Link to article: Research And Development.
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===== [[include component:preview text= Is this your first day? ]] ===== [[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] The alert blared loudly through the halls of Research and Development Site Lambda-3, carrying the voice of Director Ocean McKinley. +++++ "We are currently under lockdown, because //someone// in Teleportation opened a portal to the dimension where they breathe arsine. If you're in one of our designated smoking areas, or feel you need to go to one, do not. The air is on fire." A cheerful tone chirped from the intercom system as the message was broadcast. You sit there in Office 224, cowering under your desk. It had been a normal day in Lambda-3, until the teleportational disaster. Someone a desk across from you had miscalibrated the dimensional coordinates they were given, and now the poisonous gas seeped through the air. There was an airtight lock on every door, which are activated in lockdowns. Of course, you were never scared of the arsine. Teleportation miscalibrations happen almost every day, and a shocking amount of the dimensions that you teleport to have different things they breathe instead of oxygen. You were more worried about the monster dragging two large claws across the ground outside of the office hallway. You shakily open one of your desk's drawers, placing and securing the gas mask to your face. You breathe steadily, as it calms you. Even if the arsine did leak in, you were nice and safe from breathing it in. The burning air would just kill you. This didn't help your anxiety, and so you slowly crawled out from your hiding place to look through the small slit of glass on the office door. The monster is the only reason that it would be able to leak in, and it was walking away. That helped you, and you inched closer to the glass, until you bumped the gas mask you're wearing against the door. A very audible **THUD** emerged, and the thing outside hisses, the mass of its shaggy haired body now approaching your office. You returned to your hiding place, unable to even breathe without shaking intensely. You told yourself it was fine. You repeated that, until the claw stuck through your door. The hulking beast tore the door out of its steel-locked hinges and growled lowly as it approached your desk. You sat there, unable to move in pure fear, until the burning air leaks in. You screamed, as it all went black. ---- In the depths of Research and Development Site Lambda-3, one of the engineers twirls a wrench around their finger, walking away from the machine that you had just helped construct. A huge, portal generator. This wasn't rocket science, you guys knew how to construct a portal to the depths of Hell or whatever other dimension you're trying to steal horrifying and disturbing resources from. You ensure all the bolts are in place, and you move to behind the yellow safety line. You nod to the technicians, and they activate the portal. The destination was set to the eldritch place beyond, full of high-energy crystals and sometimes, some weird esoteric technology left there by whatever predecessor species decided to poke their head in before you. As the portal opens, a monster sticks itself through. The technicians and engineers, including you, panic. Two large claws impale one of your fellow engineers, and you immediately rush toward the phone. You call the Site's Emergency Response Team number. MTF Team Lambda-33, colloquially called the Firemen. They put out a lot of the messes around the Site, and they are the first and final lines of defense against the threats developed or summoned by the Research and Development team. You speak. "Sector-4, Teleportation here. We need to be put on lockdown, we have a Scenario 65, summoned murder-monster--" The monster seems to have caught onto you. You don't see it, but you can assume from the claw sticking through your chest. Your breath slowly leaves your body. ---- The introductory video stopped here, and the man on the stage moved in front of the screen, clearing his throat and adjusting the microphone clipped to his expensive-looking suit. "Now, can anyone tell me where the person in the first clip went wrong in their crisis management? A little hint, the guy in the second video did this right." A young woman in the middle of the audience shouted out, "They didn't trust the CRISIS procedure." The man in the suit nods, his artificially whitened smile gleaming. "Great! You guys get it. You gotta trust in the CRISIS procedure. It's a reason that we're the best funded department here, we have the best personnel safety. Four years in a row, the bosses have raised our budget. Now, let's go through the steps of the procedure together." He slowly speaks, the audience following along. "**C**all for help, **R**emember your training, **I**nstigation is deadly, **S**eclude from threat, **I**nform others, **S**tay in place." The man claps for them. "Astounding. Absolutely astounding. I think you guys are totally ready for your work in the Research and Development Department tomorrow. Remember: Whatever you can get us paid for, you can experiment with. Your imagination is the limit, because I'm damn sure we can afford anything." As they're dismissed, the crowd slowly begins to file out of the auditorium, some heading straight for the doors, and some heading for the refreshment table. The man in the suit waves them off. "And don't worry about the people in the video. We made sure their families got nice bouquets."