Your Mission
The Computer has generated the following mission for your team. It has been carefully designed to ensure the maximum safety and satisfaction for your team.
Paranoia is the Irrational Fear Someone is Out To Get You
(Fear) Dominant type of fear to install in the PCs: The Computer has taken a personal dislike to the PCs.(Irrational) General kind of weirdness or irregularity that prompts The Computer to assign a mission to the Troubleshooters: One or more laws of nature has been altered or revoked. It's magnetism, electricity or other energy.
(Someone) Person, people, organization or agency responsible for the situation: An Armed Forces director, who mis-keyed some form entries and mistakenly diverted military resources to "Irrational" effect. (The identity of the Someone need not be obvious at the mission's outset, and in fact things may play out more appropriately if the Someone is not discovered until late in the proceedings.)
(Out To Get You) General apparent threat posed by the situation, or the consequences if the situation is left unresolved: Endless wave of assassination attempts will befall paranoid with sonic rifle (S3W energy) and electromagnetic clothing (Experimental R&D equipment, makes wearer a living magnet; can stick to metal walls, watch out for knives!), who uses the Troubleshooters as decoys while he protects himself. The threat is a lie.
(Out To Get You) General real threat posed by the situation, or the consequences if the situation is left unresolved: A minor malfunction in YELLOW (Tension 10) empty decaying and pestilential wreck of an abandoned sector: computer interface (IR: public terminals area; R-Y: Computer cafe; G-B: private terminal, I-U: communications nexus) may grow into a major problem. The PCs must fix the malfunction and deal with the problems already created. The "Someone" doesn't want the team to succeed, and is actively working against them.
Mission Alert: A drugged INFRARED vulture weapon practice assistant acting as a courier delivers alert verbally; seeks 10cr 'tip' for the delivery. Recognition password (to be given to briefing officer) is wrong. The alert itself is damaging-text message contains software virus that crashes PDC or vidscreen, physical alert has toxins or is radioactive, etc.
Briefing: Briefing is in crowded Junior Citizen creche. 1 suspicious, twitchy briefing officer(s) in highly defended position (e.g., seated atop a massive gun emplacement) at rear of GREEN (Tension 11) Humanists meeting room (holds only guards).
This Mission: ORANGE (Tension 7) MemoMax archive vault is having problems processing traitors. Go help out.
Outfitting: PLC: "Please Observe Silence" sign on the wall. Anyone who speaks gets bumped to the end of the line. All negotiations must be written.
Debriefing: Troubleshooters and debriefing officer sit at a round table. Officer orders them to play a card or board game, while the officer encourages them to reveal details about their mission and about their feelings.
Find weird phrasing, clearly erroneous output, or other signs of filthy commie mutant traitor sabotage? Copy the offending passages and email them to the High Programmer for investigation.