I started out with a pretty boring custom premise. Being a janitor in a secret government facility. It seemed like it was going somewhere, but it ended up being even more boring. So I created a scenario where I end up with infinite work. Typical.
But you can take over and make it interesting. There's no reason you have to stick to my story.
You are a janitor in a secret government facility. You have clearance to mostly low-security areas of the building.
The place is called "The Vault" and it's been closed down for years, but you know that there was an underground complex underneath where most of the population lived.
You begin by mopping the cafeteria.
It's not exactly clean, but it gets the job done. As you go through the corridors, you notice several signs posted warning about radiation levels and other dangers. You also see a few people wandering around with bandages on their arms or legs from getting bit by irradiated rats.
But you keep to yourself and try not to look at the people.
As you finish mopping, it's getting dark. You can see the last few rays of sunlight peeking in from the far end of the building.
Suddenly, the lights flicker on and off. You start and step back, afraid that someone will notice you.
You go back to your janitor closet to find some replacement fluorescent bulbs.
When you come back out, the emergency lights are on and a few of the people are talking to you.
"Do you work here?" A man in a nice suit asks. "We need a janitor here."
You start to answer, but he interrupts.
"We need those bulbs over here," he says. "You see them? The emergency ones?"
You nod."Well, you'd better hurry up," he continues. "The power's going to go out any minute."
He walks away and you quickly make your way through the building to the spot he was at.
You replace the bulbs.
Then, you notice the vending machines over here and over there. You grab some M&M's and a diet soda and a pack of gum, and then peek into one of the employee restrooms.
When you're done, you make your way back to the emergency lights.
The man comes back and asks if you're still on the clock. You tell him you are, then he tells you to follow him. He leads you through the building and up some metal stairs to the roof.
You reach a hatch. The man unlocks it and pulls it open.
You get on the roof and see a helicopter waiting. The man motions for you to get in, so you do. There's only one seat so you sit behind the passenger seat and slide in. The engine starts up and you take off.
"Where are we going?" You ask.
"The Facility," he says. "You'll see."
The helicopter blades beat the air and you take off. After a while, you reach an airport. The man gets out and opens the helicopter door. He hands you a map and tells you to follow him.
Follow the man.
Find the hidden facility.
It's time to work.
You follow the man out of the helicopter and into the airport. There are two others waiting for you. The first one is a woman with dark skin wearing a lab coat.
"Am I getting overtime for this?" you ask.
"You are if I say you are," she replies.
The second one is a man in a black t-shirt and camouflage pants. "You can sign in this clipboard here if you are," he says.
You sign.
"Alright, welcome to Secret Squirrel Service," he says. "We are a company that handles things for the government."
"Things?" You ask.
"Oh yes," the woman says. "We handle things that need to remain secret."
"But why recruit a janitor like me?" you ask.
"You have a master's degree in microbiology, don't you?" The man in the black t-shirt asks.
"Yes," you say.
"Then you're more than qualified to handle a few experiments."
"Experiments?"
You tell them, "my degree was issued in the old Soviet Union."
"We need people who can keep secrets," the man says. "You wouldn't believe some of the things we need people to keep secret."
You look at the two of them. They look like they're about your age, late 20's.
"Lets go, then."
You say, "take me to the Facility."
"Follow me," the man says, turning around. He walks down a hallway, and opens a large metal door. He walks inside, and you follow him and the woman inside.
You find yourself in a large warehouse-type room. There's a lot of equipment in there, but you notice there's no windows and it doesn't look very secure. Then, you see the woman with them. She's a little older, in her late 20's.
Greet the woman.
You walk up to her and say, "Hello."
She looks at you and says, "Who are you? We don't do much hiring around here."
"My name's Jack. I just started today."
Follow the woman to the lab.
She walks into a large room filled with dozens of computers. You notice there are no windows in there, either. Then, she leads you to a small room with only a table, a few chairs and a large machine.
Examine the large machine.
It's a computer. You notice there are many disks and tapes sitting on the table. On the wall is a tape recorder.
"Can you program this?" You ask the woman.
"No," she says. "It's for someone else to do that."
"These tapes are from an old UNIVAC. What use could they have in a modern facility like this?"
"We had to transfer all the data from the old UNIVAC onto a newer computer, so we used these tapes."
"What do they do? Do you need to program the computer first?"
"No, you can just put the data in the drive and it'll automatically load."
"That's it?"
"That's it.
She further explains, "These tapes come from parallel universe. Each time we get a new set of tapes, we can do analysis on a completely new universe. But we only get one tape at a time."
"So, what do you need me for?"
She says, "The machine here will analyze the data on the tapes and display the results on this screen."
"Who needs me?
She tells you, "we need a molecular biologist to verify the data. If they fit the parameters, we file them here. If not, we pass them along to another department."
"What are the parameters?"
"The tapes contain a set of genetic material. The machine can tell if the genetic material comes from this universe or not. It can also tell what kind of organism it is."
"What do you mean?
"Although there are infinite possible universes, only a certain set of those universes will be able to use tapes like this. Therefore, they are usually very similar to our universe."
"So, you can tell if the genetic material on the tape comes from a banana or an orange?"
She rolls her eyes. "I'll show you." She takes a tape out of the box and puts it into the machine.
The machine displays a segment of genome. It says, "Banana."
"See?" she says. "The machine can even determine the type of organism!"
She hands you another tape and tells you, "Now, for you."
She leaves the room, and you take a seat at the table.
Want to try finishing this story? Click here.