Thread 6318470

Your name is Vincent Cruz. You work in a shady government-backed facility in the middle of the New Mexico desert. By all accounts, you are still a complete and total nobody.

You've spent the last five days struggling to survive in this new world. Your new job now involves studying and researching various anomalous entities in order to make money for the Abnormality Regulation Coalition (also known as ARC).

Somehow you've managed to do a good job over the last five days, despite having no formal experience being a researcher. It's been a struggle to get adjusted to everything but you're shocked at how good of a job you've been doing.

You suppose it's not your first time dealing with anomalous entities. You have vague memories of this chained, bleeding heart that you encountered in the past. You don't know why but you feel like that thing is watching you. You're not sure why it's so interested in you, you're a nobody after all.

Maybe that's part of the reason ARC dragged you off the streets? Who knows. Nothing about your new job makes that much sense.

As for a recap of what happened, you just finished your latest shift. You had to fight for your life against a heavily armed man who wanted you dead. You managed to beat him thanks to sheer dumb luck and in the process, you're earnt the mild respect of some of your coworkers. The rest of the day went over pretty smoothly, all things considered.

You also met two new weirdos, Moxxie and Edward, who might be trustworthy enough to hire in the future. You need as many friends as you can in a place like this. Even if most of the 'friends' you have here are way too weird for your liking.

You owe Colt a favor now after you got him drunk because of an experiment. You need to find a way to get some rifle ammo for his gun. That'll be a headache to deal with but you do owe it to him.

You're now ready to start another day. To face the music, to endure whatever ARC throws your way. All you can really do is to find a way to keep surviving. Day after day, week after week, month after month. This is your new life now, whether you like it or not.

Oh well. You're a wageslave, all you really know at this point is work. You might as well do a good job while you're stuck here, right? There's not really any other path for a husk like you. Haaa.

ARCHIVE: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Low%20Rung
VINCENT SHEET/INVENTORY: https://rentry.co/VINCENTSHEET
ALLIES: https://rentry.co/COWORKERLIST
ANOMALY NOTES: https://rentry.co/RESEARCHNOTES

>Endure your new obligations

This facility is an abyss that almost seems to run on moon logic. The few details you've gleaned about the higher ups make little to no sense and as for your encounters with them? Mr. Yellow was a fucking freak, just like everyone else in here.

It's absurd. It's an absurd, meaningless job but it's still a job at the end of the day. Just another obligation.

To be quite frank, nothing about your life has really changed in the grand scheme. You're still a complete nobody. You still work for a company who doesn't give a rat's ass about you. You are constantly tasked with doing things far out of your experience for, frankly, subpar pay. This facility might as well be an abyss with how awful it is to be here.

You already know how to cope with the situation you find yourself in. You just have to endure it. That's all you really CAN do. It doesn't matter what they throw your way. You'll take it on the chin and you'll find a way to make it through another day.

Wake up. Work. Eat. Sleep.
Wake up. Work. Eat. Sleep.
30 GOTO 10.

You suppose you can find some comfort in that. You won't break. No matter what they throw your way, you will survive. You have to. You already survived this long. You want to endure everything this facility throws at you out of sheer spite—to show them that you're not just any old wageslave.

Yeah, yeah, that'd be nice. You'll find power within your newfound chains. As long as you're still standing, you're winning.

A smile creeps across your face as sleep finally catches up with you. It's been a long day and tomorrow will just be as long. That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth.

Time for another shift at the shit factory.

>Something stirs inside you. Your bonus to endurance-based checks has gone from +2 to +4.
>Your gut tells you that you're getting another upgrade soon...

DAY 6!

You manage to get some decent sleep for once, funnily enough. You crack your eyes open and, to your shock, you're not the only one awake. Your fellow coworkers are mulling about, chatting with each other over inane shit like they always do. It's damn near impossible to tell what time it is in here without a clock but you'd guess it's early in the morning.

You briefly check your wounds to see how they healed up overnight. All things considered, while you still have some nasty scratches and bruises, they don't really hurt anymore. You basically feel brand new.

>MENTAL and PHYSICAL HEALTH are MAXXED OUT!

You already know you're probably going to get your ass handed to you later but hey, you might as well enjoy it while it lasts. You hop out of bed and you immediately make a beeline towards the exit. You catch some of your fellow dormmates staring at you but to be frank, you have better things to do than worry about them.

Before you could leave, though, one of your coworkers grabs you by the shoulder. "Hey. Someone's lookin' for you, man."

"Hm?" You offer a non-committal shrug. "Who?"

"Uh. Some weird guy in a hazmat suit. He wanted to meet you at some BREAK ROOM on this layer?"

You take a moment to think on who your coworker might be talking about. Maybe it's the corporate representative from ZENITH? If that's the case, you HAVE to meet up with this guy. You offer a polite nod to your coworker. "Thank you."
"Uh huh."

You pull out your map of LAYER 2, skimming through it to see where the nearest break room would be. Ah, wait, you think you've been there before. You follow your map so you don't get lost on your way over to the breakroom. The hallways are, thankfully, not particularly packed this early in the morning so your walk is pretty peaceful.

As you arrive at the door leading into the breakroom, a weird sound catches your attention. It sounds like someone's using a spray can in there. You open up the door and you're immediately hit with a thick wave of white fog that pours out of the room. It stinks of disinfectant and bleach. Your eyes immediately water at the sickeningly strong stench.

You scramble to put on the GAS MASK you looted from the ROBUST MAN. A muffled voice calls out to you through the mist.

"Sorry! This room is quite filthy, you see, so I had to make sure it's CLEAN. SPARKLING CLEAN. Clean, Clean, Clean!!! Please, if you could wait for a while for the air to clear up, that would be appreciated."

"I got a gas mask, it's. Uhm. Fine???" You stumble into the mist now that you're wearing your gas mask. You leave the door open so the room isn't going to stay hotboxed with this stuff forever.

You stumble around until you find a chair to sit down on. As you do, the mist begins to clear up. You can actually get a good look at the person you're talking to now.

They're fully decked out in a blinding white hazmat suit. Their face is completely obscured and with how muffled their voice is, you're pretty sure they're wearing a face mask under their respirator. You only have a vague idea on what their build is (they're on the shorter and thicker side) and that they're probably a dude? It's hard to tell, frankly.

A bright red cross with a yellow star in the center is visible on the left shoulder of the hazmat suit. That's probably ZENITH'S logo but you wouldn't know.

"So! You're Vincent, right?" The ZENITH REP holds their gloved hand out. "It is excellent to see you, face to face. I do apologize for all of this." They use their other hand to gesture towards the mist still hanging in the air.

You awkwardly shake their hand. "It's fine? So, I was told I was supposed to get a reward?"

"Correct!" They reach into the bag hanging around their waist. They throw down a huge wad of cash onto the table before extracting a variety of serums from their bag. Each one is a brightly, almost neon color slurry that looks like it shouldn't be injected into the human body.

"I'm only authorized to give you one of these but these are some VERY potent serums. Each one is tailored made to work with YOUR immune system."

"We made sure to test it on the blood sample provided to us by a...Hidaka, I believe?" The ZENITH REP shrugs. "Whatever the case, we really do appreciate your work yesterday."

"Oh. Thanks." You're glad the mask hides your face because you're sporting a pretty awkward smile right now.

You silently pocket the money before you start skimming through the various serums.
>You now have $1236!

Choose ONE serum to be injected into you. Each one permanently improves a particular stat.
>BLOOD RED ENKEPHALIN (Claims to massively increase the user's pain tolerance. Adds an additional bonus to ENDURANCE based checks.)
>NEON YELLOW CAFFEINE SERUM (Claims to give the user a constant, steady stream of energy. Adds a bonus to AGILITY/REFLEX checks.)
>BLINDING WHITE PROTEIN SLURRY (Claims to give the user the strength of a dozen men. Adds an additional bonus to PHYSICAL STRENGTH rolls.)
>ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER (Claims to regulate the user's mood and emotions, even in the most dire of situations. Upgrades your bonus to resisting MIND ALTERING effects and keeping up your COMPOSURE in stressful situations.)
>NEON CYAN DOPAMINE SERUM (Claims to improve your savior faire and confidence, making it easier to talk to people. Adds a bonus to SPEECH checks.)

While the ZENITH REP is here, you might as well ask them some questions. Choose three questions to ask them.
>Ask about ZENITH and what they do as a company. You have a feeling this isn't the last thing you'll be hearing about them.
>Can you tell you anything about the other sponsorship companies?
>Try to make a deal with them. For more serums, for medical supplies, anything. (DC 60, +10 to roll. If you write in a convincing argument or offer, the DC may be lowered.)
>Talk about Lucy and her condition. Could they possibly do anything for her?
>Ask them for any medical knowledge or advice they can spare. Anything to help you in the future.
>Thank them for the JAX SERUM, it really did save your ass today. Try to butter up the ZENITH REP. (No check needed.)
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.
>Write in.

-----

Welcome back, everyone. You know what time it is, right?
It's time to read more of Vincent's wild misadventures.

>>6318474
Hell yes we are so back, Low Rung Lords. And we get goodies...
>ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER (Claims to regulate the user's mood and emotions, even in the most dire of situations. Upgrades your bonus to resisting MIND ALTERING effects and keeping up your COMPOSURE in stressful situations.)
We want to endure this crap? Let's bump up our mental fortitude.
>Ask about ZENITH and what they do as a company. You have a feeling this isn't the last thing you'll be hearing about them.
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.
>Talk about Lucy and her condition. Could they possibly do anything for her?
I figure even if it isn't out of sheer altruism it's never a bad idea to do a favor for a coworker

>>6318477
+1
Keep calm and all else will fall into place.

>>6318474
>ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER
>Thank them for the JAX SERUM, it really did save your ass today. Try to butter up the ZENITH REP. (No check needed.)
Do this first.
>Try to make a deal with them. For more serums, for medical supplies, anything. (DC 60, +10 to roll. If you write in a convincing argument or offer, the DC may be lowered.)
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.

>>6318477
+1

>>6318477
Support

>>6318474
>>6318477
+1
that is that and this is this

I'd be interested to know what they think of our blood (since we've got a symbiotic plant in us), but maybe for another day (when we discover we're week to herbicides)

>>6318477
+1

>>6318474
>BLINDING WHITE PROTEIN SLURRY (Claims to give the user the strength of a dozen men. Adds an additional bonus to PHYSICAL STRENGTH rolls.)
That robust bastard won't be the last asshole we have to bludgeon to death.

>Thank them for the JAX SERUM, it really did save your ass today. Try to butter up the ZENITH REP. (No check needed.)
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.
>Try to make a deal with them. For more serums, for medical supplies, anything. (DC 60, +10 to roll. If you write in a convincing argument or offer, the DC may be lowered.)

>>6318474
>ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER (Claims to regulate the user's mood and emotions, even in the most dire of situations. Upgrades your bonus to resisting MIND ALTERING effects and keeping up your COMPOSURE in stressful situations.)

>Can you tell you anything about the other sponsorship companies?
>Talk about Lucy and her condition. Could they possibly do anything for her?
>Thank them for the JAX SERUM, it really did save your ass today. Try to butter up the ZENITH REP. (No check needed.)

>>6318477
+1

>>6318474
Hell yeah! Mold farming time.
And the ZENITH REP. I've been waiting for you.

I don't get why they sent the ZENITH REP as some delivery boy. Can't they get whatever delivery service they use to hand it to us?
Is he just here to take questions or what? It can't be questions about the serums, they could get those details to us in writing, and we have.

I think this ZENITH REP wants to tell us something in person which cannot be told over the fax. Possibly because ARC is watching, listening.
Or it could be sincere gratitude from ZENITH, although I'm doubtful of that.


>>BLINDING WHITE PROTEIN SLURRY
Are you built to endure?


>>Ask about ZENITH and what they do as a company. You have a feeling this isn't the last thing you'll be hearing about them.
Has Vincent never heard of ZENITH? Strange bedfellows.


>>Try to make a deal with them. For more serums, for medical supplies, anything. (DC 60, +10 to roll. If you write in a convincing argument or offer, the DC may be lowered.)
Alright, you'll get another wall of text then. More effort to make it readable this time.

>"My report must've made quite an impression on ZENITH. Such a great impression that a ZENITH REP personally delivered ZENITH-exclusive performance-enhancing drugs to some level 0 ARC researcher.

>"The extent of the rewards ZENITH agreed to offer were those stipulated in the sponsorship deal. No further reward had to be given, and yet here we are. This would be needless if I wasn't an asset to ZENITH.

>"Since you care, I'd like to make a request. I want your 'experimental' product catalog, if it even exists. If it doesn't, we can start now. JAX-874, modified JAX, adjacent products, or just whatever you're willing to give me.

>"Call it part of an R&D initiative, a catalog with no markup from production and shipping expenses. Because I'd guess ZENITH products retail for thousands; hardly affordable here, and in return you may receive reports and modifications on their effectiveness without deadlines.

>"The report I've already sent you on JAX may seem comprehensive, but there were unexplored, unmentioned complications regarding brain chemistry side-effects. Potential contraindications.

>"Using an anomaly, I've closer examined the first participant in my report, 'FET.' It gave me a concerning warning which I had no time to explore. It's insubstantial on its own and requires a deeper dive into JAX. This catalog would help me get more. Additionally, ZENITH's JAX saved my life yesterday, and you value me enough to enhance my performance, so why not?

>"I want that catalog, and I want JAX for both further development and personal use."

For ZENITH. We are the academy, I am a hand driving its engine. Just so long as it serves Vincent.
Good? Good luck, Vincent.


>>Ask them for any medical knowledge or advice they can spare. Anything to help you in the future.
Give books.

>>6318474
>NEON CYAN DOPAMINE SERUM (Claims to improve your savior faire and confidence, making it easier to talk to people. Adds a bonus to SPEECH checks.)
We need it

>Thank them for the JAX SERUM, it really did save your ass today. Try to butter up the ZENITH REP. (No check needed.)
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.
>Talk about Lucy and her condition. Could they possibly do anything for her?

Alright, 12 votes and enough time has passed. Let's tally things up.

ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER: tTs, 7ER, Bkz, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, DOJ
PROTEIN SLURRY: 6Oj, Xhh
DOPAMINE: 4lj

Seems like Vincent wants to make his MIND stronger. The wageslave yearns for a steel trap mind...

ZENITH DETAILS: tTs, 7ER, Bkz, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, Xhh
DENTED BULLETS: tTs, 7ER, Bkz, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, 6Oj, 4lj
LUCY: tTs, 7ER, Bkz, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, DOJ, 4lj
JAX SERUM: Bkz, 6Oj, DOJ, 4lj
DEAL: Bkz, 6Oj, Xhh
MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE: Xhh
SPONSORSHIP COMPANIES: DOJ

Yeah. Pretty lopsided overall. No dice options were picked so I'm just going to start writing now. I do want to reward Xhh a little bit for writing up that text wall so I'll include a little bit of it into the update. Don't expect much, since it wasn't a main option voted for, but still.

Alright, 12 votes and enough time has passed. Let's tally things up.

ROYAL PURPLE ELIXER: tTs, 7ER, Bkz, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, DOJ
PROTEIN SLURRY: 6Oj, Xhh
DOPAMINE: 4lj

Seems like Vincent wants to make his MIND stronger. The wageslave yearns for a steel trap mind...

ZENITH DETAILS: tTs, 7ER, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, Xhh
DENTED BULLETS: tTs, 7ER, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, Bkz, 6Oj, 4lj
LUCY: tTs, 7ER, 1nu, jls, UEZ, YpN, Jjy, DOJ, 4lj
JAX SERUM: Bkz, 6Oj, DOJ, 4lj
DEAL: Bkz, 6Oj, Xhh
MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE: Xhh
SPONSORSHIP COMPANIES: DOJ

Yeah. Pretty lopsided overall. No dice options were picked so I'm just going to start writing now. I do want to reward Xhh a little bit for writing up that text wall so I'll include a little bit of it into the update. Don't expect much, since it wasn't a main option voted for, but still.

>>6318474
>NEON CYAN DOPAMINE SERUM (Claims to improve your savior faire and confidence, making it easier to talk to people. Adds a bonus to SPEECH checks.)

>Talk about Lucy and her condition. Could they possibly do anything for her?
>Ask about ZENITH and what they do as a company. You have a feeling this isn't the last thing you'll be hearing about them.
>Hand them one of the DENTED BULLETS. Ask them to analyze the blood on it, you just want to make extra sure Ashton's okay.

Something about this is bothering you. You're a level 0 nobody, why the hell would a REPRENSTATIVE from a sponsorship company come down here just to meet you? You're clearly not hiding your confusion all that well.

The ZENITH REP chuckles at your bewildered expression. "Your stunt yesterday was part of the reason I wanted to come down here. Let's say it was good for our brand." It takes you a moment to realize what they're talking about.

Right. You DID kill a man with naught but a huge metal stick while hopped up on their serum. "Oh. That's the reason you wanted to come down here?"

"Partially." They cryptically answer. "There's another reason, I'm not here just for you, but I'm not at liberty to say."

They point towards the serums they laid out on the table. "Your choice?"

"Oh, yeah. I think the purple one's good." You hold out your arm, ready for the injection. You did consider picking the DOPAMINE SERUM or the PROTEIN SLURRY but in a place like this? Keeping your sanity is probably more important.

They draw some of the serum into a syringe and they promptly inject the serum into you. You don't really feel anything as the fluid courses through your system. After they remove the syringe, you wait a minute or two but you just feel like yourself, you suppose.

Your mind feels clearer and you find it a bit easier to collect your thoughts. You were expecting something 'grander', you suppose.
>Your bonus to resisting MIND ALTERING EFFECTS and maintaining your composure bumps up from +7 to +10!

Now that's settled, you might as well ask them some questions. "Right. So, I'll be honest, I've never heard of ZENITH before."

"That's to be expected. We mostly work with private security companies and military contractors. A civilian probably wouldn't have heard of us."

"Really?" Well, that caught your attention. "So, what exactly do you do?"

"Well, we supply them with medical supplies, of course." The ZENITH REP states the obvious. "Our main service is lending out medical experts, though. Mostly to deal with anomalous diseases. You can assume what that involves."

"Vaguely?" You already assumed they probably exist but you don't have any actual experience with them.

"ARC has given me and my fellow comrades the task of, well, containing those diseases for them." The ZENITH REP pokes at their hazmat suit. "This suit is meant to protect against diseases that defy our current understanding of pathology. That's partially why I had to clean this room we're in."

It's almost imperceptible but there's a lingering worry in the REP's words. They shift uncomfortably in their seat, as if they know they have to be somewhere soon. The only thing you can think of that would make them worry this much would be...a disease, maybe?

"How likely is it that this ARC facility has an outbreak of an anomalous disease right now?"

The ZENITH REP firmly clears their throat. "I'm not at liberty to say."
"Would you say it's something your company would do?"

"I would."

"And would you say that you would be sent here if there was one?" "Not just me. Multiple of my colleagues would be sent here."

You doubt you're getting any more information beyond that. You can't really read their face because it's hidden by their hazmat gear.

"I see. So you work with ARC to contain anomalous diseases in general, correct?"

The ZENITH REP's posture relaxes once the topic shifts. "Correct. The various serums we create are more of a side project, frankly. We capture subjects infected with anomalous diseases for ARC to study, or if the disease is too dangerous, we neutralize them."

"We both benefit from it. ARC gets a new subject to study, and we get paid for capturing and transporting the subjects to them." The ZENITH REP briefly pauses. "It's better than trusting it to most of the ETFs, after all."

Duly noted. You suppose if you ever have to deal with an anomalous disease in the future, it'd be wise to call up these guys. "Alright. Second question. More of a favor, really." You dig out the plastic bag holding the DENTED BULLETS extracted from Ashton's body.

The ZENITH REP leans in close in order to examine the bullets. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Call it paranoia, but these were extracted from someone who may be physically affected by an anomaly. I need you to analyze the blood on these bullets."

The ZENITH REP carefully grabs the bag, worried that they might 'catch' whatever is on those bullets even through all of the layers of protection they have on. "I suppose I could humor your request. You'll probably get an answer before your shift starts."

Oh! That's convenient. You give the REP a polite nod. "Thank you. One last question. There's a friend of mine that I want you to help."

The ZENITH REP produces a muffled, gurgled noise with laughter-like qualities. "I already gave you a lot. There's only so much I can do but sure. Speak."

"Her name is Lucy and she was affected by an anomaly. Her skin and muscles have lost most of their structure, like half-set gelatin." A grimace flashes across your face. "It's not infectious but I assume it would still be within your company's mission."

The ZENITH REP gives a polite nod. "Indeed. Do you know what causes it?"

"I believe her body is no longer able to naturally produce collagen. She has to eat a LOT of collagen rich foods just to not lose even more of her bodily structure. She takes meds for it but I'm unsure what they do."

"Could you possibly..." You do want to help her, not just out of the goodness of your heart, but because it'll earn her trust. Trust is everything in a place like this. "do something to help her?"

"I won't do it for free." The ZENITH REP clarifies before you can get your hopes up. "However, my company wouldn't be too happy with leaving someone with a medicine condition like that to suffer."

"Tell you what." The ZENITH REP places a gloved hand on your leg. "If you can get us some samples from her, we'll be willing to look into it."

"We'll charge a bit to analyze the samples, of course." The ZENITH REP squawks out something resembling a laugh. "That's besides the point though."

"The more samples you can get, the better our chances of figuring out how to help her with her condition. Three would be the minimum. Capiche?"
"Capiche." You nod your head.

>NEW SIDEQUEST OBTAINED: HARVEST SAMPLES FROM LUCY! 0/3 SAMPLES OBTAINED.
>You imagine harvesting tissue and fluid samples from someone as weak as her would be taxing on her.

"Excellent. The cure we'll make will also be cheaper the more samples you can give us. More data to work with. I'm sure you can understand. Now."

"Is that all?" The ZENITH REP asks with an amused cadence.

"One last thing. There was an anomaly I tested the JAX 874 serum on. They warned me that it apparently infers with the body's ability to heal. I would recommend you look into that."

The ZENITH REP rests their hands on their lap as they mull over the information you just told them. After a few moments, they curtly nod. "I see." A trace of anger lingers in their words. "I know what caused that and I know who to blame."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Personal drama." While their response is cryptic, you have a gut feeling this isn't the first time the REP had to deal with something like this. Before you can pry any further, the REP gets up from their seat.

"I have to go. Thank you for working with us." The ZENITH REP quickly exits the room before you can question them any further. Odd. Well, you suppose all you have to do now is to wander around until your shift starts. You don't think you're getting any sponsorships today.

What do you do with your free time, Vincent? Choose three.

>Wander around, see what you can stumble across. (RANDOM ENCOUNTER. Could be good, bad or plain old weird. A 1d100+4 will be rolled to see what you get.)
>Head down to LAYER 3. You should probably check up on FET and to be honest, you want to know more about the facility you're in.
>Head back to LOST AND FOUND. Let's see what goodies you can steal this time. (DC 43. You may write in a KEYWORD to alter what junk you might find.)
>Use the map to explore the facility. Best to learn the layout of this place. (Unlocks a new location to explore during FREE TIME before and after a SHIFT.)
>Start training with your vine. You might as well get the most out of it now that you have it. (DC 60, +4 to roll.)
>Head down to ABNORMALITY MATERIALS STORAGE. You want to talk to Rudolf for a bit. Maybe you can even convince him to lend you an ARTIFACT.
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.
>Start your shift early. Time is money here and you're broke! (Can be picked multiple times. You start with 2 extra TIME TOKENS at the start of your shift.)
>Try to arrange a meeting with some acquaintances. Might as well get to know your coworkers more. (You'll meet up with two random acquaintances.)
>Write in.

>>6318855
>>6318856
Odd. Tried to delete these posts to edit a typo I only now noticed, but it just deleted the images. Odd?

Something about this is bothering you. You're a level 0 nobody, why the hell would a REPRESENTATIVE from a sponsorship company come down here just to meet you? You're clearly not hiding your confusion all that well.

The ZENITH REP chuckles at your bewildered expression. "Your stunt yesterday was part of the reason I wanted to come down here. Let's say it was good for our brand." It takes you a moment to realize what they're talking about.

Right. You DID kill a man with naught but a huge metal stick while hopped up on their serum. "Oh. That's the reason you wanted to come down here?"

"Partially." They cryptically answer. "There's another reason, I'm not here just for you, but we'll talk about that later."

They point towards the serums they laid out on the table. "Your choice?"

"Oh, yeah. I think the purple one's good." You hold out your arm, ready for the injection. You did consider picking the DOPAMINE SERUM or the PROTEIN SLURRY but in a place like this? Keeping your sanity is probably more important.

They draw some of the serum into a syringe and they promptly inject the serum into you. You don't really feel anything as the fluid courses through your system. After they remove the syringe, you wait a minute or two but you just feel like yourself, you suppose.

Your mind feels clearer and you find it a bit easier to collect your thoughts. You were expecting something 'grander', you suppose.
>Your bonus to resisting MIND ALTERING EFFECTS and maintaining your composure bumps up from +7 to +10!

Now that's settled, you might as well ask them some questions. "Right. So, I'll be honest, I've never heard of ZENITH before."

"That's to be expected. We mostly work with private security companies and military contractors. A civilian probably wouldn't have heard of us."

"Really?" Well, that caught your attention. "So, what exactly do you do?"

"Well, we supply them with medical supplies, of course." The ZENITH REP states the obvious. "Our main service is lending out medical experts, though. Mostly to deal with anomalous diseases. You can assume what that involves."

"Vaguely?" You'd assume they probably exist but you don't have any actual experience with them.

"ARC has given me and my fellow comrades the task of, well, containing those diseases for them." The ZENITH REP pokes at their hazmat suit. "This suit is meant to protect against diseases that defy our current understanding of pathology. That's partially why I had to clean this place."

It's almost imperceptible but there's a lingering worry in the REP's words. They shift uncomfortably in their seat, as if they know they have to be somewhere soon. The only thing you can think of that would make them worry this much would be...a disease, maybe?

"How likely is it that this ARC facility has an outbreak of an anomalous disease right now?"

The ZENITH REP firmly clears their throat. "I'm not at liberty to say."
"Would you say it's something your company would do?"

"I would."

"And would you say that you would be sent here if there was one?" "Not just me. Multiple of my colleagues would be sent here."

You doubt you're getting any more information beyond that. You can't really read their face because it's hidden by their hazmat gear.

"I see. So you work with ARC in order to contain anomalous diseases in general, correct?"

The ZENITH REP's posture relaxes once the topic shifts. "Correct. The various serums we create are more of a side project, frankly. We capture subjects infected with anomalous diseases for ARC to study or, if the disease is too dangerous, we neutralize them."

"We both benefit from it. ARC gets a new subject to study, we get paid for capturing and transporting the subjects to them." The ZENITH REP briefly pauses. "It's better than trusting it to most of the ETFs, after all."

Duly noted. You suppose if you'll ever have to deal with an anomalous disease in the future, it'd be wise to call up these guys. "Alright. Second question. More of a favor, really." You dig out the plastic bag holding the DENTED BULLETS extracted from Ashton's body.

The ZENITH REP leans in close in order to examine the bullets. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Call it paranoia but these were extracted from...someone who may be physically affected by an anomaly. I need you to analyze the blood on these bullets."

The ZENITH REP carefully grabs the bag, worried that they might 'catch' whatever is on those bullets even through all of the layers of protection they have on. "I suppose I could humor your request. You'll probably get an answer before your shift starts."

Oh! That's convenient. You give the REP a polite nod. "Thank you. One last question. There's a friend of mine that I want you to help."

The ZENITH REP produces a muffled, gurgled noise with laughter-like qualities. "I already gave you a lot. There's only so much I can do but sure. Speak."

"Her name is Lucy and she was affected by an anomaly. Her skin and muscles have lost most of their structure, like half-set gelatin." A grimace flashes across your face. "It's not infectious but I assume it would still be within your company's mission."

The ZENITH REP gives a polite nod. "Indeed. Do you know what causes it?"

"I believe her body is no longer able to naturally produce collagen. She has to eat a LOT of collagen rich foods just to not lose even more of her bodily structure. She takes meds for it but I'm unsure what they do."

"Could you possibly..." You do want to help her, not just out of the goodness of your own heart, but because it'll earn her trust. Trust is everything in a place like that. "do something to help her?"

"I won't do it for free." The ZENITH REP clarifies before you can get your hopes up. "However, my company wouldn't be too happy with leaving someone with a medicine condition like that to suffer."

The ZENITH REP places a gloved hand on your leg. "If you can get us some samples from her, we'll be willing to look into it."

"We'll charge a bit to analyze the samples, of course." The ZENITH REP squawks out something resembling a laugh. "That's besides the point though."

"The more samples you can get, the better our chances of figuring out how to help her with her condition. Three would be the minimum. Capiche?"
"Capiche." You nod your head.

>NEW SIDEQUEST OBTAINED: HARVEST SAMPLES FROM LUCY! 0/3 SAMPLES OBTAINED.
>You imagine harvesting tissue and fluid samples from someone as weak as her would be taxing on her.

"Excellent. The cure we'll make will also be cheaper the more samples you can give us. More data to work with. I'm sure you can understand. Now."

"Is that all?" The ZENITH REP asks with an amused cadence.

"One last thing. There was an anomaly I tested the JAX 874 serum on. They warned me that it apparently infers with the body's ability to heal. I would recommend you look into that."

The ZENITH REP rests their hands on their lap as they mull over the information you just told them. After a few moments, they curtly nod. "I see." A trace of anger lingers in their words. "I know what caused that and I know who to blame."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Personal drama." While their response is cryptic, you have a gut feeling this isn't the first time the REP had to deal with something like this. Before you can pry any further, the REP gets up from their seat.

"I have to go. Thank you for working with us." The ZENITH REP quickly exits the room before you can question them any further. Odd. Well, you suppose all you have to do now is to wander around until your shift starts. You don't think you're getting any sponsorships today.

What do you do with your free time, Vincent? Choose three.

>Wander around, see what you can stumble across. (RANDOM ENCOUNTER. Could be good, bad or plain old weird. 1d100+4 will be rolled.)
>Head down to LAYER 3. You should probably check up on FET and to be honest, you want to know more about the facility you're in.
>Head back to LOST AND FOUND. Let's see what goodies you can steal this time. (DC 43. You may write in a KEYWORD to alter what junk you might find.)
>Use the map to explore LAYER 2. (Unlocks a new location to explore during FREE TIME before and after a SHIFT.)
>Start training with your vine. You might as well get the most out of it now that you have it. (DC 60, +4 to roll.)
>Head down to ABNORMALITY MATERIALS STORAGE. You want to talk to Rudolf for a bit. Maybe you can even convince him to lend you an ARTIFACT.
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.
>Start your shift early. Time is money here and you're broke! (Can be picked multiple times. You start with 2 extra TIME TOKENS at the start of your shift.)
>Try to arrange a meeting with some acquaintances. Might as well get to know your coworkers more. (You'll meet up with two random acquaintances.)
>Write in.

Not sure what happened there. Okay, this should be the actual update.

>>6318862
>>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.
>Use the map to explore LAYER 2. (Unlocks a new location to explore during FREE TIME before and after a SHIFT.)
>Head back to LOST AND FOUND. Let's see what goodies you can steal this time. (DC 43. You may write in a KEYWORD to alter what junk you might find.)
I just think this is the most efficient pre-shift actions right now.

>>6318862
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.

>Start training with your vine. You might as well get the most out of it now that you have it. (DC 60, +4 to roll.)

>Wander around, see what you can stumble across. (RANDOM ENCOUNTER. Could be good, bad or plain old weird. 1d100+4 will be rolled.)

>>6318868
+1

>>6318862
Shit. We should probably tread lightly here. I just realized we're agreeing to give away our friend's DNA Samples to some morally-ambiguous corp. Whoopsies!

>>6318868
+1 to this

>>6318862
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.
>Head down to LAYER 3. You should probably check up on FET and to be honest, you want to know more about the facility you're in.
>Try to arrange a meeting with some acquaintances. Might as well get to know your coworkers more. (You'll meet up with two random acquaintances.)

>>6318862
>Start training with your vine. You might as well get the most out of it now that you have it. (DC 60, +4 to roll.)
>Start your shift early. Time is money here and you're broke! (Can be picked multiple times. You start with 2 extra TIME TOKENS at the start of your shift.)
>Start your shift early. Time is money here and you're broke! (Can be picked multiple times. You start with 2 extra TIME TOKENS at the start of your shift.)

>>6318862
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID.
>Start training with your vine.
>Head down to LAYER 3.

>>6318862
>>Start training with your vine. You might as well get the most out of it now that you have it. (DC 60, +4 to roll.)
>You DO have that LEVEL 1 GUARD ID. You might as well start searching for the bullets they confiscated from COLT. You do owe it to him.
>Start your shift early. Time is money here and you're broke! (Can be picked multiple times. You start with 2 extra TIME TOKENS at the start of your shift.)

Rolled 8 + 4 (1d100 + 4)

COLT BULLETS: NPa, J8o, tTs, Bkz, L/T, YpN, 86+
LAYER 3: Bkz, VpN
MEETING: Bkz
MAP: NPa
LOST AND FOUND: NPa
VINE: 6Oj, J8o, tTs, VpN, 86+
START EARLY: L/T, 86+
WANDER: 6Oj, J8o, tTs

Seems like BULLETS, WANDER and VINE won out. I'll roll the 1d100+4 to see what encounter you stumble across. As for the VINE, three anons, roll 1d100+4.

VINE TABLE (DC 60)
0 SUCCESSES: This damn thing doesn't want to listen to you! (No progress made.)
1 SUCCESS: It's slow progress BUT it think you're getting a hang on it. (You now have better motor control over the vine. You can now use it like a third hand now.)
2 SUCCESSES: Okay, it's a plant, so you have to tend to it like one... (The vine's length, and therefore reach, has increased significantly. This could prove handy if you need to keep your distance from an enemy.)
3 SUCCESSES: You and the vine are now one. You might as well be used to your new arrangement. (Same as 2 but the vine has gotten thick and sturdy after you trained with it. It'll be hard to damage it unless you use fire or herbicides.)

ENCOUNTER TABLE (1d100+4)
NAT 1: UH OH
6-37: BAD. You walked into an argument or a fight, you saw something you shouldn't, etc.
38-73: NEUTRAL/WEIRD. You meet another freak, you encounter something anomalous, etc.
74-103: GOOD. You meet someone helpful, you find something valuable, etc.
NAT 100: LUCKY!!!

Rolled 3 + 4 (1d100 + 4)

>>6319148

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>6319148

Rolled 87 + 4 (1d100 + 4)

>>6319148
Leave this to me...

Alright, 2 SUCCESSES, so your vine's a lot better now. More fine control over it AND it has longer reach. All in all that's a pretty good deal.

You might need it considering the ENCOUNTER category you rolled. Writing.

The air's no longer thick with the white fog that the ZENITH REP left behind. You peel off your gas mask, grateful to take in a breath that doesn't taste like rubber and sweat.

You only now realize, now that you can breathe a bit more clearly, that you might've just agreed to send DNA samples to a shady sponsorship company. Oops. Welp, it's that or making enough wine-soaked foodstuffs to feed an army. You'll worry about that later.

Your wrist flower doesn't look particularly thrilled with you after being exposed to whatever chemical concoction was hanging in the air. You gently run your fingers across its petals. "There, there. I'll get you some water later, okay?"

You know, as you're busy trying to appease your little symbiote, you're reminded of the vine hidden inside your arm. You haven't really had a chance to test it out, have you? You might as well do it before your shift.

With a bit of coaxing, the vine emerges out of the middle of your palm. It idly sways in the air for a moment before recoiling, as if it just smelled something horrid. "Yeah, it doesn't smell good in here either." You crack a smile, not at all concerned that you feel like talking to these plants.

"We need to get stronger. To endure whatever comes after us." You're saying this more for your sake than the flower's sake. "Are you willing to get STRONGER?"

The vine shifts to point its tip at you. It mimes something that might resemble a nod if you squint. Excellent. "Alright." You yank the MAKESHIFT WEAPON out of your satchel, and you lazily throw it onto the floor. "We need to work together when we're grabbing stuff."

"You live rent-free inside my arm; you might as well help me carry stuff. Capiche?"

>2 SUCCESSES!

The vine mimes another nod. You squat low to the ground before reaching your arm out. You keep your arm just far enough so that you can't grab it, but the vine absolutely could.

The vine aimlessly squirms in the air. You're starting to worry it might not listen to you, but right as you're about to give it, the vine snaps towards the weapon. The weapon is quickly entangled in the vine's grasp. You take in a deep, long breath as you shift all of your focus onto the vine.

You need to CONTROL the vine. You need to treat it as an extension of yourself. A third limb. To wire it into your nervous system. The vine begins to twitch and squirm. You want the vine to point the weapon at the nearby couch. You keep repeating this thought over and over again in your mind.

The vine relents. It points the rod towards the couch. You think about pointing it to the ceiling, and it does so. To the floor? Yep, that as well. You repeat this a few times until soon, you don't have to think at all in order to make the vine move. You don't always have to think about how to move your arms, right? Same principle, really.

It's almost creepy how fluidly you can move the vine now. You easily drop the weapon now that you've tamed the vine.

You can already tell the vine is getting 'tired,' for lack of a better term. You still need to train the vine a bit more, though.

You step away from the rod until it's outside both your vine and the vine's reach. The vine is only a foot and a half long which, don't get it wrong, is impressive, but you can do better.

You point your palm towards the weapon on the ground. It's a plant, and what do plants do? They grow. Their roots grow deep into the soil, spreading deeper into the earth as they grow. This vine can grow, you know that. You just need to push it a little.

"Grab it."

The vine tries with its current reach, but it can't. You keep repeating that the vine has to grab the weapon, over and over again. You're not going to relent until it grows.

And so it does. It's not notable at first but little by little, you feel something squirming inside the muscles of your arm. The vine extends further and further towards the weapon. It's almost like it's growing both to grab your weapon and to nestle deeper into your body.

Inch by inch, foot by foot, the vine extends. The vine soon envelops the weapon and in one fluid motion, you yank the weapon back to you. You take one look at the vine and, hoo, it's definitely longer than your arm now. You don't have a ruler on hand but if you had to make an educated guess, it's at least three feet long. That's double its previous size.

Combine that with your arm's existing reach, you probably have over six foot worth of reach now. That should be more than enough to help out in a fight; It could also help with stealing stuff, which you might have to.

With a curt nod, you mentally command the vine to retreat into your arm. Despite the vine's increased size, it easily slithers back into the fleshy confines of your arm. You're not going to question how the vine is able to fit in there. Anomalies, you know?

>SLUMBERING WISH'S vine has been significantly upgraded!

You can't spend all day fucking around with your vine. You have to get moving. After you're sure you're not leaving anything behind, you exit the BREAK ROOM. You briefly wonder where you should head to next. So many places to be, but you decide to let your gut guide you.

Your legs awkwardly carry you through the fluorescent-lit halls. The faint electric hum trickling out of the lights is comforting, in a sad sort of way. It's hard to describe, but what do you suppose after being here for so long? You've gotten used to them.

The hallways blend together as they always do. You're getting a better sense of where to go now after being here for five days. You have a sense of what's a complete dead end and what might actually take you somewhere. You can sense that you're getting somewhere...

>8!

...but what you're heading towards isn't going to be anything pleasant. The hairs on your arm and the back of your neck stand on end. You overhear a muffled conversation that is positively vibrating with rage, even if you can't make out the exact words.

You can already tell the vine is getting 'tired,' for lack of a better term. You still need to train the vine a bit more, though.

You step away from the rod until it's outside both your vine and the vine's reach. The vine is only a foot and a half long which, don't get it wrong, is impressive, but you can do better.

You point your palm towards the weapon on the ground. It's a plant, and what do plants do? They grow. Their roots grow deep into the soil, spreading deeper into the earth as they grow. This vine can grow, you know that. You just need to push it a little.

"Grab it."

The vine tries with its current reach, but it can't. You keep repeating that the vine has to grab the weapon, over and over again. You're not going to relent until it grows.

And so it does. It's not notable at first but little by little, you feel something squirming inside the muscles of your arm. The vine extends further and further towards the weapon. It's almost like it's growing both to grab your weapon and to nestle deeper into your body.

Inch by inch, foot by foot, the vine extends. The vine soon envelops the weapon and in one fluid motion, you yank the weapon back to you. You take one look at the vine and, hoo, it's definitely longer than your arm now. You don't have a ruler on hand but if you had to make an educated guess, it's at least three feet long. That's double its previous size.

Combine that with your arm's existing reach, you probably have over six foot worth of reach now. That should be more than enough to help out in a fight; It could also help with stealing stuff, which you might have to.

With a curt nod, you mentally command the vine to retreat into your arm. Despite the vine's increased size, it easily slithers back into the fleshy confines of your arm. You're not going to question how the vine is able to fit in there. Anomalies, you know?

>SLUMBERING WISH'S vine has been significantly upgraded!

You can't spend all day fucking around with your vine. You have to get moving. After you're sure you're not leaving anything behind, you exit the BREAK ROOM. You briefly wonder where you should head to next. So many places to be, but you decide to let your gut guide you.

Your legs awkwardly carry you through the fluorescent-lit halls. The faint electric hum trickling out of the lights is comforting, in a sad sort of way. It's hard to describe, but what do you suppose after being here for so long? You've gotten used to them.

The hallways blend together as they always do. You're getting a better sense of where to go now after being here for five days. You have a sense of what's a complete dead end and what might actually take you somewhere. You can sense that you're getting somewhere.

>12!

...but what you're heading towards isn't going to be anything pleasant. The hairs on your arm and the back of your neck stand on end. You overhear a muffled conversation that is positively vibrating with rage, even if you can't make out the exact words.

You hear two voices, one male and one female.

You think you recognize one of them? It's hard to say without seeing them. You take another deep breath before pushing forward towards the source of the noise. After another turn, you quickly realize what's going on.

You spot two people arguing at each other. The one closest to you is a young, beanie-wearing woman in altstyle clothing. You quickly remember that's Elizabeth, a...distant acquaintance of yours. In front of her is an oily-haired man dressed to the nines.

The man's luxury suit has an odd pattern sewn on the left shoulder. Pink swirls that resemble curled vines or, maybe, gusts of wind? It's hard to say. He's dressed FAR too lavishly to be any random joe here. He HAS to be a higher up of ARC.

"-and I told you." The man is doing his best to keep his composure in front of Elizabeth. "He's at a meeting. A very SPECIAL meeting with very SPECIAL people. A meeting I should be at. Please stop wasting my-"

"Oh! You think you can squirm your way out of this?" Elizabeth bares her teeth at the man. You almost swear they were razor sharp, more like a cat's than a human's. "No! He's been avoiding me for three whole days now!"

"Nicole wouldn't tell me about it and now YOU'RE trying to play dumb?!" She squawks out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a growl. "Wow!"

"Again." The WELL DRESSED MAN tightens his fist in a vain attempt to keep his cool. "He's being investigated by the Worker's Committee, you have to wait."

"You know that investigation is bullshit! He didn't do it, you KNOW who actually did it, you're just too lazy to actually go after her!"

The corner of the WELL DRESSED MAN's eye twitches. "That is hearsay and nothing more."

There's something off about both of them. The rigidity of the WELL DRESED MAN's posture tells you he's hiding something. Elizabeth, meanwhile, reminds you of a wild beast more than anything. Her eyes wildly dart around and her clothes are a disorganized, shaggy mess.

Hoo boy. You clearly don't have enough context to understand what exactly they're arguing about but...maybe you should say something? They haven't seen you, though. Might be best to just leave.

What do you do, Vincent? Choose one.
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)
>Walk past them. Pretend you didn't hear a single thing they said. This isn't your battle. (DC 65, +15 to roll from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE)
>Approach the duo. Talk to the WELL DRESSED MAN first, you're better at sucking up to people like him. Ask him what's going on.
>Approach the duo. Talk to Elizabeth first, you're worried she's about to rip into that man with her teeth. Calm her down.
>Approach the duo but stay silent. Stay impartial for now, you don't have enough information on what's going on.
>Write in.

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

Roll 3 successes and then approach
Simple as

>>6319225
>>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)
I'm curious if we can force the calming scent from the flower to proc.

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)
Worst comes to worst we pretend we tripped when trying to tame our cool vine thing

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop.
I hope they fight.

>>6319225
>Approach the duo but stay silent. Stay impartial for now, you don't have enough information on what's going on.
Hit em with that SLUMBERING WISH aroma.

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop.

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

>>6319225
>Eavesdrop. You don't want to get involved but you want to know what's going on. (DC 50, +10 to roll.)

Welp! I ain't gonna tally all of that, we know what won. Would've closed earlier but I had to sleep, you know.

Three anons, roll 1d100+10. Table below.

0 SUCCESSES: Christ, they're being cryptic now. It's almost like they know you're...listening. (You don't learn anything.)
1 SUCCESS: Christ, they're being cryptic now. Do they think someone's listening? (You get some vague but worrying information.)
2 SUCCESSES: Okay, you think you can parse what's going on. (You get a basic idea on what's going on with these two.)
3 SUCCESSES: Huh. So that's what happened. (You got a solid, if not fully complete, idea on what's going on.)

Rolled 81 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6319564

Rolled 31 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6319564
Heh...

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>6319564

>>6319573
Commiting suicide right now

Mmh, bad luck was eventually going to catch up with you. 1 SUCCESS. I suppose Vincent isn't the most subtle person when it comes to eavesdropping. Who knows what he'll learn, though? Oh, wait, I do.

Writing.

>>6319573
>>6319574
As per ARC's official guidelines, employees are not allowed to leave the company through intentional acts of suicide. The punishment for any staff member caught trying to do this is [REDACTED].

>>6319576
Too late I shot myself in the back of the head 7 times.

>>6319587
Body has been forwarded to [REDACTED] for [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] successfully bound to [REDACTED]. Employee redesignated as SACA unit #7132-J.

Okay, you're not walking headfirst into this. This is not your battle. Maybe if it was someone you worked with before, you'd consider approaching them to see what's going on. For now, though, watching them might be your best option.

You silently back away until you're hidden behind the corner, allowing you to somewhat observe their conversation.

"Hearsay? HEARSAY???" Elizabeth squawks out a bizarrely guttural noise that's too abstract for you to fully articulate. "Do you hear the words you're saying? I'm telling you that someone else DID IT! I SAW HER WITH MY OWN EYES!"

"We have no actual evidence that she did any of this besides your own words." The WELL-DRESSED MAN does his best to ignore Elizabeth's frankly feral behavior. "If we believed in every rumor we heard, we would be hunting down some psychotic grey-skinned man."

"I—Huh?" Elizabeth is knocked off balance by what he said. You can't lie; you are as well. Why did he...

>1 SUCCESS!

You stifle a cough. You have to stay silent; you can't let them know you're here.

"Whatever! You're just trying to distract me! You're..." Elizabeth looks around the hallway she's in. It seems like his words got under her skin. "You're just using him as a scapegoat. You know he's innocent."

"What qualifies as 'innocence' in this situation is rather vague, wouldn't you agree?" The WELL-DRESSED MAN mirthlessly laughs. "You have to admit that he had some blame here, regardless if the 'real culprit' you're suggesting is to blame."

"Why, wasn't he related to that August case? Why are you defending him, exactly?" A hint of bitter amusement lingers in his words.

Elizabeth's knuckles turn white as she tightens her fists. "You know that's not why you're punishing him!"

"Of course not." His expression shifts into a serious, dour frown. "Maybe you forgot that our suspect was found sneaking into the room in question, which he didn't have access to, with a stolen keycard."

"What, are you going to say your mystery girl put him up to that?"

"You KNOW damn well he was authorized to be there!" Elizabeth throws her hands in the air, clearly getting exasperated. "SHE's the one who spun up that whole story about him 'stealing' and 'breaking' into there!"

"This 'she' you're referring to is a highly trusted staff member. Levying an accusation like that against her with no evidence—"

"UGGHHH!!! You're hopeless! You're not listening to a SINGLE WORD I'm saying!"

"She's the one who wanted to steal it! He's just a scapegoat, and you're eating RIGHT OUT OF HER FUCKING-" "Language, Ms. Baker."

"It's Liz! You know everyone calls me Liz!"

"Regardless of your personal pet theory, he's the one who was found with the stolen item. He's the one who confessed to stealing it. Unless you can actually give me solid evidence-"

Liz interrupts him with another snarl. "ASK LITERALLY ANYONE WHO KNEW HIM AND THEY WOULD TELL YOU THE SAME THING! HE'S NOT THE ACTUAL THIEF!"

"Am I talking to a SACA robot? Are you preprogrammed to respond like this???"

"This is going nowhere. I have somewhere to be." Whatever patience the WELL-DRESSED MAN had is gone now. "If you keep bothering me, I'll call security."

"I-" Liz's body vibrates with rage. She's barely able to keep whatever violent impulses are blooming inside her in check. Whoever he is, he's clearly higher in the facility's hierarchy than her. "Fine! Fine!"

"I'm glad we had this talk." The WELL-DRESSED MAN turns away towards the hallway behind him. He casually walks away from the fuming, seething mess without a second thought.

Liz stands frozen in the spot she's in for what feels like hours. She croaks out something between a sob and a laugh. "He didn't- He's just some random-" Any attempt to articulate what she's feeling fail.

She raises her fist up and, without really thinking about it, she slams it into a nearby wall. A low, metallic GONG echoes through the now empty hallway. She grits her teeth as she quickly realizes how stupid that idea was.

She tries to regain her composure, to look presentable, but the mask is paper thin. One wrong word would send her spiraling. "You know what, Liz? It's going to be FINE. One step at a time."

You heard enough to get a rough idea of what's going on. Something was stolen, and a friend, maybe a family member, of hers was blamed. It sounds like whatever got stolen was very important if a committee is judging his crime.

You couldn't give two shits if ARC lost something important, but you can at least somewhat sympathize with Liz. It's not the first time you've seen someone get thrown under the bus like this in a corporate setting.

You nearly had it happen to you once, but you got bailed out because the actual culprit was REALLY incompetent.

"Hey." Liz calls out to, at first, nobody in particular. She turns her head towards the corner you're hiding behind. "You saw that, didn't you? I don't know who's there. I don't really care who you are."

"Can you tell me I'm not cr-" She interrupts herself. "Never mind. Don't believe what Rex said." Rex? Is she talking about that well dressed man? "I'm sorry that you had to see this."

You feel compelled to say something but before you could, she quickly runs away. By the time you turn around the corner, she's gone.

You have a feeling you'll be seeing her or 'Rex' soon enough today. That odd comment about you rubs you the wrong way; it's like they knew that YOU, not anyone else, was the one listening to them. They were being oddly vague on who the two culprits were. Maybe you should ask around for details about the case?

All you know is that Liz clearly isn't taking it well. Maybe it's better to simply talk to her later.

Oh well. There's nothing you can really do about it now. After making sure they're both gone, you open your map again. You start your search for any nearby guard break rooms or maybe one of their armories? You'd imagine that's where they store Colt's contraband.

You soon find yourself at, for once, an end of a hallway. In this maze of a layer, it's hard to imagine that a hallway can simply END instead of stretching on forever. Standing before you is a sturdy metal door with a keycard reader next to it.

There's no chance your LEVEL 0 keycard could open it but, aha, you got a LEVEL 1 GUARD card just for this. You swipe the card through the scanner and, look at that, it's open now.

You cautiously step inside to see what you're working with here.

https://youtu.be/Rpn772CMUHs - GUARD ROOM

The first thing that hits you is an acrid, bitter blend of body order and cheap body spray. The smell of a high school locker room. The walls are lined with cheap, mass produced lockers with equally shoddy, cheap locks. There's barely enough room in here to walk around, especially when what little space is left is occupied by metal benches.

The floor is sticky with something unidentifiable but utterly foul-smelling. God, this brings back awful memories. You sluggishly crawl through the tangled mess of benches and lockers. You're here to find COLT's bullets and nothing else.

You immediately find both good news and bad news. Good news, you spot a locker conspicuously labeled "CONTRABAND" amongst the sea of lockers. Bad news, on a bench nearby, there's a security guard.

He has the physique of a brick shithouse, like he ate nothing but protein powder and steak his whole life. He is idly cleaning his weapon, which just so happens to be a shotgun. That thing could blow a hole right through you.

His foot taps against the ground. His body jitters and shakes as if he's entering some sort of withdrawal. Cleaning the gun is probably just a way to keep himself distracted. He's muttering something under his breath, something about...it's hard to make it. Something starting with a H.

He's distracted for the time being but brazenly walking up to the CONTRABAND locker sounds like a good way to die. Probably? Maybe not?

What do you do now, Vincent?

>Fuck it. Pretend like you're supposed to be here. Walk up to the locker and just open it. (DC 64, +10 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE.)
>Hide. Wait for him to leave. (Will eat into your TIME TOKENS this shift.)
>Walk up and bribe him. Get him to look the other way, earn his 'trust'. (-$125, -MYSTERY BAGGIE, -CIGARETTES. Leaves you with $445.)
>Wait, your vine would be perfect for this. Try to sneakily open the locker with your vine. (DC 50, +5 to roll from VINE TRAINING.)
>Lie through your teeth. Tell the guard that Ashton sent you to get some contraband for her. (No check...? Who knows how Ashton would feel about this.)
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)
>Write in.

>>6319641
Details on how SACA units are created is restricted to Level 2 access.

>>6319672
>Fuck it. Pretend like you're supposed to be here. Walk up to the locker and just open it. (DC 64, +10 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE.)
BAVARIAN FIRE DRILL, GO.
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)

While the Vine Action is technically easier it seems way more likely to get us shot upon failure.

>Something starting with a H.
The Heart...

IF things turn bad we can just whip static pollen at his unprotected face and book it while he's dazed by deja vu

>>6319672
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)

>>6319672
>Fuck it. Pretend like you're supposed to be here. Walk up to the locker and just open it. (DC 64, +10 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE.)

>>6319675
Vincent's secret technique: Pocket Pollen

>>6319675
+1

>>6319689
We need to harvest more from IN LIMBO first so we can turn her into a new source of money

>>6319672
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)

>>6319672
>Fuck it. Pretend like you're supposed to be here. Walk up to the locker and just open it. (DC 64, +10 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE.)
If we're not supposed to be here then why are we here?

>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)
Seems like there's something wrong with everyone's head down here.


>Something starting with a H.
THE FUCKING HEART!
WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE HEART?!

>>6319672
>Walk up and bribe him. Get him to look the other way, earn his 'trust'. (-$125, -MYSTERY BAGGIE, -CIGARETTES. Leaves you with $445.)

>>6319704
>WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE HEART?!
It probably isn't. I think he's just a fucking junkie.

>>6319704
Maybe he just wants a hug, anon

>>6319672
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)

Free action is free action

>>6319672
>Fuck it. Pretend like you're supposed to be here. Walk up to the locker and just open it. (DC 64, +10 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE.)
>Is something wrong with his head? Try to decipher what he's saying. (FREE ACTION. May be mentally or physically taxing.)

>>6319675
+1

Alright, Bavarian Fire Drill it is plus the WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM vote. Three anons, roll 1d100+10. Table below.

0 SUCCESSES: CLICK.
1 SUCCESS: "Hey, what the hell are...? Hey! Get back here!" (You get caught right as you're leaving. Better haul ass, Vincent.)
2 SUCCESSES: "..." (You think you got away scot free? Hard to say.)
3 SUCCESSES: He doesn't even bother looking at you. (You 100% got away scot free.)

Rolled 58 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6319978

Rolled 89 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6319978

Rolled 90 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6319978

>>6319979
>>6319980
>>6319983
WAGESLAVE SUPPREMACY

Vincent is TOO COOL to lose his composure. Even when there's an armed security guard who'd probably shoot you if he realized you shouldn't be here. 3 SUCCESSES, baby.

Writing.

Three successes. I can't believe my eyes.

Dicegods blessed the wagie. May they only allow us to fumble socially.

"HEY SHITDICK! I USE THE SHOTGUN, YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?"
...
"huh, noone there, must've been the wind."

>>6320002
He probably wont even notice the wind by how smooth Vincent is here

You should walk up there and open the locker like you're supposed to be here. After all, no one would be here unless they were supposed to be here, right? The guard won't even notice you if you simply pretend that you belong her.

Something stops you from immediately walking up to the locker. The guard is acting really weird and not in a 'this is simply how people are in this facility' weird. You've seen this type of weird before. Junkies.

His shakes and the fact he's muttering nonsense under his breath is enough to tell you that. You've walked past a dozen people like him before and now, they're giving people like him shotguns? Hilarious, really!

You might as well listen to what he's saying. You're not fully sure why but you think it might worth something.

"Hurts. It hurts. Can't stand it." The security guard hisses under his breath. "Can't stand that thing. But I need it, I need it so bad. So bad, man, it's worse than bad." His hands tighten around his gun. He bites down hard on his lip, immediately drawing blood from it.

"Need it coursin' through me. That candy green joy. Labcoat won't supply none, no no." You're starting to worry that if he tightens his grip any more, he's going to break his own shotgun. "Anomaly won't PRODUCE the raw stuff. Need more. Need more."

"GOTTA get it. He's selling it to others, I got to have it. He sells to the other guards. WHY NOT ME? WHY NOT ME????" Tears begin to build up in the guard's eyes. "Ashton, oh, she thinks she's SOOO perfect. Won't take what we take."

"FUCKING LIAR!" The guard slams his foot against the ground. "I know she takes shit like the rest of us. She won't admit it. Smell it in her VEINS, in her FLESH." Drool leaks out of the corner of his mouth. "I'd show them what's inside her."

"RIP her OPEN." He whispers with an almost religious reverence in his words. "TASTE her BLOODWATER..."

All of the nervous energy inside his system suddenly vanishes like a wind up toy running out of juice.

He focuses his attention back towards polishing his shotgun.

You can't help but to be disappointed and a little disgusted at what he said.
>-MENTAL HEALTH

You suppose it was inevitable you'd hear about some morally bankrupt researcher peddling junk to people. Ashton, though, she doesn't seem like the type to inject her stuff with that kind of junk.

Would she? The only weird thing about her is her oxytocin levels but it's not, say, anywhere near as bad as this guy.

You take a moment to calm yourself down. A mask of impassivity slips comfortably over your face as you step out of hiding. You casually stroll up to the contraband locker without any fear and hesitation in your movements. You belong here, after all.

There's no lock on the locker so you can easily open it up. Your best guess is that the junkie over there is tasked with guarding it.

"Day hasn't even started and it's been a long one, huh?" You rattle off some small talk, mostly out of instinct.

"Mmh hmm." The guard doesn't bother looking at you as he responds. "Long day."

"Yeah." You rummage through the contraband locker in search of any rifle bullets. "I'd drink some more water if I were you."

"Water tastes like shit." The guard murmurs. "Booze is better."

"Mmh hmm." You hum in faux approval. The conversation dies there; you don't want to push your luck here.

There's so much junk in the contraband locker, it's almost impressive.

There's porno mags, bags filled with 'mysterious white powder,' clearly counterfeit ID cards, you name it. You also spot piles of SIM cards inside the contraband locker. Probably from people trying to contact the outside world, you'd guess.

>3 SUCCESSES!

Nothing happens. You're worried that at any moment, he'll catch on to the fact you're not supposed to be here, but it never happens. You pull out a baggie filled with rifle bullets from amongst the other contraband. You safely drop the bag into your satchel before you close the locker door.

You could've stolen more, but you'd rather not push your luck. Not with a man with a loaded shotgun only a few feet away from you.

You turn around and you walk out of the locker room without any-

"Hey." Oh shit. You don't turn around. Did he catch you? "John. Tell Chief Chopjob to get me some more slugs." Who the fuck is Chief Chopjob??? You nearly ask him that, but you catch yourself before you can.

"Sure." There's no way in hell you're going to look for 'Chief Chopjob'.

"Alright. See you later." And with that, NOW you step out of the locker room. You swipe your stolen ID card again to close the door. You take a moment to process that, huh, you just did that. You totally thought you were going to get a hole punched right through you.

You idly check the bullets you stole. Yep, there's a LOT in here; you absolutely found Colt's stash here.

>BAG OF COLT'S BULLETS obtained! (Return to COLT later for a reward.)

You keep a measured, steady pace as you let yourself wander through the maze-like hallway. Damn, you feel like a smooth son of a bitch right now. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come today, you know?

You start to mull over who you should hire today. Your shift's about to start any moment now. Another shift of babying your anomalies. Yesterday was a lot so you're not hiring Lucy or Hidaka this time around.

MONEY AVAILABLE: $570

THE MAN ($165)
+Jack of all trades, useful for any skill check
+Very good at gathering information
-Can't interact with most people or anomalies
?Anomalous, for better and worse
TIME TOKEN VALUE: 3

SACA ($100)
+Physically strong and durable
+Repair/manual labor skill checks take less time with its presence
+Can now assist in medical or chemistry-based tasks
-Can't enter anomaly cells
?Rudimentary AI, doesn't fully think like a human
TIME TOKEN VALUE: 3

ASHTON ($70)
+Cares about you. She'll do her best to help you out
?Likely pain and stress resistant, due to excessive oxytocin
+???
+-???
TIME TOKEN VALUE: 2

COLT ($50)
+Has a certain charisma to him, good with words.
+Very solid fighter
+Owns two ARTIFACTS, very well equipped
-Interferes with research
?Not liked by a lot of your fellow coworkers.
?Can vaguely perceive the Man
TIME TOKEN VALUE: 2

ANTHONY ($200)
+Knows the facility like the back of his hand. Can help you find what you need here.
+Managed to survive this long as a facility guard. Likely has a lot of skills under his belt.
+Seems pretty chill. People seems to trust him.
-WAY past his physical prime. VERY old.
TIME TOKEN VALUE: 4

Who do you hire, Vincent? Pick up to two choices.
>THE MAN
>SACA
>COLT
>ASHTON
>ANTHONY
>NO ONE. SOLO SHIFT.

There's something that rubs you the wrong way. It's about what that guard said. Should you tell Ashton about it? (You can do this whether you hire her or not.)
>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.
>YES. You want to know if there's any creditability to what he said about her 'taking stuff'.
>NO. It's random junkie babble, it probably means nothing. You don't want to stress her out.
>NO. You don't fully trust her. Best to look into this on your own time.
>Write in.

>>6320056
Kino art, my dude. Vincent really can be cool when he's not a babbling sperg.

>>6320067
>COLT
Return those bullets pronto, don't wanna get caught with them ourselves.
>ASHTON
We should probably warn her about what that psycho junkie guard was saying. In case he goes through with the threats, or if he really can smell the drugs in her and her food is being spiked by another researcher who wants an addicted customer.

>YES. You want to know if there's any creditability to what he said about her 'taking stuff'.
As stated above, even if she isn't doing it intentionally it could be slipped into her food.

>>6320067
>>THE MAN
>>COLT
These two kinda counter eachother's penalties while having good benefits.

I plan on harvesting in limbo alongside watching some of those films we got with em. Good opportunity to shoot the shit. Colt's charisma can help

>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.

Don't get on Ashton's case about substances, lets not poke the bear until we get those Zenith test results

>>6320067
>>ASHTON
>COLT
>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.
>YES. You want to know if there's any creditability to what he said about her 'taking stuff'.
Glad you liked it. Heartschizos are definitely on to something,

>>6320067
Wasn't ZENITH guy gonna get that report to us before the shift started?

>>6320076
Probably next update before we start.

>>6320067
>ASHTON
>COLT
>YES, THREAT'S REAL

>>6320076
You'll get it next update. The ZENITH REP is probably delivering it to your lab instead of magically teleporting to you and handing it to you. You'd get it once you actually enter your lab.

>>6320067
>THE MAN
>COLT
THE BOOOOYS! Shame we didn't buy that beer vending machine.

>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.
Giving Ash a heads up that a raving mad junkie showing withdrawal symptoms wants to "RIP her OPEN" and "TASTE her BLOODWATER" is probably a good idea.

>>6320095
This does sound chill, however no beer machine and some dude did threaton Ashton so I wanna prioritize having her around.

>>6320067
Hire:
>THE MAN
>COLT

>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.

>>6320098
I would put Ashton down for this shift.

However.

We have a detailed dossier in our lab describing HER BLOOD that was obtained WITHOUT CONSENT.

Maybe we can wait a day until our stalker material has been disposed of.

>>6320067
>THE MAN
He's THE MAN for the job. And COLT's babysitter.
>COLT
Give ammo, shoot the shit, and watch shitty tapes.

>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.
We might figure out soon if she's taking stuff, thanks to the ZENITH REP.

>>6320067
THE MAN
COLT
YES TELL HER ABOUT THE THREAT

>>6320104
Do we? Its just going to be handed to us before the shift starts. I think Ashton could easily be convinced that the dossier is a nothing burger.

>>6320074
>I plan on harvesting in limbo alongside watching some of those films we got with em. Good opportunity to shoot the shit. Colt's charisma can help
What if we get a full movie night going? Some crazy shit like have all 3 anomalies and all 3 of the researchers in the same containment cell watching something?

>>6320067
Changing my hire votes >>6320095 to
>THE MAN
>ASHTON
Had a thought. Assuming she can't perceive the MAN, we can run a little social experiment on her by making her think she's got Vince all to herself and have the MAN observe her for any unusual behavior. We can do movie day with the BOYS some other time, preferably once we've purchased the beer machine.

>>6320067
>THE MAN
>COLT

>NO. It's random junkie babble, it probably means nothing. You don't want to stress her out.

>>6320067
Changing vote in >>6320152 to
>MAN
>ASHTON
>YES TELL ABOUT THREAT
as what >>6320183 said

We hire Colt and Man once we have the BEER VENDING MACHINE

>>6320067
>ASHTON
>THE MAN
>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.

>>6320067
>ASHTON
>YES. You want to know if there's any creditability to what he said about her 'taking stuff'.

>>6320075
changing to this >>6320183
Real solid plan anon

>>6320117
Supporting the plan >>6320183
change my hire choices

we need that beer before we can movie night anyways

>>6320183
+1

>>6320428
Add
>YES. Tell her about the threat he made. Dude's a nutcase, after all.

Alright, there's a lot to tally.

COLT: vdQ, fev, tTS, kLH, +IZ
ASHTON: vdQ, IN5, tTS, Bkz, 86+, WdA, NPa, Xhh, YpN
THE MAN: fev, IN5, kLH, +IZ, 86+, WdA, NPa, Xhh, YpN

YES, YOU TAKING STUFF?: vdQ, Bkz, NPA
YES, THREAT: fev, IN5, tTS, NPA, WdA, XHH, kLH, 86+, YpN
NO, JUNKIE BABBLE: +IZ

So, ASHTON and THE MAN are going to be your coworkers this shift. Telling Ashton about Mr. "I WANT HER BLOODWATER" also won out, for pretty obvious reasons.

>>6320164
While that would sound cool, I'd question how safe that'd be, or the logistics behind moving all of the anomalies into one cell.

Alright, there's a lot to tally.

COLT: vdQ, fev, tTS, kLH, +IZ
ASHTON: vdQ, IN5, tTS, Bkz, 86+, WdA, NPa, Xhh, YpN
THE MAN: fev, IN5, kLH, +IZ, 86+, WdA, NPa, Xhh, YpN

YES, YOU TAKING STUFF?: vdQ, Bkz, NPA
YES, THREAT: fev, IN5, tTS, NPA, WdA, XHH, kLH, 86+, YpN
NO, JUNKIE BABBLE: +IZ

So, ASHTON and THE MAN are going to be your coworkers this shift. Telling Ashton about Mr. "I WANT HER BLOODWATER" also won out, for pretty obvious reasons. Writing.

>>6320164
While that would sound cool, I'd question how safe that'd be, or the logistics behind moving all of the anomalies into one cell.

>>6320482
>>6320482
>logistics behind moving all of the anomalies into one cell.
SOMMELIER can levitate or just walk normally can't it? And IN LIMBO can simply be dragged around like a real dead body. Letting 199X out of his cell to anywhere else is a huge risk, so his would be the place for movies.
>question how safe that'd be
Perfectly safe in the case of IN LIMBO
SOMMELIER might try something sneaky if he does
199X being taken out of his cell is such insane danger it's no contest

You really wanted to hire Colt. You have his bullets, after all, and you want to give them back to him as soon as possible. However! You have a plan brewing in that tiny little sponge of pink meat you call a brain.

Only you and Colt can see the Man. Everyone else outright ignores his presence like he's simply not there. If you bring him along, the other coworker you hire will think they're only working with you.

That might impact how they act, wouldn't it? It's easier for someone to be more 'honest', for better or worse, if they think they're alone. If you hire Ashton, then whatever's going on with her, you could probably get a better read on it.

The Man would also be there as your second pair of eyes in case she does anything questionable, you know? Alas, your funds are rapidly deteriorating by the second.
>You now have $335

You'll find a way to make cash, you know you will. Worst case scenario you could always go back to farming cigarette mold. A smile creeps across your face. You wonder how your family would feel if you told them that you make a living selling mold to the government.

The trek back to your lab doesn't take too long. You have a rough sense of which hallways in this shifting, labyrinthian layer you have to walk down to arrive at your lab. After stumbling around another corner, you spot the ZENITH REP exiting your lab.

They briefly glance at you. Both of you nod at each other, no words need to be exchanged here. You let them go and you walk over to the door leading to your lab. You slide inside, scanning around for where they left the report.

A manila folder lays on a nearby table and you can immediately tell at a glance there's not going to be much inside. You already expected that but any information is still better than no information. You open it up to skim the loose piece of paper that was hidden inside.

It's a sprawling list of numbers, various substances that could be found within blood, the levels of said substances in her blood, what health risks those results may spell for her. Thankfully, they color-coded which levels are too high or too low in a human. You skim to see what's up with her.

"TOO HIGH: Iron, Potassium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc, Hemoglobin, Protein, Magnesium."
"Unusual blood type. Majority resembles type AB but 0.95% of blood cells resemble no currently known blood cell type. Unidentified cells are most likely mutated human blood cells instead of mimic-type cells, common in biojacker abnormalities, but we can not fully confirm what they are."
"Report seems to indicate that 'Ashton' regularly consumes food with excessive levels of Iron, Phosphorous, etc. Said vitamins and minerals can commonly be found in organ meats such as heart or liver meat."
"Likely consumes excessive amounts of those foods. Despite noted elevated levels, all other vitals are normal. No notable health degradation has been detected."

That's all it says.

You really wanted to hire Colt. You have his bullets, after all, and you want to give them back to him as soon as possible. However! You have a plan brewing in that tiny little sponge of pink meat you call a brain.

Only you and Colt can see the Man. Everyone else outright ignores the Man's presence as if he's simply not there. If you bring him along, the other coworker you hire will think they're only working with you.

That might impact how they act, wouldn't it? It's easier for someone to be more 'honest', for better or worse, if they think they're alone. If you hire Ashton, then whatever's going on with her, you could probably get a better read on it.

The Man would also be there as your second pair of eyes in case she does anything questionable, you know? Alas, your funds are rapidly deteriorating by the second.

>You now have $335

You'll find a way to make cash, you know you will. Worst case scenario, you could always go back to farming cigarette mold. A smile creeps across your face. You wonder how your family would feel if you told them that you make a living selling mold to the government.

The trek back to your lab doesn't take too long. You have a rough sense of which hallways in this shifting, labyrinthian layer you have to walk down to arrive at your lab. After stumbling around another corner, you spot the ZENITH REP exiting your lab.

They briefly glance at you. Both of you nod at each other, no words need to be exchanged here. You let them go and you walk over to the door leading to your lab. You slide inside, scanning around for where they left the report.

A manila folder lies on a nearby table and you can immediately tell at a glance there's not going to be much inside. You already expected that but any information is still better than no information. You open it up to skim the loose piece of paper that was hidden inside.

It's a sprawling list of numbers, various substances that could be found within blood, the levels of said substances in her blood, what health risks those results may spell for her. Thankfully, they color-coded which levels are too high or too low in a human. You skim the report...

"TOO HIGH: Iron, Potassium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc, Hemoglobin, Protein, Magnesium."

"Unusual blood type. Majority resembles type AB but 0.95% of blood cells resemble no currently known blood cell type. Unidentified cells are most likely mutated human blood cells instead of mimic-type cells, common in biojacker abnormalities, but we can not fully confirm what they are."

"Report seems to indicate that 'Ashton' regularly consumes food with excessive levels of Iron, Phosphorous, etc. Said vitamins and minerals can commonly be found in organ meats such as heart or liver meat."

"Likely consumes excessive amounts of those foods. Despite noted elevated levels, all other vitals are normal. No notable health degradation has been detected."

As expected, it raises as many questions as it answers. What the hell is up with her blood? Combine this with what else you know about her body, you wonder how she could be healthy with all of these elevated levels.

You throw the folder into your satchel. You don't want her to see this. Well, you'll have the whole day with her, so you suppose you'll figure it out on the fly.

You boot up your computer so you can contact your two pals over FRIENDCHAT. It'll take a moment for them to get here but both tell you that they'll be there ASAP. While you wait, you're going to briefly check the security cams to see how your anomalies are handling themselves.

In IN LIMBO'S cell, the flowerbed is deathly still. Its many arms are as still as the arms on a statue. Even its flowers aren't moving. The only sign that the anomaly is still kicking is the subtle twitch of the corpse underneath the flowers. There's a LOT of static in the security camera's feed, oddly enough.

In NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell, the android is mindlessly polishing at its reservoir with a small cloth piece it tore off of something. Every few seconds, it would stop mid-scrub to stare at its body before it returns to cleaning itself.

In LOST SINCE 199X's cell, the towering behemoth of a man is scratching something into the wall with its cracked nails. Traces of dried, black gunk are running down the walls as it continues to scratch words into the wall.

Right after you checked on your anomalies, you hear a knock at the door. Ah, your friends must be here. You step away from your computer and you quickly scan the room to see if your supplies are here. You spot a corner towards the back of the room where all of the junk was thrown into.

>BOOK BUNDLE, TRASHED LANDLINE, MARTIAL ARTS TAPE x2, ART SUPPLIES, RESEARCH BUNDLE and FLASHBANGS were delivered!
>The books you obtained were FORENSICS 101 and BASIC PSYCHOLOGY FOR BABIES 102!

You grab a fresh labcoat from the RESEARCH BUNDLE before you open up the door. Lo and behold, your two coworkers are here! The Man, like always, is indescribable beyond the most basic facts that he is humanoid and certainly a man. Right behind him is Ashton.

You can see the exhaustion in her dull yellow eyes. Her white dress shirt is wrinkled to hell and back and the rest of her security guard outfit isn't much better. She smiles when she sees you. "hey, vincent. got some sleep? i didn't, haa." She takes a moment to stretch her shoulders before she walks right past the Man.

Good, she didn't see him. "Yep. Long day, huh?"

"you don't know the half of it. thanks for calling me, i really needed a break today."

The Man rolls his eyes. A break, he laughs, like working here is a break. Ashton, of course, doesn't respond.

You parrot the Man's words to Ashton. "trust me, vincent, the things they ask us to do are wild sometimes."

"Hey, uh, before we start. I should tell you something."

You quickly rattle off what that one junkie-looking guard said. Ashton's smile fades almost immediately. "oh." A chuckle laced with veiled annoyance escapes her. "i know who you're talking about. they still haven't taken his shotgun away?"

You nod.

"really? i know arc's not the best but..."

Her face scrunches up, clearly disturbed by what you told her. "yeah. look, some of the guards here cope with their job by frying their brains. it's really sad to watch someone you know destroy themselves like that."

She knows him, huh? Before you have time to ask anything, she awkwardly tries to change the subject. "i'll tell anthony about it later. i don't want a hole blown through my head, you know?"

"thanks for telling me."
"No problem. Couldn't really let it be after he rambled about bloodwater and stuff."

"pft. he's always saying stupid shit like that. this time, though? sounds like he might actually try to do something." She shudders at the idea. "eugh."

Yeah, the man nods his head, he's seen way too many junkies in this facility. He supposes it's a way for people to cope but it's sad, he can agree with Ashton there.

>ASHTON SHEET (partially) revealed!

------------

ASHTON
PHYSICAL HEALTH: HEALTHY
MENTAL HEALTH: TIRED

[FRIENDLY] She really does seem like a nice person to be around. She adds a +2 bonus to any speech check and most people will treat you better when she's around.

[SURVIVOR] A security guard like her has probably survived a LOT of crazy shit. Can ignore one source of PHYSICAL HEALTH damage a day. +6 to rolls resisting mental or physical stress.

[???] (You need more time working with her to unlock this.)
[???] (You need more time analyzing her to unlock this.)

INVENTORY
-SECURITY GUARD ARMOR (Cheap, mass produced but better than nothing. Offers mild protection to most normal damage sources.)
-SERVICE REVOLVER (Locked and loaded. Offers +7 to combat attack rolls, can crit on nat 98-100 for extreme damage.)
-BATON ('prefer using a baseball bat but this works.' Offers +3 to combat attack rolls, doesn't run out of ammo.)
-BANDAGE WRAP x2 ("just in case you're hurt." Each one is good for one use. Heals a small amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH.)

-------------

It's time to start another shift today, Vincent. SHIFT 6 STARTS NOW!
TIME TOKENS AVAILABLE: 14 (+5 from your coworkers.)

You'll take it easy since your shift just started. Pick two actions to start your day off with.

RESEARCH
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S containment cell. Getting some wine couldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. Could THEY make some money? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll from the MAN's HELP + ANOMALY TOUCHED)
(1/2)

>Study the MYSTERY BAGGIE and the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE. You want to figure out how that man was so tough and what, exactly, is inside the MYSTERY BAGGIE. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED + TWO COWORKERS HELPING)
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You want to know more about your weird video game friend thingamajig. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 56, +9 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Cook some stuff on that new propane grill of yours. Maybe your anomalies would like some cooked food? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Try to make some outfits with the sewing machine. Maybe the android would like it? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS, Hidaka and Lucy can offer some advice.)
>Pop the MARTIAL ARTS TAPES into your PERSONAL TV. Start TRAINING in the MARTIAL ARTS! (-1 TIME TOKEN. Choose who to train: YOU, THE MAN or ASHTON.)

MISC
>You have something else you want to do. (Write in.)

Sorry for delay. Friend dragged me into a movie thing, got distracted by that.

>>6320651
>Friend dragged me into a movie thing
That's ME, you nigger!

>>6320648
>>6320651
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)
Start out easy. I want to do this investigation before we check on SOMMELIER again later
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
I want to harvest more flowers and pollen too. Then we can investigate them for more MONEY potential and get her stuff out of the way.

>>6320651
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

>>6320646
So she's just straight up eating chunks of Heart flesh. Gross, I hope she at least cooks that shit first. Where's she getting the meat though?

>>6320651
>>6320657
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
Based The Man always watching our back
>>6320662
God forbid a woman has hobbies

>>6320651
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)

>>6320651
>>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)
>Start growing cigarette mold

>>6320651
>>6320648
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 56, +9 to roll.)
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED + TWO COWORKERS HELPING)

>>6320648
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. Could THEY make some money? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll from the MAN's HELP + ANOMALY TOUCHED)

>>6320651
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH.
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell.

>>6320651
>Enter IN LIMBO'S containment cell. Odd, why isn't it moving? Normally it's throwing a tantrum by now. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Look up any information about L'CURE on ABNOWATCH. This restaurant/company is really shady. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 35, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help and your knowledge on the anomaly.)

L'CURE: WdA, vUt, tTS, L/T, 5rc, YpN, jls
IN LIMBO: WdA, vUt, tTS, 5rc, +IZ, YpN, jls
CIGGIE MOLD: L/T
STATIC POLLEN: Bkz
CHERRY/BLOODWINE: Bkz
RUDOLF SAMPLES: +IZ

Alright, it's obvious what won out. Three anons, roll 1d100+5. Table below.

0 SUCCESSES?: Even with the Man's help, you can't find anything... (The lack of information is its own information.)
1 SUCCESS: It's only a rumor but it might be worth something. (You get some vague but concerning information.)
2 SUCCESSES: Someone else seems to be looking into them on here. (You get a few snippets of usable information.)
3 SUCCESSES: Huh, L'Cure is more widespread than you would've expected. (You find some witness testimonies alongside a decent amount of usable information.)

Rolled 89 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6320950

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>6320950

Rolled 18 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6320950

>>6320952
>>6320954
>>6320955
Two successes. What can I say, sometimes you roll below a 30. Hey, if it's any consolation, this would've likely been one success without the MAN.

Writing.

>>6320662
>>6320671
At least her diet is probably healthier than whatever Vincent is eating on a daily basis.

>>6320958
>At least her diet is probably healthier than whatever Vincent is eating on a daily basis.
Before or after the facility?

>>6320981
Both probably

"Alright. Ashton, wait by IN LIMBO'S cell. I need to look something up right now."

"oh? if you don't mind me asking, what are you looking up? i could probably answer any questions you have." Ashton warmly smiles.

"Uh." You stammer for a moment. "Right. Do you know anything about L'CURE, then?"

You really aren't expecting her to know anything about them. You're pleasantly surprised when she responds with actual information. "a little bit actually. they've actually been on arc's radar for a while. they're a group of interest that the etfs have encountered here or there."

Oh? You and the Man gesture at her to continue. Any information is better than no information.

"they're based in france and italy. they're directly responsible for the creation of several food and culinary-based anomalies and artifacts. i don't know why or how they create said anomalies, but..." Ashton half-heartedly shrugs. "they sell their anomalies to people; that I know."

"Huh! Do you know anything else about them?"

"sadly, no."

It'll be fine for now, the Man pats you on the shoulder. We can use that information to narrow down our search, he states.

"Alright, thank you for telling me that." "no problem!"

You head back to your computer with the Man in tow. You boot up the intranet browser, which immediately loads up the ABNOWATCH website. The Man cracks his knuckles. Alright, he says, we should search on any reports of unusual restaurants. Preferably in France or Italy.

He also says that you should look up 'Obscura Syrah' as well, considering that's the main wine produced by NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER.

You scroll through the endless walls of garbage noise, abandoned threads, and fake leads that seem to be endemic to this website. The Man helps to guide you through the mess of conflicting information so you can actually find some useful data about this Group of Interest.

>2 SUCCESSES

You had a false start here or there, but you eventually stumbled across an interesting thread titled "L'CURE: WHO ARE THEY???". The writing inside is frantic, as if the person writing it was in a hurry to record everything they knew about L'Cure.

"Head is SEETHING, so sorry if this thread is a bit hard to read or if i mke typos. Was visiting Marseille for a business meeting, had one too many drinks, so i entteredd ba bad part of twon."

"I saw some weird people roaming around in an alleyway. all of them were wearing all black suits or dresses anf they had these really weird masks on. like, rabbit masqueraid(?) masks. not the weirdest part though. they had this really fancy looking robot thing that was straight out of some scifi movie. looked like a woman, i think, think it was a woman."

"had this big sloshing thing of wine in it." Okay, he's absolutely talking about NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER. "not important, they were babbling about a new supplier they made a deal with. a supplier named Benedict Borrelli."

"supposedly someone who helped make the robot??? apparently he ordered the creation of that robot lady? don't really know much besides that."

"they were all carrying bodybags. the robot and the masked guys. they said 'L'Cure' needed the people in the bodybags to be killed. so they wouldn't interfere or rat out a deal L'Cure had with some company named 'FANTASTICAL FEASTS' or something???"

Given the alliteration, your best guess is that might be one of your SPONSORSHIP companies. Quality and Quantity, Entertainment Enterprises, Hayden Hydrogen, etc. Not all of them have the pattern but it's a safe bet.

"all i know is whatever deal they had it was going south. couldn't listen any longer, they spotted me. the robot yelled out and told me to stay there so it could offer me something."

"i ran an d ran and i kept running until i'm back here. i'm uploading this before i go off the grid for a bit, until all of this blows over."

That's all the thread says. It's not a lot but you now know the following:

-One of your future SPONSORSHIP companies might be able to rat out details about L'Cure.
-You know about one of NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S creators - Benedict Borrelli. You might be able to learn more about him on ABNOWATCH or through NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER
-Masquerade masks? It's a long shot but Moxxie, one of the ETF agents who captured it, also wears a masquerade mask. Could she be a former L'Cure agent? You should talk to her later.

You wish you could learn more but you think this is enough to work with for now. You click out of the web browser. "Alright, listen." You whisper to the Man. "I want you to keep an eye on Ashton if you can. She can't see you, and I'm a bit worried about her, you know, so...could you do that for me?"

The Man nods. He'll do anything to help you out since, hey, you're the only one who can talk and (partially) see him. He might as well. He asks you if there's anything specific he needs to look out for.

"If she does anything unusual or suspicious, tell me."

The Man gives you a thumbs up. "Alright." You turn your attention back to Ashton, who's still patiently waiting by IN LIMBO'S CELL.

"Ashton, have you directly worked with an anomaly before in a non-combat scenario?" "a few times, why?"

"Welp. You're coming with me."

"alright! whenever you're ready, vincent."

You fiddle with your labcoat for a moment to make sure you look presentable. You join Ashton by the door leading into IN LIMBO'S containment cell. You toss her the dossier filled with notes about IN LIMBO, to catch her up to speed.

She quickly skims it before handing it back to you. Alright, with all of that taken care of, the two of you enter the containment cell.

It's deathly quiet in here. The only noise you can hear besides your heartbeat is the faint, constant crackle of static in the air. Ashton sniffs the air with an odd glimmer in her dull yellow eyes.

"something's wrong. i can smell it in the air. it's like..." She focuses her gaze on the anomaly, as if she's trying to read something in its body language. "it's having a bad dream? dunno. it's just what my gut tells me."

Huh? What does THAT mean?

She doesn't seem like she wants to clarify any further. You can't say she's wrong, though. The anomaly is still as lifeless as it was when you saw it on the security camera. One of its arms twitches once it notices that you're here.

The vine hidden inside your arm begins to squirm and thrash. It doesn't hurt, per se, but god damn does it feel REALLY uncomfortable. You bite your lip as you try your best to control the vine. Ashton places a hand on your shoulder.

"focus, focus. take in a deep breath, vincent. deep."

You follow her instructions. Your mind clears as you take a deep breath in and out. As you calm down, so does the vine inside your arm. Okay, you can focus now.

"there you go. we should be careful here, this doesn't match any behavior recorded in the file, right?"

"Mmh hmm."

IN LIMBO MOOD: 50/100
Choose three WORK ORDERS to perform on IN LIMBO.

COMMUNICATION:
>Ask it about its past as Rolle Ann. Did it miss being a human? What was it like owning a movie theater?
>Talk about something the anomaly likes. It told you it likes films and movies, talk about that!
>Ask Ashton if she has any dreams she wants to share with the anomaly. You want it to have a good relationship with your coworker, after all.
>Scrouge your mind for anything you used to wish for. Before you became a dime-a-dozen wageslave. Maybe telling it will calm the anomaly? (DC 75, +10 to roll. You must endure...)

EXAMINATION:
>Examine the corpse underneath the flowerbed. Is there some underlying physical cause to this? (DC 45, +3 from ANOMALY TOUCHED, ASHTON'S HELP and ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE)
>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Harvest some pollen from the flowers for a future test. You know NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER can use it for something.
>Harvest some flowers for future study. You doubt it'll notice.
>It still has some wounds from its outburst yesterday. Tend to them with your medical supplies. (DC 60, +5 from ASHTON'S HELP and ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE)

STIMULI TEST/MISC
>Drag in the PERSONAL TV, power it on, face it towards the anomaly. Show it the wonders of TV.
>Offer it some food, batteries, water and fertilizer. Maybe it's just hungry?
>Bring in some toys for the anomaly to play with. Maybe it's just bored. There IS nothing to do in here.
>Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to it.
>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now? It hurts your brain if you focus on it but... (DC 66, +16 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and SURVIVOR.)

>Write in

>>6321046
>Harvest some flowers for future study. You doubt it'll notice.
>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now? It hurts your brain if you focus on it but... (DC 66, +16 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and SURVIVOR.)

We have the Harvesting Glove, removing some flowers should help alleviate the burden on the main body.

>>6321046
>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)

>Offer it some food, batteries, water and fertilizer. Maybe it's just hungry?

>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now? It hurts your brain if you focus on it but... (DC 66, +16 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and SURVIVOR.)

>>6321046
>Ask Ashton if she has any dreams she wants to share with the anomaly. You want it to have a good relationship with your coworker, after all.

>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)

>Drag in the PERSONAL TV, power it on, face it towards the anomaly. Show it the wonders of TV.

>>6321046
>Ask it about its past as Rolle Ann. Did it miss being a human? What was it like owning a movie theater?
>Talk about something the anomaly likes. It told you it likes films and movies, talk about that!

>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)

>>6321046
>Scrouge your mind for anything you used to wish for. Before you became a dime-a-dozen wageslave. Maybe telling it will calm the anomaly? (DC 75, +10 to roll. You must endure...)
>It still has some wounds from its outburst yesterday. Tend to them with your medical supplies. (DC 60, +5 from ASHTON'S HELP and ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE)
>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now? It hurts your brain if you focus on it but... (DC 66, +16 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and SURVIVOR.)

>>6321046
>Talk about something the anomaly likes. It told you it likes films and movies, talk about that!
>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to it.

>It still has some wounds from its outburst yesterday. Tend to them with your medical supplies. (DC 60, +5 from ASHTON'S HELP and ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE)

>Drag in the PERSONAL TV, power it on, face it towards the anomaly. Show it the wonders of TV.

>Ask Ashton if she has any dreams she wants to share with the anomaly. You want it to have a good relationship with your coworker, after all.

>>6321046
>Harvest some flowers for future study. You doubt it'll notice.
We need material for experiments and MONEY
>Tend to the flowers. They don't seem particularly healthy. (DC 53, +4 from ASHTON'S HELP.)
Might help the current state
>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now? It hurts your brain if you focus on it but... (DC 66, +16 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and SURVIVOR.)
And this feels better to do here

I would rather do the DVD and TV stuff as well as other potential option picks when it ISN'T in the middle of a fucked nightmare

>>6321046
>Tend to the flowers.
>Focus on the static in the air. Is it trying to communicate through that now?
>Drag in the PERSONAL TV,

HARVEST FLOWERS: alj, Wda
TEND FLOWERS: alj, vUt, VwC, +IZ, L/T, Wda, YpN
STATIC AIR: alj, vUT, BKZ, Wda, YpN
FOOD: vUT
ASHTON DREAMS: VwC, 8Zg
PERSONAL TV: VwC, YpN, 8Zg
ROLLE ANN: +IZ
MOVIE TALK: +IZ, L/T
WAGESLAVE DREAM: Bkz
WOUNDS: BKZ, 8Zg
DVD PLAYER: L/T

Seems like TEND TO FLOWERS and STATIC AIR had a sizable majority and PERSONAL TV just barely won out.

We got two votes with dice tied to them, so I need three anons to roll 2d100. The first three 1d100s rolled will go to TEND TO FLOWERS (i.e if the dice were 94, 12, 41, 52, 21, 10? 94/12/41 would go to TEND TO FLOWERS)

Don't worry about modifiers, I'll just add those after the fact. Tables below

TEND TO FLOWERS (DC 53)
0 SUCCESSES: Damnit! You must've nicked it or something. (-MOOD!)
1 SUCCESS: Eh, you did the best you could, really. (Something weird happens.)
2 SUCCESSES: While you're here, might as well harvest some of the blighted ones. (+MOOD, you get some WIRE FLOWER samples!)
3 SUCCESSES: You think you're actually getting better at this. (Same as 2 SUCCESSES but DCs that IN LIMBO'S FLOWERS are now reduced by 2.)

STATIC AIR (DC 66)
0 SUCCESSES: Is your nose bleeding...? (???)
1 SUCCESS: You can barely make out anything. (You get some faint insight into IN LIMBO's psyche.)
2 SUCCESSES: Okay, you think you know what's bothering it. (You get some better insight into IN LIMBO'S psyche. All DCs on future IN LIMBO work orders are reduced by 3.)
3 SUCCESSES: whatdoesitmeantodream? (Same as 2...but you have another 'conversation' with IN LIMBO. This may affect you or Ashton in unusual ways.)

Rolled 76, 27 = 103 (2d100)

>>6321371

Rolled 91, 61 = 152 (2d100)

>>6321371

Rolled 71, 16 = 87 (2d100)

>>6321371

TEND TO FLOWERS: 80, 31, 95. 2 SUCCESSES
STATIC AIR: 77, 87, 32. 2 SUCCESSES.

Hey, pretty good luck all things considered. Maybe...Vincent is actually a competent researcher? Or maybe Ashton is a good luck charm? Who's to say, I suppose. Writing.

>>6321374
>>6321375
>>6321376
I'm impressed how anons are always rolling <30min after the post

>>6321388
I F5 the catalogue basically any time I tab into my browser so I do be quick off the mark sometimes.

The static hanging in the air is going to drive you nuts. You know what, though, your gut tells you to ignore it for now. You should focus on the main anomaly itself and you'll deal with whatever that static is later.

"Ugh." You adjust your respirator you made sure to put on before entering. After all, you don't want anomalous pollen in your lungs. "This sucks."

"trust me, i get it. we'll get in and out, then you can take a small break." Ashton tries her best to shift your focus away from the static. "do you got any tests you want to perform?"

"Right. Tests." You take a moment to recollect your thoughts. "Drag in the PERSONAL TV in. We shouldn't need anything else."

"aye aye, sir." Ashton exits the containment cell. You're now left alone with the anomaly. You wonder what the hell could've caused it to freak out like this. You doubt another ROBUST MAN incident is going to happen so it has to be something else. Maybe something more personal?

Ashton returns with the TV you asked for. It might as well weigh nothing to her with how casually she's holding it. "where do i place this, exactly?"

"Uhhhh." You try to think if it needs to be placed by the corpse's head or not. You decide to play it safe. "Place it by the back, somewhere around there." You gesture around where you think the head of the corpse is. "Don't turn it on yet."

"alright!" Ashton moves to place the TV down as instructed. While she does that, you move over to the anomaly itself. You yank out some gardening tools from your satchel. Some of the flowers don't look too great. Their petals are grey and wilted and their rubber stems have this weird, chalky texture on them.

"Ashton. You know how to prune flowers?" "well, i know how to cut stuff."

"Alright. Follow my lead. We need to make sure we don't hurt it." You hand her some wirecutters while you stick to a handy-dandy scalpel. "Trim anything that looks off, cut any flowers that are dead, water what's left. Got it?"

"mmh hmm!" Ashton eagerly nods along to your instructions. "i'll try my best."

The two of you begin to trim and cut away the rotten flowers growing off of the corpse's body. It's something you've done enough times to almost be another part of your routine. Ashton's cut are rough and sloppy with her cuts but what she lacks in technical experience, she makes up for with patience. You never saw her accidently cutting the anomaly or a healthy flower.

>2 SUCCESSES!

Progress is slow but it's a nice reprieve (and distraction) from the weird static in the air. With Ashton's help, you tend to about two dozens worth of flowers. The anomaly's hands are beginning to stir. It wiggles and flexes its many fingers, as if it just waking up from a bad dream.

Whatever you did was enough to weaken the constant static hum in the air.

"hm. weird, huh?" Ashton absently mutters. She places some of the blighted flowers into a bag for later.
>5 WIRE FLOWERS harvested!

"Weird indeed. We'll move on to our next test." "tv right? on it."

Ashton messes with the dials on the old, shitty CRT TV that you bought from the catalog. The boobtube hisses and seethes with spite at the mere idea of turning out. Alas, Ashton is the one with the stronger will here, and the TV soon relents.

It crackles to life, showing some random TV show you've never seen in your life. It looks like any ol' sitcom. You know how they are - Dumb dad, smart mom, two kids, the works. You're shocked you're even getting signal down here.

Ashton picks up on your unspoken question. "ah, yeah, the TVs here can only access certain ARC exclusive signals."
"So that's how it-" You're interrupted by the oddest sound. The flower bed is shifting. Its many arms press against the floor, as if it was trying to...move itself.

A disgustingly wet sound, like someone loudly chewing wet dog food, is heard with every movement the anomaly makes. With its many arms, it drags itself across the floor with slow, painful movements.

It shifts itself as close as it can to the TV before rooting itself back to the floor.

It's sickening but that's the first time you've seen it actively move its body. Ashton is already recording down notes on this unusual response from the anomaly.

A raspy voice, far more damaged than Ashton's own raspy voice, croaks out from the flowerbed. "...Silver screen. Outperformed by this." You've heard the anomaly speak before but it sounds different this time. It's exhausted. Too exhausted to even process how tired it is.

"Beautiful, nonetheless. Like...like..." It tries to string its thoughts together but it fails to.

"ms. rolle?" Ashton tries to address the anomaly. It doesn't respond. It's completely transfixed on the TV before it. The two of you stand back.

The two of you scribble down notes while IN LIMBO watches the TV. Its many arms reach out to rub and caress the television with a perverted sentimentality, like a long lost lover. The corpse babbles incoherently to itself as it flips mindlessly through the many ARC approved channels. Most of its arms have completely enveloped the TV at this point, blocking most of the screen from you and Ashton.

This is very worrying to say the least. "Should we do something?" You ask to nobody in particular.
"i don't think interfering right now would be a good idea. it might respond violently and, um, i really don't want you to get hurt."

"Fair enough."

Even with most of the screen blocked, you can still make out snippets of what it's watching. It skips through most of the programming with seemingly no higher thought but when a sitcom or a romcom comes on, it stops and stares. Is it trying to remember something?

The anomaly croaks out some fragmented words. "Like nightmare I. had. Years as a. Radio host."

"You were a radio host?" You ask the anomaly. This time, it answers.

"Had to. Ends meet. Face not meant. Radio." A shudder of disgust runs across the anomaly's arms. "Degenerative. Rock and roll. Sex and drugs. Faceless voices with no..."

"Accountability."

"Forgotten. Like a nightmare. Not what I wanted. I want." It tightens its many arms around the television. It loses whatever energy it had left, only having enough to stare blankly at the TV.

The static in the air is fluctuating now. It's as if it's trying to communicate something to you. Ashton has already turned her attention away from the anomaly.

You shift your focus back to the static-laced air. You take in a deep, deep breath before trying to, on some level, 'connect' with the signal. Ashton's eyes are firmly shut, clearly already one step aside of you. Let's see what's going on here...

>2 SUCCESSES!

Incoherent flashes of color and sound immediately slam into your mind, exactly like someone was flipping through a million channels at once. An intense pressure builds in your head and a sharp pain jabs into your abdomen, like a knife is crammed inside your guts.

Your eyes begin to water but you're able to tune a good chunk of it out. You begin to see something.

An old woman sits behind the concession counter. It's another long, boring day. She's the only one still here, she can't justify hiring anyone. Not with the state of her theater.

The theater has been open for eight hours and she's only seen ten or eleven people stumbling in. She all knows them by name and she suspects that they're only here to be polite. To show that she's still part of the community.

The buttery smell of popcorn is almost enough to mask the stench of dust hanging in the air. She makes barely enough money to keep the theater open at this point. She grabs her walking cane as she slowly walks over to one of the two active screens.

As she stumbles into the dark room, her eyes lock onto the bright screen displaying some movie she already forgot the name of. A young actress is giving her male co-star googoo eyes. Another romcom.

She wishes she was young again. That she could take the place of that actress. To be the one that everyone is looking at, someone that people would remember.

She could've been like her. She could've followed her dream. She should've gone to college to get an acting degree, she should've moved to California before the acting market there calcified.

But she didn't. Now, she works here. A way to vicariously live through her dream.

It's not enough. It was never enough but by the time she learnt to regret her choice, it was too late. Her dream was left to rot. To fester.

Eighty something years down the drain. It's almost enough to make her scream right then and there but she doesn't want to ruin it for her customers. She exits before anyone noticed she was even there.

She glances down at old rose pinned to her dress before she finds somewhere to sit. It's time for her afternoon nap. One of her only reprieves from this sad, pathetic excuse of a life. She really only has one wish left at this point. One that she's been thinking about for a while.

2 updates in 1 day? you spoil us QM

She wishes she never had to wake up again. That she could live out the life she wished for in her dreams. All she had left was her dreams, her wishes, after all.
Why bother waking up to a world where you can't...achieve...

You gasp for air. The static in the air is completely gone now, with the only source of sound throughout the cell being your frantic breathing. You soon realize that Ashton, too, is also struggling to breathe.

The two of you take a moment to process what you just saw. That had to be Rolle Ann. Was that one of her memories?

"Did you see that?" "yep!"

"We should leave, shouldn't we?"
"yeah i don't want to be here!!! let's go."

You briefly turn your attention back to the anomaly itself. It has let go of the TV, content with simply laying on the floor. The TV is tuned to static now, probably from the anomaly inferencing with the signal.

The two of you quickly exit the containment cell.
>IN LIMBO MOOD is now at 80/100!

The Man is too busy reading a book to notice how disheveled the two of you are. You want to focus your attention on something else for now.

You have 12 TIME TOKENS LEFT. Choose three actions.

RESEARCH
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S containment cell. Getting some wine couldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. Could THEY make some money? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Study the MYSTERY BAGGIE and the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE. Why was the ROBUST MAN so...robust? What's inside the bag? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You wanna learn more about 'FET'. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)
>Study the WIRE FLOWERS you have. What other abilities do they have? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help. Something interferes with your search...)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Cook some stuff on that new propane grill of yours. Maybe your anomalies would like some cooked food? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Try to make some outfits with the sewing machine. Maybe the android would like it? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Pop the MARTIAL ARTS TAPES into your PERSONAL TV. Start TRAINING in the MARTIAL ARTS! (-1 TIME TOKEN. Choose who to train: YOU, THE MAN or ASHTON.)
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)

MISC
>You have something else you want to do. (Write in.)

Sorry for the delayed update.

>>6321556
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll.)

>>6321556
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)
We need the money and we need it NOW
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
This could be a way to get MORE MONEY
>Study the MYSTERY BAGGIE and the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE. Why was the ROBUST MAN so...robust? What's inside the bag? (-1 TIME TOKEN)
Let's get MYSTERY BAGGIE solved already it's almost been a week in-story, and then see about the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE in case whoever is behind those guys sends more ROBUST MEN at our facility and we have to kill them again... or if they're worth harvesting for whatever makes them so ROBUST which also means MORE MONEY...

>>6321556
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)

>Study the MYSTERY BAGGIE and the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE. Why was the ROBUST MAN so...robust? What's inside the bag? (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help. Something interferes with your search...)

>>6321556
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)

>>6321556
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S containment cell. Getting some wine couldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. Could THEY make some money? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)

>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help. Something interferes with your search...)

>>6321556
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have. You need to know how you can profit from IN LIMBO, after all. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 55, +9 to roll.)

>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE. Try to figure out how the android's wine affected them. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +6 to roll.)

>>6321556
>Study the STATIC POLLEN you have.
>Do some tests on the CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE.
>Study the MYSTERY BAGGIE and the HUMAN FLESH SAMPLE.

Lost track of time. I had to do some house sitting for a couple of friends of mine, only recently got home. Checking.

STUDY THE STATIC POLLEN: Bkz, WdA, vUT, L/T, YpN, 5rc
AC + ELECTRONIC SCRAP: Bkz
CHERRY MOLD/BLOOD WINE: Bkz, WdA, +IZ, YpN, 5rc
MISSING PERSON CASE: vUT, +IZ
MYSTERY BAGGIE + FLESH : vUt, WdA, YpN
LOST SINCE 199X: L/T
CIGARETTE MOLD: L/T
NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER: +IZ
SAMPLES FROM RUDOLF: +IZ

Alright. Three anons, roll 2d100, since we got two skill checks to go through. Tables below.

STATIC POLLEN (DC 55)
0 SUCCESSES: Oh. Your nose is bleeding. (???)
1 SUCCESS: You wonder if this will work... (You find a better way to display the memories recorded in the pollen.)
2 SUCCESSES: The Man offers an interesting proposal... (Same reward as 1 SUCCESS but you also find a way to record new memories on the pollen.)
3 SUCCESSES: The flower growing out of your wrist squirms... (Same reward as 1 + 2 but you find an easier way to harvesting STATIC POLLEN.)

CHERRY/BLOODWINE (DC 60)
0 SUCCESSES: This is going nowhere. You can't think straight. (No progress.)
1 SUCCESS: Hm. You wonder how Colt is still alive, to be quite honest! (You uncover some basic properties about BLOODWINE, no progress on the CHERRY MOLD.)
2 SUCCESSES: So that's how the mold was altered, huh? (You uncover some basic properties of the CHERRY MOLD and the BLOODWINE.)
3 SUCCESSES: Your two coworkers are giving you quite the strange look. (Same as 2 but you figure out a very subtle property of the BLOODWINE.)

I'll probably make this update a shorter one. Let's just say picking MYSTERY BAGGIE/HUMAN FLESH has revealed a...unique piece of information that's important enough for a follow up vote.

Rolled 43, 23 = 66 (2d100)

>>6322159

Lost track of time. I had to do some house sitting for a couple of friends of mine, only recently got home. Checking.

STUDY THE STATIC POLLEN: Bkz, WdA, vUT, L/T, YpN, 5rc
AC + ELECTRONIC SCRAP: Bkz
CHERRY MOLD/BLOOD WINE: Bkz, WdA, YpN, 5rc
MISSING PERSON CASE: vUT, +IZ
MYSTERY BAGGIE + FLESH : vUt, WdA, YpN
LOST SINCE 199X: L/T
CIGARETTE MOLD: L/T
NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER: +IZ
SAMPLES FROM RUDOLF: +IZ

Alright. Three anons, roll 2d100, since we got two skill checks to go through. Tables below.

STATIC POLLEN (DC 55)
0 SUCCESSES: Oh. Your nose is bleeding. (???)
1 SUCCESS: You wonder if this will work... (You find a better way to display the memories recorded in the pollen.)
2 SUCCESSES: The Man offers an interesting proposal... (Same reward as 1 SUCCESS but you also find a way to record new memories on the pollen.)
3 SUCCESSES: The flower growing out of your wrist squirms... (Same reward as 1 + 2 but you find an easier way to harvesting STATIC POLLEN.)

CHERRY/BLOODWINE (DC 60)
0 SUCCESSES: This is going nowhere. You can't think straight. (No progress.)
1 SUCCESS: Hm. You wonder how Colt is still alive, to be quite honest! (You uncover some basic properties about BLOODWINE, no progress on the CHERRY MOLD.)
2 SUCCESSES: So that's how the mold was altered, huh? (You uncover some basic properties of the CHERRY MOLD and the BLOODWINE.)
3 SUCCESSES: Your two coworkers are giving you quite the strange look. (Same as 2 but you figure out a very subtle property of the BLOODWINE.)

I'll probably make this update a shorter one. Let's just say picking MYSTERY BAGGIE/HUMAN FLESH has revealed a...unique piece of information that's important enough for a follow up vote.

Rolled 85, 25 = 110 (2d100)

>>6322162

Rolled 31, 72 = 103 (2d100)

>>6322162

>>6322161
I'll count this, don't worry, even though it's pretty bad roll wise.

>>6322161
>>6322163
>>6322166
So, STATIC POLLEN only got 1 SUCCESSES and CHERRY/BLOODWINE also only got 1

I think it's time to let you guys remember an old item that was tossed in your trashbag of an inventory. The GLASS EYE. It can be used to add 1 SUCCESS to either of these results. It only has one use so you can only apply it to one of the skill checks. It's only applicable for perception or research checks so, no time like now to ask if you wanna use it.

Do you want to spend it? I'll leave this open for two hours or until we get a very sizable majority.
>YES: On STATIC POLLEN. (Bumps it up to 2 SUCCESSES. You find a better way to display the memories on the pollen AND you can record new memories on it. This makes the pollen a LOT more profitable.)
>YES: On CHERRY/BLOODWINE (Bumps it up to 2 SUCCESSES. You get to learn about both the Cherry Mold and the Bloodwine. This will make future research checks on NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER and its extracts easier.)
>NO: Save it for a future research check.

>>6322169
>YES: On CHERRY/BLOODWINE (Bumps it up to 2 SUCCESSES. You get to learn about both the Cherry Mold and the Bloodwine. This will make future research checks on NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER and its extracts easier.)

>>6322169
>YES: On STATIC POLLEN. (Bumps it up to 2 SUCCESSES. You find a better way to display the memories on the pollen AND you can record new memories on it. This makes the pollen a LOT more profitable.)
Money. I predict the second week will need more money. Now that I think of it maybe just straight up buy an air filter which will draw in the pollen, we swap out the filter when we go in, bam we've got our automated pollen collection. Maybe a humidifier.

>>6322169
>YES: On STATIC POLLEN. (Bumps it up to 2 SUCCESSES. You find a better way to display the memories on the pollen AND you can record new memories on it. This makes the pollen a LOT more profitable.)
We're just a humble farmer trying to make ends meet. We grow mold, we harvest pollen, we milk Nowhere's Sommelier.

>>6322172
>>6322175
>>6322179
Cool. STATIC POLLEN is at 2 SUCCESSES and CHERRY/BLOODWINE is now at 1 SUCCESS. Writing now, hopefully the update will be out soon.

>>6322172
>>6322175
>>6322179
Cool. STATIC POLLEN is at 2 SUCCESSES and CHERRY/BLOODWINE is now at 1 SUCCESS. Writing now, hopefully the update will be out soon-

>>6322179
Don't. Don't say 'milk Nowhere's Sommelier', you're making it sound a lot worse than it is, Anon.
Imagine how Sommelier would feel if it heard you say that.

Okay, you need to distract yourself away from that anomalous vision forced upon your psyche. Ashton is clearly ready to do LITERALLY anything else. You think over what you should spend your time on.

You know, it's been a while since you've done some sample analysis. You snap your fingers in order to get the Man's attention. "Alright, everyone, gather around." You lead your two coworkers over to one of the many tables in your lab.

"We're going to do some RESEARCH™!"

The Man asks how you managed to make the ™ noise with your mouth. You have no idea what he's on about. Ashton visibly relaxes now that she's away from IN LIMBO. "okay, cool! what are we studying?"

"STATIC POLLEN, one of IN LIMBO's extracts-"

"oh no." Ashton slumps against the table. Yeah, you can relate, but you NEED to profit off IN LIMBO somehow. "can we work on anything else, please?"

"Keep your respirator on and you'll be fine." You toss a spare respirator to the Man when she's not looking. "We'll also study some CHERRY MOLD and BLOOD WINE, byproducts from experiments with NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER, alongside...uh. I'll think of something."

The Man states that this works for him as he puts on his mask. Any particular properties you're trying to understand, he questions?

"So, we're going to figure out how to display the memories on the pollen in a more...portable way? Boiling water isn't the best medium."

"well, i'm not a researcher, but i got an idea. if the pollen is, like, electric then maybe we can use conductive materials to do something?"

It could be possible to find a way to 'imprint' the image onto something with Ashton's suggestion, The Man hypothesizes, but he's unsure what medium would be best for that.

"We'll figure something out. Ashton, grab some wires and batteries. I'll get some scrap metal shortly." You gesture at the Man to get said scrap metal, since you don't want to mention his existence outloud while Ashton's still under surveillance.

He gets the hint and follows Ashton to get the supplies. You pour some STATIC POLLEN into a small beaker of water before heating the water. The pollen 'activates' once the water gets hot enough, displaying random memories as the pollen shifts around in the mixture.

Your two coworkers return with the requested supplies. Time to see if you can find a way to profit off the POLLEN.

>2 SUCCESSES!

Progress was initially slow. Ashton and the Man managed to make a rudimentary contraption with the scrap metal and wires in order to test Ashton's theory; that wasn't the problem. The problem was that at first, it seemed like it was doing nothing.

Any pollen placed on the electrified metal vanished into thin air, erasing the sample in the process. You thought it was a fluke the first time, but no, it simply vanished on contact. Disappointment washes over you as you realize that, ughhh, that's a sample gone.

You immediately thought this was a bust but Ashton suddenly has an idea. "wait. disconnect the wires."

The Man does so. Ashton removes the battery from the contraption and carefully studies it. "what happens if we put this in a thing with a display?"

Huh. Wait, is she proposing that the static pollen went INTO the battery? "That might work. Alright, let's see." You replace the battery in the DVD player with the one you used for your experiment. Almost immediately, the DVD player crackled to life.

It shows a memory. The memory this time is nothing particularly noteworthy: It's of a man and a woman enjoying a meal. The simple fact you're able to see and hear the memory like it was any other video is impressive in of itself. Footage is one thing but being able to watch memories?

That tech could be very useful...if you could find a way to EXTRACT or RECORD memories. Otherwise there's no real use in viewing random memories. You ask your two coworkers if they have any idea how you could record something on them.

The Man proposes that shocking a person with something powered by a STATIC POLLEN infused battery could do the trick. If the pollen can inhabit a battery, maybe the battery could be the trick.

You suppose that could work. You remove the battery from the DVD player before hooking it to the contraption Ashton made earlier. "alright, i'll do it." Ashton pokes at the electrified metal and, as expected, it shocks her. She yelps but the current is too weak to do any long lasting damage.

The battery faintly hums mere moments after Ashton touched it. You remove the battery and place it back right into the DVD player.

Another memory appears and this time, it appears to be from the point of view of Ashton herself. She's talking to one of her coworkers about something inane, nothing important enough to record in your own memory, but this? This is something else. Ashton is gob smacked at one of her memories actually being replayed on the DVD player.

"haaa, that was a while ago. i barely remembered having this conversation..."

Interesting, the man exclaims! If it can extract memories that people have forgotten about, it could be an excellent backup for data. It could be used for interrogations. Heck, he says, it might be a way to bypass or 'cure' people affected by memetic or infohazardous anomalies.

You wonder if it could be used to help the Man, given his own anomalous ability.

"Well, that's one down." You sigh, glad that you have something you can sell to ARC now.
>STATIC POLLEN can now be used to extract and replay specific memories from people around you. Great for info gathering.

"Alright, we'll do the WINE in a moment, I got another thing I want to study." You dig through your satchel for something else to study. You remember that there was this old bag of mystery gunk you found almost a week ago. You place it, alongside a flesh sample from the ROBUST MAN, on the table.

You immediately thought this was a bust but Ashton suddenly has an idea. "wait. disconnect the wires."

The Man does so. Ashton removes the battery from the contraption and carefully studies it. "what happens if we put this in a thing with a display?"

Huh. Wait, is she proposing that the static pollen went INTO the battery? "That might work. Alright, let's see." You replace the battery in the DVD player with the one you used for your experiment. Almost immediately, the DVD player crackled to life.

It shows a memory. The memory this time is nothing particularly noteworthy: It's of a man and a woman enjoying a meal. The simple fact you're able to see and hear the memory like it was any other video is impressive in of itself. Footage is one thing but being able to watch memories?

That tech could be very useful...if you could find a way to EXTRACT/RECORD memories. Otherwise there's no real use in viewing random memories. You ask your two coworkers if they have any idea how you could record something on them.

The Man proposes that shocking a person with something powered by a STATIC POLLEN infused battery could do the trick. If the pollen can inhabit a battery, maybe the battery could be the trick.

You suppose that could work. You remove the battery from the DVD player before hooking it to the contraption Ashton made earlier. "alright, i'll do it." Ashton pokes at the electrified metal and, as expected, it shocks her. She yelps but the current is too weak to do any long lasting damage.

The battery faintly hums mere moments after Ashton touched it. You remove the battery and place it back right into the DVD player.

Another memory appears and this time, it appears to be from the point of view of Ashton herself. She's talking to one of her coworkers about something inane, nothing important enough to record in your own memory, but this? This is something else. Ashton is gob smacked at one of her memories actually being replayed on the DVD player.

"haaa, that was a while ago. i barely remembered having this conversation..."

Interesting, the Man exclaims! If it can extract memories that people have forgotten about, it could be an excellent backup for data. It could be used for interrogations. Heck, he says, it might be a way to bypass or 'cure' people affected by memetic or infohazardous anomalies.

You wonder if it could be used to help the Man, given his own anomalous ability.

"Well, that's one down." You sigh, glad that you have something you can sell to ARC now.
>STATIC POLLEN can now be used to extract and replay certain memories from your fellow employees. Great for info gathering

"Alright, we'll do the WINE in a moment, I got another thing I want to study." You dig through your satchel for something else to study. You remember that there was this old bag of mystery gunk you found almost a week ago. You place it, alongside a flesh sample from the ROBUST MAN, on the table.

"Now, I know that studying some random dude's flesh is weird but we already messed with memory altering pollen. I think we can deal with this, right?"

"uh huh." Ashton barely acknowledges what you said. The Man isn't saying anything.

"We'll also try to figure out what's in this bag. You know, for science. I have no idea what's inside so we might as well do some chemical analysis." Neither of them respond. Odd but maybe they're thinking about something? You're not going to snap at them or anything, it's fine.

You poke at the mystery bag. You squint your eyes as you try to analyze what the powder might be from a visual standpoint. It, sadly, doesn't reveal anything. The Man clears his throat.

You look up at the Man with a curious expression. He clears his throat again and states that something's wrong with Ashton. She's been acting weird ever since you pulled out that sample, he states, didn't you notice?

"Not really?" You whisper. You glance at Ashton. She seems fine, if a bit spaced out. You give the Man a confused look. He points at his mouth(?) before pointing at Ashton. You turn back and, oh, now you see it. Your attention was too focused on the samples to really pay that much attention to her.

A thin string of drool is running down her mouth. Her gaze is locked on the hunk of meat on the table. It's the same kind of look you'd see in someone being presented a fine cut of steak. As soon as you were about to ask her what's up, the look vanishes instantly. One ill timed blink and you would've missed it.

You certainly would've missed it if the Man wasn't here to point it out to you. It was a good idea bringing him along this shift.

"alright. say, mind if i ask where you got that from anyhow?" Ashton asks with genuine concern. "was it from one of those weird masked men? sorry if you said this before, today was rough." There's no trace of hunger in her expression. "it'd probably be a good idea to figure out how they work, right?"

It would be so easy to dismiss what you saw as a trick of your exhausted mind if you weren't already so wary about her.

You should probably confront her about this, the Man hisses through clenched teeth. This is exactly what you asked him to watch out for, he hastily points out.

...Do you? She hasn't done anything yet and for now, she doesn't know you suspect anything.
>Don't. Keep your mouth shut. Focus on the experiments for now.
>Try to subtly bring it up. "Are you hungry? We can eat some of the food we got here if you are."
>You're feeling funny. Cut a slice off the sample and hand it to Ashton. (???)
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
>Confront her. What's her fucking deal? Nothing she does makes any sense to you. (DC 56. No modifier.)
>Write in.

"Now, I know that studying some random dude's flesh is weird but we already messed with memory altering pollen. I think we can deal with this, right?"

"uh huh." Ashton barely acknowledges what you said. The Man isn't saying anything.

"We'll also try to figure out what's in this bag. You know, for science. I have no idea what's inside so we might as well do some chemical analysis." Neither of them respond. Odd but maybe they're thinking about something? You're not going to snap at them or anything, it's fine.

You poke at the mystery bag. You squint your eyes as you try to analyze what the powder might be from a visual standpoint. It, sadly, doesn't reveal anything. The Man clears his throat.

You look up at the Man with a curious expression. He clears his throat again and states that something's wrong with Ashton. She's been acting weird ever since you pulled out that sample, he states, didn't you notice?

"Not really?" You whisper. You glance at Ashton. She seems fine, if a bit spaced out. You give the Man a confused look. He points at his mouth(?) before pointing at Ashton. You turn back and, oh, now you see it. Your attention was too focused on the samples to really pay that much attention to her.

A thin string of drool is running down her mouth. Her gaze is locked on the hunk of meat on the table. There's an overwhelming, crippling hunger in her dull yellow eyes. It's the look you'd see in someone being presented a fine cut of steak after they were starving for a week.

As soon as you were about to ask her what's up, the look vanishes instantly. One ill timed blink and you would've missed it.

You certainly would've missed it if the Man wasn't here to point it out. It was a good idea bringing him along this shift.

"alright. say, mind if i ask where you got that from anyhow?" Ashton asks with genuine concern. "was it from one of those weird masked men? sorry if you said this before, today was rough." There's no trace of hunger in her expression. "it'd probably be a good idea to figure out how they work, right?"

It would be so easy to dismiss what you saw as a trick of your exhausted mind if you weren't already so wary about her.

You should probably confront her about this, the Man hisses through clenched teeth. This is exactly what you asked him to watch out for, he hastily points out.

...Do you? She hasn't done anything yet.
>Don't. Keep your mouth shut. Focus on the experiments for now.
>Try to subtly bring it up. "Are you hungry? We can eat some of the food we got here if you are."
>You're feeling funny. Cut a slice off the sample and hand it to Ashton. (???)
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
>Confront her. What's her fucking deal? Nothing she does makes any sense to you. (DC 56. No modifier.)
>Write in.

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
That's a suspiciously HEARTY bonus. Ah well, take a gamble and hug the freaky cannibal.

>>6322217
>>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
HOLD FAST, LADS! HOOOOOLLLLDDD!!!!

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)

>>6322217
>>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
Looks like we recovered our hug point, we must use it PRONTO

>>6322217
>Try to subtly bring it up. "Are you hungry? We can eat some of the food we got here if you are."
I do not want to be locked into the Ashton route. I am more for the Hidaka route

>>6322273
Since when was Vincent the main character here?
We are on Ashton's Vincent route

>>6322217
>Try to subtly bring it up. "Are you hungry? We can eat some of the food we got here if you are."

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)
I cant believe Ashton was a Vampire this whole time

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again.

>>6322217
>Everyone knows that hugs heal the soul

>>6322217
>>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)

>>6322273
Routes, pft, talking about it like it's a dating sim. This isn't locking anything in. Fuck, man, Vincent hasn't hung out with a woman any longer than two (maybe three) days.

Speaking about routes, though, you seem to be on the HUG route this update. Mostly because only two anons voted for anything other than hugs.

I won't give you any tables this time around, I just want three anons to roll 1d100+30. More successes is better. Don't get 0, 3 would be the best, the rest is a MYSTERY.

Rolled 73 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>6322597
Just two homies hugging

>>6322217
>This might be risky, if she really does have some weird horror hunger but...hug Ashton again. (DC 75, +30 from WAGESLAVE COMPOSURE and HUGGED ASHTON YESTERDAY.)

Rolled 74 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>6322622

Rolled 26 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

Annnd you got two successes. Whatever happens next, it probably won't be too bad! Probably! I hope! Maybe!

>>6322601
Yes, exactly. Just one friend hugging another who might be affected by god knows what. Nothing could go wrong here.

Anywho! Writing.

>>6322601
>>6322623
We are some damn good huggers.

>>6322626
Don’t bullshit us QM. We all see where this is going.

How long until hiring Ashton becomes suspiciously cheap and comes with a mental health boost… but SUBTRACTS time tokens?

;)

>>6322628
I wouldn't hold your breath. This is Vincent we're talking about.

>>6322629
At least the Heart loves him...

Okay. There's a lot going through your mind right now. You quickly go over what you already know about Ashton's condition.

She was drooling at the sight of a piece of severed human flesh.

The blood test said she had an excess of vitamins and minerals in her blood that are common in organ meat.

Her blood is apparently filled with mystery cells that the doctors couldn't analyze.

Her oxytocin levels are anomalously high.

Whatever her deal is, her biology has been significantly altered from the human baseline. She's not experiencing any obvious health side effects from her unusual diet, after all.

You'd imagine you should've heard something about her killing and eating people. Either she's amazing at hiding her unique 'appetite' or she has another way of managing her 'hunger'. Whatever the case is, she doesn't seem like a threat, you think?

A stupid thought pops in your head. Your mind constantly yells at you that, no, the last thing you should do is hug her. You're alone with a girl who thought a hunk of human meat was a tasty snack. What if she rips your throat out since "nobody" is around?

Another part of you points out that, if she was going to hurt you, she would've done something by now instead of playing a week long con. She's been suspicious, sure, but never outright malicious to you.

Fuck it. You lean forward and wrap your arms around Ashton, pulling her into a hug. You might get your throat ripped out but you're going to trust your gut here. This is a gamble: To see how much control she has over her hunger. For all she knows, you two are alone.

And, well, you're made of meat after all.

In the corner of your eye, you can just about make out the Man's expression. He watches on with fear and confusion etched in his expression, like he's watching you hug a rabid tiger. What the FUCK are you doing, he hisses through his teeth.

>2 SUCCESSES!

"oh!" Ashton doesn't immediately know how to respond to the impromptu hug. "aren't we supposed to study the m..." She attempts to redirect your attention back to the research you're supposed to do but the words die in her mouth.

She turns her attention away from the meat sample. She closes her eyes so she can fully take in the moment. Her body relaxes in your grasp, as if relieved that she can focus on something besides the piece of human flesh.

She immediately returns the favor by hugging you back. Her sturdy arms tightly close around your body, making sure you can't break out of the hug any time soon. The hug feels a lot better than it did yesterday. Neither of you are hurting anymore so both of you can focus exclusively on the hug itself.

Her body, especially her arms, is a lot warmer than you remember it being. You can't say it feels bad, though, it's...comforting. You find it hard to describe it in any more detail. The stress of everything that happened this week vanishes as if it was never there.

The Man grumbles under his breath.

He's clearly not too thrilled by your decision here. He says he's going to start studying the contents of the bag while you're busy doing this sappy nonsense.

The two of you stand there for a while, savoring the hug. You're not sure how long you two stand there but Ashton eventually breaks away from the hug. A faint blush rests on her cheeks. She's grinning from ear to ear, showing off her pearly whites.

You didn't notice it until now but her teeth are a lot sharper than a regular person's teeth. She could've easily done some damage to you with them if she wanted to. But she didn't.

"i know how it is. it's been a long week for both of us." She winks at you. You mutter out something incoherent, not really having the words to explain why you hugged her AGAIN.

"thank you. my mind was...going places, you know?" She cryptically states. She's probably referring to her little episode with the flesh sample. "the hug really did help."

"Oh, yeah." You clear your throat. "No problem. Ready to keep working?"

"mmh hmm."
>You feel a lot better. You add a bonus +5 to the next three d100s you roll.
>You're a lot closer to unlocking one of ASHTON's traits!

You offer an apologetic glance to the Man. He says he'll talk to you about it later.

Time to actually study your samples! The Man already got a head start on analyzing the baggie so you and Ashton focus on the sample of meat.

"So, I wonder what made those guys so tough. You know, those armored men with gas masks?"

"yeahhh, i was wondering the same thing." Ashton prods at the sample with a scalpel. "the texture's off."

"How so?"

"it's spongy and rubbery. human flesh shouldn't be like this." She tries to slice off a chunk of meat with the scalpel. She has to put a LOT of pressure to slice even a small chunk off.

You place the chunk onto a slide so you can check it underneath your microscope. What you see is both illuminating and, frankly, baffling. The microscope reveals that the ROBUST MAN'S flesh is made out of layers of interlocked triangles of flesh.

No matter where you look, the pattern of interlocked triangles stays the same. It resembles the structure of graphene, which you vaguely remember hearing about during high school. The odd thing is that, from what you see, it IS made of human flesh. It's simply that the structure isn't remotely what human flesh should look like.

You slide the microscope over to the Man. He scans the sample before absently stating he has never seen anything like this before. He doesn't really have anything else to say besides that.

Ashton struggles to slice another piece of flesh off the sample. "hm, i got an idea." She places the small piece of flesh directly onto the hot plate. "our guns didn't do much against them but maybe heat could do something?"

You and the Man shrug. It's a better idea than doing nothing. Ashton cranks up the hot plate and almost immediately, the flesh melts.

Not burn, MELT, like butter on a hot pan.

Ashton turns off the hot plate. "huh, didn't think it would be that easy." The flesh quickly cools down now that the hot plate is off. After about five minutes, it solidifies into a thin layer of flesh. She pokes at it with her scalpel and she easily cuts into it with her scalpel.

Okay, simple weakness. If you spot one of those guys again, you'll simply light them on fire. Excessive heat seems to destabilize the structure of their flesh which means, well, they'd be a lot easier to kill. You could probably make some molotovs with the android's wine now that you think about it.

You ask the Man what was up with the baggie. He answers that, oh, it was cocaine. You balk at what he said. Did he say that right? Cocaine?

He nods. It's pretty shoddy cocaine so it was made by an amateur but that doesn't change what it is. He recommends that you DON'T use it. Sell it or use it on an anomaly, he says, he's pretty sure it's been cut with something bad.

>MYSTERY BAGGIE updated! (You have a good idea who would want this. Can be used to bribe ARC higher ups.)
>3 HUMAN FLESH SAMPLES left!

Ashton narrows her eyes at the bag. "keep it. i don't want that entering contraband." You were going to ask her why but you remember that, yeah. Junkie guard. It's probably best you keep it.

Now all that's left to research is the CHERRY MOLD and BLOODWINE. To be honest, though?

>1 SUCCESS!

None of you could really figure out what to do with the CHERRY MOLD. Checking it under the microscope revealed no obvious difference on a molecular level and no one felt brave enough to eat it, so you'll have to shelf that until you learn more about NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER.

The blood wine? That's easier to figure out. The Man narrows his eyes at the sample. He already knows where you got this from. You harvested it from Colt's blood, right? You give him a thumbs up, much to Ashton's confusion.

He wonders what happens if it was exposed to more blood. You turn to Ashton. "Rock, paper, scissors. Whoever loses has to get their blood drawn."

"alright! i'll try to go easy on you. best of three." The two of you get ready to play Rock Paper Scissors. Three matches past by in a blur and...she beats you all three times without even trying. Your face turns neon red with embarrassment. God, you're a loser.

The Man tries to comfort you after watching that pitiful display. Your loss will help out science AND it might pad out your wallet. Try to think about that instead of losing.

Ashton sinks a syringe into your vein and fills it up with your blood. She dispenses a small amount of blood into one of your many beakers. The Man pours an equal amount of BLOODWINE into the beaker before he tosses the sample back to you.

Your group huddles around the beaker to see what reaction happens. The BLOODWINE bubbles and crackles once it is exposed to your blood. The way the blood almost boils is almost mesmerizing.

Your blood rapidly transmutes right in front of your eye, turning into a far darker shade of red than it was mere moments ago. It's now the same shade of dark brown-red as the sample of BLOOD WINE. It only takes a minute for the blood to be fully transmuted into BLOODWINE.

Ashton empties the rest of the syringe into the beaker. Same thing happens, all of your blood is transformed into BLOODWINE, but instead of a minute it only takes twenty seconds. You're honestly shocked Colt is still alive if this stuff is able to transmute blood THIS quickly.

You pour a tiny drop of the new BLOODWINE into the CHEM EXTRACTOR to see what it says. It spits out a simple, one sentence long analysis of what's in the fluid.

"CONTAINS: 80% WINE, 15% IBUPROFEN, 5~% CLASS A-1 'BASIC' AMNESTIC."

>BLOODWINE PROPERTY discovered! (The amnestics it produces is likely the cause of memory loss in people who consume OBSCURA SYRAH.)
>You now have 2 BLOODWINE SAMPLES!

Hoo. Okay, that's another part of your shift done. You still got a lot more to go through so...you gotta keep on trucking, Vincent. You hope this shift can be an easy, boring one instead of the mess you had last shift.

You now have 9 TIME TOKENS LEFT. Choose three ACTIONS. (Your bonus is still active. It'll be added if and after you pick a skill check.)

ANOMALY
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. Getting some more wine wouldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter IN LIMBO's cell. You want to figure out why it showed you that weird vision. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

RESEARCH
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You wanna learn more about 'FET'. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)
>Extract the AMNESTIC from the BLOODWINE sample. Having something that can erase memories might be useful in the future. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

BUSY WORK
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Cook some stuff on that new propane grill of yours. Maybe your anomalies would like some cooked food? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Try to make some outfits with the sewing machine for future use. (-1d2 TIME TOKENS.)
>Pop the MARTIAL ARTS TAPES into your PERSONAL TV. Start TRAINING your SKILLS, BABY! (-1 TIME TOKEN. Choose who to train: YOU, THE MAN or ASHTON.)
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. It'll be time consuming but hey, money's money. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)

MISC
>Write in.

Okay, things should go back to normal now, update wise.

>>6322764
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. It'll be time consuming but hey, money's money. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)
Future experiments?

>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
Gives us something to work off of when we get around to him again.

>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. Getting some more wine wouldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
We haven't directly analyzed the sandwiches yet, have we?
Tested, sure, but that alone won't help us improve it. They're very useful, but their current form is inconvenient.

Bonus will help somewhat with interrogation too I guess.

>>6322773
>We haven't directly analyzed the sandwiches yet, have we?
Nope. I say if you get some wine from NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER, you'll unlock some options to improve how you produce healing foods with its wine.

>>6322764
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)

>>6322764
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
Let's get this done already!
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
What >>6322773 said
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. It'll be time consuming but hey, money's money. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)
MONEY MONEY MONEY

>>6322759
>interlocked
https://youtu.be/ZRcpnM26nJM?t=22
>>6322764
>"CONTAINS: 80% WINE, 15% IBUPROFEN, 5~% CLASS A-1 'BASIC' AMNESTIC."
he be profen, hmh ?
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. Getting some more wine wouldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You wanna learn more about 'FET'. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)

>>6322764
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. Getting some more wine wouldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)

>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)

>>6322293
WRONG!!!! The quest title is "LOW RUNG RESEARCHER", and that is Vincent! Unless it somehow applies to Lucy or anybody else here... Could one of them be the real main character and Vincent is their side character?

>>6322764
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. It'll be time consuming but hey, money's money. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)

>>6322764
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. Getting some more wine wouldn't hurt. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf. These have been sitting around for days... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 50, +3 to roll)
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments. It'll be time consuming but hey, money's money. (-2 TIME TOKENS.)

>>6322764
>Examine the two samples you got from Rudolf.
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell.
>Spend some time growing some CIGARETTE MOLD for future experiments.

>>6322764
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You wanna learn more about 'FET'. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)
>Extract the AMNESTIC from the BLOODWINE sample. Having something that can erase memories might be useful in the future. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)

>>6323142
Maybe the real main character is the friends we made along the way

>>6323250
I hate this trope!!! I hope the QM doesn't do that stupid shit this time! Cleaner Quest had it work out perfectly due to the themes and such, but this ain't the City!

>>6323265
I love this trope!!!! I hope the QM does do that genius analogy this time! Cleaner Quest incorporated it perfectly due to the themes and such, and this facility is a city!!

Rolled 2 (1d3)

Bleh. Overslept. Closing vote now.

CIGARETTE MOLD: Xhh, sEu, L/T, 86+, rJ6
MISSING PERSON: Xhh, Bkz, sEu, vUt, G45
NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER: Xhh, +IZ, vUt, 86+, rJ6
RUDOLF SAMPLES: Bkz, sEu, +IZ, vUt, L/T, 86+, rJ6
AC/SCRAP: Bkz
FET: +IZ, G45
AMNESTIC: G45
LOST SINCE 199X: L/T

Well, we got a three way tie, so I'll roll 1d3 to see what we're NOT doing. 1 = MOLD, 2 = MISSING PERSON, 3 = NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER.

>>6323142
>>6323250
>>6323265
>>6323298
Vincent is Vincent is Vincent. This is all I will say on this matter.

Okay, cool, so we're farming mold, we're studying samples and we're working on the wine robot.

Three anons, hit me with a 1d100+8, because Vincent has been EMPOWERED by the power of HUMAN TOUCH. Table below

0 SUCCESSES: No wonder you haven't touched either of these... (You only get super vague information about one of them.)
1 SUCCESS: 'DIE TO SEXUALIZE' is an interesting name, you'll focus on that. (You learn the basic properties of the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample.)
2 SUCCESSES: It's hard to look away from the neon blue hue. (You learn a decent amount about the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample alongside some rough details about NEON BLUE FLESH.)
3 SUCCESSES: Wait, your gut is telling you something is off about these samples. (You learn a decent amount about both samples AND you get a vision involving one of the anomalies.)

Rolled 83 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>6323485

Rolled 82 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>6323485

Rolled 79 + 8 (1d100 + 8)

>>6323485

>>6323486
>>6323488
>>6323490
Horrifyingly good luck for once. 92/80/87. Turns out you didn't need the extra +5 bonus to your roll but oh well. You got three successes and that's all that really matters.

Writing.

>>6323486
>>6323488
>>6323490
impressive

You tap your feet against the floor. You're busy arguing with yourself over what you should do right now. You do remember those old samples you got from RUDOLF, you should probably study those, but you're conflicted on what else to do.

You would ask your coworkers but, no, they probably wouldn't have a good idea on what you should do. You argue with yourself for a while but you decide to NOT research missing person cases right now.

It'll probably be better if you do that before working on 199X anyways. So that leaves you with talking to NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER and actively growing some CIGARETTE MOLD. It's probably best to bring the MAN along for NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER since it can actually perceive him.

Now you wonder-

The Man calls your name in order to get your attention. He asks what the group should be working on. Oh, right, time to actually start working.

"Ashton, there's some old samples in the mini fridge. Get them for me, please."

"oh come on!" Ashton overdramatically leans backward until she's threatening to fall onto one of the tables. Her body is bent in an incredibly awkward pose with how far she has leaned back. You got to admit, she has pretty good leg strength if she's able to hold that weird posture. "samples, samples, sample...is this what you do every day? no wonder why you needed a hug."

The Man snorts at her comment but he quickly collects himself.

"Pft." You clear your throat in an attempt to stifle a laugh. "Kinda??? It's either this, building random stuff or studying anomalies. It keeps the lights on, at least."

"you know," Ashton carefully leans forward until she's back on her feet. "how do you get all of your money again."

"LOTS of cigarette mold." You give her a cocky smirk. "It contains enough nicotine to keep a smoker buzzed for ages. I even built a whole machine to make more of it."

"oh! so that's what that thing was."
The Man admits that it is a pretty clever design.

"alright, alright, i'll get the samples." While she's away from the table, you turn to address the Man.

"So. What's your theory on her?" You quickly recount what you saw only a few minutes ago, alongside the other information you have.

The Man hums, clearly deep in thought. He has a vague idea what she might be but he's not sure if she matches all of the symptoms. There's a rumor about a particular 'subtype' of human that work for ARC: Harvesters.

Harvesters?

From what he knows, they're most common at the bottommost layers of any given facility. So, Layer 6 and 7 would be where they SHOULD be gathering. They're similar enough to humans to the point where, to the naked eye, there's no real way to spot one aside from their teeth. Their biology is always subtly off, though, like Ashton's odd blood.

Until now, he believed they were just something people made up to pass the time, so he only knows some basic facts about them. One: Their blood is black.

Strike one there, you're pretty sure her blood was red like everyone else's. Maybe that's what those unusual cells ZENITH found were, though.

Two, he says, they have a ravenous hunger for any kind of flesh, animal or human or anomaly. That tracks from what you saw.

Three, they have a natural intuition for anything that involves the human body. Medicine, physical education, fighting other humans, harvesting samples from biological anomalies, you name it. Hm. You suppose that's why you felt like it was a good idea to work out with her.

That's all he knows. You ask him if you think she's safe to have around then.

He admits that hugging her was a stupid fucking idea considering you were hugging someone who could've ripped your throat out.

From how he sees it, though, her friendliness to you isn't an act. He recommends that to still be careful around her, she might still have ulterior motives but whatever it is, it won't hurt YOU specifically.

He shuts up when she returns with the samples.

"hm. i think i recognize these. did you get them from abnormality material storage?"

You nod. "An acquaintance of mine got them. What do you know about them?"

She doesn't answer immediately. She struggles to remember anything specific about them. "i know that both of these anomalies are in layer 1. overheard some researchers studying them, something about using this one to make a special type of perfume?" She holds up the NEON BLUE FLESH sample. "sorry if that doesn't help much."

"Hey, at least we got a rough idea what we could make out of them. Alright, everyone." You clap to get Ashton and the Man's attention. "It's time to RESEARCH!!!" Everyone huddles around the table as you begin yet another long session of studying the properties of each sample.

>3 SUCCESSES!

First on the docket was the NEON BLUE FLESH sample, given you know SLIGHTLY more about it. Ashton, given what you now know about her, is actually pretty decent help in figuring out what it does. Her first theory is that the fluid it leaks should be studied first and foremost.

You fill up a beaker with the blue fluid that constantly leaks from the meat. It crackles and sizzles in a way very reminiscent to carbonated soda. The Man dares you to drink it here and now...and you thought, you know what, why not?

You raise the beaker to your mouth and you take a careful sip of the liquid inside.

Huh. Okay, wow, that. You were doing it as a joke but that tastes good, actually. It's not particularly strong but it has a vaguely sweet, blueberry taste to it.

Something builds in the back of your throat. Before you even realize what's going on, you're hacking something onto the table. Laying on the table is a small blue pearl that belongs on a necklace instead of the back of your throat.

The Man carefully collects the pearl. He says that it looks like any other pearl, you could probably sell it for a pretty penny. If you're fine with hacking them up, that is.

>PHYSICAL HEALTH is now at DOING GREAT!
>NEON BLUE PEARL obtained! (Worth a pretty penny but has no actual anomalous properties.)

"Haaa." Okay, note to self, don't do that again. Even if it was profitable. You and Ashton study the NEON BLUE meat itself to see what you can figure out about it.

The only property that's immediately obvious is that it constantly produces that neon blue fluid. Even a tiny sliver of it is able to produce a slow but steady stream of the fluid. The meat itself, though, there is something off about it. It doesn't FEEL like meat.

It moreso has the texture of half chewed bubble gum. It sticks to your gloves and it damn near glues your fingers together. It's incredibly adhesive so you wonder if you could use it just for that. You take the pair of gloves you used while working on IN LIMBO and you apply some thin slivers of the sticky meat between the palm area of the gloves.

You press the two gloves together to make sure the glue-like meat spreads across the surface of the two gloves. You wait for a few minutes and you try to separate them. They are fucking fused together at this point. You tug and pull at them with the help of both the Man and Ashton but the bond is ironclad.

You study the glued together gloves underneath the microscope and, yeah, it's on a molecular level. They're no longer two gloves at this point and they're more of a single, continuous mass of latex. Interesting, you could already see the applications for this in medicine or construction.

>NEON BLUE FLESH PROPERTIES REVEALED!
>Consuming the blue fluid that the NEON BLUE FLESH is soaked in causes the user to vomit up a valuable pearl, at the cost of physical health.
>The meat itself can be used as an abnormally potent glue that bonds them at the molecular level. Best to not get this on your skin.

Ashton mutters about how 'inedible' the meat is. "imagine trying to eat this and your mouth is glued shut. fate worse than death."

Your group moves onto the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample. The fibrous fabric inside here has the same weird texture as the NEON BLUE flesh but it's not nearly as sticky. It shreds like fork tender pork at even the slightest touch. Ashton proposes that you try to use it to repair some clothes.

You do have that old, tattered bloody labcoat of yours. You were going to throw it away after what happened to it yesterday but this is a better use for it.

The Man carries over the sewing machine so you can actually USE the fabric. You doubt the labcoat can even be repaired with this but, hey, experiments right? You load some of the 'fabric' into the sewing machine and you start sewing the labcoat back together.

Thick, splotchy patches of pale skin-toned fabric fill up the holes that were punched into your old labcoat. It's not long until you got something that vaguely resembles a repaired labcoat? You wouldn't be caught dead wearing this.

"so, what do you think the fabric actually...does?

The Man proposes that Ashton shoots at the repaired labcoat with her gun. Maybe it has some protective qualities to it, he suggests.

"Maybe it made the coat stronger." You parrot the Man's words. "So, here's the plan. We're going to prop this on a chair. I need you to shoot it."

"whuh-" Confusion briefly flashes over her face but she quickly regains her composure. "sure!"

You prop the coat on a nearby chair. You mark the patches of skin toned fabric so she knows where exactly to shoot. She draws her service revolver and she aims it right at the labcoat.

You step out of the way so she doesn't shoot you, of course. You and the Man both cover your ears to make sure you don't go deaf. Once you're ready, she fires her gun at the labcoat. The loud CRACK of a gunshot echoes through the lab but...nothing else seems to happen.

You glance back at the labcoat. The bullet did hit its target but it wasn't able to penetrate the anomalous fabric. The bullet has congealed and melted into the fabric like hot wax, leaving a metallic smear on the labcoat. Interesting! You can already see the applications for this fabric.

You head over to the labcoat in order to recover the bullet sample but as your hand grabs the coat, something flashes through your mind. You try to fight against whatever is invading your mind but...

You stand before a woman tied and bound in a chair. A coat you made all by yourself is draped over her body. It exactly matches her skin tone. Almost like she's wearing nothing at all.
Drool builds in the corner of your mouth. She's squirming and screaming, like they always do, but that coat is going to make sure she's not going anywhere. Not now, now ever.
You don't even have to bind her with ropes or handcuffs or anything else you used before you figured out your...ability. All you need to do is to wrap them in your soft skin and your love.
One tender moment, shared between two humans. Enjoying her last moments. Delicious.
Oh. You missed doing this. Your cell is so boring, so lifeless. The researcher watching you? You can't wait to have fun with her.
Breaching your containment cell and tearing her to shreds will be SO F-

The vision fades nearly as quickly as it arrived.

"vincent? vincent? you, uhm, you okay there?"
"Uh. I think the anomaly that this was extracted from is going to breach soon. Don't ask me how I know, I just..."

Ashton quickly nods her head like a bobblehead. She rushes outside the lab, presumably to radio in some of her security guard friends. You're now left alone with the Man.

You toss him the labcoat. You want him to put it on to see what happens. He's obviously hesitant to but he does so for the sake of science. It's easy enough for him to put it on but then, nothing happens. He just stands there with a blank look in his indescribable face.

You wave your hand in front of him to try to get his attention.

Nothing. No movement, no words, he's still as a statue.

You carefully remove the labcoat from him. Once it's off, his body shudders as if he just walked out of an ice cold shower. He asks you where Ashton was.

"Uh, you were just wearing this labcoat. Do you remember putting it on?"

He doesn't think so. Why, he asks? Okay! It's probably a good thing you didn't put it on then.

>DIE TO SEXUALIZE properties revealed!
>It can be used to upgrade armor. Armor upgraded with it becomes a LOT more resistant to damage.
>You have to be careful when upgrading armor with it. Direct contact with the fabric causes physical paralysis and short term amnesia.

"Well, Ashton's going to be a bit busy." You stuff the SKIN TONED LABCOAT into your satchel. "We should probably check on NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER, shouldn't we?"

He nods. She'll probably be back once you're done working on the android. The two of you head over to SOMMELIER's containment cell to see what's going on with it.

The android is too busy polishing its own body to notice the two of you entering. It briefly pokes its head to acknowledge your presence before it returns to cleaning itself. Odd. It's usually a lot more talkative. It would've peddled its wine by now.

The air's a lot colder than you remembered it being as well. You can see your breath with how frigid it is in here.

"Speak." The android bluntly commands. "What do you want?"

You suppose you should get right to the point. Choose three things to do with the anomaly.

NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER MOOD: 68/100
LIQUID POINTS: 100/100

COMMUNICATION:
>Facial recognition? Why does it have it and, hell, how can it even see with no eyes? How does it perceive the world?
>Ask about the wine. How does it make it? What's up with the titles it gives its wines?
>Ask about the 'NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER' title it gave itself. What does it mean? Why did it pick THAT name? (DC 64, +7 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED and THE MAN'S HELP.)
>You wonder why they'd make a robot that gives wine sapience. Ask the android how it perceives itself.
>Something's clearly bothering it. Ask it what's up, maybe you can help it out?

EXAMINATION/STIMULI
>Inspect its body. Try to figure out as much as you can about how its constructed and what its made of. (DC 65, +7 to roll. Helps you to know how to repair it in the future.)
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples. (-30 LIQUID POINTS, gets you 1d3+1 samples of OBSCURA and 1 sample of RÊVE CHARDONNAY)
>You might as well help the android clean itself. Bring in your CLEANING SUPPLIES and TOOLBOX, help the poor thing out. (DC 65, +5 to roll.)
>Alter the atmosphere of the room. You want to see if that affects its ability to produce wine.
>Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to the crime drama. Ask it about how accurate it is, to goad it into talking more about L'CURE.
>Offer it some food and drinks. You know it likes being provided with biological material.

>Write in

>>6323575
>>6323577
So, Ashton's a carnivorous abhuman called a Harvester from the deepest pits of the facility, according to rumors her blood is supposed to be black but isn't and according to the MAN she really does just like Vincent for some reason. Unless she's using the Heart to disguise or replace her black blood with human blood to blend in or whatever, we may just have to accept that a mostly human woman likes Vincent of her own free will for whatever reason.

>>6323588
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples. (-30 LIQUID POINTS, gets you 1d3+1 samples of OBSCURA and 1 sample of RÊVE CHARDONNAY)

>Something's clearly bothering it. Ask it what's up, maybe you can help it out?

>You might as well help the android clean itself. Bring in your CLEANING SUPPLIES and TOOLBOX, help the poor thing out. (DC 65, +5 to roll.)
I wonder how long the DTS fabric has to be in direct contact with someone to cause paralysis and amnesia? We could probably weaponize that shit by attaching it to some gloves or something. Good for fistfights and skulduggery.

>>6323588
Actually I'll change my votes >>6323647 to
>Collect some NEON BLUE FLUID in a beaker and see if the android will use it make a new anomaly wine.

>You might as well help the android clean itself. Bring in your CLEANING SUPPLIES and TOOLBOX, help the poor thing out. (DC 65, +5 to roll.)

>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples. (-30 LIQUID POINTS, gets you 1d3+1 samples of OBSCURA and 1 sample of RÊVE CHARDONNAY)

>>6323588
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples.
>Something's clearly bothering it. Ask it what's up, maybe you can help it out?
>You might as well help the android clean itself.

>>6323647
Blood Color can be effected by oxygen content and Haemoglobin, the black blood probably isn't a default color but is rather an advanced version of Hemochromatosis which harvesters are presumably immune to the negative effects.

Conclusion - Human Enough, but with enough tinge of anomalous that I can continue to joke about Vince not being able to talk with Human women

>>6323588
>Something's clearly bothering it. Ask it what's up, maybe you can help it out?
I do not want to see low mood SOMMELIER
>You might as well help the android clean itself. Bring in your CLEANING SUPPLIES and TOOLBOX, help the poor thing out. (DC 65, +5 to roll.)
Mood increase plus helping it feel better
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples. (-30 LIQUID POINTS, gets you 1d3+1 samples of OBSCURA and 1 sample of RÊVE CHARDONNAY)
Empty out some of the wine from it at least

As much as I'd want to do other things with it, this seems like a good mood management + wine collection session instead. Next time I want to ask it more questions like that facial recognition bit. Does it have to do with the amnestic in its default wine?

>>6323588
>Ask about the 'NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER' title it gave itself. What does it mean? Why did it pick THAT name? (DC 64, +7 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED and THE MAN'S HELP.)
>Inspect its body. Try to figure out as much as you can about how its constructed and what its made of. (DC 65, +7 to roll. Helps you to know how to repair it in the future.)
>You might as well help the android clean itself. Bring in your CLEANING SUPPLIES and TOOLBOX, help the poor thing out. (DC 65, +5 to roll.)

>>6323588
>Ask about the 'NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER' title it gave itself. What does it mean? Why did it pick THAT name? (DC 64, +7 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED and THE MAN'S HELP.)
Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to the crime drama. Ask it about how accurate it is, to goad it into talking more about L'CURE.
>Inspect its body. Try to figure out as much as you can about how its constructed and what its made of. (DC 65, +7 to roll. Helps you to know how to repair it in the future.)

>>6323588
>You carefully remove the labcoat from him. Once it's off, his body shudders as if he just walked out of an ice cold shower. He asks you where Ashton was.
>"Uh, you were just wearing this labcoat. Do you remember putting it on?"
>He doesn't think so. Why, he asks? Okay! It's probably a good thing you didn't put it on then.
hmh, so why did the class D woman in the vision still screamed if paralysis happens ?
>Facial recognition? Why does it have it and, hell, how can it even see with no eyes? How does it perceive the world?
>Ask about the 'NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER' title it gave itself. What does it mean? Why did it pick THAT name? (DC 64, +7 to roll from ANOMALY TOUCHED and THE MAN'S HELP.)

>Inspect its body. Try to figure out as much as you can about how its constructed and what its made of. (DC 65, +7 to roll. Helps you to know how to repair it in the future.)

>>6323588
>>Ask about the wine. How does it make it? What's up with the titles it gives its wines?
>Inspect its body. Try to figure out as much as you can about how its constructed and what its made of. (DC 65, +7 to roll. Helps you to know how to repair it in the future.)
>Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to the crime drama. Ask it about how accurate it is, to goad it into talking more about L'CURE.

>>6323588
>Something's clearly bothering it.
>You might as well help the android clean itself.
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir.

>>6323588
>Ask for some of the fluid inside of its reservoir. Can't have too many samples. (-30 LIQUID POINTS, gets you 1d3+1 samples of OBSCURA and 1 sample of RÊVE CHARDONNAY)
>Something's clearly bothering it. Ask it what's up, maybe you can help it out?
>Turn on your DVD player. See how it reacts to the crime drama. Ask it about how accurate it is, to goad it into talking more about L'CURE.

>>6323663
+1

Just caught up, loved cleaner quest and love the references to past quests you include QM

Rolled 1 (1d2)

NEON BLUE: vUt, CEU
CLEAN IT: vUt, CEU, 3EN, WdA, Bkz, rJ6
WINE ME UP: vUt, CEU, 3EN, WdA, rJ6, XHH
WHAT'S UP: 3EN, WdA, rJ6, XHH
TITLE: Bkz, L/T, I+Z
DVD: L/T, 86+, XHH
BODY: Bkz, L/T, I+Z, 86+
WINE DETAILS: 86+
FACIAL RECOGNITION: +IZ

WINE ME UP and CLEAN IT are winning handsomely, let's flip a coin to see what the third action is.
1 = WHAT'S UP
2 = BODY

>>6324044
Glad that another old time player is returning. Fifty hundred years of Vincent Cruz slop, coming straight to your house.

Rolled 2 + 1 (1d3 + 1)

Alright. Since we're only doing one skill check this time around, I need three anons to roll 1d100+9. Why +9 instead of +5?
Because I just remembered something: This would count as M E N I A L L A B O R! So I forgot to fully account for that bonus.

Let's see how many successes you get this time around. Table below.

Also, I'm going to roll to see how many samples you get.

0 SUCCESSES: Oh no. You fucked up. You screwed the pooch. (HEAVY mood decrease, but you learn more about the robot's psyche.)
1 SUCCESS: It's a bit weird cleaning a humanoid robot, don't you think? (NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S mood slightly increases.)
2 SUCCESSES: You did a pretty good job, all things considered. It seems happier at least. (NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER'S mood moderately improves. You learn a bit more about its construction.)
3 SUCCESSES: The robot is a lot more relaxed after you cleaned it. It seems more willing to talk to you. (Same as 2 SUCCESSES but DCs on work orders with NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER are decreased by 3.)

Rolled 22 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6324068

Rolled 87 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6324068

Rolled 80 + 9 (1d100 + 9)

>>6324068
rolling

2 SUCCESSES and 3 OBSCURA SAMPLES! It's impressive how painfully average this result was, Vince. Keep up the good work.

Writing.

There's clearly SOMETHING bothering the android. You're just socially aware enough to not immediately ask about it. You're going to have to walk on eggshells around the android.

"I'm sorry for intruding."

"I already know how this will play out." The android's agitated voice crackles with static. "I'll wait until someone who enjoys what I offer arrives. Someone willing to escape from this world."

Oh, is that it? Is it mad that you haven't been emptying its reserves? You doubt it's ONLY that but you might as well get your samples.

"We are actually here for your wine."

It's hard to tell since it doesn't have eyes, or a face really, but you swear it's squinting at you. It doesn't respond, as if it wasn't sure it heard you right.

The Man explains that the both of you meant no offense. It was simply that there were more pressing things to do besides getting wasted on the job. Not that he would mind, per se, it's not like anyone would notice if he was drunk.

"So why not drink now, [Seni$%!&%)! Re!!%!&$)*! Y!*%@)]?" A hiss of garbage noise bellows out from the android's throat. You think there's something hidden within the garbage noise, it wasn't JUST pure gibberish.

He, sadly, has someone who remembers him now. He cares a lot more about what few memories he has compared to Colt, for example.

NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER scoffs at the Man's comment. "So be it. At least you're already free from your woes, [Y%?!*$]. Do either of you have a vessel I can dispense the wine into?" It gestures at you. Oh, right. You place a bucket right by the android's feet.

It lowers its nozzle-like arm into the bucket. Red and white wine gushes out of the tip of its nozzle, rapidly filling up the bucket until it's nearly full. NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER yanks its arm away before the bucket overflows with wine. The android leans back into its chair. Its posture is a lot less tense now that it has served some wine, though you still sense something's off with it.

You have to admit, though, it's still weird to see the white wine floating on top of the red wine in a solid, distinct layer, like water and oil.
>3 SAMPLES of OBSCURA SYRAH and 1 SAMPLE of RÊVE CHARDONNAY obtained!

You set the bucket by the entrance. "There's one more thing we have to do before we leave you be. I see you're trying to maintain yourself?"

"Indeed. I will admit that I'm not the best at self-maintenance. My previous owner would've had a team set aside to keep me operational but, as you can see, that is no longer the case."

"I can try." You faintly smile. "I won't promise any outstanding service but I've cleaned machines before."
The Man adds that he wouldn't mind working on a 'beaut' like the android. Did he. Did he just wink at SOMMELIER?

The android either didn't notice or it's actively trying to ignore what the Man did. "I suppose I wouldn't mind, if it only involves cleaning me. I might've had reservations otherwise."

"Like repairing you?"

"Indeed. Only licensed L'Cure technicians or approved associates of L'Cure may examine, alter, repair, remove or replace the internal components of this model." It rattles off as if it's reading off a script.

Riiighhhtt. Whatever. You snap your fingers to get the Man's attention. "Get the supplies ready."

It takes a few moments but with the Man's help, you get everything needed to clean the android prepared. Degreaser, metal polisher, all purpose cleaner, water, various tools to tighten up anything that's getting too loose, etc etc.

It's time to clean this thing. You have to admit, it probably needed to be cleaned a while ago. A thick layer of dust has settled across its body and its glass reservoir has been smudged with what you think is grease. You're not sure how it got all of this grime on it.

You ask the Man and his best guess is that it's psychosomatic, like most aspects of an anomaly's existence. Regardless, it's time to clean it.

>2 SUCCESSES!

It does feel a bit weird cleaning this thing. It's humanoid and aside from its nozzle arm, most of its body is pretty similar (structurally) to a human. The android is more than happy to relax as you scrub its body from head to toe.

Would this count as a full body massage? You suppose that would be one way to make an anomaly happy? Hoo, you never thought you'd question the logistics of cleaning an android, but here you are.

You do your best to pretend you're cleaning your car instead of a sapient humanoid. This might've taken a lot longer if it wasn't for the Man helping you out but you're making good progress. You idly examine the anomaly's body as you wipe the grime off of its reservoir.

The reservoir, for one, seems to be replacable. The reservoir is screwed into place like a lightbulb in socket, so you could easily loosen it and take away the reservoir completely. You lean in closer to examine the reservoir and you actually spot something scribbled on the inside of its chest cavity.

"REPLACE WITH TYPE-2 'OBSCURA RESERVOIR' 2 PER MONTH. BEST IF TINTED, WINE NEEDS TO BE IN PURE DARK. ONLY USE UNTINTED IF NO OTHER OPTION."
"REPLACE NOZZLE 1 TIME PER MONTH. WINE CORRODES NOZZLE OVER TIME, REDUCES 'POTENCY' OF PRODUCT."

Interesting. As for the rest of its body, while it is a very advanced piece of machinery, repairing it actually seems remarkably easy because of the modular design of its pieces. Every part of its body that isn't the torso or head can easily be removed and replaced at a whim like you're building something out of lego.

Its head is firmly welded to its torso, there's no way to separate the two without basically decapitating the poor thing. The Man whispers to you about another message carved around the android's neck. You lean in to examine it.

Most of it is too faded to read but you make out the following: "BUILT IN PURIFICAZIONE DELLA MEMORIA. ASK FOR GAETANO IF REPAIRS ARE NEEDED."

Huh. Another name. You focus your attention back onto cleaning the android's arms. You might as well talk to it. "So, what's bothering you? You were pretty, uh, rude when we came in."

"Oh, I do apologize." Its voice is soft and low as it speaks. "My mind was drifting to unpleasant places. I was remembering." You were expecting it to continue but, no, that's all it said. You cock an eyebrow at the odd comment.

"That's it? Remembering what?"

"Oh, that's the issue. Who wants to remember anything in this day and age? Isn't it better to enjoy the simple pleasures of life and to...embrace nothing beyond that?" A pleased hum crackles out of its voicebox as the Man polishes its neck. That didn't answer your question.

"Well, that's fair, I suppose. Not like you had much else to do since we were neglecting you, huh?"

"Indeed. This, however, makes it for it." It responds with a sing-sing tone. "It's far better than what L'Cure would've done."

What would've they done, then, the Man asks?

"They would hose me down. Simple, effective, nothing to complain about..." A faint trace of disappointment lingers in its words. "...but nothing to write home about."

The Man is glad that the two of you could help it out.

"Well. I do have one request, if you wouldn't mind."

"Sure." You shrug. If it means it won't breach containment, you'll at least humor it.

"I can sense someone who wishes to forget nearby. A lost, lost boy who wishes to stay lost. I can...hear him, all the way from here." The android shudders, sending droplets of water flying here and there. "It pains me to hear his cries. I was built to drown the sorrows of people just like him."

"Do you mind handing him some of my wine?" It must be talking about LOST SINCE 199X. Well, hm.

"I'll consider it." You offer it a non-answer. With the Man's help, you dry off the anomaly with some cloth. The android now looks brand new, like it was just delivered to your cell. The android gets up from its chair and, without saying a word, it wraps its arms around the Man.

The Man obviously didn't expect it to hug him. By the time he's able to react, NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER is already back in its seat. "I must thank the both of you for your services today. I do hope you enjoy the wine, even if it is not in the way I intended for it to be enjoyed."

"The sandwiches were...an interesting use case for it."

Huh, it knew you did that? You're not going to press it, you're just glad that it's doing better. The Man snaps out of his daze and he rushes over to retrieve the bucket. The two of you exit the anomaly's containment cell now that you're done with it.

>NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER MOOD is now 90/100! FLUID POINTS is now 70/100!
>INSIGHT HINT REVEALED! ABYSS GAZE/REMEMBER/?

Welp, until Ashton is back, you might as well pass the time. Time to grow some mold, baby! Mold is money!!! There's not much to talk about when it comes to growing it.

You and the Man hover around the autofeeder. It already has a healthy amount of mold growing inside but you throw in some random food inside to see which causes it to grow the most. As it turns out, orange juice is a FAVORITE of this thing.

You spend a decent amount of time feeding and tending to the Mold, making sure that it doesn't grow too fast or too slow. A lot of time is eaten up just trying to maintain the right conditions to make it grow at the exact rate you want it to grow at.

You are rewarded for your mind-numbing labor with the sheer amount of mold you have. You at least had to double the amount you already had in there. Pure brown gold, baby.
>You now have 9 SAMPLES OF CIGARETTE MOLD!

Right as you finish with that, Ashton finally re-enters the lab. "sorry for being late! i, uh, had to explain how i knew about that...weird anomaly. long story." Great, she's back, time to get back to work.

You have 5 TIME TOKENS left. You're going to take things slower now. Choose TWO actions and any FREE actions.

ANOMALY
>Enter IN LIMBO's cell. You want to figure out why it showed you that weird vision. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

RESEARCH
>Try to find a way to improve or refine the OBSCURA SYRAH samples. They do have a lot of potential... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +10 to roll.)
>Study the FET FLESH SAMPLE. You wanna learn more about 'FET'. (-1 TIME TOKEN, ???)
>Extract the AMNESTIC from the BLOODWINE sample. Having something that can erase memories might be useful in the future. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

BUSY WORK
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
>Try to make some useful stuff out of the AC PARTS and ELECTRONIC SCRAP you got. (-2 TIME TOKENS, DC 60, +6 to roll.)
>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You want some to analyze later and some for personal use, of course. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Pop the MARTIAL ARTS TAPES into your PERSONAL TV. Start TRAINING your SKILLS, BABY! (-1 TIME TOKEN. Choose who to train: YOU, THE MAN or ASHTON.)
>Try to make something to weaponize the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample's ability to paralyze people. (-1d3 TIME TOKENS, DC 66, +8 to roll. It could make a pretty potent weapon...)

MISC
>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (FREE ACTION. Choose who: ASHTON or the MAN.)
>Approach the FAX MACHINE. You want to talk to one of your sponsors. (FREE ACTION, -$30, leaving you with $305. Choose one company to talk to: ARC, HAYDEN, ZENITH, BLACKWELL or Q&Q.)
>Write in.

>>6324137
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)
Then immediately
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
Also for free
>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (FREE ACTION. Choose who: ASHTON or the MAN.)
Ashton. I kinda like the Man remaining a friendly enigma. If only this quest could last until Toby releases Chapter 5...

>>6324137
>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)

>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (FREE ACTION. Choose who: ASHTON.)
Didn't know the MAN was into french fembots. Though I suppose his options are kind of limited.

>>6324137
>Try to find a way to improve or refine the OBSCURA SYRAH samples. They do have a lot of potential... (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +10 to roll.)
>Try to make something to weaponize the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample's ability to paralyze people. (-1d3 TIME TOKENS, DC 66, +8 to roll. It could make a pretty potent weapon...)
>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (FREE ACTION. Choose who: ASHTON or the MAN.)
Ashton.

>>6324154
+1

>>6324137
>>6324154 +1

>>6324160
+1

>>6324137
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (FREE ACTION. Choose who: ASHTON or the MAN.)
The man and why he is attracted to a robot

>>6324137
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's cell. You want to know what it's writing on the walls. (-1 TIME TOKEN)

>Look up any notable missing person cases from Sweden. Might be able to trace something back to 199X. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 45, +5 to roll from the MAN'S help.)

>Talk to one of your coworkers. Try to learn more about them. (the MAN.)

>>6324137
>Seni$%!&%)! Re!!%!&$)*! Y!*%@
Senior Researcher Young, or some other Y name

I'm not going to tally up everything since from a quick skim, NOTABLE MISSING PERSON CASES + LOST SINCE 199X + TALK TO ASHTON wins by a landslide.

Three anons, roll 1d100+5. Table below.

0 SUCCESSES: [%!*)%&!)%&] (No data found. The lack of information is its own data, though.)
1 SUCCESS: You're not really getting a lot out of this. (You get some very, VERY vague information.)
2 SUCCESSES: Oh, an actual article. Weird, some of it is redacted. (You get some spotty but useful information about the anomaly. DCs involving the anomaly are reduced by 2.)
3 SUCCESSES: Hold on. Someone leaked a private interview... (You get some actual solid information about the anomaly. DCs involving it are reduced by 4.)

Rolled 37 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6324509

Rolled 31 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6324509

Rolled 30 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6324509

Wow! Never thought I'd see it but you managed to get 0 SUCCESSES after ages of not getting on. Turns out, it's on a pretty fitting skillcheck. Don't worry, as per the table, you're still getting something. Maybe something as valuable as the other successes.

Just...nothing that connects to the anomaly's past, per se. Writing.

>>6324510
>>6324511
>>6324525
404, murder victim not found

>>6324528
Even with a pretty easy DC of 45 off d100+5 we still got 0. That all 3 rolls ended up in the 30s just speaks to how fated this outcome was, with Vincent so close yet so out of reach of the truth

Welp, it's about time you do your daily checkup on LOST SINCE 199X. You'll bring Ashton along for that. That thing could probably pop your head like a pimple if it felt like it, so having someone that'd keep it calm is paramount to, uh, making sure you keep your head.

You like your head. It is quite important to you after all. Mmh hmm. No head, that means you're dead. The redhead would dread-

Vincent?

You notice that the Man is staring at you. "Oh, right. Uhm." Okay, that knocked you off balance, but you need to stay PROFESSIONAL! "We already worked on IN LIMBO and NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER. That leaves 199X."

"is it, uh, going to mess with my brain again?" Ashton's gaze shifts between you and IN LIMBO'S cell.

"Nope, it might crush your head if it gets too angry." You speak as if you were talking about the weather. "You're going to be my security detail."

"hoo! okay!" Ashton cracks a smile. "yeah, yeah, that's a lot easier for me to handle. anything you need to do before we check on it?"

"Ah, I'm going to look up anything I can about 199X. You know, knowledge is power, all that jazz."

"cool. well, i'll join you. i might as well since i'm working with the anomaly. i might as learn whatever i can, yeah?"

You don't see any reason why she can't, so you nod. "Yeah, yeah, follow me." You lead your coworkers over to your old, dingy MACINTOSH computer. It huffs and puffs a thick cloud of dust as it struggles to boot up. You've gotten used to it but god, you wish they'd offer you a new computer in a catalog or something.

You load up the ABNOWATCH website. You let the Man take the wheel here since, really, he's the one actually researching stuff on here. The forums might as well be incomprehensible if it wasn't for him helping you out.

You simply follow the Man's instructions. What subforums might have the info you're looking for, what keywords you should or shouldn't use when searching for information about 199X, basically anything and everything that helps with search engine optimization.

Normally, this would be enough to get something, anything! It's really easy to find what you're looking for when the Man is helping you.

>0 SUCCESSES!

All you got in return was a white screen with the following words written on it:

ERROR 404
The page cannot be found.
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

"Huh?" "huh?" Huh? That's odd. In all of his time searching through ABNOWATCH, the Man claims he's never seen this screen before. He tells you another set of keywords to try. You follow his instructions again to see if you can get anything.

ERROR 404
The page can't be found.
The page you are searching for might've been removed, had its name changed, or is unavailable at this time.

"wait, wait, hold on." Ashton narrows her eyes as she reads the error screen again.

"that's not right. the wording's different."

"Yeah, you're right. Got any ideas what this might be?"

The Man has one guess but he needs to test one more thing. Try again just one more time. You click back to a previous screen and you try to search something up again. Same white screen but...

ERROR 404
The page won't be found.
The page you are searching for has been removed, had its name removed, and is unavailable for the foreseeable future.

Yep, the Man smirks, your anomaly is redacting information about itself. This isn't the website's fault; this is the anomaly messing with you. When an anomaly is actively redacting any information about itself, there's only so much either of you can do.

"So, that was a complete waste of time."
"well, we still learnt something about the anomaly, right?

It wasn't quite a waste of time, says the Man. He types a few more words and...

ERROR 404
He won't be found.
The man you're looking for is no longer relevant, had its name forgotten, and is no longer available to speak to.

The error message keeps changing. He's going to spend some time messing around with this while you and Ashton deal with the anomaly itself.

"I'll deal with this later. You ready to check on the anomaly?"

"i sure am." Ashton gives you a thumbs up. "i wouldn't want you to lose your head. i'd dread to see you dead."

"Pffft. Oh, c'mon." You gotta say, it's pretty swell knowing she's not above having stupid thoughts just like you.

"what can i say? it rhymes, even if it doesn't flow all that well."

The Man rolls his eyes. You two can go now. He has, you know, STUFF to do. Very important stuff. Stuff that's probably best done if you two were gone.

"Alright, alright, let's get going."

As the two of you head over to the cell, you decide it wouldn't hurt to talk to her for a moment. You mull over what you should ask her. Ehhh, if she is a 'harvester' who knows a lot about the human body, you suppose you could ask her for some anatomy tips and tricks.

"Random question. I'll probably have to fight people like that ROBUST MAN again. Do you have any, uh, tips for fighting them?"

Ashton's eyes sparkle with a mixture of amusement and, oddly enough, concern. "hm. honestly, running away might be the best option for you. not to say you're not strong! i mean..."

"You mean what?"

"ithoughtitwasreallycoolwheniheardwhathappened." Words spill out of her mouth without any real pattern. It's basically impossible to process what she just said.

"BUT!" She quickly regains her composure. "please, i already saw enough dead bodies for a lifetime here. it'd be nice to just...know someone who's going to stick around, you know?"

"I get that, I do, but I'll be fine. I have to learn how to fight anyways, right?"

"i-" Ashton was about to say something but the words die in the back of her throat. "yeah, yeah, you probably should."

"sorry if i'm being pushy again. i get how it's, uh, a lot."

"I mean, I appreciate it." Even if you don't fully trust her, you have to admit it is nice to have someone who seemingly cares for you. "That's why I hired you today. I thought you'd be a good coworker. But, really, you don't need to coddle me."

An inscrutable expression rests on Ashton's face. "i didn't intend to, it's just...when i first saw you, you looked...how's the best way to describe it? out of place? a filing mistake?"

"something tells me that you weren't supposed to be here. that you were brought here by accident."

"How so?"

"it's hard to say, really, a gut feeling? maybe a heart feeling?"
"That's not a saying." "i dunno how else to describe it!"

Ashton leans against the wall right outside 199X's airlock. "i just want you to be safe, okay? but, yeah, you're right. if you want some advice, i got some."

Ashton points at her jaw. "if you want to WIN a fight against someone, you have to hit it where it hurts. here's a good spot but the shins, knees and groin? those are probably the ones i aim for the most."

"breaking the knee slows their movements down. the shin isn't really protected much by the body, one solid strike to it will mess someone up and the groin?"

Ashton doesn't even have to finish her sentence before your body instinctually shivers.

"yeah, exactly. works best if it's a dude but it hurts a lot if you hit a girl down there."
"Yeahhh, good thing you told me that, because we might have to fight this anomaly sooner or later. Got your gun ready?"

"mh hm." Ashton yanks her revolver out of its holster. "ready when you are."

Before you rush inside, you remember that you actually got some armor you could equip. You equip the MAKESHIFT GUARD ARMOR with Ashton's help. It's stuffy and bulky but you rather be uncomfortable than dead.

You aim yourself with your own gun because, to be honest, you don't like your odds on winning a fight against 199X with your big stick. Ashton enters first and you quickly follow behind her. You pray to whatever god there is that you don't actually have to fight it.

https://youtu.be/-ADDguL1iP8 - COLD

Snowflakes lazily drift through the air. The walls and ceiling are covered in a thin layer of frost while dry, powdery snow cakes the ground. Every step the two of you take makes a loud CRUNCH thanks to the powdery snow. This wasn't here yesterday, you know that for sure, and you're pretty sure you didn't upgrade its cell with an atmosphere control system.

The anomaly is standing at the far back of the containment cell. Its face is firmly pressed against the walls as if it was trying to hide it. It scratches at the wall with long, gnarly nails that were beyond filthy. They were sharp enough to crave letters into the steel itself with little effort.

It either doesn't notice you or it outright refuses to acknowledge you right now. Every few seconds, a full body shiver would wrack its body.

You'd assume it's probably from the cold but there seems to be something else making it shiver.

It mumbles something under its breath but it's impossible to hear from where you're at. Dark stains that weren't there yesterday are splattered across the jeans and plaid jacket it's wearing. Bile dribbles out of its mouth and onto the powdery snow below, staining the snow a dark black.

The Gameboy you left behind in its cell lays in a pile of snow that was seemingly molded to perfectly hold the Gameboy. It seems to cherish its only source of entertainment, best to not mess with it.

Ashton's dull yellow eyes narrow as she examines the anomaly. "be careful, vincent, who knows what it's going to do?

LOST SINCE 199X MOOD: 7/10

What do you do, Vincent? Choose THREE actions.
>With Ashton's help, plus your HARVESTING GLOVE, you'll get a lot more samples from this anomaly if you choose to get samples from it.

COMMUNICATION
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)
>Ask it what it's scratching into the walls. You want to see what it is writing down. (DC 60, +7 with ANAOMLY TOUCH + ASHTON'S HELP.)
>You need to know more about its behavior. Ask it how it feels about children. The report said it didn't attack kids but why?
>Does it know anything about ABNOWATCH? Is it censoring information about itself intentionally? You want to know the limits of its ability.

EXAMINATION
>Examine the anomaly's mangled anatomy. What the hell happened to it? How is it even still standing? (DC 58, +9 with ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Carefully approach the anomaly. Cut off some of the hair hanging from its head. (Gives you some samples.)
>Carefully approach the anomaly. Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes. (Gives you some samples.)
>Examine the anomaly's baseball bat. Is there anything unique about it, perhaps? (DC 50, +5 to roll.)
>Try to take a picture of it. If it redacted a map and a website, can it redact depictions of itself? (DC 60, +5 to roll.)

STIMULI TEST
>Drag in some various food for the anomaly to try. It can probably eat, right? Maybe that'll earn its trust.
>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)
>Bring in some ART SUPPLIES. Ask the anomaly to paint whatever comes to its mind. You want a glimpse into its psyche.
>Give the anomaly the stuffed animals and rubix cube from the ENRICHMENT BUNDLE. Anything to keep the anomaly entertained will help in the long run.
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.

>Write in

>>6324637
>Carefully approach the anomaly. Cut off some of the hair hanging from its head. (Gives you some samples.)
>Examine the anomaly's baseball bat. Is there anything unique about it, perhaps? (DC 50, +5 to roll.)
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.

>>6324637
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)

>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)

>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.

>>6324637
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.
Not too much, we still need some for Mk2 Sandwich fabrication.

>Ask it what it's scratching into the walls. You want to see what it is writing down. (DC 60, +7 with ANAOMLY TOUCH + ASHTON'S HELP.)
Anaomly touch.

>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)
Does it prefer the sterile cell?


May be worth asking it about its associate as described in Edward's account later.

>>6324637
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)

>Carefully approach the anomaly. Cut off some of the hair hanging from its head. (Gives you some samples.)

>Drag in some various food for the anomaly to try. It can probably eat, right? Maybe that'll earn its trust.

>>6324637
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.
>Does it know anything about ABNOWATCH? Is it censoring information about itself intentionally? You want to know the limits of its ability.
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)

Not what I want, but I bet getting samples will be easier if you feed it vine first.

>>6324637
>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)
Do the neutral option first
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.
Do the pacifying option second
>Carefully approach the anomaly. Cut off some of the hair hanging from its head. (Gives you some samples.)
Do the LOOT option third

>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)
>Examine the anomaly's mangled anatomy. What the hell happened to it? How is it even still standing? (DC 58, +9 with ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)

Speaking of Ashton, did we ever get to return her comrade's stuff from the dead researcher's lab?

>>6324635
>"it's hard to say, really, a gut feeling? maybe a heart feeling?"
>heart feeling
FUCK

>>6324637
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)
>Examine the anomaly's mangled anatomy. What the hell happened to it? How is it even still standing? (DC 58, +9 with ASHTON'S HELP.)
>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)

>>6324637
>You need to be wary here.
>Clean up the black bile and snow.
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH.

>>6324656
+1

Finally caught up. A few thoughts;

>>6319672
We should carry a hip flask of wine around with us to offer to people, so we have the option of trying to convince them to forget about our breaking and entering

>>6322214
>STATIC POLLEN can now be used to extract and replay certain memories from your fellow employees. Great for info gathering
If we can get it to extract specific memories (rather than random half forgotten ones) then we might be able to use it with Elizabeth.
I'm not sure there is anything she has that we want, but if we could extract her memory of what she saw and get it played in a DVD, then that might be "evidence" and not just "gossip".

>>6321556
>She wishes she never had to wake up again. That she could live out the life she wished for in her dreams. All she had left was her dreams, her wishes, after all.
Why bother waking up to a world where you can't...achieve...
I'd be interesting in watering her with the sommelier's wine. In the name of science. IN LIMBO doesn't seem to want to forget (rather it wants to live in its memories), but I wanna cross pollinate.

>>6324637
>You need to be wary here. Try to find a way to establish a...rapport with the anomaly. (DC 65, +8 from ANOMALY TOUCHED + ASHTON'S HELP)
>Clean up the black bile and snow. Best to keep it nice and tidy in here. (DC 50, +8 to roll from ASHTON'S HELP)
>Offer the anomaly some OBSUCRA SYRAH. You want to see how it acts when drunk and this should make NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER happy.

Tallying.

HAIR: L/T, WdA, +IZ
BASEBALL: L/T
OBSCURA SYRAH: L/T, vUt, Xhh, G45, WdA, rJ6, CEU, UEZ
ABNOWATCH: G45
CLEAN UP: vUt, Xhh, WdA, 0DK, BkZ, rJ6, CEU, UEZ
MANGLED: 0DK, BkZ
WARY: vUt, +IZ, G45, 0DK, BkZ, rJ6, UEZ
FOOD: +IZ
WALLS: Xhh, CEU

WINE, CLEAN UP and WARY won out. So, three anons, roll 2d100. I'll take the first three dice for RAPPORT and the rest for CLEAN UP. Tables below. Let's hope you get a better result than last time.

RAPPORT
0 SUCCESSES: So cold. So cold. (Vincent and Ashton both take some nasty damage. No rapport is established.)
1 SUCCESS: "..." (Vincent and Ashton take some moderate damage. You get something resembling a rapport? Maybe?)
2 SUCCESSES: "whatdoyouwant?" The beast sounds so exhausted... (Vincent and Ashton take some mild damage. 199X seems somewhat willing to talk to you.)
3 SUCCESSES: Wait, you think you have an idea on how to talk to it on ITS level. (No damage taken. A solid rapport is built between Vincent, Ashton and 199X.)

CLEAN UP
0 SUCCESSES: FUCK! Okay, you learnt something about the bile, at least! (You injure yourself while cleaning. No real progress is made in cleaning its cell.)
1 SUCCESS: Cleaning this cell up sucks. (Progress is slow and tedious but you're fine, except for some mild boredom.)
2 SUCCESSES: It's not perfectly clean but it's good enough for you! (Progress was smooth. You cleaned most of the cell without any issue.)
3 SUCCCESSES: Hm? Something's underneath the snow. (Same as 2 SUCCESSES but you spot something it wrote on the floor. This may offer a glimpse into the anomaly's psyche.)

>>6324656
And I wrote OBSCURA as OBSURCA. Oh well, it is what it is, sometimes things slip through the cracks.

>>6324770
>Speaking of Ashton, did we ever get to return her comrade's stuff from the dead researcher's lab?
Welp! I know what to include next update since Ashton is right there. Thanks for reminding me. Vincent will deal with that mess once you're out of 199X's cell.

Rolled 2, 81 = 83 (2d100)

>>6325101
good rolls pls

Rolled 20, 56 = 76 (2d100)

>>6325101

Rolled 79, 76 = 155 (2d100)

>>6325101

>>6325102
>>6325103
>>6325104
Well guess we're gonna need some nice hot wine soaked sandwiches after this.

RAPPORT: 10, 86, 28. 1 SUCCESS.
CLEAN UP: 64, 87, 84. 3 SUCCESSES.

Well, good news, you got 3 SUCCESSES on one of the checks. Truly, this is just more proof that Vincent is a poorly socialized wageslave. Writing.

>>6325102
almost a nat 1, zam
>>6325106
at least we got 3 on the last one

Deep breaths, Vincent, deep breaths. You don't know a lot about this particular anomaly, but you KNOW it can do some serious damage to you if it wanted to. You can still make out the dent in the wall from when it was enjoying some music a little bit too much.

"how long have you had this anomaly?"

"A day, tops."

"darn. stuck in the dark with this thing, huh?"

The anomaly's body tenses up all of a sudden. Its upper half lurches forward at an awkward, sharp angle that you couldn't replicate even if you tried. It places its non-bat-wielding hand against the wall in order to regain its balance.

Its breathing is shaky and unstable. More bile leaks out of its mouth and onto the floor, staining more of the powdery white snow black.

The two of you cautiously back away from the anomaly. You're not doing ANYTHING until it calms down. You guess you got lucky with two safe/DALETH anomalies.

The anomaly manages to calm itself down after a minute or so. You hear it mumbling something under its breath, but from this distance, it's impossible to make anything out. It leans away from the wall, returning to its previous position.

"hoo." The air's cold enough that, as Ashton breathes out a sigh of relief, you can see her breath. "okay, that was close. i didn't think it would react like that."

"Me neither. It's in some sort of funk, I think. I know the room wasn't covered in snow last I checked."

"should we clean it up?"

"Probably. Be careful and don't approach the anomaly if you can."

You prepare the cleaning supplies while Ashton keeps an eye on the anomaly. There's no point using water with how cold the room is; it'd probably just freeze on the chilled metal floor. It'd probably be smart to have someone keep watch on the anomaly while the other focuses on cleaning.

"Ashton. Keep an eye on the anomaly. Warn me if the anomaly starts acting out again." "on it!"

You start dusting the floor with your handy dandy broom. You take your time moving throughout the cell, making sure that you don't leave any loose snow on the floor. The snow hasn't had enough time to pile up too much, so sweeping it hardly takes any effort. You're done with it before you know it, and you got a bucket of snow for your trouble.

The bile—that's going to take some actual effort to scrape off. The floor is stained with splotches of frozen-over bile that's going to take some real elbow grease to scrape off. You toss the broom over to Ashton so you can take her place; she's probably stronger than you are.

LOST SINCE 199X hasn't moved from its spot, seemingly content with staring at the wall. Occasionally, it would tap its bat against the floor to a familiar rhythm, but you don't know WHY it feels familiar to you. Even though the anomaly is facing away from you, you still feel like it's staring at you.

Maybe your mind is playing tricks on you. All you can do is pray that it stays there.

You notice Ashton stopped scraping the floor. Huh, did something catch her attention?

You keep your eyes locked on the anomaly as you check on Ashton. She's glancing down at some scratches on the floor that almost look like writing.

"it scratched something on the floor. same 'handwriting' as what's on the walls."

You kneel down to get a better look at the message. Its nails were sharp enough to carve neat little letters

day 12000 or day 10000? day 18? cant remember anymore dont want to remember
they dont remember me why would they she moved on my parents moved on the town moved on
worthless punk like me isnt worth searching for anyways of course of course
scratch the walls scratch the walls need to write mind isn't what it was mind wasnt

It devolves into incoherent noise after the last line. Hm. It doesn't want to remember yet it scratches messages to itself on the walls and floor? It's almost like it's trying to convince itself that it wants to be forgotten. It DID censor any information about itself on ABNOWATCH.

No wonder why NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER wanted to give the anomaly some of its wine.

"Alright, got everything cleaned up? "yep, look around."

You have to admit, the room does look a lot better now. Aside from some residual frost on the walls and floor, the cell looks about as good as it can be. You didn't notice it at first but the air's gotten warmer as well. The anomaly seems to be a bit more relaxed now that the snow is gone.

Good, good, that's one task down. You decide it's probably a good idea to, uh, 'loosen up' the anomaly before you try to talk to it. You dig through your satchel, and you pull out a plastic bottle filled with half a sample's worth of the stuff.

You didn't exactly want to hand the thing a whole bucket of wine, so you filled an old water bottle with some before you entered the cell.

You toss the bottle over to the anomaly. There's a subtle shift in its posture as it looks down at what you tossed over.

It reaches its hand down to grab the bottle. It sniffs at it for a moment, as if trying to determine if it is safe. After a few moments of awkward silence, you hear...the sound of plastic being crushed. Did it. Did it just eat the bottle?

"heh." A weak laugh escapes Ashton. "i guess it doesn't care about microplastics, huh?"

"More like macroplastics." You roll your eyes. You might as well try to find some humor in all of this.

LOST SINCE 199X slowly turns to face the two of you. Its face is still obscured by its long, matted black hair, so you can't make out its expression. There's something different in its posture now. Its arms loosely hang by its sides, and a low, distorted noise that almost sounds like a chuckle croaks out of its throat.

Okay. Maybe it softened up some. "Ashton? Should we try to...talk to it?"

Ashton responds with a curt nod. "sure but keep your guard up. who should talk to it first?"

"Me, probably." You clear your throat before taking a cautious step towards the anomaly.

"Hey." You keep your voice low and calm. "It's me, Vincent."

"From yesterday. Remember?"

LOST SINCE 199X doesn't immediately respond to your inquiry. It continues to make that low, wispy noise that could resemble a laugh if you strain your ears just right. It places its free hand on the side of its head while it tightens its other hand around its baseball bat.

"i remember." A directionless voice blows through the air like a cold breeze. "even if i don't want to."

"Good, good. I have another friend here, Ashton." "hi!" "We're just here to talk. That's all."

"talk. talk, talk, talk." It repeats with a sing-song tone. "talk is worthless. what is there to say between the three of us."

Ashton's voice takes on an authoritative, stern tone as she addresses the anomaly. "Well, you're going to be here for a while, Sir." It's shocking to hear her actually raise her voice past a raspy whisper. "So, it's in your best interest to work with us, no?"

"Vincent and I want to help you but you need to be willing to talk with us. Help us help you, right?"

"haha." LOST SINCE 199X runs its fingers through its matted black hair. "it's funny. i'm funny. you're funny."

"What's so funny, 199X?" You cautiously ask the anomaly.

"a beast pretending to be a human. a husk pretending to be a human. a punk pretending to be a human. isn't it funny?" It glances at the floor, as if suddenly lost in thought. "but who was the punk? hard to remember. good. that memory smelled of sweat and rubber. it tasted of bitter, spoiled beer."

"that wine. it helped to wash it down. i'm happy. she. she wanted to help me, unlike you." Is it referring to NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER? You're not sure who else 'she' could be.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the wine, sir." You can already hear Ashton's voice straining. "But...we want to help you. We can be friends-"

Ashton's words are immediately drowned out by a loud, metallic CRASH! A new dent was punched into the floor thanks to the anomaly's bat.

"no. you're not. you're lying." It growls out. Words rapidly spill out of its mouth as it sluggishly approaches the two of you. "they lied. they always lied. oh, they said that too, they wanted to help me. fix me. i was wrong, not right, fucked in the head."

"W-we, ghhh." Ashton shudders as her throat gives out on her. Her torso heaves as a racking cough overtakes her. "i didn't mean to offend you, sir."

"Yeah!" You try your best to calm the anomaly down. "Look, you're not fucked in the head. Or, well, if you are? You're not any worse than some of the people I met here."

"We're all a little fucked up, right? We share that in common, right?"

"maybe." The anomaly stops mid-step. It actually seems to be considering your words. Right as you thought it wasn't going to do anything, it raises its bat in the air.

Your vine instinctually launches out of your arm but it's already too late. The bat smashes into your side with nearly enough force to send you flying.

Your armor absorbs a good chunk of the hit, so you don't think anything broke. It was MORE than enough to send you stumbling back into the nearest wall. You struggle to catch your breath as pain racks through your body.

"F-fuck!"

"o-oh god! "vincent!!!" Ashton's eyes widen as she watches you struggle to stand up. Concern and RAGE wash over her face as she aims her revolver at the anomaly. "oh, that's it!"

"go ahead, cop." The anomaly snarls at Ashton. It prepares to swing its bat at Ashton but, thankfully, Ashton was quicker on the draw. Three holes are punched into the anomaly's torso. A thin slurry of black bile leaks out of its wounds.

It's enough to send the anomaly stumbling back but you know that didn't do much to really injure it.

"what the FUCK is wrong with you? why did you do that to him?"

"condescending little prick. talking about me like he knew me." The anomaly petulantly spits out. "you're just like him, pig."

Ashton grits her teeth and tries to land another shot on the anomaly. The anomaly charges at her, but you manage to draw your gun just in time.

You manage to land a shot on one of its legs. It's enough to throw the anomaly off balance. Ashton takes this chance to dodge out of the way. The anomaly wildly swings its arm right as it slams into the wall, managing to nick Ashton's arm with its razor-sharp nails.

"nnggh..." Dark red blood gushes out of the fresh claw wound. Ashton takes in a deep breath and pushes right through the pain, completely ignoring the wound. Her bleeding slows down to a crawl in mere seconds.

>SURVIVOR activated! ASHTON negates the damage!

LOST SINCE 199X stumbles away from the wall, trying its best to recover after slamming face-first into a steel wall.

No one is willing to move from their spot. The air is silent except for the raggedy breathing of you, Ashton, and the anomaly itself.

A low chuckle escapes LOST SINCE 199X's throat. "shit. we really aren't that different. animals fighting over nothing."

"Yeah." You groan as you stumble away from the wall. "I guess it's easier than actually talking, huh?"

"guess so." The anomaly sluggishly drags itself away from the two of you. Its movements are clumsy and slow, probably from the wine coursing through its system. You think you even spot some red mixed in with the black bile it is 'bleeding' out.

"got anything to say for yourself, punk?" Ashton snarls at the anomaly.

"we can be 'friends', if that is what you desire. for what little that word means to me. maybe you two do actually know something. maybe there's more than wax between your ears." The mangled beast shrugs its shoulders. It lets go of its bat as it sits down on the floor, resting its head on its twisted legs. You can't see its face, but you can sense that it respects the two of you now.

Respect, not like, being the key word. Maybe it's because you actually put up a fight against it. Maybe the wine made it more docile?

Maybe you reminded it of someone? It's hard to say but there's something there that wasn't there before.

LOST SINCE 199X doesn't seem remotely interested in the two of you now.

"prick." Ashton turns her attention back to you. "v-vincent, s-stay there. i'll...i'll help you, okay?"
"I'm fine, Ashton, really I am."

Ashton doesn't take no for an answer. She slings her arm over your shoulder. "c'mon, let's get out of here." She escorts you out of the containment cell now that your job here is done.

>LOST SINCE 199X's MOOD is now 11/11! OBSCURA SYRAH has permanently improved its max mood! May reduce its aggression in future encounters?
>1 BUCKET OF SNOW and 1 SAMPLE OF BLACK BILE obtained!

The Man is waiting right outside of the containment cell. He asks you what the HELL just happened in there since he heard gunshots going off inside.

"We tried to talk to it. Got aggressive." You mutter as if you were talking to yourself. "Everything's fine now."
"no, it's not. we need to check you for any injuries."

>Your PHYSICAL HEALTH is now COULD BE BETTER.
>You now have 3 TIME TOKENS LEFT!

You might as well think about what your next step is going to be while your coworkers check on you.

Choose two actions and any free actions. You'll give Ashton the PERSONAL BELONGINGS you recovered from the dead researcher's lab next update.

ANOMALY
>Enter IN LIMBO's cell. You want to figure out why it showed you that weird vision. (-1 TIME TOKEN)
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's cell. You want to thank it for the wine, it helped a little. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

RESEARCH
>Try to find a way to improve or refine the OBSCURA SYRAH samples. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +10 to roll.)
>Study the RÊVE CHARDONNAY. How is it different from OBSCURA SYRAH? (-1 TIME TOKEN, no check needed. Offers insight into IN LIMBO and NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER.)
>Extract the AMNESTIC from the BLOODWINE sample. Having something that can erase memories might be useful in the future. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)
>Study the BLACK BILE you recovered from 199X. What's up with this stuff? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 59, +12 to roll.)

BUSY WORK
>You need to cool off. Crack open the ART SUPPLIES and paint something. (-1 TIME TOKEN. Gives you some time to socialize with your allies.)
>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Pop the MARTIAL ARTS TAPES into your PERSONAL TV. Start TRAINING your SKILLS, BABY! (-1 TIME TOKEN. Choose who to train: YOU, THE MAN or ASHTON.)
>Try to make something to weaponize the DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample's ability to paralyze people. (-1d2 TIME TOKENS, DC 65, +8 to roll.)

MISC
>Approach the FAX MACHINE. Try to get some information out of some of your sponsors. (FREE ACTION, -$30. You'll contact one sponsor you already met and a random new sponsor.)
>Write in.

>>6325189
>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

>>6325206
+1
I'm telling you, that anglerfish loot AND that DIE TO SEXUALIZE sample are key to getting Vincent the god-tier gear. We figure out the anglerfish loot as best as we can, then send it in to ARC to make epic stealth gear with, and then we're good for a long while. The knife stick has the invisibility blood altered the blade so we can't do more to modding the weapon without ruining that, most likely. It'd be cool if we had the blade invisible AND paralyzing from DIE TO SEXUALIZE, but soft skin doesn't make for good stabby bits except for being good bits to be stabbed at

>>6325189
>Try to find a way to improve or refine the OBSCURA SYRAH samples. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +10 to roll.)
>Study the BLACK BILE you recovered from 199X. What's up with this stuff? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 59, +12 to roll.)

>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

> Write in.
Thank FET for helping us yesterday. Hopefully that's a free action?

>>6325189
>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
>Study the STATIC BLOOD and SCALES. Having two fresh pair of eyes could help you figure out more about them. (-2 TIME TOKENS, no skill check needed.)

>>6325189
>Extract the AMNESTIC from the BLOODWINE sample. Having something that can erase memories might be useful in the future. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
If the stupid prick wants to forget, then well damn well make him.
>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)
Obvious why.

>>6325189
>She slings her arm over your shoulder.
shouldn't it be the opposite ?

>Try to find a way to improve or refine the OBSCURA SYRAH samples. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 60, +10 to roll.)
>Study the RÊVE CHARDONNAY. How is it different from OBSCURA SYRAH? (-1 TIME TOKEN, no check needed. Offers insight into IN LIMBO and NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER.)

>Cook up more wine-soaked food! You need it after getting your ass thrashed. (-1 TIME TOKEN.)

FOOD: vUT, WdA, 0Dk, L/T, 5rc
STATIC BLOOD/SCALES: vUT, WdA, 0Dk, L/T
BILE: Bkz
AMNESTIC: 5rc
REVE: +IZ
REFINE: +IZ, Bkz

Welp, it's going to be a shorter update this time around, to make up for the 5 page wall of text you had to read this time around. Writing, should be out soon. I'll humor 0DK's write in as well.

You know what? You want this shift to be done and over with. You're not going to push yourself too hard. You let them drag you over to a nearby chair so they can 'inspect' you. You're fine, really, but you doubt they'll take no for an answer.

You've endured worse, at any rate.

Ashton lifts up your shirt to examine your chest. There's a cold glint in her eye as she inspects your body. This feels less like a medical examination and more like she's judging the grade of a piece of meat.

"c'mon, ashton, not now." She mutters guiltily.

"well, you got lucky. there's some swelling here, but you'll be fine. just...take it easy, okay?"

The Man concurs. Not that there's a lot of time left in this shift. You only respond with a grunt, more than ready to get this over with.

Ashton quickly wraps your chest with some of her bandage wrap.

>Your PHYSICAL HEALTH is now DOING FINE!

"Alright." You launch out of your chair the moment she's done. "We're going to wrap things up here. I'm ready for this fucking shift to be over with."

What, you didn't enjoy getting your bones crushed by a giant baseball bat? The Man rolls his eyes, clearly just trying to rile you up.

"yeah...yeah, i uh. please tell me you're not going to work on any more anomalies today."

"I won't. We'll check on some samples or something." You briefly glance at the Man. You gesture at the computer, silently asking him what was going on with it. Openly addressing him isn't a great idea since, well, Ashton can't see him.

The Man quickly picks up on what you're trying to ask. He explains that the error message radically changed while you and Ashton were inside its containment cell. He wrote down a whole list of the various ways the error screen manifested itself.

He'll give you the paper after the shift's over with, since he assumes you already have something in mind. He will note that the error screen stopped appearing after you two shot the anomaly, but he didn't have enough time to research anything. His attention was elsewhere.

"It's fine. You did your best." You whisper, trying your best to not look insane in front of Ashton. "Okay. We're going to cook some food, study some samples, and then we're gone. Ashton, do you know how to cook?"

"a little! i'm probably the only one in my squad who actually KNOWS how to cook. imagine that, you know?" She said it with the cadence of a joke, but you don't get what the 'joke' was meant to be. "oh, wait, that's what the wine is for, huh?"

"Mmh hmm."

You set up the grill with the help of your two coworkers. This isn't your first time cooking with this weird wine, so, ideally, you'll make something better this time around. Time to use up some of this old spam.

Ashton gags as you crack open a can of spam. You catch another brief glance of her sharp teeth before she hides them again. "eugh. THAT'S what you used??? spam??? really???"

"What? What's wrong with spam?"

"vincent i like you, i really do." Her voice takes on a tone usually used for scolding young children. "but you need to improve your standards when it comes to what you eat."

Right. The harvester who eats raw organ meat is judging you on what YOU eat. You roll your eyes at her. "C'mon. It tastes good after you soak it in this wine."

"vile tricks...and i thought i could trust you. we can't be friends anymore..."

"C'mon. You're trying too hard."

"pfft!" She sticks her tongue out. "yeah, yeah, alright, i'll stop."

"If your standards are SO GOOD, then, what the hell do you eat?" You already know the answer but you wanna see what she says.

"oh. meat. lots of it. ACTUAL meat, vincent, not spam." She shudders as she opens up a can of spam. "bone marrow's also pretty good if you roast it."

"Huh. Never thought of eating marrow."

The Man taps you on the shoulder as you prepare to cook up some sandwiches. What samples should he prepare? You did say you wanted to study something.

"They should be labeled STATIC SCALES and STATIC BLOOD."

The Man flashes a thumbs up as he goes to retrieve those samples. Time to start cooking.

You messed around with various ratios of wine, water, orange juice and milk to see how it'd affect the quality of the wine-soaked sandwiches. Good news, it doesn't really seem to matter as long as the mixture contains 70% wine, give or take, so you're able to stretch out your samples...

>-0.75 SAMPLES used! 1.75 SAMPLES of OBSCURA remain in your inventory!
>4 WINE SOAKED SANDWICHES obtained! (Heals a moderate amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH. Side effects may occur if too many are consumed in one day. They degrade in quality after roughly two days.)

"hm." Ashton sniffs one of the prepared sandwiches. "wow! you actually made this ghoulish meat slop smell like actual meat. i can actually eat this...if you blindfolded me."

"You ate one yesterday. C'mon, you're acting like a vegan now."

"well- hey! don't call me a vegan; those people are weirdos, man!"

"Pft. Alright, c'mon. We got something to study."

The Man has prepared the samples like you asked him to. Normally you'd try to rush through this so you'd have time for other things, but nope. This time, you're going to be slow and methodical. First thing's first, the STATIC BLOOD.

What you know about it so far: It can absorb a ludicrous amount of heat and it is invisible when exposed to visible light. The Man proposes that you use that convenient bucket of snow you got from 199X's cell to lower the blood's temperature.

Ashton, for her part, proposes that you paint some of the blood onto one of the human flesh samples. Could it make flesh invisible, perhaps?

You start with the bucket test since that one is probably the safer of the two. You lower a beaker filled with STATIC BLOOD into your snow-filled bucket. Almost immediately, a reaction takes place. You...can actually see the blood now.