Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #151: On Vocation (4/8/01)
Arat enters the tiny whitewashed infirmary room that has been Plum's home, or at least bedroom, for the last week and a half.
Arat has been told that Plum was showing increased sign of activity suggesting an awakening was possible today.
Nick offers protection as they go through the door, just in case the rumors were correct.
Nick also checks the room over quickly, just in case any sharp objects have been left lying around.
Arat has had a special team monitoring Plum, but if he is going to wake then it is time for Arat to take charge.
Arat is not going to let anything get screwed up this time. He really, really doesn't like taking falls for employee incompetence.
Arat zlins Plum's inert form carefully.
Plum floats in a cosmic expanse of clashing bright and dark.
Plum is caught in a powerful current that draws him inexorably onward.
Sylma takes up her stance outside the door, alternating checking the hall for hazards and peering through a small crack in the hastily-constructed wall.
Sylma has been very interested in what Arat has done to keep Plum's unconscious body alive, and is hopeful that eventually it will work.
Plum has accepted his role as a bit of flotsam on the universal tide; he lets himself be drawn along without struggle or protest.
Sylma's hope is not -- entirely -- because a reawakened Plum would improve her own situation a bit.
Plum feels the churning waves subdue a bit as the space around him begins to grow narrower and dimmer.
Sylma hasn't misjudged a treatment so badly in years, and genuinely feels bad that Plum suffered from her mistake.
Plum sees an obstacle ahead of him: a dark, solid shape, like a statue carved of granite.
Nick: Any sign of change?
Nick thinks Plum still looks out of it.
Arat nods a distracted confirmation.
Plum recognizes this as his physical body. He thinks it looks quite peculiar from outside of it.
Arat picks up Plum's arms and verifies with a deeper zlin. He is also evaluating Plum's condition after weeks of imprisonment and days of lying in the hospital bed.
Plum hears Nick's voice ringing in his mind like distant echos.
Plum is not eager to return to his clumsy earthbound body, but he understands this is his destiny.
Plum allows his essence to be absorbed by the material form.
Arat senses Plum's return to consciousness, and replaces Plum's arms on the bed, stepping back slightly.
Plum: ~~utter fatigue~~
Plum feels the whisper of a touch that departs.
Plum's eyelids flutter.
Arat gestures for Nick to take one of Plum's hands.
Arat: Minister Plum?
Nick does so.
Arat: You have been unconscious for a very long time. Can you hear me?
Sylma: ~~ expectant hope ~~
Plum feels the touch return; hears the sound of his name.
Plum sketches the barest nod with his head; it is hard to move.
Plum tries to open his eyes, but them are gummed shut with sticky ichor, and the light hurts.
Nick reaches for a rag and basin on the bedside table.
Arat would have simply ordered an attendant or helper to do that.
Nick: Minister Plum, I'm going to wash your face a bit. You might want to keep your eyes closed until I'm done.
Arat will still flay alive the people who were supposed to be caring for Plum, for not doing the basics to keep him clean.
Plum wishes briefly for the freedom from physical limitations in the other world, but it is clear his duty requires his return to this one.
Nick lacks Arat's finely tuned sense of rank, mostly because while he was training, Snake usually worked without any additional staff.
Nick gently cleans the gumminess from Plum's eyes.
Plum feels the cool and roughness of the towel on his face; in some sense feeling physical sensation again is reassuring.
Nick sets the wash rag aside.
Nick: There. Can you open your eyes now?
Plum's eyelids flutter. He squints, trying to moderate the light.
Plum wonders where he is; surely this is not the familiar prison cell.
Arat studies Plum carefully during the process.
Plum tries to answer, but his mouth is dry as a bone, and his tongue won't seem to go where he tells it.
Arat points to the water nearby.
Arat: He is thirsty.
Arat is willing to accept Nick as a grunt hospital worker if Nick wants to do it... as long as they are in private.
Nick pours water in a glass, then lifts Plum's head so that he can swallow, and holds the glass to his lips.
Nick: Here. Just a sip, now.
Plum feels the cool water against his lips and drinks. It tastes wonderful. He never felt so thirsty.
Plum gulps at the water eagerly.
Nick regulates Plum to short sips.
Nick: Slowly, now. You don't want to choke on it.
Plum absorbs the moisture and feels himself seem to revive, like a wilted flower.
Nick: More?
Plum nods.
Plum feels very frail and a very light-headed. Even moving his head seems to make the room spin a bit.
Plum sips more water, and suddenly feels what feels like a dark hole open within him -- he is starving.
Arat: Minister Plum, you are very weak because you were not able to eat properly while you were unconscious.
Arat: It will be some time before you have regained your full strength.
Plum: ~~weak, dehydrated, starving and with muscular deterioration due to immobility~~
Plum: ~~disoriented but not worried about it~~
Sylma smiles broadly as she hears Arat predict that full recovery is possible.
Plum recognizes the voice as that of the Controller Sime. Well, he is back again for sure.
Arat: I will arrange for food to be brought to you beginning with the next meal.
Plum is having trouble focusing on the meaning of the words, but he recognizes that strict tone of voice.
Arat does not often think about food, or he might have wondered whether Plum would prefer hospital food to prison food.
Plum makes out the word "food" however, and his appetite leaps in response.
Plum decides to try his voice again.
Plum: I am hungry.
Arat nods, pleased by the attempt at interaction.
Arat had been hoping that Plum would be with-it enough to get his version of what happened, but that will have to wait until later.
Plum's vision is still a bit blurry, but the man at the side of his bed also seems familiar... ah, the Donor, the Demon Servant.
Nick offers Plum another sip of water.
Plum sips some more water; his salivary glands seem to be working again. He remembers the cinnamon buns he shared with Albert. Actually, he would prefer something a bit more substantial.
Nick: You're doing well.
Nick has the same note of approval in his voice that he uses to reward Arat for, say, eating half of his lunch.
Plum hears Nick's encouragement; he finds the statement amusing, since he lacks the strength to hold his own water glass.
Plum: I have returned.
Plum figures since it was made clear to him his Destiny lay in continuing his mortal life, he will not die any time soon.
Plum does hope he regains enough strength to get out of bed eventually.
see note 1
Nick drops by at the end of his shift, to check on Plum's progress.
Nick notes with satisfaction that Plum seems much improved, physically and mentally.
Nick: Minister Plum, you look much better.
Plum looks at the Donor. He has to agree, as he is now able to hold up his own head and focus his eyes.
Plum: Yes, I am improved.
Nick: Do you feel up to answering a few questions?
Plum considers this.
Plum has always been hesitant to answer Demon questions before, as he thought they were gathering information to be used against him.
Plum concludes he is probably beyond the reach of any malice.
Plum: If you wish.
Nick settles down on a packing crate-turned-chair beside Plum's bed, where Plum can see him without craning his neck.
Plum wonders what can be so pressing. His sense of urgency has totally evaporated. A vacation beyond time will do that to a man.
Nick: Thank you. We were hoping to get your version of what happened between you, Hajene Sylma, and Sosu Sedel.
Nick resists the temptation to use less neutral terminology to express his disapproval of Sylma and Sedel's conduct.
Plum examines Nick; the man looks different somehow now that his impurity no longer matters.
Plum: What happened?
Plum thinks the whole event feels as if it happened a long time ago; in another life, in fact.
Nick: Yes. We would like to know what they did to you, to send you into a coma for over a week.
Plum: She was going to take my donation. I asked her not to.
Nick makes an encouraging noise.
Plum looks at the handsome brown-haired, grey-eyed man. The Tecton uniform remains somewhat jarring, but aside from that he does not appear particularly unusual.
Nick: How did she answer you?
Plum: She wanted to prove that I did not have the power to resist her. That she could take what she wanted, and I was helpless to prevent it.
Plum remembers Sylma advancing on him inexorably.
Nick frowns. This is certainly true, technically speaking, but Tecton policy is to downplay it.
Nick: She threatened you?
Plum: She wouldn't stop. She wore me down, physically, so that I didn't have the strength to fight back.
Plum remembers hating Sylma for grinding his face in the truth of his human limitations, but he realizes that was necessary to free him.
Nick mutters a Simelan oath under his breath.
Nick's expression is clearly disapproving.
Plum: She thought I would accept her control of my body and will. But I decided I would rather die. So I... left.
Nick: Left for where?
Plum: I prayed for deliverance. My plea was answered. It was a miracle.
Nick: You were... answered?
Plum: Yes. I went to the other side. The land of the spirits.
Plum smiles warmly.
Plum: I saw my wife, my son, there.
Nick notes that Plum seems sure that he was, in fact, delivered, and that he doesn't seem concerned over whether his field was lowered while he was unconscious.
Nick: And they talked to you?
Plum: Oh, yes. I met others there as well.
Plum: Spirits, angels, demons. It was hard to tell sometimes.
Plum: It's a strange place.
Plum: Quite confusing.
Plum: For a mortal, anyway.
Nick nods.
Nick: I'm sure it was. What did these... entities, whatever they were, tell you?
Plum: I begged to stay, but they said I had to come back here. That my work wasn't finished.
Plum lowers his eyes to the bedclothes.
Nick: Did they tell you what you must do?
Plum: I didn't understand what they told me.
Plum: Something about comfort and giving away oranges.
Nick: Oranges?
Plum: Yes.
Plum: They said that in time I would figure it out.
Plum: Clearly I am not worthy of the tasks I have been given, but I am a faithful soldier. I will do my best.
Nick: Well, your return to consciousness will comfort several people immediately.
Plum: I am glad. It won't be easy, starting over.
Plum is eager to start on his new mission (if he only understood what it was!) but is certain there is no return possible to his former way of life.
Nick: Glif Borgmann has been pestering the infirmary for updates on your condition three or four times a day.
Plum frowns.
Nick notes the frown with some concern.
Plum: Poor Gideon. Yes, he must be worried. You must tell him I am fine and only what is meant to be can be.
Nick blinks. This was not the sort of response he expected.
Nick: He asked to come and visit you, after you were moved here to the infirmary, but Controller Arat left strict orders that he was to be kept out of your presence.
Plum reflects on the irony of his having failed his trust to purify Gideon ending with the miracle of his spiritual rebirth.
Plum: Oh, let him come. I'd be glad to see him.
Plum is more than happy to forgive everyone everything, as they were all obviously the instruments in achieving his Destiny.
Nick wonders briefly if he is experiencing an auditory hallucination.
Nick: I'm not sure that you should be exposed to any potential trauma, at this point.
Plum smiles bemusedly.
Nick: You require rest, in order to recover.
Plum: Trauma?
Plum wonders what kind of shock could affect someone who has just returned from beyond the pale.
Nick: Your interactions with Simes have not gone smoothly, in the past. Controller Arat has left orders that the Gens on staff be the ones to provide your routine care, until you have regained your strength.
Nick: There will be staff channels monitoring your condition, of course, but you may be assured that Hajene Sylma will not be among them.
Plum considers.
Plum: Well, I believed that Simes were evil, you see, and that they had to be destroyed.
Plum: Apparently the situation is not as simple as that.
Nick: It isn't?
Nick is wondering if he heard that past tense correctly.
Plum: No. Apparently evil is necessary, and destroying it isn't possible or desirable.
Plum remembers the cloud against the infinite brilliance.
Plum squints just a bit as he recalls that light and the pleasure of shade.
Nick looks interested.
Nick has never been a deeply philosophical sort, but this sounds very different from what Plum was saying pre-coma.
Nick wonders if this means that Plum intends to refrain from the use of sharp objects on Simes with lethal intent.
Nick: Evil must be preserved?
Plum: It cannot be eliminated.
Plum smiles wryly.
Plum realizes this statement invalidates the whole basic principle of Purity.
Plum: So I suppose we must learn to live with it.
Plum suspects this is why he was not allowed to just stay on the other side.
Nick never has been able to make sense of the doctrine of Purity, but this sounds quite different.
Plum: I suppose you know something about that, young man.
Nick: Well, I've lived with a great deal of evil, although I prefer to improve matters when I can.
Nick: I like to think that I've succeeded, at last in part.
Plum: I'd like to hear of your experiences.
Plum: It looks like I may be some days recovering.
Plum: It would help to pass the time.
Plum thinks that any Gen who has been Arat's personal selyn slave must know a great deal about tolerating evil.
Nick: Well, I do have a bit more time. What would you like to know about?
Plum: You said that you found ways to improve the world. I'd like to hear how.
Plum expects these methods will be different than the ones he has been familiar with, like blasting Simes with shotguns.
Nick: It's pretty basic, mostly. Not half so romantic as it sounds.
Nick: But there are plenty of people out there who are hurting, and I do what I can to patch them up so they can go on with their lives.
Plum: You don't believe that suffering ennobles?
Nick: There are people who face suffering with nobility, but those people face the rest of their lives with the same attitude.
Nick: I've never noticed that suffering creates nobility where it isn't already present.
Plum: So the evils you fight against are pain and want.
Nick: Yes. I am fortunate enough to have the physical and nageric ability to work with channels who are able to help people who are otherwise beyond anyone's help.
Nick: And whose one pain and... want... can not be helped by many others, not even most Donors.
Nick's face has the look of remembered pleasure on it that most Donors tend to get when thinking about transfer.
Plum: So your efforts go to relieve Sime pain only.
Nick looks surprised.
Nick: Of course not. I help Arat to heal just as many injured Gens as Simes.
Plum: And yet, no matter how many you heal, the sick are always with us.
Notes:
1) Some hours pass between these two scenes. [return]
Go on to Episode #152: Chopping for Answers
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