Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #150: The Reluctant Donor (2/7/00)
Pylor sits in a corner of the library, working his way through a tome of the sort he's been avoiding for years.
Pylor has, however, learned better than to object to learning any material Snake feels is necessary.
Pylor took a week to start sleeping peacefully again, after his first and only attempt to elude Snake-assigned homework.
Lalique pauses at the door of the library and peers in.
Pylor's lips move as he tries to make sense of a particularly obscure paragraph.
Lalique has spent the week systematically exploring the office complex, at least those parts she is permitted to enter.
Pylor finds Farrises hard enough to understand in person, when they can zlin that he's not following and stop to explain.
Pylor ~~ grimly ~~ rereads the offending paragraph, hoping that it will magically make sense the second time.
Pylor is, alas, disappointed.
Lalique's eyes light at the rows on rows of books, though she suspects that the collection may not focus on her favorite subjects.
Lalique enters the library, glancing both ways to see if any of the security guards are watching her.
Lalique wanders through the shelves, letting her fingertips brush the edges of the bound volumes.
Lalique spots Pylor in his corner.
Lalique glances down at her clothes, a cloying pink skirt and a pea-green blouse.
Lalique thinks that at some point she is going to have to demand a clothing allowance, but it will have to do.
Pylor mutters an absentminded curse, then backtracks two additional paragraphs in case he overlooked a vital bit that would make the offending section make sense.
Lalique runs a hand through her hair and moves closer.
Lalique: [softly] Hey, sure looks like you could use a break.
Pylor jumps, startled, and looks up at Lalique.
Pylor blushes as he gets his nager into order, very glad that Lalique didn't happen to be a renSime.
Pylor: I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in.
Pylor is, indeed, very glad to have even a semi-valid excuse for a break.
Lalique: You're making a V right there... in the middle of your forehead.
Lalique lightly touches her cool fingertip to the place between his eyebrows.
Pylor smiles wryly.
Lalique: It could leave a permanent impression.
Pylor: At this point, I'd consider the disfigurement a fair exchange for understanding this stuff.
Pylor pushes the book away in disgust.
Pylor: Kenmore Farris might be an expert in transfer pathology, but he sure never learned to write in a straightforward fashion.
Lalique: Farrises, huh. Heavy duty stuff.
Lalique sits gracefully opposite Pylor.
Pylor wonders idly how much of the Farris mystique comes from the fact that they are so shenned difficult to understand that few people bother to try.
Lalique: And transfer pathology? Guess that makes you a Donor.
Pylor: Yeah. Sosu Pylor.
Lalique: Ahhhh. I've heard your name mentioned.
Lalique smiles.
Lalique: I'm new around here. Lalique Vale.
Pylor assumes from the smile that Lalique's source was not Arat, Nick, or Jeniard.
Lalique is of course a professional and smiles at everyone.
Pylor: Vale? The one who was....
Pylor doesn't quite have the gall to say "the one who was arrested for providing some really questionable entertainment".
Pylor: ....er, recently assigned to Controller Arat's care?
Lalique: Yeah. So what are they really saying about me?
Lalique: You don't have to be shy; I'm not.
Pylor: So far, I believe your reputation is still a bit better than mine.
Pylor: At least, unless you've managed to place the Controller in the infirmary for a week, and I just haven't heard about it yet?
Lalique laughs aloud, then covers her mouth with her hands to muffle the sound. This is, after all a library.
Lalique: Not yet. Give me time.
Pylor: Just make sure that Sosu Nick and Hajene Jeniard are well out of the way before you make your attempt.
Pylor: They don't take that sort of thing very well.
Lalique: Nick is rather... intense. So sweet to see a Gen enthralled by a big nager.
Pylor makes a sour face.
Lalique: Really. Very touching, and not very common, these days.
Pylor: I admit, I don't see what he finds so attractive about Arat Audnes.
Lalique: It's the nager, dear. Sheer, primal Donor instinct.
Pylor looks down at his hands and arms.
Pylor: I don't want to be in Nick's situation.
Lalique: No joke.
Lalique: But they say that Snake has you in tentacle now.
Pylor: I know.
Lalique: What is she like?
Pylor: Snake?
Lalique: Yes.
Pylor: She's just as wild and cruel as the rumors say.
Pylor: And twice as competent.
Pylor: She likes to play with people, just to see what she can make them do.
Lalique: And what does she want you to do?
Pylor: She's amusing herself trying to succeed where her father failed: Turning me into a Donor who can serve Farris channels.
Pylor is still not at all happy about this.
Lalique can see the not happy part.
Lalique: And you don't want that?
Pylor: No. It's not worth having to work with channels like that.
Lalique: What would happen if you refused?
Pylor: The Tecton doesn't like Donors who refuse to make the most of their talents.
Pylor: There was mention of a relocation to some remote, rural area as far as possible from Capitol.
Lalique: And would that be worse than working with Farrises for the rest of your life?
Pylor buries his head in his hands.
Pylor: I don't know, any more.
Pylor: I would have said no, two months ago. But, well, maybe I'm starting to fall into Nick's trap despite my wishes.
Pylor: Yesterday, I finally managed to get a support linkage that even Snake admitted was "not too bad".
Pylor: I couldn't hold it very long, but... while I did, she seemed almost, well....
Pylor can't quite bring himself to say "attractive".
Pylor: ...like a normal channel.
Petrallia watches them from behind a bookshelf just her height. Her chin rests on the top row of books, giving her a Cheshire cat appearance. It's not clear how long she's been there.
Pylor: A channel I could work with.
Lalique: She's getting to you, huh? Sucking you in?
Lalique bites her lower lip thoughtfully.
Lalique: She's that good?
Pylor shudders.
Pylor can't deny it, however, much as he would like to.
Petrallia is a puny 2nd Order channel with black wild hair (sort of like a Farrises but more dandruff and no glamour whatsoever) and an immense nose.
Pylor's ability to deceive himself and others has plummeted since he started working with Snake.
Lalique: The rumor is, she's interested in me, too.
Pylor: You?
Lalique: And I owe her a favor....
Lalique frowns.
Petrallia: Watch out. [slyly]
Petrallia's narrow grin floats above the books.
Pylor looks up sharply, and does a double take.
Lalique: Hey, Petrallia!
Petrallia saunters out from behind the book shelf, dispelling any possible illusion that she had been crouching behind it.
Pylor then calms when a second glance confirms that it is not Snake, despite the black hair.
Lalique: Was just thinking about you and your... orientation tips.
Petrallia: You don't want to owe Snake. You don't know how she'll... collect. [smiles]
Lalique nods grimly.
Petrallia sits down near Pylor.
Lalique: A remote rural location doesn't sound bad at all.
Petrallia folds her hands on the table, hairy tentacles curled around.
Lalique: ...but I really don't care for that internment camp option.
Lalique: What do you have to do around here to seem like you're too incompetent to bother with?
Pylor: With Arat Audnes in charge? You have to be incompetent. And not capable of learning better, as well.
Petrallia laughs.
Petrallia: And you would know, wouldn't you?
Pylor sorely regrets not qualifying for an exemption based on the latter.
Pylor nods glum agreement.
Petrallia reaches out and strokes the edge of his book.
Petrallia: Poor Pylor, stuck in the spotlight but never learned his lines.
Petrallia had actually been spying on Pylor before Lalique showed up.
Pylor: By the time he and his daughter are done with me, I'll want to be their Donor. I won't have any choice about it.
Petrallia winks at Lalique.
Lalique grins back at Petrallia.
Lalique: Yeah, that's how it works.
Pylor groans.
Petrallia: A pity you didn't know a person had to want to be a Donor to be a Donor before you decided you wanted to be a Donor.
Pylor: I've never liked Farris channels.
Pylor: I'd have been perfectly happy serving the mid to high Firsts.
Petrallia finds their lack of response to her humor boring, and gets up and wanders off.
Pylor has not experienced much humor during his weeks with Snake, and can therefore be forgiven for being out of practice identifying it.
Lalique watches Petrallia leave, wondering if the channel is going to hide behind the bookshelves and eavesdrop some more.
Lalique: But they're determined to push you. If it's just Arat and Snake, why can't you finagle a transfer to another District?
Pylor: It isn't just Arat and Snake. In fact, I have reason to believe Arat would have let the idea go long since, if it had been allowed.
Pylor: And I suspect that Hajene Snake is only taking on the project to prove she can succeed where he didn't.
Lalique: Who's responsible, then, for making your life miserable?
Pylor: Controller Neptude, I assume. At least most recently.
Pylor: But he's not the first Tecton official to see Farris-level potential in my file.
Lalique gives Pylor her full attention. In her effort to uncover the twisted structure of the Tecton bureaucracy, she is breaking new ground.
Lalique: And what did they do about that in the past?
Pylor: Arat's not the first Farris channel I've been assigned to train with. He was just the only one who couldn't afford to have me assigned elsewhere.
Lalique: Because he's an Audnes.
Pylor's attitude has improved to the remarkable extent that he is willing to concede that Arat isn't engaged in a private vendetta against Pylor's career.
Pylor: Yes. And because he has trouble with most of his Donors, not just me.
Pylor: I still don't know how Sosu Nick manages to get along with him.
Lalique: The honeymoon is over, from the rumors I've been hearing.
Pylor: I'd heard that Nick was working in the burn ward. You mean, that wasn't just to give him some experience?
Lalique: Maybe. Maybe not. What is Arat's problem with his Donors, anyway?
Pylor: You've met him, and you still wonder about that?
Lalique: It was a really brief meeting. Like less than half an hour.
Lalique: He gave me an ultimatum and dismissed me.
Lalique: Not enough time for an in-depth character study.
Pylor: That's pretty much how he treats everyone. His Donors included.
Pylor: And I expect that's a lot of his problem.
Pylor: The rest is that Farris sensitivity.
Lalique: That's what Petrallia said. That he treats everyone that way.
Lalique: But most channels make exceptions for the Gens who protect them from attrition.
Pylor: He doesn't. It doesn't make him a popular assignment.
Pylor: Arat was under orders to treat Nick gently, so that he would pledge. Now that he has, I expect that the kid gloves have come off at last.
Pylor gives an ironic chuckle.
Lalique: Yes, that would make sense.
Pylor: The poor man must be wondering who stole the channel he thought he knew.
Pylor: No wonder he was in here the other night, reading newspapers from Norwest Territory.
Pylor: Probably wishes he could escape there, out of Arat's clutches.
Lalique: Well, there's Snake, of course.
Lalique: I don't think Nick is going to leave her.
Lalique: That bond's a lot older and stronger.
Pylor: He did before, when he went on the road with Sectuib Riyyh.
Lalique: Nick wasn't seriously committed to Riyyh.
Lalique: And he came back here in the end.
Pylor: So did you. The demands of his body aside, I have to wonder how much commitment Nick really has to either Arat or Snake.
Pylor: I gather he hasn't spent much time with other, more amiable, channels who match him.
Lalique: Well, I didn't come back by choice.
Lalique: But I may stay... if I get the right kind of an offer.
Lalique: Or the right opportunity.
Pylor looks at Lalique with a somewhat incredulous look.
Pylor: The Tecton only makes one kind of offer, as Nick is finding out.
Pylor: And it doesn't take "no" for an answer.
Pylor: Oh, you might be able to win a concession here or there, if you have talents that are worth exploiting.
Pylor: But don't fool yourself into thinking that sort of accommodation is more than strictly temporary.
Petrallia makes violin-playing motions somewhere in the stacks.
Pylor: You're no Farris-trained Donor, to tempt the Powers That Be to accommodate your whims.
Lalique: Ah, but the Tecton is not necessarily the only player in the game.
Lalique: I'll have to see what kind of deals are on the table.
Lalique: And, unlike Nick, I won't make my decision out of sentiment.
Pylor: Don't expect much of an offer. As long as you're useful, you can probably keep your freedom. Push too hard, and you'll be back in jail.
Lalique smiles sweetly.
Lalique: Oh, I can be most useful. However, I'm... high maintenance.
Pylor wonders what it is about rogue Donors that they all seem to think that the rules don't apply to them.
Pylor then reflects that that's probably what made them rogues in the first place.
Pylor: Better make sure that your maintenance doesn't exceed your usefulness.
Lalique reflects that she doesn't understand why Arat is making such a fuss over Lortuen Records when the same rules apply to his own organization.
Pylor: Arat doesn't absolutely require your assistance with Buggfa, you know.
Lalique: No, that's just a ploy to lull me into a false sense of security.
Pylor expects that Arat views it more as a gesture of extreme magnaminity, which can and will be withdrawn if it becomes bothersome.
Pylor: Indeed? And why should he bother with making you feel secure?
Lalique: Because he thinks he can use me.
Pylor: As what? He's got no use for a musician.
Lalique: He thinks he can make a Donor out of me.
Lalique: Made this whole speech about how if I behaved myself and followed the laws, he might testify on my behalf at my trial.
Lalique: But then followed it up with an assignment for transfer.
Lalique flicks her assignment card out of her shirt pocket and walks it through her fingers with a shuffling motion.
Pylor inspects the card.
Pylor: Rifan? He can't think much of you, if he fobbed you off on a channel like that.
Lalique: Rifan's expendable, huh?
Pylor: Face it, Seconds are not so uncommon that it's worth bribing you to Qualify.
Pylor: Oh, I'm sure Arat would like to be able to claim that he's rehabilitated you--it would make his monthly report look good.
Pylor: He'll probably even testify as he promised.
Pylor: But if you cause him any trouble at all, or make demands that inconvenience him, he's likely to return you to jail.
Pylor: You're simply not worth his time to rehabilitate, unless you do all the work yourself.
Lalique: Well, then, it may not be worth my trouble to bother to oblige him.
Pylor shrugs.
Pylor: That's your decision.
Lalique: It is indeed.
Pylor: I understand that being an inmate in a jail is even more unpleasant than being assigned to the channel who serves the inmates.
Lalique shrugs.
Pylor: Don't throw away Arat's favor, such as it is, until you've considered the alternative.
Lalique: I'll certainly consider all the options.