You have all your coffee and tea supplies ready as you push through security and enter the main area.



You enter the anteroom entrance to the Happy Homecoming center.  This is the entrance the...condemned...never get to see, let alone exit through.

The anteroom is a small, spartan room with unknowable numbers of concealed security cameras.  Tension Level 14  Like a dentist's office, except instead of magazines there are instructional pamphlets with titles like "MemoMax and your next clone" and "The importance of loyalty."  Some pamphlets market services like secure property storage, MemoMax backup integrity testing, Loyalty Encouragement Counseling and even automatic renewal of your previous clone's Toilet Permit.  The legality and utility of these services are perhaps questionable in some sectors.

Her to greet you is  GREEN citizen who introduces herself as the center's assistant director, Jessica-G-RFA-6.  She holds a stack of papers and wears a sour look on her face.  "I am aware of your mission," she says, but then proceeds to require you to reiterate the details and show identification anyway.  "You can't be too careful about the rules," she says, but not in the most friendly manner.

You tell her your mission, show your identification, and then she orders you to transport your concession materials to the center of the waiting room floor for distribution to the condemned, where GREEN guards will clear a space for you to serve beverages.

"Any questions?" she asks as she stands at the door that will lead you to the termination center.

You note that she hasn't said anything about your service service duty (deodorizing the bathroom and repairing the Headsweeper).

OOC: You are not sure which, if any, traitorous organizations she might belong to.  Something about her dour look tells you she has something hidden.  No one is naturally that unhappy.  Good thing your group has a Happiness Officer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:09, Thu 12 Mar 2009.

"Ma'am, we have not been briefed on the particular security rules that might apply in the detention center.  Are there any regulations we should be made aware of before we begin?"

"No time for that," she says.  "You're already 3 and a half minutes late.  I do hope you know what you're supposed to do with all that...equipment."  She makes a grand gesture to indicate all the coffee and tea supplies.

"Yes Ma'am, our Equipment Guy is one of the best.  He'll have everything set up in no time!"

She leads you from the anteroom, down an elevator, and into the lookout area of the actual termination center:



(You are on the area just entering from the south elevator.)

The lookout area is a large, elevated platform overlooking a spacious floor milling with prisoners.  The lookout platform is separated from the floor below by bulletproof, laser-refractive plastic (armor value 4).  Apertures int he shielding let guards entering from the elevator target their weapons at the prisoners on the floor. A bolted trapdoor in the platform opens onto a narrow gangway to the main floor.  Once on the ground, guards must pass from the trapdoor through a high-security vault-style door (armor value 6) to enter the main floor.

The main floor is divided in half.  The half near the entrance, the waiting room, is completely open, like a ball court.  The far half comprises the homecoming chambers and termination room.

Jessica looks at you sternly.  She is short and thin; narrow, severe face; greying hair pulled back in a tight bun.  Her green uniform is impeccable, her speech brusque, and you sense the implied rudeness.  "You will be serving them in the waiting room," she says, pointing to the trapdoor.  "You can set up there."  She orders three GREEN guards to clear a spot in the center of the waiting room for you.

She turns to the team leader, but obviously will accept a response from anyone who knows.  "So tell me exactly the parameters of your mission.  What do you have to do exactly?  I have to report to the director, George."  She nods to an office in the southeast corner, and is obviously not pleased at having to report, much like a subordinate who thinks she's smarter than her boss.

"Well ma'am, as a competent, qualified, and loyal GREEN citizen  I'm sure you understand it much better than we do and can explain it much better than we could.  We're here to implement experimental happiness regulation PEC-V-9A-65992B, with all that that implies. We have also been assigned to perform a repair service for the IntSec firm 'Better Endings'."

Lynn says, "Zha, vee vill have challenge making sure all the condemned are happy, no?"  As the party descends to set up in the center of the room, she says, "Maybe vee should have plan.  Anybody make coffee or tea before?"

Jessica says, "So you have some sort of service service?"  She looks over her list, frowning.  "I only have listed the service for happiness regulation PEC-V-9A-65992B, not the repair service."  She yells out toward the southeast area, "George!  These Troubleshooters apparently have something not on my list."

Out of the are marked George-B's office shuffles a man of medium height, with a bland, round face and remote brown eyes that would not stand out in a crowd.  He says, "Yes, well, that's why I'm the director."

Jessica "hmmph"s and rolls her eyes.  "Yes, and I can guess what their service service is just by looking at their supplies, but you have to give authorization."

"That's right."  George says to you, "Yes, you have a service service.  Recently, a prisoner tried to escape the termination center through the bathrooms, but a combot guard slagged him...and the bathrooms as well.  An unpleasant odor has arisen from the sewage backup.  One prisoner has even died of gas inhalation, and the fumes from the leakage are corroding the metal Headsweeper gear tracks above the former restrooms.  So the service firm Better Endings, which is responsible for upkeep and repair of termination center facilities in VWV Sector, normally does repairs.  However, The Computer considers Better Endings personnel inadequately trained to handle the repairs.  And since you're here anyway, the Computer assumes you won't mind performing these minor repairs.  You don't mind, do you?"

He doesn't wait for an answer.  You are only RED clearance, after all, and not authorized to doubt his judgment.

He takes a deep breath and continues, pointing to your equipment, "The air fresheners are intended to remedy the termination center's odor problem.  With the other equipment, you are to oil the Headsweeper gear tracks, replace six ball bearings on the rotator joints holding the blades in place and sharpen the blades with a file."

He pauses at the box of rubber handles.  "Oh, these go to Jessica."

She takes the rubber handles without comment, obviously trying to avoid showing her disdain for her boss.

George looks at his watch and says, "You better get set up quickly."  Trying to help but actually making you quite nervous, he says, "I timed the last Troubleshooter group with this duty.  It takes about 30 seconds to serve each individual prisoner, especially because the regulation requires you to serve in a gracious and courteous manner.  If you fail to be gracious and courteous, the combots will graciously and courteously threaten to blow you away."

He points at your carts, still trying to be helpful but only instilling panic.  "The logistics of sharing cart supplies means that only three of you can use one cart.  If you work together smoothly -- with no distractions -- three of you can serve 5 to 6 prisoners per minute.  That means you can achieve 100% service of all 222 prisoners in 35 to 40 minutes.  So you see, it's totally achievable.  What could go wrong?"

Jessica steps in front of him, pointing to the center of the termination center floor below.  "Any questions?" she asks with a scowl.

Just one, ma'am.  Your boss has graciously instructed us on how much time the beverage service should take, but how much time is allotted for our service service?

"This facility seems up to cleanliness regulations." CL looks about, "Seth, we should make sure not to spill any of the supplies."

She answers Seth, "I know nothing about your service service."

George says around Jessica's blocking body, "It just needs to be done before you leave. And yes, if you spill supplies, you may not only be wasting precious Computer commodities, but you may find yourselves unable to complete your mission."

OOC: What I'm going to do is give you 5 minute intervals.  Every time 5 minutes passes, I'll let you know in a move.  This will help us keep track of time.

I am putting you down as serving 6 prisoners per minute.

LOGISTICS: Only 3 can use the cart, so one prisoner every 30 seconds is 6 per minute.

This means that 3 people must remain with the cart at all times, while 3 can help with the service service or take care of anything else.  You will probably want to rotate every 5, 10 or 15 minutes, or whatever your team leader believes is most advantageous to your mission.  You will probably need to maintain flexibility for whatever...problems...may come your way.



11:40 a.m.
Prisoners Served: 0
Prisoners Not Served: 222
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6

You go down into the waiting room , where you set up your refreshment cart and get ready to serve beverages.

Gunther offers to stay with the cart and man it the whole time.


WAITING ROOM
Imagine an airport passenger lounge for an Aeroflot flight delayed three days, or a bus station in the outer vestibule of Dante's Inferno.  Now you know what the Happy Homecoming waiting room is like.

The ceiling of the waiting room is 35 meters up and partly lost in shadow, giving the impression a lot more security equipment could swing down from the rafters.  Looking up, you see in the shadows the fist-sized barrels of heavy armaments.  Transparent bulletproof plastic covers flourescent lights built into the dented metal walls.  The bright lights cast a greenish pallor over everything.  Multiply-redundant, shielded camera banks halfway up the wall track every movement.

Happy elevator music plays quietly over the loudspeakers.  You heard the HPD&MC polls taken several months ago indicated music would calm prisoners distressed by the shrieking from the termination booths.

An ugly smell pervades the air.  As George told you, a prisoner tried to escape via the restrooms, located in one corner of the waiting room floor.  But a combot gunned him down, unfortunately destroying the facilities in the process.  (The bots didn't notice the smell.)  The restrooms are now a chunky slag.

Gea-like mechanisms ("headsweepers") attached to articulated metal arms sweep the room just below the ceiling.  These jointed metal arms are tipped with spinning rotary blades (W3K impact, armor-piercing) that circle the perimeter of the room on a gear track.  The four headsweepers cast weird, spinning shadows on the floor below, but are completely silent.  They're IntSec's response to a previous jailbreak, George tells you, during which Commie traitors used Tanglers (and Adhesive Skin) to drop from the ceiling and liberate prisoners.

You must maintain and repair these Headsweepers as part of your service service for IntSec.

SERVICE SERVICE:  Deodorize the bathroom and repair the Headsweeper.

"That smell is very inappropriate and must be dealt with immediately." CL breaks out his Hygiene Kit, "I will have to speak with George about this. Team Leader, I must employ you to give me permission to deodorize this smell. It is top priority to make the air quality up to the Computer's standards."

Lynn says, "I think I vill have to take first try at serving the coffee and tea.  I must make sure every-vun is happy and served properly, no?"

She begins making up the tea and telling people to line up and prepare to be cordially served a beverage before their deaths, and that they should make sure to smile or she will have to tell some jokes about the Commie and the termination booth.

OOC:
Okay, so we have Lynn and Gunther starting out on the service tray.  You need one more.

Also, before things get...complicated...remember to do the following:
1) Review your character sheet:  strengths, weaknesses, mutations, secret societies

2) Review your encounter with your secret society contact.  Were you supposed to do something here?  Wait for something?

3) Plan how you will accomplish the service service among those who are not serving from the trays.

4) Remember that anything you do to help your secret society will improve your status among them

5) Remember that this is PARANOIA!  Keep on your toes.  You might need to check around the termination center for possible...escape routes.

I'll go

So we have Lynn, Joseph and Gunther starting out on the cart.

Let me know what the others are doing.

The team leader may want to make some assignments, keeping in mind the combat robots all around the room may keep him in check if his orders go too far.

The robots will also be keeping people in check who are not gracious enough when serving the prisoners/fishbait.

The stink of the busted restroom is in the northeast corner (see map).

There is also a janitor wandering around cleaning, but he hasn't approached you yet and the prisoners are not talking to or approaching him.

OOC: FYI, I'm going back out of town today for a few days.  Will post if I can.  In the meantime, try to get everyone's plan of action straight.  Otherwise, we'll just jump into things.

If you have any final questions (OOC or IC), now's the time to let me know.

Joseph, Lynn and Gunther begin serving drinks, and CL goes to investigate the smell.  You remember your equipment to help with your service service.

(Is anyone going with CL?  What is everyone doing who isn't serving drinks?)

Lynn happily serves drinks with a smile, making sure Gunther and Joseph do the same.  She tells the others, "You better get on zat service service or vee'll all be in trouble."  She is looking at Seth as she says this, not meanly, but imploringly.

CL is careful to avoid the semi-clean things in the room as he heads to the bathroom and draws forth some spray from his cleaning kit and begins to apply it to the bathroom to get rid of the smell.

Joseph hands out the drinks as he searches for his signal

Bruce cracks his neck as he waits for the leader to get moving.

"Shall we begin the service service now? We won't finish in a timely manner if we don't start soon."

He takes a look around the room as the three volunteers start to work on their own service.

Seth spent a moment deeply in thought then turned to his team with orders.  The smell of the broken latrine is difficult to bear, and Seth has to blink his eyes several times to clear them.

"Gunther, I appreciate your enthusiasm to serve others, but we can't have you working the cart until you have executed your duties as equipment guy and fixed the headsweeper.  Joseph can go with you to assist."

"CL, repair the latrines as quickly as possible.  Solicit supplies from the janitor if necessary."

"Lynn and Bruce, you are with me. Lets get some cups prepared so the beverages are ready to be served when the inmates arrive. Bruce will set up the PerkyLators and mix and pour the drinks. As the morale officer (and by far one the most gracious clones I have had the pleasure of working with) Lynn will be the one serving the drinks. Also, Lynn, see if you can do anything to cheer up Jessica-G-RFA-6... it could be very detrimental to our mission for a member of the termination center staff to be so unhappy. Perhaps you could offer her some pharmaceuticals?  I will take care of the documentation and stand by to deal with any problems that might arise."

With that, Seth sees to the final details.  He ensures that the carts are arrayed in an esthetically pleasing manner and neatly covered with the provided tablecloths, reviews the provided VWV/CL-TS-BBB/TC-1A forms (and makes sure his pen works and that he has a spare), then gives everyone a final looking over to ensure they are wearing their aprons and apron pins properly.

Everyone starts following Seth's orders and service of the prisoners begins immediately.  Jessica leaves the floor, not interested in help from RED Clearance Troubleshooters.  As you serve, the prisoners are somewhat chatty.  Some even walk over to watch the cleaning for the service service, despite the smell.  The janitor also watches from a distance, and no one goes near him.

Of the 222 prisoners, about half are sitting in their cells and half are in the waiting room with you, jammed together at combot gunpoint.  Dispite the greenish lighting, it's a colorful sight, unique in Alpha Complex:  Prisoners of all security clearances (almost all RED and above) stand or crouch together in their clearance-appropriate jumpsuit hues, variously fearful, desperate, surly or sullen depending on how often their clones have been through this before.

They seem to want one thing mostly:  freedom.  And they are not shy about talking about it, although you understand that helping them would be treason.  They each seem to have their angle to get free.

The smell that wafts through the bodies is doubtlessly troubling to your hygiene officer.

Please note that you do not have to follow the orders of a condemned, no matter their rank.  However, an order from a secret society member of a higher degree than you is something you must follow to remain in good standing.

11:45 a.m.
Prisoners Served: 30
Prisoners Not Served: 292
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6

SUSAN (INFRARED)

One woman approaches.  She says her name is Susan, an INFRARED with medium-length chestnut hair that she has an unconscious habit of smoothing around her ear.  She's earnest, friendly, helpful and naive.  If you intend to anthing...traitor-like...she would make the perfect fall guy (or gal).  She says she is innocent and was framed for bugging, then rumpling the sheets of, the neatly made bed of an ORANGE Clearance citizen.


INGA (YELLOW)
Inga is a chunky copper blonde with rosy cheeks and plump lips.  She says she was convicted for being a cyborg.  (Unauthorized cyborging, the implantation of cybernetic machine parts in humans, is illegal.)  Termination center staff removed a bioplate from the nape of her neck, revealing some circuitry, so she cannot even pretend to be human anymore.

Inga says to those at the cart as she sips coffee (so is apparently not ALL machine), "If you guys find a way to get me my freedom, I'll give you a fortune in bot brains, worth as much as five years of a GREEN-Clearance salary."

MARTIN (GREEN)
Martin seems a super nice guy:  tall, dark, good-looking.  He's affable and likes to guide people, like the other inmates, by their elbows to help them to the coffee stand.  But you can tell, with impending termination, that his ordinarily relaxed smile is a tight grin.


MARY (ORANGE)
Mary seems laid back and spacey, projecting an air of world-weariness, like the day after a jag.  But she seems, under the surface, to want to get out of the termination center alive.

Mary stands there with her coffee and starts a rambling story of her past exploits, particularly how she was recycled in her previous clone forms.  Then, out of the blue, she suddenly says, "Get me out of this place, and I'll give you my cache of Benetridin ("Videoland") and Rolactin ("Happy Life") stashed away in a distant maintenance locker.  If you like vids, you can't miss those!  Plus, they're worth a fortune in the black market."

DAN (BLUE)
Dan is a compact man of medium height with frighteningly intense stell blue eyes.  He is military to the bone.  He's furious at "thos Internal Security vatslimes" for catching him.  When you look in his eyes, you know he could kill you without a second thought.


CLARENCE (YELLOW)
Clarence is a skinny red-haired guy with crooked teeeth but a strangely compelling stream of blarney.  Clarence has a deep fascination with "Oola-Hoops."  He bemoans his impending death because he'll be missing the monthly Second Twosday Secret Hooping Congress.

Clarence lowers his voice to a whisper, continuing on about Oola-Hoops, and suddenly offers to provie the location of a cache of priceless Old Reckoning artifacts, including a vintage pink Oola-Hoop and a "pay phone," whatever that is, if one of you can just get him to the Hooping Congress tonight.

LAURA (ORANGE)
Laura is tall and athletic.  She nervously picks at her styrofoam cup.  Her eyes are wide and panicked, darting about as if she's trying to think of something.  She's brusque in conversation but, as the last clone in her pack, she tries to overlay that tendency with pleasant conversation to convince you she's worth saving.  "I'm the last of my clones," she says.  "This is really, really termination for me."  She rambles on, somehow turning the conversation into an offhanded and aloof converstaion about the temperature controls.

Then she stops and whispers at the cart, "I know a way to get Outside. You know, to THE Outside.  I know of a base out there where I stay.  If you free me, I'll bring you to the base and you can be free of Alpha Complex forever.  Imagine that!  No more colors, no more followingn orders.  Small price to pay for letting one innocent clone go free before the last termination she'll ever face."

MARTIN 2 (GREEN)
Here's another guy named Martin.  He is tall with a long, thin face, dark eyes, and trim black doorknocker beard.  His manner is arrogant, threatening and supercilious to those he sees as mutants.

Lynn walks over and whispers something to Clarence.  After a moment of talking, she slaps him on the back and they both erupt in raucous laughter.  "See," she says, "now vee are all happy, no?"

Do any of the prisoners have stripes on their jumpsuits, or are registered mutants terminated somewhere else?

CL walks over to a person in a cell with his hygiene kit in front of him.
"There are some weird hygiene signals coming from this guy," CL says.

They are all terminated together without any indication of registered mutations.

PL

Lynn says to Mary, "Happy Life pills could be very helpful to us, no?  As Happiness Officer, it is my duty to find vare they are."  She does a little twirling thing with her finger and smiles.

Tension levels of Happy Homecoming areas:


Waiting room: Tension level 10
Lookout: Tension level 10
Homecoming cells: Tension level 10


Anteroom: Tension level 14
Director George-B's Office: Tension level 16


Note that tension levels can change if the security devices are disabled, but the risk is that you are discovered disabling them, which is treason.

Lynn makes some coffee and steps away from the service tray to serve some clones near Mary.  She glances back to make sure the other Troubleshooters are smiling.

Bruce smiles brightly at the nearby prisoners as he goes about his job.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Fri 24 Apr 2009.

CL is smiling, he loves serving the computer.

Anyone else going to do anything?  Remember, this is your time to follow up on your secret society's requirements...that is, if you don't want to be blacklisted and want a promotion within the society...

The key is to find a way to approach your contacts without drawing attention and see what needs to be done.

And then...

...don't worry, opportunities will come around when the "time" is right.

Sorry for the delays.  Life has gotten crazier than a clone meeting his own clone in the bathroom with Tension Level 20...

This probably is much easier in real time, so I'll see how I can push it along.

Things to remember:

(1) Only three can man the cart at any given time, leaving three of you to wander about and "help."  You can also step away from the cart to help "serve" (and secretly talk to) people/The Condemned.

(2) There are 8 people talking to you, and only 6 of you.  That means not everyone is a contact with one of you.  Feel free to branch out and talk to others.

(3) Please read the previous post I made before reading this one so that your continuity of the story is not lost over the two weeks or so since it was posted.


Tension level 10

11:50 a.m.
Prisoners Served: 60
Prisoners Not Served: 262
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6


You continue serving coffee and tea in a cheerful manner.

Lynn goes over and talks to Clarence.

CL begins examining Martin 2.

Bruce interacts kindly with the other Martin.

Seth walks away to help serve the nervous girl Susan.  As he talks to her, Seth finds that Susan is beginning to weep.  "Please help me," she says loud enough so everyone can hear.  "I don't have money, but you'll have my eternal gratitude."  (Which is not the most popular currency in Alpha Complex.)  She seems truly upset, innocent and kind.

Gunther gets busy helping with the service service.  Joseph goes off to help him.  CL has apparently decided to check out the strange man before working on cleaning the latrines.

The janitor makes his way around the side of the walls, cleaning as he does so.  The prisoners give him a clear berth, not going very near him but not making a big deal of it.

Lynn tries to trade places with Joseph so he can serve at the cart for a bit, and she goes to investigate the cells of the prisoners to make sure everyone knows about the coffee and tea being served to make them happy.  After all, it would be a shame if any of them missed out just before their termination.

CL uses what looks to be a weird satellite module to scan Martin 2 for any unsatisfactory dirt or grim. He smiles wider than before and then takes out a little watsamahuzit to take Martin 2's temperature.

You continue with your duties.  Joseph takes over for Lynn, who goes off to the cells.

Tension level 10

11:55 a.m.
Prisoners Served: 90
Prisoners Not Served: 232
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6

OOC: I'm not getting many posts, so I'm just going to advance the game 5 minutes every few days, assuming you're doing nothing but your duties in the meantime.

CL nods and backs away from Martin 2, "Yup, he is all good. That odd sweaty smell of dirt must be coming from HIM!"</Green> CL points at Dan and leaps over to begin his hygiene test on the prisoner.

Dan glances at CL but seems to concentrate his attention on Joseph.

As CL begins the hygiene check, Dan says, just loud enough so the other Troubleshooters can hear, "I have a cache of weapons.  I think you'll want to help me escape so I can give them to you in exchange for saving me.  I have bioweapons, a neurowhip, tanglers, and even blue reflect armor."  His hand snaps down quickly and grasps CL by the forearm.  He is strong, and his grip is unyielding.  You're quite sure he could take down an entire resistance army by himself with his military attitude, his strength, and his steely eyes.

"You'll help me, right?" he says, looking into CL's eyes as he holds CL's forearm with just a slight perceptible edge of threat in his voice.  He lets go of CL and waits for a response.

"That would be treason!" CL leaps back and points at Dan, "You are suggesting Treason! Seth! Alert the others that a criminal has aggressively attacked one of the computer's very own trouble shooters!"

Dan glowers at CL.  "You really think someone condemned to die cares about treason at this point?  The guards here don't do anything unless there is physical danger.  This is probably the one true place where ideas can exist freely."  He pauses, with a wicked smile.  "...for the condemned, that is.  Thanks for putting on a show, but we all know how you truly feel."

Lynn emerges and says, "My, my.  Perhaps zumvun needs zum rest, no?"  She takes Dan by the arm and leads him back toward the cells.  "More smiling and drinking makes for a happy clone."

She gives a dark look to CL.  "Our duty iz to make zem calm before zare terminations.  Threats work not so well as happiness.  Everyvun must smile and have fun."  She laughs as she tries to lead Dan away.

Dan looks at CL while Lynn leads him off.  "You will have your up-and-comings," he says.  "Make no doubt about it."  He looks at his watch to check the time, and realizes he isn't wearing a watch.  Then he walks with chin held high next to Lynn.

The security guards don't seem to care.  No one seems to care much about protocol down here in the termination center.  That is, except for the termination process.


Tension level 10

12:00 p.m.
Prisoners Served: 120
Prisoners Not Served: 202
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6


The janitor makes his way over while you go back to serving drinks and cleaning the restroom.  He is an extremely hygienic middle-aged man of medium height, blond hair and blue eyes, whose teeth sparkle in the termination center lighting.  He smiles and seems to like to chat.

"So finally getting around to that restroom, huh?" he says.  "Sure stinks around here, in more ways than one."  He smiles at his little joke.

The other prisoners are still coming for their drinks, but they are walking away as soon as they get them, leaving a wide berth around him.

He says to you, "Sometimes a prisoner doesn't react well to stomach blows, or a little leakage runs out of the termination booths.  That's when they call me in.  Clean up the little messes.  I keep 'em all company too, try to cheer them up before they go in the booth.  I been around here a long time, know everything 'bout this place."

He faces CL.  "Yep, it's hard to be a hygiene officer.  Used to be one myself.  We gots a lot in common.  But I'm rambling.  That's what I do.  You got any hygiene officer tricks you learn someplace?  I'm itching to learn things, if you got something to learn me."


This message was last edited by the GM at 23:09, Mon 11 May 2009.

Smiling he says, "Well the trick is to get rid of all the grim and guck first. Normally with a type of incendiary cleaner."
CL takes out a grenade and places it in a nook in the slag to blast it to bits. He takes some dental floss from his kit and wraps it around the pin, taking out line he makes clear of the blast area and the asks every to make clear before he pulls the dental floss to pull the pin.

Gunther says, "You mind if I ask why people don't want to come too near to you?"  Gunther appears a bit nervous to be so close to the janitor.

The janitor says, "Sure.  Name's Humphrey, by the way.  Anyhoo, I think they might've heard wind of my accident.  It was a bioweapons accident.  It aged me prematurely.  That's why I'm probably the oldest looking feller around.  Some say it addled my brain some too, but I don't see that none.  Some of 'em, I think they may think it's contagious, but how'd they know?  They all go through the termination center so quick they couldn't show signs of nothing.  But the staff, yeah, they keep a good distance from me.  Course, they're 'bout the only ones who leave here breathing."  He pauses, considering.  "And you, I s'pose."

He says, "I was an IntSec top officer in this sector.  No lie there!  They put me in as janitor after the accident, prob'ly t'keep me around people I can't contage with, but I don't mind none.  I..."  And he begins rambling on, standing "right close" to CL and admiring his clean uniform.

CL smiles and pulls the dental floss, pulling the pin. "Good clean fun."

PM

GUnther takes a step back from the janitor and resumes cleaning the restroom area, stearing clear of the infectious guy.

Tension level 10

12:05 p.m.
Prisoners Served: 150
Prisoners Not Served: 172
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6


Martin 2 gets a strange look on his face.  A guard reminds him that the bathroom is broken.

The janitor wanders off.  The guards seem to be not totally with it, even more than usual.

Lynn has walked off with Dan back to the cells.  You hear them mumbling something.

A moment later, Jessica-G emerges from the director's office.  "What's wrong with those guards?  Back on duty!"  She is not happy.  The guards seem completely at a loss and ignore everything.  They seem superbly happy and smile like goons.

Your service service is now complete and ready for inspection.  The restroom area is fairly well cleaned out.

Martin 2 leans over and whispers something to CL.

You continue with your service duty to make sure prisoners are being served, but then four well-armed GREEN level IntSec guards arrive from above.

"Come with me to the director's office," one says, listing off each of your names.  He says nothing about suspending your duty to serve beverages to the prisoners.  He probably doesn't have authority to override the computer on that one.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:42, Wed 20 May 2009.

Lynn approaches, separating herself apart from Dan.  "Has our team leader created a problem, sir?" she asks.  "Vee have been trying to be happy anyvay."

Apparently sensing no opposition, the GREEN goons lead you up to facility director George-B's office.  (Check map -- it is in the bottom right corner.)

Tension level Unknown

12:10 p.m.
Prisoners Served: 150
Prisoners Not Served: 172
Prisoners Per Minute Served: 6

No prisoners are currently being served


George-B's office is made of steel walls, apparently as protection in case of a riot or something.  Otherwise, it seems like a normal, everyday office.  George-B sits behind his desk.

"What can I do for you?" he asks.

One of the GREEN goons says, "These Troubleshooters' names have been added to the manifest of traitors to be terminated at this center."

George-B seems nonplussed.  "Is that so?"  He nods as if accepting that fact.

The GREEN goon adds, "And their names show up at the top of the manifest, meaning that they are to be terminated immediately."

George-B nods calmly as though this is a natural occurrence.  "Very well then."

Needless to say, this comes as a complete shock to you as plastic handcuffs are slapped on your hands and some sort of electric prod is held near your heads.  You notice with a sick sence of irony that the electroprods are newly refurbished with the rubber handles you just delivered.  You feel an electric sensation as the prods stun you.

(While stunned by the prods, you are still conscious and can speak weakly but can't do anything physical.)

Lynn says, "I, uh, I believe zare has been some mistake here.  Vee have not committed treason, sir."

Bruce taps a pen on his desk.  "I'm listening," he sasy with a smile that reveals nothing.

Joseph has a question mark look on his face (the what have we done to be treasonous look)

Seth is bewildered, but does his best to defuse the situation.  "Sir, I believe my team has been quite forthright and I am certainly am unaware of any grand treason that could encompass us all.  This certainly puts us all in a tough spot, but before we do anything drastic would you please check with the Computer to see whether our termination takes priority over our mission?  There are still approximately a hundred and seventy prisoners who are not in compliance with experimental happiness regulation PEC-V-9A-65992B... not to mention ourselves, if our names are now on the list."

"Falsely accusing a Troubleshooting team of treason is interfering with their mission." reminded Gunther.

"That would make it a treasonous act.  Therefore, Friend Computer requires that we be informed of the name of the person who entered us into the manifest, and the details of the treason which they fabricated, so that we can write up the facts for Friend Computer in our report."

George-B listens patiently to your problem.  "I believe you," he says, nodding with concern.  "You are truly great Troubleshooters trying to do the will of the Computer.  IntSec has actually had problems with data security recently."  Under his breath, he reiterates, "Just one more reason to privatize these centers, I say."  He looks down at the manifests and studies them, eyes furled.  "Nevertheless, he says, the bureaucracy required to fix these manifests--and the approvals needed--"  He shudders demurely.  "Well, I think it's best that we just submit you for termination and sort it all out with your next clone."

He smiles.  "Yes, that is by far the wisest decision.  It obeys the Computer and allows your clones to get justice.  And maybe your clones will even help me privatize this center so nothing like this happens again."

The electroprods have made you weak, and the goons drag you by the ear -- yes, the ear! -- and take you to the termination room.



(You are now in the area marked "termination booths.")

You are now next in line at the termination booths, standing weakly waiting for your own terminations.  You can hardly move, except to talk, and unsure if the stun prods will wear off quickly.  The goons yawn as they turn you over to the euthanasia experts and leave.

And you begin to wonder if trying to escape would then make you a traitor since it would directly disobey the Computer's order in the manifest, unless there really was some mistake, but then...

...but before you can ponder that further, the termination booths open.

The janitor comes nearby, ready to clean up any sloppy mess in case you are not cleanly terminated.

Someone good at technical things might just be able to disable the termination booth, if only you weren't weakened by the stun prods.

You see that the primary areas of escape are probably:  (1) if you could just dismantle the termination booths, you might be able to go down the flushing system to wherever that takes you; (2) if you could make it back to the toilets that exploded, you might be able to descend into the bowels (yes, I'm sure you saw that pun coming) of waste removal system, giving your hygiene officer a headache; or (3) perhaps you could go back the way you came, fighting off the guards; or (4) perhaps there is some other way, like a secret door in George-B's office or something like that.  Who knows?  Doesn't really matter, seeing that you are about to be terminated.

If those pathetic slobs we were serving beverages to offered to cut us such good deals to save them, I wonder what these guys must have heard... could be a good chance to root out treason!

Seth addresses one of the euthanasia experts weakly, "You should know, we aren't your normal run-of-the-mill customers, we're troubleshooters!  I can only imagine the depraved ramblings and treasonous pleadings you must have been subjected to in your line of work... would you mind if we debriefed you while you're getting everything ready for us?  It would be a great service to the Computer and terribly helpful for our mission report."


OOC: What clearance level are the euthanasia experts?  Is the tension level known?

Lynn says, "Computer Phreaks did this us.  I bet anything.  Still, vee must smile until our duties are done."

She calls down the hall, "Hello.  If you don't help us, vee can't help you, no?"  She hopes the newfound friends will help.

"Oh look, it's the janitor.  Didn't he say something about how contagious he was earlier?  I was thinking I was feeling pretty sick after talking to him earlier.  I guess it's a good thing this clone is going to be executed.  I'm not sure I could live my life happily knowing I was contagious with a bioweapon."

Gunther's face twisted as he said...  "Ah... ah... ah..."  unfortunetly with the handcuffs on, he was unable to cover his mouth and sneezed violently right into the face of one of the GREEN guards.

"Excuse me Mr. Guard." he said politely.  "Very sorry about that.  I guess I'm just getting sicker by the second."

Bruce salutes patriotically an declares, "Our friend, The Computer, has done this out of its incalculable wisdom.  It would not ask us to do this if it were not for the betterment of the Alpha Complex!" He marches into the termination booth assigned to him, smiling stoicly.  He turns around as the door closes behind him, and the smile tweaks to a smirk as he cracks his neck proudly.