Deus Ex: Shadow's Showdown

Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow’s Showdown [FANFIC] - ONGOING

Chapter 60 -  ONLINE!

Chapter 61 -   In progress…

"Let me help," he said, smiling kindly.

Laura handed out drinks and asked if she could serve anything else, to which everyone gave a negative answer so she nodded and headed for the door.

"Damien, when will you take us to the yacht?" one of the girls asked. "Maybe next weekend?" suggested the grey-eyed man.

Damien, she repeated in her mind and left. She didn't hear everyone laughing at her "Can I serve you something?" giving the words a sexual context. Laura returned to the bar where she picked up another order. This time for a pair of lovers occupying the second VIP room. She wanted to serve some more new guests, but Alex's firm insistence forced her to go back to the room. Accentuating dissatisfaction with a loud sigh, Laura headed back to her place. She lay down on her bed and returned to pondering and staring at the ceiling. Only a noise coming from the hallway managed to tear her away from this passionate pastime. With great reluctance, she looked outside and could have sworn she saw Joe lying on a stretcher. Toby pulled her by the hand, saying something to her, but she couldn't focus. The words merged into one long cluster of sounds. She followed him completely unaware of what was happening.

Chapter 60 [AO3]

Chapter 60 [dA]

Chapter 60 [Wattpad]

 Connor's apartment.    Two days after the attack.

When they finished eating, Connor went to clean up and feed the cat. He always cleaned up right away and was never seen with piles of dirty dishes. The same was true of dirty clothes. He usually vacuumed twice a day, wiping every stain or fingerprint. He was also known for taking off his shoes before entering the house. Crumbs on the bedding made him clench his teeth so hard that his jaw went numb. Connor remained silent because he liked Laura, and after what she had been through it would be rude to keep cleaning up or worse, admonishing her.

"You didn't say a word about how much I screwed up the company's security issue," she said immediately when he returned to the bedroom. "You didn't screw up anything. This attack would have happened anyway, and we did everything we could," he replied, not very pleased that he kept going back to what it was. "I could have done more," she muttered and took a few sips of her already cold tea. "You're very fond of feeling sorry for yourself," he sighed. "I don't know who taught you programming and hacking but he did it perfectly." "Joe taught me," she replied, though it wasn't entirely true. Damien also passed on his knowledge to her, through which everyone including Adam suffered. The song she heard in the company during the attack was a message from him. Of that she was sure.

Connor did not urge Laura to do anything. She decided to tell another one of her stories herself. The man had the impression that it was helping her to some extent so he just listened.

Chapter 59 [AO3]

Chapter 59 [dA]

Chapter 59 [Wattpad]

Location - Unknown. Time - Unknown.

She sank into the darkness as if into a bottomless void. There were whales floating around. She had always wanted to see a whale. A ribbon of blood disturbed the blackness rippling toward the surface. She was falling. Oily shadows coated her, invading her nose, ears and mouth. She could feel them swarming her brain. The unbearable ticking of clocks which suddenly began to ring. A whirling ballerina shattering into shards of golden glass. A meadow of broken orchids. Falling petals of magnolia flowers on a withered tree. The pain. Loneliness. Death.

"Artery forceps! Faster, damn it!" "Pulse is weakening!" "Defibrillation!" "No heart rate." "Again!" "Still nothing."

Silence and darkness. The smell of cinnamon and ginger. No, it’s cigar smoke and the smell of cognac. The stench of sweat, burnt skin and acid. The screams. The crying. Despair.

Chapter 58 [AO3]

Chapter 58 [dA]

Chapter 58 [Wattpad]

***

I feel like I'm losing hope In my body and my soul And the sky, it looks so ominous And as time comes to a halt Silence starts to overflow My cries are inconspicuous

***

Sarif Industries Subsection six of the laboratories. 10 minutes to 2 a.m.

Jensen shot several mercenaries while struggling with a sore leg. He thought he saw a woman who looked more like a robot than a human, but she disappeared before he could get a better look. Megan was nowhere to be found, which didn't make him feel any better at all, and Pritchard still didn't answer. The only thing he was sure of was the non-accidental target of the attack. The destruction was done only in the laboratories so whoever was behind it must have cared about research or prototypes.

"Pritchard, can you hear me? Laura! Connor! Anyone!" he tried connecting once again but to no avail. "Damn it," he growled under his breath.

Adam checked the cylinder and searched his belt pocket. The state of spare ammo did not fill him with optimism, so he started looking around for a second weapon on the way. He found only a pistol, which he slipped into a holster on his right hip and a couple of magazines. That had to be enough. Hearing gunshots, he intended to turn back and find out if it was mercenaries killing Sarif Industries employees or if someone had come to help. Everything went silent before he took a few steps so he abandoned that idea. His leg was hurting more and more, and he had one last Vicodin pill left. He searched through first aid kits on the way, but the pills he found there wouldn't help him at all.

"Megan!" he yelled because he had nothing else left. "Megan, where are you?!" "Are you looking for someone boy?" he heard a female voice behind him.

He turned around but saw no one.

"You're lost, aren't you?" again the same voice, again he saw no one.

The Chief of Security wabbled as if he were drunk and leaned his shoulder against the wall. Vicodin raged through his mind with ghastly visions, eating away at his consciousness piece by piece.

Chapter 57 [AO3]

Chapter 57 [dA]

Chapter 57 [Wattpad]

The woman was unable to utter a single word. She sat in front of the monitor, covering her mouth with her hand. The frame showed the scientist's body perforated like a sieve. The walls were smeared with blood. Moments later, music flowed from speakers throughout the company. Boom boom boom boom Gonna shoot you right down Take you in my arms I'm in love with you Love that is true Boom boom boom boom

The message was obvious but only Laura knew it. She felt herself suffocating as if someone had pumped all the air out of the room. In a split second she realized what she had done - she had murdered innocent people. The woman knew Damien was unpredictable, but not to that extent. She herself opened the gate for him, which was a piece of code, the one considered safe, but about which Connor had doubts. She had lied to him. Unknowingly, but she lied.

Chaptar 56 [dA]

Chaptar 56 [AO3]

Sarif Industries. David Sarif's office. The 0 hour.

The screen in Sarif's office, which had previously displayed a broadcast of a baseball game, now showed a map of the laboratories highlighted in red. An alarm vibrating in their ears sounded, and a robotic, female voice repeated in a loop: Environmental malfunction, laboratory sub-section six. All lab chiefs, please report in.  

Knowledge is a deadly friend  

If no one sets the rules

The fate of all mankind I see

Is in the hands of fools

Chapter 55 [dA]

 A dancer who can't dance, what a tragic irony. After the accident, along with her leg, the girl also lost her self-confidence. She didn't trust the prosthesis one bit, and treated it like an enemy kept close according to the saying “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” Maybe this is the moment to take that step and move forward? The girl smiled, gently grasped Joe’s hand and stood up. Again the air was filled with the oriental-spicy scent of his perfume water. As usual, ginger was dominant in it. She knew this was not going to be the usual slow dance with cuddling that dominates at discos. Navras decided to be a gentleman or simply wanted to test her. She didn't consider the third option, that he was trying to rebuild her confidence. Slowly and patiently like a parent teaching a child to walk. He wrapped his arms around her waist gently without the pushy groping. She, in turn, placed her hand on his left shoulder and let her right hand close in a confident yet not a firm grasp of his robotic, dark purple hand. He guided her with such skill that her mind was immediately filled with questions about where he learned to dance like this. Laura figured that since he opens the evenings at Lemon-Lime that's where he got his skills from. She wanted to hug him so badly, but he kept her at a distance while dancing.

 As much as she wanted to, she couldn't lie and deliberately make errors in steps. Besides, after all, he knew she was a ballerina. He knew more about her than she knew about him. Joe didn't mention much about his life, and she didn't ask. Sometimes she felt surrounded by secrets, lots of doors to which lock she didn't have a key. Or wandered in a maze with no way out. All she knew was he had lost someone close to him.

 Suddenly she felt him embrace her more tightly around the waist, pulling her close. His cheek touched her temple. She wanted to look at his face, but he wouldn't let her.

Chapter 54 [dA]

At that hour the club was almost empty and dimly lit. Most of the staff was still off so when they walked the corridors she didn't meet any of the butlers. Connor led her to a room she knew well and immediately lit a fire in the fireplace. He hung their wet jackets on the backs of the armchairs, which he moved aside. He spread a thick, soft blanket on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

"Make yourself at home, I'll be right back," he said and left before she had time to respond.

The room that had previously frightened her now became extremely welcoming, and when the man returned with two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cinnamon cookies she really felt at home. Connor set the tray on the ground and sat down next to her.

"How do you do it?" she asked looking at the blazing fire.

"What’s on your thought?" he looked puzzled, reaching for a cookie.

"You spread some kind of magical aura. Everything suddenly becomes simple, it's nice and warm."

"That's just the way I am," he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know if you like it, but I've fried some carp, and there will be cabbage with mushrooms and bread to go with it. I know that Christmas is over," he said embarrassed, rubbing his neck.

"I love carp, probably the most of all fish."

Laura didn't feel like pondering now whether it was a coincidence or perhaps some secret conspiracy. She wanted to spend this time carefree, away from problems. The hacker woman even allowed herself two pieces of fish, which was delicious. After finishing their meal, they returned to their room with mugs of hot tea with a slice of lemon.

"The last Christmas I remember well was the one in Berlin with Joe," she said quietly.

Chapter 53 [dA]