Harry-Y quickly gets the limo together, has you all pile in (with Vicsis' groupies trailing behind), and orders the autocar to take you to SPD Sector R&D Review.

Tension Level 9
Here, R&D Service firms make presentations when they need to convince various PLC firms and administrators to put their latest creations into widespread use.
Your PDC's indicate that you have an hour and 20 minutes left in your mission.

The PDC's of Ginger, CL, Dexter, and Vixcis beep with a new message.



You pull up to the reception area.  It's nothing fancy.  The waiting chairs look pretty nice, though.  Big doors labeled "Conference Room" are directly opposite from where you entered.  Even bigger doors labeled "Main Display" ared to your right.  A RED Clearance staffer sits behind a desk, playing with some sort of twisty metal puzzle-toy.

A BLUE citizen in PLC garb bursts out of the Conference Room.  "None of this stuff is sounding like what I want.  Forget the slideshow, Nancy.  Show me the hardware."  Coming out right behind her are two individuals in R&D labcoats--one GREEN, one BLUE--and then, finally, the familiar face of Marco-G-BUD-4.  He seems a little surprised to see you.

And it's not exactly subtle that you have a film crew behind you.


PERVERSITY POINTS UPDATED BELOW:

Dexter is tempted to call out to Marco, but all the high clearance citizens make him nervous and he just stands quietly instead.

Ginger says, a sarcastic twist in her words, "Good to see you again, Marco!  My best friend was killed in a vat.  I think her ghost is right behind you."  She points, shrieks, and puts a horrified hand to her mouth.

Marco sees Ginger.  "Ah, yes...good to, uh, see you again too."  He looks somewhat surprised and uncomfortable to see you again.

The BLUE Citizen says, a little confused, "What's going on?"  She says, "My name is Andrea-B-OCK-5."  She doesn't appear pleased, but you don't think it's because of you.

The guy who appears to be the R&D director also notices you.  He appears to be a little nervous about the displeasure of Andrea-B.  He is a GREEN Citizen and introduces himself as Bill-G.  "Hey," he says, "are you guys buddies with Marco-G?"

Next to him is another BLUE Citizen who appears to be with Bill-G.  She holds a briefcase with a label on it that says "Senior Manager Nancy-B-AZZ-r from the R&D service firm Bigger Guns.  You gather that she and Bill are trying to sell something to Andrea, Marco's boss.

OOC: I'm a little concerned that the posting rate has dropped, and we may have lost some players.  I don't want this to die out...at least not until your clones are used up!  Any suggestions?

CL just talks to himself in a gruff voice about Saving Citizen Ry-A-NNN from cerain doom.

Ginger looks at her companions for a moment and says to Bill, "Uh, yes, we are Marco's friends."  She smiles and sighs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:33, Wed 28 May 2008.

"Yeah, we saved him from an errant scrubot."  Dexter leaves out the part about betrayal, for now.

Marco turns to explain who you are in a halting voice that indicates he is trying to think up something good.

Meanwhile, Bill steps in close to you and says in a conspiratorial voice, "So can you help shape his opinions?  We're trying to sell him some equipment.  If we succeed, there's a few thousand creds in for you.  What do you say?"

Since no one else is saying anything, Ginger says, "Sure, for a few thousand credits, we can help you."

Dexter cocks an eyebrow, but keeps his thoughts to himself.  What was it his mother used to say about saying something nice?

Bill says, "Great!"  He whispers to his boss, who nods enthusiastically.  In a few moments, you are led to a table with six items on it.  You have no idea what any of them are.

Andrea-B (Marco's boss) and Marco-G follow you over.  "I'm not real sure about these," Andrea says.

Bill nudges you to try to sell something for him.

Andrea pokes at the devices.  She picks up the first item and moves it around in her hands.

Nancy says, "Fire and Forgetpicks. Box of 50."

Andrea says, "Can I get a demonstration?"

Nancy turns to you.  "Troubleshooters?"  Remember that it is a 400 credit fine to obey the order of a BLUE citizen.

The other items on the table seem to be:  boots of some kind, manacles, a beanie, a pennywhistle with digital readout lights instead of fingerholes, a half meter tall bot, and a cloak.

Bill explains that Nancy and Bill need at least one of them accepted for mass distribution by PLC or a larger service firm will take over their lab and chop it up for its asset value.  There are 2000 credits on the table if you can help them get one of them sold.

The Fire and Forgetpicks appears to be some sort of dental-cleaning tools.

CL doesn't move. Obeying a blue citizen is a serious crime that I can't commit he says to himself.

Ginger says to Andrea, "THe Fire and Forgetpicks would be a great addition to your arsenal.  Imagine being able to interrogate witnesses and not have them remember the interrogation.  What I wouldn't give to have a set of those around!"

She looks to see if her made up explanation helps to sell anything.

Andrea says, "Reminds me too much of dental work."  She shakes her head.

OOC: Feel free to jump in and try to convince Andrea.  I can make a roll against your appropriate skills.  You may have to just make up what the items do since you have little information.

Dexter looks without touching to see if there are any labels or instructions.

Dexter appears curious about the items.

This spurs Andrea to say, "Do you mind if the Troubleshooters give us a demonstration."

"Absolutely," Nancy says with excitement.  She leans over and hands the Fire and Forgetpicks to Dexter.  "Go ahead, Troubleshooter."

The fire and forgetpicks appears to be a self0guided hands-free dental cleaning tool.  It appears you squeeze an end and it flies up using a gravitational repulsion effect, locates the nearest teeth, and begins cleaning them.  Simple enough!

CL stays away from it and in his gruff voice he says, "Last time I cleaned my teeth I almost got blown up by a beta. I'm not brushing until all of them are gone. G-O-N-E gone."

Dexter holds the device up to Rob's face at arms length, then tries to activate it.

Dexter squeezes the end of the tool and it flies up using a gravitational repulsion effect, locating the nearest teeth -- his -- and begins cleaning them.  It is a toothpick-like cleaner...and Dexter's teeth...

...

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
...get cleaner...

---

Dexter shows off the device results.

Andrea says, "I thought that was supposed to go to the cleanest teeth, and the cleanest teeth belonged to that RED citizen."  She points to Rob.  "Maybe you could try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke."

Ginger squeezes it by her own teeth and by Dexter's teeth to get some trials out of the way.  "This will show you what a great product this is!" she says enthusiastically.

"My teeth stay dirty."

Ginger uses it twice.  With the toothpick things being used three times total, they start to have a strange swarming effect.  They...go after Ginger's teeth, attacking with ferocity.  She is being pelted by toothpicks as they self guide and start to clean and then poke and then cut.

Finally, when they stop, Ginger is a bloody mess in the mouth, although her teeth are fabulously sparkling white.  Her gums and tongue and cheek are cut to ribbons.

(She cannot speak coherently for 2 minutes and must bandage herself.  She is wounded to the level of "DOWN".)



Andrea's eyes open wide.  "I think we'll take a pass on that product.  We better have these Troubleshooters try something else."  She looks to you as if to give you the first choice of what you want to try out before she starts ordering you to try certain products.

Dexter pushes Rob forward.  "Your turn, Rob."

OOC: You'll have to pick a product for him unless he chooses one (i.e. pick a product and hand it to him or use it on him).

Dexter points to the beanie for Rob to try on.

Rob takes the beanie and tries it on.  It is like a little yamulke with a propeller on top.  When he pushes the button to start, it shoots off his head, as there was no strap to keep it on.  It is so powerful with those turbine engines that the beanie puts a good sized hole in the roof with its helicopter like blades before turning off and falling to the ground.

"Hmmm," Andrea says.  "Not exactly ready for the market yet.  And we wouldn't want to garrot anybody by adding a strap.  What else have you got?"

Dexter points Peter to the cloak.

Dexter points to where the cloak is supposed to be.

"There's nothing there," Andrea says.  "I don't see a cloak."

Bill-G reaches out, grabs at the corner of the table, and picks up "something."  "It's an intangibility cloak!" he says.  "Not only is it invisible, but you can barely tell it's there by touch!  With another couple weeks of work, we'll be able to apply this effect to anything--equipment, people, you name it."

He "holds" the cloak toward Peter.  "Here.  Feel that?  It's like there's almost, but not quite, nothing there, huh?"

PM

"I like cloaks." He says gruffly and utters out a squeak.

Andrea says, "That cloak seems fine enough for an emperor.  Okay, throw some of these others in, and we have a deal.  But..."  She pauses.

OOC: Remember that you can spend perversity points to adjust your rolls...such as convincing them to buy these things.  But let's move it forward.

Everyone looks eagerly on.  "Yes?" Nancy says, encouraged by Andrea's willingness to buy.

Andrea points to the decoy robot.  "Do you have anything, bot-wise, that's...bigger than this?  More destructive?"

Nancy-B and Bill-G look at each other for a moment.  "Well," Bill-G says hesitantly.  "There is...the Warscrubber."

"Scrubber?" Ginger says.  "As in a scrubbot?"

"Like, it scrubs you clean of life." He says and squeaks.

"I bet Marco knows something about scrubbots," Dexter says flippantly but with piercing meaning.

Andrea is excited about seeing the warscrubber.

As Bill-G walks you to the Workshop, he explains, "The WarScrubber only slightly resembles a scrubot any more.  Bigger Guns has installed seven additional memory units of combat instruction and, in addition to the normal cleaning attachments, it has actual weapon systems.  We have also reinforced the chassis and upgraded the tread."

The workshop is piled high with maintenance gear and projects in various stages of work.  A large robot is in a corner, plugged into a wall to recharge its batteries, with a sheet over it.  It does not appear to be switched on.

In the workshop, Nancy-B tells a mechanic, Tommy-Y, to show you the WarScrubber.  He goes over to the corner, saying, "The Scrubber has been sitting plugged into the wall for the last few days."  He whips off the white sheet.

Clearly, this is no longer a simple scrubot, but a war machine!  Just as they mentioned, it has weapons and a reinforced chassis.

"You want to see it in action?" Tommy-Y asks, his finger hovering over a button.

Dexter moves away and to the door.

Remembering what happened with the previous scrubot, Ginger says, "Could it possibly be affected by scrubot computer viruses?"  She also takes a step back.

Bill-G says, "Viruses?  Well, it probably could be affected by them...but who would write a virus for a scrubot?"

You perk up at that.  Dexter and Ginger are backing toward the entrance where you came in.  There is also a doorway that appears to lead into a storage area to your left, and at the far end of the room, an entrance covered with big radiation warning icons on the doors and a sign that says, "Reactor Room."

Andrea says, "Let's see it in action."

Tommy turns it on.  Immdediately, it turns toward Marco-G and you, the Troubleshooters.

"How ya doin'?" Tommy asks the dark, hulking bot.

It replies in a monotone computer voice, "Nasty.  Dirty.  Filthy."  It turns to...CL and says, "Mr. Bubbles says...take me off your list!"

It does not seem happy, and you hear the sound of its weapons clicking as they arm.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:52, Thu 03 July 2008.

"IT HAS THE VIRUS!"  Dexter screams out just before running out the door, heedless of the others' safety.  Dexter runs as far and fast as he can, hoping to go do his mission de-briefing.  He's seen more than enough of these bots to be able to make a report.

"Don't move, these are motion sensitive!" He whispers loudly. He saw it on an episode of 'Behind Beta Lines'

"Spammers!  Mr. Bubbles says take me off your list!"  It immediately spots Dexter retreating and raises its weapons.

Your film crew also scatters in panic.  The robot does not seem to be interested in them.

You realize that, because your name is on the list being circulated, you are indirectly "Spammers" yourselves, and thus targeted by the robot, whereas the only non-Troubleshooter being targeted is Marco.

And Marco is standing pale and stiff, his mouth hanging open.

The robot fires a first blast at Dexter...but misses.  Part of the wall near Dexter explodes into fragments and powder.

Dexter continues to run for his life.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:46, Wed 09 July 2008.

Ginger points her laser at the warscrubber and fires while looking for cover.

Moving slowly, CL puts his hands over his head, and asks the computer for the best, "Glorious computer, I fought for you against Betas and worse, now in my time of *squeak* need, use your helpfulness to save me, because, the computer is my friend."

The Computer responds to CL, not in any hurry:  "Troubleshooter, why are you in the R&D department?"

Ginger hits the robot, putting a small hole into its bulky frame.

The Warscrubber fires at Dexter, hitting him in the arm and Wounding him.

Over the intercom, you hear the receptionist say:  "Did someone order a couple of dozen scrubots?  Because..."  There is a clunking sound, then some gunfire from the front part of the lab (the area to which Dexter is retreating).  Then there is a horrible, agonized yell.  Moments later, you hear a dozen bots out in the reception area, all talking over each other:  "Mister Bubbles says--Bubbles says take me off---me off your list!"

The Display Hall out front is filling up with enraged scrubots.  You watch as they begin "dismantling" the reality show crew.  It is a bloody mess.

Luckily, there is a halfway sturdy oak door between the reception area and the workshop where the warscrubber is.  That is, if you want to lock yourself in with the warscrubber until the scrubots inevitably break through.

Ginger says, in a panic, "As team leader, I say...RUN!"  She runs toward the reactor room, but not before quickly closing and locking the oak door.

Ginger begins running toward the door.  Since she is team leader, you all follow.

There are large radiation warning icons on the doors in.  The reactor is in good shape and perfectly safe...right?

The exits of this room are to the storage room to the north and back to the workshop room you came in.

For the moment, the warscrubber is not firing because it is in another room.  However, you are certain it will come in here very quickly and renew the fight.  Meanwhile, the army of scrubots can be heard pounding on the door between the display hall and the workshop.

CL decides to make a game out of it and says, "NEW RULES FOR THE GAME, WHOEVER CAN STAY COMPLETELY STILL FOR THE LONGEST GETS A PRIZE!"

Then he keeps staying still.

Ginger says, "That's a good way to get yourself killed."  She runs through the door into the storage room, hoping to lead the warscrubber in circles until a better plan is determined.

Dexter tries to head out the front door as originally planned.  (Didn't follow Ginger.)

Dexter is mobbed by scrubots, about 30 of them.  They take him down at the door and begin...scrubbing him to death.  Dexter has died.

Dexter's clone awakens.  He is groggy and stumbling out when a robot says, "In here.  Back to your mission!  This is programmed to take you to your companions."  Before he can say anything, Dexter is pushed into a tube which slides him around and pushes him with air currents, dumping him into the reactor room just in time to see...

CL has remained still.

The robot begins going after Ginger but first shoots at Vicsis.  Little Vicsis parts are blown all around the room.  (Activate clone when Vicsis returns to us.)

The warscrubber goes into the reactor room as Ginger goes into the supply room.  There are shelves of boxes all over the storage room.  There is an exit to the reactor room, and an exit to the workshop.

From out of nowhere, a small robot jumps from one of the shelves toward Ginger and yells out excitedly, "SUPPLIES!"  It holds a PDA in one hand.  "What can I get you?"

*seeming to be the best solution he stays in the current fetal position*

OOC: assuming I am with Ginger as per GM's previous posts.

Gunther looks desparate and write on his pad.


Then he returns his pen to his mouth sand says to Ginger-R:

"Whpos bic b goof uf oiu oour asq 4 a greaaante wet hem?"

Dexter takes CL's earlier advice and stays still.

As the warscrubber finishes off the film crew, it seems to hone in on those who decided to stand still.  You start to connect that it is not movement that attracts the robot, but probably your beloved PDA's, since that is where the spam comes in, although now that it has identified you as belonging to the PDA's, you're not sure that simply giving up the devices would save you.

Plus, you recall hearing somewhere that losing, parting with, or destroying your PDA's could lead to severe punishment, up to and including summary execution.

Dexter looks for a place to hide.

Dexter sees many small places he could hide in, but a quick glance at the arsenol attached to the warscrubber lets him deduce that no place in the workshop is safe from a missile launch.

Off to the store-room I guess!

A groggy and recently cloned Vicsis is shoved into the tube that will bear her down to the workshop. Vicsis 02 is not entirely happy about this turn of events, but she takes it in stride. There's no way the warscrubber would attack someone as wonderful as she, right? Right? Ignoring the scrubber turned deathbot, she moves towards Marco who is hopefully still alive and standing in one spot, staring at the carnage. "Marco! This hacker guy messaged me. If you go over to the warscrubber and apologize, he'll stop it!" She gushes this information, trying her best to sound so very sincere. Hopefully Marco won't realize how dumb this plan sounds.

Peter is suddenly dazed; he vaguely hears beam me up Scotty! and I think she's still alive - oh, no, that did it, in the background then realizes he fell asleep. With a distinctly unintelligible yell of distress, he dives behind a box to hide from the warscrubber.

Knowing death is eminent CL books it to the storage room and points wildly at Dexter.

While Ginger has a moment, she begins looking through the boxes in the storeroom to see what can be found.  "Traitorous items can lurk anywhere," she explains as she takes a concerned glance back toward the warscrubber door.

"Whatcha pointing at me for!?" Dexter says indignantly.

Though the Scrubbot of death is a terrifying sight to behold, Rob knows that something must be done, not only for good name of the Computer, but also for his team. He is the Happiness officer and this bot is making the team everything BUT happy. Thankfully he has a bit of knowledge in bot programming. He Cracks his knuckles and waits for the bot to come around again...

To CL's question to the Computer, the Computer responds, "Citizen, where is the fissionable material?  Why do you ask me questions about your mission that are not done through your team leader?  Ignoring protocol is treason."

Dexter runs into the storeroom.  There are many boxes in here...and Ginger.

Vicsis begins talking to Marco.  He says, "But I just sell ID's, I don't work with the hacker."  Still, something about Vicsis charms him, and he walks over to the warscrubber.  "I am sorry for the trouble we caused you, Warscrubber and Scrubots."

Peter dives behind a box in the workshop.

CL runs after Dexter, pointing at Dexter.

The warscrubber swipes a missile-empowered hand at Marco, knocking the ID selling scum from his feet and rendering him unconscious.  But the warscrubber does not seem interested in him.  It is your PDA's which attracted it.

Rob braces himself, goes behind the warscrubber, and jumps on, pulling at its access panel.

Dexter looks at Ginger.  "So, can I help?"  Then he looks for cover unless Ginger orders him to do something else.

Ginger says, "Why don't you help me find something useful in these boxes?"

"OK."  Dexter tries to help locate... something useful.

Rob attempts to open the access panel while maintaining his grip on the speeding ScrubBot!

For newcomers, don't worry about rolling dice.  If you want to for fun, be my guest...no guarantee your number will count though.  I typically roll all dice, since only I know what most of the final numbers to reach are...and who has spent perversity points on what.

CL makes sure the others are in his way and quickly searches for something the would help. Like a bomb to shove down his throat.

Gunther takes a couple more notes.


Then gunther Moves on to Help The team leader find something useful in the boxes.

"Team leader. whoust be nfgh UF we askd zer rbth fwd yr?" He asks Ginger-R while he goes from his position  to go through a set of boxes more in the back (and farther away from the warscrubbot).
This message was last edited by the player at 16:57, Sat 09 Aug 2008.

Vicsis carefully records every second of Marco's brave sacrifice! ...which isn't much of a sacrifice, since little bits of him haven't been exploded all over the room. Her thrilling footage has been ruined by his ineptitude at dying. Oh well. She contains to record the Warscrubber's rampage, while drawing her side-arm and idly shooting at it -- and, by extension, Rob.

Ginger, CL, and Dexter begin looking through supplies:  Ginger finds ammo for the slugthrower.  Dexter finds an umbrella.  CL finds a thermos.

Rob is searching for the access panel on the robot. 

The robot thrashes about, shooting at Rob but missing and hitting the ceiling.  A piece of tile from the ceiling falls and hits Marco on the head.

Gunther takes some notes as he runs, finding his way in the storage room.  He opens a box and finds:  a geiger counter.

Gunther drops his PDA, and it scatters to the ground near Ginger.

Vicsis fires...and her laser hits the robot in the chest.  It is not happy to see a black hole in its belly. A missile flies out at Vicsis' face.  Her hair flies up from the wind as it passes by her, only to hit the creator of the Warscrubber who was hiding behind a box.  He explodes.

CL loads his laser and fires at an approaching scrubbot, "No more acting I guess."

Gunther keeps on searching.

Vicsus carefully records Marco's brave sacrifice in stopping the dangerous ceiling tile with his skull! Go Marco! And that missile that goes right past her was perfectly placed for the camera to catch. Go Warscrubber! She briefly wonders what the creator of the Warscrubber had done to attract the deranged robot's attention. "Man, destroyed by his own creation. Poetic. I'll write a romantic, sexy song in his honor." She wipes away a pretend tear. There are people doing things in other areas. Things that might need to be recorded. So she runs over towards the storage room, so she can see what everyone else is doing.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:42, Tue 12 Aug 2008.

Rob holds on to the bot as he opens the panel, the bright, candy-like button before him. Not seeing any other solution at this point, Rob grins triumphantly and slams his palm down on it.

Ginger pockets the slugthrower ammo.  "Perfect, I even have a slugthrower," she says, unconcerned about the robot in the other room.  She continues searching through boxes for something useful until the robot comes in.

"Maybe," she says, holding up a box, "we could pretend to be boxes and just ease out of here without the robot noticing."  She looks for a box that she could put over her head, crouch down, and sneak out with.

Dexter tosses the umbrella to the ground.  Noticing that Gunther dropped his PDA, Dexter calls out, "Gunther!  You dropped your PDA!  Are you hoping that a commie will pick it up?  You need to keep better track of your equipment, man!"  Dexter watches to see Gunther's reaction.

Ah thanks, can you please bring it over here for me? I am busy going through these boxes.

Ginger watches their exchange with mild curiosity.  "I hope you didn't purposefully drop it so that the robot would attack me," she says.  "That would be a highly treasonous thing to do.  And I noticed you haven't been eating any metal lately."  Suspicious, she says, "What's changed?"

"Rampaging robots normally ruin my appetitte but thank you for your concern, valorous leader, now can you please throw me my PDA?"

"That would be the job of the equipment guy," she says, still suspicious.

Gunther makes a note on his Loyalty officer pad.


"Mmmmkay." he says having his pen back on his mouth. and motioning as to catch his PDA, waiting for the equipment guy or whoever to throw it at him.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Thu 14 Aug 2008.

"What are you writing about me?" Ginger demands, trying to see what Gunther has put into his officer pad.

Gunther pauses, then adds another note. Making sure Ginger-R can't see it. (OOC: My guess is we are quite far from one another)


"You know that seeing the Loyalty's Officer's scrapbook is high treason. Fellow Troubleshooters, you may execute her as she is a commie traitor." Gunther draws his laser and fires at Ginger-R

Ginger ducks behind a box.  "I didn't know that was the loyalty officer scrapbook.  I thought it was your PDA.  Certainly I don't want to see your classified scrapbook information.  You may cease fire, as it was a misunderstanding, not an act of treason."

"LIES! you knew my PDA is right next to you, the fact that I asked you to hand me over MY PDA is the reason we started the discussion!" Gunther responds. (OOC: and waiting for the GM to post my first shot result before firing again, unless, I can fire twice in a turn.)

Ginger continues to hide behind boxes.  "You're making that up.  I've never heard that it's treasonous to read what someone is writing.  I don't even know what a loyalty officer notepad is exactly.  You are writing down treasonous statements, and besides which, you are a MUTANT!  You have been eating metal, which is a clear sign of a mutation.  That is treason.  I hereby, as team leader, accuse you of treason.  Computer, did you get my accusation?"  She says this last into the PDA.  "Citizen Gunther-R-BOK-3 is shooting at me for treason without going through the proper accusation process."

(Will wait for roll on accusation with management skill.  Perversity points added= )

She says to the others.  "Fire back at him!  Defend your leader."

He nodded to himself. He stood up from behind the box and took two shots at the warscrubber before immediately dropping back behind the boxes, breathing a bit heavily.

OOC: Anyone care to give a description of the room for the new guy? (i.e, Me)

"I am a -registered- mutant being a registered mutant is not a Treason. And As loyalty officer my accusations go straight to the computer. Reading what the loyalty officer writes during the mission is treason, going against your loyalty officer is treason, as the loyalty officer is the computer's eyes on the team leader. And anyone shooting me will recieve a note of traitor like our traitorous leader, and will have to answer to the computer on debriefling. In fact anyone not firing at Ginger-R will be accused of cooperating with a traitorous act!"

Peter-R-WQR-1:

He nodded to himself. He stood up from behind the box and took two shots at the warscrubber before immediately dropping back behind the boxes, breathing a bit heavily.

OOC: Anyone care to give a description of the room for the new guy? (i.e, Me)

Please look at the synopsis thread.  There is a basic map of the facility.

You are currently in the storage room (via the reactor room), unless you chose not to get out of the workshop.  The warscrubber is in the workshop right now, so you wouldn't be shooting at him unless you stayed there.  So most likely, the warscrubber will move through the reactor room around to the storage room before discovering the troubleshooters.

My understanding was the Rob was the only one left in there, along with Vicsis.  Rob is on the Warscrubber's back pushing a red button.  Vicsis is shooting the warscrubber.
If anyone wants to add perversity points to Ginger or Gunther's rolls, now is the time to do it...before I resolve the treason charges.

Here is the basic description of the treason charges to review again:  link to a message in "Paranoia: They Really Are All Out to Get You"

In reply to Peter-R-WQR-1 (msg #93):

OOC: There is a room, there are boxes and there is a traitorous team leader in the middle of the room trying to hide behind the boxes :-P

Ginger says, "I know you're registered," *although she had forgotten* "but you've been eating robot parts!  Destroying robots is a treasonous act and proof that you are...A FRANKENSTEIN DESTROYER.  You must be a member of that treasonous group.  Computer?  COMPUTER?"

Still dodging Gunther's shots, she runs back into the workshop.  She always believed that YELLOW was the color of courage anyway.

"I never ate any computer parts. You must be refering to one of my Dead clone brothers."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:50, Thu 14 Aug 2008.

Dexter states calmly, "FYI Loyalty Bot, it is every Troubleshooter's duty to maintain and upkeep his own equipment.  However, I will retrieve your PDA for you and take this opportunity to perform an RSI, but FYI, in the future you need to take better care of your equipment or I'll have to report you."  Dexter moves carefully over to the offending PDA, picks it up, moves to the safest place available, and begins to inspect the PDA.  When done with the inspection, Dexter returns the PDA to Gunther.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Fri 15 Aug 2008.

In reply to Dexter-R-FCP-1 (msg #99):

"Thanks!"

(Minor edit made to indicate the PDA will be returned when the inspection is complete.)

CL fires at an approaching scrubot.  It had been sticking its hand through the window of the entry doors.  He hits something in that mass of metal.  However, the scrubots are just piling up outside the door, unable to open it because it is locked (i.e., they primarily just block your way out).  Your primary enemy is the giant warscrubber before you.

Those in the storage room have been looking through boxes:

Ginger found a RED laser barrel.

Gunther finds IR Goggles.

Dexter throws the umbrella on the ground, and some stinky gas emanates from the end of it.  He keeps looking and finds a thermos full of some kind of liquid.  It's either acid or the latest brand of Circuit Cola.

Vicsis enters the storage room and looks in the nearest box.  She finds a fully automatic hammer.

Ginger and Gunther get into a heated debate about who is a traitor.  With perversity points flying, and much of them being canceled out by others, Ginger's bid to find Gunther a traitor fails.  Gunther's bid is mildly successful.  His shot hits Ginger's leg, and she stumbles out into the workshop where the warscrubber is.

The Computer says, "Make sure all paperwork on traitors is straight, along with statements from all the witnesses there.  If this was just a gunfire mishap, please inform."

Meanwhile in the workshop area with the warscrubber, Peter fires two shots at the robot.  One of them hits the robot in the head and does some minor damage.  The other hits...Rob, wounding him in the shoulder as he is on the back of the robot.

Rob pushes the red button on the warscrubber just as Ginger stumbles in.  The button appears to be the toggle switch for the warscrubber's flamethrower because one of its hands begins to spurt flame that reaches out about 10 feet.

The boxes behind which Peter was hiding catch fire.

The Warscrubber begins to turn about.  It reaches a hand back and punches Rob hard in the face.  Rob is...snafued...and he is knocked from the warscrubber's back.  From all appearances, the warscrubber is about to turn around, which means not only will its gunfire be in range of Rob and Ginger, but its flamethrower will too.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Fri 22 Aug 2008.

"Get the traitor! I'll handle the paperwork." He says to the rest of the team still in the storage room, (Vicsis and Dexter I believe) as he starts to scribble on his loyalty officer notepad.

Rob oofs as the WarScrubber knocks him down. He is filled with utter terror as the thing turns around, putting him in the line of fire. He drops to the ground, pulling something from his belt and reaching under the bot momentarily. He then rolls out of the way, going for the nearest safe place that is far away.

Dexter has the thermos in one hand and Gunther's PDA in the other, still assessing the PDA.

OOC: For those of you who have played Paranoia before, the new XP Rules are a little different regarding what to do to a traitor.  In the old version, it was common to accuse someone of being a traitor and then shooting him.  That was fun and all, but the new rules get rid of such quick summary executions.

As such, be careful about what level of "correction" you give to those you believe do something traitorous.  If the punishment does not fit the crime, then the Computer will question your judgment and send your clone to be carefully inspected.  They say such clones never return the same.

Here's a reprinting of the steps for treason.  Please note the correction step.  If you have questions about the severity level, you may ask the Computer for a suggested remedy.  (Which is not say I don't like to see you guys shooting it out, but just that the rules are a little different in that respect now.)  The upshot to this is that it makes shooting traitors something on the defensive side...so you "accidentally" shoot someone, find a reason to say it was because they were a traitor if you get caught.  (That type of thing.)

When I have time, I'll print out the types of correction (if I haven't already).



REPRINT:

UNIVERSAL HOSTILITY FORMULA (TREASON)
Here are the steps of accusing someone of treason:

1- ACCUSE: Roll against your management skill (no specialization).  Perversity points are allowed.

2- CREDIBLE OR NOT?  If the roll succeeds, the Computer of high-clearance citizen regards the charges as initially credible, and the target may suffer "correction."
Backfire:  If the roll missed by 10 or more, or if you roll 20, it backfires.  The Computer questions the accuser's judgment and motives, analyzes your record of loyalty, demeanor and hygiene, and assesses penalties as appropriate.  (Continue to step 3, but the accuser is the target now.)

3- MULTIPLE TARGETS?  Can the offenses plausibly indict more than one target?  If so, I will select multiple targets based on the type of offense and the attack roll's margin.  This goes under Area effect and Spray descriptions

4- DEFAULT CORRECTION:  A successful accusation prompts the correction based on severity level and formula applied by the Computer.  Severity may be based on the accusation roll margin.  Termination is the most serious correction.

5- DEFENSE:  The default correction is reduced by a number of steps equal to the target's Access attribute--your "treason armor."

6- BOOST:  If the accusation succeeded by greater than the offense's Boost increment, divide the margin by the Boost.  The result will be increased or decreased accordingly.

7- ACTUAL CORRECTION:  The end result will be the actual correction the target receives.  All corrections are carried out on the spot.  If reduced below 1 step, the accusation has no effect--except maybe to annoy the target.

Dexter hands the PDA back to Gunther with a politely scolding look then a smile.  "Seems to be in order.  Please take better care of your equipment in the future!  You know the consequences, I assume."  Dexter keeps the thermos in hand and pulls out his own PDA.

OOC: Oh sorry I tought it was like in Second edition:
 See the traitor,
 shoot him. And you know punishments were: Kill the traitor, kill the traitor or make the traitor look like he suffered an accident.

"Thanks Citizen Dexter-R, your loyalty will be noted by the computer, and will be recorded in my book. Now go after that traitor before she endangers the mission with her communist ways."

Guther checks out his own pda.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Mon 18 Aug 2008.

Yeah, that's how we played it in the 80's too.  I think this way is more sneaky though, and thus adds its own element of skill and fun.

CL is squeaking while he moves away from the door and asks Gunther, "Where did the 'traitor' go?"

Vicsis has observed all of this through the unblinking eye of the multicorder. "Gunther appears to be trying to fill our heroic team leader with laser blasts in the middle of a tactical combat situation. That's probably not the only thing he'd like to fill her with. Perhaps his hand is suffering from a malfunction." Hearing sounds from back in the other room, she turns around and takes note of the Warscrubber's new flamethrower. "Oh, now it has a flamethrower. It's lit some boxes on fire. It's probably going to burn someone alive. Rob's probably responsible for that," she notes innocently. He was hanging on the back of the insane bot, after all. "I bet he likes it hot."

She keeps the multicorder pointed vaguely towards the lethally upgraded scrubber, jiggling her hand so the recording will come out all 'actiony' and full of movement. She takes a moment to examine her automatic hammer, trying to divine its purpose. She tries to pass it off to Dexter, since he's the equipment guy and probably knows everything there is to know about automatic hammers. Then she turns to CLR, getting an upclose zoom of him. "Who do you think the traitor is, and why?"

"She is in the other room! The Clone Ginger-R is a commie as she tried to access classified computer info. Not only that but she accused an innocent loyalty officer of treason. Go after her and make sure she is arested and is able to respond for her crimes against the computer! At any rate don't let her escape!" Gunther-R says as he scribles a bit more into his notepad.

"Gunther keeps yelling traitor. Gunther, do you remeber the story of the trouble-shooter who called communist? Its a fun story with a good moral. The RED Clearence trouble-shooter didn't like another trouble-shooter and called him a commie. The computer checked and he wasn't. The next day, he did it again to the same result, and the computer said he commited treason and he was punished." CL says in sing-song form, "Don't be the shooter how called commie."

Dexter is engrossed in his PDA at the moment and ignores the auto-hammer and the human attached to it.

Vicsis gently tosses the hammer aside.

Gunther makes more notes.


Mmmokay." he says after scribing.

Ginger doesn't hear what the others are talking about in the storage room, but she clearly sees Rob afix something to the robot.  Her eyes go wide.  "Don't tell me that's a tactical nuke!"  She runs through the door into the reactor room since Gunther's still in the storage room trying to shoot her down.  "Follow me!" she says to the others still in the room with the war scrubber.

Rob peeks up from his cover at Ginger, eyes perplexed, "Tactical Nuke? What is that? It sounds cool, be definately out of my clearance level... how have you heard of such a thing?"

OKAY, SO HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE CHAOS (I'M CONSOLIDATING YOUR POSTS AND REPOSTING THEM TO SHOW THE ORDER OF THE STORY:

Rob "oofs" as the WarScrubber knocks him down. He is filled with utter terror as the thing turns around, putting him in the line of fire. He drops to the ground, pulling something from his belt and reaching under the bot momentarily. He then rolls out of the way, going for the nearest safe place that is far away.

Something is attached to the bottom of the warscrubber...and it appears to be blinking more and more rapidly each second!

beep...beep...beep...

Ginger doesn't hear what the others are talking about in the storage room, but she clearly sees Rob afix something to the robot.  Her eyes go wide.  "Don't tell me that's a tactical nuke!"

Rob peeks up from his cover at Ginger, eyes perplexed, "Tactical Nuke? What is that? It sounds cool, be definately out of my clearance level... how have you heard of such a thing?"

Ginger runs through the door into the reactor room since Gunther's still in the storage room trying to shoot her down.  "Follow me!" she says to the others still in the room with the war scrubber.

Ginger makes it safely to the reactor room.

The warscrubber seems to ignore the grenade on itself.  In an eerily robotic and booming voice, it says, "I MUST CLEAN YOU...AND ALL PERPETUATORS OF SPAM!"

beep...beep...beep...

The warscrubber fires at Peter...it is a missile that...hits him square on the arm...and takes it off just above the elbow, cauterizing it.  Peter now only has one arm!  (Wounded level:  MAIMED.)  Luckily, it is not the arm he shoots with.  But his PDA is blown to smithereens upon impact, his hair is scorched and frazzled, some holes are burnt in his uniform...and, oh yeah, did I mention the arm?

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...
OOC: In case you haven't noticed, 2 things to point out here:  (1) Those who do not post frequently lose out on two things -- (a) the ability to use perversity points to affect rolls, which comes in very handy in battles like this, and (b) they tend to become the targets of the enemies;  (2) where you see the "..." often means a die roll is happening to determine the outcome.

The warscrubber is also swinging around to get its flamethrower in range.
...Ginger has made it a safe distance away.
...Rob is hit with flames as he flees to hide.  (He is WOUNDED.)  The back of his uniform is on fire, and the hair on the back of his head has burnt off.  It is quite a disgusting smell!

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE STORAGE ROOM NEXT DOOR:

Gunther says:  "Get the traitor! I'll handle the paperwork." He says this to the rest of the team still in the storage room as he starts to scribble on his loyalty officer notepad.

Dexter has the thermos in one hand and Gunther's PDA in the other, still assessing the PDA.  Then Dexter hands the PDA back to Gunther with a politely scolding look then a smile.  "Seems to be in order.  Please take better care of your equipment in the future!  You know the consequences, I assume."  Dexter keeps the thermos in hand and pulls out his own PDA.

Gunther says:  "Thanks Citizen Dexter-R, your loyalty will be noted by the computer, and will be recorded in my book. Now go after that traitor before she endangers the mission with her communist ways."  Guther checks out his own PDC.

Vicsis has observed all of this through the unblinking eye of the multicorder. "Gunther appears to be trying to fill our heroic team leader with laser blasts in the middle of a tactical combat situation. That's probably not the only thing he'd like to fill her with. Perhaps his hand is suffering from a malfunction." Hearing sounds from back in the other room, she turns around and takes note of the Warscrubber's new flamethrower. "Oh, now it has a flamethrower. It's lit some boxes on fire. It's probably going to burn someone alive. Rob's probably responsible for that," she notes innocently. He was hanging on the back of the insane bot, after all. "I bet he likes it hot."

CL is squeaking while he moves away from the door and asks Gunther, "Where did the 'traitor' go?"

Gunther-R says as he scribles a bit more into his notepad, "She is in the other room! The Clone Ginger-R is a Commie as she tried to access classified computer info. Not only that but she accused an innocent loyalty officer of treason. Go after her and make sure she is arested and is able to respond for her crimes against the computer! At any rate, don't let her escape!"

CL says:  "Gunther keeps yelling traitor. Gunther, do you remeber the story of the trouble-shooter who called Communist? Its a fun story with a good moral. The RED Clearence trouble-shooter didn't like another trouble-shooter and called him a Commie. The computer checked and he wasn't. The next day, he did it again to the same result, and the computer said he commited treason and he was punished." CL says in sing-song form, "Don't be the shooter who called commie."

Gunther makes more notes.  "Mmmokay." he says after scribing.

Vicsis keeps the multicorder pointed vaguely towards the lethally upgraded scrubber, jiggling her hand so the recording will come out all 'actiony' and full of movement.  Since Vicsis is in the storage room and the robot is in the workshop, she has to open the door between the rooms and stand there to do this.

She takes a moment to examine her automatic hammer, trying to divine its purpose. She tries to pass it off to Dexter, since he's the equipment guy and probably knows everything there is to know about automatic hammers.

Dexter is engrossed in his PDC at the moment and ignores the auto-hammer and the human attached to it.

Vicsis gently tosses the hammer aside.

Then she turns to CL, getting an upclose zoom of him. "Who do you think the traitor is, and why?"  She lets the door between storage room and workshop swing closed, which probably saves you all since the robot was just turning in the direction of the door with its flamethrower turned to "Super Spout" mode.  You can no longer see what's going on in the other room.

OOC: We have been calling it a PDA, but in looking at the rules, I realized it is called a PDC:

You each have the Series 1300 Personal Digital Companion (PDC).    The 1300 Series uses voice profiling technology, so it only responds to the sound of its designated user's voice. (It is much better than the 1200 series, which required thumbprints to unlock...there were just too many incidents of Troubleshooters missing thumbs with that series.)

You can talk to your PDC:
Example:
Troubleshooter (TS): PDC, what is my schedule?
PDC: Loading...9:00 to 9:45, interrogation by Internal Security...9:45 to 10:00 mandatory Bouncy Bubble Drink Break...10:00 your trial begins and is broadcast live on "What is Treason?"...
TS: Wait!  That's not my schedule!

The PDC has:
A calendar with your schedule on it.

An address book.  (You can add citizens to your book by name, like what Marco did when he took your info.)

Camera: It takes countless high resolution pictures.  They are stored for only a millisecond before automatically being sent to Internal Security where they are scanned for evidence of treason.

Phone: It has a mobile phone and answering system for you.

Messages:  It receives and sends messages (like a blackberry).

Self destruct mechanism:  This is a handy feature.  You can set it to self destruct and use it as a grenade.  This popular feature has increased in use 68% this quarter alone!

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:17, Fri 22 Aug 2008.

As she runs from the room into the "safety" of the Reactor Room, Ginger calls back to Rob, "I had to learn what tactical nukes are to know what's restricted in case anyone on the team is a traitor.  A team leader's got to know these things."  She plugs her nose to avoid smelling Rob's burnt hair.

OOC: Is voice the only way to interact with the PDC or can we manipulate it like a real life PDA as well?

Dexter keeps fiddling with his PDC.

OOC: Although the rules seem to indicate it's voice only, it doesn't seem to make sense given the spam and messages you can send and get, so my ruling is you can manipulate it like a real life PDA as well, although to make it work you'd need to turn it on using voice activation.

<blue>And for the newcomers, I just wanted to briefly summarize what you have uncovered:

What you have determined so far is that someone named Ally G8R has sent out a virus called "Mr. Bubbles" to the scrubot community to have them take out the source of the spam.  He also offered you credits to take out Marco-G, who is currently bumped on the head in the middle of the workshop.  The source of the virus is from someone with the code name Hottbott.  You found that this person was named Mark-R, who was killed by a scrubot in his office.  (Your group then scoured his office for clues before the scrubot also attacked you right after getting a spam.)  In other words, you know the source of the spam that triggers the robots, and he is already taken care of, but you don't know where the guy is who calls himself AllyG8R and has programmed the scrubots to attack those with the spam.

Dexter looks up from his PDC.  "Hey!  Where's Marco?  I bet he's the one who got us in this mess!"

Rob shrieks as he begins to burn, rolling on the ground to put out the flames. He rolls into the Reactor room with Ginger. When he is satisfied that his flames are out he finds a nice spot behind some storage crates. As the action passes outside, he takes the time to look through some things as well.

Rob gets the flames out.  He also notices as he finds a place to hide in the reactor room, that there is some sort of duct or small passage back there that he could probably fit in.

BEEP!...BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!
The thing that Rob put on the robot is flashing even faster now.  Also, the hoard of scrubots have just about pushed their way through the door to the west and are moments away from breaking through the door.

Meanwhile, the warscrubber is following Ginger and Rob into the Reactor Room!  It's flamethrower is still going strong.

Finding the small space behind his cover is a pleasant surprise. He removes his handy, red flashlight from his utility belt and clicks it on. He points the beam into the passage to light his way as he inspects further inside.

Vicsis can hear the Warscrubber on the move. Shifting over towards the door leading into the reactor, she tries to push it open a little so she can have a look. Hmmm. Flame Thrower + Reactor = ? Hmmmmmm. ? = Bad Things. While careful to keep the Warscrubber in frame, she draws her sidearm and opens fire on its flame thrower attachment, hoping to disable it before Rob gets killed by his own trickery. "Fearless Leader! Burning Commie! Quick, this way!"

"Commie!" Is all CL hears and readies is laser for any vile commies.

Here's the map again for reference purposes:

[CONFERENCE ROOM]    [NANCY-B'S OFFICE]          [STORAGE]
   |                       |                      /      \
[reception] ----------[DISPLAY HALL]-------[WORKSHOP]----[REACTOR]
[BILL G'S OFFICE]
   \/

The scrubots are breaking through from the display hall.  The warscrubber is moving from the workshop to the reactor room.  Ginger and Rob are in the Reactor Room.  Vicsis is at the door between the storage room and reactor room.  Marco is in the workshop, and everyone else is in the storage room. (If I made an error, please correct me.)

CL goes into the Reactor Room.

Dexter heads back to the workshop to find Marco.

Ginger pushes through the boxes when she sees the opening illuminated by Rob's flashlight.  "There's no time to inspect.  Go!  Go!"  The team leader goes through the passageway Rob found, waving everyone to follow her.

CL follows his fearless leader. Being safe under her command makes him happy. And not being happy, is treason.

Vicsis abandons her post at the door and scurries after Ginger. She tries to keep low, to avoid getting hit with a rocket.

BEEP!>>>BEEP>>BEEP!>>BEEP!
The beeping on the grenade on the underbelly of the robot tells you have between 5 and 10 seconds before it explodes.

Dexter runs back into the workshop to find Marco.  The spamming, ID selling ingrate who you once helped escape from a marauding scrubot is still slunched over after the ceiling tile hit his head.  He is groggy, unaware of his surroundings, and rubbing the goose egg on his cranium.

Rob finds nothing but a long passage when he sweeps his flashlight into the vent.  Then he is pushed to the side as Ginger and CL make their way past him and into the constricted passage behind the reactors.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!

The hoard of scrubots finally makes its way into the hall leading to the workshop, knocking the double doors from their hinges.  They are mad and furious and...SWINGING MOPS!
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:40, Tue 26 Aug 2008.

Dexter runs to grab Marco and follow the leader (Ginger) into the tunnels.

Gunther bids farewell to the robot in the storage room, and runs for it as well.

Vicsis follows after Ginger even faster than before.

The party begins scrambling into the tunnel.  Dexter grabs the confused Marco and drags him into the reactor room.

beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep

The device stops beeping.  Dexter is not yet to the tunnel...but something happens.  There is no explosion.

OOC: These are the types of things where it is good to spend perversity points...such that it will blow up while Dexter is there, or for Dexter to use so that it doesn't blow up while he's there.

You are all inside the narrow tunnel.  You get not too far into the tunnel, with the warscrubber shooting the boxes and firing a missile about a meter from the reactor.

Marco is being prodded forward by Dexter.

And then comes the explosion:

BOOM!

Okay, it wasn't what you were hoping for, but it still echoes fairly loudly, and a piece of warscrubber part rolls down the narrow passage.  Scrubots appear to have also been blown apart.

BOOM-KAPOW!

A much larger exposion rocks the foundation of the building, knocking you from your positions.

The PDC's state in unison, "Unauthorized levels of radiation detected.  Please desist from using radioactive products as they may be hazardous to your health."

The entry behind you collapses, effectively sealing you in.

You are in a dark tunnel crawling space, moving forward slowly.  The reactors have blown, and the echoes of alarms reach your ears.  They are loud enough so that it would be difficult to talk to be heard.  You'd have to practically yell.

You cannot see anything.

The order of your march is:

Ginger
CL
Rob
Gunther
Vicsis
Peter
Marco (NPC)
Dexter

OOC:  For those who didn't catch the implications, this is a pitch dark place where your movements and sounds are unlikely to be heard or seen by others in the party, although you are restricted in your actions by your marching order (e.g., trying to shoot past one person to hit another person not directly in front or behind you may result in hitting the wrong person/people).
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:34, Wed 27 Aug 2008.

Gunther starts scribbling in the dark.

"That was quite a save Dexter-R-FCP-1, your loyalty and bravery have been registered in my book."


He then pulls out the geiger counter he picked up earlier and tries to turn it on.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Wed 27 Aug 2008.

"THANK YOU GUNTHER!"  Dexter shouts as loud as he can to be heard over all the noise.  "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Surprisingly, no shots are fired as you crawl through the ventilation duct.  The geiger counter is first practically off the scale, but it gradually goes down as you crawl away.  Eventually, you crawl past open ducts and grates, which apparently seem to drain away the radiation into other parts of the building because the radiation is practically nil when you exit the little escape shaft.  The alarms and buzzing is long gone, long forgotten.

(to be continued in a new scene...)