Author Topic: Abroad Studies  (Read 953 times)

AoYokai

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Abroad Studies
« on: July 29, 2015, 09:05:34 am »
Hello! Been a while! Sorry bout that.

The other day I showed a friend of mine No. 6 and he asked me something I couldn't answer so I wanted to bring it here to discuss. Why is going to study abroad a thing in No. 6? It kinda seems to be the opposite of everything No. 6 stands for. I mean, No.6 is the greatest city of them all, why would they feel like education elsewhere would be better? And even if it's just for the experience of being someplace else, why would No. 6 encourage that? Could it be a part of Babylon treaty?

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listenforthelove

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2015, 10:18:02 am »
@AoYokai: Great to see you around again! How've you been?

... Actually that is a very good point. Wasn't it implied that studying abroad was what let Safu see how closed up No. 6 really was? Hm. It would make sense if it was part of the Babylon Treaty and No. 6 is just going along with it in order not to seem suspicious. If all the other cities have exchanges to share knowledge and what not and this one city refuses, they might wonder what else it might refuse.

Then again, it could be a recent thing or even an experiment. No. 6 is still really young when the story starts, and I wonder how long the school system as Shion and Safu experience it has been in place anyway. I also wonder why No. 6 has an airport to begin with (and to the public at least, took down the Mao forest just to build that airport, so it was apparently important to get one). No. 6 isn't that big that you'd need a plane to navigate it. Any trips would logically be going abroad. (And that raises tons of new questions about how safe it is to travel in this post-apocalyptic world, and what you can see from the plane if the skies are clear. Beyond mentions how not the whole world is dead, surely you'd be able to see that at some point from the plane? But okay, I'm already going off-topic now.)

On the other hand, it could be truly as simple as 'making the future elites get as much information and knowledge as possible so we can have all intelligence together'. No. 6 is the most advanced of the six remaining cities, and if it can find a way to make its elites absorb the knowledge that the other cities have, it'd be all-round and self-sufficient and it could close its borders for good. I mean, just because No. 6 is the most advanced doesn't mean the other cities have nothing to offer. Maybe they're just betting on it that they've brainwashed their future elites enough not to let any ~open minded~ education abroad get through them.
Iirc, the goal of the Babylon treaty was also to share knowledge, but now I'm heavily starting to doubt myself... it was definitely to make peace agreements though. But if all cities are open about their own developments, they can also keep each other in check in case one develops new techniques that could be used in war. And being open was part of the treaty, I think?

Note to self: reread, for real, before you spout more nonsense.

AoYokai

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2015, 08:50:09 pm »
hey @listenforthelove :D I'm fine a little tired from doing nothing I should be back on my feet soon lol

Yeah, that was what I had in mind when thinking about the Babylon Treaty as a motive..

The experiment thing also makes sense, but yeah the airport doesn't make sense either now that we talk about it wow. Also I really like that thing about how dangerous it might be to navigate... mmmm but then imagine Nezumi /walking/ there?
 
lol I love how No. 6 has so little faith in its on elites like 'yeah you won't get suspicious at all pffft'. I can't see No. 6 acknowledging other sources of knowledge, though.

Well my personal theory is that the other cities are just as bad as No. 6 just not as strong so technically it shouldn't open their minds but whatever it's just the way I want it so it fits my fic tbh. Also No. 6 respecting the Babylon Treaty? ;)

Ghosty

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2015, 10:50:52 pm »
that's a really good point... I guess what would make the most sense would be so that the other cities don't get suspicious? no. 6 may make a priority of keeping out "bad" information, but they also make a large priority out of keeping what they're doing under the radar, and blocking all contact with other cities is a bit of a red flag.

lawlya

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2015, 04:52:39 am »
Furthermore (and this is based on my lousy memory here) it seemed to be an exception to be granted studying abroad? I highly support the theory that No.6 may "spy" on the development of the other cities but they probably wouldn't send citizens of theirs who they doubt in any way. Safu was an elite and she got really good scores in all the test they made them go through while attending the education system (and I doubt it ended when they were twelve; I could imagine they keep track of the psychological development of their elites at least once a year or biyearly).
So, maybe she was deemed save to study abroad?

kare_reiko

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2015, 05:20:26 am »
I rather think that letting elite study aboard was possible because NO.6 wanted to keep their pretty facade. If they don't let people out and in on some level they would start to look  suspicious.
Maybe sending elites looked most save. They had hight standard of living from childhood. They were used to treating like kings in NO.6. It was low chance that such people betray or start revolution after their return. (If other cities were really not so advanced as NO.6). They would be like, "Oh we have better in NO.6".
I don't think they would send anyone who they think is not 100% loyal to city.

About airplanes. I think it's more save to get to some places by airplane then for example a car. With car in dangerous world you can get robbed, killed while breaks, run out fuel (I don't think you can find fuel station so easy in destroyed world when we see in beyond people used again horses outside cities).
If weapon is hard to get then shooting down plane would be hard and useless for ones who would like to do that. They wouldn't gain anything. So air transportations seems most save and fast.         

AoYokai

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2015, 07:26:48 am »
@Ghosty yeah you're right it is kind of alarming to just cut off all contact with other cities, as much as it is in 'No. 6's character' haha

@lawlya yeah you're right. i don't remember about the novel but in the anime Safu said she was 'accepted', like it was really hard to get an opportunity to study abroad. she had to go through assassin training I can't take that AC au out of my head ^^" Yeah that would probably be one of the factors they'd be testing before sending people away. But she did realize  so No. 6 failed to analyze properly Safu? I think that what made Safu realize the nature of No. 6 wasn't necessarily the 'going away' part but the returning to a dead grandmother and missing Shion... That would make more sense with that?

@kare_reiko I think they could always say nobody wanted to leave in the first place? I mean the put masks that make people look as if they are smiling on dead people saying that /everyone/ wants to stay is much easier haha but then they would still need to communicate somehow and I can't see them letting students /in/ so might as well send them out lol
Yeah you're right there are less people like Yoming in high levels, so elites would look very good since they won't complain.

(I say a lot of 'yeah you're right' or just 'yeah' whatever)

lawlya

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2015, 08:04:09 am »
Yeah, I think you might be right about Safu only realizing something's wrong with No.6 because of Shion's arrest.
When talking about that something that always comes to my mind is her scene with Shion in the forest park. You know, Shion complaining about it being artificial and Safu responding she doesn't mind because it's still beautiful? Same could go with No.6. She didn't mind as much as long as it didn't affect her. She complained about that random control when she went home with Shion but maybe only because it affected her directly in that moment (or rather Shion since they tried to separate them if I recall correctly).
So, yeah. Makes sense. Would explain why No.6 deemed her safe too. They never were quite good at judging people's actions when it comes to emotional matters.

AoYokai

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Re: Abroad Studies
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2015, 08:29:54 am »
Yeah that scene is one of the strongest in the novel... It's funny because Safu's job was to be doing that whole 'understanding people' for them lol