exsilium | 1st judgment: video

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1st judgment: video

Good afternoon. I'm Yuri Petrov, of Sternbild City.

[Yuri doesn't hesitate to use the video function. It's how he's used to communicating in Sternbild. He also doesn't hesitate to air his opinion, however much some might disagree. Someone is not in a good mood. Yet his tone remains, overall, polite, in spite of the stern nature of his words.]

I hope I'm not alone in finding this kind of conscription both morally and ethically insupportable. It doesn't matter what the reason for the war is. Not only is there no such thing as a just war, but a cause can never truly be just when supported through unjust means.

Furthermore, to meddle with the past in the hopes of affecting current events strikes me as patently absurd, if not outright foolish. Time is an interwoven series of events. Think of it as a cloth. Tug on one string, and others begin to unravel. Who knows what the unintended consequences may be?

I do not know if there are other conscientious objectors among the population, but they may count me as one of their number.

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[This echoes what someone had hinted at, earlier, a discontent in their cause. Wing had arrived here and embraced the cause, the ability to fight for others. Now...?]

Wars can be just. Or do you never fight for what you believe?

[Yuri isn't quick to trust anyone, especially not in such a suspicious situation.

And now he's talking to a robot, apparently. He takes it in stride.]

I fight for what I believe every day, in the courtroom, through peaceful means. Wars have casualties, and people die. Innocents die.

They may be necessary at times, or seem to be so, but I wouldn't call any war truly just, no, especially not one reliant on conscription. Warfare should be a last resort.

Edited 2013-03-03 22:29 (UTC)

Object conscientiously if you wish.

I find their practical failings of more concern.

I've seen the courts corrupted, though, and 'justice' used as another weapon of power, not justice.

But is it conscription if we hadn't realized we were threatened by these United forces ourselves? Who wouldn't fight to defend their people?

Yes, and that is what I fight against every day, in order to keep justice impartial and fair. That is the battle I have chosen.

It is conscription if a person has been taken from their home without their consent and made to take part in a conflict. It doesn't change the issue if some of those people turn out to be willing.

We only have their word for many of the things we have been told, and not everyone believes in fighting as the solution to a problem.

So I shall.

I won't argue with you on that point. Practically speaking, their plan leaves much to be desired. But what in particular do you take issue with?

Many things. But I'll look to the future for the moment. Their plan is unsustainable. If they're not lying, they believe there will be a single climactic battle...one uprising that fixes everything. Presumably, then everyone will be sent home.

But it won't work that way.

[Yuri nods.] I agree, it seems simplistic and overly optimistic.

What do you believe will happen?

[He's interested in what people think, in learning more about the people here. Knowledge is power, isn't it?]

Most likely, the Initiative will eventually be discovered and wiped out entirely. Then the United Earth will take any modifications that have been made to its inter-dimensional technology and incorporate them into their plans, which they will probably speed up after the conflict. The Initiative will have worsened its own world and hastened the danger to others.

[His tone is completely calm.]

But there's a slim possibility that the Initiative will establish itself as an entrenched threat to the United Earth, in which case a protracted war will begin, further complicated by the use of time travel. The Initiative is unprepared for this.

[Yuri nods again. This man seems to be speaking sense.]

The scenarios you've proposed both seem likely. More so than a final, decisive, and successful strike. Based on what we've been told, the opposition is extremely powerful.

If we can believe what we're told, I do think that this is poor planning as well as unethical. Not to mention the fact that it's practically impossible to predict how changing time will affect events. The attempt could easily change things for the worse, or negate the struggle itself.

[Oh, it's the bureaucrat-looking guy again]

You have no idea how the timestream works, do you.

[...And there may be a touch of amused condescenion there, because he's spent the better part of his life dealing with it]

We have no time travel in the time I come from, so I wouldn't consider myself an expert, no.

You mean to tell me that altering events in the past never has unforeseen consequences? [Because he's not buying it.]

Edited 2013-03-04 00:52 (UTC)

Never? No. Always? Also no.

The metaphor of cloth is wholly wrong for time - there's a reason, after all, that it gets called the timestream. Like a real stream, if you throw a rock in at random, the chances of there being significant changes to the flow of water are tiny. The timestream resists changes. Chaos theory is bullshit, in at least this regard.

It's possible to alter things, though - but you have to know what moments are nexus points. What moments change hinges on. And that requires forethought and research.

[This man, as he remembers well, can read people's minds. Yuri doesn't foresee himself becoming close to someone with that ability. But there's no need to be uncivil.

He has no reason to believe that the man is correct about time travel, but it doesn't bother him to be corrected.]

As I said, I'm no expert.

That may be so, but my basic point remains the same. We have no reason to believe their calculations are correct or that their actions will have the desired result. It's not impossible that they may change things for the worse. I find it hard to believe that altering a major world event wouldn't have far-reaching repercussions.

[The faintest hint of annoyance passes over his cold face.]

The opposition is extremely powerful? I disagree. They have more than enough power to take on the Initiative, by my calculations, but not enough to maintain their own position indefinitely. They are running out of resources, and eventually, they will invade the wrong universe to get more, and a more powerful force will crush them.

Don't like it, don't join in the war. Keep to your room to stay out of the rain. Dying might send you back. No guarantees.

You may be right. [Yuri doesn't mind the correction, inclining his head graciously.] As I said, based on what we have been told, they are rather powerful. I don't necessarily believe things I'm told.

I doubt any empire can maintain its position indefinitely. There's certainly a possibility that another, greater force might defeat them.

I'm no general. I'm a judge. I don't claim to be an expert where military matters are concerned. My primary concern is with the fact that people have been kidnapped to fight in this war against their will, which in my eyes renders whatever the Initiative might have to say immediately suspect.

[And he doesn't care if they're monitoring him and know that he thinks so.]

Are you a military man?

I don't intend to keep to my room, and I don't intend to die.

If you have no issue with the fact that people have been brought here against their will to fight, including children, then you may carry on as you see fit.

I wished to make my opinion known, as I don't believe in keeping silent in the face of injustice.

Then I guess you best get used to being forced on mandatory missions. They come around quite often. I have no problem with children fighting. It's the way of life. Survival of the fittest after all. Everyone in this place has an opinion.

I'd have to look at their data to say for sure - though somehow I doubt you'd trust that.

And I get the impression that the aim is to have far-reaching reprecussions.

It's likely I wouldn't. They've done little to earn my trust so far. [Although he doesn't want to seem too paranoid. He has to cultivate the proper image.] That's not to say that my trust can't be gained. I like to think I'm not an unreasonable man.

What I mean is that they will be so far-reaching, the ripples in the stream, to use your preferred metaphor, that they cannot all be controlled or accounted for.

No group has clean hands in a situation such as this. The Initiative intends to fight a greater power than them. I doubt their lack of concern for our rights is their greatest sin.

I am.

I will have to deal with that problem when I come to it. [He doesn't want to fight, but not necessarily for the reasons he indicates. His way of fighting is just too distinctive...]

I do have a problem with it. Where I come from, not only is it seen as immoral, but it is also illegal. Children should be taught to defend themselves, but not thrust into combat. There is a difference.

Violence should not be the answer. War is not an acceptable solution. [Except, he certainly does think that it is, but it's best for him to be known as being someone who doesn't think so. Such as his public opposition to capital punishment back home.] There must be some other means.

And everyone is as welcome to express their opinion as I am, I hope. I support freedom of speech.

See you on the battlefield. Where I'm from, it's neither. It's a fact of life, and the sooner you learn to fight, the longer you live for. If someone is attacking you, you generally fight back. War is like that too, just there are more people involved on both sides. People live, people die. Freedom of speech? Does that really exist?

I couldn't agree more. That is partly what I am driving at. If they are willing to engage in conscription in order to win their war, then what else might they be willing to do?

I thought you might be. You speak like one. I bow to your expertise in such matters, then.

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1st judgment: video

[video]

[video]

video;

[video]

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video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

[voice]

[permavideo]

[permavoice, he doen't trust cameras]

no subject

video;

[Text]

video;

[video]

[Text]

no subject

no subject

video;

[permavideo]

[permatext] Because this is going so well

video;