I enjoyed the reading Rival Reports. Though I will admit I am glad there are only two interludes. They're going to be interesting if nothing else.
Government
[ ] Assault Negaduck
DC 185
35% CoS, 97+ 11-
88+32+26+50+8=204
Success
To be continued in Interlude: Four.
🫡🇺🇸 They were from the government, and were there to help.
I wonder if that is the team that Xanatos mentioned assembling in
Interlude: Sandbagging.
ENCOM
[ ] Offer to Buy Waddle
DC 0
Your weekly routine of finding Mark Beaks' latest photo on social media so you can print it out and throw darts at it was interrupted with a news article you weren't expecting. ENCOM has announced its successful acquisition of his social media corporation Waddle, effective immediately. Beaks announced it in his own way, in the form of a short video showing ENCOM CEO Ed Dillinger handing him one of those gigantic novelty cheques with enough zeros to make your head spin.
Beaks is dabbing. The Vice President of Acquisitions at ENCOM, clearly under duress, is dabbing too.
Reception of the acquisition seems mixed to positive, while some lament ENCOM acquiring yet another piece of the pie and the loss of what made Waddle unique, stockholders are thrilled and Waddle haters say it can't get replaced fast enough. Approached for comment, Beaks said "HAHAHA, Suckers!" before riding off on a segway at unsafe speeds.
[ ] Improve LEGACY security
DC 200
67% CoS, 94+ 13-
77+56+52+20+6= 211
Success
ENCOM has pushed out another security upgrade for its new LEGACY system like clockwork, and Alan had to grimly admit that for once, ENCOM doesn't seem to be exaggerating much when they claim it to be the strongest security system on the planet. It's bereft of any frills, advertisements, false positives, or other shortcomings that many previous ENCOM products were known for- just a robust, effective, and free security system that actually seems to work as intended.
ENCOM has proudly announced that their white hat bounty has gone unclaimed, and has since upped the reward a bit. Alan notes that while he was unable to crack it in his free time, he's not sure what a dedicated team would be able to do.
White Hat Hack ENCOM has been added to your actions. Attempt to hack ENCOM, with their knowledge and consent, and if successful, you will be awarded 4 funds. Failure will award a consolation prize of 1 fund, and due to the unique circumstances of this offer, critical failure has no penalty.
[ ] Implement User Feedback
DC ???
63+27+23-19+4=98
??? Success
ENCOM made international headlines last week after an update was successfully distributed. While LEGACY, their latest model, is enjoying a reputation far superior to its predecessors, it appears as if the latest update actually… implemented changes users had been asking for since its inception. From file sorting to desktop organization and many more besides, these new features are opt-in and offer an amount of customization most users aren't used to. The reception to this update is a mix of gratitude and confusion.
When you asked Alan about it, you couldn't help but notice he looked a little pale. According to him, ENCOM must be really worried about something because the last time something like this happened was way back in 1992.
ENCOM buying Waddle was funny, a perfect start-up business. It says a lot that Doof noticed the VP's uncomfortableness dabbing. I'm curious what MCP thinks about it. Probably not much, but I like to imagine that was the one to force the VP to do it.
But ENCOM's other actions were interesting. I'm interested in doing some white hat hacking of ENCOM. Some funds wouldn't go amiss right now. Though that would have the unfortunate side effect of improving ENCOM's systems. Alan's comments were concerning. The
19 malus that ENCOM had was weird. That's a rather specific number. The QMs mostly use multiples of five for that. It's not a loyalty penalty. It might represent a mechanic where MCP has to be convinced to make good products? But we haven't seen anything like that before. We haven't seen much elsewhere to indicate Turbo has done much recently.
Bellwether
[ ] Stabilize Zootopia
DC 120
77% CoS, 93+ 2-
43+34+30+16-3=120
Exact Success
After suffering months of brain drain and urban decay, it seems as if some of the problems in Zootopia have finally come under control. Through a combination of a revitalized police department, increased urban spending, and the refurbishment of the city's climate control systems, the city can boast that unemployment and crime are on the decline for the first time in years. It's a slow start, but hope has to begin somewhere.
Maybe now Bellwether can finally look into tackling the feral problem, the papers declare!
lol, says Bellwether, lmao
This is probably good for the build up to the Negaduck crisis. Though I imagine that a lot of this involved sweeping up pro-predator protest groups. Reducing crime also means that Mr. Big's operations got hit too.
Sycorax
[ ] Perform Exclusion Zone Bioremediation
DC 125
70% CoS, 94+ 3-
57+36+37+20-9=141
Decent Success
Sycorax announced its entry into the Exclusion Zone Reclamation effort in the form of genetically modified algae. Specially engineered to assist in the capture of heavy metals, this effort may be less visually impressive than Drakktech's ongoing work with weather machines, but may prove just as significant. Already, some statistically significant- if not visually noticeable- changes in tributaries of the Mississippi river have been reported.
Reclaim the Midwest Exclusion Zone DC reduced by 25. Sycorax's contributions have increased.
Sycorax Infiltration Activates!
[ ] Sponsor in Governor Kevin's Superhero Gala (Francisca Marshall)
DC 60
100% CoS, 91+ 0-
24+32[1]+20+5+10+2=93
Success
To be Continued in Interlude: Change Key
I still regret having Mezmeralla actively infiltrate Sycorax. It's just really awkward. But Sycorax's progress on the Wasteland is good. Every little bit counts.
Cloverleaf
[ ] Do a security sweep
DC ???
36+28+32+8=104
Success
Several arrests have been made on accounts of industrial espionage within Cloverleaf, with most of the details not disclosed to the press. While you have no way of knowing for certain, it's likely that Doom was thorough enough to get rid of quite a few spies. Your own network is already too nonexistent to be affected, but it's good? To know other people were spying on the creep too.
[ ] Upgrade Cog AI
DC 165
92+61+22+26+20 (???)+5=226
Massive Success
Cloverleaf's work into AI continues its march forward, with some improvements among Cog overseers noted among civil servants who encounter them every day. Doom himself has made no announcements regarding the AI and overall Cog populations remain mostly consistent. Your lawyers have been keeping their eyes peeled for the first sign of patent violation but have found nothing thus far.
[ ] Commit Questionable Science
DC 150
87+1+22+27+20 (???)+5=162
Success
An unusual brownout was reported in LA last month, lasting for approximately five minutes before the local fusion plant was able to increase output to pick up the slack. No further electrical disturbances were noticed after the first one.
It's funny that we prompted Doom into doing a sweep by failing. I'm curious who was spying on him. The Yokai might have wanted to keep an eye on how the stuff the Zaibatsu was selling to him was performing. Otherwise I can't think of many companies that would be interested. That will probably change when we get the market research. It could be the speaker in the Frog-Shaped Interlude too, if that wasn't the Yokai.
Good for our lawyers, though it probably is for naught. The origins are likely extraterrestrial, not espionage. Developing the anti-cog weapon is becoming more tempting, though it probably isn't needed. Doom is getting closer to figuring out intelligent AI. I can't tell if he is trying for that or not. He might lobby against AI rights. We definitely need to infiltrate Cloverleaf though.
Questionable science is interesting. It looks like he has a wider Joking Around crit reroll range. Bit of a nitpick, but I'm not sure if fusion plants
can increase power like that. I know fission plants can't really without a lot of work. Lot of people seem to think that it is related to dimensional travel. We've been planning to fire up the ODI next turn, so might as well do that.
Toffee
[ ] Hunt down whoever stole your scissors
DC 150
44% CoS, 97+ 6-
44+50+30+3=127
Failure
Your agents in Seth Supplies Co have reported an investigation into stolen property that was quickly shuffled off into the bureaucracy after a mere three days of investigation. By connecting the dots, it's not too hard to tell what they were looking for, who they encountered, and why things ended so abruptly.
[ ] Set up some fall guys
DC 140
54% CoS, 96+ 5-
5+50+30+3=88
Critical Failure!
Seth Supplies Co made headlines again this week as dozens of managers were arrested, charged with multiple counts of embezzlement and in a few cases, libel. The corn magnate's disastrous quarter was blamed on most of these managers skimming off the top, and charges had also finally been brought against them for their accusations against Sycorax last January.
Though the headlines present this as run of the mill corruption, your agents tell another story entirely. Far from being mere patsies, it seems as though the fall guys were high-ranking members in the company, or deeply involved in its attempts to hide Toffee's true motives. Suffice to say, their loss has hit the company hard, and you can only speculate as to why Toffee saw fit to burn them.
Russ reports that Paranormal is slowly shifting on the company. While it had been a matter of concern for some time- they suspected something was amiss even before Russ shared all the details you discovered on Toffee- Director Riddle, a man notably focused on extradimensional incursion, is apparently preparing to bring the company under far greater scrutiny.
Outcome: Seth Supplies Co falls under far greater scrutiny from the government. For the next two turns, any Intrigue rolls Seth Supplies Co. makes suffer a -15 malus. Rolls to investigate Star suffer a -25, as a majority of their resources go into actually keeping their company afloat.
[ ] Apply for government aid
DC 130
43% CoS, 97+ 11-
81+40+35-3=153
Success
Embroiled in internal corruption, some questionable decisions, and an inexplicable corn blight, Seth Supplies Co has finally buckled under corporate pressure to accept a bailout from the US government. The corporation's hemorrhaging of funds has slowed to a mere trickle and solvency is expected in the future, but this is a serious black mark on their record and a reason for the IRS to start watching them a lot more closely.
Outcome: Seth Supplies Co is solvent once again. IRS attention on Seth Supplies Co increases.
L L L
Nearly everything about Toffee's actions are great! I'm not sure whether to be glad or not that Toffee failed in hunting down the scissors. It damn well took him a while to try if this is the first attempt. They were stolen
last (in-game) year.
Everything else is just magnificent.👨🍳Good for the IRS to look into him. The maluses from the disorder are good. Time to use that advantage. We were already planning to start hunting for Star. Maybe we can infiltrate Seth Supplies Co. further and try to sabotage him?
Drakktech
[ ] Reclaim the Midwest Exclusion Zone
DC 650
100+95+16+38+25+5+20 (Government Funding)=299
Incredible Progress
Despite some initial slowness, Drakktech has seen its investment in weather machines pay dividends when it comes to work on the Exclusion Zone. The devices had never been that impressive by themselves (heck, you have a couple weather-inators just gathering dust), using them in conjunction with each other and the chaotic storm fronts around the region have proven more successful than anyone anticipated. Dr. Drakken was positively gleeful as he espoused the virtues of his plan to the press, and even Shego looked more bemused than annoyed at his speech. While it's still likely to be a long time before you can expect a true return of normalcy to the region, some visible progress has been made for the first time ever.
Reclaim the Midwest Exclusion Zone DC reduced by 100. Drakktech's contribution increases.
Like this, you wouldn't even know that they have an ICBM in their base that they are very studiously ignoring! Drossel just seems to work wonders. And that is a damn impressive roll lmao. As it says, it's incredible progress.
But I still don't really understand how global actions work. Obviously nat100s reroll, and it seems like that other rolls don't. Would they for toons? Can global actions critfail?
Glomgold Enterprises
[ ] Offer to buy Hard AI
DC 0
An actual letter from Glomgold Industries was waiting on your desk this morning, and it wasn't just one clipped from the newspaper either. In it, Flintheart Glomgold announced his desire to purchase the rights to build hard AI from you and offered a price tag to match- even with as much money as you make in a day you have to wonder what you could do with this much. Maybe twelve of the things your bean counters won't just let you do, you don't know.
Outcome: Gain 12 funds. Glomgold Enterprises can legally produce and utilize AI.
I keep on forgetting that people can just... buy technology like that.
In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to lobby for AI rights last turn. I'm curious though that it took him this long. Admittedly, there aren't any corporate connections between the two of us, even now. The groundwork only really got laid during
The Best is Yet to Come. Maybe us completing the dinosaur park made him think it's worth it?
He, along with Shego, were noted for having spies in DEI and receiving information leaks back in September/October 2017. I think it'll be a good idea to do a security sweep.
But I don't want to accept the offer. Glomgold already treats people horrifically; the Calisota Conglomerate outright uses company scrip. Giving him the ability to make slaves on demand will make their conditions worse and there's actual slaves! I don't think that fits with Doof's recent revelations to accept.
Lobbying for AI rights the turn after we deny this is going to send a message though. It will probably annoy Glomgold. It will look like a snub. He might rescind the dinosaur collaboration offer. We could wait a turn to lobby for AI rights instead. I'm inclined to go forward on AI rights though. It'll at least look consistent to Glomgold. It'll probably be fairly obvious to him that DEI didn't have any plans to use hard AI that way. We could establish relations to him? Action wise, it could be a waste though. Market research at least should let us know if Glomgold has anything we'd be interested in.
I'm not sure if Glomgold would lobby against it. There isn't really anyone else he can get sapient AI from. Doom might figure it out eventually. He might spend the money to fight against AI rights.
Xanatos Enterprises
[ ] Construct space elevator
DC 160
76% CoS, 93+ 7-
12+38+35+20 (Trait)+20 (Government funding)+14+8=147
Failure
Xanatos Enterprises announced delays in the construction of their long-awaited space elevator, even after the successful testing of impervium alloys. They cited safety concerns and difficulty in sourcing the materials as reasons for the delay, assuring investors that work will continue as soon as it's possible to do so safely.
On one hand, that's a shame. Space elevators are cool. On the other hand it might be for the best that Negaduck can't mess it up. Depending on where it is planned for.
I wonder what he's doing to prepare for Negaduck. I really wish we had informants in New York City.
Don Karnage
[ ] Find something to steal in Thembria
DC 120
26% CoS, 98+ 12-
49+25+20 (Plunder)=94
Failure
A small article in the 'International' section of the newspaper noted how Dread Sky Pirate Don Karnage managed to infiltrate Thembrian airspace for several hours, avoiding attempts to shoot him down until he retreated of his own volition just as quickly. Karnage proclaimed, over loudspeaker, that "Zey have tohld me zat stealing treasure from Thembria could not be done! Unfortunately zhey were correct. There is sweet evoll."
One has to wonder what there
is to steal in Thembria!
At least he's a problem over there.
???
[ ] Kontest Kontrol of the Doofanian Underworld
60% CoS, 95+ 4-
69+28+24=121
??? Opposed
40% CoS, 97+ 6-
4+22+20=46
(Second) ??? Critical Failure!
The Underworld of your city is mostly not your purview. Occasionally it produces a supervillain you fight, or a social problem you throw bureaucrats at, but mostly you just sort of slap it down when it becomes a problem.
That's why the general murmurings of misgivings in Norm-augmented police forces recently are only that- murmurings. Something is stirring down there, though how problematic it's going to be for you is as yet unclear.
Those are the same dice modifiers as the people fighting for control
back in May/June 2017. This is an upset from back then, previously the +22+20 guy had won by a decent margin. Maybe the guy who just suffered a critical failure is Artemis?
I don't know. We need to investigate what is going on in our underworld. Also do market research for the underworld too.
You're not sure if it's that, the fact that his Director is apparently furious, or just that you're no longer a threat to national security, but Russ has seemed far more willing to talk to you about governmental things than he ever has before. That's… pretty useful actually.
Governmental Reactions will now be interspersed into Reverse Rival Reports!
'Wheedle Russ about CAIA' personal action unlocked
'Infiltrate CAIA' National action unlocked. Agent Russ will not help with this action- in fact, probably best he doesn't catch wind of it at all.
All of the stuff about CAIA is great. Riddle being upset is amazing. Russ's connections across CAIA expanding is good. It's also pretty funny how he is reacting to the sudden recontextualization of his career and position. Learning the government's reactions to what we do would be good. It'll also give us an idea of what they know we are doing. It's extremely important to ask Russ about CAIA. Probably good to infiltrate CAIA too. Maybe once we extract Mezmerella from Sycorax?
[ ] Prevent Unattended AI
70+38 (Doof)+ 30(Trevor)+23 (Alan)+ 20 (Concurrent User) +2 (Loyalty) +20 (Council)=203
Mostly unremarked upon, DEI and Funtelligence's collaboration to ensure that Funtelligence systems and NormCores™ no longer inexplicably become sentient are welcome evidence both corporations are taking their position as market leaders in AI seriously. Some question why nominal competitors are getting chummy, but both companies' stocks are up… in as much as DEI sells any stock at all, anyway. Winston has expressed some curiosity as to why exactly you did this, so you told him. He seemed satisfied.
The people asking why DEI did this have absolutely no idea why. The quest did it because why not lmao. The lack of reaction is about what I expected. Those comments about competitors getting chummy are probably important to keep in mind. We'll learn more about the state of the robotics market when we get the result of the western market research action. It might be important to keep collusion in mind? Still we don't actually have a lot income from robotics right now. Funtelligence probably is Thriving (4) or Dominant (5) to our Established (2).
The comment about DEI's stock was funny.
[ ] Sell Doc Hopper's
Did you always intend to flip Hoppers for profit, or was the heat simply too hot to stay in the kitchen? DEI's sudden exit from the Franchise Wars before they even really began has several boring trade magazines buzzing. Some suggest DEI stripped the frog franchise for its best parts (which is true you suppose, if you count Kermit) before dismantling it. Winston is used to your antics by now and doesn't seem to think it odd.
[ ] Release Peter Pan
Apparently a small minority of theaters primarily in and around LA publicly snubbed the release of Peter Pan, likely on orders from their corporate master Judge Doom. Winston seems interested in getting the film and other parts of the small Disney backlog on this new thing he has planned called a 'streaming service'.
The comment about us just wanting Kermit the frog is spot on. Winston being used to Doof's oddities is funny. His proposal for a streaming service is interesting. I'd be happy to collab with him on it.
[ ] Lobby for Genetic Modification
Winston let you know that the genetics world is in a tizzy over your sudden entry onto the lobbying scene, pushing for mass deregulation. As one of the quickest rising biofirms in the world, speculation is running wild as to what exactly the good doctor's house has planned.
CAIA is… very mildly concerned. Probably not enough to actually do anything, thanks to your recent choices, but from their perspective it absolutely screams 'step 1 to evil army of mantis men'.
Hey. There's an idea.
[ ] Sponsor a City-Wide FCLORP
DEI spent an unclear amount of time and money this month helping some of its interns organize the largest FCLORP in the world, recently certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. In most parts the performance was what one could expect from a mass of roleplayers, but there were a few memorable standouts trending on The Grid.
Maybe the genetics world can contribute to the deregulation if they are in such a tizzy over it! I'd guess they would start next turn. I'm curious if there's anything to read into Winston keeping an ear to the genetics world. CAIA doesn't even have a clue about the New Man Project. I'm really hyped to see what they, and everyone else, think of it when we finally reach it. Probably best to make sure Russ isn't spying on us during a turn we do New Man Project actions. Let it be a surprise.
It's a shame PnF weren't more successful. But it's funny to imagine Phineas and Ferb being included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Temujin has reorganized your PMC, but whose army is it?
[ ] Make Genghis the PMC's official commander.
Genghis will gain the following trait:
A Small Army: +5 to all martial rolls where Genghis is deployed alongside the PMC.
[ ] Keep the PMC centralized around DEI.
PMC general martial bonus increased by 2 to +9, penalty to invasions increased by 1 to -30.
Do you agree to sell hard AI rights to Glomgold?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
I think we should keep the PMC centralized. I don't think Genghis needs the boost as much as every other roll could use it. And I heavily disagree with selling AI to Glomgold.
[ ] Keep the PMC centralized around DEI.
[ ] No
