Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #154: The Long Arm of the Underworld (2/13/00)
Lalique walks reluctantly down the corridors of the Sime Center, leaving the bustle of the outpatient department for the rarefied atmosphere of the administrative offices.
Lalique is dreading her appointment with Controller Arat, whom last she met in hand-cuffs wearing a Reloc auction dress.
Lalique thinks that she probably did not make a good impression in that outfit, although the look was certainly memorable.
Lalique feels a frisson of superstitious horror at the thought of being zlinned so closely by a Farris.
Lalique remembers her mother always told her to keep away from Farrises, but her choices in life are unfortunately limited.
Lalique arrives at the Controller's office and signals at the door.
Arat: Enter!
Arat moves aside the department reports he'd been studying and moves Lalique's record to the center of his desk.
Lalique comes into the room, working hard to maintain a Donor's control and put aside her worries.
Arat zlins her briefly, then indicates that she may sit.
Lalique observes Controller Arat with detachment and follows his instructions to sit.
Arat: You have been here nearly a week. I have received no negative reports of your work or behavior.
Lalique: I am glad to hear that, Controller Arat.
Arat: How have you fared, from you own perspective?
Lalique senses the pull of Arat's tremendous need, and reinforces her attempts to maintain emotional control. She is already high field after her inadequate renSime transfer, but must wait for several more weeks before Rifan will require her services.
Lalique: Things are going well enough.
Lalique: I am out of practice in some areas, so there is much to learn.
Arat nods.
Arat has already learned from Rifan that Lalique is performing adequately, but could use some training.
Lalique thinks that the work is not so different from the House where she was raised, but the style and pace are not the same at all.
Arat: I am interested in the conversations you have had with Buggfa Lube.
Arat is, more to the point, interested in finding out if Buggfa has things to say that would incriminate his employers.
Lalique: We have discussed the topics you suggested.
Arat knows that if Buggfa does, he certainly wouldn't say them to Arat directly.
Lalique: Apparently, Lortuen Records did not respond to his request for treatment.
Lalique: They did not forbid it.
Lalique: But they refused to pay for it or to give him time off to pursue treatment on his own.
Arat listens carefully.
Lalique: Apparently, he did not push very hard on his own behalf.
Arat: He did not feel the treatment was important?
Lalique: They told him the treatment was not important, and from what I can see, he accepted their judgment.
Lalique: He said that the executives would become annoyed if he asked for extras.
Lalique: I said that good health was not an extra.
Lalique: But it would seem that they considered it so, and he did not argue the point.
Arat: And the reports that he approached channels on his own?
Lalique: Those were true.
Lalique: But obtaining treatment would have meant pausing his work, stopping the tour.
Lalique: His bosses would not grant permission and he would not defy them.
Arat frowns thoughtfully.
Lalique: He cares terribly about remaining a "star."
Lalique: He seems to believe that if he does not obey their orders in every way, that they will get rid of him and promote someone else.
Lalique: He genuinely wants treatment, but I think he would genuinely sacrifice his health in order to keep his status and position.
Arat: I see.
Lalique: His employers certainly neglected his well-being. At first I thought this was an example of simple out-Territory ignorance about the effects of a transfer burn.
Lalique: But Buggfa says not. Apparently they display the same indifference about all aspects of their employees well-being.
Lalique: They protect their employees in-so-far as they are useful; discard them when they are no longer profitable, for any reason.
Arat in fact sees rather clearly; it is close enough to his own philosophy, except that he has less control of who he employs.
Lalique: As long as the employee remains useful, they make an effort to keep that person in working condition.
Arat always takes care of those he employs, as a matter of principle. It was beaten into him by his parents.
Lalique: Buggfa has trainers to protect him from over-working his voice, exercise coaches and dietitians to keep him physically fit.
Lalique: I am not sure why that rule did not apply to his transfer burn as well.
Lalique: Buggfa himself does not know why that particular injury was classified as unimportant.
Arat: Mantia Morrels said that it was more profitable for them to leave him in his current condition.
Lalique: And that is certainly true.
Lalique: Buggfa is well aware that his handicap improved his box office appeal.
Lalique: And it was consciously accentuated in the act to make it more successful.
Arat's expressive Farris lips curl unconsciously in reaction to the concept.
Lalique meets Arat's expression of disgust with a wry grin of her own.
Arat turns his thoughts away from those details with a deliberate effort.
Lalique: However, now that he is being treated, the record company is finding ways to compensate.
Lalique: If you can imagine, even as he recovers, they are training him to simulate the nager of a Gen who has been burned.
Arat's duty in this has nothing to do with Lortuen's legal activities, only the illegal ones.
Lalique: So he can act the part even when he is well.
Lalique shakes her head.
Arat: It is unfortunate, but beyond the scope of this investigation.
Lalique: Ah. It is an interesting effect, however.
Lalique fully intends to add that to her repertoire. She never would have thought of that on her own. Ambient designers have some uses, after all.
Arat: Our goal is to integrate Buggfa's therapy time with the other activities and personnel on the tour.
Arat: Your description of his current caretakers fits what I have heard from others.
Arat: It should be possible to insert the team on the same level as the others.
Lalique: Yes, with the right team, it should be possible.
Arat: I had hoped that there would be grounds for further action against Lortuen itself, but it appears that Buggfa will not be cooperative in any way, on that score.
Arat: Therefore, we will make use of their current willingness to accept the addition of selyn system therapy to his care.
Arat: It may be that this will never come to court.
Lalique: It would be important to make sure his treatment team has the authority to cut short his rehearsals or performances so he will not be overtaxed.
Arat: Yes.
Arat: They will also require access to him at all times so that they may monitor his condition and the surrounding conditions.
Lalique nods.
Lalique: I feel sorry for him.
Lalique: He's so directionless.
Arat studies Lalique.
Lalique: He has so little sense of his own worth.
Lalique: If he had been willing to fight for his own survival, you might not have had to do it for him.
Lalique remembers many times when she has struggled, clawed and scratched against impossible odds, only to come through.
Lalique thinks that if she drifted through life like Buggfa she would have died in prison a decade ago.
Lalique glances at Arat, wondering if the challenge he represents will require measures as desperate as those she has had to use in the past.
Lalique: When last we met, you offered me a choice.
Arat, who had been following her nageric changes closely, meets her eyes.
Lalique: You said I might choose to live as an ordinary Gen, within the law, or I might pledge to the Tecton.
Lalique: But the next day I received a transfer assignment.
Lalique: I am sure you can zlin that, for a Gen like me, the first choice is not really an option.
Lalique's chronic hunger for transfer would not require Farris abilities to detect.
Arat: No, it isn't.
Arat: However, you would not have accepted my offer if I hadn't presented it the way I did.
Arat: It had to appear as an option, not a trap.
Lalique smiles.
Lalique: And I thank you for that courtesy.
Lalique: And for daring to offer me a chance here.
Lalique: Not many would take the risk.
Arat nods in acknowledgement.
Arat didn't see it quite that way - it was little enough risk for him, in his current station in life - but he accepts her interpretation.
Lalique wonders how much Riyyh told Arat about her Distect past or the unsavory reputation of Householding Disenay.
Arat perhaps has become numbed by repeatedly being pummelled with rogue rehabilitation assignments, though.
Lalique: I am very willing to serve, if that will get me what I want.
Arat: And what is it that you want?
Arat sounds curiously detached as he says it.
Arat never allows himself to appear to beg, and will break off the conversation if it tries to turn in that direction.
Lalique: Amnesty for whatever I have done in the past. You already promised that.
Arat in fact had drawn closer to her, figuratively speaking, when she was talking about her own feelings on the Lortuen case, but this has distanced them again.
Arat: Yes.
Lalique: Safety. There are people who know about me and would use me for other purposes. If you want to keep me, you may have to protect me.
Arat's eyes narrow.
Arat had been under the impression that the "past" was truly in the past.
Lalique: And a regular schedule of transfer with channels who match me.
Arat: Transfer is expected by all Donors regularly employed by the Tecton. But if you will require protection, I will require more information.
Lalique lifts her self-control just a bit to accentuate the zlin of her systems, which are a mess. She has been giving renSime transfers, donations, rogue transfers, without any kind of schedule, besides the constant artificial stimulation of her system with the shiltpron.
Arat, who is even more hypersensitive than usual, hardly required the amplification.
Arat begins to look more stressed out as he waits for her to reply.
Lalique: As you know, I have worked rogue for some time.
Lalique: Those warrants from Gulf Territory refer to the work I did under the alias of Lady Sunshine.
Lalique: I was trained in certain special techniques that were helpful in extending the life of the semi-junct.
Lalique: At the time, ten years ago, those services were in great demand on the black market.
Lalique: There was this gang boss who wanted me to work for him.
Lalique: My channel was murdered and I went into hiding.
Lalique: That's when I became Lalique, the Shiltpron Artist.
Lalique: I've maintained that identity for a long time, but now word's gotten out where I am.
Lalique: Maybe nobody cares any more.
Lalique: I hope so.
Arat is skeptical that an incident this old, and in another Territory, could be the source of her request for protection.
Arat would have thought that employment by the Tecton, in the heart of Nivet in a major city 10 years later, would have been protection enough in that case.
Arat: And more recently?
Lalique: Well, there are people here too who know who I am.
Lalique: But they're small potatoes; they don't worry me.
Lalique thinks, it's the people they might tell who I don't know that worry me.
Arat: And this, this gang boss from Gulf Territory, concerns you.
Lalique thinks she is probably over-reacting; there aren't any more semi-juncts alive to pay for her services.
Arat can't help but think there is more to it than this. He also can't help but think that he won't like whatever it is.
Lalique: Well, he was a powerful man. He had his tentacles in every pot in Norlea.
Lalique: But maybe the danger's long past.
Lalique: Maybe I'm just in the habit of looking behind me.
Arat zlins her uncertainty.
Arat: Very well. [at last]
Arat: Tell me what you know of this man and I will see that you are protected from him.
Arat: If he is no longer a factor, then it will be a trivial matter. If he is still powerfully placed and shows any intention of doing you harm, measures will be taken.
Arat doesn't mean anything like the kind of "measures" somebody like the gentleman in question would mean, of course.
Lalique: Thank you.
Lalique: His name was Curran Tor.
Lalique: His organization controlled smuggling, drugs, prostitution, rogue transfer, extortion in the southern district of Norlea.
Arat makes a note of the name.
Lalique: I heard in the end he dominated criminal activities throughout the city.
Arat does not think this sounds like somebody whose whereabouts and general activities would be difficult to determine.
Lalique: Me and Mr. Black had an organization backing us, but it didn't compare.
Lalique: Tor wiped out our group, murdered Mr. Black, and I dropped out of sight.
Lalique: Been watching my back ever since.
Lalique fights for detachment. Remembering the slaughter has brought back memories that are way too vivid.
Arat studies her with the sort of emotionless intensity which tends to accompany his working on a problem mentally.
Arat zlins every nuance of her internal struggle.
Arat's actual attack of the problem will probably be very limited to begin with. He will simply ask his Capitol City Police contacts about Tor, and if the crime boss is still of any relevance today, he will ask them to advise him of any sightings of people connected to him in Capitol - and also contact the Gulf authorities that he is holding a potential witness against him.
Lalique is trying not to remember the part where she was captured by Tor's junct lieutenant, chained for a week in dark, dank well to soften her up, and shenned him to death to escape.
Lalique takes her nager firmly in hand and hides the memory away.
Lalique can feel the sensation of Arat zlinning her right down to the marrow of her bones.
Arat: Then you are ready to make a commitment?
Arat had sort of put this out of his mind to be reviewed after six months or so, but if Lalique is willing to bring it up, he is willing to discuss it.
Lalique: I am certainly giving it serious consideration.
Lalique is not particularly happy about the idea of putting her fate into the hands of the Tecton bureaucracy, especially after hearing Pylor's sob story.
Lalique knows she would be much happier pledged to a Household, but after what happened with Riyyh, doesn't believe any of them would accept her.
Arat: I see.
Arat thinks she must be doing more than that, if she went so far as to approach Arat regarding her terms and conditions.
Lalique figures that she would probably be better off working for the Tecton than managed by a small-time crime boss like Della Melle or recaptured by a big-time boss like Tor.
Arat is not unaware of a certain intimidation factor inherent in such a proposition.
Lalique trembles, unable to avoid her awareness of Arat's powerful nager.
Lalique considers bitterly that she could be safe and free in Gen territory right now, if she weren't cursed with talent.
Arat is, of course, intimately aware of the feelings and physical sensations that go along with these thoughts, even though he can't know what she's actually thinking.
Arat: You have said already that the alternative would not be pleasant.
Arat knows that what she said was that the alternative wasn't an option at all - but he's not going to say it in those words, not even now.
Lalique meets Arat's gaze squarely.
Lalique: None of the alternatives are pleasant.
Arat zlins her less, so that he may meet her eyes more fully.
Arat's expression is sober.
Arat: No.
Lalique: However, I will make the best of any opportunity.
Arat's naturally suspicious nature leads him to speculate on possible meanings for that statement - including an announcement of intention to maintain rogue contacts.
Lalique knows that Arat can clearly zlin that if she does pledge to the Tecton, it will not be motivated by idealism.
Lalique has abandoned most of her ideals somewhere on the long road behind her; at this point she considers herself little better than a whore, for sale to the highest bidder.
Arat: Is it understood that... opportunities... for further work as a rogue will not be made the best of, if you wish to keep your other two choices open?
Arat, of course, is a Farris and therefore terribly idealistic, as well as extremely cynical as a result of his background. It's not a pretty combination.
Lalique: Yes, I understand.
Lalique however considers herself an honest whore, and will follow through if the price is right.
Arat zlins her again, and then nods.
Arat: Do you want your field taken down, to match Rifan?
Arat had decided not to, although it would have been standard procedure, on the theory that it would make her more cooperative about trying the Tecton. However, he can zlin her discomfort, which is unnaturally high for a Donor of her development. He would not want to put someone through that unnecessarily - or have it on record that he did so.
Lalique regards Arat with combined horror and fascination, remembering how her mother told her to never, ever get near a Farris.
Lalique thinks, however, that she has done a lot of things in her life that her mother told her not to do.
Lalique: Yes, please. That would be more comfortable.
Arat opens her folder and inspects her normal production figures, since what he's zlinning now will be distorted by her proximity to his need.
Arat nods.
Arat: I will schedule it, and have somebody let you know.
Lalique reflects that the Tecton has a significant advantage among those who would bid for her services... an unlimited supply of voracious channels.