Thomas swiftly turned around to face Max and took a step towards him. His brows were slightly furrowed, but by far the most noticeable change was in his eyes. Their unfazed focus was replaced by a storm of visceral scorn. Even further than his eyes was the change in his voice. His calm observations were replaced by vitriol that could rival the Infinite Models last words.
“I won’t acknowledge you’re slippery slope, Police Officer. Let’s focus instead, on your wise counter proposal. You want to tell me that you need to protect everyone by looking through my personal belongings, then you turn around and say that everyone needs to kill themselves trying to save an individual who you know almost nothing about. Listen here, officer. I -” Thomas raised his right hand up to his mouth so that his pointer finger was in line with his lips and sharply inhaled, then ran his hand up his face and through is hair before relaxing it. He looked around quickly and then back to Max, exhaling then continuing what he was saying.
“I have an interest in the survival of these participants for now, at least some of them. Some of them, might I add, who have volunteered to join the politicians suicide squad. As much as you are starting to make me want to look the other way, I also have an interest in your survival too. I’m not looking to hurt anyone. I’m not saying that I want to hurt the Dice Master, neither am I saying that I want to hurt the Infinites here. I am explaining the most efficient way of solving this issue is to give the Dice Master to Nariko, something that you still have not yet disproven.”“Why must you be so pessimistic about this, I am not suggesting people to kill themselves, I am suggesting them not to give up on their friends and fight for them; and I am trying to prevent Aleecia from killing herself, and taking Krista with her.” Max took a step towards Thomas, clearly a bit annoyed by the boy’s demeanor.
“If you were stuck in the morgue with Nariko, wouldn’t you want us to save you too? Damned be the risks, they’re risks after all, Not facts.”“You’ve heard me say it, but I’ll say it again. Letting her go now will only make it easier to let others go in the future, and you know what happens when start thinking that way? You’ll end up killing the people you let go. Nine out of ten criminals convicted of murder tell me the same thing, their victims were just stepping stones for whatever greater purpose they believed in; be it revenge, jealousy, pride, or even survival.”Thomas’s face lightened slightly, and he tread backwards. It wasn’t as if he didn’t realize the size difference between him and Max before, but when Max took a step towards him, you could say he gained a little clarity. He shifted his gaze to the left and right. If any physical altercation happened, he’d have to get out of the dining hall quickly.
“Th-That’s the-” Thomas stammered, before making a motion as if to clear his throat.
Snap out of it!Thomas lowered his hand and continued his retort.
“That’s the outside world, Cop. Things are different here. You’ve got to be kidding me if you think this trade is going to cause us to spiral into corruption. In fact Officer, is that not already the case? This group of people you’re so adamant about protecting, they’ve already killed multiple infinites haven’t they? If you take the Violinist and the Dice Master and put them in that morgue with Nariko, you’re protecting at a level you previously were incapable of. The only person they could kill in that morgue is each other, and no one outside the morgue could even touch them.” “For once, could you stop and place yourself in their shoes? Yes Krista is safe in there. But do you know where else you’re safe? An isolation cell, but that’s no place to live and neither is that morgue. And…” As much as Max wanted to deny it, Thomas was right about one thing. People had already died, and Max didn’t protect them...But
“Just because people have died, that doesn’t give you a reason to stop protecting the ones that still live. It is my duty as a law enforcer, to exterminate the corruption among us, even if that means risking my life for it!” At this point Max was basically screaming at the poor child, and as soon as he realised that, he quickly took a step back and cleared his throat, a small sign of embarrassment lingering on his face.
“If you can’t believe that we’ll pull out victorious, give me this chance, and I will show you.”Thomas started walking backwards until he several paces away, and he looked down and around. He quickly righted himself and stepped forward towards Max. Rather than the contempt that previous adorned his face, he was back to his typical neutrality. As he began to spoke, his hands idly began to come together.
”Why are you so adamant about fighting? Are you -” Thomas looked down and back to Max, making a sound of exasperation.
”What are you trying to achieve? Aren’t you a police officer? Haven’t you had to make choices like these before? Life isn’t some book where the heroes get to save the day. You go out there, you get killed, we’re stuck in a net loss situation. There’s no logic to that, it’s just a visceral response to a situation that could’ve been solved with logic.”“You say that like you’ve already seen our fate, but you can’t. I’m talking from experience here when I say that heroes do exist. They fight everyday so citizens like you don’t have to. Some of them may die, but if they weren’t there, you wouldn’t be either. So don’t talk to me, thinking you know what awaits us. Not even your logic is bullet-proof.”“Even so, my point still stands. You keep going on these emotional tirades, but you’re doing nothing to support your argument! Infinite Police Officer, if you can prove to me that the risk of Contingency A is outweighed by the cost of Contingency C, then I will concede. Until then, I will continue to argue my case.”Max was at a loss for words. Thomas was so cold and calculative, if he were to break through, he would need one hell of an argument. Failing to think of something, he scanned the room and its inhabitants, searching for something to spark his mind, to give him a clue. His eyes finally rested on Felix’s shoulder. The same shoulder that the freerunner sacrificed while trying to save Calvin. And with a new determination, he looked back onto Thomas, a mixture of hope, desperation, and annoyance all filling his face.
“Alright, how about this. We have fought the robots several times now, but only a single live has been taken. Yet until we can prove that Nariko won’t kill aleecia or Krista, we can’t say that contingency B and C prevents those two from dying. So If we apply your logic here, contingency B and C could result in a possible death, while fighting the robots could also result in a possible death. If both plans have an equal amount of loss, wouldn’t you choose the moral path?”Max had brought up a piece of evidence that Thomas was not yet aware of. One person has died over multiple fights with the sisters. If one person had died over any number of fights greater than one, that would mean that Max actually had legitimate evidence supporting at most a fifty percent chance of an altercation resulting in a dead infinite. If there is no evidence supporting Nariko’s intentions with her hostages, then it’s only a coin toss as to whether they kill the Dice Master and Violinist. That would mean that no matter how Thomas structured his argument...
Thomas stared at Max incredulously. He honestly didn’t think that he had it in him, but what Max had just said was absolutely correct. If only one person had died in multiple previous nights of carnage, and if they couldn’t prove that Nariko wouldn’t kill the Violinist and the Dice Master once they were in their possession, then logic dictates that the risk presented by Contingency A
is at the very most equal to the risk presented by Contingency C. And thus, under those conditions, there would be no way for Thomas to prove his own argument.
Thomas couldn’t help it. A snicker escaped his mouth, and then another. It just kept coming out until Thomas was laughing. Nothing was particularly funny. It was just the whole situation that came together to form this ridiculous situation where Thomas didn’t even want to argue anymore. He could think of several arguments that he could use against Max’s to continue this debate, but truth be told, he was never in this debate to prove his thesis. Just the simple fact that Max was able to rebut one of his arguments, that was enough for him. Truth be told, people were going to die anyways, so why would Thomas care how they solved this situation. He raised his hand up and rubbed it on his forehead, steadying his gaze on Max.
“Incredible. I’m impressed, and convinced.” Thomas managed to get out, finally subsiding his laughter.
“You’re absolutely right. If Contingency A poses at most an equal threat to loss of life than Contingency C, then my argument is invalid. And if my argument is invalid, I don’t see why we couldn’t go with your little hero fantasy.” he said as he lowered his hand.
Max was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect his words to actually reach Thomas, much less in the way they did. He also wasn’t sure why Thomas decided to burst into laughter, was he
that impressed by Max’s deduction? or perhaps it was a coping mechanism for his defeat. In any case, Max was glad to have won this argument, it gave him hope for the boys future.
”I’m glad you agree.” Max now turned towards the rest of the group.
“Now if everyone else can just make up their minds, we can move on to the actual problem.”
Banned
