Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #217: Altruism, Prunida-Style (9/10/00)
Prunida walks into Riyyh's office looking more than a little concerned and grasping a pile of newspaper clippings.
Prunida: Riyyh, do you know anything about....
Prunida glares at the visiting salesman until he picks up his samples and slinks out the door, then drops the clippings on Riyyh's desk.
Prunida: I've been reading about the Snake River Dam construction site. It sounds way too dangerous for a Gen. Have you heard from Nick? Is he safe?
Riyyh: Prunida, dear, I was talking to that nice man.
Riyyh is so used to Prunida not saying hello that he doesn't even comment on that score.
Prunida dismisses Riyyh's protest with a wave of one handling tentacle."He's trying to sell you something. He'll be back."
Prunida taps the clippings. "People are being injured and murdered by accidents every day, it says. That's no place for a Gen like my Nick."
Riyyh: It does sound like a difficult place to work, but I am sure Arat and Wise Snake don't want anything to happen to him either and will do their best to keep him out of harm.
Riyyh would ordinarily reassure the worried parent that his/her son wouldn't dream of doing anything to cause worry, but Prunida has already demonstrated the firm conviction that all of Nick's actions are intended to worry, impoverish and/or frustrate her.
Prunida: Really, Riyyh. You know Arat can't take care of himself. And would you trust that Snake with any child of yours?
Riyyh remembers how he felt when they learned Prunida had attempted to sell Hero to Snake.
Riyyh: Well, she and Nick have spent months together in the past....
Prunida: That wasn't under conditions like these.
Riyyh thinks about what he's seen of the slums of Bender Cove. Riyyh looks somewhat doubtful.
Prunida: No, Nick needs family to look out for him.
Riyyh: Oh my, I do hope you're not thinking of going there yourself. There is a severe selyn shortage in the area and renSimes not employed by the construction site are finding conditions difficult.
Prunida is, in fact, aware of the selyn shortage, which is one reason for her making this particular call. However, she wants to bring up something else first.
Prunida: The trouble is, Riyyh, Nick won't let me get close enough to protect him. In fact, I wouldn't put it past him to find some way to force me to leave, if he knew I was there to protect him.
Riyyh wouldn't put it past Nick to want Prunida to leave in any case.
Prunida paces in front of Riyyh's desk like an elderly tiger waiting for her dinner.
Prunida: No, I would have to have some other obvious reason for being there. One even Nick couldn't quibble with.
Riyyh can't imagine what reason could fit that criteria.
Riyyh looks appropriately unsure, as a result.
Riyyh: Oh...?
Prunida: If they are hiring, I suppose I could get a construction job.
Riyyh nearly laughs in astonishment, but manages to restrain himself from hooting it out.
Riyyh: Oh, er... my, what an interesting idea. Aren't they extremely long on available labor, though?
Prunida shoots Riyyh an admonitory glare. "I'd do worse than that to ensure my grandson's safety."
Prunida is well aware that a Tecton Donor's survivor's benefit is insignificant compared to the salary of a working Donor.
Riyyh: But Prunida, I don't think Nick will believe that you have taken a job at a construction site in Norwest Territory completely without regard to his presence there.
Riyyh is trying to be honest with her, without being unkind. This is not easy with Prunida.
Prunida continues to pace. "Well, surely there must be other opportunities to stay in the area."
Riyyh: As I understand it, the Tecton is actually paying people to leave. Not very much [adds, so that Prunida won't get the idea of going just to collect the relocation incentive].
Prunida stops to zlin Riyyh keenly.
Riyyh is concerned, honest and of course super nice.
Prunida: If conditions are so bad that people will leave for a minimum incentive when there is little work elsewhere either, then Nick is in more danger than I thought. You know what desperate people will do.
Prunida is very confident of Riyyh's knowledge in this area as she herself has provided a frequent example.
Prunida: Nick can't leave, Riyyh, not so long as he works for the Tecton and is assigned there.
Prunida has no intention of interfering with the former condition and therefore must tolerate the latter.
Prunida: Surely something could be done to make the construction site less dangerous.
Riyyh wonders if he should be totally honest with her.
Riyyh has become somewhat more in practice at this sort of thing as he has dealt with many problem employees formerly belonging to Arat, all hoping to get a piece of the new pie now that the old boss is gone.
Riyyh doesn't like it at all, of course.
Riyyh: Perhaps you could write him.
Riyyh: If you told him that you were coming there to ensure his personal safety, perhaps he'd be willing to do his part for a change of some sort.
Riyyh means, Nick might send money just to keep Prunida away.
Prunida chews on that idea for a while.
Prunida knows better than to give Nick a warning of her arrival, but decides the rest of the idea might have some merit. "Change, yes. The construction site could be changed to be less dangerous."
Riyyh is the sort of person for whom a construction site would be a totally alien experience. He wouldn't pretend to know much about them, although he is under the impression that they are dirty, dangerous and not very pleasant or relaxing. However, he is fairly sure that one aged lay renSime would not have much luck going in and making major changes without any credentials or official arrangement.
Riyyh's expression is correspondingly dubious.
Prunida notes Riyyh's expression with impatience. "Since Nick isn't working construction himself, the greatest danger appears to be from riots and disorderly behavior among the unemployed. Surely ways could be found to make them less desperate."
Riyyh somehow doubts Prunida is the one to do that.
Prunida is not normally concerned with the comforts of strangers, but she is a firm believer in doing whatever is required to protect her investment.
Riyyh: I am sure by this time next year there will be far fewer of the unemployed in the area. There are incentive programs, and such.
Riyyh hopes Prunida will wait.
Prunida: But Riyyh, so much can happen in a year. Surely there must be some efforts to calm the situation besides the incentive programs.
Riyyh: I am sure there are. [reassuringly]
Riyyh had been doing a little research on that himself, recently, after Clerfia had suggested a Narosian outreach program there, although he hasn't gotten as far as he would have liked.
Prunida resumes pacing.
Prunida: It's a disgrace, that the situation could have deteriorated so badly with nothing being done. From the descriptions in the papers, things are getting worse, not better.
Prunida is not necessarily considering the realities of reporting, and that more frequent reports might actually mean that conditions have improved to the point that newspaper reporters are now willing to remain at the construction site long enough to file multiple stories, instead of fleeing immediately upon their arrival.
Prunida stops and faces Riyyh, tentacles lashing in agitation.
Prunida: No, there's nothing else to do. We'll have to take care of this ourselves. For Nick.
Riyyh finds this a bit alarming.
Riyyh: Pardon me? Did you say "we"?
Prunida: We made Nick together, didn't we?
Prunida considers that her efforts in precipitating Nick's conception, and that of his mother, neatly balance Riyyh's greater genetic contribution.
Prunida's opinion on Riyyh's rights and responsibilities towards Nick tend to change with her opinion of their utility in serving her own ends.
Riyyh: But I don't think Nick would agree that he requires rescue, Prunida.
Riyyh, unlike Prunida, allows this sort of thing to make a difference in his own actions.
Prunida 's ~~ impatience ~~ with Riyyh's objections is plain to zlin.
Prunida: Not a rescue, at least not of the usual kind. He can't leave without an official Tecton reassignment. You're a Controller, now. Surely you can get him one? He'd never have to know why.
Riyyh: Possibly. [cautiously] Although it wouldn't really be fair to Arat, would it?
Prunida snorts.
Prunida: How fair of him was it, to put our Nick in danger without so much as a by-your-leave?
Prunida ignores the fact that the Tecton and its Controllers are not obligated to get the permission of a Donor's parents before reassigning him.
Riyyh: Actually, I believe it is a case of Nick protecting him. After all, Nick and he do get along rather well, and Nick is far more familiar with such conditions than he is. Controller Seruffin was very concerned about Arat's safety.
Riyyh has become intimately familiar with many of Seruffin's concerns during the cozy visits they have enjoyed since Riyyh's becoming temporary Controller.
Prunida: Arat Audnes is a grown Sime. He can look out for himself.
Riyyh blinks as Prunida completely reverses herself on the subject of Arat's ability to take care of himself.
Riyyh: I only meant that it would be difficult to convince Seruffin to make such a trade, as a new Donor would have to be found for Arat and it wouldn't be easy to find another so suitable.
Prunida: Arat survived without Nick for years. Surely there must have been Donors who could hold his hand and wipe his nose as well as Nick can.
Riyyh: Nick is a particularly accomplished Donor. Not many could do as well with a... [hesitates diplomatically] ...well, a channel with Arat's diverse and unusual requirements.
Prunida really hates having her ideas proved so unworkable that even she is forced to abandon them before they are tried.
Prunida therefore gives in with very poor grace, indeed.
Prunida: Well, then, we're stuck with reducing Nick's danger by improving conditions at the site. According to the clippings there, the unemployed are desperate because they lack basic necessities such as clean water, food for their children, sanitary waste disposal, and proper shelter.
Prunida frowns as she realizes just how much it would cost (and how hazardous it might prove) to provide such things for some 8000 unwashed, unemployed manual laborers with a propensity towards rioting.
Prunida was thinking in terms of protecting possible future income, not assuming a monstrous debt.
Prunida: Aren't there philanthropic institutions that fund relief efforts?
Prunida has no such qualms about spending other people's money on such things, of course.
Riyyh seizes upon the chance to involve Prunida in a way that neither implicates or entangles himself.
Riyyh: Why yes, there are several organizations which could be interested in such a thing. I do hope you will investigate them; those poor people sound like they would benefit from assistance.
Prunida gathers up her collection of clippings.
Prunida: If reading these descriptions of conditions at the construction site doesn't loosen their purse strings by itself, I'm sure a personal appeal will do the trick.
Prunida's personal appeals generally involve a great deal of trauma and other unpleasantness, at least for the appellee.
Prunida rushes out without a proper farewell.
Riyyh sighs in dismay. He hates to set Prunida upon innocent benevolent organizations, but she really is too much for him to handle sometimes, and the Tecton work (what little of it he has not delegated) has been perfectly exhausting.
Riyyh gazes after her for a few moments longer, then gets up to make himself a nice relaxing cup of herb tea, putting Prunida from his mind.
Go on to Episode #218: Docudrama
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