Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #57: Snake's Apple Tart (7/31/99)
Linn hesitates outside of Arat's office door, clutching a basket with a box of Grade Z tea, an apple tart, and the pamphlets Arat gave her.
Arat happens to be in, though only for a few minutes while he pens some notes in a special patient's file.
Arat zlins the Gen hovering, and puts down his pen.
Arat decides to wait and see if she'll come in on her own.
Linn signals, being far too well bred to walk in on Arat uninvited.
Arat: Come!
Linn opens the door and slips through.
Arat: Linn Haskins.
Linn: Good morning, Controller Farris.
Linn hestitates, then goes to sit down in front of the desk.
Arat looks, not surprisingly, as if he's spent the last 3 weeks working without a Donor's fulltime services, and had a good deal of trouble with his secretary as well.
Linn does note a slight hint of dark circles under the eyes, although Arat is his usual impeccably groomed self to the inexperienced eye.
Linn: If this is not a good time for you to talk, I could come back later....
Linn: ~~ diffidence ~~
Arat's gaze flicks over the pamphlets protruding from Linn's armful.
Arat: I have a few minutes now. Do you have any questions?
Linn: Well, I have been reading over the materials you gave me.
Linn is a compulsive reader, of course.
Arat finds this encouraging, not realizing about the compulsive reading bit.
Arat nods.
Linn: And I'm willing to give this Donor training bit a try.
Arat zlins Linn.
Linn is by no means certain that she will prove to have a talent for Donoring, her impressions of the breed being limited mostly to Nick, but figures that even the few months it would take her to wash out of the program might help Snake.
Arat zlins her uncertainty and frowns to himself.
Linn: ~~ uncertain but willing ~~
Arat: Your willingness to help is commendable, but it would seem you have some reservations. Perhaps you would care to discuss them?
Linn shrugs.
Linn: I'm simply not sure that I have the the talent. However, I think it's time that I found out.
Linn: ~~ not particularly self-confident ~~
Arat surpresses a twitch of irritability; as far as he is concerned, if he declares a person has potential, they do.
Arat: Very well then.
Arat: When will you become available?
Linn: I have already agreed to substitute teach this afternoon. After that, I'm at liberty.
Arat: Tomorrow morning, then?
Arat: Or would you prefer this evening?
Arat, like most Tecton channels, has a distorted idea of how much time a person requires to prepare for massive life changes.
Linn: Tomorrow morning would be fine.
Arat: I will see what I can do about getting a schedule in place for you before then.
Linn has some idea of the sort of paperwork any interaction with the Tecton seems to require, and has no desire to run into another difficulty like her abortive Simephobia therapy due to being too tired to read the fine print.
Arat: Have you any more questions before then?
Arat: I am sorry to rush you out the door, but I am due for duty.
Arat would never consider it odd that he spends his "off-duty" time working.
Linn: I will save the questions for tomorrow, then, and let you get to work.
Linn knows how important work is to a Farris channel.
Linn: I hope the news will cheer Snake up a bit.
Linn gets to her feet.
Arat: Thank you for dropping in. [Arat's equivalent to "welcome aboard"]
Linn: You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow morning.
Linn fishes the pamphlets out of her basket and holds it up.
Linn: Could I get you to have this delivered to Snake?
Arat considers.
Linn would do that chore herself, but will have to run to get to work on time.
Arat nods. "I can arrange for it."
Arat hopes he can, anyway; he has come to depend on Beni's little visits.
Linn sets the basket on Arat's desk.
Linn: Thank you.
Linn slips out the door.
Arat looks thoughtfully after her, and then returns his attention to his getting his patient-file finished off before he goes down to the emergency room.
Beni slips into Arat's office, assuming the privilege of Arat's non-existent Donor.
Beni: Arat?
Beni: ~~ soothing support ~~
Arat looks up, succeeding in hiding his relief visually but not nagerically.
Arat: Sosu Beni.
Arat's visible relief comes soon after the nageric relief, despite his best efforts.
Beni makes his way around the desk, noting the basket.
Beni: Another visit from Linn?
Arat: Yes. Would you take that to Snake for her? It's a distraction here on my desk.
Beni: Of course.
Arat found the apple scent maddening.
Beni appropriates the basket.
Beni: Has she made up her mind yet?
Arat: Yes. She has decided to do it.
Beni brightens.
Beni: Good! That's just the sort of challenge Snake requires.
Beni: I gather that Linn has become the next best thing to family to her.
Beni is at least unable to figure out any other reason for Snake to have hauled an out-Territory schoolteacher halfway around the Territory.
Beni is unaware of Linn's unfortunate presence at the train station when Snake decided to leave town in a hurry.
Arat frowns, because everybody from Beni to Linn herself seems to forget that Snake will not be primarily in charge of Linn to begin with.
Arat: Yes, and it is that, rather than any particular challenge, that caused me to invite her to pledge.
Beni considers.
Beni: You know, I think it might help Snake to become closer to her real family, as well.
Beni: I don't think she knows much about your side of the family, does she?
Beni hasn't heard much about the maternal side of Snake's family, either.
Arat: I have told her of them. [guarded]
Arat has no intention of dragging in people from all over the Territory who are mainly interested in Arat as a source of funding for their lack of work ethic, in order to parade them in front of Snake. Perhaps the children have some potential usefulness, but the others....
Beni: Perhaps you should tell her a little about your parents and grandparents. Help her to see them as people, not names in a history book.
Beni: If she knows her past, it might be easier for her to think about her future.
Arat looks defensive, but can't think of what to say.
Beni means well, but comes from a relatively normal family himself.
Arat finally says, "I barely knew them myself."
Beni: ~~ sympathy ~~
Beni: Surely you heard stories?
Beni: And a little bit of history is better then none, which is what she has now.
Arat: She has more than none!
Arat's defensiveness is largely due to having already been insulted several times by Snake as a result of her knowing more of his family history than he'd have wished.
Arat: Let us not speak of this.
Beni concedes with a gesture.
Arat: Her place in the Tecton, and her health and sanity, are what I intend to concentrate upon.
Arat: The Tecton is my mainstay, and it shall be hers as well.
Beni decides that perhaps the Tecton is a better base for a life than the Audnes legacy or a prostitute, after all.
Beni: Has her brother ever turned up?
Arat shakes his head.
Arat: I have been able to neither confirm his death or determine his whereabouts if alive.
Beni sighs.
Arat: From all accounts, he was never as public a figure as his sister.
Arat: Nor will anyone admit to having seen him in Bender Cove since around the time Snake left.
Beni: He'd have an easier time hiding than Snake, since he's neither a Farris nor a channel.
Beni: And Snake managed to stay ahead of the Tecton for months.
Beni tries to view this as cause for optimism about Sky.
Arat: She had Zeor help, but yes, it is true that he will not attract much attention.
Beni: And even those who know what happened to him are likely to be cautious about giving that information to a stranger, particularly one working for the Tecton.
Arat: I would be more interested in getting Rapol here, because it is clear Snake harbors severe feelings of guilt for having abandoned him.
Beni: He's still working with Sectuib Riyyh?
Arat's upper lip twitches towards a snarl, which he manages to control with an effort.
Arat still can't quite think of Riyyh without becoming very annoyed, despite all the recent difficulties in his relationship with Jeniard.
Arat: Yes. And he doesn't leave Naros.
Arat has been informed by reliable sources (and by every tabloid in town, as well) that Riyyh has twice now arrived in Capitol without Rapol.
Beni: Yes, I'd heard that. And I doubt that's Riyyh's choice.
Beni: Have you been able to get any hard information on Rapol's condition?
Arat: Tiarala's report was excellent, but it's the only one I've had.
Beni: How long ago was that?
Arat: More than three months.
Beni: A lot can happen in that much time.
Beni: Nick is planning to stop by Naros on his return journey, isn't he?
Arat: Yes. [stiffly]
Beni: I'm sure he'd make a point of talking to his old colleague, wouldn't he?
Arat: I have asked him to do so.
Beni: Well, then, you'll know in a week or two.
Arat's jaw tightens.
Arat knows that the best way to find out what is really going on with Rapol is to speak to Riyyh directly.
Beni is less of a perfectionist than Arat, and thus is less upset at the prospect of losing an emotionally crippled Donor to Riyyh.
Beni: Or you could ask Riyyh yourself; he's in town, I understand.
Arat nearly winces at that.
Arat: So I had heard.
Arat: I may do so.
Beni: Perhaps there might be a childhood friend or two who could be located?
Arat: However, my current estimation of the situation is that neither Snake or Rapol is in any emotionally in any condition...
Arat pauses.
Arat: Might I inquire as to what you are aiming at?
Arat is starting to reach his limit on Beni pushing his hand.
Beni: I've been wondering if part of Snake's psychological difficulties might be due to having her life completely uprooted several times.
Beni: First when she went to Zeor, then the mess after her changeover, and then she left Bender Cove before she could really settle back in there.
Arat: That is no doubt the case.
Beni: If she can build some links to the better parts of her past, it might help.
Arat: Perhaps. However, I feel that such links should be renewed over time, and as a supplement to a firm relationship with the Tecton.
Arat: She will be regaining Linn and Nick both, these next two months.
Arat: And in time, yes, there should be others. Ultimately, she will be able to choose on her own which links to renew.
Beni: It's not the sort of project that could be done quickly, even if it was desirable.
Arat: That is my assessment of the situation, yes.