Thursday, December 9, 2010

Operation: Stop Zrag!
The elevator arrives and you hop in, quickly jabbing the button that will take you to the basement. An eerie silence hangs in the air as the elevator descends, dropping noiselessly through the building with scarcely a judder. The words of the Dictators of Zrag repeat over and over in your head, and you wonder if it might not have been a better idea to go to Tharg with this. After all, what exactly is it you plan to do? All you know is that a Zragian agent is to infiltrate the party in the guise of a guest, bringing with him a bomb he intends to set off. Even if you do manage to spot the fake, how could you confront him? With delusions of grandeur and ambitions of impressing Tharg by foiling this plot, you push the doubts aside as the elevator comes to a halt and the doors slide open. No point worrying about the details, you figure, when you can make it up as you go. Stepping out of the elevator into a dimly lit corridor, you look left and right and try to determine which way to go. A banging noise and slivers of incomprehensible conversation reach your ears from the right, so you creep stealthily in that direction, keeping your back pressed to the wall and your footfalls as light as possible. The faint voices and clattering of what seems to be pots and pans lead you to a swing door in the wall a few feet from the elevator. Cautiously, you slide one hand onto the cold metal panel and push it in a crack. A great commotion is occurring within and you wonder if you’ve stumbled upon the villain already. You crane your neck to peer into the room...but at that moment the door is jerked fully open and a monstrous hand slaps down on your head, lifting you off the ground and hauling you inside. You twist and wriggle, trying to get free, but to no avail. Once you are inside the room, the hand releases you, dumping you unceremoniously onto the floor. Looking up, you find a hideous beast with a wild flowing mane of hair and dark sunken eyes staring down at you. The creature is dressed in a dark blue boiler suit with the letters G.B.H embroidered on it, and is wearing a dirty apron and a crumpled chef’s hat. “You here to help with the cake?” it drones, extending a hand and offering you a gooey wooden spoon.

Do you...

Say yes, you are here to help and take the spoon, or...

Say no, you have an invite to the party but got here early and are just looking around?