November 28th
((Starfire)) (U)

Oracle is walking around.
Starfire wanders out of the city, almost unaccustomed to open spaces nowadays. She begins to relax, tension she didn't even know she had draining away at the sight of the clear Cybertronian skies.
Oracle spots Starfire and nods to her with a smile. "Good day."
Starfire's attention is more upwards than on the ground, though she manages to give the inactive Omega Supreme a wave. On hearing a voice, she turns to see... Oracle. Her optics widen, and she barely keeps from taking a step backwards. Taking a few astroseconds to find her vocalizer, she says politely, "Um... hello, Oracle."
Oracle smiles slightly. "Last time I checked I wasn't that scary of a femme. Have I changed?"
Starfire studies Oracle, her amber optics grave. "You do... weird stuff."
You say, "Such as?"
Starfire drops her gaze to her feet and starts to fidget. "Weird stuff. Helping bad people."
You say, "Do you think that makes /me/ a bad person?"
Starfire raises her optics to Oracle again. With no hint of sarcasm, only a straightforward certainty, "Since he's probably going to try to kill me next, I think it's wrong, yes."
You say, "Why would he try to kill you?"
Starfire shrugs, still fidgeting. "Even before I moved to Crystal City, he said I was weak, and the only reason he didn't kill me was because I was a Decepticon. I'm not any more, and someone else told me that some Decepticons would be mad at me and try to kill me. He'll be one of them."
You say, "Lunar is hardly in a place to kill anyone. I survived, and I doubt he will make another move. Besides, I did what I had to do. I could do nothing else."
Starfire says, "It's still weird to help someone so he can kill other people. If it were between Autobots and Decepticons and stuff, I could understand that, since there's a war going on, and they're mostly warriors. But he tries to kill Neutral civilians instead."
You say, "There is a lot about Lunar that no one knows. When people tell you things about themselves that are secret, you can't just turn around and act as though you knew nothing."
Starfire says, "Breaking promises and telling secret stuff is bad, yes, but if the Evil Failsafe told me secrets about how he tortured all those civilians in Polyhex, then I'd still report him."
You say, "They weren't those kind of secrets. They were secrets to his own pain, not the pain he caused. There's a reason Lunar is the way he is. It would only make him worse if I were to treat him the way everyone else wants to treat him. Giving him more reasons to hate isn't a good solution."
Starfire says, "Kinda too late for that now. He's Evil, and it was his decision, no one made it for him. I lost my entire family, but I don't go killing people for it. Lots and lots and lots of people have lost friends and family in the war, but they don't go out and hurt Neutrals for it. Lots of people are alone now, with nobody left, but they don't go out and hurt Neutrals for it. Lots of people have been betrayed, but they don't hurt others for it. Lunar does. Saying that it's okay to hurt people because something bad happened to you is wrong."
Oracle shakes her head. "I'm not saying it isn't wrong. I know it's wrong because I suffered from it...I was scarred because of it. But I have no need for vengance and I bare him no ill will. I would much rather help him learn than punish him. Punishment only teaches fear...or hate."
Starfire sighs. "You can't teach someone anything if they don't want to learn. If he were young, maybe sending him to classes and stuff would work, but he's not. Lunar isn't a... youngster. Just letting him go means he'll just hurt more people, and not only that, but others will see that hurting people is okay, and *they'll* start hurting people."
Oracle sighs. "I guess only time will tell. I can only hope that I am right, but either way, I may lose."
Starfire says, "I've been seeing that there's not any real right and wrong decisions, just wrong and less wrong stuff."
You say, "That isn't true. There are a few things that are right, they are just hard to find."
Starfire says, "Who's right? Autobots or Decepticons or Neutrals?"
Starfire says, "They're *all* right, at least to themselves. But they all contradict, because they all have differing viewpoints. You showed me that."
You say, "The matter of faction isn't one of those cases where there is a right. We are all different people, and we can never come to an absolute right. The closest we can ever achieve is minimizing everyone's displeasure."
Starfire nodnods. "Less wrong."
Starfire corrects her grammar. "Least wrong."
Oracle nods her head. "It isn't the best solution, but perhaps the only solution. Much will be lost, but it is better than losing more lives."
Starfire says, "Okay, what's right if one person kills another?"
You say, "That is probably one of the hardest questions to answer."
Starfire says, "Let's say an Autobot shoots and kills a Decepticon. Is that right?"
You say, "I can't say really. Sometimes one is faced with two bad choises and one must be picked. Some would rather die than kill, others will kill to save their own life, or the life of another."
Starfire says, "Okay, then lets say that the Decepticon is about to kill another Autobot, and the first Autobot is shooting him to save his friend. Is that right?"
You say, "Maybe not right exactly, but it isn't necessarily wrong. Life is precious, and so is friendship...they must be preserved."
Starfire says, "What if the first Autobot didn't do anything, just watched as the Decepticon killed his friend, then went on to kill more of his friends? Is that Autobot right or wrong?"
You say, "That Autobot would most likely have severe guilt afterwards. If they did /nothing/ to help the friend, I believe that would be wrong, but if the Autobot tried and failed, then I do not believe he or she would be in the wrong."
Starfire says, "So the Autobot should have done something, right? Do you suppose that saying, "Hey, you're being bad," to the Decepticon would make him stop?"
Oracle sighs. "There are so many factors to consider."
Starfire says, "I'm kinda trying to make a..." She searches for the right word. "... metaphor for what's happening with Lunar. I'm even using the Autobots as the good guys in this, 'cause I'm biased. Anyway, for that first Autobot to stop the Decepticon would save not only that one friend, but others, too. That's what needs to be done with Lunar. Stop him from killing other people, not say, "Oh, your life was hard, we'll let you go kill some more people so you feel better." Why let good people, who don't kill other people, die so that Lunar can live?"
Oracle shuts her mouth tight for a moment. "I'm not trying to say that at all. There is more than one way to stop someone. I'm trying my hardest to use words first. That is my way. The Militia has their own way as well. So do the Autobots and the Decepticons." She pauses. "But I must go now. I have work to do."
Oracle heads towards her home.