"Collateral" by Peter Watt

[[deleted user]]

This is our discussion of the story:


"Collateral" by Peter Watts

This story originally appeared in Upgraded

This story is part of the The Best SF&F of the Year, vol 9 (2014) group anthology discussion.

[Andreas]

★★★★★ - my second favourite in this anthology.

Synopsis: Cyborged corporal Nandita Becker shot pre-consciously some civilians on a mission. Military goes public and she conducts some interviews with a reporter, talking about morality and ethics, somehow leading to a discussion of gun violence.

Review: Striking, vivid, dense, with a handful of action snippets. It doesn’t turn out to be a second Starship Troopers or some similar militaristic SF infusion. Instead, Watts explores a thoughtful morale deep-dive into a soldier facing some very tough dilemmas. Loved the ending!

[[deleted user]]

I hadn't read this story before, mostly because I'm still only halfway through Upgraded. I really need to keep up with my anthology reading.

Wow. I really liked the story. An after action report when a cyborged soldier kills a group of civilians turns into a discourse on morality, ethics, and right and wrong.

The story centers on a cyborg soldier who's reactions have been enhanced with circuits that predict what her human brain would have decided if it had time to think about it. It's an interesting entry in the consideration of autonomous weaponized drones & robots, covers some of the same ideas Haldeman broached in The Forever War, but instead of using a hammer, Watts uses a scalpel.

Just what kind of morality results when you remove empathy, compassion, and guilt?

“Everybody talks about morality like it’s another word for right and wrong, when it’s really just a load of static on the same channel.”
“Do you know what morality is, really? It’s letting two stranger’s kids die so you can save one of your own."

★★★★★