However, We At C.A.I. Believe in Second Chances - Let's Play Miss Management!

[LPFinale]

Mahavir Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9
• Moodifier: +2

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9
• Moodifier: +2

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9
• Moodifier: +2

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9
• Moodifier: +4

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Mahavir has a simple relaxation point, the Couch. Generally speaking, not many people are bothered by it, but it can be a problem for those who are. It's pretty average, but still effective, at lowering his Stress, with a base -3 Moodifier.

Mahavir will generally have Goals involving his Couch or speaking with female cast members at the Water Cooler. Nearly all of his conversation partners gain additional Stress while talking to him like this, though only Tara will gain Stress from talking to him even when there's no Goal to do so in the Episode. Note that it's very rare that Mahavir actually relieves any additional Stress of his own when talking to a partner he has a Goal with; more often than not, he only gets the base Water Cooler Moodifier of -2.

Things Mahavir actually dislikes (Timothy being at the Microwave, anyone being on his Couch) are few and far between, and they usually don't bother him too much even when they're present in an Episode, so he's hard to stress out this way.



General Summary

Mahavir works rather slowly, roughly equal to many Employees' Down Arrow subjects, but he gains Stress at a reduced rate in exchange (except for Writing Tasks, which stress him to a silly degree due to his super low Work Rates). This is a boon early on, especially when combined with his general lack of additional stressors, but the further in the game we get, the more Tasks start coming in at once and more frequently. Frankly, Mahavir's slow speeds make him lack viability in the long run to do any heavy amount of work on his own, but he can at least take the pressure off of others for a hot minute.

The problem with Mahavir's low Work Rates, aside from the obvious issue of Tasks coming in faster than he can complete them, is that if he spends all of his time working, he doesn't get to benefit from the global -1 Moodifier to help calm him down. He may wind up gaining more Stress over time than someone who's a bit better at a certain Task Type simply because they get time to calm down while he's stuck working the entire time. Even Coffee doesn't help him too much since he has such low base Work Rate values, so if you really need to make use of him for whatever reason, I hope you've got the funding for Training Manuals in whatever subject/s you need him to cover if you expect a satisfactory performance. ...though, honestly, he's probably one of the better general users of Training Manuals since the speed difference from 5 Work Rate to 7 or 9 Work Rate is pretty noticeable.

All in all, his most common role will be to take the heat off of others for a bit while they're completing Goals or going to their favorite spots to relax. If a Goal wants him to do work himself, break out the items to overcome his poor work ethic; you'll need them to complete large quantities of work in a timely manner without driving both him and Denise insane (due to the Tasks in his pile becoming Overdue by the time he gets to them).



Burn Out Sprite

[LPFinale]

Timothy Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +7

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 13; Trainable to 15
• Moodifier: +5

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 8; Trainable to 10, then 12
• Moodifier: +5

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 6; Trainable to 8, then 10
• Moodifier: +7

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Timothy's relaxation point, the Microwave, is a bit above average at base with a -4 Moodifier. On top of that, the only Employee generally bothered by it doesn't gain much Stress in the first place, so it's pretty great.

Not listed in Timothy's dossier is the fact that he Likes the Radio and Dislikes the AC. It's an interesting little tidbit, though it's likely not mentioned due to being irrelevant.

Timothy is what's known as a Stress Sink Employee, at least in my book, in that he gains Stress from virtually anything anyone else does, with the tradeoff that most things that bother him like this won't apply a Moodifier greater than +1, except for specifically stressful stuff like Tara being at her Whiteboard and not at her desk to deal with the fell beasts known as Art Tasks.

Timothy will often have Goals to get work done or relax at the Microwave. He's thankfully rather simple like that.



General Summary

Timothy's Work Rates in Financial and Technical Tasks are pretty good, but his Moodifiers in them are concerningly high at +5. Granted, trying to do Art Tasks or Writing Tasks would saddle him with a +7 Moodifier and abysmal Work Rates anyway, so Financial and Technical are still his best Task Types. And no, I have no idea why his Writing Skill isn't a Down Arrow, it's just as bad as one except by like, 1 point of Work Rate that means almost nothing considering his +7 Moodifier, shared with his Art Skill as the highest Work-related Moodifier in the entire game. OOF.

Timothy's still a wonderful candidate for working on Financial Tasks with a side of Technical, at least; that 13 Work Rate with Financial Tasks makes his ludicrously high Moodifiers much less of a problem, and his 8 Work Rate with Technical Tasks is slightly above average. Still, I wouldn't entrust too big of a Technical Task to him.

Timothy's overall quite a one-trick pony due to his Moodifiers, but he's pretty good at that trick, so you might as well make use of his ability to get a pile of Financial Tasks out of the office quickly, especially when he can go relax at the Microwave to calm down rather quickly with his beefy, pungent stroganoff.

Once Timothy swallows an entire bottle of chill pills, he ceases to be a Stress Sink Employee, making it a bit easier to use him for Financial and Technical Tasks than before. The only things that bother him after this are very specific stressors like, again, Tara at the Whiteboard, and even then, they won't accrue as much Stress as before.



Burn Out Sprite

[Quackles]

Wow, this is interesting so far. Where did Mahavir get that rose in his profile pic?

And do you think we'll ever see Timothy again?

[Commander Keene]

Not listed in Timothy's dossier is the fact that he Likes the Radio and Dislikes the AC. It's an interesting little tidbit, though it's likely not mentioned due to being irrelevant.

I dunno, looks like he's gone for good. We just got access to the AC and don't have access to the radio, IIRC, so the only ways those things would be irrelevant would be if he's either never coming back, or only coming back when we don't have access to AC or radio.

[Blastinus]

I mean, if the game has a free play or challenge mode, it's possible that he could be shuffled back into the mix again. But yeah, for his sake, it's best that Timothy remains happily retired.

[Taiyo]

Wait... even with the moodifiers and work rates Timothy has with writing tasks, it's not classified as a downwards arrow? Interesting.

This is only a speculation of mine, but they probably overlooked it since every employee thus far has a dot with writing tasks and they were in "autonomous" mode and made Timothy's a dot as well.

[Chinely]

I don't know that having modifiers for a system that Timothy will never experience necessarily means he'll come back. There's an awful lot of redundancy in video games, or they change plan halfway through and originally he WAS going to be in a level with an AC, or characters were made to need them. Or they just didn't want to have the game crash if it ever, somehow, came up.

I wouldn't be surprised if he did come back, though...

[LPFinale]

Tara Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 13; Trainable, but doesn't increase
• Moodifier: +3

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 6; Trainable to 7, then 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +5

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 6; Trainable to 7, then 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +5

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 7; Trainable to 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +7

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Tara's relaxation point, the Whiteboard, is somewhat strong at a -4 Moodifier at base. However, it tends to be available when someone who particularly dislikes her being there is around, so you'll have to manage the Stress of another person to calm her down quickly.

Not mentioned in her Dossier is the fact that Tara Likes the AC. This becomes rather useful considering she tends to get rather stressed out from other people's Goals, and it makes her quite capable at handling large amounts of work on her own when people aren't chewing her ear off.

Most of her Goals involve drawing at the Whiteboard or getting dragged into Mahavir's Goals to talk with her at the Water Cooler, but other times, she'll want some Deluxe Markers. In a vacuum, these are extremely powerful but expensive Stress Reduction items specifically for her, but oftentimes she'll want a bunch of them, forcing you to save your petty cash to meet the Goal rather than blow all of it on Coffee and the like. Thankfully, Deluxe Marker Goals never seem to unlock Optional Goals, so there's less time pressure than with a lot of other Goals.

A lot of Goals Tara gets dragged into will involve talking to others, which boosts her Stress quite a bit, unfortunately. It'll be a juggling act of either bouncing her back and forth from the Water Cooler and the Whiteboard or keeping the AC running and dealing with the consequences. She also gets annoyed by Mahavir's tendency to nap in the middle of the work day, but it never goes beyond mildly annoying her in terms of Stress gain, so that one is rather manageable.



General Summary

Full disclosure, Tara has the highest Work Rate for Art Tasks in the entire game. Others come close, but they're a point or two of Work Rate behind. Nobody gets Art Tasks out of the office more quickly than Tara, and her other subjects aren't too bad as long as you can give her a break at the Whiteboard.

While Writing Tasks are going to Stress her out to an absurd degree no matter what (+7 is tied for the highest Moodifier on Work in the game), her Financial and Technical Moodifiers are actually quite manageable once she can relax while working with the AC; this lets her take over the Financial and Technical work when everyone else who can do it reasonably is busy. The days with Deluxe Markers available as Goals make this even more manageable of a strategy.

Overall, Tara's a wonder to have around. She can do Art Tasks at an unrivaled speed, fill in for some other kinds of work in a pinch, and has numerous alternate methods of calming down to keep her going. It's hard to think of many other Employees in a better position than her in terms of a Work/Stress balance.



Burn Out Sprite

[LPFinale]

Winston Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 8, then 10, but has no effect from further training
• Moodifier: +6

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 8; Trainable to 10, then 12
• Moodifier: +4

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 13; Trainable to 15
• Moodifier: +3

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 10; Trainable to 13, then 15
• Moodifier: +4

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Winston's relaxation point, the Arcade Machine, is pretty average at a base -3 Moodifier. To be honest, if I need to calm Winston down, I use the AC or the Radio more often than not unless he has the Arcade Machine in one of his Goals. There's always one or two people that don't like him being on the Arcade Machine, and it's not a fast relaxation point anyway.

Since Winston likes both the AC and the Radio, he fits into most any office setup we'll run into, which makes him one of the most chill Employees we'll ever have.

His Goals will sometimes involve the Arcade Machine or the AC/Radio, but he's gonna wind up getting involved in other people's Goals pretty often to keep him in the Stress loop since not many things bother him.

The only thing Winston universally dislikes is others being at the Arcade Machine, and it's very rare that anyone will even be allowed to do that. Other times he's not fond of people besides him doing Technical Tasks, but that's always a very specific Employee instead of just anyone. Aside from other Goals that'll show up like making him talk to someone, it's very hard to Stress him out in any way besides doing work, and to be fair, he'll be doing a lot of it for reasons discussed later.



General Summary

Winston's an utter working machine. He does great with Technical Tasks (which a lot of people are just average with), his Financial Task performance is a bit above average in exchange for more Stress, and his Writing Task stats are just barely off from being Up Arrow worthy. As his self-description of his job states, he's a roamer, so he won't be around all the time; however, he's amazing to have when he is.

Being fine with both the AC and the Radio means Winston will fit into whatever floor plan we have to deal with. On top of that, he's the only Employee in the game who can get 3 points of Work Rate from Training Manuals, namely his first Art and Writing Manuals, which boost from 5 to 8 Work Rate and 10 to 13 Work Rate respectively. And yes, you're reading that correctly; he can become as fast at Writing Tasks as he is at Technical Tasks by reading one of these things, and he can be as fast with Art Tasks as he is with Financial Tasks for the same deal if you REALLY need to, albeit still getting stressed. Good god, man, ease back on the advantages.

Okay so basically Winston is an outright carry if you can keep your office-wide relaxer going and everyone else calm, I don't know what else to say. Maybe pawn off the Art Tasks on someone who can do them better and isn't getting a migraine from whichever office-wide device is on, otherwise Winston can probably handle most of it himself until the largest Task sizes start coming in. Wow. Just wow. Give the man a Coffee and watch him monch through the papers. I'm losing my damn mind thinking about all this. Please stay, man. Don't go. I know you have to leave sometimes to make it hard but please don't stay away for long, this office could use a person of your caliber.



Burn Out Sprite

[LPFinale]

Pearl Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 9; Trainable to 11
• Moodifier: +3

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 9; Trainable to 11
• Moodifier: +3

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 9; Trainable to 11
• Moodifier: +3

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 7; Trainable to 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +3

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Pearl has two different relaxation points, the Microwave with her personal stash of popcorn and the Smoking Lounge. Both of these have the same base Moodifier of -4. Her popcorn doesn't bother anyone, but her smoking does. You can probably guess where this will go as the floor plans change over time.

Pearl's Goals commonly require her to spend time at a relaxation point she has available or to lecture people, giving them a hefty Stress Moodifier no matter who they are. Not even Mahavir is immune to this; in fact, he's among the more vulnerable since he has no global relaxation device he enjoys. She also tends to have Goals to do a bunch of work to flex on the office with her skills at pushing papers.

She's a Stress Sink Employee, and she's fully prepared to hate everything about people's time goofing off, aside from Mahavir taking a nap; she's still not fond of him going to the Water Cooler or flirting, though. Plus, she can't stand either of the global relaxation devices, so that also makes her rather bothersome to deal with. It's a good thing her popcorn is so relaxing. Thankfully, she doesn't take much offense to anyone in particular, aside from Tara at her Whiteboard. This seems to be a recurring pattern.



General Summary

Pearl's work stats are very passable, but they're held back by being the Stress Sink Employee. 9 Work Rate for a +3 Moodifier is good, but let's be real here, it's never going to be just +3. She's going to need breaks, and she'll need them often to avoid melting down while others are trying to complete Goals. She can fill in for most Task Types missing from your lineup due to people being off doing things, but only for quick bursts, and Writing is a no-go because she'll get stressed too quickly from being slow (and there'll always be someone better-suited to Writing around, anyway).

She doesn't make particularly efficient use of Training Manuals, and her results from Coffee are alright, but basically everyone but Mahavir gets alright results from Coffee, if not better. She's supremely meh despite her skills simply due to her being an utter basketcase. She's an obstacle with perks, nothing more, nothing less.

I really thought I had more to say about her. I don't. This is a really straightforward "Meh" evaluation despite how appealing those Up Arrows look. Let this be a lesson: not all Up Arrows are created equal.

Edit, 7/28/2020: Turns out I do have one thing to say about her: that soldier-like way she walks gives her 6 Movement Speed compared to every other Employee's 5. For reference, Denise has 10. Does this affect much? No, but at least she gets around quickly if you need her to, and 20% faster than any other Employee.



Burn Out Sprite

[Commander Keene]

It's interesting that Pearl's affinities for Art/Tech/Finance are considered Up Arrows at 9 WR, but Winston's Writing affinity isn't considered an Up Arrow at 10. The +1 Moodifier he gets from it over her affinities is probably at least canceled out by his faster WR, so he probably averages out at the same Stress gain per task at Writing as Pearl does at say, Art. It seems that affinities denote the employee's highest Work Rate, and aren't a "you must be this good to get an Up Arrow".

It's also kinda funny that she's supposed to be the "Jack of all trades", but Winston ends up making a better one than her in practice.

[Quackles]

Is burnt-out Tara... sucking her thumb? That's a fetal position, for sure.

Her flavor quote shows good taste, though.

[Taiyo]

I've always wondered why Winston seems to be able to do all tasks effectively while I was playing the game despise having a downwards arrow for Art and a dot for Financial and Writing, but wow. Never knew he was THAT close to actually having an upwards arrow for Writing!

But, just like LPFinale, I loved having Winston around and I'd be sad when he had to go to his other job(s) during the game.

[Robindaybird]

Is burnt-out Tara... sucking her thumb? That's a fetal position, for sure.

Her flavor quote shows good taste, though.

and Pearl's holding a flower like a cartoon character except it's not a calla lily.

[Tenebrais]

Is burnt-out Tara... sucking her thumb? That's a fetal position, for sure.

Her flavor quote shows good taste, though.

Of all the characters we've seen Tara would probably be one of the few you'd actually like in person - if, and only if, you're into anime.

[LPFinale]

Episode 8: Gameplay Update, "The Pen's Mightier...?"

Video:


Well, hot off the heels of an incredibly oof situation for Tara, we're going to be stuck making the most of it.



For starters, we have a Goal from every single member of the office, even Denise! Thankfully, hers is just introducing a new item that you're going to have to learn to love because it's AMAZINGLY nutty.

As for the others, these, uh, make it kind of difficult to 2-Day this Episode without knowing what unlocks what in advance. Thankfully, I do; the most vital Optional Goals to get early are unlocked by Pearl's Goal of talking to Winston.



Denise isn't fond of Coffee, but hoo boy, she can manage to get a good buzz off of a Diet Soda. This item outright doubles Denise's movement speed for 20 Seconds. As Tasks start flowing in at higher speeds, it'll get more and more difficult to manage; the Diet Soda makes sure you go above and beyond the call of duty in terms of the necessary speed to keep getting work distributed and finished on time.

...to be clear, we basically aren't ever going to need this thing just to get by, but it'll certainly tone down the pressure later on. Also, as those of you who have played can probably guess, it's the first major building block for a special sort of strategy I'll be taking full advantage of later on.

As for this level, it just serves as a one-time Morale Boost for the low, low price of $8 since the speed is completely unnecessary. Reducing the Stress of everyone in the office by 20 at will is a pretty nice perk to have, gotta admit.



Here's how we start the day after the Intro; Mahavir and Winston at their spots, and Tara with a hefty sum of Stress. Oof.



We quickly get our priorities in order by sending Winston to talk with Pearl, our most important Goal today, and turning on the AC for the sake of both him and Tara. Tara's gonna need it to keep from having a nervous breakdown with the Writing Tasks; they stress her out enough that she reaches the frustration threshold even with the AC on.



A Technical Task comes in, and I put it on Pearl's desk. This is going to look weird for a while, but I'll be placing a few Tasks on Pearl's desk and just eating the Stress on Denise. This is kind of important to guaranteeing you can 2-Day this Episode without folding to the whims of the RNG, and with any luck, we won't completely screw it up.



But first, since we've earned enough cash, we head to OfficeTown to grab our Morale Boost in a Can.



This thing is so, so beautiful at the price point of $8. It'll be a good friend of ours for most of the game, whenever we're in need of a burst of speed.



Taking a chance and putting another of these Tasks on Pearl's desk. This is gonna get dicey once this one goes Overdue as well, since we've still got 30-ish seconds on Pearl's Goal.



Letting Tara handle this next Technical Task since it's fine under the AC's influence, which is fine, but what I should've done is give Tara one of the Overdue ones to reduce the amount of incoming Stress for a bit and give Denise a burst of Stress Reduction once the Overdue one is completed. Inefficient, but at least this won't completely screw me.



Oh hey, tutorial blurb, thanks for taking the time to tell me what I'm already aware of and letting Tara finish this Writing Task stress-free during the time freeze!



I decided it was time to cash in that Morale Boost since we've got a little while yet until Mahavir and Pearl are done, and we need all the time we can buy. Literally!

Oh, and remember how I mentioned the Diet Soda doubles Denise's speed?



Yeah. That's some good stuff right there that'll be put to better use much later on.



With the Goals about to be complete, I place another Task on Pearl's desk. This will make sense soon, I swear.



Well, Denise is about to Burn Out, but the Goals are about to save her. On top of that, we went and got Pearl a Coffee to get through this next bit as fast as possible.



There's the first one, saving Denise from the Danger state...



Pearl finishes her lecture and Winston immediately bolts to the Arcade Machine, beginning to chip away at his Goal for it. Pearl struts back to her desk, satisfied, and ready to show everyone how things are really done around here.

Oh, and everything gets to make sense now.



See? This. Pearl's gonna be angry for a while, and Writing Tasks are terrible for the kind of Stress she'll be under, so we need to hedge our bets and give her some non-Writing Tasks in advance.



Especially since we'll be keeping the AC on for this Goal and to enable Tara to endure Mahavir for longer.

Oh, and if the incrementing numbers weren't enough of a hint, Pearl's making good use of that Coffee.



As expected, we need to send Pearl to her sweet, sweet popcorn to keep from overloading her.



With some Financial Tasks coming in and the end of the day approaching, we might as well send Pearl back to get some progress on her Goal.



I shut off the AC since it'll be on plenty tomorrow and Pearl needs less incoming Stress to complete all these without Burning Out.



With a stray Technical Task making 7, that's a good place to end the day on.



As a reminder, each day has 140 Seconds. This'll be close, especially when taking into consideration all the time Employee movement takes.



Standard starting Stress stuff, plus Goal recap notifications.



And these are our new positions for a decent chunk of the day. Funnily enough, Pearl is actually gaining Stress from this, albeit very slowly. And it's for that reason...



...that I buy a Donut for once. Coffee helps us avoid Stress in the first place, and the Donut's role is often taken by our relaxation points, but Pearl's relaxation point can't reduce her Stress right now and Coffee won't do nearly enough to keep her from blowing up like this.



As soon as another Task enters that isn't Writing, we'll be ready for it.



Yeesh, and that's after taking 40 Stress off of her meter. At least the Morale Boost afterward will buy time to get back to the Microwave.



Oh right, and Winston completed his Goal, too. Now, you might notice that the bar below his Required Goal, the one we just finished, is empty now; normally those stay full when we finish a Goal. Strange, isn't it? Well...



That'd be because his new Goal on the far right is actually to playtest the Arcade Machine rather than just calibrate it, and so the variable for how much time is on the Arcade Machine was reset to accommodate for it. It's jank.

Oh right, and Pearl finished her Goal. Woo.



We've also taken care of Winston's AC Goal, but we'll be keeping it on for Tara's sake since we still need to finish these Writing Tasks and talk with Mahavir some more.



I have Mahavir shut off the AC to help calm down Pearl a bit in case we need her while the others are all busy. Tara's gonna get more stressed from this now, but she was gonna need some time at the Whiteboard anyway.

Also, I don't think I've properly shown off how much Stress Tara gains from doing Writing Tasks without the AC on, sooooo...



OOF. Note that this is tied with what Timothy would've gained when doing Art Tasks. It's that brutal.



With those Writing Tasks complete, Tara takes a well-deserved break with her drawings before she'll have to head back to the Water Cooler. Oh, and since that was the last Required Goal...



...we get this little interruption again. It's nice to be able to take a moment to think about things, honestly, so I don't really mind this popping in like this even though there's only one time I've ever taken it, and that's long ago.



I have Denise turn the AC back on to speed up Tara's break, and a Writing Task comes in when Mahavir's available. Perfect time to showcase his own Stress gain compared to Tara.



It's honestly not that bad in a vacuum, but his slow Work Rates can cause this to spiral out of control quickly if he's the focus of a bunch of longer Writing Tasks.



Some more work is coming in, but Winston should be done soon. He can handle whatever comes in while the AC's running.



I even went and bought him a Coffee to show off a bit. Let's see how that goes, shall we?



Not even Art Tasks can stand in the way of this guy and his caffeine, at least not at the size they are right now.



Yeah, this is how close this Episode cuts it if you want to 2-Day it. Things are ramping up, slowly but surely. ...granted, the actual requirement for this Episode was 4 Days. I just see an opportunity to cut back on time and I take it.



And finally, we're done with just 5 Seconds to spare. Oh, and since I didn't mention this earlier, this is the 5th time this chat-'em-up goal has appeared. I'm sure it's totally working and not having the exact opposite effect you intend, Mahavir.



Ahhhh... the satisfaction of utterly eviscerating a time goal. It feels so good and wonderful.

Next time, we see if we can find a better solution to the Two-Batch Catastrophe than piling all the work onto our artist. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types

• Art Tasks: 20%
• Financial Tasks: 20%
• Technical Tasks: 20%
• Writing Tasks: 40%

Task Bursts

• 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 8-10 Seconds: 100%

Task Sizes

• 2-Bar Tasks: 100%

Required Goals

• "Chat with Winston about hardware upgrades at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goals #1 and #3
• "Configure the new arcade machine. (80 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2
• "Take a nap on the couch. (90 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #4
• "Pearl wants Tara to finish ten writing tasks. (10 Writing Tasks)"
• "Put some more pep in Denise's step with a diet soda from OfficeTown. (1 Diet Soda)"

Optional Goals

• "Keep the AC running for a while. (80 Seconds)"
• "Test the arcade machine out by playing it. (60 Seconds)"
• "Complete ten tasks of any kind to prove who's the best worker in the office. (10 Tasks)"
• "Chat Tara up at the water cooler. (90 Seconds)"

Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created





Where do I even start with this?
I dunno, both dumping all the Writing work on the artist and accepting a job when you have no idea how much work it actually is are pretty good places to start. Like, WOW.
I just kinda get a feeling like the central office knew exactly what they were doing when they called the office manager who's not been here more than two months with no prior experience and said "Hey, can you handle this small number of an actually plural unit of measurement with no context?"
Ugh, yeah. Makes me wonder if they took a look at Mahavir's resume and assumed they could churn out Writing Tasks like they were nothing, might've even been surprised they'd not been getting that work for the past month. I dunno what this guy's grievance is with doing what he's gone to university for 8 years to learn, or really his issue with work in general, but it's gonna be a problem.
Not helped by the fact that Pearl seems to enable him to hell and back. Really oughta figure out what their deal is some time. The leverage could be useful.
From what I've seen of Pearl, she'd just walk right over you regardless of what you know about her and keep on working. She's an utter beast, though not up to snuff compared to specialists and too volatile to rely on. This could be how she's avoided promotion, but that's not stopping her from trying to take the reins on other people's work methods.
Several people technically more qualified in the office to handle the Writing, whether they'll actually do it quickly or not, and she picks the artist. While there's a link with the creativity comment, those are two separate beasts altogether, especially when it comes to work for clients.
It's hard to imagine how restricted she must feel compared to how she handles the Art work, especially when paired with needing to cross-reference everything she does to make sure the formatting's up to company standards. It's not as rough with these shorter ones, but it's still an utter pain if you're not used to it.
She looked nearly ready to just get up and go home a few times today. There's gotta be a better way to handle this than just putting it all on her at Pearl's demand.
I know, but we can't exactly step in at this stage. We're just gonna have to sit on our hands and see where it goes, as much as that sucks. See you next time?
Yeah. Here's hoping it all works out.

[Chinely]

Poor Tara. Tara is definitely one of those people - and I would know, because I'm one too - that's a lot easier to befriend if you know how to be silent. Lot of people see a quiet as awkward no matter what, but there's something very companionable about doing something in silence together.

What I'm saying is if Mahavir gave the girl a break, she'd probably be more willing to talk to him sometimes.

[Junpei]

Was the IT Crowd out by the time this game was released? Because Winston kind of reminds me of that show.

[Taiyo]

Was the IT Crowd out by the time this game was released? Because Winston kind of reminds me of that show.

That is actually a good question, so I checked around on the Internet real quick.

Miss Management release date: June 20, 2008
The IT Crowd release date: Feb 3, 2006

It's likely that Winston is based on Maurice Moss, so it's plausible.

EDIT: ...this does make me wonder if Mahavir is based on Roy, as they're both lazy.

[LPFinale]

Episode 9: Story Update

Video:


Well, last time we tried to manage our artist's misery as they took up a pen instead of their markers.



Now, though, it seems Denise has a plan for the coming storm, much to Pearl's chagrin and, most likely, Tara's relief.



Let's see it all unfold, shall we?



Honestly, I don't know how long you can get away with...



Oh, this is just a treat to see.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You think you don't need to follow office policies!

Keep trying, maybe you'll be able to put a mark on the record of however-the-hell-high his job goes someday.

You come and go as you please, playing this... noisy ZAP thing!



Stay cool, Winston. Stay cool.

Meanwhile, entering stage left...



Sure thing...

...is our new recruit!



Yes, there are a lot of fun things to do around here, aren't there?

Especially after Winston brought in the arcade machine. I wonder if it's like Galaxian or something.

We just have to make sure all the work gets done too!
Right on, I know what you mean. Gotta keep the man off your back.

Seems like Luke'll be pretty chill, for starters.



...well, chill while also preferring to not be chilly, I suppose.

Oh! Well, we have been turning it on more often now that the weather's warmer. Besides, the tasks stick together when it's humid!



He said, maintaining his perfect swoop of hair the entire time.

You don't even care about the AC, dude, though you'd be kind of ridiculous in gameplay if you did.

But that like, conditioned air is bad for you, y'know?





Okay so I looked up what in the hell a "freon radical" is, and the only thing that came up were free radicals. Some sort of thing in your immune system that has a negative impact if there's too many for your body to handle? The guy's conflating several terms together in a way that ultimately says "AC bad, now more difficult to manage Stress infliction."

Oh... sure, OK! We don't have to leave it on that much...

Denise is equally confused but much more composed, I feel.

All of you are just goofing off! Get to work!

More composed than Pearl, anyways.



. . .
Oh, Pearl! Don't worry about the writing tasks, I've found a solution!

Read the desk chart and weep, Pearl.

This is Luke, he's a freelance writer.



I get the feeling that's a very Luke sort of compliment.

Nice to be aboard, and my pen's at yer service.
What? You hired a freelancer? Did you get permission for that?

Come at us, office queen.

Well, I contacted...
Did you fill out the proper paperwork?



Why... yes, that's right.
All taken care of! The central office approved it yesterday.

Boom. You've been out-fine-printed.



Leave it to Luke, lil' lady. I'll show y'all what I'm made of... all natural!



For Tara, it's back to the drawing board, in a good way for once!

Don't mind if I use your water jug there, do ya?



Makes sense. Simple and clean, though there might be competing interests for the Water Cooler if the past few Episodes have been any indicator.

Uh... sure Luke, go right ahead!

Luke heads over to the Water Cooler at this point. We'll get a better look at it in the gameplay portion when there's not a big green "Skip ->->" button in the way.

Well all right, then. Not bad, Denise.



Victory, it tastes so sweet and is often accompanied by a cute little dance.

Hmph.



Look directly behind you for an example on the couch.

No need to worry, Pearl, we can get everything...
Don't tell me not to worry, missy!

And what if we continue to do so for the rest of our time in this office, hmmmmm?

Tara!
Um... yes, ma'am?

Oh goddammit, not again

Report to me at the water cooler when you have a chance!



All... all right...

Is this like a game of process of elimination with you? Winston's untouchable, Mahavir's Mahavir for whatever your reason is, Luke's new, Denise is the office manager, so all of it falls on Tara?

Oh god that might actually be it

Huh, what? Man, what a weird dream... did I miss anything?



He knows what's up, it seems. We'll have to see how this goes, along with a writeup soon.

Next time, we introduce the cool-handed cavalry himself. See you then.

[Junpei]

Luke! I liked Luke. He was the last character I remembered seeing/reading in my own playthrough. I do know what happens from this point onwards, but only from other LPs on Youtube.

When I said early about you saying in the SA thread about there only being 2 guys you'd actually get along with, I said Winston was the first, and I thought Luke was the second. He seems pretty chill. But then again, he's sort of a hippie, and lord knows that hippies can be annoying at times.

[LPFinale]

Luke! I liked Luke. He was the last character I remembered seeing/reading in my own playthrough. I do know what happens from this point onwards, but only from other LPs on Youtube.

When I said early about you saying in the SA thread about there only being 2 guys you'd actually get along with, I said Winston was the first, and I thought Luke was the second. He seems pretty chill. But then again, he's sort of a hippie, and lord knows that hippies can be annoying at times.

Oh, absolutely, he has his... quirks. I just assumed "freon radicals" were something when I was younger, but unless he's off on one of those tangents, he's pretty alright. Probably not the kind for a close friend, but definitely alright to have around the office.

[Quackles]

Interesting. Looking at the title screen, there's four more people we have yet to meet: The person on the top left with a cell phone, Mr. Blond Guy with the book hidden inside the company manual, the person on the right with the newspaper, and the redhead with the dog.

I foresee that things will get more spicy before they get less so...

[Taiyo]

Poor Tara. I don't see her sticking around the office very long due to the way how Pearl and Mahavir has been treating her.

[LPFinale]

Luke Writeup







Task Type Stats

Art Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +5

Financial Tasks

• Work Rate: 5; Trainable to 7, then 9, then 11
• Moodifier: +5

Technical Tasks

• Work Rate: 8; Trainable to 10, then 12
• Moodifier: +4

Writing Tasks

• Work Rate: 13; Trainable to 15
• Moodifier: +2

Likes/Dislikes Summary

Luke, much like Pearl, has two different relaxation points. He can use the Water Cooler to make his herbal tea, so long as he's alone there (EDIT, 8/8/2020: It actually applies even if someone else is at the Water Cooler, though Luke will look like he's talking; any Goals where he's getting Stressed by talking to someone apply stupid high Moodifiers to compensate. However, he can't increment his herbal tea Goals while talking to someone, except in Episodes where it's bugged. However, any Episode where this would actually let you complete two Goals at once has this working as intended, only incrementing one Goal at once), for an average -3 Moodifier (EDIT, 9/5/2020: The -3 actually stacks with the Water Cooler's usual -2, making it a total -5 Moodifier, which is well above average). This comes with the perk that people don't really mind it any more than a normal Water Cooler, unless an Episode has it so they mind Luke being there specifically. We'll see the other spot, the Bathroom, quite soon, but rest assured it's an interesting one. It give Luke a whopping -10 Moodifier, but you can't control how long a person is in the Bathroom; they will remain there for 8 seconds exactly, which means you'll be down an Employee for that amount of time no matter what, and anyone who dislikes him being in there will have to deal with it the entire time. It's amazing, for sure, but it'll be rough to handle by nature. Oh, and keep in mind that he'll always return to his desk whenever he's done, instead of wherever you sent him from. Prevents spacing conflicts, you see.

Kombucha Mate is an item similar to Deluxe Markers... well, exactly like Deluxe Markers, all the way down to the price, but they won't be available for a long while. They do the same thing, -90 Stress for $15, but for Luke. Simple. As for the music, Luke likes the Radio, which will help once it shows up in an office layout.

Lukes dislikes are many, but relatively manageable. First off, smoking. This will become a big issue later on, but when it first shows up, it'll be manageable, at least. It'll always be a +2 Moodifier at minimum, so you'll need to actively manage it. The AC is self-explanatory as a problem that will balance itself out with the Stress reduction others experience, but the Bathroom one is an interesting case; it'll be a situation where two different Employees use the same relaxation point, and they dislike pretty heavily when the other is using it. This combined with the fact that they have to remain in the Bathroom for a set period of time makes it rather pressing to manage well, so keep that in mind when it starts showing up later.



General Summary

Let's make something quite clear: Luke is unparalleled when it comes to handling Writing Tasks in a Stress-efficient manner. His Moodifier for it is as low as any of Mahavir's non-Writing subjects, and yet he's tied with the other specialists' best subjects. He could handle all of our Writing needs forever, were it not for his tendency to get stressed over numerous things later on. Thankfully, his low Moodifier for Writing makes his best subject still rather manageable when those things become more of an issue.

On top of that, whenever he isn't being actively stressed by something, he handles Technical Tasks just fine, at about the same rate Timothy did with a very slightly lower Moodifier. Don't rely on him too much for it if he's under pressure, but he can do it. He's kind of riding a fine edge between being rather chill and being a stress bomb, depending on how you handle him, but he does his major job, Writing Tasks, perfectly fine no matter what.

All in all, good Employee to have around. Not a very flexible one, but good enough all-around at what he can do that I wouldn't consider him a hindrance. Keep calm and carry on, and take full advantage of his ability to calm down quickly.



Burn Out Sprite

[Junpei]

The weird thing is that if you took Luke's appearance at face value you'd probably think he was some flavor of redneck. I mean, cowboy boots, white t-shirt, and jeans? Give him a cool car and you could see him as a side character on the Dukes of Hazzard. But no, he's a hippie.

...are hippie rednecks a thing?

[yamiaainferno]

...are hippie rednecks a thing?

As someone who works in Austin, Texas, I can answer your question with an unequivocal and emphatic yes.

[Kacie]

LPFinale - those two paintings you found are *perfect*. I love them.

And that's about the face one ought to be making with regard to "freon radicals".

Freon is a trademark name of the chlorofluorocarbons which are the (old) coolant in refrigerators - and also destroy the ozone layer once they leak out of old refrigerators.

Free radicals are a term for when a molecule has an unpaired electron -- electrons have a negative charge, they want to pair up with a positive charge from a proton, and they want to fill their electron shell (orbitals). H2O (water) is stable because Oxygen has 8 protons & 8 electrons, and 2 Hydrogen (1 proton, 1 electron apiece) for a total of 10 protons and 10 electrons, and two filled shells (s-orbital, 2 electrons, p-orbital, 8 electrons). But HO only has 9 electrons, and single electron in the s-orbital is lonely for a partner -- so it is looking to grab another electron from someone else. That makes it very chemically reactive, which is useful, but dangerous if it gets out of hand. This is where antioxidents come into play - they stop chain reactions of free radicals running around, stealing an electron, and thus putting someone else in an electron-needy state. (Oxidation does refer originally to oxygen, back when folks didn't know what exactly was going on but hey lots of stuff reacts with oxygen!)

So, yeah, Luke got Freon from the AC, mixed it up with free radicals being the badguy (with justification) in a health fad, and came up with the theory that AC-cooled air is bad for you.

Which is the long way of saying how much I love those paintings.

[LPFinale]

Episode 9: Gameplay Update, "Cool Hand Cavalry"

Video:


Well then, with a new Employee with us, and a rather chill one at that, let's see what we're working with.



Well, you already made a pretty good first impression, Luke, but I'm sure showing off your work skills couldn't hurt.

Water Cooler time will be at a premium this Episode. As for which one to prioritize, the one with Tara unlocks the most things, but they're not really pressing ones to unlock, and there's some jank I wanna show off with Winston's, so that's what we'll go for first.

This time, Technical and Writing Tasks will make up two thirds of our workload, perfect for Luke's 20-Task Goal. Fair warning, our first 2-Task Burst is here, but this also makes that Goal a little bit easier by having more Tasks show up to complete.



Luke's a writer, plain and simple. He can work on Technical Tasks just fine as long as nothing else is bothering him, so he's not completely tunnel-visioned, but keep in mind that they Stress him something fierce if anything else is interfering.

The upside to all this is that he's pretty easy to calm down, being able to use the Water Cooler more efficiently than others as long as he's alone, and his next relaxation point is incredible, too, and we'll get to see it really soon!

He doesn't like the AC, though, so that'll be an issue in this office layout, especially when it's so useful for Tara and Winston.



Okay, um. These actually cost $12, not $15, so that's nice, but they're still hot garbage. They reduce Denise's Stress by 30, less than a Donut would for an Employee. There are use cases for it, I'm sure, but they're kinda overridden by just... getting the work done in the first place, it's not that insurmountable of a task, and this only buys 10 more Seconds if you have 3 Tasks overdue. For $12.

The Donut-Coffee dichotomy applies doubly so to Denise; Diet Sodas are a much more effective way of calming her down by getting everyone their Tasks quickly, especially since she gets a small burst of Stress relief whenever a formerly-Overdue Task is completed, and the Diet Soda is actually CHEAPER than the Brownie.

Why would they do you dirty like this, Brownie? You're so delicious IRL. Stuff some chocolate chips in there and you're absolutely irresistible.



Art Manual. Training Manual for Art. Apply directly to the brain, costs $8 instead of $10. Moving on.



Here's our starting positions for the day. Tara's stressed, as usual. Thankfully, it won't have much of an effect this Episode. Oh, and let's get a closer look at Luke enjoying his herbal tea. This gif is actually from later since Pearl will be calling dibs on the Water Cooler all day to lecture people, but I might as well show it now.



That'd probably relax me too if I weren't concerned about what the hell is in it, being homemade and all from the person who mentioned "freon radicals" the other day.



This is how things will be for a long while; the AC's on, Luke's working diligently, and Mahavir will be crashing on his couch momentarily to get started on his nap so he has less of it to complete while Tara's talking to Pearl.



Since Luke effectively doesn't have a relaxation point today, I bought him some Donuts to tide him over while we have the AC on. This is an extremely valid use case for Donuts and the like going forward, I've gotta say.



I also grab him a Coffee a little bit later to blaze through these Technical Tasks without exploding. It works, but...



...with, uh, a bit of Stress on top of it. Not sure how an ice pack would help when he's so concerned about the AC being on, but at least the warm Donuts will keep him calm.



Alright, that's Pearl's Goal done, and... Winston's acting like he's got a Goal done, too. Huh. How unusual. I wonder what that's about? She said, failing to act suitably unaware



So, uh, yeah, Winston had a Goal to keep the AC on unlocked by that lecture. For some reason, the variable counting the time the AC has been on works before unlocking it in this Episode specifically.

I can only assume this is because the "LevelACOn" variable is coded to both Winston and Tara in this Episode, when normally it's only coded to the person whose Goal it is to have the AC on; Tara's not tied to the Goal, so maybe it was counting off of her copy of the variable and didn't block it from counting like Winston's.



Winston continues to be Winston, and Luke has some fresh Tasks to work on.



Mahavir finishes his nap just in time to stop pushing Tara over the edge during Pearl's lecture, as well as keeping Luke calm enough for the rest of the day.



And with that lecture, we're done for the day. What sort of Goals might this unlock, you ask?



More Tasks for Pearl, and another lecture! This time it's Mahavir, and yes, he still gains Stress from it. Prolonged exposure to Pearl is very much not what he's after when he takes advantage of her favoritism.



Some simple Task shuffling should get this done with just enough time at the Water Cooler, I'd say.



Since Mahavir doesn't care about the AC, we can just leave it off so Luke can do his thing.



Of course, since we can't stall with the AC, Mahavir's gonna need a break at some point, so let's get Pearl a decent pile of Tasks and a Coffee, shall we?



This goes predictably well, I must say. Might as well send Luke down there while we can, though, we don't have much down time to waste.



Pearl's getting really close to done. I'm sure we'll have time to complete it once she finishes describing the fjords in her photographs.



If Winston being at his Arcade Machine for a bit didn't make it obvious, I had him chip down a Financial Task for Luke. It should be fine, there's no AC bothering him and we need some Tasks finished before Pearl leaves the Water Cooler.



Rock on, big guy, rock on. Good timing, too, Pearl's just about to end off on how crudely her luggage was treated on the way back by angered employees.



Oh yeah, and since I sent Luke to the Water Cooler while Mahavir was occupying the default spot, he's gonna be making his tea in the other position, for once. Rare little quirk there, since you usually want him at the Water Cooler alone.



Pearl finishes off her work while Luke defies the universe and stands on the right side of the Water Cooler.



Nothing much here, just waiting for Luke to finish with only 3 Seconds to spare.



Theeeeere we go. It all comes together~



As usual, 2 Days out of 4. I do wonder if we can keep that up for the next Episode, though, I forget what goes on exactly there in terms of Goals.

Next time, we have a mid-Season Outro to go over. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types

• Art Tasks: 16.7%
• Financial Tasks: 16.7%
• Technical Tasks: 33.3%
• Writing Tasks: 33.3%

Task Bursts

• 2-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 6-8 Seconds: 33.3%
• 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 6-7 Seconds: 33.3%
• 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 5-6 Seconds: 33.3%

Task Sizes

• 2-Bar Tasks: 50%
• 3-Bar Tasks: 50%

Required Goals

• "Discuss Tara's future career options with her at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goals #2 and #3
• "Relax at the water cooler with a mug of medicinal herb tea. (50 Seconds)"
• "Lecture Winston at the water cooler about breaking office policies. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
• "Complete twenty tasks (of any kind) to make a good first impression. (20 Tasks)"
• "Take a long nap on the couch. (100 Seconds)"

Optional Goals

• "Keep the AC running for a while. (60 Seconds, Always Active Bug)"
• "Tell Mahavir all about Scandinavian cruises at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)"
• "Complete at least ten tasks (of any kind) to set a good example. (10 Tasks)"

[TeeQueue]

You continue masterfully dismantling these missions and I'm all the way here for it.

EDIT: Update on previous page

[Tylana]

Weird question. Can you pause in this game?

[Taiyo]

Weird question. Can you pause in this game?

Yes you can. There's a green Pause button underneath the clock.

[LPFinale]

Weird question. Can you pause in this game?

Yes you can. There's a green Pause button underneath the clock.

Yeah, the game also pauses whenever you open the Goal Info or Employee Info tabs. It's pretty useful, if I remember to do it instead of just going at an Episode's Goals.

I typically try to refrain from doing that while recording, but it's good to get your bearings if you're not sure what it is you should accomplish and need time to think.

[LPFinale]

Episode 9: Outro Update

Video:


Hi, yes, welcome back a bunch of the smilies we know and love to use in things

Well, last time, Luke showed off his skills in the office and great ability to take care of the Two-Batch Catastrophe, much to Pearl's chagrin. This time...



...well, I did say it was time to welcome back some smilies.

Some people might consider drawing doodles and playing with art programs all day to be work. But I do not!

Pearl I keep trying to tell you this isn't a stat-booster VN, our only source of "Number Go Up" is a temporary manual that wears off at the end of the work day.



Yes, ma'am.

Admittedly, she's better than most below-average people at the rest of her Task Types, but they Stress her out to no end and they're not what she was hired for; this shouldn't be like a curriculum or something.



...this is, uh, going nowhere fast, isn't it.

Have fun! Explore new horizons!





It's like...

Alright Tara, the office queen's out the door now, you can let it all out. Go ahead.

...
Yes?
It's like...



The world beyond the light, from which there is no escape... except for Himiko, finding new light deep within herself.

Oh... uh... that bad, really?

Denise, I think you need to catch up on things, this arc was pretty far along but not that far. Reruns air pretty regularly, so it shouldn't be too hard.



Oooh, true, that is what ultimately got her out of there. Right in the Demon Queen's left cheek, too. Maybe you can find your own?

Oh honey, you don't need to... um, practice martial arts, or whatever!

Denise I really, really appreciate that you're trying so hard but





Yeah, that um, that could've gone better. A lot better.

Always off in her own world.
And this dimension... I mean, this office, doesn't seem to be particularly friendly to her.

I'll take "Understatements of the Decade" for $2000, Alex.



Winston's still cool, though. Always will be.

Next time, we see how things proceed in the office. See you then.




















Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created





Okay, so this may have been a worse situation than either of us could've seen coming.
Speak for yourself. She's practically a legend in her tier of the hierarchy. Talk about her never really goes beyond there, though. Guess they're all too eager to forget the beast.
Oh god, really? How deep does the rabbit hole go in this place? I thought I at least knew more about things down there than you after winning that coffee.
Yeah, well, let's just say I hear more news suitable for the average ears than most. I'm not surprised you're familiar with how far gone the management is, though, regardless of their place on the tree.
Fair enough. Casual talk quiets down when you're dealing with the board.
Anything pressing with them at the moment? We both know she's not ready for whatever it is you need yet, but I need a timeframe if we have one.
They're not making any moves, but they're getting antsy. All I can do is hope that Pearl's meddling will give the new girl some experience in handling more aggressive situations like this, plus the increasing workload that's been practically forced on them by Central.
Okay. That's more than a little concerning, but at least our backs aren't to the wall yet. I guess several weeks without progress would make you grateful for things being shaken up, huh?
Preferably a bit more quickly, but I can wait.
I'm sure Tara, at least, would appreciate this being over soon. It's worrying.
She's trying her best, but... agh, this is gonna be real uncomfortable to watch for a while. See you next time something goes down?
Yeah. I'll talk to you later.

Chatroom Closed

[Quackles]

One of the chatters is Winston, isn't it?

[Taiyo]

One of the chatters is Winston, isn't it?

Probably. Who knows?

Besides, they did mention that they were watching what was going on through closed circuit cameras or something earlier in this LP, so it's probably not Winston.

Poor Tara. She's definitely not going to be sticking around very long, huh?

[Commander Keene]

I wouldn't in her position. We'll see if Denise starts pulling rank to get the busybody off everyone's case, though.

[Quackles]

I'm worried Tara'll quit, yeah.

I hope not.

[Junpei]

I want to give Tara a hug, but considering how she's feeling, I don't think she'd like that.

[LPFinale]

Episode 10: Story Update

Video:


Well, last time we, uh... let's say an attempt was made at comforting Tara. It did not work.



Hopefully she'll avoid the brunt of it this time, if that thumbnail is any indication.





I have something very exciting to discuss with you!





Side note, Luke's heading into the Bathroom off on the right.

Hee hee hee!

CEASE

Don't let me interrupt your game, dear.



No kidding. It feels like she's only ever happy when someone's about to be metaphorically crushed under her boot.

Whatever on earth could you be talking about? Honestly. I was just coming over to tell you about some new policies relating to network maintenance and... ahem...



Well, if futilely going after the arcade machine keeps you off Tara's back, I guess this isn't the worst thing.

Luke's back from the Bathroom, by the way.

The central office has just sent over a new manual full of regulations. At my request, of course.
Look, I really don't have time to...
Oh no, no, of course not.



Oh what an energy I can feel from that.

Luke is also heading to the Bathroom. Again.

No need to fret! I can give you the details, which I'm sure you'll need to know in order to avoid breaking the rules.



Oh boy, it's THAT line, you know the one. I feel like it's at the very top of the Passive-Aggressive Behavior playbook.

I suppose not.
I'll be in the kitchen making popcorn. Let me know when you're ready and we'll have a little water cooler chat.

The Water Cooler is like the ultimate meeting room in this office. Comes with the functionality of s l o w l y sipping a cup of water to give an excuse not to respond, too.



Ouch! So bitter, my friend. The ladies do not find that attractive!

I'm not sure the ladies find anything about this situation attractive, so it's fitting, I'd say

Unlike you, being the number one player in the company is not my life's goal.



The times you've struck out with no competition, let me count the ways~

Say, what do you think of this new guy, Luke?
Seems all right.



He's alright, but his stomach sure isn't alright at the moment. And he re-enters the Bathroom.

That's the third time today he's been in there.
Luke's not feeling well?



To what extent, we may never know.

Oh, dear.
How do you know that guy anyway? Is he a friend of yours?

Oooh, backstory time?

Well yes, sort of. He's my college roommate's friend.
So he's a friend of a friend.



I don't know that much about him.





You, uh. You okay there, time traveller?

It's 2007, dude.
That must be it.



Or six. Or five, now that I think about it.

Luke. Buddy. I look at you and I see someone in their late twenties, early thirties. I highly doubt you were into this assortment of weird teas when you were a preteen, so at best that gives you a total of two sets of 5-6-7 years to test this theory, including this one.

Might wanna double-check the timing of which you started some particular herbal blends. My own body feels queasy at the thought of eating anything greasy, and I'm not the one putting a gallon or more of homemade herbal tea into my stomach every day.

Basically that was a super long way of saying



Or it could be that, sure.

Are you going to be all right?
Sure, babe, as long as I can...



So, uh, how much you wanna put down on the bet that whatever's in his herbal tea is doing a laxative's work? It won't getcha a big return, considering the odds, but hey, safe money's still money.



Yeaaaaaah, uh, you might be waiting on that one for a while. You and Tara are probably the closest we'll get, plus Denise.

Anyways, next time, we deal with Luke's irritable bowels in lieu of bad things happening to Tara, for once. See you then.