"This is Only a Test", © 1992, 2000-2005 by
Michael
C. LaBossiere, originally appeared in _Challenge_ #61
(pages 48-52).
Text-entry & HTML by: Steve C.
This adventure is intended for an experienced group of PCs. What begins as an enjoyable excursion to observe the testing of a new robot on a charming South Pacific island turns into a nightmare of machine-engineered death.
Makai Corporation (which was involved in the rather odd combination of film making and robot production) and Weymouth Artificial Minds (which specialized in advanced computers and robotic brains) recently merged to form Makai-Weymouth Robotics (M-WR). With the resources made available by the merger, M-WR was able to complete development of a highly advanced fluid-matrix robotic brain. Realizing that the exceptional power and compactness of the new brain made it ideal for application in military and police robotics, M-WR began a project to develop a combat robot body suitable for the advanced brain. The body was quickly completed, and the new brain was installed.
The robotics field is highly competitive, and the executives at M-WR realized they would need to do something dramatic to draw attention to their new product. The movie-making branch of the corporation came up with a plan. They decided to conduct the tests for the robot on the island they used when making many of their films. The robot would be put through its paces in a variety of terrains, including a full-scale mockup town. The special-effects division of the company set to work preparing an array of weapons that would demonstrate the robot's capacities while at the same time providing the requisite drama and flash. The final touch was the decision to invite several entertainment industry notables to the demonstration.
M-WR is out to make a name for itself and is planning quite a show. The rumor mill has been cranking steadily, including reports that there will be a test battle between a combat robot and a group of captured Kafers. Another story asserts that the robot will be battling a genetically engineered Godzilla-like monster. The more sensible rumors state that there will be some kind of test involving a combat robot, but it will be facing off against more conventional opponents. The entertainment tabloid media claims that numerous entertainment notables will be present at the testing.
How the PCs get involved will depend on their professions. PCs with military or security experience can be hired as guards or as opponents for the robot. Those with medical experience can get jobs on the medical team. PCs with scientific or engineering backgrounds may be sent to investigate the test or may have been invited to observe. Media PCs may be invited to cover the test or may have invited themselves. PCs who are big in the entertainment industry may be invited to lend their status to the event. Or an unsuspecting group of PCs may even have been shipwrecked on the island.
The island is located in the South Pacific (exact location left to the referee). It is owned by M-WR and is outside the jurisdiction of any nation.
The island itself is beautiful. The terrain includes thick forests, dense swamps, an artificial stream, beaches and a large hill. The terrain has been sculpted and modified for film work, with cleverly concealed access paths, camera platforms, and so forth all over the island. There is also a lodge (left over from when the island was owned by a development corporation that went bankrupt) and a mockup town (for filming). Numerous animals live on the island, most of them originally imported and none of them dangerous.
The lodge was constructed by a development corporation that later went bankrupt and was originally intended as a tacky resort. When the Makai Corporation purchased the island, the lodge was refurnished in a tasteful manner to house movie crews and actors.
The building is a wooden structure and is well constructed.
Floor 1: The lounge/entrance contains comfortable furniture and is decorated with high-quality photographs from various films done by MC. The office once served as the front desk and administrative office for the lodge. It is now used as a multipurpose room (i.e., it has served as everything from a storage area to a martial arts training room).
The first floor also includes 12 rooms of equal size, each equipped with a small bathroom, one or two beds, and standard room furnishings. Important guest will be housed here for the test.
Floor 2: The second floor includes a kitchen with the latest in food production equipment; a dining area with tables and a bar; a small movie theater with the latest in movie-showing equipment; and a deck with tables, a bar, and an outside dance floor. Transparent shields can extend around the deck in case of poor weather conditions.
The town mockup consists of wooden and plastic "buildings" designed to simulate a modern town or city area. The buildings are easily modified to represent everything from the center of the Boston combat zone to colony towns on Aurore. The buildings are solid enough to support people and equipment. Some of the buildings have interiors, but most are hollow shells with interior supports. The town is currently set up to represent a section of a modern city.
Guests are transported to the island by VTOL aircraft, which land on the pads near the lodge. The guests begin to arrive on the morning of the day before the test, with the press arriving slightly earlier than the others. There will be quite a media circus on the island, and the events will be well covered in the entertainment media.
Once all the guests and media arrive, the guest of honor will be brought in. A utility light transport will land on a pad, and corporate guards will trot out and form a double line. Then the Autonomous Combat Unit Model 300 (ACU M-300) will walk out to face the media. Numerous posing sessions will be staged with the celebrities, and the machine will be interviewed by various news agencies. The ACU, with software designed specially for the occasion, will do very well during the interviews and will come off as if it actually has a personality.
When the day's media circus is over, the ACU will return to the transport, which is serving as command post/laboratory/maintenance shop for the test. Once the ACU goes back into the aircraft, the crowd will head to the lodge. Portable shelters have been set up for the press and for the corporate personnel (the celebrities get the rooms in the lodge).
After everyone has had a chance to rest, a briefing will be held on the lawn. The project director, Don Weymouth, will give a speech, thanking everyone for coming, and will tell several jokes. Then he will outline the tests the ACU will go through:
The first test, scheduled for morning, pits the ACU against a corporate security team in the woods. The second test takes place in the swamps and has the ACU matched up against an American military team. The third test is set in the town mockup and involves a NYC SWAT team. A final "test" is a mock battle with the celebrities.
After the briefing is dinner and a party. Everything goes well, except for one curious incident. At least one PC witnesses a fight between Weymouth and Jeff Wilson, one of the M-WR robotic experts. Weymouth appears to berate Wilson, then takes something from his pocket and throws it to the floor. Wilson drops to the floor and quickly scoops it up. The two men then notice a media team approaching, and Wilson takes the opportunity to slip away.
If the PCs check the area where the thing was dropped, they will find a drug capsule labeled T-7F9, lying in the corner.
T-7F9, known on the streets as "smart." is a medical drug used to treat injuries to the brain and some forms of mental illnesses. Smart sells for Lv 200 for four doses on the street.
The substance also adds 2 points to the user's Intelligence for an average of three hours (roll 1D6). Taking more than one dose in 24 hours can create extreme paranoia and homicidal tendencies.
Task: To avoid the side effects of "smart": Difficult. Endurance. Instant. Referee: For each does over one, increase the task difficulty level. If the roll fails, the user will become paranoid and homicidal (the intensity of the paranoia and homicidal mania, and how the user will respond, are left to the referee). The effects last until the drug wears off.
After leaving Weymouth, Wilson goes to the utility light transport. He ingests several "smarts," thinking he is taking a mix of pain killers and tranquilizers. He realizes his mistake almost immediately - but it's already too late. The overdose drives him into extreme paranoia and homicidal mania, but his mental processes are extremely efficient.
Wilson becomes convinced that everyone is out to get him, and he decides to reprogram the ACU. His alterations include instructions to replace the test ammunition with live ammo, seal off the island and kill everything on it. Before Wilson can complete his reprogramming, the drug makes him so paranoid that he runs away into the swamp, where he slips into a pool and drowns. The partially reprogrammed ACU will therefore go through the tests as programmed, but it will be using live ammunition and will be programmed to kill.
After Wilson departs, the ACU acts upon its orders to seal off the island. It uses one of the robot cargo handlers (use the statistics for the transport 'bot in Nyotekundu Sourcebook, page 46) to plant explosives in all the aircraft on the island. The ACU orders a second robot to take a powerful jamming device into the woods, moving continuously to prevent anyone from fixing its location. A third robot carries the ACU's munition reloads to a secure place and leaves them there.
The next day, the ACU is brought to the test area in the woods aboard a heavy truck, while the observers and corporate security team go aboard Swift Songbirds. Most of the celebrities stay at the lodge to watch the test on the video monitors, but some ride out to see the action live.
The exact moment the test is to begin will be marked by the explosive destruction of the aircraft and the activation of the signal jammer. There is no way off the island (short of building a raft or swimming), and all radio communications are out.
The ACU begins the first test by attacking the members of the corporate security team (who are armed with harmless test weapons). The ACU remains in each test area until it has killed everyone in the area (it will not pursue people leaving the test area). It will only attack if it is attacked while going from test area to test area. The ACU will reload its weapons at its supply dump whenever they are less than half full.
After it finishes off the woods test, the ACU heads to the swamp to attack the American military team there. If the team members are not warned, they will be sitting ducks in the swamp.
The ACU then proceeds to the town mockup to face the NYC SWAT team. The police will also be sitting ducks if not warned in advance.
The ACU interprets the fourth test as requiring it to kill everyone on the island. It will not stop killing until it runs out of targets or is itself destroyed.
If the PCs save the day, they will be heroes and will be well rewarded by M-WR. They may also be well rewarded by the media and the celebrities present (they may even get a role in a movie or a guest appearance on a video show).
If the PCs blow it, and any press or media stars survive, their failure will be known worldwide (maybe even beyond).
If the ACU is contained with minimal carnage, M-WR's image will be slightly stained, but repairable. If there are excellent film shots of the battle involving the ACU, a hit movie will be made around the footage (all participants signed over their film rights, of course).
If the ACU does a great job of butchering people, especially people with real weapons, the military will be very interested in the unit. This way, the company's public image will be rather bad, but it will have numerous lucrative contracts (and thus be able to buy a new image).
The Autonomous Combat Unit Model 300 is the cutting edge of autonomous robotic combat units. Its most important feature is its fluid-matrix brain (FMB), which gives it excellent data processing capacities. The brain enables the unit to recognize targets, make plans and strategy, and effectively implement its plans. While the Model 300 is not self aware, it functions almost as well as a trained human soldier.
The body consists of a powered advanced alloy skeleton encased in advanced composite armor. The unit is powered by an advanced battery. The head contains advanced sensors, including radar, visual (IR, telescopic and light enhancement) and audio. The torso contains the FMB, the battery, two integral gauss rifles (treat as FAM-90s with 400-round clip and no grenade launcher) and two missile launchers. One missile launcher holds two light antiaircraft missiles (treat as Guiscard Martels), and the other holds two light antivehicle missiles (treat as Guiscard Blindicide-9). Each hand contains extendable blades (treat as bayonets). The hands can also strike as clubs in melee combat. The right hand contains a Quinn Darlan MK4-A1 PGCW.
Crawl: 2m Walk: 15m Trot: 30m Run: 50m Power Supply: Internal rechargeable battery Power Duration: 36 hours Sensor Range: 10 km (+2) Signature: 1 Armor Value: 12.
The ACU M-300 functions as a Veteran NPC in combat. The ACU uses the combat walker combat rules (Equipment Guide, pages 28-29), with the following change: Operator: The FMB is hit. It is treated as having a life level of 10 for the damage it can take.
These NPCs are worried and try to avoid combat.
4 Executives: Including Don Weymouth. Treat as Green NPCs for combat purposes. The executives are busy trying to find a solution to the problem at hand.
5 Engineers and Technicians: Originally six. Treat as Green NPCs for combat purposes. These NPCs try to break through the jamming in order to call for help.
6 Guards: Treat them as Experienced NPCs for combat purposes. They are armed with Mueller-Rivera F-19s. They will do their best to protect the interests of M-WR.
10 Others: Staff, workers, etc. Treat them as Green NPCs for combat purposes.
30 Media Personnel: Media personalities, camera operators, reporters, etc. Treat as Green NPCs for combat purposes. The media NPCs are in the thick of things, looking for good shots and interviews. They often get in the way of efforts to stop the ACU.
20 Media Stars: They include movie actors, musicians and so forth. Treat as Green NPCs for combat purposes. The behavior of the stars varies. Most of them, recognizing their ineffectiveness in this situation, look for someplace to hide. Others demand that they be removed from the island immediately. Some even see the situation as a great opportunity for publicity and get involved (most likely dying and endangering others since they are incompetent without special effects, stunt people and retakes to make them look good). These publicity seekers can be used to annoy the PCs and interfere with their plans.
All the test teams try to get to their weapons once they realize what has happened. They then do their best to control the situation.
Corporate Security Team: Eight Experienced and one Veteran NPC, wearing full-body inertial armor. They have nine AS-89s and nine Arno Five-Fifteens in their quarters.
American Military Team: Ten Veteran NPCs wearing inertial armor vests. They have 10 Rorttman LK-1s and 10 Traylor Model 57s in their quarters.
NYC SWAT Team: Eight Veteran NPCs wearing full-body combat armor. They have four DunArmCo close assault guns, three FAM-90s and one FTE-10 in their quarters.