How did it all come to this? You're certainly not where you expected to be. You're just a paper-pusher, a well-educated man with a cushy desk job. So what are you doing riding on a train to meet some crime boss?
It all started so innocently. You had been slowly working your way up through various administrative positions at City Hall. Los Angeles is a big city, so it was going to take quite a bit of time to move to the best positions. Like so many other government bureaucracies, promotions worked on seniority and connections, and you had precious little of either. Then you noticed some of the junior staffers advancing a little more quickly than they should have. When one of the obviously less competent people was promoted over you, you got pretty suspicious. You looked into things, and eventually you discovered the reason: he was accepting bribes, and somebody was pulling strings to help him out.
At first, you were outraged. When you confronted him, he dared you to tell anyone. According to him, this went all the way up to the top. Disgusted, you left him, and you continued working your own way up the ladder.
Around this time, you made one of your closest friends. She was an employee, Mary Behar, working in your department. She had recently lost her husband, John, a cop, to street violence, and she really needed the job. The two of you got along really well, and you helped her work things out. You showed her the sights around LA, taking her out to see shows and to sample some of the outstanding restaurants in the area. After a few years of city expense accounts, you had definitely developed some refined tastes. Eventually, she was able to pick up the pieces of her life and move on. In fact, she worked in your department for over a year, sorting out contract proposals and the like, until tragedy struck again.
She had the most adorable son, Kyle. Unfortunately, the fixed hours set by the job didn't allow her as much time with him as she would have liked, and he had to head over to a babysitter's every day after school. On that fateful day, as he was playing in the babysitter's front yard, a gunfight broke out on the street nearby, and he was fatally shot.
It wasn't an event that was all that uncommon these days. The news used to report on shootings all the time, but they had just gotten too commonplace for people to care. You only noticed it now because someone you knew was involved.
Of course, Mary was devastated. You gave her all the time off she needed, and you tried to support her in any way you could. Without even thinking about it, you took care of all the funeral planning and covered the expenses out of your own pocket. You tried to keep her company and to get her going out as much as possible, since you were sure that she was driving herself crazy staying in that tiny, empty apartment of hers. Eventually, she decided to leave her job at City Hall. You tried to convince her to stay, but she felt this horrible burden after the loss of yet another member of her family, and she resolved to try to make a difference with her life. Mary ended up becoming a high school counselor while also volunteering at a number of after-school programs. Her guilt drove her to take on the sins of the world, and you could see the toll that it was taking on her spirit. Though the two of you kept in touch, you could tell that you were drifting apart.
A few months later, feeling some of Mary's depression yourself, you started to reconsider your life. Your free spending to cover Kyle's funeral and to keep Mary entertained had taken a good bite out of your bank account, and the ordeal had similarly shaken your moral resolve. This was when the first offer came in.
It was nothing important, really. Somebody was offering you a hefty sum to make sure that a specific company would get awarded one of the city's contracts. By the city's point system, the company was going to win the contract anyway, so you thought that it couldn't hurt to pocket the extra amount, besides winning an influential backer. Your thoughts kept going back to that staffer you had caught taking bribes; he was the head of transportation services now.
After the first time, it was a lot easier for you to accept the second and the third, until you started to lose count. It was usually pretty harmless stuff, like tilting a contract negotiation one way or another, such as when the city standardized on Dragon Security for its surveillance systems. Other times, you helped smooth the way for the clearing of a liquor license or the issuing of a certification. It wasn't often that you had to lose files or "accidentally" mistype a few numbers.
Recently though, some of the requests have started to get out of hand. You've been asked to fiddle with the budgeting of certain police districts and to discredit some of the other officials working at City Hall. Getting caught for any of these things could be really damaging, even if you have gotten good at covering your tracks. You've decided that you've had enough of being a cheap errand boy, so you've stalled the latest deal and demanded more money. If they refused to deliver, maybe it was time to get out while you still could. Fortunately, they were quick to respond, whoever "they" are. They've given you an address in San Francisco, where you're going to meet the man who's been calling the shots.
Feeling a little nervous, you invited Mary along for the trip. She's been rather depressed lately. She's had the nagging feeling that the same street violence that claimed her husband and her son will eventually claim her as well. You figured that once the unpleasantness of the negotiations was out of the way, you could show her around San Francisco to help lift her spirits. There are the most magnificent little restaurants tucked away in North Beach, as well as some four-star affairs that you haven't been to in years. You'll be happy to put the other business behind you as soon as possible, so you can really start enjoying your trip.
At the beginning of the game, feel free to talk to your neighbors, read a book, or flip through a magazine, just as you might on a real train ride. You may want to talk to Mary to try to settle your nerves about your upcoming negotiations. When one of the judges announces the explosion, (safely!) fling yourself out of your seat, scream, cry out to the Heavens, or go nuts, as appropriate. Don't go overboard, as pretty much everyone should be dead within a few moments. When you die, just lie still on the ground with your eyes closed until a judge announces the continuation of the game.
When you wake, you'll be horribly disturbed by your confused glimpse of Hell. You're on the verge of panic. You want to find out as much as possible about whatever has happened to you, and you'll do anything you can to make sure you don't end up in Hell. Try not to alarm Mary though. She's been through a lot, and this may be the last straw.
Conceal your indiscretions from most people, unless the truth might help you win sympathy or information that will keep you out of Hell.