My friends, I have a dire revelation.

It seems like practically every shadowrun I go on inevitably ends by breaking-into yet another Secret Underground Research Lab and stealing some sort of neato doo-dad. These labs invariably span thousands of square meters, have multiple levels, are staffed by hundreds of dedicated research scientists, and guarded by elite security forces. ISO standard corporate policy indicates that once such a facility is breached, it must be abandoned and a new one, even grander and less realistic than the original must be constructed post-haste. However, there is a very limited amount of space in which to build these bastions of wonderful-stuff-which-we-get-paid-to-steal, and I fear it may soon run out. 20+ years of endless shadowrunning has taken its toll on the originally vast tracts of underground space. By my highly scientific calculations, Seattle will be completely covered in Secret Underground Research Labs by 2079.

Is our very way of life being threatened by a lack of appropriate space for our corporate benefactors' Secret Underground Research Labs. If we cannot break-into Secret Underground Research Labs, how will we make ends-meet? Will we be forced to downgrade our lifestyles?

Have we reached 'Peak Secret Underground Research Lab Space'? Won't anyone think of the children?

What will the future hold?



P.S. I am not a crackpot.

They just keep digging deeper.

The real problem is those blasted "night ones" elves moving into and connecting all the old labs, with their weird spider insect spirits.

The economy has already compensated for this. When Secret Badcorp Lab moves out of their underground lair, they post it on Google Real Estate so it can be purchased by a different corporation.

Of course, many corps don't have the assets right now to own their own secret underground lair. In many cases, they have to lease or rent. That's okay though. There are several companies with agents waiting to assist you, and if you call right now, they'll waive sign-up fees. This is also a great option for corporations whose world-domination plans only require a few months of Conjuring Beasts of the Underworld.

Yes, competition has gone up over the past few years. And of course, some corporations are sitting on prime real estate. But I have heard rumors, just rumors, mind you, of groups of individuals who specialize in convincing corporations to leave their underground lair, and return it to the market.

Of all the games I've run, I've done this once.

Where does company policy indicate that the lab has to be immediately abandoned if it is breached? If it is breached, yeah, that sucks, but you double security and get on with life. And even if you do have to abandon it, it isn't as though it has to remain abandoned forever. Maybe another company will move in, or maybe you'll move back in in a few years once everything has blown over.

I mean, you're really talking about a limited amount of real estate period as opposed to underground, because anything that has space above ground, could also be made to have space below ground.

This post is pure gold.

We realy get underground labs. freaquently we find research hidden in lots of normal stuff. burger, cheese, fries, bunsd and oh there's the secret sauce, al in a normal lab. I mena jeez hide in plain sight works better than bueacoup hidden stuff. Finding such a base is usually done by looking for supply and other logisitc,where's the guards going? etc

Yep a skyscraper where several floors are accessible only to approved personnel, and where from the outside the windows look like they have the shades down (tho covered over on the inside) may be just as effective. Hell, consider the number of meth labs and pot greenhouses that are hidden in ordinary houses.

Please list your "highly scientific calculations"... I'm very interested

Don't forget what will happen with those underground labs in 50 years or so. The ones that aren't built as sturdy (needing a new one every few weeks means you need to construct cheaper) and the ones that are badly damaged (plan C, variety 4) will start to cave in and many buildings on the surface will follow!

We're all doomed!

I hear land is cheap in Lagos..

Isn't Lagos a bit too swampy to build underground? Could as well build under water.

Land and life are both cheap in Lagos.



Why hasn't anyone addressed the children issue? Are you soulless, murderers for hire without any metahumanity left in your cyberhearts?

Can't. Too scientific.

~J

All that underground digging has had to seriously destabilize the integrity of the surrounding strata endangering all of greater Seattle.
Oh wait is that in itself part of some evil corporate real estate plan........Hmmmm

What do you think the Deep Lacuna is?

But the space problem should solve itself: Whenever MCGuffin Unethical Research Inc excavates a new underground lab, the resulting slag pile becomes a prime lot for volcano lairs (synthetic magma dispenser upgrades available, ask your local retailer).

From the Seattle AAA Corporation handbook, Page 115, Paragraph 4, Word 3: "a."

It also mentions that as of 2052, All Corporations are, and I quote, "Far too rich for their own good, so they must make disposable underground labs in order to help manage their vast wealth."

Apparently they build these new labs so they will have room for all the money they'll be making

So naturally we have secret underground house-submarines.

That said, we must think to the future; surely some transhumanist element can find a way to create a secret underground in space, so that when humanity finally leaves its cradle on a more complete basis, it can take its reclusive mad scientists, fanatic minions, and horrendous abominations against nature along without them dying of transplant shock or trying to burrow through the walls.

I've always preferred one of these.

.Sorry mispost

Sort of like Scrooge McDuck having to build another vault with his money, to hold even more of his money, so he can then swim in said money? That's awesome.