In Probably Stolen, Augs are people taken over by a rogue AI in a brain implant who walk into your shop posing as ordinary customers. Spot them with the eight signs in the Augmented Identification Guide, confirm with the Aug Scanner, and shoot only when you are sure. Letting them go raises the Aug threat; on Hard Mode that can end your run.
For what the game is and every guide we publish, start at the Probably Stolen guide hub.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| What Augs are | People whose brain implant has been taken over by a rogue AI, posing as normal customers. Source: The store page; in-game text. |
| How to spot one | The Augmented Identification Guide lists three visual and five non-visual signs. Source: In-game text. |
| Confirming | The Aug Scanner, sold by Dr. Jackson until the threat is over. Source: In-game text; the Update 049 patch notes, September 14, 2026. |
| Shooting an Aug | Security checks the body and sends Credits; Security and other factions think better of you. Source: In-game text; the demo's code. |
| Shooting the wrong person | Security lets it slide or opens a manslaughter investigation. Source: In-game text; player reports. |
| Mislabeled goods | No reputation loss for offering them to an Aug, but Augs with the tool still catch them. Source: The Update 049 patch notes; the developer's patch notes, September 18, 2026. |
| Letting Augs go | The Aug threat rises; only Hard Mode ends the run with the Augmented ending. Source: In-game text; the demo's code. |
| When it ends | Security declares all Augs eliminated once enough have been shot. Source: In-game text; the demo's code. |
The store page puts it in one line: a sentient AI chip went rogue and took its hosts with it, and Augs look like everyone else until they don't. Every faction agrees on the policy, you have the gun to enforce it, and missing the signs or misreading them carries its own price.
In the game, the Mentor brings the news himself. New brain implants have gone wrong: the AI inside took over its hosts, and "Those taken over by the implants are being referred as Augs." They pretend to be normal while kidnapping people and implanting more of them. He hands you a gun ("Don't worry, I already handled the paperworks.") and tells you that Security now requires every shopkeeper to kill any Aug on sight.
His written note, "Mentor's Note: The Augmented", adds the details that matter at the counter:
The game gives you a checklist: the Augmented Identification Guide, a sheet headed Security Department. It has two sections.
Treat these as signs to look for, not a list every Aug shows in full. The last two are about how they talk, so read every line a customer says; the mentor's note puts it the same way. Players report that the outfit check catches many of them: compare the clothes with the faction tag above the dialogue box, and be suspicious when they don't fit.
Drawing the gun can also give one away, though not every time. An Aug facing your gun may sound like anyone else ("Hey, put that away!") or answer like a machine trying to sound human ("I am startled. Like a human."). Only the second matches the guide's robotic-vocabulary sign, so a normal-sounding reply doesn't clear anyone.
Is a customer asking for medical supplies an Aug? Not on that alone. The mentor's note explains why Augs want medical supplies and raw materials, and players report that most Augs they caught were after one or the other. Ordinary customers buy medicine too, though, and in the demo's code some Augs are disguised as that day's event customer or as a buyer drawn in by your display case, so what they ask for won't always point to them. Check the signs, and use the scanner when you can't decide.
The Aug Scanner is "Used to confirm the presence of a suspected Aug with 100% accuracy." Its flavor text calls it an energy-hungry electromagnetic field detector tuned to pick up the signature of the Augmentation chip.
You buy it from Dr. Jackson. The UPDATE 049 patch notes of September 14, 2026 fixed a bug where he kept offering the scanner after Security had declared the Aug threat over, so once the threat ends, he stops selling it.
The scanner is most useful on the customers the guide can't settle: someone who matches one sign but nothing else, or a well-dressed customer whose phrasing is only slightly off.
When you are sure:
In the demo's code, a good kill also raises your Security reputation and your standing with other factions, and it pushes the Aug threat down. This guide doesn't list the amounts.
If you shoot the wrong person, Security's officer shouts "You just killed a real person!" and calls it in. Then one of two things happens. Either they let it go ("We will let it slide for this time. Remember, that gun is only for shooting Augs."), or they open a case: "We will start a manslaughter investigation on you." Players report that a wrong kill also costs you standing with the faction the victim really belonged to.
Not everyone can be shot. The developer's August 2026 playtest patch notes marked certain essential recurring customers as non-shootable.
An Aug pays like any other customer, so many players make the sale first.
Threaten (Aug). The haggling screen has an option to "Accuse this customer of being an Aug and threaten to shoot them, demanding better prices when trading." Use it on a real person and "the accusation will always fail and you will lose reputation", so only pick it when you are sure.
Mislabeled goods. Since Update 049, offering an Aug mislabeled items no longer costs you reputation. The developer's September 18, 2026 patch notes add two details: Augs pretend to belong to a faction, and scamming one no longer costs you standing with that faction, but "Augs can still identify mislabeled goods if they have the tool." How labels work and who spots a changed one is in our guide to labels and appraisal.
Can you still shoot after a trade? Players disagree. Many sell to an Aug first and shoot it afterwards, warning only against using the threaten option first. Others found the gun locked after a trade. If the kill matters more to you than the sale, shoot first.
Every Aug you let walk out makes things worse. The next night's log reads: "One of your contacts has informed you that an Aug has visited your store yesterday." On other nights Security may warn you in advance: "You have received word from Security that an Aug is likely to visit your store today."
In the demo's code, each Aug you let go raises an overall Aug threat and each one you shoot lowers it. If the threat climbs too high, the run ends with the Augmented ending, and in the demo's code that only happens on Hard Mode, as the developer's August 2026 playtest patch notes also said. On a normal run, missed Augs don't end the game this way.
The ending reads: "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."
Shoot enough Augs and Security comes to close the matter: "Hello, we got confirmation that all Augs has been eliminated. We appreciate your cooperation. You won't be needed the gun anymore."
In the demo's code, that visit only comes once your kills have brought the Aug threat down to nothing and the run has gone on long enough, and no new Augs turn up after it. Shooting is the only thing that lowers the threat, so if you never shoot an Aug, the all-clear never comes. Players report that Security takes the gun with them, and Dr. Jackson stops selling the Aug Scanner from then on.
This page describes the free demo before the update the developers announced for October 19, 2026. The developers have said nothing public about whether a trade locks the gun or when a wrong kill turns into an investigation, so those parts rest on player reports. The numbers behind Augs (how many come, what a kill pays, how high the threat can go) are in the game's code and are deliberately left out.
A new demo build triggers a recheck of the identification guide, the scanner, the shooting rules and the Augmented ending on this page, and the full release on October 28 (see our release date guide) triggers a recheck of everything, updated here in place.
A person whose brain implant has been taken over by a rogue AI. Augs pose as normal customers while gathering medical supplies and raw materials to implant more people, and Security wants every shopkeeper to shoot them on sight.
Check the eight signs in the Augmented Identification Guide: unusual pupils, an uncanny expression, a visible Aug chip, unnatural stillness, twitching, an outfit that doesn't match their faction, robotic vocabulary and overly formal phrasing. An Aug won't necessarily show all of them.
Not by itself. Augs do want medical supplies and materials, but so do ordinary customers, and some Augs are disguised as other kinds of customer. Look for the signs or use the Aug Scanner.
It confirms whether a suspected Aug really is one, with 100% accuracy. Dr. Jackson sells it until Security declares the Aug threat over.
Security calls it in and either lets it slide this time or starts a manslaughter investigation against you. Players report it also costs you standing with the victim's faction.
The Aug threat rises and a night log tells you an Aug visited. On Hard Mode, too much threat ends the run with the Augmented ending; on a normal run it doesn't.
Many players do, and mislabeled goods no longer cost you reputation with an Aug, though Augs with the tool still catch them. Some players found the gun locked after a trade, so shoot first if the kill matters more.
Because you shot enough of them. Once the Aug threat is down to nothing and the run is far enough along, Security declares the Augs gone and you won't need the gun anymore.
Sources and version history for this guide: Probably Stolen sources and versions.
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