For theatrical_muse #323
"The problem, of course, was that people did not seem to understand the difference between right and wrong. They needed to be reminded about this, because if you left it to them to work it out themselves, they would never bother. They would just find what was best for them, and then they would call that the right thing. That's how most people thought."
--Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The line between right and wrong was a fine line that they sometimes trod on the Grid. They couched it in terms such as 'for the good of the country' and 'you're doing it to help your neighbours', but at the end of the day, sometimes that line was blurred.
They would happily use anyone they had to in order to get the results they wanted, leaving a trail of the damaged and dead behind them. Ex-spouses, friends, lovers, children, people they barely knew, people they locked into binding contracts in order to use them at some unspecified time in the future. All were used in the attempt to try and prevent some kind of threat to the borders. There was never any concern about what might happen to them in the future. If they were in danger, they were uprooted, given a new identity and a pay off, patted on the head and told to start a new life, away from friends, family, colleagues.
Lucas sometimes wondered how many people they would leave lying in their wake, the nights that he couldn't sleep. Ashok's face when he called him 'Mr. Liar Man," was the latest one to keep intruding on his thoughts. He'd happily used a 17 year old boy, who just wanted to play football to break into a Hindu cell planning death and destruction in London. The kid got caught up in a game of international politics, with a shady group trying to precipitate all out war.
And at some level Lucas hated the fact that he'd used him, but he knew that he'd had no choice. The good of the one balanced against the good of the many. The one would be used until no longer needed, then tossed aside like old clothing. One day, it would no doubt come back to bite them, and that thought scared Lucas more than anything.
Lucas North
Spooks
Word Count: 316
Warning: Spoilers through to the end of S8 of Spooks
--Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The line between right and wrong was a fine line that they sometimes trod on the Grid. They couched it in terms such as 'for the good of the country' and 'you're doing it to help your neighbours', but at the end of the day, sometimes that line was blurred.
They would happily use anyone they had to in order to get the results they wanted, leaving a trail of the damaged and dead behind them. Ex-spouses, friends, lovers, children, people they barely knew, people they locked into binding contracts in order to use them at some unspecified time in the future. All were used in the attempt to try and prevent some kind of threat to the borders. There was never any concern about what might happen to them in the future. If they were in danger, they were uprooted, given a new identity and a pay off, patted on the head and told to start a new life, away from friends, family, colleagues.
Lucas sometimes wondered how many people they would leave lying in their wake, the nights that he couldn't sleep. Ashok's face when he called him 'Mr. Liar Man," was the latest one to keep intruding on his thoughts. He'd happily used a 17 year old boy, who just wanted to play football to break into a Hindu cell planning death and destruction in London. The kid got caught up in a game of international politics, with a shady group trying to precipitate all out war.
And at some level Lucas hated the fact that he'd used him, but he knew that he'd had no choice. The good of the one balanced against the good of the many. The one would be used until no longer needed, then tossed aside like old clothing. One day, it would no doubt come back to bite them, and that thought scared Lucas more than anything.
Lucas North
Spooks
Word Count: 316
Warning: Spoilers through to the end of S8 of Spooks