“Was that really your trump card?” Andie’s ego frowned. “Asking me what it means to be better than someone?”
“It was certainly check, but we’ve not yet reached mate.” Cedric’s grin vanished in a split second, snapping back to his resting, flat expression. “It’s still your move, Andie. Answer the question.”
“Chess metaphors. Really? Way to be a stereotype.” Andie’s ego folded her arms. “And don’t you prefer Go?”
“Chess has better metaphors… also our school doesn’t have a Go club.”
“Isn’t there like an app or something that you could -”
“Andie. I’m not letting you change the topic.” Cedric stared at Andie with an uncomfortable level of focus. “Answer the question.”
“I can’t, okay!” Andie’s ego threw up her arms. “There. Are you happy?”
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“Occasionally. I usually prefer being ‘content’ - something I have been feeling quite often lately. A change I would like to share.” The icy purple dog ears on Cedric’s head flickered slightly. “So let’s continue. What makes someone better than someone else? Are you better than me because you’re more physically adept than me?”
“What? No!”
“Are you better than Dyllan because you’re smarter than him?”
“Again, no! And I don’t like stating I’m smarter than Dyllan like it’s just a known fact.”
“I’ll agree that intelligence is harder to measure than physical talents, but that’s not the point. So. What about morality? Does being more moral than someone make you better than them?”
“I…” Andie’s ego paused. “Maybe? No, no. That’s not right either.”
“Then, perhaps, just maybe… could it be impossible for any one person to be better than another?”
“Yes! That! Being better than someone isn’t really a thing - it’s just something people think they are!”
“So arrogance is falsely believing that some quality you posses somehow makes you more valuable than others?” A glint flashed in Cedric’s eyes. “A quality like, perhaps, being a ‘hero’?”
“Exactly!” Andie’s ego’s response came suddenly, and caught Cedric off guard. “Heroes aren’t supposed to want to be heroes!”