Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #138: Pulp Scripture (3/11/01)
Plum sits in the corner of his cell, brooding. His gaze wanders up the rough wooden walls over to the barred door and then down to the cot with its rough blanket.
Plum's glance occasionally rests on the pile of books and pamphlets in the corner of the cell, on which the obscene novel with the picture of the Sime caressing a Gen with his tentacles features quite prominently.
Plum has found the novel's descriptions of such contact to be highly inaccurate.
Plum is relieved that he experienced not a shred of unholy delight or temptation when he was subdued and forced to donate by that Channel Rifan and the devil-Gen Berlynna.
Plum nevertheless found being forcibly subdued and drugged into helplessness to be an unpleasant experience.
Borgmann enters the cell block, after exchanging a word with the guard.
Plum has searched his memory and as far as he can tell Berlynna did not try to use him sexually when he was helpless.
Plum shudders at the thought of fathering a child on that demon-lover.
Borgmann has removed the most intrusive aspects of the suicide watch, to allow Plum what privacy is possible: the guard is now mostly out of sight, at the end of the short corridor.
Plum thinks, however, there is no guarantee this ploy might not be tried in the future.
Borgmann zlins Plum, hoping for a better attitude than was demonstrated during his donation.
Plum watches Borgmann warily as he advances into viewing range.
Borgmann has frankly not had the courage to visit for more than a few seconds since that event.
Borgmann: Good morning, Josef.
Plum: ~~suppressed rage, deep distrust~~
Plum: Well, Gideon. You got what you wanted.
Plum notices that the Sime seems to cringe a little and wonders at that.
Borgmann actually wants nothing more than to take Plum to the Border and kick him over. Hard.
Plum: Are you happy?
Borgmann: As did you. Did you really have to chew Hajene Rifan's ear half off?
Borgmann is genuinely angry about that.
Plum considers the question gravely.
Plum: I had to fight what you were doing to me in every way possible.
Plum: You didn't leave me much to work with.
Borgmann: What did you hope to gain by it?
Plum: I would hope to persuade you that taking my selyn is too much trouble to be worth it.
Borgmann: Josef, the channels whom Controller Arat assign to take your donations have no more choice about the matter than you do. The amount of trouble either of you experiences won't change anything.
Plum: In any case, I have made a holy vow to God not to allow my substance to be used to sustain demons.
Plum: I must oppose you in any way I can, regardless of consequences.
Borgmann: You have no choice about donating. Behaving like a child throwing a temper tantrum gains you nothing.
Borgmann: Except a dry mouth and wooziness from the sedative. Is that extra degree of misery so important to you?
Plum: It gains me the integrity of knowing that I am a man, not an animal to be used, and being able to affirm before the throne of Heaven that I kept my promise to the limits of my ability.
Plum: If you overpower me, I may fail, but I will never compromise or comply.
Plum: When you say I have no choice about donating, you attempt to reduce me to the status of a penned animal.
Plum: Exactly what I would expect from a Sime who has no spiritual understanding.
Plum: I am better than that.
Borgmann snorts.
Plum: And I affirm it.
Borgmann: No, you are considerably worse. You have the intelligence to read the Scripture you claim to follow, but you fail to follow its principles.
Plum: Oh, now you will attempt to instruct me on the meaning of Scripture?
Borgmann: Why not? I received the same instruction in Sunday School that you did.
Plum: True. But obviously you understood none of it, or you would never have changed over in the first place, or clung to a life of evil as you continue to do.
Borgmann: And I trust that I have followed the spirit of that instruction more closely than you have.
Borgmann: Despite everything.
Borgmann looks down at his arms, extending his handling tentacles thoughtfully.
Plum: How does subduing an unwilling man with drugs and forcing him to donate express that spirit?
Plum: ~~ sardonic~~~
Plum has spent a good deal of his life in arguing about religious dogma and interpreting it; he is amused to engage in such debate with a Sime.
Plum has plenty of time on his hands in prison.
Borgmann: Will you drop this obsession with donating for one? Just long enough to look at the larger picture?
Plum: I'll drop the obsession when you stop forcing me to do something God condemns.
Borgmann: You are not being held here as a source of selyn. Why should anyone bother with that? Keeping a prisoner is labor-intensive, and there are plenty of Gens who don't have to be kept under lock and key.
Borgmann: It's not as if your nager is anything special, like Sosu Reckage's.
Borgmann: Nor is your spiritual status -- or lack thereof, according to the Synod -- of any interest to anyone on this side of the Border.
Plum: If that is so, why not let my selyn alone? Just hold me in your cell, if you really care to bring me as a prisoner to your Bar of Injustice.
Borgmann: Josef, you have already demonstrated that you are willing and able to commit mayhem on any Sime -- even one who poses no threat to you.
Borgmann: Would you allow such a prisoner in your custody to retain a useful weapon?
Plum: Well, I can understand why you objected to being purified, Gideon.
Plum: I mean, if you were in Divine Grace, you would have welcomed what I tried to do, but if you enjoyed such grace you would not have turned Sime in the first place.
Plum: I can understand that you want to survive.
Plum: What you don't understand is that I do not.
Borgmann: And how many members of the Synod would fail to object to having their throats summarily slit? Despite their repeated protestations that they have more Divine Grace than anyone else?
Borgmann: If you lined them up and asked for volunteers, I suspect that your razor would remain clean.
Borgmann: It appears that wishing to live has little to do with one's state of Divine Grace.
Plum: I invite you to take our your razor and slit my throat right now.
Borgmann: I am not a murderer.
Plum: I am not like you. I have no wish to live a life of sin.
Plum: And if a pure life is not possible, I would prefer to end it.
Plum: And you are wrong about the Synod. We are all willing to die for what we believe in.
Borgmann: For a man who claims to prefer death to an impure life, you have a remarkably flexible conscience.
Borgmann: If you really preferred death to impurity, you would never have come to Sime Territory in the first place.
Plum: That was an error in judgment and a sin of pride. I have already admitted that.
Borgmann: You would most particularly not have engaged in the activities outlined in your notes, and expressly forbidden by the Synod.
Borgmann: It appears likely, then, that you do not, after all, prefer death to impurity, or you would have slit your own throat with that hidden razor of yours, days before you tried to use it on me.
Plum: As you will recall, that donation was taken without my knowledge. In my sleep, if that can be believed.
Borgmann: That leads me to conclude that your present wish for death has nothing to do with honor or purity, and a great deal to do with that misplaced pride which you claim to have repented.
Plum: And I will confess I was taken in by the Channels lies.
Plum: That I could cross the border without my body being violated....
Plum: That I could speak with the Gens here.
Plum: The chance to preach to the ignorant seemed worth the risk.
Plum: But yes, that was a mistake.
Borgmann: In other words, you freely chose to defy the law, your pledged word, and the Synod's official decision, on that matter.
Borgmann: Where is the purity in that?
Borgmann: Beside that, donating seems a minor matter indeed.
Borgmann: Particularly when you have no realistic way to prevent it.
Plum: I did not defy any decree of the Synod.
Plum: That is another Sime lie.
Plum: As for the law, that is of man, while the scriptures are of God.
Plum: And obeying God's law is never a minor matter.
Plum: But I will admit my plan was... unrealistic.
Borgmann: Josef, I happen to know that you took your proposal for an illegal ministry here to several members of the Synod, and that it was rejected as ultimately harmful to the Church.
Borgmann: You, however, decided that you knew better, and proceeded in defiance of their advice and of the official Church policy of non-involvement with Sime Territories.
Borgmann: The result has been exactly the sort of public embarrassment your colleagues feared, for the Church.
Plum: Well, the very fact that I am prisoner here is proof that my plan was not in accord with the Divine Will.
Borgmann: Josef, how does the Church view those who recklessly endanger its mission and its credibility, in defiance of the sound advice and policies offered by the members of its duly appointed Synod?
Plum: I am pleased to serve as an object lesson that any contact whatsoever with Sime demons is dangerous. Despite all the gentle-sounding lies of in-Territory officials and Channels.
Plum: I hope that others will learn from my experience and never so much as speak with a Sime, let alone donate or negotiate with one.
Plum: Gens fear Simes, but few of them realize that their selyn can be stolen in their sleep without their knowledge that their souls have been plundered.
Borgmann: Perhaps you will be less pleased, when you realize that your actions have forced the Church to have far more involvement with Simes and Sime Territory matters in the past few months, than in the preceding thirty years?
Plum: The reassurances of the Channels were lulling the membership into complacency.
Plum: People were saying: What is the danger? Why not trade over the border? Why not bring changeover victims to the channels?
Plum: Now they will see the truth.
Plum: And my life will not be destroyed for nothing.
Borgmann: Will they? Despite the best efforts of your colleagues in the Synod, the Gen Territory press has not been uniformly sympathetic to your plight.
Plum shrugs.
Plum: There will always be doubters.
Plum: I was a doubter myself.
Plum: But the truth of my degradation speaks for itself.
Plum: No collaboration is possible.
Borgmann: For those who wish to remain completely apart from Simes, that is certainly true.
Plum: That is the wish of all true pure Gens.
Plum: Now these mutated pen-spawn you breed here may be different.
Plum shudders, remembering Berlynna prepping the needle.
Plum can well believe Berlynna to be no more capable of spirituality than the most hardened Sime raider.
Plum wonders why he ever imagined such creatures could be led to salvation.
Borgmann: The Gens born on this side of the border are bred exactly the same way as those on the Gen side. Even the ones who have a Sime parent or two.
Plum: Indeed. Then what was this part in this so-enlightening book you gave me...,"
Plum leans forward and picks up the copy of "Raider Rhapsody." 1
Plum lets the book fall open to a section where the spine has been bent back by a previous owner.
Plum reads aloud, using his scripture-reading voice.
Plum: "Mary was held immobile by two hulking Pen attendants. One forced her head back and stuck a tentacle in her mouth until she had to gag. He poured vile-smelling liquor down her throat so that she choked."
Plum: "She had no choice but to swallow, and immediately felt a flush of lust throughout her body."
Plum: "Other attendants brought in male Gens on lead chains. The Gens were buck naked but their eyes already gleamed with the madness of intoxication."
Borgmann is looking at Plum with absolute astonishment.
Plum: "One of the Simes patted a Gen on his buttocks, grinning."
Plum: "This one is ready to do his duty."
Plum: "The Simes holding Mary stripped off the rough hemp shift that covered her modesty."
Plum: He zlinned her. "She is ready too."
Plum lets the book fall closed.
Borgmann starts shaking, ever so slightly.
Borgmann's eyes crinkle and a few squeaks -- I mean snorts -- emerge from his mouth.
Plum: Now, I'm glad you didn't see fit to use me for stud service.
Borgmann looks like he is about to choke.
Plum: Though of course, if you did, I couldn't stop you, any more than I could stop you taking my selyn.
Plum: Isn't that how you Simes manage things around here?
Borgmann finally gives up the battle and roars with laughter.
Borgmann is forced to hang onto the cell bars with one hand and tentacles to keep from falling over.
Plum stares at Borgmann in some surprise. He doesn't think there is anything funny about what he said. And, after all, Borgmann gave him the book.
Borgmann finally manages to regain enough control to speak, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.
Borgmann: Josef, don't tell me you believe everything you read in cheap romances?
Borgmann: Particularly the sex scenes?
Borgmann starts chuckling again.
Borgmann could really use a good laugh, after the past winter.
Plum: Well, you haven't hesitated to drug me into mindlessness so you can examine me, clean me, barber me and strip my selyn. Why not sex?
Plum: This scene is completely consistent with everything I've experienced so far on my visit to this side of the border.
Plum: No normal Gen could birth something like Sosu Berlynna.
Borgmann blinks a bit at the apparent non sequitur.
Borgmann: I don't know anything about Sosu Berlynna's family, but she seemed like a perfectly normal person to me.
Borgmann: Outside of having a Donor's nager, of course.
Plum thinks the progression is completely obvious; Gens conceived by unnatural methods would be impure from their conception and grow up tainted, even if they did not turn out Sime. And only an unnatural Gen would help drug and subdue a fellow Gen to allow a Sime to take his selyn.
Plum smiles.
Plum: Normal for Sime society, perhaps. Our standards for normality differ somewhat.
Borgmann: Not really. That surprised me a great deal, when I first came across the Border.
Borgmann: However, the same standards of decency apply here as in Gen society at large, and apart from the specific doctrines dealing with Simes, there aren't many differences between what is considered decent here and among members of the Church.
Plum wonders how you can separate decency from the specific doctrines dealing with Simes; after all purist philosophy influences courtship, marriage, child-rearing, military service obligations, choice of occupation....
Plum: Ah, what is considered decent here, then?
Plum was told by Arat that there were laws that governed the behavior of channels, but then advised by Snake that those laws would be disregarded entirely because she was too valuable to discipline.
Borgmann: Earning one's way in an honorable profession. Treating others with kindness. Protecting the weak. Honoring one's spouse and parents, and nurturing one's children, so that they also grow up to be honest and productive citizens.
Borgmann: And yes, rape is just as much against the law here, as on the other side of the border.
Borgmann: Not that many Simes are physically capable of it.
Borgmann looks a bit disgusted at the very notion.
Plum smiles gently.
Plum: I have not seen much of this decency you speak of during my stay here.
Borgmann: Perhaps because you failed to look for it?
Plum: I've seen a lot of hungry, freezing Gens who would rather take charity from Simes than do honest work across the border.
Borgmann: Perhaps if the honest work done in the New Washington work camps was compensated with an honest wage, they might feel differently?
Plum: I've had my soul raped, only to be told that the criminal would not be prosecuted because she was too useful to risk.
Plum: And your treatment of me is scarcely what I would call kind.
Borgmann: Truly? You have as much food, water, and warmth as any Gen here. You have not been beaten or subjected to any more force than is required to prevent you from hurting others.
Borgmann: Do you think that a Sime being held in a New Washington jail cell would fare half as well?
Plum smiles wryly.
Plum: Probably not.
Plum: What you seem unable to understand is that none of those things are kindnesses.
Plum: I don't want food, water or warmth.
Plum: I want to be allowed to live by my principles, or I want to be allowed to die.
Plum: What you are doing to me is a fate worse than death, and if your so-called zlinning allowed you to perceive anything worth knowing, you would understand that.
Plum: Since your actions are in no way kind to me, I assume they serve some purpose of your own.
Borgmann: There is nothing in the Church principles you claim to value that required you break your sworn word, and wander an extra day in the camps.
Borgmann: If you had returned as scheduled, Wise Snake would never have gotten her tentacles on you.
Plum: If, if, if....
Plum: Yes, I disobeyed the terms of my visa. I wanted to make my own investigation.
Plum: And Wise Snake broke your laws when she stole my selyn.
Borgmann: Yes, and the consequences of that action would have been a minor delay of a few days in your return, if you hadn't then decided to murder me.
Plum shrugs.
Borgmann: I wonder how the press will view your story, when they learn how easily your troubles could have been avoided if you had acted with common sense?
Plum: You can call it murder if you want, and punish me for it, if you want. You have the power.
Plum: But don't call it kindness.
Borgmann: You are the one who appears to consider your murder attempt an act of kindness, not I.
Plum: I do. Your death would be a kindness, as would my own. Prolonging the agony of our tainted and miserable lives is no kindness.
Plum: ~~total black despondency~~
Borgmann looks disgusted; Plum's field is still too low to affect Borgmann strongly.
Plum: And if you can't understand that, it's because you have never experienced the beauty and glory of Divine grace, which I shall never know again.
Borgmann: Go ahead, then. Wallow in self-pity and self-serving excuses if you wish. That will not relieve you from the consequences of your own actions, however much you wish it would.
Plum: I am dealing with the consequences of my actions.
Plum renews his determination to suicide at the first opportunity, hopefully taking Wise Snake and Gideon and as many other Simes and demon-Gens with him as possible.
Borgmann: From what I have seen, you haven't yet admitted, even to yourself, that you are being held for actions that would have landed you in jail just as quickly, if they had happened on the Gen side of the border.
Borgmann: You'd rather believe that you're being held for your selyn, or as a stud.
Plum: No one would jail me for purifying a Sime on the Gen side of the border.
Plum: And if the law was changed so that demons were protected, I would do the same thing and go to jail proudly.
Plum: But no one there would drug me and rape my soul.
Plum: They would have no reason to perform such an unnatural act.
Plum: If you want me to believe that my selyn doesn't matter in your so-called legal deliberations, stop stealing it.
Plum would be willing to endure the prison and whatever punishment a Sime Court might mete out if it did not condemn him to ever-deepening mortal sin.
Borgmann: Why? So you can escape the consequences of your crime? Or do you think that you should be be allowed to pick only those consequences which don't inconvenience you?
Plum is far more concerned about the Last Judgment than any human laws or decrees.
Plum: I have not been convicted of anything yet, or even brought to judgment, but the conditions of this incarceration have already destroyed my life.
Plum: There is nothing worse you can do to me.
Borgmann's eyes narrow.
Plum meets Borgmann's eyes.
Plum: My life is over.
Plum: It is meaningless.
Borgmann: I could turn you over to Controller Arat's care. Or even to Hajene Wise Snake's tender mercies.
Borgmann: Would you prefer that? It can be arranged, if your incarceration here is so unpleasant.
Plum shrugs.
Plum: I was hoping to avoid being drugged insensible and used like an animal.
Plum: Clearly I will suffer the same fate regardless of who my jailer is.
Plum: Wise Snake is a criminal who would enjoy torturing me.
Borgmann: She is -- and I have no doubt that she would.
Borgmann: Perhaps you should consider that before you so blithely express a preference for her as your jailer?
Plum: I would prefer to stay here.
Plum: Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that my life has been destroyed.
Plum: I have been reduced to an animal stumbling hoping to find someplace where it will not be whipped so hard.
Plum: That is not the life of a human being, and it is not a life worth living.
Plum: So, in the wider view, it really doesn't matter.
Borgmann: You have certainly be acting like an animal, since you first crossed the border. I strongly suggest that you start using the intelligence God gave you, and alter your behavior to that of a decent human being.
Borgmann: Refraining from attacking your physicians would be a good starting point, there.
Plum shrugs. He is hardly capable of doing that any more, since the Simes have eaten the soul that was the seat of his humanity. The rest follows naturally.
Plum finds it amusing that a demon devoid of humanity should ask him to employ the humanity that they themselves destroyed.
Borgmann: And now, I have duties to attend to. You are not the only Gen for whose welfare I am responsible.
Borgmann storms from the cell block.
Plum spends a moment to reflect with compassion on the fate of those other Gens.
Notes:
1) In SRD #125 Borgmann gave Plum a bodice-ripper called "Forbidden Love". It is unclear whether this is a misnamed reference to that, or if Borgmann has given Plum additional "literature" since then. [return]
Go on to Episode #139: Suitable for Branding
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