Deadweight: A Shipping Problem

You reconcile paperwork on the night shift for a company that keeps other companies’ books straight.

Three numbers on every row. Two of them are somebody’s word. One of them is a measurement. They’re supposed to agree.

On your first night they don’t, and nobody has built you a column that checks.

Deadweight is a mystery told entirely through a working spreadsheet with a real formula engine, not a prop. You write your own detection columns. You sort, filter and cross-reference. Nothing is highlighted for you and no character explains the plot. Everything you find, you find because you built the tool that found it.

Over six acts the job changes around you. The checks you’re running multiply. The people you’re checking adapt. And the thing you’re looking for stops being a number.

• A genuine spreadsheet. 60+ functions, cross-sheet references, fill-down, sort, filter, undo. Your formulas are yours.

• No tutorial wall. Your supervisor emails you the job in plain English, the way a supervisor would. Skip the manual if you’d rather.

• Six acts, around five hours. Saves automatically.

• Nothing hidden behind a lucky click. Every answer is checkable against data on screen.

Mouse and keyboard. Headphones recommended. Hints are in the toolbar if you want them.

Content Warning: 

Deals with grief and bereavement. References to human trafficking and other smuggling. No graphic content.