Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #87: Cruising for Blood (10/8/99)
Morca strides confidently down the hall of the Sime Center's 5th floor, carrying a clipboard.
Morca has found that people automatically assume you belong in a place, if you act confidently and carry paperwork.
Morca finds such assumptions useful in her profession.
Morca finds the correct door and pauses outside it, listening for juicy tidbits.
Morca has gotten some interesting leads in this fashion, over the years.
Arat frowns as somebody lurks outside his door.
Morca is mildly disappointed when she hears nothing, but on the other hand, it bodes well for an uninterrupted session.
Arat's door is rather well-insulated, but he can usually tell who's there at the best of times and now he's oversensitized by need.
Morca opens the door without signaling, which might give the impression that answering the door is optional.
Arat puts down his pen and glares at the door, then is surprised when somebody walks in.
Morca smiles, showing lots of teeth, in what might or might not be an expression of friendliness.
Morca: Good morning, Controller Farris.
Arat has no difficulty zlinning that it isn't friendliness at all, but acquisitiveness, which is a different thing entirely.
Morca walks into the office, closing the door firmly behind her.
Morca: I'm Morca, with the Interterritorial Press.
Arat's glare returns in force as he recognizes the name; Morca is an investigative reporter with a reputation for ferocity.
Morca assumes that Arat has heard of her, by reputation if nothing else.
Arat has never had anything but bad luck with investigative reporters.
Arat: What do you want?
Arat's practice at coddling and lying to Pylor has not spilled over to other interactions at all.
Morca sits in the visitor's chair, not intimidated in the least by Arat's abruptness.
Morca: I am currently working on a book on nepotism in the Tecton.
Arat looks at her incredulously.
Morca: My research suggested that it might be fruitful to talk with you.
Arat's mind clicks over the near-pun and his annoyance level rises.
Arat: I see.
Morca's pencil is out, poised over the clipboard.
Arat can also see Morca's book specifying that Arat was unhelpful in an interview, and then filling in the blanks with pure speculation.
Arat grits his teeth.
Morca: You are the heir to the Audnes family, are you not?
Morca believes in starting with easy questions, to build up the habit of response before she drops the bombshell.
Arat hopes Alea will return from her errand more quickly than originally estimated, at which point he could escape to his work shift sooner, claiming it was always scheduled for that time.
Arat resigns himself to enduring the unpleasantness until then.
Arat: Yes.
Morca sees Arat's resignation with the pleasure of an orca cornering a school of salmon against a rock wall.
Morca: Could you tell me how this has affected your outlook?
Arat: Be more specific. [snaps]
Arat finds interrogations stressful enough without fuzzy, open-ended questions that invite a slip-up.
Morca: Your family was used to ruling, holding power over generations.
Morca resigns herself to getting a few more specifics before she tries handing Arat enough rope to hang himself.
Morca: A useful background for a Tecton Controller, wouldn't you say?
Arat clearly doesn't like that question.
Arat leaves a long silent pause while he works out the wording for a safe answer.
Morca sees Arat's discomfort and waits with infinite patience, ready to pounce on the answer.
Morca knows from experience that long pauses mean an attempt to sugar-coat the answer.
Arat: Perhaps.
Morca's raised eyebrow invites elaboration.
Arat: It could be argued either way.
Arat: It probably means more that I am a Farris.
Morca: But not the usual kind, I've heard. At least, I understand that no one has found out when the Farris and Audnes lines crossed?
Arat: The split appears to have occurred before the time of Rimon Farris. Records from that era are understandably scanty.
Morca: Zeor doesn't seem anxious to know.
Arat avoids commenting on Zeor's interest level.
Morca: They never invited you to pledge Zeor, I understand?
Morca hopes to get Arat upset enough to give longer, more informative answers, and has found that poking at old disappointments can accomplish that sometimes.
Morca: Even after you were identified as a Farris, during your First Year?
Arat: I was turned down.
Arat knows this is public knowledge and resents its being brought up.
Arat still feels defensive about it after all these years... defensive, and bitter.
Arat has also been a bit confused on the subject since he found out Snake, who was accepted, is his daughter.
Morca: Did they explain why?
Morca: Was it your family background that was deemed unacceptable?
Arat: No. It was felt I did not embody the precept of striving for excellence in all things.
Morca: And yet, I understand you have a daughter who was accepted into Zeor.
Arat: Yes.
Arat: [stiffly]
Morca pauses to enjoy Arat's obvious discomfort.
Arat definitely looks uncomfortable.
Morca really likes her job, sometimes.
Arat can tell she's enjoying this, too.
Arat's impatience, resentment, defensiveness, bitterness, and discomfort don't combine well.
Morca: This daughter went rogue, and is alleged to be mentally unstable, as well. Do you think this represents a double standard on Zeor's part?
Arat's entire manner changes.
Arat's body becomes very tense and still, while his eyes take on a poisonous look.
Arat: Snake Farris went from being an orphaned street child to running half of Bender Cove.
Arat: She had friends in the Tecton long before she changed over.
Morca thoughtfully strokes the long streak of white which stripes her otherwise black hair.
Arat: It was her own merit, and the help of her Tecton allies, that got her accepted into Zeor.
Arat: She did not become a rogue, or become mentally unstable, until after she was expelled.
Morca: I'm told that it was the criminal half of Bender Cove that she organized...?
Arat: It is irrelevant! [snaps]
Morca scribbles a long sentence or two of speculation on the possible meanings of this response.
Arat uses the pause to rein in his temper, or rather haul it in hand over hand.
Morca: The Tecton doesn't usually support such activities, even in former employees.
Arat says nothing to that.
Morca: And yet, there has been no criminal prosecution of Snake or any of the followers who were taken with her.
Morca: Can you explain why such blatant law-breaking was overlooked in this instance?
Arat: I am in charge of their rehabilitation. I have no other decision-making power in their regard.
Arat is saying, basically, "no".
Morca: Could it have something to do with Snake's affiliation with Zeor--which I understand has never been severed, on their part?
Arat's black eyes shift about.
Arat: I cannot say.
Morca: I see.
Morca's nager makes it plain that she thinks Arat is equivocating.
Arat thinks anybody who couldn't see the true answer to that question is either blind, or highly ignorant of Tecton politics.
Arat nevertheless isn't going to get caught in the trap of badmouthing Zeor.
Arat has too much to lose.
Arat rather wishes he hadn't said the bit about Snake going insane after being ejected from Zeor, but it's too late to take it back now, and perhaps it isn't relevant to her investigation anyway.
Morca: You have been rather open in your assertion that Hajene Snake and her... compatriots... can and should be rehabilitated.
Morca looks at Arat with a casually measuring look, as if comparing the potential flavor of his neck versus his laterals.
Arat: Yes.
Arat of course is hardly intimidated by Morca's look; it's her literary clout that unnerves him.
Morca smiles again, thoughtfully.
Arat has always known that one of his greatest weaknesses is the volatility of the public opinion where he is concerned.
Arat has been enjoying a period of relative public obscurity and has been hoping the Audnes flare-ups have been dying out along with the semi-junct generation.
Morca: And then it turns out that she is your daughter, and a member of the House you tried and failed to pledge.
Morca: It's no secret that Householders prefer to keep membership in the family, so to speak. Are you hoping that if you succeed in restoring your daughter's good name, that she will in turn assist you in your own ambition?
Morca observes Arat's reaction closely.
Arat is genuinely caught off guard by the question.
Arat: I... hadn't considered it.
Morca: Really?
Morca: ~~ skeptical ~~
Arat considers Zeor closed to him, irrevocably, and has for 18 years.
Morca: You mean, you've given no thought to your daughter's connections?
Arat: No, I have not. Except in so far as they assist, or interfere, with her rehabilitation.
Arat thinks, mainly the latter.
Morca: I see.
Morca doesn't specify exactly what she thinks she sees.
Morca: And do you feel that being ambrov Zeor assists or interferes with her rehabilitation program?
Arat: It prevents the Tecton from being her only viable option.
Arat: That both makes my work more difficult, and offers a second option if I cannot help her.
Morca: Do you plan to use her, er, "extra-Tecton" options?
Arat looks at Morca in utter lack of comprehension.
Morca: That would certainly bring you to the attention of the Zeor authorities. Who knows, they might even be impressed enough by what you have done with her to reconsider your status.
Arat: I am not interested in becoming ambrov Zeor at this time.
Morca finds this of ~~ interest ~~
Arat hardly requires even more grasping and/or needy, manipulative relatives at this time - at least those he has are relatively powerless with regards to his own life and behavior.
Morca: Whyever not? You certainly pursued that goal vigorously for quite some time.
Morca wonders if it's sour grapes talking, and therefore if more tidbits might be forthcoming.
Arat: For about five years.
Arat: I haven't considered it in over a decade.
Arat chooses his words carefully.
Arat: I could not spend my life wishing for something I could not have. It is neither wise, nor productive.
Morca: A praiseworthy attitude, to be sure.
Morca: Although new changes do open old opportunities, from time to time.
Arat: I am not interested. [flatly]
Morca zlins poised to stalk and pounce at a moment's notice, like a cat in front of a mousehole.
Morca: I see.
Arat is fundamentally incapable of wanting to associate with anybody who doesn't find his attention an honor, something most people who know him well have noticed.
Arat in fact is as married to the Tecton as most Householders are to their Houses, if not moreso.
Morca discards this line of questioning as not likely to bear further fruit, and chooses a different direction.
Morca: I understand Hajene Snake isn't the only one of her group who has turned out to come from a better family than one might think. Her Donor is a Narosian, is he not?
Arat: Yes.
Arat: By blood. Not by upbringing.
Arat thinks it is an important distinction, one which is key to Nick's having turned out useful.
Morca: Perhaps you could clarify the relationship for me?
Morca has the basics, of course, but finds that how people describe such things suggests avenues of attack.
Arat: Nick's grandmother and mother were non-Narosian. He was born outside of the Householding, had no contact with it in his youth, and has never pledged.
Morca: And yet, my sources say that he has quite a close relationship with Naros's Sectuib.
Arat frowns slightly at that.
Morca is well aware that the same could be said of half the Territory, male and female, but it's a starting point.
Arat: They met for the first time last year. They seem to have an amicable relationship, yes.
Morca tries hard to zlin as if she thinks this means something, although by all accounts, Riyyh has no other kind of relationship.
Arat's frown deepens at Morca's amateurish nageric contortions.
Arat unfortunately has no idea what they indicate.
Morca: My sources say that Sectuib Riyyh has been actively involving himself in Sosu Reckage's career.
Arat ponders that for a minute.
Morca: That he intends to use Naros's influence in that cause.
Arat: If he has, I am not aware of it.
Arat is sure if Riyyh had intended to help Nick's Tecton career, a personal visit to Arat, or perhaps even Neptude or Seruffin, would have occurred by now.
Arat in fact is more used to Riyyh behaving in such a way as to hamper the efforts of the Tecton, or other body of government which is ruining Narosian fun.
Morca: Really? Not even when Sectuib Riyyh leaves Naros for the first time in years?
Arat: As I understand it, his presence here is related to the recent problems with the Coalition for Progressive Land-Use.
Arat uses its original name, which only anal-retentive people use.
Arat actually went so far as to investigate the matter, when he became convinced Riyyh had been in town for 5 more or less consecutive weeks.
Morca: Well, that's the story that was given out.
Morca: Still, he seems to be spending a lot of time hobnobbing with the Tecton elite at parties, as well as half the City government.
Arat thinks that's just Riyyh.
Arat: Hardly a new behavior for him.
Morca: That sort of effort seems a bit excessive, if all he wanted to do was to oversee an urban farming cooperative.
Arat frowns.
Morca is perhaps overlooking the small matter of trying to find alternative housing and save on hotel costs.
Arat had been under the impression that Riyyh's main ambition for Nick was to serve as his own personal Donor so he'd have the freedom to travel away from Naros for longer than 3 weeks at a time.
Arat: An attempt to help Nick's Tecton career would not be consistent with Riyyh's behavior in the past. Nor have I seen any direct evidence of it.
Morca smiles a bit condescendingly.
Morca: Well, you haven't been out and about for some time, have you?
Arat is not impressed.
Arat: Nor do I see that it should concern me if he was involved in such a project.
Arat: If anything, it would further my own goals.
Arat thinks, unlike Riyyh grabbing Nick as own Donor, which would keep the grease out of the fire but otherwise cause no progress whatsoever.
Morca: Unless Sectuib Riyyh intends to recruit Reckage for his own House. Which has not been terribly cooperative with the Tecton, has it?
Arat: That would be more consistent with his past behavior.
Arat wouldn't be saying any of this if Morca's reputation wasn't extremely good.
Arat would not want tomorrow's tabloid headlines to shout that he was accusing Naros of trying to steal Tecton Donors.
Morca: How do you expect the Tecton to respond, if Sectuib Riyyh succeeds in stealing a Donor of Reckage's alleged caliber?
Morca: Or are his skills overrated?
Arat overlooks the question about Nick's skills.
Arat: Nick is not pledged to the Tecton at this time.
Arat: It would hardly be theft, but Nick's own choice, his to make.
Morca: And yet he's supposed to have been working as a full Donor for some months, now.
Morca: And performed adequately, I understand.
Arat: Yes.
Morca: It is more than a little unusual to allow an unpledged Gen who has not even completed the Tecton's course of training to work as a full Donor, is it not?
Arat: His work has been in the context of rehabilitation.
Arat: You may consider it training.
Morca: Really?
Arat nods.
Morca is quite capable of coming up with her own interpretation, and "training" is the least newsworthy option.
Morca: And how does the "training" he has been doing differ from the normal work of a fully trained Tecton Donor?
Arat: Recently, there has been no difference.
Arat: His rehabilitation is considered complete.
Arat: He will have to choose at this point whether to pledge to the Tecton and continue, or take up some other career.
Morca: I see.
Arat wonders what this has to do with nepotism.
Arat has little to fear regarding nepotism charges involving Nick, being entirely unrelated.
Arat does not care what happens to Riyyh, of course.
Morca: I still have to wonder why Reckage was not prosecuted for his criminal activities before he entered your custody.
Morca: And why he was allowed a position of relative trust from the moment of his capture.
Morca: I understand that he was assigned as your Donor within hours of his arrival in Capitol?
Morca: How did that come about?
Arat seems to recall it had something to do with a direct order.
Morca is convinced that it required pressure at high levels, and is trying to figure out if it was Riyyh acting on Nick's behalf, or Zeor acting to cover up Snake's problems, or something else.
Morca is quite willing to be selective in her presentation of the facts, if it turns out to be the third possibility.
Arat: I was assigned to rehabilitate Nick. In my opinion the most important issue was his misconception about the nature of the Tecton.
Arat: Although I was ordered to work with Nick as my Donor, I agreed with the decision.
Arat: I believed that allowing him to serve in transfer would assist in his acceptance of the Tecton as a viable option.
Arat: It is not pleasant for a high First Order Donor to miss a transfer.
Arat knows that many are not aware of this fact.
Morca: So I've heard. And who ordered you to work with Reckage?
Morca has, of course, been looking into many of the Tecton's local chain of command, in an attempt to ferret out Riyyh's connections.
Morca thinks that part of her job would be easier, if less interesting, if Riyyh had fewer of them.
Arat does not think this is an appropriate question.
Arat's expression shows it.
Morca didn't get where she is today by confining her questions to socially correct topics.
Morca raises an "are you going to tell me, or do I have to put a 'no comment' and speculate to my heart's content?" eyebrow.
Arat: One of my Controllers. It was fairly routine.
Arat thinks it wasn't routine at all, in one sense, but the part about his Controllers changing the rules on him without warning isn't exactly unusual.
Morca: Routine? The apprehension of a rogue Donor of such alleged potential, who just happens to have close connections to Householding Naros and its Sectuib?
Morca: ~~ politely skeptical ~~
Morca: And his subsequent assignment as a Donor to a District Controller?
Morca: That's hardly an everyday event.
Arat: I meant that the assignment was routine, not Nick's case.
Morca: I'm not sure I comprehend the distinction.
Arat: There was an element of chance in that I was considered primarily because I was already in contact with Nick.
Arat: However, in all other ways there was nothing odd about my assignment to him for his rehabilitation.
Arat: I have done a lot of rehabilitation work.
Arat: Some of it involving Donors, which I would be assigned to also.
Morca is starting to wonder if Arat was left out of the interesting parts of the decision.
Morca: So you had already established a rapport of sorts with Reckage, which the authorities decided not to disturb?
Arat: It was more a matter of convenience.
Morca: I see.
Morca: Something puzzles me. I understand Reckage was actually captured, by a private citizen, some distance away. Why bring him so far before turning him in?
Arat is not privy to the details of Prunida's psychological problems.
Morca: And to a channel who just happens to be the father of the rogue channel he's been working with?
Arat frowns.
Arat: Wise Snake had not yet been brought in at that time.
Arat: Nor did I learn of our relationship until later yet.
Arat: I do not know what her motivation was in bringing Nick here, rather than to a smaller Sime Center which would have been nearer.
Arat doesn't think it's very important, either.
Morca: Weren't Zeor and Naros both involved in some sort of meeting with Wise Snake Farris and Reckage both, not too many months before Reckage was brought in?
Arat: A meeting?
Arat: You're referring to Wise Snake's injury at Naros?
Morca: Yes, that was the official explanation.
Arat looks frankly baffled that she would think there could be any other explanation than the one given.
Morca: Could it be possible that Zeor and Naros were collaborating on a plan to rehabilitate their respective connections?
Arat of course has had the luxury of hearing the story in all its gory detail from several different sources, including Nick, Snake, and Hero, as well as Kenmore's official reports and those of his subordinates.
Arat: No.
Arat: Don't be ridiculous.
Arat absolutely cannot tolerate foolishness.
Morca: And that you were picked as the best person to supervise such an effort--officially?
Morca: It would certainly explain the interest both Houses have been showing in the program.
Morca has long since learned to ignore her vict---er, "interviewee's" protests.
Arat: If such a scheme were in place - which I most emphatically state I do not believe to be the case - I am unaware of it.
Arat: I think you are pursuing a mistaken course of investigation.
Arat thinks that Sectuib Riyyh would never be able to stomach a plan involving burying Wise Snake in an avalanche, and Zeor would never agree to it either.
Morca: Think it through: they had a pair of rogues in which they have a vested interest over to the one channel around who has the skill and rank to do the job, and yet who can not afford to question the assignment too deeply.
Morca: Any effort on your part to do so would bring up questions about your own past.
Arat: That much may be true. However, your conspiracy theory is lunacy.
Arat: Furthermore, I never thought to question my role in their rehabilitation. It is my duty.
Morca: Yes, it is, and you have a reputation for being... dutiful.
Arat looks at her suspiciously.
Arat has never trusted loonies.
Arat's worst nightmare is to lose everything because of a public outcry caused by some cheese-for-brains scandal monger who doesn't see him as a real person, but only "subject matter".
Morca: As part of that duty, you are working with another Narosian, are you not?
Arat: Yes.
Morca: She was also part of the same group of rogues?
Arat frowns.
Arat: She was with them when they were brought in.
Morca nods as her information is confirmed.
Morca: What are her connections with Householding Naros proper?
Arat: She was born and raised there. She lived there until her abduction early this year.
Morca: Abduction?
Morca is not averse to pursuing a diversion, if it sounds as newsworthy as this, and is well aware that the vast majority of the news coverage on this issue has focused on Snake and Nick.
Arat is not willing to give out too many details where a patient is concerned, particularly a patient who has thus far eluded the spotlight. While he is attempting to be somewhat cooperative, he will draw the line at providing information of a confidential nature.
Arat finds this probing rather close to the line, and has to think about whether he should answer or now.
Morca smiles, showing her teeth in a sharklike fashion.
Morca finds this frequently serves to remind her interviewees of the power of press speculation, and the devastating impact of a "no comment"
Arat: She has not been handled as a rogue, because her presence among them was unwilling and unintentional on her part.
Arat: She was abducted from her House, and later abandoned in their presence.
Arat: At which point she remained with them out of lack of other options.
Morca: ~~ interest ~~
Morca: Has Sectuib Riyyh attempted to reclaim her?
Arat: He has been in contact with her, but she prefers to not return home at this time.
Morca: I see.
Arat may not like Sectuib Riyyh, but he does know him well enough to believe that a native Narosian can talk him into accepting any decision they might want to make for themselves.
Morca makes a note to be sure to interrogate this youngster for any dirt on Riyyh or Naros.
Morca: So, Sectuib Riyyh has been cooperating with the Tecton, in her case?
Arat: He has been cooperating with her.
Arat wouldn't damage his credibility by trying to claim Riyyh has been cooperative with the Tecton at all, considering how much evidence to the contrary is readily available.
Morca: I have heard that Naros has generally been more cooperative with Tecton policies since you took over as District Controller.
Morca raises an eyebrow, soliciting a comment.
Arat's cold shriveled little black heart perks up a bit at the praise, unintentional though it might have been.
Arat wouldn't be satisfied with anything but total compliance on Riyyh's part, but does sometimes wonder why more attention isn't paid to the strides he has made in that area.
Arat doesn't always 100% make sense.
Arat: I have been putting a certain amount of effort into encouraging cooperation on Naros' part.
Morca nods.
Arat: Mainly in the area of administration, however.
Morca: This is a rather radical departure from historic patterns, is it not?
Arat: Not for me.
Morca scribbles a note.
Arat knows what she meant: She was referring to the relationships between previous 53rd District Controllers and the wayward Householding.
Arat however doesn't care to step into the trap of commenting on his peers' performance.
Morca: So you had a working relationship with Naros and Sectuib Riyyh while you were still the New Othwol Controller?
Arat frowns.
Arat: No, I did not.
Morca: So this interaction with Naros is new on your part, as well?
Arat pauses for a long moment.
Arat doesn't understand what she means by "on your part as well".
Arat: Please rephrase the question?
Morca: When did you start having frequent contact with Naros, and eliciting their cooperation in these "administrative matters"?
Arat: When I became District Controller.
Arat: Three years ago.
Morca: I see. And at that point, they started cooperating with the Tecton?
Arat: However, I do not want you to misunderstand - I do not have frequent contact with Naros, per se.
Arat: I have simply been rigorous in attempting to uphold existing regulations.
Arat: Nor has Naros been particularly cooperative by any ordinary standards.
Morca: But by the standards of their previous behavior, they are?
Arat: Somewhat, yes.
Arat means that it is now possible to extract the required paperwork, if one invests hundreds of person-hours and a good deal of stress into it each month.
Arat: [The stress is on Arat's part, not on the people's part. They become quite mellow.]
Morca: And this started three years ago? Or was it more recent?
Arat: It has happened gradually over some time.
Arat: Certainly there was some minor change when I first began.
Arat means, because the previous Controller had given up entirely, anything was better than nothing.
Morca: But the bulk of the change was more recent than that?
Arat: I would not say that enough change has occurred to be able to define any one particular leap in improvement.
Arat: Much less pinpoint a date.
Morca: I see.
Arat disapproves of trying to make news where there is none, and it shows.
Arat would like there to have seen a great leap in cooperation on Naros' part, of course...
Morca: How have relationships between Naros and your office been, in say, the last six months?
Morca: As compared to three years ago?
Arat: If I prepare two people carefully and send them to Naros for five days, after two weeks of daily correspondence, I stand an approximately 50% chance of receiving the documentation most municipalities hand over without hesitation each month.
Arat: The accuracy of the documents still requires work.
Arat: Three years ago, I had to learn who Naros' contacts were and how they operated.
Arat: No progress had yet been made.
Morca makes a note on Arat's aggravation, and Narosian resistance.
Arat is clearly becoming impatient with Morca's probing, especially as he really doesn't have much to report in the way of progress with Naros and he knows it.
Morca decides that Arat has been lulled with straightforward questions long enough, and that it is time to get on to the interesting, more speculative part.
Morca: Could the change in Householding Naros', and in particular, Sectuib Riyyh's cooperation in administrative matters, have something to do with the Tecton's apparent willingness to give up a prime Donor to Naros, in the form of Reckage?
Arat looks at Morca in disbelief.
Arat: No.
Morca compares Arat's surprise with his denial, and draws her own conclusions.
Morca: It does appear somewhat strange that the Tecton is prepared to surrender what you have described as a top Donor to Naros.
Arat looks at her severely.
Arat: Nick Reckage is a free man.
Arat: His choices are up to him.
Morca: And yet, I understand that his compatriot, your daughter Snake, is being kept well guarded, and that one of their other associates, a Linn Haskins, has been placed on probation.
Arat: Linn Haskins is not on probation. She is in training as a Tecton Donor.
Arat: And as for Wise Snake, by her nature she cannot live outside of the Tecton without breaking the law.
Arat: If she chooses to go to a death by entran complications, that will be her choice.
Arat: Or, she can rehabilitate and work with us.
Arat: But she will not be allowed to go back to being a rogue.
Morca looks at Arat thoughtfully.
Morca: And yet, I understand that for many Donors, particularly the high Firsts, it is just as impossible not to work as a Donor as it is for a channel to stop working.
Arat: It is not impossible, merely unpleasant.
Arat: Nick will have several months to make his decision.
Arat being a Farris can blithely speak of enduring months of extreme unpleasantness.
Arat: [so can his Donors, for that matter, but that's a different topic...]
Morca: How do you, and the Tecton, intend to ensure that he does not simply go back to his former rogue habits?
Morca: Isn't the danger of recidivism almost as great with Reckage as it would be for Wise Snake Farris?
Arat: No, it is not.
Arat: First of all, his life is not immediately dependent upon the daily work of a Donor as hers is to working as a channel.
Morca: Merely his happiness?
Arat: And secondly, Nick will not be able to locate a rogue channel who can satisfy him in any way.
Morca: Forcing him to turn to Naros?
Arat: Nick will turn to Naros first.
Arat says this with absolute confidence.
Arat: Not to the House itself, but to his father.
Arat: When he realize he cannot be happy serving a low First who rarely works, he may try other avenues.
Arat: But satisfaction in his work, and in transfers, is important to Nick. I am confident that he will choose the Tecton after a suitable period of decision-making.
Arat has never made a statement this firm on the subject before, even to his superiors.
Morca: I see. So you consider him as temporarily on loan to Naros?
Arat: No, I do not.
Arat: I consider him just ending rehabilitation, on probation, and in a transition period.
Morca: And yet you are confident that the association will be temporary.
Morca: Does Sectuib Riyyh share your assessment, or is he viewing Reckage as a permanent acquisition to his House?
Arat: I cannot say.
Arat: I don't see Nick pledging to Naros in any case.
Arat: However, that is only speculation on my part.
Morca dutifully makes a note about the speculative nature of Arat's assertions, well knowing that the average news consumer neither knows nor cares about the difference between facts and speculation.
Morca is pretty sure that her legal team can suitably educate a jury if necessary to avoid libel charges, however.
Morca: Do you have a similar confidence that Wise Snake Farris will be rehabilitated eventually?
Arat: Yes, eventually.
Arat is thinking along a three to five year plan now.
Morca: And how does the rest of the Audnes clan feel about their new relative? Has her rogue status caused difficulties for the family reputation?
Arat: They have not expressed any such concerns that I am aware of.
Arat: There was some concern that her upkeep would affect my ability to support the others, during the period where she is not working. Unfounded, of course.
Arat normally would not divulge personal information of this nature, but his answer to the question could be construed as incomplete otherwise.
Morca: So they have generally accepted her as an Audnes?
Arat: Yes.
Morca: Have there been any actual overtures from your relatives, or merely acceptance of her existence?
Arat: A mixture.
Arat thinks more interest has been shown in Snake than in himself; they mainly accept his existence, or more accurately, the existence of his salary and investments.
Morca: I see.
Morca uses her stock "You don't know how much I know, or how I intend to use it, but if you don't want to elaborate, that's your funeral" answer.
Morca has found it can be effective in shaking a vict... er, "interviewee", and thus eliciting more information.
Arat fidgets uncomfortably, wondering where Alea is.
Arat's timesense disagrees with his personal unease level as to how long this interview has been going on.
Arat is more than aware that the more he has to say, the better the chance of saying something she can use maliciously.
Arat: If there is nothing else...?
Arat helpfully offers.
Arat: I do have duties to attend to.
Morca: This shouldn't take much longer.
Morca's nager expresses the focused glee of a predator as her pencil moves to the next item on her list.
Arat makes a mental note to go down and scare shen out of the security staff as soon as this is over.