Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #92: Look, Ma... No Worm! (1/7/99)
Racknie enters the administrative building, carefully carrying a large box.
Racknie is an almost Sime-thin Gen, still gawky with an adolescence that never quite finished.
Racknie signals in front of Riyyh's ofice.
Riyyh is staring dreamily into space, wearing a gentle smile and looking kind of sparkly eyed.
Riyyh blinks as his reverie is broken.
Riyyh: Come in!
Riyyh straightens some papers on his desk as if he'd been getting something done.
Riyyh has in fact not gotten anything done all morning.
Racknie awkwardly tries to free a hand to open the door without dropping his box.
Racknie flares ~~ alarm ~~ as the box almost spills.
Riyyh zlins the difficulty and gets up to assist.
Racknie: Thank you, Sectuib.
Racknie: You sent a note asking how the new varieties were shaping up....
Racknie: I brought you some samples.
Riyyh: Oh, how nice.
Riyyh: Please, come in.
Riyyh ushers Racknie inside.
Racknie puts the box on Riyyh's desk and pats it proudly.
Racknie: You look very well, Sectuib.
Riyyh resumes his seat.
Riyyh: Thank you. [kindly] I am feeling much better, thank you.
Riyyh has, in fact, been feeling positively giddy.
Riyyh looks about 10 years younger than usual and has had the attention span of a gnat ever since Rapol agreed to stay.
Racknie: How is your visitor?
Riyyh: He's... doing much better also, he's been getting his rest and seeing a little bit of Naros.
Riyyh smiles.
Riyyh: [rather fondly]
Racknie: Do you think he'll stay?
Riyyh: I think he will. He has expressed a desire to.
Racknie: I'd heard he was a Donor?
Riyyh: Yes, he is. And a very good one.
Racknie: ~~ curious ~~
Racknie: Really?
Racknie: As good as Mytag?
Racknie is naieve enough to believe that this is subtlety.
Riyyh: Rapol used to serve a Farris.
Racknie: A Farris?
Riyyh says this as if it is a secret he is giving to Racknie, although it is really no secret at all.
Riyyh: So he is very, very good.
Racknie: Will Zeor be trying to take him away?
Riyyh: I don't think they will.
Riyyh bases this belief on the fact that Kenmore didn't insist upon taking Rapol when he left.
Riyyh: I hope that Rapol will... will stay here a very long time.
Racknie: I heard he'd had some bad luck, and was working as a cook in an inn?
Racknie finds it pretty unbelievable that a Donor would be allowed to do such a thing.
Riyyh: Yes, yes he was.
Racknie: It's truly remarkable.
Riyyh: Sometimes everybody must take some time to sort things out.
Racknie nods like a badly articulated marionette.
Racknie: Yes. It's like research -- takes time to think things over until you know.
Riyyh smiles reassuringly, trying to let Racknie feel more at ease.
Riyyh: What have you brought for me?
Racknie: ~~ eager ~~
Racknie opens his box.
Racknie: We've got a whole set of new varieties to work with.
Racknie: I only brought a few of the more interesting examples to show you, but you're welcome to come down to the greenhouses and see them all, any time you wish.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Riyyh is not, of course, completely in the dark about what goes on down there, but he wouldn't dream of seeming anything but grateful for the invitation.
Racknie: First, our breeding program for corn.
Racknie pulls out an ear, still wrapped in the husks.
Riyyh listens attentively.
Racknie's ear is definately on the puny side.
Racknie: As you know, we were trying to cross corn with some wild relatives in hopes of getting something which is more resistant to insect damage.
Racknie: You know how it spoils the fresh corn market when the ear has a worm in top.
Riyyh: Yes, of course.
Racknie turns the ear, showing off the unbroken husk.
Racknie: Well, this strain had only two damaged ears in the whole test plot..
Racknie: ~~ triumph ~~
Riyyh: Commendable.
Riyyh wonders if the corn is so small because it was picked young, or if they're all that small for this variety.
Riyyh figures he'll learn, eventually, by reading the reports for that department.
Racknie: Of course, there were a few disappointing qualities about this strain.
Riyyh smiles kindly at Racknie.
Racknie shucks the ear and holds out the cob.
Racknie: The yield is bigger than the wild varieties, but not as good as the usual strains.
Riyyh nods.
Racknie: And that purple-black color is associated with a very hard outer layer on the seed.
Racknie: Rather hard on the teeth, and there's not much inside, either.
Racknie: But we did beat the worm problem.
Riyyh thinks this variety is not sounding very promising at all, if the truth be told, but he doesn't have the heart to say so to Racknie, at least not in this context.
Riyyh: A good basis to start from. [encouragingly]
Racknie: Now, that self-bleaching celery you wanted has also been produced.
Riyyh: Oh?
Racknie: We now have a mutant strain that doesn't have to be buried in dirt to turn it pale.
Racknie puts the corn ear back in the box and draws out what appears to be a nicely pale celery heart.
Riyyh studies the new exhibit.
Racknie: It never really greens up, as you see, even in full sun.
Racknie: It's a bit on the slow side, when it comes to growth, and the bunches are small, as you see.
Racknie: However, celery hearts actaully sell for three times the price of the entire bunch.
Racknie: It's not the quantity, it's the quality that's important.
Riyyh: This is the entire vegetable? [surprised]
Riyyh reaches for it curiously.
Riyyh: Is the nutritional content intact?
Riyyh zlins it.
Racknie: Well, it's got the same nutrition as a bleached celery heart. For full nutrition, you have to eat the really green part.
Racknie: But this stuff is nice and crunchy in a salad.
Riyyh: Hmmm.
Riyyh hands it back.
Riyyh doesn't actually remember requesting self-bleaching celery but is sure he, or somebody else, must have, since Racknie says so.
Riyyh: Well done, then.
Riyyh smiles kindly.
Racknie: The rose breeding program has found a sport which has orange speckled flowers, although they don't know if it's stable.
Racknie: It didn't survive heat treatment, so they think it's probably a virus.
Riyyh perks up at the mention of one of his favorite plants.
Riyyh: I would be interested to learn what they discover.
Racknie sighs.
Racknie: The Ancients had easy ways to do that sort of thing.
Racknie: They could even pull a virus out and get its fingerprints.
Racknie: ~~ inferior ~~
Racknie: ~~ envy ~~
Riyyh is surprised by Racknie's emotions.
Riyyh: There is no need to feel ashamed of our accomplishments here, Racknie.
Racknie: It's just that I know it was once possible to do so much more.
Riyyh: And so it will be again, one day.
Riyyh: Why, just in my lifetime....
Riyyh pauses, realizing that he'd better watch what he says.
Riyyh wouldn't want to date himself.
Riyyh: Well, there have been great strides in technology, both Ancient and new.
Racknie: I know, but somehow, selyn batteries just don't compare with just putting whatever gene you wanted into a plant and have it work, just like that.
Racknie has perhaps an idealistic vision of Ancient genetic engineering methods.
Riyyh thinks there has been entirely too much focus on genetics at Naros lately, himself.
Riyyh: Perhaps you will be the one to rediscover those techniques.
Racknie: They're all explained in some of the older books in the library.
Racknie: But some of the vocabulary is fearsome.
Riyyh: You could invent your own words for some of it, couldn't you?
Riyyh is trying to be helpful and understanding, although this isn't precisely his area of expertise.
Riyyh: It's the concepts that are most important, after all....
Racknie: I could invent words easily enough, but the lost words like taq seem to hold the key to the techniques.
Riyyh nods sympathetically.
Riyyh: Did you have more samples?
Riyyh thinks that was an awfully large box for just two items.
Racknie: Well, those are the important ones.
Racknie: The other projects aren't as far along.
Riyyh nods politely.
Riyyh: I see.
Riyyh: Well, thank you very much for showing these to me, it has been interesting to see them.
Racknie stands, picking up his box (which just happened to be convenient when he was looking for a way to carry the corn ear and celery).
Racknie: You're welcome. I'll keep you informed of any new breakthroughs.
Riyyh smiles.
Riyyh hopes that some breakthroughs of noticeable commercial potential, or at least of culinary interest, surface soon.
Racknie: And, tell our latest guest that I'd be happy to show him around the greenhouses any time he wants.
Riyyh does appreciate Racknie's enthusiasm, however.
Racknie can't understand why someone wouldn't necessarily consider this a marvelous treat.
Riyyh: I will be sure to do that. [assures him] Thank you.
Riyyh imagines himself showing Rapol through steaming, verdant greenhouses, with sun streaming down through the leaves, and nobody else within sight or zlinning range, just the two of them wandering among the vines and trees.
Riyyh's dreamy expression and far off look return.