AN: I'll admit to the fact that I've only played Deus Ex HR, and haven't read every bit of lore I could find. Vague recap is below the chapter itself on what actually happened after Deus Ex HR. Slight changes to the events leading up to MD... Which never happens anyway because of this fanfic. These nuggets on the crossover are gonna be called... Something. I have no clue what I'm going to call them... Maybe you guys can help? For the moment, they're gonna be called Codex, but I definitely reckon that something more original can come from somewhere.
Timeline of Overwatch has been taken... Approximately fourty years backwards because the tech in Deus Ex and Overwatch are pretty similar (despite Overwatch (the game and cinematics) taking place in either 2070-80). It matches up, give or take.
Also, I'm gonna put in bold some music that I think suits the situation the best. For the most part it's from the actual Deus Ex HR OST, but sometimes it isn't. It's pretty rare that I actually list music that I think suits what scene I'm trying to convey, but it's in this chapter twice, if you dislike that.
Control
Prologue
"Sir!" One of his aides, a certain Tom Kaden cried out, rushing into the room.
"Yes?" Jack Morrison replied, as he looked out of the window, the sun shining through the windows.
"David Sarif called a while back, sir, asking you to call him back at the earliest opportunity! He, er, has something to ask you about, or something like that..." Kaden rambled, nervously.
Morrison chuckled a little bit at the boy's enthusiasm, which caused him to blush. "I got it, I got it. Good work, Tom."
"Thanks sir..." The aide replied, blushing even farther.
"Now go back to work," Jack said, after he let the boy take in the view that he had for a minute or two.
"Yes, sir! The number should be on your computer right now!"
Morrison shook his head amusedly, before getting serious again. Sarif Industries was on the point of bankruptcy, due to a various amount of public backlash, and shareholders taking their shares away, so what did Sarif want now?
Sitting at his desk, and pulling out his computer from a drawer, he quickly got the call number up, and called the man.
"Ah!" Sarif said, as he noticed that Jack was on screen. "Captain Morrison, just the man I wanted to see."
"Why did you want to see me, then, sir?" He replied, politely, but to the point.
"I want to see you about some of my employees... Most importantly, these three: Jensen, Malik and Pritchard... I think that you recognize those names." The corporate man said, remarkably serious that it was nearly out of character from what he had seen, heard and read about the man.
"I have... Especially Jensen." The commander answered. Who was in the military that hadn't? Kicked from the SWAT, came back as chief of Sarif Industries, took part in the destruction of Panchaea among other things.
"Then you'll know that my company has some... Er, bankruptcy issues. Everyone of my employees is getting new jobs, but I've decided to send these three over to you - where their talents might be useful for your cause of fighting the Omnics and other... Threats, if you catch my drift." Sarif said, throwing a small baseball up and down - a nervous twitch if Morrison could guess.
"Yes," Jack replied, thinking on the various amount of things that didn't make sense when added together among tons of other subjects. "I think that I do."
"Then you realize that my company by proxy of those three have fought them, and won?" The man claimed, though Jack thought that 'winning' was a stretch of the definition. "Then I ask you to take them in as employees, of your operation... You don't have to take it up, but you can have their background and what they have done at Sarif Industries... I'm sure that you'll find something."
And the call ended, just like that.
Morrison moved to the window, feeling a small clusterfuck coming, and decided to call Gabriel and Ana up to his office, so that they could review what Sarif had told him, and of these three. Whilst he was pretty sure that he could employ them - he wasn't sure about how the board would react. Especially since the three were augmented, even if you could pass Malik and Pritchard as not having any, with Jensen it was obvious.
"Jack?" Ana interrupted his thoughts, sounding relatively concerned about him. "What's the matter? The board again?"
He turned around, his face somewhat serious. Gabriel immediately sat up straight. "Yeah, I'm with Ana here, Jack. You got that look on your face like when something ain't right."
"Not exactly," he replied, elaborating at their looks, "Sarif called me a minute or two ago, saying some rather... Interesting things?"
"What does this corporate want?" Reyes asked, straight to the point, Ana just staying silent.
"He essentially wants us to employ three of his own, since his company's going bankrupt." Jack stated.
"I hope that he means Jensen," Ana commented, as she read the files on his computer. "He's perfect in a combat scenario, and is very effective on stealth missions according to this. The other two would help - we do need some cyber-security, despite your own thoughts on the idea. We also need more pilots, since poor Lena's... Accident."
Jack did not want to be reminded of that incident ever again. Even Gabriel who held a vague annoyance against her because of her constant enthusiasm, felt sorry for the girl.
Seeing the looks on their faces, Amari's face fell herself, just as saddened. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry about it... We're all torn up about it." Jack reassured her, the Blackwatch leader just nodding in agreement. "Let's see the positives, shall we?"
There was a moment of silence, until Reyes interrupted their thoughts. "I think that I have a plan to counter act the board, if you'd like, Jack."
Morrison motioned for the man to continue.
Reyes frowned, but ignored it, continuing with his thought process. "Since Blackwatch isn't so tied up with the board about augmentations as Overwatch is, I think that I can safely employ Jensen without many shenanigans, and maybe the other two, if you let me give them some combat and stealth training."
"What about what they're meant to be employed as?" Jack questioned, rising his brow.
"Don't worry, boy scout. They'll still do their jobs as normal, but I'm talking in case they get ambushed, or they're without any support on a mission. Every Overwatch member has combat training and Blackwatch is full of soldiers, and criminals anyway." Reyes replied, irritable at the question.
"I'm sure that could work..." Jack admitted. "Though I'm not sure if Jensen is willing to work with criminals though..."
"Depends on who." Ana commented, neutrally. "If they're sympathetic enough..."
"So, you agree with me Ana?" Gabriel asked, somewhat hopefully.
"I am..." The Egyptian woman replied, reluctantly. "But only if you let both me and Jack use him on missions."
"I kinda thought that was a given..." Reyes admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"So, it's settled? They're under the official employ of Blackwatch, but all three of us can use them on a mission?" Jack gathered.
"Yep/Of course," were Gabriel's and Ana's reply, respectively.
"Adam," Sarif called him over the Infolink frequency. "I er..."
"Secured me a job?" The aug completed, not in the mood for pussyfooting around. "Pritchard told me that he, Malik and I got one at Overwatch, but said that he didn't know what."
"Yeah, about that..." His boss said, starting to sound serious. "From what I can tell about the organization, they have ties in the Illuminati. Your choice at Panchaea, made them notice you as a threat... A pretty serious one. Try to make allies, don't get noticed... But you're good at the second, already. Just know, Adam... I'm always open for a chat. I might not be the head of Sarif Industries, but I can help you."
That was a grapevine, Adam noted, and he appreciated that. "I'll call you if anything Illuminati happens, sir."
The man nodded, before adding, "They're coming to pick you up at Detroit Airport at four PM... Put on your city clothes and armour, they'll recognize you."
"Sure thing, boss. Thanks." The former SWAT member replied, feeling appreciative of the fact that he disturbed the eerie quiet.
"See you soon, Adam." And he was gone from the frequency, leaving Adam alone in his half-destroyed apartment. Whilst he would readily admit that he preferred Malik and even, god help him Pritchard for company over Sarif... Anything was better then being alone in his apartment...
[Play Deus Ex HR OST: Adam's Apartment.]
He turned on the TV, needing something to stave off the quiet...
It was probably obvious that he disliked silence. During a mission, it was a boon... But, when he was supposed to be... Adam groped for a word, and decided on relaxing. God, he hadn't done it in months.
Adam listened half-heartedly, moving towards his desk with various mechanical parts, and repaired his arm. A bullet was lodged in there, somewhere, after he had stopped some Omnic-Human racism - with ironically, Omnics as the perpetrators, despite the fact that Omnics liked to paint themselves as the victims... Humanity did it as well though, he would readily admit.
One of them had a gun, firing straight at the homeless family that he was protecting. Adam quickly pushed them out of the way, but the bullet had caught him in the arm.
Luckily, everyone remained unscathed - apart from a few broken bones that is... He sincerely hoped that they all had used those credits he had given them wisely - he didn't have any contacts that could help them, since admittedly, he wasn't exactly looking for company. And he had never really, even when he hadn't had his augs.
Maybe, Overwatch would be better at making him socialise.
He extracted the 10mm bullet, putting it on the table, checking to see if it was whole. If it was, he could repair his arm himself, but if it wasn't, he might have to ask Vera for some help. Luckily for him, it was whole - he did not want to go out on the streets at the moment.
He grabbed some materials from his desk, mainly polymer, titanium and other metals that formed his arm, and he quickly fiddled with the materials enough so that it resembled a baton, and he placed it in the hole - eventually his Sentinel implant would repair his arm completely, absorbing the similar materials, and reshaping them to fit properly.
How that worked, he had no clue, but it was obviously some type of technological 'marvel' that Sarif had managed to create.
"Sarif Industries is set to go bankrupt, and nearly all of its employees are going to other companies. According to an anonymous source, some of them are even going to the international task force: Overwatch, with most of its assets being seized by Tai Yong Medical following a hostile takeover..."
Tuning it out, Adam narrowed his eyes, and turned to the screen to see Eliza... But different. Not in looks all that much, but in... Turning the news against augmented even further then it normally was. He had only been vaguely listening before, but had picked up on it subtly turning anti-aug. Subtly being the key word.
She had talked about a recent augmented terrorist attack, and had merely added adjectives, words and even just paused, which would change nearly the whole meaning of the sentence. Despite the fact that it wouldn't be obvious, it would ingrain a seed into people's minds.
Turning on the security functions of his apartment, he decided that he had enough conspiracy to last him a lifetime, maybe even two if he felt enough self-pity, and decided that he had to at least try and get some sleep.
Climbing into his bed, Adam waited until his augmented eyes fell asleep.
Adam was quick to grab a tram to the airport, overhearing various slanders against him that made him very tense.
"Hopefully, this robot doesn't go insane on us..."
"This junk better not try anything..."
He quickly left as soon as he arrived, rapidly moving to airport, looking out for either blue or black uniforms. He suspected that for the most part, they'd be from Blackwatch, since according to Pritchard, Overwatch was tied to an extremely anti-aug board of governors.
"Adam Jensen!" A loud German accent boomed out as soon as he entered the airport, loudly.
The aug turned to see a white-haired man wearing blue and white armour, with a massive hammer on his shoulder. Adam was surprised that a member of Overwatch, (and a high ranking one at that, if the four other soldiers behind him were any indication) had been sent to see him. It was pretty naive, in his opinion: anti-aug sentiment was at its highest point, and didn't seem to want to go down.
He walked towards the man, frowning somewhat as everyone who had noticed his presence had even more gossip to talk about.
"You're the recruiter?" Adam asked, discretely as to not get too many people involved.
"I am," the giant replied, quieter now. "But call me Lieutenant Wilhelm for the moment."
[Play Deus Ex Human Revolution: Detroit City Streets Combat.]
Suddenly, a massive explosion rung out in the middle of the airport, throwing massive pieces of debris everywhere, causing Adam to dip behind cover, only to see Wilhelm raise a blue shield that stopped the debris, and made it fall to the ground. Corpses bounced off against the wall, making the former corporate man swear vengeance as best he could.
Taking a peak behind cover, he immediately noticed the tell-tale sign of Illuminati troopers.
"We must help the civilians!" The Lieutenant cried out, loudly as the giant moved forward to protect civilians from the bullets that had started to surround them, the other five troopers firing back at the small army of soldiers, with a lone man that was nearly as heavily augmented as he was and with a rocket launcher, on top of a balcony that overlooked the airport, who was obviously in command if his barking was correct. Adam was quick to see a way he could incapacitate the man, without attracting too much attention, and decided to execute it.
Adam stated loud enough that the giant could hear him, "You take care of the civilians and the soldiers, I'm gonna try and take care of their commander."
"All by yourself?!" The armoured man retorted. "That is suicide."
"Just let me work. I can handle him." He replied, quickly activating his cloak and departing before the man could protest further.
Behind cover, Adam pulled out his stun gun and fired potshots that instantly silenced many of the troopers, since many of them were only wearing black masks to cover their identity.
Immediately seeing a way that he could reach the balcony from where he was, Adam quickly ran towards the stairs, narrowly avoiding bullets when they noticed him, ducking behind cover, noticing two armoured troops approaching his position.
Leaping out as soon as they got close, Adam quickly threw them into the wall, and then proceeded to punch them in the face in a single swing, knocking the armoured men out.
Getting to the top of the reception would enable him to jump up and reach the balcony, he noted, immediately sprinting towards the edge, leaping on top of the reception, before leaping even higher, managing to grab the ledge just before he fell.
"Adam Jensen..." The man said, smirking widely, causing the aug to frown. He hated arrogant people. "So good to see that we could interrupt your departure from Detroit in such an explosive fashion. Poor civilians..."
Adam narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses. "You were the one to kill them. They shouldn't have even been killed by your Illuminati soldiers."
"Illuminati... But, Jensen, that's merely a conspiracy theory..." The augmented terrorist replied, coyly, moving over to the other side of the balcony. "Didn't think you'd be the type."
"Don't play games with me... You're here to make it look like Overwatch failed in their duty to protect everyone didn't you? Drag them into the mud. This isn't Omnic related, so from the world's perspective, they failed to protect the people when there aren't Omnics to blame." Adam retorted, quickly deducing the reason behind the attack.
"Hahaha! You got it..." The Illuminati pawn replied, sinisterly confident. "Now, I'm going to kill you... You already know too much, especially after Panchaea!"
Adam quickly blocked the man's quick strikes, before headbutting the man, staggering him enough so that Adam could grab him by the collar of his shirt, and throw him towards the reception's glass roof.
The man landed with a crash landing on his front, before pulling himself screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU JENSEN! HARAAM AIN'T GOING DOWN YET!"
Adam widened his eyes, as Haraam pulled out a rocket launcher from his back, rapidly jumping from the balcony, an explosion sounding out from behind him, his Icarus augmentation slowing his fall so that he landed in the reception.
Thrown across the reception, with a slam of the launcher, Adam quickly got up, sprinting behind a wall, grabbing a metal pole that had come from the wall, before activating his thermal vision.
"YOU COWARD! FACE ME!" Haraam bellowed enraged, sprinting towards where he had hidden.
The former SWAT member leaped out from behind cover, smashing his pole against the man's nose, following it up with a kick to the knee, before grabbing the terrorist's head, and smashing it against a wall, causing him to drop his rocket launcher.
Kicking it away, Adam quickly smashed his metal pole over the man's head, as soon as he stirred, knocking the man out.
"Jensen!" He heard the Lieutenant call out, loudly. "Are you all right?!"
"I'm okay, Lieutenant. I took care of the commander." The aug replied, preoccupied.
"That is very good, my friend. Shall we take our... 'Friend' over to Gibraltar?" Wilhelm said, disgust in his tone about their mutual 'friend'.
"You're my commander," Adam replied, simply, feeling a bit of affection to the giant of a man, who obviously had a heart. That was a rare trait, these days. "You have the rank over me."
"Yet, you didn't even bother to listen to me before," the Lieutenant said, seriously, before laughing heartily when the aug's eyebrows formed a line. "Don't worry, my friend! You did what was right, and I respect that as a fellow warrior!"
"...Thanks." He replied, unsure how to handle the man. He seemed like he wanted to be like a knight in those stories, saving people when he could. Which Adam understood, and even did himself.
"Unfortunately, this attack caused many casualties, but we managed to save a few peoples lives," Wilhelm said, obviously saddened at the loss of life.
Adam nodded. "I hope that you gave them enough of a hero worship..."
"What do you mean?" asked the man, confusedly.
"They aimed to pull Overwatch through the mud," Adam revealed. "Make it seem like Overwatch couldn't save lives if it isn't about Omnics."
"What?! Why?" The knight exclaimed loudly, and confused.
"I'll give you a rundown when we're on that flight to Gibraltar." He said, feeling that the man wasn't faking any of the emotions right now. His CASIE aug had admittedly told him that he was the honest type of person, and a knight in shining armour.
"...All right. Is this a matter of secrecy or...?" Wilhelm asked, curiously, surveying him from top to bottom.
"Secrecy. Spy level." Adam replied, briefly.
"You seem honest enough... Come on, follow me!" The Lieutenant yelled, boisterously, marching towards the exit.
Adam shook his head, following the man, if somewhat reluctantly.
Reinhardt would readily admit to the fact, that he was somewhat suspicious of Jensen. He was secretive, and paranoid which weren't good mixes... And according to Jack, he had the CASIE augmentation which was pretty bad news. But, he was fair - he'd give the man a chance to explain whatever the hell that was.
He rallied his troops, one of the four having been injured in the firefight, but he was proud of all them. They had sucessfully driven off a good amount soldiers all by themselves, which was impressive.
"Lieutenant!" The pilot, a certain Faridah Malik called from the entrance to the VTOL. "We're ready to... Jensen?"
"Malik... It's good to see you." The new member of Overwatch said, honesty in his tone. "You already have the job?"
"Yeah, but I've only been here a day or two," Malik replied, before turning to Reinhardt who had been waiting patiently for their reunion. "Are you ready, sir?"
"Don't call me sir," he exclaimed. "Call me Reinhardt, for that is my name!"
"Er... Yes, sir - I mean, Reinhardt." She replied, surprised at his enthusiasm, as they entered the rather spacious aircraft. What was there to be surprised by though - comrades aren't meant to be so professional with each other, for they were all friends...! Weren't they?
"I have a wounded soldier though," he said, concentrating on the immediate. "Do you have first aid, or something medical?"
"Yeah, on the table to the right... But, not to the point of healing bullets... What happened out there?" Malik asked, curiosity and worry in her tone.
"Terrorists attacked us, with the objective of dragging Overwatch in the mud." Jensen answered for him, as Reinhardt grabbed some painkillers, and some bandages. "They thought if they could kill tons of people, it would make it look like Overwatch couldn't save lives if there aren't Omnics around... Which isn't true, since Reinhardt saved quite a few of them."
"Bastards... Is it...?" She asked, conveying something that he couldn't quite grasp, moving to the cockpit, Jensen following her.
"Yeah, they're involved." Was the aug's simple answer.
"Shit, that's bad."
"Ahem," Reinhardt interrupted the byplay, with a loud fake cough. "I believe that you have something to say to me, Jensen."
"Yeah, I do..." He replied. "Anywhere secret that two people can talk without overhearing on this VTOL, Malik?"
"There is... Go to the end of the corridor, and to the right, there's a room. Close the door behind you." She replied, starting up their long flight.
Jensen nodded, quickly entering the room, his sunglasses up.
Reinhardt got out of his armour, and entered after the former cop, closing the door behind him.
"I'm going to give you a rundown on the situation, if you can swear that you'll tell it to nobody apart from those that are extremely trustworthy. People who'd practically die keeping one of your secrets." The man immediately started, utterly serious as he sat down in front of the giant of a man.
"I promise on my life, Jensen." He swore.
The augmented man surveyed him for a moment or two, with that CASIE aug, Reinhardt reckoned, before nodding. "What happened back there was like I said, but... They were ordered there by a higher power."
"That was obvious... Get to the point already!" He interrupted, irritably.
Jensen frowned at him, before continuing angrily. "Imagine a higher power on the scale of the world. They want to control everything for more power, and they have nearly the entire world in the palm of their hand. This attack was headed by them... And if it wasn't directly by this group, it was definitely by one of their proxies. Even the Omnics work into their hands - their destruction is causing havoc, enabling them to continue their work in the shadows. Do you see what I mean?"
Reinhardt was stunned. He was immediately disgusted by them - who wanted to hurt innocents for more power? He was also skeptical of the idea, but it would make sense why Overwatch wasn't allowed to do certain missions: it directly hurt this group! "What are their names?"
"I know for a fact that the group in general is called the Illuminati," the man revealed. "And I'm hunting them down. They have to be stopped, for the innocents."
"I shall help you, friend, with this marvellous objective!" Reinhardt exclaimed. "They must be stopped!"
"Quiet." Adam said, a small sigh of relief escaping him. "Remember what I said?"
"Oh yes, I am sorry, Adam." He apologized sheepishly. "Shall we get back to our comrades, friend?"
The augmented man merely nodded, as they walked over to the central room where the others were unpacking some type of dinner.
"Men!" Reinhardt called loudly. "I have decided that we are to call Jensen our comrade! He is a true hero just as we are! Even with all of his augmentations, he is our friend... And I shall not have anything else, understand!?"
"Yes, sir!" They replied just as loudly.
"And now we eat... Come now, don't just stand there, Adam." He said, noticing the man stand there looking rather shocked if he could judge that facial expression as such. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, I am sure that this thing can be put on auto-pilot... I think."
"You think correctly," Malik answered, standing next to the aug. "This thing can be put on auto-pilot, except that it does extremely slow."
"Nevermind." Reinhardt stated, waving it off. "Better to sleep, eat and feel MARVELLOUS afterwards, even if the journey does go by faster!"
"If you say so," she replied, looking amused.
And so, it was that Adam Jensen became a part of Overwatch: he wasn't there at the beginning...
But he'd be there at the end.
Codex: the events after the crash of Panchaea:
Adam Jensen is found by David Sarif, and is repaired to full functionality, and even upgraded to not have the battery to use his augs. All of them can be used without any consequences... Apart from a massive appetite.
(I'll admit that I stole it from IgnusDei's Mass Effect Human Revolution, because that idea is awesome. Also read that crossover if you haven't - difficult to understand, but when you do understand, it is incredible).
Everyone apart from those two dies from the incident, and global augmentation tension rises as a result.
Overwatch has the slipstream incident, which causes young pilot Lena Oxton to disappear and reappear from time itself, without any control. She is forced into a containment pod to not slip out of this timeline forever.
Anti-augmentation feelings are at the highest point in decades, with various governments even outlawing practice, and others using them merely for their armies. Overwatch also has to comply, and is forced to relocate all augmented personnel to their partner, Blackwatch.
Sarif Industries faces hostile takeover from Tai Yong Medical.
Adam Jensen becomes a vigilante, and starts taking out criminal gangs all around the world. Is called CyborCop for these actions.
A mysterious hacker calling herself Sombra is responsible for the emptying of the bank account of Bob Page into David Sarif's. Accusations towards the man come up, before she hacks into all news outlets, including Picus saying that she was responsible, causing an international search into every country apart from Russia, France, Japan and China.
Juggernaut Collective is forced into hiding, after Belltower gets info on multiple members, and tortures them for information.
Task Force 29 is shut down permanently, due to lack of funding, and resources. Most of the members go to Blackwatch.
Multiple anti-terrorist groups are formed, such as Rainbow Six, the CT and more, to combat the growing threat.
The Illuminati are dealt a massive blow, after Jensen releases information of multiple Illuminatus (Illuminati members, I believe) and their crimes. Most of them are murdered shortly afterwards, by a group called the Coalition who has the intention of destroying every conspiracy in existence.
Overwatch has a new board of governors, after the Illuminati disposes of the previous governors. This new board is extremely anti-augmentation, and is in favour for Illuminati dealings.
Talon, a scientific group with intense rivalry to the Illuminati is formed. They create Omnics, sentient robots with AI, kickstarting a new species. The government is quick to make sure that these robots aren't controlled by the group. Global debate explodes about these robots.
The Omnic Crisis begins, after a massive hack happens to the robots and causes them to go extremely violent towards humans: augmented or not.
Overwatch, normally an anti-terrorist/peacekeeping group, is forced into combating these robots.
Talon's leadership is destroyed, and reformed to suit the Illuminati's wants.
Adam Jensen is rumoured to be recruited to Blackwatch, with massive repercussions for the organization and its partner, Overwatch.
AN: I hope that I did everyone's character all right. This story is similar to Deus Ex: The Watch is Over, but I plan on making this derail the canon of both games, massively. MASSIVELY.
I listened to the Ambient Mix of Deus Ex HR whilst writing this for the most part. It certainly had its influences. (Yes, that was random.)
Hope you all enjoyed, have a good day/night/evening/morning!
