//------------------------------// // It's not the end of the world... // Story: Deus Ex: Equestria // by Jar of Dirt //------------------------------// "Do I trust mankind to save itself? That's what Eliza was asking. The truth is, I don't know. After everything I've seen, all the chaos and fighting around me, I only know what I want to believe; somehow, human decency will triumph. These past few months, I've faced many life-threatening situations. I could have given up many times, but my need to know the truth - to uncover the secrets others were hiding, and to survive - forced me to keep on going. Most of the time, I tried to keep my values in mind, knowing my actions did not have to harm others. I held on to my humanity, resisting the urge to abuse power or resources in order to meet my goals. And in the end, I got the job done. But does this mean I have the right to choose for everyone? No. Because it isn't up to me. It isn't up to Darrow, Sarif or Taggart either. Ordinary men and women will have to decide together what course mankind should take. The kind of people who, time and time again, have picked and chosen the future in highly practical ways - slowing change when it's negative, speeding it up when it's good. Can they do it again? I don't know. But I know I'm not about to let anyone on this station, myself included, stand in their way." I have a jar of dirt presents DEUS EX: EQUESTRIA [h+] Adam was pretty sure hell didn't have dirt. And yet, that was exactly what he was feeling underneath him. Grunting in pain, the augmented man heaved himself from the soil and dusted his ballistic vest and cargo pants off before tentatively cracking his neck. He was relieved to find that everything was in place on his persona, implants included, before trying to recall the events that had transpired just a little while ago. Panchaea... Memories flooded back into him like a burst dam. How Hugh Darrow had invited every major player on the corporate arena along with the UN delegates to his little climate-changing project up in the Arctic. How the man had activated a hidden failsafe built into the new biochips, rendering every augmented person on the planet murderously insane, and how Adam's only saving grace was that he hadn't yet replaced his older biochip. How he had travelled to the Panchaea installation to confront a disillusioned Darrow, claiming he was forced to make people understand the dangers of augmentation through extreme means. Turns out that selfish bastard was nothing but a spoiled child, Adam thought bitterly. Envies the people because his little toy didn't work and lashes out at innocents as a result. He remembered the regret painted across Darrow's face as the old man finally realized what he had done and asked Adam to relay the entire truth about what had happened. The chip. The Illuminati and their desire to control the technology. He remembered traveling across the installation while trying to avoid the crazed workers and security guards, who attacked him in the belief he was some sort of monster in their uncontrollable hallucinations. He met his boss David Sarif and Bill Taggart, who were both revealed to be members of the Illuminati; both men praying him to further their own respective agendas for what they claimed to be the best for mankind. Taggart asked him to blame the incident on a failed batch of neuropozyne, tricking people into placing down harsh regulations on augmentation technology. Only Sarif's answer had disgusted him more; the man had begged Jensen to openly lie to the public by blaming the Panchaea incident on Purity First terrorists, shifting the blame from biotech corporations to anti-aug groups and enabling the former to research freely without any barriers. And finally, his memory brought him back to Project Hyron and Zhao Yun Rhu's mad attempt at regaining control, in her reckless belief that she would be able to turn this into profit for her company. Adam brought up his hands in front of him and balled them into fists: the very same hands that were tainted with the blood of Zhao and her trio of mercenaries. Barrett, Federova, Namir; they were all dead now. And then there was that choice at the end. He could barely comprehend that, for that very moment, he had the power to change the world with the simple press of a button to his liking. The very power to change history laid at the very edge of his fingertips. Adam could not bring himself to do it. Darrow had noble intentions but had a dangerous and cruel modus operandi; Taggart knew that augmentations could be controlled with proper regulations, but that would mean letting human evolution fall into the hands of the Illuminati; and Sarif had betrayed his trust enough times by lying to him. Adam chose death instead of the other men's propositions, because if there was anything his quest to uncover the truth taught him, it was no individual should hold that much power. He did not feel comfortable with leading over seven billion people into a questionable future because of his own judgment. Even if the research behind it was based on his own DNA. But did I really make the right choice, blowing up everything? The realisation of his fate struck him suddenly. With a soft mechanical whirr, he brought up his hands again in disbelief. "I should be dead," he whispered. "I should be lying at the bottom of the ocean..." Adam lowered his arms and took a look around. He was surprised to see himself in a crater in what looked like a temperate forest. The sun fell softly through the still leaves, who only moved ever so slightly by the faintest breeze that passed through the woods. Adam took in every detail around himself. Trees. Grass. Flowers. Life. Jensen slid down his glasses and closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the peacefulness of the scenery and taking a deep breath. This isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here. "You know Eliza," Adam mumbled softly to himself mostly. "If this is the end of the world, I don't mind it too much." He never noticed a little white bunny speed away in the direction of his cottage. [h+] Angel Bunny could barely believe his eyes at the sight before him. A smaller crater had somehow appeared in the Whitetail woods, charring everything in the zone of impact. While he was grateful that no one had come to harm from it, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive towards whatever had caused it. Slowly, he approached the crater site while telling himself this probably wasn't the right idea: perhaps a monster or alien could pop out at any moment- Angel tumbled backwards in fear as something pulled itself out of the crater and stretched itself over him. Angel looked up in terror: the sun behind it blurred out most if its features, but he could see that it was at least twice as tall as a normal pony. The creature stood on its hindlegs, while the foremost ones ended in wierd appendages not too unlike those of that pesky dragon at the library. Angel's panic-stricken mind made the connection. Mutant dragon! Thankfully, the monster didn't seem to have noticed him, and slowly walked towards the general direction of Fluttershy's cottage. Fear for his caretaker took a hold of him and overwhelmed his fear for the creature, giving Angel a sudden surge of courage. With the loudest war cry he could muster (which wasn't admitedly much), the brave bunny charged forward and pulled at the creature's leg. [h+] Deciding it was time to move, Adam took inventory of his equipment at hand that he had found scattered inside the crater. His silenced 9mm pistol was still slung to his belt: although Adam disliked killing in general, he found it handy when clearing wall-mounted mines... Or against augmented super-mercs like Barrett. He carefully checked the weapon for any faults to the laser pointer and the armor piercing mods before reholstering it with satisfaction. Adam found his stun gun and a few darts in a tactical pouch, along with the P.E.P.S nonlethal shockwave launcher and a couple of energy packs. His tranquilizer rifle was nowhere to be seen, though: although it somewhat saddened Jensen to lose a reliable weapon, he still had enough to tackle any dangers ahead of him. If the worst came to pass, he also had his CQC skills, along with the retractable arm blades, the Typhoon and the GlassShield cloaking device implanted upon him. Adam took a quick stretch before sliding his glasses back on and climbing out of the crater. Almost immediately he was stunned by two things. Firstly, his motion tracker became a flurry of activity. Whoa, must be a lot of animals in these woods. Secondly, his readings showed large amounts of unknown energy around him. Fortunately, it did not seem to be radioactive or in other way hazardous (as his systems would have warned him instantly), but he still decided to keep it safe and move out as soon as possible. Before he could continue on however, he felt slight tug a his leg and looked down. He came face to face with a bunny and smiled at the furry little thing before noticing the intelligent glint in its eyes. The bunny seemed to cross its forelegs and stared at Adam disapprovingly while tapping a backleg repeatedly to the ground. Suddenly, it started making wild gestures while Adam merely stared dumbfoundedly at the animal. Is it trying to communicate with me? Suddenly, the creature sped past him and bounced away into the woods. With nothing better to do, Adam chuckled and followed it. "I bet Megan would have liked it as a pet." [h+] Sitting by her cottage near the woods, Fluttershy handed over her last bushel of carrots to the eagerly awaiting hare family. "There you go mister Hare," she cooed. "Have a nice day." With her chores for the day done, the mare sat down and exhaled softly with a smile on her face. Perhaps now she could head into Ponyville and pick up something to eat at Sugarcube corner, or- Her thoughts were interrupted as Angel Bunny sped through the foliage straight towards her and started waving his hands around in panic. Fluttershy leaned in closer and gazed at him worriedly. "Is something wrong Angel?" Angel nodded vigorously and pointed towards the Whitetail woods, then pretended to become a monster by raising his arms to the air and making... Well, monster sounds. "Something in the forest?" Fluttershy guessed. Angel nodded again, and remade the monster gestures again, this time raising himself to the tip of his toes before accidentally falling down flat onto the ground. "Uh... Is it a bear?" Angel facepalmed. "Oh hey Fluttershy!" The pegasus looked up to see Twilight walk towards her and waved her hoof towards her unicorn friend. "Oh, hello Twilight." "How are you doing today?" Twilight asked. "Angel is quite excited about something today," Fluttershy answered and nodded towards the bunny in question. "I think he found a bear in the Whitetail forest." Twilight raised an eyebrow as the bunny continued making wild gestures and pointing towards the forest. "Mind if I tag along?" Twilight asked. "I was just about to go for a walk in there anyway." "Oh, not at all! I mean, if you want to..." Without much further ado, the two ponies headed into the forest. [h+] Adam slowly trekked through the underbrush, somewhat absorbed in his own thoughts, when several female voices interrupted his musings. While Adam was pretty sure there were no mercenaries around, it was always sound to have a little caution. He activated his cloaking and snuck forward. To his surprise, the charge meter on his HUD did not even budge, even though the blinking battery symbol and his obviously invisible form told him it should be expending energy at a rapid rate. Setting those thoughts aside for the moment, he crept forward towards the voices. Wha- Horses? His eyes widened in surprise. Walking up the road were indeed a pair of oddly colorful horses, with unnaturally large eyes and with bizzare, almost humanlike expressions on their faces. The purple one seemed to sport a horn on her head, while the yellow one had a pair of wings folded over her body. He could also recognize the bunny he had met earlier, gesturing the equines to follow it while it hopped ahead. Curious, he followed them quietly through the vegetation, taking great care not to tread on any branches or rustle any leaves. The fact that those things could talk in the first place was more surprising -and somewhat unsettling- than the actual subject. Adam didn't care much though. He was too preoccupied with following them to hear anything but a few snippets of conversation. If this is the afterlife, then it's a damn strange one... It did not take long before realisation crept into Jensen's mind as he saw a slight gap in the terrain appear: the bunny had indeed led his companions towards the crater he had landed in for the lack of a better word. The horses looked around the site with surprise and a slight twinge of worry evident in their eyes, searching around for something of interest while the bunny kept watch around the area. Adam chuckled. Huh. It's not like they expect to find anything- A loud exclamation from the purple unicorn caught his attention. Adam moved from his observation place quietly and froze as the horse pointed towards something on the ground for the yellow one... The same tranquilizer rifle Adam thought he had lost a while ago. Damn it, how did I miss it?! Jensen mulled over his choices. He did not want those creatures anywhere near his weapons, nonlethal or not: there was always the risk that they could injure themselves with it in some way. On the other hand, retrieving it would mean he would have to blow his cover, which would probably spook the equines if he decloaked out of nowhere. As harmless as they seemed, he had no actual knowledge on how they would react to his presence. He could try talking to them and try to initialize contact; or he could simply make a dash for it and snatch up the weapon before their very noses and disappear into the foilage. He would have to make a choice quickly. Reader's vote: - Combat option: Run in, snatch the tranquilizer rifle, cloak and escape - Stealth option: Sit back and observe what happens - Diplomacy option: Decloack and attempt first contact Remember, your choices will affect the story's outcome based on Jensen's actions.