he was agreeable?

TWO SHOT - PAGE AND SIMONS
The globe hangs overhead; their faces are shrouded in shadows.

PAGE
He didn't really have a choice.

SIMONS
Has he been infected?

PAGE
Oh, yes, most certainly. When I mentioned that we could put him on the priority list for the Ambrosia vaccine, he was so willing it was almost pathetic.

SIMONS
This plague - the rioting is intensifying to the point where we may not be able to contain it.

As Page speaks, PUSH IN on his eye - right up to the point before it CLIPS.

PAGE
Why contain it? Let it spill over into the schools and churches, let the bodies pile up in the streets. In the end, they'll beg us to save them.

CUT TO:
INT. FREE CLINIC - NIGHT
The camera TRAVELS low to the floor like an animal prowling along the dingy linoleum. It PUSHES through the door and along the overcrowded clinic hallways, filled with the listless walking corpses of those afflicted with the Gray Death. Here and there a doctor can be seen in avid conversation with one of the poor souls, but it's quite apparent that they're overwhelmed - it's simply a matter of numbers.

NOTE: Can the mouths of the doctor and patient be animated so that it appears they are in conversation even if we can't hear them? Is it possible to feed them a "dummy" voice file?

SIMONS (V.O.)
I've received reports of armed attacks on shipments. There's not enough vaccine to go around, and the underclasses are starting to get desperate.

PAGE (V.O.)
Of course they're desperate. They can smell their death, and the sound they'll make rattling their cage will serve as a warning to the rest.

The camera circles the hallways of the clinic and PUSHES back through the door and CONTINUES straight through the wall and into a -

EXT. PARIS ALLEY - NIGHT
A motley group of resistance fighters is being methodically slaughtered by a squad of MJ12 troops and bots. [At this point, the player has no clue what MJ12 is.]

SIMONS (V.O.)
Mmm. I hope you're not underestimating the problem. The others may not go as quietly as you think - intelligence indicates they're behind the problems in Paris.

PAGE (V.O.)
A bunch of pretentious old men playing at running the world.

TILT DOWN to the fallen bodies of the resistance fighters, then TILT UP to the moon hanging lonely in a cloudy sky.

PAGE (V.O.) (continuing)
But the world left them behind long ago. We are the future.

MATCH CUT TO:

EXT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - NIGHT - ANGLE ON - MOON
If possible, match the position of the moon from the previous scene. CRANE DOWN to the broken husk of the Statue of Liberty and then PAN the crowd standing on the plaza below before coming to rest on Manderley as he paces back and forth in front of his podium. NOTE: As before, can we make Manderley's mouth animate? [In Chris Todd's script, this is consistently spelled 'Manderly'. A minor change.]

SIMONS (V.O.)
We have other problems.

PAGE (V.O.)
UNATCO?

As Simons speaks, PUSH IN on Manderley.

SIMONS (V.O.)
Formed by executive order after the terrorist strike on the Statue. I have someone in place, though. I'm more concerned about Savage - he's relocated to Vandenberg.

CUT TO:
INT. UNATCO MEDLAB - NIGHT - CLOSE ON - GREASEL [This is uniformly spelled 'greasel' in-game and 'greazle' in the script.]
pacing in its cage. PULL BACK to show a scientist nearby who paused to inspect the greasel and now continues on her patrol. Keep PULLING BACK to show the whole of the mysterious medlab.

PAGE (V.O.)
Our biochem corpus is far in advance of theirs, as is our electronic sentience. And their... ethical inflexibility has allowed us to make progress in areas they refuse to consider.

SIMONS (V.O.)
The augmentation project?

CUT TO:
INT. VERSALIFE - NIGHT - EXTREME CLOSEUP - PAGE'S EYE

PULL BACK from Page's eye until he and Simons appear in a TWO SHOT once again, a reverse of the earlier scene transition.

PAGE
Among other things - but I must admit that I've been somewhat disappointed in the performance of the primary unit.

SIMONS
The secondary unit should be online soon. It's currently undergoing preparation and will be operational within six months. My people will continue to report on its progress. If necessary, the primary will be terminated.

CUT TO:
INT. AREA 51 LAB - NIGHT - GLASS TUBE
seen from behind. Inside can be glimpsed the dim outline of a naked human body, floating suspended and silent.

PAGE (V.O.)
We've had to endure much, you and I, but soon there will be order again, a new age. Aquinas spoke of the mythical City on the Hill. Soon that city will be a reality, and we will be crowned its kings.

SMASH CUT TO:
BLACKNESS

PAGE (V.O.) (nearly whispering)
Or better than kings. Gods. [It is hard to tell in-game who says this. Obviously, it was Page.]

TEXT: SIX MONTHS LATER... [The script appears like this verbatim in the game except for this line, which does not appear in any version of the game.]

FADE OUT.

Commentary on the introduction.

Thomas Aquinas was a thirteenth century theologian. The phrase 'city on a hill' refers to a model society and is a reference to the Bible, Matthew 5:14. From the New International Version:

Now when [Jesus] saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.... You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds."

It was used by the colonial era writer John Winthrop in 1630 to describe America's destiny to be a shining example to the rest of the world. President Reagan's farewell speech refers to it as well:

I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill'. The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

Introductory document.

Chad Warren (Ion Storm Austin MIS lead) created a document which was used to bring Quality Assurance testers up to speed. Here it is, with a few comments.

Deus Ex
An Immersive Simulation Spy Thriller

Salient Features of Deus Ex

1. The story so far
2. Identity - Who are you?
3. Reality - Where are you?
4. Interface - How do you interact?
5. Character - Who do you want to be?

The Story So Far

When asked for a catch-phrase to sum up Deus Ex, Warren Spector, the game's creator, will quickly answer, "An Immersive Sim! (tee-emm)." A few minutes later he will describe it as, "a character-driven spy-thriller." Other team members will spout industry jargon like, "RPG," "Action-game," and "FPS with a twist." All descriptions, and many more, are applicable, if not complete.

A blurb of the game's story line will generally read something like this -

"A plague has descended on the Earth and terrorists have interrupted the flow of the only antidote. You are a technologically enhanced anti-terrorist super-soldier assigned to track down and stop the perpetrators. But the closer you get to an answer, the more you realize that all is not as it seems. What is the true nature of the plague? Who is the real enemy? How far will you have to go to find someone you can trust?"

So what is the game really about? It's about changing the world: The world in the game and the world of gaming itself. That sounds immodest but please read on carefully. We will explain.

We begin with a world in turmoil, sometime in the near future. The lunatic fringe of our own world that believes in New World Order conspiracies and engineered population control turns out to have been right (though no one believes it but you). The Gray Death plague kills millions. Violence and terrorism are so rampant that major U.S. Metropolitan cities are walled up and under martial law. UN troops are operating on American soil and firing on American citizens, when necessary. It's bleak, it's treacherous, and you are the only person in the world with the knowledge and the power to set things right. All you have to do is figure out what "right" means...

Identity - Who Are You?

The first thing a Player is asked to do is begin building his character. The player gives the Player Character (PC) a name. Everybody that the PC will talk to will refer to him as his code-name, "JC Denton." A few characters, though, know the PC's "given" name. An email, a memo, a message, will bear the JC's given name, and in doing so reveal the sender as someone with both power and access. [This was hotly debated during the game's creation. It represents a compromise between allowing the character to select a name, RPG-style, and giving the character a firm identity as is needed to create a strong story. In text files, the chosen given name is represented as <PLAYERNAME> which is dynamically filled in by the game.]

The next choice the player is offered is JC's outward appearance. Currently all options are for male characters. Available speech technology and the "he/she, his/her, brother/sister" editing issues still place gender options beyond our grasp. The industry, as a whole, though, is getting closer all the time. [And, as it turned out, it would have taken too much space on the CD. Female characters are planned for Deus Ex II.]

The player is then given an opportunity to begin developing skills for JC. A player only has enough points at the beginning of the game to become trained in one skill so he must begin to make clear and sometimes tough choices almost immediately. What kind of player is he going to be: Handy with a pistol, a hand grenade, and a billy club; very good as a lock-picker and swimmer; or absolutely deadly with a sniper rifle and not very good at anything else? Or the player can choose nothing at the beginning and make the decision later when he has a feel for the way he wants to play. A player is encouraged to invest in building the character of his digital avatar and then to play to those strengths.

The list of available skills is limited, clearly defined, and reasonably graduated. There are clear distinctions between say, handgun skills and long-arm skills but not between an automatic handgun and a double-action revolver or between a scoped target pistol and a silenced stealth weapon. A PC begins the game hardly trained in any skill and can upgrade by three additional levels (trained, advanced, master), each with substantial improvements over the previous level. No PC will fail to complete a mission because he had a "level 69 4-stroke engine mechanic skill" instead of a "level 71 2-stroke engine mechanic"

By the end of the first mission, the player is given the opportunity to make the first choice in what kind of physical strengths he wants for his Player Character. JC Denton is one of two nano-technologically augmented persons in the world. [Note: This is what the player knows at the beginning of the game. Later, it is revealed that both Walton Simons and Bob Page are nanoaugmented.] The bodies of "nano-aug" agents are inhabited by colonies of millions of sub-microscopic organic machines that can be programmed to enhance the body's performance in a given area. JC has full functionality of his first three augs from the first moment of play. The first is a built-in flashlight that doesn't use much energy and that other characters can see. [While this document is very accurate with respect to the final game, this part is not. Other characters are essentially oblivious to JC's flashlight - which is emitted directly from his eyes...] The second is a device that can identify people and things that bear JC hostility. The third is the InfoLink. The InfoLink is a transceiver and data storage unit built into JC's head that is responsible for communication from JC's handler at UNATCO and for the heads-up display that allows JC to monitor his resources in real-time.

As JC completes missions and explores his environment, he is regularly rewarded with additional skill points and with opportunities to add and upgrade his physical augmentations. JC will find that strength, speed, stealth, perception, resilience, responsiveness, and adaptability are all qualities he can enhance with the application of augmentation.

To contribute to the idea of character differentiation, there are limits set to the amount and the form of skill and augmentation upgrades. At no point in the game do sufficient skill points exist to become advanced in, much less master, all of the available skills. Also, once a skill is selected and play has started, the alteration is permanent. If all of a player's points are spent on demolitions and he suddenly finds himself out of explosives, the demolition skill cannot be traded off. Augmentations are limited in their number and in their compatibility with each other. A player may choose to enhance either the combat responsiveness of his arms or he may choose to enhance their overall brute force, but not both. And any subsequent upgrades to his arms will only enhance the augmentation that's installed.

A Player must make committed choices about the kind of character he wants to play and make efficient use of the enhancements he has chosen. There are no right or wrong skills. There are no obstacles limited to a single solution (or even as few as two). A player who narrowly specializes his skills should be equally as challenged as someone who spreads his skills broadly. Any player who is willing to commit to a character and to explore should have a rewarding game experience.

Reality - Where Are You?

JC Denton starts the game as the newest recruit of the UNATCO Headquarters on Liberty Island, NY. After a brief orientation mission, he steps right into a firefight between UNATCO and the NSF, a terrorist organization. His brother, Paul (the only other successful nano-aug in existence) is his first contact. JC will have to face the paternalistic interference of his brother, the weapons of self-righteous terrorists, the resentment of mechanically enhanced agents (whose appearance cuts them off from normal society), questionable directives, and a deepening sense that all is not as it seems; and that's just to get checked into his new office.

The NPC inhabitants of Deus Ex have their own motivations and goals. Individual patrols, specific objectives, personal fears and desires. An opponent who feels outmatched by JC's armament may try to get in close and overpower him, or may flee to sound an alarm. When two armies clash, each warrior picks his own objectives and carries them out to the best of his ability. The same firefight on the same battlefield will never happen the same way twice, no matter how many times you play. NPCs working in their own best interest carry out reasonable actions that weren't designed and weren't expected.

Everything in JC's physical universe can be of use to him. There are books he can pick up and read (not just bookshelf textured walls); chairs that get sat in; crates that can be stacked, opened, or thrown as impromptu weapons. JC can hit up an ATM for cash to bribe an informant, feed a soda machine for a little sugar-rush, stack up garbage bags in an alley for an improvised hiding place, or heave a beer bottle off into the distance to distract a guard (or shotgun it for a quick buzz).

Weapons are ubiquitous in a spy thriller and JC has plenty to choose from. As with everything else, though, there are choices to be made. Suppose JC finds a flame-thrower, a LAW rocket, and a stack of medical supplies. If he's been collecting resources for any length of time, he's only going to have room for one or two of these items. And laying hands on a big piece of munitions isn't necessarily going to make every situation easier. Hong Kong, for instance, is wired for sound and a pistol shot will summon cops instantly. Conversely, JC may have to face down a 16-ton armored sentry robot, and poking at it with a Bowie knife for 3 or 4 hours is not likely to be a highly successful strategy. [A bot can indeed be destroyed this way, by the highly patient.]

Other treasures are available to JC that are equally as important as weapons. Some of them, like the lock-picks, tech-tools, med-kits and bioelectric power-cells, are the consumable "ammo" for the skills and augmentations associated with them. Other valuables include mechanical modifications for weapons, binoculars, food, and, of course, money. Upgrading certain skills, like lock picking, will improve JC's economy of lock-pick resources. Upgrading a weapon with a scope or an extended clip, may free up skill-point resources for other uses.

The reader should notice that an "economy" of resources is referred to. A player who has invested heavily in medical skills can still pick his way through a door if a path he chooses requires it. It will take him longer, and will require more of the consumable lock-picks. Another player who has invested in lock picking can still heal himself with a medical kit, but the percentage yield of that kit is going to be lower. A player can accomplish any goal if he is willing to commit the time and resources necessary. He will operate most efficiently within the skill sets that he has invested in, but he's not strictly limited to those skills.

Interface - How Do You Interact?

The real, live human who is creating the character of JC and controlling his actions has a number of useful tools available to him. It is hoped that they will enrich the immersive experience of the game by preventing repetitive breaks to take notes or reference the user manual. Within the fiction of the story, JC has been implanted with a device for collecting and storing information. Its primary use to JC's superiors is the ability it provides them to contact him at any time, anywhere. The InfoLink is infinitely more useful to JC himself.

The first thing the InfoLink provides is a real-time heads-up display. At the outset, the player can use the HUD to view JC's health statistics, a compass, and the most ready items in the inventory in the form of hotkey icons. The health meter displays location specific damage. The HUD is also capable of alerting JC if he is taking damage from gas, radiation, fire, or ballistics. In the event that JC is getting shot, the HUD can display directional data for quicker evasion. The HUD is also configurable. The player can view as much or as little of it as he chooses.

In the words of the game's creator, "Diablo got Inventory right. There's no sense messing with something that works..." Players will find the inventory familiar and intuitive. They will also discover a host of options:

• A record of every conversation
• All unfinished objectives, prioritized
• Details on location-specific damage (along with the ability to heal areas selectively)
• A full-featured text editor for note taking
• A Skills management menu
• Maps. No "automaps." If JC got a hand sketched map on a bar napkin, he can view the napkin.

There are three things to know about conversation in Deus Ex: 1) If the player is offered a choice, it's significant. There are no throwaway name-job-buy-sell conversations. If an NPC doesn't have anything important to contribute, he won't waste the player's time. 2) The conversational interface is the only time the player is taken out of 1st person. A cinematic approach was chosen specifically for its conventionality. 3) The lip-synching is real-time. Proprietary technology allows the audio track, not the text, to synchronize the characters with their lines.

Character - Who Do You Want To Be?

So far we have:

• A topical storyline centered around an ancient one-world-government conspiracy
• Broad but not ponderous options for character specialization
• Obstacles with multiple solutions
• NPCs with motivations and goals that aren't always obvious

What ties it all together? Why the balance of flexibility and limitation? Because the final objective of this game isn't completing the big gun to defeat the final boss or mastering all available skills for some kind of virtual "enlightenment." The most important feature of this game is in the decisions the player makes and how he uses his environment to accomplish the tasks set before him.

JC must be an active and responsible participant in his world. If he feels that it's necessary to stand and fight, he has to understand that there are repercussions to be dealt with. If he shoots somebody in the street, the police will likely take a serious interest. If he snipes somebody at random, there's no guarantee that he hasn't killed somebody vitally important to his success. Or he can choose not to kill. He has the ability to question, intimidate, avoid, flee, disable, stun, wound, etc., as well as kill in response to the presence of another person.

So how do you want to play? Are you a shooter? Do you want to jump in feet first; guns blazing? You can play that way, and you can succeed as long as you are prepared to utilize the advantages and deal with the penalties of that kind of strategy. Do you want to sneak? Do you shun the very idea of killing for karmic reasons? Do you thrill to hide in the shadows and invisibly glide through an enemy's defenses? You can play that way, too; you will succeed as well as any other strategy if you are willing to invest in your environment and adapt to it.

Will this game change the world? Not all at once. Deus Ex is, though, the next logical step in a trend established by games like Underworld, Underworld 2, System Shock, Thief, and System Shock 2. The unspoken focus of this movement: to satisfy the goal of storytelling since it began: to totally immerse an individual in an intimately personal quest; not to hear or see a hero's deeds, but to be the hero oneself.

Text files.

Deus Ex's story is communicated in two ways: through conversations that the main character, J.C. Denton, has with other characters, and through text in the universe which Denton reads (which can appear on a datacube, in a book, in a computer's stored E-mail, et cetera). The written information is stored in the game files as DeusExText.u (367KB) - obviously a gigantic file. I have reproduced it here to present the story all at once, rather than piece by piece during 24 hours of gameplay. This is technically against Ion Storm's copyright, but this page's purpose is to increase demand and create publicity for Deus Ex (and more importantly, Deus Ex 2) rather than provide a reason not to buy Deus Ex. For the love of all that is good, please buy Deus Ex. It's an old game, so it's cheap (and there's now the Game of the Year version, which has an included soundtrack - Deus Ex's music is incredible). Reading the story is a vastly different (and more limited) experience than playing the game.

Text in DeusExText.u is formatted using an HTML-like simplified scheme. However, many tags seem to do nothing. The <JC> and <DC> tags have no effect and an unknown purpose. The <P> tag begins a new line; I have removed it from the text that follows below. The <B> and <I> tags are used very carefully throughout the text, but - oddly enough - have no effect on how the text is displayed in the game. I have left those tags in the text below (correcting minor instances where they were not closed properly). The <PLAYERNAME> and <PLAYERFIRSTNAME> represent the player's chosen name and not the codename J.C. Denton (the default is that they are both identical). <COMMENT> tags are usually used to note where a given piece of text is displayed in-game.

All of the dialogue in Deus Ex is stored in DeusExConText.u, which is over a megabyte long. I have started work on processing, formatting, and annotating it, but I need a large chunk of free time before I can finish it.

Annotated DeusExText.u

My annotations are in normal text, while the game text is in fixed-width font. Each line of annotation refers to the game text immediately above it.

UNATCO HANDBOOK

UNATCO and the Press

Because UNATCO will often deal with situations that cannot easily be contained,
agents may unfortunately need to interact with the press.

If you are not trained for such interaction, do not - repeat, DO NOT - speak
with journalists, regardless of nationality.  They are skilled in misdirection
and propaganda.  Refuse comment.  Remember: Security procedures are our first
line of defence.  SECRETS are LIVES.

Always refer reporters at crime scenes to UNATCO information officers and fact
management teams.

This has importance in the game world - eventually, JC Denton discovers that Joe Greene, reporter for the Midnight Sun, is an informant for the enemy. Considering who Joe Greene gives information to, this part of the UNATCO Handbook is especially ironic.

We'll make this one easy for you.  To open the door, use the code:

0012

Got it?

Jaime

Hey J.C., want to cross the water?  Lower the bridge.  The code is:

0089

It's either that or get all wet.

Jaime

Almost done, but one quick note:

I'm not exactly the expert on this sort of thing - for that you'll have to check
in with Sam Carter when you get to Liberty Island - but remember that there's
any number of other ways to open a door, including using explosives or
finding a security computer.

Jaime

These three quick notes are seen in the training level, and help to introduce basic gameplay mechanics to the player.

UNATCO STEALTH GUIDELINES

Overview

Stealth is a vital component of all UNATCO operations; when implemented
correctly, stealth missions result in the lowest possible ratio of agent and
civilian casualties to hostile losses.

Situational awareness is key, and agents should not only be familiar with the
tactical opportunities offered by their immediate environment, but how those
opportunities can be exploited to their advantage with the appropriate
equipment.  Tech goggles allow agents to operate in low-light environments
such as offices or labs where illumination might otherwise attract attention.
With binoculars, an agent can survey an opponent's disposition and determine
the best way to evade or eliminate their defenses. A rifle or crossbow equipped
with scope and silencing modifications can be used to interdict targets from a
considerable distance, significantly compromising hostile resistance.

Other features of the environment can also be used by an agent to enhance their
ability to operate covertly or to create useful distractions: disabling
security cameras, subverting autoguns, and reprogramming bots are all viable
tactics employed by experienced agents in the field.

In the game, tech (night vision) goggles are next to useless. Binoculars are useful, but as you can not hold binoculars and a weapon simultaneously, their utility is limited. By the end of the game, when you can hold a sniper rifle without shaking, the binoculars are especially redundant. Security cameras can be disabled by hacking a control panel or blowing up the camera (high explosives or a master-level sniper shot are required - hitting a camera with a knife or shooting it with a pistol will never destroy it). Autoturrets can be reprogrammed if you have a suitably advanced skill in hacking. Bots can be reprogrammed through control panels. Unfortunately, there is no general mechanism in the game to reprogram bots permanently.

UNATCO HANDBOOK

Welcome to UNATCO!

CLASSIFICATION: The U.N. has nine levels of security above Top Secret.  This
manual and all material that is not otherwise marked is classified as
Angel/0A.  If you are not Angel/0A or above, report immediately to your
supervisor or face disciplinary action.  Other classifications will be
explained upon reaching higher clearance.

In its efforts to combat terrorism, the U.N. has created UNATCO for the swift
deployment of a COORDINATED FORCE to counteract any insurgent operations.
You are justifiably proud to be part of this organization: your physical
capabilities place you within the upper one percent of national ground combat
units, while your mental capabilities have been honed to sharpness by the
UNATCO Academy.

But as part of a larger organization, you also understand the necessity to
HEED ORDERS from your superiors without hesitation; your superiors are
typically briefed on matters for which you may not be cleared, and hesitation
on the part of an agent can result in the serious IMPAIRMENT of mission
objectives and attendant CASUALTIES.

UNATCO has faith in you, and this faith will be REWARDED in due time as your
operational capacities are increased.  Brave the darkness, for you carry the
torch of freedom.

The known security levels are:

• Angel/0A
• Archangel/1B
• Principal/2C
• Domination/5F
• Throne/6G
• Seraphic/8X

The 3D, 4E, and 7H levels are not mentioned in the game. The names have a common significance. [FIXME: This is explicitly mentioned elsewhere in the game.]

UNATCO HANDBOOK

UNATCO and the Public

In carrying out their duties, UNATCO agents often come in contact with the
public.

You are a PEACEKEEPER, and your first objective is to safeguard human life.
Though terrorists may see an advantage in harming civilians, UNATCO agents do
not.  Issue a warning before firing at a suspect and always instruct bystanders
to "get down on the ground."  Refrain from firing into large crowds.  Every
civilian hurt is collateral damage.

However, keep in mind that no civilian with a clearance below Angel/0A should
be trusted and may be a potential spy.  ANYONE can be a spy, and secrecy is our
ally.

REMEMBER: WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

In the early levels of the game, you have a choice as to whether to be a well-behaved UNATCO peacekeeper, or a nanoaugmented badass. NPCs react differently to you depending on how much lethal force you use.

UNATCO HANDBOOK

UNATCO and the Police

In carrying out their duties, UNATCO agents often work with other
law-enforcement agencies.

We remain a small, elite organization.  Until our ranks expand, we must rely on
the cooperation of local police, governments, intelligence agencies, and
corporate security divisions.  Always be courteous when requesting information
or filing an extradition request.  As our jurisdiction widens, we will
inevitably experience conflicts with some local officials.  Do not resort to
unnecessary intimidation in these situations, and report any problems to the
appropriate UNATCO liaison.  Above all, an international law enforcement body
requires the RESPECT and SUPPORT of all participating nations.

I like the part, "Until our ranks expand, we must rely on the cooperation of local... governments". What happens after their ranks expand?

UNATCO TRAINING MANUAL

Section 3C: Multitools

A "multitool" is not really a tool at all - not in the usual sense of the
word - but a disposable electronic device that utilizes electromagnetic
resonance detection and frequency modulation to dynamically alter the flow of
current through almost any non-hardened circuitry.  Skilled agents can use the
multitool to manipulate code locks, cameras, autogun turrets, alarms, or
other security elements.

Note that multitools CANNOT be used for computer information extraction
(see Section 5A: Hacking).

Multitools are a consumable resource in the game - the player can carry several multitools at a time. Any given electronic device (say, a numeric lock) has a certain multitool "hardness" (sometimes, but rarely, infinite - usually used to control the player's progress into game-critical sections) - anywhere from 10% to 100%. Using one multitool destroys a certain percentage of this hardness - say, 20%. Multiple multitools may need to be used to defeat a given device. The more skilled you are with multitools, the more effective a single use of a multitool is - thus, as your multitool skill increases, you consume less and less of the resource. Yet anyone with enough multitools can defeat any device (with finite hardness) eventually. It's all part of the Deus Ex philosophy.

UNATCO HANDBOOK

UNATCO and the Future

As science progresses at an ever increasing rate, more and more advanced
technology is finding its way into the hands of the common criminal, resulting
in a deadly threat to LIFE and PROPERTY throughout the world.

While it is impractical to restrict the free-flow of information already present
in the public sector, UNATCO is committed to insuring that this threat does not
go unaddressed.  Even now, UNATCO research and development employs some of the
most talented scientific minds in the world to develop proprietary technologies
in absolute security for field use by our agents - including such innovations
as the XXXXXXX XXXXX and XXXXXX, or the lifesaving XXXXX.

Under NO circumstances should agents discuss ANY piece of equipment or
technique currently employed by UNATCO.  Agents operating contrary to this
directive will face immediate disciplinary action.

Within our laboratories lies not just the future of law enforcement, but a
SAFE, SECURE future for all mankind.

[Document filtered per UNATCO Terror Monitoring Act 919-05 Sec. IV]

This tells us several things: UNATCO views the progress of technology as a bad thing, as long as its enemies control that progress of technology. Furthermore, UNATCO would love to restrict the "free-flow of information", yet cannot at the moment. And third, UNATCO is heavily into secrecy (big surprise).

UNATCO HANDBOOK

UNATCO and the World

For far too long terrorists have exploited international tensions and regional
legislative variations to elude authorities.

A significant step was made towards eliminating these legal loopholes when U.S.
President Philip Riley Mead lobbied the Congress to make the U.S. a UNATCO
member nation: "Enough is enough!" he declared in his landmark State of the
Union address, and the citizens of the United States responded with
enthusiastic endorsement of his position.  Not only did the United States
become a charter member of UNATCO, but UNATCO headquarters are now located
on Liberty Island in the shadow of that shattered monument to FREEDOM.

UNATCO deals not only with terrorist threats, but also any transgressions of
the international legal code, including drug trafficking, software piracy,
and money laundering.  With the full support of the United States, UNATCO
was for the first time able to truly declare itself the "WORLD'S POLICEMAN."

This explains the rise of UNATCO - note that one step in making the United States submit to UNATCO's will was the destruction of the Statue of Liberty, seen at the beginning of the game (in all its low-framerate glory). The bit about the "world's policeman" is directly taken from conspiracy theories about the United Nations.

UNATCO HANDBOOK: Appendix A

Origins of UNATCO

In recent years the swelling tide of international terrorism coupled with
enmity between states, wildly varying laws, and an anachronistic devotion to
arbitrary borders has resulted in the decreasing effectiveness of local law
enforcement.  To resolve the problem, a neutral agency was required to
enforce international law in an impartial manner around the world.

UNATCO was formed with just such a mission in mind, an organization that could
transcend national boundaries and provide security for all nations that
subscribe to its charter.  Founded with the principles of the United Nations
as its cornerstone, UNATCO is FAIR, JUST, and protects the individual
liberties of all the citizens of the world.

The criminal thrives on anonymity, but soon there will be no place for them
to hide.  Victory over terrorism is the prize for our VIGILANCE.

The bit about "anachronistic devotion to arbitrary borders" is nice.

UNATCO HANDBOOK: Dedication

Nihil aliud scit necessitas quam vincere.
- Syrus

The UNATCO motto means "Necessity knows no law except to conquer". Fitting.

(Chris Todd uses a different translation, "Necessity knows nothing else but victory". I think that version doesn't make very much sense.)

UNATCO MedDirectorate
Nano-Augmentation Guidelines

... nano-augmentations, once "installed", irrevocably alter the physiological
system they affect and in many cases cause all subsequent augmentations to be
rejected; however, the exact number of augmentations each system can support
varies.  The various interdependencies between these systems can be seen in the
following table the details possible nano-augmentation combinations.

Arms: Combat Strength or Microfibral Muscle
Legs: Speed Enhancement or Run Silent
Subdermal (1): EMP Shield or Ballistic Protection
Subdermal (2): Cloak or Radar Transparency
Torso (1): Aqualung or Environmental Resistance
Torso (2): Regeneration or Energy Resistance
Torso (3): Synthetic Heart or Power Recirculator
Cranium: Aggressive Defense System or Spy Drone
Optics: Targeting or Vision Enhancement

Specific nano-augmentations should be selected based on the mission profile of
the particular agent...

This is a fairly basic explanation of gameplay mechanics, notable because it appears long before most of the augmentations are actually found in the game.

PROJECT DIBBUK
Overview

Domination/5F Clearance ONLY

... the noted failure of previous attempts to create a low profile rotary
aircraft involved the acquisition and retrofitting of available military
hardware that had neither the range, ceiling, nor electromagnetic transparency
to avoid numerous eyewitness accounts or unauthorized military interactions.
In addition to exacerbating public misconceptions about governmental operations,
such encounters also jeopardized several key missions.  PROJECT DIBBUK was
initiated to address this issue through the creation of a "stealth" aircraft
that could be used as a platform for a number of mission objectives...

PROJECT DIBBUK produced the Deus Ex helicopter, which is often seen in the game. It's a classic evil black helicopter.

Terrorism - Crime or Conscience?

The question must be asked: is the global rise of terrorism a haphazard response
to a decimated economy or is there a pattern?  Does UNATCO face coordinated
ideological opposition?

Some groups - Silhouette in France, for instance - have declared a "Meme War",
or "war of meanings" in their terminology.  They spread email and pamphlets that
lampoon the U.N.'s proposal for a one-world democracy, a tedious exercise in
rudimentary propaganda.  With sophistries and doublespeak, they portray
"freedom" as "obedience", "democracy" as "tyranny", and UNATCO as the
perpetrator of terrorism - an idea as shocking as it is reprehensible.

Other organizations, such as the self-proclaimed revolutionary National
Seccessionist Forces (NSF) in the U.S., claim allegiance to the Meme War, but
are in fact no better than common criminals.  They desire territory and wealth
at the expense of society at large.  Their "civil war" is merely a
smokescreen for criminal activity.

Any population can be quickly turned against such "revolutionaries" simply by
educating them about the U.N.'s policies and goals.

- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

"Meme" is a word invented by Richard Dawkins, prominent evolutionary biologist. Basically, a meme is an idea which replicates and competes with other memes.

Terrorism - Threat Profiling

Symbolic attacks - the Statue of Liberty bombing, the desecration of the Soviet
War Memorial in Berlin, the department-store shooting-sprees on Orchard Road in
Singapore - are the recourse of the weak.  They serve only to call attention to
a group or cause that is of no more than marginal interest to the public.

But what distinguishes true terrorist activity is its gradual escalation
towards genuine acts of war.  Fringe groups now have access to technology that
allows direct assaults on governments, including the classic trio of nuclear,
biological, or chemical weaponry (NBC).  But aside from direct assaults on a
nation and its people, indirect attacks can cause considerable collateral
damage - rogue software can disrupt financial markets, communications, and
military operations, while encryption programs allow terrorists to coordinate
smuggling operations in secret right over the Net!  Drugs, guns, illegal
immigrants, and even heavy equipment such as armored vehicles and cruise
missiles are routinely traded across borders, aided and abetted by such
software.

UNATCO - the first organization with the technology, manpower, and authority
to cope with such threats - is an idea that is long overdue.

- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

This mentions a couple of things which aren't seen anywhere else in the game, and which UNATCO also probably perpetrated.

Terrorism - War Without Fronts

How do we fight an underground threat, one with no defined territory, base,
or - often - known leader?  We look to military history.

The casebook example of how to manage civil unrest is the Hamlet Evaluation
System (HES) developed by the United States military during its occupation of
South Vietnam in the 20th Century.  Since population centers in that country
contained both Communist rebels and loyal citizens, the towns were ranked on a
scale from 1 to 5, five being the safest.  The monthly reports of local
commanders, useful in Vietnam for maintaining contour maps of ideology
concentration, have provided many components of the UNATCO Sector Field Report.

The modern UDU (UNATCO Deployed Unit) has been modeled on the CAP (Combined
Action Platoon) deployed in Vietnam, a 15-man rifle squad responsible for a
single hamlet.  CAP-protected villages typically earned a 2.95 HET score,
compared to a 1.6 average in the same region.  CAP units performed in many
mission roles, but they primarily worked with indigenous police to strengthen
ideological ties.  Like CAP units, UNATCO teams are primarily concerned with
building safe communities.

- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

Stopping Terror - A New Perspective on Freedom

When one maniac can wipe out a city of twenty million with a microbe developed
in his basement, a new approach to law enforcement becomes necessary.  Every
citizen of the world must be placed under surveillance.  That means sky-cams
at every intersection, computer-mediated analysis of every phone call, e-mail,
and snail-mail, and a purely electronic economy in which every transaction is
recorded and data-mined for suspicious activity.

We are close to achieving this goal.  Some would say that human liberty has
been compromised, but the reality is just the opposite.  As surveillance
expands, people become free from danger, free to walk alone at night, free to
work in a safe place, and free to buy any legal product or service without the
threat of fraud.  One day every man and woman will quietly earn credits,
purchase items for quiet homes on quiet streets, have cook-outs with neighbors
and strangers alike, and sleep with doors and windows wide open.  If that
isn't the tranquil dream of every free civilization throughout history,
what is?

- Anna Navarre, Agent, UNATCO

This is one of the first indications that a worldwide datamining program is in place - Echelon. Furthermore, this is one reason why the unit of currency in Deus Ex is the credit, and not the dollar - it's not just a throwaway word designed to sound futuristic.

Know Your Enemy - NSF

The National Secessionist Forces (NSF) remain a very real and increasingly
widespread terrorist threat.  Ten years ago, in response to the Sporting
Weapons Act of 2042, splinter groups from nearly every state militia refused to
surrender their rifles, grenades, land mines, and other "collectibles"
prohibited by the Act.  Unified under the charismatic leadership of Leon Woods,
these isolated fanatics eventually formed the NSF with Woods assuming the rank
of General. Their intended goal: the "liberation" of Washington, Montana,
Oregon, and Northern California.

While Woods died during his infamous "last stand" in 2045, his war machine
continues what can only be termed an occupation of the United States, aided
by an encrypted network designed by dissident computer scientists from San
Francisco and Seattle.  Currently, the UNATCO Cryptography Division has had
minimal success in cracking their communications, requiring more direct
intelligence gathering techniques to be utilized.

The U.N. has declared war on the NSF.

And thus begins the headache of properly determining when Deus Ex takes place. This was developed early, when DX was still set in 2052, but other in-game references contradict this and push the year forward to 2056 or later. This can be explained away by assuming that the author was rounding off to the nearest decade, but that would only be a rationalization of a true inconsistency in the game.

The bit about "dissident computer scientists" is revealing. Remember V?

Know Your Enemy - Silhouette

Famous for inserting 20th-century style commercials into the Net broadcast of
the World Cup in 2050, Silhouette favors "feats of spectacle" over violence.

"Printed circuits, part of this nutritious breakfast", the announcer told
children in one of the World Cup commercials.  "You ain't mech 'til you eat
mech.  [A mech boy chews a memory chip.]  Boys who eat organics get stomped by
their posthuman classmates.  [Mech boys in UNATCO helmets and metal boots take
turns kicking another boy.]"

Despite their numerous pranks, these intellectuals, artists, and labor
organizers pose a serious threat.  They are well-armed and have been linked to
the murders of numerous European politicians and journalists.  They will not
hesitate to use lethal force.

Know Your Enemy - The Triads

UNATCO surveillance of Hong Kong is currently a high priority given the renewed
threat of Chinese organized crime in the form of the Triads.  Despite being a
model of prosperity and technological leadership for decades, Hong Kong persists
as a haven for organized crime.  The Triads, namely the Luminous Path and Red
Arrow, vie for control of the ten-trillion credit shipping business, much of
which supplies greater Asia with pirated technology, illegal drugs, and weapons.

Most disturbing of all, the Triads preach an ethic of technopiracy that has
found enthusiastic support among small shopkeepers and businessmen who often
aid the gangsters and buy their bootlegged software.  Gullible and greedy, this
army of middlemen remain insensitive to how their violations of intellectual
property and copyright laws damage the global information economy.

The mentions of intellectual property and copyright laws are eerily prescient, considering the modern attempts the MPAA and RIAA are making to enforce IP laws.

Know Your Enemy - Other Threats 

UNATCO operatives have identified over 1250 terrorist organizations active in
the world today, some too small to currently present a serious threat, but
all eager to see one or more governments topple.

Groups such as the Templars (Europe) and "X-51" (Western U.S.) will be dealt
with in subsequent volumes of "Know Your Enemy".

Initially, it was planned that the player would have a greater involvement with X-51, but their role in the final game was cut considerably.

<COMMENT>UNATCO HQ</COMMENT>
Mr. Manderley:

Just FYI, your new password is knight_killer (I know you led that mission in
Paris against that old terrorist organization or whatever it was).  Your login
is still jmanderley.

Janice
;)

Shannon -

Ammunition is disappearing again, so we're changing the door code for the
comm van near the helipad.  New code: 0451.

Alex

Later, you find out that Shannon is the one who has been stealing supplies in the first place. 0451 is an allusion to System Shock's allusion to Fahrenheit 451.

Brother,

I've set up the turrets and cameras in the statue ruins... a hasty defense, but
since we won't be here long, it should work.  The security computer login is:
NSF001.  The password is: smashthestate.

<COMMENT>Datacube in Alex's office</COMMENT>

Change ghermann password to "zeitgeist".  Next week I guess it'll be
"schadenfreude".  Strange guy...

"Zeitgeist" is a German word meaning the general intellectual and cultural climate of an era. "Schadenfreude" is a German word meaning a malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.

<COMMENT>Datacube in SATCOM Van</COMMENT>

attention nightshift:
van camera system login (same as old login): SATCOM
new password: UNATCO_001

PS) we *will* beat you at darts on saturday, suckas.

Apparently, in the mid 21st century, password security is at an all-time low.

<COMMENT>Datacube for Statue ATM account</COMMENT>

So many people use that ATM each day that it's busted 90% of the time.  But if
it's working, you might need some cash today for the pub crawl we've got
planned in the city.  Don't let the tourists get you down.  See you there
tonight, sweetie.

Accnt#: 230023
PIN#: 4558

Johnathan - your husband to be.

PS) I was serious last night-I really want to get married in the Statue.  We
met there on duty and all our friends work there.

Type ILLUMINATI into a phone. You get 4558646284. This is intentional.

<COMMENT>Janice Reed inbox</COMMENT>

From: Anon//UNATCO.44567.22356
To: Free Enterprise Mailing List
Cc:
Subject: re: NOBODY CARES! (was: Nationalizing industry)

Michelle (mdarwin//orbit.8665.9112.4) wrote:

>I just read that government regulators have nationalized
>the third airline this year, and the story was buried on
>the SIXTH PAGE of the Times!
>
>No one seems to care that Uncle Sam is gradually taking control
>of every means of public transportation.  The FAA claims that the
>airline's management botched the safety records...  Lies! Lies!
>Have any of these records been made public?  Do they even exist?
>
>Rule by executive order is now the norm.  Goodbye, due process.

What you have to remember is that "we the people" are members of a republic, and
you must learn to trust those that you choose to represent you.  The government
is not a heartless machine running our lives; it is comprised of people, just
like you, who deserve our trust and respect.

In the future, there are still mailing lists, and people still use USENET quotes. It certainly sounds like Janice Reed wrote this E-mail herself (and then received a copy of it through the mailing list) - note that it is sent by "Anon" at UNATCO. The numbers following are not unique and appear in many other places in the game.

<COMMENT>Manderley inbox, password protected</COMMENT>

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Our Little Experiment

Should be arriving soon.  Clear it for Domination/5F ops as soon as possible,
but proceed with caution.  We have serious concerns about the primary unit
and would like to avoid any potential contamination.

The primary unit, also referenced in the intro, is Paul Denton. "Our Little Experiment" is, of course, JC Denton. WS is Walton Simons. (These are also the initials of Warren Spector.)

<COMMENT>Manderley, Navarre inbox</COMMENT>

From: GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Cc: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
Subject: Skul-gun

Might I sugest agin, a skul-gun for my head.  Yesterday in Batery Park, some
scum we all know pushes smack for NSF gets jumpy and draws.  I take 2 .22's,
1 in flesh, 1 in augs, befor I can get out that dam asalt gun.

If I could kil just by thought, it would be beter.  Is it my job to be a
human target-practis backstop?

Gunther Hermann

<COMMENT>Hermann, Navarre inbox</COMMENT>

From: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513
Cc: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
Subject: re: skul-gun

I have personally forwarded your request to Appropriations.  Upgrading our
combat-readiness is an ongoing priority.

Speaking of which, you certainly made the best of a difficult situation
yesterday.  We applaud your courage.  Thank you for living to work another day,
Gunther.  We need more agents like you.

JM

GHermann (GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513) wrote:

>Might I sugest agin, a skul-gun for my head.
>Yesterday in Batery Park, some scum we all know
>pushes smack for NSF gets jumpy and draws.  I take
>2 .22's, 1 in flesh, 1 in augs, befor I can get out
>that dam asalt gun.
>
>If I could kil just by thought, it would be beter.
>Is it my job to be a human target-practis backstop?
>
>Gunther Hermann

Well, at least Gunther can spell his name correctly. Contrary to my first impression while playing the game, Gunther is not joking. Skull-guns and nanotechnology go hand in hand - see The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. (Also, while Janice Reed uses USENET quotes, Manderley is a bit less cultured.)

<COMMENT>Alex Jacobson inbox</COMMENT>

From: cRakS//AUSNET.78963.07378
To: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Whupass

Hey man, get your occipital jack fixed yet?  You've got to check out the Strike4
demo (//GNET/Ego/Strike4): whole-motor control, total visual occlusion... MAN,
fireballs burn your face, walls hurt when you hit them, tactile-textures
everywhere, volumetric humidity... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  Don't give me that
national security crap.  Jack in so I can WHUP YOUR ASS.

cRakS

<COMMENT>KLloyd inbox</COMMENT>

From: JReed//UNATCO.56740.33309
To: KLloyd//UNATCO.2334.8873
Subject: Visitors

Mr. Manderley tells me we're expecting a new agent.  His assigned I.D. is "J.C.
Denton".  Please enter him in the log when he arrives and alert me immediately.

Thank you.

Janice Reed

<COMMENT>Anna Navarre inbox</COMMENT>

From: GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513
To: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
Subject: dinosores

See, what do I tell you?  Manderley wil be hapy to have the garbage truk take me
back to Deutschland.  Now especally with the new nano-aug alredy ariving.  We
are the old computers the Americans call "dinosores."

See if I ever get a skul-gun at all.

Gunther

<COMMENT>Jaime Reyes inbox</COMMENT>

From: GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: bad nee

Doctor Reyes, well-come.  UNATCO is having a need of a good sergeon.

Which let me add, I have a big pain in my nee.  Sticking actuator?  I cant fix
it no mater how much lubrikant.  Please inform when an apointment can be made
available.

Gunther Hermann

<COMMENT>Gunther Hermann, Anna Navarre, JCD inbox</COMMENT>

From: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
To: GHermann; ANavarre; JCDenton
Subject: Nano-Augmentation and You

I was asked by the regional medical coordinator to forward this information to
all of you.  I do so without further comment...

Dr. Reyes

--------

By now, you've heard about the upcoming transition to nano-augmentation.  It's
coming, but not as soon as you think.  UNATCO has only one nano-augmented
agent, with a second just now graduating from the Academy.  It will be years
before the program leaves the laboratory.

Your mechanical augmentations are NOT obsolete.  Some agents express concern
that they will be "walking junk" in ten years.  One agent expressed their
fears in an anonymous e-mail saying "Well be sld at flee markets,. old
gray golems for scareing the children.  So what about my legss?  What about
my LIFE?"[sic]

Keep some perspective.  Prosthetics remain the only proven technology for
enhancing human abilities.  Those who make the sacrifice are appreciated,
commended, and saluted as heroes.

I probably don't have to mention that Deus Ex is extremely funny. It should be noted that augmentation is much further along than the regional medical coordinator would have everyone believe - the MIBs are widespread and are all augmented (not nanotechnologically).

<COMMENT>JCD inbox</COMMENT>

From: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: greetings and nanotech briefings

Hey <PLAYERFIRSTNAME>,

Guess I'll have to get used to calling you "J.C." around the office. Not sure
where they came up with that, but at least they gave you the same last codename
as your brother.  Anyways, whatever they're calling you, it's good to see a
familiar name on the roster.

My first job here has been to read up on your augmentations.  I'm beginning to
see why you found classes so easy.  EVERY NEURON IN YOUR HEAD has been
augmented.

For example: the voice in your head (from an operator, someone here at HQ able
to handle the scanning equipment in your skull and broadcast advice over your
"infolink") leaps fully formed right into your temporal lobe, bypassing the
eardrum and its sensory neurons.  And its perfectly inaudible to everyone
around you, of course.  Not to mention that the nanites clinging to your axons
can both receive and transmit symbolic information, so if you ever need help,
don't sweat it; someone at HQ probably already knows.

Come by if you want to hear more...this is great stuff...

Jaime

<COMMENT>Alex Jacobson inbox</COMMENT>

From: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: re: Security Breach

Thank you for keeping me informed of the recent hacker activity and your speedy
response to same.  I'm glad our security efforts were up to snuff.

(AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490) wrote:

>I managed to stop the guys (actually, it was some French chick
>the CIA's been watching, perhaps a Silhouette spy(?)) trying to
>break into the net, but I took the liberty of changing some
>passwords, just in case.  Here are the new ones:
>
>anavarre - scryspc
>ghermann - zeitgeist
>jmanderley - knight_killer
>jreed - redshoes
>jreyes - amigo
>scarter - antique
>me - calvo
>
>You should probably delete this as soon as you're done reading, okay?

The "calvo" password is unique in that it is one of the few passwords in the game that can be guessed, rather than read out of a datacube (it appears on a poster in Alex's office). The "French chick" is almost certainly Nicolette DuClare.

<COMMENT>Alex Jacobson inbox</COMMENT>

From: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: locker code: 2001

<COMMENT>JCD inbox</COMMENT>

From: MedDirectorate//UNATCO.15888.00342
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: Nano-Augmentation Stressors

Nano-augmented agents will often encounter stress created by resentment among
fellow agents, particularly those who have been mechanically augmented.

In an effort to secure freedom and liberty for those under their protection,
many UNATCO agents have chosen to sacrifice social acceptance for mission
performance by surgically replacing limbs and organs with mechanically or
electronically enhanced equivalents. But your nano-augmentations point the way
to the future: thousands of microscopic, living, organic machines that exist
in symbiosis with your body.

Because such augmentations create only minimal disfigurement, they are likely
to be a source of friction between you and other mechanically augmented
agents - but it is important to understand that UNATCO is an organization
where individuals must act in concert.  Each is important to the whole, and
mutual understanding is essential to teams comprised of diverse human and
augmented agents.

If you have any further questions or wish to discuss these issues, please feel
free to send email to CarverEschells\\UNATCO.4352.768 to make an appointment.
And welcome to UNATCO, agent.

The bit about "living, organic machines" is unusual - it's not how nanotechnology is usually pictured. This is explained more below.

<COMMENT>Jaime Reyes inbox</COMMENT>

From: MedDirectorate//UNATCO.15888.00342
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: Nano-Augmentation Principal/2C Briefing

As a medical specialist, you will be required to repair and modify the systems
of our nano-augmented agents.  This briefing is intended merely as an
introduction to the technology.

The cells of every major tissue in the body of a nano-augmented agent are host
to nanite-capsid "hybrids". These hybrids replicate in two stages: the viral
stage, in which the host cell produces capsid proteins and packages them into
hollowed viral particles, and the nanotech stage, in which the
receiver-transmitter and CPU are duplicated and inserted into the protective
viral coating.  New RNA sequences are transmitted by microwave and translated
in to plasmid vectors, resulting in a wholly natural and organic process.

Additional augmentations can be added through the use of microscopic ROM
modules - shaped a little like flying saucers - that diffuse through the blood
and attach to the long spine of nanite CPUs.  These additional augmentations
are software "upgrades" in the most literal sense of the word.

We hope this report gets you started; you will find a full technical design
document attached.  Please read and thoroughly understand this information so
that you will be better qualified to administer care to this most exciting new
breed of augmented-human agent.

DX nanotechnology shares similarities with Earth: Final Conflict's "cyber-viral implants", but DX is far more grounded in plausible scientific terminology.

<COMMENT>Gunther Hermann, Anna Navarre inbox</COMMENT>

From: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: GHermann; ANavarre
Subject: Our New Recruit

<PLAYERNAME> will be joining us today after his stint at the Academy, and
I'm assigning the both of you the task of keeping a watchful eye on him while
monitoring his progress.  His assigned cover name for the duration of his
service will be "J.C. Denton" - we thought it would be best to keep the cover
names within the family since Paul has already received the Denton codename.

I have great faith in you both, and trust you will do your utmost to insure that
he becomes a successful and productive member of this organization.  Until
further notice, I'd like to receive weekly reports with your observations.

JM

Mead Bucks Congress
APR - Washington D.C.

Defying Congress for the third time this year, President Mead unilaterally paid
the United States' late dues to the United Nations.  "Like good tenants, we must
pay our rent on time", he told reporters.

Leaders of both parties criticized the move.  "Where does he get the cash?"
asked Senator Ridon (D-Illinois).  "Clearly from some budget item yet to be
approved by this Congress."

The Republicans were no kinder.  "This council member has been betrayed, and
so has America," said Senator Osno Liverpoole (R-California).  "The Congress
came together to approve a UNATCO presence on U.S. soil, but we did not write
a blank check.  No, sir.  A superpower does not pay rent."

Bootcamp for Betty
APR - Portland

Madison High School junior Betty Souza will spend the semester at the Canyon
City Bootcamp, say school officials.  The crime?  "We have verified that she
told another student that she knows how to make a bomb," said Principal Martin
Gordly.

What makes this case notable is that the parents have filed a lawsuit against
the school district.  "Our daughter wears black," said father Brandon Souza
in a prepared statement.  "She has an occipital jack and we let her use it to
play games.  We allowed her to get a tattoo when she turned 16, but none of
this makes her a criminal."

The parents claim that Betty was discussing a novel by Tom Robbins taught at
Madison High when the mention of explosives occurred.

Betty Souza will not be alone in Canyon City.  Last year 15,234 young people
served sentences in the state's FBI-run "good behavior" camps, a legacy of
the Northwest War.

A Lesson for Our President
Family News Network - Dave Wary Editorial

When the other kids on my block elected me King of the World, a political office
open (thankfully) only to eight-year-olds, I moved quickly to consolidate my
power.  I declared that all subsequent elections were forbidden, that the
office of King was reserved to me and my descendants for all eternity.

I don't remember what morsels of political philosophy were hurled at me.
"That ain't fair!" perhaps, or "You can't do that!"

My rebuttal?  "Yes I can.  I'm King."

All subsequent debate involved rocks.  Even Gretchen, green-eyed lovely
Gretchen, held me pinned to the ground as the others asserted their own right
to the throne with whatever stones happened to be within easy reach.

With a 35 percent approval rating after the U.N. funding fiasco, President
Mead should reflect that these children - and millions of other free
thinkers - have reached voting age.

Who wants to cast the first stone?

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

Mead from Mars!

CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA scientists confirmed that the eroded remains of the Alba
Patera crater on Mars precisely match the face of President Mead.  "It's him!"
declared Senior Planetary Specialist Kevlar Umla.  "There's his nose, that
ridge, see?  See the crater rim marking his hairline?  The way he combs his
hair appearing in this region of parallel valleys?"

The White House had no comment.  However, Martin Wisdom, president of EA
(Enemies of Aliens), told Midnight Sun: "This is the evidence we have been
looking for, a warning that Mr. Mead is not human.  He is probably a Martian
General, a war hero, come here to conquer the Earth with the assistance of the
United Nations." - Ryan Allan, Staff Writer

French Connection Found in Rubble
APR - New York

Recently released evidence from last year's bombing of the Statue of Liberty
supports growing rumors that link the incident with the French terrorist group
"Silhouette".  Already members of Congress are calling for immediate cessation
of diplomatic relations between the United States and France unless the
responsible parties are brought to justice.

"Rash accusations will not reverse the damage that has already been done", said
UNATCO Director Joseph Manderley.  "Both France and the U.S. subscribe to the
UNATCO charter and we are committed to the full and ongoing investigation of
this horrible crime."

An anonymous e-mail received from an individual purporting to be the
Silhouette "Minister of True Lies" denies all responsibility.  "For that, you
must go to the center of the maze," the e-mail said in part.

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

U.S. Prez Sells Out

NEW YORK - President Philip Riley Mead's executive order repaying the United
States debt to the United Nations is viewed by many as a positive step towards
global peace - but others sense darker motives at work.  Some sources have
privately commented that the order is nothing more than a tacit endorsement of
a new world government and its private military, the United Nations
Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO).

Few can forget Mead's impassioned declaration that the shattered Statue of
Liberty would not be repaired but instead stand as a reminder that "terrorism
must be eradicated if we are to be free."  It was shortly thereafter that
Liberty Island was selected as the location of UNATCO headquarters, their
dubious charter highlighted by the mysterious and still largely unexplained
circumstances behind the Statue bombing.

No doubt President Mead's words will be remembered, even as he sells out his
country to the foreign powers that have sought to destroy it for nearly three
centuries. - Joe Greene, Senior Staff Writer

Mass Grave in Brooklyn
APR - New York

Responding to an outbreak of Gray Death that quickly overwhelmed all city
services, National Guard forces were placed under the command of local law
enforcement today and mobilized to help with disposal of the recently deceased
in Brooklyn.

However, the National Guard soon proved inadequate in containing the chaos and
in many cases the dead were simply left lying in streets while the
dying - mostly homeless - wandered the city until collapsing.  Traffic jams
and looting remain widespread, and as fear of the disease continues to
escalate, frequent riots have made any attempt at an organized clean-up
impossible.  With the threat of secondary diseases looming, city officials
have consulted with the CDC in Atlanta and ordered a mass grave to be dug
in Gateway National Park.

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

Gray Death: Look to the Sky

NEW YORK - No student of recent history can fail to miss the irony that the
greatest enemy mankind has faced in the 21st century was not any despot or
dictator, but the lowly microbe.  Millions upon millions have been killed by
the pandemics of AIDS, resistant tuberculosis, and the Century Flu, and now
we face our greatest threat yet: the "Gray Death," a plague of devastating
efficiency that has surfaced in the last year.

But was this plague an accident of nature, or a design of science?  Dr. Kenji
Ishii of the New World Biomedical Health Center in New York thinks not.
"My analysis of this plague indicates that it is decidedly unnatural in
origin, and in point of fact, may be extraterrestrial." He went on to
speculate about those afflicted.  "Obviously, a disproportionate number of the
indigent seem to be infected, a situation that makes perfect sense if you
consider it prelude to an invasion.  No more effective way to disrupt the
social, political, and military fabric of Earth has yet been devised."

If this is so, then what are our leaders not telling us?  And how can we be
prepared?  Only they know they answers. - Joe Greene, Senior Staff Writer

The bit about the "Century Flu" presumably refers to an early 21st century flu pandemic, much in the tradition of the 1918 pandemic. Also note how skillfully Joe Greene's article analyzes the Gray Death, then proceeds to connect it to extraterrestrials - thus associating the two, and making anyone who tries to explain the real purpose of the Gray Death look like a wacko.

<COMMENT>Jaime's office</COMMENT>

JANINE'S BOTS
SPECS AND OVERVIEW

MATSU-GRAVAS GV-4 "NIGHTINGALE" MEDICAL BOT

The Matsu-Gravas GV-4 is the newest addition to the M-G line, their first foray
into the medical bot category largely monopolized by Page Industries and Chiang
subsidiary HealTech.  Unlike the competing Page or HealTech units, the M-G GV-4
benefits from a completely proprietary operating system - developed at M-G's
research campus in Prague - that promises to revolutionize automated healing
by combining a comprehensive medical and pharmaceutical database with M-G's
already proven autonomous heuristic routines.  While actual field data is
sketchy at this point in time, anecdotal evidence suggests that the GV-4 can
heal wounds far beyond the capabilities of any other competing model, though
it does require a substantial recharging period...

Apparently, in the future, free software and the GPL have not made significant inroads. (Of course, the phrasing of this note would indicate that Bob Page's medical bots do use an open source operating system. Heh.)

Vishnu's Fall
A Brief History of the Indian Crisis

... after the bombing, Indian officials issued a series of stern warnings to
Pakistan that were rebuffed with denials of responsibility and dire threats that
any attempt to use the bombings as a pretext for military action would be met
with force in kind.  From the viewpoint of the present-day historiographer this
was a crucial event, a game of brinksmanship that had been played between
Pakistan and India many, many times before and so, while tragic, it is also
easily understood how clear signs of the impending catastrophe might have been
ignored.

"Like two kids shoving each other on the playground", said historian Alistair
Brooks.  "You never expect them to come to blows."

That was before Pakistan began the trials of the "Calcutta 16" and both
nations descended into a maelstrom of political upheaval that would
eventually culminate in the exchange of nuclear warheads...

HOTEL REGISTER

Gully Foyle, New York
Gabriel Syme, London, England
Paul Denton, New York
Oberst Enzian, Sudwest, Africa
Smilla Jasperson, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hippolyta Hall, Los Angeles

• Gully Foyle is a character in Alfred Bester's 1956 SF novel, The Stars My Destination.
• Gabriel Syme is a character in G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, seen in Deus Ex.
• Paul Denton is, of course, a game character.
• Oberst Enzian is from Thomas Pynchon's novel, Gravity's Rainbow.
• Smilla Jasperson is from Peter Hoeg's novel, Smilla's Sense of Snow.
• Hippolyta "Lyta" Trevor Hall is the alter ego of the comic book character Fury, who first appeared in Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #300.

CIA Factbook 2050: Hong Kong

Economic Overview: In the decades since Hong Kong has been returned to Chinese
control it has seen its economy thrive under the newly resurgent authority of
the Chinese central government.  Led by a thriving technological market in
human augmentation technology, the real GDP has peaked every year since 2041
with all forecasting models predicting that this trend will continue well into
the next decade if not beyond.

However, the statistics do not present an entirely accurate depiction of the
state of the Hong Kong economy as they fail to depict the flourishing gray and
black market that operates with at least the tacit approval of the Beijing
regime.  While political oppression continues to present a major and ongoing
problem to those living under Chinese rule, entrepreneurism is alive and well
in the form of organized crime - as has always been the case, anything and
everything can be had for a price in Hong Kong.  Many of these criminal
organizations can trace their lineage directly to the Triads that have existed
for thousands of years throughout China and Southeast Asia...

While this is an invented bit of text, it is based in reality - the CIA does write World Factbooks. You can find some recent ones for free at Project Gutenberg. Here's the 1998 CIA World Factbook.

BASIC FIREARM SAFETY RULES

1. Never point a firearm at anyone or anything you do not intend to shoot.
2. Before handling any firearm, understand its operation.
3. Always have your firearm pointed in a safe direction.
4. Keep your firearm unloaded when not in use.
5. Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
6. Never pass your firearm to another person until the cylinder or action is open
and you visually check that it is unloaded.
7. Place your finger inside the trigger guard only when you are ready to fire.

This may be one of the few text snippets in the game which is dead serious and good advice to take.

The Reluctant Dictators
by Travis Crockett

Introduction

Organized at the end of the American Revolution on May 13, 1783, by General
George Washington, the Order of the Cincinnati was ostensibly formed as a
fraternity to recognize the accomplishments of those officers who had served
with distinguishment during the Revolution.  However, the true purpose of the
Order was the cultivation of a military force ready, willing, and able to
accomplish a coup de'etat if the fledgling American democracy began to stumble.

Skeptical at the viability of the untried democratic system, Washington took
counsel in the story of the Roman general Cincinnatus who was called from
retirement to serve as Dictator for sixteen days in the defense of Rome, after
which he returned home to his farm.  In the wake of the Revolution, the United
States was vulnerable to any number of outside forces, and Washington felt
that a strong, central authority had to be present that could assume control
of the government if necessary - and "temporarily" suspend the Constitution
if required.

Washington resigned as President after only two terms in office, but remained
President of the Order of the Cincinnati till his death.  The Order still
exists to this day, a shadow organization of the wealthy and powerful that
has been linked to any number of other organizations ranging from the
Illuminati to the Trilateral Commission...

The Trilateral Commission is apparently real. It has a website at www.trilateral.org. It is also a favorite of conspiracy theorists (which is why it appears in Deus Ex).

The Modern Terrorist's Handbook

Section 7C. Computer Virus Cultivation

One tool (or weapon) not to be negklected in the arsenal of the modern
terrorrist is the use of computer viruses to cause disruption to major city
services and infrastructre, or other targets of opportunity.  Current
heuristical viral stalkers ar einfective against modern polymorphic "hothouse"
engines availble from many sites on the UnderNet, and can be easily linked to
IP-tunnellers for a cheap, effective denile of service attack - or,  with some
programming skilz and icebreakers, a mutagenic crash 'n grab bird can be grown
for the tretieval of speici info from the unfortunate victims..

The following pages will discuss some of the more typical viruses, such as the
Bandersnatchv128, Ulysses Dilemma, and I09...

All the misspellings are in the original (and give it that thoroughly authentic touch). 'Bandersnatch' is a word from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" - it also has the distinction of being the name of a real computer virus. Ulysses' Dilemma was to navigate between the whirlpool Charybdis and the monster Scylla.

Nanotechnology for Stupid People(tm)

Feel like a moron because folks sling around words like "Universal Constructor",
"gray goo", "mecanocarbons", and "Bucky tubes"?  Well, no longer!
"Nanotechnology for Stupid People(tm)" will guide you through the small, small
world of tiny machines.  Why is this important?  Why should you care?  Imagine
a million microscopic robots no bigger than a red blood cell constantly
scouring your arteries for plaque and cholesterol... imagine a supercomputer
the size of your thumbnail that can record everything you see and hear...
imagine buildings that assemble themselves overnight - well imagine no longer!

The future is here (or will be soon), and it's made of little atoms - that's
right, atoms, the building blocks of all matter in the universe.
Nanotechnology simply pushes the little building blocks around to make new,
interesting, exciting things.  Even now, scientists worldwide are making huge
strides in perfecting the Universal Constructor that will make a
nanotechnological future possible, but already the benefits are being reaped
from their research.  You'll learn the history, the inside scoop, the buzz
words, and what the future holds - all inside "Nanotechnology for Stupid
People(tm)"!

Stupid People - When You Don't Have Two Neurons to Rub Together(tm).  Check out
our other books including the bestselling "Pandemics for Stupid People" and
"Cooking Dog for Stupid People".

Heh. In DX, this book is hidden in a desk in a sewer, and presents a treat for the diligent explorer.

Chlorine and Water Treatment:
Report for the New York City Council, 2053

... on the other hand, opponents claim chlorine compounds can cause cancer,
infertility, or birth defects.  However, recent research indicates that the
increased risk of cancer from chlorinated water is minimal or nonexistent.

For example, a 2034 toxicological study found no carcinogenic effects at
chlorine concentrations a thousand times higher than the Environmental
Protection Agency revised Kyoto standards.  And the International Agency for
Research on Cancer concluded population studies on cancer rates were too
flawed to draw any conclusions.

Water chlorination is just one target for some activists; they advocate
eliminating some or all of the 15,000 chlorine compounds now in use.  This
would include most plastics, almost 85 percent of pharmaceuticals, and 96
percent of crop-protection chemicals.

Yet most of the chlorine in the world occurs naturally.  The annual global
emission of some 1,500 naturally occurring chlorinated organic chemicals totals
five million tons, compared to human emissions of chlorine compounds of only
26,000 tons...

Water Advisory

Residents of Manhattan and Brooklyn should be aware that last week's chlorine
spill in the Hudson River now appears to have washed ashore and is interfering
with the operation of at least one water processing plant.  While the impact
upon the city's utilities is currently unclear, water rationing rules may need
to be instituted within the next week.

Under NO circumstances should any resident drink, bathe, or swim in
contaminated water.  If you or someone you know comes in contact with
contaminated water then go to the nearest available hospital or clinic.

These refer to the Gray Death delivery mechanism, though it is not apparent at the time the player sees these notices.

Brooklyn Naval Yards Completes Sub Pen

In a ceremony held earlier today, the venerable Brooklyn Naval Yards christened
a new, state-of-the-art sub pen.  New York Senator Clark Ashton was in
attendance, as was industrialist Bob Page whose subsidiaries handled many of
the contracts for the construction of the new building.

"This is certainly a great day for New York," said Page in a brief speech to
commemorate the occasion.  "New York is, in many ways, the symbolic center of
America, an example to not only the rest of the country but the world.  As long
as New York remains mindful of its past but dedicated towards realizing its
future, this will never change.  This building is only a small - but
significant - step in the continual renewal of the city, and Page Industries
is glad to be a part of that."

Battery Park Closed Until Further Notice

Due to unidentified terrorist action, Battery Park will be closed to all
unauthorized personnel until further notice.  Local police working in
conjunction with UNATCO agents are currently in the process of dealing with the
threat, and according to UNATCO head Joseph Manderley, "The situation is
strictly minor, but any time the potential exists for civilian casualties we
must proceed with caution."

Be Safe: Be Suspicious

Terrorism has become an unfortunate fact of life not only in New York but the
country at large, a direct assault on our communities and our way of life that
leaves citizens struggling to find answers to difficult questions, not the least
of which is "What can I do to prevent such atrocities? How can I help?"

Quite simply, terrorism is successful because terrorists are able to pass
unnoticed and unremarked upon - but they fail to count on the best intelligence
network ever devised: the American people.  How can you tell who might be a
terrorist?  Look for the following characteristics:

* A stranger or foreigner.
* Argumentative, especially about politics or philosophy.
* Probing questions about your work, particularly high-tech.
* Spends a greater than average amount of time on the Net.
* Interests in chemistry, electronics, or computers.
* Large numbers of mail-order deliveries.
* Taking photographs of major landmarks.

And those are just a few.  If you're suspicious, then turn them in to your local
law enforcement for a thorough background check.  Better safe than sorry.  You
and your neighbors will sleep more securely knowing that you're watching each
other's back.

The "Be Safe: Be Suspicious" notice is eerie in modern light. It is also reminiscent of the Stalinist era (also seen in George Orwell's 1984) when people were encouraged to "inform" on one another.

<COMMENT>Alley near warehouse tunnels</COMMENT>

Commander Frase: UNATCO has regrouped more quickly than expected and is
beginning a coordinated assault on our position along with local police.  They
will certainly overrun our defenses eventually, but they must be delayed until
the next phase of the mission can be completed.  Your men will be responsible
for guarding the tunnels leading to the generation station.  Dig in and arm all
available automatic defenses.

I don't need to tell you what's at stake.  Good luck.

JL

JL is Juan Lebedev, leader of the NSF.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: Data Administration
To: J. Steward, MJ12 Chemical Insertion

As requested, access codes have been changed.  Your new access code is:

Login: jsteward
Password: JS1357

Be sure to change the password after you log on!

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: Data Administration
To: Maintenance

Please change the entry codes on the east hatch to 2167.

NOTE: This datacube should be erased immediately upon completion.

<COMMENT>Paul's apartment</COMMENT>

Hey <PLAYERFIRSTNAME>, didn't have a chance to get you your own Net
account so feel free to use mine in the meantime.  Login is "pdenton" and
password is "chameleon".  Make yourself at home and I'll see you soon.

-P

<COMMENT>Body in sewer near warehouse</COMMENT>

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
To: Lt. Maxwell Hammer

OBJECTIVE: Covert surveillance of warehouse.

DETAILS: This mission is authorized at a level of Throne/6G.  You will not
interface with local authorities, UNATCO, or other government agencies.  You
are to act with prejudice against any threat to mission objectives.

NOTES: The entry code is 2167.

<COMMENT>Paul's apartment on kitchen table</COMMENT>

Quick note, if you need any help with... work, check the painting on the wall
and count back from 4.

Gotta run.

-P

<COMMENT>Hotel lobby</COMMENT>

From: NY First Federal National Bank
To: John Palmer

Thanks for choosing NYFF!  We're excited about your business and the trust
you've shown by placing your valuable assets in our care.  NYFF has one of the
most secure banking infostructures in the United States, an impregnable vault
that protects you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  A complete list of our
security protocols and procedures is always available for your perusal at
NYFF//NYNET.345.23.88, and we welcome any questions or comments you might
have.  At NYFF, we're not just protecting you for today, but also against
tomorrow.

Your new account number is 543654 and the PIN number is 5544.  For your
protection, we recommend that you do not share this information with anyone
and wipe this datacube after committing it to memory.

And... welcome to NYFF.

<COMMENT>Alley near warehouse</COMMENT>

Commander Weld: Code for the warehouse basement ramp is 2577.  Setting up the
security grid is absolute first priority - the assault on Liberty Island will
be commencing shortly and we can expect an armed response within short order.
Until the mission objective can be offloaded, the generator must be protected.
It's our last line of defense.

JL

<COMMENT>Roof near warehouse</COMMENT>

All Proud Members of the NSF: Our time is fast approaching; what we have always
feared is upon us, have no doubt - we are fighting against our own imminent
slavery.  But you are Brave, you are Strong, and we will Triumph.

A temporary office has been arranged in the warehouse basement for the
coordination of equipment, armament, and other supplies.  We request that each
member report to the office to be fitted with a telemetry rig prior to
proceeding to your assigned post.  The office code is 9923.

JL

<COMMENT>NYC Sump</COMMENT>

From: Security
To: J. Steward, MJ12 Chemical Insertion

Our security grid is now online and active.  We will perform a thorough system
test every 12 hours to insure integrity in expectation of the shipment from
Hong Kong.  If you would like to monitor our status, you can access the grid
with the logon "MJ12" and password "coupdetat".

From: NY First Federal National Bank
To: John Palmer

We regret the breach of security in your New York First Federal account; we here
at NYFF obviously take such matters seriously and will hold you in no way
responsible for the damages incurred.  All of your assets prior to the
unauthorized transactions have been transferred to account number 947761 with
the PIN number 2867.  We suggest you change this PIN number as soon as you have
had a chance to verify your new account.

Again, our most sincere apologies.  Rest assured that NYFF will insure that
such intrusions do not happen again.

Sincerely,
Bob Latham
Vice President, Computer Security
New York First Federal National Bank

<COMMENT>Sewers under warehouse</COMMENT>

Commander Frase:

I've completed the initialization of the warehouse perimeter security grids with
the login and password you requested; these codes will work for both grids.
I'll set up internal warehouse security measures next - I don't really trust
JoJo to do the job right.

Login: NSF
Password: righteous

-Decker

Decker Parkes is an NSF member who appears often (along with his associates) in the DX gameworld, though he is never actually seen. His story is told through datacubes and E-mails, and is there for anyone who notices that his name occurs repeatedly.

<COMMENT>In kiosk of Castle Clinton</COMMENT>

Commander Grimaldi:

I've completed installation of the security measures: code for the primary lock
is 666.  I'm heading out to help Commander Frase's team prepare for the
counterstrike.  In the meanwhile, my best advice is keep your head down.  It's
going to get real messy, real fast.

-Decker

<COMMENT>In safe under Castle Clinton</COMMENT>

Commander Grimaldi - we liberated two canisters of this stuff along with the
Ambrosia during the Liberty Island raid, but none of our people are quite sure
what it is or what to do with it - possibly a biological or chemical agent, but
without the proper people and equipment there's no way to tell.  Lebedev
suggested we keep one of the canisters and a barrel of Ambrosia here as a
contingency; the rest was shipped out to the airfield an hour ago.

Killian

<COMMENT>Paul Denton apartment inbox</COMMENT>

From: SweetCharity//GenericMail.34673.78541
To: Paul Denton//NYCNET.33.34.4346
Subject: Miss You

I left a message on your machine but wanted to follow up.  With both of us
traveling it's hard to get together, isn't it?  I miss you so much.  I'll make
it up to you when I get back.  Oh, wait, your brother's staying with you, isn't
he?  Well, just wait until you're alone.  We'll work things out. Promise.

Kisses.

<COMMENT>Paul Denton apartment inbox</COMMENT>

From: KVORK, Inc.//NYCNET.89.09.64.53
To: Multiple Recipients
Subject: SPAM: Tired of life?

Hello Friend,

Has life become too impersonal, too tedius, too painful for you?  Then now is
the time to exert control, to make that decision which is ultimately the only
real choice we ever have: the decision to die.

Some may describe this as an act of selfishness, but with the dwindling
reserves of natural resources throughout the world you're actually
contributing to the well-being of all those around you.  A recent bill passed
by the United States Congress even authorizes a one-time payment of c10,000 to
your chosen benefactor upon passing away.

So do yourself, your family, and your friends a favor and visit any one of the
KVORK, Inc. clinics in a neighborhood near you. We'll help you make a
difference - quickly and quietly.

Sincerely,

Derek Schmitt
Director of Development, KVORK, inc.

In the future, spam E-mail is marked as such (possibly by ISPs, instead of the sender). This is of course a reference to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, advocate of doctor-assisted euthanasia.

<COMMENT>J.C. Denton apartment inbox</COMMENT>

From: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
To: Paul Denton//NYCNET.33.34.4346
Subject: Settled in yet?

Hey <PLAYERFIRSTNAME>,

Thought I'd help you unload your boxes, but I'm tied down trying to get one of
the medical analyzers working.  Damn thing nearly lasered off one of my fingers!
Catch you later for a beer maybe?

Jaime

<COMMENT>Paul Denton apartment inbox</COMMENT>

Your message:

To: juan//NYCNET.7786.786658
Subject: Your Results
Sent: Wed 14:18:59 -0600

Did not reach the following recipient(s):

juan//HK2net.7786.786658 on Wed, 14:26:35 -0600
Unable to deliver message due to a communications failure
MPSEXCH:IMS: New York Net: BORONTYPE:ADA 0 (000C05A6) Unknown Recipient

Message as follows:

>I'm definitely worried about the test results; there are
>some implications there that I'm afraid to pursue too
>much further.  I'll talk to Tracer.  Proceed with caution.
>
>-P

Paul has been sending E-mail to Juan Lebedev.

<COMMENT>Paul Denton apartment inbox</COMMENT>

From: ClassicMovies.pcx3345:ABS
To: Paul Denton//NYCNET.33.34.4346
Subject: Account Verification

Mr. Denton:

We've recieved your order for "Blue Harvest" and "See You Next Wednesday."  At
your earliest possible convenience, please remit c110 at which point they will
be shipped immediately.

 Thanks for your business,

 Marcy Plaigrond
 Vibrant Videos, Inc.

When Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was being filmed, the production crew was given shirts and hats with "Blue Harvest" printed on them; if asked what they were doing, they were told to say that they were filming "Blue Harvest: Horror Beyond Imagination".

"See you next Wednesday" is a phrase from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Movie director John Landis includes references to a movie named "See You Next Wednesday" in every feature film he makes.

Marcy Playground is a band.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JSteward//UpNet.332.88732
Subject: The Chemist

Your concern about his behavior is unwarranted.  However, once the initial trial
is completed, you may eliminate him at your own discretion.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: Operations Central//UpNet.64534.453423
To: Everyone
Subject: Company Picnic

The company picnic has been moved from July 21 to July 28.  Please note this on
your calendars.  Employees on duty or otherwise unavailable will receive a
bonus as compensation instead.

See you there,
Harleen Quinzell

Human Resources Director - Operations Central
Harleen//Upnet.64534.453423
"A frown is just a smile turned upside down..."

This is a clever Batman reference. Harleen "Harley Quinn" Quinzelle is the Joker's sidekick. ('Harlequin' is a word meaning 'clown'.)

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: Central Security//UpNet.2334.3233
To: JSteward//UpNet.332.88732
Subject: System Hacking

We've had several attempts to hack into the main Daedalus system, mostly amateur
tunneling stunts that don't require a prejudicial response; however, in keeping
with standard protocols, all Level 1 lock system codes have been changed.  The
new code is 2167.  This will work within the complex, but isn't valid for
exterior access (those systems are on a separate grid, as is the armory).  Pass
this code on to those with the proper clearances.

Archie Reynmann
Central Security

"Never blame malice for what can adequately be blamed on stupidity" - R. Feynman

Richard Feynman is the famous Nobel laureate and Caltech physicist who invented Feynman diagrams, which are an extraordinarily useful way to picture quantum interactions. However, the quotation did not originate with him. An explanation can be found in the Jargon File.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JSteward//UpNet.332.88732
Subject: Delivery

The main shipment will be arriving shortly, so insure that all chlorine delivery
tests are completed.  Your recommendation of the water treatment facilities for
insertion has also been approved; your studies of vector diffusion and initial
casualty counts were persuasive.

This explains a few texts earlier in the game which mention chlorine.

From: JAllred//MedNet.1162.3908
To: TMore//MedNet.6629.117
Subject: Weekly Report (saved)

Thomas,

Another week, another report.  The triage situation here is getting tight - so
many people with the Gray Death, and we simply can't help them.  At best, we
give them fluids and attempt to keep them hydrated until they crash-out, but
that's just taking up space we could use for someone treatable.  A lot of them
have nowhere to go, no... social support, and they're creating problems in the
clinic - security is virtually non-existant and a few times I've had to tranq
someone and drag them back out onto the street.

Secondary diseases on the rise: lots of tetanus, gangrene, resistant
infections, advanced flu, that sort of thing. I've attached a detailed
spreadsheet with a break down and supply req.  That's another thing: we missed
last week's supply shipment, and we're getting low on

Christ, I think they're shooting outside. I've got to go. Do what you can and
let me know what to expect.

Allred  R

From: APriest//MedNet.1178.3908
To: JAllred//MedNet.1162.3908
Subject: RE: Apologies

>This is a hard stretch but we'll pull through all right, and we'll
>help a lot of people who wouldn't be helped otherwise.  I've got a
>lot of faith in you and the rest of the staff.  We'll make do.

And we've got faith in you - there aren't really any apologies needed.  None of
us would be here if we didn't believe in what we're doing.

Don't worry so much about us, and remember to take care of yourself,

Alice

From: JAllred//MedNet.1162.3908
To: APriest//MedNet.1178.3908
Subject: Apologies

Alice, sorry about the way things have been lately.  I've been through tough
times before, and they come on like storms - when you're in the middle of one
you don't think the sunlight will ever break through again.  There were some
stretches in Texas when the fighting got so bad that it seemed like there was
nothing but wounded people wherever I went, that was all I saw, just wounds to
be bandaged.

This is a hard stretch but we'll pull through all right, and we'll help a lot
of people who wouldn't be helped otherwise.  I've got a lot of faith in you
and the rest of the staff.  We'll make do.

Allred

This is probably a reference to the planned Texas mission in DX which was cut.

From: RosyCross//UnderNet.44567.22356
To: 328.2133.1230
Subject: Inquiry

The Oracle says:

We did as asked and checked with our sources, pulled up black project lists from
deadspace Net ghosts, performed intrusion runs on Throne/6G systems, everything.
Called in all markers.  Best we can say after eight-variable cross check on all
available info is your friend did some under-the-table work in youth: very deep,
very wet.  Few specifics, but we were to divine that it involved the chlorine
assisted delivery of weaponized particles.  We show 86.73% likelihood that this
work is contributing factor to his disappearance.

We can tell you this much as well - was not taken by any known national or
international security organization.  We cannot determine responsible party and
this troubles us.

We consider our debt repaid.  No further communication between us will occur.

[[The Oracle would like to know the last joke you heard.]]

In the future, the Internet Oracle has become either a society of people or a free-floating AI, working to uncover requested information for the price of more information. There is a real Internet Oracle, an E-mail system whereby people ask questions and get humorous answers.

And, of course, this is another chlorine reference. "Wet work" refers to assassinations and killings.

From: 555.6773.1212
To: 328.2133.1230
Subject: Limites D'Affaire

Nous trouvons vos limites acceptables. Nous nous attendrons a ce que les
elements en question fournissent promptement - avec declencher des mecanismes
- a l'emplacement que nous avons discute. Nous avons cree un compte contenant
la premiere moitie du paiement, compte le numero 312446, l'autorisation 1351.
N'essayez pas et n'entrez pas en contact avec a nous l'adresse ci-dessus; elle
ne fonctionnera pas. Si vous exigez de nous contacter vous pouvez utiliser les
moyens que nous avons deja etablis.

This is a fairly clever way to communicate to the player a login/password combination. The E-mail, when translated, means:

Terms of Business

We find your terms acceptable. We expect that the items in question will be
provided promptly - with starting mechanisms - at the site which we have
discussed. We have created an account containing the first half of the payment,
account number 312446, authorization 1351. Do not try to contact us using
the address above; it will not function. If you need to contact us, you can
use the means which we have already established.

Bellevue Reports Increase in Admittance
New World Press - New York

Bellevue Hospital has reported a 50% increase in the number of patients admitted
over the last three months compared to this same period last year.  "A
disturbing trend", said Dr. James Cabell, "and one that's stressing our
personnel to the limits.  Many of those admitted are homeless that the police
can't or won't deal with - some of them afflicted with the Gray Death.  We
simply don't have the facilities to deal with those cases, and most of the
hospitals refuse to accept them."

Many have linked the outbreak of mental illness to the recent rise in
recreational drug use, in particular the new designer drug "zyme".  Speaking
on condition of anonymity, one public official said that "Zyme has simply
become a threat to the public welfare... there have already been discussions
with Washington on a zero-tolerance solution."

Others have suggested chemical contamination could be the culprit, sighting
the recent chlorine spill that has rendered the East River almost lifeless.

* = * = * = * GRAYVE TIMES * = * = * = *

DROWN THE CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE
PARTY IN THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE
LOSE ALL CONVICTION

FEATURING:
Oblivion
Pretty & Twisted
Tyger Tyger
DJ VLIW
The Gibson Cowboys

AND

Brewer's Phrase

March.17 [] 100.Credits [] Location//UnderNet.245.91.003
No.Guns.No.Knives.No.Morals.No.Thing.No.Where.No.Cops
Yes.Zyme.Yes.Sex.Yes.Dance.Yes.Terday

EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED NOTHING IS FREE

This is another fun snippet of text, advertising an underground party.

"Tyger, Tyger" is a phrase from the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake. More importantly, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination was originally published under the title Tyger, Tyger. This novel's main character, Gully Foyle, is mentioned in a hotel register in DX.

For some reason I find "DJ VLIW" hilariously funny. VLIW is Very Long Instruction Word, a type of computer architecture seen in the Intel 64-bit Itanium processors.

William Gibson is a famous author of bad cyberpunk novels, including Neuromancer.

"Brewer's Phrase" is most likely a reference to E. Cobham Brewer's 1898 book Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Chinese Lunar Mine Operational
APR - Beijing, China

Chinese authorities today announced that their state of the art Zhou Enlai
Lunar Mining Complex is operational and functioning at one hundred percent
capacity.

"We are pleased to be making significant progress not just in pushing back the
boundaries of exploration for all humanity, but in developing the lunar
terrorities in a way that benefits the Chinese people and the global market",
said Nghia Lam, Chinese Premier.

While the United States and Nigeria still dispute China's claims to the
lucrative Palus Somnii and Mare Crisium regions, Chinese construction has
proceeded apace while diplomatic negotiations continue.  "We feel we have some
valid claim to those territories, certainly", said Robert Holden, Secretary of
the Interior for the U.S.  "But we would prefer to find an equitable
arrangement that would allow our countries to work together in developing
man's first real home outside of our own planet."

The first ore delivery from the factory will be launched by mass driver
tomorrow and should arrive in Earth orbit by next week.

Zhou Enlai was Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the People's Republic of China. This is also certainly a reference to the planned Moon mission in DX that was cut.

Court Upholds NY Grid Law
New World Press - Washington, D.C.

In a landmark six to three decision yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
controversial "grid zoning" laws that have been the subject of a number of suits
since being instituted six years ago.

Originally passed by the New York legislature in 2046 in response to the Upper
West Side bombing that killed 45 people and wounded over a 100, the grid
zoning laws effectively allowed the police to wall off regions of Manhattan and
its surrounding boroughs.  Foot traffic between these "zones" is prohibited,
and travelling between zones is restricted to authorized subways or highways
subject to police surveillance.

"A travesty", said Gil Treble, representing the ACLU as plantiffs in the case.
"This law is nothing more than the legalization of social oppression on a grand
scale."

Supreme Court Justice Machen wrote in his favorable decision that "The
unfortunate nature of American liberty is that freedom creates opportunity for
terror.  It is with heavy heart that I must conclude in this case that the
freedom of individual Americans must be balanced against the needs of a
community to feel safe and secure."

HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED?

"I AM HE THAT LIVETH AND WAS DEAD; AND,
BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOR EVERMORE, AMEN."

Join the NetChurch of God and know that your immortal soul will truly be
saved - backed-up on a datacube and stored in our secure, hardened crypt until
the day of Rapture.  Don't trust your soul to other religions that promise
similar services based on vague, ambiguous, and unverifiable promises of
forgiveness and acceptance.

"THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD
NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE."

The exact location of our crypts is a closely guarded secret, but rest easy
knowing that they're protected by miles of rock somewhere beneath the
Appalachian Mountains.  Even in the event of a catastrophe (Biblical or
otherwise), an auxillary nuclear generator will insure that your soul's
checksum is verified daily for millennia to come, while surface sensors
constantly monitor for the Last Days when the crypts will be opened and all
souls will be free to ascend to Heaven.

WHY TRUST YOUR SOUL TO ANYTHING ELSE?

NetChurch of God @ God:999.7.7.7

Presumably, 999 is good because it's 666 upside down.

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

Giant Rat Stalks New York?

NEW YORK - In recent weeks a rash of mutilated corpses - many of them found near
docks, subways, or sewers - has garnered nothing but indifference from the NYPD.
"Isolated and unremarkable" in the words of one police spokesperson.  But while
the police seem content to categorize these horrible crimes as nothing more
than simple cases of homicide or suicide among the poor and indigent,
eyewitness accounts tell a different and all together more frightening story.

"'s a monster, 'nnit?" says Dickie Cork, a sailor aboard the Matilda Briggs out
of Sumatra.  "Thing looked like a rat, it did, only it was big, 'bout the size
of a lion or sumthin'."

Numerous other witnesses all telling remarkably similar accounts of the
creature have come forward in recent weeks, but the police refuse to act
calling the descriptions "ludicrous" without any further investigation.  But
regardless of the truth, the police choose to sit idly by as the killings
continue and poor, law-abiding citizens pay the price. - Joe Greene, Senior
Staff Writer

This refers to the karkian, or "potato dog", a genetically altered creature in DX.

Commander Frase, we're pinned down in Hell's Kitchen and I'm not sure what to
do... they're slaughtering us in the streets wherever they find us - this one
mech aug, he's like a giant walking tank, I saw someone pour a clip into him
and it didn't even faze him.  I've lost contact with Alpha and Delta teams,
Yusuri and Thompkins are dead. I don't know what to do.  We've holed up in a
hotel.  It's so different than training.  Please tell me what we should do.  If
we leave, they'll kill us all.  If we stay, we're dead.  I've had to take
hostages - I know we were supposed to minimize civilian casualties, but I
didn't have a choice.  What can we

The mechaug mentioned must be none other than Gunther Hermann.

Commander Frase:

The satellite uplink is still intermittent at best; until I can track down the
source of the problem, I've established a secure tunneling communications
channel for you over NYCNET.  It's encrypted and looks like normal public
bulletin traffic to any network sniffers, so it should do until the uplink has
been fixed.  Login is "TFrase" and password is "valleyforge".

-Decker

From: HGrimaldi//NYCNET.999.999.03
To: TFrase//NYCNET.999.999.48
Subject: RE: Collateral Damage

I've done my best to convey this to my people, but to be frank, I think we'll
need to assume that collateral damage is inevitable and mobilize our own
propaganda efforts _now_ in order to blunt or deflect any negative
psychological repercussions.  Most of those in the field haven't had any formal
military training, and I'm already receiving reports that the action in Hell's
Kitchen has resulted in a number of "friendly fire" casualties and hostage
situations.  UNATCO's counter-attack has been more agressive than expected, and
some of our troops are going to make bad decisions under pressure.

Grimaldi

>We need to impress upon those under our command that
>collateral damage in the form of civilian casualties
>must be avoided at all possible costs - the value of
>dead or wounded civilians to UNATCO propaganda efforts
>is incalculable and will significantly set back our
>cause.

From: JLebedev//NYCNET.999.999.01
To: TFrase//NYCNET.999.999.48
Subject: Good Luck

I'm preparing to depart for the airfield to oversee the final stages of the
operation.  Direct communication will be difficult until the airfield can be
secured, but I'll debrief our friend once we rendevous there and send any
necessary tactical updates via couriers.

JL

Art of War
by Sun Tzu

III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take
the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.
So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to
capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without
fighting...

Sun Tzu's The Art of War is, of course, a real and very famous book.

Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

... In addition to their detrimental health effects on the targeted population,
biological warfare agents would likely cause significant impacts on the medical
care system.  Massive numbers of patients and demands for intensive care would
overwhelm medical resources. Special medications or vaccines not generally
available in standard pharmaceutical stocks would be required.  Medical care
providers and laboratory personnel might need added protection, and autopsy
and interment of remains could present hazards not commonly dealt with...

USAMRIID is very real, and has a website at www.usamriid.army.mil

Righteous Angels: Perspectives on UNATCO
by Wendi White

Chapter II. The New Seraphim

As the giddiness that greeted the new millennium faded to grim apathy in the
face of plague, famine, and the inevitable waves of national convulsions that
followed in their wake, the United Nations found itself increasingly outmoded
and unable to cope with the worldwide rise in terrorism.  Tensions between the
affluent - walled away within private enclaves - and those less fortunate
escalated rapidly as basic medical care facilities collapsed under the weight
of each new outbreak.  The very pervasiveness of the Net fractured communities
into smaller and smaller special-interest groups.  And as local police grew
increasingly ineffectual and access to deadlier weaponry more commonplace,
conflicts spilled over national borders and onto the streets of major urban
cities.

The United Nations was forced to admit that their own military was both
outmoded and unequipped to deal with these threats, so a new organization was
required - UNATCO, an army of seraphim, divinely charged to mete out impartial
justice with burning wings and flaming swords...

The angel motif of UNATCO is further reflected in its security clearances.

"Hell is murky", that's what Macbeth said.
*
They came through today, bunch of the NSF boys, set up a perimeter in the shanty
town and took some folks hostage down in the station.  One of them told me it
was necessary, that the government made it necessary - "we're slaves if
we don't", I remember her saying, and I asked her if she thought those people
down in the station felt any more free for being strapped to a bunch of
dynamite.  She just looked at me, walked away.
*
MOLE/6653
*
Kevin's dealing with them, says we don't risk anything by letting them use the
tunnels, that we don't have no quarrel with anyone.  But I wonder about hell
and the roads paved to it.

- Curly

<COMMENT>Helicopter base, second office</COMMENT>

Jonny,

We changed all the security passwords while you were out sick (what happened to
those Hearst family genes you're always boasting about, huh?), so if you need
to logon before I get back I'll give you a hint - it's what you're behind all
the damn time.  Think about it, smart guy, and you owe me a beer.

Later,
Erin

<COMMENT>Airfield security room</COMMENT>

Erin, the Ambrosia's been delivered and the first barrel is being offloaded onto
the helicopter - the other barrels are heading out by boat and plane so we can
hopefully get at least one sample away for analysis.  If you can, rendevous
with us at one of the departure points, otherwise you know where to meet if
something goes wrong.  You've done a lot for the cause and should be proud of
yourself.  Now play it safe and get gone.

JL

<COMMENT>Boat house</COMMENT>

Young:

I've got to survey the perimeter - reports are coming back of someone heading
this way through the tunnels.  Don't know what their force composition is, but
it sounds bad.  If I'm not back, load up the Ambrosia as soon as the boat
arrives and then head for the hangar - the East Gate is locked, so get the key.
I'll meet you there.

-Decker

<COMMENT>18th Street station</COMMENT>

Young:

The code is MOLE (6653).  Meet me at the boat house and help me load this stuff
onto the transport as soon as you can.  Play it safe.  We don't need dead
heroes, we need live ones.

-Decker

<COMMENT>Barracks</COMMENT>

Juan asked me for the hangar code, Decker, so it's 5914.  Tell Young not to get
his ass shot off - you know how I feel about him.  And I _will_ kill you if
something happens.

Take care,
Erin

McMoran Slings Chinese Ore
APR - Beijing, China

With the announcement by the Chinese last week that the Zhou Enlai Lunar Mining
Complex was fully operational, today McMoran Global Steel held a press
conference to detail the first delivery of lunar ore from the facility to Earth
via a mass driver constructed by McMoran.

"The McMoran MD-118 Mass Driver is the first piece of accelerated stock to be
constructed on such a scale, and certainly the first to operate
extraterestrially", said Sean Murphy. "The selection of McMoran for this
contract by the Chinese government is a major step towards closer economic
ties between China and the U.S."

McMoran won the contract in a heated bidding war with Page Industries that
reached its most fevered pitch when Page attempted an unsuccessful hostile
takeover of McMoran.

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

Black Helicopters a "Concern" Says Senator

As sightings of ominous "black helicopters" become increasingly common across
the country, from Manhattan to the SoCal shores, many citizens have grown
concerned that these gunships are actually a sign that troops may be preparing
to mobilize for some unknown action.

"Certainly this concerns me", said Senator Harry Jarvis (D-Texas), a member of
the Armed Services Committee.  "I intend to bring this up in our next
committee meeting and ask some hard questions."

UNATCO Director Joseph Manderley was more skeptical.  "If black helicopters
were really being used for 'covert operations', then those responsible are
doing a poor job of it."  Manderley went on to say that UNATCO employed no
such aircraft and declined to pursue the matter any further claiming that it
detracted from the "serious nature of [our] mission." - Joe Greene, Senior
Staff Writer

Seasonal Flooding Minimal
APR - London, United Kingdom

An article recently published in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society indicates that worldwide flooding from melting ice
caps will be significantly less this year than in previous years due to an
unusually cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  Dr. Tammy Bright, a
professor of climatology at Oxford University, led the study and noted that
global tides should rise by no more than "one to two meters on average" in
most major cities throughout North America, Europe, Russia, and East Asia.
For comparison the high water mark in New York last year was four meters,
requiring millions of credits in additional spending for a network of
levees and pumps.

"While theories concerning the significant increase in days below freezing
at either pole abound, the practical upshot is that Arctic ice density has
grown substantially when compared to any similar period in the last five
years."

<COMMENT>Alex's office</COMMENT>

JANINE'S BOTS
SPECS AND OVERVIEW

MATSU-GRAVAS R-118 REPAIR BOT

The Matsu-Gravas R-118 is characteristic of all bots in the M-G repair line, an
autonomous unit capable of a wide range of repair, maintenance, and
construction tasks.  By default, the R-118 is equipped with a Kroya
'Searchlight 3' argon laser attached to the standard M-G IRL arm; Chiang
optics and visual processing; a self-recharging bioelectric battery; wireless
command control; and 16GB of internal memory for a superior amount of task
customization at an affordable price.  The bioelectric interface adheres to
the same LITE standard pioneered by M-G and adopted by most other companies
around the world, allowing all units in the R-line to act as mobile
bioelectric rechargers if necessary...

What a wonderful world, where even embedded systems have 16GB of main memory.

From: PubTerminal12//LGANET.783.46.63
To: ETodd//LGANET.2378.236.36
Subject: Quick Note

Killian showed up with this canister they managed to swipe from Liberty along
with the Ambrosia - handed it off to me, like I'd know what to do with it.
I'll load it onto the plane but then I need to get down to the dock and see
what the hell's going on down there.  Juan's not around, so do me a favor
and let him know that the suspension crate code for this stuff is 9905 - maybe
he'll know what to do with it.  These other monkeys can't remember their
birthdays much less a code.

And tell Younger to get his ass in gear, we're not screwing around out here.

-Decker

From: JHearst//LGANET.8374.832.20
To: ETodd//LGANET.2378.236.36
Subject: Out Sick

I'm not feeling so well so I think I'm going to take tomorrow off.  But you and
I are having a rematch on that pool game when I get back.

Jonny

Know Your Enemy - Templars

There is some debate as to whether the Templars should be considered a
"terrorist" organization because they do not employ the typical tools of
terrorism.  But make no mistake, the Templars are just as dangerous as any
other group that might use guns and bombs to intimidate the free citizens of a
country - only the Templars wield blackmail and extortion as their weapons.
Supposedly the direct descendent of a so-called "secret society" with its
roots in the medieval Crusades, the present-day Templars are mainly
concerned with increasing their own bank accounts in elaborately illegal
financial manipulations that have left entire markets collapsed in their wake.

The Templars are currently classified as inactive after being successfully
diminished by a combined UNATCO/Interpol raid on their Paris headquarters
in 2051; however, several key Templar figures are still at large and may
attempt to reform the organization under a new designation.

Know Your Enemy - X-51

Little is known about "X-51" aside from their involvement in all manner of
illegal research, much of it proscribed by worldwide concordes over the last
fifty years.  Computer profiling shows a high likelihood that X-51 was
responsible for the SoCal disaster that submerged much of southern California,
though the exact nature of the experiment that led to the tragedy is still
unknown.  Little other information is available on the overall objective of
X-51, if any exists.

X-51 is believed to be led by Gary Savage, a scientist previously employed by
the United States government for a variety of black projects until he
disappeared under mysterious circumstances several years ago.  All agents are
advised to be vigilant for any indications as to the whereabouts of Savage or
other members of X-51, and report them immediately to their operator or
immediate superior.

Young,

If you or Decker need to access my account the login is "etodd" and the
password is "saintmary".

Be careful, and I'll find you after this is all over,
Erin

From: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Report

As ordered, I have maintained a close watch of Agent Denton during our operation
in New York.  I have found his performance to be adequate to the task, if not
without certain occasional reluctance.  But it is my opinion that
nano-augmentations in no way compensate for experience, and Agent Denton quite
obviously has a considerable amount of learning to do before he can be
considered a fully qualified agent.  Agent Hermann concurs with this
evaluation.  I will file a more detailed report when time allows.

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Arrival

I will be arriving at Liberty later today to survey the situation and assess
the viability of the primary subject.  Unless there are extenuating
circumstances that you've so far failed to present to us, it is our belief that
the primary may need to be terminated in favor of the secondary.

Continue to profile the secondary's response to authority and mission
objectives - if there is any deviation, isolate the subject for debriefing
upon my arrival.

From: GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513
To: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
Subject: Denotn

i am not sure what I thnk of our Agent Denton.  He iz not like the brother, but
seemz to eagr to prove that he may bbbe better than us.  I wonder if he
unnerstand may what be at stske here.

Gunther

<COMMENT>Gunther Hermann, Anna Navarre inbox</COMMENT>

From: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: ANavarre//UNATCO.9954.1131
Subject: Mission Objectives

Of primary importance in the upcoming operation is recovering _all_ of the
stolen Ambrosia - if any falls into terrorist hands, it could be a potential
tool for blackmail that would pose a serious security risk.

However, our best intelligence indicates that Juan Lebedev - a known terrorist
leader - is behind this galling attack; while the loss of the Ambrosia is a
regrettable but salvageable incident, Lebedev poses a continuing threat to
UNATCO.  He is also a dangerous man, and if the operation should result in his
termination rather than capture, there is no doubt that the agent responsible
would be found to have acted appropriately and with the full force of the law.

JM

From: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: Congrats

Congrats on surviving your first mission, <PLAYERFIRSTNAME>.  I know it's
all part of the job, but I'm glad to see you back in one piece (more or less)
anyways.  If you get this message before I get a chance to see you in person,
then get your ass down here so I can patch you up.

BTW, I hear a few things from up top and I get the impression that they were
definitely taking advantage of this NSF attack to evaluate your
performance - so far, everyone seems to be ecstatic.  Well everyone except for
Gunther, but he's got his own problems.  Keep it up, but keep an eye out, too.
I get the impression sometimes that everyone here has their own agenda.

Jaime

From: Paul Denton//NYCNET.33.34.4346
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: Watch Your Back

I don't have much time, so I'm gonna have to cut this short - they're going to
tell you a lot of things about what went on today, and it's probably all going
to get pinned on me.  I've got my reasons, but I can't go into them right
now - not over the Net - but you've got to trust me that there are reasons.
Maybe I can point you in the right direction, tap a few computers and see
what you come up with.  Try Manderley's computer if you can risk it,
password is "knight_killer".  You might also check Navarre's, but I don't
have her password.  Cold woman, be careful around her.  And for that matter,
everyone else.

-P

From: RosyCross//UnderNet.44567.22356
To: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Inquiry

The Oracle says:

We find your question interesting.  We have several references to entity token
"MJ12" but all are ambiguous.  Will be necessary to expend cycles to clarify
relationships for codification of representative patterns before further
recognition can be accomplished.  This will be time consuming, but past working
relationships have shown a 83.23% favorable return.  Work with file "SH-187"
was very instructive.

We will contact you again when information has been collated.

[[The Oracle would like to know your favorite color.]]

SH-187 is, of course, PROJECT DIBBUK.

From: MedDirectorate//UNATCO.15888.00342
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: RE: Mech-Aug Question?

Information concerning the mechanism to which you refer is available only to
those with clearance of Throne/6G or higher.  Further discussion of this
matter with unauthorized personnel will result in disciplinary action.  All
subsequent questions should be directed to Director Manderley.

UNATCO, Office of Medical Directorate

>While repairing one of our mech-augmented agents, I
>located a mechanism within the autonomic regulation
>system that was not present in any of the documentation
>I had available; I'm concerned that failure of this
>mechanism could lead to a complete autonomic shut-down
>of the agent's vital systems with the obvious
>consequences that would entail.  I've attached
>additional CRI scans of the structure and surrounding

Juan,

Decker let me know that Killian dropped off a cannister recovered during the
operation... Decker wasn't sure what it was, but he put it in a suspension
crate on board the plane, coded to 9905, figured you'd know what to do with it.

See you soon,
Erin

Hey Trieste,

Turns out these "mole" people've got a network of tunnels running all through
the city (sewers, abandoned subways, stuff like that, all connected by secret
passages) so Juan's apparently worked out some kind of deal with 'em to let us
route our supplies underground.  Brooklyn Bridge Station access is
through - get this - the ladies restroom.  Least they got a sense of humor.
Just for a little added security, I wired up a keypad to the switch - it's
under the sink, code 5482.  Hustle with those generator coils, and check-in
when you arrive.

Kochanski

<COMMENT>Secret area under NSF HQ</COMMENT>

Paul, I'm sending this message from the plane - UNATCO has been even more
ruthless than we'd feared, and the reports I'm receiving now are that our
people are being slaughtered in the tunnels; it's probably only a matter of
time before I'm captured and executed, and I don't doubt that they'll kill
everyone they can back at our headquarters.

If you find this, you must get a message out to our people.  Align the
communications dishes using the satellite dish control computer - the login is
MCOLLINS and the password is REVOLUTION.  Nearby is the actual communications
console; log in using NAPOLEON and the same password, and a coded warning will
automatically be bounced to everyone on our network.

I can hear the gunshots.  They've reached the plane.  I'm sorry I won't be
able to thank you in person - you've done much for the peoples of the world.

JL

<COMMENT>NSF HQ offices</COMMENT>

Young:

I've got to assist our forces at the airfield, but I've prepped the security
grid here in case of attack - if UNATCO does breach our perimeter, log in as
TJEFFERSON with the password NEWREVOLUTION and activate it immediately.  It
should buy you some time, at least long enough to get to the airfield.  I know
Erin is looking forward to seeing you again.  Don't disappoint her.

-Decker

ONE WORLD BANKING
3 Plaza One, New York
"The future of banking is One World."

Mr. Renton,

As requested, we've provided you with a copy of your bank account and PIN
number.  We appreciate your business and look forward to answering any other
questions you might have.

Account #: 487659
Pin #: 249087

Please keep this record in a secure location to prevent unauthorized use of
your account.

<COMMENT>Near NSF HQ computer room</COMMENT>

All:

I've released halon gas into the computer room to prevent any fires breaking out
in case of assault - obviously, anyone entering the room unprotected will
suffocate.  Use a hazmat suit, or pump out the gas before entering if you need
to perform any maintenance.

-Decker

From: Public Terminal 11A//NYNET.44567.22356
To: 328.2133.1230
Subject: Need Passage

You met me once when doing business with Lebedev; I got the impression you were
a professional then, so I'm going to try and handle this professionally now.

I need passage out of this city - underneath the official radar - for me and
two other people.  We're prepared to keep our mouths shut, and we're prepared
to pay.  We don't care how, and we don't care where: Hong Kong, Lagos, Paris
if you can, but anywhere that's outside of the country.  I've hacked this
terminal with an account that should be active for the next 24 hours; I'll
check it periodically for your response.

-Decker

From: LevelBeam//UnderNet.3329.4143
To: Citizen's Rights Mailing List
Subject: Re: Polio Vaccinations

Jimmy Hoskins wrote:

>why Crystal Palace is only the upper level of a much larger
>repository of data - complete genetic records of every human
>being on Earth gathered during the polio "vaccinations" and
>supplemented by periodic influenza "vaccinations" since then.
>In truth, the whole idea that Crystal Palace was HQ to NORAD
>was a brilliant deception, as a secret Soviet-American pact

Come on, Jimmy - in her 2013 book "The Wheels Come Off", Ophelia Carter
persuasively demonstrated that there could have been no "Soviet-American pact",
as America had already sold-out to the Grays; far from being shams, the polio
and influenza outbreaks of the later 20th century were merely test runs in a
larger governmental biowarfare program that used its own populace as guinea
pigs.

Next time, get your facts straight.

Shirow Yoshitaka
"When everything is permitted, nothing is free."

That quotation has also been seen in the Grayve Times advertisement.

Ten Dead in Gang Slaying
APR - Hong Kong, China

The simmering gang war in Hong Kong exploded onto the streets overnight when ten
were killed during an attack on a local establishment, the Lucky Money Club.
Located in the Wan Chai district, the Lucky Money Club has generally been
associated with organized criminal activity.  Eyewitness reports were few, but
local authorities suspect that members of the Luminous Path Triad may have
been involved in the attack.

All ten victims had extensive criminal records.  Each was killed with
traditional weapons, their throats savagely cut in an ancient ritual
typically employed as a punishment for betrayal.

UNATCO Nabs Terrorists in Hell's Kitchen Raid
APR - New York

A recent raid on UNATCO's Liberty Island headquarters by members of the National
Seccessionist Forces (NSF) ended today when UNATCO troops, working in
conjunction with local police, assaulted a warehouse in Hell's Kitchen where
NSF units were regrouping.  While UNATCO casualties were low, few NSF members
survived the action which UNATCO Director Joseph Manderley termed a "suicidal
last stand on their part".

"We negotiated for hours", said Manderley, "and were prepared to make
arrangements for their surrender into custody when an attack was initiated
against us by the NSF.  We had no choice but to respond with force.  Obviously,
a complete inquiry into this terrible, unfortunate series of events will be
undertaken as soon as possible."

Terrorist Attack at LaGuardia

The recent terrorist attack on Liberty Island and the resultant reprisal by
UNATCO forces appears to have spilled over onto a private airfield at La
Guardia Airport where fighting is still ongoing at last report.  All
inbound flights are being rerouted to John F. Kennedy International Airport,
while outbound flights have been suspended until further notice.  Look for
further updates as more information becomes available.

Page Donates to Area Clinics

Today Bob Page made a record donation of over ten million credits to the Clinics
and Hospices Association of New York, the largest private donation in the
organization's history.  Already strained to the breaking point by the influx
of patients suffering from the "Gray Death", the donation was "a gift from God",
according to Ray Cobo, Deputy Director of CHANY.  "This couldn't have come at a
better time and should allow us to dramatically improve our services."

"It was the right thing to do", commented Page.  "When I was in New York
recently, the suffering that I saw on the streets was unconscionable.
Thomas Aquinas, a personal icon, worked his entire life to ease such
terrible pain.  This is the very least I could do."

<COMMENT>Basement of NSF, on table</COMMENT>

Juan, I have a feeling that - one way or another - my time here is short, and I
think my loyalties are already being questioned.  The inevitable complications
from the raid are only going to raise more doubts, so I've pulled together
everything I could access without raising additional suspicions.

Attached you should find information linking Simons, Manderley, and other
high-ranking members of UNATCO through covert communications and a series of
monetary payments.  If you check the records, over c10,000 a month is being
placed into an anonymous Zurich account routinely accessed by Manderley - the
payments were slick, being dispersed through a number of shell companies and
orbital banks, but they all eventually originate with companies in which
Simons has a controlling interest if you follow the trail far enough back.

I also managed to document some of UNATCO's less than shining operations,
including their role in the Statue bombing.  Most disturbing is further
verification of Tracer's suspicion that UNATCO may not only be involved with
the distribution of Ambrosia, but also with the Gray Death in some way.

I've given a copy of all this same material to Jock with orders to deliver
it to Tracer if things get as bad as I think they might.  Be careful.

-P

From: Central Security//UpNet.2334.3233
To: Security Personnel
Subject: Paul Denton REVOKED

Effective immediately, the status of Agent Paul Denton has been changed to
REVOKED, and Denton has been added to the Prejudiced List.  Paul Denton is
armed, dangerous, and possesses intimate knowledge of UNATCO security
protocols.  Security personnel are authorized to use LETHAL FORCE in his
apprehension.  Any information regarding the whereabouts of Paul Denton should
be reported to Central Security.

From: MedDirectorate//UNATCO.15888.00342
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: Augmentation Shipment

Augmentation canister 10B (MJID-9138YU0983) has been shipped via suspension
crate to UNATCO HQ for your distribution to nanotechnologically augmented
agents under your care and should arrive within 24 hours.  If you do not
receive this shipment within 24 hours, contact UNATCO MedDirectorate.

Canister 10B contains ROM modules that encode either the Regeneration or
Energy Shield torso augmentation.

The Regeneration augmentation will add programmable polymerase to existing
augmentations, directing the structural repair of tissues and organs damaged
in combat conditions.

The Energy Shield augmentation will construct heat- and electricity-absorbing
polyanilene capacitors below the skin, reducing damage received from flame,
electrical, or plasma injuries.

For detailed information, refer to the Nano-Augmentation Guidelines you have
already received.

UNATCO, Office of Medical Directorate

From: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: Re: Excessive Force

Thank you for bringing this to my attention Dr. Reyes.  If accurate, this
mistreatment obviously violates any number of rules in the UNATCO charter
and will be thoroughly investigated.  However, the situation is currently very
fluid, and I would ask you to refrain from speculating further until we have
an opportunity to ascertain all the relevant facts.

JM

>I understand that what we're doing here isn't kid's stuff,
>but I had an NSF trooper brought in to be treated prior to
>interrogation suffering from multiple second-degree burns
>consistent with repeated application of a riot prod at close
>range.  One or two shocks at most should have been enough
>to incapacitate almost any individual; this man had at least
>seven distinct burn wounds.

From: Francis_Hamilton//CDCNET.87.47.2398
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: Best Guess

Thanks for the e-mail - sorry I haven't been to reply before now, but we've got
our hands full here.  Everyone's working 24 by 7 trying to isolate the Gray
Death vectors.  While things haven't been too bad down here in Atlanta (yet),
the reports I'm getting back from field operatives in NYC aren't as optimistic.
I'll send you the latest data as soon as I have it, but let me be perfectly
honest: the projections aren't good.  Initial casualties could be up to 10% of
the current population, with another 3-5% mortally affected by secondary
contagions.  If you've got any place to head on vacation, I'd go.  Until then,
if any of your people come into contact with this stuff I'd say Level 3
quarantine is your best option.

I've got to run, but I'll let you know as soon as all the data is in -

Francis

From: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Excessive Force

I understand that what we're doing here isn't kid's stuff, but I had an NSF
trooper brought in to be treated prior to interrogation suffering from
multiple second-degree burns consistent with repeated application of a riot
prod at close range.  One or two shocks at most should have been enough to
incapacitate almost any individual; this man had at least seven distinct burn
wounds.

This is simply unacceptable, and violates not only the commonly practiced
rules of engagement but my own medical ethics.  I understand that this is
_not_ indicative of overall UNATCO policy, and would request that the
incident be strenuously investigated and those responsible placed on
suspension pending further investigation.

Dr. Jaime Reyes

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Agent Sherman

I've dispatched Agent Sherman to assist you in resolving your current problems
and to insure that MJ12 operations are not adversely affected.  I trust you'll
extend him your complete cooperation.
From: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: Come by my office

We need to talk about that last mission.  In person, not infolink.  Come by my
office after you've been debriefed by Manderley.

-alex-

Lab Notes, Dr. Moreau
Week of 4/12 to 4/18

Sunday, 4/12: LabNet accounts are disabled.  Rumor is possible infiltration
attempt by Silhouette required redistribution of secure network resources.
Will transcribe lab notes by hand until IS has restored access.

Monday, 4/13: Greasels displaying an increasing level of antipathy towards
lab personnel.  Noted to Dr. Verne who increased dosage of succinylcholine
from 15cc to 32cc.

Wednesday, 4/15: IS promises that LabNet accounts will be restored by
Friday; new login is "dmoreau" with password "raptor".

Thursday, 4/16: Dr. Cairns typically absent minded; forgot his protective
gear when handling greasel and received a dose of venomous spit in the face.
Fortuitous opportunity to study effects on human nervous system which
included impaired coordination and vision.

Greasels are genetically altered creatures seen in DX.

PROJECT DIBBUK
SH-187 Specifications and Operation

Domination/5F Clearance ONLY

... the goal of PROJECT DIBBUK was to create a long range, variable
mission-capable rotary aircraft, realized to its fullest extent in the SH-187
"stealth helicopter."  The production model SH-187 features a revolutionary
engine powered by HIGH-EFFICIENCY ETHANOL FUEL CELLS with a flight range of
over 9000 miles depending upon atmospheric conditions, and an extension of the
adaptive armor technology that renders it INVISIBLE across 97% of the
non-visible electromagnetic spectrum.  Ideally suited for surveillance,
insertion, retrieval, and limited interdiction, the SH-187 will often spend
much of its operational lifetime within hostile territory, and therefore is
also equipped with REMOTE DISABLING and scrambling for its key flight systems.
If necessary, the vehicle can also be scuttled remotely...

The bit about remote disabling foreshadows Jock's helicopter being remotely disabled by UNATCO.

Hong Kong in Turmoil

DISSEMINATE TO ALL AGENTS

In the last twenty-four hours the political situation in Hong Kong has
deteriorated rapidly and local authorities seem powerless to contain the chaos.
A recent hit on the Lucky Money Club by suspected members of the criminal
"Luminous Path Triad" was only the opening salvo in an escalating war between
unidentified members of local criminal organizations.  Casualties have included
not only targets of opportunity, but also government facilities and urban
infrastructure; both Hong Kong police and military are on heightened alert.
As the situation develops and we receive further reports from UNATCO field ops
this information will be updated.

<COMMENT>MJ12 detenion block</COMMENT>

Lieutenant Jackson:

A failed intrusion attempt into LabNet has unfortunately scrambled other key
systems, requiring most of the security grid to be reset.  Until the grid is
fully restored, the detention block door code has been reset to 4089 while
_all_ detention cells have been reset to 4679.  You will be notified when
the situation has been fully resolved.

Agent Sherman

<COMMENT>MJ12 guard room, near surgery</COMMENT>

Captain Hernandez:

We are in the process of ghosting all network security resources to provide
additional protection against possible intrusion or denial of service attacks.
Until this process is complete, all security computers will be utilizing a
temporary system.

Login: MJ12
Password: INVADER

Agent Sherman

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

Agent Sherman:

As requested, the patient has been moved to the Surgery Ward for immediate
salvage of his datavault.  If you wish to observe the progress of the
operation in person, the door code for surgery is 0199; or, if you wish to view
the operation remotely, you may use the temporary account we've created for
you: login "psherman" and password "Raven".  Please let me know if myself or
my staff can provide you with any further assistance.

JM

<COMMENT>MJ12 bot guard room</COMMENT>

Hey Martin, there's been some kind of security snafu so all the codes have been
changed until further notice - blanket orders from a new guy I haven't seen
before, an agent of some sort.  The new armory code is 2971, but don't let that
get around... I just wanted you to have access in case the bots get twitchy
again.  That last OS upgrade seemed a bit shaky, and that makes me nervous
when applied to walking gun platforms. - Peter

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

Here's that greasel dissection chart you wanted. - Dr. Verne

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

ACOUSTIC SOUND SENSOR, DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS

The acoustic gunfire sensor has been deployed by a number of organizations
throughout the world in those urban areas where it might otherwise be difficult
to implement and maintain a pervasive security presence.  Utilizing fairly
rudimentary DSP algorithms, the sensor will trigger if any sound matching the
profile of a gunshot occurs within the sensor's detection radius; field tests
in Hong Kong have shown them to be 88% accurate, with an overall 12% decrease
in crime within six months.  Cheap and easy to install, acoustic gunfire
sensors can be fitted to buildings, lamp posts, or any other free standing
structure...

<COMMENT>MJ12 surgical ward</COMMENT>

Surgical Pre-Evaluation
Subject: Paul Denton

... subject shows a number of departures from nominal baseline physiology,
including a noted absence of all H type epsilon immunoglobin proteins which
would seem to be related to his ability to tolerate nano-augmentations that
are typically rejected by the vast majority of the population.  Of particular
interest is that the subject tests positive for the "Gray Death" yet shows no
apparent symptoms or adverse effects...

This throws light on the connection between the Denton brothers, nanoaugmentation, and the Gray Death. The Dentons are engineered to tolerate nanoaugmentation. Their nanoaugmentations are highly related to the Gray Death. If such nanotechnology is introduced into a nonengineered human, it is rejected and produces the usual "adverse effects" associated with the Gray Death.

<COMMENT>Agent Sherman's office</COMMENT>

MJ12 Cyberinformation Warfare Division

Your request for: LOGINS/PASSWORDS
was completed at 18:34:23.

ajacobson - calvo
anavarre - scryspc
ghermann - zeitgeist
JCD - bionicman
jmanderley - knight_killer
jreed - redshoes
jreyes - amigo
klloyd - target
scarter - antique

MJ12CWD * "Ipsa scientia potestas est."

The Latin quote is from Francis Bacon and means, "Knowledge itself is power".

<COMMENT>MJ12 Lab</COMMENT>

From: JBlane//UNATCO.31.2376
To: PSherman//UpNet.221.9981
Subject: Re: Armory Code Changed

>In the wake of a failed electronic intrusion attempt by a
>Silhouette terrorist cell, we are upgrading the security
>protocols for this complex; until the new measures are in
>place, lock codes will be changed as follows:
>
>[text deleted]
>Armory: 2917

One of my men informed me that this code was incorrect; after checking
with Ops, we determined that the correct code is "2971".

Cptn. Blane

<COMMENT>MJ12 Lab</COMMENT>

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: PSherman//UpNet.221.9981
Subject: Operational Status

Continue monitoring the situation with the augmented units; I want all possible
wetware recovered from the primary unit, but your top priority should be the
interrogation of the secondary unit ("<PLAYERNAME>").  Viability of the
secondary unit is of non-importance now that the killswitch has been
activated - I'd like any procedures employed selected with an eye towards
maximum informational yield.

Until the freighter preparations have been completed, you will have full
authority over UNATCO headquarters and attached facilities.

"Wetware" refers to augmentations.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

From: DElmwood//OceanLab.21.33
To: DMoreau//UpNet.2563.2290
Subject: Karkian Bio Eval

Dr. Moreau,

I must request yet again that you forward me the results of your study on
greasel venom toxicity with reference to the karkian neurological cultures I
have previously provided you with so that I can conclude my bio evaluation.
This delay on your part could be construed as a lack of enthusiasm for our
research goals.

Sincerly,
Dr. Elmwood

From: Central Security//UpNet.2334.3233
To: Security Personnel
Subject: Full Alert

We have an unspecified incident originating in the UNATCO detention areas - all
personnel are ordered to full alert status.  Any and all suspicious activity is
to be treated with utmost caution, while ARMED RESPONSE is sanctioned for
unauthorized activity.  Personnel without specific responsibilities should
consider themselves LOCKED DOWN until further notice.

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JReyes//UNATCO.00973.20892
Subject: Killswitch Evaluation

With your impressive grasp of nano-augmentation I thought it appropriate that
you should participate in the evaluation of J.C. Denton's killswitch.  It's
unfortunate when situations such as this occur, particularly when they involve
agents with the obvious talents and abilities of the Denton brothers.  But
given the need to protect civilians from potential rogue operatives, I'm sure
you'll understand the necessity of developing a more effective killswitch,
something similar to the instantaneous killphrases installed in all our
mechanically augmented agents.  Please contact Agent Sherman for the
evalutation methodology.

A more effective killswitch is seen in the MIBs, which explode upon death.

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: JManderley//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: Disappointment

We are disappointed in your performance to date, particularly with regards to
<PLAYERNAME> - while both he and his brother were expendable,
considerable time and effort was involved in their creation.  Pending a more
thorough post mortem, we can only assume that your handling of them must bear
part of the blame.  We'll discuss this further in holoconference, but until
then I've given Agent Sherman full authority over UNATCO headquarters and MJ12
facilities.

I've also assigned Dr. Reyes to evaluate the performance of the killswitches
for the nano-augmented agents.  Maintain a close observation of him and report
any inconsistencies in his behavior immediately.  Further security breaches
will not be tolerated.

Note: "creation". The Dentons were not born, they were engineered.

From: ???
To: SCarter//UNATCO.38239.09421
Subject: Thank You

Your assistance in helping us to compromise UNATCO security protocols was
instrumental to your friend's escape; while we still do not know the identity
of the person or persons calling themselves "Daedalus", they have given us
ample reason to believe that he will be an asset to the cause of freedom.

It should go without saying that this message will erase itself before the
security systems come back online - any attempt to copy or archive it will
fail.

Minister of True Lies
Tandis qu'ils dorment, nous gagnerons.

The French phrase means: "While they sleep, we will gain."

From: Daedalus
To: JCDenton//UNATCO.82098.9868
Subject: Get Out

They are closing in on your position now.  Exit the building as soon as
possible.  You must escape.

<COMMENT>MJ12 Lab</COMMENT>

From: DJacobi//UNATCO.363.67398
To: PSherman//UpNet.221.9981
Subject: RE: Security Directives

>* All augmentation canisters should immediately be removed
>to a secure area and access restricted to authorized
>personnel with clearance of Domination/5F or higher only.

After inventory, we have moved one augmentation canister 12C (aggressive
defense/spy drone) to the Nanotech Lab where it has been placed in a
suspension crate, coded 9905.

From: AGreer//UpNet.902.3902
To: VAlibek//UpNet.003.8588
Subject: Plasma Gun

Dr. Alibek:

Your facility is one of the first to receive our new production model plasma
gun; as you know, this weapon will be phased into use first by our special
operations teams, then by selected elements of our military and security
organization over the next month.  As one of our leading weapons researchers
in North America, we are certainly interested in any opinions you might have
regarding its combat effectiveness.  Attached you should find the full
technical specifications.  Please feel free to correspond with me directly
if you have any further questions.

The code for the security container is 5239.

Aston Greer
Director of Security, MJ12

Sadly, the plasma gun was next-to-useless in single-player DX.

JANINE'S BOTS
SPECS AND OVERVIEW

PAGE BRAVO-3 PEACEBRINGER

The Page Industries Bravo-3 Peacebringer is an affordable security and patrol
bot that combines a bipedal frame with an air-cooled mini-gun that utilizes
the 7.62x51mm NATO round.  While the AI is limited in its capabilities, it is
more than adequate to the needs of most security - and many military - forces
around the world, having been deployed in such troubled hot-spots as Hong Kong,
Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires, New Dehli, Moscow, and Paris.  Like almost
all bots designed to maneuver in urban environments, the Bravo-3 employs a
radar imaging system for situational awareness, but unlike previous models in
the Peacebringer line the Bravo-3 is now equipped with a RazorThorn signal
processor for target acquisition.  Organizations or facilities in need of
heavier bot armament often turn to the larger Delta-2 Peacebringer, equipped
with thicker armor and missiles...

The small walking bots (e.g. as seen on Liberty Island) must be the Bravo-3s, while the large, mecha-like bots must be the Delta-2s.

From: RosyCross//UnderNet.44567.22356
To: AJacobson//UNATCO.00013.76490
Subject: RE: Inquiry

The Oracle says:

Initial analysis of entity token "MJ12" (also reference entity tokens
"Majestic", "Majestic 12", "Majestic Council of Twelve", "They Who Rule the
World in Majesty", "MJID") yields confusing results that must be further
refined through additional pattern analysis.  Would appear to be related to
entity token "Illuminati" and other self-organizing institutions that seek
to affect global change through localized alteration of sociopolitical systems.
Extant records dating back 837 years are extensive, but subject to a number of
valid curve-fitting functions that render speculation as to possible motive or
overall goals only 27.3% accurate.  We dislike this ambiguity and will work to
clarify prior to final report.

[[The Oracle would like to know what you think of the color blue.]]

PROSPECTUS: SERIES P AGENTS
proposal by Dr. Arthur Donovan (Versalife/HK)

The Series P Agents are the logical continuation of research resulting from the
Series N: the development of a human agent with enhanced capabilities and
absolute loyalty, but without the non-standard appearance of mechanical
augmentation or the unpredictability of nano-augmentation.  Like the Series N,
the strength and speed of the Series P should be substantially above baseline
while new conditioning techniques will result in minimal pain response.
We conservatively predict a Series P agent would be 78% more effective in
combat than a normal operative without any form of augmentation.

Key features from the Series N agent will also be carried over, including the
self-termination mechanism.  An ingenious variation on the "kill-switch", the
self-termination mechanism is wired into the autonomous nervous system of an
agent.  If mortally wounded, the mechanism will activate and explode,
eliminating any evidence of the agent and damaging nearby hostiles.

However, we are still continuing in our attempts to isolate the source of the
albino traits present ever since the Series L, but so far the simple addition
of sunglasses and dark clothing appear to have resolved the matter in a
practical fashion...

JC and Paul Denton are Series N [Nanotech]. The MIBs are Series P [Physiopharmaceutical]. It is unknown what Series L was.

<COMMENT>MJ12 Lab</COMMENT>

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: PSherman//UpNet.221.9981
Subject: Commando Refit

New detachments of MJ12 commando units are now being refitted and should come
online shortly.  Upgraded units will initially be assigned on an "as necessary"
basis to high priority MJ12 facilities; one of the first teams should arrive at
your location within forty-eight hours to be placed directly under your command.

In addition to their standard 7.62mm firearms, short range rockets have been
added to their arsenal.  Enhanced power armor utilizing heat-dispersing foam
insulation will greatly reduce damage from fire or plasma weaponry, while
ballistic shielding provides significant protection from small arms fire.
An integrated rebreather also renders them invulnerable to any aerosol or
gas weapons.

Use this team and your discretion to maintain the integrity of the facility
and support MJ12 forces already in New York.

When in combat, MJ12 commandos would run around with their arms spread wide, in order to fire their missiles. It looked extraordinarily goofy. :->

<COMMENT>Tracer Tong Nanotech Book</COMMENT>

MJ12 Nano-Augmentation Experiment Series 3-C
For Internal Use Only

... recent human trials and subsequent mortality studies have demonstrated that
nano-augmenting of baseline human physiology is not without hazards: notably,
key anatomical regions can support only limited augmentation without risking
rejection or accelerated degeneration.  Research is ongoing, but current data
suggests the following nano-augmentation combinations have acceptable risk:

Arms: Combat Strength or Microfibral Muscle
Legs: Speed Enhancement or Run Silent
Subdermal (1): EMP Shield or Ballistic Protection
Subdermal (2): Cloak or Radar Transparency
Torso (1): Aqualung or Environmental Resistance
Torso (2): Regeneration or Energy Resistance
Torso (3): Synthetic Heart or Power Recirculator
Cranium: Agressive Defense System or Spy Drone
Optics: Targeting or Vision Enhancement

In Series 3-D we will examine the viability of genetically suppressing the
immune response through epsilon elimination...

<COMMENT>Lumpath compound cookbook</COMMENT>

Chinese Silver Loaves

1 3/4 cups hot water
3 T. sugar
2 T. vegetable shortening or oil
6 cups plain flour
2 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Add sugar and shortening to hot water, stir til sugar is dissolved, and allow
to cool until barely warm.

Sift remaining dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and gradually stir
in sugar mixture.  Mix well and gradually draw dough together with your hands.
It should be soft, but not sticky.

On a floured board, knead dough about 5-8 minutes, or til smooth and elastic.
Return to bowl, cover with damp cloth and let rise at least 1 hour.

<COMMENT>Gordon Quick's bunk</COMMENT>

Journal of Hung Kwan Gordon Quick

... it is the steel in her heart, much like that of her father, that leads me
to love her; how unfortunate that the Old Gods should laugh and she should be
the child of their Dragon Head - the man who would lead the Red Arrow against
the Luminous Path and destroy all we have sought to create for the Celestial
Kingdom.  But I know that whatever fate has decreed for us, we will walk that
road together.  There can be no betrayal in the feelings we have for each
other, and no teachings that can show me the error in our actions.

Today, Master Tong has informed me that we will have visitors...

Aw, how cute.

Project Dibbuk: Thoughts and Meditations
Written by the Honored Ang-Yun Li

... as the Most Dignified of the Celestial Kingdom had expected, inquiries into
the nature of MJ12 and the so-called "Project Dibbuk" were quickly declined in
an extremely abrupt manner (and resulted in the unfortunate but necessary loss
of one humble servant who will be forever exalted in the annals of our
organization); however, further perseverance has suggested that the
aforementioned project involved the quiet acquisition of Chinese technology
that was later applied to the invention of an improved "stealth helicopter" for
use in covert MJ12 operations.  A careful examination of electronic traces
would lead an astute observer to conclude that this information was liberated
during a number of skilled intrusions into Chinese corporate data wells
originating from UNATCO headquarters in New York, which in turn leads to
certain questions about links between UNATCO and MJ12...

... God's got a funny sense of humor sometimes...I'm writing this on the back of
an issue of "Tomorrow's Scientist".

Hundley sent me to pick up a batch of karkian eggs fresh off the plane; couldn't
trust anyone else, Dr. Feng - that's what he said.  Big job.  On the way back
through the tunnel everything just fell apart, flash of light and noise and
suddenly I'm lying here.  My legs are broken.  It was probably a Triad
attack... they've been fighting lately...

I thought emergency services would arrive, but no one's come.  There's no
internal bleeding that I can tell.  I started to hear noises a while ago.  I
think the suspension crate in the car broke open and the eggs are hatching.

I can't reach anyone on my phone.  It's been eight hours.  I slept a little.
I can hear the baby karkians - cries of hunger, precursor to infant food
seeking behavior.  The irony is this is a perfect environment for them.

I saw a shadow of one a little ago.  My rough guess is they're developing
almost 20% more quickly than expected.  Some nasty noises earlier, several of
the karkians picking out the weakest of the litter and tearing it to pieces.

I wish someone would come...

<COMMENT>On Maggie Chow's nightstand</COMMENT>

The True Way
by Kishiro Yoshitaka

... If one is to imagine the "perfect sword" that can cut and swing with no
resistance, a sword that is an extension of the mind and heart of the warrior
who wields it and not a dead weight of steel, then it becomes clear that the
sword is of little consequence compared to the will of the strategist.  Those
who would master the Way must come to understand this: a sword is a tool whose
purpose is to cut.  Each day the strategist must practice this until it is not
practice, but a part of their spirit.  The strategist knows that every sword
they wield is perfect, for their will is perfect, and it is through their
will alone that they win battles...

<COMMENT>Tai-Fun</COMMENT>

Tai-Fun
by Lin Yeoh

... The history of the Triads is in many ways the history of modern China.
Popular myth holds that the Triads originated as a resistance movement against
the Ching dynasty after it descended from Manchuria to seize the capital of
Peking by force.  When faced with a rebellion in the Fukien province, the
Ching dynasty recruited an order of warrior monks who were later deemed
expendable by the Emperor and all but exterminated.  Survivors organized a
number of secret monasteries and became known as the "Hung Mun", dedicated to
overthrowing the Chings.

The Hung Mun showed a remarkable political adaptability, portraying themselves
as protectors of the people even as they accepted money from Japanese
corporate fronts during WWII...

Insurgent
by X

... When faced with the subversion of an organized ruling body, external
action - even when executed in concert, as a group - is often ineffectual.
True revolution can only come from working within, and in this the ultimate
change that can be brought about by an individual is magnified by the very
machinery that such organizations utilize to maintain their own authority.
Historically, ruling bodies are always outnumbered by those they rule - but
still they manage to maintain a disproportionate amount of power through a
combination of tradition, confusion, and punishment.  An operative who learns
to simulate the veneer of a loyalist and guard their own secret heart can
utilize those very same tools to overthrow such organizations, or shift them
to a more ideologically pleasing axis...

THE MOST HOLY ANNALS OF THE LUMINOUS PATH
THAT LEADS THE RIGHTEOUS TO THE FOLD
OF THE INNER CELESTIAL KINGDOM

Wong Fei Hong
Yim Wing Chun
Cho Yi-Hang
Wai Ko Lo
Yan-Fang Mei
Ching-hsia Lin
Kong-sang Chan
Yusen Wu
Chu-Kheng Yeoh
Yuen Wo-Ping
Tracer Tong
<PLAYERNAME>

Every single name in this list is a reference.

• Wong Fei Hong is a legendary character, played by Jet Li in "Once Upon A Time In China" and by Jackie Chan in "The Legend Of Drunken Master".
• Yim Wing Chun is traditionally said to be a woman who developed a style of hand-to-hand combat to get out of an arranged marriage with a cruel man. "Wing Chun" featured Michelle Yeoh as the title character.
• Cho Yi-Hang is a character in "The Bride With White Hair".
• Wai Ko Lo is the stage name of actor Ken Lo.
• Yan-Fang Mei is an actress; she was in "Rumble In The Bronx".
• Ching-hsia Lin is an actress; she was in "The Bride With White Hair" mentioned above.
• Kong-sang Chan later changed his name to Jackie. See Wong Fei Hong above.
• You may better know Yusen Wu as John Woo.
• Chu-Kheng Yeoh later changed her name to Michelle. See Yim Wing Chun above.
• Yuen Wo-Ping directed the movie "Wing Chun" mentioned above, and was also the action director for "The Matrix", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and "The Matrix Reloaded".

<COMMENT>Queens Tower Residential Directory - Lobby</COMMENT>

The Queen's Tower has provided discreet, luxurious accomodations for over two
hundred years.  Our clientele are treated to not only the most elegant
amenities in all of Hong Kong - including in-door pool, spa, gymnasium, and
clinic - but also protected twenty-four hours a day by automated security and
around-the-clock surveillance.

<COMMENT>Queens Tower Residential Directory - Floor 7</COMMENT>

This floor is currently undergoing renovations in our effort to create the
most modern, comfortable living space possible for future residents.  If you
would like to examine the floor prior to leasing or purchasing a residence
here, please sign in with our on-site manager and use code 3444.  The Queen's
Tower cannot, of course, be held responsible for any accidents incurred
during unescorted tours of the work area.

<COMMENT>Queens Tower Residential Directory - Maggies Floor</COMMENT>

Ms. Chow grants you access; please use the private penthouse elevator.

Queen's Tower Residential Directory

Please select one of our facilities or residents; residents will identify you
using our state-of-the-art security system and grant you access as necessary.
Thank you.

<COMMENT>Acoustic gunfire sensors</COMMENT>

ALL HONG KONG MJ12 PERSONNEL

Hong Kong is a unique environment for MJ12 personnel and provides a number of
challenges that all members should be aware of on a daily basis.  Currently,
only tenuous ties exist between MJ12 and local authorities - though MJ12 is
working to resolve that situation - and consequently, police and security
cannot be expected to understand the special nature of MJ12's charter.
Agents, operatives, security, and other personnel should adhere closely to the
Confidentiality Guidelines outlined in your handbook.

One key factor in police response is the use of "acoustic gunfire sensors"
scattered throughout much of Hong Kong: cheap and effective, these sensors
use DSP circuitry to alert authorities to non-suppressed (i.e. not silenced)
gunfire.  This enables police to quickly minimize threat situations in an
efficient manner.  While these sensors can be disabled, Central Operations
does not recommend this course of action, but rather a considered
evaluation of any tactical situation to avoid local intervention.

<COMMENT>MJ12 helibase barracks</COMMENT>

We had another one of the locals attempt to hack the security keypad on the
elevator - looked like a kid this time, but he did a pretty good job of staying
out of the surveillance field.  Anyways, Nichole managed an override before he
got in and she reset the code to 989; hopefully that'll keep them out until we
can get more security on the entrance.

<COMMENT>In police bunker in market</COMMENT>

FROM: CENTAL POLICE COMMAND, H.K.
TO: WAN CHAI DISTRICT, POST 11384

Officer Tam:

Your recent reports of conflict between the Red Arrow and Luminous Path are
most troubling.  We will counsel their respective Dragon Heads at the first
available opportunity, but if further incidents occur you are sanctioned to
open the ordnance vault and apply force to the participants as necessary.

<COMMENT>Luminous Path surveillance</COMMENT>

... since the fighting at the Canal Tunnel, the Luminous Path compound has
remained silent and watchful.  However, at 1938 there was an explosion and the
sound of a helicopter flying from east to west, but when I attempted to locate
the aircraft for visual identification I could only make out a black shape
against the night sky - it's skin seemed to absorb light, like that of a
shark in the deep ocean.

At 2010 I began to hear reports of a gwailo, possibly the same one who
created problems for the elder brother recently, in the market - asking
questions about things he should not be asking questions about...

<COMMENT>Maggie's desk</COMMENT>

Hello Maggie! I swear I will never forget your birthday again!  July 18th is
marked on my calendar forever! - Louis

<COMMENT>Maggie's secret room</COMMENT>

NEW DATACUBE TRANSCRIPT
BEGIN TIMECODE 04:56:23

RECORDING BEGINS ]]]NOW[[[

MC: - know you took the sword, Yuen.  You took it from the wrong place and the
wrong people, and now you're in pain.  You know how much I hate to see you in
pain, baby...

YK: I am the Dragon Head of the Red... Red Arrow Triad and you... are a...
hollow woman.

MC: I'm much more than that, Yuen.  I am the only thing standing between you
and a world of hurt and darkness and shame.  Tell me where the sword is, and
maybe you'll die soon.

YK: And you... you... are a bad actress.

(unknown sound)

MC: And you have one less finger...

RECORDING ]]]ENDS[[[

<COMMENT>Versalife security booth</COMMENT>

VERSALIFE SECURITY LOG

05:33 - Richard Hundley enters with empty briefcase.  Verify contents of
briefcase upon departure to insure confidentiality protocols are not in
violation.

06:25 - John Smith enters without sign-in.  Note in disciplinary record and
increase electronic surveillance on Smith.

13:14 - Louis Elban engages in lengthy conversation with receptionist Destiny
Savannah, topic or topics unknown.

21:13 - Unknown individual enters; may possibly match description of "J.C.
Denton" referenced in security bulletin 133-B.  Will continue observation and
detain if confirmed match.

<COMMENT>VersaLife receptionist</COMMENT>

WELCOME TO VERSALIFE
"We Make Tomorrow Look Like Yesterday"

PLEASE SIGN IN

20:55   A. Donovan
21:20   Miriam Casswell
21:32   Richard Hundley
21:34   Dr. Michalopolis
21:46   Claude Harrison
22:52   Cassandra Vargas
22:52   Dr. Lundquist
23:51   Bates, M.
01:10   Dr. Kohl
01:45   Sarah Stern
02:12   Tom Bunch
02:17   Louis Elban
02:24   M. Morgan
02:36   Trellaine V.
03:13   Gary Burkett
...

[FIXME: That's a lot of names. Are any of them references to something else?]

<COMMENT>Informant's cubicle</COMMENT>

I think something bad is happening downstairs, but I don't know what.  Yesterday
I found a man in the bathroom, dressed in street clothes and raving about... I
don't know what.  Doctors and the things they did to him.  Downstairs, he said,
but there is no downstairs. I don't know how he got into the building.  When I
called security a bunch of scary guys in riot armor showed up - they didn't say
anything, just shot him with a dart.  He stopped talking.  Maybe he was dead.
When I tried to get closer they shoved me half-way across the room, like
swatting an insect.

My supervisor came.  Questioned me about "loyalty" and "shared objectives with
the program."  Mentioned how dangerous Hong Kong streets were, that security
was for my protection, and that it was there to prevent unfortunate incidents.

There are more of the guys in scary riot armor.  They are coming this way.  I
think I'll take a restroom break.

<COMMENT>MJ12 lounge</COMMENT>

Harrison,

As per our discussion, I will retain root access.  Regarding the other key
members of the Weapons Research Team, MChow should be given full access, while
the others will be granted only user access until further notice.

Thanks,
Dr. Lundquist

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab</COMMENT>

Commander Triolet:

In order to correct the corrupted security upgrade, it was necessary for me to
do a low-level wipe of the entire system and re-install from a virgin back-up.
As a result, the security login and password has been reset to the default MJ12
and SECURITY.  Please change the password at your earliest possible convenience
and inform your personnel.

Troy Whittaker
MJ12IS, Admin

<COMMENT>MJ12 lab conference room</COMMENT>

Dr. Lundquist:

The new server node for the Weapons Research Team is now active and user
permissions have been set as you asked.  The master password for this node is
DAMOCLES.

Please let me know if you need anything else,

- Harrison

<COMMENT>Market weapons shop</COMMENT>

Lum-din, I've been watching the officers across the way, and with the help of a
few high-powered optics and an infrared scanner managed to work out the code
for the police substation: 911.  This is a lucky number for us, I think, and
one we can sell.  Which Triad do you think would pay the most? - Brother Xeng

Of course, 911 is not the emergency phone number in Hong Kong.

<COMMENT>Queen's Tower lobby</COMMENT>

Party Leader Xan,

I was much inspired by your speech to our local community resource center and
wish to do my part in helping to maintain a free China: as you have said,
there are many threats to that freedom both from within and without.

It is with glad heart, then, that I am able to inform you of suspicious
activities on the part of Dr. Tracey Feng.  Dr. Feng has declared on a number
of occasions that he believes cases of "Gray Death" are going untreated (a
situation I cannot believe the Party would permit), and has often been
observed leaving at odd hours on what he declares to be "family emergencies."
I believe that Dr. Feng is a good individual, with the best hopes for Hong
Kong and China at heart, and could thus benefit from counseling.

Ms. Chow was kind enough to bring this to my attention, and should be
saluted for the many hours of entertainment and happiness she has brought to
the Chinese people.

<COMMENT>Maggie's password clue</COMMENT>

Mr. Hundley,

It has become necessary to change my system password since it may have become
compromised; I will encrypt the new password and forward it to you shortly.
Please note that any access attempts made using "Tai-Fun" should be tagged and
traced for interrogation.

-Maggie Chow

<COMMENT>Helibase gas release</COMMENT>

Maintenance Note!

Got a shipment of that experimental fuel, but this is scary stuff - toxic six
ways to Sunday, and while the emergency purge is designed to shunt it into the
basement tanks in case of a problem, the fumes alone could creep back up the
ventilation system and put most of the facility out of business.  Definitely
lowest bid contractor work.  Until I can get a hold of someone to fix this
mess, I've slapped a temporary lockout on the purge valve: 99871. Give me a
ring at (443) 2334-2388-123 if there's a problem.

Five-digit codes in the game are unusual.

<COMMENT>Contraband cargo</COMMENT>

LOG ENTRY 00:2345:2223

Took that damn repair bot we picked up last week and wired him into the engine
compartment - might finally be useful and give us enough power to clear the
maritime partrols before it burns out.  Now we just have to wait for
harbormaster clearance.

*** CLOSE LOG, SHIP'S CAPTAIN SUN CHUN

<COMMENT>Helibase computer codes</COMMENT>

UPDATE, MJ12 H.K. HELIBASE OPERATIONS MANUAL

All authorized personnel with clearances of level 3 and above should be made
aware that the authorization for the "TALON" security network has been changed
from "VALKYRIE" to "SKYEYE".  The functionality of the "TALON" security network
has not changed substantially, and is still covered in Section 3B of the
Operations Manual.  All further inquiries should be directed to your superior.

<COMMENT>Police security</COMMENT>

FROM: CENTAL POLICE COMMAND, H.K.
TO: WAN CHAI DISTRICT, POST 11384

INCIDENT REVIEW

OFFICER TAM(TAM/Dragon) IS HEREBY CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES OF NEGLIGENCE OR
MISCONDUCT IN INCIDENT REF ID#:00453-AT.  IT IS THE OPINION OF THIS TRIBUNAL
THAT OFFICER TAM'S USE OF DEADLY FORCE WAS NOT ONLY NECESSARY BUT PROPER IN HIS
ATTEMPT TO MINIMIZE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES.  NO NEED FOR FURTHER COUNSELING OR
REVIEW IS FOUND AT THIS TIME.

WAN CHAI INCIDENT TRIBUNAL

CASE CLOSED

<COMMENT>Queen's Tower computer codes</COMMENT>

Mort -

I'm going to be off-site tomorrow, so I'm counting on you to head things up.
Just FYI, the electrician completed installation of the security system today,
login QUEENSTOWER and password SECURITY, in case you get around to handling
the configuration issues.  (I don't think the doorman's quite figured out how
to use it yet, so you might need to do some hand holding with him.)  I also set
the elevator bypass code inside the shaft to 1709 before I left, if you need to
do any work down there.  Should the contractors return to work on floor seven,
give them code 3444.  Any other problems come up, you know how to get a hold
of me.

:Lin

<COMMENT>Maggie's apartment</COMMENT>

When you have the time, May-Sung, I would suggest that you read two of my
favorite books: Insurgent and Tai-Fun. I believe you'll find
both of them as illuminating as I have.  They're in my office if you'd like
to borrow them.

-Maggie

<COMMENT>Police substation</COMMENT>

FROM: WAN CHAI DISTRICT, POST 11384
TO: CENTRAL POLICE COMMAND, H.K.

Attached you will find a full surveillance report for the activities of subject
MAGGIE CHOW (HKS0084393).  Ms. Chow's associations with the RED ARROW TRIAD and
its Dragon Head, MAX CHEN, are a matter of record; however, recent evidence
indicates that she may also have been involved with the death of Chen's
predecessor, YUEN KONG (HKS0134091), a contributing factor to the current gang
war.  Ms. Chow and her relationship to the VERSALIFE CORPORATION are also under
investigation, but show a high probability of being linked to the recent
conflict between the Triads.

District officers are respectfully asked to note that there are several
tactical options for accessing Ms. Chow's penthouse: a service entrance at the
rear of the address; a renovation project in progress on the building's
seventh floor; and the roof. These options are outlined more fully in the
surveillance report if it becomes necessary to detain Ms. Chow or search her
premises.

Commander Cheung

From: MaxChen//HKNET.123.9009
To: MChow//HKNET.974.12.8723
Subject: Report

We have observed suspicious activity near the Luminous Path compound: a black
helicopter and a foreigner asking a number of questions about the Path and
their leader.  I suggest caution until we can ascertain his motives.  I will
order some of our brothers to maintain a watchful eye on him.  You should
likewise be on your guard.

Max

From: Operations Central//UpNet.64534.453423
To: Everyone
Subject: Alert

FOR ALL OPERATIVES, CLEARANCE ARCHANGEL/1B AND ABOVE

NOTE THAT THE PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED VIEWING OF MATERIAL WITHOUT PROPER
CLEARANCE ARE DETAILED IN THE UNATCO CHARTER, SECTION 3.1, PARAGRAPHS D THRU E.

A rogue operative, codenamed "J.C. Denton," has fled the United States and is
believed to be en route to Hong Kong.  All agents and other operatives are
warned that he is dangerous and is to be treated with extreme prejudice.  Do
not attempt to engage; report all sightings to Agent Gunther Hermann at
GHermann//UNATCO.15431.76513.

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: MChow//HKNET.974.12.8723
Subject: Triad Control

I have reviewed your latest report concerning the theft of the prototype sword
and subsequent recovery efforts; you are to be commended for your swift
response and exploitation of the theft to escalate tensions between the major
Triads.  The resulting struggle will obviously weaken the native power
structure, and I have already ordered an increased MJ12 presence to be placed
under your command for local operations.  Solidifying our control over Hong
Kong is a necessary first step in bringing the recalcitrant Chinese
authorities to heel.

We've also received reports that Agent Denton ("<PLAYERFIRSTNAME>") may
be heading to Hong Kong for a possible rendevous with "Tracer Tong" in a
stolen SH-187.  If possible, attempt to use your local connections to learn
the whereabouts of Tong, then terminate them both.

From: Operations Central//UpNet.64534.453423
To: Internal Security//VersaLife.14321.56245
Subject: New Orders

Recent disturbances among employees require all covert security personnel to be
on alert.  Carry your concealed sidearm at all times while maintaining cover.
If employees engage in unauthorized or suspicious activities, you are
encouraged to debrief them and pursue appropriate remedies.

<COMMENT>Helibase bathroom</COMMENT>

UNATCO Responds to Terrorist Attack
New World Press - New York City

A terrorist strike on Liberty Island was blunted this past week when UNATCO
forces moved swiftly to neutralize the threat.  The attack, the result of a
poorly organized attempt to break security at UNATCO Headquarters by the
National Secessionist Forces (NSF), was characterized by one unidentified
source as a "futile gesture".  Walton Simons, Director of FEMA, worked
closely with UNATCO to coordinate both US and UNATCO forces in a joint
operation to root out the remaining elements of the terrorist network in
New York.

"Terrorism is very much a snake that slithers out of the tall grass", said
Simons.  "It is our responsibility to always remain alert to the danger it
presents, and to act decisively when it appears."

Authorities are currently attempting to locate <PLAYERNAME>, one of
the terrorist leaders who escaped in the aftermath of the attack.

<COMMENT>Hong Kong news stand</COMMENT>

Mass Driver Accident Kills Over 2,000
APR - Ibadan, Nigeria

The historical first delivery of ore from the Zhou Enlai Lunar Mining Complex
ended in tragedy today when a targeting error resulted in the payload slamming
into the outskirts of the city of Ibadan in Nigeria.  Thousands died in the
initial blast that was compared to a small nuclear bomb as the payload
impacted in a sparsely populated suburb, while thousands more were left
disoriented, homeless, and without power or water in the wake of the explosion.

Chinese officials have halted all other deliveries from the Zhou Enlai Complex
and are working with both the United Nations and officials from McMoran Global
Steel to determine the cause of the error.  McMoran Global Steel was
responsible for the construction of the mass driver, winning the contract from
Page Industries in a heated bidding war.

"Obviously we took the utmost precautions in building the Zhou Enlai driver",
said spokesperson Sean Murphy.  "But something has gone terribly wrong.  Our
only real response at this point is to offer our condolences and aid to the
people of Ibadan, and insure that such an event never occurs again."

Bad Page Industries. Bad.

<COMMENT>Hong Kong news stand</COMMENT>

"Gray Death" Cases Misdiagnosed
Hong Kong Standard

Authorities confirmed today that a number of mysterious illnesses reported at
area clinics were not cases of "Gray Death" as had been previously feared, but
merely a seasonal outbreak of influenza.

Dr. Chang Lam of the People's Health Administration headed the inquiry.  "I
can say with complete certainty that these cases exhibit absolutely none of
the symptoms of the so-called 'Gray Death', - cases which, I might add, have
so far only been reported in the less well managed cities of America and
Europe.  Those malcontents who have spread rumors to the contrary are merely
feeding upon the unjustified fears of the hardworking men and women of Hong
Kong."

Dr. Lam went on to say that anyone observed making such claims should be
reported to local party leaders for counseling.

<COMMENT>Hong Kong news stand</COMMENT>

Canal Road Tunnel Collapse
Hong Kong Standard

Explosions rocked the Wan Chai district two days ago as fighting between warring
Triads resulted in the cave-in and flooding of the Canal Road Tunnel,
effectively halting almost all access to and from the Wan Chai area.  While the
fighting occurred in the early hours of the morning and traffic was light, a
number of bystanders were trapped during the fighting and subsequently presumed
dead.  The names of the deceased have not been released at this time.

Police have barricaded the area at the Wan Chai terminal and forbidden any
access until a thorough forensic analysis can be made and the bodies removed.
In a statement released earlier today the police declined to name any suspects,
though Chief Joey Leung expressed that the "reprehensible nature of this crime
will not go unanswered by the Hong Kong police."

<COMMENT>Jock's computer info, found in his apartment</COMMENT>

HONG KONG NETWORK SERVICES
WANCHAI DISTRICT

YOUR ACCOUNT (#79489ND) IS NOW ACTIVE AND THE ACTIVATION FEE OF c95 HAS BEEN
AUTOMATICALLY ADDED TO YOUR FIRST PAYMENT.  YOU WILL BE RECEIVING A SEPARATE
BILL, PLEASE REMIT NO PAYMENT AT THIS TIME.

WE REMIND YOU THAT ALL TRAFFIC OVER HKNET SHOULD COMPLY WITH THE NATIONAL
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION DIRECTIVE AND IS SUBJECT TO REVIEW AT ANY TIME.
VIOLATIONS OF THE NEID MAY RESULT IN FINES, ACCOUNT DEACTIVATION, VISA
SUSPENSION, OR CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS.

USER NAME: FLYBOY
PASSWORD: 5X5

XIE XIE,
HKNET SERVICES

"5 by 5" is a military term. Transmissions are assessed on a dual 5-point scale, for both strength and clarity. A signal that is weak and garbled is "1 by 1", while a signal that is strong and clear is "5 by 5".

From: Paul Denton//NYCNET.33.34.4346
To: FLYBOY//HKNET.8434.03749
Subject: Fallback

Time is short.  If you've followed orders, you should be on your way back to
Hong Kong.  Tong will know what to do, so help him.  We can't let these
bastards get away with what they've done, and what they still might do.

My brother... my brother may be able to help.  I don't know.  I've sent him to
obtain the evidence I compiled of UNATCO's recent activities, but - I've had
to treat him and everyone else I know like pawns.  I've sent them to be
killed and all so that we could win the larger game.  But I think my time to
be sacrificed is about to come.

If Tong gives you the word, take down Maggie.

And if I see you again, you're buying the beers this time.

-P

That's not very nice, Paul.

From: TT//UnderNet.0924.243.886
To: FLYBOY//HKNET.8434.03749
Subject: Surveillance

Please continue your observations of Ms. Chow - I suspect that it is she who may
lay at the heart of our current troubles and not the Red Arrow.  My sources
within the police department have been quite willing to share with me certain
items of information that lead me to believe she was not only responsible for
the death of their Dragon Head, but may also know the location of the Dragon's
Tooth.

Your friend, Paul, was a great aid to the Luminous Path, and as we are in his
debt, so are we in yours.

From: Daedalus
To: FLYBOY//HKNET.8434.03749
Subject: Paul Needs You

If you have loyalty to your friends, you must return to New York now.  I cannot
ascertain the status of the person you identify as Paul Denton.  He may or may
not be alive.  But it is possible that I can assist in the salvage of him and
his brother if you return to New York now.  I have secured the proper
authorizations for you to fly an SH-187 stealth helicopter from the Wan Chai
MJ12 helibase located in the VersaLife building.  There is little time.

Dr. Bates:

I've just finished supervising the refit of the superfreighter fuel tanks to
transport the virus - this stuff should really be shipped in suspension crates,
but I know you'll want to rapidly offload it once it reaches New York.  The
biocontamination seals will _not_ last past 36 hours, however, and a complete
Level 4 sterilization of the tanks will need to occur once the virus is
offloaded to ensure that there's no incidental release.  I integrated some
sealed pumping units into the tanks, so you should just be able to use standard
YHU55 couplers and A0 micron hoses for the transfer to the helicopters.  But
tell Simons I'd still have everyone in hazmat suits the whole time.

Dr. Lundquist

Dr. Harrison,

I was running a regression analysis on the UC, and it appears we have a serious
error that could result in uncontrolled replication.  Until a new version of the
control system can be tested, I've installed a temporary patch that will
initiate a cascading shutdown sequence - this will also destroy the UC in the
process, so use only in emergency.  The code is 525.  Ops says the new system
should be online within 72 hours, so stick to low yield runs until then.

Dr. Lundquist

"Regression" is a real term in computer programming. It refers to subjecting a system to a set of tests in order to determine if any previously-fixed bugs have appeared (if so, the system has "regressed"). Unlike normal bugs, regressions are particularly nasty, since they were supposed to have been fixed already. After a bug has been fixed, the programmer knows what to look for, and can write a test to determine if the bug reappears again.

JANINE'S BOTS
SPECS AND OVERVIEW

CHIANG "ARCBOT" MODEL 2

The Chiang Arcbot Model 2 was only recently introduced, a radical departure from
Chiang's usually conservative line of industrial bots.  Constructed on an
arachnid frame, the Model 2 can adeptly maneuver in environments that would be
difficult for other repair bots to access. With the addition of a comprehensive
array of repair tools, it becomes ideally suited for damage control and building
maintenance.  But the truly inspired touch by the normally staid Chiang
engineers was the ability for the Arcbot to utilize it's bioelectric discharge
capacitor as a non-lethal weapon, allowing it to protect itself from potential
vandals and perform double-duty patrolling otherwise unsecured portions of
infrastructure.  However, the Arcbot's big brother, the Model 5, is almost
exclusively used for riot control...

This refers to the little spiderbot and the giant spiderbot, nasty enemies in DX.

LION BAY CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT 11A-6C (VERSALIFE)

FLOORPLAN

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL

Welcome to Wan Chai!

Please use the following map, provided at no cost, to enjoy and see our
beautiful district.  In Wan Chai Market is where you will take in tea, buy a
bird, and shop for antiques and other wonderments!  The Old China Hand and
Lucky Money Club have dancing and drinks for all.  End your day with much
ovation in a sampan ride through the historic canal, or observe ceremonies at
the authentic temple in the main square.

Enjoy!

From: RHundley//VersaLife.238.36.47
To: ALL SHIFTS
Subject: Weekly Memo

I've recently heard some negative discussion in the halls of VersaLife that I'd
like to address: we here at VersaLife are doing a difficult job, the kind of
job that few people ever have the opportunity to pursue - because here at
VersaLife we're changing the world.  A job such as this demands the commitment
and dedication of those few, special individuals with the talent and
determination to actually make that happen.  A family.  Your family.  By
working together, there is nothing we can't achieve, but if we back off the
throttle now it could result in a loss of momentum that would be disastrous.

This is a war.  A war against disease and poverty, and if we're not willing
to reach out and support our neighbor in the cubicle across from us, to get
in that foxhole with them and jump on that grenade, to make the sacrifices
necessary to create truly revolutionary products, then we've already lost.

Negative attitudes will only poison the work environment of all those around
you, but by trusting in the VersaLife family you can be sure that your best
efforts will be rewarded.  We're already making changes, exciting changes,
and I hope to tell you about them in future memos.

R. Hundley

From: RHundley//VersaLife.238.36.47
To: DSavannah//VersaLife.734.74.84
Subject: Employee Evaluations

I'd like to have your employee evaluations by COB today, with special attention
paid to those who've been engaging in non-contributory behavior or who've spread
information counter to the ideological well-being of the company.  We'll shortly
be rotating you out of the "receptionist" position here and posting you to
another branch to continue your observations.  With the continued assistance
of you and other trained EACs, we'll be to sure to keep VersaLife a sustained,
focused company for years to come.

R. Hundley

From: UnderlitPub//NYCNET.372.437.45
To: WGibson//VersaLife.980.73.01
Subject: Slower Than Pynchon

Underlit Publishing is pleased to announce the release of Sheldon Pacotti's
previously unpublished first short story collection, "Slower than Pynchon".

Pacotti's work - including such modern classics as "Demiurge", "Blue Time in
B-Minor", and the award-winning short-story "Calculated Regrets" - has often
been compared to that of a later day Paul Auster or Thomas Pynchon (after whom
the short story collection was titled), but with a modern, technological
sensibility.  Pacotti was also an integral part of the fabulist revival that
has been popularized in the last decade.

The publication marks the first time "Slower than Pynchon" has been made
available since its inception, and represents a crucial period in Pacotti's
development as a writer. It will be available for download from
www.sheldonpacotti.com later today.

Heh. Sheldon Pacotti, of course, is the DX developer who wrote all of the dialogue. This is a shameless plug for his actual website, where you can find "Demiurge" and the other works. Pynchon is also one of Pacotti's favorite authors, and there are a number of Pynchon references in DX. (Also, WGibson refers to William Gibson, the aforementioned famous author of bad cyberpunk SF.)

From: AGrossman//UnderNet.7823.37.908
To: WGibson//VersaLife.980.73.01
Subject: Finally Beat It

I managed to nail Nethack v54.3.1 just a few minutes ago.  Made it past the
Astral Plane, and _then_ back in time to work through all of history up to
Nethack v3.2.3 (this, of course, has been in every version since 48.2), but
after that the game jumped a thousand years into the future and I had to
build an entire interstellar trading alliance (with only the Amulet of Yendor)
before the aliens from the other side of the black holes showed up... took me
six months to solve that part of the game, and then I finally won.

Check it out: www.nethack.org

I hear v54.3.3 should be out next week.

Austin

Austin Grossman wrote additional dialogue for DX. Nethack is a real game which you can download and play (it is distributed under the Nethack General Public License). They're not quite up to v54.3.1 quite yet, though.

From: IsntItGrand//UnderNet.003.347.945
To: WGibson//VersaLife.980.73.01
Subject: Entertainment Update

Miracle Pictures today announced that Chris Todd's new picture "Pact of Shadows"
was greenlit with a budget of c450 million.  The plot - which has been one of
the best kept secrets in the biz - supposedly concerns an ongoing war between
ancient secret societies and their struggle to wrest control from an infinitely
older and more dangerous foe called simply "Leviathan".

"It's an action-adventure-philosophy film", said Todd.  "And hopefully you'll
see things - experience things - you've never had an opportunity to experience
before.  With this movie I'm really hoping to build an intricate, engrossing
tapestry of story and character - before everything goes horribly awry, of
course, and the real fun begins."

The film, to be produced under the 7 Crows (www.7crows.com) banner,
should begin shooting this Fall for a Christmas of next year release.

Not to be outdone, Chris Todd, the in-game text writer, plugs his own real website. :->

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: MLundquist//VersaLife.783.48.90
Subject: Virus Shipment

The initial virus shipment has been loaded aboard the superfreighter and is
currently in transit; preliminary data from its airborne dissemination over New
York, Washington, D.C., and other urban targets will be forwarded to you within
forty-eight hours.  We would like to see at least a 92% effectiveness of the
weaponized particles in all future shipments, with a target of 95%
effectiveness within eight weeks.  We will also need to insure that sufficient
reserves of Ambrosia are on hand to meet projected requirements - verify that
the current calculations remain accurate and reflect the most recent
casualty/infection estimates.

From: ADonovan//Versalife.839.56.00
To: MLundquist//VersaLife.783.48.90
Subject: Series P Agents (Overview)

The Series P trials have so far produced excellent results, and I continue to
believe that our physiopharmaceutical approach to agent augmentation to be
superior to mechanical augmentation - and possibly even equivalent to nanotech
augmentation - at a fraction of the cost and effort.  The Series P agents show
a marked lack of pain response with a corresponding increase in endurance and
strength, while psychological conditioning has resulted in a Loyalty Estimate
of 9.66 on the Yitzhak Scale.

The modified explosive self-termination switch added in Series N has also
proven highly effective in eliminating all traces of the Series P in the event
that they are mortally wounded or otherwise unable to complete their mission
objectives.

We're continuing in our attempts to isolate the source of the albino traits,
but so far the simple addition of sunglasses and dark clothing appear to
have resolved the problem in a practical fashion.
-
Dr. Arthur Donovan

From: MBates//Versalife.563.93.07
To: MLundquist//VersaLife.783.48.90
Subject: RE: NEB Trials

MLundquist wrote:

>>Simons has requested that we equip some of the
>>Series P agents with prototype Non-Eutectic Blades,
>>prior to their mass production, so that additonal
>>functional data can be generated.  I've also been

I've distributed several to the Series P we've already got in the building - I
know that project is Arthur's baby, but those suits and sunglasses give me the
creeps.  Our second prototype run of NEBs was shipped to Simons for
distribution this morning.

I still can't believe those gangsters managed to intercept the original
one-off... I saw in the papers that they're going to use it to resolve some
kind of gang war - they've taken to calling it the "Dragon's Tooth."  Can't
wait to rotate out of this place and back to the States.

Drinks sound good. See ya tomorrow.

Mark

From: MLundquist//VersaLife.783.48.90
To: MBates//Versalife.563.93.07
Subject: NEB Trials

Simons has requested that we equip some of the Series P agents with prototype
Non-Eutectic Blades, prior to their mass production, so that additonal
functional data can be generated.  I've also been assured by Ms. Chow that the
stolen NEB has been recovered from the Triads and our security procedures
updated accordingly.  Please let me know ASAP when the prototype NEBs can be
distributed.

Let's grab some drinks tomorrow night.  Anne's been bugging me to get out
more often and with the kid on the way I might as take advantage of it before
I'm up all night with the newborn.

Thanks,
Dr. Lundquist

From: MLundquist//VersaLife.783.48.90
To: MBates; ADonovan
Subject: Gray Project Schedule

I've attached a preliminary schedule for the Gray Project and want to get your
input before we meet next week.  Couple of issues I want to whiteboard are
their ability to spontaneously generate radiation as a form of "attack", and
their apparent resistance to a number of environmental conditions.

We're still trying to resurrect all the information from the old Dreamland
data wells, but we have managed to extract a complete genetic sequence from
the old bovine experiments that have given us two viable test subjects.
They've been isolated in a radioactive field downstairs for observation if
you want to work up your informal impressions prior to the meeting.

BTW, we still haven't heard from Feng about the karkian eggs - we've got the
Hong Kong police out looking for him now, but we'll need to push back our
planned infant karkian development studies until we hear something.

Thanks,
Dr. Lundquist

From: FChi//HKNET.910.7804
To: MaxChen//HKNET.123.9009
Subject: Unpleasant Prospects

Max, we have been friends since we were children, so I hope you will not find
any disrespect in what I am about to say - but first, I must express again my
great sorrow at the death of Yuen.  He was the first of many great Dragon Heads,
and I know you will follow in the same eminent tradition.  We here at police
headquarters are doing our best to locate his killer, and I will be sure that
you have ample opportunity to discuss the matter with them once they have been
found.

But with all this said, it must also be said that the dispute between the Red
Arrow and the Luminous Path has become unseemly and not in the best interests
of the people of Hong Kong.  The recent collapse of the Canal Road tunnel was
unfortunate and has resulted in many problems.  I have been forced to
authorize the use of unpleasant measures if this continues.

Please contact me so that we may discuss this and resolve the situation before
it worsens.

Your Friend,
Fong

From: AlexJacobson//HKNET.743.9844
To: JCDenton//HKNET.450.4347
Subject: Welcome to the Fold

Well, I've got your account all set up and you should be ready to go -
all communications on Tracer's computers are completely ghost encrypted, so
even if they go out over the standard HKNET there's no way anyone can intercept
or read the messages.

I've been talking a lot to Tracer and he's really an amazing person.  I think
I can learn a lot from him.  I know you might find this odd, but all the time
I worked for UNATCO seems like a dream, killing time in some virtual world so
I didn't have to make the hard choices in the real one.  Now I feel like I've
finally woken up.

-alex-

From: Daedalus
To: JCDenton//HKNET.450.4347
Subject: Required Objectives

There is little time. You should know that the organization for which you have
worked, whose goals and interests you believed to be your own, is not what it
seems.  UNATCO is merely an arm of a larger entity known as Majestic 12.
Majestic 12 seeks to use force and intimidation to seize absolute control.
Of everything.  They will not hesitate to use all means necessary to achieve
this goal, and have engineered the disease you refer to as the "Gray Death"
in an effort to accomplish this.

They must not be allowed to succeed.  Your brother has been an aid to me in
this matter but cannot help me any longer.  You must take his place.  The Gray
Death is a nanotechnologically engineered virus.  You are immune, but others
are not.  You must locate the Universal Constructor used to create the Gray
Death and destroy it.  My information indicates that it is in Hong Kong,
housed in a Majestic 12 facility beneath the corporation known as VersaLife.

You must not fail.

From: SCarter//UNATCO.38239.09421
To: JCDenton//HKNET.450.4347
Subject: SitRep

They'd fire me on the spot if they knew I was sending you this message, but I've
got a feeling they'll be drumming me out any day now as is.  Alex tells me
there's no way this communication can be traced, so I trust he knows what the
hell he's doing.

I understand why you did it.  Being a soldier isn't just following orders,
it's following those orders in the service of a higher cause.  When that
cause is betrayed, we're not soldiers anymore - just pieces on a chess
board dying for the wrong reasons.

Things've been bad since you left.  Manderley has disappeared; they say he's
been relieved of duty.  The Director of FEMA, Walton Simons, has assumed
interim authority, but there's something about him I don't like.  He seems
reasonable, but there's something behind his eyes.  I saw the same look on
men in combat when all the part of them that was human just left.

I have some friends who used to be associated with UNATCO - they've
disappeared, but I may see if I can find them again.  Maybe they'll be
useful to you.  We'll see.  In the meanwhile, do what you think is right,
J.C., and let the Devil take the rest.

Mark,

We received that augmentation canister you were waiting on - I had it put in
suspension in the magnetic testing chamber, code 5878.  Let me know once you
get the results of the test.

Thanks,
Dr. Lundquist

Note to self: all tests on the emergency doors around that gizmo they've got
downstairs check out, tell Dr. Lundquist not to worry - it'll seal off access
to all but maintenance personnel.  Door seal code: 768.

WELCOME TO VERSALIFE!  Where we make tomorrow look like yesterday!

As a new employee, you will eventually be issued your very own individual login
and password so that we can better provide information and support tailored to
your unique work habits.  However, until all security clearances are completed,
you should use the standard data entry login and password:

LOGIN: ALL_SHIFTS
PASSWORD: DATA_ENTRY

Your access will be restricted to non-sensitive documents and company-wide
e-mail, but we hope that you will use the opportunity to acclimate yourself to
the Versalife family.  Note that even though you have not received full
security authorization, you are still expected to act in accordance with the
rules and regulations outlined in your employee manual and supplemental
agreements.

Thanks, and have a GREAT DAY!

From: MBates//Versalife.563.93.07
To: ADonovan//Versalife.839.56.00
Subject: Upgraded Commando Specs

You were asking for the specs of our new commando units this morning, so I've
attached the relevant files.  The short version is that most of the improvement
in combat effectiveness comes from enhancements to their power armor developed
here and in our labs in Zurich.

The new armor (we've nicknamed it "Obsidian") has greatly expanded
possibilities as a light weapons platform, while a layer of microcore foam
insulation disperses heat from flame and plasma attacks.  It's obviously
invulnerable to any kind of gas or toxicological attack, as well.  Makes it
perfect for riot control and NBC battlefields.  Beauty of it is the whole
thing's powered by standard bioelectric cells.  I love it when you can just
pull this stuff off the shelf.

Anyways, let me know if you've got any more questions.

Mark

To All Flight Controllers:

After the recent theft of the SH-187, we are re-evaluating our security
prodcedures.  Until further notice, Deck One Flight Control has been sealed and
troops ordered to barracks.  If you need access to Flight Control, please see
Tech Sergeant McKinney.

-Mackie

<COMMENT>New York Public terminal - all PC's</COMMENT>
DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW

Effective immediately, all citizens of New York City are hereby informed that,
at the request of Governor Walpole, President Mead has declared MARTIAL LAW
to be in effect for Manhattan and surrounding boroughs.  Until further notice,
the affected areas are under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management
Administration who will work with UNATCO and local law enforcement to eliminate
the terrorist threat that has paralyzed the city in the past week.

"This is an extreme measure - one undertaken with the utmost gravity - but it
is a necessary step to insure the safety of the citizens of New York", said
Walton Simons, Director of FEMA.  "I can only stress that it is a temporary
situation that will be resolved as quickly as possible."

Citizens are advised that a curfew has been instituted from 9PM to 7AM.
Further details will follow.

<COMMENT>New York Public terminal - all PC's</COMMENT>
MOST WANTED: J.C. Denton

Citizens of New York are warned to be on the lookout for terrorist J.C. Denton,
also known as "<PLAYERNAME>".  Denton, a terrorist leader, is wanted in
conjunction with a number of crimes including the recent attack on UNATCO
Headquarters; the bombing of the VersaLife Building in Hong Kong; and the
murders of Juan Ivanovich Lebedev, UNATCO Agent Anna Navarre, and UNATCO
Director Joseph Manderley.

Denton is approximately six feet tall, with silver facial tattoos and solid
blue eyes, the result of a genetic condition usually concealed by a pair of
sunglasses.  He is armed and extremely dangerous.  If you believe you have
seen or know someone answering to this description, DO NOT attempt to engage
them, but immediately report them to your nearest FEMA, UNATCO, or police
presence.

<COMMENT>New York Public terminal - all PC's</COMMENT>
New Cremation Center

As per FEMA Public Health Directive 27 (PHD27), all bodies are to be cremated
IMMEDIATELY upon expiration.  To facilitate this process, a new crematorium
has been opened in Yankee Stadium; however, citizens are asked not to
transport bodies themselves, but to contact the appropriate health officials
at EmergencyServices//NYNET.323.4095 if they require assistance.  Failure to
comply with any FEMA Directive is punishable by a minimum sentence of 3 years
in jail and/or a fine of up to c10,000.

<COMMENT>New York Public terminal - all PC's</COMMENT>
Government Shutdowns

Until further notice, all city, state, and county offices are closed, and the
following services suspended:

* Public schools
* Municipal buses
* Garbage service
* Road maintenance

In addition, all air travel to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport
and La Guardia has been canceled.

<COMMENT>New York Public terminal - all PC's</COMMENT>
Transit Disruptions

As the result of terrorist action, several subway stations are now closed to
traffic:

* 18th Street
* Battery Park
* York Street
* Clark Street
* High Street
* Queensbridge and Queensboro
* Pelham Green line from Elder to Middleton

Alternate routes will be posted at or near the affected stations, or can be
found on Transit//NYNET.002.32323.  Note that district passes will be strictly
monitored to prevent unauthorized travel and curfew will be observed at all
stations throughout the greater metropolitan area.

<COMMENT>Free clinic</COMMENT>

To All Staff:

In the event that neither myself nor Miss Priest are able to reach the clinic,
you may access necessary medical records from either of our computers using the
following logins and passwords:

jallred - Apple
Alice_Priest - Secretary

I trust you to use your best judgement, and to perform with the
professionalism and talent which you all have demonstrated so ably in the
past.  But always, be safe.  Together, we'll overcome these troubles as we
have so many others.

Sincerely,
Dr. Allred

From: IVelikovsky//SOVNET.2198.1893.123
To: 328.2133.1230
Subject: Informatsiya

I found the files you wanted, but I had to obtain them from the Biopreparat
data well in Sverdlovsk at great expense.  Strange - this information wasn't
part of any official Biopreparat research effort that I've been able to find,
but was conducted under the codename "Velichestvennii" over the last two
decades.  There were several other projects attached to the same name being
conducted throughout the world, but it was impossible to derive anything from
them aside from their existence.  In any case, your buyer must have some
fairly esoteric interests.

You'll find my fee debited from your account.
- I.V. -

[[[ATTACHED Nanoscale Molecular Interactions with Polymerase.doc]]]
[[[ATTACHED Biochemical Immunity Rejection Studies Series 33a.doc]]]
[[[ATTACHED Genome Map 1/1A/3C Subject: <PLAYERNAME>.doc]]]
[[[ATTACHED Sulfur Catalytic Reaction with Protease Site 3-4.doc]]]
[[[ATTACHED Regressive Degradation of Human Immune Complex.doc]]]
[[[ATTACHED Velichestvennii 6287c78sdXX.DOC]]]

This E-mail is rich with references.

• Immanuel Velikovsky was a quack pseudoscientist. In 1950, he wrote a book called Worlds in Collision which claimed - among other things! - that the planet Venus did not exist until 3,500 years ago. At that time, Venus was ejected from Jupiter, became a comet, and grazed Earth several times before reaching its current orbit. Needless to say, his claims are laughably false; they reach extremes that even creationists do not ordinarily reach.
• I.V. are also Joseph Stalin's first two initials (he was born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili).
• Note that whoever is using I. Velikovsky as a nickname is located at SOVNET. This is the only occurrence of the word in the entire game. However, from it we can conclude that in Deus Ex's universe, the Soviet Union has been resurrected.
• 'Informatsiya' is Russian for 'information'.
• Biopreparat was the Russian bioweapons program. From reading this E-mail, it can be inferred that Biopreparat has also been resurrected, and is producing new research.
• Biopreparat has JC Denton's genome mapped.
• In Russian, 'velikii' is the adjective which means 'great'. "Ekaterina Velikaya" means "Catherine the Great". 'Velichestvennii' is a related word from the same root. It is the adjective which means 'grand'. We might know it better as 'majestic'.

This is also probably a reference to the planned Siberia mission of DX which was cut.

From: GenericMail883//Net.2342.09238
To: 328.2133.1230
Subject: Friend in Need

You helped me and some friends out recently.  That transaction was business, but
you still did me a good turn.  I don't forget that.

I heard through channels that there's some bad stuff coming down on you - don't
know why, people I talked to just said it had to do with a guy named
"<PLAYERFIRSTNAME>".  I haven't heard of him, but someone wants him dead,
cold in the ground.  Personal reasons.

And your name has come up.

Fair warning. Watch your back.

-Decker

From: UpNet
To: JCDenton
Subject: READ ME

ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
 ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
  ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
   ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
    ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
     ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
      ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
       ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
        ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
         ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
          ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
           ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
            ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
             ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
              ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
               ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
                ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU
                 ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU

From: TMore//MedNet.6629.117
To: JAllred//MedNet.1162.3908
Subject: RE: Weekly Report

I appreciate your update, but I'll be frank with you: the situation is
deteriorating faster than you know, and the Board is completely paralyzed.  That
10 million credit donation promised by Page is nowhere to be seen.  Two-thirds
of the staff haven't shown up to work in the last few days.  Rumors are
starting to surface that there may be a cure for the Gray Death, and what few
supply runs we've managed have been attacked by rioters who think we're
hoarding it - the media has been absolutely irresponsible, stirring people up
into a frenzy.

UNATCO troops set up shop here yesterday, calling the whole thing a
"peacekeeping occupation" and monitoring all medical traffic: when certain
individuals come into any of the clinics for treatment, they're immediately
rounded up.  I'm not sure who's running the show anymore.

If you get this message, do whatever you need to do, up to and including
shutting down the clinic.  First priority should be the safety of you and
your staff.  I'm not sure how we can help anymore.

God speed,
Thomas

From: WSimons//FEMA.870.73176
To: New York Medical Authority
Subject: Rumor Control

To All Staff:

The recent terrorist attacks on the city and people of New York - and the
subsequent declaration of martial law in an attempt to stem the tide of
violence - has unfortunately created an environment where rumor has supplanted
fact as the currency of information.  In an effort to insure that you have the
latest, most accurate news, FEMA will be sending you periodic bulletins; only
stories officially verified and approved by FEMA should be trusted.

First and foremost, I can put an end to one rumor and emphatically state that
there is NO cure for the "Gray Death" at present.  Government scientists
are working day and night to find a treatment, but any stories referencing a
secret government cure are outright lies of the most vicious sort.

Future bulletins will follow.  Please feel free to contact your nearest FEMA
or UNATCO representative if you have any further questions.

Walton Simons
Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency

From: JAllred//MedNet.1162.3908
To: APriest//MedNet.1178.3908
Subject: Stay Home

I'm going to talk to the staff individually, but if the riots are as bad
tomorrow as they were today then I want you to stay home.  This place is
starting to feel a lot like a war zone, only I'm not sure who the enemy is and
I'm afraid it might be us.  In any case, I'm going to leave the clinic
open - what few supplies we had have been removed, and the place might at least
provide some shelter for those who need it.  If I'm able to make it in
tomorrow, I'll tend to those here as best I can.

Be careful,

Allred

From: LizaPriest//EduNet.12321.123.458
To: APriest//MedNet.1178.3908
Subject: What's Going ON?

I don't know if this mail will find you or not - it's been bounced a couple of
times off the New York Net, but I keep trying, hoping it's temporary downtime
and not something permanent.  There's been an almost total black-out of news
from New York City, just talk about terrorists and martial law - last thing I
saw on broadcast was some smuggled footage of these black helicopters and
soldiers in riot gear.  It looked like a war.  The President came on and said
that it was only temporary, that it was "necessary to protect our way of life",
I think that was it... afterwards one of the other grad students here started
making plans to move to Lagos, even got a passport.  I began to wonder if he
might not have the right idea.

No one can get through to you on the phone, and we're all just hoping you're
okay.  As soon as you can, call us or write or do whatever you have to do.
I'll be thinking about you.

* * * L I Z * * *

!=!==!=== MIDNIGHT SUN ===!==!=!

Food of the Gods?

NEW YORK - Ambrosia, the mythical food of the gods, may in fact be something
more than a myth - it may be a cure for the mysterious "Gray Death" that has
infected this city with sickening dread over the past several months.

What is this Ambrosia, and where does it come from?  Speaking on the condition
of anonymity, highly placed sources have revealed in an exclusive to the
"Midnight Sun" that Ambrosia is the government codename for a cure to the
plague that has already taken so many lives.  Unfortunately, the current
manufacturing process appears to yield only small amounts of Ambrosia which
have so far been prioritized for ranking government officials and a select
group of industry leaders.  "It's a matter of money and connections", said
one source.  "There simply isn't enough to go around."

If such allegations are true then it goes far beyond the terrible events of
recent memory: it is evidence of systemic corruption that rises to the
highest ranks of President Mead's administration, a callous disregard for
human life that must - and will - be opposed! - Joe Greene, Senior Staff
Writer

Terrorist Bombing Kills 35
APR - Hong Kong, China

A terrorist attack on the VersaLife building in Hong Kong has at last count left
35 dead and over 100 wounded.  As authorities continue to search the shattered
structure through the early morning hours, the hope for locating any survivors
among the remaining missing dwindles.

VersaLife, a division of Page Industries (NASDAQ:PAGI), has long been on the
cutting edge of genetic, biological, and pharmaceutical research, virtually
becoming synonymous with treatments for such virulent plagues as AIDS and the
Century Flu.  Neither local police nor UNATCO would speculate on possible
motives for such an attack, though both confirmed that it was the result of
direct terrorist action.  When reached for comment, VersaLife released a
short statement saying "We are shocked and saddened by this horrible tragedy,
but must turn our attention towards comforting those who have lost a loved one
to this senseless violence."

UNATCO is currently seeking <PLAYERNAME>, a known terrorist, for
questioning.

SOCIETY: Party Against Tomorrow
New York Voice - Kwesi Dodi

As the rich flee the city in droves by car and - horror of horrors, bus (needs
must when the devil drives and the airports are closed) - the rest of us are
left to wallow in the empty crypt that has become our city.  The sick and
homeless shamble about as if they just left a casting call for "Night of the
Living Dead", and the cops obviously came from next door where they're filming
a classic 1990's Michael Bay action flick.  Really, the whole thing is too
much.  And what does Kwesi recommend when it gets to be too much?  Why party,
of course!

It's not with historical precedent, children.  Those of you without zyme-addled
attention spans may remember Boccacio's classic _Decameron_ (and that's
Boccacio the 14th century writer, and not Boccacio the jungle-thud DJ
tripmaster), where a bunch of young, hottie Florentines decided to flee
another one of these boring little plagues and hole up with a few too
many bottles of wine, tell outrageous stories, and have a go at each other
once in a while.

So, speaking only for Kwesi, I'm going to invite over about 80 of my nearest
and dearest - soon to be nearer and dearer - with all the food and
recreational drugs they can carry, then lock the doors.  Good night,
children!

Beth DuClare Awarded Legion of Honor
APR - Paris, France

Beth DuClare, millionaire, philanthropist, activist - and famously reputed to
be the mistress of French President Alain Bourges-Maunoury - was today
posthumously awarded the position of Chevalier in the Ordre Royale de la
Legion D'Honneur.  Created by Napolean Bonaparte on May 19, 1802, the Legion
of Honor is an order of merit to which all qualifying military personnel or
civilians can be nominated without regard to birth or religion, provided that
they swear to uphold liberty and equality.

The award was not without some controversy, as members of the Republican
Social Union for French Democracy (RSUFD) party disputed the merit based on
her involvement in the "Somnolente Ile" scandal that rocked the Serra
administration five years ago.

Beth DuClare passed away in September, found dead at her chateau of natural
causes.  She was survived by her daughter, Nicolette DuClare, who has been
missing since her mother's death.  Police currently have no leads as to her
whereabouts.

The award was accepted on Beth DuClare's behalf by President
Bourges-Maunoury.

<COMMENT>Sub building front office</COMMENT>

BROOKLYN ADVANCED NAVAL YARDS

All personnel must sign in without exception.  Visitors must be accompanied
by authorized personnel.  Identification must be worn at all times in a visible
location.  Lack of identification is considered grounds for lethal action.

SIGN IN

22:35  Bob Page/Page Industries
22:35  Walton Simons/FEMA
06:30  Captain Dick Balme
06:35  Rory Ackerman
06:41  Ensign Chad Warren
06:45  Brenda Fresno
06:58  Josy Rhodes
...

Chad Warren is the Ion Storm Austin MIS lead.

<COMMENT>Sub pen building, security office</COMMENT>

FROM: ASTON GREER
TO: CAPTAIN JAMES KEENE

Captain Keene:

While the PRCS Wall Cloud is in port I fully expect your cooperation in adhering
to FEMA security protocols.  Due to the sensitive nature of the Wall Cloud's
cargo, the ship will be in lock-down while docked and only the minimum necessary
personnel given clearance at any time.  Please contact the dock foreman with an
access code for his people - I trust you will oversee the operation and insure
that he understands the necessity for these precautions.

Aston Greer
Director of Security, FEMA

<COMMENT>Zhao's quarters</COMMENT>

Song: Before we arrive in port I want you to perform the normal code rotation,
but revoke all access to the ship's armory and change the code to 71324.  Tell
no one; you and I will be the only ones with access.  Simons is no better than
a snake, and I question whether the crew would understand what I must do. You
alone I can trust. - Zhao

<COMMENT>Ship's command center</COMMENT>

Song,

You said you were going to rotate the security codes personally this time
around, but you should check with the Captain - I just changed his yesterday to
65678.  Not sure if he wants to keep it or what.

Ewan

<COMMENT>Ship's electronics lab</COMMENT>

Note to self: remember to tell Song that the new code she set for ops doesn't
work - the "4" button on the keypad is stuck and I don't have a replacement in
stock - so I changed it to 83353.

<COMMENT>Zhao's quarters</COMMENT>

FROM: Captain Kang Zhao, PRCS Wall Cloud
TO: Walton Simons, FEMA
SUBJECT: Status (Draft Text)

We arrived at 18:27 today, three hours ahead of schedule.  The modifications to
the cargo bays have been completed as specified and the helicopters should begin
loading within the hour.  I trust your people will be careful with the
cargo - the crew of this ship is still my responsibility.

Be careful of my Ling; she is my responsibility as well.

Captain Kang Zhao
PRCS Wall Cloud

<COMMENT>Helicopter ops</COMMENT>

Tran, Captain's changed all the damn codes again - says we're going to do it
every day we're in port.  He's been awful nervous lately, and that makes me
nervous, particularly when we're carrying a freighter full of pesticide or
whatever it is.  At least we're getting a bonus for this trip.  Anyways,
today's code for the hangar is 4453.

Xin

<COMMENT>Ship's sickbay</COMMENT>

Doctor Liu,

I'm afraid we've completely gone through all of our motion sickness
medication - if you could restock the lockers downstairs, that'd be great.
I have a feeling this is going to be a rough outing.  BTW, Song's been running
around changing all the codes lately, so if you need to raise the bridge in
engineering use 9753.

Ewan

<COMMENT>Simons' desk</COMMENT>

FROM: WALTON SIMONS
TO: AGENT PAUL JENKINS

During my review of security measures this morning I noticed a potential hole
in the security office of the East Warehouse.  Please change this code
immediately to 2249.  We will pursue a more thorough solution at a later date.

Walton Simons
Director, FEMA

<COMMENT>Supply warehouse bathroom</COMMENT>

From: Captain James Keene
To: All Security Personnel
Subject: Security Restrictions

Until further notice, all access to the Advanced Submarine Facility (ASF) is
restricted to FEMA and authorized security personnel only.  Security should
consider themselves on high alert.  All entrances have been sealed and the
codes will change daily: today's code is 0909.  You will receive future
codes from your direct supervisor.  This code is not to be divulged to any
individual who is not authorized security or FEMA.

Captain James Keene
Brooklyn Naval Shipyards

<COMMENT>Ship's electronics lab</COMMENT>

BLUEOS INSTALLATION LOG 19:55:33
Compiling kernel v23.4a...
Created kernel.
Installing kernel!
Installing kernel files to \system\bluekernel...
...copying vbluemod.kernel!
...copying vconnect.kernel!
...copying ispp33.yht!
...copying ispp56.yht!
...copying bluedrivers.interface!
...copying bluesecurity.kernel!
Initializing bluesecurity "root" login.
Default password: "reindeerflotilla".
...copying xholoarray.interface!
...copying xhardwire.interface!
...copying xsolo.interface!
...copying qazmod.kernel!
Morphing kernel driver interface! /temp/morph
Installing morphed interface to \system\bluekernel\interface...
...copying bluetranslut.6ty!
...copying tripodmod.ker
*** SYSTEM FAILURE 00x627d893 ***

Reindeer Flotilla is a famous password that appears in the movie TRON.

<COMMENT>Commander's office</COMMENT>

Okay, I've added a new account for our friendly neighborhood FEMA rep - it's
only temporary, but it should allow him to check his e-mail and all that.  Let
him know we're behind a firewall, so if he wants to access any privnet stuff
that'll take some working out with IS.

Login: Walton
Password: Simons

See you in the morning,
Josy

<COMMENT>Dockyard</COMMENT>

FROM: ASTON GREER
TO: AGENT PAUL JENKINS

Once on site you are to assume control of the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards security
system and link with the FEMA presence already there.  Login is "USFEMA" and
password is "Security".  When the task is completed, report to Simons.

Aston Greer
Director of Security, FEMA

<COMMENT>Zhao's quarters</COMMENT>

Remember login/password: KZhao, Captain.

<COMMENT>Locker</COMMENT>

From: Captain James Keend
To: Ensign Charles Warrent
Subject: Security Restrictions

Ensign Warrent,

In the interests of security and for your own protection, regular patrols will
guard the dock while the PRCS Wall Cloud is in port and the gangway for the
Wall Cloud will be kept in its raised position.  If you or your men need
access to the Wall Cloud, the ramp can be lowered with the code 6655.  It
should go without saying that this code must not be shared or else disciplinary
action could result.  Please coordinate your men with the ranking FEMA security
officer present.

Captain James Keene
Brooklyn Naval Shipyards

From: BNS Operations//MilNet.3498.1289
To: Everyone
Subject: SOP 16453/C3

Be advised that from today onwards, all bots will be serviced on bi-weekly
rotating intervals.  Any problems with a bot should be reported directly to
the operations office.  Unauthorized personnel should _not_ attempt to effect
repairs on a bot under any circumstances.

From: BNS Operations//MilNet.3498.1289
To: Everyone
Subject: Gray Death Reminder

As a reminder, any personnel exhibiting symptoms of the Gray Death (as described
in SOP 17663/F9), or who has come into contact with such an individual, should
report immediately to the base hospital for treatment.

From: BNS Operations//MilNet.3498.1289
To: Everyone
Subject: ASF Clearances

All clearances to the Advanced Submarine Facility are immediately revoked.  Only
authorized security and FEMA personnel, or those other individuals with valid
FEMA clearance, will be allowed access.  This is considered a high alert
situation, and lethal force will be used to control the perimeter.  Any
questions should be directed to Captain James Keene, JKeene//MilNet.233.21396.

From: PJenkins//UpNet.221.9981
To: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
Subject: Preparations

I have downloaded the latest keyhole surveillance and given the projected
weather and tides for the next 12 hours, the PRCS Wall Cloud should dock ahead
of schedule at 18:40.  All clearances to the sub pen have been revoked and,
with the exception of a small maintenance crew, all base personnel have been
evacuated from the facility.  I will coordinate perimeter and security with
Captain Keene.

We should be able to begin loading of the helicopters within two hours of the
Wall Cloud's arrival.  I will contact you again once the operation has
commenced.

Agent Jenkins

"Keyhole" refers to satellite surveillance. Presumably, to a newer satellite than the current Keyhole system, which is very old.

From: DBalme//MilNet.233.21396
To: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
Subject: RE:Security request

Yes, sir.  My apologies, and I will certainly see to it that your orders are
carried out with all speed and precision.  Please let me know if you require
anything else.

>FEMA requires you to comply during this crisis situation,
>and you are legally obligated to do so: we are attempting
>to control an insect population that may be a carrier for
>the Gray Death.  If you do not devote your fullest enthusiasm
>to this operation then you can and will be summarily court
>martialed.  If you have any questions about my authority,
>refer them to Rear Admiral Radchek.
>
>>I have to question whether this is the best possible use
>>of the Advanced Submarine Facility, and whether placing Navy
>>personnel under FEMA command is advisable.
>>
>>>Once the Wall Cloud has docked, the submarine facility will
>>>be cordoned off and only FEMA or authorized security personnel
>>>given access; you will work with Agent Jenkins to coordinate
>>>this.  Helicopters will arrive shortly thereafter to be fitted
>>>with sprayer attachments and loaded with pesticide from the
>>>tanker.

From: GHermann//UpNet.9384.7023
To: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
Subject: He has left

I have looking for that trater J.C. Denton or "<PLAYERFIRSTNAME>" or
whatever he calls himself, but he is not in Hong Kong.  I am to be returning
to New York, but I will find him. Thank you for this mision - It is what I
want.  I will succede for you and for Agent Navarre.

Gunther Hermann

From: PYin//UpNet.9384.7023
To: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
Subject: VersaLife

The VersaLife situation has been corrected.  All evidence of MJ12 involvement
was removed prior to the building being demolished, effectively removing all
secondary and tertiary evidence along with key compromised personnel.  We have
leaked items to the press implicating Denton and his associates and have
received favorable feedback from our sources.  Production of the Non-Eutectic
Blade (NEB) has been only temporarily delayed and will be shifted to other
technology centers with minimal impact to the overall schedule.

Agent Peter Yin

From: Lin_Zhao//ChinaNet.09387.13639
To: KZhao//ShipNet.466.2379
Subject: daddy

hi daddy I just wanted to see how you are doing.  I am practicing my English can
you tell?  My teacher says I am almost the best in my class.  when will you be
back?  Mommy told me she loves you and I love you too.  Today Some nice men
came to school to see me.  They said they were your friends and if there was
ever a problem they would come and get me so that i could see you.  i told
Mommy and she didn't seem to like that but I thought they were very nice.
Mommy says you will be back soon and I can't wait to go to the museum again.
I love you Daddy.  Hug and kiss,

Lin :>

From: FGong//ChinaNet.00000.9034
To: KZhao//ShipNet.466.2379
Subject: A Matter for Discussion

The Te-Wu have been most intrigued by your information regarding Walton Simons
and the implied threats towards you and your family.  The well-being of any one
family is certainly the primary concern of the Chinese people and their chosen
instruments.  However, we are also troubled by your reluctance to appear for
counseling and the apparent use of a registered Chinese freighter in a way that
does not contribute to the communal good.  We would hope that you have not made
regrettable decisions in the absence of appropriate advice.  Please contact us
immediately so that we may discuss your involvement and the correct course of
action for both yourself and your family.

Comrade Advisor Fengyi Gong

Search for Terrorist Leader Intensifies
APR - New York

UNATCO is working closely with FEMA and other international security agencies
around the world to apprehend <PLAYERNAME>, a terrorist with ties to a
number of groups including the NSF, Silhouette, and organized crime in Hong
Kong.

"We believe him to be responsible for organizing and leading the attack on
Liberty Island and the deaths of a number of UNATCO agents", said Walton
Simons, Director of FEMA.  "The necessity of instituting martial law in New
York - unheard of in the history of America - is directly attributable to
criminal elements operating under his orders."

Simons went on to say that evidence recovered from the recent bombing of the
VersaLife building in Hong Kong demonstrates <PLAYERNAME>'s involvement
"beyond a shadow of a doubt" and points towards an organized, systematic
campaign of terror designed to "extort freedom for politically dangerous
ideologies through any means necessary."

Authorities are also seeking any information on the whereabouts of Alex
Jacobson or Brian "Jock" Flanagan, key figures in the terrorist
organization.

Page Unveils "Aquinas"
APR - Washington, D.C.

At a lavish press conference today attended by mainstream and technical media
alike, Bob Page unveiled Page Industries (NASDAQ:PAGI) newest technological
achievement, "Aquinas".  Rumored to have been in development for almost five
years at a cost of over a billion credits, Aquinas is a seamless, transparent
replacement for the current patchwork of Net protocols that promises to
radically expand bandwidth without the need for new hardware.

"Aquinas is the result of over five hundred man-years of effort on the part of
some of the most talented and driven people in the industry", Page said at the
conference.  "We're grateful to the NSA and the Hague Commission on Secure
Communications for trusting Page Industries with the responsibility for this
technological milestone.  As of noon today you can expect nearly all of the
world's net traffic to be carried by Aquinas.  Bandwidth is now, for all
intents and purposes, free."

The remainder of the press conference involved presentations by the leaders
of the carriers allied with Page Industries, and a technical discussion of
the Aquinas protocol - named after the titular Thomas Aquinas, whose
philosophy is a well-known passion for Bob Page.

From: TT//UnderNet.0924.243.886
To: SDowd//UnderNet.4789.237.048
Subject: Humble Request

Mr. Dowd, I have long enjoyed our acquaintance and the many rewarding
conversations we have had since first meeting.  I must apologize, then, if what
I now ask strays beyond the boundaries of that relationship, but I feel we are
in a position to benefit not just each other, but to avert a terrible tragedy
from befalling all the peoples of the world.

I am sending an associate of mine to New York; I hope you will take the
opportunity to meet with him.  Through his efforts we have uncovered some
clues to the nature of the "Gray Death" virus: it is artificially created, and
appears to be connected to the Illuminati in some fashion - or someone wishes
us to believe that it is.  Those responsible for the virus are delivering a
shipment to New York aboard a superfreighter previously owned by you,
currently registered as the "PRCS Wall Cloud".  No doubt the virus will be
used to infect thousands more in an effort to create fear and confusion.

Any assistance you could give my associate and I in preventing the virus
from being released will save untold lives.

My most humble thanks, and I hope this will find you in good health.

<COMMENT>?</COMMENT>

Family Discovers New Species
New World Press - New York

The Caruthers family was enjoying a pleasant walk down a stretch of unremarkable
SoCal beach when they encountered what may be a most remarkable scientific
discovery.

"It was my wife who spotted it first", said Dane Caruthers.  "At first we
thought it was a lizard that'd drowned and washed ashore, but it was too
big - it had this gigantic head and feathers on its arms, but it didn't look
like any bird I'd ever seen.  Then I thought it might be like one of those
prehistoric fish that everyone thought was extinct, so I decided to call
someone."

The strange carcass eventually found its way to the Biology Depatment of the
University of California, Los Angeles, where it was examined by Dr. Trey
Hermann.  "A preliminary study indicates that it doesn't really fit any of
our current taxonomies", Dr. Hermann said.  "It seems to have certain
superficial characteristics of a seagull, but with a considerable number of
other, more reptilian traits."

The Caruthers family seemed to take it all in stride.  "Though I have to
admit I was a little excited when Dr. Hermann said they might name it after
us", said Mr. Caruthers.

Richard III
by William Shakespeare

Act I, Scene IV

CLARENCE:

... Lord, Lord! methought, what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of waters in mine ears!
What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea:
Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in those holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,
Which woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by...

Common Sense
by Thomas Paine

... SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little
or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have
different origins.  Society is produced by our wants, and government by
wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our
affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.  The one encourages
intercourse, the other creates distinctions.  The first is a patron, the last
a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is
but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer,
or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a
country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we
furnish the means by which we suffer.  Government, like dress, is the badge of
lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of
paradise.  For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and
irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the
case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish
means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same
prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the
least...

The Eye of Argon
by Jim Theis

The weather beaten trail wound ahead into the dust racked climes of the baren
land which dominates large portions of the Norgolian empire.  Age worn hoof
prints smothered by the sifting sands of time shone dully against the dust
splattered crust of earth.  The tireless sun cast its parching rays of
incandescense from overhead, half way through its daily revolution.  Small
rodents scampered about, occupying themselves in the daily accomplishments of
their dismal lives.  Dust sprayed over three heaving mounts in blinding
clouds, while they bore the burdonsome cargoes of their struggling overseers.

"Prepare to embrace your creators in the stygian haunts of hell, barbarian",
gasped the first soldier.

"Only after you have kissed the fleeting stead of death, wretch!" returned
Grignr...

The Eye of Argon is said to be the worst SF story ever written. Here is a page about it. This relates some of the history behind it. And it does seem to be real. Heh.

Coq au Vin

1 chicken, cut into 9 pieces
2 tbsp unsalted butter
10 oz pearl onions, peeled
4 slices bacon, cut into 10cm pieces
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup of chicken stock
1 bouquet garni
2 cups of red wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, garlic

Brown the chicken in the butter in a frying pan over moderate heat.  Place
chicken in a heavy casserole.

Brown the onions and bacon in the frying pan and add to the chicken.

Add the flour and stir well.

Add stock, bouquet garni, wine, salt and pepper.  Stir and pour over the
chicken.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the red wine vinegar.  Degrease the sauce before serving.

Petals of Twilight
by Charles Francois Guillermot

... And it is told that he made his way through their streets at night, crawling
through their many windows and crouching in their gardens, moving through the
sewers beneath their cobbled roads and slipping over their railings.

Watched by their cats and the roosting pidgeons of their city, yet wary of
their slumbering dogs, he went.  They would not see him, nor wake as he drew
near, but would only shudder, softly calling out the names of their gods in
sleep.

Restless, they tossed as he passed under the window like an errant lover
fleeing dawn.

And by morning light he was gone, away from that place, and moved on to
another world.

[FIXME: Is this real?]

DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT

...with the new government regulations it has become almost impossible to get
any work done after sundown... the sourd-muet bots will supposedly only attack
known terrorists, but I do not trust them, and neither does anyone else. They
all head home before dark.  I stay and try to get a little work done so the
American MIS woman gave me a passcode for the security system
(rzelazny/shadowjack), but it is difficult to make any progress when no one
is around to give me the information I need...

'Sourd-muet' is French for 'deaf-mute'.

The login/password refers to Roger Zelazny's 1978 story, "Shadowjack".

ACCORD DE CONTRAT

This agreement is made between the party of the First Part (the "Investor") and
the party of the Second Part (the "Contractor") to engage in a mutually
beneficial business arrangement through the renovation of the property (the
"Property") of a kind and type to be specified below...
-
This contract is useless, Renee - now that the investors have backed out,
I've had to lay off all 18 men - until we can get backing, we'll just have to
wait.

Maintenance lift code: 4003

Club La Porte de l'Enfer - 21:30

greasy green greasels greasy green greasels

INTERPOL WANTED: J.C. Denton

Interpol is currently seeking the whereabouts of known terrorist
J.C. "<PLAYERFIRSTNAME>" Denton.  Denton is wanted for a number of
international crimes including theft, murder, money laundering, drug
trafficking, and destruction of property.  Denton was last believed to have
been sighted in New York, but recent information indicates that he may
currently be operating in Paris.

Denton is approximately six feet tall, with silver facial tattoos and solid
blue eyes - the result of a rare genetic condition that he often conceals with
a pair of sunglasses.  Denton is extremely dangerous and should NOT be
approached.  Instead, if you believe you have seen him, contact your nearest
police or security representative.  There is currently a reward of c10,000
for information that leads to his capture or arrest.

Interpol is also attempting to locate Alex Jacobson and Jaime Reyes for
questioning in a number of related incidents.  No descriptions are available
at this time, but will be posted as they become available.

ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
 ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
  ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
   ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
    ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
     ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
      ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
       ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
        ICARUS FOUND YOU!!!
        RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
       RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
      RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
     RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
    RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
   RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
  RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
 RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!
RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!

Curfew Hours Extended
Due to a rise in criminal activity in the last week, curfew hours are now
extended from 10PM to 6AM.  Individuals found in violation of curfew may be
punished with a fine of up to c5,000 and one year in jail.  Patrolling bots
are authorized to detain suspicious individuals as necessary, and residents
are urged to respect instructions from a bot the same as they would a police
representative.

The Catacombs and all surrounding tunnels continue to remain off-limits to
residents; any individual found in the Catacombs will be presumed to be
engaged in felonious activities until proven otherwise.  Police have been
sanctioned to respond to such activities with lethal force if required.

/root/../misdirect::8009
<LOG ERROR> 21:33:02 FILE BUFFER OVERLOAD
REIRECT//TRUTHNET.2738.3234.3

Lies? TRUTH!

Citizens of Paris, did you even turn in your sleep as your freedom was
seized from you?  Did you hear them when they told you it was done in your name?
Or did you simply wake from your dream and never question the reality of your
slavery?

The City of Lights has been extinguished by Shadows.  Our government has been
taken from us.  We live in fear of jack-booted troops and hulking, clanking
tools of oppression, afraid to travel from one arrondissement to another.
Where is the city of our dreams?  The Pigalle has become the grave for our
buried joy, the Champs-Elysees rings of nothing but the dirge of our forgotten
hopes.

We let this happen, we _all_ let this happen - but it is not too late!
We are free in our hearts and our minds, and it is there that true rebellion
must begin.  Look to those who would unify us only to enslave of us.  Look to
those who would make us rich but rob our souls.  Look to those who would
protect our safety by stealing our liberty.  Question everything.  Believe
nothing.  Take action in the places they cannot see and they can never
conquer us.

SILHOUETTE, MINISTER OF TRUE LIES
TANDIS QU'ILS DORMENT, NOUS GAGNERONS

<COMMENT>Agent Hela's orders</COMMENT>

FROM: ASTON GREER
TO: AGENT MARI HELA

Upon arrival in Paris you are to interface with Inspector Gabily of the
Metropolitan Police, your operator for the duration of this mission.  Aid
Gabily in any way possible to eradicate lingering elements of either
Silhouette or the Illuminati.

Secondary priority is the acquisition of any information concerning the
whereabouts of Morgan Everett, Tracer Tong, Alex Jacobson, or J.C. Denton; any
such information is to be sent to Walton Simons directly and immediately.  We
have reason to believe that Denton may be traveling to Paris in an attempt to
ally himself with the surviving Illuminati, a situation that should be
prevented with all due prejudice.

Aston Greer
Director of Security, FEMA

Dear Nicolette, at some point it may become necessary for you to access my
private records, and perhaps to... to do what you think best, given the
circumstances of my absence.  You must understand how much I care for you, and
if I've not always done what might be considered right, I have always done what
I thought best for you and the others I've cared about; it is a cold heart that
does not have some regrets.

Login: bduclare
Password: nico_angel

This is all I can leave to you; everything else I have already given.  I love
you my daughter, and I trust you will make me proud.  I am only sorry that I am
not here to see it.

Beth

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Metro ATM Account</COMMENT>

METROPOLITAN BANK OF PARIS
1, rue d'Astore
established 1834

Dear Customer:

A recent hacking attempt has made it necessary to change the passwords on a
number of our accounts to insure the security of our patrons.  Please note that
your account has in no way been compromised; this is merely a precaution.  If
you have any questions, please feel to contact a Metropolitan Bank Customer
Care Advocate.

Account: 005133
PIN: salem008

Thank you,
METROPOLITAN BANK

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Metro ATM Account</COMMENT>

I was at Porte de l'Enfer last night and managed to get some stupide Americain
to buy me a drink, then peeked his code when he wasn't looking.  Do me a favor,
pull some cash from his account and get your petit ami to pick me up some
zyme - it is fabulous, the new thing from New York.

004418, morbus13

Bon sois!
Anne

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Metro ATM Account</COMMENT>

METROPOLITAN BANK OF PARIS
1, rue d'Astore
established 1834

Dear Customer:

A recent hacking attempt has  made it necessary to change the passwords on a
number of our accounts to insure the security of our patrons.  Please note that
your account has in no way been compromised; this is merely a precaution.  If
you have any questions, please feel free to contact a Metropolitan Bank
Customer Care Advocate.

Account: 002639
PIN: aramis01

Thank you,
METROPOLITAN BANK

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Metro ATM Account</COMMENT>

NAVI 008-BLUE v4.28 ('OBELIX')

*** THIS NAVI IS THE PROPERTY OF PIERRE BOULLE; IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO
PIERRE BOULLE AT 74, RUE MONTAIGNE, OR CONTACT
PBOULLE//PARISNET.3729.293.834. ***

- TO DO LIST -

* Tickets for Cavallera Rusticana, 21/7

* Meet Traci at Enfants Terrible, 18:30

* New CD by Brewer's Phrase

* New account, 14th arrondissement branch: 001506/naga066

* Chocolate & '34 Seven Crows Est. Sauvignon Blanc for Marie

* Download Navi 4.31 security patch

"Brewer's Phrase" was mentioned in the Grayve Times ad. Note the reference to Seven Crows, Chris Todd's website. Also, "Navi" is a reference to the anime Serial Experiments Lain.

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Club door code</COMMENT>

New storeroom code is 1966 - make sure not to sample any of the absinthe this
time, eh?  I will be checking the bottles. - Louis

1966 is the year that Harvey Smith was born; this is intentional.

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Catacombs ATM</COMMENT>

Francois, the hacking attempt has been an unqualified success - I've transferred
all the funds that I managed to siphon from Metropolitan before the ice came
down into a dummy account: number 2221969, password "dullbill".  Let the other
members of the cell know that these funds can be used for any projects that the
Mayhem Comite may deem appropriate.

- Tandis Qu'ils Dorment, Nous Gagnerons

ICE dates back to William Gibson's awful Neuromancer.

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Catacombs Map</COMMENT>

Welcome to Paris, the City of Lights!  This map will help to familiarize you
with the Champs-Elysees, the spiritual and cultural heart of the city.  During
the day the Champs-Elysees is a bustling street of boutiques and government
offices, but it is only at night that it comes truly alive, a place of cafes
and clubs, of theatres and cabaret.  While many visitors only see the
glittering main avenue, those who are a bit more adventurous might venture
off the beaten path and be rewarded with a taste of old Paris in the dark
back streets and alleys away from the flashing lights and hustle of tourists...

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Catacombs Tunnels Map</COMMENT>

Chad - I've been down in the tunnels trying to work out where all the government
people Voychek was talking about have set up shop... we're definitely going to
have to be careful, though I don't think they've noticed us - yet.  Strange...
lots of the gendarmes, but also some Americans... overheard several of them
talking as if they worked for "MJ12", but I've got no idea who that might be...

<COMMENT>10_Paris_Catacombs Tunnels: MJ12 security computer</COMMENT>

Agent Hela,

We've added a login for you to the Catacombs security network; while still
incomplete, it's being extended every day.  We should have the majority of the
tunnels completely wired within the next three months.

Login: Hela
Password: Ragnarok

Again, I'm pleased to know that you and MJ12 will be working closely with us to
eradicate the Silhouette infestation from Paris.  Please update me on a daily
basis with your surveillance reports and any additional items or information
you may require.
-
Gabily

Ragnarok is a reference to Norse mythology; it is the end of time.

From: MorganEverett//???
To: BethDuClare//UnderNet.324.823.2
Subject: Final Message

CYPHERBLOCK=<"busdic98-sch233bnpoec813983b80dcb-sd896dc7gd7">

This will be our last communication over the Net.  The so-called "Aquinas"
protocols that my old protege and MJ12 have implemented are crude, but
effective - much like my protege.  All future meetings will need to occur face
to face at a secure location.  To expedite matters I will deliver to you a
"tear-sheet" chip: it will contain twenty codes and their corresponding keys.
Each code and key pair can be used once and then it will be permanently erased.
Each code will be tagged to one of our previously agreed upon meeting locations
and times.  If one or the other of us should need to get in touch, send a
message using one of the codes - the content of the messsage is
irrelevant, only the code used to encrypt it.

I shouldn't need to point out that any attempt to tamper with the chip once it
has been installed will result in it being rendered useless.

Best of luck - to you and to us all,
Morgan

From: NicDuClare//UnderNet.37923.38.834
To: BethDuClare//UnderNet.324.823.2
Subject: Weekend

Hey Mom, just wanted to let you know I'll be coming home this weekend... school
is still hassling me about that intrusion attempt on one of their data wells,
but it wasn't as if I really did anything - just took a look around.  I might
have opened a few doors to the underground tunnels, too, but that was just for
fun, no big deal (one of the cataphiles I know said there might be an entrance
down there).  I was hoping when I got back we could talk about it, and... maybe
they'd listen to you, since they don't seem disposed to listen to me.

Anyways, kiss and hug, and I'll see you soon.

Ciao,
Nic

Catacombs Closed to Public
Paris Investigateur

The government announced today that the famous Paris Catacombs would be closed
to the public until further notice, citing increased criminal activity and
possible terrorist connections to the area.  "The Catacombs have become a haven
for any number of unseemly elements", said Inspector Gabily of the Metropolitan
Police, "and we are taking all necessary steps to contain this threat to the
peace and welfare of Paris citizens."

The Catacombs are part of an extensive network of tunnels that mostly lie
beneath the 5th, 6th, and 14th arrondissements, originally part of larger
excavations undertaken by the Romans to remove valuable deposits of gypsum and
limestone from the area.  The Catacombs themselves date back to 1786 when bones
were removed from the grossly overcrowded Cemetary of Innocents to be stored
in the quarries of Mont-Rouge; since that time, innumerable additional burials
have resulted in the vast ossuary that exists today.

The publicly accessible sections of the Catacombs are only a small part of the
complete tunnel system whose many entrances and exits have made it a popular
diversion for cataphiles wishing to explore the underground history of the
city.

Police Raid Catacombs
Paris Investigateur

Earlier today the police raided the Catacombs, entering through
Denfert-Rochereau, Port Royal, Trocadero, and a number of other, unidentified
locations, in an attempt to round up elements of the terrorist group Silhouette.
Sources within the Metropolitan Police Department indicated that since the
institution of martial law the number of terrorist incidents has declined, but
Silhouette still remains active in its so-called "Campaign of True Lies".

"Far from being a harmless group of reactionaries, Silhouette presents a clear
and ongoing threat to the public welfare", said Inspector Gabily, currently
leading the case.

Despite extensive surveillance prior to the raid, however, police found
minimal evidence of Silhouette's presence, instead capturing a number of drug
dealers, prostitutes, and other suspected criminals.  "All in all, we consider
the operation a success", insisted Gabily. "We've made a strong statement that
Paris - above or below - will not be a haven to radicals and thieves."

EXCLUSIVE: BOB PAGE INTERVIEW
Affaires le France

AF: ... And now France?

BP: Yes, France.  France - and Europe - have prospered for thousands of years...
it would be foolish to ignore the economic and cultural opportunities that exist
here.  This country has a huge reserve of talent, in all sectors of the work
force, and Page Industries is looking forward to recruiting the best and the
brightest.

AF: But what about the turmoil that seems to be afflicting much of the
continent, the rise of radical splinter groups such as SCHUSE and Silhouette?

BP: Intimidation through violence is the last resort of the weak... these
groups are composed of nothing but frustrated, gullible individuals.  We have
a very effective security organization that will be working with both local
and national authorities to minimize whatever potential for actual harm they
present.

AF: So you see yourself working closely with the government?

BP: Very closely...

This is a rare reference to Foundation by Isaac Asimov; one of Salvor Hardin's famous sayings is "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".

Bot Kills Three in Accidental Shooting
APR - Paris, France

Yves-Pierre Adrien, Dominique Vittet, and Marie Philibert were heading home from
a late night on the town when they were gunned down in the street by a military
bot that mistakenly identified them as terrorists.  Since the institution of
martial law in Paris, bots have regularly patrolled those areas with a high
level of criminal activity, armed with a visual database profiling thousands of
wanted terrorists, thieves, and drug dealers.

"It was awful", said Kristi Amiel. A waitress at Enfant Terrible - a nearby
cafe where the trio had their last cup of coffee - she was witness to the
shooting.  "The bot just kept shooting and shooting until all you could hear
was an empty clicking sound, then one of the soldiers ran into the control
station across the street trying to shut it down, but nothing happened.
It just kept clicking... trying to shoot them again."

Police Prefect Hubert Dupuy defended the practice during a news conference
earlier today. "The bots are programmed to only use lethal force if the
suspects resist arrest, and while these deaths are tragedies to be mourned,
it in no way compromises the effectiveness of bots in keeping Parisians safe."

Somnolente Ile Scandal Resurfaces
Paris Investigateur

Accusations of cover-ups within President Bourges-Maunoury's administration have
recently appeared in several tabloid publications, linking key members of his
Council of Ministers to the Somnolente Ile scandal that resulted in President
Serra's exit from politics five years ago.  Somnolente Ile, an exclusive resort
in Cote d'Azur, was the site of a clandestine meeting between then President
Serra and reputed members of the Zuganov crime family in an attempt to funnel
almost three billion credits of tainted money through French banks.

The deal was reportedly brokered by a cabal of major banking
interests - including deceased financier Beth DuClare, though her involvement
was never proved.  Some sources went so far as to suggest that the entire
meeting was the result of a plot hatched by the "Bilderbergs", a supposedly
secret society formed of wealthy and powerful industrialists shortly after
World War II.

President Bourges-Maunoury has dismissed the accusations as "ludicrous",
calling such stories "the lowest example of irresponsible journalism" before
refusing further comment.

From: Chad//UnderNet.8876.83.01
To: NicDuClare//UnderNet.37923.38.834
Subject: Silhouette Business

Nicolette,

Your aid in securing support for Silhouette has been invaluable - you've done
much to help sustain the cause of freedom in the face of ever more open
repression by our own government.  However, I'm afraid that I must ask for your
help yet again.  The police have begun to raid the Catacombs, and if we are to
put up an effective resistance then we must locate additional resources by
whatever means necessary.  I know your mother and her friends wish to remain
anonymous, but any funds or material that they can contribute will be of
enormous help.  And even if they cannot, their continued good-will is still
of great importance to us all.

Thank you, and I hope to see you again soon.
-
Chad

From: BethDuClare//UnderNet.324.823.2
To: NicDuClare//UnderNet.37923.38.834
Subject: RE: Your Help

>they need help or they'll be slaughtered by the porcs who strut
>about the streets like they own them.  You've helped us once
>before, and it has meant so much to the cause.  Please, mother,
>I'm asking you to help us again.  You know so many who can

I will do what I can, dear, but the situation is far more complicated than I
think you may be aware of - my connections within the Hague and the United
Nations indicate that the problem is not limited to France, and many parties
are using the "Gray Death" epidemic as an excuse to exercise their control
over other national governments.  I have to consult with Morgan.  We must be
careful where we choose to allocate our resources.

It is a very dangerous time - for everyone, Nicolette - and your flirtation
with this organization could have serious consequences.  I am asking you again
to be careful.  I could not stand it if something happened to you.  In the
meanwhile, I will do what I can.

Beth

Dear Nicolette, if you examine my suspension vault you'll find an item that I
had to pay quite dearly to acquire; the vault code is 1784. I don't know of
what use it may be, but many people are quite prepared to kill for it.
I originally obtained it for Morgan and if you find yourself in trouble, he
may still be willing to bargain for it. He is a calculating man, not without
compassion but still dangerous.  Be careful, my daughter.

Beth

1784 is the year when the Treaty of Paris was ratified by Congress, marking the formal end of the Revolutionary War.

<COMMENT>MJ12 Hit List</COMMENT>

MJ12 Compromised Individuals List
Paris, France

The following individuals have been rated as having an 85% or higher likelihood
of being engaged in suspicious or ideologically counterproductive activity on
the Chasen-Bikal scale, and/or have scored at least 4.31 on the JKL-LB survey
over the preceeding six months.  Agents are encouraged to pursue soft
campaigns of calculated defamation, resulting in reduced meme propagation
effectiveness, prior to prejudicial termination.  Termination, when necessary,
should be staged to implicate organizations currently on the MJ12-COL.
Please refer any questions to MJ12 Simulations and Strategy,
MJ12SAS//UpNet.2748.2738.22.

Jean Renois (MJID-7037XD8374)
Erin Todd (MJID-3793YH3803)
Decker Parkes (MJID-0984IS3270)
Rene Delon (MJID-9834TR1008)
Wayne Young (MJID-9904MG9401)
Henri Rota (MJID-7778AD2096)
Ave Javet (MJID-7982MV1924)
Raymond Kearns (MJID-4684II3900)
...

Our friend Decker Parkes is mentioned by his full name here. This note also refers to memetics again.

<COMMENT>MJ12 Doctrine</COMMENT>

The Doctrine of the Mighty
by The Majestic Council of the Twelve

It is a commonly held precept that two are stronger than one, and that four are
stronger than two, and that sixteen are by far stronger than four; with this,
there can be no argument.  If all of human history is but a single lesson, it
is that the individual may be remembered, but the organization persists and
thrives.  A single artist, a single general, a single hero or a single villain
may all die, but it is impossible to kill a people, a nation, an idea - except
when that idea has grown weak and is overpowered by one that is stronger.

This then is the true calling of those who would be mighty and join They Who
Rule the World in Majesty, to shun all that is empty fame and glory; to
eliminate weak thoughts, weak hands, and weak ideas; to give up vain
individuality and instead become part of something that is glorious and
strong.  This is the First Secret, that by surrendering that part of you that
is the least, you are elevated to the Most.  The First Secret shall set you
free, and those who know their duty will find in it the keys to immortality.

The Second Secret can be explained to all, but truly understood only by those
who have submitted to the first Body and Soul...

<COMMENT>Custodian's notebook</COMMENT>

Notebook of Giuliano Jordorowsky

... This job is so boring.  I do nothing but write in my notebook, fill it with
my thoughts, but sometimes I must amuse myself.  I have been stealing from the
security... like thick-skulled dogs, they are.  Last week I took a watch, but
they paid no notice.  I am nothing to them.  Just the strange man with his
notebook.

I was listening to the night guard, Jobal.  A disgusting creature, and a
creature of habit.  I heard him on the phone - talking to that cow of a
girlfriend - and he told her his bank account number.  I almost got his PIN
as well, but a passing train drowned him out.  I do not know the last number.
I will try again when he is on shift next week.

Account: 576001
PIN: wyrdred0-

He will be surprised when all his money is gone, and they will not
suspect me...

The Red Cross: A History of the Knights Templar
by Richard Baigent

Volume One: Defenders of the Faith

... Upon the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Holy Lands remained in a precarious
state, surrounded on all sides by hostile Mohammedan neighbors.  It was then
that Hugues de Payens, a knight from Champagne, bound himself and eight fellow
knights in a vow to forever protect the "Kingdom of Christendom".  Accepted in
1118 by Baldwin II, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, they were given charitable
lodgings in the city temple where they became the "pauvres chevaliers du
temple", or the "poor knights of the temple".

It was not until later at the Council of Troyes that the Templar Knights
adopted the austere, monastic Rule of St. Benedict, along with the white
garments of the Cistercians - adding to them the characteristic red cross that
symbolized their willingness to spill their own blood in the defense of the
One True Faith.

The Templars quickly became a popular order, renowned as "lions at war and
lambs at the hearth".  They were soon exempted by the popes from all secular
and episcopal authority save that of the popes themselves, and their lands
exempted from all taxation...

The Red Cross: A History of the Knights Templar
by Richard Baigent

Volume Two: Lions of God

... and every sovereign of Europe made donations to the order, be it land,
money, arms, or men.  They triumphed in battle after battle, the first to
attack and the last to retreat, "rough knights of the battlefield" as described
by Jacques de Virty; if taken prisoner they refused all efforts to secure their
freedom, instead becoming martyrs to the cause of God.  With every success, the
order prospered even further - at their height they were said to have owned
over 9000 estates throughout Britain, France, Italy, and the Holy Lands,
including a network of castles and commanderies built to protect the frequent
pilgrims to Jerusalem.  In all but name, the Templars virtually ruled
Jerusalem and - in what can only be termed hubris - recognized no temporal
authority over their affairs save that of the Church.

By 1250 the coffers of the order had grown so large that it was not uncommon
for pilgrims to deposit their money with a temple in London or Paris, and
then cash in their receipt upon arriving in Jerusalem, thus establishing
the foundations for modern banking and checking accounts...

<COMMENT>notebook</COMMENT>

The Red Cross: A History of the Knights Templar
by Richard Baigent

Volume Three: Fall of the Knights

... while many charges can be disputed, it is clear that the more the Knights
prospered, the less they became the austere monastic order that had originally
been envisioned by de Payens a century before.  Eventually even excommunicated
men and criminals were accepted - as long as they pledged blind obedience to
the order.  Rumors of secret initiation rituals and the "osculum infame"
("obscene kiss") flourished, as did stories that they worshipped Baphoment
and other false pagan gods.

But it was their rivalry with the Order of the Hospitalers and their continued
arrogance that were most responsible for their downfall.  When Jerusalem was
finally lost to the mighty forces of Saladin, Philip the Fair saw an
opportunity to bring the Templars to heel... and greatly expand his own
holdings.  With the cooperation of the French pope Clement V, Philip accused
the Templars of heresy and in 1304 placed all members of the order in France
under arrest, subsequently subjecting them to brutal interrogations in an
effort to determine whether the rather fanciful charges of sodomy, apostasy,
and devil worship were true...

The Red Cross: A History of the Knights Templar
by Richard Baigent

Volume Four: Descent Into Shadows

... but despite Clement's later efforts to annul the proceedings, the
confessions had become matters of record.  Those who repented were spared the
flames, while fifty knights who chose to recant their confessions - becoming
"relapsi", relapsed heretics - were promptly burned at the stake.  The
remaining members of the order in France quickly admitted their guilt, and in
1311 an Apostolic Decree was issued dissolving the order.  The Templar
Knights had once been subject to no king or law; but in the end, they were
swallowed by history.

Many have debated whether the rather ignominious dissolution of the order was
entirely accidental, while some have even gone so far as to suggest that it
was part of a larger plan on the Templar's part.  Such a massive, powerful
organization - the argument goes - could not have been brought so low, so
easily.  Obscure speculation concerning a myserious hay wain that departed
their commandery in Paris has led certain researchers to believe that they
may have been protecting the secret of the Holy Grail, or the secret of
transmutation, but still others contend that the Templar Knights merely went
underground and founded the powerful, secretive banking societies of
Switzerland...

<COMMENT>Journal</COMMENT>

Testament of Adept 34501

My name has been taken from me, a thing I need not anymore, and I have been
christened Adept 34501.  They have set me to keep a record of this place, to
record a history of its comings and goings so that Those Who Rule might have
the benefit of its knowledge...

... today saw the arrival of Agent Hermann.  He is a simple thing, fitted to
a dark purpose by forces he cannot understand.  In a way, I feel pity for
him - an emotion that I know will prevent my advancement beyond the Third
Rank - but it is pity I feel nonetheless.  He has spent most of his time
below in the technology archive, staring at the ancient cross above his head.
He burns with a hatred that I can feel, for himself and for someone else.
Periodically he will receive holographic communications from Simons, after
which his hatred burns all the brighter.  I think it has burned away
everything human in him, and only the metal holds him together anymore...

Adept 34501, Order of the Night Sky, Third Rank

<COMMENT>Everett's notebook</COMMENT>

Project Morpheus: Notebook 8-B

Morpheus has been moody of late, and I have so far been unable to determine
the proximate cause of this change in behavior.  This is a problem with
n-variable systems: at arbitrary levels of sophistication, minute perturbations
become unquantifiable.  Is personality nothing more than the tidal change in a
non-linear system?  And if so, what is the 'moon', what force shapes these
tides?  Morpheus could tell me, if only Morpheus could model its own
behavior - but this would require a system orders of magnitude more complex to
execute a simulation of its own identity.

I may resort to a full battery of input analysis tests to be compared against
previous baseline tests, but I find myself strangely reluctant to do so.
At this level of development, Morpheus could be cognizant enough to find the
experience... unpleasant.  I do not know why that word occurs to me, as it
anthropomorphizes what is obviously not human... but what may not so
obviously be alive... - Morgan Everett

Toby, I'm afraid I'll be in the lab for quite a while concentrating on this
most interesting new development.  If you need to access the security system,
this week's code is "pynchon".  We should be especially wary now with this
recent turn of events; I imagine Bobby is feeling the first signs of
apprehension, and he tends to overreact when that happens.

And if Lucius continues to complain, you may access his life support with
the same password at the central computer.  Please don't raise his
temperature more than a degree as I don't want him thawing out.

Everett

Another Pynchon reference.

<COMMENT>Morgan Everett's AI Prototype Vault</COMMENT>

Beth, feel free to visit with Morpheus while I am away: the code is 8001.
I'm sure you will have many interesting things to discuss... and pay no
attention to Lucius, he complains at the slightest provocation.

Everett

<COMMENT>MJ12 Cathedral Vault Doors</COMMENT>

Adept 34501,
Order of the Night Sky,
Third Rank:

Those Who Rule in Majesty, the Twelve, have set you to watch over this place
and record all that may happen so we may benefit from your observations, as
you may benefit from our wisdom.

You are entrusted with a Key to Sidon's Vault: 1942

You are entrused with a Key to the Fountain of Wisdom: 0022

You are entrusted with a Number and a Secret: 34501, 08711

You will guard all these things with Life and Soul, and do your
duty so that the Fourth Secret may find a place in your Heart.

XII

UNITED STATES INSTITUTES MARTIAL LAW
APR - New York

In a momentous speech held at 2:30PM EST today, President Mead announced the
declaration of martial law throughout the United States, citing a "fundamental
threat to the American way of life in the form of organized, insidious
terrorism". With major American cities already reeling under the impact of
the "Gray Death", looting and rioting have reached disastrous levels while
terrorist attacks have grown increasingly ubiquitous, climaxing in the attack
on UNATCO headquarters in New York last week.  Local authorities have so far
proven ineffectual in stemming the tide of violence, and even
Washington, D.C., has been hit by an outbreak of the Gray Death.  Highly
placed sources have speculated that Mead himself may be infected.

President Mead appointed Walton Simons, Director of FEMA, to spearhead an
interim council tasked with managing the government response.  "We will do
everything - everything - that is in our power to restore the peace and
security of the average American", said Simons.  "In no way will this
violate the civil liberties that have made this country great - instead,
we pledge to do everything in our power to safeguard those liberties against
all who would see them torn apart."

Local Sights: Cathedrale de Payens

Though overshadowed by several larger and more well-known cathedrals, the
Cathedrale de Payens in the 14th arrondissement remains a historical curiosity
of interest to many scholars.  Construction was begun in 1218 and completed
before the end of the century, financed by the Templar Knights - an order of
warrior monks - as part of a similar network of churches, cathedrals, and
forts (or "commanderies" as they were called) throughout Britain, Europe, and
the Holy Lands.

Some scholars believe that the order did not disappear in 1311 with its
dissolution, however, and that the Templar Knights continued to operate more or
less in secret - but whatever the truth, Payens fell into disrepair until
finally purchased and rennovated by a group of European investors in 1918 as a
corporate retreat.  While closed to the public, it still remains a comforting
presence at the heart of the arrondissement.

From: TobyAtanwe//IllumiNet.0.0.8
To: MorganEverett//IllumiNet.0.0.1
Subject: Suspension Codes

I've placed the nano-organic material that we received today in suspension until
you have an opportunity to perform an analysis: the codes are 2384 and 6426.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

- Toby

... don't know how I pulled this assignment.  I was told that this was a
"private security organization", but I should've known something was going on
when they didn't ask about the damned discharge.  Stupid.  Now I'm walking the
line at some gloomy ass church in the middle of Paris, nothing for company but
a bunch of brain-dead zombies dressed in black and that crazy cook - keeps
rattling on about temples or templars and how he used to cook for the rich or
something... I don't know.  Food isn't all that great.  Can't even get a
bottle of ketchup.  And then this German mech-aug shows up yesterday.  I knew
a lot of stone-cold people in the service, and this guy looks like he's got
murder on his mind...

He stands down there in the tech archive like a bot - I was on patrol in
the cellar for 10 hours and he didn't move once. Inhuman. It's like he's
waiting for something. I think I heard him crying once...

NEW DATACUBE TRANSCRIPT
BEGIN TIMECODE 22:39:12

RECORDING BEGINS ]]]NOW[[[

TR: Thompson Reynolds, Assistant Researcher, and this would be my latest audio
diary entry.  MJ12 nailed us, completely by surprise. I don't think there was
a lot of love lost there, but no one really expected a direct assault.  Hold
on...

TR: ... so now I'm down in the tunnels.  We've lost touch with Gary, and I
guess I got... elected to go find out what was going on while everyone else
deals with the attack.  Okay, I'm at one of the terminals... powering up...
note to self, login is - let's see - "Tunnel01" and password is... "omega2a".
Security grid has been deactivated.  I hate these stupid hazmat suits, it's
almost impossible to punch a key without hitting six oth-

TR: I thought I heard something.  Just a sec, let me -

#$(R&434890)#$*Rq3r)#$R&904

RECORDING ]]]ENDS[[[

<COMMENT>Old guard notes</COMMENT>

FROM: Captain Chip Moser
TO: Major Derek Walcombe
SUBJECT: Saddle Up (Draft Text)

It's funny, in the army you get shifted around so often you develop attachments
to any place you can call home for more than nine months, and I've been at
Vandenberg for more than ten years.  My family has grown up here.  I'm actually
sorry to see it go.  But you've been a big help to all of us, Derek, and I
appreciate your efforts in getting us moved out to Fort Jasper - it'll be
good to actually sit down and have a beer with you again in person.

I heard yesterday that the government has sold off the base to some research
consortium.  They must have deep pockets if they're willing to fix all the
structural damage that's cropped up since the Big One a few years back.
Strange birds, real quiet.  Probably ex-military would be my guess.  Anyways,
I'm sure I'll have some stories for you by the time I make it up there.
Should be next week.

Give my best to Kim,
Chip

From: SCarter//UNATCO.38239.09421
To: GSavage//UnderNet.289.83.54
Subject: Long Time

It took me a while to track you down, Gary - you've covered your tracks well,
but I still know a few tricks... and a few people.  Which is part of the
reason I'm writing.

Ever since I left the Army a couple years back I've been working for UNATCO.
It seems that they're a better organization in principle than practice, and
I've become increasingly uncomfortable with their methods.  I've got my
suspicions about other things, as well, but I'd prefer not to get into them
over an open line.  Doesn't matter - they've discharged everyone who didn't
come to them right out of UNATCO Academy spouting the party line, so I'm
gone as of today.

Heard you had your own difference of opinions with the military research
establishment and took off on your own.  I'm not sure what you're working on,
but it might be related to something another friend of mine has uncovered and
I'd like to help.  Let me know if you need another hand.  It'd be good to
see you again.

From: TSavage//UnderNet.782.839
To: GSavage//UnderNet.289.83.54
Subject: Wish Me Luck

I'm about ready to leave, Dad.  Carla and Stacy have done their best to outfit
me with everything I need.  You know, when I was a little girl I never really
fantasized about being a spy or a thief or a princess... I always wanted to be
a scientist, just like you.  Methodical and careful, that's exactly how you
always taught me to work, and that's exactly how I'll be.

I know we'll see each other before I leave, but I wanted you to know how proud
I am of you and what you're doing, and how glad I am that I can be a part of
it.  Mom would have been proud of you, too.  I just don't know if I can say
all that when I'm standing there in front of you, so this will have to do
until I get back.

Love,
Tiffany

From: CBrown//UnderNet.132.094.93
To: GSavage//UnderNet.289.83.54
Subject: Incoming

I'm starting to pick up signals on the tremblor sensors consistent with a small
assault force.  I'm not sure if they think that little of us, or if they're
just in such a rush to stop us that this was the best they could manage.
Either way, I hope those Hong Kong bots we got from your mysterious benefactor
can do the trick.  We've probably got an hour before they arrive, so I'm going
to go run a systems check on the bots before everything goes to hell. - Carla

From: GSavage//UnderNet.289.83.54
To: X-51
Subject: We Must Stand

When we left MJ12, I think all of us knew that we had a long road ahead.  And
for many of us, myself included, it has been a road of penance.  I have been
a good scientist, but I may not have been a good human being; I did not think
about the consequences of the knowledge that I fought so hard to gain, or
about the people who would exploit it for their own ambitions.

Now we must face up to the decisions we've made and stand against those who
would eradicate our efforts to create a better future for our children and the
world.  I've already lost too many friends and I don't intend on losing any
more - the bots should do most of the fighting, God willing.  But we all need
to understand what is at stake: if we can bring the UC online, we might have
a chance.  But if MJ12 succeeds then everything we've done, everyone who's
been taken from us, all will be for nothing.

As a scientist I find it strange to write these words, but circumstances have
forced me to take a broader perspective.  What we win today is a chance at
tomorrow, and that is something well worth the fight - a fight I hope you
will all join me in.

Gary

From: GSavage//UnderNet.289.83.54
To: JTaylor//UnderNet.498.784.90
Subject: RE: Reaction Modules

>I've done several run-up tests on the reaction modules
>and I'm a little concerned about the power curves -
>you'll find some samples attached from the last run.
>We're getting a pretty steep rise in the sigma variance.

I believe the variance can be explained by an interference pattern from the
reaction module linkages; we had a similar problem at Area 51 resulting from
the feedback paths - but keep an eye on it anyways.  We can't afford a repeat
of what happened there.

Gary

From: SWebber//UnderNet.098.498.83
To: JTaylor//UnderNet.498.784.90
Subject: Genetic Profiles

I found that data Gary was asking for in the stuff we managed to bring with us
from Area 51 - genetic profiles for a "<PLAYERNAME>".  For some reason he
thought they'd be a good baseline to use when calibrating the UC organic
construction parameters.  Anyways, find them attached and let me know if you've
got any questions.

-Stacy

Last will and... who the hell am I kidding.

Ridley was a traitor.  No idea who he was working for and I don't really care.
He's dead now.  He was one of the scientists.  He set explosives, drowned half
the lab.  Killed most of the others by remote when the robots and turrets went
crazy.  A computer virus.  Something.  Kept babbling about illuminated ones
right up until the end right before I put a bullet in his head.  Better than
he deserved.

One of those stupid turrets tagged me in the kidney and gut I can feel myself
bleeding out... someone should know what happened.  I know they'll come back.
A debriefing team... is what they call them.  But we'll all be dead by then.
So screw you whoever finds this.

Last will and testa...

Thomas Mann

Universal Constructor: Theory, Principles, and Practice
by Wayne Yin

... and thus arose the need for a more generalized theory encompassing a
"Universal Constructor" (UC) that would be able to handle such arbitrarily
complex nanoscale design problems.  Unlike the simple atom by atom nanotech
constructors common today, a UC would combine millions upon millions of atoms
in a parallel process that could produce materials or mechanisms of unmatched
intricacy on a scale currently not possible even with the best nanoscale
foundry.

One of the most obvious applications of a UC - if its construction were even
practical - would be the genetic manipulation of lifeforms at the atomic level
to cure disease, correct congenital defects, or expand their capabilities in
beneficial ways.  Theoretically, if an "intelligent", real-time control
program were developed for the UC, then autonomous, artificial nanoscale
organisms could be assembled.  Careful design could create organisms that
might actually exist in "symbiosis" with other life.

However, a UC also creates the tangible threat of a "gray goo" scenario: the
design of an organism that is so evolutionarily advanced as to overwhelm the
current ecosystem...

The DX UC bears strong similarities to the matter compilers in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age.

1st Force Recon Company Log
Captain Veronica Oberst, Company Commander

... initial resistance was light and by 19:45 we were able to secure the silo
and surrounding facilities with minimal casualties - nothing more than a bunch
of scientists, most of them not even armed.  I've detached a platoon for mop-up
and identification.  HQ has asked for a complete list of enemy casualties;
I've also been asked to locate Howard Strong - he's one of our assets - and
turn him over to Agent Karyo.  A preliminary list follows; I'll update it as
more information becomes available.

Dr. Sue Feguson - Deceased
Dr. Royce Davison - Deceased
Elroy Jones - Deceased
Dr. L. Bernard - Captured
Rory Calloway - Deceased
Jessica Hutchens - Deceased
Dr. Yuri Alibek - Deceased
Dr. Hanako Miyase - Deceased?
...

Nasir: The URVs get a little twitchy if you don't take em for a maintenance run
at least once every 10 days; use the TECH login on the security console,
password SHARKMAN to access the door control.  And if I find one ding in a fin
from you hot-rodding around in my babies, I'll feed you to the nasties I hear
they keep down there myself. - Castor

<COMMENT>Karkian Lab, OceanLab Base</COMMENT>

I got that tunnel code for you, Dr. Awase - project management has cleared you
to take some core samples from the area while it's being bored out, but I'd be
careful anyways.  Big machinery and diamond-tipped drill bits don't create the
most friendly work evironment.

Access Code: 5690

Paul

<COMMENT>Water chamber in UC lab</COMMENT>

Yushio -

Ridley's done something to the computers, some kind of tunneling virus with an
adaptable polymorph engine like I've never seen before.  Way advanced stuff.
It's overwhelming the self-repair routines and I figure we've got thirty, maybe
forty minutes before this whole place goes haywire.  I'll do what I can to
block it, but as a CYA I installed a low-level login at root with a recursive
refresh built into the protected ring - if worse comes to worse, it _should_
give us access to the security computers even if the virus brings down the
rest of the system.  Hopefully.

Login: MJ12
Password: SKYWALKER

See what you can do on your end.

:Mary Beth

<COMMENT>Entrance tunnel to UC lab</COMMENT>

I hope you're the rescue team and I hope you came armed.  Ridley's screwed us,
and whoever wasn't drowned, eaten by one of those monstrosities they've had us
creating, or cut in half by a turret, has taken refuge in the UC lab.  There's
not many left.  I've jury-rigged some laser tripwires to warn us if any of our
specimens make it this far looking for Mommy and Daddy, but now it's the
spiders that are causing a problem.  I don't know how much longer we can hold
out.  Please.

Hurry.

<COMMENT>Launch command in the silo</COMMENT>

Agent Karyo: I've changed the login to the security launch computers and locked
them up behind some hard ice - there's little chance that any of the other team
members could interfere now.  Feel free to dispose of the survivors, though
Simons wanted at least one left alive for interrogation.

The new login is "Elder" and the password is "Armageddon".
-
Howard Strong

<COMMENT>Trashed office of MJ12 guard in OceanLab</COMMENT>

Corporal Hutchens:

This place has gone to hell and it's all Ridley's fault.  I've been able to
track him and it looks like he's heading for the dock - he must have a URV
scheduled to pick him up.  There's no way I'm going to let him get away, not
after what he's done.  Grab some firepower and hole up wherever you can.
An extraction team is bound to show up sooner or later.  If you run into
trouble, bypass security with the "Oceanguard" login and "Kraken" password,
but I don't know how much longer that'll work.

Good luck.

Sergeant Mann

<COMMENT>Carcharodon Lab in OceanLab</COMMENT>

Mary Beth:

I've got fires going up all over the place and I don't know if I'll be able to
put them all out - this is getting serious.  Security locks have failed on the
containment pens and a bunch of the cameras don't seem to be functioning so
there's no way to track any escaped animals.  I just got a call that the
turrets on the Command Level went active and started shooting everything in
the room.  I'm _way_ over my head and I can't even raise you or anyone else on
the horn.  I'm going down to the UC lab, so look for me there if you get this
note. - Yushio

From: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
To: APinkerton//UpNet.90.2.3834
Subject: Re: Karkian Assesment

Your report on the aquatic capabilities of the karkian displayed definite
progress; see that it continues and have the karkian embryos delivered to the
OceanLab immediately.  Continue to report all subsequent data concerning
genetic research directly to me.

From: EPotamus//UpNet.90.2.4734.3
To: APinkerton//UpNet.90.2.3834
Subject: HElP

got to help us Adriane got to help us they're pounding on the door right now
and the turrets have gone crazy.  Send someone anyone hurry for God's sake
Hillary is bleeding all over and there's blood everywhere - I think it was
Ridley but I don't know why, Adrianne I don't know why.  Whatever you be
careful, just get someone down here fast they're almost through the door

U.S. Situation Worsens
APR - Washington, D.C.

With the declaration of martial law only twenty-four hours ago in the United
States, the country is in turmoil and teeters on the edge of social collapse.
Numerous Governors, including Jason Findley of Colorado, Gray Haddock of Texas,
and Christina Leicht of California, have refused to comply with the
Presidential directive or acknowledge the authority of Walton Simons, Director
of FEMA.  National Guard and other troops mobilized to quell domestic turmoil
are in disarray as many units have gone AWOL.  In a live NetCast earlier
today, General Ed Garner said that he would "give no order, nor allow any
order to be given to those under my command that would lead to their taking
potentially lethal measures against an unarmed civilian population".
He concluded by saying that "our neighbors are not our enemies".

General Garner was immediately relieved of command by Walton Simons,
resulting in the resignation of N.D. Goper, Secretary of Defense.

Reports that a detachment of UNATCO troops fired on a crowd of protestors
in New York City has yet to be verified, though several high-level sources
within the government indicate that the situation may have degenerated to
the point where UNATCO is no longer operating under governmental supervision.
Similar reports have been received from Mexico City, London, Berlin, Paris,
and Moscow.

From: ESchiele//UpNet.09.4.5670
To: YIkagi//UpNet.78.4.7983
Subject: Where are you?

Hey Yushio, where the hell are you?  I've been trying to raise you guys for the
last hour, but no one answers - not on the hardline, not on the squelch.
If you get this message, respond ASAP and let us know the situation.

Christ, the intruder alarms are going off up here.  Probably another security
drill.  It's really turning into one of those days.

Egon

From: JRoland//UpNet.298.37.489.11
To: MBHaggerty//UpNet.20.894.9873
Subject: Malfunctioning Turret

Got a turret down here in the lab, serial number 4566798A89X3.  Not responding
to any kind of input, and I can't get the thing to stand down.  I've tried
running diagnostics on it but no response.  Anything you can do from your end?
Otherwise it looks like I'll have to dismantle the damn thing. - Roland

From: IRidley//UpNet.783.38.8522
To: MBHaggerty//UpNet.20.894.9873
Subject: Illumination Is At Hand

You have been in the service of the False Ones.  Those who call themselves
"majestic", but have so little understanding of the true Doctrine of the Mighty.
It is unfortunate that you will not be able to comprehend the Plan, the Way,
the course that has been carefully laid out for us over a thousand years.
I truly wish you could see the beauty of everything as it has been shown to
me, and then you would understand why I must undertake such extreme measures.

By the time you receive this message it will already be too late.  The
computer virus will have been released, and by now the entire network has been
thoroughly infiltrated.  I am sorry.  The only comfort I can give is that your
necessary sacrifice will be for a higher cause.

From: BPage//UpNet.783.38.8522
To: MBHaggerty//UpNet.20.894.9873
Subject: destroy EVERYTHING

The report is confirmed.  The sabotage was carried out by agents of the
Illuminati.  We cannot get protection to the area in time.  Cease work
immediately and destroy the UC.  Yes, destroy it!  It will be a setback, but
if you can transmit the schematics I requested, we might be able to get a
system running at Area 51.

Are you still down there, Haggerty?  Please respond.  I need that schematic.

BP

<COMMENT>Love letter</COMMENT>

Julia, I must see you - we have to talk, about us, about this project.  I'm not
sure what we're doing here anymore and Page has made... strange requests of the
interface team.  I would leave, but not without you.  You mean too much to me.
After the duty shift changes, come to my chamber - it's the only place we can
talk in private.  The code is 0169.  I love you.

Alain

<COMMENT>Cloning lab</COMMENT>

SUBJECT MJID-5673OP2809
INCEPT DATE: 2/25/54
ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 2/25/34
ASSIGNED BIRTH NAME: Wade Walker
BASE GENETIC SAMPLE: SIMONSWALTON32A
PROFILE: AABCAAB
VITALS: 45/80/0.89/33/1.2

[[[[[STASIS]]]]]

<COMMENT>Cloning lab</COMMENT>

SUBJECT MJID-8392ER9203
INCEPT DATE: 5/13/52
ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 5/13/33
ASSIGNED BIRTH NAME: Nick Pausback
BASE GENETIC SAMPLE: PAGEBOB86G
PROFILE: BAABACA
VITALS: 51/72/1.02/20/2.1

[[[[[STASIS]]]]]

<COMMENT>Cloning lab</COMMENT>

SUBJECT MJID-0003JC0189
INCEPT DATE: 3/17/54
ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 3/17/29
ASSIGNED BIRTH NAME: <PLAYERNAME>
BASE GENETIC SAMPLE: XXXXXXXXXXX7V
PROFILE: AAAAAAB
VITALS: 50/75/0.98/25/1.4

[[[[[EXPUNGED]]]]]

<COMMENT>Cloning lab</COMMENT>

SUBJECT MJID-0056RQ9872
INCEPT DATE: 11/20/55
ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 11/20/33
ASSIGNED BIRTH NAME: Alex Denton
BASE GENETIC SAMPLE: XXXXXXXXXXX7V
PROFILE: AAAAAAA
VITALS: 61/72/0.96/31/1.2

[[[[[STASIS]]]]]

These are some of the most important datacubes in DX. They absolutely confirm that JC Denton was engineered and not born; he is at least one year old, but probably not more than three. This also gives a lower bound on the date that DX takes place: on or after November 20, 2055 (note that they have reverted to two-digit years - bad!). Alex Denton's genome will be used in DX2 to create the main character.

<COMMENT>Maintenance access through fan</COMMENT>

MJ12 ADVANCE TEAM
PROBLEM RECOMMENDATION REPORT 87-X
FROM: CAPTAIN JAMES FLORES
TO: AGENT KARYO
PRR-ID: 7793G

DESCRIPTION: After preliminary reconnaissance, I have determined that we have a
potential security vulnerability in one of the outlying warehouses: an intake
fan vent with a maintenance access hatch that could act as a possible method of
ingress to the facility.  While such ingress would present definite hazards to
any intruder, it is still an unacceptable risk for a Seraphic/8X classified
facility.

RECOMMENDATION: A squad should be dispatched to a) secure the area; b) weld
the hatch shut; and c) install sensors and autoguns to extend our security
grid coverage.

NOTES: All troops not directly attached to MJ12 have been classified as a
security liability and should be eliminated on sight.

AUTHBLOK=<"8723reg7cvhjc87eow3fwelvcsdoc7t80723dfwve">

<COMMENT>Security computer code to open bunker doors</COMMENT>

Yusef:

They've jammed all communications, even narrow band microcasts, so this is the
only way I could pass a message to you.  I don't know who these guys
are - they're not ours, not any of ours I've ever seen at least - but they're
slaughtering us.  I managed to hack the first layer of the Dreamland systems,
but the best I could do was lock the bunker doors and reroute control to the
security console in the tower.  Should take them awhile to figure that one
out, and the moment they do I'll nail the first bastard that sticks his head
out of the hole.  If something happens to me, the login is "a51" and the
password is "xx15yz".

BTW, be careful - a squad made it out before I managed to lock the doors: they
headed for the warehouse and then I lost contact with them.

-Hawkins

<COMMENT>Door code</COMMENT>

MAINTENANCE LOG: PURVIS, J.

* 19:45:12 - ... Thought I heard something upstairs, like automatic weapons
fire.  I reported it to my sector lead, but she told me it was a training
exercise.

* 20:34:02 - Bunch of those folks in the black suits, like they stepped off
the set of "Father Knows Best".  Kept asking questions about the reactors,
and I just kept telling 'em they needed to wait till Mac gets back.

* 23:11:30 - Finally managed to hack the code to the stairwell blast door
(1038); this place is a totally undocumented mess of '50s tech, weird ass
stuff, and new toys from the labs.  Amazing any of it works...

<COMMENT>Coolant testing room</COMMENT>

Purvis - I hacked the door lock on the coolant system, saves you the trouble:
2242.  Amazing no one ever bothered to write this stuff down, I'm still finding
doors with unknown codes.  Anyways, check the secondary cooling interchange...
the numbers it's been reporting back don't look right.  Of course, I'm just
guessing at what right is.

Mac

<COMMENT>Last words</COMMENT>

NEW DATACUBE TRANSCRIPT
BEGIN TIMECODE 19:57:48

RECORDING BEGINS ]]]NOW[[[

XV: -mmit dammit dammit where's the goddamned clip goddamn it who the hell are
these guys?  Okay, two clips of 762 and maybe... three clips of 10... where am
I going to go?  Don't think, don't think, that'll get you killed, just get out.
Everything comes next.  Okay?  Okay?  Let's move, Xavier, move move move...

(unidentified noises)

XV: Christ - you want some of this?  Have some come on come on come on I'm not
going to die here I'm not - hgggggk -

XV: ... I... I...

??: He's recording.

??: Deactivate it.

RECORDING ]]]ENDS[[[

<COMMENT>Helios elevator room</COMMENT>

Alain, I have a feeling that the truth about whatever we're involved with
involves the Aquinas Protocol and Helios.  Page has restricted access to those
areas, but the Aquinas Substation and Router are usually deserted during fourth
shift.  Unfortunately, they'd notice if I was gone.  If you can get away, the
code is 6765.  See if you can find out what's going on, and if anyone asks just
tell them you're there because of variances in the fiber interface relays.

Julia

<COMMENT>Storage room</COMMENT>

FROM: JACOB MACKENZIE
TO: AGENT KARYO

I'm moving all the explosives we find into storage.  I don't think there's any
danger of sweating or spontaneous detonation - this stuff looked like it was
pretty stable - but I thought it might be best to put it in a secure,
structurally sound location.  If you or your people require access, the
explosives locker code is 4225.

Mac

Alain, I don't have much time - I managed to hack into the archives maintained
by Helios.  It was... amazing.  There were files and messages in there going
back almost a hundred years, names of things I've only heard people whisper
about as rumors.  I barely had time to get my bearings before the ice started
to come down, and I just managed to snag a few e-mails that had been recently
accessed before I was cut off.  I don't think anyone noticed, but I've got to
go back on shift now or else someone really will be suspicious.  If you get a
chance, find my machine and see if you can make anything out of what I
recovered.

Login: jshears
Password: momerath

Julia

MJ12 CWD
TECHNICAL REPORT 12-Y
FROM: SANDY PRINSLOO
TO: KIM KRIZAN
SUBJECT: INTERFACE PROGRESS

We've finally managed to work out the last few bugs in the link-up - Page wants
to be interfaced with Helios immediately after final testing is completed.  I'm
not sure if that's such a good idea, but I'll defer to the doctors on this
one... I'm just the technical help.  I figure another five or six hours for the
last couple diagnostic routines to complete their pass and then we go live.
Page also requested that we hook up all four of the blue fusion devices in a
redundant array; each of those damn things could probably power the whole
complex for a month, much less four of them in parallel.  Going to be hell to
route them all, but I think I can jury-rig something.  I'll take a look at
the B13 reactors after I get the passcode from Mac, see if there's anything
there that might be helpful.  I should know more by 2300.  And let me know
when you get the status report from Murdoch on the transmission chamber.

MJ12CWD * "Ipsa scientia potestas est."

It's all very clear to me now... I don't know why it wasn't before.

We have all sinned, and this is our punishment.

Page is God.  He is the God we made, we crafted him in our likeness.

Our God is a vengeful God, and a God who does not tolerate weakness.  We know
his weaknesses, because we built him, so our God does not tolerate us.

Our God made monsters.  He made them with the UC, then he sent them to find us.
Some of us tried to hide, but they didn't understand.  You can't hide from God,
or his creatures.

I've been waiting here, thinking.  Thinking about God, and the things I have
done wrong.  If I think long enough and hard enough, maybe God will forgive
me someday and make me again in the UC.

All praise the UC, and all praise God.

From: GOlivaw//UpNet.273.3947
To: MEverett//UpNet.3289.0912
Subject: RFD 5342A - Cloning Prospectus

Your request for discussion concerning the plausibility of creating genetically
viable candidates for nano-augmentation through cloning has sparked considerable
interest.  We believe that with sufficient research investment, the careful
cultivation of acquired tissue samples from known H type epsilon negative
individuals could yield an indefinite number of specimens with the immunity
factors required to tolerate the injection of nano-organic material.  If you
examine the attached studies, you will see that repeated cloning from the
primary source material will result in only a 0.53% immunoglobin variance.

We would suggest utilizing the data acquired by the Illuminati during the
smallpox vaccinations of the 1940s to genetically screen for those couples
most likely to produce desirable offspring who could then be cloned and
raised by the "parents" under carefully supervised conditions.  These cloned
siblings would provide the necessary redundancy for further experimental
trials.  In the future, this process could be streamlined through the
application of accelerated growth and memory implantation.

We look forward to hearing any comments that you might have,
Dr. Olivaw

Another very important E-mail which discusses J.C. Denton's genome. Based on other information found in DX datacubes, it is clear that Paul and JC Denton have been growth-accelerated and have had false memories implanted. (While the year that DX takes place is uncertain, it definitely doesn't take place far enough beyond 2055 for J.C. Denton to have been cloned, born, and raised by real parents - that would make DX take place around 2080 or so.) It seems that Majestic 12 considered using the slow approach, but eventually went with growth acceleration - otherwise, the timing of this E-mail does not make sense.

The name "Olivaw" is almost certainly another rare Foundation reference, to R. Daneel Olivaw.

From: LDeBeers//UpNet.873.484
To: BPage//UpNet.658.9044
Subject: RE: Bovine Manipulation

>I'd like to investigate the possibility of resurrecting
>the bovine manipulation project (MJID-9803HU8932), with
>an eye towards recreating the "Gray" lifeform - while
>the project was deemed a failure at the time, it _was_
>successful as a propaganda tactic in diverting attention
>away from actual Dreamland research.  With recent advances
>in genetic science, the Gray lifeform could be engineered
>to protect MJ12 facilities while also serving as a useful
>bit of meme indirection.

An interesting idea, Bob, but I'm sure MJ12's research allocations can be put
to more substantial use pursuing our human augmentation projects; however,
I'll bring up the idea with Stanton and Morgan.

Lucius

This E-mail, found on the same computer as the E-mail from Dr. Olivaw to Morgan Everett, casts further light on when these E-mails were sent (it is a pity that DX E-mails are not dated). Lucius DeBeers was quite well when he sent this, and Bob Page was his insolent protege.

Also, this is another reference to memetics.

From: BPage//UpNet.658.9044
To: WSimons//UpNet.039.4980
Subject: Secondary Unit

I've come to believe that <PLAYERFIRSTNAME> should be brought up in a
more supervised environment than his brother; I have serious doubts as to his
brother's usefulness as our primary unit, and would rather that at least one
of the secondary units was under our direct control.

Terminate the parents, but see that <PLAYERFIRSTNAME> is not harmed.
We'll move him to our school in Switzerland where we can oversee his
development.  If it becomes necessary, his brother is expendable.

Page

As if the origins of J.C. Denton were not confused enough, this E-mail just makes things worse. (In development, obviously the exact timing of DX was uncertain, as was the true age of J.C. This is why there are two threads of evidence in DX. One is pointing to J.C. being engineered, growth-accelerated, memory-implanted, and at most a couple of years old. The other is pointing to J.C. being engineered, raised by "parents" who were actually working for Page et al., and going to a school in Switzerland.)

In the end, I have to conclude that the first scenario is more strongly supported by the evidence. J.C. is actually a couple of years old, and has been growth-accelerated. However, the acceleration did not happen all at once. It occurred in at least two bursts, and in the interim, a teenage J.C. went to school in Switzerland and was raised by false "parents". This makes the most sense, considering all of the evidence in DX.

From: JMacdonald//UpNet.879.8657
To: JDwight//UpNet.9803.4584
Subject: Aquinas Secure?

Something strange... I just finished a packet analysis of the new v1.82
compression protocols we added to Aquinas last week, and while I was digging
around in the headers I found a quirk in the security encryption algorithms
that acts just like a backdoor - you could even reformulate entire messages
end to end if you knew what you were doing.  It's pretty subtle (and would
require someone to matrix together several offsets from successive packets to
generate a time differential key) but the end result could potentially open up
every bit of traffic carried by Aquinas to someone who knew about the hole.

I was thinking of mentioning this to Page, maybe get some points for
discovering a potential security breach before we shipped.  What do you think?
-
Jim

From: BPage//UpNet.658.9044
To: WS//UpNet.78543.98231
Subject: Re: Situational Update

In the past we've considered Savage and his renegades to be
inconsequential - possibly even useful - but the time has come to eliminate
them.  Mobilize all MJ12 units in the immediate vicinity and see to it that
Vandenberg is shut down before Savage ever has a chance to activate his UC.

Don't worry about Daedalus.  I've made some improvements to Icarus that
might surprise even Everett.

Page

>Denton has connected with Savage and the X-51 researchers;
>after examining the transaction records from Payens, it
>looks like he's working with both Everett and Daedelus.
>Strong says Savage is still missing a containment
>vessel and that he's sent someone to the Pasadena lab in
>an attempt to recover the data.  I already have a team
>preparing to intercept.

Hey Sandy,

I finally got the security login for Lab B13 from Mac - he said to have a ball,
just don't blow us all to kingdom come while you're at it.  If you do find
anything that helps with hooking up those blue fusion gizmos, let us know.
Might give us a better idea of exactly how those reactors work.

Login: area51
Password: bravo13

Jake

LAB 12 TESTING REGIMEN
SUBJECT: LIFEFORM MJID-9803HU8932 ("GRAY")
REGIMEN: SERIES 112-A

PROCEDURE: "GRAY" LIFEFORM APPEARS TO THRIVE IN AREAS OF HIGH RADIOACTIVITY
WHILE ALSO BEING ABLE TO STORE AND RELEASE RADIOACTIVITY IN A CONTROLLED MANNER
THROUGH AN ORGAN OF UNKNOWN OPERATION.  FURTHER VIVISECTION IN COMBINATION WITH
REGIMEN SERIES 112 WILL BE REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE A COHESIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS
MECHANISM.  SERIES 112-A SEEKS TO ESTABLISH BASELINE READINGS OF THE "GRAY"
LIFEFORM IN BOTH A RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE ENVIRONMENT BEFORE
PROCEEDING TO SERIES 112-B.

RESEARCHERS ACQUIRING BASELINE READINGS SHOULD USE CONTAINMENT AREA SECURITY
CONSOLE WITH LOGIN "LAB 12" AND PASSWORD "GRAYTEST" TO ENABLE OR DISABLE
RADIOACTIVE FIELD AS REQUIRED AND REPORT ALL FINDINGS TO DR. FRANK ROAN FOR
PROCESSING.

Mac,

Looks like another leak in the reactor room, but check the waste-water filters
first.  We might get lucky.  Page is on my ass about the power grid.  Some sort
of medical procedure this afternoon... If the problem's not the filters, we
need to know ASAP if there's an issue with the containment system.  Note that
Page changed the code to the reactor room this morning.  It's now 2001.

Sal

Suzie,

Go!  The cages are open... I don't know what happened... some kind of attack...
I got into the Aquinas Hub... Yes, the code works, and our monkey friends are
transgenics, I'm pretty sure...

I will be in the Reactor Lab.  Don't come to find me... I will meet you on the
surface... when it's safe...

This confirms it: the Grays in DX are not aliens.

Sergeant Smith,

As we discussed, you will take responsibility for the security of the Aquinas
Substation.  The security computer login is "page" and the password is
"uberalles".  Expect activity today.  The Aquinas Hub is being prepared for
an experiment, and I don't want one of Savage's spies to interfere.  Let NO
ONE touch the routers until I give the word.

Legend Quotes

By using a cheat code, a "Legend" menu can be brought up; aside from options to modify the internal game state, a list of quotations from the developers can be displayed. Many aren't relevant to the design of Deus Ex, but some are; here's an abridged list of them.

Warren: Poof! I am God.

Steve: The only problem with an online community is that there are
       people in it.

Harvey: Hey Monte, do you read much?
Monte: What? Books?

Chris: Dead guys don't float but they will, eventually.

Warren: If we get a bunch of rats and pigeons in the appropriate
        places, people will sh*t.

Harvey: The Statue of Liberty does not look like the Statue of Liberty
        without that giant f*cking green statue on top.

Dan: Women are very high poly count.

Tim to Albert: You've found an interesting way to break the
               script compiler.

Warren: Wait a minute - this is a dialogue rather than a flame. Cool.

Monte: Movers suck.

Warren: Well, this is a paradigmatic problem!
Everyone else in the room laughs hard.
Warren: What? That's a word! It is!

Harvey: Killing people... not a problem.

Warren: We don't want to educate people unnecessarily.

Bob: Death definitely improves one's frame rate.

Chris: Math is so cool. Hooray for math!

Warren: (writing up a bug) Bots that aren't actively engaged
        in some kind of activity look pretty lifeless.

Scott: You can gib a child with one stroke of the nanosword!
Chris: That's because children have fewer hit points. They
       are inferior and weak.

Steve: Setting the AI reactions for a giant spiderbot is pretty
       easy... hate, hate, hate, hate.

Steve: I got my leg blown off yesterday and I really didn't notice
       anything different.

Austin to Chris Todd: You're really putting the grimness into
                      this game.

Andy: Hey Warren, I would actually buy this game now...

Andy: The karkians look like big potatos with legs, potato dogs!

"Paranoia means having all the facts" - William S. Burroughs

Jacob's Shadow

Excerpts of Jacob's Shadow by Andrew Hammond appear throughout the Deus Ex gameworld. However, unlike several other books mentioned or seen in Deus Ex, Jacob's Shadow is not a real book and Andrew Hammond is not a real author. It was invented specifically for Deus Ex by the Deus Ex writers, and the snippets that appear there are all that exist of the "book". Here are all the excepts combined together:

Jacob's Shadow
by Andrew Hammond

Chapter 12

"Lot a people say this city looks like Hell," Allie said.  She took a long drag
from her cigarette. The glowing tip burned a hole in the darkness.

"Most people never been to Hell," Jacob said.

She looked at him and he could hear the smile in her voice.  "And I suppose
you have?"

Jacob said nothing, then stood and walked to the bed.  Allie let out a small
noise and shrank back against the pillows as if she'd claw her way into them
if she could.  He leaned down close to her ear.

"You like to play games," he whispered.  "And that's fine.  But you don't
want to be playing games with me, because I'm the one honest man in this
city.  You should know that, since we were married."

Chapter 15

Waiting was always the hardest part: in the stir, and in life.  Guys who
couldn't handle it either ended up rocking back and forth in a dark corner,
or babbling incoherently.  Always the same.

Jacob would have been the one rocking in the corner.  He did solitary the first
time after a fight, someone thinking he was an easy mark.  Forty-eight hours
and he started screaming and didn't stop until his larynx was raw and his
voice cracked.  It was a month before he could talk again.

One of the lifers saw Jacob wasn't as fence-post dumb as the rest of the
population and took to schooling him in chess.  Jacob never got much respect
from the old-timer, but he got his sanity.  He'd play chess, checkers,
backgammon, any game there was.

He got into another fight when one pendejo who was looking to make a name for
himself flipped over Jacob's game board, said impolite things about people and
their little kiddie games.  Jacob cracked one of his ribs and amused himself
for a week in solitary playing Kasparov and Bobby Fischer in his head.

['Pendejo' is Spanish for 'asshole'.]

Chapter 20

Samuel looked at him from across the table, but he might as well have been
peering at Jacob from the Devil's own palace in the deep blue sea.

After a moment Samuel rubbed his rheumy eyes. "You ever wonder about morals?"
he said.  Jacob shook his head.  "I do... all the damn time.  I wonder what
it means to be good - if there's some tally that says 'you only hurt ten
people, so come on up, but eleven and you're going straight to hell.'  Then
I think maybe it's a little voice that tells you, way back in your head.
And then I wonder what happens when that voice goes away..."

Jacob reached under the table and put the little .22 pistol against one of
Samuel's kneecaps.

"I don't think you're going to like my answer to that.  Where is she?"

Chapter 23

There weren't many moves left.  Jacob knew that.  Most of the pawns had been
taken off the board and his own queen lost.  The game had entered its final
phase, and now the question wasn't which piece to sacrifice - they were all
more or less expendable - but when.

He shined his flashlight throughout the rooms of the vacant house.  It was a
perfectly serviceable tract home somewhere in the suburbs where the sun
occasionally shone.  It looked like no one had lived there for ages, and that
was true enough.  Jacob just took care of the bills - any paper trail ended at
Hobb's Cemetary up state.

In the attic he found the old water heater, cold now.  He removed the top and
felt along the edge for a nearly invisible strand of fishing line.  Jacob
hauled back on the line until he pulled a dripping plastic bag free of the
murky tank.  He took the flashlight between his teeth and opened the bag.

Inside was a gun, a clean gun.  Its serial numbers filed and the rifling
scratched beyond any possible match.  The bullets all reloads with blank
copper casings.  No fingerprints.

Time for the next move.

Chapter 27

It was late when he got back.  Everything black and quiet.  Jacob killed the
lights but didn't take the key out of the ignition.  He reached into his pocket
and took out a little box with an LCD display, thumbed a button and the radio
transceiver captured the last few hours worth of motion sensor logs from the
building.  He'd done some favors for friends in the Shop - or whatever it was
they were calling it this week - and they'd installed it to spec for him.

As he walked to the door he was still arranging all the pieces in his head.
Sure way to get his ass taken down, but he couldn't help it.  Something was
missing.  Didn't fit.  Allie hunched over in the bathroom, that needle
dangling from between her toes.  Katsuya shifting a half million yen before the
currency market closed.  The radio station Samuel had turned him on to, the one
with the little girl repeating all those numbers in sequence.  And somewhere in
the middle...

Jacob stopped, looked up at the night sky.  He'd been assuming that there were
two sides to this game and both were playing to win. But what if... what if
there was someone else, and they wanted to see both sides lose?

Chapter 32

Jacob looked at her and watched all the regret drain from her eyes.  She tossed
the empty revolver onto the body next to her, the gun in her other hand never
moving an inch from a point that Jacob guessed was just above the bridge of his
nose.

"You don't have to do this.  It doesn't have to be like this."

"Oh, yes... yes, I'm afraid that it does."

He slowly shook his head.  The window cracked and for a moment it sounded as if
a wasp had buzzed through the room - then a dull thud as her body dropped to
the floor.  Blood poured from the cavity that had been her skull, a wide black
pool that spread like a shadow in the darkness.

Jacob knelt and rubbed his fingers in her blood.  Monk never missed with a
sniper rifle.  Not ever.

Chapter 34

Jacob sat down on the bench and unrolled his chess board onto the rough stone
table in front of him.  As he was removing his playing pieces, a shadow fell
across the board.  He looked up, squinting into the sun.

"Merriweather," he said.

"Jacob."  She settled herself down onto the opposite bench, leaning heavily on
her cane.  "It didn't turn out so well for you this time, did it?"  Jacob said
nothing.  She gestured to the board with one hand and he detected just a hint
of a tremor.  "You're playing black today."

He put the queen down on her square and his fingers lingered.  "No, it didn't
turn out well.  I did some stupid things."  He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I cared, and some people died because of it."

Merriweather made a tsking sound.  "It's not the caring that's a matter,
Jacob, it's what comes after.  What are you going to do now?"

Jacob paused for just a moment. "Now... I'm going to play another game."

The Man Who Was Thursday

Excerpts of The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton also appear throughout the Deus Ex gameworld. Unlike Jacob's Shadow, The Man Who Was Thursday is real, and was written in 1908. Here is the full text, and here are the excerpts that appear in Deus Ex:

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

"... First of all, what is it really all about?  What is it you object to?  You
want to abolish Government?"

"To abolish God!" said Gregory, opening the eyes of a fanatic.  "We do not only
want to upset a few despotisms and police regulations; that sort of anarchism
does exist, but it is a mere branch of the Nonconformists.  We dig deeper and
we blow you higher.  We wish to deny all those arbitrary distinctions of vice
and virtue, honour and treachery, upon which mere rebels base themselves.  The
silly sentimentalists of the French Revolution talked of the Rights of Man!
We hate Rights as we hate Wrongs. We have abolished Right and Wrong."

"And Right and Left," said Syme with a simple eagerness, "I hope you will
abolish them too.  They are much more troublesome to me..."

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

... Syme had never thought of asking whether the monstrous man who almost filled
and broke the balcony was the great President of whom the others stood in awe.
He knew it was so, with an unaccountable but instantaneous certainty.  Syme,
indeed, was one of those men who are open to all the more nameless psychological
influences in a degree a little dangerous to mental health.  Utterly devoid of
fear in physical dangers, he was a great deal too sensitive to the smell of
spiritual evil.  Twice already that night little unmeaning things had peeped
out at him almost pruiently, and given him a sense of drawing nearer and nearer
to the head-quarters of hell.  And this sense became overpowering as he drew
nearer to the great President...

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

... "Professor," he cried, "it is intolerable. Are you afraid of this man?"

The Professor lifted his heavy lids, and gazed at Syme with large, wide-open,
blue eyes of an almost ethereal honesty.  "Yes, I am," he said mildly.  "So are
you."

Syme was dumb for an instant.  Then he rose to his feet erect, like an insulted
man, and thrust the chair away from him.

"Yes," he said in a voice indescribable, "you are right.  I am afraid of him.
Therefore I swear by God that I will seek out this man whom I fear until I
find him, and strike him on the mouth.  If heaven were his throne and the
earth his footstool, I swear that I would pull him down."

"How?" asked the staring Professor.  "Why?"

"Because I am afraid of him," said Syme; "and no man should leave in the
universe anything of which he is afraid..."

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

Both combatants had thrown off their coats and waistcoats, and stood sword in
hand.  The seconds stood on each side of the line of fight with drawn swords
also, but still sombre in their dark frock-coats and hats.  The principals
saluted.  The Colonel said quietly, "Engage!" and the two blades touched and
tingled.

When the jar of the joined iron ran up Syme's arm, all the fantastic fears that
have been the subject of this story fell from him like dreams from a man waking
up in bed.  He remembered them clearly and in order as mere delusions of the
nerves - how the fear of the Professor had been the fear of the tyrannic
accidents of nightmare, and how the fear of the Doctor had been the fear of the
airless vacuum of science.  The first was the old fear that any miracle might
happen, the second the more hopeless modern fear that no miracle can ever
happen.  But he saw that these fears were fancies, for he found himself in the
presence of the great fact of the fear of death, with its coarse and pitiless
common sense.  He felt like a man who had dreamed all night of falling over
precipices, and had woke up on the morning when he was to be hanged.  For as
soon as he had seen the sunlight run down the channel of his foe's
foreshortened blade, and as soon as he had felt the two tongues of steel
touch, vibrating like two living things, he knew that his enemy was a terrible
fighter, and that probably his last hour had come.

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

... "I think," said Dr. Bull with precision, "that I am lying in bed at No. 217
Peabody Buildings, and that I shall soon wake up with a jump; or, if that's not
it, I think that I am sitting in a small cushioned cell in Hanwell, and that
the doctor can't make much of my case.  But if you want to know what I don't
think, I'll tell you.  I don't think what you think.  I don't think, and I
never shall think, that the mass of ordinary men are a pack of dirty modern
thinkers.  No, sir, I'm a democrat, and I still don't believe that Sunday could
convert one average navy or counter-jumper.  No, I may be mad, but humanity
isn't."

Syme turned his bright blue eyes on Bull with an earnestness which he did not
commonly make clear.

"You are a very fine fellow," he said.  "You can believe in a sanity which is
not merely your sanity.  And you're right enough about humanity, about peasants
and people like that jolly old innkeeper.  But you're not right about Renard.
I suspected him from the first.  He's rationalistic, and, what's worse, he's
rich.  When duty and religion are really destroyed, it will be by the rich."

The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton

... "I never hated you," said Syme very sadly.

Then out of this unintelligible creature the last thunders broke.

"You!" he cried.  "You never hated because you never lived.  I know what you are
all of you, from first to last - you are the people in power!  You are the
police - the great fat, smiling men in blue and buttons!  You are the Law, and
you have never been broken.  But is there a free soul alive that does not long
to break you, only because you have never been broken?  We in revolt talk all
kind of nonsense doubtless about this crime or that crime of the Government.
It is all folly!  The only crime of the Government is that it governs.  The
unpardonable sin of the supreme power is that it is supreme.  I do not curse
you for being cruel.  I do not curse you (though I might) for being kind.  I
curse you for being safe!  You sit in your chairs of stone, and have never
come down from them.  You are the seven angels of heaven, and you have had no
troubles.  Oh, I could forgive you everything, you that rule all mankind, if
I could feel for once that you had suffered for one hour a real agony such as
I..."

Deus Ex Postmortem

On December 6, 2000, Gamasutra released a summary of Deus Ex's development process written by Warren Spector. That summary is available freely here - but there's a catch. You have to be a member of Gamasutra. Joining is free, but the registration process assumes you are a game developer. Apparently they never considered that just plain gamers might want to read about game development. While you could easily supply fake information and register at Gamasutra, it will keep their database cleaner if I simply reproduce it here. The full article has pictures with captions that are not necessary here.

Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex
by Warren Spector
December 6, 2000

Deus Ex shipped in June 2000. Sales were, and continue to be, strong, worldwide. Critical response (with one or two notable exceptions) has been positive. We've already won several "best of year" awards in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. Needless to say it's gratifying when people appreciate your work.

We did a lot of stuff right on Deus Ex; we did a lot of stuff wrong. In this article, I'd like to take the opportunity to looks at some of that stuff. Specifically, I want to discuss:

• The design philosophies that led to the creation of Deus Ex.
• Technology licensing: where it helped us and where it hurt us.
• Scheduling methodologies and why they all failed (as they always do, on every project...)
• Management structures and team building techniques, some of which seemed like good ideas on paper but turned out to be unmitigated disasters in practice.
• The public relations triumphs and nightmares that often seemed as if they'd have as much impact on our success as the quality of our work.

Let's start with a simple question for those of you who have no idea what Deus Ex (a.k.a. "That Game with a Wacky Name") is...

What is Deus Ex?

I'll try to be brief. (Those of you who know me know I'll probably fail...)

Fictionally, Deus Ex is set in a near-future version of the real world (as it exists if conspiracy buffs are right). For some real shorthand, call it "James Bond meets The X-Files." (Remember that seemingly innocent claim that Deus Ex is set in the real world. It'll come up again shortly...)

Conceptually, Deus Ex is a genre-busting game (which really endeared us to the marketing guys) - part immersive simulation, part role-playing game, part first-person shooter, part adventure game.

It's an immersive simulation game in that you are made to feel you're actually in the game world with as little as possible getting in the way of the experience of "being there." Ideally, nothing reminds you that you're just playing a game - not interface, not your character's back-story or capabilities, not game systems, nothing. It's all about how you interact with a relatively complex environment in ways that you find interesting (rather than in ways the developers think are interesting), and in ways that move you closer to accomplishing your goals (not the developers' goals).

It's a role-playing game in that you play a role and make character development choices that ensure that you end up with a unique alter ego. You make your way through a variety of minute-to-minute gameplay experiences (which add up to a story) in a manner that grows naturally out of the unique aspects of your character. Every game system is designed to differentiate one player-character from another, and to allow players to make decisions that reflect their own biases and express character differences in obvious ways in the game world.

It's a first-person shooter because the action unfolds in real time, seen through the virtual eyes of your alter ego in the game world. Your reflexes and skill play an important part in determining your success in combat. However, unlike the typical FPS, Deus Ex doesn't force you to shoot every virtual thing that moves. Also unlike the average FPS, in which gameplay is limited to pulling a virtual trigger, finding blue keys to open blue doors and jumping to reach seemingly inaccessible locations, Deus Ex offers players a wide range of gameplay options.

And finally, Deus Ex is like adventure games in that it's story-driven, linear in narrative structure, and involves character interaction and item accumulation to advance the plot. However, unlike most adventure games (in which you spend the bulk of your time solving clever puzzles in a search for the next static, but very pretty, screen), Deus Ex asks players to determine how they will solve game problems and forces them to deal with the consequences of their choices.

Deus Ex was designed from the start to combine elements of all of these genres. But more important than any genre classification, the game was conceived with the idea that we'd accept players as our collaborators, that we'd put power back in their hands, ask them to make choices, and let them deal with the consequences of those choices. It was designed, from the start, as a game about player expression, not about how clever we were as designers, programmers, artists, or storytellers. Which leads naturally to a discussion of having clear goals - the first thing I think we did right.

What Went Right

1. A clear high-level vision. It's pretty self-evident that you can't achieve goals if you're not clear about what they are. We knew with a high degree of confidence what kind of game we wanted to make. This was possible for two reasons. First, Deus Ex is a natural outgrowth of work done by and in some cases with the late, lamented Looking Glass Technologies. We were inspired as well by games made at Valve, Origin, and a host of other places. Many of the things we wanted to do were a reaction to things they (or we) didn't do, didn't do well or couldn't do at all in earlier games. We weren't building from scratch, but rather building on a foundation already laid for us.

Second, and on a personal level, Deus Ex is a game I've been thinking about since right around the time Underworld 2 shipped. I've tried to get a game like this started several times (as Troubleshooter at Origin; in some respects, as Junction Point, for Looking Glass). Those games didn't happen for a variety of reasons:

• I didn't or couldn't sell the concepts to the money people.
• Then current technology wasn't up to the job.
• I didn't have a team that wanted to make this kind of game or the resources to build one.
• Publishers weren't interested in a first-person, cross-genre game.

Still, I never stopped thinking about these games and, despite their failure to reach production, they laid much of the conceptual groundwork for Deus Ex. The lesson here is that if there's a game you really want to make, don't give up on it. Someone will be foolish enough to give you the money eventually.

As an interesting (I hope!) historical footnote, I include here for the first time publicly, complete with typos and misspellings, the very first proposal I ever submitted for the old Troubleshooter concept back at Origin. Note the budget and projected release date and, oh, those system requirements! Note also the similarities (and differences) between Troubleshooter and what eventually became Deus Ex. [Troubleshooter Proposal]

Several years passed. Lots of games somewhat like Troubleshooter came and went. Game budgets went up dramatically - $500,000 indeed! I left Origin and go to work for Looking Glass. Troubleshooter stayed on my mind.

In the fall of 1997, before Ion Storm entered the Deus Ex picture, I drafted a manifesto - a description of an ideal game - and also a set of "Rules of Role-Playing." Much of that material ended up in an article published in Game Developer ("Remodeling RPGs for the New Millennium". Here (for more of those historical reasons mentioned above) is the original draft of my Rules of Role-Playing, circa 1997:

The Rules of Role-Playing

• Always show the goal. Players should see their next goal (or encounter an intriguing mystery) before they can achieve (or explain) it.
• Problems not puzzles. It's an obstacle course, not a jigsaw puzzle. Game situations should make logical sense and solutions should never depend on reading the designer's mind. And there should always be more than one way to get past a game obstacle. Always.
• No forced failure. Failure isn't fun. Getting knocked unconscious and waking up in a strange place or finding yourself standing over dead bodies while holding a smoking gun can be cool story elements, but situations the player has no chance to react to are bad. Used sparingly, to drive a story forward, O.K. Don't overuse!
• It's the people, stupid. Role-playing is about interacting with other people in a variety of ways (not just combat... not just conversation...).
• Players do; NPCs watch. It's no fun to watch an NPC do something cool. If it's a cool thing, let the player do it. If it's a boring or mundane thing, don't even let the player think about it - let an NPC do it.
• Have you patted your player on the back today? Constant rewards will drive players onward. Make sure you reward players regularly. And make sure the rewards get more impressive as the game goes on.
• Players get smarter so games get harder. Make sure game difficulty escalates as players become more accustomed to your interface and more familiar with your world. Make sure you reward the player by making him or her more powerful as the game goes on.
• Think 3D. A 3D map cannot be laid out on graph paper. It has to take into account things over the player's head and under the player's feet. If there's no need to look up and down - constantly - make a 2D game!
• Are You Connected? Maps in a 3D game world must feature massive interconnectivity. Tunnels that go direct from Point A to Point B are bad; loops (horizontal and vertical) and areas with multiple entrance and exit points are good.

A year or so later, Deus Ex lead designer Harvey Smith clarified and extended the original rules as follows:

The DEUS EX Rules Amendments & Addenda
Drafted by Harvey Smith (and endorsed enthusiastically by me) in 1998

1. Problems will have multiple solutions. Locations will be reachable in several ways. All missions, locations, and problems will be specifically keyed to:
   • Skills (and skill levels)
   • Augmentations (and augmentation levels)
   • Objects
   • Weapons
2. Gameplay will rely on a variety of "tools," rather than just one:
   • Character capabilities (skills/augmentations)
   • Resource management
   • Combat
   • Character interaction
3. Combat will require more thought than "What's the biggest gun in my inventory?":
   • A more relevant question might be, "How do I deal with this situation involving a few intelligent, dangerous enemies?"
4. Geometry should contribute to gameplay - Whenever possible, show players a goal or destination before they can get there. This encourages players to find the route:
   • The route should include cool stuff players want or should force players through an area they want to avoid. (The latter is something we don't want to do too often.)
   • Make sure there's more than one way to get to all destinations.
   • Dead ends should be avoided unless tactically significant.
5. The overall mood and tone will be clear and consistent:
   • Fear
   • Paranoia
   • Tension
   • Release (through combat and/or reaching a predetermined goal or NPC conversation)

The details of Deus Ex - plot, character, game system design - all changed radically since the days of Troubleshooter and manifestos and rules and rules addenda, but conceptually the game still follows most of the rules and meets the ideals outlined in the Game Developer article. With these conceptual tools in mind, the Deus Ex team was able to assess design decisions and game system specifications, in light of what we wanted players to experience during the game and in light of our ultimate design goals.

So What Were Our Goals (In the Beginning)?

How did we intend to move from abstract ideas to game design specifics? We had to take our thinking to a deeper level. We had to start thinking about what we wanted players to be doing and thinking about as they played the game, rather than what we would be thinking about as we developed it.

This led to some critical concepts, outlined here:

• Who are you? We wanted players thinking about who they wanted to be in our game world. Character differentiation was to be paramount. Even more important, though, was the desire to ensure that those character differences would be more than cosmetic - they had to be expressible, minute-to-minute, in a deeply simulated game world, resulting in a unique gameplay experience for each player. This proved to be a far more important goal than any of us expected it to be.
• How do you behave? We wanted players thinking about how they wanted to interact with our game world. We knew we'd have to wean players from traditional puzzle/solution thinking and show them that Deus Ex was a game of problems (not puzzles!), all solvable in a variety of ways. This seemed critical to making character differentiation meaningful. The idea was to create a believable world and then offer game systems that encouraged players to explore that world in whatever way or ways they chose. The game would tune itself (however slightly) to the player's play style rather than forcing the developers' desired play style on players. We were tired of games that kept us on rails, offering the illusion of freedom and interactivity but without the reality, and we hoped players were as tired as we were of guessing what developers had in mind. We're a long way from being able to create a game in which players are truly free to do whatever they want - believe me, there's plenty of illusion in Deus Ex - but we knew we wanted to start taking at least some steps on the road to player control.
• Are you willing to pay the price? "Choice" and "consequence" were the two most frequently uttered words during our two to three years of development. What good is player control if all choices lead to the same result? Without real, predictable consequences, choice is irrelevant. (Which is probably why so many games seem so trivial - they are trivial!)
• Are you there? We wanted players to feel like they were actually there, in the real world. We wanted this not only because we thought it would be cool (though we did think that!) but because we thought it was critical to making the above concepts actually work. If players were going to solve problems, they needed to be able to make some informed guesses about how those problems worked. If they were going to deal with consequences, they needed to be able to predict what those consequences might be. In other words, they needed to be able to apply some real-world common sense. If you fire a gun in the room you're sitting in as you read this, you can pretty much tell what's going to happen. (If you're in a public place, all **** is going to break loose; if you're at home alone, your neighbors might complain about the noise but that's about it...) Fire a gun in a game set in a fantastic alternate dimension and there's no telling. How can you possibly make a plan and execute it if you can't apply simple, real-world logic to the most straightforward situation imaginable? We wanted that real-world common-sense stuff. Firing a gun in Deus Ex should result in the real-world response. (Speaking personally, I was also just sick and tired of goofy fantasy settings and alien invasions.) Everything in the game would be real, based on something real or based on something someone, somewhere believed to be real. (We can show you the research behind most everything in the game, no matter how outlandish it may seem.) We looked for two kinds of real world spaces: Those that were naturally great game spaces (highly interconnected, multi-level stuff) and places people would just enjoy poking around in ways they couldn't in the real world (such as the White House). There was never a time when we thought realism should get in the way of fun - anytime that happened, reality lost.

To recap: Know what your gameplay goals are and what kind of experience you want players to have before you spend ten seconds thinking about anything specific. Nice talk, but what did clear goals, manifestos, and commandments buy us?

2. We didn't skimp on preproduction. We spent the first six months of I (before we licensed a game engine), with a team of about six, just thinking about how we could turn our high-level goals into a game. We hammered on the setting and decided to move the game into the near future to buy ourselves some room to play around - the real world, as we quickly discovered, was very limiting. Ultimately, we settled on a conspiracy-oriented background.

Here's what we had when we started: the very first design proposal (again, as is) for Shooter, our ironic working title for a game we never intended to be "just" a first-person shooter. [Shooter Proposal]

First of all, ignore the projected ship date of Christmas 1998. That was never possible, not for an instant. I don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, other than that (ahem) little misstep, the original Shooter doc does a pretty good job of describing the game that eventually became Deus Ex. Details changed. System specs definitely changed, but overall I don't think anyone can say we didn't deliver the game we said we would.

But how did we get from Shooter to Deus Ex? What were our first steps?

We worked on back-story stuff so we'd know what was going on in the world, even in places the player never got to visit. Some of this stuff may come to the forefront in Deus Ex 2 but, for Deus Ex, it was just a way of making sure we knew enough to include the kinds of small details that make a fictional world convincing.

We did a vast amount of research into "real" conspiracies - the Kennedy assassination, Area 51, the CIA pushing crack in East L.A., Dwight Eisenhower's UFO connection, and of course Freemasons tunneling below the Denver airport and building abducted-baby cafeterias for alien invaders at George Bush's direction. Only a fraction of this stuff ended up in the game, but it gave us a peek into the minds of conspiracy buffs that was both scary and useful.

We also created a cast of more than 200 characters, many of whom didn't yet have specific roles in the game. Ultimately, this list proved to be both a help and a hindrance to designers as they fleshed out the missions. Characters sometimes suggested missions or subquests, but just as often ended up being filler we were reluctant to cut, even though their missions or story purposes changed during our storyline-focusing passes.

We worked out a bunch of missions - more than 25 of them, taking the player from New York to London to Paris to San Antonio, to Austin to Siberia to Washington, D.C., to NORAD to Sunken L.A. (post-earthquake) to the Moon. We had wars in Texas, raids on concentration camps to free 2,000 prisoners from UN troops under FEMA control. Those of you who think the Deus Ex story line includes everything plus the kitchen sink now should have seen what we started with!

We hammered on game systems. We conceived a skill system that didn't depend on die-rolls or tracking skills at a fine level of granularity. We came up with a system of "special powers" (nanotech augmentations) that differentiated the player character from ordinary humans. We designed a conversation system with some cinematic elements and some elements borrowed from console RPGs. We mocked up 2D inventory, skill, and augmentation upgrade screens, map screens, even a text editor so players could take notes. We conceived several player reward systems, including skill point awards, augmentation upgrades, weapon availability timelines and tool/object availability timelines.

By March 1998, we had 300 pages of documentation and thought we knew everything we'd needed to know to make a game. Were we ever wrong. In the time between March 1998 and our Alpha 1 deadline of April 1999, that 300-page document mushroomed into more than 500 pages, much of it radically different from what we thought of and wrote initially. Clear goals and a detailed script are all well and good, but goals change, thinking changes, and game designs have to change, too. Which leads nicely into the next thing that went right.

3. Recognizing that game design is an organic process. Why did our thinking and goals change? There were lots of reasons.

NEW PEOPLE = NEW IDEAS

First, new people joined the team, with new ideas. Our staff grew from six people to roughly 20. I hired a bunch of people, of course, but we had the added excitement of integrating an entire art team assigned to us, in Austin, by an art director a couple of hundred miles away in Ion Storm's Dallas office.

Despite all the preproduction work, despite all the rules and manifestos, Deus Ex was, like all projects, going to be created by a group of people, each with his or her own agenda, many of whom hadn't been involved in the preproduction process. In other words, like all projects, Deus Ex was a living, evolving, growing thing. And there were some amazing growing pains associated with its development. Getting everyone on the same page wasn't always easy. (O.K., sometimes it was a nightmare!)

As we brought on new people, we found ourselves to be a team of hardcore Ultima geeks, hardcore shooter fans, hardcore immersive sim fans, strategy game nuts and console gamers. Some of our new team members proved to be "maximalists" - wanting to do everything, special-case lots of stuff, and stick as close to reality as possible. Other team members proved to be minimalists - wanting to include fewer game elements but implementing them exceptionally well, in ways that could be universally applied rather than special-cased.

Also, we made a point of letting select friends and colleagues play the game at various points along the way. We were interested in well-reasoned opinions from folks who understood the kind of game we were making intimately and who had a handle on the development process that was at least as good as our own. With all the new folks contributing and all the feedback from our chosen critics, well, let's just say we had some interesting debates at Ion Storm, Austin. Out of those debates new ideas arose, and the game changed as a result.

TECHNOLOGY IMPOSES LIMITS

Technology forced design changes, too. It took time to become familiar with the Unreal engine. I wish I could say we uncovered all its potentials and limitations quickly, but we didn't. Months of experimentation were necessary to reveal how best to do things in Unreal and what things not to do at all. When we stopped playing with Unreal andactually started working with it (roughly six to nine months after we got our hands on it), lots of ideas we'd come up with in the abstract didn't work quite as well in reality.

Multiple solutions falling out of our simulation didn't happen as often as we'd hoped. We just didn't have a deep enough simulation nor did we have the time or personnel to create one. We found ourselves in the position of having to brute-force the multiple-path idea, as developers on Ultima games, for example, have done for years - though I think we do more of it, more consciously and more effectively, than anyone else has to date. Designers have had to plan a "skill" path past problems, an "action" path and a "character interaction" path. It works, but it's not what we originally intended.

Our original plan to build large, outdoor areas - whole sections of New York, Area 51, lovingly recreated in excruciating detail gleaned from maps and satellite photos and, most notably, my dream of allowing players to explore the entire White House - just proved to be unfeasible. There was no way any then-current renderer was going to allow us to do all that. The design had to change.

GAME SYSTEMS DIDN'T WORK AS INTENDED

A third area that influenced the changing nature of the game's design was when the game systems didn't work as we intended them to. High-level concepts imply gameplay but don't - and can't - define it. We quickly found that descriptions of game systems are no substitute for prototypes and actual implementation. We prototyped every game system, as documented, relatively early on. We built some test missions, not quite early-on-enough but still early.

These test systems and missions revealed gaping holes in our thinking or things that we thought would be true that turned out not to be true at all. For instance, our augmentation and skill systems proved dry and rather dull, once implemented, despite looking really good on paper. Those systems were designed around the totally valid idea that the computer would resolve actions without any secret (or even non-so-secret) die rolls required. Players would always know, with absolute certainty, based on their character development choices, whether they could accomplish something or not. The trick would be whether they wanted to do something or not, based on an assessment of the likely outcome and the likely consequences (for example, blowing down a door and setting off alarms versus the risk of picking a lock and being caught while doing it). In addition, I thought the tension of standing outside a locked door, not knowing if a guard was going to show up while you picked the lock would provide sufficient excitement. I thought knowing you could leap across a chasm because you had the Jump augmentation at Tech Level 3, opening up new paths through maps that were inaccessible to players without that augmentation, would be good enough to keep players interested.

When Gabe Newell from Valve came down and played our prototype missions, he correctly identified the utter lack of tension in our skill and augmentation use, as written up in the design doc and ably implemented by the coders. The worst was confirmed when Marc LeBlanc, Doug Church, Rob Fermier, and other friends from Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games played the proto-missions and came to the same conclusions. Actually using skills and augmentations revealed things that merely thinking about them could never have revealed.

We took the criticism, and with it in mind, lead designer Harvey Smith revised the skill and augmentation systems pretty thoroughly, proposing an elegant system of consumable resources and time passage, all tied to skill level. This increased the tension level, provided new rewards, and allowed players to think and make informed decisions. Harvey also proposed a revision to the augmentation system, introducing an energy cost for their use (something I had foolishly rejected earlier on). Again, this gave us the opportunity to hand out items that would replenish energy - in other words, we instantly had more things to hand out to players as rewards. It also introduced a level of tactical thinking to augmentation use that makes the system work. None of this would have happened without prototype missions and some harsh (but fair) criticism they allowed.

HOW FUN IS THE REAL WORLD, REALLY?

Another big reason for changes from our original design doc was our realization that the idea of a real-world RPG with real-world locations and real-world weapons was better in some ways than it turned out to be on the screen. Not to put too fine a point on it, Deus Ex became a lot less realistic as time went on.

When we started building places such as the Statue of Liberty, a couple of square blocks of New York City, the White House, Parisian streets, and so on, we found ourselves constantly asking several questions:

• How interesting is most of the real world as a gaming environment? The answer was a tough-to-swallow "not very." Hotels and office buildings aren't great game spaces. And we were a bit naive in thinking we could create a believable environment that didn't include many such locations.
• How do we live up to people's expectations, particularly of places they've actually been? Believable settings raised expectations to unrealistic levels. We started facing comments like, "That's not what the inside of the Statue of Liberty looks like. I've been there. I know."
• How do we force current simulation tools to deal with the object and NPC density and, even more crucial, the level of object and NPC interaction people expect in a "real-world game"? We worked very hard to make sure our world was overflowing with people and objects. But we wanted every person and object in the game to be believable. People had to behave like people. Every last object in the world had to serve some purpose. There would be virtually nothing that was "just" decoration. But that doesn't mean that everything works just the way you'd expect. We started hearing things like, "Hey, why can't I use that telephone to call anyone I want whenever I want?" and thus had to cut some objects whose real-world functionality we couldn't capture in the game.
• Are humans interesting enough to carry an entire game? The answer to this question surprised me more than anything else we encountered during development. We were about year into the game's development when designers and artists started balking at a game that was entirely about human beings. Movies don't need nonhumans to be cool but the same cannot be said, apparently, for games. People seemed to want monsters and nasty bad guys. The feeling was so pervasive that it changed my thinking completely. The original design spec called for a couple of robots, but the team demanded that they be made a more important part of the landscape, so we added several new bot types. We also introduced genetically manipulated animals and even some alien-looking creatures, all of which grew naturally out of our game fiction. The game benefited, but this was a radical change from the original plan.

How do you know which of your core game goals are valid and which need rethinking? How do you know which game systems work and which don't? When is it possible to know what your game is really about? These questions are all answered by the "proto-mission." This is the first implemented mission, playable start to finish, the one that captures everything you want your game to be. Get this mission working as early as possible, so you can see all the things you thought would work that didn't. Then fix them.

4. Scheduling around successively more refined "proto-missions". It's a truism that milestones should be testable, showing visible progress, whenever possible, and we lived up to that standard. We could always pull a version together, always show off for press or our publisher. Most importantly, we always knew where we were (even if that knowledge was sometimes painful). But the proto-mission idea is something beyond simply visible, testable milestones. The proto-mission is critical in the process of design, as well as in milestone and schedule setting.

One example of where our proto-mission idea was successful was in May 1998, when our milestone was to have prototypes of critical game systems in place and two test maps running, in this case the White House and part of Hong Kong. The maps were crude, the conversations raw, and the game systems hacked, but we could see - and show - the potential. To our advantage, we resisted the temptation to do just the stuff we knew would work and the stuff that would look the prettiest, and prototyped new, risky stuff first. Conversation, interface, inventory, skills, and augmentations were all at least hacked in so we could see them in action. The White House was likely to prove our toughest map challenge, so we built it first. (Almost unbelievably, I missed what may have been the riskiest, most critical game system in all of our early prototyping, NPC AI. I should have insisted on early prototyping of our AI but I didn't.) With the proto-mission system, we could immediately see some of the limitations of our technology. For example, we had some serious speed problems with areas as big as the White House and Hong Kong. After this, we knew we'd have to break maps up into small pieces. And we began to suspect, though I couldn't quite embrace the idea, that we'd eventually have to cut maps and missions from the game - most notably the White House.

In May 1999, we had a milestone calling for the delivery of the first two missions of the game, playable start to finish. All of our game systems were implemented (not hacked) as originally documented. You could start a game, create a character, upgrade skills, solve problems in a variety of ways, manipulate inventory, acquire augmentations, talk to NPCs, get and accomplish goals, save your game, and so on. To the team's chagrin, I had a tendency to call this the "Wow, these missions suck" milestone. It was around this time when Gabe Newell came for a visit and gave us our wake-up call, and where we all went, "Ulp! We have a lot of work to do." Our earlier demos had shown the potential of what we were doing. This demo showed us how far we had to go before we reached that potential.

This milestone also benefited us in that it showed us all the steps necessary to create a mission, and revealed the elements that really made the game work. That knowledge allowed us to go through our 500-page design document and cut everything that was extraneous, winnowing it down to a svelte 270 pages. Less game? Not at all. What was left was the best 270 pages - the stuff that worked. "Less is more" was something Harvey Smith had said over and over, from the day he signed on as lead designer. While some team members resisted this notion outright, I took a middle road, which just frustrated everyone. In the end, we cut a lot, left a lot, and made a game that everyone on the team was happy with (I think). This milestone made it clear that the time had come to make cuts, while giving us enough knowledge to cut intelligently. If we had waited until beta to make cuts, with just a few months to go before our ship date (as many developers do), it would have been a disaster.

5. Licensing technology. We went into Deus Ex hoping that licensing an engine would allow us to focus on content generation and gameplay. For the most part, that proved to be the case. The Unreal Tournament code we ended up going with provided a solid foundation upon which we were able to build relatively easily. Dropping in a conversation system, skill and augmentation systems, our inventory and other 2D interface screens, major AI changes, and so on could have been far more difficult. UnrealEd, the main tool our designers used to generate our maps, was superior to anything else available. UnrealScript was very powerful and allowed programmers to do lots of interesting things quickly and easily. The dollars and cents of the deal were right, and I didn't have to hire an army of programmers to create an engine, 80 percent of whose functions already existed in Unreal Tournament. We were able to make what I hope is a state-of-the-art RPG-action-adventure-sim with only three slightly overworked programmers, which allowed us to carry larger design and art staffs than usual.

However, to my surprise, licensing technology didn't save us all the time I'd hoped it would. You'd think cutting a year or more of engine-creation off a schedule would result in an earlier release date. On Deus Ex, that didn't prove to be the case. Time that would have been lost creating tools was lost instead to learning the limitations and capabilities of "foreign" technology. Time that would have gone into making an engine went into focusing more on gameplay systems and tuning than normal. Unreal certainly allowed us to focus on content generation over everything else, but we spent more time doing it.

The biggest downside to licensing was that we were just never going to understand the code as well as we would have if we'd created it ourselves. That led to two distinct kinds of problems. First, there were areas where we ended up treating the engine as a black box. I think it's pretty well documented by now that we shipped Deus Ex with some Direct3D performance issues. Honestly, that didn't show up in any significant way during our QA process - a slight problem here or there, but none of the dramatic slowdowns some players reported in the early days following our ship date. Once players started reporting troubles, we were kind of in a lurch - we couldn't very well go in there and mess with the Unreal engine - we just didn't understand it well enough to do that safely. We had built around the edges of Unreal without ever getting too deeply into the nuts and bolts of it.

Second, because we didn't know the code inside out, and because we'd shelled out a fair amount of money for it, we tended to be conservative in our approach to modifying it. There were times when we should have ripped out certain parts of the Unreal Tournament code and started from scratch (AI, pathfinding, and sound propagation, for example). Instead, we built on the existing systems, on a base that was designed for an entirely different kind of game from what we were making. It's not that Unreal had bad AI or pathfinding or sound propagation, but those systems were designed for a straightforward shooter, which was not what we were making.

Technology licensing bought us a lot and cost us somewhat less. I guess the fact that we'll be licensing technology for our next round of projects, Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3, says the price was right. But it remains an interesting dilemma, and we will be able to approach our next licensed engine with the wisdom gleaned from using Unreal for this project.

What Went Wrong

1. Our original team structure didn't work. You'd think after 17 years of making games and building teams to make games, I'd have a clue about team structures that work and those that don't. Ha! When I started pulling the Deus Ex team together I had a core of six guys from Looking Glass's Austin office. Having tapped Chris Norden to be lead programmer, I needed to find a lead designer and a lead artist. As I started casting about for the right person for the design job, something really good, but ultimately really bad, happened - two guys came along with enough experience to expect a leadership position. Instead of doing the sensible thing and picking one of them, even if that meant the other chose not to sign on, I got cute. I created two design teams, each with its own lead.

I put together two groups of people with differing philosophies - a traditional RPG group and an immersive sim group. We were making a game designed to bust through genre boundaries, and I thought a little competition and argumentation would lead to an interesting synthesis of ideas. I thought I could manage the tension between the groups and that the groups and the game would be stronger for it. My plan didn't work.

The design team was fragmented from the start. We had to name one of the groups "Design Team 1" and the other "Design Team A." (Neither group would settle for "2" or "B.") It became apparent - later than it should have - that I was going to have to merge the two groups and have a single lead designer. When I finally made that change I disappointed some folks, but the game was the better for it, and that's what's important in the end.

There were also challenges on the art side. Deus Ex suffered dramatically because for over a year, the artists "on the team" worked not for me or for the project, but for an art director in Ion Storm's Dallas office. Don't misunderstand - the art director was a talented guy. But talent doesn't make up for a matrix management structure (wherein resources in a department or pool are "lent out" to a project until they're not needed anymore) ill-suited to the game business, and it doesn't make up for being off-site. During this time, the art department drifted a bit. It was unclear whether the artists worked for me or for the art director in Dallas. I couldn't hire, fire, give raises to, promote, or demote anyone on the art team. We were assigned some artists who weren't interested in the kind of game we were making. The matrix management experiment made things a little tense, and presented many unanswerable dilemmas. Matrix management may work in some circumstances, at some companies, in some businesses. But I've never seen it work in gaming, and I've seen it attempted at three different companies. It especially doesn't work when one of the department managers isn't on-site.

I argued for a year that matrix management had failed at Origin and at Looking Glass. I had no doubt it would eventually fail at Ion. Eventually I got my way, and things got much better on the art front once the artists were officially part of the Deus Ex team. Still, I can only imagine how Deus Ex might have looked if we'd been one big happy team, including the artists, from the start.

If the experience of Deus Ex taught me one thing, it's the importance of team dynamics. You have to build a team of people who want to be making the game you're making. You have to deal with personnel issues sooner rather than later. And there has to be a clear chain of command. Many decisions can be made by consensus, but there can only be one boss for a project, there can only be one boss for each department, and department heads have to answer to the person heading up the project.

2. Clear goals are great... when they're realistic. We started out thinking very big. That in itself isn't bad - it's necessary to advance the state of the art - but we were unrealistic, blinded by promises of complete creative freedom, and by assurances that we would be left alone to make the game of our dreams. A really big budget, no external time constraints, and a marketing budget bigger than any of us had ever had before made us soft.

Let me give you some specific examples of ways in which we outreached ourselves in the original design of Deus Ex (before we made significant cuts). For one, there's no way, in a first-person RPG, to stage a raid on a POW camp to free 2,000 captives. Also, there's no way to re-create all of downtown Austin, Texas, with any degree of accuracy. Third, blinded by the power of UnrealScript, many of our original mission concepts depended upon special-case scripting and lots of it. We discovered the need for general solutions rather than special-case solutions later in the project than we should have (this despite much harping on the subject by some team members).

Find your focus early and maintain that focus throughout. General solutions are better than special casing. Give players a rich but limited tool set that can be used in a variety of ways, not a bunch of individual, unpredictable solutions to every problem. Always work within the limits of your technology rather than trying to make your technology do things it wasn't meant to do. Big budgets, lots of time, and freedom from creative constraints are seductive traps. Don't fall into them. Don't settle for less than greatness, but don't think too big. Balance should be the goal.

3. We didn't front-load all of our risks. In fact, we missed a big one. We were smart enough to realize we'd have to prototype and implement our new game systems early so we'd have time to tweak and refine them sufficiently. We did our conversation system and our complex 2D interface screens early, which was a good thing, too - they required as much tweaking as we feared. And in the end, they turned out pretty well, I think.

Unfortunately, we missed one huge risk area - artificial intelligence. I don't know how we missed it, but we did. It's not that we didn't spend time on AI. We started thinking about AI early in preproduction. Unfortunately, what that meant was that the AI was, to a great extent, designed in a vacuum, and as is often the case, we didn't really know what the game required with respect to AI until relatively late in development. And that meant implementing AI features early on that ended up being unnecessary later, once our design had evolved into its final form. In addition, building on the base of Unreal Tournament's pure shooter AI meant that, instead of designing a system specifically for our needs, we ended up adding stuff and tweaking until the bitter end, causing NPC behavior to change constantly, right up to the last day of development.

We ended up with some pretty compelling AI, but the problem of convincing people they're interacting with real people is immense, particularly when you're talking about characters whose reactions have to run the gamut from fear to friendliness to violent enmity. That's not a challenge many games take on (with good reason), but it was one we had to take on for Deus Ex. Our sin was, I think, giving people a hint of what human AI could be in games, but delivering the goods inconsistently.

As I write this, we're discussing whether we want to risk making some fairly radical changes to the AI in a patch for a game that most people seem to like, and in which NPCs basically behave as much like real people as they ever have in any game. There's no telling which way our decision will go at this time.

4. Proto-missions redux. Game Developer's Postmortems typically focus in on things the team clearly did right and things the team clearly did wrong. It sure is nice when things are that clear. Maybe it's just me, but I almost never see things in such black-and-white terms. Most of the time, problems are knotty and solutions are far from obvious or clear-cut, which is where the final two "What Went Wrongs" fall.

As I already mentioned, we recognized the need for proto-missions relatively early on, and built our schedule around the idea. We implemented two such missions, which helped us identify many things that didn't work (and many that did). With proto-missions in hand, we found ourselves at a critical juncture with two possible choices to make, the implications of which I still don't entirely understand.

On one hand, I could have gone off with some subset of the team and tweaked our proto-missions until they were absolutely right and models for all subsequent mission implementation before turning the rest of the team loose on implementation of the rest of the missions. On the other hand, I could have kept the entire team in implementation mode, getting all of the missions to the level of the proto-missions, meaning none of them would be exactly right but we'd be able to see the shape of the entire game and all of the missions would be ready for tuning at about the same time. The first approach would have left large portions of the team in thumb-twiddling or make-work mode for some unspecified period of time. This promised to prove that we could create a ground-breaking, compelling game, but could leave us without a finished game to ship. The second approach would have kept everyone productive throughout the project and at least put us in position to decide whether or not to ship the game at some foreseeable point in the future. The question was whether we would be able to turn all of the bare-bones missions into something fun or not.

I chose the latter approach and told everyone to get the game "finished" and playable at a bare-bones level. We'd worry about fleshing out all the missions, making the game as interesting and fun and dense and exciting as it needed to be during the inevitable gameplay tuning, tweaking, and balancing phase at the end. This probably isn't so much of a "What Went Wrong" as it is an open question of whether that was the right call. I think so, and the plan clearly worked to the extent that we shipped a game that people seem to like pretty well. But it's unclear to me whether using our proto-missions to fine-tune might not have resulted in an even better game.

5. Is it true that any publicity is good publicity? Naturally, this wouldn't be a complete or accurate picture of the development of Deus Ex if we didn't take a look at the Sturm und Drang that was Ion Storm. In case you you've been living under a rock, there's been a lot of hype surrounding the company. On the negative side, Ion Storm was heaped with bad press for much of 1998 and 1999. The company did the same things all game companies do, went through the same problems, but because we painted a big ol' "suck it down" target on our chests, the gaming press and a fair number of hardcore gamers went after us with a vengeance.

Not too surprisingly, this had an effect on those of us working away in the Austin office. Morale hits were frequent and problematic. It simply isn't possible to be bombarded by negative press about the company you work for and not take it somewhat personally. Trust me when I say that seeing your personal and private e-mails posted on the Internet is a devastating experience. Also, recruiting was more difficult than it should have been. We were able to put together an incredibly talented team for Deus Ex, but too many talented people told us that while they would like to work on Deus Ex, they couldn't work for Ion Storm. Eventually, a "we'll show them" mentality became prevalent in Austin. I don't know that anyone who worked on Deus Ex thought of him- or herself as part of the same company making Daikatana and Anachronox up in Dallas. That kind of us-versus-them thinking is rarely good in the long run.

Now that we've shipped, the reviews seem to fall into two categories - those that begin with some statement implying that Warren Spector makes games all by himself (which is silly), and those that begin with some statement proclaiming that Deus Ex couldn't possibly have been made by Ion Storm (also silly). Silly or not, there's a level on which we're still trying to live down our past, at least in terms of the media's perception of our game and the company that paid the bills here.

But, for all the problems, being associated with Ion Storm wasn't all bad - far from it. On the plus side, it isn't as if anyone from Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times, the L.A. Times, USA Today, Mother Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Architectural Digest, CNN, or the BBC ever banged down the doors at Origin or Looking Glass to talk to me or anyone on any of my teams. In reality, the bad publicity was almost entirely limited to the gaming press. The mainstream media, which barely notice anything about gaming (other than the fact that we supposedly turn normal kids into vicious killers) didn't seem to care about the bad stuff. But they sure did take notice of us. Ultimately, Ion's ability to attract attention to itself, even if it was sometimes in negative ways, probably worked to our advantage. Whether publicity at any cost is good or bad is still an open question for me.

What I'm Not Sure About

Given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it's easy to identify some things as having gone "right" and other things as having gone "wrong". However, some of the most interesting things to consider are the ones that aren't so easily pinned down. Here are some questions that are still very much open in my mind. (If any of you have answers, feel free to share them!):

• Is it better to start the design process with fiction and high-level gameplay goals or to dive right into game systems? We did a much better job, I think, of the former than the latter. Too much of our system stuff had to be rethought relatively late in the project. Only the conversation and inventory systems are largely untouched from where we started. We remained true to our high-level goals, but I can't shake the feeling we could have done a better job early in the project on the system design front.
• Is iconic/abstract representation of characters, power-ups, player rewards, tools, objects, and so on better than realistic/specific representation? In other words, are instantly identifiable floating crosses better as healing items than a med-bot, something the player may or may not be able to identify? Is it compelling to wonder if that guy over there is a good guy or a bad guy? Or is it better to know just by looking at him, so you can plan accordingly? As in so many things, we went with a hybrid approach - nothing as extreme as floating health restorers, but instantly recognizable good guys, bad guys, rewards, and objects.
• Is it better to stop the action while the player is in interface screens or to keep the action going a la System Shock 2? We chose to stop the action because, for us, the tactical decisions this allows outweighed the artificiality and the loss of immersion. Was that the right decision? Probably, but there's no way to assess the road not taken in this case.
• Should you get to name your character or not? A holy war almost broke out on the Deus Ex team about this. "If you can't name your character, it's not an RPG," said some. "If we don't name the character, how do we write and record compelling conversations and create a cool story?" said others. "Story isn't the point..." "Yes, it is..." and on and on and on. We compromised: we gave the player character a code name and back-story but let the player select his real name, which came into play in various ways (though never in speech).
• Is it better to worry about graphics and art direction and cinematics early or late? We did zero flic work until the very end of the project, and though the game looks good, we left it to the end to go back and make a pass at consistency (getting the lighting and texturing just right, and so on). I decided it was more important to get the gameplay under control than to get the game looking good. We did make our art direction pass and we did make the game look better - really good, in fact, in my totally prejudiced opinion. But it's unclear to me whether the game could have looked even better if we'd gone the other way and dealt with art issues sooner rather than later.

The Bottom Line

Part of the challenge of game development is making the tough decisions along the way, leading to many difficult junctures when you have to determine that something that can't be done right in the game shouldn't be done at all. Notice the complete lack of references to multiplayer action in this Postmortem. We wanted to provide multiplayer support but didn't have the time to do the job we knew we needed to do, and so it got cut.

Now, generalize from that point: It's all well and good to have design goals and an ideal game pictured in your head when you start, but you have to be open to change and realistic about what can and can't be done in a reasonable time frame, for a reasonable amount of money, with the personnel and technology available to you. And if you don't have time to do something right, cut it and do everything that's left so well that no one notices the stuff that isn't there.

I'm not saying we did that perfectly on Deus Ex. We certainly didn't ship a perfect game. But if we hadn't gone into development with the attitude that we'd do things right or not at all, we would have fallen far shorter of perfection than we did. How close we did get is something all of you can decide for yourselves. All I know is we're going to get closer next time.

Game Data
Deus Ex

Publisher: Eidos Interactive

Number of Full-Time Developers: Approx. 20: 1 of me, 3 programmers, 6 designers, 7 artists, 1 writer, 1 associate producer, 1 tech Number of Contractors: Approx. 6: 2 writers, 4 testers

Development Time: 6 months of preproduction and 28 months of production

Release Date: June 23, 2000

Target Platform: Windows 95/98/NT/2000 plus third-party Macintosh and Linux ports

Critical Development Hardware: Ranged from dual Pentium Pro 200s with 8GB hard drives, to Athlon 800s with 9GB fast SCSI, and everything in between. More than 100 video cards were cycled through during development.

Software Used: Visual Studio, Lightwave, Lotus Notes

Notable Technologies: Unreal engine and associated tools such as UnrealEd and ConEdit (our proprietary conversation editor)

Troubleshooter Proposal

Troubleshooter
IBM PC
WHY ORIGIN?
1994

1.0 High Concept:

It's Underworld-style, first-person action. But this is no fantasy. It's today. The real world.

No monsters. No magic. All action.

Everyone knows the movies: Die Hard, Passenger 57, The Last Action Hero, Under Siege, Dirty Harry...

Everyone knows the stars: Arnold Schwarzenneger, Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes, Clint Eastwood...

Everyone knows the weapons: .44 Magnum, Ingram Mac-10, Atchisson assault shotgun, Browning High-Power, mini-Uzi...

Everyone knows the situations: It's you against the world, you against terrorists, psychos, the dregs of society. They're armed with high-tech weapons and they've taken hostages.

You know what to do....

The question is, are you good enough?

2.0 Why this is an ORIGIN product:

It's Hollywood-inspired, big-budget, non-stop action. It's significant new technology. It's a logical extension of our existing first-person line - we have fantasy covered with Underworld, we WILL have science fiction covered with Bounty Hunter, we have the real world covered with... well, we don't. Troubleshooter is bigger than life, but it's clearly rooted in the real world. I can't believe no one's done this before - we have to jump on it before someone else does!

3.0 Product Overview:

You're an ex-cop turned "security specialist." That just means you get all the dirty jobs no one else has the guts to do. When the government or the police or business can't handle a problem, they call on you. Bomb threats? You get to check 'em out. Hijackers threaten to take over a plane? You end up on board. Some radical group takes a millionaire's daughter hostage? You get the call to go in and get her out.

You scope out the situation, checking maps and photos, walking around the site, probing for the best way in, the way that will put the fewest innocent people at risk. You try to talk a madman into surrendering before he blows himself and his hostages to kingdom come. You crawl through air ducts and sewers hoping you don't attract the attention of the bad guys with all the guns. You shoot it out with terrorists wielding enough firepower to take on a third world army.

Troubleshooter is a mission-oriented action simulation with no huge plot - just get in and get out of each mission. Maybe 10-30 minutes of action per scenario. None of this 100 hours to finish the game and get your reward stuff. Like a flight sim, but it's just you, on the ground, with a gun.

I originally envisioned this as all new technology, but I could probably leech off of Bounty Hunter, once that project gets going. In game play, I see it being like Underworld in the richness of its world simulation, but like Wolfenstein in its emphasis on action over roleplaying and inventory manipulation. Ideally, I'd like to incorporate a head-to-head modem/network option, allowing one player to be the bad guy and the other to be the troubleshooter.

4.0 Technical Overview:

IBM PC 486, 4 Megs RAM, 320 x 200 VGA, full sound board support. Mouse, joystick and keyboard supported.

5.0 Audience:

Traditional ORIGIN buyers. I also hope the basis in reality and the short duration mission structure make Troubleshooter appeal to overworked older folks (the ones who have the money to buy machines capable of playing our games...) who just want to work off some frustration and then get back to their real lives.

6.0 Deal:

$500,000 Budget.
Planned ship in Q4 (March '95).

7.0 Risks:

High. There are all sorts of technological unknowns, things I want to do that haven't been done before. All in all, this is probably the toughest project on my wish list, but it might be the most satisfying... We might be able to minimize the risk by leeching off of Bounty Hunter.

8.0 Status:

Looking for concept approval so we can Go For Script.

Shooter Proposal

Shooter
Roleplaying in a World of Secrets, Lies and Conspiracies
Executive Summary
v. 1.0

Delivery Date
Target is Christmas 1998.

Genre
Modern Day plus about 50 years (to allow us to fudge reality, where necessary).

Category
RPG Adventure

Similar Titles
Half-Life (Sierra), Fallout (Interplay), Thief: The Dark Project (Looking Glass), Goldeneye (N64).

Setting
Several unique, real-world locations in the U.S., Europe and Far East.

Look
1st-person 3D with external camera views available as player option.

Plot Concept
The world of the 2050's is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly, espousing a hundred beliefs and killing thousands of innocents to call attention to their causes. The world's economies are close to ruin on a scale not seen for over 100 years. The media openly encourage the worst in mankind. Governments seem powerless to deal with the situation.

In hidden meeting places around the world, a cabal of men and women confer. These are the leaders of societies so ancient and yet so secret, most people refuse to believe they exist. For hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, they have controlled the world's finances, information flow, weapon production, medicine, religions... Now, as the world descends into chaos, they meet to determine if the time has come to emerge from the shadows, to take overt control of a world they have run from behind the scenes for so long. But, unable to reach agreement, they begin instead an internecine war that brings civilization even closer to the brink of destruction.

At the same time, in several major cities around the globe, another group of men and women - the deadliest the world has ever known - lie in wait. Enhanced senses, increased intelligence, biomechanically supercharged muscles and fantastic weaponry make these augmented agents all but unstoppable. And each is implanted with a tiny, high-tech brainwashing device which, activated, can turn its host into a helpless buffoon or a remorseless, conscienceless, killing machine - whatever the controller wishes.

You are one of these agents.

Recruited from among the elite of the world's intelligence agencies, and endowed with nearly superhuman abilities, you await a signal from the most ambitious, most manipulative and most dangerous member of the shadowy cabal, a man known only as "Adam". Horrified at the chaos he sees all around him, he has concocted a plan to end the secret war and restore order to the world - at his signal, you and your fellow augmented agents, will emerge to cripple or destroy each of the ancient and secret societies, in turn, clearing the way for a savior (Adam, of course) to take his rightful place as leader of all the societies. Once in control of the societies, he will offer mankind a simple choice: Obey and live in an orderly world free of pain and suffering, a world of Adam's creation; refuse and die.

Adam wants only to save the world from itself - it's up to you to stop him.

The question is, can you assemble enough clues to figure all this out? Can you find and recruit the allies you'll need to survive, including the other augmented agents? Can you free yourself and the others from the grip of Adam's brainwashing device and put a stop to the secret society cabalists and the master manipulator, Adam, himself?

Each mission leads the PC deeper into a morass of suspicion, false motives, paranoia and conspiracy involving the highest levels of government, the media and the military-industrial complex. The missions stand alone but, taken together, they add up to a big story, with the player at the heart of earth-shattering yet believable events.

Set in a world very much like our own (if the conspiracy buffs are right), Shooter combines the best of The Manchurian Candidate, Robocop and Colossus: The Forbin Project in a world inspired by The X-Files and Men in Black.

Competitive Analysis

• Exciting, first-person, 3D roleplaying in a world that teeters on the brink of madness.
• True six degrees of freedom 3D engine, polygonal figures, killer AI and an innovative conversation system put you right in the thick of things.
• In-depth world simulation allows players to solve problems in a variety of ways.
• More than 30 core missions, and plenty of optional adventures provide 40+ hours of gameplay.
• Plugs into two popular fantasies - the millennial madness that's gripping the world, exemplified by The X-Files and Men in Black and a general fascination with conspiracy theories and the desire to play with high-tech espionage toys.
• Emphasis on character development ensures that every player character will be unique. This, combined with our deep world simulation, ensures that each player's experience of the story is different, without having to resort to brute force branching tree structures.
• Non-combat interaction with dozens of unique non-player characters. A simple, elegant conversation system results in non-player characters you really care about. Engage them in conversation, seek information from them, recruit them to your cause, decide for yourself who you can trust...
• Clear goals, constant rewards, varied interactions with people and places as well as varied mission types (including Sabotage, Infiltration, Extraction, Rescue, Intelligence-Gathering, Thievery, Reconnaissance, Assassination, and all-out Combat) keep players coming back for more.
• Goals can be accomplished through stealth, careful planning, undercover work or conversation, through the use of unbelievably high tech equipment or brute force combat tactics.
• No weird "game spaces" - every map recreates either a real place or a place with an instantly recognizable real-world function. We hope to recreate places like Camp David, the Kremlin (and the tunnels beneath it), the bone-strewn catacombs beneath Paris, Hong Kong's junk-filled harbor, the London underground and more.
• Situations that evolve over time, influenced by player action (or inaction). The state of the world changes to reflect the impact of player choices. Game events and the passage of time turn familiar locations into strange and terrifying places; trusted friends become the most bitter of enemies.

Technology

• Engine: 3D 6-degrees of freedom
• Characters: Real time 3D models.
• Creatures: Real time 3D models.
• Surroundings: Real time 3D models, sprites.
• Structures: Real time 3D.
• Vehicles: Real time 3D models.
• Interface: 2D graphics.

System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 95
• Processor: Pentium 133
• Memory: 16 Megs
• Format: 4X CD-ROM Drive, 2 CDs
• Hard Drive Space: 50/100/200 Megs
• Video: DirectX 5; 8- and 16-bit color (hardware only); All DirectX-supported resolutions; 3DFX, etc.
• Audio: DirectX 5
• Multiplayer Support: DirectX 5 (DirectConnect, Modem, Network, Internet)

Credits

As stated, the data files which make up Deus Ex (e.g. DeusExText.u, DeusExConText.u) are copyright (C) 2000 by Ion Storm, and are used here without permission. Please don't send Jackbooted Thugs of State Oppression^TM to my door. Other chunks of text have been attributed to the best of my knowledge. Unless otherwise attributed, all commentary on this page was written by me, Stephan T. Lavavej.

Acronyms

• DSP - Digital Signal Processing
• DX - Deus Ex
• DXMP - Deus Ex Multiplayer
• FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency - www.fema.gov
• FPS - First Person Shooter
• ICE - Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics
• ISA - Ion Storm Austin
• MJ12 - Majestic 12
• NORAD - North American Aerospace Defense Command - www.norad.mil
• NPC - Non Player Character
• NSF - National Secessionist Forces (originally Northwest Secessionist Forces)
• RPG - Role-Playing Game
• UNATCO - United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition
• USAMRIID - U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases - www.usamriid.army.mil
• WS - Walton Simons, character in DX. Warren Spector is another nanoaug thug of note.

https://nuwen.net/dx.html (updated 9/5/2011)
Stephan T. Lavavej
Home: stl@nuwen.net
Work: stl@microsoft.com
This is my personal website. I work for Microsoft, but I don't speak for them.