Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #157: Sadistic (2/17/00)
Wise Snake lets herself into the transfer suite where Pylor is busy getting ready for his transfer. Pylor's channel has not shown up yet, which is not a coincidence.
Pylor is setting out tea things, and having his back to the door, naturally assumes that it is his regularly assigned channel who has just come in.
Pylor: I was wondering when you'd get here.
Pylor: ~~ mostly good-humored censure ~~
Wise Snake smiles at his naivete, and goes over to the small desk to look for a piece of 53rd District stationery.
Pylor starts pouring tea.
Pylor: Tea?
Wise Snake looks through a few drawers, finds some, then walks over near Pylor to pick up his channel's folder which is lying there.
Wise Snake: Yes, thanks.
Pylor jumps, slopping tea over the side of the cup.
Pylor turns rapidly.
Pylor: Snake, what are you doing here?
Wise Snake smirks at Pylor, and sits down to write a brief note.
Pylor: And where's Galgan?
Wise Snake: You deserve more of a challenge than this.
Pylor is much less naive than he was before he started working with Snake.
Wise Snake: Shen, I didn't put all that work into you just to see you waste yourself on an ordinary First.
Pylor: ~~ apprehension ~~
Pylor: Shouldn't you be with Beni?
Wise Snake uses a sample of Pylor's writing from the folder to make the note look as realistic as possible. Snake does enjoy forgery, and of course strives for excellence at it.
Wise Snake: No, Galgan should be with Beni.
Wise Snake looks up at Pylor, her white eyes gleaming.
Wise Snake: Hence, the note.
Pylor's eyes are showing a bit of white themselves.
Wise Snake holds it up: It says, "Galgan, am in Suite 33. Sorry for the last minute change, Pylor".
Pylor: The note?
Wise Snake: What do you think, close enough?
Pylor: Change? What change?
Pylor: I haven't changed anything!
Wise Snake: Not yet. [smiles]
Wise Snake: Come along, then. We wouldn't want Galgan to show up and find you here.
Pylor: ...What???
Pylor: ~~~ protest ~~~
Pylor: You can't mean... Only a Controller can....
Wise Snake's tentacles flick impatiently. She is, after all, in hard need.
Pylor has an unfortunate tendency to babble when in a flaming panic.
Wise Snake places the note on top of the folder.
Wise Snake: Come.
Wise Snake's voice is no-nonsense.
Pylor has, also unfortunately, had the habit of obedience to Snake rather well pounded into him, over the past weeks.
Pylor: Does Controller Arat know about this?
Wise Snake: He will.
Wise Snake smiles a snakish smile.
Pylor: He will? Do you know what the penalties are for failing to keep a transfer assignment?
Wise Snake has now asked Pylor to come two or three times, and is not interested in watching him sit around gabbing any more.
Wise Snake's pale eyes grow angry.
Pylor blanches at the sight, and hurries after her.
Wise Snake strides out of the transfer suite and down the hallway.
Pylor: This is all most irregular.
Wise Snake: No shit.
Wise Snake passes by Transfer Suite 33 without glancing at it.
Pylor scurries after.
Pylor: Your note said Suite 33.
Pylor: Where are you going?
Wise Snake's eye burns into Pylor's.
Wise Snake: We're going to give you a transfer experience that will actually build some character for you.
Pylor's apprehension about being dragged off by Snake is doubled when he realizes that a false trail has been laid, and thus any necessary assistance will never arrive in time.
Pylor: ...C-c-c-character?
Pylor thinks that "building character" sounds awfully much like "beefing up the rating", a thing he has been assiduously avoiding for years.
Wise Snake: You did say you wanted to serve Farrises, didn't you? It isn't going to happen with that puny nager you're sporting now, my friend.
Pylor's pride smarts at the description.
Wise Snake: But it's not just about size. It's about confidence as well.
Wise Snake: Your ego won't let you do your best until you get past a few blockages you've built up over the years.
Pylor doesn't like the sound of this one bit.
Pylor: What sort of "blockages"?
Wise Snake arrives at the door of Arat's office and flings the door open without knocking.
Nick is, fortunately, significantly more skilled than Pylor, and so he manages to keep the fields steady under the barrage.
Nick: Snake? What are you doing here?
Arat, who had been somewhat hypnotized by Nick's work on him and Nick's hands on his forearms, finds himself caught off guard by the intrusion.
Pylor wishes he had a clear answer to the same question.
Wise Snake: The question isn't what I'm doing here, it's what Pylor is doing here.
Wise Snake: And what he is doing, is cutting in on your dance.
Nick raises an eyebrow, but lightens up on his pre-transfer raising of Arat's intil.
Arat blinks in disbelief.
Nick figures that whether or not Arat agrees to Snake's proposal, he'll have to be clear-headed to make the decision.
Arat hasn't had quite enough contact with Snake yet that he has ceased to be amazed.
Pylor: Believe me, Controller Arat, this wasn't my idea.
Pylor: She just barged into the transfer suite and dragged me off.
Nick ~~ steadies ~~ Arat.
Arat's dark eyes go to Pylor.
Wise Snake looks disgusted by Pylor's lack of spine.
Pylor isn't as craven as Darrel, but he has a healthy respect for Tecton penalties, after his recent career problems.
Pylor would never have dreamed of breaking in on Arat's transfer, even if he had wanted him for transfer--he doesn't have the imagination.
Nick looks at Pylor, and then at Snake.
Nick: You think he's ready?
Wise Snake: Is anybody ever ready?
Arat is finally starting to look offended.
Nick remembers the circumstances of his own Qualification and smiles wryly.
Arat unhands Nick.
Nick keeps ~~ calming ~~ Arat, with a light touch that he hopes won't cause Arat to fix on him any deeper, just in case.
Arat: Why are you not in your cell?
Arat: [to Snake]
Nick thinks the answer to that should be obvious: Snake will never stay in a cell, when she wants to make mischief elsewhere.
Wise Snake: Well, that's a pretty complicated question, dad, but I guess I'd have to say the main reason is... the locks aren't good enough.
Nick makes very sure that his amusement and pride in Snake's prowess don't reach his nager.
Pylor would have muttered something about criminal tendencies, but doesn't quite dare.
Arat nearly quivers with a growing rage at this intrusion, at Snake's attitude, at Nick's attitude, and pretty much at everybody on the planet in general.
Nick immediately works to ~~ calm ~~ Arat's outrage.
Arat: Both of you will leave at once. You will attend immediately to your assigned transfer partners.
Pylor finds this order distinctly ~~ relieving ~~
Pylor just hopes that it isn't too late.
Wise Snake: Don't worry, [to Pylor] if he makes us leave, I'll take you myself.
Pylor: ...wwwhat??
Pylor: ~~ aghast ~~
Wise Snake: The point is, after all, for you to transfer with a Farris, is it not?
Wise Snake: Arat may be your first choice, but beggars shouldn't be choosers.
Pylor looks at Arat, ~~ pleading ~~
Wise Snake: And what I lack in the way of bureaucratic attention to detail, I make up for in, what shall we call it, an adventuresome nature?
Arat's dark eyes bore into Pylor's. He told Pylor to leave and return to his assigned channel, and he is not going to repeat himself.
Pylor is torn between his (and Arat's) desire that he leave, and his fear of Snake.
Pylor keeps remembering the parts of her file that deal with addiction to pain.
Wise Snake decides the matter by grasping Pylor's shoulder and pushing him in the general direction of one of the chairs.
Wise Snake: You just sit there until His HoityToityness comes around.
Pylor stumbles towards the chair, but manages to make it before his knees give out.
Wise Snake waits until Pylor has made it to the chair, and then meets Nick's eyes, sharing his silent amusement.
Nick winks at Snake, but doesn't stop shielding Arat from Pylor's alarm.
Arat looks from Pylor back to Snake, his body language tense and his expression dangerous.
Pylor decides there's nothing for it but to grovel, something that he is fortunately rather good at.
Pylor: Arat, please. I think she means it, when she says she'll take me herself.
Pylor rather fears it would happen in the hallway directly outside of the office, a location distressingly devoid of the medical supplies stocked in the transfer suites.
Wise Snake: Look at you. [disgusted, to Pylor]
Wise Snake: You're such a coward. How do you expect to ever grow, if you aren't pushed?
Wise Snake: Is that how you've always gone through life, or did you just lose your spine recently?
Pylor looks up at Snake.
Pylor may be a coward, but he has enough pride to be insulted when it is remarked upon.
Pylor: This is the sort of matter that should be approached deliberately, and with forethought.
Pylor's deliberate pace is more like footdragging, and his forethought like the generation of excuses, but that's neither here nor there.
Pylor: I can't blame your father for being angry, at being interrupted just before his transfer like this.
Wise Snake gives him a look that is both incredulous and humorous.
Wise Snake: Do you think he'd ever let you touch him again under any other circumstances?
Wise Snake: Look, Pylor, you have a big problem with Arat, and you're not going to get anywhere else in life until you confront it and get rid of it.
Pylor: What if something happens, the way it has before?
Wise Snake: You don't want to be a 12 year old kid grubbing through Hadar Audnes' dumpster forever, do you?
Pylor may not like Arat much, but he balks at outright murder--or rather, killing.
Pylor: We haven't been working together. I haven't even seen his file in the past month!
Pylor is a great believer in files.
Wise Snake shakes her head.
Wise Snake looks at Nick.
Wise Snake: I think we are going to have to leave these two alone for a few minutes.
Nick isn't sure he likes that idea, after all the trouble Pylor has given Arat in the past.
Nick is more or less willing to let Arat Qualify Pylor, if Snake thinks he's up to it, but would much prefer Snake to be present and monitoring.
Arat is sitting there looking like a deer in headlights. Or, given his expression, perhaps like an enraged bull in headlights.
Arat would have already gotten up and walked out by now, if it weren't for the consequences of leaving this bunch in a District Controller's office unsupervised.
Nick compromises by stepping one step farther away from Arat, allowing him a closer zlin of Pylor's nager.
Pylor's nager is a bit stronger and considerably more disciplined than it was the last time Arat zlinned him.
Pylor is not unaware of the danger of an Arat enraged, and reflexively backs Nick's efforts with a ~~ calming ~~ of his own.
Arat: All of you, stop it.
Arat: Pylor, you have been ordered to attend to your own channel.
Pylor drops his attempt to calm; Nick does not.
Arat: Wise Snake Farris, I want you back in your cell, to wait for Beni.
Arat doesn't add, 'whose hide is going to be stripped raw by the time I get done giving him a piece of my mind'
Arat: And you! [turns to glare at Nick]
Arat: You had best decide who is your Controller, and who is your transfer assignment.
Arat's fury has presumably been muted by Nick's efforts; there is no telling how angry he'd be now if it hadn't been for that.
Nick beefs up his ~~ support ~~ just a bit, in hopes of keeping Arat from exploding.
Nick is, of course, well aware of who his Controller is at the moment, although he is prepared to accept another transfer partner if it becomes necessary. Particularly if it's Snake.
Arat is not unaware of Nick's willingness to accept Snake as a transfer partner, and it's driving him even crazier than their continued insubordination.
Arat would have handled this all a lot better if he hadn't already begun the process of falling submissive to his Donor's ministrations, in what he thought was a lead up to going down to the transfer suite together.
Nick closes the distance and puts a hand on Arat's shoulder.
Nick: Arat, I'm here for you, if that's what you choose.
Nick: ~~ reassurance ~~
Wise Snake wears a cynical smirk.
Pylor doesn't know whether to be glad that Nick is trying to calm Arat down, or horrified that Arat's acceptance of the offer would leave him with Snake.
Arat takes a few deep breaths, and then manages to nod.
Arat: Very well.
Arat: Please go inform security that Wise Snake and Pylor are to be removed from this office and placed in confinement.
Pylor somehow suspects that Snake will have arranged for Galgan to have taken transfer from Beni by now.
Arat: Separately.
Pylor is ~~ very glad ~~ for that last directive.
Nick takes a moment to realize that Arat is sending him away.
Nick takes two steps towards the door, then pauses to check how Arat is doing at with the decreased support.
Arat mainly appears ready to go rabid if nobody follows two consecutive orders in the next 15 minutes.
Nick decides that Arat's life is in no immediate danger, and slowly makes his way towards the door.
Nick would hate to be out of hearing range if Arat should change his mind, when his Donor's nager fades and leaves him to face need alone.
Wise Snake waits patiently until Nick has left, and then jumps up and locks the door behind him.
Wise Snake: Well, Pylor. This is your big chance.
Wise Snake: Is it me, or is it him?
Pylor's eyes widen at the implications, and he looks back and forth between Arat and Snake.
Arat looks at Snake in disbelief.
Arat: He will not serve me in transfer.
Wise Snake: He will if I hold you down. [points out]
Wise Snake: Or were you planning on shenning yourself to avoid the privilege?
Wise Snake: My, wouldn't that be a blow to the rehabilitation plan.
Pylor is looking back and forth between Arat and Snake, like a trussed bird serving the purpose of a net in a ping pong match between two cobras.
Arat: Pylor, unlock the door.
Pylor is, however, a highfield Donor, and the sole Gen in a room with two channels in hard need.
Pylor tries to offer ~~ calm support ~~, with a skill born with desperation and Snake's demanding tutelage.
Pylor also starts trying to get to his feet, wobbly knees notwithstanding.
Pylor's attention is almost equally divided between Arat, Snake, and the door.
Pylor doesn't know himself what he plans to do.
Pylor thinks that Donor's training never quite covered this sort of situation, not even his recent tutelage under Snake.
Wise Snake looks on, planning on being entertained no matter which way Pylor goes.
Wise Snake has been known to attend dog fights, and the like, although not since leaving Bender Cove.
Pylor looks between the furious Arat, the taunting Snake, and the locked door.
Pylor rather wishes he was on the other side of that door, preferably in Suite 24 with Galgan.
Wise Snake: Go on. Take him. You want to prove you can, don't you?
Pylor: It's not right. Not like this.
Wise Snake: Everybody else will be easy after that. You'll be able to take any assignment you wish. [persuasively]
Wise Snake: Don't worry about being blamed, Arat will never admit what really happened.
Wise Snake doesn't appear prepared to be bothered with "right" and "wrong" at the moment.
Pylor finds Snake's persuasion seductive, in a horror-film way, and despite himself, he's progressed to the point where he finds Arat nagerically attractive.
Pylor even, to his utter terror, finds himself attracted to Snake.
Pylor's spine progresses to at least the cartilaginous stage as he concludes that life can't get too much worse than the moment, and so that he has nothing to lose.
Pylor: Neptude might not learn of it, but the three of us would know. And Nick would guess.
Pylor: And it's wrong.
Arat's dark eyes dart between Pylor and Snake.
Wise Snake: Is it? Any more wrong than anything he's done to you?
Wise Snake's tone is gently mocking.
Wise Snake: Or are you just scared you'll fail once again?
Pylor flinches at the taunt.
Pylor is, of course, all too aware that Snake has hit the crux of the matter.
Pylor: We haven't even worked together, all month. It's too late to switch assignments.
Pylor is still cherishing the illusion that if he can only persuade Snake to give up on the idea, he can weasel out of this situation relatively unscathed.
Wise Snake: Is it?
Wise Snake puts a thoughtful finger to her lips.
Wise Snake: The desk? Or the chair?
Wise Snake: Perhaps the tea table?
Pylor: ...what?
Pylor: ~~ confusion ~~
Wise Snake walks casually over to the tea table, and jiggles it.
Wise Snake: No, not the tea table.
Wise Snake: It's not very sturdy.
Pylor blinks at the seeming non sequitur.
Wise Snake: When securing a Sime, it is important to always check the integrity of the item to which the rope is lashed.
Pylor: Rope? Snake, you can't.
Arat's incredulous expression, which has been getting a workout today, comes into evidence again.
Pylor: He'll abort.
Arat is still seated at his desk, but is feeling less like a deer in headlights and more like a deer that finds itself painted blue and orange standing in a circus ring.
Wise Snake: Well then, you'd better exercise your skills as a Donor instead.
Pylor: He doesn't want me.
Wise Snake: What are you going to do about it?
Wise Snake looks at Pylor challengingly.
Wise Snake: You should be able to make him want you.
Wise Snake: If you're good enough.
Wise Snake: Or is it easier to just assume you're not good enough?
Pylor flinches badly.
Pylor: I never have been, before [mumbled]
Pylor's nager is an odd mixture of shame, longing, and hurt.
Wise Snake: Is it easier to think that you could never live up to Audnes expectations?
Wise Snake's voice gives the old name an ironic twist.
Pylor looks at the current embodiment of the Audnes expectations; the bull, not the weasel.
Arat looks less angry than stressed out at this point. He is trapped in a locked office with a sadistic madwoman and an incompetent Donor who hates him.
Pylor: Why shouldn't I think that? Not even Nick's been able to live up to his expectations.
Wise Snake: Huh. Maybe it's Arat's attitude that should be readjusted, then.
Wise Snake's speculative gaze drifts from Pylor to Arat.
Arat stands decisively, and walks around his desk toward the door. He plans to unlock the door himself, and walk out it if necessary.
Pylor finds himself unwilling to accept this blunt rejection, much as he agrees with it in principle.
Pylor decides to show Arat what he is so arrogantly casting aside.
Pylor gathers himself, bringing all the discipline Snake has pounded through his overly think skull into play, and starts a ~~ supportive ~~ Gen projection.
Pylor's skills really have improved greatly, since the last time Arat zlinned him trying to work.
Arat responds instantly, recoiling from the change in Pylor's nager.
Arat isn't recoiling from the nager itself so much as the threat it implies, after the way the conversation had turned.
Arat: Pylor, stand away.
Arat of course is not going to be able to easily seek the safety of going hypoconscious, not now.
Arat is too far into hard need for that.
Pylor takes one step away, but that only emphasizes the escaping-Gen aspect of the situation.
Pylor isn't really out to force Arat into a transfer, but he does want Arat to know what he's missing.
Wise Snake smiles and eases a step nearer to Pylor, accentuating the somebody's-going-to-get-the-only-Gen aspect of the situation.
Arat breaks out into a sweat.
Arat: Good. Now please, unlock the door.
Arat is beginning to worry that the reason Security is taking so long is that Nick decided not to fetch them.
Pylor looks between Arat and Snake, doing a bit of sweating himself.
Wise Snake gives Pylor a nod, then extends the nod to indicate Arat's direction.
Wise Snake is clearly inviting Pylor to do his worst.
Pylor takes one step towards Arat, then pauses.
Pylor's self-discipline, never that great to begin with, is cracking under the impact of two very powerful, needing nagers.
Arat's self-discipline, which is substantial and well-practiced, is laboring to keep him from responding to Pylor's projection by raising intil.
Pylor is alas unaware of how well he has been primed for this encounter by Snake, and he is therefore having a much harder time fighting it than if he were fully aware of it.
Pylor turns his head and looks at Snake once more.
Pylor's hand reaches out to Arat, perhaps for protection from her, perhaps not.
Wise Snake is watching, keenly.
Pylor's hand accidentally (maybe) settles on Arat's arm.
Arat tries to step backward, but something is in the way. There hadn't been a wall there before, had there?
Arat: Pylor. You must take control of your own behavior.
Arat speaks levelly, trying to break through Snake's manipulation of the Donor.
Pylor had intended merely to show Arat what he was missing, and then break away.
Arat: If you do this, you will be charged with a serious crime.
Pylor is finding the breaking-away portion of the plan much more difficult than anticipated, however.
Pylor vaguely notices a voice talking, but can't seem to focus on the words, except for one: "control"
Pylor's nager responds to the cue in Snake-induced reflex: By matching to Arat's.
Wise Snake is nearly purring in satisfaction with Pylor's performance.
Pylor's fingers on Arat's arm tremble with his effort to hold back his desire.
Pylor makes a gurgling sound, as he manages to lift his hand off of Arat's arm--by one inch.
Wise Snake eases forward behind Pylor and, gently, pushes him forward a step.
Pylor is trying hard to refocus his attention off of Arat, and Snake's greater proximity gives him an alternative focus.
Pylor has never before been sandwiched between two channels, and pedestrian, unimaginative individual that he is, he is unprepared for the effect.
Pylor blinks, wondering how his face ended up two inches from Arat's.
Pylor: ...Arat?
Pylor: ~~ uncertain ~~
Arat is looking rather bleak and pale, due to having to throttle his intil with a high powered Donor about an inch from his laterals.
Pylor: Are you all right?
Arat: If you would mind standing away? [rather more weakly than he'd wanted it to come out]
Pylor turns his head.
Pylor: Snake?
see note 1
Notes:
1) This scene is continued in the next episode. [return]