Curly is a bum encountered at Battery Park in Deus Ex.
Background[]
An erudite and well educated man, Curly is nonetheless broke and homeless.[1] Since he joined up with the Mole People, he has found a place and a people to belong, becoming effectively the doorman, in charge of letting people into the Brooklyn Bridge Station and then the mole tunnels.[2] While the job can be tiresome,[3] he greatly prefers staying topside, rather than down below, sharing tunnels with heavily armed NSF militants.[4] While he doesn't mind the NSF, he sees the disconnect between the values they hold dear and the actions on the night of the Liberty Island raid, particularly wiring up a subway platform with high explosives, together with passengers. It gives him second thoughts, but he doesn't argue against it publicly.[5]
Curly generally tries to be polite and courteous, including sharing spaces with Gray Death victims to help them get warm.[6] He shares what he knows freely to get other people's spirits up,[7] and does his best to break bad news gently, such as refusing a potential mole person.[8]
He's on good terms with the rest of the encampment, in particularly Charlie, the Lieutenant Major in charge of the infrastructure.[9][10] He is quite fond of his fellow moles,[11] in particular because they have their own government and directly elect people to lead the encampment.[12] He believes that democracy only works on a smaller scale,[13] with mole people explicitly modeling their governance on ancient Athens.[14] As far as Curly is concerned, democracy doesn't work at scale, as with millions of people nobody really has a say about anything,[15] which inevitably leads to dictatorship and collapse under its own weight.[16]
Interactions[]
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This character is involved in missions. | 3rd Mission - Battery Park |
Missions[]
- 3rd Mission - Battery Park: Curly is the point of contact to gain access to Brooklyn Bridge Station. In order to learn the password, the player can find his journal or provide the passphrase (Underworld). The phrase can be learned in Hell's Kitchen by saving the alley bum harassed by a pair of goons or by purchasing it from Harley Filben at the subway station.
References[]
- ↑ JC Denton: " Why the name "mole people?""
Curly: " They call us that because we live underground – huh, like they're some kind of superior beings or something because they've got more money than we do."
- ↑ JC Denton: " Tell me how to find this base and l bet I can get the NSF off your back."
Alley Bum: ""Underworld." Just remember that word when you see Curly. He lets people in."
- ↑ Curly: " Christ. I've been standing here forever. They were supposed to send a replacement."
- ↑ JC Denton: " Maybe you should join your people. Anywhere underground would be safer than Battery Park."
Curly: " The moles need someone topside. Besides"
JC Denton: " The NSF are hiding out with the mole people?"
Curly: " Yeah, they haven't hurt anybody. We guess it's all right."
JC Denton: " I need to contact the NSF. Think you could tell me how to find the moles?"
Curly: " Sure. Just give me the password so I know they trust you."
- ↑ Curly's journal
- ↑ Female Bum: " Oh, thank you again. My hands get so cold..."
Curly: " Like I said, we'll probably both get kicked out when whoever it is gets back. I live underground."
Female Bum: " All the same..."
- ↑ Female Bum: " Think it's true? The vaccine they got -- think it would really kill you?"
Curly: " It's super-concentrated. I heard the NSF talking. They're gonna process it, though."
Female Bum: " I hope so. I can't go much longer."
- ↑ Female Bum: " What about the mole settlement? You taking new people?"
Curly: " Well... It's not the best time, not right now."
Female Bum: " I don't mind. I'd sleep in the dirt. Whatever."
Curly: " The thing is, they've got this policy. No one with the Gray Death can go past Brooklyn Bridge Station."
Female Bum: " Oh... I see."
Curly: " I'm sorry, miss. Really."
Female Bum: " No need... No, I understand."
- ↑ Curly: " Charlie's the Lieutenant Mayor. He takes care of infrastructure."
- ↑ Curly: " I like Charlie. He's always been straight with me."
- ↑ Curly: " It's not a bad place. Lots of good people down there."
- ↑ Curly: " We have our own government, elections... a REAL democracy."
- ↑ Curly: " Democracy's for small towns. That's how it developed, back in Athens."
- ↑ Curly: " We're modeled on the Greeks -- with no outside influences!"
- ↑ Curly: " When there's millions of people in a country, no one has any say about anything."
- ↑ Curly: " Big countries always turn into dictatorships, then they fall apart under their own weight."
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