On:
In: Leverage RPG, Thought Crimes

[BEGIN COMMERCIAL]

[BEGIN MUSIC, SOURCED FROM “CALMING” AND “CALL TO ACTION” PSYCH TAGS]

[FADE FROM BLACK TO REVEAL CEO, VIDEO EDIT TO SOFTEN FACIAL FEATURES, CREATE WARMTH]

CEO: Welcome to GeneHome. Where your legacy is assured through your contribution to science.

[SWING SHOT, HALF-SMIRK TO ENSURE KNOWLEDGE AND CONFIDENCE, ADJUST LIGHTING TO PROMOTE DISSATISFACTION WITH CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES IN WATCHER]

CEO: Sometimes, all it takes is five minutes to change the world. One little appointment, and your genome will be at the forefront of cutting edge genetic research. A drop of blood, a few strands of hair, and you could be solely responsible for a breakthrough that ends a disease for the world forever.

[VIA LEGAL TEAM: DO NOT IMPLY THAT GENETIC ACTION IS LIMITED TO SCIENTIFIC USE]

[MUSIC CHANGE, SOURCED FROM “EXCITEMENT” AND “NOSTALGIA” PSYCH TAGS]

CEO: And not only that, but we’ll dig through the history of your ancestors free of charge, so you can see where your genetic fingerprint began…

[WINK TO INCREASE RELATABILITY]

CEO: Even as it helps to push mankind into the future.

[SHOW LOGO, PLAY COPYRIGHTED GENEHOME EXIT JINGLE, ADJUST LIGHTING TO RESOLVE WATCHER DISSATISFACTION]

CEO: Welcome Home. Where you will -never- be forgotten.

[FADE TO BLACK, END COMMERCIAL]

Continue Reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Leverage RPG, Thought Crimes

Our blood-shot eyes disguise their lies
Our cries all rise up to the skies
God help them when they realize
Our knives arrive to end their lives

They never let our city sleep
They count on us to be their sheep
The pens are full, the labor cheap
But they’re the crops our blades will reap

So now I lay me down to rest
I’ll put the wires to the test
When sunrays next caress the west
We’ll storm the gates, resist arrest!

-Excerpt from “The City that Never Sleeps”, Thinking of Summer

Continue Reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Leverage RPG, Thought Crimes

Since time immemorial, the powers that be have valued entertainment. It doesn’t only pacify the masses, leaving them blind to the injustice and the exploitation of the system that contains them. They pay for it too. This leaves the powerful to search for the most potent, resonant messages, and when those messages are revolutionary in nature, a peculiar sort of dance begins. The powers that maintain the status quo monetize the writings of those that attempt to upend it, granting a platform to forces that wish to destroy them. In their efforts to appeal to a growing societal powder keg, they sell tickets for fire-breathers. But any company with enough wealth is certainly practiced in the art of risk management.

After All,

It’s Only Business.

Continue Reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Leverage RPG, Thought Crimes

The conditions were perfect. Or at the very least, in the very particular setting of this tube, they were perfectly designed to accomplish what the bosses wanted. Restful, continuous, and above all, predictable sleep. It was dark. Sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit on the dot, he’d heard them say, with continuous modifications to account for his changing body heat. Not a single sound, but for his heart, his breath, and a gentle, rising and falling tone that apparently got a sleep scientist named Kostya some award. Not a Nobel, but something in that direction. Everything was perfectly calming.

Except for the millimeter-thick electrode spike that skewered his bolted-down skull to regulate his hypothalamus.

Still, he went over a few old airman tricks, ones crafted to get someone asleep in minutes in case that would make the difference between a failed and a successful operation. And who knew, maybe this was one of those times. He breathed in, tightening everything from the waist down before letting it go on the exhale. Then, everything between his waist and his neck. Then everything above the nec- Ouch. Then, he imagined sitting on a black velvet hammock beneath a dark sky, telling himself calmly and nonjudgmentally not to think. And as he drifted away, the first oneironaut to pierce the human psyche, he wondered how much it cost to train him to do something that had never been done. He hoped it was a lot. Because all that stood between him and whatever dangers laid beyond was PolyCorp.

After all.

It’s Only Business.

Continue Reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Leverage RPG, Thought Crimes

The system had never specialized in long-term investment for the future. Or at least not the future of humanity. How would you justify it to the board of investors when all of the other companies are part of humanity too? What the system DID specialize in was finding a need and offering an affordable, market-valued solution. So when the sun began to beat down in the city squares, light-mitigating plastic-glass shells for public spaces became the new standard. When sea levels rose against coastal cities, damming projects arose in turn, earning self-congratulation from the corporate media for employing thousands as they put them to work to save their own cities.

Of course, not every city had the pure wealth to establish these projects, so there was a period where quite a lot of people moved to the already overpopulated large cities. But that brought more opportunities and challenges for which the corporations were happy to provide market solutions. The funny thing about death spirals is that they sometimes look like a cycle of rebirth from a distance. Especially to PR representatives and marketing teams.

After all.

It’s only business.

Continue Reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS