Thanks to Atlas’s quick work of the locking mechanism you were able to escape Andrew Ryan’s trap and flee to the Medical Pavilion Foyer. Note the location of the Vita-Chamber on the left and head off in the direction of the clown’s voice. The Circus of Values vending machine is a great source of items that can be purchased with the money that you acquire from containers and corpses.
Hack First, Shop Later
Before you go shopping at the Circus of Values, make sure to hack the Security Bot stuck between the sliding doors to the right. The Security Bot serves as a hacking tutorial of sorts and, once you successfully hack it, you’ll be able to hack the vending machines you encounter to gain access to otherwise unavailable items and also lower the prices of all goods. See the “Life Underwater ” chapter for a complete listing of the item costs before and after hacking.
The Hacker’s Guide to Mechanical Overwriting
Learning how to successfully hack electronic devices and safes can go a long way towards ensuring your survival in Rapture. Whether you hack a Security Bot to gain a robotic ally, or simply pick the lock on a safe and find some much-needed First Aid Kits and ammunition, knowing how to hack effectively is vital.
Hacking is done by redirecting the circuit flow in the machine, shown as a blue viscous liquid. Uncover tiles and swap them out to create a continuous conduit that leads from the source of the circuit flow to the goal. There are hazardous pieces on the grid that can cause an electrical overload, a security alarm to trigger, or even speed up the rate of flow. Overloading the system or failing to direct the flow properly results in significant physical damage to Jack so be careful!
Hacking starts out pretty easy, but it gets much tougher. Fortunately, there are plenty of tonics that can help make hacking easier. Also, it’s possible to do a Hacking Buyout at the start of the hacking process. Lastly, Auto-Hack Tools exist that can be used to automatically hack a machine. Read more about hacking in the “Life Underwater ” chapter of this book.
