[UA] [OT] Damaged Goods and Credit.

[Stuart Anderson]

Gregory Paul Stolze wrote:

> So here's a question.  Has anyone on this list EVER gotten a damage deposit
> back?

    I'm not just saying this to be perverse (although that *is* something I
would do) but I've never lost a damage deposit. Once I lived in a walk-up
studio where they were so stunned and amazed that I simply cleaned the place
when I left that they not only refunded me the deposit, but gave me the
cleaning fee they usually gave the Merry Maids.
    I've been sued a number of times, and like Mark, live a sad, hand-to-mouth,
no-account existence. But I've had decent luck with landlords. I think people
can sense when you're an honest, upright fellow, just looking to get by in
life, trying to do the right thing, and cut you a break. Folks respond to my
shining character and resolute moral fiber.

> ...waiting to see if anyone can drag lost damage deposits back on topic...

    Remember the story--was it Sturgeon?--about the workmen, behind the scenes
of the universe, who construct every second of time, minute-by-minute? They
only put up that which will be used. Sometimes they make a little mistake: you
set your car keys down, then they're not there, then they are again.
    Think of all the money in the universe earmarked for certain things that
never actually makes it there. $300 Air Force hammers are a good example, but
so are lost "damage deposits." But in UA, you have Endicott, the Godwalker of
the Accountant, behind the scenes of every megalithic financial organization on
earth (banks, revenue depts. insurance cos. drug cartels), directing every dime
of that planetary slush fund. My question is, which is less heroic: 1. the
money all goes to serve the ends of Money, and the PCs have little chance of
putting a dent in it without crashing every major world economy or 2. the money
actually *does* go to the very best places it could go, but the machinery
behind it is all so vast and complex that the PCs will never understand *why*
millionaires exist when kids starve. Either way, you play with the mythic idea
of confusing the means with the end. Money can't feed starving kids. They can't
eat it. But back to King Midas, we've been getting that mixed up.
    Mr. Endicott sits in a conservative pre-fab office in a small strip in
Battlecreek MI, connected to a computer that has access to every record of
every transaction ever. Including the satellites, geosynchronous over
playgrounds, that track marbles and Pokemon cards. That last bit may be a
branch office in The Village or on Al Amarja, but you get the idea. I can see
Mr. Endicott having a special branch that tracks Plutomancers, and by
extension, other elements of the OU, due to the unusual and ephemeral nature of
their transactions. If you've ever seen an extremely serious credit report (I
know what it looks like, ma'am, but I rented those for a bachelor party,
honest) then you know how easily Mr. Endicott's agents could get mixed up in
any sort of campaign.
    So maybe all those lost damage deposits secured some rain forest acreage of
sent a few sacks of beans where they needed to go. Maybe Mr. Endicott can fax
you a breakdown on that. If you ever meet him, maybe you can feed him some
shots and persuade him to lose my Equifax, know what I mean?
_________________________________________________
--Stu
The Secret Lab
"He belonged to that particular race of men who
were their adversaries' greatest champions." Eco

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unknown-armies.com/pipermail/ua-unknown-armies.com/attachments/20001206/eef4aeb1/attachment-0002.htm>