Closed The Ethics of Using Living Test Subjects

[Ink]

Timetsmp: 46th of Fall, 514 AV. Late Afternoon


Golems stood sentinel outside the lecture hall doors. Once someone entered they would not be leaving until the end, one did not simply walk out of a lecture in sahova. The room was enormous and even given that the vast majority of occupants were undead, noisy. People were slowly settling in with their respective notes or note taking experiments, or lack there of. Nuits have excellent memory after all.

This lecture was unique in that a panel had been assembled to discuss the topic at hand. There four wizards seated with one chair remaining notably empty. Two were prominent masters; Master Frankie Lee Tieh and Master Milton Draunbrach. Of the remaining two present one was a wizard, it was Cid. The final lecturer was none other than Councilor Mizelio Takk. His presence alone may have contributed to the enormous audience.

In the back of the hall, the great doors slammed shut and the golems took their guard posts. Only those near by could see what it was, and a quiet murmur hushed the crowd. Whatever it was walking down the aisle was weird enough to quiet even the intellectual Nuits. As the cloud of quiet neared the front of the room, a small grey tabby cat with mangy fur and a crooked broken tail sauntered up and into the final chair on the panel. Around his neck, on a silver chain, hung the ring of a Wizard.

Master Tieh rose, “Now that we have all arrived, take your seats. We will begin this lecture on the ethics of using live test subjects. Your lecturers today will speak in this order, Master Frankie Lee Tieh who is of course myself, Master Milton Draunbrach, Wizard Thomas, Wizard Cid, and finally we will be addressed by Councilor Takk. Questions will be welcomed by each lecturer at their own time.” Tieh stepped forward to stand at the central podium.

“The use of live test subjects covers a wide variety of ethical quagmires here on Sahova. Several of these will be addressed today. Master Draunbrach will discuss when a live test subject is needed, second Wizard Thomas will illuminate the ramifications of unethical use of live test subjects, third Wizard Cid will explain how to ascertain the limits a subject can endure before expiring from the experiment, and Councilor Takk will discuss obligation to the living subject. Before all of these topics though, I will discuss consent. Master Draunbrach would you please bring out the display?”

The quiet nuit nodded and shuffled into the back of the room to pull a curtain off a bird cage scaled in size for a human. A defeated looking man sat inside on a perch, hunched over.

“Now we can clearly tell the demeanor of the subject is accepting of experiment. There is no aggressive display of dominance or resistance. He can be considered to be consenting. Now having said that it is important to note than in the event that a subject cannot consent, such as a missing tongue or vocal box, that consent can safely be assumed in all such cases. So now that we can see what consent looks like, let us examine non-consent.” Tieh walked back to the cage and with each step a tiny inky circle formed and grew near the cage’s bars. As she finally arrived within two meters of the cage, the voiding portal began to pull clearly at her unspoken instruction. The slave was ripped from his perch and slammed into the walls of his cage, he began emitting blood curdling screams.

The cat looked up perturbed and trotted over to the cage to join the two masters. He lifted up onto his back paws, placing his front on the bars of the cage. Those with a gift for auristics would have the ability to see the molded film slowly envelope the entire structure and then in a blink of the eye the sound ceased. The slave’s distress never halted, merely the sound. The cat wandered back to his seat.

Tieh nodded, “Thank you Wizard Thomas for the assist.” She walked back up to the podium and Draunbrach returned to his own seat, “Now when this behavior occurs during an experiment when consent has already been granted it is safe to continue, but should these physicalities be displayed prior to beginning the project it is best to wait. The reason it is best to delay any such experiments on unruly subjects is error due to this erratic behavior.” To the audience the only female Master present bowed her head gently, “That concludes my portion of the presentations. I will now accept questions.”"

[Thomas Cosa]

Wide and spacious, designed centuries ago by an architect who had probably been someone important, the lecture hall wasn't anything less than immaculate. In fact, the impressiveness of the ancient room almost demanded it -- but it seemed the wizards in the room were only too happy to ignore the aesthetics, instead happily gossiping between themselves, excitedly waiting for what was to come.

At least, most of them were.

"Just shut up, Laria," Thomas shushed the Eypharian to his right, "We're already here, Cid is here, so just shut up, and enjoy -- ."

"This is the biggest waste of the time, Thomas," Laria shot back, two pairs of arms crossed, one of her free hands pointing accusingly at his chest, "You spend all of summer doing -- 'researching'," she quoted the word, emphasizing the sarcasm that weighed her tone, "Is what you told me, you say, 'Oh, Laria, you need not come to the Lab today or tomorrow or maybe ever!' You say, 'Oh, Laria, I research so many things, so many useful golems, and we will build them soon.' But you never say when, or what, or tell me any details -- but you do say, 'yes, I am thinking it is the most wonderful idea to be listening to the corpses talk about the morality and the ethics," she huffed, rolling her eyes pointedly, "Because, yes, they know so much about these things."

"Avalis knows you're so...so stubborn! Maybe, just maybe, they're lecturing on this specific topic of a reason?" Thomas paused, looking at the gathered wizards, "And besides, Cid was the one who mentioned the lecture; we work closely with Lab 15, showing up and having him see us, supporting him, it's what we should do -- on top of that, look, including Cid there's at least two pulsers presenting. Don't you think that'll make the presentation at least more relatable?"

"Yes, I am thinking the presentation will be more relatable because we all share having a beating heart," Laria scoffed, now all arms crossed, "This is being a waste of time because, and I will tell you, no one cares -- not even you, whatever you are thinking. All this nonsense of caring and thinking of others, especially a slave or a test subject, is just going end with you dead and me in your lab."

Thomas decidedly held his tongue, no longer interested in caring on the argument -- they were already here, and it wasn't like either of them were leaving now. He had noted the golem at the entrance, and figured they were there to make sure there weren't any interruptions today. Not even Laria would try and leave during a master's lecture.

Instead, he focused on the growing silence behind him -- the doors had shut, rather loudly, and it seemed like something interesting was coming down the aisle to his left -- was the lecture already starting?

"The cat is a wizard??" Laria hissed, surprise coloring her tone. Something very similar to a tabby was sauntering down the aisle towards the stage -- proudly wearing the silver that marked wizards on the isle around it's neck.

"No...no, it can't be any old cat..." Thomas murmured, his magic already pulsing through his body. He breathed deeply as he forced the magic into his eyes, the world blurring momentarily before it exploded in colored textures, heavy smells and sonorous tastes.

"It's a nuit."

"No!" She gasped, almost loudly, "Surely...they would be putting themselves into a body like that willingly, no? What...," the Ephyarian paused, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "It is not a shifter, are you sure?"

Thomas nodded, the corpse's aura unnaturally still, extraordinary silence in lieu of music ringing rhythmically marking the creature as absolutely not alive. Besides, it's aura was too large for something as simple as a cat -- well, simple in comparison to a human or nuitm anyway. It shined too -- marking it an a wizard, but Thomas hardly needed auristics for that anyway. They were on Sahova, anyhow.
...
Hearing the floor was now open to questions, he cleared his throat and stood, "Um, yes. I wondered on your thoughts regarding more...," he paused, considering his wording, "well, I suppose, I'd like more clarification on what you considered consent, Master Tieh. I noted that the subject was caged, anyway, and surely, keeping subjects secure during experimentation would prevent any misinterpretation of the collected data? Could 'consent' very from magic to magic, or even experiment to experiment?"

Truth be told, Thomas was more interested in what the master considered 'consent' to be -- he hadn't heard even the slightest 'yes' from the subject, or even a nod. But, then, he would have to remember things were different on Sahova. Better to get a clarification than assume, at any rate.

[Rayage]

Rayage began to wonder why she even decided to show up to the lecture. Perhaps it was the subject at hand? Perhaps it was the appeal of the people speaking? Perhaps it was idle curiosity on what such wizards thought of the “Ethics of using living test subjects”. The entire topic was something of an ironic cosmic joke. Everyone knew that Sahovans, or the vast majority of the Isle, did not care about test subjects, only results. Sahova, the institution, only cared about results. As long as results in the promised research could be reached, then such practices could be easily overlooked. Sahova was a place of magic and science, not of ethics and empathy.

The alchemist had made it a point, despite her wavering intentions, to be among the first to show up at the lecture hall. She made it a point to leave early, and to arrive early, and so she managed to obtain a seat near the front of the hall. Not the front row, but close enough so she could listen intently as to what the other masters had to say. She sat there, and waited. And as she waited she watched, the looked at the other nuit as the filed in, busy conversation about the topic at hand, busy assumptions, some seemed just as amused as Ray was about the premise of the event. Were they, Sahovan Wizards, going to discuss Ethics? It amused her to no end, as Sahova was the place that allowed her research to go on uncharted, where other places had her research an abomination.

Soon enough though the room was filled with the empty and commonplace chatter of the crowd and the assembly was almost full. The wizard spotted out of the crowd a few familiar faces, but made no motion to them, or even acknowledged them beyond the initial glace of the crowd. Humans were here, perhaps eager to hear the news regarding their fates if they mess up on the island. The wizard sneered and turned her attention back to the front, where she watched a tabby cat take a seat in on the panel of speakers. It was curious, but odder things were witnessed in the isle of magic.

Then the lecture began with a short introduction, as if introductions were needed, but nonetheless it was a formality. Sahova was fond of formalities, and it seemed that everyone had something to say about living test subjects, including people who Ray would have highly doubted ever used one in their prolonged life. So, she is going to be lectured to by a bunch of people with their opinions and morals as if they were somehow better? The concept of consent was dubious as best, even as the other wizard described it. The whole act, the void portal, everything seemed pointless. Why were they even discussing a topic that was clear in Sahova? Was there a group of sympathizers out there? A group trying to stop human or living experimentation? The thought amused the wizard as she listened passively.

Finally the female master bowed, and her part was over… whatever it was. Rayage was slightly entertained, but what was the purpose behind this assembly? Paranoia started to eat away at the wizards thoughts, as any change in policy would drastically affect her ability to work.

x

[Orinei]

It seemed like half the island was headed to the lecture hall, walking either at the languid, unhurried pace of a Nuit or the frenetic steps of a pulser. As Orinei left her small chamber, she took care to join the throng without drawing attention to herself, falling into step behind a small group of Nuits dressed in black. She let herself be invisible, observing those around her; there seemed to be a bit of contention about the topic of this lecture.

Following the group, she had ended up arriving not first, nor last—exactly how she wanted. This way, she could enter the room fairly unnoticed. She was already small in stature, and surrounded by other wizards taking their places, her swirling velvet skirt blended with the cloaks and other garb around her. She stood about a head shorter than most of the people around her, which let her lank blonde hair, falling out in spots, be hidden in the shoulders of her fellow Sahovans.

Now, Orinei wasn’t generally one to hide her face. Quite the contrary, actually. She normally held her head proud and high, cosmetics applied each day to hide some of the grey pallor that overtook the skin of the Nuit. But it would have been obvious to any Nuit around her that she was in need of a new body. It wasn’t a dire situation yet, but the previous few seasons had definitely taken their toll on her: her skin was grey, the rouge applied to her cheeks unnaturally pink. Her hair hung around her face, thinning in patches, falling from its braid. The dark circles under her eyes were reminiscent of an inky sky, the color of Sahova’s occasional thunderstorm. If she had her way, no one would be allowed to see her. In fact, she rarely left the Palsa Hydrasa these days. The right body just hadn’t found its way to her yet, she reasoned.

But still, she had left of her own accord to attend the lecture. The ethics of living test subjects. She was musing about the topic, pondering what exactly she’d be learning today. The living were a bit out of her realm of interest, after all. She spent her time with the dead and the undead. Life held meaning to her so far as immortality—and how to make the undead look more alive. As the doors slammed shut behind her, she took a seat near the back of the room in a row that hadn’t quite filled up yet.

The first thing she noticed was the cat, and its silver chain complete with wizard’s ring. She cocked her head to the side slightly, brows furrowed, wondering what cat could possibly be a wizard. Vaguely, she realized that the cat must be a Nuit, but why would one ever take the body of an animal? It was certainly nothing she’d ever considered. Necessity, she supposed, could drive one to do so—but here, on Sahova, where there were plenty of spare bodies to be had? An experiment, then, she supposed, but still felt slightly chilled by the thought. As an embalmer, she placed beauty of the body on rather a pedestal. The thought of being covered in fur—and only ankle height—was enough to wrinkle her nose at.

Master Tieh took the stage, and Orinei watched and listened with a slightly bemused expression. Tieh was a human, too, she noted as the woman began speaking, gesturing at the caged human. She watched the voiding demonstration with interest; it wasn’t often she got to witness such magic, being in the embalming chambers. A bit of Glyphing and Reimancy, yes, but nothing quite like this. As the circle grew and the subject began to thrash about and scream, her calm and passive expression never changed. She did, however, begin to ponder what “consent” truly meant.

As other wizards began asking questions, Orinei remained silent. The man in the cage hadn’t shown any part of what she would have considered consent. Then again, she felt aloof about consent by the living in general. Why would a test subject even care what happened? Their life is but a flash as it is. They’ve got to know that as soon as they arrive, she thought, raising her eyebrows as the cat silenced the man. Sure, consent might have been a nice and friendly concept. But in her eyes, the subject wasn’t likely to live long enough to think much about whatever consent they’d given.

She had no questions as Master Tieh concluded her demonstration, but her mind began to wander on how living subjects could enhance her own work. Embalm them before they’re dead, she mused. Maybe a body would last longer if you started while it was alive. She waited patiently, listening intently to hear Tieh’s answers.

OOC :

Feeling rusty! Hope it was all okay, haha!

[Ink]


Tieh nodded as Wizard Thomas spoke, “An acceptable question. Consent is accepting the premise of the experiment verbally, telepathically, or in written form at any time prior to the experiment commencing. Verbal is the most common by leagues. As for ‘why’ there are different reasons given each discipline. For some it certainly matters less, there are restraints than can accomplish the same ends as consent. What of Malediction though? Where betrayal can enhance or distort desired properties. Not to mention gaining an account of their experience from a surviving test subject can only be harmed by lasting bitterness. Using subjects are expected to survive is not my topic though, Master Draunbrach ” It was an oddly flimsy excuse from a skilled lecturer such as Master Tieh. Almost intentionally flimsy, but that was purely conjecture on anyone’s part.

Perhaps it was wise, or maybe the opposite that Master Rayage did not voice her apathy. Her paranoid conclusions were more correct than she could know. This lecture made little sense in the grand scheme of Sahova where consent had never been even a passing-thought in the past. What ethics still constrained the uncaring undead?

As for the cat, Thomas, who a number of nuits seemed to be curiously watching, he was lounging in his appointed chair after his display of shielding. The cat seemed as much, if not more, apathetic to the whole ordeal than Rayage. The apathy might have been racially indicative though. For those that auristically observed the cat, they might note there was a small drain on his djed. He wasn’t in fact transferred into the feline body, he was a morpher. A morphing wizard that was licking his paws.

Tieh settled in her seat as Milton ambled up to the podium. For those few who had actually encountered the Nuit they would find this particular tasking of him to be beyond the pale. He was well known for being laconic in the extreme, few had ever heard him talk at all. Then again few ever sought out his assistance, and fewer still survived the experience. When he finally spoke his voice was raspy, as if from disuse. “Live Test Subjects are a quantifiable resource. Use them with efficiency. Do not disregard their value and scarcity.” That seemed all he had intended to say, as the Reimancer turned back towards his chair both Tieh and Aelobius were looking at him expectantly. Somehow looking yet again less amused Milton turned back to the podium. “Questions?”

Its was by and far shorter than Tieh’s lecture, in fact it was shorter than Tieh’s answer to Thomas had been. That didn’t stop a voice from chiming in, the paranoia of a mage held on edge for this particular Nuit, “Are you saying we will be overseen on our projects?”

The filled chairs around the questioner seemed to inch away from him. For all that the question was interesting, no one wanted to be near him if the answer sent him over the edge. Milton replied lazily, sardonically, “You assumed you ever weren’t? You are a less expendable Sahovan resource than the test subjects. Resources are finite.”

The questioner quieted and the tension eased when he didn’t crack. It was an understood principle that few ever felt the need to overtly state. Apparently the questioner in this case, had been less concerned with synthesizing his surroundings than experimenting. It could have proved a fatal misstep in another circumstance.

Milton looked out at the audience as if waiting for others to say something equally inept.

[Rayage]

Rayage sat there listening to the drivel. What utter nonsense was this? What was Sahova coming to if they suddenly cared about how they treated life on the island? Didn’t they have golems because life was sometimes too fragile for the jobs around the island. However, she did recognize that golems had their distinct advantages and disadvantages, she did not think for a moment that a proper replacement was to be a more ‘ethical’ treatment of the living here. It was because of Qiao and his stance that the island had enjoyed many years of research. What is this place coming to?

She fidgeted in her spot, almost uncomfortable. Her thoughts were begging to become words, but she would have to hold it in. She would not let an outburst affect her position in the citadel. Was Qiaos hold on the wizards waning? Was the council becoming powerless? Was the archwizard regaining prominence? If so, it spelled bad news for the longtime supporters of Qiao. Although they were all enjoying the benefits of the island, some, like Rayage, enjoyed it more than others because of their political affiliations. It was well known that she was a ‘lapdog’ of Qiao, and would do research unquestionably towards whatever goals he might have in mind. A change in the current could very well take her out of the plushy lifestyle she had grown accustomed to. The very thought bothered her, shook her to the core. Her research will be hindered, and that she could not allow.

Experiments regarding life were perhaps some of the most expensive things to fund. Life, was to be bought in the form of slaves, and the slaves would have to be shipped, and then upkept. Life was a struggle on the island, that they all knew, which is why all serious wizards preferred to shed their life in favor of the nuit undeath. Life, ironically, was so much easier as an undead.

She endured though, sitting there listening to dumb question after another. If the populace of this island was so ignorant then it was no wonder that Sahova hasn’t conquered a pebble off the island since its creation. For once, she found herself agreeing with the speaker as she glared angrily at the person who asked such a stupid question. Of course they were being supervised on their projects. Rayage knew this on day one, as Qiao had made that very clear to her when she ‘adopted’ the lab she still finds herself in.

x