Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #40: Go Hom (9/17/00)
Hatj strolls through the construction camp after hours, keeping a sharp ear out for hints of gossip.
Hatj's law-enforcement authority at the site is questionable, as no one had previously seen a reason to decide jurisdiction in the middle of the woods, but he hopes to be a moderating influence, even so.
Hatj is particularly interested in anything he can pick up about the unrest between the locals and the new arrivals.
Hatj had been aware of considerable griping among long-time residents as their pristine forest was invaded (much of it justified, in his opinion), but not that it had progressed to the point of active sabotage ending in murder.
Hatj hopes to prevent a recurrence.
Fexette carries a heavy wooden toolbox across an open area of dried trampled mud.
Fexette negotiates the crisscrossed ruts and ridges with Sime grace.
Fexette tips his hat to Hatj and continues on his way to a tall wooden fence.
Fexette sets down the toolbox and surveys the damage.
Fexette: [blackened scorched area and a painted slogan: go home!]
Hatj wanders over casually, noting the slogan.
Fexette opens the toolbox and removes a small can of paint and a brush.
Hatj: Has this sort of thing been happening often, Tuib?
Hatj smiles amiably and tips his hat.
Fexette inserts a tentacle tip and augments slightly to pop the lid of the paint can.
Fexette: Can't say as it has. This is the first one in weeks as was spelled right all the way through.
Fexette: Was thinking of getting my compatriot down here to have a look at it.
Fexette has a slow drawling voice suggesting he came from a far off Territory.
Fexette is also just a tad sarcastic.
Hatj inspects the graffiti.
Fexette obligingly pauses in his intention to paint over it.
Hatj: Almost legible, too.
Hatj is unable to identify the handwriting, but that was a long shot, anyway.
Hatj: Do the handwriting and paint colors vary?
Hatj notes that the color of this particular bit of graffiti closely resembles that with which Nigs Slorney just repainted the trim on his boat.
Hatj makes a mental note to drop by Nigs's place very soon.
Fexette takes a closer look at Hatj and realizes this is no ordinary passer-by.
Hatj notes Fexette's interest, and tips his hat again.
Hatj: Hatj, chief of the police force in Palisades.
Fexette immediately clams up, in response to an instinct bred into him by many generations of law-mistrusting ancestors.
Hatj: All three of us.
Fexette gives a short, wary nod.
Fexette: Meetcha.
Hatj smiles in a ~~ friendly ~~ fashion.
Hatj: I'm told some of our local hooligans may have been getting into trouble over here.
Hatj: So I thought I'd wander around a bit, and see what was going on.
Hatj turns back to inspect the graffiti, not incidentally reducing the pressure on Fexette.
Hatj: Looks like whoever decorated your fence here also tried to start a fire. Has that happened before?
Fexette: Mayhap. [cautiously]
Fexette: Been some trouble, like you say.
Hatj rubs his jaw thoughtfully.
Hatj: Has it been confined to badly spelled slogans, or has it been getting more personal?
Hatj is not about to specifically ask a random worker about the sabotage leading the the three Gens' deaths, of course, when Controller Arat was so insistent that the matter not become a rallying point.
Hatj is rather curious to see if the incident has reached the rumor mill, however, and if so, in what form.
Fexette makes an expression that looks like he is chewing on the end of a straw.
Fexette: Been rumors.
Fexette: Can't say as I've heard any.
Fexette contradicts himself neatly, hence covering his ass.
Hatj grunts, zlinning Fexette to try to determine which of the contradictory statements is most plausible.
Hatj decides, as he'd feared, that the first statement is most likely the true one, and the second the ass-covering one.
Hatj: What about these rumors, then?
Fexette mulls over the question for a bit.
Fexette: Some say there's been ropes that didn't break like they was frayed. If you get what I mean.
Hatj thinks "uh-oh".
Hatj: That don't sound friendly.
Hatj: In fact, it sounds downright inhospitable.
Hatj: The sort of thing that gets people up in arms, if you know what I mean.
Hatj zlins Fexette again, in hopes of catching any hint that retaliation is planned.
Fexette doesn't seem particularly inclined to act on it.
Fexette seems the sort who has to think a long time about something before he decides what action, if any, to take.
Fexette: I reckon.
Fexette begins painting a small square of new paint over the grafitti.
Hatj: You heard about any people who are upset enough to--take matters into their own hands?
Hatj is willing to delay official action on the murder charges in favor of not turning the construction site into a repeat of the recent Capitol labor riots, but not if the riots are going to break out anyway.
Fexette: Nope.
Fexette zlins as if he wouldn't have said anything even if he did know, and maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't.
Hatj is, of course, aware of more than one instance where the drifters laid hands on any number of things belonging to locals, but so far as he can tell, the motivation has been primarily the lack of supplies in the outlying camps, not retaliation.
Hatj rubs his chin thoughtfully, gazing at Fexette's work.
Fexette completes a neat square that is just as unnatural on the bare wood as the grafitti, but no longer sends quite so pointed a message.
Hatj: Anyplace around here where an off-duty officer could get a drink?
Hatj figures he's probably gotten as much as he's going to out of Fexette, and little though it has been, it's only confirmed the Controller's assessment about the volatility of the situation.
Fexette isn't aware of any places that have actual liquor licenses.
Fexette: Not in here. Camps.
Fexette makes it clear that he isn't about to associate himself with the camps.
Hatj nods thoughtfully.
Hatj: You've been very helpful, Tuib.
Hatj is able, through long practice, to be genuinely ~~ appreciative ~~ of Fexette's minimal responses.
Hatj: I'm here to do what I can to keep the situation from exploding--that could close down the whole project, and everybody's jobs with it.
Fexette looks at Hatj, one lone renSime from a few miles away, and thinks that the man is dreaming.
Hatj: It's maybe a bit ambitious for a force with three people on it--doesn't leave us much time for details, if you get what I mean.
Fexette looks dubious, but nods.
Hatj hopes that Fexette will take this as assurance that small misdemeanors noticed in the course of the investigation will not be pursued.
Hatj: But we do know the folks who've grown up around here, and how to get most of 'em to see reason.
Fexette: Well, I wish you the best of luck, but I best be back to work.
Fexette's use of the phrase "best of luck" is habitual, but turns out to be appropros in this case.
Hatj: Of course, of course. If you come across anything you think I should know, just get a message to me. I'll be around.
Hatj hopes that his physical presence in the area will act as a deterrent, despite his ambiguous authority.
Hatj is very much afraid that it might be too little, too late, though.
Go on to Episode #41: The Itchy Finger
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