Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #160: Empire Builder (4/29/01)
Arat paces fretfully back and forth in the living room, waiting for Ro to get his papers in order. Jeniard had not been available for this second interview with Ro, and so Arat's nerves are correspondingly less soothed.
Arat had put this off as long as he could, but when Mr. Birch and Alain Ro had both started making noises about contractual obligations, he had given in and sacrificed one of his infirmary sessions to the god of uncomfortable personal interviews.
Arat had arrived late and barely had time to change out of his Tecton uniform into something a bit less work-oriented (and a bit less spattered by work and mud).
Alain Ro patiently watches the gaunt channel pace as he organizes his materials. He has waited long enough to meet with Arat again; he is not going to be rushed.
Alain Ro understands that Simes are obsessed with time passing, but he himself stands in the unwavering light of history that sees the turn of centuries not of the day and night.
Alain Ro: Let's return to the beginnings of the Audnes legacy... Hassan.
Arat stops.
Arat considers the options available, then walks over and takes a seat precisely calculated to be as far away from the Gen as possible without appearing inexcusably rude or making speech inconvenient.
Arat's posture is tense and gives the impression of wariness hardly tempered by his attempts to hide it.
Alain Ro: You've said that he was different from other Simes of his day. Steadier, with a vision of the future, and the will to make it happen.
Alain Ro: How did his personal genius influence the next generation?
Arat frowns.
Arat: They were very much his employees and the implementors of his further plans.
Arat: They accepted that he knew the path of the future.
Arat: It was not until later that the idea for the farm came about, and that was in direct conflict with what he had believed.
Arat: In the earliest days he dominated the family and its intentions.
Arat: It took some time for that to fade.
Alain Ro's eyes gleam with interest.
Alain Ro: So the first generation took orders and were not taught to have visions of their own?
Arat: They were taught to not question his.
Arat: It was his grandchildren, who only knew him briefly, who had the vision to refine the family's fortune and direction.
Arat: In Hassan's time, it was unusual enough that sons and daughters would remain at hand to assist in a family business.
Alain Ro: My understanding was that in that time, many Sime families did not have enough cohesion to even see their children through changeover.
Alain Ro: What kept the Audnes united?
Arat: It was Hassan's will.
Arat: And his vision.
Arat: That is probably what he contributed most, aside from his business acumen.
Alain Ro nods.
Alain Ro: So who had the courage to break with that will and vision? How was it redefined?
Arat: My grandfather Hadar felt that raiding and selling was too fragile an industry to base an empire upon.
Arat: He felt that the family's power could be secured by tying it to the government Pen system, which at the time was being rebuilt after a near-collapse.
Arat: As there was little infrastructure for manufacturing in Norwest, he proposed to implement the technological advances upon a farm belonging to the family, and profit from the sales of Gen feed, rather than attempting to increase stability by manufacturing the stolen farming technology.
Arat: It was difficult to convince the others of this, but in the end he won out by virtue of having more longevity than his siblings.
Arat: And so he founded Othwol.
Alain Ro: So Hassan had the family manufacturing and selling new technologies, while Hadar kept those innovations as family secrets and sold the goods that could be produced with them?
Arat: Yes.
Alain Ro: Now certainly the way of life of a raider and a farmer are quite different, with the lifestyle of an entrepreneur falling somewhere in between.
Alain Ro: How did customs evolve as your people made this transition?
Arat fixes an earnest gaze on Ro.
Arat: I agreed to be honest with you, and I intend to uphold my promise.
Arat: The raiding never changed. It is only the implementation of what was taken that changed.
Arat: When Hassan became wealthy, he caused to have built a country home in the region that is now New Othwol.
Arat: Surrounding it was the station where his raiding teams were based, the stock and materials harvested temporarily stored, and items to be sold consolidated.
Arat: All sales and manufacturing was done in the cities.
Arat means cities in the junct Sime culture sense, not in the Gen sense.
Arat: When Hadar had his way and was able to found the farm, it came into existence alongside the rest of it, then quickly grew to cover a large area.
Arat: Eventually, the manufacturing and sales efforts were withdrawn, to be replaced by commerce strictly with the government and by supply caravan.
Arat: I do not believe customs changed dramatically overall. As before, the family controlled operations while others carried out the raids and the labor at their direction.
Arat frowns to himself. He had never before thought about the coincidence -- if it was that -- between the creation of the Superfarm and the start of the use of Fior's services.
Alain Ro nods. He knows that most Simelan aristocratic families had their start as Raiderband leaders; he doesn't expect the Audnes to be any different.
Alain Ro does find the organization and cohesion of the family unusual, as is the revelation of experiments with transfer prior to Unity.
Alain Ro: How did the family determine its own leadership? Was this a matter of inheritance, election or was there a competition?
Arat: To some extent it was by age. Where a member of the older generation was alive, he would always lead the younger.
Arat: Within a generation, full siblings had more say in family matters than cousins.
Alain Ro nods.
Arat: There was intense competition between siblings, however, and this was almost never resolved by the time of death.
Arat only knows of this third hand. By the time he came into existence, there weren't enough Audnes left for the infighting to be in full swing.
Alain Ro has found the question of transfer of leadership to be a key factor in the survival of Gen cultures. Those relying on blood inheritance alone rarely survived. Sooner or later an incompetent is next in line, with no one to cover for him.
Arat and his sole remaining uncle do get into tiffs now and then, but Arat can end them any time he wants by utilizing his weight as the family's breadwinner.
Alain Ro: Then how was the new leader chosen?
Arat frowns to himself.
Arat: It was not as simple as that.
Arat: There were shared and individual responsibilities. There were areas of competence and areas of personal territory.
Arat: As in many Sime organizations prior to Unity, precedence depended much on who had the most influence.
Arat: However, the direct line descendants of Hassan had more than most.
Arat: And there were fewer of them than you might imagine.
Arat: Establishment, fatal changeovers, death in childbirth and various adult illnesses claimed many.
Alain Ro: I understand that influence among Simes works differently than influence in Gen organizations.
Arat: Some of the same forms of influence do exist. Money, political power, physical force and personal favor do mean quite a bit. However, nageric influence is the most immediate and accepted.
Alain Ro: In New Washington, tradition, reputation and resources often count for more than personal charisma.
Alain Ro: I understand the advantages that wealth and connections and continuity gave your family.
Alain Ro: But how did you achieve nageric primacy over your many employees and agents?
Arat looks at Ro oddly.
Arat: If you could zlin, you would not have to ask. There really is no comparison.
Alain Ro: Well, I understand that you are a channel. That gives you an advantage, of course. But you said most of your forebears were not.
Alain Ro: And even the channels among them were not serving transfer. They were not creating the selyn dependency that binds a Sectuib and the members of a House.
Arat: There is no evidence that any channels lived among them at all.
Arat: However, as Farris renSimes they were... more sensitive than those around them, lending them an undeniable insight into others' motivations and reactions. Their nagers were large and attractive, frequently making them the Tuib or most influential Sime in any gathering.
Arat: They were also trained from birth to exhibit the authority, assurance and control that would convince others of their place as leaders.
Alain Ro rubs his chin, trying to rein in his eagerness.
Alain Ro: How was this training carried out?
Alain Ro has written several treatises on the art of leadership as it pertains to Gens. He knows these concepts will require revision for those who hope to lead Territories of united Gens and Simes.
Arat considers. He really knows only how he was taught.
Arat: If I displayed behavior my parents did not think fit with the image they chose to project, they would discipline me privately afterward.
Arat: They also told me in advance how I was expected to behave in a given situation, if there was any question.
Arat: As a child, my nager was difficult to zlin, but what I learned of controlling my reactions both emotionally and verbally was directly applicable to adult interactions.
Alain Ro: Did they tell you how to feel?
Arat: To some extent, yes.
Alain Ro: And correct your emotional stance just as a Gen parent might correct a child's posture?
Arat: Yes, precisely.
Arat: It would not have done for me to appear eager to spend time with the children of their enemies, for example; nor to appear bored at political events.
Alain Ro: Such a training regimen seems to owe more to the authoritarian Hassan than to his more independent successors.
Arat: It is found in nearly all Sime families, however. All that differs is the intentions.
Arat: Particularly with Gens born here, it is important to learn for safety's sake.
Alain Ro: Control of emotions, yes. I can see that. But does not such externally-imposed discipline sap the will, another key element of leadership?
Arat: Perhaps it does.
Arat does not think that most of the Audnes children were raised under conditions as harrowing as he was, though. They probably did not require as severe training.
Alain Ro: It's a perennial argument, whether officers in training should be drilled to follow tradition or think for themselves.
Alain Ro: It sounds as if your parents favored tradition.
Arat: I should think that there would have been time for me to grow into my own after I became adult, regardless.
Arat does not like to think of himself as being without will, particularly as having one was something that got him into trouble repeatedly with the Tecton at first.
Alain Ro: And yet you were thrown into a maelstrom of change, with very little time to grow up.
Alain Ro: And you have redefined your role and vision more radically than Hadar did with his legacy.
Alain Ro: How did that come about?
Arat: I had little choice in the matter.
Arat: As a channel, I was expected to serve.
Arat: Once I had begun to do so, it would have been death to do other than continue.
Arat: It was less a case of me consciously redefining my role, as it redefining me.
Alain Ro: Which explains why you agreed to be a Tecton channel. It was your means of survival.
Alain Ro: But you said that as a channel you could also best protect your family... and the descendants of their employees and retainers.
Alain Ro: That sounds like more than passive acceptance of your lot.
Arat squirms uncomfortably.
Arat: It was not easy.
Arat: It was necessary to... [he does not like to say this to anyone] ...save myself first, and then reassess what could be done about my obligations once that was accomplished.
Alain Ro regards Arat gravely. Even Gen eyes can see that the man is uncomfortable making this admission of how weak a position he was in.
Alain Ro sees no shame in the statement. What Gen general does not understand the concept of triage?
Alain Ro in fact thinks Arat showed at an early age the ability to make a realistic assessment of his situation and act effectively.
Arat zlins Alain Ro's reaction thoughtfully.
Alain Ro: Would your parents have preferred that you sacrifice your life to their ideals?
Alain Ro thinks that there were plenty of Gens who thought New Washington made a devil's bargain in signing the Unity Treaty.
Arat: No. Definitely not.
Alain Ro: Did they support your taking service with the Tecton?
Arat: They understood that I had no choice, just as they had no choice but to be imprisoned.
Arat: They did not like it, but it was all that allowed them to hope for release.
Alain Ro: Did they suggest you could use the position to leverage a rise to power within the new regime?
Arat: It was understood that such an attempt should be made.
Arat: We were permitted contact only by mail, and our communications were monitored.
Alain Ro smiles disarmingly. He wonders if his nager is as soothing.
Arat thinks Alain Ro zlins acquisitive and eager. It is unsettling.
Alain Ro: And did you behave as they expected?
Arat seems to find this question even more uncomfortable than the previous ones.
Arat: I cannot say. I took the only path available to me at the time. I did what I could with the understanding that I could not accept the Tecton only in part and survive it.
Alain Ro has absolutely no interest in whether or not Arat's loyalty to the Tecton is perfect; he is more curious as to how well the Audnes training "took" and whether it still governs Arat's actions.
Alain Ro: As you said, you came to see the welfare of yourself, your family and the Tecton as linked.
Alain Ro wonders if this was a realistic assessment or if Arat is simply a master of self-delusion.
Arat: Yes.
Alain Ro admits he lacks the understanding of channels to answer this definitively; he may need to consult with an expert.
Arat: And it continued to be, until I was sent to Capitol.
Alain Ro: And now, at the height of your Tecton career, how well do you think you have met the challenge of the Audnes legacy?
Arat: The transfer of control of the area to the Tecton is complete, and took place peacefully.
Arat had fought the transfer to Capitol, but when it became clear that it was final and that he would never be posted to New Othwol again, that had ended what was essentially a transition era for them all.
Arat's shoulders droop a little at the thought.
Alain Ro: And how would you evaluate the Tecton's success in managing the land and population?
Arat: I would not.
Arat simply doesn't go down that road.
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