Liliana Vess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deathsmajesty) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2025-06-11 11:32 pm
deathsmajesty) wrote in fandomhigh2025-06-11 11:32 pm
Entry tags:
Ethical Dilemmas, Thursday, (Per 1)
After one week in the Danger Shop and one off for a trip abroad, class was once again being held in the conversatory in the creepy mansion in the woods. In addition to the regular selection of beverages, there was a selection of various delicious handpies, each platter accompanied by a discreet list of ingredients, so nobody would have to worry about allergens or dietary restrictions.
"Good morning--" a stretch, considering how early it was and how much Liliana could still be sleeping, "--and welcome back to class." Anyone who expected Liliana to apologize for canceling class while she flitted off to Argentina to get engaged was in for a very long wait. "Today, we're discussing another short story, this one called The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin. It is, in fact, very short, and I highly recommend that people read it, either before the discussion, or on your own time; I've enough copies to pass out. But, as a summary, a pilot in a tiny Emergency Dispatch Ship is making his way to a planet on the frontier of space. He is carrying six vials of a serum for an outpost that is located there; the people in that outpost have all contracted a disease that is invariably fatal if one doesn't have the proper medication, and their supply of said medication had been destroyed by a tornado.
"All EDS pilots know Paragraph L, Section 8, of the Interstellar Regulations: Any stowaway discovered in an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately following discovery. For them to function as they do, EDS ships are designed to be small and everything onboard is carefully weighed, measured, and calculated to ensure that the pilot of the ship has exactly enough fuel to reach their destination safely; again, these are emergency pilots, they are sent out when it is literally the matter of life and death. And when they are sent out, they are almost always alone in that part of space; the nearest ship with any capacity to help is light-years away. The grim reality of Paragraph L, Section 8 is that any stowaway will vastly throw off those calculations; their weight is unexpected and unaccounted for, and the pilot must remove them from the ship as soon as possible to ensure they can continue to their destination and the people in need there.
"The pilot of this ship is aware of this rule when he gets a notification that there is someone onboard his ship. He goes to confront the stowaway, and discovers, rather than a grown man he expected, trying to escape some crime or head off to make a fortune, a young woman. Almost a girl, really. Eighteen, fresh-faced, and innocent, Marilyn heard that this ship was going to the same planet her brother is on and snuck onboard to surprise him with a visit. She is, of course, apologetic for sneaking onboard and promises to be a model prisoner, and assures him that she will pay whatever fine she accrues and will make herself useful on top of that, but that it's been years since she'd seen him, and she missed him so much--"
Liliana's voice caught in her throat briefly, and she paused to take a sip of her tea. The perils of talking so much, surely. "The problem is, Marilyn is from Earth - safe, prosperous, and abundant Earth. She doesn't know about Paragraph L, Section 8. She doesn't know that her slight form - she's only 5'3, only 110 pounds, is the difference between the medicine getting to the planet safely and saving the lives of the men in that colony, and the ship running out of fuel during the deceleration process, and crashing into the unforgiving ground, killing her, the pilot, and the men waiting for the medicine. She thought she was doing something harmless, and then she learns that it is a mistake that she will have to pay for with her life.
"The pilot isn't heartless. He tries to see if there's another ship around, radios back to have the computers calculate how long he can keep her onboard and alive with the amount of fuel he has, tries to find a way to make it work. But the numbers don't lie and the laws of the universe are not easily broken. There is not enough fuel to support another hundred and ten pounds of weight and still make the landing."
Liliana looked around the class, violet eyes dark and fathomless. "So here is your cold equation, darlings. You are the pilot. You have medicine for 6 dying men. You are the only ship in the area, there is no chance of a last minute rescue. There is a girl standing in front of you, telling you that she's very sorry, that she just wanted to see her brother, and your ship's computer is informing you that you will reach the point of no return in just a few minutes. What do you do?"
"Good morning--" a stretch, considering how early it was and how much Liliana could still be sleeping, "--and welcome back to class." Anyone who expected Liliana to apologize for canceling class while she flitted off to Argentina to get engaged was in for a very long wait. "Today, we're discussing another short story, this one called The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin. It is, in fact, very short, and I highly recommend that people read it, either before the discussion, or on your own time; I've enough copies to pass out. But, as a summary, a pilot in a tiny Emergency Dispatch Ship is making his way to a planet on the frontier of space. He is carrying six vials of a serum for an outpost that is located there; the people in that outpost have all contracted a disease that is invariably fatal if one doesn't have the proper medication, and their supply of said medication had been destroyed by a tornado.
"All EDS pilots know Paragraph L, Section 8, of the Interstellar Regulations: Any stowaway discovered in an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately following discovery. For them to function as they do, EDS ships are designed to be small and everything onboard is carefully weighed, measured, and calculated to ensure that the pilot of the ship has exactly enough fuel to reach their destination safely; again, these are emergency pilots, they are sent out when it is literally the matter of life and death. And when they are sent out, they are almost always alone in that part of space; the nearest ship with any capacity to help is light-years away. The grim reality of Paragraph L, Section 8 is that any stowaway will vastly throw off those calculations; their weight is unexpected and unaccounted for, and the pilot must remove them from the ship as soon as possible to ensure they can continue to their destination and the people in need there.
"The pilot of this ship is aware of this rule when he gets a notification that there is someone onboard his ship. He goes to confront the stowaway, and discovers, rather than a grown man he expected, trying to escape some crime or head off to make a fortune, a young woman. Almost a girl, really. Eighteen, fresh-faced, and innocent, Marilyn heard that this ship was going to the same planet her brother is on and snuck onboard to surprise him with a visit. She is, of course, apologetic for sneaking onboard and promises to be a model prisoner, and assures him that she will pay whatever fine she accrues and will make herself useful on top of that, but that it's been years since she'd seen him, and she missed him so much--"
Liliana's voice caught in her throat briefly, and she paused to take a sip of her tea. The perils of talking so much, surely. "The problem is, Marilyn is from Earth - safe, prosperous, and abundant Earth. She doesn't know about Paragraph L, Section 8. She doesn't know that her slight form - she's only 5'3, only 110 pounds, is the difference between the medicine getting to the planet safely and saving the lives of the men in that colony, and the ship running out of fuel during the deceleration process, and crashing into the unforgiving ground, killing her, the pilot, and the men waiting for the medicine. She thought she was doing something harmless, and then she learns that it is a mistake that she will have to pay for with her life.
"The pilot isn't heartless. He tries to see if there's another ship around, radios back to have the computers calculate how long he can keep her onboard and alive with the amount of fuel he has, tries to find a way to make it work. But the numbers don't lie and the laws of the universe are not easily broken. There is not enough fuel to support another hundred and ten pounds of weight and still make the landing."
Liliana looked around the class, violet eyes dark and fathomless. "So here is your cold equation, darlings. You are the pilot. You have medicine for 6 dying men. You are the only ship in the area, there is no chance of a last minute rescue. There is a girl standing in front of you, telling you that she's very sorry, that she just wanted to see her brother, and your ship's computer is informing you that you will reach the point of no return in just a few minutes. What do you do?"
Re: Question #3: Okay, Fine. How Would You Fix It