Part 188: BCP 17 - Red Shoes
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 17: Red Shoes
Music: trailer
Hi! I'm Paul! Just your everyday plucky employee of Lobotomy Cobotomy, here today to talk about Red Shoes!
Red Shoes is a HE level Abnormality which takes the form of its namesake. While it is not a particularly complicated Abnormality, a certain level of care must be taken when handling it. Aww, shucks, Miss Hod! It's just a pair of shoes. How bad could it possibly be? That's what you're here to find out. Go ahead and give it a work.
Wowsers! This is going really well! Red Shoes has the maximum possible success rate for any agent with a Temperance of 1 or 2 performing Attachment work. However, it's imperative that we never have such an agent work with Red Shoes, or else they will be taken under its spell. Wait-but… MY Temperance is level 1! Uh-oh! This can't be good!
Golly gosh, where'd I find an axe in there?
In this state, our agent undergoes several changes. Their Fortitude multiplies by a large number-Paul here has jumped to 264 HP for instance. In addition to this, White attacks now damage their HP as though they were an Abnormality. Unlike most Abnormalities, however, Shield bullets, Execution bullets, and Healing bullets still affect them. Slow bullets, which generally only work against Abnormalities, do not work on the affected agent either. Wowsers! So I'm like a super agent? Well… not exactly.
Fratricidal footwear, I just killed… Wait, is that Talow? Didn't he die? Um… d-didn't you? Oh yeah! I should really stop worrying about things I can't comprehend! Upon killing a fellow Employee, the Red Shoes agent will jump on them and finish them off to heal themselves. They also will heal naturally over time from the regenerators, and their presence doesn't slow the healing rate at all. I've become a real problem! Are we going to Execution bullet me for the good of the company? That won't be necessary. The Training Team is here, and we deal in counseling, training, and handling agents undergoing traumatic situations!
Yowie wowie! She just murdered the heck out of me with her bear hands! I-it's the only way that we can stop an agent who's stuck in the Red Shoes. I understand completely! My life already belongs to the company anyways, I'm always glad to give it up at any time. That's the spirit! Now, there's one more thing you should be aware of when it comes to Red Shoes: it has an ability that it may activate every time that a Normal or Bad work result occurs on it.
Employee under the spell? So the shoes were wizards all along! Momma always told me not to trust no wizards! Your mother was very wise, Paul! The Red Shoes will ensorcell a random agent with 2 or fewer Temperance-should it lack one, a clerk is targeted instead.
The affected employee makes their way to its containment cell and puts the shoes on, becoming an entity just like you were, Paul. Oh man! That won't end well! Is there anything the Manager can do to stop them? If they click multiple times on the ensorcelled employee, they'll be able to snap them out of it and the Red Shoes's effect will end. And if that doesn't work...
There's always the Training Team, ready to handle whatever problems come our way! Miss Hod, your team is the very coolest team of all teams in the entire facility! Why thank you, Paul! We try very hard to keep everything running well around here.
It sure works, Miss Hod! I can only hope that I'll be lucky enough to stay assigned to the Training Team forever! Now, Paul, flattery is frowned upon in this company… we can't give special treatment! Aww, shucks! Can't blame a guy for hoping, right? 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. I must say, it's nice to have my Sephirot up and able to help out again. For reasons I cannot fathom, Malkuth and Yesod have been out of commission for some time. With Hod back online in a more active capacity, things should run far more smoothly around here. Angela, the graphics.
Red Shoes is not particularly troublesome once your facility's agents are all at Temperance 3 or above. In the unlikely event that Hod ever finishes the advanced training program she's promised me, this would make it a complete nonissue for our actual agents. Given that we can then remove clerks with Execution bullets, it's possible to render this Abnormality completely safe. It's a shame, then, that its gear is less than plentiful. Its weapon is not the greatest, and while its suit has all of the numbers I like to see for a HE level suit, we only have access to one of them barring an unforeseen expansion in storage space. Regardless, I find that this Abnormality is not one which is bad to have around. Certainly it's more useful than employees who call themselves comrades one moment and try to tear the facility apart the next… but that's really an entirely different topic, isn't it? For now, this old man shall cease his ramblings.Next time's featured Abnormality…
New Guidelines
Red Shoes
New Gear
Requirements: None
Requirements: Temperance 3
New Story
Red Shoes (Part 1)
Red Shoes (Part 2)