Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #125: Crash and Burn (12/31/99)
Lemuse and Homer are having some morning tea before the somewhat scary meeting with Arat they are scheduled for.
Lemuse does not normally find such meetings at all scary, but this will be the first time she's seen Arat since the, er, incident involving Homer, a picnic bench, the public park in the dark of night, and not involving any clothes.
Lemuse is given to understand that drugs may have been involved as well, although interpretations vary on that one.
Homer is in fact feeling quite calm and serene. Arat no longer frightens him.
Lemuse is glad the incident in question has been kept very hush-hush; she hasn't had to take any ribbing about it from coworkers.
Lemuse smiles at Homer.
Homer understands that the others in the District Controller's organization do not understand what he was doing, but he is completely certain that he acted correctly.
Homer hopes he can explain his actions in a way that the others will comprehend, but he is doubtful he will succeed.
Homer expects he will be disciplined again, and if so, he will just have to accept whatever sanctions come his way.
Homer smiles back at Lemuse.
Homer: It's all right.
Lemuse: I just haven't talked to him since then, so I'm not sure what to expect. [explains]
Lemuse: Usually I know in advance.
Homer nods.
Homer: I don't know if he will remember.
Lemuse: Not remember??
Lemuse wonders who in their right mind could dare hope Arat would forget having to sneak down to the courthouse at 4:30 AM and reclaim a (possibly) drugged, nude employee.
Homer: Fighting the Hawk. And then the spring in the cornfield.
Lemuse: Oh.
Lemuse grins.
Lemuse: Sorry.
Lemuse had been leaving that bit out.
Homer: Spirit memories are hard to hold on to, for the uninitiated.
Lemuse thinks for a moment.
Lemuse: Yeah, Arat doesn't seem like the habitually spiritual type.
Lemuse says the understatement of the year.
Homer raises his eyebrows.
Homer: That is not my impression.
Lemuse: Really?
Lemuse: ~ curious though disbelieving ~
Homer: He has great spiritual strength, and could have been as good a shaman as he is a channel.
Lemuse: Hmmm.
Lemuse isn't sure about that, and she certainly wouldn't want Homer bringing this up around Arat. But then again, anything that makes Arat seem less of a monster in Homer's eyes is a good thing in her opinion.
Lemuse's nager's mostly hidden nervousness disappears.
Lemuse knows that the change in Homer will make a good impression on Arat, and possibly help when it comes to the park incident.
Homer: When he entered my vision, he acted as a shaman, though perhaps without understanding what he was doing.
Lemuse: Oh yeah?
Homer: Without a doubt.
Lemuse: Which part was like a shaman?
Homer: Being able to enter the holy circle at all. Speaking to the spirits. Fighting them. Even defeating a very powerful one.
Homer: Only he did not answer the call of the Corn Spirit.
Homer: I am not sure why.
Lemuse isn't sure about whether spirits really exist or not. But she does think that if Arat defeated something that was attacking Homer in Homer's dream, then that is a good sign that Homer is beginning to trust Arat more and not just on the surface.
Lemuse: What does that mean, answer the call?
Homer: She offered us her abundance.
Homer: I accepted what I needed.
Homer: He stayed back.
Lemuse: Hmm.
Lemuse: Did he need any?
Homer: She is the spirit - well, the Goddess - of all that is good, all life, all water, birth, selyn, joy.
Homer: Who does not Need?
Lemuse: Well, when you put it that way.
Lemuse: Maybe he was just there symbolically, for you.
Lemuse: Rather than in his own right.
Lemuse: Or maybe his part was done and it was just between you and her at that point.
Lemuse has noticed that dreams are not always particularly logical.
Homer nods with forbearance. He does not expect a non-initiate to understand spirit visions.
Homer: Maybe.
Lemuse can tell what kind of maybe it is.
Lemuse: OK... why do you think it might be then?
Homer: What happens in the spirit world is real.
Homer: Oh, not real like picking up this tea cup is real.
Homer: It is a different kind of real.
Homer: I notice that people here say "oh, this is just a symbol" or "oh, this is just a dream," as if symbols and dreams were less real than this teacup.
Homer: In the spirit world, both are more real than the teacup.
Lemuse notices Homer doesn't have much respect for what he assumes are her beliefs.
Lemuse nods.
Homer: So he was there, even if all he remembers is a dream, or maybe not even that.
Homer: And maybe his part was done in my vision.
Lemuse translates that into, Homer's subconscious may have picked up things about Arat that his conscious mind had not recognized.
Homer: But every man must come to terms with the Spirits of Life and Death, at some time, in some way.
Homer: And woman, too.
Homer touches Lemuse's hand.
Homer: We grow very serious, don't we?
Lemuse: Let's not talk about life and death before the meeting OK? ~~ slight humor ~~
Homer: Very well.
Homer: Is there any advice you would give before we go up?
Lemuse considers.
Lemuse: Well, try to stick to the stuff that Arat would consider "real". And concentrate on being respectful, even if he becomes very angry.
Lemuse smiles.
Lemuse: I guess that's just the usual advice, isn't it?
Lemuse: I am sure he won't do anything too drastic, after all he did go pick you up, right? He won't want you to look bad.
Lemuse: It's not even in your folder.
Homer: That's all right, Sosu. I will behave correctly.
Homer: But if he asks me questions, how can I keep to what is "real"?
Homer: He does not like evasions and he will know instantly if I try to lie.
Lemuse: Just talk about what happened before and after the ritual, and don't go into the details of what happened during the ritual itself.
Lemuse: If he asks, tell him you don't remember anything except a vision you had.
Lemuse: If he wants to know that, he'll ask specifically, and then you can say anything you want!
Lemuse: But if you do it all out of order he will get very impatient.
Lemuse means, more so than usual.
Homer: Very good! That answer is both "real" and true.
Homer: What would I do without you!
Lemuse thinks it's a lot better than launching into the bit about Arat fighting an eagle and not drinking of the life mother's abundance right at the start.
Lemuse beams, ~~ caring ~~
Lemuse: I'm sure you'd get by somehow.
Lemuse liked the praise though.
Homer: It is almost time, Sosu.
Homer: Perhaps we should go up now.
Lemuse: OK.
Homer gets up and escorts Lemuse away from the table.
Homer: Do I look all right?
Lemuse checks.
Lemuse: Both socks the same color... buttons lined up... underwear on the inside... yep!
Lemuse winks at him.
Lemuse: You look fine.
Homer checks Lemuse and brushes a stray crumb from her collar with a tentacle.
Lemuse: Oh! Thanks.
Homer: We are ready, then.
Homer leads the way down the corridors toward the Controller's office.
Homer pauses at the door to the office to take a final deep breath.
Lemuse waits with him.
Homer zlins Lemuse to see that she is ready.
Lemuse: ~~ calm ~~
Homer signals their arrival.
Arat tells himself that he can endure a meeting with 2 Seconds.
Arat after all has proven to himself that anything that won't kill him outright can be endured for 1 hour. Why not 15 minutes?
Arat looks at the door.
Arat is definitely not himself and hasn't been for at least two weeks.
Lemuse scratches her ear.
Homer waits, wondering at the delay.
Homer knows that Arat is usually fanatical about being on time.
Lemuse glances at Homer.
Lemuse of course can't tell if a nageric signal has already been transmitted.
Homer: There's no answer, but I can zlin he is there.
Homer: But the insulation's too good to zlin any more than that.
Lemuse: Oh.
Lemuse: Try again?
Lemuse isn't sure whether Homer should or not.
Lemuse: Maybe he's just distracted.
Lemuse knows she would rather get in trouble for showing up promptly and interrupting something than for not showing up or being late.
Homer signals again.
Arat thinks, yes yes!
Arat: Enter.
Arat looks around for Homer's and Lemuse's folders which he'd gotten out seemingly eons before, but are lost somewhere on his mostly empty desk.
Homer opens the door and holds it for Lemuse to enter.
Arat is concentrating more on keeping his nager from exploding all over the building in small quivering shreds of jello than he is on his work.
Arat decides to forget about the folders and inspects Homer and Lemuse instead.
Homer follows Lemuse into the office and stands with her.
Homer politely observes and zlins the Black Stallion before him.
Arat doesn't resemble a tornado today so much as what's left of a town afterward.
Arat gestures for them to sit, after a moment.
Arat is not going to deal with zlinning them particularly thoroughly at this point. This meeting is only to keep up appearances.
Homer's calm serenity alters to dismay as he takes in Arat's condition.
Homer sits.
Arat has decided to treat the entire incident of the ritual in the park as if it had never happened, in order to avoid drawing attention to Homer and also to cover his own ass.
Arat assumes Homer will be fine with it not ending up on his Tecton record.
Homer controls his nager, returning to a calm detachment but continuing to observe Arat with concern.
Lemuse is a bit uneasy herself as she ~~ supports ~~ Homer.
Arat has no difficulty zlinning what they are both feeling without even trying. He ignores it, having too much other input to deal with at the moment.
Arat: Homer, you appear to have been continuing to do well this week, as far as your advisors and departmental supervisors are concerned.
Homer blinks.
Homer: ~~ surprise ~~
Homer had expected a head-on confrontation with the latest irregularity.
Homer controls his nager.
Homer: Yes, Controller.
Arat frowns to himself as the tiny ripple caused by Homer's nager threatens to produce an effect equivalent to old tale about the bird's wings beating in Maple Leaf Territory causing a tidal wave in Gulf.
Arat grips his desk suddenly as bull headed Farris determination to deny anything is wrong comes head to head with something very wrong and increasingly so.
Homer can zlin the instability in Arat's fields.
Arat brings it under control again after a moment, averting disaster.
Homer wonders if the Hawk injured Arat more seriously than he thought.
Arat sweats.
Homer wonders where Arat's Donor is, as he has rarely zlinned a channel who required one this badly.
Arat is glad Pylor is not present.
Arat: Ah... excuse me.
Arat gets down and lies on the floor behind his desk.
Arat: ~~ rigid control ~~
Homer looks at Lemuse.
Lemuse returns the look.
Lemuse: ~ alarm ~
Homer: He is in trouble.
Homer: His nager is about to come apart.
Lemuse: Shen, don't do anything. Don't let anybody else in. I'll go get Jeniard.
Lemuse has no idea where Jeniard is.
Homer: Okay.
Homer knows that Jeniard is usually successful in supporting Arat, or at least was, before the lawsuit.
Lemuse: I'll see if he's working.
Lemuse hopes he's not out of the building, as is so often the case these days.
Lemuse rushes out of the room.
Homer zlins Arat, wondering if there is anything he can do to help support him.
Homer has seen Firsts do miracles on the hospital ward, but knows he has no where near that sensitivity.
Arat continues to struggle for control, with only partial success. His nager is chaotic and painful, but controlled enough to not overwhelm Homer or even interfere with him much... yet.
Homer can see that Arat's nager is absolutely enormous and probably unmanageable by a Second Order channel.
Homer decides a first step might be to take control of the ambient in the room, smoothing out the fluctuations Arat is causing so they don't cause a ripple and feedback effect.
Homer's efforts are overwhelmed by the power of the fluctuations, with a result that feels rather like wiping out on a surfboard under a really big wave.
Homer flails helplessly, thrown hyperconscious and disoriented by the cross-currents in the fields.
Homer's shaman-trained reflexes kick in, as he uses his psycho-spatial sense to anchor himself to a universal orientation point.
Homer centers himself using guideposts on the spirit plane, which is not as wracked by nageric currents as his current temporal plane position.
Plains form around Homer, an ocean of rippling yellow grass.
Sky is bright, with towering white clouds against a blue backdrop.
Homer takes joy in the blue and white glitter of the sky's endless horizon.
Homer breathes in a sigh of relief, able to think straight and zlin straight again on the golden plains.
Homer uses his coherent spirit plane body to provide ~~ support ~~ to his disordered temporal plane self.
Homer broadcasts ~~ golden serenity ~~ to his confused real self.