I finish up the third mission by killing Juan Lebedev and looting his plane.

See, this is why I make for a horrible bureaucrat. The proper phrasing is something along the lines of “After Lebedev’s death, I personally led UNATCO personal on a thorough search of the aircraft, recovering the missing vaccine and retrieving sensitive technology which had fallen into NSF hands.” By which I mean I’ve found the last container of Ambrosia, as well as my first subdermal augmentation canister. Sadly, the augmentation is sort of useless to me. It allows me to obtain either the Ballistic Protection or EMP Shield augmentation, neither of which I particularly need; I’d rather save my subdermal augmentation slots for stealth-related augmentations when they become available.

The airport is now patrolled by UNATCO troopers; there’s no sign of Paul or the remaining NSF.

I make my way  back to the exterior of the airport, where I meet Gunther. He’s been assigned peacekeeping duties for the area; I talk a bit of smack at him, noting that that seems to be the only thing he’s good at. Gunther’s pissed that Paul has joined the NSF, and even more pissed that Paul seems to have gotten away. He’s not much of a conversationalist, so I hop on the helicopter back to HQ.

Manderley gives me my latest payment, plus a bonus for retrieving all the Ambrosia and offing Lebedev. My next mission will be to go to Hong Kong to assassinate this Tracer Tong character Paul was talking about. I also learn that Paul’s living on borrowed time, since his killswitch has been activated. Apparently, all augmented agents have built-in safeguards to keep them from going rogue; in the case of nano-augmented agents like Paul and myself, the nanites can be remotely programmed to replicate exponentially, resulting in the agent’s death. Great. Now that I know this, my next performance review is going to be that much more stressful.

Hacking Manderley’s computer reveals a few more interesting bits of information. Jaime Reyes has emailed Manderley, concerned that one of the NSF prisoners he examined appears to have been shocked repeatedly with a riot-prod while in custody. An email from one WS, presumably Walton Simons, informs Manderley that Simons has sent one Agent Sherman to assist him and ensure that “MJ12 operations are not adversely affected.” Considering that the only things I know about MJ12 are that they kidnap people and infect New York City’s water supply with the Gray Death, it’s starting to look like Paul might not be crazy after all.

In the break room, I overhear Simons asking Jaime for medical advice, and it becomes clear that Simons has nano-augmentations as well. Later, in the medlab, I talk to Jaime about Paul’s defection; Jaime is skeptical that UNATCO is involved in a conspiracy to infect the population. I check Jaime’s email, and see that Manderley has assured him that he will investigate the treatment of prisoners, but since the situation is so chaotic right now, it’s probably best if Jaime doesn’t mention this to anyone else, okay?

I’d just like to say that Deus Ex features one of the single most realistic workplaces ever portrayed in a video game.

Alex sends me a message over my infolink, saying he wants to talk in person. When I visit him, he asks if I believe what Paul said; sure, it sounds kind of crazy, but Alex has never known Paul to make a mistake. I go talk to Sam Carter for my usual inadequate supply of ammo. He’s also surprised at Paul’s defection, and remarks that while I did what I thought was right, it’s never an easy thing to kill an unarmed man. Personally, I think it’s a whole lot easier than killing one who can fight back, but Carter is probably talking about morals and stuff. Dammit, man, I work for the UN! Moral concerns are secondary; what really matters is that somewhere, there’s a written regulation justifying my actions!

I had outside to the helicopter. Jock tells me that this latest assassination mission stinks, and that instead of going to Hong Kong, we’re going into the city again to talk to Paul.

I suspect this is going to be somewhat difficult; now that I’ve killed Paul’s boss, and Paul knows he’s being hunted himself, he’s likely to be even more paranoid and well-protected than usual. I’m sort of surprised when the helicopter sets down on the roof of Paul’s hotel. I’m even more surprised when I go down the fire escape (keeping an eye out for traps that never materialize), go through the open window, and find Paul sitting in a chair in his hotel room. If I had doubts about his commitment to operational security before, I have doubts about his sanity now.

Paul’s in bad shape; he hasn’t died from the effects of his killswitch yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Paul wants me to infiltrate a nearby NSF facility which has been captured by UNATCO. There, he claims I’ll find proof that UNATCO is up to no good, and I’ll be able to transmit a warning to Paul’s allies, notably Tracer Tong and a subversive European organization known as Silhouette. I agree to do it, because it’s apparent by now that Simons and Manderley, at least, are involved with the mysterious MJ12, and also because the only way to progress further in the game is to do what Paul wants.