Professor Em
In another downtime scene, the player playing The Professor wanted to build up his perception score, so we built out a short story where he works with Em to learn what to look for in people. This was a fun one for me to write particularly because it helped me flesh out what the concept of a ‘high perception/high insight’ means to this character.
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Em drives up to The Noble Drake Tea House, as recommended by the Professor, and parks her bike outside, which somehow, to her, looked even more beautiful amidst the artificial cherry blossom trees dotting the entrance way. She strolls in and lets the pretty elf hostess know she’s meeting someone, spots the Professor waving at her from a table near the back of the room, and walks over to join him. The décor is reminiscent of a traditional Japanese style tea house, with red and black accents peppered throughout, from the glossy black furniture to the red lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Nice, she thinks, bemused.
Looking over to the right of the room is the fireplace he promised – it’s charming. The place has a few tables of groups of 2 and 4, mostly elves and humans, having quiet conversations, sprinkled with lilts of laughter and the gentle twinkle of glass-on-glass as teacups and saucers are being lifted and set back down.
She sits down with the Professor, smiling, “This place is nice, I’ve never been.”
After ordering some tea, she pushes the hair off her face and says, “So… you said you wanted to get better at picking up stuff? Like… people stuff? I gotta say, you’re full of surprises, chummer. Sure, I can tell you what I look out for.”
Em starts by talking about people’s motivations, their desires, what drives them to do the things they do. She talks about what to look out for with body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. She talks about strategic touching and making eye contact to form connections. As she talks, her voice becomes more forceful and passionate, she gestures more, and she is talking about ‘people’ like they are some object removed from humanity to be studied and manipulated. She talks about people the same way the Professor would talk about parts to build a bomb, or Stafford would talk about engines.
“Ultimately, they all just want to be listened to and made to feel important. That means different things for different people. For some people, it’s as simple as them thinking you want to fuck them. For others, it’s about their perceived value. I’ve never met a man willing to die for a Johnson’s cause if you can outbid them. Sometimes you’re bidding on money, sometimes on titles, sometimes on them just… getting back to their family.” She shrugs.
She pauses before continuing: “And just for the record, I don’t think you’re a fool. I do think you see the best in people when it isn’t there, though. Some people would call that being naïve.”
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