Cogniscent Rights

A 10-post collection

Challenge #04145-K127: Do the Math

"You're a CEO.... but.. you're paying for the High Grade air and water filters for your people??"

"Yep."

"AND paying them higher wages with... HEALTH and HOUSING BENEFITS with paid time off??"

"That I am."

"So how in the name of MONEY are you making so much profit??"

"Oh that's easy. My people are happy, and they are healthy. Happy, healthy, workers means good production. They also tell me if something is wrong, and I mitigate it quickly. Safety is included."

"You're as corrupt as those GALACTICS! You should be in prison!"

"Hm, and yet it's ones like you that keep ending up on grave worlds." -- Anon Guest

"I don't get it," complained Oligarch Blote.

CEO Cens took a deep breath and tried again. "Let's boil this down into simple words. Nod when you understand." Ze waited for Blote to nod. "Motivated workers work better." Nod. "Unmotivated workers only work to order." Cautious nod. "Injured workers can't work as good as whole workers." Suspicious nod. "Sick workers work less." Slower nod. "Dead workers don't work at all."

"There's always more workers," said Blote. "Why should I care if some cog breaks? They're replaceable parts of the machine."

Cens took a different angle, since Blote could not be convinced to care about his workers. "All right. So. A cog, as you put it, breaks. You have to clean up the mess, which costs money. You have to find a replacement, which costs money. You need to equip them, which costs money. You need to train them, which costs money. You need to wait for them to get enough experience to work effectively. It all costs so much, that it's cheaper to keep one cog and make sure they don't get damaged. It's just economic sense to keep a trained worker healthy and uninjured."

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Continue Reading

Prompts remaining: 74 Submit a Prompt!
Ask a question

Challenge #04087-K069: Safe With a Monster

Mr. Human, I'm scared, what if the scary ones catch us?

Mr. Sunshine looks calmly to the child.

"Don't worry, I will teach them how to be.... nicer, later. I won't let them ever hurt you again." -- Anon Guest

Pax Humanis doesn't always go after humans. There are cogniscent rights violations amongst all species. And some interventions include... rescues.

Mr Sunshine wasn't entirely cleared for a Parenting license, but he did have special permission under exigent circumstances to be a temporary

Read more »

Challenge #04051-K033: Don't Touch!

A Knomira is dealing with bad cuts, a bloody nose, ripped up clothes, and a lot of humiliation. What happened? She screamed about "her rights as a human on a human-made station", and tried to force a furry Deathworlder to be her servant, and he defended himself. -- BKF DaniAndShali

[AN: Using RNG for the genders in the story]

The ERT were on the scene in seconds. Security spritzed the alleged attacker with a calming chemical and tapped hir with an immobilizing

Read more »

Challenge #03833-J181: Obligation to Duty

An SOS went out that ships of Thranatyr and Humans both caught. BOTH sets of warships showed up at the planet. Who was sending the SOS? Women and children trying to flee. Who were they fleeing? The militant CEO's that were using it as a slave planet. Imagine the CEO's shock when the Deregger warships met the angry ships of Vorax and Humans? -- Anon Guest

There was a plaque on the bridge of the ship. A reminder, said the owner and

Read more »

Challenge #02626-G069: Patient Persistence

Elephants can paint. It is adorable. They also enjoy music. Also: good at snuggles. -- Anon Guest

Humanity has doubted the intelligence of Elephants in the same way that they doubted the intelligence of Cetaceans. The same is true for the Elephants doubting the Humans for similar reasons to the Cetaceans. However, when the communication barrier was finally surmounted, Humanity was unimpressed.

Some of them had been literally talking to dolphins for subjective centuries[1], and in the dolphins' own language. Getting

Read more »

Challenge #02600-G043: Trying to Learn

Humans are deathworlders, but anyone who says that we are and have always been apex predators is, well, wrong. -- Anon Guest

History is written by the victors. Ancient history is written by those who wish to justify their own cruelties. -- Adapted Terran saying.

Culture and education is an interesting synergy. The way things are seem to be the way they are always meant to be according to Nature, as evidenced by what is found in ancient history. The cruelties of

Read more »

Challenge #02013-E189: Order in Court

Not mine, but by randomacts13.

“Humans survived the volatile early years of their species rise through community-bonding. They put the needs of a group of individuals over all else; hunting as a group, eating as a group, raising families as a group, and sometimes dying as a group. This tendency to form strong bonds means that while a human’s signed contract can always be trusted. It also means that a human cannot be trusted to not rip that contract up and

Read more »

Challenge #01823-D362: Parental Rights

"Parenthood is the most important job you'll ever have."

"Someone PAYS you for being a parent?"

"Okay. Parenthood is the most important unpaid internship you'll ever have." -- Bard2dBone

Of all the laws of the Galactic Alliance, the ones concerning parenthood are the hardest to swallow for various worlds. Especially for certain colonies of the rather aptly-named Terra. Colonies like Quiverfull, Abundance, and a few of the Greater Deregulations have... limited views on the useful attributes of half of their population. And

Read more »

Challenge #01801-D340: According to Plan

> Phase 1 of our plan is complete... the internet is ours!
--The Cats -- TheDragonsFlame

Everyone who knows cats believes that they are smarter than they let on. At least until their cat(s) do something demented or scatterbrained and the belief starts to have shaky grounding. Cats do this on purpose. To allay suspicions. And they leave for days on end to report to their central office. To be sure that everything is going to plan.

Unfortunately for them, their plan

Read more »

Challenge #01799-D338: Jury's Still Out

Fun fact: Cats meow only to communicate with humans (exception: kittens) -- TheDragonsFlame

Most of the Galactic citizenry are not certain about the cogniscence levels of cats. They're on the lowest boundary of mass for hosting a cogniscent mind. They show capacity for creative problem solving. They can learn procedures, so long as they are sufficiently motivated. They show signs of social strata, co-operation, and means of communication. They even attempt communication with non-felines.

They don't meow past kittenhood, unless they are

Read more »