Local Game (Royal M&M)

[Business Scrub]

The waiting room is crowded, yet like many of its kind it is silent. The only sound is the soft turn of a page, or the nervous tapping of a foot. The room is mostly plain: blue and white modern walls, and a single receptionist at a featureless smooth desk. She looks bored, yet some of the anticipation from the patients has seeped into her, and she taps her pen restlessly against the computer.
Every half hour or so a blonde woman walks through a door and calls out four people, who stand and follow her deeper into the building. You look down at the pamphlet in your hands, anxiously awaiting your turn.

The patients among you wait anxiously. If the pattern holds, it should only be a few moments for the next group to be called...

[Business Scrub]

Five minutes pass, the silence pregnant with anticipation. Suddenly the door in the back opens: a quiet noise, but in the silent room it's enough to grab everyone's attention. The woman steps out again, dressed in a blue and white company attire, clipboard in hand and tapping a pen against her side. Unlike everyone else, she seems very nonchalant: indeed, she's been shepherding patients into Royal Inc. all day. She smiles a bit at everyone's expression, and reads names off of the clipboard:
"Samson Hues. Dwain Avron. Dave Millibran. Cyrus Nix. If you four could follow me please?" She holds the door open for the five, and leads you down a long T shaped hallway. Doors line the sides of the hallways, all innocently labeled: 108 Maintenance, 120 Filing. The hall splits at the end into a left and right, but in the center sits a steel elevator.

[El Zombi]

Samson gets up nervously, still being dressed in tattered priest garments, and follows the lady. "So how, exactly, does this process work?" Samson asks the Lady leading him

[pyrefiend]

Dwain starts somewhat at hearing his name called in the otherwise silent room. Wringing his hands, he shuffles behind the other volunteers, feeling increasingly apprehensive. Maybe this was an incredibly terrible idea, maybe I should start looking for a way to sneak out of here, wait nevermind looks like that's not going to be possible wow this was an incredibly incredibly terrible idea--

[KSkirata]

Dave stands and takes a mental note of the time. As he follows along with the group, he takes mental notes of his emotions and how they change, all to be analyzed later. He takes care to hide any outward show of anticipation or emotion. If my mental faculties are at all diminished by this procedure, they will suffer for their mistake.

[swrs3d]

Cyrus had been watching the other people in the waiting room, gauging how anxious they seemed to be in hopes of forgetting how nervous he is, so it takes a second for him to realize his name was called. He gets up and quietly follows the woman, while curiously looking over the people he has been grouped with. "Hm, these guys seem like an eclectic bunch...this could be interesting." While he wouldn't admit it, he hasn't been this nervous in a long time.

[Business Scrub]

Closer to the woman now, you can see her name tag: Gwynneviere Royal. She turns a bit, responding to Samson. "I'm actually going to let Thomas answer that, he does a better job then I do." The doors to the elevator slide open seemingly without any cue. Not breaking stride, Gwyn walks into it, waiting for everyone to do the same. Assuming you do, the doors slide shut behind the last person, again seemingly without any cue. The elevator has an abundance of buttons, 6 to B3. The B3 lights up, and the elevator begins to move downward, picking up speed.

[El Zombi]

After taking a look around the elevator, Samson reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes, slips one into his mouth, looks up and asks "Anyone mind?" His hand is visibly shaking as he holds the lighter up to the cigarette.

[KSkirata]

Dave looks over at him. "No, no objection here." "I wonder if the chemicals from the cigarette will effect the outcome of the augmentation"
He looks over at Gwyn, "Does the augmentation have any effect on our brain or intelligence level?"

[Business Scrub]

"I'm sorry Samson, there's a rather strict no smoking policy indoors."
The elevator slides to a halt, and the doors open. Outside, the hall looks much different than up above. Around you, there are four different halls, many which split into yet more.
"Well the procedure is a plenary change, so in one sense it does effect the brain. Some people mention a higher clarity of thought afterwards. Though no one has actually mentioned any negative mental side effects, if that's what your worried about."
She starts walking down the hallway on the left, looking back to make sure you are following. On the left and right of the hallway up ahead are large windows that let you see into labs of some sort, though from this angle you can't see whats in them. A few security cameras are scattered around the ceiling: clearly this level is under more security then up above.

[El Zombi]

Samson frowns, placing the unlit cigarette and lighter back in his pocket. He grabs his right hand to stop the shaking. Geeze get a hold of yourself, Samson. You didn't sacrifice everything to give up at the last moment. Samson then tries to get a better view into the lab windows

[pyrefiend]

Dwain listens intently to Dave and the woman speak. Does the procedure affect the brain? Her answer was innocent enough but then again I guess it'd have to be regardless of what the actual answer is... What did it say in those pamphlets I read about this? It all looked so safe and friendly... I can't believe I didn't research this more. How can it be that I'm walking through a high-security building en route to receive experimental surgery and I really have no idea what that entails.

[KSkirata]

A hint of anxiety finally creeps into Dave's voice as he says "They WILL be explaining the process in detail BEFORE the procedure, right?" Dave also looks around, peering into various rooms, trying to get a picture of how the process works.

[swrs3d]

Cyrus feels oddly comforted knowing that no one has reported negative mental effects...yet."So there haven't been any mental downsides yet, but it begs the question, what about the physical effect? Are you able to predict what the outcome will be?" ...How did I get this far without thinking to ask that...I always make sure I know what I'm getting into. Damn, I shouldn't think about it, too late now.

[Business Scrub]

The laboratory on the left side is empty save for a few nondescript machines, however the right is bustling with activity. Four men and women in white coats stand around a glass tank watching and noting excitedly as one of the largest eggs you've seen slowly begins to crack.
"Of course Dave. As I said, Thomas will explain in detail as soon as we meet with him. He should be around here somewhere..."
As if on cue, you all see a large metal object float around the corner. Quite literally floating: the roughly three foot triangular prism seems to hang effortlessly in the air. "Ah, here he is! Cyrus, Dave, Samson, and Dwain, meet Thomas. He's Royal's main computer, and handles of all the high level computing and data structures in the labs here, as well as day to day surveillance."
Despite being faceless, the machine, Thomas, seems to incline it's body towards the group. "Afternoon Flock 14."
The voice comes from Thomas: not exactly human, but pretty darn close. One at a time, he approaches you. On a screen on one of his faces you can see a picture of yourself as well as updating numbers: age, exact height and weight, body temperature, blood pressure, etc. It's clear that Thomas is sizing you, inside and out.
"Thomas, our guests would like a bit of clarification on the procedure. Would you mind alieving some questions?"
"Of course. As you may know, the genetic code for humans, indeed any animal, is grouped into introns and exons. In nature, when coding proteins a cell will remove the introns. Yet these still contain genetic information specific to the individual. Over the next twelve hours, you will be administered a form of virus tailored to rebuild your cells, using the intron DNA in ten synthetic chromosomes. The actual difference is based on what exactly your introns code for, much of which remains a mystery at this point. Experiments so far show that the most likely outcome is an abstract form of entanglement with event patterns in the individual's memory, although this trend does not hold true for many. In reference to your question Cyrus, in theory and with enough experimentation the effects could be predetermined, though is unpredictable at this point. Most subjects experience a strong physical change, though again, the actual results vary based on individual genes."

[KSkirata]

Dave remarks in an increasingly apprehensive voice "Based on that summary, I assume that there isn't any risk to our memories, correct? My mind is my most powerful tool, and I don't want it to be impaired."

[pyrefiend]

A bit of nervous laughter escapes Dwain. "Strong unpredictable physical changes, huh? Sounds good. Sounds safe."

I'm going to die.

[El Zombi]

Samson just stares in disbelief and confusion at the floating A.I. in front of him. what...? I don't even... what...?.

[swrs3d]

Well that's the most uncomfortable a computer has ever made me feel, wonderful. "So I'll take that as a no then. If I may ask a more specific question, has anyone come out crippled"? The stress is noticeable in his voice now.

[Business Scrub]

Leading you down a flight of stairs, Gwyn answers Cyrus. "Thomas doesn't always do the best job clearing things up for people, but no. No one has been traumatized like that from the procedure."

After another moment, Gwyn stops at a door on the right hallway. The light on the door blinks, signaling its unlock, and she opens it. The room inside is slightly small and plain, with four bundles of clothes on a shelf, and four changing booths. "The procedure may affect a person more then he or she could normally handle. To keep you safe, and to speed up the process, we designed the suits before you. When you've changed, please go through the doors at the other end of the room, and we can begin."
Gwyn and Thomas leave through those doors, leaving the four of you alone for the first time. Each bundle of blue and purple clothes has on of your names on it, and though they appear to be form-fitting, are tailored to each person.

[El Zombi]

Samson looks at the suit he is given, and quickly puts it on. Looking at his old priestly garments, and picks them up to toss them into the waste receptacle. He has a change of heart though, a sudden bit of nostalgia, and takes the metal crucifix and puts it around his neck, completely obscured by the suit (or as much as possible). Well, this is it. The start of a new life, a new beginning. Samson then walks up to the door, tentatively putting his hand on the handle and turns the handle, pushing the door slowly open.

[swrs3d]

After glancing around to the others, Cyrus changes into the suit. After a brief pause he takes only a small rounded piece of black glass from his pocket and follows Samson.

[KSkirata]

Dave changes into the suit. Well, this should be interesting. He removes a small pocket notebook from the pocket of his old clothes and stores it in the suit, and exits through the door.

[pyrefiend]

Dwain tries to think of something he might say to the others but nothing occurs to him. Shakily, he puts on the suit and follows the others.

[Business Scrub]

The room beyond is darker than you imagined and larger, lit a bit dimly by strips of lights in the floor. Four hollow half-cylinders, about three feet wide and seven feet tall are positioned equally around the room, their open sides facing a tall machine in the center. Hundreds of feet of cable lay across the floor and ceiling connected to the center machine, making the whole room look like some sort of mechanical spider's web. Thomas sits at the top of the machine, seemingly locked into it, and on the left, is a smaller room with glass windows where Doctor Royal and two of her colleagues sit at computers. Gwyn speaks into an intercom as the five of you enter the room. "Excellent! Cyrus, you are at number 1. Dwain 2, Dave 3 and Samson 4. Once you all are set we can get started."

[El Zombi]

Samson walks up to cylinder 4, and steps up into the machine. oh **** oh **** oh **** oh ****..... At this point Samson is visibly shaking and terrified. He makes a crucifix over his chest, and closes his eyes.

[swrs3d]

A shudder runs briefly down Cyrus' spine, before he moves off to his cylinder. As he stands in the pod, he tries to make a mental note of every detail in the room to distract himself...and in case he needs to leave fast.

[KSkirata]

Well, this should get interesting, but no point turning back now. Dave steps into the machine and watches the doctors at the computers.

[pyrefiend]

Dwain feels a strange sense of calm, as it's clear that backing out is impossible at this point. As he walks toward his assigned station, he looks down at his attire. Blue and purple, huh? I wish it were possible say that at least I still have my dignity...

[Business Scrub]

The insides have a human shaped indent inside: a fairly comfortable position to rest in. Once the four of you have settled in, three bars slide across the front of the tube, restraining you in place. "Right then. Everyone set? Three, two, -" Gwyn's voice cuts out, and from your position you hear the deep Thrum Thrum of a machine spinning up. The thrumming accelerates, and the lights brighten, then all of the sudden cut out completely, pitching the room into near darkness. Suddenly a sharp stab, long and painful, in the sides of your back. The stabbing quickly recedes, while the thrumming gets louder, filling your ears. Suddenly the machine in the center lights up, a column of blinding white-green illuminating the room. On the machine you can see an arm on the machine pointed towards your pod, the light on the end burning with the same light. In the blink of an eye the light shoots out and strikes you in the chest, waves of heat coming off of where it touches. Suddenly, pain. Unbelievable, excruciating pain like you never felt as the beam moves down to your feet. You can feel your feet change shape, size, consistency. The bones moving against each other, together, reshaping and returning. You subconsciously push against the restraints, curling your feet with the pain. Then, maddeningly slowly, the beam begins to move up your body. As it reaches your legs, you body begins to shiver and shake, twisting as much as you can in the small space. As it reaches your chest you can feel your insides twist, mutate and take a new shape. The pain becomes unbearable; your body convulses in the pod, the rigid metal stubbornly unyielding. The beam rises to your head and any sort of conscious thought leaves. There's a blinding mass of colors, emotions, sounds. Your head is yelling, and you hear a high, bloodcurdling scream from someone in the room. Maybe it was you. You lose all sense of where you are, who you are, all thought turns into a incomprehensible blur. Suddenly, blissfully, you pass out.