Deus Ex

Plot

In Deus Ex, you play JC Denton, a rookie agent for the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), who has been nano-technologically enhanced. JC's older brother, Paul Denton, also a nanoaugmented agent, shares his insights with JC along the way. At this time, UNATCO is dealing with the Gray Death, a worldwide plague. Although there is a cure, called Ambrosia, the development and distribution of it has been slow. The National Secessionist Forces (NSF), claims the cure is being blocked by secret organizations, so they have taken terrorist countermeasures.

JC infiltrates the NSF’s makeshift command center on Liberty Island and determines that the recently hijacked Ambrosia shipment has already left the island. JC then recovers a unit of Ambrosia and deals with a hostage situation in the subway in Battery Park. After that, JC disables the NSF generator in Hell's Kitchen, so that Paul’s team can gain access to the NSF facility and retrieve the Ambrosia. When JC returns to UNATCO, JC is told that they were nonetheless unsuccessful. At headquarters, JC crosses paths with Walton Simons, the director of FEMA, who seems to have more access and influence than JC would expect for someone in his position.

Next, JC races to stop the Ambrosia from leaving New York. JC travels through the underground tunnels of the Mole people until finally reaching the helibase and airfield where the vaccine is being prepared for transport. JC track down Juan Lebedev, the millionaire anarchist funding the plot. Surprisingly, JC is met there by his brother Paul, who reveals he has been working as a double-agent for the NSF, and urges JC to reconsider his affiliations.

Although JC is next dispatched to Hong Kong, JCs pilot, Jock, redirects him to New York City, because of a message from Paul. After Paul corroborates his accusations that UNATCO is a crooked organization, JC agrees to help the NSF by activating a distress signal. After doing so, JC meets up with strong resistance and is eventually captured.

JC wakes up confined to a cell in an unknown location. Aided by a mysterious hacker named Daedalus, JC initiates his escape. As he makes his way out of the facility, he realizes that he is being held prisoner by Majestic 12 (MJ12), a secret U.S. government organization for the research and development of biotechnologies.

Originally, it had been clandestinely controlled by the ancient secret society, the Illuminati, but was recently wrested from their power by a member from their highest ranks, the wealthy and powerful Bob Page, after he neutralized the ruling Council of Five. JC is surprised to discover that this MJ12 facility is actually located beneath UNATCO HQ, demonstrating their significant role in the conspiracy and cover-up. JC also finds out that nanoaugmented agents like him and his brother have self-destruct systems that UNATCO can use to remotely terminate them. Before departing the facility, he retrieves the information necessary for disabling this killswitch, so that Tracer Tong, a talented scientist and ally of Paul, can neutralize the system.

Next JC travels to Hong Kong to seek Tong out, but first JC must settle a dispute between the Triads, the criminal organizations that direct the region’s affairs. Due to the tension, neither The Luminous Path, led by Gordon Quick, nor The Red Arrow, led by Max Chen, are willing to help JC find Tracer Tong. Upon investigating the local Versalife facility, Bob Page’s company and the only manufacturer of Ambrosia, JC finds that Maggie Chow was working with Page to destabilize the area by misleading Max Chen into starting the conflict. After restoring the peace, Quick admits JC to the Luminous Path compound where JC finally meets with Tong, who disables his killswitch.

Next, Tong dispatches JC to return to Versalife for more information, where JC discovers that the Gray Death is in fact a human-made virus. Tong and Daedalus both direct JC to Morgan Everett, a member of the Illuminati, because he is the only one who can create a true cure. In Paris, JC makes contact with Silhouette, another terrorist organization working against MJ12. Their leader, Chad Dumier, directs JC to Nicolette DuClare, whose mother was a member of the Illuminati’s innermost circle, the Council of Five, with Morgan Everett. After searching the DuClare chateau, JC finds a secret computer room that allows him to contact Morgan. After recovering for him a critical piece of data from a Paris cathedral, JC meets one of Morgan’s agents in a Metro station. He knocks JC out and takes him to the estate.

At Everett’s, JC begins to put together the remaining pieces of the puzzle. Bob Page first eliminated the other ruling members of the Illuminati, then created the Gray Death and now controls its cure, all in order to achieve world domination. He has placed his lieutenant, Walton Simons, into a key role as the director of FEMA, to aid him in his designs. Although Everett, as Page’s former mentor, can help JC neutralize the virus, Page seems to have still bigger plans ahead.

JC had also learned about various Area 51 AI projects. JC discovers that “Daedalus” is actually a sentient AI, developed by MJ12, that has since gone rogue. “Icarus,” his subsequent revision, is still controlled by Bob Page and MJ12, and “Morpheus,” the prototype for the project, now resides in Everett’s mansion.

Next, JC heads to Vandenberg Air Force Base to get in contact with Gary Savage, the leading researcher in nano-technology. The base is under siege from MJ12, so JC removes these threats. After reactivating various technical systems, Daedalus and Icarus unexpectedly merge into a new entity called Helios, that possesses yet greater power, and a message from Page suggests that this is part of his final plan. After conferring with Savage and receiving various messages from his foes, JC finds he must rescue Savage's daughter, Tiffany, then head for an undersea lab in order to retrieve information necessary for Savage’s progress against MJ12.

JC is successful in his reconnaissance, but then he discovers that Bob Page has aimed a nuclear missile at Vandenberg. JC races to redirect the launch to target Area 51 instead, where Bob Page is preparing to merge with Helios, to become an invincible global dictator. JC arrives there and surveys the damage, and finally penetrates security.

At this point, a number of courses of action are open to JC. He can follow Tracer Tong’s advice and initiate a meltdown in the Aquinas router at Area 51, thus paralyzing global telecommunications and returning civilization to a simpler, more decentralized existence. He can also agree to Helios’s plan and join with the entity to create a new consciousness, capable of managing a new world order. Finally, he can neutralize Bob Page and work with the Illuminati to maintain the current balance.