fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

"Hey," Ender greeted the group, smiling faintly. "It's traditional for my class to spend the first week reflecting on the future, and the last reflecting on the past."

"Specifically," he continued, stretching his legs out in the grass of the dorm lawn, "How much have you changed since you got here? How do you see your future, on the island or off? Has the island been an interruption in your life, to be skipped past and left there once you graduate? Or going by your experiences, do you think it will forge lasting changes that will stick with you in the times ahead?"

He smiled briefly.

"I realize this isn't a particularly philosophical series of questions," he said. "But it's something worth reflecting on, not just with me, but between yourselves. I have a feeling your viewpoints will be as diverse as you are."

He sat back.

"But to pull it larger: do you think there's a shared experience here on this island? Something similar we all take away from it? Or none at all?"

After he let those questions sink in, he looked towards one student in particular ~~if she was there~~. "Peridot? Can you come see me after class?"

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Last class!

Short and sweet.

Do you think there's a shared experience here on this island? Something similar we all take away from it? Or none at all?

He's still around after class.

Peridot

"I don't know," Peridot admitted, fidgeting faintly. "Being on the island has made me think of things that would never have occurred to me, and some of them aren't things I can just stop thinking about. If I get back to Homeworld, thinking those thoughts, thoughts about growing and friendship, things like that, that could change things."

It could be dangerous, was what it could be.

Well, class was over, and the Ender had asked her to come see him. So... here Peridot came, looking curious.

"You requested my presence after class?"

And lo, she appeared! Looking faintly confused, perhaps, but that was only because no teacher had ever asked her to stay after class before in all the months of her formal Earth education. She was a model student, if the television shows were an accurate source to judge by!

"I did," Ender agreed.

He reached back into his backpack, producing a package shaped like a slim book. "My partner and I only come to the island for one semester a year," he said. "And while I don't want to presume you've gotten something earth-shattering out of this class, I thought it might be useful to share my contact details with you, if you ever encounter anything you have questions about."

That was point one.

"How do you feel about that?" Ender asked, tilting his head.

Peridot paused for a moment, considering the question. And then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Afraid, a little," she replied. "Some of those thoughts are dangerous ones. The same sort of thoughts that spark rebellions, that get Gems shattered. I don't want to be shattered. I don't want to be mistaken for the traitors who stood against Homeworld. I remain loyal to my Diamond. I just... wonder if the way humans do some things is more logical."

Peridot looked at the package curiously, and then tilted her head at Ender.

"I'll no doubt have a lot of questions," she admitted. "And our talks in this class have done a lot of good, helping me sort out where I stand in relation to Earth philosophies. I... trust that you'll answer my questions honestly."

This was not a phrase that was spoken lightly.

Ender nodded. "I don't know if you have a phone yet, but I've put my details down in several communication methods," he said, pointing at the little card attached to the package.

"And finally, I thought you might find this useful," he said, extending the package to her. "It's a small volume about humanity. Perhaps it'll help."

"There's a long road between thinking different thoughts and actually choosing to act in opposition to anything," Ender said quietly. "You don't have to let them influence your actions, if you decide the ramifications aren't worth it."

Peridot reached for the package and eyed it, and the card that was on it, thoughtfully.

"Thank you," she said, sounding... touched, actually. It was a gesture she wouldn't have expected of anybody, a thoughtful one. She stared at the book a moment longer before sort of hugging it to her chest. "I have no doubt that I'll find this most helpful."

That was kind of like gushing over something, in Peridot-ese.

"I just hope it will be useful," Ender said.

He wasn't about to talk up his own book. (Not that he'd ever admit it was his own book.)

"And don't lose your curiosity," he said. "Not that I think that's a risk - you've got so much of it."

"But what do I do if I decide they are?"

These were the questions that... didn't keep her up at night, as Gems didn't sleep, exactly. But she had to consider them all the same.

"My Diamond is reasonable, the most logical of them all, but there's a history."

"Then you have to listen to your conscience," Ender said frankly. "It's all any of us can do."

"Is losing one's curiosity something that happens?" She sounded slightly bewildered by the idea. Another effect being a part of a race that grew and changed, perhaps? "In any case, I don't plan to."

Her curiosity would outlive any human, easily.

"When humans get old, they begin to cling to familiarity," Ender explained. "Most of them do, at least. They become distrustful of new things."

"My..." Peridot frowned a little. "That's a small talking insect, isn't it? I don't have one of those."

She'd been trying to take in human entertainment again. For insight.

"So..." Peridot tilted her head a little. "They live, they grow, and then they... stagnate."

This was an aspect of humanity that she hadn't considered before. Gems didn't embrace personal growth in an emotional sense, but they didn't ever give up learning.

Ender blinked. Then he let out a soft laugh. "No," he said. "A conscience is... the voice in the back of your head that tells you what's right and wrong, more or less. Though some cartoons have taken to giving it an anthropomorphic shape."

"If they're lucky to make it to a high enough age, yes."

It was its own peculiar process.

"I don't see what's so lucky about falling stagnant," Peridot sighed, and then looked down at the book again. "Will this help me to understand that, too?"

She was looking forward to reading it, actually. It was an effort to not open it and just sit down right where she was to get a start on that right then and there.

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