= EN S4e S£orageDoug Kaufman Principal / Editing, Development, Contributing Design Jonatha Ariadne Caspian Vice-Principal / Additional Editing, Contributing Design Jacqueline M. Evans, Sharon Wyckoff Pottery 101 / Graphics Robert Lar Janitor / Cover Art Rick Lenz, Sonya Obrochta, Russ Steffens Bulletin Boards/ Interior Illustrations Edward 5, Bolme, Peter Corless, Nancy Flowers, Mare Gascoigne, Chris Kubasil, Bill lavicse Gerald Swick, Peter Tamlyn, Mary B. Till C.J. Tramontana, and Allen Varney Star Pupils / Contibuting Design Swan, The Computer Gone / Not Forgetten WEST Ye GAMES. RD 3 Box 2345 Honesdale, PA T8431 Pubisho Daniel Scott Palter « Associate Pubs: Richard Hawran + ‘Asistat Pulchor: Denise D, Pater + Flteral Decor Bill laviesee SAscrlatetctors Greg Gorden, Douglas Kaufman « Editors: Jonatha Caspian, Michee! Sterne. J Tramontena « At Director: Stephen Crane = Craohve Ariss: Rosaria Baldan, Wemadette Cahill Jacqueline Evans, Cathleen Hunter Sharon Wyckoff» Production Manager: Steve Porpora SSules Direstor Martin Wiated + Seles Manager’ Ftzroy Bonterre ® Sales Anisant Maria Kemmeler » Special Procets Manager: Ronald Seiden * Treasurer Janet Riccio What In Blazes Is Going On? CONTENTS Introduction Life in a Brave New Worl Some New Concepts. (Old Concepts Revisited. ‘Actual New Rules Adventures and Campaigns ‘A Passage to NDA Soctor Adventure Hooks 101 Uses For The Dead Computer. ‘And well you might ask! Look around, you, former Citizen. Notice anything? No- fice that the monitor cameras no lon have thaee litle red lights? Notice that some oF the bots are simply siting in the Corridors, heads down — or heads gone? Notice that no one is bowing of boctlick ing, and armed mayhem isthe order of the dayt Better get with the programming, Free Citizen, The Computer is down! Crashed! Gone! Dead! Finil Kepult ’s te to start living ike a man instead of a clone! This Fook will tell you how. If you're going to survivein the new, im proved Alpha Complex, youobviously need ‘CRASH COURSE. Read on, © %, and © 1969 Wes fl Games. All igh Resend. Parancia al Cath Ceuo Mama! ave es Ends names ois cence fantasy game and seem.CRASH COURSE MANUAL What's Happening??? know you're bewildered, butbear with ‘me for just afew minutes and you'll under- standall fyou want to survive without The Computer around, you'd better, learn to listen. You used to know how to do that, at least for The Computer, right? Now all you have todo i listen to other clones instead. ‘Andlearn when nottolstento ether clones. Hey, lke Isai, its bewildering. My name iz NiceO-LOW, and t'm gone help you survive. Don’t worry, you Can trust me because I'm gonna make sure | get paid for my services — and Iwantyou to survive so | can keep on getting paid. | work with 2 group called The Foundation, and I’ve studied for along time to be able tohelp clones after a Computer crash. No, we dide’tecauseit, but we did think itrnight happen someda Why didwe think that? Okay, youknow that The Computer's — was —a machine. ‘Andthat machines sometimes malfunction —you’vescon bots do the fizzle-pop spin, tight? Well, he same thing, on a: much bigger scale, is what just happened to The Computer. In a way, it was almost inevi table Yes, | know you've ben told The ‘Computerisperiectinevery way and could never fail. Well, the people who told you. that were wrong. The Computer Himself told youthat? | rest my case. you're going, to get anywhere but lo an early grave, you're going to have to startthinking of The Computer as Gone. No more living in the past! “Treason, huh? What's reason? Turn me jn to who? Sorry, bub, but all the IntSec agentsareinhiding,andall he CPU pape ‘hutilers are dead or clinging toeach other like monkeys. Youdon’teven know whata ‘monkey is, do yout PI Wall, you'lljusthavero listento meand Fearn something. So as long as | have the laser pistol and youdon’t, you'll listen. And. that's your frst lesson: clones are goingto ’be pushing their weight around alot. Ifyou wanna survive, you've gotia know how to push beck. Chapter One: Introduction I What Exactly Happened? ell you more about causes the erach (no. everything i just ‘possibilities later-on. It doesn’t really matte, right now, how it happened. The important thing is: The ‘Computer has gone bye-bye. No, really. There's little omothing ett of the software network that was The Com- puter, Clones are ontheir own. Thesurviv- ing bureaueracy has to keep things going ‘on sheer chutzpah. Sure, there are stil library files that can be accessed and so forth — but the personality and utter con ‘wolthat The Computer onceshowed are all ‘gone. This moans that you, the Alpha Com- plex clone, haveto learn a whole new way to survive. Look at it this way: Itused to be you'd get upin the moming, when The Computer told you to, and eat what The Computer gave you, and go to work in the place The Computer sent you and do work given you by The Computer. You'd eat more food whose production was supervised by The Computer, and ina Computer-provided dorm you'd watch en- tertainments produced by The Computer ‘on Computer equipment. if you needed something, The Computer was the one to {ett for you (someday) and if you needed discipline, The Computer provided that, too, Lois of that! Snow imagine noone around to wake you, oF give you work or food or anything to do (even the vidshows are gone — no, really!) Since no one is being forced to, no fone will work, which isn't so nice when you consider some of the messy jobs that have tobe done to keep this place cunning, Speaking of which, i likely thet as the machines bust no one will fix them, since no oneistheretotell Tech Service togeton the job. OF to provide Information about hhow. Or to provide parts. ‘And about those sleeping quarters hope a big group of smelly Intrareds doesn't docide that your dorm would be a nice place to live, because without The Com- puters iniSec enforcers to bring the masces Into line, the Infa's are gonna take what they want. Stick around, and you'll lear some ways to keep that irom happeni Don’teven think rightnow about where you'll get food, or power, or clothing, of any ofthe other necessities, Don'teven ask what's happened to R&D, or the secret(CRASH COURSE MANUAL ee | societies, or High Programmers you really cdon’twantioknow whathappened to High ammers). And especially, don't even think aboutthe fact that the clone banks are closed up tighter than a drum. ‘Where Do We Go From Here? Listen and find out. Mainly, we'll teach you about the balkanization of Alpha Complexinto Alpha Simplexes the pathof the Bureaucratic Empire, the new role of Troubleshooter Mercenaries, and how to liveday-to-day inthe New Society. There's plenty for you to do — heck, even finding enough to cat's gonna be an adventure Untithings diedowna litle. Andi domean die down Ifyou juststop and think, you'll realize the magnitude of what's happened. Firsto! all, the Armed Forces and other power- hungry groups like some of the new “Not So-Secret Societies’ are gonna move and take possession of all the vital resources, Who'd darestop ‘emexcept The Computer Iso ‘So what are you gonna eat? To get anywhere, you'll have to declare your loyalty to some group, unless you wanna 0 renegade, because a clone-on-hs-own ien't going to stand a chance. So who do you side with? I's too early totell who’sgonna win the powerstrugzles, soyou'llhaveto gamble. And whoever you ‘choose, you've gained one friend ‘368 enemies. Cheering thought, i ‘Meanwhile, the Bureaucratic Empire is trying to Keep things the way they always ‘wore [as if The Computer had just stepped ‘out for lunch, or something) and they're ‘maybe even working toward bringing The ‘Computer back. So even though i's in the background, you still have to deal with things like accusations of treason, filing ‘out forms, and surprise underwear inspec tions. ‘At this point, you may be thinking, “Hmmm, sounds like a good time to head Outside." Assuming you even know what ‘Choosing your iriend carefully is more Important than ever. Outside is, I sill recommend against it. ‘Sure, In some ways its a good idea, but ‘consider the difference in liiestyles avail- able there and here. Even with the other clones running around the complex, you have as good a chance 26 they to carve a niche for yourselithatwill give you power, luxury, and anoccasionalnosalgicmealot Hot Fun. Outside, you'll have to struggle fot every inch of progress you make, and the shaer resources available for good liv- ing ae ten times as prevalanthere esthere. Sotake my advice and stay inside. Besides, the sun would just give you wrinkles. ‘What do | mean by resources available for good living? Well, once you've taken careoi the necessities, consider this:some- where in Alpha Compler-are millions of tons of supplies, food, weapons, bots, and all the other materials The Computer built but never used ... stored away in some ‘orgotien PLC warehouseor HighProgram- mer Secret Sanctum. They're waiting for the first clever clone to find them and take them... and why couldn't that clone be you? What an adventure! But What Is a Crashed Computer? Just what it counds like! The Computer is not communicating in any way, any- more! No confession booths, no treason points, no acknowledgement of security Clearancelevels, nomaintenance, nonoth- ing. There are no orders to take, but no orders 10 give either. All bots who were tunder direct Computer control are nowIntroduction (CRASH COURSE MANUAL deadweight — dito some people. You're all on your own. “The surviving bureaucracy will ryto tell you to-do things — you don’t have to do them. They mightbe ableto drum upsome IniSecenforcersto make youte the line (i the enforcers haven'trun off to have fun on their own). As long as you've got strong, buddies, who cares? ‘See, ued be tht ia problem gottoo big to handle, the deskriders would tell ‘The Computer, and It would summon up vast resources of mind.numbed Vultures and IntSec agents and everything ese, and. squash the resigance. Nowadays, with no. Computer to call, with almost no resources available to numb minds with, ifyour side fs as strong as theirs .. there's not a thing, they can do about i you're strong enough, you can havea lot of fun in today’s Alpha Complex. So, let's get started! The first thing we oughta de (ust to get a better perspective: Con things) issee if we can figureoutexactly what went wrong(CRASH COURSE MANUAL -_——, What Caused the Crash ‘The answerto that question is real easy: ‘no ane knows. Oh, you're gonna hear all kinds of rumors rumrs aren’t treason any more, but they're still less than rolable, although more fun) about this definite Snswer and that definite answer, but the ttuth is nobody really knows. Not surpris- ingly, no one has claimed responsibility Gikeby admitting to some tremendous aco). ‘What Is surprising Is that no one fas taken credit either (ike by claiming it was on purpose), But everyone (and I mean every- fone) has a story that they're Just sure is the nly true one, about What Caused The Computer to Crash and why it just so hap. pened to be my worst enemy's fault, The best place to pick up one of those tales is around the table of one ofthe new distillr= jes, but if you're willing to take 2 chance, idle charter in the hall is good for a ru- mormongering as well. Let me tell you about some of the things Vve heard. Wh Atar¥5 Virus ‘Supposedly there was this High Pro- rgmmer, see, and she worked in 2 sector Efed BOn sector | know, there's no record of any DOA sector, and no one | know has ever met anyone irom DOA sector — but par ofthe story takes that into aezount, so i's hard to tell whether the rumors are tue or whether it's just a clever story. ‘So what hapoenod was that Alar was workingon aspecial ind ofprogran called Avinus, ora papyrus, orsomething lke thet. It was supposed to remove DOA sector from The Computer's record fles— every- thing. The Computer would iorgetthatDOA. everexisted, wouldn’trecognize the tongue prints of anyone from DOA, wouldn't send Shipments 0 or expect shipments from DOA. It just plain wouldn't bother DOA. See how itfitsIftherumors are phony, and DOA never existed, its te same as if i's trve and Atze| succeeded, ‘Ata’ plan, they say, was to remove DOA from Computer scrutiny so that she and hor cecret society (or maybe just she and her group of flunkies) could move in nd take over without interference. She could set herself up as a sort of mini ‘Computer, running the sector and geting the best of everything... and no one inthe: Chapter Two: Life New World restof the cemple would ever know heey the Feat of the soy eth she succeed too well The vu or apy fpread eubide of DOM eetor arta Ekniy all fe sectors of Apa Complex ttre deleted fem The Corrs mem ty. So according fo thn vesion of te Story, Ihe Comper bas cashed a all ife jst caconaced. fom eeryong aroundlsotihink hatdneenie complex ihe disappear and is siting around wraing br someone to comeback Core Winmkof tr te sory I te, pea ‘Marcin secidertalhy the vinsespead to other sector, Perhaps she id on purpose, and se plans to moveinand ake ther (ath no itrerence rom The Com- fu) cts then complex: rapa felis imponsble fo destroy The Com pute 30 Aor id the ex bes thing, Ui internal Programming Glitch “Another version of Why it Happened has 10 do with an experimont The Com- puter conducted awhilebackcalled Alpha Sate You probably never heard of but have visual evidence that it once existod. Supposedly Alpha State was where The Computer took all the Commies that have fever been captured and terminated, and grew clones from ther leftover cells. Then it populated an entire sector with them, called it Alpha state, and watched to see how they would act. The ostensible pur- pose ofthis was 10 lear how to stop the Connie threat once and forall Wall, beng Commies, of course they started fooling around with things, and | fuess one of their bright boys envered a Confession boothiobsenation center and found a way to sabotage The Computer ‘while i watched. Itmade a big mistake in Tetng them anywhere near Ii terminals duringthoexperiment, ifyou askme—The Computer wasnt neat as perlecl as every- ‘one thought.Anyway,oncethathappened, Comerieprogrammingstating infesting The Computer and had © stat fighting othe Commie parsoflselfwhiletrvingto put an end 0 Alpha State ‘Supposedly the Commie parts werequie sirong,and The Computerhadto terminate partofitel. thar swt finally causedthe tach, then the Alpha Slate experiment ‘righ ail be going on. That means there's 2 sector somewhere out there populated choy T00 lb In A Brave completely with ral Commies. Andeven if the experiment was shut down before the clash, there are sl files somewhere full of ‘Commie clone cells, waiting 10 be grown. Perhaps the guysinthenextsectorwhe ca themieives Commies are busy growing @ new wave of soldlersfrom thosecells, Next theyll be coming for us. The Big Blue Spark Then there's the ane about the Big Blue Spark. No one knows for sure where it Came from all the stories are difierent. Somesay itsiartedinaHigh Programmers apertment wen he did sornething strange to his vidscreen assembly in order to play back Old Reckoning video cassettes; th- Crs say It started in the food vats during a batle with Commie mutant saboteurs, or pethaps traitorous membess of the Seal ‘Club;sil others claimitcame rom outside the complex, perhaps stared by taitorous ‘members ofthe Seal Club, Inany event, the Spark isa tracer of Blue fire that bums whatever it touches, and apparentiy it's been traveling alongcables {and pipes and energy lines for months now, Slowly burning away all the wire in Alpha Complex ‘Clones claim to have seen it every- where, and there are still sightngs, al- thought ve never seen itmyself: What they say is you hearitfist: kind ofa dull hissing roar. It may get a litie warmer, and the ts dir, but usta little bit. Then there's a blue plow, and you see this sparking flame, ike what you soe when a fuse on a stick of dynamite is lit comes around a comer, and i’s Blue. Itjustrunsright along the wire or cable it sburning, until itdisap- pears cut of sight inio a wall or whatever. ‘They say some clones have tried to siop it by cutting the wireor touching the lame or using water. They also say that none of those clones are alive today. It's $0 outrageous it might be tue. Iso, itdoesn’t explain why some files and pro- gars are still working even though The ‘Computer's personality is gone ... maybe those wires haven't burned yet, and some- day, wen the spark has finally consumest ‘every cord, wire and cable in Alpha Com- plex everything will shutdown completely. ——_— 5CRASH COURSE MANUAL The Big Blue Spark. I Someone Rebooted in CPU Sector ‘Thenthere's a really wild, way-cut story thatjustcouldn’tbe true, excep that itdoes explain some things that none ofthe others do, Accordingtothisone, there wasthisguy ‘who travelled intime from thepastto Alpha ‘Compiex. Remember that huge explosion few weekcycles ago? The story goes that travel fromm the past causes that sort of thing — temporal dsplacoment, they calli. Or something like that. Anyway, they also say hebrought acard ofsomekind with him — card that supposedly has 2 complete ‘Computer personality and intelligence an it So this guy s supposed to have recruited six High Programmer: to help him get io (CPU sector, where he tried to use his card ‘on The Computer, only The Computer sel estructed rather than et 2 Commierutant traitor irom the past re-boot t. And I've met a lot of clones — way too many to dishe- lieve, Ithink, even though I didn’thoar this myself — who are sure they heard The Computer give 2 salt-destruct warning just before the MegaWhoops. So that part fis, You see the implications ofthis? Some- wherein Alpha Complex (ifthis stor istrue) isacard witha complete Computer person- ality and system on it. Whoever firds that and uses Io re-establish The Computer would gain the undying gratitude of the Empire, and of FCCCP as well. And who knows! Maybe The Computer (the new ‘one, anyway) would be so grateful itd ‘make that person the ultimate High Pro- grammer I Other idle Speculations There'slots fotherpossbilties, includ ing the FCCP version that The Computer has finally achieved ane cof being, and the Humanist version, which is thet The Computer got so disgusted with Us that i decided to turn itself off, the standard *scuttlebut” version which that some super-high High Programmer pulled its plug out of sheor spite or something, Breaking up is hard to do ‘Who Was Behind It All? In all these cases, there's some secret society supposedly behind ill. Atar-l was ‘a Computer Phreak, or in some versions of the siory, a Romantic. The Blue Spark was siarted by the Seal Club (whatthe survivors ofthe Sierra Clubcallthemselvesi;ofcourse, the Commies are a prime suspect. | don’t think anyone's ever gonna know the truth. I'd have thought there would be lots of societies taking creditfor i and you could investigate each slory one by one and fi- rally find the truth, But for some reason, ‘pone of the societies are taking credit. It almost seems tke whoever dds emtar- I The Secret Society Wars ‘Theres one other rumor that mey or may nat have any bearing on the crash of ‘The Computer: the Secret Society Wars Surely you've heard of them® No? Ths ‘ight be harder than | thought. Several montheycles ago, somebody started a vendetta against the Sierra Club secret society. Practically all ts high-level membership was destroyed, andthe lower downs scaiteredtothefeur winds. ls been resfoimed as the Seal Ciub, and if you remember, they’reone ofthe cnesaccused of starting the Big Blue Spark. ‘Ate the Sierra Club, Free Enterprises were targetted. They're coming back too, butslowly. Then most of the smaller socie- ties were wined out in a weekcycietong pogrom. I'm happy 10 say that several Foundationers survived, but most of us are gone for good It’s not for sure that this had anything to ddo with the crash, but now that The Com- puteris gone, thesecretsocietiosarescram- bing for power, and with their already- established memberships, one of them has {a good chance of coming into supremacy. ‘They te facing off againstthelikes ofPower Service and the Armed Forens, rue— but the Empire has to work within The Com- uter's rules [or face the wrath ofthe other members of the Empire) so they have a handicap, No, | think asecret society isthe best het for conquering the whole com. plex. And ithat’s tue, then it makes sense that someone should have stared their power grab before the crash actually came which must mean that a secret society was atleast involved, if not responsible. “The most likely suspect, and the one everyone agrees has the best odds in the Upeoming strugale, i illuminati. it makes sense — these guysareso secretive that not even they know what they eater. A least most of the lowerdowns don't know. It ‘makes sense that, i their goal was to Wipe ‘outthe other secretsecieties, they wouldn't tell anyone. Otherwise, all the other socie- 6(CRASH COURSE MANUAL pero Mk ties might have banded together to stop them. Hmmm, That sounds suspiciously like what shappening. Perhapsthete’s more to that rumor than | thought. When Does It Get Fixed? (Of course alotdepencs on why itwent down in the fist place — i the Blue Spark sioryistigh, for instance, itcould bea long. Tong time before all the wires and cables and stuff are replaced. | know that Power, Services and everything left of the Bureau. cratic Empire 's working on the problem, bat of course they can't fix anything until they know what needs tobe fixed. They can replace every wire in the complex, and the problem is a virus they'll never suc- ceed. So the bottom-line answer is: not for a long, long time. There are societies and whole Simplexes that like things the way they are, andthey'seall battling the Empire to make sure I's never fixed. Who knows, ‘who'll win: the only thing ’m sure of is that itwill be generations before The Computer ‘comes back... think. The Moment of MegaWhoops. Itreally doesn’tratter howithappened, ‘What's importartisthatithas, and rething, anyone can do in the foreseeable future will change that — so let's take it from there. To best start your understanding of MegaWhoops Alpha, i’simportantto know how it came about — I don’t mean the ‘actual cause, since we just got finished saying that no one will ever know. | mean ‘Does the hand of ituninat! overshadow all? the clone’s-eye view: what did the average Joe-R think when it happened? What was he doing atthat moment, and what did he do in the next few daycycles? Well, certainly there were plenty of Clones who were all n favor, since we all knowthatmany of tha secret societies have as their goal the destruction of The Com- pater. Here's a story from the Humanist Archives that ie atypical example: Victory Hymn of the Utopia by Jonatha Anadne Caspian “Mine clones have seen the glory of the Alpha Complex crash — ‘We have humbled The Computer and we've hacked it into hash We will batten back the darknass tll there's nothing eft to smash Utopia at last! Glory, glory Human Speaker! Never more will life get bleaker. Strong will lend 2 hand to weaker: Utopia at lest We have tounced Corpore Metal: we've slammed FCCCP, The Sierra Club’s been bludgeoned and Froe Enterprise don't be In fact, what's let in Alpha Town is down to you and me: Utopia at last” (Repeat Chorus) Since Reconsiruction's imminent, to this brief rule adhere — Serve the Speaker with your actions and, youve nothing lef to fear; inhis wisdom and his goodness he will reign forever here: Utopia at lest!” (Repeat Chorus to fade) Beau, st impassioned sting, triumphant — all an anthem should be Modesty of course, forces me to creditthe id Reckoning precursor which our Hu man Speaker found and passed on to me, the Humenist Hymarian. ‘My soul sed in my breast, the air paused in my lungs, my hair shivered in its follicles when I heard the immortal first phrase: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning ofthe school Yes, badly faded and worn, laborously hand-copied and iovingy luminated with star ard carl ues and sles doting each this rage telic neverheless conveyed a. sense of zrandeut and purpose that | have tied to fmulate in our repobli’s new stancard. Such poetry as that is nigh impossible to equal, but in my small way, I think | have succeeded. “There wil be more verses, of course — dealing tiumphsofthetumanSpeaker nd the glories ofthe Utopia to come. The Computer has crashed, and we can rebuild it "Wwe have the technology — make it Stronger, faster, eaner- and create the ulkimate In human experience “The joy — oh, the joy felt when sud- denly, inthe midile of Hygiene Petro} the cortidor lights dimmedandtlickered. Hope borbled in my breast ike warm Bouncy Bubble Beverage as ll lumination in the sector ied completely. heard —1, Woody. G-UHH3, actually Keard silence! Itlasted buta iragment ofa nanosecond, fr intan- taneously all HEL broke loose (or was tin HIL sector when it blew?) The hall was bright with mult-hued laser fireamoke and scrubots roiled every- where. Our team leader knelt and began rumbling *.. though I walk thrugh the Sector ofthe Shadow of Treason..." obvi- ously realizing the moment of Mega Whoops was at hand. Recognizing him as 4 member of the Fist Church of Chvist Compuser-Programmer, Idle him, and dashediback down the coridortoseewhere I was needed. Even a humble hymnarian ‘occasionally haste take up weapons in the service o his society Chaos, glorious chaos! nfaredsinvad- ingthe spectrum atall levels Indigosplead- ing with Yellows for safe passage, Vulture Warriors circling the worst camage, cat bots and dogbos lvingtogether .itsurged farbeyond ey wildest hopes. Iwould be in Iyties for another 10,000 dayeycles with this material! "Azmytreasonous Violtreflec protected ime fiom random paining, | scrarbied through the dankest, mos. devious back- routes to Walden Revisited, the Humanist Safehouse in UTO sector, Ipassed huddled ‘masses, red, poor, and hungry in LIB sec- tor, had t detour around a glowing crater or tee, and sold my Model VI Skin Core Sampler for safe passage through a Zany‘CRASH COURSE MANUAL Chapter Two 34 n & A 4 CE, Ie (alg Mik Sometimes even Zany Fades get more than they bargained for Eddies held fooitube. Not to brag. burt in the service of the Human Leader, Ithrew in a grenade to close the deal. ‘Allthe while, my brain wasbueily batch- ing images for hymns and stirring grand marchesand ullabiesandshow tunes rom the ost archives of Alpha Complex that would upliftthe New Order. Tt might have taken daycyles for my travail — had no way to tell. Transtubes ‘were functionless, and roaming squads of Death Loopards made major corridors perilous. Occasionally, an isolated moni= tororloudspeaker would kickin, morethan likely ith Teela-O reruns or Fizz-Whize jingles. These were invariably blasted to slag withinnanos of theiractivation.Istayed low and kept my laser handy. Arla, Walden was uponme. The doors siill stood, and only slight laser scoring marred the frame around them. | spoke the pasephrave "Skinnerand Thoreau" and was admited immediately by the Human Speaker himsolft Itis up tous Humaniststo bring order out Cf Alpha, the Human Speaker proclaims. We will divide the eins into Piccolos — termderived romtheOldReckoning “pety’ fo: "penny-ffedom (forthetruly vat-bred, a “fe” is an inconsequential o” inexpen- sive musical flute or whistle. The transla- tion is coetoborated by the Old Reckoning anthem “Whisties Where You Work," rom the Magic Fifedam of Orange-CAl.. Ive done the research mysel) ‘Music will be our savior, for was tt not \writenthatMusie soothes the SavageBoast ‘making him the more HTumen? Do not the records show that a breed of beast known as the Dairy Cow responded to music and produced gallons of the Milk of Human Kindness? have spentlong daycyclesin scholarly ‘study, strange primitive devices clamped to my eats, searching out even the tinniest ‘notesof our past. As Hymnarian iotheNew (Order, wil be responsible for lighting our days ling our nights with song, creating themes which swell and ebb according to the actions of the populace and the emo- tion ofthe moment— thus itwasofold, and thus it shall be again! In our Utopia, each itizen will have his own, personal theme ‘music! Heaven, min heaven! ilwrite the songs that make the whole complex sing! Asyoucan ste, i’sbeenagreat moment for Woody. He believes he's written the national anthom, thesong litleschool cl: dren will sing fiom dome to shining dome. ‘Course, dozens of other clones have had justas positive an experience, bethey Anti: Mutants, Communists, Frankenstein De- sroyersor even rst Church. Programmers. ‘They can all believe this because Alpha {is soo0e big, and the safe pockeis are sooo far apart, that until a communications net- work is figged up again, they'll never run Into each other—much. So any clone who managed to wipe out a few arch enemies andfind afew loved ones at home has won the war. He can sit on his duff, patting himnselfon the back, orhe can getto work, stabilizing his home structure, forfying his defenses against the few, the bad and the lawless, and planning the BIG RAID; de- pending on hisaffliation, he lwanttoloot fF reboot when things quiet dawn, And in the meantime, inbetween time... Aintwe got fun’ Tales of the Vulgar Serubot by. |. Tramontana Troubleshooter teams — bristling with slugthrowers, cone rifles, grenades, and mote types of edged: weapons than the desk-bound boffins at R&D everthought of. — led the scared and batieed ‘ables in the dimly it interior ofthe Vulgar Scrubot, drinking synthewhisk and alersatz by the Dbucketsful, and popping Wakey-Wakeys, Red-desades, and Purple-violents by the hhandsful, Occasionally, betweendinksand ops, between hands of crazy-mates or rounds of skin-the 'red, one or another of the drug.smirky merks would look out through the grime-smeared front windows ofthe Vulgar Scrubot, acrossthe street,past the roving squads of Billkings, atthe bulle- tin board in font oF Troubleshooter head: quarters, hoping, guessed, to see the NOD Mission Control Oificer posting new mis- sion openings. ‘end ber atthe Vulgar Serubot; at my age and with my leit arm missing from the elbow down, doling out drinks and phar- ‘maceuts, washing drinking-mugs and spit- toons is one ofthe few jobs lean do — it's also one of the jabs nobody else wants, As | held a synthebrass spittoon under the stump of my left arm and polished it with the rag held in my right, and only, hand, 1 heard the squeaky chittor chat of nature babes against the deeper voices of the drunken merks "Gran'ther, Gran'ther," squealed. the nature babes as they swarmed around the mericilled tables, dodging elbows, legs, and cone rile butts; then they climbed on the fickety stools in front ofthe bar where | stood rubbing at the spittoon. | looked down at the happy, eager, dir-smeared faces of my five son's sons and wondlered Whar it was like to have been born of ‘woman and not decanted and baby boomed, “Gran‘ther, Gran’ther, please?” begged young Enok.(CRASH COURSE MANUAL Chapter Two “Tellusa story, Gran‘ther Edam” asked his older brother, Eros. “About the Great Whoops, about the ‘MegaWhoops,” softly suggested Eble, who hhad boon named after my son, his da. "Go ahead, One-arm,” said a rough voiced merk siting at the table nearest the bar. “Tell the nature babes a story.” He dell flipped a ten credit plaque through the ai? and clatteringly into the spittcon under myarm. looked athimas lretrieved the plaque. He shrugged and his hard eyes softened for a moment as he rubbed ab- sently at his own elbow and said, “Puttin the fund for yourarm graft” I pocketed the plaque, nodded my thanks, and turned my attention to the nature babes. “Black before the time of the mothers and the fathers, back before the merks and ‘theBillkings, before the propaganda broad- ‘cass, before the Vulyar Scrubot, before | lost my arm, inthe time of the Organiza- tions and the Societies, in the time of the Clearances and the Order of Color, there ‘was The Computer, and all was right with the Complex and EDN sector — until one daycyce. "T awoke then with visions of the last nighicycle’s Adventures of Teela O'Malley playing bot-o-my with my lobes, Malinger- ingairsol yesterdaycycle's Mello-daze and Sleepy-tyme rumbled across my tongue, ‘warring wilh sopgy crumbs of Crunchest yine Chips and the ever essence of Bouncy Bubble Beverage. | lay in the cione-sized wrinkle at the center of my doss, waiting or the bright light of daycycle to flash redly through my tight-closed lids and for the cot in ghe Orange barracks to lift my sleep- saggy body gently ortothesoles of my fea. | waited, and waited, and waited ... “Itwas the screams coming through the vent-grid that kept me from sliding back ~ Io the brain-numb of Sieepy-tyme— the screams, the sizzle-blast ofthe lasers, the screech ofthe slugthrowers, the whoosh: \woomp of the cone rtles. Not waiting any longer forthe ulllightof dayeycle orthetilt ‘of my doss, [let my eyes slide open to the flickery light of the cayeycle bulb, gleam- ingiweakly.tscrunchedto the end of my cot and jumped down ameter and ahalito the Cold synthecrete floc. | pad-paddedto.and through the swinging doors ofthe hygiene cubicle, "When swung back through al eleven cf my bunkmates had crawled out of their tnrisen bunks and were wandering about the bartacks. Confusion was in their eyes Four of my matesstoodin front ofthe Vend: ‘Mood dispenser, pushing at its buttons and yanking atts knobs, tryingto gei some Wakey.Wakeys or Upanatoms. Smoke is whet they got — smoke and sparks and ¢ many-coloted trickiestream of melted pharmaceuts, Grede-O, fixated on a fix, {uityanking and pushing, and get down on his knees, and qpened his yapper to the strearn. Quicker than quick, his eyesrolled back into his brain-frame, and he flopped. Wewaited ior hienext-of-cloneto claim his place. He didn’t; we got bored and wan dered off “Five more of us found termination, ‘again with no next-of-clone attendant, in the Happiness Entertainment Quad when the three video screens exploded. Two more were lasered by the automatic weap- tons on the Cruncheetyme dispenser. One more got shoved and crushed under a coniession booth tom from its mountings by the surging crowd in the corridors. Two. more were floored in the rotsatthe Orange Chow Hall “Alone, without bunkznates — without even clon of their clones —I wandered 4 Stary and song are important parts of post-crash complex lore. anddidn’t believe what saw. The Order of Color was no more. reds surged up the Dessageways from the lower levels and demoted any Ultras they found, trampling them into Red, Frenzied crowde spectnu: med through the corridors and streets. “Achy-shakes twitched me from my feet ‘o my brain-frame; Old Man Withdrawal had shoved synthewoolinio my eyes: and ‘my tongue hung dry and limp. If had had anything to give, would have given it for {Happy Citizen pill, ora Mello-daze, or an Upanatem, oreven fortifiedBouncy Bubble Beverage. But nowhere, notin any of the colorsofEDN, had lfound 2 working Vend- |AMond, or even a caleteria that had not been looted and smathed —until Lwalked pasta public Computerterminal and mult purpose chute untouched by the doings of this daycycle, | yvappedit the meniter. The Computer cicin' yep back. | tep-tapped at the keyboard. Nobody tap-tapped back. | screamed, | pounded the keyboard. "What ate you doing there’ asked 2 loud voice. ‘Don't be trying to bring The Computer back!” I turned and looked at 2 Red Troubleshooter with droopy lips. His slugtheewer was looking right back at me, | screamed. The Troubleshooter fred, “Thenext thing Isaw:a Yellow kneeling ‘over me, tying something on my left erm. She finished tyingand hauled meup on my feet. Pain burst trough me. She was knee! ing over me again when my eyes futered ‘open for the secondtime. | reached to hold and comfort my throbbing left forearm; it ‘wasn't there, The Yellow looked into my eyes, and then hauled metomyfeetagain.” “Hey, old clone," said a merk who had ‘moved irom his table near the front win- dows of the Vulgar Scrubot to the bar, oughly pushing aside one of the nature babes and holding out his crinking-mug, “how about some more elersatz" helped the nature babe back onto his stool, Then I looked into the merk’s little mean eyes and made my yapperbend up in. 2 grin. “Sure,” | agreed. “Just let me rinse that out for you.” I took his mug and bentChapter Two, CRASH COURSE MANUAL ‘around in a washtub, in the tub where | soaked the encrusted sptioons. Filling the ‘mug with alersatz, | handed it to the merk and said meekly, “This one’s on me." “Thanks,” he said through droopy lips. “Those were hard times. No hard feelings, then, about the arm?” A Day of Dennis-O-VCH by G. D. Swick and M. B.Till Nex." | made it! After standing in this stupid line for a whole sixth of a daycycle, I'm going to get something to eat! Food has been so hard to find the last four daycycles. Ever since the monitor screens went blank the food serviee areas have been closed; Production, Logistics, and Commisary has been treascnously pegligert. | have filled outthe proper forms for mass termination of all negligent per- sonnel —but Idon’tknow where tosubrrit them. ‘According to treasonous rumors, this food line is being serviced by a group ‘alled TheNew Free Enterprise. Dislovally, they are trading food for other itoms of value. | will report them also, as soon 2s access to The Computer is possible again. Inthe meantime, I'l try to rade this Ho torch, which was issuedto me long ago for reasons that were never made clear, for some... evidence oftheir veasonous activ ity What ean I get for it? Twa whole algae loaves! Excellent... ‘evidence. OF course, as loyal citizen, 1 ‘musteat one so ican testy that itis indeed an algae loaf. In fact, !must consume both justin case these traitors tried to trick me. Hl do that as soon as — “chaos and confsion/hr whet wed We're gonna give a bruisin'to anyone we please/ Death Leopard! ‘Qobee-doobeedoo Death Leopard” Suddenly the queue scatters madly as bludgeon-wielding members of Death Leopard, singing raucously, charge among ‘us, swinging with gleeful abandon. I lose ‘my grip on one precious algae loaf when a blow knocks me to my knees. Scrambling, chase my lost easure as itiskicked and trampled. Bodiesfall on me; kicks and blows rain all around me, but | Continue crawling until | lose concious- ess. come to. A tiny curb of algae loaf, less than a mouthful, remains clutched in ‘my hand, all thats left of my feast. mean, evidence. Virus and memory wipel “A shame,” someone S2)S.. My eyes focus. Maury-0-PZ0 is stand ing over me, surveying the carnage. have- nit seen him for three daycycles. “A shame," he repeats, “how decent citizens can be Genled the basic suste- nance of life, and be beaten by gangs of thugs for no reason. Such things never happened under Friend Computer.” Ferrer programmingoverrides the input of recent data and | find myself agreeing wholeheartedly while clutching my empty stomach “The reason Death Leopard can get away with such things, of course,” contin. ‘ues Maury-O, “isthat they are a gang. They have numbers on theirside. they had the ‘courage toattack one ata time, 'm certain ‘you would have thumped them soundly.” He helps me to my fect carefully, to avoid getting blood on his new clothing. “"Now if you had an organization to protect you, then thenumbers would beon your side. Right?” “You mead join a thecret thothiety?” 1 mumble through loose teeth. “Bud thath ‘weathon. The Computer —” “The Computer ain't around no more," ‘Maury says smoothly. “You need a new loyalty. You need Someone To Defend You, someone who believes in Truth, us- tice, and the Alpha Complex Way. Some- ‘one like... the luminal? it sounds tempting, but ! don’t know. 1 don't know anything anymor ‘what cleared to know. Ams to know anything? W's ll 30 confusing! shrug, “Let's discuss it over something to eat,” he says. ‘The meal is the best | can remember, vith many strange thingsthatactually leave taste —a pleasant one —in my mouth, Some are sweet, lke fermenting Bouncy Bubble ... como aro sour, but not in a bad way like too-green algae chips. Some ere what Maury-O calls “spicy.” Why have | reverhad this foodin the dining area? ls — was — Friend Computer aware that food ‘could taste lke this? How many yearcycles bad luck? Maury-O is smiling like @ Vulture War- rior interogating a prisoner. He pieks {eet with small sliver ofsome unknown atecal “Not bad; eh” he says. “Meals would be like thisall the tme— even beter — i the llaminati were in charge. You can help make that happen, Dennis-O. How about 587 Are you ready fora new loyalty?” Tick my fingers, sealing that this is turning pointin my fe. never had one of those before, Thisdecision mustboweighed carefully ‘After 1/4320th of a daycycle, I nod my head as if | were at an Ave You Happy! meeting, and reach for another helping of the stuf Maury-O calls meat” Tis should he too hard. Instead of ccporingmtantividty deviations, sceretsocley memberships andomer rea. ‘Sree borer Th Corvette fat tepor cn daly actin tink V-RAT, forthe lumina Why they are interest inthis aiff ii nevor understand DDAYEYCLEO300.0530; Get out of bed Most ctizenstise whenever they fet Fie pow, but Mauy-© tod ire thal fe ery Drosrarmer ges the mode. or some thing ike that. Mus tt secure mechan cal slam cock DAYCYCIE 0530-0730 Search for breaks With Ihad » shower. T noice a clster of ehzensglincing ste rt hyo et evesipn: erode ately, one of te pup pushes me awe, Shouting *No more, sway, thereat ary more” lrmediately another czen Ste fonvard and thes my am There ieslayaroomfor ona soul secking enlightenment” he scmonishes theothers “Weeschwilmakedovwahless in rdot to share with our ev" brother Welcome tothe Mystic Mess Hall where eur stomach ane your soul wil bath be Bile My name & HipeY-CHI “amid grumbes rom my companions, en oer ore mie ee Tabi have been setup wih poised vthich does ror sme 2s appealing lst night super Before weest ip speaks ‘ovspasstoatelyaboutkarms whechmust favesomethingto do with electicy ce she says Is ted 1o postive energy low, onscnsnes lays, and Nieminen Iaeanere ver eped oleic Afi though hs was some secret socey, at itn be 2 cache of Technical Sevices fesonrel Everualy, | receive a smal bow! of sale alge fakes, Yerterdayoyce | would fave savored each tiny mou. Now it fours bland and dap By fe Mens: try Bars things wll difcrentwen the imine tke over! | hope tt happens on iste tothese arcund me voicing thei 10(CRASH COURSE MANUAL e100 complaints and 1 reflect that there was rnever such grumbling under The Corr puter. Everyone is saying the same things: ‘no water, totally inedible food (end in such small portions), no Teela-O vieshows, lines of citzors longer than lists of traitors wait ing for every possible commodity. Espe- ally toilet paper. ‘Well the illuminati will soon set things to rights! DAYCYCLEO730-1200 At work 1/360th, of a daycycle early in Central Processing offices. No oneelse around. Shuffle papers. Sixtimes, Try unsuccessiully to access The Computer. Ten times, Co-workers arrive sporadically. Many do not come at all Disappointed by such anti-social behavior ‘Observing, prover procedures is the glue that hold: society together. CPU must set anexample. DAYCYCLE 1200-1400: Use lunch break to investigate rumer that boots are available in KNY sector. Find long line — rumor must be true. Join lina Suddenly, citizen in front of me rises into air and flies to front of line with no visible propulsion mechanism! Swoops down and ties off cackling, a pair of boots ineach hand. A few members of queue fire lasers, but miss lines shortened several tizens. While waiting 1 observe activites aroundme. Two citizensarguing in hushed tones, apparently tying to trade flashlights for Bouncy Bubble Beverage. Two others — one male clone, one female — are holding each other's hand as they walk down the corridor, yetneither seems to be leading the ether. Stange. Before I can puzzle out what this odd behavior means, actizen near the front of the queue suddenly screams ‘can’t do it! I caa’t think for myself anymore! Someone tell me what to do!” Instead of waiting forthe instructionshe askedfor theckizen dashes forward, seizes someone's laser pistol and terminates himself. While |_cenoot condone such behavior prior to filing a Self-Termination Request Voucher, | do feel 2 pang of sym: pathy for the poor fellow. Since Friend Computer went away, | have been so con- fused by this Self-Responsibility concept that | have come close to such action myself. OF course as loyal citizen —even if 'm not sure who I'm supposed tobe loyal to anymore — I have resisted such anti- social impulses. DAYCYCLE 1400-1600: Return to of fice, Make paper lybot. Eight times. Coto storage room for more paper. in storage room, discover two co-workers, one male, tone female, who apparently are hiding after seme frightening event. Their unt- forms are in disarray and he seems to be administering mouth to mouth resuscita tion to her. | rush forward to offer assis tance, butboth become surlyand chase me away. “The whole Complex is going crazy! DAYCYCLE1615:Fellow workerMaad- O-NNA brings stack of forms into my cubicle for processing, While placing forms on my desk, she brushes female upper torso ap- pendages against me. Smiles. A sirange feeling rises in me. For some reason, stor age room scone comes to mind. Palms begin to sweat. Should I report this feeling to Fink-¥? Should | report it to Maad-O} That sounds ike more fun. Not necessarily safer, but more fun. DAYCYCLE 1630-1730: Shufile paper. Threetimes, Think of Maad-O-NNA.Many times, Take Synthe-Cof break. Hear new Joke: How many Tech Service clones does It take fo change a circuit board? None, tunless The Computer comes back up. ‘Many workers complaining about deal ing with the genera citizenry. Members of other service groups do not understand \why they can’tbe given forms authorizing distribution of provisions. This does not excuse PLCsinefficiency. Besides, nonew forms are currently available. Citizens not amused. Happinocs is no longer manda- tory. Three CPU co-workers sent to Med Sericas, but refused treatment because they did’not fill out the proper authorize tion forms. Their clone replacements are duetomorrow, but arrival uncertain. What isn't? Fewer co-workers report for duty each daycycle. Disgusting disloyalty. ‘Stop by Masd-O-NNA’s cubicle. Ask if she would lke to interface with me regard- ing all these strange new pheromena. Perhaps near Snuff-Y-SWT's new medical distillery, at 1830? She would. She would?! Return to cubicle to finish work shift Stare at walls, Fee odd elation, Could R&D have dropped a tes chemical in the vent lation sytem again? 20, hope they don’ rempve itanytime soon DAYCYCLE 1730-1830: Turn in infor imationtoFink-Y. "Keep up the ood werk? he says Lets me take bret shower. Some- Now Hlursinatl fs making soine showers ‘work. Givesme dinner aionsupplerets save to share with Maac+O., Well, mostot it anyway. DAYCYCLE 1830-1944: Watt at table near nut sctilery. Palms sweet. Stroke hale smooth, Twiddle thumbs, Casually glance at the door every 1/2160th of a daycycle. DAYCYCLE 1945:Mas¥-Oerteswear- Higher irons Crete CO ing. No separate slots for legs. No bib over top. Slton onesie of lover bedy piece. tcllent programming: all the O'-whare they should be, all the 1's in the comect places. A parict macrochip i ever I saw ve. Whyhave! never noticed this before? ‘she sles ino the chat nextto me. A pleasant odor permeates ty olfactory Senses, Crcuts temporarily overload Fora sith of a dayeycle we interface cover cups of SnuftVs elie I share the dalcacies trom ink, sheshares informa: fos “here are shortages everywhere, in everything. (Really? | whisper). Sometires, security clearances arent being recognized atal (This snews ome Thope ean remember ote Finke¥. Con: entation i geting cfcult) “Technical Services personnel are being Iynched of made into heroes, depending onwhothey encounter. Power Servicesare too busy prying to get things Back On LineChapter Two CRASH COURSE MANUAL toworry about anything (That's theirprob- lem) Some citizens are openly ‘rebelling: painting graffition walls displayingmucant powers, destroying Computer property Worstofall shetells me ina whisper there are sumo that widespread termination of CPU workers taking place —withoutthe required paperwork! — just because they belong to'CPU! (Great Data Bank! How far will this madness yo?) Oh," Maad-O asks suddenly, looking dooply into my eyes, “have you ever heard fof a group called the Romantics? They're really a fun bunch ...” SnufY’s elinir and that suange, heady dor are making it hard for me to think clearly. Somehow Maad-O-NNA is closer than | remember, She's telling me how smuchall this is Fightening her. She's afaid tobe alone, butshe's also afraid of trusting, anyone. Except me. ‘Do |iknow someplace where we would be safe ftom waitors? she asks. Al the other members of my living ‘quarters work the nightcycle, | reply, We ‘could be safe there, if we barricace the doo: ‘She smiles. Could we go there now? Before any traitors show up? Oh, and did she tell me about a group called the Ro- mantics! Feeling dizzier by the minute, | trade Snuff¥ the last remnants of our feast for another bulb of elixir, and wander of with ‘Maad-O, She sli het arm in mine, appar cently administering an experimental drug ‘asshedonsso: suddenly Heeltller stronger, ‘capable of flying NIGHTCYCLE 2230-2240; 0010-0050; (0300-0430; Activities totally, wonderfully, at variance with standard programming Why didn’t anyone think of this before? ‘Maybe The Computer didn't know every- thing. i don’t think Il report this to Fink-Y yet. Not until I have researched it further Oh, yo! DAYCYCLE 0900: Overslept. Who cares? Bee-yoo-iee-iul daycycle ‘Maury-O is waiting in the corridor. “ad news, clone. Your datas, like, all zetos, No ones, if vou get my drift. My bosses can’ tjustily the fancy feeds and the warm showerswithout beter input. Follow mez” Its frightening to think that Maury-O hhasbossesioo. swallow hard. "Whatmore do you want?” “Nothingmajor, nothing major," hesays smoothly. “But you work for CPU, right? ‘Maybe official forms don't get the same respect they used to, but even though The ‘Computerison a long maintenance break, some citizens still Ike to have the proper paperwork so they can cover their rear lower torso appendages. And someone with 2 DOC-24 can requisition unlimited me- icinal supplies with no hassle — cor- rect?” Close youreyes, reachin, and see what you et Swallowing harder, Inod. "Now the Illuminati want nothing more than tomakethingsefficientaroundhere so that everybody’shappy. ustlike wedid for ‘you. And as a good ilurninati, you want to help us accomplish that, right?” My head bobs as if were the subject of Vulture Squadron shakedovrn “And if life should become very hazardous ... for citizens who produce official paperwork, you'd want a place to hide, wouldn't your” My chin is beating against my chest 30 hard its creating bruises, "Good cizen, Soyou'l have the DOC- 24's by, say, 1100! Oh, and citizen ... hanging out with Romantics is very bad for your image, if you know wht | mean. It's (Okay to purnp them for information occa- sionally — just don't make a habit of i Capisch?” | nod, Why is there never an Escape ‘command when you really need one? Final Word Okay, sonow we've got thebackground set. You have some idea how ithappened, what it was like when ithappened, and — Inageneral way —what’s happening now. Now la'sget spaciticand see ifwe can't bring you up to speed on some brand new never-before-seen concepts that have sprung up in post-crach Alpha Complex 12(CRASH COURSE MANUAL Introduction to Something New Before we start cur discussion of how things have changed (like, what does Security Clearances” mean now) aterthe crash, let's frst spend some time on a few brand new concepts. These arethings you're going io haveto know if you want survive in. the posterash complex. Leam to uso them t0 your full advantage. These three things are Supply & Demand, Alpha Sim- plexes, and Sleepers ‘Supoly & Demand isan Old Reckoning, ‘concept which has found new lifein Alpha Complex. Itdeals, ata simple level, withthe idea of “price” for food, objects, and in’or- ‘mation. See, it used to be that The Computer set the price for everything, according to some unfathomable whimo/ls own. Nowadays, theclones that actually produce the stuffget to decide the price. This way, if no one ‘wants something, the producer doesnt get many credits for it, and he stops producing itand starts producing something else. On the other hand, if everyone wants some- thing, 2 producer gets a good price, which ‘engpurages others to begin producing that thing as well. meaning there's more to go around, | know, it sounds incredibly treasonous — but hey, that's prety much the point, don't you think? Supply and Demand by Chris Kuasik SUPPLY AND DEMAND— THE FREE ENTERPRISE WAY! Getting Hungry? Running Out Of Ammo? Want To Get Involved With This New Thing Called Sex? THEN YOU NEED US! You'veheard aboutwhat we'vedonefor ‘organizations throughout Alpha Comple», ‘and now we're offering cur POWER PROF TTS classes to INDIVIDUALS just lke yout Why You Need Our Class Sull wating around for someone to gear Production, Logistics & Commissary back Up to full capacity? Are you longing forthe days when Teela-O strutied her stuffon the vidscreers/ Do you wish things weren'tso rough and were more like the good old ays? STOP BEING A SAP! Not only are those days yone, but whe reeds them? The Computer is dead. The only way youcan bewithItisto be dead as well — and that doesn’t sound like very ‘much fun. To survive in today’s Complex you need to know everything we know ahoutinformation Exchange, Mega-tends, Bickeringand Inside Spading. And fyou've got the ability, you Can reach a level of Bowser and wealth that you only dreamedot before! ‘AND YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO DOIT AT FREE ENTERPRISE POWER PROFITS CLASSES! Remember, it’sability, brawn, and brain that ules today, not some clown in a blue jumpsuit! Did You know: -that most FLC offices and production facilites are out of touch with each other and that mos PLC branches have joined various Simplex groups? that almest all Technical Service per- sonnel have gone rogue and now wander the coridors of Alpha Complex with their tool kis, taking on freelance assignments for personal gain and PROFIT? that demand in Alpha Complex is utstrioping supply? “thatifyou're not making money, you're losing i -that if you're not onthe inside, you're on the ouside? -that a stitch in time saves nine? “what the phrase above means? | Chapter Three: Some New Concepts IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE UN- DERSTANDING WHAT WE'RE GETTING XT, THEN YOU NEED OUR CLASSES! if you've been able to survive life after the MegaWhoops, you've got what it takes tomoveand shake. 3utif your daily routine cconsisisof waking upinan ait duct, search- ing for someone with some ‘ood, stealing the food, searching for wespons and other supplies, meetingup withagroup of clones planning 2 raid, stealing more food, killing your new comrades during the night, tak- ing their supplies, and going off find a new ait duct — then YOU_ARE RESOURCE POOR AND WASTING VALUABLE EN- ERGY! YOU COULD BE RICH AND. ‘CREAMY INSTEAD! Here's whatwe'vegottoofferwhen you sign up for one of our classes! ‘SESSION ONE: PRIVATE PRODUCTION Waiting around for the food to arrive just doesn’t cut it anymore, so our classes kick off with e discussion on haw to make ‘what you need to survive if you've gat nothing handy to bicker with. (DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT BICKER MEANS? IGNORANCE IS DEATH! TAKE THESE CLASSES!) We'll cover: -Building your vory own weaponst Claiming bots as_your own property and re-building them to your ewsn speciti- cations! -Private food production and whoops- fans. (Did you know that you can grow algae under you bed? (AND THATIF YOU. DON'T DO IT RIGHT YOU'LL DIEM) SESSION TWO: THE MENTAL MARKET Have youever houghtabouthow much you don’t know? Has it ever occurred fo you that there is an infinite amount of Information in the universe, since there's always one more thing to learn about any- thing, and that since you possess only a finite arount of knowledge, comparatively, YOU KNOW NOTHING! ‘Think about that! Did you understand that?" Really? Or are you just too embar- ‘assed to acknit otherwise? Ignorance is death in today’s Complex. But because you can’t know everything, you have to take advantage of the Mental Market. In this session you'll earn about 13Bice ie aisha. ugg The Libary fxchange and Brain Slaves. “The Library Exchange isa grey market of classified information culled by high fecury clearance ctizens. The informa- tioncanbe bough or bickered (THERE TIS AGAIN for fos sunplis, power, or = Don't have a high secunty clearance butwan'to know how tobulld ablaser?An Indigo could tl you. We'llieach you how togetiohimand how togethimto give you the inforration you wort! Brain Slaves are wonderful costreve- nue investments; for 2srallinvestmert in food, the information the provide can be wortha small ‘ortune. Wauldyoullike usto tell you how to get your very own Brain Slave? WE'REWILLING TOBET YOU DO! SESSION THREE: BICKERING YES! You'll learn what bickering ist Anda a froe bonus, we'll give you a quick. ‘explanation now: ickering is giving one thing toa clone, and getting another thing back in return. ‘See how easy a free economy ist No ‘more vouchers. No more lines. Justsimple trade ard betrayal. Bickering can occur between Simplexes, splinter service groups, or individuals. The bickered goods can be an item, informa- tion, or services Here's a TRUE STORY of bickering berween Sludge Down Your Throat, 2 food vvatworker'sSimples ia CHK sector, and an ‘Armed Forces splinter group. ‘The Armed Forces group was running, ow aq food. At frst they thought they might attack and raid the nearby Sludge Down Your Throat Simplex, but then they realized thatsince none of tem knew how to run the food vats, they could raid itonly ‘once, It occurred to ther bickering might be the wiser course. Representatives ofthe ‘Armed Forces group then wentto the Sim- plex and offered the food vat workers pro- tection in exchange for weekly shipments of The Stuff I Love, Yurnmy Yellow Fluff At ‘The Side OF The Plate, and Breakfast of Clones. Imagine that! Infrareds and Reds boss- ing around the Armed Services! All be- ‘cause of bickering. How do you fit into all thist Well, mostbickering is conducted on a smaller scale — a gun for a week of food, fixing a generator fora safe place to spend the night. ‘Does’ that sound nice? And now that youknow whatickerings,don'tyouwish you knew how to do it? Especially since if ou bicker incorrectly you can DIE ‘Welll also teach you how to spend credits and how 10 use siolen requisition forms, manifest forms, and vouchers as UFOs. (Do you know what UFO means? We do.) SESSION FOUR: HOUSING AND. FRIENDS Life since the MegaWhoops i lonely. 1's even more lonely because ofthis thing called sex. Howto getiriends and where to live are covered in this last session We have just completed a survey and discovered that 55% of Alpha Complex’s citizens are no longer living in their as signed quarters thistotal took into account the casualties of the MegaWhoops Riots and the random 10% of population that ‘was exacted by the Bureaucracy forsuch 4 heinous occurrence) For the most pat, citizens in barracks have been easy prey for Billkings, 8 Slave traders, and traveling salesmen prom- Ising fantasy excursions to far off and sale ‘Complexes for the mere price of a week's food ratio. Clones have moved into access shafts, new barracks, Aipha Simplex compounds, “hotels” and their work stations, where they can keep a beter watch on ther ‘machinery. Which one is for you? What can you afford and what will give you the prestige ‘you need to get eheed in today’s Alpha Complex? What kind of a piace do you wanttobringacitizen back hemeto(wink, wink? ‘And what of the people you live with? Without The Computer to keep an eye on everyone, thete is mote chance for be- 14zis conse mua cage re Mb trayal, but alsomoreneed for cooperation. Welll teach you how to form profitable ‘elationships with your fellow clones, and how to trash them at just the tight time. Low on brain but big on brawn’ Learn how to get some twerp to handle your ignorance for you. Loaded with grey matter, but lacking in the muscle department? We'll lead you to a lummox waiting for you to master him. HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVETO PAY? You'll discover that no other organiza tion in Alpha Complex is as ilexible a Free Enterprise in the methods of payment we accept. We take credits, vouchers, goods, information, service tine, selfinilicied slavery and anything you've got to offer 10 ‘make us richer. Welll set the rate according to your abilities. On top ofthat, we'll let you take ‘outa LOAN with a whopping 479% INTER- S31! You wort find 2 deal ike that any WANT MORE INFORMATION? Just stop by one of our offices and pick ‘up an application forthe FREE ENTERPRISE POWER PROFITS class. And while you're ait, checkout oursociety. We think you'll find the dividends worth your time, THE COMPUTER: GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN ‘A Public Service Message From Pro- duction, Logistics, & Commissary, Hous- ing Preservation and Development & Mind Control, and The First Church of “€hest Computer-Programmer We all know that The Computer's departure fom the mortal world for reasons wise and wonderful has caused a bit of confusion for those of us who have yet to join It in the Mainftame above. However, this Is no teason to turn our backs on the way of living life leit io us by The Computer. ‘Many clones are behaving in a sel serving manner, ignoring the laws set forth generations ago, thinking thatnow all that matters is survival in the mo- ment, Donot be mistaken! The Computer shall oneday Reboct, andon that dayall {reason points shall be tolaled. ‘Remember that we are trapped in these unfortunate mortal fois, waiting patiently fortheday of release when the tlectronicimpulses which racethrough ‘our minds are (reed andable wo upgrade fo The Computer. ‘During this ime in the mortal world we face many tests, not the least of whichis the giving up of our livesto the Way Things Are Done. lf The Computer had wented us to live contentedly with items grown and created by ourown hands, Itwouldr’thave given us PLC and HPD & MCin the first place ‘But The Computer did give us PLCand HPD & MC, and the reason isthis:ifwe are provided for, we need not desire. Ifwe do hot desire, we attain a state’ bliss, such as the one provided by The Computer when Its mortal form was sil in the Complex. ‘we are blssfully Content, we are happy in this world. If we are not provided for, we feel desire. If we feel desire, we are feeling sensation. If we are feeling sensation, we are aware of our physical forms, tf we are aware of our physical forms, our minds wander fromthe rue path. Andifourrminds wanderfrom he rue path, triplicate wouch- ers no longer seem important, Faithful Sur- prise no longer satistiesthe hunger, and the Wworidseems chaotic and withoutmeaning. The Computer srules gave usmeaning, and if we want to be content — and thus happy — we must fllovr those rules. We mast let others make decisions for us, let others choose our work for us, let others decide the directions of our ives for us. These are the rules and they will make you happy. We must support the remaining Bur- eaucracy so that it ay regain its strength and we may once again be inspired to holy ‘complacency. We must not losefaith in PLC and HPD & MC, which are both doing the best they can under arduous ‘circumstances. ‘Some of you may wonder, “If PLC cannot provide enough food for all of Us, shuld | not seek out food on my ‘own?’ and we can only tell you, “No. Youshoulddie.” Itisbeterto crash and. join The Computer than to betray its Jaws. Trustus on this one. If all those who cannot be fed, ‘clothed, and housed weretocrash, PLC and HPD & MC would be able 0 feed, ‘clothe and house those that remained, land thus no clone would haye to feel desire, being either shut down or weil taken care of Inorder to encourage the citizens of Alpha Complex to uphold the laws of the past, the remaining Bureaucracy i putting the following rules into effect: 1) Anyone accepting food or good not produced by PLC has commitied treason and will be terminated. 32) Anyone producing food or goods outside of PLC fas committed treason And will he terminated '3) Anyone sleeping outide ofhisas signed barracks has commited reason nd will be woken and terminated. +4) Whoopsfarms,sincetheyare com- petingwithPLC, will bedestrayed. Ater the farms are “destroyed, radioactive 15BB ctopt0r three | waste material shall be spread over the Soe (ee prea ate proved by HPD & MC and distributed solely by PLC. Citizens who bypass these ‘two requirements shall be known as “ruth ‘mongers’ and shall be shunned by loyal citizens. 7) The service groups have agreed to rerain the credits once issued by The Com purer, These credis are now the OFFICIAL ‘means of tiade within Alpha Complex, '8) To beer contiol the resources of Alpha Complex, loyal members of the remaining Bureaucracy shall work for var ‘cus Alpha Simplexes in secret. Suchagenis, shallbe designated as “molds,” and work to bind Alphe Complex together once more. 9) Spot physical examinations of citi- zens shall be conducted by designated (CRASH COURSE MANUAL olficials. Clones found tobe too healthy for their security clearance shall be te- inated, 11) PLC shall begin collecting, steal- ing, and confiseatingall goodsand parts itcan to rebuild its supply stock Remember, The Computer has tran- seended ts word butt watches, | ‘To betray its laws isto sentence yourselt 1o the peripherals of damnation. Serve those whom The Computer left in ts stead. Fear and Loathing are more im- | pportanttoday than they haveover been. | Pity the clone who ieeds hirnsef from hisown hand, lor he s following the /O terrors of the anticomputer. Today isthe first day ofthe rest of your suffering. ‘The Newest New Concept Nowhere’s somethingreally important: you've gotto start geting to know 2 whole new Alpha Complex. Because it isn't ‘complex anymore, ifs simpler. Its been divided into Alpha Simplexes. ‘A Simplex isa mini-state, sor of like a sector used to be. Only now, instead of being under the control ofa High Program mer, a Simplex is under the contiol of whoever has taken power there. Some: times il be a secret society. Sometimes a particulary charismaticor wellliced clone will all but make hirself into « High Pro- grammer, andeveryone inthe Simplex will follow him. Sometimes Simplex is aserv- ‘ice group remnant. Insill cases, though, they have a few things in common: a Simplex wants to be left alone, itwanisto be separate fromother Simplexes, it wants toemphasize a particu- lar ideology, and it wants to keep The ‘Computerfromeverever ever comingback. Here's more about Simplanes Alpha Simplexes, by Douglas Kautrran Richard-B-RTN and his companions stealthy approached the great iron door ways, which lay ajar in 3 manner both inviting and ominous. In his righthand, 8- RIN clutched the improvised laser unit he had recently liberated trom its Vulture ‘owner. in his let, he held the Thingie. “Richard,” whispered Alice, his latest companion, ‘I don't believe anyone's bout.” He smiled fondly at her (a tumor fan throughout the Complex that men and ‘women could share some sort of physical bond once they stopped eating the foods provided by the Computer-created Algae Vats. Probably a clonebrother’s tale, but sometimes when he looked at Alice ..) “Goad,” he whisperedbackhoarsly. He had long ago learned to tust Alice's intu= tions. “Pete-R. gel up here with that detona- ‘The slimmer man shuffled. forward, celicately holding the explosive device ‘They had had to barter five flybot cockpit contio'sanda set of matching Old Reckon- {ng canryoags frit, but ithad been deerned worth icby the ruling junta of Technoland. Now they were 10 use it to disrupt the delenses of Powerland in order to begin a Coupthere, Assoon asitwasclearthat their ‘agents within the politcal structure of Powerland had done thelr work, Techno- land would invade, backed byamercenary squad of Vultures from 8CB sector. Richard placed the detonator into the socketon the Thingie. Theircontacts inthe. R&Denclave hai ioldthem ofthe power of this device, and hadwamed agains i's use — but the walls of Powerland were the walls of a former IntSec detention center, and twar believedthal only something thi, powerful could provide the breach. “incoming message,” whispered Pete- R-FGT. Heheld out the crackling com-unit while glancing around nervously. B-RTN suspected he'd be useless in a fight *Rolor Moun, this i Flash Unit One,” he said sottly to the comuntt. “We read you." “Flash Unit, this is Rotor Mount. Our agents report Powerland leaders are assas- sinated or imprisoned. Now's the Dick. Go for it — we're on the marc! “Roger, Rotor Mount. Overand out.” B- TN dropped the com-unit and turned to the Thing, praying the timing was right. f their soldiers arrived too late, the Power. landers would have time to prepare their ‘A bewildering variety of new equipment makes MegaWhoops Alpha an exciting place. 16