Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #177: Subterfuge (3/18/00)
Seruffin drops by the 53rd District, just to compare the actual state of affairs there with that summarized in the reports.
Seruffin has learned the hard way that it doesn't do to dress down a Regional Controller for inaccurate reporting without a thorough investigation.
Seruffin signals at the door to Arat's office.
Arat has been pounced upon in his office by high-ranking officials so often in the last month that the shock factor is starting to wear off.
Arat still doesn't like it at all, though!
Jeniard zlins who it is, and glances at Arat for confirmation, halfway out of his chair.
Jeniard goes to open the door.
Jeniard: Controller Seruffin!
Jeniard: Please, come in.
Seruffin: Hajene Jeniard.
Seruffin: Arat, I trust you can spare me a few minutes?
Seruffin is confident that Arat will manage to, somehow.
Arat feels his shoulders knot up like fruit leather curing in fast-motion.
Arat: Certainly.
Seruffin does not appear particularly angry, but he is ~ concerned ~
Arat would rather entertain a lion for dinner than entertain Seruffin in his own office without warning, but necessity is the mother of accommodation, after all.
Seruffin: Thank you.
Seruffin selects the most comfortable of Arat's guest chairs and settles in.
Jeniard closes the door behind Seruffin and goes to pour some tea.
Seruffin: I understand that Neptude has found a new assistant for you, so that you can spend more time controlling your daughter's... less acceptable activities?
Arat hesitates, since that isn't at all why Lexus is there and he has made no attempt to pretend otherwise. Has Neptude been telling Seruffin something that contradicts Arat's reports? Which answer does Seruffin want to hear?
Arat looks rather uncomfortable at being caught between them.
Arat: Neptude has assigned Lexus to me as an assistant.
Arat thinks this will not be news to Seruffin, but it has the virtue of being a safe answer.
Seruffin raises an eyebrow at this uninformative answer.
Seruffin: And has he been useful?
Arat thinks, to Neptude, probably yes.
Jeniard brings Seruffin a cup of steaming tea.
Seruffin accepts it with a nod of thanks and raises it to his face to sniff carefully.
Seruffin has learned never to take the quality of tea in Arat's office for granted.
Arat: I was told, [slight emphasis] that he was here to learn.
Seruffin cracks a smile despite himself at the delectable aroma, and his nager softens a bit.
Seruffin: Narosian? [to Jeniard]
Arat: He has not been particularly useful to me, but I was not under the impression that that was the primary intention.
Seruffin turns back to Arat.
Seruffin: I see.
Seruffin knows all about planting spies.
Seruffin: Has he been actually disruptive, or merely inconvenient?
Seruffin is inclined to allow his Controllers the use of all necessary tools, but does draw the line at politically-based sabotage.
Arat: He has been somewhat disruptive, although nothing he has done directly has been as disruptive as the effect his presence has had upon the rumor mill.
Arat is enough of a perfectionist that "somewhat disruptive" really means "rather disruptive", at least compared to perfection.
Seruffin sees that there will be no quick and easy decision here, which means he's going to have to keep worrying about the matter.
Arat counts Lexus's nearly coming to blows with Jeniard as a serious disturbance, but it happened more or less behind closed doors so it wasn't a complete disaster.
Arat: I have explained to the department heads that it is in everybody's interests that they attempt to quell the rumors.
Seruffin: Good.
Seruffin does not approve of rumors, except of course when they provide him with critical information.
Seruffin: With the political situation so unstable, we can't afford to have the Sime Centers disrupted as well.
Seruffin: How does Lexus rate as a channel? Is he competent?
Arat glances at Jeniard, a warning.
Jeniard manages to swallow his snort.
Seruffin's eyebrow raises at this interplay.
Arat: He does well enough when he applies himself. However, his own desires have been known to come between his behavior and ordinary protocols.
Arat doesn't add, "and common sense", although it is clearly appended silently.
Seruffin: Really?
Seruffin is well aware that there is something he's not being told.
Seruffin turns to Jeniard.
Seruffin: Perhaps you would care to elaborate, Hajene Jeniard?
Seruffin: Since you so obviously feel strongly about the issue?
Jeniard: I was monitoring his questioning of Pylor.
Jeniard: He became so enamored of Pylor's nager he lost control.
Seruffin frowns.
Seruffin: How badly?
Jeniard: I was barely able to separate them, although they did end up assigned anyway, when Lexus used his uncle's authority to have Pylor reassigned to him.
Jeniard: Security did have to help me.
Arat frowns thunderously. That was not a pretty scene, and the last thing he needs when he has finally gotten Security whipped into a reasonable level of alertness and competence is to have high level Donors and Channels giving them additional practice.
Seruffin is ~~ not pleased ~~
Seruffin: You were going to take him out of rotation for a few months of intensive therapy, weren't you, Arat?
Arat: That was my recommendation, however Neptude has been making all decisions regarding Pylor for some months, now.
Arat: I had also recommended that Neptude zlin Pylor personally before making a decision.
Seruffin: You mean he didn't?
Arat: Apparently he appointed... pardon me?
Arat: It is my understanding that he felt Lexus' examination would be sufficient.
Arat is fairly sure Neptude hadn't thought Lexus would lose control like a First Year renSime when he arranged for that, though.
Seruffin is leaning further towards accepting Arat's view of events with each passing revelation.
Seruffin is also seriously debating vetoing any attempt Neptude makes to place Lexus in charge of the 53rd District.
Seruffin: Well, if he causes too much trouble, let me know.
Arat looks at Seruffin curiously.
Seruffin: I believe in giving my Regional staff the flexibility to handle problems as they see fit, but not when it causes more problems than it solves.
Arat: The staff's morale is suffering.
Arat: Lexus' presence here, and his freedom to go among them as he wishes, is not helping that.
Seruffin: I leave morale in your capable tentacles.
Seruffin's expression makes it clear that Arat's tentacles had better be competent.
Arat thinks the raised morale of people like Ormof is just as bad as the lowered morale of people like Tiarala.
Seruffin: However, if Lexus's actual actions result in situations which endanger staff or patients, I want to know about it.
Seruffin: Before accidents occur.
Jeniard's lips press together.
Jeniard is of the opinion that any 1st Order Channel who has to be physically tackled to keep him off a Donor he isn't assigned to, and wasn't actively enticing him, is a complete incompetent. And sissy boys who run to their uncles to get special privileges at everybody else's expense are even worse.
Jeniard thinks that Seruffin is an idiot if he can't see that for himself.
Seruffin hopes he is striking the right balance here.
Seruffin: The Tecton can't afford to have a District Controller and his Regional Controller at odds.
Seruffin: You've done a very good job here, by all accounts, but this is not the only Region covered by the Tecton.
Arat is feeling a good deal more under scrutiny than Jeniard, and only nods.
Seruffin hopes that a similar dressing-down to Neptude will quiet the fuss, at least for a while.
Seruffin is fully prepared to remove Arat from Neptude's chain of command if necessary.
Seruffin: With the current unrest in the city, it is doubly important that Tecton management run smoothly.
Seruffin: The source of the unfortunate news leak about the Snake Reservoir Dam has yet to be conclusively established.
Seruffin: Unless you have some new information that hasn't yet reached my office?
Arat: Neptude was concerned that Nick Reckage may have been responsible.
Arat: He asked me to investigate. I am certain I have obtained all documents that were in Nick's immediate possession at the time, although I cannot be certain he did not have others stored elsewhere.
Arat, for example, didn't hesitate to store the most incriminating of them elsewhere himself.
Arat would expect Nick to do the same.
Seruffin: And have you been able to determine his motives in making the inquiries?
Arat: After studying them, and questioning Nick, I believe that his motives were completely benign.
Arat: Of course, Neptude has the documents and he or Lexus may question Nick as they wish.
Seruffin is putting less store in Neptude's investigation than previously, particularly with regards to anything which implies involvement on Arat's part.
Seruffin: You said his reasons were benign? What were they?
Arat: As I mentioned when we spoke about this originally, he had some idea that I might be willing to accept a reassignment there.
Arat: However, I was able to disabuse him of that notion some time ago.
Arat is not aware that knowing Arat wasn't interested had any effect whatsoever on Nick's intentions, but that's not the point.
Seruffin: And his current interest in the project?
Arat frowns.
Arat: He was contacting labor leaders.
Arat: He says it was in order to help friends of his find work.
Arat is not pleased at how bad this looks in light of his own efforts' payout, and he is also not happy with Nick clinging to his workers' roots. It's one more barrier between them.
Seruffin can only imagine the sort of disruption that that sort of mentality could make in Tecton assignment schedules.
Seruffin frowns.
Seruffin: He isn't one of those radical union organizers, is he?
Seruffin thinks it's hard enough with channels demanding well-matched Donors; if the Donors start making demands of their own, things would be much worse.
Arat decides to interpret that one as a rhetorical question.
Seruffin: Perhaps you could impress upon him that his area of responsibility is the Tecton's stability?
Seruffin: And while you're at it, it might help if you would sound him out on what he has heard from his father.
Seruffin: Or grandfather, if you prefer to look at it that way.
Seruffin prefers not to think about Narosian genetics at all, given a free choice.
Arat looks alert.
Arat: He does receive letters from Riyyh.
Arat: Is there some cause for concern?
Seruffin: It appears that Naros has been taking a very strong interest in the dam project.
Seruffin: So much so that I must wonder if the current difficulties were engineered by them.
Seruffin: Sectuib Riyyh does have a reputation for being able to convince people to ignore inconvenient regulations on such matters as security.
Arat: It seems rather large scale for a Narosian intervention. [tentatively]
Arat does not want to actively dissuade Seruffin from this line of theory, of course.
Seruffin: They do have some stake in the maintenance of the Reservoir--and on how the water behind it is distributed.
Seruffin: And two days ago, a group of agitators from the Coalition for Land Use were arrested for particularly egregious behavior during a demonstration.
Seruffin prefers not to get into details, as they are rather strange.
Arat ponders that.
Arat: Perhaps you are right.
Arat: I will question Nick about his interaction with his father.
Arat has rather more experience than Seruffin at thinking about these sorts of relationships, as his step-mother was also his cousin. He assumes the closest relationship is the predominant one, as a matter of habit.
Seruffin: Thank you.
Seruffin: And if it becomes necessary--don't you have an expert in Narosian affairs?
Seruffin: The one you used to get selyn-usage records?
Arat: Tiarala is not an expert in Narosian affairs, per se.
Arat: Unfortunately, her utility lies in her ability to get past Riyyh.
Arat thinks that is rather more fortunate than not, since the less they are able to figure out about Naros' activities, the better a cover they'll make.
Seruffin: I see. You feel she would be less effective in the current situation?
Arat: She can be used for specific, narrow tasks, where the objective is to avoid deflection. She is not privy to Naros' motivations nor their decisions.
Arat: She is a personal friend of Sectuib Riyyh's, and has some influence with him, and he with her, and that is as far as it goes.
Seruffin: I see. I had hoped for a more generally applicable ability.
Seruffin: Well, with any luck, the Narosians will find some other obsession in a week or so, and let the dam project be.
Seruffin stands.
Seruffin: Do let me know if Nick drops anything useful.
Arat: Of course.
Seruffin: I will leave you to your work then.
Seruffin leaves quickly, before Arat can ask any favors of his own.