Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #22: The Honeymoon (4/27/99)
Arat is trying to read the report Jeniard has given him with a straight face.
Jeniard is standing there innocently.
Nick observes the effort to retain the poker face.
Nick: Something amusing?
Arat has learned over the years that not only is Jeniard the only person who can make him laugh, Jeniard is the only person evil enough to insert laugh producing innuendo in an official report.
Nick always feels it's an event when a Farris channel tries to smile, since so few of them have anything approaching a sense of humor.
Nick makes a mental note to encourage Jeniard to hang around more, if Arat likes him so much.
Arat tries to look stern as he puts the report away.
Arat: Nick, I'm going to have to ask you to excuse us while I have a word with Jeniard alone.
Arat: Would you mind going down the hall and asking Lemuse if she requires anything?
Nick: Lemuse?
Arat: Room 522.
Nick: All right.
Arat: Thank you.
Jeniard grins.
Nick grabs his crutches and swings towards the door, figuring that he's got Arat in decent shape, if he's willing to send his Donor away.
Nick makes his way to Room 522 and signals.
Lemuse: It's open!
Nick opens the door and enters a bit awkwardly.
Lemuse: Oh! Sorry, didn't know it was you or I'd have opened the door for you.
Lemuse is a young, but not overly young, female Gen.
Nick: Hello. I'm Nick Reckage--I believe I've seen you in the burn ward, haven't I?
Nick: I've been working with Controller Arat.
Lemuse smiles.
Lemuse: Nice to meet you. I'm Sosu Lemuse.
Lemuse: How can I help you today?
Nick: Arat got tired of my company, it seems, so he sent me to see if you could use some help.
Lemuse blinks.
Lemuse: Already?
Nick smiles charmingly.
Nick: He's a channel--they get that way, sometimes.
Lemuse grins back.
Lemuse: You don't know the whole of it.
Lemuse: Well sure, have a seat.
Lemuse: Cheese sandwich? Tea?
Nick: Both, if they're handy. It's been a while since breakfast.
Nick eases into a chair.
Lemuse passes over a plate with small square sandwiches on it, then lights a miniature burner next to an equally miniature sink, fills the 2-cup teapot and sets it on the burner, all with one hand and without getting up. (her office isn't huge)
Lemuse: What did you do to get into his bad book? [conversationally]
Nick: I'm not sure it had anything to do with me, really, unless it was that I'm not Tecton.
Lemuse: I'd heard you two were getting along really really well.
Nick shrugs.
Lemuse had actually heard that hundreds of people were in on the betting pool as to how long it would take for Nick's honeymoon to end.
Lemuse of course wouldn't dream of participating with a bet of her own.
Lemuse: [at least not without a little insider information]
Nick: Well enough, I suppose. It's different, when we both know it won't last more than a month or two.
Nick sighs, once more brought face to face with his loss of Snake.
Lemuse: You could probably get him a lot if you wanted to. You're the first one who's come along in... [sees his expression] ... sorry.
Nick waves away the apology.
Nick: It's all right. There's rather little that doesn't remind me of Snake, actually.
Nick: What was that you were saying about my being the first?
Lemuse: Oh.
Lemuse tries to think of a diplomatic way to put this, since it might get back to Arat.
Lemuse: He has an awfully hard time with Donors. You're the first in a long time he's actually liked enough to spend any time with.
Lemuse: The Powers that Be are bound to notice, you could use that.
Nick: Really? He doesn't seem that temperamental, to me.
Nick has yet to see Arat pull a knife on someone, or take numerous mind-altering chemicals.
Lemuse looks at Nick incredulously.
Lemuse: Man, you must be really mellow. That's good. It's always good to be mellow.
Nick: Have other Donors really had a hard time with him?
Lemuse: Oh, yeah. He's... [hesitates, wondering how much she should say. Having some information would help him be a better Donor, but too much information would be gossip]
Nick smiles in a deprecating fashion.
Lemuse: Well, he's a little hard on them.
Nick: Hard? In what way?
Lemuse: Most of the time he doesn't even want to be in the same room with them.
Lemuse: He kicks them out when J... he doesn't think he requires them.
Nick: I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, you see.
Lemuse: Oh?
Nick: Yes. He's apparently managed to get detailed records from every Tecton official who's ever met me--and I know only what he's told me about himself.
Lemuse: Haven't you read his file?
Lemuse is pretty sure Arat wouldn't have told everything in that.
Lemuse: You probably ought to, if you haven't.
Nick: No one has said anything about a file. Are you sure they're available to non-Tecton personnel?
Lemuse: Hmm... I'm not sure. I'd say no, but then again they are letting you handle his nager.
Nick: Where would I get this file?
Lemuse: It'd be with the Personnel Records office, but if I were you I'd get Arat to retrieve it for you.
Lemuse can't really see the tight wads over in Personnel giving it up to a rogue Donor.
Nick: If that's the usual way things are done. Although he apparently didn't ask my permission before collecting the Tecton's records on me.
Lemuse looks at him oddly.
Lemuse: But he's Controller, that's his job.
Lemuse: And I only meant you should ask so that your not really being an employee won't get in the way.
Nick: I see.
Lemuse: I mean, what would the world come to if anybody could go grabbing anybody's medical records with no authorization at all?
Lemuse: Er, no official authorization [adds]
Nick: Unlimited information on anyone should be strictly limited to Tecton employees?
Lemuse: Well yes, of course, and only for reasonable purposes.
Lemuse: I mean, I couldn't go in and look at Arat's file. But if you were Tecton, you could because you're serving him.
Lemuse would give her left outer lateral, if she had one, to see Arat's file, actually.
Nick: Well, I'll ask him. All he can do is refuse, after all.
Nick sort of doubts that the intensely private Arat will allow him to see the files, as no other Tecton channel he's worked with has even hinted that it was possible.
Lemuse: If he did and you complained, they'd come down on him.
Lemuse: ... Probably. The part about your not really being Tecton makes it weird.
Lemuse wonders if anybody would be willing to make bets on that.
Nick: Well, I suppose I can just muddle on like I've been doing, if I have to.
Nick: Although improvisation isn't always the most efficient way to handle things.
Lemuse: Well, I heard you've been doing great.
Lemuse: This is the first time he's kicked you out in like two weeks, right?
Nick: Not that long, quite.
Nick is struck by an idea.
Nick: Say, as long as I've got some spare time, do you happen to know if there's a clothing store in the area?
Lemuse: Usually he won't let a Donor anywhere near him pre-turnover, not without a big fi... clothing store?
Nick: Yes. All I've got is two borrowed uniforms and a very battered pair of pants.
Lemuse thinks.
Lemuse: Maybe, but I thought you were, um,
Lemuse: Did you want me to go shopping for you?
Nick: Oh, I wouldn't want to put you to the trouble. Besides, I'm getting stir crazy.
Lemuse looks dubious.
Nick is already standing.
Lemuse doesn't plan to be demoted to Latrine Scrub 3rd Order for giving Nick ideas of where to run off to.
Lemuse: Weren't you going to help me?
Nick: I'd be happy to, but I really can't let this opportunity pass.
Nick: Arat appears to want almost constant attendance.
Nick: And it's not like it was working with Snake, when we were out and about, and could mix work with errands.
Nick appears apologetic but firm.
Lemuse: Well, maybe you should tell him you want to go shopping, instead of running off without warning.
Lemuse looks genuinely concerned.
Nick: Every time I mention leaving the building, he comes up with some excuse not to. He doesn't even like to go on the roof.
Lemuse: He's just afraid you'll....
Lemuse stops, because the idea of Arat being afraid of anything is at once ridiculous and unspeakable.
Nick rolls his eyes.
Lemuse: Well, you'd better tell him your concerns, is all I'm saying.
Nick: Fine. I'll have a long chat with him. After I've gotten some decent clothes.
Nick moves towards the door.
Lemuse: Well, at least take some people with you!
Lemuse: You don't want to get mugged or anything....
Lemuse jumps up, partly worried about Nick and partly worried about what's going to happen to her when she has to go report this.
Nick: This is that dangerous a neighborhood?
Nick knows full well that it isn't, thanks to his intimate acquaintance of the slums and back alleys of Bender Cove and half the rest the Territory.
Lemuse: Well, it's a big city, and unless you want to buy a suit you're going to have to go outside the government block.
Nick: I'll manage. From what I saw on the roof, there's a shopping district a bit east of here.
Lemuse: Anyway, if Arat finds out I let you go running loose without even an escort, I'll....
Nick: Escort? Why would I require an escort? I'm hardly some panic-stricken visitor from Gen Territory.
Lemuse: No, you're a dangerous prisoner.
Lemuse: Haven't you ever heard of Hugh Valleroy?
Nick tries to remember his history lessons.
Lemuse: Or Oliver Teague?
Nick: Wasn't he the one who invented that double-strength shiltpron amplifier?
Lemuse winces.
Lemuse: Include that guy, whoever he was, on the list.
Lemuse: Arat can't go out alone with you because he'd get in trouble for exposing himself to rogue influences. He's District Controller, he's got responsibilities.
Nick: I assure you, I'm no musician.
Lemuse: Come on, you can't be this thick. Don't you get what I mean?
Nick: I gave the man transfer, and I've been working with him all day every day for a week and a half.
Nick: If that didn't expose him to "rogue influences", I don't see how purchasing a few shirts could cause much damage.
Lemuse: It isn't shirts. Its allowing you to leave the building.
Lemuse: It's allowing others to be exposed to you unsupervised.
Nick: I assure you, nobody's every caught leprosy from me.
Lemuse adds mentally, and allowing Nick to be out of his sight for 5 minutes, obviously a major mistake.
Lemuse can't argue with somebody who is so bull headed the word "prisoner" has shot right by him.
Lemuse: Leprosy?
Lemuse: What in shen are you talking about now?
Nick: An Ancient disease, which was supposed to be so terrible that no one who had it could be allowed to come in contact with the healthy.
Nick read about it in a particularly imaginative novel, when he was working as a night watchman.
Lemuse: Yeah well, in today's world rogue behavior is just as lethal, or more so.
Lemuse: Do you have any idea how many channels die trying to make it as rogues?
Lemuse: And how many more ordinary people die thinking they can live off them?
Nick: There are incompetent rogues, I'm well aware. And I'm sure you know that the Tecton has more than a few incompetents of its own.
Nick: It appears that competence is the issue, not affiliation.
Nick: Are you implying that I'm not competent?
Lemuse looks at him in disbelief.
Lemuse: You don't get it, do you? What you've been doing is just plain against the law.
Lemuse: Illegal.
Lemuse: I'm not going to try to judge criminal competence and incompetence. It's ridiculous.
Nick: We agree on that, certainly.
Lemuse: There's some who'd say you should have turned your channel in.
Nick: Were any of them people who'd actually met Snake?
Nick had observed that Tecton personnel who knew Snake tended to want her anywhere but in a Sime Center, particularly if they had to share it.
Lemuse: You're not listening to me. I said they would say you should have turned her in.
Lemuse demonstrates no liking of Nick whatsoever any more.
Lemuse: But it doesn't matter. If you're so determined to go, go. Other people will pick up the pieces.
Nick opens the door.
Nick: See you later, then.
Nick swings into the hall.
Nick: Such a fuss over a few changes of clothes. [muttered]
Lemuse waits until he has left, then leaves her office and hurries down the hall.
Nick returns to the Sime Center about twenty minutes later in a cab, wearing a non-regulation shirt and carrying a bag of assorted clothing.
Nick is in a better humor than he's been in days, the stir-crazy tension having been relieved.
Nick drops his new purchases off at his room, then heads for Arat's office, whistling.
Nick lets his nager show plainly as he approaches, knowing that Arat will zlin it in time to conclude whatever private business he had with Jeniard.
Nick opens the door.
Jeniard moves away from Arat's desk and makes himself busy studying some papers in another corner of the room.
Arat eyes Nick.
Nick raises an eyebrow.
Nick: If you two haven't finished whatever you were discussing, I can come back later.
Arat: No, we're quite finished.
Arat's tone is slightly ironic since he will not be able to risk another such interlude until Nick is out of his charge.
Nick nods, and closes the door behind him.
Nick heads for the tea service.
Nick: Tea, anyone?
Arat: No.
Jeniard clears his throat.
Jeniard: Um, yes, thank you.
Nick smiles at Jeniard, while automatically falling into synch with Arat.
Jeniard looks a little bit stressed out.
Arat looks very stressed out, for him, and has lapsed into tight-lipped workaholic mode.
Jeniard: How is the weather?
Nick tries to smooth the ambient, letting his cheerfulness pervade the room as he measures the tea.
Nick: It's a beautiful day. Just enough nip to the air to keep you awake, and a hint of a breeze.
Jeniard: Sounds nice.
Jeniard has now run out of things to say.
Nick takes a cup of the Narosian blend to Jeniard.
Nick: Here you are.
Jeniard: Thanks.
Nick collects his own cup and moves to his accustomed chair, close by Arat's desk.
Nick sets to work on Arat's stress.
Nick: So, Arat, what has Jeniard been telling you, to get you so upset?
Arat shoots Nick an unreadable look.
Arat: It has nothing to do with Jeniard.
Nick: You got some bad news?
Nick: ~~ sympathy ~~
Arat's skin crawls.
Arat puts down his pen.
Arat looks at Nick again.
Nick: I see. If you'd rather not discuss it with an outsider, that's understandable.
Arat: My... distress... is with regards to you.
Nick: To me?
Nick: Perhaps you would explain?
Nick settles back with his tea.
Arat's face goes neutral to mask his internal struggle.
Arat has always been extremely inhibited about discussing his problems with Donors, much less with a Donor, much less one in Nick's peculiar situation.
Nick: I have no desire to cause you distress.
Nick: ~~ truth ~~
Arat's eyes narrow.
Arat: Perhaps not.
Nick sees that Arat is not comfortable with the situation, and works to ~~ soothe ~~
Arat looks down.
Arat: Nevertheless, your... situation, your status, our unusual assignment, have combined to cause it.
Arat leaves out the bit about his own condition.
Nick: If you are that uncomfortable with having to work with me, I wouldn't be offended if you asked for a fully pledged and trained Donor.
Nick: Or I would be willing to make the request myself, if that would work better for you.
Nick is trying hard to find a way to get Arat a situation he can live with, figuring he owes the channel at least that much.
Arat: That is very... generous of you to offer.
Arat: However, it is more than a matter of my own, my own, comfort.
Arat looks up at Nick seriously.
Arat: As you have no doubt picked up from our conversation with Controller Seruffin, my superiors are very interested in seeing you working for the Tecton on a permanent basis.
Nick: I'd gathered that, yes.
Nick: Do you disapprove of that?
Arat: No.
Arat: However, I am more aware of the realities of the situation, the difficulty of persuading you to want to.
Nick nods.
Arat: As I say, I was faced with the same decision myself, once.
Nick wonders if this is the sort of information that would be in Arat's mysterious file.
Nick: You said something of the sort, but didn't elaborate.
Arat nods.
Arat: My parents were enemies of the Tecton. Imprisoned. When I changed over to be a channel I was given the choice of going to prison myself, or training to become a minion of the Tecton.
Arat: It was actually a much clearer cut choice than yours, because the consequences for choosing incorrectly would have been fatal. Yet it didn't seem that easy to me at the time.
Nick: It might have been a simpler decision, but it was probably harder. I've never considered myself an enemy of the Tecton; I simply wasn't able to live with the restrictions I'd incur by joining it.
Arat: The difficulty, as I see it, is that a channel of my caliber must work for the Tecton or die. A Donor of your caliber will surely suffer discomfort, but chances are it will not be fatal.
Arat: And in a choice dictated by personal comfort level, a dislike of rules and regulations carries real weight.
Nick is glad to know that Arat truly understands.
Arat looks tired.
Nick: And in the mean time, you get trouble from your superiors?
Arat gestures vaguely with a tentacle.
Nick reaches to place a hand on Arat's wrist, to better smooth the kinks from his nager.
Arat: There is some of that. But I do have real and powerful reasons of my own, quite aside from being ordered to... [words trail off at the touch]
Nick: If it's any comfort, I truly haven't made up my mind, yet.
Nick stops talking and concentrates on what his nager is doing.
Arat looks up at him, looking uncharacteristically helpless.
Arat: It is.
Arat: Believe me, it is.
Nick: Well, then, stop getting yourself tied into knots dreading something that might not even happen.
Nick's tone is almost affectionate, if a touch exasperated.
Arat's tentacles extend to touch Nick's wrist in return, briefly.