Sime/Gen Roleplaying: Two Roads Diverged Scenario
Episode #93: Flattery will Get you Nowhere (9/26/98)
Nick follows Riyyh to his office.
Riyyh offers Nick a chair and sits down at his desk.
Riyyh is worried about Nick, as the Donor seems extremely unhappy with his situation, yet seems to think the situation is unresolvable.
Nick plops down tiredly, feeling the effects of two days largely without food and sleep.
Riyyh: This should be a little more private for you.
Riyyh hopes the pillow and blanket are still in the closet in case Nick falls asleep on him.
Nick: I suppose so..
Riyyh: Would you like any trin?
Riyyh has to make some anyway, since the stuff he brought from the dining hall is cold.
Nick remembers that he's a guest, and tries to be, if not sociable, at least vaguely polite.
Nick: If you're making some.
Riyyh gets up and sets about the making of the tea, one of Naros' finer homegrown blends.
Riyyh: Nick, I'm very concerned about you.
Riyyh: A Donor in your position should not be having uncertainties this great.
Nick: Most independent, haphazardly trained Donors serving rogue, pain-addicted Farris channels don't have these problems?
Nick: ~~ honest curiosity ~~
Nick: How to they avoid them?
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh is not used to dealing with Donors capable of veiling sarcasm with "honest curiosity" a First can't zlin through.
Riyyh: Nick, do you really want to be in the situation you're in?
Nick: No. Snake keeps drifting farther and farther away from me, and I can't seem to do anything about it.
Nick: It's tearing me apart.
Riyyh turns back to Nick, his concern and empathy written all over his face.
Riyyh: Have you talked to her about this?
Nick: Every time I get close to the subject, she says she's too busy, and that she shouldn't have to waste time on an unhappy Donor.
Nick: ~~ glum ~~
Riyyh turns back to the tea, feeling a stab of guilt as he suspects that it's taking care of his own dirty work that has kept her "too busy".
Riyyh thinks it's only fair that he try to help Nick in return.
Riyyh brings Nick a cup and sits down in a chair near him.
Nick takes the cup.
Nick: Thank you.
Riyyh: How long has this been going on, Nick?
Riyyh: [gently]
Riyyh: How long as the problem been this serious?
Nick: Well, we had some differences of opinion even back in Bender Cove, but it's gotten much worse since we took to the road.
Nick: Entran sets off her temper, and the drugs she sneaks for it set off mine, I'm afraid.
Riyyh: I see.
Nick: Sometimes she's seemed glad of my help, but I honestly don't know if she likes me at all. As opposed to depending on me for her life.
Riyyh nods sympathetically.
Riyyh sips his tea.
Nick: And I suppose I depend on her as well. When she disappeared for a week, a while back, and we couldn't find her--it hurt to be without her.
Nick realizes that he's still holding his own tea, and lifts it to drink.
Riyyh: So you are committed to working this out?
Nick swallows.
Riyyh looks up at Nick, his gray eyes serious.
Nick: I suppose so. What's that they say about stubborn women? "Can't live with them, can't live without them"?
Riyyh finds Nick's flippancy disheartening.
Nick: I couldn't go back to living without a channel, and I can't go to the Tecton any more than Snake can.
Riyyh: I wish you the best of luck.
Nick tries to smile, and it comes out more of a grimace.
Riyyh: But if you are not as committed as you say, there are other options.
Nick: What?
Riyyh: If you're having doubts about staying in Hajene Farris' service, there are other options to consider, than the Tecton.
Nick: You mean the Distect?
Nick: The ones who wrote Eliza's book?
Riyyh almost smiles.
Riyyh attempts a small chuckle.
Riyyh: Ah, Nick, the Distect would be no more pleasant for you than simply living in the general public under the Tecton.
Riyyh: Unless you happened upon a Distect First.
Riyyh: And they, for the most part, are married for life.
Nick: Oh.
Riyyh: [you really have to wonder how Riyyh knows so much about the Distect don't you?]
Riyyh: But there are Householdings.
Riyyh: Like Naros.
Nick: Naros?
Riyyh studies Nick.
Nick studies Riyyh in return.
Riyyh: We are only peripherally associated with the Tecton. And, we are short of a high order Donor at this time.
Riyyh appears to be perfectly serious.
Nick: Are you offering me Mytag's job?
Nick finds that a little difficult to believe.
Riyyh: No, I'm offering you Ruby's job.
Riyyh: Ruby's... place.
Nick: But why? Forgive me, Sectuib Riyyh, but you don't require a Donor of my speed or capacity.
Riyyh: True, but where else will I find someone suitable? Other than being better connected, I am essentially in the same position you are.
Riyyh: I can offer you physical and financial stability, a clean and safe environment, and of course my complete and undying devotion.
Riyyh: And should you choose to start and raise a family, Naros is an ideal place for that.
Nick: You're serious.
Nick: ~~ amazement ~~
Riyyh raises his brows.
Riyyh: I realize that as a channel, I do not have as much to offer as your Hajene Farris.
Riyyh: However, I am indeed sincere, and serious, in what I can offer.
Nick looks into his tea.
Nick: I--I just don't know.
Nick: If I left Snake, that might as well be murder.
Nick: But I can't go on like this, either.
Riyyh: Nick, it isn't murder if it's her decision whether to go back or not. [softly]
Riyyh: You can't put yourself in a position where you're more responsible for her survival than she is, it isn't fair to yourself.
Riyyh: And if you do, then how can you be concerned for your own happiness at all?
Nick: The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Nick: Although succeeding at both may be.
Riyyh finds speaking with Nick exhausting.
Riyyh: Well, it is what you make of it.
Riyyh: I hope that you will consider my offer.
Riyyh: And in the meantime, I hope you will talk to Hajene Farris about this.
Riyyh: Not just 'coming close' as you said before, but speak with her seriously about what you've been thinking of lately.
Riyyh: It's entirely possible she has no idea how frustrated you've become.
Nick wonders how Snake could possibly not know what he's feeling--he's not that good, is he?
Nick: I'll talk to her. And if we can't work things out... well, I'll at least seriously consider your offer.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Riyyh pushes the untouched pastry in Nick's direction.
Riyyh: Would you like this?
Nick finds himself suddenly starving.
Nick reaches for the pastry, then pauses.
Nick: You really should have breakfast yourself, you know.
Riyyh: Yes, but you haven't eaten in... well it must be at least a day!
Riyyh zlins Nick.
Riyyh: ~concern~
Nick gives in and takes the pastry.
Nick: Well, as long as you remember to eat some lunch.
Nick devours the food in large bites.
Riyyh: Yes, of course, I will be sure to do that.
Nick finishes the pastry and stands.
Nick: Thank you for your advice and concern, Sectuib Riyyh.
Riyyh stands also.
Riyyh: I hope you feel better soon, Nick.
Riyyh: ~sincere~
Riyyh: Please come and talk to me any time you feel you'd like to. And it doesn't have to be about my offer.
Nick: I will.
Nick leaves and goes down the hall.
Hero bounces up to Nick as soon as he leaves Riyyh's office.
Hero: Sosu Nick! Sosu Nick!
Hero has a big grin on her face.
Nick stops and looks at Hero.
Nick: Hello, Hero.
Hero is a 12 year old Donor.
Hero: Is he in there??
Hero: What did he say?
Hero: What did you guys talk about?
Hero: I heard that you were leaving Wise Snake.
Hero: Wow!
Hero: Is it really true!
Hero: I would give anything to be his Donor.
Hero: ~~swoon~~
Hero: Well?
Nick: Umm, Hero, don't you think that you should get your facts straight before you spread stories?
Hero: OK, tell me then!
Hero bounces up and down in anticipation.
Nick: Hero, there's nothing to tell yet.
Hero: Oh wow! So you're thinking about it!!
Hero is enthused by the word "yet" which implies the subject did come under discussion.
Hero: Did he beg you?
Hero: Everybody will want to know!
Nick realizes that he got suckered into providing information.
Hero: He wouldn't have to beg me.
Hero: I think Sectuib is the sweetest man alive.
Hero: ~~swoon swoon swoon~~
Nick: Well, "everybody" will have to wait, because right now, there's nothing to know.
Nick: Which means you, young lady, should attend to your own business and let matters take their course.
Nick has a vague suspicion that this won't really do much to stop the rumor mill, which just proves that he's totally ignorant of Naros--it will actually increase the rumors by several orders of magnitude!
Hero grins from ear to ear.
Hero: OK Sosu Nick.
Hero turns and runs off as fast as she can.
Nick continues down the hall, and pauses outside the door to Snake's commandeered office.
Nick listens.
Nick hears nothing, so opens the door and slips in, keeping his nager neutral.
Wise Snake is hunched over the desk forging a document.
Wise Snake looks up briefly without breaking her concentration.
Wise Snake: Ah, there you are.
Nick wonders if Snake even noticed he was gone.
Nick goes over and peers over her shoulder to see what she's working on.
Nick raises an eyebrow.
Nick: Isn't that a little extreme, even for you?
Wise Snake finishes a bit of careful lettering, then looks up.
Wise Snake: Perhaps, but the situation seems to call for it.
Wise Snake seems unconcerned with the extremity, or lack thereof, of forging the District Controller's signature on a document that calls for immediate transfer of two Second Order channels and three Third Order Donors to Naros from nearby Sime Centers.
Nick: I hadn't realized that the infirmary was so overwhelmed.
Nick: Or is Riyyh getting those new people in already?
Wise Snake: Yes, we have a preliminary list of who is going to be leaving the Householding, and I am taking steps to secure the technical people, at least, as soon as possible.
Wise Snake: Riyyh is dealing with the recruitment of lay people to fill the spots of the other missing members.
Nick: How many are staying?
Wise Snake pauses.
Wise Snake: Well, nearly everybody is staying, it's just the extreme cases who are going.
Wise Snake: Needless to say, there was a higher percentage of extreme cases among channels and other educated people, than among the rest.
Nick: I see.
Nick: Which channels are leaving?
Wise Snake sighs and puts down her pen.
Wise Snake: Erbish and Tia-Lan.
Nick: Brown hair? And gray eyes?
Wise Snake: I think so... I don't know.
Wise Snake shrugs in exasperation. She rarely pays attention to such details.
Nick: You would think that there would be more channels and Donors among Riyyh's offspring.
Wise Snake: I think the majority of these Gens have never been tested for Donor potential.
Wise Snake: Riyyh seems less than willing to cooperate with the Tecton on the matter of training.
Wise Snake: As for channels, there seem to have been a reasonable number produced.
Wise Snake: Tictoc and Wolfa being obvious examples.
Nick: He may not have a choice, if Tecton channels are invited in to help with the work.
Wise Snake gives Nick a stare.
Wise Snake: Who says Tecton channels are being invited in to "help with the work"?
Nick points to the forged document on the desk.
Wise Snake: Oh.
Nick: The "District Controller".
Wise Snake: Ah yes, but the Tecton doesn't know that.
Wise Snake: By the time anybody has caught on, they will have pledged and be retired from service to the Tecton.
Wise Snake: It's a dirty trick, I know, but Riyyh insisted upon no direct Tecton involvement and where else was I going to get two channels? Aside from Bum Bum and Tanzarra, of course.
Nick: Riyyh seemed rather nervous about letting Bum Bum near his members.
Nick: And he's not what one might call stable, particularly so close to need.
Wise Snake: I'm not prepared to let them go anyway.
Wise Snake: But these people have all expressed an interest in being allowed to pledge. So, if they prove compatible, it should work out well for Naros.
Wise Snake: Riyyh gave me the names and I told him I would handle getting them here.
Nick looks at the forged document again.
Nick: Somehow, I doubt he was thinking along those lines.
Wise Snake: Oh?
Wise Snake wonders how Nick became such an expert on what Riyyh is thinking.
Wise Snake looks from the document to Nick.
Nick: He doesn't seem the type to indulge in forgery.
Wise Snake: Why do you think he asked me to take care of it?
Wise Snake: I've been doing his laundry for days now.
Wise Snake: Admittedly he didn't specify this method, but this seemed the surest way to get them all assigned here at once.
Wise Snake thinks, and the fastest.
Nick: Well....It'll probably work, at least short term.
Wise Snake has been thinking along the lines of getting out of Naros as soon as possible.
Nick: After that, it'll be Riyyh's job to keep them.
Wise Snake: If they've retired, they've retired.
Wise Snake shrugs and sets the forged letter aside to be mated with the accompanying transfer documentation later.
Nick tries to remember what, if anything, he learned about retirement policies during his two weeks of official Tecton training.
Wise Snake: Anyway, they'll have received these Naros people who are probably better channels and Donors anyway.
Nick: Well, in that case, the local Controller might just keep her mouth shut and pretend that the proper paperwork was lost.
Nick: And conveniently forget to tell the District offices that she had them.
Nick: After all, without proper files, they can't be reassigned.
Wise Snake shrugs once again.
Wise Snake figures the details aren't important... so long as she delivers Naros to Riyyh in some believeably maintainable condition, she is not going to consider anything after that to be her problem.
Nick decides to risk lead poisoning and bite the bullet.
Nick figures that if a similar question from Riyyh got him thinking about his relationship with Snake, it might get Snake thinking, too.
Nick: Snake, if you had your choice of Donors, who would you want?
Nick studies Snake closely as he waits for an answer to the question.
Wise Snake looks at him oddly.
Wise Snake: Nick... you're the only one who comes close to matching me.
Wise Snake: It would have to be you even if you weren't already mine.
Wise Snake wonders if Nick is feeling in secure about his place with her.
Wise Snake zlins Nick curiously
Nick: I know that, but what do you really want in a Donor?
Nick: ~~ very serious ~~
Wise Snake wonders what this is about.
Wise Snake: What do I really want in a Donor?
Nick: Yes.
Wise Snake: Well, aside from being somebody with the physical qualifications to keep me alive each month, I want somebody I can count on to be there for me, someone who is loyal and hard working and does what I ask.
Wise Snake: But you do all that, Nick.
Wise Snake: It'd be great to have two, to have a backup like Rapol, but you are doing a good job yourself.
Nick maintains control over his nager, as he notes that there in nothing in Snake's description to distinguish her description of the perfect Donor from a well trained dog (nageric qualifications aside).
Nick: I see.
Wise Snake notices that Nick is maintaining a strict control over his nager and pries to find out what he's hiding.
Nick: You haven't seemed very happy with my services lately.
Nick manages to say "services" without flinching, barely.
Nick: ~~ disciplined calm overlying deep discontent and unhappiness ~~
Nick: In fact, there have been times when I've wondered if I'm doing any good by staying with you.
Wise Snake's expression becomes one of alarm.
Wise Snake: What!!
Wise Snake: What makes you think I'm unsatisfied with your services as a Donor?
Nick: It seems like half the time, you'd rather go without than ask me for help.
Wise Snake: Nick, I use you as much as I can, but a Gen requires 8 hours of sleep a night!
Wise Snake: Don't be unreasonable, here.
Wise Snake: I want you by my side while you're awake.
Nick: Do you? It doesn't seem to make you happy to have me there.
Wise Snake is starting to look extremely stressed out.
Wise Snake: Well I can't always be happy, Nick. Having you there is better than not having you there.
Nick: A lot of the time, you act as if you'd rather I went away, if I could leave my nager behind.
Wise Snake: Good grief, Nick!
Wise Snake: What is that supposed to mean!!
Wise Snake thinks of Nick and his Nager as one inextricable unit.
Wise Snake: You are your nager!
Nick: No, I'm a person who happens to live in the same body as that nager.
Nick: Just as Snake Farris is more than an unusually sensitive secondary system.
Nick: My nager and your systems seem to get along reasonably well, but sometimes I wonder if Snake Farris even likes Nick Reckage.
Nick: I thought she did, for a while, but, well, I'm not so sure, now .
Wise Snake appears at a loss for words.
Wise Snake: But....
Wise Snake: I'm sorry, Nick, I don't understand what you're saying.
Wise Snake: I like you just fine, I need you. Isn't that enough?
Nick collapses into a chair.
Nick: I know you need me, and I don't want to live without a channel. It's just that sometimes I wonder if we spend more time driving each other crazy than helping each other.
Wise Snake: Like right now?
Wise Snake: [helplessly]
Nick: Well, now that you mention it, yes.
Nick: I've been spending some time with Riyyh these past few days, while Mytag is so preoccupied.
Wise Snake: You have?
Wise Snake had been wondering where Nick was.
Nick: He isn't half the channel you are, but he's... comfortable to work with..
Wise Snake stares at Nick in lack of comprehension.
Wise Snake: You're not saying that...?
Wise Snake stops because what she was about to suggest makes no sense whatsoever... especially in light of how Nick had reacted to the idea of her going elsewhere for her post reaction.
Wise Snake: What are you saying?
Nick: He's asked me to join Naros as his Companion.
Wise Snake: What?!
Wise Snake: ~~fury~~
Wise Snake leaps up.
Wise Snake: Don't tell me you're considering it!
Nick reaches out with his nager to stop the incipient Riyyhcide--or maybe Nickicide.
Wise Snake: Don't touch me!
Wise Snake backs away from Nick.
Nick: Snake, Riyyh couldn't come close to satisfying me in transfer, and I hate rutabagas.
Wise Snake: After all I've done for him... and after that scene you pulled over my post reaction!
Wise Snake is in a perfect rage.
Wise Snake: That's it, we're leaving here tonight.
Wise Snake: I don't care if Riyyh ends up buried under his own people. It's not good for us to be here.
Nick actually had considered the offer, but stopped doing so when he got close enough to Snake to respond to her nager.
Wise Snake looks around at the desk, figures out nothing of hers is actually there, then storms out of the office.
Wise Snake comes back in.
Wise Snake: You are coming with, aren't you?
Nick looks at Snake for a long moment.
Nick: Yes, I am.
Nick follows Snake from the office.
Wise Snake turns and leaves the Administration building.
Go on to Episode #94: Overreaction
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