Subject: The PPC Black Market
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Posted on: 2014-06-18 03:38:00 UTC
As a matter of interest, I have a question about the black market in the PPC.
I was reading some DIA missions, and read up on the list of Forbidden Substances on the wiki, but I haven't been able to find anything about weapons or machine parts that are strictly not allowed. Have I simply missed them, or is that something that has not been explored yet?
Although I did mention a Brave New World soma trafficking ring in an ambiguously canon Purim party a while back.
Speaking of weapons contraband, what do you think should be off-limits to PPC agents? I'd vote to keep NBC agents out of agents' hands, because stuff can go seriously grimdark with those kinds of weapons. Same goes to Obviously Evil Artefacts With Ominous Auras of Doom (aka get rid of that Suvian Sword of Mercilessly Devouring Souls before it kills us. No, Harris, I don't care if it's cool, throw it into a gorram volcano right now).
For example Sue Blood, Aura of Smooth, etc...
At least outside of a laboratory and controlled lab conditions. Still pretty risky. While Suvians can be consumed (I think..), those substances have more concentrated amounts of Sueness and I guess could become a drug of sorts.
Artifacts that increase life/give you immortality immediately came to mind. In canon, that usually never goes well. In the PPC? Agents could go mad with power. Perhaps even try to overthrow the flowers.
I suppose if they were drained of power, they'd make some awesome shiny objects.
As long as Mario has a few in his pockets, he can restart the level after accidentally jumping into a lava pit or something.
Come to think of it, some video games have non-superpowered ways of keeping the player character alive. What do you think a Zelda-verse fairy in a bottle would do to a revived agent? Or the TF2 Medigun?
I recall having read at some point (though I'm too lazy to go searching for it) that the Medical Department can cure just about anything, even death in some cases. So, on the one hand, it seems natural that Medical would have a few of the various bonus-life objects in storage. On the other hand, I may have simply mis-remembered what I had read.
Dead agents? Tough luck. They're very likely to stay dead.
However, Medical can fix or at least patch up nearly anything short of it.
Um, I think Souffle and Water are consumables made from Sue-products. I think there's even agents who drink straight Sue-blood but I forget if there's any downside.
I was thinking more about Supernatural and demon's blood.
Heh, SUE-pernatural.
(Oh dear)
Though I wonder about the potential of the Sue-lab to refine a Batman-Venom type of drug based on their research.
If the PPC-canon can contain the plotline, it should be awesome.
Basically a drug that gives Sue-powers temporarily, but nasty side-effects that make it questionable to use. I'm thinking Slappers from Batman Beyond even though I barely remember that cartoon.
I think that might be a good idea as my Agents are stationed in the labs and I can work with this plotline
What are NBC agents?
I would start with stuff specifically mentioned in the Geneva Convention. (No, I haven't read it lately and don't know if it mentions specific weapons.)
Hitler wasn't willing to use gas on the battlefield, just in the camps. (I know, a reverse "Hitler ate sugar" argument.)
I imagine anything nuclear or depleted might harm the canon world.
I'd go with canon weapons that steal souls as well, like Morganti blades from Jhereg and similar books.
Is there a minor weapon that works like Pandora's box? Basically some curse that is in a container?
NBC, in this context, stands for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical agents. Dirty bombs, weaponised viruses, stuff like that. However, there's stuff from other universes that's just as bad, if not worse, that we keep around - as was mentioned elsewhere, DOGA's got Sun Crushers lurking somewhere, and planet-cracker WMDs are almost a necessity for them when you consider the fact that their agents may get called to a sci-fi setting. Normal agents getting their hands on them, however... not so much.
The things that I think would most be frowned upon, though, are the ones with an obvious detrimental effect on the operational effectiveness of agents. This obviously means certain drugs are cracked down on more than others. Soma's the one Sea Turtle mentioned, but euphorics and hallucinogens of any kind would probably be considered Not Cool by the Flowers. Other stuff, however, is probably fine, particularly fictional stimulants like Red Eye and Eye Candy (what is it with people and eye-droppers?) from Cowboy Bebop and the Command And Conquer games respectively.
Hope that helped! =]
There may be some black market lightsabers around - TOS shows us that you're supposed to pass a safety awareness course before you're allowed one, but if you want a lightsaber without having to bother with that, the Black Market may be the answer.
Regarding NBCs, while I can't see it coming up that often, it may be more a case of 'only with proper authorisation' rather than actually off-limits. After all, DOGA is stated to have a few Sun Crushers tucked away in their armoury.