Brief plot of Atomic Heart. Two endings
USSR of the future?
The events of the game take place in an alternative universe where the Soviet Union did not cease to exist, but instead became a highly developed state. Soviet scientist Sechenov discovered an innovative material - polymer - from which the Soviets began creating robots used for various activities and connected into a single network called "Collective."
The game begins with humanity standing on the brink of a great event - the launch of "Collective 2.0" - a version that allows controlling robots with the power of thought, as well as connecting their consciousness to a single library of information. Celebrations for this significant event are taking place throughout the Union.
However, not everything goes smoothly. Sechenov learns that in one of the scientific laboratories, a sabotage is being prepared that could seriously undermine both the authority of "Collective" and the entire Union. Our main character - agent P-3, Nechaev - is sent to fight the traitor. Nechaev is a war veteran who suffered severe injuries and lost his memory during one of the operations and was saved only thanks to Sechenov's genius.
Nechaev has a companion - a helper glove named Hraz, with whom we will be inseparable until the very end.
In the eve of the apocalypse
Nechaev makes his way to the base where the traitor is hiding, but the latter turns out to be not so simple and activates the combat mode of the local robots, as a result of which almost all the personnel of the base are killed by the malfunctioning machines.
The hero meets Grandma Zina and then begins to explore the scientific base. During his journey, he encounters robots and gets trapped under rubble. He is rescued by the skilled neurosurgeon Larisa, who saves the hero and his companion. However, during their conversation, Vovchik (a robot) breaks into the room and attacks the group, firing laser beams from its eyes. Larisa and P-3 survive but are separated from each other in the chaos of the battle.
Soon, the main character accidentally overhears a conversation between Larisa and Petrov, who are traitors and working together. The hero begins to pursue Petrov, and as a result, finds his dead body.
The main character searches for a way out of the complex and discovers that dangerous experiments were conducted in the laboratories. For example, scientists were developing resilient plants for future colonization of the moon, but as a result, the seeds caused a mass zombie infection among the personnel. In addition, the hero barely survived an attack by a huge living tree.
After P-3 escapes from the laboratory, he meets Grandma Zina again. She shows him a party meeting where Comrade Molotov suspects that a disaster has occurred. Molotov decides to go there personally to verify this.
Sticks in the wheels
The hero is assigned to prevent Molotov's arrival at the base and goes to VDNKh. He hacks the system and activates the training alarm to prevent the party members from entering the territory. Despite this, Molotov still arrives and encounters chaos and destruction. He orders Sechenov to be suspended from work.
Sechenov demands a personal meeting and arrives at the scene in 15 minutes. At this time, P-3 loses consciousness and enters a strange world. When he wakes up, he discovers that Molotov and his people are dead. Sechenov reports that they were killed by robots.
The twin ballerinas, Sechenov's personal bodyguards, extract a device and activate a strange bathtub. A red polymer man emerges from it, absorbing Molotov's body. Now Molotov's knowledge will be added to the common database and serve humanity in the future.
It turns out that Petrov staged his death. Soon he will pass on information about the tragedy to America and ruin all of the Union's plans.
In pursuit of Petrov
Nechaev finds Petrov, but Larisa interrupts his attempt to talk to him. We become victims of an attack and, upon waking up, we recount that the robots destroyed the entire staff. Petrov knew this would happen and was confident that a mass slaughter was necessary to show the world their danger. Larisa runs away in shock.
Nechaev begins his pursuit of Petrov once again and finds him at the theater, where the traitor explains that the robots were originally created with a combat mode, and he simply activated it. After a short battle, Petrov loses his head.
Nechaev carries Petrov's head to Sichenov's assistant, where it is used to load knowledge into the system. But then Larisa bursts in, throws a grenade, and Sichenov is transported to the surreal world of Limbo, while the system engulfs Sichenov's assistant.
The poles are shifting
Nechaev wakes up and sees Larisa, who tells him about the plans of the new "Collective" to make people slaves of Sechenov. The girl showed him the test subjects whose wills were completely subordinated to orders. Petrov and Larisa did not want such a future to become a reality.
Larisa also showed Nechaev recordings of his past, when he was an agent together with his partner Blesna. She died during an important mission, and her body was used to create two twin ballerinas. Nechaev survived because he was rebuilt from parts. But the traumas and nightmares he experienced made him inadequate and prone to fights. To save him, his memories were suppressed by the "Voskhod" module. But now, through this module, Sechenov could put Nechaev into combat mode and use his body for killing.
It also turned out that the talking glove that accompanied Nechaev throughout the game was a polymer version of scientist Khariton Zakharov, who died under mysterious circumstances. During the game, the glove hinted that Sechenov was the killer.
Together with Larisa, the hero enters the elevator. Before his eyes, everything suddenly becomes blurred, and his hands swing at the doctor.
Nechaev comes to his senses next to Grandma Zina. She reveals that Blesna was Nechaev's wife, and the old woman herself is his mother-in-law. Baba Zina and Hraz call for Sechenov's murder. The hero has a choice: to go after the scientist or forgive him. The decision affects the ending.
Good ending
When choosing the first option, Nechaev reconciles with Sechenov and realizes that the glove was playing games with them. It turns out that Hariton Zakharov, the inventor of the "Voskhod" module, was behind controlling people's minds, including P-3, and the glove gained access to this module and used it to put P-3 into combat mode.
The hero tears off the glove and walks off into the sunset, completing his mission.
Bad ending
If the second option is chosen, Nechaev will decide to confront Sechenov and reveal the secret of the "Atomic Heart" project. He learns that the robots created in the USSR were sent to the USA and other Western countries free of charge with the aim of capturing nuclear power plants and joining the USA to the Soviet Union.
Meeting Sechenov, the hero tries to find out the truth, but Sechenov assures him that Zakharyev brainwashed him, and lets the ballerina attack him. The hero wins and kills Sechenov, but it turns out to be a trap set by Zakharyev.
Zakharyev manipulated the hero with the help of the "Voskhod" module and turned him into combat mode to kill Sechenov and gain access to the array connecting people. Zakharyev kills the hero and declares that the time of humanity has passed and he is the evolution.
After Nechaev's death, he finds himself in Limbo, where he meets his wife.
