Quick answer: An Aug gives itself away with a visible aug chip, unusual pupils or an uncanny expression, or with stillness, twitching, an outfit that doesn’t match its faction, and robotic or overly formal speech. Shoot only when you’re certain.
Augs in Probably Stolen: Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim are people taken over by a rogue AI living in a brain implant. They walk up to your window like any other customer, but they’re after two things in particular: raw materials to build new implants and medical supplies to put those implants into new victims. Anyone asking for materials or medicine deserves a second look.
When Augs appear in Probably Stolen
Without the Aug Menace perk, The Mentor brings the Augs into your run: his Day 12 visit warns you about them if you have not met them yet. In our Mark Up run (Apprentice, with the intro) he came to the window that morning, explained the Augs and left two documents: Mentor’s Note: The Augmented and the Security Department “Augmented Identification Guide”. He places a shotgun against the counter, to the right beneath the register. Double-click either document to read it.
The starting perk Aug Menace, which costs 1 perk point, unlocks the Augmented content from the very first day instead. It comes with strings attached, covered further down.
What Augs are: Mentor’s Note: The Augmented
The note The Mentor leaves explains who you are dealing with and gives the two rules that matter at the counter:
“The Augs are humans overtaken by a rogue AI inside a brain implant. Their bodies are no longer their own, and there is currently no safe way to remove the implant without killing the host. Augs are hostile and extremely dangerous, actively seeking to kidnap people and install more Augmentation implants. Shopkeepers are the first line of defense, since Augs rely on raw materials to fabricate new implants and medical supplies to surgically implant more victims. They haven’t fully mastered normal human behavior and may also use overly formal phrasing or robotic vocabulary. Shoot only if you are absolutely certain. Do not try to call Security, the Augs have hacked their comms and will flee before Security arrives.”
Every other note he hands out is collected in all of the Mentor’s Notes.
Aug tells: what to look for
The Augmented Identification Guide splits the signs into two groups. Visual features are marked on a portrait of a man in goggles and a brown work shirt.
| Visual features | Non-visual features |
|---|---|
| Visible aug chip at the temple | Unnatural stillness |
| Unusual pupils | Twitching |
| Uncanny expression (fixed, too-wide grin) | Outfit not matching their faction |
| Robotic vocabulary | |
| Overly formal phrasing |
Speech is a giveaway because Augs haven’t fully figured out how normal people behave. Run through the checks in this order whenever a customer reaches the window.
A single tell isn’t proof. Stack them up before you act.
What an Aug looked like in our run
Our first Aug came on Day 13, the day after The Mentor’s warning, as the last customer of the day. The trade panel did not say Aug: it labelled her “Thief”. What gave her away was everything else.
She wore a gas mask over the lower half of her face, and above it sat a cross-shaped chip mark on her forehead. That is the visible aug chip from the guide, only higher up than the temple shown on its portrait, so check the whole face and not just the side of the head.
Her line was the second tell: “Requesting supplies. A host is awaiting augmentation.” That is the robotic, overly formal phrasing the Mentor’s note describes, and it says outright what the supplies are for.
The trade panel matched the note as well. She was BUYING with Interests: Medical and a Customer Budget of 196, and medical supplies are one of the two things Augs come for.
We used Threaten (Aug) from the Bargain panel on her. Its 20% bar filled in, and the Reputation Multiplier line read “Selling: x0.00”.
The next morning’s Nightly Report confirmed it: “One of your contacts has informed you that an Aug has visited your store yesterday.” So if you are unsure at the window, the report settles it the next day.
Confirming an Aug with the Aug Scanner
If you want a certain answer instead of a hunch, the Aug Scanner removes the guesswork. Its item text reads: “Used to confirm the presence of a suspected Aug with 100% accuracy.” It has a base value of 200 and takes up a 2 x 3 space in your inventory.
Threaten (Aug) is a bargaining option, not a test: the trade panel’s talk icon opens the Bargain panel, where Threaten (Aug) sits at 20% under Offer Markup, Demand Discount and Blackmail (Criminal). It accuses the customer of being an Aug and threatens to shoot them for a better price. On an ordinary customer it always fails and costs you reputation, so it is no way to check a hunch. Blackmail (Criminal) works the same way on Wanted criminals and fails on anyone else.
When to use the shotgun
You cannot pick the shotgun up whenever you like. Hover it by the counter while the window is empty and the game shows “Cannot equip the shotgun right now”.
It showed the same line on Day 13 with the Aug at the window, so having an Aug in front of you is not enough on its own to equip it.
The Mentor’s rule is short:
“Shoot only if you are absolutely certain.”
Being certain means several tells agree, or the Aug Scanner confirms it. Do not reach for the alarm instead: Mentor’s Note: The Augmented warns that the Augs have hacked Security’s comms and flee before Security arrives. Call Security is for criminals on the Wanted list.
What happens if Augs get away
Letting too many Augs get away is what ends a run. The Augmented ending, a loss, comes when the Aug presence reaches 100% on a run where that ends the game, such as one with Aug Menace:
“The Aug population reached a critical point and now operates openly. During the night, a group of Augs broke into your store and forcibly installed an augmentation chip. Security never arrived. The implant activates. You are only a passenger in your own body.”
Picking Aug Menace raises the stakes. Its perk text reads: “The Augmented content is unlocked at the start of the game. Earn 25% more credits for killing an aug. The aug menace never ends, and letting too many augs get away ends the game on every difficulty.”
Shooting Augs also counts toward the Aug Hunter achievement, “Shoot 10 augmented.”, which tracks across runs. The Security tab of the run summary shows your total on its “Augs Shot” line.
Tips for dealing with Augs
- Watch customers who ask for materials or medical supplies most closely; those are what Augs need.
- Check the face first (a chip at the temple or on the forehead, pupils, grin), then the outfit against the faction in the trade panel, then the way they talk.
- Never shoot on one tell. The Aug Scanner gives a certain answer.
- Do not trust the label: the Aug we met was listed as a “Thief” in the trade panel.
- Do not hold Call Security on a suspected Aug, and do not use Threaten (Aug) on ordinary customers.
- Aug Menace pays 25% more per Aug killed, but its Aug threat never ends.
Related guides: factions and reputation, how to bargain and the complete Probably Stolen guide.
