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1. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Kolby Granville

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2. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Verity

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What good is a soul in the modern age? What would you lose by giving it up? In this work of ethics fiction, the narrator checks into a hotel run by the Devil so he can give the Devil his soul. The Devil visits him in his room and, at first, is confused. Doesn’t he want to trade it for fame, money, or immortality? Nope, he just wants to be rid of the thing; it’s more trouble than its worth, and doesn’t seem to serve a useful purpose in a modern society anyway. The Devil takes his soul, offers him dinner, and a free night at the hotel. The man wakes the next morning, refreshed, as a maid knocks on his door. She wants to leave the hotel, but doesn’t have the courage. He agrees to help her leave, but their project fails. He ends up leaving on his own.

3. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Joshua Hathaway

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Is it the natural desire of humans to be happy, or do they desire something else? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Tucker mistypes a keystroke at his new job. However, his computer fixed his mistake and forces the correct answer to come out anyway. As he tries to explain what happened to his co-worker his boss comes by to tell him he is being given a promotion, even though he has only been at the company a few weeks. Later, at a coffee shop, he tries to order a drink he knows he doesn’t prefer, and the barista insists on selling him the drink he likes better. He then goes home to a wife that adores him. The problem is, Tucker is unhappy. He is unhappy because he feels he didn’t earn the promotion, and that he can’t make mistakes in Rapture, the artificial work where he is living. Everything will always go his way. This turns out to be not an ideal simulation, but a nightmare-like curse where nothing feels like it was earned or has value.

4. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Michele Koh Morollo

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Does a marriage tend to be more fulfilling and successful if the couple has a child? What are the right and wrong reasons for having a child? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Vita meets her friend (Judy) for brunch and tells her, at 45 years old, now that she is married, she is planning to have IVF so they can have a child. Judy is outwardly supportive, but knows that Vita has spoken her whole life about not wanting a child. Later, when the couples meet up for dinner Vita’s husband, Gerd, argues that a marriage can never be truly complete without a child; that a child allows couples to serve additional and more noble roles. Additionally, Gerd argues, children are the foundation and essence of marriage. Judy and Nathan disagree, but when their cat unexpectedly dies, they quickly go out to get a new one to replace it.

5. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Jonathan Turner

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Is Hobbes right, in that, life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short?” Will resource scarcity always revert us to our most animalistic nature? In this work of space travel ethical short story fiction, the space cruise liner the narrator is on is hit by a rock. It is severely damaged and some of the crew is injured. They are slowly moving to their destination via “dead reckoning” but the ship will run out of water long before they arrive. At first, the captain decides to do a first round of killing, both by volunteers and by lottery, to save resources. Riots break out as a second lottery happens and water is rationed to just one liter per person, per day. The narrator is a second-class passenger on the ship, but largely built, so he volunteers to serve as security detail. He ends up killing a passenger who fights back during the lottery. As the situation worsens, gangs form on the ship. The narrator is brought in by a gang, but is later kicked out for being sympathetic to others. All seems lost when the ship’s doctor realizes he can filter the blood of the dead and use it to supplement their water supplies.

6. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
JR Sloan

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When a trigger event is very likely to cause subsequent actions, are the subsequent actions still made freely? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, William, the town fortune teller, comes out to Jon’s farm. William confesses that he foresaw his affair with Jon’s wife, told her about it, then it happened. William also says he’s unable to see his future beyond this day, so he presumes this is the day Jon kills him. Jon, however, refuses to kill him until William eggs him on. Finally, infuriated, Jon kills William. He attempts to hide the body, but not before his wife comes home. She shoots him, but does not kill him, arguing she had no free will to prevent her response. Injured, Jon picks up the gun and must decide if he will kill himself, or his wife.

7. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Frances Howard-Snyder

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How does perception of sexual assault confirm or create the reality? In this work of sex ethic short story fiction, Viola is a college student at a local party. She starts drinking at the party, and gets drunk. She strikes up a conversation with, and takes an interest in Greg, one of the fellow college students at the party. She drinks and dance into the night. Eventually, with her consent, her friends leave the party, leaving her to continue socializing with people at the party. She ends up meeting a guy and having drunken sex with him at the party. The next morning she meets up with a few of her female friends that question her about the previous night. At first, they chalk up her drunken sex as a “we’ve all been there” moment, however, her friends ask her to recount the night and eventually explain to her they think she was raped. Viola isn’t so sure, but she is starting to see their perspective.

8. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8
Varya Kartishai

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What do you need to be happy? Can changing your situation and responsibilities make you happy? In this children’s story of folk-lore short fiction, Hiro is a young boy that is feeling trapped. Because his father is the village headman, he had great duties and responsibilities. One unhappy day, Hiro hears a voice that asks him why he is so unhappy. He says he would like more time to himself. He is transformed into mouse so he can run in the fields. He is chased by a cat and realizes that is the better animal to become. He tries a day as a cat, and later as fox, but nothing seems to give him the happiness and freedom he desires. Each animal, it seems, has responsibilities. Finally, Hiro realizes that is place, and his duties, with his father and his tribe are something to be accepted and enjoyed.

9. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8

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10. After Dinner Conversation: Volume > 3 > Issue: 8

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