Toxoglossa 2014/07/16(Wed)19:26 No. 584398 ID: 557bac
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On the other end of the phone, Dr. Cooper's practiced, medical monotone quickly cracks with disbelief.
>Wait, you're telling me that you touched someone else's insect? Without any prompting or anything, just out of curiosity? Nathan, that's incredible! I'm very proud of you.

Nate
"it was my co-worker Diego, who's insects are beetles; I figured it wouldn't be too dangerous. But then I had this weird vision, like I was inside his head. He had just been talking about the people he missed back in Detroit, and inside his head he was basically chained to his memories of them and unable to let go. I helped him get free, and we talked briefly. After I 'woke up' he didn't seem to remember any of it, but asked me out afterwards. "

Dr. Cooper
>Like on a date?

Nate
"I don't think either of us are sure what it is yet."

The other end of the line is quiet for a little while before you hear a long in-drawing of breath.
>Well Nate, personally, I'd say that thinking your actions somehow "caused" Diego to ask you out is a dangerous assumption. He may have just been looking to ask you for a while, and you somehow picked up on this and turned it into some kind of imaginary scenario. And on the other hand, if somehow you did cause him to take notice and approach you, and I'm not saying you did, then that could constitute a huge breach of privacy. I can tell you that it's a huge responsibility to be able to access someone else's personal secrets, and you need to take the utmost care when handling them, even if your intentions are good.

Nate
"I know, I, honestly had no idea something like that would happen. I'm not sure if I want to repeat it."

Dr. Cooper
>Either way, I am proud of you for taking that step towards conquering your fear, and I don't want for you to walk away from this scared, or thinking you did anything wrong. Did anything else unusual happen? What prompted you to touch his beetle in the first place?

Nate
"Earlier today I was stressed out about something I found out about another co-worker, and I ended up getting swarmed by wasps. They started talking and at first I thought they were taunting me, but then I realized that they were trying to warn me about something. I don't quite understand it myself, but I feel like there's something coming and they want me to do... something to stop it. I thought that, if they are trying to protect me, then maybe the bugs aren't that bad, so I tried touching Diego's. They seemed to be trying to protect him though."

Dr. Cooper
>Trying to warn you of something? Like what?

Nate
"Like I said, I have no idea. Its probably some kind of subconscious construct, I can't imagine anything like it existing in the real world. But its occupying my 'Lagrange point', and I'm not sure how safe it is to go back there."

Dr. Cooper
>I don't want for you to end up feeling like Cassandra the prophet, but please be careful. You've always been an extremely rational individual, and I know that you work hard to separate your visions from reality, so I understand when you say that you are worried. But I also know how easy it is for people to get wrapped up in their own elaborate mental landscape. I want for you to let me know if this happens again, especially if you don't feel safe in your own safe place.

>Is there something else bothering you? You said something about your co-worker triggered a wasp swarm, did you want to talk about that?

>>584398
yes

>>584398
Well patient confidentiality will keep this on the down low so feel free to tell her all about it. About how your co-worker was talking about dating someone else in the company you think is a bit of a creep, and it reminded you of how alone you were. Of your romantic troubles. (not sure if Nate thinks it was unfair, or if he was frustrated with himself) Then the wasp swarm showed up, and it seemed to mirror that sentiment with its weird buzzing speech. "No one is close to you, never close, never as close as us" Yet, there is a positive way of interpreting that. Like, they were saying even if you couldn't find someone, they were close to you too...

Well, your supervisor is kinda... off, to say the absolute very least, but he still goes through all the motions of having a life like you haven't been able to. Jealousy, basically.

...He didn't do what you did to Diego to you, did he? You nearly jumped out of your skin when he touched you, and it's been established you wouldn't remember anything if he did.

>>584406
Let's keep this at the very forefront of our mind the next time we see Doug. Don't let him touch you, and keep watch for any signs that he might be a psychic too (in which case, we might be in deep shit).

>>584406
...oh my god. He gets everything he wants from people, and sometimes they don't even realize it- as if he's working with more information than he should, or influencing people without them knowing. Plus he's overly touchy. SUSPICIOUS. I'm not sure how it's possible to verify that though. We'd probably have to witness him touching someone's bug?

I doubt he invaded Nate's mind, though. Nate had to touch a bug to do that and he didn't have any wasps on him at that point so Doug couldn't have touched one.

Oh, Nate, after this conversation you should get back to work. Get suited up so you'll be ready for the transponder parts.

It's ahh, well to be honest the work is not that stressful beyond the fact our boss said it was good initiative, touched us, and that it all kinda freaked us out a little. Weird taking a compliment so seriously but that's the only thing I can imagine actually triggering anything. He doesn't have bugs unlike others, it's just the touch on the shoulder was sudden. Maybe the compliment is just creating pressure, we don't really know. Especially since most of the initiative belongs to a co-worker and we're just doing what people tell us to do.

Which, by the way,since we're talking over the phone about it requires me to be as secretive as possible to even you, because, well, contracts and we don't need the additional stress of finding a job after being blacklisted for breaching the contract.

Other things that might be stressing us out is, well, some weird shift with Andromeda, but it's only stressful because our mind is starting to appropriate that into attacking our safe place in some way. We believe it's constructing a narrative based on that shift for some reason.

Oh, and uhhh, We're also a little curious that my neighbors also might be patients of yours. Not that that's explicitly unwanted in anyway, but we do have a hoarder for a neighbor, who's cockroaches who may be possibly real sometimes by the way, and that really causes some shit to happen. It caused the first episode today. We don't know if you have a confidentiality contract with him as well or how that works when two patients become aware of each other and have a minor conflict about each other's insecurities, but could you maybe drop a hint or two about getting a storage locker and keeping his mass of garbage clean and out of public sight in his next session? Again, don't know if he's your patient at all or if you can even say, but well... we would definitely appreciate you doing that thing you can't confirm if it doesn't go against your treatment of him. His name is Lester. When his bugs attacked me, the object in the hallucination first appeared.

>>584414

Doctors can and will not talk about there other patients at all and its a big no no to even ask. Would try to avoid bringing this up.

Actually, since you're free to talk to her about these things without judgement... that puts her in an interesting position. Ask if she'd be willing to test this bug thing with you, by letting you touch one of her bugs and seeing if a vision happens. If a vision does happen, you can tell her what insecurity or secret of hers you were informed about in the vision, and it will be a good way to confirm or deny whether something supernatural is legitimately going on or just happening in your head. Occam's Razor implies you're just crazy, in which case you wouldn't be able to find out any compromising situation, and there's no harm done!

>>584414
oh wait, the thing that got triggered the wasp swarm actively talking was a coworker talking about a relationship problem and that kinda brought up some minor stuff from the past without us realizing, then when the other coworker with the beatles asked us to go out and have fun sometime it brought the rest of the past out. You know, the guy from college.

So, we can't tell if the wasps might have come from jealously or self-loathing. They both fit and we're hoping it's not jealousy, but it's probably jealousy. We're just tired of being alone but can't help feeling safe alone... and that's probably what might be why the safe place isn't safe anymore. We resent being alone and are now hating the safe place. Great. That's just perfect. Anything you suggest for dealing with a paradox of wanting to be alone but also be with somebody at the same time?

Oh, and the wasps have made us into a hive, so we've got parasites permanently now too.

>>584415
Oh. Yeah, okay that would be rude
Then just bring up the fact that your hoarder neighbor has both fake and real cockroaches and their trashbags out in the hallway caused the first episode you had today and that's just it. We're not sure how to deal with that situation as it's bound to only get worse. Our other neighbor said he would try to speak to Lester about it but that's probably not going to work and that it's just going to get worse and worse until we're attacked by his cockroaches every day.
But I'm still curious whether or not he's actually stuck in a building of patients. Damn. How do you ask that without being rude?

You might also try and describe your experience of being a bee piñata and how your wasp homies totally helped you out of a jam. In space. Because that was pretty awesome.

>About how your co-worker was talking about dating someone else in the company you think is a bit of a creep, and it reminded you of how alone you were.
Let's tone down the specifics. Specifically, intraoffice courtship. One of your co-workers was talking about how they were dating somebody else, a bug-less person who, frankly, freaks you out, and she found the guy a bit odd too. It made you think over your own situation, and triggered an anxiety attack.
>...He didn't do what you did to Diego to you, did he?
Let's keep this thought to ourselves, no need to sound crazy to the lady who determines just how crazy we are.
>>584413
Seriously, DON'T bring this up. This is a personal hunch, very probably guided by our bias against him. We don't like him, so of course we're going to think bad things about him.
>he didn't have any wasps on him at that point so Doug couldn't have touched one.
Even in the case that the bugs appear for others when they don't for their host, Nate's emotions would have guided wasps away from the contact, anyways. He feels uncomfortable in the presence of that guy, and that would manifest as the wasps retreating from him.

Maybe you should bring up to the doctor that you're having some suspicions about a co-worker, but think it's just you being biased against him for invading your personal space. You might be willing to talk about it when you come in for a face-to-face appointment, but for now you can surpress that malicious prejudice. Or whatever you wanna call it.
>We're also a little curious that my neighbors also might be patients of yours
"But I'm not actually asking, since that would be a breach of confidenciality." If you want to verify, you could let them know about it, and ask them directly.
>It caused the first episode today.
Might be worth bringing this up before you mention thinking they're her patients and saying that you aren't actually asking. Let her know "If he is a patient, go ahead and let him know about me." If he isn't, no harm in asking, and if he is, it can only help him to at the very least give you a clear path and stay away from you, if not be more friendly with you for having a connection.
>>584415
On second thought, rather than mentioning anybody specific as suspected of being another patient, just let her know that if there's any other patients who live near you, you don't mind at this point if she mentions that you're another patient. You trust her to know who would be bad to tell that and who could maybe even help out. She knows you approximately as much as you know yourself. Maybe somethings better than you, and somethings not as good, but approximately equal.
>Ask if she'd be willing to test this bug thing with you
Whoa, let's hold off on this until our next face-to-face.
...Well, no, I suppose you can bring it up, ask if she can put up a mental block when you try. If she lets you. It's still very awkward, unless a bug happens to be on her hand during a handshake. Actually, that's another thing to ask about, if she can focus on an area for them to go to and see how well you can get it right. A form of ESP, y'know?
...I still say it sounds crazy to even suggest, especially over the phone, but she did bring up a subconscious sense of the vaguer thoughts people emit, it's something worth testing.
>We're just tired of being alone but can't help feeling safe alone... and that's probably what might be why the safe place isn't safe anymore.
OH. Mention that you brought his memory cube into the Lagrange. It seemed to be perfectly safe from the new danger of your safe place, is it possible that it's because it's not your own personal construct, and is instead a construct supposedly belonging to a friend?
We may be losing the safe zone, but bringing in new friends should help reinforce it again. You carry their burdens and they carry yours. ...Maybe you'll be able to observe something interesting happen to the malicious construct by making a space station out of their burdens.
>Oh, and the wasps have made us into a hive, so we've got parasites permanently now too.
DEFINITELY bring this up. Once you were in the mental zone, the wasps requested permission to form a hive in you, which, when granted, it felt like you scratched yourself open and released a whole nest of wasps, which defended you. I'm very curious as to what her take on this is.
>We're not sure how to deal with that situation as it's bound to only get worse.
He did seem surprisingly friendly today, and even said he'd be sure to keep an open path to let you through. I don't think it's going to get worse.
>How do you ask that without being rude?
Like I said, ask that she lets other patients who she thinks could help know about you. You can't pull to see who's on the other side, so push and let them know you're there instead.
>>584421
>a jam. In space.
You could say, it was a Space Jam.
I've had slam jams stuck in my head man.

>>584479
>don't tell the therapist about stuff that might be you being crazy
That's what therapists are FOR! Nate knows he has a personal bias, so he can submit his suspicions about Doug to Dr. Cooper, and she can tell him if it's reasonable or not.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/18(Fri)17:57 No. 584620 ID: 557bac
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Nate
"Honestly it started this morning: I was leaving for work and one of my neighbors left some trash-bags in the hall. I tripped over them and wound up with cockroaches on me, which set off an anxiety attack."

Dr. Cooper
>One of your neighbors? Hmm...

Nate
"What? Something wrong?"

Dr. Cooper
>Nothing, sorry, please continue.

Nate
"So I ended up retreating to my safe place, and there was this... thing there like a black hole that forced me out. It may be related to something I read about this morning with Andromeda."

Dr. Cooper
>They were talking about that on the news this morning; apparently its one of those "physicists are baffled things"? Unfortunately it was overshadowed by.. um...

Nate
"Yeah, sorry can't talk about it, even to you."
"But later I was talking to a co-worker and she mentioned that she's in a relationship with another co-worker. The guy she's dating... well I've told you about him before: he has no insects on him but he still creeps me out. I guess it set me off because it highlighted how alone I've been since my breakdown. The wasps started swarming and they talked to me, saying that no one would be as close to me as them. But then they were sucked up by that black hole thing, and... I actually saved one from it."

Dr. Cooper
>Nathan, this is all incredible. Tell me more about this relationship you found out about.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/18(Fri)17:57 No. 584621 ID: 557bac
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Nathan
"He's just kind of a creep, and even she acknowledges that. She said she's frustrated by his ability to get his way whenever he wants, and he can be kind of touchy which makes me uncomfortable."

"You don't think he could me like me, do you? What if he's controlling her subconsciously? Should I do something?"

Dr. Cooper
>Unfortunately, you don't need to be a psychic to be manipulative, Nathan; some people just have that gift. He could have a psychopathic personality: they are known for having an almost hypnotic charm to them and their assertiveness can be extremely overpowering. They aren't necessarily as dangerous as they sound, but be very careful if you feel like you need to interfere. I would recommend being upfront with her, but try to respect the fact that she has the right to date whoever she chooses and support her. If its an inter-employee situation and you feel that shes in danger or being manipulated, maybe you should consider reporting it to your employers.

Pretty sure she means a sociopathic personality.

You should get back to work, don't you think?

>>584621
Ahhhhhhhh
Stop, man, okay I thought I wouldn't need to tell you Nate to be careful for potential eavesdroppers but I guess I should have.
Ahhh we're techncially gossiping over the phone for therapy for fucks sake
Doooooooouuuuug, don't eavesdrop on us this is private therapy.

>>584621
Doug's walking in. Just say you've been preemptively following most of that advice, and thanks for the talk, but you have to go.

If bugs represent the things that are 'bugging' a person, like things that make them feel guilty or conflict with their conscience... well, maybe Doug just naturally doesn't feel guilty. About anything.

And, yes. Either excuse yourself from the phonecall, or start casually walking out of Doug's vicinity.

Speak of the devil- here he comes now. You may need to call her back.

Psychopathy explains his odd behavior and lack of bugs- no real emotion means no real inner turmoil or regrets. There are a couple of options here; you can avoid him completely, talk to him and let him touch you and see if you jump similarly to last time, or tell him you think you have a bug you don't want him to catch and gauge his reaction. The latter two might be dangerous, but we'll actually be able to learn something.

Either that or Doug is covered in waterbears and we just can't see them yet because Nate's too creeped out by him to take a closer look. Yaknow, with a microscope all up in his business. He could be teeming with emotional vermin and we don't even know.

Anyway yeah you might wanna terminate this call before he hears your crazy talk. Crazy talk that happens to involve him personally and his secret dalliances with your coworker. Also, here's a more practical question, being a rat wouldn't he be able to hear you like, really, really well? At some distance, perhaps?

You might wanna text this stuff next time, buddy, just a thought.

>>584625
Thats what I actually figured as soon as we learned the bugs are linked to the mind. If you dont have bugs to protect your mental issues, well. You must not have many issues.

Wait a minute what if we're looking at this wrong? Doug patted Nate on the back. What if he put a bug there?

And just like that, Doug has gone from mildly unsettling to flat out scary as shit. Cut off the conversation as subtly as possible. I'll leave the decision to the others whether we scram like hell, see if he tries another mind-meld touch, or mention bugs to gauge his reaction. I feel like the third option is best myself, albeit still risky in case that motivates him to mind-wipe us.

If Doug asks why you're making personal calls during work hours, explain that it wasn't a personal call - that was your therapist. You're having a bit of a bad day mentally and needed help sorting out your head.

Christ, calm down, it's not like he's holding an axe or anything. As far as we know Doug's a manipulator at worst, I don't think it's time to panic yet. Like, at all.

But Nate, if you ever see him taping newspapers to the floor while wearing a plastic raincoat you might wanna make a break for it, buddy.

He probably is here about the schematics you haven't returned.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/19(Sat)16:56 No. 584754 ID: 557bac
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>Just say you've been preemptively following most of that advice, and thanks for the talk, but you have to go.

Nate
"Well, thanks for talking to me Dr. Cooper, I really should be getting back to work. I'll keep what you've said in mind, and have already been doing some of the stuff you suggested."

>Stop, man, okay I thought I wouldn't need to tell you Nate to be careful for potential eavesdroppers but I guess I should have.

You think you hear something and idly look behind you. You don't see anybody, but there's a set of footprints marring the carefully raked sand patterns. Anthony is going to be pissssed.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/19(Sat)16:56 No. 584755 ID: 557bac
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Doug
>"Heyyyy there, how's it going?"

Doug holds your pilfered phone up to his ear and casually addresses your therapist.
>"Who am I speaking to?"

Nate
"H-hey!"

Doug smirks at your incredulousness, clearly enjoying himself.
>"Doctor Cooper? Pleasure to meet you... Oh no, sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a personal call. Well, I'll leave you two to talk. Please take gooood care of Nathan; he's one of my best employees."

Toxoglossa 2014/07/19(Sat)16:56 No. 584756 ID: 557bac
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He hands you the phone and turns to leave.
>"I'm sure they're waiting for you upstairs. Take your time, of course, I understand how it is. And if you feel like you need to take off early for... medical reasons, do let me know. We're alllll counting on you."

With that said he continues walking, humming a meandering little tune as he goes.

Dr. Cooper
>Nathan? Nate? Who was that? Are you okay?"

take pleasure in imagining you beating him over the head with the phone he nicked.

Just our boss, Cooper.

Oh, a bug, weird... that's Kim's bug isn't it? They can transfer? Maybe you should go see Kim soon after your next task if you can.

Huh. A spider. Guess we can recategorize him from 'no insects and creepy' to just 'creepy'.

That was the guy I was talking about... Strangely, I can actually see one now. Just one, but it's the same as my coworker's. ...Should I let you know if I see Diego with wasps now?

>>584758
Nate said that he saw bug bites on his ex-boyfriend when he thought he was cheating on him. The spider on his back is no doubt just a representation of the fact that he knows Doug and Kim are in a relationship.

As much as we may like to assign real significance to these insects, it's still nothing more than a hallucination as long as it only affects us. I think you guys are playing a little too much into the superstitions of a mentally ill person.

Inform Dr. Cooper that that was the person you were talking about, once you're sure that Doug has left.

Then, well, I already said it, didn't I? You should get back to work, don't you think?

>>584762
Yeah, fuck it, touch the spider and figure this shit out now.

Just warn Doug you think you see something on his jacket so it's not out of nowhere, and say goodbye to Ms. Cooper immediately and call back later.

"wait a sec" and wipe his back and try to get the spider. "had some dust on your back"

"so what did you talk to kim about?"
if he reacts at all then you guessed right.

>>584758
Holy shit, it is the same bug. Is that his doing, or... Okay, I was gonna say go brush it off his back both to see what it represents and to make sure it's not real (if it was real it could bite him and that'd be bad for the workplace), but now I think you'd better leave it be for now and go poke one of Kim's bugs later to ask them what's going on. I'm thinking the spiders are keeping tabs on him. Maybe we can do the same thing with our wasps? Try summoning one up and sending it over to buzz around his head. If he reacts then we know he can see the bugs too.

Tell Dr. Cooper it was your boss, and you should get back to work- but you'll check in with her again later.

Don't touch the bug right now.

Nate's old boyfriend had ticks on him when he normally had no bugs, signifying that Nate thought he was cheating. It's not Doug's bug, it's a representation of his relationship.

>>584755
Dude, that's not cool.

>>584756
Tell her it was your boss, the one you find creepy. Oh well, you have to get back to work.

Yeah, actually, you might as well, even if all you get is self-confirmation of your own superstitions. Just be like "hey you've got something there" and swipe it.

>>584770
Yeah that could be it too. Which would mean touching it might fuck up their relationship.

>>584775
Uhh... how?

Still, treating him like he treats you might be a good idea to test his limits. We've only seen him act one way, but the best way to gain a better understanding of his personality is to see him react to things differently. He feels entitled to get in people's personal space, does he? Well, if he gets angry when you grab his dumb sweatervest, that's just some actual proof that he might be sociopathic.

>>584776
Consider that the last time we touched a bug our wasp swarm killed the inner representation of it, and we meddled besides. If we touch a bug that represents their relationship, our very presence might alter the situation inside his head, or the wasps might aggro again.

>>584777
You're clearly forgetting that Nate has a diagnosed mental illness, not confirmed psychic superpowers. In the outer world there was no effect at all, besides Diego asking him to hang out, which could easily have happened anyway. "Inner representation" is a huge stretch. Try "hallucination."

So far these bugs seem to be representations of things that Nate either already knows or can surmise from just observing other people. It's like it's intuition, but not the magical kind, just like a visual cue for that little voice nagging in the back of your head when you know something isn't right with somebody. They could even be manifestations of assumptions - assumptions that might turn out to be completely wrong. Like, what if it's all a bunch of B.S. in the end, and these things appear in hallucinations because Nate either consciously or unconsciously believes they're true?

Instead of believing in something totally crazy like psychic powers (at least until we can test it to make absolutely sure) it might be wise to just assume this condition is messing with the guy and people that don't have bugs are people that he can't read. We don't wanna get thrown in a looney bin. Yet.

Doug's totally a Stepford smiler though, Christ on a bike.

>>584779
Agreed. I know it's genre savvy and metagamey to assume that he has powers because he's in a quest run by someone notorious for his other work about eldritch survival horror, but not only is it unfair to carry it over to here, but we could actually fuck up by reinforcing his mental illnesses and end up turning him into a psychotic monster of our own creation.

I'm not saying it's NOT something supernatural. I'm just saying we should be levelheaded and not make baseless assumptions. Right now we can work in a relatively low-risk environment to gather information that we can interpret more clearly later on. We won't have that luxury in the future when the stakes get high, so we should take the opportunity now and leave the theorycrafting for later.

>>584778
If you want to treat it as a hallucination then why touch the bug at all? You're sending mixed messages here. Either it's useful but risky, or pointless.

>>584781
In the event it's not a hallucination, it would be useful information to gather, and in the event it is, there's no harm done. Not a tough concept to grasp, boss.

>>584783
I just said why there's risk if it's real, and you just said why there'd be harm done if it's not.

>>584784
The harm is in the difference between touching it to note down what happens, and touching it to immediately take any result as factually accurate and reliable.

Assuming it's not supernatural is just as dangerous as assuming it is until we know more, and this does not strike me as the best place to test it.

Just get back to work and we can try the bug thing on someone less disturbing, whose mindscape/induced hallucination will probably be unpleasant and traumatic.

Alright, That's over the line. You shouldn't let him push you around like that. Whether you interact with his bug or not, you have to confront him.

I don't think we should touch it. Assuming we're NOT utterly insane and Nate has psychic powers, then touching the bug of someone whom we suspect also has those abilities and has been using them extensively is a one way ticket for us to get our astral projection selves mauled and shattered by Doug's presumably more experienced mind. I certainly wouldn't want to be in the mind of a possible sociopath.

And if we're just crazy (which could be the big twist of the story, but it would be a weak one given the potential of psychic wars and actual conspiracies as opposed to delusional ones), then touching him still doesn't do much for our psyche.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/20(Sun)18:30 No. 584965 ID: 557bac
File 140590620141.png - (119.62KB , 600x438 , 2-8.png )

>Just our boss, Cooper.

Nathan
"Sorry, that was my boss, I better get back to work. Thanks for the advice though doctor, I'll call you if I have any more trouble."

>Oh, a bug, weird... that's Kim's bug isn't it? They can transfer?

You hang up and run to catch up with Doug. Is that one of Kim's spiders on his back? Or is it something of his? If that's Kim's, how exactly did it get there?
You aren't sure if you want to risk ending up someone's psyche, especially if its Doug's... But you can't help being curious.

>"wait a sec" and wipe his back and try to get the spider. "had some dust on your back"

Nate
"Hey Doug, hang on there's something on your back-"

You reach out to grab the spider, but his hand moves in a dangerous blur, swatting the creature to the ground.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/20(Sun)18:30 No. 584966 ID: 557bac
File 140590620527.png - (92.44KB , 600x381 , 2-9.png )

Before it can right itself, Doug's loafer slams down on it and twists once.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/20(Sun)18:30 No. 584967 ID: 557bac
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His trademark smile grows wider, this time showing a few teeth.
>"Thanks!"

He throws an arm around you your shoulder and clamped against him, you find yourself lead into the buliding.

>"I know you must under a lot of stress lately, Nathan, and I know it feels like I put a lot of pressure on you. But I feel like you and I have... a lot in common. Don't be afraid to come to me if you need anything: concerns, help, favors... my door is alllll-ways open."

Could you stop touching me, Doug? I don't like being touched.

"i'll keep that in mind"

say goodbye and see about scooping up a bit of spider. need someone else to confirm it. if they don't see us holding spider parts then...

>>584967
"Stop. I don't appreciate you touching me."

Tell him thanks and that you will.

Well he might have the same "condition" as we do. He knew exactly what the bug was and was able to interact with it. Being able to manipulate peoples inner selves through there bugs could be a powerful ability for someone like him.

Might want to investigate that later but for now lets get away from him and back to work.

Make excuses and gtfaway from this guy.

Not liking how he killed it as soon as we made him aware. If it was one of hers, what was it doing? 'Claiming' him? Spying on him for her? A representation of her focus on him? ...no matter how I interpret it's presence, his ruthless destruction of it reads as bad.

>>584969
>>584971
Yeah, let him know you're not really comfortable being close to/touching people. See if he respects your boundaries or just ignores them.

>>584967
Hooooly shit.

Okay. Okay, he can see them too, and he has a lot more experience with them than you. Even if he is a creep and even if he's using them for his own benefit, you could learn a lot from him. You SHOULD go to him later and ask for information. Once you've learned all you can, THEN you can consider... uh... actually it occurs to me that it would be very difficult to stop him from using his powers immorally. I mean, what are you gonna do? Get him sent to psychic jail? If you tell the company about him and Kim, and he somehow gets canned, he'll just continue doing his thing elsewhere.

You can use this situation to your benefit immediately, in fact. Tell him to please stop touching you.

Also seconding >>584970 to test if it's a real spider or not, when we get the chance.

>>584966
We should come back and get a sample of this. Have you ever seen a bug get squished before? You must've seen people sit or lay on them before. Do they regularly leave behind residue as if they were real bugs?

Dammit Doug, everyone's being nice and trying to come up with plausible reasons why you're NOT a coldblooded scary-as-shit clarivoyant, and are really just misunderstood, and you just keep making it harder by doing ridiculously suspicious stuff like this.

>>584975
Oh Hell no. I don't care if he's grandmaster of an order dedicated to perfecting psychic abilities, we are NOT going to flat out ask for his tutelage or anything similar. It's like asking The Joker for an employment opportunity.

Honestly, if it was an option, I wouldn't rule out skipping town before he considers us a threat. Unfortunately, I doubt we could find a job like this for us anywhere else.

>>584969
Let's not be too upfront about it, maybe something like, "Er, one difference is that I don't exactly like being grasped, except for handshakes." Maybe meekly quiet down in fear while saying it, but if he lets go and offers a handshake, you'll have to take it, Nate. You can play any nervousness as part of the stress.
You might be able to take advantage of his friendliness and ask him what he feels his "Guardian animal" is, but it's way too off-subject right now.
>>584974
I just had a really interesting idea, but it's not one you're sure you can play just yet, so for now I'm going to back the idea of trying to tell him you don't enjoy people placing their hands on you outside of handshakes.
Handshakes are a great way to tell a person's intentions, since not only are they absolutely visible, the hand also has a lot more tactile sensory compared to other points of the body.
>>584975
Maybe not. It might have been a real life spider. It's possible that he went through something earlier in his life where he had some sort of empathic understanding, and freaked out over people because of it, but the chances of him having the same psychological condition to see bugs is a bit different. Again, there is a test that can check this, but Nate doesn't have proof of his own ability over it and I'd rather not go overboard and get him into trouble.
Ask him, if he had a subconscious sense of a person's emotions, because you're pretty sure that's what you're going through.
>>584978
>everyone's being nice and trying to come up with plausible reasons why you're NOT a coldblooded scary-as-shit clarivoyant, and are really just misunderstood, and you just keep making it harder by doing ridiculously suspicious stuff like this.
...Really? I'm just seeing him as somebody who sees himself in Nathan. Perhaps he handled things differently, but he seems genuinely worried for Nate, while at the same time, certain that he can help.
>It's like asking The Joker for an employment opportunity.
PARANOIA, HO! Don't directly ask to be his apprentice or anything, yeah, that's a given, but if he confirms the previous question about subconscious empathy, you can maybe ask for a couple of pointers. Things you can work on without having to hang around him all the time. It's like being The Riddler, you trade a few bits of information (or are just flat out given) with The Joker, but you aren't directly affiliated with him and don't have to worry about his psychosis getting you dunked into a vat of acid. Which, no, I'm pretty sure Doug wouldn't do that even in a metaphorical sense, still.

"Well, same to you, Doug. If there's ever anything you feel like I can do for you, or anything you'd like to talk about, all you have to do is... ask."

Ask Charlie Brown here if giant fucking spiders like that are common around here. I mean, it could've been real, right? Spiders are real the last time I checked. An infestation of spiders could have a detrimental impact on employee morale and productivity. It could also have a detrimental impact on your face if one of them happened to drop down on you when you least suspected it and bit you like fifty times in a fit of furious spider rage. Talk about awkward.

We're kind of getting ushered into the building so we might not have an opportunity to collect the horribly squashed remains. If this were anyone but Doug I'd suggest using the phone to photograph it but I doubt he wants anyone taking pictures in or around this building, because satellites. So we're gonna have to kinda roll with this one.

Also, you might just politely tell him that physical contact makes you a little uncomfortable. It's nothing personal, you're just antsy.

did you get the same feeling like you've been shocked?

His creepiness could be due to the fact that he is literally crushing aspects of his psyche under his boot. It also could have been a real bug. I'm unsure if he's actually doing that mind-link thing- although it's been established that people can't see their own bugs, we can usually see our own wasp swarm. he could just be touching you because it's a habit he picked up.

>>584967
Whatever you say to him next, please for pity's sake don't make it sound like anything you wouldn't say if you weren't crazy.
Also chill, dude. Keep calm and carry on, don't panic etc.
Last thing we need right now is a wasp themed panic attack.

Keep calm. Ask him to please stop doing that because getting touched like that messes with you. Then go and get some work done today. I think you've had enough of highs and lows with the bugs for a bit, so time to do something completely unrelated to them.

Don't Summon The Wasps!

Ask: "Do you mean that literally?"

How he answers this question will tell us a ton about his core personality.

It's also an effective social curveball that should catch him off balance, if a bit rude by normal standards.

Doug 2014/07/22(Tue)18:53 No. 585421 ID: 557bac
File 140608039384.png - (88.01KB , 600x378 , 2-11.png )

Nate
"Sorry, could you just..?"

You reach over with your free hand and gently pry yourself out of Doug's grip.

Doug
>"Ahh, no problem."
His flawless mask of good natured humor twitches slightly. You aren't sure whether he's annoyed or concerned.

>Don't Summon The Wasps!
You try and focus on not worrying. If Doug can see people's infestations, having your swarm show itself could be dangerous.
Nate
"Eh... so, did you see that spider? Pretty big, eh?"

Doug's laugh is sudden, aggressive and awkwardly loud.
>"HA! Yeah, we ought to send someone down there with a shovel for that guy. I don't think I've seen one that big around here before. You?"

Nate
"Uhhh...I..."

Doug
>"Didn't think so. I swear, there must be something in the water around here."

Doug 2014/07/22(Tue)18:53 No. 585422 ID: 557bac
File 140608039808.png - (110.53KB , 600x511 , 2-12.png )

You arrive at the elevator and Doug waits outside as you step in.
"How about dropping by my office later, Nathan? I want to ask you about something. Give us a chance to... catch up on things. If you have time, of course."

The stainless steel doors slide shut and mercifully block him out of your life for a little while. You press the button to take you up to the 3rd floor so you can finally get to work. The way the building is set up, the first floor is maintenance, second is fabrication, the third is clean-room assembly, and the entire fourth floor is dedicated to filtration and air processing.

Doug 2014/07/22(Tue)18:53 No. 585423 ID: 557bac
File 140608040255.png - (144.10KB , 568x600 , 2-13.png )

You step into the gowning room and prepare for the most critical and important decision of the day.

Blue or white?

Always bet on blue.

Let's go Blue, it's more flavorful.

Go for Blue.

Might be a good idea to talk to Doug later. He is a bit creepy but a talk could be interesting. Just try to not get to paranoid about him. Even if he is more than what he seems I doubt he is a real threat unless you are very careless in how you handle him.

White is clean. White is professional. White is... Scientific!

White. You can pretend you're furry Neil Armstrong or something. Just don't start making the helmet breathing noises out loud, unless it's like a joke or something in which case yes, make the helmet breathing noises out loud.

>>585423
Blue.

Suggestion 2014/07/22(Tue)22:33 No. 585440 ID: 53548a

Why would you ever not choose white?

>>585422

Here's Johnny!

11 out of 10 scientists recommend white labcoats! go for it!

white

also what if the wasps arent ours? what if theyre their own thing and they've got secret agents like mr.creepy to help them do space things....very dead spacey

#bleedblue

Why not wear both at once?

Blue. Let's go for something different today.

>>585591
Jones, you crazy, magnificent bastard!

>>585423

Blue is very much your color.

Also your boss is one HELL of a creeper and most assuredly can see those things. I think we just fucked up.

Wear both at once. Be a rebel.

White; oh so clean!

>>585423
dude, blue with that yellow?
come on, take white.

>>585755
He's already wearing blue with that yellow. It just looks so natural you didn't notice.

>>585764
Bird's egg blue is still blue. And clashing colors depend on the observer; I happen to think that shade of blue would look better than stark white.

>>585764
>Bluebird eggs blue.jpg

That's enough of the "how blue is blue"
I've already started drawing the update, so after this point color suggestions will not be counted. If you have suggestions that don't involve color, feel free to include them.

Since the schematic binder and its contents aren't clean and could spread dust or paper particles into the clean room how are you going to handle that? Place it in a small isolation glovebox so you could manipulate the pages without risk of contaminating the clean room?

why were the last 3 updates with "Doug" and not "Toxoglossa"? Considering he shreds bits of other peoples psyches that's kinda creepy... Anyway, nate mate do you sterilize your glasses too when you do science?

>>585799
Oh FUCK-

STUB YOUR TOE, PINCH YOURSELF SLAP YOURSELF.
LOOK AROUND YOU FOR ANYTHING OUT OF PLACE.

THIS COULD VERY WELL (AND PROBABLY IS) BE PARANOIA, BUT BETTER SAFE THAN MIND-RAPED.

>>585799
Pretty sure that's because Tox did an ITQ post for him right before updating, and autofill happened.

>>585806
For all our sakes, I sincerely hope so.

Still need to change my goddamn pants though. I haven't jumped like that reading a quest since NanQuest.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/25(Fri)21:11 No. 585847 ID: 557bac
File 140634791108.png - (136.09KB , 476x600 , 2-14.png )

You decide that you're going to go with the blue coverall today. You tend to prefer the white suits because they match the spotless, pristine walls of the clean room. However, the blue is kind of calming, and if anything, you could stand to feel a bit calmer today.

>Since the schematic binder and its contents aren't clean and could spread dust or paper particles into the clean room how are you going to handle that? Place it in a small isolation glovebox so you could manipulate the pages without risk of contaminating the clean room?

With that decision made, you stow your belongings in a locker and seal the schematic in a sterile bag. Then you begin the complicated ballet of dressing yourself. Its a process that takes some getting used to; requiring you to climb into a full body suit, rubber gloves, shoes, shoe covers and head covering, without directly touching the outside of any of them. While its not strictly necessary to build the transceiver in the clean room, you do most of your work there and its less distracting.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/25(Fri)21:11 No. 585848 ID: 557bac
File 140634791760.png - (133.67KB , 600x506 , 2-15.png )

When you are finally dressed, you step several times on the adhesive doormat, walk into the air shower and are thoroughly buffeted by a set of powerful fans. Acceptably free of contamination, the fans stop and the sliding doors automatically open to allow you to enter the clean room.

You breathe in and feel your frazzled nerves unwind.
Finally....

Clean

A few curious, covered faces turn to acknowledge your entrance, but then swivel back to their work. You rarely see any insects here, either because they are covered by the outerwear or because people are so focused that the infestations don't present themselves. And even if you do see one, you can feel confident knowing that it isn't real, and can be ignored. While its only rated as a class 1000, its likely the cleanest environment you'll ever see.

Its always been one of your favorite places, for obvious reasons.

The clean room is set up as a set of long corridors that branch out into individual rooms, each filled with absurdly expensive and specialized equipment. Overhead, a grid of vents pump out air to be meticulously filtered, analyzed and redistributed. A set of canisters attached to rail mounted, robotic arms glide back and fourth through the hallway, each one hermetically sealed, and carrying materials for processing and builiding satellite parts.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/25(Fri)21:13 No. 585851 ID: 557bac
File 140634800134.png - (121.25KB , 600x446 , 2-16.png )

You head to the station you'll be using and deposit the plastic wrapped binder into a sealed chamber where you can manipulate it while you work without compromising the clean-room.

Sharon
>"Morning Nate. Diego called a little while ago, said the parts you need are on their way."

>>585851
Hmm. Well, if they're not here yet, why not have a seat? I want to try something. Sit down and meditate, but instead of going to the Safe Place, try going to your apartment. Let's see if you can mentally project yourself on earth. Or you could actually go to the Safe Place to see if the inner-Diego or the block with the chain are still there. Just don't look towards Andromeda while you're there, and wake up soon after the visit.

Return Sharon's morning, and thank her for the message.

Then see about getting ready the tools and stuff you already have here together and/or ready.

Do some jazz hands and go "Perfect"
I'm sorry but those latex gloves are calling for some Jazz Hands.

Call up the wasps and see what they have to say.

Great, Thanks Sharon.

Gather any necessary tools or work space you'll need and give those notes a once-over.

Make sure you don't let the singularity escape.

Also yes be polite to your coworker.

>>585851
Someone turned those latex gloves inside out! Unacceptable!

>>585851
might as well look at the schematic to see what we're dealing with

Toxoglossa 2014/07/27(Sun)13:48 No. 586192 ID: 557bac
File 140649409742.png - (122.29KB , 600x453 , 2-17.png )

>Return Sharon's morning, and thank her for the message.

Nate
"Thanks Sharon, have a good vacation?"

Sharon
>"Oh God yes, I just needed to get out of here and see the SUN for once. You know what I mean?"

You don't but know better than to say so.
"Heh, yeah. This place can take it out of you after a while."

Sharon
>"Not just here, the whole town is just so... grey. The corporate office is down in the Valley; at least they get a couple months of sun during the year... the bastards."

You nod and make agreement noises, speaking the universal language of co-workers sharing half-hearted grievances.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/27(Sun)13:48 No. 586193 ID: 557bac
File 140649410371.png - (265.39KB , 503x600 , 2-18.png )

>Call up the wasps and see what they have to say.

You aren't interested in trying to attract any more wasps right now; they usually show up when you're anxious or worried. While its neat that they tried to help you, You're trying to stay focused here.

>might as well look at the schematic to see what we're dealing with

You start to familiarize yourself with the schematic. It seems pretty simple, honestly: most satellite transponders are way more complicated. More and more of them are designed to deal with audio and video compression and work on several channels. This particular device is one channel only, designed to be physically synched up with COBALT or some other ground based computer before being placed in orbit. In theory, the two systems would then produce cryptographic keys that allow them to communicate securely. That's the theory at least.

>Gather any necessary tools or work space you'll need and give those notes a once-over.

Having done that, you start putting your workspace together; setting up the tools you should need, making sure its all working properly, checking to make sure the room is clean.

Hm....

Now, you're starting to wonder: what's taking so long with that delivery?

>>586193
Is it even possible to find out without exiting the clean room? Go check the delivery area, or whatever.

>what's taking so long with that delivery?
Well, how long has it been, so far?

Is there anything you can get started while you're waiting?

Eventually, I suppose, you'll need to look into the delay, if there is one, but it's hard to know if you've reached that point yet.

Take a peek outside and ask someone nearby what's the holdup.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/29(Tue)17:15 No. 586726 ID: 557bac
File 140667932039.png - (110.41KB , 548x600 , 2-19.png )

>Take a peek outside
> how long has it been, so far?
You peek your head outside. Its been several minutes since you arrived; even though the carriers have to be decontaminated before entering the clean room there's no reason for it should take this long to get here.

>Go check the delivery area, or whatever.
It looks like the rail designed to carry canisters is empty. You decide to follow it back to its source, a vertical airlock where they are sanitized for entry.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/29(Tue)17:15 No. 586727 ID: 557bac
File 140667932524.png - (149.11KB , 600x600 , 2-20.png )

The inner door of the airlock is open and inside you hear the whirr of some kind of mechanical struggle.

>>586727
Take a look, but don't mess with it. Report it to someone whose job it is to fix these things. Assuming it isn't something supernatural, anyway. If something weird is in there, you might have to summon a wasp/wasps to handle it.

Go back to your assigned room and use the phone there to contact the Maintenance guys. They're the ones allowed in to see what's going on, and there's no reason for you to do it yourself. It might just be that they're doing maintenance already, and that's what the hold up is, anyways.

>>586728
This. Call it in.

Well maintenance is right next door, you could knock.

Yo, where'd everybody go?

>>586728
>>586729
Yup, follow procedure. Trying to mess with something like broken clean room integrity on your own only makes it worse. Even if you're capable of fixing the problem, gotta go through channels.

>>586727

Let's keep all appendages outside of the metal doors. Either ask maintenance what's up, or head to a phone/terminal/whatever and report the problem.

Toxoglossa 2014/07/31(Thu)19:22 No. 587253 ID: 557bac
File 140685972337.png - (115.20KB , 600x539 , 2-21.png )

>Yo, where'd everybody go?
People are still around, they're just hard at work.

>Well maintenance is right next door, you could knock.

Sensibly, you decide to find someone to address the issue. You knock on the door marked maintenance, and hearing no answer, you go inside. Behind the door lies the cleanest janitorial closet you've ever seen. A selection of cleaning supplies are stored in clear plastic boxes, and stacked on shelves. The interior of the airlock is visible through a thick glass window, and next to it is a small panel for manual control of the airlock. Inside the airlock, the light inside seems to have gone out, but you can see the robotic arm struggle fitfully to move along the rail.

>use the phone there to contact the Maintenance guys
You spot a phone on the wall and dial up the extension for the maintenance staff.

You recognize the voice over the phone as Anthony
>"This is maintenance."

Nate
"Hey, Anthony, this is Nathan. I'm up in clean room maintenance, it looks like one of the delivery arms is stuck in the airlock. Can you come up here and take a look at it?"

You hear a sigh.
>"God, they spent how much money on those things? Yeah, I'll be right up, hang on."

Toxoglossa 2014/07/31(Thu)19:22 No. 587254 ID: 557bac
File 140685972824.png - (112.14KB , 600x539 , 2-22.png )

You hear him hang up. Might as sit tight for a little bit: Anthony will have to suit up before he can even come in to look at the system.

Cool, let's wait around for them then, unless we have work to get to.
spooky-ooky shadow alert, looks sorta like some guy getting leechmonster'd in the chest?

Looks like that kid with the squid back in the cafeteria.
Or just some random hobo hiding in the maintenance vents who has an octopus.
Or radula. You never know.

What's going on in that airlock?

Take a look. Also look at the manual controls to see what you can do with them.

Maximum Paranoia Tactic:
Call someone in the building you know won't mind waiting for you to talk for a second while you do something else, then investigate without saying anything.
This allows you to call for help if something legit is a problem without needing to run for the phone.
If the thing is nothing, then say you forgot what you needed to call them for and apologize.

Maximum Persona Tactic: Summon the wasps, have them provide a scout shield for you.
Possible Bonus: if the wasps aren't supernatural, then nate is still are engaging his subconcious brain to heighten his situational awareness to an extreme.

>Nate: Seek safety in numbers, find coworkers to follow around incessantly until your problem is resolved/the situation escalates.

Suggestion 2014/07/31(Thu)20:01 No. 587270 ID: 761017
File 140686209222.png - (233.14KB , 1236x567 , Capture.png )

Various questions are in the picture!

Small room looking into a busted delivery shaft is starting to feel uncomfortable. Let's wait just outside the room.

>>587254
the fuck is that? is the air shaft thing supposed to have tentacled monsters in it?

take a look through the window from as far away as you can (as far away while still seeing what's casting that shadow, i mean.)

also give the controls a cursory once over but do not touch them - we should just know in case of emergency.

you shouldn't leave the room in case the shadow IS being cast by something standing in the hallway instead of inside the airlock.

You guys know what else the squiggly thing could be?

Somebody's tail.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/02(Sat)11:28 No. 587617 ID: 557bac
File 140700408295.png - (141.57KB , 600x542 , 2-23.png )

>Take a look. Also look at the manual controls to see what you can do with them.

You spot some kind of movement in the window, and cautiously examine the chamber. You don't spot anything out of the ordinary, besides the broken carrier arm.
You take a moment to familiarize yourself with the manual control.

It looks like it has an atmospheric reading at the top, followed by controls for the arm. Below, there's switches to open each door and filtration controls for putting the chamber into a near vacuum. At the bottom are a safety warning and a panic button to open the doors.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/02(Sat)11:28 No. 587618 ID: 557bac
File 140700408627.png - (91.81KB , 600x571 , 2-24.png )

You hear a crash from the hallway so you open the door and peek out warily. The cover for one of the vents seems to have fallen off of the ceiling. You hear the sound of stainless steel flexing as something slides through the duct-work.

You've seen this movie before.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Call Security.

Some asshole cryptocurrency whackjob from outside is probably trying to sneak in

>>587618
Call security. Then lock yourself in maintenance and sit down and meditate but try to imagine yourself outside the room.

>>587622
Yep, hey security, we're hearing something in the vents help a brother out here.

Oddly enough clean room duct work is one of the few types that does look like it would in a video game. If you tried crawling in a Normal ventilation systems you would get torn up from all the screws sticking in everywhere and sharp metal all over the joints. Plus you could easily break through the ceiling because its not designed to have idiots crawling around in them.

But for clean rooms and parts of hospitals they are designed to be immaculate inside. The fasteners do not pierce the duct work and all the joints are heavily reinforced. Have to have a master sheet metal worker design the system so its up to code.

Anyways while there is the slight chance its just a maintenance engineer up there fixing things lets not test that. It could easily be someone who broke into the exhaust system and is up to no good.

So get your ass back in the room and call security and find out whats up. Tell them about the vents and that you saw a shadow with maybe a long tail through the delivery system window. Hopefully it just one of your coworkers being a idiot but better safe than sorry.

Can you lock yourself in this room for the moment? Or would there be a safer place to ride this out? Do not go panicking but if someone is trying to steal corporate secrets or something you want to be safe and out of the way.

Verify that you're not seeing things- make sure that the grate has indeed on the ground, then tell security something is up. You should also go to your workspace to keep an eye on those notes.

don't say it's a monster, say you think it is an intruder.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/03(Sun)14:55 No. 587822 ID: 557bac
File 140710293785.png - (158.08KB , 556x600 , 2-25.png )

>Verify that you're not seeing things- make sure that the grate has indeed on the ground

You look down at the vent cover, that's not the kind of thing you would normally hallucinate. Yeah, you're pretty sure that's real.

>Can you lock yourself in this room for the moment?
You close the door, but realize now that the electronic lock isn't working.

>Yep, hey security, we're hearing something in the vents help a brother out here.
You run back to the phone and dial the extension for the security office.

Nate
"Security? Hey, this is Nathan Springer.I think we may have an intruder in building C. I'm in the clean room maintenance closet and it sounds like someone snuck in through the ventilation system. Could you come check it out?

The guard on the other end swears
>"Shit! Okay, hang tight, we'll be there in a second. Are you somewhere safe?"

You look back at the door.
"Uhhh, not really. The lock on this door isn't working."

>"Get yourself somewhere safe, then. Stay away from the vents while we check it out. "

>>587822
Roger.

Alright let's... go in the opposite direction the vent-thing was going, and find a room without a vent and a working lock. Warn the others while you're at it.

Right. We'll get out of the way. Hopefully no one's authorized to go climbing in the vents.

...wait. Where can we go in the clean rooms that don't have vents? The whole area should be vented to carry out particulates, right?

First thing to do is warn the others. There's also some measure of safety in numbers; including that they can help you find and secure a safe location.

Go to your work space and get those schematics. If anything happens to them, your ass is in six kinds of hot water.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/04(Mon)20:10 No. 588150 ID: 557bac
File 140720820196.png - (143.49KB , 700x520 , 2-26.png )

>Go to your work space and get those schematics. If anything happens to them, your ass is in six kinds of hot water.

You rush back to your work station in a near panic.
Inside, Sharon appears to have collapsed. Nothing else seems to have been touched.

>>588150
Shit. Try to shake her awake. Can you see if she's breathing? You might just have to grab the schematics and run. It's not like you can administer medical care.

>>588151
Second.

>>588151
Pretty much this.

>>588150
((I see what you did with the background. Noticed it when I went to look if the book was in there the first time.))

>Nothing else seems to have been touched.
So there is a good chance that the infiltrator has already been in here and taken a picture of the schematics.

>>588150
Grab that stool, it will do us good to have something to defend us with and it's the only thing I can see that would work.

Call security again and give them an update.

Your job right now is to keep yourself safe and try to help your coworkers that might not know that something is going on.

As for the schematics its not your job to protect company secrets from getting stolen from the most secure area you have. At this point you are one of the company secrets that needs protecting.

Shake Sharon slightly to see if she is at all responsive. Then check her breathing and pulse if you can. If she seems fine then avoid moving her just in case and see if anyone else is out of it.

People first, plans second. Touch for a pulse. Don't worry about your phobias, there are suits in the way, you're fine.

Actually wait, does this room's lock work? You could hide in here. Well, if it doesn't have a vent anyway.

>>588166
Let's try and wake Sharon and see if she didn't just happen to fall asleep, first. It's pretty damn hard to get any sort of sleeping drug into people wearing cleanwear like that, so if she were clobbered or something, she would have noticed it.

>>588166
This. Besides, workplace injury! Duty to report!

Check for a pulse and try to wake Sharon up while giving your best Ozzy Osbourne impression.

>>588150
check if she's still alive/breathing and move her out of the way.



i wouldn't touch the schematics in-case the intruder touched them and left prints. you have gloves on but they're rubber so your fingerprints might just press through anyway.

>>588246
Fingerprints do not work that way. They are left because the finger leaves behind oil or other residue which can be picked up by forensics. There is no residue on Nate, he's clean.

Suggestion 2014/08/05(Tue)21:03 No. 588279 ID: 761017
File 140729779996.png - (174.00KB , 700x520 , 140720820196 copy.png )

She looks like she may be just sleeping!

Is this how you sleep in a clean room on a long shift?

You would know better Nate!

Wake her up anyways, say that someone just broke in through the cargo airlock!

>>588279
The gloves were like that before.

>>588279
Take a look >>586192 those are her eyebrows.

>>588150
Get on the phone again. Now you need first aid in here, unless you're appropriately trained.

If the clean room is compromised, what's the damage that could be done? We need to know so we an assign prorities to actions.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/06(Wed)18:58 No. 588429 ID: 557bac
File 140737668277.png - (351.35KB , 600x600 , 2-27.png )

>check if she's still alive/breathing
It looks like Sharon is still breathing and doesn't appear to have been attacked physically.

> Try to shake her awake.
You hesitate, and then reach down to shake her awake.

The world stretches out and tunnels into a single point.
There is a nauseating wrench, and your perspective is shattered into thousands of glittering facets. Each one seems to reflect portions of a lifetime full of memories.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/06(Wed)19:02 No. 588432 ID: 557bac
File 140737692636.png - (299.16KB , 700x700 , 2-28.png )

You find yourself standing on a beach, about a hundred feet in every direction, the world disappears abruptly. Fragments of her universe hang in alien constellations across the sky. Nearby, a much younger Sharon plays in the sand with the deliberate, focused attention of a child trying to pretend she's having fun.

>>588432

go and see what the totally cute penguin girl is up to? See if she'll talk unlike last time

Uhh. I'm not sure what to read from this. Judging by the images, it looks like she might have been poisoned by somebody wearing a clean-suit and something with a fish-emblem, but it's probably just showing random memories from all across her life, not just today's.
Nevermind! That's a car viewed from above, not somebody wearing a mask. Definitely has nothing to do with her being unconscious.
Ask her if she knows what's going on.

>>588432
WELP here we go again. This time let's try not to "fix" any trauma. We're just here to restore her mind back to how it was.

I say immediately check your side. The hive should still be there, and we can ask the wasps how the hell we can fix this, and what caused it. Then, with their guidance, we can recruit the youngster's help.

Actually maybe we can ask her if she remembers anything that happened in the lab.

If there's no immediate solution to this, just wake up. Keep in mind you're exposed. The same thing could happen to you.

While you're in here you might want to try and peruse the glass shards to find out who her attacker might be.
But I do suppose sad penguin girl is more important, because sad penguin girl.
I guess one of her bugs must have bit you through her suit.

Well, she was just talking about her vacation. Go see what's up, and ascertain where the wasps are in the meantime.

her mind is shattered and the waves prevent any meaningful rebuilding. you need to protect her constructions so they can become sturdy enough to withstand the waves.

Everything being shattered could just mean she is dreaming.

Anyways go chat with the little girl and see if we can find out anything.

Oh come on! You didn't even touch a bug, this time. You didn't even touch a person, there was a suit in the way!

Stupid psychoses not following rules that make sense to you.

>>588429
"There is a nauseating wrench, and your perspective is shattered[sic]"
that doesn't sound healthy.

we are not supposed to be here. this is none of our business. look around you and see if you can find an invader or some huge bugs or whatever it is that is doing this. also any sign of your buzzing friends?

does SHE have any bugs? If so where are they? remember that last time we were in this zone they attacked us. That'll be annoying here.

We really want to get out. Last time, it was curiosity. This time, it's an accident when there's an intruder and we don't know the time dilation of these events. We don't want to give the intruder ANY time or opportunity to do something bad-er than they may have already done.

Find the EXIT.

offer to play with the penguin girl.

Whatever caused her to be like this has clearly moved on. We're probably safe to spend time here. She may not wake if we don't. Talk to her

Greet Sharon.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/09(Sat)21:47 No. 588894 ID: 557bac
File 140764605197.png - (208.95KB , 600x600 , 2-29.png )

You scuff your way across the beach, sand getting into your shoe-covers.

>Anyways go chat with the little girl and see if we can find out anything.

Nate
"Er... hey, Sharon... um... nice sand castle."

You never have been very good with kids; they're unpredictable and have a habit of invading your personal space. However, you get the idea that Sharon's unenthusiastic response has little to do with your presence. She keeps working, her gaze turned down, away from yours.

>"S'okay... they're better when dad helps..."

>While you're in here you might want to try and peruse the glass shards to find out who her attacker might be.

You cast your eyes around at the spinning fragments, trying to find a clue to explain her collapse. You don't spot anything from the lab yet, but you keep looking.

Nate
"Do you know what happened here?"

Sharon stops working and idly starts pouring sand onto the front of her skirt, slowly burying her knees.
>"...I dunno. I think somebody broke it."

Nathan
"Somebody broke it? Do you know who?"

Sharon
>"No, I dunno who. Why are you wearing pajamas?"

Nathan
"What? No, they aren't pajamas, well, not exactly."

Sharon
>"You're wearing slippers too."

Nathan
"No, they're not slippers, they're for my job. Your job too, I suppose."

Toxoglossa 2014/08/09(Sat)21:47 No. 588895 ID: 557bac
File 140764607435.png - (172.44KB , 365x600 , 2-30.png )

>does SHE have any bugs? If so where are they? remember that last time we were in this zone they attacked us.

Suddenly, you remember: when you were in Diego's mind, his beetle attacked you, and it was HUGE. You cast your eyes around for Sharon's-

Nate
"Holy shit!"

Ask her if she can ask the crab to calm down.

Back away from her, and hold your hands up in an appeasing gesture. You're not here to change anything, maybe you can get the crab to recognize that. Be nice not to have to pay whatever price you paid getting the bees to fight that beetle, again.

>>588896
Yes. Explain that you're here to... 'un-break' it. If that doesn't work, try to outmaneuver the crab and send your wasps to start pulling the broken pieces back together.

Well our options are to impart wisdom on the transient nature of life, using the sand castle as a metaphor, which might not work because she's a child
Or
you could put your engineering degree to good use and help her build the best damn sand castle ever.

Ask her if she has any idea how to fix it.

CRAB BATTLE

But seriously, see if we can get Inner Child here to calm Cancer here down a notch.

Also, of course, we need to find out who exactly just unleashed a floorwide can of psychic knockout (besides the obvious guess who's so suspect that at this point it probably ISN'T him).

hide behind her, i highly doubt a mental construct would attack it's owner.

Well, if Sharon doesn't realize the crab is protecting her... It wouldn't be nice to abandon her to the crab. Maybe take a few steps away and ask her if that crab has always been there, it might calm down from the slight distance or she might recgonize it.

Excuse yourself for swearing (she is a kid, after all) and find something to hide behind.

>>588895
I'm not sure we can do anything here to fix things, and we certainly have no reason to fight this time. Try talking to the crab, ask it what happened here, and if you can help un-break things. Maybe the wasps can work as a translator?

Toxoglossa 2014/08/13(Wed)19:59 No. 589358 ID: 557bac
File 140798517769.png - (296.56KB , 600x600 , 2-31.png )

>hide behind her, i highly doubt a mental construct would attack it's owner.

The guardian crab barrels out of the surf and...
collapses?

Cautiously, you stand up and brush yourself off while trying to pretend that you weren't literally hiding behind a little girl.

Nate
"Er... sorry..."

Sharon
>"Dude, really?"

You inch closer to examine the creature. There is a gaping hole in the back of its carapace sloshing with brine and cyanoglobin. The limbs on the left side of the creature appear to have been mangled by some tremendous force.

oh, it's broken too. drag it out of the water.

>>589358
Whatever did this might still be here. Open your suit and reveal the Nest, so that the wasps can come out. You'll need them to defend yourself.

There's a house. Tell her she might want to take shelter there. It's her house, isn't it?

"Wait... These things are supposed to guard the person they live near... That would be you, Sharon. What hurt this guy so badly?"

Also, shoot, you didn't do this to Diego's beetle, did you? That would be horrible! Might be worth asking her if you can try and heal the crab. Your wasps could probably replace the missing portion with hive matter.

I've got a phobia, alright? look, if you're not having any fun, why don't you go to the house?

>Dude, really?
The last giant bug I ran into was somewhat less mangled.

Seriously, how was he moving, when hurt this bad? Or was it fine before, and the attack was just so fast we missed it?

Soooo... the crab was just okay when it was coming at you and then collapses with a hole in its back. Did something attack it from behind but you didn't see it behind the wave of water? Double check the water to make sure nothing is there.

Consider that it might not be so much attacking you as running from something.

i think we're looking at this the wrong way....maybe the crab meant something

Nate is still wearing his clean suit.

Aren't those things giant onesies that have no opening?

Toxoglossa 2014/08/16(Sat)11:24 No. 589674 ID: 557bac
File 140821348843.png - (238.99KB , 600x600 , 2-32.png )

Sharon picks up a stick and starts to poke at the giant carcass scientifically.

>"You don't have to be scared, its dead."

Nate
"Well, I was attacked earlier by a giant beetle, so you'll understand if I'm a bit nervous. Plus, I kind of have a thing about bugs."

The crab doesn't look like its been dead for long, but it seems like it was washed up, or thrown up on shore rather than moved under its own power.
A sudden chill runs up your spine.

What if whatever did this is still here?

>Whatever did this might still be here. Open your suit and reveal the Nest, so that the wasps can come out. You'll need them to defend yourself.

You unzip the front of your coverall a bit, and a member of the swarm clambers out.

"Hey, I don't suppose you know what did this, do you?"

Unknowwnnnn. Zzzztrong. Much dammmage.

>Also, shoot, you didn't do this to Diego's beetle, did you? That would be horrible!

"When we were in Diego's head, you didn't kill his beetle did you?"

ZzzzZNnooo. WWwe coulld not killlll it. Not zzztrong eeeenough

>There's a house. Tell her she might want to take shelter there. It's her house, isn't it?

Nate
"Hey, Sharon, we should get out of here, let's go inside where its safe, okay?"

Sharon hesitates, but looks back at the crab and nods.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/16(Sat)11:24 No. 589675 ID: 557bac
File 140821349408.png - (187.82KB , 600x600 , 2-33.png )

Together you race up the dunes, hearing something something thrash behind you in the surf, but not daring to look back. You stumble into the living room, and find yourself interrupting... something?

Whatever it is, it stands in the middle of the room with its appendage outstretched, manipulating a cloud of tiny fragments.
It turns its machine-like head, studded with tiny lenses, and fixes you with a cold stare.
Sharon starts to scream.

Okay that shit right there's fucking with her mind.

SWARM THAT SON OF A BITCH!

>>589678
We don't know this for sure, but given that Sharon screamed upon seeing it, that's probably right. Ask them what they're doing, and why they're here.

Shit man it's the robopocalypse! Our machine overlords have developed not only consciousness, but psychic powers!

Or, y'know, that's just armor he/she made (like your space suit).
Ask what the hell's going on.

That thing is ripping apart her memories to find something. Not sure what it wants but its most likely looking for information on COBALT and such.

Could be a competitor that has a guy like you who can get into peoples heads to steal info. Or could be crazy aliens from that creepy thing in the sky.

We just need to figure out how to drive it off and help repair her mind if need be.

Lets hope the wasps have had time to heal up because this could get messy. Send them after it and see if they have any advice.

If you heard something thrashing on the surf it might be her crab trying to put itself back together and help. Not sure if we can do anything about that but if we could find a way to heal the crab it could help drive this thing off.

>>589680
I think this is an obvious enemy. The mind's owner doesn't like it, and we're getting chills up the spine in a place where dream logic prevails. Tell your swarm to boot it out of this mind and ask how you can help. Tell it to prioritize not dying over accomplishing the goal.

>>589675
That... could be Doug, looking through her memories to see what did the damage. The body shape is right for Doug.

Unleash the swarm anyway, and take a defensive posture. Also look around for something suitably sturdy that you could use as a weapon. Don't just let your wasps do the dirty work- bash that fucker's head in if it turns out to be a threat.

Ask who it is and what the hell it's doing.

>>589690
If it's Doug, then we can add "obsession with Alien" to the list of creepy things about him. However, while the body type's a close fit, let's not assume anything for now; we can't get blindsided here. And be wary for traps, this could very well be one.

>>589675
hmm.. yell "DOUG WHAT THE FUCK!?"

>>589710
Let's do this.

And if it doesn't reveal who the Gigerbot is, say "Sorry. Thought you were someone else," before braining him with whatever's on hand.

>>589675
That tail... I think we can say with reasonable certainty that we are viewing the source of that shadow we saw earlier in the maintenance room.

>>589690
Can't be, look at the legs.
You just can't squash feet into those spindly ass things, also digitigrade.
Unless Doug's mental image is a robot, it's probably safe to assume that we are not in the presence of Doug.

If this is like your safe space you will likely be able to imagine a weapon for yourself. I believe a crowbar is traditional for this sort of thing.

grab it and take it to your "safe place" and SEND it into the giant space anomaly. on purpose.

>>589720
It makes sense if he's a psycho/sociopath.

Well it looks like we know who's been killing bugs. Let's not go to our safe place right away, it hasn't been particularly safe as of late.

>>589746
What? No. That's for Black Mesa scientists. Nathan's an Astronaut. He'd have a Pistol-Grip drill.
http://www.universetoday.com/31005/super-tools-essential-to-hubble-mission-success/pgt/ this guy's got one holstered here.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/17(Sun)15:20 No. 589894 ID: 557bac
File 140831401627.png - (243.21KB , 600x432 , 2-34.png )

>SWARM THAT SON OF A BITCH!

You push Sharon behind you and pull your coverall open and the swarm comes pouring out.

Nate
"Hey! You! Er- stop that!"

Unimpressed by your tone of voice, the figure turns and its faces you. It's arm crackling with strange energy.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/17(Sun)15:20 No. 589895 ID: 557bac
File 140831402173.png - (214.58KB , 600x417 , 2-35.png )

> look around for something suitably sturdy that you could use as a weapon.

You pick up a chair and hold it in what you hope is a threatening manner.

>That... could be Doug

"Who are -? Doug, is that... you?"

Its answer, if it can be called that, is a burst of violent static. It points its claw at you and a blinding arc of light earths itself in the chair, leaving a smoking hole in the wood.

you need to grab it somehow, maybe by the tail, and drag it into your head, which has something a LOT more dangerous in it.

Rush him, using the chair as a shield, and drag him with you into the black hole zone. Either leave your swarm here or recall it back into your hive.

This thing looks like a scorpion, eyes, tail, claws.

Hey, idea.

Hive Husk armor! Ask hive to make you some bitchin' husk armor or whatever. His bugs gave him that wicked techno suit somehow. Shit, even a husk shield will do.
Maybe a stinger rapier with some poison venom on it too? Get him in the joints!

It fights with lightning, huh? Using a conductor like wood as a shield sort of works, but what you really need is a lightning rod to or something to divert it to ground.

...also, if it's made of metal, that's going to make stinging or venom kind of ineffective.

>>589895
Not Doug, then.

Imagine a spacesuit, as you used to do, but make it armored. And with weapons on it. Like, I don't know, lasers, miniguns, big weapons. Strong weapons. Alternatively, you could see if you can focus and retaliate with some sort of energy blast of your own.

The swarm should do its thing. Maybe it can split up into small wasps and sting through cracks in the robot's armor. Don't be afraid to tank some shots for it. As we've seen, injury to your mind-body regenerates relatively quickly. The swarm, however, seems to recover slower... or maybe that was just because it didn't have a Hive.

>>589948
Have you played any games, Nate? If not, let me suggest you this for a battle-armor.

>>590001
No, if you're going to fight aliens and deal with crazy mind shit in a spacesuit this is the only choice!

Nate doesn't just need a space suit, he needs protection. He needs a suit of armour.

He needs the AX-2 hard-shell prototype space-suit.

As much as I'd like to go anywhere else with it.....

this is the best idea for a biological bee suit

>>590014
I'm actually kind of okay with this.

>>590013
This I'm less okay with. Looks like something rejected from Power Rangers.

Dream up an EMP gun (like in the Dark Knight Rises or Arkham City) or some chaff grenades (like in MGS1). If the singularity doesn't work, we need to be prepared.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/20(Wed)18:43 No. 590378 ID: 557bac
File 140858543758.png - (158.26KB , 600x533 , 2-36.png )

>Imagine a spacesuit, as you used to do, but make it armored. And with weapons on it. Like, I don't know, lasers, miniguns, big weapons.

You concentrate and wrap your mind in a protective EVA suit. As you feel it's weight cover your limbs, you try to conceptualize a weapon in your hands.
Unfortunately, that doesn't work so well. You get the feeling that you're trying to manifest too much and you really aren't that familiar with guns. Instead you hang on to the smouldering chair.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/20(Wed)18:44 No. 590379 ID: 557bac
File 140858544213.png - (266.93KB , 700x501 , 2-37.png )

>Rush him, using the chair as a shield
Shielding yourself, you catch another blast with the chair as you rush the figure but the suit is slowing you down.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/20(Wed)18:44 No. 590380 ID: 557bac
File 140858544834.png - (369.74KB , 600x600 , 2-38.png )

>The swarm should do its thing.
It readies itself to attack again but before it can, the swarm assembles behind it and pins its arms to its sides.

>>590380
Alright, not familiar with guns? You are familiar with circuitry and such, though. Make a makeshift tazer. Battery, contacts, button. Fry the robot with it. Oh, or an arc-welder.

Or just fucking smash its head with the GUN.

Consider making your boots lighter so you can move faster.

You are, however, familiar with video games. Attack its health bar directly!

Do a scooby doo reveal and tear off its helmet if you can. If there is someone in that suit it would be nice to see there face.

Depending on how lively it is when you get there might have to smack it around a bit before you try anything though.

It hasn't been injured yet but has lightning coming out of it. Warn the swarm; I think it is going to try and shock them off.

Smash its face in.

Not familiar enough with guns to dream up a good one? Imagine a tool from work. There's any number of metalworking, circuitry and mechanical tools that work as improvised weapons. (Anything from a wrench to power tools).

>>590456
THE REAPER'S SAWBLADE.

>>590456
Create the power drill that will pierce its skull.

>>590456
Some kind of bandsaw sword?

>>590468
or that, that'll work.

You already have a chair.

What about a metal chair?

>>590510
That's so crazy IT JUST MIGHT WORK!

>>590510
But its attacks looks like they might be lightning based. It does block the shots as it is however, so we could imagine duplicate chairs to replace the ones that get broken.

>>590520
This. Don't fix what ain't broke, wood is working.

There's an idea. Ever play Dungeons and Dragon, Nate? Make your chair become Ironwood, and make an Ironwood weapon.

>>590524
>wood weapon
ME AM SPACE CAVEMAN, WOOD CLUB SMASH

>>590520
Soooo.. why not make some lightning rods? Or stuff that absorbs electricity? He's a engineer science guy. There's likely some big devices that can ground and take in large amounts of electricity.

Ok, but why aren't we fighting with rocket boosters? Just smite him with the unmatchable power of a rocket engine to the face.

>>590559
Yeah! Rocket boosters on the suit, for GO-FAST. Rocket-boost a punch for a ROCKET PUNCH!

Toxoglossa 2014/08/21(Thu)21:26 No. 590562 ID: 557bac
File 140868161481.png - (215.12KB , 600x600 , 2-39.png )

>It hasn't been injured yet but has lightning coming out of it. Warn the swarm; I think it is going to try and shock them off.

Nate
"Swarm! Watch out!"

There's a crackle of ozone and a cascade of sparks pours out of the the machine figure. The swarm manages to escape the blast, but a handful of errant wasps are incinerated by the attack.

>Rush him, using the chair as a shield, and drag him with you into the black hole zone.

It snarls a curse in a burst of static and starts to attack, but you're already on top of it. Your mind flickers through an arsenal of weapons, dozens of tactics, a thousand possibilities, but you can't afford a second to hesitate. The heavy suit, while slow, plows into the stranger like a truck, letting you grab its wrist. A bolt of magenta lightning scars the tough skin of the space suit but you're already dragging it into your safe place with you.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/21(Thu)21:33 No. 590565 ID: 557bac
File 140868200733.png - (174.69KB , 357x600 , 2-40.png )

You aren't sure what to expect from the invader, you just wanted to get it away from Sharon's mind, where it was clearly doing damage. However, rather than attack, it shakes loose from your grip and surveys its new environment.

Then it sees the Axle, and its shoulders start to shake.

Wait... is it? Laughing?

You reach out to grab it, but its silhouette breaks up, and disappears, leaving only six glowing "eyes" which quickly fade into the background radiation of the night sky.

Well we got it away from her but I think this is where it came from judging from its reaction.

Look around while you are here to see if anything has changed. Is that the box with the chain from the last dream we where in over there?

Then either head back to the real world or back to her mind to try and help repair things.

>>590565
It's going back to the waking world. You should too, because otherwise it can attack you while you're in the trance. Don't go back into Sharon's mind yet; you need to get to safety, and you can help her later. It's not like the damage will get any worse.

A few things to note:
1) despite the Axle being in full view, it has not sucked you in.
2) the cube is STILL THERE. We can apparently permanently bring things in here. I'm guessing Diego is not though because you told him to try to wake up, and that made him go back home.
3) I think the robot laughed because it knows what's causing the anomaly and it doesn't look like that at all. We're lucky it chose not to damage Nate's mind.

Flip him off and get the hell outta here. I have no desire to be sucked up by some crazy ass spatial anomaly today.

Well, hell. We got it away from her, but we gave it a route out with whatever it got, too.

Double back, maybe? Check if she's all right, or if things are going back to normal?

Toxoglossa 2014/08/23(Sat)15:58 No. 590836 ID: 557bac
File 140883468417.png - (321.13KB , 600x600 , 2-41.png )

>Well, hell. We got it away from her, but we gave it a route out with whatever it got, too.

Well, that wasn't too bad. Hopefully that was the last of... whatever that was.

>Look around while you are here to see if anything has changed. Is that the box with the chain from the last dream we where in over there?

Yeah, it looks like Diego's giant cube is still here. You aren't quite sure why. It seems to still be resisting the pull of the Axle for some reason.

Hang on, something's happening, however Its hard to tell exactly what. The accretion disk around the Axle starts to speed up, and the diameter of the ring starts to close.

There's a great buildup of energy. Suddenly, the linear singularity wrenches and is torn wide open; leaving a gaping, seething wound in the fabric of the universe.

Nate
"Oh my God. No, no no no no."

You need to get out of here.
You need to get the HELL out of here.

You concentrate, trying to escape before it tears you apart again.

Toxoglossa 2014/08/23(Sat)15:58 No. 590837 ID: 557bac
File 140883469054.png - (248.05KB , 600x664 , 2-42.png )

You feel someone shaking you and It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the sudden, brilliant white of the clean-room. You find yourself looking into the concerned faces of a pair of security guards.

Morgan
>"Nathan? What happened, are you two okay?"

Tell him you're okay, at least for the moment, but you're not sure about Sharon. Take a look at her, see if she's awake. If she's not responding, go ahead and just tell them her mind is shattered, and the intruder was the one that did it. If they don't believe you, don't even bother talking about the Axle or mindscapes or whatever. Just go talk to Doug. He may be able to help fix her, and we can tell him about the robot in Sharon's mind and the Axle in your Safe Place.

...just in case, ask Morgan to escort you there and stand guard outside the door. Tell him you don't feel safe anymore. If Doug is somehow on the same side as the robots (though I doubt it- why would the robot steal secrets from Sharon when Doug has access to them already?) then we can get help from Morgan.

The first question we should ask Doug is "Why don't you have any bugs?" The second thing we should ask is "Why did you kill that spider?" The third thing is "Do you know of the Axle?"

You found Sharon unconscious after you made the call, had a panic attack and kinda fainted.

>>590843
This.

Great. The entire clean-room has to be decontaminated and cleaned back to standards. That won't be costly or time consuming.

>>590843
Yeah, that's probably the best reaction, and very close to the truth.

Is she okay?

>>590843
This. Don't tell them anything pertaining to what might have all been imaginary. If Sharon's mind is shattered, you knowing it before they run tests would make you the suspect.

>>590843
I also support this.

Wait, are there cameras in the clean rooms?

We should be able to get footage of whatever Nate did while Nate was in imagination space!

How long will it be until the clean room is fully investigated for signs of the intruder, and then restored to usable condition? I'm no expert, but "hours or days" sounds plausible. Crisis or no, you can't do your job with crud everywhere.

Answer any questions the security guys have, give them whatever they need to do their own jobs, return whatever mission-critical tools and documentation you've been entrusted with to appropriate storage, then tell the boss you're taking half a sick day this afternoon 'cause it's better for everyone involved than sitting around doing nothing on company time, or worse yet wasting valuable materials by assembling contaminated garbage in a burglarized clean room. This is maybe not the best option politically, but you have legitimate technical, medical, and possibly cosmic problems, here. If somebody raises a stink, the magic words are "reasonable accommodation for a disability."

Then clock out, drive to Dr. Cooper's office, and get your therapy on via the low-latency, high-bandwidth, moderately secure channel known as face-to-face conversation.

>>590843
That.

And check on the super-secret plans.

>Great. The entire clean-room has to be decontaminated and cleaned back to standards. That won't be costly or time consuming.
Eh, the intruder was already probably unsanitary.