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Septette Arcubielle      The Deep City is a bizarre sight for most visitors: an overgrown tree's canopy hugs the arch of an equally-vast bubble of air, surrounded by the sedimentary expanse of the seafloor and lit by the dim light that filters through the waves above. Nestled against the roots and trunk of the tree is the city itself. The wood and stone architecture of its buildings speaks of a somewhat lower level of technological advancement than modern Earths, and the worn cobblestone streets indicate a long and storied history.

     Septette's directions lead almost directly from a convenient mass-teleporter (in the form of a swirling column of light) to an ornate library, assembled from smooth-fit blocks of pale marble and dark-green serpentinite. The people inside are just as soft-spoken and unobtrusive as those milling through the streets, but approaching the corner of the building she indicated, encounters with fellow patrons grow rarer and rarer.

     Septette waits in a secluded nook almost hidden from view by crowded bookshelves. There are chairs, a coffee table- even a tea set. Isn't that some sort of spill hazard?

     "I'm delighted you both could make it," she says in her soft and filtered drawl, carefully settling back in a chair (without actually resting her weight upon it). "I understand the Concord must be rather busy with... whatever they wanted that data for. So I'm flattered you found the time."

     The fresh flecks of blood on her own shawl go unexcused and undisguised. Seems she was busy until a minute ago herself.
Stella     Stella is not a judgmental person, mostly because she still has no frame of reference for most of anything one could potentially want to judge. The odd appearance of the tree-city isn't that bizarre, mostly because she doesn't have a standard for what's "weird". Her only standard would be efficiency, and she might judge as long as the city functions correctly, its appearance is irrelevant.

    Arriving at the library and looking about, to eventually find Septette, Stella is no different from how she appeared the day prior, save for lacking a blade in her hand.

    "I am not a scientist or a data analyst. Whatever they are doing with the data, it no longer concerns me," she states, although the same may not be true of Staren.

    She doesn't sit, because she wasn't given permission.

    "Is this for the chat about philosophy?" Straight to the point.
Staren     Staren happened to be free tonight, so he accompanies Stella. "Always good to have a chat with you, Septette." Staren smiles. "Actually, I suggested she learn from you. She's been trying to learn morality, but... sometimes she only takes away part of my explanations. I wondered if maybe your viewpoint as... well, someone who wasn't born and raised in the organic style, might be of help communicating morality to her..." He explains, taking a seat.

    Then blinks at her 'sitting' in the chair. "That can't be comfortable. Although... I'm not sure how to conveniently transport a chair that could hold your weight, admittedly." He looks at Stella. "Would you prefer to sit? Unless you've been called into a superior's office, if the other people in the room are sitting, then permission for you to sit also is usually implicit."

    Besides. Knowing that Staren is supervising Septette's moral lessons will... okay yeah no that's not going to make /anyone/ more comfortable. Oh well. Staren believes in Septette, though!
Septette Arcubielle      The notion that Stella isn't sitting for lack of permission doesn't seem to cross Septette's mind. Her eyes glow a brighter shade of purple and rapidly flick through the empty space around the other construct. What compelling spatiokinetic reasons are there to maintain that resting posture? Which avenues of movement are Stella keeping open? ... Is she not thinking along those lines? Why wouldn't she? Don't all killbots do that?

     When Staren explains the social norms around sitting, Septette's eyes go still and snap to him. That explains it. She smiles- easily, for all the world- and gestures airily with a clawed hand towards the third chair. "And for the record, this is not a superior's office."

     "Morality comes naturally to most humans because they have a sense of what they want and what is expected of them," she says, indirectly answering Stella's question. "So let's start there, for our foundation. What is it you want, Stella? What do you enjoy?"
Stella     "Is it?" Stella asks, looking at Staren for a moment. "In the king's court, it was not polite to stop kneeling before being told to, or to sit before being told to. Although the purpose of the latter was usually to make a statement or a toast to something, or to allow the king to sit first."

    This is, granted, not a court at all.
    Stella takes Staren's word for it and sits, probably entirely too rigidly and with no regards for comfort.

    Talk of morality immediately segues into personal wants. Even that crystal-like skin can't hide the moment of thought on Stella's face, as she closes her eyes and wonders about that.

    "I am unsure. At the moment, I only know that I wish to be a great knight. Perhaps, one day, I would like to find out what happened to my home. But I am content enough helping others achieve what they want. It makes me useful and justifies my existence, as that is my purpose."

    She talks so rigidly, too.
Staren     Morality comes naturally to most humans -- Staren lets out a scoffful "Pff!" at that. He looks from Sept to Stella. "The king's court is a manner of office... And your role there may have been somewhat different from your role here. You are not a... servant, of the Concord. And First Priscilla does not usually hold court... although you might want to wait for her to sit first in a meeting. Some situations, it's hard to tell. Social stuff like that, /I/ didn't pick up naturally, so I've had to try and figure it out."

    His ears turn towards her as she speaks, and he considers her request. "What does it mean, to be a great knight?"
Septette Arcubielle      'Pff'? Septette's eyes flick back to Staren, and a wry smile creeps onto her face. "Perhaps I should say that most humans think they have a strong grasp of morality. Their gut informs them what is right and what is wrong, and they see little reason to question it further. You have been more inclined to question and doubt your intuition than most, and have arrived at a sharper vision of your own priorities as a result."

     Staren's pre-empted her question to Stella, so instead she takes a sip of her tea while he puts it to her. At the end, she adds: "And do you have a way of ordering those priorities? If they came into conflict, which would you prefer to pursue? Is that an absolute preference, or a soft one? And if it is soft, what's the exchange rate of one priority-value to the other?"
Stella     "I do not know," Stella answers Staren simply. "That is why I believe if I meet and fight, whether opposed or alongside, many knights, I will arrive at an answer." Though so far, she'd come to understand being a knight meant to protect... something. Or someone. It didn't matter which. Country, treasure or love, though the latter she wasn't sure she could achieve.

    A look at Septette next, and it's painfully obvious the golem doesn't have an answer to any of that either. She seems to struggle to string together words to even begin answering, until a few awkward moments pass.

    "I am... unsure. That has not happened yet. I was told that I would be able to measure my resolve only once it was challenged, but it has not been yet." People things are hard. Why couldn't this be a discussion about stabbing, instead? She's good at that. She knows how to do that without hesitation!

    "I apologize. I may not be as useful for this purpose as you may have hoped."
Staren     "You want to be a knight, but you don't know what that means? Why do you want to be a knight, then? What about them makes you want to be like them? Knight means so many things in different worlds, too..."

    Staren scratches his head. "It's not about being useful for a purpose... it's that we want to consider you as a person. And that means your goals matter. I've been active in the Multiverse for awhile; and I find it far more likely that you have goals but are poor at expressing them, than that you have none. See, right there, you apologized. That was for a reason, right? Or were you just programmed to apologize in certain circumstances?"
Septette Arcubielle      Septette's eyes sweep over Stella from foot to head, as if updating her physical assessment of the construct alongside her mental estimation. Inhuman, yes, but in a decidedly different direction from Arcubielle's kin. Gently: "This isn't a purpose towards which something is required of you. It is a faculty which you will inevitably find it useful to cultivate. These aren't questions you need to answer today. If you bear them in mind, they might serve as a scaffolding for your growth."

     "Let me give you an example. I decided, early in my existence, that it was important for me to preserve the lives of weaker sapients and to improve their wellbeing. It didn't take long for me to be forced to decide which lives were worth more than others; how many lives could be weighed against how many units of wellbeing; how much freedom and self-determination I could curtail in favor of benevolent control." Seemingly oblivious to the distressing turn of her own words, Septette takes a shallow sip of tea before continuing.

     "I could have- as humans are inclined to do- thrown up my hands and declared it an impossible choice, or abdicated my responsibility, or acted on what 'felt right'. Instead, I analyzed my own preferences to a certainty, created a value system to immaculately represent them, and followed its conclusions without hesitation or regret. In doing so, I accomplished far more good- by my own definition of 'good'- than I could have were I still mired in uncertainty. That is the importance of an articulated morality."
Staren     Staren interjects, "I think she might still be at the 'how do you measure wellbeing and what counts as an improvement' stage in that analogy."
Stella     "Before I was given a shape and a mind, my crystal was used to forge blades and armor for the kingdom's knights. I do not know why, but when I found this out, I found it interesting, and I wanted to be like the people who wielded them. Perhaps that might have been influenced by reintegrating the weapons and armor into my being. But I know that it is something I... desire, perhaps," Stella responds to Staren, a bit hesitant on that last part.

    As for the apology, she shakes her head. "Is it not good manners to apologize when one isn't useful? When one cannot meet expectations?" It's not programming, just something she was taught!

    Then to Septette, it seems she actually sparks something. "You protect the weak? Is that not a waste of effort? I was taught that those too weak to keep up, too weak to fend for themselves, are better left to die than to become a resource expenditure in the long run. That it is the strong's duty to seize the world and to continue existing. In that sense, I do not grieve for my home, for we lacked the strength to continue existing. That I survived is a testament of my own strength and ability to continue."
Staren     Staren points! "See, there's a goal! To be well-mannered!" He relaxes back in his chair. "I mean... perhaps not a life-defining one, but it shows that you DO have goals beyond following orders."

    Stella goes on to explain how she doesn't care about the weak. "Mmh. But what makes someone weak? Knights often fight on behalf of others, sometimes protect others. If someone /needs/ your protection, does that make them unworthy of it? But then what purpose does the protection serve? Do you seek to do something with your strength, or only to be strong?"
Septette Arcubielle      Meeting some kind of solid belief in Stella, even one opposed to her own thinking, brings an abrupt smile to Septette's face. She leans in, hands still folded tightly in her lap and eyes aglow. "That the strong survive and the weak perish is a description of how things naturally are, and not a declaration of how they ought to be. You said that you want to help others fulfill their aspirations, but the dead cannot aspire to anything, can they?"

     She leans back and gestures lazily at the room around them- perhaps at the city beyond those walls, as well. "If I were unable to protect the people of this world, I believe civilization on it would collapse within a decade. That fragility doesn't make the time I've spent defending it a waste. Under my oversight, generations have enjoyed stability and security. Children have grown into elders without knowing the perils they are shielded from."

     "The truth is that the strong do what they want to do. And that's what I want to do."
Stella     "I am willing to protect those I perceive to be strong. Requiring protection is not in itself a sign of weakness, for battles bear countless unaccountable variables and surprises. But should someone require protection without pause to survive, then that is time and effort that could have been spent on something else. Anything else, likely to better results," Stella reasons to Staren. "It is difficult to put into words, but that is how I feel."

    Then to Septette. Confusion at the sudden smile, but Stella takes a moment to consider her words. "The dead likely did not deserve to aspire to anything. If they did, they would have had the strength to survive. But I agree with your assessment that the strong do as they please, and if you are strong, and it is your will that these people flourish despite a natural inability to do so, then it must be respected. I would not assign value to individuals here if you claim they cannot survive alone, but I would assign value to the whole as the result of your efforts and strength."

    That made sense to her, at least.
    It's unusual for her to have to vocalize thoughts like this, though.
Septette Arcubielle      Septette's grin widens just a smidgen- Stella's articulating clear, forceful thoughts. This is more familiar ground for her by far. "Would you say that you believe the right to survive is earned by the fact of survival, then? If so, then it is not a value judgement or a moral principle. You are saying that the living 'deserve' to be alive, and the dead 'deserve' to be dead, but this says nothing about the way things ought to be."

     "If you believe things ought to be precisely the way they are, then you will never accomplish anything, because every possible state of the universe will appear equally satisfactory. It is only when, for example, you believe that some of the living ought to be dead, or some of the dead ought to be alive, that you have a reason to act. And it is the description of that desire to act that comprises morality."
Staren     Staren listens to Septette, nods at Stella's comment about things that require /constant/ protection.

    After Stella finishes her thought, Staren speaks up, "An interesting way of putting it. Consider someone so sick, that healing magic must constantly be cast on them at every moment, or they will die. The healers cannot do anything else, and can only maintain a bare minimum of life for them at all. Their existence is so cumbersome that they can barely be said to be living at all -- they must stay with the healers at all times, and are too weak to move, too weak to affect anyone else except by being a drain on others. Perhaps the world is better off without them. Those healers could be helping those who would grow and fluorish but for one injury, after all."

    "On the opposite end of this continuum, you have the mighty warrior; struck by surprise, perhaps, or by a multiversal threat he could never have conceived of. Brought low by a never-before-seen disease. Cure him this once, protect him from that one thing, and his strength will reshape the world."

    Staren taps his chin. "But where, exactly, is the line between them? Consider again the one that needs constant healing. He is a constant drain on resources, he is bedridden, but he can talk. He can communicate his ideas. And maybe he has wonderful ideas. Ideas that change the world. Ideas that, some say, might make all the effort to keep him alive more than worth it."

    "Ordinary people, such as the ones Septette protects, are somewhere in between. Most of them have no great redeeming feature, no idea that reshapes the world. And while they could be more prepared, they can /survive/ just fine on their own -- Septette's world throws a constant barrage of threats, though -- most people of any of the worlds called Earth, most people anyone would call human or elf or dwarf on many other words, would, if they lived on Etria, also perish without Septette's intervention. It's too much for people to be prepared for. And if they are all saved... some may turn out to have great ideas, or other skill, or may even come into the strength of a warrior, but how do you know who will be who?"

    Staren holds out his left arm and pulls out his sleeve, projecting a hologram of... a kitten. "Consider animals. They are born with the instincts and tools to live, but they will never become more than any other animal." The hologram changes to an adult cat. "Eat. Survive. Reproduce. Animals can do this, and no more."

    The hologram becomes a human baby in a diaper. "Consider the human. Born helpless. They require years of care before they can move and manipulate the world on their own, and require a decade more -- or more! -- before they can truly understand things, and yet, these creatures -- all born so frail and helpless -- have created kingdoms, have reshaped planets, have braved the most hostile of environments, have performed nearly any type of great achievement you can think of. Is the baby not to be protected, because it is weak now?"
Stella     Stella pauses, rather visibly, at Septette's explanation. The information has to be processed, digested, understood. Put in simple terms, she finally manages to ask: "Then you are saying that I must eventually reach a point where I desire change? Where my blades are my own and bring about change I have envisioned, not someone else?"

    Can she do that, though?
    It seems so... unlike what she was made for.
    No, should a knight really pursue something so selfish to begin with? Aren't knights selfless servitors to the wills of others?

    The thoughts are only broken by Staren's agreement with her stance, but also pushing it into edge cases and exceptions. It seems even Stella has an understanding of what those are.

    "Extraordinary circumstances warrant extraordinary responses," she states simply, as if reciting something she was told by someone else. "No statement can accurately represent the whole of all things. No rule can satisfy every situation." She looks at the holograms regardless, and reaches a conclusion.

    "The weak are not those who have yet to achieve their potential. They are those who wasted it or did not grasp it. They are those who did not have the strength to reach them or bring about the circumstances necessary to reach them. A king is not individually strong, but his strength is having created a whole that is strong. Though, some kings are also very strong."

    She looks at Septette, whom she seems to consider 'a king' in this situation, given her oversight of the city.
Staren     Staren points out: "You don't /have/ to choose your own goal. You can devote yourself to someone else's -- maybe because you believe they can choose better than you, or maybe because you are devoted to them for whatever reason. But... remember how Septette described following her own goals naively at first, and then carefully thought about it to work out how to best do it? Same thing here -- It should be a choice, rather than something you just do without thinking about it. And if you make that choice, you should work on your... devoted's goals in a well-thought-out way."

    Staren hunches in the chair and holds a fist to his chin in thought. "Does everyone have the potential to be so great? What is a king with no kingdom to rule? He can't run all the farms himself. Build all the bridges himself. Balance all the accounts himself. Raise the next generation of farmers and so on himself. Someone has to clean up, someone has to make the food."

    Staren taps his chin. "This isn't exactly my or, I think, Septette's philosophy, but... Mm. It's an angle to be considered."
Septette Arcubielle      To someone with a well-developed sense of normalcy, it might seem naggingly odd that Septette doesn't pause. Oh, there are silences for sipping tea, or for punctuation or effect- but unlike Stella, she simply doesn't stop to think. Thoughts just flow out of her, seemingly extemporaneously-formed and fully considered.

     Except this time. This time she starts to say something, hesitates, and reconsiders how to phrase it while Staren speaks.

     "I think that eventually," she ends up saying slowly, "you will find a desire so great or a situation so intolerable that you wish change of your own volition. I want for you to recognize that wish when you feel it, and I want for you not to be so habituated to servitude that you fail to act upon it."

     The meaningful glance at being a 'king' earns a subtle, helpless shrug from her. "Self-determination is a valuable skill. You are as dependent upon others for purpose as those under my care are dependent upon me for survival. If you can be your own master, you will never be a masterless servant."
Stella     That's a lot to think about. Both from Staren and Septette. Stella might in fact look a bit uncomfortable, mostly because she seems to be having trouble connecting things together or reaching definitive decisions, despite their statements not to yet.

    It's just how she's wired.

    "I will... attempt to pay attention to my state of mind, so that if that should happen I will be able to react accordingly. Or at the very least, inform you. But I do not know if I am capable of all that. I am a knight, not a king. I wield a blade, not a crown." Metaphorically, maybe? Certainly literally, too.

    Stella gets up, eyes trailing towards the ground.

    "My apologies, but I need some time to think."

    Well, at least she knows how to excuse herself! And can actually do it without prompting. That's... something.
Staren     Staren nods and smiles. "That's fine. This is stuff that needs to be thought about. Sorry we didn't get to the moral lessons, but knowing why you care about people as well as just how... well, it's also important. Showing an interest and thinking about these things..." He sighs. "It's more than most elites do, I think."
Septette Arcubielle      "Most moral lessons," Septette says with an eye lingering on Staren, "presuppose a certain human foundation of feeling which may not be present. But thank you for your time and energy, Stella. I don't know if you take tea, but I can offer you some for the road?" The little robot seems in no hurry to go anywhere, herself- awaiting more visitors later, perhaps.