Chapter 22: The Trolley Problem, by Philippa Foot and Judith Jarvis Thomson

September 28, 2652 – 365 Days Before Judgment Day

It was a bright and sunny day in New Haven and the whole city knew it. Everywhere you looked, people were out going out and about their day, energetically living out their best lives by trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else. Ah, healthy competition. There’s nothing better for the mind and body.

In the empty and deserted streets of District 4, Aaron was running from shop to shop, desperately searching for a set of armor which would allow him to help his friends but there were no more sets as everything had been depleted. He knew the chances were basically non-existent but that didn’t stop him from trying anyway.

After their disastrous defeat at the Canto Mountains, the trio respawned at the foot of Mt. Inferno with empty pockets and zero hope. At first, Aaron couldn’t stop apologizing and his friends would assure him that there was nothing to forgive but after a while, he stopped apologizing and started quietly sobbing as his grief overwhelmed him and his mind shut down.

With more concern for their friend than their own personal well-being, Lucius and Riley held his hands and together, they departed on a train back to New Haven. During the entire ride back, Aaron said nothing for the experience had broken him. After they got back, they took Aaron home and let him rest.

“Dude, come on. Give it up,” Lucius called from somewhere far behind Aaron. “Let’s just go somewhere nice and have a good time.”

“Yeah,” Riley concurred from beside Lucius. “How about we go to Neo-Atlantis, swim with the whales, and then eat them?”

“No! I’m not giving up!” Aaron insisted while frantically refreshing the Auction House page on his HUD.

Aaron was trying his best but sometimes there’s just nothing you can do. He had tried multiple times to reach out to Virgil but Virgil had been mysteriously offline for the last 16 hours. It didn’t make any sense – no one is offline for that long. The only plausible explanation for an absence that long was if he was dead, which is a very distinct possibility after considering Virgil’s age.

Lucius ran up to Aaron and grabbed him by the arm. Aaron tried to get out but Lucius doubled down.

“Aaron. Look at me,” Lucius demanded as Aaron tried to avoid his gaze. “It’s done. It’s over.”

“It’s not-” Aaron began to say but Lucius interrupted him.

“It is,” Lucius insisted and Aaron’s arm went limp.

Then, Lucius wrapped Aaron up in a hug and said, “It’s okay. We’re okay with this. We fought, we tried our best, and we got way further than we ever thought possible.”

By this time, Riley had caught up to her friends and she said, “Yeah. Honestly? I would have said let’s give up on day 1 if it weren’t for Bee.”

“Speaking of Bee, is Dante going to be all right?” Lucius asked.

“He’s borderline but it looks like he’s going to make it,” Riley replied.

“Good. Good,” said Lucius as he released Aaron from his embrace. “See? It’s not all bad. At least some of our friends are going to make it. If we had made it, then Dante wouldn’t have so all in all, not too bad.”

“We haven’t tried everything yet,” Aaron insisted. “What if we asked Chad?”

“We’re not asking Chad,” Riley uttered as a statement of fact.

“He’d save you for sure,” said Aaron.

“No, he won’t,” Riley rebuffed. “There’s only one thing Chad wants and he’ll lie and say anything to get it. Once he gets that, there is no reason for him to keep his word but even if he would, I still wouldn’t do it because then I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. And then there’s Lucius – what about him? Who’s going to save him?”

“Ordinarily, I’d be the realist here and say something is better than nothing but this is fucking Chad we’re talking about here so I’ll stick with nothing,” said Lucius.

“Yeah, baby! Suicide pact on 1-2-3 WHOO!” Riley cheered.

“But I can’t die with you,” Aaron said bitterly. “The Deep Dive implant won’t let me!”

“Yeah, that sucks, but I guess that means you’re gonna have to live 3 times as hard for the both of us,” said Riley.

“Don’t worry. You’ll make new friends! I’m sure of it,” Lucius assured with a smile.

It was at this point that a familiar series of chimes began to ring, a series of chimes which indicated the release of a server wide announcement. And then, a voice spoke out throughout the Columbus Server.

“The following is a server-wide announcement. Greetings citizens! The time is currently 14:00 pm. After serious deliberation and in consultation with the Balance Council, in accordance to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Columbus Arcology Constitution, it has been determined that a general referendum will be allowed to go forward. As a result, on September 29th from the hours of 09:00 to 16:00, a vote will be held on whether the culling conditions will be changed from the current method to the proposed targeted method regarding culling those on record with customized avatars. There is no longer any need to protest – we have heard your voices loud and clear. Although it has a thoroughly difficult week, we thank you for your passion, patience, and continued understanding,”the Announcer said before the chimes played in reverse, signaling the end of the announcement.

It was like a light just flashed on in Aaron’s eyes.

“Guys,” Aaron began to say before his friends immediately shut that down.

“No,” Riley simply stated while shaking her head.

“It could save you. It WILL save you,” Aaron insisted.

“I’m not killing Bee,” said Lucius.

“You said you were a pragmatist. That’s 2 lives for 1,” Aaron argued.

“Aaron. No,” said Lucius. “I’m not going to do it. I’m not flipping that switch. If I have to die, then so be it – everyone dies, but I am NOT killing Bee.”

“We’re not going to betray our friends. That’s not who we are. That’s not who you are,” said Riley. “So much of life doesn’t make any sense. Like, why do none of us have parents? Why do they raise us and keep us alive when all we do is play video games? Nothing about this server makes any sense but there are still some things that do! I don’t mind competing to live, that’s fair, but I am NOT killing my sister and THAT IS FINAL.”

And with that, the conversation came to an abrupt end.

On September 29, 2652, a general referendum was held to determine who would be culled: either the bottom 20% of the C-ranked cohort or anyone who had a recorded customized avatar and was likely trans. In the end, the measure to change the culling target failed to pass and the C-ranked cohort was voted to continue to be the ones to be culled with the vote failing to pass, 57,987 to 57,989, a difference of only two votes.