Part 187: BCP 16 - Giant Tree Sap

X-394 is a big facility, full of mysterious creatures known as Abnormalities. Many of these Abnormalities can do very bad things if they're handled improperly, and it's vitally important that our agents know just what may happen if they're careless. What's a manager to do?



Episode 16: Giant Tree Sap

Music: trailer


Hi! I'm Paul! Just your everyday plucky employee of Lobotomy Cobotomy, here today to talk about Giant Tree Sap!



Giant Tree Sap is a HE-level tool Abnormality, which takes the form of a bottle of sap.

I thought it looked more like a grenade, Miss Hod!

Funny you should say that, Paul. Try taking a drink out of it.



Holy chin drinkers, Miss Hod! That doesn't look right!

The perception filter has a number of simplifications, and these sometimes can cause visual errors. It's best not to worry about it. How do you feel?

...healthy! Was that the Abnormality?

You got that right! Giant Tree Sap both heals the agent drinking it and gives them regeneration for a while after.

Gee golly, Miss Hod, that's really useful! Are there any downsides?

Not the first time in a day that it's drunk-but that's the only truly safe use of the Sap.

Uh-oh. What happens the second and third times?

Go ahead and have some more while I explain.



Mmm. It's tasty!

After the first drink of Giant Tree Sap, there's a slight chance of the drinker having an unfortunate reaction. This chance is at 15% on the second drink, 30% on the third, and so on up to a maximum of 60%. Please note that this does carry over between drinkers, so the facility as a whole only gets one free drink.

Uuuuh, side effects? Miss Hod, I don't feel so good…



Yowie wowie! I blew up!

This explosion will instantly kill the agent who triggered it, and deal White damage to anyone in the same room. This damage can cause a chain reaction, so be very careful with when you use it.

It's a balancing act, but the first use is free so take advantage of it whenever!

Finally, we have a small statement to make: To the employee who thought that it would be a fun prank to empty a significant amount of the sap into the punch bowl at our recent office gathering…

It was not fun. There were over a dozen casualties. Netzach was so distraught we nearly had to replace him. Please report to management for immediate disciplinary action.

Ooooo, someone's in trooooouble..!

Well, that's all the time we have today. Thanks for joining us! And remember…

Knowledge is just pain plus observation! Have a great day!


Music: Aspire


Good evening, future Managers. Today we should be talking about Giant Tree Sap, the Abormality seen here.



It's annoyingly situational, and using it more than once in a day will wind up killing someone. It's best used for handling agents who are asking inconvenient questions. We've spoken. Now, I believe I promised a story?

Manager…

We have plenty of time. I won't take no for an answer today.

...Very well, A.

Now then. How do I know the program works as intended? On Day 14 she and I were performing our usual parts, and I was about to ask the question which would trigger the program. It was at that moment that something unexpected happened…

You see, an agent burst in, all on their own. I've no idea how they managed to navigate the vents, but they walked right up to me and demanded that I cease allowing others to be given preferential treatment with the Abormalities. That wasn't the word they used, but I recall it just the same. I was taken aback, uncertain what would transpire in this instance as I tried to stammer out a response. Angela, for her part, didn't even change her expression. I remember her next words well.

"Manager, who are you speaking with?"

The agent introduced themselves, and I indicated that they'd said who they were. She responded that she could not see anyone-and that if there was someone such as that in the room that they were responding to her cameras and sensors in a way which rendered them totally invisible to any form of AI. She insisted that there was a zero percent possibility that such a thing could occur.

The program flashed red. I've no idea why she chose to tell this lie, but it wasn't the only strange thing which happened that day. When the deployment phase started and I went to set up the facility, I found that we'd returned to day 11. I hadn't requested a Memory Repository rewind, and when I asked Angela about it, she only could state that she had no control over the TT2 protocol. I pressed her for more information, but she's remained quite taciturn. In the end, she mentioned that continued agitation over such a non-issue could lead to a replacement in managers. I chose to simply let the whole thing die on the vine, at that point.

Still, little of that matters except for this: the program does work-and thus we can conclude her statements that day to be lies.

From this, since there is no way Angela herself would ever harm us, I can only assume the plot itself which we are all caught up within is somehow going to be my-our end. I fear we will never truly leave this prison.

Then again… I suppose I shall not be the one to find out. Ah, but forgive me. For now, this old man shall cease his ramblings.

Next time's featured Abnormality…


New Guidelines/Story

Giant Tree Sap