In “Down and Out on Ellfive Prime,” societies outlaws are painted as the scams. Their leader, Zen, is important because he serves as a mediator just as much as Almquist. Althouth Almquist is depicted as the true neutral, I think neutrality in this story has two sides: law-abiding and law-breaking. Zen represents the lawbreaker who needs to collaborate with the law in order to better the disposition of his outlaw camp. In this case, this was necessary because the colony and therefore the home of the scams was in danger. Almquist is as good as Zen is evil, in that he has a distaste for the affluent who are ignorant to the suffering of the working class. Although he has several chances to snatch Zen and put a dent in a criminal operation, Almquist chooses to do nothing but stay aware. This makes him an accomplice to crime. His actively upholding mining colony’s oppressive social structure is in direct contrast to this behavior. Their existence in the center of the social structure makes it easy for them to sympathize with each other and work together. The scams are also the real explorers, they have established a society entirely out of sight and without affecting the interior Ellfive colony. A colony that is sensitive to external conditions and exists in a delicate balance should have been crumbled by criminals long ago, and yet the “criminals” living unnoticed and even better than those above ground.

The Cold Equations was easily the most emotional story of Module Two. The hardest part for me was having a little sister and filling the shoes of Gerry as I read. It became increasingly difficult for me to read, especially at the phone call. I couldn’t understand why Marilyn went to a place she wasn’t allowed to go, while knowing was the wrong thing to do as well because of the way she snuck in. After rereading I understood her Earthling mentality that the punishment should fit the crime, and she didn’t understand the gravity of her crime. For this reason, I don’t think “survival of the fittest” was ever fair, in that it does not account for the moral severity of mistakes. When our human morals do not align with survival of the fittest, then we cannot trust this process in selecting the correct survivors. Captain Barton truly hoped that the stowaway was an evil man for this reason. There is no cognitive dissonance when law and order aligns with survival of the fittest. However, when someone who always followed the laws deviates incorrectly, it’s much harder to let go.