un: jaycetalis | voice

[hexcope]

[The voice of a mid-thirties man, who sounds absolutely exhausted:]

So.

Who broke it?

I'm not mad. I just want to know. And have a long conversation about respecting shared resources.

[This is, of course, in reference to the now damaged blue trolley line.]

Comments

[hexcope]

Maybe not none worldwide, but I live in a major port city. I'm more likely to encounter a gargantuan-sized shark than large fowl.

Kill it? No. It's just an animal. When it comes to wild creatures, if you just make our architecture or structures unappealing for them to interact with, they'll leave it alone. Even a bird can be smart enough to know it's a waste of energy to attack something that it doesn't stand something to gain out of.

...Which makes me think, why would it attack a trolley, if there wasn't any food on it? As a herbivore, it's more used to being prey than predator...

[hyphanated]

[Attempting to imagine a gargantuan-sized shark, the mental image An Zhe comes up with is something you'd normally see in a horror film.

The topic of unappealing architecture catches his interest though—he can't imagine what sort of architecture that would be.] Is that what people in your city did? They made the buildings ugly?

Maybe it mistook the trolley for an enemy...or someone on the trolley made it angry.

[hexcope]

What? No, no. Unappealing for them to live on or land at. But honestly, I don't think it's something that's really been a concern for city developers. We have plenty of birds. Could do with a few less seagulls, though...

That's the only option that sounds reasonable to me. Birds aren't known for their intelligence either. If it thought the trolley was a threat, somehow...

[hyphanated]

I think most birds were very intelligent though, where I came from... [Then again, they were also big enough to demolish a trolley, so.]

Could it be that it was unfamiliar with the trolley, just like how we're unfamiliar with the bird? [Pause.] If it was someone's doing that made the bird attack, will that person be in trouble?

[hexcope]

In trouble with who? Me?

I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no justice system here. Even if there was, it's not my trolley, it's for everyone. I'm just disappointed someone would do this and not come forward about it. I'm not going to be some sort of vigilante over public property.

[hyphanated]

Aren't justice systems a part of human culture, though...?

[Surely with this many people here they would've thought up their own military or rules or something!]

[hexcope]

This is definitely getting into topics that aren't my strong suit, but I wouldn't say it's a part of our culture so much as it's a part of organized society. If there's a society, it will in most cases form a way to meter out punishment to deter crime, but given our situation here... it's not like we're coming from the same place with the same rules, too. Even if I wanted to implement some sort of justice system, who's to say anyone would even obey it, especially if someone has the power to throw a trolley car, or fly? I think we're all just counting on everyone to play nice.

[hyphanated]

So it's the law of the abyss...I didn't realize the situation was so dangerous here. [A short pause.] I'm glad most of the people here seem to be kind, at least.

[hexcope]

No, wait, hang on a second. What the hell is "law of the abyss?"

[hyphanated]

Oh, it...the Abyss doesn't have any laws. It's a wilderness...that's all I meant.

[hexcope]

It sounds a lot more like anarchy when you say it like that.

[hyphanated]

Is that what it's called? When there aren't any manmade laws to follow.

[hexcope]

Yes. Anarchy is generally considered the opposite of when there's laws or at least a consensus on what's legal or not. I never thought about it, but that's pretty much what's going on here too...

[hyphanated]

Oh. Anarchy doesn't seem too bad, then.

[hexcope]

We’re a fairly peaceful version of anarchy. In most cases, there’s people who take advantage of that state to hurt people. Trust me, anarchy’s not a good thing overall. We’re just an exception to the rule.

[hyphanated]

If that's the case, then as a human society, wouldn't it make sense to avoid anarchy? Like how different animals form groups with their own rules.

[hexcope]

It would, but getting a group of people as disparate as we are to agree on what should represent "us" for laws would probably cause even more problems. A majority might believe in one thing that's deeply unfair to the minority, but the majority will win out if we go by typical voting procedures. When that fails, it boils down to who has the stronger physical force and intimidation tactics, and following that, you can wind up with a dictatorship.

Sometimes, not addressing an issue is actually better than trying to "fix" it.

[hyphanated]

[...That sure sounds complicated...was the Northern Base this complicated? He's not sure.]

Do societies not usually put human interests above all else? That was the basic rule, when I was living in the city before.

[hexcope]

We do.

[Regardless of whether that's the best choice or not.]

But if one part of human society wants everything to be red, and the other side wants it to be blue, what happens?

[hyphanated]

Um...they argue until a decision is made?

[hexcope]

Right. But sometimes, that argument can escalate. Sometimes people make it violent.

So sometimes, it's better to not make that decision at all.

[hyphanated]

But if that's the case, how does a society make any decisions at all?

If the colonel were here... [He trails off, unsure what exactly the colonel would do, but sure he'd be able to solve things somehow.]

[hexcope]

Now that's getting into the nitty gritty of politics, and I don't think you really want to waste your time hearing me talk about that.

[hyphanated]

...You're probably right. Everything always seems to become complicated, when humans are involved.

[hexcope]

[Preaching to the choir, buddy.]

Tell me about it.