Together 2012-12-07

[Atomic]

Yes, she's being manipulated, but moreover, she's being trained -- she's becoming aware of her abilities. For all the cartoonish criticism of various aspects of military training, it comes down to two things: Learning how to do a job, and learning how to do that job despite being cold, tired, and hungry after 20 miles of just getting there to do the job. That's why SEALs, Green Berets and other Spec Ops types train under inhumanely harsh conditions, so they become familiar with all that discomfort and know how they will handle it.

Monica got pushed far enough over the edge that she has a clear idea of that there IS an edge, and where it is. Everything to come now will be more practice. At first, she was lucky to Poit and not hurt herself on landing. Now -- arrives safe and sound with umbrella drink in hand! Then there's Jin... (never mind).

While I'm on topic here, I dug out a little guide about training and experience. Monica is just starting this in a big way:

Skill Rule of Tens -- How many times you repeat something determines your skill at that activity.

One Time – Alert – Something has happened, but you may not be sure what or how to do it.

10 Times – Aware – You have seen and done enough to have a distinct idea of it.

100 Times – Competent – You have an excellent idea of it and can do it with little difficulty.

1,000 Times – Proficient – The task is regular, comfortable, and generally error free. You are aware of variations and their effects on the outcome.

10,000 Times – Expert – The task is automatic. You can easily adjust and correct for changing circumstances.

Of course, if you don't learn or do it correctly, repeating it badly doesn't make you better at it!

M is Competent at Poiting, but just learning to deal with her Fury. She had been Alerted to it.

[as363]

I came - I voted - I read - I left.

[Nimrod]

This just does not make sense to me at all.

OK, then, let's turn this around.

Put yourself in the shoes of Monica's associates (since you object to the term "friends").

You have learned, over the past months, that Monica has enormous latent powers... which have been growing increasingly active. These powers are potent enough to kill... in fact she could kill a great many people very quickly. You have seen her use some of these powers carelessly (sometimes in moments of anger, and sometimes while drunk) in ways which verged on endangering other people (including some people who have no defense at all against them). Several of you have spoken to Monica about how dangerous she is becoming, but she consistently refuses to discuss it... she just denies that there's a problem and diverts the conversation to another subject.

You are very concerned that Monica could kill someone, quite possibly by accident or in a fit of temper.

Oh, and her powers make it almost impossible for anyone to restrain her physically or kill her.

So... at this point, in this situation, what would you do? Would you intervene more actively, and if so, how? Would you abandon Monica completely, and move to a safe distance where you'd probably be OK? Would you just sit back and watch, confident in your own strength and power to protect you, and wait to see which person (possibly an innocent bystander) ends up dead?

What would you do in this situation?

(As the old high-school prank final exam says, "Underneath your chair you will find the disassembled parts of a high-powered rifle, and a box of bullets. In five minutes, a Bengal tiger will be released into the examination room. Be prepared to justify your actions."

Well I do enjoy the "turn this around" analysis.
However, what I would do in this situation is NOT what they have done. So, although it is tempting to describe any number of better ways for them to have dealt with the "monster" they have created the fact remains that they have done what has been depicted to date and in fashion described above.
Still not very nice by any measure.

I also like your Bengal tiger question however in that example Monica's associates are not the person in the chair but rather the person letting the tiger into the room and Monica is more the disassembled gun than the tiger.