New Seattle Intelligencer Newsfeed 3, Vol.2 Issue 3 - March 2063 Options

[Kanada Ten]

Dark Heart can't be saved, even with Sitoah and Madsen
Queer Adams
Downtown, Seattle (UCAS)

After the pair managed to save the trite Omega Order two years ago, Amalgamated Studios must think they no longer have to pay for decent writers. Apparently the fact that Omega was based on history, thus supplying a decent plot, didn't register with the suits. Obviously the people only want to see is Nicky's ass and hear Hart Madsen sing. Well, Dark Heart delivers that at least.

I wouldn't force this experience on my first ex-wife, so you can understand how I feel about having felt it myself. The plot consists of three people drinking beer and talking about sex for two hours, with so much soft core added in to appease the thirteen-year olds who buy these crappy sims Amalgamated puts out. Mike Rat (Hart) is an out of work doctor and Mimi (Sitoah) is his ex-prostitute wife. They sit in a bar and discuss the loss of passion in their life. For what it's worth, the two do a decent job, finally answering whether Nicky can act. Enter the mysterious James (new-comer Frank Green) who offers the couple a magic potion, and presto! Magic sex. Of course the potion isn't really magic; they just needed to think it was.

The director, Martin Skarzynski (Devious Plot, Dr. Loud) attempts to be both dark and ironic while achieving a grayish flop. His previous work on trid showed great promise, but that hasn't yet translated to sim. He never generates the emotional context fully, and his weak editing techniques leave much to be desired. I realize he wanted the "raw" feel, but there is a fine line between raw and chaffed. That line is crossed and then burned. Save your thirty yen.

1.5 (out of five)

[Kanada Ten]

New, safer processing plant unveiled
Tiamat Heldin
Rhine-Ruhr, Allied German States

Little more than two years have passed since Volvox Industrial Chemical’s northern processing plant was attacked and destroyed by Grune Zellen (Green War). Much has changed for the corporation since then. Attempting to put the tragedies of the past behind them, Volvox immediately replaced then CEO Josef Hohendorff, with lesser-known board member Sophia Huber. However, weakened by the devastating attack on their corporate holdings and under allegations of conspiracy, Huber could not fight off every takeover attempt. VIC ended up a light snack for Saeder-Krupp’s ambitions. Huber stayed on to manage the company following the merger, and profits have slowly moved upwards.

Reaching long-term viability is some ways off for Volvox, but the unveiling of a replacement processing plant, built in the shadows of the original’s memorial, certainly will help. Chief Officer of Security and Safety, Klaus Scherwinski, claims that the plant is 99% safe from accidents and 100% secure against terrorist attacks. “We have put tremendous effort into building a better, safer facility. Nothing has been left to chance,” said Scherwinski at the unveiling.

Grune Zellen has already made threats to destroy the new facility. In an anonymous letter, the group claims, “...any accident or incident that harms Mother Earth will be met with retribution.” The group’s previous attack resulted in over a hundred dead and released more toxins into the environment than the entire fifteen years of prior plant operation.

The new plant, which will employ nearly three hundred, will deal mostly in recycling cleaning products. The process works by stripping the used cleaning solutions in even more powerful solvents and then using catalysts to dissolve the waste. The cleaned cleaning products are then resold. The accident that originally drew Grune Zellen’s ire was the leakage of catalyst elements into the water supply. “This will never happen again. The catalysts are completely contained; they will not escape into the world,” responded Scherwinski to questions about the accident.