Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 12: The Showdown.

Adam Jensen's office. / Frank Pritchard's office. / The Jackdaw.

Since yesterday, Adam's mood had deteriorated even more. He did not want this awkward situation to arise at all. He acted like that only to avoid an unnecessary confrontation between Megan and Laura. The reason remained unclear to him. After all, Dr. Reed was the past and Miss Werner was... who exactly? He barely knew her, but he could tell a lot about her. It was hard for him to determine at what stage of acquaintance they were at the moment. He watched Laura meticulously, wanting to figure it out, but the constant search for hidden signals that she might be sending would finish him off mentally. He already lacks proper sleep, drinks, and smokes too much. He's on a straight path to premature death. But why doesn't he care?

Adam poured himself a mug of coffee and sat back in his armchair with a heavy sigh. He looked at the paper file with the report that Laura handed him yesterday. Immediately after Megan had left, Jensen lay down on his bed and sipping Whisky, he thoroughly reviewed every single word almost until morning. He took it as a form of penance for his reprehensible behavior. Besides, Miss Werner held the file so tightly that he could still smell the subtle scent of magnolia and vanilla on it. The spell faded like a soap bubble when the image of emerald eyes came into his mind. Though they seemingly revealed nothing, he saw in them pain mixed with immense grief. Those eyes were full of tears that glistened in them because of him. Jensen scowled, setting his cup down on the desk. He didn't even take a sip from it.

For over a quarter of an hour, he was dispassionately reviewing the monitoring records, unsuccessfully trying to force himself to visit Frank. He needed to discuss some minor security issues with him. He finally got up with reluctance, scooped the pages into a neat pile, and put them back into the paper file. Adam was quite sure that once again he will hear that he knows shit about computers, is a lower entity, and stuff like that. Slipping the file under his arm, Jensen closed the door behind him and keyed in the code.

Wanting to postpone the moment of the inevitable clash, the Chief of Security decided to go down the stairs instead of using the elevator. With a lazy step, he headed to the second floor, politely responding to each greeting along the way. It was only now that he noticed these women's come-hither glances, fluttering eyelashes, flirtatious eyes, and sending kisses. Adam sped up decisively. He preferred another war with Pritchard to this bunch of erotically aroused women. With a determined stride, he walked down the corridor, trying to look straight ahead just to avoid tempting fate with sideways looking. A few minutes later he was standing outside Pritchard's office ready to fend off attacks. As usual, without knocking first, Adam pushed open the door and not looking in the direction of the Chief of Cyber Security, he went straight to the purpose of his visit. He opened the paper file and started looking for a particular page.

"Frank, I looked through the documentation and..." he paused while trying to find the relevant document. He didn't finish because Francis's voice sounded somehow strange.

"And what are your annotations?" the inquiry came from the armchair turned with the backrest towards Jensen.

Adam froze, holding a piece of paper in his hand, with a look on his face as if he had seen a ghost. At first, he thought it was fatigue and that the voice was just its effect. He had to verify his thoughts as soon as he saw Laura sitting in Pritchard's armchair.

"Miss Werner?" he uttered.

Suddenly, Adam was struck by the memories of yesterday evening, and he struggled with keeping emotions at bay. There was so much he would like to tell her right now, but any inappropriate word could ignite unnecessary hope. He couldn't give her even the slightest hint that there could be anything between them. She would always be Miss Werner to him. No more no less.