Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #88: Plum Loco (12/17/00)
Edka has brought HT to the IDAS compound in order to negotiate an extension of his men's visas.
Edka is very glad that his long military career has inured him to answer the same dozen stupid questions over and over again, without any real evidence that anyone cares about the answers.
Edka is, however, reasonably optimistic that if he can manage to speak to this Borgmann who's supposed to be in charge, he can convince the man that it is better to have a dozen more Gens around than a large pile of unguarded explosives.
Edka has not had much luck actually reaching Borgmann, however; he seems to be leaving the routine interviews to his staff these days.
Plum sits glumly on the bench of his cell, as he has ever since his attempt to purify Gideon.
HT is not happy about having to stay up here through the winter. Guard duty in this weather! Brrrrrrrr!!
HT frowns. And on top of everything, not a single decent cathouse for miles. He refuses to bed a Sime! One must have some standards!!
Riyyh appears at the door of Plum's cell.
Riyyh: Yoo hoo... minister Plum?
Riyyh holds up a package wrapped in kraft paper.
Plum just can't seem to wrap his mind around the reality of his situation.
Riyyh: Minister Plum?
Plum is barely aware of anything, but imagines he hears a voice calling him.
Plum slowly raises his gaze from the floor.
Riyyh zlins that Plum is nearly catatonic. He zlins some more to see if there is anything wrong with the minister physically.
Riyyh's laterals quest between the bars of the door-window.
Riyyh: I brought you something... we thought you might want a little something to cheer you up.
Plum is depressed and weary, but physically unhurt.
Riyyh would have brought something much larger and more exciting if he'd known just how depressed Plum was going to be.
HT makes sure he stays close to the Sarge. The Simes haven't been too friendly of late. Which is probably the real reason he refuses to bed one. Along with the fact that dealing with a woman that can throw him around like a rag doll is bruising to his ego.
Plum's gaze rests on glistening tentacles reaching for him through a tiny slit in the door frame.
Plum leaps to his feet with a shriek and backs up, climbing on his cot in an effort to put the maximum distance between himself and the door.
Riyyh jumps at the shriek and sudden blast of fear.
Riyyh: Oh my!
Riyyh waves his hands in dismay, dropping the package.
Edka thinks he hears a scream, and looks at HT to confirm whether he heard it, as well.
Plum sees the tentacles withdraw. He wonders if the door is strong enough to keep the monster out.
Riyyh: Well, perhaps another time then. [flustered]
Riyyh turns and flees the scene, leaving the package with its neat string bow lying on the floor where it fell.
Edka signals HT to follow, and pursues the noise.
Plum starts scrabbling at the window, trying to crawl through the bars, but those are plenty tough enough to keep him in.
HT sticks even closer.
Plum tears frantically at the bars, scraping his fingers bloody.
Plum: ~~PANIC~~
Plum is luckily still low-field.
HT hasn't heard a scream like that except where Gens are being molested by Simes.
HT thinks okay, maybe molested is the wrong word.
Edka notes a highly distressed Sectuib in Naros approaching at a rapid clip.
Edka: Sectuib Riyyh! Is everything all right?
Edka has not formed a high opinion of Riyyh's ability to molest anybody, or indeed even to defend himself, and so is assuming for the moment that the channel was instead the molestee.
Grenade is in the cell next to Plum, and has found the experience unpleasant enough to consider going on the wagon.
HT has been wondering what keeps these Simes in check. Doesn't seem like much.
Riyyh, who has been known to shriek like a rabbit upon occasion (although he is incapable of reaching the stratospheric high notes Plum has just demonstrated) zlins more OT Gens and stops his headlong dart.
Riyyh knows better than to move quickly in front of OT Gens of any flavor.
Grenade: Stop that, you stupid bastard!
HT has no idea about Sime culture at all and would be happy to remain ignorant if he could just get out of here.
Edka tries again.
Edka: Sectuib Riyyh, what is the matter? We heard a scream of some sort.
Edka remembers Riyyh's aversion to Gen soldiers, and tries to look nonthreatening.
HT finds himself staring at Riyyh again, memories of perfume and lace dancing through his head.
Riyyh tries to look a little more graceful, though he is breathing hard and a little flustered.
Riyyh: Oh, dear. I believe Minister Plum was not interested in receiving visitors.
Edka is, of necessity, dressed in uniform, as he didn't bring civilian clothes in his very limited baggage allotment.
Riyyh: I really must go now. Good day.
Riyyh tries to squeeze past them without touching them. Sime grace does have its uses.
Grenade: I was trying to sleep!
Edka does not share Riyyh's aversion to touching between Gen military and Simes, at least when the Sime involved is a known channel, and there is potential trouble involved.
Grenade has a perfectly dreadful hangover from the episode that landed him in IDAS custody, and the sermons and shrieks do not help it.
Edka reaches out to put a large Gen hand on Riyyh's shoulder.
Riyyh could zlin it coming, so doesn't - quite - flinch.
Riyyh stops and looks at Edka.
Plum continues to tear at the bars, whimpering helplessly when they don't budge.
Edka's nager zlins much more concerned than hostile.
Riyyh: I really must inform someone.
Riyyh: He's quite likely to hurt himself.
Edka: Who? And why?
Grenade: Shut up, or I'll squash you like the bloated turd you are.
Grenade lacks the coordination or strength to get through the walls himself, but sometimes the threat is enough.
Riyyh: Minister Plum. [patiently]
Riyyh: He's extremely distraught.
Riyyh is surprised Edka can't hear him from here. He's certainly easy to zlin from here.
Edka drops his hand from Riyyh's shoulder.
Plum is running from demons and Grenade's threats matter less than a buzzing fly in comparison.
Riyyh hurries off to tell Borgmann.
HT looks at the Sarge and shrugs.
Edka looks down the corridor towards the sound of angry voices.
Edka: Perhaps we'd better have a look, HT.
Edka: This sounds like it's getting out of hand.
HT: Yes sir.
Edka leads the way.
HT is not one to run from trouble. He follows Edka closely trying to look in all directions at once.
Edka is not long in finding the source of the ruckus.
HT looks at the rather pathetic figure of a Gen on the other side of the bars. That must have been some drunk!!
Edka projects his voice in his best, Sergeantly style.
Plum, already weary, is coming to the end of his strength. He can't get out.
Edka: What the bloody hell is going on here?
Edka gives the impression of being the entire Gen Army, all by himself.
HT has seen this act before. It is still impressive.
Edka glares impartially at Grenade and Plum.
Plum turns automatically at the bark of Edka's military command voice.
Grenade peers through the bars of his cell to see Gen army advancing towards him. This is the last thing he wants to be involved with.
Grenade backs off and shuts up, turning his face to the wall hoping not to be recognized.
HT smirks at the drunk who is trying to hide from the Sarge's attention. A bit late for that.
HT looks back to the other drunk, the one that looks so pathetic. He wonders what the story is on this guy.
Package lies forlornly against the wall, kicked there by Edka's jackboot.
HT thinks DTs maybe. The guy was certainly having a fit when they came up.
Plum lets his bloody hands fall to his sides.
Plum slowly takes in the sight of the familiar uniform, to him a symbol of hope and salvation.
Plum: [hoarse whisper] Are you here to rescue me?
Edka notes the condition of Plum's hands, and starts to realize why Riyyh would have fled.
Edka: I'm here to get a visa extension. And right now, I'm attempting to discover what sent that rabbit of a channel running away.
Edka does not approve of bullying, and his glare is formidable.
Plum: Please get me out of here. I want to go home.
Plum gazes on Edka's stern visage hopefully.
Edka grunts in response.
HT thinks "Yeah, I bet you do. Well so do I!! Get in line!"
Plum had thought he was strong enough in his faith to face the demon menace, but now realizes he committed the sin of pride.
Edka gestures for HT to be quiet.
Edka: Seems to me they'd have dumped you on the next ferry across the lake, if that was all there was to it.
Edka: Why are you locked up here?
Plum: It's been a nightmare.
Edka: Had too much to drink last night?'
HT remains as silent as he has been all along.
Edka is less than sympathetic.
Plum: They stole my soul while I was sleeping.
Edka: Really?
Plum: And then arrested me because it was gone.
Edka looks highly skeptical.
Plum: I think they want to keep me in the Pen and force me to donate again.
Edka: Because your soul is gone. What have you been drinking?
Edka wants to make sure that wherever it is, his men have strict orders to stay away.
HT would like to know too. There are some things to be avoided.
Plum: Nothing.
Plum means literally nothing, as he has been too upset to eat or drink.
Plum: I am a Minister of the Church of Pure Life. At least, I was.
Plum: I am not sure what I am now.
Plum: But I want to go home.
Edka is starting to form an (erroneous) opinion of why Plum's former church fired him.
HT stares at the man in disbelief.
Plum: Can you free me from this Pen?
Plum: Don't let them steal my essence again!
Edka: Listen, Plum, I won't lift a finger to help you until you start making some sense.
Edka is making no promises about afterwards, either.
Plum blinks.
Edka: You can start by telling me what you did to warrant being locked up in the drunk tank.
Edka: Particularly if you weren't drinking.
Plum is accustomed to obeying military authority, but he thought the Gen Army's job was to rescue Gens from Simes.
Edka is far from convinced as to who really requires the rescue.
Plum tries to collect himself to answer the questions.
HT does a quick visual check of the surrounding area, just to make sure no one is sneaking up on them.
Plum: This is not a drunk tank. It is a place where the Simes hold Gens to decide if they will permit them to cross the border to New Washington.
Plum: I tried to return to Salmonton and they arrested me and brought me here instead.
Edka: You tried to return to Salmonton, and the border crossing guards stopped you? Why?
Plum: I didn't have my visa because my wallet was stolen.
Plum: A Sime stole it. A Farris Sime.
Plum: And then they used that excuse to bring me here.
Plum: And somewhere, somehow, a Sime took my donation.
Edka had thought he'd heard every possible variation on "the dog ate my homework" from the privates he's trained, but this is a bit extreme even for him.
Plum: Although I never agreed to it.
Plum: And they claim it must have been done while I was asleep.
Edka: A Farris Sime stole your wallet, and someone took your selyn while you were asleep.
Plum: Yes. It must be a plot.
HT is starting to think that maybe the man isn't drunk but crazy.
Edka is coming to a conclusion about Plum's unemployment and current arrest: the man is a raving lunatic, and was locked up for his own protection.
Plum: Ask Gideon! He was there when my wallet was stolen!
Plum: Ask Miz Sayward. She was a witness too.
Edka: Gideon?
Plum: He calls himself Borgmann now.
Plum: But he was Gideon Borderer. I used to babysit for him when he was a child.
Plum: It's my fault he escaped and survived to live as a Sime.
Plum: And now I am paying for my sins.
Edka: And he authorized your detention here?
Plum: Yes.
HT thinks "Oh, yeah this one is gone."
Edka runs an absent hand over his chin; a nervous habit he picked up when he was a private and had a drill sergeant of his own who was a stickler about shaving.
Plum: He was there when my wallet was stolen, and he runs this Pen.
HT would say, "Well why won't he let you out?" If he wasn't under orders not to speak.
Edka: Why did Borgmann have you detained here instead of in the main holding facility? Particularly if he knows who you are, and that your wallet really was stolen?
Edka: He's not an unreasonable man.
Plum: If I had purified him when he changed over, I wouldn't be here today.
Plum: I tried to repair that sin of omission, but was unsuccessful.
Package wilts sadly.
Plum: Of course, purification is against the law here.
Edka is not unacquainted with Plum's sort of theology: the Army gets a lot of recruits from the more fanatical sects.
HT wonders, why do nuts like to be preachers so much? He has met several. Strange thing that.
Edka: So you assaulted the local head of IDAS?
Edka: With intent to murder?
Plum: If you want to call it that.
Plum does not think the word murder applies to demons who have no right to exist in the first place.
Edka would have thought that even a minister should have more sense.
Plum: He objected, of course.
Edka: Were you also trying to murder Sectuib Riyyh just now? Is that why he was running so quickly?
Edka can hardly blame Borgmann for objecting to a murder attempt against his person by a crazed maniac.
HT rolls his eyes. This is getting sillier by the minute.
Plum: Sectuib Riyyh?
Edka: Silver-haired channel, dresses like a pansy? The one who was just in here talking to you.
Edka thinks Plum is more than a little slow on the uptake, but makes allowances for his obviously delusional state.
Plum had not registered Riyyh's identity, just the wriggling tentacles.
Plum: Yes, I know who you mean.
Edka: What did you do to upset him so badly?
HT figures that considering Riyyh's reaction to them it probably didn't take much.
Plum: I don't remember talking to him today.
Plum: I looked up and saw tentacles coming at me.
Plum: And I tried to run, but I couldn't get away.
Plum slumps to sit on a bench.
Plum: This is a nightmare.
Edka: Sectuib Riyyh was inside your cell?
Plum: I don't think so.
Edka rolls his eyes in disgust.
Plum: I'm sorry. I've been... distressed.
Plum: All I saw were the tentacles reaching for me.
Edka: Next time, before you start throwing a fit, you might remember that a Sime's reach isn't infinite.
Edka: If you didn't want to be touched, all you had to do was take a step backwards, and you'd have been out of reach.
Plum thinks that if a Sime can drain his selyn while he sleeps, then he is pretty helpless to protect himself.
Edka: Not that that rabbit could or would harm you in any way.
Plum: I thought I was safe in my tent too. In the middle of a Gen encampment. But I wasn't.
Plum: On this side of the border, they can do with us what they want.
Plum: And don't imagine that nice uniform of yours will protect you. My clerical robes didn't.
HT has dropped his belief that this poor man is a nut but he isn't sure exactly what he is.
Edka: Protect me from what? The only problems we've run into here came from a labor dispute, and that'll die down now that we can't blast any more.
Plum is now thinking a little more coherently, and he remembers seeing Edka pointed out to him as he was touring the construction site..
Plum: You're in the Demolitions squad, aren't you?
Edka: Sergeant Edka, officer in charge.
Plum: Then you didn't come over the border to rescue me? In fact, you've been here for months.
Plum's heart sinks.
Plum is starting to think a little more coherently now that his terror has abated.
HT wonders that this guy would think anyone would send the army over the border to rescue him. Maybe he really is nuts.
Edka: If you tried to murder the head of the local Immigration office, then no, I'm not here to rescue you.
Plum puts away the fantasy of blasting down the walls of this Pen he is in.
Plum realizes that any Gen who would accept such an over-the-Border assignment cannot be a believer in Purity.
Plum: And you let them take your donation?
Edka shrugs.
Edka: It's never harmed me any.
Plum: Did they force you?
Edka shakes his head.
Edka: Even that first time, thirty years ago, I knew enough to tell a channel taking my donation from a Sime trying for a kill.
Plum: So you lost your soul back in the War.
Edka: No, just some selyn. It came right back in a few weeks.
HT does another visual sweep of the area. Never know when some nut might have gotten loose. He is now convinced that this must be where they keep mental defectives.
Edka: Yours will too.
Plum: That's what the channels claim, at least.
Plum: But how do you know they're not lying?
HT notices a package by the wall. He looks around again just to make sure no one is coming up on them and goes over to pick it up.
Edka: Well, for one thing, Simes react to you differently, depending on how much selyn you're carrying.
Plum: Yes, but is selyn the same as the soul?
HT brings it over and holds it out to the Sarge.
Plum: Now we know Simes have no souls, because they cannot survive without the spiritual power of the Gen.
Plum: And we are taught that children of Simes may also be born soul-less; that is why so many change over.
Plum: And the Sime craves the soul that he lacks, so attacks the Gen.
Edka: You might as well say that Gens have no souls, because we can't survive without eating.
Edka: And that we get our souls from cows and vegetables.
Plum: That is a material thing. The soul is immortal.
HT would say something but he has been ordered not to.
Edka: Who's to say that selyn isn't a "material thing"?
Plum scratches absent-mindedly at his hair (well infested with lice by now).
Edka looks away in disgust at such obtuseness, and notices the package that HT is offering.
Edka: What's that?
Plum: That is it. That is precisely the question.
Edka thinks that the neat wrapping looks out of place in this makeshift prison.
Plum: We know the soul is immortal.
Plum: But what is selyn?
Plum: Does donation destroy the soul? Or simply contaminate it?
Edka: Have to ask a channel about that one.
Edka takes the package from HT and inspects it.
Plum: They are demons, and, of course, they lie.
Edka: Know anything about this, Plum?
Plum stares at the package with the pretty bow.
Plum: No.
Edka starts to put two and two together.
Edka: Looks like a care package. From your visitor just now?
Edka thinks that the bow is exactly the sort of decoration that Riyyh would put on a package.
Edka shrugs and tugs on the ribbon, untying the bow.
Plum: I have no idea. Tell me about that first donation thirty years ago, Sergeant Edka.
Edka shrugs.
Package contains a small card that reads: "To Minister Plum with Sincere Sympathies, from the People of Naros".
Plum is not to be distracted by pretty ribbons.
Package also contains a paperback book (an obviously used bestselling novel), a somewhat broken chocolate bar with wrapping intact, and some underarm deodorant.
Edka: What's to tell? We were starving, and the Sime Army was just as desperate, although not exactly for food. They tried to be polite about it, but we knew what was going to happen soon.
Edka: So the brass arranged a trade: selyn for food. It struck most of us as a pretty smart deal, considering the alternative.
Edka glances at the card.
Edka: Looks like this is for you. From that channel you terrorized.
Edka: I suppose it would have been too much to just say, "Thank you, how thoughtful"?
Plum: I never saw that package before, Sergeant.
Plum: And after you bartered your soul for survival, how did you feel? Any different?
Edka considers.
Plum's sect has always considered agreeing to the Unity Treaty to be a mistake. What profit to gain the world and lose your soul?
Edka: I was a lot less hungry, thanks to the rations the Simes had contributed. And it was nice to know that the Raiders holed up in the town we were attacking wouldn't be as interested in us.
Edka: Other than that, no, I didn't feel any different.
Edka: Did you feel different when you woke up low-field?
Plum thinks about it, frowning.
Edka isn't at all sure that the alleged selyn theft took place, but Plum apparently does, and that's all his argument requires.
Plum: No.
Edka: Well, then. What's to worry about?
Plum: In fact, I'm still not absolutely sure I am. They could all be lying to me to trick me into giving up my soul voluntarily.
Edka: They're trying to get you to donate?
Edka deduced from this that this selyn theft is a fantasy, and Plum is high field.
Plum: They keep saying I have donated, but I certainly don't remember doing so. They say it must have happened while I was sleeping. That was their excuse to arrest me, that the donation wasn't legally recorded.
Edka: I thought they brought you in because your papers were missing, and locked you up for attempted murder?
Plum: Because my papers were missing, both my visa and donation records. Yes.
Plum: But Borgmann could have engineered all of that.
Plum: He was there when that white-eyed witch stole my wallet.
Plum: And could be lying about the rest.
Edka: Why should Borgmann make up an elaborate plot to detain you?
Edka: He's trying to reduce the numbers of Gens in the area.
Plum: [summoning up a spark of his old fervor] Because my mission is to persuade Gens not to allow Simes to use their essence.
Edka: All the more reason for him to want you far away from here.
Plum: And these Simes are building what amounts to a Pen and want to keep the Gens here so they can use them.
Plum: All the more reason not to let me return to the Synod and make my report.
Edka: I understand that any Gen who wants to leave will be able to do so. Not that many seem eager to go back and be shut up in a work camp.
Edka: I doubt your Synod can do much to make them change their minds.
Plum: Exactly. They would rather live in sin and sloth, giving their essence to preserve the existence of the mutants, than do honest work in concert with their pure Gen brothers and live free.
Plum: Perhaps many are beyond redemption, but I thought it was at least worth the effort to try to save a few.
Edka: Live free? I can see you've never been to one of those camps.
Plum: I have, many times. No Gen who can support himself is confined in any way.
Plum: Those who require the support of the community must pay back as best they can. That is only fair and right.
Edka: So I understand. Of course, it's kind of hard to land a paying job, when you're locked up and working dawn to dusk.
Edka: It sure does provide lots of very cheap labor for the towns, though.
Edka: And the factory owners and farmers who hire the work gangs, instead of paying free laborers a living wage.
Plum: I would be the first to advocate reform of the work house system. Especially if it drives Gens into Sime clutches.
Edka: I'm glad to hear it.
Plum: That was also to be part of my report.
Edka: Well, it appears as if it's going to be a while before you can deliver this report of yours. At least, if the penalty for attempted murder is comparable.
Plum: [testing the words gingerly; the flavor is strange] Attempted... murder.
Edka: That is what you meant, when you said you attempted to "release" Borgmann, wasn't it?
Plum can't consider it murder, himself, as he doesn't think Simes are human; he considered it an act of mercy.
Plum realizes Borgmann didn't agree, however.
Plum: I tried to end his existence, yes.
Plum: It was my fault, you see. He should have died before he changed over.
Edka: I don't suppose it occurred to you that it's less than diplomatic to go around attacking immigration officials who are trying to straighten out what to do about your missing papers?
Plum: Those are temporal concerns. It seemed to me that God brought us together again for a reason.
Plum: In fact, Borgmann said as much.
Plum: But I failed the test.
Edka: Borgmann said that God wanted you to murder him?
Plum: He said there must have been a reason we met again. That's the only one I can think of.
Edka thinks that this is too much even for his military-grade patience with idiocy.
Edka thrusts the opened care package through the bars.
Edka: You might as well take this. If you wanted to be polite, you might even consider thanking poor Sectuib Riyyh for his thoughtfulness, and apologize for scaring him.
Plum accepts the fancy but squashed package thrust into his hands.
Edka: I doubt Borgmann is interested in an apology from you, but making the effort would at least be a step in the right direction.
Plum still doesn't remember seeing Riyyh before or the package or anything but the tentacles.
Plum: The question is, did they eat my soul or not?
Edka signals to HT to move out.
Plum: And if they did, does it come back?
Plum: Sergeant, would you get word to Salmonton about what has happened to me?
Plum: The Church of the Pure Life. Deacon Barlow.
Edka: I'm not likely to get to Salmonton myself, any time soon. Not unless the ferry suddenly decides that it's willing to let our equipment on board.
Plum: If you could send a note across the Lake?
Edka: Why don't you ask Borgmann if you can send a letter?
Edka: He's a reasonable man, I'm told.
Plum: I will ask Borgmann, but I don't trust these Simes to deliver my messages.
Plum: Especially a man who, as you put it, I attempted to murder.
Edka shrugs.
Edka: That's your affair. I suppose they'll get you a lawyer of some sort, eventually. You can have him send it.
Edka really doesn't want to get any more involved with Plum and his fanaticism than he is already.
Plum is disheartened to see that this soldier's soul must be truly absent, if he will not convey an S.O.S. message to another Gen.
Edka is reasonably sure that Plum's request to send a message will not be refused, and having it granted might just open a crack in his fanaticism.
Plum wondered what happened to the military tradition whereby soldiers would risk their lives to rescue Gens from the clutches of Raiders.
Plum thinks that this one won't even carry a letter.
Plum decides there is clearly missionary work to be done here.
see note 1
Plum sits in the corner of his cell, brooding, more depressed than ever.
Plum keeps searching within his mind and body to see if he feels any different.
Plum's body certainly feels different; it itches, since he is crawling with lice.
Thureal and Gashnom tramp into the hallway outside of Plum's holding cell, led by the key holder.
Thureal and Gashnom wait while the key guys fiddles through the 2 or 3 keys on the chain and finally produces the one that opens Plum's cell.
Plum's mind feels different as well; he is depressed instead of fired with holy zeal, and totally unsure of himself for perhaps the first time in his adult life.
Plum looks up warily as the cell door opens.
Plum has decided that, if the Simes are lying to him and no one took his selyn, he must be sure to remain intact.
Plum doesn't know what he will do if the Simes are telling the truth.
Plum thinks that, by the same logic that directed him to murder Borgmann, he ought to commit suicide.
Plum thinks, however, that if his soul is still there, suicide would be a terrible sin.
Thureal and Gashnom step forward in readiness as the key turns and the door opens.
Plum stares at the two guards in the doorway. He waits stoically for whatever new fate awaits him.
Thureal and Gashnom are not wearing either Tecton or IDAS uniforms, but instead the uniform of an exclusive body guard service based in Capitol.
Thureal: Come with us, please. [flat, impersonal, no-nonsense]
Plum notices that one is Sime and one is Gen, but neither looks like they intend him any good.
Plum glances aside at the beribboned package beside him on the bench. Did Riyyh really bring that, or was it just another ploy to confuse him?
Plum: Where are you taking me?
Thureal and Gashnom are both visibly armed and clearly work out a lot. Gashnom looks like he doesn't get enough practice tackling and subduing prisoners, but would like to.
Thureal: Controller Arat will examine you now. Then he will ask you some questions.
Plum shudders at the memory of the Controller's gaunt face -- his Farris features -- within the judge's hood.
Plum stands up.
Plum: I will come.
Plum: Please don't touch me.
Thureal: If you come quietly, that will not be necessary. [assures him]
Thureal and Gashnom have been known to touch people quite forcefully when it has been necessary, though.
Plum can see that the guards can easily overpower him.
Plum steps forward out of the cell.
Thureal and Gashnom escort Plum out of the detention area.
Thureal and Gashnom show up at the doorstep of Arat's office some time later, having hiked Plum through all the intervening ditches, trails, snow banks and puddles.
Plum has kept alert, eyes darting in all directions, taking note of the terrain. He saw no opportunity to escape.
Plum recognizes the area around the Tecton compound from his tour, as well as the "Sime Shack."
Thureal signals first, then nods and opens the door, indicating that Plum should enter.
Arat is waiting inside. Another bodyguard lurks nearby, but there is no Donor.
Arat is sitting at his desk, waiting.
Arat: Minister Plum.
Plum enters.
Plum attempts to meet Arat's gaze straight-on.
Arat's eyes are dark and tormented. He would probably wish they were exactly as unreadable as his nager, but no dice.
Arat gestures to indicate that Plum may sit, if he wishes to. There are two wooden armchairs there.
Plum finds the sight of the gaunt channel's face, with the eyes glittering in the shadows, unnerving.
Plum: I would prefer to stand.
Plum will not yield any psychological advantage.
Plum wishes he didn't itch so bad, but controls the urge to scratch.
Arat zlins Plum rather thoroughly. Not with lateral contact, of course, but as well as a Farris can from the distance.
Arat of course doesn't have any real use for a compilation of data on the tiny organisms present in the gut of mites. The information gathering is compulsive for him.
Plum: Are you the one who will judge my case?
Arat: No. That is the responsibility of IDAS.
Arat: Your field has been lowered. Who did it?
Plum: Has it been lowered? Or is that a lie to make me lower my guard?
Arat: What purpose would your lowering your guard serve me?
Arat hopes that will put an end to that nonsense.
Arat: It has. Will you tell me how it happened?
Plum: It might trick me into agreeing to donate. If I thought it was to late to prevent it.
Arat: I have no interest in tricking you into donating. [coldly]
Arat is already regretting lifting his self-imposed ban on visits from Plum.
Arat had thought he remembered what a fool the man was, but new evidence proves the memories were faded.
Plum: Well I have certainly never consented to donating.
Plum: Nor do I remember doing so.
Arat: You do not remember donating. [repeats]
Plum: ~~desperate, horrified, holding himself together by a thread~~
Plum: So either you are all lying to me.
Plum: Or it was done to me in my sleep, as Borgmann suggested.
Plum: Though how that could be, I don't know.
Plum: Surely, I couldn't sleep through a thing like that!
Arat can zlin that Plum believes all that prattle.
Arat frowns to himself.
Arat: There was an incident earlier today. Perhaps you could tell me what happened then.
Arat has heard the other side of the story.
Plum: An incident?
Plum wonders if Arat means the visit from Edka, or the gift purportedly from Riyyh, or the apparition of tentacles in his cell, or the insults of the Gen next to him.
Plum: ~~confused and frightened~~
Arat's eyes narrow. That the man could not consider raving and screaming and clawing at windows until his fingers are bloody is an incident is pathetic.
Plum: What specific incident are you referring to?
Arat considers the situation.
Plum considers everything that has happened to him for the last week to be a nightmare.
Arat: What are you afraid of?
Plum: Damnation.
Arat: I know nothing of damnation or salvation. However, irrational and violent behavior can do you no good under any circumstance.
Plum: I don't want any Simes to touch me.
Arat: There is no one here to intends to harm you. Your own actions have led progressively to your own incarceration and status.
Plum: If Borgmann tells the truth, a Sime took my selyn while I was sleeping peacefully in my tent.
Arat looks frankly disbelieving, but he does not refute the claim.
Plum: That Sime may have damned me forever and ended my hope of eternal life and salvation.
Plum: If that is so, my life is over.
Plum: Even if my body remains here.
Arat: Just as in Gen Territory, you are required to take responsibility for your own actions here.
Arat: Belief that you are damned holds no weight our courts of law.
Arat: Emotional distress can account for some small irregularities, but not an attempt on another's life.
Arat: I am also concerned about your mental state.
Arat: I can zlin that you are not at this time mentally stable.
Plum: Sleeping in my tent in no way goaded any Sime to attack me.
Arat: I have received two separate reports of an incident in which you panicked and injured yourself attempting to escape from a Sime who, far from pursuing you, was on the other side of a locked door.
Arat: After which, you said in full truthfulness that you did not remember the identity of the Sime or anything he said to you.
Plum: I saw tentacles coming at me through the door.
Plum: Of course, I tried to escape.
Arat: Minister Plum. If in full possession of your senses you claim you behaved correctly in that matter, then I am going to have to have you removed and barred from Sime Territory as a menace to society.
Arat: It is a matter of safety, and I can assure you I am well authorized to order such a thing.
Plum: As for your courts... I care only for the judgment of the Divine Court.
Plum: If I am damned, there is nothing worse you can do to me.
Plum: I would be pleased to never see this Territory again.
Arat: However, if you are not sure that you behaved appropriately, if you are not certain you can believe your own memories or senses, it is possible also to handle your case as mental illness. Something which may, with time and careful therapy, be improved.
Plum thinks carefully over what he thinks he has just heard Arat say.
Plum is not at this point sure of anything. He is in shock over the meeting with Borgmann, the murder attempt, the imprisonment and the scuffles with the other prisoners. He is exhausted from days of worrying and nightmares.
Arat: You would remain here, under our care, and gradually... stabilize emotionally and mentally.
Arat: Fear is healthy, when it saves your life. When it ruins your life, it is no longer an asset, but an enemy.
Plum truly doesn't know if a Sime took his selyn while he was sleeping, or if the tentacles belonged to Riyyh or were a hallucination, or where the package came from.
Plum figures out that Arat just said if he says he is sure he was right that they will send him over the border, never to return.
Plum: ~~lying~~ I saw what I saw with my own eyes and I am absolutely sure what I did was right!
Arat can't quite believe what he just zlinned.
Arat has never been bald-faced lied to in his adult life. Nobody would dare.
Arat: It is your decision to make. Lying to me will accomplish nothing.
Arat could as easily have said, "lying to yourself".
Plum knows that demons are supposed be able to read minds, and he sees his ploy has failed.
Plum knows that when lying to Gens, once you have said your lie it's better to stick to it in the face of all evidence. Changing your story only makes your situation worse.
Plum remembers what Edka told him.
Plum: I think I want to talk to a lawyer.
Arat: Very well. Should you prove unable to obtain your own lawyer familiar with in-Territory law, the Tecton will provide you with a public defender.
Plum: And I want to get word to my organization in Salmonton. I may need funds for my... defense.
Arat: You may forward all correspondence through IDAS. They are required by law to allow you mail communications as you wish.
Plum: Through Borgmann.
Plum: Or Gideon, as I knew him.
Plum: Do you think he can be trusted to allow me to defend myself?
Plum of course wouldn't trust any Sime for any reason.
Plum has seen, however, that even in a society of demons, the motive of self-interest is recognized.
Arat: Of course. He would not have attained the position that he has without demonstrating a high level of reliability and ethical responsibility.
Plum: [mouth twisting with the words as if sucking on a lemon] Ethical responsibility?
Plum: We shall see.
Plum figures his letters will end up in the Reservoir.
Plum would not blame Borgmann for holding a grudge against him; he is, after all, a Sime. The one he blames is Edka for not passing on his message.
Arat: There is one other matter.
Arat: The matter of the items stolen from you by Wise Snake Farris.
Arat has heard this story many times from many different angles.
Plum nods glumly.
Plum: You mean the one with the white eyes?
Arat: I have estimated the value of the items taken, and am prepared to offer you compensation in cash.
Arat moves a small pile of small denomination in-T bills to the front of his desk, then withdraws his hand.
Arat can offer no more. He has no power to discipline Snake, because of the Xylexion.
Plum stares at the money, anger slowly building in him.
Plum: That's blood money.
Plum: Can you compensate the humiliation of being arrested?
Plum: Can you return my stolen selyn, if indeed it was stolen?
Plum: Can you redeem my soul, if indeed I am damned?
Arat: No.
Plum: My life and reputation are in ruins. You would have me doubt my own sanity. I do doubt whether I remain in God's grace.
Plum: What's the price for that?
Arat's eyes narrow.
Arat: I cannot say. But you have done yourself far more damage than anyone else has.
Arat: Remember that.
Plum flings out his arm, sending the pile of bills scattering to the floor.
Plum: You may buy other's souls with your vouchers, but you won't have mine.
Plum: I am no Pen Gen. I am not for sale.
Arat has always found drama (when perpetrated by others) tedious.
Arat: If you do not take the money, how will you pay for your letters and your lawyer? [patiently]
Arat: [well, truth to be told, a little impatiently]
Arat does not appreciate the spurning of the gesture since it took a lot of effort for him to swallow his pride and offer the cash.
Plum thinks about this, perplexed. He does not want anyone to even be able to insinuate that he took a payment for the selyn that was [supposedly] stolen.
Plum: If you get word to Mr. Birch, he can pass along my message.
Arat: Pardon me?
Arat thinks he heard Plum ask him, Arat, to be his message boy.
Plum: I will accept no funds from the in-Territory government.
Arat will go only so far to cater to Plum. Playing message boy to support Plum's self-destructive fanaticism is way over the line.
Arat begins to look quite irritated.
Arat: These "funds", as you call them, are compensation for your wallet, bible and handkerchief that were stolen by my daughter.
Arat: If you refuse to accept, you are a fool.
Arat: As for the relaying of messages, a mechanism for that already exists. I will play no part in it.
Plum: And not a payment for the selyn that was stolen? I thought you always paid for that?
Arat: If the selyn proves to have been taken by a Tecton representative, you will be compensated of course.
Arat: However, that has not yet been determined to my satisfaction.
Arat will demand the answer of Snake the moment he sees her again.
Plum: And I say I will accept no compensation. Under any circumstances.
Arat: As you wish.
Plum: If there is a way to send a message to Salmonton, I wish to make use of it.
Arat: Please speak to the staff at IDAS.
Arat: They are responsible for you until the issue of your paperwork is resolved.
Arat really does not like to repeat himself.
Plum: Did your daughter return my stolen visa?
Arat: That has not been recovered.
Plum: Well, that is the only thing I want back.
Plum thinks, besides my selyn.
Arat: If it is used at the border, it will be seized. Until then, there is little that can be done save follow the normal procedures for establishing your identity and purpose with IDAS.
Arat: Given that Borgmann actually knows you personally, that could have happened already if it hadn't been for your unfortunate acts of violence and instability.
Plum considers Arat's statement.
Plum wonders why demons would be distressed by violence and instability, both of them the very hallmarks of Simelan nature.
Plum: Controller, I do have one question.
Plum: Borgmann said a Sime might have taken my donation while I slept.
Plum: How is that possible?
Plum would think that having your soul wrenched out of your flesh would wake a person up.
Arat considers.
Plum doubts Arat will tell the truth, but he is curious as to what he will answer anyway.
Arat: Most Gens cannot feel the actual donation process. Therefore, as long as the physical act of taking a transfer position did not awake the Gen, it would be possible.
Arat: I cannot see why anybody would do such a thing, however.
Plum's eyes narrow.
Plum: I know your Tecton literature claims Gens feel nothing during donation. I have never believed that.
Plum: And therefore I find it hard to believe my selyn could have been removed without my knowledge.
Plum: Unless I was drugged, of course....
Plum tries to remember if he felt strange before going to bed any time during his stay in-Territory. He doesn't think so.
Arat: You may wish to speak to some Gens who have donated, to obtain more firsthand information.
Arat: However, I agree with your assessment that it would have been difficult for that to happen.
Plum: Your first question to me was to ask who had lowered my field.
Arat thinks it happened in a more straightforward fashion, but that Plum for some reason cannot remember.
Plum: I take it you agree with the others, that my field has been lowered?
Arat: It is plainly evident.
Arat: The difference is such that no Sime of any level of capability or experience would be able to mistake it.
Plum again doesn't know if Arat can be believed, but the statement is evidence of the Tecton's collusion in the conspiracy, if nothing else.
Plum nods.
Plum: So far it is the unanimous opinion. At least among the Simes I have met.
Plum: The Gens, of course, have nothing to contribute on this subject.
Arat frowns. He has heard zlinning described as an "opinion" in extremely difficult cases, of course, but never in the case of something as cut and dried as whether a General Order Donor had been drained or not.
Arat: You will have some difficulty in finding a Sime who will say otherwise.
Arat: At least for the next three weeks.
Plum smiles wryly.
Plum: And I, of course, did not know my field was lowered until you Simes told me so.
Plum: And I have only your word that is the case.
Arat: It takes some training to be able to tell the difference. So in that, you are correct.
Plum will spend his nights tossing and turning in his cell, pondering whether he should believe the demons' word on such a vital manner.
Plum must admit they all back each other up, but then they may be signaling each other in their own weird language to keep the lies consistent.
Plum wonders if this argument will fly before the Synod when he argues that he has not been spiritually contaminated.
Plum remembers he still has to get out of jail and back over the border before he has to cross that hurdle.
Plum: Do you... zlin... a difference between Gens who donate and those who don't?
Arat: Gens who donate regularly are generally healthier than those who don't, and their capacity gradually increases until it has reached their potential, usually somewhat higher than that of a Gen who has never donated.
Arat: However, these changes occur over many donations, so that a Gen who has not donated in several years or only donated only once or twice may be indistinguishable from one who hasn't.
Arat, when he says "indistinguishable", really means it. Anything he couldn't distinguish is damn well nonexistent.
Plum frowns. This is stock Tecton propaganda, and he has heard it before and never believed it.
Plum: Is their any difference in behavior that a Gen can perceive?
Arat: That is up to the individual, although I am certain that regular donations would produce a marked difference in behavior and attitude regarding Simes.
Plum: Can you zlin the difference between good and evil?
Plum has always wondered about this.
Arat: I can zlin the difference between malice and altruism.
Plum thinks that is not quite the same thing.
Arat: Our culture has no concept of good and evil as separated from intention and deed.
Plum thinks he must be a fool to be asking a demon questions about holiness anyway, when he knows he can't trust the answers.
Plum thinks that if Arat is telling the truth that a Gen who has only donated once or twice is not distinguishable from one who has never done so, Plum may still may be able to redeem his soul.
Plum's hopes of redeeming his reputation within the Church of the Purity are far less sanguine.
Plum: You acknowledge no absolute truth beyond your experience in the here and now?
Arat: Each person reaches his or her own accommodation on that point.
Arat is not about to discuss his own personal feelings about God with Plum. He won't even discuss what he's willing to eat for dinner with his best friend.
Plum doesn't know if he is disappointed or relieved that Arat declines to declare his allegiance to some kind of Satan.
Plum decides there is at least a chance that he can redeem his soul, or purify his contamination, even if his worst fears are true.
Plum: ~~a glimmer of hope~~
Notes:
1) Some time passes between these two scenes. [return]
Go on to Episode #89: Chomp, Squeak, Kill
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