====== The Hotseat ======

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=== The Hotseat ===
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| **Season 2 Location** | Chemical Plant |
| **Season 3 Location** | Storage Wing |
| **First appearance** | [[stories:Industrial Zone 2]] |
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The Hotseat has been one of the {zshow:iz}'s most iconic gunge devices since its introduction in the second season, as well as one of the simplest games. It was invented by {zchar:blue}, who was also the first player to be gunged by it.

A player is seated inside a booth cut into the wall, which has a waist-high metal panel as its front door that can be lowered then raised to allow walking inside. The booth is lit from above in green, with a dazzling array of computer panels, pipes and lights lining its inner walls.

The player is asked three questions and must answer all three of them correctly to escape the gunge tank clean - their score isn't announced until all three questions have been asked and answered. Sometimes, the option is given to let the player's teammates answer on their behalf.

If even a single wrong answer is given, the player is first sprayed with a set of jets of green gel from the left and right front edges of the tank, playing up and down them to coat their front. After a few seconds, the main tank above them is opened and they're showered by a flood of smooth opaque slime that's usually yellow or orange. After both tanks have run out, a third tank pours a heavy black lumpy gunge on to them from above, leaving them completely coated in a sickly mixture of slime.

The machine is controlled from behind the scenes with a rewired game controller, using the analogue sticks to control the angle of the sprayers and the shoulder triggers to open and close the various tanks. It's {zchar:cliff}'s favourite device to gunge people in, giving the operator more chance for artistic flair than a usual single gunge reservoir.

==== Appearances ====

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==== Influences ====

The Hotseat comes from the game "Teacher on the Hotseat" from Hangar 17, where teachers were asked three questions in the same way as in the IZ game. The three stages of the gunging were from a misremembered reconstruction of how Hangar 17's gunge tank worked - in the real version, the tank sprays gunge from the sides and top at the same time before a brief splatter of thicker gunge is dropped from above. This kind of machine later came to the Industrial Zone in the form of {zgame:The_cockpit}.