A Risky Bid

Lore & Background

Set in the gilded underbelly of Chicago's criminal elite, A Risky Bid takes place at the Merlaut Hotel—a venue where polished chandeliers and tailored suits mask a vipers' nest of corrupt officials, mobsters, and corporate fixers. The auction's prize is a hard drive ripped from Blume's servers, containing encrypted records of the human trafficking network that claimed Lena's life. Aiden learns the data is being sold to the highest bidder, forcing him to crash the party before the evidence disappears into a buyer's private vault. This mission marks a turning point in Aiden's hunt: it's his first direct confrontation with the web of power brokers who profit from misery, and a rare moment where he relies on Jordi Chin—his morally flexible fixer—for intel and backup. The hotel is a layered maze of guards, cameras, and oblivious civilians, demanding Aiden weaponize ctOS to manipulate lights, phones, and security feeds. Success here isn't just about survival; it's about seizing the key that unlocks the conspiracy's mastermind, setting the stage for the game's final act.

In Their Own Story

The hotel lobby hums with the low murmur of wealthy buyers, their faces hidden behind masks of civility. Aiden stands in the shadows of a balcony, his phone a silent weapon. The auctioneer's voice echoes, each bid a countdown to disaster—a bidder in a three-piece suit scratches his nose, and a guard's phone buzzes with a fake alert, drawing his eyes away. Aiden spots the hard drive on a pedestal, a sleek black slab guarded by men whose earpieces twitch with unseen commands. He hacks a camera, replacing its feed with a loop of an empty hallway. A guard steps aside to check his phone, and Aiden slips past, a ghost in the machine, as the auction reaches its final, fateful bid—a voice calls out a number, and the room holds its breath.

Reader's Guide

**Mission: A Risky Bid** Aiden must infiltrate the Merlaut Hotel during a private auction to steal a hard drive containing evidence of a human trafficking ring. The mission is linear, requiring stealth and hacking to bypass guards, cameras, and locked doors. Key characters include Aiden Pearce and Jordi Chin, who provides mission context via phone. This mission connects to the larger ctOS/DedSec arc by revealing the depth of corruption within Chicago's elite, directly linking the auction's participants to the conspiracy behind Lena's death. It is a main story mission in the base game, not DLC.

**Tips:** Use camera loops to blind patrolling guards. Distract clusters by triggering a nearby fire alarm or phone call. The auction room's chandelier can be hacked to drop and cause a panic—use it as a last resort if detected. Non-lethal takedowns keep the body count low and alarms silent.

Did You Know?

• The Merlaut Hotel is a fictional location, but its design is based on real Chicago hotels like the Drake Hotel.
• The mission's auctioneer is voiced by a character actor whose name is not widely credited in the game's documentation.
• Players can complete the mission without killing any guards, using only distractions and stealth takedowns—a feat that unlocks a subtle nod in a later phone call from Jordi.
• The hard drive obtained in this mission is later used to expose a key figure in the human trafficking ring, but only if Aiden chooses to decrypt it fully rather than trade it for leverage.