You've been waiting in the lobby now for longer than you bother to keep track of. The flourescent lighting is dull, occasionally flickering as a bored and uninterested receptionist types away at his computer terminal. On either side of you sit other men and women with about as much interest in sitting here as yourself, but no one moves to leave or tries to break the monotony. Judging by the rather pointed effort of all here to dress in a way that would never impress, they're here for the same reason as you: they're looking for a job.
Freelancing has always been something of a mixed bag, but it offered a freedom that you would never find working for big companies. No overhead, pick the jobs you want to do, and no one to share any money with. However, contracts seem to have been drying up in the city as of late, and everyone seems to either be heading off to greener pastures or biting the bullet to join up with actual contractors. You just hadn't realized how big the demand for this was until now.
At long last the receptionist looks up, directly at you. Some of the others look your way as well, calculating your demeanor.
"Miss Mendoza is ready to see you now..."
>Sir
>Ma'am.
>>46185108
>Sir
Madam
>>46185108
>Sir
>>46185108
>>Sir
>>46185108
Madam
>>46185108
>Sir
>>46185108
>madam
>>46185108
>Madam
>>46185108
>Madam
>>46185108
>>Sir
Ma'am
>>46185108
Ma'am.
>samefags are already here
fuck off female mc fags
>Sir
>12 IPs
>13 votes
Yeah, ok. Seems legit.
>>46185336
>13 votes
>12 IPs
So far only one person has samefagged.
>>46185108
>Sir
>>46185108
Ma'am.
>>46185353
>>46185313
>>46185243
>>46185215
>>46185213
>>46185121
Writing. The last few female votes were samefagged.
>>46185370
Any competent samefag uses multiple IPs.
Not saying that's what happened, but the IP counter doesn't mean dick.
You get up and head through the double doors the receptionist gestures you toward. "Miss Mendoza lit a path for you to follow, just go along the orange route and follow it to the end. You have guest access right now, so deviation from any lighted pathways will be met with lethal force." The clipped tone and steady gaze from the receptionist let you know that he's serious and this occurrence has likely happened in the past already.
"Good to know," you say before you disappear into the hallway beyond.
The building is a veritable maze of hallways, some quiet as the grave while others are bustling with men and women moving back and forth to different tasks, only a few glancing to look at you. Cameras move at every corner, taking in everything. You push past a small throng of people before finally making it to the end of the path with a wooden doorway proclaiming the occupant
S. MENDOZA
RECRUITER
You knock once before a female voice calls you in.
The office is sparsely decorated. A computer terminal sits atop a faux-wooden desk. Military service medals line the top of a book shelf filled with various handbooks. The occupant, a woman in her middle ages with a severe haircut and eyes even sharper mostions for you to sit down.
"I never thought I'd see you actually come here, but stranger things happen."
"Only so many times you call before I come here just to shut you up," you reply.
"Whatever," Mendoza says with a roll of her eyes. "Look, if it were up to me, I'd hire you right now, but Bethesda wants to put you through your paces here. Make it fair for everyone who got a callback. so let's make this quick. I wanna hit the practical exams as quick as possible."
"Fine with me," you tell her.
"Alright. Name?"
>Jeremy Whitmore
>Marco Rodriguez
>Piotr Sokolov
>Tomas Linde
>Adam Kinney
>Write-in
>>46185690
>Marco Rodriguez
>>46185690
>Marco Rodriguez
>>46185690
Marco Rodriguez
>>46185690
>Tomas Linde
>>46185690
>>Jeremy Whitmore
>>46185690
>>Jeremy Whitmore
>Adam Kinney
>>46185690
>>Jeremy Whitmore
>>46185690
>Marco Rodriquez
"You've gotta be kidding me," you mutter.
Mendoza shrugs. "It's a formality."
"You know who I am!" you shout at her. "We-"
"Look, go through this crap, that's all I'm asking," she tells you.
"Fine," you mutter. "Marco Rodriguez."
"Age?"
"28."
"And now for the real questions," she asks. "Do you now, or in the immediate future, have any prosthesis, genetic augmentations, or technological expertise that would give you any sort of edge among other recruits or field agents? If so, what are they?" She looks up from her screen. "I won't judge. And anything you got illegally will be comped by Bethesda to make it legit."
[CHOOSE TWO]
>Ocular implants: Gives the user augmented vision, allowing them high definition telescopic vision while also allowing the user to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum
>Cybernetic prosthesis: Several parts of the subject have been replaced with various prosthetics, most notably the limbs, lungs, and heart, allowing them a higher amount of physical strength and endurance
>Neural implants: The brain has been augmented to allow higher reaction time while also alloting it the ability to connect to various technological interfaces without use of an external computer terminal
>Gene splicing: An experimental and illegal augmentation, gene splicing mixes the genetic material of a human and animal's. While physical changes aren't overt, a spliced individual does express traits of the animal it has been mixed with. Benefits include generally heightened physical senses with a small boost in physical strength and agility.
>>46186273
>Neural implants: The brain has been augmented to allow higher reaction time while also alloting it the ability to connect to various technological interfaces without use of an external computer terminal
>Gene splicing: An experimental and illegal augmentation, gene splicing mixes the genetic material of a human and animal's. While physical changes aren't overt, a spliced individual does express traits of the animal it has been mixed with. Benefits include generally heightened physical senses with a small boost in physical strength and agility.
>>46186273
>Ocular implants: Gives the user augmented vision, allowing them high definition telescopic vision while also allowing the user to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum
>Neural implants: The brain has been augmented to allow higher reaction time while also alloting it the ability to connect to various technological interfaces without use of an external computer terminal
>>46186273
>>Cybernetic prosthesis
>>Neural implants
>>46186273
>Ocular implants: Gives the user augmented vision, allowing them high definition telescopic vision while also allowing the user to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum
>Neural implants: The brain has been augmented to allow higher reaction time while also alloting it the ability to connect to various technological interfaces without use of an external computer terminal
>>46186273
>Neural Implants
>Cybernetic Prosthesis
>>46186368
>optic and prosthesis
>>neural and ocular
Ocular and gene splicing
>>46186273
>Ocular implants: Gives the user augmented vision, allowing them high definition telescopic vision while also allowing the user to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum
>Neural implants: The brain has been augmented to allow higher reaction time while also alloting it the ability to connect to various technological interfaces without use of an external computer terminal
I think neural is a bad choice 'cause in case loominarty upload virus in all neural implants we will be fucked
>>46186273
Ocular
Gene Splicing
Ocular and Neural won by a landslide. Writing.
"I've got a set of Oculus Fours and a MilTek Neural Uplink. You paid for the eyes and the rig is legal, so you guys don't have anything to worry about on that end."
"If you say so," she tells you. "Just letting you know that if we do hire you on and it's found out later you're lying then it's your ass on the line, not ours."
"Story of my life," you mutter. Mendoza shoots a critical eye at you but doesn't say anything to that end.
"Alright," she goes on, returning her attention to her screen. "Is there any sort of military or combat background we should be made aware of that would help us in considering hiring you on?"
>I worked special operations for a certain lettered organization. Infiltration and reconnaissance, until I decided that freelance was a better fit.
>I worked private security for Miranda Genovese while she was an ambassador to the People's Republic of China
>I worked as a security consultant for various business conglomerates, running both physical and technical operations against them to exploit and cover any weaknesses I could find.
>Military. I served a few tours in Russia with the army before my contract ran out.
>>46186950
>Military
>>46186950
>>I worked private security for Miranda Genovese while she was an ambassador to the People's Republic of China
>special operations
>>46186950
>Military. I served a few tours in Russia with the army before my contract ran out.
Long range specialty
>>46186950
>Military. I served a few tours in Russia with the army before my contract ran out.
>>46186950
>I worked special operations for a certain lettered organization. Infiltration and reconnaissance, until I decided that freelance was a better fit.
Seems to fit best with our implants and augs.
>>46187026
Switching to this.>>46187592
You raise an eyebrow at her. So far these are all questions she should know. "Government. I worked with one of the lettered agencies in a field capacity, specifically in infiltration and recon. I worked there a few years before I realized the pay was shit and I could probably be doing more than what they had me in on," you respond.
"Last date of field work?" she asks you.
You frown. "You know I can't tell you that."
"Too bad," she responds, typing in a few more things.
"Anything else?" you ask, a little colder than before.
"I'm supposed to ask about your criminal record but on that one I'm not going to waste either of our time. Anything that'll disqualify you is going to show up in your background check, anyway, so come on." She stands up after punching a few things into her terminal. "I lit a new path for you. Follow the violet light to the practical course. Or if you're having a change of heart, head out on the orange path you came in on." She leans in close to you before you have the chance to leave and straightens out your coat. Before you can move away from you, something solid slides into your front pocket.
"If you don't want to contract out, this is a job, but you didn't get it from me," she tells you lowly before ushering you out of the door. "It was nice seeing you again, Marco." This is louder and more clipped than she had been inside the office. "Cakk me some time, okay?"
"...Yeah," you reply quietly as the door slides shut behind you.
You press your hand against your front pocket and determine quickly that what she's left you is a data stick of some kind. Well, if you decide to go, at least it wasn't for nothing.
>Continue to the practical course
>Leave Bethesda
>Write-in
>>46187843
>Continue to the practical course
>>46187843
>Take a detour into the washroom to read the note she slipped in our pocket.
also "Cakk": A Nigerian sex position where you rub bodies together whilst the man motorboats the woman and the woman jerks the man off. - Urban Dictionary.
The F***? We have some sexy fun times with her later?
IDK how to do spoilers.
>>46187959
That's too involved for a typo and kind of creepy considering she raised you.
>>46187843
>>Continue to the practical course
>>46187843
>Leave Bethesda
>>46187843
>Continue to the practical course
>>46187843
>Continue to the practical course
>>46188007
Ah, ok. I thought it was unlikely a typo since there were 2 ks instead of 1 L and a k. my bad.
>>46187843
>Continue to the practical course
Still here OP?
>dead quest
good things never last
>>46192042
Why must this be? ;_;
OP, why have you forsaken us?
>that option format
>the writing style
>the abandonment
soma pls go
Not OP but is there still interest in this? Cause I've got a few hours to burn.
>>46196598
Hostile take over is a go?
>>46196669
Well, I'll drop it if the QM comes back.
>>46196693
that would imply hes not horribly dead
>>46196598
Do it man, fuck the OP
>>46196598
>Somone is going to keep going
>Need to sleep
Fuck...
>>46196770
Go to sleep anon, come back later.
>>46196709
>>46196754
Fuck it, let's go.
>Continue to the practical course
You brisk-walk down the hallway washed by a violet hue, guiding you away from it's orange twin jutting out from it's side. Funny thing these corps facilities, they never seem to run out of space. The power of money. A few minutes of walking leads you to an atrium split into four sections, each denoted by a specialty labelled by a holo-sign floating a few heads above. There's already a few people standing within the holographic borders. You go to:
> CQC
> Long Range Support
> Rifleman
> Drone specialist
>>46196844
>> CQC
>>46196844
>> CQC
Makes the most sense with out infil skills
>>46196844
>> CQC
We snake now
>>46196844
>cqc
>>46196866
*Infiltrate Base Profusely*
AYO HOL UP!
>>46196848
>>46196856
>>46196858
> CQC
Compared to the other specializations, the CQC section has fewer members. Doesn't make it any easier though, some of these guys are a head taller than you, and you're pretty sure they could bench press two of you. In the few minutes that pass, some begin making small talk. Others keep to themselves. Finally, someone official looking walks up to your group after no one else joins for a bit. The man surveys your group before speaking.
"Assuming you're all that are joining, we'll be moving to the Individual testing stage first. Please follow the green line to the testing room."
Moving there's just like what you did previously, very clinical. After a few corners and even a lift, you reach a smaller room. This time, there are actually seats for you. One of the walls is actually see through which you see why soon once fluorescent flick on in that room. There's a bot inside.
[1/2]
Now bots have been illegal except by countries for a long time, but you're not surprised that they have one in their basement. That thought however, is cut off by another by the man speaking again.
"This stage of testing involves you disabling that bot inside within a time limit. Any longer and you're disqualified. Now, who's No. 25?"
That's you.
> Choose 1
> "Yeah that's me, do I go first or something?"
> "Yeah, let me at it already."
> "Uh, is it possible for me to go later?"
> "That's me."
> Other
>>46197037
> "That's me."
>>46197037
>> "That's me."
Professional and confident
>>46197037
>> "That's me."
>>46197051
>>46197058
>>46197078
"Alright, time to go."
You enter the room, a spartan enclosure of rough concrete that fills your field of vision save for the viewing wall. A portion of the wall retracts, revealing a what is effectively a closet of weaponry.
Your weapon of choice is limited, but hey, you try to be flexible. The bot you're fighting is one of those cheap Chinese disposables, the ones used by starting corps who want to look big but end up looking gaudy. It's nothing to hard, but still 8 feet is 8 feet and one good hit with it's stun baton will knock you out for sure.
> Pneumatic pile bunkers. They take some time to 'reload' after firing but if that doesn't kill something you don't know what will.
> Thermic lance.
> Mono-molecular edge axe
> Greatsword. DEUS VULT, what else do you need? Turns out inertia and mass hasn't changed over the centuries.
>>46197169
>> Thermic lance.
>>46197169
> Greatsword
The extent of our classical education.
>>46197169
>> Greatsword. DEUS VULT, what else do you need? Turns out inertia and mass hasn't changed over the centuries.
>>46197169
>> Pneumatic pile bunkers. They take some time to 'reload' after firing but if that doesn't kill something you don't know what will.
I dont actually know what these are but they sound coolnone of these are snake tier anyway
>>46197226
What would you suggest then? You can put in a suggestion as long as it fits within the theme of cqc
>>46197248
Nothing I could suggest would help take down an 8 foot tall robot.
>>46197169
Lets go for the Greatsword
Greatsword guys? Really? In a scifi quest?
>>46197169
Molecular edge axe. Nothing says "fuck you" like an axe.
>>46197305
Deus Vult, anon, no matter the time and place
>>46197305
Maybe it can turn into a smaller sword?
>>46197305
What else to do you suggest we kill the 8 foot tall robot with? our bare hands? I dont think even the master of cqc could do that
>>46197225
>>46197226
Normally, you'd like a smaller weapon like a knife or monofilament wire but given the situation, you settle on the greatsword. Smooth carbon nanofibers form a secondary husk around a thick steel core. Double edged and ending with a two handed grip, you feel it'll serve well.
The steel door shuts with a hiss as pneumatic locks engage, doing nothing to allay the rising tension.
> Combat. When combat begins, a d10 is rolled to see who goes first. For each turn, you can take 1, 2 or 3 actions. For 1 action, roll 3d10 and take the best one. For 2 actions, roll 4d10 and take the best 2, etc. Just going with this system if there's no complaints.
Roll a d10+2 for initiative
>>46197327
You know what we need anon.
>>46197305
I think this is just practice/test
Rolled 11 + 2 (1d20 + 2)
>>46197333
Nice trips
>>46197335
For jobs and stuff, there'll be a wider choice. Knives, monofilament wire, throwing weapons, rocket hammers, etc.
Rolled 10 + 2 (1d10 + 2)
>>46197333
>>46197335
Yeah ok, thats a fair point.
>>46197343
Fudge, messed up. Ignore I assume.
>>46197350
I have a feeling we won the initiative.
While you expected it to be slower than normal, you didn't expect it to be *that* slow. In fact, it's barely gotten it's baton in a defensive stance.
> What do you do?
> Some possible plans:
> Bum rush it (1 action) and then dislocate the arm holding the stun baton (2nd action)
> planning stage
Rolled 7, 9, 9 = 25 (3d10)
>>46197381
Overhead strike, try to disrupt it processors or disable it completely
>>46197381
>>roll 3d10 and take the best one. For 2 actions, roll 4d10
Wait... does this mean roll the individual 1d10s or rolls *a* 3d10 and take the best of that result?
>>46197426
sorry if I didn't make that clear, roll three individual 1d10s and take the best of those 3 rolls.
Rolled 6 (1d10)
>>46197446
Damn, and I rolled so well too. Ah well, here we go.
Rolled 2 (1d10)
>>46197381
Rolled 7 (1d10)
>>46197381
Last roll
So the current plan is to perform an overhead strike aiming to disrupt its processors. Writing.
You stride forward on light feet, bringing yourself within striking range of it. It raises its baton, but by the time it's done anything of use, you're already within it's guard. Humanoid bots like these are made to look intimidating, something about human presence for riot control. As such, most optics are stored in it's 'head' while the absolute core processors are within it's tank of a body, not that there aren't ways around it.
Bringing your raised weapon for a smash, it drops not unlike a guillotine blade down the middle of it's 'head', no doubt shattering *something* in it. Abandoning it's baton for now, pistons fire as you hear it reach for you.
[1/2]
It's strike connects, steel pummeling your body and launching you through the air. You land and ragdoll onto the ground. While at least you didn't get hit by the stun baton, you don't plan on getting hit again.
> planning stage. Don't roll yet.
> Recovering/Getting back into range takes an action, so if you want to hit him you'll have to do 2 actions
>>46197564
Get up and get into a defensive stance. We want to be ready to dodge and strike when it comes for us again
>>46197564
Stand ready to dodge and counterattack
Rolled 2, 8 = 10 (2d10)
Rolling for the first action, whichever is voted for
Rolled 1, 1 = 2 (2d10)
>>46197649
Probably a safe dodge.
Now for the attack.
Plan: Recover (1), Get into defensive stance (2) and then counter-attack (3)
I need 5 d10 rolls. Taking the three best. Taking 2,8,1,1 so I'll need 1 more d10
Rolled 8 (1d10)
>>46197684
Rollin
Going to be stopping here. If anyone wants they can start it back up again.
