In the Footsteps of the Harvester is an article by Angela Gunn about the serial killer Marek Svobotka aka The Harvester, who murdered 27 augmented people in Prague in 2025. The article appears as an in-game eBook in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and can be found in Daria Myška's apartment (apartment 31 at Zeleň Apartments).
Transcript[]
by Angela Gunn
From "The Best of Angela Gunn - In Memoriam"
Four years ago Marek Svobotka terrorized our city for seven months. By the time he was done, twenty seven bodies were uncovered. In each killing, traces of EMP were discovered, used to stun or incapacitate the victim. In each killing, puncture wounds were linked to the use of a homemade muscle relaxant. And, most notably, in each killing the victim's augmentations were removed.
Shortly before execution, Svobotka was asked why he did it. Where did the hatred for augmentation stem from?
"I don't hate them," he said. "I save them. I make them human again."
Svobotka saw augmentation as a threat, both to the individual and to the collective good. In his own twisted way, he was arguing then what the U.N. is arguing now. Whether pseudo-spiritual rhetoric or carefully crafter legalese, the underlying message is the same: salvation through torture.
If Marek Svobotka were alive today, he would have reason to be proud. His nightmare vision has become our political reality.