Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #143: Rats and Dogs (1/29/00)
Morca sits at a little cafe, waiting for her contact to arrive.
Morca is still chafing at her inability to get into the District building and prowl around. Security has not been reasonable.
Morca therefore has had to cultivate alternative sources, to the detriment of her research.
Morca might be more concerned if she realized just severe the handicap is, in this particular instance.
Morca sips tea, and looks through the window again.
Morca: ~~ impatience ~~
Hero bounces along the sidewalk, stopping suddenly to peer into a shop window now and then.
Morca would really prefer an older, more mature source, who would be willing to accept a simple cash bribe in exchange, but will barter with attention and tea if she has to.
Morca reflects that at least Hero is relatively easy on her research budget.
Hero finally arrives at the cafe where Morca is waiting. She's about 32 minutes late.
Morca has by then gotten through an entire pot of tea, with the predictable results.
Morca is therefore returning from the ladies' room when Hero walks in.
Morca: Hero, dear!
Hero: Hi Morca!
Hero: ~~perky~~
Morca shows her teeth in what could be either a smile of greeting or a grimace of irritation.
Morca: I was afraid you'd been... delayed.
Hero: I was!
Hero: Arat grabbed me and asked me where I was going.
Hero: You know how hard it is to lie to him.
Morca wouldn't want to say "found out", or Hero might start dwelling on the consequences.
Morca: Where did you tell him you were going?
Hero: To see you!
Hero beams.
Hero: But what can he do about it?
Hero: Just yell.
Hero: Oh yeah, and rearrange my schedule.
Morca: Oh, dear.
Morca starts leading Hero towards the table; if this is going to be her last chance to interrogate Hero, she wants to make the best of it.
Hero follows her in typical blithe cheer.
Morca: Was he very angry?
Hero: Mega.
Hero: Like, you can feel his nager pulsing at you.
Hero: Boom!
Morca is trying to figure out how much chance there is that Hero will be summarily transferred out of the District.
Morca sits down and gestures Hero to one of the other seats.
Hero: But he's kinda like that all the time. [concludes]
Morca: Oh? Has there been anything else making him angry lately?
Morca pours tea for Hero.
Hero sits down. As soon as her butt hits the seat she jumps up again to go see if the table directly next to theirs has better condiments.
Morca is familiar with Hero's inability to sit still, and has developed some countermeasures.
Morca therefore gestures for the waiter to bring a tray of pastries over, then waves him away.
Morca: I'll let you know if we require anything else.
Hero gravitates back to the pastries and sits down.
Morca is pretty sure that much pastry ought to keep even Hero occupied for a while.
Hero is too well bred to talk with her mouth full, so there is a moment of silence while she munches the first one.
Morca: I would think that Controller Arat would be in a good mood, now that Nick Reckage has pledged at last.
Hero: Oh yeah, I guess.
Hero doesn't seem to agree with Morca.
Hero licks her fingers.
Morca: Do you mean that he isn't happy?
Hero: Shen, no.
Morca: Oh, my. Why not?
Morca leans forward, hoping for something really juicy.
Hero: First of all, the high muckety mucks claimed all the credit because Nick came back while Arat was sick.
Morca: They did? Did they send for him, or something?
Hero: So that would have bummed anyone out, but then Nick sided with Snake over the Pylor thing and that really P'd him O.
Hero: Of course, it was bound to happen.
Morca: What Pylor thing is that? And why was it bound to happen?
Morca: Tell me all about it!
Hero: I mean, there's picky and there's picky.
Hero: What? No, I meant the thing with Nick was bound to happen.
Morca: That he would side with Snake?
Hero: No, that he'd piss off Arat.
Morca: I thought that they got along well?
Hero: Oh yeah, it went OK as long as Nick was playing it all neutral and all.
Hero: But as soon as he pledged, he started having ideas of his own about the other people around.
Hero: Like Pylor.
Hero grins impishly.
Morca: And what were his ideas about Pylor?
Hero giggles.
Hero: I can't read his mind!
Morca smiles in a conspiratorial fashion.
Morca: Of course not, dear, but surely you have your suspicions?
Hero: That's why Arat's mad at him. Snake's ideas matched Nick's better, and when they were all in the room together, Nick sided with Snake and Pylor against Arat.
Hero: See but how Arat thinks it should have gone, is Nick should always side with him unless they discussed it first.
Hero: And then only if Nick won the argument.
Morca: I see.
Hero is fairly proud of this theory.
Morca is not particularly surprised; this matches her own ideas of Arat's character.
Hero thinks the only flaw in it is the bit about somebody having any chance of winning such an argument.
Morca pours Hero some more tea.
Hero sips happily.
Morca: So you think it's likely that Nick lost the argument, and sided with Snake anyway? And Pylor?
Hero: Naw, neither of them knew they were going there. It was kind of a surprise meeting.
Hero: So they couldn't have discussed it first.
Morca: What was this meeting about? And who's idea was it?
Hero: Oh, it was all Snake's idea.
Hero: She faked like there was an emergency to get Arat down there, and then Pylor confessed why he hated Arat's guts.
Morca's eyes gleam at this tidbit.
Morca: Really?
Morca is all ears, except for the part that's teeth.
Morca: And why is that?
Hero rolls her eyes.
Hero: Well.
Hero: First of all, they went to the same school together part of the time when they were kids.
Morca: In New Othwol?
Hero: And Pylor was like totally trying to win this one contest that Arat ended up winning.
Hero: It was a speech you had to give about history, or something.
Hero: Oh yeah, and he was like completely fixated on this framed thingie that was the 1st Prize.
Hero: He still has it.
Hero: Or at least he did, [adds]
Hero: But he tried to give it to Arat.
Morca: Pylor has the prize? I thought you said Arat won the contest?
Hero: Oh well, back when he was a kid, Pylor like dumpster dove it from Arat's dust bin.
Morca: Arat's prize was in the dust bin?
Hero: Um, well, I guess so. It was this crummy frame with like a bad copy of the First Contract in it.
Hero clearly would have dust binned it herself. Then again, Hero's upbringing was one of art and beauty.
Hero: Anyway, Pylor tried to give it back to Arat... not at that first meeting, but later when they kissed and made up.
Hero: But Arat like totally refused to take this thing, so I guess Pylor figures it's really his, now.
Morca: They kissed and made up?
Morca might be more astonished if Hero had announced that Arat had grown donkey's ears to match his overlarge nose.
Hero: Well, sorta.
Hero: I mean, like Pylor was already on the edge, so it's not like he wanted Arat directly against him or anything.
Hero: The guy would have been out of a job by now if it hadn't been for Snake.
Morca: So how does Snake fit into this, anyway?
Morca picks up a small pastry and nibbles delicately.
Morca somehow looks surprising doing this; one expects her diet to be limited to live fish.
Hero: Oh, she just likes to mess with people. [offhandedly]
Hero: She just staged that whole confession thing to yank Arat's tail.
Morca: Has she been messing with Sosu Pylor?
Hero: Naw, Pylor is small time.
Morca: I see.
Hero: I mean, she's been working with him and stuff, but it's Arat she has issues with.
Morca: So she staged a confrontation between Controller Arat and Sosu Pylor as a way of getting back at her father?
Hero: Yeah. It worked, too.
Hero: It came between him and Nick... and it still helped Pylor, which means the Powers that Be will look at Snake in a better light.
Hero is an observant young Gen and is picking up on how it works in the Tecton.
Morca: So Arat is still angry at Nick?
Hero: Naw, he's not angry at him, he just probably won't put his heart into keeping Nick around the way he might have.
Hero: I mean, come on. The guy is totally picky.
Morca: So you think it's likely that Nick will be reassigned?
Morca: Wouldn't that leave Arat without a compatible Donor in the District? For either himself or Snake?
Hero: Beats me. But I do know that he punted Nick down to one of the wards.
Hero: Doesn't even spend time with him unless Nick chases him.
Hero breaks into a sudden grin.
Hero: You should see Hajene Ormof scramble, though.
Hero: He gave them this project to rearrange everything in the burn ward.
Morca: Them?
Morca: Nick and Hajene Ormof?
Hero: Nick has got him running like a rat in a... yeah, them.
Hero: They're both in the dog house. [mixes animal metaphors]
Morca: So you think Nick is working extra hard to try and redeem himself with Arat?
Hero: Naw, he's not the type.
Hero: I mean, he works hard and stuff, but he's not the type to try to make up for stuff like that.
Morca: So Nick is waiting for Arat to make amends?
Morca thinks it's going to be a long wait, in that case.
Hero: I hope not, it ain't going to happen.
Hero giggles.
Hero: He just doesn't know how to do it.
Morca had rather gathered that.
Hero: Now if Nick'd been raised back home, he'd have figured it out by now that it's his job, and he'd probably know how to do it too.
Hero shrugs.
Hero: But....
Morca: Do you think Arat will actively seek to have Nick reassigned? Or just not bother to fight it?
Hero is always interested in expressing opinions.
Hero appears to ponder the question seriously.
Hero: I think he'll, like, let it happen, but whip himself for it the whole time.
Hero: And then regret letting it happen.
Hero: But I mean, who knows?
Morca nods.