The mail-tube went ping! and he opened his eyes, swearing. For a moment he was tempted to let the pneumo-roll lie where it fell, but habit was too strong. He grumbled his way over to the basket and took it out.
The stamp across it jerked his mind to wakefulness. OfiSal, sEkret, fOr adresE OnlE – and a Security seal!
Just finished reading Security by Poul William Anderson (1953). Security recounts a simple tale of a distopian regime. Think it works out as a short story – it’s a few thousand words long, and available to download if you have the Stanza app on the iPhone (and, I daresay, available elsewhere).
Allen Lancaster works as a researcher on a state run Project. The world would be at war if not for the superiority of the State WMDs; but, that doesn’t stop rebels and lesser countries constantly plotting against them. Government agencies redefine history and language to wipe out subversion. The major bodies of Control, Efficiency and Security organise and review the life of each individual, while a solid work ethic, regulations and clearances keep everything in it’s rightful and well defined place. State-driven Projects – akin to R&D – push research forward without enthusiasm or freedom to deviate, at once advancing and stifling science. Traitors disappear to camp, never to return, tortured for information about the underground before suffering an inglorious demise. Loyalty yields little comforts and rewards.
Thoroughly recommended read for PARANOIA players and gamemasters alike.
I’m definitely certain there was something that happened today that made me think of PARANOIA. Now, however, so many hours after whatever it was, I have forgotten. Not a clue. I can’t believe that it has simply slipped away.
Oddly, time continues to slip away too and I’m getting precious little writing done. I’m envious of Gareth Hanrahan’s Tweeted updates that he’s getting so much writing done. I need to get rigorous, I need to set the pace… The pen needs to spend more quality time with the paper.
Of course, I might have solved this issue with writer’s block earlier today and simply forgotten about it. I pray it was nothing quite so important!
The Urbis in Manchester currently has an exhibition of Andrew Brooks photography entitled Reality Hack: Hidden Manchester. The free exhibit includes fifteen stunning images taken in, around and under Manchester, many in the company of UrbanExplorers. Having penned The Underplex and living in the Manchester area, I could hardly turn down the opportunity to go and have a look.
While you can see some of these pictures online, you can’t really appreciate the vivid imagery. The beautiful, sharp and dramatic images of hidden Manchester landmarks really engage the senses and if not for my own fears for personal safety actually make me want to go try some UrbEx activities myself. Seeing the flooded canals that once served as bomb shelters and tunnels that have supported, or still support, the industry of Manchester filled me with a sense of mischievious adventure and excitement.
Andrew uses some interesting techniques of image manipulation and opaque multi-picture overlays to create a stunning sense of forced perspective and depth – again, far easier to appreciate and study in person.
There are images from the Underplex here – ancient service tunnels, long abandoned conveniences, and fast-flowing detritus-filled waterways. Doorways, stairs and arched portals punctuate walls at different levels, some half buried or never intended for human access. Filthy sheets of glass might occasionally provide a murky sheen of daylight, but never much more than that. Even tunnels and service routes closer to civilisation provide a view of a world bereft of day-to-day human activity, routes frequented only by occasional service vehicles, maintenance crews and trespassers. This one even looks like an Alpha Complex service tunnel, with pipework coloured by Security Clearance.
Glancing through a copy of ‘The Guardian’, I’ve had since October 9th (I rarely read newspapers the day I buy them… I prefer to relax and absorb the content when it’s convenient to me), I opened the centre spread to find the stunning interior of Torrevaldaliga Nord, a coal-powered energy plant north of Rome. These pictures made me think of ‘Both Sides Now’, my mission in ‘Service, Service!‘ where Troubleshooters get the chance to face off against themselves in the heart of an advanced new Power Services generator. I’m sure the average player couldn’t really comprehend the sheer scale of the character’s environment and just how damned imposing it would be…
I can envisage the core of the generator hanging above the platform in the first picture, while the second image provides a great idea of the immense size of the dome. Indeed, I think it probably isn’t large enough. The third image adds to the range of tunnels and passageways suitable for inclusion in ‘The Underplex‘… a conveyor belt that seems to vanish off into infinity somewhere, it provides a sense of the industrial combined with a notion of the ‘what the heck do all these red things do?’. Well, it does for me.
…because physical components of the machines expand and contract in response to temperature changes, the amount of time a machine has been running, or even the time of day, might affect calibration—which could explain why the problem didn’t show up in later attempts to reproduce the error.
After the last presidential election, you’d have thought the tech firms responsible for touchscreen voting systems would have used the intervening years to make improvements. The iVotronic machines implicated in the voting problems of Florida in 2006 have come under scrutiny again, as people voting Democrat find the selection jumping to the Republicans.
Not only can the environment and time of day impact the performance of the touchscreen calibration, but also the height of the user and how long the device has sat in storage. The opportunities in PARANOIA for confusion and bewilderment seems endless, as R&D constantly mothball and then recycle technologies. That nifty touchscreen control for the ActivePeril Plasma-fusion Multi-load Missile Launcher worked a treat in the lab, delivering multiple ordnance types against a range of test targets… but, out in the field, in a corridor with functionally-challenged air conditioning or traitor-sabotaged strip lighting, will it work with the same streamlined functionality?
What about other control interfaces, from auto-medication dispensers and elevator controls, to vending machines or automatic bank tellers?
CITIZEN NICK-R-LSN – YOU HAVE INPUT A REQUEST TO WITHDRAW 1,000,000 CREDITS. YOU HAVE INSUFFICIENT FUNDS TO MEET THIS REQUEST. DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE UNDERVALUED, CITIZEN NICK-R? I NOTE YOUR EQUIPMENT OFFICER HAS IDENTIFIED SEVERAL ITEMS OF GEAR NOT RETURNED ON MISSION COMPLETION. WOULD YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT, CITIZEN NICK-R? IS THAT A NEW JUMPSUIT YOU ARE WEARING?
Uh, no. No, hang on. I input a request for 100 credits. Not a million. I… uh… this jumpsuit isn’t new… I just…
ARE YOU LOGGING A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE INPUT INTERFACE OF THE AUTO-TELLER, CITIZEN NICK-R? ARE YOU (A) QUESTIONING THE EFFICIENCY OF TECH SERVICES MAINTENANCE PROTOCOLS? (B) LOGGING A REPAIR DETAIL INADEQUACY REQUEST AGAINST…
Uh… No. Look, I…
I AM SORRY, CITIZEN NICK-R, YOUR RESPONSE DOES NOT MATCH THE SELECTION OFFERED. I AM DESPATCHING A VULTURE SUPPORT, COUNSELLING AND RIOT SUPPRESSANT SQUAD TO ATTEND TO YOUR REQUEST. PLEASE REMAIN AT THIS LOCATION UNTIL THEY ARRIVE.
Oh, sh…
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