Copyright © 2018 Aaron Frost
“Guard Duty” is a short, interactive “multi-path” story is that will be included with “Bubb “ Bubb’s ’s Diner”, the irst adventure for “The Wasted Hack” role playing game. The reader “plays” the story as Randal, the NPC party member the characters begin with in “Bubb “ Bubb’s ’s Diner”. The events in the story occur roughrough ly one month before the beginning of Bubb’s Diner. A twelve sided die is needed to play, play, as the book uses a simpliied version of “The Wasted Hack” rules.
1
Te humming sound o the fluorescent light, dangling in an uneven ashion with one end near your ace, wakes you up. up. Your head is pounding, and that usual dusty paste in your mouth is even thicker. Stumbling out o bed, you begin alling sideways as i the floor was tilted, ti lted, and slam into one o the walls o your narrow quarters. How much did you drink last night anyway? You can’t remember so that is a sure “too much”. Still leaning against the wall, you manage to grab your pants and begin pulling them up over one
knee when you all again, this time ace orward into the floor. Rolling over onto your back, you resume pulling up your pants, the bottom hal o your tattered leather uniorm. You start to eel as i you are totally wrecked when you remember that some olks don’t have nearly enough credits to get this messed up, so your problems are small, and most olks don’t even have enough or proper pants or that matter. Being a member o the t he guard is the best thing you can hope or these days, but you need to be able to walk without alling down. -Reach under your bed or an in jector to take the the edge off.
Turn to 25 -Stumble to the rusted sink mounted in the wall near the oot o your bed, and slap water on your ace.
Turn to 14
2
Te service elevator elevator that leads to the top is massive, and could hold a large crowd. crowd. Nobody is in a hurry to leave Te Downs, not even miserable old Copper level, and you are
the solitary rider. rider. Hardly seems worth the juice to operate the lif. Tere is probably some regulation about not using it or just one person, but you haven’t exactly read through all the regulations. regulations. With a clank and a thud, the lif comes to a halt, and the reinorced doors begin to slowly open. You are hit in the ace with a blast o heat and sand. Got to love the Peezy! Te Peezy, Peezy, or “Patrolled Zone”, or was it “Pacified Zone”, well, one o those two anyway, is a couple o miles o pure rubble directly above Te Downs. Survi vors crawl crawl through the debris, and and trade whatever salvage they can find or ood at the exchange. In turn, the exchange sends the junk downstairs downstairs where it is sorted. s orted. Te good stuff is either used or traded to the vendors rom Snail-own once a month. Te survivors get to live in squalor with just enough ood to stay alive, and the Merchant Class o Te Downs, the wreckers that live mostly on the Strontium level, get rich. Te poor wreckers on the surace do get a military presence to make their miserable lives a little saer, but they almost never have enough salvage to trade or
credits, which means they can never afford afford to pay the entry ee to get in. You used to be a soldier yoursel, and would have loved getting pinned to the P.Z., but now, as a lowly “shif-work” guard, you hate it. Bartus, a guy that t hat is somewhere between a soldier and a guard like you approaches as you step out o the lif. “Hey Randal! Randal!” he shouts. “Yeah Bartus, I’m standing right here buddy,” you reply. “Tem wreckers you run around with, you know the ones, well they crashes the gate the other day, says it’s official business and that you approved it. Tat’s Tat’s coming comin g out o your pay Randal! It’s ten to get in or civilians, no exceptions!” he orceully inorms you. Argghh. You really need new riends. “You can’t get blood out o a stone Bartus, but I can’t stop you rom trying, tr ying,”” you say s ay,, mimicking mim icking empty pockets. “You really need to get better..” Bartus begins to lecture you about your inner circle beore you interrupt him. “Don’t say it Bartus. I’m tired o hearing it today,” you tell him. “I’m just saying is all.” Bartus replies.
Te Exchange is a ramshackle assortment o tarp tents and plastic bins. Workers collect the salvage and sort it into bins, and you stand there like a mook threatent hreatening to beat the daylights out o anyone anyone who tries to steal, cheat, or annoy them, although you’re in no condition to beat on anyone today. -Wander around a bit.
Turn to 15 -Knuckle down and just get through this shif.
Turn to 20
3
Te beast grips you in its massive “Crab-like” hand, lifing you several eet off the ground. All o the air has been squeezed rom your chest, and you desperately gasp or air as the crowd chants “Wampadu.. Wampadu”. Your eyes roll back in your head as you begin to lose consciousness, consciousness, your last thoughts t houghts revolving around how terrible the creature smells...
4
You charge orward and throw a punch at the closest ratling, but slip on the approach and ail to connect. Te ratling immediatley turns and cracks you upside the head with its metal pipe, and you hit the ground with a thud. You wake up to a kick to your shoulder. Astrid stands over you, battered and nearly broken hersel. “Get up hero,” she says. You stumble to your eet while spitting out a mouthul o blood and maybe two teeth. Your pants are bloodsoaked and taking a step is agonizing. agonizing. “Tat pistol you stole rom the lock box had a hair trigger. It went off when you hit the ground. You shot yoursel in the ass, but it scared off the Long-ails, so all’s well that ends well I guess” Astrid says, while taking tak ing your arm over her shoulder to help you walk. “You’re welcome?” you hal declare, hal ask. “Yeah, something like that,” Astrid replies with a grin.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
5
Glancing at the notes scratched on a piece o paper, you can see that someone complained about Long-ails Long-ails dragging somebody into an alley behind the Ragged iger. iger. You were in the iger last night, or at least you must have been. Considering Fadigan closed his place down and headed off to Doon, there isn’t another place in Copper your riends can get into. Astrid will be in the iger asking questions no doubt, so you can’t exactly waltz in, but it wouldn’t hurt to skulk around the alley behind it. Te Long-ails are an organized gang o ratlings that engage in all manner o crimes, and operate on the Copper level, although it is rumored that someone powerul rom down below pulls their strings. You usually look the other way when they are involved, but sometimes they cross lines even you can’t ignore. You might even know the person that went missing considering where this happened. Better not take any any chances. You use your keys to open a lock box containing a custom pistol with
an extended magazine that Astrid confiscated rom a ganger at some point. ucking the handgun into your pants, you head towards the Ragged iger. Te Copper level is about three stories tall, with massive columns scattered all over the place supporting the “ceiling” above. Without artificial light, the entire level is pitch black, and Copper only gets a ew hours o light each day. Te levels below get most o the juice Te Downs Downs generates. generates. Judging the increasing dimness, you figure you have about a hal hour beore it’s lights out. Not a lot o time, but Copper isn’t terribly large. Should be plenty. As you approach the iger, you hear sounds o a scuffle sc uffle coming rom the alleyway alle yway behind the bar, bar, as well as Astrid’s grating voice. -See i Astrid needs help.
Turn to 9 -I can’t let Astrid know I am here. She’s on her own!
Turn to 11
6
“Whisshh file dunnah neesh me tuh deleesh?” you slur. slur. May-Zee tries to point to some words on the screen, but seems to miss the screen altogether. “Lesh juss take the whooooooole wreckin fing.” she says. “Annn da camerss too.”
7
“Hey hey hey!” you shout. Te ratlings turn to ace you. “No. “No. Bad. No No hit!” you say. Tis would be a lot easier i you could speak any ratling. Te ratlings look at one another as i deciding which one o you to kill first. “Kill one guard bad,” you say with ridiculous hand gestures. “Kill two guard big trouble” you urther explain. explain. Te ratlings seem to consider the wisdom in your “baby talk” t alk”,, and slink away into the shadows shadows o the alley. alley. Astrid stumbles to her eet. ee t. “Wow “Wow,, you really have a way with words,” words,” she says. s ays. “Sarcasm. No. Bad,” Bad,” you answer. “Tank you - good.” good.” “Yeah, yeah, I owe you one” Astrid replies.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
8
Tere are a couple o vendors along the way, so getting something to eat shouldn’t hold you up or too long. It would help i you knew what time it was, or even what day it was or that matter, but the fluorescent lights are running, and they only run or six hours each day on the copper level, so you are at least within six hours o being on time, and your “beer alarm clock” is usually pretty reliable. Te copper level...Home sweet home. Te first level below ground in the subterranean compound known as “Te Downs”. Living in copper is a lot saer than living on the surace, but not much nicer compared to the other levels that lie beneath your eet. You have never seen them, but you have heard stories about Sil ver and Strontiu Strontium. m. Good stories. Maybe i you could stop wrecking up you might get promoted and moved down a level. Nah, who are you kidding, you’re lucky as it is. You walk up to Issk’s small cart. He is roasting some sort o meat over embers as usual, and it smells good even i the source s ource o the meat remains a mystery; It’s hard
to tell with Lizard-Folk. Issk’s Issk’s kind are hunters and gatherers and there is no telling what he killed and slapped on the grill.
the pistol, but think twice. Astrid’s already going to make trouble or you, no need letting her know you have the gun too.
“Raaandalll, “Raaanda lll,”” he says. Tat’s about all you ever get out o Issk, but it’s just nice to be remembered. remembered. You reach into your pocket and pull out a wad o crumpled credits. Tey are wet, stuck together, and smell like the inside o a beer bottle. Peeling off a couple bills, you slap them down and grab a mystery kebob. “Tanks “Tank s Issk,” Issk,” you say, say, about to leave. “You “You need bettah riends, riend s,”” he says. You are shocked to hear him say more than your name. Wreck it all, he is probably right. Your riends are pretty terrible, and the source o most o your problems and poor decisions. “Okay” you reply, not having the time or capacity or introspection at the moment.
You charge into into the alleyway to discover Astrid on the ground with her back against a wall. Tree Long-ails with pipes are surrounding her.
-Cram the kebob down your throat and get to work!
Turn to 24
9
As much as you hate Astrid, you can’t just walk away rom this. You already have too many deaths on your conscience as it is. You begin to pull
-Charge the Ratlings.
Turn to 18 -ry to reason with the Ratlings.
Turn to 7
10
“What in the scrap happened in here?” Bostich asks. “I just got here a ew minutes ago mysel, but there are clear signs o a break in. Looks like they made off with the cameras, the console, and whatever was in Astrid’s Astrid’s lock lo ck box.” box.” you reply. reply. “Where is Astrid?” Astrid? ” Bostich Bost ich asks. “Who knows. She drinks too much and comes in late all the time,” you reply.
11
You don’t eel great about walking away rom the alley, but Astrid will have you busted down and see that you lose your one measly stripe i she knows you ailed to show up or guard duty. You quickly head in the opposite direction towards towards the lif. Afer working your near-eternal shif guarding the exchange, you return to the guard post. No signs that that Astrid has returned. You quickly lock up the gun you aren’t supposed to be carrying. Well, your “Astrid problem” probably just got solved, as people that tangle with the Long-ails ofen disappear, but the act that they would be bold enough to nab a guard is troubling. You eel a little bad or Astrid, and or walking away, away, but you have done worse. Much worse. You set about staging a break in to explain the stolen cameras and console to your supervisor, and even break open the lock box b ox and take the pistol. Afer all, you are probably going to need it.
-EndTell the Game Master your
Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
12
“Tis is the t he scraphole you and your riends hang out in?” Astrid asks. “Hey, I thought you came here to buy me a beer, so just get to the t he buying part already,” you reply. reply. “Alright Alrig ht alright, I just think you can do better slugger.” “Yeah, I need new riends” you say while raising the glass.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
13
You rush rus h orward or ward and throw a punch at the nearest ratling. It tries to turn, but its head spins around while its body stays still. Te lieless Long-ail hits the ground as the other two drop their pipes, preparing to run away. Wreck it all, you can’t can’t let them t hem escape. You pull the pistol rom your pants and open fire. Te ratlings all to the ground. Astrid stumbles to her eet. “You miserable wrecker! What have you
done?” she shouts. “Something stupid, and loud,” you answer. We need to get rid o these bodies quick, and ditch this gun while we are at it. Tere’s a lot more Longails where these two came rom. rom.”
-Report or duty straight away. away.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is A3 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
Turn to 8
14
Te water is lukewarm, but you douse your shaved head and ace with it repeatedly. Tis didn’t work as well as you had hoped, and it took way too long to eel the sting rom the slaps, but it will wil l have to do. You’ve reported or duty in worse shape beore, this should be a piece o... “Hwuuuuut” all over the wrecking sink. You rinse some vomit out o your mouth and slosh a little around the sink, but you will have to clean this mess up later. In our steps you are at the door o your cramped quarters, but again, you aren’t aren’t about to complain, you have it better than most, at least in the copper district and above ground that is.
Turn to 24 -ry -ry to eat something. Tat sometimes helps.
15
Folks don’t usually make trouble at the exchange. It’s all they can do up here to just stay alive. Nobody’s going to miss you or an hour or two. As you walk around you notice a ew ratlings fighting with a human survivor over some worthless piece o junk. You consider intervening, but you don’t. You just keep walking around. A group o soldiers pass by in their patrol armor, brandishing rifles. Tat was you once, well not here in the P.Z. You were up north in Bulwark where things are real. You haven’t accomplished much in this lie, but you did manage to kill more mutants than you can count on one hand, or two hands as you tell it when you are drunk. Your thoughts drif to Everly as you walk in the orange glow o a radioactive sunset. You would have stormed the gates o hell
or that woman, and up North you did. She was was as mean mean as she was tough, crooked as the day is long, and a great sergeant sergeant to serve s erve under, but a terrible one to all in love with. You got busted buste d down and out over her, but kept your mouth shut and kept her enlisted. She’ still up there you reckon.
and they appear to be hovering hovering just above above the cavern floor. floor. You have captured their attention. As they turn to ace you, the beam rom your flashlight flickers out again and darkness fills the cavern.
Chances o surviving in Bulwark aren’t great, and mutants eat whatthey kill, so not a lot o bodies coming home to Te Downs, but you’re sure she’s still up there. Wreck it. She’s too mean to die.
“Everyone knows that NeoMorts hold a grudge against the rest o us or the whole “grown in a vat to use or spare parts” parts” thing, but the strangler has more than settled the score and continues continues to take things way too ar!
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B4 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
16
Your flashlight goes in and out as the batteries begin to ail. Just a little urther urt her now. now. You You have come to ar to turn back. Te tunnel tunnel opens into a large cavern, and the dim beam be am is amplified by a number o crystals jutting out the stone walls. Strange creatures can be seen in the distance, shimmering in the light. Teir bodies seem to be made o the same crystal,
17
You can’t see him coming, and nobody can hear your screaming, it’s just not air. Some olks say he ain’t even real, just a scapegoat or murderers. I know better, and he gets around around.. I seen the wrecker wrecker once in Scrap-own, and another time up north in Te Downs. Tat’s why you need one o these reinorced reinorced neck braces riend, riend, and yer in luck cause I’m selling em cheap!”
18
You’ve tangled with tougher things than ratlings beore, but three o them might be a challenge. Roll a twelve sided die, and turn to the section sect ion indicated indicated by the ollowing results: I rolled a 1
Turn to 4 I rolled a 2,3, or 4
Turn to 22 I rolled a 5,6,7,8,9,10, or 11
Turn to 26 I rolled a 12
Turn to 13
19
“We need to get clearance to Strontium” She says. “I don’t don’t have that kind o pull!” you reply. “I can barely keep mysel in Copper as it is. You are all going to get me canned or killed” ki lled”.. “Relax “Re lax buddy bud dy,, this is simple. I will show you how to do it, no problem. We We’re talking ta lking threat level zero here” she replies.
-EndTell the Game Master your
Ending Code is B4 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
20
Hours eel like days as you try to occupy your mind with other things. You watch as desperate survivors are cheated out o what little salvage they can dig up in the P. Z. in exchange or rations so terrible they aren’t even allowed on the Copper level. Te unorgiving orange skies give way to darkness, and you catch a ride on the lif back down to the copper level with some soldiers returning rom patrol. You know most o them, and served with one o them. She doesn’t make eye contact and pretends not to recognize you, but you know she does. You get get a heavy eeling in your gut, and you can’t really blame her afer what happened up north in Bulwark. Tat wasn’t one o your typical screw ups, it was colossal. And now you are a lowly shif-work guard... guard... in the end you probably probably deserve deser ve the miserable mis erable riends you have and the constant trouble they bring your way.
-EndTell the Game Master your
Ending Code is B4 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
21
You wake up in a cold sweat. You dreamt o being a wrecking guard trapped in the Copper level. Good grie, next you’ll you’ll be dreamd reaming o digging or scrap to trade or protein protein cakes on the surace. You reach over and push a button on the wall next to your bed. A voice crackles over a speaker mounted mounted in the t he wall above the button. “Yes, Mr. Greykill,” the voice asks. “What “What’’s the status on the Long-ails? Did we ever get the tapes afer the break in?” you ask. Yes, it looks like three or our Copper level lowlies, and they had help rom a guard.” the voice answers. “Which guard?” you ask. “I believe he is called Randal,” the voice replies. replies.
22
You rush rus h towards the ratlings, but make way too much noise to maintain maintain the element o surprise. As you throw a punch at the first ratling, it swings its pipe to meet your orearm, possibly breaking it (your arm, not the pipe). You
shout in reaction to the unexpected pain as the t he other two ratlings go to work on you with their own metal pipes. pipes. Tis goes goes on or a while beore their arms get too tired to swing the makeshif clubs, and they leave the two t wo o you lying in the alley. alley. Astrid stumbles to her eet as you pull yoursel up rom the ground ground as as well. well. “Tey probably would have killed me i you hadn’t given them an easier target,” she laughs through missing teeth. “Nah,” you reply. reply. “Tey were just making a point to stay out o their business.” business.” “Point “Point taken,” Astrid replies as the two o you stumble out o the alleyway.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
23
Your eyes begin to blur a bit as you stare at the screen. Te game convention starts tomorrow, and you realize you have stayed up all night working on a beta version o a multi-path prologue or an ad venture venture that isn’t isn’t even published published yet. Te worst worst part is that that no choices will even bring anyone to
this particular entry, and you have to be at work in our hours. Oh you poor, miserable wrecker.
beore you lef and met up with... Ahhh Scrap. You came back last night with your riends. Tey wanted you to delete a file, some file...man, you need new riends.
24
“Well somebody must have broken in, or jimmied the lock,” you say nervously ner vously.. “Got the keys right here,” you say as jingling a ob hanging rom your belt.
You pull open the t he battered battered metal door to the guard station, the only one on the entire copper level. “Well look what decided to wreckin’ show up,” Astrid announces as you close the door. door. Astrid is another guard, and she has never made much effort to hide her hatred towards towards you. “Te “ Te lights are still on,” you hal chuckle, partly in an attempt to diffuse the tension that just hit you over the head like a hammer, but mostly because you couldn’t think o anything better to say. say. “Te station wasn w asn’t ’t locked,” locked,” she accuses. accuse s. “Well I locked it up afer lights out last night, check the camera.” you reply. reply. “Oh I thought o that, and I would have i someone hadn’t made off with all the cameras in and around this wrecking place, along with the only working terminal we had!” You turn to look at at the door. No signs o a orced entry at first glance. You know you locked it it
“Tis has your brand o stupid written all over it Randal, and when i find those cameras and the console, and I will, it’s topside in the great nothing or you pal,” Astrid retorts with a smirk on her ace, and you hate that she is right. Still, you have always managed to accidentally outsmart outsmart her in the past... “Aside rom the obvious break-in, what else is going on?” you ask. “Long-ail trouble as usual, but nobody ever sees anything anything when the ratlings are involved, and a shif topside at the exchange.” “Okay, good. I can look into the ratling problem...” you begin to say beore Astrid interrupts you. “Oh Scrap no! You’re going up top. I’ve got the ratlings by the tail. You thought I was giving you
choices?” “Last time I checked, you weren’t handing out the credits Astrid,” you reply, tapping the lonely stripe dangling rom the shoulder o your jacket. “You want first pick buck-private? ry showing up to work on time.” she replies while walking out the door. door. “And lock the wrecking door this time!” she shouts rom outside.
recreational, but it slows things down a bit, and helps you ocus on your steps. It doesn’t make you more bold so much as makes you too mellow to reak out, and it’s good against mutants mutants with reaky mental powers too. It also cures hangovers, or at least the symptoms. You You wont sleep slee p or scrap s crap tonight afer taking it, meaning it will probably probably take twice t wice as long to get back to eeling normal.
-Head topside to pull a guard shif at the exchange.
-Report or duty straight away
Turn to 2
Turn to 24
- Look into the “Long-ail” issue anyway.
-ry -ry to eat something. Tat should help even everything out.
Turn to 5
Turn to 8
25
You umble under the mattress pad that lies directly on the concrete floor o your room. You know you keep one under there or emergencies..Yep, there it is. Some people would consider injectors harmul drugs, and they would be right, but you preer to ocus on the perormance enhancing properties they offer. You roll up you sleeve and with a pneumatic “SPAA”, a blast o air shoots the substance into your lef shoulder. shoulder. “Zenn” “Zenn” is largely
26
You charge orward and slam a fist into the back o ratlings head. You orgot how thick their skulls are! Te Ratling Ratling alls down on on the ground in ront o you, knocked unconscious rom the orce o your punch. Te remaining ratlings turn to ace you. “Who wants some?” you ask, trying to hide the act that you may have just broken broken your hand. hand. Te ratlings seem to consider their options, but as Astrid stum-
bles to her eet behind them they choose choos e to flee. aking Astrid’s Astrid’s arm over your shoulder, you help her walk out o the alleyway. “Is that my gun?” she asks. “Yeah, you orgot it and I was bringing it to you,” you,” you reply. “You’re “You’re the wrecking worst Randal,” she laughs beore wincing rom the pain.
-EndTell the Game Master your Ending Code is B5 before playing “Bub “Bubb b’s Diner”.
27
“You’re telling me there is a “Beast in the East” as tall as the Downs is deep, stomping around and shooting laser beams out its one giant eye? Oh man now I really have heard it all,” You say. Merle looks at you with a deadpan, matter-o-act expression that is usually a tell that he is ull o scrap. “You don’t have to believe a thing or it to be b e real” he replies while taking a sip. sip. Wrecking Lowlies like Merle would sell their own mothers to Snail own or a handul o credits, and yet they ofen seem sincere.
“Okay Merle, let’s let’s just pretend I do believe you. Why does it even matter? Tere’s an army o Mutants between us and the East.” “Now your getting it cue ball,” ball,” Merle replies. “We slip past those Mutie Mutie wreckers all quiet-like, kill the beast, cut c ut out its wrecking eye and sell it or a ortune.” ortune.” “Tere are so many problems with your ‘big plan’ plan’ I don’t don’t even know k now where to begin,” Mayzee interjects. “Tat eye would have to be the t he size o this bar i the thing t hing is as big as you say, and even i we could somehow drag it back here without having to fight a thousand mutants, it would rot and all to pieces, annnddddd what use would a dead eye be b e anyway?” she continues. “We don’t “We don’t need the whole eye, e ye, Mayzee my dear, just some o the crystals jutting out out o it, and there have to be some scientists kicking around the lower levels that can figure out how to power the things. Anyway that’s their problem to figure out. By then we’ll all be living in Luxx down on the Strontium Strontium level where the beer actually tastes like beer. b eer. Won Won’t ’t that be nice?” he replies with a grin.
