"You have to be alive to enjoy having power," he points out, glancing her way. "Whole countries don't just start wiping their neighbours out when it's mutually assured destruction on both sides."
Who would escalate a conflict when the price for it is a habitable planet?
But then he thinks of Burners and their willingness to sacrifice themselves and everyone around them to make a point. All the same, even burners have limits. They want the freedom to have books in every household, and they can't do that if they bombed said households off the map, poisoning the land to the point people have to fly to the moon to find a place to live.
The idea is enough to make Jess' spine tingle uncomfortably. Imagining leaving behind all of the feats of human ingenuity behind and watching it be destroyed is too sad.
"The Library exists to prevent that very thing from happening. Preserving knowledge comes before everything else. That makes a book worth more than a life, and protecting culture and history more important than a war." His movements slow as gives into the thought and follows it to its conclusion. "It's supposed to be anathema to attack a library--it's been enough to stop battles mid-conflict if the Library feels moved to intervene. I'll be the first to say this sounds impossible, but... the way you describe things makes me think of what the world would be like if the Library wasn't there to arbitrate. If it was left to chaos."
It's eerie, if he's being honest. Raven's hints about her life have always been eerie, but the more he hears, the stronger the impression grows. He sighs.
"We're the chimpanzees and these are our tools," he says finally, looking down at the slim pickings on the tables.
no subject
Who would escalate a conflict when the price for it is a habitable planet?
But then he thinks of Burners and their willingness to sacrifice themselves and everyone around them to make a point. All the same, even burners have limits. They want the freedom to have books in every household, and they can't do that if they bombed said households off the map, poisoning the land to the point people have to fly to the moon to find a place to live.
The idea is enough to make Jess' spine tingle uncomfortably. Imagining leaving behind all of the feats of human ingenuity behind and watching it be destroyed is too sad.
"The Library exists to prevent that very thing from happening. Preserving knowledge comes before everything else. That makes a book worth more than a life, and protecting culture and history more important than a war." His movements slow as gives into the thought and follows it to its conclusion. "It's supposed to be anathema to attack a library--it's been enough to stop battles mid-conflict if the Library feels moved to intervene. I'll be the first to say this sounds impossible, but... the way you describe things makes me think of what the world would be like if the Library wasn't there to arbitrate. If it was left to chaos."
It's eerie, if he's being honest. Raven's hints about her life have always been eerie, but the more he hears, the stronger the impression grows. He sighs.
"We're the chimpanzees and these are our tools," he says finally, looking down at the slim pickings on the tables.