The N37W02K - "Director and Producer"
Amanda Nordstrom
((Main Officer, Administrative Building))
N37W02K remained hidden in his cloak of shadows, his voice continually underscored by the sound of machinery and the thin line of air that wheezed out of something mechanical. He didn’t make himself known, didn’t allow them to see him, carefully hidden. Then, all three officers heard something else, another sound, not quite mechanical, but like a ream of energy. It didn’t come toward them, or at least, they could not see it come toward them, for the murky depths masked everything. However, they could hear it, almost feel it, a vibration, and a sensation that could cause the hairs upon their arms to stand up. It sizzled and zapped, close to them. Dangerously close, but still unseen.
N37W02K: Now, I suggested we negotiate your contracts.
He was unwilling to move the line on that, and it seemed the captain was finally starting to concede.
Saa: Fine…::biting her lip:: Bring them out.
Ral: ::voice low:: Wonder if they’ll stick to this one.
Saa: Do you have legal representation and lawyers? ::She tilts her head:: You are aware, based on the programming content, that most of our species have legal systems that oversee this.
Tam: I still say it might be something that would grab the interest of your people, since they don't know about laws.
The initial answer to both the question and response to the statement was something of a chuckle, a whistle that timed itself to the machinery that hummed and whirred along with it. Still, N37W02K revealed nothing, and made no move to allow a peek into what lay behind the curtains that surrounded them.
N37W02K: You claim we are ignorant, but you are the ones who know nothing. We have laws. The laws that your species have, your legal systems, they hold no jurisdiction here.
Saa: The last agreement I made with your species was with M217BS who claimed the authority to arrange these matters. What assures me that any of these terms won’t immediately be violated when the technology cages us in the shows again?
N37W02K: Because I am. I am the ultimate authority of the Astrachthonie. I overrule any agreements made without my consent, and I dictate the terms.
Saa: How do I know the worth of your words if my previous agreements have been nullified?
Tam: A contract is promises and conditions for both parties.
Ral: And binding.
Although N37W02K had stated he would negotiate their contracts, they seem to get the idea that they had a say in those things. The thought made him laugh again, the strange sounds surrounding them once more, the odd wheezing and whirring and humming not quite bound in flesh, and not quite fully machine either.
One of them moved - the tall female. She began to writhe and wriggle, the heat evidently discomforting to her. N37W02K did not care.
Saa: I want a hard copy. Your choice of archaic paper or maybe a PADD? I had one in my uniform if you could give me that back instead of this wedding dress. That’s the proper attire as Starfleet Officer makes a deal in.::She glances back:: Theirs too, we three made the original deal, we should be the ones to oversee it.
Tam: I've always been partial to papyrus. It has a unique feel and satisfying crinkle.
Ral: Shouldn’t be a problem for you seeing as you can produce anything.
N37W02K: You have a lot of demands for people in your position.
Meanwhile, the tall one continued to move. She had done something with the armour she still wore, then leaned over to work upon a piece upon her leg. That caused the one upon her back to fall and clank loudly to the floor.
Tam: Oops. I didn't mean to do that.
N37W02K: It seems your people can not keep themselves together.
N37W02K had seen the farcical display in the show PR1M4 D0NN4 had so eagerly attempted to execute - and so dismally failed at doing so. Of them, Tam was the least talented - and Ral was not close behind. They would, however, work well as background characters, seen, but only in silence.
Saa: Response
One piece of metal had fallen from her knee, and the one called Tam worked at a second. However, somehow it managed to fly from her hand and knock the initial knee plate from the light and into the shadows.
Tam: Sorry. Sorry. I'll get that.
N37W02K: You demand terms, and yet you are metaphorically and literally falling apart.
The semi mechanical voice tinged with laughter, finding some amusement in the antics of the woman, who looked as if she was unable to conduct herself with any amount of decorum.
Saa: Response
Then Tam crashed to the ground, half seen, half unseen as one part, the light and heat bore down upon her, and the other, the shadows surrounded her, consuming her.
Tam: Really sorry.
Ral: You need a hand there Divya.
Ral, ever the gentleman, hurried over in an attempt to be useful, only managed to bumble himself by kicking one of the pieces of metal. It flew into the darkness, and Tam, her hand clasping a piece of fabric, pulled it down, revealing some of the machinery that filled the room.
It wasn’t obvious. There were no spotlights to bring it to their attention and make it the centerpiece of a show. It did, however, glow, its blue lights pricking through the darkness, alerting those close by and within the room to its existence.
N37W02K: Clumsy oafs, unworthy of a starring role. The first terms will be that Ral and Tam will never be in a mainstage production. They haven’t the star quality.
Tam/Saa: Response
Ral: Divya, are you ok?
As the N37W02K spoke, the lights pulsed with the syllables, as if dictating, or being dictated by, the voice that mocked the two who were now upon the floor. It held no concern for the woman.
N37W02K: She will be relegated to Studio 1224. It is a far higher position than she deserves, but I will make that as a concession.
Tam/Saa: Response
Something passed between the officers, though the N37W02K couldn’t say what. He could simply recognise that they had somehow used cues to get a message from one to the next. Perhaps it was the tilt of a head, the blink of an eye, the quirk of a brow. It had been so long since he’d been able to affect such things that he had lost the ability to interpret such subtle context.
N37W02K: Performances require endurance and perseverance. Taking her on would truly be a detriment. I have already made that concession. Your male is not much better.
Ral/Saa/Tam: Response
The N37W02K was not amused by the insistence of the people. They thought they had power. They thought they had control. They thought they could change and direct their outcome. They thought wrong.
N37W02K: You forget, you are not in your territory, you are in hours. I am the N37W02K. I am the authority. What I say goes. I rule here. I am the law. If you are unwilling to accept my merciful concessions, then I will simply throw you into the archive.
Ral/Saa/Tam: Response
In the room where the N37W02K resided, the heat increased. Anyone not used to such temperatures would surely sweat beneath the layers of clothing, drops of water produced by bodies in a desperate attempt to cool them down, but with little effect. The whirring increased, the lights blinked, There were more curtains, more things behind them. What happened when the curtains fell? What happened when the backstage was exposed?
They were all before him, all before the N37W02K who dictated the scenes, who ordered the stage set. He was the one called for action and who set the course of all the studios under his purview. All Astrachthoni reported to him. Nothing happened without his say. They would get nowhere without him. He owned them.
N37W02K: There is nothing beyond me. I am the end.
Ral/Saa/Tam: Response
-- The N37W02K Administrative Building M239008AD0
