fandomhigh | How to Make Friends and Influence People [Tuesday, January 14, 2014]

Anakin stood in front of the Danger Shop-generated conference room with a slightly sheepish (for him--you had to really be looking for it) expression on his face. "My apologies for missing our first class," he began. "I had two Force-sensitive children at home with the flu and was told by my wife that she'd divorce me if I tried to leave the house. I'm pretty sure she was exaggerating, but it's never a good idea to push a tired, sick mother."

He gestured around the room. "Welcome to How to Make Friends and Influence People," he said. "You'll be learning mostly through simulations and hypothetical scenarios. I recognize most of your faces and those I don't know I'll figure out as we go along."

Because introductions in a class with friends in the name would make far to much sense, apparently.

"Here's your scenario today: a recently passed bill in the government has severely cut into the profit margins of an important trade federation. In retaliation, they have imposed a blockade around the planet of one of the biggest supporters of the law."

Because that made sense.

"Because that makes sense. You are here to negotiate an end to the hostilities. Discuss with your classmates what you think would be a good compromise to offer the trade federation. You absolutely cannot promise to repeal the law, but everything else is fair game." Anakin clapped his hands together. "Begin."

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This was... not something Elsa had ever had to deal with, back in Arendelle.

"I suppose I would need to know a bit more about the government and the trade federation to really be able to come up with an appropriate answer," she hedged. "Striking a bargain with the Trade Federation that's starving innocent people doesn't sound like something that would prevent this happening again in the future, though."

"What do you think would work better?" Anakin asked.

"They sound like criminals," Elsa noted, "persecuting the innocent for supporting the letter of the law. But how many of them are there, to be able to set up a blockade around an entire planet?"

The concept was huge and... well, staggering, really. How could anyone fathom something of that scale?

"Thousands," Anakin said, "backed up by some of the more ruthless planets and the always dangerous anonymous donors with deep pockets." He smiled. "Good question."

Elsa returned the smile a little. Getting praise from a teacher was always a highlight.

... Elsa didn't get out much.

"It's not a scale I can easily wrap my mind around," she admitted after a moment. "I want to say that they need to be punished accordingly, that striking a deal with a group of people who would cut off an entire planet from trade would just reinforce their ability to cause more harm. But with a force that large, I wouldn't even know where to start."

Arendelle was significantly smaller than a planet, more Fandom-sized than anything.

Anakin nodded. "I don't like to start with easy options," he understated. "But let's put it this way: in the original scenario, the government refused to engage at all, the planet fired back at the Federation and it gradually spun off into a full on galactic war that destroyed the government as we knew it. You can't possibly make a worse choice than how it really played out."

"Doing nothing at all isn't an option," Elsa replied firmly, a frown on her face. "Why in the world didn't they?"

How to Make Friends and Influence People [Tuesday, January 14, 2014]

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