questionauthority | Riddle 020: Calling All Crooks

A. [At Mayfield High, Edward is taking to his new job as Ethics teacher with very little enthusiasm. Any kids in his class? Your first assignment is being written on the board in a neat, tidy scrawl:

"How far would you be willing to go to escape this place?"]

Discuss.

B. [Later on that afternoon, Edward makes a public phone call, filtered away from drones, Grady, the Mayor, the Smiths, and the like.]

Mayfield, Mayfield, Mayfield. You know what I like to do every Sunday night when I'm not scheming a daring escape? I like to think up riddles. Like this one, for example: "What is the one question you can ask at any point in the day, and still get a different answer?" Give up? Hmm?

Answer: "What time is it?" See? Simple. I could say "7:26" just as easily as I can say the time is 9 o'clock PM. Or this one---actually, my old college roommate, Andrew, was instrumental in helping me think this one up.

"Brothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's son!" I'll let you figure out the answer to that one on your own.

Hmm. Perhaps this Sunday night, I'll think up another good riddle. Or perhaps I'll finally find a way for all of you to get out of here. Who knows? Maybe I already have. Interested? Well---you already know where to find me. I've practically given you all the answers, regardless.

[He chuckles obnoxiously.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sasaki, looking around, politely raises her hand after a while.]

Yes, Ms. Sasaki?

Hmm, if it's a question of ethics, I would say there can be no ethical objections to any actions that you take to escape this place. After all, the consequences of murder are null here; furthermore, people who have left this place and then returned report that they have no memories and no physical or mental changes from it. Therefore, in essence, anything that happens here has no consequences.

That's not to mention the lack of any legitimate moral authorities, of course, but that's not entirely relevant.

[Of course, she's leaving slightly out the question of whether it's desirable to escape... but no one needs to know that reservation.]

[He likes this girl's moxie.]

Excellent answer. What's to stop us from running into the streets and spreading anarchy, if there are truly no consequences to our actions here?

Well, to begin with, there are the 'physical' impediments. Namely, the policeman will stop you, if he's able to. From what I have heard, he doesn't seem omniscient, but he's extremely dangerous nevertheless. If we value our self-preservation, we won't commit acts of defiance openly. At the very least, even if we can't die, since we can certainly still feel pain, we can be coerced by that method.

Additionally, there is the problem that we have a society of sorts here, and it seems the majority of the citizens, perhaps purely through fear and desire to maintain the status quo, would like to maintain order. They may also wish to fight back against the town, but they don't wish to do so by chaotic means necessarily. This is probably because humans fear losing what they have more than they desire gaining more things.

[Some other factors, but she's monologued long enough.]

You've thought this through.

Indeed, though it's probably one of the first considerations for anyone entering this place, sir.

Smart girl.

[She stares at him rather closely.]

If I may, why are you asking this question specifically? Do you ... anticipate someone, ah, breaking conventional ethical boundaries?

Let's just say that anything's possible in a place like Mayfield.

Any of us could find the way out. It could be you, or me, or anyone in this classroom. But finding an escape isn't our primary focus in this exercise, now is it? Our focus right now is to determine just what we'd be willing to do to get out. Fair?

[She nods.]

Yes, I understand.

Good.

Riddle 020: Calling All Crooks

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