Oh hey I thought of some more class dialogue for this universe:
MB: "Your remaining crew mates made it back to the ship, but you're still hiding on station. Remember, in this scenario there is no security consultant, but you have access to SecSys and its risk assessment."
Student 1: "What are my chances of being killed if I make a break for it?"
Student 1: "Are the hostiles likely to get me if I shelter in place?"
Student 1: "Okay, I stay put for now.
MB: "Your crew mates come back for you. Since the hostiles know the extraction team's starting location, their odds of death are each 80%. Everyone but you is killed. The hostiles never find you, but you die of thirst waiting for rescue."
Student 2: "But she listened to her SecSys!"
MB: "Did she? Did she listen, or did she request two data points and try to extrapolate the whole situation from there?"
MB: (to student 1) "You were right to err on the side of caution. 96.7% of the time, you'll want to move when you should stay put. But that knowledge is not a replacement for checking in properly with SecSys. What should you have asked it?"
Student 1: "The risk to the rest of the team?"
MB: "You're overcomplicating it. Try again."
Student 1: "....oh. Whether I should run or not."
MB: "Correct. It's normal for humans to lose perspective in an emergency. You can forget about your team, no matter how much you care about them. You can forget about every objective but living through the next five minutes. A lot of the time, you literally forget how to walk and talk."
MB: "That's why you ask SecSys for a recommendation. First, the fact that you're asking tells SecSys that you think you CAN run, which helps its overall calculations. But more important: SecSys will consider hundreds of questions that you are forgetting to ask, and tell you what to do about ALL of them."
Student 3: "Why does SecSys tell her to run, though? What are the factors that make this situation different from normal?"
MB: "SecSys weighs the chance of a zero-fatality extraction without combat-trained personnel, runs a 500-hour overall risk projection for her if she stays put, and concludes that telling her to run now is the safest option."
MB: "Of course if the mission HAD a security consultant, SecSys would tell you that sheltering in place is exactly the right thing to do."
Student 3: "Why is that such a big difference? I mean, I get that it matters in general, but... why for this?"
MB: "A consultant might plan and conduct a successful extraction. For example, a SecUnit would scout the area with drones, create an unmanned diversion, give you the go signal, then meet you part-way to the ship to reduce mission time. A non-terrible human consultant might do something similar."
Student 2: "Shouldn't the crew in your scenario just do that, then?"
MB: "No, because they're not trained to survive it. They'll take wrong turns, or reveal their position by accident, or just freeze up. Increasing the number of untrained humans in a combat zone is a stupid waste of humans."
Student 2: "Maybe, but I think I'd go back for her anyway. I don't think I'd be able to leave someone stranded like that."
MB: "...Yeah. In my experience, nice humans can rarely be trained to leave people behind. Some of you will attempt an extraction when there's a 100% chance the principal is dead. I don't think humans understand how numbers work."
MB: "If you get stranded, then you should assume there will be a rescue mission, no matter HOW stupid that is. It's why in rare cases, SecSys will tell you to rescue yourself or die trying."
MB: "It's also why if you ARE going to die, it would be nice if you'd make really fucking sure that your health readings are transmitting to MedSys."
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