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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:01:45 GMT -5
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:08:34 GMT -5
The first union meeting was a raucous one.
It might have been raucous because the workers didn’t really have any experience with spontaneous assemblies of discontent. Until a month ago, their jobs had been pretty peachy. Peabody’s sudden death had been a huge blow to the quiet Burg. With it ushered in many changes, especially ones involving the local Burg Auto Factory.
Peabody had been a generous, gentle manager. He had lived a life almost as a priest’s – chaste, frugal, kind, and honest. Peabody hadn’t even accepted birthday gifts from others; he felt he already had everything he needed in friends, family, and work. His true gift was being the boss of a successful company that provided everything it could for its workers and for its customers at a reasonable price. The Burg Factory wasn’t known for its monstrous profit margins, high product output, or incredible stock prices. It wasn’t famous, or notable. But what it was was a fantastic, irreplacable asset to the community.
So when each of those positive qualities were stripped away one by one by new boss McNeal, the workers didn’t really know what to think or how to act. They had never experienced such brash, dispassionate greed before.
SAFE:      VULNERABLE:                         |
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:14:51 GMT -5
It seemed like no one at the worker’s meeting could decide which one of the many hardships Head Boss McNeal had brought on was in fact the worst. Some thought it was when McNeal had announced that there would be no pay raises this year – apparently hard economic times required “everyone” to make cutbacks.
Boris thought the worst thing was how McNeal treated sick days. He had practically abolished them. McNeal had outright screamed at Boris when he came in with the measles and asked for the week off. He had denied Boris any sick days whatsoever and almost fired him for insubordination.
Roxy’s chief complaint was about the heat. Apparently factory air conditioning was a “luxury” expense that McNeal had decided was unnecessary. Roxy and her hundred-dollar perm didn’t think so!
Jenya had had enough of all this foolishness. They were never going to address any of these issues if they were all talking over each other’s heads. Surely these problems were just temporary lapses in judgment by the bosses. Surely no one could be this heartless?
“Order, ORDER!” Jenya bellowed as she stood upon a chair to get everyone’s attention. “Listen for just a second. I said shut up and listen!!!”
The crowd quieted down.
“We are never going to get these issues rectified if we all do our best impression of Mexican jumping beans. We need to get things under control. We need to be organized.”
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:22:32 GMT -5
One might think that when Jenya called for the workers to organize that she was advocating for the establishment of an official, certified union. And while some workers may informally call their growing group of grievances a union, most of them really had no idea what a Union was. Under Peabody’s leadership, everything in the factory was roses and sunshine. Smoky roses and hazy sunshine, but roses and sunshine nonetheless.
“Jenya is right, we need to organize.” Said Yvette as she joined Jenya standing upon another chair. “We need to have a talk with McNeal and show him what his cutbacks are doing to this company. But we all can’t just march into his office at once – that would be unseemly.”
“I vote that we elect one of us to represent the group and have a civilized discussion with McNeal.” Yvette continued. “Who do we think should talk with him?”
Everyone had their own ideas and divided into small groups to discuss it civilly. A few names came up and most were happy to offer their abilities. The group was about to decide between two people: Jason and Ellis, when a different track of discussion came up.
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:29:20 GMT -5
“You know,” Khaled began, “why should Jason be the one who talks to McNeal? He told me yesterday that he didn’t really even think that the heat in the factory was that bad. He said Roxy was just whining.”
“Excuse me?” Roxy said, shocked, towards Jason.
“Not only that,” Khaled continued. “But Ellis personally told me that he thought Boris was faking his mumps. Said maybe he painted them on.”
“THAT WAS A JOKE!” yelled Ellis defensively, hurt by the accusation.
“Painted on??? I was deathly ill for weeks. And they were measles not mumps!”
“Excuse me, eyes back on senorita here,” said Roxy once again. “Jason – you think the heat wasn’t that bad? Over in our section of the factory it feels like a furnace. It almost gave me a suntan! Of all people, I’m-Whiter-Than-Mr.-Clean, I would have thought you know the importance of good hair hygiene.”
The discussion had strayed far from its intended destination as small personal arguments broke out amongst the workers. Little bickerings threatened to divide them and distract from their goals.
Amongst the consternation, a faint voice could barely be heard, as Robert muttered: “Who cares about her hair? I’m worried about the heat causing the machinery to catch fire…”
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:36:25 GMT -5
While many had these petty squabbles on their mind, some in the room were mulling over more substantial matters. For six of them in the room were labor Spies – hired by Head Boss McNeal to keep watch on the workers. Fully loyal to the management, these six were going to report back every event, every plan, and every gripe that the workers voiced. Unbeknownst to workers, the bosses were always going to be one step ahead of the union. As long as these Spies were able to insinuate doubts and misgivings, the workers didn’t stand a chance.
At the beginning the Spies thought they were just keeping the factory stable, helping the workers ease into new management, and maintaining a healthy workplace. But soon they would be asked to engage in insidious plots to disassemble the union bit by bit.
Back in the meeting, soon someone spoke up with a pressing question.
"I have a question about this 'kicking people out of our union' stuff. So every so often we have a vote to kick out who we think are the labor spies within our union."
"Right."
"But why do we use the voting system we do?"
"What do you mean?"
"For example, why do we reveal who voted for who? Why not have a secret ballot?"
"Well, I mean, that just seems like the way it is..."
"Why do we take 3 days to decide who to vote? What if we did it in just an evening?"
"Cause that's what Boss McNeal said we had to do."
"But it's not just that. There are so many different ways we could vote. We could require a majority vote. We could appoint five people in a council to make for more reasoned discussion. We could cast votes on who we thought was trustworthy instead of who we thought was a labor spy…”
(This discussion that took place at the union meeting continues here. Please read it in it’s entirety by clicking on this link. It is too lengthy to include in the Imprisonment story but explains the main gameplay shift of Spies 6 which takes effect immediately.)
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Post by Judge Sam on May 23, 2009 18:42:52 GMT -5
The workers had finished discussing that issue. It had been a few hours and everyone was getting restless, tired of standing the entire meeting.
Bored out of her mind, Jaya looked around the meeting trying to judge who would look funniest as a clown. Having someone in mind, she looked around the room for them everywhere. That person was nowhere in sight.
“Is everyone here?” Jaya asked frantically.
“They should be…”
“What is that smell?"
Smells like something burning…
All of the workers ran outside the room and into the factory. A main part of the machinery was roaring ablaze. The heat and smoke hit them all as the area crackled with flames.
“Oh my god! Someone’s collapsed in there!”
 Robert has been fired and Imprisoned by the Spies.
You will never see him again.
Robert: please post Final Words in your confessional immediately.
Judge Sam: “How tragic. Robert was one of the biggest characters of the game and contributed a lot to the Burg. He got a chance to talk with many of you and certainly sparked discussion, opinions, and reactions. It will be a much smaller Burg without him.
Having you play the game was a pleasure Robert. Don’t have a single complaint – everything from your clever character, to your constant prodding, your astute observations and witty demeanor was fun to watch. I had a blast. It is disappointing that your game had to end so early here. To be picked out from 23 citizens however must feel like an honor – certainly there was some reason why you were selected from amongst the rubble. Thank you for always giving it your all and bringing so much to the game. =) You’ll be missed.”
Judge Sam: “The Spies took one of you, but three days from now you have the opportunity to take two from them. Exile #2 will be live at 10:00 PM CDT Tuesday and will take place in teams similar to last time. Let’s see what we can uncover in the upcoming days.
You will see posted complete rules concerning the Voting Shift twist of Spies 6 which was hinted at in this Imprisonment. I barely explained them here, please read the topics I have stickied in the Burg fully and ask questions. Also read the specific rules regarding the +/- voting which will be in effect for Exile #2. It is important that you not only understand how voting works but the intricacies and weaknesses of the system – you can be others will be using their votes to their maximum advantage.
You should also read a general explanation of the voting shift in that topic. Additionally Activity 2 will be posted tomorrow. We have a lot to do and to read before we break on Wednesday! I shall see you then.
“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?
Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.”
-Abraham Lincoln Credit goes to Todd / spies5carly for the “safety guy gets offed” part of the story conception, thank you.[/right] |
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DC
Alumni
Yves is my butt-monkey
Posts: 321 
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Post by DC on May 29, 2009 11:01:02 GMT -5
Yay Todd. My favorite part of the story, by the way: "Bored out of her mind, Jaya looked around the meeting trying to judge who would look funniest as a clown. Having someone in mind, she looked around the room for them everywhere. That person was nowhere in sight." Random  |
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