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

An archival space for the threads that made it.
Locked
User avatar
I'm pretty sure that's the joke they're going for but keeping it oblique enough to keep the T rating.

User avatar
Robindaybird wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:07 pm
I'm pretty sure that's the joke they're going for but keeping it oblique enough to keep the T rating.
Image What have you been bathing in? Skunks?
As someone who has smelled both a skunk (the animal) and skunk (the wacky tobaccy) I can confirm they actually smell pretty similar.

User avatar
It's odd that Luke, a hippie, didn't know/try weed until this point, though. Isn't weed like the second most important thing to a hippie, only under tie-dye shirts?

User avatar
Episode 21: Gameplay Update, "Supply Shutdown"

:siren: Video:


I hope you weren't too fond of Donuts, because they're now very much not spammable for Stress reduction unless you wanna pay the Donut Tax by offering Pearl one.

Image

On top of that, we're not allowed to use any at all for a full Day. Oof. Anyways, the Goal we wanna focus on quickly is Mahavir's, as it unlocks something you'll have trouble completing on time otherwise.

As for the exact effects of Pearl's denouncement of "legal amphetamines," we'll get to that when we use one on Day 2. It'll be much easier to explain with a visual.

Image

Mahavir still has some starting Stress. I'm beginning to think this is just a thing that happens to him always. Wonder what's got him so tied up in knots all the time...

Image

I immediately get these two to start talking, and even turn on the AC for a bit to let it go on for longer at once. I'll be turning it off soon, though, because oh god, Pearl and Luke just MELT like this.

And since I turn it off soon, you get to see exactly how much Stress Nadine is accruing from this:

Image

That's a total +4 Moodifier right there. Mahavir's gonna be lucky to get out of this with his head still between his shoulders.

Image

Of course, the claws come out pretty soon, meaning we need to send Nadine away for a smoke break.

Image

Pearl honestly needs that break, too; the AC did a number on her and Luke, who'll be taking a Bathroom break at Ashley's expense.

Image

This would be a lot less of a balancing act if we were allowed to use Donuts, honestly. Part of me wants to say it feels a bit artificial, but the other part of me is having a lot of fun juggling all this effectively, so... :shrug:

Image

Despite how this screenshot makes it look, I do in fact rethink making Luke commit a Technical Task Burn Out; I pass this 4-Bar one off to Pearl for a bit, and then give Luke the chipped down one beneath it as well as the other one once Pearl finishes getting it mostly done.

Image

I'm very satisfied with how far we've managed to get the Goal progressed in only two sessions. Hopefully we can do the last bit before the Day ends.

Image

...though we should also make sure Luke can handle some more, he still needs to take care of plenty more Tasks to unlock something. To the Water Cooler!

Image

Another round of Smoking/Bathroom juggling, this time featuring Ashley in there while Luke barely scrapes by with his tea, we initiate the last session of flirting. Mahavir had best hope Nadine doesn't see it worth her time to make good on that threat.

Image

There we go. Now to address the flood of notifications due to resolving the Day with an End-of-Day Goal.

Image

And this is why we needed to unlock this early. 20 Tasks is quite a few, even at this point in the game.

Image

There, done, no Coffee or Donuts, thank you for coming to Pearl's big speech about the evils of caffeine.

Image

And Mahavir has a Task Goal, too. That's three of them, all lined up in a row. We'll need to focus on giving these three all the work from here on out, or that'll be a close call.

Image

This'll be the cleanup Day for Required Goals, so we'll see to taking care of Luke's One-Day Rush Goal pretty soon, interspersed with a pile of Tasks for him. The others will be simple, and the Optional Goals to be unlocked are shockingly dull, yet long.

Image

Reminders of what's left to do.

Image

Now to get started on that tea infusion, as well as flipping the bird to this anti-Coffee policy.

Image

Pearl gets pretty worked up by Luke being at the Water Cooler with his tea today, so I have her go take a break in the Lounge. As much as Burning her Out would be fun, we still need her for the next few Days. :argh:

Image

And now that a couple Tasks are ready for Luke, we get to talk about exactly how Pearl's new distaste for Coffee and Donuts works.

Image

When someone is in the middle of the animation where they lift a Coffee or Donut above their heads, Pearl gets a hefty, unmatched, unbelievable +20 MOODIFIER. Now, the animation only lasts 1 Second, so that's not as unmanageable as it sounds, and it's further mitigated by the fact that there's an upper limit to effective Moodifiers of +15. The extra 5 is basically there so that Pearl still gains the same flat 15 Stress even while she's Smoking.

Two other things to note: Pearl doesn't care if the items are used on her, so you could always just get an extra Donut for her to mitigate it. There's also a way to cancel the lifting animation by commanding an Employee to move somewhere else while they're lifting it, but this is best done with Donuts since you'll want someone to stay at their desk if they picked up a Coffee. I don't think I demonstrate it in this Episode's video, but it might come up later.

Image

Regardless, Luke's finally finished his Task workload after giving him a nearly-finished Financial Task.

Image

This leads into Nadine's Goal of staying in the Smoking Lounge for nearly a whole Day, 120 Seconds total. Meh.

Image

Lines up pretty easily with Luke's Water Cooler Goal, so we take care of it immediately.

Image

And would ya look at that, they have the exact same Goal. I'm sure this won't be a bit dull while we're just distributing Tasks between Ashley and Mahavir while having Luke help chip Writing Tasks down a bit. It's pretty low-stakes, honestly, even if the time does run a bit close.

Image

I could see skipping this Episode being valid since there's not much interesting to do, but hey, those high scores aren't gonna earn themselves.

Image

Unfortunately, absolutely nothing happens by the time we're closing, so it's just ticking up meters in a somewhat relaxed state.

Image

And that'll be all for Day 2. We're easily on track for tomorrow, even if it'll be a bit close with the number of Tasks.

Image

Is there really any more to say here? This is kind of a breather Episode to get you used to not using Donuts and Coffee as often.

Image

:words:

Image

Back to the grind of churning out Tasks for Ashley and Mahavir. ...of which I accidentally finish one on Luke. :doh:

Image

We'll make good use of those Morale Boosts, but for now, might as well grab Mahavir a Coffee for those Tasks down there.

Image

Nadine's done. Now she can act as an efficient Financial chipper for Ashley, as well as the Writing Tasks so Luke doesn't have to camp out at the Water Cooler.

Image

There we go, NOW he'll get those done before the end of the year.

Image

And now Pearl's done, so there's no pressure on the office anymore besides funneling literally all of the Tasks except one into Ashley.

Image

There's that one...

Image

...and there's the other four or so! Finally. Breather Episodes are nice, but it's hard to really talk about them after the fact, ya know?

Image

And there we have it. Another Episode, another 3-Day trial. I'm looking forward to keeping this going as the new standard. :getin:

Next time, things get... well, I'm prepared for anything to happen when it's over. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types
  • Image Art Tasks: 25%
  • Image Financial Tasks: 25%
  • Image Technical Tasks: 25%
  • Image Writing Tasks: 25%
Task Bursts
  • 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 8-11 Seconds: 50%
  • 2-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 11-13 Seconds: 25%
  • 3-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 11-13 Seconds: 25%
Task Sizes
  • Image 3-Bar Tasks: 75%
  • Image 4-Bar Tasks: 25%
Required Goals
  • Image "Complete a full body infusion of herbal tea at the water cooler, in one day. (60 Seconds, One Day Rush) Unlocks Optional Goal #4
  • Image "Don't allow anyone to have donuts or coffee for one day. (No Coffee or Donut Items)" Unlocks Optional Goal #3
  • Image "Pearl wants Luke to work on fifteen tasks. (15 Tasks)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2
  • Image "Flirt with Nadine at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
Optional Goals
  • Image "Nadine wants Ashley to prove her worth and work on twenty tasks. (20 Tasks)"
  • Image "Take a long smoke break in the lounge. (120 Seconds)"
  • Image "Nadine wants Mahavir to stop napping and work on fifteen tasks. (15 Tasks)"
  • Image "Take a long smoke break in the lounge. (120 Seconds)"



















Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created





Image What. Was that.
Image Hey, you have several coffees every day for several years while working, and you too will know how to make a disastrous spill combined with slamming the keyboard to brace your fall look convincing.
Image I just... God, I haven't seen something like that in a while. Not since an incident that got an intern canned over several computers getting shorted.
Image Company gossip later in private, remember? Now, let's hear what we've got to work with.
Image There's some folks up there who owe me for things I shouldn't get into, even after this. Just some of the clerical workers, but ones who have their hands in most anything that reaches the board. They've still got their jobs they need to do, like us, but they should be able to check anything and everything that's been through their offices in the past month, given maybe half a week.
Image Finally, we're getting somewhere. I get the feeling I know what they'll find, but we do need the hard evidence to do anything about this while I'm under scrutiny.
Image ...seriously, though, you'll wanna hear about that intern over coffee later, if you've got the time.
Image I might, I might not. If I'm not there by our usual time, I'm stuck upstairs with paperwork again.
Image Fair enough. I've seen enough red tape hell try to get in my way before. I'm guessing they're getting you with sheer quantity, considering all the workarounds available to anyone in the know.
Image Yuuuuuuup. Might be able to blaze through it with another coffee, but who knows at this rate. See you then, maybe?
Image I hope so, at any rate. See you then.

Chatroom Closed

User avatar
Do Luke and Ashley get twice as stressed if Pearl and Nadine are both smoking at the same time?

User avatar
Junpei wrote:
Thu Sep 03, 2020 5:23 am
Do Luke and Ashley get twice as stressed if Pearl and Nadine are both smoking at the same time?
Yup, applies the Moodifier twice in this case. My initial thoughts on the Water Cooler (thinking two people standing there would apply the Moodifier twice) were due to comparing it to the Smoking Lounge, but as it turned out, the Water Cooler programming is weird.

User avatar
+20 is a heck of a Moodifier for Pearl, gotta say.

User avatar
Maybe some of the bathroom breaks Ashley takes are to let her dog do its business out the window or in the toilet or whatever. I want to know more about this dog. What's its name? It is a good boy/girl?

User avatar
yamiaainferno wrote:
Thu Sep 03, 2020 6:10 am
Maybe some of the bathroom breaks Ashley takes are to let her dog do its business out the window or in the toilet or whatever. I want to know more about this dog. What's its name? It is a good boy/girl?
Ashley is so high class (or so she believes she is), she probably just has her dog go in the toilet.

Her dog is always a good boy/girl. All dogs are. :3:

User avatar
Episode 22: Story Update

Video:


Last time, Pearl started getting huffy about sugar and caffeine while Luke was blazed on something entirely different.

Image

Well, uh... I feel like that hasn't gone entirely unnoticed by someone in this picture, not mentioning names...

Image

Image

Haha, excuse me WHAT :catstare:

Also, the moment you advance the text here, Denise's sprite kinda...

Image

...snaps into position elsewhere. Strange.

Image I don't care! It's either him or me, Pearl.

Image

Seems Nadine's had it up to here with the chillest dude in the office, for whatever reasons. :ohdear:

Image I can't stand being around... around people like that! He smells, and I'm sure he's got something illegal on him.
Image Well, you don't have any evidence, do you?

Image

:raise:

Image

Image In any case, he's not what I'd call a productive employee.

Image

The value of properly-done paperwork, everybody.

Image She's smarter than she looks.

Image

Image Hmm? Oh, hi, Pearl. What's up?

Image

Ah yes, I'm sure he's considered underproductive when you had him do 15 Tasks in our last few work days.

Image Really? He has seemed more relaxed and mellow lately. Ever since I told him to go to that party, actually...

...okay Denise, I need you to put two and two together here on that one.

Image

:mad:

Image But there's no doubt about it, he's sluggish.

Image

True. Nadine may be faster, but Luke's far and away more Stress-efficient in that regard.

Image Are you sure about that? I think we may need to see some proof of this performance.

Image

WOW :eyepop:

Image Fine! You'll see, he can work just as hard as anyone here!

Image

Something very, very unfortunate, Denise. :smith:

Image Now we just sit back and watch.

Image

Image All he does is drink that rancid-smelling tea of his all day.
Image Oh, who am I kidding? I can't just watch, I want to meddle some more.

...you would, wouldn't you? :nallears:

Image Oh, Luke...

Image

:magical:

Well, uh... the gameplay segment sure will sure be a thing.

Next time, we grapple with Pearl and Nadine's hostilities. See you then.

User avatar
They should put text on this level, something like, "Double-clique to play". :v:

User avatar
Nadine's a bitch :mad:

User avatar
Boy, Luke's certainly not going to be sticking around much longer, huh. :ohdear:

I'm just wondering how long until she stabs Pearl in the back. Nadine's not the type to play second banana any longer than she has to, Pearl's been pretty unprofessional and is basically giving Nadine all the ammo she needs, and there's room for two more characters to leave the office and still maintain a full set of employees- Winston's been offscreen for a while and there's still the woman with the phone from the box art who hasn't shown up yet.

User avatar
These last couple seasons are like How Not To Run an Office 101.

User avatar
Can we just push Pearl out the window already?

User avatar
I can completely understand not wanting to work next to someone that smells of weed and dodgy herbal supplements (there's a reason why skunk cabbage is slang for weed) but Nadine had to do it in the nastiest and meanspirited way possible.

And Pearl is proving exactly why she hasn't been promoted in 40 years, she's too incompetent to even kick upstairs.

User avatar
Episode 22: Gameplay Update, "No Hippies Allowed"

:siren: Video:


Okay so, uh... about Luke...

Image

Yeaaaaah, today's gonna be... an issue for him. Nothing we can't really handle, at least. Just keep in mind that Pearl counts Kombucha Mate under her anti-snacks policy.

Image

Speaking of that policy, screw you, Pearl, we've got a doozy of a Stress relief item on our hands today; that's right, we've got an UPGRADED DONUT :woop:

The Cinnabun does exactly what the Donut does, but twice as effective at a hefty -80 Stress, though it does cost 3 times as much as a Donut. Thankfully, we're at the point of the game where these are mostly affordable, aside from buying in bulk. The saved time from just being able to calm someone down with a single item is so, so worth that extra cash. It's only barely behind Unique Items for how much Stress it reduces!

...and yes, Pearl's gonna throw a hissy fit if someone eats one. Too bad, they're too good not to use when we need them!

Image

Starting off Mahavir's day with some Stress yet again.

Image

Aaaaand here we go. That lecturing Goal isn't too long, but Luke'll get all bent out of shape from listening to Pearl for too long. Oh, and despite Nadine wanting to see Luke suffer, she's still mildly annoyed about them chatting at the Water Cooler. Slightly.

Image

Yyyyyup, that's a +5 Moodifier exactly. I believe I was wrong about Luke's interactions with the Water Cooler, by the way; I think it actually STACKS that -3 from his tea with the Water Cooler's -2, for a total of -5 (since talking with Pearl is listed as a +10 and this looks like he's being stressed at the same rate he'll be calming down later). I'll edit his writeup to reflect this.

Image

You might see here that we've already failed Luke's Task Goal. Fear not, for this is the kind of Goal that's evaluated throughout the day instead of a binary "Succeed/Fail" situation that you can't undo; we just need Luke to have more Tasks completed than anyone else by the end of the day. Also, the little failure sound it makes only plays the first time you fail it, so that's some nice Quality of Life touches right there.

Image

Of course, Luke can barely get 20 Seconds out of that sort of Moodifier, so he'll be staying at the Water Cooler for a little while to burn that Stress away along with his insides, thanks to the tea. Meanwhile, I'm stacking Writing Tasks on his desk for him. A decent chunk of Writing Tasks are coming in this Episode, but they might be more difficult to handle than you think for... reasons, reasons we'll get to in a moment.

Image

Alright, now that we're prepared to give the middle finger to Pearl's No-Coffee policy, let's get started. You might wonder why I'm using this Coffee, aside from saving time. Well, uh...

Image

As you may or may not have inferred from the Intro, Nadine is getting REALLY territorial about her work and will thus get super, super angry when Luke's touching the Writing Tasks. She's at a total +6 Moodifier after taking the Idle bonus into consideration.

Image

:stonk:

Image

So yeah, today is just as much of a challenge in keeping Nadine calm as it is keeping Luke calm. Nadine will basically need to camp in the Smoking Lounge while Luke's working to keep from Burning Out, and even then, her Stress will still be rising while she's in there.

Image

I have no idea what my plan was here, but you better believe I'm about to hard-pivot away from this clearly bad play.

Image

Here we are, the Cinnabun. Get used to seeing these things, as they'll become more and more important as we go forward. ...also I want one, but am unwilling to store a baker's dozen of them for research purposes as I kinda have trouble finishing even 1 huge cinnamon roll, especially if they go too heavy on the icing.

Image

THERE we go. Got Luke calmed down, started the lecture, and used a Cinnabun to get Nadine back down from a near Burn Out. See how powerful these things are? The amount of Stress she had in the earlier pictures barely changed before eating this thing.

Image

Yet another cycle of the lecture complete. Now let's just see what we can get done by the end of the day.

Image

Honestly, I could've just been giving Luke his Kombucha instead of juggling this back and forth while needing Nadine to chow down on a Cinnabun, but hey, I didn't think of the Deluxe Markers either back when Tara could've saved time with them, now did I? :v:

Image

End-of-Day procedures. We made plenty of progress on our Required Goals, considering how much petty cash we have left for the Kombucha and how close both of the timed Goals are to being done. :golfclap:

Image

This was actually kind of a close one. Looking back in the video, Luke had done 7 Tasks today. That'd normally be pretty easy to spread out, but I didn't give any to Pearl and barely gave any to Nadine, so... Ashley wound up with 7 Tasks as well. If another Art Task came in and I wound up giving her one before the end of the day, we'd have missed out on that Goal. Whoooops. :sweatdrop:

Image

Oh hey, Ashley's Bathroom Goal and what's probably a mirror Goal for Nadine. Lemme guess, doing all the Writing Tasks for the day? That'll require some juggling, but it won't be too bad to deal with.

Image

...oh. Oh. Oh that's a new kind of Goal. :smith:

So yeah, that Goal is complete when Luke Burns Out. We won't be doing it until we've done everything he can do, though.

Image

Goal markers, get ready to go!

Image

We'll take care of Luke's tea first, then have Pearl hop in to lecture him.

Image

While we're at it, I head to OfficeTown exactly $1 of petty cash short. This feels familiar... :f5:

Image

Alright, there we go. Now to just get the lecture done, and we'll have all the Optional Goals laid out in front of us soon after that.

Image

...well, I suppose that'll lend itself well to Burning Out Luke later. Bleh.

Image

There, now no more meddling, Pearl. Get out.

Image

And here we have Luke's last Goal, visiting the Bathroom a couple times. Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I bought the last Kombucha while we were waiting on those Goals to finish.

Image

Basically, imagine this juggling while I hand Luke his Kombucha during his time back at his desk. And again, Pearl doesn't like him drinking this either.

Image

And there we go, the last one. Similar to how Training Manuals skip their animation on the last one of a Goal, the same applies to powerups, so Pearl doesn't have any time to get Stressed from it since the animation's skipped altogether.

Image

And for whatever reason, Mahavir wants a nap. Probably the least difficult thing on this list, if we're being honest.

Image

:toot:

Image

Nearing the end of the Day, and I think we'll be able to get at least one of the Bathroom Goals done.

Image

...actually, it's around this time that I remember something the thread would like to see, so let's just have Luke park at the Water Cooler instead while keeping the AC on and sending Ashley to the Bathroom, shall we? :getin:

Image

Image

Ahhhh, there we go. Much further into the day than people were asking, but I'm sure it's nice to see all the same. :sun:

Image

And Ashley even got a full visit to the Bathroom done before the end of the Day! How fortunate!

Image

Time for a big ol' cleanup day. Thankfully, all of these are incredibly easy to sweep away, one after the other.

Image

Behold the markers, now let's begin.

Image

Time to begin with setting up our timed Goals, and then sending those two to the Bathroom.

Image

One down, another to go.

Image

You may notice that I'm finding many opportunities to put work on Pearl's desk. You may also infer that we have a plan for that.

Image

Here's a candid picture of Nadine being a snob even while she's at her relaxation point. That's all.

Image

There we go, finally. We won't be able to move her from there for a while since Mahavir will be napping and Luke will be trying to keep from getting too Stressed, but it's good to have it out of the way.

Image

:munch:

Image

Sadly, even with the silver lining of that Burn Out we liked...

Image

...we still had to do this to complete the day. :smith:

Image

Oh, will you back OFF already, Nadine?! :black101:

Image

Here, have some work while Mahavir's napping. ...god, the office really does feel empty with two less Employees in here. Wow.

Image

There we have it. Nadine's priorities are utter scum and I'm glad we're done with that Goal, it makes me feel bad. Still, at least we got to help Luke with basically everything he's ever asked for in the past as well. Here's hoping that counterbalanced it a bit...

Next time... we have our second Outro of the Season. See you then.

Goal Writeup

Time Per Day: 140 Seconds

Task Types
  • Image Art Tasks: 20%
  • Image Financial Tasks: 20
  • Image Technical Tasks: 20%
  • Image Writing Tasks: 40%
Task Bursts
  • 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 7-10 Seconds: 50%
  • 2-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 12-15 Seconds: 25%
  • 3-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 12-15 Seconds: 25%
Task Sizes
  • Image 2-Bar Tasks: 25%
  • Image 3-Bar Tasks: 50%
  • Image 4-Bar Tasks: 25%
Required Goals
  • Image "Lecture Luke at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #4
  • Image "Pearl wants Luke to do more work than anyone else for one day. (Most Completed Tasks)" Unlocks Optional Goals #3 and #5
  • Image "Relax at the water cooler with a mug of medicinal herb tea. (80 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
  • Image "Get three Kombucha Mates from OfficeTown for a thorough system cleansing. (3 Kombucha Mates)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2
Optional Goals
  • Image "Take a smoke break in the lounge. (100 Seconds)"
  • Image "Take a nap on the couch. (100 Seconds)"
  • Image "Go to the bathroom five times. (5 Bathroom Visits; 40 Seconds)"
  • Image "Go to the bathroom four times. (4 Bathroom Visits; 32 Seconds)"
  • Image "Make Luke so stressed out that he leaves. (Luke Burnout)"

User avatar
I feel so bad for Luke...

User avatar
Make Luke so stressed out he leaves
W-ow, Nadine is a meanie.

User avatar
I would have just let Nadine burn out that first day, personally. :colbert:

User avatar
While I'm grateful that Pearl burned out twice during this episode, I think it's high time that Nadine goes through the same at some point.

Luke should be around to see Nadine burn out, though. Let's make this happen. :smuggo:

User avatar
I'm happy that pearl got burned out multiple times this episode.

User avatar
So Nadine now gets stressed if other people are goofing off AND working? Is there anything that pleases this woman?

User avatar
Blastinus wrote:
Sun Sep 06, 2020 3:51 am
So Nadine now gets stressed if other people are goofing off AND working? Is there anything that pleases this woman?
Dominion over all.

User avatar
Episode 22: Outro Update

Video:


Last time was, uh... not great. Luke had it really rough. Let's see how that turned out.

Image

:ohdear:

Image Is this about all those tasks I gave you? Because... because...
Image Hey, little lady, don't fret! It's not you. It's mostly those other two harpies.

Denise. I know you've taken it into your hands to help others with their problems so far, but you don't have to take what's happened here so personally as if you're responsible. Pearl and Nadine are... well, Pearl's acting under the supposed authority of the board, and Nadine's right up there with her. If there's something they want right now, what they say goes unless they can be proven wrong. I don't think you could have stopped this beyond what you already did: helping Luke with everything you could.

Image

Image But Luke, I...

Image

Image I know, and it was kinda fun for a while! Even that crazy old bear Duncan.

Image

Image I'm gonna hit the road, go to Jamaica...

Image

Image Luke?
Image Huh? Oh, yeah.

It's kinda nice, seeing him get all wistful about his plans. Helps numb the sting a bit.

Image So, they won't have me to kick around any more!

Image

Image But I'm not going anywhere!
Image Aww, you know what I mean.

:unsmith:

Image

Image

Image Bye.

Bye. :smith:

Image

Image Oh... I guess it's for the best.

Image

Image Who would be? For that matter, are you?
Image What do you mean... Pearl?

He's got a point, Denise. :ohdear:

Image She's awfully bossy, but...

Image

:stare: Whoa. Guess even Mahavir's had enough of witnessing Pearl's shenanigans to last a lifetime.

Image I guess you're right.

Image

That's... that's one way to go about it, yes. It would certainly be an attempt. :shrug:

Image

Maybe, big guy. Maybe.

This is your periodic reminder that Denise is good and pure.

Next time... Ashley speaks! For the first time in Season 4! Whether or not what she says is worth anything will be up for debate, but still! See you then.




















Connecting...

Checking Status: Online

Chatroom Created





Image ...oh, I've had it with this.
Image Yeaaaah, uh... they've combed through just over half of the records so far, and they've yet to find anything. They need a bit more time to be sure.
Image I will personally send them coffees if that's what it takes to get through it all, this is excruciating to watch.
Image Oh, believe me, I'm way ahead of you on that one. A lucky intern's been heading up there with coffees from an unknown benefactor at around the time they'd have most of the day's more pressing work done. They've been working at top speed on this.
Image The kind of stuff you pull off when you put your mind to it is pretty impressive, you know that?
Image Well, SOMEONE who can move around freely needs to keep this place from falling apart at the seams. I've been keeping your hedged bet going for months now. It'd all be over if it fell through because some middle manager got everyone tossed out onto the streets.
Image You're at least sure they'll have something we can act on soon, yes?
Image I guarantee it. Their rate of progress has been astounding. Even a few more days will easily substantiate whatever your next move is.
Image Then start getting ready. I... can't exactly disclose what's next, but be ready, regardless.
Image Okay... I just hope you know what you're doing.
Image I think I said this from the first time we talked on here, but... I always have.
Image Heh. Since day one. See ya then?
Image Always. I'll be ready, too.

Chatroom Closed

User avatar
Called it. :smith:

User avatar
Honestly, I think that Denise's passivity is at least partially to blame for this though. Not trying to say that it's a bad thing to be nice, but she's offering next to no pushback against Pearl's ridiculous actions and it's causing things to keep spiraling out of control. She's trying too hard to be everyone's friend when at this point she should be putting her foot down and actually asserting her authority.

User avatar
Oh. Looks like we wouldn't get our revenge on Nadine for being one of the harpies in making Luke quit.

I still say we stress her out at some point in the future either way. She must pay!

User avatar
Well, at the very least, Ashley's average Stress should go down since she no longer has to worry about Luke hogging the bathroom. Now it's just the AC and the two smokers!

User avatar
So who's the new employee to replace Luke?

User avatar
Quackles wrote:
Sun Sep 06, 2020 8:47 pm
So who's the new employee to replace Luke?
Image

I'm no digital forensics expert, but if Episode 23's image is any indication, Winston's coming back.

User avatar
Episode 23: Story Update

Video:


Well... I guess the silver lining to Luke heading to Jamaica is that Ashley will be less stressed since she won't have to share the Bathroom, right?

Image

HahaHAAAA, WRONG! :argh:

Image

Image

Image I've been looking over the workload projections you made for Project PEARL for the upcoming week...
Image Oh have you now?
Image Yes, and now that Luke's left I think we might need to...

...that sounds like even more work coming in. Pearl? What did you do? :catstare:

Image

DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT, OFFICE QUEEN :argh:

Image I asked you to restrict the budget on those frivolous snacks!
Image But we did, we haven't been spending that much on...

Image

...ah, right, I should mention, those weren't counted in the snack ban. Until now, that is. :unsmigghh:

Image But I...
Image No more of that, missy!

I will pry the Diet Sodas from your cold, burnt-out hands, Pearl :black101:

Image

...so, yeah. Diet Sodas and Brownies will now give Pearl 15 Stress as well, and unlike Donuts and Coffee, there's no animation exploit to reduce it. Just great.

Image

But hey, the literal best Employee to ever grace this office is back! :woop:

Image

Image Luke is a hypochondriac! The only thing you could catch from him is fleas.

And as always, he's coming in hot. :allears:

Image This budget crunch on snacks has lowered my blood sugar.

Image

Image Wait a second, is it feed a cold or feed a fever?

Never heard the turn of phrase, but either way, it's more like feed your bathroom scale instead of your immune system or whatever excuse you need to chow down.

Image I find it hard to believe a sugary snack will cure what ails you.
Image Then why do I feel so tired... like I need to take a nap?

Image

:rolleyes:

Image Maybe I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...
Image Yeah, and I have Acute Videogamitis.

You should probably get that checked out if your video games are inflamed.

Image I might even be able to beat my high score at it today.

Image

Bangalore, officially known as "Bengaluru," is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. It's apparently the I.T. capital of the country, so it wouldn't be the worst place to send the Technical Tasks to, but that's... a BIT remote for whatever C.A.I.'s consumer base and employees need, I'd bet.

Image I heard that, Winston!

Can't hide a single thing from her, can we. Yeesh.

Image Don't worry, we'll find SOMETHING for you to do around here!
Image Me and my big mouth... now I'll never get a moment of peace.

Eh, you're the second best writer and third best accountant in this office. It could be worse.

Image

Image All of them, they're all scum!

...like that. Holy crap, what happened to YOU? :magical:

Image Oh, Ashley... Can I ask you a favor?
Image Can you believe those two?

Image

...I guess we won't be finding out what that favor was that Denise needed, then. Carry on, I guess. :geno:

Image Who... Mahavir and Winston?
Image Yes! They're even worse than Brad, Harris, and Pierce!

:what:

Image Um... are these all guys you've dated recently?

Image

Are you serious right now

Image What, all of them this week?
Image Well, the last couple days.

Image

What is happening

Image Well, I guess a girl's gotta eat!
Image I know! The Atkins diet makes me famished. I could eat two or three steaks right now!

...the. The At-

Offscreen cup of tea

The, uh, ATKINS diet is... a fad diet that's even less reputable than whatever the hell Luke was downing each day at the Water Cooler. It's some load of crap about avoiding carbohydrates, and it leads to dumb situations like what Ashley's describing, much like a lot of fad diets. In fact, Atkins went BANKRUPT in 2005, two years before the game takes place, but were bought up again by another company at some point. And she's still on that diet. God, this girl really doesn't leave her social circles' old-as-hell worldviews, does she. :confused:

Image

Frankly, Denise, I'm not sure she even knows what the Atkins diet actually is since she readily accepts Donuts and Cinnabuns. Unless she considers those her cheat treats or something, though I doubt a fad diet would bother having those.

Image Just keep those deadbeats working for a change! All of those... MEN.

Image

Image Can you imagine? I had to phone Daddy to raise the limit on my AmEx.

I'm going to LOSE my MIND, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Just... g-god, what the f- *ahem*

Anyways, AmEx is American Express, a credit card. I dunno if they have any implications among the Manhattan elites or people so rich they can get high off a roll of hundreds lit by a gold-plated lighter encrusted with diamonds.

As for Tiffany's, they're the kind of jewelry store that only survives off of rich people paying several hundred to several thousand times what a piece of jewelry is actually worth. Under the category of "Women's Watches," the lowest-priced items are 29mm leather-strapped watches with old-timey clock faces at $2,200 USD. The highest-priced item in the category is a 15.8 x 49mm piece that still looks like it has a leather strap, but with diamonds, also known as intrisically worthless rocks, and "white gold," literally just worse gold with marketing. And it's $30k USD.

So, uh... yeah, Ashley wasn't kidding when she said she needed to get the limit on her credit card raised, she just absolutely needed to buy a shiny timepiece she'll never look at because even nowadays the cell phones could do that. :nallears:

Image

Denise, I know you're trying, but god, it's pretty clear this is no more relatable to you than anyone else here.

Next time, we... we deal with this. Just... ALL of this. God, I need another tea... see you then? :confuoot:

User avatar
It's nice to see that Ashley finally started talking and Nadine finally became quiet like a mouse. :allears:

User avatar
Apparently, the way the Atkins diet is supposed to work is that, by eating no carbohydrates, it forces the body to burn fat, instead.

I'm told a side effect of this is that you get really really hungry, because your body thinks you're in a famine (which, technically, you are).

Still, it's nice to see Nadine not being the cause of drama, for a change.

User avatar
I revoke my statement. Ashley isn't Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, she's the girl from Confessions of a Shopaholic.

User avatar
I wonder if what Pearl's doing is approved, thinking of all those guys caught outsourcing their work because that still gives them a net profit (and time to do shit on the side while on the company clock)

Robindaybird wrote:
Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:58 pm
I wonder if what Pearl's doing is approved, thinking of all those guys caught outsourcing their work because that still gives them a net profit (and time to do shit on the side while on the company clock)
Absolutely not. Since there are no official orders from the top, Pearl is doing it herself. I wonder what her master plan is for when everything goes to hell. I suppose, replacing everyone with people loyal to her and claiming with their backing, that everything was Denise idea. Or maybe she is so deluded that she thinks her actions are beneficial and she want to claim she did all the work in spite of Denise interference.

User avatar
yeah, Pearl's quickly proving why she hadn't gotten promoted in 40 years

User avatar
Or to put it another way - Denise wanted to talk about how to restructure the work load between employees, because Luke is gone, and instead Pearl told her that limiting diet sodas and brownies were far more important.

More fuel for the fire of why Pearl has never been promoted.

Blastinus has a point that Denise is being too passive and should be pushing back more against Pearl and Nadine. However, at this point, it's hard to know how Denise could assert much authority - neither Pearl nor Nadine would listen, and Denise would need some higher up to back her up. Which, apparently, she doesn't have? This is an ugly situation.

Locked