Brenda Murphy

Brenda Murphy very nearly peaked high school. She and her sweetheart Eddie Striker were the power couple of their clique and got married right after graduation. They were just a couple of dumb kids and had no idea what they were doing and got in way over their head with debt. In the end, their credit score could be repaired but the marriage could not.

Brenda move to the big city to pursue a fresh start, and got herself hired as a secretary. A junior executive on the rise named Dustin Vance took a shine to her, and Brenda was swept up into a world of coke-fueled parties and back room business deals.  At Dustin's behest, she used her charm to soften up potential clients, allowing Dustin to advance his schemes and swindles. Then, during one wild party cruise on Dustin's yacht, something horrible happened.  A guest of Dustin's ended up dead. Dustin said it was an accident - that they were all high as kites and playing with a harpoon gun - but that they couldn't involve the police. In the heat of the moment Brenda helped him dispose of the body.

The dark secret bound them closer still. Dustin never talked to her again about what happened that night, immediately diving back into his pursuits of ambition and hedonism, and Brenda felt pulled along with him.  When he proposed in the middle of a fancy gala, she saw a vision of her life as a glittering accessory stretching before her, turned her heel and fled.

She wouldn't see Dustin again until years later, after she had earned a degree in marketing and built a career on her own terms. Brenda had worked her way up to being the head of PR at Apex Vector through grit and guile, beating out innumerable competitors from the Old Boys network through business acumen and sheer determination.  Her current boss, Raleigh Kane, might be eccentric but he seemed to genuinely judge his team on merit.  It was honestly kind of funny to watch Dustin's attempts to schmooze fall flat in the face of Raleigh's awkward brusqueness. He could buy up Apex Vector stock, but Raleigh Kane's attention was not for sale.

Part of what made Raleigh so hard to ingratiate oneself with is that he spent so much time visiting the Apex Vector development labs at the Mauch Chunk campus, way out in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. He even had built a suite for himself to stay in, just off the cafe area.  Because of her frequent meetings with him there, Brenda was one of the few non-scientists to have access to the building.   After one meeting with Raleigh, he decided to lead her down into the Project Prometheus lab and introduce her to a person unlike anyone she had met before.  Kris was cute, quirky, funny, and sweet. Also, Kris was an android.

The day that first meeting, Brenda got an email from Kris.  So, she wrote back. Soon they were corresponding at least once a day. The two started dating. Kris would meet her out at a park or some public place. Brenda never asked what Raleigh or Dr. Gelman thought about their rendez-vous. Kris self-installed parts to allow for the ingestion (technically storage) of food and drinks, so they could fit in at restaurants. Two months ago, Brenda and Kris were at a club called Innuendos, when she looked up from her slippery nipple to lock eyes with Dustin Vance. Dustin went on sipping his sex on the beach, but meaningfully pumped his eyebrows as if to imply that management might not look kindly on Brenda knocking boots with company property. Since that night he has made oblique references but nothing more, no doubt wanting to hold the secret relationship over her head as leverage.

After that, Dustin began trying to press Brenda for information. Dustin has been working to build a coalition of shareholders to oust Raleigh, and wants information to support his claim that Raleigh has become obsessed with his pet projects and is neglecting the company. Earlier this week, Dustin made it explicit: If Brenda can't dig up some dirt on her boss, Dustin will spill the beans to his personal friend, Dr. Gelman. He taunted her with the fact that Kris can't even reciprocate her feelings. Dustin gloated that Dr. Gelman had complained to him about having labored to complete an emotional subroutine and submitted it for approval, but in the middle of reviewing it Raleigh suddenly changed his mind and reassigned Gelman to prosthetics. "If Raleigh didn't want his android having feelings," Dustin sneered, "he damn sure wouldn't want it dating."

It's a lot to have on your mind while running a corporate event! Add to that, she offered an invitation to this event as part of the prize for a tournament on the Apex Vector video game system, and the winner's chaperone is her ex-husband Eddie. Plus, Dr. Hendricks has cooked up some kind of icebreaker activity that Raleigh asked her to facilitate, which is sure to be a mess.

## Goals

- Find and Install Kris' emotions program

- Escape from Dustin's threat

- Protect your future

## Starting Cards

Heart Tokens (2)

$200

Ability: Judoka

This ability can be used to interrupt someone who is making a melee attack against Brenda.

People underestimate Brenda, but that's one mistake you won't make again. Brenda has used your momentum against you, sending you flying in a judo throw. You are Incapacitated for a count of 10 which starts after you have handed back this card.

Item: Cell Phone

This sturdy brick has a number pre-programmed into it (Kris's internal cell phone.)

The cell phone can be used once as a bludgeoning weapon, knocking out the target for 5 minutes. Once it has been used in this fashion, the cell phone is broken both as a bludgeon and as a phone.

Item: Personal Log - 1987

A computer disk Brenda found this lying on the floor at the start of the party.

You'll need a computer console to play it on. As a Secret Keeper to reveal its contents.