fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, October 1, 1st period]

When the Ethics class arrived in the Danger Shop, they stepped into an entirely different world.

An incredibly dry, hot one. That smelled really bad.

Anakin waved his hand around the room. "Welcome to the embodiment of gluttony," he said, "the palace of a Hutt."

He concentrated on the controls on the far side of the room, and the simulation sprung to life: dozens of beings drinking, eating, and dancing, with all activity centered around a vile slug of a beast laying on the raised dais at the front of the room.

In a place of honor on the wall was a man, face twisted in a silent scream but his features obscured beyond recognition, encased in silver. Anakin ignored it as he walked past to point at the creature on the dais. "That," he said, nose wrinkling in disgust, "is a Hutt. This particular version was named Jabba, one of the most powerful crime lords in the galaxy." A grim smile turned the corners of his mouth up. "At least until he met my children."

He shook his head. "That is neither here nor there. Today is an interactive experience for you, class. Take a good hard look around. See the effects that gluttony can have."

His eyes went flat. "Touch any of the dancing girls and you'll regret it. That's a promise."

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Katchoo went still for a moment and finally nodded. "Most people who pay that close attention are the ones I worry about." She hadn't quite decided which side of that line to put him on.

"Do you think they'd use the information against you?"

Without a second's thought. It was hard not to think that way when you'd learned a few dozen subtle ways to get that kind of information out of people, or manufacture it for your own purposes when it wasn't there.

"Some people'd say that's what information is there for."

"Most of those people aren't generally teenagers," Anakin replied. "At least not ones who didn't grow up around politicians."

"Fandom High isn't made up of normal teenagers," Katchoo countered.

"Even here, most of the students aren't that jaded yet," Anakin replied. "I can't speak for how they will be in ten years, but..."

"Look," Katchoo said, "Francine knows, and that's all that matters to me. I'm not big on sharing with the class."

"Fair enough," Anakin replied. "But if you ever lose your mind and decide to talk to someone who isn't Francine, my door's open."

~~I could double the weekly office hours conga line all by myself, I'll have you know!~~ At least he wasn't dripping overly-sincere concern or being sympathetic; that made it easier to deal with, and the truth when she replied, "Thanks for the offer. Might take you up on it, but I report on your office hours. You have enough people comin' to you already."

"Perhaps because they find me helpful," Anakin replied with a wry smile.

"That's a pretty safe guess," Katchoo returned with only a minor hint of dryness. "I'll leave 'em to it unless I really have to."

"I'm also around after class if you want to be different," Anakin said.

"What, do I have a 'screw conformity' sign on my back or something?" asked Katchoo, who wisecracking aside was starting to get a touch nervous.

"Not at all," Anakin assured her. "There are also ways to get rid of the squirrels, if you'd prefer."

Ways that didn't involve going off-island and getting arrested, even. Who frikkin' knew?

"If I need to," she said again with careful emphasis, wondering if she should just start backing away.

"Of course," Anakin said, waving a hand. "You probably don't need to talk anyway."

Ethics [Thursday, October 1, 1st period]

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