Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #157: Distinguished Inquisitor (4/22/01)
Arat paces nervously back and forth in the living room of his, Nick's and Jeniard's quarters, something that is not unusual for him when he has the spare time.
Jeniard follows him, hanging onto his arm to slow him down. This is not anywhere near as unusual as Jeniard might hope.
Jeniard: It'll be just fine. You'll see.
Arat: I wish I'd been able to find out what Dramming and his people had to tell me about this.
Arat says for the 300th time.
Jeniard: Well, there was no way you could have known Sedel would turn up there. It's just a good thing he didn't walk in on the two of you, letting Sedel connect you.
Jeniard: That's all you need is disgruntled employees having that kind of information.
Jeniard: Slow down, your forehead is getting shiny.
Jeniard tries to reach it to wipe it off.
Arat manages to fend him off.
Jeniard's nager keeps working to ~~soothe and reassure~~. He rather wishes Nick or Beni were here to do a better job, but Arat wouldn't have any of it. There will be too much private information discussed here today.
Arat and Jeniard are both dressed in civilian clothes. Arat had not wanted there to be any connection between discussion of the Audnes to obtain money for a private welfare project, and his Tecton job.
Birch tramps through the snow towards the building housing the Controller's private quarters, with Professor Ro at his side.
Birch is having to slow down his usual ground-devouring stride to accommodate Ro's more sedate pace.
Birch hopes the man is up to the rigors of life on the edge of civilization.
Alain Ro follows Birch, determined not to suffer the indignity of getting out of breath. He refuses to rush, but notes to himself that he has softened up during the last years in New Washington.
Birch frets about how long it is taking them to cover the ground. He knows how much Arat hates it when people are late for appointments.
Alain Ro took the time to change into more suitable clothes and now wears warm rabbit-fur robe over flexible woolen garments.
Alain Ro knows that first impressions are important. He is a snazzy dresser, and knows that with Simes it is important to put one's best nager forward as well.
Alain Ro has heard that Controller Arat is a taciturn and difficult man at the best of times, and expects to require all his charm to put the channel at ease.
Alain Ro has, however, put down significant sums of cash on the barrel-head to purchase Arat's cooperation, and he fully intends to get his money's worth.
Alain Ro doesn't think he will run into much opposition if Arat's dedication to duty is as strong as reputation makes it.
Alain Ro has checked out the Controller's financial situation as well as he can, and doesn't think that Arat can raise the cash repay the debt even if he begins to regret the deal he has made.
Birch wonders, not for the first time, what Arat could possibly know that would make Ro so interested.
Birch: There's the lodge where he lives.
Arat's home is almost unbearably rustic, but it does have the luxury of being surrounded by the only trees in about ten miles, and with guards to keep it that way.
Alain Ro takes a deep breath, preparing himself to for this new endeavor.
Alain Ro: Very... charming.
Alain Ro thinks the lodge looks rather homey for the seat of power of a local dignitary, but it is certainly more pleasant than the shacks and hovels that surround it.
Birch frowns. Professor Ro didn't have any compliments for the best FluCon suite that Birch could find for him.
Birch: We better get a move on. We're expected.
Arat has zlinned them coming and is now sitting tensely on the couch trying to look as if he was waiting there the entire time.
Jeniard meanwhile is scrambling around making sure any last minute nose- and forehead-wiping is done.
Alain Ro pulls out his round golden pocket-watch, a family heirloom. It says they are 5 minutes late already.
Alain Ro: Yes, by all means.
Birch walks up to the door and stands there.
Birch: Simes don't like it when you knock.
Birch: Somehow they just know when you're there.
Alain Ro nods.
Jeniard puts the wash cloth aside and hurries to the door.
Jeniard opens the door.
Jeniard: Ah! You must be Alain Ro. And Mr. Birch, how nice to see you.
Jeniard: Please come in.
Jeniard seems friendly, if a bit frazzled.
Birch: Alain, this is Hajene Jeniard, the Controller's Assistant.
Jeniard: Ummm, yes. [smiles at Ro]
Birch steps into the room.
Jeniard figures there is time for Ro to learn what Jeniard actually is later when Birch is gone.
Alain Ro bows.
Jeniard waits until they are all in, then closes the door.
Jeniard: May I take your coats?
Jeniard is only asking to be polite, since it's perfectly obvious where things are hung. It's right on the wall next to the door.
Alain Ro: Certainly, Hajene Jeniard. I'm pleased to meet you.
Alain Ro's eyes scan the room and alight on his quarry.
Jeniard takes Alain's rabbit fur(!) cloak.
Jeniard: I'm just going to set this right out here.
Jeniard: I am sure nobody will take it, the guards will stop them.
Jeniard opens the door again and places the cloak on the porch.
Alain Ro raises his eyebrows slightly, but lets it pass.
Jeniard: The fur, you know. [by way of explanation]
Alain Ro knew Simes didn't like meat, but he thought fur and leather were acceptable.
Jeniard: Yes, here's Arat... please, come have a seat, get comfortable. Tea anyone?
Birch hangs up his own coat while Jeniard is fussing with the jacket.
Jeniard ushers Alain Ro and Birch toward the small circle of couches and chairs that makes up the chateau's (if you could call it that) living room.
Birch: Controller Arat, may I introduce Alain Ro, Professor of History at Gorton University.
Birch: Alain, this is Controller Arat Farris.
Arat rises as Alain Ro approaches. He is wearing black civilian clothes and is clearly very stressed out, but has it under control.
Birch has picked up on the fact that Arat seems to find officialese reassuring.
Arat: Professor Ro.
Arat nods formally.
Alain Ro returns an equally formal bow.
Arat does not offer them a seat, since Jeniard already did.
Alain Ro: Controller Arat. I am so pleased to make your acquaintance.
Alain Ro focuses his full attention on Arat's expression and stance.
Arat is visibly tense, particularly in his shoulders. He is sweating and his expression is troubled.
Jeniard goes to the low table between the various couches and pours some tea using a simple Tecton-issue tea service that is identical to the one they had in Arat's office back in Capitol.
Birch lets himself drop into an armchair in the corner. He figures he has done his part.
Alain Ro: I've heard a lot about you.
Alain Ro seats himself carefully across from the channel.
Arat sits after the others have done so.
Arat nods. He would have expected as much. People don't travel across country to talk to people they never heard of, not for this much money.
Arat zlins Alain Ro carefully, not that he has anything in particular to look for. He just does that.
Jeniard gives tea to the two visitors, then moves Arat's #3 over to his new position.
Alain Ro: ~~calm, focused interest~~
Alain Ro: I hope Mr. Birch has explained something about my research?
Arat glances at Mr. Birch.
Arat: He said you are interested in my family's history.
Alain Ro really hopes that Arat has read his books and scholarly papers, but that might be too much to expect.
Arat has, in fact, read them. He made a point of obtaining everything he could get his hands on before the passes closed, spending a small fortune in courier fees.
Arat still isn't certain what Professor Ro intends to do with information about the Audnes, however. It seems premature to assume that it has anything to do with previous work, for example.
Alain Ro: Well, yes, I am. Though that's taking a rather narrow view of my subject.
Arat's nose is starting to turn red. It has something to do with small animals with long ears.
Alain Ro: I am interested in the broad changes in the form of human civilization through recorded time.
Jeniard seats himself beside Arat and picks up the Arat-wrangling kit he had previously set aside.
Alain Ro: How do we differ from the Ancients? How do modern men differ from our ancestors in the Age of Chaos?
Alain Ro: I believe we are at a cusp in the progression of our culture.
Alain Ro: And so I seek a better understanding of the forces at work.
Birch winces slightly. This is worse than the prattle with Riyyh about the ancient history of the Unity War.
Jeniard hands Arat an anti-allergy pill.
Jeniard reaches for Arat's #3 and hands him that as well.
Birch prefers to live in the present, and will leave the vast panorama of history to take care of itself.
Arat: I see.
Alain Ro observes Jeniard waiting on Arat with interest.
Arat swallows the pill and sips his tea. He has done this in public so many times it means nothing to him.
Arat: Go on.
Arat: [politely]
Jeniard takes the tea back and sets it on the table.
Alain Ro: So you understand that my interest in you isn't personal. I'm no scandal-monger.
Arat nods.
Alain Ro: But you're an individual who has lived at the intersection, as it were, of the historical currents that interest me.
Alain Ro: And I'd like to understand the way those currents have affected the direction of your life.
Jeniard thinks a lot of people would like to understand that, including Arat.
Alain Ro: Your case may illustrate certain theories....
Birch looks rather desperately around for his own cup of tea or something else to keep him from nodding off if Ro really gets going.
Alain Ro catches Birch's expression out of the corner of his eye.
Alain Ro: Well, please excuse me. I am prone to start lecturing at the drop of a hat, the way I do with my students.
Alain Ro: But I'm here to listen.
Jeniard tries to mop Arat's brow while Alain is distracted, but Arat doesn't let him.
Birch picks up his teacup and sips at it.
Alain Ro: Now I've read the standard accounts of how the Audnes family fell from power in the Unity War.
Alain Ro: That book Fire on Water was very popular at the time.
Alain Ro: But I'd like to hear how it looked from your perspective.
Arat stares at Alain Ro intently. This is what he's been dreading all along: the actual questions.
Alain Ro catches Arat's trapped expression.
Arat's expressive Farris face doesn't particularly hide his stress and dread.
Arat: Did you have specific questions?
Alain Ro smiles.
Arat has not had a lot of practice expanding on the subject, as he has generally been able to prevent people from talking about it in his presence.
Alain Ro: Well, perhaps later on, but I wouldn't want to influence your recollection with my own preconceptions.
Alain Ro: I understand these memories may be painful for you.
Alain Ro: Nevertheless, I think a true account of your experiences should be part of the historical record.
Arat actually remembers very little of it. He is one of those people who loses the more specific older memories quickly. It is the talking about it that is painful.
Arat nods.
Arat: So you just wish me to speak generally of... which part? The events in Fire on Water, or the events during my lifetime?
Alain Ro: Well lets begin with what you witnessed first hand. Tell me about your childhood. Describe a typical day.
Arat considers.
Jeniard surreptitiously presses a handkerchief into Arat's hand.
Alain Ro is surprised that Arat seems to find this request difficult. He thought he would start with something concrete, simple and non-threatening.
Arat: It was different depending upon whether I was in the care of my parents, or of others.
Arat: As a child I was sometimes taken from them and placed in foster homes, on a temporary basis.
Alain Ro: Ah, I see. And why was that?
Arat: It was...
Arat has spent quite a number of years trying to get a feel for that.
Arat: They wanted to put pressure on my parents to conform.
Arat: It was one of the ways of doing so.
Arat: Some also felt it was for my good.
Arat: When I was not with them, I attended the public schools and could not help but interact with people my parents did not approve of.
Alain Ro: So some of the officials in New Othwol did not think your parents were teaching you the right things?
Arat: I do not think that was a concern, at least on an academic level. On a political and social level, perhaps.
Arat: There may have been those who... felt that the Audnes problem, as it were, could be waited out. Provided I was handled properly.
Arat supposes it could be said that those were the people who ultimately got what they wanted.
Arat: However it would be a mistake to put too much weight on that.
Alain Ro raises his eyebrows inquiringly.
Arat: I believe it was mainly done to harass my parents.
Arat doesn't usually say anything of the sort so baldly, but he did promise full disclosure.
Alain Ro: What behavior did these people object to?
Arat: On my parents' part?
Alain Ro: Yes.
Arat: They were actively engaged in staging revolt against Tecton rule.
Arat: They enjoyed popular support to the extent that it would not have been possible to simply have them arrested and executed.
Arat: Their presence also provided needed coherence to the local population during a time of great change.
Alain Ro: And when you lived with your parents, did they teach you to oppose the Tecton also?
Arat: Yes.
Alain Ro: What was their rationale?
Arat: From their perspective the Tecton invaded their ancestral lands and subjugated their people through control of the selyn.
Arat: It was their duty to fight to expulse the invader.
Alain Ro nods.
Arat: It is what they were expected to do. [adds]
Alain Ro: Expected by whom?
Arat: By their supporters. By many of those who'd lived in the area before the Tecton came into power.
Arat: Particularly by those whose own land-rights under the Audnes were disrupted.
Arat: And those who'd lost relatives who'd gone raider during the wars and blamed it on the Gen Army and the Tecton.
Alain Ro: So... property rights. Loyalty. Retribution.
Alain Ro: Did you agree that the Tecton had stolen your land and property?
Arat closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment. It is a difficult thing to quantify.
Arat: I accepted that what they told me was true. [finally]
Arat: Nobody denied that part of it.
Alain Ro: Did you feel any obligation to defend the rights of your family and their followers?
Arat: I was made to feel such an obligation, yes.
Alain Ro: Was made.
Arat: However, there was no time when I had an opportunity to do so in any way other than displaying the behavior my parents expected of me.
Arat: When I was with my parents, I was a child.
Arat: I had no responsibilities other than to be what I represented: their heir.
Arat: They taught me their beliefs, their way of leadership, and their knowledge of the New Othwol area and its people.
Arat: They expected me to behave in certain ways whether in their presence or not, and always in accordance with their politics.
Arat was, in essence, a chess piece, the pawn not yet moved to the end row to become powerful.
Alain Ro nods. He can see that Arat has at least part of what he has been seeking; he is a living repository of junct theories of leadership.
Alain Ro: What behaviors were required of you?
Jeniard takes the handkerchief from Arat and uses it himself (on Arat) since it's obvious Arat is too distracted to do so.
Arat ignores Jeniard with some impatience. Yes, it's possible!
Alain Ro doesn't want to make Arat sweat too hard, but he is not going to let this opportunity escape. No, sir!
Arat: When I was with them, I was expected to be ready to show myself or speak to them as required, and I was expected to keep to myself when not required.
Arat: My education was handled in strict sessions; outside of them I was not required except during events and political discussions.
Arat: When I was not with my parents, I was expected to avoid persons who were not supporters.
Arat: I was expected to actively resist those who were against them.
Arat: However, not in any way which could be used against them in and of itself.
Arat: Do you understand? I was a symbol of their future. They were forced to give me up sometimes, but I was expected to not forget who I was.
Alain Ro: You were the symbol of the future?
Arat: Their future.
Alain Ro: What vision did you represent?
Arat shakes his head. He does not understand the question.
Alain Ro: Did they expect to overthrow the Tecton and return everything to the way it was before the war? Or were new promises made?
Arat: They would not have returned it to exactly as it was before. There would have to have been compromises.
Arat: The Tecton had moved large numbers of pioneers in from other areas.
Arat: People expected a post-Unity selyn system.
Alain Ro raises his eyebrows.
Arat: My parents promised autonomy and a return to the former land rights and the agricultural, rather than trade, economic base.
Arat's extensive stock holdings in transport companies are evidence enough of how far that plan got.
Alain Ro: They wanted the Audnes family to sponsor channels within a feudal economic matrix?
Arat: Yes.
Alain Ro rubs his chin.
Arat waits for Jeniard to hand him his tea so he can sip it.
Arat finally indicates the tea with his nager.
Jeniard takes the hint and gives it to him.
Jeniard inspects Arat closely for signs that the allergy pill did its trick in time: yes.
Alain Ro: That might have worked, had there been other Audnes channels, or if you'd been born sooner.
Arat: They did not know I was to be a channel. They intended to use channels provided by Fior, which they had close ties with.
Arat: Fior began training channels slightly before Unity.
Alain Ro: A Householding Audnes could have kept all its property and personal loyalties intact.
Arat: They were not thought of as a Householding, but they essentially were.
Alain Ro is finding Arat's tale differs considerably from the public version, and is far more interesting.
Alain Ro: At what point did your family turn away from the Kill, if they used channels even before Unity?
Arat: Ah. They did not use channels. They used what were essentially Companions.
Arat: Companions for renSimes. [explains]
Arat: The use of channels for the overall population would have been one of the concessions to the changed made by the Tecton.
Arat: A replacement for the Pen system that had provided before Unity.
Alain Ro: Were Companions used only by family members, or by the followers and workers as well?
Arat: Only by family members. It was a matter of some secrecy, as it was not considered acceptable in junct society.
Arat: Therefore very few knew of it even after Unity.
Alain Ro supposes that Farrises, even the Audnes renSime variant, would have a predilection for transfer over the Kill.
Arat: This is what allowed the Tecton to finally remove them from the picture; the public perception that their lack of participation in the public selyn system made them rogue juncts.
Alain Ro: But you say they were non-junct, and would not have advocated a return to the Kill even if they had regained power.
Arat: They were semi-junct. And they could not, practically speaking, have returned the public to the kill because the infrastructure for the Pens system no longer existed, while the new Tecton infrastructure did.
Arat: Gens considered human now made up a good percentage of both their blood loyal population and the newcomers.
Arat: It was a matter of control and autonomy, not of philosophy.
Alain Ro: At what point did you renounce your role as the symbol of their aspirations?
Arat: While I was in First Year school.
Alain Ro: What was your reasoning on this change of alliance?
Arat: I made no change of alliance per se.
Arat: I had no choice but to work with the Tecton from the beginning, even as a child.
Arat: I did my best to satisfy the requirements of both my family and the rest of the world.
Arat: After I had been in First Year school for some time, it became clear that my family's lives, and my own, depended upon my becoming purely Tecton.
Alain Ro: If you can't beat 'em , join 'em?
Alain Ro: ~~intensely curious~~
Birch finds the bottom of his teacup. He has very little interest in stuff that happened 30 years ago, but sympathizes with Arat's plight of being moved around like a chess piece. Hell of a way to treat a kid.
Arat: Once I changed over as a channel, there was never any choice of whether to beat or join the Tecton.
Alain Ro nods.
Arat: And before I was recognized as a Farris, my main goal was to remain alive. My family was imprisoned and I was in no position to help them in any way other than to send my stipend to their lawyers.
Alain Ro: So in excelling as a Tecton channel, you fulfill the obligations of the Audnes heir?
Arat: I renounced their actions the day it became clear that the Tecton would be able to provide for me as a channel, and that I would be able to provide for the people of New Othwol in my capacity as a channel for... yes, precisely, at least when I acted as New Othwol City Controller.
Arat has not been a happy camper since being removed from New Othwol. However, there has been little he could do about it. He had been interested in the Dam project because it was in Northwest and therefore closer, but this has been a complete personal disaster for him.
Arat would accept any transfer away from the Dam at this point, no matter how far from his home town.
Alain Ro: But you had to compromise on the matter of property rights?
Arat: The property had stolen and redistributed. There was nothing to be done.
Arat: It was a scandal and a shame, but it was swept out of sight.
Arat: Those who lost everything went on to other lives. They more or less had, by the time I came of age.
Alain Ro: And on feudal responsibilities as well, when you were transferred out the area.
Arat will tell Alain Ro a lot of things, but one thing he will absolutely not say is that he still has any contact with Audnes supporters, or any feeling of duty towards the people of New Othwol.
Arat is not suicidal, and will not risk his career.
Arat: Yes.
Alain Ro: And now you are a Tecton Controller. A leader of the people you once opposed.
Alain Ro: What is your own vision of the future?
Arat's trapped look returns with a vengeance.
Arat failed this question on the Zeor interview, too.
Arat: I will be frank with you.
Arat: I live from day to day in a survival mode.
Arat: My plans for the future are plans for the proper selyn movement of a District, and for the financial support of my family and future generations.
Arat: I am not so different than I was as a child.
Alain Ro: ~~disappointment~~
Alain Ro had been warned that Arat's style was rather that of a cart horse with blinkers on.
Arat's dark eyes take on a bitter glint at the zlin of that disappointment. Those who know Snake would find it familiar.
Arat: It has been made clear to me that I live only because I am of use. What would you have me do?
Arat: There is no great history in survival, but it's what we all have done.
Alain Ro is not ready to give up so easily.
Jeniard places a hand on Arat's forearm.
Jeniard: ~~supportive~~
Alain Ro: Well, survival is the base line, of course.
Alain Ro: But you are too modest. If you are concerned with responsibilities to the generations, you are functioning far above that level.
Alain Ro: In my own theories... you said you had seen my work?
Alain Ro: I delineate four levels of cultural organization.
Alain Ro: At the lowest level, it is each man for himself, acting on impulse without coordination.
Alain Ro: That is the culture of the Beast, like the Freeband Raiders.
Alain Ro: Above that is the culture of Humanity, based on mutual protection and loyalty.
Alain Ro: It starts with the family, extends to the tribe and then the nation. My own clan was structured that way, as are Householdings and organized Raiderbands, and your own family.
Alain Ro: Above that is the culture of Law. A civilization based on abstract principles and guidelines, not land and blood.
Alain Ro: The modern Gen Territories are organized this way, as is the Tecton.
Alain Ro: And beyond that is the culture of Enlightenment. A civilization based on wisdom. What precisely that would look like....
Alain Ro sighs longingly.
Alain Ro: Well, we are debating.
Alain Ro: No examples exist in this age, though perhaps the Ancients achieved this state for brief periods.
Birch pinches himself to keep his eyes from closing.
Alain Ro breaks himself out of his own vision and glances around at his (unwilling) audience.
Arat manages to restrain himself from glancing in irritation at Mr. Birch. He wishes he didn't have to answer Ro's questions to Mr. Birch too... after all, that is not part of the deal. But he can't afford to insult Mr. Birch either.
Arat could at least wish that a situation as traumatic for him would at least mildly interest the construction manager.
Alain Ro: Well, and I said I was not going to lecture. Please forgive me.
see note 1
Notes:
1) This scene is continued in the next episode. [return]
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