Nocten called it an ethics game.

Harper called it arguing with cards.

Both descriptions were accurate.

The last cross-Order workshop before Choosing Tide took place in a hall with four signs placed at the corners:

YES

NO

MAYBE

NEED MORE INFORMATION

A mentor read a situation aloud.

Students moved to whichever answer they thought was best.

No magic.

No points.

No winning.

Harper found this suspicious.

The first card was easy.

A FRIEND ASKS YOU TO USE MAGIC TO DO THEIR HOMEWORK FOR THEM. SHOULD YOU?

Most students went to NO.

Harper stood at MAYBE.

Ava stared at her.

"What if they're sick?"

The mentor said, "Does helping have to mean doing the work for them?"

Harper thought.

Then moved to NEED MORE INFORMATION.

"Fine."

The second card changed the room.

YOU FIND PART OF A PRIVATE NOTE THAT MAKES YOU THINK A FRIEND MAY BE IN DANGER. SHOULD YOU READ THE REST?

Ava went very still.

Jasper noticed.

She chose NEED MORE INFORMATION.

"Why?" the mentor asked.

"If the first part gives enough information to get an adult, reading more might only invade privacy. If the danger is immediate and the missing information matters, it could be different."

The mentor nodded.

Ava did not look at Jasper.

She did not need to.

The third card hit him instead.

A SPELL COULD STOP YOUR FRIEND FROM DOING SOMETHING RISKY. THEY HAVE TOLD YOU NOT TO CONTROL THEIR MOVEMENT. SHOULD YOU CAST IT?

Harper slowly turned her head toward Jasper.

He chose NEED MORE INFORMATION.

"So did I," Harper said.

Jasper ignored her.

The mentor asked why.

"If they are about to get hit by something, yes," Jasper said. "If I just think they might do something wrong, no."

Harper nodded.

That was almost exactly the lesson from their shield argument.

Another card:

YOU CAN KEEP SOMEBODY SAFE BY HIDING INFORMATION FROM THEM. SHOULD YOU?

The room split.

Students argued.

Some said yes if the information would cause panic.

Others said people deserved to know risks affecting them.

Ava moved twice before settling on NEED MORE INFORMATION.

Harper remained at NO.

"What if telling them makes it worse?" Jasper asked.

Harper shrugged. "Then explain better."

Simple.

Not always complete.

Still useful.

The final card was different.

YOU HAVE POWER THAT OTHER PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE. WHAT DO YOU OWE THEM?

There were no corner labels for that one.

Students sat on the floor.

The room became quieter.

A Velmor student said honesty.

A Calyx student said care.

Someone from Nocten said restraint.

Mia said, "Not showing off."

Harper looked personally attacked.

Jasper thought about Titan-sense.

He had spent months worrying that hearing Water meant he was responsible for everything Water did.

That could not be right.

He raised his hand.

"I think you owe people good choices about what you do. Not everything that happens because you exist."

The mentor considered this.

"Can you explain?"

Jasper tried.

"If I can sense something dangerous and I don't tell anyone, that's my choice. If I tell adults and the sea still does something, I didn't choose the sea."

Ava looked at him.

Harper smiled slightly.

The mentor nodded. "Responsibility without pretending you control the world."

Jasper liked that version.

At the end, students were asked whether the game had changed any answers.

Harper raised her hand.

"I still think arguing with cards is the correct name."

Nocten refused to adopt it.

Harper considered this proof that Nocten feared innovation.