Fic: 'In the Name of Knowledge'
Apr. 1st, 2015 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Author:
irishvampire13
Title: 'In the Name of Knowledge'
Rating: G
Word Count: 527
Prompt/Chosen character: The Rani, amorality. (from
astrogirl2)
Notes/Warnings: None
Summary: Knowledge is worth any price, morality be damned.
I stand alone in my laboratory, surrounded by the equipment and notes I require for my latest experiments. Everything is running smoothly.
I am alone, yes. But not lonely. I'm never something as ordinary as lonely. I neither have nor need friends; my scientific instruments are all the friends I desire. Anything else would serve as an unnecessary distraction. Anything else would require emotional investment.
There is no room in science for such things. What I do must have my full focus and dedication. I would pity anyone who lives differently, if I could be bothered to spare the attention. But I've found that there are benefits to being cold and analytical.
Such qualities make me immune to the criticisms I've been forced to face from my would-be "peers".
Peers. They hardly qualify, with their prejudices and their petty jealousies.
And, oh, they are jealous. Jealous of my hard-won knowledge, jealous of the things they themselves fear to learn, lest they soil their hands or break a sweat.
The exertion would be good for them. Not that they care. They'd rather heap condemnation on my shoulders.
My detractors call me amoral with derisive sneers, or with horrified shudders. They mean it to be an insult; I consider it a compliment. Science is, by its very nature, amoral.
Let the narrow-minded cretins scorn my efforts. As though their opinions could mean anything to me. I know what I'm doing.
I defy anyone to name a dozen scientific discoveries that were made without ignoring such useless concepts as scruples and ethics. They'd have a difficult time of it. How many scientists, I wonder, have not committed sabotage, theft...even murder...all in the cause of furthering their own knowledge?
Knowledge is worth any price, morality be damned.
Morals are for those with no stomach to do what needs to be done. Anyone who would let themselves be bound by such idiotic notions is a coward.
I am many things. But a coward will never be one of them. There is so much to learn in this universe. There are so many questions to be answered. Someone must have the courage, the drive, to ask those questions, to uncover those answers.
If no one else will make the effort, then I see no reason why I should not.
Yes, let others criticize and complain about my lack of ethics. Let them stand back in fear of progress. My experiments never cast judgment on me. Nor do the subjects of those experiments.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, there. I don't know. I've never cared enough to wonder what my subjects might think of my work. It's entirely possible that they object to what I do. That they object to being used in such ways, without their permission. Without their willingness.
Very well. Let them object, if they so desire. But let them keep their views to themselves. Arguments can be dealt with. But the aftermath of those arguments tends to be...untidy. Inconvenient.
I'd just as soon not squander valuable time and effort on such trivialities. The work, the results, come first, now and always.
Nothing else matters. Nothing else ever did.
Nothing else ever will.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Title: 'In the Name of Knowledge'
Rating: G
Word Count: 527
Prompt/Chosen character: The Rani, amorality. (from
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Notes/Warnings: None
Summary: Knowledge is worth any price, morality be damned.
I stand alone in my laboratory, surrounded by the equipment and notes I require for my latest experiments. Everything is running smoothly.
I am alone, yes. But not lonely. I'm never something as ordinary as lonely. I neither have nor need friends; my scientific instruments are all the friends I desire. Anything else would serve as an unnecessary distraction. Anything else would require emotional investment.
There is no room in science for such things. What I do must have my full focus and dedication. I would pity anyone who lives differently, if I could be bothered to spare the attention. But I've found that there are benefits to being cold and analytical.
Such qualities make me immune to the criticisms I've been forced to face from my would-be "peers".
Peers. They hardly qualify, with their prejudices and their petty jealousies.
And, oh, they are jealous. Jealous of my hard-won knowledge, jealous of the things they themselves fear to learn, lest they soil their hands or break a sweat.
The exertion would be good for them. Not that they care. They'd rather heap condemnation on my shoulders.
My detractors call me amoral with derisive sneers, or with horrified shudders. They mean it to be an insult; I consider it a compliment. Science is, by its very nature, amoral.
Let the narrow-minded cretins scorn my efforts. As though their opinions could mean anything to me. I know what I'm doing.
I defy anyone to name a dozen scientific discoveries that were made without ignoring such useless concepts as scruples and ethics. They'd have a difficult time of it. How many scientists, I wonder, have not committed sabotage, theft...even murder...all in the cause of furthering their own knowledge?
Knowledge is worth any price, morality be damned.
Morals are for those with no stomach to do what needs to be done. Anyone who would let themselves be bound by such idiotic notions is a coward.
I am many things. But a coward will never be one of them. There is so much to learn in this universe. There are so many questions to be answered. Someone must have the courage, the drive, to ask those questions, to uncover those answers.
If no one else will make the effort, then I see no reason why I should not.
Yes, let others criticize and complain about my lack of ethics. Let them stand back in fear of progress. My experiments never cast judgment on me. Nor do the subjects of those experiments.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, there. I don't know. I've never cared enough to wonder what my subjects might think of my work. It's entirely possible that they object to what I do. That they object to being used in such ways, without their permission. Without their willingness.
Very well. Let them object, if they so desire. But let them keep their views to themselves. Arguments can be dealt with. But the aftermath of those arguments tends to be...untidy. Inconvenient.
I'd just as soon not squander valuable time and effort on such trivialities. The work, the results, come first, now and always.
Nothing else matters. Nothing else ever did.
Nothing else ever will.
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