Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #16: Bad Forecast (7/9/00)
Station Manager brushes some dust off of his uniform and steps out of his office.
Station Manager wants to look extra-spiffy to impress the VIP types on the platform.
Nia looks up as the train pulls to a halt. The horses and mules are rested and well fed and waiting for the new "important people."
Station Manager waits until the train comes to a complete halt, then goes into his regular announcement, enunciating more clearly then usual.
Station Manager: Kyrril Gulch! This is Kyrril Gulch! The train will depart again in one hour! Refreshments are available in town, but the train will leave promptly.
Arat bolts out of the train and then stops suddenly.
Arat pauses, and then resumes walking in a much more dignified fashion.
Mr. Birch stands on the train platform, impatiently twiddling at the pipe in his jacket pocket.
Beni scrambles out of the car, hindered by stiff legs.
Beni: Arat! Wait for me.
Mr. Birch wishes he could smoke, but knows it would make a poor impression.
Beni trots after Arat, his uniform slightly rumpled from being sat in for hours.
Emmet follows after the august Channel and Donor he has been travelling with.
Edgar peers anxiously at the train to see who is getting off this time.
Edgar has been waiting for almost two weeks now.
Beni wishes it were possible to be a bit more dignified and impressive for the greeting party, as he has heard that out-Territory Gens are impressed with appearances.
Arat pauses a second time, puts down various pieces of luggage, pulls out a handkerchief, and blows his nose.
Mr. Birch sees that the Sime emerging from the red car has an aristocratic bearing and Farris features.
Station Manager grins at the zlin of the high-impact nagers.
Arat's most prominent Farris feature is temporarily hidden in the process, but should make a reappearance shortly.
Grovr peeks around the corner at the grownups. He is only seven but he always goes with his mother when she is tending the animals.
Station Manager eyes the luggage Arat set down, and zlins a prime opportunity.
Station Manager bustles up to the party of VIP's and reaches for the baggage.
Station Manager: Let me take those, Hajene.
Arat shies away from the Station Manager's approach, and has a good look at him, before nodding.
Arat rarely turns down an offer to do his menial labor for him.
Station Manager sneaks an appreciative zlin at Arat as he picks up the bags.
Mr. Birch notices the two Gens in Tecton uniforms trailing after the Sime and concludes this must be the new Controller-in-charge.
Station Manager wonders if he can maintain custody of the bags and stay close to their owner, until he comes into full need tomorrow.
Security types were not able to stop Arat from his precipitous exit of the train, but now they are checking out the area carefully.
Mr. Birch notices the channel's sudden dashes and hesitations, and wonders that he seems so erratic.
Beni tries to rescue his less-than-dignified beginning by concentrating on ~~ support ~~
Security are big brawny Gens and tall, robust renSimes wearing the unobtrusive uniform of a prestigious Capitol security company.
Emmet lifts his own small cloth suitcase off the train.
Station Manager shoots a nervous glance at the Security types, but doesn't let that stop him from following close at Arat's heels with the bags.
Nia zlins the fully loaded nager of the channel. She isn't very interested as she's a week shy of turnover but maybe later.
Arat replaces the handkerchief in an easy-to-reach location and scans the platform for people who appear to be important enough to be there to meet him.
Edgar tries to focus his zlinning to see past the incredibly powerful field of the channel to the two Gens in tow.
Beni is seriously concerned about Arat: this is the third time in the past week that he has carried his own luggage rather than taking the time to summon assistance.
Mr. Birch starts walking forward to greet the new arrivals.
Beni: Arat, relax, or they're going to get the wrong impression.
Beni isn't sure what sort of impression Arat is trying for, but expects "nervous wreck" isn't it.
Arat's dignity does seem to be striped with a certain skittish nervousness element.
Edgar catches sight of the rangy Gen in the back and recognizes him.
Mr. Birch: Controller Arat Farris?
Grovr sneaks closer to the grownups to get a good look. So many people and all those bags. He just wants to get a closer look.
Arat nearly snaps at Beni, but manages to control himself and turn to Mr. Birch instead.
Arat: Yes, I am Arat Farris.
Mr. Birch smiles cordially.
Edgar: Emmet!
Edgar dashes forward.
Station Manager hears "Controller Farris" and preens at the thought that he's included in such an important official's party.
Station Manager hasn't been so close to Tecton powers since a Regional Controller visited for a photo op, that time the mud slide took out a quarter of the town.
Mr. Birch is startled by the Sime hurtling past him from behind his back.
Mr. Birch jumps aside.
Edgar: My boy! Is it really you!
Edgar circles around Arat and Beni to head straight for Emmet.
Security start forward alertly, but stop when Edgar passes Arat by.
Beni tries to maintain a ~~ calm and steady ~~ ambient.
Beni edges closer and puts a hand on Arat's arm to increase the effect.
Arat, who had jumped slightly at Mr. Birch and Edgar' sudden movements, steps nearer to Beni's influence.
Beni is aware that he is too travel-worn to work his best, but figures that something is better than nothing, support-wise.
Emmet sees the gnarled Sime hurtling towards him.
Emmet: Oh, no!
Beni looks around nervously for large, ill-tempered, equine-type critters, and sighs in relief when none are immediately in sight.
Emmet: Father, please don't!
Beni knows this happy state of affairs can't last, but is grateful for any reprieve.
Edgar reaches forth tentacles to grab Emmet, but then pauses at the last moment, zlinning a distinct lack of welcome in the nager.
Edgar slides to a halt.
Arat studies Mr. Birch, who appears to be speechless after his scare. He is not used to Gens who are this jumpy, at least not except in formal situations where the potential for a scare is much less.
Arat had rather hoped that his arrival here would be such a formal situation, but that was probably unrealistic.
Edgar: What's wrong? Aren't you glad to see me?
Mr. Birch realizes that what had looked like an attack is nothing but a family reunion.
Arat's discomfort at the wait is furthered by a renewal of the running eyes and itching nose symptom.
Mr. Birch returns his attention to the business at hand.
Emmet: Father. Please don't make a scene.
Arat removes his handkerchief and blows his nose again.
Grovr walks up behind the channel. He knows that this is a channel because mommy always takes him when she gets her transfers. He tugs on the tall man's cape.
Mr. Birch: Uh, as I was saying....
Mr. Birch: Controller Arat, welcome to Kyrril Gulch.
Mr. Birch tries the cordial smile again.
Grovr: Are you a channel?
Mr. Birch knows better than to shake hands.
Arat looks up from his handkerchief to Mr. Birch, and then down at the child tugging at his cape.
Nia panics when she notices Grovr has gotten away from her.
Mr. Birch: And welcome to the Snake River Dam Reconstruction Project.
Arat casts an aggrieved look at one of the security guards, who starts forward as if to pull Grovr away.
Nia is on the platform in a flash and grabs her son.
Mr. Birch: My name is Mr. Birch, head of Fluid Construction Incorporated.
Nia: Sorry Hajene!
Nia: He's just very curious. We don't get many new channels around here.
Edgar retracts his tentacles and puts his arms behind his back.
Edgar: Sorry.
Edgar: I don't know all them fancy city manners.
Arat drags his attention away from the child and his mother, and focuses on Mr. Birch.
Beni notes that Emmet is lagging.
Mr. Birch: We are very glad to have you here, Controller Farris.
Beni: Emmet!
Arat: Thank you.
Beni gestures for Emmet to get back to work, and help shield Arat from the nageric disruption.
Mr. Birch: We have a difficult situation on our hands.
Emmet: Yes, Sosu Beni!
Emmet: [to Edgar] Father, I have work to do.
Emmet: Excuse me.
Emmet adjusts his nager and begins to concentrate on helping Beni manage the fields.
Edgar: Well, what kind of a welcome is that, after years away?
Emmet: Father, I'll speak to you later.
Arat has, for some reason, broken out into a sweat.
Arat: I would appreciate an update as soon as possible. My information is about three weeks old.
Emmet: Anything that has waited this long can wait until tomorrow.
Mr. Birch: By all means.
Beni looks around at the primitive conditions, and has a sinking feeling that this briefing is not going to take place in a nice, cool conference room, with good trin tea and pastries for the Gens.
Arat blows his nose again, and then promptly sneezes as well.
Beni shakes his head, and reaches for the allergy medication.
Arat wipes his eyes.
Arat hopes there is no dust on the construction site.
Beni: We have to get you out of here. Is there someplace less dusty where we can talk? Preferably inside?
Arat eyes the station house, which is a 3-walled shed.
Arat then looks at the road running past it, which is dirt.
Arat thinks this is not a good sign.
Nia looks the new arrivals over carefully. There doesn't look to be a true horseman in the whole lot. Although Emmet looks like he shouldn't have too much of a problem.
Station Manager grins at Arat, showing gaps where teeth are missing.
Station Manager: Hajene, if you'd like to use my office... I cleaned it just this spring!
Arat winces.
Station Manager is ~~ eager ~~ to provide this honor, with its potential to cancel his bar bill for a week or more.
Arat: That will not be necessary.
Arat looks for a clean handkerchief.
Station Manager's face falls.
Mr. Birch marshalls his facts and figures to brief Arat.
Beni passes a clean hanky to Arat.
Mr. Birch: Do you want me to fill you in immediately, or wait until we have some privacy?
Beni had figured that they might be necessary, and laid in a generous supply before they completely left civilization.
Arat: As you see appropriate. [to Mr. Birch]
Mr. Birch thinks if Arat doesn't see security as an issue, he will get right to the point.
Arat is of the opinion that Mr. Birch will know more of whether publicity is a problem or not than he would, at least until the briefing has already occurred.
Mr. Birch: Well, It's difficult to get an accurate count, but there are between 3 and 4 thousand Simes on the site, and only half as many Gens.
Beni tries not to gape at this statement, considering the armed security types surrounding them.
Nia decides to give the tenderfoots her easiest horses. She pulls Spring Breeze and Cool Breeze for the jumpy channel and the equally jumpy Donor.
Arat looks puzzled.
Mr. Birch: Of course the project was only budgeted to employ 2500 workers total.
Arat: I had been given to understand that there were some eight thousand registered laborers, and some four thousand additional people in the hills surrounding.
Arat finds this inconsistency with the original reports to be nothing short of alarming.
Mr. Birch: Well, no. At least not by our count.
Arat hopes that Mr. Birch is right; 4500-6000 people is a much more manageable figure.
Arat: Still, the imbalance is a problem. [agrees]
Arat: We do have selyn carriers scheduled to arrive at intervals, however. It was figured into my initial plan.
Arat: Hajene Jeniard should have arrived some time ago with the first delivery, and I bring the second.
Arat: With the numbers this much lower than originally estimated, there should be no difficulty in making the schedule.
Beni had hoped that the plans wouldn't fall apart so quickly, but then, he's always been an optimist.
Arat rather suspects it is going to be necessary to release some of those resources as unnecessary, at least once he can verify the actual numbers they are dealing with.
Mr. Birch: My understanding is that the selyn you bring should supply the basic requirements of the Simes who are here.
Mr. Birch: However, to meet our project deadlines, we will require high levels of augmentation, and I have been told we are short there.
Arat: The quantities were calculated with working Simes in mind.
Arat: I can assure you, augmentation has been taken into account.
Arat may be a city boy, but he has done some selyn Controlling in his life.
Mr. Birch is confused.
Mr. Birch: Well, that is not what I was told, but of course that is not my area of expertise.
Arat frowns to himself.
Arat: If the total numbers are as low as you say, the site should be oversupplied by the deliveries.
Mr. Birch: Indeed, the Tecton representatives on site asked me to try to arrange for emergency donations to be taken across the Gen border to make up the shortfall.
Arat: They asked you to arrange this?
Arat: Wise Snake and Nick asked you to to arrange for selyn?
Arat is shocked.
Mr. Birch: Yes. I spent all last week negotiating with the city council in Salmonton.
Arat: This is unacceptable.
Arat: I apologize for the imposition on your time, and I will correct the situation as soon as possible.
Mr. Birch: You do understand that for every Sime hired to work on the project, there is another tramp hanging around hoping to get a job here?
Mr. Birch: We have tried to explain that all the positions have been filled, but they are not leaving.
Mr. Birch: And more arrive every day.
Arat: Yes, that was outlined in the initial reports.
Mr. Birch: Well, your own people would have the most recent figures.
Arat thinks Mr. Birch is giving him two very different stories here.
Arat knows that, regardless, the construction company is not, under any circumstances, to be dragged into selyn issues. Particularly cross border selyn issues.
Arat does tend to be a bit anal-retentive about the usual things the Tecton wants its bureaucrats to be anal about.
Mr. Birch: I have been negotiating over the border, as I explained, and came straight back here to greet you.
Arat wonders who has been running the construction company for the last week.
Arat nods.
Mr. Birch will be glad to get the selyn shortage crisis out of the way so he can get back to his real business.
Arat is going to give Wise Snake and Nick a piece of his mind when he sees them, unless they can come up with a damn good story on the spot.
Arat might wait until after his transfer with Nick, though.
Arat just hopes they haven't wreaked even worse havoc he hasn't heard about yet.
Mr. Birch: Oh, you should also know that we have moved up the construction schedule.
Mr. Birch: We are conducting Phase I and Phase II simultaneously.
Arat: Have there been additional concerns as to the safety of the original dam?
Mr. Birch: The concern was more with the large numbers of itinerant workers roaming the area.
Mr. Birch: They were consuming resources required for the project and getting in the way.
Mr. Birch: We decided to put as many of them as possible to work right away.
Arat: You have doubled the number of Simes that will be augmenting heavily in the month?
Arat: When will they begin?
Mr. Birch: More than double. It will be 5 times the original figure.
Arat thinks that these numbers do not add up.
Mr. Birch: And they will begin the moment we are assured that we have enough selyn to supply them.
Arat heard Mr. Birch say that there were 3000 or 4000 Simes in the area, which was between 1/2 and 1/3 of what had originally been estimated. Then he said that there were twice as many unemployed Simes as employed ones, and now he is saying the number of working Simes will be quintupled.
Arat looks at Mr. Birch narrowly.
Arat: I will obtain a precise head count as soon as possible. [decides aloud]
Mr. Birch catches the doubtful expression on Arat's face.
Arat of course cannot conceive of a properly run selyn district in which nobody has any idea how many people are involved.
Mr. Birch: We presently have 2500 on FluCon's payroll.
Arat would actually be most inclined to believe Snake and Nick's word on the state of the selyn situation, except that he also knows they are not ideally suited to keeping thorough and accurate records, and with these kind of numbers it can't all be done in a person's head.
Mr. Birch: We have hired many more Gens than we had at first planned for, because we have been inundated with itinerant Gens as well as Simes.
Arat nods; that, too, had been in the reports.
Arat: I will endeavour to assess the situation and make any required adjustments to the schedule as soon as I arrive on site.
Beni can see that there isn't going to be any opportunity to rest up from the long trip.
Mr. Birch: We have tried to keep as many Gens in the area as possible. Some are satisfied with the pay for selyn donation, but others would not stay without a job, or could not be persuaded to donate at all except as a work requirement.
Mr. Birch shrugs.
Arat: Which leads to even worse housing and food shortages.
Mr. Birch: Exactly.
Arat shakes his head internally.
Nia checks Summer Wind and Winter Wind and makes sure all the horses are ready to go. She also makes sure Grovr is not bothering anyone.
Arat had had this all worked out. He really should have been allowed to come here earlier; the negotiations in Capitol were a lingering nuisance.
Arat in his ardent attention to duty has now gotten mentally involved in the "selyn crisis" and has forgotten all about how much he really didn't want to come here at all.
Mr. Birch: However, I have been able to interest some entrepreneurs across the Lake in helping meet the demand.
Beni notes hopefully that the prospect of immediate hard work and administrative messes to straighten out seems to have done wonders for Arat's nerves.
Mr. Birch: But they expect a good profit, and that plays havoc with the construction budget.
Arat wonders what happened to all the contractors who were supposed to be handling the site supplies.
Mr. Birch is still unhappy that he can't concentrate his resources on the people who are actually working for him, but has to supply several thousand unemployed freeloaders as well.
Arat also wonders what his task force has been doing this whole time... sitting on their tentacles?
Mr. Birch is thankful that at least the money the tramps make donating will be an incentive to run food across the Lake.
Arat hopes construction has at least begun.
Arat thinks they are going to regret trying to hire all of the people instead of rounding them up and removing them.
Arat doesn't know that much about construction, but he knows a logistical and management nightmare when he zlins one.
Arat decides the better of attempting to offer advice, however. He doesn't appreciate Mr. Birch meddling in selyn management, and he is sure Mr. Birch would prefer to handle the personnel issue himself.
Nia: Folks, I hate to break up your confab but the horses are gettin' restless. And we are burning daylight.
Beni smiles weakly at the mention of equines.
Mr. Birch: Yes, let's get moving.
Mr. Birch is eager to get back to the construction site and the engineering plans, his true passion.
Nia hopes that she has sized up the riding abilities of the group correctly.
Beni could have told her that she has not, if she is mentally connecting his name with the words "riding ability".
Mr. Birch mounts his grey mare.
Beni's expertise might more accurately be described as "riding disability".
Nia zlins the reluctance of the jumpy Donor.
Emmet waits patiently for the higher-ranked Tecton personnel to get situated.
Arat learned to ride as a child, but has not done so recently. Fortunately, being Sime has its advantages, including stamina and balance.
Beni wishes saddles came with straps to ensure long-term occupancy.
Arat manages to get mounted despite the fact that his mind is really on the fact that Mr. Birch never did answer his question as to when the additional 2x or 5x as many Sime workers would begin augmenting.
Nia: Cool Breeze is very gentle and all you have to do is hold the reins. [she says to Beni]
Arat hopes they had the common sense to not have the workers begin until the selyn Controller arrived and could change the schedule.
Mr. Birch hopes Controller Arat will get the selyn situation straightened out quickly. Having to restrict augmentation on the worksite has slowed down the pace of construction to a crawl.
Beni thinks that's a very big "all", but takes the reins in a death-grip and attempts to climb into the saddle.
Arat takes a moment to search for his dust veils.
Nia is a little worried that she won't get her stock back in decent condition if the Beni is any indication.
Security people all seem to be competent riders. Then again, being competent is their job.
Mr. Birch watches curiously as the Controller wraps himself up like a mummy. He thought Simes were supposed to be tougher and more weather-resistant than Gens.
Beni makes it into the saddle on the third try, then clutches Cool Breeze's straggly mane in hopes of staying there for a while.
Emmet sees that his superiors are all mounted, so decides it is time to follow.
Emmet: [to Nia] Is there a horse for me, also?
Nia heaves a sigh of relief when Beni is finally mounted and relatively secure in the saddle.
Edgar watches with disappointment as Emmet strides past him without a word or sign of acknowledgement.
Nia: I did bring one extra. But she isn't as tame as the rest.
Nia: How well do you ride?
Emmet: I am competent.
Emmet has studied everything it is proper for a Donor to learn, and riding falls into that category.
Nia: Good. I'll bring Stepper up for you.
Beni really wishes he were back in civilization.
Nia goes around the back of the station and returns with a high spirited coal black mare.
Emmet regards the horse warily.
Emmet thinks it would be really humiliating to fall off and he has no intention of allowing that to happen.
Emmet really, really doesn't like clumsy Gen jokes.
Emmet: Any special tricks I should watch out for?
Nia: She likes to reach back and nip you on occasion. Let me hold her while you mount.
Arat would probably have been very displeased by being forced to ride except that 1) he has had several days to adjust himself to the concept, and 2) he is thoroughly distracted by work, his most pliable state.
Emmet: I'll watch out for that.
Nia: She's a good horse though.
Emmet puts his nager on alert to damp the pain of any momentary horse nibbles.
Emmet waits until Nia has the horse quiet, then gets into the saddle.
Beni reviews what he knows about guiding horses, and manages to get his own over close to Arat.
Emmet gathers the reins and holds them firmly.
Nia: Yup just like that.
Beni inspects Arat as closely as he can, without bending towards the channel and risking his precarious perch.
Beni: Arat, how are you doing?
Arat is staring dreamily into space.
Arat blinks, and then looks at Beni.
Beni: Are those veils going to be enough?
Beni: Do you want to take another antihistamine?
Beni: How's your supply of handkerchiefs?
Beni: And whatever you do, keep your tentacles sheathed, in this dust!
Arat: Yes. I will.
Beni may be just a tad nervous about this whole situation.
Arat's tentacles try to lick out in response to Beni's nervousness.
Arat keeps them in, though; if nothing else, it is nasty to touch the veil with a lateral.
Mr. Birch shifts impatiently on his mare, blinking his watery blue eyes in the sunlight. He wonders what is taking these Tecton types so long.
Arat: Give me the antihistamines and the handkerchiefs.
Arat means, if you can do so without falling off.
Beni manages to provide the requested articles after some fumbling, one-handed, as the other is permanently sealed to the horse's mane.
Beni pales as his beast stamps a fly off it's hoof.
Arat puts them away, all except for one antihistamine which he takes.
Arat: They are waiting for us.
Beni nods gamely, and braces himself for movement.
Beni: Let's go.