Ford Schick

Ford Schick is a scientist and friend of Smuggler. Ford was kidnapped by Majestic 12 and forced to do research related to the Gray Death.

Biography
Ford was kidnapped to work in Majestic 12's secret lab in the sewers below Hell's Kitchen. Ford's task was to conduct experiment on homeless people captured by MJ12 by genetically altering them so that they could host the Gray Death virus more effectively without triggering an immune response against the virus. However, the experiments resulted in a number of deaths.

When Ford disappeared, Smuggler consulted with the Oracle AI for information on his disappearance. Smuggler would eventually learn that Ford is being held in the secret lab in the sewers.

Interactions
If JC Denton visits Smuggler on his first visit to Hell's Kitchen, Smuggler will ask JC to rescue Ford, whom Smuggler believes has likely been kidnapped by the government. Smuggler suspects that Ford is being held in a secret lab in the city's sewers. The sewers are heavily fortified and guarded by Majestic 12 soldiers. If JC reaches Ford, he will reveal that a "biotech company" is forcing him to conduct experiments on integrating the Gray Death into a human host more effectively by eliminating the body's immune response to the virus. If Ford makes it out of the base alive, Smuggler will thank JC and give him a discount on his products. Regardless of whether Schick is rescued on this first visit to Hell's Kitchen, he is not seen again in later visits to Hell's Kitchen.

Quotes

 * "Here I go!"
 * "I could eliminate the immune response by removing all sequences that code for H type epsilon, but that's like driving a nail with a wrecking ball.

Unused content
The game files include interactions between Ford Schick and JC Denton during the second and third visits to Hell's Kitchen. However, these interactions are not normally available due to what appears to be bugs or oversights in the game script.

Restoring unused content
Without the use of any third-party mods, unused content relating to Ford Schick can be restored through console commands and the debug menu. Note that cheats must first be enabled before summon commands and the debug menu can be used.


 * During the second visit to Hell's Kitchen (4th Mission), Ford's dialogue interactions can be restored by summoning him inside Smuggler's Lair or any other location by using the console command "Summon FordSchick".
 * Additionally, restoring the FordSchickRescued flag will restore Smuggler-related interactions that should have been available if Ford Schick was rescued. To restore the FordSchickRescued flag, open the debug menu (for details, please see the "debug menu" article), click "Edit Flags" and then "Add Flag." Enter "FordSchickRescued" into the "flag name" field and set the "value" field to "true." Press "ok" to add the flag.
 * During the third visit to Hell's Kitchen (7th Mission), Ford's dialogue interactions can be restored by restoring the FordSchickRescued flag (as described above) or by directly summoning him using the summon command.

Second visit to Hell's Kitchen (4th Mission)
Ford Schick is placed as a "hidden" object in the map for Smuggler's Lair (04_NYC_Smug.dx), but no part of the mission script provides the function of unhiding him. If Ford is summoned via console commands, he can be conversed with for the following dialogue:




 * JC Denton: How's life on the outside?
 * Ford Schick: So far, so good. I'm already back to my own research.
 * JC Denton: What are you working on?
 * Ford Schick: Myelin. Sometimes we can't sell prosthetics because people are afraid of nerve damage.
 * JC Denton: Synthetic myelin?
 * Ford Schick: A genetic treatment. I've thought for a long time that if we could make people's nervous systems a little more resilient, we could put a good price on some of the junk Smuggler has collected over the years.
 * JC Denton: I see.

Additionally, Ford has the following random barks, prior to the UNATCO raid:


 * "Thanks again for getting me out of that lab."
 * "Smuggler said you've got a lifelong discount on anything he sells."
 * "I'd stay off the streets tonight. A lot of police activity."
 * "The cops are mopping up."
 * "I think one of the NSF leaders is still at large."

Once the UNATCO raid has started, Ford has the following random barks:


 * "Sounds bad out there.
 * "Hate to say it, but I don't think you stand much of a chance."
 * "If UNATCO doesn't want you to leave the city, you won't leave."
 * "I bet what they really want is to interrogate you about Paul."
 * "Even if you get shot up, I doubt they'll let you die." (This line appears to hint that if the player dies after the raid has begun, the game will transition to the next mission instead of showing the game over screen.)

Normally, the game does not recognize the player as having previously rescued Ford because the FordSchickRescued flag that can be set during the previous visit to Hell's Kitchen expires before the start of this mission. As a result, Smuggler will not offer a discount to the player.

Smuggler's discount can be restored by manually adding the FordSchickRescued flag as described above. If the FordSchickRescued flag is restored prior to the initial conversation with Smuggler, Smuggler will state "Since you helped Ford, I'll cut you a deal."

Third visit to Hell's Kitchen (7th Mission)
During the final visit to Hell's Kitchen, Ford Schick is also placed as a "hidden" object in the map for Smuggler's Lair (08_NYC_Smug.dx). The mission script includes code for unhiding Ford, but this part of the script relies on the FordSchickRescued flag, which expires prematurely as noted above. Therefore, Ford will not spawn during the ordinary course of the game. However, if this flag is restored, Ford will spawn on the upper level of Smuggler's hideout when the player enters the map.

If Ford spawns due to the restored FordSchickRescued flag or if he is directly summoned by console commands, he has the dialogue below. Schick has a considerable amount of inside knowledge on the Gray Death and claims that JC has had the plague "for years", and is simply immune to its effects. He states that he worked with tissue cultures labelled "JCD" - or JC Denton - while working for Majestic 12.




 * JD Denton: I learned a few things about your captors. They were henchmen for a secret organization called Majestic 12.
 * Ford Schick: A corporation?
 * JD Denton: Conspirators. They want to take over the government.
 * Ford Schick: Smuggler and I -- and a contact he has -- learned a few things ourselves. Where they had me working, we had tissue cultures coded JCD -- JC Denton.
 * JD Denton: I must be some kind of standard, the yeast cell of the 21st century.
 * Ford Schick: They were our target system: zero response to the virus.
 * JD Denton: Does that mean I'm immune?
 * Ford Schick: More than that. I think you've got the plague right now, and I think you've had it for years.
 * JD Denton: Why don't I have any symptoms?
 * Ford Schick: It's part of your cell biology -- the core component of your augmentations. Which reminds me, I pilfered something from the lab you could probably use: an augmentation upgrade.

Even if Ford's dialogue is restored, the augmentation upgrade canister that he mentions cannot be obtained because the game script incorrectly refers to AugmentationUpgrade instead of the correct class name AugmentationUpgradeCannister.

Additionally, Ford has the following random barks:


 * "The virus itself is a nanotech device; it just happens to have the same structure as the nanites that implement your augmentations."
 * "Not sure why they want to infect the public."
 * "Perhaps they've developed a way to switch the viral effects of the nanites on and off."
 * "We certainly weren't the only lab looking at this issue."

Trivia

 * Ford Schick is modeled to resemble Warren Spector. Spector makes cameo appearances in many of the games he works on.