thisavrou | Video

[ Someone may or may not have already been exploring the asteroid. Hard to tell, as the video appears to be back on Kauto.

This time, rather than picturing the orchard, there is a nice interior shot of his kitchen, along with the crashing of pans. Who the fuck knows. ]

Question to those of you who dabble or "don't dabble" in the clandestine arts. Where do you draw your moral line? Do you have a moral line for short term ... shall we say results and perhaps a separate moral line for the longer projects?

If you potentially had access to a methodology that would extend your prospects of survival in a long term op, but it was seriously sketchy from the moral side of things, would you pursue it?

[ On that note there is a massive crash and the sound of some very inventive cursing, before he continues. ]

Alright, that's it. Civilian life is driving me right over the edge. It's either find someone to fight or the other word that begins with 'eff'. As my requirements for the former are more easily achieved than the latter so let's stick with the former.

Inquire for details within.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you're still asking the question? Yes.

Don't give me hope; it just confuses me.

[ While it could be explained that he's having a bad night, the truth is ... he's usually a pain in the ass to talk too. ]

Sorry, I'm usually not the one giving the inspiring speeches. Can I offer some facts instead?

Certainly. If they don't directly apply they may yet offer some insight.

The idea of being willing to do something objectively terrible for a greater good is called utilitarianism. It's a concept that's been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. This is the kind of question people kick around in endless circles.

And when you choose to kill millions, to stop atrocities against the infinite, what is that called?

Doing something objectively terrible for a greater good.

[ She's not wrong. ]

When you're already sliding down the slope, is there any point to trying to set a standard? Or do you leverage every available opportunity to ensure that at the end of the day, those sacrifices were not in vain?

Personally? I'd say the latter. It's important not to lose sight of your reasons. And just because you're sliding doesn't mean you can't climb, to torture a metaphor.

Or you could just go full-on cackling supervillain, but that generally tends not to work out well.

Not sure I deserve to climb back from any of this.

[ He shook his head, looking down. ] Supervillain. [ He spoke, as if he were tasting the word on his tongue, before he continued. ]

I took medicines, made from local fauna and flora and tested it's effectiveness on them, healed the injured of their tribe even as I noted potency levels. So I could take those same medicinal bases and turn them into poisons for when the time came to slaughter the entire species.

In the end, things took a different course. As I stood with the rest of the crew, waiting for extraction, the children hugged us, gave us sweets and little trinkets they'd made. The adults watched us with knowing sadness in their eyes.

Not seconds after the last transport cleared atmo, the planet and all it's residents were destroyed.

[ He explained this in a calm, level tone. ]

End game is to ensure there comes a day when no planet is in danger of such a fate again. But it won't come quickly or easily, and in the mean time ... supervillain isn't too far off the mark, is it?

There is a difference, actually. [She takes a deep breath and lets it out on a sigh before she continues.]

Look, I'm not going to say I know the whole story. But as someone who's spent the last decade or so fighting supervillains, I can say I know a fair amount about that.

What I said about intent before? I mean it. If you were party to destroying a planet because of anger or hatred or jealousy, it might be a different story. Being evil, if you want to call it that, requires a certain amount of selfishness. Your feelings above all else. Somehow I don't think that's your problem.

Sometimes you have to make the hard choices. Kill one to save five. The trolley problem on a grand scale.

I guess the question is if you're looking for absolution or condemnation.

[ That was a ... better response than he might have deserved from a complete stranger. ]

There should never be absolution for what I've done; what I expect to do in the future. [ Even if a part of his craved that very absolution. ]

Maybe, if and when the scales are finally balanced, there may be some peace to be found. But until I deliver on my promises the condemnation is all I can cling to, to keep me on course.

[ He reached up and scrubbed at his face. ] The question for the here and the now is how much weight I put against the scale in trying to ensure there is a peace to be had.

Okay, well, in that case. What's the actual downside in trying to do good, regardless of the reason for it? Even if it never evens out in your head, there's still a positive result somewhere.

[ A good question and one he considered answering with full disclosure.

But discretion got the better of him. ]

Perhaps. In some dimension, somewhere a butterfly gets to flutter its wings in counter to my actions.

[She just laughs quietly, like she can't help it.] Multiverse theory is a whole different issue.

Me, I think there's always a reason to try to make things better. Everyone feels guilty for something. Well. Most people.

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Encrypted - cw planetary destruction

Encrypted - cw planetary destruction

Encrypted - cw planetary destruction

Encrypted - cw planetary destruction

Encrypted - cw planetary destruction

Encrypted - cw planetary destruction