Compliance Is Mandatory-An Exercise of Paranoia

[McBatman]

>What's with the barrel?

[Psiana]

Ann-R: Politely inform the man that his chart says there are more people exiting than entering.

[Lagren]

"What is the shortest way to PLC, sir?"

And don't ask about the barrel.

[Armok]

> you shuld probably tell the computer abaut this

[I-gor]

>What's with the barrel?

In response to your question, he glares and snaps his fingers. A whirr is emitted from under the desk beside him.


A cone rifle leaps into his gloved hand. He levels it, clearly annoyed.

Ann-R: Politely inform the man that his chart says there are more people exiting than entering.

You do so. Hurriedly, as to avoid getting your head pulverized by a cone rifle shell. He turns around to look at the screen. He looks at several sheets of paper he removes from inside the barrel. He looks back and forth between the sheets and the projected image.


He walks over to a confession booth in the room, presumably to consult with The Computer. Excuse me, won't be long, he says.


Time passes.

"What is the shortest way to PLC, sir?"

And don't ask about the barrel.

He returns, more jauntily than he did when he left, with a different barrel and several suspiciously red stains on it. It's been taken care of, he says. He congratulates you on finding proof of treason in PLC.

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Ann-R: So, where is PLC so we can get outfitted?
Warren-B: Down the hallway, take a left, out the causeway. You can't miss it.
Ann-R: Did you just say something about treason there or-
Warren-B: It's nothing for you to worry about. Go ahead. Make sure to take your MBD materials with you.
[He gestures at a set of boxes on the desk next to him, each with a Mandatory Bonus Duty labelled on them, "Team Leader", "Loyalty Officer", and so on.]
[He looks thoughtful for a second. Then a bit annoyed.]
Warren-B: Say, weren't you asking about the barrel a few minutes ago?
Ann-R: No, sir, of course not.
Warren-B: Good.

You take your MBD box (your Loyalty Officer one contains a Loyalty Officer badge, a small lockable box with a notepad inside for recording treason, and a small box labelled "IntSec Field MemGo Kit") and follow your Team Leader in the direction Warren-B indicated towards PLC.


Inside, there are IntSec agents running around cleaning up. One is scrubbing away at a puddle of (you think) blood in the corner while another is carrying a large framed picture, presumably to cover some of those slugthrower holes and laser scorches.

The windows are mostly all broken, save one. A nervous ORANGE clerk, who looks to be the only survivor of this purge, stares at you as you enter. PLC clerks are antisocial at the best of times, and the aftermath of an Internal Security raid will probably only make him less willing to start interactions.

What do you do?

[Armok]

> note down blood puddle and picture-hanging in notepad.

[Psiana]

Ann-R: Let your fearless leader talk to the clerk while you watch for any suspicious movements.

[McBatman]

>Be the blood cleaning Int-Sec member.

[I-gor]

> note down blood puddle and picture-hanging in notepad.

You take out the Indestructible Loyalty Transcripts Recorder (ILTR), the notepad in which you record treason among your teammates. You record the IntSec goons going about cleaning up the PLC office, maybe you can use it to implicate one of your teammates in some treason charge later on.

Francis-R, the Team Leader looks at you, wondering what to do here.

Ann-R: Let your fearless leader talk to the clerk while you watch for any suspicious movements.

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Francis-R: So, uh, what do we do now?
Ann-R: You could go talk to the clerk over there. You're the Team Leader, after all.
Francis-R: Shouldn't our Equipment Guy ask...him....?
[Sally-R gives Francis-R a glare. He looks away and heads over to the one open window.]
[The rest of the team filters in.]
Francis-R: Excuse me, sir?
???-O: Y-yes, Troubleshooter?
Francis-R: We were supposed to come here for outfitting.
[An argument seems to be breaking out between Hump-R and Richard-R.]
???-O: I'm sorry, we're out of, uh, stock. We seem to, er, be cleaned out.
[Hump-R makes an allegation about Richard-R's current level of happiness.]
Francis-R: Oh, but the Internal Security captain who briefed us told us to come here. You don't have anything? Laser barrels?
???-O: Sorry, no.
[Richard-R replies somewhat vehemently that he is at his minimum happiness level and that Hump-R's hygiene is below the Qwalitie Standard.]
Francis-R: Slugthrowers?
???-O: Sorry, no.
[Hump-R takes out a few HappyTime pills for Richard-R to take-after all, he's shouting and seems stressed. Wouldn't The Computer agree?]
Francis-R: Armor?
???-O: Sorry, no.
[Richard-R takes out the Hygiene Skin Drilling Tester assigned to him. He violently motions to Hump-R's arm.]
Francis-R: Tool sets?
???-O: Sorry, no.
[Vold-R begins recording the argument with the multicorder he was given as Comm. and Recording Officer, it's his job to record the team's mission. You think you might have to take him out if his account of the mission conflicts from your written record.
Francis-R: ...A pair of old trousers?
???-O: Sorry-wait, I think we have some.
[He rummages around under the counter and hands Francis-R a pair of faded pants. He accepts.]
Francis-R: Thank you, I suppose. Anywhere we might try?
???-O: I don't know. Maybe office 192-385B in the basement.
[He shrugs. The Internal Security GREEN goon finishes wiping up and stands.]
[Francis-R turns to look at everyone else, and manages not to look surprised.]

You've gotten EVIDENCE OF TREASON!

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>Be the blood cleaning Int-Sec member.

You cannot be the blood cleaning IntSec goon because he has the intellect of a mold growing on the side of a food vat and an NPC to boot!

You get to be this guy instead. He's part of IntSec. Sort of.


You are Richard-R-JNL-1, and your life has been one big annoyance.

You work for CPU's Security System Installers. Nothing wrong with that, except they assigned you to spy on HPD&MC's Subliminals Police. Nothing like sneaking pro-CPU propaganda into those "No Smoking" signs, huh. From there, they got you into Internal Security to get some data on how well its subliminal messages were deterring secret society activity (fat chance). Internal Security liked you so much they assigned you to spy on Power Services' Odor Fresheners, cleaning up all those nasty smells those power malfunctions (referred to in news releases as "fun power whoopsies") cause. Power got you a job in HPD&MC's Sector Expansion Surveyors to try building more power supply stations-nothing like more power to Power.

Now you have to report back to all your service firms on any news you receive from any you're spying on for them. What fun.

You joined the Sierra Club to clear your mind, learning about nature helped you out some. You dream of the day you can move out of Alpha Complex and commune with nature. Now, though, they have you working to find out about a possible exit to the Outdoors in HCN Sector-if there is one, to report back. They also gave you a password, "barbed wire", to give to a PURGE member on the team, with whom you will swap a box your superiors gave you with another box. The countersign will be "tinsnips".

You are currently in an altercation with Hump-R-DNK-2, who is insisting that you are unhappy and, therefore, treasonous. You reply that he is the traitor for being unhygienic. You have your Skin-Core Sampler (Series 6) and various cleaning supplies to back you up. You're in a bit of a deadlock right now.

What will you do?

[Armok]

> take some happy pills. if he claims you unhappy afterwards it would be doubting the effectiveness of the pills.

[Chookster]

Smile widely and scrub his face

[ikkonoishi]

Accepting the pills would be admitting that you are unhappy which would be treason. Question the pill's sanitation levels now that Hump has touched them.

[I-gor]

> take some happy pills. if he claims you unhappy afterwards it would be doubting the effectiveness of the pills.

Hump-R shoves the happy-pills into your face. You find this highly uncoming! You would accept these pills, except, except...you have something that would make you...happier.

Smile widely and scrub his face

It comes in red cans.


And its name is Instant Cleans-A-Spray.

Accepting the pills would be admitting that you are unhappy which would be treason. Question the pill's sanitation levels now that Hump has touched them.

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Hump-R: ...Rosebot...
[He gurgles. He seems to be unconscious now.]
Francis-R: Uhhhh...what did you do that for?

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Richard-R: He was completely unhygienic and unsanitary! Who knows what kind of germs (and we all know that germs are miniature Commie Mutant Traitors, don't we?) he might have harbored in his dirty hands? Do you think we can stand an onslaught of them like on this man? Why, I can't accept happiness pills from him, and The Computer would agree with me!

Everyone kind of stares at you. Francis-R finally clears his throat and gets everyone moving again down a corridor.


Along the way, your teammates seem to be spontaneously brushing their teeth or flossing or drinking large quantities of cheap mouthwash. You don't mind. Having a kind of outburst like this might keep everyone convinced you're more unhinged than a maniac scrubot in a scrap yard for food vats. It might be a good way to relieve the stress from having five jobs. (And earn Perversity Points, you just earned seven from this incident.)

Oh, dear, is that a stairwell up ahead? Poor Hump-R, maybe he'll learn who's happy and who's not. You're sure he won't be.

What do you do now?

[Chookster]

If intsec has supplied you with bugs now would probably be a good time to plant one on that unconcious fellow,

[I-gor]

If intsec has supplied you with bugs now would probably be a good time to plant one on that unconcious fellow,

Hmm, good idea. You do have something of an issue though, a plethora of choices.



You see, IntSec's not the only group that assigned you to spy on people. CPU gave you some bugged plasticreds (what passes for hard currency in Alpha Complex) that contain microphones that record and broadcast at the end of the daycycle. HPD&MC gave you some radio tags to plant on people. Power Services gave you some PDC batteries that'll record power usage (and some other stuff) from the victim's PDC. Internal Security gave you a tracking spray that will light up your victim like the lights on an Armed Forces Vulture Squadron parade when viewed through an IntSec filter. All of your service groups want feedback-who do you indulge? You think you might only have the opportunity to plant one before he wakes up.

[Dimiitrus]

Use the deodorant you can pretend it was a final jab at his hygiene.

[Lazro]

Hmm, depends what he does during the nonexistent day. For example, If he trades a lot of things, You might not want to use the plasticreds...

[I-gor]

==>

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Richard-R: Hey, Team Leader!
Francis-R: What's up?
Richard-R: I think I missed a bit on our unhygienic miscreant. Mind if I go ahead and finish the job?
[He looks at you with an expression kind of between "ruminating" and "constipated". You think he's trying to look wise or something.]
Francis-R: You may. Search your feelings!
[He saunters off. You think he's some kind of nutjob, maybe one of those Mystics. You know, that group that's seeking enlightenment through lots and lots of drugs. You think you might have an angle on him.]
[You claim Hump-R from Sally-R and take a look while everyone else heads on towards the staircase to the basement.]

Hmm, depends what he does during the nonexistent day. For example, If he trades a lot of things, You might not want to use the plasticreds...

Indeed. Which is why you're going to take a look at his ME card-the identification card that allows a citizen to do, well, anything, in Alpha Complex.

Looks like he works for Tech Services (your fourth job, Power Services might be interested in bugging him, but knowing him he'd probably take the batteries back to the recycling center for his Fuel Cell Replenishment service firm) so maybe the plasticreds might not be a good bet. (Bribes. It's a crime, but everyone does it. Especially around HPD&MC-not that you'd know anything about that!)

Which leads us to...

Use the deodorant you can pretend it was a final jab at his hygiene.

You decide to spray him down with some of that Internal Security tracker. Sure, he might glow a bit, but it's undetectable except to Internal Security filters! You go ahead and spray him (that'll require a Stealth/Sleight of Hand roll from you and a Stealth/High Alert from him...)

Let's look at your character sheet, shall we?

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Looks like you got a Sleight of Hand specialty of 14. You rolled a 16. Whoops, that's a margin of 2 over. That's not good. Let's roll for him...he's got no specialty in High Alert, so let's roll against Stealth. Five. That's a success for him...which means...


Whop! (You still earned two Perversity Points off of this, which is good.)

You are now...

Hump-R-DNK-2. You've had a kind of rough day today, haven't you?

You are a Tech Services worker, employed by ReFuel, a fuel cell replenishment service firm-they hire you to find batteries. You get a bonus if you get a lot of them, so you've been looking hard for them throughout the mission so far. At least, that's a handy alibi if someone finds you poking where you really shouldn't be.

Because you're also a member of Corpore Metal-a secret society that believes in the superiority of metal over humanity-in other words, bots. Corpore Metal is a society composed of both bots who've been frankensteined (they've got asimov circuits removed, which means they are not required to follow human commands) and humans who wish to ascend to the next level of advanced life-bothood. Cyborging is common. CM encourages its members to get robotic prosthetics whenever injured-you've got a mechanical-aided shoulder.

Your contacts in Corpore Metal told you about a suspicion they have that the man you are currently engaged with in fisticuffs is a member of the hated Frankenstein Destroyers. (They hate bots. Enough said.) At least, they said "a tall guy with a beard that talks like he's in a vidshow all the time". Whatever, you've got to take him out. You've been dismally failing so far.

Another assignment they've given for you is to meet a certain man in HCN Sector and to help him get some supplies for some mission he'll tell you about. They said he'd have "an eyepatch and a mechanical hand" and that the password you'd know him by would be "tinsnips". He'll respond with "Dimmock Line", whatever that is. You are to aid him in whatever way possible. Do not fail your contacts.

What will you do now-wait.


You're engaged in a fistfight. You and Richard-R punch and kick up a storm until-

Someone yells, "Troubleshooters! Help!"

It sounds like it's coming from downstairs. Your comrades have gone down that way a bit before.

What will you do now?

[Lazro]

>Both:Ignore. Continue to brawl.

[I-gor]

>Both:Ignore. Continue to brawl.

You continue to fight, insensible of anyone yelling! Well, for a while, anyhow. Noises are coming up from the basement and it's getting kind of loud.

You make a remark about Richard-R's lack of hygiene and an assumption about his secret society membership of which you could have only conjectured.

Amid echoes of laser zaps and metal crunching, he commands you to perform an anatomic impossibility on yourself, preferably involving a food vat and a Bunsen burner.

There is the sound of breaking glass and someone swearing. Sounds like your Team Leader. You reply with a cutting insult involving his stature and Internal Security GREEN goons as well as an implication on his intellect.

He makes an obscene gesture at you while a voice screams about docking credits and punishment duty in Armed Forces latrines.

You make a brightly colored metaphor involving him and a particularly ornery scrubot you once knew when you hear someone calling out your name.

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???-?: I SWEAR BY THE COMPUTER, IF YOU BLAST ANOTHER HOLE IN MY TORSO WHILE TRYING TO EXTRICATE ME FROM THIS VENDINGBOT, YOU'LL BE SPENDING SO MANY YEARCYCLES ON SECTOR ZERO DUTY THAT-
Francis-R: Uh, uh, uh, but it's not our fault!
Ann-R: Yes, it was our teammates, uh...
Vold-R: Hump-R-DNK and Richard-R-JNL! They're Communist Mutant Traitors who subliminally controlled us to-to-
Sally-R: Wantonly destroy Computer property and harass higher-clearance citizens than ourselves. [Delivered in a flat monotone.]
[More glass breaking sounds, more metal crunching.]
???-?: [Incomprehensible growling.]

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Richard-R: ...
Hump-R: ...
Richard-R: Truce?
Hump-R: Truce.
[You're not quite sure what a 'truce' is. You'll have to ask someone else later.]

What will you do?

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Update sizes might fluctuate a bit over the next weeks, as school has just started up again. Art quality may also fluctuate, though I'll try to update everyday as I have been. Thank you for your cooperation.

[Chookster]

Immediately yell at richard-r "NO WHY ARE YOU CONTROLLING MY MIND COMMUNIST SCUM?!"

[Lazro]

Deploy your TRUSTY DICTIONARY. Look up "Truce," Even if you don't have a TRUSTY DICTIONARY.

[McBatman]

>Did they just say commie traitors? You're pretty sure they just said commie traitors. PANIC.

[I-gor]

Deploy your TRUSTY DICTIONARY. Look up "Truce," Even if you don't have a TRUSTY DICTIONARY.

You don't have a dictionary. Dictionaries are not intrinsically treasonous, but they tend to become so alarmingly quickly, due to HPD&MC's rapid turnover of deprecated and/or treasonous words.

So, you ask The Computer instead. You take out your PDC and call Friend Computer (all good citizens have The Computer on speed dial).

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Hump-R: Friend Computer!
The Computer: At your service, citizen!
Hump-R: Friend Computer, I have heard the word "truce" and I don't know what it means. Can you help me out here?
[The Computer seems to be thinking.]

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The Computer: Citizen Hump-R-DNK, where did you hear such treasonous language?
Hump-R: Uh, um, uh...I'm afraid one of the members of my team must be a Commie Mutant Traitor! Oh, woe is me, Friend Computer!
The Computer: Citizen, remain calm. An Internal Security team will be dispatched to your location. Compliance is mandatory.
Hump-R: ...Yes, Friend Computer.

You notice Richard-R kind of looking at you funny.

Immediately yell at richard-r "NO WHY ARE YOU CONTROLLING MY MIND COMMUNIST SCUM?!"

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Hump-R: NO WHY ARE YOU CONTROLLING MY MIND, COMMUNIST SCUM?!
[You cover your ears and begin singing songs to block out the Communist Mutant Traitor messages! This is clearly the best way to prove your loyalty, especially with that camera right behind you.]

>Did they just say commie traitors? You're pretty sure they just said commie traitors. PANIC.

You confidently run down the hallway, sure you can outrun this HPD&MC lout-

Wait.

Oh, vatslime, they accused you of being a Commie, didn't they.

In your haste, you fail a High Alert roll.

It keeps happening.




You complete falling down the staircase into a RED-clearance hallway. You see the rest of your team down there, all pointing fingers at you. That BLUE-clearance citizen with his arm stuck in the vending machine doesn't look too happy. Or healthy. Or pleased with your appearance.

What will you do?

[Lazro]

>Somehow kick yourself in the mouth. That was stupid.