Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #72: Tout Squeak (11/18/00)
Borgmann picks his way over the trampled snow towards the semi-constructed bath house, trying to maintain his usual air of officiousness... er, better make that "professional dignity".
Borgmann has a hard time with that even when he's in his nice, comfortable office building, due to his unfortunate slim build and physical resemblance to a mouse.
Borgmann thinks that having Gen parents is a bad enough handicap; it's completely unfair that he didn't at least inherit their imposing stature.
Borgmann's briefcase and dress shoes are somewhat the worse for wear, due to the unfortunate climate, but he has not been able to bring himself to abandon his professional image.
Urchin throws a mud clot at Borgmann, fortunately with poor aim.
Urchin: Pigs! Pigs! Live in mud!
Urchin: Go back to your sty Borg-mun!
Borgmann turns and tries to send a cold stare in the urchin's direction: rather difficult, given his less-than-memorable features.
Urchin was taught to say this, along with a number of other choice phrases, by some nice people who gave him food.
Borgmann: I can see that you, at least, live in a pig sty.
Urchin's grin changes to fear as Borgmann looks his way, and he scampers off.
Urchin will be able to feast off the notoriety of his initial boldness for at least a couple hours.
Borgmann tries to proceed with dignity, despite having to windmill his free arm in un-Simelike fashion as his dress shoes hit a lump of ice.
Borgmann zlins around the Narosian campsite for a channel.
Riyyh: Oh dear... [watching a team of Narosians balancing on ladders and poles, attempting to put glass in a window near the top of the bathhouse]
Riyyh starts to make a suggestion, then decides the less they are distracted, the better.
Riyyh bites his lip, then tells himself he should be proud of them for coming up with a solution to the glass problem, and of their braveness in installing the prototype pieces despite the ice on everything.
Riyyh is a safe distance from the bath house, watching from a sheltered nook between two tents.
Racknie is, of course, in the thick of the action.
Riyyh's people have been gathering discarded glass bottles from the dumps and garbage tips of the camps for days, and the first of the windows made from that glass have appeared.
Borgmann zlins the goings-on with more than a little disbelief, then spots what he assumes is his quarry.
Riyyh supposes that they will be steamed up anyway, and so the lesser quality of the re-used mixed glass won't be as evident.
Borgmann is sure of it, when he notes the outfit worn by the channel in question.
Riyyh thinks the unavoidable color variations will just have to be seen as a charming quirk of the structure.
Racknie leans far to the side, almost forgetting that his feet really ought to remain on the ladder, as he struggles to fit the recalcitrant glass in place.
Borgmann winces, and scuttles towards the channel faster than he'd intended, hoping to be within range of his field control if the crazy Gen slips.
Borgmann: Sectuib Riyyh?
Borgmann's voice squeaks a bit, an unfortunate tendency it develops in times of stress.
Riyyh turns quickly to Borgmann, zlinning the stress and urgency and reacting.
Riyyh may have been a bet tense himself, given what he'd been watching.
Riyyh: Yes? I am he.
Borgmann has already been victimized by the unfortunate tendency of ankle-deep snow to fall into leather spats.
Riyyh zlins Borgmann's lack of adequate footwear with pity.
Borgmann: I'm Girf Borgmann, Chief Immigration Officer for the Snake River Dam Field Office.
Borgmann tries to use a lot of capital letters when introducing himself, as otherwise nobody could possibly think that he was in any way important.
Riyyh: Oh!
Riyyh is genuinely surprised. This fellow doesn't seem anywhere near imposing enough to be an Immigration official.
Riyyh: I'm terribly sorry.
Riyyh: How nice to meet you.
Riyyh has, of course, worked with a lot of immigration officials in the course of working with junct renSimes at Naros.
Borgmann catches Riyyh's less-than-impressed reaction, and his shoulders hunch defensively.
Riyyh tries to zlin Borgmann for any trace of how the IDAS feels about Narosian and company plans to contain the Gens, but discovers only some deep feelings of personal inadequacy.
Riyyh: ~~puzzled~~
Riyyh smiles nonetheless. He is good at that.
Riyyh: I hope you have had a good morning.
Borgmann: I have been entrusted with the responsibility for regularizing the immigration status of all foreigners present at this site, either through naturalization or deportation. My staff has been hard at work for weeks, preparing the necessary papers for
Borgmann: hundreds of cases.
Borgmann leaves out the bit about sitting inside even a makeshift lean-to style office being preferable to slogging around in the snow.
Riyyh: Oh! How wonderful.
Riyyh: So you have the situation well in hand? No intervention will be required on the part of Mr. Birch or myself?
Riyyh: He will be so pleased.
Borgmann: Well, these things take time. Due process must be observed.
Riyyh may be indulging in just a bit of wishful thinking, here. Or is it sarcasm? Surely not.
Riyyh: Of course. [reassuringly] I understand.
Borgmann: We have managed to close out several dozen cases already.
Riyyh: Several dozen? Truly? Oh, that is a relief. We had been aware of only 37, and you know how some people become overly worried.
Borgmann: Our first cases are only now coming to a resolution. Our finalization rate will improve as we start taking action on cases initiated after an adequate staff arrived.
Borgmann: It takes about six months to resolve a case properly.
Borgmann really does officiousness rather well, given his physical handicap.
Riyyh: Six months. Oh, my.
Riyyh thinks this is actually pretty good compared to the year or more that can pass by as juncts struggle for citizenship.
Borgmann: Deportation and naturalization are both important steps. Would you have us deny the people here the due process to which they are entitled under the law?
Riyyh still thinks it a bit long for processing those who are simply to be deported, however.
Riyyh looks at Borgmann innocently.
Borgmann: ~~ indignation ~~
Riyyh: I beg your pardon?
Borgmann: You appear to be advocating an injudicious haste.
Riyyh thinks back over his last words.
Riyyh: I do? Why, I certainly never intended to.
Riyyh intended to advocate a prudent haste.
Borgmann: I have recently been informed that you intend to take independent action to resolve many of our pending cases. I must warn you that any attempt to deprive people of their rights under our law will be vigorously opposed.
Riyyh: Why, I had assumed your people would be on hand to prevent any such deprivations.
Riyyh in fact had intended Borgmann's people to comprise the administration and security of the facility.
Riyyh hadn't wanted to approach them until the funding was settled, however.
Borgmann does not appear mollified.
Borgmann: I understand that you propose building a detention center, into which all suspected illegal immigrants will be confined.
Riyyh: Yes.
Borgmann: On its face, this would be premature. Detention is appropriate only after deportation papers have been served, not before even an initial investigation has been started.
Borgmann's department believes in limiting the time of incarceration, as local jurisdictions tend to squawk if they are expected to house potential deportees for the months it takes to resolve a case.
Riyyh: And it would be so much more convenient to wait until they have died of starvation and exposure, at which point they would be less difficult to track down for the service of the papers. [thoughtfully]
Riyyh 's voice is still kind and gentle, but the meaning of the words has an edge.
Borgmann stiffens as the barb strikes home.
Riyyh: Tuib Borgmann, I can assure you, we were only brought into this because it seems lives were in danger.
Riyyh: Surely some compromise can be reached?
Borgmann: Sectuib Riyyh, if you wish to provide charitable assistance to these people, you have my blessing. They could certainly use it.
Borgmann: But forcible detention must be limited to those who have had a duly constituted immigration hearing, at which they can provide any grounds they might have for being allowed to remain.
Borgmann: And certainly, neither yourself, nor that Gen in charge of construction is authorized to make those judgments.
Riyyh had been hoping to use selective enforcement of Palisades' somewhat musty vagrancy laws, which were intended for the control of the occasional rowdy gold prospectors and/or fur hunters who stuck around town a bit too long.
Riyyh: Well, that is true. [admits]
Riyyh had planned on using good old fashioned Narosian persuasion - and the lure of food and warmth and legal semi-legitimacy - as much as possible, of course.
Borgmann: Until each Gen has been provided with due process, they must be free to come and go at will. Otherwise, you will be guilty of false imprisonment.
Borgmann disregards for a moment the likelihood of inadequately dressed Gens choosing to go exploring in the middle of mountain-severe winter storms.
Riyyh: But how would we guarantee their safety in that case?
Riyyh well knows what a concentration of Gens would zlin like to cold, hungry renSimes in the dead of winter. Particularly if there is another selyn shortage.
Borgmann: Sectuib Riyyh, I understand that you mean only the best. I applaud your charitable efforts.
Borgmann really does; he's as partial as the next renSime to having a selyn supply available in a crisis.
Borgmann: However, when Gens were granted full citizenship under the law, they also were granted the rights and privileges of a citizen. All of them.
Riyyh looks puzzled.
Riyyh: We were not proposing the detention of Sime Territory citizens.
Borgmann is aware that Gens seldom exercise some of those rights, like the one that allows augmentation under some circumstances.
Borgmann: That is true. But those Gens can not be treated any differently, under the law, than if they were Sime. Prospective Sime immigrants who are not junct are not subject to imprisonment, until their status can be regularized.
Borgmann: Those Gens are not junct, last time I zlinned them.
Borgmann: And without valid deportation papers, served after a properly convened immigration hearing at which they have legal representation, they may not legally be imprisoned.
Borgmann: You may offer them food and shelter if you wish, and I suppose many will accept your offer.
Borgmann: But they must not be confined to your camp by force, or your charitable venture becomes nothing but an old-fashioned Pen.
Borgmann's rodentoid features twist with disgust at the word.
Riyyh: But we cannot treat is as anything but, without also opening its doors to renSimes.
Riyyh: And there are far more of them than can possibly be accommodated by any charity... or any budget.
Riyyh despite his general dislike of IDAS officials, is far too nice to notice that Borgmann looks like a rather undernourished guinea-pig.
Borgmann, having been raised by out-Territory Gens, has the full out-Territory disgust of anything approaching the traditional Pen system.
Riyyh, having lived behind Householding walls all his life and having worked with many juncts, is doubly aware of the value and necessity of incarceration-for-protection.
Borgmann fixes Riyyh with a beady, rodentoid eye.
Borgmann: There is nothing to prevent you from controlling who enters your camp. The only issue is whether those inside it, who have not been legally imprisoned, are free to leave if they wish.
Riyyh: Well, I don't like it, but as you will be running it, I see no reason not to allow you full discretion on these matters. [generously]
Borgmann: ...What??
Borgmann levitates briefly, like a mouse that just spotted a hungry kitty.
Riyyh: But of course your organization must control its actual administration and operation.
Riyyh: After all, you are the only ones with the authority to do so.
Borgmann: But....
Borgmann looks around as if to spot a mousehole refuge.
Riyyh: I can arrange for the planning, funding and construction of the camp, and even the collection of the Gens - in whatever order you choose - but we really have no ability to manage such a program.
Riyyh: And of course, if you feel the administration of the camp would be easier -- or fairer -- if those held there were allowed free entrance and exit, well by all means do as you feel is best.
Borgmann calms down just a bit at the news that he won't have to drop his beloved paperwork to boss a construction crew, a job for which he knows he is eminently unqualified.
Borgmann is pretty sure that Riyyh isn't the best construction boss either, judging from what his followers are doing on the bathhouse roof, but at least he seems willing to try.
Borgmann squares his shoulders (well, as much as he can, when they're perpetually stooped from too much time hunching over a desk), and looks Riyyh squarely in the eye.
Borgmann: Personal ease of law enforcement is not an issue, when it comes to the necessity to respect the law's due process.
Riyyh blinks as Borgmann doesn't even object to being saddled with the camp's administration.
Riyyh had expected more resistance.
Riyyh: Of course.
Borgmann wonders, however, if it would be possible to have a movable fence constructed, behind which those who's hearings have been held could be confined.
Borgmann: It would certainly be easier to serve papers and hold hearings, if we don't have to chase after most people to find them.
Riyyh: It would.
Riyyh notes that Borgmann has already ixnayed any methods which might be suitable for rounding up unwilling Gens, who would seem to make up the majority.
Borgmann: Your budget does, I trust, include funds for a suitable staff?
Riyyh: All of our basic staff such as cooks and teachers will be volunteers.
Borgmann has in mind a camp manager, guards to keep those unauthorized from leaving, clerks to track spending and disbursement, and so on.
Riyyh: You may or may not wish to hire security assistance.
Riyyh thinks they will require much more security if the Gens have free access to the vices of the camps and vise versa, but that will be up to Borgmann to figure out.
Borgmann: It will prove essential, if renSimes are not to be permitted inside.
Riyyh: That is my feeling as well.
Borgmann is a career administrator, and thus rather likes the idea of tripling his underlings, and therefore his prestige.
Riyyh frankly cannot see how they could operate it as an open camp with any degree of safety, but if the IDAS is going to allow itself to be maneuvered into taking official responsibility (and Riyyh is going to do his best to assist them in that matter) then it will be less pressure on Riyyh.
Riyyh: Of course, any funding for that would have to come from IDAS.
Riyyh: Anything else would be... unethical, would you say?
Borgmann: It would not be possible to get authorization for official IDAS guards until spring, realistically.
Borgmann: And my budget contains no funds for hiring temporary ones.
Riyyh: How did you intend to restrain those Gens you did capture and convict?
Borgmann: We have usually not attempted a capture until we have already arranged for transportation. The Gens are essentially deported as soon as their final hearing is concluded.
Borgmann: It isn't an optimum situation, to be sure: four illegals we planned to deport disappeared. However, it is the only approach practical with our limited staff.
Riyyh is frankly amazed that Borgmann does not realize the situation is a disaster.
Riyyh: And how many were deported to date?
Borgmann has been well insulated from the realities of the selyn-distribution system, and has largely managed to keep his childhood "the Tecton will provide" ideals.
Borgmann smiles with professional pride.
Borgmann: As of yesterday, thirty-six. With another ten cases pending day after tomorrow.
Borgmann has had to adjust his final hearing schedule to coincide with the shipping schedules across the lake.
Riyyh: Out of some two thousand?
Borgmann: We have three hundred cases in progress at the moment. With a staff of only fifteen, that is a remarkable accomplishment.
Riyyh: Three hundred? Really?
Riyyh thinks that is an astronomical increase over their initial progress.
Riyyh: Well, at this rate you will be processing them all within two or three weeks.
Borgmann defines "case in progress" as anything from "we have a name, so let's start a file" through investigations, hearings, interviews, and so on, through actual deportation.
Borgmann: Well, most of those cases have not progressed beyond initial identification.
Borgmann has noticed that the number of new cases is having a strong affect on his staff's ability to process old cases, but that's to be expected.
Riyyh: Oh, I see.
Riyyh's brief fantasy of the problem being all gone is squashed.
Riyyh should have known, actually.
Borgmann: Still, we are proceeding with as much haste as we can manage.
Riyyh: Well, if we can prepare a document formalizing your commitment to running the facility, I can get started on obtaining the funding for it.
Riyyh actually is in the middle of that process already, but....
Borgmann: I will have one of my clerks prepare such a document.
Borgmann subscribes to the theory that his own clerks are more likely to put in the weasel words required to limit his involvement to what has been agreed.
Riyyh: Very well.
Riyyh will, of course, show it to Arat and Mr. Birch after changing it to his liking. Poor Borgmann won't recognize it when it is finished. It will, of course, be Riyyh's job to make sure Borgmann likes it that way.
Borgmann intends to draw his own authority rather narrowly, so as not to compromise his mission and the law, and explicitly state that Riyyh is responsible for everything else.
Riyyh sighs a bit unhappily.
Riyyh: This makes certain things so much easier. Media coverage, for example.
Riyyh: Why, we have Elte Andover in our midst.
Riyyh: Can you imagine what would happen if he thought that the IDAS was obstructing, rather than assisting in this project?
Borgmann: I suppose I should have copies sent to him, as well as the Controller and that Gen in charge of construction.
Borgmann rather likes the idea of favorable media coverage.
Riyyh: Why, that's quite a good idea.
Riyyh thinks it will make his versions look much more palatable.
Riyyh also thinks that Elte will grab the notion of IDAS trying to dump responsibility on Riyyh... and run with it.
Riyyh supposes from IDAS' point of view that is better than the kind of coverage they were getting back home when papers were reporting that they were doing nothing about the situation.
Borgmann does not spend huge amounts of time reading newspapers, which is perhaps fortunate.
Riyyh: I'm so glad we were able to come to an agreement.
Borgmann: Fortunate indeed.
Borgmann is still under the illusion that they have come to the same agreement, of course.
Borgmann: I will have it formalized by tomorrow.
Borgmann: In the mean time, good day.
Borgmann gives Riyyh a stiff little bow, then scuttles away through the snow.
Riyyh: Good day. [watching him leave]
Riyyh for reasons mentioned above does not notice the official's retreat bears remarkable resemblance to the pitter pat of small vermin when their darkness is disturbed.
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