There are three simulation units on this deck that need to be hacked, then the Soldier can continue on to the Recreation Deck. It's a bleakness that's not superficially aesthetic, but intrinsic, and overwhelming.
It creates a bleakness that's unachievable by just painting your backgrounds grey-brown and having the gruff post-apocalyptic super-soldiers shout curse words as they trot ever forward. After SHODAN explains how The Many came to be and the final moments at Citadel Station, she requires the Soldier to hack the simulation units and give her control of the ship by infiltrating XERXES' primary data loop. Shock 2 reveals just how potent and atmospheric it is to be pathetically weak. On this deck, the Soldier discovers that Janice Polito is dead, and the person guiding him is actually SHODAN.
