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One step at a time, Vincent. You just have to make it to the end of this shift in one piece. You should probably stick to basic, simple stuff that won't require too much effort on your end. At least for the start of your shift.

Oh! Right, you have those weird M.A.D WORLD glasses. You can do a quick checkup on The Man and Colt with them! It'll give you some more data on what, exactly, the auras mean AND it should be relatively easy.

"Hey, can you two stand right there? By the computer?"

The Man agrees. Colt gives you a weird look but as he's about to say something, he stops himself. He briefly shoots a glance at the spot where the Man is currently at.

"...Aight." Your patriotic friend shrugs his shoulders as he waits by the computer with the Man. "I dunno what kind of weirdo shit you're doing, spic. Tryin' to avoid workin'?"

"Where did that stereotype even come from?" You muse out loud as you rummage through your satchel. "Aren't we the ones 'taking all the jobs' or whatever the saying goes?"

"Just because you have a job doesn't mean you're good at it." Colt swiftly retorts. "Eh. You're one of the 'good' ones anyhow. I've heard the stories."

The Man rolls his eyes at Colt's gibbering. He's grown used to it and he hopes you're not taking any offense to it. He then realizes, right, you wouldn't have hired him if you were offended. He swiftly apologizes.

"Eh, don't worry about it." You stand in front of your two coworkers before sliding the glasses on. All of the color in your lab (what little there was) is immediately suppressed in a haze of sepia and grey. You squint your eyes as you try to make out what kind of aura they might have.

Colt's aura is...well, you can't really say you're shocked. It manifested as three stripes of color wrapped around his neck and his wrists, and wouldn't you know? The colors are red, white and blue. It's odd how it only manifests around his wrist and neck, but you're not sure what that could represent.

Red and blue could apply; he does show a lot of rage, and he's probably loyal to his country at least. You don't know what white means but you've seen it in your brother.

The only commonality between the two of them would be belief, maybe? Your brother's religious faith and Colt's patriotism could be a common connection? It's a stretch, but it's the only explanation you have that makes sense at the moment.

The Man's aura is a chaotic, kaleidoscopic blend of colors ranging from the brightest hues of pink to the darkest shades of black. You can't even begin to list all of the colors in his aura. There's pinks, blues, reds, blacks, oranges, and some colors you don't think you've ever seen before.

The best way you can describe it is it's a tapestry made out of random, stitched together fragments of other auras. It's not the aura a normal human should have but, well, this is the Man we're talking about.

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The main 'standout' colors you can pick out amongst the abstract painting's worth of colors are black, grey, and purple. You're going to record that as the Man's 'actual' aura, just because his actual aura is too hard to record.

You narrow your eyes as you take another look at the Man. You can vaguely make out his appearance, but you struggle to remember more than one or two specifics. He's on the older side, mid-30s at the youngest; you can say that with confidence.

His skin is...pale, yes, as white as paper. You also think he might be five foot something, but beyond that, it's anyone's guess. The glasses are able to partially pierce through whatever memory-distorting effect he has, but it's not strong enough.

"Aight, what's the fuckin' point of this again?" Colt rapidly taps his foot on the ground, ready to do literally anything else. "Mind explainin' to the class?"

The Man theorizes that those glasses let Vincent see what he otherwise couldn't.

Colt nods along as if he actually registered what the Man said. "Hm. Maybe that's why, yeah. Ya can't see my dick or whatever with those, right? This ain't some weird homosexual shit?"

"What? I'm only into chicks." You carefully remove M.A.D WORLD. "I was checking your auras. It's something I always like to check. It helps me to understand people better."

"Eh, I ain't so sure about you likin' chicks. I've seen you hangin' out with that Ash chick." He grunts like a disappointed day. "She's too tough for my likin'. Ain't got the curves a woman needs."

The Man would say something, but he elects to stay silent, lest he be judged for his own taste in women.

"Ah, shut up." You mumble under your breath. At least you got some information out of this little experiment. You recap what their auras to the best of your ability, mostly because you're curious to see how they'd react.

Colt puffs his chest out upon realizing what his aura looks like. "I have the soul of a RED-BLOODED AMERICAN! Of course I'd wear the colors of my country, even in the deepest parts of my soul! That's a sign I'm blessed by GOD!"

The Man, on the other hand, is vaguely disturbed by your description of his aura. He knows a little bit about 'auras' and how they can manifest, but he has never heard about an aura that matched the description you gave him. He feels stable, so he's not sure why his aura is so unstable.

Maybe it's a sign of his affliction? He can only theorize.

"Eh, it's pretty colors or whatnot by the end of the day. If ya feel fine, ya feel fine" Okay, now you actually have to wonder if he can properly see the Man.

"Are you talking to...?"

"Ya, I'm talkin' to him." Colt shoots a look in the Man's direction. "Either he's real or I'm hallucinating, and I'm gonna go with the former. I ain't no fuckin' schizo like that Nicky chick."

That's weird, you thought he could barely see the Man.

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Now, he's acting like he can see him just as well as you can? Odd. Maybe wearing the same two artifacts day in, day out has given him something similar to your ANOMALY TOUCHED quirk.

The Man breathes a sigh of relief. He'll be honest; he wasn't quite sure if Colt could actually see him or not.

"'course I can. I don't know why the other freaks can't." Colt shrugs his shoulders. "At least the beaner can see ya too."

"I've known about him since I first came here, to be frank. That's beside the point."

"You remember those shotgun slugs I told you to make? I was wondering..." You rummage through your satchel for your two handy-dandy guns. "Do you know how to fix or tune up a gun?"

Colt's eyes start to sparkle. You might as well have said he won the jackpot. "Hoo boy, of course I do. I have to fix this beaut when I have to beat someone over the head with it."

He smacks the side of his rifle for emphasis. "Alright. Hand 'em over, and please, answer that god damn phone already." What phone- Oh. You were tuning it out until now but your landline is going on the fritz. It was dead quiet yesterday so you suppose the man on the phone has a deal for you.

Luckily for him, you're actually willing to spend time on his nonsense. You hand over your guns to Colt so he can work on them, while you and the Man deal with the actual phone call. Colt eagerly begins his work on tuning up your guns for, you know, if you have to deal with an anomaly or that Harvester or whatever wants to kill you today!

The Man leans against the table you rested the phone on. He asks what, exactly, he should expect from this call?

"Ah, some dude calls me sometimes to ask me for 'time'. Considering the shift we're in? Maybe getting it over as quickly as possible is a good idea?"

The Man concedes that it's a fair point. He gently reminds you that you shouldn't sell all your time, because he assumes you have some sponsorships you need to do on the clock. You have to admit he is right, otherwise you might've been tempted to dump all of your time into this phone.

You pick up the receiver to see what the big deal is. The Man leans in to eavesdrop on the call. Your ears are assaulted by a wave of sharp electronic static as the phone struggles to connect the call. Calling....

https://youtu.be/-HM8uXVXeHk - CONNECTED.

"Good evening, gentlemen! May I ask you what the clock's set to right now?" A voice with a familiar transatlantic accent crackles over the line. 'Mike' is his name, if you remember correctly, but who's to say that's his actual name?

"9:21." You give him the proper 'code' phrase, since apparently you need to give that in order to make a deal with him.

"Excellent! Now, I only sense you at the phone, but my gut tells me someone else is listening in? I can't quite...sense their timeflow, though, unlike yours."

The Man introduces himself, if only to be polite.

There's an awkward pause before 'Mike' continues to speak. "Ah, no matter. I can offer you a deal regardless of my inability to properly sense you. I assume you're willing to trust me a bit more compared to our initial interaction, Alex?"

The Man tilts his head in confusion. You cover the receiver and you quickly explain it's to keep your identity safe. The Man nods along, finding it to be a reasonable way to stay safe.

A lot of deal-based abnormalities, he claims, tend to be fickle when it comes to the spirit and letter of their arrangements. He gestures at you to continue the conversation.

"Mmh. Given my current situation, I actually want to sell my time."

"Excellent! Now, we don't have a lot of time to transfer all of your time over to me, so I'll implore you to only accept one of my deals. For our own safety."

The Man cautiously asks what 'Mike' exactly means by that.

"I don't intend on having a customer die on me because the phone he's standing next to explodes, you know?" 'Mike' states it like it's super obvious. The Man concedes but he's going to listen in to make sure 'Mike' isn't going to fuck you over.

"Free feel. I'm not going to hide my hand, my good sirs. Please, listen to my deals, and see which one you'd be willing to accept."

AVAILABLE TIME TOKENS: 12
MONEY: $2805

It's time to sell some TIME, Vincent, because TIME is LITERALLY MONEY to this anomaly(?). Choose one (or no) deals.
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)
>MACHINE SPIRIT. (-2 TIME TOKENS. You'll immediately unlock one of HARD TIMES' insight hints, and you'll obtain more samples from your two mechanical anomalies during this shift.)
>FLESH AND BLOOD (-3 TIME TOKENS. You, Colt and the MAN slowly regenerate PHYSICAL HEALTH for the rest of the day.)
>TIME FOR MONEY, MONEY FOR TIME. (+1 TIME TOKEN, your next two anomaly works will be guaranteed to cost 0 TIME TOKENS, -$455)
>Don't accept any of the deals.
>Try to propose a deal of your own. (Write in.)

Anything you want to ask Mike while you're on the line? You can ask up to two questions.
>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.
>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>Does he have any advice on how you should handle your SPONSORSHIPS? You got a lot on your plate today.
>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?
>Write in.

Welp, I'm two days late, but we're back! It's time for another 50-60 updates of Vincent suffering.

>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>Does he have any advice on how you should handle your SPONSORSHIPS? You got a lot on your plate today.

>>6364694
>>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
Permanent boost as opposed to just this shift or just for the day healing. That said if we expect Mr Harvester to show up or if we end up adventuring perhaps healing for the day wouldnt be a bad idea.

>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.
Inb4 we have to establish our own territory with the proper signage, by marking it.


>Write in.
The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?

I have an idea here. What if we could get the moths to hang out on top of Vicnent's door during the night? Would it erase Vincent's door and room from the Harvesters memory? Make it more or less invisible? Could we harvest moth dust samples? Etc.

Welcome back Handler

>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)

>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?
>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.

>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)
It does go hand in hand flavorwise with the religious test theme of that one company whose sponsorship is ALSO making our skillchecks harder
>Write-in:
>The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?
>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.

>>6364694
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
Make our guns shoot harder, magic man.

>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.
>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.

>>6364694
>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)
Usually I'd be all for the permeant upgrade, but with us needing to harvest our own flesh and the upped difficulty checks, I'm gonna have to pass this time. Maybe we can ask for it next time round?

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>Does he have any advice on how you should handle your SPONSORSHIPS? You got a lot on your plate today.

>>6364694
>MACHINE SPIRIT. (-2 TIME TOKENS. You'll immediately unlock one of HARD TIMES' insight hints, and you'll obtain more samples from your two mechanical anomalies during this shift.)
>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>Does he have any advice on how you should handle your SPONSORSHIPS? You got a lot on your plate today.

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>>6364694
>>MACHINE SPIRIT. (-2 TIME TOKENS. You'll immediately unlock one of HARD TIMES' insight hints, and you'll obtain more samples from your two mechanical anomalies during this shift.)
THE MACHINE SPIRIT WILLS IT 01001001 01100110 01010101 01010010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 01010101 01110010 01000111 01000001 01011001
>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?

>>6364694
>FLESH AND BLOOD (-3 TIME TOKENS. You, Colt and the MAN slowly regenerate PHYSICAL HEALTH for the rest of the day.)

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?

>>6364694
>>MACHINE SPIRIT. (-2 TIME TOKENS. You'll immediately unlock one of HARD TIMES' insight hints, and you'll obtain more samples from your two mechanical anomalies during this shift.)

>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.

>>6364694
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.

Permanently making our combat better seems like the safest choice if we’re concerned about that harvester, and this might be one of the best ways to learn about auras.

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>>6364694
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
>>Does he know anything about Harvesters? Just in case you have to deal with more aggressive Harvesters in the future.
>>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.

>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY (-2 TIME TOKENS. During this shift, you and your two coworkers will take slightly less damage from ALL sources, to make up for your harder skill checks.)

>The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?
>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?

>>6364694
>DIVINE MERCY

>The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?
>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?

>>6364694
We're back, yay!

>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
We'll have new ammunition soon and double upgrading both of our weapons seems to good to pass (although going by the other votes we probably end up passing it).

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.
What could the patterns and the areas covered by the auras possibly mean?
>The Anti-memetic Moths in ARC, how could we use them? What do they eat, why do they stay on the ceiling?
Good write-in, let's ask that.

>>6364694
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)
Permanent upgrades are good.

>Ask him about what he knows about AURAS. You want to get the most out of your M.A.D WORLD glasses.

>moths

>>6364694
>PIERCE AND SCATTER (-2 TIME TOKENS. Your CHROME DEAGLE and DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN will gain an additional boost to their damage and accuracy, which stacks with Colt's handywork/upgrade.)

>Your cat, EL FELINO, is acting weird. Does he have any tips on how to deal with anomalous animals?

Write-in:
>I’m surrounded by antimemetic moths that seem to know I can see them. What are they and how big of a problem is this?

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17 votes in the first update this thread, waow. Thank you for the warm reception.

WHAT DEAL?
DIVINE: cKq, O8D, iJF, RwU, 6Tw, PX/
PIERCE AND SCATTER: Lan, YGT, T6r, IYn, fAO, /UO, hdC
MACHINE SPIRIT: qTJ, 8Ri, Lhd
FLESH AND BLOOD: sGe

I'll blast your skulls apart. Every single one of you.
It was a very close tie between DIVINE MERCY and PIERCE AND SCATTER, but it appears we're going with more powerful guns this time around. That's probably what Colt would've wanted you to pick, so bonus Colt points for that. (It is uncertain what you can spend Colt Points on.)

WHAT QUESTION
AURA: cKq, YGT, RwU, qTJ, 8Ri, sGe, T6r, IYn, fAO, /UO
SPONSOR: cKq, RwU, qTJ
FELINO: O8D, sGe, 6Tw, PX/, hdC
HARVESTER: O8D, iJF, Lan, YGT, Lhd, IYn
MOFFS: iJF, Lan, 8Ri, 6Tw, PX/, fAO, /UO, hdC

A very clever write in indeed. I'll allow it and, hey, they are an oddity you don't really have any frame of reference for. You'll also ask about the auras since they could be a very useful way to determine who you can trust, if only you knew more about them, right?

Writing.

You really wanted to ask for protection from whatever divine or anomalous force is going to be tormenting you this shift, but that'll only be for one agonizing shift. You need to think long-term about this.

Colt's already working on your guns, so why not help him out a little? It's probably the best use of time you can get out of this particular arrangement. "So, I'll take the PIERCE AND SCATTER deal. There's a certain somebody I might need to fight later, and you know! Better safe than sorry!"

"Excell..." Mike tried to respond, but his voice was cut off by what sounds like wind? You can barely make out what he's trying to say over the roaring, seething winds. The Man calls out to his fellow mystery man. No response.

The Man smacks his palm against the phone to try to get the phone to work again. Like magic, the roaring wind vanishes, allowing you to actually hear 'Mike' again.

"Please, excuse me!" Mike feverishly stammers out an apology. "Sorry, the wind out here is something else. Let's say the war hasn't been kind to my world. Now, is there anything else I need to do before I harvest your time?"

You might as well make this quick; you doubt the connection's going to be stable enough for more than two questions. "First one is a bit of a weird one, actually. Do you know anything about antimemetic moths? What do they eat? Why do they stay on the ceiling?"

"Are they a problem I should worry about?"

There's an awkward pause. "Moths...? You can see them?" 'Mike' almost doesn't believe you, but the Man can confirm that those moths do exist. He can see them too and he's also shocked Vincent knows about them as well.

He'll add on what he knows after 'Mike' speaks.

"Well," Mike clears his throat. "They're a species of moth that feeds off ambient negative emotions from any sentient or sapient creature. They can detect all manners of stress hormones in a creature."

"They aren't a threat, per se, but they're an ill omen if too many of them are hanging around an area. As for the ceiling? Well, it's the safest place to be once blood is spilled."

The Man adds that they also congregate around places where dead bodies are, since it's not only negative emotions that they feed on, but carrion. Considering the vast majority of creatures here are human or human-adjacent, that means they hang around dead bodies.

Not a particularly great sign, the Man comments.

"Exactly." Mike hums as he tries to find what else he can say. "They're not particularly useful for your research, if you're thinking about samples, unless you capture them whole. If you crush and grind enough of them into a powder, you could create something that consumes or suppresses negative emotions."

"I'd use them as a guide, myself, more than anything profitable."

Damn. At least you got a better idea on what they, exactly, are. No wonder why they're hanging out in an ARC facility.

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With all of the Harvesters and anomalies and whatnot, you wouldn't be shocked if corpses were made on an hourly basis down here. The only reason you're still standing is that you have a tough body.

"Alright. My second question is, do you know anything about AURAS? I know the colors mean something, but the patterns? The areas they cover? They have to mean something, don't they?"

Mike breathes a sigh of relief at the topic being changed. "Auras are a manifestation of that person's...life experiences and strongest emotions. 'Soul' wouldn't be the best way to describe them, at least in the way you might think of one, but they're adjacent."

"The way the pattern manifests can tell you a lot about a person, but I'll tell you what I know. Full-body auras with few or no patterns mean that the person is well-adjusted. They may have issues, but they're able to mask them or otherwise control them."

"As for abnormal patterns? Spikes represent emotional distance or a sense of detachment from the world around them. Spirals represent something that consumes, or controls, the person's choices. If their face or neck is obscured, that means that they're hiding their true self or their true feelings through a mask, depending on the color, of course."

"Brush streaks, lines, and dots aren't important. They're flavor, don't worry if you see them on a person's aura. The only other thing I can confidently say about them is that the more colors an aura has, the more...unstable the person is. One to two is great, three is okay, and four is worrying."

"Five or more is a sign something is deeply, deeply flawed with that person. If you spot someone with too many colors? Either get them a therapist, or run."

The Man begins to sweat bullets, considering that applies to his own aura. He briefly recounts his aura over the phone, using your description, asking if he should be worried.

Mike tries to stay professional as the Man babbles. Once he finishes, 'Mike' calmly answers. "I would think that's more a symptom of your current condition. If a regular human had that aura, it'd be worrying, but you're closer to me than to the other two."

"I will say what purple represents: power, wisdom, and restriction. Now, it's time for me to harvest your time."

The line cuts out just like that. You and the Man share a look at each other, wondering what exactly he meant by that, but you soon realize that, oh, yeah, time really has passed. Colt is waving the two of you over.

"Hey! Are you two gonna stand there all day with a THUMB UP YOUR ASS??? I got your GUNS ready, Vince!"

"Bwuh? How long has it been?"

"I dunno! An hour or two?" Colt responds rather dismissively. "All I know is your fax machine's screamin'. Guess it's time for a new rule or somethin'."

The Man has a vague awareness that his sense of time was altered or hampered in some way. He's going to check your computer's clock to see what's going on.

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While he's doing that, you go to collect your guns from Colt. Colt has really outdone himself here, given the amount of grime and gunk covering his hands. He's done everything in his power to fix up your guns with the tools your lab had. He raises a sparkling, pristine deagle up to you. It's almost factory new with how little wear and tear there is on the gun.

Your eyes dart down to your other gun, your shotgun, resting on the table he's working at. The rust and stains that were once on it are completely done, and as you pick it up, you can feel how much sturdier it is than it was when you found it.

When you found it in a literal pile of trash, you could tell that it probably couldn't handle more than one or two shots before breaking apart. Now? If you bashed it against a rock, the rock would break way before the gun took any amount of damage.

"You gotta maintain your guns. If ya don't, they can jam on ya, or misfire, or your shots go wildly off target. Me? I know how to tune one up." Colt tightens the grip on the deagle he fixed. "You gotta treat them with love, Vince, like a woman who doesn't talk back to you."

"Not like they can, ha!" Colt guffaws. "See, that's why guns are better. They never fail ya unless you fail them first."

UPGRADES REVEALED!
>PRISTINE CHROME DEAGLE! (A ROBUST pistol for a ROBUST MAN. Uses PISTOL AMMO. Adds +12 to ATTACK ROLLS. Once per roll, you may reroll a dice that had a natural roll of 25 or lower.)
>PRISTINE DOUBLE BARRELED SHOTGUN (A powerful, expensive FIREARM down here in ARC. Uses SHOTGUN AMMO. Adds +17 to ATTACK ROLLS. Gunshot injuries made with it require far more time and effort to heal from.)

YOU ALSO OBTAINED
>BOOZEY SHOTGUN SLUGS (Counts as 1 SHOTGUN AMMO. This ammo does vastly less physical damage, but they'll instantly render most biological enemies a drunken mess.)

Something tells you that this decision might've been the best one you could've made. "Thank you. Genuinely, thank you."

"Ain't nothin'. I don't want ya to embarrass yourself by swingin' a knife around, ha!" Colt slams his fist on the table. "Just jestin', ya funny little wetback you."

"Pft. I can still kill someone by swinging a knife around. Sometimes guns are simply better to use."

"Exactly. That's why I helped ya out." Before your banter can go on any longer, the Man returns with a sheet of FAX PAPER and some information about what 'Mike' just did. An hour and a half vanished into thin air right after you finished your call with him.

Which...doesn't make any sense, it only felt like a second has passed, but you guess he wasn't joking when he said he'd harvest your time. You pick up the sheet of fax paper to see what's written on it this time around.

IDEAL ARC EMPLOYEE: You must spend two actions to study an ARTIFACT or an anomaly. Rule change in: 3 TIME TOKENS.

Ah, you guess you can't avoid strenuous work forever. You love the facility you're working in. YOU LOVE THE FACILITY YOU'RE-

Choose at least two ANOMALY/ARTIFACT work orders and one NON ANOMALY/ARTIFACT work order, and any FREE TIME ACTIONS.

TIME TOKENS: 10

ANOMALY/ARTIFACT
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter HARD TIMES' containment cell. You only worked on it once so far. Get to know it better. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's containment cell. Finally, it's time to harvest more wine! (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS.)
>Experiment with ESTABLISHING SHOT! You already know what it does, but how far can you push it? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 63, +6 to roll.)
>Try to copy ACCUMULATED PAST with the EGG. Can it copy something that complex? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 6?, +??? to roll)

RESEARCH
>Study the GREY PASTE. What, exactly, is this? Is it ACTUALLY edible or is something else up with it? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 77, +8 to roll.)
>Research a way to make a more 'convenient' healing item with your OBSCURA SYRAH. This might make the BIG BUCKS! (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 65, +8 to roll.)
>Modify the BENODINE pills into a form you can actually safely use. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 73, +4 to roll.)
>You got an excess of STATIC POLLEN now. Try to combine them with some of your other samples. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 62, +2 to roll.)
>Check out the two weirds book you have: UNTITLED BOOK and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BEING AFRAID. What secrets do they hold? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS, ?????.)
>Try to create some new varieties of CIGARETTE MOLD with the samples you got lying around. (-1 TIME TOKEN, consumes a random amount of samples you have, no skill check needed.)

BUSY WORK
>It's time to MOTH HUNT. Put on your M.A.D WORLD glasses and hunt down some moths to study! (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 70, +16 to roll.)
>Try to make some weapons out of the anomalous samples you have. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 67, +7 to roll. Colt's helping a lot here.)
>Contact UPPER MANAGEMENT. Pitch a proposal involving your CIGARETTE MOLD. (-1 TIME TOKEN. DC 70, +16 to roll. Being in ARC'S good graces is making this pretty easy.)
>Harvest some samples from your own body. Might as well start working on ExTINCTION CORP'S sponsorship. (-0 TIME TOKENS, still costs an action. Deals HEAVY damage to your PHYSICAL HEALTH. You'll gain some samples.)
>Modify LOST SINCE 199X's and HARD TIMES' containment cells. Connect them together. Reinvent the steam turbine. (-3 TIME TOKENS, DC 67, +5 to roll. This would improve HARD TIMES' power output by a lot.)

FREE ACTION
>Pet the cat. It is now socially acceptable. (FREE ACTION, +1d2 TIME TOKENS. No penalty? Mew penalty.)
>Chit-chat with your coworkers. Suffering is better with company. (FREE ACTION. You may write in specific questions to ask, if you want to know anything specific.)

>Write in.

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter HARD TIMES' containment cell. You only worked on it once so far. Get to know it better. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Try to make some weapons out of the anomalous samples you have. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 67, +7 to roll. Colt's helping a lot here.)
>Pet the cat. It is now socially acceptable. (FREE ACTION, +1d2 TIME TOKENS. No penalty? Mew penalty.)
>Grab a beer for yourself and your helpers
I get the feeling we should try to relax more often and maybe take a day off soon

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)

>Experiment with ESTABLISHING SHOT! You already know what it does, but how far can you push it? (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 63, +6 to roll.)

>Check out the two weirds book you have: UNTITLED BOOK and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BEING AFRAID. What secrets do they hold? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS, ?????.)

>Pet the cat. It is now socially acceptable. (FREE ACTION, +1d2 TIME TOKENS. No penalty? Mew penalty.)

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter HARD TIMES' containment cell. You only worked on it once so far. Get to know it better. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Research a way to make a more 'convenient' healing item with your OBSCURA SYRAH. This might make the BIG BUCKS! (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 65, +8 to roll.)
>Chit-chat with your coworkers. Suffering is better with company. (FREE ACTION. You may write in specific questions to ask, if you want to know anything specific.)
Talk to Colt and The Man at the same time. Get an idea of how much Colt can perceive him. Also give them beer.

File: 199Xa3.png (99.3 KB)

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>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter HARD TIMES' containment cell. You only worked on it once so far. Get to know it better. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Check out the two weirds book you have: UNTITLED BOOK and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BEING AFRAID. What secrets do they hold? (-1d2 TIME TOKENS, ?????.)

>Pet the cat. It is now socially acceptable. (FREE ACTION, +1d2 TIME TOKENS. No penalty? Mew penalty.)

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's containment cell. Finally, it's time to harvest more wine! (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS.)

>Try to create some new varieties of CIGARETTE MOLD with the samples you got lying around. (-1 TIME TOKEN, consumes a random amount of samples you have, no skill check needed.)

>Chit-chat with your coworkers. Suffering is better with company. (FREE ACTION. [Ask what type of woman they like])

>>6365106
ENTER 199X
ENTER HARD TIMES
TWO WEIRD BOOKS
CHITCHAT BACKING >>6365151 MINUS THE BEER
(SAVE BEER FOR THE COOKOUT)

>>6365267
Save that for the cookout too, I say

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
Seems somewhat urgent.
>Enter NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER's containment cell. Finally, it's time to harvest more wine! (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS.)
LOST SINCE and HARD TIMES could potentially injure us, so it seems safer to only do one of those two. And we have to milk the wine cow anyway.
>Try to make some weapons out of the anomalous samples you have. (-1 TIME TOKEN, DC 67, +7 to roll. Colt's helping a lot here.)
Let's get this done while Colt is with us.

>Chit-chat with your coworkers. Suffering is better with company. (FREE ACTION. You may write in specific questions to ask, if you want to know anything specific.)
Ask Colt about how he got 'recruited' and about the anomalies he worked with. Ask both of they tried SPARKLING SUNSHINE and how one could improve it.

>>6365106
>Enter LOST SINCE 199X's containment cell. Alright, what is it freaking out about NOW? (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Enter HARD TIMES' containment cell. You only worked on it once so far. Get to know it better. (-1d2-1 TIME TOKENS)
>Try to create some new varieties of CIGARETTE MOLD with the samples you got lying around. (-1 TIME TOKEN, consumes a random amount of samples you have, no skill check needed.)
>Harvest some samples from your own body. Might as well start working on ExTINCTION CORP'S sponsorship. (-0 TIME TOKENS, still costs an action. Deals HEAVY damage to your PHYSICAL HEALTH. You'll gain some samples.)
>Pet the cat. It is now socially acceptable. (FREE ACTION, +1d2 TIME TOKENS. No penalty? Mew penalty.)
>Chit-chat with your coworkers. Suffering is better with company. (FREE ACTION. You may write in specific questions to ask, if you want to know anything specific.)

>>6365106
>Modify LOST SINCE 199X's and HARD TIMES' containment cells. Connect them together. Reinvent the steam turbine. (-3 TIME TOKENS, DC 67, +5 to roll. This would improve HARD TIMES' power output by a lot.)
Steam engine my beloved we will get to you soon I swear it. I wonder if this counts as working on 199X and HARD TIMES in terms of the order?

>>6365449
Doubt it since that is just one action

Rolled 1, 1, 1 = 3 (3d2)

LOST SINCE 199X: cKq, YGT, hdC, 6Tw, sGe, TBa, ZBH, qTJ
SOMMELIER: sGe, ZBH
MOLD: sGe, qTJ
HARVEST SAMPLES: qTJ
ESTABLISHING SHOT: YGT
BOOKS: YGT, 6Tw, TBa
HARD TIMES: cKq, hdC, 6Tw, TBa, qTJ
CONVENIENT: hdC
WEAPONS: cKq, ZBH
CONTAINMENT CELL ALTERATION: Lan

PET THE CAT: cKq, YGT, 6Tw, qTJ
BEER: cKq
COWORKERS: hdC, sGe, TBa, ZBH, qTJ

It's kinda all over the place for what the third action will be but it seems like BOOKS won out by a small majority. Out of the anons who voted, petting the cat just barely didn't get enough votes to be picked (4/9), so we're going with 199X/HARD TIMES/BOOKS/COWORKER CHIT-CHAT

Today will be a shorter update, since there's a certain little thing I forgot to ask you to vote for at the start of the shift. So you'll likely get to work on your two anomalies next update, not this update.

Rolling 3d2. First d2 is to see if 199X costs time tokens (1 = NONE, 2 = 1 TOKEN), second is to see if HARD TIMES costs any time tokens (same as 199x), and the last d2 will see how many time tokens the book eats up. After that, writing.

>>6365449
It might've count as a partial work on HARD TIMES since you're improving its efficiency, but I highly doubt 199X would really care about his snow being used on a machine. Would've answered this earlier so you could've picked two other actions, but eh, I was asleep.

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Well, at least you're not leaving your anomalies to rot. You can't be too mad at this particular rule. A tiny part of you wanted to work on NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER, given she (it?) is probably the most profitable anomaly you currently own, but 199X and HARD TIMES need more immediate attention.

That doesn't mean you immediately have to work on them. You can dick around with a bit of friendly coworker banter. You drag a discarded chair over to the table Colt is sitting at. "Alright. We're going to do work later, I want to talk to you guys real quick."

"Ha! Didn't know you had it in ya to take a break." Colt leans back in his chair. "Aight. I don't mind. Let's chit-chat, freak."

The Man also wouldn't mind taking this shift slow. He vaguely mentions that the air felt off to him anyways.

"First things first, Colt, I'm curious. You can see and hear him, right? The Man?"

Colt shoots another look at the Man. "Yes, sir, I do in fact see a fuckin' spook standin' right beside us. Only difference between this spook and the other spooks I've seen?"

"He has a better sense of fashion." Colt snorts like a feral hog. "What about 'im?"

The Man thanks Colt for this compliment? He admits that he could do with a wardrobe upgrade eventually, but there's a time and a place for that.

"Eh. At least ya ain't like Vinny here, so that's all that matters."

"Yeah, see, that's what I was curious about." You pointedly ignore his jab. "How much of him can you, well, see? I know you heard him, so that's good, but still."

"Eh. Couldn't tell ya much about 'im. I know he's some kind of European, I know he's wearin' a researcher suit, and that he's a man." Colt squints his eyes at the Man. "Was I right?"

The Man doesn't know his own nationality, his own memory is pretty sparse.

"Damn shame. I wish I could actually hear his voice, it's like. I ain't hearing his voice." Colt knits his brows. "It's like I'm paraphrasing it."

The Man asks if that's the same for him as it is for you.

"I would say so, yeah." You give the Man a curt nod. It's something of a struggle trying to parse what he says because most of the time? It feels as if you're merely guessing what he's saying, instead of actually listening to him.

The Man voices his displeasure at this, but he's glad he can talk at all. He's thankful that Colt is able to see him as well as you can. It wasn't like this before.

"Mmh. Thought some fucker was pourin' random thoughts into my head." Colt manages to stop himself from shuddering at the thought. "Real freak shit, ya know, real voodoo freaky-deaky nonsense."

The Man's mouth(?) twists into something resembling a smirk. Maybe he DID do voodoo before he forgot his past.

"Don't even joke about that, Man." Colt snarls. "I ain't gonna be pals with no voodoo freakshit, nuh uh, I already deal with enough freaks as is!"

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You quickly change the topic to something lighter. "Man, Colt. I have a question. What kind of women do you like?"

Colt nearly gets whiplash from how quickly he snaps his head around. "Ones with big ol' honkers. I ain't talkin' about those fake plastic bimbo tits, but real natural honkers."

"Asses are fine too; ya need a good butt to balance things out, but the tits are the main show. Big tits, blonde hair, skinny bods." Colt flashes a toothy grin at you. "I ain't no fan of no slampigs, ya hear?"

You politely chuckle at his pretty crass comment. "I get you. What about you. Man?"

"Yeah, Man, what about ya?"

The Man's face suddenly turns red as he realizes he has to actually answer this. He stammers out something you couldn't quite make out.

"C'mon, speak up!" Colt smacks his palm against the table for emphasis. "Be a man! Don't be a pussy; speak with your WHOLE CHEST!"

The Man mumbles out that he likes robot girls. He's not against human women, he continues to stammer out, but he really likes robots. And he also likes personality too, he guesses. Maybe.

The two of you stare at him. Neither of you wants to be the first one to say it, but Colt eventually breaks the silence. "So, would the wine robot-"

The Man states that NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER would be his type, yes. His face gets redder by the sentence as the two of you continue to stare at him.

"BAHAHA! WE GOT A ROBOFUCKER HERE!" Colt smashes his fist against the table again and again. "Holy shit. Vince, did you know this? Did ya?"

"I did not, and I'm not jud-" "Haaa! Wow! Out of all of the women here, ya pick the robots?"

The Man grits his teeth. He points out that Colt told him about a certain anomaly he tried to flirt with. Colt's laughter dies right then and there, like a bucket of cold water being poured over a flame.

"Mind telling-" "It ain't none of your fucking business, beaner."

You stifle a snort. There's another question you want to ask him, but you'll save that after you're done with one of your simpler tasks. You ask the Man to retrieve some books you want to study. He's more than glad to leave the table, so he can get some fresh air to breath.

Colt quickly moves on from the Man's comment. He's going to pretend like he didn't hear anything. "So, we're gonna be workin' on some anomalies soon. Gotta a question, Vince."

"Shoot. I already asked you guys two questions."

"Do ya ever miss the outside world?" Colt's gaze drifts up towards the ceiling. "Ya know. Fresh sunshine, fresh air, all of that stuff."

"The recycled air down here feels good on my chest, but, like, it ain't the same." Colt's voice softens. His focus is drifting somewhere else. "Ain't no different from the prison I was stuck in. Feh. Aggravated assault, my ass. He deserved it."

The Man returns with the books you asked for before you had time to answer.

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He overheard what Colt said and he wants to give his own two cents.

He doesn't personally remember the outside world but he's seen people say that it's better than the outside world. That there's order here, or that there's a certain safety and security in the routine this place instills.

You crack open the two books while you mull over how to answer Colt's question. The first one, the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BEING AFRAID, is a manual of sorts on how to face your fears and methods on how you can cope with various phobias. The other one is written in a way that's hard for your brain to process, so you'll stick with the ENCYCLOPEDIA for now.

You sense that there's something different about Colt, now that you got a better look at him. Maybe it's better if you figured out what's different about him before you work on an anomaly.

CHOOSE COLT'S UPGRADE! You got this from doing his bullet sidequest earlier.
>There's a fire burning in his bloodshot eyes. (PATRIOTIC ZEAL. Colt now takes notably less MENTAL HEALTH damage, and he gains a +4 bonus to resisting mental-based effects.)
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
>Has he been working out? There's a sturdiness to his physique that wasn't there before. (MEATHEAD AND MEATBODY. Colt now has a +10 bonus to endurance based rolls. A fellow ENDURING brother.)
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)

How do you answer Colt's question about the outside world?
>You have no loyalty to this place. If there was a safe way out of here, you'd take it.
>You do miss it, but for now, you're content working here.
>You actually don't mind it down here. It's far better than your previous jobs, at least.
>Maybe you'll leave one day, but before you leave, you want to make this facility a better place.
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.
>Write in.

>>6365623
NEW TASK UNLOCKED: Paint NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER like one of those French girls. Maybe that'll be all it takes to resolve the anomaly.

>>6365242
Nothing else he can do. Not until ??? ???????

You'll get to learn about Colt's anomalies and past next update, then you'll work one of your anomalies. I didn't want a giant wall of text that was 6-7 posts long.

>>6365673
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.

>>6365673
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)

>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.
Glad we've confirmed that the MAN has a taste for the strength and certainty of steel. But now I need to know about this anomaly Colt flirted with.

File: Vincent escaped.png (110.5 KB)

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>>6365673
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.

>>6365673
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)

Feels most accurate to his prior characterization.

… IIRC, a prior bonding moment in the cafeteria led to the Man also having an upgrade due. I’d need to double check to be sure tho.

>You actually don't mind it down here. It's far better than your previous jobs, at least.

Feels better than claiming there’s nothing left out there for us, at least. The rest of our estranged family is out there while we’re in here, after all. (Inb4 I jinx it and the rate of blackbagging Cruz’s ramps up.)

>>6365801
You are, in fact, correct. I'll probably do that in a following update, since it'd be weird to retroactively add that vote in now. (It's easy to forget these things when certain employees aren't hired for a while, you know?)

>>6365714
[REDACTED]-chan is your friend.

Tough call. Very tempting speech check plus and reroll, but artifact research without his meatmeah malus and his own bonus would make him our best artifact expert wouldn't it.

>>6365673
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)
The amber waves of grain... the American spirit...
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.
Being here is better than being topside. Maybe one day we should finally roll by HUMAN RESOURCES and personally thank the crazy fuck who kidnapped us

>>6365714
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.

>>6365673
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.

>>6365673
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
>You do miss it, but for now, you're content working here. (Lie)

>>6365673
>>There's a fire burning in his bloodshot eyes. (PATRIOTIC ZEAL. Colt now takes notably less MENTAL HEALTH damage, and he gains a +4 bonus to resisting mental-based effects.)
>Maybe you'll leave one day, but before you leave, you want to make this facility a better place.

>>6365671
>The Man mumbles out that he likes robot girls. He's not against human women, he continues to stammer out, but he really likes robots. And he also likes personality too, he guesses. Maybe.
It's fine, I just didn't think the man would be chinese

>>6365673
>There's a tenderness to the way he touches his rifle, like it's a part of him. (ARTIFACT EXPERT. Colt's MEATHEAD penalty on research rolls no longer triggers on researching ARTIFACTS, and he gains an additional +6 to any check involving an ARTIFACT.)

>Maybe you'll leave one day, but before you leave, you want to make this facility a better place.

>>6365673

>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
As much as I'd love the artifact study bonus, there's a pizza party coming up in abno storage and we'll probably bring him. Would be a shame if his usual behavior reflected back on us.


>Maybe you'll leave one day, but before you leave, you want to make this facility a better place.

>>6365673
>The excitement and fervor in his voice is almost infectious. He's a blast to be around. (PARTY IN THE USA. Colt's speech check bonus increases to +8, and while he's in the party, you may reroll one dice during a speech check.)
>You don't miss it. There's not really anything up there for you, frankly.

>>6365824
>>6366001
Honestly, I think the mitigation of his MEATHEAD malus is kinda meh compared to the real prize: +6 to ALL artifact-related rolls (which likely includes combat rolls made with his rifle).

I can see the logic of PARTY IN THE USA indirectly dampening his “many people dislike me” malus, tho.

>>6366001 (me)
>>6366017
We do have the Man and Anthony for all checks. For research checks we only have Lucy (all research checks ), for speech we have Hidaka (corporate only) and potentially Nine (???). Both potential pairings (Lucy/Colt and Hidaka/Colt) probably won't work well anyhow. I'm really torn between hoping for Party in the USA to make him more agreeable and having an artifact specialist with possible extra firepower.

Aight, tallying it up.

UPGRADE?
PARTY IN THE USA: TgG, YGT, cKq, qTJ, zCf, hdC
ARTIFACT EXPERT: 6Tw, ahn, Jfi, RyR, sGe
PATRIOTIC ZEAL: Lhd

SURFACE?
DON'T MISS IT: TgG, YGT, 6Tw, Jfi, RyR, cKq, hdC
DON'T MIND THE FACILITY: ahn
MISS IT (LIE): qTJ
MAKE FACILITY BETTER FIRST: Lhd, sGe, zCf

So, it appears Colt is going to be the one talking and chit-chatting on your behalf, since you're only able of socializing with corporate/facility higher ups without having a heart attack.
You're also going to voice that, really, you don't miss the surface. There's nothing up there for you besides mud, rain, and salt. At least here, you're useful.

Writing.

>>6366046
Nine would likely have some bonuses to researching anomalies, given they tardwrangle an anomaly day in and day out, so if you ever wanted to double down on abnomaxxing, picking Nine and Lucy would probably be a solid combo.
If you feel like hiring a spook who hasn't even given you a real name.

>>6366017
>I can see the logic of PARTY IN THE USA indirectly dampening his “many people dislike me” malus
It won't retroactively make people who hate him like him, that's not how humans work, but it'll lower his chances of getting into any more hot water.

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What is there for you on the surface? A low-paying job? No friends? A family you ran away from over a decade ago? The same monotonous routine, but with none of the benefits of being down here?

Down here? There's free food and shelter, you have all of these anomalies and artifacts to study, and people here like you. Even if you don't get why they like you. You can do so much down here that you could've never done on the surface.

"I don't miss it, frankly." You can feel a weight leaving your chest once you finally vocalize it.

>MENTAL HEALTH healed! Now at DOING GOOD!

"Maybe the rest of the people here had someone but me? Nothing's really changed. If anything, I like this job more than my previous one."

"I have more prospects here than anything I had above on the surface. That's all there is to it."

A glimmer of pity and amusement flickers through his bloodshot eyes. "Ey, c'mon, there has to be somethin' up there for ya. I had a whole buncha freaks I hung out with, up there."

"Maybe." You shrug. "Maybe I did. I don't remember, and I don't care to remember. I'm fine being down here."

The Man sympathizes with your answer. He probably wouldn't leave this place, even if he remembered who he was. There's a comfort to the endless grey hallways, the recycled air, all of that. At least in his opinion.

"Bah. The two of ya have to lighten up!" Colt flashes a toothy grin that could rival a Harvester's. "I guess I should apologize or whatnot for the dour question. I was curious. Ain't no harm meant, beaner."

"You know my actual name, man."

"Fucker, there's a guy named Man RIGHT THERE! How about YOU use my ACTUAL name?"

You barely manage to stop yourself from laughing. Okay, he got you there, but that's a low blow. If only you actually knew the Man's name. The Man politely chuckles, only to remind Colt that he had an actual name.

"Yeah, yeah, but you don't remember it. Ooo. Mystery man-" An idea suddenly manifested into Colt's brain (a rarity!) "What if we gave ya a name? Oh! Oh! I know!"

The Man begs him to stop before he vocalizes his idea.

"Manvik! You're Manvik now! Suck it!"

The Man would rather gut himself alive than be called Manvik. He pleads for Colt to give any other nickname. He'd even accept a random, out-of-context racial epithet.

"How the hell am I supposed to think of an insult to use on you? I can't even tell if you're a commie, a frog, or a polack! I could call you a niggerfaggot, sure, but that's CHEAP! It's too EASY!"

The two begin to bicker with each other, which you quickly tune out. You flip through the two books you have. Now that your focus is actually on the UNTITLED BOOK, you realize that it's not written in any language you understand. It's written in what looks like Mandarin, but who knows, it could be Japanese or Korean too.

The weird part is you have a loose idea of what it's trying to say.

File: NONSENSE.jpg (168 KB)

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It's a 'manual' on how to 'deal what can not be understood' with 'bloody methods'. So a combat manual on how to deal with the anomalous, you guess? You eagerly flip through page after page, trying to parse whatever you can, but all of the words you can make out are vague. The title help a little but they only help so much.

'Destruction of the anomaly's sense of belief'
'Refuting the PARADIGM of an ARTIFACT user.'
'ARTIFACT ATTUNEMENT: How to override your belief with an abnormality.'
'Harvester hunger: How to exploit.'
'Abnormality domain: Rejection of baseline reality.'

None of the sentences in the book really make too much sense to you, but you chalk them up to the book shoddily trying to translate itself to you. After a few minutes of fruitlessly trying to understand what's written in the book, the INSIGHT MODULE burrowed inside your head crackles to life.

A sharp, stinging pain flares in the side of your head for only the briefest of moments before it fades without a trace. When you look at the book again, the pages are all blank.
>INSIGHT MODULE UPGRADED! When in combat against a HARVESTER, ANOMALY, or a human wielding an ARTIFACT, you'll get a general sense on how tough they are and what kind of damage they might be able to do to you.

The other book is far simpler in comparison, and by the time the Man and Colt finished bickering, you're already done with it. The title of it might've been ominous, but the actual contents were easy to digest.

>Your max MENTAL HEALTH has been improved. The maximum bonus of CRUNCH TIME (when both health stats are red) is now +10!
>-UNTITLED BOOK, -ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BEING AFRAID

"-and that's why I gotta give it to the italians. At least they can make good food."

The Man fully agrees with that, but he has no idea what that had to do with the rest of the conversation they had. He admits that it doesn't matter; he had fun talking with Colt.

"Ey. That's what I bring to the party, baby. Party in the USA! I gotta keep the mood up if Vinny is gonna be such a fuckin' downer."
>+PARTY IN THE USA on Colt!

"Pft. Hey, I might need that, since we're gonna be working on a few anomalies. Though, hm." You want to work on HARD TIMES first, since while 199X is showing signs of emotional instability, he's not actively breaching. Not right now. You'll go to his cell as soon as you're done with the machine, of course.

Who to bring for HARD TIMES, though? You wanted to bring Colt in first since you vaguely remember a saying about Americans in the Japanese workplace, but the Man would actually know a thing or two about the machine. Maybe you'll bring Colt if you work on HARD TIMES later in the shift.

"Man, follow me. We're going to be working on HARD TIMES. Did you read the dossier?"

The Man gives you a thumbs up. Of course he read it; he's no slacker, unlike a certain other researcher who works on anomalies.

"My anomalies love me, Manny! C'mon!"

File: AMERICAN.png (11.1 KB)

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"Yeah, hey, what anomalies do you even have?" You're curious. He's another researcher, even if he's really bad at being one, so you wonder what anomalies he has.

"Well, one of 'em gave me these beauts." He slaps the side of his rifle before using his free hand to point at the flag wrapped around him. "Big guy named RED BLOODED AMERICAN was my first 'anomaly'. Giant motherfucker with bright red skin and horns, like a demon, wearin' nothing but the flag of the greatest country in America."

"By god, we got along like two peas in a pod."

"He was a fighter, I was a fighter, and we beat the shit out of each other to establish dominance. I won, of course, and he gifted me this." He holds up the rifle in his hands.

"Wait, and he somehow survived long enough to give you another ARTIFACT?"

"Yeah, the other docs were confused too. I heard somethin' about my attunement with the anomaly or some sci-fi voodoo nonsense being so high, I got two ARTIFACTS from it. Some anomalies resonate with people better or something."

Colt clearly doesn't fully understand what he's saying. He shrugs his shoulders as he continues to speak. "Well, he's still kickin', but after I got the flag he hasn't really done much. We just shoot the shit. Getting his ARTIFACTS drained him, even if it didn't kill him."

So it is possible to get ARTIFACTs from an anomaly without it disappearing. Good news for NOWHERE'S SOMMELIER, at least. You gesture at him to continue.

"The other two ain't so interesting. I got this bed with a window floatin' by it, and I keep seeing weird balls of light flying out of the window. They make a weird fly-like buzz I don't like." Colt shudders, quickly deciding to move the conversation away from that anomaly. "Last one? Uhm."

The Man says that he lucked out with an anomaly that looks almost exactly like a human woman, besides having blue skin and six arms. She also only wore tribalesque clothing, which didn't hide a lot.

He recalls something about Colt commenting on how hot-

Colt immediately aims his rifle at the Man.. "I dunno what REMNANT OF OUR PAST told ya, but it was not LIKE THAT! I DID NOT FLIRT WITH HER!"

The Man isn't judging. He knows that a red-blooded American like Colt would, quite understandably, want to flirt with the pretty-

For a split second you thought you saw Colt's eyes flash crimson red. The Man decides that, hey, maybe it's a good time to head to HARD TIMES' containment cell. Colt grumbles under his breath, hoping that you won't pry into his little incident with an anomaly.

As you move to follow after him, you ask Colt one last question. "How were you brought here anyways?"

"Ya know how I said I went to prison? Well, I got out, and I joined construction work." He taps his foot against the metal floor. "We built a lotta stuff, for a lotta companies and people, and we even built a few bunkers. Kinda like this facility."

File: THEMACHINESHOME.png (944 KB)

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"We were told to build an underground bunker for the government, and we had to sign some stupid paperwork to make sure we wouldn't squeal. Some rat bastard figured out what we were actually building, though."

"So..." Colt slumps against the table. "Once he squealed to us, they decided to drag me and the rest of my boys down to the nearest ARC facility. To make sure no info got out. All because one little bastard couldn't keep his mouth shut."

"That was about a year ago? I can't quite remember. Time kinda moves funny down here. Days feel like months, and months feel like hours."

Damn. You guess your office got lucky then, if ARC was willing to kidnap a whole construction crew just to keep a secret. You offer some words of consolation, which Colt promptly brushes off, before you join the Man at HARD TIMES' containment cell.

The two of you suit up in your handy-dandy hazmat suits before stepping inside. It may be overkill, but you can't ever be too safe with an anomaly you barely know anything about.

---

The air is still thick with the familiar stench of rust and ozone, but the machine hasn't changed since you were last here. The Man checks the battery; it was charging, and he can confirm that it fully charged the battery overnight.

There's a low, grinding sound coming from deep inside of the machine's mechanical inside. The machine continues to relentlessly turn the crank despite being completely out of fuel. The Man marvels at the machine's ability to work. You agree with him, and for a split second, the machine's movements quicken, as if trying to 'impress' you.

The Man's eyes randomly dart across the machine. While he admits his memory isn't what it used to be, he thinks he has seen a machine like this before. One that ARC tried to make, actually.

"Really now? Mind telling me exactly what that might be?"

Humanity has always strived for a way to get more out of less. To feed as many hungry mouths as possible with the cheapest slop possible. To make as much money as possible with the least amount of costs. To get as much prestige and power as you can, without needing to do anything to deserve it.

ARC wanted to create a source of clean, efficient energy that would knock the socks off of the government. Considering the government's wishy-washy stance on keeping ARC, he assumes you can understand why they'd want something like this.

There's one thing off about this machine compared to the plans he's seen ARC throwing around. He can sense a vague, distorted desire buried deep inside the metal. Something that he can't really say is a 'human' desire but a desire nonetheless.

The machine is thirsty and it is starving. It will work regardless, though, but he can sense the hunger building in it.

Ominous, but you'll keep it in mind. The other only thing of note inside the room is a pile of gears and bolts you did not see in this room before.

A note labeled "FROM EVE'S" lays on top of the pile of gears and bolts. Oh boy, right, that sponsorship. You got two days to complete it so it's not an immediate worry but...

Another light on the machine turns on. Two out of the five lights have activated.
>+1 FULLY CHARGED BATTERY obtained! (Worth $200. HARD TIMES generates one per day passively, but interacting with it will make it generate power faster.)

HARD TIME MOOD: 84/100

What do you want to do with HARD TIMES? Choose four actions! (+1 from ???. Something you said earlier today triggered this?)

COMMUNICATION:
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
>Ask it about Mr. Daido and Akihiko. How does it feel about the two CEOs?
>Ask it about JOYTECHS. What is it thoughts on that company?
>Try to relate with the anomaly. You know what it's like to be on that GRINDSET. (DC ???, +?? with ???. Might be a good idea? Might not?)
>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)

EXAMINATION
>Examine the 'BLOOD SOUP' and 'BLOOD FUEL' slots. Try to figure out why the anomaly likes blood so much. (DC 70, +10 to roll.)
>Check out its internals. There has to be a panel in here that'll show you them. (DC 72, +9 to roll.)
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine does. It couldn't hurt to try? (No check needed.)
>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)

STIMULI/MISC
>Turn on the CD PLAYER and crank up the volume as high as it goes!
>Crank up the containment cell's temperature. Factories are usually boiling hot, maybe this will help it settle in.
>Brew up some coffee with your new coffee machine, and feed it into the machine. A worker has to stay caffeinated. (-1 of 3 COFFEE BAGS.)
>Cut into your palm. Feed the machine what it desires: Blood. (Costs a decent amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH.)
>Feed it some CIGARETTE MOLD and BLACK BILE. You want to see how it responds to those fuel sources. (-4 of 5 CIGARETTE MOLD, -LAST BLACK BILE)
>Try to doll up the machine with some paint. A little bit of pazazz to make it look and feel better.
>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)

>Write in?

Update went on a little bit longer than I thought, but hey, that's just more stuff for you guys to read.

>>6366068
Magick is fun, kids. There's nothing bad that can happen when you trust a magician.

>>6366125
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.

>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)

>Cut into your palm. Feed the machine what it desires: Blood. (Costs a decent amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH.)

>Feed it some CIGARETTE MOLD and BLACK BILE. You want to see how it responds to those fuel sources. (-4 of 5 CIGARETTE MOLD, -LAST BLACK BILE)

>>6366125
Something we said earlier. I'd like to believe it was the bit about the Loud American in a japanese company, but it could certainly be a number of things. Unless it heard about my plans for the Steam Engine upgrades, that could certainly be it. A whole extra action is pretty sweet, I'll have to try and think of something else we can do.


>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)


>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)
If its trying to communicate would Colt's new bonus apply? It must be trying to convey something, just a matter of whether the 'language' is applicable.

>Cut into your palm. Feed the machine what it desires: Blood. (Costs a decent amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH.)
Maybe the damage will give us a slight boost to our rolls with CRUNCH TIME, and if the experiment damages its mood considerably this should at least even it out. If the MAN does it too he can also have a sandwich.

>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)
I mean we do have the work order to fulfill here. May as well get started on these experiments.

>>6366125
>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)
These seem integral to the anomaly's function
>Cut into your palm. Feed the machine what it desires: Blood. (Costs a decent amount of PHYSICAL HEALTH.)
FEED THE BEAST
>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)
Tell it this is from another company's joint proposal or something. He'll know what sponsorships are
>Feed it some CIGARETTE MOLD and BLACK BILE. You want to see how it responds to those fuel sources. (-4 of 5 CIGARETTE MOLD, -LAST BLACK BILE)
Just for funsies

>>6366131
+1

>>6366125
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
Start on the right foot.

>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)
Machine wants to be useful.

>Brew up some coffee with your new coffee machine, and feed it into the machine. A worker has to stay caffeinated. (-1 of 3 COFFEE BAGS.)
Quench its thirst… while preserving our precious physical health for making progress on the grueling ExTINCT sponsorship.

>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)
-Explain that you aren’t insinuating that it isn’t currently fit for work; but even it must admit that it isn’t currently feeling at 100%. Even the best machines require maintenance to operate at maximum capacity.

Let’s stay conservative on the number of rolls we attempt today, as a rule.

Also; where Man upgrade.

>>6366125
Changing vote in >>6366249 from
>CUT PALM
>BUSINESS CARDS
Because >>6366321 is right, Vincent's PAIN and samples go to ExTINCT today. I'm sure HARD TIMES will understand that we are beholden to our superiors just as he was to his.

>>6366125
Changing from >>6366209
to support >>6366321
Good point I forgot about the sponsorship asking for a bunch of our blood, flesh, and bones lol.

>>6366125
>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine does. It couldn't hurt to try? (No check needed.)
>Crank up the containment cell's temperature. Factories are usually boiling hot, maybe this will help it settle in.
>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)

>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
>Crank up the containment cell's temperature. Factories are usually boiling hot, maybe this will help it settle in.
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine does. It couldn't hurt to try? (No check needed.)
>Feed it some CIGARETTE MOLD and BLACK BILE. You want to see how it responds to those fuel sources. (-4 of 5 CIGARETTE MOLD, -LAST BLACK BILE)

>>6366121
>The Man says that he lucked out with an anomaly that looks almost exactly like a human woman, besides having blue skin and six arms. She also only wore tribalesque clothing, which didn't hide a lot.
>He recalls something about Colt commenting on how hot-
Patriot
>>6366125
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
>>Ask it about Mr. Daido and Akihiko. How does it feel about the two CEOs?

>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)

>Feed it some CIGARETTE MOLD and BLACK BILE. You want to see how it responds to those fuel sources. (-4 of 5 CIGARETTE MOLD, -LAST BLACK BILE)

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>>6366125
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine does. It couldn't hurt to try? (No check needed.)
>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)

>>6366321
+1

>>6366121
>pic rel
Wow, small world. Haven't been there in a while. This is one of the better custom abnos.

>>6366125
>Look for any traces, hints or notes that could explain what the machine does. It couldn't hurt to try? (No check needed.)
>Investigate the row of lights on the side of the machine. Is it a warning? Is it a message? What's up with this? (DC 68, +13 to roll.)
>Brew up some coffee with your new coffee machine, and feed it into the machine. A worker has to stay caffeinated. (-1 of 3 COFFEE BAGS.)
>Try to install it some of the gears and bolts into HARD TIMES. (DC ???, +7 to roll. Counts as one of six experiments for EVE'S sponsorship.)

>>6366411
A QUIET DAY and APEX PREDATOR and TIL THE LAST SHOT are all his abnos too. They all come from his first quest on here

>>6366125
>Create some business cards with the MAN'S help, and show them off to the machine. Communicate to it on its level.
>"Could you help me modify your cell later?" You have a plan in mind on how you can make the machine more efficient. (The TIME TOKEN cost to modify its and 199X's cell will be decreased by 1, +???)
>Brew up some coffee with your new coffee machine, and feed it into the machine. A worker has to stay caffeinated. (-1 of 3 COFFEE BAGS.)
>Write-in: Feed it the leftover pizza from your minifridge.
Might be useful to start with regular food and test abnormal food and the much desired blood fuel later.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

Oof, sorry for being late, I was in town for a lot longer than I expected. Counting votes now.

BUSINESS CARDS: YGT, hdC, igf, ahn, Lan, PX/, cKq, sGe, 6Tw, ZBH
DAIDO: sGe
LIGHTS: YGT, hdC, igf, sGe, TgG
PALM: YGT, hdC
MOLD + BILE: YGT, hdC, igf, cKq, sGe
EVE SPONSOR: igf, ahn, Lan, PX/, qTJ, 6Tw, TgG
MODIFY CELL: ahn, Lan, PX/, qTJ, 6Tw, ZBH
NOTES: qTJ, cKq, 6Tw, TgG
TEMPERATURE: qTJ, cKq
COFFEE: ahn, Lan, PX/, TgG, ZBH
PIZZA: ZBH

BUSINESS CARDS, EVE SPONSORSHIP and MODIFY CELL all won, but there's a three way tie between MOLD + COFFEE + LIGHTS. So I'm going to roll a 1d3 real quick before I call for your rolls, since two of those don't need a roll but one of them does.

1 = MOLD + BILE
2 = COFFEE
3 = LIGHTS (needs roll)

>>6366411
>>6366447
Yeah I can't really steal from my past self. I did some ideaguy and mild code work for an old SS13 server. Nothing amazing but hey, I'm a jack of all trades. I was responsible for six anomalies being added to that server, whether as an idea guy or actually bothering to code things.

>>6366397
Poker is a real man's game, didn't ya know?

Aight. So I need three anons to roll 1d100+7, since you're going to be messing around with its internals with unknown, experimental gunk. Here's the table below, let's get jiggy with it.

EVE SPONSORSHIP (DC ??, but it's probably within a reasonable range of the other DCs)
0 SUCCESSES: It did not go over well. You can't describe the noise the machine made as anything other than a growl. (???)
1 SUCCESS: Installing the gears and bolts could've gone over a lot better. (-ANOMALY MOOD, ???)
2 SUCCESSES: Okay! Okay, the machine isn't crumbling apart. That's good. (+ANOMALY MOOD, ???
3 SUCCESSES: Rummaging around the insides of the machine is dragging out an old memory of yours. (++ANOMALY MOOD, you obtain an INSIGHT hint, ???)

>>6366466
I'll probably roll your pizza write in into this update since, to be quite honest, the slice is beyond mummified now. It's barely considered food at this point.

>>6366321
Soon. Probably the moment you're done with 199X.

Rolled 17 + 7 (1d100 + 7)

>>6366620
Rolling!

>>6366621
OH NO NO NO BROS!!!!

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Rolled 35 + 7 (1d100 + 7)

>>6366620

Rolled 17 + 7 (1d100 + 7)

>>6366620

>>6366621
>>6366629
>>6366631
Shit.

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>>6366621
>>6366629
>>6366631
You know there's no way the DC was a 42, right? Do I need to spell out what result you got? But, it wasn't a complete wash. Let's say you're going to learn a lot about the anomaly, very quickly. And maybe a bit about Vincent in the crossfire.

Writing.

Attunement levels rising.

>>6366629
Ashton is cute! Cute! If you ignore the fact she's a cannibalistic lizard woman larping as a human.

>>6366621
>>6366631
We get a bonus for twin rolls, r-right ?
>>6366636
>. Let's say you're going to learn a lot about the anomaly, very quickly. And maybe a bit about Vincent in the crossfire.
Inb4 it's gonna drink our adrenochrome

>>6366629
I'm praying for the French Maid Ashton timeline rn

>>6366636
Shes a woman larping as a woman? You're so silly Handler!

Oh right I did come up with a backup source of water if 199X dies. Resolves? Goes to abno heaven? Vincent will just have to divert water from unnecessary functions like fire suppression systems, or public drinking fountains, or the level 0 bathrooms.

>>6366643
Any rolls involving ashton would get a -10 and it would be so worth it.

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It's time to work on your newest anomaly. You should at least break the metaphorical ice you have with this anomaly. What better way to do that than to make up some business cards?

Your actual business cards are back at your office, where you haven't been for over a week now. So you'll have to improvise. "Got a pen?"

The Man affirms that he does, and he already has an idea what you're going for. Business cards. The basest form of communication between workers, with water cooler talk being second in place. He made sure to bring a clipboard to record notes so, it's not hard to make something on the spot.

While he scribbles down some makeshift business cards, you examine the gears and bolts EVE'S left for you. You're no machinist, but even you can sense something is wrong with these things. They're made out of a soft, squishy metal that almost falls apart when you pick them up.

You have no idea what Eve's intends to do with gears made out of this. This is an obvious setup, but alas, you signed the sponsorship contract. At least HARD TIMES might accept them under the pretense of product testing?

You don't dwell on the gears for long; you'll deal with them when you get there. The Man calls you over because, hey, his business cards are done. It's best to communicate with anomalies on their level. You show your hastily written business card to the machine.

You bow your head. "I apologize for not giving this to you earlier. It was improper of me." You say with a faux-polite tone. The Man follows in your footsteps, showing his own card to the machine. The ambient grinding, gnashing and clicking of machinery abruptly stop. All of that noise was gone in an instant, leaving only a hollow silence.

The Man's voice wavers as he asks the anomaly if the two of you did something wrong. While you don't hear anything, the Man claims he hears some ticking coming from the machine. The two of you scout the machine to see where, exactly, that ticking is coming from.

You managed to locate the source of the ticking with some guidance from your handy-dandy coworker. It's coming from one of the many slots plastered on the machine's surface. Your best guess is it wants to be fed the business cards, so why not? The Man made them out of scraps of paper; no harm, no foul.

Once the keycards are fed into the slot, the machine kicks back to life. Another slip of paper is spat out of the machine, which the Man easily catches. He skims over the contents of the card before showing it to you.

JOYTECHS INC STEELWORKS
Watanabe [REDACTED]
Executive Director, KITAKYŪSHŪ
093-541-4131-22

The Man is very excited by what's on the card. Any information that could lead to better work outcomes with the anomaly is a slam dunk in his books. While you are happy about that, your attention is still on the machine itself.

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It's taken on a faster, excited pace to it. The previously glacial speed it had when cranking the handle is gone. The part of the machine cranking the handle is now moving at a steady, if still slow, pace.

Your business card plan was a slam dunk. You don't know how long this is going to last, so you ask the Man what ideas he has before you go with the gears and colts. He proposes that you feed it a fuel source that isn't your own blood. He read the notes on the BLACK BILE; maybe that'll be good enough?

"True, true, but we don't have a lot of that left. Any other ideas?"

The cigarette mold gives energy to humans, he points out. It may be a useful fuel source.

"Hm." You wish you could save some of it, but alas, you must feed the machine. Progress must be made. You prepare the samples before realizing the absurdity of 'preparing' them considering what you're about to do.

You apathetically toss the CIGARETTE MOLD and some beyond ancient pizza into the massive grinder in the middle of the machine.

The Man makes sure to carefully pour in the BLACK BILE, given how explosively flammable it is.

HARD TIMES's grinder immediately goes to work grinding and processing the samples into something it can use. The CIGARETTE MOLD causes a jolt of activity in the machine, similar to your business card trick (which was already starting to wear off), but with a far longer duration. A long lasting but weak boost in productivity.

The BLACK BILE, though? THAT gets the machine moving. In a few seconds, it's nearly impossible to hear anything besides the grinding of gears on gears. The Man tries to yell over the noise. It's a futile attempt. His voice is effortlessly drowned out by the sound of PROGRESS.

Your eyes catch something happening to the row of lights on the machine. The second light that turned on is beginning to flicker. Odd, but without any context, you can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing. What you do know is that the crank is starting to experience some real wear and tear from the new rapid-fire pace of the machine.

The stench of ozone is getting strong enough that it's starting to pierce through your hazmat suit. The Man's voice is finally audible over the torrent of industrial noise. He asked it to lower the noise so you can speak to it. The noise softens ever so slightly, giving you a word in edge wise.

"Could you help me modify your cell later? I want to connect your cell to 199X, so I can make you more useful."

That's all the machine needed to hear. A torrential wave of steam erupts from one of the output slots closest to a wall. The steam slammed into the steel wall with enough force to shake the entire containment cell. You nearly fall face-first on the floor, but the Man manages to stabilize you.

Once the steam clears and the shaking stops, you check the wall to see what exactly happened.

The wall is glowing molten orange.

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You didn't believe your eyes at first, but a good chunk of the wall has softened to the point where you could probably sculpt it like clay. You ask the Man how hot the metal would have to be to soften like this.

He says it'd probably be really close to the melting point of steel, so somewhere around 2,300 to 2,400 degrees? It's not fully molten, but that amount of heat should not be possible with steam alone. He can only hope that's a side effect of feeding it BLACK BILE, otherwise the issue here is blindingly obvious.

In the short term, it does mean you can carve that part of the cell with relative ease.

>-1 TIME TOKEN on MODIFYING 199X/HARD TIMES containment cell, and -10 to the DC!

The rapid-fire pace the industrial engine took is already starting to slow down. The small but steady increase from the CIGARETTE MOLD does appear to still be active. The Man theorizes that BLACK BILE is probably the best alternative fuel source you have to blood, given his own theory on what BLACK BILE IS.

"Which is?"

199X's blood, or something laced with its blood. Though, perhaps it prefers human blood more. Anomalies are human-centric entities, for better or worse.

Alas, you have one more thing to do. You collect the various bolts and gears with the Man's help. You explain that you intend to install this inside the machine. The Man voices his doubts on this working, but he knows your hands are tied.

The Man rummages around HARD TIME'S exterior for any panel he could remove so the two of you can exactly install the new parts. He has a keen eye, so he manages to find a panel, but when he opens it, he finds that it only consists of random gears and bolts. An insignificant part of the machine's internals that doesn't really give you any insight on how it works.

Well, it doesn't matter; all you care about is installing these things. "We're going to install these into you, HARD TIMES. It's a joint project with another company. We don't believe you're useless; we're simply pushing you to be a more efficient worker."

"Even the best machines require maintenance to operate at maximum capacity."

There's no visible or audible reaction from the machine, but since it's not attacking you out of self-defense or something, you assume it believes you. The Man carefully starts to remove and unbolt whatever parts he can easily get his hands on. He says he's going to remove enough parts to let you slot in every single gear and bolt EVE'S gave you, if only to be through.

An odd hiccup is heard in its mechanical rhythm, but the two of you brush that off. You start to slot in the gears and bolts EVE'S provided to you so you can start getting progress on this sponsorship. The first few gears and bolts slot in without any effort, but you can feel how flimsy they are.

>0 SUCCESSES!

And so can the machine. The silence in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife. You can't stop now, though.

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You have to at least install half of these so EVE's counts this as an experiment. The Man's movements slow down with every new bolt he wrenches into the machine.

You can feel an intense, piercing stare drilling right into your skull. The same stare you felt your boss gave you when you fucked up an assignment. The stare you could feel even without him saying anything.

What are you doing, Vincent? Slacking off again, are we?
No, sir.
Bullshit. I told you to have these documents finished a day ago, and yet here you are.
Sir, this is a lot for m-
SiR, ThIs Is A LoT for ME! I'm the one who decided to hire you despite your abysmal résumé.
You could at least TRY to not make me and this office look like a complete fuckup!
You better stay late to finish this.

You taste blood. You don't even realize you're biting your own lip; you're too focused on installing the parts to hear the sound of the machine picking back up. A low, gnashing sound that's closer to an animal's growl than what a machine could make. You're too focused to hear the Man's warning.

The machine is no longer efficient.
You have made it inefficient.
It can't stop. It won't stop. It can't stop. It won't stop.

One of the gears you installed is violently expelled from the machine's body. It painfully slams right against your face with enough force to break your nose. You're sent crashing to the floor from the impact as your hazmat visor is caked in your own blood.

The Man scrambles to help you, but a stray gear manages to hit him in the leg. He immediately loses his balance from the impact, quickly joining you on the floor. Stray gears and bolts are continually spat out of the machine in an attempt to purge the 'inefficient' material from its body. Most of them aren't aimed, but you need to do something fast.

Your head is beyond rattled from the gear's impact, but the softness of the metal prevented it from outright killing you. You drag yourself up to your feet, gritting your teeth whenever a stray bolt slams into your body like a ball of hail.

The machine has deemed you inefficient.

That same piercing, judgmental stare bores right into your core. The Man warns that you should get back down, NOW, but he's interrupted by another stray gear nearly hitting him right in the head. You struggle to adjust or remove your hazmat suit's helmet so you can actually see.

Another inefficiency. You're not a good worker, Vincent.

You manage to yank the visor to the side, letting you finally see again. Your vision is blurred and your head is swimming, but you can still do something.

"I'm not leaving until you stop. I did this because my bosses told me to do it! You have a problem with it?"

"Take it out on them, not me! I'm doing my job, like a good employee should!" Why are you saying this? "I'm really doing my best here!"

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The taste of iron in your mouth, mixed with the overwhelming fetor of smoke and ozone, has an almost hellish quality to it. Sweat oozes down your face. The air's oppressive heat makes breathing nearly impossible, but you can't stop. You won't stop.

The Man struggles back up to his feet. He begs you to get back down as he limps over to you. This work order clearly did not go over well. The two of you need to get Colt in here, he says, to calm it down.

"No!" Another bolt zips right past you, ripping flesh off of your cheek. You grit your teeth to help you push through the pain. "I'm not stopping until my job here is done! My job isn't done, so I won't STOP."

Attunement level rising.

You brace for another gear to be shot your way, but as the two of you wait there, it becomes clear that whatever tantrum it was having is over. A few stray gears from EVE'S are left in the machine, idly tuning with no sign of any wear or tear despite their far cheaper metal.

The Man guesses that whatever you said must've stopped the anomaly. He asks if you should reinstall the gears.

"Yes." It comes out before you even have time to think. The two of you go right back to work after collecting all of the gears and bolts it spat out. This time, it goes over without any issue. The Man roughly slaps the panel back into place in an attempt to vent his frustration with the machine.

Now that the job's done, you notice your face has an odd numbness to it. You know your nose is broken, and you know there's a gash on your cheek, but the pain's totally gone.
>PHYSICAL HEALTH is ???

It's already hard to make out what the Man looks like on a good day, let alone after being injured, but he doesn't appear to notice the limp in his leg either.
>THE MAN'S PHYSICAL HEALTH is still ???

The blood staining the panel and your hands has excited the anomaly by the looks of it. The steady rhythm with which it cranks the crank-powered battery charger has picked up considerably, even without you directly fueling it with blood.

The Man promptly escorts you out of the room before another incident with the anomaly can happen again.
>HARD TIME'S MOOD is now 99/100!
>An INSIGHT HINT will be unlocked soon!

----

"Jesus Christ, what the hell happened to you two?"

"Couldn't tell you. I can't feel a thing." You answer truthfully.

The Man also affirms he can't really feel anything, even though he logically knows he should.

Colt doesn't say anything as he moves in to patch the two of you up, to the best of his abilities and with what little equipment he has. The first aid kit he stole doesn't fully heal either of you two, but it's enough to patch up your face and the Man's leg.

Once he's done, he asks a question he already knows the answer to. "Feh. Gonna rest for a bit or? We moving?"

"Follow me to 199X's cell, please."

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Colt takes the lead. He keeps his rifle held up high in case 199X decides he wants to do anything stupid. There's hardly any snow inside this containment cell compared to how it was yesterday. Only a few thin flakes cling to the frost-caked walls. The mangled corpse is still sitting in the same spot it was when you checked him on the cameras.

He's scratching another message into the floor. His hands tremble with nervous energy with every claw stroke he makes, desperately trying to record whatever is on his mind before he forgets it. The bat clasped in his spare hand is starting to crack from the sheer amount of pressure it's putting on the metal bat.

Black bile oozes from the anomaly's mouth, splattering onto the floor in thick and sticky puddles. Colt scoffs at the sight, "Ey. This prick kind of reminds me of RBA. I know you're hurt, but maybe we should put this thing in its place, eh?"

You don't bother answering Colt. You're not a fan of starting random fights with an anomaly for the sake of it.

LOST SINCE 199X MOOD: 7/11

What do you do, Vincent? Choose three actions. You'll automatically ask why it damaged its airlock again regardless of what you pick.

COMMUNICATION (All count as a SPEECH CHECK.)
>Ask it why it is scratching things into the wall and floor. Is there a reason it keeps recording stuff? (DC 67, +13 to roll.)
>Ask it about its horns, or antlers. You were told it should have them but it doesn't. Why? (DC 72, +14 to roll.)
>Ask it about its girlfriend. How close was she to him? Does she have anything to do with the mysterious shadow? (DC 70, +14 to roll.)
>Ask it something personal. Did running away actually help it, or did it regret doing it? (DC 80, +20 to roll. You can relate to wanting to leave everything behind.)

EXAMINATION
>Cut off some of the hair hanging from the anomaly's head. (Provides a good filler SAMPLE for crosstesting.)
>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.)
>Examine the anomaly's baseball bat. Is there anything unique about it, perhaps? (DC 57, +10 to roll.)
>Try to take a picture of it. If it redacted a map and a website, can it redact depictions of itself? (DC 67, +1 to roll.)

STIMULI/MISC
>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)
>Examine 199X with your M.A.D WORLD glasses. Does this thing have an aura? Can it provide insight into the anomaly?
>Bring in some ART SUPPLIES. Ask the anomaly to paint whatever comes to its mind. Get a glimpse into its psyche.
>"Wanna play some baseball?" You probably got something that'll work like a ball. (DC 75, +15 to roll.)
>Offer it the SPARKLING SUNSHINE booze and a cup of coffee. As a treat. (-SPARKLING SUNSHINE, -1 of 3 COFFEE BAGS.)

>Write in
I'll try to do an early update next, to make up for lost time.

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>>6366783
>Ask it about its girlfriend. How close was she to him? Does she have anything to do with the mysterious shadow? (DC 70, +14 to roll.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.
>Bring in some ART SUPPLIES. Ask the anomaly to paint whatever comes to its mind. Get a glimpse into its psyche.)

>>6366783
>Cut off some of the hair hanging from the anomaly's head. (Provides a good filler SAMPLE for crosstesting.)
>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.)

>>6366783
>Ask it about its horns, or antlers. You were told it should have them but it doesn't. Why? (DC 72, +14 to roll.)
>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)

>>6366783
>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)

>Bring in some ART SUPPLIES. Ask the anomaly to paint whatever comes to its mind. Get a glimpse into its psyche.

>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)

>>6366783
>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
MORE SAMPLES
MORE LOOT
MORE POWER
MORE MONEY
>Bring in some ART SUPPLIES. Ask the anomaly to paint whatever comes to its mind. Get a glimpse into its psyche.
WHAT DID YOU SEE BEHIND THE TREE, KRIS? WHAT WAS IT THAT YOU LOST YOUR HAND TO?
>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)
This will also prime him for when we do the crazy move of letting him out to have the guys' cookout

>>6366783
>Ask it why it is scratching things into the wall and floor. Is there a reason it keeps recording stuff? (DC 67, +13 to roll.)

>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.)

>>6366783
>Ask it why it is scratching things into the wall and floor. Is there a reason it keeps recording stuff? (DC 67, +13 to roll.)
>Examine the anomaly's baseball bat. Is there anything unique about it, perhaps? (DC 57, +10 to roll.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.)

>>6366783
>Ask it something personal. Did running away actually help it, or did it regret doing it? (DC 80, +20 to roll. You can relate to wanting to leave everything behind.)
>Collect more of its BLACK BILE. The more, the merrier. (Provides a great fuel source.)
>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)

>>6366783
The room hasn't actually grown trees yet has it? I was just thinking how funny it would be to have free wood.

>>6366783
>Cut off some of the hair hanging from the anomaly's head. (Provides a good filler SAMPLE for crosstesting.)
IIRC, we never completed studying the hair before we threw it at FEASTS, yummy yummy.

>Harvest some denim or cloth scraps from its clothes, for research. (Gives you a new sample to study.)
New sample? New sample.

>"Want some free beer?" You got a BEER VENDING MACHINE, for fuck's sake. Might as well use it. (Colt will enjoy this.)
FREE BEER.

Overall, stay the course of being conservative on dice-throwing on this PENITANT day.

>Post-session Write-in: Write down to always pay attention to the line of lights on HARD TIMES. Leading hypothesis is that while it can in theory run on literally nothing indefinitely, it probably has an emotional need to increase output, and the lights track how much that “hunger” is mounting.
Self-explanatory really.

>>6366923
I would've told you if there were, plus I would've given you an option to investigate them. There's no trees.