Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #144: Donation From Hell (3/26/01)
Sylma looks around the IDAS camp's largest storeroom, which has been emptied of food supplies.
Sylma has had the floor and walls covered with the cheap mattresses that the IDAS brought in for the refugees in the camp.
Sedel checks the padding that has been applied to the walls, once more.
Sylma bounces slightly and nods in satisfaction. The mats aren't exactly comfortable for sleeping, but they work fine as a gym mat.
Sylma: It looks good.
Sedel is happy that at least there will be sufficiently soft barriers for this little "exercise".
Sedel: As good as we can make it.
Sedel: Tell me again why this is a good idea?
Sedel is rather looking forward to their little plan but he can't let Sylma think so.
Sylma chuckles.
Sylma is trying hard not to imagine the Controller's probable reaction when he discovers what they've done.
Plum hangs limp while two powerful Gen guards drag him down the corridor.
Sylma is counting on positive results to justify her actions after the fact, which in the end will depend on her ability to produce said positive results.
Sedel will get only slightly less of a chewing from Arat but he isn't worried about his career so it isn't a problem. Donors are too darn precious.
Plum's feet scrape along the ground, since he refuses to walk, and the guards have orders to get him to Sylma's improvised Collectorium. The guard following behind has to watch to keep from stumbling on him.
Plum is quite weak, as he has stopped eating again. He keeps checking the food to see when they are going to administer more drugs. But he could walk if he chose to.
Plum: ~~hopeless~~
Sedel takes a bit of time to stretch in preparation for the coming activity.
Sylma jogs in place for a moment, then zlins movement in the hall.
Sylma: They're bringing him now.
Plum considered trying to preserve his health in order to put up a better fight, but even in top form he knows he would out-numbered and over-powered.
Plum remembers his utter helplessness when Rifan drugged him for the last donation.
Plum is relieved that he seems to have avoided any knockout drops in his food or water, but of course they can do anything they want to him.
Sylma gestures for Sedel to join her, in the middle of the room.
Plum knows that God expects more of him than futile token defiance of evil, but believes collaboration with the Devil to be even worse.
Plum figures he needs a miracle, and he doesn't expect to get one.
Sedel is a tall Gen with disproportionately long arms and legs compared to his torso. He is also in excellent shape thanks to a lifetime of Dar martial arts training. None of this makes him any less concerned about having a Wild Gen coming at his channel or coming at his little sister for that matter.
Sylma wants to give Plum plenty of space, at least at first.
Sylma zlins Sedel's overprotectiveness and frowns.
Sylma: Just remember, Big Brother, he's our patient, not our enemy.
Sedel: He would murder you if given the chance. My job is not to let him.
Sylma: He's an amateur, Sedel.
Sedel: I know! But time and unforeseen occurrences befall us all.
Guard drags the limp Plum like a large sack of grain into the room.
Guard: Where do you want him?
Sylma would much prefer to be able to concentrate on Plum, rather than be distracted by the necessity of keeping an eye on her brother.
Sylma: There is fine. We will call you when we are finished.
Plum scans the room frantically, taking in the channel and Donor who visited his cell before.
Sylma has made very sure that there are no loose objects in the room; even the light comes from a high, barred window.
Guard: Do you want him cuffed? He's kind of limp right now, but he can be dangerous.
Sylma: That will not be necessary.
Sylma nods firmly towards the door.
Plum notices the padding covering the floor and ceiling and the lack of potential escape routes.
Sedel makes a conscious effort to un-big-brother himself. The problem is with his training any channel attempting something like this would have him reacting the same way. Simes are to shenned easy to injure.
Sylma may be younger than the guard by a number of years, but she is also a channel, and used to obedience.
Guard heaves Plum forward, letting go of his arms.
Plum falls to his knees on the mattress pads.
Sedel reminds himself of the last butt-whuppin' Sylma gave him and shakes off some of his protectiveness.
Sylma rolls her eyes in exasperation.
Sylma doesn't think the guard is helping matters at all.
Plum is very weak, and his head spins. He supports himself on his wrists, which burn from his last suicide attempt.
Guard: Okay, Hajene. You're the boss.
Sylma notes the considerable deterioration in Plum's condition since their conversation.
Sedel looks down at the rather pathetic Gen. This is the guy that tore Rifan up so badly?
Plum: ~~field appreciably lower than it should be do to physical deterioration~~
Guard: You got a full med kit in the room next door, if you require it.
Guard grins a bit, remember how Hajene Rifan looked last month with the bandage on his ear.
Plum manages to balance on his knees, lifting his head up.
Plum stares at the Channel and Donor who confront him.
Sylma smiles at Plum sympathetically.
Sedel: Minister Plum are you all right? [has learned the title that Plum prefers]
Plum: Don't call me that.
Sylma: What would you prefer that we call you?
Sedel frowns at the Gen. He went through some effort to get the intonation right.
Plum: Plum will do.
Plum: If you have to call me anything.
Sedel shrugs. So much for pleasantries.
Plum is quite sure he has forfeited any spiritual authority he may have once enjoyed.
Sylma: Very well, Plum. Do you require medical assistance?
Plum: No.
Plum did his best to rip open his wrists with his teeth during the night, hoping to drain off his selyn with his blood, but the guards noticed and put him in restraints.
Sedel is becoming less and less worried about Sylma's welfare. ~~relaxation~~
Sylma zlins, and decides that Plum is in no immediate danger, although he could definitely use a few large meals and a good night's sleep.
Plum did manage to bleed enough to make himself pretty weak.
Sylma: In that case, you know why we are here.
Plum didn't sleep very well trussed up like a pig for the slaughter, either.
Plum: Yes.
Sylma: You asked not to be drugged again, and I have honored your request. If you change your mind at any time, you have only to say so.
Plum: I have asked not to be stripped of my selyn against my will. If you honor that request, I would thank you and bless you.
Plum knows perfectly well these Simes won't make any concessions that would actually preserve him from sinning.
Sedel: Come on man, it doesn't hurt to donate.
Plum supposes they are told to make sure that his damnation is complete.
Sylma considers for a brief moment postponing Plum's donation until he has recovered a bit, but rejects that idea immediately. It would only encourage the man's self-destructive behavior.
Plum narrows his eyes, staring at Sedel. These Donors puzzle him more than the Simes. Plum eagerly ripped his own veins open with his teeth during the night in an attempt to avoid donating; does this man think he's afraid of "pain"?
Sylma: We can't do that, even for a person with a religious obligation to resist donating.
Plum: Yes, you are committed to evil. You are demons. And you will behave like demons.
Sylma: I hope I can manage to behave a bit better than that. Come, this doesn't have to take more than a minute or so.
Sylma starts walking towards Plum in a very leisurely fashion, one hand extended in invitation, tentacles retracted.
Plum grits his teeth and prepares for whatever horror and indignity they intend to inflict on him.
Plum stumbles to his feet, swaying.
Sylma is alert and prepared for action, but is using Sedel to block Plum's field, just in case.
Sedel prepares to do whatever is necessary.
Sedel: ~~support -- readiness~~
Plum: ~~impotent rage and disgust mixed with physical weakness, fatigue and pain~~
Plum: I defy you!
Plum spits full in Sylma's face.
Sylma ducks easily, avoiding the globule.
Sylma: That wasn't polite.
Sylma doesn't appear particularly offended, however.
Sedel grits his teeth and hangs back as Sylma has requested.
Sylma reaches for Plum's hand in the same leisurely fashion, easy enough for even a half-starved, anemic Gen to avoid.
Plum doesn't think it is necessary to be polite to demons who are trying to eat him alive.
Plum retreats from Sylma's grasp.
Sylma follows, slowly and casually.
Sylma was never under the illusion that Plum would simply allow the donation.
Plum wonders what this game is. Tag is a game he knows pretty well.
Sedel stays in position. He is now of a mind to teach a certain Gen some manners but that would defeat the purpose of the exercise.
Plum keeps backing away from Sylma whenever she approaches him.
Sedel wonders if the Gen realizes he is backing himself into a corner.
Sylma follows, never faster than Plum can evade.
Plum shifts direction to avoid the corner.
Plum knows that the Sime is playing with him and can immobilize him any time she wants to.
Sylma makes no effort to head him off, but lets him continue to retreat.
Plum keeps his eyes on Sylma. When she stands in position, he pauses too, gasping for breath. When she moves forward, he retreats.
Sylma: I know it must seem odd to you, Plum, but as a channel, and a member of Dar, I have principles I hold every bit as dear as you hold yours.
Sylma's tone of voice is conversational.
Plum is too out of breath and exhausted to carry on a philosophical conversation right now.
Sylma: That is why I am willing to respect your religious obligation to resist donating to the extent that you are able.
Sylma pauses to allow Plum a moment to catch his breath.
Plum doesn't believe a word of it. He has had direct experience of the value of channel's principles from Snake's theft of his wallet, selyn, freedom and identity.
Sedel watches Plum falling apart before his eyes, rather sad actually.
Plum thinks, that is why you are willing to toy with me for your own amusement before taking what you want like the others.
Sylma appears more concerned than amused, however.
Plum has to admit that Sylma moves with a rather feline grace.
Plum acknowledges that it is a predator's nature to stalk.
Plum wishes he weren't so exposed as prey.
Sylma once more starts towards Plum, with the same steady pace.
Plum backs up again.
Plum looks wildly around the room for any way out.
Sylma does her best to look nonthreatening, friendly, concerned, and patient.
Plum wonders which will happen first, the channel losing patience or his own knees collapsing. They are beginning to feel rather rubbery.
Sedel shakes his head. If this is supposed to spare Plum's dignity it is not working.
Plum is beginning to regret having starved and slashed himself, because if he were stronger he could keep dodging longer. But he'd been expecting them to just incapacitate him like the last time.
Plum knows however that no Gen can outlast a Sime in an endurance test. What matter if they circle for an hour or for twenty? The end result will be the same.
Sylma notes Plum's increasing weakness, and hopes that her client will choose to end the game before he actually collapses.
Sylma closes the distance by a step as Plum slows, and extends her hand again.
Sylma: Whenever you're ready.
Plum stumbles backwards.
Plum: I'll never be ready.
Plum's eyes fill with tears of rage at the way his own body is betraying him.
Plum's arms burn where the salty sweat drips down them.
Sylma pursues Plum with the same steady pace.
Sedel watches as Plum gives in to tears. Why would he torture himself so?
Plum figures that being unable to move because they slipped tranquilizers in his water or because they ran him around this cage to exhaustion comes to the same thing in the end.
Sedel: ~~pity and an underlying sadness~~
Plum continues to shamble out of Sylma's way. His feet are starting to feel like lead weights.
Sylma draws a bit nearer, but doesn't seem intent on capitalizing on the strategic gain.
Plum: [muttering under his breath] Lord, be my witness.
Sedel firms up his support.
Plum: Be my strength.
Plum: Deliver me from evil.
Sylma doesn't like this sort of torture any more than her brother, but she is young and idealistic enough to respect absolute commitment to ideals, even ones she thinks are nonsense.
Plum seems indeed to draw renewed energy from his prayers, and his nager shines a bit brighter.
Sylma wonders if the prayer is Plum's way of preparing to surrender.
Sylma is well aware that Plum is not particularly afraid of her; she would never play chase like this with a Gen whose resistance to channels was caused by Simephobia.
Plum knows that man proposes but God disposes. But if ever someone needed a miracle, he does right now.
Sylma: If the God you worship is at all just, he will judge you by your intent.
Sylma is at least pretty sure that Plum's God is a he.
Plum: [wearily] Demon, don't presume to teach me catechism.
Sylma assumes by this that she guessed right about Plum's doctrine.
Sylma: I don't -- only to remind you of it.
Plum knows everything the Simes say are lies meant to weaken his will to resist them.
Sedel is grateful that he was both born in-Territory and into Dar. What kind of madmen would worship something that only gives them pain?
Plum thinks that his first mistake was imagining he could deal with them and come away unscathed. The Scriptures warn against even casual conversation.
Sylma is indeed trying to convince Plum that he has fulfilled the obligations of his religion, and is therefore free to give up and donate.
Plum would probably be wiser to just give up, but he is extremely stubborn.
Sylma's own principles preclude taking selyn from an actively resisting Gen, at least if the Gen is resisting due to principle.
Plum steps back again and stumbles. His legs are giving way. He sways, grabbing hold of the fabric on one of the mattresses.
Sylma steps quickly forward and puts a hand on Plum's shoulder to steady him.
Sedel: ~~support~~
Plum frantically pushes the hand away. He loses his balance and sinks to his knees.
Plum: ~~horror and despair~~
Sylma: Put your head down a moment -- it'll help the dizziness.
Plum: Why won't you just leave me alone?
Sylma: You've met Controller Arat, haven't you?
Sylma: Would you want him angry at you?
Sylma sounds friendly, sympathetic, and concerned, just as if Plum hasn't been prolonging matters in an undignified fashion.
Plum has no choice about putting his head down, because the room is spinning.
Plum wonders why he should care about making a demon angry.
Sylma: That's right. Take a few deep breaths, now.
Plum wonders if he should try to hold his breath just to spite her, but once more decides to save his strength for the battles that matter.
Sedel watches Plum for any sudden moves even though he knows that Sylma could zlin it before he could see it.
Plum thinks as long as she keeps her tentacles off him, he can endure her voice.
Plum leans over on the mattress, panting. He feels nauseous.
Sylma's tentacles are safely sheathed, but her hand settles lightly on his shoulder in a supportive gesture.
Plum crawls backwards.
Plum: No!
Sylma moves with Plum, letting her hand stay on his shoulder, although she doesn't grip with it or act to restrain Plum in any way.
Plum strikes at Sylma's hand, trying to beat it away.
Sylma removes it just long enough to evade the blow, then replaces it.
Plum crawls away towards the far corner of the room
Sylma follows patiently, zlinning to gage Plum's remaining endurance.
Plum: ~~despair~~
Sylma's respect for Plum's wish to resist is not so great that she will allow him to do lasting damage to himself in pursuit of it.
Plum: ~~on the ragged edge~~
Sedel holds his position relative to Sylma. He offers support but resists intervening.
Sylma: Are you sure you wouldn't prefer the sedative?
Sylma's voice is kind, and without any audible criticism or condemnation.
Plum renews his vow to never give in to these Demons. They may overpower him, but he will never acquiesce.
Plum can't retreat anymore. His back is against the wall.
Plum: God help me.
Sylma squats down next to Plum, casting a look over her shoulder to bring Sedel over to them.
Sedel has maintained his position so he doesn't have far to go.
Plum curls up into a tight ball, his arms wrapped tight around himself, his head buried between his knees.
Sedel crouches next to Sylma and offers ~~support~~.
Sylma's hand slips off of Plum's shoulders, and traces a path lightly down his arm towards his wrist.
Plum tries to crawl into the center of the fetal ball of himself.
Plum: ~~dissociating~~
Sedel watches Plum closely. The Gen looks for all the world like an abused child.
Sylma's hand closes lightly around Plum's, and tugs to untangle it from the ball.
Plum's hand is stiff and locked into position, as rigid as if it were made of wood.
Sylma: You have fought as much as any reasonable entity could expect, Plum.
Plum: ~~consciousness separating itself from its physical container~~
Sylma applies gentle pressure, in the full knowledge that Plum doesn't have the strength to maintain such rigidity for long.
Plum: ~~total cessation of thought and feeling~~
Sylma: You have fulfilled your religious obligation in letter and spirit.
Sedel can't zlin what is going on but there is a definite feeling of total withdrawal in the room.
Plum: ~~completely catatonic~~
Sedel doesn't say anything for fear of disturbing -- something. ~~SUPPORT~~
Sylma shrugs, and extends her handling tentacles to aid in the arm-extraction effort.
Plum's arms remain rigidly locked and will not bend.
Sylma wonders why Plum was so eager to avoid sedation, if he's going to retreat like this.
Sylma speaks to Sedel over her shoulder -- in English, so that Plum can understand.
Sylma: Looks like we'll have to use the sedative, after all.
Sylma: He's not going to unwind any other way.
Sylma is ~~ not happy ~~ about it.
Sedel: I would feel better if you go get it and I'll watch him.
Sylma: All right. I'll be back in a jiffy.
Sylma bounds to her feet and walks briskly for the door.
Sedel stays crouched by Plum watching him closely. He can't zlin but the person in front of him is... missing in some odd way.
Sedel has never come up against anything like Plum before in his life.
Sedel can't imagine living in a world without Simes. He certainly can't imagine worshipping something that would destroy all Simes if that were possible.
Sedel: ~~pity~~
Sedel shakes his head. He seems to do that a lot when he is around Plum. If only he could figure out how to help the poor Gen. Well, wiser heads than his must have tried before now.
Sylma returns shortly with a loaded hypodermic.
Sylma is not her usual cheerful self.
Sylma kneels beside Plum and zlins deeply, then shakes her head as she prepares to stab with the needle.
Sylma: Shen, Sedel. How are we going to write up this report?
Sedel: [shrugs] The patient required a sedative to give the donation. It really isn't all that different.
Sylma isn't convinced that Arat will see it that way.
Sedel: If Arat didn't know that he was shaky going in he isn't a very good channel. And we know better than that.
Sylma: Rifan didn't drive him into catatonia.
Sedel may not find Arat conducive to a good time but has absolute faith in his abilities as a channel.
Sedel: We just got the short straw. The man was a disaster waiting to happen.
Sedel thinks the Plum disaster already happened before he and Sylma got there.
Sylma: I should have had him drugged the moment I heard he'd chewed his own wrists open.
Sylma: ~~ self-recrimination ~~
Sedel: You made him a promise. Dar keeps its promises.
Sedel: ~~ calm conviction that his channel has done nothing wrong~~
Sylma tries bravely to smile, although she's more in a mood to cry.
Sedel is trying to keep his concern for his sister separate from his concern for his channel. Not easy.
Sedel: It's okay Syl. All we can do is what we can do.
Sedel pats Sylma on the back. ~~affection~~
Sylma: I can't help thinking of all the drugs and therapy it will take to bring him back from this.
Sylma: And how strongly he'd object to it, if he could.
Sedel: Then we do what we can to help him come back. But I think a big part of that is keeping Simes away from him as much as possible.
Sedel: I can't zlin him but I think his convictions are a lot stronger than anyone has given him credit for.
Sylma: Well, they're not doing anyone any good at the moment. Him least of all.
Sedel: True enough. But his is the only opinion that counts on that score right now.
Sylma tests the rigidity of Plum's arm, and discovers that the drug has loosened it enough for detachment.
Plum's nager remains as an uncanny featureless glow, without normal oscillation.
Sylma turns it over, looking at the angry chewed places, and shakes her head.
Sedel wraps his sister in his nager for an instant. Then eases so that she can work.
Sylma extends her laterals and begins projecting need.
Go on to Episode #145: Albert's Cookies
Return to the Index of Episodes