Sinister Zebra Committee

The Sinister Zebra Committee, often referred to as the SZC, is a mysterious entity involved in the creation of Vinnie's Tomb.

Vinnie's Tomb Chapter One
The SZC is introduced in the introduction to Vinnie's Tomb Chapter One, where Vinnie receives an anonymous phone call from an anonymous caller, informing him that his Great Great Great Great Not So Great Grandfather Vinnie was entombed in the electronic store he worked in by the local SZC fifty-nine years ago. Being a gullible idiot, Vinnie believed the caller, and he embarks on an adventure to find the tomb and the large sum of valuable electronic surveillance equipment and cryogenic hardware he has learned that multimillionaire Ernie York kept in the electronic store.

Vinnie's Tomb Chapter Two
When Vinnie finally enters the tomb in Vinnie's Tomb Chapter Two, he encounters Namreh the tomb robot and asks it if it knows anything about the SZC. Namreh confirms that it does, but blows up just before it can reveal the stark horrible truth.

Deeper inside the tomb, Vinnie finds the notebook of Roberta Fibbs, an elite scientist who was employed by the SZC, who at that point had been using the tomb for their evil dark agenda. This involved a dangerous experiment, which resulted in turning the tomb radioactive. Roberta herself succumbed to the radioactivity and died after escaping from the evil Mr. York, who imprisoned her for taking elastic bands from the supply room without permission.

With the help from Jasper the ghost, Vinnie also uncovers Vinnie's Journal, the secret diary of his Great Great Great Great Not So Great Grandfather. It reveals that the elder Vinnie suspected that another employee at the electronic store, Jacob, was planning to take over the store with the help of some friends of his, an untidy bunch of ruffians who wore clothes with white and black stripes – presumably the local SZC – who installed some strange equipment in the store.

Vinnie's Tomb Chapter Three
It's likely that the SZC were planned to have a bigger role in the never-released Vinnie's Tomb Chapter Three, as gathered from a quote by Freddie Finkle in an interview conducted by Reldni correspondent John Morgan on May 20, 1997 (shortly after Vinnie's Tomb Chapter One was released), at which point Finkle was still head of software development:

"Being a trilogy the game is one third of a puzzle. The significance cannot be realized until the Sinister Zebras make the scene. It's been a collaborative effort and it will continue to be dark after Samuel Stevens leaves the boat."