I'll skip the debrief, it's story stuff I don't want to spoil. But the characters at Sarif HQ react quite convincingly to my bizarre rescue-massacre, correctly acknowledging that the hostages died. No-one knows I did it, of course, but I'm impressed that completing the 'rescue' objective didn't lock everyone into "Well done!" mode - the game actually checks if they're still alive. The only small slip-up is a newspaper article that claims the bomb went off, when in fact I defused it.
The next time you leave Sarif HQ, it's not by helicopter but the front door. You're in Detroit, the game's first city hub, and the point at which it really opens up.
It's not a full city like GTA or Oblivion - the closest point of comparison is the obvious one, Deus Ex. It's a few blocks of streets and backalleys, and while you can't go in every building, it's actually more explorable than Deus Ex ever was.
I find an arms dealer in an abandoned gas station and buy a shotgun from him. I find a gleaming LIMB Clinic, the surgeries where augs are normally installed, and buy some Praxis points to upgrade my own. And finally I wander into an apartment complex to talk to an ex-cop, now a security guard, about a side quest I've just picked up.
He's helpful, but- well, science. I have to find out if the game will let me kill him. I head up to the apartment he's guarding, hack my way into someone's flat and pick up their fridge-freezer. It's a bit of a trek to get it downstairs, the strength aug slowly draining my energy, but I manage it with enough power left to hurl it into his head. He's knocked onto his desk, confused and understandably hostile, but by the time he's stood up I've picked up the fridge again and hurled it into his chest, killing him. Sorry, friend. It had to be this way.
Exploring the apartments of Detroit is fascinating. I keep stumbling across scenes and scraps of story that seem like they relate to something important I haven't discovered yet. In one, I hack my way into an apartment containing nothing of interest but a gun on the desk and a locked door.
It's beyond my hacking skill, so I'm about to leave disappointed when I notice a grill in the door. I crouch down and peer through - there's a light flashing within. I'm doubly annoyed that I can't get in there, and even more irritated when I realise that's probabaly an explosive - proximity LAMs flashed like this in Deus Ex. If games were logical, I'd just be able to shoot through this flimsy grille and hit the mine, probably blowing this door clean off.
Hmm.
This is Deus Ex. It might actually be that logical. So I try it.
It works. The blast is enormous, not simply breaking the door but obliterating it. Inside, there are credits, ammo and grenades galore, as well as a computer to be hacked for some background on the guy who lives here. He's clearly into some bad stuff.
I never discovered how bad on this run, but when our other diaries go up watch for any reference to O'Malley - there's a lot more to this.
