DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Alternate Reality PHX: Phoenix Reform Academy Class: Powers and Ethics

Grey:

“Lets expand things then. So would you all say that, for example, a trained martial artist has no more responsibility to avoid getting in fights knowing he could do more damage than one with n such ability? At some level does having the ability make you more obliged than someone who does not? Does responsibility raise to a level commensurate with ability?”

She pauses a moment.

“In my personal life, because of what I am, I have to answer all sorts of ethical questions which for most people never even come up. I have laws written which apply to me and perhaps three or four other known individuals. There are others among us who have had new additions to the legal code which apply to a vanishingly small group of individuals. What are your thoughts ... on that?”

Cadence

There really wasn't much she wanted to, add. She really didn't understand much of what Lamar said when he spoke, and he was the most frequent responder to Grey. He was obviously very smart and liked the process of debate it seemed. Anne's point seemed valid, if people have power or ability they will use it to benefit themselves, and even if an action is illegal too many would still do it in the belief that necessity or self interest outweighs the fear of getting caught. I need to get home quicker, so speeding is okay. Everyone is doing it. Obviously there were those that simply did evil things because they simply wanted to or couldn't tell right from wrong or both...

Perri's contribution was easier to understand because it was told in a relatable way, not a hypothetical postulation. Power is power is power and any who have it want to keep it, those who don't have power will fear it or resent it, or both.

So what was Cadence's excuse? The Greater Good? She had power and she used it. She made a decision that might truly have been self-interest swaddled in a differing notion. People died. How many? She didn't know. Who were they? She didn't know. And yet the faces her imaginations fed into her nightmares kept them all very real in her psyche. Those faces and screams she actually never heard haunted in a twisted psychological self flagellation that filled any moment where she let her focus slip... like right now, listening to people talk about things that she just didn't understand. In this room she could also add 'mentally challenged' to the list of her short-comings as a human being with powers.

"But we are different Perri," Cadence added in a quiet voice. "That doesn't mean we aren't also the same. Maybe we're an oddity, or a fluke... Or, we are the beginning of a wave of genetic evolution. I don't know. But we ARE different, we have abilities... powers... whatever. But we are also a minority... And some people might have good feelings for people like us. But many others fear us, resent us, despise us, envy us, hate us. And we don't help ourselves as a people by the very same argument that Anne made when people see us using our powers to take advantage of others instead of adding to the collective good of society..."

The words flowed from her now. It took a lot of effort to keep untangling the brainwashing of Alchemy all those months, and even more to be able to 'turn around' and see those things that her biological mother was trying to make her believe as truths for the lies they really were. Lies and hate, and anger. It took everything ounce of willpower she had to stay sane and resist the mental 'lessons' being tortured into her, all the while Nyx was breaking her down physically with the 'training' lessons, thus making it harder to remember Cadence. She never quit trying though, right up to the moment, on that hill overlooking the Black Prison, when she finally saw the truth that came from remembering who she really was. She remembered that she was once a good and kind person. She remembered she was raised by a mother and a father who loved her and taught her right from wrong, and made her accept the consequences for her mistakes, but praised her and reinforced her when she made the right choices.

She didn't talk too much about her father, the man who raised her, the one she considered to be a 'real' father. It was painful. He died from cancer a year ago. But he was a professor at Texas Tech over in Lubbock. He talked to her about a lot things through the years. Things like what Grey was talking about now. He taught Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement classes. He had retired from being a police officer when she was very young. When he died that left only Cadence and her mother to get by, but it was only three months later that Alchemy showed up in her little town of Gun Barrel Texas... and killed the mother she loved. Cadence lost both her parents in a short period of time. It left Cadence weak and vulnerable.

"But, even if we were to represent a higher nobility of human morality as a best intention... Too many of us are willing to speed, or worse, because we can. And... when we make choices like that, terrible things can happen."

This was a recent personal experience for her.

"It's true that all power is power in a universal sense, whether it's wealth and influence to decide who gets preferential treatment, or the ability to destroy a building full of innocents. It's still a form of power. But ours is a new form of Power, one that makes us actually physically different. I figure people can dream of winning a lottery to get money, and buy influence and power. We had thousands of years to let that become ingrained in our cultures so that it becomes universal. It is a 'normal' thing to people. But, we're not normal and those without our Power are being forced to deal with it."

There were strands of Alchemy's 'lessons' woven into her thoughts, and probably always would be now. But Cadence could see them more clearly in her mind now.

"Those who have the more traditional kinds of power are trying to find a way to keep their power by managing ours. They're looking for ways to adapt the rules they have to integrate us. Some of us don't want that and others do. Personally I don't want to be who I am, or what I am... But I don't think that's possible... yet. The people with the power to manage the world as it used to be aren't wrong but I've seen how little they can do to stop people like us. So people like us have to be a part of it... we can't not be human. We're different but we are still human. To think that we're not is a fast road to Hell. I know this personally... Lived it... My biological mother... My aunt... they believed they were meant to rule this world... as gods... They see themselves as more than human, as a new race... One that can take what they want and make others bow before them.

"So, does there need to be rules for us? Yes. Even if we still decide to speed and then society is forced to exercise it's only recourse. Punishment. The rules set the standards of a civilized society. These rules or laws are in place because we learned over thousands of years that without them our society would crash and burn. The world has always had to deal with people who will misuse whatever power they have to get more power, and hold that power.There are people who do bad things because their greed or self-interest tells them it's okay to do so.

"And then there are those that break society's rules and laws because their basic needs to survive are not being met within the confines of society's rules. Maybe it's not their needs but maybe it's their baby... That type of need outweighs the constraints we have ingrained upon us to know the difference between right and wrong. They know it's wrong to break a 'speeding' law, but they feel they have no choice or they are out of options, OR... there perspective is so narrow that they can't see just how close help might really be."

But then she shifted down a little.

"But there are people who are bad, or evil, or whatever philosophy word you want to use. There are people like Alchemy and Nyx who have power and want more power... all the power.They are twisted and can't tell right from wrong and usually don't care. Sociopathic. They are selfish, sometimes narcissistic, and pathological liars. Incapable of love, but very good at faking it. Their own self-interests rule every decision they make.

"Are people with powers responsible for abiding by the rules and laws of society? Yes. Are we responsible for enforcing them? Yes again. Why? Because, above all else, we are human and live in a human world with human rules and laws that govern and protect all of society. Powers are not good or evil. People are. And so, in order to preserve our society the rules must adapt to govern a changing world with changing people, humans like ourselves must help, defend, to protect and serve."

Thank you Dad. I love you and I miss you.

Cadence looked away to wipe a her eyes at the sudden rush of emotions.

Peri

She nodded in agreement with a lot of what Cadence was saying. She had a bit less faith in the rule of law, as she’d witnessed how unequally it was applied. But needing to be part of society, needing to cooperate and be human, that she could relate to.

And she could feel the pain, the emotion beneath Cadence’s words. She, as subtly as she could, drew a tissue out of her pocket and offered it to the other girl.

“It’s not enough just to not do harmful things. The right thing is for people with power to help out people who don’t have power. The strong protect the weak. That’s the entire point of why we even have society. I don’t mean it like the law should say so, I mean morally. Nobody, not even people like us, is strong all of the time. At some point we all need help.”

Ben

He watched with a bit of amused surprise and admiration at the formerly quiet girls suddenly making impassioned arguments. Well thought out arguments which hinted at good intellects behind the hesitancy.

Lamar

He nodded as Cadence and Peri eloquently addressed the questions of morality. There was little to add in that direction, better to allow their light to shine. So, back to a different tack.

"On the question of new laws applying to the few, there are a couple very distinct precedents. Firstly, new technology to which the legal system hasn't caught up with yet. On the cutting edge there, you could well be talking about similar numbers of folk to whom a given piece of new legislation applies, at least until it becomes more commonplace down the line. The second precedent is much, much darker: Nuremberg laws, Jim Crow laws, Traveller laws. Laws the majority uses to control and suppress a minority, even to the extent of elimination in the worst case. Do you feel the legislation pertaining to you and a handful of others is more a fresh drawn map into uncharted legal territory, or an attempt to shackle and control you, denying you the full exercise of your potential within society?"

Grey

“Oh, Lamar, it is no doubt an attempt to shackle and control me. It absolutely is. And it is not absurd that they should wish to do so. Look at the list of people with powers related to what I do. I think you will find most are villains. I am quite unusual in that regard not being one, and it did not come easy. I spent much of my early years locked away from myself, clamped down, walking in an induced fog. I still don’t even remember many things. Eventually I ... woke up and ... forced the issue and came to an arrangement, that was better for all concerned. Someone, early on, thought they had a ‘solution’ to me.”

“You, Lamar - put yourself in the shoes of a normal person faced with “A god am I, kneel.” This is no game, it is existential in many ways. My full potential within society would include Phobos, for example. Delirium. Imperious. I am not a helpless minority, I am in fact an extremely dangerous weapon. And if you think about it, each of you can easily see how that applies to you as well. All of you. Even those of you who have received constant training likely do not understand all of the ramifications of what you can do. Unfortunately for us, in our case we are the weapon rather than possessing it. It is in our blood, in our bone, in our DNA. So how would you, Lamar, propose reigning in that weapon in their shoes? How would you tamp down the very natural fear of the things we do? How would you propose they defend themselves? I can tell you that the current system is not as bad as other solutions you are liable to encounter,”

Lamar

Having been asked a direct question by name, after a brief glance around to see if anyone was taking it as rhetorical, the erudite shapeshifter gave the requested reply.

"Legislation seems moot: The people it impacts either consider themselves morally in the right and self-police, or consider themselves above human law, above mortal law, and ignore it. Their outcome is the same if the law exists or not, the existential threat they pose is removed either temporarily or permanently, imprisonment or death. If there wasn't a law that outcome would be unchanged, existential threats get dealt with one way or another because if they didn't, existence is duly warped. That law isn't to deal with those who wilfully break it, because it has no use in that regard. So, it serves only to get the law-abiding to do what they are already doing, and as such is basically a flex of power by those who desire something, anything they can lord over those who adhere to authority's whim only on their own sufferance."

He shrugged.

"The fear is justified, defence by unpowered humans is untenable on an individual basis and difficult on an organized collective basis, they rely completely and entirely on the good will of those willing to go after existential threats on their behalf and who have the power to do so. Imagine Eidolon having a mental break and turning villainous, for example. Is anyone keeping an eye on him to fend off that possibility?"

Grey

She speaks very mildly, almost blandly, but with frightening intensity. The voice is quite different. Almost like a different person.

“Yes, Lamar, someone is watching the watcher. Someone is watching him very closely.”

The voice that continues is back to the normal calm, even, soft tones of Mary Grey.

“Lamar, there needs to be a structure of laws precisely to give the powered something to follow. Not all will do so, but in the absence of any structure the natural inclination is to make ones own law. It is a matter of basic human psychology. It is a social contract which weaves people who otherwise would set themselves apart into the existing Milieu. It does not, indeed, work on everyone. But it is important. “

Anne

"A contract implies people agree," she offered. "I know my..., I know of powered people who dispute that idea. I am not sure that those without power would agree that there is a social contract either," she offered very softly.

Lamar

He turned as Anne spoke, nodded once her quiet but salient contribution had been made.

"She's right. Governance requires the consent of the governed, and that's especially true where those who would be subject to the imposed social contract have both the power and the inclination to oppose it. This entire country was founded in an act of rebellion against an authority that lacked the capability to enforce its will and its demands, and that's what we effectively have with the social contract that requires conformity of those using their abilities to stay apart. They have no buy-in, they have no say in the contract, there is no mechanism for them to make adjustments even if they did conform, so it boils down to an external imposition that may or may not have enough power behind it to be enforced. The only incentive to comply is the threat of force which they are already willing to contend with, and that's a battle that evidently they would prefer to fight than yield. As Anne alluded to, that's how a fair chunk of the unpowered understand the situation as well."

Ben

He nodded quietly at Lamar's comment. Ben knew his parents felt that way. Not at all happy to comply with anyone trying to govern or control them but more than happy to use the rules to get ahead when convienent.

Grey

“Yes. Those people exist. Quite obviously. So let me turn the question back at you. How would you do it differently? How would your system work?”

Lamar

He pondered the question with a slight frown, and finally spoke,

"You know, I'm not sure that having a single system can work. That whole 'consent of the governed' problem. You're asking 'How can the kingdom of Great Britain maintain control over these rebellious colonies', to draw a comparison. People who will not accept, and do not recognise the legitimacy of, the faction which wants to exercise control over them. People powerful enough to stand in opposition, powerful enough that trying to solve the problem by force just racks up huge costs in blood and treasure and isn't even likely to work. Where war cannot succeed, the options are keep fighting until the total annihilation of one side or the other no matter the cost, or negotiate a peace. The difficulty of negotiating a peace is that the beliefs of those we would have to talk to are utterly unpalatable. That tends to be the case with most peace treaties, you don't make ceasefire agreements with friends, but we're talking about those who see themselves as divine, who see themselves as absolute sovereigns in their own right. Zealotry and pride are tough to deal with. But yeah. The options are total annihilation or bringing them on board in a negotiated peace process in which they are invested and building a system around that accord framework. Anything else is just delaying the problem, denying the problem, or ignoring the problem. Kill all dissent or start a peace process, and we're not the only side making that choice."