Bates Diagnostics: A medical laboratory that conceals an underbelly of human experimentation.
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From the outside, Bates Diagnostics is clean, modern, and stylish. Four stories tall and nothing but black and tinted windows, it poses an imposing figure over its courtyard in front. A simple silver sign engraved with its name sits there, next to a minimalist water fountain. It oddly looks more like a financial establishment rather than a lab.
Upon entering through the double doors, you can see that the open lobby bustles with activity. There are security gates off to either side, leading to the more confidential areas of the lab. A receptionist with unnaturally bright hair sits at the front desk, barely looking up at your entrance. The sleek, modern look of Bates Diagnostics apparently extends to its interior, too.
"Please, take a pamphlet," the receptionist says, their voice monotone. You can hear their fingers fly across the keyboard at the speed of light. They are clearly engrossed in their work, perhaps a little too much. "However, if you've got an appointment, please sign in at the kiosk to your left, thank you."
You take a pamphlet and then a seat shortly thereafter, trying to relax on the black leather couch.
It's impossible.
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Introductory Pamphlet
The pamphlet is smooth and glossy, with happily smiling people on its front. It is, in fact, much brighter-- and more saturated-- than anything in the entire lobby.
Thank you for choosing Bates Diagnostics as your medical laboratory of choice! Since 1999, our family-owned business has provided cutting-edge medical laboratory tests and services.
With scientific expertise in esoteric testing, genomics, and clinical and anatomic pathology, Bates Diagnostics leads the industry in quality, innovation, and trust.
Our services include:
State of the art medical testing in a wide variety of topics Paid studies on behalf of our medical partners around the world Toxicology and drug monitoring by our most esteemed experts Technicians that can be sub-contracted that are just a phone call away ...And more!
All new patients get a free basic blood panel when signing up for at least one test, terms and conditions apply.
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The Truth
STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY
The following message is confidential and sent in trust, intended solely for privileged eyes. If you are receiving this transmission in error, any use, reproduction, or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, delete this message immediately. Thank you.
While Bates Diagnostics does have a legitimate and booming business in human testing, it does have a darker underbelly. Their past work includes biological weapons, strength enhancements, mind-meddling formulas and more. Many experiments have come and gone over the years, but the laboratory has always focused on human and/or FEAR-driven pharmaceuticals and how they can be harnessed to target, control, and eradicate humans.
The targets are often those that would not be missed, such as transient teenagers and those with no real, meaningful connections to others. Many perish, but some are there so long they've garnered affectionate nicknames. Like pets.
Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 9:27 pm
The CEO
As the esoteric-- and, honestly, strange-- CEO, Isabelle Bates has more fiction around her than fact. She inherited the family business at just 19, and almost two decades later Isabelle still looks just as youthful as she did then.
Most of the time, Ms. Bates is either cloistered away in meetings or off at conferences halfway around the globe. But as of late, she's been around the Laboratory more, swanning through the halls like a wood witch with acid green and fluorescent yellow hair.
Finding Her
She takes all of her lunches publicly in the cafeteria, whether or not she's had food delivered or catered. Despite being a little bit eerie and somewhat cryptic, Isabelle is glad to interact with her employees and patients alike, answering any questions they might have. It is imperative to her to build a healthy relationships between staff and their managerial equivalents. Hours are fair, pay is good (almost too good, in fact), and benefits are extensive and done in-house.
Additionally
Isabelle heavily favors merit bonuses as reward incentives for her employees. Bates Diagnostics is rumored to be very generous in this regard. Should you come to her with anything of note, she is sure to give you a special reward.
Some people recall Isabelle having a twin, but there's not much evidence that any twin really exists. If you went digging, you might find that her twin sister is supposedly named 'Imogen'.
If she exists, she is certainly no less strange than her sister - arguably even more so. She is a bit of a ghost, a cyptid, a theory that sounds a little too much like a story someone would just tell to newbies as some sort of a hazing ritual. Rumors suggest that she doesn't speak much, if at all.
Finding Her
...finding who?
Anyone who goes searching for Imogen isn't necessarily going to find her, though the spectre of a woman does seem to enjoy the fun game of being a human-shaped secret. It's most likely that she will arrive when least expected and least wanted.
Additionally
Are you feeling okay? What are you looking for here?
Unlike her twin sister, Imogen Bates isn't particularly interested in one's easily measured merits or accomplishments. Being visited by the ghost that haunts the halls of Bates Diagnostics might bring good fortune...or an extra bit of trouble for you.
Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 5:48 pm
gaia_star A reminder to go here on how to take on a job!
As a successful business, Bates Diagnostics is always hiring. Characters may find job listings online, in the paper, on craigslist, or via referral with a from a made-up PC for this express purpose.
If quoted (its me debz), Isabelle will gladly come and interact with anyone in the scene, and may offer bonus rewards. Ifquoted(NothingYet),Imogenmightinteractwithanyoneseekingher,andmayofferbonusrewards.
Company Supplies
Due to the confidential nature of the work at Bates Diagnostics, any employees performing jobs that aregaia_stargaia_star or above require the use of a heavily eDroid phone, provided by Bates Diagnostics. You are welcome to use other phones, of course; this is simply so that you can be contacted by the Bates as needed regarding confidential, authorized only information.
Isabelle's first task for you is simple: Manage the front desk for a brief six hour shift. Each prompt can be interpreted however you like, within reason. (Don't cause too much trouble!)
Roll 1d6 and match up your results: You have to take a difficult phone-call with a valuable client that insists on being escalated. There is no one to escalate to, as your manager is at lunch.
You are tasked with catering a lunch for Isabelle and her investors... and they all have different preferences. You may contact Isabelle for inquiries by quoting Its Me Debz.
The paperwork you need to digitize has gone missing, so you must contact the technicians responsible to get it. They can be reluctant or willing.
You need to review some resumes for the HR Manager. Write about how good or bad they are, and submit them. (Can be vague. Make it up!)
Several employees are complaining that the temperatures of their areas are incorrect. However, changing one makes other people upset. Have fun balancing them!
Mail time! It's your duty to collect and distribute various packages and envelopes. However, Bates Diagnostics has an open-box policy to ensure safety. You must scan and open each package...it's up to you what you see!
After your day has concluded, please fill out the following form describing your experience here at Bates Diagnostics. Your happiness is important to us. (Answers may be brief.)
[b]Name & Job:[/b]
[b]Are you satisfied with how you performed today?[/b]
[b]Did this job make good use of your skills and abilities? If not, what sort of work would suit you better?[/b]
[b]Do you think that that Bates Diagnostics is an [i]ethical [/i]employer?[/b]
[ UPON COMPLETION ] +1 Raffle Ticket (you can only claim a MAX of 3 per player this way!) +5 Currency
Isabelle has placed you in the animal testing department for the day, where you will serve as a temporary Lab Assistant.You are in charge of administering targeted gene therapy the animals and recording their progress. They live a good life, for the most part, but as with all things, progress comes with a price.
Roll 2d6 and match your results. To receive the reward, you must have oversee a successful experiment. This means you must roll at least a 6.
You may attempt this twice per day.
Please record your findings, making up situations as you choose. Most animals are confined to their own room, with an observation window and feeding area. Note that your work is under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that binds you from talking too freely about the work done due to the cutting edge technology.
However, if you would like to write with a friend or two, please feel free to roll separately but work together!
Animal: Chicken Chimpanzee Dog Guinea Pig Horse Mouse
Total: • 2: The animal passes away. Other techs take it away for you. Fail. Try again. • 3-5: No results. Fail. Try again. • 6-8: Mild success with minor improvements. • 9-11: Excellent success. Record your findings. • 12: Record breaking success! You may quote its me debz for a special reward.
After your day has concluded, please fill out the following form describing your experience here at Bates Diagnostics. Your happiness is important to us. (Answers may be brief.)
[b]Name & Job:[/b]
[b]Please describe how today's events made you feel emotionally.[/b]
[b]Do you think the targeted genes are useful?[/b]
[b]Did you have any [i]ethical [/i]problems with the work done today?[/b]
[ UPON COMPLETION ] +1 Raffle Ticket (you can only claim a MAX of 3 per player this way!) +5 Currency +1 Arcana Bonus
Isabelle has entrusted you with a new security clearance, allowing you to do work in the more secretive Experimental arm of the labs. Your lab specimens today are hidden inside of a room with no windows and no door you have access to. With you is a lab station with several substances, a computer with extensive readouts, and a file on your specimen. The room is oddly soundproof to all things.
Roll 2d20. You must combine substances into a mixture that causes harm . You must successfully craft and administer this concoction to succeed. After creating the mixture, you slide the syringe into a slot and simply wait to see the results.
You may attempt this 3 times per day.
You must sign an NDA to work in this branch, a non-disclosure agreement that binds you from talking too freely about the work done due to the cutting edge technology, but you are welcome to chat freely with other techs. This means you may write with a friend if you like. Feel free to explore any moral implications with these tests.
Match each individual dice to the below. You may choose what sort of "animal" is within the room from the following list: chicken, chimpanzee, dog, guinea pig, horse, mouse.
Mixtures: • 1-4: The solution is viscous, vibrant red, and reeks of metal. • 5-8: The mixture is runny, dim green, and smells of a boggy swamp. • 9-12: The mixture does not come together. Fail, try again. • 13-16: The acidic liquid is translucent blue, and cloudy. It has no odor. • 17-20: The substance is entirely black, as if a hole was there rather than matter. It smells of sulfur.
Effects: • 1-4: The target's readings go haywire for a moment, but they soon recover. Fail, try again. • 5-8: The vital signs slow until they remain low enough to be considered an induced coma. Success. • 9-12: The readings are unclear, suddenly distorting as if affected by a magnetic field. Success. • 13-16: While the room is sound proof, you can still hear echoes of nightmarish screams. Success. Please quote Its Me Debz for a reward. • 17-20: The specimen has broken loose from the room. Please evacuate and consider this a success.
After your day has concluded, please fill out the following form describing your experience here at Bates Diagnostics. Your happiness is important to us. (Answers may be brief.)
[b]Name & Job:[/b]
[b]Did you enjoy your work today?[/b]
[b]Would you like to be considered for permanent employment in this branch?[/b]
[b]Did you see or hear anything unusual during this test?[/b]
[b]Do you [i]trust [/i]Bates Diagnostics?[/b]
[ UPON COMPLETION ] +1 Raffle Ticket (you can only claim a MAX of 3 per player this way!) +5 Currency +1 Arcana Bonus gaia_crown+1 RARE UNIQUE CLOTHING PIECE RELATED TO THIS JOB (LINK COMPLETED THREAD HERE)
The Bates facility has the same white-washed appeal of the Tower and itbwas a bit saddening that such a facility didn't have more ammedeties like a zen garden or sand box for creative burrowing or just comfort. While the sculptures that dotted the floors for artistic atmosphere were interesting in their twists, and in his eyes, deformity, it was too soft for his tastes. There was no arguing at the least that ot provided all the bells and whistles for experimention a famine could want in a human limitng space.But a fountain wasn't an oasis and he flopped into a chair in the cafeteria to recharge after his lab assistant job.
The menu was posh for a cafeteria but still uniform and he decided to take a bottle of water for apperances sake as he sat. Pulling his phone out, he flipped through chat to see if anything new was happening and to enter in his work log.
After a few minutes he started to squirm in his seat. The hard, ergonomic plastic was digging into the sharp points of his body. After a few minutes more, he unbuttoned a few buttons on the top of his shirt as they felt restraining about his neck. A noose would have been more comfortable. He untucked his shirt shortly after but the lab coat felt nice like a cloak and he brought it a bit closer about him.
After a few texts, he worked on cracking the joints in his fingers, knuckles, wrists, shoulders, sides and neck. The process caused a few eating nearby to take their meals to another table.
Character's name: Vin Character's clan: Famine Character's journal link: [ X ] Character's arcana Judgement Group: F BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: Emaciated with bones above thighs and skeletal feet. Black, dead eyes and tan, discolored flesh. A few bug like small legs curl about his exposed ribs. Wears tattered, black rags that cover most of his body.
