In Or Out

S1E4.

❝Out: Of Context❞
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❝Free will is never without charge and is costliest when an individual chooses selfishness and avarice over the common good.❞

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Harding Boulevard, Southern University A&M College

"Imagine: you've just become the CEO of one of the world's largest mining companies, Aero Metals Corporation. The business has a hundred and twenty-five billion dollars in sales, over 400,000 employees—two thirds of them are in South Africa—and six months into your latest line of work, you get the news that one of the miners in Protem has lost his life. Yet another fatality."

The quick clack of high heels made Celeste peek up from her iPhone's screen to see her Entrepreneurial Economics professor, Ms. Haven, pacing the floor. "You have to decide as CEO; are you going to shut down the mine, or are you going to continue business as usual?" The older woman presented the ultimatum with eager eyes as she searched for any hands raised to respond.

Ms. Haven's gaze settled just a few rows behind Celeste, and she pointed at a light-skinned male. "Kenny?"

Celeste scoffed and returned her attention to her cellphone. No matter the setting, there would always be a "Kenny'' present—someone who always had to be right, and swore up and down they knew everything. She picked up on Kenny's ways after their first encounter in the business class. Ms. Haven asked Celeste a question, and he determined that her response "wasn't good enough". This led to an almost fifteen-minute debate between the two, and after that, Celeste steered clear of him.

"So," Kenny started, "I think I'll initiate very detailed investigations into what happened in these circumstances, and find out what has happened throughout the past—"

The professor turned away from the throng of students and strode towards the blackboard in front of the classroom, silencing Kenny. With a piece of chalk, Ms. Haven began to write on the large panel. "Are you going to shut down or not shut down?" she candidly asked, her back still to the class.

Kenny lightly chuckled to himself. "So I'm going to do... a detailed investigation..." He trailed his sentence as the class erupted in laughter.

Ms. Haven turned back towards the students and deigned a smile Celeste had to smirk at. Her professor didn't find it funny at all. She knew Ms. Haven wanted Kenny to answer the question how she proposed it—are you going to shut down, yes or no?

"What are you learning in this investigation?"

"Practices that are not being followed correctly, or out of line, or could be safer, issues that are—"

"People are dying. It's not safe," Ms. Haven cut in, earning a chuckle from Celeste and a few other students in the class. "What evidence are you looking for?"

Sputtering his response with the same evasive perspective, Kenny was brushed aside by the professor as she ventured off for more forthright answers. Responses ranging from shutting down the mine to continuing on with business bounced around the classroom, the reasoning behind the students' replies being written on the blackboard every so often.

Nodding, Ms. Haven's eyes raked over the jam-packed classroom before they settled on a bored Celeste, who was nose deep in her iPhone, scrolling down her Twitter's timeline.

"Celeste!" She called out, smiling when the half-Colombian's eyes flashed up and landed on her, "Are you shutting down or not?"

Every pair of eyes were on her as she shifted in her seat, rising up from the hunched over position she had been in since class started. Clearing her throat, Celeste opened her mouth to speak, "I think I'm shutting down. Miner deaths have just been accepted as a part of the process of mining, and if we stop the operation, that would show that deaths aren't tolerated in my business." A smile stretched on her lips as Ms. Haven pointed at her before she strutted away to the blackboard.