Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #33: The Proverbial Haystack (8/31/00)
Sgt. Edka knocks with military briskness at the door to Mr. Birch's office.
Mr. Birch sits at his desk, chewing on his pipe and staring with dismay at the production schedules.
Mr. Birch: Come in!
Sgt. Edka does so.
Sgt. Edka looks worried and tired, although his uniform is still in remarkably good shape, considering.
Mr. Birch: Ah, Sargeant Edka. Take a load off your feet.
Mr. Birch gestures at a chair.
Sgt. Edka sits gratefully.
Mr. Birch does not want to reveal his worries in the presence of a military officer.
Mr. Birch: Would you like some coffee?
Sgt. Edka declines the refreshments with a shake of his head.
Sgt. Edka: Mr. Birch, you asked to be notified when I completed my investigation into last week's... mishap.
Sgt. Edka no longer is willing to call it an "accident".
Mr. Birch immediately gives Edka his complete attention.
Mr. Birch: Yes. What did you find out?
Mr. Birch thinks this project has been one disaster after another.
Sgt. Edka: The evidence was incomplete, as you'd expect. The small avalanche that was triggered as my men fell has obscured some of the evidence.
Mr. Birch nods.
Mr. Birch: Go on.
Sgt. Edka purses his lips.
Sgt. Edka: There are some indications that this "accident" wasn't an accident, after all.
Sgt. Edka: Or at least, not entirely.
Mr. Birch's features stiffen.
Mr. Birch slowly brings out his bag of tobacco and begins to refill his pipe.
Sgt. Edka: The misstep that started it was genuine enough--I saw that myself.
Sgt. Edka: But the safety line that should have stopped the fall before my men were badly injured failed as well.
Mr. Birch: And why did it fail?
Sgt. Edka's face is expressionless.
Sgt. Edka: The line shows a clean cut about halfway through. The rest was torn.
Mr. Birch tamps down on the tobacco.
Sgt. Edka: The placement of the cut is inconsistent with it's being caused by a sharp rock--that portion of the rope would have been in air.
Sgt. Edka: And there was no damage found on the safety line during our routine pre-climb safety inspection.
Sgt. Edka shrugs.
Sgt. Edka: Of course, any courtroom lawyer could take apart my chain of reasoning.
Mr. Birch: But you suspect the line was cut... deliberately?
Sgt. Edka: I cannot rule out that possibility.
Mr. Birch: How much time elapsed between the inspection and the accident?
Sgt. Edka: About three hours--my team had almost finished placing their charges.
Mr. Birch: Who had access to the equipment in that time span?
Sgt. Edka: It's a construction site. Anybody could have walked by.
Sgt. Edka: The timing of the failure was determined entirely by accident, even if my suspicions are true.
Sgt. Edka: For that matter, any person cutting the line would have no way to be sure that one of my climbers would misstep and fall. On most climbs, the safety ropes prove unnecessary.
Sgt. Edka: From this, I suspect that the saboteur, if there was one, might not have much experience of rock climbing.
Sgt. Edka: Of course, this camp is full of people who don't know much about rock climbing, and who have reason, according to their lights, to resent the presence of my men.
Mr. Birch: Tell me about the mis-step. You say you saw that. Could anything have caused it, besides personal error?
Sgt. Edka shrugs.
Sgt. Edka: The cliff face is unstable. There is always a danger that one's foothold will crumble.
Sgt. Edka: And if you can't recover--well, that's why we have safety lines.
Mr. Birch: So if the safety line was damaged, an accident was inevitable?
Sgt. Edka considers.
Sgt. Edka: We've had a slip bad enough to require someone to lean on the safety line perhaps one or two times a week.
Sgt. Edka: Only the one line was damaged, however. And it might have held, if the first man to fall hadn't dislodged one of his partners.
Mr. Birch: So this attempt might have failed. You might have caught the damage on the next inspection?
Mr. Birch takes out his firestriker and lights the pipe.
Sgt. Edka: The next inspection should have caught the damaged line. It would have alerted us to the problem, as well.
Sgt. Edka: That makes me think that the sabotage, if any, was intended to scare us, not to injure us.
Sgt. Edka: Alternatively, it was done on impulse, with a minimum of forethought or planning.
Mr. Birch: As you say, this camp is full of workers who resent the presence of Gen professionals.
Mr. Birch: And would be happy to run you and your people back over the border.
Sgt. Edka: We have started some rock-climbing classes for renSimes hoping to take over from us when the selyn shortage is resolved.
Sgt. Edka: That might ease some of the tension.
Mr. Birch: Or give them more opportunity to cause damage.
Sgt. Edka: However, in the mean time, I must insist that certain precautions be taken whenever my men are on the cliff.
Mr. Birch sucks deeply on the pipe and emits a cloud of blue smoke.
Sgt. Edka's nose twitches in distaste, although he says nothing.
Sgt. Edka: At a minimum, we must have guards posted at the top of the cliff, to ensure that no unauthorized personnel are allowed to approach our lines.
Sgt. Edka: And under the circumstances, I am also reluctant to have any of the renSimes we're training in rock climbing to be on the cliff when we are working.
Mr. Birch: Of course.
Mr. Birch: Which precisely contradicts the request that I've had from the renSime's union, to post Sime guards by the Gen workers to ensure their safety.
Mr. Birch puffs out another large blue cloud.
Sgt. Edka: I realize that.
Sgt. Edka: However, since the renSimes in the union are the very ones who might aspire to replace any of my crew who met with... misfortune, I can't allow that.
Mr. Birch: Damn and blast, the evidence is inconclusive.
Mr. Birch: But I wonder if we've found it all.
Mr. Birch: Those Simes can zlin emotions... and they can zlin a lie.
Mr. Birch: I think we ought to involve the in-Territory authorities in this inquiry.
Sgt. Edka is visibly torn.
Sgt. Edka: I have orders to avoid an interterritorial incident at all costs.
Sgt. Edka: Although if it were done discreetly, and at least partly by the Sime authorities....
Mr. Birch: Discreetly. Yes.
Mr. Birch: No need to go through official channels.
Sgt. Edka nods.
Sgt. Edka: Mr. Birch, I must bow to your authority as project manager.
Sgt. Edka learned CYA (cover your ass) in basic training, of course.
Mr. Birch: But if there are going to be Sime observers on the cliffs, I'd rather have Tecton representatives, who would rather die than see a Gen injured. Not those blood-thirsty renSimes who would sell their own grandmothers to the Pens for a better transfer.
Sgt. Edka resolves to have one of his teams watching, as well.
Mr. Birch drags deeply on the pipe.
Mr. Birch: Let's go have a little chat with Controller Arat.
Sgt. Edka: Very well, Sir.
Mr. Birch holds the door open for Sgt. Edka.
Sgt. Edka follows Birch towards the Sime Shack--er, Center.
Mr. Birch trails tobacco smoke past the front door of the newly-constructed Sime Center and heads directly for the Controller's office.
Arat has just returned from an all-hands meeting with the Tecton staff, and is now looking through the mountain of paperwork that was turned in to him there.
Arat is looking forward to some good news, and hopes that statistics and probability can wring something of the sort out of all of the new data.
Nick is brewing tea for them both--Narosian, since it's not time yet for Arat's next dose of #3.
Nick has been using the necessity of keeping the adulterated tea separate as an excuse to feed Arat something he considers drinkable.
Mr. Birch halts at the door of the Controller's shack, ready to knock, and pauses. Didn't Cris say something about not doing that?
Mr. Birch wonders what he is supposed to do instead.
Arat: Nick, please let Mr. Birch in.
Mr. Birch: Hey! Anybody home?
Arat winces as Mr. Birch's bellow drowns out the end of his sentence.
Arat has had difficulty with many aspects of construction site life, but the #1 problem after sanitation would definitely have to be the noise.
Nick opens the door.
Nick: Mr. Birch, what brings you here?
Mr. Birch: Morning, Sosu Nick.
Nick steps back to let Birch in.
Mr. Birch emits an odorous cloud.
Mr. Birch: Got a little problem we'd like to discuss with the Controller.
Arat inhales in preparation to greet Mr. Birch, and his expression turns odd as he tries valiantly to not start coughing uncontrollably.
Sgt. Edka follows Birch through the door.
Nick notes the smoking pipe with the sort of alarm only a Farris-trained Donor (or a Farris) would feel.
Mr. Birch: Good morning, Controller Arat.
Nick: Mr. Birch, you can't bring that in here!
Mr. Birch: What?
Nick reaches for the pipe.
Mr. Birch: Hey!
Nick: You can't make smoke in here!
Nick: It will make Arat sick.
Mr. Birch pulls the pipe away from the Donor's grasp.
Mr. Birch: I thought whatever was wrong with him was under control.
Arat snatches a handkerchief at the last minute and uses it to cover his mouth, muffling the first proto-cough and quelling the rest through sheer willpower, while Mr. Birch is distracted.
Nick thinks "under control" is the last word he'd use to describe the current situation--any of it.
Nick: It is, as long as his allergies aren't aggravated by smoke, and dust, and....
Nick pauses, reluctant to let the smoke situation get steadily worse while he recites the full list of Farris allergies.
Mr. Birch has run into anti-tobacco, anti-coffee and anti-alcohol fanatics before, and considers them a bunch of wimps and killjoys.
Mr. Birch: He's allergic to smoke?
Nick: Yes.
Nick casts an alarmed glance at Arat.
Nick: Please, either put that out or go smoke it outside.
Mr. Birch remembers the twenty handkerchiefs and sighs.
Mr. Birch: Oh, very well.
Mr. Birch extinguishes the pipe.
Mr. Birch: ~~nicotine craving~~
Nick leaves the door wide open, judging that clearing the smoke is more important just now than keeping dust out.
Arat's final spasm passes, and he is free to use the handkerchief for a new and pressing matter - his running eyes.
Arat: Mr. Birch. [greets the Gen, somewhat hoarsely]
Arat: Sgt. Edka.
Mr. Birch puts the pipe into its case and slips it in the pocket of his jacket.
Arat: I apologize for the inconvenience.
Nick bustles back to Arat's side to offer ~~ support ~~
Mr. Birch: My apologies, Controller. I didn't realize the smoke would bother you.
Arat doesn't, however, apologize for not being forced to cough out a lung on the desk in front of them. In fact, he is rather glad about that.
Arat nods in acknowledgement of Birch's apology.
Sgt. Edka has been taking very careful mental notes; he'd been under the impression that nobody and nothing would curb Birch's noxious habit.
Arat: How can I help you?
Arat hopes whatever it is won't take too long. The clerks gleaned from the rabble on the hillsides require a good deal of supervision, and he is eager to get them to work on the data in these scribbled reports.
Mr. Birch: We are here in an... unofficial capacity.
Nick shoots Birch a glance, wondering if he's caught wind of Arat's Xylexion addiction.
Mr. Birch: We have a serious problem, and we'd like to avoid inter-territorial difficulties.
Arat: I... see.
Mr. Birch: It's about the Gens who fell from the cliff last week.
Arat gestures for them both to take a seat, as it is obvious this may take a while.
Sgt. Edka sits cautiously on the indicated bench.
Mr. Birch glances sourly at the bench... he remembers how little he likes being made to feel like a school child sitting in the principal's office before Arat's desk.
Arat's own seat is doing somewhat better since he spent a small fortune getting an actual office chair brought here. It isn't District Controller quality seating, but it beats the straw padded barrel hands down.
Mr. Birch wonders if he will score any points if he makes the Sime a present of some actual chairs-- he is tempted, if only to preserve his own butt.
Arat had ordered some through ordinary channels, but they mysteriously failed to show up. He finally resorted to bribing the Mayor of Salmonton into giving up his for about 10 times what it was worth.
Nick judges that the smoke has been diluted out as much as it's going to, and leaves his hovering long enough to shut the door.
Mr. Birch: We don't have what you could actually call proof in a court of law. But we don't think it was an accident.
Arat frowns.
Sgt. Edka nods solemn agreement to Birch's analysis.
Arat can zlin that they are both sincere about this, and not at all hysterical.
Mr. Birch: Sgt Edka conducted the inquiry.
Mr. Birch: Sargeant, make your report.
Arat however is not blind to the fact that hysteria is exactly what could result if too many people came to the same conclusions, true or erroneous.
Sgt. Edka: I discovered that the safety rope that should have prevented a serious fall had broken.
Sgt. Edka: The break's location and appearance is consistent with the line being partially cut.
Sgt. Edka: This would have to have occurred after our pre-climb safety inspection.
Arat ponders that.
Arat has to take Sgt Edka's word as a professional that things are as he states. After all, Arat knows nothing of the trade.
Sgt. Edka: There are alternative possibilities, of course, for each finding, although some stretch the bounds of credibility.
Arat: You suspect sabotage, then? Larity related, or political?
Arat unfortunately can't rule out either motivation for such an act. RenSime resentment of Gens is at an all time high, and there are labor issues as well.
Mr. Birch: It could be either.
Sgt. Edka: Or it could be the action of a single individual with a twisted enthusiasm for disasters.
Sgt. Edka thinks that the Dam site would have to be a magnet for such types.
Mr. Birch: That's where I was hoping your people could help us.
Arat: Oh? [cautiously]
Mr. Birch: None of our people noticed anyone acting suspiciously, but of course nicking that rope wouldn't take more than an instant.
Mr. Birch: But our people can't zlin intentions, or guilt, or lies.
Mr. Birch: Perhaps you could find out more if you conducted your own investigation, quietly.
Sgt. Edka: It is also necessary to post guards at the cliff top, when my men are working.
Arat taps his pen with a dorsal, thinking.
Sgt. Edka is a little skeptical as to whether an investigation could find the one saboteur out of thousands of workers.
Sgt. Edka is therefore concentrating on preventing a repetition.
Mr. Birch: Even before the accident, SWAT was requesting that renSimes guard the Gens while they work.
Sgt. Edka interrupts, somewhat apologetically.
Sgt. Edka: Until the actual saboteur has been located, and his or her motivations ascertained, I prefer that the guards not be renSimes.
Sgt. Edka: They are, after all, the group which has been most open in displaying hostility towards our presence here.
Arat frowns again.
Arat: RenSimes are more readily available. To choose Gen guards might be seen as a provocation.
Sgt. Edka: I'd rather be seen as provocative, than have another fall.
Sgt. Edka: Whatever guards you and Mr. Birch can find aside, I will be posting one of my men at the top of the cliff to watch for trouble.
Mr. Birch: We don't feel we can trust the Sime workers.
Sgt. Edka does his best to conceal a wince at having his feelings stated so baldly.
Arat: Not those on your payroll?
Arat finds this an unsettling revelation, although not a particularly surprising one.
Mr. Birch: We hire based on ability, not loyalty.
Arat and his fellow Tecton employees have been treating an increasing number of fight-related injuries, alongside the work injuries.
Mr. Birch: Perhaps this is the act of a lone individual. Right now we don't know.
Arat as it happens is skilled at winnowing out loyal types from the chaff; he's nearly made a career of it as a Controller. However, he is used to having months and years to work with.
Mr. Birch: But if there are to be Sime guards, we would prefer they come from the Tecton, not the union or the unaffiliated.
Arat: As you know, we do not have large numbers of security personnel of our own. Those we have are required to protect our own staff and supplies.
Arat pauses, as a thought occurs to him. No... ridiculous.
Mr. Birch: Perhaps we could trade personnel.
Arat: What do you propose?
Mr. Birch: Assign some of our guards to watch your supplies, while using your security personnel to police the work site.
Mr. Birch: Perhaps Sime observers could identify the saboteurs.
Arat's tentacles worry the pen in unconscious reflection of his thoughts.
Arat never used to fidget so much, before coming here.
Arat of course never had such a nightmare of an assignment as this either.
Nick notes the fidgets, and thinks ~~ soothing ~~ thoughts.
Nick is, after all, pretty sure that fidgeting, like allergies, aren't impressive to out-Territory Gen eyes.
Arat: There is the issue of SWAT's position.
Mr. Birch: How is that relevant?
Arat: They will insist that the additional guards be SWAT members.
Sgt. Edka looks alarmed.
Mr. Birch: That won't be acceptable.
Sgt. Edka: SWAT members are the logical replacements if my men are incapacitated, and have been actively agitating for our removal.
Arat can see that they are in for some serious labor clashes if this keeps up.
Arat sighs.
Arat: Very well. You may have the loan of our guards, provided acceptable trades can be found.
Arat: However, there must be a plan for the future.
Sgt. Edka: How long will it take to resolve this selyn shortage?
Arat: I cannot provide a steady stream of such personnel, although there may be some altern... [pauses as Edka speaks]
Sgt. Edka 's assignment to the Dam project ends when the renSimes can take over.
Sgt. Edka thinks it's crazy to hire people to chip the cliff smooth by hand, when explosives are available, but it's been clear from the start that politics were as much a part of this project as engineering.
Arat: We are maintaining the schedule as previously discussed. We should be able to come online with full construction provisions within six weeks.
Arat would have said "four to six weeks" if they were really sticking to the schedule.
Arat however has been dealing with spiraling healing costs, particularly among the homeless rabble and those working near the explosives. Plus, there have been rampant problems with renSimes attempting to secure double and sometimes even triple transfers, with ever increasing ingenuity.
Arat has been hard pressed to come up with foolproof identity tests that can both be performed by any Third and yet withstand the crazy sorts of stunts the truly greedy or desperate will pull.
Sgt. Edka had hoped that the original estimate was the usual "gloom and doom" estimate, intended to provide its maker with plenty of fudge room.
Nick, being more familiar with Farrises, knows that it was a "bright and cheery" best-case estimate, which Arat will happily die trying to keep.
Mr. Birch: Would it be possible for your security staff to carry out a discreet investigation of this terrible business?
Arat frowns.
Mr. Birch: If we could identify the culprits, perhaps we would not require these elaborate precautions.
Arat: I may be able to arrange for such a thing, although I cannot say who precisely would perform the investigation at this time.
Mr. Birch: I will leave it in your hands.
Arat had been pondering the concept of asking the increasingly galling Audnes-supporters to infiltrate SWAT, to keep them occupied.
Mr. Birch actually has no other choice, as he cannot exactly second-zlin a channel.
Arat's only concern had been that they would not be suitable for any type of helpful labor.
Sgt. Edka: Once renSimes have the selyn to take over from my crew, the sabotage (if that's what it was) should stop.
Arat had then, very briefly, considered offering them to Mr. Birch for his security uses, but of course that would be ridiculous. Not to mention, exposed.
Sgt. Edka: It's a matter of preventing trouble in the mean time.
Mr. Birch frowns.
Mr. Birch: That's only true if the saboteurs are job-seekers.
Sgt. Edka is forced to concede the point.
Sgt. Edka: True. Although that seems the most likely possibility, at the moment.
Mr. Birch: And I would certainly like to know if we are dealing with a few isolated hotheads, or an organized conspiracy.
Arat nods.
Nick is hoping for the former. Random hotheads would be much harder to catch, but he saw during the Capitol riots how much damage an organized conspiracy can make. 1
Mr. Birch is not sure what he will do if it turns out the assault was master-minded by the union, but he will not have traitors on his payroll.
Mr. Birch knows he would require rock-solid evidence to evict SWAT from the Project.
Notes:
1) Nick does not actually have any knowledge of the conspiracy between Arat and SWAT leader Fragga, which took place in Capitol. [return]
Go on to Episode #34: Tiger by the Tail
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