Base Omega
Room 12
Ah Room 12. Otherwise known as the unadminsitrative office, shit-shooting central, the Level 10 fanclub, Sam's greatest embarrassment, or just "That Place", it's a wonder how the M.E.G. hasn't looked into all the things we get up to there. I'm grateful though, as if they did they'd realize that 95% of the paperwork that gets done is Jack throwing paper airplanes across the room like he's in 3rd Grade.
Ratites is ostensibly a team, and this room is meant to be our main office, but over the years it's devolved into one of our many in-jokes. Aside from when a request comes in, this room's sole purpose seems to be providing a backdrop for when Eric gets his head stuck in a Non-Euclidean bucket (don't ask), and I wouldn't have it any other way!
You'll pick up the culture of this place real quick. It follows improv rules: "Yes and" everything, over-exaggerate your talk to the point of ridiculousness, commit to every bit, and no fruit is too low-hanging. Sam hates all of this, which only makes it funnier for the rest of us.
The unadminstrative office also has way too much history for its own good. Back when the Runners first formed in 2013, the Main 12 had barely been mapped, and nobody had a clue how key the Highway was going to be. Nothing about the early Runners was designed to accommodate rapid growth, so the whole thing just kinda devolved into what looked like a high-schooler's computer program. You'd find a bug, and instead of fixing it you'd just build around it or put a patch of questionable integrity over it. There were so many rules that you'd need a damn flow chart just to figure out what you're supposed to be transporting and where. But much like a high-schooler's computer program, the spaghetti code just sorta worked? The whole division became this weird black box that the M.E.G. overseers didn't understand at all, but since it did its job the M.E.G. never changed it. I think that's actually the reason we weren't overhauled in 2014 like everyone else: the higher-ups thought if they messed with our system they might break something, and with war against the Veiled on the horizon they couldn't afford that.
Of course everything got restructured after the Veiled fell, probably for the better if I'm being honest. But the old nonsense of dozens of minor bases in random spots across the levels still leaves a stench behind, and Room 12 reeks of it. You're in a very weird and old job kid, be proud of that fact.
Despite the diversity that Dark Highway Runs show, they all begin in exactly the same place: Room 12 of the Exploration Wing, Base Omega, Level 4. This is the first of the 2 administrative offices related to the Highway: The other being in Base Beta. Whilst the division is overseen by Base Omega at large, intervention by senior staff is rarely needed, as the Runners mostly police and coordinate amongst themselves. The exception to this is, of course, the delivery of requests.
Each Run begins with a "request" from the M.E.G. This is the goal that the Run is meant to accomplish. These goals include, but are not limited to:
- Transportation of cargo.
- Transportation of civilians or M.E.G. members.1
- Repair or maintenance of the Highway itself (e.g. the signs on the 9th road).
- Tasks requested by other groups (see Off-Duty Life).
- Investigation of specific parts of interest along the Highway, particularly after a major accident or discovery.
Runs often have more than one request tied to them, but typically a single request is the dominant one. For instance, your Run's main goal could be to escort a civilian to Level 11, but you may also stop to repair a sign in Level 8 along the way.
Leadership Structure
Once the request has been received by the Runners, a team is assembled to traverse the Highway. Due to the already low number of Runners being divided between Base Omega, Base Beta, and the Highway itself, selection is generally easy: there are typically not many people available to accomplish the task at hand. At times where a consensus cannot be reached, the Leader of Team Ratites2 is contacted, and their word is considered final on the matter.
Sometimes the Team Leader cannot be contacted. In these scenarios, the authority falls to the first deputy3. If they cannot be contacted, it falls to the second deputy4, and likewise for the third deputy5. In the event of Leader disappearance or death, each deputy ascends one rank, with a new third deputy being voted on by the Team. Other than this, Team Ratites has no fixed leadership roles.
Samantha Clay. You'll here a lot about her if you stay a Runner for long. She's the definition of "trust your guys with your life, not your shit". If she told a Runner to charge head first into a smiler's mouth, they'd probably do it, but if she left her backpack unattended for even 5 minutes someone would absolutely swap around all the labels on her supplies (that someone is me by the way). Uptight, stoic, endlessly patient and professional, the Runners took one look at all she does and thought "Hey! What if we did the exact opposite of that?".
The deputy system, meanwhile, hides a lot more than it lets on. You don't have to be a genius to see why having 3 back-ups indicates the rate of "retirement" in this profession is very high6, and the actual responsibilities of the deputies outside of being a back-up aren't really talked about. Mostly because the responsibilities are just the things Sam can't be arsed to do but need getting done. Speaking of, if you become a deputy of the Runners, expect endless jokes comparing you to Sam. Gustav can't escape any of them. There's the old "Sam 2.0", "Sam but somehow worse", "Sam's slave", or my personal favorite: "Samanthanially contaminated". I like this one a lot because it implies that the longer you stay a deputy, the more you start to resemble Sam, until you presumably transform into Sam upon becoming team lead.
Beginning a Run
The number of people in an individual Run is of strategic significance. Too few people means the team is unable to transport many goods, and the risk of death from an entity attack increases dramatically. Too many people means the team is slow-moving, and avoiding entities becomes harder. On average, a Run's team is made of 5-8 people, with the mean number of members being ~7.
What a team carries depends heavily on the task at hand, but in general teams are equipped with:
- Communications devices
- Electric power (Typically via Blue Gel Batteries)
- Firesalt
- Flashlights and other light sources
- Maps (both electronic and physical)7
- Medical and first aid equipment
- Portable bedding (sleeping bags, tents, etc.)8
- Rations
- Timekeeping devices
- Warm and waterproof clothing
- Weaponry (Typically knives, (Backrooms specific objects???))
Once a team has been selected, all the initial information on the Run is recorded, and following this the team exits to Level 5 via the stairs in Base Omega.9 This marks the true beginning of a Dark Highway Run.