No, Eszti cannot join your squad in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies. She is not one of the six recruits for the final operation, and no approach changes that, from a perfect apology to never raising a hand against her, even though the Journal’s crew card mentions her. What you can do is win her help with the secret prisoner, and there is a way to do it without threatening her family.
Below we cover who Eszti is, what she can do for you, how to get her help the kind way or the hard way, and the bugs ZA/UM has fixed around her apartment.
Who Eszti Is
Eszti, cryptonym ESTOC, was part of Hershel’s old network, the Whole Sick Crew. ZA/UM’s Meet The Friends You Left to Die post sums up why she is not pleased to see you: “No-nonsense, venom-tongued, and extremely competent, Eszti was the one who stuck her neck out to warn you that the network had been compromised. When it came time to leave town, you left her out to dry.”
Five years on, she works for EMTERR, the rival intelligence service, and lives in an apartment in the Housing Campaign with her husband, Pascal, a postman.
Why Players Think She Is Recruitable
The six recruits are fixed by Steam’s achievement list: Karolina, Ramses, HOLOCENE, PSEUDOPOD, Yana and KALEIDOSCOPE, one achievement each. There is no Eszti achievement. What sends players hunting is the Journal’s crew card, which mentions her. No apology, however perfect, and no amount of friendliness changes that.
So treat that card as characterisation, not a hidden route. Your squad comes from the six above, as our guide to who you can recruit explains.
What Eszti Can Do for You
Eszti matters for the secret prisoner. She is the one who can set up the deal with EMTERR, and once she agrees, she tells you an EMTERR representative will be in touch. You can still complete the game without her, but you lose that route and a lot of good dialogue.
Spoiler warning: the next sections describe your confrontation with Eszti and the choices in it.
How to Get Her Help Without Threats
Your first real meeting with Eszti turns physical: she comes at you with a truth serum. The cleanest outcome comes from right here:
- Pass both red checks in the first meeting. Red checks cannot be retried, so save before you go in.
- Take the truth serum from her and destroy it.
- Talk. Once she is disarmed, she agrees to arrange the trade for the prisoner, with no threats needed.
Otherwise, getting her help means leaning on her with the Statehood check below.
The Apology Card and the Statehood Check
If the first meeting goes badly, you end up needing a Statehood check that pressures Eszti through her husband. An apology card makes that check much easier:
- Buy a card at Foto 24. The card carousel option only appears after you have been to Eszti’s apartment.
- Pick the better card and write it well. Writing it calls for a Personalism check.
- Hand it to her in person. Do not just drop it in her mailbox. Given in person, it adds up to +10 to the Statehood check.
The check still happens, but the card makes failure unlikely. Our best starting skills guide covers Personalism and Statehood if you are building for this.
Bugs ZA/UM Has Fixed in Her Apartment
Two of the game’s early patches were about Eszti’s home, so update before you visit:
- ZA/UM’s May 29 patch “enabled fast travel in Eszti’s apartment,” after players got stuck there when loading a save.
- Its June 11 patch “resolved a softlock issue in Eszti’s apartment, which occurred after creating and loading a save file in Eszti’s apartment during dark.”
Even on the current version, it is safest to save outside her apartment in daylight.
For more choices that shape your ending, see our guides to how many endings there are and how to save Yana, and browse every guide on our Zero Parades hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you recruit Eszti in Zero Parades? No. She is not one of the six recruits, and Steam’s achievement list has no recruit achievement for her.
Where does Eszti live? In an apartment in the Housing Campaign, with her husband, Pascal.
What does the apology card do? Handed to her in person, it adds up to +10 to the Statehood check where you pressure her into helping.
Can you get Eszti’s help without threatening her? Yes. Pass both red checks in your first meeting and destroy her truth serum, and she agrees to arrange the trade.
Do you need Eszti to finish the game? No. You can complete the story without her help.