Chương 1012: Day One Thousand And Ten

Dear Diary, Yeah, the whole thing with Aphrodite has me arguing with myself. Literally, spent all day long while I should have been focused on the Cadets tryna figure out what I ought to do. No, wait, not exactly 'what I ought to do', because my dilemma is more basic than that. Because before you figure out what you're gonna do, you have to define the problem and shit. Which, if I'm being completely honest with myself, Aphrodite kinda is. A problem, that is.

Seriously, by any reasonable read on the situation, she'd be a criminal of some kind back in the day. I'm not exactly sure if she's technically a criminal by Phileo standards, because they've got that whole 'religious freedom' thing going on. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully for everybody's right to Worship whoever they want, or not Worship at all if that's what they'd rather do.

I almost said 'however they want', but while I'm obviously fine with stuff like Revels, and gathering and singing or praying or whatever is fine too, I think I gotta draw a line when it comes to shit where 'Worship' takes the form of involving some third party in a way they don't want to be involved. Obviously 'sacrificing captives' is an extreme case, but pretty much everything where somebody gets roped into something religious against their will really ought to qualify.

Thing is, there's also nuance to that shit, as there is with every fuckin' thing in the world. Like, okay, even with the 'sacrificing someone', Phileo's got laws about that shit. While I don't want a world where anybody ever feels like 'dying to get the fam some cash' is a viable option, I can totally see where somebody whose family has some housing insecurity might feel like 'buy my family a house, free and clear, and I'll let you tie me in the wicker man while it burns' is a good deal.

So if that's something where my correct solution is 'make sure nobody is pressured by circumstance to offer themselves as a for-pay sacrifice', I gotta be real careful about pushing 'no proselytizing' ideals. Because lemme tell you, there were some days when I desperately needed to lower my stress level back in the day, and I couldn't get half an hour of peace and quiet because the door to door salvation salesmen were out in force.

You can only get interrupted by 'knock knock, hi there, have you heard the Good Word, no don't shut the door we wanna talk your ear off' two or three times before you give up and put the batteries back in the console controller. Fuck it. Maybe the whole economic incentive thing is the right way to go. If you gotta pay somebody to listen to the bullshit, which at least here and now it has the potential to be less delusional bullshit, that might give some Clergy pause when it comes to 'annoy people into joining us'.

Shit, I always thought the whole 'forcing homeless people to go to church for a bed' was pretty sus, but at least room and board is some kind of compensation. Yeah, I've wandered way the fuck off track with that, but the short version is that if Aphrodite were Human, I'd be prosecuting her for some kind of Consent violation. Y'know, that's not a half bad idea.

Seriously, I've got plenty of brain controlling mojo my own self, and I frankly let my ladies run me around like a puppet way more often than I've even thought about asking them, let alone actually done it. So maybe I need to do that. Figure out some kind of Consent crime and charge her with it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Fuck. I was thinking along the lines of 'charge her with a crime, then let the Justice System handle it'.

Then I remembered the whole fuckin' Holy War and duBois talking to me about it afterward. As uncopacetic as it makes me to think it, here and now Heroes and 'nobles' are the justice system. Fuck, I've even taken part in that shit, specifically helping Heir Lancaster with executing eight fucktards for the same kinda crime as I'm thinking of charging Aphrodite with. So no fobbing this off on somebody else for your girl Tabitha.

Thing is, the closest thing here and now has to codified law is the Law and Custom books in Phileo, plus any religious law. Which... Fuck, again, I have a written Doctrine. Okay, yeah, I gotta figure out what the right thing to do for, to, and with Aphrodite is. I got no fuckin' clue, and I need to find one. Several, really, if I want to do anything with a sense of confidence. But I kinda knew that already. So after running Cadets around doing basic if hard core PT all day, I got home in time for dinner.

Marie made us some nice stir fry. Veggies, meat, noodles, just a nice overall mix. I think the kits traded some of their veggies to the rest of the girls in exchange for more meat, but just so long as neither group is completely forgoing some kind of nutrients, it's all good. That got me thinking. After dinner we all trooped up to the Bath, and I thought, ladies? Quick conference please? My partners all turned to look at me, and Saffron thought, what did you need to talk about, love?

I'm hoping I can get all your help deciding how to deal with Aphrodite. And by 'all', I'm talking all my High Clergy. A few moments later, Karen thought, we're listening, Goddess. Yeah, I kinda wanted you doing more talking than listening. I sighed, then followed that with, but I guess that's why I get Clergy, huh? Saffron leaned over Siobhan to lay her fingers on my arm. While this is a decision you must make, we are here to support you in any way you need, love.

I lay there in the water, just thinking, until I started to maybe get a little sleepy. At which point Karen thought, so, what kind of support did you need? Something about the maybe suggestive way she thought that made me chuckle, and for no apparent reason that knocked the logjam out of my brain. Okay, here's the thing. I don't want people getting away with shady shit because they're powerful.

At the same time, if we're gonna be holding her accountable, I'd really like some backing in something other than the Doctrine. I mean, the Doctrine's pretty clear on that, but I don't want the Doctrine substituting for actual Laws. Most of my ladies responded with some degree of shock to that, an echo of Saffron first realizing that I meant what I said about Egalitarianism. My Tiny Tyrant herself, however, just smoothly inserted the thought, I told you so, ladies.

Also, Tabitha, you'll be glad to know that the Grand Council has long since approved a set of resolutions whereby any laws enacted must apply to all persons equally. Really? Cool. Okay, I need some of you guys to comb through the laws to see if there are any Aphrodite broke. I need the rest of you talking with her old Worshippers to see if any of them have any kind of lasting trauma from the shit she pulled. After a quick pause, I thought, that's just about it at this point, though.

We need to figure out what she actually did wrong. When I felt Saffron tense, I smiled at her and thought, it goes both ways, Kitten. Holding the powerful accountable for abuse of their power means not just executing them for being powerful. Not sure if I was more proud of myself for coming up with that little bon mot, amused by Saffron's pouty lip and quiet, fine, or terrified by the way she muttered, "ledger."