Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Two Roads Diverged Scenario
Episode #61: A Gutsy Decision (8/13/98)
Griff bounces into the hotel room.
Wise Snake is lounging in a [really uncomfortable] chair, reading the local newspaper.
Griff: I just saw a cat playing with a mouse!
Griff: Threw it right across the road.
Wise Snake: Huh... "Noted Achambo philanthropist dies, leaving hidden fortune buried in..."
Wise Snake looks up.
Griff: ~~ enthusiasm for this ooky event ~~
Wise Snake: Don't tell me you've never seen a cat playing with a mouse before?
Griff: And then a wagon ran over the cat.
Wise Snake: Ah.
Wise Snake thinks that would explain the enthusiasm.
Wise Snake: Shouldn't you be working with Tanzarra?
Nick is reading the classifieds by default, since Snake appropriated the other section.
Griff frowns.
Wise Snake looks at Griff inquiringly.
Griff: She and Eliza went off without me.
Griff: They don't like me.
Wise Snake: I see.
Wise Snake doesn't actually see exactly, but she has some idea of why someone might ditch Griff.
Wise Snake: Here... sit down over here, Griff.
Wise Snake offers him her chair.
Griff sits.
Griff: All I did was tell Eliza what color her guts were.
Griff is unable to comprehend not being interested in such a vital piece of information.
Griff: She didn't believe me about the green stuff.
Wise Snake moves over to the bed, which is much more comfortable.
Wise Snake: So, ah, Griff, how have you been doing lately? We haven't talked much recently.
Griff wiggles on the uncomfortable chair.
Griff: It's not like working in the hospital.
Wise Snake studies Griff.
Wise Snake: Did you like working in the hospital, Griff?
Griff: Yeah!
Wise Snake smiles.
Griff: It was ooky, and there were things for me to do.
Wise Snake: Well, you get to see some ooky things now, don't you?
Griff: Well, some.
Griff: ~~ discontent ~~
Wise Snake: Well, you know, there comes a time in every man's life when he must make a choice between two roads.
Griff: But there isn't much to do. You have Nick to help you, and Tanzarra has Eliza.
Wise Snake ignores the fact that Griff has never even had a close brush with manhood, much less achieved it yet.
Griff: Even Mr. Bum Bum hasn't wanted me to help him since he started being friends with Miz Haskins.
Wise Snake: I think this is one of those times for you, Griff.
Griff can't fathom why anybody would choose to hang out with such a non-ooky person as Linn.
Wise Snake realizes Griff is not paying any attention to her whatsoever.
Wise Snake: Griff. [sternly]
Griff looks at Snake sullenly.
Wise Snake: You're going to have to make a choice now, and depending on how your pick, your future could be really interesting or really boring.
Wise Snake: Only you know the answer to this, but you'll have to think about it carefully.
Wise Snake: We can't help you decide this.
Griff: ~~ slight interest ~~
Griff: Decide what?
Wise Snake: Where you'll go from here.
Wise Snake: You've been around working channels for a few months now, so you should have a pretty good idea of what it is we do.
Griff is a bit confused, since no one has consulted him about the group's itinerary before.
Griff: Yeah.
Wise Snake: But you're right, you haven't been used that much, and it's because you don't yet have the skills that could make you really useful around our work.
Wise Snake: So one of your choices is you could take the next step, and learn what it takes to become a nurse, or maybe a Donor.
Wise Snake: Then you could work all the time.
Griff: Like I did in the hospital?
Wise Snake: Like that, only you'd have a lot more responsibility. You'd have to help keep people alive, and make important decisions, and know a lot about medicines and human anatomy.
Wise Snake: Sort of like those doctors you saw in the hospital.
Griff: ~~ eagerness ~~
Griff: I already know all the guts and things in that book you gave me.
Wise Snake: OK, but that isn't your only choice.
Wise Snake: That's only if you wanted to stay with us. But also you could break off from us. Stay in Achambo, or some other town that you like, or even go back to Eastcove.
Wise Snake: You could go to Gen Territory and get a job in a slaughterhouse, and do nothing but chop guts out and move them around with your bare hands, all day.
Griff thinks about it.
Griff: But there's no ooky tentacles in Gen Territory.
Wise Snake: I mean, let's face it. If your main goal in life is to look at guts, then a slaughterhouse floor will be the pinnacle of your existence.
Wise Snake: And after all, being a nurse or a Donor is a hell of a lot of work. You'd have to be careful a lot, and you'd be tired a lot, and you'd have to keep learning things every day.
Wise Snake: Worst of all, you'd have to keep working with Eliza and Tanzarra, because I'd tell them they aren't allowed to ditch you anymore.
Wise Snake: If you went and worked at some stinking slaughterhouse, it might be boring as shen, your brain would turn to yoghurt within a year or two, and you'd be stuck at that dead end for the rest of your existence, but at least you'd be able to look at ooky stuff all the time.
Griff contemplates the subtle torture of having Eliza and Tanzarra be forced to interact with him, under penalty of Snake's anger.
Wise Snake: [there may be an element of reverse psychology in Snake's speech... after all it would be no skin off her nose if Griff took off for Gen Territory]
Griff thinks that would be more fun than torturing his sister.
Wise Snake zlins Griff as he slowly thinks it through and thinks it's no wonder the rest of his family is in the military.
Griff reflects that the slaughterhouse option will always be available, but Snake's offer probably won't.
Griff: I wanna work with Tanzarra and Eliza.
Wise Snake: Huh.
Wise Snake wasn't expecting exactly that response.
Wise Snake: Really?
Wise Snake: What do you like about working with those two?
Wise Snake hopes this will provide insight into what motivates Griff.
Griff: Well, they're not as ooky as Mr. Bum Bum, but he hasn't talked to me since you told Miz Haskins to work with him.
Griff misses the ook he shared with Bum Bum at the Gen hospital.
Wise Snake: Ah, I see, well... Griff, Bum Bum is going through an awfully hard time right now, and he requires some help that only Linn can give him. I'm sure he will be much more friendly in a few months when that's all been straightened out.
Griff: I hope so. I liked his statue.
Wise Snake: .... his statue?
Griff: Yeah. With the lady on it.
Wise Snake has no idea what Griff is talking about.
Wise Snake: OK, well, are you sure you don't want to think about this for a day or two, or is your mind made up?
Griff: And he had some really ooky pictures on the wall of his house.
Wise Snake thinks Griff is a little bit feather-brained for her tastes.
Wise Snake waits patiently.
Griff: If I can't work with Mr. Bum Bum, I want to work with Tanzarra and Eliza.
Wise Snake: OK.
Wise Snake: How about you and I go down to the university and buy you some books?
Wise Snake plans to start Griff's training pronto.
Griff: What kind of books?
Wise Snake is sick of having him around underfoot and figures this will either make him useful or drive him away.
Griff: Do they have pictures like the other one you gave me?
Wise Snake: Oh, yes.
Wise Snake: And the ones without pictures have really, really detailed descriptions.
Wise Snake rises.
Griff: ~~ eagerness for ook ~~
Wise Snake: You coming, Nick?
Wise Snake: [rhetorical question]
Griff jumps up off the uncomfortable chair.
Wise Snake climbs up off the comfy bed.
Nick has already grabbed the medicine satchel.
Griff dances out the door in front of Snake and Nick.
Wise Snake hails a cab outside the hotel.
Griff piles into the cab eagerly, hoping for a Bender Cove type ride.
Wise Snake directs the driver to the university and appropriates the best seat.
Nick is glad that Snake chose to ride, rather than hiking over, with attendant stops to pursue healing or other business.
Nick sits next to Snake, leaving Griff the facing seat.
Wise Snake: This town is much tamer with that concert gone. [remarks]
Wise Snake: I guess most of the trouble must have been from out of town.
Nick: Yes. Fewer addicts tripping over their own feet.
Wise Snake: We really should have considered trailing the band.
Nick is concerned about the drop in business.
Wise Snake: It would be pretty much constant work, after all.
Nick: Where did they go, anyway?
Wise Snake: Probably see a lot of the same patients over and over, so keeping records would be possible.
Wise Snake realizes that one could also insert oneself in the drug sales loop somewhere as well, probably with quite lucrative results.
Wise Snake: I don't know.
Nick: And with the confusion, the Tecton wouldn't be keeping close track of stray channels.
Wise Snake: Ah! Here we are.
Wise Snake: Everybody out.
Wise Snake jumps out of the cab and pays the driver.
Nick and Griff pile out behind her.
Wise Snake marches into the bookstore and immediately heads over to the "Channelling, Donoring, Surgical, Arcane, and Esoteric Studies" section.
Wise Snake: Hmm... quite a grab bag here.
Nick takes the opportunity to browse the section.
Wise Snake starts pulling books off the shelf and handing them to Griff.
Nick reaches for a small, tattered volume.
Nick: Hmm, this might interest Linn.
Wise Snake: Let's see... "Nonviolent Restraint of Gen and Sime patients".
Nick shows Snake a copy of "Junctedness: A Mathematical Analysis".
Wise Snake: Oh, good grief.
Wise Snake: Linn needs to find her heart, not read more books.
Griff grunts under the increasing weight of his stack.
Wise Snake: Here you go, Griff. [Sets "Bacteria and Antibacterials", "Sanitation in Wartime Conditions", and "10 Steps to Health and Sturdiness in Gens" on top of the others]
Griff has unfortunately not had time to apply said 10 steps, and almost drops the stack.
Wise Snake zlins Griff's swaying form to determine whether there are enough books to give him a thorough workout without damaging him permanently.
Wise Snake: Ah... that should be enough to start with.
Wise Snake: When you finish those ten, I'll buy you some more.
Wise Snake: You'll have to build up your strength, Griff, so that you can help lift and move patients.
Wise Snake proceeds to the cash register.
Griff: Mglurf!
Griff is hidden behind the stack.
Nick eyes Griff's stack for stability, and decides that it's not quite ready to fall.
Wise Snake: Allow me, Griff.
Wise Snake takes the stack from Griff and puts it on the counter.
Griff pants in relief.
Wise Snake pulls out a wad of cash and looks expectantly at the clerk.
Clerk looks at the dubious stack of outdated texts.
Wise Snake: Is there a problem?
Clerk starts adding up the prices quickly, before the wad of cash disappears.
Wise Snake looks between the books and the clerk.
Clerk: Not at all.
Clerk: Doing a little home study?
Wise Snake: Griff is.
Wise Snake indicates the Gen, then realizes he is out of sight behind the stack.
Clerk well knows that none of these books are required for a current class.
Clerk: Ah.
Clerk is just able to zlin Griff around the insulation of the paper.
Wise Snake looks at the clerk again, wondering if she zlins like somebody who'd be reading these books.
Clerk is more into gardening, actually.
Clerk has in fact been pulling so many weeds that her hands are covered with grass cuts.
Wise Snake's eyes drift down to the hands.
Griff opens the book on wartime sanitation and thumbs through it, looking for pictures of casualties.
Nick follows Snake's gaze to the clerk's hands.
Wise Snake: How much did you say that will be?
Nick adjusts his nager to block the interfering fields from the other customers.
Wise Snake licks her lips and prepares to peel off the first bill, eyes still on the clerk's hands.
Clerk names the figure, which isn't too bad, for textbooks.
Wise Snake counts the bills into the clerk's hands one at a time, and maintaining excellent discipline, manages to heal the hands while counting it out.
Wise Snake: Five hundred, a thousand. [finishes]
Wise Snake: There.
Wise Snake takes the books and hands them back to Griff.
Clerk rapidly recounts, noting vaguely that her hands have stopped hurting so much.
Clerk: Do you want a bag for those?
Wise Snake: Hmm... no, I think that'll make them too slippery. But thank you.
Wise Snake wouldn't want Griff to throw his back out on the way home.
Clerk: Have a good day.
Clerk turns to the next customer in line.
Griff grunts as the books land in his arms again, and staggers after Snake and Nick.
Wise Snake marches out of the store.
Wise Snake starts laughing when she gets out.
Nick grins.
Nick: I don't think she even noticed.
Griff bumps into a stray hitching post, being unable to see where he is going, and yelps as "Nonviolent Restraint" mashes his lip against his teeth.
Griff tastes the metallic taste of blood.
Wise Snake sees the problem and removes the top three books, slipping them into Griff's backpack, leaving the stack short enough to be seen over.
Griff stands straighter as the backpack hauls him backwards.
Nick eyes the passing students.
Nick: Healthy bunch, at this school.
Wise Snake: How much do you bet the Tecton types were swarming the school, in an attempt to look busy and avoid getting sent to the concert?
Wise Snake: There probably isn't a student here that hasn't been examined three times in the last week.
Nick nods, then perks up as an extremely jittery young man crosses their path.
Nick: Is that some sort of nervous disorder?
Nick: ~~ hopeful ~~
Nick: Or just an overdose of caffeine?
Wise Snake zlins the guy.
Wise Snake: Hmmm....
Wise Snake: I'd say it's fear.
Wise Snake: Maybe he has a big date, or an exam or something.
Nick: Oh.
Nick: ~~ disappointment ~~