The "Self-Preservation" Ending

This ending focuses purely on your personal survival and financial gain, often at the expense of both the Ministry and the resistance. You become a master manipulator, playing all sides to ensure your own comfortable escape from the oppressive state.

How to Achieve:

• Accumulate Wealth:
  • Your primary goal is to amass a significant amount of money (typically 10,000+ Credits, though this can vary based on difficulty and specific escape routes).
  • Illicit Trade: Engage heavily in smuggling and black market deals. Buy Contraband Goods (e.g., Foreign Coffee, Luxury Items) from shady contacts (e.g., Boris the Smuggler in the basement) and sell them to wealthy tenants (e.g., Minister Klaus) or the Black Market Dealer.
  • Blackmail: Discover secrets about tenants (e.g., Incriminating Letters in Apartment 2A's safe, Photos of an Affair in Apartment 3B's hidden drawer) using Hidden Cameras or Microphones. Use this information to extort money or favors.
  • Selling Information: Sell information to both the Ministry and the resistance, but carefully, to avoid fully committing to either. For example, report a minor violation of a non-essential tenant to the Ministry for a reward, while simultaneously selling information about Ministry patrols to the resistance for cash.
• Play Both Sides (Carefully):
  • Maintain a neutral or slightly positive reputation with both the Ministry and the resistance. Do just enough for each side to keep them off your back and to extract resources.
  • Example: Complete a Ministry directive to install a camera, but then sell the camera's feed to the resistance for a profit. Or, help a resistance member escape, but then report a different, less important tenant to the Ministry to maintain your standing.
  • Avoid any actions that would fully commit you to either faction or make you a primary target.
• Secure an Escape Route:
  • Once you have sufficient funds, you'll need to purchase an escape route. This usually involves contacting a Human Smuggler (e.g., Carl Stein, found near the building's entrance at night) who offers passage out of the country.
  • These routes can vary in cost and risk. A Luxury Escape Package (15,000 Credits) might guarantee your family's safety, while a cheaper Basic Passage (8,000 Credits) might leave them behind or put them at risk.
• Family Management:
  • Your family's well-being is important for this ending, as you want to escape with them. Ensure their needs are met, but prioritize accumulating wealth for the escape.
  • If you fail to gather enough money, you may be forced to escape alone, leaving your family behind, or to choose a riskier, cheaper escape that endangers them.

Consequences:

You successfully escape the oppressive regime with your wealth and, ideally, your family. The ending depicts you living a comfortable life in a free country, far from the turmoil. However, the narrative often highlights your isolation, the moral compromises you made, and the fact that you left others to suffer. You are safe and rich, but at what cost to your conscience?