Excerpt from The Little Red book. WARNING, this book is security clearance RED, however this section is SECURITY CLEARANCE INFRARED - CLEARED FOR ALL CITIZENS. Reading the original source material without the proper clearance may cause you to be treasonous. Any, all or none of the information listed here may, may not, should or should not be relevant to you. ...---... May I be of assistance? **Sure. Why don’t you tell me how this role playing game works?** I’m sorry, citizen. That information is not available at this time. **Huh? Most games are really eager to teach you the rules.** Not PARANOIA. In PARANOIA you don’t know the rules. You’re never sure why you’re doing anything. One thing you do know: Everyone is out to get you. **Uhh... The back cover says something about a computer.** In PARANOIA you play a Troubleshooter in service to The Computer. Trust The Computer! You are The Computer’s trusted agent and protector of Alpha Complex, The Computer’s underground city of the far future. **Why am I a Troubleshooter?** You turned in a friend for treason. The Computer had him executed for betraying Alpha Complex and rewarded you for your loyalty. Now you root out traitors and apprehend or execute them. You find trouble, and you shoot it. **What’s a ‘traitor’?** A traitor is a citizen who has betrayed The Computer and seeks to destroy The Computer, Alpha Complex, humanity and life as we know it. You must unmask and destroy all traitors. Mutants are traitors. These genetic freaks have uncontrollable abilities they selfishly use for their own advancement, rather than to serve Alpha Complex. You must subdue or eliminate them. Members of secret societies are traitors. In organizations unsanctioned by The Computer they conspire to undermine the good order of Alpha Complex. You must destroy them. By the way... you are a mutant and a member of a secret society. You are a traitor. **Wait, I’m a traitor?** That is correct. Your fellow Troubleshooters would be eager to unmask you as a traitor and execute you. They all carry powerful weapons. **So my job is to hunt and kill traitors. I work with other people who have the same orders. They all want to kill me?** Not quite. They all want to kill traitors. They don’t know you’re a Commie mutant traitor. Yet. **If they find out?** They’ll apprehend or kill you, as any right thinking citizen would. Of course, if you convict them of treason first, The Computer will have them executed, and you may survive. Note, though, false accusations of treason are themselves treason. **So I want to prove they’re traitors before they can prove I’m a traitor. If I don’t, I die?** Precisely. Dead traitors cannot testify. It is convenient to be the last Troubleshooter on your team left alive. The good news is, Troubleshooters routinely get shot, stabbed, incinerated, mangled, poisoned, blown to bits, and occasionally stapled, so you have many opportunities to ensure your team mates meet their just end. **...Are you sure this will be fun?** Certainly, citizen! Fun is mandatory. The Computer says so, and The Computer is your friend. Do you doubt The Computer? Doubting The Computer is treason. **No, certainly not. If The Computer says fun is mandatory, then this certainly will be fun. Only a Commie mutant traitor could believe otherwise.** Excellent! You’re getting the idea. Welcome to PARANOIA