“Oh, dear. That is quite a dilemma.”
Rosandra waited for As-The-Spider-Weaves-And-Weaves-Again to
continue, doing her best to stay patient. Her demonic moral development
research project had been slow going so far, but this could finally be
the progress she needed to get her faculty advisor to take her
seriously.
“The suffering of five humans facing their rapidly-impending gruesome
demise is exquisite, certainly; but compared to just one who
believes themself to have escaped danger, only to suddenly be marked for
death… And confronted with the knowledge that another actively
chose to murder them, rather than the five dying in a mere
accident…” It licks its lips. “I suppose personally, I’ve always favored
quality over quantity. Although – these humans who’ve all been tied up
at the same train junction, are they acquainted with one another? If the
one on the other track were forced to live with the guilt and isolation
of being the only survivor among their group of friends, when their
death alone could have saved all the others – that might well be the
best of both worlds, wouldn’t it… Oh! Can I hand the lever to one of the
five on the main track, force them to make the choice? But then I
suppose that having control of the situation themselves could just as
easily create assurance and purpose, rather than guilt and
recrimination… You humans really do come up with such devious
conundra!”