Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Two Roads Diverged Scenario
Episode #59: The Gen-Juggler (8/11/98)
Nick stumbles into the hotel, covered with mud, hair a mess, looking almost as wild-eyed as Snake.
Wise Snake makes sure that Bum Bum is distracted by sending him on an errand that is sure to lead to a ridiculous wild goose chase and keep him occupied for several hours.
Nick: ~~ utter exhaustion, frantic worry ~~
Wise Snake then heads to where she left Linn, in order to ask the Gen how working with Bum Bum is going.
Wise Snake wonders where in shen Nick is.
Wise Snake: [for the 300th time]
Nick hauls himself up the stairs to the room, hoping that somebody has seen Snake.
Wise Snake: Say, Linn, could I have a word with you for a moment?
Linn looks up from the button she's sewing onto one of Snake's shirts.
Linn: Certainly.
Linn has already repaired the tear.
Wise Snake has never known Linn to jab herself with the needle and so is not alarmed.
Wise Snake pulls up a chair and sits across from Linn.
Wise Snake: I wanted to ask you how things have been going with Bum Bum. You've been working with him for a few days now... how are things?
Linn considers.
Linn: Well, I think I'm getting the hang of this support business. Or at least Bum Bum doesn't seem upset when I try it.
Linn: However, some of the people we've dealt with were....
Linn shakes her head.
Wise Snake: Hmm. Well, Bum Bum has been doing without for quite a while, so his standards probably aren't very high, but... oh?
Wise Snake: You mean, the customers?
Linn: Yes.
Linn: There was one Sime the other day who tried several times to attack me.
Wise Snake's eyes narrow.
Wise Snake: What did you do?
Linn: I tried to keep Bum Bum between us.
Linn: Afterwards, he offered to buy me.
Linn: ~~ indignation ~~
Wise Snake: Ah.... yes. I remember him. Tall fellow, black hair? Kind of a jerk?
Linn: Yes. He was ready to haul me off, and never mind what I thought about it.
Wise Snake: He did approach me about purchasing your services for next month.
Wise Snake: [deadpan]
Linn: He did?
Wise Snake: Yes, and he was prepared to offer [names substantial wad of money] in return for your services.
Linn: My goodness!
Wise Snake: He had it right there in cash too, waving it under my nose.
Linn: Had?
Linn notices a past tense.
Wise Snake: Well, I have it now.
Wise Snake shrugs.
Linn: What!!!
Linn: ~~ alarm ~~
Wise Snake looks defensive.
Wise Snake: Well, it was a lot of money!
Wise Snake: I can't be put into that kind of temptation without warning!
Linn: Snake, you know I can't provide that kind of "services"!
Wise Snake: Linn, you're capable of far more than you know.
Linn is perilously close to freaking entirely.
Wise Snake, who had thought Linn was reprimanding her for looting the guy's unconscious body, is now utterly confused as to what Linn is getting at.
Linn: I can't believe you would do such a thing! And without even asking me how I felt about the guy and his "services"!
Wise Snake starts sweating.
Wise Snake: Linn, I realize your morals and mine don't always line up, but I thought you'd think this guy was a sleazeball.
Wise Snake: Don't tell me you think I shouldn't have...?
Linn: Snake, it's one thing to hand me over to work with Bum Bum, it's quite another to offer me to anybody else who walks by with some cash.
Wise Snake: I agree entirely. And I assumed you'd want Bum Bum for your first time.
Linn is now the one who's getting confused.
Wise Snake: About the other bit, I can explain... I just got over excited.
Wise Snake: And he was a sleazeball.
Linn: So why did you sell my "services" to him, then?
Wise Snake: To Bum Bum? I gave Bum Bum your services for free.
Wise Snake is trying valiantly to understand Linn.
Linn feels distinctly betrayed.
Wise Snake looks dismayed as she wonders if Linn feels she was worth more than that.
Linn: No, to the sleazeball!
Wise Snake: I mean, he required a Donor, and you... oh.
Wise Snake: I didn't sell him your services.
Wise Snake: I thought you understood that.
Wise Snake looks baffled.
Linn: But you just said you took his money when he offered to buy me!
Wise Snake: No no no, I knocked him out and took the money off his unconscious body. It's an entirely different kind of deal.
Linn: You mugged the guy?
Wise Snake: It's not as if he gave me much choice in the matter, he came after me with both fists swinging.
Wise Snake: After I declined to rent you to him.
Linn 's head is beginning to swim with confusion.
Wise Snake: And, I'll have you know, I sent someone to the Tecton tent to fetch a channel, so he'd be all right later. That was certainly beyond the call of duty.
Linn shakes her head in disbelief.
Linn: Snake, one of these days, you're going to get caught when you play those games.
Wise Snake looks at a loss.
Wise Snake: What was I supposed to do, let him clobber me?
Wise Snake: Leave the money on him so hundreds of scummy kids would have money for honeybee?
Linn: How many witnesses saw you take his money?
Wise Snake: One, I think.
Wise Snake hopes the watermelon frosty was enough to take the fellow's mind off the matter.
Wise Snake: Linn, it's not my first time around the block, I was careful.
Nick fumbles in his filthy clothes for the room key.
Wise Snake: Granted, dozens of people saw the fight, but I don't think he'll sweat the money. There's plenty more where that came from.
Wise Snake had kind of counted on Vaad's pride stopping him from reporting the theft.
Wise Snake finally feels secure enough in her conversation with Linn to notice Nick outside the door.
Wise Snake: Nick!!
Nick pulls out the key and tries to insert it into the lock.
Wise Snake leaps across the room and whips the door open just as Nick gets the key in.
Nick: ~~ utter exhaustion, frantic worry ~~
Nick stumbles forward into the room as his prop is removed.
Nick: Snake!
Wise Snake: Nick, where in shen have you been??
Nick collapses to the floor in utter relief.
Wise Snake closes the door and rushes to Nick.
Wise Snake zlins him.
Nick: Where have I been??!!!
Nick: Looking for you, of course!
Wise Snake: Why didn't you just stay where I left you?
Nick: ~~ minor scrapes and bruises ~~
Nick: I did, but you didn't come out and you didn't come out.
Wise Snake: I went upstairs and changed, then came back down into the lobby and you were gone.
Nick: Finally, I asked a woman to check inside, and she said there was no one there!
Wise Snake: I waited until Richard showed, and when you still were gone, I had to make do with Eliza.
Wise Snake winces.
Wise Snake: I've been here ever since returning from the dinner.
Nick: And then I learn that there's an open window, and you're who knows where!
Wise Snake: Nick, I was right up here in the rooms. You didn't expect me to try to wear that muddy dress to the dinner did you?
Wise Snake: I had to come up and get a change.
Nick: Why the blazing shen couldn't you have used the door, if you wanted to go upstairs?
Nick: What kind of weird stunt were you trying to pull, crawling through the window like that?!
Nick is getting seriously angry.
Wise Snake starts looking nervous.
Wise Snake: Look, Nick, I,
Wise Snake doesn't have much hope that this will turn out as well as the conversation with Linn.
Wise Snake doesn't think that one turned out so great either, for that matter.
Nick waits for an explanation.
Wise Snake: I... didn't think it was such a big deal, I thought you could wait for me there either way.
Wise Snake looks unhappy.
Nick: Snake, the last time you disappeared on me, it was days before you showed up.
Nick: I had no way of knowing you hadn't had a spell again, and were wandering somewhere, not knowing where you should be.
Nick's anger fades, uncovering the remains of the bad scare Snake gave him.
Wise Snake glances at Linn, then back at Nick (rather unwillingly)
Linn doesn't seem inclined to intervene.
Nick: Don't scare me like that, Snake. You owe me better than that.
Wise Snake: I... think I should be able to go about my business and know you will be where I left you when I ask you to stay somewhere.
Wise Snake has been feeling bad about the way her station in life has plummeted ever since talking to Richard.
Wise Snake thinks Nick and Linn and the others don't respect her the way they used to, they don't think they have to because she doesn't have the position of power she had in Bender Cove.
Nick shakes his head.
Nick: Snake, my job is to keep you healthy and functional.
Nick: I can't do that if you keep disappearing without warning.
Wise Snake looks resentful and uncomfortable.
Nick: If you really can't tolerate letting me know where you are...
Wise Snake: Look, Nick, can we talk about this later?
Nick: Well, maybe we don't have what I thought we did.
Nick: ~~ grief ~~
Wise Snake's expression changes.
Wise Snake: ~~pain/discomfort~~
Wise Snake: What did you think we had?
Nick: I thought you wanted a Companion.
Nick: Someone to share your life, not just an impersonal source of selyn.
Nick: But all you seem to want to do is run as far away as you can from me.
Wise Snake's expression graduates into ~~confusion/pain~~
Wise Snake: No, I don't.
Wise Snake: And I do want a Companion.
Nick still looks like a beaten puppy.
Wise Snake: But if you won't follow into bathrooms and out of windows, can you at least trust me to do it alone?
Wise Snake thinks they should not be having this conversation in front of Linn, but as far as she can tell Nick hasn't even noticed the other Gen's presence.
Nick: Snake, why did you climb out of the window?
Wise Snake: It just seemed the fastest way to get where I wanted to go.
Wise Snake: Nick, I wasn't trying to avoid you. It just turned out that way.
Wise Snake: Ten minutes later I was right back in the lobby again.
Wise Snake: [frustrated]
Linn is sewing quietly, listening to the conversation.
Nick shakes his head.
Nick: The fastest way upstairs was through the lobby, not out the window.
Wise Snake's problem isn't a lack of loyalty, it's a short attention span.
Wise Snake: Well, the window looked nearer... nevermind. This isn't getting us anywhere.
Wise Snake: Nick, are you jealous of Richard?
Wise Snake: [point blank]
Nick: Of Richard?
Nick tries hard to keep his nager steady, although that's hard when he's so tired.
Wise Snake: Or is there anything else bothering you? Because I swear, you disappeared on me several times in the crowd this last week, when it was clearly not my fault.
Wise Snake: Now suddenly I am trying to avoid you? I'm sorry, that just isn't true.
Wise Snake: So tell me what's going on, Nick.
Wise Snake: What has you so upset with me?
Wise Snake edges closer to Nick.
Nick reaches out and clutches one of Snake's handling tentacles.
Nick: Snake, when you disappeared...
Wise Snake looks down at the tentacle, then back up at Nick's face.
Nick: I was just about insane with worry. And Linn might argue the "just about".
Linn nods in corroboration.
Wise Snake: And I wasn't?
Wise Snake thinks this isn't fair.
Nick: I can't stand the thought that you might just....walk off again.
Wise Snake: Nick, when it happens like that, it's not on purpose. How can you yell at me about that?
Wise Snake: And when it is on purpose, I know exactly what I'm doing and there is nothing to fear.
Nick: That's just it. If you can't control it, or predict it, the only way to make sure you don't get lost again, is to make sure one of us knows where you are at all times.
Wise Snake: Well that was the idea of having two Companions, Nick, but Rapol is gone now.
Wise Snake: We'll just have to make do with what one human being can do.
Wise Snake: [trying to make him understand]
Nick looks at Linn.
Nick: You're not limited to me, you know, at least for that.
Nick: If you have something you have to do, that you can't stand for me to see, will you take one of the others along instead?
Nick: That way, there will be someone around if you have another spell.
Nick: And I won't be going crazy wondering what happened to you.
Griff comes bouncing into the room, covered with mud from head to toe.
Griff: Snake, you'll never guess the ooky thing I saw out in the alley!
Wise Snake can't think of anybody besides Bum Bum who she'd want to see the stuff she wouldn't let Nick see... and she really wouldn't want Bum Bum to see that.
Wise Snake is relieved by the interruption.
Wise Snake: Ah... oh, Griff? What was that?
Griff: There was a guy who walked right into a beehive, he was so drunk.
Griff: They were in his clothes and everything.
Griff: He ran all the way from the park before the bees left.
Wise Snake: Did you try to help him?
Griff: ~~ cheerful excitement at the ookiness of it all ~~
Griff: Yeah. I said I'd get a channel right away.
Wise Snake: Me?
Griff grins broadly at Snake.
Wise Snake: I see.
Griff: Isn't that what I'm supposed to tell them?
Wise Snake: Yes. You did very well, Griff.
Wise Snake: The other thing you can do with people being attacked by bees is either push them into a lake or cover them head to toe in mud.
Wise Snake figures those alternatives ought to appeal to Griff.
Nick is already reaching for the satchel.
Wise Snake reaches for the medical satchel.
Wise Snake's hand flinches back.
Wise Snake: All right then.
Griff: Well, he was already pretty muddy.
Wise Snake: Show us where the guy is, Griff.
Nick gets to his feet tiredly, pulling his nager into shape with professional discipline.
Griff bounces out the door and down the hall.
Wise Snake follows Griff, wondering if she can count on Nick or if his crisis is going to keep happening right through the channel's functionals.
Nick follows, zlinning much like usual, except for his tiredness.
Griff leads the way to the alley behind the hotel.
Griff: He's right back there.
Griff points to a moaning, muddy pile of rags curled in a corner.
Wise Snake hurries to the bee sting victim's side.
Wise Snake crouches over him, zlinning.
Griff makes sure he's close enough to get a good look.
Nick moves automatically to the proper place.
Nick: ~~ support ~~
Danishe is moaning feverishly, his face and hands (the only showing parts) grotesquely distorted by big red welts and swelling.
Danishe: The beeeeeees.... the beeeeeezzzzzzzzz [delirious]
Wise Snake: Shhh... careful, now.
Griff thinks the stings are ooky.
Griff: ~~ delight ~~
Nick helps to restrain Danishe's movements.
Wise Snake picks up the man's forearms, then drops them hastily when she realizes they have been stung so many times it will be difficult to get lateral contact without touching venom.
Wise Snake: Ucch.
Nick pulls the man's shirt away, trying to find an alternative contact spot which is in better shape.
Wise Snake unbuttons the guy's collar and feels around his neck and shoulders, finds them a safer mooring point.
Wise Snake: Ah... this'll do.
Wise Snake: Thanks, Nick.
Danishe: Nnnoo.. noo... geddem off me! [pathetic tossing]
Danishe is hallucinating crawling bees all over him, maybe because of Nick's and Snake's hands all over him.
Nick nods, and holds Danishe still.
Nick: Hold still, fellow. The bees are gone.
Nick wishes the guy was Sime, so he could use his nager for restraint.
Nick looks at the guy's arms again, and changes his mind: if he were Sime, he'd be dead.
Wise Snake asks Griff to get her a syringe and various items to combat shock and the venom.
Griff likes the idea of syringes, and eagerly digs in the satchel for the requested items.
Griff: Here!
Nick quickly inspects the proffered items.
Nick: No, the other needles.
Griff makes the substitution.
Griff: Are you gonna stick him in the guts?
Griff has a thing for guts.
Nick looks at Snake.
Nick: Do you want to do the honors, or should I?
Wise Snake: Go ahead.
Wise Snake has never been fond of sticking needles in Gen flesh.
Wise Snake avoids zlinning during the moment of insertion.
Danishe: AAaauughh... the stinging... why don't they stop... aaahhhhhhhh....
Nick assembles the syringe, fills it, holds the fields steady, and injects the antivenom in a businesslike fashion.
Danishe thinks the needle's tip was another bee sting.
Nick: Just one more sting.
Danishe: OOooouuuuuuu!!!! [moan]
Griff thinks this moan is suitably dramatic, even for him.
Wise Snake waits until Nick has accomplished the deed, then reaches for the patient again, sliding back into channel's functional mode.
Nick smoothly goes from blocking back to support.
Wise Snake zlins as the drugs take effect, using her field to work to stabilize the man's condition and assist the syringe's work.
Danishe: Crawling all over.... oh, get them off!
Danishe tries to claw the creatures off his neck and shoulders.
Nick: Shen!
Nick grabs Danishe's hands to stop the clawing.
Danishe subsides as the pain is blocked, and the itching and sick feelings start to become more manageable.
Danishe: Gahhh....
Wise Snake eventually releases Danishe.
Nick: Do we still have any of that lotion left? The one with the strong local anesthetic?
Wise Snake: Yeah, I got three tubes when I pillaged the Tecton tent.
Wise Snake: They should be in there somewhere.
Wise Snake: But this guy is going to have to be cleaned up before that'll do any good.
Wise Snake looks around for Linn, thinking she'd be a great candidate for that job.
Griff: There's a hose right over there!
Griff points to a hose coiled in a holder on the side of the hotel.
Wise Snake: Not now, Griff.
Wise Snake actually thinks that's a pretty good idea.
Wise Snake: Well, ok... bring it over.
Wise Snake thinks Linn would freak if she saw Snake, Nick and Griff hosing off a patient, but then again she's not here.
Griff uncoils the hose, turns on the water, and brings it over.
Wise Snake figures the patient isn't in a position to know what's going on anyway.
Griff 's control of the water flow is less than perfect.
Wise Snake: Nick, remove his clothes.
Wise Snake is not about to risk her laterals trying to unclothe the man while Griff is shooting water all over the place.
Nick starts stripping the clothes off of Danishe.
Wise Snake stands well back, so as not to risk any other part of her getting wet.
Danishe: Hey... hey! Whatya... oh!! OH it's cold... ow ow ow! Ohhh....
Griff stumbles on a loose cobblestone, and the water goes flying in Snake's direction.
Danishe squirms.
Danishe's yelling quiets somewhat as the cold water also numbs the bites.
Wise Snake leaps back about 10 feet.
Wise Snake: ~outraged~
Griff finally gets the water going consistently in the right direction.
Wise Snake brushes off a droplet or two that managed to touch her, with an affronted air.
Nick efficiently makes sure that the mud, excess blood and venom, and dead bees are removed from Danishe.
Danishe lays quietly in the torrent.
Nick required the bath, anyway....
Danishe is revealed to be a Gen in his early 20's, slightly overweight, with about a zillion red welts all over his body.
Nick waits until Danishe is completely revealed, then waves Griff off.
Nick: That's enough. He's clean.
Griff reluctantly backs off a bit, but retains the spurting hose in case it's required.
Nick starts to slather cream on Danish's welts.
Nick: Snake, you want to check him over one more time?
Wise Snake cautiously approaches, and zlins the patient.
Wise Snake: We can't just leave this guy in the alley. Griff, did you see anybody who knows him?
Griff: Naw.
Nick is starting to shiver in his wet clothes.
Wise Snake: Nick, you can go up and change. I'll be back after I bring this guy to the shelt... oh.
Wise Snake realizes Nick wouldn't cotton to that plan.
Wise Snake scratches her head vexedly.
Wise Snake: All right, I'll come up with you while you get changed, and Griff, can you watch and make sure nobody messes with the patient until we get back?
Nick: Phone the hotel's front desk. They'll have him taken to the Sime Center. He really ought to be where a channel can zlin him, anyway.
Wise Snake wonders if she'll ever get a chance to have that conversation with Linn.
Griff nods eagerly.
Griff: Sure!
Griff: If anybody comes to disturb him I'll...
Griff considers.
Griff: I'll squirt them with my hose!
Wise Snake: Just stay nearby and probably nobody will try anything.
Wise Snake: And try not to squirt any innocent bystanders, okay?
Wise Snake does not feel up to getting Griff out of jail again.
Griff: Aww.....
Nick repacks the satchel and gets to his feet.
Wise Snake waits for Nick, then follows.
Nick waits until they are out of Griff's earshot.
Nick: Thanks, Snake.
Wise Snake rubs the back of her neck, unwilling to voice her thoughts.
Nick climbs the stairs.
Wise Snake: [maybe unwilling isn't the right word; she just knows better than to say what she's really thinking]
Wise Snake climbs up after him.
Wise Snake is relieved to see that Linn hasn't gone anywhere, when they get back to the room.
Nick enters their room, finds a change of clothes (freshly cleaned by Linn), and retires to the bathroom to repair the damage done by search and hose.
Linn is now sewing a neat patch in Eliza's jeans.
Wise Snake may have a short attention span, but she did remember she had meant to ask Linn about working with Bum Bum... about 4 interruptions ago.
Wise Snake: Ah, Linn.
Wise Snake: We were talking about your work with Bum Bum.
Wise Snake sits down in the chair once again.
Linn: What about him?
Wise Snake: I assigned you to work with him. How is it going?
Wise Snake realizes that being propositioned by needy renSimes at the concert is a bit more memorable, but she was hoping for a bit of hard data on Bum Bum's utility as a teacher and so forth.
Linn: He hasn't complained, so I must be managing well enough.
Linn hopes so, at any rate.
Wise Snake: You had mentioned wanting to get more feedback. Has Bum Bum been able to provide that for you?
Linn: Although when I ask him for numbers, he does tend to be a bit vague.
Wise Snake: Oh?
Linn: He doesn't have much patience with the math--wants to stop halfway through the calculation.
Wise Snake: Keep in mind that Bum Bum never got to go to elementary school, much less high school, and had no First Year training either.
Linn has no real way of knowing that most channels don't want the calculation carried to seven decimal places, since most of her education on the matter came from Snake.
Wise Snake: You may have to teach him a little to get him to understand the terms you're speaking in.
Wise Snake may be underestimating Bum Bum's math skills, but probably not by far.
Linn: I know that. But he's the same way when I ask him for the raw data--he gives numbers that I know have to be off.
Wise Snake wonders if Linn has already forgotten what Snake told her about significant figures a few days ago.
Wise Snake: Do you think he knows how important the numbers are to you, Linn?
Linn: I don't know. Mostly, he seems to think they're a big joke.
Linn sees nothing funny about numbers.
Wise Snake: Ah. Well then, that may be part of the inaccuracy. But Linn, you have to remember, even if he was serious about them, his measurements would only be accurate within a certain margin of error.
Wise Snake: Nobody can zlin perfectly ideally, and Bum Bum is only a 3rd.
Wise Snake: You'll just have to accustom yourself to carrying that margin of error with your calculations.
Linn: I have been. But....
Wise Snake looks at Linn questioningly.
Linn: He notices when I take the calculations further.
Wise Snake: What do you mean?
Linn: Well, let's say I'm trying for something like this.
Linn scribbles an equation on the hotel stationary, and adjusts her nager accordingly (pretty much)
Linn: Now, according to you, he shouldn't be able to perceive the difference between that and this.
Wise Snake, who has never liked math much herself, heaves a sigh and watches patiently.
Linn skews her nager a bit, to the edge of a 3rd's threshold of perception.
Linn: But he's a lot more comfortable with the first version.
Wise Snake: Well Linn, what you were doing was just on the boundary of what a 3rd would be able to perceive. Think of it as something on your peripheral vision - annoying and there, but you can't look at it directly.
Linn nods, listening carefully.
Wise Snake: An error on that level, might distract him or make work difficult, without actually being identifiable by him.
Wise Snake: He may be attuned enough to himself, because of all the work he has done alone, to know that it is your nager making him uncomfortable.
Wise Snake: Or, it is possible that he is slightly more sensitive than you realize.
Linn frowns at the prospect.
Linn: I hate working with guesses.
Linn: Is there a way to determine his parameters more exactly?
Linn: I was able to estimate, but guesswork is no substitute for knowledge.
Wise Snake: I could test him.
Linn: ~~ gratitude ~~
Wise Snake doesn't relish having to face the prickly problem of Bum Bum head-on, which is why she hasn't spoken a word to him since his return.
Wise Snake zlins Linn's gratitude and sighs.
Wise Snake: Very well then, I'll try to find time to do it in the next few days.
Linn: Thank you.
Linn: I'd have suggested it earlier, but he seems a bit nervous about you.
Linn: I can't imagine why.
Wise Snake: It's because I told him I was going to murder him.
Linn: What?
Linn: Why did you do a thing like that?
Wise Snake makes an off-handed gesture.
Wise Snake: I gave him three choices, actually. To turn himself in to the Tecton, to work for me, or to die.
Wise Snake: Killing again was not an option.
Wise Snake tries to keep the grimness out of her eyes and voice, though she is not 100% successful.
Linn: Ah. I'd almost forgotten about... that.
Linn has been working very hard at forgetting that Bum Bum is junct, actually.
Wise Snake zlins Linn.
Wise Snake: You could probably serve him with no difficulty, Linn.
Wise Snake: If you were willing.
Wise Snake: The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.
Wise Snake: Fear kills.
Linn: And so does Bum Bum, when he gets the chance.
Linn: He... wants me, I think.
Linn: At least, he's been having trouble keeping his tentacles to himself.
Linn thinks that most of the time, he doesn't even try.
Wise Snake leans forward, looking Linn in the eye.
Wise Snake: Linn, you are a perfectly suitable match for Bum Bum, selyn-wise. It is natural for him to be attracted to you.
Wise Snake: Know that when he caresses you, or comes near to you to feel your nager, he isn't thinking of the kill. Your field is comforting him and he is seeking its shelter.
Wise Snake: Yes, he is junct, but with the right Gen serving his need, he might never kill again.
Wise Snake's look grows abruptly colder.
Wise Snake: He will never kill again in any case; I told him he would be dead before that happened.
Wise Snake: He knows I meant it.
Wise Snake only wishes she had been there to stop him from killing last month, the month he was separated from them.
Wise Snake wishes it had been that simple, instead of the shady gray of how things are now.
Linn: Well, so far, he seems to be taking your threat seriously.
Linn: And that's keeping him in line.
Linn: Whether that will continue as he gets closer to need....
Linn shrugs.
Linn: A Sime in need tends to forget everything else.
Linn: And if I'm understanding it correctly, Bum Bum doesn't just need selyn.
Wise Snake: Linn, what his need turns into can be controlled by you.
Wise Snake: It is possible for the right Companion to keep a junct channel satisfied for life.
Linn: How?
Wise Snake: Do you understand? It is not random. Your nager controls his. No part of his existence can happen without your permission, either actual or ignorant.
Linn sighs.
Linn: That's the problem, isn't it?
Wise Snake: Linn, that is so far beyond where you are now. You aren't even willing to consider transfer. How can you ask how to serve somebody for life?
Wise Snake: And yes, until and unless you learn actual control, it is what you are ignorant of that will cause the trouble.
Wise Snake: Look... a junct seeks Gen fear and pain. But a channel isn't a renSime. A channel has enough self-control to avoid killing unless the Gen forces it upon him.
Wise Snake: The Gen might force it upon him by ignorance, especially if it is a weak channel like Bum Bum.
Linn: That requires one additional factor:
Linn: Bum Bum may be able to prevent himself form killing, at least under some circumstances.
Linn: But how much does he really want to do so?
Wise Snake considers the question.
Wise Snake finally sighs.
Wise Snake: I think it is most easily defined this way: Bum Bum would prefer never to kill again. However, it has happened so many times now that he cannot see the dead as dead people, but as accidents.
Wise Snake: Lessons learned.
Wise Snake: Something not to try next time when he attempts to train another.
Wise Snake: But you see, Bum Bum never had somebody with real Donor potential to work with, not until I assigned him Eliza.
Wise Snake: He was working with people who were just regular Gens off the street.
Linn: Like me.
Wise Snake: No. Not like you. You have had a good deal of training that the Gen on the street has never had.
Linn: ~~ confusion ~~
Linn: But I only started working with him a few days ago.
Wise Snake: Do you realize, you actually have every skill and every physical attribute required to serve a 3rd Order channel? Everything except the will to do so.
Wise Snake: I'm talking about the training you have had since the first days we knew each other.
Linn tries to recall such training.
Wise Snake: It started with my touching your arms. Then I drew your selyn. You came to feel it when I did so. Your production was coaxed upward. Do you not remember this?
Wise Snake: I asked you if you would serve Fise once, long ago, and you refused.
Wise Snake: I believed you capable of it then.
Wise Snake: Fise was no junct, but he was a channel comparable to Bum Bum.
Linn: Snake, I don't know.
Wise Snake: But you remember?
Wise Snake stares at Linn intensely.
Linn: Yes, I remember.
Wise Snake: Since then you have received more training.
Wise Snake: You have learned how to control your field to match equations you have known for months.
Wise Snake: It is only a matter of time before that control becomes second nature to you.
Wise Snake: When we first met you didn't even understand that your nager does affect Simes.
Wise Snake: You have come so far, Linn.
Linn: I hadn't thought of it that way.
Linn: ~~ thoughtful ~~
Linn: If I had some confidence that Bum Bum really would try not to make me his next "accident"....
Wise Snake: Perhaps you ought to get to know Bum Bum better. Ask him how he feels about the kill.
Wise Snake: I think you will find that his cavalier attitude about the past is a very thin facade.
Wise Snake: Nobody wants to kill, Linn. Not now. Bum Bum was born years after Unity, just like I was.
Wise Snake: His first kill was an accident, and because his family shunned the law in all its aspects, he was kept away from getting the help he could have used, he was kept away from disjunction.
Linn listens carefully.
Wise Snake: A criminal raised by criminals, surrounded by criminals. His kills have all been criminals, of course. Where is there room, in that, for a person to break free?
Wise Snake: If he went to the Tecton, they'd lock him in a camp, where he'd die horribly.
Linn thinks over what little she's learned about juncts and junctedness.
Wise Snake: I think, after listening to him, you should ask yourself whether you have it in you, the compassion in you, to offer your selyn to someone simply because they need you, not because of what their surroundings made of them in the beginning.
Wise Snake: It is compassion that will one day overrule your fear.
Linn: That--or kill me.
Linn: Everything I've seen and read suggests that giving transfer for the first time is dangerous for all concerned.
Wise Snake: Linn, compassion cannot kill you. It can only get you into trouble. Fear is the killer. Fear.
Wise Snake: Still, despite the fact that your body is physically capable of giving transfer, you carry fear within you by choice.
Wise Snake: You know the math, Linn. Fear closes off your pathways, forcing the Sime to fight for his life.
Wise Snake: If you succeed in closing them all the way, the Sime is shenned and he dies.
Wise Snake: If you only close them partially, he burns you, and you die.
Wise Snake: You must, must conquer your fear.
Linn: I know. And if I can't trust myself, how can I ask Bum Bum to do so?
Wise Snake doesn't think Linn would have to ask Bum Bum.
Linn: He'd be as much at risk as me.
Wise Snake: I am prepared to offer you an interim step.
Linn: Oh?
Wise Snake: Bum Bum can live off channel's transfer for a little while, shen knows he did it for a while before.
Wise Snake: In the meantime, when I take down your field at end of the month, allow me to simulate the flow speed and draw characteristics of a Third Order junct channel.
Wise Snake: It will not be the same; not the same at all, so far as the sharing of pleasure and the experiencing of your partner's bliss. However, it may serve to reassure you that you are physically capable of it.
Wise Snake: Perhaps it could be done more than once, if you felt it necessary.
Linn: ~~ initial nervousness, fading with consideration ~~
Linn: That... might be worth trying.
Linn's nager gradually brightens with hope.
Wise Snake: Even if you failed, it would allow me to assess what might be done to help you improve further.
Wise Snake: But I don't think you would fail. I think you are ready.
Wise Snake: [firmly, reassuringly]
Linn falls under the sway of the famous Farris charisma.
Wise Snake then looks up.
Wise Snake: Shen, and Nick says I spend a long time in the bathroom.
Nick opens the bathroom door and clears his throat apologetically.
Nick: You seemed occupied.
Nick politely doesn't point out that the bathroom has excellent nageric shielding, but lousy soundproofing.
Nick has taken advantage of the delay to brush hair, teeth, and clothing.
Wise Snake is pretty scummy.
Nick: Shall we go and remove our patient to the shelter before Griff drowns too many passersby?
Wise Snake jumps up in alarm.
Wise Snake: Yes, we'd better.
Nick waves at Linn, then follows Snake out the door.
Wise Snake curses herself for getting so wrapped up in the conversation with Linn that she forgot all about a patient.
Wise Snake later, though, as they hurry down the stairs, is glad they had that talk.