"Ethics is difficult to explain without analogies which you won't have context for." Self looked up, the gentle click of the door closing coming shortly after the pause in Efre's words. "I have experience teaching etiquette to the loop-bound ... that is, those who have been through the loop. I've listened to Roshe a few times, but ..."

Self observed the changes in Efre's facial expressions. This was likely sorrow, one of the states - emotions - mentioned during the etiquette lessons. There would be more lessons on all three subjects, all building on the others.

"This will be somewhat different than Roshe's lessons, which would have focused on our own ethics, by which I mean the djinn ethics. My own focus is on how people interact, so I should play to that strength. So, to begin with, ethics concerns how you behave, much like etiquette. Etiquette is largely informal, with formal elements. Ethics is largely formal, with informal elements.

"They both concern how a person behaves, but etiquette is largely about how we behave towards others in our daily interactions, and is an arbitrary set of rules agreed upon by a community - that is, it doesn't necessarily make sense to ask why the rules are the way they are, they are the way they are because they are what we have all agreed upon. Ethics is largely about why we ought to behave in particular manners at all.

"There is a sense in which the reasons themselves are arbitrary, although Roshe probably wouldn't agree ... wouldn't have agreed about that. Djinn ethics are concerned with obligation, with duty, and ultimately derive from necessity; those of us who aren't loop-bound need to eat, need to sleep, need to experience a sense of security, need to experience a sense of community. We have requirements we must fulfill.

"There are specific things that need to be performed to accomplish these things. Hunters must bring back meat, gatherers must bring back vegetables. We have those who enforce the obligations, in case of errant individuals who choose not to fulfill their obligations, or even seek to act against them.

"We'll get into obligations later today, but it is necessary to bring up those who act against obligation; who choose to hurt others. They are few in number, but can cause considerable issue. You ... killed some of us, yesterday, out of ignor ... out of ignorance." Another facial expression, a new one. Efre took a slow breath in, and out again, before resuming.

"Some people do this on purpose. We have an obligation not to do this; an obligation born out of the obligations others have met, in order to bring that person the food, the water, the safety, the shelter that enables life.

"The peri have an ethics derived of contracts, which they call geis. Their concept of obligation is that which is agreed to. It is very formalized, and a peri wouldn't give you a drink of water without a signed contract. Never sign a contract with the peri, their geis have a power that can harm even the loop-bound if broken, and what you agree to is never what you thought.

"The societies of div and man don't have ethics, at least as other civilized society would see it. Div societies are ... a chain of strength, with the strongest leading, and having no obligation to those weaker. I can't speak of a single society of man, they are chaotic and unruly, but generally their ethics are a list of rules, and the rules vary from community to community. They are a fascinating people to observe, as their etiquette and ethics vary so much from place to place.

"The strength of djinn ethics, compared to that of the peri, is that everyone has a place, from which to develop and grow as they see fit. I was once Arte, and it did not suit me." A name, among a few, which meant an obligation to cleanliness. "I became Efre. I may become another, if someday I am not suited to this name, although remember that it is impolite to speak of others' past or future names.

"Peri are locked by their contracts into roles in their society. When their leaders grow incapable, and cannot fulfill their duties appropriately, they continue to lead anyways, as none can replace them before their deaths. The wisest among them have a contracted servant whose duty it is to kill them when they grow incapable, but their society rewards cunning over wisdom.

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"But they, like the djinn, have loop-bound, and you may be able to see why the ethics of our societies permits us to have those more powerful than ourselves among us. We teach our loop-bound; the peri bind them in contract. The div would never do such a thing, for it would be to make another stronger. Man lacks capability, but I suspect their ethics are equally insufficient to the task of creating harmony between the weak and the strong.

"Harmony arising from the mutual fulfillment of needs, both of necessity, and what might be called comfort. The peri might write contracts of mutual necessity, but you do not need to be comfortable to live. Under such a contract, it would be permissible to do terrible things to others, if you could do so without fear of retribution, so long as you didn't impair their ability to live.

"Our ethics rises above that. We owe one another a debt of community, an obligation to make each and every one of us as happy and fulfilled as possible. We are each as ... ah. We are each ... hm." Efre's speech came to a stumbling halt. "This is difficult without analogy. Your obligation is one of protection; should the peri send soldiers here, you would be obligated to stand against them. They would be contracted to fight to the death; you would be obligated to defend us.

"But your obligation is not to fight to the death. It is to defend our community. If you could not win the fight, you would be obligated to slow them down, that we might escape. If you could not slow them down, your obligation would be to flee, for you are as much part of this community as any one of us, and you owe yourself the same obligation of protection, and if only one of us might survive, that is more protection of the community than that none of us should.

The peri, in a situation where only their soldiers might be able to escape, would all perish." Efre's face turned upward, eyes closing. "It is an ugly way of life, and I saw many, when I began this role and sought to understand others. I do not like div society, as uncivilized as it is, but I think even it is preferable to the kind of civilization the peri have.

But that's not what you are here to learn today. The idea that you owe yourself the same obligation you owe any of us is important to our ethics. Now, if another was hungry, and you had extra food, would you provide it?"

This began a series of simple questions. Self got as many right as wrong, at first, before learning to ask questions. Efre's expression remained constant until the first question, which was quickly followed by another.

"What is the meaning, when your mouth moves like that?" The expression intensified; a change in the mouth and eyes.

"Ah. I had wondered when you might begin asking; it is a smile." And the questions then began alternating with different facial expressions, with an explanation of what they meant. An hour passed this way, and then another, until Efre seemed satisfied with the answers.

"I think that is enough ethics for today; as you might be coming to understand, ethics is more about how we arrive at an answer, rather than what the answer is. What is right or wrong depends on circumstances, and how we evaluate them." There had been a lengthy period of time when the discussion had turned to when it was acceptable to kill, which seemed to focus most heavily on the reasons for making a choice, rather than the choice which was made. "Now we really need to discuss obligations, but I think I should break for a meal. Meditate on the lessons."

Self said nothing as Efre disappeared through the door with another quiet click. The patterns in the questions, the patterns in the correct choice, were not always obvious; Self had a sense of recognition without understanding, as when considering the idea of how leaving a loop before entering it might be more like a spiral than a circle.

Considering the earlier lesson on etiquette, Self could understand it a little bit better in terms of ethics. Both came from the same kind of obligation, to comport with the way others expected of you. Ethics seemed more focused on things that were more relevant; the rules of etiquette weren't necessarily important, but someone who felt no sense of obligation to follow the little rules which didn't matter that much, it could be dangerous to expect them to feel a sense of obligation to follow the more important rules.

Self understood, a little bit, which felt ... unusual. Perhaps Self would ask ethical questions tomorrow; it might be helpful to understand the concepts, which were much more complex than any previous concepts Self had encountered. Many of the later questions, as Self had identified how to answer them, would have been more helpful had they been asked earlier; they illustrated things Self hadn't considered before.

Obligation would be next. Self was uncertain about the idea of being a protector, but the course of the last few hours had given rise to awareness of many new concepts. More. Self had become more, and would become more than this.