fandomhigh | Ye Shall Be As Gods?

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Ye Shall Be As Gods? - Class 2, Period 3

"Last week," Juli began, once all the students had come in and settled down, "we discussed personal limits and ways to grow beyond them. Now, we move outwards onto bigger topics. Our topic for today is, perhaps, one of the most impressive natural limitations. Of all the boundaries that our various worlds share, one is constant and that one is – Death. Specifically, we will be taking a close look at resurrection."

"From the beginning of time people have been interested in cheating death, escaping that final equalizer that renders us all the same." Juli looked over her class. "What is it, do you think, that drives people to try and deny that limit? To snatch people back who’ve already gone. What arrogance is it that makes us think we’ve a right to say when anyone may live or die?"

"What arrogance could drive each of you to try and cheat death? Take back from death and have someone live again. What consequences to bringing someone back from the dead can you foresee? If no one can die what happens to society as a whole? It’s all very well to say ‘I want to bring back this person’ but then, someone else will wonder ‘well, why can’t I do the same?’ and, as for all things, it will grow from there until letting someone go becomes impossible."

"If no one dies, then nothing ever changes. Each individual death hurts someone – but, in the long run, a cessation of death would hurt everyone. There is no room for growth in a world without death. It is the other side of life, and no less vital. People know this," a faint smile that’s almost sad, "but this knowledge does not stop us from making the attempt time after time. What is it that makes us so determined to go ahead no matter what the cost?"

"All things, in time, will pass," she said quietly, "it is something that we must discover over and over again – and something that will never be fully learned. Please split into groups of two and discuss the consequences of resurrection, both on personal level and on a societal whole."

"I am, as always, available after class if you have need of me."

[~~Wait for the~~ OCD is up! Have at it!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

After class, she’s available. Slightly sad, but available.

Right after class, Bridge gathers up his notebook and approaches the professor hesitantly. "Um. Ma'am?"

Juli looked up from her notes, and set her pen down. "You weren't in class last week," she observed, glancing down at her attendance records, "Mr. Carson."

"Uh, yeah," Bridge tugs nervously on his uniform jacket. For once he doesn't add that it should be "cadet". He's just not feeling it lately, strangely enough. "There was- something, um. Came up. That I had to take care of. But, um. I'm here now and if there's anything I missed from last week I'm totally willing to do make-up work and I'm really sorry?"

"Is that a question or a statement?" Juli asked, as she turned it over in her head, then fixed him with a look, "And would you do it all over again with the same apology for me once it was over?" She was curious about how he'd answer.

She leaned back in her chair, "Last week, we discussed personal limits and how to surpass them. I’ll ask you now the same question I asked your classmates then. What is it that drives you to push yourself past your own limits?"

"Uh, both," Bridge says. "I mean, I meant to just ask if there was any make up work that needed to be done but then I sort of thought I should add an apology in there because it seemed like the thing to do because I really *am* sorry, ma'am. I don't like missing classes, but yeah," he glances over at Z. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if I had to."

He considers the question for a moment. "My friends and family," he decides, finally. "I want- I *need* to keep them safe," the planet too, but that's not an immediate concern just yet.

Nodding, Juli kept her opinion of that to herself. But, if one looked closely, they might notice a flash of approval in her eyes. "Very well, Mr. Carson." She quirked one eyebrow, "But try not to let it happen often."

"And how do you go about keeping them safe?" Juli continued her questions. "Do you have a plan of action to improve yourself? Or is it merely what comes to mind first that you attempt to surpass."

"Well," Bridge says. "I do have a plan, yeah," not sure if he's actually supposed to go in to detail, he stops there.

"Go on, Mr. Carson," she said, "with your plan - can you think of any way to improve upon it? Nothing is ever perfect." Details were nice, but Juli was more interested in making certain that her students were thinking things through than anything else.

"Oh," Bridge blushes a bit. Maybe some work on that whole 'taking things a bit too literally' thing could be in order. "I've got these... abilities. Psychic ones. And I always thought, well, if I could learn to control them and use them properly, that'd be good enough. But then I came here, and I met people who had similar abilities, right. So now it's like, well, it might not always be an advantage that's mine alone, you know? Or there could be times when it actually puts me at a *disadvantage*, maybe. So I've been working not just on the control thing, but on other ways to track people, to predict patterns or movements, the kind of things I use my abilities for, so that I don't *have* to use them and end up turning them in to a crutch."

Re: Talk to Juli

last-mizrahi.livejournal.com - 2008-01-16 17:51 (UTC) - Expand

Z also approached the professor hesitantly after class. Imagine that. "Excuse me, Professor?"

This time Juli raised her eyebrows slightly, "Another one that wasn't in class last week. Miss...?"

"Delgado, ma'am. Z Delgado. I wanted to apologize for that."

She made a little checkmark on her attendence roster, "I'm assuming you were absent for better reason than forgetting about class, Miss Delgado." Juli tilted her head, "Try not to let it happen again, and we'll be fine."

"As to making up the work..." she tapped her pen against the desk, "last week I asked your classmates this: What is it that drives you to push yourself past your own limits? How would you answer that?"

Z thought about that for a moment, then said, "I want something better. I want to be something more. And I want to help people."

"All good answers," Juli said, "now, what would be the first step you could take, right now, in the direction of pushing past your limits with those goals in mind?"

Anathema stopped by after class.

Yet another one? Juli was more amused now than anything. "And why weren't you in class last week, Miss...?"

"Device." Anathema finished. "Anathema Device. There was some mis-communication and I was still at home, in England, last week."

"Alright, Miss Device. Try not to let it happen again, and that will be more than acceptable."

"Last week we discussed personal limits and how to surpass them. Your classmates were all required to answer this question: What is it that drives you to push yourself past your own limits?" Juli tilted her head at Anathema, "How would you answer that?"

Anathema frowned. "The knowledge that a limit is just arbitrary and can be re-set?"

"Is that a question, or your answer?" Juli chided gently, "And would that be really all it would take for you? Just knowing that you can push by your limits would make you able to do the work to have it happen?"

"My answer." Anathema said, without much confidence. "And yes, I would like to think so."

"It's a perfectly acceptable answer," Juli said reassuringly, "in this class there are no right or wrong answers. Don't worry about saying what you're thinking. Now, how could you go about pushing your limits? What are the most logical steps for you to take to do that?"

"I suppose you would have to figure out what your limits are before you try to move them." Anathema said after a pause.