You are Michelle St. Claire, and today is your third day on the job.

Liquid: 3054.33 + first wk paycheck (2289.57)
Income: ~2200/wk + bonuses
Expenses: 5500/mo lease
Captive money: 10k security deposit
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WetworkIdols @WetworkIdols
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Wetwork%20Idols%20Quest

>>31670365

Oh. This isn’t so bad. You’re sure you can do a better job, but for a bunch of hired help everything seems...ok.

Cool. Except for the part where Karan is floating on the television screen. That’s sort of unsettling how she (the image she projects, anyways…) floats between the walls and the screen and back again.

You and Wendy broke in the new furniture with the wine she brought, although she leaves you with most of it. Before she left, she handed you a medium sized box wrapped in colored paper from her ordinary brown bag.

It was a hair brush set. You’re not really sure why the are so many, or what they do, and you weren’t really in a position to read the words she wrote on the card on account of seeing double or triple.

You passed out on a pile of sheets, not being able to make your bed or, maybe, just too uncaring to try any harder than you did.

That, though, is all yesterday. At least you’re not really hungover, although you can’t really articulate why because two bottles is a lot of wine.

Today, though, is another day on the clock. Fuck. The clock on your small bedside table reads 7:05. You need to clock in by 9, and you’re still riding public transportation.

>How do you prepare for your day?

>>31670416
Drink water in case the hangover just hasn't hit yet.
Ask the house AI what the fastest way to work is

>>31670416
Use all our new hygiene products to not look like the chikd-murdering scumbag we are

Oh wow, I got posts. I thought this would be my first ever thread from 1 to 10 404.

the bad news is I'm away dragged away from my computer for the next 45 minutes.

Willing to continue the thread later than I usually do but we'll cross that bridge when we get there at the ass end of the AMs.

Sorry for the wait/delay/poor execution. Life.

>>31672751
The fact that you're running from PST is probably your biggest weakness, man. It's a good quest.

>>31670416
Hygiene
Food
Leg it
>>31672751
4chan's been on and off all day, plus your writing style might put people off. It's very stream-of-conciousness.

>>31672751
Yeah, I like this quest, but the time zone difference is making it difficult to follow and also sleep.

>>31672751
Normally lurk, but it's the only quest that's caught my interest at all. Lot of neat concepts you're throwing around, and not many things really touch on the psychological state of someone in that line of work, so it's an interesting departure from the usual.

You anons are the best.

Good news is I'm here and back until I can't type straight, which should give us at least 6 hours.

>back in the saddle and writing now

>>31672976
I've been considering trying to start at around noon my time but, man, it's hard to block out a big chunk of time like that during a work day.

Maybe as we get into the summer or something. I'll see what I can do. Maybe a weekend thread.

>>31670416
You roll out of bed, grabbing a pair of your new Wendy-suggested high thread count towels and get the shower running as you scoop big handfuls (...well. small handfuls) of water off the tap and into your mouth. You don’t feel bad YET, but it’s not like feeling fine means you’ll be fine forever, which is a concept you’re intimately familiar with.

Definitely helps the cotton mouth, at any rate, and that was basically the important part. You pull off the holey, faded grey t-shirt and boy shorts you sleep in and dip under the water.

A lot of things about this experience are strange. The fact that you’re watching the sun slowly rise over the lake, the fact that you have an entirely waterproof room to play in, the fact that you actually have plenty of space.

Oh...yeah, the fact that Karan is idly watching you shower is pretty weird too. You’ve seen enough trids and flats to know why this isn’t right or good.

Anyways, you read the labels carefully on your new hair and bath products, although they seem to be pretty largely idiot proof. Pour into hands, rub into hair. Wash hair and scalp.

You can do that, and you even let the conditioner soak in for a full, Karan clocked five minutes as you try out your new body wash. You’re not totally sure what being “exfoliated,” feels like, but whatever this feeling is is pretty nice.

The conditioner washes out easily leaving your hair as soft as your new sheets and you quickly finish washing your face and brushing your teeth.

You wipe off some steam clouding your mirror as you stand over the box Wendy got you. Now that the words have stopped moving you can see that it’s a set of borat bristle hairbrushes. You’re not sure why someone would make a brush out of pig, but you trust Wendy’s judgement on this.

Picking up the card she left with it (“Happy housewarming or whatever!”), you quickly scan the small note she left you.

>[1/2(I think)]

>>31674821

“Your hair is going to make everyone at the office feel a little worse but at least you can stop looking like a sasquatch with these. Use the big barrel brush to dry out your hair then brush for a few minutes with the flat ones. Brush in the morning and again before you go to bed and maybe someday your hair’ll look as good as mine.

Wendy”

She’s even patronizing and condescending in writing. Oh Wendy.

You do as she instructs, anyways, and…

Oh wow. That looks a lot better already. It’s still uneven and disheveled looking, but all lumpiness has been smoothed out and it even has a little bit of gloss to it too.

You run your hands through it a few times to “style,” it (not that there’s a whole lot you can do with it), get dressed, and head downstairs.

You ask Karan to find you an optimal route to work as you ...oh, yeah.

You didn’t buy any food.

You ask Karan to find you an optimal route to work that passes by a cheap place to eat. She asks you to specify, but you wave it away.

You survived for two years in the middle east off FOB food, MREs, and the “local food.” The only thing that sends you to the shitter is binge drinking and dysentery, neither of which turned out to be worse than being shot in the fucking face or having an arm amputated. You reflect back as you eat a breakfast sandwich and drink burned coffee on a bus. Injuries really have a way of putting experiences into perspective.

You roll into the complex promptly at 8:57 AM and wave your hand past the timekeeper, and walk deeper into the building where your designated ready room is.

The room smells like lemon-scented disinfectant and is bathed in a calm, low key blue light. Maybe it only shifts to red when you’re actually on the job. There is an assortment of cheap furniture to sit on.

>[2/3]

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>>31674843

Skyler’s there, slumped into a chair. His eyes are half-closed. You’d maybe say that he doesn’t look great, but since you learned he’s actually totally into heroin you’re sort of surprised he actually looks this good.

Wow. Nice one, Michelle. Way to be a backhanded bitch...

You shake away the voices.

Skyler's head rolls lazily around and looks...maybe not quite at you? But he's definitely looking in your direction.

>Greet your coworker?
>Take a seat?
>Other?

>>31674887
>Take a seat
What have we got today?

>>31674887
>Take a seat

>>31674887
>Greet your coworker?
With just a nod.
Then
>Take a seat.
If he wants conversation, he can initiate. Lets see if there is some sort of schedule for the day.

>writing in 5

Cool to see my regulars are around.

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>>31674887
You greet him with a nod that he half-heartedly returns, and then sit down in a chair that faces perpendicular to his, keeping him in view, if only just.

You look around for any sort of documentation but...there’s nothing in here at all. Not even paper mags on the small tables. Allright then…

You look at the side of Skyler’s face and say, “You know what we’re doing today?”

He shrugs limply, “Not the first time they’ll pay us to do nothing.”

Oh. Wouldn’t that be exciting. A day spent in a room that smells like sweat and adrenaline and terror and disinfectant wondering if today is the day you die.

Awesome.

You marinate in the smell for ten minutes before Wendy walks in. She looks cheerful.

“Oh wow, Michelle! You look gre- …

Or..well, you know. Better? You look better!”

You sigh and slump even more into your chair. “C’mon…”

Wendy gives you a little smile and sits next you and inspects your hair. “You actually used the brushes!”

She’s very excited. ...is it really that obvious?

You nod in response.

“Don’t they just feel AMAZING?”

You nod again.

Wendy seems satisfied and stands back up, and walks over to Skyler. They exchange a brief, but complicated, secret handshake.
They speak briefly for a minute or two before Wendy sits back down next to you.

“So.”

“...So?”

Wendy says, “Just sayin’. I see you brought your bag,” with another little smile on her face.

“Oh. Yeah.”

>I like having it.
>Meh.
>Kind of hate it.
>Other

>>31675559
>>Meh.
I just got it, no opinion as of yet.

>>31675559
>Meh.
It's useful for holding shit at least.

>>31675559
>Kind of hate it.
I want a real bag, dammit.

>writing in 5

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>>31675559

It’s your turn to shrug now. “Meh. I kind of want a real bag”

“A real bag? Whatever, bitch.”

Wendy waves a hand in no real pattern in front of your face, although her disinterest (disgust?) in you is short lived, since she turns right back around in her chair and says, “Do you still wanna know what I did before I started doing,” she waves a finger around the room, “this?”

>Yes
>If you want to share, I don’t want to pry
>Maybe another time
>Other

>>31675998
>Yes
She wouldn't be asking if she didn't want to say.

>>31675998
>Yes!
She was obvious a military personal stylist

>>31675998
>Yes

>>31675998
>>Yes
I am bored, tell me a story.

>writing in 5

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>>31675998

“We could be here awhile. Tell me a story, Wendy.”

“It’s actually not that long. My mother is from Belize. Did you know that English is one of their official languages? And it’s not just, like, a recent thing either it’s been that way for like centuries now.

Anyways, point is I spent a lot of time in Central America and where there’s a Central America there’s a shitton of drug violence, so, you know, I did that.

I ended up getting pretty deep into the powder and then a few mistakes were made and before I know it I’m getting exported to the US by my parents with a sack on my head, stuffed into a tiny crate.”

She shrugs, looking hollow in her eyes, “Now I’m here,” and waits for your response.

>How do you respond?

>>31676650
"I get a feeling you left out a lot..."
How old are these people again?

>>31676650
"Well that sucks. But look at this way, at least you don't have to put up with them asking when they're going to be grandparents."
inb4 sterile

>>31676650
"I can honestly say that I was not expecting that."

And now I need to sleep, on account of it being 2AM and me having classes tomorrow.

>>31676711
Michelle's 19. Wendy is older, but hasn't commented about it on-screen. Skyler is presumably in his 20s, although the track marks and signs of heroin abuse aren't very flattering.

>>31676774
Take care and thanks for playing dearest Anon.

>writing in 5

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>>31676650


That’s...a lot to process all at once.

“I was definitely not expecting anything like that at all. I’m sorry, I think? I can’t even.”

She laughs.

“It was kind of a weird place for me too. Good news is I totally rebuilt the bridge with my family. I mean, it’s still pretty weird since it’s not like being forcibly kidnapped and shipped abroad ever gets normal, you know?.”

No...no you don’t know.

>Tell her you’re an orphan
>Ehhh…
>Just let it slide
>Other

>>31677382
>Just let it slide

>>31677382
>Just let it slide
She's been nice to us, in her bitchy way

>>31677382
>Ehhh…
[uncomfortable silence intensifies]

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>>31677382

Hah. Hah. “Totally know!”

ha. Ha ha.

If Wendy notices that you’re being (extra) weird, she doesn’t comment on it.

This is an uncomfortable silence.

You can fix this. You can totally fix this. “Soo...late clocking in, huh?”

Oh yes. That solved it.

Wendy shrugs, “I didn’t want to get out of the bath.”

“...You take an actual bath in the mornings?”

“Why do I? Are you telling me you don’t? Hello. I’ve seen that bath tub. I would, literally, kill for it.”

That’s a lot more intensity than you thought she’d have.

>Offer to let her use it after work
>Mumble incoherently
>Spaghetti harder (Write-in)
>Other?

>>31677659
>Offer to let her use it after work
I wanna see how Karan reacts.

File: 1384742359664.jpg (1.61 MB, 3000x1000)

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Lurker here.

I often don't see these quests until long after they're done, but keep fighting the good fight anon. It's something special you have here

>>31677799
Oh wow. That's a really neat dock/terminal. If it were paletted swapped to Deus Ex gloss black with softly glowing yellow accents that could be one of Echo City's richer Lake Eerie landings.

Thanks Anon! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

>>31677659
>>Offer to let her use it after work
Doesn't she have the same or better salary than us? Why isn't she living in something like ours?

>>31677847
From the QM, Wendy likes things more than she does a fancy house ...although that could very well change.

Thus far she's more of a "live in a cheap place and buy expensive things, like 10/20/30 thousand dollar dresses."

>writing now

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>>31677659

“Christ, I didn’t know that bath time was that important to you. Do you have some floating ducks and boats too?”

You smirk like a cunt.

“Oh fuck you. Is that what I get for sharing?”

You laugh and say, “If you, you know, wanna drive me back home after work you could stay a while and use it if you wanted to.”

Wendy looks intensely suspicious. “Really?”

“Really.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

Play it cool, Wendy. Play it real cool.

You pull out your phone and check the tim-

“Wait, are you for real? You don’t wear a watch?”

“Oh my god Wendy.”

“I’m just saying. We’re up to our tits in blood money. Buy a fucking watch and stop looking like a teenager or a homeless.”

- and check the time. 9:37. You get the feeling this could be a long, awful day.

>Make conversation with Skyler and/or Wendy?
>Pace anxiously?
>Spaghetti harder (write-in)
>Other?

>>31678152
But I am a teenage! And I happen to like my phone, thank you very much! It's okay phone, you are good, you are valuable, don't let the jealous lady make you mad....

>>31678152
Do one-armed pushups, alternating arms. See how long it takes Wendy to notice.

>writing in 5

>>31678152
Extend and retrace claws back and forth.
Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...Slick....Snerk...

>>31678388
we can do this a few times when we're really bored before it gets annoying and before we end up nearly scalping ourselves with our claws again

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>>31678152

You’ve read journals and diaries about soldiers who kept tabs of LSD in the bands of their helmets, only to sweat in the tropical heat. “Where will you be when the acid kicks in?” turned out to be pretty common.

You’ll be the first to admit that caffeine isn’t quite the same, but that doesn’t make you any less able to hurry up and wait.

Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt. Snikt.

You watch your claws go in and out in and out in and out in and out in and out in and ou-

Ow. Wendy hits you on the back of the head. You’re lucky you didn’t take out an eye or scalp yourself again as it shot out.

“Oh. my. fucking. god. Knock that shit off Michelle. I will hit a cripple.”

“Fine, fine…”

You tuck them away with a final snikt and move to your plan B: one arm augment pushups.

There are only so many you can do before your toes hurt, and you hit that limit quickly.

Well then. That took...only twenty three minutes? Fuck everything. It’s now 10 AM on the nose.

Seven hours to go.

>Spaghetti harder (write-in)
>Pace anxiously
>Conversate
>Other?

>>31678693
Take out weapon, do maintenance and stuff.
Take out phone, play pinball.

>>31678693
>Conversate
ask Wendy and Skylar what they normally do when on standby, then
>Pace anxiously

>>31678693
Drowse like a good soldier on standby.

>writing as of 5 minutes ago

>>31678878
I snooze, night. 2 AM jeez....

>>31679098
it's kind of slowing down post time, yeah.

Catch you next time, pal. Thanks for playing!

>>31678693

You pace anxiously as you play a game on your phone. It uses internal gyroscopes as control input, so you end up making steep banks and hard turns around the ready room, carving an uncaring and poorly coordinated path.

Your attention span seems to only get turned on when in danger of being murdered, because that did not last long. You put the phone away and just pace anxiously like a normal person.

You wish you were a better conversater.

“So...you know…”

“No, I don’t think I do Michelle,” Wendy says without looking up from a large, black tablet in her hands.

Well...fuck. Maybe if you were more specific.

>Ask Wendy something?
>Ask Skyler something?
>Ask both of them something?
>Other?

>>31679148
>try meditating
So we're gonna be stuck here all day doing nothing, OP? Kinda boring.

>>31679148
>Ask Skyler something?
Ask Skyler how did he end up here.
whatcangowrong.png

>>31679181
I'd say something about a random encounter chart, but I don't use one of those.

Instead, could be one of those days when you're trapped in a small room with people you work with.

It's easier for them to just have all their employees show up and pay them for their time. Sometimes not everyone is needed.

It's a swingy sort of job.

Could swing in the other direction, too.

>>31679148
I'm gonna back meditating for a bit, before more inappropriate questions spew forth.

>writing now

>>31679148

You’ve read meditating helps. You don’t know what it really means or how to do it, but, really, you’ll try a lot of things now.

You sit down in the middle of the room and close your eyes loudly going, “UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.”

Wendy looks up over the edge of her device, “Michelle, what the fuck are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“Fucking around and annoying the fuck out of us.”

“It’s supposed to be meditation.”

Wendy massages her entire face with the palm of a hand, “Oh my fucking god. First off, it’s “ohm,” not “UMM.” Second, shut the fuck up, holy shit. Friends don’t make friends want to kill their friends for being insufferable little whores.”

She shoots you a sharp, pointed glance.

Ouch.

“Fiiiiiiiine…

Hey, Skyler?”

He grunts. You know, you’re not really sure what that means. You see it in books and stories and whatever all the time, but…

whatever. He would’ve said something like “go away,” or “I will rip your fingernails out with my bare hands,” or something if he was really annoyed.

“How’d you end up here?”

Wendy goes, “Hooooooooo boy.”

Thanks Wendy, you’re always a real help.

You’re surprised when Skyler speaks, his voice uncomfortably melodic and honey like, “I was in the Golden Triangle killing Cambodians for the Laotians over poppy farms and heroin money.”

...well

that was. uh.

Uncomfortably brief.

“So...Wendy’s a narco warrior...you’re a narco warrior, and…”

You point at yourself, “And basically I’m a narco warrior too since like all we did was shoot the shit out of people in or around poppy fields. So...yeah. Allright. We’re basically all (war) criminals.

Cool…”

Wendy lets out a long yep.

How profoundly unsettling.

>How do you react?

>>31679549
>Blog about it on Twitter.

So 3 AM is when "late," becomes "too late," then.

I'll do one more post and wrap itup there.

>>31679690
Aww.. Goddammit, just woke up, looking forward to finally participating in this quest

>>31679549
>So...any tips on fighting narcs?

>>31679690
Ah, alright.

>>31679720
>>31679781
...oh

well

Ok then we can do some more, but I can tell you it's starting to get weird.

>>31679790
You start at kind of a weird time and run for ages. Not really conducing to a consistent playerbase.
Also, we've been stuck a room with a couple of weirdos for most of the thread. Not much has happened.

>>31679828
I had no idea Pacific time was suffering.

>>31679549

By sharing it with strangers, obviously. Your phone’s back out and you’re tapping away not-so-furiously when you catch Wendy staring at you.

“What?”

“What the fuck are you doing on twitter?”

“...tweeting?”

“Oh fucking hell no you don’t.”

Wendy leaps (actually jumps!) to her feet and stomps (or...well...clicks, because of her heels) towards you menacingly.

“...What?”

“Are you dumb? They’ll find you, then they’ll torture you, then you’ll talk, then they’ll kill you, then they’ll come and torture and then kill me. No fucking thank you. If you push that button I will turn you into a double amputee.”

You slowly set the phone down. Wendy snatches it up and begins deleting everything.

“At WetworkIdols, really? That’s the best you could come up with? Holy shit, how did you survive childhood let alone a warzone.

Jesus. Talk to your counselor if you wanna fuckin’ blog about it to strangers. God damn it, Michelle. And, before you ask, no Skyler and I will not let you strap a trideo-cam to yourself for the company to sell.”

So...there’s some righteous anger.

You know just the safe topic!

“So...uh...any tips on beating the narcs?”

“Yeah, retard, don’t fucking self-identify. Holy shit. Nine out of ten dictators in exile get brutally murdered and hung from streetlights because they can’t keep their fucking mouths shut.”

She throws your phone back at you, but it’s pretty clear she pulled a lot of it since it doesn’t really hurt much.

“Goddamnit I am in charge of a child.”

She returns to her seat and broods.

This got weird. Maybe if you’re lucky a job will come up.

>Conversate more
>Spaghetti harder (write-in)
>Other?

>>31679976
>Spaghetti harder (write-in)
Apologise. Mention something about childhood actually being in a warzone, or something.

>writing in 5

>>31680010
I thought you had another Anon pal to pal around with.

>>31680010
Sure, sounds good.

>>31680086
You assume I refresh more often than once every 30 minutes! I'm at work, so.

>>31680125
Oh. Well then.

Okay, I'm sorry, I really have to end the thread with this post. It's just too goddamned late for me to keep going.

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>>31679976

You look down and away in shame. “Sorry Wendy…”

“Oh my god knock it the fuck off what is wrong with you? I swear to god if you were even just a bit less consistent I could use you as a sponge to clean a plate.”

????. You don’t get it. Inconsistent about what?

Wendy just makes a loud UGH sound and goes back to whatever it is she’s looking at or doing.

You thought about making some comparisons to the orphan life as a warzone of its own, but...that’d be too weird, even for you.

So not the time, Michelle. So not the time.
God you really need something more interest...ing to...do.

Oh. The light just turned from blue to red.

Fuck.

END SESSION

Archive coming. Questions/comments/concerns/whatever go here, I'll be around briefly. Twitter me at @WetworkIdols if you have an itch that just won't be scratched without me.

Thanks for playing everyone, especially those who get up early or stay up late to be with me.

>>31680331
Thanks for running! It was fun.

>>31680355
You're welcome! I really like how insufferably banal and inane the quest becomes when we're in "slice of life" mode.

It's really good contrast to the ultra-compressed violence.

>>31680372
Yeah, dumb characters saying stupid stuff and pissing each-other off is entertaining.

>>31680405
I hope you're not mocking me and that's genuine, otherwise...ouch.

>>31680431
Haha, it's genuine. I like your SoL stuff.

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>>31680439
I was sweating bullets there, Anon.

You gotta be straight with me when it's 4:40 AM local.

>>31680331
Thread archived.

>>31680492
Running late, huh.

>>31680567
Accidentally, mostly...

I never intended for it to go THIS long, but then some fresh anons came in and I felt cheap for shorting them, so I ran a bit over.

Rolled 65

>>31680331

I allways get to read these but never to participate.....damn 8 hour diference

>>31680680
I'm considering the idea of starting a thread around 11 AM-Noon-1 PM maybe on a weekend.

not sure if I can find the time during the day, but stay tuned to the twitter for news.

Incidentally, next thread...not sure when. Probably not until Monday at the least. I gotta see how the end of my week goes and how the beginning of my week starts forming.

>>31680777
I'm officially signing off for tonight.

Thanks again for playing (or reading)! I'll see all of you next time.