Discharger

The Discharger is a Treatment machine, used only in Shock Clinic by a Doctor to cure patients with Shock Horror. It is first made available for research in Melt Downs.

Appearance
The machine sits upon a large two-tiered rectangular grey base, with the front half being higher, and fronted by a wide trapezoidal step. An dark-coloured irregular octagonal panel marks out the patient's spot. On either side of this is half a copper capsule on a sliding platform, each bearing a hole in the centre beyond which is a tall brass handle for the patient to grasp. Beyond each of these is a tall cylindrical tower mounted into a yellow and green base; on top of each of these is a copper coil bordering a silver disc. At the outer aspect of the front side of the base is found an angled winter green block, each bearing two large black ridged capacitors.

On the rear section of the base, on winter green mounts, is a horizontal spinning section made of brass with grey outer panels. On either side of this can be found more winter green sections, these in the form of rounded squares. One each one, a "+" marking in white is next to a large blue wire, where a "-" marking is next to a large brown one, both feeding into a vertically-mounted giant nine-volt style battery, in red and blue with a white stripe.

The controls are mounted behind the base, once more on winter green mounts. The central mount bears a reddish-brown wheel, to either side of these is a black lever, and beyond each of these is a circular gauge, measuring from red to green.

The Discharger II adds to this another pair of capacitors next to each existing pair.

The Discharger III further adds another pair of the battery sections, this time slightly smaller and mounted at the front of the machine, either side of the trapezoidal step.

Function
The patient will step onto the centre of the platform while the doctor mans the controls. The left-hand lever will start the central cylinder spinning, and turning the wheel will have the copper capsule close around the patient, who reaches through the gaps in the sides to grip the two brass handles. The right-hand lever starts the discharging itself, as bolts of electricity crackle up both of the coil-topped towers, and between them, above the patient. After a few seconds of this the excess charge is fully drained, and the doctor will turn the wheel once more to release their visibly wilted patient from the capsule. They can then step clear, their treatment complete.

Maintenance
The Discharger loses 5-10% of its maintenance gauge with each use. Once the gauge falls below 50%, a Janitor will automatically be called to repair it. A janitor can be summoned manually by the player by pressing the appropriate button.

Should the maintenance gauge fall below 15%, the machine will catch fire. A janitor will need to use an Extinguisher to put this out before the gauge reaches zero; if it is allowed to do so, the machine will explode, leaving wreckage which must be sold and replaced with a new machine before the room can resume functioning.

Upgrades
Upgrades are performed by a Janitor with the Mechanics Qualification. The machine will not be accessible while this work is being done, although it can be interrupted and resumed without losing progress.

Staff
The following Staff is required before Shock Clinic, and by extension the Discharger, will function correctly:

Additionally, the following staff is required to both maintain and upgrade the machine: Janitor (with Mechanics Qualification for upgrades)