[Robin]

Class was the worst.

Some self-righteous human taking you on a procession of things they think you should know, if you were lucky that was. The alternative was being fed information that the government thought children should be learning. Math, Social Studies, History, all the wars your nation was involved in. They say if you don’t know history, you’re doomed to repeat it. But the Flock was taught all they needed to know. Countless hours were spent pouring through every major conflict in human history. What went wrong, what went right, how to turn the tide with the tools on hand. There were dives into the mindset of various generals and captains to better understand how they made their missteps, and how even a hint of outside knowledge would have changed their fate.

No, there was nothing this school could teach that would be useful to Robin, but unlike the other students, she never came here to learn. She was here to prove a point.

“Ok class; A classic. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the trolley dilemma. The whole ‘6 people tied to tracks and a lever’ issue. Today we’re going to be going into these problems and use them to better understand how we all might be as heroes. Remember, the choices might be binary, but how you get to your answer is what makes you, you!”

Ethics was the worst.

The real world was never so black and white. Hell, Robin was a shade of gray when you boiled it down. But, you weren’t supposed to think about what you would do, you were just supposed to hum and haw over an answer and choose the altruistic one, whatever that meant to you. It was all about going through the motions, following directions, making the hard choice. The choices were never hard though. Sacrifice yourself to save a life? The Hero would choose to sacrifice themself, but Robin was no hero. There was more she could do alive than that person could ever do. If it was a direct comparison of worth to society, it was no contest.

The class went around, and to their credit, dutifully hummed and hawed over the answer before ultimately deciding on one. To her surprise, the class was rather divided on which seemed more correct which resulted in a self-satisfied grin from the teacher.

Teachers were the worst.


Thea

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]There was no point in going to class. Every little thing the teachers at this school could even pretend to teach the Mentat fell into one of two categories.[break][break]

1. She didn't know it, and she could take the knowledge from someone more suited than a teacher.[break][break]

or[break][break]

2. She knew it so much better than the teachers did that it made her head cringe listening to them.[break][break]

This class fell into the latter category. [break][break]

The trolly problem. Probably the single most famous thought experiment of all time. Consequentialist ethics and Deontological ethics come head to head. It was a joke of a problem with real-world implications. Thea hated the fact that this class would inevitably result in the death of someone because of some upstart heroes Wikipedia level understanding of ethics. What she hated even more than that is it encouraged heroes to play the role of god. How easy it was for the class to omit the third option that was meant to be present. Turning the trolly towards one's self. Not that the school would ever admit its implicit biases. Cariculum ingrained with the idea that heroes are somehow above everyone else, an orientation that said as much.[break][break]

"Judith Thomson must be turning in her grave." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is all just so fucking stupid."[break][break]

The class deliberated among themselves, and despite her best efforts, the hydra of her mind tuned into each and every conversation that occurred around her. The righteous justifications for action and inaction alike, the half-baked alternatives and workarounds offered for every single contingency imaginable. The whole discussion was antithetical to ethics itself. The problem was not meant to be solved. It was meant to show how impossible it is to consider ethics without context. It didn't matter what they chose; they'd have to live with their decision, always feeling like it was the wrong one. The whole point was that there are no justifications for ending a life. [break][break]

Not that she didn't have her own answer to the problem. She just didn't care to rationalize it. In her mind, she'd already lived both sides of the equation. In her mind, she'd seen the price of both. [break][break]

“It's a false binary,” She declared aloud, tired of the class's overlong discussion. “The problem was never made to be used like this, and you didn't give the third option. But this isn't a question of ethics. It's so far from ethics that ethicists rejected it before you were born.” Thea closed her eyes and leaned her head back as though to take a nap. “This is like learning about sight from the blind. Jesus.”[break][break]

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[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Robin]

The class had ground to a halt as Thea made her declaration, seemingly in defiance of the class. A lone cough was the only noise as the teacher simply raised a finger to her chin, seemingly in thought over the young woman’s answer.

“Ok Miss Blasco, you want a third option? I’ll give you a third option.” with a flourish she produced a small remote and flick a screen to life. It displayed the theoretical scenario in full color display. The trolley slowly shuddered to life as it started its way down the tracks towards the aforementioned split in the path. As predicted it was set to run over a series of struggling bodies all crying out for help. On another rail was a lone tied up person listening to all of this.

“Oh, this is live btdubs.” The teacher turned her attention to the class, before settling back onto the mentat. “Ok, I have given you a third option. Hop to it!” She declared, incredibly satisfied with how the class was going. There was always one among the crowd with a strong opinion, and this year it was no different. Although… The scales seemed to be tipped against the student this year. “You, Miss Powell, was it? You’ve been awfully docile.” she sighed as she pointed to the bird in the back, “Why don’t you help Blasco in her pursuit of a third option!” And with that she sat back down and waited for the students to jump at the opportunity to prove her wrong with an air of self-satisfaction.

The class grew anxious as Robin groaned as she stood up. She felt eyes on her small frame as she looked over at her impromptu assigned partner. Aside from the handful of gatherings, she wasn’t really familiar with her. Thea had a habit of getting lost while standing still, and Robin was already harboring doubts about their ability to succeed. Her attention was turned back to the teacher, who she had very concrete feelings for at this point.

“Well, aren’t you at least going to tell us where the trolley is?”

She thought a moment before answering “And why would I do that? You have wings.”


Thea

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]It was almost unreal the lengths some of UAU's staff would go to prove a point. In a rare moment of surprise Thea could practically feel her jaw drop as the teacher unveiled a practical version of the imagined situation. The mentat looked at the screen for a moment. Her hollow eyes gazed past the now and into the countless thens she held in her mind. [break][break]

Familiarity was a powerful tool. One she held dominion over. From a dozen times and a dozen more angles. Pieces of building and fragments of reflection were all absorbed by the mentat's mind until the track's location was so obvious it had been like she was there when it happened.[break][break]

"She doesn't know," her eyes never looked away from the screen. "She's at least smart enough to not risk us taking the answer." Her hand flexed reflexively. She was considering doing just that. Though she knew physical action was not part of the curriculum, if she did it right, that wouldn't matter.[break][break]

"It's not too far. Half mile that way, " she pointed out, "by the Food Donkey." It wasn't odd to her that she'd mentioned a store so old that it was closed down and long since replaced by Snack Falcon. [break][break]

"I can't fly, so, like, You'll need to get there first." Her head turned towards her compatriot, neck bent slightly as if the muscles were giving out. Glassy orbs looked Robin in the eye, but they did not see her. Instead, the edges of her consciousness pulled together fragments of memory from a place that no longer existed. She didn't fight it. Unlike with Farrin or Leo, these paradoxical memories were only ever small changes, different guns, different wings, and always the same face. This time the only thing that changed was her wristwatch, counting down in reverse.[break][break]

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[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Robin]

The class drew silent as Thea spoke. Half seemingly impressed with her ability to identify an unknown location, the other half perturbed by her very nature. It was uncanny, the precision she seemed to be able to hone the trolly down to. Out past the Food Donkey, out only half a mile. Robin blinked at her, choosing not to speak upon her doubt for the young woman. Thea was a lot of things, but she had a habit of being right more times than not. If she was confident, then it was unwise to question your intel.

“Ok, Seems close enough.” She shrugged, “The only question is how is little ole me going to derail an entire trolley? It's a trick question, I'm going to use high explosives.” she dug in her bag a moment before fishing out a few supplies. She produces a small length of det-cord, an electric ignition source, and a brick of C-4. Her hands worked as she walked out, much to the relief of the class who were now very much aware that the bird carried plastic explosives with her to her classes. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what she was doing, and C-4 was actually incredibly stable as far as explosives went.

Her boots clomped down the tiled hallways as she jogged her way to an exit. She wasn’t sure on the specifics of how much time she had before the people trapped in front of the trolley became past tense. She was seemingly chosen based on her activity level for the class, but perhaps it was simply that she was one of the only students who could even make it to the site in time. The teacher seemed more clever than she let on, or at least that’s how she wanted to be perceived, she Robin couldn’t put it past her.

She kicked the door open and took to the skies, her hands still fiddling with her “Instant Derailment Kit”. She clipped the cord into the ignitor, and wrapped the rest around the brick of plastic explosives. It was admittedly really sloppy and certainly nothing to be proud of, but it would remove the trolley from the equation in an instant, it was in the name afterall.

Explosives underarm, she dug a small headset out her bag and slipped it over her ears between wingbeats. “So, how long till those people aren’t anymore?” Hopefully Thea would actually answer her phone… Hopefully Thea had her phone on her. This was a lot of pressure to put her under.

Thea

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]Somehow, the sudden appearance of c4 did little to phase the mentat. On some level, she felt like this was the obvious outcome of the situation. As Robin sprinted from the classroom, Thea sat on the teacher's desk and pulled a second cell phone from her backpack. Fingers flew across the screen in a flurry of messages as she turned to eye the monitor once more before returning to her rapid texting. [break][break]

"Sorry, these are important. I hope you don't mind." Thea said to their professor in a mocking tone. Her phone rang. She placed it to her ear and held it with her shoulder. "You have about 2 minutes. Don't mind Saki; he's just some backup."[break][break]

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the roaring of rockets could be heard as a single quirked-up thug took to flight. He wouldn't arrive at the trolly before Robin, but he would arrive where the derailment would happen with some time to spare. As Robin flew, Saki shouted at passers-by to leave the area. No doubt they were all actors paid by the school, but there was no need for the thug to know that, so Thea didn't tell him. [break][break]

Thea turned to the class, most of whom were in varying states of confusion. "Alright class," the Mentat said, her tone and cadence now a copy of their professors. "Who here can tell me how to value a life?" She paused as the class gave no answer. "Oh please, you were just doing this a minute ago. Tell me, what authority do any of us have to judge the value of a life? What justifications will we have to sleep with when we pull that lever?"[break][break]

She stood up. Hollow eye's looked past the classroom and off into the distance of memories she'd taken throughout the years. "Do you see now we're not here to act as gods? We can not justify the taking of a life. We can only live with it." She looked across the room, knowing the sad truth. "Some of you will become monsters shielded in law."[break][break]

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