idolpro | 531 Monstrosity & Morality: Dividing Lines of the Self and Other, Section 1

If you didn't mean the library, though, what did you mean?

"The assignment, of course. What does it mean that you are being given this work? What is the meaning of the work? And what does it mean for the future?"

That whatever we write will be taken into you and incorporated into how you see the world.

"Do you think there's something about us that needs to be changed, then?" She smiles, gently. "If so, then a further question: do we really seem like the sort of person that would be willing to put what we believe wholly in the hands of others?"

...not exactly, no.

But that's why you're grading them, isn't it?

"The thing is, as to why we assigned this—"

She hums, lightly.

"There are some feelings that are too painful to be able to articulate. But what the mouth may not speak, the heart may yet communicate."

So you have everyone write a paper? In words?

She pauses.

"Rather—no, I suppose you're a straightforward young man. It's one of your best qualities, but—

‘Tis a fearful thing
to love what death can touch.

A fearful thing
to love, to hope, to dream, to be—

to be,
And oh, to lose.
A thing for fools, this,

And a holy thing,
a holy thing
to love.

For your life has lived in me,
your laugh once lifted me,
your word was gift to me.

To remember this brings painful joy.

‘Tis a human thing, love,
a holy thing, to love
what death has touched."

...not to convince you of anything, then.

To remember us by.

"Mm..." She looks up, at the ceiling. "I forget if we've told you about our children."

Tell me about them?

Her voice gets a little softer. "Iris was kind, and generous, and quick to aid others in any way she could."

The past tense probably says an amount.

She sounds wonderful.

[Yes it does]

"She very much was." She shakes her head. "You were off-program when the guests were here, but—she was here, you know."

She was?

"Briefly. The guests were all offered a chance to... return to life, as they had all died, it seems—or return someone else to life, if they preferred, if they performed well." A twitch at the corner of her mouth. "She preferred to use it for someone else. She had made peace with her choice."

...ah.

"I've always preferred the Socratic method for teaching—which is to say, asking questions, rather than telling. Learning is a dialogue—and I believe, often, the things that are hardest to bear ought to be, also. To speak one's truth is one thing; to have it be understood is another."

I think I understand.

"What will you do, then?"

...write you a paper, I guess.

"Good. Work hard, Lumen. Remember what I told you, because it will serve you well when the time comes. And—"

She shrugs. "The essays I think are very illuminating. I'd recommend them."

Point them out for me?

"Just read all of them in that section. Some of them might not tell you what you expected, but they're all useful. I know we're mostly willing to grant extensions, but the timer will run out eventually. And then she'll expect your answer."

...okay. I'll go read them.

531 Monstrosity & Morality: Dividing Lines of the Self and Other, Section 1

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