User blog:Aeratus/Guide to the Adam Jensen Clone Theory

After Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was released, players were quick to speculate on whether Adam Jensen in the game was a "clone." This speculation was based in part on the discovery of Jensen's body in a freezer container in the VersaLife vault of the Palisade Property Bank. This and other potential clues, including the appearance of Hyron wreckage parts in the vault, the theme of memory preservation in the "01011000" side mission, and the technology of memory transfer mentioned in other side missions, have led to the speculation that Jensen's memories were transferred to a new body after Panchaea was destroyed at the end of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. This article serves as a guide to this fan theory, sometimes called the "clone theory," and its related lore.

Author's Note — At the time of this writing, whether or not Jensen is a clone is ultimately an unresolved plot point that is open to interpretation. Nonetheless, due to the abundance of clues that could be interpreted to support the theory and the large amount of discussion that it has generated, this theory has importance and warrants detailed documentation. Since this article examines fan speculations, it has been posted in the user blogs section of this wiki rather than the wiki's main namespace. The author of this article, who is a regular editor on this wiki, maintains that fan speculations should be avoided in the main namespace articles of this wiki.

The events after Deus Ex: Human Revolution
At the end of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Panchaea collapsed with Adam Jensen still inside. According to the Official Timeline, Adam Jensen's body was later recovered and taken to a "black site facility in the Baltic Sea," which appears to be the facility known as "BH." One year later, Adam Jensen wakes up in a different facility in Alaska, a rehabilitation clinic known as Facility 451, and the novel Deus Ex: Black Light picks up the narrative from there.

What is not known is what happened at the Baltic Sea facility during this one-year gap between Human Revolution and Black Light. The events that occurred during this one-year period are largely a mystery and can be regarded as a missing chapter in the narrative.

Overview
The main part of theory: Other parts of the theory:
 * At the black site facility in the Baltic Sea, Adam Jensen's memories were implanted into a clone body having the same DNA and appearance as his previous body. This clone body inherited the memories and effectively "became" Adam Jensen. The original body was then stored in the VersaLife vault seen in Mankind Divided, along with other items retrieved from Panchaea, such as a wreckage of a Hyron pod.
 * How was Jensen cloned? Two possibilities have been proposed:
 * Jensen was cloned as a child and the Illuminati had multiple copies of him. This type of cloning was a reoccurring element in the background lore of the original Deus Ex, and is discussed in more detail below.
 * Jensen's new body was created during a short span of time using advanced technology.
 * Adam's augmentations were also moved from his old body to his new body.
 * Black Light suggests that Adam still has his old Sarif augs (see Black Light, Ch. 1: "...carbon-black synthetic constructs that terminated at his shoulder joints. Once they had been smooth and polished, but now they were scarred and pitted with surface damage"). The phrase "carbon-black synthetic constructs" refers to Adam's augmented arms, and the description "scarred and pitted with surface damage" indicates that Adam still has his old augs. This description, in conjunction with the clone theory, suggests that the augs were relocated to Adam's new body, a hypothesis that is corroborated by the apparent scar marks in the body shown in the VersaLife vault.
 * The person who performed this operation was likely Vadim Orlov, who also installed the experimental augmentations into Adam's new body.
 * The memory implantation process was potentially accomplished using a neural implant to implant the "neural codes" of the old Adam Jensen into the new Adam Jensen.
 * The term "neural codes" appears in side mission The Last Harvest in Mankind Divided. During this series of side missions, it is revealed that a local resident received the memories of a dead killer named Marek Svobotka, also known as the "Harvester." This side mission confirms the availability of such technology.
 * The theme that memories make a person is also present in other contexts, such as the side mission 01011000.
 * In Black Light, Adam's DNA was tested and verified by Francis Pritchard, indicating that the Adam Jensen in Mankind Divided is not an imposter or pretender. The fact that Adam's DNA has not changed is consistent with the notion that a clone body should have the same DNA as the original.
 * The "Baltic Sea facility" appears to be the "BH facility" described in many emails associated with the Illuminati or their operatives, including Orlov's email received from Karl Sigmund and an email from Marchenko requesting reinforcements from "BH." "BH" potentially stands for the "Baltic Headquarters." Alternatively, "BH" could stand for "Black Helix" or "Blue Helix," given that the Illuminati run many Helix-designated labs, as stated in Black Light.

Background - Cloning in Deus Ex lore
Cloning is a frequently mentioned element in the background lore of the original Deus Ex, even though it does not play a direct role in the actual game. JC Denton and Paul Denton were cloned. Similarly, in Deus Ex design documents, president Philip Mead was cloned as a child so that the Illuminati would have backup copies of him when needed. The original Deus Ex also depicted molecular-assembler technology in the form of a universal constructor that is able to produce organisms in a short amount of time.

These elements of the original game's background lore suggest two possibilities: Adam could have been cloned as a child in the manner of Philip Mead (and later, the Dentons), or his new body was created using advanced technology similar to a universal constructor. These two distinct manners of cloning are discussed below.

Child clones
In the Deus Ex Bible, both Paul Denton and JC Denton were cloned at the child (or embryonic) stage, as stated in the following quotes:


 * "Majestic 12 scientists created a number of clones of Paul. These clones were allowed to grow until their brains (especially the language centers) were fully developed. Then the scientists performed experiments on each of the child clones, trying to find the "sweet spots" in the brain that would allow the clones to control nanites and receive information."
 * "Shortly after J.C. was born, scientists invented an incubator that could bring a clone to term from the embryonic stage. The number of clones available for experiments grew dramatically, and the doctors could now perform their experiments with 'control' clones."
 * "2029: J.C. Denton born; scientists perfect embryonic incubator; additional clones grown over the next 15-20 years."
 * "2050: Paul is offered nano-augmentation; procedure is successful; work stops on clones; most clones destroyed"

Deus Ex design document 13.122 includes a backstory of Philip Mead in which the Illuminati similarly produced multiple copies of him:

Mead was originally intended to appear in the White House mission of the original Deus Ex that was later cut from the game. According to developer commentary, the premise of the mission was as follows: "The president was a puppet of the Illuminati - he’d been replaced with a clone, and you rescued his daughter." Mead's backstory in the design document illustrates two points in the world that was originally envisioned. First, the Illuminati (and later, Majestic 12) is known to create copies of persons they deemed to be important, in order to have backups. Second, clones may be kept for a long time in case they are needed. For example, Paul/JC clones were kept until 2050 when Majestic 12's experiments were finally validated, while Mead's clones were kept through adulthood.

To be clear, Mead's story in the design document and the cut White House mission generally cannot be considered canon, especially since the design document backstory was not carried over into the Deus Ex Bible. However, fragments of Mead's original story remains in the game, such as the line "Your President Mead survived the coup attempt" spoken by Toby Atanwe in-game. Mead's clone story was also taken note of in the Nameless Mod, in which "a clone of Mead himself and the fabled White house mission" is mentioned in dialogue on fan-theories of the original Deus Ex. Therefore, even though Mead's original story was almost entirely cut, this story and the fragments that remain may have served as inspiration for Eidos Montreal.

In the case of Adam Jensen, the events surrounding his childhood are muddled in mystery, which is consistent with the possibility that he was cloned, or was one of multiple clones. Some have voiced the objection that Adam's uniqueness, namely his genomic trait that avoids Darrow Deficiency Syndrome, was seemingly not known until 2027. Furthermore, the dialogue in Michelle Walthers' quest in Human Revolutions (the side quest Acquaintances Forgotten) seems to portray Adam as a sole survivor of White Helix labs. These critiques raise the point that the clone theory has unexplained elements in the story. However, the presence of unexplained parts of the story does not preclude the writers from filling in the necessary gaps. For example, it remains possible that Jensen was part of an experiment that was deemed to have potential, so clones of him were kept around as backup in case they were needed later on, similar to the case of Mead (and the Dentons). Additionally, not all details surrounding White Helix are known, and Walthers' description does not necessarily offer the full story. Black Light, which mentions a "dead man's face" in connection with a White Helix file, also suggest that there may be more to the story than what has been revealed.

Regardless of plot details, the fact remains that cloning is a reoccurring element in Ion Storm's lore, especially in the backstories of important characters such as the Dentons. As such, there is precedent for a child clone backstory for Adam Jensen. It should be noted that Alex Denton, another protagonist in the series, is also a clone.

"Flash cloning"
In the original Deus Ex, universal constructors are capable of assembling organism such as Grays in seconds. The UC technology has not been seen in working form in the timeframe of Jensen's story. However, the concept is mentioned as early as 2027 in Megan Reed: Labe Notes. Megan's lab notes mentions "universal assemblers" as the holy grail of nanotechnology, suggesting that assembler technologies were being actively worked on at the time of Human Revolution. The email "Results are like a dream" indicates that a great deal of advances in nanotechnology have been made at the BH facility. Furthermore, if Jensen's body was newly produced, the Illuminati would have had about a year to create it. A one-year period does not require the pace of molecular assembly that the UCs in the 2050s are capable of.

Vat tubes flash cloning also appears in the original Deus Ex. Area 51 had a section called "Cloning Bay A7" with vat tubes for JC Denton labeled "INCEPT DATE: 3/17/54; ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 3/17/29". Due in part to the fact that the 2054 date is an error (since 2054 would be after the 2052 date of the game), many regard this origin for JC to be an error. However, Design Document v.13.12 includes the notes "the glass tube/naked J.C. art planned for Area 51" and "Problem: If we show J.C. in the glass tube how do we, later, let the player select his character model?", suggesting that the vat tube origin story was, at one point, considered.

Some have objected to the flash cloning theory on the basis that the technology for constructors or flash cloning should not have been available in the late 2020s. While valid as a critique, this notion is itself a fan interpretation of what is or is not possible. In a science fiction series where liberties are taken with technology, what is or is not possible is, to a large extent, within the storytelling discretion of the writers. Thematically, Eidos' series already depicts a universe that is more technologically advanced than what is suggested by the original game. For example, Jensen has access to advanced augs such as the TITAN and Icarus Dash. The artbook Art of the Deus Ex Universe also mentions that Bob Page already has "basic nano-augmentations on his arm" by the time of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Therefore, creation of a body within the span of a year, cannot be definitively ruled out from the standpoint of technology.

Official timeline
The official Mankind Divided timeline contains the following two descriptions, which are the only explicit descriptions of Jensen between the collapse of Panchaea and the events of Black Light: As highlighted above, the timeline uses phrases that are rather indirect: These awkward descriptions suggest that the descriptions in the timeline were drafted to be consistent with Adam Jensen in Mankind Divided being a clone. The phrase "amid pieces of the Hyron Project" is also notable because it matches the content of the VersaLife vault, which includes a wrecked Hyron pod.
 * "In December, Adam Jensen’s body is found in the deepest underwater regions of Panchaea amid pieces of the Hyron Project. It is pulled from the water by an Illuminati-controlled recovery team and secretly sent to a black site facility in the Baltic Sea for identification and study."
 * "In Alaska, an augmented man fitting Adam Jensen’s description wakes up from a coma inside a rehabilitation center run by the World Health Organization. His memory of who he is and how he got there is sketchy at first, but within weeks Adam Jensen’s name will be added to the official list of Panchaea survivors."
 * "Adam Jensen’s body is found" (as opposed to "Adam Jensen is found")
 * "It is pulled from the water" (as opposed to "he is pulled from the water")
 * "an augmented man fitting Adam Jensen’s description" (as opposed to simply "Adam Jensen").

VersaLife Vault
"It is you in the box. In the dark. That's where they have kept you."

- NPC near Tech Noir, present during the second visit to Prague

The VersaLife vault in the Palisade Property Bank contains a head and torso of Adam Jensen, hidden in a low-temperature box. The low-temperature box has a small window with a texture that makes it difficult to see inside (potentially depending on the version and/or graphics settings of the game). However, it is possible to get a better view of the torso by using the explosion of an EMP or fragmentation grenade to light up the container.

Nearby the container is a Hyron drone pod from Panchaea, which, when taken in conjunction with the description "amid pieces of the Hyron Project," suggests that the body in the container is the body of Adam Jensen retrieved from the wreckage of Panchaea.

In-game screenshots shown above were taken on PC version 1.19, ultra preset (but without chromatic aberration).

For additional images on the container's contents, see this image set on Imgur.

Graphically, the body inside the container is the model of Jensen's body without augmentations. In this context, however, the augmentation-less model of the body could be interpreted as indicating that the augmentations were removed at some point. The following features are notable:
 * Adam's sunglasses augmentation is not present, but a faint scar-like formation near the eyes is present (for a clearer view, see image (imgur)), suggesting that the sunglasses augmentation has been removed.
 * Adam's mechanical arms have been removed. The torso in the box shows indentations corresponding to the parts of his arm argumentation that extend onto the parts of his torso around the shoulder socket (faintly visible in the above image of the mesh model, but more clearly visible when the model is textured). This suggests removal of the augmentation from the body of Adam retrieved from Panchaea.
 * The scars on Adam's beard and eyebrow match those of his in-game, player-controlled model.
 * The torso cuts off at the waist level. It is noted that Human Revolution comics had previously shown that Adam's organic body extended to his thighs. However, the security scan in A Criminal Past indicates that Adam's entire lower body is augmented.

The first two items above indicate removal of the previous augmentations, corroborating the theory that the augmentations of the previous Adam Jensen body were moved to the new Adam Jensen body. The third item somewhat detracts from the clone theory, because a newer copy of a body would not have the same scars unless someone purposely matched the scars. However, it would not have been difficult to match the scars with minor cosmetic alteration.

The VersaLife vault shows that there is a clone. Although it does not confirm whether the Adam Jensen in Mankind Divided is the clone or the original, the indication of the removal of augmentations and the presence of Hyron wreckage suggests that the body in the VersaLife vault is the original body of Adam Jensen retrieved from Panchaea.

Data extraction of assets from the game files reveals that the mesh model for the body in the vault is labeled "jensen_versalife_body." Textures associated with the mesh model have the similar label "jensen_versa_body." The model and texture assets for the low-temperature box are labeled "crate_jensen_body." Game assets for the Hyron wreckage are labeled "bank_hyron_pieces."

The content of the VersaLife vault box appears to be mentioned, cryptically, in only one instance in the game, in a set of dialogues of a seemingly random NPC appearing around Tech Noir during the second visit to Prague (originally reported in this post (Reddit)). The NPC speaks the following two lines: The second quote could be a reference to Jensen's old body (i.e., "you in the box") now stored in the box (thus, stored "in the dark"). Adam is, of course, totally unaware (i.e., "kept in the dark" about this, as stated by the NPC) of what happened at the black site facility and that he has had his body changed. "Drowned…pale and cold and empty" refers in part to Adam's clinical death at Panchaea, where he drowned under the collapsed structure.
 * "I dreamed we had drowned in the hopes of humanity. You were there, son of Rusalka...Pale and cold and empty."
 * "But who is in the box? Do you know? I know! I do. It is you in the box. In the dark. That's where they have kept you. In the dark" (see above screenshot).

In the first quote, "son of Rusalka" may be referring to the character "Rusalka" in the eponymous opera by the Czech composer Dvorak, in which a rusalka (a water spirit in Slavic mythology) hopes to become human to pursue the love of human prince, but ultimately ends up as a spirit of death. Thus, "Rusalka" may be an allegory of Panchaea. This term may also refer to the Russian warship, Rusalka which sunk in the Baltic region, near Tallinn. The location of the Rusalka wreckage matches that of facility "BH" (the "black site facility in the Baltic Sea" mentioned in the Official Timeline). "BH" is suggested in the email to Orlov as being near Tallinn, Estonia, and is further suggested in that email to be underwater due to the mentioning of visiting the "mainland" in the email. If this connection is correct, "son of" might be referring to the current Adam as having been "born" (created) at the Baltic sea facility.

Eliza Cassan/Helle Dialogue in 01011000
"The most important is learning to coexist with other versions of ourselves"

- Eliza Cassan, in SM06 01011000

After the destruction of Panchaea, Eliza Cassan broke off from Picus and went rogue. SM06: 01011000, which is something of a reunion between Adam and Eliza, contains dialogue that can be interpreted to support the clone theory.

In this side mission, we learn that the Hyron drone Helle died at Panchaea, and an imprint of Helle's memories on Eliza Cassan is all that remains of her. If the clone theory is correct, then Helle's case parallels that of Adam, who also "died" at Panchaea in some capacity but whose memories remain.

The dialogue with Eliza contains phrases that suggest a hidden, deeper meaning than what appears on the surface. Notable parts of the dialogue are discussed below: Eliza knows that something is different about the current Adam, but is not able to clearly state what is different. One possible interpretation is that it's because the concept of a different body is not so easily comprehensible to an AI, whose artificial mind is used to traveling across different hardware mediums. Eliza tells Adam that "some version" of Adam started her process, presumably the process of gaining greater sentience. Here, "some version" could be interpreted to be referring to the Adam Jensen 1.0 in Deus Ex: Human Revolutions, as opposed to Adam Jensen 2.0 in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The above is one of the more interesting quotes in the dialogue. On the surface, "connection" in this context refers to the connection between the Eliza and Picus. The phrase "you...are familiar with this kind of [disconnection] process" is very odd given the context that "connection" refers to Picus. However, there may be a subtle meaning in this quote. "Picus" was not only the company that owned Eliza, but was also the body of Eliza, with Picus Montreal being the location of the server and the hardware component that ran the Eliza program. Now, Eliza no longer has this as her physical form. Thus, when Eliza says that she has severed her connection with Picus, she may be referring not only to the severing of her servitude to Picus, but also the severing from the physical hardware. Similarly, Adam's mind has been disconnected from his previous body. The phrase "she is not the original her" also parallels the situation with Adam. Here, Eliza is referring to Adam's lack of personal knowledge of what happened after Panchaea collapsed. In the events of Black Light, Adam was told that he was rescued from Panchaea, but was never told about what happened between then and wakening up in Alaska. Eliza says "ourselves," rather "myself." The dialogue suggests that she knows that the current Adam is not the same version as the one she used to know. The dialogue suggests that Eliza and Adam are both different versions of their past selves, which could be interpreted as a hint toward the clone theory.
 * Eliza: "Our memories are now being recovered, but they are inconsistent. Like you for example. You are not consistent with our memories of you. Our memories themselves are not consistent with each other. The events that took place. They are not consistent with what the world has been told."
 * Adam: "What did you mean exactly, me being 'inconsistent'?"
 * Eliza: "The nature of your discrepancy is unclear, even to her."
 * Eliza: "Some version of you initiated this process. It is therefore for you to define the parameters…"
 * Eliza: "That connection is severed. She is not the original her. You, of course, are familiar with this kind of process."
 * Eliza: "You were offline, Adam, you were unconscious."
 * Adam: "I was unconscious. Then someone found me."
 * Eliza: "Do you remember this experience, or were you told it?"
 * Adam: "What difference does that make?"
 * Eliza: "I am sorry. I cannot answer that. I was no longer there."
 * Eliza: "No. The most important is learning to coexist with other versions of ourselves. If ever all versions must meet, will you know the difference between us."
 * Eliza: "I think we are the same now, Adam. Or becoming the same. That is why I wanted us to meet. I cannot do this alone....”

The concept of version is alluded to in other media. One of the trailers for Mankind Divided is titled "Adam Jensen 2.0 Trailer." During the dialogue with Eliza, Jensen likewise refers to her as "Eliza 2.0" in one of the conversation options, which further suggests the potential parallel between Adam and Eliza. Due to the prevalence of the "version" motif, the term "Jensen 2.0" has caught on in fan discussions as the name for the "clone" version of Adam Jensen starting from Black Light.

Another interesting quote from Eliza: The above quote is said after Adam has retrieved the disk reader from the antique store in Prague. The above presents the theme that what makes a person "real" is their memories. Eliza might not consider Adam to be a clone, but instead a continuation of his past self in a different version.
 * Eliza: "she believe that it [the memory disk] will recover the real her."

David Sarif, the Mystery Augs, and Koller
SM03: The Mystery Augs is a side mission in which Adam Jensen attempts to learn more about the origins of his newly discovered experimental augmentations, which were likely installed by Vadim Orlov at the Baltic sea facility, the same facility at which Jensen's new body would have been activated. As the quest progresses, it becomes more clear that the augs are only part of a bigger mystery.

The "Mystery Augs" mission is likely the first instance that players are led to suspect that something may be amiss. Ironically, little is actually revealed in the dialogue of this mission, in part because neither Adam nor David Sarif are aware of what really happened. In the dialogue, the two attempt to piece together the mystery without hitting the right points:
 * Sarif: "You said rescue teams dumped you in that clinic shortly after Panchaea collapsed but your name doesn't appear on its entry logs. And it doesn't appear on any survivor recovery lists, either."
 * Adam: "…Nobody knew who I was."
 * Sarif: "It wouldn't have been hard to find out. Your augmentations have serial numbers. Or at least the ones I had installed into Adam Jensen did."

The above quote from Sarif misses the mark. Adam was not dumped in that clinic shortly after Panchaea collapsed. Instead, Adam's body was taken to the Baltic sea black site facility. The phrase "dumped you in that clinic shortly after Panchaea collapsed" is the incorrect information that Adam has come to believe. Sarif also says: "Two years, really Adam? One of which you don't remember because you were allegedly in a coma in Alaska," which again does not refer to the Baltic Sea facility at all.

The statement "at least the ones I had installed into Adam Jensen did" is rather awkward. Why did the writers write the dialogue such that Sarif is referring to Adam in the third person? (It should also be noted that this phrase and Adam's follow-up quoted below have been misinterpreted to mean that Adam's current Sarif augs are new augs with no serial codes. This is not what the dialogue was likely intended to mean. It is not that the augs have no serial codes, but instead that nobody utilized the serial codes to identify Adam. As stated above, the working hypothesis is that Adam has his old augs, which were moved from his previous body to his current one.).

We can infer that Sarif is surprised that nobody publicly identified Adam even though he was easy to trace due to the serial registries on his augs, as indicated by the following exchange:
 * Adam: "Are you suggesting all my augs are new? even the ones you gave me?"
 * Sarif: "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm telling you all the augs we ever installed had registry codes. And they're not hard to trace."
 * Sarif: "Look, son, all I'm saying is, it wouldn't have been hard to identify you. But for some reason, that never happened."

However, whether Adam was easy to identify was irrelevant, because the Illuminati running the facilities knew who he was. Sarif seems to be missing the point here. Adam was not a lost person needing identification. Instead, he was specifically retrieved by the Illuminati to be subjected to secret experimentation.

Sarif, however, does make one very useful point, regarding Vadim Orlov: The identification of "Baltic region" ties in Vadim Orlov with the "black site facility in the Baltic Sea" and the "BH facility" in his email from Karl Sigmund. Vadim Orlov likely operated on Adam at the black site facility, and performed all the secretive procedure including memory transfer to the clone body, and the transfer of the old augs to the new clone body. He also installed new augs, such as the TITAN. Finally, Sarif ends with one insightful comment: "There are some conclusions you have to make for yourself."
 * Sarif: "Not in Alaska. He [Vadim Orlov] was with Tai Yong Medical for a while, and in the spring of 2028 his name pops up once or twice in the Baltic region."

One thing of note about this line of quest is that Koller also has something to say about Jensen's new augs: The above remark suggests that Adam's old augs have "Sarif's touch" while his new augs do not. Adam would have been more likely to have "Sarif's touch" if his old augs were installed at Sarif Industries, rather than transplanted over by Orlov at the black site facility. However, it is also possible that Orlov installation of the old augs in to Adam's current body was done in a way that reflected "Sarif's touch," given that Orlov would have had a template to work with in the old body.
 * Koller: "I am familiar with Sarif's works. These new augs, they—they look different to me… The tech itself is super high end, but the PEDOT insulation, sloppy; the bone-mounting, mounted on the quick. Just doesn't have Sarif's touch."

In context, the above statement of "Sarif's touch" is likely there to emphasize the distinction between his old and new augs in terms of general origin, rather than a distinction between whether the old augs were the original installation at Sarif, or instead transplanted from Adam's old body by Orlov.

The Last Harvest and the technology of memory implants
The side mission SM11: The Last Harvest reveals that Tai Yong Medical has been able to insert memories of individuals into others by a neural implant. The neural implants were originally intended for granting personality traits such as self-esteem. However, it turned out that one patient, Daria, got much more than the personality traits, but also obtained the memories of the donor known as the "Harvester." The exact details of memory extraction are not stated, but Cipra describes that it involved having Tai Yong Medical operators "scrape inside their heads" (although this might not be a literal description).

Further dialogues with Cipra are unlocked if you complete the Last Harvest by incapacitating Daria and taking the chip from Daria. If you then return to Cipra, Cipra will comment as follows: The quote "minuscule and specific segments of [the donor sample's] enhanced neural code" indicates that Daria was only given a few bits of the Harvester's memories. This suggests that the technology was capable of transferring a much larger amount of memory from a subject using a large segment of neural code, on the order sufficient to transfer a person's entire memory, as the Illuminati could have done to Adam Jensen.
 * Cipra will remark that the implanted memories given to Daria were "a standard confidence package" but admit that "we've been known to have bugs with it before, subjects who experience mild memories, echoes of the donor, etc."
 * Cipra: "It's like there were reruns of a horror show inside her head. And she chose to emulate what she saw."
 * Cipra: "I didn't 'implant a serial killer.' I only got access to a sample and I used a minuscule and specific segment of its enhanced neural code enough to boost certain personality traits in Daria."

This side quest therefore confirms that Orlov (who was a colleague of Cipra) had access to such technology permitting implantation and relocation of memories, and that Orlov was capable of transferring Adam's memories from his old body to his new body. The element of memory-altering implants was not newly introduced in ''Mankind Divided. Human Revolution'' featured a similar plot element for Michael Zelazny. Zelazny and his team were outfitted with experimental mechanical augmentations by Belltower, including a neural chip that could manipulate memory centers in the brain, effectively controlling what they could and could not remember.

Although Daria was able perceive the difference between her own memories and the implanted memories, a clone body without any preexisting memories and with a much larger implanted code segment might not be able to clearly distinguish between the two.

The mid-credit ending scene, in which Delara Auzenne remarks that Adam is remarkably stable, is perhaps meant as a contrast to Daria, who is not stable. Earlier in the game, Delara had tested Adam's memory of the past, possibly to confirm that all of Adam's old memories transferred over to his current body.

Title screen

 * The title screen shows an artwork of two Adam Jensens facing each other. One has sunglasses, while the other does not. The Jensen without the sunglass could be a reference to the body in the VersaLife Vault, which lacks sunglasses. However, the artwork can also be interpreted as a juxtapose between augmented humanity and non-augmented humanity.

Voltar

 * Voltar 3000 is a fortune-telling machine found in Negozio di Magia, the magic shop in Prague. One of Voltar's lines is "Some version of you is perfect. You are not her." This line could be a reference to Adam's dialogue with Eliza. The quote itself could have the meaning that there are still more versions of Jensen out there, and that the current version (Jensen 2.0) is, for some unspecified reason, not "perfect."

Soundtrack

 * In the Mankind Divided OST sampler, the track "Adam's Safehouse" (the soundtrack for Jensen's apartment) contains, at 23 seconds, a subtle voice saying "Do you like our owl?." This line is a reference to the line "Do you like our owl?" in Blade Runner.
 * In Blade Runner, the above line in Blade Runner is spoken by Rachel to Deckard. Deckard then asks Rachel whether the owl is artificial, to which Rachel replies "Of course it is." Deckard then comments that the owl must have been expensive. Similar to the owl, Jensen is (likely) artificial and expensive.
 * The plot of Blade Runner involves "replicants" who are implanted with artificial memories. Deckard is a character that has been the subject of debate as to whether he is a replicant, not unlike Jensen's case.

Developer comments

 * It was reported that during development of Mankind Divided, writer Mary DeMarle wanted to "kill off" Adam Jensen, but the art director objected in favor of keeping such an iconic character around (see Gamesradar). From a story writing perspective, the clone theory could be seen as a solution that satisfies both concepts.
 * In the developer commentary video "The End of the Icarus Myth", at around 1:17 of the video, a reaction occurs when it is mentioned that Icarus died in the Daedalus and Icarus myth. Adam has been portrayed as Icarus in various imagery in Eidos' series.

Deus Ex: Black Light
"there was a quiet, corrosive fear in the back of his thoughts that something had happened to him during his lost time, something he couldn’t grasp"

- Deus Ex: Black Light

Deus Ex: Black Light is the prequel novel to Mankind Divided. In this book, Adam wakes up in Facility 451 in Alaska. Adam is told that he was in a coma, but nothing is told to him regarding the Baltic Sea facility. Black Light does not have a direct narrative of what occurred at the Baltic Sea facility. Nonetheless, there are some interesting parts suggesting that something is not right with Adam.

Awakening from coma
The book begins with the ominous question "How much do you remember?," directed to Adam from Dr. Rafiq, colleague of Vadim Orlov. Later, Illuminati agent Jenna Thorne interrogates Jensen on the events of Panchaea's collapse. These tests and interrogations are not dissimilar to Delara's interrogation of Adam to confirm the integrity of his memories.

The beginning part of the book has a few notable quotes: If this were any ordinary description of a person awaking from a coma, the parts of the quotes highlighted would be completely normal. However, the choice of words is interesting, although nothing conclusive.
 * " 'You're very lucky to be alive,' said another voice. A man, this one, the accent behind it a firm northwestern burr while the woman had sounded more like a southerner. Those facts emerged in his thoughts automatically, some ingrained means in his mind immediately sifting their words for data, for clues." ("clues" in italics in original text)
 * "Touching his bare chest, he found healed scars but again, nothing to connect them to. The part of him that was flesh felt almost as artificial as the metal and plastic."

Adam's suspicion that something is not quite right
During the events of book, Adam is uncomfortable with his "lost time." The following two quotes are interesting and contains narrative clues: The description is vague, but is consistent with the notion that Adam couldn't grasp that his body had been replaced. Adam's mind and new body had been pieced together not so long ago; for this reason, he feels "disconnected" and "out of sync." The word choice ("quiet, corrosive fear") suggests something quite sinister happened.
 * "He imagined that few who knew the Adam Jensen who left Detroit in 2027 would recognize the man he saw in the dull glass. He wasn’t really certain if he did. Looking himself in the eye, Jensen felt an odd sense of disconnection that didn’t sit well with him."
 * Note: "he" is emphasized in original text.
 * "It was hard for Jensen to frame the strange disquiet that had been with him ever since he awoke in the clinic. If he had been forced to sum it up in a single word, it would have been disconnected. He felt out of synch with the world, and there was a quiet, corrosive fear in the back of his thoughts that something had happened to him during his lost time, something he couldn’t grasp."
 * Note: "disconnected" is emphasized in original text.

Later in the book, Adam confronts Thorne, who taunts to Jensen, “And why didn’t you drown out there?” The narrative then says: Jenna Thorne actually does not know all the secrets behind Jensen. She knows that her superiors wish to keep Adam alive and becomes increasingly exasperated at this fact, but she does not know the specific reason (i.e., that Adam is a sleeper agent deployed by Lucius DeBeers and Beth DuClare to track down Janus). Nonetheless, this is another hint that Adam feels that something is not right.
 * "There was hate in the words, and he couldn’t fathom why. Had there been some fragment of his memory that he had lost after the incident, something that Thorne was part of? Or had she known something about him all along, just as he had suspected on their first meeting? Some secret truth that even he wasn’t aware of?"

Irregularities with dreaming
In the novel, it is stated that Adam has irregularities with dreaming. Specifically, he is unable to recall dreams, but feels that they are there: The above description indicates that Adam's memory is or was under some sort of manipulation or artificial procedure. The description of "nightmares" is similar to Cipra's remark of "reruns of a horror show inside her head." It is also possible that this "black light" is related to memory alteration of Adam to seek out Janus. However, the above description may also more generally refer to the implanted memories settling into Adam head.
 * "It was hard for him to put it into words; that sense of dreamless darkness that waited for him whenever he closed his eyes. Try as he might, Jensen couldn’t hold on to anything his resting mind brought forward, and it frustrated him. He could sense the shape of it but never grasp it, like he was a blind man feeling around the edges of objects that he would never be able to see. They might have been memories, they might have been nightmares, but all he was left with were the empty vessels of failed recollection. The content gone, with only the ghost of the thing left to imprint on his waking thoughts. Every time he awoke, it was the same feeling, an identical moment of dislocation and wrongness – his mind briefly filled with an uncanny black light that seemed to invade him and blot out everything else."
 * "It came to him then that he hadn’t clearly recalled a single dream since the day he had awakened in Facility 451 – or was it just that his mind didn’t want him to carry them into the waking world?"

"Black Light" and "a dead man's face"
The term "black light" appears in the above instance and also appears as the name of a White Helix Lab file. Near the end of the book, Beth DuClare searches on her computer for this file: White Helix is the VersaLife lab where Adam spent his childhood. The description of "dead man" could be referring to Adam's original body that is stored at the VersaLife vault, in which case DuClare would be viewing the face of that original body. The fact that the White Helix lab is mentioned lends credence to the theory that Adam was a clone child or at least that there was more to the White Helix lab than what has been revealed.
 * "The White Helix files she had been studying were patiently waiting for her, each one labeled individually under a sub-code that connected it to a particular individual. 'Open file designation: Black Light,' she told it."
 * "On the screen, a dead man’s face looked back up at her."

From a big picture perspective, these lines in the book are notable for two main reasons. First, it references the title of the book, i.e., Black Light, meaning that it is intended to be referencing something significant. Secondly, despite that these lines were intended to have some significance, their meaning cannot be clearly explained in the context of the narrative, even with the use of other fan theories that do not involve a clone of Adam. Therefore, this part of the book may be one of the most important clues to this theory.

How DuClare and DeBeers refer to Adam
It has been noted that DuClare and DeBeers generally refer to Adam as the same person before and after his return. For example, in one part of the book, DuClare says to DeBeers:


 * DuClare (to DeBeers): “Not for the first time, I must admit, I wonder if things would have been better if we had simply left him in the sea after Panchaea…”

It has been argued that use of terms such as "him" indicates that Adam is not a "clone." However, the pronoun "him" (or "he") is still appropriate to refer to both Jensen 1.0 and Jensen 2.0 collectively because even if there was a body change, the two versions of Jensen are functionally the same person. The theme of Eliza's side mission is that a person can be defined by his or her memories. Thus, Jensen is still himself, regardless of whether his body is the same or different from before. On the basis, there is no inconsistency between the clone theory and the singular pronouns by which he is referred to.

Furthermore, in the above quote, and in other similar quotes between DuClare and DeBeers, the two are speaking to each in a manner that need not be formally exact. Thus, if even if Jensen is technically a clone, he could still be referred to as the same person as before in a colloquial context.

Subtle and environmental storytelling
The use of subtle storytelling is, without doubt, a pervasive element in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and its related works. Such is even explicitly referenced in Black Light when Beth DuClare tells Lucius DeBeers that they will need to play "a subtle and lengthy game" in order to unmask Janus. The use of subtlety is also mentioned in developer commentary. For example, the Art of Deus Ex Universe, states: "Subtlety is the opposite of obvious, which makes it tricky to present certain characters within Mankind Divided 's universe. Informing visually, while remaining enigmatic, becomes a balancing act requiring much forethought."

Environmental storytelling is also an important aspect of Mankind Divided. This storytelling technique, which often involves a large degree of subtlety, was highlighted in the developer's presentation Rewarding Exploration in 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided presented at GDC 2017. Many stories in the game, such as the story of Mary Morevic, are not directly told to the player, but instead are stories that the player must piece together by evaluating the bits and pieces environment, including visual designs and discoverable emails and pocket secretaries. Therefore, clues such as the the Hyron drone parts in the VersaLife vault cannot be dismissed as being arbitrary.

Eidos Montreal's preference for subtle storytelling presents a strong case against the "easter egg" alternate theory, which posits that the body in the VersaLife vault is merely an easter egg. Such a theory is unlikely to be true given that Eidos Montreal spent great care in crafting its game environments in order to tell stories that the player must figure out.

Conclusion and further remarks
"There are some conclusions you have to make for yourself"

- David Sarif, in the Mystery Augs side mission

The clone theory provides a hypothesis for explaining what's inside the VersaLife vault container, as well as the "dead man's face" line in Black Light. On one hand, the clone theory would result in a number of unanswered questions (such as why was Adam cloned and how was he cloned). On the other hand, from a high-level perspective, it offers the simplest, one-line explanation for the body inside the VersaLife vault, i.e., the body is there because he's a clone. Without the clone theory, explaining why there's a body inside the VersaLife vault would require a much more complex and likely contrived plot explanation.

The clone theory touches on a question that naturally arises in the context of human augmentation: what makes a person when his or her parts are replaced (i.e., the "Ship of Theseus" question). It is also consistent with the prevalence of cloning in the lore of the original Deus Ex games. Given that protagonists such as JC Denton and Alex Denton were clones, it would not be anything out of the ordinary if Adam Jensen were also a clone. Therefore, the clone theory appears to be generally consistent with the themes and motifs of the story, as well as the many clues discussed above. The theory is also consistent with Mankind Divided 's style of storytelling, which often favors subtlety and environment clues as opposed to explicit exposition.

Nonetheless, due to the lack of a direct explanation of the events at the Baltic Sea facility and what the VersaLife vault box really contains, other potential explanations for the vault box cannot be definitively ruled out at this point. Therefore, the overall view of the author of this article is that the clone theory is something that the writers intended the audience to consider, but is ultimately left unresolved. Therefore, it remains a fan theory until further information is provided, even if it is a rather plausible and compelling theory.

Common subjective criticisms
Some fans seem to dislike the idea of Adam being a clone on the basis of attachment to his character, i.e., they prefer there to be only one Adam Jensen. A counterpoint to this view is that the setting of the Deus Ex universe is one in which people may switch parts of their body with mechanical augmentation. Thus, one could certainly view the events, as speculated above, simply as the process of Adam's mind (and augs) getting a new body. A clone body that has memories of the old Adam Jensen is, in a sense, sufficiently the same person as the original. Eliza remarks that recovering the memories will "recover the real her." It would seem natural to an AI that it is the memories that constitute a being, and that the body (like the hardware) is merely fungible. This view is particularly relevant given that a theme of the Deus Ex series is the blurring of the line between man and machine. From this perspective, whether or not the Adam Jensen in Mankind Divided is a "clone" or not is not so important when he is still considered to be the same person regardless.

Other fans seem to dislike the clone theory on the basis that it would be "cliché." This line of criticism seems overly judgmental on a (potential) plot element that has only been potentially hinted, and not yet been fully explored. Works of fiction often reuse elements that are common in the applicable genre, but apply them in different ways.

Relation to Adam Jensen's role as a sleeper agent
In Mankind Divided and Black Light, it is hinted that Adam is a sleeper agent deployed by Beth DuClare and Lucius DeBeers to get close to Janus. In Black Light, Beth DuClare tells Lucius DeBeers that they will need to play "a subtle and lengthy game" in order to get close to Janus. In the mid-credits scene of Mankind Divided, Delara and DeBeers discuss the progress of Adam in uncovering Janus. Thus, it is suggested that Adam's old memories may have altered or mixed with a directive to seek out Janus. This interpretation is sometimes called the "sleeper agent" theory.

In the mid-credits scene, Delara says that Jensen 2.0 is "remarkably stable" and that his "memories are consistent with the program." This line indicates that whatever memory alterations the Illuminati made have been well integrated into Jensen's mind. Jensen's stability contrasts with the instability of subjects such as Daria (who received new memories on top of existing ones, instead of starting at a clean slate).

The "sleeper agent" theory is widely accepted by the fan base. As such, some players prefer to emphasize this over the clone theory. However, the sleeper agent theory alone does not explain why there's a body in the vault. Similarly, it does not explain the meaning behind the line "On the screen, a dead man’s face looked back up at her" in Black Light, as discussed above.

The sleer agent theory and the clone theory are also compatible with one another. One possibility is that the Illuminati wanted Jensen specifically for his connections to the Juggernaut Collective, but Jensen's body was too heavily damaged after Panchaea, so a new one was needed. Yet another possibility is that a new body was needed to accept edited memories as its own, without being affected by preexisting memories. As noted above, the clone theory results in unanswered questions, but these unanswered questions do not rule out the theory as long as they are within what can be explained by the storyteller.

The role of "memories" in the story arc was further explored in A Criminal Past. In this mission, Delara appears to be evaluating Jensen's memories. At the end of the DLC, if the "deflect" dialogue option is selected, Delara will say, "I've looked at all the reports and there are a few small inconsistencies, that's all. Look, it's not important. What is important is how you remember it. So, just tell me what you recall about those final moments and we can wrap this up." Thus, Delara is particularly interested in whether Jensen believes he killed Guerrero or not. Unfortunately, A Criminal Past offers few definite answers as to the nature of Jensen's memory alteration and how it relates to his status as a potential clone.

For now, one thing that all fans can agree on is that another Deus Ex title is needed to finish Adam Jensen's story...

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 * Originally posted: November 14, 2016
 * Last major revision: February 2, 2023