So, in my first playthrough I managed to reach the entrance of the House of Plasm in the sewers, but the door didn't open after applying that hacking device to the console. If I understand correctly, Dumaine won't let you in unless you have finished upgrading your armor at the Institute for Trained Metals and Polymers.
I decided to try again and be super-accurate and thorough in my exploration of ITMP. I managed to locate 4 consoles that displayed a message pertaining to the improvement of the armor (showing that icon with the hammer/axe? and the three red dots), just as you're supposed to do, BUT one of those messages was a bit ambiguous, I mean it wasn't a clear-cut, unequivocal notification of an upgrade being applied to the armor, like the other three, but more like a general statement. More to the point, I didn't receive any message informing me that the update process was indeed complete.
My question is: are you supposed to receive such a message from Dumaine? I don't want to make all the road through the Eugenics Clinic and the sewers again, only to find out that I'm missing an update (and it would probably be too late, then, to go back to ITMP and search for that console once again).
No spoilers, please, thank you! I want to make it on my own.
(Man, this game is as brilliant as it is infuriating...)

No need to reply as I have finished the game in the meantime. And it still made no sense...
From the sewers I went to Distopia and then the Lions of Industry. After completing those levels I came back to the sewers and I got the same message from Dumaine about the need to finish improving the armor... but the door opened this time!
And when I completed the House of Plasm, he told me "now go to Distopia", which I had done already!
It's like the basic structure of the game, I mean the entire system of "triggers" that governs the unfolding of the events, is basically a mess.
For example on another couple of occasions I received a message saying "I lost contact with you in the sewers, now head for Distopia" but the first time I hadn't visited the sewers at all, while the second time I was precisely in the sewers!
In the end, I have the feeling I managed to complete the game in a way the creators didn't intend. They obviously had in mind a certain overall story and succession of events, and surely put in place a system of sorts to guide the player through the game, but somehow I was able to bypass or play around it, or that's my impression at least.
There are other inconsinstencies, for example

***SPOILERS***
in the last level, Introspect, Dumaine tells you you have to destroy 40 of those column-things and then use the hacking device to force open the door to the Apex chamber, except you don't need the device for that. Instead, you have to use it to access the room where Dumaine is held captive - which you can accomplish without destroying the columns first.
***END SPOILERS***

Or those times Dumaine pops up with information you already had to figure out for yourself, if you wanted to survive up to that point!
And the ending I found unsatisfying, in a comparable way to that of Project Eden (which btw is a much better game overall), meaning it felt brisk, sloppy, slightly out-of-place, and not well proportioned to all that had come before. I really
expected something deeper, more developed, despite the satirical bent of the game, which is quite obvious.
The final boss didn't make a lot of sense... how I defeated it is not entirely clear to me.
Moreover, the game is buggy: it's more prone to crashing than I am ready to accept, and it simply locked a couple of times, forcing me to find a workaround like saving/reloading, for example. How much of this is the result of making it run on a modern system, I cannot say.
All in all, this game speaks of a wasted opportunity, a potentially great title that sadly doesn't quite come together.
Some aspects of it are truly classy and memorable: the setting, the main character and her design, the environments with their diverse style of architecture, furniture, decorations, the soundtrack, the enemies, some animations, at least some of the voice acting.
But then, others are poor, like programming, as I said, or the funky controls and unwieldy general handling of the main character (worse than Crusader, I'd say), or some grating sound effects.
The overall conception is great, but its practical, concrete realization leaves something to be desired, and leaves behind an aftertaste of disappointment.