After helping myself to the snacks and ammo in Paul’s apartment, I head down to the lobby, where I find Gilbert and Sandra Renton, the manager and his daughter. They’ve got some new problems; specifically, a gang leader named Jojo Fine has moved into the hotel, and also seems to have taken over as Sandra’s new pimp. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard Jojo’s name; the last time I was in Hell’s Kitchen, a few people mentioned that Jojo had been supplying weapons to the NSF.
Gilbert is pissed about Jojo, and asks to borrow a weapon from me so he can take Jojo out. I loan him my spare pistol, although Sandra doesn’t think he’ll follow through. It becomes a moot point when Jojo strolls in, talks some smack to Gilbert, and berates Sandra for hanging around the hotel instead of doing her part to make him a rich man. Gilbert can’t take too much of this, and pulls his new gun; Jojo does the same, and things are looking bad. Luckily for everyone involved, I’m watching this little scuffle through the sights of my crossbow, and fire a dart into the back of his head as soon as he draws. I guess it wasn’t too lucky for Jojo, but at least he got to die the same way he lived: as disposable criminal cannon fodder.
The Rentons are grateful for my help, and Sandra decides that maybe working at the hotel isn’t so bad. I head out into’s Hell’s Kitchen, and discover that even though the NSF have been defeated, the UN and cops have Hell’s Kitchen locked up tight. There aren’t many people on the streets, most of the buildings are closed up, and there’s almost no one at the bar. I check out the MJ12 base, but it hasn’t been reinforced since my last killing spree (although the Ammo Fairy seems to have restocked the place). The Smuggler has also restocked, so in short order I’m all set to infiltrate the former NSF base.
The infiltration is actually pretty easy, since all the UNATCO troops assume I’m supposed to be there, so they don’t bother me as I search the place. The base is a former warehouse with several floors. In the center is a large open room; this room contains stairs going to the upper floors. The upper portions of the room only have flooring along the perimeter; the center is wide open, and could theoretically allow someone on the top floor an excellent opportunity to snipe at anyone on the lower floors. There are also all kinds of intriguingly explosive-looking objects scattered throughout the place.
Off to the sides of the center room, there are various offices and storage spaces. One office allows me to eavesdrop on a hilarious conversation between two troopers regarding Walton Simons and his relationship with UNATCO.
Oh, that reminds me of something I forgot to mention when I wrote up my last trip to UNATCO HQ. I played through this section while I was at my mother’s house, and she was in the room playing Bookworm Deluxe on her own computer while I played Deus Ex on my laptop. During a conversation at HQ, JC asks Simons what he does that requires him to have nano-augmentations. Walton says, in a rather menacing tone, “Actually, I’m the head of FEMA.” As soon as he said this, my mom started laughing. And who could blame her? Like I said earlier, some elements of the conspiracy theories in this game have not aged well.
Anyway, back to the conversation between the NSF troopers. They reveal that Simons is a major financial backer of UNATCO (”You think UNATCO would be handing out assault rifles if the funding was left to the UN?”), Simons is a philanthropist (”Like Nietzche?”), and that he volunteered for FEMA (”To help out after hurricanes and that kind of thing”). Okay, that last bit is more sad than hilarious, all things considered. I also find that they’re deleting an awful lot of files from the computer system.
I spend a bit of time remodeling the warehouse, too. The UNATCO guards are all “Glad to see you here, agent!” and I’m all “Thanks, I’m glad I could make it. I’m just here to make sure you guys are in compliance with UN regulations detailing the proper storage of hazardous materials. Specifically, I’m going to be moving these barrels of flammable liquid closer to the doorways, stairs, and other choke points so they’ll be. . . easier for you to keep an eye on. Yes, that’s it.”
My cover is nearly blown on the third floor, where one of the guards gives me all sorts of attitude about how no one’s supposed to be up there without Simons’s permission. I respond with something along the lines of “That’s great, but if you’re not going to help me move these crates of TNT, could you go bother someone else for a while?”
During my sweep of the warehouse, I find a datacube of information Paul sent to Lebedev with all sorts of interesting information: suspicious payments from Simons to Manderley and other high-ranking UNATCO personnel; evidence that UNATCO bombed the Statue of Liberty, and evidence that UNATCO is spreading the Gray Death around.
By this point, I’m thoroughly convinced that Paul is right. I get to the satellite communications station on the roof of the warehouse and beam the evidence, and a warning, to Paul’s allies in Hong Kong and Paris. As I leave, Simons butts in on my infolink; he’s very disappointed in me, and is having me terminated. My killswitch has been activated, but that’s a minor concern now that everyone in the warehouse is trying to kill me.
Trying to escape the warehouse results in an absolutely massive firefight which I have to replay quite a few times before I finally get it right. Once the shooting starts, the guards all start booking it up the stairs toward me, and if multiple guards make it up to the top floor where I am, there’s no way I can take them all down before they kill me. Luckily, the stairways are on alternating sides of the warehouse, so I can get a clear shot with my sniper rifle as they cross between floors, assuming I don’t get when they start returning fire. I take advantage of the explosive goodies I’ve scattered around to take out several enemies, although eventually I resort to tossing grenades down the stairs to wipe out incoming groups.
After a long and intense firefight, the enemies eventually stop coming. I make my way down the stairs to the ground floor, and discover that the reason they stopped attacking is because I’ve killed pretty much everyone else in the warehouse. I go outside, fighting my way past a few last UNATCO troopers guarding the exterior of the house, and head back toward the hotel to report to Paul.