Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #133: The Stain of the Rogue (3/3/01)
Nick slogs down the trail behind Arat, on the way to perform a surprise inspection of the hygiene facilities at the outlying renSime camps.
Nick can be reasonably sure, given recent experience, that Arat will not like what he finds.
Nick can, at least, also be reasonably sure that he will not have to spend a few days mucking around in the latrines this time, which is a distinct plus, in his opinion.
Arat loathes and despises hiking through the camp, and as a general principle he does not believe in surprise inspections, preferring to keep his employees in such a terror him that they always behave. However, everybody knows both of these things about him, which makes the occasional surprise inspection all the more surprising, and therefore all the more effective.
Nick has been in rather a quiet and ~~ pensive ~~ mood, ever since his return from the bath house the previous evening.
Arat alternates between blindly striding through the slop with his mind on other things, and negotiating the occasional obstacle or hazard with a sort of horrified intensity.
Nick lengthens his stride to catch up, as the trail widens enough for two people to walk side by side.
Nick: Arat?
Arat belatedly glances at Nick, having dragged himself up from some deep thoughts about scheduling.
Nick: Am I really responsible for doing profound damage to the Tecton, by keeping Snake alive in Bender Cove and afterwards?
Nick: It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now... well, she's done an awful lot of damage here.
Arat frowns.
Arat: You are not responsible for her actions.
Arat thinks that some might argue that Nick should be punished for serving unauthorized transfers, but that most in the upper chain of command in the Tecton (IOW those who stood to someday be assigned to Nick) would be in favor of forgetting about that.
Nick: Not individually, no. But I kept her alive, even after I knew how unstable she was.
Nick thinks back to Mr. Boom's sad demise, and the attack on Riyyh, and more than a few small incidents in between.
Nick: If I had be willing to let her die, she wouldn't have lived long enough to poison you, among other things.
Arat considers.
Arat: You would have been guilty of allowing another to die.
Arat sounds as if he wonders how anyone could even think of having that on their record.
Nick: I would. And I'd bear some responsibility for damage to the people she's helped since, although the Tecton would have sent another channel in her place, I suppose.
Arat: You have a highly untraditional sense of what you might be held responsible for. [comments]
Nick: Oh, I know that no court would hold me responsible for Snake's actions.
Nick isn't so sure that Arat wouldn't be held responsible, however.
Nick: But morally... I overheard a discussion last night that make me think that I'm not the only one who's thinking along these lines.
Arat carefully skirts a large, moldering pile of sodden papers in the middle of the path.
Arat tells himself he did not see a faded Tecton logo on one of the sheets.
Arat glances at Nick in question.
Nick: I only heard a small part of the discussion, and I never did find out who it was--they happened to be using the bathing room next to mine, and failed to lower their voices at first, when they turned off the water.
Nick: But they said that I was inherently untrustworthy and should never have been allowed to pledge the Tecton, because of my bad judgment in keeping a rogue like Snake alive.
Nick is ~~ upset ~~ enough at the accusations that some of it slips into his normal ~~ support ~~
Nick is perhaps unfortunate that he didn't hear the rest of the conversation in question, or he'd have figured out pretty quickly that the malcontents were equally critical of every presumed authority figure in camp.
Arat's tentacles flick and his movements become more impatient as Nick's slip allows some of Arat's normal irritability the freedom to express itself.
Arat: There are some who believe that, it is true. It has been an issue since the beginning.
Arat: However, it is your continued stability and responsible behavior since your hiring which has kept your name in good regard.
Arat: In time, if you give no reason to mistrust you, that mistrust will fade.
Nick: I thought it had -- that I had made a new beginning here. But this was worse than anything that I encountered in Capitol.
Arat: It was most likely an isolated incident.
Arat: Most here have no idea of your origins or your history. [points out]
Arat: And those who have learned since your arrival here know only what the official statements contain.
Arat means, aside from wild rumors and speculation. But there is always that. It can't be escaped, only ignored.
Nick is a bit more inclined to credit gossip as significant than Arat. He is bred from Narosian stock, after all. Or at least its most well-known example.
Nick: If what I heard last night becomes a common perception, it could have an unfortunate effect on my ability to work efficiently, here.
Nick: So much depends on public trust.
Nick is used to considering himself an asset; life as a liability has little appeal for him.
Arat: Yes.
Arat: Therefore it is important that your current activities are above reproach.
Arat: And remain that way for some years, until your past is forgotten.
Nick steps over a rough patch where the mud churned up by many feet has frozen in odd shapes.
Nick: They haven't forgotten your past, Arat. Not really. And you had much less choice in your situation than I did, when I decided to be Snake's Companion.
Arat finds this line of conversation disquieting, and it shows.
Nick didn't mind that so much, before he started to question just whether he made the right decision in that regard.
Nick does try to firm up his support, however, once he notes Arat's discomfort.
Arat: It is true.
Nick wants Arat's considered opinion, and freaking him out isn't going to produce that.
Nick: I suppose there would be some resentment, even if Snake weren't what she was, simply because I didn't work my way up through the Tecton ranks.
Arat looks at Nick oddly.
Nick was not completely oblivious to the jealousy of Beni and Pylor, however much he tried to ignore them.
Arat: I do not believe there is any such resentment in society at large.
Arat was also aware of Beni and Pylor's jealousy, but quite correctly assumed it was jealousy of Nick's skill level, not how much time he'd spent not working for the Tecton.
Arat: As for Tecton personnel, they are expected to behave professionally, whatever their opinions.
Nick: I just wish I had half the influence over Snake that the rumors imply.
Arat looks at Nick sharply; it is a demand for an explanation.
Nick: Did you know that she is the reason Borgmann has been so slow in distributing that information he requested, about places for Gens to settle?
Nick: Apparently, she paid him a visit, and demanded that he not take any action on your suggestions.
Nick: He was more than a little shaken by it.
Nick: Have you any idea why Snake might want those Gens to stay here?
Arat scowls at a tilted, mud-spattered hovel that they are passing.
Arat: No.
Arat: Are you certain of your facts?
Nick: I am at least sure that Borgmann was reporting her actions as he perceived them.
Nick: She does have a tendency to intimidate people, even when she isn't trying to do so, particularly.
Nick also knows that Snake enjoys the effect she has on people, and has been known to play with their fears even when she doesn't have any immediate purpose in doing so.
Arat scans the area uneasily; all of this talk of Snake has him paranoid about ambushes. He is relieved to find his bodyguards pacing them at a discreet distance, and Snake plainly zlinnable very far away.
Nick: What worries me, is that I can't see why she would care if some of those Gens leave. It wouldn't be until after the spring thaw, anyway, at which time it will be possible to import selyn again.
Arat: Perhaps she is thinking of the future.
Arat had considered the Gen problem himself, when thinking about the possibilities of being stuck here in the extreme long term, perhaps ten years or more.
Arat is certain that some sort of community will remain at the Dam site after construction is finished; it is too influential a point on the trade route to go abandoned.
Arat however would want to have nothing to do with such an arrangement. His contemplation of the possibility was purely academic. (Well, or paranoid.)
Nick: If she is, you can be sure that she plans to run the area as her own personal kingdom.
Nick: And not just with respect to selyn distribution, either.
Arat scowls even more ferociously at a stump alongside the path.
Arat finds it very uncomfortable to be in the position of responsibility for Snake's behavior, while in no position whatsoever to bring her to heel.
Arat probably is at least as uneasy about that as about the Xylexion. After all, the drug is just a substance, and can be manufactured. The good graces of his superiors would not be so easily replaced.
Nick tries to ~~ support ~~ Arat as best he can, and adds a touch of ~~ loyalty ~~, in hopes it will help.
Nick figures that Arat needs all the help he can get, when it comes to Snake.
Go on to Episode #134: Assault and Flattery
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