Quoted By:
"I WAS NOT EXACTLY IN THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND WHEN I WAS DOING IT." That's not good. "I MAY HAVE ACCIDENTLY BROKEN A LOT OF THINGS ABOVE HERE." Oh that's really not good. "BUT I. FUCK. LOOK I'LL TRY MY BEST GIMME A MOMENT." Tendrils of half rotten meat begin to slither over the panel in the back of the room. They're desperately fiddling with the many buttons and switches on it.
Maybe it's just you but this is probably the most cognizant survivor you met down here. Everyone was some flavor of batshit crazy but aside from not noticing anything wrong with his physical form, he's pretty much all there. He didn't even really freak out when you told him the truth.
Casey is the next one to speak up after the Manager starts fiddling with the panel. "If you do manage to get out of the facility, what will you do next? Your current state seems rather unwieldy for any purpose aside from your excellent Manager job!"
The tapping and flicking of switches and buttons stops for a moment. "I RATHER DIE ABOVE THAN DOWN HERE. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?" He begins to tap away at the panel again. It's hard to really mindread him to see if he's telling the truth but he doesn't seem to be lying here. "I HAVE LIVED MY WHOLE LIFE HERE. IS IT SO WRONG TO WANT TO SEE THE SUN AGAIN?"
[QUEEN BEE MINDSET] "I can respect that. The best thing you can do now is look at the great blue sky before you die." An hollow buzz comes from the deepest, furthest part of Casey's throat. "Yet a damaged hive is something that cannot be tolerated. Is it worth it, sir? Damaging your own hive?"
The tapping stops for a brief moment before it picks up again. "IT WAS ALREADY DEAD WHEN WE SEALED OURSELVES DOWN HERE. WE WERE TOO COWARDLY TO FINISH THE JOB UNTIL NOW. IT CAN CRUMBLE TO THE GROUND FOR ALL I CARE BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO BURDEN THE SURFACE WITH THE BEASTS HERE. I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT." Well, that's probably all you're going to get out of this topic. Best to ask him one last thing.
"What was it like? Before this facility was sealed?" You can't help yourself. You have to know. If nothing else, it should help you down the line.
"BAD. REAL BAD. I TRIED MY BEST TO KEEP THINGS UNDER CONTROL BUT WELL, HERE'S THE ISSUE WITH KEEPING STAFF HAPPY AND SAFE IN A FACILITY LIKE THIS DURING WAR TIME. IT'S JUST." A warm, child-like gurgle oozes from the Manager. "IT'S NOT REALLY POSSIBLE. WE HAD OVER 300 PEOPLE ACROSS THE FACILITIES BUT THE EMPLOYEE TURNOVER RATE WAS 32.575% PER MONTH. IT WAS NOT SUBSTAINABLE."
"THEN WE STOPPED RECEIVING REPLACEMENT STAFF FROM P-CORP. THEY HAD TO PUT THEM IN OTHER HIGHER PRIORITY FACILITIES. EVENTUALLY THINGS BEGAN TO COLLAPSE AND SOON, I HAD TO SEAL THIS FACILITY SHUT UNTIL P-CORP WOULD SEND IN AN EXTRACTION SQUAD OR BACKUP. YOU CAN SEE HOW WELL THAT WENT."
"Don't you have a welfare HEAD?" Quentin nervously asks. "Isn't it their job to try to, uh, make people happy?"
"And accounting supposed to be in charge of keeping employee retention high?" Wendy raises an eyebrow.
