Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #49: Morale Improvement (7/15/99)
Pylor sits at the desk in his room, pretending to put the finishing touches on his report of his transfer with Arat.
Pylor is well aware that even the most creative editing will not make either of them look good.
Pylor has been sustaining himself for the past week with the hope that his next assignment will be more palatable.
Pylor has been finding hope, and work, and life in general, rather hard to manage lately.
Pylor is not at all used to bad transfers.
Josette approaches the door to Pylor's quarters.
Josette is a female Gen of approximately 25 natal years, wearing a Tecton uniform and the insignia of the Employee Morale Division.
Josette's gentle look and pleasant nager belie the horror with which most Tecton employees view the EMD.
Josette is carrying a file and a folder full of charts under one arm.
Josette signals at Pylor's door.
Pylor rouses himself with difficulty.
Pylor: Come in.
Pylor hopes it is a messenger with his next assignment.
Josette enters.
Josette smiles at Pylor.
Josette: Hello.
Josette: I'm Sosu Josette with the Employee Morale Division. How are you feeling today, Sosu Pylor?
Pylor looks at Josette with understandable suspicion.
Pylor: I've felt better, but I'll survive.
Pylor: What are you doing here?
Pylor: Is there more trouble with Controller Arat?
Josette's smile is friendly and compassionate.
Josette: I'm here to talk to you about how things have been going for you lately, and how your quality of life and work might be improved.
Josette's wording leaves no doubt that the EMD considers quality-of-life and quality-of-work are inextricably intertwined.
Pylor snorts, pretty sure now that he knows who is responsible for Josette's visit.
Josette, the EMD having as its primary mission the optimizing of the volume of work produced by each and every employee of the Tecton, is mainly interested in results.
Pylor: I'll be fine, once I'm working with a channel who is prepared to be reasonable.
Pylor is actually a bit annoyed that it is taking so long for his next assignment to go through, but figures that's just Arat's way of punishing him.
Josette: I see. Might I sit down and have a word with you about your ideas for improving your situation?
Pylor: I really do have to finish this report....
Pylor gestures towards his desk.
Josette nods sympathetically.
Josette: This will only take a half hour or so, I promise.
Pylor sighs in a long-suffering fashion.
Josette is aware that many Tecton employees view a half hour as a yawning chasm of time.
Pylor: Very well.
Josette beams.
Josette: Oh, thank you.
Josette has a seat and puts the file and charts on her lap.
Josette: You are aware of the reasons for the delay of your assignment?
Josette: [gently]
Pylor: Actually, I'm not.
Josette's face takes on a compassionate oh-dear expression.
Pylor knows better than to complain of Arat's pettiness to the EMD, however sympathetic Josette may seem.
Pylor: Some holdup with the paperwork, I expect.
Josette: Well it is something like that, [admits] you see, Controller Arat has changed his mind and has requested you for a second month.
Pylor is unable to prevent a look of absolute horror from crossing his features.
Pylor: What???!!!
Josette: There's been a lot of discussion about this, as some of the higher Controllers don't think this would be such a good idea, and so there have been meetings... well yes. I'm sorry.
Josette makes a few notes as to Pylor's very colorful reaction.
Pylor: I know Farrises are supposed to have a thing for self-punishment, but isn't this taking it a bit too far?
Pylor couldn't care less if Arat gets masochistic, but very much resents being forced to partake as well.
Josette: So you would feel more comfortable with another assignment?
Josette's calm, soft clinical voice makes the perfectly obvious nature of the question preposterous.
Pylor: Of course I would!
Pylor: Any other assignment!
Josette: How do you feel about being assigned to Wise Snake Farris?
Pylor: He'd never allow that!
Pylor jumps to his feet and starts pacing.
Pylor: He's coddling her like she was the heir to Zeor, not a whore's bastard and a rogue.
Josette: Actually, according to the report I have here, Arat's intention in keeping you was to assist in Wise Snake's exposure to the work environment this month.
Josette chokes at Pylor's words, but covers the best she can.
Josette: ~~surprise~~
Pylor whirls to face Josette, the whites of his eyes showing with alarm.
Josette makes several notes.
Josette: Would you like to read it?
Pylor snatches the report from Josette's hands and scans it quickly.
Josette: [it is compiled from various sources, including Arat's original proposal and Neptude's comments, and basically outlines a plan to bring Snake out into regular employment gradually, alternating between Beni and Pylor as the situation demands it.]
Pylor lets the report drop from numbed fingers.
Josette: [Arat's proposal is said to have included sharpening Pylor's skills' as an additional goal]
Pylor: But she was threatening me! Does Arat think I'm disposable now?
Josette listens attentively, since everything Pylor says and acts out in her presence goes into his permanent Morale Record.
Pylor is just as glad that Josette is Gen, since he suspects that his fear of Snake would be easy enough for even a renSime to zlin.
Pylor: Snake would just as soon murder me as look at me!
Josette: I see. [thoughtfully] And how long have you felt this way?
Pylor: You know her record.
Josette is less interested in Wise Snake's record than she is in Pylor's obviously unstable mental condition.
Pylor: And the very first time I accompanied Arat when he visited her, she was looking at me... zlinning me, as if she couldn't wait to get her tentacles on me so that she could feed that pain addiction of hers.
Josette: Would you prefer perhaps a quieter assignment? One that carries less prestige and therefore less risk?
Pylor: Yes! I want a normal channel.
Josette nods and makes a few more notes.
Josette: If you were assigned to a small Center, in a remote location...?
Pylor: What's wrong with the normal rotation? There are plenty of channels in this District who could use a Donor like me.
Pylor is still under the illusion that he can escape the worst consequences of his Arat problems.
Josette nods with an understanding and pitying expression.
Josette: Well, perhaps after a small vacation in a lower stress location, you can return to this District and normal rotation. [kindly]
Pylor blinks, not quite sure he heard what he thought he did, then decides it doesn't matter.
Pylor: So it's exile or the rogue?
Pylor: ~~ cynical ~~
Josette: Well, technically you'd be assigned to Arat himself, and only work with Wise Snake during certain supervised situations.
Josette: And you shouldn't think of it as exile, but as a temporary resting time to regain your composure....
Pylor: And never mind that it could last for years?
Pylor flops back down in his desk chair and hides his face in his hands.
Josette: I'm not here to make any decisions for you, Pylor, I'm only asking you to get your feelings on the different options.
Pylor: I wonder how, out of all the Donors who have failed to get anywhere with Arat, I came to be picked as the scapegoat.
Josette will leave making Pylor's decisions for him up to Neptude and Seruffin... although her department will certainly make its "suggestions".
Josette: Scapegoat? Can you explain further?
Pylor: What, they didn't let you read Arat's file?
Pylor: He's never gotten along with his Donors.
Josette: I'm really more concerned with your emotional health, not Arat's. [gently]
Josette: Do you feel you have been treated unfairly?
Pylor: Everyone knows Arat is a bad assignment, and we all suffer through it as best we can. How come I'm the first Donor who's been disciplined for having trouble with him?
Pylor: Somehow, I can't see it as a coincidence.
Josette: You're not being disciplined, Pylor. [sincerely]
Josette makes a note about paranoia.
Josette wonders if Pylor feels he should be disciplined, on a subconscious level, and that's why he assumes everybody else thinks so.
Pylor: Oh? What else would you call it, when I'm suddenly given a choice between a pain-addicted rogue or being sent to the most obscure Center that can be found?
Pylor: That's not the sort of choice that's given a Donor in good standing, now, is it?
Josette: I'm simply asking these questions to get a feeling for your opinions on various subjects. [kindly] There are some Donors who would respond gladly to the thought of a quiet rural assignment, and others who wouldn't.
Josette: It helps me get a feeling for your mental and emotional condition.
Josette: [i.e.: Paranoid and defensive]
Josette: I can't actually arrange for you to be sent anywhere. It's just my job to talk to you and find out how you are feeling.
Josette: Are you concerned about being punished because of anything that happened last month? [kindly]
Pylor: I am concerned about being punished because it is obvious that Arat has somehow managed to shift the blame for his Donor problems onto my shoulders.
Josette: I see. Can you tell me more about this?
Pylor: Although I don't suppose he'll be able to get away with that for long, once Neptude and Seruffin lose interest in his two pet rogues.
Josette frowns.
Josette makes a note about bitterness.
Pylor: When it becomes clear that getting rid of me hasn't solved Arat's Donor problems, I suppose they'll have to change their minds, but that won't keep my record clean.
Pylor is well aware that Controllers don't necessarily go back and correct the records, when that means admitting that they suffered a major error of judgment.
Josette: Why do you feel you are being held responsible? Has anybody said this?
Pylor: Can you give me any other plausible reason why the EMD was asked to speak to me? Or why I'm not simply being reassigned to another channel in the District, as usual?
Pylor: Such things don't happen to a Donor in good standing with his Controllers, now, do they?
Pylor: And any protest I make will only make it worse.
Josette nods.
Josette: Only your Controllers can clarify that for you, but it is likely that they are basing their decisions as much upon your own behavior as Arat's.
Josette jots a last note or two, then turns to the next topic.
Josette: I have these charts....
Josette pulls them out.
Pylor looks at the charts, wondering what other nasty surprises this interview will hold.
Josette: They show your hours worked, selyn produced, and channel satisfaction quotients for the last five years.
Josette hands them over to Pylor.
Josette: You've seen these types of charts before?
Pylor: Yes, of course.
Josette: As you can see, there have been some changes in the last two months... here, and here.
Josette points to the graphs in question.
Pylor scowls at the charts, heartily wishing that this subject would go away.
Pylor: It's hardly surprising that my selyn production is up. Arat outrates me.
Pylor conveniently overlooks the better-than expected transfer with Hajene Kwen, after his field had been stimulated by Arat two months ago.
Pylor figures that the suffering of the last month more than compensated for it.
Josette: Yes, but you were only with him for a few minutes before being reassigned, month before last.
Pylor: Arat has a very strong field, and he suffers from chronic need most of the time.
Pylor thinks that the only documented time when Arat has not been suffering some sort of chronic deprivation was when he was working with Nick.
Josette: Your file indicates that have the potential to fully match a Farris.
Pylor imagines being restricted to serving Farris channels, and winces.
Pylor: I don't think that's very likely....
Josette: Controller Seruffin seems to think so. [points out]
Josette: There has been some concern that you are not living up to your full potential, that your ability level has plateaued as it were.
Josette: This fluctuation in your numbers has interested some in seeing you developed more fully.
Pylor imagines himself surrounded by large beaks and feral hair.
Pylor: It is a temporary fluctuation, nothing more.
Pylor: It's happened before.
Josette: Does the idea of being developed further make you uncomfortable?
Pylor: I am quite content with my current accomplishments.
Josette: That isn't what I asked. [gently]
Pylor: Isn't it?
Pylor: I thought once that I might train to work with Farrises, but after due consideration, I have decided that the prestige isn't worth the working conditions.
Pylor: My work with Arat this past month has only confirmed that decision.
Josette: I see. What would help improve the working conditions enough to inspire you to want to improve your performance?
Josette sums up in one question the purpose for her own existence, or at least her job's existence.
Pylor: Reasonable working hours, and a modicum of courtesy and appreciation from my assigned channel.
Pylor looks at Josette in a challenging fashion.
Josette looks at Pylor thoughtfully.
Josette: All Donors must work long hours, there's nothing we can do about that.
Pylor: I have no objection to normal hours, or reasonable demands.
Josette: Do you feel Arat was making unreasonable demands on your time and skills?
Pylor: Very much so. Normal channels don't require support 20 hours a day, and they aren't so temperamental about every little thing.
Pylor: Why should I set myself up for a lifetime of Arats?
Josette nods.
Josette: But if you had the Farris training, you would have a better idea of what was expected of you. [points out]
Josette: Would it be easier for you to deal with these types of requests if you knew what was coming?
Josette is trying to figure out if Pylor is grouchy and defensive because he feels inadequate, or because he genuinely thinks nobody should require more than a certain amount of help.
Pylor: Maybe it would. They say you can get used to hanging, if you try long enough.
Pylor: Personally, I've always felt that it's better to avoid abuse than get accustomed to it.
Josette: So you feel that Arat's requests for additional time and special services are...?
Pylor: Unwarranted? Yes, I do. And while I don't mind doing extra for a channel who asks politely, it's quite another matter to be expected to do so for a channel who treats me like dirt.
Josette: Well, thank you very much for your time, Pylor. I'll be sure your feelings on these matters are taken into consideration.
Josette will be sure to include all the details when recommending Pylor be scheduled for counseling, sensitivity training and a regular program of skill-advancing practice.
Josette smiles.
Pylor is reminded that Josette is part of the EMD, a small matter he forgot during his gripe session.
Pylor realizes that he has just handed Arat all the ammunition his nemesis requires to effect his disgrace as a Tecton Donor.
Pylor: Thank you. [dully]
Pylor wonders if he should just cut his throat right now, and save Arat the trouble.
see note 1
Josette, with 3 copies of a freshly written report under her arm, signals at Controller Seruffin's office door.
Seruffin: ...and there she is now.
Seruffin: Come in!
Josette enters, keeping her nager neat and clean.
Seruffin: Josette, welcome. I trust you have spoken with Sosu Pylor?
Josette: Hello, Controllers Seruffin, Neptude, Arat. [nods respectfully]
Josette: Yes, I have.
Josette: Here is my report... please, I have copies for all.
Josette hands them out, then sits.
Seruffin takes his time reading the report, zlinning the others' reactions as he does so.
Josette's report indicates that Pylor is in an advanced state of recalcitrant self-pity and could use some assistance in the departments of self-esteem and putting himself in others' shoes.
Neptude: ~~ deepening concern ~~
Seruffin regrets that he can't quite manage to get a tentacle on Arat's reaction.
Seruffin: Arat, this seems like quite a change in attitude over a short period in time. Would you care to comment?
Arat reads the report, keeping his nager still. His face is... well, if not quite blank, at least difficult to read.
Seruffin keeps his nager as neutral as possible.
Arat finishes reading it and puts it down on the edge of Seruffin's desk.
Arat: The prejudice against working with Farrises is nothing new.
Neptude: It's a pity, since it appears the man has the potential to do well at it.
Arat: It is possible that this has more to do with class prejudice than actual dislike of the work.
Arat having been in the position of "the work" relatively recently, can attest that the two are rather closely intertwined in Pylor's mind much of the time.
Seruffin: Whatever the reason, it's preventing the man from doing his job.
Josette listens politely.
Seruffin: From the sounds of this, some sort of retraining is in order, before he becomes a total loss.
Seruffin: Arat, you know him better than either of us. Have you any suggestions?
Arat: I agree in principle with everything the EMD recommends. The counseling, the sensitivity training, and so forth. However, where she suggests a gradual increase in knowledge for self-esteem purposes only, I feel that an immersion in higher-order work may be of benefit.
Arat of course would like to perform said immersion himself, and in the service of his own projects, since the transfer has left him with a bee in his bonnet to personally oversee Pylor's whipping into shape.
Neptude looks at Arat thoughtfully.
Neptude: If you are right, and there is an element of class prejudice to the problem, than it may be difficult to treat. There are rather few Farris channels who would not trigger this... distaste.
Neptude: Perhaps the two difficulties could be separated, by assigning Pylor to some non-Farris but upper-class channel?
Arat: In my opinion, rather than attempting to eliminate the class prejudice, it may be simplest to impress upon him that the prejudices of real life have no place in the workplace.
Seruffin: I see. And how would you accomplish this?
Arat hadn't planned on anything more complicated than point-blank dictation and rigorous reinforcement.
Arat: There are plenty of references in literature. [points out]
Arat: Convincing him to attempt the separation should not be difficult.
Seruffin looks at Arat thoughtfully.
Arat assumes, of course, that Pylor has some desire to do a good job, he's read his file.
Seruffin: You appear anxious to take on the task personally.
Seruffin: Do you think that's wise, given your past interactions?
Arat: I feel that I can be professional about it.
Arat thinks that one person behaving in a professional fashion will have to do, for starters.
Neptude leans forward.
Neptude: Arat, you're already working with Snake, and following Reckage as well. Are you sure you want to take on another such responsibility at this time? There are other Farris channels, you know.
Arat looks at Neptude for a long moment.
Arat's expression flickers slightly, betraying many ill-defined quasi-emotions.
Arat's nager is, of course, locked down hard.
Neptude looks at Arat kindly.
Neptude: No one would think worse of you if you decided to let someone else handle Pylor. Especially after the transfer he gave you.
Arat: I feel it is necessary that someone do it. [at last]
Arat: It would not have to be me, so long as I knew it was being handled.
Arat is obviously reluctant to say this.
Arat is as bad a workaholic as they come.
Seruffin notes Arat's reluctance.
Seruffin: Well, if you really want to handle Pylor, I'll allow it.
Arat also has, as has been stated before, an elaborate and delicate plan for how to improve Snake and Pylor simultaneously.
Seruffin is just as glad not to have to hunt down another Farris channel for the chore.
Arat looks relieved.
Arat nods.
Seruffin: Mind you, if it starts interfering with your other projects, you are to let me know so I can reassign the case.
Arat nods again.
Seruffin: Salvaging Snake and Reckage must be your priority, since you have a rapport with both of them.
Arat: I understand.
Arat's plan will not go well if Snake refuses to work with Pylor.
Arat is counting on having Beni for quite a bit of the time.
Arat: What of... [hesitates, then inquires delicately] ... Jeniard?
Seruffin looks at Arat sternly.
Josette's ears prick up.
Seruffin: You may use him when necessary, but not if there are other alternatives. If it becomes a problem, I will have Reckage brought back a bit early.
Seruffin: Try not to make that necessary.
Arat nods, more relieved than he cares to admit that they will leave Jeniard in place.
Arat: Of course.
Arat is not as fixated on Nick at the moment, as he will be starting shortly after turnover.
Seruffin: Does anyone have further comments or additions to make with regards to Pylor or the proposed treatment for his difficulties?
Seruffin looks around at the others, in order of precedence.
Neptude makes a dismissive gesture with one tentacle.
Josette: He will still get the counseling?
Seruffin: Would you be interested in taking care of that, Josette?
Josette doesn't want Pylor to lose out on having somebody to talk to about what is going on with him.
Josette: Yes, I can do that.
Seruffin nods.
Josette makes a note.
Seruffin: The matter is settled, then.
Arat looks pleased, in the way that only a workaholic Farris on bad transfers who had taken on a lousy Donor for the month and genuinely looks forward to the challenge of trying to better him in the most complicated fashion possible while not yet in need enough to worry seriously about the lousy Donor factor can.
Neptude is mostly glad that he isn't being blamed for assigning Pylor to Arat in the first place, and thus precipitating this unwanted crisis.
Seruffin: I won't keep you any longer.
Seruffin picks up the next report in the overflowing stack on his desk, a clear signal that the meeting is over.
Notes:
1) Hours later.... [return]