Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #26: Boom-Boom Chorus (8/7/00)
Tscheilgx Nabagattaranagan, famous architectural and civil engineer and founder of the Nabagattaranaganian Design Group, paces back and forth in front of a large tent, chewing on the end of a pencil and frowning at a small notebook in his other hand.
Tscheilgx is due to be in a meeting in that tent in just a few minutes, but has paused (in very typical fashion) to work out an interesting idea that had occurred to him.
Tscheilgx's idea has nothing to do with the project at hand, but he never wastes thinking time.
Arat sits in the tent at a long, crude table, the only person who has yet to show up to the meeting (due to excessive punctuality).
Nick is, of course, at Arat's side, which he has hardly left for days now.
Arat is holding his head in his hands and pondering his problems, as well as those of the construction site, which sad to say are not entirely mutually exclusive.
Nick pats his pocket to confirm that he remembered to pack a sufficient supply of clean handkerchiefs.
Sgt. Edka enters the tent, in full Gen Army semi-dress uniform, only 1.5 minutes late.
Sgt. Edka is, after all, forced to rely on a mechanical time keeper.
Sgt. Edka blinks for a moment at the Sime, then recalls his mandate to be cordial to civilians and extends his hand to Arat.
Mr. Birch strides briskly in the direction of the meeting tent. He has spent the last week lobbying members of the Gen military and government, trying to wrangle out of them the resources he requires to make the project fly.
Sgt. Edka: Sergeant Edka, 3rd Demolition Corps, at your service.
Arat looks up as Sgt. Edka approaches him.
Arat reaches out one hand to touch the tip of Sgt. Edka's fingers in a brief greeting (he does have quite a bit of willpower, after all).
Sgt. Edka has not been in Sime Territory for long enough to pick up the nuances of in-Territory etiquette.
Mr. Birch is pleased to have appropriated as both the illustrious Tscheilgx Nabagattaranagan, the top project architect, and Sgt Edka, a top military demolitions expert.
Arat: I am Controller Arat Farris. I am responsible for selyn distribution for this project.
Arat thinks, and also the surrounding area, which is the real problem isn't it?
Sgt. Edka: Ah, you're the one who's having the supply problems.
Sgt. Edka: Well, I think my team has a partial solution for that.
Arat looks displeased. Is this what people learn about him first?
Sgt. Edka is very into solutions, particularly when they require blowing things up.
Sayward walks quietly into the tent and waits for the meeting to begin.
Sayward is growing tired of the suddenly endless round of meeting after meeting. She wonders exactly when they will get around to doing what she signed on for instead of the steady stream of social work that has been occupying her of late.
Arat: Oh? [politely]
Mr. Birch , having stopped in his tent to don his power suit and shave, is ready to take on the world.
Sgt. Edka: Yes. There's more than one way to crack a rock, after all.
Sgt. Edka has his own opinions about which methods are superior, but he's here to get the job done, not to win converts--a fine distinction.
Arat has been deluged by offers of selyn management tips by amateurs, and therefore is able to keep his expression from becoming too strained.
Tscheilgx Nabagattaranagan rushes suddenly into the tent and sits down, so that he can get some folded writing-paper out of his pockets.
Tscheilgx begins frenetically scribbling one of many hundreds of letters he has sent from the construction site in the months since he first arrived.
Mr. Birch follows Tscheilgx into the tent. He knows the engineer is a bit eccentric, and hopes he will remember his company manners.
Mr. Birch glances around the assembled group.
Sgt. Edka decides the meeting might start soon, and sits down to glance over his neatly typed report one more time.
Arat is relieved that Sgt. Edka did not care to expound upon his theory.
Mr. Birch: Well, it looks like everyone's here, so meeting called to order.
Sgt. Edka gives Birch his polite attention.
Arat however has a new problem... the sweet smell of Mr. Birch's aftershave.
Mr. Birch: We have some new arrivals.
Arat's eyes and nose start running like crazy.
Sayward quietly takes a seat in the corner trying to find enough room for her too long legs.
Mr. Birch: I would like to introduce Tscheilgx Nabagattaranagan, the genius who drew up the architectural plans for the Dam we are building.
Nick notes Arat's difficulty and passes him a clean handkerchief.
Tscheilgx looks up, startled, realizing the meeting has already been going on for who-knows-how-long.
Tscheilgx: Ah, yes, very pleased to meet you all. [briskly]
Tscheilgx is a broadly built male Gen of about 45 natal years, in good health and well exercised.
Tscheilgx is wearing a suit and tie, which look rather out of place on the construction site, and some dirt, which does not.
Mr. Birch: And this is Sgt. Edka, from the Demolitions Corps of the New Washington Army, who has some innovative approaches to the challenges we face in completing this project.
Sgt. Edka is some 10 years older than Tscheilgx, but otherwise makes him look like a couch potato.
Sgt. Edka: I am very honored at the chance to offer this project my expertise.
Arat meanwhile requests, and uses, a 5th hanky from Nick.
Arat considers leaving.
Nick is by now into full "hovering mother-hen" mode.
Mr. Birch: I'd like you two to meet Controller Arat Farris, who is in charge of selyn management here, and his Donor, Sosu Nick.
Arat nods to Edka and Tscheilgx.
Sayward has been watching the Nick behaves around the Controller. She finds them amusing in a sad sort of way. She finds herself feeling sorry for both of them but she isn't sure which one is more to be pitied.
Arat is looking harassed, red-nosed and teary-eyed.
Arat is, of course, as clean and well-pressed as it had been possible to get, for the meeting.
Mr. Birch: And this here's my right arm, Construction Team Manager Sayward, who coordinates the construction crews.
Sayward: [Inclines her head slightly] Gentlemen.
Mr. Birch may not realize that his metaphor may sound rather macabre from a Sime perspective.
Sayward drags her attention away from Nick and Arat and firmly reminds herself to pay at least some attention to what is being said.
Mr. Birch: And on your right is Starlin, representing the renSime's workers union.
Starlin nods politely.
Starlin feels uncomfortable surrounded by these haughty and unpredictable wild Gens.
Starlin edges a bit closer to Sayward, who he has come to rely on to be calm in most circumstances.
Sayward smiles at Starlin and think calming thoughts as Cris has taught her to do.
Starlin would try to shelter by Nick, but he can see the Donor has his hands full (of handkerchiefs, if nothing else.)
Mr. Birch: Tscheilgx, now you've had the chance to see your design started. Any thoughts for us all?
Tscheilgx: Well, Mr. Birch [he never uses first names] I tell you, it's exciting to see this project finally get underway!
Tscheilgx: There were moments, well let's face it, weeks where I thought it would never happen.
Tscheilgx chuckles.
Tscheilgx is clearly used to speaking in board rooms.
Tscheilgx: I have had some interesting ideas about changes to the facing, although you probably don't want to hear about those now.
Tscheilgx: And one of our interns in Lanta has an intriguing proposal regarding the integration of a small city with the Dam itself.
Tscheilgx is not a good person to ask extremely unspecific questions to, particularly if nobody else in the room is a strong personality.
Sgt. Edka wonders why even an inexperienced architect would think a city's worth of people would choose to live out here.
Sgt. Edka did arrive after the squatters had destroyed much of natural peace and beauty, to be strictly fair.
Mr. Birch: Well, we also have had weeks when we wondered if we could get this project off the ground.
Mr. Birch: Even in these beginning stages, we have encountered many obstacles.
Mr. Birch acknowledges Tscheilgx is a genius, but he does have a tendency to ramble.
Mr. Birch: Our purpose here is to find solutions.
Mr. Birch: Manager Sayward, where do we stand in terms of the construction schedules?
Sayward just hopes that they get to the point before the cramp she knows is coming....
Sayward: Two months behind at least. That can be made up over the long haul. But we have to get moving on the tunneling or winter will shut us down and put us farther behind.
Arat finds that the dust brought in by some of the less-recently groomed participants is affecting him as well. Since the introductions are over, he quietly hooks his wrist and face veils back into place. Unfortunately, they don't do anything about Mr. Birch's aftershave.
Nick does what he can to relieve the stress-related component of Arat's allergies, but there is nothing he can do about aftershave.
Mr. Birch: Yes. We must make up the time that has been lost.
Mr. Birch: We are racing against the weather and the elements.
Mr. Birch turns to the Controller and sees that the Sime is hiding under his veils again.
Mr. Birch wonders if this is some sort of in-Territory affectation; Arat certainly does not have a reputation for being shy.
Mr. Birch: Controller Arat, can you update us on the selyn situation.
Sayward tries to relax the incipient charley horse. This only threatens to start a shin splint in its place.
Arat nods.
Arat: As you know, there is a severe selyn shortage due to the large number of unplanned-for personnel in the area.
Arat does not come out and actually say 12,000 extra renSimes; he will allow Mr. Birch to decide whether Tscheilgx and Edka can handle the information.
Arat: I have completed my report to Tecton Central and my proposal for the acquisition of the required selyn, and for the gradual removal of said personnel.
Arat: I have been able to secure a short-range plan for obtaining selyn for our immediate basic requirements.
Starlin nods approvingly; he had been formulating his own plans to remove the excess competition, but he would far rather let the government do the dirty work.
Arat: If a response from the Regional Controller is timely and no undue problems arise, the full work-scale selyn supply should be available within seven to ten weeks.
Starlin is of course relieved that no one will go short, but if he doesn't get his comrades the jobs and augmentation they were promised, there will be a rebellion in the ranks.
Sayward: [whispers to Starlin] I am getting a cramp, you might not want to zlin right now.
Mr. Birch: ~~aghast~~
Mr. Birch: Seven to ten weeks?
Arat wipes his eyes with a clean handkerchief. They are running torrentially.
Mr. Birch: Your previous estimate was five weeks!
Nick eyes his rapidly diminishing supply of hankies with concern; he hadn't planned on Mr. Birch's aftershave.
Starlin glances nervously at Sayward.
Arat: As I stated previously, some additional selyn for construction purposes will be available as soon as five weeks from now.
Mr. Birch: That means it will be October before we can begin full scale production.
Sayward tries to relax and think calming thoughts while trying not to feel the pain in her leg.
Mr. Birch: Almost time for winter to set in.
Arat wonders why Sayward doesn't just get up and walk it off. And yes, he has noticed the cramp.
Starlin edges away from Sayward, who is beginning to radiate pain, and closer to Nick.
Arat: It is unfortunate. However, nobody anticipated how great the numbers would be.
Mr. Birch has wearied of the endless supply of Tecton excuses.
Arat: We cannot allow them to perish, nor to raid.
Sayward suddenly jumps to her feet. The cramp has hit full force and standing is the only way to ease it.
Sayward: [to cover her sudden stance] The tunneling can go on through the winter if that will help the schedule any.
Nick notes Sayward's distress, and muffles the effect it has on Arat and Starlin.
Starlin snuggles closer to the powerful nagers of Arat and Nick; unfortunately his body is surrounded by a nearly invisible cloud of dust and grit from the blast site.
Mr. Birch: Yes, that is underground, where the workers can be shielded from the elements.
Sayward is trying not to pace, which is the only way to deal with the cramp. Although a good hot tub would be better.
Tscheilgx: An excellent idea!
Tscheilgx seems inspired, and begins scribbling in a small notepad.
Sayward thinks desperation brings out the best in her. Now, how to get out without looking bad?
Arat is doubly glad for the veil as Starlin's and Sayward's dust migrates onto him across Nick.
Mr. Birch: But the work on the canyon walls must be completed before they are covered by ice sheets.
Sgt. Edka waits patiently for the civilians to get around to the reason for his presence.
Sgt. Edka is used to waiting; he is in the military, after all.
Mr. Birch: That cannot wait.
Mr. Birch: So, we have come up with an alternative approach to the problem.
Mr. Birch: Sgt Edka, will you explain the techniques involved?
Sgt. Edka stands respectfully.
Sayward looks longingly at the exit, knowing that there is no way to get out. She tries pacing in place. This is marginally successful.
Starlin witnessed Sgt Edka's demonstration and finds both the Gen's military bearing and maniacal confidence thoroughly unsettling.
Edka: I recently completed a full survey of the canyon walls, after discussing your requirements with Construction Team Manager Sayward.
Sgt. Edka: I believe that it will be possible to regain much of the lost time by simply removing the excess rock with carefully placed charges of explosives.
Mr. Birch nods with satisfaction.
Mr. Birch likes can-do people.
Sgt. Edka: This can be done with no augmentation at all, except for the clearing of the debris.
Sgt. Edka is not generally in charge of cleaning up after his explosions.
Sayward: We can manage the clean up without augmentation. It will just require round the clock shifts.
Sgt. Edka: Our progress will mostly depend on exactly what degree of precision is required for the final shaping.
Arat frowns to himself. Scaling piles of loose shale at night without augmentation is a guaranteed way for many various people to become injured.
Starlin: The last plan would have put 5000 renSimes on the job. How many workers will this plan use?
Sgt. Edka: My team and I will handle all of the demolition. Manager Sayward will arrange for the removal of debris.
Arat's makeshift wards are already stuffed with injuries.
Sgt. Edka glances at Sayward to see if she has any employment figures for Starlin.
Starlin: Manager Sayward, you said union members would be trained to do this work!
Sayward: We will probably require only 2000 for the debris removal rotating through the shifts.
Sayward: We will require another 2000 for the tunneling and removal of debris from the tunnels.
Sayward: That will also be on a round the clock rotation.
Sgt. Edka: Blasting might speed the tunnel work, too.
Sgt. Edka was instructed to be very helpful to the civilians.
Sayward: Then the number may drop accordingly.
Starlin: Unskilled labor with no augmentation!
Starlin: Are you planning to eliminate all skilled work for renSimes and staff this project solely with Gen military?
Sayward has currently come to an uneasy truce with her calf, but she fears a battle is brewing up with Starlin.
Sgt. Edka: Do you have any skilled demolitions experts on site, outside of my team?
Sgt. Edka is aware that integrating newcomers into his team might be difficult, but he is willing to make the effort if it will make things work better in the larger picture.
Sayward: Starlin, we wanted to use Sime workers for this. But without the augmentation allowances the work can't be done by hand quickly enough.
Tscheilgx looks puzzled as they begin arguing.
Tscheilgx wonders why it is that the "implementation phase" is always so... messy.
Mr. Birch: Of course we have demolitions experts here.
Arat flinches as a loud explosion from the river gorge area punctuates Mr. Birch's assertion.
Mr. Birch: They have been working on the tunnels, mostly.
Mr. Birch: But that expertise is in short supply.
Sgt. Edka: Ah, miners.
Sgt. Edka: That's useful when it comes to tunneling, but taking off the face of a cliff properly is a bit more demanding.
Sgt. Edka: Larger charges, and the placement is... but that's a bit technical.
Mr. Birch: Well, it's a big job -- you saw the size of that canyon -- and we are under the gun.
Arat surreptitiously uses the last of the clean handkerchiefs.
Mr. Birch: Rounding up enough trained people would take at least 6 weeks.
Arat thinks he is becoming somewhat inured to the aftershave. Of course, the aftershave is getting a change to wear off, too.
Mr. Birch: We don't have it.
Tscheilgx tut-tuts to himself, but doesn't come out and suggest Mr. Birch didn't plan ahead.
Tscheilgx is used to this sort of behavior, even on major projects such as the Dam.
Sgt. Edka: My crew are trained for large-scale demolitions, Mr. Starlin. You don't learn that sort of skill in a week or two.
Sgt. Edka: Keep your miners in the tunnels, where they can do their jobs, and leave the cliff to us.
Sayward: If you tell us where to put the holes your crew can place the explosives.
Mr. Birch: We will have to supplement the people we have at hand by training new ones.
Arat staves off a growing head ache by thinking about the response he has to write to his sanitation police's latest report.
Mr. Birch: Those cliffs must be finished before the snow falls. We could have 12 weeks, but it could be only 8.
Nick searches anxiously for a napkin or something else that could be pressed into handkerchief-duty.
Arat's personal estimate that 45% of the rabble in the woods hadn't the first idea about basic camp sanitation turns out to have been off by a factor of two.
Mr. Birch: Sgt Edka, I want that canyon cleared in 8 weeks. If your staff can do it, great!
Arat still hasn't decided whether to berate the team for the not one, but two official communal latrine disasters in as many nights... or just let it ride. They are, after all, working under extremely difficult conditions.
Mr. Birch: If you don't have enough people, recruit who you require. Sayward will assist you.
Sgt. Edka: We can do it, Mr. Birch.
Mr. Birch: The tunnel blasting teams could be retrained to help without too much difficulty, and less skilled miners assigned to work on the tunnels.
Mr. Birch: The tunnels don't have the same priority.
Arat's ears perk up at the mention of substitutions of less-trained personnel.
Sgt. Edka: The slowest part of the process won't be placing the charges, it'll be moving the debris.
Sayward: I was thinking more along the lines of having the Simes drill the holes after Sgt. Edka's team marks the placement, Martin.
Arat wonders if he should post an addendum to his original plea, raising the number of channels requested.
Starlin: No problem clearing the rubble. We have plenty of people to take care of that.
Sayward: That way we don't slow down the tunnelling
Sgt. Edka: Perhaps Manager Sayward and I should discuss how rapidly she can clear the rock. Then I will know what additional crew, if any, will be required to keep them busy.
Arat worries that the injuries are going to get out of hand. As it is, the worker injuries almost outnumber the injuries among those not working, despite the disparity in populations.
Mr. Birch: Sgt Edka, would that speed up the process?
Arat frowns even more at the insistence upon speed.
Sgt. Edka: Not really. There is a limit as to how many blasts can be safely set off at once. My team was selected to handle that workload efficiently.
Sgt. Edka: Try to blast too much at once, and you could bring down quite a bit more rock than you planned.
Sgt. Edka: The work has its own pace.
Sgt. Edka: However, if we find that additional hands--or tentacles, for that matter--can speed our work without sacrificing quality or safety, we will do so.
Sayward: Just let us know what you require.
Sgt. Edka: I will do that, Ma'am.
Arat: Safety is a concern.
Arat seizes the chance to mention it, since Sgt. Edka already has.
Sayward: Safety, Controller?
Sayward: Is there a problem I am not aware of?
Arat: When the average skill level and familiarity with the task goes down, injuries must inevitably rise. And when the schedule is pushed, that only worsens the risks.
Arat: While we do have facilities to care for those who are not injured fatally, it is far preferable that the injuries do not occur in the first place.
Arat understands, of course, that a certain number of injuries are unavoidable in a physical workplace.
Sayward is wondering if she hasn't spent too much time running from place to place to be really aware of an increase in injuries.
Sayward: Has there been a jump in the number of injuries among the workforce?
Arat finds it difficult to say precisely, since the records kept before his arrival were pretty poor.
Arat has already reamed out the responsible parties, but it is too late to recover the lost data.
Arat: There have consistently been a high number of injuries.
Arat: I do not have figures for the time before my arrival, but since then the wards have filled as quickly as they could be built.
Arat has an opinion about how quickly the crummy buildings were thrown up, too, but this is not the time and place for that.
Sayward tries to remember what injuries have been reported and if there have been more or worse injuries.
Sayward: That is not good.
Mr. Birch shrugs. No pain, no gain. With the number of available workers, damaging a few won't change the big picture.
Starlin: The problem isn't the work, it's the disorganization.
Starlin: The people without shelter or money or basic necessities of life. Sickness from poor sanitation. Fighting among themselves.
Arat: Particularly we have seen numerous injuries caused by airborne rock shards, sheath and lung contaminants, as well as tool... [pauses as Starlin speaks]
Sayward: I will see what can be done about getting those numbers down. Perhaps Nick could let me know what exactly is going on: what types, and how bad.
Arat looks at Sayward oddly. He has not yet been able to determine why she acts the way she does around him. Requesting to speak to Nick instead, for example.
Nick surreptitiously appropriates a clean napkin from what looks like Mr. Birch's lunch tray, and slips it to Arat.
Nick wishes Sayward hadn't called attention to him when he was, ahem, "borrowing" Birch's table service.
Arat: May I? [to Mr. Birch, indicating the napkin]
Starlin: The sooner you can get people working, with stable schedules and living conditions, the better.
Arat wishes Nick's embarrassment hadn't called attention to it too, but at this point he is experiencing his own sanitation disaster and the napkin would definitely be a help.
Arat: [that is, as long as none of the aftershave made it onto the napkin]
Mr. Birch: Certainly.
Mr. Birch: Be my guest.
Mr. Birch thinks this channel is peculiar, indeed, and wonders if he is suffering from some kind of incurable illness.
Arat nods his thanks, and then proceeds to mop up as best as possible. His eyes are still running.
Sayward: Starlin, we are trying to get as many people as we can working. But I would think you would want to make sure that the ones that are are not being hurt if it can be avoided.
Mr. Birch had heard rumors that the Tecton was shipping all its discards out to work on the project, but had been assured that the Controller was top notch.
Tscheilgx has become engrossed in drawing up a quick toss-off plan for a concrete sheathing for the cliff walls, that would allow putting off the blasting until the following summer.
Tscheilgx thinks, or perhaps forever... he is an equal opportunity designer when it comes to the laziness and/or cheapness of employers.
Sayward wonders at the fact that the Controller hasn't died of dehydration as he seems to be dripping fluid from nearly every orifice in his head.
Arat is, in fact, dying for a cup of tea.
Sayward has to admit that she is a bit nervous around that particular Sime. He always seems to be in pain.
Mr. Birch wonders if the channel would admit to having an incurable illness if he had one. He is not exactly up on Simelan medicine, and wonders if channels get things like crotch pox or the sugar fits.
Mr. Birch thinks perhaps he had better cultivate the second-in-command, what was her name, Snake? Just in case. Although she didn't really give the impression of being entirely trustworthy.
Nick puts a concerned hand on Arat's shoulder, and frowns at the telltale increase in warmth.
Starlin: Well, of course.
Starlin: But there are always going to be more people hurt during the start-up phase of a project like this.
Nick wonders how to sneak Arat of the meeting before the situation gets too serious for him to hide from the Gens' eyes.
Starlin: It will get better once people learn their jobs and settle into a routine.
Nick is not particularly worried about Starlin being able to zlin anything wrong, through Arat's control.
Sayward: Maybe you and I should look in to this together. I am not sure that I would get an honest answer from your people. They might think I was trying to do them out of a job.
Arat winces internally; those are fighting words.
Starlin: I would be happy to assist.
Arat is glad that Starlin took it well.
Arat has enough problems when the labor unions are well-behaved, without trouble flaring up.
Starlin: But to be frank, my people are getting nervous.
Starlin: Too many promises have been made and not kept.
Starlin: There have been too many rumors of worse trouble to come.
Starlin: We have to keep morale up.
Arat wonders just how many of the broken promises were made internally. Much of what happened in the course of SWAT coming to power here also involved rapid power gains among certain SWAT leaders.
Sayward: With the demolition happening we will be able to get more of them working.
Sayward: But I want them safe in the process.
Starlin frowns.
Sgt. Edka is glad that Manager Sayward shares his priorities on the matter of safety.
Arat is also reassured by Sayward's attitude.
Starlin: Well, of course.
Sayward: Why don't we put our heads together and see what we can do? [smiles at Starlin]
Starlin: I would be honored, Tuib Sayward.
Sayward has noticed that Starlin gets quite a few smiles out of her. But then so does Cris. Maybe she is mellowing in her old age.
Starlin thinks perhaps it would be best not to wait for the government security forces to run off the unemployed. Perhaps it is time for SWAT to take matters into its own tentacles.
Mr. Birch: So we have a plan, then.
Mr. Birch: Sgt Edka will take charge of organizing the demolitions work.
Sgt. Edka nods to indicate his understanding.
Sayward also nods.
Mr. Birch: Manager Sayward will assemble the teams to clear rubble, in cooperation with Delegate Starlin.
Sayward: Yes.
Mr. Birch: We will put the tunnel work off until winter to give these other projects priority.
Mr. Birch: And, Controller Arat, we can expect selyn for full augmentation in 7 to 10 weeks?
Arat: Yes, provided the numbers and types of workers you specified originally have not changed.
Arat: Any changes must be submitted as soon as possible to minimize additional delays.
Mr. Birch: There may be some adjustments. I will keep you informed.
Arat has not had a lot of experience working with people who aren't used to working with a Controller, but he is beginning to get a feel for how much reminding is required.
Arat does know that Mr. Birch will do just about anything to avoid more delays.
Arat nods.
Mr. Birch: Tscheilgx, do you have anything to add?
Tscheilgx looks up, surprised.
Tscheilgx: Are we done already?
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