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You were admittedly tempted to set up an ambush and get this over with. After all, you feel like you shouldn't be here too long, in more ways than one.

"Alright. We're going north. Keep your light off." On second thought, though, they said they found it because it was glowing. You think it should be easy enough to find it.

Delta nods, flicking his flashlight off. After you do the same, the two of you start walking north. It's quickly apparent that you're gonna have to take it slow moving without a light. Oh well.

"So, Delta. Ready to beat up some fuckin' glowy thing?" You're not really sure how to break up the silence without drawing too much attention to yourself. Delta merely shrugs. Ouch.

https://youtu.be/EaRiY7WkMhw (Village Theme)

Father Above, you're glad you moved away from the Wastes while you could. There's nothing out here besides shadow-hidden buildings and wind blowing in the distance. If you wanted to deal with this shit, you would beg that Admin fuck to work on Sirocco more (why DOES she dislike dudes? you only see girls go in there.)

Luckily, your habit of constantly wearing sunglasses has made you used to stumbling around in the dark. Delta is not so well trained, so you have to keep a hand on the tall oaf's shoulder to keep him nearby.

"Remind me why we're doing this again? This would be so much easier with a light on."

"Buddy. It's a glowing thing, that's how they found it. And what is very easy to see in the dark?"

"Ah. Didn't really think of that."

Your eyes adjust enough in the dark to see the nearby buildings you keep passing by. Most of them are just empty, simple huts made out of clay and sandstone. Nothing that you put much effort into paying attention to.

What is remarkable is that the further north you go, the more ash coats the ground. Your well-polished boots are already getting ruined. Damnit, you spent a solid hour making sure they were shiny and perfect!

The two of you stop when you notice something vaguely circular in front of you. It takes a moment for you to recognize it as a fountain. Oh great, you're at where they last saw it.

"Okay. Where the hell are we?" Delta squints, trying his best to see anything in the moonlight. He steps forward, nearly bumping his toes against the fountain. "OUCH!"

"At the fountain. We should be able to find it quickly enou-" You squint your eyes. It's like 12 AM, there should NOT be anything lit up, especially after you made sure to keep your lights off.

"What's that weird look you're giving me?"

"Delta, for the love of the Father, don't move." You slowly lean over to get a closer look at the light behind him. Luckily, the anomaly isn't actually looming behind him. There's a building a dozen feet or so away from where you two are at. Blinding white light is flooding out from the windows and door.

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You're pretty sure you found where the anomaly is but...you don't really know how to proceed from here. The most you can gleam about it right now is that it has to be inside of that building, and you only see one way in and out so far.

thesunthesunthesunTHESUN

"Mask your light. Quiet your heart." A crackling voice echoes from the building, to no one at particular. Deep and oozing with the no-nonsense seriousness that you can only describe as AUTHORITY.

"Guess it really can talk." You muse to yourself, trying to keep your voice low enough to avoid attracting it's attention

"Gamma? What's the plan? We can't exactly stand here all day, you know." Delta whispers. You blink. Yeah, you need to think of a plan, and soon. You want this thing inside of a cube so you can get the hell out of here.

What's your plan?

>[COOLHEADED] Best to make sure that the area is secured before you go any further. Check to see if there's any other entrances it can flee from or if there's any hint to WHY it's roaming around here.
>[SAVVY] You're still a fan of the ambush plan yourself. Flashlight as a distraction, Delta as the stick to beat it to exhaustion.
>[FAST TALKER] Well, your lights are off, and this thing can talk. It's not a stretch to assume some sort of sentience. Try opening a conversation with it.
>Fuck it. Just go inside and deal with it already. Two vs one, how bad can it really be?
>Maybe you should get some advice from your teammates. Step away and try contacting the other team on your radio.
>You're probably better off watching to see what it does. Observe work and all of that. Get more information on how it works.
>Write in

(Back to business. Sorry for the delay, my family has been kinda sick lately and I've been trying to keep an eye out on them.)

>>5130118
>Mask your light. Quiet your heart.
Yeah, I'm thinking this is some soul-based shit.
>Maybe you should get some advice from your teammates. Step away and try contacting the other team on your radio.
>You're probably better off watching to see what it does. Observe work and all of that. Get more information on how it works.
Glad to have you back, Overseer. Hope the family feels better soon.

>>5130118
>[FAST TALKER] Well, your lights are off, and this thing can talk. It's not a stretch to assume some sort of sentience. Try opening a conversation with it.
>You're probably better off watching to see what it does. Observe work and all of that. Get more information on how it works.

Unless anons really want to recreate Jackass the Motion Picture.

>>5130118
>Maybe you should get some advice from your teammates. Step away and try contacting the other team on your radio.
>You're probably better off watching to see what it does. Observe work and all of that. Get more information on how it works.

>>5130118
>You're probably better off watching to see what it does. Observe work and all of that. Get more information on how it works.

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You signal at Delta to slowly back away from the talking light thing, whatever it actually is. He gets the hint and backs up a few feet with you. Yeah, you're not rushing in head first, you might as well see how it ticks.

But first, you should contact with your other teammates. As quickly and quietly as you can, you finesse your radio out of one of the many pockets on your outfit.

You flinch when the radio crackles with life. Quickly covering it with your uniform's sleeve, you adjust one of the knobs to adjust the volume to be quiet enough for the anomaly not to hear you, but loud enough for you to be able to hear it.

"Gamma?" A tomboyish voice rings out from the radio. Shit, not the Ranger, please. "Wrong frequency again? Damn, you're a dumbass."

"shut up" You wish you could yell but you quickly adjust the frequency to the one you actually need to be at. A soft, gentle voice crackles through it. Good, Null, she would know.

"Yes, Gamma? What's the matter?"

"Yeah, uh, we just found an anomaly. Huge glowing ball, seems occupied by something, able to talk. All I know about it is it responses to some sort of light. Got any advice on how we should, uh, deal with it?"

"Light, huh? Do you have your flashlights off?"

"Correct."

"How far away are you from it?"

"Couple feet or so. Probably around five to ten. Why?"

"Hm. I wonder why it hasn't attacked you then. You should be clear enough for it to hear or see you. If I had to guess, whatever it's doing in that building is keeping it distracted."

You look over at the building, curious to see if Null is right. As you stare into the light, you see that over time, it pulses and flickers sporadically, as if it was breathing heavily. You can see Delta's eyes going glassy as he stares at it with you.

theSUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUN

"The light keeps flickering and sending out pulses but yeah, it's not moving." You doubt it's asleep (can it sleep? does asun it need to?) but it is weird how...inactive it is.

"If it moves from that building, I would recommend checking the interior out. Maybe that'll give you a hint on how to capture it."

"Right. Before we sign off, you think it might be religious in any way? Said something about 'mask your light, quiet your head'. Sounded like soul shit."

Null hums, almost impressed that you thought of that, in a condescending sort of way. "Well, didn't expect you to think about it that much. Maybe. If it is, maybe try talking to it on its level."

Right. You give your stock goodbyes before tuning the radio off. Not all that much advice but still better to work on than anything. You decide to go back to looking it to see what else you can gleam about this thing.

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You snap your fingers at Delta to get his attention. Seems like it snaps him out of whatever he was zoning out to. "Stay focused, man. I might need you in a moment."

"They'll never make it in time." A voice crackles from the building again, getting your attention. Why else would it be talking unless it's...oh Father above. Is there someone inside of that building right now? It seems to be talking to something, at least.

You can hardly make out if there is another person, over the crackling of thesun something burning and the chattering of gears. Then you noticed something. The light is shifting.

The building it is starts to change. What used to be hard sandstone slowly shifts into a transparent, glass-like substance. More and more light floods out of the building and into the surrounding area. Shit, is the light able to transmute stuff? Probably a good thing you didn't run in head first.

"S-shit. Th-that can't be good." Delta tries his best to keep his eyes off of it. You instinctually follow his lead, if only because if the towering oaf is afraid of it, so should you.

thesun

"This is what you wanted, wasn't it? Of course it is. The world wanted my presence back." The crackling voice echoes out again. It sounds like utter nonsense to you, yet you oddly respect what it's saying regardless.

Over the sound of crackling fire and grinding gears, you swear you heard someone crying. In distress? Or perhaps in relief? Maybe both. Probably both.

isitwrongto

Your head feels fuzzy. Father above, is this what that Admin back at base feels on a daily basis? Fucking feels like it. Not good, not good at all. You take a deep breath, try to push that fuzziness out.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that you need to stop whatever it's doing and fast. You don't got much time to think, you need to do something now.

>[COOLHEADED] Take a deep breath. Get whatever is lingering in your system out. You need a clear head to do this. Is it messing with you?
>[FAST TALKER] Talking to it will help get information and may help you recontain it. Or delay it for a few minutes. Try opening a conversation, maybe about religion? Maybe on it's past? (Feel free to add write ins on what you wanna say to it.)
>[SAVVY] If it can really see souls, it should've seen you by now. Maybe actual light has a part to do with it. Turn on every light source you have to get its attention, NOW.
>Try calling for backup? (It'll probably take a while for them to get over here. Might be too late by then)
>remove your sunglasses already
>Write in

(Taking care of sick family members is more time sinking than I thought. We should be back to regular daily or day and a half updates)

>>5135562
>[COOLHEADED] Take a deep breath. Get whatever is lingering in your system out. You need a clear head to do this. Is it messing with you?
>Break line of sight and go somewhere very dark
Light, huh?

>>5135754
+1
do not look directly at the sun

>>5135754
+1, and:
>Warn Delta of possible mental contamination. Likely sight-based, don't take off your eye protection.

>>5135562
>Break line of sight, tell Delta to do the same
>[FAST TALKER] Talking to it will help get information and may help you recontain it. Or delay it for a few minutes. Try opening a conversation, maybe about religion? Maybe on it's past? (Feel free to add write ins on what you wanna say to it.)
If it can turn a house into glass, we do not want to fight this thing if we can help it. Try prodding about light, the sun, and the Father; if it responds negatively drop it immediately but if it responds positively tentatively try to engage with whatever it has to say on the topic. Be wary of mental attacks.

>>5135562
>[COOLHEADED] Take a deep breath. Get whatever is lingering in your system out. You need a clear head to do this. Is it messing with you?
>Break line of sight and go somewhere very dark

>>5135562
>[COOLHEADED] Take a deep breath. Get whatever is lingering in your system out. You need a clear head to do this. Is it messing with you?
>[FAST TALKER] Talking to it will help get information and may help you recontain it. Or delay it for a few minutes. Try opening a conversation, maybe about religion? Maybe on it's past? (Feel free to add write ins on what you wanna say to it.)

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THESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUN

Okay, nope, you need to get the FUCK out of line of sight of this thing right NOW. Your head feels just fine. Don't do remove your shades, GalenGamma.

Remember your training.

Your eyes dart around, trying desperately to find somewhere away from the shadelight. Before you can even really process it, you grab Delta's arm and start dragging him over to the shady side of a nearby house that won't be glassed.

"jesus christ you're pulling a bit hard there." You're not sure if Delta's underreaction to WHY you're dragging him is a good or a bad sign. Once you're not in the immediate vicinity of the death orb, you open up.

"Look. My head is feeling all sorts of fine...fucked up. Fucked up, I meant to say fucked up!" Your eyes itch. Oh, it would be so tempting to remove your shades, just to scratch at them.

Deep breath in and out. "I think that thing is a mental hazard. Sight based, maybe, don't...DON'T remove anything covering your eyes." You raise your hands up. Four fingers, one thumb. Two hands. You're Gamma. You're working at Sector ALPHA-1. You work for a husk of a man who somehow has training that only you and your other ETF members have.

You're here to do a job. You're here to capture anomalies. You're here to do your best. Remember that, REMEMBER THAT. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE A FAILURE LIKE THE PREVIOUS AGENTS. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT.

They'll never make it. You'll never make it.

don't listen to it don't pay attention to it it's not there it's not there you're gamma you're an etf agent you're your own person.

Your head clears a bit. Getting away from its line of sight calms your nerves. You were never much of a fan of daytime stuff anyways. Nighttime is where it's all at, hehe.

"You okay? You were twitching pretty hard there." Delta looks as worried as he can be, in his own emotionally stunted while not in combat way. "Sun's still going apeshit with all of that light. Got a plan?"

Hrm. Yeah, you can't exactly sit here and let it burn away everything, but you also don't want to rush in there head first.

Now that you're not in direct exposure to whatever the anomaly was doing to you, you feel comfortable enough trying to talk to it. If only to gauge how it'll react. "I'm going to talk to it."

"Alright...?" Delta is a lot more concerned than anything else at that.

"Hey!" You shout around the corner of the house you've hidden behind. "Uh...sun thing. I don't know your name so this is the best I can do." You can't see if it moved but the clattering of gears slowed down when you said something.

"Do you know anything about the Father? Only things I know that show as much light as you involve him."

"Where are you? The echoing, AUTHORITATIVE voice booms out. That's not an immediate hostile reaction, you think?
(1/2)

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"Look, I heard you talked about dimming my light and all of that. Do you preach that book-thumping stuff or what?"

"The Father." It creaks in recognition, straining to put thoughts to words. Like it hasn't heard it in a while. "False idol. Doesn't understand the chain of being. Far out of his allotted place. I am your salvation. Show yourself."

"Chain of...being?" An odd phrase. A phrase you would expect an anomaly to say. "Is that some sort of...sun thing? I think you're a sun." THEsun

"My light brings peace to this land. Dim your light. Stand in my light. You shall understand."

Hrm. You're not sure if you understand what it's saying at all but it doesn't seem to be attacking you, at least. Might as well keep going on this path, see how far you can go.

"That didn't answer my question. The hell did you mean by that chain of being thing?" You're really tired of anomalies being cryptic for no good reason. You can hardly fault them, though. They're just fundamentally different from you.

"There is a top. I am the top. There is a bottom. You are the bottom. There is a middle. The Father is in the middle. Know this, know it WELL." The burning gears crackle and clatter harshly, winding itself up. Clatter clatter, clink clink. Is it even a sun? "To reach the top, you need my light. My help. Dim your light. Let my light soak into you."

As cryptic and vague as its being, it's distracted by what you're asking it for now. You think if you can just keep it focused on you, you might be able to get the upper hand.

How do you proceed from here? Your head feels clearer, but still a bit fuzzy. You're not sure how much exposure to its light you could handle, but you should be relatively safe in the shade for now. Enough to ask it a few questions (or to buy enough time for another plan).

>Try prodding into why it's here. There has to be a reason it's here, no?
>[SAVVY] It doesn't take a genius to realize this thing has a high opinion of itself. Focus on flattering it about its glow and other aspects about it. (DC: 16, Bo3 d20. Successfully stroking its pride should lead to it being more willing to listen or talk more. Failure will do the opposite. A good enough write in may lower the DC)
>[FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)
>[COOLHEADED] Don't answer. You think it might get impatient enough to come over here. (Wouldn't take much effort but would result in more Light Exposure.)
>Ask it something else entirely (Write in what you want to ask of it)
>Ask it to come willingly with you? (yeah, this is a far shot.)
>Tell Delta to ask it a question. See how it responses to him, if anything.
>No, no, you got a better plan. (Write in)

>>5137706
>FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)

>>5137697
Looks like it took a minute for the mental effects to fade. That's not a great sign.

>False idol.
>There is a top. I am the top. There is a bottom. You are the bottom. There is a middle. The Father is in the middle.
Huh. Now that's interesting. While the interaction would be violent, it might be interesting to get this Sun and Future to meet up at some point.

>>5137706
>[FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)

>>5137706
>FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)
"But how did you get to the top yourself? Were you always there, or did you get put there? Uplifted, like you claim you want to do for others? And why would a high being like you want us humans on the same level as you?"
"Tell me about yourself, cool sun orb or whatever you are."

>>5137706
>[SAVVY] It doesn't take a genius to realize this thing has a high opinion of itself. Focus on flattering it about its glow and other aspects about it. (DC: 16, Bo3 d20. Successfully stroking its pride should lead to it being more willing to listen or talk more. Failure will do the opposite. A good enough write in may lower the DC)
>[FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)

Why not both?

>>5137706
>No, no, you got a better plan. (Write in)
>tell Delta to find anything that reflects light, be it a mirror or a large piece of metal
>FAST TALKER] It doesn't matter what you ask it. Just that it keeps its eyes on you. Keep it engaged on talking to you so Delta can get into a better position to strike it. (DC: 12, Bo2 d20. Success should help you get into a better position to capture it. Failure may lead to it catching onto the ruse.)

If it hates getting light on it, what happens when its own beams get thrown into it? Taste of your own medicine, sun thing.

Seems like the majority is going for Fast Talker, with Vr8's write in being what you say to it.

Need two people to roll a d20, DC 12.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>5139285
Alrighty Warden

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>5139285

Is this fucking thing a Demiurge analogies?
Either way, seeing it respond to Future is going to be a trip and a half lmao.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>5139285

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>5139285

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>FAST TALKER...SUCCESS.

If anyone is going to have time to question this thing a lot, it's whatever facility bothers picking it. Not like the one with the tar-fuck is the only one you gotta ship them too.

"Look, I'm gonna talk to it, and while I do? Get the cube and get it into position. Hurry."

"Sir, yes, sir!" He nods, trying to keep his voice down. You turn your attention to the sun-orb thing, still making sure you're hiding from it's sight. The moment you open your mouth, Delta (as quickly and quietly as he can) starts rushing back to where you parked your vehicle.

"But how did you get to the top yourself? Were you always there or were you put there? Uplifted, like you claim you want to do for others?" If anything, you should get more information on how it thinks.

"There is a top. I am the top. There is a bottom. You are the bottom. This is the natural order of things. Learn it well." That sounds like what it said a few moments ago. Good thing you're not too interested in its answers.

"Why would a high being like you want us humans on the same level as you?" Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't it be the opposite?

"Don't you want to be higher? The chain of being is natural, yes, but it must burden your light to be locked so low, low. Dim your light. Let me replace it."

LISTENTOME You duck your head when you realize that the cover you're hiding behind is slowly being glassed like the house the anomaly is in. You quickly scramble to hide yourself in the shadows where the light hasn't converted anything.

"Still. What purpose do you gain from it, cool sun orb whatever you are?" You wipe the sweat from your brow. Father Above DON'T USE, you don't want to know what happens if the light touches you too long.

"Galen." Your blood goes cold as you hear that name. How in the...? "I simply wish to free you. Don't you want to be free? Dim your light. Quiet your heart. Let me in."

"S-shit, dude, you don't gotta force this onto me. I'm just trying to get, uh, fuck. A better perspective on things?" The light shining in through the slowly widening plane of glass shows the piles of ash coating your boots and pants. Where did all of it come from? donTTHINKABOUTIT

"You are trying my patience. I am the top. You are the bottom. Let me FIX IT." The clattering of gears rings through the air. The air is burning with the scent of rotten glass and ash. It's getting closer.

You're not sure how close, considering getting close enough to check leaves you more exposed to the light LETIT, but it's definitely out of the house now. Shit, shit, where the hell is Delta?

"I shall save you, just as I saved this village." It hurts to breath. The ash, the heat, the light, your chest feels like it's about to burst any second now. Trust in the plan. TRUST. IN. THE. PLAN.

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As the light gets closer to where you're hiding at, you see him. Oh thank the Father, Delta is here. You hiss out a sigh of relief, glad that your efforts weren't wasted.

He has wheeled in one of the containment cubes they gave you specifically for this harvest. Nearly double the size and a lot thicker. You still don't know what they're made of, though you've heard rumors of them being sourced from U-Company.

Delta backpedals with it to make sure he's not visible to the sun before he starts putting the access code in. While that's all good and all, there's still the issue of putting this thing in it and...

https://youtu.be/rRdrtA0dU8w

The sun. THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN! Right around the corner, the sound of clattering gears and the horrible, lovely blindingly white light flooding around it tells you that THESUN is here. Shit, shit, fuck! You scramble back as far as you can but you can already see your surroundings slowly warp. Slowly become transparent. Perfect.

A spinning gear-like chunk of metal pokes around the corner. Coated in bizarre runes that BURN to look at.

"He'll never make it in time." The lovelyhorrid, luminous sun crackles. "Dim your light. I shall make you whole. I shall make you me."

If you can just buy a few extra seconds, just enough time for Delta to open that cube, you think you can get this thing contained. You just need to find a way to buy that precious, precious time without the sun searing you with light.

What do you do, Galen Gamma?

>[COOLHEADED] Calm down, look at the ash covered...ash! Grab as much as it as you can and throw it to block the light! (DC: 14, Bo2. Success will block enough light to keep you safe just long enough for Delta to move in. Failure will probably just result in getting you dirty or choking you on the ash.)
>[SAVVY] This thing produces light like crazy. What if you gave it a piece of your own medicine? Grab the most reflective thing you can get and reflect the anomaly's own light (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will bounce the light back at it, most likely damaging it severely. Failure will result in getting a lot of Light Exposure, probably not good to your mental state.)
>[FAST TALKER] "Oh, I'm not going to be dimming anything." Pull out every spare flashlight you have and turn them on. Floodlight this asshole. (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will repulse it over to where Delta is, right where the containment cube is. Failure will probably just piss it off HARD.)
>Fuck it. Pull out your knife and jam it into one of the SUNSSUNsun's gears. (DC: 12, Bo1. You only got one knife, after all. Success will clog its gears and damage it. Failure will result in you getting too close to the sun, literally.)
>No, no, you got another idea (Write in. Suggest your own plan and I'll tell you the DC.)

>>5140877
>[FAST TALKER] "Oh, I'm not going to be dimming anything." Pull out every spare flashlight you have and turn them on. Floodlight this asshole. (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will repulse it over to where Delta is, right where the containment cube is. Failure will probably just piss it off HARD.)

>>5140877
>[FAST TALKER] "Oh, I'm not going to be dimming anything." Pull out every spare flashlight you have and turn them on. Floodlight this asshole. (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will repulse it over to where Delta is, right where the containment cube is. Failure will probably just piss it off HARD.)

>>5140877
>SAVVY] This thing produces light like crazy. What if you gave it a piece of your own medicine? Grab the most reflective thing you can get and reflect the anomaly's own light (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will bounce the light back at it, most likely damaging it severely. Failure will result in getting a lot of Light Exposure, probably not good to your mental state.)

>>5140877
>[SAVVY] This thing produces light like crazy. What if you gave it a piece of your own medicine? Grab the most reflective thing you can get and reflect the anomaly's own light (DC: 16, Bo3. Success will bounce the light back at it, most likely damaging it severely. Failure will result in getting a lot of Light Exposure, probably not good to your mental state.)
If we injure it, it'll hopefully be easier to start working on.

>>5140877
>>[COOLHEADED] Calm down, look at the ash covered...ash! Grab as much as it as you can and throw it to block the light! (DC: 14, Bo2. Success will block enough light to keep you safe just long enough for Delta to move in. Failure will probably just result in getting you dirty or choking you on the ash.)
getting turned into a glass statue seems like a bad way to go.

>>5140877
>[COOLHEADED] Calm down, look at the ash covered...ash! Grab as much as it as you can and throw it to block the light! (DC: 14, Bo2. Success will block enough light to keep you safe just long enough for Delta to move in. Failure will probably just result in getting you dirty or choking you on the ash.)
POCKET SAND THE GEARS

>[COOLHEADED] Calm down, look at the ash covered...ash! Grab as much as it as you can and throw it to block the light! (DC: 14, Bo2. Success will block enough light to keep you safe just long enough for Delta to move in. Failure will probably just result in getting you dirty or choking you on the ash.)

Think that's enough time to wait. Coolheaded wins out, just barely.

Same as the previous roll, but with a DC of 14 now.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5141806

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>5141806
For posterity

Success it is. Writing the update now, we should be at the end of this little prelude and should get back to regular programming soon.

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>COOLHEADED...GREAT SUCCESS!

You can feel time slow down as you decide on your decision. Adrenaline pumping through your veins, only a few seconds to make the move to save your ass. What a day, what a lovely day.

>Adrenaline Rush: If you're in a very dangerous situation, you may experience a temporary rush which increases your speed and strength significantly. Usually only triggers if mortal peril is on the table.

If there's one thing you've had enough experience with, it's how light gets muted and dampened when stuff like ash is in the air. You reach down and scoop up a huge handful of the gunk. Oh, the things you sacrifice for survival.

"Dim your light. DIM YOUR LIGHT. DIM. YOUR. LIGHT." Four seconds left. Gotta move, gotta move. A wide smirk creeps across your face, almost like a fracture on breaking glass. "Oh, I'm gonna be dimming something alright."

NODON'TYou toss the handful of ash into the air, right at the anomaly. All visibility immediately goes to shit but that was the plan, after all. THESUN, only hidden by a layer of ashy dust, clatters irregularly. It didn't expect that at all.

"What...? Dim your light. Dim your LIGHT. DIM YOUR LIGHT." The thick, ashy cloud in front of you is slowly being warped by the light. It's impossible to make a solid layer of glass with such scattered particles but...the small shards of glass floating down are oddly beautiful.

standSTILL You quickly grab another handful and toss it just as the ash from before either falls to the ground or gets glassed. You are VERY much aware on how flimsy of a defense this is but you gotta TRUST IN THE PLAN.

"I am a Judgement. I am the Top." Rotten glass floods the air. The clattering gears gets louder, closer. It burns to breath. There's only a thin layer of ash separating its light from your body, only a few inches of space at most.

"HEY! YOU FUCKING DISCOUNT NIGHT LIGHT!" Oh god Delta what the fuck are you doing. The barely visible mass of gears and light in front of you grinds to a halt in confusion before you hear...

CRUNCH!

You know that sound from anywhere. Delta's never been tech savvy or, well, savvy at all. You were always the one to think up of plans, you were always the Head. But he's really, REALLY fucking good at one thing. Smashing shit apart.

The gear(s) he hit grind to a sudden and PAINFULPAINFULPAINFULear-grinding halt. The IAMASUNYOUCANNOT light dims for only a moment, just long enough for you to make your move. Reaching down to get another handful of ash, you toss it right into the gaping maw (or the closest thing to it) of the anomaly.

It's hard to describe the sound you hear from it as anything but choking. YOUSHALLBEJUDGED The light coming out of it is a lot dimmer, clouded with ash. If you had to guess, it's probably safe enough to try moving it now.

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(whoops, forgot trip)
You look over at Delta to check his condition and...youch, he's not looking the best. You don't think any skin got affected but a good chunk of the uniform on his chest is translucent now, exposing the skin underneath it. "Y-yeah, uh, maybe you should rub some ash on that." You gesture at him.

He quickly nods and starts rubbing soot all over his outfit to prevent, ya know, the rest of him from being glassed. You decide it's probably best for you to do the same, even if it only buys you a few extra seconds before having to hide.

The two of you have to move quickly to get it to the containment cube. While it's still recovering from the POCKET ASH you gave it, the two of you move in to start shoving the thing over to where the containment cube is. Thankfully for you, Delta managed to move it close enough to make that task a lot easier.

WHYAREYOUDOINGTHIS Your ear leaks with something bright. Your eyes itch. The sooner you can free lock this thing up, the better. dontlistentoitdontlistentoitliveinthedark. You keep a keen eye to make sure it doesn't clear up before you got it inside of the cube.

GALENGALENGALENGALENGALENGALENLETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGODIMYOURLIGHTQUIETYOURHEART

Father Above, your head is burning. It feels like something is drilling directly into your skull. "U-uh? Gamma? You okay there? You're looking really, really pale." Delta mutters as the two of you finally push this thing over to the containment cube.

"We shouldNo, no, I'm going toFine. I'm fine. Just put this thing back where itin the cube now. Please." You have to be very careful with how you speak. Your tongue constantly twists in on itself, trying to say something else.

With a final heft and a shove, the two of you manage to knock this thing into the cube. The ash stuck inside of the core of whatever this anomaly is begins to clear up and such a lovely light begins to shinethe horrid light starts shining again. Delta quickly smashes the panel on the side of the cube, shutting the thing close.

Anomaly successfully contained.

You're exhausted, to be quite frank. "Woo. Okay, how many of these fuckers do we have to find? One more?" Delta nods at you, to your utter disgust. "Damn you, Father."

You pull out your radio and tune its frequency. Once the harsh static subsides, you hear Beta's gruff voice. "What is it this time, Gamma? Did you actually do your job?"

"Yeah. Yeah." You hiss out. "We're going to take a small break and we're going to harvest another one." You look over at Delta. He looks back at you and flashes a simple but well meaning smile. You take a deep breath in and let your widest smirk show.

"Today's going to be a lovely day."

>Gamma interlude over. Disconnecting from secondary PoV.
>Now connecting with primary PoV...
>Welcome back, Administrator.

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Pre-Shift, Shift 7
Holy shit, did you have a weird fucking dream. You raise up from your simple king sized bed, feeling like a brand new man for once.

Well, admittedly, the dream was a blur of lights and noises for you. You can hardly make out anything in the dream itself. Bleh. Maybe some coffee will help.

After getting up from your bed, you sit back down to your former bed: the office chair. A cup of fresh coffee is already waiting for you andd you're already drinking from it. The bitter taste of caffeine. Delicious.

C-0RA is busy staring at the homoerotic novel you bought in the previous catalog. While S-4M's smiling face is flickering across your console screen. "Good morning, sir! How did you sleep?"

"A lot better than in the chair, I can admit that much. Have the agents come back?" You're worried. Partially because of the weird dream you had and because of Beta admitting that these were some dangerous things.

"Oh! In a half hour or so, sir. Until then, we got some lovely sponsorship offers for you to look over!" Okay, yeah, back to normal. Something to take your mind over that dream that really took too much time.

Before you take a look through all of them, you notice a familiar face (Q-Company) and a completely unfamiliar one. One of the sponsorship offers is written sloppily and messily (not because they were rushing to finish it. Moreso out of laziness). "P-Corp Facility Mu-7"? You always wondered if facilities like your own could offer sponsorships, but you wonder what exactly they would offer you.

Oh well. No time to worry about the minor things. Might as well just crack these babies open and get to work. Anything to delay thinking about the new freak you have to add to your list...

>You may occasionally get Sponsorships from other facilities. While functionally the same as other sponsorships, they will typically not reward A-Energy, instead opting to offer you far more material rewards. You could do the same, given the right connections and the right things to give away.

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U-Company - "Using the Abnormal to advance the world for the better."
Good morning. We're highly interested in the anomalies you have but we don't want to be rude by wanting to take one from you. We want you to perform two Cross-tests (with different anomalies, we don't want to see you use the same anomaly twice) this shift. We want to see how your anomalies react to each other.

Rewards: 7 A-Energy, a free hint towards how to unlock a PARADIGM of your choosing, +Favor with U-Company

P-Corp Facility Mu-7 - "Dunno why I have to add in a slogan, seems like a waste."
Listen, buddy buddy buddy pal. Let's not be coy with each other, I want something, you give me it, I give you something you want. The WHOLE WORLD is happy for it, no?

Here's what I want you to do. I'll send you a knife. Give me the fresh, human flesh of three of your employees. BIG chunks, don't skimp out on me. I'll make it worth your while. Moreso if you give me full on corpses.

Rewards: 4 9mm bullets and 1 well-used medkit per package of flesh OR 1 Trauma Kit and a combat knife or combat club per corpse, +Favor with Mu-7

W-Company - "We wish for the subjugation of all that is foul and abnormal."
You're too soft on your anomalies. We want to see them bleed. We want to see them SUFFER. Take this sponsorship and complete at least 6 Subdue works. Make them know their place.

Rewards: 8 A-Energy, a Chainsaw with fuel for "future Subdue works", +Favor with W-Company

Q-Company - "Quotas must be met. Demands must be fed. You must produce." <EXTENDED SPONSORSHIP>
Impressive REFINEMENT upgrades detected. Efficiency increased by 33%. Increasing your C-Extract yields, desired. Next two shifts, your QUOTA is raised to require 11 more C-Extract to fulfil. Complete this increased quota.

Rewards: 11 A-Energy, 1 C-Extract, Three doses of Supplement Type QEZ Delta, -8 to the next quota after the sponsorship, +Favor with Q-Company

>Select which sponsorships to host.
>Select which one, if any, you wish to turn into an Extended Sponsorship (I'll tell you what bonuses you might get from it)

(Back to regularly scheduled programming)

>>5143170
>All

U is a no-brainer, American/Future would be interesting, Star/Siro would be rad, Star/TV might be kino.

Mu-7 is sketchy, but we achieve some meat harvesting from the Disposables if needed, and if the clown-slasher is real we can use his body instead (maybe even with Art, he said chunks of flesh, he didn't state that they had to raw and uncooked).

W is simply RBA action, pure and simple. Maybe the occasional misbehaving anomaly as well. Easy money.

Q's rewards ain't worth that amount of effort, but I'm wanna do them a solid with this anyway. Besides, I want to get access to their Catalogs again, they had a bunch of good shit we didn't get last time, and +2 favor makes me wonder what other goodie they have available.

Also, nice to be back Overseer!

>>5143224
Oh, no, the Brawl thing does not count as a Subdue work, I decided that thing was a whole separate work-type.

Also mind the wording "Human". The clown slasher might not count as a "human" per se due to it being an invader (if you wanna trust the TV)

>>5143234
>Brawl thing does not count as a Subdue work

Would it be a tangible difference in how we're using either? Either way, we have enough anomalies now to split the difference if Subdue work on RBA doesn't pan out.

>>5143170
>U-Company only
We're going to see higher tier abnos this time. Let's be careful.
Oh, and Mu-7 can go fuck themselves.

>>5143253
If I remember correctly, Q has a bunch of efficiency upgrades we'd be interested in. And while I personally agree that rewards aren't enough to intentionally mutilate our regular employees, I believe bullets cost 1 or 2 C per bullet or something like that, and we get 2 D-Class per A-Energy. That's 1&1/2 AE for the equivalent of 1C or 4A PER meat chunk, at least 3C or 12A minimum, and that's just counting bullets, not medkits.

You don't have to take Hannibal Lecter offer, I just want your decision to be informed.

>>5143170
Not really living with U, as that would require lots of removing Anomalies from their cells.

Mu-7 is right out, unless Disposables are valid.

W's reward is very enticing, but the work is not in our wheelhouse.

Q is a go.

>>5143170
>Accept Sponsorships from All
If P-Corp doesn't count the Disposables as valid targets for Mu-7, strike that off the list.
For U-Corp, I'm thinking... RBA+Fortune and either Future+Sundude (assuming we get him) or Sirocco+Star.
W is easy enough, we'll probably need to Subdue the new guy a bit anyways on account of him being a Threat 4-5 and potential Class X. We can also talk to RBA about this shit, have him help cover the difference.

>>5143331
Technical, only two anomalies need be removed. I trust Fortune and RBA enough not to try anything funny, and Star could literally leave at any time, so why not have her entertain the kid for a bit. And we could always move the TV around if you don't want to free Fortune or RBA from their cells.

>>5143170
>take only Q-Company and U-Compamy's sponsorships
>get an extended sponsorship from U-Company

Let's be real here, we don't have any abnormalities to CBT (maybe the new one, but we can't be so sure). Intentionally throwing our D-Class sucks too.

>>5143569
+1
On another note how would one CBT a TV

>>5143663
>How would one CBT a TV
Most anomalies have a "will" behind them. Suppressing that will and its desires counts as a Subdue work (in other words, going up to RBA and going on an anti-war rant, or critiquing the FUCK out of Star's show).

Subdue is one of the works that typically works on most anomalies unless it's something like Flesh Idol from LC.

Regardless, here's the extended sponsorship for U-Company
"We'll be willing to take more long term data from your more stable Abnormalities. Alongside the two crosstests for the next two shifts, we'll be sending a U-Company inspector to fiddle with your PARADIGMs. Unfortunately, this means two PARADIGMs of your choosing will be unavailable. You may pick them at the start of each shift. Please be patient."
Duration: Two days
Reward: 14 A-Energy, two items with weakened effects based on the PARADIGMs you let us study, a free hint towards how to unlock a PARADIGM of your choosing, +Favor with U-Company

Do you accept this?
>Y
>N

>>5143729
To clarify, this means at the start of the next two shifts, you'll only have one PARADIGM available since the other two are busy being tinkered with. You get to choose which one that is (so if you let them tinker with GWIT and AFYN, you can still use OWB.)

>>5143729
>N

>>5143537
That is true, assuming Fortune or Sense could be moved. I actually don't trust RBA is there's not a fight to be had, but Future should be fine. Intentionally letting Star out of her cell unnerves me, but I'm pretty sure she could leave whenever anyway.

>>5143170
>>5143331
Clarification:

>Accept: U, Q


>>5143729
I'm less sure on this, but for now I'll say
>Y

>>5143729
>Y
We're fine, we have the red man and a spooky skeleton on our side.

>>5143729
>N
Pretty sure Isabelle would go apeshit over losing access to AFYN for a day

>>5143170
>U
>W
>Q

>>5143729
>Y

U: UAi, Xx1, U5s, bSt, RaS, w4q, Vr8
Mu-7: UAi, bSt
W: UAi, bSt, Vr8
Q: UAi, U5s, bSt, RaS, w4q, Vr8

Extend U?
Y: U5s, RaS, Vr8
N: bSt, Xx1

Seems like we're going for U and Q, with both of them being extended. Was gonna update sooner but got wrapped up in something. Next update is gonna be the funny anomalies to pick from.

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>>5144728

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You decide to sign U and Q Corp's sponsorships and send through the same chute they came outta. Now what's next is to see what your ETF agents dragged in. You flip your cameras to the third floor and uh. Well, the containment cube looks fine enough (if bigger than you expected) but your agents?

They are not looking good. Alpha, frankly, looks like he's hungover. His eyes are glossy and unfocused and his posture is terrible. Dust coats the young man's outfit, as if he hasn't bothered to clean them.

Beta is staring intently at the cube. Various rough, clearly done by an untrained hand bandages and stitches cover his face and hands. The only emotion you can see written across the man's face is utter disgust at what they decided to dig out from the Wastes.

Gamma is covered head to toe in ash and soot, with his sunglasses barely hanging off of his face. You swear you see a faint glimmer of something in the corners of his eyes, something glowing. He looks like he needs a drink.

He looks up at the camera. You look back at him through it. Despite not really knowing the guy or sending him on work orders, there's a weird bond you've formed with him. As if you walked a mile in his shoes.
>Due to your bizarre dream, you feel like you understand Gamma a lot better than you did before. A trait of his has been revealed to you.
>Savvy (All Stats Up!, WP+)
>All Stats Up: Every stat listed in the "Quick Stat Breakdown" section of the Employee Listing pastebin gets a + to it. (All work orders, STA and WP, Force, etc etc)

Delta also looks like he came outta a fire. As in his outfit still has wisps of smoke trailing off of it, alongside his hair. His face is contorted into a rabid snarl, ready to unleash his stress on anyone, like a loaded spring.

It's hard to make out Null's expression, given her burn victim status, but you feel like she's...ashamed of something she did. When she notices the camera looking at her, she looks away. Huh.

You check out their morale levels thanks to that "Automated Physiological Sensor" upgrade you bought ages back and hoo boy. Not looking too hot.

ETF-α: Neutral --> Exhausted
ETF-β: Composed --> Disgusted
ETF-γ: Confident --> Weary
ETF-δ: Neutral --> Seething
ETF-Null: Neutral --> Guilty

Their morale isn't low enough to make them unable to work (well, except Delta, unless it involves someone being beaten up), but you would say one or two bad work orders and they'll snap. Best to keep them calm.

ETF-γ ---> Administrator
ETF-γ: They usually send twice the amount of people we have at minimum to do Waste shit.
ETF-γ: Look. The moment we put that thing in the cell, we don't wanna be anywhere near it unless ordered to. Ok?
ETF-γ: Oh! And a possible Invasion, if that TV was correct! What a lovely day it fucking is.
ADMINISTATOR: I'm sorry. I don't have much control over what orders Corporate gives.
ETF-γ: Fuck man, I know. No apology needed. We just have a lot on our plate.

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The five agents enter the reinforced containment cell that you set aside specifically for this asshole. Beta is the one who moves in to fiddle around with the code pad, while the others take this moment to try catching their breath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArzZ13bpsaU

Time to see what you have to deal with now. You suppose if there's any consolation for this, you should get a huge spike of energy. Shouldn't you? Honestly, you're just hoping it does because otherwise, what's the point?

With another fresh cup of coffee coming from a hole in your desk, you prepare for another shift. "Good luck, sir." S-4M buzzes. "You're going to need it."

(Choose one anomaly.)
>"Mask your light. Still your heart. They'll never make it in time." ("What's that weird look you're giving me?" "Delta. For the love of the Father, don't move.")
>"Don't worry, no one actually reads it. Just sign right on the dotted line, mister." ("I can't read it anyway, it's fiiiiine!" "You're illiterate? Can't say I didn't expect that." "Fuck you.")
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")
>"There's no one else who truly understands me but him. I'm so glad that so many agree." ("I thought they stopped crowd gatherings ages ago!" "Yeah. You're about to see why very soon.")
>"You are so far away from home. So alone. Belonging nowhere in this world..." ("Null, I told you, it's her! She's right there!" "I don't see anyone. I think the dust is getting to you.")
>"My hearts and heads refuse to agree, for they are the judge, the jury, and the executioner." ("A mockery of justice. Only a strong heart can withstand its tainted judgements.")

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>>5145073
>"My hearts and heads refuse to agree, for they are the judge, the jury, and the executioner."
OOoooooooh boy

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>>5145073
1 is the light ball sun wheels thing that Gamma and Delta captured in their interlude
2 sounds like a very Pluto thing with the dotted line contracts
3 is fire, lots of fire, plus something great
4 is obsession, attachment, groups of people being a weapon
5 is isolation, loneliness, delusion, seeing something nobody else does
6 is like Judgment Bird, in triplicate
My vote is
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")

>>5145075
What's your reasoning for your pick? Why any of the others and not the one we saw with Gamma?

>>5145073
>"You are so far away from home. So alone. Belonging nowhere in this world..." ("Null, I told you, it's her! She's right there!" "I don't see anyone. I think the dust is getting to you.")

1 - Ball of light that turns everything into glass, no game
2 - Cognitohazard that makes people sign a deal that fucks them, no dice
3 - Fuck fire
4 - Contact memetic, we can't deal with that
5 - Memetic that is triggered by a criteria from the viewer, or can only be seen by some people. I think this can be managed.

6 - Schizoid murderboner "judge". Sounds like a good alternative, but I prefer #5.

>>5145073
>"My hearts and heads refuse to agree, for they are the judge, the jury, and the executioner." ("A mockery of justice. Only a strong heart can withstand its tainted judgements.")

I wanna see this schizo cross-test with our Knight in shining armor

>>5145073
Boy howdy, this is some selection.
We know a little about thesun; he'll be difficult, but not impossible with shorter orders.
Contract sounds kinda neat, if we can be clever enough.
Fire seems like a massive risk/reward; I'm not keen on burning the facility down, but it might be still be worth trying. Although it looks like it would have a lot in common with Reminder, if not Future.
Understanding seems like a strong mental-based fellow; no thank you.
The Wanderer will hate being cooped up I figure, and I'm not looking for a second sand-based Anomaly.
Judge could go a a few different ways; he could be fun.


>>"Don't worry, no one actually reads it. Just sign right on the dotted line, mister." ("I can't read it anyway, it's fiiiiine!" "You're illiterate? Can't say I didn't expect that." "Fuck you.")
Something about trying to monkey around with contract wording seems interesting.

>>5145084
I just like the concept/fluff. Also what this anon said >>5145121

>>5145073
>"My hearts and heads refuse to agree, for they are the judge, the jury, and the executioner." ("A mockery of justice. Only a strong heart can withstand its tainted judgements.")

JUSTICE
Also, based on what Gamma said here:
>They usually send twice the amount of people we have at minimum to do Waste shit
It sounds like we should hire some more ETFs. We've basically just been using the ones we got at the start of the game, and Null isn't really fit for combat on account of being more bandages than skin.
I'm looking forward to seeing what items we got from their hunt.

>>5145073
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")
The prospect of lore is too compelling

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Dotted Line: U5s
Hearts and Heads: bSt, w4q, vf7
Legacy never forgotten: Vr8, MDY
So far away from Home: RaS

Unless someone changes or adds another vote in a few hours, seems like the sixth anomaly is the one with the most votes and is gonna be our choice.

Don't forget to grill our boys for details on the Anomaly before making any plans.

>>5145899
+1

>>5145073
Fuck it
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")
Sorry for tying this up everybody.

>>5145965
Hoo boy.

Well, we got a tie. Someone make a tiebreaker vote between
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")
>"My hearts and heads refuse to agree, for they are the judge, the jury, and the executioner." ("A mockery of justice. Only a strong heart can withstand its tainted judgements.")

I'll go fiddle around and add in the stuff you guys bought in the catalog into the pastebin while I'll wait. Kinda got distracted by the prolonged trip into the mind of Gamma and all.

>>5146014
>"No matter how much you try to burn it away, our legacy will never be forgotten." ("It's a shame what happened to this place, isn't it?" "Eh. It was only a matter of when, not if, really.")
We didn't start the fire, it was always burning since the world was turning...
I'll take him.

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Beta finally puts in the final number after gesturing at the others to back up as far as fucking possible from the box as they can.

Fire on the Velvet Horizon has been acquired.

A roaring plume of fire bursts out of the cube, scorching the back wall. The sheer amount of heat warps the metal by a notable amount. Thankfully, your reinforcement has kept the damage mostly superficial instead of it dealing major structural damage.

That's not the end to the fire. At first, you thought the thing that just exited the containment cell was just an animate ball of fire (ala Sirocco's situation) but you notice that there is someone underneath all of the flames.

Charred, black flesh clings onto a wispy skeletal frame. Covering up the figure is a charred velvet kimono that's still clinging together, despite the fact it should've been nothing more than ash at this point.

Beta and Gamma have to grab Delta once the anomaly comes out because you were pretty sure he was about to charge in and try cracking its head open like an egg. He struggles against the two, snarling his teeth.

"NOT FAIR! NOT FUCKING FAIR! REMATCH, REMATCH! THAT FIGHT WAS BULLSHIT!" Delta damn near foams at the mouth, trying his best to swing around his restrained fists. Eventually, Null has to move in to keep him still as well.

The anomaly looks around at the cell its in, not remotely caring about the man seething at it. It shakes its head in disappointment.

"An unfitting locale for a lady such as myself." A wispy yet regal voice hisses out of the anomaly. "Such unfitting behavior from that serf. I will not tolerate such insults to my name." It raises its hand up at your ETF agents.

"Uh, Beta sir? T-that's not good.
"Oh god, I'm not repeating that again. MOVE, SOLDIERS!"
"I'VE DEALT WITH ENOUGH LIGHT AND HEAT, THANK YOU."
"COME ON, YOU FUCKING FREAK! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!"
"I believe our time is up, gentlemen. I rather not lose my last eye."

A plume of fire bursts out from the anomaly's hand, aimed right at the five. This is enough to get the five to get the hell outta of there (well, Delta required some extra pulling to get out). Alpha's arm gets hit by the blast, instantly setting it ablaze.

"FUCK!" He hisses out, waving his arm out in panic in a desperate attempt to put it out. Once they're finally out of the cell, Beta and Null help to smother the fire to prevent another one of your agents from being a burn victim.

Once the agents are out of the room, the regal figure kneels to the ground, placing its hands onto its lap. It stares at the airlock with both uncertainty and resentment. "Such a horrid man. No respect for such a lady as myself."

You note to yourself to ask them where the hell they found it, you know the rough origins of most of your anomalies (sans the TV and this fireball. maybe you should ask about the TV as well?). Sooner than later, preferably.

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Agent K has entered the facility.

Que? Agent? You don't recognize that term being used before. Guess it must be for that "different city" employee you hired. You decide to check up on them.

You find her in the second floor. The first thing you notice is the flaming red hair rolling down her back and the various scars covering her face (the one on her eye stands out) Her outfit stands out from your other employees, consisting of a red overcoat and dark-red leggings, standing out from the black and white suit and ties.

She's currently examining the security members (F, I, J, Zero) who aren't busy having a pissy fit. She narrows her eyes, removing the cigarette hanging from her mouth.

"...Hm. Only one of you I'd say is even trying is the cowboy over there. Have any of you even fought an anomaly before?"

"Mmh."
"Miss, I literally fought one yesterday."
"What was his name again? Rude Bastard Asshole?"
"Damning by faint praise, won't ya?"

"The fact you're taking this role so lightly is a disgrace. I should talk to whoever's running this security departmen...wait. Aren't there supposed to be five of you?"

"Delta's busy releasing some tension in the training room." Zero jabs her thumb at the room. You flip your camera to check on him. He's just beating one of the training dummies as hard as he can, not even stopping when it's knocked over.

"Ridiculous." The red-haired girl shakes her head. "Who the hell is even running this joint? I haven't seen his face once."

Felix snorts. "Trust me. You don't wanna see him. For your sake." This only causes the redhead to squint even more.

Hrm. You're not quite sure how you feel about this chick. Might as well get a quick check up on your department heads.

Each of them is working on their own plans for this shift. Monifa is working out a new training plan to (hopefully) get at least her security officers more fit alongside marking down spots on the facility's layout where the Invader might try breaching from. She hasn't gotten much sleep, given the bags under her eyes and the various cups of (low quality) coffee littering her desk.

Q is writing down people he wants as members in the Accounting Department. Mostly those who would tolerable working such a mind numbing task. He's marked down "K(???), T, X, O2, S2(?)" as "Potential applicants"

As for the rest of your facility?

Your storage rooms have a lot more junk piled up in them, with the ones of note being the Boiling Blood Cocktails and a whole separate pile with a small sticky note labeled "FOUND ON SITE - RECOVERED WITH ACQUISITION EQUIPMENT". Neat! You should probably check that out.

>Pastebin will shortly be updated with what your agents brought home from the last harvest.

Bill is fiddling around with Celanine's robotic arm in the breakroom. Seems like he manages to remove some of the stiffness of it, since the arm's fingers don't lock up as much as they used to. She walks away with a wide smile covering her face.

File: DETECTIVEMODEL.png (282 KB, 284x541)

282 KB PNG

Presley walks up to Bill with a very guilty look on his face.

"Lemme guess." Bill reaches into the toolbox resting at his feet. "Need wiring replaced again?"

The embarrassed Presley doesn't respond. Bill chuckles. "I told you to stop trying to overload yourself. Is it like a pleasure thing or what?"

"NO IT ISN'T I'M TRYING TO DO COOL SHIT SHUT UP!"

Emily and Seneca are busy taking care of your rough and beaten up ETF agents, with Arthur trying to keep their morale up by telling stories he finds interesting.

That "DETECTIVE" model you ordered is busy sitting in the corner of the third floor storage room. It's a lot more thin and wiry than your "WARDEN" model, with it's head looking more like a light tube than an actual head. A note is stapled on it.

"ANALYZES ANOMALIES AND PARADIGMS. REQUIRES RAW MATERIAL FROM ANOMALY OR CONTACT WITH PARADIGM TO ANALYZE."

The last Employee you paid attention to Spamton chatting with someone on that landline you got. It doesn't take long for him to slam the phone down in a fit of rage, before huffing off. Weird.

Fortune and Chattering aren't moving an inch, as per what you expected. No input, no movement. No need to worry.

The Art of Flesh is scratching onto the floor, his robotic eyes dim and unfocused. Glazed. His breathing is starting to go raggedy again.

Red Blooded American is still doing workouts in his containment cell. Pushups, jumping jacks (which damn near bend the floor when he does them), sitsup, etc

Future is standing still, his sword planted into the ground. He almost seems relieved about something.

You can actually see a bit more of Sirocco's room, thanks to your cameras being upgraded. The walls and floor haven't been too damaged by the storm yet, you probably got a few days before needing to repair. The storm itself seems impatient, waiting for someone to come in already.

Star is back in her cell now. She looks up at the camera and winks. "Showtime, baby. Glad to see you back, dear." Nothing else to report, though.

Shot has already started spreading meat all over the containment cell it's in, covering up most of the available space aside from the airlock. It grunts in satisfaction at a job well done.

Velvet hasn't moved from its spot. Thankfully, the floor seems to be holding up to the heat...for now. "Such savage people. Cruel, cruel people." It mutters to itself.

You get a quick message from someone. That someone turns out to be U-Company's 'inspector', as they call it. Oh boy.

Inspector --> Administrator
GADGETMOMENT: Hello! So, I'm here to analyze some of your PARADIGMs. We'll let you keep one each shift for the sponsorship duration but uh...
GADGETMOMENT: We need you to pick before you do anything silly with them. Alright?
ADMINISTATOR: Fine. Give me a moment.

You think on it while preparing for the shift.
>Keep AFYN (lose access to OWB and GWIT)
>Keep OWB (Lose access to AFYN and GWIT)
>Keep GWIT (Lose access to AFYN and OWB)

(3/4)

First Moves, Shift 7
QUOTA: 0/42 C-Extract Refined
A-Energy: 4 units, 0/hour
ICP-Energy: 4 units
C-Extract: 0

SPONSORSHIPS:
>U-Company: Perform two Crosstests and let your Inspector tinker with two of your PARADIGMS (select the two PARADIGMs in question). 2 shifts left.
>Q-Company: Cope with an increased quota of 11 more C-Extract. 2 shifts left.

INTERACTIONS [1 Hour Each]:

LIVING
>Anomalies: A Hope for a Brighter Future, Red Blooded American, Sirocco, Star of the Century, Til the Last Shot, Fire on the Velvet Horizon
>Assign Employee (What work type? Any specific instructions? To which anomaly? etc etc)

INANIMATE
>Anomalies: Fortune for a Price, The Art of Flesh, Chattering Lack of Common Sense
>Assign Employee (Same as Living)

MISC
>Facility: REFINEMENT ROOM, Explore the Fourth Floor (Unknown. Felix said to "be quiet" on it.), Unleash the Beast (6 A-Energy to activate)
>S-4M: Anomaly Analyzation (Which anomaly and how long?), Control Spike (what do?)
>C-ORA: Search Protocol (What do you want to find?)
>Assign Employee (To do what? Any specific instructions?)

EQUIPMENT
Weapons:
>Riot Clubs/Combat Knives (Assigned to ETF, grants +1 FORCE dice and a reroll per encounter)
>ROD OF OBEDIENCE (+1 FORCE dice, Subdue++. Unassigned)
>Surplus Knife and Surplus Club (May add +1 to two FORCE dice. Club and Knife assigned to J)
>BLESSED BLADE (+2 FORCE dice, deals Stamina damage to non-religious employees who attempt to wield it. Unassigned.)
>Stun Baton (+1 FORCE dice, weakens an opponent on a success. Assigned to F and I, Leftover: 4)
>9mm Pistol (+2 FORCE dice, ranged, 8/8 shots remaining. Current count: 2)

Armor:
>ARMOR OF THE FATHER (Physical Protection++, may block some attacks, FORCE-. Unassigned)
>Stab Resistant Vest (Physical Protection+, assigned to F, I, J, Zero. Leftover: 2)
>Weather Resistant Protective Gear (resists sand, rain, and mild heat. Assigned to whoever works on Sirocco)
>Gas Masks (Protects against gas based attacks. Current count: 4. Unassigned)
>Champion Belt (+1 FORCE dice, raises morale and lowers morale loss, hardly takes up equipment space. Unassigned)
>Security Helmet (Has a chance of blocking weak attacks. Current count: 4.)
>Salty Bathrobe (STA+, Physical Protection+++, grants heavy fire resistance, FOR--)
>Arid Dress (STA+, +1 FORCE dice, Physical Protection+, may affect women and men differently? Unassigned.)

PARADIGMs
>Will now be updated and written down in the pastebin (https://pastebin.com/edit/WN1WHjVQ) due to their more complicated effects. They will be in the "EQUIPMENT" section.

CONSOLE COMMANDS
>View cameras in which rooms? (Write in)
>Broadcast an announcement over the intercom system (Write in)
>Manage Employee roster and Departments. (Write in)
>Edit anomaly dossiers and logs (Write in)
>Message an Employee PDA. (Write in)
>Call an Employee in (Who?)
>Leave the office.
>End the workday (Enters Downtime/Upgrade phase)

>>5147184
She definitely has an ego, but does she have an EGO?

>>5147201
>Keep AFYN (lose access to OWB and GWIT)
I feel like I will murder us if we give it away
>Perform a crosstest on Star and Sirocco
Should cheer the kid up.
>Call Agent K in for an onboarding interview
>S4M to analyze Velvet
>B2 to Appease Shot (he has high Presence). Collect removed meat for subsequent presenting to Art

The rest I'll leave to other anons.
As a note, we really need atable for employee stats. A pastebin doesn't cut it anymore.

>>5147201
One more idea
>Perform a crosstest on RBA and Chatter
RBA should like TV, it's in his name.

>>5147265
Suppose I could do that real quick. Might take a few moments but it's probably easier to condense the stats.

>>5147279
That'd be great!

>>5147187
>Keep GWIT (Lose access to AFYN and OWB)
More versatile than the others, and I wanted weaker version of our first Paradigms to begin with. Plus, GWIT will give us more A-Energy Extraction with a ritual.
>>5147201


Misc
>Inquire on the progress of the Growth Pack Garden
>Feed Detective sand vial
>Examine [REDACTED] in greater detail
>B, get the broken security robots working
>Test out Arid Dress on both genders
>Make reminder to examine Vial of unknown meat labeled "DIE TO SEXUALIZE", Lockbox with "Smooth, Smooth Skin. Do not open" scratched on it, and Bag filled to the brim with mold and fungus, labeled "DREAM AWAY" later
>Put C-0RA on searching for the clown slasher on regular intervals, have our employees stick together in groups
>Open Weapon Bundle Box
>Admin examine locked Briefcase
>S-4M analyze Fire
>Announce a fighting tournament to be held after this shift. Winner get the Wrestlers Belt
>Examine old pendant

>>5147281
okay yeah the employee pastebin now has all of the stats of the employees you care about in raw table form.

I skipped over dead employees or those you don't know the stats of because do you THINK I wanna write 10 bios that read "???"? Gary was the only exception because c'mon, cowboy

>>5147307
>>5147265
If you're gonna analyze an anomaly via S-4M, please select how much time you wanna analyze it for. Otherwise I'll default to 3 hours.

>>5147317
Thanks!
3 hours is alright.

>>5147201
Living
>C, Bond Future, ask why he's relieved
I-Future Sword Duel (Training?) after this.
>Delta, Amazonian, Brawl with RBA
Work off that hot blood Delta
>K, Null, Appease Siro, help paint her room her favorite colors
>U, Bond/Nurture with Star, ask for some of her Stardust to preform a magic trick with GWIT (the Energy Extraction ritual specifically)
Gonna have the Star-Siro Crosstest after this, I want to get the Stardust Energy Extraction rituals out of the way first. Also, Nurturing Star is keeping her entertained, correct?
>Q, T, Kor, Extract Shot, just the meat off the walls.(Crosstest)
>Beta, A, Observe Fire
We'll have H try to Bond with Fire wearing the Salty Bathrobe after this.

Inanimate
>Agent K, Bond with Fortune. Ask as questions/horoscope of your choice, and what our 'reward' was last shift
>D-W0, O, Observe Sense
>A2, P, Art, Nurture with Extracted Meat from Shot (Crosstest)

Misc
>Call in A2 for that interview (and coffee)
>Ask Q what Employees he wants for his department, and ask said Employees if they want to work in Accounting
>Keep RBA's cocktail near Admin in case of an emergency
>Headpat E and R, when given the chance
>Lay a bowl of coffee or milk down for the cat, whichever it prefers.

>>5147317
3 is fine, we'll have S-4M analyse Future after Fire.

>>5147323
>Nurturing Star is keeping her entertained, correct?
Entertaining her is probably closer to Nurturing her than Bonding with her, yes.

Nothing else to comment on here.

>>5147330
Sorry for such a thicc laundry list, I'm trying to get back on track mentally with the shift Work Orders after a bit of hiatus.

>>5147341
Hey, no sweat, it'll be good to get back to autistic number crunching and seeing people argue on whether to have Emily hug an anomaly or have Zayne bash its skull in. besides can't remove bloat while you're a smug sunglasses wearing fuck 5000 miles away from the City

We should be back in regular operations for the next few shifts. Slower updates, sure, but more content to chew on. Like giving more paste to a hungry C-0RA.

>>5147201
>You're not quite sure how you feel about this chick.
SHE MAKES MY DICK TWITCH
Also, we're gonna need some kind of fire retardant suit later. Doesn't H-Cprp deal with burning things?

>>5147201
backing >>5147323 and >>5147307
guys I want to go down the negative path with one of these anomalies, full on repression/subdue bullying and deconstructing everything about them and what they stand for, see what sort of Paradigm or transformation that gets us- I'd say Chattering or Velvet since they're the newest, and Shot is related to our facility in some way so NOT the fleshball superweapon army guy
and let's not forget to read C-0RA's stories and/or ask K about how they were and what she thought of them (remember we said to let her read them earlier)
and next time we go to the saltman+spamton shop, we thank the saltman for his fire-resistant bathrobe since we got a really hot lady trying to burn our employees right the next day
should we have G2 look into Presley's electroshock fetish or something?
we need to talk with Agent K too, get down to the whole "we paid D-Corp to get you from another world, however that works, so let's talk about stuff" deal
please refer to these >>5086479 (Dead) as well

>>5147182
> Covering up the figure is a charred velvet kimono that's still clinging together,
Not what I expected; not sure what to expect. At least she seems to be aware she's on fire, which is a good start.

> Alpha's arm gets hit by the blast, instantly setting it ablaze.
Welp. We're going to need fire suppression equipment. I suspect our options on hand are a little thin right now, but at the very least we should keep a couple of buckets of water near the cell.

>>5147184
>Agent K has entered the facility.
Hmm. I'm getting P vibes from her. Also, she's going to need a shorthand; we've already got a K.

>I haven't seen his face once."
Didn't you literally just arrive?

>She hasn't gotten much sleep, given the bags under her eyes and the various cups of (low quality) coffee littering her desk.
We should maybe force her to take a nap, so she's not completely wiped when the attack does come.

> He's marked down "K(???), T, X, O2, S2(?)" as "Potential applicants"
Oh man, it's been so long since we've managed the facility I've forgotten who half of these people are.

>"FOUND ON SITE - RECOVERED WITH ACQUISITION EQUIPMENT". Neat! You should probably check that out.
Sweet!

>"NO IT ISN'T I'M TRYING TO DO COOL SHIT SHUT UP!"
Dang it, P.

>That "DETECTIVE" model you ordered is busy sitting in the corner of the third floor storage room.
Slick. Whichever Paradigm we don't send off, we should let him work with.

>The Art of Flesh is scratching onto the floor, his robotic eyes dim and unfocused.
Ah hell, did we buy any Disposables? We're going to have to burn through our existing stock.

>Red Blooded American is still doing workouts in his containment cell.
I'm tempted to let Delta fight it out with RBA, but something's telling me that's not a great idea until he's calmed down a little.

>Star is back in her cell now. She looks up at the camera and winks.
We're going to have to stop the show for the foreseeable future, I fear; it causes too many wide-ranging effects.

>Shot has already started spreading meat all over the containment cell it's in,
I've been looking forward to finally figuring this guy out.

>Velvet hasn't moved from its spot.
Her cell is going to turn into an absolute oven in pretty short order; maybe one of the bots would fare better in the heat over a fleshy? Also, Null is never to be assigned here, for obvious reasons.

>>5147503
I prefer to play our anomalies by ear, especially since we didn't pick the Susie sponsorship. I just don't feel like deconstructing one just for the lolz, there needs to be s more animating reason behind it, like they killed three of our employees over some something inane.

>>5147523
>We already got a K
K2 or AK?
>Did we buy any disposables?
You have a surplus of, like, 10 of them because last time you bought them, it was a huge bulk order.
>Forgotten who half of these people are.
Emotionless girl who tried flirting with you (Kate), Drone with a paper mask on her face (Talon), Drone-like defective android (X), Defective android who hyperfocuses (O2), and Obnoxious Salesman (S2)

>>5147523
>she's going to need a shorthand; we've already got a K.
AK, simple. Nicknamed Agent 47.

>We're going to have to stop the show for the foreseeable future, I fear; it causes too many wide-ranging effects.
I disagree, we need to embrace the show. Just have our D-Class and Mentally Protected watch it.

>>5147187
>Keep GWIT (Lose access to AFYN and OWB)

>>5147201
Back in the saddle.

Before I start assignment though, just to verify: Q sponsorship increase is included in the QUOTA, right? We need 42C total, not 42C + 11C?

LIVING:
>Future: C, Bond
>RBA: Delta, Brawl
RBA looks pumped, and Delta is pissed. Seems like a good combo to me.
btw, I don't see Brawl listed as a work type at the top of the pastebin.
>Sirocco: K, Null, Appease Siro, help paint her room her favorite colors
>Star: S2, Nurture
Maybe see if she wants props or something? I dunno, it's S2, I doubt we can control him much.
>Shot: O to Observe
Let's get a baseline for this guy.
>Velvet: A to wear bathrobe, Observe
I dunno how much the bathrobe will protect against only heat, but it's better than nothing. Ideally, true firefighter's gear would be the best, but I have low hope of getting access to those.

Wow we have a lot of Living.

INANIMATE:
Fortune: AK, question of your choice
Flesh: D-5UH4, flesh for Flesh
D-5UH4 because of extremely poor N&Q results.
Sense: D, Appease
Play it like Fortune; ask it if it wants anything for the cell, then fiddle with the dials a little, listen for answer. This is mostly to make sure we've tried every type of work at least once.


MISC:
>New Rule: Some sort of Fire suppression needs to be kept ready near Velvet's cell.
Long term, this would be real fire extinguishers and fire blankets and such, but for now water buckets will work, or even a bunch of coffee cups filled with water if we have nothing better.
>Get M to take a nap, she won't be able to help in the invasion if she'd dead on her feet.
Tell her we'll wake her up when things go down if she needs persuasion.
>Have B look through the site acquisition stuff
>Have DETECTIVE do his thing with whichever PARADIGM isn't being send to U
>Ask Q what Employees he wants for his department, and ask said Employees if they want to work in Accounting
>Inquire on the progress of the Growth Pack Garden
>Examine [REDACTED] in greater detail
>Put C-0RA temporarily under Security, have our employees stick together in groups
>Open Weapon Bundle Box
>Admin examine locked Briefcase
>Examine old pendant


Next shift I think it'd be funny to Cross-test Fortune and Sense.

>>5147528
Same. Sounds like sooner or later we'll get one that fits the bill; no reason to have a hostile relationship with one when we don't need to.

>>5147535
AK, I think. Makes her distinct. Though there will be no end of gun puns.
>You have a surplus of, like, 10 of them
Right, I remember now. Good, I was worried we were going to have to feed some of the more interesting ones to Flesh.

>>5147547
It's not the ones watching the show I'm worried about. Remember the show causes facility-wide effects.

Guys please let's use more of these for works for a bit?
>D
>F
>G2
>Kor
>Cluwne
>O2
>Q
>S2
>W
>X
>Y
>Z
>D-H3427
>D-5UH4
>D-4C3
>D-W23N

>>5147581
Gonna sleep but yes, the 42 is the quota. Not 53.

I already added in the 11 alongside the base QUOTA increase each shift

>>5147581
>>5147606
Also Brawl is an anomaly specific work order to RBA. That's why it's not with the core six.I'll probably add a specific mention to that in the pastebin later about certain work types being unique to specific anomalies.

Like how Reminder probably would've had a "Blessing" work order had you been willing to humor him more.

>>5147603
G2 is pretty busy with employee psych evals, B2 and S2 are almost useless to the point I'd be willing to downgrade them to Disposables, and Disposables tend to have poor stats and poor energy collection.

Otherwise, it is worth trying to expand out our used employees a little, yeah.

>>5147606
Cool, just wanted to make sure.
>>5147612
Thanks for clearing that up.

>>5147616
>busy with employee psych evals
Understandable, but I want him to do various anomaly works once that is done, as with his psychology knowledge he could help shed light on certain things
>B2 and S2 are almost useless to the point I'd be willing to downgrade them to Disposables
Fuck you, cluwne and Spamton are not to be killed under any circumstances
>Disposables tend to have poor stats and poor energy collection
There's reasons why those Disposables over any other Disposables
See >>5086479

>>5147581
You do know that we bought an order of fresh (non-human) meat, right?

And if I remember the show correctly, it positively affected our employees while negatively affecting the anomalies. We really need more testing to really get a baseline on her show's effects. Plus, I think helping her achieve her Masterpiece should be our goal, not suppressing her with criticism.

>>5147616
>B2 and S2 are almost useless
I feel they're a nice tag team to throw an anomaly off their balance. Literally sending in the clowns.

>>5147201
Gonna back >>5147323 and >>5147307 here, including keeping GWIT.

>>5147581
>he wants to trash Suha
You fucking retard, she's an absolute gorilla. She had 30:1 odds on beating us. Absolutely braindead.
QM, didn't we mark certain Disposables as being interesting/worth keeping alive to avoid exactly this? What happened to that?

>>5149178
I added it into the Employee Listing pastebin, near where the D-Class are at (around the bottom of it). It just says which ones are valuable, whether good N&Q results or some other factor (like the 30:1 odds), people are still free to gut them like fish if they want to.

Before you get your taint in a twist, the current wining vote for what to do with Art is to feed it gunk from Shot's cell, not 5UH4.

LIVING

>Assign Delta to Brawl with RBA. Equip as necessary. Have Gamma and M on standby to make sure he doesn't lose himself and go overboard.
>Assign Null to Bond with Sirocco. Equip her with an Arid Dress. If willing, have her tell Sirocco about anything she saw out in the Wastes. Ask if Sirocco recognizes anything and tell her about the art supplies you got. Ask Sirocco if she would be willing to let Employee D - a male who has experience with the arts - interact with her and possibly teach her.
>Assign Employees A and K to Observe Last Shot. Ask the sub-Anomalies (meat soldiers/previous Sec) about their circumstances and what they remember. Have them collect some meat for examination and for possible Art of Flesh interactions.
>Assign Employees P and L to Extract Stardust from Star. Try to convince her to go along with it rather than rip it out of her, if possible.
>Assign Employee R to Bond with Future.
>Play Nice and Quiet in Velvet's cell. See if that does anything.

INANIMATE

>Assign D-D4N131 to Nurture Art of Flesh. Isolate him and play N&Q before sending him off. Have D-W01 carry him off under supervision from J. Warn Art of Flesh to use the sleeping one and harm no one else.
>Assign Agent K to Bond with Fortune, any question of her choice.
>Assign N to Observe Chattering Lack.

MISC
>Announce via intercom a reminder of the predicted Invasion. Non-combatants should avoid wandering the halls unless ordered otherwise. Equip the main fighters as necessary and split their numbers across the floors.
>Call in Agent K for an interview. Ask her about any particular skills, past work experience, etc. Put Cora on Invader Search duty so she's distracted. If not possible, have her examine the locked briefcase.
>Keep AFYN (lose access to OWB and GWIT)
>Have S4M Analyze Velvet for 2 hours.
>Check in on Growth Packet progress. See if Nice Berries can also be planted.
>Open Weapon Bundle Box.
>Have the Detective examine the weird substances we found in 3rd Floor Storage.
>Ask Q what Employees he wants for his department, and ask said Employees if they want to work in Accounting.

>>5147201
Oh yeah, also backing >>5147581 regarding
>New Rule: Some sort of Fire suppression needs to be kept ready near Velvet's cell. Long term, this would be real fire extinguishers and fire blankets and such, but for now water buckets will work, or even a bunch of coffee cups filled with water if we have nothing better.
>Get M to take a nap, she won't be able to help in the invasion if she'd dead on her feet. Tell her we'll wake her up when things go down if she needs persuasion.
and >>5149198 regarding
>Announce via intercom a reminder of the predicted Invasion. Non-combatants should avoid wandering the halls unless ordered otherwise. Equip the main fighters as necessary and split their numbers across the floors.
>Check in on Growth Packet progress. See if Nice Berries can also be planted.

>>5149184
About that, I honestly think it's a bad idea to risk whether or not he's willing to work with the Flesh meat while he's on the edge like this. That's definitely something I'd prefer experimenting with when we're in a less tenuous position, otherwise we just run the risk of him going apeshit and attacking the poor sod bringing it in. He definitely has no compunctions about stabbing the shit out of P and turning him into a nice set of pots and pans.

>>5149217
Fair enough, and you can discuss it with the others. Nothing's locked in yet.

>>5149178
Oh fuck off, it's been like a month. Frankly, I'd forgotten we'd stared any of them at all. And I have no problem swapping which disposable we use.

>>5149217
That's fair. I think he's desperate enough where he'd cook just about anything at this point, but Shot might be weird enough to put him in a meltdown. Changing my AoF assignment to:
>Employee V, nurture AoF with the prime cuts of meat.

>>5147503
backing what >>5149300 said

>>5149217
That is a valid concern, we can have Alpha, Beta and Null nearby with some just to make sure things don't go outta had with some prime cuts, but this does knock out two needs at once (a Crosstest and Art's meat addiction).

Also lads, can we not sacrifice the disposable until we've actually ran out of meat? Like fuck, you almost killed the Amazonian because you forgot she gets knocked out like a light with N&Q, and who know what other traits the others may have. Can we just agree to exhaust out meat options before resorting to sacrificing D-Class?

>>5149316
The thing is, Flesh *loves* the Prime Cuts. They cost us 12 AE per, though, and since they're sponsor-based we can't reliably get hold of them. That means we want to hold onto them in case of another "I will fucking shit fire and fury if you don't give me something to cook NOW" event like last time.
We got the Disposables because they have to die, whether by Refinery or some clerk-hater. Arguably, the more we learn about them the less likely we are to kill them off, which defeats the purpose with which we hired all this chaff for. Plus it's just not good for security to hold onto so many of them at a given moment. Don't want them conspiring like W01 and C45 had during the Oneiros invasion.

>>5149364
Still, we should use the meat we have available instead of sacrificing a disposable right off the bat, if only to keep our rank somewhat high.

As for solving the conspiracy of D-Class, we can just promote conflict between them to keep them more focused on themselves than on us.

>>5149316
>we can have Alpha, Beta and Null nearby
Remember all the ETF are unhappy at the moment; it'd be better to let them rest fully for at least an hour instead of sticking them on standby. We've got plenty of other employees we can set as backups if needed.

>Like fuck, you almost killed the Amazonian because you forgot she gets knocked out like a light with N&Q
Anon, like I said, it was just a suggestion; it's not like it's hard to swap out who we send off. If someone suggests a D-class that isn't a good fit, say so without being an asshole about it, and they can be switched around.

>>5149364
This, exactly. Cuts are expensive and unreliable, and the entire point of Disposables is in their name.

>>5149389
I'd say it's better to keep the Cuts in our back pocket as an emergency; I'd wager having a containment failure because we didn't have backup meat would hurt our rank more than a Disposable death.
Plus, we can alway bribe our way up a rank if we really feel the need.

>>5149426
We should let the lovecraft metal heart do a few works too. I talked about this, again, in >>5086479 and >>5147603

>>5149426
Anon, we sacrifice disposables when we have no other option, and we have two options for meat. We don't need an arbitrary decrease in rank just because anons want to go cheap and horde all the good meat like we're playing an RPG instead of a Management quest.

>>5149452
Lovecraft in her current state is pretty difficult to assign, given she can barely communicate with us, let alone the anomalies. Could assign her to Fortune & Chattering, though.

Could also try buying the shell of an android body and sticking her in its chest, seeing if that results in anything.

>>5149497
Honestly, Lovecraft may be fire-resistant, could be a good fit for Velvet as well.

>>5149494
>when we have no other option
Since when? Disposables are the first thing to get tossed when push comes to shove. Their deaths don't affect our rank that much and are easily paid for. 12 AE is more costly than 1-2 Disposables dying off. Unless you guys want to try the landline and haggle with... I think it's O-Corp?

>>5149667
>Disposables are the first thing to get tossed when push comes to shove.

I believe that was because we had no other options, and that was only once. We now have other options, and I do think Disposable deaths do affect rank, so I’d prefer not to sacrifice them when we have other options available.

We should try that landline though, that’s a great idea anon!

>>5149494
>Anon, we sacrifice disposables when we have no other option,
That's never been the case. We always could have Subdued Flesh.

>>5149452
I've no problem with trying it out on low stakes work. I don't expect much, but hey, that's what experimenting is for, right?

>>5149518
It'll either be surprisingly fire resistant, or it'll melt like wax. Only one way to find out!

>>5149719
>and that was only once.
Anon, most of the Disposable losses have been on Flesh's behalf. He's gotten 1-2 most days since we got him. Disposables are 0.5A apiece. Cuts are 12A apiece. Unless they give us the deal of the century it's not going to be worth it. It would likely be cheaper to buy rank bribes outright if we care to.
Or just Subdue Flesh. That's also an option.

>>5149738
>Anon, most of the Disposable losses have been on Flesh's behalf. He's gotten 1-2 most days since we got him
That's literally untrue though. We lost the most Disposables to refinement. Art got only maybe a couple.

Alright, let's see here.

For PARADIGM to keep
AFYN: Xx1, kqD
GWIT: U5s, UAi, Vr8, MDY

So seems like you're keeping the funny book. Now for anomaly work orders?

Mostly agreed upon
>C, Bond with Future (UAi, Vr8, U5s, MDY)
>Delta, Brawl with RBA (Don't see any other votes)
>K, Null, Appease Siro. Help paint her room her favorite colors (UAi, Vr8, U5s, MDY)
>A, Observe Velvet (with Beta possibly tagging along) (UAi, U5s, Vr8, MDY, with U5s leaving out beta)
>AK, Bond with Fortune, ask it a question/get a horoscope and ask it what your reward is (Everyone, from what I could see)
>Get stardust from Star willingly (UAi, Vr8, MDY, kqD, with the majority method being U telling her it's for some magic he has to do)
>D-W0, O, Observe Sense (UAi, Vr8, MDY vs U5s and kqD)

>Analyze Velvet via S-4M for 3 hours
>Miscs that don't conflict with each other

Noted a bit of contention with Art of Flesh's order, specifically what meat to feed the bugger. What do you want to feed him?
>Prime Cuts via V
>One of your D-Class (Select which one)
>I still like the Shot meat idea.

Since it's pretty tied between that, with the original suggestion of "SHOT MEAT" being changed to Prime Cuts. Speaking of that, do you still want to Extract from Shot even if you're not feeding the meat to Art this hour? (Since right now, that's the majority vote)
>Sure, why not?
>Nah, let's do something else (What do?)

And last clarification. Wanna send in 5UH4 into the THUDNERDOME with Delta??
>Y
>N

>>5150159
>Prime Cuts via V
I am not sure about how animalistic or how patient this man is, but perhaps we could get him to wait longer between these special cuts? Something about those animal behavioral tests that make them wait longer for the reward...
>Sure, why not?
Have our resident glutton try some, hehe. Employee L was it? A refined palate to taste test, to sample the flesh...
>Y
TWO MEN ENTER, ONE MAN LEAVES
Misc. are up to you lot.

>>5150159
>One of your D-Class (D-10V)
>Sure, why not?
>Y

>>5150159
>One of your D-Class (D-10V)

>Nah, let's do something else (What do?)
O2 to Observe
We can do the Extract thing after we've learned a little about him.

>Y
Can't hurt, and RBA has seemed to be getting stronger.

>>5150159
>I still like the Shot meat idea.
But I'll settle for
>Prime Cuts via V

>Nah, let's do something else (What do?)
Observe with D and F. I really wanted to do that Crosstest though.

>Y

>>5150159
Alright, I'm convinced. Prime cuts are too valuable at the moment.
>One of your D-Class (D-10V)
>Sure, why not?
>Y

>>5150159
>Prime Cuts via V
They literally have no other use. There is no point in saving them.

>Sure, why not?
>Y

>>5150159
>One of your D-Class (D-10V)
>Sure, why not?
>Y

>>5151003
Consider AFYN. It is a gun. It has no other purpose than to be fired.
Why have we not used it yet?
We know he likes working with the Prime Cuts and that it's a great way to boost Employee Morale. Using it now when we don't have easy access to getting more means we can't use it as a bargaining chip or for positive reinforcement when the situation warrants it. Depending on how the Invasion goes, we might need it.
Don't be wasteful.

Regarding Cross-Testing, I had an idea about "dinner and a show" where Star and Flesh interact with some Employees. Would probably need to make sure that Star doesn't go into her Performance, though.

>>5151247
>Why have we not used it yet?
Nuclear option, as stated and hinted at blatantly many times now
>Don't be wasteful.
Agreed
>an idea about "dinner and a show" where Star and Flesh interact with some Employees
I like the sound of that. I want to do some shit like having Sirocco watch Chattering, or RBA goes to get a fortune, or Future goes to spar with RBA, or Star entertains Sirocco, or Art meets the meat with Shot, or something

>>5151248
>Nuclear option
Yeah, that was a rhetorical question. It's the point I'm trying to make, though--it's our ace-in-the-hole, something we can use to calm down Flesh.

>>5151247

>I had an idea about "dinner and a show" where Star and Flesh interact with some Employees.
I'm game to try, although Flesh strikes me as more of a practical cooker than a flashy one. As long as we time it when he's not desperate and she's not Ready For The Show, there's no harm in giving it a whirl.

I still think it would be amusing to Crosstest Fortune and Sense; there's no reason we can't do more than required, so maybe we'll get around to it at some point.

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(still got a bit before the anomaly orders are finished but might as well show you the miscs while you wait)
>Analyze Velvet via S-4M for 3 hours
>New Rule: Some sort of Fire suppression needs to be kept ready near Velvet's cell.

First things first, you gotta figure out how to deal with your newfound anomaly. You snap your fingers at your AI assistant. "Alright. Start analyzing Velvet, if you don't mind."

You prepare for some silence as you start marking down your new rule before realizing S-4M's face is still on the screen.

"Pft. Did you forget I can do that in the background now?" S-4M buzzes. "You bought the upgrade."

"It feels like it's been a month or something, it's hard to remember stuff these days." You rub your head. Nevertheless, you mark down your new rule and shoot off a quick message to one of your many employees who you hardly use.

Seems like the person who answered was Employee X. The nearly bored-dead robot places down a hand-held fire extinguisher (from acquisition, you note) and a bucket of water before wandering off.

>Get M to take a nap, she won't be able to help in the invasion if she'd dead on her feet.
Administrator --> Monifa
ADMINISTATOR: Please, for the love of fuck, take a nap. If you keep doing this, you're gonna look like me.

Monifa raises her head up off the desk, already half-dozing off before you sent her the message. She takes a look at the message you sent her.

MONIFAMONEY: sir i gotta do plans and stuff the invasion and all
ADMINISTATOR: You can't really help if you're barely awake. Especially if I have to use N&Q.
ADMINISTATOR: We'll wake you up, trust me.
MONIFAMONEY: sir i can't sleep on the job
ADMINISTATOR: This is a direct order from the Administrator. Fucking sleep already.

You could already tell she was barely able to stay awake because she passes out like a light the moment you give her the message. You note to yourself to have Spike or something shake her awake when the invader comes.

>Examine old pendant
You take a look at the old pendant still hanging around your neck. That weird memory you got from it probably wasn't a fluke but...

You're not really sure why O-Company gave it to you, or why they had it. That sponsorship felt a bit too targeted for you in hindsight, really. What use is there worrying, though?

Your head does feel a lot clearer with it on. There's still this dark void that blots out all of your memories aside from scattered flashbacks but it almost feels like the void is squirming the longer you wear it.

>Old Pendant aspect revealed (Minor Willpower regeneration, may help clear up aspects of your psyche and gives you greater awareness of how much Willpower you have)

The void squirms back into a comfortable position, but you do feel a slight difference. You do notice one noteworthy thing about it. The gem is glimmering with an uncanny glow. After a few moments, the glimmering ceases.

It's probably best to keep it on for now, at least

File: BEEPSKY.png (2 KB, 225x225)

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>Have B look through the site acquisition stuff and get the robots up.
>Open Weapon Bundle Box
You type away on your console while trying your best to tune out the...disgusting conversation C-0RA and S-4M are having about which defective android is the hottest.

Administrator --> Bill
ADMINISTATOR: We got a lot of junk in the Third Floor storage room.
ADMINISTATOR: Mind looking through it? Maybe get some of those security robots up and running?
BALLBREAKER: look anything is better than repairing Presley again. The fucker thinks that overcharging his circuits is gonna "unlock a power" or something.
ADMINISTATOR: I would expect a defective to do that.
BALLBREAKER: That's what I said!

You check out on the old man. The first thing he decides to look through is that weapon bundle box you ordered. It's a dark-red and black box with a very shady "NOT WEAPONS" label. Uh huh.
He rips open the box to find...

>Throwing Knives (+2 FORCE, 3/3 Ammo, Strikes first in a combat encounter.)
>Baseball Bat (+1 FORCE, +1 to any FORCE dice, can launch small objects.)
>E.B.O.W (Ranged, 1/1 Ammo, reduces the FORCE dice needed to beat an enemy by 3 on a successful d20 roll. Reloads automatically after a round.)
>Cuirass (Physical Protection+, Presence+)

Nothing amazing but certainly more tools to keep your employees armed with. He moves on to the stuff in the acquisition stuff. He pulls out a small notepad and quickly jots down some notes on 'em.

He quickly submits the notes before going over to the two damaged robots and working on repairing them. He manages to get the smaller one up-and-running really quickly (you swear that thing is running on a rotten potato battery) an-

"FUCK YOU CUNT YOU SHIT EATING COCKSTORM AND EAT A DONG FUCKING ASS RAMMING SHIT FUCK!" The small orb on wheels with the stun baton pedals out of the storage room. Huh. As for the bigger robot? Seems like you're not gonna get it up that hour but Bill's trying

Working Notes - B
-I'm not even sure if I can get Mr. Big up. Looks like Spike, useful for backups part at least.
-We just have bags of ash here. Not even sure why they brought it back.
-Medkits are decent enough. We got lucky on the extinguisher. Former are in medbay, latter is outside the new anomaly room.
-The two kits have enough tools to help me repair stuff a bit easier. The survival kit has enough non-MRE food and non-"Water" water to feed us for a day or three.
-Gasoline. The real deal. Haven't seen the real stuff in ages. The androids will definitely like it if you give them this.
-The briefcase is remarkably reinforced. Anomalously so. Our normal tools can't open it with force.
-Is it even legal to have these sweets? Only A through C-Company should have access to it. Whoever had these was wealthy and powerful.
-Seen people take a Sinsu and Booster pill at the same time The interaction they had made 'em insanely strongbut their organs liquified once they wore off.

File: THECUBE.jpg (109 KB, 900x612)

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>Put C-0RA on searching for the clown slasher on regular intervals. Announcement time.
"C-0RA. Keep an eye on the clown slasher, you're now part of Security until otherwise. Got it?" You snap your fingers at the android (almost literally, you notice. GOD that hurts). C-0RA snaps out of her weird trance state that she constantly finds herself in.

"SECURITY!!!! MY FAVORIte! so many strong cOPS WITH STRong BODS!!!"

"for the love of fuck just look for the clown."

You tap your microphone, ready for the announcement. You have a few on your mind, might as well get them all out. "Good morning. Today, we have been told an Invasion may happen. Until we can confirm the threat is neutralized, stay in groups and do not wander the halls. Also, we will have a fighting tournament later, you may be able to win a belt. That is all. Face the Fear."

Your more nervous/obedient employees (C, O2, V, W, Q, T) instantly fall into line and cling to each other. Your more outspoken employees (L, P, Z, Kor) think you're either worrying about nothing or you're joking around.

>Admin examine locked Briefcase and [REDACTED]

With the benefits of S-4M being able to control Spike while analyzing stuff, you bark a quick command to your AI to carry them to your office. You get up (without feeling like your back is gonna snap) and wait at the airlock for S-4M to get the goods.

You know, once you open that airlock and see the towering hunk of metal, you're not sure whether you should be scared or not. You just grab the two things its holding and close the airlock back up.

Placing the two of your desk, you decide to check them out. That [REDACTED] you bought wasn't at all censored by your cameras, that's actually how it looks like. It's a floating, blacked out cube thing. It's bizarre seeing something like this just...in front of you, ya know?

You decide to try to get a better look at it but as you grab a hold onto it, you feel a sudden rush of energy flowing your arm. Which quickly turns into your skin cracking and flaying.

"S-Sir! Ar-are you okay?" You hardly say anything as you pull your arm back. Black ooze pours out of your arm. "S-shit. U-uh, yeah, I'll..." You hold your arm to your chest. Then you notice something weird about your display.

>+1 ICP generated!

"What."
"Uh."
"EXICITING!"

All three of you (S-4M, Admin, C-0RA) are utterly baffled at this. How the hell...? Then you look back at the cube and notice that where you touched it, a glowing handprint was left, alongside a message caved into it.

"TRANSACTION COMPLETED. EXHAUSTED FOR THE DAY. PLACE [REDACTED] FROM GAMMA-CORP INTO STORAGE."

What the hell did you buy.
>[REDACTED]: Once per day, you may have an employee interact with the [REDACTED]. This will generate a large sum of A-Energy, a handful of C-Extract, one ICP, or even rarer energies
>An additional upside or downside will be given at random (killing them, healing them, revealing a trait, etc)

File: SUITCASE.jpg (33 KB, 770x509)

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As for the briefcase itself (you cover your arm with a mess of paper until you can get it checked later), it's a nice looking suitcase. Real leather and everything. Looking to see how to open it up, you see a small five-letter keypad on it. Currently, it's set to "GAMMA". It's safe to assume why that's in there and, no shock, still locked.

You try a handful of random codes (ADMIN, BASED, FELIX) but none of them make it click. Hm. You could always try to play the Fortune game when it comes to information, but you feel like that coy thing would ask you for a riddle. Maybe challenge RBA to crack it open? Or you could pry at Gamma to see what he remembers about it.

Until then, it's a makeshift weapon.

>Ask Q what Employees he wants for his department, and ask said Employees if they want to work in Accounting

Administrator --> Q
ADMINISTATOR: What employees do you want for your department?
Q: S2, business man, highly trained in sales. O2, high focus, good with numbers.
Q: K, Unknown, generally skilled. T, personal preference. X, similar to Drone.
ADMINISTATOR: Noted.

Administrator --> Employee X
ADMINISTATOR: Q wants you to be a part of the accounting department.
XOXO: ALREADY ACCEPTED.
ADMINISTATOR: Well, that was quick.

Administrator --> Employee O2
ADMINISTATOR: Q wants you to be part of the accounting department. Your thoughts on the offer?
OZZY1996: Oh, uh, why me? I'm not against it but
ADMINISTATOR: He said you were good at numbers. Isn't accounting all numbers?
OZZY1996: Well, uh, I guess that was my purpose.
OZZY1996: I suppose I could? didn't intend on being an Accounting model again...

Administrator --> Employee K
ADMINISTATOR: Q wants you to be part of the accounting departments. Do you accept?
k8: numbers
k8: boring no thanks.
k8: i don't wanna jerk off over numbers. i know who would be far more appealing, though. ;)
ADMINISTATOR: What?
k8: ▲ ▲ ▲

...Next one.

Administrator --> Employee T
ADMINISTATOR: Q wants you to be a part of the Accounting Department. Accept?
2011215T: Q: Wants me? Heartburning. Heartwarming.
2011215T: Accepted. Preference for: Drone-Department Heads.
ADMINISTATOR: Uh. Are you two in...?
2011215T: Energy Collection: Not interfered. Question: Irrelevant.
ADMINISTATOR: Right. Go ahead and talk to him then.

Administrator --> Employee S2
ADMINISTATOR: Ugh. Q wants you to join his Department. Yes or no?
BESTSALESMAN1997: [DEAL ACCEPTED], YOU [[LITTLE SLIME]]! OF COURSE I WANT TO [[Imaginary numbers]] TO LINE A [[bigshotbigshot]]'S WALLET!
ADMINISTATOR: Every time I talk to you, I regret ordering you.
BESTSALESMAN1997: EVERYONE LOVES A GREAT [[Spamton G. Spamtom]]! WHO WOULD REGRET [[For the rest of their fleeting life]] ABOUT SUCH A GREAT PURCHASE??????
BESTSALESMAN1997: BUY NOW OR YOU'LL REGRET [[the crimes you were a part of]] FOR NO DOWN PAYMENT!
ADMINISTATOR: This is going nowhere.

File: EmployeeA2.jpg (1.92 MB, 2516x3648)

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>Call in A2 for that interview (and coffee)
>Keep RBA's cocktail near Admin in case of an emergency

Let's get this out of the way.

Administrator --> Employee A2
ADMINISTATOR: Come to my office. Let's talk, if you don't mind.
ANAZINGADAMA: Fine. Only if there's coffee involved, though.
ADMINISTATOR: Bring one of the Boiling Cocktails, if you don't mind.
ANAZINGADAMA: Yeah, yeah.

You glare at C-0RA to make sure she doesn't try doing anything stupid. She turns around. Good.

The airlock opens, presumably by S-4M, and in comes the employee in question. A tired, mess of a woman who has the same soulless glaze to her eyes stands before you. In her hands is a glass filled to the brim with a bright red, boiling liquid.

"Great. Sorry for the lack of a chair, you can sit on the bed if you want to get comfortable." God, you hope that didn't come out the wrong way. Two cups of coffee rise up out of the desk. You take one, so does she.

"I'm fine. So, what do you want, sir?" She sips.

"Let's cut to the chase. What the fuck is this?" You gesture an arm wildly at the FUCKING CLONE. "Why are you even here? I don't want to sound crass but seeing a clone of myself, a female one nonetheless, is a bit much to take."

Adama chortles. "And a talking sandstorm isn't? I don't know much on the whole, well, not being a real person thing. I can answer these three questions real quick, though."

"No. I don't know why I'm a girl if I'm supposed to be you, and yes, I have all the right parts down there for a girl."

"Secondly, I don't know why they cloned you, but I heard...I guess my 'parents' talk about the cloning process. Either you got your DNA stolen by Z-Company, you submitted it voluntarily, or you were a big enough deal to have a backup off." Hm. You somehow feel like any one of those three could be true.

"Thirdly?"

"Thirdly, no, I have no idea why I have this either. Nor why I got sent here." She wipes away some grey drool. "Clones aren't supposed to meet the original or something. Cognitive dissonance or something. So either they failed to check who ran this joint or..."

"What, they wanted to test to see what happens or something? An experiment or something?" She was one of the first DAILY SPECIL purchases. Hm.

Adama shrugs. "Probably!" She gulps down more coffee. "It's equally weird to see you as well, trust me. It's like staying at a fucked up carnival mirror."

"Wait. Why is it grey? It's supposed to be black, isn't it?" You point at the tar slowly leaking out of your mouth.

"...They said I was 100% normal, with no health issues. Can't say the same about what you're dealing with." Adama shrugs. Well, while she couldn't answer much about your situation, you still feel like you could gleam some details if you read through the lines.

"Fair enough, I suppose. You're free to go now."

Adama nods. "Good luck, uh, me. You know, would it be weird if we fuc-"

"I SAID YOU'RE FREE TO GO NOW."

"Yeah, fair enough!" She finally leaves

File: THATFUCKINGCAT.png (141 KB, 360x450)

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>Lay a bowl of coffee or milk down for the cat, whichever it prefers.
Adama leaves out said bowl of coffee as she's walking away from your office. The cat damn-near materializes from a shadowy corner and starts licking away at it. Shockingly, despite it being bitter-bean-juice, it doesn't mind it. Huh.

>Inquire on the progress of the Growth Pack Garden
Administrator --> Employee L and O
ADMINISTATOR: Progress on the Growth Packet Garden?
cecidimus: doing good actually. ignoring all of the bleh vegetables and grains and shit, we're growing some cool flowers.
OPERATIONAL: Natural sunlight would be more efficient than the lights in here. If the sun has shown up at all in the last decade.
cecidimus: fuck off, you think i wanna go to the desert to fuck a female anomaly AND look at the sun? shut up.
ADMINISTATOR: Question. Can nice berries be planted in there?
cecidimus: oh, lol, we already did that. doing remarkably well, actually.
OPERATIONAL: It appears they are willing to grow anywhere, regardless of the conditions.
ADMINISTATOR: Neat! Keep up the good work.

>Feed Detective sand vial
Bill tosses the half-empty sand vial into the anomaly, without paying much attention. It crunches down it and starts spitting out a loud of nonsense.

"TAKEN AWAY FORCEFULLY AFTER HIDDEN FROM A MISTAKE NOT WISHED TO BE REPEATED. OVERPROTECTIVE PARENTS. SHE KNOWS SO LITTLE, ONLY SEEING THINGS AS GAMES. SHE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF WHAT HAPPENED BACK THEN. ASK ABOUT HER FATHER."

"REQUIRES SMALL COOLDOWN. AVAILABLE NEXT HOUR."

>Test out Arid Dress on both genders
You decide to use D-Class since c'mon, they're meat puppets, who cares? Zero drags out D-W23N and D-10V311 and hands them the dress to put on.

With some forceful motivation (and maybe pointing a gun at the back of his head), D-W23N puts on the dress. You quickly notice his physical appearance become a LOT more feminine than it already was.

You didn't exactly expect his skin to tan over, either. He looks...well, like a girl now. A boyish, tanned girl but a girl nevertheless. He quickly pries off off the dress and tosses it over at D-10V311, incredibly uncomfortable of what just happened.

D-10V311 gets the same "gun to back of head" treatment and forces herself to put the thing on. No outward physical change is noted aside from a sudden rush of "energy", given the fact her eyes shoot open and she tries charging at the Ranger for the gun.

Luckily, a quick whack to the noggin fixes that issue real quick. Well, you didn't expect that Male result, at least.

>Arid Dress (Male) aspect revealed! (Alters his appearance to be feminine enough to trick anomalies who care about specific genders, Presence-, Bond+)
>Arid Dress (Female) aspect revealed! (Employees wearing it may be more rebellious and willing to listen to base urges.)

>Make reminder to examine the vial, the lockbox, and the bag found in storage.
Note taken. Not like you can get all of them analyzed in this hour anyways.

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>C, Bond with Future
And now, finally, time for the work orders. You decide to start with one of the simpler ones since let's be honest, you're already handling a lot. Employee C is more than willing to come over there and enter the containment cell.

Employee C steps forward to the vanguard of this facility.
C: Hey! It's just, uh, me again. How's it been?
The knight in shining armor loosens the grip on its sword.
It hisses out a pained breath, finding it hard to speak.
ANOMALY: It has been alright. Preparing, waiting, to purge the corruption in this cursed facility.
The anomaly pauses, noticing the robotic arm where C's arm stump used to be.
ANOMALY: Intriguing. Man and machine, together. Not used to seeing such a combination.
C: Y-yeah! It's cool! I can actually hold things now! S-shame this place is reeking of soulless creatures, isn't it?
ANOMALY: Perhaps, in a sense.
Employee C stutters, losing the wind blowing in her sails.
C: S-so. I heard you were r-relieved about something. What was that about, Future?
ANOMALY: Oh.
C: Uh, I didn't hit a nerve or something, r-
ANOAMLY: No, no, it's fine. I was busy sleeping and dreaming about a time long, long before the time I am stuck in now.
ANOMALY: An hour before waking up, my back broke out into a shivering mess. For a moment, I thought that my worse self was coming back.
ANOMALY: I suppose I am relieved that the horrid presence that entered this place was simply an evil I can actually slay.
C: W-well, I d-don't know what that means but I'm glad you're doing fine, sir!
ANOMALY: Of course, but it's still lingering on my mind. Do you have anything you could suggest to help calm my nerves?
C: Well...when I always felt bad, I would always go to my brothers. You could try talking to some of your old...Reminder friends, maybe?
ANOMALY: Perhaps. I know that it is not my will that controls who enters through that door anymore.
ANOMALY: As long as I can keep my worse self from returning, it is fine whoever comes in here. As long as I can control those desires.
Employee C is confused about all of this talk about "worse self" he keeps talking about
She tries her best to look supportive for him, at least.
C: Well, I'll try my best to help you through this. You helped me once before in a bad place, maybe I can do the same to you?
C: Just, uh, don't try to kill anyone or mess with their heads. Alright?
The anomaly goes silent for a moment before hissing out a sigh, disappointed at itself.
ANOMALY: I will try. I can not claim I was harmless, nor that my old habits have disappeared completely. But I will try.
C: Thank you. That's all I ask for. Have a good day, Future.
The anomaly nods as Employee C exits the containment cell. Now, there is only a knight protecting a cell.

His worse self, huh? The hell does that mean?

File: suha_anjaro.png (403 KB, 621x1197)

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>Delta, 5UH4, Brawl with RBA
Ya know, you weren't expecting to see Delta dragging a tanned giant who is also as tall and buff as him with a chain around her neck. Aside from each having a stab resistant vest and a security helmet, and a riot club in Delta's hand, you don't see anything else.

The anomaly stands in the center of the room with its arms crossed. Flashing a toothy smile.
ANOMALY: Well, well! Bet you freakshits can't wait to...
Red Blooded American stops his boast. He's giving Delta a weird look of concern?
ANOMALY: Uhhh. You okay there?
Delta lets go of the chain around the D-Class' neck. With a short snarl, the two charge head first at the anomaly.
The anomaly quickly shifts into a boxer's stance.
ANOMALY: Jesus christ, okay! Guess we're doing it this way!
5UH4 reels back her fist and smashes it HARD against the anomaly's leg. You damn near hear that bone snapping in half.
ANOMALY: GOD DAMNIT!
Delta swings his club at the same spot, dropping the anomaly to its knees. He grunts, a small smile crossing his face.
ANOMALY: FINE! YOU WANNA PLAY ROUGH?! WE CAN FUCKING PLAY ROUGH, FREAKSHIT!
The demon grabs the D-Class who nearly broke his leg. There's a huge struggle between the two, while Delta takes this chance to get a few more cheapshots in on the anomaly.
With two hands grabbing a hold of the girl, he slams her RIGHT INTO Delta with the force of a cannonball.
Blood splatters all over the containment cell. The delicious sounds of bones cracking can be heard all throughout it.
The two fighters stand up but god, they're not in good shape. A visible bone juts out of Delta's arm while 5UH4 is busy spitting out tooth fragments from her mouth.
All three huff and puff, exhausted from the slugfest that just happened.
In war, there is no winners. Only the ones who lost the least.
5UH4 drags herself forward on her limp and bruised legs with a twisted grin covering her face. She raises her arms to show the chains hanging off of them.
D-5UH4: You know why I have these?
ANOMALY: Pft. Because you're a woman who needs to be locked up in the kitchen?
D-5UH4: Oh, no, no.
Before the other two could react, D-5UH4 wraps one of the loose chains around the anomaly's fist before putting all of her body weight into pulling it down.
D-5UH4: To take you down with me. If I'm going to die here, it's gonna be on my terms.
The two begin to fall. And right as RBA is about to smash his skull onto the floor, he reels back a punch and SMASHES it against the D-class.
D-5UH4 gets launched into a wall, sliding down it and leaving a trail of blood while RBA smashes his face against the hard metal floor.
ANOMALY: guh...
Delta gives a thumbs up towards the anomaly before dragging himself over to the D-Class and taking her out of there.

D-5UH4 is in critical condition.
Delta's not too far behind.

Well, if anything, that's more human blood to harvest for later.

File: PAINTINGFORAKID.jpg (11 KB, 300x168)

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>K, Null, Appease Siro. Help paint her room her favorite colors
After that enlightening conversation you had, you order Kate to get some art supplies. Kate keeps an eyebrow raised when she notices the weird guilt soaking Null's whole aura.

Now with your new cameras, you can see a faint silhouette fiddling around with the whale shark plushie.
ETF-O: Hey there, sweetheart. Your room is a bit drab, wouldn't you say?
ANOMALY: Yeah but...most of the rooms I sleep at are boring.
ANOMALY: Especially the one dad kept me in.
ETF-O: Well, we can spruce it up a little! We got some paint. What kind of colors do you like?
This quickly gets the attention of the storm. She swirls closer to the burn victim, while K tries to stay close to the walls.
ANOMALY: Finally! This place was getting too boring. Was about to try getting outside to have some fun.
ETF-O: H-haha, right. So, let's start then. Maybe step a bit back?
ANOMALY: Oh, sure!
The storm slowly backs away to the corner, giving enough room for the painters to not have their paint instantly blasted by sand.
ANOMALY: Gold! No, wait, Red! Buuuut Pink is also good!
Employee K focuses on painting whatever weird color the anomaly wants next, not even caring if it looks like clown vomit in the process.
Null does the same, gently gesturing at the anomaly to move once a section of wall or floor has been painted.
You can tell that the storm is getting impatient at the speed the room is being painted at but eventually, the room has been painted...
In a horrid mess of reds, pinks, and gold. Better than the clown car's mix of neon blues, pinks, and greens.
Despite this, the storm giggles with glee at her new-found room. She shifts towards the center of the room to get a better look.
ANOMALY: I...I've never seen so many colors in my room before. They were always so grey, boring! So many colors, though! So many...
ETF-O: Well, I'm glad you enjoy it! Sorry if my friend isn't talking. She's...special.
Employee K would huff if it wasn't for her only having a gas mask protecting her.
ANOMALY: I...think I want to be alone to enjoy this. If you don't mind.
ETF-O: Of course.
The two employees quickly leave the room, having done their job.
The first time she has seen colors besides white and grey for years...
ANOMALY: So pretty...

"I am curious at your inability or unwillingness to talk, Kate." Null muses, brushing off the sand and dust from her outfit.

Kate simply shrugs, not at all interested. "Only talk to those who are hot. Or stimulates intelligence. Anomalies, neither.

File: SACREDFIRE.jpg (30 KB, 375x506)

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>A, Observe Velvet (with Beta possibly tagging along)
Beta looks at the order you gave him about "tagging along with A" and instantly flinches. With a lot of hesitation, he leads Arthur over to the room in question.

"I am not entering that room unless it's to extract you. I am not fucking dealing with that thing right now." Beta grimaces at the containment cell door.

"Uh, okay sir!" Arthur quietly enters the containment cell.

The ceiling and floor where the anomaly sits at have been scorched a dark black.
Employee A wipes away at the sweat dripping from his brow.
A: Hoo. Okay, uh, Observe. Right.
He pulls out his notepad and begins scratching down his observations on the anomaly.
A: Burning hot in here. Even the Wastes aren't this bad.
To give credit where it's due, he's handling standing in what must be an oven remarkably well.
The anomaly cracks its head to stare vacantly at Employee A. He shutters at the stare down.
A: Hello?
It rasps out something barely audible over the crackling of fire. A scared, panicky whisper.
ANOMALY: I didn't want to be like this. I didn't deserve this. The fire is not mine.
Employee A doesn't respond. He keeps his focus on writing down notes, even if his face is turning beet red.
A bottle shatters. A scream echoes. A moment before the fire begins to spread.
ANOMALY: Is it safe here? Can I hide? Hide. Hide from. Yes, yes, I must.
ANOMALY: It is not safe out here. Stay with me. Be my guardian, I must be protected at all costs.
The charred figure stands up, a trail of purple fire erupting for a split second, before turning back to the regular yellow-orange.
Employee A steps away to keep his distance from the anomaly. He looks like he's about to faint any moment now.
A: Well, sorry for interrupting your peace. I'll be leaving now if you don't...
Employee A stumbles as he tries walking out of the containment cell, grabbing a hold onto the nearby wall. Sizzling flesh fills the air.
A: Fuck, fuck! I can't handle this shit anymore!
ANOMALY: Such uncouth language doesn't belong in my presence!
Before the heat can get any worse, he charges out of the containment cell and away from the heat.
ANOMALY: Disappointing.
ANOMALY: This is not what I was meant to be. Such a disgrace this world and I havebecome.

Beta shakes his head at Arthur. "Yeah. You see why I don't wanna fucking go in there, kid?" Arthur wheezes, barely able to get his breath back. He's drenched in sweat.

"Let's go." Beta escorts the sweating wretch away from the containment cell.

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>AK, Bond with Fortune, ask it a question/get a horoscope and ask it what your reward is
The redhead walks to the containment cell in question, scoffing at her working on the safest anomaly in here.

AK looks at the fortune teller box. Then at the security camera. Then the box.
AK: Are you fucking kidding me? This is what I gotta work with?
AK: Fine.
She pulls out a coin from her pocket, walking up to the machine.
Insulting the oracle? No good, no good.
AK: Alright. Look, what exactly is this reward shit you apparently talked about?
AK: Maybe it was me. Hehe. Yeah, as if.
AK: Another thing. I want a horoscope. Yeah. That sounds good enough I guess.
She drops the coin in and roughly pushes the button in question.
The machine sits there. Well, it always does, but it's almost like it's taking its sweet time on this.
AK taps her foot on the ground impatiently.
Three pieces of paper get spat out of the machine, landing at AK's feet.
AK: Finally. Let's see what's going on here.
She picks them up and holds up them to the camera, so you can see them.
ANOMALY: "Your obedience has been heartburning. Your acceptance of your fate shall be rewarded thusly: Your invader looks for a weak spot. Your third floor will be where it will break through."
ANOMALY: "TAURUS: USING LOW QUALITY GOODS FOR REFINEMENT WILL RESULT IN FAILURE. USE A NON-DISPOSABLE, VALUED EMPLOYEE OR FACE ILL FORTUNE."
ANOMALY: "You're not the reward. You are an insult, an error in Fate itself, AK. You are not meant to be here."
AK: The fuck is up with this thing? Whatever, I got the stupid papers, I'm going now.
AK exits the containment cell, leaving the fortune teller behind.

The agent shakes her head, tossing the three fortunes into a nearby trash bag. "What a load of nonsense. Can't believe that's the anomaly that's been here the longest. Someone aught decommission it already."

>Assign D-10V311 to Nurture Art of Flesh. Feed the machine.
You hardly even pay attention to the D-Class at this point. Just another asset to burn through. With Gamma escorting her, the D-Class gets shoved into the containment cell.

D-10V stares at her impending death. The chef's arm has already transformed into a blade.
D-10V: Using my blood instead of reigning it in? Priceless.
The chef moves in for a fatal stab but before he can, D-10V throws her whole body weight at it.
The two quickly get into a scuffle, punches being thrown, a desperate struggle to delay a death.
Blood splatters all over your camera as the chef drives his blade into her.
The cooking commences.
Such a rotten way to die.

Gamma shakes his head as he hears what's going on the cell. "Food's good but god, Harvesters have more class than this."

"Hopefully the meal is good."

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>U, Nurture Star, ask for some of her Stardust to preform a magic trick with GWIT (the Energy Extraction ritual specifically)

The old man steps into the containment cell, carrying the book and buckets of blood in hand. You can't tell if he's excited or dreading this encounter.

The show hasn't started yet.
The performer is busy spinning her cane around, not remotely caring about the old foggy.
U: Excuse me.
ANOMALY: Hm?
Employee U pulls out a piece of chalk and begins scratching down something on the floor.
The performer stops spinning her cane. She's busy watching what this old man is doing.
Just like before, it's a random series of lines and symbols that only makes sense to him. Once he's done copying from the book, he puts it down.
He pours the blood buckets into the circle. The blood flows and soaks into the chalk, turning reddish pink.
U: So. I need something from you to make this all fire off, as the kids would say. A bit of "Stardust".
U: It's for a magic trick. Maybe it can give you some inspirations, mh?
ANOMALY: Hehe! Alright, alright, one bit of it couldn't hurt. Sure.
The performer takes in a deep breath and lets it out. Tiny star fragments flood the air, soon falling onto the circle.
Employee U clasps his hands together. He starts muttering an incoherent pray to himself. The ritual circle begins to glow.
The performer's eyes widen. You swear that she's about to start fangirling herself.
ANOMALY: Holy shit, you can actually do magic? I thought that was only a me thing!
U does his best to keep his focus until he runs out of willpower to keep the ritual going. He lets go, exhausted.
U: Yep.
The floor glows with an unusual mixture of purple and reds. Right where the energy collectors are, you think.
U: That's all I wanted to show you. Don't mess with that circle too mu-
Star grabs the old man and shakes him. A wide smile spreads across the star creature's face.
ANOMALY: YOU GOTTA SHOW ME MORE OF THAT STUFF HOLY SHIT MAN.
U: Woahwoahwoahwoahuhokaycalmdownplease.
U: I'll ask my...boss about it later?
Employee U gently picks the book back up.
ANOMALY: Of course! I need to make my show the best it can be! No trick should be used too much, after all!
Employee U nods. Before this can get even weirder for him, he takes his leave.
The performer stares at the chalk circle with glee, trying to figure out how it works for herself.

Employee U shudders, not really sure how to respond to an anomaly shaking him like that. He goes to put the book back in secure storage. Can't blame him, that was an odd bout of behavior for 'er.

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>D-W0, O, Observe Sense
Watching TV on the job, eh? You would almost be jealous of these guys if they weren't dealing with an anomaly. The two are busy chattering about what notes they've taken on other anomalies as they enter.

The TV sits there, ready to be tuned in to a new show.
D-W0: You know, wouldn't it be cool if we could fiddle through the channels to get more direct communication? Play it like Fortune, as it were.
O: Perhaps. Might work. Might just end up seeing patterns that aren't there.
The D-Class kneels down to fiddle around with the dials while Employee O opens up her notepad.
O: What a weird form for an anomaly to take. Why such a simple TV?
D-W0: It's always the simplest ones you should worry about. Looks deceive.
The screen flickers to life. A man with a fake smile and a fake hairdo stands before a TV studio audience.
ANOMALY: "WELCOME! TONIGHT, WE HAVE A VERY, VERY SPECIAL GUEST TO TALK TO."
The camera pans over to a man sitting in a chair. He's coated head to toe in blood and gore.
O: Eugh.
ANOMALY: "WE HEARD THAT YOU'VE BEEN GOING FOR A NEW RECORD THESE DAYS. MIND TELLING THE AUDIENCE ABOUT YOURSELF?"
ANOMALY: "Heads will roll. As a salesman robot would say, I'll surpass those damn clowns around town."
Cheap, pre-recorded laughter blares from the TV. It keeps going long after the man moved on to something else.
ANOMALY: "It was either violence or sex that would get me the show. I just did what was natural."
ANOMALY: "OF COURSE! NOTHING'S BETTER THAN SEEING SOME BLOAT BEING TRIMMED AND HEADS BEGINNING TO ROLL."
ANOMALY: "Indeed. Say, mind helping me break the record? It'll be painless, I swear."
ANOMALY: "OF COURSE!"
The man covered in gore walks over to the man in the suit. The gore-covered man pulls out a hammer.
O: Oh no.
D-W0: Oh hell yeah. Let's see some heads spill.
ANOMALY: "TONIGHT, I'LL BE MORE FAMOUS THAN ANY OTHER TALKSHOW IN THE CITY! WATCH ME FLY, MAMA! WATCH ME FLY!"
There's nothing worse than the sound of forced laughter and sloppy clapping.
Right as the hammer was about to smash into the suit's head, the signal cuts. Leaving behind only static.
D-W0: Damnit! It was about to get to the good part.
O: That was sickening. I'm glad we didn't get to see it.
D-W0: Oh well. Guess we're not getting more out of it.
D-W0: Done with your notes?
O: Correct.
D-W0: Right. Let's get out.
The two leave the containment cell behind. You expected that to be it but...
Canned laughter echoes throughout the cell.
The room goes silent after that small outburst.

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>Q, T, Kor, Extract Shot, just the meat off the walls.
A part of the constant stream of noise in your head tells you that Observing would be better but...getting the meat for a crosstest might be good as well.

You send the order. Talon clings onto Q's arm in a loving embrace, with Kor squinting at this weird display. If Q had a face, you swear it would be embarrassed

The three enter the room. The two drones instantly groan in disgust.
The walls are flooded with meat. The cell already looks like how the third floor used to be.
Kor: Christ, let's get this over with.
Q: Wh-
Kor: Some guy that Delta keeps babbling about.
Kor kneels down and starts scrapping meat off of the wall with a surplus knife. The others help harvest, using other objects to avoid touching it.
The ball in the center of the containment cell pulses to life at the sudden activity in the room.
ANOMALY: CEASE WHAT YOU ARE DOING! UNAUTORHIZED PERSONNEL CAN NOT HARVEST FROM THE ANOMALY!
The three freeze dead in their tracks, not at all sure how to respond to this.
Q: I'm the Accounting Department Head. I am authorized!
A tendril of flesh launches out of the ball. It begins sniffling and analyzing Q.
Kor tries his best to avoid resisting the urge to harvest. He tries his best to remove the knife from the pile of meat...
This results in a tendril piercing through his torso. Blood pours out of him.
ANOMALY: STOP RESISTING, SCUMBAG! DRONE IS AUTHORIZED TO HARVEST! YOU ARE NOT!
Employee Q and T hardly have time to react before the tendril is pulled out of Kor, leaving a gaping hole in his upper torso.
Kor: Ha...ha! G-guess I'm pretty fucked.
He falls face first onto the floor, blood pooling around him.
ANOMALY: Continue. The threat has been neutralized.
Instead of harvesting any more meat, the two grab Kor and quickly get the hell out of here before anything worse happens.
ANOMALY: Scumbags. This facility is not for criminals to wander around in!

Ah shit. You're not sure if he's going to make it. At the very least, you got a trauma kit to maybe fix that?

It's hard to say at this point.

>>5152165
>disgusting conversation C-0RA and S-4M are having about which defective android is the hottest.
I think this is the first time S4M has managed a "civil" conversation with C-0RA.

>E.B.O.W
This will be great for a supporting Employee in a larger/tougher fight. Plus it's a reusable ranged weapon, woo!

>The small orb on wheels with the stun baton pedals out of the storage room.
...I really hope this is just an initial disorientation phase, and we haven't gotten yet another semi-useless employee.

>Looks like Spike, useful for backups part at least.
That's not the worst; it'd be best to have a second 'bot, but repairing Spike would have been a pain without parts.

>-We just have bags of ash here. Not even sure why they brought it back.
Ash doesn't burn, so it could be used as a really crappy fire suppression. I'm wondering if it's the burned remained of something they though might be significant to Velvet for some reason.
It's worth asking Beta once he cools down a little.

>-Gasoline. The real deal. Haven't seen the real stuff in ages.
Might be a good bartering chip if we decide to try out the sponsorship thing ourselves, as I have no idea what we'd use it for otherwise.

>-Is it even legal to have these sweets?
A hint to Velvet's origins.

>[REDACTED]:
Wow. That's neat. Maybe Admin shouldn't be the one to interact with it any more though, considering the risk of DEATH.

> Or you could pry at Gamma to see what he remembers about it.
Might as well start with him; we can always revert to the other options if he draws a blank.

>ADMINISTATOR: Every time I talk to you, I regret ordering you.
Same, man. Same.

>"...They said I was 100% normal, with no health issues.
Yeahhhhhhh, I'm sure it's fine.

>"REQUIRES SMALL COOLDOWN. AVAILABLE NEXT HOUR."
Wow, that was shocking direct. Some actual no-nonsense answers for a change.
I think I love him already.

>Arid Dress (Male) aspect revealed! (Alters his appearance to be feminine enough to trick anomalies who care about specific genders, Presence-, Bond+)
Unfortunately, that's really useful for dealing with Sirocco. The female variant is basically useless to us though.

>Now, there is only a knight protecting a cell.
He's been too idle, I think. He needs to do his new Duty, or he's going to get worse.
I'm not sure how to give him what he wants though; he could try brawling with RBA, but it doesn't seem like he's looking for a fight necessarily.

>he's handling standing in what must be an oven remarkably well.
That's what I was afraid of. The droids may not fare much better; wires will melt as readily as flesh.
Idea: We order a custom droid with Keyword: FIREFIGHTER, or something similar.

>"Let's go."
Initial thoughts on Velvet: The wife of someone rich and powerful, who was used to high class society and being in charge. Her home was attacked (pos by disgruntled underlings) via molotovs; instead of fleeing the building like a sensible person, she tried to hide from the flames, burning to death.

The Work Order for A Hope for a Brighter Future is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +7/???
Employee Morale: Peaceful
Current Anomaly Mood: Reflecting
Employee Trait Revealed
Employee C - Robophobic (Bond--, Observe-, and Subdue+ to Mechanical Anomalies. Morale- around Androids and Morale- to Androids)
Working Notes - C
-I'm shocked he didn't really agree with me. Didn't he believe in the same?
-Energy collection is weirdly high. I don't think it's because of anything I did.
-Did he mean he thought the new anomaly might've been his worse self as first? A fire lady doesn't sound like that.
-He has a cool sword. Wonder when he's going to use it. Maybe in a duel? Maybe to protect us? He seems like he would protect us.

The Work Order for Red Blooded American is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +11/???
Employee Morale:
Delta: Seething --> In Heaven
D-5UH4: Neutral
Current Anomaly Mood: Exhausted
Employee Trait(s) Revealed
D-5UH4 - Amazonian (Nurture+, Appease-, Bond-, Subdue++, FOR++, STA+)
Working Notes - Delta
-There's nothing better than a bit of blood flowing from everyone, isn't it?
-He looked like he wanted to tell me something. My bloodlust stopped me but someone should talk to him.

Working Notes - D-5UH4
-Got the last laugh. Fuck him.

The Work Order for Sirocco is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +4/???
Employee Morale
Null: Guilty --> Neutral
Kate: ???
Current Anomaly Mood: Pleased
Working Notes - ETF-O
-Turns out a child is indecisive on what she wants. Who would've thought?
-We'll probably need to replace that often. But for now, she's at peace with herself.

Working Notes - K
-Hasn't seen color in years. Reminds her of the outside. A single moment of brightness before darkness.
-Sand got caught all over me. Need to take a bath. Are you available today?
-Null was judged by an anomaly. I can smell it in her bones. The other ETFs might be affected in similar ways.

The Work Order for Fire on the Velvet Horizon is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +4/???
Employee Morale: Neutral --> Exhausted
Current Anomaly Mood: Charred
Working Notes - A
-Okay, yeah, I'm not sure if a human could survive in there for too long. Either keep human work orders short or use robots.
-Observe works probably won't set her temper off but be VERY careful on who you send for Bonding works.
-Yeah. Beta isn't working on her this shift. Personal vendetta or something.
-She talks oddly...high-class? Something about how her infliction sounds makes me think of royalty. Appease might be good?

(Since we have so much anomalies, might as well separate this into two chunks. That and to give each anomalies more work notes)

>>5152407
>AK: The fuck is up with this thing? Whatever, I got the stupid papers, I'm going now.
It is wonderful how much you can tell about a person by how they interact with this the traditional first Fortune order.
She needs to be taken down a peg, I think; she's a good candidate for Brawling at some point.

>The performer's eyes widen. You swear that she's about to start fangirling herself.
What have we unleashed.

>ANOMALY: "It was either violence or sex that would get me the show. I just did what was natural."
>ANOMALY: "TONIGHT, I'LL BE MORE FAMOUS THAN ANY OTHER TALKSHOW IN THE CITY! WATCH ME FLY, MAMA! WATCH ME FLY!"
These are important lines, I can feel it.
Someone really, really desperate to have his own show or make it onto TV, or to keep his show on air? He killed someone(s) on live TV, maybe?
We should see if we can find any record of scandalous or controversial things that were broadcast; maybe that'll give us a clue.

>This results in a tendril piercing through his torso. Blood pours out of him.
Aaaaaand this is exactly why we gather info about Anomalies before doing anything more complex with them. Observe and possibly Bond are what we should lead with, until we understand the temperament of any new Anomaly.

The Work Order for Fortune for a Price is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +3/???
Employee Morale: Peeved
Current Anomaly Mood: ???
Employee Trait(s) Revealed
Agent K - Impetuous (Bond+, Observe--, Appease-, Nurture+, Subdue+)
Working Notes - AK
-Damn thing wasted my time and told me I was an insult. Fuck that thing.
-You got an Ordeal coming up soon? Sweet. Might as well get some blood flowing through these old veins.

The Work Order for The Art of Flesh is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +6/???
Employee Morale: COOKED
Current Anomaly Mood: COOKING
Commentary - Art of Flesh (recorded during cooking)
-Lean meat, little fat, mostly muscle. Low-quality cut.
-Savage animal. There is no point defiling a nine star chef.
-Blood cocktail? No, no, too on the nose.

The Work Order for Star of the Century is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +5/???
Employee Morale: Confused
Current Anomaly Mood: Inspired
Working Notes - U
-You know, I never expected to have THAT reaction. Guess that whole magic trick is really working out.
-I'd say the circle is going to last to affect another two anomalies and it's out of juice.

The Work Order for Chattering Lack of Common Sense is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +2/???
Employee Morale: Neutral
Current Anomaly Morale: ???
Working Notes - D-W01FY
-Maybe you should try looking up if this really happened.
-I'm noticing a theme. Fame, striving for it, the entertainment industry in general. Maybe something more violent done around it could inspire a reaction.
-Shame it cut off at the end. Did it do it intentionally?

Working Notes - O
-This wasn't fabricated. Taken out of context but not an illusion.
-Intrigued on how you even do certain work orders on it. How do you Subdue it?
-Unsure if violence content is a new trend or an outburst. Or a path to something?

The Work Order for Til the Last Shot is completed.
Abstraction Energy Count: +8/???
C-Extract Count: +1 [High Quality activated!]
Employee Morale:
Q: Neutral --> Worried
T: Neutral --> Amused
Kor: Neutral --> PANIC
Current Anomaly Mood: Annoyed
Working Notes - Q and T
-Extracted material: Acquired. Enough for future crosstest with Art of Flesh.
-Authorized: Department Heads, Members of Security(?). Only those allowed for Extraction? Uncertain what requirements are necessary.
-Treating Kor. Status: Panicked and Delirious. Recovery: Possible. Nurses: Handling a lot
-High Energy: Partially due to employees, partially due to U. High Energy Production predicted, regardless

Working Notes - Kor
-GOD, THIS IS MUST WHAT NULL MUST FEEL LIKE DAILY.
-THE MEAT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK THAT GOOD FOR SEWING. MAYBE FOR THAT FUCKING AUTO DOC, MAYBE.

Extracted: Two bags of "Mystery Meat" (It squirms and multiplies despite being severed. Might be good for things that require biomatter)

Hour 2, Shift 7
QUOTA: 0/42 C-Extract Refined
A-Energy: 54 units, 0/hour
ICP-Energy: 4 units
C-Extract: 1

SPONSORSHIPS:
>U-Company: Perform two Crosstests and let your Inspector tinker with two of your PARADIGMS (select the two PARADIGMs in question). 2 shifts left.
>Q-Company: Cope with an increased quota of 11 more C-Extract. 2 shifts left.

INTERACTIONS [1 Hour Each]:

LIVING
>Anomalies: A Hope for a Brighter Future, Red Blooded American, Sirocco, Star of the Century, Til the Last Shot, Fire on the Velvet Horizon
>Assign Employee (What work type? Any specific instructions? To which anomaly? etc etc)

INANIMATE
>Anomalies: Fortune for a Price, The Art of Flesh, Chattering Lack of Common Sense
>Assign Employee (Same as Living)

MISC
>Facility: REFINEMENT ROOM, Explore the Fourth Floor (Unknown. Felix said to "be quiet" on it.), Unleash the Beast (6 A-Energy to activate)
>S-4M: Anomaly Analyzation (Which anomaly and how long?), Control Spike (what do?)
>C-ORA: Search Protocol (What do you want to find?)
>Assign Employee (To do what? Any specific instructions?)

EQUIPMENT
Weapons:
>Riot Clubs/Combat Knives (Assigned to ETF, grants +1 FORCE dice and a reroll per encounter)
>ROD OF OBEDIENCE (+1 FORCE dice, Subdue++. Unassigned)
>Surplus Knife and Surplus Club (May add +1 to two FORCE dice. Club and Knife assigned to J)
>BLESSED BLADE (+2 FORCE dice, deals Stamina damage to non-religious employees who attempt to wield it. Unassigned.)
>Stun Baton (+1 FORCE dice, weakens an opponent on a success. Assigned to F and I, Leftover: 4)
>9mm Pistol (+2 FORCE dice, ranged, 8/8 shots remaining. Current count: 2)

Armor:
>ARMOR OF THE FATHER (Physical Protection++, may block some attacks, FORCE-. Unassigned)
>Stab Resistant Vest (Physical Protection+, assigned to F, I, J, Zero. Leftover: 2)
>Weather Resistant Protective Gear (resists sand, rain, and mild heat. Assigned to whoever works on Sirocco)
>Gas Masks (Protects against gas based attacks. Current count: 4. Unassigned)
>Champion Belt (+1 FORCE dice, raises morale and lowers morale loss, hardly takes up equipment space. Unassigned)
>Security Helmet (Has a chance of blocking weak attacks. Current count: 4.)
>Salty Bathrobe (STA+, Physical Protection+++, grants heavy fire resistance, FOR--)
>Arid Dress (STA+, +1 FORCE dice, Physical Protection+, may affect women and men differently? Unassigned.)

(More will be kept in the Pastebin section)

PARADIGMs
>Stats are recorded in the "Equipment" section of the Pastebin

CONSOLE COMMANDS
>View cameras in which rooms? (Write in)
>Broadcast an announcement over the intercom system (Write in)
>Manage Employee roster and Departments. (Write in)
>Edit anomaly dossiers and logs (Write in)
>Message an Employee PDA. (Write in)
>Call an Employee in (Who?)
>Leave the office.
>End the workday (Enters Downtime/Upgrade phase)

(Sleeping schedule is a mess, hopefully we can get back on track now.)

LIVING

>Play Nice and Quiet in Velvet's cell. See if that does anything for the flames. Standing Order: Whoever works on Velvet must equip the Salty Bathrobe as protective gear before entering. Return it when finished.
>Assign Employees A and I to Observe Last Shot. Employee I shall protect A and establish the interaction as "authorized by the Administrator and overseen by Security." Ask the sub-Anomalies (meat soldiers/previous Sec) about their circumstances and what they remember of the past and their identities. Ask about their Sec. Head (Last Shot). Equip Stab-Proof Vests; A must return it after the order ends.
>Assign Employee U to Appease Future. Ask him about what he actually wants to do and about suppressing his "desires." Ask him if he would be interested in Cross-Testing with Velvet--note her last comment on "Such a disgrace this world and I have become."
>Assign Gamma to Bond with RBA. Discuss what you saw out there with him and what had Delta so pissed.

Someone come up with orders for Sirocco and Star, please.

INANIMATE

>Assign W to Observe Chattering Lack.
>Assign X to Bond with Fortune. Standing Order: Try and be polite to it if you want better chances at a good fortune. Seriously. It has a personality. If you think this is a joke, read the damn backlogs and remind yourself it's an Anomaly.
>Assign V to Nurture Art of Flesh. Warn him of what he might see. If necessary, blindfold himself and ask Flesh to describe the techniques he's using.

MISC
>S, use a Trauma Kit to get Kor stabilized and have T help get him transported into the medbay. Stick him in the surgery machine if necessary.
>E, N, use what you need to stabilize D-5UH4 and Delta. Tell the injured that they're both valuable idiots and to avoid getting themselves killed unless ordered otherwise, damnit.
>Test the Arid Dress on robots. Equip to O
and P.
>Assign X and Z to take any weapons and other dangerous things (like that IED) from the 3rd Floor Storage and stick it in the 1st Floor Storage until the Invasion blows over. Assign Alpha and Y to keep an eye on them (mostly Z).
>Call in Agent K for an interview. Ask her about any particular skills, past work experience, preferred weapon, etc. Discuss how she came here.
>Have the Detective examine the weird substances we found in 3rd Floor Storage.

Will add more Miscs later (mostly equipping gear in preparation for the Invasion).

>>5152498
>Crosstest: get Star to perform for Sirocco.

>>5152405
>It is not safe out here. Stay with me. Be my guardian, I must be protected at all costs.
>SACREDFIRE
I think we should crosstest Velvet and Future. Two skeletons, one needing to protect and one needing a protector, one a knight in shining armor and one a fair lady (or at least, before whatever happened to her). It fits together so well I'm uncertain if it's too good to work.

>>5152511
Living
>D, O, Appease Velvet, D wearing the Salty Bathrobe
>A, X, to Observe Shot. Zero to provide Authority with her Presence if it becomes necessary.
>Admin and U to Bond with Future, ask if it wants to help us with out with the Third Floor intruder
Best keep him occupied with positive goal, idle hands and all that.
>L and R, Bond with Siro. I'm trusting you L, don't let me down or get hurt again.
Saving the daddy question until M is rested up and coherent.
>Gamma, Bond RBA. Ask him what he wanted to talk to Delta about.
>H and P, Bond with Star. Preform a magic trick with the Arid Dress, with P being the assistant. Tell H about the Arid Dress properties, but to keep P ignorant. Tell H to pull out his showmanship for this trick and ensuring comedy.
I'm definitely interested in how this will play out!
Inanimate
>Alpha, Beta, Nurture Fortune. Ask him about the effects on the ETF as of recently, and a question of your choice.
Figure it would be a nice relaxing job for them to decompress on.
>K, Observe Sense after her bath.
We should Appease Sense after this, ask him how he want his room decorated.
>D-C4, D-W0, tell them to assist Art. Also tell Art that they are to help him cook, not be cooked themselves.

Misc
>U, assist the healing with GWIT if needed, grab an assistant if you need to.
>E, S, N, triage the wounded. Use what you need to prevent them from dying.
>Post AK and I on the Third Floor, and have them arm and armor themselves appropriately.
>Have the Detective investigate Shot's meat
>Take a bath with K

>>5152536
I don't mind this crosstest either, we can have >>5153304's Star and Siro work orders next hour.

We should also figure out which valuable employee we want to send for refinement work as well.

>>5152543
I had the same thought, but we should do that next hour, when Future agrees to go down to the Third Floor and after we ask her how she wants to be Appeased.

>>5152498

LIVING:
>>5152511
If you want to ask all the questions and talk to Shot, I think that's closer to Bonding, though whatever you call it I'm game.
It might be better to swap A out, as he's exhausted after dealing with Velvet. If not, he definitely needs an hour or two off after.

>H and P, Bond with Star. Preform a magic trick with the Arid Dress, with P being the assistant. Tell H about the Arid Dress properties, but to keep P ignorant. Tell H to pull out his showmanship for this trick and ensuring comedy.
Sounds like fun.

>L and R, Bond with Siro. I'm trusting you L, don't let me down or get hurt again.

INANIMATE:
>Fortune: Cross-Test with Sense by bringing Sense into Fortune's cell.

>D-C4, D-W0, tell them to assist Art. Also tell Art that they are to help him cook, not be cooked themselves.

>Sense: Cross Test with Fortune by bringing Sense into Fortune's cell.

MISC:
>E, N, use what you need to stabilize Kor and Delta.
>Test the Arid Dress on robots. Whoever is free.
>Check on the wheeled-ball-thing. Where is it and what's it doing?
>Ask whoever was involved in recovery of Velvet (Beta?) about why they brought a bunch of ash back.
>Ask Gamma about the locked briefcase
>Have C-0RA/ourselves look into the history of controversial TV broadcasts, if anything can be found.
It's a long shot, but it might give us a clue into Sense's origins.
>Send 1x bag of Mystery Meat off to the guys that can make items with them.
>Shuffle the defense plans to focus on the third floor.
As part of this, possibly announce to the meat soldiers the high risk of an invasion in the near future.
>Have G2 try to talk to one of the meat soldiers, alone if possible.
Have him do his usual, but also fish a little for more about the soldiers as a whole. As they're on the third, make sure he's got an escort, possibly Spike.

So I'm thinking that tournament might should be held in Sense's cell. At least one of the rounds, see if it results in anything.

>>5152543
Fortune's comments last hour suggest he may not look on her favorably. If we go this route, we should ask his opinion before commiting.

>>5153520
>If we go this route, we should ask his opinion before committing.
That's fair.

>>5152446
>Ash doesn't burn, so it could be used as a really crappy fire suppression. I'm wondering if it's the burned remained of something they though might be significant to Velvet for some reason.
The ash was from Gamma's interlude, remember? He threw it to stop the light of the fake sun.
>Unfortunately, that's really useful for dealing with Sirocco. The female variant is basically useless to us though.
Could have more aspects to it that we haven't seen yet,

>>5152416
>Kor: Some guy that Delta keeps babbling about.
Did... Did RBA convert Delta to Christianity?

>>5152407
I don't know about you guys, but I really haven't trusted Fortune for a while now. There's no such thing as a purely beneficial anomaly, and him asking us to possibly kill a valued employee is I think just the first sign that he's going to break our back on the wheel of fate.
Are we sure the coins are the price for his fortunes?

>>5152498
LIVING
>Play Nice and Quiet in Velvet's cell. See if that does anything for the flames. Standing Order: Whoever works on Velvet must equip the Salty Bathrobe as protective gear before entering. Return it when finished.
>Assign Employees D and I to Observe Last Shot. Employee I shall protect D and establish the interaction as "authorized by the Administrator and overseen by Security." Ask the sub-Anomalies (meat soldiers/previous Sec) about their circumstances and what they remember of the past and their identities. Ask about their Sec. Head (Last Shot). Equip Stab-Proof Vests; D must return it after the order ends.
I want to send the Cluwne in with Last Shot one of these days.
>Assign Employee U to Appease Future. Ask him about what he actually wants to do and about suppressing his "desires." Ask him if he would be interested in Cross-Testing with Velvet, or assisting us in the upcoming invasion
>Assign Gamma to Bond with RBA. He seems (slightly) less in the mood to fight today. Anything he wants to say?
>Crosstest: get Star to perform for Sirocco.

INANIMATE
>Fortune: Cross-Test with Sense by bringing Sense into Fortune's cell. If nothing happens just being in the same room, place them directly in contact with each other.
Judging by the working notes we might want to try having a disposable cage match in the same room with Sense, see if that does anything. Not until after the invasion though, need as many people as possible in good shape.
>V, Observe Art as he cooks, assisting him if necessary. If you can, talk to him about why he thinks all meat is the same in the end. After all, depending on the lifestyle of what it's taken from, meat can have vastly different texture, marbling, and flavor among other things.
I think changing how Art thinks about meat is key to changing how he thinks about everything.

MISC
>S, use a Trauma Kit to get Kor stabilized and have T help get him transported into the medbay. Stick him in the surgery machine if necessary.
>E, N, use what you need to stabilize D-5UH4 and Delta. Tell the injured that they're both valuable idiots and to avoid getting themselves killed unless ordered otherwise, damnit.
>Post AK and I on the Third Floor, and have them arm and armor themselves appropriately.
>Have the Detective investigate Shot's meat
>Ask Gamma about the locked briefcase
>Test the Arid Dress on robots. Whoever is free.
>Have C-0RA/ourselves look into the history of controversial TV broadcasts, if anything can be found.
>Have a disposable examine the bag of mushrooms. Are they edible? Hallucinogenic? If they fall asleep during the process, ask them if they dreamed about anything in particular.

>>5154104
>I don't know about you guys, but I really haven't trusted Fortune for a while now.

I think it's best to trust him on this, he hasn't led us astray beforehand. We can ask Fortune which valued employees are the least likely to be killed or excessively damaged, and if it's too destructive on our valued employees we can alway object to the demand and take our lumps instead. Remember, I'll only listen to Fortune insofar as it doesn't harm or damage our employees, if that's gonna happen then I'd be forced to reject this current fortune and try to Delay Fate with GWIT.

>>5154105
You doing the Fortune-Sense crosstest wrong. You need an employee to interact with both at the same time. I suggest Alpha and E, for their bonus with interacting with mechanical anomalies in the first place.

Unrelated, would Sense pair well with Art, given Sense's thirst for blood and violence and Art maybe appreciate watching a cooking show while working?

Also, I oppose the disposable getting high on shrooms. Those are our mushrooms damnit, clearly we're meant to have a Spirit Walk Dream with those!

>>5152498
LIVING
>Assign U to Bond with Future. Ask it what it means by its worse self, which anomaly he sensed that from, how we can help it suppress its "desires", and if it wants to cross-test with Velvet.
We keep working U a fuckton these days, and I want to work our androids more... but I dunno if Future would be up for that. Would that be something worth doing later?
NOTE: We should ask him what he means by "the corruption in this cursed facility" later.
>Assign ETF Gamma to Bond with Red Blooded American. Talk to it about what had Delta so seething mad, what they did out there in the Wastes, and so on. They both have a mutual friend in this.
Some nice times for both of them.
>Assign Ranger Zero to Bond with Sirocco. Ask her about her father, talk about your own father first. Knowing even Rangers can have problems like she did/does could help her mature, but info on her father is necessary.
Pursue the lead the Detective presented us.
>Assign H and P to Bond with Star. Perform a magic trick with the Arid Dress, with P being the assistant. Tell H about the Arid Dress properties beforehand, but order him to keep P ignorant. Tell H to pull out his showmanship for this trick and ensuring comedy.
Do it faggot
>Assign D and I to Observe with Shot. Employee I shall protect D and establish the interaction as "authorized by the Administrator and overseen by Security." Ask the sub-Anomalies (meat soldiers/previous Sec) about their circumstances and what they remember of the past and their identities. Ask about their Sec. Head (Last Shot). Equip Stab-Proof Vests; D must return it after the order ends.
This is good
>Assign W to Appease with Velvet. Clean their cell. Behave very politely and with extreme courtesy. Do NOT use swears or foul language.
W seems good for working Velvet

INANIMATE
>Assign V to Nurture with Art of Flesh. Warn him of what he might see. If necessary, blindfold himself and ask Flesh to describe the techniques he's using.
This is safer for V
>Cross-Test Fortune for a Price with Chattering Lack of Common Sense, with Y and Z assisting. Place the two facing each other with some space between them (TV needs space to be watched), place a coin into Fortune, turn Chattering on, then press the button on Fortune. Leave the room and wait.
Y is the director android, Z is the loudmouth big ego android. Let's see how they handle things.

>>5152498
>>5154372
MISC
>Take the extracted meat from Shot to the autodoc and see if the biomass can help without having any bad conversion side effects.
Do this fast as fuck with whoever is available that isn't doing other things or works. Use it all up if they need it in medbay, we can always extract more for cross-testing later.
>Have E, S, N, C, and T transport 5UH4, Delta, and Kor to medbay and get them the medical treatment they need. Triage the fuck out of them. Stabilize them ASAP. Use the autodoc with Shot's meat as well if necessary. Those injuries seem like they need the big guns for healing.
This is priority right now!
>Message Null and ask her what got her feeling so guilty. What happened out there?
>Message Beta and ask him what happened out in the Wastes to get him feeling so bad.
>Call in Agent K for an interview. Ask her about any particular skills, past work experience, preferred weapon, etc. Discuss how she came here.
>Test the Arid Dress on robots. Employee O for female androids, employee O2 for male androids.
>Test the Arid Dress on nonhumans. Employee R for female dogs.
Employee P is NOT a dog, despite bein' nuthin' but a hound dog.
>Have Employee A take a rest, he deserves it.
>Standing Order: Whoever works on Velvet must equip the Salty Bathrobe as protective gear before entering. Return it when finished.
>Standing Order: Try and be polite to Fortune if you want better chances at a good fortune. Seriously. It has a personality. If you think this is a joke, read the damn backlogs and remind yourself it's an Anomaly.
>Assign B2 and S2 to take any weapons and other dangerous things (like that IED) from the 3rd Floor Storage and stick it in the 1st Floor Storage until the Invasion blows over. Assign Alpha and L to keep an eye on them.
Oh shit it's the clown and salesman combo again. Alpha to keep his eyes on Spamton, L to keep her eyes on the clown.
>Check on the wheeled ball thing. Where is it and what's it doing?
Officer Beepsky, the hero the station/facility needs... but is he the one they deserve?
>Have C-0RA look into the history of controversial TV broadcasts, if anything can be found
I doubt the invasion will happen right now
>Shuffle the defense plans to focus on the third floor. Announce to the meat soldiers the high risk of an invasion in the near future. Describe to them the characteristics of the Neon Slasher that Chattering gave
>Have G2 try to talk to one of the meat soldiers, alone if possible.
>Post AK and I on the Third Floor, and have them arm and armor themselves appropriately
>Message K about that bath.
>Take the bath with K.

We do
>Ask Gamma about the locked briefcase
AFTER this hour, because he'll be working on RBA
At some point I want to
>Give B2 the Cluwne an empty unused room, the clown vomit paint, and tell him to go nuts and he earned it.
After he does something really good or worthwhile. Sending him to do work on Star could help, because clowns are performers like stage magicians.

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>>5152511
>>5152536
>>5152543
>>5153304
>>5153316
>>5153520
>>5154104
>>5154105
>>5154125
Reminder:
>Adama nods. "Good luck, uh, me. You know, would it be weird if we fuc-"
Literally thought the exact same thing we did. The waifu decision will have to happen someday, sometime...

>>5154431
>Waifuing an employee in not!LobCorp

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>>5154489
Admin is in his early-mid 40s. He needs somebody before he dies and/or transcends

>Spamton VS C-0RA
Winner gets Two Minutes on the Intercom

>>5155157
Who will win?

Say who and the reason you picked them

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>>5155157
>>5155160
Spamton. He's the Big Shot on Campus.

>>5152170
adama's a blast honestly

Quick check up on work orders. Here's the ones that win out

>Play Nice and Quiet in Velvet's cell (bSt, U5s, MDY vs UAi and Vr8
>U, Appease Future (MDY, U5s, BsT vs UAi and Vr8)
>Gamma, Bond with RBA (Unanimous)
>L and R, Bond with Siro (UAi, U5s vs Vr8 and MDY, who had two different work orders, so L and R was the only one with any majority)
>Sense and Fortune crosstest (U5s, MDY, Vr8 vs UAi and BsT)
>H and P, Bond with Star (UAi, U5s, Vr8 vs MDY)
>Miscs that don't conflict with each other as per usual

Now, we have two major ties

What do with Art of Flesh?
>Have the D-C4 and D-W0 help Art do the dirty work (You have a feeling both would enjoy it.)
>Have V Nurture from him and ask Flesh about the techniques he's using (may horrify him and improve his chef trait)

Most seem to agree on the "badgering Shot with questions" route, it's the employees we gotta figure out. Who do you want to send in with I (Mind you, it's closer to Bond than anything)
>D
>A
>Someone else (Who?)

And this one hardly matters but what do with the mushrooms?
>Make a D-Class eat them
>Stuff it into the Detective to ANALYZE
>Send them off to C-Company to see if they'll take it

>>5155667
>Have V Nurture from him and ask Flesh about the techniques he's using (may horrify him and improve his chef trait)
V needs to git gud
>D
A needs to rest after Velvet turned up the heat on him
>Stuff it into the Detective to ANALYZE
What were these mushrooms from again?

>>5155709
"Bag filled to the brim with mold and fungus, labeled "DREAM AWAY""

It's one of the three leftover mystery byproduts you found in the third floor storage room.

>>5155667
>Have the D-C4 and D-W0 help Art do the dirty work (You have a feeling both would enjoy it.)
I ain't intentionally traumatizing employees.
>Null and Zero
A and D's main strength is Observation. If the questions are more of a Bonding order, then it's best to have ETF Null and Ranger Zero Bond with him than people with shitty Bonding skills.
>Take them ourselves after the shift ends.
All of those seem like sharing our magical mushrooms. Those drugs are ours damnit! I want that Spirit Walk after the shift!

>>5155667
>Have V Nurture from him and ask Flesh about the techniques he's using (may horrify him and improve his chef trait)
Grow some chest hair, bucko.
>Null and I
If it's Bond, it's Bond. Still doesn't make sense to me that trying to learn more about an Anomaly isn't considered an Observe work, but alright.
>Stuff it into the Detective to ANALYZE
Do not eat the psilocybins. This is a [No Fun Zone].

>>5155667
>Have V Nurture from him and ask Flesh about the techniques he's using (may horrify him and improve his chef trait)
>D
>Stuff it into the Detective to ANALYZE
Better safe than sorry. We can still probably eat them after the shift if they are magic mushrooms.

>>5154431
I'm an E purist through and through

>>5155803
"Observe - This work entails analyzing and studying an anomaly to see how it reacts to new stimuli that doesn't fall underneath any of the other works, such as noise or human/android/etc presence. Without further instruction, the employee will focus on writing down notes on the anomaly."
"Bonding - Equivalent to Attachment. This work entails attempting to satisfy the social needs and desires of an anomaly and to encourage a relationship."

Observe is a more detached, "see how the anomaly reacts to a robot milling around" or "see how the anomaly reacts to smooth jazz playing on the MP4" work order. Like watching Velvet react to N&Q or seeing what happens when you put a dead body in an anomaly's room. Or watching Chattering's new TV show or Star's show.

Prying into an anomaly's past and asking them a lot of questions is a lot more direct and a lot more, well, social? It goes from being an observer to directly interacting with it. I'm willing to concede on this if the others think it's a stupid distinction, but I don't want the work orders to be too loose and fluid.

>>5155667
>Have the D-C4 and D-W0 help Art do the dirty work (You have a feeling both would enjoy it.)
No point in traumatizing poor V


>Someone Else
>H or L
A was pretty wiped at the end of last hour. D is technically fine, but H and L have Bond +1.


>Stuff it into the Detective to ANALYZE

>>5155836
Nah, you've totally got it right here. Observe is largely passive. That's its defining feature.