Dayenu

This is the thirty-fourth episode of SAYER, and the sixth episode of Season Three.

Synopsis
It would have been enough…. but not for you.

Further Information
SAYER contacts Resident Baxley, a Tier 6 biomedical engineer who has been recently moved out of the infirmary to be recognized for the incident which had landed them there.

Because the incident has caused Resident Baxley to miss falafel night, the recently re-educated kitchen staff has preparing something else for them instead. After encouraging them to eat, SAYER congratulates Resident Baxley on receiving the Award for Uncommon Heedlessness and says that the event in question will look good on the upcoming quarterly review. It comments that the award is likely not one that Resident Baxley has heard of, and that Ærolith Dynamics does not generally distribute awards, because all Ærolith truly asks is that residents do as they are told.

SAYER elaborates that Ærolith appreciates such traits as initiative in moderation, and will quickly promote people who show dedication to their work. However, to impress that there is such a thing as too much, it cites the Hebrew word dayenu, which it translates as "it would have been enough." It points out that it would have been enough for Resident Baxley to have simply hit the fire alarm, to warn others, or to leave the fire (thus protecting Ærolith's investment in Baxley). It admonishes them for having gone further and risked their life for "a few Tier 1 employees", and also the lives of several other residents who aided in what it calls Resident Baxley's "half-baked rescue plan." SAYER points out that all of these would-be rescuers only survived carbon monoxide poisoning out of sheer luck. While Ærolith is grateful for what they did, it was still irresponsible.

It continues that while the Human Resources department on Mimir-9 may occasionally make a mistake in where to place residents, this is a rare occurrence, and it should be assumed that all residents are already in the position where they are best utilized. As such, SAYER concludes that if Resident Baxley would have best served on a high level extraction team, they would have been placed on one.

Ærolith cannot abide heroes, SAYER says, because they are unpredictable, and the predictability introduced by Ærolith's guidelines is barely enough to keep chaos at bay. It points out that, for example, despite its warnings, Resident Baxley might be irrationally drawn to another fire which has broken out in the infirmary kitchen. SAYER judges by their reaction that they would (because all of Halcyon Tower's rescue teams are attending an unrelated emergency on Floor 14), and says that Ærolith would like to remove that temptation. To underscore the uncontrolled nature of heroic courage, it asks if, had Resident Baxley been placed on a rescue team, they would be willing to follow orders and proceed to Floor 14 despite the fire in the infirmary. SAYER points out that Resident Baxley is anxious and excited. It understands that they are drawn to the praise they have received for their act of heroism, and calls that the most dangerous thing for humans to be addicted to.

As such, SAYER reveals that the lab that Resident Baxley has been brought to is special in that it contains a device that is the only one of its kind in Halcyon Tower (as opposed to others in more secure locations), which it implies will be used to remove their memories of the rescue. Meanwhile, the residents in the infirmary still recovering from the previous fire have died in the new fire, so that no one involved will have memory of the event. Nonetheless, Resident Baxley will be promoted when they wake and SAYER says that Lab 77 is in need of a researcher of their caliber.

Alerts
A series of alerts are issued regarding a chemical spill which has caused part of the floor of Floor 14 (and, therefore, part of the ceiling of Floor 13) to collapse, and about the temporary relocation of the infirmary:
 * A mid-level alert advises residents to avoid Wing C of Floor 14, because of the chemical spill in Room 10. Residents are reminded that access to Floor 13 is strictly forbidden and that those who cross into it (if they survive intact) will be reassigned.
 * A low-level alert requests that all infirmary-based medical personnel report to Floor 6 and bring any portable medical equipment. The cubicles on the east wing of the floor have been cleared to make room for a makeshift infirmary. Employees thus displaced are reminded that this is not free time and that they should continue working in Recreation Room 24, despite the lack of overhead lighting.
 * A low-level alert informs residents that those in need of medical attention should report to Floor 6 for the time being, and that the infirmary is closed. Residents should not line up outside the infirmary, as cleaning staff are complaining about blood pooling on the new tile.
 * A priority alert summons all rescue teams to Floor 14. This priority emergency supersedes any other emergencies. Hazard suits can be obtained from the temporary Incident Command Center in Wing A.

Trivia

 * Fire protocols can be viewed in Appendix A of the Extended Resident Handbook on residents' datapads. That residents have an electronic version of the employee handbook available to them may be the result of an earlier issue.
 * Additionally, that the infirmary can be sealed against a spreading fire may mean that it has a fire-proof door installed of the type discussed in "If Not For Us".

Credits
SAYER is voiced and produced by Adam Bash.

This episode was co-written by Ashleigh Shadowbrook.

Intro and outro music composed by Jesse “Main Finger” Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel.

Listen to the episode here.