Interesting questions raised!
Is
Kevorkianism embraced in the Honorverse? Interesting.
I would guess refusing prolong may hint at your mental state too much to allow one who refuses it to enter into the Service of the Queen. I would seriously bet on prolong being a military requirement. No prolong, may equate to a disability in the minds of some. Same in the civilian sector. Who would want to hire someone who is impaired as such? It is hard to enforce prejudiced hiring practices against people with certain disabilities, but for one who chooses said disability?
Developing prolong for Cats would suggest immense breakthroughs in understanding Cat physiology that may also suggest Alfred's ability to repair Nimitz.
What we haven't been told yet by storyline, iinm, is how emotionally dependent a Cat/person becomes with bonding. Are they akin to Siamese twins who can't be away from each other?
Cats who have bonded with each other have endured extended long distance separation, like Nimitz and Samantha. Is it as easy for Cat/person? I don't remember an example of storyline separating a Cat and his person. I've been in love so deeply that separation felt like a slow death.
Even if a human does not follow a Cat into death, their personality may die. Honor could become a real Ransom.
Withholding celery from a Cat could cause a [C c]onstitutional crisis. Free access to celery should be written into a Cat's rights. Seriously, denying Cats celery could have made the relationship between Cats-n-twolegs go quite differently.
Getting back to kevorkianism in the Honorverse, it may not be needed. A pulser may be the new kevorkian.
Daryl wrote:Young senior refused treatment for his mortal obesity which eventually killed him, so I'd imagine that you can refuse prolong. Why not a form of prolong for treecats anyway? Might include withholding celery?
NortonIDaughter wrote:It'd be interesting to see what happens when a treecat wants to retire-- or doesn't want to retire-- from a line of work when their person does. I suspect they'd work it out between themselves like any other close relationship.
Age-wise, I wonder what we'll be seeing a hundred fifty or so years down the road, when the treecats start dying before their people for the first time. Honor wonders in "Best Laid Plans" if the 'cats are aware of prolong yet, but we haven't seen any follow-up on that point, and Honor actively shies away from thinking about it from her end whenever it gets brought up after her own adoption. Previously, most treecats suicided after the deaths of their humans. We don't have a hint how humans react, except for Fritz Montoya's fibs to Ransom. Even though he was lying to save Honor, I doubt he was exaggerating that wildly-- dying relatively soon after a beloved spouse passes away is not uncommon IRL, let alone after the loss of someone who's as much a part of you as your 'cat. I could see that shortening the lives, or working lives, of adoptees in the future.
Which brings me to another question-- do you have the legal right to refuse prolong? What are the laws on suicide, assisted or otherwise? Is right-to-die a thing?
