Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #174: What you Ask For (3/13/00)
Lalique has been waiting for weeks now while her case review meetings with the Controller have been rescheduled and rescheduled again.
Lalique has been intrigued by the interesting excuses that Hajene Jeniard has come up with to explain these changes.
Nick has taken advantage of Beni's scheduled rest break to drop by Arat's office for a cup of tea.
Lalique has heard the rumors, however, and knows that changes are in the wind. Events also seem to reinforce what Pylor told her, that what happens to her doesn't matter much at all to the Powers that Run the Bureaucracy.
Nick brings Arat a cup of Narosian.
Lalique has finally arranged an appointment that wasn't canceled.
Arat accepts the tea with a nod of thanks.
Nick settles down in Beni's chair, since he isn't here to object.
Arat has drunk more Narosian tea in the last 2 weeks than in the entire previous 5 years.
Lalique walks briskly down the hall, blending in perfectly in her new stylishly conservative clothes and perky short hair style.
Lalique signals at the door to the Controller's office, precisely on time.
Nick looks up from his tea.
Nick: Were you expecting someone?
Arat doesn't dislike expensive tea, of course, he only drinks the Tecton tea to prove he is a company man. But now he has to drink Narosian tea to prove he isn't overly sympathetic to workers. At least until the time is right.
Arat nods.
Nick sets his tea down and goes to open the door.
Nick: Lalique!
Nick: Come in.
Nick holds the door open for her.
Lalique: [with a shy and modest smile] Ah, Nick. How nice to see you again.
Nick closes the door behind Lalique and returns to his chair.
Lalique: ~~ Tecton standard Gen serenity and optimism ~~
Lalique: Good day, Controller Arat.
Nick makes sure his support of Arat is adequate to shield Arat if Lalique's projection changes.
Arat: Lalique.
Lalique seems a bit thinner than the last time they met and, despite an impeccable make-up job, has a rather hectic flush to her cheeks.
Arat automatically zlins Lalique in detail.
Nick hasn't spoken with Lalique in some time, and notes the changes in her appearance with interest.
Lalique has certainly improved on her imitation of the Tecton standard Gen nageric configuration, but a Farris can easily detect the desperation and fierce determination underlying her control.
Lalique also seems to be unusually keyed up, and her selyn production rate has increased slightly.
Lalique: Thank you for meeting with me, Controller. I know you have been busy.
Lalique: When last we met, I said I would seriously consider your offer.
Arat frowns at her internal uproar, but nods.
Arat: Yes.
Lalique: For a month now, I have functioned in the role of a Donor. Is my performance acceptable?
Arat continues to study Lalique carefully for a bit. He wonders why she's asking in this particular way. It's obviously not a casual question, nor one asked purely out of interest.
Arat: I have not received the most recent reports, but from what I have seen so far, yes. Your work has been acceptable.
Lalique: ~~ calm professionalism masking a very primitive will to fight for survival ~
Lalique: ~~ metabolic and selyn systems still zlin unhealthy ~~
Lalique: We discussed my own requirements. I also find the conditions here acceptable.
Arat gathers that there is more to her intentions than a simple acceptance of his offer, or she wouldn't be so distressed.
Arat is aware that she went to some trouble to secure this appointment; Jeniard had used the words "extremely persistent".
Arat: I see.
Lalique: Forgive me, Controller, for listening to rumors. But there is talk that you might be transferred.
Nick wonders which set of rumors Lalique has heard.
Lalique: Would another Controller go along with the terms we discussed?
Arat: To the letter of our contract, yes.
Nick notes that Lalique assumes that she will be abandoned if Arat leaves the 53rd District.
Arat: The rumors are only that. I would not lend too much thought to them, if I were you.
Arat would obsess on it if he were he, but that's beside the point.
Lalique had a real earful from Hero, the details of which she confirmed by judiciously circulating through the gossip circles in the staff.
Lalique, after years of playing in shiltpron parlors, knows how to work a crowd.
Nick does nothing to betray his own efforts in making those rumors reality, nor his optimism that Arat might be making similar plans.
Lalique: I would like to formalize our agreement.
Lalique: Just in case.
Arat frowns.
Arat made Lalique sign a contract when she first arrived. He is not sure what she means now.
Arat: I assure you, our contract is quite explicit.
Arat has not been a Controller of one kind or another for over a decade without gaining certain skills in the area of Tecton legal language.
Lalique: So it is, but do you think the wait is really necessary?
Arat regards her with an expression somewhere near to impatience.
Arat: You want to be set free now, is that it?
Lalique: I am willing to pledge immediately, as long as a legal declaration of amnesty accompanies my pledge.
Nick can't imagine being in such a hurry to be considered a full Tecton Donor, but then, he isn't the most objective person on the subject.
Arat: Amnesty in what sense?
Nick wonders if Lalique has been involved in something... interesting... recently, and gotten caught.
Lalique: What we discussed. That I be judged on what I do from now on, not on what may have happened in the past.
Arat: That is how I have judged you all along. However, the outside world is another matter.
Arat: I have no direct control over that.
Arat thinks, recent events aside.
Arat: I offered to speak for you in a court of law. The six months of good behavior was intended to support that.
Arat: I could allow you to pledge, and as a Tecton Donor you would be entitled to a Tecton lawyer when legal difficulties arose in the future.
Arat: Perhaps that would suffice?
Lalique tightens her control to prevent her anxiety from coloring her nager.
Arat personally does not like the idea of having another rogue prematurely pledged on his list of culpabilities.
Arat would like Lalique to be very sure she is ready for a long life with the Tecton and not be jumping into it out of fear.
Lalique: As a Farris, you have the ability to zlin that I am in earnest.
Lalique: Others may not have your acuity.
Nick: It isn't a decision to be rushed into.
Arat thinks that Lalique overrates her field strength. Any 1st would be able to zlin through her.
Nick: Are you really sure that you want to live within the Tecton?
Arat can understand a person clinging to the idea that only a Farris can do a thing, though. He has seen plenty of that in his day.
Lalique: I am really sure it is the best option open to me.
Lalique: [to Arat] You are willing to give me a chance. Others might not be.
Nick: That's not what I asked.
Lalique meets Nick's eyes with a cool, hard stare.
Nick doesn't shy away from her look.
Lalique: I wanted to pledge to Naros, but Sectuib Riyyh wanted nothing to do with me.
Lalique: Do you share his opinion? You never said.
Nick: As I am not ambrov Naros, despite my... family connection, I can have no valid opinion on the subject.
Nick's invalid opinions on the subject he feels are best kept to himself.
Arat's dark eyes flick between them, cataloging their heated interaction.
Lalique: And yet you served as his Companion. Surely he shared the personal stories I told him with his Companion?
Nick: You seem to have a very low opinion of Sectuib Riyyh, if you feel he is so untrustworthy.
Nick: And if so, why would you have told him these "personal stories"?
Nick appears faintly curious.
Arat had never had any previous indication that there was friction between Nick and Lalique, but now it is obvious there is.
Lalique: I asked him for the help and protection of Naros, and he required to know the truth about my background.
Lalique: When I was done, he said my history disgusted and terrified him, and that he was sorry he ever met me.
Lalique turns to Arat.
Nick has nothing against Lalique as a person, but as a Gen, he doesn't want her around his Simes.
Lalique: The terms of your contract are no more than I asked from Riyyh.
Arat raises an eyebrow at the description of Riyyh's reaction. This is the first he has ever heard of Riyyh reacting to someone in some other way than attempting to seduce them. Of course, he doesn't know about the times Riyyh and Lalique talked about less unpleasant matters.
Nick is also very concerned about what would happen if she makes a habit out of confiding her shady past to people who are congenitally unable to keep a secret.
Lalique: If you are willing to accept me, I am willing to commit.
Lalique: But I worry that if you leave, perhaps a Riyyh will replace you.
Lalique: I must prove myself before that happens.
Arat, having met Lexus, does not think that someone like Riyyh would be the worst thing that could happen to the 53rd District.
Arat: I would ask you to trust that all will be handled correctly, and that the terms of your contract will be carried out.
Arat: I understand that you do not feel secure in light of recent rumors, but you must remember that they are rumors only.
Arat: The six month probation is required to prove that you are reliable and law abiding in a way that would hold up in a court of law.
Arat: I said that I would add my personal word to that, and I will. Regardless of where you, or I, am assigned at the time. So long as you have proved yourself in the eyes of your Controllers.
Lalique nods.
Arat: It is likely that you worry for naught, and you and I will be assigned to the same Center when your time is up.
Arat can say this with some assurance, since he'd have little trouble packing Lalique out with him even if he got forcibly reassigned. Nobody wants trouble cases cluttering up a Controller's wake.
Lalique: ~~ acceptance of the inevitable ~~
Lalique: Very well.
Lalique: You will find I can be useful.
Lalique: But I will be more valuable to you if the details of my past remain confidential.
Lalique: Controller, thank you for your time and your attention.
Arat looks at her and sees a 2nd with some potential but a very rocky prior record. He will want to see her thoroughly Tectonized before he experiments with uses for her.
Arat nods.
Lalique: ~~ nager readjusting to Tecton standard ~~
Lalique: And Nick, take care of yourself.
Nick nods.
Lalique flashes a professional smile.
Lalique leaves the office.
Arat frowns as the door closes.
Arat is sure that it's Lalique's own past that is making her so jittery, but there will be many others who are worried about what would happen to them under another Controller.
Arat wishes Neptude were secure enough in his own Controllership to leave Arat's alone. Not that he loves his job, but he hardly prefers the Snake River Dam over it.
Argul stands in front of the door to Snake's cell, determined that no unauthorized entrances or exits will happen on his watch.
Lexus saunters down the corridors of the 53rd District High Security area, mentally noting all the protective arrangements that were outlined in the reports he reviewed.
Argul is quite aware of the betting pool's estimate of the time it will take Snake to circumvent current measures, and doesn't care for the insult to his department.
Lexus realizes that once again he is going out on a limb, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Wise Snake as it happens is not going to escape any time soon. For one thing, Arat has deep zlinned her for possible lockpicking tools so many times she has started to run out of witty things to say in response. Also, the deal they struck is too good to mess up. At least, not until she has what she wants.
Argul notes the approaching figure with some curiosity: He has heard rumors about the new channel who might be Arat's successor.
Lexus really really wants to know how Wise Snake tinkered with Pylor's mental state enough to change his life-long hatred of Arat into pathetic longing.
Lexus knows better than to believe in black magic, but whatever the technique used, it sure wasn't in the Tecton manuals.
Lexus considers this little secret might be worth a whole chapter in his book on "Winning Gens and Influencing Donors."
Argul comes to attention as Lexus arrives.
Argul: Hajene.
Lexus: Ah, you must be Argul.
Lexus prides himself on quickly memorizing everyone's name. It provides the impression of personal interest.
Argul nods, wondering why people seem so obsessed with reading the nametag on the front of his uniform.
Lexus: I am here to interview Wise Snake.
Lexus hands Argul the paperwork with the Controller's authorization.
Argul: Interview her?
Argul: ~~ astonishment ~~
Argul takes the paperwork and reads through it carefully.
Argul is forced to take some time with this, as his reading skills are not the best, and he is reluctant to extend his neck by failing to handle this situation properly.
Lexus: Consult with her about a case.
Lexus: I understand that a guard must be present.
Lexus: Do you really think that is necessary?
Argul pauses in his reading for a moment, and looks at Lexus.
Argul: If you'd prefer privacy, Hajene, you could use the observation room. It's well insulated from the actual cell.
Argul: But you can hear her.
Lexus ponders whether Wise Snake is more likely to be forth-coming talking through a glass barrier or with a guard watching the conversation.
Lexus considers neither circumstance ideal.
Argul has actually found listening to Snake rather interesting; her language is a bit more interesting than the average inmate's.
Lexus decides face-to-face is best. He does not want to give the rogue Farris the idea that he is afraid of her.
Lexus: No, I'd just as soon go inside.
Lexus: Do what you have to.
Argul: All right.
Argul: Just a moment.
Argul waves to a colleague down the hall, and when he approaches, directs him to take up guarding the outside of the door.
Wise Snake has heard them talking and moved up to lurk just on the other side of the door, and slightly behind it.
Argul then produces the key to the cell and unlocks it, opening the door slowly.
Argul sees Snake standing right there and jumps backwards with undignified haste.
Wise Snake: Hello.
Argul: Hajene Snake!
Lexus peers ahead curiously. He has heard Wise Snake described as a cross between Arat and a weasel, but has had difficulty imagining what that might look like.
Argul: You have a visitor.
Wise Snake is a short, scrawny Sime with the classic Audnes features redone in a somewhat weasellish cast, weird white eyes and a shock of wild black hair. She is wearing a Tecton channel's uniform.
Lexus accepts the accuracy of the description.
Wise Snake: Oh. I thought you'd taken up talking to yourself.
Wise Snake: The last guard did, you know.
Lexus: Good day! I'm Hajene Lexus.
Wise Snake stares at Lexus.
Wise Snake: You're Lexus?
Argul: Err, Hajene, if we could move inside?
Lexus: Certainly.
Argul gets rather nervous at the thought of Snake anywhere near an unlocked door.
Lexus steps boldly forward.
Wise Snake: ~~ incredulous smile ~~
Wise Snake allows him to brush past her, then turns to face him.
Wise Snake: Arat's description did you a lot of credit.
Argul hands the key to the cell to his colleague, then steps through the door himself, wincing slightly as it is closed and locked behind him.
Lexus smiles in glorious self-confidence. He is sure Arat had little complimentary to say, but he knows he looks more like a sleek afghan hound than a weasel.
Wise Snake: Good grief, this photo makes you look like a schnauzer.
Wise Snake has somehow acquired Lexus' ID tag.
Wise Snake: Someone as well placed as you ought to have been able to order a re-take.
Lexus: Well, it amuses the patients.
Lexus glances around the cell.
Lexus: You must get really bored in here.
Wise Snake: It's not intended to be a reward.
Wise Snake rather looks upon Lexus' visit as such, though.
Wise Snake is sure Arat wouldn't have OK'ed a visitor unless he wanted to allow her to have some fun.
Wise Snake pockets Lexus' ID.
Lexus: No, I suppose not. Do you find the punishment is reforming you?
Argul has assumed a stolid pose against the cell's door.
Wise Snake: I daresay it's had some effect. I bathe at least once a week.
Wise Snake in fact has been bathing daily, since Arat had to start working with her more regularly. He insists.
Lexus: That at least offers a change of pace.
Wise Snake had experimented with wearing her hair in a braid just like Arat's to yank his chain. However she found other people's reactions to this unsettling, and gave it up.
Lexus: I understand you are doing some channeling work, with staff.
Lexus doesn't really care how often she bathes, as she is too ugly to interest him, even when post.
Lexus pretty much has his pick of clean, stylish and attractive ladies out in Golden Hills.
Argul stares alertly at the wall above Snake's head.
Argul hopes that this will be sufficient to spot any moves Snake might make, and yet not irritate Lexus.
Wise Snake has nothing to say to the non-question, and so simply looks vaguely at some reflections in the glass.
Lexus: What methods did you use in training Sosu Pylor?
Wise Snake glances at Lexus and smiles a little smile.
Lexus: You achieved a remarkable increase in his proficiency.
Lexus knows a little flattery often helps to grease the wheel, though he doesn't hope for much with this subject.
Wise Snake: Pylor was unaccustomed to hard work, discipline or obedience. Taking care of the three of those took care of the rest.
Wise Snake basically drove Pylor until he broke.
Wise Snake hadn't thought he'd break, though.
Lexus smiles.
Wise Snake thinks a weak will can wreck nearly any plan, good or bad.
Lexus: A plough horse learns hard work, discipline and obedience, but can't serve a First in transfer.
Lexus: How did you work up his nager?
Wise Snake: I projected need at him six hours a day for two months.
Wise Snake: A little crude, I suppose, but I was in a hurry.
Wise Snake thinks, at least she didn't burn him, which would have been less trouble.
Lexus considers the size and power of Wise Snake's nager and shudders a bit.
Wise Snake gives herself credit for restraint, the few times it's due.
Lexus: Well, I guess you did have time on your hands.
Lexus: And how did you overcome his aversion to Arat? That's been pretty extensively documented, and no other therapist even made a dent in it.
Wise Snake: He's always wanted Arat. I just helped him realize it.
Lexus: Really? All the records say they've hated each other for years.
Wise Snake decides he's not going to sit down, and so goes over to the cot [the only furniture in the room] and lounges on it.
Wise Snake: Love, hate, call it what you will.
Wise Snake props herself up on an elbow and regards Lexus with glinting pale eyes.
Wise Snake: I don't let Simelan dictate the limits of human behavior.
Lexus: Why did you urge Pylor to ignore his schedule and try to force Arat?
Wise Snake: He needed to win.
Lexus: But he didn't.
Wise Snake's expression changes to one of disgust.
Wise Snake: He chose to fail.
Wise Snake: Unfortunately, there's only one chance like that in a person's life. He blew it.
Wise Snake: That same technique would not work again.
Lexus: You think it would have been a good thing for Pylor to force Arat into a transfer?
Argul's ears are large and protruding, the better to soak up delicious tidbits like this.
Wise Snake: Naturally.
Wise Snake: Pylor's obsessed with Arat. He kept a ridiculous little childhood trophy for 20 years even after he pulled it out of Arat's dad's dumpster, for crying out loud.
Wise Snake: With his own family being peasants, he couldn't accept what Arat had to give him. It was too much like being a serf.
Wise Snake: The only way he could consummate that relationship was by taking something from Arat. Not accepting something.
Wise Snake: Taking.
Wise Snake's pale eyes gleam.
Lexus is finding Wise Snake far more interesting than he had expected.
Lexus: And what do you think would be the effect on Arat, if someone took his self-control?
Wise Snake: He would have been angry, but he would have been all right.
Wise Snake: His pride would have smarted, but he's got more than enough to go around.
Wise Snake: He can be devastated, but not by something like that.
Lexus wonders. He has rarely seen a Sime more obsessively organized and vigilant.
Lexus: I understand you resent Arat because he failed you as a father.
Lexus: Do you want revenge?
Wise Snake: Revenge?
Wise Snake smiles pleasantly.
Wise Snake: Is that an offer?
Lexus: Just a question. People's motivations interest me.
Lexus: ~~ lie ~~
Wise Snake: Ummh.
Wise Snake: It varies.
Wise Snake: I used to want to murder him. Now some of the time, I want to spend the rest of our lives tormenting him slowly. At other times, I feel like treating him well for extended periods and then surprising him with some unexpected cruelty.
Wise Snake: I think it really depends upon him, don't you?
Lexus: How so?
Wise Snake looks sly, and does not answer.
Wise Snake instead says, "Why do you think you can replace him?"
Lexus shrugs.
Lexus: The Tecton is a bureaucracy.
Lexus: No one is irreplaceable.
Wise Snake thinks Lexus has begged the question.
Wise Snake's opinion of him visibly slips down a notch.
Lexus: The day of the channel hero, who single-handedly transforms the world through the insight of his powerful nager, is behind us.
Wise Snake thinks it definitely is, at least at the 53rd District.
Lexus: Zeor may not realize this, but we require no more Klyd Farrises.
Wise Snake: Lexus, I hate to be the one who has to break it to you, but your uncle is in way over his head. He couldn't even handle Arat's job, much less the one he has now. He's only assigning you here so he can look better by comparison.
Lexus: He already did Arat's job and was promoted.
Lexus: And I'm sure I can do as well as he can.
Wise Snake: They promoted him to get him out of the way. Disbelieve me if you want, that doesn't make it any less true.
Wise Snake: You might want to do a bit of investigation on your own to verify that.
Lexus smiles.
Lexus: He's still Regional Controller while Arat plays the guinea pig to test every unstable rogue Gen in Nivet.
Lexus: I think you really love your father.
Lexus: I think you deliberately set Pylor up to fail because he had injured Arat.
Wise Snake: You're right about Arat, but then I don't quibble between love and hate.
Wise Snake: As for Pylor, I did want him to succeed. But maybe he didn't deserve it.
Wise Snake shrugs.
Wise Snake: In any case, it was no skin off my nose when he failed.
Wise Snake: It was still a valuable lesson.
Lexus: You say Pylor loves and hates Arat because he was an aristocrat. You aren't. How does Pylor feel about you?
Wise Snake: Pylor is afraid of me.
Wise Snake smiles snakishly.
Wise Snake: I suppose he respects me now, as well.
Lexus: I suppose. Could you make him serve you?
Wise Snake: Of course. But Arat ordered me not to hurt him.
Wise Snake: There hardly would have been a point, in that case.
Lexus narrows his eyes. He begins to understand why Wise Snake is confined as dangerous.
Lexus: And he couldn't take something from you if he feared you.
Wise Snake: Pylor couldn't take anything from me at all.
Wise Snake: [frankly]
Lexus thinks the emotional tangle here is genuinely kinky.
Lexus wonders if Pylor indeed would improve in attitude if allowed to be more aggressive in transfer situations; that might lend itself to an interesting experiment.
Lexus: Well, thank you for sharing your insights, Hajene.
Lexus: You are truly gifted as a therapist.
Wise Snake: Ummhh.
Lexus thinks that as long as Wise Snake remains confined, which looks to be quite a while, he can crib her ideas for journal articles and no one will be the wiser.
Lexus: Thank you for your assessment of my own situation.
Lexus: ~~ sarcastic amusement ~~
Wise Snake: Just passing along what everyone already knows.
Wise Snake smiles pleasantly again - never a good sign.
Lexus: Well, I must leave now. May I have back my badge, please, if you're done playing with it?
Wise Snake sits up, feeling through her pockets.
Wise Snake: Let's see... no, I don't have it.
Wise Snake: Sorry.
Wise Snake smiles and leans back again.
Lexus: You took it. I saw you. Give it here.
Lexus is not about to let Wise Snake appropriate his ID for nefarious purposes.
Wise Snake: You didn't believe me about your uncle, yet you refuse to investigate for yourself.
Wise Snake: It's the same with your ID.
Wise Snake: I tell you I don't have it. You have it.
Lexus feels in the usual pocket and, to his utter amazement, finds the badge where he knows it can't be.
Wise Snake waits until he is distracted, and then pulls something out of her pocket. It's not his badge, of course; it's his notebook.
Wise Snake doesn't bother flipping through it; she's already zlinned the contents. And very embarrassing they were, too.
Wise Snake: I suppose you want this too?
Lexus flushes with annoyance.
Lexus bites his tongue on the apology he was about to voice.
Lexus: Yes!
Wise Snake tosses it to him, lest he come snatch it angrily out of her hand.
Wise Snake: Who's Burina?
Lexus: None of your business!
Wise Snake smiles.
Lexus grabs the notebook and retreats from the room, frantically searching his other pockets for missing articles.
Wise Snake watches until Lexus and the guard are gone, and then rolls onto her back and sighs at the ceiling.