Friday, July 13, 2012

Star Trek '12: 2212 AD - Horta


Orczy is not much of a mining technician, but even he can tell when something is going wrong, specifically that there seems to be a lot more mining going on than be strictly accounted for in the budding operation here on Janus VI.

Orczy is a budding journalist, although he struggles to report anything that others might consider to be news.  For instance, rather than cover the mining scandal (so far as he sees it) these last few weeks, he’s been submitting articles on excessive perspiration, another problem he’s noticed, but is a problem only for Orczy, as he has been trying to get his hair just right and all this perspiration has been hindering him.  He feels it is to do with the planet and its faulty terraforming, and although he had to go through a laborious process to get this position in the first place, he has been complaining about it almost from the start.

For instance, he wrote his first article about the indecent levels of humidity in the air, and this was rejected on the grounds that there was nothing to be done about it.  He submitted a few more on the same topic, in case the first and then the next several had been lost.  Then he switched tacks and decided to try some different perspectives.  That’s the sort of thing journalists should do, Orczy knows.  They should also have nice hair, or so he thinks.  He has trouble convincing others of this.

He’s also having a hard time getting anyone to believe that there are a great deal more tunnels beneath the surface of Janus VI than there should be, possibly because he is more eccentric than a Breen hairdresser (it is a noted rumor that all Breen are in fact bald).  He talks about this with the rate of someone trying for a record, although he has made no progress at all in getting anyone to listen.  He suspects that it is because of the excess moisture in the air.  It makes everyone crazy, except Orczy.  He maintains razor-like focus, even when his hair isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, which is most of the time.  Back on Earth he let everyone know that he had the best hair in the galaxy.  It was suggested more than once that perhaps he ought to get out there and prove it.

Orczy wanders about doing nothing much at all most of the day, and that may also affect his reputation somewhat, aside from his criticisms of sweating too much, writing articles of utter nonsense, going on about his hair, and reporting that there are too many tunnels beneath the surface.  More than one person has suggested he make an inventory of all the tunnels, and preliminary surveys of Janus VI before the mining operating even began already suggest there to be thousands.  Finding an exact number could take some time, but few people can be found to complain about the lack of Orczy that would result from such an effort.  No doubt he could be lost for decades!

You might be asking yourself if Orczy has any friends, and Orczy would have one answer that would in many ways contradict reality, but it is also worth noting that he is rarely wrong in his observations; it’s just that he’s exceptionally annoying about it.  He mainly signed up for the mining operation because Blakeney would be going, an old friend of his who has the best hair Orczy has ever known, and perhaps his obsession with her can best be described as a form of jealousy.  It should be noted that “friend” would be exaggerating a bit, and perhaps even “acquaintance,” as their relationship has chiefly revolved his increasingly failed attempts to get a friendly word out of her.  Mainly, it’s Orczy going on about how much he loves her, and Blakeney restraining herself from punching him.

So that’s as much of the social aspect of Orczy’s life as you’ll need.  You should probably know upfront that he isn’t wrong about the number of tunnels, but it won’t be for several more decades until anyone knows what the hell he’s talking about.

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