Sneaky Spycraft: Week 15, Period 5

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"One last class," Aly said with a grin at the students.  "Which, I suppose, is supposed to be a final exam, but tests are silly.  The only real way to find out if you learned anything is to throw you out there and see what happens."  She winked.  "But, you know, that's frowned upon."

"So you've all lucked out in the lack of the test - I trust you've taken from the class what you could and I've taught you enough that if you needed to, you'd be capable of keeping yourself alive for long enough."

"Instead of a test, I want you all to answer two questions for me - and you can ask me one - something you were hoping we'd get to and never did.  So, question one:  in last week's scenario - would you actually poison the girl on the dais?  And question two: what are the benefits of spying?  What are the ethical considerations that have arisen over the past fifteen weeks?"

"After that, you're all free to go.  I've enjoyed having all of you in class this semester.  Those who are leaving the school, best of luck to you as you move on, and I hope to see those who stay either in a future class or stopping by my office when you get a chance.  It's been a pleasure, and if you ever need anything, I'll see what I can do."

Comments

Sign in

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

For the last time woe!

Re: Sign in

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Dōjima Yurika

Listen or Chat

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

As you do.

Re: Listen or Chat

[slr-mercury.livejournal.com]

Ami Mizuno

Re: Listen or Chat

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow stared in horror at the idea of "no test."

Re: Listen or Chat

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

Sokka bounced in his chair. NO TEST!!!

Answer the Questions

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"So, question one: in last week's scenario - would you actually poison the girl on the dais? And question two: what are the benefits of spying? What are the ethical considerations that have arisen over the past fifteen weeks?"

And ask Aly a question as you do.

Re: Answer the Questions

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"If ordered to poison her, of course I would," Triela's answers came easily. "Ethical considerations are for my handler to deal with, not me."

She tilted her head slightly, honestly curious. "Do you think that the agent in the field should be making those sorts of decisions?"

Re: Answer the Questions

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"If it was necessary I could see doing it," Willow said. "Like if she was really evil or doing so would make good things happen or something. Benefits of spying are having more information than you'd have without spying, which allows you to do what you need to do. And hopefully with less harm to all involved than if you had to go over there and beat the information out of them. Though there are ethical problems what with the whole being sneaky and breaking and entering and all. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

Re: Answer the Questions

[blackmagic-eve.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I'd have poisoned her," Eve said with a shrug. "I mean, I wouldn't have enjoyed doing it. And depending on how evil she was or wasn't, I might've used a weaker poison that wouldn't kill her but would leave her injured. Because I wouldn't want to kill someone if I didn't need to."

She frowned thoughtfully at the second question. "Oh, there's been all sorts of potential ethical considerations. I mean, poisoning someone, breaking and entering, lying... you name it and it's potentially an ethical consideration."

Re: Answer the Questions

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"Of course I would," Sokka answered, without hesitation. "...Assuming, that is, that there's a REALLY GOOD reason to. But, I mean, once we've answered the question of does she DESERVE to die, then, yeah, I'd do it, no problem. Personally, I'd rather attack in the open than use poison, but you don't always get that option."

He scratched his head at the next question. "The benefits of spying are... Well, SPYING. You get information about the enemy, you're well-placed to carry out sabotage or other sorts of covert missions... I mean, that's like asking 'What are the benefits of a sword?' And as for ethics... As long as the other side is evil, there's not really a problem."

Re: Answer the Questions

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Well, I wouldn't be poisoning her unless I had a reason to," Dōjima said. "Would I personally do it? If there's no one else I trust to do it, then yes. I'd rather find professional help that couldn't be traced back to me, but if it needs doing, then I'd do it."

"The benefits of spying are pretty obvious. You need information to get the best possible results, for anything, really, and spying is the way to go about it. I don't see any ethical problems, since everyone else is doing it too."

Re: Answer the Questions

[ashockingbitch]

"I'm not a big fan of poison, generally speaking," Jenny said, "but if I had good reason, yes, I would. The whole reason I took this class was to learn to be less flash-bang, after all. The benefits of spying would be that you can learn about your enemy without them knowing what you're doing. As far as the ethics of it go, I'd like to say that any time you've got a pack of teenagers sitting around discussing murder in a calm and reasoned fashion, something's gone off the rails somewhere, but I suspect most of us passed that point well before this class. I suppose one consideration would be, how far are you willing to go? And are you willing to be sneaky about it?" Jenny had always been willing to go really, really far, but she wasn't so sure about being sneaky about it.

"My question is, why are you teaching high school students this? Not you, you, but more a general you. Why do you think high school students should be taught this?"

Re: Answer the Questions

[thebluespirit.livejournal.com]

"No," Zuko said simply and maybe he would, if the circumstances were just so, but this was still a class and he'd like to hold on to some principles for now.

Re: Answer the Questions

[intraspective]

"Well, yeah," Ino said, quirking her eyebrows. "If it was on orders then I'd have no problems with it. The benefits of spying? Are totally dependant on what you're spying on in the first place. It might be for, like, securing your borders, or to keep an eye out for conspiracies, keep track of enemy movements, gain inside information in trade or whatnot, you know. 'Spying' encompasses a lot. The most obvious benefit though is the increased amount of knowledge you'd have."

Ino thought about the last question, looking dubious. "...None?"

"And... do you think it matters if you feel bad or not about killing someone? They're still dead either way."

Re: Answer the Questions

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy smirked. "Well you already know the answer to the first question." he said. Last week he had refused to participate in the exercise. "As for the second...when you're at war, you definitely need information on your enemies. During peace time, knowing when someone might be interested in ending that peace is just as important. A good spy network is essential. The drawback is that anyone involved in that life...probably has a hard time trusting anyone, even civilians. That can destroy families and stop relationships before they start."

Re: Answer the Questions

[therhimineecat.livejournal.com]

"I will never say never because I can imagine there could be circumstances dire enough that may warrant such a thing, but it would only be in the worst, only choice situation," Seregil said softly. "I... came close to a sentence of poison myself. A poisoner has no atui -- honour. I am no assassin. And if I must kill, I prefer a more... straightforward method.

"As for the benefits of spying, knowledge is power. The more you know of what is happening among your enemies -- and even sometimes your friends -- the plans you make will be more successful and better able to keep your people safe."

Seregil contemplated Aly for a minute before asking, "What made you decide to be a spy in the first place?"

Re: Answer the Questions

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

"Of course." Kabuto shrugged slightly, somewhat suprised Aly even had to ask. "The considerations of 'ethical' and 'non-ethical' really aren't terribly important. People are hurt, people die; life goes that way. If I happen to have a hand in it, who's to say it's not Fate or some obscure deity directing what was supposed to happen?" He raised both eyebrows, dark eyes wide and almost innocent behind his glasses. "People will die anyway. If it's because of me, at least their death will have contributed to my research and records."

Re: Answer the Questions

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

Inara fidgeted. "I'm not sure if I could poison the girl, even though I know it could be necessary to prevent or start an important war, or to stimulate change that will ultimately benefit others," she admitted, then continued, "The main benefit of spying is information--politicians and diplomats and military strategists can make more informed, rational, and hopefully tactically correct decisions if they have better and more accurate information and facts in their hands. Hopefully, fewer innocents will get hurt in the long run that way."

"Ethically, I believe that the biggest concerns are how you know the cause you're working for is just, and how far you can trust the people you're working for or with."

Then, for Aly, "Are there acts you've committed as a spy that you wish you could undo?"

Re: Answer the Questions

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

Mel thought about the question for a long time.

"Okay. For the first question I just need one thing clarified. Is she a bitch?"

Talk to Aly

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She'll miss you all!

Re: Talk to Aly

[thebluespirit.livejournal.com]

Well, this was strange and Zuko found himself lingering after class because once he left the room that would be it. He'd already thought he left for good twice now, but this time it was for real and as much as he'd been looking forward to it, for just this moment it was overwhelming as he wondered if he'd learned not everything, but enough.

So yes, Zuko was lingering.

Re: Talk to Aly

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I uh, just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed every class I took that you taught."

Re: Talk to Aly

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

Amazing how Seely hadn't answered the question.

Almost like he was trying to get failed or something.

OOC

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

And I'll miss you too!

Re: OOC

[thebluespirit.livejournal.com]

*FLAILS*