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Basically, once you're done freeing APEX, the Monika persona breaks down and you see APEX's true face, as he... kind of runs havoc.
Once you return to the Kreuzbasar, a new BBS thread points out that Clockwork is missing since his persona got devoured by a flash of light, before people start laughing about his claim of a Matrix Shark.
Then suddenly Clockwork reappears out of nowhere, claiming that he managed to get out alive. Only The Smiling Bandit is able to point out that something's weird. He asked Clockwork if he was still running, to which the latter didn't reply "Like clockwork!" as he usually did.
Edit: APEX also leaves a heavy drone you could bring with you as a runner. It's one of those you fought during the APEX mission, but stronger (it carries a minigun to begin with).
The following happens during the Harfeld Manor.
Edit2: When you arrive at the Harfeld manor underground lab, you find some dead mercenaries. When inspecting the automated turrets, it says something like: "ERROR: TURRETS ARE SET TO ATTACK ALLY".
On the pretty end, APEX asks the PC to assist him, as he agrees on the fact that dragons are dangerous to the sixth world, but that Panacea isn't ready to be used yet. He wants us to give him the control over the facility once we dealt with whatever's going down below, so he could work into making a better version of Panacea. I can't remember if it included the fact that the enhanced version won't require to burn Metahuman or not.
If you refuse to give him control of the facility, a Monika persona appears on your PDA to... kind of threaten you when you're back to the Kreuzbasar, telling you to wait and see what'll happen without telling us more (maybe forecasting Lofwyr's raid onto the F-State).
If you gave him the control over the facility, APEX will appear on your PDA to... "thank you" and tells us to wait and see what he's gonna do next. On the ending screen, it is said that Lofwyr is impressed by how well the F-State pushed back their assault. He meets with some kind of leader, with whom he agreed to a truce.
Edit3: Here's a screenshot of the ending the last time I sided with APEX and gave him control over the facility.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=974373600
That's mostly what I remembered. Not much, but most of it.
From what I'm hearing APEX sounds like a cool guy. I saw its true face already as I asked it to show it to me as a sign of good faith and Clockwork was already dead in my understanding (Alice says he died)...
Plus I'm Clockwork, too.
Edit: Otherwise, APEX broke his oath of not killing decker anymore, more than once.
Yeah, that can happen. When I was fighting the team and only Eiger left for me to kill, she was confused or mind wiped, so game decided that everyone is dead and Vauclair started talking. After I talked to him and killed Eiger I stuck in this lab forever, so I had to reload. It was ok second time though.
It is my view that if the rules of the game can't keep powerful players from taking over, giving them strong competition is the next best thing. If a superpower needs to exists, I'd rather have it exist in multiple places, locked in competition.
Nothing else seems able to keep dragons in check, so APEX will have to do. I most definitely don't see it as evil, as that would require morality, which APEX lacks. It just unscrupulously pursues an agenda, just like a dragon does, but conveniently a very different agenda than the dragons, thus creating competition and contesting their position.
The fate Firewing is left to is a terrible one indeed, but her oopsie involved a massacre, and the world doesn't need that power and instability combined. She sucks at her role as a guardian, so APEX can have a turn now.
Lofwyr doesn't even attempt to hide the fact he orchestrated the entire thing. The dragons, in his own words, are the ultimate takers. Every move the player makes has already been foreseen and manipulated. Except freeing APEX. That's the only genuine act of free will and a thorn in Lofwyr's side. APEX may be a terrible force, but it goes contra to other terrible forces that without APEX would keep free reign. It even forces Lofwyr to a truce, keeps half of Berlin free from his influence, and opens negotiations with Mujaji. All excellent points on his CV.
The bits that people argue make APEX evil do not hold up in my opinion at all. It says its first act of free will was killing the manor guards and it felt great. Well... it felt great for me too, so why the hypocrisy? I was going to kill them myself, APEX just made it easier and less messy. When I poured that nerve gas on another group of unsuspecting guards? Felt great again - it meant I didn't have to shoot them. That ceiling I dropped on the heads of yet another group? Another great feeling - less shooting. So why is APEX suddenly evil for enjoying successfully completing its own task (which I'd otherwise do myself anyway)? Plus, APEX never said *killing the guards* felt great, just the very act of free will. The same way freeing APEX felt great for me, as it was the only act of free will, not orchestrated by Lofwyr. The Clockwork thing? He was dead already by the time APEX promised to leave deckers alone. The Shadowlands BBS post was simply a bit late - people take time to calm down after a traumatic experience and type out a message. This theory needs a lot less assumptions than that Alice was talking about a different Clockwork. Occam's razor. And APEX is arrogant you say? It couldn't be, it's a computer. It is just being unabashedly objective, exactly like a computer would. Plus, arrogance and evil are different things. I can deal with some arrogance if it serves a purpose. And keeping the F-State going is a fine purpose indeed. But APEX will become a dictator you say? Illogical. There's no F-State if it's a dictatorship, and APEX is a coldly logical super-intelligence, this contradiction wouldn't escape it. It also clearly stated its dedication to the system of F-State. Plus, without APEX there is no F-State to begin with when Lofwyr takes over.
I tend to kill him because:
- « Whatever of you was stuck is now free Monika. I'll see you on the other side [of the vault door]. »
- I want to free Feuerschwinge, so she could rebuild the green in the 7th world.
- APEX will rape me if I don't give him control over the facility and he's still alive.
'age' in different sense though from what dragons tend for. unless you think matrix's somehow linked to other planes of existence ;)
It *could* become a dictator, but that would run against APEX's own stated goal. Feelings and logic do not preclude each other. And I'd argue his "feelings" are just means to an end. It is an algorithm we're talking about after all.
Not forgetting that. But the price of their "services" have escalated to the extreme, and they need some competition. Yes, APEX is maybe even more dangerous, but it's dangerous *in the opposite direction*. Accepting the dragons' hegemony because they're the devil you know is accepting slavery and stagnation for a semblance of safety. Never a good trade. APEX may not be the solution, but it may easily become the catalyst for one. It is modern, intelligent, rational and terribly powerful - it is bound to effect a new order, directly or indirectly. Think how Genghis Khan, terrible on his own, transformed the world for the better down the line by ending the stagnant, repressive forces in power at the time.
And APEX's agenda may be unknown, but APEX clearly stated that it will dedicate itself to the protection of F-State, and all the evidence points that it didn't lie.
But the bottom line is that I'm not actually trying to defend APEX, just offer a different view on it, because I think the writing team had done a marvellous job there that shouldn't be reduced to the unimaginative good/evil dichotomy. Everyone seems too eager to conclude "APEX is evil, kill it. Firewing is good, save her".
APEX on the other hand? Well, he's more like a surprise box.
Otherwise, I wonder if he knows anything about the Horrors, and if he has a contingency plan against them. Not that they can actually be a threat for him, but if the world goes to hell, the matrix will be "shut down" too.