Quick, citizen, get over here. I'm Sneak-Y-EST, and I've been around for a LONG, LONG time. If you want to survive for longer than a weekcycle, you'd better take a listen to me.

I don't understand, this guy...

Yeah, I saw him. Big uppity Indigo creep. I've seen him around. He'll give you the "official" slant on the deal, but the "official" slant will get you recycled. You hear?

Uhhh, maybe. What's the real picture?

First, you're a troubleshooter now. So you've got to LOOK like a troubleshooter. And to do that, you've got to ACT like a troubleshooter. You remember him mentioning commies and mutants and traitors and all that?

Yeah, but I don't understand all of it... I'm supposed to kill commies and mutants and traitors and....

Yeah, well guess what. You ARE a commie mutant. So you'd better get that through your skull right quick or there'll be a dozen other troubleshooters BLOWING it through your skull... with a laser beam.

I'm a mutant??? and a commie???

You bet. Everybody is. As a troubleshooter, you've got to track down commies. A commie is anyone who is a member of a secret society. You, buddy, are just such a citizen. So you've got to expose others before they expose you.

Ah man.. this is too much. So I'm a member of a secret society.. which one?

Doesn't matter. You are and you're stuck. But secret societies can get you great stuff and tons of information if you know how to keep them happy. So remember to expose others as commies before they expose you.

And I guess I'm a mutant, too?

See, you're not as new as you look. Better believe it, mutie. Everyone is a mutant. That's the rumour at least. Remember, though, rumours are treason. You might not know what your mutant power is, but you can bet your rations you've probably got one. Use it carefully if at all. Anybody catches you, off 'em. Anybody suspects you, off 'em. Anybody shows you their's, scream out "MUTANT" and blast them double time. A dead mutant is a live promotion.

Wouldn't it be better never to use my power then?

Hey, it ain't a perfect complex, chummer, despite what the computer says. Sometimes you gotta get out of a jam the traitourous way. Just don't let anyone see it... or kill them if they do.

Say, if rumours are treason, can't I shoot you for spreading rumours and get promoted?

You could try. Despite only having a red blaster, which is really almost useless against anything except reds and infrareds, this yellow-colored armor isn't really yellow. Tell you a secret, it's blue, and it took a lot of work for my secret society to get it. Take it as a clue, troubleshooter, it's a grand daycycle when you learn to paint your gear to lower levels.

Wow, so how do you keep your secret society happy?

That, buddy, is the great trick. They always want something. Sometimes its easy, sometimes someone dies. Depends on the society and what you want. Once mine wanted me to deliver a message. It was a cake-lyke-treat-walk. Other time they wanted a chummer dead. Took some work, but I got some spiffy painted gear out of it.

Isn't painting your gear treasonous?

Don't make me laugh. You're already a traitor. Better a living traitor than dead and recycled. You get me?

I think so... this is all so new. Maybe I should ask this "Computer" thing for some help on mutants and commies.

Man, you ARE new.. Look, the computer runs everything, right? It's the great benevolent leader, right? WRONG! Day you start believing that crap is the day you let your guard down and move on to the next clone. Look, the computer is nuts, ok? Got that? Few transistors short of a circuit board.. Mention commies or mutants to it in any way other than accusing someone else and you'll be surrounded by Internal Security so fast your head will spin. You just keep looking to expose others without letting them expose you and you'll be straight.

Gulp, who's "Internal Security"?

Internal Security is the police. They're one of the service groups that keeps Alpha Complex running. Ok, here's a rough list:

Internal Security	The police, secret service, and special forces rolled into one. These are the guys who wake you up in the middle of the night for a "debriefing"
Armed Forces	The military. These guys are charged with defending Alpha Complex, although they seem to spend a lot of time blowing parts of it up. Overall, though, a tough bunch.
Central Processing	Forms, forms, forms. Anything you need to do, these guys have a form to request a form to approve the issuing of a form to you. They are supposedly the "heart" of Alpha Complex, but the red tape will kill you.
HPD & MC (Housing Preservation Development and Mind Control)	Need a place to live, they've got it. Need to be happier where you live? They'll issue you a pill. Still not happy? They'll give you a different pill. They're the ones who put 500 clones into a 50 clone housing cube and then gave them all pills to convince them they had plenty of space. Well, after most of them died, there WAS plenty of space.
PLC Production, Logistics and Commissary	Get the right form from PLC and these guys will supply you just about anything. From a bag of algae-chips to a portable nuclear proton accelerator, they've got it, and you can get it... maybe.
Power Services	Juice, man. These clones get the juice flowing throughout Alpha Complex. They're wizards with power, but you've gotta have the right forms, or they'll disconnect you.
R&D Reasearch and Development	Any new ideas come from R&D. They tinker with machines, lasers, armor, and other dangerous and potentially useful things. Be careful, though, they like to have troubleshooters like you "test" out their designs. This is usually an attempt to field test the bugs they've already found.
Tech Services	Tech services fixes EVERYTHING. From the bots to the vats to the power. Sometimes Tech Services and Power Services try and fix the same things at the same time. Sometimes they try to stop each other from fixing things they've already fixed. Sometimes it gets UGLY.

Got it? Everyone is part of a service group. It's your job... Even when you become a troubleshooter, you still have your service group to think of from time to time.

Wow. So I'm a troubleshooter, hunting down commies. But I am a commie. And I'm hunting mutants. But I am a mutant. This is getting confusing...

It gets better. You, as a troubleshooter, will be assigned a TEAM of people to work with. Your job on that team will vary from leader to the guy with the vidcam. ALL of the people on that team are troubleshooters just like you. ALL of them are potentially commie mutant traitors. ALL of them are looking to reveal the fact that you are a commie mutant traitor before their cover is blown. Oh, and ALL of them are carrying guns. You get that, citizen?

You know, I'm starting to feel paranoid...

Not an uncommon feeling, buddy. Not at all.