Your name is Vincent Cruz. You work at a small accounting firm somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Texas. By accounts, you are a complete and total nobody.

You've spent the last five years of your life doing the same monotonous routine day in and day out.

Wake up. Catch a bus. Suffer the indignity of underfunded public transportation for an hour. Arrive at work.
Get a cup of coffee. Go to your cubical. Work on financial and tax paperwork for eight hours.
Go home. Watch TV. Get a restless six hours of sleep.

30 GOTO 10.

That's the way it's been up to this point. The job pays well enough and the other options weren't much better.

Today begins as much as any other day. You step off the rolling hunk of steel which you could call a bus and into the looming shadow of your workplace, a grey steel and glass monolith that holds nothing but human misery inside. Just how you like it. Ha.

Your body and mind prepare to go on autopilot to get through your routine. Your legs carry you forward automatically and your face is set into the daily mask of impassivity.

You're stopped by the receptionist before you can even step foot into your office.

"Mr. Cruz." The chipper receptionist offers her usual plastic smile. "Mr. Cantwell would like to speak to you."
Oh. Great. Your manager wants to talk to you? You can already imagine the dragged out conversation he's going to put you through.

You slump your shoulders. "Okay. Thank you." Your body swerves down the hallway opposite of where your office is. It doesn't take long to find yourself in front of his office door. Lucky bastard actually gets an office all to himself. You knock on the door. No answer.
You check the doorknob and it's...unlocked? Huh. You open the door to reveal a room completely shrouded in darkness. You can't see a damn thing in here.

You have half the mind to leave right now... but you might as well see this little jape all the way through. Why not? You step inside and the last thing you remember is two metal prongs being jabbed into your back and the accompanying surge of electricity flooding through your entire body.

You wake up after God knows how long. You can't see anything and, as you try to get up, you realize your arms and legs are tied to something. There's a few whispers and footsteps then the bag gets removed from your head. It's still too dark to make out much of your surroundings, but you can make out what's immediately in front of you.

There's a man sitting on the other side of the stainless steel table that you're forcefully sat at. He's an older gentleman wearing a simple white labcoat with a turtleneck sweater underneath, late 50s if you had to guess. He adjusts the desk lamp (the only source of light in this room) to get a better look at you.

"I apologize for the, erm, troublesome circumstances that surround our little introduction." He lets out a forced chuckle. "To keep it brief, you've been promoted!"

"Haha?" You awkwardly laugh at what you assume was a joke. "What for?"
"You have been promoted to a researcher for a brand new branch of the United States government - the Abnormality Regulation Coalition or A.R.C. for short." He pauses, quite obviously baiting for your reaction.
"I think you misunderstand. I'm not a scientist."
"Ah ha!" The fake smile he has is getting on your nerves. "You see, due to budgetary issues we have been forced to find researchers from, uhm, alternative sources. You understand, no?"
"I-"

"Great!" Several dossiers are abruptly dropped onto the table. "As a freshly assigned researcher, you have been assigned an anomaly to take care of. You'll be responsible for researching, interacting with, and containing the anomalies under your preview." He claps his hands together. "We'll explain more of your job responsibilities once you picked your first research subject."

There's a mechanical click and your hands are freed from their bindings. Only your hands. You're not going anywhere anytime soon.

You feel someone else close by but your instincts tell you not to look behind you.

"We have several anomalies for you to choose from. We made sure to saddle you with a very basic and safe anomaly for your first day. We wouldn't want our newest asset to die on us, right?"

With no other option, you begin to flip through the dossiers. There's not a lot of information in them — the majority of the text is redacted to hell and back. All you got to go on are a few images and ominous-sounding phrases.

"I must apologize for any confusion, but you currently don't have the clearance to read most of what I handed you." There's a bit too much glee in the researcher's voice.

This is already going to be a long day, isn't it?

CHOOSE YOUR FIRST ANOMALY! ["As an early sign-on bonus, you get to pick five! We'll limit future acquisitions to three anomalies."]
>"Let's stop and watch the roses." (You're reasonably sure that that's what a giraffe is supposed to look like.)
>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the corpse.)
>"Give me my beloved back, you imbecile!" (You never believed in haunted objects. Yet you know that this painting is not of this world.)
>"Wash all your dreams and worries away. In the end, there's only one other escape from your woes." (You never knew that an android could look so exhausted...)
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the old man was staring right at YOU.)

"Haha?" You awkwardly laugh at what you assume was a joke. "What for?"
"You have been promoted to a researcher for a brand new branch of the United States government - the Abnormality Regulation Coalition or A.R.C. for short." He pauses, quite obviously baiting for your reaction.
"I think you misunderstand. I'm not a scientist."
"Ah ha!" The fake smile he has is getting on your nerves. "You see, due to budgetary issues we have been forced to find researchers from, uhm, alternative sources. You understand, no?"
"I-"

"Great!" Several dossiers are abruptly dropped onto the table. "As a freshly assigned researcher, you have been assigned an anomaly to take care of. You'll be responsible for researching, interacting with, and containing the anomalies under your preview." He claps his hands together. "We'll explain more of your job responsibilities once you picked your first research subject."

There's a mechanical click and your hands are freed from their bindings. Only your hands. You're not going anywhere anytime soon.

You feel someone else close by but your instincts tell you not to look behind you.

"We have several anomalies for you to choose from. We made sure to saddle you with a very basic and safe anomaly for your first day. We wouldn't want our newest asset to die on us, right?"

With no other option, you begin to flip through the dossiers. There's not a lot of information in them — the majority of the text is redacted to hell and back. All you got to go on are a few images and ominous-sounding phrases.

"I must apologize for any confusion, but you currently don't have the clearance to read most of what I handed you." There's a bit too much glee in the researcher's voice.

This is already going to be a long day, isn't it?

CHOOSE YOUR FIRST ANOMALY! ["As an early sign on bonus, you get to pick five! We'll limit future acquisitions to three anomalies."]
>"Let's stop and watch the roses." (You're reasonably sure that that's what a GIRAFFE is supposed to look like.)
>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the CORPSE.)
>"Give me my beloved back, you imbecile!" (You never believed in haunted objects. Yet you know that this PAINTING is not of this world.)
>"Wash all your dreams and worries away. In the end, there's only one other escape from your woes." (You never knew that an ANDROID could look so exhausted...)
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the OLD MAN was staring right at YOU.)

>>6276147
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the OLD MAN was staring right at YOU.)
Fuck yeah. SCP quest.

>>6276147
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the OLD MAN was staring right at YOU.)
Let's say hi to grandpa

>>6276147
>"Let's stop and watch the roses." (You're reasonably sure that that's what a GIRAFFE is supposed to look like.)

>>6276147
>"Give me my beloved back, you imbecile!" (You never believed in haunted objects. Yet you know that this PAINTING is not of this world.)

>>6276147
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the OLD MAN was staring right at YOU.)
Welcome back, Manager

>>6276147
>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the CORPSE.)

>>6276144 (OP)
>>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the CORPSE.)

>>6276147
>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the CORPSE.)

BASED QM

>>6276147
>"Dreams are nothing more than wishes and a wish is just a dream you wish to come true." (A deep melancholy looms over the CORPSE.)
We're so back.

>>6276147
>CORPSE
Oh yeah, it's anomaly time

>>6276147
>"Please, have a seat. Watch my death with the reverence it deserves." (You swore the photo of the OLD MAN was staring right at YOU.)

>>6276147
>"Give me my beloved back, you imbecile!" (You never believed in haunted objects. Yet you know that this PAINTING is not of this world.)
glad to see you back

>>6276147
>CORPSE
Welcome back HandlerQM.

CORPSE: tUc, csn, NMz, +u7, t4e, y4z (6)
OLD MAN: KOO, 1w+, iFJ, T4x (4)
PAINTING: GOu, SXG (2)
GIRAFFE: CWx (1)

Well, seems like the CORPSE anomaly has won out.
Don't feel too bad, you'll likely see some of these anomalies pop up again in future choices. Writing.

Your hand lingers over the second dossier. You still can't get the grainy image you saw outta your head. You thought it was nothing at first. A bunch of flowers sprawled out on a floor that looked pretty but not 'anomalous' in any way.

You barely saw it through the film grain but there has to be a dead body underneath there. You at least saw a limp, broken arm jutting out of the flowerbed. You can't make out anything else out of the poor quality photo.

Something about how it was taken fills you with an overwhelming sense of melancholy. It washes over you as quickly as it arrived, bringing you back to your normal apathetic state.

You doubt a corpse is going to do anything too bad to you, right? It's already dead.
"I'll pick this one."

The researcher's false smile stretches even wider. His taut, plasticine skin is going to rip itself in half if he smiles any wider. "Excellent. We'll transfer ownership of In Limbo over to you now."

"That's its name?"
"Yes sir. No more questions, bye bye, get to work." Another burlap bag is unceremoniously thrown over your head. You feebly struggle against the iron grip of whoever's behind you.

Something sharp is jabbed into your neck. You don't remember remember falling unconscious, just that you felt so, so cold.

---

VINCENT CRUZ
HEALTH: DOING FINE.
MENTAL HEALTH: DOING FINE.
TRAIT: WAGEKEK (+5 to all rolls involving paperwork, menial labor or brown nosing superiors.)

ROLLS: Whenever a skill check is called for, 3d100 will be rolled. How many thresholds are met (i.e if the DC is 60, rolling two 62s and one 7 passes two thresholds) determines the success of the check. This will change from check to check but usually, 0 successes = SOMETHING REAL BAD and 3 successes = SOMETHING REAL GOOD.
Rolls will be done AFTER voting, not DURING it.

---

You wake up gasping for air.
Your throat is drier than a desert. Your head is spinning around and around and around. A dull pain radiates across your back. They really don't care about treating their new asset well, do they?

It takes a moment for you to take stock of the room you're in. Wow. Garbage dumps look better than this place.
The room you find yourself is in horrid condition. The walls, floor and ceiling are caked in a faint brown crust that reeks of coffee and burnt cigarettes.

The walls have begun to rot from the sheer lack of care. You can see right through them. Exposed, rusted pipping snakes up the inside of the rotten wall. Occasionally, a puff of boiling hot steam bursts out of a pipe. Great.
A few random tables straight out of a highschool science lab are scattered haphazardly throughout the small, boxy room. There's also two shelves with old, moth-eaten academic books scattered around.

Great. Is there anything in here that isn't corroded or rotten?
That's when something catches your attention. A loud, electronic BEEP! Where the hell did that come from?

You quickly figure out the source of the noise. An ancient desktop is resting on a desk by the northern wall. Seems like it turned on by itself - Guess it wants you to look at it, huh? You wander over to it to get a better look at it.

It's about as old as the researcher you met - This has to be a Macintosh from the 1980s. Its case is stained dark yellow from years of neglect and dust cakes every inch of the poor thing. It takes a solid six minutes after pushing the power button for it to turn on.

There seems to be a text file left for you. You quickly skim it.

"This is your training file. Read it carefully."
"Listen [LOW RUNG RESEARCHER], we're completely out of funding since the govt slashed our budgets in the last restructuring. We can excuse some of your mistakes in the scientific process for now. Just get us some of that sweet sweet DOSH."

"You have TWO OBJECTIVES. RESEARCH THE ANOMALIES and MAKE US CASH."
"How do you make cash? Simple - You find a way to make money off of the anomalies we give you."
"There are three types of anomalies we care about - ENERGY, RESEARCH and ESOTERIC."
"ENERGY anomalies produce some kind of energy source. Gasoline, coal, unique anomalous forms of energy, etc. We need to boil as much water as possible and these anomalies help."
"RESEARCH anomalies produce some useful byproduct that could be transformed into a product."
"ESOTERIC anomalies are anomalies that have no immediately obvious use. These ones are super weird - Be careful."
"You may also receive sponsorships from foreign parties or other researchers like yourself. Accepting these sponsorships may help you acquire the CASH."
"You will be given $2000 upfront to buy new equipment and to 'motivate' other staff to work with you. Good luck."

…Huh.

You check the room to see if there's anything else and that's when you find it. A fancy airlock straight out of a sci-fi book. You missed it at first from just how much grime was coating it but there it is. A small placard hanging next to the airlock reads "IN LIMBO. RISK LEVEL UNKNOWN."
A keycard scanner is installed next to it. You dig through your pockets to find that you were, thankfully, given one.

"VINCENT CRUZ - LEVEL 0 RESEARCHER". That's all that's on the cheap plastic card. It doesn't even have your face on it.

Guess that's your anomaly. You should probably take a moment to think about how to proceed from here. They probably left the dossier around here somewhere, you'll just have to look for it first.

DAY 1 of your NEW JOB has started!
Due to there being no other staff but you and the horrid state of your 'lab', you have eight TIME TOKENS to use.
Each action requires a certain amount of TIME TOKENS. When you're out of them, the day ends.
You may pick up to two actions per turn, as long as you have the TIME TOKENS to spare.

What do, Vincent?

>Check the dossier. You didn't really have time to read it until you got dumped here. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100+5t55 to determine how much information you can get.)
>Try to organize the lab to the best of your ability. Might as well make it easier to work here. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a pigstay. (-3 TIME TOKENS, 3d100+5t60 to determine how much you clean up. Good for your mental health.)
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. See what we're working with here. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Check out your computer. Maybe there's something useful on it? (-3 TIME TOKENS. It's a slow piece of shit but there has to be SOMETHING on here.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)
>Write in.

>>6276455
>DOSSIER
>COMPUTER
Cleaning can happen later. What are we working with here?

>>6276455
>The SCP foundation got DOGE'd

Uh oh.

>DOSSIER
>ORGANIZE

>>6276461
+1
We should do the cleaning in maybe the next turn. I doubt the "In Limbo" will like the CONTAINMENT CELL dirty.

>>6276467
Hmm, I wonder, does ARC give anomalies here a psychologist/therapy/psychiatrist?

>>6276455
>Check the dossier.
>Check through some of the academic books

>>6276455
>>Check the dossier.
>Check out your computer.

>>6276454
>Check the dossier. You didn't really have time to read it until you got dumped here. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100+5t55 to determine how much information you can get.)

>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a pigstay. (-3 TIME TOKENS, 3d100+5t60 to determine how much you clean up. Good for your mental health.)

Welcome back Handler! Didn’t expect to see you this soon.

>>6276470
We are the therapist, anon. And the medical doctor, and the security guard, and the nuclear physicist.

>>6276455
>Check the dossier. You didn't really have time to read it until you got dumped here. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100+5t55 to determine how much information you can get.)
>Clean
>>6276454
>"Yea we have zero funding dude. Also here's 2k dollars to start with!"
*Hmmmm*

>>6276516
And the theoretical physicist. And the- Yeah our job description is basically "anything we need to be whenever we need to be."

>>6276525
2K is peanuts compared to millions or billions of dollars on a typical government budge

>>6276461
+1
Computer and cleaning can wait a turn

>>6276455
Dossier
Organize

DOSSIER: EVERYONE (9)
COMPUTER: t4e, Szu (2)
ORGANIZE: U+R, 04z, y4z, csn (4)
CLEAN: ggd, z8q (2)
BOOKS: CWx (1)

Seems like we're reading the file and organizing our shitlab. Fair's fair.
Three anons, roll 1d100+5. You'll find SOMETHING as long as you pass one THRESHOLD. (More thresholds IS better, though.)

Oh, also, to the anons excited to see me again - I'm excited to see you too. I don't like being idle, what can I say.

>>6276455
>Check the dossier. You didn't really have time to read it until you got dumped here. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100+5t55 to determine how much information you can get.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)

Rolled 53 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6276588

Rolled 97 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6276588

Rolled 67 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6276588

>>6276525
>"Yea we have zero funding dude. Also here's 2k dollars to start with!"
To be fair, you don't exactly know how far 2k is worth in this facility or how much it can actually get you.

>>6276590
>>6276591
>>6276595
THRESHOLD COUNT: 3/3!
HIGHEST ROLL: 102!
The power of PAPERWORK shines through your soul. Seems like you're going to get some valuable information out of this after all. Writing.

>>6276525
>"Yea we have zero funding dude. Also here's 2k dollars to start with!"
To be fair, you don't exactly know how much 2k is worth in this facility or how far it can actually get you in terms of goods.

>>6276590
>>6276591
>>6276595
THRESHOLD COUNT: 3/3!
HIGHEST ROLL: 102!
The power of PAPERWORK shines through your soul. Seems like you're going to get some valuable information out of this after all. Writing.

There's no reason to rush around right now. You're in an unfamiliar place that's clearly holding you against their will (they kidnapped you, for Christ's sake!). You're going to take your sweet time here.

You duck to avoid a stray blast of steam. God, you need to get that fixed sooner than later. Fixing this lab up so it's anywhere near usable is probably going to eat up most of your funds.
Feh! You can worry about that later. You need to find that dossier. Someone had to bring this anomaly here so it's likely they already know SOMETHING about it.

You find the dossier laying on one of the tables. It was partially underneath a pile of wet, almost digested paperwork that was left by your precursor. Eugh. You wipe off the gunk to the best of your ability. You crack open the still-stained dossier to see what you can make out.

>102!
It's pretty dry but it's actually pretty informative for what's that worth.

TIME OF ACQUISITION: 14:16:22, 6/19/2026 (A week ago?)
LOCATION OF ACQUISITION: ROOSEVELT MEADOWS THEATER, OAK HILL ST GA.
EXTRACTION TASK FORCE AGENTS WHO RECOVERED IT: ROXXIE [REDACTED], LOXXIE [REDACTED], GERALD SMITH.
INITIAL DISCOVERY REPORT: RESIDENTS OF AN APARTMENT BLOCK ON OAK HILL COMPLAINED TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES ABOUT EXCESSIVE, DAILY BLACKOUTS. NO OTHER BUILDINGS REPORTED ANY SUCH BLACKOUTS
POWER SOURCES THOSE THAT SHOULD BE UNAFFECTED BY POWER GRID OUTAGES (BATTERIES, GAS POWERED GENERATORS, SOLAR POWERED EQUIPMENT) WOULD SHUT DOWN ALONGSIDE THE POWERGRID.
ROOSEVELT MEADOWS THEATHER [ABANDONED CIRCA 2020] WAS DEEMED A POINT OF INTEREST AFTER SEVERAL RESIDENTS SAID THEY HEARD 'WEIRD STATICKY SOUNDS' COMING INSIDE.
TWO ELECTRICANS WERE SENT INTO THE THEATER WITH APPROVAL OF LOCAL AUTHORTIES. ELECTRIANS DESCRIBED A LARGE MASS OF FLOWERS LAYING IN ONE OF THE EMPTY THEATHER AUDITORIUMS. FURTHER EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT AN UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORPSE WAS ENTAGLED IN THE FLOWERBED.
COMMUNICATION WAS ATTEMPTED. NO REACTION WAS RECORDED. ANOMALY WAS RECOVERED FROM THEATER WITH NO INCIDENT. INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANOMALY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF EMBEDDED ETF AGENTS INSIDE LOCAL POLICE PRECIENT
ETF AGENTS WERE SENT TO RECOVER AND TO SUPPRESS INFORMATION ABOUT IN LIMBO. COVER STORY #9-10-255, "SQUATTERS RIGHTS", WAS IMPLENTED.
ETF ROXXIE STATES, FOR THE RECORD, 'It's bullshit! I took a lotta cool pictures of this thing but all of them look weird and grainy! Bleh!""

That's all she wrote. You wish you had a bit more to work on but whatever this thing is but you got three useful pieces of information.
-It interferes with or drains power from any nearby power sources. Has an area of effect(?)
-It's either inert or incredibly passive.
-You can't take good photographs of it for some reason. Intentional or a byproduct of its anomalous properties?

Not much else you can learn from this. Maybe you could figure out a way to invert its power draining?

You'll need to study it more to figure out if that's possible.
You close the dossier. You might as well organize this place if you're going to be working in here, right?

You start by clearing off the tables. Pile after pile of liquified, rotten paperwork are discarded into a large trash can you found near the exit. Your hands are now stained with a slurry of sticky black, grey and brown liquid. Eugh.

The tables themselves are nearly fused to the ground with how much gunk is caked onto their legs. You have to put all of your bodyweight into pushing them but you eventually manage to move them. You push all of the tables together into one compact table to save space. Just in case you buy any heavy equipment or machinery you need to put in this lab.

You then organize the books scattered across the various bookshelves. You decide it's probably best if each shelf only has one category of book so you can easily find a specific category later. You rather not have to flip through ten chemistry textbooks to find a math textbook, right?

As you're messing with the books, you find that some random small objects were left inside them. Either the last sob here used them as makeshift bookmarks of they were trying to hide them.

ITEMS OBTAINED!
>GRIMY FLOPPY DISK (A pink floppy disk with '1000 HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT' scribbled on it with sharpie. A video game? A movie? Who knows.)
>STAINED FOOD COUPON (A fast food coupon for '75% off any A.R.C BURGER meal!'. Not expired. Value uncertain.)
>MYSTERY BAGGIE (Filled with an off-white substance. You are oddly compelled to taste it.)

>TIME COST to STUDY ACADEMIC BOOKS is reduced to 1d3-1! Has a chance to cost no time!

You take a quick walk around the lab to see if there's anything else you can organize. Your eyes glaze over the stained, muck-coated walls. The loose lightbulbs limply hanging from the ceiling barely keep this place illuminated so you nearly missed it but...

You're pretty sure there's other airlocks in here. It'll take a while to clear the muck away and, well, who knows what could be inside them? You doubt anyone has bothered checking inside them for WEEKS. You're pretty sure they won't be any anomalies inside, thankfully.

>NEW ACTION unlocked!

You wonder how the hell the lab could've gotten into a state like this anyways. This doesn't seem to be just a case of neglect or budget cuts. It's almost like you're being laughed at. This isn't the first time you've had to deal with some sort of hazing ritual at a new job.
Usually it's just being hit a few times or being dared to do something stupid. This is a bit excessive if it's a hazing ritual...or is it?

Only God would know for sure.

Your lab still looks like garbage but at the very least, it's easier to find what you need in here. It's a start at least.
6 TIME TOKENS left. What do you do, Vincent?

>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a pigstay. (-3 TIME TOKENS, 3d100+5t60 to determine how much you clean up. Good for your mental health.)
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Check out your computer. Maybe there's something useful on it? (-3 TIME TOKENS. It's a slow piece of shit but there has to be SOMETHING on here.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell even are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)
>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100t60 to determine what you find. Anything you don't have to buy is something good, right?)
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)
>Write in.

>>6276622
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before.
Knowing is half the battle!
The other half is appropriate industrial cleaning solutions.

>Check out your computer
We need some way to write down any observations, and I'm not confident we were provided a pen and paper.

>>6276631
>I'm not confident we were provided a pen and paper.
You were not. Aside from what you just found and the dossier, Vincent's inventory consists of...

>WAGESLAVE UNIFORM (White dress shirt, black dress pants, black dress shoes, purple tie for contrast. Offers no bonuses.)
>BREATHMINTS (A roll of 12 mints. Keeps your breath minty fresh, if the ads are right.)
>WALLET (Emptied out. Merely just a faux-leather vessel to stuff things into later.)
The bedside service of your employers isn't the best, as you can clearly tell.

>>6276636
>You were not
I fucking knew it. Cheapskate government glowie pricks!

>>6276622
>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind
Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before.

>>6276622
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell even are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)

>>6276622
WTF is a "t60"?

>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)

>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)

See if the books have anything to say about the gunk.

>>6276622
>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100t60 to determine what you find. Anything you don't have to buy is something good, right?)
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)

>>6276708
If you go back and look earlier, it stands for "threshold". Dunno why QM isn't using DC but it still works fine

>>6276622
>>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100t60 to determine what you find. Anything you don't have to buy is something good, right?)
>>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)

>>6276622
>>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind. (-1 TIME TOKEN, 3d100t60 to determine what you find. Anything you don't have to buy is something good, right?)
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before. (-1 TIME TOKENS, 3d100-2t62 to determine what the substance even is. You doubt this is the last time you'll see it in this place.)
May as well. Maybe there's a gun in one of them or something.

>>6276622
>Scrap off the gunk off the wall for any hidden airlocks. Maybe they left something behind.
>Try to figure out what the fuck the gunk in here even IS. It's nothing you've ever seen before.

>>6276708
>WTF is a "t60"
It's just the threshold you need to roll to get a success (outta 3). I'll probably just make it DC for future voting choices to make it easier to read.

Anywho,

WHAT IS GUNK?: EVERYONE (8)
SCRAP GUNK!: Cwx, KOO, csn, T4x, y4z (5)
COMPUTE: ggd (1)
LEAVE: CWx, U+R (1)
STUDY: 04z (1)

Pretty solid majority. I need three anons to roll 2d100 this time since we got two skill checks.
The first three rolled will be for WHAT IS GUNK???, the other half will be for SCRAP OFF GUNK!!!

WHAT IS GUNK SUCCESS TABLE? DC: 60
0: You got no fucking clue. It stinks and it stains your hands. That's all you can gleam outta this.
1: You got a rough approximation of an idea what it could be. You gain +2 to future checks involving the GUNK.
2: You got a solid enough idea what it is. If you had the cleaning supplies, this could be easy to deal with! You gain +4 to future GUNK checks, 'CLEAN THIS PLACE" reduced to 2 TIME TOKENS.
3: A half-remembered memory flickers in the back of your head. You think you've seen this somewhere...but where? You gain +5 to future checks involving the GUNK, 'CLEAN THIS PLACE' is reduced to 2 TIME TOKENS, and you get an idea of the origin of the GUNK.

SCRAP GUNK SUCCESS TABLE. DC: 62.
Crits enabled! 1s are for CRIT FAILS, 100 are for CRIT SUCCESSES. Typically reserved for luck-based or high-stakes tasks. This is the former.
CRIT FAIL: You found something you were not supposed to.
0: JACK AND SHIT. Waste of your time.
1: You manage to find one additional airlock. It may or may not have something of value inside.
2: You find one accessible airlock and one airlock you'll need time to repair/pry open. You'll also get some minor supplies that were left behind the one you have access to.
3: You two two easily accessible airlocks with a lot of well-needed supplies hidden inside them. Lucky you!
CRIT SUCCESS: Hoo boy! The last person here left you something REAL useful!

Rolled 75, 98 = 173 (2d100)

>>6276892

Rolled 14, 35 = 49 (2d100)

>>6276892

Rolled 28, 8 = 36 (2d100)

>>6276892

Oops, mixed up the two DCs. WHAT IS GUNK is 62, SCRAP is 60. Not that it matters much since...

WHAT IS GUNK?
THRESHOLDS PASSED: 2/3
HIGHEST ROLL: 96!
You now understand the GUNK. The GUNK understands you.

SCRAP GUNK OFF!
THRESHOLDS PASSED: 0/3
HIGHEST ROLL: 35.
Yeah, no, you found nothing. You're pretty sure there IS something here, the gunk's just making it too hard for you to find it. You'll probably have to wait for tomorrow to try again.

Writing. Update will be a bit slower, cooking myself some rice. Can't write on an empty stomach.

>>6276906
>HIGHEST ROLL: 35.
wdym, we got a 75 for it

>>6276934
Oh, I should clarify. When I meant 'first three', I meant 'the first three d100s rolled" out of the 6d100 that were rolled. The first three dice were 75, 98 and 14. Those got assigned to WHAT IS GUNK. SCRAP GUNK got the other three, 35/28/8.
Not that the first dice is for WHAT IS GUNK and the second was for SCRAP GUNK. Sorry for the confusion

>>6276934
I think OP is taking them in order, not split. So it's 75-98-14 and 35-28-8.

>>6276936
Beaten to it by 12 seconds...

Your hand lingers over one of the gunk-covered walls. What the hell even is this stuff? You ignored it in lieu of doing other tasks but it's like nothing you've seen before.

Every single surface (except your old computer) has been caked in this dry yet sticky crust. It almost reminds you of the shit that caked the walls of your aunt's house. It's probably SOMETHING adjacent to a nicotine stain but your gut tells you it can't just be that.

You scrap off some of the substance with your ID card. You rather not get this shit underneath your fingernails. It almost seems to liquify right in front of your eyes, turning into a sticky paste that clings to your plastic card.
You raise the card up to get a better look at the substance.

It's. It's moving.
It wasn't noticeable at first but you can definitely see some slight movements from the brown, cigarette-smelling paste. It twitches and pulses with an odd, irregular rhythm. Almost like it's alive.
The paste slowly spreads across your ID card like it's jam being spread on bread. You press your finger against it and almost immediately, the spreading stops. The gunk recedes away from your finger until there's an inch of distance between the two.

When you lift it back up, it begins to spread again.
Hm. You take your floppy disk and you press the corner of it against the gunk. It tries to spread onto the disk - Odd. What makes your finger different? You yank the disc away before it can get a solid grip on the disk.

You glance back at the floor you took the gunk from. It's slowly spreading to fill up the hole you left behind. It's taking a lot of time to fill up the gap while, at this point, your ID card is already gunked up.
You easily manage to peel off the still wet gunk from your card before it can corrode.

You plant your foot on the ungunked part of the floor. The gunk's spread is not halted and you have to yank your foot back before it decides your shoe was a prime target to gunk up.

Alright. So it's obvious this gunk is alive. With how it's moving, it most reminds you of slime mold. That weird, sticky shit you'd see clinging to tree bark.
You think you might've seen something that'd fit this better but the memory evades you.

It seems inert until it's damaged and for whatever reason, it's afraid of being directly touched while it's spreading. You're not sure why your finger caused a reaction and not your foot but this is the best you can get with what limited resources you got.

It stinks like nicotine too so something that'd remove nicotine stains would also help to remove it.
You think you heard that vinegar is pretty good at getting mold out of stuff. You do know there's also some cleaning supplies made specifically for getting smoke odors out of things - You'll have to see if you can buy that later.

>You now understand how to clean the GUNK. +4 to all future GUNK checks.
>CLEANING now only costs 2 TIME TOKENS!

Well, you might as well check around to see if there's any other airlocks in this junkheap.
You walk around the perimeter of the lab. Every section of wall looks the same as the last. Brown, inert 'cigarette mold' (name pending) blurs everything into a gradient of light and dark browns. If there was anything underneath the mold, it's impossible to tell. The shoddy lighting in here doesn't help matters either.

You randomly scrap at any oddly dark patches you spot but all you get as your reward is more cigarette mold. You doubt this idea is a complete bust but you just don't have the time to examine it any further. Feh. Maybe it'll be easier if you clean this place up.

Before you think about what you want to do next, something else catches your attention.
The old incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling begin to flicker. You dismissed it at first as nothing out of the ordinary - This place likely has shoddy power given the state everything is in.

That report you read a bit ago makes you second guess yourself. You only grow more suspicious as you hear the computer turning on and off without any pattern or reason.
The flickering stops moments later. Power, for now, has gone back to normal. Is the anomaly waking up? Hm. That's worrying.

What do you do, Vincent? You have four TIME TOKENS left!
>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Check out your computer. Maybe there's something useful on it? (-3 TIME TOKENS. It's a slow piece of shit but there has to be SOMETHING on here.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell even are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)
>Try to learn more about the GUNK. You know you're supposed to be studying an anomaly but this stuff is fascinating. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 57. You're supposed to be studying IN LIMBO but this FEELS like it's an anomaly too.)
>Focus your attention on one task. (Pick alongside the task you want to focus on. Reduces Threshold DC by 3 if it's a skill check, reduces time TOKEN cost by 1 if it's above one.)
>Write in.

"Focus your attention" would make 'check the acdemic books' a 1d2-1, just to clarify.

>>6276955
>Try to learn more about the GUNK. You know you're supposed to be studying an anomaly but this stuff is fascinating. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 57. You're supposed to be studying IN LIMBO but this FEELS like it's an anomaly too.)


then

>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)

>>6276955
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL.

Time for introductions. to its new home And we should find out what are "In Limbo" needed and other things. So that we note it down when TIME TOKEN finally runs out.
>Try to find something to clean this place with.

>>6276955
>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

>>6276955
>>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Try to learn more about the GUNK. You know you're supposed to be studying an anomaly but this stuff is fascinating. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 57. You're supposed to be studying IN LIMBO but this FEELS like it's an anomaly too.)
Should probably deal with the assigned anomaly sooner rather than later if the power is starting to go.

>>6276955
>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)
Let's just check for resources, no time to clean up today
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
Confront our unit of interest

>>6276955
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)
>Focus your attention on one task. (Pick alongside the task you want to focus on. Reduces Threshold DC by 3 if it's a skill check, reduces time TOKEN cost by 1 if it's above one.)

>>6276955
>>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)
>>Check out your computer. Maybe there's something useful on it? (-3 TIME TOKENS. It's a slow piece of shit but there has to be SOMETHING on here.)

>Try to find something to clean this place with. You are NOT working in a mold-infested pigstay. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60. Good for your mental health.)
>Try to learn more about the GUNK. You know you're supposed to be studying an anomaly but this stuff is fascinating. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 57. You're supposed to be studying IN LIMBO but this FEELS like it's an anomaly too.)
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)

>>6276955
>Enter the CONTAINMENT CELL. You should check the anomaly out sooner than later. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>You're probably not allowed to leave until the work day's over but step outside your lab for a moment. Where the hell even are you? (-1 TIME TOKEN, you doubt you're alone here. Maybe you meet someone?)
>Check through some of the academic books. Maybe they can help you with your job. (-1d3-1 TIME TOKENS, you barely know any science stuff so this might help you down the line.)

LEARN MORE ABOUT GUNK: 04z, T4x, NMz (3)
CLEAN: 04z, y4z, CWx, tbi, olp, NMz (6)
CONTAINMENT: y4z, CWx, T4x, tbi, SXG (5)
STUDY: KOO (Who wants it as his only task), NMz, SXG (3)
LEAVE: SXG (1)

Seems like it's we have a solid majority here. Three anons, roll 1d100+9 (+5 from WAGESLAVE, +4 from GOOD KNOWLEDGE)

CLEANING TABLE - DC 60
0 SUCCESS: You only managed to stain your clothes brown and black from the cigarette mold. Bad for your metal health.
1-2 SUCCESSES: You get a solid headstart on cleaning the room with what limited tools you have. You can breath a bit easier now.
3 SUCCESSES: Along with cleaning the place up, you manage to collect large samples of CIGARETTE MOLD to study later. Reduces LEARN MORE ABOUT GUNK'S DC by 4. You restore more MENTAL HEALTH this turn.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GUNK: 04z, T4x, NMz (3)
CLEAN: 04z, y4z, CWx, tbi, olp, NMz (6)
CONTAINMENT: y4z, CWx, T4x, tbi, SXG (5)
STUDY: KOO (Who wants it as his only task), NMz, SXG (3)
LEAVE: SXG (1)

Seems like it's we have a solid majority here. Three anons, roll 1d100+9 (+5 from WAGESLAVE, +4 from GOO KNOWLEDGE)

CLEANING TABLE - DC 60
0 SUCCESS: You only managed to stain your clothes brown and black from the CIGARETTE MOLD. Bad for your metal health.
1-2 SUCCESSES: You get a solid headstart on cleaning the room with what limited tools you have. You can breath a bit easier now.
3 SUCCESSES: Along with cleaning the place up, you manage to collect large samples of CIGARETTE MOLD to study later. Reduces LEARN MORE ABOUT GUNK'S DC by 4. You restore more MENTAL HEALTH this turn.

Rolled 15 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6277570

Rolled 88 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6277570

Rolled 74 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6277570

THRESHOLDS PASSED: 2/3
HIGHEST ROLL: 97!
You didn't manage to get any worthwhile samples but you sure did clean the FUCK out of the lab.

Writing.

Yeah, no, you HAVE to clean this place up. You may not have many (or any) cleaning supplies to work with BUT! You have to do something. Get a head start. You pray that your lungs aren't already infested with spores.

Wait - No, it's slime mold. Maybe it's different? Hm. Guess you'll have to study that later. You're an accountant, not a scientist, after all.
You scan around the lab for anything that could be remotely useful for this task. You luckily managed to find a discarded broom resting against one of the book shelves. Nothing else - It's better than nothing. That's probably one of the few things this organization bothered to give you.

You aggressively scrap at the floor with your broom. The slime mold is stubborn but friction's a powerful thing. The broom's bristles are rapidly caked in brown, sticky gunk. You shake off what you can into the trash can you found before starting over.

Scrap, shake, scrap, shake. Your mouth forces itself into a grim smile. You get kidnapped by some shadowy governmental branch that apparently deals with the supernatural...
And you're cleaning slime mold off. There isn't exactly any other choice here. You got no clue where you are, what the layout is, how much security it has, etc etc. You guess playing along is all you can do for now.

Scrap, shake, scrap. You wonder why their budget got cut. If anomalies ARE real, wouldn't you want to invest money into counting them?
Scrap, shake, scrap. Fuck. Are you even going to get paid beyond that lump sum of $2000? Are you going to have to do this shit for free?
Scrap, shake, scrap. What a 'promotion' this is, huh? What a fucking scam. You were fine being a wageslave at an accounting firm.

You finish up cleaning before your thoughts could linger too long on your current predicament. The broom is beyond gunked up, you might as well throw it away once you're off the clock. The good news is that the floor is now cleansed of any CIGARETTE MOLD! You even got some off the walls before the broom got too gunked up.

The lab still looks like horse shit. You CAN say that you did the best you could. It was also a good way to relax, really. You hate how much you enjoyed the monotony but it's what you're used to. Day in and day out. That's just life.
>MENTAL HEALTH is now CONTENT
>It'll be easier to check for airlocks tomorrow!

The lights rapidly flicker between on and off. The sharp, electrical fizzle of the light bulb filament struggling to stay on echoes through the lab. The old Macintosh desktop shuts off and, well, it doesn't turn back on.
You expect the light bulbs to fucking explode with how much noise they're making but the flickering stops before they could.

Okay. Yeah. You got to check the anomaly. The file said it messed with electronics. You're like 90% sure that's the source behind this nonsense.
You discard your ruined broom into the trash can alongside with the slime mold. Time to see what's up with this anomaly.

You swipe your keycard in front of the scanner. A light on it turns green and it plays small, pleasant electric chirp.
"ACCESS GRANTED".

The airlock door slowly rises from the ground, creaking and groaning with every small movement it makes. You wait until there's enough clearance before you duck into the containment cell.
The airlock shuts behind you, sealing itself shut to make sure nothing can get out. Luckily there's another keycard scanner on the other side so you're not stuck here.

You turn to face whatever's inside of the containment cell. The cell is a featureless steel grey cube that's big enough for three or four people to stand in comfortably. The walls, floor and ceiling are free of any slime mold (thankfully) but it is pretty damn dusty in here.

The ceiling's overhead lighting keeps the room well lit. It's a nice reprieve from the dank, musty lab you had to work in for the last few hours.

You glance down at the floor.

https://youtu.be/FHtCVu3JYPM - ANOMALY WORK

A large flower bed with flowers of every color you could think of seems to be growing out of the floor. Sunflowers, roses, tulips, pansies and some others you don't immediately recognize.

The first thing that catches your eye is something you couldn't make out from the grainy photo. The stems of the flowers are made out of cabling instead of plant matter. The color seems to match with the color of the flower. Sunflowers get yellow cables, red roses get red cables, etc.

Odd. You step closer to the flower bed and that's when the smell hits you. A sickly sweet rot that slams into your nose with the force of a baseball bat. It's strong enough where you can taste it on your tongue. It's a mixture of flowery fragrance and rotten, moldy meat.

Guess you should've expected that. The photo did show a corpse. Several human limbs poke out of the edges of the flower bed. You do a quick count of how many it has. One, two, three, five, eight...ten, twelve...twenty?
You gulp. You're not sure what kind of corpse has twenty arms but it certainly can't be a human one.

You can't make out anything else about the corpse thanks to the flowers covering it.
The ceiling light begins to flicker. You try to figure out how the anomaly is doing this because this is going to be a pain of the ass if it keeps happening.

Several of its hands clench and unclench as if they're trying to grab onto something. Once the flickering stops, the hands stop as well.
You swore you heard some kind of noise coming from within the flower bed. It was too quiet to really make out over the flickering but you don't think your gut is lying to you.

Hm.

ANOMALY WORK
-Anomalies are all unique and vary from creature to creature but most anomalies share one thing in common. You need to watch their MOOD.

-MOOD determines the anomaly's current emotional state. Anomalies start at a baseline of 0/NEUTRAL that increases or decreases base on what you do to it. Letting their MOOD too high or too low will cause the anomaly to become unstable. Their mood changes depend on what types of work you do on it.
-Anomalies may have unique work mechanics on top of this. Some dislike it if you work on them too often, some dislike it if you ignore them, some require specific rituals to keep appeased, some will interfere with other anomalies, etc. You'll learn these as you work on them.

You didn't find any equipment in here so you're limited in what you can do.
You try your best to ignore the faint, looming gloom you feel in your chest. It's nothing. Right?

IN LIMBO
MOOD: ???%

What do you want to do with the anomaly, Vincent? Pick one or two works to do.
>Examine the corpse underneath the flowerbed to see what other unique anatomy it has.
>Try to communicate with the anomaly. Ask it some questions. (Write in what you want to ask it.)
>Examine the flowers. Weird biomechanical flowers could be a novelty to sell at least.
>Hold one of its hands. It was trying to reach something, you think.
>Pluck a flower from the corpse flowerbed to study later. Hopefully it doesn't hurt.
>Just watch the anomaly. Figure out why it's making you feel all emotional.
>Write in.

You likely won't have much time to do anything after this. What do you want to do with your last hour of work? Pick one.
>Focus on working with the anomaly. (Lets you study the anomaly more. This is what you're assigned to do, after all. Works done will offer more information.)
>Cloak out early. Explore the facility you ended up at. (Gives you a head start on meeting your coworkers and finding out where the hell you are.)
>Take some time to study your academic books. (Gets you a headstart on actually learning how to do this 'science' stuff. You're supposed to be a 'researcher' after all.)

>>6277609
>Try to communicate with the anomaly. Ask it some questions.
Are you okay with me taking some of your flowers so I can study them?
Do you need water, sunlight or fertilizer?
>Just watch the anomaly. Figure out why it's making you feel all emotional.
>Take some time to study your academic books. (Gets you a headstart on actually learning how to do this 'science' stuff. You're supposed to be a 'researcher' after all.)

>write in
Go back to the other room and get the broom from the bin, break off the handle. Return to the flower bed. When the hands start clutching, give them the broom handle to hold.

>>6277615
Clever. I'll approve that if people wanna vote for it. (Not like the broom is useful for anything anymore)

>>6277609
Sure I'll support >>6277615
If this works we could maybe request stress balls to use later. I'm also kind of curious how In Limbo would respond to something limke a Rubik's Cube.

>Examine corpse
>Study academic books

>>6277611
>>6277615
+1

>>6277611
>>6277615
+1
We can always buy better cleaning tools. And we should communicate with "In Limbo" first to get its consent first.

>>6277615
+1

>>6276777
+1

This isn’t normal degradation. We need to know if this is a threat or not.

>>6277609
>Examine the corpse underneath the flowerbed to see what other unique anatomy it has.
>Examine the flowers. Weird biomechanical flowers could be a novelty to sell at least.
>Take some time to study your academic books. (Gets you a headstart on actually learning how to do this 'science' stuff. You're supposed to be a 'researcher' after all.)

>>6277609
>Examine the corpse underneath the flowerbed to see what other unique anatomy it has.
>Examine the flowers. Weird biomechanical flowers could be a novelty to sell at least.

>Cloak out early. Explore the facility you ended up at. (Gives you a head start on meeting your coworkers and finding out where the hell you are.)

>>6277615
+1
Batteries might also be an idea if it needs the energy to grow its flowers--and that's why it drains the grid--but I'm joining this vote a little too late to make it a thing now.
Also: books

Rolled 2 (1d3)

TALK TO ABNO: CWx, 8kG, y4z
WATCH: CWx, 8kG, y4z
EXAMINE CORPSE: ggd, KOO, SXG
EXAMINE FLOWERS: KOO, SXG
BROOM!!!: utV, 8KG, y4z, tbi, OoQ

LEAVE: SXG
STUDY BOOKS: Everyone else.

I'll roll a 1d3 to see what you do alongside the broom then I'll get writing.
1 = TALK
2 = WATCH
3 = CORPSE EXAMINATION

There's way too many options on what you can do with this thing and, frankly, not enough tools to do any of them well. They really left you in the deep end of the pool with no floaties or even a pool ring.

You know this thing isn't going to instantly kill you. They would've shot you in the back of the head if they just wanted you dead. You also don't want to get TOO close to this thing.

Doesn't really help that looking at it makes you feel really, really weird.
Wait! An idea (how rare) manifests inside your grey matter. This might just work.

You exit the containment cell in a hurry. You easily find where you left the bin and cigarette-mold infested broom. The mold has already started to climb up from the bristles up to the cheap plastic handle.
The plastic it touches is already starting to weaken and corrode. It didn't do much to the steel walls and floor but it IS somewhat corrosive, huh? Noted.

You snap the handle easily thanks to the cigarette mold's help. The handle you're left with is long enough that it fit in one, maybe two, of the anomaly's arms. Good enough for you.
You re-enter the containment cell with little to no fanfare. The anomaly didn't notice you were gone at all.

The lights begin to flicker yet again. The hands clasp and grasp futilely, desperately, for anything to grab onto. The light above is starting to make a lot of noises you don't like to hear! Sizzling, crackling, creaking...
The ceiling light is slowly loosening from its frame. Okay, okay, you need to stop this NOW before the anomaly hurts itself.

You gingerly lower it the handle towards one of the anomaly's hands. The hands, you note, aren't rotten in any way. They're slender, pale and pristine. Odd. You wonder where the rotten smell is coming from then.
Two hands weakly grasp the handle.

The other hands begin to slow down. Their grasping, flailing digits are now lifeless. The lights stop flickering and any weird noises you were hearing cease entirely.

IN LIMBO tenderly runs its fingers along the broom handle you gave it. Other hands try to grasp at the broom but there's only so much room its hands can grasp onto.
You count at least four hands all struggling to hold onto it at the same time before it stops trying to add more.

You wonder how strong its grip is but you'll have to test that out later. If a broom handle is enough to keep it placated for now, you're not going to complain.

You lean against one of the containment cell walls. You don't have anything to write with so you might as well commit this to memory. Time to observe the anomaly.
Any movement it makes is slow and subtle. Its hands continue to rub the broom handle that could be described as 'lovingly' if not for. How frankly surreal the gesture is to you.

Its flowers gently sway as if there was wind blowing past them. Without the flickering of dying lights, the containment cell is remarkably quiet. Quiet enough where you can hear your own breathing.

It's peaceful in here.

There's nothing to worry about. No rush to get another form submitted. No rush to get coffee for some boss who doesn't care about you. They probably don't even remember your name.
Wait. Why are you thinking about your old job all of a sudden?

You shake your head in an attempt to clear it of those thoughts. You try to think about something else.
You don't have to work at the popcorn stand again, the stench of butter flooding your nose. You can leave that stupid theater and become a film star.

You shake your head again. You don't remember working with popcorn? But you could SMELL the artificial butter as if it were right here.

Wouldn't it be nice to dream?

You step away from IN LIMBO. Okay, you know those last two thoughts wasn't yours but you understand the emotions behind them.
Your heart twists on itself. There's a heavy, gloomy weight tied to your soul. It's like a hand has wrapped around your heart and it's pulling down HARD.

You take a deep, deep breath of the musty and sickly sweet air filling the cell.
The weight vanishes almost as quickly as it arrived. Your head feels all sorts of funny now.

>-MENTAL HEALTH!
Another flower, a poppy with grey leaves, booms from the flower bed. The other flowers perk up at the brand new flower, welcoming another guest.

Whatever just happened, it seems the anomaly's happy? That weird gloom you were feeling is gone now and the lights are no longer flickering like some cheap horror movie.
The hands holding onto the broom handle cautiously lower it down onto the floor. It doesn't want its new toy(?) to be broken, you guess. The broom handle now rests by the flowerbed, still easily within grasp of the hands.

You don't think you're getting anything else done with this anomaly today. Whatever its deal is, it messed with your memories somehow and you need time to pry that movie theater memory out of your head.

You mutter out a goodbye to the anomaly before stepping out of the cell.
The dingy, musty lab you were working in almost feels like a fresh breath of fresh air after that mindfuck. You think the best thing you can do right now is to study. Not like you can do anything else with what limited time you have.

You pry a few random books you think might be relevant - MacOS for Dummies, Chemistry 101 and Anatomy 101. Those should be good enough for now. You certainly won't get any deep understanding of ANY of these subjects, though.

>Added the three books to your inventory!

The coding book might as well be gibberish to you. It's clearly meant for someone already well versed in coding and, well, you're tech literate but not so much that you understand much of this - if any at all. Doesn't help that this book is older than you are and for a system you never used before.

You are starting to piece something together. Basic bits of code that, at least, could help you understand any bizarre error codes that might show up.

Your temple throbs like something stuffed a hot iron against it. Okay. Next book.

The chemistry book is a lot more understandable, if drab, to you. It's mostly a refresher over basic high school chemistry. Acid and bases, different types of chemical bonding, types of chemical reactions. That kind of stuff.
It was never your favorite subject but you hated others way, way more.

The deeper into the book you go, the more obtuse and esoteric the information becomes. It's really only '101' for the first twenty or thirty pages. There's probably a lot more to this book than you first thought.

It could help you out with having a basic idea on what properties anomalous chemicals have. Maybe if you study this one some more, you could figure out how to make specific mixtures to help you out later. You already know that bleach mixed with ammonia is a bad thing - but what else could you make?

You close that before checking your final book - Anatomy 101.
It's basic information about the human body. The types of muscles and bones you have, what your organs do, physical disorders and their symptoms, etc etc. Nothing too in depth but there's some easily readable diagrams that helps you understand the text better.

It's very likely you're going to be dealing with humanoid anomalies. That OLD MAN anomaly you skipped over was one and IN LIMBO has SOME human anatomy to it. Even if their anatomy is twisted and warped, knowing how the human body works would give you a starting point to help them.

Better than trying to treat any issues they might have blindly, right? You're not sure if there's any medical doctors here willing to work with you. Best to assume the worst.

>You now have a surface level understanding of chemistry, human anatomy and the MAS OC. You gain +1 to all future checks involving those subjects!
>These bonuses increase as you study these books.

You close your books. Right as you do, you hear two sharp digital notes from outside your lab. Ah, guess you should've expected them to have an intercom system.

"Attention, uh, all researchers." A tired, feminine voice crackles over the line. You hear her shuffling through some papers. "The work day is over. Please head to the cafeteria."
The two digital notes repeat before the intercom turns off.

Food. God, you need food.
You never fed yourself well back at home - It would be instant ramen and soda for you. The only reason you don't have a gut is because your metabolism is all kinds of weird. You haven't eaten all day either.

You stumble out of your lab. The hallway you're in is made out of smooth, sleek metal - Looks like something out of a sci-fi set. The constant hum of the white fluorescent light is already getting on your nerves but it's also comforting. It really isn't that different from your office.

The only splotch of color along the hallways is dull blue lines painted alongside the walls, one towards the bottom and two smaller up towards the top.

There's a few other doors in this hallway that seem to lead to other labs. You don't exactly want to stick your nose into them right now, might as well head to the cafeteria. Wherever that is.

You pick a random direction that you think you heard some footsteps echoing from. You'll have to find a map of this place later so you don't have to wander like a chicken with his head cut off.

The place is built like a maze. There's no landmarks aside from the random grey door with an almost illegible placard next to it. You take random turns for what feels like minutes.

The distant sound of casual conversation and forks clattering against metal trays echoes through the hallway. You're close! You're about to head towards the cafeteria but you notice someone leaning against one of the walls.

They're facing away from you so you can't make out much of their appearance. The white labcoat and black dress pants they're wearing are barely hanging on their gaunt, spindly body. Their blonde hair is a shaggy mess stained in a slurry of black and brown gunk.

You swear their skin is about to slough right off their bones. Their skin hangs off their body in heavy, flabby flaps.

"It's fine," You can barely hear what they're saying. They're slurring their words together. "It's worth the price." Their teeth grind together with every word they speak.

You. You're not sure what to do here. This is the first person you've seen here all day that wasn't that smug turtleneck wearing bastard and they look like...this?

What do you do, Vincent?
>Walk past them. You do not want to get ANYWHERE near them. (Soothes your mind.)
>Try to figure out what's wrong with them. Maybe you can help treat it? (DC 60, +1 from SURFACE LEVEL ANATOMY)
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.
>You think they're a researcher. Ask them where you're at and what the hell is going on here. (DC 40)
>Hand them the MYSTERY BAGGIE. Might put some pep in their step. (-MYSTERY BAGGIE)
>Write in.

>>6278203
>Try to figure out what's wrong with them. Maybe you can help treat it? (DC 60, +1 from SURFACE LEVEL ANATOMY)

>>6278203
>>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.

>>6278203
>AVOID HIM
Melting from Nuclear Throne. Most important is a piece of mind.

>>6278203
>Try to figure out what's wrong with them. Maybe you can help treat it? (DC 60, +1 from SURFACE LEVEL ANATOMY)

>>6278203
>>Walk past them. You do not want to get ANYWHERE near them. (Soothes your mind.)


>on IN LIMBO
So the caressing seems to suggest we'll want huggable, pettable things to play with. Experimenting with textures of various objects might also be an idea. I'm also a bit curious about what it'd do with legos/linkin logs/those modern magnet toys.

The random memories, the loss of mental health and the blooming of a new flower suggest it uses mental energy not anything from the grid; those fluctuations might be signs it's bored or hungry.

>>6278203
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do
Trying to help him unprompted on the first meeting is stupid. Let's meet him again later after we know him then figure it out

>>6278203
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.
We are not professional doctors. Wait, do we need to pay to get doctor service here? Is that why he doesn't go to a medical room somewhere here because it's expensive?

>>6278203
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.
It's only nice after all.

>>6278203
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.

>>6278203
>Offer to escort them to the cafeteria, no questions asked. They clearly need food more than you do.

>>6278203
>You think they're a researcher. Ask them where you're at and what the hell is going on here. (DC 40)

>>6278203
>Try to figure out what's wrong with them. Maybe you can help treat it? (DC 60, +1 from SURFACE LEVEL ANATOMY)

>>6278203
>Walk past them. You do not want to get ANYWHERE near them. (Soothes your mind.)

>>6278694
Goddamn IP change uuuuugh
I'm >>6277617
>>6276645
>>6276631

WHAT'S WRONG?: 04z, T4x, +u7
WALK PAST THEM: oCS, oGi, /JI
ASK IT QUESTIONS: SXG
ESCORT THEM: 8KG, tbi, xFS, JhX, jHo, KOO

Seems like ESCORT THEM wins by a solid majority. Writing.

You keep your head low. Best to avoid whatever this THING is. All you got to do is walk past it. It's probably too slow and weak to attack you.
A faint smile creeps onto your face. Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.

The gaunt researcher doesn't even notice you walking past them. They continue to mutter nonsense, "Just one more day. One more day before I can afford it."
You just have to take the turn around the hallway and you're gone.
You're just about to turn around the corner but you stop mid-step. You turn your head ever-so-slightly to look back at the gaunt researcher.

They're trying to get to the cafeteria. Trying being the keyword. They're sluggishly sliding their body forward with heavy, slow movements. It's going to take this at least an hour to get from where they're at to the end of the hallway.

You peak around the corner. You can see the cafeteria right there. You could leave this reject behind.
Ah, fuck it, fine.

You turn around to check up on the researcher.
You glance down at their legs and, oof, you didn't notice it when you were behind them but their flesh is sticking to the ground. Even a retard could figure out this guy shouldn't be alive.
Or, well, girl you think. Her facial features are already beginning to droop a bit but you think you saw some lipstick on there? Maybe some softer cheeks?

You're not sure if it particularly matters right now. You need to help her if only to appease your conscience. "Uh, look, do you wanna get something to eat?"
She gurgles something. You think that's a yes.

You drape her arm over your shoulder. The wet, sticky sensation of their flabby flesh reminds you of wet modeling clay. You keep your head low to make sure she can't see you grimacing.

The two of you sluggishly head towards the cafeteria. It takes a lot longer than it would've if you just went by yourself but you should still be able to get some grub.

https://youtu.be/u998cggd37M - CAFETERIA

It's about as pitiful as you could expect from a place that kidnaps random people.

About twelve or thirteen bare metal benches are half-heartedly scattered throughout the small cafeteria. Two vending machines, low on stock (say for the occasional 'healthy' snack), rest at the western end of the room. The same blue lines you saw in the hallway are the only splashes of color you see through the whole cafeteria.

Most of the tables are already full but you can spot a few empty seats that you could sit at later. You quickly notice that most of the people here look just as out as place as you do.

A majority are still in their street clothes. A few are wearing what you'd expect of a government-based researcher, and you think you spotted a guard or two, but otherwise? You couldn't tell any of these people are meant to be actual employees here

You spot where the line for the actual 'food' is. You grab a tray for you and your gaunt coworker (you have to help her to get a stable grip on it) before joining the line.

The gaunt researcher stays close to you as you sluggishly move through the line.

The smell of the food cooking from the kitchen is, uh, bad. There's no better way to describe the pungent stench hitting your nose. It's probably better than starving at least.

The two of you manage to make it to the end of the line. The cafeteria lady, a decrepit wrinkled hag who's probably more fat and lard than actual human flesh, points a laddie at the two of you. "Meat slop, rice slop or veggie slop?"

You shrug, "Meat slop?"
"Atta boy. Melty?"
"ric." "Rice it is. ID?"

You flash your ID card at her, so does the gaunt researcher.
"Ah, level 0s. Thought so but I had to make sure, ya know?"

She spoons three scoops of slop onto your tray. Two of them vaguely look like some sort of beef stew if it was left out in the sun while the other is something adjacent to white chicken. It already looks predigested.
The gaunt researcher, at least, gets something resembling food. It's piles on piles of white rice that's already gone sticky and gummy but it's at least FOOD.

Even if both of them smell the exact same. Like mildew, old socks and fish. "Aight. Move, ya two."

"Thanks." Your impassive mask works well enough here. The old lady grunts before gesturing at you and your friend to scram.

You help the gaunt researcher to find a seat amongst the already packed cafeteria. She grabs onto your shoulder right as you're about to leave her be.
"thank you thank you thank you." She gurgles out, muttering the same phrase over and over again.

Your mask tightens. It's hard to be genuine when she looks like she's a post apoc video game enemy. "No problem. Eat up, you clearly need it."
She vigorously nods her head. It makes a sound similar to jiggling jello. Eugh. At least you made a friend today.

Better to find a seat of your own. You might wanna take this chance to build some connections with your fellow staff. You scan around for anyone who catches your attention.

Who do you want to talk to? Pick two.
>A researcher with wild eyes is staring at you. This lady looks like a fucking nutcase. What's her deal?
>A security guard with long red hair is pacing around the room. She seems to be worrying about something - Lend her an ear?
>You might as well talk to your gaunt coworker. Figure out what's up with her and all of that.
>Is that a robot? It struggles to move its clunky, robotic limbs to eat the food provided to it. They have robots here???
>A man in tactical gear is wolfing down some high quality chow. Probably one of the 'ETF' agents you heard about on the dossiers. Could have some intel.
>A beanie-wearing researcher is rhythmically tapping on the table with a spoon and fork. She seems to be fun, at least? Could be a fun conversation.
>An old security guard watches the room. His face is more scar and burn tissue than anything else. He probably has some stories to tell about this place.
>There's a man here. You can not make out anything else about his appearance.

>>6278770
>There's a man here. You can not make out anything else about his appearance.
oh no no no
talk to the security guard about this man

>>6278770
>A security guard with long red hair is pacing around the room.
>A beanie-wearing researcher is rhythmically tapping on the table with a spoon and fork.
Casey?

>>6278776
Do ARC maybe recruit anomalies as a employee?

>>6278770
>An old security guard watches the room. His face is more scar and burn tissue than anything else. He probably has some stories to tell about this place.
>A security guard with long red hair is pacing around the room. She seems to be worrying about something - Lend her an ear?

>>6278770
>You might as well talk to your gaunt coworker. Figure out what's up with her and all of that.
>You might as well talk to your gaunt coworker. Figure out what's up with her and all of that.
Ask security about this guy. This can’t be anything good.

>>6278787
The second vote should have been about ratting the “faceless man” out to security.

>>6278770
>TALK TO THE OLD GUARD.
>TALK TO THE FACELESS MAN.
Old Hand and possibly a motherfuck anomaly, haha.

>>6278770
>>An old security guard watches the room. His face is more scar and burn tissue than anything else. He probably has some stories to tell about this place.
>>There's a man here. You can not make out anything else about his appearance.

I doubt the old security guard (probably a high-ranking veteran) and mystery man (anomalies personnel?) will be working with us so soon. They probably have a high standard, low expectation, low respect, distrust, or whatever for anyone that is new here (we are literally level 0 and just arrived here). The only things we'll probably gain from meeting both are probably some advice and simple stuff, but they're not going to be working in our room in the near future. I doubt HandlerQM will immediately hand out a high-quality ally/associate to us so soon. This includes ETF agents as well.

We should talk to people here that are on our level or not too high a level. Like, a security guard with long red hair, crazy-looking researchers, beanie-wearing researchers, gaunt coworkers, and robots.

I doubt the old security guard (probably a high-ranking veteran) and mystery man (anomalies personnel?) will be working with us so soon. They probably have a high standard, low expectation, low respect, distrust, or whatever for anyone that is new here (we are literally level 0 and just arrived here). The only things we'll probably gain from meeting both are probably some advice and simple stuff, but they're not going to be working in our room in the near future. I doubt HandlerQM will immediately hand out a high-quality ally/associate to us so soon. This includes ETF agents as well.

We should talk to people here that are on our level or not too high a level. Like, a security guard with long red hair, crazy-looking researchers, beanie-wearing researchers, gaunt coworkers, and robots. Since they are most likely to help us directly or whatever in our lab when asked. Don't require high-level convincing, expensive pay, or whatever.

>>6278770
>You might as well talk to your gaunt coworker. Figure out what's up with her and all of that.
For now, stick to who we know
>There's a man here. You can not make out anything else about his appearance.
Have you seen this man?

>>6278770
>There's a man here. You can not make out anything else about his appearance.

>>6278770
>A researcher with wild eyes is staring at you. This lady looks like a fucking nutcase. What's her deal?
>A beanie-wearing researcher is rhythmically tapping on the table with a spoon and fork. She seems to be fun, at least? Could be a fun conversation.

>>6278770
>Is that a robot? It struggles to move its clunky, robotic limbs to eat the food provided to it. They have robots here???

>A security guard with long red hair is pacing around the room. She seems to be worrying about something - Lend her an ear?

>>6278790
>>6278800
Anon, In practical, we need types of associates/allies that are not too expensive to hire and that don't require high persuasion to work with us or whatever else. Both seem to be potentially far above our pay grade to be working for us directly so soon.

>>6278790
>>6278800
Anon, be practical, we need types of associates/allies that are not too expensive to hire and that don't require high persuasion to work with us or whatever else. Both seem to be potentially far above our pay grade to be working for us directly so soon.

>>6279214
I don't want associates thoughever
I want information
and hopefully to not be CONSUMED BY A MOTHERFUCKING ANOMALY DISGUISED AS A COWORKER

>>6278946
I must’ve missed the part where we pick two.
>A security guard with long red hair is pacing around the room. She seems to be worrying about something - Lend her an ear?

>>6278770
Several of these choices aren't actually conducive to sitting down and eating.

>>A beanie-wearing researcher is rhythmically tapping on the table with a spoon and fork. She seems to be fun, at least? Could be a fun conversation
>An old security guard watches the room. His face is more scar and burn tissue than anything else. He probably has some stories to tell about this place.

One for during mealtime one for after

Taking a loot at everything, it seems that the MAN and the OLD GUARD win out (with REDHEAD in third place).
You'll have a lot of opportunities to play office politics with these guys and coworkers you haven't seen yet later. I'll keep the interest in REDHEAD in mind.

Writing.

After taking a look at everything, it seems that the MAN and the OLD GUARD win out (with REDHEAD in third place).
You'll have a lot of opportunities to play office politics with these guys and coworkers you haven't seen yet later. I'll keep the interest in REDHEAD in mind.

Writing.

There's a lot of people who catch your attention here. Even if only for a brief second, you wonder if it's worth talking to them.
You quickly dismiss most of them as either not worth your time or someone you could talk to later.

One of the guards is pacing around the cafeteria. She's muttering something under her breath, clearly worried about SOMETHING. Part of you wants to check up on her but...
Something else catches your eye first. The redhead can wait.

There's a man sitting at one of the tables. On closer examination, he is wearing a cherry red labcoat. That's all you can make out about his appearance. The rest of his body is an indistinct humanoid smear that your brain is having a hard time filling in.

You look away. What were you talking about? Something about a man?
Wait-
You snap your gaze back to the table you were looking at. The man is still sitting there. You think he's eating something but you can't make out what's on his tray.

The other researchers, security guards and random oddjob workers sitting at the table don't even acknowledge him. None of them are talking or looking at him. How is no one noticing this guy? There's one spot open next to him - guess that's where you're sitting if you wanna talk to him.

Your first thought is: Is this thing an anomaly? Did it break out somehow? What is it going to do? You need to warn security about this.
You tighten the grip on your tray. You hastily march over to the nearest security guard that would know how to deal with this thing.

The first guard you find looks like he knows his shit. You can't make out his face but, unlike the man, it's not for any possibly anomalous reason. His face is a mangled, charred matrix of scar and burn tissue. Where was once a nose, there's only a caved in hole that he struggles to breath in and out of.

The only parts spared from whatever horrors he has seen is his mouth and his left eye. Flesh has grown over the empty socket where his right eye used to be. Not like the rest of his body is any better. Liver spots and wrinkles cover his body from head to toe.

His body is lightly armored with knee/shoulder pads and a Kevlar vest straight out of police surplus. A subnose revolver hangs on his holster - Okay!

Okay, yeah, this guy can help you! He's clearly dealt with far worse, right?

His one good eye narrows as you approach him. "What's the matter, boy?" A raspy, gravelly voice croaks through his ruined throat. "Lost? Ya sit at one of them there tables and ya eat. Ain't that hard to understand, boy."
Your eye twitches. He did not just call you a 'boy'. Okay, whatever, this is more important. "No, I have something to report."

Now this gets his attention. "Ah shit. Was hopin' I didn't have to do no work. What's the issue, boy?"
"Stop-" You hold your tongue. "I have reason to suspect that there's a threat in this cafeteria." You point to the table where you saw the man.

"Do you recognize that man?"

The old guard squints at where you're pointing. Your hopes of him helping rapidly die as you see his confused expression. The gears in his head are turning in a vain attempt to process what you just said.

"I ain't seeing what ya pointing at."
Fuck, fuck, fuck-
"But. I ain't stupid either. I can tells ya think somethin' is there. Lemme give ya some advice here, boy."

"It's Vincent."
"Introductions, eh? Anthony here. Lemme finish what I was gonna say." "Fine."
"This place probably been here for a good ol' century if the rumors are true. Hell, I've been workin' in this here place for 30 years, boy. One thing I learnt real quick is you learn to stop questionin' shit that happens here."

"If it ain't hurtin' anyone, might be best to leave it be. Did the man do somethin'?"
You check the man again. You think he's just eating whatever's on his tray. "Nothing the others aren't doing."
Anthony nods. "Lots of creepy crawlers can slip through the gaps. Upper Management ain't particularly carin' about things like this unless it hurts their bottom line."

"This probably ain't the first or last time you'll see somethin' like whatever you saw roaming around here. My advice? Better to make friends with them than to have enemies us security folks can't see."
Hm. You suppose that's fair enough. Not like you really have any options.
"Also, ya new here?" Anthony places his hand on your shoulder. "I can tell by the stench around ya. The stench of not knowing how this place works."
"Uh. Yeah. Got ki-" Anthony promptly cuts you off. "Yeah, yeah, heard the song and dance before."

"Here's a word to the wise, kid." Anthony rapidly glances around with his one good eye. He leans in to whisper into your ear. "Be careful who ya associate in this place. Lotta of the people here are under the idea that if ya can climb their ranks high enough, they can get out."

You gulp, trying your best not to flinch at his eye staring into your soul.
"Don't trust people til ya can get a good read on them. That's how I survived this long."

You nod. He pulls back, acting like he didn't say nothing to you.

This Anthony guy, despite sounding like he gargles gravel every time he opens his mouth, isn't the worst to talk to. He seems to have a level head, he's probably seen it all at this point. God knows how much he'd cost to hire, though.

"I'll talk to you later."
"I ain't going nowhere. See ya soon."

Your food is still piping hot but you're not sure if that's a good thing. You did talk to someone for what felt like a good ten, maybe fifteen, minutes. You should probably sit down and eat this before it turns into something inedible.

You approach the table where the man is sitting at. You sit right down by the man. Even this close up, you can't make out anything about his appearance. You wonder why his labcoat is sticking out in your mind.

The man doesn't seem to acknowledge you. Well, at least the man is still here.
"Hey." You whisper to the man. "I can see you."
The man, you think, smiled. He speaks but you can't make out the actual words he's saying. You mostly get what he intended to say.

The man looks at your tray. He wishes you could have something better to eat.
"Yeah, me too."

He asks why you haven't forgotten about him already. Most people already forgot about him, after all.
"Dunno."
He asks why you want to talk to him. He says that not a lot of people bother to look at him these days.
You try to say something but he cuts you off. He's just happy to have someone to talk to.

He asks you what you want to ask him. He claims that it's only fair for the two of you to play a game of questions and answers.
That's a weird way to describe a conversation, you think, but you'll go along with it.

The man says he only has time for three questions. He promises to answer them to the best of his ability.

What do you ask the man?
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
>What do you know about the facility?
>Does he know anything about the man in the turtleneck sweater? What was his heal?
>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.
>Has anyone else been able to see him besides you?
>Who's UPPER MANAGEMENT? Anthony acted like they're a big deal.
>Would he be willing to work with you later? Couldn't hurt to make a new friend.
>Anthony said you should be careful who you make friends with. Do he know anyone trustworthy you can meet?
>You have something else to ask him (Write in.)

The man doesn't seem to acknowledge you. Well, at least the man is still here.
"Hey." You whisper to the man. "I can see you."
The man, you think, smiled. He speaks but you can't make out the actual words he's saying. You mostly get what he intended to say.

The man looks at your tray. He wishes you could have something better to eat.
"Yeah, me too."

He asks why you haven't forgotten about him already. Most people already forgot about him, after all.
"Dunno."
He asks why you want to talk to him. He says that not a lot of people bother to look at him these days.
You try to say something but he cuts you off. He's just happy to have someone to talk to.

He asks you what you want to ask him. He claims that it's only fair for the two of you to play a game of questions and answers.
That's a weird way to describe a conversation, you think, but you'll go along with it.

The man says he only has time for three questions. He promises to answer them to the best of his ability.

What do you ask the man?
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
>What do you know about the facility?
>Does he know anything about the man in the turtleneck sweater? What was his deal?
>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.
>Has anyone else been able to see him besides you?
>Who's UPPER MANAGEMENT? Anthony acted like they're a big deal.
>Would he be willing to work with you later? Couldn't hurt to make a new friend.
>Anthony said you should be careful who you make friends with. Do he know anyone trustworthy you can meet?
>You have something else to ask him (Write in.)

>>6279320
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
Rapport buildup.
>Would he be willing to work with you later? Couldn't hurt to make a new friend.
Self-explanatory. Useful information providers.
>Anthony said you should be careful who you make friends with. Do he know anyone trustworthy you can meet?
Important.

>>6279321
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
Rapport buildup.
>Would he be willing to work with you later? Couldn't hurt to make a new friend.
Self-explanatory. Useful information providers.
>Anthony said you should be careful who you make friends with. Do he know anyone trustworthy you can meet?
Important.

>>6279324
+1

>>6279321
>Please excuse me if this sounds naive but how did you become so... forgettable? Seems like a useful trait to have in a place like this.

>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he
>Would he be willing to work with you later? Couldn't hurt to make a new friend.
>Please excuse me if this sounds naive but how did you become so... forgettable? Seems like a useful trait to have in a place like this.

>>6279354
Oops, forgot to include >>6279321

>>6279321
>>What do you know about the facility?
Details or just a good story would do for now.
>>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.
Every office wageslave knows to get a handle on the gossip around the office. That and if he's desperate for people to talk to giving him a low investment opportunity is only polite.
>Write In: Ask if he has any advice for staying alive and in one piece

>>6279324
+1

>>6279321
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
>What do you know about the facility?
>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.

>>6279321
>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.
>What do you know about the facility?
>Who's UPPER MANAGEMENT? Anthony acted like they're a big deal.

>>6279321
>Is he an anomaly? If not, what IS he?
>What do you know about the facility?
>Has he heard any useful rumors? Someone like him is probably a good eavesdropper.

ANOMALY?: y4z, tbi, 9fK, KOO, SXG, CWx
WORK WITH ME?: y4z, tbi, 9fK, KOO
TRUST?: y4z, tbi, 9fK
WHY SO FORGETTABLE?: tXo, 9fK (I'll likely tie this into ANOMALY?, it's a similar enough question)
HOW TO STAY ALIVE?: 5A5
FACILITY?: SXG, 8KG, CWx, 5A5
RUMORS?: 5A5, SXG, 8KG, CWx
UPPER MANAGEMENT?: CWx

Asking if it's an ANOMALY wins out but there's a three way tie between WORK, FACILITY and RUMORS.
I'll be generous and say you can ask all four of them. Mostly because I think it's better in this instance than rolling some dice.

Writing.

There's a lot of questions you want to ask him. He's clearly anomalous in some way and no one else but you can see him apparently! Who KNOWS what this guy has overheard.

Best to keep your scope small, though. You're not even sure if you're going to remember what the man is going to say after this conversation.
You begin to peck away at your slop meal. It tastes as good as it smelled. The only thing that'll help it get down your throat is glass after glass of water.

"So, are you an anomaly?" You pick the most prudent thing to ask right now. "Sorry if that's, like, a naive question or 'rude' but. C'mon. C'mon!"
The Man laughs, shaking(?) his head. He tells you that the question is fine to ask. It's a fair one, he says.

He says that he's not quite sure what he is. He knows that he's certainly not normal. He concedes that 'anomaly' is probably the best title that could be given to him.
He claims that he's 'smarter' than the other anomalies. "Huh, so most anomalies aren't sapient, is that what you're trying to say?"

In his own words, most anomalies have mindsets distinct from ones that humans typically have. In contrast, he clarifies, he's able to talk and think 'like a human'. He admits that he may have idiosyncrasies that anomalies have, though his memory is fuzzy on the specifics.
"Do you know how you became so forgettable?"

He laughs. It's ironic, the man claims, that's the one thing he truly can't remember. How he became so forgettable. All he recalls is waking up on the floor somewhere in the facility. There were a lot of blaring sirens and a lot of people running around in a tizzy. He thought people were too worried for themselves to check on him. He trails off before he can say anything else.

"How long ago was that?" 2 years, he says. Might be useful to look up what incident he could be talking about.

Right. You got a few more questions to ask. "Would you like to work for me later?"
The Man's eyes lighten up - At least you think they did. He rests his hand on your own. You lose all sensation in your hand aside from a staticky tingling like your hand fell asleep.

He would be more than glad to help. He doesn't know how useful he'll be, though. Someone forgettable like him can't really talk or interact with people/anomalies besides you. He won't be too much of an active help but he knows a lot of things from his time eavesdropping around the facility.

He can be your information broker, he says, for a price. $165 per day. He still has to get money to buy from vending machines, he chuckles.
Ah, right, he probably can't get food by asking the lunch lady. "That's fair, I'll think about it. Well, can I ask you somethin' to make sure I can trust you as a broker?"

The Man nods. It's only fair.
"Right. What exactly IS this facility? What do you know about it?"

First, he has some bad news about any escape attempts

The facility you're in is in the middle of an empty desert somewhere in New Mexico. He's been able to sneak to the surface once or twice but he saw nothing but sand for miles. Only way in or out is if you can steal a high-ranking researcher's or an ETF squad leader's vehicle.

As for the facility itself? It's underground with seven layers, each layer getting than the last. An upside down cone with the sixth floor as the base. Correlates with the sixth ranks in the facility's hierarchy - 0 to 6.
Oh. You're REALLY at the bottom, then. "Yeesh. So, what layer are we on?"
The exact layout seems to shift every few years but for now, he says you're on Layer 2. And yes, most of them are as poorly maintained as your lab.

"Wait, how do you know how bad my lab was?"
Hazing ritual, he chuckles under his breath. They pick a lab where someone died in and they throw Level 0s at it.
"I thought so. Wait, wait, Anthony said he was here for 30 years...and that this facility is 100 years old?"

The A.R.C, the Man says, is just the newest name for this branch of the government. The exact details evade him but the US government has known about anomalies for a WHILE. This apparently used to be for a independently backed anomaly research group but they disappeared a while ago.

"Right. Any points you can give me about the layout? This place is built like a maze."
The Man nods. He tells you he leaves maps and caches for himself around the facility. As a freebie, he tells you the location of one map and cache - There's a washroom down the leftmost hallway out of this cafeteria. Check the third stall in the men's bathroom.

"Last thing, what's up with the ranks?"
He doesn't know the exact details but the basics are this: The higher you go, the more freedom you're given in terms of your job and what equipment you can get from the company catalogs. They raise your rank depending on your performance and how profitable your work is but don't expect any promotions any time soon.

They also get better privileges. Like edible food. And decent living spaces. And actual salaries.
"Great. Can't imagine how good my prison cell of a bedroom is going to be."
The Man's face softens. It's more like an army barracks situation for Level 0s. He apologizes for your inevitable poor sleep tonight.

Damnit. Alright, alright, well. At least you got a rough idea of where you're at and how the facility is shaped.
"One last question. Do you got any useful rumors?"

The Man hesitates to answer a fourth question but he's clearly having fun talking to someone who can hear him. He tells you two pieces of information he has heard over the grapevine.

One: He's not the only one who has slipped through the gaps of Upper Management. The excessive amount of anomalous items and phenomena contained in the facility has created small gaps in reality that tend to pop up in abandoned, forgotten places across the Facility.

Some mentally unstable researchers, he claims, believe that there's loot, power and glory to be found in the gaps. He believes, though, this is simply cope.

Two: There's rumors of several rats and snitches working with Upper Management amongst the staff here. They'll backstab anyone to get a higher rank. He heard a lot of names but two pop up a lot - Rex Hoffmann and Elizabeth Baker. Be careful around them.

Hm. Both are good to know in advance. You thank the Man-
Well, there was not a Man here.

Guess you'll have to find him later. You dig into your slop meal, struggling to swallow down it. The amount of effort it takes to eat it probably negates any nutritional value the slop had.
You finish right as everyone else was just finishing up. You make sure you put the tray somewhere where the kitchen staff can clean it. Guess it's time to go to your 'barracks'.

You ask a guard where the Level 0 barracks are and he points you down the leftmost hallway. Lucky you, that's where the bathroom with the cache is as well.
You'll probably check the cache out tomorrow when there's less people moving about. Time to head to your barracks.

It's not a long walk, maybe like a minute tops, so at least you can get some sloppy breakfast first thing in the morning.
You enter the Barracks alongside the rest of your Level 0 comrades - Oh.

Rows of shoddily built beds with paper thin mattresses and pillows line the walls. You can already tell it's going to be like laying on cardboard. Each bed has a small box by the end of the bed where you suppose you can keep your belongings. Luckily for you, they gave each box a bike lock so you can make sure no one immediately steals your stuff.

There's about enough beds in here to house 30 some people. You are immediately weirded out when you see a woman stumbling into the barracks. Oh no. It's mixed. You grit your teeth - That can't be good. That's like baby's first lesson when it comes to this kind of stuff. You don't let men and women sleep in the same room.

Either this is a comedically huge oversight or they don't expect you to live long enough for this to be an issue.
You keep your head low - You do not want to draw any attention to yourself. You look around to find your bed.

You'd guess the box marked with 'VIC-CRU' on the metal box is yours. You remove the unlocked bike lock from the box to see what's inside.
There's a bland grey magazine with 'A.R.C CORPORATE CATALOG - LEVEL 0' scribbled on the front of it. You guess this is how you're going to be spending that $2000 budget you were given.

You sit down on your bed, flipping through it to see what you can buy for your lab.

WEEKLY BUDGET: $2000
THINGS TO SELL: MYSTERY BAGGIE ($100), STAINED COUPON ($50)

Choose what you wish to purchase. The top four choices will be purchased, as long as you have enough funds to get said items, of course.

>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS] To keep your lab well maintained! ($100. Useful for repairing mechanical anomalies and to keep your lab in better shape.)
>[INSIGHT MODULE] When first obtaining an anomaly, you'll be given hints about what works it might like alongside hints towards extracting anomalous equipment from entities. ($350.)
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - Keep things spotless! ($50. Contains some basic cleaning supplies and tools. Most anomalies like their cells being clean too.)
>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.)
>[PROTOTYPE RISK LEVEL SYSTEM] - When voting for an anomaly choice, you'll get a rough idea on its danger level and what kind of damage it can do to you and its surroundings. ($300.)
>[BASIC MEDICIAL SUPPLIES] - To patch up booboos! ($100. Contains a basic first aid kit, some painkillers and some bandage wrap.)
>[CIGARETTE PACK] - To keep you sane. ($30. Has ten cigarettes. Each one heals MENTAL HEALTH by a moderate amount but damages PHYSICAL HEALTH in return.)
>[SPECIL (sic) REQUEST] - You may enter a keyword to obtain a custom anomaly instead of selecting a premade one. WARNING: The danger level and usefulness of said custom abnormality may vary wildly based on the keyword. ($325)
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE] - Some anomalies need to be fed to, you know. ($75. Enough food to feed an anomaly for one day. Contains grains and low quality meat.)
>[EXPANDED ROSTER] - When choosing what anomaly to obtain, you pick from 4 instead of 3. ($175.)
>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM] Heavy! Keep yourself fit! ($75. Good for your body.)
>[9MM PISTOL] For emergencies. ($500. Comes with nine bullets. Adds +7 to combat attack rolls.)
>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE] Anomalies get bored too! ($250. Comes with some random toys, a CD player, some bundles of batteries and some CDs.)

>SELL AN ITEM (FREE ACTION.)

"$500 for a pistol?" You mutter as you mull over the options. "Are guns normally this pricey?"

>>6279709
>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS] To keep your lab well maintained! ($100. Useful for repairing mechanical anomalies and to keep your lab in better shape.)

Good for the lab. The flowers are sprouting from electric wires, so I suppose it might help there too.

>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM] Heavy! Keep yourself fit! ($75. Good for your body.)
Maybe we can fit some reps in while the computer loads or tests run.

>[INSIGHT MODULE] When first obtaining an anomaly, you'll be given hints about what works it might like alongside hints towards extracting anomalous equipment from entities. ($350.)
>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.)

$750 total.

>>6279709
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE]
Buy 3.
>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE]
>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS]
>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM]
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE]
>[HARVESTING HIT]
>[INSIGHT MODULE]

We are currently dealing with "safe" anomalies, so there is no need to buy guns, medical supplies, risk-level equipment, etc. for now. (Also, just because sapient/sentient anomalies are "safe" does not mean that we can treat them like literal "slaves" or "labrats". this will come back to bite our ass if we do so, turning safe anomalies into hostile or harmful ones.).

>>6279709
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE]
Buy 3.
>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE]
>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS]
>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM]
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE]
>[HARVESTING HIT]
>[INSIGHT MODULE]

Cost: 1275 total.

We are currently dealing with "safe" anomalies, so there is no need to buy guns, medical supplies, risk-level equipment, etc. for now. (Also, just because sapient/sentient anomalies are "safe" does not mean that we can treat them like literal "slaves" or "labrats". this will come back to bite our ass if we do so, turning safe anomalies into hostile or harmful ones.).

>>6279709
>>[INSIGHT MODULE] When first obtaining an anomaly, you'll be given hints about what works it might like alongside hints towards extracting anomalous equipment from entities. ($350.)
>>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - Keep things spotless! ($50. Contains some basic cleaning supplies and tools. Most anomalies like their cells being clean too.)
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - Keep things spotless! ($50. Contains some basic cleaning supplies and tools. Most anomalies like their cells being clean too.)
>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.) For a total of $675

>>6279710
>>6279757
Do you realize that our anomalies can disrupt/absorb electricity (including the INSIGHT MODULE)? It's kind of hard to work harvesting and examining the anomalies while the cell light is flickering (or maybe even off), and especially since we have no experience harvesting. Buy the ENRICHMENT BUNDLE and DAILY FOOD BUNDLE to keep our anomalies from flickering/absorbing light/electricity, calm, and distracted while we work on the anomalies.

>>6279709
Let's get cracking.
>TOOLBOX
>CLEANING
>BASIC MEDICAL SUPPLIES
>CIGARETTES
>DAILY FOOD BUNDLE
100 + 50 + 100 + 30 + 75 = 355
>INSIGHT MODULE
>RISK LEVEL SYSTEM
>ENRICHMENT BUNDLE
350 + 300 + 250 = 900
355 + 900 = 1255 < 2000
Well within the budget. Basic facility and personal maintenance items + INFORMATION GATHERING TOOLS (VERY IMPORTANT SO I USE ALL CAPS)
Let's have enough money left over for the GUN (that better be a really good 9mm) which we don't need just yet but probably will later.

>>6279709
>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS]
Standard tools
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE]
Fuck up that cigarette mold!
>[BASIC MEDICIAL SUPPLIES]
In case we're hurt or somebody else important is
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE]
Alternatively for ourselves or paying the Man in food. Must beat vending machine junk, or match it
>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM]
We can also use the weights to fight back against threats or as weapons in general
>[INSIGHT MODULE]
Just sounds mandatory honestly
>[HARVESTING KIT]
Enables us to get material to sell for money, doing our main job and pleasing the Upper Management so they don't fuck us over too hard. Without this, the job they brought us here for will be very difficult if not impossible, and then we're fucked
>ENRICHMENT BUNDLE
This could be useful for IN LIMBO since it's very grabby and very power-drainy by nature. If not, we can always hold onto these as bartering goods or for a future anomaly

I don't really think anything else is important right now

>>6279707
Making a small correction to this snippet here

"As for the facility itself? It's underground with seven layers, each layer getting bigger than the last. An upside down cone with the seventh floor as the base. Correlates with the seven ranks in the facility's hierarchy - 0 to 6."
Was just waking up when I was writing, missed it. Carry on shoppin'.

>>6279709
>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.)
We could study the mold/slime thing with this.
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - Keep things spotless! ($50. Contains some basic cleaning supplies and tools. Most anomalies like their cells being clean too.)
Definitely cleaning some more. Don't see a reason to buy everything else, considering how the anomaly isn't violent (for now) and the 2nd day will mostly be focused on studying Limbo or clean the lab even more. When in doubt, we can just buy more next time.

>>6279709
All that, and we didn't even get an egg? Smh.

>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE] Anomalies get bored too! ($250. Comes with some random toys, a CD player, some bundles of batteries and some CDs.)

>[BASIC MEDICIAL SUPPLIES] - To patch up booboos! ($100. Contains a basic first aid kit, some painkillers and some bandage wrap.)

>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.)

>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - Keep things spotless! ($50. Contains some basic cleaning supplies and tools. Most anomalies like their cells being clean too.)

>[INSIGHT MODULE] When first obtaining an anomaly, you'll be given hints about what works it might like alongside hints towards extracting anomalous equipment from entities. ($350.)

>[PROTOTYPE RISK LEVEL SYSTEM] - When voting for an anomaly choice, you'll get a rough idea on its danger level and what kind of damage it can do to you and its surroundings. ($300.)

Three of:
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE] - Some anomalies need to be fed to, you know. ($75. Enough food to feed an anomaly for one day. Contains grains and low quality meat.)

>>6279709
>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS] To keep your lab well maintained! ($100. Useful for repairing mechanical anomalies and to keep your lab in better shape.)
>[INSIGHT MODULE] When first obtaining an anomaly, you'll be given hints about what works it might like alongside hints towards extracting anomalous equipment from entities. ($350.)
>[HARVESTING HIT] To extract RAW VALUE from an anomaly! ($225. Contains a microscope, a chemical testing kit, beakers, a scalpel and some syringes. Helps you figure out any useful applications of an anomaly's biology.)
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE] - Some anomalies need to be fed to, you know. ($75. Enough food to feed an anomaly for one day. Contains grains and low quality meat.)
>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE] Anomalies get bored too! ($250. Comes with some random toys, a CD player, some bundles of batteries and some CDs.)
That’s $1000.

>>6279709
>Are guns normally this pricey?
Actually yeah that’s pretty fair. I found a listing for a new G17 for exactly $500… pre-tax, that is.

Our boy could grab a Hi Point YEET CANNON for $229 if he didn’t mind it being a monumental piece of shit.

>>6279709
>[HARVESTING HIT] ($225)
Since we've got a surplus of corpse sludge, might as well study it.
May even be worth something, though storing it would be a problem. Better rob the facility of its trash cans, nobody will miss them anyways.
>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE] ($250)
Entertainment to keep it, the thing, occupied, so we don't have our equipment fucked up.
>[INSIGHT MODULE] ($350)
I don't like the idea of our beloved Vincent becoming the last lab tech who didn't purchase the insight module.
Poking an anomaly sounds like a death sentence, and if this (insight module) can tell us what the hell we're supposed to do with it (the anomaly) then we'll be smooth sailing, surely.
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] ($50)
I like free stuff. Do you like free stuff? There's rumour of free stuff behind the sludge-caked walls of our workspace, someone should do something about that.

All this for a grand total of $875 buckaroos, monopoly money, or whatever scrip they have us working for.

>>6279709
>>[TOOLBOX AND SPARE PARTS] - 100
>[CLEANING SUPPLY BUNDLE] - 50
>[INSIGHT MODULE] 350
>>[HARVESTING HIT] (Kit?) 225
>>[ENRICHMENT BUNDLE] 250
>[PROTOTYPE RISK LEVEL SYSTEM] -300
>[A WEIGHT SET THAT WE JUST FOUND IN THE STORAGE ROOM] - 75
>[BASIC MEDICIAL SUPPLIES] - 100
>[CIGARETTE PACK] - 30
>[DAILY FOOD BUNDLE] - 75
TOTAL: $1555

In order of preference. I figure we use this week to get essentials sorted out to do our job (since we're getting another 2k next week) and survive here. Not sure our anomaly even needs to eat (seemed to need stimulation more than food but I suppose time will tell) hence why it's so far down the list.

We'd want to cut that down quite a bit if we wanted to hire the shadow man. 165 x 7 = $1155. Though we could always start that working relationship next week when we get our next payment.