A Note

[jahierasaladin]

Jahiera doesn't talk to anyone as they all return to their dorms, in fact she pretty much just walks into her bedroom and drops her things, and changes to some looser, more comfortable clothing and walks out. It was particularly noteworthy that when she summoned Miyet, the cat hissed at everyone present, and then jumped into the messenger bag Jahiera carried with her.

Behind on the kitchen counter, she left a note.

Rude? I know, but please trust me when I say I really don't want to explode all over you guys...I'm sorry, but I need to think about a few things right now.

I'll try explain it all after I'm a little more civil, when Miyet stops hissing at everyone, then it's safe to talk with me.

A little bit was added in Hebrew...

Alex? I'm asking you this because maybe I don't understand, but is it wrong to be concerned about the state of health of others?

Because as far as I see it, no one seems to be really interested in really helping others.

[Alex Efasteyo]

[[As I don't plan to spend the rest all day messing with Google Translate to make sure what I say wouldn't be too badly mangled, please note Alex's replies are written in Hebrew - with a touch of Greek where Alex felt he couldn't properly convey his thoughts in Hebrew.]]

At the bottom of Jahiera's note, there is written in a surprisingly neat hand, "I left a note on your bed. - Alex"

On Jahiera's bed there is a very long note...

Jahiera,

Such deep questions, and I fear I am but a simple man who's thoughts on this will not help you much. I would suggest you talk with Dr. Lord, he seems to possess a wisdom beyond his years. But as you asked me, I will do my best to respond.

I guess the first thing I would ask about is how you define "wrong." I was raised to believe it is wrong to steal. But if my mother contracted a deadly disease that could only be cured by a medicine I could not buy - I would not hesitate to steal the medicine. It is still wrong to steal, but letting my mother die when I could easily prevent it is also wrong.

I have read much of philosophy, and from what I have seen right and wrong - like good and evil - are not absolutes. They are decided upon by each of us individually, though usually as part of the society in which we are raised.

And take your chosen profession. Archeology is probably one of the most morally ambiguous legitimate professions in the world. Effectively archeologists are tomb robbers. Thieves. They have justification for their profession, but like stealing to save my mother's life - does that make it right? Myself I think archeology is a worthwhile profession, but I can understand others who may think it is not.

I'm apologize for making my points slowly, but it's the way I am.

Anyway, I don't think it is wrong to be concerned with the state of the health of others. Nor do I think most people would think that is wrong. But as I hopefully made clear earlier, right and wrong are not clear cut choices - no matter how much we might wish them to be.

But there is a lot to the concept "be concerned about the state of health of others." How concerned is "concerned?" What exactly is the "state of health" that triggers the concern? Who are these "others?"

Are you concerned with all life? Many who say they are become vegetarians. But plants are alive too, vegetarians aren't necessarily more concerned with lives that others - but they have decided animal life is more important than plant life. If they were really concerned about all life, they'd most likely starve (among other things).

When we went out to fight the Nemeans, I was concerned about life. About the lives of my Bandmates. About the lives of innocents wandering the woods. About the lives of the dwarfs. Right or wrong, it was my opinion these had a greater right to live than Nemean monsters (which, per mythology, are nasty beasts).

As to what "state of health" triggers this reaction in you, I would guess it might have been the dismemberment of Dr. Lord and the Alfar. That matter was a bit shocking to me, however I know that Scions have abilities to heal that far exceed mortal capabilities. I was willing to offer first aid to Dr. Lord had he needed it at the time. I tried to apply first aid to the wounded bear - but those Aztecs have their own ideas of right and wrong. I didn't offer to aid the Alfar, but at first he was under suspicion and once Dr. Lord arrived my abilities were of no value in this area.

Does dismemberment bother you? Is it something you've had bad experiences with on archeological digs? Or is it something else? But if it is dismemberment that bothers you specifically, then I think you need to adjust your thinking. It is a wound, a very bad wound, but as Scions it is something we will be dealing with - and we will be able to heal such...eventually.

You also talked about "concern." Again, I don't know what you are thinking here. I was concerned for Dr. Lord when he arrived, and yet still concerned we should kill those Nemean Bears before they claimed any more innocent lives. Which of the two should you be more concerned about? I know my concern for Dr. Lord was mild - as I knew he could handle his wound better than I could - but urgent - because I don't know if he might have needed some immediate aid while he recovered his much greater powers.

When fighting the Nemeans I had at most negligible concern for their lives. You don't go into a fight hoping that the enemies will all survive and be OK, not unless you want you and your friends to end up dead. After the battle was over, I would have been happy if we could have helped the wounded bear survive - it apparently was as much a victim as a monster. But such was not to be, and while I can't say I condone killing an innocent bear, I have no idea if I could have saved it either.

As for the Alfar - well, until he started answering questions and Gabriella confirmed the truth of his statements, I considered him an enemy. Now I know a doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath, and assuming the doctor really believed in the oath, I would expect them to want to heal anyone - including an enemy. I guess I am not that nice of a person. But I don't think it's wrong that I or others do not display a great interest in healing our opponents. If that bothers you, then I'd just say you are more sensitive to this than most people are. I'd also say you should somehow try to get over that, or else you will drive yourself crazy in the future. There will surely be more violence in our futures, if you breakdown every time we injure a bad guy, you'll be needing medication soon.

So now I've come to your last statement, where you said "no one seems to be really interested in really helping others." To which I ask, are you a mind reader? Because if not, how do you know how much a factor this is for more than a dozen of us, all with backgrounds very different than your own? I can't speak for the others, but my priorities were 1) help out "our" side in the God/Titan war and 2) take out the Nemeans and whatever else was working with/through them before any more (relatively) innocent lives were lost. Point one is helping others, though rather abstract and big picture. Point two is also helping others, though those helped are mostly nameless people who would have died in the future while hiking through Nemean Bear infested woods.

What more sort of helping do you think others should be demonstrating? And how sure are you on your standards of right and wrong that you think it's OK to judge all the rest of us so poorly?

I'm sorry if this doesn't help much. If you want to talk specifics so I don't have to guess what's really bothering you, my door is always open.

I hope you feel better soon,

Alex