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[odinpusrex]

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[ornithologist]

[ Being a highly rational but extremely warm person himself, Harold is sensitive to perceiving the difference in others. The Machine was developed on that premise: teaching her to care was what made her ultimately work, but he still required her to make supremely rational decisions. Taking the long, long view means that so many things that are emotionally fulfilling turn out to be petty distractions that cause downstream consequences. Ultimately, you have to decide which matters more.

On rare occasions, the emotional reality weighs out over the consequences... but both he and the Machine allow that extremely sparingly, and formerly, not at all. ]

I disagree with the premise of competition in survival among sentient beings regardless. If we have moved beyond being animals then there is no reason to continue to act like we are. In a universe as expansive as this, we are not competing for limited resources or survival amongst one another.

That there will always be violence doesn't give us the right to act preemptively, however. I suspect anything organized and public would cause enough outcry to defeat the purpose. But I would agree that I am not content to let violence happen unchecked among us. A case by case response with known allies may be the best we can hope for.

[odinpusrex]

[Emotion has been something long deemed a corruption in the mind of Barnabas, it taints and corrodes the spirit, and with its bedfellow desire, it serves as the root of suffering. Even that which brings one joy has its disproportional cost—to the self or to others. Happiness holds its toll in despair, and so one must cut themselves free of such bondage ere it serves only to drown them and the world in the inescapable abyss that is the self.

As such, he does not value the plight of individuals much at all, least of all their emotional whims or worries; his eyes ever fixed upon the whole. However, he is no fool and he knows that illness of any type—of the body or spirit—is wont to fester and spread if left unattended. If he must trim the flock to secure their safety and survival, then he shall, but a shepherd cannot heed every pointless bleat or else he may miss a greater danger in his excessive doting.]

Our immediate resources may not be scarce, yet we are held captive like beasts and made to compete for survival all the same. Such competition lays not betwixt those within Etraya itself, but those without. Of this, I am certain.

Our numbers are few, thus establishing a ruling body will seem purposeless to many. Yet, it may service the populace should they be made aware that there are those which they can turn should danger arise. It would like as not stay the hand of would-be assailants if they are left to question their ability to act without consequence.

[Barnabas kept control of his nation through the threat of execution to the disloyal, after all.]

[ornithologist]

I am not so easily convinced to buy into the narrative we've been given. Echo may want to make this a competition, but there's nothing inherently making it that way. I'm playing along because I won't risk my whole world for the sake of my own petulance, but I have no intention of sanguinely accepting our captor's perspective, either.

As for establishing a kind of on-call list, that's a fantastic idea. That could really be all that's needed as an effective deterrent.

[ And he would be the logical one to organize it. Unfortunately. That will require so much talking to people... maybe he could convince Aurora to let him do it anonymously... or would that be more trouble than it's worth? Would no one trust it in that situation? Ugh. ]

If nothing else, I know we have several doctors and magical healers here, and some of them may not mind having their services publicly known. If I'm to be the one maintaining such a directory, however, I'd want to vet them beforehand. [ No one's using something he maintains to take advantage of people. Harold would rather wear his summer camp cargo shorts again. ]