EoD Pt 2: 2074 Q4 Planning (Patreon)

[X] Plan: Robots and Prototypes

-[X] Sell

--[X] 1 SCIENCE

--[X] 2 OUTREACH

--[X] 1 Chems

-[X] Buy

--[X] +2 Funding (0/5 --> 10/5)

--[X] AlviCorp (0/20 --> 20/20)

--[X] Daisy Technological Enterprises (0/25 --> 25/25)

--[X] Better Think Initiative (0/25 --> 25/25)

--[X] Garrahan Mining (0/75 --> 12/75)

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The rest of the convention, you work on calling in favors and influencing people. It’s not quite the same as Cambridge: back then, you actually liked people and didn’t have a chronic pain problem making you cranky. 

Beyond that, it’s not that different from the networking you were used to. You visit the AlviCorp Expo to chat up its representative, who seemed very surprised when you bring up the fact that ENFERR has been “helping” you. Almost alarmed even: apparently the AI is highly experimental and AlviCorp didn’t expect to roll out the test version for another year. 

The guy was jittery that entire conversation. He seemed to get really alarmed when you asked about the technical specifications: apparently the company is keeping that information highly confidential. 

You supposed it was fair: as complex and advanced as ENFERR is, it makes sense its creators would be wary of someone swooping in and stealing the technology. You’re just surprised that the rep wasn’t informed you were on the early white-list for prototype access: something that eventually gets cleared up with a call to headquarters, which makes the Rep less wary, but during the conversation afterwards the man would act…odd. He asked a lot of questions and made a lot of references you didn’t get: how long you’ve been “working for the detroit branch”, your general preference between “being loud and being subtle”, and whether you’d been “assigned a theme yet”, whatever the hell that means.

You’re pretty sure the phone call accidentally convinced the man you were also on AlviCorp’s payroll. Still, you manage to set up a partnership between the company and yourself. Their catalog was interesting: ENFERR-NET mainframes, experimental sealants, as well as several proprietary robot models, including a model of robo-brain. 

It wasn’t the only deal you made: you wind up making several. Finding Nancy later on, you eventually negotiate a partnership between her company and your branch of Team America: Daisy would get funding and reputation, you’d get first dibs on using their technology to prepare for the apocalypse. In-between, you wind up talking to various scientists and researchers at the convention: several of them fellow Cambridge students, though thankfully none of them recognize you outside Steinbeck. 

You manage to drum up a bit of support for expanding the DoP’s educational program: depending on how long the war went on, the department and the nation in general would require more than just Cambridge and ACME education, after all.

The reality is, of course, that by the time America’s cannibalization of its educational system became relevant, chances are you’d all be atomic dust: there were several far more immediate concerns when it came to the decline of institutional knowledge, and their names were Uranium, Plutonium, and Oppenheimer. 

The Better Think initiative is going to pass, but it’s use to you is a great deal more immediate. It was your hope that by preparing the ground-work, you might be able to help salvage at least a portion of the collective body of knowledge that civilization had slowly eked together.

Good choices, Edgar, though I’ll admit I’m not sure about looking into Garrahan. You also maybe shouldn’t have sold your Outreach dice specifically, but that’s probably not going to be THAT big a deal: it just means it’ll be a little harder to unlock your next sponsorship. 

Now for the news!

Let’s take a look at our national first!

Better Think!: The Department of Preservation had announced that it would be massively expanding its educational programmes, starting with a greatly expanded scholarship grant as well as investing in the public school system. Critics of this move and the DoP, such as the Liberty Party, are calling this a “craven imposition on the profits of the private school system” and a “obvious and crass ploy to indoctrinate children into accepting white socialism”. Others cited concerns about how their tax-money was being spent, especially with a war going on. (0/2 until random [Education] program is upgraded.)

Additional Laser Towers in Oregon!: The next four major laser tower on the west coast has finished construction, two located on the Oregon coastline: these installations are predicted to have a larger effect on regional habitability than the Pacific one. (2/4 until west coast missile defense increases.)

Vault Tec Research Lab (2/4, when complete Vault-Tec gains random technology)

The Sinking of the USS Gorman: Several ships in the past quarter have been sunk: not by enemy ships or sabotage, but because of the wrath of mother nature. A major electrotyphoon over the pacific would cause three ships to be destroyed by what is being termed as ‘extreme inclement weather’, including the USS Gorman, a major transport ship. 

Heatwave in Oklahoma: The bad weather isn’t just an issue in the Pacific: according to news outlets, despite the winter months approaching, Oklahoma is suffering from an extreme heatwave, which is in turn causing a sharp uptick in violent crime caused by tempers and temperatures reaching a boiling point. 

Pinkerton Power Armor: Riots and strikes in Appalachia have been temporarily quelled by the Pinkertons rolling out their newly furnished power armor division. While there have been a few scattered reports of miners using laser cutters to fight back, by and large the quarter is looking to be a success for the organization. Pinkertons gain Power Armor. 

[spoiler=Faction Card: Pinkertons]

Pinkerton National Detective Agency [Government, Corporate, Security] An organization you loathed, the Pinkertons are the Knights of Capitalism. Hired thugs whose history stretches back to the 1800’s, they work for the lowest bidder busting up unions, hunting down bounties on socialists or famous dissidents at large, putting down unruly workers, and acting as cops for hire. 

Stats: 

Power Armor Proliferation: +

[/spoiler]

Rise of the Arlington Zombies!: As more and more sightings of ghastly undead creatures emerge in Arlington county, the DoP has made another shocking statement: these creatures are real. The official term for them is Centralia Zombies, named after the first identified location with them, though many publications use different names to describe the creatures, including Ghouls, Revenants, Atomic Zombies, and most confusingly Fission Vampires. The DoP intends to expand it’s C-Files division in the region in order to help collect these creatures and prevent them from potentially becoming dangerous. 

And here’s the local news!

Protests in Louisiana: Factory workers in New Orleans are protesting abhorrent treatment conditions: overwork, lack of safety precautions, and in a few instances paying company script instead of money. In particular, the REPCONN, Navitron, and Schlocket Industries factories were alleging particularly poor treatment. Their managers have already announced that they refuse to bend knee to illegal protests: it is highly likely this will escalate. 0/2 until Pinkerton Faction Penetration increases in New Orleans, 0/3 until Baton Rouge. 

ACME Expansion: Unable to afford a spot in ACME’s new Baton Rouge securitower? ACME was proud to announce that they were already planning on building two additional towers for low-income families! Not only that, they were proud to announce the development of a new ACME Suburbs program using New Orleans as a test-bed! 0/2 until ACME Faction Penetration increases in New Orleans, 0/3 until Security Tower community card is upgraded. 

New Orleans Mayoral Election: It was election season in New Orleans! The candidates this year consisted of Donald Tibodeux under the banner of the Patriot Party, who promised to put an end to crime by instituting a law that would turn certain districts of the city into designated death districts, where the penalty for being caught breaking any law would be immediate sentencing. His opponent, Lloyd Ackerman of the Liberty Party, wanted to defund numerous civil services as well as privatize the cities prisons to use as a source of cheap labour. Also running was Dr. Albany Stripe, a man who claimed to be the human avatar of satan who you were fairly certain was running as a joke, Michael McCormic, who wanted to outlaw pet ownership, and Thelma Dinklage, who wants to bomb florida.

Book Burnings in Alexandria: The city of New Alexandria has been swept up in a new craze: book burning! Led by Bob Watkins, the pastor of New Alexandria New Baptist Church, this three day event involved his church forcibly occupying several libraries accused of containing ‘seditious or treasonous material’ and incinerating their stock. 

Broke in Baton Rouge: The bank robbery committed by the ideological terrorist calling himself Count Dracula has resulted in numerous un-insured companies, including ACME, making layoffs, citing an inability to pay employees, which has resulted in several protests in the region. Several other financial facilities in the city are also facing difficulties, caused in part by a loss of trust in the overall security of these firms by their constituents, many of whom have begun to withdraw their savings. Private safe manufacturers are reporting record profits, but many in Baton Rouge worry that the end of the cities revival is coming. 

And with that, here’s the state of the department:

FUNDING: 5

INFLUENCE: 0

WRATH: 273

And now, your current list of tasks:

• Increase Police Militarization in one community (2 turns left).

• Complete two Weather Monitoring Stations (2 turns left).

• Increase Community Broadcast Tower to Phase 2 in one community (Unlocks Hypnotic Broadcast Reels). 

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SECURITY

1 Dice, +0 to rolls

AlviCorp Robot Factory [Robotics, Construction, AlviCorp]: AlviCorp was looking to expand their overall presence in the robot market. To do that, however, they needed manufacturing facilities: this would allow them to increase the proliferation of their machines in the region. Of course, the DoP would benefit: each factory you build will be rewarded with a portion of the output of the factories to help staff your own robotic security division. 0/250/500, SELECT COMMUNITY. Increases AlviCorp Robotics Proliferation stat. Every two points of ARP in the region increases [Robotics] dice by 1. 

DaisyTech Arsenal Printer [Prototype, Industry, Military, Daisy]: DaisyTech was working on a military contract: they wanted to create a ‘build an arsenal’ device that utilized an AI assistant and advanced manufacturing technology in order to allow users to create their own custom, highly advanced weapons. 0/250, unlock Daisy Tech Arsenal and Rogue Arsenal projects, increases Influence by 10. 

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AGENT

1 Agent Dice, +0 to rolls.

AlviCorp Drug Trials [Chems, Weird, AlviCorp]: AlviCorp wanted to get into medicine. If the DoP would assist them in conducting drug trials, it would go a good way to helping the company get it’s first product out into the world. 0/150, SELECT COMMUNITY. Increase random stat. Raise Influence by 5, increases funding by 1. 

DaisyTech Super-Intern Program [Personel, Education, Daisy]: DaisyTech was always looking to expand. If you would be willing to lend them your Agents to help them find qualified candidates- preferably before their competitors- it would let them begin opening facilities in the state. 0/350, grants +1 Science Dice and increases Regional Faction Penetration. Repeatable. 

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FACILITIES

0 Dice, +0 to Rolls

DoP Extracurricular Program [Education]: The Better Think initiative was pushing for increased extracurricular programs: on paper, to improve educational quality and prepare for future crises. In reality, it was mostly a cynical excuse to let them remodel schools to include hardened construction and bunkers.  0/200, raises Duck and Cover. Repeatable: cost 1 Funding. Gain +1 [Education] dice.

DaisyTech Bio-Lab [Genetics, Prototype, Daisy]: DaisyTech wanted to create a small biotech research lab somewhere. They couldn’t afford more than one lab at this time, so if you build this, you’ll need to think carefully about where. 0/500, SELECT COMMUNITY. Community gains +3 to its Research Value - Biology stat, and you gain +2 to [Genetics] projects. Can only be built once.

ENFERR Mainframe [Programming, Construction]:  AlviCorp was experimenting with a assistant AI- ENFERR. You forget what the acronym meant- anyways, they were still working on it. At the moment, it was only running on a supercomputer up in Denver. AlviCorp wanted to expand the AI’s coverage by creating a second mainframe in Lousiana connected via underground cabling. This would expand ENFERR’s processing abilities considerably. 0/300. We should, uh, probably keep this one quiet from the Director, Edgar. Anyways, if you do this, I’ll owe you one, buddy: 10 influence and a permanent +2 to [Robotics] projects! Plus, it’ll unlock a project to upgrade communities with local nodes on the ENFERR-Net in your Agent category! 

ACME Construction Catelogue [Construction, Personel, Robotics]: Sigh. ACME. As much as you detested them, they were the only real option for advanced construction technology, including the ALL-N1, Labourtron, and various useful Pip-Peripherals and architecture software. If you were willing to shell out money, you might be able to upgrade your construction division’s efficiency considerably. 0/200, gain +2 to [Construction]. Cost 1 Funding. 

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SCIENCE

0 Dice, +5 to rolls

Laser Balloon Testing [Prototype, Ecology, Energy, Daisy]: Daisy was experimenting with a new technology: extremely light-weight and cheap lasers that could be added to swarms of remotely piloted weather balloons. It was, to be frank, a highly dubiously effective technology: the idea was that the balloons would serve as yet another method by which nukes could be shot down. Still, if the technology was successful, it would be trivially easy to modify existing and future weather facilities with, and even a little more coverage could be the difference between total or merely partial annihilation. 0/250, upgrades Weather Monitoring Stations with Laser Balloon Technology, increasing Community Clear Skies. 

Hover-Brain Insurance [Personel, Robotics, Augmentation, AlviCorp]: Hover-Brains were a model of cyborg AlviCorp had developed- civilian, unlike the model the military was working on, and intended to be used on those suffering from terminal illnesses or hideously lethal injuries looking to survive. They were partially based on Eyebot designs, opting for a spherical shape. A brief perusal of the schematics didn’t show anything untoward: AlviCorp had a perfectly workable, non-evil (at least in abstract) design, they just didn’t have anyone who wanted to buy them. It would be expensive, but it’d be a pretty useful upgrade to the insurance package to have emergency Hover-Brain installation added to your employees healthcare coverage. 0/150, Department gains Hover-Brain insurance, giving +2 to [Personel] dice. Cost 2 Funding. 

Super-Sealant [Robotics, Chems, Prototype]: AlviCorp was working on researching a type of organic rubber sealant that could be used to construct long lasting waterproofed electronic devices: terminals, robots, radios, etc. 0/100, unlock Super Sealant Polymer, upgrading several technologies with Water-Proofing. 

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OUTREACH

1 Dice, +0 to Rolls

Community Scholarship Program [Education, Charity]: If you wanted to help stimulate a town, one way to do so would be setting up a program to help get them a free ride to attend secondary education: ACME U, to begin with, though with further investment you might be able to get any gifted students into CUL. 0/150/300, SELECT COMMUNITY. Grants Academics. First phase free, second phase costs 1 Funding. Increases Influence by 7 per Phase. 

Sponsorship Hunting [Corporate, Government]: You’d need more sponsorships, and soon. Unfortunately, this means going out and networking: you didn’t have the same star-power the DoP had. 0/50, gain 1 Sponsorship. Repeatable: every incomplete sponsorship doubles required progress. Overflow between repeats does not carry over. 

AlviCorp Community Development Program [Charity, Education, AlviCorp]: AlviCorp was a proud partner of the US Government, and would be perfectly happy working alongside the DoP to use their wealth to help enrich the public. 0/150, SELECT COMMUNITY. AlviCorp invests in chosen community, raising a random stat. Repeatable. Every two phases, gain +1 [AlviCorp] Dice. 

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MISCHIEF

CURRENT DICE: 5

CURRENT BONUS: +0

NEW ACTIONS

Chaos Science Mayhem Lecture [Education]: If you laid the ground-work first, and put the effort in, you could use the centers of Education to help formulate chaos: a few well planned lectures at the locations of learning, some small revisions to their course-work, a few minor changes to policy to encourage a certain sort of misbehavior, and their students could be convinced to use their educations a little more…creatively. DC 250, select community with [Education] tagged infrastructure. One random piece of appropriate infrastructure will be upgraded on success, granting it an infrastructure dependent [Mischief] associated bonus stat. I’d suggest getting yourself as pissed off as possible before trying this one, Edgar. The good news is, it’ll give you the ability to make prepare for it and make it spectacular.