Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #121: Political Pawn (12/24/99)
Lemuse helps Homer rearrange some supplies near his work station in the infirmary.
Lemuse: Don't forget we have that meeting with Arat in a little bit.
Lemuse seems uncharacteristically worried, although she does a pretty good job of muting it in her nager.
Homer looks up from the weighty copy of the Tecton Formulary. He is perhaps 1/8th of the way through.
Homer notices the worried expression on his Donor's face and is instantly attentive.
Homer: What is wrong?
Lemuse: Oh! Oh... nothing. Sorry.
Lemuse smiles, but still seems worried.
Lemuse doesn't want to bother Homer with anything that might upset him, not this week.
Lemuse does wish she had somebody to talk to about it, though.
Homer, now playing attention, can zlin that it is not nothing. He hardly ever senses a negative emotion in Lemuse.
Homer: Let me help you, if I can.
Lemuse: It's just... I'm worried about somebody else.
Lemuse: It's been on my mind, I'm sorry I let it interfere.
Lemuse's nager clears up somewhat, but the truth of the matter is it's Arat she's worried about, which causes her to be worried about her own future by extension, and that's not easy to hide.
Homer: Tell me what troubles you. Let me be your friend.
Homer: You take such good care of me, let me return the favor now that I am strong.
Lemuse smiles at him, still hesitant to spill the beans but definitely grateful for the offer.
Lemuse: Well, you might think I'm being ridiculous, but you know all those rumors about... [automatically checking to make sure nobody is nearby]
Lemuse: About Arat? I am thinking a lot of them might be true. Recently.
Lemuse: I can't help but worry that they might be.
Homer frowns.
Lemuse: I don't really have any evidence except my own eyes, and of course all the rumors about the week after his transfer being blacked out and such.
Lemuse: But I just have this feeling.
Homer: No I have not heard the rumors.
Lemuse is definitely unhappy, although she's trying not to make Homer zlin too much of it.
Homer: People don't tell me such things.
Lemuse certainly isn't going to repeat said rumors! She has gotten far in life by not repeating rumors about her bosses.
Lemuse: Well, they say he hasn't been well.
Lemuse: Basically.
Lemuse: There have always been rumors like that, and they've been even worse since the lawsuit.
Lemuse: I usually just file them away in my mind and forget them.
Homer: He does not zlin well, the few times we have met.
Homer: Truly, there was one time I thought he might be possessed.
Lemuse pauses.
Lemuse: Possessed??
Homer: Sometimes creatures from the spirit world seek entrance to this one.
Lemuse: I don't know that much about the spirit world, but would Arat really be that easy to possess?
Homer: People who are ill or troubled sometimes give them entrance.
Lemuse: Oh.
Homer: In any case, more recently he has seemed to be himself, but as you say, not well.
Lemuse: You know that meeting with him that got canceled? Not the one the day before our transfer, but the week before?
Lemuse: They say that entire week nobody had a single meeting with him.
Homer: Yes.
Lemuse: I don't know if it's true or not, but everybody I know thinks it is.
Lemuse: And his transfer was at the beginning of that week.
Lemuse: This month he has Pylor, and they have never gotten along.
Homer: Yes, I heard about that.
Homer frowns.
Lemuse wouldn't dream of saying more than that about Pylor, of course.
Homer: Such a transfer matching would be utterly forbidden among my people.
Lemuse: Well the trouble with Arat is that there aren't that many people who can match him at all.
Homer: Yes, his nager is immense.
Lemuse: Pylor at least could serve him in transfer, he's done it before.
Homer: But it is an unholy act to drink in hatred mixed with selyn.
Lemuse: I wouldn't be surprised if neither one of them is very happy with the assignment. [agrees, at least in spirit]
Homer: And Pylor hates him; I can zlin that easily, First though he may be.
Homer: He does not trouble to hide it.
Lemuse: They grew up in the same hometown, New Othwol. I guess their parents had some past history as well.
Lemuse believes that the actual past history is that Pylor's grandparents were indentured renSimes born on Arat's grandparents' farm/Genfarm, but she's not about to say that in public!
Homer: The roots of old hatred can run very deep indeed.
Homer has had some experience living as the product of a five centuries old conflict between two rival clans.
Lemuse: Yeah.
Homer: So, in all this great city, is there no proper transfer mate for the Controller?
Lemuse: The problem is that most of the ones that really match him well are ambrov Zeor, and they're almost always assigned to channels who are ambrov Zeor.
Lemuse: There were Nick and Alea, recently, but Nick was never pledged to the Tecton and has left, while Alea was only assigned here temporarily as part of some rehabilitation and has now moved on to a regular rotation.
Lemuse means, a regular rotation for a Zeor Farris Gen, which means being shared by Zeor Farris channels.
Lemuse: Which kind of says something about how it works, when you think about it.
Lemuse means, they decided to risk Arat to find out if Alea was ready for prime time.
Homer: How it works?
Lemuse: How the system really works, as opposed to how the law says it works.
Homer: Zeor is a Householding, true? I thought they were separate from the Tecton organization.
Lemuse: No, the Householdings are the Tecton.
Lemuse: Before Unity, the Tecton was what joined the Householdings together, even though they were separated by hundreds of miles of junct and Gen territories.
Lemuse: Householdings that were powerful in the Tecton then are powerful in it now, the ones that still exist.
Lemuse: You can't understand Tecton politics without understanding inter-Householding politics, or even the internal politics of a House like Zeor.
Homer: So the Householdings command the Controllers?
Lemuse: No, they are the Controllers.
Lemuse: But somebody like Arat, who was born outside of a Householding and never joined one, is outside of the system.
Lemuse leaves out the details: Arat was rejected from Zeor and was too proud to apply to any other House.
Lemuse: Well, he's in the Tecton system, but he has a different status than the Zeor Farrises.
Lemuse: It's all unspoken, but it's pretty clear when you've seen enough of it.
Lemuse: It's not as bad on the lower levels, but you can see that sort of thinking even among our peers.
Lemuse: Being a member of a Householding definitely means something.
Homer: It is not clear to me. But I believe this is something I must learn about.
Lemuse: Yeah, probably a good idea if you're going to live in it.
Homer: Since I am a member of a Householding that is not really a Householding and is certainly not acknowledged as such by anyone here.
Homer: So this politics you speak of is likely to affect my fate, as well.
Lemuse is pretty sure that doesn't count.
Lemuse nods anyway, though.
Homer: And because he is not in their Householding, the High Controllers do not concern themselves with finding Arat a suitable transfer mate.
Lemuse: Something like that.
Lemuse: You know, when Arat was younger his situation was a lot like yours.
Homer considers the treatment given to a Sime who is captured by a rival clan. Perhaps the Tecton is not so different from the Canyon after all.
Homer: Oh?
Lemuse: His parents were political dissidents and criminals and his training as a channel was his only chance to keep himself out of prison.
Lemuse: That still hangs over his head even now... why else would he make such a big deal publicly over the Snake thing?
Lemuse: I mean, looking at him now, it's hard to imagine anybody could think of Arat as a rogue or a political, but not everybody knows him.
Lemuse deliberately tries to lighten her mood.
Lemuse: Listen to me.
Lemuse: I'm not trying to totally depress you, here.
Lemuse: No matter what it sounds like!
Homer: What you say is interesting and useful.
Homer: Truly, there are times when it is important not to dwell on what is painful.
Homer: There are other times when it is necessary to accept what is true without flinching from pain or sorrow.
Homer: I must admit I find it difficult to imagine Arat as anything but totally committed to the Tecton way of life.
Lemuse: Oh, he is.
Lemuse: That's one of the reasons I enjoy working for him. I always know where he's coming from, you know what I mean?
Homer: How did he come to this commitment if he began life as a... dissident, a criminal?
Lemuse: Well, everything I've read says he never did anything himself, aside from killing in First Need and that was an accident.
Lemuse: Really it was just forgetting everything his parents taught him and replacing that with new ideals.
Lemuse: And a person is at their most flexible in First Year, especially where survival is concerned.
Lemuse is glossing over the details of what she's heard was an extremely difficult transition.
Homer: I have heard that his family were juncts, Pen keepers.
Homer: That is what Pylor said.
Homer, for all that his own birthclan was junct, was taught a contempt for juncts who killed Pen Gens, who could not fight back.
Lemuse: They were actually associated with the Pen system, but not as Pen keepers.
Lemuse: They had a farm that supplied produce to feed the Gens.
Lemuse: They bred some Gens there but only incidentally. They also bred work horses and other, um, 'necessities'.
Homer: (curious) Killers who raised crops?
Lemuse: Well, all those Pen Gens had to eat something!
Lemuse: And they were too young to effectively raise their own food. They were usually killed as soon as they Established, except for the breeders.
Lemuse: That's why farms like the Othwol Superfarm existed. They used renSime and adult Gen labor to produce what the Pen system required.
Lemuse: It's not pretty, but that was the reality back then.
Homer: (smiling wryly) In Arizz, mostly the Gens raised the food and the juncts stole from them.
Lemuse grins.
Lemuse: Just like now!
Lemuse has been known to steal food off Homer's tray when peckish.
Lemuse usually finds it's the other way around, though.
Homer laughs.
Homer: Well, then, let me pay reparation.
Homer pulls out his gift box of chocolate and offers it to Lemuse.
Lemuse: Ooh! Thank you.
Lemuse can't believe Homer still has some left.
Lemuse accepts a piece.
Homer takes a piece for himself as well. Chocolate does seem to be a universal remedy.
Homer leaves the box on the table in case Lemuse wishes to stage another raid on it.
Homer: And so Arat put aside his family's heritage and adopted the Tecton's ways instead.
Lemuse: Well, it was either that or die a short ugly death in prison. Farrises and the prison system didn't get along well in those days.
Lemuse: But, [adds in the way of ass-covering case anybody is listening] I am sure he would have chosen this anyway. He's a good and moral person.
Lemuse: It must have been hard, but he knew what was right.
Homer, having experienced 2 weeks of the prison system, figures he probably would not have survived and he is merely a Second.
Homer considers the difference between the short ugly death a Farris might experience in prison and the long, drawn-out extinction possible for a Second Order channel with genes for the characteristic desert resiliency.
Homer: It is no easy thing to put aside the way of life you have been raised to.
Lemuse: Some people say Arat never has.
Lemuse is definitely taking a risk by saying that.
Lemuse doesn't say: Like Pylor.
Homer looks at Lemuse inquiringly.
Homer has certainly heard Pylor ranting; his comments do not take Narosian gossip abilities to discover.
Lemuse: His parents were leaders in that little pocket of Norwest. Rulers is maybe a better word.
Lemuse: That is, until Unity.
Homer: Norwest?
Lemuse: Norwest Territory.
Lemuse: Arat would be City Controller of New Othwol right now, if he could.
Homer: The Controller of the region his parents once ruled?
Lemuse: Yes. He was, actually - he shared that position for years, alternating with only one other channel. But then about three years ago he was transferred here.
Lemuse: It's a more prestigious post, and certainly requires somebody with his skills, which New Othwol doesn't.
Homer: Did the High Controllers think Arat would return his home region to his family's traditions?
Lemuse: No, no, nothing like that.
Lemuse: They know he's loyal.
Lemuse: They just wanted him where he'd be doing the most good.
Lemuse: Everybody says he's really whipped the 53rd District into shape, it's been a problem district for decades.
Lemuse knows there are certain problems which just refuse to be solved, but doesn't see any profit in mentioning those just now.
Homer: But although he has been true to his Tecton pledge, and has, as you say, whipped the District into shape, the High Controllers cannot find him an adequate Donor?
Homer: And this is because he was not born into a Householding, but was adopted from an enemy?
Lemuse: Well, I think the real reason is it's hard to find anybody that fits his requirements.
Homer can see how that would be a problem. In Arizz, channels above 3rd Order are rare indeed and a Farris wouldn't last a month.
Lemuse: Not only is he on one extreme end of the range of draw speed and capacity, but he has, uh, [doesn't want to come out and say Arat has managed to offend most of the Donors who could remotely serve him who aren't ambrov Zeor]... unusual personal requirements.
Lemuse: It's been better since Snake has been here, though. It's harder for them to ignore the needs of two Farris channels, and she is ambrov Zeor.
Lemuse: Sort of.
Lemuse: I don't think the latest problems have to do with the Donors so much as it has to do with Jeniard. [confesses]
Homer has heard rumors of Arat's conflicts with Donors. He wonders how the Controller would survive in a system where he had to convince his Gens to serve him.
Lemuse: Although the Donor problem can't be helping.
Homer: Jeniard?
Lemuse: You know, Jeniard. His Assistant.
Homer has only met Hajene Jeniard briefly.
Lemuse wouldn't be caught dead talking about Jeniard in detail in public, and besides she knows almost as little about the private half of that situation as anybody else does.
Lemuse: They're old friends, all the way back to First Year School.
Lemuse: But Arat is in the middle of suing him right now.
Homer did not know there was a problem with the Controller Assistant, although they did seem unusually affectionate towards each other.
Homer: He is suing his friend?
Homer thinks every time he decides people in Capitol are just like people at home, he runs into some new strange behavior.
Homer thinks disagreements among friends in Sancrist might be handled by some gentle mediation by someone older and wiser, not in a law court with regulations and penalties.
Homer wonders if Controller Arat is capable of sending his friend Hajene Jeniard to prison, and, if so, how long would Jeniard survive?
Lemuse: Yeah, it's a mess. He's only doing it for the benefit of the general public. I'm sure they'll be back together after it's all over, for better or for worse.
Lemuse hopes so, anyway.
Lemuse: You know how Snake was conceived, don't you?
Homer: I heard that Snake was Arat's daughter but he did not know it.
Homer: I cannot understand how that is possible.
Lemuse: A bunch of people got together and got him drunk. He wasn't used to porstan and it affected him strongly. They bought him a prostitute, and when he didn't remember any of it the next day, they didn't tell him. So he never knew.
Lemuse: Or so the story goes.
Lemuse is sure there must be more to it than that, but wouldn't have any way of knowing what.
Homer: This could only happen where there are so many people no one can keep track of them all.
Lemuse: Yeah.
Lemuse: Now he has to punish them publicly so nobody will think that he let Snake grow up orphaned on purpose.
Lemuse: It's a matter of honor for him, more important even than his own health, it looks like.
Lemuse zlins unhappy again.
Homer is puzzled by this explanation.
Homer: Can't he just tell what happened and let people zlin the truth of it?
Lemuse: Not everybody in all of Sime Territory.
Lemuse: Nor could anybody ever be really sure they had zlinned the truth and not simply what he meant them to zlin.
Lemuse: Makes you kind of glad to be a Second, huh.
Lemuse fails to mention some of the other inhibitions: Arat would not likely open himself up to anybody's zlin on that subject, because to do so would reveal not only the truth but his own guilt and shame over what had happened.
Homer shakes his head.
Homer: Things are so complicated here.
Homer: So Arat brings his best friend to Court.
Homer: And the High Controllers cannot find him a Donor.
Homer: And his assigned Donor accuses him of dishonor.
Lemuse thinks that pretty much sums it up.
Homer: And you, my friend, are worried.
Homer: How does this affect your life?
Lemuse: Well, Arat holds onto his good employees. I thought I'd be working for him for many years.
Lemuse: Now I don't know where I'll be.
Lemuse smiles ruefully.
Lemuse: I guess that sort of thing bothers me more than I realize.
Homer: They will send you somewhere else?
Lemuse: If he can't hold onto me.
Homer: You have become accustomed to living here in Capitol?
Lemuse: Well, I'd like to keep working for Arat if I could.
Lemuse: It wouldn't have to be here.
Lemuse likes working for nearly every boss she has, but she has grown used to the idea of having a patron and that is what Arat is for her here.
Homer: You feel respect and loyalty for this man?
Lemuse: Oh, yes! Of course.
Lemuse: ~ truth, respect and loyalty ~
Lemuse in fact is well known as a perfect butt-kisser when it comes to Arat, although to be honest this was the case with many of her previous posts as well. Lemuse is just like that.
Homer muses that Arat's temper and arrogance are not what he would prefer in a mentor, but Lemuse is obviously more flexible in her affections; after all, she likes him too.
Homer thinks that besides insults and intimidation, Arat has not actually mistreated him the way Felps did.
Homer: Well, if there is anything I can do to help you, or him, you must tell me.
Lemuse: I wish I could think of something.
Lemuse: But thanks, Homer. [smiles at him]
Lemuse knows they aren't allowed to even know about the problem, much less try to do anything about it.
Lemuse: ~ wistful ~
Homer hugs her gently.
see note 1
Lemuse walks along beside Homer as they head towards Arat's office for their meeting.
Lemuse is already regretting her candor of earlier and can only hope nobody had overheard any of it.
Lemuse doesn't think Homer is the type to repeat it, fortunately.
Homer prepares for his weekly meeting with the Controller feeling much more calm and clear-headed than he has since he came east.
Homer wonders about some of the things Lemuse told him. Her comments certainly provide a different perspective on some things which had puzzled Homer.
Homer has a whole bunch more questions that he would like answered, but he can see Lemuse has clammed up.
Homer doesn't think asking Arat directly would be real smart, either.
Lemuse smiles reassuringly at Homer as they stop outside the office door.
Lemuse is sure the meeting will go great: They have had a brilliant week, with no complaints from anybody. It was marred only by Homer's difficult post reaction, but that wasn't anybody's fault.
Homer signals at the door to the Controller's office.
Arat: Enter.
Homer opens the door, holding it open for Lemuse.
Lemuse smiles her thanks at Homer and slips inside.
Arat: Hajene Homer, Sosu Lemuse.
Homer follows Lemuse.
Homer: Good day, Controller Arat.
Homer eyes the Controller with some curiosity, thinking of what he has heard.
Arat indicates that they are to be seated, then opens Homer's folder for inspection.
Homer reminds himself to maintain a professional manner.
Homer sits, now accustomed to the drill.
Arat appears underweight, tired and distracted. He does not seem to notice Homer's scrutiny, or if he does he is ignoring it.
Arat appears more distracted than irritable, although Arat completely without irritation is not anything most people ever see in public.
Arat looks back up at them.
Arat: How have you been feeling since your transfer? There was some difficulty, I understand.
Homer: I am recovered now.
Homer: The last time I was post was back before I was arrested and, well, a lot has happened since then.
Arat nods.
Arat: Has everything been well between you and Sosu Lemuse?
Arat zlins Homer carefully.
Homer: Yes. She is an excellent Donor and we work together well.
Homer: I must say that the quality of support she provides is far better than what I am used to.
Arat: How has working in the burn ward been for you?
Lemuse is quietly pleased by the compliment, particularly given who was around to hear it.
Homer may be a novice at politics, but he is a quick study when he is not too addled to think straight.
Homer: That assignment is going well, I think.
Arat: Were you able to secure the personal time you required?
Homer: Yes, Hajene Ormof has scheduled a day of leave for me.
Arat: Very well.
Arat: Since you have seen both departments, do you feel that you prefer the general children's ward or the burn ward?
Homer: I would say the general children's ward.
Homer: There is more variety in the cases, of course.
Homer: I have a fair amount of experience working with burn injuries, although in Arizz the cause was usually sunburn and not fire.
Homer: It has been interesting to see the advanced treatment techniques in use here.
Homer: Unfortunately, most of them require First Order skills, and there are virtually no Firsts in my homeland.
Arat: Perhaps you will be in a position to argue for a change in that some day.
Homer: It is possible, but many things would have to change to make it so.
Arat closes Homer's folder.
Arat: You have done well this week in the eyes of others. If it continues, you will be released from this Center within three months.
Homer thinks released and sent only the Gods know where.
Arat: If you have no further concerns or questions, I will see you at this time next week.
Homer: I do have a question, if you will permit.
Arat nods briefly.
Homer: My assignment here , the terms of my "rehabilitation"... was this done in accord with standard Tecton practice? Or would you consider the circumstances unusual?
Arat considers.
Arat: The rehabilitation itself is not unusual, nor is the fact that you were assigned here. However, such assignments are not typically made in the manner in which this particular assignment was made.
Arat: Ordinarily you would have been entered into a pool of Seconds in your area, and matched with a therapist channel from that area. It never would have reached the District level, much less the World Office level from which this order was passed down.
Homer nods.
Homer: I know such services as you describe are not available in Arizz, and the Controller in Flag wanted me out of her District.
Homer: Would she have had the authority to arrange matters on her own?
Arat, who is not as familiar with District Controller Aloe's personal connections as he might prefer, has to consider the question from a purely theoretical standpoint.
Arat: As District Controller, directly, no. She could have put you up as a trade prospect and succeeded in trading you to another District. However, this appears to have involved somebody of considerable influence, or at least somebody with connections.
Arat has just given away his own limitations as well, in saying this.
Homer nods.
Arat's technical limitations, that is; he is well known for using unusual methods to retain, or obtain, or get rid of, personnel as desired.
Homer: Please accept my apologies, then.
Homer: I have been short-sighted.
Arat studies Homer visually and nagerically.
Homer: I thought the Tecton did not have the authority to make such decisions for one whose pledge was given elsewhere.
Homer: But it becomes clear that these decisions have been made on the advice of my own people, and perhaps even at their request.
Homer: That does not concern you.
Homer: But it explains much that was puzzling to me.
Arat considers what Homer has said.
Arat: It does seem unlikely that they would place you in such a prominent location without your people's consent, if they are trying to keep relations smooth.
Arat does not know who "they" are exactly, except that "they" work for the World Controller and were able to pay off the two people he sent looking for information back when Homer first arrived.
Arat did not pursue it further, having (despite what some people claim) a certain amount of self-preservation instinct.
Homer: When I came here, you said that I was not being punished.
Homer: Perhaps not by the Tecton.
Homer: This may be punishment. It may also be a test. It may be a lesson.
Arat thinks that whether it is punishment or not, it will certainly be the other two.
Homer: It may be all three or become any of these depending on how I respond.
Arat nods.
Homer: You said that three months with a clean record would satisfy the Tecton's requirements for rehabilitation.
Arat: It would satisfy the agreement I made with my superiors regarding what constituted rehabilitation of you. I do not know what agreement was actually made with your people, however.
Arat: I do not know that it had to do with rehabilitation at all.
Homer: My people are poets, not keepers of records, and I doubt matters will be so black and white.
Homer: Ah, well, the first step towards wisdom is discovering one's ignorance.
Arat knows this to be true of most people, even though he himself starts out from the posture of knowing everything, and accepts new input only from his own senses.
Homer: Thank you for answering my questions, Hajene.
Arat: You are quite welcome.
Arat will answer non-defensive, non-aggressive, relevant clinical questions of almost any kind almost any time.
Arat: (except when he's busy, of course)
Homer: Good day, Controller Arat.
Lemuse rises to follow Homer out.
Homer leaves with Lemuse.
Lemuse is proud of him for his conduct during the meeting, and particularly for asking questions.
Lemuse lets it show as soon as they are in the hallway and the door closed.
Lemuse smiles at him.
Lemuse: That went well, I thought.
Homer nods.
Lemuse's worry of earlier in the day has been muted by her pleasure at the meeting's outcome.
Homer: Yes.
Lemuse does care a lot about her work, and the welfare of the people she works with directly is foremost in her mind.
Lemuse: Do you think that if you wrote to Hajene Aloe she'd give you some hints as to what is going on?
Homer considers.
Homer: It might be worth a try. But I am not hopeful.
Homer: Pierce knows, I think. Perhaps I can worm some hints out of him.
Lemuse: He does?
Lemuse hadn't considered that.
Homer: There were things he said when he was here that....
Homer: Well, I was too far into need to see all the nuances, then.
Lemuse: Yeah.
Lemuse zlins of understanding, even as she thinks privately that need wasn't the only problem.
Homer: He asked me to remember where I came from.
Lemuse listens in curiosity and concern.
Homer: Do you understand what he meant?
Lemuse: Was he talking about your parents?
Homer: [grimly] Yes. My true parents, not my adopted ones.
Homer: You told me how Controller Arat had to leave a junct family to become a channel of the Tecton.
Homer: I have had a similar experience.
Homer: I was born the son of a Raiderchief. The Sky Clan Raiders were not like any Raiders known in Nivet.
Homer: No matter. When Arizz joined the Tecton, this Clan was hunted down and destroyed.
Homer: Luckily, I was a child at the time.
Homer: My mother was Gen, a Donor held as a captive. She died at my birth, but she had family among the Canyon Clan and they adopted me as kin.
Lemuse listens sympathetically, as they trudge down the hall.
Homer: So I put aside everything I had been raised to be, and became another person.
Homer: I accepted the Canyon people as my own and when I changed over pledged to the Corn Society.
Homer: Though I tried to forget my origins, others did not.
Homer: When the Tecton came to the Canyon, bringing foreign ways, I was urged to blaze the trail away from tradition.
Lemuse: By who?
Homer: By the elders of the old families, who did not want to experiment with their own children.
Lemuse: That must have been hard.
Homer: They thought it would be easier for me, who had already betrayed one heritage, to betray another I was not even raised with.
Homer: I have tried to prove my loyalty, but here I am.
Homer: If I were Canyon-born, I would not be here.
Homer: If I were Canyon-born, I would never have been advised to work in the Sime Center.
Lemuse: Is it so bad, what you're doing now?
Lemuse: I mean, not compared to what you wanted to do, but just... to be doing.
Homer: No. And that may be what Pierce was trying to tell me.
Homer: To give up trying to belong to a Clan that will never accept me, and try something new.
Homer: But if Arat is any example, this Clan may never accept me either.
Homer: And how many pledges can one betray and still retain enough integrity to be human?
Lemuse: Hey, I didn't mean to give you the impression the Tecton hasn't accepted Arat.
Lemuse: I mean, look at him... he's Controller of an entire District. And that's not just because he has a big nager, either.
Lemuse thinks it's partially because he's completely useless to anybody as a mere employee.
Lemuse: Speaking of which, did you think he zlinned OK?
Lemuse: I don't know, it seemed like he was only half there when he was talking to us.
Homer: He did not look well. Usually, his show field is impenetrable. Today, he zlinned unfocused.
Lemuse frowns worriedly.
Lemuse doesn't want to bother Homer with her own problems so she won't press him on it. Also she has no idea what, if anything, can be done about it.
Homer: And he received us without a Donor present.
Lemuse: I don't think Pylor is up to supporting him all day.
Homer: I think your concerns about his health are justified.
Lemuse was afraid of that.
Homer: He requires the support of a good Donor, and rest, and food.
Lemuse: Well, Controller Neptude will surely see that for himself and do something about it soon.
Homer: I certainly hope so.
Lemuse: Come on, let's go get something to eat before we go on shift, OK?
Lemuse after sitting there looking at Arat for fifteen minutes now feels compelled to make sure her own channel is eating properly.
Homer shudders at the idea of having such Need that only a Gen or two in the whole Territory can serve.
Homer: Sure!
Homer is quick to please the very marvelously satisfying Gen he has at hand.
Notes:
1) Several hours pass between these two scenes. [return]