Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #80: Ripe for the Picking (12/3/00)
Borgmann is looking over the site which after much discussion has been selected for the as-yet-incompletely funded internment camp for the illegal out-Territory Gens.
Borgmann is busily taking notes in his precise handwriting, detailing what is required to make the project work.
Borgmann is rather good at details, although this isn't quite the sort of project he's used to.
Borgmann has found Sectuib Riyyh's proposal very useful, however, once some of the unnecessary padding has been eliminated.
Borgmann does not, for instance, see the necessity for the cake decorating set listed under "essential kitchen supplies", despite the potential for raising morale that it might provide.
Borgmann also intends to cut the set of garnishing knives from the budget, and add an additional large kettle.
Borgmann is still wondering what "hydroponics" means, and why it is required in the dining hall.
Sayward has been doing a bit more visiting dignitary escort work than she would ever have imagined. Well, anything to make sure the people didn't die of exposure. Of course there were other things she would rather be doing but well....
Plum follows the construction manager past acres filled with miserable people huddled in tents.
Plum stays so close behind Sayward he treads on the heels of her new boots. Though he is not sure what the woman could do to protect him from all the Simes surrounding him, if they should choose to attack.
Plum imagines he can feel the pressure of the Simes' attention on him, and it makes his skin crawl.
Sayward guides her charge through the confusing and seemingly endless rows of tents to the area that has been designated for the internment camp.
Plum cannot imagine why any Gen would leave the safety of New Washington Territory to freeze in this dismal place.
Sayward feels a bit sorry for the man. He is obviously not comfortable with Simes. Sayward was never comfortable with the CoP either but he is a "man of the cloth".
Plum: There are Simes everywhere!
Sayward: Minister, if you would please not walk so close. [he has just stepped on her heels again]
Sayward: Yes, this is Sime Territory. But these Simes don't kill, Minister.
Wise Snake strolls after Sayward and Plum, unannounced. Her attention was attracted by the shift in the ambient.
Sayward: The channels see to their need so they don't have to.
Plum: They shouldn't even exist. But look at them all!
Wise Snake is sure the two Gens have no idea what nageric havoc they are indirectly creating.
Wise Snake is sure the actual havoc is being indirectly created by the other guy, and Sayward is just along for the ride.
Sayward: Well, they do exist and I even have friends among them.
Sayward: They are just like us. They are trying to provide food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families.
Plum touches the symbol of the square sewn on his vestments. It makes him feel safer.
Borgmann inspects a small stream that runs through the area, trying to figure out if the water is pure enough to be usable, and if there's a chance of keeping it that way.
Wise Snake catches up to Plum and Sayward so she can hear what they are talking about.
Plum: They are demons, and you put your own soul in danger just speaking with them.
Sayward wonders how this will possibly work. The CoP has always been very hard line.
Wise Snake has been a bit behind on the official news lately, as she has been deep in the camps showing Beni what real Donors do for a living.
Sayward thinks that if just speaking to a Sime puts her soul in danger, what would living with one do?
Borgmann isn't an expert on sanitation engineering, but he does know that there are several nasty diseases that can spread quickly under crowded, unsanitary conditions.
Plum: I am endangering my own soul coming here, but surely Heaven will protect me. My intentions are Pure.
Wise Snake zlins Mr. Plum to see if his intentions really are pure.
Wise Snake is just the naturally curious type.
Plum: ~~maintaining control of disgust and loathing as well as he can~~
Sayward: Minister, we all have family or friends who have become Sime. I even have family on this side of the border. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the same could be said of you.
Plum: Of course, there are always goats born among the sheep. But they are unclean. They should not be permitted to live.
Plum look around the camp with horror.
Plum: This is an obscenity.
Sayward shakes her head. She never has been a debater and this isn't one that she could win in any event.
Plum: But what I don't understand is why any Gen would come here by their own choice.
Plum: Why are you here, Miz Sayward?
Plum: Surely there was honest work for you on our side of the border?
Sayward: [thinks for a moment] Because it is the largest undertaking on either side of the border. This dam will be here when you and I are only dust. I can't have children. This will be my legacy.
Wise Snake zlins Sayward to determine why Sayward can't have children.
Plum shakes his head sadly.
Plum: Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Plum: What shall it profit a woman to gain all the world and lose her soul?
Borgmann zlins an approaching disturbance, and pauses in his note-taking.
Plum: What shall it profit you to leave a monument in a kingdom of demons?
Plum: It is your soul that's immortal; take care of it!
Sayward: I am my soul. Just me. I don't worry about anything beyond that.
Plum is worried that Sayward's soul may already be lost, but that is not up to him.
Plum: Then be sure you are doing God's will.
Plum would be happy to enlighten Sayward as to the particulars of that.
Wise Snake snorts.
Sayward: Would letting people suffer and die of the cold when there is a way to help be God's will?
Borgmann thinks he can make out a channel's field manipulation at the center of it, and makes his way towards what seems to be an official inspection of some type.
Plum: We don't want people to suffer and die. That is why I am here, braving these demons, to bring aid to them.
Sayward: Then we have the same purpose.
Wise Snake thinks that Sayward has more taste, however.
Plum: So we do. And may you act with Purity.
Sayward: This way, Minister. [turns them down the avenue of tents that leads to the site]
Wise Snake follows along with them.
Plum follows the big woman down the slope.
Wise Snake is now burning with curiosity as to what they are up to.
Borgmann spots Sayward, whom he has met before, and a strong channel with a large nose, and a strangely familiar Gen.
Sayward wonders if virginity would be considered pure enough for the Minister? If so, she qualifies.
Plum glances nervously at the wild-haired Sime who seems to be stalking them.
Wise Snake smiles at Plum.
Wise Snake has a very snakely smile.
Plum: ~~horror~~
Wise Snake beams even wider at his reaction.
Sayward: Hajene Farris. How are you today?
Wise Snake: I am having a wonderful day, Miz Sayward. And how are you?
Wise Snake: You know, there really isn't any physical reason you couldn't have a child. [adds]
Sayward: ~~confusion~~
Wise Snake may not be the run of the mill Farris, but she does share certain tendencies with Klyd, blatant personal observations among them.
Sayward: Excuse me? You heard that?
Plum has heard of Farrises. He thinks this stalking monster bears very little resemblance to the idealized images of Zeor dignitaries he has seen in the papers.
Sayward slowly realizes what Snake just said.
Sayward: I can?
Plum knows that the newspapers lie, though, and this confirms it. This creepy grinning monster is the real thing.
Sayward is totally distracted by this bit of news.
Plum is not reassured by Snake's polite and civilized tone of voice. He understood the smile.
Snake turns to Plum.
Wise Snake: Minister, is it?
Wise Snake: I am Hajene Wise Snake Farris. Pleased to meet you.
Wise Snake offers her hand, just to be perverse. She knows it would be rude of Plum not to shake it.
Plum licks his lips. Even speaking to a Sime is dangerous.
Sayward: But I was told twenty years ago that I would never be able to bear children by a very good doctor.
Sayward is still not tracking.
Plum nods acknowledgement of the greeting and there is no way he will extend his hand towards those tentacles.
Wise Snake looks expectantly at her hand, and back to Minister Plum.
Plum addresses his remark to the air, not to Wise Snake.
Plum: I am Minister Plum of Salmonton.
Sayward shakes herself and reminds herself of her duty.
Wise Snake: And look, here is our lovely Tuib Borgmann. [having spotted him approaching]
Borgmann arrives in time to hear that introduction, and does a classic double take.
Wise Snake: What an interesting little bunch of folks.
Borgmann: ...Plum? Josef Plum?
Plum starts and stares at Borgmann.
Wise Snake thinks any discussion between these three would be interesting to zlin even without her own tweaks and tail twistings added.
Wise Snake settles in for some entertainment.
Borgmann stares at Plum as if seeing a ghost.
Borgmann hadn't thought to inquire as to the name of the Gen minister who was considering funding the camp.
Borgmann's own ties with Gen churches ended abruptly some years ago, after all.
Plum thinks Borgmann looks and sounds oddly familiar -- knock off 30 years, shrink size by half, put back the hair....
Plum shudders to realize that this tentacled creature was once Gideon Borderer, a kid he used to baby-sit.
Plum: You're... still alive?
Borgmann sways at the force of Plum's rejection, although he could have predicted it, if he'd had a moment to think it through.
Borgmann: Yes. Although I'm Glif Borgmann now, senior IDAS agent in the area.
Sayward: You two know each other already, I see.
Borgmann looks at Sayward, still halfway in shock.
Plum struggles to align his memories of the skinny little kid he used to play ball with, the monsters he believes Simes to be, and the face of the harried middle-aged bureaucrat he sees before him.
Borgmann: We knew each other. Long ago.
Sayward suppresses a smile at this turn of events.
Plum: Yes. A long time.
Wise Snake digs in a pocket of her mud-spattered, hard-used official Tecton cloak.
Borgmann finds it very confusing to add a Gen nager to his mental picture of Josef Plum. After all, he never had a chance to zlin him.
Plum has always blamed himself for letting his charge escape when he entered change-over, so that he got shipped across the lake instead of being put out of his misery.
Plum: How... are you?
Plum has never really thought about what it might mean to live as a Sime. After all, that's not supposed to happen.
Borgmann feels a faint hope at the inquiry.
Plum thinks of all the out-Territory Simes as simply demons, but this is someone he once knew.
Plum shudders.
Borgmann: It took me a few years to adjust, but I've done well enough for myself. Life here isn't that different from life in Salmonton, in many ways.
Wise Snake produces a shiny, clean, round, bright orange fruit.
Plum stares at Borgmann in disbelief.
Borgmann thinks, if you overlook small details like having tentacles, and need, and so on.
Plum: How can you stand it?
Wise Snake begins to juggle the orange, a wallet, a small bible, a fountain pen and a folded handkerchief.
Plum is distracted by Wise Snake's performance, particularly the involvement of the tentacles in the juggling act.
Plum touches his square again and begins to murmur a prayer under his breath for protection.
Sayward is trying not to laugh and Snake's antics.
Wise Snake blows her nose in the handkerchief (monogrammed J.F.) and returns it to the air, now unfolded, all without missing a beat.
Wise Snake smiles a genuine if mischievous smile.
Borgmann stares at the display with some bewilderment, not used to seeing channels engage in such antics.
Sayward: As you can see Simes are just people. Some of them even have a sense of humor.
Sayward smiles at Snake.
Plum, his attention now drawn to the sight of his own handkerchief being used to cleanse a Farris proboscis, realizes all of the other items came from his own pockets.
Wise Snake notices several homeless people coming to watch. She tosses the objects into the crowd, one at a time, causing a scramble.
Plum: [gasps] Witchcraft!
Wise Snake retains the handkerchief, however. They can really come in handy.
Plum thinks this is better than believing that Sime actually stuck her tentacles in his clothes and he didn't notice.
Wise Snake: Simple sleight of hand. [reassures him]
Borgmann can't quite reconcile these antics with his view of how a Farris channel should behave.
Plum doesn't mind the Bible being given away; that might actually have a beneficial effect in the long run.
Plum: Then keep your filthy appendages away from me! I am a Pure Gen!
Plum: ~~frigid rejection~~
Wise Snake's eyes widen in mock astonishment.
Wise Snake: Oh. I didn't realize.
Sayward had hoped that this would work out better.
Borgmann finds it difficult to see this wild-haired, tattered young channel as Controller Farris's daughter.
Borgmann finds it easy to zlin the relationship, however.
Plum: Well, now you know! So be warned. I have Divine Protection.
Wise Snake: Divine protection!
Wise Snake is intrigued.
Wise Snake: Really?
Borgmann moves a bit closer to Snake, hoping for some protection from Plum's rejection.
Plum prays for a lightning bolt to strike this bold demon, but realizes God may have other priorities.
Borgmann finds the weather cold enough, without be iced nagerically as well.
Wise Snake: I've often theorized that I have some kind of divine protection.
Wise Snake says confidentially.
Sayward wonders where is Nick when you need him since she couldn't even begin to do anything with a channel.
Plum: More likely that of Satan.
Wise Snake: The only difficulty is, I've never succeeded in making it work for me on a practical level. Perhaps you could give me some tips? But I'm interrupting your meeting.
Wise Snake: Do go on, I'll just watch.
Wise Snake wouldn't miss this for anything.
Wise Snake goes back on her word moments later when she spots a renSime in more need than he should be, and heads singlemindedly away in that direction.
Plum knows that Divine protection operates at the will of the Divine, of course, and the only tip he knows is to do what must be done and bow to the Divine Will.
Borgmann looks after Snake, beginning to understand the Farris reputation for eccentricity.
Plum doesn't think a Demon would understand this concept. He is here to proselytize to those who can be saved.
Borgmann hadn't gotten that impression from Controller Arat: he seemed to fit quite nicely into the mold of Tecton bureaucrat, if more efficient than most.
Plum is relieved the mocking Sime has left, and, although he mourns the loss of his favorite fountain pen, it is not worth braving the renSime refugees to retrieve it.
Plum is left with the unsettling presence of the Sime Gideon Borderer.
Borgmann's attention has returned to Plum.
Plum: What unholy tricks have you learned, Gideon? Living here....
Plum wonders if he still has a responsibility to destroy this Sime he let escape.
Borgmann: It's a bit different then we were taught, as children.
Plum knows it is 30 years too late to prevent Gideon from doing all the nasty things living Simes do on a daily basis.
Borgmann spreads his hands diffidently, passing his clipboard to two handling tentacles automatically as he does so.
Borgmann: Much more... mundane.
Sayward listens quietly. She wonders if there is any way to reconcile the two.
Plum cringes at the sight of the tentacles paired with the familiar face and voice.
Sayward: Tuib Borgmann, have you ever killed?
Borgmann looks appalled.
Sayward knows this is a terrible thing to ask but....
Borgmann: Of course not. Mind you, it might have turned out a bit differently if I'd hidden on a boat that was fishing the other side of the lake.
Borgmann: Or if the wind hadn't been blowing in the right direction.
Borgmann: We made Palisades with barely an hour to spare.
Sayward: Minister, he has never killed. He does not bear that upon his soul.
Pelica, a diminutive female renSime of about 12 natal years and a recent changeover, creeps up to Minister Plum.
Pelica is obviously one of the homeless jobless types that surround them in large numbers.
Borgmann: That is one more gift you gave me, Josef.
Plum: Gift I gave you?
Pelica holds up a tentacle to try to get his attention, but her tentacles slink back into their sheathes like a banana slug's eyes at the zlin of him.
Borgmann: If you hadn't let me stay up that night, and then fallen asleep before you could lock me into my room for the night, I'd never have been able to reach the boat.
Borgmann: And when you opened the door in the morning, I might well have killed you.
Plum: Yes. I failed in my duty. I should have kept you safe and given you peace.
Pelica looks down at the wallet in her hand. It was a stupid idea to return it anyway. She could get a few pennies for the empty wallet and the ID if she asks around.
Plum: And now, here you are --
Sayward: You gave him a chance to become a good and productive person, Minister. That is a great gift indeed.
Plum notices a small Sime slinking at the edge of his vision.
Plum crowds up closer to Sayward.
Borgmann: Yes, here I am, and here you are. And together, we may be able to keep thousands of people from starving or freezing this winter.
Pelica turns and walks off, looking over her shoulder once or twice.
Borgmann: I always thought there must have been some purpose to what happened.
Sayward: Yes. [smiles at the time and unforeseen occurrences]
Plum: I have prayed for forgiveness. Perhaps this is my time of atonement.
Borgmann: Perhaps God inspired you to keep vigil the night before you came over, and then made you sleep, to protect these unfortunates thirty years later.
Plum wonders if Gideon could be right; that he was spared to be here to help the destitute Gens in this time and place.
Borgmann: He does take the long view.
Plum does believe that God sometimes uses Demons for his own purposes; the story of Job confirms that.
Plum thinks however the scripture is open to interpretation; perhaps this is an opportunity for him to finish the task he should have accomplished back when he was just 15.
Sayward: So gentlemen, shall we work together to help those who can be saved this winter?
Plum stares at Borgmann, weighing the possibilities; should he work with him or execute him, or both?
Borgmann returns the stare, struggling with memories that he's spent thirty years trying to forget.
Plum decides in time the Divine Will shall reveal its nature.
Plum: I am here to help Gens who require solace in body or soul.
Borgmann smiles.
Pelica sells Plum's OT identification and border papers to a fisherman for 2 cases of dried fruit and considers herself well off for the deal.
Borgmann: I am no longer qualified to minister to souls, I fear, but perhaps I can assist with solacing the bodies of these unfortunates.
Sayward: The mark of a good person is that they benefit those around them. I remember that from my early childhood in church.
Sayward: Can you be anything but good, Minister?
Borgmann concludes that Sayward was raised in a less demanding congregation than he and Plum were, if that's the sort of sweetness-and-light she heard in church.
Borgmann: Shall we begin by going over the proposed site for the camp? I have been writing down my ideas on how to manage it.
Plum: The mark of a good person is that they do God's will.
Plum: Whether or not that is of benefit to people has little to do with the matter.
Sayward was raised in a variant of the CoP. A better one to her way of thinking.
Plum certainly doesn't enjoy slaughtering the children of his parishioners, but it is ordained.
Sayward: Well, why don't we see what can be done and let God decide on the outcome?
Plum: Indeed.
Go on to Episode #81: Dirty Look
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