Quality Assurance and Training
Evaluation Staff
Tifa Lockheart - Tester
Tifa Lockheart was the sixth member of the Testing Staff and is also the
third of five former patients working in this department. She was an unusual
and interesting case since she first entered the Institute as an intruder
determined to free one of our involuntary patients. She almost succeeded and
after the aptly named "Lockheart Incident" we had to do a major overhaul of our
security procedures and anti personnel defenses.
While initially incarcerated as a trespasser and menace to life and limb
we subsequently learned she had a number of mental problems that had driven
her to act in this fashion. It was decided that Age Regression Therapy would
be the best therapy and she was admitted to the program. If you're interested
I have a copy of her old therapy file which you can view.
After she completed her therapy program we determined that she truly
accepted that the Aeris Gainsborough residing in Grimbor Ward was not the
woman she had once known. Therefore since we were sure that she would not
attempt to free her again Ms. Lockheart was free to go. However she said
that the Institute's ambiance had grown on her and asked if she could stay on
by getting a job here.
While we usually have vacancies among the Support Staff Ms. Lockheart
wasn't qualified or suited for the majority of positions. However we reject
nobody out of hand and after reviewing her case file Ms. Polecat though that
she might have potential as a Tester. So she was offered a position on a
probationary basis. She accepted and the Teaching Staff set to work seeing if
she had what it took to be a good Tester. They discovered that she did indeed
have the right stuff so she completed her probationary period with excellent
marks and became the QuAT's sixth Tester.
That terminal's handy. Let me see if I can call up some info on her
work since she became a full member of the Testing Staff. Ah! Here we go.
Here you see Catty Nebulart, Ayaka Kisarigi and Lei Fang moving Tifa to
one of the labs for closer observation.
What happened to her? Nothing out of the ordinary for a Tester. We were
trying out some new restraint materials and Ms Lockheart drew the assignment.
Actually no, she wasn't necessarily unlucky. This was something new to the us
at the time that was developed outside the Institute. There's always a lot of
curiosity about how externally developed technologies measure up to our own in
house equipment. I recall Tasha, I mean Ms. Polecat mentioning that there was
more competition than usual among the Testers for who'd get to do the initial
trials.
The container Ms. Kisarigi was carrying held animated X-Latex. It's a
technology used extensively at our former partner institution, "La Clinique La
Conciergere" and they sent us samples to evaluate so we could decide if
we would introduce it for use in the Institute. Ms. Lockheart's job was quite
simple. She had to try and break free.
No, it says here she couldn't break it. Not surprising on the one hand
as it was supposed to be nigh unbreakable and capable of absorbing almost
everything thrown at it. Which from the report Tifa didn't skimp on testing
and she can pack a real punch. During the "Lockheart Incident" she did a real
number on our walls.
But success or failure as a Tester isn't measured by escaping. It's
measured by the effort put into trying to escape. Patients will go to their
limits to break free so Testers can't give less than their best if we're to
evaluate items properly.
So while Tifa didn't destroy the X-Latex and spent a week squirming
around a testing lab in a frenzy since she gave it her all it was a successful
test.
Excuse me? No, you won't see X-latex in use in the Institute. Our
partnership with "La Clinique La Concierge" terminated and even if it
hadn't QuAT recommended sticking with our own Delta Latex since it already
offered almost identical properties and could be manufactured on site.
Ms Lockheart is a definite Institute success story. Believe or not so
are the pair ahead of us you see fighting over that clipboard.
Tea Gardener & Mai Valentine - Testers
Ladies, a little dignity please or I'll be reporting you to Ms. Polecat
and she's likely to send you to the re-education clamps.
No, I didn't mean camps.
Good, it's nice to hear that you're actually such good friends and just
enjoying a little horseplay. Ms. Polecat's likes horseplay, many times she's
told me how much fun it is to play with pony girls . Oh, you'll find out what
that means before too long. In the meantime perhaps you'd like to explain to
our guest what's causing all the fuss?
I see, there's one supervisor and one subject slot for the next scheduled
test and you'd both prefer to supervise the other. Ms. Polecat told you to
work it out amongst yourselves and neither of you had a coin to flip.
It's nice to learned that you're so concerned about watching over one
another's welfare but you can't both supervise. So it's time for an executive
decision. Let me see that clipboard. Hmmm, excuse me a moment, I need to
make a quick call.
Good news, ladies. Tesse checked the inventory and we have extra units
available. Even better she is not only not busy but she's completed all
her current assignments and looking for another project. So she'll take the
supervisory role and you can both test together. The perfect solution don't
you think?
No need to thank me, now off you go. Tesse will meet you in Testing Lab
2. Have fun.
Sorry for the interruption. Now where was I?
Oh yes, I was just about to tell you about those two.
While they have some history together they decided to apply for positions
here independently. In fact I gather they had gone their separate ways and
were rather surprised to run into one another when they arrived for their
interviews.
But I'll come to that later, first a little background is in order.
I'm not clear on how Tea Gardener heard about the Institute but I do know
that she became unhappy with her position in the fast food industry.
Ms. Gardener had no intention of making a career out of working at
"Burger World" but she needed the money to fund her dreams of becoming a
world famous dancer. While she has certainly demonstrated the flexibility,
strength and co-ordination to show that this is not an impossible dream she
still needs the rigourous training the profession requires. Unfortunately
tuitions to the New York Academy of Dance are few and far between so she
realized that she would have to pay her own way. Lacking experience and job
skill like many other recent high school graduates she went to the one
industry that doesn't require past experience and whose turnover rate is so
high that they're always hiring. Which was how she got a job at the local
"Burger World" franchise.
While she initially liked her job and didn't mind the work the arrival of
two new employees killed her enthusiasm. From all accounts you can hardly
blame her since their arrival was immediately followed by a rash of fires,
hygiene standards violations, unusual health complaints and working in an
atmosphere of profanity and juvenile humour. To make matters worse Burger
World's management responded by accelerating their program of random locker
searches, drug testing and body cavity searches. It became, to say the least,
an unpleasant environment to work in.
Ms. Gardener tried to transfer to another restaurant but soon discovered
that everyone who worked at that particular Burger World was considered
tainted goods. She could have always quit but her lack of other marketable
skills meant she'd be stuck without a job and without any way to pay for her
Dance Academy tuition. Which made unemployment an unattractive option.
Hospital food services seemed a viable alternative but most places wanted
nutritionists not cafeteria workers. She originally came here having seen an
advertisement for a position in our cafeteria. Unfortunately for Tea it was
already filled by the time she arrived. We had found a patient in the Open
Ward named Kasumi Tendo who had the appropriate skills, was judged harmless in
a food preparation environment (you have to be careful who gets to handle
knives) and willing to fill the post. But while Ms. Melnitz, the receptionist
was explaining that the position was gone but we'd keep her resume on file Ms.
Polecat chanced to walk by. She was on her way to her office to interview the
only applicant for a vacancy in the Quality Assurance Department and invited
Ms. Gardener to give it a try. Not wanting to waste a trip she tagged along
and was surprised to find her old acquaintance Mai Valentine waiting for
Tasha's arrival.
Ms. Valentine came to the Institute by a very different route. She was
once renowned among fans of the Duel Monsters Tournaments as a first rate
Duelist. The problem was that unlike most sporting events these tournaments
are literal "Winner Takes All" affairs. Only the winner profits, second place
or anything less that being the sole victor earns nothing. So unless you're
the champion all you get for competing is your room and board during the
contest and a ticket home afterwards. Obviously it's not a career in which
many can thrive and while she was highly ranked Mai and always finished near
the top she had never actually won a tournament. The big score she had been
counting on to set her up for life remained as elusive as ever and she was
getting sick of it but refused to give up.
It took the tragedy at what became her final contest to make her give up
on the duelist lifestyle and seek other employment.
Seito Kaiba, who had been the patron of several tournaments Ms. Valentine
had participated in, recently staged one with a four million dollar purse.
Buoyed by the fact that her toughest opponents decided not to contend due to
a lack of personal stakes in the contest Ms. Valentine decided her luck had
finally turned. She easily defeated everyone who faced her and sailed into
the final round. Where she was to face an opponent whose success seemed to be
primarily due to the fact that no one could understand what he was saying so
they weren't sure which card he had played.
While that might work on amateurs Ms. Valentine was sure she could handle
anything young Kenny McCormick dished out. A belief borne out by the gameplay
in the Finals. Had the contest gone as planned Ms. Valentine would almost
certainly have won. But as I mentioned earlier tragedy struck.
A freak electrical surge struck her opponent's gameboard just as he was
playing his trump card. Had it not been a monster using lightning based
attacks the arena's grounding might have handled it but the surge supercharged
the construct. Its ultrapowerful lightning burst cleared the arena of all of
Ms. Valentine's gamepieces an instant before the feedback disrupted the
monster and it exploded! This severely damaged the arena and completely
incinerated her opponent.
While Mr. Seito was less than pleased by the friends of the deceased
shouting that he had been born out of wedlock he put it down to the shock of
witnessing the tragedy. He then stated that while Seito Industries in no way
acknowledged any responsibility for the equipment failure the late Mr.
McCormick had destroyed all Mai Valentine's monsters before his own exploded.
Therefore while he was not alive to enjoy it Kenny McCormick was posthumously
the victor of the contest. Kenny's ashes were placed in an urn and awarded
the winner's medal while his good friend Eric Cartman accepted the prize money
on behalf of Kenny's next of kin (though I heard he actually bought his own
amusement park with it but that's just hearsay) and the late Mr. McCormick was
eulogized as the champion.
For Mai Valentine that was the last straw. Always losing to the living
was bad enough but now she had lost to a handful of ash. She decided that
fate just didn't want her to win, something would always come up to prevent
her victory. It was time to move on and try something else. Which lead her
in time to the Chainsman Institute for an interview as a Tester. It was
about the last place in the world she had expected to encounter Tea Valentine
again and some old animosities erupted before Ms. Polecat restored order.
Ms. Polecat interviewed them together and felt that both had potential as
Testers. She had also noticed the competitive rivalry between then and
decided that could be an asset to the Department if properly channeled. So
to conclude the interview she asked them to accompany her on a tour of the
building. Ms. Valentine had arrived with a better idea of what the position
entailed (though I gather she was a bit taken aback at the extent of our
precautions) while Ms. Gardener had walked in cold. Noting that she seemed
ill at ease Ms. Polecat pointed out that the position offered Tea the chance
to be paid for exercising her body and mind and growing stronger in both. So
that when she had earned enough money to fund her dance academy tuition she
would be in excellent shape to attend being much fitter than if she had spent
her days standing behind a counter taking orders for burgers and fries. Ms.
Gardener decided that was a good point but was still a little unsure. However
the unease she still felt was overridden by the comments Ms. Valentine made
about her "wussiness". Before long she was answering back with equally strong
comments and they were both claiming the other would fold first. As Ms.
Polecat had suspected would happen their rivalry had added to rather than
detracted from their potential as Testers. She offered them both Tester
positions on a probationary basis with one proviso.
Since neither had any background in escapology or as Institute patients
and they were going to be testing restraints she felt it essential that they
learn to understand the patient mindset. So they would both have to agree to
be treated as involuntary patients for the standard week long initial
observation and evaluation period. They agreed, both vowing to outlast the
other and declaring their rival would be begging for release within a day. So
Ms. Polecat summoned the nearest Jennies to wrap them up and deliver them to
Processing.
Since neither possesses paranormal abilities or innate fighting skills
if it had been an actual involuntary processing they would have been issued
standard restraints. But since Ms. Polecat was overseeing matters she had
them outfitted with some new equipment that needed testing anyway. I have
pictures somewhere of them trying out the new Delta Latex Straitjackets and
new Ballgag model China Balls.
Ah! Here they are. As you can see they were both placed in a vacant
Group room. Ms. Polecat had decided that this would optimise their growing
competitiveness thus giving the restraint gear the very exacting workout QuAT
testing demands. I think you'll agree the evidence suggests that she was
right.
Of course they couldn't go on like that indefinitely and eventually they
both had exhausted themselves and just wanted to sleep. Only to find that
their figure-four leglock was truly locked so (after doing their best to blame
each other in mumbles) all they could do was work together to lean their legs
against the wall to ease the pressure on both of them. Of course eventually
their Joys arrived to give them their sponge baths and untangle them.
They were a bit more cautious after that and didn't engage in any more
wrestling matches. For the next couple of days they struggled on their own,
determined to beat the other in getting free. Towards the end of the week
they had realised neither of them was going to escape on their own so they
put aside their rivalry and tried to co-operate. It surprised me but I think
our Ms. Polecat had been expecting it. They failed to escape but she liked
the spirit they had shown.
With the week up she had them released and told them that if they still
wanted the jobs she was ready to sign them up as Testers. Of course they
would still have to complete an initial probationary period to make sure they
could interact with the other staff, patients and function within our
institutional structure.
They both agreed and to the surprise of everyone, except their overseer,
Ms. Trepe, they completed their probationary period with flying colours
and were made full staff members. Though as you saw their rivalry remains
but long as it drives them to excel at their jobs none of their co-workers
have a problem with it.
Returning to Ms. Trepe she has good instincts about who will and won't
make it through their trial period which is why we accept her opinion that our
latest probie testers will prove themselves valuable assets to the department.
What's a probie?
Institute slang for a department's probationary employees. The last and
latest employees to join the QuAT Testers ... Speak of the devil, there they
are now and I see they're displaying the maturity I've come to associate with
both of them.
Priscilla Asagiri & Nene Romanova - Testers (Probationary)
The most recent additions to our department are also the last former
patients working in this department. Both Priscilla Asagiri (who prefers to
be known as Priss) and Nene Romanova were members of the four woman power
armoured vigilante group known as the Knight Sabers who caused no end of
troubles to the GENOM corporation. While they're both enthusiastic to be
members of QuAT these days it's a dramatic change from when they were admitted
as involuntary patients. Back then whenever she was allowed to speak Priss
kept swearing she would tear the whole place down and use the ruins as a
toilet. Nene was less bombastic but clearly didn't want to be here and while
more fastidious about her choice of bathrooms wouldn't have minded seeing the
whole Institute go up in flames.
Following Age Regression Therapy and undergoing the re-education program
Ms. Asagiri was deemed rehabilitated and released. At approximately the
same time her former colleague Nene Romanova was released having made
excellent progress in her therapy while confined in the Open Ward (though she
was far less successful in her Physical Therapy program and came to regard
Doria Rurido as her arch nemesis) and they were reunited.
Once together again they were left with the problem of where to go. The
exposure of their identities as Knight Sabers meant that returning to their
hometown could be dangerous since the Sabers had made enemies. Also Nene's
former employers the ADPolice had been less than pleased to discover she had
been working as a vigilante and had done their best to ensure she'd never be
hired at anything related to law enforcement again. Which combined with GENOM
characterising her as an anti-corporate terrorist greatly narrowed her
job prospects. Ms. Asagiri wasn't as concerned about finding traditional
employment and could have relaunched her music career anywhere in the world
but she found without her anger she had lost much of her drive and could
realistically see that her prospects of becoming a star were very unlikely.
While they were pondering their future Ms. Polecat made them an offer
which was something of a relief to their former therapists who didn't like
the idea of abandoning their former patients to a future without prospects.
Becoming testers for QuAT wasn't a career either had ever considered but
they decided to give it a try until other options appeared. Also it would
allow them to remain close to Sylia Stingray, the Knight Saber's former leader,
who remains confined to the Isolation Ward. Which while she arrived as an
involuntary patient she does not object to since it is giving her a chance to
engage in self discovery which she was unable to accomplish while distracted
by her vigilante vendetta. The fourth member of the Knight Sabers, Linna
Yamazaki, had eluded capture when the other three Sabers were committed. With
her in hiding, her whereabouts unknown, Nene and Priss were unable to contact
her and tell her that the situation had changed and everyone was content to
remain at the Institute voluntarily. Which was unfortunate since Ms. Yamazaki
had been planning a rescue mission for months and successfully broke into the
Institute only to be captured by Security while trying to convince her former
colleagues to flee with her. She is currently residing in Grimbor Ward while
we decide what to do with her. Nene and Priss visit her regularly but they
report she's no longer keen to see them despite their many apologies and
explanations that if she'd left a forwarding address all the trouble could
have been avoided.
Returning to Nene and Priss they were accepted as probationary members of
the department. Priss has become very enthusiastic about the work. So has
Nene but in her case the enthusiasm is marred by Ms. Polecat's insistence that
she remain in excellent physical shape to perform her duties which means she
has to make regular visits to the Gym to undergo assessment by Ms. Rurido.
Other than that proviso Ms. Romanova is as keen to be part of the Testers
Squad as Ms. Asagiri. So she's learned to live with this condition, however
grudgingly
They're now about halfway through the probationary phase with their
activities being overseen by Ms. Trepe who continues to tell me that they're
a great asset to the department and that she expects them to complete their
Tester probationary period with flying colours.
I've learned to trust her judgement so I have no doubts she'll prove
herself correct yet again.
Well that completes your introduction to our Testing Staff.
Would you like to take a closer look at the Labs or the Demonstration
Arena where our Testers work?
If not then that's about it for this Department. Would you like another
word with the Teachers or QuAT's Administrators?
In that case it's time to move on. Who or what would you like to visit
next?
Perhaps you'd like to meet the Support Staff members Quality Assurance and
Training is responsible for tutouring in our latest innovations?
Or the Medical Staff who will be prescribing these techniques and
technologies?
If you prefer we can arrange an interview with a member of our involuntary
patient acquisition team.
Perhaps you'd like to meet our Physical Trainers and see the Gym
Or I could give you the scoop on our advances in humane capture technology
Alternately some visitors have been fascinated by the specifics of our patient
restraint and control equipment
Others have wanted to hear all about our use of robotics
Then there are those who were more interested in the human interest angle of
our friendly staff rivalries
If you insist we could take a look at our underground high security storage
7facility
Of course you can always return to the Open Wards
Finally there's one more option. The place most everyone wants to see.
Do you still want to see the Grimbor Ward?
Or we can end the tour