Missing scene, and a pair to the previous one. During the Detroit riots. Set between Adam returning to his apartment to hitch a ride back to Sarif Industries, up to and including Sarif briefing him on the located GPL signal.
Sarif was on the vid-phone when Pritchard burst through his office doors. His unannounced entrance caused Sarif to flick his gaze up. He held up one hand in a gesture of 'Give me a minuet,' and went back to the call.
"I know it's bad, Mike. We're right smack dab in the middle of this shit storm, what I want to know is how long is going to take the DPD to get this under control. I've got a lot of scared people here and they want to go home, but right how those rioter's are trashing the front steps of this building."
"I can't give you any definite time-line here, we'll get it under control when we get it under control. You harassing me with this isn't going to make my men move any faster. We can't always jump to your beck and call, David." There was an annoyed tone to the Captain of the Detroit Police voice that went beyond irritation at Sarif's call. He was still sore about the Milwaukee incident.
Sarif scowled at Mike, "I didn't realize 'Serve and Protect' meant that you were at my beck and call. Maybe I should recheck my, frankly, outrageous taxes to see if that falls under my purview. I'm not asking for the moon, Mike. I just want my people to be safe, something you are currently not providing."
"You've got a private security force, that's more than LIMB has. We have to deal with the greatest threats first."
"Cut the shit, you and I both know, that the bulk of the threats are right here in Sarif Plaza."
The Captain was unimpressed. It was clearly punishment for the earlier threats of pension funding cuts. Selfish prick. He was going to let the riots continue even with the possibility of injury to the employees still left in house and the crowd of rioters itself. Not to mention the damage to all the buildings in the plaza.
"LIMB is the priority right now. When we have that secured, we will move into Sarif Plaza. Not a moment before." The Captain said, voice brisk and cold. He cut the call.
"Fuck you too, Mike," Sarif snarled at the blank screen and then motioned Pritchard over. "What have you got, Frank?"
Pritchard had been standing at the entrance, radiating a tense excited energy. He exploded forward toward Sarif's desk.
"Sandoval just told Jensen that he was unable to remove the implants, so he changed their frequency."
Sarif sat upright at that. "Can you locate them?"
"Yes and no..." Pritchard faltered. "I can't scan for them from here, we just don't have the range. But, I have a friend in the DoD, I can call in a favour for this."
"The DoD..."
"It's not ideal, but she's trustworthy."
That doesn't matter, Sarif thought, trustworthy or not, the moment this goes through the DoD servers, They'll know. He gave it a moment of thought, but there was never really any other choice.
"Alright, call it in and let me know as soon as you've got-" Sarif interrupted himself in surprise as he caught sight of his office doors opening for the second time that night.
Pritchard followed his gaze to where High Darrow was stepping though a door held open by one of his augmented body guards.
"I apologize, David. I didn't realize you already had company," Darrow said as he slowly made his way toward Sarif's desk.
"It's..fine, just give me a moment," Sarif said and turned back to Pritchard, voice pitched low. "Buzz me on my Infolink when you have something."
Pritchard raised an eyebrow at that, but wisely remained quiet and nodded his head once before striding out of the room.
Darrow slowly sat down in one of the chairs in front of Sarif's desk. Crippled though he was, there was always something graceful about the way Darrow moved.
"I didn't know you were in Detroit, Hugh. Here to watch Taggert's self-righteous bullshit about augments while whipping the people of this city into a frenzied riot?"
Darrow chuckled, at what Sarif assumed was the heat in his voice, it made him frown. "No, I'm just passing through actually. Though, I did catch what your man said to Taggart. Was that a CASIE augment at work?"
"Yeah, though Adam's always been good at ruffling feathers, he's just more effective now." Sarif couldn't help the brief smile that crossed his face as he recalled his own tangle with Adam and his CASIE aug.
"Indeed," Darrow replied, a knowing smile in his voice.
"You picked a hell of a time to drop in, Hugh." Sarif said, gesturing to the windows and the current cluster-fuck that was Detroit at that moment. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you here?"
"I'm on my way to Panchea, and I have been giving your request some thought."
"And?"
"In light of all the violence as of late, it seems we need a coming together, now more than ever. I think it an excellent idea to gather all sides of the augment debate, and what better place than Panchea?"
Sarif smiled, he had been worried he wasn't going to be able to relay on Darrow's aid for this. He'd been strangely distant lately. "When?"
"I'll need a day to make the appropriate invitations, but I was hoping for it to coincide with the activation of Panchea."
"That's three days from now."
"Two actually, as it is now after midnight."
Sarif frowned and look to the window, lost in thought for a moment. Could they find Megan and her team by then? It was extremely short notice. Then again, the shorter the better he supposed. Less time for the Illuminati to form a counter strike.
"David?" Darrow's voice called him back from his thoughts. "That is acceptable, isn't it?"
"Yes, of course. Thank you, Hugh." Sarif didn't miss the way Darrow's face looked guilty for a brief moment at his words, but it was gone before he could properly analyze it.
Sarif roughly scrubbed his hands over his face, pleased that, finally, things seemed to be turning in his favour.
"You look exhausted, David. Have you been sleeping?"
Darrow's voice held genuine concern but Sarif couldn't help the sharp bark of sarcastic laughter. "I don't have time to sleep. Keeping this company solvent has become a 24 hour responsibili-" Sarif let out a startled groan of pain.
The searing pain from earlier was back, though damped somewhat by the painkillers already in his system. He pressed the palms of both his hands to his forehead, and after a few moments it was gone. It seemed to last longer that time.
"David? David, what's wrong?" Darrow's asked, a worried edge to his voice.
Sarif rubbed slow circles on his forehead. "I'm not sure. Second time tonight I've had this flash of intense pain.." Sarif let his hands drop back to his desk.
"When was the last time you had a Neuropozyn injection?"
"Almost a month ago," Darrow made a noise somewhere between shock and a reprimand, "but it isn't like that kind of pain. It's more intense than rejection syndrome."
Darrow's face closed down at those words, and his voice became brisk, business like. "I see. Perhaps it is a malfunctioning cranial implant. The Infolink is still technically in beta testing."
Sarif stared at Darrow, suddenly wary of his demeanour. "If that were the case, it should be interfering with my cognitive functions, I haven't experienced any of that. Besides, I would have noticed something earlier."
"Would you have? Between your lack of sleep and refusal to follow the recommended intervals between injections, would you truly be able to tell?"
The condescension in Darrow's tone made Sarif bristle. He was poised for a cutting remark when a call came through his Infolink. His eyes flicked away from Darrow as he accepted the call.
"I've located a signal. I'm sending the coordinates to my terminal," Pritchard said quickly before cutting the call.
That information calmed Sarif somewhat, so his next words to Darrow didn't hold the bite they would have. "I have enough of a handle on my mental facilities to know when they are being impaired." Sarif stood from his chair. "Something has just come up, excuse me for a few minuets."
"Of course," Darrow said, all charm and ease again, but Sarif could feel Darrow's calculating gaze on his back as strode out of the office and was suddenly sure he didn't want Darrow to see what floor he was going to.
When he arrived the Tech Lab, Pritchard was no where to be found. He sat down at the desk anyways and almost immediately the holo screen flared to life with Pritchard's scowling continence on it. Off screen he tapped a few things on the keyboard.
"I've located Sevchenko's GPL," Pritchard said as a map flashed on the screen.
Sarif eyes widened as he realized where the signal was broadcasting from. "Hengsha?"
"I was just as surprised. Though given TYM's apparent involvement, maybe we shouldn't be." Pritchard looked at something off screen, then focused back on Sarif. "Jensen should be there shortly, I would brief him in person but I'm afraid I'll be out of the building until the riots end. It was hard enough getting out, I don't think I'll be getting back in any time soon."
"Don't put yourself at risk, Frank. I'll brief Adam. Good work, and stay safe."
He gave a sharp nod, "Pritchard out."
Sarif exited the Tech Labs and headed back to the public elevator. He leaned against the railing and watched as the Detroit skyline rose around him. In the distance a billboard for Picus News caught his attention and Eliza's parting words from earlier swam through his head. "...And remember, David, everyone lies." As the city disappeared behind the metal shaft of the elevator, Sarif knew that pointed statement was directed at Hugh Darrow. Twenty years in the augmentation industry had made him wary to trust the words of most people, but there was one person he'd always trusted unequivocally.
He was still reeling from the implications of what Darrow's dishonesty could mean as he stepped through the doors of his office to find Adam and Darrow in the middle of a conversation.
"Adam? You're back! Uh, can I speak to you outside?" Adam gave Darrow one last look before crossing the room to Sarif. Sarif lead him out the short hall and back toward Athene's desk. "Get to the helipad, son. You're going back to Hengsha Island. Frank tracked down one of the GPL's."
"Only one? Is it-?"
Sarif cut that question short, he didn't want to get the man's hopes up. "Sevchenko's. But Adam, he had to call in a favour from the DoD to do it."
"Meaning..the conspirators probably know I'm coming."
Sarif nodded and left Adam standing next to Athene's desk. As he headed back into his office to deal with Darrow, Sarif could feel the cold sting of betrayal as it crept through his mind. He clenched his augmented hand in denial, Darrow wouldn't do that to him. Sure, Darrow had secrets, everyone had secrets, Sarif had secrets, but Darrow wouldn't outright lie to him.
Darrow gave him a ghost of a smile as Sarif stopped beside him. "I trust all is well?"
"Yeah. Well, as alright as anything is with all that going on out there." Sarif gestured weakly to the windows.
"Of course. Nothing a decent nights sleep wouldn't cure, I'm sure."
"Them or me?"
"Both, I should think."
Sarif huffed a breath of laughter and they were silent for a time. Then one of Darrow's augmented guards made a motion and Darrow sighed.
"It's time for me to go, David. Panchea awaits." Darrow started moving toward the office doors, Sarif walked with him. Darrow stopped before stepping out of the office and turned to face Sarif.
"You'll get some rest you won't you?" Darrow asked, smile quirking the edges of his lips like he knew the request wasn't going to be heeded but needed to be poised nonetheless.
"I'll try." Ideally Sarif was going to go home and collapse in his bed after the riots were cleared and sleep for a few hours before standing under a too hot shower. It wasn't going to be long enough or restful enough, but it was going to have to do.
Darrow seemed to read that in his face because he nodded, somewhat sadly. He turned to go then paused and turned back. He looked at Sarif, a jumble of emotions playing across his features, grief and determination the chiefest among them.
"David, I- LIMB is going to issue a recall and replacement for defective neural biochips, do not get one. Your headaches will dissipate in time."
Sarif frowned in confusion. "Why? What's going on, Hugh?"
Darrow looked away. "Do this for me, David. Please." The almost broken tone of his voice swayed Sarif.
"Alright."
Darrow left then, with a regal head nod and his face neutral. The next morning LIMB issued it's recall, and Frank came to him with concerns. Sarif told him the same thing Darrow said to him, don't get one.