sands of Coalition lives, not to mention accelerate the timetables
of other military plans by several months, or even years.
After several hours of debate, Colonel Lyboc was recalled to
the Emperor' s presence. The Colonel was informed that the pro
ject would commence, covertly, and on a smaller scale than
originally proposed, at least until the claims made by UTI were
verified.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
Player characters in the Chi
Town or Newtown areas may have a chance to find out some
thing ' s going on. Information leaks are always possible -
maybe it happens in a bar, when a drunken Coalition officer
hints that a solution to "the Tolkeen problem" is close at hand,
or a Juicer brags about his new lease on life via the Prometheus
Treatment. Do the characters investigate? Over the course of
other adventures, do more clues drop in their laps that will ulti
mately draw them into the conflict?
The Prometheus Treatment
Trial runs are conducted for several months. A number of
Juicers in their terminal stages are kidnapped and exposed to the
Prometheus Treatment, under the supervision of Coalition scien
tists. The results are carefully studied. UTI researchers are sent
to Chi-Town to assist in the research.
The Treatment consists of the implantation of a micro-com
puter, the so-called "Phoenix Chip," which assists the bio-comp
in its task of regulating the Juicer' s metabolism. The chip seizes
control of the nano-machines used in all Juicer augmentation
processes to help the Juicer's recuperative powers. The tests
show that the Phoenix Chip does indeed manage to delay the on
set of lethal body stress for as long as two and a half years, even
if installed during what would normally be the last months of a
Juicer' s life. Additionally, the chip also reduces or completely
eliminates many of the side effects most Juicers suffer even be
fore their last days. The tests also conclusively confirm that the
Phoenix Chip will not save a Juicer's life - it merely postpones
the inevitable.
The second feature of the Phoenix Chip is a "kill signal" that
is transmitted by radio. When a special code is fed into the chip,
it uses the Juicer's own bio-comp and nano-machines to kill
him ! Drug overdoses or a sudden change in the victim' s bio
rhythm does the job: death can be induced in a mere 5- 1 5 min
utes after the signal is received !
By the end of 1 04 P.A., the tests were completed. While most
gave it their stamp of approval, some Coalition researchers had a
few misgivings. According to some scientists, the Phoenix Chip
appeared to somehow mutate the nano-machines in a Juicer' s
bloodstream. The tests did not show exactly what the changes
were or how the mutations might affect the Juicer, only that they
were there. This mutation was not deemed important, however,
and the project was approved: an army of Juicers could be de
ceived, used, and when necessary, discarded with the push of a
button.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
Juicers start disappearing around
the Chi-Town area; a player Juicer (or a Juicer friend/ally of the
party) might be kidnapped and slated for a deadly experiment
with the Phoenix Chip. Do the characters find him in time to
save him from a certain death? The research facility is on the
outskirts of Chi-Town, and lightly guarded, although a detach-
134
ment of Coalition Juicers is on watch there and could bring the
player characters into a head-to-head confrontation with these
deadly fighters.
Lies Within Lies
The first official proclamation about the Prometheus Treat
ment is made on December 1 3 , 1 04 P.A. Joseph Prosek the Sec
ond, while addressing a crowd in Chi-Town, proclaims that a
cure for the Juicers ' terminal "condition" appears to be at hand
(he is careful to make no promises or guarantees). His words are
recorded and distributed throughout the Midwest and even parts
of the west, east and Canada. Word-of-mouth carries the tale be
yond the Coalition' s borders. By the early part of 1 05 P.A., ru
mors about the apparent cure is known just about everywhere in
North America. Many people dismiss them as lies and misinfor
mation, but more than one Juicer listens and, in many cases, for
the first time, dares to hope.
In March of 1 05 P.A., official messages are radioed through
out the Coalition borderlands and through Coalition communica
tion aircraft directed at several independent towns, cities and
kingdoms along its borders. An army of Juicers was being as
sembled at the city of Newtown (the job of this army or its target
are not revealed; Tolkeen and the Federation of Magic are the
two most common speculations). Enhanced humans who agree
to serve in the CS army for a term of two years will be given
their room and board, a 1 500 credit monthly salary, and, most
importantly, the Prometheus Treatment, which "should" pro
long their life spans by tenfold ! Hundreds of thousands of people
hear the proclamation and the CS offer. Rumors soon begin to
run amok. The Coalition' s promises are distorted. In some
places, the story goes that the treatment will add a hundred years
to a Juicer' s life and some even claim it will make a Juicer im
mortal ! There are actually some cases where people become
Juicers so they can enjoy the immortality they ' ll get after receiv
ing the Treatment! Other stories claim the whole thing is a Coa
lition plot. Some even suggest the CS plans to assemble Juicers
in one place so they can be exterminated, but this rumor is dis
pelled when the CS announces that it will be adding Juicers to its
own Armed Forces within the next three years (actually, thou
sands of CS Juicers are being secretly created already).
When the Coalition offers proof of their claims, mania erupts.
They produce dozens of Juicers who were on their "Last Call"
and who, through the miracle of the Prometheus Treatment, are
restored to health - strong, vital and already survivors months
longer than they would have been normally. UTI parades a
handful of Juicers who have allegedly undergone the treatment
years ago and are still around to testify to its success more than
two years after they should have died. Their televised and radi
oed interviews are broadcast in many areas, recorded and passed
around in others. Some people continue to think it' s all a trick or
lies. Others refuse to fight for the Coalition States even if they
really could offer immortality. However, thousands are utterly
convinced and arrive in Newtown in droves. The attitude of
many, perhaps most Juicers, was summed up by Lloyd "The
Knife" Ballard, "If they ' s tellin' us the truth, we win. If they ' s
lyin' to u s - they lose."
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
Recruiting Drive: If any of the
player characters is a Juicer, this would be the best time to start
an Uprising adventure/campaign. Wild rumors are flying around,
Dostları ilə paylaş: |